Anna is the story of a girl with remarkable powers as she fights the rising corruption in her city all the while trying to keep the trust of those around her who don’t approve of her actions.
However, when a new challenger, a mysterious figure enters the city and begins to take down the local gangs, Anna sets out to stop him, but ends up discovering that he won’t be easy to defeat.
Chapter 1: Breeze
Her ears were ringing, dust was floating through the air. Time seemed to have slowed for her, like something out of a movie. It had only been like two minutes since she attacked these punks and everything had gone to trash really fast.
She shot a gust of air at one of the gangsters, blasting them onto their back. The woman ran and slid between two more and knocked them off their feet. She flipped back up and blasted air at more of them, knocking them down.
Suddenly a gangster came up behind her with a shotgun and aimed it at her. She heard the click and turned as the shotgun fired.
Alright. Let’s start from the beginning.
Sixteen hours earlier, May 18th 2017.
She had just gotten through her morning routine: drag herself out of bed, get her clothes out for the day, take a shower, put on her clothes and have breakfast. She then left her apartment, went downstairs and into the parking garage and got into her car and drove to work.
Now it was time for the crazy to kick in.
She parked her car in her normal spot at the Daily Post, near the side of the building. Her hand took the key out of the ignition and grabbed her messenger bag and she got out of the car. She walked in the front door and straight to the elevator and down to the basement.
As the doors opened, she was met with the face of her manager, Thomas.
“Good morning, Anna.” He said slightly creepily. He seemed to have quite the crush on her.
“Thomas, how did you know it was me coming down?” She asked, coming out of the elevator and walking towards her cubicle.
He walked with her. “Because you come down at 7:30 every morning, Anna. You haven’t missed a beat.”
“But why do you have to meet me here?”
“Because you’re one of the my top employees. It seems customary that I greet you.”
“I think you just have a crush on me.”
Thomas chuckled awkwardly. “Pssssh. Have a crush on you? Are you serious?” He said before he stopped and realized what he just said.
Anna shot him one of the most offended looks she could muster, but it was really funny. “What did you just say to me?”
“Nothing, I just said you’re pretty.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
His eyes darted back and forth. He then gulped. “Well, I guess I should be going. Nice work, Anna.” He quickly ran off in another direction towards his office.
After he was gone, Anna let out a laugh. Thomas both annoyed her and creeped her out. He has been through three marriages, and they all didn’t last very long.
She made her way to her cubicle and set her bag down and then plopped herself in her chair. Anna booted up her computer and saw that she had a few new emails. One from Nicole’s mother and one from her friend Abby.
The third, however, was from Kato, her eyes on the street. She looked around to make sure no one was looking and opened the email. It read:
The gang is loading their equipment tonight at 9:43 at the warehouse on Jones Street. If you stop this, it could be a major hit to the gang and eventually cripple them.
Thank you for doing what you do, Anna Brail.
-Kato.
She smiled. This was the email she had been waiting for. The chance to take down the Cold Steel. She put her hands on the keyboard and typed up a response:
Thank you for doing this. Your family will be avenged.
-Anna.
As the day progressed on, she had to go upstairs twice to fix someone’s computer, but she also got a few calls saying that their computer wouldn’t start, but it ended up being that they had unplugged their computer the night before.
Thomas didn’t try to talk to her again after what had happened earlier.
At around 12:00, Nicole Weaver, her best friend, came down from Floor 2 for lunch.
“Hey Anna.” She said as she approached her friend.
“Hey Nicole.” Anna got up and hugged her.
“What’s new on the streets?” Brail asked.
“We’ve reported on a few murders around the city. Probably the gangs again,” she said sadly. “I wish someone would take them down.”
“I could.” Anna said.
Nicole sighed. “Let’s go out to lunch.”
They sat in the outside area at the local Subway.
“Alright, let’s just get down to point here: I know you want to go after the gangs. I know you’re going after them.” Nicole said.
“I haven’t done that kind of thing for years, you know that.”
“And you know why? Because you nearly got killed the last time.”
