Fusion Vol.2

5. Reckless Endangerment

This is the part where I was supposed to die. Falling from fifty-two stories up, I almost regretted getting out of bed that morning. I knew it would be an ugly landing, and I'd definitely feel it the next morning, regeneration or not. But this is what happens when you decide to take on Shadow one on one.

I was falling, Shadow beating the living hell out of me, cackling like the madman he was. He gave a wide smile, his hands glowing with indigo flame, and slammed a right hook across my cheek as we fell from the skyscraper. I knew I only had a few seconds before impact. Shadow was unloading punches on me like it was his favorite thing to do. Unfortunately, unloading punches on people until they die was his favorite thing to do. After mass murder, that is. He threw another punch at me and I grabbed his arm, swung him around in the air and turned us over. His back was now to the ground, and I placed my forearm in front of his chest, pushing him down just before we collided with the rocky street.

Concrete crumbled and flew into the air, I'm pretty sure a few cars exploded here and there, and a lamppost fell onto the ruined pavement. I looked down at Shadow, his eyes closed. He seemed unconscious. I stood up and wiped the blood from my mouth. I leaned against a crooked lamppost and caught my breath. I then looked around at the rubble and destruction all around me. There were chunks of dismantled road, a few fires, and a good amount of destroyed cars all around. I needed to be less reckless. I was there to prevent destruction, not produce it.

Suddenly to my surprise, a cold hand clenched my throat. Shadow. The hand threw me to the side like a rag doll, tossing me through the windows of a coffee shop. The glass shattered like thin ice as I was slung through it. People ran from the shop in an instant, realizing the very imminent threat. I was barely able to think about standing back up before Shadow tackled me through the counter of the coffee shop.

I recoiled by slowing time for a moment. His fist moved quickly towards my face, even with time nearly frozen. I moved his hand, grabbed a nearby cash register and smashed it across his face. Time snapped back into place and he counter-attacked by smashing a plate on my face. I staggered back, grabbed a wooden stool and smashed it against his chest. He stumbled to the side, grabbed one of the legs of a table, and slung the wooden furniture at me. Before I could dodge it, the table struck me center mast and I was pushed into a wall as it shattered.

Shadow ran towards me, seizing the opportunity for attack. He threw a glowing fist my way and I ducked underneath it. I led with a rising uppercut to his underarm, a kick to the back of his shin, and grabbed him. I swung him around and threw him into one of the wooden tables. He crashed into it, plates, chairs, and the table itself shattering. I was tired of causing damage, I needed to bait him outside.

I quickly teleported to the street outside the coffee shop and snapped my fingers before whistling at him. He stepped out the coffee shop, crunching glass under his shoe, and wiping indigo blood from his nose.

"I get it." He stopped walking towards me, only a few feet away. "You don't want to damage anything or anyone." He said in a mocking tone. "You're no fun, Jack. But fine, we'll play by your rules this time." He gave a quick smirk. He immediately formed his hand into a solid blade of indigo energy. The dark matter radiated with heat and power.

"That's a new trick," I replied, slowly easing my feet into a mobile position.

"I've been practicing it for a while. Makes killing even more fun." Shadow smiled again and slashed his arm towards me. I stepped back, barely missing the tip of his blade. I instantly dashed away and began running as fast as I could.

Shadow tailed close behind, flying almost faster than I could run. He had gotten stronger since we last fought. I pushed myself even more by running so fast that red static radiating from my body began burning streaks on the ground behind me. Shadow kept a steady jet-like speed, enjoying every minute of the fight. I decided to try and slow him down. I took a sharp left at an intersection. For a moment my feet skidded on the ground and I tumbled into a mailbox. It tipped over, and I picked up my pace again. I kept running, Shadow still in close pursuit, and I took a sharp right.

