The reaction that he got from Nilin concerning his (almost) genuine question surprised Diego. Usually when any woman was referred to a side piece, the last thing they would do is smile. However, he had no chance to find out her true feelings because of Julius’ outburst.

The outburst didn’t really surprise him, it was understandable and warranted. What surprised him is that he had the guts to stand up to Diego like he was now doing. Diego stayed silent as Julius talked to him. Diego’s eyes burned as his anger steadily increased, but that’s all that he let show of his emotion. It was all the same things he had been saying over and over, and Diego was sick of it.

Diego took a step forward, just in time to be handed $100. He took the cash, but didn’t take his eyes off of Julius at all, even when Mari had stormed out of the room. He waited until Nilin had teleported out, and the three were left. He reached out and took his friend by the collar of his shirt, lifting him up slightly so that his eyes were level Diego’s. He turned his head to Faust, then back to Julius.

“Don’t you ever talk to me like that again,” he said in a low tone. “I [i]will[/i] end you.”
Diego turned his head back to Faust. “Sorry. No pizza today.”

“I don’t know what he’s here for. But he’s your problem. Not mine. Don’t think that I’ll keep you alive. I’m not your body guard. You’re weak. Just like the rest of them. The weak don’t survive in this world. Not anymore.” He held up the money in front of Julius’ face and, in an instant, they erupted into flames. “I don’t need your damn charity,” he growled as he shoved Julius back. “I don’t need any of this. I’m not going to sit around and wait for the thugs to double-cross us like they normally do. If you want to do that, that’s fine by me.”

With that, he turned and stormed out of the room, and out of the building. Once outside, he paused, taking a deep breath and clenching his hands into fists. He turned his head toward the group of homeless people he had run into earlier. They stared back at him with a mixture of fear and interest. His eyes shifted to the trashcan. The fire was dying. He smiled darkly and walked closer to the group.

“Stand back. Now.” They complied, and Diego shot two streams of fire into the trashcan. It was like and explosion. Fire rose up at least a good fifteen feet, then died down to a roaring fire once Diego was finished shooting fire. He turned to the homeless, who almost cowered away from Diego. He smiled. [i]Good.[/i] He thought to himself. “The fire should last you the rest of the night. You’re welcome.”

Before they had a chance to say anything, he turned and shot off into the sky.

---

Diego gritted his teeth as he flew, replaying the events that had just transpired in his head. 

He almost didn’t notice the faint sound of sirens as he shot thought the night sky. He slowed significantly, looking around for the source of the sirens.

There, close to downtown Brooklyn, were multiple sets of blue and red lights flashing. It had to be another Super in trouble. Diego quickly shot in the direction, smiling darkly.

---

It didn’t take him long to find the Super, especially since no one was out at this time of night, and no one would be running like this guy was. Diego shot down into an alley in the Super’s path and waited. Sure enough, the male came running in front of the alley, and Diego lunged out, grabbing the kid by the arm and pulling him in. He shoved him up against the wall and covered his mouth. 

“Don’t say a damn word,” he growled. “I’m here to help.”

The police cars shot past the alley, not bothering to slow down at all for fear that they might lose the Empowered. That didn’t mean that there would be foot patrols; they would be there within a couple of minutes. He could already hear them.

Diego stared into the other Empowered’s eyes and took his hand from his mouth. “Stay still. Don’t move. You won’t be able to outrun me if you do.” He flashed the guy a sinister smile, then backed up, letting a couple of sparks of electricity fly from his hands. 

As if on cue, a retrieval squad stopped at the entrance of the alley. They raised their guns and paused. One of the soldiers started to speak, but was quickly cut down by a stream of electricity. He fell down in a convulsing heap. This prompted the other soldiers to fire their weapons. Diego shot up into the sky, and landed behind them. Two of the soldiers were picked up from their spots, and repeatedly slammed into the ground, head-first. They were dead in a matter of moments, but that didn’t stop Diego from continuing his assault on their bodies. The other two soldiers turned around and raised their guns again. The one on the right was hit with the flying bodies of the two previously killed soldiers. He was knocked back in front of Atticus, unconscious. The last soldier made a last ditch effort to stop Diego, and pulled the trigger, not letting go. Diego dove to the side, but not before being grazed by one of the bullets. He let out a hiss of pain and fell back. The soldier smiled and took a step forward, ready to kill. Diego stared at the man, urging him to try. The solder raised his gun again and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened. The soldier paused for a second, the fact that there were no more bullets in the gun registering in his head. By the time he was able to pull his pistol out of the holster, Diego was already standing. With a smile, he reached his hand out, then yanked up. The soldier widened his eyes for a moment, and then his head, and spine, were ripped clear out of his body. Diego threw it onto the ground, then made his way back into the alley. He gave Atticus a nod, then put his hand over his wound. 

“Hey there. The name is Diego, and you are?”