He sees the group approaching. There’s only about four, however all wield some sort of weapon, be it a chain or a bat or anything in between. He stays huddled in a ball against the dark alley wall; arms pulling his legs to his chest, wrapped in his tattered rags that are worse for wear. As the men get within two meters the rag clad form jumps up right. He thrusts his arms out forth, removing the tattered garments. Magnificent feathered wings explode, flashing a brilliant light that has been hidden for the last two weeks at the least. Two weeks ago this angel on Earth came to awareness, lying in this back alley. He has not eaten nor drank in all that time but feels none the weaker, only confused. Much like the thugs in front of him who were looking for easy prey. However the confusion doesn’t last long for the young hoodlums as the brilliant light washes over them, cleansing their very being and leaving them in a euphoric state. They drop their weapons and wonder off, blissfully unaware of their surroundings. This man has come to call himself Halo as he pondered who he was over the last two weeks; he has also found himself a purpose, a calling even from the very heart of humanity. He will cleanse the species of all hate and rage, or at least this is what he believes.

Over the course of the next week, local authorities round up the gang of thugs with ease. In their dazed state, they don’t try and evade the cops or even put up a fight during the arrest. Cops are baffled as the fourth man is escorted to his cell.
“I don’t understand it Lou, these four have been terrorizing the area for months now, beatings and muggings, the whole works. Now suddenly they just start gliding down the streets during the day, don’t even try and run. It just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Yeah but whose gonna complain. Who knows? Maybe we have a guardian angel watching over us.”

Fast-forward to another week later, at the angel of mercy hospital, all hell has broken lose. An attempted arm robbery was halted about forty-five minutes prier to these events. However in the process the assailant was shot in the abdomen. At the hospital, the man, forty three year old crack addict Brian Irvin got his hands on a security guards gun. He has doctors, nurses and all non-critical patients rounded up in the lobby. However due to the current situation, all critical patients are unattended to. Finally a young doctor by the name of Jim Andrews has had enough. He jumps from his seat and marches towards Irvin.
“You have to let me attend to my patients! They will die if you don’t let me get to them.”
“Too bad,” is all Irvin’s utters as he fires a round into the doctor’s chest cavity. Nurses scramble to his aid but nothing can be done. Jim Andrews is dead. As Irvin turns around to think the window in between him and the hostages erupts inward. A glowing winged figure glides in. Irwin is amazed as he raises the gun. The bullet rockets out and clips the angel’s arm. He cringes but does not cry out nor falter. He continues forward until he is directly in front of Brian Irwin. Suddenly the intensity of the light increases until every other person in the room must shield his or her eyes. Brian is not afforded this luxury as the misery of his life and that of those he has assaulted confronts him in the cascade of light. He stares ahead as the light dies down and then collapses. He had caused such havoc in his life that he could not handle seeing it all at once so to compensate, his brain simply shut down. The angel who saved every person in the hospital turns, holding his injured arm and dives out the window.

Half an hour later, in an alley about ten blocks from the hospital, a magnificent figure so out of place in such a grungy environment touches down. He wobbles on his feet before leaning against the wall and sliding down to the ground. His arm has been bleeding continuously since he was shut and he is feeling rather dizzy and sick. He does not know what to do so simply leans back and tries to ignore the pain. This obviously does not work and he soon loses consciousness.

Elsewhere, a place only known to a handful of people, a man begins to set in motion events years in the making. His work will co-exist directly with our angels however with completely opposite intentions. A shadowed figure is addressing a mountain of a man shackled in a laboratory.
“Now my “son”, it is time for you to go and make some new friends. Reports indicate an angel supposedly defused a hostage situation at the angel of mercy hospital in New York. This strikes me as the perfect opportunity to start inducting some new member into our exclusive club.” With the push of a button the shackles unlatch setting lose an almost unstoppable force. “Now go and begin accomplishing my life’s work for me. GO!

With that the mountain man lunges forward and threw a closed door and section of the wall. He boards a leer jet designed by the same man who created him and with the push of a button, the autopilot with the hospitals coordinates kicks in and the jet takes off. Halo has no idea of what is about to transpire.

Back in New York, ten blocks from the angel of mercy hospital, Halo stirs.

TO BE CONTINUED…