Back in the Game

If there was one thing in the world that Darren loved more than anything else it was running. Well running and using his sword. Maybe beating up on bad guys and saving people too. Being a hero was definitely fun and he was pretty good at it. So, maybe he didn’t love running more than anything else, he definitely loved those other things just as much; but he wasn’t currently doing those other things. No, right now he was just running. He had been doing it for quite some time now. Moving from place to place, only slowing down to let his food digest or to use the bathroom. Because using the bathroom while moving at hypersonic speeds was not something easily done and was practically impossible.

That was getting off track though. Which was something Darren had been trying hard not to do these days. See, he hadn’t just been running all over the world for no reason. Sure, it would definitely be hard for most people and even some who knew him to figure out why he had been doing it (and even then those who knew him would probably just say ‘because it’s Darren’); but he has a legitimate reason! Darren was tired of no one taking him seriously. They all thought of him as a little kid. The strange hyperactive kid with a sword who was more likely to hurt himself with the sword or forget why he was there in the first place than save someone’s life. Which by the way were completely unfair accusations. He had only forgot where he was during an active crime scene once and . . . Okay hurting himself with his own sword was fair but there was a learning curve for a reason! (Just ignore he fact that he had adaptive muscle memory.)

Right. Darren wanted to do better, wanted to be better. To prove he could be a real hero. That he had what it took and wasn’t just some bumbling Australian ‘surfer bro’ with adhd. It’s just that in his mind that meant running around the entire world almost as fast as he possibly could. Running almost as fast as he could saving people before anyone even realized what was happening, stopping crimes before they even truly started, and just watching people. Trying to learn what it is the world does when they don’t think anyone is watching. Sure, when you’re moving as fast as he is the rest of the world seems to be at a standstill but somehow, somehow it didn’t matter. No one is going to say that Darren suddenly became a super genius or some social butterfly that completely understands social cues but they won’t be able to deny he got better!

They won’t be able to deny that he’s a much better conversationalist, actually able to listen to other people’s side of the conversation, that he doesn’t just leave when people are still talking, get distracted by the smallest of things like that butterfly over there, and definitely doesn’t forget to watch where he-WHAM!A deafening boom sounded out in the nearby area as the five foot six, one hundred and fifty-five pound boy ran smack into a steel enforced concrete wall running at about fourteen thousand miles per hour. The shockwave reverberated down and through the wall cracks forming along it for a good distance but luckily other than where Darren impacted it didn’t come crumbling down. Whoever had built this wall, building, or whatever had built it strong. Luckily for them Darren also had not been running near his top speed. For all those unable to perceive events at supersonic speeds the impact would happen the section of the wall would crumble and lying there would be a young man. Medium to long shaggy brown hair, shirtless, and a blue book-bag on their back trapped underneath some of the rubble. Seemingly still alive but unconscious.