"Let me go! Do you know who I am—" a knife was an inch away from his neck.
The leader, a burly guy with a scar across his cheek, smirked.
"Oh, we know. Rémi Laurent, big-shot theme park mogul. Your competitors send their look out on you."
"This'll make it quick." Rémi's eyes widened in terror as the man pulled a syringe from his pocket, filled with some clear liquid.
"Sweet dreams." He jabbed the syringe towards Rémi's neck—But nothing happened.
The needle bent like against his skin but with no pain and no effects it went straight pass through like a ghost.
The man blinked, trying again.
"What the hell?" He switched to a knife, pressing the blade to Rémi's throat.
Rémi was stunned as he glances at his rolex watch glowing purple.
"auto defensive detector" Loki had covertly placed at the rolex 2 months ago.
It will automatically be activated if a harmful interaction was detected, protecting the person wearing it and nullifying any hostile intent.
One of the captors panicked, he firing a silenced pistol point-blank straight heading towards Rémi's head.
However, it was pointless, the bullet stopped mid-air, it bullet dropped to the ground like a pebble.
"This guy's protected!" He declares.
Gravitational barrier emerged surrounding Rémi.
Rémi, adrenaline still surging through his veins like electricity.
The black van came to an halt. Its doors hanging open from the chaos inside.
Rémi took the chance to escape, he kicked one of the dude blocking the door straight to the face.
He might be coward but he's extremely smart as a businessman.
The kidnappers—two still conscious—tumbled outside the car dropping, scrambling to their feet with wild eyes, glancing back at him like he was some kind of demon.
The leader remained slumped.
A wild thought bubbled up at his head from too many video games and that one Lyon incident where Loki had turned a wyvern to dust without breaking a sweat.
He stared at his hands for a few moments flexing it, "Lend me your power." He mumbled in a low tone.
Amazement overrode logic.
He focused on the van, still half-joking in his head, imagining an invisible force crushing it like a soda can. "Come on, squish."
His palm extended outward in a cool gesture, as if he was some kind of wizard.
Nothing at first.
The kidnappers froze, one reaching for a backup weapon. Then—a low groan of metal.
The van crushed with an immense energy force pulling it down like some massive foot stomped on it.
Tires popped, glass shattered, car compressing with a horrific screech.
Two of standing kidnappers barely had time to scream before the implosion hit them, blood splattering at the car and the surroundings.
Rémi's eyes widened, his still hand trembling. "Holy crap... I did that?"
He stumbled back, his heart pounding fast while staring at the wrecked car.
The sirens of police cars were close, red and blue lights flashing around as they get closer.
"But how? I don't have magic. I'm just... normal."
Unbeknownst to him, Loki's "auto defensive detector" wasn't just a shield
It carried a low extension of his power, a temporary infusion that granted people with magic in a moment of crisis.
Loki could imdue others with abilities, even those people without a single mana.
It was a whim he'd added during their shopping, "just in case" that Rémi had unwittingly tapped into.
The telekinesis wasn't Rémi's—it was Loki's gift, activated by intent and fading as the threat ended.
Rémi lowered his hand, a mix of awe and horror washing over him.
"Loki... what kind of human being are you?" His jaw dropped in shock.
Whatever Loki was, Rémi owed him more than money next time.
He went back to the train station running as fast as he can, hiding from the police as they arrived.
The platform inside the train station was empty.
The train's red lights were already shrinking into the distance, when suddenly an automated voice echoed behind him:
"Attention passengers, the 19:35 service to Versailles has departed…"
Rémi stopped, his hands on the knees, gasping for air. "No… no no no—"
He checked his phone. 7:37 p.m. Next train: 9:12 a.m. tomorrow.
Rémi stared at the empty tracks, then at the darkening sky. He let out a long, defeated sigh.
"…Guess I'm staying at Loki's place tonight."
He pulled out his phone, thumbs hovering over the screen for a second before he typed:
Rémi:
yo u still up?
train left
can i sleep on ur couch
i'll buy breakfast tomorrow promise
He hit send, then added:
Rémi:
also… wtf is that watch thing you gave me
i just crushed a van with my mind
explain pls
Rémi hold the phone in his hand and started walking back towards the 7th Arrondissement.
Somewhere in the distance, Loki oblivious to the fact that a completely normal guy had just accidentally become a one-man wrecking crew thanks to a bored god-tier being who probably didn't even remember casting the spell which is him.
Loki was standing in the canned goods aisle, lazily scanning the shelves for something that didn't look like it had been sitting there since the last kaiju scare.
His phone buzzed from the message Rémi sent.
He pulled it out with one hand, the other hand still holding a jar of Nutella he had no intention of paying for.
Two messages from Rémi, he read them once.
Then the corner of his mouth twitched upward without thinking, his thumbs moved across the phone.
Loki:
you can catch up to the train
just run
He hit send, slipped the phone back into his jacket, and continued down the aisle like he hadn't just told a completely normal civilian to supersonic-sprint after a departing TGV.
Rémi was still staring at the empty tracks, phone in hand, when it vibrated again.
He opened the phone. "You can catch up to the train just run."
He blinked. Then blinked again. "…Is he serious?"