FIRST ITERATION; TWISTED TRUTH SPECIAL CHAPTER - THE MEMORABLE DANCE
1.
For an unknown amount of time, he remained unaware. His field of vision was black, and he couldn't think or act. His entire body had been deprived of any sensation and he was cold to the touch.
Then a voice reached out to him,
"You have been asleep for far too long, my old friend." The voice said.
But he wasn't. He hadn't been asleep at all. He had died, and they also knew it.
"I found you. I put you back together and I fixed you."
His body, which had been damaged, had been fixed. And the warmth of his body had returned. Even his heart began to beat again, and he could breathe normally as if nothing had happened. But he couldn't move. He couldn't move at all. He couldn't even open his eyes.
Then the voice spoke to him again,
"Do you remember what happened to you?"
But he couldn't. He couldn't remember anything.
As if things couldn't get worse for him, he wasn't fully aware. It was as if he was in a dream and every action he could take was fuzzy and blurry. Even the words that came out of his mouth were spoken without thinking.
"...I… I don't…"
Since his vision hadn't returned, he couldn't know what the expression of the man that was speaking to him was. Not that it would matter anyways.
His mind and memories were jumbled.
"Then tell me. What do you remember?"
▲△▲△▲△▲△
"Where the hell is he?"
The blond boy stood outside the two green-metal doors that led into the gymnasium. He was waiting impatiently. He kept looking back and forth between his expensive watch made out of real, quality gold and the corridor that led onto the cafeteria.
Next to the cafeteria was another corridor, and this corridor led into the school's entrance doors. Outside the entrance was a huge banner that said "Fall Dance '06".
He looked at the people that kept walking from the corridor into the gymnasium. Most of them were couples. He looked at them, and they looked at him. He would greet them with a forced smile which showed his perfect white teeth.
Most of the guys that entered the gymnasium wore tuxedos, and like them, he also wore one. But unlike them, his probably cost at least as much as a brand-new sports car.
And to be quite honest, everything about him was expensive. From his designer shoes, to his bowtie, and even the two-thousand allyeris cream that he used on his blond hair.
He kept tapping his left foot as he looked at the corridor. He was irritated, and he felt impatient; The person that he was waiting for, still had not arrived.
"Why do I even try?" he sighed.
His face displayed his irritation and the smile that he had been forcing for the last two hours was beginning to disappear. But because his classmates kept entering the gymnasium, he had to endure it.
"Is that Nathan?" A girl who was walking alongside her boyfriend asked.
"Yeah." her boyfriend responded.
"Why is he outside waiting? I thought he was quite popular with the girls. Is he perhaps waiting for his date?"
"Probably not. He is a playboy, he has never settled down with anyone. He is probably waiting for… him."
Nathan was many things. Girls loved him, and guys felt jealous of him. He was labeled many things and perhaps all of them were true. And yet, for some strange reason, no one seemed to hate him.
It was a phenomenon that Nate himself could not explain. But those close to him knew the reason. And that is because Nathan is a charismatic person. The perfect guy that lived the perfect life. Yes, he was a playboy, he was stubborn, and he had… flaws. But despite his flaws, he was also smart, handsome, and to a lot of people, he was perfect.
Nathan kept waiting outside the gymnasium. He heard the music and the laughing of the people inside that had a good time.
"Seriously… Just where is he?" Nathan said out loud.
"Where is who?" Someone asked.
A guy appeared behind him, causing Nathan to get spooked and to jump from surprise. The guy that asked him that question, was the same age as him. Unlike Nathan's blond hair and pale snowlike white skin, he had straight black hair and had a darker complexion. Nathan did not wear any glasses over his green eyes. But the black haired boy did. He wore circular shaped glasses over his black eyes. The boy's name was Benji.
Before he could say anything to Benji, a second person appeared behind Benji.
"Don't tell me that you're still waiting on him." the second person said.
But that voice did not belong to that of a boy. Instead it was a feminine voice, a girl's voice. She had long straight black hair that had been stylized into a pony tail. She had white skin and monolid-almond shaped eyes. She was wearing a yellow dress that had a white pattern of white flowers. The girl's name was Nina. They were Nathan's friends. His only friends.
"He's always late! You expect too much from him." Nina said. Both of her hands were on her waist.
"Nina is right, Nate. You know he is always late to everything, and most of the time, he doesn't even show up!" Benji said.
Nina nodded proudly as Benji backed her up, she loved being right. Both of them did not believe that their friend would come. And why would they? Why would they have faith that their friend would show up today? He hadn't shown up to the previous events. He hadn't even shown up when his friends needed help. He was notorious for always being late to everything and he was notorious for going missing without warning for days at a time. Nina and Benji had no faith in him, but Nate did.
"He'll make it this time. Just wait and see."
NIna and Benji looked at each other.
"Right…"
"Right…"
Nina closed her eyes and smiled at him. It was an annoying fake smile which quite frankly, annoyed Nate.
"Nate, you're too loyal for your own good." But he wasn't.
Perhaps at the beginning, he was waiting for his friend out of the goodness of his heart. Perhaps, he was waiting because he knew no one else would. But now, now it was different.
He now was waiting on his friend, not out of loyalty or because he was a good friend but because he did not want to be wrong. He hated being wrong, he despised it.
"He'll come, just wait and see."
"If you say so." She sighed, "If you want to spend the entire night waiting, then suit yourself. But Benji and I will enjoy this night."
She forcefully grabbed Benji's hand to drag him inside the gymnasium.
"Ouch, ouch, It hurts!" Benji cried out in pain as Nina squeezed his hand.
He couldn't blame Nina. At the end of the day, she had been right about him before. A couple of years ago, his friend had asked her out on a date at a time when she was facing… family issues. It was a dark time in Nina's life, and yet what made her smile back then was his friend.
In the end, his friend didn't show up to his date. He had left her hanging, and yet, she wasn't mad. I mean… She was but she forgave him. But time after time, he failed her. Time after time, he failed them.
He looked at her as she entered the room.
He sighed,
"He'll come…"
▲△▲△▲△▲△
"-Let me go!"
The man, who was currently restrained to a lamp-post, was shouting. He had been restrained using an old steel chain that had been wrapped around his body to bind him to the lamp-post.
