[center][sup][h1][b][color=black] A C E  O F  B L A D E S[/color]
[color=cadetblue]A C E  O F  B L A D E S[/color][/b][/h1][/sup][/center]
[hr][center][sup][color=cadetblue][b]A FEW BLOCKS FROM SCOTT'S APARTMENT.
NOW.[/b][/color][/sup][/center]I step out of the convenience store, digging through the brown paper bag, brushing aside a few packs of ramen and pulling out the stick of beef jerky I bought. With one hand still holding the bag, I use the other to hold the stick while opening the wrapper with my teeth, then take a bite and start the walk home. Only a few more blocks past some old warehouses. The conversation with my dad at Haven was still weighing on my mind no matter how hard I tried not to think about it. [i][color=mediumseagreen]"Just because you think you have to be a hero doesn't mean you have to stop being a [b]person[/b]."[/color][/i] His words echo in my mind, bouncing off the walls inside my skull so I can't ignore it.

He's wrong. Mom had two lives before her identity was uncovered, and when they became one it just made it easier for Omega to track her down and kill her. I can't do the same thing. I can't risk ruining someone else's life because I died. I don't want to leave a child behind the way she - I reel back from the thought as soon as it enters my mind, feeling disgusted with myself that I would even imply mom's death was her own fault, like she abandoned me instead of giving her life defending me and dad.

I sigh. [color=cadetblue]"Goddammit..."[/color] I shake my head in an attempt to get rid of all the negative thoughts, walking past a row of dilapidated warehouses that were shut down long before I was even born. A voice sounds off as I'm about to take another bite of beef jerky, faint but still loud enough to be heard clearly.

[color=#E9D668]"Just you stop right there. [i][b]Freak.[/b][/i]"[/color]

I stop in my tracks, casting a glance in the direction of the voice only to find no one looking at me. Guess I wasn't the person that was aimed towards. For a second I wonder if I'm starting to lose it when I hear another voice, quieter than the other and quivering in fear: "I-uh-I-I'm sorry, I didn't know this uh, building was still in o-operation... W-w-wait, what are y-UGH!"

Shit.

I break into a sprint towards the sound of the voices, ducking through an alleyway between the buildings. Damn, don't have my costume, gotta hide my identity somehow... I stop, look at the big paper bag I have in my hand, then dump the contents in the alley before sliding it over my head. I poke holes through it where my eyes are and find that I can see pretty clearly, even if the edges of my vision are obscured. It'll work... Even if I look ridiculous.

The sounds of a beating get clearer as I get further down the alley, only to see what's unfolding as I turn a corner: three guys dressed in all black with kevlar vests, using batons to beat on some poor guy in coveralls as he's curled up on the ground. I don't bother coming up with a witty quip. I just summon my sword, keep it blunt, and fling it at one of the men. It strikes him right in the head, sending him reeling backwards as his black shades fly off his face in the opposite direction. He lands on the ground with a thud, knocked out cold.

The sword is about to hit the ground when I act fast, yanking my arm back and recalling it to my hand. It flies true and I wrap my fingers around the grip, getting into a fighting stance. Almost like I was practicing that. The other men have noticed me now, probably would have been hard not to after that, shouting out colorful streams of curses as they abandon their victim to focus on me. I see two more men climb out of a black SUV maybe fifty feet away, holding similar batons. They start sprinting forward as the two men ahead of them rush to meet me.

Four guys. I don't think I've ever taken on more than two people at once before. Time to see if I can hold my own.

One of the men runs in with a wild swing and I duck out of the way, swinging my sword into his chest. It connects and he wheezes as the air is knocked out of him, clutching at his ribs with one hand while the other struggles to keep a grip on the baton. I pull my blade back and lift it high, bringing it down hard on his head. His entire body lurches forward, his face slamming into the cement. He's out.

I look up from the unconscious man only to see a baton slam right into my nose. I stumble back, dazed, recovering just in time to take a fist to the gut that makes me keel over. Another baton slams into my jaw, sending me to the floor, my sword slipping out of my grasp and clattering to the ground. My vision is blurry, vomit rises in the back of my throat, every muscle in my body feels like it's on fire. A boot comes down hard on my chest, pressing my chest into the asphalt. I groan in pain.

[color=#E9D668]"Heh. Two Grays for the price of one,"[/color] the man standing over me says. [color=#E9D668]"Good deal. Get him in the van with the rat freak."[/color]

No.

No no no no no.

Get up.

Get the fuck up.

Don't let it end like this.

I throw my hands up to wrap them around the man's ankle but he just kicks them away, sending his boot into my chin and making my head snap back. It bounces off the concrete and I realize that I can't do anything. They're going to take me who the hell knows where and do who the fuck knows what.

Rock was right. I'm not cut out for this. I should have stopped while I had the chance.

I close my eyes.

And then I can't hear anything except an ear-piercing screech.

It's even more painful than the beating I just took, pounding against my eardrums and frying my brain. After a few seconds I realize that the boot is off of me now. Fighting through the pain, I try to pull myself up and stand using whatever strength I have left. I've managed to prop myself up on my elbows when suddenly the sound stops, my ears still ringing but my head clearer than it was. I look over to see the guy in coveralls unconscious with a tranquilizer dart in his neck, his mouth wide open as if he had been screaming.

The other three men that were ganging up on me are on the ground with the two that I knocked out, hands pressed over their ears as they try to pick themselves back up. A sixth man with a tranquilizer gun in his hand stands over the Gray they were all trying to kidnap. I pull myself to my feet just as the other men do. The man with the dart gun raises it and levels it at me, pulling the slide back to load another dart. Panic bursts through me but I keep it together and grab the nearest man, holding him in front of me just as the dart is fired. It pierces him in the chest and he goes limp in my arms.

I toss him to the side, seeing that the other two men have recovered now, picking up their batons. The one with the tranq gun lifts the man in coveralls over his shoulder, shouting to the other two: [color=#E9D668]"I got the rat, just fucking kill the one with the sword!"[/color] The men look to each other, grin, then come at me with their batons.

I can barely stand. They're going to beat my head to fucking mush. I can't just let them do that. I recall my sword, left forgotten on the ground after they all got their hands on me, and as soon as it hits my hand I pour everything I have into making it as sharp as possible. I stumble backwards as one swings at me, thrusting my sword towards his chest and closing my eyes. I feel the blade slide deep into his ribs with little effort, hear his death rattle as he goes limp.

I open my eyes. The other man is hesitating, stunned to see his friend impaled against my sword. A scream of rage rips out of my throat as I yank my sword out of the man's chest, sending the corpse to the floor, and swing with all my might at the second man. I look right into his eyes and see [i]fear[/i] before the blade connects, slicing through his neck. His head rolls off of his shoulders and hits the ground with a dull splat, his body standing still for a second before it hits the ground too.

I fall to my hands and knees, rip off the paper bag, and vomit violently. I can hear the tires of the SUV squealing as it tears out of the parking lot. Bile continues to flow out of my mouth, and after a while I don't even have anything left in my stomach but acid, which keeps coming out anyway. Eventually it comes to a stop and I pull myself up, trying not to look at the two dead men.

Everything hurts. I take in deep breaths to steady my racing heart. It doesn't help. My breath hitches as I choke back a sob, clenching my eyes shut so I don't accidentally look at the men I just killed. I stumble forward, pressing a hand against the wall of the warehouse, and limp away into the night.

[right][sup][i]Written with creative input from [@Sep].[/i][/sup][/right]