Gabriel watched the wheels of the Uber start to spin over the concrete floor. Whatever he was going to do, he needed to do it fast before he lost sight of his brother and the Uber. His mind raced as he began to panic. He looked down at his hands—left, then right—as he emerged from the shadows.
"Powers… I know we haven't seen eye to eye exactly. You come and go when you please. But today, on the field, at the trials—we were in sync. We were one. I felt it."
He lifted his head toward the black sky, eyes clenched tight—in a desperate plea to be heard, he cried out.
"powers..I need you now—More than ever
He took a huge gulp as his throat tightened.
"My brother's about to do something stupid—really stupid—and we're the only ones that can save him."
But nothing happened. His head dropped low and his eyes opened. He didn't know what else to do. He was out of ideas and could see the taxi starting to drift off into the distance. He was running out of time—and fast. That's when he put his hands together in prayer and looked to the skies once more.
God, if you can hear me—it's me, Gabriel, again.
Yeah, I know we don't speak often, and the last time we did, I was complaining.
But this time... this isn't about me. It's my brother. He's in trouble, and he needs me.
I know I complained about these powers—and hell, I even told you to take them back. But I was wrong.
I guess… I need them after all.
I know I'm asking a lot from you, but if you could do me this one favour… I'd be eternally grateful."
That's when it happened. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath before exhaling slowly. And as the final bit of air passed his lips… the world stopped. His ears started to tingle uncontrollably. The steady heartbeats of his sleeping neighbours played different beats as they drummed through his ears. He could hear the heavy snores of his mother in the house behind him, and the neighbour across the street shouting at his dog in his living room like he was standing right next to him.
He felt it spreading across his body, smooth but unrelenting, as it made its way up to his face and wrapped around the back of his head like a second skin, claiming every inch without asking.
His eyes shot open as he took in a deep, exhilarating breath. His chest rose and fell hard. He looked down at his hands first, turning them slowly, like he wasn't sure they were still his. Then his legs, coated in the same sleek, shifting material. He was completely changed, head to toe. Unrecognisable. And then he saw it. Right in the centre of his chest... a symbol.
He'd done it. He'd transformed.
He'd done it. He'd transformed.
"Thank you," he whispered, letting the moment soak in.
Then it hit him: the Uber.
He looked up at the sky, his arm rising high. Then without hesitation, he launched himself into the air—blasting through the night like a bullet in the dark.
His flying was sketchy; he barely had control over his movements. He tried to follow the Uber through the city, doing his best to remain unseen, but as he moved forward, the wind slammed against him, pushing back hard with every stride. It was like he was skating on ice—the only problem—he didn't have skates.
It was thrilling, dangerous, and completely unpredictable. Any wrong move could spell disaster. But he didn't stop—he couldn't. Below, the Uber was driving through the city like a bullet, desperate to hit its target. The driver clearly valued his money over safety, darting in and out of cars without a care in the world.
"Woah man, chill. I want to make it to this place in one piece," said Daniel.
"Don't worry, brother. I've done over five hundred rides and I'm still here, right? You're in good hands. Trust me," said the taxi driver as he turned his head, focusing his attention back on the road ahead.
Gabriel pushed himself as much as he could, struggling to keep up with the Formula One Uber driver.
"Mom—Mom, look! It's a human-sized dragonfly! Cool!" the little boy shouted.
"Come on, Max. A human-sized dragonfly?" the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman laughed as her heels clicked forward.
But Max let his mom be, he tugged and tugged on his mother's blazer, harder with each tug, refusing to stop.
"Alright Max, that's enough!" she shouted.
But as she turned—there he was, soaring through the night sky. Her eyes and mouth widened. Her hand loosened, and the ice cream she held in her hand crashed to the floor.
"I told you, Mom! Go on, Dragonfly Man!" Max shouted, excitement all over his face.
Gabriel continued, soaring recklessly forward—still no better than when he first started.
"I really need to get the hang of this flying thing before I end up dead… or someone ends up in the hospital."
But as he continued to struggle, the car rolled to a stop. They were at their destination. Gabriel dropped down on one of the metal beams not too far from the warehouse, hidden in the shadows.
Back in the Uber, Daniel's phone began to ring. It was Malakie. He quickly accepted the call, putting the phone to his ear.
"Where are you?" Malakie shouted. "What part of half an hour don't you understand?"
"I'm here, I'm here! I'm outside in the silver Uber that just pulled up," said Daniel.
"Alright, little man. The boys are all here and ready. Meet us inside."
Gabriel clenched his fist, bit down on his jaw, and punched the sky. That was his only option. If he punched anything else, everyone would've known he was there. If he swarmed down now and tried to take Daniel, Daniel would've just resisted, potentially putting both of them in danger.