He had a peculiar appearance but he was handsome nonetheless. He was tall and wore a designer black suit, he had black hair and green eyes. But what made his appearance peculiar was his dulled out right eye and the long scar that he had on top of that same eye. He had snakes tattoos all over his body
This man is not an ordinary man. He was the leader of one of Sunset City's most notorious and violent gangs, and he worked with kingpins of the underworld. His name was Snake-Eye.
"I said, let me go!" He tried to get out of the chains but the chains were too strong to be broken.
"Nah, I don't think I will." A second voice said.
The second voice was softer compared to the rough and mature voice from Snake-Eye. It was also younger, a lot younger. The voice was from a boy, not older than 15-16 years old.
"Y'know, you're gonna regret it. You're really gonna regret it. I tried to be patient here boy, I really did, but you're not leavin' me a lot of options here kid."
The boy who wore a red mask, as well as a red suit, gloves, and shoes put his finger on Snake-Eye's forehead.
"Really? And what will you do inside the warm, cozy cell in a maximum security prison?"
"Ain't goin' there kid. The pigs (police) have nothin' on me."
"Reallyyy?"
The boy reached to the back of his belt to pull out a custom made blade. It had animal patterns all over it.
"Do you know what this is?" He asked.
Snake-eye eyes widen.
"T-That's… That's Ziggy's knife."
Snake-eye couldn't see the boy's expression under his mask. After all, the boy's face was fully hidden by the mask. His mask had two golden lenses that protected and hid his eyes, as well as another mask that had the appearance of a respirator that covered his mouth and nose. And although he couldn't see his face, he knew he was grinning under that mask.
"A couple of days ago, the police were called to a scene in which one of their suspects had been killed. The weapon responsible for the killing was this knife."
"What're ya getting at?"
Snake-eye was not interested in discussing the masked boy. Instead, he wanted to know why he was holding that knife.
The masked boy sighed,
"No patience… I see. Fine, I'll cut to the chase. I'm saying you killed him."
Snake-eye snorted.
"Me? Why would I kill him?"
The boy did a thinking gesture. He put his hand on his chin and looked away for a moment, letting out a "Hmmm" sound.
"I wonder why… Maybe because he was a 'rat'?"
Snake-eye laughed.
"Bahahahahaha. A rat? Seriously, is that all you got?" Once he stopped laughing, he looked at the boy with an offended expression, almost as if suggesting that implying that was offensive.
"Ziggy was a friend. No, he was more than a friend, y'see. He was like family."
Had he not known better, he probably would've believed Snake-eye's lie. He was a liar, a very good one.
A few days ago, he had been investigating one of the members of the viper gang for the possible connection between a trafficking ring and the viper gang. The person in question was Ziggy.
He remembered making his way towards Ziggy's apartment for questioning and seeing a black van pass by him. He, out of pure coincidence, glanced at the driver and he saw him. He saw Snake-eye.
The boy rushed to Ziggy's apartment and broke in, just to see Ziggy and his entire family killed. It was a violent and gory scene and it was one that made him want to puke, and he would've. But what made him regain his composure was seeing that one person had survived.
He was just barely clinging to life. But… he would die regardless. That person was Ziggy himself.
The boy made his way towards his side, comforting him in his last moments. He remembered how he held his hand.
"Who…Who did this to you?" The boy asked.
"My family… Are they-" Ziggy said, concerned about his family in the last moments of his life. He had a wife and two kids. A boy and a girl.
The boy was hesitant to respond, they were all dead. He nodded. Tears began to come out of Ziggy's eyes.
"Haah… I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you."
Ziggy's custom made knife, which had animal patterns on its blade, had been impaled into his chest.
"...I can't save you." the boy lamented, "But I can bring you and your family justice."
He was a vigilante. He was someone who operated outside the law and enacted his own idea of justice onto others. He wasn't a hero, but in some rare moments, he acted like one.
He was following the promise he had made a long time to the man to whom the golden fire insignia on his chest had originally belonged to.
"Tell me…. Who did this to you?" He asked once again.
Ziggy, who was gasping for air, looked at the masked boy.
"...Snake… eye.."
This confirmed it. The person who was driving the van, was really him.
"Snake-eye…" The boy murmured that name.
Struggling to breathe and on the brink of dying, Ziggy spoke his last words.
"...You… will…bring justice to my family…" Ziggy looked at him, before looking at the small air vent on his apartment's wall. He did not have the strength to point at it, or to even tell him. But he knew one thing for certain. He would get his justice. Knowing that, he gave his last breath.
That's why he knew that everything that came out of Snake-eye's mouth was a lie.
"Listen to me, yer got the wrong guy. Do you have any idea how important Ziggy was to me?" Snake-eye said.
"Was he so important that you had to kill his entire family?"
"Oh wait, they're dead too?"
With his right fist, the boy struck him in the face. And Snake-eye began to spit out blood.
"Come on! Was that really necessary!?"
The boy grabbed him by the collar of his suit.
"Don't make me repeat myself."
"Look. Not that I did it, but in this type of business you gotta get rid of any loose ends."
The boy wanted to hurt him but hurting trash like him wasn't worth his time. Especially not tonight.
"What is the connection between the viper gang and the many people going missing?"
"Wai-What? Why are you asking that now?"
"Answer me!"
"I don't know! I don't know. What're you? Stupid? You think my boys and I had anything to do with that?"
He sighed,
"You got a pretty big mouth for someone in your situation. Very well, you leave me no choice. The police are on their way."
Snake-eye snorted and laughed.
"HA! You think they have something on me? I'll be out by tomorrow!"
The boy knew this, and that's why he came prepared.
"Oh no, I don't think so." The boy arrogantly said.
On his right hand, he was holding Ziggy's custom made knife. It was a sharp retractable knife, and on its blade, it had the dried up blood of the man it had killed.
He brought the knife close to Snake-eye.
"Kid. Kid. What're you doin'?" He nervously said.
But he wasn't going to kill Snake-eye. He wasn't going to get his hands dirty… again.
He placed the retractable-knife on Snake-eye's front pocket.
