Shard

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Lost Haven, Slums

"Giovanni, run!" Though moral values were quite lacking in the more criminally inclined individuals of Lost Haven, it was safe to assume love for their families. Seeing how the old mobster headbutted his captor, Milo watched the scene unfold with wide eyes. Tumbling down the stairs, the captor accidentally unleashed a bullet from the muzzle of his gun. The world must have stopped spinning for Giovanni when lead pierced his father's heart. Truly an accurate shot for such an accidental event. Moments passed before the woman instigating this riot recorded what had come to pass. The very man she had tried so hard to persuade now laid dead atop the stairs. Once the scene truly reached her eyes, an expression of rage replaced the smug grin once crossing her lips. All of her plans had been shattered, a bullet piercing through the deceit.

"Dad!" Though the word left Giovanni's lips in a desperate attempt to call out, it fell on deaf ears. His father was gone, perhaps an attempt to cut the leverage held against Giovanni to allow the boy an escape.

"Kill them!" Out of options and with her plans ruined, it would seem like the only choice remaining on the table revolved around cleaning up her mess. Killing Giovanni would destroy what remained of his family and would thus allow for a new regime. Then again, it didn't need to have to be something quite as grand. Intrigue and backstabbing within the criminal world was a given, after all. In truth, Milo didn't feel for them but Giovanni was a teenager going onto adult stuck in the middle. It was never his choice to be born into this life, neither was it his desire to continue family traditions. Though, as several firearms were aimed at him and the smaller boy besides him, one could draw the obvious conclusion that any opened door to a future within the mob had been shut. Grabbing hold of Giovanni's hand, Milo pulled him away from the entrance mere moments before gunshots echoed through the great hall. A blade wouldn't do very well in this situation, leaving escape as the remaining option.

"We need to get into the car..." Remaining calm in the face of death, Milo knew that if he showed the slightest sign of losing his nerves in front of Giovanni, it would break the young man. He had just seen his father killed.

"Y-yeah...!" Trying to compose himself, Giovanni understood that the immediate threat lurking beyond the entrance would spare no effort in killing him. He was the last piece of the puzzle. Picking up their pace, Milo and Giovanni charged towards the car they had used and jumped inside with bullets flying wild behind them. Luckily, no bullet hit its mark but the holes in the car would eventually hinder the boys' escape. Turning the keys with panicked speed, Giovanni didn't bother looking behind him at the amassing number of mobsters attempting to mow him down with shots but rather stepped on the ignition to force the vehicle out of the garden. He could however not breathe easy just yet. The rear view mirror revealed quite a disheartening picture with several cars chasing the boys with a zealot's intent. "Where are we going!?"

"Just try to lose them..." Gripping hold of his blade, it was a measure of feeling safe rather than an effective weapon given the circumstances. As it was, Milo and Giovanni didn't have a destination but rather aimed to avoid eating lead. For someone so young and inexperienced, Giovanni displayed ample driving skills with adrenaline taking center stage in his actions. Would Milo's hearing have been focused on his comrade, he would have been able to hear the beating against Giovanni's ribs like a jackhammer. It was safe to assume the pain probably echoing through the teenager's chest. "Turn left here..."

Spinning the wheel around, Giovanni drove the car into an apartment neighborhood, making it more difficult for the mobsters to get a beat on them. Indeed, the chase had lasted for a notable while at this point with the mansion far behind both Giovanni and their chasers. Shooting their target from their cars made the action quite risky for the pursuers now that Milo and Giovanni had taken the chase to a more populated area. Accidentally hurting a gang member, or worse, a Triad member would start a war. It was nothing the Italian mafia wanted to deal with.

While lady luck had been blessing their path so far, the boys would soon meet with an end to their streak. Reminded that life wasn't glamorous, Milo raised his hand in reaction to the impending impact, an attempt to cover his face. Swirling across the road, Giovanni seemed unable to steer the car any further with their pursuers closing in on them, every second counting down to an inevitable end. Connecting with a massive stone wall, the car's windows shattered furiously upon impact. A hero didn't always manage to save the victim, the world wasn't quite that colorful.

