Fusion

8. Death in the Family

A FEW WEEKS LATER...

"Ready?" Kino says.

"Always," I say enthusiastically. Kino, Violet, Chase, and I sprint forward and jump on the fire escape on the opposite building.

We climb and free run on the rooftops. We jump over pipes and boxes and parkour across the building and jump to the next roof.

We continue this for blocks. I can see the whole city from the rooftops. It's dark now and the lights of the buildings look like dazzling stars.

I can see all of Manhattan. I love this. We stop and sit for a moment to take a breather.

"I feel like the king of the world." I finally say after moments of staring at the whole city, the breeze hugging me.

"I know how you feel buddy," Chase says. "Give me a second..." He disappears in a blast of static. Wonder where he went...

"New York is amazing at this height," Violet says, wind blowing through her beautiful purple hair. "Wish I could stay up here forever." She smiles and stands, holding out her arms and letting the breeze flow past her.

"It's nice but sometimes I still miss my old home." I feel a tear swelling but I suck it up. "Every time I think of my old home and my parents it's hard to hold in my sadness."

Violet turns around. "I know how you feel." She turns and sits down next to me. Kino stares out at the city.

"It's hard not to be sad...but you always have me, and Kino, and Chase." She then hugs me and leans on me. Yesss... Jack try not to ruin the moment.

Suddenly, a puff of static sparks from next to Kino. Chase is back and has some food in his hand.

"Turkish delight anyone?" He says as he sticks the food in his mouth. "Just took a trip to England." He chuckles lightly.

"Show off," Kino says, smiling. Out of nowhere, I hear a man yelling.

"Help! Someone Please! I'm being-" he's cut off by the sound of a gunshot.

We all rush over to the edge of the roof and see a gang of about twenty people, a dead man lying at their feet with a bullet in his chest. We jump off the roof and land in front of them.

"You just killed an innocent man." My hand flares up with golden energy. "And you're gonna pay."

One of the gang members with a red bandana speaks out. "Who do you think you are punk?" He points his handgun at me. "There are twenty of us and four of you." I can see him grinning under the bandana.

"Fine. You asked for it." With that, I blast him with energy and he flies back into a trash bin. Chase teleports behind two men and electrocutes them while kino knocks another man out with a single punch. Lighting flashes and it begins to rain.

One of the members comes at me with a switchblade and swings towards my chest but I dodge it. Then I stun him with electricity and make concrete come up from the ground and hit him in the face. The rain comes down harder.

Then a crowbar swings faster than I can think from my left and smacks me in the face. Everything blurs and I feel numb on my face.

I stagger for a moment and shake my head while trying to focus. Then I see chase get slugged in the stomach and he drops. Violet and Kino are struggling with six thugs when one of them punches Violet in the face. The one with the red bandana aims his gun at her and pulls the trigger.