Chapter 9- A Secret Worse Than Telling Your Wife and Kids You’re Gay

The moonlight glowed faintly on the cloudy night as Nero lazily lay on his bed, opening the photo booklet that was his memories. His real pictures were left in his bag back at Jensing where he heard his plane crashed. The story had been all over the news for weeks as reporters and detectives tried to find out any trace of where the pilot could’ve been. One thing was for sure though: They knew it was him.

Nero flipped through the mental pages, seeing both good times and bad. He remembered his best friends’ ups and downs, good days and bad days. All three of them: Danielle, Eva, and Asano. A tear almost crept out of Nero’s eyes as he sadly remembered their fates.

Danielle had one of the most unique personalities you could’ve found in a girl: kindhearted, dedicated, shy at first, backstabbing. Danielle wasn’t really apart of the little clique that Nero, Eva and Asano formed together; Eva said she had bad feelings about her. I should have known she was right… Nero tried to convince himself many times that after what she did to him, she deserved her fate, but her apology to him was more than enough to eliminate the thought.

Eva was probably the meanest girl in the school, but also the prettiest. Everything about her body was flawless. One would’ve expected her to flaunt it off but she always thought of herself as nothing more than a normal vampire girl that hated to be hit on. Eva and Nero almost always got into it about some stupid things but deep down, she was the closest one to him, which surprised even Nero himself, who expected Danielle to take that title. The two had argued just before the massacre. And it was about the one thing they normally never agreed on: Danielle.

The human sex machine of the group, Asano, who was not much different from Ino personality-wise, joked about Eva like it was mandatory. Nero laughed to himself as he remembered the countless times life’s irony set in when just after Asano made fun of Eva, he asked her out on a date. She never, ever, said yes. Asano had helped Nero out through all his hard times: dates, parties, depression, and even Anubis.

And that’s when something finally hit him. Anubis. The man who had been the cause of almost all of Nero’s problems. He hadn’t showed up like Baldy said. Baldy stated that Anubis was now in his control. Nero didn’t believe him at first but after almost- Nero hastily looked at his calendar that posted the wall- three weeks, nobody had been slain by Anubis.

Nero smiled uncontrollably. “Finally!!” he screamed as he jumped on his bed for joy. “I don’t have to worry!!” he hollered. “No more blackouts, no more unintentional death, no more mood swings, and no more…” Nero calmed down as his sentence faded into silence; he realized something else. With a somber look on his face whispered to himself “No more… souls.” Though Anubis was what Nero hated the most about his life, he realized that what Anubis did was also the source of his power. Without Anubis’ power to collect souls, Nero’s power would slowly drain until he eventually became a normal human, as if he belonged with the Regulars on Earth.

“So all I am gonna be reduced to,” he asked himself “Is a bag of bones?” He lost all the joy from earlier and dropped onto his rear and onto his bed. Anubis killed a lot of people but Nero had to admit, it was this killing that kept Nero powerful, if not alive. “But I promised to never intentionally kill again, and that’s what I’m gonna do.” Nero told himself doubtingly.

Nero reflected more on his cold past and remembered something he had to do. He had to find his locket. Even if she did stab me in the back, I can’t deny my feelings for her. I have to get my locket back… “But how?” he said to himself. The locket was either taken by some homeless guy, probably pawned by now, or the police confiscated it for research. His blood stains were surely on the locket somewhere. Nero screamed a curse as he tried to think of a way to regain what was his.

“Baldy won’t let me leave unless it’s something extremely important to him, I can’t sneak out and find it myself since I don’t even know where the hell I am, and I don’t even know if there’s a chance that it was destroyed by the impact of the plane crash…”

Suddenly an ominous voice came through unseen speakers in Nero’s room. “Will everybody please come to the briefing room? I have urgent information to tell you all. Be swift.”

“I guess my mission for my locket and bag will have to wait.” Nero stated as he walked out of his room, unintentionally slamming the door like he always did.

As Nero entered the briefing room, he saw that he was the first one there. The room was decked out with laptops installed inside the long table that the group was supposed to sit at and a large monitor at both sides of the closed room, which gave him a slight feeling of claustrophobia.

The only person present in the room was Baldy, which reminded him. “Hey old man, I have a couple of questions.”

The man smiled with a strange look. “Go for it, Anubis.”

