Godson: Successor

## Chapter 1

A dark skinned man is behind a pot of soup mixing it around with a spoon. The man has a blowout haircut. Next to the pot of soup is stacks of paper bowls. Homeless people stand in a long line to get food. Everyone looks miserable. Even the people serving the other food look miserable, but not this man. He stands there with a smile on his face. The first man walks up to him.

Darius: Larry, where have you been?

Larry: Out and Hungry.

Darius: You’ve always got a home here.

Larry: A shitty one.

Darius: It’s better than nothing and you’ve got tons of friends here. Everyone talks to you.

Larry: Everyone talk to you Darius. You’re a shelter superstar.

Darius: Is that a compliment or an insult?

Larry: Insult.

Darius grabs a bowl and pours soup into it. He hands Larry the bowl. Larry walks off. The next person walks up.

Darius: Bob, how are you?!

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Darius takes off his gloves and apron. He hangs them up in the back of the shelter. The shelter door opens and Darius walks through it. As he steps through the main part of the shelter he sees everyone lying around. Then he sees someone he knows talking to Larry.

Darius: Cousin Gunz!

Darius walks up to his cousin. His cousin is talking with some homeless people. His cousin is short with a fade. His fade has a random symbol designed into his hair.

Cousin Guns: D, I was just telling this guy how my nephew just got a sports scholarship.

Darius: Who?

Cousin Guns: Lil’ Kris, he just got scouted during a game.

Darius: When are you gonna stop calling him Lil’ Kris. He taller than you.

Cousin Gunz: When he’s older than me I’ll call him Big Kris.

Larry: You still call him Cousin Gunz.

Darius: That’s because he loves hunting.

Cousin Gunz: No it ain’t. You and the other cousins almost got me beat.

Darius laughs.

Darius: His father was a hunter. This guy picks up his dad’s gun and blasts a hole in the wall. He was freaking out. We started calling him Cousin Gunz and his father almost heard us.

Cousin Gunz: You think you got a story! You thought you were gonna be a big rapper. He got his growth spurt late and he was shorter than everyone. He comes out like “I got a song.” Worst bars you’d ever hear in your life. We called him Lil’ Unit.

Darius: Now you all short. You’re skinny five seven ass looking like a weasel.

Cousin Gunz: Ah, I missed you D. It’s been like a year. The party later is at your house right?

Darius: You don’t know a nan thing. Nobody else holds anything but a cookout.

Cousin Gunz: I’m surprised we ain't having a cookout.

Darius: Don’t be late.

Cousin Gunz: I’m always late.

Darius: So is everyone else. You’ll be right on time.

Darius leaves the shelter.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Darius opens the door to his apartment. He walks inside. A woman is making food in the kitchen. The woman has skin a little lighter than Darius. She has long curly hair pinned up with a clip. Her lower half is covered by the counter. Darius walks up to her and kisses her on the cheek. He rubs her pregnant belly.

Kiyana: You look happy. No one attacked you at the shelter today?

Darius: No, but I did see Cousin Gunz.

Kiyana: Which one is that?

Darius: Short one. He always has a fade with some stupid design.

Kiyana: Oh, he’s spunky.

Darius: Tell me about it. He’s a handful when he’s drunk.

Kiyana: If we take booze away from him he’ll be a whole force. That’s what your parents are for. They’ll smack him if he’s rude.

Darius: You act like you won’t smack him.

Kiyana: You know how fast your mother is. She’ll beat his ass. Did you get the wine?

Darius: Ah, fuck. We’ve been talking about it and I forgot to get it. I’ll be back.

Darius walks out of the house.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Darius strolls down the street. He walks past houses he knows. A ball rolls past Darius and into the street. A kid runs past him and into the street. Darius grabs the kid’s collar and pulls him onto the sidewalk. A car drives by. Darius walks into the street and grabs the ball. He hands it to the kid.

Darius: Look both ways before a car hits you, billy badass.

Kid: My name is jake.

Darius: Doesn’t have the same ring.

The kid runs back inside. Darius finds the store. He grabs some liquor. And walks up to the front desk.

Worker: I never have to be worried about business as long as your family’s around. They always have some get together going on.

Darius: The judge makes time to see us. We should too.

Darius puts a twenty in the tip jar.

Darius: Have a good night man.

Worker: You too.

