I stand alone

Footsteps echoed off the brick walls of the buildings, the night was calm and allowed the sound to travel unabated, Connor led the way for him and his date. She wore an elegant yet practical red dress that seemed to flow nicely behind her catching the dim light of the moon above. Being a full moon, it shined rather brightly over the city below.  

“How did you enjoy dinner Laura?” asked Connor as the two walked along the sidewalk all the while he did everything, he could not let his emotions show too much but despite his self-control he could still feel the butterflies fluttering around in his stomach.

The past few years have been like one long roller coaster with him and his brother carrying on the family line of self-proclaimed heroes of the city. Though he never thought it would happen to him he found Laura and the two have been inseparable ever since.

“I really enjoyed myself, I’m glad you were able to set some time aside for this dinner” With that she leaned her head against his shoulder and entwined her left arm with his right. Pulling herself closer to him to share in his warmth and bask in the aroma of his cologne.

“I’m sure Eric has everything in control so in the meantime we can just enjoy each other’s company.”

As they walked toward their destination the sounds of the city grew closer as they approached the more active part of town.

“I was thinking of maybe on our next date we can go somewhere out of town, somewhere green, full of life.” Laura said, her voice landing softly on his ears.

He had his own reservations about getting to far away from the city, since it was only him and his brother at the moment when their father passed away from old age much to the dismay of anyone who saw him as an enemy and would have rather done the deed themselves. As such if he went too far and something were to happen it could leave his brother without back-up and he could potentially lose his brother and he could not bear such a loss.

“We will see” he said as he leaned in to kiss her forehead gently and the two continued along their way before a shadowy figure stepped out of the alley way ahead of them.

“Good evening you two, you seem like such a lovely couple.”

That once fluttery feeling in his stomach turned into a churning sensation as he began to blame himself for taking this route and potentially putting Laura in danger. If it were him alone, he would hardly be worried at all since had dealt with much worse in the pass.

Then the sounds of other footsteps could be heard from other directions as they each took up position around him to prevent any escape attempt.

“You really don’t want to do this my friend.”

“Friend? I don’t think so friend, in fact I think we will be taking any money you have and what ever your girl has too.”

Connor held out his arm across Laura in a defensive manner as he could feel heart begin to race as the event was about to take place. Taking a quick look around him, he counted five of them, should be easy enough he thought to himself.

“Stay back” he said to Laura as she took cover behind a few trash cans against the wall. The lead man took out pistol and took aim for Conner.

“Last chance buddy, your money or your life” he called out as his fellow gang members took out weapons of their own. Two men took out knives and the other two had guns and took aim trying to scare Conner into submission, but it would not work on him. If he had any part of his usual suit on, they might recognize who he was and might even try to take this course of action.

Seeing no peaceful resolution to this conflict Connor reached for his side and pulled an object off a holster about eleven inches in length and the gang leader just laughed at his choice of weapon.

“What are you doing to do with that?”

Just then as he twisted it the motion caused both ends to telescope out forming a bo staff. It was then they recognized the weapon that a couple of the men took a step back. From what they heard of him and his brother as that he was not to be messed with.

Their leader however was not of the same mindset and fired his shot which Connors near superhuman reflexes deflected the bullet with his staff sending it off in another direction. The man’s eyes turned cold as he took aim again, trying to score a hit to his head. Firing again the bullet was again deflected with ease further enraging the man to fire off the rest of the bullets in his magazine and when none of them hit their mark he looked to his men.

“Don’t just stand there, get him.”

The two men with knives lunged first as he simply dodged out of the way and pushed them into each other knocking them to the ground stunning them momentarily. The remaining two brought up their guns and began to fire. Conner leaped into the air and over them landing on the other side drawing their attention elsewhere away from Laura.

