Stone Tusk roared as the knife dug into his neck, he spun wildly and sent he sailing through the air in a hopeless tumble.

Luckily a cushion of wind stopped me from breaking my spine, as I landed in a heap. The burst of wind pressure had placed me gently down.

Right next to Roadblock, district four's lead cape.

I went to stand up, but felt a firm hand on my shoulder, Roadblock’s black, blue and white paint job made him look like a police car that walked. "You did good kid, let us handle him." He said.

I watched Emma get grabbed by the arm and slammed into the ground hard enough to shatter bone, I could hear the crack of something in her, but the symbiat helped her back to her feet and she lept towards stone Tusk again, only to get back handed away.

"Looks like your friends are here, time for me to get outta here, thanks for playing, little breeze" tusk laughed, and went to duck into the ground.

The red pool under him shimmered in the dim light.

He wasn't touching the ground. Though it wouldn't be hard for him to get around Emma's little trick.

Fear spread throughout his aura as Roadblock, Parabellum, War mind, and Azure Gale all stared him down as he looked at them dumbly

Emma laughed, which turned to a croaking cough.

Her choking cough was the trigger, Stone Tusk reached for Emma, grabbing for a hostage, but before he could reach her, a gunshot echoed in the streets, his eye exploding as his head rocked back.

He snarled, staggering and looking towards Parabellum, who was holding one of her two pistols.

While this happened, Emma floated out of reach and roadblock ran towards Stone Tusk, loud sirens and flashing lights blaring noisily.

Stone tusk pulled a fist back, readying a punch. His face set in determination as he prepared to slam it into Roadblock.

His fist was frozen in the air by telekinetic force, and he had a split moment of shock before a pneumatic enhanced fist landed a clean uppercut.

Gale and warmind caught him, letting him float in the air as roadblocked deployed his "Taser"

Large Pads slid from his armored forearms, crackling with power.

A bolt of electricity arced from both his wrists, Stone tusk convulsing in the air as Parabellum begin giving Emma medical treatment, setting her weapons aside, she started bandging the girl, despite the fact emma's broken body was knitting itself back together even as she gave first aid, broken bones getting set back into place.

Stone tusk was lowered down, and a heavy duty collar clamped around his neck, then some extra large handcuffs.

I heaved in relief, and sat on the sidewalk.

The hero's started spreading out and searching the area, Parabellum and Gale stepping towards me and setting Emma next to me.

I watched her, worried about her. But she seemed tough enough to pull through this.

"I'm going to have to ask for your id, sir" Parabellum instructed.

I was completely confused, It didn't click what she was asking for until I saw Gale's guilty aura. Then my confusion turned to a sinking ship of stress, worry, and hopelessness.

"I uh… I don't have one" I admitted.

"Then we are gonna have to take you into the tower for questioning, after the prison break, that's new S.O.P" I grimaced at her words.

Looks like our shot at freedom was over.

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After a few minutes, they brought a battered looking Keith over, and sat him down with us, along with handcuffing Fredric, the three thugs, one of which was half mutated with boney armor, and the energy chick.

I even felt a swell of pride when Hector was questioned, and swore up and down we had worked there for years, and that we had shown proper Id when he hired us.

Damn old man, If I was ever released, I owed him.

After the police arrived, we had a very awkward ride in the back of the van, the three of us, and an unconscious tusk.

They had collared Keith, and after she had fully healed, collared emma.

It was strange they didn't collar me, but whatever.

We sat in the van, all exhausted. The fight had taken a lot out of the three of us. Defeat, guilt, and worry filled the auras of my friends.

With the pull of exhaustion coming over me, I slowly slipped into sleep as the van made its way across district four.

Four hours later, I was in an interrogation room. My own picture staring up at me, along with proof of my incarceration.

Roadblock, who was out of his suit, stood in front of me.

He was just as imposing and large as Keith, large shoulders, dark skin, and a shaved head that practically reflected the light from above me.

"Sam Hatch, Arrested four years ago for multiple counts of assault and attempted murder" he stated, his voice sounding military and clipped.

"Escaped prison three weeks ago" he added, and I shrugged.

I hardly felt bad for my crimes, those assholes deserved every broken bone I gave them.

"Got anything to say for yourself, Mr Hatch?" He continued

"I saw a chance at freedom and took it" I stated.

"When, at the pit, or the prison?" He asked, pacing in front of the table.

I was a little surprised when he asked that.

"How do you know about the pit?" I asked back, almost too quickly.

"I helped bust it two years ago, Mr Hatch," he explained.

The pit was an underground arena where they had unfortunates and destitutes fight for the rich guests that used the hotel above ground. I had escaped one night, went up to the ground floor, and broke a total of thirty two bones, all of them on other people.

Unfortunately their lawyers had been good enough to paint me as the perpetrator, after no evidence of such an arena was found, and I was sentenced to prison.

"Oh" I looked down at my hands, clenching my left hand, then releasing it, in a steady rhythm.

"I have a proposal for you, Mr Hatch" he sat down a stack of papers, a contract.

"Community service" he continued, and crossed his arms.

I looked over the papers, but could hardly make heads or tails of the legalese.

When he saw my confusion, he continued on. "I'm offering you the chance to spend your sentence working as a hero, instead of behind bars" he explained.

"Can you… even do that?" I asked hesitantly.

"The Hero Association can suck it up and deal with it, we need more bodies out here and I'm tired of watching sidekicks die, after the prison escape, we've lost three capes, and that's just district four" he explained.

"I'm… honored, but…" I sighed

"But?" His voice sounded annoyed.

"I can't leave my friends behind." I stated.

"Keith Braggard got a Similar offer, on Azure Gale's request" he explained.

"And emma?"

"Emma Crawl is a Raider we found in the wastelands, and she killed a suspect on scene, those people aren't supposed to be heroes"

I pushed the paper away, and sighed "I can't leave her behind like that, she saved my life more than just tonight, sir" I explained.

"Keith also said the same thing" he said, letting out a sigh.

I shrugged, and looked away from him.

Prison was a bitch. But i wasn't going to abandon the few people I cared for.

"Calahan, go give Miss Emma an offer contract" Roadblock said, staring at the reflective glass.

I stared at him, stunned.

"If she can't make it through the academy, she's back into a cell anyways" he slid the paper back towards me. "So, it's hardly any real risk, For me, anyways." he said, walking towards the door.

"It won't be easy, Mr Hatch" he said finally, as he exited the room.

I stared at the contract, a smile splitting across my face.

"A hero?... why not? I guess it could be worse"

I signed a barely legible name on the dotted line, and leaned back in my chair.

I could feel my wide grin, as I waited. I knew excitement was making my aura practically Crackle.