Chapter 49: Momento vivere!

"My first and second attempts at flight in our gaseous forms never went as smooth as you made it look just now." Derek admitted as he didn't look at Nick, he was surveying the area, the casino's rooftop for the trash can. "Like you taught me, focus my attention on our destination and it's like it happens on its own." Nick replied as he didn't quite hit his landing as his big brother. "Our life gets crazy but yours will be something else, I bet." Derek responded before he spotted something that gave him a hunch. "I bet our man's body is in there, look away from the graphic scene, Nicky." Derek said aloud and tried his best to convince his younger brother. Nicholas walked over to the edge of the rooftop and decided to enjoy the view of snow and his hectic hometown. After five minutes of waiting for his younger brother thinking about how unbothered he'd be by the victim's body and how he's mature enough to handle it, Nick's eyes begin to have smoke coming emanating from them as Derek turns around from gathering enough information from his investigation and witnesses five constructs made from smoke.

Derek was caught off guard but stepped forward. Four of the constructs were in the form of humongous Gorillas and the final took Nick's shape with a laugh very similar to his own coming from it. Derek noticed Nicholas looked out of it. As Nick's conjured clone walked past Derek as if he was going to mimic Derek's investigation, the Gorillas began to worry the older Wiley brother as they took a leap from the edge of the roof. Derek jumped not long after them. The gorilla constructs scattered and began causing chaos on the street, from breaking into other buildings to terrorizing the civilians that were nearby.

One smack from one of his constructs broke the hero's arm, the only arm he has and an arm that's never been broken but he didn't let it stop him from saving a civilian from the violence of it. Derek covered his broken arm in his smoke to enhance its healing process afterwards. He took the opportunity of the violent constructs focusing on property damage as the civilians fled in terror to find and convince Nick to wake up and stop what he was causing. Nick's consciousness eventually returns after a hug from Derek but after seeing his elder brother giving him a strange look filled with astonishment when he came to, and deciding to look away towards the city below, the destruction left the younger Wiley brother feeling lost.

"Did— what— or did just happen?" Nicholas asked as he sat down on the ledge to rest his head. "Your Enentaskurë abilities seem to be growing out of your control and consuming your mind. I can't believe I never thought about how this could be possible." Derek informed his younger brother with a nervous smile.

"No— don't send me back to the hideout or with Gramps, it was a one time mistake, bro, I refuse to let it consume me again!" Nick tried to convince and assure with a serious tone as he stepped backwards. Derek looked at his little brother and put his head down for a moment. "Mistakes can lead to the loss of others, regardless if it was your fault or not, the responsibility remains on our shoulders." Derek spoke to his younger brother as he grabbed his right shoulder with his right hand and talked with a stern voice. Nick refused to argue further and accepted his punishment.

"You seriously kept her number stored in your phone?" Henry asked his friend Jaquan as the three were walking to a popular girl at their school's birthday bash. "Brodie, I saw Barack Obama's number on his phone. Man's old and goofy self is too lazy to remove anyone's number from his contacts." Jaquan butted in with a joking tone as he laid his hand on Henry's shoulder. "Though, this is Stacy Dumpler, Jaquan miles, Barack isn't crazy, this broad gave us the definition!" Henry replied with no nonsense in his tone.

"You might be alright with leaving this world with no woman ever touching you but when you get one then you'll realize just how special that touch can become to you one day." Brontë replied with slight shame in his voice. "Somebody needs to slap some common sense into you, one day." Henry responded as he shook his head with disappointment.

"Alright, tall hater, why're you coming with us to her seventeen year old birthday bash?" Bronte asked with a curious tone. "Guardian Angel duty, Jaquan's going to be too busy into his not so straight and narrow shenanigans to really have your back. She knows how to distract him." Henry answered his friend as he gave him a slight thumbs up gesture. "Harsh, dude!" Jaquan butted in as he preferred to stay quiet.

"Thank you, before you refuse to take that back, be absolutely sure you won't join him in those activities." Bronte responded with a smirk. Henry gave him a deadly glare after he heard him, as Jaquan was facing towards Henry with a far less intimidating glare. Henry turned around and saw Jaquan's face, the friends bursted out in laughter. "What's— is?!" Henry mumbled as he stopped walking with buddies after hearing sounds that disturbed him deeply.

"What's happening with him?" Jaquan asked Bronte as the two were facing towards Henry who entered a strange stance. "I think he's hearing a sound we aren't or something, Jacky?" Bronte answered as the confusion within the two grew with each passing moment. Henry began to sprint faster than his friends thought he could, a burst of speed before he hopped over a fence they never realized that he was athletic enough to leap over as gracefully, they decided to follow him but each felt nervous once they got to the fence. Down the alleyway, Henry heard the cries of puppies and they drew him. The angry Wiley brother only grew more furious when he saw the faces of the perpetrators abusing the innocent animals that he heard a distance away.