I kept my traction this time and kept sprinting. Gusts of wind generated from my speed, kicking up dust and trash throughout the streets. I looked behind me... Shadow was still there. I looked forward again and was unexpectedly tackled. We tumbled in the air for a moment and were met by a surprising splash of water. We had fallen into the Hudson Bay. I was running so fast I wasn't looking where I was going. We submerged underwater and quickly sunk as our battle raged on.

He slammed a punch across my face, creating ripples in the water. I blasted a ray of golden energy into his stomach, and he fell back. He reacted by grabbing me with both his hands and channeling his powers through me. I could feel the pieces of life force that he was ripping from my body. I could myself dying, body and soul. I couldn't take it much longer, on top of my breath running out.

We had finally touched the bottom of the bay and he was still channeling all his energy through me. I was dying. I could feel it and now I was starting to drown. Water filled my lungs and I could feel myself slipping away into the murky waters. I could still see Shadow's gleaming smile as he sucked the life out of me. I couldn't take any more.

I placed my hands on Shadow's wrists strengthening his hold on me. I then released as much electricity as I could from myself. The raw energy released from me felt so relieving. The electricity ripped through the water all around us and surged into Shadow. His body jolted as he took the high voltage. I kept releasing as much energy as I could. He began to fry, his body smoking, yet unscathed. Shadow was nearly invincible, but this was like a strong taser to him. Within a few seconds he was out and I dragged him back up to the surface.

I approached the Downtown Police Station. I walked through the double doors, soaking wet. My red hoodie, jeans, shoes, hair, all of it, drenched. I dragged a body behind me. Shadow's. He was cuffed with Anti-Power handcuffs, designed from Purge's power dampening alloy. They were bulky and white, covering Shadows hands. But they worked. I threw Shadow into the front desk and he flopped onto the floor. The woman at the front desk looked up, startled. She had a brown ponytail and green eyes that gazed past a pair of stylish glasses. She was doing paperwork and looked at me like I was crazy. She looked at Shadow and then gave me an odd stare for a good few seconds. I responded by throwing her a, "Don't ask." kind of look. She whispered an affirmative "Uh, okay..." under her breath.

I placed my wet hand on the counter. "Take care of this. You know where to take him. And I swear to God, tell them to triple the security this time. That was his fifth time escaping the prison. Geez. It's like the Police don't do anything anymore." I began to walk away disgruntled until the woman stood up. She spoke in a timid and soft tone.

"Um, I just transferred from Chicago, yesterday. I don't really know what to-or who you-"

I turned around. "Just tell the Chief that Fusion dropped off Shadow. He'll know what to do with the nutcase." I turned back around to walk out the exit. "And don't forget, triple the freaking security."

"Triple, right." She sat back down, still a little surprised from what had just happened.

"Also, if he wakes up, shoot him. You guys have power dampening weapons in the armory." I opened the door and left. It had been a long day and it was only noon. I walked down the steps of the Police Station and onto the sidewalk. People threw me odd looks and others just took pictures and pointed, saying things like, "Hey, that's Fusion!" and "Why is that idiot soaking wet?". I ignored their comments and began to walk to the Alliance HQ. I would've teleported, or ran, or flew, or whatever else gets me moving, but I wanted to blow off some heavy steam.

I kept walking through the streets, just thinking. I couldn't get Purge out of my head. His conversation had been irking me for days and I hadn't told anyone about it yet. I still didn't know if I was crazy or if there was a legitimate threat, but I was going to discuss it with the head leaders of the Alliance. We needed to assess the fact that maybe Purge was back. A year ago he said he would be.. I still remember killing him, or at least thinking I did. I was so relieved it was unbelievable. Now, he could be back. I stopped for a moment. I needed to quit thinking for a bit and just let my feet carry me.

I reached into my pocket and pulled my phone and white earbuds out. I put the earphones in and turned my phone on as I stood there on the sidewalk. I tapped a few things and started up my song list. Music always helped me relax. I could never live without it. I listened as "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac turned on in my ears. I decided to let the consistent beat along with the singing of the band and acoustic guitar carry my troubling burden.