Raindrops pattered lightly on the sidewalk, leaving the odd dark blotch here and there. Clouds had settled on top of the bustling city just before nightfall, blocking any fading light the sunset would bring. The early darkness and chilly rain had discouraged most from enjoying an evening out. The night air left goosebumps on anyone who was outside at this late hour. And very few people were.

Matilda was one of the few that were outside as the rain slowly dripped from the sky. She was walking down a particularly gloomy side road, the only sources of light a flickering street lamp and the neon sign of a small pub. Muffled music floated to her ears as Matilda strolled by. Catching a whiff of cigar smoke she wrinkled her nose.

Shoving her hands into her pockets for warmth, she continued past the stinky bar. She'd been tempted to go into a bar once, just to see what it was like. It sounded...interesting to say the least. But crowds, loud music, and air that wasn't really air anymore didn't suit her.

Sighing at the ground Matilda was about to start wondering why she didn't want to sneak into a bar like a normal 16-year-old, but she was interrupted.

From behind her she heard the loud and shrill squeak of the bar door being opened. Partially out of instinct and habit she glanced backwards. A young woman in a short dress and heels was walking across the street, not entirely stable in the tall shoes. She kept glancing back to the building she'd just come from, causing her long black hair to flip around.

Odd, Matilda mused. The pretty lady looked frightened, but the thin girl in the rain didn't know why until the bar door opened a second time.

This time three men walked out. The first was tall with broad shoulders; the stereotypical biker, tattooed arms and all. He sauntered out, eyeing the young women in front of him with a sadistic smile. Behind him came a thin man, equally tall but bony. Matilda could tell he was agile, just the way he held himself showed he knew how to move quickly. Beside him and the last to come out was another well muscled man, but short. All together, in their head-to-toe leather, it gave Matilda a sick feeling in her stomach. She knew they were after the woman.

Hoping she was wrong she decided to let it play out for a bit. If need be, she would take all three men down faster than they could ever hope to comprehend.

Quietly Matilda drew back against the nearest wall, partly concealed in the darkness. From here she could see but not be seen. Not that anyone usually gave her a look in the first place.

"L-leave me alone!" the woman slurred. She was obviously drunk. The next few steps she took backwards caused her to fall. "What do you want? I-I told you I don't want anything you're off-fferig!"

The trio of men moved forward, tattooed man in the lead. He called back, "We just wanna have some fun, baby. And we're not taking no for an answer," he said lightly, as if he were talking about playing a card game.

Fury bubbled in Matilda's stomach. She loathed people like the tall man, now in the middle of the street. People like him took whatever they wanted from whoever was conveniently close, and over the past few years she'd seen this happen too many times.

Breathing heavily through clenched teeth it took all her willpower to calm down and wait before attacking. They had to try to hurt the woman before she could really do anything to stop them. If she attacked without incentive, there could be legal issues to deal with later. And she knew she didn't need anymore of those. Cops didn't take, "But I just knew they were going to try to do something," as a good reason.

Leaning her head back against the cold and rough brick wall, Matilda breathed deeply. She tried to focus on the rain hitting her face, anything to take her mind off her anger. She didn't want to lose control now of all times, who knew what could happen?

A muffled scream reached Matilda's ears. Jerking off the wall she saw the men had grabbed the woman roughly and were dragging her into a nearby alley. She thrashed and screamed, stiletto shoes flying in opposite directions. All the men did was laugh cruelly.

"That's it," Matilda growled.

Launching herself down the street she felt her barely contained rage take over. There was no way she was holding back on these perverts.

Footsteps echoing loudly off the dark buildings lining the road, they mingled with the sound of the woman's screaming. Her heart thumped loudly in her ears, her breath came in a pant. Reaching the first shoe on the sidewalk she scooped it up as she ran by, not breaking stride for a moment. The short man was about to round the corner into the alley when Matilda yelled, "Heads up!"

She chucked the shoe at his head and looking up he received a face full of fake suede. He groaned and held his cheek where the shoe had struck.

Through clenched teeth he spat at her, "You little bitch. Who do you think you-" But he didn't get to finish.

