Chapter 360 - 360. Recycle

Unsurprisingly, the school did not open on time. The students all received calls that the vacation had been extended an additional week so that the teachers, staff, and students could adjust to the damages done to the city. There were also some minor damages to the roads and transportation systems that were blocking some students from returning to school on time. Art had already put in a request of someone that his family had hired to find the perfect mansion. 

Since his older brother had been injured, Art had received access to his bank account and was able to act on his own more. It wasn't clear if this was his brothers' call or his parents. Art didn't seem to mind though since he was able to do something that would help his friends and even his parents. Although, his parents were staying in an undisclosed residence guarded by hero corp since they were two of the researchers targeted by the villains. 

The city had taken this chase to remodel some of the older structures that had taken damage. One of the structures in question, the train system. The subway and above ground trains were widely used but always so much so that they were in desperate need of repair. Therefore, the city closed the trains down claiming that they needed the free space to properly complete repairs. Most citizens were ecstatic hearing this since they would all have a week away from work and such as well. 

"We end up with our week long break anyway. What do we want to do?" Cara was sprawled out of the couch. Her, Asher, and Art had done the normal work out in the morning and found that everything was more or less closed. The entire city was basically on vacation or too afraid to leave the house. The only good part was that there were many heroes patrolling with law enforcement agents. This was good since Art and Asher had already started a list of the popular heroes they had seen. 

"I've been having fun hero watching but they haven't come by in a while. Maybe we should jog over to get everyone else?" Asher tossed the idea out there. He knew that Jane had already sent him a message saying that she was spending the day bonding with her family since she had missed spending time with them lately. She also mentioned that tomorrow she and Asher should go for a jog just the two of them. This made Asher pretty excited which in turn made the current day pass by slower than molasses. 

"I think I should practice my super powers today. I have to make a breakthrough and strengthen my will. If I don't I will never be able to do what my brother did. He literally made stairs at the Riktor tournament. I can't do that yet." Art had been thinking about this since they had gone on vacation. His goal was to completely surpass his older brother as soon as possible and his super power was going to be the deciding factor. 

"Then why don't you head to the recycling center and volunteer? It is a good way to build your community connections, you can use your super powers to try and separate metals, and Asher can carry the cans that won't be able to be picked up by the regular recycling truck because of the roads that are being shut down" Asher and Caras' mother came in to the room holding two large bags of cans. They had always recycled in their home and since this was the once a month recycle pick up, it was taking up space. 

Asher could see that the look on his mothers' face said that they did not have a choice. If he refused now he would be dooming himself to weeks of grounding and potentially even worse consequences. This was the power of a mother. The mothers' intimidation glare. 

"Of course we will. Asher, Art. Let's go!" Cara knew the look well and jumped up to put on her shoes to go. 

"Perfect, also on the way back pick up something for dinner. The grocery store is closed on this side of town so the convenience store with their mini grocery corner is our only hope of fresh carrots this week." The look of shock was a little dramatic but enough to make sure that they heeded her words. 

"You know I will find the best for dinner tonight. Chicken and carrot curry? Might be the wonder." Art was already thinking of dinner ideas as he was dragged out the front door by Cara. Asher had grabbed the two large bags of cans and was right behind them. 

"Well, mom's not wrong. But why am I the one that is carrying the cans? You two could take one bag at least." Asher's grumbling was clear. 

"Because, if you take them then I will be able to make sure that Art doesn't wander off to just buy groceries now and start cooking at the house. We both know he would." The look Asher and Cara shared spoke volumes. They knew that Art would totally do this. 

"You two doubt me so much. I said I wanted to train my super power and this is a perfect way. I need to practice in the metal in the recycle center so I can see if there are any metals that I have any more trouble manipulating. I haven't actually experimented with the different ones yet." It was unfortunate that Art had really on practiced with iron and lead. The steel he had manipulated was also minimal which put him in an odd spot. 

"Do you really think you would have trouble with other metals? I think you will be fine." Cara was less believing that there would be an issue. She was able to manipulate most sounds freely to a degree and that was the only thing she could compare Arts' super power to. 

"I kind of agree with art here. What if there is a mess of metals mixed in to an alloy or just crumpled together? He can't use the same amount of mental effort to move in as he can to move steel. One is lighter and weaker overall." Asher had taken notes of the chemistry lessons Art had taken along with the academic app. The periodic table explained it all and with a little thinking, he realized that manipulating the metals would have different requirements. 

"Exactly. I would be crazy to move aluminum and tine the same way I did steel. My super power is pretty much using another muscle. I have to train it not to crush a soda can because I used too much force since I expected it to be like steel." The comparison to a muscle was the best Art could come up with. However, it was simple and fit the situation. He used his mental strength like a muscle. 

"I guess that fits. I use mental strength too but for me, the sound is constantly in my head a little differently. It is better described as having an invisible amplifier and dampener for music. I can turn it up to different frequencies and volumes or turn it down." Cara had always compared it to music since it was the best medium for music. She had messed around with the electric guitar sounds before to create a few interesting effects. 

"And I am the lucky winner who has a super power that is literally always in effect. I can cause generic bad luck everywhere I go like that guy over there whose dog just peed on his shoe when he wasn't looking. But I also just stepped on a dollar bill so I am one dollar richer." Asher picked up the dollar bill then pointed at the poor guy who had accidentally stood too close to his dog when peeing. 

"I'm pretty sure you can't complain. You have gotten plenty of lucky breaks even though you might make things a little awkward sometimes. I totally believe you were the reason I slip so much in training. Yet, you always bring us in to the good luck you have too. I can deal with some inconvenience if I get to win lotteries and mystery prizes." 

"Art's right you know. You even use your super power to make opponents have worse luck. Do you think Tamara just happened to be next to the bonfire when it suddenly sparked up making extra light the other day? It was too sudden and too perfect for it not to be some outside manipulation." Cara had seen the moment clearly. The fire had been lower causing more shadows. But when Tamara stepped forward to move her shadows more the fire had blazed up where the was no breeze. It was the same as someone flipping a switch. 

"Ok Ok Ok. I hear you guys. But it would be nice to be able to direct it better. What if I accidentally call a group of people an enemy and think of it that way? It could end up with an entire group having terrible luck when one of them was my target." Asher raised an eye brow at the, until he noticed they had arrived at their destination.. "For now though, let's see how we can help."