“I stole one.”
“Just one?”
“Yes, and the other device I gave you, the one that you can use to transfer your powers.”
“Let me get this straight. You stole the two devices and got out of Dodge?”
“I brought them straight here. I heard he was heading here, and I didn’t know exactly what his plans were. I still don’t. I thought if I could use the device on at least one person here, I might give your people a fighting chance.”
“But if he can make more, how is one of me a fighting chance?”
“I don’t know how many he has or what his plans are yet. You’re a good start, if we an get you up to speed.”
“How much more up to speed do I need to be?”
“You’ve barely scratched the surface, but you've done better than I expected under the circumstances. You have your young friend to thank for that.”
“What else do I need to learn?”
“Your other senses, for starters. I think you’ve had success with your hearing and smell, but you can have more control over those, and you sight too.”
“Sight? I never knew.”
“There is that, and you’re capable of way more speed than you realize. It’s all up here.” Mike touched Walter on the forehead.
“All in my head?”
“Yep. That's all that’s holding you back. Let’s start with your eyes. You can see objects farther away, or zoom down to see microscopic objects. It’s not as much of a physical trick as just deciding that’s what you’re going to do and doing it. Give it a try.”
Walter looked at a small hill about two miles away and focused his mind, and within a few seconds it seemed as if he was a foot away. He saw a snake crawl by and could see the details of the scales as if he was standing over it. He then came back to normal vision by thinking about it. He repeated the process with other objects farther away and then looked down and magnified the dust at his feet until he could see mites and other items normally not visible to the naked eye.
“Whoa, that is pretty cool,” he said.
“It seems you have the hang of it. Now, work on your speed. Fly to the ocean and back, and don’t hold anything back. As fast as you can.”
Walter flew to the coast and back, but he knew he didn’t go any faster than he had in the past. He took off again, this time clearing his mind and just letting himself go, and he was amazed. He was back in a couple seconds at the most.
“There you go,” Mike said, “Now do the same time, but with the east coast.”
After a few more tries, Walter found himself flying at speeds he only dreamed of before, crossing the entire country in a second, making a mental note not to cause any more sonic booms near populated areas.
“Now you’re getting it,” Mike said, “There’s only one other thing to teach you, and it might take more time to master, since I’m not exactly sure how to describe it.”
“Would it be how you managed to get in my house undetected?”
“It would be.”
“I didn’t think you had any of these powers.”
“I don’t. It was a one-off thing in my case.”
“How…never mind. I don’t think I need to know. How did you do that?”
“You vibrate your body so fast that you can pass through a solid object. I could explain the science, or I can just have you work on it until you can do it.”
“I vibrate my body and I can pass through things?”
“That’s how it works. You might want to try something small first. Like take that piece of wood over there and try to pass your hand trough it.”
Walter held his hand out and tried it shake it back and forth as fast as he could, but nothing was working.
“You’re not looking for a shaking motion as much as you’re looking to try to make much smaller motions. Vibrate your hand. When you get it, it will look like a blur. Keep trying. When you get the hand down, eventually you’ll be able to do your whole body.”
It took an hour of repeated attempts, but Walter managed to vibrate his hand and pass it through a piece of wood. Thirty minutes later he was vibrating his whole body, so it looked like a blur. They flew back home and when they got to the door, he did it again and passed through the door without opening it.
“What the…Walter…where’d you come from?” Franklin exclaimed when Walter appeared next to him.
“New trick I just learned,” Walter said as he turned around and opened the door for Mike.
“That’s some trick,” Kendra said from the couch.
“He showed me a couple other things as well. How’s your day been?”
“We had a good day,” Franklin said, “shot some hoops and saw my dad.”
“Whoa kid, how did that go?”
“It went well. He’s different, not the same man.”
“Prison can change people, or so I hear. Gives you time to think.”
“I think he’s been praying. Mentioned the Lord a couple times.”
“That will do it too.”
“Uh, guys, check this out,” Kendra said, turning up the volume on the TV.
“Well, it would appear I’m not alone,” Walter said a moment later.
Reports were coming in all over the country, a string of robberies by what appeared to be a super powered woman. There were two video clips showing her flying away at a high rate of speed.
“What all did she hit?” Walter asked.
“A lot more than that TV report is mentioning,” Franklin said, looking up from his laptop screen, “the Federal Reserve, a large chunk of gold from Fort Knox, several small banks and jewelry stores. Reports are still coming in.”
“That explains why things were so busy around here last night. Maybe it was a diversion to keep me tied down why she was out joyriding.”
“I think we know who is responsible,” Mike said, “Now we have to figure out what we’re going to do