Daniel stepped out of the Uber, shut the door behind him, and stood patiently in front of the warehouse, waiting for Malakie to open the door. A few moments passed, then the front door of the warehouse flung open, and out came Malakie.
"Come on, my guy. Come inside. The boss is just in here."
As Daniel walked inside, Malakie walked him forward through the sea of 59th Street gang members, until they came to the leader of the group, sitting at the top of the table like a mob boss, cigar in hand, burning red as smoke clouded the air.
"This is my boss—"
But before Malakie could finish, Daniel's voice cut in, shocked.
"Derrick…?"
Malakie looked on, confused, eyes darting between Daniel and Derrick. "You know the boss?"
Derrick stood up from his seat, pushing his chair back as he walked over to Daniel, stopping a few meters in front of him, looking him up and down.
"Where do I know you from, kid?"
Daniel stood stone-faced. "It's me—Robert's youngest. Daniel."
Derrick's eyes lingered on him, trying to remember his face. Then it dawned on him.
"Ahhh... your dad's award night. I remember the face."
He tapped Daniel on the shoulder. "Welcome to the crew."
As Derrick turned his back, a faint, evil smile tugged at his lips.
"Change of plans, boys," Derrick said, turning to the group. "C-Dog. MK. I've got a special job for you guys."
There were no pushbacks—C-Dog and MK simply nodded and got ready.
"Oh, and Daniel—you're with C-Dog and MK. Everyone move out," Derrick said, ushering them out with his hand.
As everyone got into their cars, Derrick knocked on C-Dog's car window. As the window rolled down, he passed him a piece of paper with an address on it.
"Put the fear of God in this man. No mistakes," said Derrick. His voice was calm, but the energy he emitted was terrifying.
C-Dog took the paper, adjusted his face mask, then wound the window back up.
"Put the fear of God in who? What are we going to do, guys?" asked Daniel nervously.
MK's head snapped backward toward Daniel in the back seat.
"Shut up. The time for asking questions is long gone. You chose this—this life didn't choose you. Follow my lead and do your job. Is that understood?"
Daniel nodded his head rapidly. MK wasn't a guy to mess with—he was a notorious gang member of the group. If someone needed a crash dummy to get something done, he was your guy. Daniel sank into the back seat of the car and remained silent as the car started to head toward its destination.
Derrick got into the back seat of his car.
"Follow C-Dog's car—now."
"Yes, boss," said the driver, knowing better than to ask any questions.
Derrick took out his phone and made a call. As the line connected, he didn't give the person on the other end a chance to talk.
"This one's off the books. I've put a play in motion at Piermont Avenue."
A scoff came from the other end. "Derrick, what did I tell you about involving me in your little crimes? I told you I'm not helping you anymore."
Derrick sat at the back of the car, smoke clouding around him, barely visible.
"Five hundred thousand—each."
There was a silent pause. Then the man on the other end began to laugh.
"You should've just led with that. What's the address?" he asked.
"It's number twelve—next door to where Auntie used to live," said Derrick.
"Cleveland Brown!" the man shouted. "You're one cold man, Derrick. They don't come colder than you."
"That's the only way to be in this world. Remorse out here will get you killed."
"Whatever you say—I've texted the boys. We're not too far from there, we'll be there shortly."
Derrick didn't do goodbyes. He simply hung up and sat coldly as his large back pressed into the seat and the light from his cigar lit up his sinister smile.
"I told you there would be consequences for your actions, old friend. You left your chess piece on the board, and I took him. I meant it when I said there are things far worse than death—and you're about to find out what that is."
Gabriel followed, making sure to stick to the shadows, waiting for just the right moment to swoop in and save his little brother.
The cars pulled up, and the engines came to a dead stop.
"We're here," MK said, readying himself for what they were about to do. "We go in, scare him, trash the place, then leave. Is that clear, Daniel?"
"Clear," Daniel replied, his voice low, almost automatic.
C-Dog grinned as he opened the car door, stepping into the night. Daniel followed behind, his nerves fraying with every step. Something about this felt off—wrong in ways he couldn't explain. But there was no turning back now.
The old man reclined in a worn leather chair, the glow of the television flickering across his tired face. He looked half-asleep, one hand resting on his lap, the other near the side drawer.
Then—bang—the front door exploded open.
Wood splintered. The hallway lights buzzed and dimmed.
He jerked upright, heart hammering.
His calloused fingers yanked open the drawer. He grabbed a black handgun, stood up, and stepped toward the direction of the noise.
As he turned the corner, his eyes locked onto the three masked figures standing in his hallway.
"You robbed the wrong house!" he shouted, waving his gun recklessly in the air.
Gabriel watched from a distance, high above , hidden by darkness, wings still.
He squinted down at the house, trying to see what was going on.
"I have to do something" he muttered. "It's now or never."
With that, he began descending through the shadows.
