On the Run

It was in the early hours of the morning, that lull in life when those enjoying the nightlife had returned to their homes. But too early for anyone to need to get out of bed and get ready for work. A moment in which there were so few eyes and those that were around, were blurred with tiredness, drugs and alcohol.

As a result, the beam of red energy that shot into the sky harmlessly went unnoticed by all except one. A man wearing a lumberjacket and a raggedy baseball cap came to the stop on the side of the road.

He looked up, watching the prolonged beam of energy slowly subside.

As it did, he smiled. 'So, that's where you are. Your progress is slowing, but that works in my favour.' He was catching up, slowly and steadily, that same beam of energy had been his target for some time now, ever since he had seen it in Nebraska.

Out of curiosity, he had come out of the nearby forest and had looked around, the source of it had not been too difficult to find, the State Home for Foundlings. The workers had all been severely injured and rushed to the nearby hospital to receive treatment. They had been attacked and from what he had learned from studying the minds of those around him, he knew that it had been at the hands of a child, an outcast in the State Home for Foundlings who had gone by Scott Summers.

It had been pure happenstance, a lucky coincidence, but one that he was not going to let slip from his fingers. Scott Summers had powers, just like him, now he was on the run. Beams such as this, fired sometimes twice a day, served as a trail for him to follow, though he would give Scott props for doing them in quiet places and times of the day. He had nearly lost Scott's trail on numerous occasions, he had first gone north and then suddenly, turning east, heading towards Iowa where they were currently, a few days from Illinois.

The boy was good though, that was all he could say.

He seemed to have food, there rarely being sightings of him in nearby towns and he was jumping from bus to bus with another young child at his side, a family member possibly? Though he had taken to stealing, he never stuck to one town for too long, always staying long enough to get what he needed, whether that be extra food, clothes, a place to rest, money, bus or train tickets, then he got out all the while hiding from prying eyes. Sometimes stopping in a town for no longer than a few minutes, simply changing buses to get where he was going.

Meanwhile, he had walked through the towns after them, hearing the thoughts of the police as they tried to track the sudden string of burglaries. Houses had been broken into, stores robbed, squatting and all other mannerism of small crimes had been committed on Scott's journey east.

The police were slow, but they were catching on.

But it seemed that Scott was prepared for this.

He was always one step ahead, the most recent town having been the longest he had stayed in one place and no doubt that was because he was going to spend a greater deal of time on the road. 'Unfortunately, that won't be the case for much longer.' He needed Scott for his own means, powers such as his would come in handy and so, it was time to give a little helping hand to the local police.

Just to slow Scott down and then swoop in and earn his trust.

-X- Line Break -X-

Something was very wrong.

Scott realised that very quickly as he ducked into an alley and hid away, a few moments later, police cars raced past, sirens blaring. He had decided that it was for the best to spend a few more hours here, gathering a little more money by pickpocketing a few unsuspecting people on the street.

It was the early hours of the morning and so, people were still tired and groggy, not fully aware of what was going on around them. They were easy targets and though Scott hated to admit it, he had gotten very good at stealing.

But he had intended to get a bit more money, then return to his current squatting place, grab Alex and they would get on the next bus out of here. They would be on the road then for a good few hours, taking them over the border between Iowa and Illinois and into a new state. All the string of crimes he had left behind would be focused on by the Iowa police and let him get almost halfway through Illinois before he would need to start repeating his criminal activities to fund their trip further east.

Yet, something had changed.

The police were active and searching the streets for him, they knew he was here and they reacted quickly. Now, this was not outside of his expectations, Scott had known that as this was the last town on this route out of Iowa that they would react quickly in conjunction with his recent path, this being a likely next stop on his journey in the eyes of the police. What didn't make sense to him was how they had known exactly where he was.

The town was not a small place and he had made sure that the pickpocketing he had done was spread out in different areas, ensuring that there was no central location for him and by extension, the police to go. Except, the police had not only known exactly where he was but had seemingly predicted where he was heading next.

Something was wrong.

His instincts told him so.

'I need to get out of here; now!' Scott thought, peeking his head out to make sure the street was empty, before calmly walking out, acting like nothing was wrong. It was nearing six o'clock and so, Scott stood in line with other people at a crossing, cars moving past as a green light showed. Then, as it turned red, Scott, hidden amongst the crowd of people, walked across the road, sparing only a glance at the police cars waiting for them to cross, no different to how anyone else did.