The underside of the young girl's hands, bottoms of fingers included, had started to glow a pale, bright purple. As she had gotten within meters of the swearing man she had drawn her right hand back. With her palm facing forward she planted her feet and with a yell of fury had shot her hand out.

It was like a battering ram had hit the guy. Matilda heard the satisfying sound of the air being pushed from his lungs as he was flung back ten feet. He flew past the shadow filled entrance to the alley, and Matilda heard the woman's screams and the men's taunts go silent.

Not wasting any time she took off into the alley, bottoms of her hands still glowing. Standing in the middle of the entrance she took in her surroundings. The alley was a dead-end, with lots of graffiti on the stained walls. There was a sticky looking dumpster that wreaked of rotten food against the wall to Matilda's right. The entire place was one massive shadow, barely any light from the nearby street lamp made its way in. Matilda's palms were the only steady source of illumination. It was difficult to see and hear as the light rain started to pour down.

In front of her the two remaining men stood looking at her in shock. The woman was crying behind them, backing up as far as she could go against the filthy wall of the alley.

"You're all sickos, you know that right?" Matilda called. She moved into her usual 'ready' position. Feet staggered and slightly wider then her shoulders, right arm up with her hand in a fist, left one down with her palm flat and facing up. "By the time I'm done with you you're never going to look at a woman again."

Both men were still staring at her hands, but the burly one was the first to respond. It seemed his anger was stronger than his fear. "You think you can tell me what to do?" he pointed at her and laughed. Sauntering forward he continued, "You little brat! When I'm done with the cry baby behind me you're next."

The dark-haired woman gave a whimper, at which the skinny man hissed, "Shut up!"

"Hey!" Matilda pointed at him. "Leave her alone! If you're looking for someone to mess with I'm right here!"

The big man called softly over his shoulder to his partner, "Watch her while I deal with this one." Then he charged at Matilda. She should have been terrified at the bull-like man running at her, but she wasn't. It only made her more determined to teach him a lesson.

He swung at her head, which she nimbly bended backwards out of the way. He tried again but she ducked. Growling he attempted to knee her side but she stepped back easily. Never once did her arms move out of their positions.

She smiled, it was like his anger was rolling off of him in waves. Deciding to have some fun she continued dodging and evading, watching in twisted delight as the man got more infuriated with each miss. He aimed a kick to her torso but she fell to her knees and his foot sailed over her head. She rolled backwards, her back now pressed against the alley wall, right beside the big dumpster bin.

The man was breathing heavily and glared at her with such a fury that Matilda wondered if he had any emotion other than anger. The thin man took a step forward, ready to help his friend. Holding up a hand the panting man growled in his deep voice, "I don't need your help. Just give me your knife!" From a pocket a switch blade was produced, and as it was being passed from the skinny man to the muscled man, Matilda decided that she was tired of this. There was no way they were ever going to just leave.

So from her crouching position she waited until both men had some contact with the small knife before curling her hand into a fist. It was almost cartoon like, how their hands fell like weights to the earth. Panic engulfed them as they tried futily to lift their hands.

The thin man shouted hysterically, "Wh-who-how are you doing this?" as he tugged on his wrist.

Standing up Matilda answered, "Gravity, bitches."

Then in an instant she brought her hands to her right hip, put the heels together and pushed upwards. She felt the familiar pressure and resistance as she removed the gravity from the area the men were standing on.

With high-pitched screams they struggled as they became weightless and floated off the ground, hovering 15 feet above the wet and cracked pavement. The rain around them floated to, each bead of water suspended majestically in the air while everywhere else it continued to pound into the ground. Then snapping her hands back to her sides Matilda made the gravity return with more force then before, and with a loud thump the two men landed and blacked out. With a flash of purple Matilda's hands regained their normal light peachy colour.

Glancing around the alley Matilda admired her work. From outside the alley she could hear the man that had taken the shoe to the face groaning. He wouldn't be getting up soon. Neither of them would.