"Huh?" Snake-eye was confused. "What are you-"
"When the police get here, they're going to search you and your… 'boys'. It is standard protocol. However, when they see the knife —Ziggy's knife — has blood on it, they're going to send it to the forensics department for a DNA test. I'm sure you already know what they're going to do once they realize that the blood belongs to Ziggy…"
Snake-eye was perplexed. He had known about the boy for years and he had even had several encounters with him. But even he did not think he was capable of this. He was getting smarter and colder.
"Ohohohoho, that's dirty. But it don't matter. The judge, the jury, the warden, and the cops are completely bought out. I'm tellin' you, I'm walking free tomorrow."
If he wasn't wearing a mask, Snake-eye would've seen him grinning.
"Oh, I know. That's why I came prepared."
He reached to the back of his belt and pulled out a couple of small pictures out of one of his pouches.
"A gift! For you!" The boy sarcastically said.
He took some steps back and threw the pictures to the floor in front of Snake-eye. And even though the pictures were small, he could see clearly the contents of the pictures, and the content scared him.
"W-What is this!?" He shouted at the boy, demanding to know how he came into possession of these pictures.
"A little gift from our mutual friend Ziggy. You could call it, Ziggy's revenge."
There were several pictures and all of them had one thing in common. They were pictures of Snake-eye, and alongside him, there were several other figures. Each picture contained the images of many of the most notorious crime lords of Sunset City.
"Is that why you killed him? Because he was onto you?"
Snake-eye growled at him.
"Don't play with me boy. When I get out of these chains, I'm gonna-"
"IF you get out." He interrupted.
The boy picked up the pictures.
"I wonder what would happen if I were to make these pictures public."
Snake-eye was baffled.
"You- You wouldn't! Do you have any idea what they'll do to me!?"
"I do. You said it yourself, snake. This is the type of business that gets rid of any loose ends."
"You're…You're bluffing. You would never. BlazeSto-"
"I'm not him. And if you think I am anything like him, you will find out how wrong you are."
The boy left the pictures next to Snake-eye, but he had made copies just in case he got away.
"Goodbye, Snake-eye."
"Wait!"
He stopped and looked back.
"What is it?"
"Look kid… I-I can pay you! Just name a number and it's yours!" Snake-eye pleaded.
"Oh? A bribe? That's illegal, you know?" He sneered.
"Look… Just tell me what you want!"
He turned around, making his way towards Snake-eye.
"You will admit to killing Ziggy and his family."
"No, I didn't"
"Yes you did!"
Even in moments of despair, he tried to keep up his lie. But that was what was expected from Snake-eye, the snake.
"You will tell me what the connection between the Viper gang and the multiple disappearances… And-"
He got closer to him to the point that they were face to face. The man with the dulled-out eye could see his face reflected off the boy's golden lenses.
But the boy did not care. He wanted to know something else, something that was very important to him. The kidnappings, Ziggy and his family's murders came secondary to what he wanted to know the most. Everything was secondary compared to that.
"Where is Death Marauder!?"
▲△▲△▲△▲△
Two vehicles arrived at the Sunset City Port. The vehicles were black and white and had lights attached on their roofs. On the sides of their doors they had a decal that said, "Sunset City Police Department" or "SCPD" for short.
The emergency lights of the two vehicles were turned on, and they illuminated the surrounding warehouses and depots with their red and blue lights.
Both vehicles continued to drive through the Port until they stopped outside of one of the warehouses. On top of the two huge automatic sliding doors was the number "42" painted. This was the 42nd warehouse out of the 200 warehouses built to store the goods that came in from all over the world.
The front doors from both of the police vehicles opened, and four men stepped out. Two from each car. All of them were tall men and almost all of them wore the same police uniform, except for one. The exception was wearing a leather coat over his cotton buttoned shirt that reached to his knees. And he wore a fedora over his long gray hair and had a cigarette in his mouth. He was the Chief of Police, Lilam.
Lilam and his partner, Lieutenant Derick, made their way to the two officers that were behind their vehicle.
"I don't remember calling any of you here." Lilam said as he exhaled a cloud of smoke before putting the cigar on his mouth again.
"If the commissioner finds out that all four of us are here, he's going to get suspicious." Derrick added.
The two officers were of lower rank. It was Corporal Yoshua and Private Dukes.
"Our vehicle's tracker has been disabled and our bodycams have been turned off." Yoshua said. "But even so, it was of great importance for us to be here."
"Don't tell me how important this is. I already know." Lilam said, before exhaling another cloud of smoke. "Your client should be glad that it was one of my men that answered the call."
"W-We'll tell him." Dukes stuttered.
All of them entered the dark warehouse and with their flashlights they illuminated their path.
"Holy-"
In front of them were the unconscious and beaten bodies of several men. None of them were severely injured and luckily none of them were killed. But it wasn't a miracle that there hadn't been a tragedy amongst them. No, they were alive because he willed it.
"It's him. Again." Yoshua said.
Lilam put another cigar in his mouth and lit it with his silver lighter. He inhaled the smoke that came from his 300 allyeris cigar and then he exhaled it, releasing a new cloud of smoke from his mouth.
"Of course it's him, obviously." Lilam said. "Who else would it be?" He put his lighter on the inside pocket of his coat.
"Ziggy is dead and now this?" Yoshua said.
"Ziggy was a rat. And as for this? They aren't our men. Those are that snake's men."
Lieutenant Derick kneeled over to get a closer look at one of the men.
"Why doesn't he just kill them? Doesn't he know that none of these men will go to jail?"
"He's leaving us a message." Liliam said, "He wanted us to see this. And it's not just Snake-eye's men but also other gangs and businesses as well. Almost as if to tell us that he is onto us."
Yoshua gritted his teeth,
"He's getting bolder. It was better when he was focused on brawling it out with other freaks like him."
Although neither of two higher ranking officers replied, both of them agreed that it had started to become a nuisance, and perhaps troublesome since that vigilante starting causing issues for them.
"G-Guys! Over here!" The young private shouted as he appeared outside of the two sliding doors.
They all looked at him and made their way towards him.
"Y-You guys got to see this."
Private Dukes lead them into the back of the warehouse. And close to the water, there was a man tied up to a lamp-post with a chain.
"I-It's Snake-eye."