Nero gave the man a mean look but ignored the comment. Calling him Anubis was like calling him the worst word in there language. Whatever that word was… “First of all, what is your name? Even after being here for over half a month I don’t know that yet.”

Baldy chuckled and lazily replied “My full name is Reginald Zacharius Applesworth but I go by Virtue.”

“Virtue?” Nero asked. “Are you a hippie?”

Baldy gave that famous smile that gave you a feeling of positivity and negativity and replied “No, I’m not a hippie. I’d just rather name myself after something important than after my grandfather who was a… let’s just say not a very good man.”

“Okay… that’s completely not feminine…” Nero sarcastically replied. “Secondly, what exactly did you do to me that makes Anubis not come out?” The question was one that had recently resurfaced to the top of the boy’s mind.

“Let’s put it like this, young man. I made a hell of a deal with the devil to get you like this. But I suppose if you want Anubis back, I can always call up some acquaintances of mine who would be more than happy to get you back to normal. And by normal I mean killing-“The man was cut off instantly.

“Okay!!” Nero eased “Calm down, Wrinkles! I just asked a question. I guess I’m not the only bag of bones with the bad attitude…” he joked as he walked with his hands in his pockets towards his appointed seat.

Minutes later, all the members of DAWN were there, some in pajamas, some in bathrobes, and some, that some being Ino, even naked. All were present except one and it didn’t take long for Nero to figure out who it was.

“Anybody know where OJ’s at?” Ino asked jokingly.

Everybody looked at the perverted kid cluelessly. “Come on!!” he pleaded. “You know Orange Juice AKA OJ is tangy and his name is Tang??” he said. Still they all sat in silence.

“Forget yall...” he said dismissingly as he folded his arms in frustration. His jokes were always terrible.

“Seriously though” Andrea began “Where is Tang?” The whole group shrugged in ignorance.

“I haven’t seen Tang all day.” Said Nix. “He didn’t try to start a fight with me like he does most days. Seems he’s finally lost his mind…” he said apathetically.

Suddenly the entrance door burst open, with Tang entering quickly. “I’m… right… here…” he said panting, with a sizeable amount of papers in his hand.

“I was just printing out some important papers that have some very interesting information on them that I think we all need to know about.”

“That’s fine” said Viagra AKA Virtue “but we have more important matters to discuss than some random stuff you found on the internet.”

The whole group sat down lazily, waiting for the big news from Baldy, except Tang. Tang sat in his seat with sweat slowly sliding down his face, looking anxious. Anxious to tell a secret. Nero looked at him, or more accurately what was in his hands as he sat directly across from him. Nero could only make out one word: Geralds, Nero. Instantly, Nero knew what it was: a rap sheet.

“Some of you all” Baldy began “have been here for a year almost, and others” he looked at Nero “for only a few weeks. You all have constantly asked me why we are here and I’ve always answered: To change the world. Well ladies and gentleman, that time to change the world is now.” Everybody looked at him attentively.

“You all know yourselves as DAWN but none of you truly know what it means to bear that name. DAWN is you all, of course, but it goes much deeper. It is the name of the group that will begin what I like to call the New World Order.” The room was filled with tension due to the man’s tone of voice. No one dared interrupt him during such an important time.

“I’m sure you all have seen the various television broadcasts and such over the years of how corrupt the government is. You all have felt a piece of their unruliness in your lives.” He stated firmly. “Ino. You’ve lost the closest thing to a family in your life, all your friends at the orphanage, all because of MSG storming the city after the riots killing everyone in sight. Andrea. The government separated you from your siblings at a young age, leaving you to stay in the desert and raise yourself, alone.” As Nero looked at the two that he mentioned, he saw that they had a look on there face that spelled out there wants: revenge.

“This is why you all are here: Because each and every one of you has been in one way or another wronged by the government. But that is not the only reason I picked you. Every single one of you is special in your own way and I am here to help you find out why, how, and what is so special about yourselves.”

