Jarvis Light:, Nick Venom [most read books in the world of all time txt] 📗

do it soon in case that man reappears. Your power is too unbalanced and experimental and you’re too inexperienced to get into a real fight. Especially if it’s someone like you that has full control over their powers.”

Jarvis nodded. “I will.” He said as he took out the only box of cigarettes he had on him. He lit a cigarette before he inhaled and exhaled a big puff of smoke. He took several more puffs before he felt his stomach grumble loudly.

Andy smiled an honest smile. “Once you’re done with your cig, let’s go eat. That restaurant over there-” He started, pointing at a burger restaurant a block down from them. We should have enough for a small meal or something. We’ve only eaten free samples and leftovers the last couple of days. I’m surprised we’re still walking.”

“Well,” He started before inhaling and exhaling smoke. “You’re the one who gave the employee almost all of our money.”

Andy grinned. “You’re the one who destroyed his apartment.”

“Touche.”

Andy shook his head playfully. “Anyway… let’s hurry up. I want to meet with my aunt as soon as I can. Plus, we don’t know when we’ll see that man again.” Jarvis nodded, doing his best to finish the cigarette. Once he was done with it, they headed into the restaurant. Unfortunately for them,  they didn’t notice the pair of eyes fixated on them. “I found you… Jarvis.” The voice grumbled. “I need her back… so you’ll have to die.”

***

They entered the restaurant---known as Cross Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner---and headed to a booth against the wall. The booth they chose had small windows in comparison to the nearby booths. 

Both men sat down across from each other, facing one another. They ordered the cheapest thing on the menus before relaxing on the leather seats of the booth. They ate in near-silence for a few moments before they heard a few shouts and yelps coming from nearby customers. Then a loud shriek came from the television some distance from them. They looked up at the television, watching as a female news reporter spat out many details about a high-casualty event.

“-to our witnesses, a semi-truck flipped and managed to cover all lanes and prevent traffic from moving forward. The semi-truck flipping came out of nowhere and many drivers weren’t given enough time to avoid it. Most collided with the semi while those that didn’t damage their vehicles or crashed into other vehicles. The current casualty total is in the thirties, but it’s expected to climb as efforts to clear up the pile-up are still ongoing.” The reporter explained.

Jarvis shook his head. “Crazy,”

Andy nodded, staring at the television. “I wonder why the semi flipped? Especially to block all the lanes of the highway. Doesn’t that… seem kind of strange to you?”

Jarvis nodded. “Maybe the people who did this to me are behind the pile-up.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Andy remarked. “They kidnapped people and did stuff to them. A pile-up would be easy work for them.”

Jarvis nodded, his eyes engrossed by the report. The reporter continued taking as images of the pile-up were shown. “Today, we pray for the families that lost someone today and those still missing. Police Chief Lanson has declared that he’s using up all available resources to deal with the pile-up and ensure that the people missing are found.” The images then disappeared and the weather report appeared. The reporter was switched out for another reporter, now telling the weather of Chicago and the other cities and towns in Illinois.

Jarvis looked away from the television. He looked at Andy, who stared at him with curious eyes. It looked like he had something on his mind.

“What’s wrong?”

“You already know my plan, but… I never asked about what you’re going to do. If my aunt lets me in, do you want to stay with me or do you have… relatives?”

Jarvis shook his head. “Not that I know of. It was always my parents and me. They had no other kids aside from me.” He explained. “Even if I do have relatives… They would be pretty embarrassed by me.”

“Why?” Andy asked.

Jarvis furrowed his brows before pointing at his clothes, full of dirt and holes. “Not what a normal person would be wearing voluntarily.” He cracked a small smile. He placed his intertwined fingers on the table, his nails digging into his skin. “My parents had high expectations of me. They wanted me to follow my dreams and be the best person I could be. Ha!” He exclaimed. “I never dreamed about living in the slums with a cigarette addiction, a gold-digging ex-girlfriend, and crazy powers.” 

Andy nodded, biting his lip. He shook his brain for the perfect words to console Jarvis. However, even shaking his brain for eternity, the words would never materialize in front of him.

“Well… if anything, I’ll… Maybe I’ll wait for my unemployment check. It should be coming next week.”

Andy shook his head. “What will you do until you get the check? Plus, wouldn’t it be shipped to the hotel? You’ll have to go back and get it from the employees. Who knows if the owner of the hotel charges you for the broken room.”

Jarvis bit the inner part of his cheek. “Y-You… You’re right. Then what should I do?”

“Stay with me and my aunt if she lets us. Otherwise, maybe she could give us some money and we’ll rent out a hotel room. We could do some odd jobs or something until we get proper jobs.” Andy suggested.

Jarvis nodded, soaking in the information. “That… sounds like a good plan. Just one thing - why are you helping me? There has to be something in it for you. You can’t be doing this just to be nice, right?”

Andy smiled. “Jarvis?”

“Yeah?”

