Pick-Pocket-Police (Jericho)

It was rainy, dark, and just what Void had been hoping for when she'd made her way by motorcycle down to the southern state of Florida. There was nothing more conspicuous in sunshine than black, but the storm above nearly matched the metahuman girl's slick disguise on this day. The sky was like night even though it was the middle of the day. The matte black Ducati motorbike she always rode around on rolled through a puddle where the girl parked her bike at a meter. Behind her motorcycle's glossy black eye guard she could see her target walking under a maroon umbrella in her direction passed a little cafe full of people.

He was flashing his pearly whites despite the gloomy weather, a curvy Mexicana wrapping herself around his lithe waistline and tucking her hands away seductively into the front pocket of his perfectly tailored suit pants. Yes, this was the Italian son of a multi-billionaire, man who donated often to charities, got any woman he wanted with money and a nice haircut, and hardly struggled in life despite his so-called heart of gold. Void felt little pity for what she was about to do.

Without taking her helmet off, the girl pretended to be in a rush to get out of the rain, running towards the happy couple. She ran right into his right arm grabbing at his wrist with a small false yelp of surprise to keep herself from completely falling into a deep puddle. The man, being the gentleman he was towards anything that was curvy, female, and moved, helped Void stand and managed to keep the umbrella over his girlfriend-of-the-day at the same time.

"Be careful there, sweetheart." He gently encouraged as Void stood upright and pulled her hands together and towards her chest shyly.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to run into you, sorry!" She apologized as she backed away and kept running in a hurry away from them, turning as soon as she could and making a right down another street. She smirked behind her tinted helmet as she felt the weight of her prize in her hand. Behind her a shout echoed.

"Hey! My watch!"

But it was too late for Void was slipping quietly through the wall of a coffee shop a moment later. Her powers made quick escapes a snap. No one seemed to notice the addition of another customer in the busy cafe, and Void took off her helmet quickly to avoid gathering suspicion. Unlike the rest of her, Void's cropped brown hair was dry. The girl's green eyes scanned to the large windows, where the man she'd just stolen from was racing to go where she had just been on the street.

She smiled. Her bike was still parked on the street, and all she had to do now was get the watch and herself back to it and get to her next stop. With that, she began moving through the crowd of cold people waiting for their coffees, thinking she had gone completely unnoticed....

It was a pretty average day for Freddie. Ever since he had learnt a strategy to control his power, he had felt a little more confident about going out looking for villains. Nothing much had happened that day, he did his daily training, trying to get a hold of one of the strongest men in the hero city. He had done his patrol, done his work. You know what? He was gonna have a nice, hot cup of Cocoa, nothing beats a cold day like a mug of hot chocolate. He may be a hero, but he still had his childish mannerisms.

"Hey! You must be a Sidekick!" One of the people in line said.

"Yeah... Sidekick..." He knew he was no sidekick, but he might as well have been, glass cannon fool as he was.

But what happened next, he would not excpect. A woman, firmly holding a watch to her side, was running from a person shouting that she had stolen his watch. It was odd, perfectly normal day, and this person barges in. Gods sake.

"Hey! Stop right there!" He held his fist high in the air, even though he knew he couldn't use it in such a busy, populated, and building laden place.

Void didn't freeze up at the voice, but jumped and looked back through the crowd in confusion, not realizing at first that she had been spotted. Then she saw the fist in the air and chestnut brown eyes staring straight at her, and she knew she'd been caught. Well, seen, not caught. Frowning, the girl stuck her tongue out defiantly before shoving her helmet back on and shoving through people, feeling slightly guilty about doing so.

She knew she couldn't make it to the door, so she focused her power into her free hand when she got near the window and changed its density with her power. The glass became intangible like water, and Void easily walked through it. As soon as she was through the glass and into the pelting rain, the window stopped rippling and went back to its original state. Like she said, her powers made quick escapes easy. Void was going to just hop on her bike and make haste away from the guy who'd spotted her, but unfortunately police had already arrived, and the girl who had been hanging onto her victim before was waving them down... Right beside her motorcycle. Irritated that her escape was cut off, Void turned left and began running in the direction she needed to go next.

