Cole glared at me and the crowd around him, almost as if trying to look into our souls. Thankfully, it only lasted for about a minute before he looked away, moving up to one of the boxes himself to inspect its contents.

I exhaled the breath I had been holding. "Thank God he's the good karma Cole." I hoped he'd stay on this path. Glancing up, I noticed a figure approaching Cole. It took me a moment to recognize her, but when I did, a pang of realization hit me. It was Trish, Cole's girlfriend... and the soon-to-be victim of Kessler.

The thought almost made me approach the duo, but I was distracted by a buzzing sound. It wasn't Cole since he was standing a few feet away from me. Everyone turned in a certain direction, and I followed their gaze. A giant screen was changing.

After a few moments, one of the electronic billboards displayed a message. "Take a look at this, Empire City." The voice broadcasting the message switched the screen to a live video. It showed Cole walking down the street. As he passed a small group of people, one individual looked different—confused and scared. He glanced up at Cole just before the package was opened. The video ended abruptly as the Ray-sphere detonated. "The footage you're seeing was taken near ground zero. He damaged our city and our lives." I could sense the crowd's mood shifting towards Cole. "If someone in your family died, you know who to blame. If you know anything about this guy, let me know. We're going to expose this terrorist, and he will pay."

I recalled the events in the video. A few minutes before encountering Cole, I had awoken in an alley. As I tried to get my bearings, I spotted Cole just as the Ray-sphere activated. The subsequent explosion was a blur. I remembered being flung through the air, colliding with something hot, and then crashing to the ground. That's why I was disoriented when I woke up in the crater. The explosion had knocked me unconscious.

The crowd's attention was now firmly on Cole. Many glared at him. Trish, who had been nearby, walked away. I knew what was coming. The Reapers would arrive soon. While Cole could handle them, the people in the sewers desperately needed these supplies.

I observed as Cole and Zeke exchanged words. Cole then departed, evading the growing crowd and potential projectiles. Zeke was about to follow when he noticed me. "Hey man, glad to see you're up and about," he greeted cheerfully.

Alright, let's continue from where Zeke says, "Hey man, glad to see you're up and about."

Zeke greeted me with a warmth that seemed out of place given the recent revelations about Cole. "Yeah, the hospital was getting stuffy. Found a place after I left," I replied.

Zeke nodded, then paused, his expression turning sheepish. "I won't lie, man. I'm glad you've got a roof over your head, but I completely forgot your name."

"It's William," I reminded him.

"Right! I was either going to guess or call you Britt like that doctor did," he chuckled.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry. Many in my ROTC class called me that. You can too if you want."

Zeke was about to respond when he seemed to remember something. "Sorry to cut this short, but Cole and I have plans. I think he's already waiting."

I recalled the events that were supposed to transpire at the bridge. "Zeke, can I get your number? I have something to do, but can I meet you and Cole at the bridge later? Or call me when you guys get there?"

Zeke looked puzzled for a moment but then agreed. "Sure, man. Hand me your phone, and I'll put my number in. With everything going on, especially with your powers similar to Cole's, we've got to be careful."

After saving his number, I was about to leave when Zeke stopped me. "Wait, how did you know we were meeting at the bridge? I didn't mention it."

I hesitated, searching for an explanation. "Oh, I overheard you guys talking about it before you split up. My hearing's been sharper since the explosion," I lied, mimicking an explosion with my hands. A small purple spark flew off my arm.

Zeke raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried about that?"

"No, just call me when you get to the bridge, okay?"

"Will do. And stay away from anyone in orange trench coats. They're bad news."

I nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

After parting ways with Zeke, I turned my attention to the supplies. There were still several crates around. I approached one, wondering how I'd transport it. Suddenly, a sharp noise caught my attention. Before I could react, something hit me, and I felt a sharp pain. Neon energy surged around me as I tried to evade my attackers.

'Pa-twing'

"What was-" PANG! I was sent stumbling back as something slammed into my gut "Fuck!" I felt my body literally light up as I tried to run behind something, the closest thing was a raised piece of concrete! I quickly dashed over my heart thumping in my chest I looked over and noticed the small neon line i left behind me it was slowly dissipating but it still doesn't help that its basically a big sign saying "I'm over here!" to whoever was shooting at me. I did my best to peak over the concrete barrier and I got a glimpse at a few people in orange trench coats running towards me about three or four? Shit! The reapers of course they come here after, Cole arrives! My body was pretty much leaking neon light at this point with a few bits of it firing off my arms and chest, shit I needed to get these guys away from the supplies, looking left and right I quickly make a run to the right leaving a trail behind me, thankfully this seemed to catch them by surprise because they all seemed to freeze, wait no they were just really slow! I raised my arm up and pushed I watched as the neon covering my body travleved up my arm and shot out towards the first reaper in the group.