As he crossed the road, most of the crowd turned right, but Scott kept pace with those that had turned left, making sure to not be too far back or too far in front. He kept himself central, hidden by the bodies around him before turning down another alleyway to a street on the other side.

Just down here was where he and Alex were squatting.

A park was on the other side, in it was a large playground with a large playground fort with numerous slides and swings attached to it. Inside the slide, Scott had left Alex to sleep, hidden away as best as he could from the outdoors and left with a sleeping bag and food.

But, when Alex came to the edge of the alley, looking out to the park, his worst fears were confirmed. There, he saw Alex, kicking and screaming as he was taken by police into the nearby car, they had caught him squatting.

Clenching his fists tightly, Scott fired his Optic Blasts at the police car they were walking toward. It slammed into the side, the metal frame bending inwards with a groan, the car itself skidding backwards, hitting the side of the curb and flipping over. The officers reacted quickly, hands going to their guns, letting go of Alex, just as Scott had intended.

As he turned, two more beams slammed into their chests, throwing them back into the fence that surrounded the park. Both grunted out, slumping down to the ground unconscious.

But all around the street, people cried out in horror, not sure what was going on or what they were seeing. However, they saw the police being attacked by strange powers and panicked, running in different directions, but all steering clear of Scott who rushed across the street to Alex, grabbing his brother's hand and pulling him back into the park.

"Keep moving, Alex, we'll be fine," Scott told him, the sirens of police cars growing closer as they cut through the park, heading towards an exit on the other side.

He could see police cars rushing down either side, no doubt they were intending to cut him off, but Scott was ready. The moment he and Alex came out of the exit, the police cars came skidding around the corner, one quicker than the other.

It was a pincer movement.

Scott and Alex rushed across the road and as they did, he turned, firing his Optic Blasts at the closest police car. It struck the front, just on the edge of their car and through a mix of the force of his blasts and the reflexive movement of the driver, it swerved violently to one side, smashing into a lampost.

Yet as that happened, Scott had already unleashed another at the other approaching car.

This one though avoided it just barely, but its evasive manoeuvre bought Scott and Alex the time they needed to cut through one of the side streets. "Don't stop!" Scott shouted, releasing his grip upon Alex's hand and turning, momentarily coming to a stop as he fired up at the edges of the buildings on either side of the side street.

It cut through them easily, debris and rubble raining down, the police jumping backwards to avoid being crushed. Scott quickly rushed to catch up with Alex and pulled him to the right, down another side street.

-X- Line Break -X-

"My, my." The man chuckled, adjusting his cap lightly. "He is very good."

If one looked upon the sight unfolding around him, one might think it was chaotic for all involved. The people of the town, broken from their slumber to the police in full pursuit of two young boys, one possessing superhuman abilities. People ran in every direction they felt was safe, panicked cries escaping them as they fled for their lives. The police, rapidly shared details of the felons, trying to hunt them down and put an end to this chaos before it got any more out of hand.

All the while the two felons in question ran for their lives.

Except, as he watched the police, frantic but professional in their pursuit of the criminals, listened to their thoughts and worries, he knew that the powers of Scott were getting to them. Already two men were unconscious and injured. Another four were in their own states of injury and they worried that they might be next.

Alex, the young boy travelling with Scott, was terrified and confused. He had no idea what was going on, the only thing he kept telling himself over and over again was to keep following Scott. His brother was his anchor, the only thing that prevented him from just collapsing to the ground and going fetal in fear of the police, the stress of the situation overwhelming.

But Scott, he was different.

There was nothing.

No matter how much he tried, he couldn't read his thoughts.

His mind was there, within his grasp, could touch it fleetingly, yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not get a grasp of his mind. It was like a steel wall, sturdy and strong, preventing every attempt he made to delve inside and understand what was running through his thoughts.

However, even though he could not do that, everyone else painted a picture that fascinated him.

Scott's actions were not random or panicked, they were calculated and purposeful. He was taking routes that were tight and narrow, giving the police cars only one way to come making them easy targets. Routes with plenty of cars on either side for him and Alex to duck behind and plenty of alleyways to hide in.

If it wasn't for him leaving little hints in the minds of the police as to Alex's and by extension, Scott's location, they might have been able to escape eventually. But he was not going to let Scott escape, not until he was able to extend a helping hand that he could not ignore.

That time would come though.

Scott and Alex were still young after all, their bodies not yet fully developed.

They would run out of energy eventually and that's when he would come in to help.