I walked back to my police cruiser with a box of donuts in my hands. I knew half of them would be gone before I got home to my wife and son, but I couldn’t help it; my job was stressful, and the donuts and some coffee helped take the edge off of a hectic day. Most of the time, I cruised the same city streets, waiting for calls to come in on the radio, or looking for trouble to rear its ugly head. In the past, dealing with said trouble was easy enough; just a foot chase, or maybe a car chase, and then I handcuff ‘em, read them their rights, and they get in my car. But now there are Othersiders to worry about, and so we have all sorts of special equipment and training to deal with it. Now, when I get a call, I have to defer to a manual if they are not of this world, about 50 pages thick, full of what-not-to-do’s and bureaucratic bullshit that I need to tiptoe around. On top of that, some of them are so dangerous that even if we get the call, I’m supposed to call someone else if I see them; what is the point of having a gun if it doesn’t do anything to these Folk?

  I sat in my cruiser, eating donuts and sipping lukewarm coffee from a thermos. It was mid-afternoon, which meant it was almost time to go home. I thought of my sweet little boy, who looked so much like his mother. I hoped he grew up to look more like me; it was a selfish desire, something I would never tell his mother, but being Native, I took pride in my heritage, and always wanted a child of my bloodline to proudly represent my tribe. I couldn’t wait to teach him about the Iroquois, and their traditions. I grew up on the reservation, only having moved to New York for school and then the police academy when I dropped out of college. What a waste of time that was; I didn’t learn a thing, and everyone was so self-absorbed and closed-minded. The only good thing I got out of that was meeting Sung-jin, my wife, at the restaurant near the college where she worked. It was love at first sight.

  My daydreaming was interrupted by a call from the radio; with an intensity, the dispatcher put out an all-hands for a fight in Central Park between some Othersiders. I looked over at the manual, knowing that the best thing to do would be to let someone equipped to deal with Othersiders handle this, but my heart told me that I needed to step up. What if someone needed to be saved? What if my arrival was the difference between someone’s life and death? I turned on my sirens, buckled up, and peeled off towards the park as fast as I could, steeling myself for whatever may come. As I approached, I could hear the sounds of warping metal and a strange science-fiction-esque noise; when the park came into view, I could see bright flashes of pure white lights and molten sparks emerging from above the trees. I began to think that this was above me, but the park was a highly populated area, and I needed to be sure that everyone had evacuated safely.

  I drove over the curb and into the park a bit, before stopping and getting out, drawing my firearm and looking around. Sure enough, there were scared civilians taking cover behind and underneath benches and food carts. One by one, I ushered them away from the park, but the explosions were getting closer, and I knew I was running out of time. Suddenly, people started running towards us, screaming, and I trained my firearm up, unsure if they were civilians or part of the problem. They just ran past me, away from the trouble; but that was when I saw the source of it all. A woman in armor, dented and broken, stood with their back towards me; with her were three companions, all badly wounded. All of them had a sigil on them, a shield with a draconic eye in the middle. Walking on a bridge towards them was one man, his hair white as snow, dressed in formal winter clothing even though it was over 60° outside. The woman and her party seemed worn down, breathing heavily,

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  I saw it too late, the little girl behind them, crying underneath the park bench. But one of the armored men turned around and saw her, and when the man with white hair unleashed a burst of light with a wave of his hand, that armored man dove in front of the girl, and was vaporized saving her. I sat there confused; what exactly was I witnessing? But seeing this made my instincts kick in, and I ran forward to secure the child, and escort them away. As I got closer, for a moment, I heard their conversation.

  “... Helena, how could you be so naive? The world is a cold and bitter place. There is no room for altruism,” said the man with white hair, with a hint of sadism in his voice.

  “You sicken me. You’re a monster, and it’s time you paid the price, you bastard!” yelled Helena, overwhelmed with emotion.

  I got the little girl away, her mother waiting at the edge of the park for her. I didn’t have time to listen to her thank you’s, as I knew enough to know what I must do: this Helena needed help, and I was going to help her. As if on cue, several other officers arrived, and I explained what I knew to them. Most seemed hesitant to follow through on this information.

  “It’s okay if you don't want to,” I replied, “but if you do nothing, then isn’t that just as bad as helping?”

  I began to move in, and to my surprise, many of my fellow officers did as well. We backed Helena and her remaining men, who were deep in battle with this strange figure. When Helena gave us a clear shot, we opened fire on the white-haired man, riddling him with bullets. He fell to his knees, and Helena leaped in for the killing blow. But it was a facade, and the white-haired man was prepared. He ran a sword of light through Helena’s chest, impaling her. As he looked into her eyes, he smiled, before using his other hand to behead her. We opened fire again, but the bullets seemed to do nothing to him. He looked at us all, and I saw in his eyes a look of annoyance, like one might have when one sees ants in their home.

  “I’ll leave you to your misery,” he said, and a pulse shot out from him. Suddenly, I felt a chill run through my body, and memories began to flood my brain. The first time I rode a bike, gone. My first Christmas, gone. Going to the zoo with my parents, gone. My first kiss, gone. Moving to New York, gone. Meeting Sung-jin, gone. My wedding, gone. The birth of my son… No. I wouldn’t let this man take any more. I stood up, as my fellow officers and the other followers of Helena writhed in agony on the floor. I raised my pistol, and fired at the man once more.

  “You will take nothing more from me!” I exclaimed, a fire burning in my soul.

  In an instant, he was in front of me, and that fire was snuffed out. His presence was overwhelming, even though he was shorter than I was. His eyes shone with colors that brilliantly writhed with a rainbow, and his face was striking and beautiful. His smile was disarming, though I knew in my bones the true evil behind it. He laughed, seemingly at me and my panicked, frozen state, unable to run or react. He placed a hand on my shoulder, and raised his other, a small light forming in his palm.

  “I can think of something else to take.”