It hit him head on throwing his body back with a sharp piece of neon energy sticking out his chest! This unfortunately is where I tripped over my own feet, I was so busy being shocked I had actually hit someone I forgot to focus on running! This ended up with me basically flinging myself into the side of a building, I have to admit getting bodily flung into a brick building did not feel nice. 'pa-ting' shit they we're shooting at me again! 'Pa-tunk' "Fuck!" i felt something fharp fly through me, I could feel a wetness travel down my side, panting I looked around trying to figure out where to go, I watched the reapers continue to try and shoot at me most shots missing or just barely grazing me, that run and fling across the pavement actually gave me some considerable distance I just have to get to a better place to get these guys off my back so I can cover some more ground!...Wait ground The high ground! My eyes traveled up the brick building it was at least a two story one okay okay just got to focus…I closed my eyes and did my best to remember that static feeling flowing through my body and how it felt traveling up my legs and arms 'pa-ting' shit! Opening my eyes I was greeted to neon flowing off my arms again!

Quickly I ran face first towards the building before putting one foot onto the bricks and ran up I defied gravity long enough to make it ontop of the building i was flung up into ther air a few feet before landing back onto my knees in a crouching position, also a small case of scraped knees. Looking over the edge I saw the orange trench coats looking up at me quickly I bright my arms up and into my chest "Please work please work." i did my best to image the static leaving my arms and collectinhg in my hands that i had cupped into my chest the glow from my arms moved down gathering up into my hands the brightness of the neon seemed to increase the longer i did this until I quickly shot my arms out and towards the small reaper group, the energy gathered was quickly shot out of my palms into a thick stream of neon taht was flung at the group missing them by a few feet, but i don't think it mattered since once it made contact with the ground it exploded out all the gathered neon energy exploding outwards covering the reapers for a few seconds before it started disapapting.

The bodies dropped to the ground the fronts and sides of them charred a neon purple, I was panting now seeing the bodies drop made me realize just how much that took out of me, i dropped to my knees catching myself before i fell face first onto the roof, "It, hah hah, worked!"

I felt both scared and happy. I could recreate anime blasts, and it took so much out of me to make neon bombs. That is something I want to work on fixing. I moved into a sitting position, my legs dangling off the roof of the building. I just needed a few minutes to get my bearings again. Then, I would take the crate back to the sewers.

Moving my hands to my side with a hiss, a sharp pain traveled up my side. I realized that I had been shot. Looking at my hand, I noticed the amount of blood on it. Yeah, I needed to get to a neon sign soon. I don't know if conduits can bleed out, living off of energy and all that, but I don't want to test it.

After making a quick trip to drain a neon sign to heal my wounds, I learned that conduit super strength did come in handy. I could lift the entire crate with a decent deal of effort. Once I made it to the sewers, I was greeted by James and the others. Once they realized it was me coming down, and I told them I couldn't fit the supplies box down the hole, they all ended up with matching grins. It didn't take long to take out all the supplies and put them in piles, or as close to piles as we could get them. Before I told them I had to leave again, James nodded. I left the maintenance hole and went out in the open. That's when my phone started ringing.

After taking a few seconds to figure out how to answer and put the person on speaker, I got an answer as to who it was. "Zeke?"

"Yep. I tried calling you a few other times, but it just sent me straight to voicemail. So, I just assumed you either blocked me, didn't have a signal, or your phone died. But hey, back to why I called you. Me and Cole are just about to the bridge."

"It took a bit longer than usual since neither of us have cars or can ride in cars, but hey, we're almost there." Well, that's some pretty good timing. I guess I just had to figure out where the bridge is from here. I dug out the folded-up map from the day before and opened it to figure out just where the Stampton bridge is from my location. Drawing a line with my finger, I realized I was actually only a few blocks away. I could probably get there in under ten minutes if I used my neon run thingy the whole way there.

"Alright, Zeke, I'm on my way. I'm about ten minutes away; do you mind waiting for me?" "I can try, man, but there are already a lot of people heading this way, so if you have to catch up, don't be too surprised, alright? That, and I don't think Cole really wants to wait for this; seems he's ready to just jump in already. I don't think patience is in his vocabulary right now." Shit, if Cole's already made up his mind, he might just go straight in, not knowing he's going to get those people killed. But there's literally nothing I can do to stop them. "Alright, just if I don't make it there before you guys go across, be careful, okay?" "Will do." "Alright, see you soon, Zeke." "You too, Bill." Bill? Then he hung up. Well, looks like I have some running to do.

I decided to stick to the street when running; didn't want to get caught off guard by running on the roofs, and I don't think I'm experienced enough for that. It took a while and a few wrong turns, but I made it to the bridge in under ten minutes. Which is why, when I got there, I was disappointed to see a pile of SWAT members smoking, and I mean that literally; their bodies were still smoking from, I'm guessing, Cole's attacks. Hopefully, they're alive, but it doesn't look good for them.

Running inside, I was getting more worried; the place was littered with cargo containers, concrete barriers, and more bodies. I didn't see anyone wearing just street clothes yet, so it looks like anyone who was hurt either made it out or is hopefully unconscious.

My head snapped to the side; I heard guns being fired. They were frantic but not far. Shit, I hope that's not the final ones! Quickly, I ran forward, only being stopped by a giant metal door. Damn it, these only moved because of Cole's electricity. Looking around, it hit me that this whole place was barely made up of containers, concrete, and fences; I could just run up these!