Darius walks outside of the store. He hears something. Two young men are holding a man in a suit down. Darius puts the few cases of liquor down and steps into the alley.

Darius: Let the man go.

One of the kids pulls out a gun. He points the gun at Darius and Darius puts his hands up.

Darius: You're still young. Don’t pull the trigger. That will ruin your life.

The man in the suit pushes the other kid off of him and knocks the man with the gun forward. He pulls the trigger and the bullet flies at Darius. Darius’ life flashes before his eyes. He watches as the bullet slowly comes closer to him. He feels the tingle of electricity. A ting bolt of electricity comes off of the bullet. A lightning strike comes down from the clear sky. At the bottom of this lightning strike is a silver and white sword. Before the sword touches the ground, the bullet taps into the sword and ricochet’s off of it. The sword hits the ground and Darius feels like time speeds up to normal. The sword almost calls to him. His hand wraps around the sword’s white hilt. A suit comes around his body. The suit is pure white. The skintight suit covers his torso, legs, and feet. Over his hands is a darker white almost gray color. On his chest is a triangle. Inside the triangle is an empty circle. A white cape is attached to his shoulders. From under the cape a hood comes up over Darius’ head. A white eye mask is on Darius’ face. One kid runs away. The kid with the gun falls onto the ground. He drops the gun as he is falling. When he hits the ground he reaches for the gun. Darius puts his foot on the gun and points the sword to the kids throat.

Darius: Take off the mask.

The kid takes off the mask.

Darius: Kristian?

Kris:...

Darius: You just got a scholarship. You’re just going to throw all that away. I’m your cousin and you still pulled the trigger.

Kris: You don’t understand.

Darius: I know your father isn’t great, but this isn’t helping. What happens when you have kids? Do you want to be just as angry with your life as your father is? Go to school. Get good grades and break the cycle. Don’t fuck it up. Get outta here. You have to be at my house soon.

Kris stands up.

Darius: Don’t tell anyone about…

Darius looks at his costume.

Darius: Whatever this is.

Darius puts down the sword. The sword dissolves as well as his suit. Kris nods and runs away.

## Chapter 2

Darius walks inside his house. He puts the liquor on the counter. He hears everyone talking. He sees everyone talking in the living room. Darius’ mother is the loudest one in the room.

Darius: Oh god.

Ma: Soon we’ll have another at the cookout.

Kiyana: I don’t know how soon-

Ma: Please, I brought some of my cooking. It’s so good the baby will want to try it himself.

Kiyana: Him?

Ma: It’s not a boy?

Kiyana: We don’t know yet.

Ma: I know these things. It’s a mother’s instinct. It’s gonna be a boy.

Cousin Gunz: I’m gonna be the greatest uncle to him.

Darius: Yeah, if he’s holding a beer we’ll know you were there.

Cousin Gunz: Gotta try new things.

Darius stands next to his uncle.

Darius: Uncle Tony.

Uncle Tony: Been a while son.

Darius: You never leave the house anymore.

Uncle Tony: Don’t need to. I’ve seen everything out there.

Darius: You won’t see what’s new.

Uncle Tony looks at Darius then looks out the window at the sky.

Uncle Tony: I liked the old how it was. I don’t want to see the new.

Darius: Don’t be like that. You know dad would have wanted you out seeing family.

Uncle Tony: Maybe, but I think he had a different idea in mind for me.

Darius: You would know. You knew him best. You’re acting a little weird. You aight?

Uncle Tony chuckles and walks off.

Kiyana stands up.

Darius: Need help moving the food?

Kiyana waves for him to come over.

Darius walks over to the kitchen. He stops when someone walks through the door. Kris and his father walk in.

Darius: Lamonte, where’s your wife?

Lamonte has the same skin color as Darius. He has dreads that almost reach his shoulders.

Lamonte: Work n’ shit. Kris tried to avoid dinner too, but I told him he’s gonna see family or I’m gonna beat his ass.

Darius: We’re about to bring the food out.

Ten minutes later everyone sits down at the table.

Ma: It’s good that we can all come together like this. After Xavier passed I was in shock. You never think that a car crash would happen to someone you know. I’m glad we can all come together to remember him and everything he’s done for our family.