Trying to regain his composure, Milo brought a bloodied hand to his forehead. "Shit..." Though the various wounds tearing into the boy's skin were closing at a rapid pace, Giovanni wasn't quite as lucky. "No...! Damn it..." Torn to shreds under the weight of the crash, Giovanni's last breath had long since left his lungs.

This mission was a grand failure. Milo had miserably mistaken in the attempt and now remained chased by cars he could hear in the distance. Kicking up the door barely hanging on by its hinges, Milo crawled out of the ruined car and scrambled through the massive amount of shattered glass. "They'll be coming for me. Gotta' hide..."

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Lost Haven, Slums

"So much family drama..."

The warm splatter of blood gushed from a wound forced onto the finely clad frame of a mobster. The bright red streak stretching from one end of his stomach to the other would spare no one the sight of guts pushing themselves through the opened path. Due to the boy's close distance, guns were quite difficult to use. Pinpointing his location as his incredibly quick and agile movements darted him from one location to the other forced the mobsters to shoot wildly in hopes of hitting their target. "Just kill him!" Another shouted, firing a shot which connected with the floor. Such loud and crude weaponry guns were. Each shot was a deafening symphony better left unheard, and the unpredictable outcome each time the trigger was pulled back made them less than reliable in some situations. A blade would never betray its user, no complicated machination behind the procedure of swinging a sword.

Spinning his body around, the young swordsman delivered a circular slash towards his enemies who had yet to manage a chance in regrouping from having the boy amidst their lines. It didn't take long for the loud booms to finally die out, along with a floor filled with the cadavers of what used to be highly feared members of the Italian mafia. Not a single bullet had managed to hit its mark, the mobsters afraid of hitting their allies while at the same time unable to get an accurate shot on the enemy connecting steel with their flesh. The battle was over in seconds as battles so often were, the boy now breathing heavily as he approached the captive. "You okay...?"

"Y-you're Edge? You're just a kid!" It was safe to say that the mafia's kin was trembling more now than he had before the kitchen was repainted with the sanguine wine flowing through a person's veins. "Shit, you killed everyone. There's so much blood..."

"Don't think talking to them would have worked..." Milo returned, walking behind the chair to give the ropes tieing the captive down a good slash to sever their hold.

Jumping up from the chair, the young man nearly stumbled to the blood soaked floor before he turned around and looked at Milo with terror in his eyes. "Y-you're not gonna' kill me, too?"

"No..."

"Yeah, well, excuse me when I say that I don't exactly believe you. You kill mobsters, right? Well dad's-"

"You're not your dad..." Milo cut him off, cleaning the edge of his sword on a tissue before returning the blade to its scabbard.

"Look, I'm grateful you saved me, I am. Though..." Giovanni continued, turning his eyes to the mess piling up on the floor. "This won't exactly be swept under the rug. Those guys weren't just grunts, you know." Turning his eyes back to Milo, Giovanni gulped and tried to remain as calm as one could expect him to. "I'd hate to ask you to do more for me but can you please help me get home? After all of this, I don't really want to be by myself."

Tilting his head slightly at the question, Milo finally sighed and offered the other boy a soft nod. "Sure..." It was true that he couldn't just leave Giovanni to head out by himself after this went down. Others could be coming for him, after all.

"Thanks, uhm...can I just ask one question?" Giovanni continued, hugging himself slightly in an attempt to stop the trembling. "Everyone says heroes don't kill..."

"Not calling myself a hero..." In other words, Milo believed in more permanent solutions to issues like this. Indeed, every life was worth something but in the midst of battle, he couldn't consider that. Every battle Milo had ended up in was one to the death. Unless he killed his enemy, they would put him down. Even though he couldn't die, they would surely restrain him and keep him prisoner. The best case scenario would be him escaping, the worst case would be them selling him off to some researcher who'd cut him open on a daily basis. The alternative to killing a murderous criminal wasn't worth it, it never was.

