Robert looked into his windscreen mirror and saw there was no one behind him. So he pulled the mask from over his head and wound down the window. He took in the fresh air for a moment, the wind in his face. A moment of peace that had escaped him for some time now, then threw the mask out of the car window and into the rear view where it belonged.

  His eyes closed for a moment, hoping it wasn't a cruel joke the world decided to play on him one more time. He inhaled deeply through his nose, then slowly exhaled the air back out into the world. But when he opened his eyes, he was still in the car—it was real. He was free now—free from Derrick and the past that wouldn’t allow sleeping dogs to lie.

  But if something seemed too good to be true—nine out of ten—it probably was.

  As Robert continued to drive down the road, he kept to the speed limit, making sure not to attract any unwanted attention. But with him, unwanted attention had him as their target picture. And as he drove past a stationary police cruiser, its lights turned on and began to follow him. Robert didn't think much of it at first, but still—he kept one eye on the road and the other on his wing mirror, watching the police car carefully.

  The police car continued to follow him. Every turn he took, the police car followed. Robert kept it cool. That was until another police car joined in, driving next to Robert’s car. The officer wound down his window.

  “Pull over,” the officer shouted, loud enough for Robert to hear.

  But Robert continued driving, his heart now in his lap.

  “Pull over,” the officer repeated again. “Or we’ll ram you off the road.”

  Robert, with his instincts now taking over, quickly shifted gears and slammed down on the accelerator, leaving the police cruiser a good few meters behind. The police cruisers began to give chase while the car trailing behind picked up the radio and called it in.

  “Dispatch, we’ve got a failure to yield. Suspect vehicle heading southbound on I-95. Black Mercedes Benz, Florida plates—Kilo Bravo Seven, Nine Two One. Speed approximately a hundred. Requesting additional units.”

  “Copy that,” replied dispatch. “All units, be advised—vehicle pursuit in progress. Black Mercedes Benz, southbound I-95. Units in the area, respond code three.”

  “Unit Twelve responding, entering from NW 36th.”

  “Copy,” replied dispatch. “Unit Twelve. Maintain secondary position.”

  The police were hot on Robert’s tail, but he wasn't about to give up now when he was so close to finally being free. He took it up a notch. He saw the cars approaching from up ahead and looked in his mirror and saw the ones behind weren't about to give him a moment of peace either. He slammed on the accelerator, driving as fast as he could toward the police.

  “Has this maniac lost his mind?” said one of the officers approaching. “If he comes at us head on at the speed he’s traveling, he's going to kill us—and himself.”

  Robert had other ideas though. He had caught the alleyway on the right-hand side of the road. Weaving in and out of cars like a madman, he waited for the perfect moment. He spun his steering wheel as hard as he could, causing the car to drift, stopping mere inches away from the oncoming police cruisers before momentum carried him down the alleyway.

  He sank in his seat, letting out a huge sigh of relief. He was free—or so he thought. A bright light shined down on his car. He couldn't believe his luck—a police helicopter had entered the chase. He immediately tightened up, put foot down.

  ###########

  Jai-Lee and her father were sitting down on the sofa. It was their family night, just her and him. Officer Lee was religious with his routine. Check six one six news, turn on the fireplace, get the marshmallows, spawn popcorn and hot chocolate, then watch a movie.

  As Officer Lee turned on channel six one six, there was a police chase being covered on the channel in Miami. Officer Lee began to laugh.

  “Look at this fool, Jai, thinking that he can outrun a police helicopter. Did he not get the memo? Miami—Mr I'll get the police helicopter out for anything,” he laughed.

  “Hahahhah,” he laughed sarcastically whilst giving her dad a weird look.

  Jai-Lee then pulled out her phone and brought it to her face, unlocking it. At the top of the screen there was a notification. Jai-Lee clicked it and the tracking app opened.

  “Miami,” she said to herself, no louder than a whisper. “What would Gabe’s dad be doing there?”

  Then she quickly noticed Robert was still on the move, and fast.

  “No—it couldn't be, he wouldn't.”

  But she wouldn't be Jai-Lee if she didn't ask.

  “Dad—the police chase that's going on, whereabouts in Miami is it?”

  “Oh, now you want to act as if you're interested?”

  “Dad,” she shouted bluntly. “Just tell me.”

  “Alright, alright, Jai. I didn't know you were so invested. The incident happened on the west side of Miami. They tried to block him off on the I-95, but he’s a tricky bugger.”

  And there it was—the confirmation she needed, but hoped it was just a coincidence. Her mouth dropped to the floor. She now had to explain to Gabriel that not only was his father in a police chase, but she hacked his dad’s phone when he specifically told her to abort the mission.

  “Jai—Jai—Jai!” her father finally shouted, snapping her out of her trance. “Is everything okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost.”

  Well, you could say that, she thought.

  “Do you mind if I excuse myself, Dad? I know we said we'd spend some time together, but I just remembered I have some homework that I need to do. It's due on Monday.”