“Nearly.” Anna took a sip of her soda.
“Yeah but it could’ve been worse. Don’t pull your luck. Leave the chasing down the bad guys to the Police. It’s their job.”
“Yeah but sometimes they need help. That’s why the government gets involved.”
“But being a vigilante is also illegal, Anna,” Nicole said. “People can get killed that way. Remember Delta and Striker?”
Anna laughed. “Yeah but Delta and Striker were complete losers.”
“But they still died.” Nicole pressed.
“But I’m not some half-baked vigilante,” Anna argued. “I’m not even a vigilante.”
“A vigilante is someone who plays the role of a cop by themselves without legal authority.”
“Are you sure?” Anna smiled. Nicole didn’t return it.
“I needed to know as much about what you were being tried for back in 2013,” Nicole shot back. “So of course I know what a vigilante is.”
“I’m sorry, Nicole.” Anna apologized.
“I am too. Just don’t get back into this superhero thing.” Nicole said. She reached over and held Anna’s hand.
“I just don’t want to lose my best friend.”
“I don’t either, Nicole.” Anna responded.
Finally. It was the end of the day.
She quickly packed up her things and left the office. It was 5:34, so she still had nearly five hours left until she was going to try and take down the gangsters.
Anna went out into her car and drove back to her apartment. She ate some dinner, which was some Mac N’ Cheese, practiced her fighting style and watched two episodes of The Legend of Korra.
At about 8:32, she changed out of her work clothes, which was a blue flowered dress and a jacket; took a shower and changed to her ‘vigilante’ clothes, which consisted of a black dress, with a skirt shorter than her other one, tights, her normal long boots, a dark green jacket and fingerless gloves.
As she came out of her room the door opened and she readied to defend herself when she saw that it was Nicole who had walked in. Nicole looked almost disgusted to see Anna in those clothes.
“Really? Even after you said you weren’t doing this anymore, you were lying to my face?” Nicole said.
“Nicole, what are you doing here?” Anna questioned, kind of embarrassed to be caught in the act by her best friend.
“I came to check on you. Our talk earlier got me worried. And I guess I was right.”
“Nicole, I can’t just step back from the fight. I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I think this is what God is calling me to do.”
“You really think this is your calling in this life? To beat up thugs? I don’t think God encourages violence,” Nicole said. “Hasn’t going to Church for twenty-two years taught you that?”
“I’m not beating up thugs, I’m bringing balance to this city.”
“But you’ve left a trail of them in this city, so I assume you are.”
“The Lord moves in mysterious ways.”
“I know he does, but violence is never the answer.” Nicole responded. “If you want to help this city, bring the Gospel to them, be the light in the dark. Shine the light of Jesus.”
“I am being a light, by destroying the dark.” Anna said. She walked over a chair where her messenger bag laid. She picked it up and swung it over her shoulder. Anna walked over to the window and opened it.
“Where are you going?” Nicole began to walk towards her.
“To go shine some more light.” Anna said. She suddenly climbed out the window and jumped. As she fell she bent the air around her to soften her fall. She jumped from ledge to ledge, each landing softer than the last.
Nicole ran over and saw Anna descending and sighed.
Anna ran down the street towards the address that Kato had given her. She watched her back in case she was being followed. She wasn’t.
Jones street was a few blocks ahead of her, and the warehouse in question was a very old one, probably from 1990 or something. It had been abandoned in 2000 and was the ideal place for smuggling, whether it be weapons or drugs.
She had beaten up a few thugs in there before, but not a full gang at once.
Maybe Nicole was right, that this would kill her. But she couldn’t back down, she had to press on. This was her calling.
She walked past the sign on Jones, meaning that she was now close to her destination. She came to the entrance of an alleyway. Anna looked down it and saw a garage door.
This was it.
She ran down the alley to the door. The woman inspected it but found no way to open it. She was about to airbend it open when she heard a truck approaching the alleyway. She quickly jumped up, airbending herself onto a ledge above the door.
