Egotistic - J.JK.

Two

With my feet pounding on the ground, my panting flooded into my ears. My legs were burning as they ran down the street, them going numb slowly from how overworked they were becoming. My heart was practically breaking my ribs beside my lungs, the adrenaline pouring through my veins.

I could feel them gaining their ground behind me, their feet becoming closer and closer. Their breaths were heavier than mine, anger clearly showing with the sounds that escaped them. I could just see the blood pouring out of their split lip, their fiery eyes begging to rip me to shreds.

I was terrified. Despite being who I was, I was still scared. My neck throbbed while my left thigh burned a little. I was capable of feeling small amounts of pain, but not the full blow of it. It was painful whenever I did stub my toe or slam my hand in a door, but the main thing that concerned me was my neck. That couldn't be repaired.

"Charge, charge, charge," I murmured to myself, begging my body to listen to me for one second. My fists were clutched as I sprinted through the streets, waiting for some surge of power to hit my body and warm the rest of it with the resilience I needed.

A hand grabbed onto my hair in the back, yanking me off my feet. I gave out a cry as I went flying through the air, my back hitting the ground. The air escaped my lungs, a wheeze coming out of me. I laid there on the hard concrete for a second, trying to regain myself.

I didn't have time to get back on my feet. The hand grabbed onto the front of my jacket, pulling me harshly up to get me standing again. I was suddenly met with the pure smell of alcohol, it invading my gasping lungs as I grabbed onto the person's hand that had my jacket bunched up in a fist. I was disoriented, unable to see through the spinning, constant hyperventilating, and the darkness surrounding my body.

"I told you not to run," the person shook me, the alcohol bouncing into my face. My head spun at the yank, myself still unable to regain my grounds.

"Get off of me," I wheezed, trying to pry each and every one of their fingers away from me, but it wasn't working; they had me stuck in their grasp for however long that they wished for me to be there.

I was thrown again to the ground, then something crushed against my left thigh again. A cry escaped me once more, my fingers curling into the concrete below me. I was wishing for that surge of power to come at any moment.

"You put my employee out of work for at least a month," the person seethed above me, kicking my side. I stifled a cry as they continued. "He refuses to say what you did, but you have to pay for what you've done to him."

No. I wasn't going to let that happen. He wasn't going to lay another finger on me, throw me like a rag doll, or keep me immobilized any longer. With clenched teeth and the final anger flaring inside me, the pain melted away, my body bouncing up in a flash.

I was met with myself slamming the guy into a wall, a crunch coming with it. He gave a gasp with the putrid alcohol hitting my nose, but there was no scream. With my arm pressed against his throat to keep him there, his eyes had gone wide with shock and fear.

Two things happened all at once: the smell of iron hit my nose like a truck and a voice called out from behind me.

"Leave him be!"

"Again," I growled, the anger inside fading away to leave the strength and warmth flooding through me. I reached up with my free hand under my hood and flicked down the built in mask underneath.

I wasn't expecting the next move, though; my body was torn away from the guy on the wall, a person's hand gripping my shoulder to yank me away. It caught me off guard for a moment, but once I was away from the guy and he fell to the ground, I reached up and swiped away the person's arm to get them off me.

I spun around to meet them face to face. My eyes widened to see the stupid superhero so close to me this time that they could reach out and grab onto me. They were always far enough away from me to where I could escape without another trace until the next time we saw each other.

While backing up away from them to gain some ground, they started to speak, but their voice sounded vaguely familiar. "It's time you stop this once and for all."

I didn't speak. I never did in front of them, only stared at them with the new blankness that came over me for the time being. My limbs still flared with their warmth, casually giving me whatever strength or power I needed.

"You've caused enough trouble," they continued, taking a step towards me. Their voice was becoming more familiar now. Confusion came over me because they never sounded familiar before. "It's time for this to stop."

I didn't turn my head, but I looked around with my eyes to see any escape route I could take. I wasn't sure if I had the energy than I did a couple weeks ago, but the top of the buildings seemed like the only place I could get away from the situation I was in. They were all three or more stories up, though, which was a risky move to take.

Looking across the street, I saw a two story building with a four story building beside it. I had a better chance getting up there rather than the third story buildings. It would take me a hot second to get across the street in a sprint and make my way up there, but if it meant getting out of the trouble that I had gotten myself into, it was worth it.

I took in a quiet breath, then took off in my sprint. It was a second that I had some confidence, but it diminished quickly once a hand gripped the back of my jacket and held me there. I small cry escaped me with my feet coming to a stop, my stomach dropping for a second.

I tried reaching behind me to rip myself away from the person behind me, but they had their hand to where I couldn't grab them. My heart was now pounding with fear inside me, myself noticing how many mistakes I had made: the person was able to pull down my hood, they heard my small cry as a snippet of my voice, and saw me close enough to get enough details in their mind.

I was screwed.

Like I had predicted, a hand grabbed onto my hood, pulling it down. Thankfully I couldn't see their face, but they saw the back of my head and my wild hair. I felt bare all of a sudden, afraid to turn and look them dead in the face. My eyes were wide as I stared at the building still across the street that could have been my escape route.

As I stood there, I also prayed for them not to come into contact with my neck. I hoped that my hair was crazy enough to cover it while the hood protected some of it. The way I was positioned was not ideal for me. Hopefully the person didn't know a damn thing about me and kept their hands away.

"You're not getting away that easily," they huffed, their hand tightening more against my hoodie. My mind was rushing a million miles an hour as they started to turn me around. "Let's see your face, shall we?"