I’m getting out of here while I’m still alive.
I started running through the apartment, checking each room for exits. The living room had a window that led to the alleyway where I snagged my hostage. The little girl’s bedroom window led out directly onto the street, so that wasn’t a viable option. The parent’s bedroom had a window that led onto the street behind the building. There were people gathering out there. I wasn’t sure who they were with.
“What are you doing?” My hostage asked. I stopped for a moment to gather my thoughts.
“Checking for exits.” I said.
“Why?” He relaxed his head and let it smack against the wall. An explosion ripped through the air as another vehicle was slung like it was weightless.
“There’s a Platinum out there and I’d rather not die.” I said. I ran back to the window to see what was going on.
“Aren’t you supposed to be a superhero or something?” He sounded very annoyed.
“I’d like to remain a living hero.” I replied while watching the scene outside. The gunmen had jumped on the turrets, but the Platinum had forced them to aim anywhere but at him.
Some of them were forced to aim at other vehicles, or at the Irish that were currently hiding out. Lots of them were shooting out of desperation. I could see even from this angle that the Platinum wore a smile on his face.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared of him.” My hostage started to laugh. “God, what a pussy.” He mumbled through the laughter.
“I don’t see you out there fighting him.” I remarked.
“I don’t know if you forgot or somethin’ but you snatched me from down there.” He had stopped laughing for a second. He wiped a little bit of sweat off his forehead. “Plus I’m not bulletproof, asshole.” There was a little bit of spite in his words.
“Tell me about the Platinum.” I asked him in a serious voice.
“We were warned about him. Flynn didn’t actually think he’d show up though. Dude’s named Alistair. One of the younger ones but really strong. He’s a telekinetic.” He rambled. I’d just now noticed he sounded a little buzzed. They must have given him something to take the edge off.
“I’ve noticed. Anything else?” I asked.
“He needs to see it to move it. They told us to aim for the back of the head.” He explained.
“He’s got guards behind him.” I said.
“Then you’re fucked.” He laughed.
Alistair moved forward a little and chucked another vehicle. Some of the foot soldiers that were hiding sprung out. They took aim at Alistair. He looked over at them and simply raised his hands in the air. As if weightless, they were all flung straight up to the sky. A few didn’t get lifted up at all, and Alistair’s men took aim and shot them in their heads.
I saw some of the ones above struggling, some fired off their guns. After a handful of seconds they were well above the height of the building. Alistair let his hands drop and so did they. I heard wet thuds all around. One even fell down the alleyway in front of me.
“Think I should go help my buddies?” The hostage laughed.
“Want me to lower you down?” I asked. Alistair started picking up his pace. He flung vehicle after vehicle through the air.
I caught sight of one being chucked in my direction. In what felt like a millionth of a second I bolted through the room, yanked the hostage by his collar out the front door of the apartment and down the hallway as an armored vehicle smashed against the building hard enough to shake the ground. I tossed the hostage onto his back.
“Don’t move.” I said. He nodded his head and swallowed.
I dived headfirst out the window at the end of the hallway. I grabbed the staff and searched for a building to shoot for. In the corner of my eye I spotted a nice platform to land on and catch my breath. I shot the hook out and before I could process what happened I was slung forward and landed hard against the wall the platform was attached to. I moved my body into a crouching position and gave myself a second to think. Rain rolled off the hydrophobic surface of my suit.
The building I left behind exploded into light and fire. The force of the blast knocked me back against the wall as it punched me in the stomach. Glass turned to mist, and concrete turned into a fine dust. My lungs filled with smoke and ash. I tried to cough and only ended up choking myself on my own suit. I forced myself back to my feet.
Everywhere I go, people seem to die in droves.
Alistair continued marching ever forward with his entourage. He would raise his right arm and send a vehicle flying. He’d raise his left and the next would go sailing through the air like a softball. The men inside the vehicles tried desperately to escape. They were either shot on site by Alistair’s guards, or by other gangsters hiding in the alleyways watching for stragglers. I looked over at buildings to make my escape. There was no reason for me to stay here. I spotted one decently far from the chaos. I raised my staff and got my thumb on the button to leave.
Had I been paying attention I might’ve seen the sniper. The force of the shot knocked me back down. It was very deliberately aimed at my chest. My suit just barely stopped the bullet from killing me. I was flat on my back, trying to force precious air into my lungs. Then I couldn’t hear anything except a steady ring. I couldn’t feel anything except the rushing air around me. I think something hit me really, really hard because I couldn’t breathe at all. I had no idea how much time had actually passed when I woke up on the ground. I was staring up at the night sky. My ears were still ringing. Around me were flames, shards of glass, and cars ripped to shreds.
