I wished that I didn't have to dawn the outfit I had before, the one that had gotten me arrested before. The one that many in the surrounding district known as the Slabs feared. The one I wore when we felt the walls caving in and I did something about it.

While in the bathroom, I fitted the tight black shirt with blue stitching over my head and body. I wore the black sweatpants that were tied with black twine at the ankles, along with the thin all black tennis shoes. After putting the gloves on, I stared in the mirror. I was younger the last time I wore these clothes, when I became a different person.

I felt the soft fabric of the mask clutched in my hand now, and left the apartment with a purpose. The Darkest wasn't ready to save the city from Polarity, but I was.

The thing I hadn't been for a few years now was now closer in my memory. I slipped the mask over my head and started into a sprint towards the city, towards the address of Tom Morrison.

I arrived at the residence and slowly trudged to the front door. I turned the handle, the silence inside was unnerving. A breeze blew from behind me and into the home. No car was parked outside, and I hadn't heard anything from inside. I walked forward slowly and my nose was met with the stench of stale alcohol and dust. I made it to a small table at the side of the stairs and atop of it was a picture of Tom and his family. I picked it up and blew the dust off of it. In the frame was Tom, a beautiful blonde haired woman with an arm around her shoulder, and a child who couldn't have been more than eight. A knot formed in my stomach, and my mind went to my brother.

I hadn't seen him in years, or the rest of my family. We hadn't been on speaking terms for a while. I dropped the photo and left the home quickly. I wasn't doing this, Tom wasn't the bad guy here. My mind raced as I pulled out my phone and started scouring as many back alley networks as I could searching for the real problem.

 

James

I woke to see Lyla with both hands on my forehead, her eyes staring off into the distance. My head swirled with different memories I would generally block out, and I felt at my temple. She snapped back into reality and my mind calmed. She nearly chuckled with happiness that I was awake.

"You're awake, don't get up,"

I leaned up and felt pain shoot through multiple parts of my body. My skin around my chest was raw, but I couldn't hear the grinding of broken bones.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"Only a few hours, but Raymond said your adrenaline kicked in and might help you heal faster,"

"Nothing is broken," I remarked. "Where is Raymond?"

"He went after Tom, he seemed so serious. I've never seen him so stern and monotone,"

"He can't fight him by himself," I said before groaning and standing.

"Slow down, you need to rest,"

"I need to go out there and stop him,"

“James, a building just fell on you,” Lyla interjected. “I don’t care if nothing is broken,”

I sat back and let out a small sigh.

“I’m gonna get out of here Lyla, Tom is going to keep hurting people to get what he wants,”

The sound of the intercom in the apartment hissed to life from the computer speakers. Raymond’s voice came through clearly.

“Voice recognition on, find me Antonio Amorelli,”

The screens moved on their own, some sort of voice recognition code. Raymond had started searching for any signs of the mob boss without even being at the computer. I took a second to admire the clever function, then walked to the computer. Lyla jumped forward but didn’t make it in front of me in time to stop me from seeing the triangulated location of the target.

“Wherever Amorelli is, Tom will be soon. I have a feeling he is close to finishing his plans with Antonio,” I said to myself aloud. Lyla gulped behind me.

“You won’t be the one to stop him, James. You’ve been hurt enough,”

“I’m sorry, Lyla,” I muttered. “But I need to stop him,”

I somersaulted over her head and landed into a sprint. I fumbled towards the door, swung it open, and ran into the street as fast as I could. I heard the patter of Lyla’s footsteps against the pavement, then they stopped. She tried to chase, but I was moving too fast. I made my way towards my apartment where I had my backpack. 

I ran through an alley a block away from the building when I heard a whistle. I stopped in my tracks and heard footsteps from behind me. The breathing was familiar, and it had to be one person. I turned and faced my former teacher.

“Hey, Soc,” I said.

“I asked that you call me Socrates,” He remarked, a slight smirk across his wrinkled face.

“You became Soc when you left me alone,” I argued.

“Fair, but I hope I can remedy that,” His hands went behind his back. “I feel I was wrong,”

“And if I don’t want you to remedy that?”

