“Alright, come on,” James said to the man behind him.

“Wait she isn’t going to help?” the man asked.

“If things get too bad I’m sure she’ll step in,” James said. “Now, come on before they get up.”

“There they are!”

James sighed. “Too late. Wasted too much time. How well can you run?”

The man looked nervously at the thugs coming out of the bathroom. “Well enough,” he squeaked.

“Good.” James took off, pulling his new companion behind him as they bolted for the door.

There was the sound of tables crashing as they left the building and made it to the street.

“This way,” the man said. “I know a shortcut.”

James followed, weaving through the crowd to make their way toward a wide side street. Boxes and other piles of trash dotted the sides, along with a couple of passed out civilians. James and his companion passed them by in a flash, the sounds of thugs behind them.

A fence blocked the end of the road, which was quickly scaled by both parties.

“Get back here you scrap!” a distant thug shouted.

James rolled his eyes. No one ever stopped when someone shouted like that. The only time someone would is if…

The idea hit James like a truck and he knew he had to try it.

“Keep going,” he said to his companion. “I’m going to try something once we round the corner.”

“What? We’re almost at my shortcut,” the man said.

“Trust me,” James answered.

The man grunted but let James stop when they rounded another corner. James took stock of the area around him, noting the chipped walls and piles of trash. Some of the trash glinted like metal.

“Don’t think you can get away!” someone roared from around the corner.

James tensed, laying flat against the wall and waiting for the moment the thug would appear. The group came around a moment later, their eyes instantly catching James’s companion running in the distance. They didn’t catch the lariat James opened with.

The thug spun and fell, cracking his head on the street below. James had another second of surprise as the gang members all stopped, which he used to kick a pile of trash into the air. Discarded food and plastic blurred James’s presence as he turned to scramble up the wall.

His time training had James high up the wall before the trash hit the ground, and before the thugs could prepare their next move James kicked off the wall and flew toward them. He landed with a stomp on a thug’s shoulder, sending him crumpling to the ground in pain. James rolled from the body toward a pile of trash that had glinting metal.

One of the gang members took out a handheld and started shouting into it. “That’s right boss! Some vigilante piece of scrap thinks they can work on our turf! Yeah, I’ve got the GPS running now. Get everyone close to get over here!”

James swore and abandoned his plan. With a quick hop and a heel turn he bolted down the street to where thin man was far ahead.

The chase began. James kept his pace, leaping over boxes with wide strides and weaving between any crowds of people that formed. The thugs behind made progress by shoving everything out of the way, creating an easily traceable path for anyone following.

James reached the thin man as he stopped in front of a ventilation shaft.

“Beasts,” he growled. “They bolted the way shut.”

“This was your shortcut?” James asked incredulously. “A vent?”

“It was open before!” the man complained. “Open for weeks! I don’t know why it would close now.”

“Do you have anywhere else?” James asked. “The gang called reinforcements.”

The man shook his head. James scowled. He looked around the street.

A small pile of trash next to a building looked just high enough to reach a gash in the wall. That would let him climb onto the windowsill just a bit ahead and from there he could leap over to the streetlight and up to the roof. The only issue was his companion.

“How well can you climb?” James asked quickly.

The man shook his head just as quickly.

The thugs were getting closer, their voices pushing past the small crowds in their way. Other voices were starting to join them, no doubt more of the gang. James had to make a choice.

He chose to be reckless. Without warning, he grabbed the man and scooped him into a fireman’s carry. The added weight wouldn’t let him up the small pile of trash, but there was a dumpster on the other side of the street.

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James pulled himself up as his companion gasped in surprise. There was another windowsill a few feet from the dumpster, but James would have to wall run if he wanted to reach it. Something James wasn’t sure he could do with the added weight.

James shook his head. He couldn’t think about it. If he thought about it too hard he knew he would fail. No, James just had to trust in his senses.

With a breath, James started to run across the dumpster, balancing on the metal side like a professional tightrope walker. He lengthened his stride at the end, making sure his foot rested squarely on the dumpster’s edge as he kicked off. His other foot swung around, grasping the side of the wall as he pushed toward the windowsill.

He grunted at the strain, but pushed through thanks to his training. The extra muscle was just enough for him to reach the windowsill with an outstretched hand. James then used the momentum to swing a foot onto the sill. He stood, using what felt like every muscle in his body before looking over at a light hanging from what looked to be a modified flagpole just above him.

“Can you reach that?” James asked the man. “If you stand on my shoulders.”

“Oh beasts,” the man said. “Um, I think so.”

“Do it,” James said. “You don’t have to pull yourself up if you can’t. I’ll be up shortly.”

The man nodded, not that James could see. Hands pressed themselves into James’s shoulders as the man started climbing. Feet came a moment later, James bracing himself as they dug into his shoulders. Then, the weight was gone.

James looked up to see the man hanging from the pole.

“Okay, give me a second,” James said.