Uncle Tony: Amen, Tanisha.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Early the next morning, Darius is washing the dishes and cleaning up the trash from last night. He finishes up cleaning and sits on the couch. He presses a button on the remote and the tv turns on the news.

Darius: I swear Tony puts the news on just to fuck with me.

Reporter: Another crime has taken place. An alcohol store lit on fire. The police say that the building had electrical burns. The owner of the shop was caught in the fire. The police have not yet found the criminal that keeps up these terrorist attacks, but they say they will find him soon.

Kiyana walks out of the bedroom wrapped in a blanket. She sits on the couch and lays against Darius.

Kiyana: Why you gotta wake up so damn early. Come back to bed.

Kiyana wraps the blanket around him and they both lay down on the couch.

Darius: I was just cleaning up. I gotta get to the shelter soon.

Kiyana: Really? Can’t those homeless people wait for their food?

Darius: Maybe, but they’ll mutnity if I’m late.

Kiyana: See you later then…

Darius kisses Kiyana and slides off the couch.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Darius is walking through the shelter. He hears Larry and a few others talking about someone.

Homeless Guy: Have you heard about Blue Thunder? They say he’s like ten feet tall, long blond hair, and a hammer. He supposedly flies around the city robbing places of their beer and smites them.

Darius gets closer as he hears the conversation.

Larry: Darius, have you heard of him? I was told he was some cool guy stealing overpriced beer and giving it to people.

Darius: Do you really think that’s true?

Homeless Guy: Duh that’s true. Haven’t you seen the news?

Darius: Guy, you just described Thor. Larry, you were talking about fucking Robin Hood. Obviously someone is starting fires at the stores, but I don’t think it’s Thor and Robin Hood.

Homeless Guy: You just ain’t now nothing. I don’t see you on the street.

Darius: Gossip always gets around. Walls have ears.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kris walks inside a liquor store. One of the workers waves to him to go into the back of the shop. Kris opens the back door and walks through. He sees a man standing in front of him. The man has dreadlocks and dark skin. He had a black shirt with a yellow lightning bolt on it. A yellow and blue coat is over the black shirt. A yellow belt holds up his black pants. Tiny jolts of electricity come off of him every few seconds.

Kris: Blue thunder…

Blue Thunder: Where did the guy get his alcohol from?

Kris: I don’t know. We were cut short. Someone in a white suit stopped us.

Blue Thunder: I need to know where he got that alcohol from. That’s my special brands. I get that shipped here from all around the country, illegally.

Kris: It’s just liquor.

Blue Thunder: No it’s a mix. Liquor isn’t addictive enough. I needed a blend. Leave. I need to think about this new “superhero” that’s apparently walking the streets.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

After Darius’ shift at the shelter he walks back home. Uncle Tony is sitting on his apartment’s rock steps. Tony is smoking a cigarette. He takes the cigarette out of his mouth and fans Darius to walk over to him. Darius walks over and sits down.

Uncle Tony: Remember how all the girls used to sit on steps like this. They would braid each other’s hair and talk.

Darius: Yeah, and the guys would come over and try to hit on the girls. That’s how I met Kiyana. When we were still in school I tried to hit on her friend while she was doing Kiyana’s hair.

Uncle Tony: Life has a funny way of working out doesn’t it. The girl you would end up with was sitting right in front of you and you never knew it.

Darius: I guess that is kinda funny.

Uncle Tony: The same type of practical joke that gave you those powers.

Darius: What?

Uncle Tony: I know you have the powers. The lightning strike, the electrical aura coming off of you. You have the same powers your father had.

Darius: My father had powers?

Uncle Tony: Remember how I said no one else knew your father like I did?

Darius: Yeah.

Uncle Tony: That’s why. Your father was a superhero. He didn’t die from a car accident. He was murdered.

Darius: By who?

Uncle Tony: The same guy that’s burning all the stores to the ground. Blue Thunder.

## Chapter 3

Everyone at the homeless shelter is talking. You can barely hear yourself think in the room. Some people are talking about their lives. Others are telling stories. Stories about many people, but one in particular. The doors burst open. The busy room goes dead silent. Blue thunder walks inside the shelter.

Blue Thunder: Hello everyone. You should all know me. You live on the streets. I burn them down. We have a relationship. Who has heard about this special alcohol that’s going around?

No one raises their hands.

