ROOFTOPS

Jase stood up on the rooftop. He felt little remorse for leaving Hal alone in the garage. He glanced back and saw the light from the garage become obstructed by the door closing. Jase stuck out his arm and felt the tug of the wire again. As he was pulled across an alley to the next rooftop, he landed off balance and tripped over his feet, landing square on his chin.

The pain rippled throughout his body as his body slammed into a vent on the roof, agitating the many bruises across his back.

TWANG!

The metal wire went taut again. He fired another shot to go to the next building. Jase zipped over alleyways, and as he landed, he braced his legs and landed with a thud, a sharp pain going through his lower body.

He didn't feel like a hero; rage coursed through his veins as the thought of what Dick had done to him replayed in his mind. He imagined Dick's face being crushed between the pavement and his foot, just like the many times Jase had to struggle to breathe through the mud of the alley. He refused to let his rage show in front of Hal; his friend might think he was too unstable to do this. He had to do this regardless of what people might think of his actions.

Jase knew that he was truly a little unstable right now, but he didn't care. He wanted this; the thought of revenge made his blood run cold, an icy expression of pure indifference shielding the fire of vengeance burning beneath his gaze.

TWANG!

He fired another grappling hook off across a rooftop; he wasn't quite used to swinging across rooftops, and he lacked any grace with his movements. All things considered, however, he was rather proficient at swinging for just starting out.

As he swung, he realized he was cutting it a little close to the ground. As the ground grew closer, he twitched his hand, desperately searching for a failsafe. He released the hook entirely by accident; he fell to the ground with a loud THUD!

As he lay still, thinking of how Hal had once again saved him, the padding, having been stuffed into the suit, prevented Jase from hurting himself as he impacted the sidewalk.

Jase didn't give it much thought; it just made him more enraged that he had slipped up like this after having a decent swing on the first two shots he had fired. He shot up the side of the building with the help of his grappling hook, teeth grinding as he pulled himself over the ledge of the rooftop.

Only when he reached the plateau of the rooftop did he realize his leg had begun to seep blood again as he tore open some of the scabs along his leg.

Again, he brushed this off. At first hobbling, he accelerated to a sprint; he felt as though he could outrun the rain when he finally reached the ledge of the rooftop. He leapt off the apartment building and threw up an arm, firing a shot that was aimed at a rooftop water tower.

Just as Jase felt himself descend, he was pulled up to the tower. He slammed against the alley wall before he ascended to the top of the water tower. The padding again protected him from most of the pain, but still a lot of the impact was taken by his ribs.

He took a moment to take in the city, but it was quickly removed from his thoughts when he heard the noise of the door of the adjacent rooftop opening.

A man's voice rang out in the night: "C'MON MAN WE'RE TRYING TO FUCKING SLEEP!"

Jase launched another hook and zipped off again; he wasn't sure where he was going, but he was getting there fast.

He slowly became more graceful with his swings, only colliding with a few smaller items. As he flew towards the city center, he saw a few freestanding skyscrapers that loomed over the small warehouses and offices that made up the outskirts of the city.

The skyscrapers lit up in the night with colors to catch a consumer's eye; one was under construction, and a new company was moving into another one in the distance. Jase actually knew that building, and much like his life was changing, so was the building; he was no longer following the normal path of a kid his age, and the building had switched hands and followed a new path.

The skyline was gorgeous in the night, regardless of the fact that many of the looming towers were under construction; it was a shining beacon of light over a dark pit of filth.

The warm moment quickly turned into a cold one, as the wind blew more rain into Jase's eyes and he felt the soreness of his jaw throb again.

He was furious, overriding the serenity such a scene would normally cause, at the skyline that had gone from picture perfect to a complete eyesore in a matter of seconds for Jase. It was a towering figure over a defenseless city. Jase began to lose his train of thought and could feel his eyes growing heavy with exhaustion.

He decided to hook onto the ledge and rappel down the building he was on. Jase then made his way slowly back to his home.

The rain glossed the sidewalks with deep black in the night, the glare of streetlights hurting his eyes as it reflected off the wet pavement.

He thought of maybe going back to find Hal and give him some semblance of a "Thanks for the help!" but it didn't seem like a high priority right now.

Jase had a plan; he needed to go home and complete the powerfists as soon as possible. Only then would the next steps fall into place.

Jase thought himself to be a mastermind right now; he felt like he was unstoppable, and nothing could tear him down from this high mantle upon which he held himself.

He was a hero in his own eyes; he hadn't done anything righteous; he was only acting on the need for vengeance.

The sound of sirens echoed in the distance, but Jase did not spring into action as a hero would. He continued his walk home, the same icy gaze coating his face as he further refined his plan.

Jase stared down at his feet as though it would give him some unfound wisdom; he needed a way to find the thugs who helped Dick pummel him.

A car blew by him, splashing up water as it passed; his thoughts momentarily quieted down, and he felt some guilt for his train of thought. What would his parents think of him if they could hear his thoughts?

His dad had the mentality that karma will strike some day, while Jase felt that he should take karma into his own hands. His mother quite literally took a Hippocratic oath, and Jase only thought of harming someone after his years of torment.

He passed by Hal's home on his walk; he didn't even slow down and think about knocking to see if Hal would still be awake. He just kept walking back home, the shadow of his best friend's house fading into the distance.

…

Hal could see Jase from his window. When Jase had left, Hal decided to hide the fists in the garage and head home.

He made his way home quickly; there was no traffic to slow his walk home at this hour.

Once he got home, he saw the pile of comic books on the bed and picked up a few of his own.

'If Jase thinks he's so cool because he has some hooks, then I'll become a hero too' thought Hal as he flicked through pages of comics to find inspiration.

All the while, he left his window open so he could continue to glance up and watch Jase fade into the distance. Hal hadn't felt this jealous since Jase had had his tenth birthday party. Jase's family and friends all came, they all ate cheap hotdogs on stale buns, but no one cared; they just had a good time.

That same year, when Hal turned ten, he only got a box from his mom and dad, left at his door before they went to work. It had been the newest console, far more valuable than anything Jase got, but it had no sentimental value.

Hal stayed up that night much like his best friend, plotting—one for revenge, one for attention.