The chief kneeled over in front of the unconscious Snake-eye and slapped him to wake him up. And after feeling the sharp warm pain from the slap, Snake-eye opened his eyes.
"Ouch… Was that really necessary?" Snake-eye said.
"But of course, why else would I touch you?"
The four… or rather five of them remained silent for a moment. Although all of them knew who the perpetrator was, none of them wanted to admit it. After all, it was embarrassing to admit that it had been a kid that had been beating them for the last 4 months.
And then Duke's broke the ice,
"W-Was it him?"
Snake-eye clicked his tongue and gritted his teeth but said nothing. He did not want to admit that he had been beaten by what he considered to be an immature child that threw tantrums. And instead, he simply nodded.
And although it was quite an embarrassing thing that happened to them, all of them knew that this war was far from over.
2.
Nate leaned behind the two green doors, and behind him, he could hear the sounds of his classmates having such a good time. And he couldn't help but to feel left out and that's because he wanted to have a good time too.
"...Who am I kidding… He's not showing up is he?"
He had been waiting for over 3 hours and his friend had still not arrived. Everyone in the school… ALMOST everyone in the school, except for he and his friend were already inside of the gymnasium. And he wondered if perhaps it was okay for him to enter the gymnasium. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter if he waited for him outside or inside of the gymnasium because the outcome would remain the same.
He thought that perhaps Nina was right, that she had always been right about him. But he pushed back those thoughts about him. And that's because she was not right.
He understood why he was always late to everything. He understood why he had to do what he was doing. But it really did suck being at the receiving end of his friend's choice.
And that's because today was the last time they were all going to be together. Nina had lost her father, and as a result she was moving tomorrow to the other side of the country. Benji was accepted into a special program and next year he was going to be transferring schools. Today, on this night, was the last time they would all be together.
"...Damn it… Why do you have to be so stubborn all the time!?"
It frustrated him that he had broken another promise. The promise he had made to Nina.
He looked at the long empty corridor and saw nothing. He couldn't even hear the footsteps of anyone or anything.
"He's not going to come…" Nate said to himself,
He turned around to face the two doors, and that was because he knew that it wouldn't be fair for Nina for another one of her friends to miss the dance.
He had given up hope that his friend would show up at all. He hadn't given up hope because he didn't hear the sound of footsteps that were coming from the cafeteria.
And as he opened the door, a voice announced himself.
"I'm here!"
His friend had arrived.
▲△▲△▲△▲△
He had arrived late, but he had beaten all the expectations that his friend had for him. And even though he had been late, he arrived nonetheless.
"You're a mess." Nathan said,
And he was right. The brown haired boy who usually had straight combed hair, now had disheveled messy hair.
He was sweating, and he was also panting. He had been running from one of Sunset City's ports to the school and the distance could be considered a small marathon.
He had been changing while he was running, and thus still had his suit under his untidy tuxedo.
After a couple of moments of catching his breath, he looked at his friend with his usual annoying smug.
"But I'm still here, aren't I?"
"Hmph! Barely…" Nathan responded.
Nathan tidied up his friend's clothes.
"You know that you stink, right?"
"Huh?"
Nathan sighed,
"What would you do without me?"
For the last two years, Nathan had been the one covering for his friend. He was the one that made the excuses whenever he didn't show up for class, he was the one that did his homework, and he had been the one that took his friend's daily responsibilities.
His friend made an apologetic expression and shrugged his shoulders.
"I know, I know. I'm grateful, believe me."
"You don't sound sincere."
Nathan pulled out an expensive cologne from one of the pockets from the jacket of his tuxedo. And he began to spray it on his friend to hide his sweaty scent.
"I owe you one." The boy said,
"You owe me many."
The right sleeve from his white cotton shirt was tainted in red. Nathan glanced at it and he pointed it out.
"Is that… Is that blood?"
And it was. When he was fighting with the viper gang, one of Snake-eye's men cut him in the wrist with a machete.
He raised his forearm close to his face, and he took a good look at his stained sleeve. And under the sleeve there was a huge cut that was still bleeding.
"Huh? I suppose it is. It should heal in a couple of hours."
"Regardless, we need to get that fixed." Nathan said.
He pulled out a folded white handkerchief from his front pocket, and he wrapped it around his friend's wrist.
"That's another one I owe you." The boy said.
"What would you do without me?"
He rolled his eyes,
"A lot of things, actually."
Both of them laughed.
"So who were you fighting this time? Flamelock? Unibeam?"
Nate began to call out a list of names of people, or rather foes that his friend had gone against in the past. But it was none of the people he named.
"-Snake-eye."
"Ah. Snake-Eye… Right."
Nate saw the little glint in his friend's eye, as well as the curve of his grin.
"I know that look. What is it?" Nate asked.
▲△▲△▲△▲△
Both of them entered the gymnasium.
The gymnasium, which was normally used to host classes, as well as to do exercise and host tournaments against other schools, had been turned into a ballroom.
The entire place had been decorated using the nicest as well as the most expensive material possible. The person in charge of the decorations this year was Benji and he made sure everything looked perfect. It was a final goodbye gift for his childhood friend.
"Woah… Did Benji really do all of this? Man, this feels wrong." The boy said.
Benji, who usually cut corners, had gone out fully on this place. He was a very cheap person who hated spending money.
In his free time, he usually spent it on the Sunset City mall, picking up any coins that had been thrown into the many fountains. And he usually bought the cheapest of things.
It wasn't because he was broke. In fact, he wasn't. His family owned one of the most popular restaurants in the city, and that was also where he worked.
He couldn't help but to feel surprised at how beautiful and expensive this place looked. It was contradictory to the image he had of his friend.
"Well… he wasn't the one that paid for the decorations." Nathan pouted
That made more sense.
"Anyways, I'm sure you have a lot of explaining to do."
"What do you mean?"
"Hm?" Nate raised his eyebrow, "What I mean is that you're going to have to explain to Nina your reasons for being late."
The boy's face went pale.
"You know I can't do that!"
Nate sighed,
"Sooner or later, you're going to have to tell the truth to your friends. That is… if you still want to remain friends with them."
"They wouldn't understand-"
"And how do you know that?" Nate interrupted, "How do you know that they won't understand?"