For his part Connor was holding back, he kept with his other abilities that allowed him to dodge and deflect their attacks. He had been raised to respect life no matter who it was, and he was not about to unleash his full power against these men. The gang leader by now had reloaded his gun and started to join his men in firing at Connor who was not breaking a sweat in evading each shot. When first man had to reload his gun, he went in for a sweep under the leg and when he fell back, he knocked the gun out of his hand, it hit the brick all with a metallic clank.

Setting his eyes on the gang leader he began to head toward him with a menacing look in his eyes like he was about to snap at any moment.

“Get away” He fired again and like before the bullet was deflected. “I’m warning you” another round fired out of his gun and with a swift strike of his staff the bullet was deflected again. The man knew his gun was almost empty and desperation overcame him and fired again and as Connor deflected it, he was so lost in the moment that he had neglected to keep in mind where he deflected the bullet. It was not until the sound of a body hitting the ground that he turned to see Laura slumped against the ground.

Turning to rush over to her side, his face turned pale as he feared the worse. Lowering himself he picked her up a little to cradle her and she looked up at him with widening eyes and her mouth hung open gasping for air.

“Connor… I don’t… I … don’t want to.. don’t make me leave” As she said her last words, the last of her air left her and her body went limp in his arms. “Laura…” he said as he drifted off his voice cracking some as he tried to say her name. Gently lowering her onto the ground his gaze turned to the gang leader who started to run for his life. But he would not get far as Connor leapt up off the ground to catch up to him. He was holding back his abilities before but now that self-control dissolved as anger flooded his body.

With an outstretched arm he used his telekinesis to pull the man back toward him and his body was yanked back like it was on a bungee cord. He landed on his back with a loud thud knocking the wind out of him. Gasping for air the man stumbled up and watched Connor walked up to him and with a swift motion he called his staff to his hand and raised It over his head.

“No, please I didn’t mean to” his plead was ignored as Connor stuck him down without mercy. He stood there for a minute but the sound of others scrambling to their feet caught his attention and used his powers again and pulled them back to keep them from escaping. As they each tried to escape their bodies would not respond, like some external force was keeping them there.

“You’re not going anywhere” With little effort Connor dispatched the last of the gang leaving five bodies in his wake plus his girlfriend. He was too heartbroken to recover her body and found a bike that belonged to the gang leader and took off into the night.

The next day Connor went up to the roof of one of the tallest buildings in the city and just stood there contemplating the events of the day before. He could recall each moment in its finest detail as he tried to think of what he could have done differently to save her and then he came to one conclusion, to deal with it swiftly instead of holding back. His own hesitation killed Laura if he had acted promptly, he could have saved her life.

“Connor” a familiar voice called out behind him and did not bother to turn around. The voice belongs to his brother Eric.

“I can only imagine what you must be feeling right now but killing those men. Your better than that, to lower yourself to their level.”

Connor gazed out onto the city intensely as if were to try to catch it ablaze as his muscles stiffened up from the tense feelings running through him.

“Eric” he said his voice cut deep like a razor. “This will be last time you ever see me, don’t try to stop me.” Turning to face him Eric now saw the look on his face and stepped back at what he saw. His face showed nothing but contempt and anger. This was not his brother anymore, this was someone else, someone darker, more sinister.

“Because of our brotherly bond I will not do anything against you but if you ever step in my way, try to stop me from pursuing my new cause then you will become my enemy.”

“What is this cause?”

“Same as yours, but I will do what it takes to stop criminals at all costs, we’ve been too lenient on these people. I Can’t stand for that anymore; I must take matters into my own hands.”

With that he left Eric alone there on the rooftop to process everything that had just happened. He felt like he lost his brother, and that pain was too much to bear. And as he thought about the implications this had for both, he realized that this was only the beginning of something new, something bad, something that will alter the course of their lives forever. The reality his brother had now become his enemy and would be forced to fight him in the future. Eric felt his heart break at the idea that would happen and that it was only a matter of time till they had an encounter with each other. Looking out at the city scape he savored the temporary peace as it would not last long and he would have to confront his brother.