I would have been more understanding with him, but he was not what I needed anymore. I gave up on learning his ways the moment he left.

“I wouldn’t blame you, but after careful consideration of the coming conflict, I thought I could help,”

I thought about this, and I didn’t believe what I was hearing.

“I assume this help won’t be direct,” I said.

“I can’t help that way, this is all I can do here,”

“Because it would put your life at risk,” I countered.

“My teaching has made you an arbiter of peace,” He admitted. “A hero, no doubt. I can’t let that go to waste, especially when there are others like you,”

“I’ll let them choose for themselves, but the best way you can help me is by leaving me alone,”

I ran away from him, making my way to Ben’s apartment to retrieve my disguise.

 

God, I hated vents. I wish that wasn’t the best way to make my way to Tom. He had somehow made it to Amorelli. How, I don’t know, but I was ready to confront him before anyone else was hurt. This time I wouldn’t reason with him. This time was going to be different.

I approached the end of the ventilation unit and noticed a tall and gruff looking man through the grate. He was sitting at a desk, looking over paperwork in a blue paisley suit vest and pants to match. It was expensive, which led me to believe that this was Antonio. He didn’t seem too scary, or difficult to reach. Sneaking through vents wasn’t Tom’s style though. He would want to approach straight on, loving every bit of chaos that ensued as a result of it. 

Speak of the devil, Tom marched in the door of the office, blood soaked in splatters on the trench coat he wore. Amorelli gave him a small glance and then looked back down at his papers. I felt a tug at my shirt and spun around, my fist rearing back. I was prepared to punch, but recognized the face of Raymond peeking out from under a mask. He shushed me and pointed back into the room.

Tom heaved his chest in and out, winded from that battle he had just finished. Antonio finished his paper and looked up at Tom.

“You obviously have something to say to me,” He said in a light Italian accent. “Say it,”

“I’m done talking, I’ve waited too long to make it to here,”

Tom’s rage could barely be contained, it was apparent. He jumped forward and I tried to do the same. I was intercepted by Raymond’s arms around my chest. My arms were trapped and his hand quickly went over my mouth. I pushed to break free, but was powerless to what was to come.

Every metal object in the room was floating, Amorelli glanced around, terrified. He backed out of my view as each item flew through the air. Each object’s impact let out a thud or a squelch of impalation. Tom was relentless, throwing more and more at him. A letter opener was thrown and then the room went quiet. Polarity then turned and walked the other way, leaving the room and his nemesis dead. I finally shook free and Raymond made his way out of the vent behind me. I considered chasing Tom, but the real person I should have been chasing was Ray. I turned around and followed him out. We made it to a maintenance closet where I had entered the vents and he was waiting there, leaning against the wall.

“What was that?” I shouted.

“I was letting him take out the real enemy here,”

“What gave you the right to decide who lives or dies?” I questioned.

“You heard what Amorelli did to his family,” Raymond argued. “Why does he get to live when Tom’s child doesn’t?”

“That is for the law to decide,”

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but the law hasn’t exactly been good to people like me,”

“People like you?” I asked.

“You know what I mean, don’t play dumb,” He was angry now. “The Slabs have been nothing but a blind spot when it comes to anything besides arresting the ones trying to do good,”

I had no rebuttal for this. In all my different foster families I had never had the pleasure of living in the Slabs. I had, however, responded to multiple calls from the police around the area.

“We can talk about this a different time, now we have to track Tom down again,”

“I might have an idea of where he is going,” Raymond pandered. “He may have taken down the one he hates, but a symbol of that person’s wealth still stands. I hope you liked the Plaza Hotel, because he will be there soon,”

I shook my head, realizing what that meant.

“Are you okay to be out here?” He asked.

“You’re gonna trust my judgment?”

“I’m putting some faith in your powers, and me being out here is not a good idea if we’re gonna have these disagreements,”

“I’m fine,” I said. “Really,”

He nodded and walked out of the room. I lowered my head and put my hand to my face. Tom was planning on destroying the Plaza, and I was the only one that would be there to stop him.