He remained silent for a few seconds before continuing,
"How can I tell Nina that I'm the reason her father is-" He stopped midsentence.
He remembered the "incident" that happened months ago. He could still remember the warmth of the blood in his hands. He remembered the aftermath of that day, when Nina's father-
Nate smacked him in the back of his head.
"Ouch! What was that for!?" The boy asked.
"You spaced out."
Nate put his hand on his friend's shoulder. He understood how delicate and complicated the situation really was. After all, he had been there when the incident occurred.
"Listen, it won't be easy. And maybe… she will hate you because of it. But she deserves to know the truth. Especially today."
One thing was for certain. Whatever the outcome was, he would most likely not see Nina again. She was moving to another part of the country to have a fresh beginning. A new beginning.
The boy looked down.
"I know."
"Whatever the outcome is, I'll still be here." Nathan said.
▲△▲△▲△▲△
"I still cannot believe you threw up on the floor!" A girl said angrily.
She was sitting in front of a circular shaped table. The table was covered by a white tablecloth made out of silk.
"I told you not to drink a lot of fruit punch."
In front of the girl, sat a boy that wore circular shaped glasses.
"I'm sorry… It's just that it was made out Paple and Peach and you know it's my favorite-"
"Shut up."
The boy that wore the circular shaped glasses could only smile at her apologetically.
While they were dancing, Benji had thrown up on the floor, and some of his vomit got on Nina's dress that had belonged to her mother.
"I'm sorry…" He tried to apologize again,
"Shut up." But his apology got rejected once again.
Benji pouted, he hated being scolded, especially by Nina. What had been done cannot be changed, and now he must endure the entire night in embarrassment.
He had never been popular, nor had anyone really paid much attention to him. He wasn't an outcast like his friend who was always late to everything. And he wasn't admired by anyone, like his friend Nathaniel. He wasn't even considered to be the most gifted like Nina, even though he himself was extremely smart. And now that he thought about it, he was part of a very peculiar group of people that were known for both the best and the worst things. All of them were known, except him.
But that was before today. And that's because he had vomited in front of everyone. In front of every student and teacher in his school. And as he thought about it, his cheeks turned red.
He hid his face with his hands, and he wanted to disappear for a moment. He knew how cruel and delicate the people in his school were. And not just his school, but the entire country. All of his friends had nicknames, and not all of them were positive.
His friend was known as the arrogant douchebag, which was a fitting and appropriate name. Nathan was known as the White Prince, the heir of the most important and powerful company in the country, and perhaps the world. And Nina was known as the talented genius, the smartest person in school. And he knew that after today he was going to be known as the person who threw up in the gymnasium.
"Maybe he was right not to come. Maybe I should've followed his example." He said to himself.
But those were shallow words. And that was because this was Nina's night. Everything he had done for the last four months was for Nina to have a good sendoff. For Nina to have the best night she could have.
Thinking about her, calmed his heart. He was still embarrassed but he was more concerned about Nina than himself.
And that's why he couldn't forgive his friend. Because he didn't deserve Nina's heart. He felt… jealous of him, but it was something that he wouldn't tell anyone, especially him.
"I'm actually kind of glad that he didn't show up at all." He told himself.
Today was the night that he would reveal his feelings to Nina. He knew that nothing he did, nothing he said, would change the fact that she was moving away. But at the very least, he could express himself without having regrets. At the very least, he could be honest with himself and with her.
"Hey Nina, there's something I have to tell you." Benji said.
But Nina wasn't listening. She wasn't even paying attention to Benji and it was as if she had forgotten that she had vomit on her dress. Nina was looking away, she was looking at something.
He would've admired the beauty of Nina's delicate face, but curiosity got the best of him, and he turned to see what she was looking at. But this was the one thing that Benji secretly didn't want to see.
He narrowed his eyes as he gazed at… him.
"Damn it…" He cursed his name under his breath.
▲△▲△▲△▲△
"Man… This sucks!"
The boy tried to hide his irritation, as well as his annoyance.
"Six times… It's been six times!"
For the last two hours, the boy had been rejected six times.
"...Or was it seven? I mean, the old hag doesn't count, does it?"
It shouldn't have come as a surprise to him. At the end of the day, he was disliked by many. Most people considered him a jerk and someone with not a lot of tact or intelligence. But perhaps he was not very self aware to realize that people simply did not like him.
Even the teachers appeared not to like him. After being rejected by the sixth girl his age, he decided to ask someone older to dance. He had lowered his expectations and asked one of his teachers, one that was particularly on the chubby side.
And when he asked her out to dance, she rejected and laughed at him.
"Man… This is not fun at all."
He thought that perhaps he should've stayed at home. Or perhaps, he should've interrogated Snake-eye longer. Perhaps, he should've continued his hunt and tried to track down the people responsible for the trafficking and the drug distribution across the city.
But he knew why he didn't do that.
"Nina…"
He could not deny that he had been a bad friend to her. As much as he may have wanted to deny it, he had broken his word many times over, to the point that she didn't even believe him anymore.
"Sooner or later, you're going to have to tell the truth to your friends. That is… if you still want to remain friends with them." He remembered the words that Nate said.
"Easy for you to say!"
But he was right. Just how many more betrayals and disappointments did his friends have to endure before they cut all relationships with him?
He was a bad friend. A very bad friend. Maybe the people were right to call him a jerk. Maybe they had a reason not to have any association with him.
"But I can't face her…" He said to himself.
After leaving her hanging so many times, after breaking the promises he made to her, how could he face her now? He would've preferred being stuck in a room with all the foes he had faced in the past, than to face her now.
"At the very least, I should smile to look like I'm having fun."
To have fun… everyone wants to have fun and enjoy their lives. It is something normal that everyone desires, including him. But not everything goes to plan… At least, not to him.
He remained standing alone at the corner of the gym, holding a cup of fruit punch in one hand while he looked at the people his age dancing and enjoying their night.
"I wonder if Nate has the same problem as me?"
He looked around the building, trying to locate his friend amongst the hundred of students that were dancing or talking with their partners. And he saw a commotion… although calling it a commotion was an overstatement.
On the east part of the gym, there was a group of students surrounding someone. They all tried to talk to him, and tried to dance with him. And why wouldn't they?
