San Borgia is a small town. Like most small towns, everyone knows each other. Most of the students in this state college have known each other since they were in kindergarten. Sadly, JC is not one of these people. His family moved a few years ago, and he could say that he still feels like a stranger in the town. His colleagues often talk about topics that an outsider like JC would not understand. And that made it hard for him to connect with them.
That was until he met Joel. Like him, Joel is a newcomer in town. He moved just a year ago when his single mother found a job as the secretary of the new mayor last year.
JC met Joel in the cafeteria where he saw him eating alone. Upon seeing the new face, he can't help but approach the new guy. He was like that a few years ago. He won't let someone experience the same things he did.
For such a loner, JC didn't expect that Joel would be quite talkative and passionate about his hobbies. He's a conspiracy nut, you see. UFOs, lizard people, the Illuminati, he knows them all. But what sets him apart from the other conspiracy nutjobs is that he knows they are fake. He's more interested in the microcosm of culture that surrounded these conspiracy tales.
Jo's mind would explode when he sees that the supernatural he's marked as fake, turned out to be real after all.
---
It's a quiet Thursday morning and the bus hissed at it. JC pulled his backpack and trudged along the small public park on the way to the campus hall. On the way, he saw Jo by his usual spot. Under a lush white crabapple tree in late bloom. As usual, he's on his laptop watching an obviously fake video detailing an unexplained flying object.
"It's clear that it's just a reflection of the stars," he said while eating a peanut butter jelly sandwich. It's a habit of his. Giving commentaries even though no one is listening to him. JC thought that he should do a podcast or a vlog.
JC sat beside Jo. Still focused on the video he's watching, Jo greeted his friend.
"You wouldn't believe the shit that happened to me yesterday," JC said.
"Uh- huh... That's the northern star. I knew it wasn't light from an extraterrestrial spacecraft."
"I received powers that would let me paralyze people and take over their bodies."
"Sure... Sure..."
Seeing that he is way too preoccupied with the video, JC decided to do a live demonstration. He laid his palm on Jo's nape and secreted a minuscule dose of his paralytic secretion that paralyzed his occipital nerves. It's not enough to paralyze his entire body, but it's enough for him to jump at the sudden loss of sensation on the back of his head.
"Wha- what did you do? Fuck, my vision's getting blurry." Jo picked the laptop that he threw. Luckily, it wasn't damaged.
"I was saying that I received powers that can let me paralyze people and possess their bodies."
Jo laughed. Upon seeing the lack of rapport from his friend, his laughter transitioned to a scared chuckle. "Wait, you're serious? You're just pulling my leg, aren't you? It's like that prank of yours where you convinced me to go to Starling lake because of alien sightings."
JC remembered that one. Took him only 30 minutes to make an edited photo of the mysterious light above the town lake.
"Can't believe I fell for an obvious prank. But not today mister. Nah uh. What is it? Is it a spray? A numbing cream?"
"I told you," JC grabbed Jo's hand and sent another dose of his paralytic secretion. Jo lost all sensation and movement of his arm. His arm just fell to the ground like jelly. More than that. Like an actual jelly. It feels like his arm just lost its bones. Like it's hollow on the inside. If that is true, and Jo sure as hell it's not, where the hell did his bones go?
"What the fuck? Is this permanent? And what is this about possessing people?"
With that JC explained the events of yesterday. From receiving that mysterious package to the flow of instruction to his mind, and the possibilities that lie with his new powers.
"I've lived through numerous bullshit and I've debunked countless. But this? I don't know. Can't believe it till I see it."
"Fine," JC said. He looked at the clock and realized that it's Monday. He doesn't have classes until Wednesday since he crammed most of his schedule on Wed-Sat. Damn. He really thought about today's Wednesday. Nonetheless, he should see this stupid as an opportunity. He doesn't have anything to do for the rest of the day which opens up his schedule for an entire day of using his powers.