"Gah! So, so sloppy! Why'd I get so cocky?" She scolded herself as she ran. If she hadn't been feeling so high from the 'nice' weather, she would have never acted so brazenly. At least Void knew she was quick. She was petite and didn't weigh much, plus she was in pretty good shape. All that made running quite easy. The helmet wearing girl looked for a place to hide, but she was drawing a lot more attention than she wanted at this point.

Freddie saw how fast she was. From what he saw, she could change the density of objects to some extent, He knew he couldn't shoot himself towards her, because it would break his legs, and the floor beneath him. He couldn't punch her, for obvious reasons. He had no choice. To stop her, or at least slow her down, he had to make an obstacle. He saw her running in the opposite direction of the police, into a desolate, almost empty street, ideal. He would have to think carefully about how he went about this, or he could create mass hysteria.

He turned to the police.

"Officers! i am a licensed Hero, i'll deal with this." With that he pulled up the sleeve on his right arm.

He thought carefully to himself, the people he had killed with this ability, the things he had done. The road to redemption he was on. This would be his first catch, he hoped. He firmly placed his feet into the ground, and felt the air brush past his slightly messy hair. He drew his right hand backwards, imagining his power surging to his fist, the power engulfing his knuckles. He looked to the sky and screamed.

"Don't run!"

With that, he drove his fist forwards into the ground beneath him. The concrete shook and crushed beneath him, the very foundation of the bedrock was being disturbed by the force of his punch, he could feel the bones in his very arm snapping as he punched. As he drove his punch through the ground, the ground was brought up forward violently, spiking the ground upwards into the direction of the thief, he knew this attack would stop her, but not harm her. He let out a violent scream as his shoulder dislocated and his arm broke under the pressure. The entire city feeling the thunderous force of his fist.

"Don't run? Are you seriouuuuuussss....!?" Void almost laughed, but the sudden warping of the pavement below her feet changed that. The ground beneath her buckled and waved unnaturally, and she found herself falling to her knees and being flung a bit backwards by the whiplash of the road. She skid on her arms a few feet, fist clenching the watch she was still in possession of tightly. The girl was glad she had her helmet on or else her head would have cracked against the cement and she'd be dealing with a nasty concussion.

Void took a moment to re-orient herself as she lay on the ground, rain soaking her through from the clouds above. She assessed that her arms were sore and she probably had at least a sprained wrist. Picking herself up, Void glared through her helmet at the boy who'd stopped her. Police were closing in, but the kid seemed to be in quite some pain. It looked like he hadn't noticed the police were pointing the guns at him as well. Some of them looked angry, some disgusted, and others just plain scared. Void didn't blame them. This young man's power was something else, really.

"You ding-dong! Where have you been, don't you know the world is against Metas now?" She growled at the boy as she stood to her full, five-foot-three height and stuffed the watch in one of her pockets. She had to breath, distract the police, and focus in order to do what had to be done next. "Since The New York Assault people have been afraid of people like you."

Her eyes were hidden, but they darted back and forth between the gun wielding cops and the so-called hero before her. She felt a bit trapped, but by focusing on the ground beneath her feet she was sure she could make a get away. Void began slowly sinking through the ground, going unnoticed by the police since they were focused on the boy more than her. Hopefully this kid had the sense to stay put, because she really didn't feel like taking a teenager underground with her.

"Like Villains huh..." He came to a sad realisation. The hero life he had imagined on the television when he was just a boy was now faulty. What he knew, or had known was void. He slowly started to come to the realisation that he wasn't what he dreamt of being. He looked back at the Police. They all had their guns pointed at him. It was like they thought he was a...

A Monster...

He looked back at the woman who had told him this solemn reality. He knew she was in the wrong, but he had to make a choice between escaping, or capturing someone with a misdemeanour. He thought to himself of the heroes he looked up to as a child, thinking of what they would think of this. He was ready to accept what people thought. He had been living in England for so long... so much had changed.

He knew he had one punch left... He was decommissioned, useless as far as he was concerned. Use his last punch, be left defenceless, use his legs to kick himself away breaking his legs, or let the police take him in. He looked back at the girl once more, and made his decision.

