● Illusory ●

Chapter 7

Seiko

As silently as possible, I moved from shadow to shadow, trailing the culprit of a shoplifting that was at a store in the uptown. With how quickly I was moving I almost felt like I was swimming in a sea of just pitch black matter, with the shoplifter being just a figure who was beginning to drown in the matter. Of course he wasn't actually drowning, but powers make you see things in weird ways sometimes. I mean, Kalle has always told me every form of light he has ever seen has been dim to him. Should darkness be bright to me?

I could see Alex trailing behind me, having no trouble with jumping over the various cooling and heating machines that were kept on top of the smooth rooftops. I wanted to question how they could catch up so quickly, but then I remembered I was going to every shadow, which can only move me a few feet at a time. I'm basically moving at a slower pace than them but covering more ground, if that makes sense at all.

"He's within reach of my powers. I'm gonna pull him back. Be ready, okay?" Alex notified me, to which I nodded. I let energy radiate from my hands now, letting me know that I was prepared. I watched Alex first reach out, then curl their open hand into a fist and pull it back abruptly, as if they were pulling back a rope. Immediately, the jogging criminal flung back towards us, screaming possibly out of surprise. He then tumbled to a stop between us, his fluffy but dirt-covered green hair falling out of his black cap. I sighed. He looked really young.

"Okay, kid, hand over the watch and we all can go home," I told him, holding out a hand for the gold-plated wristwatch I knew he was hiding in his sleeve. The boy narrowed his mud brown eyes at me.

"I'm 39, who are you calling 'kid'!?" he exclaimed in an offended tone. I looked at him in surprise. He's got to be pulling my leg.

"Whether you found the fountain of youth or not, just hand it over. You know the judge gives you a shorter sentence if you comply and go peacefully," Alex told him, kneeling down next to him. The man narrowed his eyes before suddenly slipping a switchblade from his sleeve and going to jab Alex. I nearly panicked, but my friend was already ahead of the game, as they caught the blade with two fingers and gave an unimpressed stare at the man.

"Look, I haven't slept. I'm not in the mood for this," they sighed, before kicking the man across the roof. They then stood up and brushed themself off before looking over at the man, who was now standing as well. His switchblade still gleamed in the moonlight, showing me its location.

"Well, I'm not in the mood for fighting you two jokers, but here I am!" the man replied. Alex sighed.

"Great. Let's make a mutual agreement that you hand over the watch and go peacefully to the authorities," they offered. The man made an outraged expression.

"Hell no!"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said you weren't in the mood to fight us. Wouldn't you rather take that path instead of doing something you don't want to do?"

The man stuttered for a moment, before stomping his foot and making a frustrated sigh. "I don't have time for this!" he shouted, before charging towards us both. I just saw my friend stretch for a moment before taking a step forward.

"Believe me," they said, before grabbing the man's arm and flipping him over their shoulder, "you have plenty of time."

The man flopped on his back before breaking free of Alex's grasp and kicking them in the stomach. I immediately decided to jump in as he got up, leaping onto his back and wrapping my arms around his throat. Though, I had no time to react as the man immediately backed into one of the air conditioning machines that were behind us, knocking my head against its metal frame. In an instant I let go, but I pushed him away before allowing multiple shadow forms to appear next to me.