Blue Thunder: I don’t bite. I will, however, burn this place to the ground if I don’t learn anything. I do hate useless people. I’ll ask again. Who has heard about this special alcohol that’s going around?

A few people raise their hands. Larry is one of them.

Blue Thunder: Better.

Blue Thunder walks up to Larry.

Blue Thunder: What kind of information do you have?

Larry: I-I heard that the Alcohol seller was on this side of town. He doesn’t have a warehouse or anything. Everything gets shipped directly into his building. He hides it under regular boxes of alcohol.

Blue Thunder: Good, good. How do you know all of this?

Larry: I knew a guy who bought stuff from them. He said it was addictive and tried to get me to try it.

Blue Thunder: You didn’t… Try some, did you?

Larry: Of course not!

Blue Thunder: You don’t remember the name of this place, do you?

Larry: No.

Blue Thunder: Oh, okay then.

Blue Thunder pushes his hand forward. A strike of lighting fires out of his hand and slices through Larry’s chest.

Blue Thunder: Do any of you have a name?

Nobody raises their hands.

Blue Thunder: Let’s see who moves faster. The homeless or fire.

Blue thunder strikes a wall with lightning. He walks out of the shelter and closes the doors. Everyone looks at the wall. A fire starts spreading along the wall. The doors Blue Thunder closed explodes into flames.

Homeless guy: Fire!

Everyone runs for the back door.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Darius and Uncle Tony are still sitting on the stone steps.

Darius: He killed my father?!

Uncle Tony: Your father left to stop him from burning down a business building. Hundreds were in the building. Everyone was fine, but your father was found dead.

Darius: Then how do I stop this guy from killing everyone?!

Uncle Tony: You know how. That sword that fell out of the sky. You felt its power, didn't you? Your father used to say that just calling on the sword gave him power.

Darius: Everything slowed down when I picked the sword up, but after that… I don’t remember feeling anything.

Uncle Tony: Let’s find somewhere for you to call down the sword then. It’ll jog your memory.

Uncle Tony stands up and walks away. Darius follows him off.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

A man is driving a truck to a warehouse. In his hand is a sub. As he drives with one hand he uses the other to hold the sub. The truck stops at an open garage door. He parks the back of the truck in front of the door. A man knocks on his window with a name tag saying “Carson.” He rolls down the window.

Carson: Is that a sub? Put that down and do your job! Are you bringing in the liquor?

Truck Driver: Yup, here's the papers.

The truck driver hands Carson a clipboard with papers on it.

Carson: You're good to go. Start unloading.

Carson walks back into the warehouse. He steps into his office. Blue thunder is sitting in his chair. Carson jumps when he sees him.

Carson: Jeezus christ. Aren’t you supposed to call before you check on your shipments?

Blue Thunder: And I didn’t call. So what? I’m not here to check on the shipment anyway. I’m here to tell you that you will be getting a big shipment soon. A group of trucks.

Carson: You can’t do that. The trucks won’t be able to pass through illegal shit in a group. I’m not doing it. I’m not getting caught for a little extra money.

Blue Thunder: What if I told you that I could get everyone in the city to leave, just for a little bit.

Carson: It might work. How would you do that anyway?

Blue Thunder: Your just a warehouse manager. You don’t need to know that. Like you said, you don’t want to get caught. What would be even worse is if you got caught and started talking to the cops. That would just be terrible.

Blue Thunder taps Carson on the shoulder. Carson feels a small jolt of electricity.

Blue Thunder: Terrible for everyone. Be ready for the trucks.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Darius and Uncle Tony walk out into an old parking lot. Bird fly in the sky.

Uncle Tony: Call the sword down.

Darius: Uh, how?

Uncle Tony: You don’t know?

Darius: Look at you. You don’t either.

Uncle Tony: I’ve never had to. You should know how to call down the sword.

Uncle Tony stis down.

Uncle Tony: Well, figure it out. I can’t help you with this.

Darius looks up to the sky and thinks to himself.

Darius: ‘Come on, come on, give me the sword. I need my sword.’

Darius looks at the birds in the sky. The birds are barely moving forward.

Darius: ‘Everything slowed down.’

Lightning hits the ground in front of Darius. Darius looks at the sword in the center of the lightning. He grabs the sword. The white suit appears on his body as he holds the sword.

Uncle Tony: That's the first step. It’s easy. How do you feel?