That person was the image of perfection. He was blond, tall, had green eyes and had inconceivable wealth. And there was only one person in the entire city, and perhaps the entire country that fit this description: Nathaniel Ledger.
For him, everything was possible. He didn't have to go through the struggles that his friends faced. He didn't even understand what struggling and working for something was. But despite his incredible wealth and strength, he did not let it get to his head.
One could wonder why Nathan was friends with him. After all, he could be friends with anyone. In fact, that's what everyone in school and outside of school wondered. Why would he, as smart and privileged as he was, be friends with someone like him?
But that's exactly the reason why. Everyone in school only looked at him at the surface level. They all wanted something from him. They wanted to be with him because of his looks. They wanted to be with him because of his wealth. They wanted to be with him for his fame and privileges that he had. Except him.
And that's because his friend didn't care about any of those things. In fact, coming from a police family, he often saw how the rich and famous got away with practically anything. And although he didn't really have anything against the upper class, he still saw how much power wealth had.
His friend did not care if he was the heir of the most powerful company in the country. He didn't even care if he was rich and that he could ruin his life. To Nate, he was the only person that was honest, the only person that didn't see him as some spoiled rich kid.
He was honest, and straightforward, and that's one of the reasons why everyone outcasted him. Everyone except for Nate himself.
But Nathan couldn't deny that having good looks and a big wallet had its benefits. Especially tonight.
Girls from all backgrounds and grades tried to be with Nate tonight. All of them admired and basically worshiped him. And even the ugly ones tried.
He did not know what he was missing. What made him so different from Nate? Both of them were human, no? So he wondered what did his friend have that he didn't.
Sure, Nate was taller, and perhaps he was even more handsome. Nate had blond hair and he had green eyes that were so beautiful that they could be compared to emeralds. He had well defined eyebrows and pale white skin. And even his tuxedo was extraordinary.
While he was fun-sized and looked ordinary. And unlike Nate's well-groomed hair, he had messy dark-brown hair. He also had thick eyebrows and a scar on his left eyebrow. He had olive skin and sharp brown eyes, which he got from his late mother. And he wore a red tuxedo that belonged to his grandfather.
"I'm outclassed!"
Unlike his friend, no girl wanted to talk to him. In fact, they all avoided even making eye contact with him. He would've even settled with one of the ugly ones that were surrounding Nate.
"I'm so pathetic…"
He looked down, and admitted that he wasn't going to dance with anyone tonight.
Then he glanced back at the two metal doors and considered leaving the dance. After all, there wasn't anything forcing him to stay, and if he did stay, he wouldn't have much fun. In fact, he had other important things to do. But what stopped him from walking away was thinking about Nina.
He was disgusted with himself for having considered leaving. Had he not betrayed her, betrayed THEM, some many times?
"I'm so disgusting." He was talking about himself.
The boy had the habit of self-deprecating himself. Although most of the time he was extremely confident and sure of himself and his abilities, there were still moments of weakness when he hated and insulted himself. And that is to be human. To be contradictory in your beliefs is one of the biggest proof of your humanity.
"I should probably talk to-" But before he could finish his sentence, his eyes widened.
His eyes widened because he did not expect to see that person tonight. In fact, he didn't think he'd see her here, or anywhere in school. The two green doors opened, and from them, a girl in a blue dress entered.
He had avoided her for the last two years, just like everybody else did. Although his reasoning was a lot different to anyone else's. But despite that, she still came.
From the surface, she looked like an ordinary person, and truth be told, she was ordinary. Some might be confused as to why everyone avoided her. After all, it should be expected for her to be popular, or at least have a group of friends. But she didn't.
Some might say that, aside from Nathaniel, she was the second most beautiful person in school, so why did they treat her differently? After all, she had pale white skin, enchanting light blue eyes, and golden hair. She should be the image of perfection, but people avoided her.
He knew why, and he was partially responsible for that. But even before he came along and made things worse for her, she was still pretty disliked. Even speaking her name was considered taboo
"Annabeth Steinford." That was her name.
Her father, John Steinford, was an incredibly evil man. He was a murderer, a drug dealer, a trafficker, and he was even responsible for the deaths of at least 32 college students. He was one of the commanders in Efrain Emmerson's criminal organization. In all the city—in fact, in all the country—that criminal organization was the worst.
And John was one of the masterminds behind that organization. He was a pioneer of many brutal killings and methods that are still talked about to this day. And he was so cruel and evil that both the Chancellor and the President considered changing the law that banned the death penalty.
But all of these things didn't come out until he was finally caught by him. But these things happened two years ago, and for two years she and her family have been the focus of hate and harassment, as well as ridicule.
The same could be said for Nina. Nina, like Annabeth, had gone through extreme tribulations because of her father. But Nina and her family had the opportunity to have a fresh start. Annabeth, didn't.
He felt conflicted as he stared at Annabeth. He knew that he had done the right thing. After all, had it not been for him, John Steinford would still be free. If it hadn't been for him that day, John would've still been killing people. And if it hadn't been for him, Annabeth would've been dead.
But even though he had saved her life, her life was still ruined.
He remained staring at her, and she remained unaware of his gaze.
"What are you staring at?" A voice said behind him.
The unexpected voice made him drop the cup of punch he had on his hand. The purple liquid spilled and some of it got on her yellow dress with white flower patterns.
She clicked her tongue, and gave him a sharp glare.
"Seriously!? Not you too!" Nina said.
But by this point, Nina was far too tired to be mad. In fact, she was far too tired to think ill of him.
"Nina…" The boy struggled to say anything to her. He did not know what the right words would be.
She closed her eyes, and a curved smile formed on her lips.
"I didn't think you'd come."
She did not know what to feel. Should she feel upset? Should she be happy? Every time she saw him, she felt conflicted feelings. But the same could be said of him.
"Yeah… I wouldn't miss the dance for anything in the world."
He knew that wasn't true. Truth be told, part of him felt like he was doing something wrong by being here. The trafficking ring, the countless gangs, and the businesses that were fronts to manufacture drugs were still out there. Is it really okay for him to be here?
"You should've come earlier. They were serving food."
"I wanted to come early… In fact, I was going to come early. But there was something that got in the way."
