The walls and ground rumbled. Cracks splintered up a nearby wall like a crooked family tree. The young man ignored the threat of collapse they signified. His primary concern was the small, limp form of a girl lying on the ground next to him. His dark hair, greyed with concrete silt, gave off the illusion that he was an old man. The girl was much worse; blood matted her hair instead of powdered concrete. Luckily, he knew she lived due to the continued rise and fall of her chest.

The man bent down, reached under the girl’s arms, clasped his hands over her chest, and heaved up. He steadied himself as he stood, then began to drag her slowly through the rubble-strewn ground.

Thunder echoed off the remnants of the crumbled buildings. As he looked up to the skies in an attempt to find the source, he saw a bright orange streak hurtling towards the ground. Not even a second later, a fiery red flash followed the same trajectory. He was glad the quarreling Titans fell in a direction away from his position, yet he didn’t stop dragging the girl. The fight could quickly change course, and nowhere was truly safe.

Bastards! He would have spat the word aloud, but he was panting and wheezing from his effort.

The Titans never cared about the injured. Once their battles were over, they just left. The news never reported the casualties. The only reports were those on the vanquished threat. The media hailed the Titans as superior heroes while ignoring the everyday ones.

Finally, he and the girl were safely clear of the crushing peril of a building collapse. He set her down as gently as he could and then collapsed next to her in exhaustion. He could still hear remnants of the two Titans battle in the distance, the trading of blows booming like the firing of cannons. He slammed his fist into the ground angrily. He knew no help would come until the fighting stopped. A sober thought oozed into his brain, the fighting would never truly stop, so there would never be help.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and a tear washed a line of silt from his face. The girl took a series of quick, shallow intakes of breath. Her chest stopped moving.

“No!” The man said in a panic. “No, no, no, no.”

Time stopped as he tried to save her. Just as he thought his strength would fail him, the girl started breathing again. He collapsed once more next to her; next to his little sister. There would never be help. Protecting her was his responsibility, and he had to do whatever it takes to fulfill that responsibility. The fighting would never truly stop. The deaths and injustice would continue unless someone stood against the Titans.

With exhausted muscles and a broken heart, the man forced his body to move. His willpower solidified, and his mind sharpened from his new goal. I will kill them all. And with that thought, he rose.