  Jai’s father let out a deep sigh. He always looked forward to their ritual one night a month where they spent the day together, but when education called, he always knew to step aside.

  “Yeah, sure thing, Jai. Just remember to take breaks in between and make sure you have water.”

  “I know—Dad.”

  Jai-Lee shot up from the sofa and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her. She quickly went to her contacts and called Gabriel.

  Gabriel's phone began to vibrate next to him on the bed. When he flipped it over, he saw Jai-Lee’s number. He shook his head and flipped his phone back over.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “You're not going to use me to get out of family night again,” he thought. “One more excuse that involves me and your dad’s either going to think we're boyfriend and girlfriends—ewww—or he's going to end up hating me.”

  He closed his eyes and continued to ignore her calls.

  Finally, she stopped ringing, and Gabriel could lie there in peace for once. No one to save, no emergencies, no family drama.

  But then his phone vibrated.

  He ignored it at first. The second time. The third. And even the fourth. But the persistent buzzing was enough to drive anyone mad.

  He shot up in his bed and snatched his phone into his hand.

  Twenty-five messages.

  May-day

  May-day

  May-day

  One after another, unrelenting.

  As the two ticks turned blue, signalling Gabriel had read the messages, she shifted tactics: emergency, your dad is in a lot of trouble and needs you, Gabe.

  Gabriel started to panic and dialled Jai-Lee’s number.

  “My dad? What do you mean he’s in trouble? What's going on, Jai?”

  “Well first of all, hello to you too, Gabe.”

  “I’m sorry for ignoring your calls, Jai, but you have to admit, you’ve used me more times than your father would like to get out of your family night. I just, you know, thought you were trying to use me to get out of it again.”

  Jai-Lee gasped. “How dare you, Gabe. We’re meant to be friends—scrap that—we’re meant to be partners. If I need you to get out of something, you take the call and you take the heat—no matter what.”

  “Ok, ok, Jai. We’re losing grasp of the subject at hand.”

  “Oh yeah, your dad. Well, you know how you told me not to hack into your dad’s phone and upload the tracking software?”

  “Yes, Jai—I remember specifically telling you I had a change of heart.”

  “Well—I didn’t listen.”

  “You what?! Jai!”

  “Well, first of all, who has a password as simple as one, two, three, four, five these days? That’s just someone asking to be scammed or hacked. I just, you know—chose the safer option out of the two.”

  “No, Jai. None of them should have been an option. I specifically asked you to do something and you went behind my back and did it anyway. What kind of friend does that?”

  “A good one—one that cares. Turn on six one six news, Gabe.”

  “Jai—what has the news got to do with what we’re talking about? Don’t deflect.”

  “Just do it, Gabe.”

  Gabriel rolled off his bed and onto his feet. He walked slowly over toward his table that housed his remote, his face scrunched like an angry dog. He picked it up and switched on the TV, turning to channel six one six. He rolled his eyes in disbelief.

  All Gabriel could see was a black Mercedes, four police cruisers, and as the TV switched between them, a police helicopter. His face scrunched as he stood there confused, shaking his head.

  “Jai, really? A police chase in Miami? That was your big master plan to make me forget what you did? I’m in New York—and by the looks of things, they have it all covered. I’m sure they have enough police over there to deal with whatever lunatic this is.”

  “Well—ermm, Gabe. That’s the thing. That lunatic driver evading police right now—well—that’s your dad.”

  Gabriel began to cough rapidly, after almost choking on his saliva.

  “My dad? Why didn’t you just start with that?”

  “Well—I was trying to get around to it. When you sounded so angry over what I did, I just panicked. I tried to ease it out, rather than just, you know, say it out loud.”

  Gabriel took one more glance at the TV, then tightened his grip around his phone.

  “Well—if he wants to return to a life of crime—he can deal with the consequences of being a criminal. He made his bed—he can’t lie in it.”

  “Gabe—I know you’re mad, but that’s your dad. Save him now and be angry later. You don’t know what it’s like to have only one parent, the burden that puts on their shoulders. So if you’re not going to save him for him, do it for your mom.”

  Gabriel let out a reluctant sigh. He knew everything Jai-Lee said was true. Normally, he didn’t mind Jai-Lee being right, but when it came to his dad, he was sick and tired.

  “But Jai, how am I going to get to Miami—even if I wanted to, it’s twelve hours away?”

  “Sonic boom, Gabe.”

  Gabriel began to pace back and forth frantically before pulling his face closer to the phone.

  “Sonic boom—we swore I would never do that again unless it was life and death,” he whispered, as if anyone was actually at home.

  “Well, Gabe—it’s as close as. If you don’t use it, he’s as good as caught.”

  “Ok,” he agreed reluctantly. “Sonic boom.”

  Jai, on the other end of the call, began to dance and jump up and down with joy before remembering she had a job to do. She put on her headset, then sent Gabriel the location.

  As the text came through, Gabriel took a look at his phone, then headed downstairs toward the back of the house. As he stood in his back garden, he looked around, making sure none of his neighbours were at their windows, then began to transform.