Seeing the crumpled men she'd knocked out she sighed. Muttering to herself about how annoying it was her conscience always made her double check, she shuffled over to them. Rain pounding on her back she leant over and pressed her fingers, none too gently, into their necks. Satisfied with the steady heartbeats she felt, Matilda stood up.

Next problem, she thought tiredly. What do I do with them?

Before she could even start to think, there came a slurred gasp from behind her. "A-are they dead?"

The woman was still backing up against the wall, thoroughly soaked, covered in dirt and other garbage, and hyperventilating.

"No, they're not dead," Matilda explained slowly. "Just unconscious. But I won't hurt you, alright? Are you okay?" She was about to start walking towards the terrified woman when she heard someone different speak up.

"Wooooah!" came a unique voice. Gravely yet still soft, it sounded in awe by something. And Matilda knew he was in awe with the scene of the alley. Without thinking she spun around, palms lighting up, and lifted the newcomer into the air.

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Put me down! I don't want to hurt you!" the boy shouted over the rain. His arms and legs flailed. He sounded sincere, but Matilda knew better than to trust blindly.

Taking a cautious step forward she called up at the now still boy, "Who are you?" She tried to see his face, but the night covered almost all of him in shadow.

"Put me down and I'll tell you," he suggested hopefully. "If I had wanted to attack you I would have done it while you weren't looking."

Valid point, she grumbled to herself.

The floating boy clasped his hands together and grovelled mid-air, "Let me down? Pleeeeeease?"

Despite herself, Matilda gave a laugh that was mostly just a snort. There was something about his playful tone of voice and comical gestures that she couldn't resist.

"Ha! You laughed! You have to set me down! But then I'll introduce myself," he promised. Squinting into the darkness, he added as an afterthought, "But I can hardly see you, come out into the light."

Gritting her teeth Matilda slowly returned the gravity to the boy's patch of sidewalk, and then he stood waiting for her outside the alley. Uneasily she walked forward tense and ready to act, palms still the glowing purple. She was furiously creating different scenarios in her head, along with escape routes and possible outcomes for each, but all was forgotten as she reached the edge of the darkness.

Standing in the faint light of the rusty lamp was a green boy. Green. At first that was all Matilda could focus on, that the boy in front of her was green. Green skin, green hair, and not to mention a small fang. But then she noticed his eyes. They were large, and such a beautiful dark green that they pulled her in. Before she knew it her hands had lost their glow and she was gazing wide-eyed at him.

Her heart did an unnecessary flutter when she processed that he was staring back, wide-eyed as well. Almost in a trance she stepped towards him. He seemed so...familiar. Like they'd met before but she'd forgotten him. How could I ever forget someone like him, she wondered.

She extended an arm and said breathlessly, "Hi."

A gloved hand, thoroughly soaked, slipped into hers and squeezed gently. "Hey," came his soft reply. She felt shivers that had nothing to do with the rain crawl up her spine. His short (and green, she couldn't get over that) hair was plastered to his head, water dripping in rivulets down his round face. He looked extremely cute, she had to admit.

They stood like this in the rain, just staring at each other, stuck in a perfect moment for too short a time before it was broken.

The piercing wail of sirens made both of them jump back. Matilda hadn't even noticed how close they'd gotten.

Suddenly in a panic, she looked behind the green boy to see blue and white flashing across the walls of nearby buildings. They were close. Much, much too close. Breathing heavily she whipped her head in all directions, searching for the best way to leave unseen.

"What's the matter? I won't let them hurt you!" the boy soothed. He grabbed her hand tightly, "Really, it's okay."

Turning back to him Matilda squeezed back quickly. "Sorry, but they don't like me very much," she hastily explained as she pried her hand away. Jerking her head towards the alley, she tried to silently communicate that there had been too many incidents like the one behind her.

Taking frantic steps back as the police cars screeched their way around the corner she shrugged her shoulders. "I'll-uh-see you around?"

Then Matilda took one last look at his incredible green eyes before turning and sprinting down the street. Dimly, she thought she heard him call something, but it was lost in the noise of the storm and the sirens.

It wasn't until she was 12 blocks away that Matilda realized she had never even learned his name.