A large truck came down the alley below her. One of the men inside hit a button and the door opened. As the truck went into the warehouse, she jumped on its back, using her power to reduce the noise she made when she did.
Inside the warehouse was several trucks, gangsters and crates. Most of the thugs had fully-loaded assault rifles, standing guard against any intruders, like herself. She quickly airbent herself up onto one of the supports on the roof.
The truck drove a little more before stopping. Several gangsters came over and opened the back and began to unload the crates within. Anna squinted to see what was written on them. She nearly gasped when she read them: Ammunition, Grenades and Explosives.
The gangsters then began to talk to one another, although barely audible, she could pick up the gist of it.
“How many more crates are coming?” One asked.
“This is the last truckload.” Said another.
“Now to put it all on the other trucks.” Replied another.
“All this crap going to do a lot of harm. I love harm.”
This was it. This was why she was there. To stop these thugs, and above all, save lives.
She was above two guards, watching for anything out of the ordinary. Anna took a deep breath and readied herself. After a few moments, she struck.
Anna dropped from her perch and landed between the two guards. They turned as she dropped and she blasted air at one of them, launching him into one of the walls, a large clang ringing out through the warehouse.
“Shoot.” Anna said.
The other guard shot at her but missed, giving her the opportunity to jump at him and punch him in the jaw. She then blasted him backwards into a few crates of ammunition.
But that was the least of her victories. The clang had brought the attention of everyone in the warehouse. As soon as they saw Brail, they all readied their guns, all trained on her.
“Hey you, girl! What’re you doing here!?” One of them shouted to her.
Anna smiled a brief “Uh, hi…” sort-of-smile before blasting air at them. They moved out of the way of it and began to fire on the female. She jumped behind several crates of ammo and worse of all, explosives. Several of the gangsters, too focused on trying to kill her, continued firing at the woman.
“HOLD YOUR FIRE!” Presumably the lead one shouted to other gangsters. “You’re going to blow us all to Kingdom Come!”
“Not you guys.” Anna muttered.
The thugs began to converge on her, and she knew she had to move. She bent the air around her to shoot herself across the warehouse. The gangsters were caught by surprise by this and quickly began to shoot at her again. Bullets whizzed past her, just barely missing her.
She landed and blasted air at a few of the gangsters, knocking them to the ground and into crates. The other thugs turned and began to fire on her again. Anna ducked out of the way of the bullets behind a truck, not wanting to get shot tonight.
One of the gang members ran over to one of the crates of grenades and opened it. He pulled out one of the explosive devices and readied to throw it. Another grabbed his arm.
“What are you doing?! You could kill us!”
“No, I’m going to take care of the problem.”
He pulled out the pin and threw it to where Anna was hiding. The grenade dropped to the ground with a clang, the clip snapped off. Anna turned and saw it.
“Crap.”
She blasted herself out of the way just as the grenade went off. It exploded with great force, knocking her back. The blast destroyed dozens of crates and knocked the truck on its side. Several of the gangsters were blasted backwards, and a few were killed on impact.
Anna hit the ground, but not hard enough to do any damage. After she recovered herself, she tried to look around but all she could see was dust. Her ears were ringing, and time seemed to slow down for her.
But then a gangster came into view, looking for her, and she took this opportunity to strike. She shot a gust of air at him, knocking him on his back.
Anna ran and slid between two more and knocked them off their feet. She flipped back up and blasted air at more of them, knocking them down.
But suddenly a gangster came up behind her with a shotgun and aimed it at her. She heard the click and turned as the shotgun fired. She used her power to try and get out of the way, and she almost did, but a few of the shotgun’s spray hit her arm, going through.
Anna screamed in agony and held her arm. She quickly blasted air at the gangster, knocking him across the warehouse. Blood was streaming from the three wounds. She sat down against a few crates and held her arm, trying to get over the pain.
It didn’t work.
She looked around her area, tears running from her eyes. She saw a role of medical bandage and quickly grabbed it. Anna shook as she rolled it around her arm, and each pass hurt. The woman fully covered her injury, but blood was still coming out and it still hurt.
