Can We Be Heroes?

Chapter 42• The Burden of Knowing

There was a sharp sound of a whistle that suddenly cut through the warehouse, causing Izuku to freeze even before the sting in his arm registered.

CRACK—

A shot had rang out and his shoulder jerked back violently as something slashed through it, blood splattering across his sleeve. His bow dropped to the ground with a hard clatter, echoing across the room.

“Tch—!” Hex hissed, clutching his arm, stumbling backward as from the shadowed upper balcony, a figure emerged. He wasbuff, dressed in dark and tight gear. A long-barreled weapon rested casually in his hands, glinting under the broken ceiling light.

Hit Ringer.

“We meet again, my dear nemesis.” His voice was gravely, like a twisted actor auditioning for the villain role of his dreams.

Hex’s eyes widened. How was he out of jail so soon? How did he even find him here—

Ziggy chuckled from the floor, raising a weak hand. “Took you long eno—”

BANG!!!

The fired shot was clean, Ziggy’s eyes rolling back and his body slumping instantly to the side—a single hole in the middle of his forehead. He was dead and Izuku was stunned, mouth falling open breath caught in his throat as bile threatened to rise. He turned, shaking. “W-Why…?”

Hit Ringer casually hopped down from the rafters, slow and relaxed like this was just another Wednesday. He walked toward Hex with the kind of calm that only someone used to killing carried.

“Because he spoke too much.” Izuku backed away, hand clutching his bleeding arm, breath shallow.

Hit Ringer’s smile stretched wider. “There are things he said… that you should not have heard.” He aimed the barrel of the rifle at Izuku’s chest.
“And you, my soon-to-be corpse, don’t need that burden.”

Hex stood, shaking. He couldn't believe it, because currently he was outmacthed. His bow was too far. His arrows running out and this man—this monster—was smiling at the thought of pulling the trigger.

But fear wasn’t new. Pain wasn’t new. Losing? That was new and losing could never be an option.

Hex’s heart hammered in his chest as the warehouse echoed with silence now. Hit Ringer was coming with cold eyes, burning with a quiet hatred. It was clear that he was here for revenge.

“I’ve been waiting,” Hit Ringer said, voice low and tight like a wire stretched to its limit. “You think you’re untouchable because you got lucky once? Because you shut me down?”

Hex’s mind raced. He edged toward the crates lining the far wall, foot slipping slightly on a streak of oil. Hit Ringer didn’t raise his gun again. Not yet.
No—he was savoring this.

“You burned my network. My reputation. Made me start from the ground up,” he continued, stalking forward, rifle lowered at his side. “You cost me everything.”

Hex stumbled around a pile of crates, snatching a small smoke capsule from his belt. He clicked it once, shoved it to the floor, and ran—
Hard. Fast. Every step a cry from his wounded body.

CRACK—!

A shot grazed the wall beside his head.Another embedded into a crate he’d just passed and something told him that Hit Ringer wasn’t missing,
He was warning.

“You don’t get to run from this, Hex.” The man’s voice followed him like a shadow. No longer angry but rather obsessed.

Izuku ducked behind a rusted metal locker, breath catching. His fingers shook as he tried to dig out another arrow from his thigh pouch but he was left with only regular ones. He had nothing.