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Author's Chapter Notes:

Chapter 4 is here!  This is what everyone's been waiting for, so I hope it lives up to your expectations ^_^

 

 

 

 


Chapter 4

Sitting in the back seat of an unmarked police car staring (with mixed shame and longing) at the bag at his feet, Kyle was at a loss for words. He had wanted to thank Graham for covering for him, telling the Captain that he had forgotten to report for the first half of his shift before the ride-along and thus taking the blame for him. Unfortunately, he just couldn't find the words. Graham hadn't even asked him about the purchase, and he was afraid that if the started talking, the subject would come up. Or that he would just blurt it out if he opened his mouth. How was he supposed to just sever his ties to his friend and his career and go running off to some other world? Maybe he didn't have to. He could just forget the last couple of days ever happened and go on with life. But if he did that, would he keep going on feeling like his life was missing something?

"Yo, Madison!"

Kyle had been so deep in his inner struggle that he hadn't even noticed Graham had stopped the car and picked up his partner, who was now staring at him waiting for a response.

"Hey Torres," he said. "Sorry, I was just, uh, thinking about something."

"Man, why is it so quiet in here? I thought you wanted to come with us and see what real police work is." Nathan Torres had been Graham's partner ever since he made Vice. He had hung out with Graham and Kyle several times and had passed out enough on their couch that Graham often joked about making him pay part of the rent. Kyle wasn't nearly as outgoing as Torres (or most of their fellow officers on the force, for that matter), but he always had a good time when he was around.

"Ah, you know," Graham said, "it's been a long day. Did you find any good leads?"

Nate had been roaming the streets for a couple of hours, checking the usual spots for drug deals, prostitution, street gangs, or anyone else who looked like they might be up to something. "Not much. Everyone is still laying low after that business with Zarnov last week." Dimitri Zarnov had been running a nice operation for quite some time. His network was efficient and well organized. It had taken four months worth of investigations to find how all the pieces of the organization fit together and how to hit it the hardest, which they succeeded in the previous week. Graham and Torres had led the sting, which resulted in acquiring several million dollars in drugs and weapons, not to mention the arrests of all the key players. All of them except Zarnov himself, who was believed to have fled the country and had several divisions of Interpol searching for him ever since.

"Can't say that I blame them," Graham said, grinning for the first time since he had picked up Kyle. "They're probably all too afraid to even think about stepping outside now."

A few hours later, they hadn't had much action except for chasing off a couple of street punks without even getting out of the car. They stopped at a street where lonely guys could pick up a "date" for the evening and waited for something to happen.

"Hmm," Graham muttered after several minutes.

"What?"

"That guy standing over there," he said, pointing to a row of abandoned apartment buildings. "I think this is the third time tonight I've seen him."

Torres sat up, a spark of interest in his eyes. "You think so?"

"I don't know, maybe. It's hard to say for sure. Probably just imagining things."

"Yeah," Nate agreed. "You see one punk, you've seen 'em all." A moment later, they saw another figure approach the man and they disappeared into an alley nearby. "Now things are getting more interesting."

Graham opened his door, making as little noise as possible. "Let's check it out."

Kyle, still not saying more than a word or two all evening, got out of the car with them. He wished he had gone by the house to get his sidearm, but decided to go with his friends just the same. He was in desperate need to take his mind off of his current situation, and what better way to do that then get some adrenaline pumping? He followed them to the alley's entrance and waited for them to give him the all-clear signal before moving in. They couldn't see or hear anything in the darkness ahead of them. Torres drew his pistol and switched off the safety, motioning towards where he assumed the men would be. Graham nodded and flicked on his flashlight as they stepped between the buildings. Kyle could feel his pulse pounding in his head. Every muscle in his body tensed, waiting to spring into action, but as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light ahead of him, he saw nothing but a narrow alley that ended in a high chain-link fence. They walked slowly, Graham and Nate with guns aimed straight ahead and Kyle following behind.

