No one ever really talked about how windy it was on the very top story of a building. How it felt to have the cold air slice through your clothes and make the hairs on your arm stand up.
Sure, the view was astounding. The city stretched in every possible direction, a field of white lights budding out of the darkness. The sun was long gone, the sky only lit with the harsh fluorescents escaping from the windows below.
"You... finally got what you wanted," a raspy voice managed from Arthur's feet. He looked down, and a smile spread across his face as the rush of victory filled his chest with pride once more.
"I most certainly did, Freedom Fighter," Arthur said. He bent down and got into his knees, running a hand through the grey mess of hair belonging to the boy on the ground. 'Freedom Fighter.' Such a ridiculous name from such an idiotic kid. He was only nineteen, as Arthur had gathered from the minimal information the boy had given him. Four years younger with a life to live and a soulmate to find. But he had thrown it away to make himself some sort of... God.
No, not a god, like Arthur had always wanted to be. This kid was an symbol. He showed not all hope was lost for civilisation. Showed maybe someone was still looking out for everyone as if all of society were a big happy family.
And now he would be a martyr for the greater good. Disgusting, Arthur thought, but it was better than letting Freedom Fighter go back into the city so the boy could further meddle where he shouldn't be. He'd already almost killed Arthur on dozens of occasions. Now that they had gone this far, there wasn't any going back. They'd always known one would kill the other, and Arthur had been so ready to die so many times it was astounding.
"You've caught me," Freedom Fighter continued, laughing feebly. His body racked with tremors as his laughter transitioned into sobs, and the cloth blindfold on his eyes darkened with tears. "Jesus, you... you actually caught me."
"It wasn't easy," Arthur admitted, taking a once over on the boy's body. He had almost destroyed him and himself in the struggle to get him into his hands. They'd gone back and forth for hours, Arthur trying to strike Freedom Fighter out of the sky with bolts of lightning while the latter almost murdered him with the sheer strength of his overpowered fists. Not only did they damage each other beyond recognition, but the top half of the buildings around them were a mess of crumbled brickwork and bent metal infrastructure. It was a miraculous show of luck Arthur had stumbled across the boy recovering in a coat closet in the office building they were on top of, curled in a ball and gasping for breath.
"I don't want to die," the teenager said, writhing as he tried to free himself from his metal restraints. "Please- They call you... what? Stormcloud?"
"Bloody creative, the media," Arthur scoffed. That coaxed a small smile from Freedom Fighter, his upturned lips cracked and bleeding.
"I haven't even met my soulmate, you know," he continued. That sparked the faintest interest in Arthur. "All those dumb couples always talk about seeing colours and whatnot when their eyes first meet. I always made fun of them, but I wanted to know what they were seeing so bad." He propped himself on one elbow. "Do you have a soulmate?"
"Not that I know of," Arthur murmured, finally sitting down with a grunt. He was pretty exhausted, after all. "I think it's a load of bullshit. One big, collective joke. The world is grey."
Freedom Fighter lifted a shoulder. "I'll never know. Unless-"
"You aren't escaping this alive," Arthur interrupted. The weight of the gun on his belt seemed to increase significantly. Even he had to admit, it was awful to murder a boy that had never witnessed the whole soulmate 'miracle.' The guilt only made Arthur angrier. He shouldn't feel bad for some stupid kid! If Freedom Fighter wouldn't have stuck his nose in the wrong places and kept his powers on the down low, they'd both be okay.