Darius: Normal I guess.

Uncle Tony: Really?

Uncle Tony looks at an old car in the parking lot.

Uncle Tony: Try to lift that car up.

Darius: I can’t lift up a car.

Uncle Tony: And magical swords don’t come from the sky. Lift the car.

Darius walks over to the car annoyed. He puts his hands under the car and lifts it. The car feels as light as a feather. He lifts the car up. He switches to holding it with one hand. Darius looks at Uncle Tony.

Darius: What the?

Uncle Tony: Catch.

Uncle Tony throws a rock at Darius. Darius watches as the rock slowly moves through the air. Darius grabs the rock as it floats through the air.

Uncle Tony: You feel normal?

Darius: Yeah. I don’t feel any different. I don’t know how I can do all of this stuff.

Uncle Tony: Hm. Try to fly.

Darius: Fly?

Uncle Tony: That is the next step.

Darius: How?

Uncle Tony: Your father always said that it felt like his lungs were full of air whenever he was flying.

Darius focuses for a minute. He jumps and nothing happens.

Uncle Tony: Let’s just try this tomorrow. You learned a lot. Flying can be something for later.

Darius: No. You know all the people I could help with my powers? I need to learn how to do this.

Uncle Tony: Then let's try again.

## Chapter 4

Kris walks into his family’s apartment. His mother is sitting in the kitchen talking on the phone. He walks past his mother and she puts her phone down for a second.

Kris’ mother: Get a snack or something before we leave.

Kris: I’m not five anymore. You don’t need to tell me when to get a snack.

She picks the phone back up and puts it to her ear.

Kris’ Mother: Sorry about that. You said you needed the papers.

Kris’ mother walks into her bedroom. She looks around for a file. Dressers are opened, she moves stuff to look under it. Then she finds a file under Lamonte’s clothes. She opens the file and looks at drug transfer papers.

Kris’ mother: This isn’t the file-

Lamonte: What are you looking at?

Kris’ mother: Lamonte, what is this?

Lamonte throws a punch. She falls to the ground unconscious.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Uncle Tony watches as Darius slowly rises from the ground. Darius moves around in the air. He moves forward and backwards. He rises a bit and lowers a bit.

Uncle Tony: Now you have the most basic understanding of your powers.

Darius drops to the ground.

Uncle Tony: But you have to remember something. You can never fight while angry. Even if Blue Thunder killed your father you can not let revenge drive you. You’ll end up hurting more people than you help if you fight angry.

Uncle Tony sighs.

Uncle Tony: I wanted to apologize, Darius. I’m your godfather and I wasn’t there for you when your father died. I should have come around more.

Darius: It’s fine. You're here now right. I’ve got new powers and you're here to help me.

Uncle Tony: I’ll try my best to help you anyway I can. I don’t know as much as your father did. I helped him out but he never fully explained to me how he did anything that he did.

Darius: How many powers did my father have?

Uncle Tony: He always surprised me with what he could do. He used to be able to send slashes through the air just by swinging his sword.

Darius: We’ll figure it out together.

Uncle Tony laughs.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Darius opens the door to his apartment. He walks in and Kiyana is eating dinner while watching TV. Darius looks at the pasta that she made. He walks over and grabs a bowl. Then he sits on the couch next to Kiyana.

Kiyana: Where have you been?

Darius: Spending time with Uncle Tony.

Kiyana: I feel bad. He must be really broken up about your father’s death?

Darius: Yeah… My father was his best friend.

Kiyana scrolls through the TV channels.

Kiyana: When I woke up after you left I saw that the news was still on. The reporter was talking about robberies and even a burning building. This city has really gotten more dangerous.

Darius leans back.

Darius: Ah, there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll protect you.

Kiyana: Even against the guy burning buildings down?

Kiyana moves back into Darius’ arm.

Darius: He’s nothing.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

A man sits at a news building desk. He stands there saying good morning and being polite to people. Everyone walks past him without a second thought. Then the double doors are pushed wide open. Blue Thunder walks inside the building. He fires a bolt of lightning that hits the man behind the desk.

Blue Thunder: I should have asked him where the elevator was. Eh, I’ll find it.

Blue Thunder walks down a hallway. He sees elevator doors closing. He runs up and sticks his hand through the door. A business man in a suit is standing in the elevator.

