Chapter Two: Rough neighborhood.

Eighteen, Wayne Street. That’ what the address read on the paper, that’s what the address said on the door. The entirety of Wayne Street was simply an apartment complex; there are twenty buildings, each four flours, each with three apartments, and the bottom floor was a laundry room. The address on Brian’s card read “Eighteen, number two.” That meant he was on the third floor.

He reached in his pocket for the key which he had received earlier, and pulled them out of his pocket, but he dropped them on the ground.

“Shit.” He mumbled.

He bent down to reach for his keys and something moved from the corner of his eye, he continued to pick up his keys as if he didn’t see anything. He then went on to open the door and proceed inside.

The walls had a pretty basic paintjob of solid green, although he noticed that the paint was slightly peeling in some places to reveal and ugly rust metal wall. The carpets were nonexistent, and were instead replaced by hardwood mahogany floors, with chips and cracks here and there. There were dim, nearly dead light bulbs hanging from the ceiling that barely illuminated the hallways.

He kept walking until he reached number two and stopped when he saw something move again, this time going down the stairway to the second floor. A moment after he ignored it, he heard a cry.

“Help me!” a feminine scream came from downstairs.

At this Brian rushed downstairs as fast as he could, almost tripping once, and he turned the corner to see a girl being harassed by a group of men. The men had their backs to him so he slowly crept up behind them.

“Look you stupid whore, all we want is the purse and then we’re out of here.” One of the men said.

She began to struggle until she saw Brian coming up behind the first man, then she stopped and apologized and handed the man her purse.

“Now was that so h-” the man did not have time to finish his sentence before Brian came up and tapped on his shoulder. “What the hell do you want, ass wipe?” the man said furiously.

“This!” Brian said before he brought his right arm back and punched the man in the nose, breaking it.

He then brought his left leg up swiftly and kicked the second man where it hurts, and then he turned to the third and simply smiled.

“You don’t scare me!” the third hooligan shouted, producing a small submachine gun from his coat.

As soon as the man pulled the trigger, he grabbed the girl’s hand and dashed into the room at the end of the hall, which was apparently abandoned. Bullets riddled the wall right next to his head, and he quickly stepped to the side to avoid a last bullet.

“Shit,” he thought “I didn’t think I’d have to use my powers.”

He then stepped out of the room and into the hallway and stood in the direct path of the man with the gun.

“What are you, retarded?” the man asked him, before he lifted the gun and squeezed his finger on the trigger as hard as he could.

The bullets whizzed toward Brian at extraordinary speed, but then seemed to slow to the speed of a turtle with a broken leg, in fact, everything slowed. The bullets reached Brian and he simply moved his hands and caught every one of them in his bare hands. Everything resumed its normal speed again.

The criminal simply stared at Brian, dumbfounded, until he opened his fists, revealing the bullets in his hand, and then the man ran away, closely followed by his cohorts.

“Are you alright?” He asked, walking over to the girl.

She looked at him and he could now see what she looked like without a bullet tearing his face off. She was just about his age, in fact he thought he might have seen her around his college before. She had long blonde hair, tied back in a ponytail, and to Brian she looked great for a woman who had just dodged bullets. She had soft cute features and a slender frame, and when Brian looked down he could see she had nice- he stopped himself and looked up. Unlike Kyle, Brian was not a pervert. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans, and a grey shirt that said, “My face is up here” On it with an arrow pointing up… what a coincidence.

“Um yeah, I think so.” She said.

“So where’s your apartment?” he asked her.

“Well if you’re the guy who just moved in, then I’m your neighbor, I’m Claire.” She replied, and held out her hand. He shook it. “So, you have powers right.” She asked him.

“Um… yeah.” He answered nervously, obviously afraid of the subject.

“It’s alright, I won’t tell anyone. I have powers too, I can fly and I’m really strong.” She said.

“Oh?” He half replied, half asked.

“Yeah, this city is pretty much famous for heroes and villains and well, I’m one of them.” She said reassuringly. “Come on, I’ll show you to your apartment.” She told him, grabbing his hand.