He raised his left fist, and before the officers could deliver their 'Justice' He drove his hand through the air at such speed, it seemed the wind itself was at his command, and a hurricane of gale force wind hit the small group of policemen like a ton of bricks thrown at 200 mph. They were quite literally flung into the wall, not dead, but injured. As he did this, his fist and knuckles were destroyed. His arm was intact, apart from blisters. He looked back at the girl, and starting running in her direction, eventually passing her.

"Thanks for the heads up" He said through excruciating pain. He ran as fast as he could. The future was uncertain..

Void hated that this kid was making her feel guilty. It was obvious that he was a bit naive, too fresh  and innocent for the world. Maybe he had some sort of raw history in this world, what with the haunted look in his eyes and all. Void cursed herself, quite literally, for feeling the sudden pang of regret and guilt that came when he passed her, obviously in too much pain to say much else.

She groaned, stepping back out onto the street and running with the kid to catch up to him. It was a bit of a struggle to find him at first, but she was way faster than him, especially in his rather battered state. The police were pretty far behind, but they would eventually catch up, and she just couldn't let this kid go on to get caught, not after the heartbroken look he'd made. Once she caught sight of him she called out.

"Hey! Wait!" She said, reaching to grab onto his shoulder if she could, not knowing about the extent of his injuries.

As he carried himself as fast as his battered body would take him, he heard the girl behind him telling him to wait up, as she grabbed his left shoulder, luckily not his right, as that would have made the situation worse than it already was. As much as she had stolen something, she had helped him out in a sense, and he couldn't let a debt like that go unpaid. He heard the police, far, but still on their track. Luckily he had only used 10% on his punch on the ground, or else he would've been chased by a lot worse than the police. He had to think of something. Anything...

"Hey... If we want to-" He coughed up blood on the ground, mostly because of his condition. "-To get out of this safely, we can't keep running"

He looked around him, trying to look for any chance of escape.

Void was startled by the boy's state. She didn't realize he'd sustained that much damage. She was the one being chased and she didn't have nearly as many injuries! "Yeah, especially you! You are in no condition to run!" She scolded as she looked at the blood on the ground he'd hacked up which was streaming away with the rain.

"I can get us into the sewers, but you are going to have to go first. Hold your breath until you land, and don't forget to bend your knees." She said quickly without waiting for permission. Her hands were on the ground in an instant and she made the ground intangible, knowing that the boy would fall through and she could follow after him. Just in time as well, because police dogs were just rounding the corner as she phased herself through the ground as well.

The sewers were dark and not nearly as smelly as she thought they'd be. With the rain the water was mostly just runoff so it didn't stink like raw sewage. Fortunately she had been able to land them on the worker's walkway. Void took out her phone and shone the light around until she saw the boy, running over to him to see how his wounds were.

"Sheesh, you're a mess! Sorry about the unexpected landing. You didn't hurt yourself even more, did you?" She questioned honestly, taking off her helmet to help her see better in the minimal lighting.

He landed, remembering to bend his knees via her advice, and landed in the sewer. It was dark, dank and smelled like old water. He landed on the walkway and the light of the girls phone brightened up the sewer. He had to adjust himself to everything that had just happened. He knew he had been reckless, his healer friend wasn't with him now, and he had taken injuries that could take him weeks, months to recover. He saw the girl take of her helmet, her complexion clean and young. Not a lot of people like that anymore. This tragedy he had been told of, heroes being framed as being like villains... he couldn't believe it. For now however, more important things were at hand.

"No... The fall didn't damage me. In fact, it saved my life" He grabbed his right shoulder and, with all the power left in his left arm, snapped his right arm back into its socket, biting on his tongue to eliminate his scream. "I'm.... I'm sorry. I've put your life in jeopardy. As you can see, my power is a little... Unstable. Only found out last year." He leaned up against the dirty wall, his body very tired from the extensive trauma his body had sustained.

"What should we... do?"

Void took a bit of pity on the guy, flinching harshly as he set his arm himself. He must have some crazy pain tolerance not to even mutter as he did so even if his expression gave the amount of pain he was in away. She tucked her helmet under her arm and looked around with her phone upon hearing his question. The water was flowing to the West, probably towards the bay itself. There were likely more exits in that direction.