“As you know, the whole world of Midas is in a state of emergency due to the recent killing of The President. But I am here to call their bluff.” All in the room raised eyebrows at the man’s statement. What does he mean? Nero thought. We saw the President die with our own eyes a couple of days ago on the news channel. Unless…

“The man who was shot in the videos on the news was a stunt double. The government expected this to be a choice time for the President to be killed so they put in a double. I have word from special sources that the real President is alive, but not well. He has been stricken with some unknown disease of some sort and his daughter is reported to either relay all the government information that he has told her to the VP, which is custom of all Midas leaders to do, or take the actual place of the President. If she relays the information to the VP she will be deported to Earth. It hasn’t been reported what choice that she has made yet.”

“This is where we come in. Do all of you, excluding Nero, remember the missions that I sent each of you on about four weeks ago to the main cities of Midas? The ones where each one of you killed the governors of the cities, leaving the special envelopes?” The group nodded in unison. “Those missions were merely a quick introduction to who we are. Now comes the bulk of our story, the body. It is time to show these corrupt fools what we stand for.”

“The time for play is officially over. The reign of the same old politics of the old men on the pedestals of the government is over. We need to get young and new people, such as yourselves. But to do this we need a couple of things. One, we need to take over the same cities that you all visited. Two, we need dedication. Three, we need the missing member that I am searching for. Finally, we need that girl.”

“All that I can ask now is this; are all of you truly dedicated to this cause? To the cause of Justice? To the cause of Virtue? To the cause of a New World where the only thing we want is peace? Can I count on you all to support me in my dream of tranquility in this world?”

Everybody, even Nero, was moved by his speech. The way he spoke gave your heart a beacon of light in the form of hope. He made you feel assured that things were going to go the right way.

Nero was the first one to stand. “You can count on me.” He stated.

Then Tang “Me too.”

Then Andrea “Me too.”

Then Ino “Me too!”

The remaining two nodded lazily.

“Then we officially begin our mission for peace tomorrow.” The man said joyously. “Now Tang, what was it that you wanted to show us that was so important?”

Nero instantly withdrew from his feelings of patriotism and looked Tang dead in the eye. He gave him a look that said “If you show the whole group my history then I swear I’ll kill you.”

But Tang could only smile in Nero’s face as he stared him down. Tang could practically feel the anger rising in Nero’s heart. Before the meeting, he had looked up everything he could on Nero Geralds and found the stuff he found to be quite interesting.

“Yes, boss, I almost forgot after your extremely moving speech.” He said. Ass kisser… Nero thought. “It seems that I have some extremely strange info on our buddy Mr. Nero.”

Nero’s heart raced as Tang brought the papers to his eyes and began to read. Sweat poured down his armpits like waterfalls as the time so slowly went by.

“It seems that Nero has a-“Tang froze up instantly. Suddenly, a familiar voice rang through his head. When you fight me… The only way to lose is to die!

Tang tried to begin but hi tongue just wouldn’t move “Why?” he thought. “Why can’t I speak?” he asked himself mentally.

Meanwhile, the whole group looked at Tang as if he were crazy; waiting on the information he had on Nero. Tang could only look at his peers, specifically Nero. Nero’s eyes became pits of nothingness as he gazed into them. Tang knew why he couldn’t speak: he was afraid. Afraid of the repercussions of his actions. Afraid of what would happen. He was afraid of none other than Nero himself.

Finally, his words caught up with him. “It seems that Nero” he stuttered nervously “has… a…” Everybody listened intently to the following silence. “Nothing…” Tang admitted. “Never mind. He’s perfectly normal. Nothing suspicious about him at all!” he said. With that he eased out of the room in a hurry, trying to get to the nearest fire place. Something in his mind told him to burn the papers. But what?

Back in the briefing room, the group stood confused. “I guess he has to pee or something.” Said Ino. The Boss then dismissed us from the meeting, saying that our first official mission would be tomorrow

The group left the room sporadically, each one of them going to where they normally were located. Eva headed to the library, Ino to his computer, Nix to his room, and Hiro and Andrea to the training room, whom Nero followed.

As the trio walked to the room together Nero commented on how Virtue said that some of them had been with him for almost a year. “How long have you two been in this place?” Andrea said she had been here for almost eight months and Hiro told that he had been here for a little over a year.

Nero looked dumbfounded “How did you guys survive here so long? I mean, he won’t even let you guys leave the island, let alone the house without his permission.”

Hiro merely laughed at Nero’s statement. “What do you mean ‘Won’t let us leave’?”

Andrea began off of Hiro’s question “We can go out to the city anytime we want to. Who told you that we couldn’t?”