But she needed to stop these gangsters before they got out of her with their weapons. She decided to just suck up the pain and walk it off. Anna stood up and saw a few more gangsters in the dust. She narrowed her eyes and directed all her rage at them.
They didn’t notice her running at them before it was too late. She punched one in the face, and kicked another in the gut. She then blasted them away with air.
Suddenly the garage doors opened. She turned and saw gangsters opening them, trying to get all the dust out.
They turned and saw her and raised their guns and fired at her again.
“I’m getting sick of this.” Anna said.
She jumped out of the way, landing on her hands. She winched as the shock went through her arms, hitting her wounds. The woman rolled across the stone floor. Bullets whizzed past her again. She stood up and blasted air, knocking several more gangsters on their backs.
“Who is this girl?!” One of the gangsters said.
“I don’t know, but she has powers like in comic books!”
He looked at his ally. “You nerd.”
The dust had almost cleared, but their gun’s barrels were overheating, creating steam in the air.
“We can’t keep shooting like this! Our guns are going to melt!”
Anna looked forward and saw a dead gangster lying by some crates of explosives. Beside him was an assault rifle. Then it hit her.
“This is going to be fun.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she jumped forward and grabbed the gun. Bullets whizzed past her again. She rolled behind some crates that were next to the door and took cover. Anna cocked the gun and readied it. She stood up and fired at the gangsters. They ducked behind their owns crates to avoid the gunfire.
“Taste of your own medicine.” Anna said to herself.
After she had gotten all of them to be ducking down, she looked around and found what she was looking for: an open crate of grenades.
She aimed her gun at one of the explosive canisters, the scope right on it. The gangsters began to get back up as she squeezed the trigger. The lead one realized what she was doing when it was too late. The bullet shot out from the barrel and flew through the air at the grenades. It hit the top and took the cap clean off.
“GET DOWN!” The lead one yelled.
Suddenly the grenade exploded, blasting several gangsters forward. The blast activated more grenades and the explosives. Anna turned and ran just as they exploded, a massive fireball exploding from the warehouse. She jumped out the door and onto the street.
She looked back as the explosion got bigger and bigger. A blast of fire came at her and she used her power to launch herself onto the roof of the building next to the warehouse. She landed on the gravel, her arms absorbing the shock.
“Argh!” She screamed in pain.
Suddenly the entire warehouse exploded, a massive blast of fire shooting up, destroying the walls and ceiling. She covered herself as a huge wall of flame shot up in front of her. The blast was seen and heard across the city, the flame able to be seen miles away. The blast easily went six stories into the air before retreating back down.
After she was sure it was gone, Anna got up and walked over to the ledge, which bore scorch marks, holding her injured arm. The warehouse had almost been completely obliterated, fires burning all over. Several buildings had been damaged from the blast. The bodies of gangsters littered the area, most dead, but some were still alive, but just barely. She covered her mouth at the sight.
“This isn’t what I wanted…”
Suddenly she heard sirens coming down the street. She ran over to the side and saw several squad cars, fire trucks, and ambulances approaching fast towards the seen. Several civilians had come out of their homes to see what was going on.
Full of guilt, she ran from the scene, using her power to jump from building to building.
This isn’t what I wanted.
The outskirts of New Hampton.
The mysterious figure walked down the center of the road. Behind him was darkness, ahead of him, however, was light so bright it blocked out the stars. The city of New Hampton was a large city, not as big as New York, but still large.
His long, dark trench coat was kicked back every time he stepped forward. The rifle on his back bounced with every step.
Another thing was off about this figure, but it wasn’t his dress choice, but it was his breathing. His breathing was very strange, like it was coming through a filter. This was because he wore a mask across his mouth. The mask was like a gas mask, only a little different.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared at the city.
“I have great plans for you, New Hampton.” He said in a very filtered voice.
“All you need to do is accept them.”
He continued to walk on into the night.
Chapter 2 is out on the Anna Wiki for early access!
