AtlasBound

Reform

Isaac looked at Louis worriedly as helicopters, both police and fire department were flying towards the now blazing inferno.

Maybe we did hit a gas line.
The sky was slowly darkening as the sun was creeping under the horizon, black smoke rising to the stars.

"I have some medical stuff at my place. You don't look too bad, just banged up." Isaac said inspecting the biker, a few scrapes here and there, fresh bruises soon to form no doubt.
Holes littered Louis clothes more so than originally thought, a guilty feeling slowly surrounding Isaac. The three quickened their pace through the streets, making sure to take as many alleys and dim lit areas as the drug dealers and transients of the lower districts pushed pass them to either help subdue the fire, or to flee from it. None of these people had homes, but they were doing what they could to save what little they had.

"We have to fix this." Isaac muttered under his breath, upping his pace to a slight jog

"Not now." Louis whispered, following suit after

"How far to your place?" the biker asked as he caught up

Isaac looked up the buildings growing in height, "A few more blocks, near college avenue."

Within the roar of the city, people seemed unaffected by the fire. The usual chatter of shopping malls and coffee shops infected the air as the subtle crashing of the ocean waves hit the sea walls and piers. They turned onto the apartment block where Isaac's penthouse stood, and it was almost completely silent, except for the occasional car passing by. Just silence.
The three climbed the small set of stairs to the front door as Isaac entered the code on the keypad, Louis turned facing the street, making sure no one was looking at them. Isaac held the door open and nodded for the biker to enter the lobby, and the door closing behind the three.
The three stepped into the elevator, but as the doors closed, the fractals began to show glimpse of different parts of the city, the forever-awake skyscrapers, the calm of the suburbs, the scattered, smoldering buildings of the industrial park, and the grocery store of all places. The three got off on Isaac's floor. Normal sight returned. A sigh of relief left his mouth.

Isaac burst through his door and went straight for the fishing gear box still sitting unkempt on the coffee table. Isaac looked at Louis then quickly to the door, almost instinctively, Louis reacted with the same motion of Isaac's eyes.
Isaac set his eyes on the biker.
"So, take a seat, and we can begin."

Reform

The air burned.
With each breath Isaac drew in, heat and ash filled his lungs. Isaac staggered and clutched his chest. It felt like Isaac was hit with a truck. He rubbed his eyes and the fractal disappeared, the man on the floor once yelling curses was charred across the right side of his body. The girl still standing was no better, her hair singed and skin penetrated with pieces of glass and stone. Neither moved and blood gingerly dripped from their lips and nose. They were either dead or critically injured, probably better off dead.

The wall was breached by a massive hole, water drenching Isaac as he searched for Louis. Isaac was breathing deep, as the dust began to dissipate as the sprinkler system continued for a little longer, then was reduced to drips.

The pipes are broken, but I can breathe.

Louis was staring at the hole in the wall, the blood and limbs coating any surface it could get on.
Isaac lifted Louis by his arms, "We're leaving, no one could've ignored that."

Cracks along the hole began to creep towards the ceiling as small chunks of what was left of the wall began to fall. Walking towards another exit, the sound of falling stone and dancing pipes rattled the air.
Once outside, Isaac and Louis sped up towards an empty field that overlooked the industrial park. The building lightly billowing smoke slowly gave way as the roof collapsed, the walls crumbling or falling in any direction that gravity pulled it in.

"Ok, so, no more buildings. Open air training for you."
Isaac put his hands on his head as the dust cloud that arose from the collapsed building resembled a mushroom cloud. A person that helped guide him through his younger years, now coated the dust and dirt of a destroyed building.

This is a new phase in life. Isaac thought to himself. The old gang died, and so did Isaac's old life.

Isaac placed a hand on Louis' shoulder.
"C'mon, let's grab a drink back at my place."

Reform

"You're tellin' me. This is definitely a decent place to sleep for a night if needed, but," Isaac looked around the lightly creaking warehouse, "It's empty."

"Is that bad?" Louis asked, fidgeting with a hole in his jacket.

