My Hero Origins One-Shots

Life In Darkness

The life of a vigilante is never easy. Whether you are struggling with the lies, your identity, staying secretive or smart, or just trying to be brave and do what needs to be done even though you really don't feel like you're up to it.

I have been part of the secret hero business since I was young, and I wish I could say it gets easier. It doesn't. It only gets crazier.

It had been about a week since Eternity's attack, and the death of Torrent. No leads, no clues.

And it was clear Ronin was pissed.

"WHY? AGHH!" His voice roared from inside his office, followed by a slew of highly vulgar words that I never thought I would hear from him.

"Dios mío," Echo swore. "Never seen the boss so upset."

I grimaced. "I don't blame him."

Me, Echo, and Gageteer waited in the hallway, the crashes, and swears thudding through the door. We all had faced down bloodthirsty, weapons crazy sociopaths, but nothing scared us more than going into Ronin's room.

I turned to our boss's assistant. "You really don't have any evidence? No piece if DNA or security cams?"

The Gadgeteer shook her head. "I'm sorry," she said solemnly. "nothing."

To my left, Echo sighed, "Maybe we can talk to another agency?" He offered. "Another pair of hands on this would be nice."

So far, from what we learned from interactions, the villain league, Eternity, greatly outmanned us. They had slithered behind us and snipped us from behind. Hard. It took all of us at least two days to fill out the police paperwork, and another three to clean up issues with the press.

"If I see another document asking for my signature, I'm burning it and pissing on its ashes." EchoNight had grumbled when we were done, earning a laugh from me.

"That would be nice," Gadget agreed. "if boss wasn't so big headed."

One of Ronin's flaws was help from other heroes. He found them as another responsibility that was not needed. Heck, it was a fight just for him to recruit us.

"How about that one in France?" I asked suddenly. "Didn't your guys call?"

"We did," Gadget explained. "But Echo was the salesman and he failed to appease the investors." Gadget glared passed me at the knight.

"Whoah, what?"

"I was the one talking to the company, since I speak French, but I might have said the wrong term in their language." Echo shared nervously

"What did you say?" I pressed, my worries growing.

Echo drew away, scratching neck and refusing to meet my eyes. "Something along the lines of calling the guy's mother the word that means a donkey who dated too many men."

I brought my palm to my face, hoping to block out the misery.

Just then, the red wood door swung open, revealing a disheveled Ronin. His long, purple hair was greasy and stringy, tumbling down his shoulders. His eyes were bloodshot over black shadows on his eye bags. His robes were ragged and dropping off one of his shoulders. His samurai sheath was missing the sword. Said sword impaled in the wall behind him.

"Okay," he huffed. "I know things are hard, but we have to keep going." Was he encouraging us or himself?

He looked between Echo and I. "You two will be going back to the warehouse." He ordered. "Look around for anything that might be useful. Don't forget to check out the train tracks too. I want to see if any evidence was left when Eternity tied Torment to the rails."