Currents

P r o l o g u e i s h

Thud.

Shuffle.

Jaiden's senses spiked as the sound of struggle traveled to her ears from below.

Her adrenaline picked up as her feet landed on the ground of a small alleyway. There, she spotted two buff looking men holding someone against the side of an apartment building. One had a small switchblade held up to the mans' face, the other threatening the man with the cliche 'give me all your money or else.' Nothing she hadn't handled before, mugging was usual in Jackson City and today was no different.

"Hey!" Jaiden called out, walking towards the two lowlifes, her feet crunching over gravel.

At the sound of her voice, the thugs turned to look at her. Both were dressed in all black, biker vests exposing their muscles, tattoos covering the noticeable flesh on their arms, and rustic jeans to complete the look.

"A little too early to be at this sort of thing, don't you think?" She ambled towards the goons, putting on a calm facade.

The two men shared a look before one of them turned to Jaiden. "This isn't any of your business," he said slowly, trying to sound more intimidating than he was.

"I could say the same to you." Jaiden looked pointedly at their victim.

"Get lost, kid, before we make you." The other man turned his switchblade at Jaiden. They both straightened their backs and buffed their chests to appear more imposing.

Jaiden tilted her head in response, "Was that a threat?"

"So what if it was?" The goons' voice came out low. The same man took a slow step forward, a man she was now labeling as Thug number One. He took out his own switchblade and with that Thug One, as well as Thug Two, were now interested in their new prey.

Their prior victim took this time to scramble away and hesitating to give Jaiden a look of gratitude, rush out of the alley.

Attention now on the menaces in front of her, Jaiden relaxed her stance. She took bold steps forward squaring off with the men with her arms crossed.

"I don't suppose we can just forget this happened and carry on with our joyful lives?" Jaiden asked.

In response, the thugs let out an annoyed growl in unison. They both immediately advanced on her, Thug One pushing her up against the wall and the other twirling his switchblade in the air.

"So I guess that's a no then?"

They weren't having it with her humor, and sooner than she thought the man holding her back to the building drew back his fist. Wrong move.

On reflex, Jaiden flattened her hand out towards the ground and with the movement, a strong gust of wind passed in between the two individuals. Thug number One's fist got caught up in the updraft and his fist curled back up into his face.

There was shocked grunt as he stumbled back clutching his nose, "What the hell?"

Jaiden pushed herself away from the wall and outstretched her hand, a blast of wind sending him toppling to the ground. Thug Two tried to get at her from behind, but Jaiden quickly turned around. Her arm did a tight circle to the right and as a result, the other goon did a full three-sixty before falling flat on his back.

Before the thugs could try anything, Jaiden raised her arms. With that, the heads of the two men simultaneously rose up, and together with her movements hit the ground again roughly as she dropped her hands.

Jaiden let out a small breath, looking down at the two unconscious bodies at her feet. Before she could move to do anything her ears picked up the sound of distant sirens. Jaiden glanced around, spotting the man she saved just a few moments ago with a phone in his hands gaping openly at her.

She grinned, sending him a thumbs up before adjusting her mask and sprinting in the opposite direction. Jaiden was gone before she saw him return the gesture, eyes still wide.

"Cool."