"Well, we should probably get you to a hospital or at least pharmacy to get a sling and bandaids. You know, you should probably take some time practicing punching something soft if you can't control your powers." It was as much a joke as it was advice. Not knowing how to use one's own power was a dangerous thing, especially with such a devastating strength as this boy had.

"Anyways kid, we should move West. I can help you get what you need, but I have other things to do." She pat her pocket where the watch she'd taken had been stowed. Void paused and turned off her phone as her eyes grew used to the dim lighting of the tunnels. There must have been sewer grates around to let the little light from outside in. "I probably should stop calling you kid. What's your name, hero-boy?"

He looked towards her, Her wise advise going through his head. But he knew medication wouldn't help his wounds, they went down straight to the marrow in his bones. He needed a healer. Someone who could heal him quickly, and totally. His Name? He hadn't told anyone his real name in a long time, it was refreshing to be asked that kind of question.

"Freddie... Freddie Smith, as a hero i was once known as The Fist" He laughed to himself, releasing the creativeness of his amateur name.

"I need a healer... Know anyone?"

Unfortunately she didn't. But that didn't mean Void couldn't find one via a few connections. She pulled out her phone again and dialed a number she had memorized.

"Hey, it's Void." She said when the receiver picked up. A small hum came from the end of the line followed by a masculine voic with a thick brooklyn accent.

"Did'ya get the drive?"

"I have the watch, I'm getting the other half now." She said nonchalantly, adopting a lax stance leaning on one leg and supporting her helmet with her hip and arm, "I ran into a bit of a snag, though. Would you happen to know any metas with healing capabilities in Tampa?"

The other end of the line was silent, and she could make out muffled voices in the background. "Yeah, I know a gal. But I'm gonna hafta take a cut out of your pay for the info." Void didn't voice her irritation and side eyed Freddie. She sure hoped the teen would be grateful after this, or had some way of paying her back.

"Twenty percent, at most."

"Good. There's a little run-down palm reading place above the bowling alley on Sea Turtle Way. Tell her the Genovese sent ya and she'll fix yer problem fer ya."

Void didn't bother answering and hung up, stuffing her phone back into her pocket and putting her helmet back on so she could walk easier, lifting up the face shield o help her see better. She turned to Freddie, "I found a place. You'll owe me one, though." She said, already heading down the walkway since they had to get out of there anyhow. They would probably walk about a mile or two before coming to a manhole cover that they could go up through.

Freddie Sighed in relief. He knew he would get the help he needed. He got on his feet, and started following Void... Or at least that is what she called herself on the phone. Must be her 'Title', like all heroes and villains alike. It didn't matter to Freddie right now, he had to care for his injuries. He hadn't nearly sustained anything as powerful as the incident in DC, but it was painful, more painful than anything he had experienced in the last few months. Ever since his healer got killed in the incident, he couldn't use his powers full extent. Even on that road before, he was acting at nearly full capacity. He was too scared.

Just a kid...

"Hey... What happened at the New York Incident?"

Void shrugged at his comment, finding a ladder at last and beginning to ascend it, pausing while hanging on the rungs and deciding to answer Freddie. "I'd have to have been there to tell you." It had happened around the same time she'd started doing well in the espionage business she'd inherited. When the mass destruction during the NY assault occurred, she'd been back in Peru checking on some... things. After the Purge she had actually moved into NYC, "From the news I can at least say that it was a crazy Doctor looking for revenge and glory with a hoard of Metahuman followers. They went up against the government, other Metahumans got involved, and the evil guy lost. The Purge after that did the most damage, though I'm not so sure what caused that fight. All I know is that a lot of Metas caused a lot of damage. Now people are just afraid of us in general, no matter if we're 'good' or bad'."

And thus New York became a taboo place to reside. The once great city was filled with the ruins of buildings and an eighth of the population it once had. Only the brave lived there now. Or the ones like her, who just wanted to stay away from people.

After speaking Void went up and pressed her hand against the heavy manhole cover, changing the density to make it as light as paper. She peeked out to see the street was empty, then completely removed the cover and climbed out, turning around and offering her hand in case the injured young man needed some help. The rungs were pretty slippery and it was still raining heavily. The last thing Freddie needed was to fall back and hurt himself further.

"Where were you during the assault that you didn't even know the world was against Metahumans?"