He was a bad friend. He was the reason her father was now gone. The reason she and her family were moving. Seeing her happy to see him, broke his heart.
He recalled and repeated Nate's words.
"...But she deserves to know the truth."
She cocked her head.
"Who deserves what truth?"
His heart felt heavy. What should he do? What should he say? In the end, telling her the truth most likely will ruin any friendship they had left with one another.
"Nina… There's something I have to tell you." He looked at her with a serious expression on his face.
He put both of his hands on her shoulders, and he looked directly into her eyes. She couldn't help but to feel slightly shaken and uncomfortable.
"Okay? What is it?" Nina's voice was quivering.
—As he stared into her eyes, he remembered what happened four months ago.
It was something that he was not proud of. One of the many regrets in the ever expanding list.
He could vividly remember the night on which Nina's father died. The night Nina's life was changed — He had exposed him for being Dracco, a criminal that had killed a lot of innocent people.
He was a smart man. Probably the smartest man he had ever known. He could've used his gift to save a lot of people. He could've used his intelligence to help the weak. But he didn't.
It was something he didn't understand at the time. At the end of the day, it didn't matter how strong or intelligent you were — you were still fighting a battle by yourself. To choose to put others first before yourself was to choose to walk a path alone.
Such a path is full of thorns and pain. And in the end, you will continue to lose everything until, eventually, you are left hollow inside. He had walked that path and seen that pain, but apparently the boy had not.
In the end, that path led to his downfall, to his corruption. And ultimately, to his death. But it was all his fault. He might've not been the one who took his life, but he was the one responsible for his death.
Looking at Nina, made him recall that day. It made him recall the guilt he felt in his heart.
That's why he couldn't-
"I just want to say… That your dress looks nice."
In the end, he chose himself.
3.
The green and red liquid was going down the drain of the sink. And he was coughing and gagging while looking at his miserable reflection in the bathroom's mirror.
Blood was flowing out of his nose, ears, and mouth. And his field of vision was blurry and he felt an excruciating pain all across his body.
"This is… not good." He spoke to his reflection.
But he had felt this pain before. It was a pain he felt quite often actually. And that's because the pain he felt was a direct result of overusing his [unknown] abilities. His entire body felt as if it was going to tear itself apart. And every single cell in his body was in a state of excitement, causing him excruciating pain — He remembered the first time he felt this unbearable pain. He had stayed in bed for an entire week because even moving hurt.
"I overworked myself… I need to be more careful."
He looked at himself in the broken and dirty bathroom mirror. It was the school's restroom so there were multiple toilets and sinks as well as other dirty mirrors. What he saw wasn't the usual confident and bold person that he knew but instead an ill boy that had puked all of the contents in his stomach.
Today had been a terrible night. Even when he tried his best, he still failed. He failed to locate the trafficking ring. He failed to tell Nina the truth. He failed, failed, failed, over and over again. It seemed like every time he made a step closer to his goals, three new obstacles would appear.
The mirror reflected a disgusting person. Someone who was selfish. A coward and a fool. Seeing his image, he grit his teeth and clenched his fists. The person in front of him was his biggest foe.
With his right fist, he punched the mirror. But the mirror didn't shatter or cracked. Instead, it had been his hand that got hurt. His knuckles were now covered in his scarlet blood. He failed even to break a simple restroom mirror.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow." He cried out in pain.
Before the boy could do anything else, he heard a flush. The door of one of the gray stalls opened, and from it, a boy his age walked out. That boy was whistling and he was holding a book in his left hand.
He looked at him, and then looked down at his bloody knuckles.
"That looks like it hurts."
He didn't know what he was feeling right now. Embarrassment or annoyance, or perhaps even both.
"Get out!" He shouted at him.
"But why?" The boy holding the book felt confused.
But the brown haired boy repeated himself.
"Get out!"
He dropped his book, and simply walked away. He didn't want to fight him, or to even argue with him. He knew that it was better to mind his own business and to not get involved with him. But he cannot deny that he felt a little bit sad that he didn't even get to wash his hands.
The boy looked at himself in the mirror. His actions were inexcusable and extremely disrespectful.
"What's wrong with me…"
He turned on the water and washed off his face.
▲△▲△▲△▲△
"-It's finally over."
The ballroom was practically empty, and the remaining students began to go home. It was way past midnight, so the only ones that remained were a couple of the students and the janitors. In the end, all of his friends had gone home.
"What a waste…"
Every single girl had avoided him the entire night and as a result he couldn't take anyone to dance. In fact, he was probably the only person that had been rejected by practically everyone.
And he couldn't deny that his ego had been wounded.
He had come to the fall dance for his friend Nina. It was the last time that he would ever see her, and he wanted to, at the very least, try to be here for her. But in the end, he couldn't even say goodbye to her.
"What a joke…"
He was disappointed that everything he set out to do, ended up backfiring. And in the end, he didn't even enjoy this night. But was there any other outcome? Even had he not come, the outcome most likely would've been the same.
"So in the end, it didn't matter if I came or not." He sighed,
He looked around the gymnasium, and practically everyone was already gone. For whatever reason, very few students stayed. Some were still dancing.
He sighed, and looked down.
"I should probably go home."
Even if today was a failure, there was still tomorrow. In the end, something was brewing in the shadows of his city, and he needed to get to the bottom of it. That is what he swore to do.
He turned around to face the two metallic doors, but someone was there… Next to the gymnasium doors there was a girl leaning on the white wall of the gym. It was her. It was Annabeth Steinford.
"What is she still doing here?"
He did not understand why she came here. After all, she was like him, she was pretty much disliked by everyone. But there was a major difference between the both of them: One of them deserved it, and the other one didn't. After all, the sins of the father should not be blamed upon the daughter.
Seeing her made him feel uneasy. It wasn't easy for him to face the family members of people he had gone against in the past. And it wasn't easy talking to people that he had saved. He had made it a rule not to interact with any person he had interacted with behind the mask.
Then she looked towards his direction, and their eyes met. He averted his gaze, but she was still looking at him.
He felt shiver down his spine, and felt goosebumps. He felt really uncomfortable at the way she was staring at him. And why shouldn't he? After all the reason she was a pariah was because of him, no?
