You run; your legs push against the ground, each quick step causing the wind to smash in your face, drying your eyes.

You can’t hear them anymore. You don’t stop thought; you slow down a bit, heeding the growing aches in your legs.

It seems you lost them. Still, you should make sure.

You dash ahead and jump; you extend your arm and latch on light post, letting it redirect your momentum for a second before you let go, running full tilt down a blind alley. You grit your teeth and, pushing off the floor with all your strength you run one, two, three long steps up the alley’s wall, grab it from the top and pushing yourself over.

You have a second to look down at the piles of boxes and thrash you remember not being there last time, before a feeling of vertigo warns you that this may not go well.

You land on your feet on an old box which immediately crumples under you with a ‘crunch’; you lose your footing and fall on your arms, which you barely managed to lift to cover your face.

That sucked. Anyway, you’re safe now; you gingerly pull yourself up, wincing as your left elbow throbs but otherwise feeling just fine, if a bit winded.

After checking that you have no serious injuries to speak of, you sit back down on the floor and take a bottle from your bag, drinking from it and catching your breath at your leisure, congratulating yourself from getting away from the ‘Golds’; stupid name.

Not five minutes could have passed before you hear footsteps; lots of footsteps.

With a bit of dread, you remember a little detail; just to make sure, you lift one of your feet and look at the sole of your shoe.

“Now this sucks” you say; the sole is covered in ugly, fresh yellow paint.

You stand up and walk away from the wall as quietly as possible, hoping they won’t hear you and just go away.

“Katsuo!” yells a low, very annoyed voice. “Next time you hide don’t leave a trail! Now get over here and we can do this quickly!”

“Sure goldie!” ugh, you’re bad at name calling, “I’ll be right over!” you said as you walk away, slowly.

“You better do if ya know what’s good!”

You frown, “And what you gonna do if I don’t?”

You can hear the smirk on his face, “I don’t have to do anything! They, on the other hand…”

You actually pay attention to where you’re going. “When the hell did you two get here?!” you say, surprised.

One guy stands some five meters in front of you, holding on to an emergency ladder while catching his breath; there’s also a girl standing a bit closer, glaring at you.

They are both covered head to toe in yellow paint.

“You going down, punk” she says, cracking her knuckles.

You try to salvage the situation. “What for? Doesn’t the color fit your theme?” You’re not at your best today.

The guy snickers between breaths, though. “It’s a bit too… dull… don’t you… think?”

You smile and open your arms “I’ll make sure to add some shiny sparkles next time”.

She slaps the guy on the back of his head without looking. “Last chance, shit-face” she says threateningly.

He takes her by a shoulder and shakes his head at her. “None of that” he looks at you, “we’re not here to hurt you, man.”

“You’re not?” you ask, surprised.

“Nah, we want to help ya, man.” You don’t like where this is going. “Look,” he shows you his palms in an unthreatening manner, “we want to help ya. I know we don’t look like it sometimes, but we’re good guys, okay? It’s just…” he sighs, “people like you, people with secrets and what not, tends to get in trouble, you know? And they also tend to get US in trouble, which is our problem. So why don’t you come with us, we have a chat, and you get that weight off your shoulders, man. We want to help you.”

Well… That’s a speech. And now he’s looking at you, expecting an answer. You sigh tiredly, trying to stave off a sense of uncertainty and maybe a little fear.

No. There’s no time for that; you sure as hell won’t be spilling your guts to them, local vigilantes or nor. In fact, that’s what started this little chase: they saw something they should not have, even if they didn’t realize it.

You close your eyes for a moment and take a deep breath.

Your moment of relaxation is interrupted by a loud ‘thud’ coming from behind; you’re surrounded.

You open your eyes.


[ ]


In Character knowledge: If things get too though, you can fall back on your 'ability', which allows you to 'look' at possibilities and to choose one of them, so it will happen. This puts enough strain on your brain to make you pass out more often than not, so you only ever use it with very good reasons (and with a very good write-in); don't rely on it.
If the description is confusing, it's like a split-second Marble Phantasm, but it only allows you to change reality in already feasible ways.