Lightning crackled from the tips of my fingers as I hung in the air above the city I loved, gazing down at the relentless parade of lights and sounds, honking and braking, the cacophony of the uninspired masses–
‘Hey, are you Lightning Boy?’
I turned around in the air, looking for who’d shouted that. A man on a nearby rooftop waved at me and I floated over to him, scowling.
‘It’s Lightning Man,’ I corrected.
‘Same thing,’ he shrugged. ‘Look – I got a business proposal for you.’
I rolled my eyes, sparks arcing through my hair. ‘Not interested.’
‘Hear me out, hear me out,’ he called as I started to float away. I paused.
‘Alright,’ he began, clearly excited. ‘I got three words for you.’
I crossed my arms. ‘Oh, this should be good.’
‘Super. Powered. Battery,’ he splayed his hands to accentuate each word, then grinned at me. ‘Clever, huh?’
‘I don’t get it,’ I frowned.
‘You’re made of energy!’ he chortled. ‘Free energy! You could undercut any power company on the market, blow the market for battery storage around Melbourne clear away!’
‘My power,’ I seethed, ‘was gifted to me by the great Sky-God Gathulema, so that I may–’
‘Yeah, yeah, help the needy, seize the wicked,’ the man fake-yawned. ‘We’ve all heard it a million times by now. But did the great Sky-God Gesundheit say you couldn’t make a buck on the side too?’
I stared him down for a good thirty seconds, arms folded. Finally, I let out a deep sigh.
‘No.’
‘There ya go!’ he smacked his palms together greedily. ‘Are we in business?’
‘What business?’
‘The… the commercial energy storage business,’ he frowned, elation dropping.
‘Oh,’ I laughed. ‘You mean, my business? Why would I need you?’
‘Now just a second, pal,’ the man started, getting angry. I held up a quieting finger and all of his hair stood up on end. Seething, he piped down.
‘Pleasure meeting you,’ I smiled. ‘Good luck with your next business venture.’