"Alright, well...let's go." Giovanni finished, stumbling closer to the door before he finally keeled over and vomited onto the tile floor. It was finally getting to him. The sight, the smell, the sound of blood dripping from a corpse, it was a lot to take in. Seeing it didn't exactly leave Milo unaffected. A sight like this would surely turn the stomach of anyone and despite his tolerance for death, one could never truly eradicate the feelings of disturbance in a situation such as this. Once Giovanni had collected himself, the young man tried to straighten up and continued through the backdoor and leaned against the wall to catch his breath. "This day has been so fucked up!"

"Hope it ends here..." Milo, or Edge as it was, offered. It was a name which was growing in infame among the criminally inclined. In truth, Milo would never go as far as to use deadly force against someone who didn't return the favor. A thief was one thing, but a murderer was another. Milo didn't waste his time with small fry crooks who made a living by stealing from others. Material possessions didn't much matter to the boy either way and thus he didn't much care for such petty crimes. No, his targets were people who turned murder into a business. People who traded in lives, they were on his hit list.

"Shit, we're gonna' need a car key to get out of here." Giovanni retorted, turning his eyes back to the restaurant with a shudder passing through his body.

"You can drive...?"

"Yeah."

"Alright..." Sparing Giovanni the sight of death a second time, Milo reentered the restaurant to salvage a pair of car keys. It wasn't difficult, but he was starting to understand that this was going to take a lot longer than expected. He'd never get into a car with someone he didn't know but Giovanni wasn't exactly going to back out on the only protection he had right now. "Here..." Flicking the keys to the only one who knew how to operate a vehicle, Milo watched as Giovanni tried to unlock one car after the other until they finally found one compatible with the key Milo had acquired.

"Alright come on." Giovanni breathed out a sigh of relief as he stepped into the car. Joining him in the front, Milo rested his blade against the car seat. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Sure..."

Pulling away from the restaurant, Giovanni drove onto the road started on their path to his home. It was a journey which took nearly fifteen minutes by car and Milo couldn't help but think about how he'd get home later. That wasn't going to be a huge issue, though. He was in the gig to help people, wasn't he? Leaving Giovanni now could have been a death sentence. Though the teenager calmed down in the car, he tried to turn the conversation elsewhere in a desperate attempt not to panic. For him, things hadn't quite calmed down yet. "Wait a minute..." He sniffed the air. "Is that strawberry?"

"Yeah..." Milo crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow at the driver. Problem...?"

"I guess I just didn't expect a ninja swordsman to smell like a strawberry." Giovanni chuckled, the worries gone for just a brief moment.

"They were out of 'Bloody and Sweaty'..." Milo shot back, leaning back in his seat.

"Heh, that's funny." Giovanni finished.

Once their conversation ended, a large building, a mansion if described correctly, appeared in the distance, it's white walls painting a beautiful picture of extravagance and wealth. Pillars stood welcoming anyone who would walk through the large entrance and a garden fit for kings stretched around the mansion's foundation. "Where are the guards...?" At the sight of this beautiful scene, worry would return to wash over each of Giovanni's senses as the two stepped out of the car. "Something's wrong." Without uttering a response, Milo followed the young man to the front door and saw him open the path to his home. A warm greeting from within was not what welcomed them, however.

"Giovanni!" A female voice echoed through the blood soaked hall, guards laying scattered upon the floor with bullet wounds covering their bodies. Atop a set of impressive marble stairs stood a woman along with two of her goons. A third man accompanied them, a middle aged male taking the role of hostage with a gun pointed to his head.

"Dad!" Giovanni shot back before seeing how several goons poured in from the other rooms with their guns pointed at Milo and the panicking teenager.

"Come here, sweetheart. We just want to convince your papa to help us out." The woman continued. "And who is your little friend, Giovanni?"

"Let dad go!" Ignoring her question, the teenager tried to futilely convince her of releasing his father, though he was met with little more than laughter and approaching goons.

"Well this is a pickle..." Milo clenched his teeth, his fingers around the bagged blade tightening.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Lost Haven, Slums

"But my purpose is clear, no matter what..."

