I set up the rifle on the ledge of the roof, seven stories above the street below. Next to me, Officer Lee set up with his binoculars. Up there, everything seemed normal: the air was still as a flock of birds flew by, people in floors above went about their business. Down below though, that was a different matter entirely.
"So what's the word, boss? Looks like terrorists, though I thought they said this was a bank robbery or something. Not much of a robbery if the guy doesn't take any money," said Lee as he looked through the binoculars at the street below, sweeping the street with his eyes to get a sense of what was going on down there.
I flipped open the caps on the rifle's scope and took in the street seven floors above it all. Cars parked along the sidewalk, at least 7 with some damage. An abandoned bicycle lying in the road, groceries scattered next to it. A city bus flipped on its side. I counted 17 people lying in the street, 3 possibly dead, the rest were at least still moving to some degree, though for how long I couldn't tell from my vantage point. And there was the one man standing in the middle of the street, blue magic leaking out of him like a cloud of blue dust in all directions, an aura of magic surrounding him. Most of it was just harmless light, passing and phasing through the rest of the world. The other ones, the rogue ones, those were the ones that did interact: swirling in tendrils around him like eels caught in an invisible current around him as it pushed objects out of its path, or sometimes just tore through them. "Might've started as a robbery, but it's something much worse now."
"Gotta be at least a Tier 3 magic user, with his power being visible and all," said Lee. He put down his binoculars and turned to me. "You ever see magic act like that? Streaking around as if it might be alive or something?"
"A couple of times. Unstable magic. We might have a potential Hobbs Incident down there," I replied. I turned my scope to the circle of officers enclosing on the man. Officer Grant stepped forward from the group, gun drawn. "Dumbass, put that thing away," I said to myself as I turned the scope to the man in the middle of the street. I watched him flinch, then whip his hand wildly through the air, as if trying to swat away a swarm of bees. Taking my eye out from behind the scope, I watched as blue magic lashed out like a whip, striking Grant and sending him flying through the air, landing hard on the pavement. A second later, a barrage of gunfire erupted from the street below as the officers fired on the male. The magic came to life and swirled faster than I could track, knocking aside every bullet and leaving the man unharmed.
"Dammit," I said as I fumbled for my walkie. "Everyone hold your fire! Hold your fire dammit!" When the bullets stopped, I handed the rifle over to Lee. "I'm going down there. Keep your eyes on me," I emphasized, staring him in the eyes as I handed over the rifle. He nodded as he took it. I headed toward the staircase and began my descent. In the building lobby, I paused for a second and looked at the device on my wrist. "Definitely a Tier 3, at least," I said to myself based on the readings the device was picking up. I pulled my old revolver from its holster behind my back, a relic from generations before, and gave the wheel a spin before tucking it back. Then I stepped through the doorway and into chaos.
I could feel the magical forces as soon as I stepped outside the building - it pushed at irregular intervals, sometimes as light as a breeze, sometimes as strong as a shove - the magic was a blue eddy swirling all around him. Immediately, I raised my hands above my head. "Sir, I'm a police officer. I'm coming over to talk. I can help you," I said, taking a tentative step forward. The man in the street turned his gaze upon me. Tears ran down his face as he gazed at me for a second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Finally, he nodded and I started forward to the middle of the street.
Even though he agreed to the meeting, it still didn't stop the constant swirling of magic around him, magic moving out of control, strong and oppressive it filled the air. At times, the force grew so strong that I needed to use my own power to press against it, repelling it as softly as possible as not to trigger another attack, like a bug trying to walk across a spider's web. I put a hand on the gun behind my back and my own magic, its signature red color slowly manifested around me, helping me to navigate my way to the man in the street, a barrier between his power and me. For the most part I kept it as a thin film, just strong enough to push my way slowly through the radiating magic. At times I did need to strengthen it, especially against the tendrils, pure magic pressed together and let loose. The trick was to not let out too much power to trigger his defenses.
He was just a kid, maybe a couple years out of high school, early twenties at the most. But no where near old enough to be letting loose with this kind of power. His clothes were frayed at the edges, holes in his jeans and jacket, hair disheveled and caked with dirt. Actually, it didn't look like there was an inch of him that wasn't covered in dirt. And, he was crying, tears running down his face, cutting streaks in the the dirt on his face. "I don't understand," he said when I'd gotten within arm's length, "I don't know why this is happening. I finally found my wand, I found it. Why won't it obey me?" He raised his right hand toward the sky and stared at it with reverence, as if it were the most sacred artifact ever discovered.
