"C'mon Amanda, now that your little shit of a brother is dead his debt falls to you." The six-foot male stood just outside of her apartment with a shit eating grin plastered on his face. His deep Southern accent made Amanda's skin crawl.
He leered down at the female who had opened the door thinking that it was the police with some news about what had happened to her brother. Instead, it was this prick. The man was dressed in a leather jacket and light blue ripped jeans that showed off the sheath of a knife sticking out of the top of his boot. To top it all off, he was wearing shades. Inside.
A/N: (We all know only douchebags do that.)
"Now of course," he talked nonchalantly, his voice almost taking a conversationalist shift to it as he took a step into Amanda's apartment. "You can pay off his debt to the Valdenci's in whatever way you want, but."
He took another step towards Amanda, his tone dropping to a sinister whisper that sent shivers down the woman's spine.
"There are far more pleasurable ways to pay off debts. All you gotta do for me is one tiny little favor." The last few words were followed by a suggestive chuckle and the sounds of a belt being undone. Amanda, to her credit, didn't balk away from the man; in spite of his vulgar attitude, she stood her ground.
"I don't care what trouble Alex got into with the family. I don't owe them anything, and I definitely don't owe you shit, Kieth. Now leave me alone." Her words were clipped, and it was clear she wanted nothing to do with him.
The fiery red-haired woman didn't measure up in stature or strength to Kieth, but Alex had made sure she had a way to protect herself should he ever not be around any longer. Before things escalated beyond what she would be able to control, Amanda whipped out her only hope, pepper spray.
Spraying Kieth in the face, she turned and bolted back to her apartment's interior to find her phone. The Valdenci's might control everything, but even they would have a hard time justifying assaulting a hard working citizen like her. Finally reaching her purse and grabbing her phone she started to dial the number for the enforcers, but a strong grip wrapped around her wrist from behind.
"That was rude."
Kieth's skin was red and clearly irritated due to the pepper spray, but unfortunately for Amanda, he was wearing glasses. His own douchebag-ness had saved him from a world of pain.
"Due to that little stunt, it's gonna take much, much longer to pay off the debt." His words were barely more than a hiss and his tone was full of irritation. Amanda couldn't help but smirk, glad she managed to piss him off to such a degree.
His grip tightened around her wrist, so much so to the point of pain, as he pinned her against the countertop of the kitchen. She couldn't see him, but his heaviness kept her from turning around or gaining any leverage to escape.
"Now drop the phone and go wait on the-" His words were cut off as a loud crack echoed throughout the apartment. The pressure relented and the man's heavy presence simply disappeared, followed by a prominent thud. Finally freed from Kieth's iron-like grip, Amanda turned around and found herself staring at a stranger. "Hey sis, sorry I'm late."
Moments Ago
Alex heard a man's wailing scream the second he exited the elevator, and it came directly from the direction that Amanda's apartment was in. Running like there was no tomorrow, Alex flew down the corridor of condo apartments and stopped just outside the one on the farthest end. Its door was slightly ajar, and his improved senses picked up on the sounds of a small struggle coming from within. Rage filled his vision, and he walked inside, ignoring the creaking sound the door emitted from being pushed open.
Alex was greeted with the sight of Kieth pinning his sister against her own countertop, his hand wrapped around her wrist. Thankfully, they both had their backs to him, so he was able to walk up without making a single noise. In one fluid motion, Alex grabbed Kieth's stupid head with one hand and slammed it into the marble counter with a loud crack.
Not used to his new strength, and slightly overcome with anger, Alex had accidentally used more force than he had intended. Kieth's unconscious form slumped unceremoniously to the floor, and a face that Alex thought he would never get to see again turned around and stared at him. "Hey sis, sorry I'm late."
An awkward silence stretched throughout the apartment as his sister stared at him, and two things happened. Firstly, it seemed as if she was looking at Alex like he was a complete stranger. Second, it dawned on Alex that Virgol had been trying to tell him something ever since he had arrived.
"Oh, so now you want to listen? You idiot." Virgol's usual monotone voice sounded somewhat angry, "I was trying to warn you that your sister would not recognize you. The rebirth process is a complicated one. Most, if not all, Heroes are not reborn in the bodies of their original life. It is supposed to help them move on and embrace becoming champions of the gods, but in your case…"
Alex sighed as his mind finished the unspoken words. It meant that no one would recognize him. There were benefits and downsides to this, he realized, but in this moment not having his own sister recognize him was a real gut punch. His "dead brother to the rescue!" plan was not working quite as he had thought it would. Virgol's words also brought another question to the forefront of Alex's mind, and it was one he never thought he'd have to ask himself. Just what did he look like?
Amanda stared at her brother with a completely dumbfounded look. Mere moments ago, she had been in danger of doing some extremely unsavory things in order to keep living, and now there was some new person standing before her calling her "sis." Her savior was a six foot tall handsome man with black colored hair that was slicked back and combed down. A small unruly tuft of his hair hung just in front of sky-blue colored irises that seemed to hold a depth of mystery to them.
The rest of his face could only be described as beautiful, it was as if a famous model had stepped out of the apps on her phone and appeared in her apartment. His features were sharp, and he looked as if he held an air of self importance about him. He was dressed in a dark colored muscle shirt that showed off his lean and muscular body, like he had been working out his whole life.
Strange swirling tattoos covered the lengths of his arms and the portion of his chest that she could see; they looked as if they were symbols of some kind. One symbol flowed into the next, it was as if one massive tattoo covered his whole body. To top it all off, a small necklace with a silver locket hung from his neck, and the longer she stared at it the harder it was to pull away from it. The more she stared at this strange man, the more she felt as if she should know him.
"Amanda," his rich baritone voice broke the silence, "It's me, Alex. Your brother."
Nearly half an hour later, Alex and his sister were sitting on her couch. It had been awkward when Alex initially began explaining things to her about why he was here, and why he looked different.
The two of them hadn't been close since they were little kids due to their parents getting a divorce. Alex had gone with his mom and Amanda had stayed with their dad. The look she gave him was one of complete disbelief and semi-shellshock. She had just recently heard about her brothers passing, and before that they talked maybe once every three months.
"Sooo, let me get this straight, you died, and were then brought back to life by these gods," Alex nodded at her words, "And they want you to be their champion, or whatever, to fight in this war of theirs?" The way she spoke was as if she was disassociating. Alex couldn't blame her though, she had been assaulted and saved by her dead brother, who was now telling her that gods were real and they were fighting a massive war.
"Yep. That covers everything." Alex grimaced as she repeated his own story back to him. When it was put that way, it didn't sound too bad. If anything, a lot of people would probably leap at the opportunity to be a champion for all powerful gods.
What they don't realize however, is that they would simply be a puppet and a tool. Those people would be serving at the whims of these cosmic beings, and if Alex knew anything about what he's learned so far, it was that these gods weren't all good. Even Virgol had a distaste for how they handled everything so callously.
Amanda sipped at her Mickey Mouse coffee mug and smacked her lips with the aftertaste, "Well. That sounds horrible and all, but what are we gonna do about him?" She nodded her head in the direction of a loveseat in the corner of the room, and the tied up figure sitting on it. Keith was bound to the chair and gagged, completely wide eyed as he stared at Alex like he was seeing a ghost. Alex stood up from the couch with a gleam in his eye. He knew just how to deal with one of the people involved in his murder.