When Brian walked inside his apartment with Claire, they both immediately wondered what the hell was going on, because machinery and evil looking vials of liquid were scattered everywhere, and three men stood menacingly over a table which looked like there was a body strapped to it.

“Um, excuse me.” Brian said after clearing his throat to get their attention.

One man who was in a blood-stained lab coat that probably used to be white.

“Who are you?” he asked in a shrill annoying voice.

“I’m the person who lives here.” Brian said, angry that his apartment had become the nest of some aspiring mad scientist.

“We were told that this apartment was vacant.” A second man with a large slouch and a hump in his back said.

“It was but I just rented it.” Brian told them.

“Damn. Oh well, boys, pack it up, we got to move out.” The man in the lab coat shouted to his followers. Before they began to pack up and leave Brian’s apartment. As they were leaving, the man strapped to the table began to scream but his mouth was muffled by duct tape.

After the… men head left Brian’s apartment, he began to look around. It was already furnished, but other than that it was empty. There was a couch and chair in one room and a counter and a square indent on the floor where the refrigerator used to be in the other room.

“Well, I’ll let you unpack.” Claire told him. “Oh, and as long as you don’t tell I have powers, I wont tell you do either.” She added before she left.

“It’s a deal.” Brian said, looking after her with a smile as she left. “I’m going to like it here.” He said to himself after she was gone.

It had taken six hours for him to drive back home, pick up all of his stuff, check to see that Claire wasn’t getting mugged again, and set it all up in his new home. But it was finished. He took a step back outside the door to admire his handiwork, and proceeded into each room to admire it some more.

Just then Claire knocked on the open doorway. “Wow, it looks great in here, mind if I come in?” She asked, looking around.

“No not at all.” Brian said. “Take a seat if you want to.” He told her, pointing to a chair.

She walked in and sat down before saying. “I just thought that we should get to know each other, seeing that we’re neighbors, our other floor mate is a really nice guy but he’s shy so you might not see him for a while.”

“No, no, it’s not a problem at all.” He said, using his best adult manners.

He walked up to a chair opposite Claire’s and seated himself, and she looked him up and down, actually seeing him for the first time.

“Wow he’s kind of cute.” She thought. She shook her head mentally and remembered what she was going to ask him. “Um, so what made you move here?”

“Well, I wanted to get a job as a reporter, and I wanted someplace close to the job.” He told her. “So what do you do?” He then asked.

“Oh, well when I’m not saving lives, I’m a lawyer.” Claire said.

“Oh wow that’s great; I always thought that being involved with the law was probably one of the best jobs a person.” He said.

Their conversation went on for quite a while and they both seemed to get along well in all subjects, from the latest celebrity gossip to the latest politics, and there was never an awkward silence between them.

Claire’s watch beeped.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry, I have to go.” She said, getting up.

“That’s alright, I’ll see you around.” He said, getting up as well.

He helped her get her things and she walked out the door.

“Well, things around here are looking good, it seems like I’ve already made a friend, a cute one too.” He said to himself before he realized he was talking to himself and then he drank a glass of water and went to sleep.

Being a reporter can be a really great job, but if you can’t find a story, it sucks. Fortunately for our protagonist, Paradise city was the best place to find a story. Brian stepped out of the door of the apartment complex and looked into the sky at a building a few blocks away. There was a few seconds that he stared at it before an explosion sent a geyser of flame shooting out of the top story window, in the explosion was a man dressed in a black long coat, with jet-black slicked-back hair, and a black domino mask across his eyes, he was thrown several blocks toward, and then past Brian before he slammed into the ground a few yards away from Brian.

The man got up and looked at Brian and saw his reporting equipment.

“Lucky kid.” He thought before he kneeled down and was silent for a second. The silence was unnecessary because the person who sent him flying out of the building, a villainous looking man in a simple red pair of pants and red long-sleeved shirt, but there was a dragon emblem on the mask that covered his face.