  But mid-transformation, a young boy—angry he’d lost on Fortnite—stormed to the window to calm down and saw Gabriel transform into Dragonblade. Far from the Saturday the young man was expecting.

  As Gabriel looked up, he couldn’t believe his eyes. A young brown-haired, green-eyed kid, no older than twelve years old, was staring right back at him.

  “What—the—hell?” the young boy mimed with his mouth before shouting, “Mom—Dad, get in here quick!”

  “Ahh,” Gabriel thought. That’s not good. But then a lightbulb went off in his head. The kid’s only twelve. Who’s actually going to believe I’m Dragonblade anyway? All I need to do is stick to I’m not Dragonblade and everything else should just work itself out.

  Just as the boy’s father entered the room, Gabriel shot up into the sky and out of sight.

  “What’s up?” the boy’s father asked.

  “Look—look!” the young boy shouted in excitement, rushing over to his father and grabbing a hold of his hand. “Come on, quick!”

  The boy pulled his father to the window.

  “You see.”

  “See what, Matthew? All I see is the next-door neighbour’s back garden.”

  “Huh?” Matthew’s eyes scrunched before taking a look himself. “I swear to you, Dad, Dragonblade was just there a few seconds ago. You’ve got to believe me.”

  “I believe you, Matt.”

  “No, Dad, you have that look on your face.”

  “What look?”

  “The look you have when you think I’m lying. I’m not lying, Dad. I saw Gabriel transform into Dragonblade and he was standing right there,” Matthew said, pointing to the exact spot where Gabriel was standing.

  The boy’s father’s eyebrow raised.

  “Gabriel—Dragonblade?” he said, eyes wide and eyebrows still raised.

  “I know how it looks, Dad, but in all the superhero movies, it’s always the one you least expect.”

  The boy’s father began to hunch over laughing.

  “I’m sorry, son—I didn’t mean to laugh and all—but Gabriel—Dragonblade? He’s a tad too scrawny and weak to be Dragonblade, I’m afraid, son. I think we need to get you off those anime and superhero movies and get you out of this room.”

  “But, Dad—”

  “But nothing, boy. You spend all your time cooped up in your room in front of that small PC screen. You need to get some fresh air—experience what the real world, not the virtual world, has to offer.”

  “Alright, Dad.”

  “Love you, son.”

  “Love you, Dad.”

  As Matthew’s father got up and walked out of the room, Matthew shut the door behind him, then sat on his bed.

  “Gabriel—they may not believe me now—but they will. I’m going to get solid proof you’re Dragonblade. Then everyone will believe me, and I’ll be the cool kid in class for once,” he said as he lay down on his bed.

  Gabriel stood in the sky, high enough that he was out the way of prying eyes.

  “You sure about this, Jai?” he said with hesitation in his voice. You see, Gabriel had practiced this technique a few times, and only once was it ever successful. So after a pair of failed attempts, the two swore to shelve it unless it was an emergency.

  “Gabe, I know you’re nervous. We’ve failed this far too many times than either of us would like, but we’re out of time—and we’re out of options.”

  The wind came hard and fast, pushing and prying at Gabriel’s skin as it tore past. That, and the birds, were the only things keeping him company at that speed.

  They passed him one by one, sometimes in loose groups. As they flew by, they cast him eerie, knowing glances—looks that told him everything he needed to know.

  He didn’t belong here.

  Gabriel’s mind betrayed him, dragging up every failed attempt at a sonic boom. Panic followed. His hand pressed to his chest, mouth gaping, breaths coming sharp and frantic as failure replayed itself again and again and again.

  “Breathe, Gabe. Don’t let your failures define who you are as a person. We all fail from time to time. Sure, you’ve failed—a lot of times.”

  “Not helping, Jai.”

  “If you’d actually let me finish, you’d see where I’m going with this. Sure—you’ve failed. A lot. Who hasn’t? But every time you failed as Dragonblade, you got back up. You dusted yourself off and tried again, no matter how big—or how small—the failure was.

  “And yeah, you’ve failed more times than you’ve succeeded. You know what that shows, Gabe? Heart. It shows someone who cares. Someone who can look defeat in the eye and say, ‘You’re not going to break me.’

  “Because for all those failures, there’s been more than enough success. Without them, this city would’ve been pulled under.

  “So pull yourself together.

  “And fight.”

  Gabriel’s head rose; his confidence was back.

  “Ok, here goes nothing.”

  Gabriel’s body began to vibrate. A low thrum vibration on repeat pulsed through him like a rapid heartbeat. And if you looked closer—below the surface of Gabriel’s body—his Atoms began to shift, bending and twisting temporarily to compensate for a technique that denied the laws of physics.

  The air around him stilled as his body poured out energy around him. Windows and the houses below began to shake.

  “Earthquake!” screamed Matthew’s dad as he rushed up the stairs. He threw Matthew’s door open and picked him up.

  Gabriel’s eyes shot open.

  “I’m coming, Dad.”

  And with those final words, his body shot across the sky, leaving a long streak of purple and blue trailing behind him.