Recalling off the top of my head we moved towards the last room that had any occupants in this building. Looking forward to the fact that we could finally be done with the whole thing, we made our way unconcerned about anyone else discovering us. Pausing outside the room we looked at each other,

"Ok Cinder, this is the last guy, once he's down this whole group will be down and out, ready for the police to pick them up. Remember that there is one more guy in there with the boss, same as before I want you to hit him with a 'growl' when we get into the room and I'll focus on the leader."

Seeing Cinder nod, I grabbed the handle and yanked the door open, Cinder jumped into the gap looking around, before he could do anything I saw him get hit and go flying to the side.

"CINDER!" running into the room and feeling a massive force hit me from the left and fly in the same direction hitting the ground and rolling a few times. Feeling a bit disoriented I shake my head and raise myself onto my knees and look around, I freeze in shock taking in the sight of a large man nearing on 7ft tall, with arms thicker than my thighs standing over Cinder with his foot on my partner's back. To my horror I see him with a gun level at Cinder smiling at me with a sinister grin.

"So you're the one who has been disrupting our business around the city."

Turning my gaze to a man, probably in his 50's with salt and pepper hair and a receding hairline. His dark brown eyes bordering on black stare at me and I can see the satisfaction he has holding us at his mercy.

"You know when I started hearing about a man running around with a fire lizard taking out all my…. employees I thought my men had been drinking or taking drugs, it just sounded so ridiculous. But to then see a story about you stopping one of my vans and helping the cops apprehend the men inside I knew the stories had to be true.

I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to draw you out and put an end to your disturbance of my operations, I just never thought that my misfortune with this deal and the fire would bring you to me so quickly. I would have to thank you for being just so self-righteous you played into my hands. It really is true that the lucky bird gets the worm and I'm feeling very lucky right now. I'm going to send a message to anyone who dares to interfere with me by taking out what you hold dear, and then I'm going to cripple you and dump you in the river, I hope you can swim without your legs."

As his words go on and on I can fear the horror intensify, my over confidence did this, we are going to die and it's all my fault, I'm so sorry Cinder you deserve so much better than I could have given you. Looking to my dear partner and I see him staring at me with trust in his eyes, trust in me and what I stand for.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Feeling my heart break as I knew it was the end for us, i tried to think of anything I could do and I came up short, there has to be anything, anyone that can help us. But as the seconds went on I couldn't find anything, staring at the man, "please you don't have to do this, we'll go away, far away and not bother you ever again, just please don't do this" pleading with him.

I hate him, I feel so much hate to one person as I just see him smile at me, knowing that there's nothing I can do, I'm just a toy in his hand for him to play as he likes.

"Nope, you're going to be a message for me, if I let you go then I look weak and I can't have that." Seeing him look up from me to the man standing over Cinder and I know there's nothing I can do…. nothing….at…all. Feeling the darkness encroach as I sink into my distress, that I killed my partner, my only friend and family in this world...

Ņ̵̼̮̹̲͕̫̖͌̈́͝Ȏ̷̠̰̻̱͇̅̈̇̓̌̄̄!̶̖͐̄͂̒͗ ̷̧̛͇͔̤̆̈́̓̔͗̎Î̶͈̥ ̷̲̥̤̜̿R̴̤̙̱͉̜̯̈́E̸͇͕̗̭̪̩̙̩͛͂̂̔͝Ḟ̵̯̮̺̱͚̖̓̃͆̎̄̾Ǔ̷̩̺̞̘̱͍̄́̀ͅŠ̵̱̥̩̳́̋̀͋͌͝E̶̯̣͌͂ ̷̝͈͑̌̋͒̃̈́T̶̨̻̠̮̥̗͚͒̍̓̔͋̐͌͝O̵̯̲̗͐̀̅̂͑̕ ̵̫̝̟͚̯̅̋̊͐͜S̷̨̭̮̙̈̃͋͊́̇̓I̵̢̦͆́͛̄͘T̸͙͇͖̃͊̊̈̓͊̔̕ ̵̮͇̩̙̮̔̇̔̿̽̈́͠Ḅ̸̢̡͇͈̱̖͈͂͝A̷͓̯̱̬̬͍̔́̌͝C̵̢͔͙͓͚̿̋̇̃̔Ķ̷̟̙̞͛̈̄̀,̶͚̞̙̈́͒̀̒̀͘ ̶̠͉͖͌̀̀̀͑̀̽Ý̶̢̢̛͖̮͖̃̾̊͘Ǫ̴̛̮̯̬̲͎̗͜U̶͕͂͐͌̔͑͂̆͠ ̵̢̢̦͕̖̾̉̈̇Ď̴̞̤͈̊̍̿͘A̵̩̓̄ͅR̵̠͇͕̫͊E̵̯̬͚͂́͐ ̶̙͍͖̠͖̦̤͎̏̈́̓̐̈͑̕T̸͖͚͊͐͘Ơ̸̧̙̫̖̞͚̲̿̾͘͜͝ ̷͍͔̲̄͐̃̋̕͜͝͝T̵̞̪̼̖̾̽̕Ȁ̶͎̹̱̟̹̔̊̽͋́K̸̡͚̺̭̉̿̉͑̉̎͜͝E̷̡̛̜̲͚͕̿̓̎̾̕͝ ̵̱͙͑̆̍Õ̶͔͈̹͎͍̣̜Ṳ̸̦͔͕͈̀R̴̨̢̺̜͕̟̃̋͌̈́̓̎́͘ ̵͈̘̠̲̜̆̄̀L̸̢̲̒̋̇̈́̆̒I̸̱̖̱̍̑̎V̷̳͈͔͔̟̞̓͗̀̿E̵̡̨̻̼̻͚͙͖͆̎̄̎͒S̶̼͉͈̥̬̱̱̿̆͒̅̅̌͝͝ͅ?̵̛̪̥̤̖̗͇̑̇̕!̵̡̙̖͍͍͆!̸̫̖͕̓͝͝ͅ?̷̙̖͛͑̋̔͊͊ ̶̡̟̆͆̂̄͑̄̕

Feeling a rush of power fill me, I lose all control of my body, something else has taken hold of it. I can only sit back as the energy builds, I can feel the people around me, the civilians outside, the emergency personnel. Their minds are open and I see all their thoughts and dreams, their hopes and fears, everything is laid bare. I can see the minds of the boss and the man standing over Cinder and feel their fear at what I was doing, at what I was, the whites of my eyes shine as power radiates around me.

They are scared of me, scared of what I could do and they should be, they dare to take our lives, to end what we have started. They are right, this is a message, but not theirs, it's ours, we will show all the criminals in the area what happens when they cross us. Condensing the energy I then watch as my body sends a wave of pure force out shaking the very foundations of the building, forcing everything away and leaving Cinder and myself unaffected.

I then watch as my body still on auto pilot recalls cinder into his poke ball and moves out of the room making its way to the rear of the building. Jumping into the boat we move away, as the boat motors away I can feel as the police move into the building we just vacated and spread through the offices and adjoining rooms and their shock as what they have stumbled upon, feeling pressure building in my head I hold on for as long as I can though I can feel darkness encroaching on my vision and it quickly goes black.