"Not bad, but not surprising. Since I left, they haven't had much luck by the looks of it." Dragging his finger across a broken industrial packing box, Isaac flipped it to a solid side, and gently sat on top. Three large windows on both sides of a two story warehouse beamed in light, illuminating the entire warehouse from the cold concrete floor.

"So," Isaac's voice echoed, "Let's talk about what you can do."

Louis looked down at his hands, "We figured out something in your apartment."

"Yes, you have the ability to go boom. But that can't be it," Isaac responded, while rubbing his eyes. "If it is, you'll do phenomenally in the military."

Louis smirked and began pacing back and forth, and almost clapped his hands together, but stopped and put his hands by his side. Isaac leaned back, and sighed with a smile.
"You're gonna put me on edge man," Isaac relaxed his back "But I suppose I should tell you a little about me, since you told me some stuff about you in my apartment."

Isaac hopped up and began walking lightly around Louis, "I kinda began in a pretty crap place. Y'know, bad house, bad neighborhood, and bad people all around. But I always had more motivation, so I did good in school, got picked on, the usual."
Isaac began looking at the ceiling towards the damaged industrial lights, "When I wanted to go to college, I needed a way to fund it, so me and a few old pals got together and sold the usual street stuff. It grew into a manufacturing thing, then somehow splintered into nothing more than a bunch of thieves."
He began to fidget one hand in his pocket and another on the bridge of his nose, "Not, not my greatest achievement, but I got in school and paid it all in cash. Now the school pays me to do research. So now I'm banking and the others-"

"LEFT HIGH AND DRY!"

Isaac and Louis spun around, their eyes met with four strangers, dressed in ragged jackets and jeans.
"If I remember right, despite a pounding ass headache, that 'I would be safer in jail'?"
Isaac stepped in front of Louis, "Matt, listen-"
"No, no no no. You don't get to speak." One of the male strangers spoke out in a familiar tone.
"Big shot kiddo leavin' us in the dirt. Mista big money bags ain't good no mo' to his real friends." Another male stranger hissed with a growl.
"We had faith in you man, we believed in you. Now you're running with some half-wit piece of sh-" The last female voice muttered

"HEY!" Louis barked.

"Calm down pup, you ain't worth it," Matt hissed "But he is. Go snag his ass."

Two of the figures moved forward around the beams of light from the windows, Isaac slowly moved away from Louis and lined up with the two figures in the shadows. About 10 feet from Louis, Isaac could feel his blood running, adrenaline surging through his body, ready for fight. Isaac's vision split into fractals, but no vibrations this time.
Ok, ok, ok, now isn't the time, but hell, I suppose I can't ignore it now. Isaac thought to himself quickly as he concentrated on the person to his right. The fractal morphed into a view point, but now in Isaac's eye, he was looking at himself, getting closer and closer.
Isaac then solely focused on that image. I'm, I'm seeing myself getting closer. I'm in her head.

Time seemed to slow down, Isaac noticed every twitch she was making. She made a quick look down and shook her head ever-so-slightly.
He was in and she knew something was off.

The headache. Louis. Matt. Now her.

Isaac began to flex his hand, and he noticed that the girl was flexing her hand too. With each clenching grip he made, so did she. Time sped back up, and Isaac stood firm, pulling his fist back to strike.

Without missing a beat, the girl continued walking forward, but her head went limp, rolled, and came back up. She swung her arm around and clothes-lined her partner, connecting to his lower neck, slamming him to the ground on his back.
Sluggishly and limp, she loosely stood there.
The fractal in his vision showing the man on the floor, holding the back of his head.
The man yelling curses through her darkened eyes.

I can work with this.

Reform

"I think I'm a walking bomb."

Isaac stood on the sidewalk, staring at people all around them, wondering what would happen if Louis activated his 'power.' Isaac swallowed the lump in his throat, "So, no more mexican food for you." Isaac chuckled, but quickly remembering what could happen.

"And listen, I'll do what I can to help you. I mean, I don't know what's going on with you, but I'm sure we can find a bomb disposal suit I can start wearing."

Not looking at Louis, Isaac was trying to think of a good place to go, a secluded open field, or a massive warehouse. Some place that if any causalities happen, it'll just be the two of them.