Nero stood confused. Now that he thought about it, no one had ever told him whether he could leave or not, or even the rules of the house. He just had a feeling that he wasn’t allowed due to the way the house was on an island, isolated from the rest of the world.

“Nobody really told me. I just assumed it was so.”

“You think we, being teenagers,” Andrea began “could stay in this house for months on end without heading out to the real world?” Nero nodded his head. “Of course we can. All we need to do is lace up, get some clothes on, and head out!”

“Well how exactly do we head out? Because if you haven’t noticed, the whole mansion’s on an island!” he exclaimed.

“Two words.” Andrea drolly stated “We Fly.”

Now that Nero thought about it, flight wouldn’t be that hard for him. He could use Anubis’s wing charm and be off in a second. But how would the other two fly?

“I can fly, but what about you two?” Nero asked

“Hiro has a few tricks up his sleeve that can help us out.” She said wryly.

The group ended up deciding that they would all go out tomorrow to see the city before their mission. The closest major city nearby would be Forrester, which would be not but a thirty minute fly away. Nero knew he was a dead man if he left the house since the law was searching for him, but he had a plan for that.

Before they even knew it, being wrapped in the conversation about leaving the house, the three were at the training halls doors. The doors opened as Hiro put his hand on the scanner, lights to the room instantly flashing on.

The light gave way to all sorts of weight machines and exercise utensils that were in a separate room, connected by doors. From weights to squat machines, if you named it, it would most likely be there. Separated from the weight room was the pool, which occupied a whole nother room, and the room that the three were standing in which was the practice room. Andrea remembered all too well the loss Nero handed to her. She wanted a rematch, but not yet, for she knew that if she did she would only fall on her ass. Again.

Hiro grabbed a black remote that was the size of a deck of playing cards and pressed a button. Instantly, music came on through speakers in the ceiling, soft enough to hear someone speak but loud enough to jam to. The two veterans of the house walked to opposite sides of the room and bowed, signaling the commencement of their fight.

Nero decided he would watch as the two fought, telling them that he wanted to save his energy for the mission tomorrow, lying. He knew that the more he used his skills, the more addicting they were. And the last thing he needed at the beginning of his new life was an empty carton of Reaper skills. Besides, watching would be a good way to see Hiro’s flaws since he himself had already fought Andrea.

Hiro cracked his fingers and shook his wrists as he discussed the terms of the match. “Average sparring match: No guns, swords, or physical weapons of the sort. The first to be put into a deadly position loses. Any questions?”

“Yeah.” Andrea remarked “When do we start?” she smirked.

“Right now.” Hiro got into his fighting stance and readied himself for Andrea’s attack. He never dished out the first blow. He thought it showed overconfidence.

Andrea rushed towards Hiro, sparks literally flying off of her heels, as she thought of a way to get at the boy. Strangely, she had only had sword matches with Hiro, which she had almost always won, so this fight was a completely new thing to her. Ad when she thought about it, she never saw Hiro use his skills. Ever. All he did were punches and kicks when he fought the dummies that the Boss had.

A speeding punch flew towards Hiro’s stomach area but he merely swayed to the opposite direction of the punch as it came, like a fluid. Andrea tried to come at the boy with a roundhouse to the rib cage but just in time he blocked it with his right hand with slim signs of effort. Not even a hint of recoil was shown on his face. Just the same loving and peaceful smile he had always wore on his face. It was envying almost.

Andrea continued her rush on Hiro with all sorts of attacks: hook kicks, elbows, back hand punches, axe kicks, leg sweeps, and even a quick fireball to his head. But all the attempts were futile as the boy merely stepped out of the way, as if he could control time itself. It was as if her attacks were being predicted. But she knew that wasn’t the case. Having psychic ability was among the rarest of skills some Midians were born with. It had happened once every blue moon.

Nero could only watch in amazement, though not showing it by his face, as Hiro moved so fluidly, dodging her attacks left and right, as if he had seen the attacks over and over again. How?! How does he move at the perfect time of her attack after each chance she gets to hit him? He thought. Andrea must be pretty riled up, knowing her attacks haven’t been hitting after- Nero checked the time on his watch- ten minutes of continuous punches and kicks.