Nicholas heard cheerful laughter the next morning after waking up from his slumber. He walked down the stairs and laid eyes on an older man with the brightest smile and least shaven beard he'd seen in a while, he wore the family's colors except with a different wrapping around his shoulders. Grandpa Philip heard Nick's steps and turned, allowing Nick to see that his Grandfather could give a smile. "Oh, yeah, this is Nicky, Amell, he's having complications with handling his abilities, Derek can fill you in better." Grandma Lidia let her son know. "My goodness, it's been absolute ages since I saw Jacob and Tae-lee's twins, Derek years ago told me they had two more sons, where's Drake?" Uncle Amell reminded his parents before asking with a curious tone. Grandpa Philip rested his chin on his chest as he had his legs open with his arms across and a sad expression. Grandma Lidia gave Amell a look that made his thoughts run to the worst case answers. "I've never met Drake." Nicholas reminded himself as he was feeling a sadness similar to his Grandfather. "Enough of that, my bad guys. I want to learn everything about you, Nicky, likes and dislikes and the like!" Amell broke the silence with an emphasis on the first word and his joke at the end. "No. Just no." Nick replied towards his joke. Nick, the Grandparents and Amell spent an hour catching up on their lives before Derek arrived with food and excitement. "Where did you come from this time, Uncle Amell?" Derek asked ecstatically as he entered the retired hero's suburban home. "Brazil and currently studying a rare otherworldly creature in my laboratory I took from Europe, rumored to be able to give you longevity of life." Amell answered his beloved nephew. "You've got to keep me filled in on that project, sounds awesome!" Derek replied, keeping the same tone.

Uncle Amell's voice lowered as he looked over. "The story with that hum—…" Uncle Amell decided to stop himself and contain his curiosity. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's no problem at all. The usual ruthless villains, paralyzing drugs, capture and rolling saw blades, one arm and a leg are gone but even without mom's ashes that could replace my missing limbs, they wouldn't have stopped me!" Derek asserted at the end with genuine confidence. "My boy, Wiley's gain absolute power the more obstacles you throw in our faces! Tae-Lee always had my respect." Amell admitted at the end before reminding his young nephew as he held smoke in his hands and Nick stood in awe on the side. "You're going to train me to get a better understanding of my powers so I can be a better sidekick to him, right?" Nick asked as he butted in, tired of feeling like he's the new kid. "You've got raw versatility but lesser control and that's understatedly the worst case scenario for our abilities. Yep. By the time I'm through with you, this guy's going to want to be your student!" Amell stated with confidence. "I'm hoping." Derek looked at Nicholas and the younger brother noticed his slight worry and didn't like it. Derek fist bumped his little brother for the final time before the knowledgeable uncle and hopeful nephew entered through Uncle's grand portal derived from his powers. Derek pulled out the purlieu's personal communication device and texted Settembre.

"He hasn't returned the text in over 2 hours." Derek thought to himself as he entered their hideout. "You're alright, Setty?" Derek called out as he entered where his computer was set up but as he turned his eyes downward, the lifeless sight of Settembre's corpse was something that will haunt him for the rest of his life. He stepped back unable to close his mouth and unable to think straight. He eventually cradled Settembre's lifeless corpse in his arms as tears flowed down his cheek from his right eye, smoke flowing aggressively out of the other. Derek felt like he couldn't breath from the shock and horror. Derek spent an hour sitting with Settembre's head on his shoulder and his head on top of his for an hour remembering the years and years of their hardships and friendship that they only survived together because of one another's trust and loyalty. The mysteries and crimes the duo solved together to build up their accomplishments. Derek stood up feeling lost on what ought to do next, asking himself vital questions regarding the who, what, where, when, how and why behind Settembre's mysterious death but he was stumped and no clues came to mind, which made him feel incomprehensibly worse. After a moment holding Settembre's hand one last time, he ran to Settembre's computer which has access to contact the other purlieus in the nation as the revelation his death has to lead to a larger conspiracy and his best friend wasn't the sole target for a simple hit from a past he had no clue about. While on his computer, he noticed a file titled "Greatest fear!" The hero's curiosity got the best of him and he peeked inside, only for a long note. It was a note about his greatest fear being leaving his best friend alone again, leaving his best friend at all, unforeseen consequences of their own devices and life. He directed Derek to take a peek inside a nearby closet which is used to store his final gift and final experiment. The hero that tamed his ash and smoke opened the closet and inside he found a newsboy hat with nothing else stored with it. Derek stared at it for a moment coming up with his theories but knew his friend and that he wouldn't keep it stored for fashion. "He told me to lay my index and pinky on the ground. Nothing on my mind but what— I desire to know." Derek repeated in his head as he knew he had to let go of how he felt about his best friend's, Nick leaving and his favorite uncle visiting. It took him another hour before he was eventually able to see the past, still colored in turquoise all around him, he saw figures that became clearer and more detailed the more he saw the events unfold and the better he became at using Settembre's power. "One more time and I'll have the killers." Derek reminded himself as he tried to contain how he felt and remain calm. He witnessed Settembre was surprised by the sudden break in of three armed men, two he couldn't identify and another that left him speechless. Left him unable to think.