Although his heart was still racing due to how close they were to the fire he was growing conscious enough to control his trembling limbs. With his gaze forward, he saw the poor couple cowering on the ground. The woman was practically hyperventilating while the man was shielding her with his back to Boomer, who seemed to find enjoyment in that.

Bailey didn’t like such a scene and, much to Zane’s immense displeasure, Bailey chose to be stupid yet again. He slipped from Zane’s grasp and went straight for the couple as if it wasn’t a completely suicidal idea.

Zane stood, gaping; a few feet away while he questioned how an idiot like Bailey had survived so long. The dumbass had literally thrown himself in front of trouble like it wasn’t even something that deserved thought. Zane, on the other hand, had no desire to die nor was he interested in playing the hero. He was leaving. He was gone.

With Bailey’s distraction, Zane managed to turn the corner without notice.

Boomer stared wide-eyed at the one who had the bravery, or stupidity, to put himself in harm’s way. Her smile turned from amused to impressed when she put her hands on her hips and leaned forward while asking, “And who might you be?”

“My name is Bailey,” Bailey replied with a tremor in his voice that nearly made it break.

He cleared his throat and stood his ground even when Boomer jumped from the building to the sidewalk below. She landed gracefully, as if she didn’t fall over four stories before standing straight and actually skipped over to them.

Bailey wasn’t sure if he was breathing any longer. Boomer was so close that she could reach out and touch him. There was a brief moment where Bailey actually thought he saw his life flashing before his eyes. A second felt like an eternity; sweat formed on his brow and the very air in his lungs turned cold.

“I like you, Bailey,” Boomer said as if that was perfectly normal to say during a terror attack. “You’re fun.”

Fun, the word made Bailey’s stomach knot. There was a sick feeling rising in his gut that took hold of him until he couldn’t even move. Vomiting sounded like a good idea but he doubted Boomer would appreciate that. If anything, she would probably kill him quicker. He wasn’t sure what Boomer had in store but whatever it was, it was put on hold.

Without any warning, a car came hurtling down the street at such a speed that Boomer had enough time to turn before it rammed into her. Bailey slammed his eyes shut when he heard the sound of glass shattering and Boomer screaming. It happened so fast that Bailey didn’t even realize his eyes were open again or that he was helping the couple off the ground while Boomer was sent down the street along with the car.

He wasn’t sure who was driving it but he imagined they didn’t survive. The impact of Boomer’s body against the windshield was likely more than enough damage but her anger afterwards? That was going to be catastrophic and Bailey was in no hurry to see the outcome.

He wasn’t sure how far the car had gone but it was far enough to give him, along with the couple, time to run. Sirens could be heard in the distance, likely a blockade was set up in hopes to keep Boomer confined to one area. If they could make it close enough they would get out so the three of them ran like their lives depended on it because it did.

Another explosion was heard just as Bailey looked back to see fire and explosive shocks shoot up into the sky. A loud scream followed after that he could only assume came from Boomer. More smoke rose, the earth shook and all their paces picked up since it was clear Boomer was not happy with being hit. It was more obvious when she came speeding around the street corner, clothes torn and mouth bleeding, that someone was going to pay for hitting her with a damn car.

“Get back here!” She screamed and, luckily, before she used her mutation again, a hero arrived.

Down from the sky came Seraph, her huge black wings carried her with immense speed as she swooped in and, literally, scooped Boomer from the ground. Immediately, Boomer snapped her fingers, successfully hitting a nearby trash can with an explosive shot that sent it over Bailey’s head, nearly hitting him. He ducked in time and peered back to watch Seraph carry Boomer into the sky.

There was a tussle before the girl was dropped to the ground. By then there was a battle between them and no one wanted to stick around for that especially since Seraph could be heard screaming about her ruined snapback. Seraph was the type of hero that got fired up when messed with and it seemed Boomer had messed with her.

It was during his curious look back that Bailey’s eyes peered past the battle scene to notice something peculiar literally etched onto a building. Though the boy felt his arm being tugged at by someone to get away, it didn’t bring his gaze away from the very obvious “”’ lit up by flames.

“We have to go!” The woman from earlier shouted, pulling Bailey so forcefully that he stumbled to his side.

He cursed as he managed to catch himself, looked back once more to make sure he saw correctly then allowed the woman to continue tugging him towards the police blockade at the end of the street.

Safety had been reached but…Bailey wasn’t sure how long that safety would last.

Bailey sat at the police station watching officers shuffle throughout the precinct in a rush. It was loud; phones were ringing off the hook, police were shouting about the battle between Boomer and Seraph that had yet to end 20 minutes later and those who had witnessed the explosion were being interviewed. Bailey was one of those people, so was Zane but, when Bailey peered around the precinct, he realized his silver haired “friend” was nowhere to be found.

On one of the TV’s played the news coverage of the ongoing battle. Seraph could be seen tossing Boomer around like a doll while Boomer exploded practically everything within a five-block radius. The area had been quarantined and everyone evacuated but the damage was still catastrophic. Many buildings were destroyed, lives lost and the count continued to rise as more and more bodies were discovered.