Mayhem's Beginning (Everybody Changes)

Chapter 23: The Bird

Teleporting really came in handy in moments like these. Combined with my accelerated vision, the two gifts were really a dynamic duo. With such an ability I was able to escape the corner the men had me quarantined in and ended up behind them. Green smoke hugged the wind and ascended to the moon as the men were scratching their head in confusion. I was only going to get that element of surprise once, so I might as well take advantage of it.

 I wrapped my fingers around a guy’s skull, pulled downwards with all my might, and slammed his head into the side of a dumpster. His body became Jello as I could sense his every muscle go dead. He toppled over like a Jenga tower as I hoped I didn't kill him.

 Did I just do that? Did I just act violently on someone else and not completely freak out?

 A guy charged at me from behind and tackled me against the dumpster. He managed to get a few hits against the back of my skull before I turned into smoke and escaped his grasp. I honestly didn't know what to do next. I'm not much of a fighter, and the only time I was able to win fights is when I had a weapon in my hand.

 SMACK! A fist slammed across my jaw, my feet losing grip of the ground as I landed on my hands in knees in the snow. I needed to act quicker than that or these four men will kill me. Wait, four? What happened to Jackson? He must have bailed while I was distracted with one of the other guys. Damn it!

 I poofed behind the guy who punched me and pushed him towards a cinder wall. Turning into smoke again, I was now in mid-air swinging my leg into the back of his head. His skull slammed against the wall as he hit the floor.

 Poofing again, I was crouching behind another man grabbing onto his ankles. I literally pulled his feet out from under him. He was struggling to stand back up by the time I teleported to the side of him with a leg fully stretched backwards. I swung with all my might, my foot coming in contact with his head, as I heard the man groan and watched his neck sweep to the side.

 Two left.

 They began approaching me cautiously as I contemplated every move that was possible. It was almost like a game of chess, except I was the King and they were about to checkmate. Since the two of them were so close together it would be hard to do a teleport attack. They have seen all my moves and they would know what’s coming. I can't just charge up to them or they would surely have my head.

 Someone grabbed me from behind, it was one of the guys who I thought was done for. I struggled to get free, but the sudden attack had startled me. I was uncertain of what to do, of how to escape, I completely forgot about my abilities.

 The two in front of me rushed without hesitation.

 They jammed their fist into my ribs, my gut, and across my face. The guy holding me had my arms over my head in some sort of inescapable master lock. Lifting my legs, I kicked the two away from me and let gravity pull me downwards onto the floor.

 I used my ability as I found myself in the air gripping onto the side of a fire escape. Just my luck, the metal it was made out of was wet and the force of gravity caused it to slip through my fingers. I was now tumbling towards the ground, landing on my back in a groggy and vulnerable state.

 Without hesitation the three made me into a horizontal punching bag. I lie in the snow as they pounded with brute strength, and my body was slowly starting to die out. Even with my new gifts I had limits, limits I was going to have to overcome. Well that is if I ever do get out of this situation. My eyes started to close as I felt the life being drained out of me. Blacks dots began clouding my vision.

 It looks like this is it. I let my rage and my thirst for revenge get me in this situation. This whole thing was my fault.

 Then I remembered what Dahlia told me.

 “You were there for me more than anyone else was.”

 Tears welled in my eyes now that I was actually so close to death. I've always dreamed about being dead, as I pictured the world would be much better off without me. Unfortunately, when being so close to becoming a corpse your whole mind set changes. In moments like these is when you start to think about what you actually have, appreciate it like it's the best thing in the world. I can't help but be upset about the things I was leaving behind. Dahlia, Bradley, Adam, Mrs. Clawstrike, Mr. Bonn, music. I even got Kate Gerrette to notice me and agree to perform on stage with Juilliard Jazz and I. It was all a waste wasn't it?

 No.

 I refuse to go out like this. I'm not going to leave my life behind and let everyone grieve over my death. I need to fight back. I need to help Dahlia, and I need to put on the best show New York has ever seen with Kate. I need to be there for Bradley and Adam who are constantly misunderstood. They need me, and now that I am seconds away from leaving this place in a body bag, or possibly on the Vulture's plate, I realize I need them too.

 Almost like a demon possessing my body, I felt this great surge of power rush through me. I couldn't stop teleporting, I couldn't stop flailing my arms, and all I remember was having flesh against my knuckles. For a moment I swear I had a green aura illuminating around me. All I could remember was seeing green, nothing but green. Then, I didn’t see anything. I blacked out. No memory of what happened next. By the time I came back to my senses, there was four men lying on the floor with bloodied faces. I clasped my hand over my mouth as I feared that maybe I had killed them. I knelt down beside a bald man and began giving him CPR. I couldn’t let these people die. Tears filled my eyes as blood drooled out of his mouth and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Oh no, what have I done? I’m a monster. I’m going to prison for the rest of my life.  I’m going to be put to death.

 Suddenly, bright lights came down upon me from the sky. How long have I been here? Is that the police looking for me? I looked up as I noticed a copter hovering above the alley I was in, and my only instinct after that was to run. Already taking up criminal behavior, I was beginning to make myself sick.

 The copter seemed to split into two vehicles, one a land vehicle that started picking up the bodies in the alley and the other an air vehicle that continued to follow me. This definitely wasn’t a cop, cops did not have technology like that. I was teleporting, attempting to get away from it, but it just kept pursuing me. I was on top of a roof running for freedom when a stick stabbed the cement next to me and let off a strong electric shock. Holy crap, these guys don’t want me dead, they want to bring me in live. That taser isn’t enough to kill me, but it is enough to knock me out cold. Perhaps it was Dr. Soran trying to catch me again. If so, he knows who I am, he could have caught me while I was in my home or something. Another stick with electricity landed behind me. Man, that was a pretty close one. If I was going to get away from this thing I was going to have to take advantage of my agility, jerk side to side and in random directions so it won’t be able to follow. Hopefully one of those tasers don’t get me first.

 I hopped off the edge of the building I was on, poofing to the next, then poofing to the building behind the copter. It tried spinning around to face me, but by the time it was half way there I had already teleported directly under it. A coarse voice yelling was what I could hear over the copter’s blades spinning. I was holding onto a handle underneath as a door on the side of the vehicle slid open and a man jumped out. “If you can’t find him I will!” He shouted, opening his arms to unravel his giant wings. My jaw dropped open as the Vulture flew in a random direction. He almost never left his den, well at least that’s what everyone says, and few have lived that have seen him in person. That very fact was enough to tell me I probably shouldn’t just hang here and watch him fly off. Even though him air bourn was much more graceful than people give him credit for.

 I teleported in the opposite direction that the helicopter was facing and made my way back to Dahlia’s house. When I got there I immediately ran into her bathroom to examine myself. Those guys did more damage than any high school bully could even imagine. Tracing my finger over my cheek bone and temple I began to contemplate how I was going to cover this up. Simple make-up surely can’t hide cuts and swelling. Then I remembered how easy I have it, worrying about how to cover up that I was just in a fight. I had just killed four men. Taken the lives of four guys who had families and jobs. The worst part about it is that I don’t even remember how I did it. My research told me nothing about seeing green and losing all control.

 What kind of sick freak was I becoming?