Kicking the pebbles beneath his feet, Milo's eyes traveled to the now golden sky, painted such by the breathtaking sunset dancing across the distance. It was his favorit time of day, almost as if seeing the very sun itself lulled to sleep in the massive sky where it watched over the world beneath. Milo had deliberately left his iPod back home, the silence required to manage the thoughts he wanted to delve into. What were the answers he was looking for going to look like? He was unsure if he'd like them at all but there was little he could do to change that. Many years had already cast an illusion he attempted to live by, but with an eternity stretching out before him, it was only a matter of time before the illusion would shatter. "James always says that you should take everyday as it comes, one day at a time..." The distance revealed faint sounds of people communing, some of them louder than others. It wasn't an act of aggression but rather one of joy. Only moments passed before Milo noticed the basketball court further away. He had left the serenity of his own neighborhood and had now entered civilisation.

"Pass the ball over here!" A girl shouted as she excitedly jumped up and down, waiting for the basketball to bounce towards her. People of every ethnicity played the game together, different skin colors donning each participant to paint a rainbow of colors. The sight was comforting in a way, different people able to not only accept each other but also appreciate the differences. With a faint smile crossing Milo's lips, it quickly disappeared at the thought of himself. He wasn't even fully human. Ethnicity and skin color didn't apply to him when humanity was barely a part of who he actually was. "No..." The boy shook his head, making a turn to move behind a large apartment building and leaned against the wall. "I am human, aren't I...?" Indeed, everything but the way of creation painted the boy human though it was a rather large part straying from what was considered natural, wasn't it?

"Is it reasonable to let this bother me...?" It was difficult to narrow down where he should have stood on the matter. Now that he had what one could consider a somewhat stable life, thoughts came pouring in from every side and he could fight them for only so long. Bringing a hand up to his forehead, he slid his fingers across his bangs with a sigh. Perhaps going at this alone wasn't the best way of tackling the situation, but no one else could give him the answers he was seeking. Only he could find them within himself. As would however be a common disturbance, Milo's thoughts were cut short by the black car pulling up just around the corner. He wouldn't have given it a second look if it fit into the surroundings even a little but this car belonged in the richest parts of New York, not here in the slums. Hearing how the car door opened, Milo quickly hid himself from sight but allowed himself a peek at the scene unfolding before him.

"We've got the package." A man spoke, his elegant black suit matching the car more so than the neighborhood. "He's quite the nuisance." The man continued, a frustrated sigh leaving him as he paced back and forth with the phone pressed against his ear. "Very well, Sir." He finished, seeing how another person approached the car. It was a woman who had just left one of the apartment buildings. Just like him, she was dressed in a black suit. Were they FBI? No, that couldn't be the case. Due to the car windows preventing seeing through the glass, Milo couldn't establish what the package was but 'He's a nuisance' seemed to hint at something. Could the package be a person?

"Might not be back as early as I had hoped, James..." Narrowing his eyes at the darkly clad individuals, Milo saw how they stepped into the car without a single word to each other. "Looks like my curiosity will get the better of me again..." Throwing the bagged blade over his shoulder, Milo tied it to his back and leaped onto a drainage pipe. Displaying his inhuman level of agility, the boy ascended the building with ease. As the pipe reached the edge of the roof, Milo placed his foot against the wall and pushed himself back as he jumped up, allowing for some space as he grabbed onto the rooftop and pulled himself to the top. Indeed, from here he could see the black Volvo driving through the streets. Accelerating his pace, Milo ran across the roof and vaulted onto the neighboring building. Given the short distance between each, traversing across the rooftops was a common practice for Milo. It allowed for an eagle view while keeping him hidden from whoever he was chasing.

A short while passed before Milo noticed how the car pulled in behind an Italian restaurant. Though the distance was quite large, Milo saw how two figures stepped out of the car and pulled out a smaller shape from the backseat. It was a person indeed, and from the looks of it, this person had yet to reach adulthood. A soft frown crept onto Milo's visage as the boy saw them step into the restaurant with the captive struggling against them. "That settles it, then..." Descending the building in a similar fashion to how he moved up the massive walls, Milo would find himself upon solid ground before long. Without wasting a second, the young swordsman dashed in the direction of the restaurant. Indeed, not only one car had parked here but four. Were they having a meeting? Was this the Italian mafia? Come to think of it, the man speaking on the phone did have faint traces of an accent in his words but Milo wasn't very good with languages. It was difficult to tell exactly where the man had originated from.