“We are good friends, no?” He asked. Jarvis nodded. “Then let me tell you the true reason. I-” Andy started but was interrupted by the sounds of air being cut into. Andy, Jarvis, and many of the customers and staff looked around for the cause of the sounds. Their heads went around in a circle to identify the cause, but nobody could until the sound was too close to ignore. A man, who walked in from a backdoor, entered the main room of the restaurant. The black-skinned man was closer to being middle-aged than young and had fading blue hair to prove it. He wore a leather blazer with a black tee under it. And his jeans were ripped at the knee and his black boots stopped over his ankles. 

The man walked into the room with the swagger of a killer. He didn’t flinch at the sounds of girls shrieking and people yelling at him. He glanced at them, his tinted shades preventing anybody from seeing his eyes. However, everybody could see the wrinkles on his forehead and the large scar across one cheek - and blue veins popping out of his neck. 

“Excuse me, sir. You’re not supposed to be coming from the employee’s entrance. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” A staff member told the man. “If you refuse to leave, I will contact the police.”

The man scoffed at the staff member, brandishing a metal chain from his belt. He grabbed one end of the chain, holding it threateningly. The staff member retreated a few steps, glancing around for somebody else to deal with the man. 

“You’re not my target… move away.” He growled. The staff member stumbled out of his path, shaking at the man’s aura. He felt like he was going to suffocate because of the man’s intimidating aura. 

Now with the staff members and the customers deciding to not intervene, the man was able to press forward. He stopped in the middle of the room, looking around for his target. He noticed that one of the staff members, one of the cooks, was smashing numbers on a phone but ignored him. None of the staff members was his target. 

“Where is… Jarvis?” The man’s voice boomed.

Jarvis’s eyes widened. He looked away from the man and Andy followed suit. Neither of them wanted to be recognized by the man who had malicious intentions. 

The man continued to look around for Jarvis, but couldn’t find him easily. I need to find him! Otherwise… they’ll harm her. Damn you, Jarvis. Appear and let’s get this over. He thought to himself before flooding his mind with the appearance of Jarvis and what he was wearing the night he was captured. All of his information was given to him by Death Trooper and Arin.

“Where are you, Jarvis? Appear or I kill everybody here.” He remarked, gripping the chain in his hand tightly. The threat wasn’t empty.

“What do I do?” Jarvis whispered to Andy.

Andy bit his lip. “I… I don’t know. He must be with the people who kidnapped you. But we can’t let innocent-”

“You two.” The man growled. Jarvis and Andy turned to face the man, who was smirking at them. “One of you is Jarvis, I presumed. The other isn’t.” The man muttered, going over the information provided to him about Jarvis’s appearance. Unfortunately for Jarvis, he was still dressed in the same clothes from the previous night, allowing the man to deduce which of them was his target. 

Andy’s eyes widened as the man approached them. He had control of one end while the other end dragged behind him. However, it quickly shifted from being dragged on the floor to scrapping against the ceiling to striking the table. The swift attack split the table Jarvis and Andy were eating at in half.

“Woah, what the hell!” Jarvis exclaimed, shooting up from his seat. He stared at the man with horrified eyes. “Who are you? Why are you after me?”

“Ironix,” Ironix muttered. “Don’t worry about why you’ve been targeted. Come with me peacefully and nobody dies. Otherwise, there’ll be a massacre.”

Jarvis bit his lip, contemplating his options. He didn’t want to go peacefully and give up his freedom to the people who kidnapped him, but he didn’t want bloodshed. Especially innocent people’s blood.

Andy, meanwhile, watched Jarvis’s face and saw him hesitate. He’s going to give in, right? No, don’t do that! But… what about the others? They’ll die if he doesn’t go with Ironix. He thought to himself, bitting hard on his cheek. Wait… could he fight back if they were outside and the innocents are evacuated. That’s a genius idea! Andy glanced around for a way to push Ironix outside, discovering it with a nearby fire extinguisher. He looked up at Ironix, who was glaring at Jarvis and waiting for his answer. He wasn’t paying any attention to Andy, who he considered as not of importance. This created a golden opportunity for Andy, who dove forward and sprinted for the fire extinguisher. The staff and customers watched with fear as Ironix turned around to deal with Andy.

However, Jarvis made up his mind and attacked Ironix before he could attack Andy. He fired off a blast of raw energy that smacked into Ironix’s back. Although the energy was enough to burn through his clothing, Ironix was dealt no damage. 

Ironix turned on his heels to face Jarvis with a large grin on his face. He swung his chain at Jarvis, nicking his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter to me how you die, but… you can’t say I didn’t give you a chance.” He muttered as he went for a second strike. The strike saw the chain piercing Jarvis’s left side and digging into it before being yanked out. It left a shallow wound in its wake. 

Meanwhile, Andy grabbed the fire extinguisher and turned to face Ironix. He glanced at the staff and customers, who were all huddling under their tables or in corners. “Get out through the back!” He whisper-shouted. One of the staff members nodded and began to move people from their tables and shuffle them through the kitchen and out the backdoor. They did this as quickly as they could while the battle raged onward. It was quickly leaning towards Ironix’s advantage as he was able to keep his distance and