Suddenly, several things seemed to happen at once. There was a sound of a few engines approaching from the street, and the three of them turned around as light flooded the alley from oncoming headlights. Something moved behind a dumpster by the fence. The engines stopped as the vehicles were turned off and several doors were opened. Torres pushed Kyle aside and yelled. He fired a shot towards the dumpster just as a second shot rang out. Kyle rolled when he hit the ground and looked back at Torres, who had dropped to his knees clutching his right shoulder. The man behind the dumpster staggered toward them, gasping and choking, holding his throat as blood poured down over his hands and the front of his shirt before he collapsed and asphyxiated. Several shadows danced across the walls of the buildings around them as they heard the sounds of many guns being cocked.

"We meet at last," voice called out from a silhouetted figure in front of the headlights of the cars that now trapped them in the alley.

"Dimitri!" Graham cried. "You stupid bastard! It's already over for you. Killing us won't change anything."

"Perhaps not," he replied as he and his men walked towards them. "But consider it a repayment for everything you took from me."

Kyle stood frozen in shock. There were six of them altogether, three holding pistols, two with shotguns. Dimitri himself didn't have a weapon, at least, he hadn't drawn one yet. There was no escape from this alley, no one around to call for help, Torres was injured, and he himself had no weapons at all. They were going to die here.

"Heh..." Nate gave a gasping laugh. "I'm not done... taking from you... yet!" He let go of his bleeding shoulder and fired as several gunshots echoed through the darkened streets. Zarnov and his men seemed to be fine, but Nathan Torres lay several yards away with no less than a dozen bullets in him and half his face blown off.

"NO!" Kyle screamed. The back of his shoulder was burning, the birthmark pulsing. He felt as though there was a tremendous pressure inside of him, like it would erupt any minute. Maybe Zarnov's men had forgotten about him since Nate's desperate attack, or maybe they just hadn't noticed him since he wasn't wearing a badge around his neck, but he was able to charge the man closest to him. Kyle grabbed the barrel of the shotgun and twisted it out of its owner's grip before smashing him in the face with the wooden stock of the weapon. Unfortunately, before he could chamber a round, he had four guns aimed at him.

"Wait," Dimitri said holding up a hand at his men. "I admire your courage. You will die last." He waved a finger at Kyle and one of the men shot him in the ankle. Seeing him drop the gun as he fell, they turned their attention to Graham.


Kyle felt his leg throbbing as the world came back into focus. He had gone into shock and passed out. He rolled over onto his stomach, stifling a scream as he moved his wounded ankle. He managed to get up on his knees and started to feel nauseous as the blood rushed to his head. He saw Graham lying at Dimitri's feet.

"Get on your knees," the druglord snarled. "Beg me to kill you."

Graham sat up, wincing in pain. Blood streamed from his nostrils and mouth. It was clear he had been beaten nearly to death. "N-no," he said in a hoarse voice.

Dimitri kicked him in the sternum, knocking the air out of his lungs. "I can do this all night. Beg."

Graham regained his balance as he spit blood on Zarnov's white designer suit. "Screw... you."

Cursing in Russian, Dimitri reached in his jacket and drew a handgun, placing the barrel between Graham's eyes.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Kyle watched. He had to do something. They couldn't die like this. Then, he was struck by a moment of clarity. There was something he could do, if it would even work. The "power" inside him. If it was as great as Larissa had said, maybe he would be able to stop this. But, if he used it, there was no going back. Could this power really save he and Graham at all? He didn't know, but it was his only chance.

Kyle made his choice, and made the hand sign that was shown to him as he tried to recall the incantation in a long-forgotten language of another world. Muttering the words, he reached for the mark on his shoulder.

Graham felt a wave of dizziness pass over him, but kept his eyes locked with Dimitri's. It took every ounce of strength to keep from losing consciousness and he was determined to look his killer in the eye. Go ahead, you bastard, he thought, pull the trigger already. He could feel the tension in the air, like static. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Graham then realized that it was more than just tension as he began to feel a strange, rhythmic pulsing of air around him. He shifted his gaze to the left, and could have sworn he saw his friend glowing right before he was thrown backwards by a sudden gust of wind. He heard men shouting and saw had time to see his attackers had been thrown as well before his head struck the concrete and everything went black.