Tightening the fingerless gloves donning Milo's hands, he was sure that a battle was going to greet him once he entered the building. If things went according to plan however, he wouldn't need to step into a bloodbath. It was safe to say that things rarely ever went according to plan, though.

Crouching down, Milo moved towards the restaurant and attempted to listen in on the conversation undoubtedly taking place inside. Closing the distance with the window did however not bear any fruit. Giving the window a slight peak would reveal that no one was even there. "They're probably in the kitchen..." Reaching for the clip in his pocket, Milo made his way towards the back and picked the lock with little effort. Restaurants didn't put that much effort into their security. As he opened the door and stepped inside, Milo could immediately hear voices reaching his ears. Indeed, they were in the kitchen. Silently moving through the locker room he had found himself in, Milo carefully peeked out from behind the wall and saw how four men and two women stood in front of a chair harboring the captive previously seen. It was indeed a boy like Milo had thought.

"I don't know anything!" He shouted in desperation, seeing how one of the men had started boiling some water in a pot.

"Come now, Giovanni. I am sure you've picked up on what your father is doing, haven't you?" A woman spoke, her arms crossed as her words were mocking to say the least.

"He doesn't tell me anything! Please, I don't know what he's doing!" Dressed in an expensive shirt along with dress pants, this boy was undoubtedly wealthy. He couldn't be older than sixteen, fear incredibly obvious upon his visage. "Dad's always been secretive! Why are you doing this to me!?"

"My dear Giovanni..." A male spoke, stepping closer to their captive. "We live in a vicious world. Your papa should have taught you that."

"B-but...what do you want from me? I don't know anything!" The boy attempted, but to no avail.

"If you don't know anything, you'll do as a message to Antonio. No one fucks with us." A man who had stood silent up until this point finally spoke, motioning towards one of his goons to bring forth a knife.

"Internal affairs within the mob...shit, I can't just leave this kid to be tortured..." This boy could very well be part of the mob as well, though torturing him wasn't something Milo could allow to pass. Releasing his blade from the cloth bag, Milo charged out of his hiding place and gracefully jumped onto a counter. He pulled the blade from the scabbard which he held by his waist and in a skillful maneuver, severed the goon's hand from place before in a fluid motion kicked him into the pot of boiling water. The shock was high in might but the man's screams broke through.

"What the fuck!?" It was hard to tell who had spoken, but the six people standing before him had yet to collect themselves from the bloody event which had taken place. "It's Edge!"

"Heh, people know me now...?

"He killed my friends!" Another shouted, reaching for her gun.

"About to kill a few more..." Dashing forth, Milo swung his blade in what could only be described as an exotic dance of moves, each more deadly than the other. This walk of clarity had yielded something, indeed.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Lost Haven, Slums

"Thoughts can be a maze..."

Slowly opening his eyes to the dim surroundings called home, Milo brought a hand to his face and softly rubbed his visage to wake him from the slumber he had embrace. Turning his eyes downwards, a soft sigh escaped his lips as he gently placed his feet on the ground and dusted off the bed. "Fell asleep in my clothes again..." A neatfreak to say the least, Milo quite hated dragging in dirt from the outside world, especially into his bed. As it was, his clothes were also rather torn and he felt overall disgusting. James rarely ever commented on the strife seen upon Milo's frame after missions had been accomplished simply because he had grown so used to the sight. If it wasn't the young swordsman's blood staining his clothes, it was someone else's.

Kaya and James appeared to be having a conversation and whether they noticed Milo or not, the boy's silent footsteps brought him towards the bathroom where he slipped out of his clothes and turned on the hot warmth of the water stream. Leaning against the tile wall, a gentle breath escaped him as the boy closed his eyes behind bangs covering them. It had been an eventful day, something which had brought in a second ally. Would she remain? Only time would tell, though she appeared to be the honest type. Too rough to be conniving and too blunt to be deceiving, Kaya was someone Milo thought he could trust but he had been wrong before. Only time would tell, as it was.