Blue Thunder: Let’s not waste this elevator, there is so much more room.

Blue Thunder walks inside and the doors shut. He can hear the business man shake out of fear as he stands beside him.

Blue Thunder: What do you think is going to happen? You're shaking more than a dog at the vet. What do you think I’m going to do? Rob you.

Blue Thunder fixes the man’s wrinkly suit.

Blue Thunder: Get those racist thoughts out of your head.

The door opens. Blue Thunder’s hand lights up with lightning and he palms the business man in the stomach.

Blue Thunder: I’d kill you, not rob you.

The elevator doors shut as the man watches Blue Thunder walk away. Blue Thunder walks past many doors. He reads all the names on the doors until he finds the one he’s looking for. Then he kicks open the door. He sees reporters talking. They go dead silent as he walks in.

Blue Thunder: Do I have the story for you.

Blue Thunder shews away the reporters. They don’t move, terrified.

Blue Thunder: Move out of my way.

The reporters run off and he sits in their seat.

Blue Thunder: This is an anonymous tip from me. I want everyone to evacuate the city before morning. If you don’t, well, I’ll blow it up. I’ve planted bombs under the city.

Blue Thunder takes out a little device. He flips up the top to show a button.

Blue Thunder: Breaking news. Everybody needs to leave the east side of town. Now.

## Chapter 5

Jake is sleeping in his bed in the middle of the night. His door busts open and his mother comes rushing in with a bag. She turns on the lights and starts putting clothes in the bag. Jake rubs his eyes as they get adjusted to the light.

Jake: Mom, what are you doing?

Jake’s Mother: We have to leave the city honey. Your father is getting the car started. It’s like a little field trip. We might even be able to pick up some food you’ve never tried before.

Jake: We’re leaving Ironwood City.

Jake’s Mother: No, we are just going to the other side of the city. C’mon, get out of bed. You don’t need to change clothes. Your pajamas are fine.

Jake’s mother puts on the backpack and lifts him up. She carries him out of the house. As they walk to the car, Jake sees everyone frantically leaving their houses. People are falling over themselves to get into their cars and leave. Jake is put into the car. His mother buckles him in. She gets into the passenger seat and his father drives. They drive for a little bit and Jake starts to fall back to sleep. Then as they go past a turn, a car comes flying out.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kiyana wakes up holding her stomach. She moves around and the pain goes away. She stands up and goes to the bathroom. She walks over to the bathroom nauseous. She stands above the sink. An alert goes off on her phone. She picks up her phone and it says “Bomb Warning, Evacuate the City.” She walks back into the bed and shakes Darius.

Darius: Huh, what? What’s wrong?

Kiyana: I just got an alert on my phone. It said we need to evacuate the city because of bombs.

Darius: What?

Darius sits up. Kiyana gets out of bed and turns on the light. Darius checks his phone and sees the alert.

Darius: Call the family. I’ll get bags and put some stuff together.

Darius sees Kiyana on the phone. He starts packing stuff in the two backpacks. He packs an extra set of clothes, snacks, and anything else he thinks they might need. Kiyana hangs up the phone and walks over to him.

Kiyana: They said everyone was getting into cars right now.

Darius: I packed everything. Let’s meet everyone outside.

Darius and Kiyana run outside. In the driveway of a different apartment building he sees his family getting in a car. He runs over and Kiyana follows him.

Darius: Do you have room for one more?

Uncle Tony, Kris, Ma, and Cousin Gunz are in the car.

Uncle Tony: Yeah, only one.

Darius: Kiyana, get in.

Kiyana: What about you. Just squish in or something.

Darius: I need to stay and help people out.

He kisses her on the cheek.

Darius: I’ll be fine. Just go.

Kiyana gets in the car and Uncle Tony drives away. Darius waves as the car drives off. Once the car is out of sight he looks to the sky. The lightning strikes down. He picks up his sword and the costume appears on him.

Darius: No time to get better at my powers. I need to fly fast.

Darius rises up and flies forward. He tries to go faster, but he can’t.

Darius: It’s faster than walking at least.

Darius sees two cars about to collide. Jake is in the back seat. Something comes over him and the cars slow down. He flies between them and holds out his arms. The car about to crash into Jake’s car stops. Jake wakes up and looks at Darius.

