Human & Heart | Short Stories

004; the unveiling

Hey everyone! I wrote this for the FANTASCI Shades of Summer anthology. If you go to the FANTASCI profile you can find everyone else's short stories from the anthology as well! I hope you like it ^-^

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It was the kind of day you would almost spend wishing you were dead, not fighting against it.

Robyn wiped the sweat from her brow, internally cursing the July sun that beat down upon her. The heat was inescapable, and the fact that she was throwing punches as hard as she could wasn't helping her to cool down. The tight, all black catsuit wasn't exactly the best thing to be wearing, either.

Her heart was pumping in sync with the crowd's cheers, and she couldn't help but smirk. Robyn was used to the spotlight, goodness only knew how used to it she was, but this kind of attention made her senses dial to one hundred. This was attention for what she could --what she was-- doing. She wasn't sure what she liked more--the cheers for her to win, or the ones cheering against her, challenging her to do better.

"Getting tired, sweetheart?" Her opponent sneered, looking her up and down as if she was a rag doll.

"Please," she scoffed, running a hand over her mouth to wipe away any blood from her busted lip. "I could do this all day."

"Good." He tilted his head back, face showing his over confidence. And that was exactly what Robyn was waiting for. She gave him one roundhouse kick straight to the throat, making him cough and sputter as he fell backwards against the gate of the alleyway they stood in.

"Told you." She smiled serenely, knowing full well that she was going to win this fight, even though the man she fought was twice her size.

Her opponent wheezed as he grasped at his throat, face becoming redder with each second. Robyn wasn't sure if it was from the kick, or his anger towards her for delivering it.

"You're really going to die now," he yelled. Some from the crowds around her jumped back in fear, but Robyn had none.

"You're not getting this money." She took it out from the pocket on the inside of her shirt, pressed against her chest.

"You don't own that!" He roared. "You stole that."

"Yes, yes, I did. But, not from you." A few more punches were thrown, but Robyn tried her best to dodge the fight while talking. "And letting you take it from me would be an awful waste."

"Your orphans and your peasants can go without!"

Robyn threw her hands up in a 'what can you do?' pose. "Yeah..." She dragged out the word. "But they won't." She delivered an uppercut to the jaw --a final blow.

"Enough!" His rage was more than evident. Robyn couldn't help the smirk that creeped onto her face, but it was quickly wiped away when her opponent pulled his weapon from his holster.

"Woah, woah, woah." She took a step back, eying it carefully. "No need to use that."

The people gathered around didn't know what the man held, but Robyn knew. The gun was no doubt found on the black market, and was illegal in almost eighty countries. Including theirs. The reason for this being illegal, was that one shot in your target's direction, whether you hit them or not, would kill them. It wasn't instantaneous either. The victim would be in the greatest form of pain mankind had yet known.

"No need?" His voice shook, making him appear even more psychotic than before. "If there's no need, then hand over the money."

"You wouldn't use that. You'd kill so many people." She reached slowly behind her, hoping he wouldn't see her gradual movement. The crowd quickly moved away from Robyn, leaving her the only person in the guns range.