I stared at his hand, at the pen: a simple, black ballpoint with part of a silver chain still attached. The item stolen from the bank. Magic continued to swirl uncontrollably around us, lashing out at odd intervals, physically striking out at buildings, smashing windows, one tendril of power whipped at a fire hydrant and sent it flying into a brick wall and water spraying into the air. Out of control, unstable.
part 2... I don't know, probably tomorrow, I'm almost done with the edit and it was getting long
"So what's the word, boss? Looks like terrorists, though I thought they said this was a bank robbery or something. Not much of a robbery if the guy doesn't take any money," said Lee as he looked through the binoculars at the street below, sweeping the street with his eyes to get a sense of what was going on down there.
I flipped open the caps on the rifle's scope and took in the street seven floors above it all. Cars parked along the sidewalk, at least 7 with some damage. An abandoned bicycle lying in the road, groceries scattered next to it. A city bus flipped on its side. I counted 17 people lying in the street, 3 possibly dead, the rest were at least still moving to some degree, though for how long I couldn't tell from my vantage point. And there was the one man standing in the middle of the street, blue magic leaking out of him like a cloud of blue dust in all directions, an aura of magic surrounding him. Most of it was just harmless light, passing and phasing through the rest of the world. The other ones, the rogue ones, those were the ones that did interact: swirling in tendrils around him like eels caught in an invisible current around him as it pushed objects out of its path, or sometimes just tore through them. "Might've started as a robbery, but it's something much worse now."
"Gotta be at least a Tier 3 magic user, with his power being visible and all," said Lee. He put down his binoculars and turned to me. "You ever see magic act like that? Streaking around as if it might be alive or something?"
"A couple of times. Unstable magic. We might have a potential Hobbs Incident down there," I replied. I turned my scope to the circle of officers enclosing on the man. Officer Grant stepped forward from the group, gun drawn. "Dumbass, put that thing away," I said to myself as I turned the scope to the man in the middle of the street. I watched him flinch, then whip his hand wildly through the air, as if trying to swat away a swarm of bees. Taking my eye out from behind the scope, I watched as blue magic lashed out like a whip, striking Grant and sending him flying through the air, landing hard on the pavement. A second later, a barrage of gunfire erupted from the street below as the officers fired on the male. The magic came to life and swirled faster than I could track, knocking aside every bullet and leaving the man unharmed.
"Dammit," I said as I fumbled for my walkie. "Everyone hold your fire! Hold your fire dammit!" When the bullets stopped, I handed the rifle over to Lee. "I'm going down there. Keep your eyes on me," I emphasized, staring him in the eyes as I handed over the rifle. He nodded as he took it. I headed toward the staircase and began my descent. In the building lobby, I paused for a second and looked at the device on my wrist. "Definitely a Tier 3, at least," I said to myself based on the readings the device was picking up. I pulled my old revolver from its holster behind my back, a relic from generations before, and gave the wheel a spin before tucking it back. Then I stepped through the doorway and into chaos.
I could feel the magical forces as soon as I stepped outside the building - it pushed at irregular intervals, sometimes as light as a breeze, sometimes as strong as a shove - the magic was a blue eddy swirling all around him. Immediately, I raised my hands above my head. "Sir, I'm a police officer. I'm coming over to talk. I can help you," I said, taking a tentative step forward. The man in the street turned his gaze upon me. Tears ran down his face as he gazed at me for a second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Finally, he nodded and I started forward to the middle of the street.
Even though he agreed to the meeting, it still didn't stop the constant swirling of magic around him, magic moving out of control, strong and oppressive it filled the air. At times, the force grew so strong that I needed to use my own power to press against it, repelling it as softly as possible as not to trigger another attack, like a bug trying to walk across a spider's web. I put a hand on the gun behind my back and my own magic, its signature red color slowly manifested around me, helping me to navigate my way to the man in the street, a barrier between his power and me. For the most part I kept it as a thin film, just strong enough to push my way slowly through the radiating magic. At times I did need to strengthen it, especially against the tendrils, pure magic pressed together and let loose. The trick was to not let out too much power to trigger his defenses.
He was just a kid, maybe a couple years out of high school, early twenties at the most. But no where near old enough to be letting loose with this kind of power. His clothes were frayed at the edges, holes in his jeans and jacket, hair disheveled and caked with dirt. Actually, it didn't look like there was an inch of him that wasn't covered in dirt. And, he was crying, tears running down his face, cutting streaks in the the dirt on his face. "I don't understand," he said when I'd gotten within arm's length, "I don't know why this is happening. I finally found my wand, I found it. Why won't it obey me?" He raised his right hand toward the sky and stared at it with reverence, as if it were the most sacred artifact ever discovered.
I stared at his hand, at the pen: a simple, black ballpoint with part of a silver chain still attached. The item stolen from the bank. Magic continued to swirl uncontrollably around us, lashing out at odd intervals, physically striking out at buildings, smashing windows, one tendril of power whipped at a fire hydrant and sent it flying into a brick wall and water spraying into the air. Out of control, unstable.
part 2... I don't know, probably tomorrow, I'm almost done with the edit and it was getting long
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