The Art of the Anti-Hero

The Art of Mirai (Pt 1)

My eyes snapped open as cold sheets of rain showered my sore body. Why does everything hurt? Groaning, I sat up and held my head in my hands; it felt as if someone had taken a hammer to it.

My memory was a little hazy as if someone had pulled the HDMI cord out of my brain and now static was swirling around. Aside from the pounding headache, my body felt as if I had fallen from a roof or something. What's wrong with me? Why couldn't I remember anything?

"Hi!" came a voice making me look around, and for the first time, taking in my surrounding. I was in the middle of a forest with tall trees and brush surrounding me on all sides. A pile of dirt was surrounding me as well. "Hello!" said the voice again, reminding me that it was there. "Look up!"

I looked up to see a girl dressed in all black sitting on the limb of a tree.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Hi?" I responded.

"You died!" she giggled. The chill of her words washed over my body, and it was colder than the rain that fell from the moonlit sky.

My heartbeat quickened as it all came back. She was right. I was dead, but how was I alive?

"Your story wasn't done yet," announced the girl as she hopped from the limb. "I revived you. They were the ones who deserved to die, not you." She then outstretched her hand. "Shake my hand and seek revenge."

As the lightning struck and the thunder bloomed across the sky, a passerby could have witnessed the rebirth of the black sheep.

I felt a great power surge in my body mending every broken bone, bruised muscle and cracks in my soul. Raising my hand to witness the extreme healing of myself, I noticed something weird. The rain in front of me had stood mid-fall in front of my face.

"Enjoy the gift," whispered the girl and she vanished before I could question it. Suddenly, a trail of blue light lit a path through the forest. I guess that's the way out.

After a few seconds of being in awe at the new power, I decided to make my way out of the forest by clearing the falling rain and following the light. Minutes had passed and I got tired of playing in the rain. What are the extents of my powers?

"Try clenching your fists." The voice echoed softly through the forest. I did as I was told and noticed that the rain froze into sharp icicles and shards. "Now wave your hand." Waving, the shards flew at the tree and impaled them.

"Thank you!" I yelled at the voice and with a newfound energy sprinted through the forest on the blue lit path.

The thunder boomed as my target was in sight. It was a white two-storied house with three expensive cars parked in the driveway. There was a well-manicured garden and lawn all encapsulated by a giant gate. By now, my memories of my life all were in order, so like clockwork, I opened the gate manually and entered the yard. I walked up to the door and with a swift, and powerful kick, slammed it just as a clap of thunder shook the sky.

"Open the door!" I yelled. I kicked it again and screamed, "I'm back!"

Suddenly the lights on the house flipped on and illuminated me. This was the first time I saw myself for the night that wasn't with the light of the moon. It looked as if I was buried and clawed my way up from the earth. Maybe I did.

I kicked the door again and before I yelled again, the door flung open to reveal a drunken man with a gun in his hand. He was a skinny man with gaunt feature, sunken eyes, and a head filled with grey hair. His beard was wet with the beer he had been drinking and his gun was held tightly in his wiry fingers. In his drunkenness, he swayed as his eyes tried to adjust. "I should shoot your he... Mirai?"

"In the flesh," I smirked as I watched his eyes widened. I bet he was completely sober now. "Looks like you've seen a ghost, uncle."

"You... you died!" he stammered out while trying to back away. "Yes, I did, but I came back. I have a bone to pick with you and aunty."

"Ron, who is that?" came a grumpy voice. Heavy footsteps were louder than the storm outside as my aunty approached the door. I wondered if I would give them the pleasure of dying together. However, I decided against it. Holding out my hand, I stopped the cold rain in its tracks. Making a fist, the rain came together to form razor sharp shards, and in one swift motion, I swiped my hand at my dear uncle. There was a beat of silence after the sound of the shards zipping through the air towards my uncle. He didn't make a peep as he was impaled by hundreds of them.

The sound of a gasp of air escaping his body and its hard thud on the ground unpaused time and yet paused it again. The bloodcurdling scream of my aunty seemed to permanently restart time as she ran up to her blood-leaking husband.

"Hi, Aunty!" I giggled as I looked down at her.

She looked at me in shock then in anger. "You!" she screamed, "I thought you were dead!" She then pulled my uncles gun out of his dead hands and put a chubby finger thought the trigger. "You can't do anything right! Can't even kill yourself right! Well, I'll do it for you!"

"Aht, aht, Aunty," I scolded, and in a swift motion, I froze the rain and impaled her. "You can join uncle though." Her body slowly slumped over my uncle as she gasped for air. Their crimson blood mingled with each other's as she finally gasped her finally breath.

"Good job!" came a voice making me gasp and turn around. The girl from before was standing behind me with a smile on her pointed teeth. Her blue eyes were now visible from under her hood as she stared at me intensely. "How did that feel?"

"Wonderful," I giggled.

She nodded, "Good, because we're gonna get all of them."

I smiled at her. "Sounds like a plan."