The crowd swirled like the ocean. Those in the center of the street crashed forward before reaching an apex and flowing back in. While those near the edge formed little eddies fighting against the flow as people joined and left the main throng of humanity. Through it all Liam waded past the mass of people around him.

He could feel it in the air. The nervous energy swirling around. Liam had never played football in school, but he’d been to a number of games. He’d felt this same energy coursing through the players on the sidelines as they stared each other down before the game. Seen the posturing of the captains during the coin toss. And the ultimate release of that tension during kickoff.

What he saw in front of him right now was the same thing, but on overdrive. The police and the protesters stood opposite each other. The empty street like the field before the game. A no-man’s-land waiting for the action that was to come.

The posturing he’d seen from the captains before the game was replaced by other things. For the police, it was the precise way they moved, each members’ actions were mirrored by those around them. Their matching black armor and shields signaling they were here for business.

For the protesters, it was the people gathered at the front of the swarm. With loud speakers in hand they urged the crowd forward. Leading the people in chants and focusing their anger at those in front of them. According to those people, the police were here to defend Gladius and her crimes, not to keep the peace and protect property. Liam knew better, but wasn’t about to correct them. He might use that misunderstanding later so why would he ruin it?

Through it all Liam walked on. With the energy around him it wouldn’t take much to start this ‘game’. Only a small spark in the right place. Which left the question of where that place was and how he’d do it. An important but not impossible question to answer.

Liam continued to squirm his way through the press of bodies. Most of the night he’d tried to move with the crowd. Allowing it to carry him along as he looked for the ideal place. Occasionally he’d have to circle around people, like the group of young kids in front of him right now. High schoolers, Liam thought as he saw the orange Valley High School logo on their shirts. Not that that was the reason he gave them a wide berth. The real reason was the kid who had his phone out. Talking into it as he panned around the scene. Live streaming the protest for all to see, Liam noted.

He checked his bandana and hoodie were still covering his face. Even with them on he kept his head down lest they spot him. The last thing he needed was someone to recognize him. Sure it wasn’t likely with his face obscured but he’d learned to never rely on luck.

The other thing Liam avoided in his walk through the crowd were the TV crews. While at the same time locating a cluster of them. It was an interesting situation to be in, but one he realized was necessary. He’d need this ploy to get as much attention as it could if it had any chance of spreading throughout the other protesters in the city. To that end he’d found a section of the street with a clear view from three different camera crews. While being far enough from them they wouldn’t be able to tell exactly what happened.

Liam stepped to the side of the street, content with his decision. He had to push his way past a few people to make it to a small bastion of calm. A little alcove in a brick wall providing the only reprieve from the press of bodies since Liam arrived. The spot was already partially occupied. A young man wearing a gas mask and what looked like snorkeling goggles stood to one side. The look would’ve been funny if not for where he was. On the streets tonight, it gave the man the look of someone prepared for the worst.

With a quick nod Liam plopped his back against the wall opposite the man. Taking in a deep breath now that he was free of the press of bodies. The people in the street continued to swirl about without him. They were here for a reason. Like the guy next to him they were waiting for the truce to break. Liam could feel that same pressure sitting just out of sight.

“This is crazy,” a muffled voice came from the man in the snorkeling goggles.

Liam turned to the man. Wondering what he was getting at. Of everyone he’d seen this was the only person who’d tried to talk to him.

“Yeah,” Liam said, unsure how to respond.

The man’s eyes seemed to light up, crinkling at the corners. He turned fully to Liam now that he’d gotten a response.

“This is history in the making! After tonight we’ll be famous,” the man said.

Liam realized too late he shouldn’t have said anything. Being able to avoid this conversation would’ve made things so much easier, since the man was crazy, but now he was stuck with it.

“Why is that?” Liam asked. Pulling his bandana up again for the hundredth time tonight.

“This is our chance to take them down!” the man said. The light in his eyes was in full bloom, “The Hero system is corrupt to the core. It needs to be removed.”

“You have no idea how right you are.”

The man clapped Liam on the shoulder. Liam clenched at the contact. Trying to determine if he could incapacitate the man without drawing the crowd’s attention. It was an unnecessary thought though as the other man didn’t seem to notice anything and removed his hand a second later.

“Tonight is the first of many. We might only bloody their noses, but tomorrow will bring a new day,” the man said. Raising his fist into the air and rushing into the crowd.

What a weird person Liam thought, but it was the type he’d need later. Reaching into his pocket, Liam’s thumb ran over the cylinder inside. He didn’t have much time before he had to start everything. The longer he waited the more people would head home because of the late hour.

In his thirty minutes of walking through the crowd this was the best place he’d found. It wasn’t perfect, far from it in fact. But he was on the clock. That left one question, should he continue to look for a better location or settle for here? After a moment of indecision Liam’s mind was made up.

Popping the pin on the cylinder, while it was still in his pocket Liam’s eyes flashed. Looking into the crowd one last time a statue on the far street corner caught his eye. A bronze figure of the Hero Touch stood there. His eyes peering into the sky above as if he could see some universal truth that others would never find.

He was one of the first and greatest Heroes. And today he’d see the current generation fall where he’d stood firm. Liam’s mind asked what the man would think of all of this. But he knew it didn’t matter. In the modern world you couldn’t stand on the side of right, as it didn’t exist.

Before his brain could drag him into some philosophical debate, he pulled the cylinder from his coat. Once he made sure no one was looking, Liam rolled the cylinder into the crowd. He moved away from where it’d gone as a cloud of white smoke rose into the air.

Screams followed in his wake. People breathing in or allowing the white smoke to get in their eyes found themselves in horrendous pain. The teargas bringing everyone without proper protection to their knees or stumbling away.