And he was right. Andrea’s punches and kicks were visibly getting more and more reckless, which comes from frustration. At first she was fighting to win but now it was something entirely different. She was fighting just to get a punch on him. Andrea kept most of her composure, not flailing her arms around like a madman, but still fighting pretty gruesomely considering her uptight style. The form of her attacks was normally Andrea’s main focus.

Nero remembered the night when she told him about herself almost three days ago. They were on top of the house, the roof to be exact, counting the stars.

FLasHbaCK

“So tell me,” Andrea began “How the hell did you beat me the first day that you got here?”

Nero raised his brow. “I thought I already told you. I made a clone and then I-“

“Not that part, idiot.” She interrupted playfully, obviously flirting. “I meant the fighting part, without the fireworks and special effects.” She chuckled.

Nero turned his head towards her as they lay on top of the house, formerly gazing into the night sky. “Well I was told by an old friend of mine that the key to winning a fight was to be unpredictable. For example, in most martial arts, everything is structured: punch, kick, punch, punch kick, and it follows that same pattern with different combinations. Well what I do is I put different combo’s from different arts together so the opponent can guess what I am doing but is faked out when I pull something extremely different out of my ass.”

Andrea obviously was confused. “How do you do that? Obviously there’s a problem with that style if it hasn’t been used even though it’s been thought of before.”

Nero chuckled. “It’s like making a cake. Separately, some of the things that are in it, like sugar, frosting and eggs, can taste good but if you put them together the right way- which is what I do with the different arts- it comes out to be even better.” He laughed at the end of his analogy. “I don’t know how better else to explain it.”

Andrea smiled. “I guess it makes sense when you put it that way.” They both laughed at his lame analogy.”

“What about you?” Nero asked. ‘Where’d your style come from? It was very… different. Everything- the kicks, the flips, the punches- everything was perfectly put together to a point where it flowed and had exact precision. If you get your speed up, you could beat me in no time.”

A brief moment of silence ensued. Nero’s statement made her wonder. Could I really beat him with just a little more work?

“It was just a style that kind of came to me, I guess. I made it myself. It reflects my personality. I like every little thing to be perfect and if it’s not, then everything, in my eyes, is completely wrong. It’s weird I know, but…”

“It’s not weird. It’s actually called something that’s the exact opposite.”

“And that is…” she drew out.

“It’s called being yourself. And that’s as normal as you will ever be as long as you stay true to yourself. My best friend told me that.”

Andrea since then had bathed in Nero’s words, accepting them to be true.

888888FLASHBAcK OVER

Hiro still dodged Andrea’s attacks, with even greater ease now, due to her now flaw-full attacks. Even behind that ever loving smile Hiro always wore in the worst of times, Nero could tell he was also worried about her sloppying style.

While Andrea continued her blows, Hiro commented “Andrea, you need to stop now, and rethink your strategy. I’ll even wait for you to do it, just stop, please. I don’t want to fight someone who is fighting for the opposite of the reason I am fighting.”

Andrea punched even harder after hearing the boy’s statement. “What do you mean!” she yelled back, her words coinciding with each punch she threw, each on missing. “We’re fighting to win, aren’t we? Plain and simple!” she roared as she let loose a kick to his head that he parried with his hand.

“Andrea, I’m fighting to win, but also for something else. I’m fighting for the only thing some people need in their lives: fun.” Andrea stared at Hiro, still punching purely out of instinct moreso than the want to win, as she heard his statement, which she now saw as true. “I see you’ve realized your mistake.” Hiro stated. “I guess it’s my turn to start fighting now.”

Suddenly Hiro stopped blocking Andrea’s punches and just stood there, as if he wanted to be hit. Andrea herself was now slowly returning to her normal self, with her punches being more and more precise. Andrea aimed spinning kick towards Hiro’s head but he caught her ankle in the middle of the attack. With little strength, Hiro tossed Andrea in front of him and stood still once again.

Andrea wiped the sweat from her face, and rose to her feet. “I guess if I can’t hit you with my fists, I’ll hit you with these.” In the girls drooping hands, balls of fire formed, out of thin air. And still Hiro stood there, not saying a word, just looking her up and down as if he were reading a book.

Andrea flung the spheres at her opponent, covering his body in flames. “What the hell are you doing!!” Nero exclaimed. “You’re supposed to put him in a deadly position, not the position of death!!” But Andrea didn’t listen, as she continued to shower Hiro in fire.

