Alpha Male by Joshua

mind powers guy, and even then, we just thought he was nuts. Check this out though."
    Vaughn flipped on a small closed circuit security monitor with his gloved hand. Bending over, he hit the rewind button and gave it a few seconds. Alpha watched the events unfold in reverse, but it was too fast to capture the details. Vaughn hit the play button, and took a few steps back. Alpha leaned over the counter and watched.
    "Now, you can see the victims here, doing their daily thing. Buying shit, spending money, that sort of thing. Then comes the bad guys. You see there?" he asked pointing to the bearded homeless man. "He's the talker. He makes demands while the other just stands there, silent. The place goes up in a fuss, and BAM,” he said, pointing. Did you see that? The quiet fucker just wrecked the place with his mind. Do you need me to rewind it?"
    Alpha shook his head "no" and turned away. He rested against the counter, pensive and distant. A moment later he turned back and said, "Any idea where they went?"
    "Nah, there are far too many homeless fucks in this city," Vaughn said. "They could be anywhere."
    "Yeah," Alpha said, getting ready to walk out. He stopped and looked back to Vaughn. "Hey, let’s keep this under wraps. The longer we can keep the people in the dark, the better."
    "I'll do my best," Vaughn said.
    Alpha stepped out of the building and leapt into the air. The crowd of people did their best to catch his flight on their phones. Each one cheering, or cussing.
    *****
    Al and Larry sat in the dark, huddled behind a dumpster. Larry nursed the half empty bottle of whiskey, while Al tore into another packaged pastry. Together they hid from the outside world while enjoying the spoils of their deeds.
    "We can't keep doing this," Al said with a mouth full of chocolate cakes. "I can't keep hurting people. Not for this."
    "What?" Larry asked, wide eyed. "This is putting food and drink in our bellies. ‘Sides, no one’s been hurt yet."
    Al stopped eating long enough to look over at Larry and said, "I nearly killed that man!  Not to mention the people we hurt every time we rob them."
    "Insurance covers it, don't worry," Larry said, taking another swig. "How about this. We take a break, and find us that soup kitchen I was telling you about. The one with the cute sorority girls.  They'll feed us alright."
    Al finished his food, then swallowed a couple of over the counter pain pills. Lying back, he rested his head against the brick wall and sighed with both eyes closed.
    "Hey Larry, where do you think this power came from?" Al asked, with his eyes closed.
    “Hell, I don’t know,” Larry replied. “But it’s a gift, I know that. Look at that hero Alpha Male. If you don’t want to rob stores, maybe we can get you in the hero racket. I’m sure there’s money to be made there, right?”
    Al didn't respond. Instead, there came a small sound rising up from the bottom of his throat. The sound turned into a low growl, and it broke. Heavy breathing came next.
    "You OK, buddy?" Larry asked.
    "I don't know," Al said. "Something’s wrong."
    "Do we need to get you to the doc?" Larry asked.
    Al closed his eyes, and placed both hands on his head. "I can't control it," he said as the things around them began to shake. "You need to leave."
    Larry didn't hesitate. Within seconds, he was up and around the dumpster, running down the alley. Al let out a low growl that built up into a powerful yell. Everything around him exploded outward, hitting the brick walls. The dumpster exploded through the building, tumbling into someone’s living room. Screams came from within and dogs barked upstairs.
    "Come on," Larry said, grabbing his friend. The homeless man looked around at the chaos as he attempted to drag his friend away by the shoulders.
    Al was awake, but barely coherent. In and out of a daze, he had tears in his eyes, and snot running down his face. Larry struggled against the man's weight as the sounds of sirens sounded off in the