Suddenly the man in black shot up from the ground, hurtled toward the villain at the same speed, the two collided, and the resounding collision was enough to lift Brian off his feet and shatter the ground beneath them. The villain fell to the ground and the man in black then sped at him and slammed his fist into the ground where his head was… was. The villain rolled out of the way, and blasted another explosion of flames at the man. The man in black lifted his hands and the flames parted were sucked into a swirling black vortex that appeared when the flames touched his arms.
“Hey, you, you’re the new kid in the apartments right!” the man said to Brian, the flames almost scorching his face.

“What, yeah, why?” Brian said.

“Because, I’m you’re other neighbor, my names Rick by the way.” The man explained. “If you’ve got powers then get over here and help me!” he then shouted, still struggling.

“Alright, give me a second.” Brian finished.

At this, Brian ran inside and reappeared a few seconds later, this time he was wearing a black hooded fleece with the hood up, and a scarf that covered his facial features, and just a pair of khaki pants. He ran up to Rick and thrust his hands out, a violet aura appeared around the flames and his arms and the flames were parted, he dashed through them and leapt up in the air. Time slowed, literally, and the villain was left to do nothing but look up slowly and then have his face distorted around his fist. Brian then activated his powers, and his fist glowed violet, and sent a negative magnetic force through the villain’s face, and a negative charge through his fist, thus repelling his face. But the force of the repulsion was as strong as a super-electromagnet (Scientist made one in 2012, but couldn’t think of a good name) which was strong enough to rocket his body back at an alarming speed, if it wasn’t for a skyscraper he wouldn’t have stopped. The villain slumped to the ground then, unconscious. Shortly thereafter, the police showed up, and cuffed the villain.

“Nice job.” Rick said.

“Eh, it was nothing.” Brian said, panting heavily.

“So, I guess I’ll see you around, oh and if you’re wondering; it is possible to report on yourself.” He replied and then walked away.

Brian then walked into the apartment complex again, and went into a vacant apartment where he had stored his shirt, he removed the scarf and fleece and put the shirt on, and it was a white dress shirt, because he had planned to go out to a story.

“Oh well.” He thought.

Moments later, a man wearing a blue plaid shirt and blue jeans walked in. He had a pair of thin square-rimmed reading glasses and had jet-black, slicked-back hair.

“Hey Rick.” Brian said, recognizing him immediately.

“Hey, make sure to add me into the article.” He said, barely giving him a passing glance before he went upstairs and into his apartment.

“Man, this place just gets crazier and crazier.” Brian said, thinking of the previous conflict. “I need a costume.” He then declared before he sat down at his desk and began to draw.

Brian lay at his desk, head down, asleep. He mumbled and moved slightly. He lifted himself up and looked at the clock; it read five-thirty-three. Then he turned his head and looked at the drawings on the desk in front of him, most of them he trashed, botched drawings and stupid ideas alike. However, one stood out from the rest. One drawing appealed to his eye. This was his costume, this was him, and this was the hero. This was Aura.

“This is it.” He said, picking up the drawing and holding it up to the light.

It was a pair of crimson boots, and then crimson pants with a single white stripe on each side, followed by a jacket, this time white with a crimson stripe, this time down the middle, that’s collar extended to cover his neck and chin. Red gloves without fingers on his hands, and a slightly operatic mask covering his eyes. He would carry a simple long lead pipe. Not exactly material for a hero, but Brian could energize the pipe with magnetic energy, sharpening it so that it will cut through adamantium. (Discovered in 2020 by a man whose name he claimed was Logan)

It wouldn’t take him long to gather the materials, and making the costume itself would take even less time, so he began as soon as possible. By seven o’clock it was done. Just then his phone rang.

“Hello.” He answered it.

It was Claire.

“Brian, we need your help over here. Meet me at Back street.” She said frantically.

“Alright, I’ll be right there.” Suspecting what this was about, he wore his costume and brought his regular clothes along with him. Then he ran out of his apartment, down the stairs, and out the door.

As you might have noticed, this story doesn't take place in Paragon city, it is my own origional city (eh it's new york) Don't worry, there is a plot, the story is not simply meaningless, in fact, the ending, which I already have planned, is going to be quite epic. Kiba, out.