Eventually, after about three minutes of nonstop shots, Andrea stopped, suddenly realizing what she had done. She had tried to burn her friend to a crisp. “Oh no!” she said to herself as she ran towards the pillar of fire that was Hiro. Nero raced towards the fire also, trying to think of something to do. “Can you put out the fire!!” Nero screamed to Angela as the flames roared and licked the room.

Extreme sorrow painted on her face Andrea sadly answered “No.”

All the two could do was stare at Andrea’s creation. But as they looked closer they saw that the fire was dimming. It continued to shrink thinner and thinner until… nothing. Nothing was in Hiro’s place.

“You burnt him to nothing!” Nero exclaimed. “First you try to blow me up, now you try to incinerate our comrade.” He half joked.

Andrea didn’t respond as Nero looked carefully at the spot where Hiro had formerly stood. She couldn’t, for she felt something tight around her neck. At first she thought it was guilt but then knew better. It was Hiro.

Nero turned to see the boy with an arm around her neck, the opposite one having the hand fully extend, next to her throat. Hiro smiled and then said the famous words. “I guess this means I win?” with that glowing smile he always wore on his face.

He let go of Andrea, who instantly turned around and gave him a hug, tears streaming down her face. She went through a multitude of “I’m sorry’s” before Hiro finally, kindly, shrugged her off.

“I’m fine, I promise. I actually expected you to do that.” As soon as Andrea heard the statement she stopped her bawling.

“Wait a minute.” She said crankily “You KNEW I was going to set you on fire!!”

“Uhhhhh….” Hiro laughed “Yeah.”

In a flash, Andrea socked Hiro in the back of the head, leaving a mark instantly. A tear out of pain slid out his left eye as Andrea hollered in his ear “You have a lot of explaining to do!!”

Hiro then began. “I’m not gonna tell you the specifics but here’s what I did.” Rubbing his head. “I saw that during you match with Nero that as soon as things start turning awry in a fight, you go ballistic which reflects on your performance. Your style gets tons worse and you start using your fire based attacks. I let you set me on fire so I could demonstrate this fact. All ya need is some anger management and you could’ve beaten Nero a couple weeks ago.” Nero perked his ears up at the mentioning of his name. “His defenses were truly amazing but due to Nero’s abnormal style of fighting, his defenses are the same way even to himself- unpredictable- which is why you thought they were invincible.”

“Then how does he defend if even he doesn’t know how he’s gonna block our attacks.”

Hiro and Andrea instantly looked at Nero for the answer. Hold up.” Nero stammered. “I’m not telling you guys a bit of how I fight. Not until one of you guys beat me in a fight at least.” He joked.

“Then how about it.” Hiro asked. “You and me. Immediately after the mission is over with, it’s gonna be you and me, one on one. If I win you tell me everything about your fighting style, from how you block, to what you powers are.”

“AND you tell me about your past. Every little detail of it!!” Andrea chimed in.

Nero thought about the proposition. If he lost, which was very possible, he would probably be shunned by the whole house after they learn about what he’s done. It was a risk. But he’d take it, on one condition.

“If I win, though, you guys have to be my personal assistants for a month, doing whatever I tell you to do whether it’s wiping my ass with a hundred dollar bills, or getting me a glass of milk from Earth.”

Hiro tossed his hand out in agreement of the deal. The two boys shook hands, and the deal was made official.

After the deal, the three just flipped through channels on the training rooms TV, the shows ranging from adult channels ordered by Ino to music videos. But as the videos got out of style and the channel flipping began once again, Hiro, who controlled the remote, stopped as he saw the news. A reporter was at the site of a completely demolished school.

Hiro hushed the other two who were cracking jokes about each other as the reporter, whose tie strangely had a clown on it, spoke. As Nero looked up, he recognized the place all too well. It was Heavenly Crown. The channel brought back painful memories, that almost brought tears to his eyes. Almost.

“A little over a year ago, this school woke up, expecting a normal day but in exchange, saw the worst day of its years.” The reporter said. “During the final tournament in the series, this school, Heavenly Crown Academy, which was well known for it’s monthly tournament’ fighters, experienced a heartbreaking demise. After the final match, which was between two teenage freshmen, Locke Robertson and- The small TV exploded suddenly, as Nero stood with his hand outstretched towards the screen, lightning cackling around each one of his fingers.

