14 Years Ago
Levi didn't get the big fuss people were making over the battle. Things like it happened all the time, well maybe it wasn't usually as big as this time, but it didn't matter. It really didn't matter much; everything was still the same as before.
He laughed to himself as he glided through thin alleys between crumbling skyscrapers. People were so dramatic, especially that kid in the crater. What had been his problem? So, what if there was a big fight? He didn't have to act like the world was ending, because it wasn't. It really wasn't.
Through the thin tops of alleys twilight sun painted unpainted walls. It was getting late; the gang would be gathering soon. He'd be in trouble if he was late. He'd missed the last two gatherings, if he missed a third, they might even pawn him off to a rival group. That also made him laugh, it was all funny. People took things too seriously, his father more than anyone else. Levi should respect the man more…
Hell no.
He spat. The wad of spit drifted in the sunlight before splattering on the concrete earth.
It really was getting late.
Tilting to the right on his wings he quickly banked into a branching alley. Then to his left, moving faster than any regular person could imagine. The city was his backyard, every alley, every street, every little hidden path was his course to race. The gathering would start in less than ten minutes, and he was half a city away. That didn't concern him, when he actually tried, he could cross from the east to west side of the island in under fifteen minutes.
Wind caught quickly in the gaps between the metal concaves of his wings as he pulled back to a stop. Feet collided with the earth and wings folded behind his back. The entrance to the gang's den was easy enough to find, just a door in the back of a fake restaurant. Despite how easy it would be to find; no hero had ever come close to finding it. Even though that was good for the gang, it irritated Levi. He wasn't sure why.
The den was a large room with four sizable couches arranged in a square at the center. There was a bar on the far wall. Most of the gang was already there, laughing and yelling. Alcohol was being freely drunk and passed through the room. You could smell it in the air, as you struggled to hear anything over the booming music. Levi surveyed the room quickly and noticed that a few members were missing, pieces of the puzzle that had been there just a day before.
Some of the best fighters lounged on the couch bullying the weaker members into bringing them drinks or food. In the corner the one person with a healing power was helping those who'd been injured in the fray. Stories of triumphs and victories were being shouted. Posturing was important. The battle was enough of an event to give people the prestige to boost their place in the gang. Not that it was likely. People were stuck where they landed, rarely moving out of their place. That's how it was, and how it was meant to be. Levi wouldn't get stuck like everyone else.
He stuck his thumbs into his pockets and slumped as he entered the room, trying to look tough. "Hey Liam. Where's my dad?"
The older teen turned and laughed. "What was that?" He held a beer can in his hand, probably drunk already.
"Never mind, forget it."
"I think he was up in his private room." Liam said, there was a poisonous quality to his voice. Levi didn't trust him, but he was the only one close to his rank in the room.
"Thanks." He spat the phrase. He couldn't directly talk back to anyone as the lowest rank in the gang. Still, he had some respect from the group for his speed and his power… no, not really.
The real reason people didn't mess with him was his dad. The strongest member of the gang, and according to some the strongest powerless man in the world. Levi didn't doubt it.
He'd once watched the man beat a renowned hero to death with his bare hands. He didn't dare to show him any disrespect, at least not to his face. People in the lounge were getting rowdier and despite his urge to join them Levi forced himself to meet with his father.
The private office was located two stories above the lounge and was closed to everyone but the highest-ranking members of the gang, and Levi. That was one of few privileges he earned by being his father's son, the other was the respect. And those two hardly compensated for having a dirtbag like his father.
He didn't know his mother, and he doubted he ever would. His father blamed her for leaving, Levi was sure it wasn't her fault. He laughed, how stupid. It didn't matter what had happened to her, she was gone now and that's all that mattered.
The door to the office was open, Levi still knocked.
"What the hell do you want!" It was his father's voice. He rarely lost his composure.
"It's Levi."
"Go grab me a drink from the bar." He was trying to control the tone of his shaking voice.
Levi left to grab the drink. Half a minute later he was back.
"Give me that."
He handed the drink to his father, his own hands suddenly shaking. The normally pristine office was in disarray, blood stained the leather couch his father laid on, and the desk was overturned. Levi didn't want it to be true, but his father was clearly dying. A deep puncture had gone directly though his chest and out the other side. He kept coughing, blood spraying out of his mouth in violent bursts. There was nothing Levi could do to help. His father took a sip of his drink.
"The family needs to keep together…" He said. "What am I saying, you don't control that - Levi get over here."
He reluctantly moved closer.
"You're weak, and you know it. Right?"
Levi nodded; his hands were tightly clenched together behind his back. He didn't know how he felt about this man.
"It's just because you're young. You're going to be stronger than me when you grow up. Hear me? Ok. Gray is taking my place, but I have an even more important job for you: I need you to kill the bastards who attacked us."
He grabbed one of Levi's hands from behind his back and shoved a piece of paper into it.
"Memorize it… Get strong… and stop being such a damn burden to everyone." His father turned his face away. "You've always been a curse… That's why your mother left…" His breaths were slowing, but he didn't shut his eyes. One breath, two breaths… no more.
He was gone, his eyes stubbornly held open.
Levi didn't feel anything. Just numbness.
He walked back downstairs and found the meeting was beginning. He took his place quietly. As the time dragged on piece after piece of his wall broke. He couldn't keep up his mask of apathy. Tears came to his eyes.
Damn it.
He cursed his sorrow. He wanted to hate his father, but he couldn't. He couldn't hate the man. And he couldn't deny the words he'd heard. He was a curse to his family, to the world. He wouldn't be any longer, he would grow strong. Stronger than everyone else, and he would avenge his father. He would prove he wasn't a curse to anyone.