He didn't know what to do. Should he walk away? Should he look back at her? Should he talk to her? At the end of the day, she was still John Steinford's daughter and he was the guy that put him behind bars.
"But it's not fair…"
And it wasn't. He didn't know that by taking down John, his daughter was going to suffer the consequences. At the end of the day, when someone does something bad, it is not only them that get affected. But also the people close to them. So what should he do?
It was a terrible idea to talk to her. After all, not only was she outcasted by the entire school but he already had a rule to not interact with people he had saved. But wasn't it his fault that she had been the center of ridicule for the last couple of years.
At the very least, he should take responsibility for his actions and at least say something to her.
But was he willing to break his rule? Was this the right situation, the right time?
"This is a bad idea, and you know it."
He made his way towards her, but he felt irritated. Everything about this night, everything about this place, sucked! She was still leaning against the wall, looking at him getting closer to her, but he couldn't make out what she was thinking.
It took all the courage he could muster to talk to her, but he didn't know what to say.
"Hey…" He went with the first thing that came to mind.
"____" She remained silent.
Did she also think those were some extremely dull and bland choices of words? Of course not. Her bright blue eyes were piercing through him, trying to see his true intentions.
He felt awkward and extremely uncomfortable.
"So… How are you doing tonight?" The boy said.
She raised her blonde eyebrow. It was not the words that she had expected to hear from him. Everyone that talked to her would usually comment about her father or make fun of her and insult her. And she thought that perhaps he would insult her too, just like everyone else.
"Good?" She replied.
He hesitated to continue talking to her for a moment. "It's pretty late. Why haven't you gone home?"
She averted her gaze.
"Why do you care?"
His eye twitched. Her father was pretty rude, but he didn't think rudeness could be inherited. He sighed,
"Geeze, you don't have to be rude about it."
He was known for being rude to others and his honesty made people dislike him. And being on the receiving end this time, he wondered if that's how it felt talking to him.
She narrowed her eyes and she remained glaring at her for a couple of second before letting out a sigh,
"I'm just waiting for my mom to pick me up."
Ever since her father had been arrested, her mother had picked up multiple jobs to be able to provide for her family. In fact, she was the one who had forced Annabeth to come to the fall dance when she originally didn't want to.
She thought it was better for her to make friends than to be isolated from everyone else.
"But she's working right now… I think it's going to be a while until she gets off work." Annabeth said.
"Why don't you just walk home?" The boy replied.
"This late? Ha!"
Sunset City was no stranger to crime. Violence and corruption could be traced back since its founding.
But ever since the Lorenz lab incident — Crime and violence skyrocketed. The parts of town that used to be considered safe to walk at night, were now filled with gangs and superpowered freaks: Pseudosapiens.
"What if… What if I walk you home?" He said.
He could imagine Nathan screaming at him right now. He had tried for years to fix his reputation with little to no success and he was familiar with his capricious and reckless personality. But this was extreme, even for him. Offering to walk a known serial killer's daughter home?
She chuckled,
"Really? Don't take this the wrong way but I find it hard to believe you can keep anyone safe at this time of night."
"Haven't you heard not to underestimate a book by its cover, Annabeth?"
She lowered her gaze.
"So you know who I am?"
"Who doesn't?"
She gave him a sharp look. She did not like to be associated with her father but it was something that she couldn't get away from. But even so, she did not like when he was straightforward about it. And seeing her reaction, he gave her an apologetic look.
"It's Annie…" she said.
"I'm sorry?"
"You can call me Annie."
She did not know if it was because she hadn't talked to anyone like this in a while, or because she simply found him amusing. But she was willing to give him a chance. And even though she knew her, she didn't know anything about him.
"So tell me… What is your name?"
The blonde girl with bright blue eyes and snow-like skin was curious about him. And he gave her a wide smile while he pointed at himself.
"My name is ---- Shimmer!"
That was the first time that ---- Shimmer and Annabeth Steinford properly met each other.
Appendix.
A man walked through the streets of Sunset City. It was dark and late and by this point, everyone was already inside their homes. He could hear the occasional siren and the noises from the few cars on the road.
He was kicking an empty can as he walked. The man had a terrible day. He had been beaten, his crew were hospitalized and detained, and he had been blackmailed.
He then took a sharp left, straight into an alleyway. But it was a dead end.
"If you want to tail someone, you should learn how to be sneaky about it first." Snake-eye said, but the person behind him did not respond.
He turned around, and Snake-eye saw him. He saw the man who was covered by the shadows cast down from the buildings. And one could say that he was also a shadow itself.
"It's you… What are you doing here?"
The shadow made his way towards Snake-eye.
"You usually send Death Marauder to talk to me."
"Sometimes things are that important." The shadow said, but his voice was distorted.
"Sometimes things are that important… If you are here then that means you already know what happened to me today."
Snake-eye knew that his role was being the mediator between the crime lords of the underworld and the shadow. Being the leader of the viper gang was a front to what was actually going on.
"There isn't anything to be concerned about. The police and them really don't know anything about you."
"It is not me I am here to talk about. It is him. you faced him today."
And for a moment, things started to make sense.
"It isn't Marauder who is interested in him, is it? It's you. It's always been you."
For the last two years, he had been assigned to keep a close eye on the boy, but he had become a nuisance.
"There isn't anything extraordinary with the boy. Marauder's… No, your beliefs of him are misplaced. He is not BlazeStorm." Snake-eye said
The shadow looked at him behind his black mask.
"Listen… If you really want to bring order to the world then you must realize how unpredictable that kid really is. He is dangerous and he has been getting in the way of our goals. That kid needs to die…"
The man in the shadow cocked his head.
"That kid is the Red Death… or at least, someday he will be." The shadow said.
It must've been less than a second, but before Snake-eye realized what had happened, the shadow's hand was already on his throat.
"Forgive me snake-eye. But it's not personal."
It had been an effortless thing for him, but using his dark core on Snake-eye would've been a waste of energy. And so, he snapped his neck. And then Snake-eye fell to the floor. And everything that he was, everything he dreamed, everything that was him - ended in less than a second.
"You were useful, but the Red Death must live."
And then the Shadow left.
THE END…
Next up… Special 2 - The Deadly Frequency.