“What the hell was that for?” Andrea yelled. “I was watching that!”

With a grim look on his face, Nero replied “I’m sorry. It’s just… the guy…. His tie bothered me.” He lied. The other two looked at him strangely. “It’s a disease.” Nero covered up. “I have Obsessive Compulsive disorder. Anything with a clown on it, I have to destroy or else I’ll go crazy.” The two still looked at Nero suspiciously but shrugged it off with two “Whatevers” and decided to head out to the kitchen.

“You comin’ Mr. I-Hate-Clowns?” mocked Hiro.

Nah” Nero falsely chuckled “I’m good. I’m gonna just chill here and not think of clowns to calm myself down. I’ll see you two tomorrow morning.”

“Alright. Peace.” The two said in unison.

Nero knew that he couldn’t keep his secret about the school for long. But the longer he waited the better. No one needed to know anything about himself or his past. At least not yet. Nero knew he couldn’t keep them from watching the news, so he had to think of a plan quick. It’s either tell them what my deal is or kill them. And the latter was going to be a monotonous option for Nero. He had already lost friends before. He didn’t know if he could stand to lose even more.

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Liquor and smoke rose in the air of the bar. Lupe sat informally on the bar table, with his legs crossed. No matter where he was, Lupe was always making sure that he was comfortable. Whether in the President’s house or in a garbage can, Lupe always made sure he was first.

The doors to the bar were locked shut by chains that choked them tightly, but Lupe recently motioned for a bouncer to unlock them. Lupe looked at his surrounding peers. Every single one of them, he knew had plans on killing Project Zero for the reward. But only one of them would end up alive. And he would make sure that it was him. They were all pawns in his game.

Next to Lupe sat Angelo, the Aerant, who followed Lupe after he told him his plan since he had the newfound info on Project Zero and his girlfriend, Alicia. Word was out that Project Zero was getting ready to be on the move all around Midas and he had a big bounty on his head. The first to capture him would be awarded ten million credits and a special favor from Lupe’s Boss.

Lupe had to get the money and the favor. Without, the rest of his life would have absolutely no purpose. He would be the slave to the boss forever. And that damn sure wasn’t gonna happen.

As Lupe finished looking at all the unique faces in the crowd, ranging from men to women, gay to straight, dark skinned to blonde, and sane to insane, he decided to begin the meeting. He called the greatest assassins he had heard of to this bar all for one reason: to see which ones could help him find Project Zero. All he needed was three but one hundred were there.

Over the roaring of the slew of assassins that sat in the room Lupe howled, causing all to go to an instant silence. All who were in the bar stared at Lupe in awe. “Hello everybody. First I must ask, How are you all doing today?” Lupe asked causally. A slur of murmurs was the answer to his question, along with a few shout of “Let’s get this over with” and “Hurry the hell up, I want that money!”

“I’m not going to start until somebody tells me How they are doing so unless you all want to be locked in here for the rest of the night, hurry up and answer my damn question…” he said calmly.

At first no one replied until a strong burly man with a thick beard and pale skin rose his hand. Lupe nodded his head in acknowledgement. “ Well I’m not doing to good. My wife just left me for my brother. And my kids don’t call me daddy anymore. They call me Ulrich now, by my first name. And my wife just found out that I had an “experiment” with her father three years ago while she was pregnant. I feel like I don’t even know who I am anymore!” he said, weeping after his last statement.

The whole room looked at him, puzzled. “I asked you how you were, a yes or no question. I don’t care about your retarded ass kids and your little bitch made “I don’t know my sexual identity” type problems. I’m just being nice…. As a matter of fact, Ulrich come here real quick.”

Ulrich, a stern look on his face, walked up to the bar table that Lupe sat, looking like he was going to explode. “Normally, I’m a real nice guy, ya know. I have a fiancée so I know what it’s like to know love. And I understand your pain but we’re not here to know about your personal life. I just asked if you were doing fine. Ya got it?”

The man nodded his head.