He turned, grabbing the small pieces of window frame with his fingers. James took a breath, then let go of the sill and crouched. He sprang off the window as he fell, using the momentum to fly toward the street pole nearby. He caught himself on the smooth metal, squeezing tightly so to not fall. From there, he shimmied up the pole and twisted to jump to the roof near him.

That done, James took a running start and leaped over to the flagpole. The pole shook as he landed, startling the man hanging on and almost making him fall. James reached down at the last second to grab him by the arm. With a grunt, James helped pull the man up before resting on the pole for a moment.

“Okay, from here we just need to get to that AC unit and then onto the roof,” James said.

“This is crazy,” the man said. “If we fall we’re dead.”

“Pretty sure you were dead down there too,” James said between breaths.

“Would’ve gotten away with a broken arm if you didn’t show up,” the man grumbled.

“Look, I know you’re complaining about the situation,” James said. “But we both know you wouldn’t have been able to work after what they did to you. Basically a death sentence either way.”

“I might’ve made it work,” the man said, though his heart wasn’t in it.

“Doesn’t matter now,” James said. “Just focus on getting to the roof. We’re home free after that.”

The man looked over the the AC unit hanging out of the nearby window. “I can’t reach that.”

“No, you’re tall enough if you get on my shoulders,” James said. “After that it’s an easy climb onto the roof.”

“No way am I tall enough,” the man said.

“Trust me,” James said. “I know distances. Besides, you probably don’t have a choice.”

“I’ll just sit up here,” the man said. “They won’t look up and see me. I’ll be fine.”

“Hey,” James said, snapping his fingers in front of the man. “Hey, don’t panic. You panic you fail.”

“I’m not panicking. This is perfectly sensible distress,” the man argued.

“Look… whoever you are,” James said.

“Garret.”

“Look, Garret,” James said. “Trust me. I do this all the time. I know distances. It’s second nature to me, always has been. You are tall enough to reach that AC if you stand on my shoulders.”

Garret stared into James’s eyes, searching for any doubt, any falsehood. He only found confidence. He sighed. “Okay, if you’re so sure.”

“I am,” James said. “Now get up on here.”

James steadied himself on the wall and bent a knee for Garret to climb. The man did so, hands shaking. James kept his body still, letting his confidence rub off on his companion.

Once Garret was on his shoulders, James started to slowly stand. Garret braced himself on the wall, his hands spread wide in fear as James lifted him up. But, once James was at full height, the AC stood just in front of Garret at an easily reachable distance.

Garret made a nervous “Ha!” of laughter as he grabbed onto the cooling machine and pulled himself onto it. In another second he stood on the AC and was quickly pulling himself onto the roof. James, for his part, crouched back down once Garret was on the AC. He needed to ready himself for what he was going to do next.

After three deep breaths, James closed his eyes and did his best to imagine the world around him. The AC stood higher than James could reach normally, and there weren’t any good handholds for climbing. James would need to try something crazy.

He’d never done a move like this before, but he could see the idea in his head. If he swung from the bar and tucked in his body, he would increase in speed. The only question was if that speed was enough to take him high enough.

He took another breath, sinking into his thoughts as he tried to imagine the movements. As he did, the world around him seemed to come into focus. Forces that he would have never thought about were suddenly more apparent to him.

With the solution now in mind, James opened his eyes. He bent, grabbed the bar, and moved himself into a handstand. Grunting, James whipped his legs down, letting both gravity and his initial force spin him down. He tucked his body in as close to the bar as he could as he fell, speeding up his travel. Once he reached the arc he needed, James let go and flew.

He’d performed the move so perfectly, James landed foot first onto the AC and used the momentum to swing himself straight onto the roof, much to the surprise of Garret.

“What in the world?” Garret looked at him with eyes as big as dinner plates. “How did you even do that?”

“Not exactly sure,” James said with a breath.

Shouts from below echoed up to the roof.

“Come on,” James said. “Let’s get out of here.”

There was a tingle on the back of James’s neck, and he instinctively ducked. A blast of electricity flew past him, striking a pole in the distance.

James whipped around, surprised to see another brown cloaked gang member standing on the roof opposite.

“You sure gave my men the runaround!” the man shouted. “But now you’ve met me!”

The man leaped across the roof in a single jump, landing without a sound on the other side. Electricity crackled off his fingers, striking the ground below and scoring it black.

“I am Bo!” the man said with a pose. “The wave of destruction! Boss of the Energy Gang! Ruler of these streets! And you two are interfering in our business.”

Bo cracked his knuckles, small arcs of electricity flying off as he did. The slightly rotten smell of the street was replaced with the burnt smell of ozone. James sighed. So close to escaping.

“I don’t suppose we can talk this out first?” James asked.

“Honorless cur! You refuse my challenge?” Bo roared.

“What? No? I was trying to negotiate,” James said.

“The only negotiation you shall have is with the king of the dead!” Bo shouted.

James backpedaled as the enemy rushed him, electricity striking the ground as Bo’s outstretched hands grabbed for limbs.