BOTTLES

Jase woke up after a near sleepless night. He was restless with desire for his fight with Dick. He dressed quickly, stuffing his winches into his still damp backpack. He quickly said his goodbyes to his mother and father, rushing out the door in a blur.

Out on the puddle-ridden sidewalks, Jase saw all the narrow alleys and streets where he was sure many unsavory acts occurred every night. He trudged through the crowded streets of foot commuters; living in the center of a city even this small in size still left you with plenty of company for a morning commute. He was keeping an eye out for one person, his best friend Hal.

Hal lived on the other side of town; he got his pasta from the farmer's market outside of the city, while Jase was happy with his "Hamburg Hustler", Hal always had the next new console or toy growing up, and Jase was happy with just watching Hal be happy. Hal, however, always wanted turns when Jase had gotten a shiny new toy, however rare that may be.

Jase rounded a corner, and there he saw the stout young man holding his backpack by the straps with his earbuds in while strutting to the beat of whatever song he was listening to at the time. Hal smiled a sincere and warm smile towards Jase, and the two walked to school together in tandem.

"Hey Jase!"

"Hey Hal…."

Hal's greeting was overly joyous considering the day that Jase had yesterday. Jase decided the walk was a good time to show Hal his plans, and out of his pocket he withdrew the small device that he had hidden from his dad. Hal gravitated over towards the winch with curiosity.

"Check it out….. I'm gonna use it to keep Richard from taking my shit."

"How does this help you, Jase?"

Jase pointed the device towards a nearby dumpster, and as he pulled the trigger, the line shot out and clanged against the side of the dumpster, leaving a dent on the side. It left the bin reverberating as it retracted.

"Holy!" Hal barely managed to contain his excitement.

Jase quickly put the device back in his pocket. "I'll show you more later, ok?"

"Sounds good, how bout we meet at the basketball court on 'High Street' after school?"

"Alright," responded Jase, holding back his excitement. He was feeling that same eagerness he felt in the alleyway; he was drunk with the idea of power. He zoned out, dreaming of his upcoming fight and the look of terror Dick would have when trying to steal from him again. When he snapped back, he was turning the corner to the looming high school. He stepped through the aqua colored metallic doors and went on with his day.

…

…

The day went by slowly for Jase, but he inevitably finished it out. He left the building and hurried over to the old basketball court. The baskets were completely curtained by vine, and the many lines needed to actually play a game had long faded. The court was the place where the duo had their first drink; obviously, it was discreet enough for neither Hal's nor Jase's parents to hear about it.

Jase scrounged up some discarded glass bottles lying about the unkempt court, and he laid them in a row across a nearby bench.

Jase spoke in a sly tone, "Target practice."

"Oh yeah," replied Hal. "You should let me take a stab at it after you, Jase. This is just about the coolest thing I've seen all my life! I mean, you're basically gonna be a superhero dude."

"Maybe Hal, I need to be ready. I'll literally see Richard later today bro."

"Still cool dude, like c'mon man, you could get some total height like Flyboy from issue 616 of Amazing Comics!"

"This isn't one of your comics Hal, it would be cool, but I'm just trying to stop getting my shit stolen."

"Ok...." replied Hal as he aimed to remove his remarks from the conversation.

The two took a few lengthy strides away from the bench, and Jase raised his arm and braced it with his other. "Steady...Steady…." whispered Hal excitedly. Jase took a deep breath, squinted, and put the slightest pressure on his finger.

CRASH!

The cable retracted back with a mechanical whir, revealing a shattered bottle, and a hole broken through the fence surrounding the forgotten court. He started sidestepping towards the next one as he took up his aim again.

CRASH!

Jase hit another….CRASH!.... And another….. CRASH!....

Jase went on firing his winch at these bottles, each time more vividly imagining the face of Dick, bloody and battered; rather than a desire for righteousness, he felt a desire for revenge, to just make life pain for Dick. Jase kept moving down the line while Hal watched, mouth agape with awe at the way his best friend carried himself. As the bottles ran out, Jase's eyes wandered, trying to find another target, until he spotted one….

TWANG!

The winch cable bounced off the backboard on Jase's first shot. Not once faltering in the heat of his rage, he continued his slow trot around the court as he took up his arm again and fired. The noise of the metal wire spinning around on the pole that held up the hoop was repetitive and loud, as if it were a countdown for the events to come. He yanked his arm in a downward direction as the cable tried to retract, and the rickety old hoop came down with a thunderous BANG!

"YOU TOOK DOWN THE FUCKING HOOP DUDE!!!"

Jase snapped out of his fit of rage and looked over at his friend, whose eyes were as wide as ever. All Hal could let out in his amazement was, "holy shit dude….. YOU ARE A SUPERHERO!"