Ether's Chronicle

The Little Big Hero - Part 2

Ether wasn’t afraid when Tonia told him he was going to die soon.

Ever since the power came, he’d carried that weight in his chest.

“I’m going to die young.”

That’s why he never planned for the future. Why he lived like there was no tomorrow.

And because of that, he always went the extra mile to help people.

If his time was short, let it count for something.

2 years ago. Street night.

Ether was coming back from football training. Legs dead. Jersey sweaty. Not in war mode at all.

Then he heard it.

A girl’s muffled crying from an abandoned building.

Inside: 4 guys. Planning to take turns on a minor.

Ether stepped in.

“Stop what you’re doing.”

They looked up and laughed.

“Who the hell are you?” the leader asked, spitting.

Ether straightened up. “I’m Rugged’s cousin.”

Big mistake.

Those guys were Rugged’s enemies. They’d been looking for payback since Rugged killed their number one at Itoko.

Rugged was a cult leader. Ether wasn’t. He just learned street ways to survive. He didn’t even know Rugged like that.

One of them brought out a gun. The other 3 pulled out axes.

“We’ll shoot you first, then cut you into pieces and send you to your cousin.”

Ether’s heart was pounding. He was tired. Outnumbered. Outgunned.

If he miscalculated, he was dead.

So he lied with his body.

He faked left. The guy with the gun fired right.

In that same second Ether went left, threw his backpack at the gunman, and dove out the window.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bullets chased him but missed.

He hit the ground running, straight to the hood.

“Where’s Rugged’s boys?!”

In minutes, the whole squad mobilized. They stormed the building.

Ether himself shot the gunman first in his hand. The rest scattered and escaped.

He pulled the girl out. She was shaking.

They had touched her before he got there.

That night Ether couldn’t sleep. He promised himself — “I will make them pay."

When Rugged came back, Ether told him everything.

“Leave it to me,” Rugged said. “But you need to know some things too.”

Back to now. Thursday night. SSS3. AVHS.

Ether hadn’t eaten in three days.

The people he was staying with had gone wild again, just like before. No food, no peace, just shouting and tension in the house.

But today was different.

He played football. Got a small money from the match.

For the first time in days, he had something in his pocket.

“I’m going to eat proper tonight,” he told himself.

He went straight to the roadside to buy food stuffs to cook for himself and his sister.

He was standing in front of Mama Kemi, picking fish, counting the money in his head.

Tomatoes. Pepper. Maggi. Maybe meat if it was enough.

Then

VRRROOM.

A car pulled up too close. 3 guys. Nose masks.

YEEEE! EJE!!!

The whole market scattered.

POW! POW! POW!

People were screaming, running, dropping their bowls.

The gunshots sounded like they went straight into Ether’s chest.

For one second, everyone thought: “They got him.”

But Ether blinked.

One second he was by the fish table.

The next second he was 10 meters away, behind the pepper stall.

Heart racing. Hands shaking.

His hyper-motility had kicked in on its own again.

He looked down at himself. No blood. No wound.

Just the fish in his hand and his heart beating like a drum.

The fish seller was on the floor, screaming. The car was already gone, tires screeching into the night.

People were pointing at him.

“Na him dem wan shoot o! Na miracle!”

“See as bullet no touch am! God dey with this boy!”

Ether just stood there, breathing hard, the 3-day hunger suddenly forgotten.

Tonia’s words were ringing in his head:

“I saw you in a gathering. In the middle of the day. Fire outbreak. You’re trying to help.

Ether... I think you’re going to die tomorrow.”

He clenched his fists.

If tomorrow was it... then tonight wasn’t.

And he still had work to do.