Daniel's voice rang out: "Nobody said it was an old man, guys! What the hell? We're intimidating old men now?" said Daniel, finally finding his voice again.
"Intimidating who? Not me!" shouted the old man confidently as he brandished his gun.
"He's got a gun!" shouted MK.
C-Dog didn't hesitate. He reached into his jacket, yanked out his firearm, and pulled the trigger.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Each shot tore through the air—every bullet with the old man's name carved into it. Everyone watched with bated breath as the bullets tore through the old man's skin. His grip on his firearm loosened. Blood poured from the corners of his mouth, and as his gun hit the ground, his body followed closely behind—dropping over like a domino as it slammed to the ground.
Gabriel could see the light from the gunfire through the window. He paused, and as he did, he heard the sound of police sirens heading his way. He panicked. Hesitated. He didn't know what to do—"He hadn't prepared for this—not for blood on his brother's hands."
Back in the house, the old man's body lay lifeless on the floor, blood pooling out of him. Daniel's eyes widened in horror, locked on the corpse.
"You killed him!" Daniel shouted. "You killed him!"
"MK, shut this little kid up before I do," C-Dog shouted.
Daniel took a huge gulp and shut his mouth.
"You hear that?"
"Hear what?" said MK.
"Listen," said C-Dog.
As MK listened carefully, he could hear the approaching sirens.
"We've gotta get out of here—now!" shouted C-Dog, making his way to the back with MK, stepping over the pool of blood pouring from the dead man.
"You coming, or you just gonna wait here for the feds to swoop you up for that dead body?" MK shouted.
Daniel stood frozen, staring at the corpse. He hadn't seen a gun go off—let alone a dead body—and now one was just lying there, lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling above.
He quickly shook his head, doing everything he could to hide the tears that so desperately wanted to escape his eyes.
As Daniel joined the other two by the back door, C-Dog gave the group instructions.
"We need to split up. If we all run in one direction, we're sitting ducks. From the amount of police cars outside, I make three units."
It was like Daniel was having an out-of-body experience. His body was moving, but it was like he wasn't there. It was like he was watching everything unfold from another person's eyes as he, MK, and C-Dog bolted out the back door and over the fence toward the alleyway.
"I've got movement from the back of the house—I'm in pursuit!" said one of the officers, chasing after them.
As they sprinted down the alleyway, MK ran left, C-Dog ran right, and Daniel continued to run forward.
"They've split up! I'm in pursuit of one—he won't get far, it's a dead end," the officer called over his radio.
Daniel kept running, constantly looking over his shoulder to see if the officer was still following him. He was—hot on his tail, not letting up. Then, as Daniel turned his head around—bam—he ran right into Gabriel and dropped to the floor.
Daniel looked up. "There's no way… a human dragonfly? I must be tripping," he thought. "Hell, I've seen a lot of things I never expected to see tonight—but this? Nah… this takes the bacon."
He quickly got to his feet and reached out, his hand touching the dragonfly symbol on Gabriel's chest.
"Aaahhh—it's real!" he shouted, instantly turning around to run in the opposite direction.
For a split second, in his scared state, he'd forgotten about the police—but was quickly reminded when the officer came to a halt and pointed his firearm at him.
"Stop where you are and put your hands in the air!" the officer commanded.
Daniel raised his arms shakily in the air, trembling at the thought of what his life was about to become. Caught for a murder—he was only a child. He wasn't ready for what came with that.
Gabriel swooped forward, but what he didn't expect was for Daniel to drop to his knees, and as he did, Gabriel accidentally grabbed hold of his mask, pulling it off—revealing his face to the officer's body cam.
The officer stood frozen, in utter disbelief at what he was seeing.
Who could blame him?
A human dragonfly was standing in front of him.
Gabriel's eyes darted toward the camera—and there it was, his worst nightmare in 4K. The red light from the camera blinking rapidly toward him and Daniel.
His heart stopped.
That red blinking light wasn't just a camera—it was the end of everything he'd fought so hard to protect. He started breathing heavily. Scared for what it meant. But now wasn't the time to freeze—he had his brother to save. He quickly scooped up his brother and shot up into the sky.
Daniel's mouth stayed open, his heart pounding in fast, rhythmic beats. While he was thankful to be away from the police… one question still echoed in his mind:
Is this really better than where I was just saved from?
As the wind tore past his face, carrying his tears into the night, his life flashed before his eyes—his father, his mother, his brother, his childhood… and the gang he joined.
He thought of the masks people wore.
The lies they told.
The heartless nature humans often carried through life.
He thought of it all.
"Hold on," Gabriel said. "We're not safe just yet."
Those words—so few, but so comforting at the same time.
Daniel looked up at the bug holding him suspended in the air and asked, "Who are you?"
Gabriel didn't reply right away. He just stared into his brother's helpless eyes and answered softly—
"A friend."