The people outside of the smoke turned to the cries. Liam followed suit and saw what his handiwork had brought. Smoke coated a section of the crowd like a dense fog. From that cloud of white people rushed out, creating the only empty space in the sea of people.

While the people around him were trying to figure out what the smoke meant Liam sprang on the opportunity. Calling out, “The police attacked us!”

The crowd looked over at him. Realization washing over their faces. As if they were one the cry went up. The police had attacked the crowd. One of the people on the blow horns caught wind of the cry and echoed it over the loudspeaker. Like a wind rushing over the prairie the call spread through the crowd.

This was it, the crowd was focused and angry. Liam grabbed a bottle from a nearby trash can. The smooth glass neck was cool to the touch. With people’s eyes still on him, Liam threw the bottle.

It rose into the air. Flying on a path no one could stop. This deep into the crowd there was no way to aim at the officers themselves. Thus Liam aimed at the next best target. The bottle smashed into the window of a store front, sending shards of broken glass raining onto the ground.

The shattering of glass was the catalyst for the rest of the crowd. Liam’s bottle was the first to be thrown, but it wasn’t the last. Moments after he threw it there were dozens of projectiles hurtling outward. They smashed into cars, buildings, and the street itself. Giving off a percussion of sound.

As if the door to a cage had been lifted, the crowd erupted. Hundreds of voices raised. Their cry that of an angry beast. Born from their outrage at the powers that be.

The first fire started right after that. Liam wasn’t sure who ignited it. All he knew was there were a dozen following in its place. Bringing enough light into the street to resemble the glow of day. Engulfed cars lining the curb as the crowd evolved into a mob, circling around them like a bonfire on a camping trip.

Whatever the fire touched went up in an inferno. Black smoke billowing into the night. Filling the lungs of anyone unfortunate enough to be close to them. Liam assumed there were fire alarms roaring throughout the street but couldn’t hear them through the chaos happening around him.

Everything after that was chaos. Many in the crowd ran, spreading the mayhem throughout the streets, but the core stayed. Burning cars, looting, and just destroying everything they came across.

The police, in their black uniforms with transparent shields and menacing face masks chose that moment to move. Wanting to stamp out the riot before it was too late. They advanced on the crowd in rigid formation. The commander, in the back, giving the crowd orders over his bullhorn, but those in the crowd ignored them. Hurling their own warnings and instructions back at the police. The end result was a garbled message being shouted out by multiple speakers. Leaving everything inaudible to the people listening.

By the time the police met the crowd Liam was already a block away from the epicenter of what he created. Filtering his way past the thick throng of humanity. Just another person in the mix of things. He could hear the sounds of the rioters as they clashed with the police. Both sides tried to break the other as they met again and again. Through the initial clashes neither side was gaining the upper hand. Sure the police pushed the crowd back, but that did little except spread out those in the crowd. Many choosing to move away from the police and spread the destruction to the neighboring streets.

This was everything Liam was hoping for. The monster he’d unleashed was wreaking havoc on the city. For the first time in weeks the headline in tomorrow’s paper wouldn’t be about him. It’d be about the chaos Gladius’ assault had caused.

This was a step towards what he wanted. But it was only a single one. Tomorrow he’d get up and have to take the next one then the one after that. No matter how much he wanted to live in this moment he knew it wouldn’t last. And if he wasn’t ready for the next one he’d lose everything he’d worked for.

Liam continued to move back through the crowd. At least for this night his work was done. When there was a shift in the crowd. A tremor running through it. It was subtle but Liam could feel it.

Liam looked around, trying to see what caused the change. He focused on the police first, but didn’t find the source. They were still clashing with the crowd in front of them. Nor was there anything odd about the crowd. What could it be he wondered. He wasn’t the only person thinking something had changed as a spotlight on a police van moved. Raising until it was aimed at the top of a nearby building. On the corner of it stood a lone figure. Clad in green with brown accents, like roots crawling up his clothes.

The man stood there like a tree, face hidden behind a mask. Liam didn’t need to listen to the surrounding people to know who this was. It was a Hero, and one that wasn’t part of The Hunt. Why was he here Liam wondered? A little riot like this shouldn’t be enough to drag another team to town. They should be respecting The Hunt’s territory and not butting in. Unless the local team asked for help, which Liam knew The Hunt wasn’t going to do. Another Hero here, able to discover their secrets, must be a big worry for them.

Liam hurried to the back of the crowd. Whatever happened next he had to get out of here. He couldn’t be caught in the round up that was about to happen. Liam ducked his way past a couple trying to pry open a store’s front door. He couldn’t be near these looters.

Glancing backward Liam saw the man move, he raised a hand in a casual wave and from his suit hundreds of vines sprouted out. Each one seemed to possess a mind of its own as they hurtled forward, racing down the building and into the crowd below. Ensnaring everyone at the front of the riot before pushing deeper into the crowd.

Liam turned and ran. Behind him he could hear the vines advancing. From his brief glance back he’d seen dozens of people already trapped. None had a chance at breaking free. The thought of joining them spurred Liam on. Not caring who he had to run through to make his escape. Liam dropped every semblance of hiding in the crowd in his mad dash.

The man on the roof was beyond powerful. The one ability he showed, with the vines, dwarfed anything the local Heroes could do. The focus needed to control that many vines shouldn’t be possible. Liam had never heard of someone being able to do it. Yet he couldn’t deny it was happening, he’d seen it with his own eyes.

Whoever the mystery man was he was strong. Strong to the point Liam had no delusion that he could beat the man.

So Liam ran, not slowing down until he was streets away from where the riot was taking place. Whoever that man was he’d come from a big team. Liam would have to look up which one later once he was back in the safety of the apartment.

Without the ability to defeat the man Liam could only hope the vine guy would leave after tonight. Having someone that powerful walking around wasn’t something Liam wanted to worry about.