Reaching for the shampoo bottle, strawberry scented, Milo applied the liquid to his hair and made sure to remove the scent of battle from his frame before finally stepping out of the shower and dried up. Opening a basket with clean clothes situated by the shower, the boy slipped into a pair of casual shorts and a t-shirt before heading back into the basement where Kaya and James were still talking. Though, their conversation reached an end once James dropped down in front of his computer and allowed his fingers to dance across the keyboard like he so often did. One window after the other opened upon the screen, various numbers stretching from one end to the other, each one holding a meaning understood by the young hacker but traveled past Milo's head with ease. "Oh, hey Milly!" James raised his hand in greeting for a brief moment before he continued with his work. "How are you feeling? You usually sleep for much longer."

"Wasn't very comfortable..." Sleeping in a set of used clothes stained with blood did have a knack of disturbing desired comfort, but clad in a pair of shorts and a thin t-shirt, discomfort was a foreign concept at the moment. "What about her...?" Milo continued, turning to look at Kaya as she worked on her various guns by the sofa.

"She appears to be a really good person. I'm sure you two will get along."

"Alright..." The boy finished, his eyes curiously scanning the newly arrived companion now sharing a home with the two. Approaching his bed once more, Milo crawled atop the mattress and brought his naked feet onto the soft foundation before reaching for his iPod. A usual sight indeed, Milo could often be seen with music in his ears and his eyes in a book. Despite his years far surpassing his appearance, Milo would often claim that there was so much he had never experienced, so much he had never seen. In truth, he had lived a very narrowed life. Sights, feelings and experiences traveled him by without as much as a pat on the shoulder. Sometimes he would ask James of the world, of what it's like out there in the vast reality called life. Though, Milo would have to be satisfied with a lackluster response as James himself rowed in the same boat. Even with eternity waiting ahead, Milo couldn't help but feel trapped in a rut at times, the thought of an endless future quite fearsome to imagine. James would eventually be gone and what would that leave?

Closing the book in his hands, a heavy sigh left the boy's lips as he desperately raised the volume of his music in an attempt to escape the thoughts banging at the very fabric of his being. "Why is this an issue...?" The thought spearheaded the images in Milo's mind. "None of this is important..." He continued, silence surrounding him despite the music blasting into his ears. "I've known all of this since the start. What changed...?" Perhaps one could call it attachment? A childish notion to some, a weakness to others and a distraction to so many, would the brotherly feelings developed for James lead to dark omens? It was commonly said that the life of a hero left no room for friends and loved ones, but if that was the case, what was the point? "The greater good..." A sentence one would utter for oneself over and over again in a repeated chant until belief struck it with a sure shot, every hero requires an anchor. Some fought for their families and others for the good of the world but it left Milo in a state of confusion.

Many years passed since the day of his creation and even though the thought came and went, it always left a piece behind, a question of why. A small question of why would later develop into a question of identity and even existence. Though years had passed since the thoughts knocked on the back of his head, Milo was starting to feel the knocking cracking small holes in the barrier he had built. Milo wasn't an empty creature, a shell, who hunted down blood soaked criminals in a self proclaimed crusade because he had nothing else to define his purpose with, was he? Was he...?

Clenching his teeth at the notion, Milo pulled on a pair of socks and slid his feet into his shoes. "I'm going out..." Replacing the comfort of wool shorts were a pair of black cargo pants. This walk wasn't supposed to be one of comfort but clarity. Placing his beloved blade in a sword bag, the boy would sling the weapon over his shoulder and started towards the door.

"Alright, don't be too long." James returned, keeping his eyes on the screen. Without an answer, Milo opened the path to the outside world and set foot beyond the threshold of protection and serenity. Many years of suppressed insecurity was bombarding him at once and walking beneath the free sky was a refreshing sensation indeed.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Milo doesn't fight anyone. He's a good kid...never hurt a soul...

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Vi kan fylla hela OOC sektionen med Svenska xD

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Åh fan...xD

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Getting the impression that Hellis there is from Sweden XD Lol, no wonder we're on at the same time.

Also, cool character, :)

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

@Hellis

Hehe, alright. I'll give you a heads up when I get home from work, if you're around.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

@Hellis

I'll go ahead and take our characters to Milo's and James' hideout in my next post, is that okay with you?