"The industrial park." Isaac said quickly, almost surprised by himself. The sides of his vision were vibrating, with a vague image of an abandoned cooling tower. The view point looked up, then down to a pad and paper.
That's not me.
Isaac lifted and looked at his hand, but in the corner of his eye, the pad and paper went down the he saw another person's hand. He snapped back and shook his hand. He looked at Louis with a hesitant smile, "At the industrial park, we can at least play any mishaps off as a gas leak."

Reform

"We? Us?" Isaac said with a slight bewildered tone, "That would explain the explosion in your hands, and a newly dirty house." He continued, picking up trinket after trinket. "But, this would explain a lot. On the boardwalk, my migraine did go away. For the first time in years."

Isaac and Louis finished straightening the room back to its original scene, "And lets not clap your hands, at least not in here."

"Understood, sorry about that." Lou said with a slight smirk

"Now that grocery store explosion, I was living on the other side of town, and I just got home that night from work. But I remember seeing the bright flash and the smoke billowing. Everyone in the building thought it was a gas leak, an old neighbor of mine, a veteran, said it reminded him of a type of weapon that uses the air around it to not only create the explosion, but an intense fire and heat."

Isaac's eyes shifted around the room, and went to grab his house keys.
"C'mon, let's get out of here. Don't want anymore accidents."

Reform

"Wait." Isaac called out to the open door, and Louis stopped He actually stopped "What do you mean it's not the first time."
Isaac's vision began to vibrate ever-so-slightly, and a small fractal in the corner of Isaac's eye began to see part of the hallway, then faded to normal sight.
"I-" Isaac stuttered as he put the table back to it's upright position "I think we need to talk man."
He stopped and breathed in deep, "What happened at the boardwalk, I had a migraine and I was writhing in pain, and all of a sudden, I could see other places, but like, it's not me seeing it."
Isaac sat on the now lightly dusted couch, "And before you tackled me, everyone was frozen, but they-they weren't themselves. When I moved, so did they."

Reform

The shock wave pushed against Isaac and lost his footing, slipping and slamming against the wall. The coffee table and medical supplies strewn across the floor. The books and tv skewed, and a gentle cloud of smoke hovering around the room. Wide-eyed and coughing, "What the shit was that man?" Isaac lifted himself up and lifted an arm towards Louis, "You ok?"

Reform

"Nonsense," Isaac clicked his tongue, "Listen, you look like you've been roughed up a bit more than myself. If you have other places, I won't stop you," he continued rubbing his eyes, "But you're more than welcome to stay for as long as you want. The apartment is usually empty, but hey, I have enough food and pills, if that's your thing."
Isaac shrugged and walked into the kitchen, he grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, then went to the window. Peaking down towards the street as police cars glided by. He closed the blinds and turned a lamp on, plopping down on the couch with his head in hands.
"I dunno about you and your story, but your hands and shoulder say plenty. Sorta." He placed the ice cold beer against his forehead.

Reform

Isaac chuckled, "Don't worry about it, that couch has seen a lot worse."
He tightened the bandage, Isaac's eyes shakily looking over his work, "Alright Lou, your leg looks banged up, so let's get started on that. If you want, you can handle that in the bathroom if you're comfortable with that."
Isaac got up momentarily, "You can also use the shower and freshen up, but give me a second, my eyes are screwing up on me."
The fractals in Isaac's eyes reappearing, attempting to control his breathing, hoping to subdue the stomach turning feeling.

Reform

Wiping his mouth with a towel, "Yeah man, c'mon in."
Isaac led the stranger in and directed him to the couch while he grabbed a fishing gear box from his bathroom. "I'm Isaac by the way." He began as he placed the fishing gear box on the small coffee table, and opened it to reveal a plethora small medical utensils. Gauze, numerous bandages and wraps, scalpels and needles, disinfectants, and medications like no other.
"Sorry, this looks bad, but this happens when you study the human body, and your main source of income was being a thief."
Isaac rolled up his sleeves, "So, it looks like your shoulder and your leg need a quick clean and roll-up. So roll up your sleeve, and we'll start there."
As Isaac grabbed the disinfectant and some gauze, "So, what's your name?"