A Crack Away from Destiny

Joshua

It all happened so fast that he could've sworn it didn't happen at all. An invisible force threw Shijie back a few feet. Again. The needle Frenchmen was about to inject into Louise's neck was now in her hand, hovering centimeters off his forearm. Suddenly it happened. Energy, nothing he had ever felt before, began to race through his body. Energy pumped through his veins, speeding up a hundred miles an hour. His mind went into hyperdrive, analysing anything he saw within an instant. Every sense was intensified, allowing him to ingest even the smallest detail. As quickly as the energy had surged through him, the energy dispersed, like smoke on a rainy day. His power was back. He willed the familiar anger he felt when he was harming Louise back into his system, and fur began to line his body once again. His nails stretched out to long claws, and his vision detected a small drop of sweat rolling off of Frenchmen's forehead.

"Now, let me make a deal. Either I send you to prison with you going willingly and remove you of your powers. Or," she paused. "I can inject this into your neck, and you will be taken by force." He heaved out a chuckle.

"And how do you expect to rid me of my powers?"

"I'll just ask you. Besides, even if you do get out of my grasp, I think a very hungry lion will need some food to munch on," she replied breezily. Frenchmen flicked his gaze at Joshua-the-lion then back at the needle.

"Fine," he said, gritting his teeth. With Louise hovering the needle warily over his forearm, he picked up a bottle filled with a purple-colored liquid. "You put that in a syringe, and my power should be-"

"Drink it."

"I'm not going to drink it! I could-" He paused, noticing Louise's thumb hover atop the syringe. Scowling, he drank out of the bottle, and wiped the remainder of it with the cuff of the coat's sleeve.

"Anybody got a phone handy?" Louise inquired. Alexa squeezed her hand into the back pocket of her shorts, and frowned.

"Ah, I forgot. My mum took it away," she said. Louise hastily reached into her back pocket, producing a Samsung Galaxy cell phone.

"Ah, I wouldn't go without you anywhere," she murmured, kissing the screen. "Josh, heads up!" she exclaimed, tossing the phone toward him. Losing, concentration on his lion form, he warped back into his human self, catching the phone a split second before crashing to the floor. A sigh of relief escaped past his lips. "Type in 9-1-1. We've got ourselves a criminal, convicted of murder, thievery, and attempted murder on a youth. And probably a whole 'nother list of illegal stuff," she said, grinning.