Let Me Ruin You

Chapter 3

  One rainy night when I was 15 years old, after I left one of my training sessions and wait for my chofer to pick me up, I saw an old woman walking with an umbrella across the streat. All of the sudden, a man came out of nowhere and tried to snatch her purse. She didn't gave in. And then the man pulled up a knife.

  I was in shock.

  I was sheltered all my life, although I been training to be a hero, I never went in to the field. I was never close to crime.
"Someone will come." I thought. "A hero will come." But no one did. Suddently, I find myself running towars the old lady. I standed in between her and the man with the knife. He took a step back, but when he saw that he was against a young girl and an old woman, he didn't hesitate and swung the knife towards me. I closed my eyes.

 One second, two seconds, three seconds... Nothing happened.

  I opened one eye, and I saw a young woman with a knife stab in her hand. She had put her hand just in front of my head, stopping the man. Then she proceeded to beat his ass, until he was knoked down in the ground. I stood there for a minute. I looked back at the old lady, but she had run away. It was just me, this woman, and the knoked down guy on the floor.

-I... sorry.- was all I could say.

-For what? You did the right thing.- said the woman, cleaning the blood from her knuckles.

-Are you a hero?- I asked. She laughted. -God, no!-

  I looked at her confused. But then I saw something shinning in her neck. A gold necklasse, with the letter "L" on it. And then it clicked on my brain. The Liberation Army. I had read about them on the newspaper.

-Oh, you are with The Liberation...- I said to her.

-Yes. I am Marizza. And you seem a little familiar.- she said, and then put my rain-damped hair behind my ear, away from my face.-Ah! You are the goverment young prodige, aren't you?-

-Im Y/N.- I said, a little embarased. She knew who I was. "The next big hero! Y/N Y/LN!" That was all in the newspaper after the goverment had took me in. -But I'm not going to say anything! Don't worry. But you should leave, someone it's going to pick me up at any minute.-

-Yes, I should be going.- she said, giving me a smile.-Nice to meet you, Y/N. I hope someday I would see you again.-

  You see, The Liberation Army was an organization formed in the 1980'. It was a time when the villain attacks rised, all because of the few ammounts of heroes. In 1975, the world leaders decided to cut the number of heroes in the the world, to a third.

  Some say it was because there were much strict rules to become one. Before, you'll just had to finish highschool on a hero school to become one. But after some years, they reduced the number of heroes schools, and you could only enter one if you had a recomendation, or a top score in the entrance exam. Then they added "hero college". And not only you had to pass this, but only the ones with a perfect record will become heroes.

  Others, the conpiracy people, like to say that the world leaders had become corrupt, and made deals with various villans. Having crime related jobs on the side. And thats why they put all this rules to become a hero. So only a few could end up beeing one.

  With this, the number of heroes in duty decreased to a 30% of what was before. And non-heroes were prohibited to use their quirks. That meant, that if you are not a hero and you use your quirk, you will end up in jail.

  If you ask me now, I would say its a little bit of both. But honestly, I do not care.
The thing was, with the number of crimes in an all-time high, five individuals came togheter and form The Liberation Army. A secret organization of non-heroes that battled crime in the shadows, using their quirks. A vigilante type of thing. Those five formed various gangs arround the world, to fight against the evil and help the people. It started small, only with trusted people. They hated heroes for not doing enough. They hated the goverment for not protecting their citizens. Years passed, and here we are now. The Liberation Army has gangs in almost all countrys. A secret society of vigilantes protecting the people from evil.

  Every gang had their members, and a leader. And on the top, The Five. A group of five people, all from diferent countrys, in charge of all leaders and the members of The Liberatiom Army. Not much people knew who they were. Mainly because the goverment is after them. Lets say that a group of people that use their quirks without beeing a hero, are not a world leader best friends.

  How did The Liberation Army survived all these years without being caught by the police? Easy: if the goverment broadcasted in all the newspapers that an organization of vigilantes are fighting crime, they would have to addmit that there is a problem with the hero regulations and the increasing crime. And no goverment will want to addmit that what they are doing its wrong. So, yes, they want to arrest every single one of us. And if they saw us on the streets beating some purse-stealing-idiot ass, they would arrest us and interrogate us to give up the rest of the gang. But thats the thing, if you are a part of The Liberation, you swear on your life that, in the case of being arrested, you would keep your mouth fucking shut.

  So, as long as you keep your vigilante shit on the low, they would not come to knock on your door with a swat team. We are kinda on a Cold War.

  And that brings me to when I turned 18. I started having more freedom, being able to interact with more people, something that I wasn't allowed while I was a minor. And one day, while I was at a bar, a man sat next to me. He said his name was Francis, and that we had a friend in common. First I thoght that he was a news reporter that reconised me. "I do not have any friends." I told him. "Yes you do." He said. "A woman you met years ago, she's been keeping an eye on you. Her name is Marizza."

  My eyes oppened as plates. Of course I remember her. After I met her when I was young, I thought that she was so cool. I spend all these years researching The Liberation Army, asking myself if I was good enogh to join them. I never wanted to be a hero. All they do is pose for the cameras and look down at the ones that didn't made the cut to become one. They looked at them thinking "I've made it. I am better than you. Now I'm going to win a lot of money and ocassinaly stop a little boy from stealing some bread." I hated them.

  On the other side, the members of The Liberation didn't do it for the fame. They were annonymous! And they didn't earn any money. They do it for the people.
"Come with me." Said Francis, who I'll later become to call Ziggy. And that was it.

  Aparently Marizza had been waching me, and as one of The Five, asked to the other four for my to become a member of my city gang. I joined. The years passed and I climbed my way to the top. I became the leader of my own gang, with Ziggy as my second.

  And one rainy night, I was called to meet The Five. But there were only four people there. "Marizza has died" they informed me. I felt as my world crumbled. They informed me that two heores got her, and took her to some members of the goverment. They tortured her about The Liberation Army, about The Five. But she refused to say anything. Then they killed her.

"She left some instructions in case something happened to her. We all do." Told me one of the four, a man of maybe 30 years old. "She said that the day she met you, she knew you were destinated to be one of us. She said that your quirk its the strogest she ever seen, and that your heart its on the right place. She really trusted you, and had high hopes for you. She left you her space on The Five. And all four of us agree with her dessision."

  That was a year ago. Now, here I am. In the other side of the world, all alone, arround heroes. The only silver lighting its that tomorrow, I'll meet my new people. The Tokyo Manji Gang.