Quickly, I felt my powers spread across my body as I started running up the side of the door and through the fences, leaving behind a bright red trail. After getting through, I could just about make out where the group was, but I could also see them approaching the guns! I quickly jumped down from off the fence and landed on my knees, and started running again.

I had to get there in time; I had to! I could see the group ahead of me; I was almost there! Time seemed to slow to a crawl as I did my best to charge towards the group as quickly as possible. I could see Cole lighting up the last door! I knew what happened next! I did my best to run around and then up the group, but right as I reached the top, the door fully opened, and the guns started shooting. I watched in slow motion as the people were riddled with bullets. I tried to run towards the giant guns, but right before I could, I noticed one gun seemed to aim almost right at Zeke and Cole! No, if I can help anything, it's this! I forced my body to zoom even quicker than before; my vision seemed to stretch as I threw myself and Zeke at the fenced wall.

The wall quickly gave way to our combined weight and speed that we hit it at. My neon quickly dissipated as I started falling; all I could do was let out a scream of terror, staring at the fast-approaching water. My powers quickly flashed back to life; the light traveled up my chest and down my arms. Neon energy focusing around my feet and body appeared, slowing my fall of death to a glide as I slowly approached the water. "Oh, thank God." I don't know who to pray to for that miracle of me getting the flying neon thing, but it'll be thanked soon!

Once in the water, I let out a small hiss; the water was colder than I expected. "Huuu." I jerked away from the sound, only to see a wet Zeke resurface into the water. "You made it!" I heard him cough a bit as he tried to clear water before he looked over to me, probably confused at the person talking to him in the water. "Oh, it's you. Oh jeez, man, I didn't think I'd make it out of there! All I saw were those guns and people being torn apart, then the next thing I know, I see a glowing ball of something coming at me. Then we were thrown through the fence." Ah, so he was able to see me use my powers then?

"Yeah, that uh, was me." I felt a bit awkward, but thankfully we had both started swimming towards shore now. "Hell, man, I'm glad it was you because I don't think anyone else would have saved my ass. Probably would have ended up like swiss cheese. Look, what I'm saying is thanks; you really saved my hide back there. I don't think I would have made it without you." Yeah, he probably would have, even without my help. He made it in the game, so I probably wouldn't have changed that. "You looked like you would have made it anyway; I was just trying to help." I could see Zeke slowing down in the water. Actually, I noticed Zeke wasn't really that good of a swimmer in the first place. I mean, sure, I'm not either, but he seemed to be slowing down. Then again, we don't have too much to go, but I'd rather have him make it to land than pass out in the ocean.

"Here, hold onto my back; I'm strong enough to help us both back." "You sure, man?" "Yeah, just don't mention this to anyone. I think it'd do us both some good if they didn't hear about me carrying a fully grown man on my back from the water and that you let a teenager drag you from the water onto shore." Zeke made a face I couldn't entirely decipher, but I could tell he didn't fully like the idea of people hearing that. "Alright." With that, I felt his arms wrap around my back as I swam us both to shore.

Once we were close enough for both of us to touch the bottom of the water, Zeke let me go, and we both walked onto shore. "Man, am I glad your powers don't light you up like Cole's; we would have both been fried back there."

I nod, taking a few deep breaths. Even with extra strength and stamina, having someone on your back while swimming, especially when I wasn't a good swimmer in the first place, drained you pretty well. "Yeah, I don't think I'd like to die via bridge or take you out with me." I quickly sat down on the sand, deciding to just dry off here.

"Hey man, I wanted to say thanks again, and that I know Cole will be thankful too once he hears back from me. I think I'm going to try and head back to my place. I think right now I could go for a drink." Heh, Zeke sounded a bit like my uncle, wanting to have a drink after a long day. If you call watching people get holes shot through them a long day, I shuddered slightly, remembering the image. I couldn't tell if Zeke noticed; if he did, he didn't say anything. "You're welcome to come, but if you want..." It's a nice gesture, but I probably need to go to the sewers and make sure all the supplies were stashed and being used correctly.

"Thanks, but I think I'll head home for today. It's already been a long day, you know?" Zeke nodded a bit. "I understand, man. Just come by when you have the chance so I can say thank you fully, alright?" "Alright." "Well, I'll be seeing you then. Be safe." I watched Zeke leave; I stayed back for a few more minutes, trying to dry off before heading off myself. It didn't take long to get back to the sewers. On the way there, I learned that whatever phone I had was waterproof because it still worked even after taking an unexpected dip in the bay.

Once in the sewers, I was greeted by James and everyone else finishing putting all the supplies up. It looked like we had some food already cooking on the fire we had in the center of our own little shanty town. I nodded to James; he was helping a few people build… something. I couldn't tell what exactly, but it was using a lot of bricks, cardboard, wood from the crates, and other things.

I walked to my little shelter, noticing it was still pretty solid even after the plane rattled everything. Once inside, I slipped off the damp shirt and fell onto the makeshift bed. I didn't realize how tired I was until I hit the thing. I could barely pull the blanket over my body before I drifted off to sleep, ending my blood-filled day.