Nightlights over the Big City (Charlotte, NC)

The sun had finally set over the long, busy days of Uptown Charlotte.  The red and white lights of the airplanes and helicopters zoomed along the clear, dark skies as traffic stagnantly crawled in the streets.

With the lights out and the old, CRT television blaring, a short and freckled young adult peered from his hotel balcony with a hot cup of tea. The news had already passed, now broadcasting the late night comedians. This was all drivel to the boy though. He had already learned about the current events in this city. That's all he really cared to know. He took one last, quenching sip from his drink and set the cup and saucer on a small table and yawned, but suddenly, a potent thought interrupted his sleepy lull.

While not exactly a  voice, he felt a force, some sort of urge that seemed to whisper
"Mel, that force... I just picked up something like that in the air. You gotta investigate."

At least that was an a close approximation of what it meant.

With that feeling in tow, the amber-eyed college kid walked from the balcony to the bed, switching into black and yellow clothes and tucking a pair of goggles in his jacket pocket. He didn't think he was going to be recognized all the way out here, but there was still the chance. He began to walk out into the hall and pressed the elevator key. As he entered the shaft and reached for the "ground floor" button, another thought suddenly intruded.
"It's right next to here. Up. Go to the top."

Thus, he did just that. The elevator took him to the very rooftop of the building. It was relatively widespread, there was a pool on one end, a garden on the other, but in between was nothing but gray,concrete emptiness interrupted by a few skylights.  

Building after building, the real estate seemed almost as crowded up here as it did on the streets, you could pretty much leap from one building to the other if you put your back into it. The bustle and noise was almost as loud here as it was down below as well, with planes and choppers occasionally drowning out the traffic.

Mel inhaled and psyched himself up. If there was something here, he had to be ready to take it on. Was it a threat? Does it have any answers? All these resonated in his mind as he analyzed his surroundings. Whatever it was, it was apparently strong enough to tip off the intuition of his spiritual teammate. He clenched his right hand and wisps of purple light swarmed and flickered from his palm.  While the area seemed calm and quiet, danger could come from anywhere.

Night had just fallen on the city of Charlotte, time for the darker denizens of area to come out and play. The nightlife would be in full swing soon. Sam, perched atop a rather tall building, stared out at the ants scurrying along the crowding streets and watched as the lights of the city lit up in all manner of neon colors. For once, Sam stood under the power of his own two legs, instead of suspending himself from the various straps that made up his suit. The normally rigid straps from his suit hung limp all around him laying flat and stretched out where they met the roof. Tonight, for once, he was feeling alright. It had not been long since he had last taken a life and so he had no urge to do so again. No, tonight he was prowling the night for a very different reason. Tonight he was out to take his first steps towards heroism.

Just the thought tangled him up with nerves but in all the right ways. So often he was the monster, the creature lurking in the shadows to take life. Tonight he would move towards ridding himself of that dark desire. Tonight he would do good. He just had to figure out how best to go about that. After all, superheroing was not something he had much experience in at all. He knew how to commit horrendous crimes not prevent them. But he told himself, he'd never learn without trying.

And so here he was, staring out at the city from the rooftops. The wind whipped at his hair, blowing the dark matted mess this way and that and ruffling the loose material of his suit. Suddenly a sound from behind him broke his concentration. Out of instinct he recoiled the straps of his suit, quickly and silently retreating into the foliage of a nearby rooftop garden. He lay there prone, eyes shifting wildly to peer through the leaves around him. He was like a predator searching for his prey.

Just that thought upset him though. Tonight was not about hunting, not about preying on the weak. He was supposed to be the hero tonight. Sighing, he mustered his courage and rose from the garden to face whoever it was that had come up to the roof from behind him.

Standing now in full view of the person Sam's eyes were immediately drawn by a flickering purple light.

Woah he murmured, a little stunned by what he was looking at. Wasn't expecting that he thought, trying to figure out just why this person was on the roof and what exactly they were doing. His eyes began to move over the rest of this new person, taking in the details of their costume and look but took care to never meet the boy's eyes. After all he had no desire to pull the stranger into his dark world.

Then fearing that staring at the person and not saying anything would definitely appear creepy he threw his hands up to indicate that he meant no harm.

Whatcha doing up here? he asked plainly, nodding at the glowing purple energy eminating from the person's hand.

Mel jumped back in surprised, desperately shaking Bhramari's energy away. The beekeeper recoiled on the tip of his toes, making sure to keep a reasonable distance from the intruder; or was he intruding on him? He started to get the feeling that neither of them had any business strolling the rooftops. Suddenly, the pale adolescent threw his hands in the air, almost as if he was just greeting him.