"What the hell?" Dimitri shouted. He stood up, fighting against the gusting wind that seemed to well up from nowhere. He looked towards the western wall, where the source of the wind was coming from, and didn't believe what he was seeing. The younger cop, the one who had charged them head-on earlier, was standing upright glaring at him. Debris from the alley was blowing all over in the rushing air, and it seemed to be coming from this kid, not to mention the fact that there was some kind of dull light around him.

"Boss!" one of his men cried. "What is this?"

"Kill him!" Zarnov replied, and they opened fire.

Kyle didn't even feel the bullets that tore through his body. He felt only the surging power within and the warmth surrounding him. He faltered a moment, his mind was trying to tell him that he had just been killed, but regained his footing as the light grew brighter around him. He felt his body throbbing all over, then there was only blinding light. For a moment, he felt lighter than air, as if he was the light and had no body, then he tingled with sensation all over. His shoulders didn't feel as wide but his hips were expanding. His chest was swelling, his sides, butt, and legs seemed to be curving. there was warmth between his legs, inside of him. He felt renewed within the cocoon of light, refreshed. He was alive, truly alive, no longer held back by unseen bonds.

Dimitri could hear his men yelling, but was paralyzed with fear before the light that blinded him. It was like a small sun had appeared in the middle of the city. He wanted to run, but his legs simply wouldn't obey. He was certain that it would burst at any time, but after several minutes it finally began to fade. At last it was gone, and though the alley was still lit from the headlamps of his cars, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the contrasting darkness. The kid was gone, but now there was a nude woman standing where he had been. She was stunningly beautiful, and carried an air of nobility, but she could have passed for his twin sister. She even had the same neck-length hair, although rather than being pulled back in a bobbed ponytail, hers hung loose, framing her face. The eyes that seemed to pierce him were the same as the boy's had been. What was going on?

For many seconds, no one moved or made a sound. One of the thugs with Zarnov had his pistol aimed at the boy when that light hit, and now it was aimed at a girl. Part of him wanted to shoot her, but he couldn't seem to pull the trigger. At last, he managed a twitch of his finger. It was slight, but enough to break the silence with an ear-splitting bang. She raised her hand in an instant, and a barrier of soft blue light appeared around her, deflecting the bullet.

This is impossible, Dimitri thought to himself. It can't be happening!

The girl's eyes shifted momentarily to the far left of the alley, where Graham laid motionless. The next instant, he vanished and was lying on the ground behind her, within the glowing aura still wrapped around her. She turned her attention to Dimitri and his thugs who were still trying to make sense of what was going on. Her arm was still outstretched, palm up, and she spread her fingers wide. Swirling rays of energy began to converge in front of her hand into a white, glowing ball of pure magic. Her eyes narrowed, and the mass of light started to grow rapidly.

Larissa stood on the roof of a tall office building, gazing out at the city below. She wanted to rush straight to the boy, but held herself back. She had felt it clearly, that sudden outpouring of power. In a world devoid of magic, it took no effort at all to sense it. However, she thought it would be best to wait it out and see what happened. She had no idea what Kyle had been through that evening, she only knew that it seemed he had awakened his powers fully, that she would finally see her old friend and mentor again. Her knuckles turned white as she tightened her grip on her staff. No, she should just wait. The transformation must have been awkward, and he would probably want some time to adjust, to let reality soak in. She turned and looked towards the middle of the city where a faint white glow had caught her eye.

And then she felt it. She had been absorbed in her own thoughts and hadn't even noticed the enormous level of energy coming from that light. It never occurred to her until that moment that Kyle might not be able to control the power. Before her terrified eyes, a massive explosion rocked the heart of the city. Her screams were drowned out by the blast, and the accompanying shockwave knocked her on her back. She got up quickly, staring out at the rising wall of smoke that blocked out the moon and stars in the sky.

"What have we done?"

Chapter End Notes:

 

 

 

To be continued...

To be continued... (Incomplete)
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