“Now do me a favor and give me your hand.” Ulrich smiled at Lupe’s gesture and did as he was told. Lupe grasped his hand gently and started to rub it. Whispers rang throughout the club. The gesture could question Lupe’s sexuality. Or at least it did until they saw what happened next.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Lupe whipped out a knife, and jammed it into the man’s hand. Ulrich let out a blood curling cream. Blood spewed out of the hand, spilling onto the bar table. Lupe, his eyes resembling a wolves’, stared at the crowd as Ulrich continued to scream.

“Anybody who has a loving family and kids needs to leave right now. If I find out that you DO have kids or a wife or anything of the sort, I will make sure that your head is posted up on these bars’ walls. And, yes, I will bite your head off, myself. No joke. If you have no family to love and care for then stay in here. All others leave the room.”

Out of the hundred mercenaries who were there, about 16 left, excluding Ulrich. “Anybody else?!” No one moved an inch.

“Alright then. That was the first elimination. I’m eliminating more people until I’m down to three of you. Next condition: If you are younger than me, then get your ass outta here! By the way, I am twenty three years old. If you are younger than me then please quit this job and live life. Find a woman, go party, have lots of sex, basically do whatever except something that can get you killed. You have plenty of years ahead of you. Go live them out. And the same rules from before apply to this group: if you stay and I figure that you are under twenty three, I will bite your goddamn head off.” Thirty four men left after Lupe stated the condition left, almost all of them in bad moods.

“How many is that?” Lupe asked himself. “Uhhhh… That’s half of you. Forty seven more to go.” Lupe continued to ask the mercs questions until the group dwindled down to thirteen.

“We have thirteen left. And I need three. No more; no less.” The thirteen stood in a single file line, each person facing the still sitting Lupe. “If you passed kindergarten then you know that ten of you must leave. The final test to see who should be here is going to be easy. All you have to do is stand here and close your eyes.”

Not asking any questions, each merc did so. Lupe paced back and forth in front of the line of killers. He examined everything about them, from their stance to their hairstyle. “okay. You all may open your eyes now. All of you are very fine assassins indeed. But there’s a problem with ten of you: You have no backbone.” Suddenly, Lupe changed. His face grew and contorted itself into a dog like shape as hair sprouted from his skin in massive numbers. The hair on his head spiked back as his teeth grew sharper. Before long, Lupe was a full fledged wolf demon.

Lupe extended his claws as his cracked his neck. He then flicked wrist towards the line, causing a brisk wind to flutter by the group. Before anyone, even Angelo, knew it, ten heads ended up on the floor.

“Hey Wade” Lupe hollered to the bouncer. “Go take these weak ass punks out to the garbage can, there not needed by anyone.” The bouncer, obviously disgusted, but scared at the same time, did as he was told, nervously.

The three remaining killers had sweat pouring down there faces in fear. Who wouldn’t be afraid of one of the last wolf demons left? Lupe merely chuckled. “Why are you guys so serious? Relax…” he said soothingly. “I’m not gonna hurt you guys. You guys made it. You beat out 93 other folks in a matter of about fifteen minutes. Let’s celebrate guys! Drinks are on me.” Lupe walked to the bar, dancing while singing a song.

One of the remaining killers, Ross, walked up to the bar with Lupe and asked the question that was on the other two’s minds. “Hey Lupe.” The wolf perked up. “I have a question. Why are we so special from the other… uhhh… ten that you just killed?”

Lupe held a beer in his hand as he looked Ross in the eye. “I thought I told you. You guys have backbone. You are not afraid to act on instinct. The others, in a tight situation, would’ve depended on me instead of acting on their own. That is why I picked you. I’ll give you the details on what you guys are gonna do later. For now, let’s drink until our brain cells are endangered species!!” he exclaimed.

Ross merely laughed at Lupe’s sudden change in moods and decided to do what he said: celebrate. Soon after, the other two, Jax and Duke joined the other two in the festivities. Meanwhile, Lupe gulped down a beer as he saw his new pawns. All they will do is capture Project Zero for me and I’ll kill them when I have the project in my grasp.

Lupe gulped down a beer in a matter of seconds, tossing the bottle into his mouth as if it was a trash can. Wolf jaws could crush through most things, even glass, with little to no damage. Lupe dreamily looked out the window at the full moon. It was the only thing he could stare at for hours and not get bored of. All except for Alicia, the one reason he did all these murderous things. As soon as I’m with you again, my killing spree is done. I promise. He thought to himself.