Rise of a New Hero - Chapter 2

An Icon at Heart

Kien had been flying for hours, he loved the smell of the fresh air at high altitudes, not to mention the incredible view of the city from above. He'd been thinking about the girl he'd just saved and hoped she would take back her life, not throwing it away down the great Paragon City toilet, otherwise known as the causeway. He decided that he needed to find somewhere to sleep, not having anywhere to go to, but he somewhat liked being able to sleep outside where he could gaze at the sky. He saw a building with a slightly sloped roof that looked perfect for him to call it a night on. He flew down, found a space between two chimney stacks, and laid down. He looked up into the darkening sky, watching the clearing clouds break up and make interesting shapes. Eventually the coulds cleared over the hours, and Kien was beginning to doze off.

Three pairs of hands suddenly appeared over him, grabbing him and pushing him into the chimney stack to his left. His face got planted into the brick, and sharp pains shot through his head. He felt a sharp object against the back of his neck, obviously a knife that had a flat blade. He felt a drip come out of his nose as he realized that his nose was bleeding from the impact into the chimney stack, and he heard a gruff voice from behind.

"So you're tha one who busted up my pals in the park, eh?"

The voice was older, sounding like it was from someone who was big and bulky with muscles for brains. Kien heard footsteps that sounded hard and deep, as if they were resonating through the permacrete of the roof. He heard four other sets of footsteps, one of which was gimped, sounding as if the other was limping a bit. He figured the other four might have been the ones that he dispatched in the park where he rescued the girl, and they brought friends.

"Ya gonna fight back now, hero?"

Kien then focused, his martial arts training kicking in, and he moved his head to the side so he could get a bearing on his surroundings, as well as the Hellions trying to jump him. He saw that there were eight of them through the corner of his eye, not able to see any others.

"Boy, you guys sure chose a fair fight. Me against eight of you?"

His sarcasm caused the big one to fume, hoping that it would get them off their game, and unfocused. He wanted to get them as mad as possible, and as off the fight as he could. The big Hellion then stepped forward, clapping one fist against his other palm.

"You're in for a world of hurt buddy. The Hellions don't stand for those that interfere in our dealings."

Kien then concentrated, focusing his fire abilities all around his body. He then brought the temperature around his body up close to flash burning state, and twisted his arms to where he got out of the three other Hellions grips. As soon as he did so, a blast of concentrated fire cascaded outwards from Kien's body, the other Hellions screaming in pain and backing up as their hands got burnt. The big Hellion stepped backwards abruptly while narrowly avoiding the blast of fire, his vest and arm hairs getting singed, and he charged at Kien full force.

Kien turned quickly to face him and as the Hellion was within a few feet, he jumped up quickly, using his flight abilities to accelerate his jump. The Hellions speed caused him to smash into the brick chimney, and missed Kien by a few inches. The bricks crumbled, and the Hellion went flying off the roof, surprisingly not screaming. As he landed back on his feet, the other Hellions formed up on him, their homemade weapons at the ready. They didn't attack him however, and a rythmic rumbling began and got louder and louder. Kien kept his eyes on the seven Hellions, but his trained hearing knew something wasn't right. He could feel a vibration that was getting stronger, and the Hellions stepped back. In a blast of concrete and brick, the Hellion brute jumped through the roof, landing in front of Kien.

"Yo gonna pay for that, hero."

The Hellion then charged at Kien again, and Kien tried to dodge by going into flight, trying to go over his head. Instead he got a punch to the stomach as he flew up and over, the Hellion having jumped up into him. Kien keeled over from the pain, being not nearly as tough as the brute. He found himself dazed and falling, not knowing which way was up. It felt like his insides had turned to mush from the impact, and the pain was unbearable, feeling like several of his ribs had been shattered. He thought he was going to die, the momentum of his flight taking him off the other side of the building, but the brute caught him, and flung him into the other chimney stack that was still standing. The impact caused the bricks mortar to shatter, and left an imprint of his back as he slid down onto the concrete of the roof.

"Some hero," cried one of the Hellions spectating the beating. They had been jumping up and down, cheering for the Hellion brute as he overpowered Kien.

One of the four Hellions that he'd encountered before they got away stepped up to to Kien, his knife in hand. He gazed into his eyes, giving him a look of retentment and resent.

"We're gonna go find that girl of yours, and you know what we're gonna do to her? We're gonna all have a piece of her, and we're gonna do it over, and over, and over..."

Kien's mind suddenly remembered the poor girl whom he'd saved from them earlier that day. He remembered the look on her face, the bruises and tears clear as day. His heart wrenched for her, and he suddenly felt a deep rage he'd never felt before. As he finally came to he a sight where the Hellion who'd stepped up to him was lifted in the air, no hands in contact with him, and he was clutching his throat, gasping. Kien's telekinetic abilities had flared up with his rage and determination to not allow them to hurt the girl. His eyes were hard pressed on the other Hellions, the brute stepping back at the shock of what was happening. His left eye was somehow glowing, a slight yellow energy trail seeping out like flames. His hair was also somehow considerably lighter, almost like it was whitening.

The Hellion that was suspended in mid air was able to creak out a few words, before he collapsed unconscious.

"Wh-hat th-he hell?!"

As the Hellion went limp the invisible force holding him up and closing his windpipe let go and he fell to the concrete. Kien's rage was still prominent, but the exertion from the sudden forceful control he displayed of his telekinetic abilities drained him. He gritted his teeth as he let go, and he fell to his knees, the pain and exaustion catching up to him. Everything began getting dark as he fell down to his side, and he saw a blue and red figure land on the rooftop, a flowing cape billowing in the wind. He swore he heard a female voice cry out as the Hellions ran off in fear, and the world finally went black as his last glimpse saw a female face run to his side.

Statesgirl had saved him...