An awkward silence filled the air, pierced only by the travelling roar of a jet engine overhead. "'Whatcha doing up here'...", Mel thought, "Can I tell him something that doesn't make me look like a complete lunatic? "


"I just heard something crash up here. I'm staying at this hotel, so I just came up here to check. Wouldn't want anyone hitting their head in the pool or anything."

Just as the words exited his mouth, the bee-striped whippersnapper thought of about thirty-billion discrepancies with his alibi. He was banking on the stranger not taking the time to think it through and pick apart his reasoning.

Upon further inspection, something didn't seem right about this guy. Outside of the weird getup, his body language didn't add up. He seemed really calm and more inquisitive than anything, but he refused to look Mel in the face. Was he trying to be diplomatic or not? This kid must have problems.

Regardless, it was obvious that the guy was trying to keep the peace. Mel respected his efforts, lowering his guard and smiling at the interloper.

"You're not hurt, are you? Whatever happened up here seemed pretty intense."

It was still a fabrication, but a fabrication sewn with good intentions; a sincere lie.

Sam's eyebrow cocked at the mention of a loud crashing noise coming from up on the roof. He had been up here for some time and there was no noise of the sort. There was the occasional plane or helicopter sure but their low drones and rhythmic hums were certainly not the noise that this person described. Somewhere in the back of his head a little alarm went off. He's hiding something. That had to be it. Sam had so often been the person in this person's shoes, lurking around in places he otherwise had no business being, explaining away his presence with whatever flimsy excuse he could come up with before striking out at the victim. Maybe it was a paranoid delusion, maybe it was nerves from his first night trying to turn over a new leaf but something about the circumstances of this person's arrival set him on edge.

Yea, I'm fine Sam replied bluntly, his eyes narrowing on the newcomer though still never rising even to look at his face let alone his eyes. Keep it cool Sam he told himself trying to remain calm and collected as he took a step towards the person. You don't want to create a situation where there wasn't going to be one. He had to tell himself this. Some darker part of him was already desiring to take the far less diplomatic approach to the current situation. It would be so easy, a single look to the boy's eyes and he'd suddenly be nothing but a fly caught in a hungry spider's web. In that scenario there'd be no need to get information out of him, he thought. His mind would open before him like a blossoming flower ripe for him to...NO! he shook himself out of the mental spiral, realizing just where his thoughts were trying to drift to. I'm going about this the right way.

With his left hand still raised Sam slowly lowered his right hand as if to shake. My names' Asylum he offered, feeling somewhat odd introducing himself under that name. Most people who heard it were in a far different situation to this person. And who exactly are you? he questioned, hoping to glean some amount of information from the unknown person.

"Yeah... This kid's got some issues", Mel thought to himself. Despite how outlandish this person was, he had one hell of a poker face. Then again, does it really count as a poker face when you're outright hiding your mug from the opponent? Without the ability to get any real read on him, The Cosmic Beekeeper took a breath and scratched the top of his head, about to turn the other direction and pretend that this confrontation never happened. "Just makin' sure, man-"

Out of nowhere, the interloper had given his name. Mel turned back around to be met again by this so-called "Asylum"; his head contorted away and hand extended for a greeting. Needless to say, Mel was puzzled.

The appearance, posture, and overall demeanor of the boy screamed danger. The wrong move, or even word could escalate this from an awkward encounter into a full-blown altercation. Regardless, Mel sensed sincerity in the creep's voice. While the unkempt stranger was obviously not ecstatic or pleased to see him, he was keeping his voice calm and neutral.

It was almost as if the guy was trying to reach out and use the situation for the best. Both of them were anxious and wary of each other, but Mel was caught off guard by what seemed to be an act of consideration. In a world full of superheroes, villains, spontaneous catastrophic events, and the clash between these three factors, it's hard not to jump to a conclusion and immediately take action. The spirited apiarist exhaled,  both realizing respect and bracing himself for whatever Asylum would do next. He pulled down the mask covering the bottom half of his face, and for good measure, stashed the goggles atop his head into his coat pocket.

"My names' Mel. I go by Hivemind too, but nobody knows me around here, so I'm fine with giving out my name." He smiled and reached for Asylum's hand.  He could feel the sweat on his own palms as he threw proverbial caution to the wind.

"I'm here in NC to..." Suddenly, Mel's vision became a little bit splotchy, losing balance for a split second and staggering a step back. "Oh God, not this again...." He recoiled back into place and shook his his head. There was a faint burst of purple light as he "re-calibrated".

"Ugh, I'm sorry about that.  It's just something,"  He stopped himself right there. His neurological issues were nobody else's business. "happens once in awhile."

Mel chuckled it off and put back on a positive face, reaching to shake Asylum's hand once more.