A FEW WEEKS LATER...
"Ready?" Kino says.
"Always," I say enthusiastically. Kino, Violet, Chase, and I sprint forward and jump on the fire escape on the opposite building.
We climb and free run on the rooftops. We jump over pipes and boxes and parkour across the building and jump to the next roof.
We continue this for blocks. I can see the whole city from the rooftops. It's dark now and the lights of the buildings look like dazzling stars.
I can see all of Manhattan. I love this. We stop and sit for a moment to take a breather.
"I feel like the king of the world." I finally say after moments of staring at the whole city, the breeze hugging me.
"I know how you feel buddy," Chase says. "Give me a second..." He disappears in a blast of static. Wonder where he went...
"New York is amazing at this height," Violet says, wind blowing through her beautiful purple hair. "Wish I could stay up here forever." She smiles and stands, holding out her arms and letting the breeze flow past her.
"It's nice but sometimes I still miss my old home." I feel a tear swelling but I suck it up. "Every time I think of my old home and my parents it's hard to hold in my sadness."
Violet turns around. "I know how you feel." She turns and sits down next to me. Kino stares out at the city.
"It's hard not to be sad...but you always have me, and Kino, and Chase." She then hugs me and leans on me. Yesss... Jack try not to ruin the moment.
Suddenly, a puff of static sparks from next to Kino. Chase is back and has some food in his hand.
"Turkish delight anyone?" He says as he sticks the food in his mouth. "Just took a trip to England." He chuckles lightly.
"Show off," Kino says, smiling. Out of nowhere, I hear a man yelling.
"Help! Someone Please! I'm being-" he's cut off by the sound of a gunshot.
We all rush over to the edge of the roof and see a gang of about twenty people, a dead man lying at their feet with a bullet in his chest. We jump off the roof and land in front of them.
"You just killed an innocent man." My hand flares up with golden energy. "And you're gonna pay."
One of the gang members with a red bandana speaks out. "Who do you think you are punk?" He points his handgun at me. "There are twenty of us and four of you." I can see him grinning under the bandana.
"Fine. You asked for it." With that, I blast him with energy and he flies back into a trash bin. Chase teleports behind two men and electrocutes them while kino knocks another man out with a single punch. Lighting flashes and it begins to rain.
One of the members comes at me with a switchblade and swings towards my chest but I dodge it. Then I stun him with electricity and make concrete come up from the ground and hit him in the face. The rain comes down harder.
Then a crowbar swings faster than I can think from my left and smacks me in the face. Everything blurs and I feel numb on my face.
I stagger for a moment and shake my head while trying to focus. Then I see chase get slugged in the stomach and he drops. Violet and Kino are struggling with six thugs when one of them punches Violet in the face. The one with the red bandana aims his gun at her and pulls the trigger.
Time slows, but not because of my powers. I feel my heart jump and I'm sure everyone else's is too. I look around. Chase is on the ground looking at Violet in fear. Violet stands there frozen as do I. I don't know why, but I do nothing.
Then the world unfreezes and everything goes light-speed. I see the flash of the gun, hear the bang stop my heart, and Kino jumps. He dives in front of Violet and led pierces his chest.
"KINO!" Chase shouts and electrocutes everyone around him. I see Chase sprint over and grab Kino on the ground as he bleeds out.
"No. No. No. Kino. Kino, stay with me, buddy." Chase says crying, blood covering his hands. "You can't leave me, man. You're like a brother to me." Kino is barely hanging on.
"Jack." He coughs and a little blood comes out. "Jack never stop being a hero." I reach into my pocket and take out the tech the police captain gave me. I press the button on it and it lights up red.
"Backup call sent." It says in a computerized voice.
I rush over. "Kino no. You're not gonna die. We'll get you to a hospital." Hang on man. I apply pressure to his gunshot wound but he won't stop bleeding.
"Chase. You're the best friend a guy can have." Kino's eyes swell up in tears. "I love you guys." His blood flows out on the concrete and he slowly fades away.
Chase stands up and looks at all the gangsters as they stand still, watching Kino die.
"YOU DID THIS!" In a pure rage, he blasts electricity and it surges through more than half of them and they hit the ground stunned with hundreds of volts charging through them. He's killing them.
"Chase stop!" I yell, my clothes soaked as the rain is coming down. He doesn't stop and keeps electrocuting them with anger.
"Chase stop! We don't kill people! It's wrong!" He keeps unleashing on them and I do what I have to do.
"I'm sorry Chase! You made me do this!" I charge up energy, struggling not to cry at Kino's quickening death. I blast as much energy as possible and it strikes Chase from behind.
He flies into a dumpster from the force and hits the back of his head on it. He's unconscious and he can't kill them now.
We can hear police sirens in the distance and the gang members who aren't lying on the ground are running from the scene. A cop car skids by and stops. The police captain and another man step out.
"Oh God." The captain says as he sprints over and looks at Kino. He looks at the officer accompanying him. "Call an ambulance." Then he looks at us.
We stand there and wait. And wait. For twenty minutes they don't come. Then the paramedics finally arrive and say there was nothing they could do and that he would've died anyway. The bullets pierced his heart.
I'm sorry Kino, this is all my fault. I froze. Your death is my fault. I'm done being the hero.