"Oh man," Phillip wheezed out, his voice sounding like a sped up cassette tape. "I can see the future. I can see through space and time. I am the Flash!"
"Boy stop moving!" Brandon yelled, his voice sounding slow and stretched out to Phillip’s supercharged brain. "You’re glowing like a lantern!"
Before Phillip could test his new speed by running up the wall, a loud smashing sound echoed from the shop upstairs.
CRASH!
The heavy wooden front door of the shop was kicked off its hinges, slamming against the floorboards with a thunderous bang.
"BRANDON!" a raspy voice roared from above. "Get your fat ass up here right now!"
Brandon turned pale as snow. "Oh no. It’s the Iron Bang Gang. They’re here for the weekly protection money!"
"Protection money?" Phillip repeated, his glowing blue eyes narrowing in pure amusement. "In my shop? I don’t think so."
"Don’t go up there kid!" Brandon panicked, grabbing Phillip’s arm. "The leader is Big Julian! He’s a level twelve mercenary with a giant brass warhammer! He’s killed three guards this month!"
"Level twelve?" Phillip chuckled, his entire body vibrating with static electricity. "Sounds like a target."
Phillip didn’t even use the stairs. He jumped straight up, kicking off the stone floor with so much lightning force that he shot right through the open trapdoor like a human cannonball, landing smoothly in the middle of the main shop floor.
Standing inside the trashed shop were three large, dirty men wearing heavy studded leather armor.
The guy in the middle was a six foot five monster of a man with a shaved head, a scarred face, and a massive brass warhammer resting over his shoulder.
Big Julian blinked, staring at the skinny servant boy who had just flown out of the floor. The kid was surrounded by crackling blue sparks, his hair sticking straight up like a frightened porcupine, and his pupils glowing bright yellow.
"What the hell is wrong with this kid?" one of the thugs muttered, pulling a rusted dagger from his belt. "Is he sick?"
"Hey big guy," Phillip said, his words coming out in a fast energetic burst. "You owe us a new door. That was solid oak and Brandon is going to make me fix it."
Big Julian stared at Phillip for a second, then let out a deep booming laugh that shook the dust off the display cases.
"Look at this little peasant!" Julian laughed, pointing his finger at Phillip. "Brandon’s house boy thinks he’s a tough guy! Listen here you little piece of trash, Brandon owes my clan four gold coins by sundown or we burn this hole to the ground!"
Brandon finally scrambled up the stairs, trembling like a leaf as he hid behind Phillip’s back.
"Julian please!" Brandon whimpered. "I don’t have four gold coins! I only have twenty silver!"
"Lie!" Julian snarled, raising his heavy brass warhammer. "Word on the street says you sold a jar of high grade mana dust to Master Geron two hours ago for hard gold! Hand it over or I start breaking bones!"
Phillip looked at the massive brass hammer in Julian’s hands. His static charged vision picked up faint yellow runes etched into the metal handle. It was an enchanted weight reduction rune, designed to make the heavy weapon feel as light as a feather to the wielder.
Phillip’s mouth watered.
"That’s a nice hammer," Phillip said, a wild predatory smile spreading across his face. "Lots of dense metallic mana in that handle. I bet if I grind that up with some sulfur, it would give me crazy skin density."
Julian frowned, looking deeply confused and offended. "What the hell are you talking about boy?"
"I’m talking about your hammer big guy," Phillip said, stepping forward. "I want to eat it."
"You’re fucking insane!" Julian roared, raising the brass hammer high above his head with both hands. "I’m gonna crush your skull!"
Julian swung the heavy warhammer down with all his massive strength, aiming straight for Phillip’s head.
Phillip didn’t even dodge far. He simply stepped to the left by two inches.
WHOOSH!
The giant brass hammer slammed into the floorboards right where Phillip had been standing, splintering the old wood and kicking up a cloud of sawdust.
Before Julian could recover his balance or pull the heavy weapon back up, Phillip was already standing right next to his ear. The crackling electricity around Phillip’s body made the hairs on Julie’s neck stand straight up.
"Too slow buddy," he whispered softly into Julian’s ear.
Phillip drove his right fist directly into Julian’s exposed ribs with the speed and force of a lightning bolt.
BOOM!
A violent shockwave of blue static exploded from Phillip’s knuckles on impact. Julian’s heavy leather armor shattered instantly into pieces.
The massive outlaw let out a high pitched gasp as his giant six foot five body lifted off the ground and flew backward across the shop, crashing through the display window and sliding twenty feet into the muddy street outside.
The two remaining thugs stood frozen, their jaws dropping to the floor. They looked at the giant hole in the front wall, then back at the skinny kid who was casually shaking out his glowing right hand.
"Anyone else want to pay their bill?" Phillip asked politely, his yellow eyes flashing in the dim light.
The two thugs dropped their weapons onto the floor, turned around, and sprinted out the ruined doorway as fast as their legs could carry them, screaming for the city watch.
Brandon stood behind the counter, his eyes wide and his fat mouth hanging open so wide it almost touched his chest.
"You... you knocked out Big Julian with one punch," Brandon whispered in complete disbelief. "He has a stone skin buff!"
"His buff was weak," Phillip said, walking out through the ruined doorway into the street. He bent down next to the unconscious body of Big Julian, picked up the heavy brass warhammer, and tossed it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Where are you going with that?!" Brandon yelled from the doorway.
Phillip turned around with a bright, terrifying grin, his body still sparking with blue electricity.
"I’m going down to the cellar," Phillip laughed, walking back into the shop.