Jake: Woah. Is he a superhero?

Darius flies into the sky. The cars start moving again like they are supposed to.

Darius: I need to help others.

Darius flies off.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hours later Darius watches as all the cars on the highway are backed up in traffic. Only a few cars are still moving in the city. He looks around and sees a group of trucks driving around.

Darius: What? That doesn’t make any sense. Truck’s have radios. They would know about the bomb warning. Why is there a group of them?

Darius sees they are driving over to a warehouse. He flies above the warehouse and looks down as the trucks park. He watches as the workers unload the boxes of liquor out of the trucks.

Darius: What the hell?

Darius hears a noise. A shoulder slams into his back. He gets pushed forward and starts falling through the air. He catches himself and turns around. Blue Thunder stands in front of him. Darius looks at Blue Thunder’s dreads.

Darius: Lamonte?!

Lamonte: Darius? You're the superhero?

Lamonte laughs.

Lamonte: Of course you are. The goody two-shoes. You work a job at a homeless shelter, help anyone you see, and are constantly irritating me.

Darius: What are you doing? Blowing up the city?

Lamonte: What? No I’m not. Why would I do that? That’s bad for business.

Darius: That’s what you said.

Lamonte: An empty threat. I don’t have any bombs under the city. People just listen to me because they believe I would. I’m just using this to get everyone out of the city. I’m going to destroy every building that rivals my business and have plenty of drugs transferred to me. It’s just a smart plan.

Darius: You're not going to sell that.

Lamonte: Yes I am. That’s why I bought it. For selling. If your going to stop me, try?

Darius flies over to Lamonte. Lamonte punches Darius in his chest, lightning coming off his fist. Darius is shocked by the lightning. He punches Lamonte in his jaw. Lamonte moves to the side holding his jaw.

Lamonte: Your punches might hurt, but what are your other powers?

Lamonte puts his hands together. A blast of lightning fires from his hands. The lightning slams into Darius’ stomach pushing him back. Darius smashes through a building's window. Lamonte looks at the window waiting for Dairus to fly out.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kiyana is sitting in her car. Everyone in the car is silent as they listen to the radio. Kiyana turns on her phone. She sees live news. She clicks on it. A chopper is recording everything Darius and Lamonte do.

Kiyana: What is this?

Kiyana watches Lamonte and Darius fight. Darius flies up from the top of the building.

Kiyana: Come on. Beat the guy up.

## Chapter 6

Darius is on the top of the building. He holds his sword with both hands.

Darius: Please work.

Darius swings his blade. A shockwave of white energy fires out of the blade’s swing. Lamonte is surprised. The energy blast slams into him.

Lamonte: Ugh!

Darius swings his blade more. Lamonte dodges left, right, up, and down to avoid the blasts of energy. Lamonte fires his lightning. Darius flies to the right. Lamonte follows him with a blast of lightning. Darius flies through the building, hiding in it.

Lamonte: Buildings mean nothing to me!

Lamonte moves his beam of lightning through the building. The building is cut in half by the lighting. The top half starts falling towards Lamonte. Darius sees the building falling and flies over to it. The building falls and Darius catches it.

Darius: Ugh!

Darius slowly lifts the building back in place.

Lamonte: You should have just let it hit me!

Lamonte fires lightning at Darius. Darius doesn’t move. The lightning continues burning him, but he slowly pushes the building back.

Lamonte: What?

Lamonte puts all his power into the blast. Darius starts to struggle, then he falls down. The building follows him down. The building hits Lamonte on the way down. Both Darius and Lamonte slam into the ground as the building falls on top of them.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kiyana: C’mon. What happened?

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

Darius flies up from the building carrying Lamonte. He puts Lamonte down on the ground.

Darius: You’ll be okay. Just a few bruises.

The helicopter is still circling around them. Darius flies up past the helicopter and disappears into the clouds.

 - - - - - - - - - - - -

A month later, everyone is back in the city. Darius is sitting in a hospital chair next to the bed. Kiyana is laying in the hospital bed holding a baby. She looks into the baby's eyes as the baby opens them.

Kiyana: He’s beautiful.

Darius: He really is.

Kiyana hands Darius the child.

Kiyana: I’m so tired.

Darius: You had a long night. What are we going to name him?

Kiyana: I liked Andre.

Darius: It’s perfect.