The person looking down at me was dressed in a funny looking silver tux.. He was pointing his rifle at the sky. He tilted his head as he looked down at me and asked questions. He smacked me across the face with the butt of his rifle, hard. My brain was already twisting and turning around inside the skull. After the smack I could kind of hear what he was saying.
“Who are you? You mute?” His voice was calm. I tried to stand up. He pointed his rifle at my face. “Answer me.” He said, just as calm.
“What is it?” Someone else asked a few feet away.
“Some furry or something. I think he might be deaf.” The man in front of me said.
“Just shoot him. He’s probably with one of the gangs.” The other man muttered.
I found myself at a loss for words. I looked at my hands and couldn’t remember how I got here. I tried my hardest to remember what had been going on but my thoughts were too shaky. The man didn’t seem at all disturbed by the fact that I was wearing my suit. Or that I’d seemingly fallen out of the sky.
“Can… Can you give me a second…” My head bobbed as I tried to keep myself from falling. I released the mask, and held it in my hand for a second. I turned my head to the side and vomited as much as I could onto the street. I forced myself to stay awake as I haphazardly put the mask back on and took a deep breath. “My name… It’s Jason… Not a criminal.” I tried to explain.
I heard a deep voice chuckle a little behind me.
“I’ve seen him before. He’s a local superhero. That blast must’ve given him a concussion.” A deep, eerily apathetic voice said behind me. Suddenly a hand put itself on my head. It only served to make my headache worse. “It’s alright, I have no interest in heroes. I’m hunting monsters tonight.” The voice said with a hint of humor. I looked up at the man. His hair was white as snow. His yellow eyes seemed fixed on me. He was smiling, completely shirtless, and his jeans were torn. There was something familiar about him that I couldn’t quite place. Three men stood behind him with rifles. They each had tuxedos. They looked like dorks.
“Not… Monster…” I mumbled.
“I know, don’t worry.” He said with sympathy, as he ruffled the top of my head.
The man took his hand off me. He stood up straight and tall as three men approached. They were all three wearing ragged clothes. One wore a beanie on his head and a bright red bandana around his mouth. The tallest had his face completely bare. He had a mustache and cold eyes. Blood dripped from a machete in his left hand, and he was wearing metal body armor.
“Antonio, I presume?” The White haired man sounded excited as he strode towards the men. The tallest man put his right hand out to shake. His hateful expression didn’t change even a fraction. White Hair accepted it and pulled him in close with a shake. “Glad we could meet.” He said as he held him close.
As he pulled away he kept his hand in the same place though. He flicked his wrist to the right and Antonio went sailing into the window of a nearby hardware store. He moved like a ragdoll through the air. Antonio crashed through the window without resistance.
“Do you still wish to discuss matters with me?” White hair addressed the boys that were left. The two boys with Antonio turned tail and ran. White Hair turned back toward me. He walked at a brisk pace. He lifted his palm and suddenly I was no longer on the ground. I was floating straight up. I was so out of it I couldn’t even tell. “Those explosions seemed to target you.” He said to me.
We were face to face and his eyes searched my body up and down. His right hand stayed frozen in place, seemingly pinning me to the air. He used his left hand to pluck something out of me. “The sniper took a shot at you.” He said as a piece of metal floated in circles around his open hand. “You’ve made enemies.” His voice was soft. “My siblings intended for me to die here. You change things, however.” He snapped his fingers and one of the tux men stumbled towards him. He gently lowered his right hand and I fell limp to the ground. “Remove your mask.”
The tux-man fumbled around in a bag he carried on his hip. I didn’t know if I should trust the creepy guy I’d just met, but I didn’t know what else to do. I detached the mask and let it drop between my legs. The tux-man was above me, shining a flashlight in my eyes.
“He has a concussion. Most I can do is give him drugs to relieve the pain and nausea.” The tux-man stated.
“Do what you must.” White hair responded dryly. The tux-man pulled out a bottle of medicine, and a bottle of water. He shoved a pill into my mouth, and forced the water down my throat.
“This should help with the symptoms. He really should rest though.” The Medic advised.
“We will see.” White Hair said. They drug me to the wall. One of the Tux-Men was talking to someone on a walkie talkie. The medic was watching over me. The other Tux-Man was standing guard.
“They’re willing to negotiate. They want you to bring him. Something about a bounty on his head. They want to meet on the overpass in two hours.” The Tux-Man that found me first, the one holding the walkie talkie, said. The smile on White Hair’s face grew.
“So they want me to sacrifice the hero for a truce.” White Hair stated smoothly. He held my mask in both hands. He stared blankly down at its eyeholes. “This is a complicated piece of work. You truly have a brilliant mind, don’t you?” He asked me. I held a thumbs up as I chugged down the water bottle.
How did I get here?
Then everything clicked back into place. I jerked up to my feet and moved away from Alistair. “Ah. You’ve returned to your senses!” Alistair said gleefully. “Good, we have a job to do.”
