His uncle had opened the door and after that everything was a bit of a blur. All that his uncle had said was spoken to a mostly numb Shadowbird. Her heart felt like it was broken in two. The funeral was an beautiful one. Ari Gray and the rest of Austin's class, most of the school even showed up, including Mr. Drake. No one knew the truth of how he died. They all were told he had gotten crushed by fallen debris in the Berserker rampage. But she and his uncle knew the truth. Ari stood in front of the grave site, icy blue eyes full of tears. It had been a closed casket funeral, she didn't really get to say goodbye to him, to see him one last time. But his uncle didn't want anyone to see what had happened to him. Even after they cleaned him up, his wounds were evident. And so, they lowered him into the ground. Almost no one knowing that he wasn't really in the casket the whole time... 
[hr]

Shadowbird stood tall on the rooftop, looking down on the streets. She was waiting for something, anything to happen. Months had passed since her partner's death and it just wasn't the same without him. Shadow remembered when they had fought Envy together one of the last times they fought side by side. He was there for her... [color=6ecff6][i]"See the thing about partnerships is that they're based on mutual respect."[/i][/color] He had said. Whiplash... Austin, he had really cared about her, he even died for her and she had to live with the guilt of that. [color=6ecff6][i]"You just keep on doing what we always did, you gotta be strong now, stronger than ever now that you're on your own. Scum like Berserker won't stop just cause I'm gone."[/i][/color] Her heard raced thinking about him and she almost didn't notice as someone down below cried for help. 

"HELP! He's been stabbed!" A woman cried out. Shadowbird stood a moment, unmoving until her eyes picked up on the man who was running with the woman's purse in hand. A short distance away the woman was on her knees, holding her significant other close to her chest. He had most likely been stabbed trying to protect his girl from the thief. Catch the thief or save the man. [color=6ecff6][i]"Why not both?"[/i][/color] Whiplash would have asked with that beautiful smile he had. With narrowed eyes, Shadowbird dove down to tackle to the man and snatch up the purse. Then she teleported over to the man and the woman, returning the woman's purse to her. "Please, can't you help him, he'll die!" The woman begged. 

Shadow stared down at the man on the ground. His blood was pooling slowly beneath him. It was just like Whiplash. Her eye twitched beneath her mask and she turned to face the man who had stolen the purse, he was still recovering from getting tackled and was slowly rising to his feet. Shadowbird teleported to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. [color=black]"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear the flesh from your face."[/color] She said quietly as she lifted him off of the ground. 

"E-ey Shadowbird... You don't kill, do ya???" The thief's eyes were wide with fear. 

[color=black]"I could kill you for what you've done." [/color]

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I just wanted what she had on her." 

"Shadowbird!" The woman called out to her, fear and panic in her voice. 

Shadow didn't release the man, didn't move. Kill the man, or save the other man. [i]Why not both?[/i] This man deserved to die. Deserved to suffer. But for what... It wasn't going to bring Whiplash back. With a heavy sigh, the hero dropped the man and teleported  back to the man and woman. She scooped the man into her arms and grabbed the woman's arm. Teleporting rapidly through the city streets with them in order to get to the hospital. Once they had arrived Shadowbird disappeared back to the rooftops of the city, ashamed of what she had almost done and slightly exhausted from teleporting 2 people.