Scarlet Message

(AN: There's a lack of fics about Will. Period. But this is how I'd view him, so….Hi. :D)

When he looked in the mirror….he saw failure.

At least, -he- did. Not many others could view someone elite as a dismal and pathetic failure the way he himself did. Though at the same time, no one praised him the way they did Koga, Bruno, Karen or Lance…perhaps it was because he didn't have the looks for it?

Or maybe because he really was a failure.

He removed his mask, staring in revulsion at the scar tissue around his right eye. Through the two years he'd been there, he'd never shown another soul what was under his mask. He feared they'd turn him away, all the hard work he'd done having been for naught as he ran….but they hadn't. At least Lance hadn't, nor did Bruno for some strange reason.

He would admit to anyone he didn't like Karen. In fact, he was sure he hated her. Maybe it was the fact she trained dark-types, at least that's what one would think. In reality, it was more.

His first day as an Elite was spent being laughed at by Karen for losing to her. She always mocked him mercilessly, taunting him for how he trained, for his appearance, for being an introvert…her derision often resounded in his mind when he thought of himself as decent….it was almost as if she wanted him to fail.

And if she saw beneath his mask….the torment would never end.

Shuddering, he tossed his mask aside and punched the mirror. Mirror-polished shards fell to the floor as he stood clenching his teeth in rage. He was sick of all the torment. All the ridicule he received from her and from Koga.

Koga was also a problem, though not as much. Always lecturing him about how he lived his life, how he shied away from most people except for those who were supposed to battle him in the hopes of reaching Lance. But Koga was at least twenty years older than he was, he had no right to say…

"Will! Everything okay in there? What just broke?" Lance asked from the other side of his door.

"My mirror, that's all…" Will replied, sounding rather annoyed that the question.

"He probably broke it with his ugly face!" Karen laughed. "Freak."

"Karen!" Lance snapped. "Stop it, he's not that bad looking!"

"Then why doesn't he have a girlfriend?"

"Because he knows you'll be a bitch to whoever he brings back! You've got to stop being this way; people aren't introverted just because they like it!"

"He's still a freak, Lance. Normal people don't wear masks all day and hide in their rooms."

"He probably has a reason for it, so stop this or you'll be demoted!"

Karen huffed, and Will could hear the click of her heels walking away. He smiled. Lance always stuck up for him. But it wasn't enough….one person, he knew, wouldn't change anything no matter how much power they had. His smile faded, knowing that Karen would never stop and, for that matter, neither would Koga. He would continually endure day after day of torment from them no matter what Lance had requested. He had to talk to Lance about it somehow….warn him that they would never-….

His thought remained unfinished though, as his eyes were drawn to the glittering shards of the broken mirror on the floor. He picked one up and brought it across his finger. And just as he thought, blood began to accumulate and eventually drip down. He smiled, then stared at the door to his room. Squeezing his finger and using the blood as media, he inscribed a relatively long note on the carpet in rather large letters. It hurt like hell, but he was going to make a statement with his actions.

He grabbed the shard once more, and pushed the sharp end deep into his wrist. He cried out in pain, but then silenced the moment he thought of someone like Lance finding him. With that thought, he pulled it across his wrist, slicing a deep gash into it. Yet he didn't make a sound. He watched the blood pour down, and knew it was the only way, as much as he hated the pain. Switching hands, he then pushed the shard into his other wrist and did the same, though it took a bit more work due to the weakness in his already-slit wrist.

Not even five minutes later, he could feel a slight dizzying sensation coursing through his mind. The colors in his vision swirled and he felt extremely light-headed. He passed out on the floor, doomed to never awaken.

"Where's Will?" Bruno asked. "I haven't heard from him all morning…"

"Who has?" Karen laughed. "Probably sitting in his room wallowing in pity again. Poor sad loser."

Lance glared. "I'm going to go see if he's okay."

"You'd need to." Karen said, watching him leave. "You wouldn't know whether he was dead or alive with all the noise he makes!"

But seconds later, that statement would be truer than she thought. Lance let out a distressed scream, making the other Elites come running. He stood outside Will's room, tears in his eyes, unable to form any words at all. The others looked in and saw what had made him scream:

Will lay in the center of the room, surrounded in blood that was still pooling from his wrists. The bloody glass shard was a few inches away, near the message he had left written in blood, which Karen read aloud in disbelief.

"Here lies he who was never fully understood by those around him…" she read.

"Karen….this is all your fault!" Bruno growled. "If you hadn't been so condescending…"

"What?! Th…that was all in fun! I didn't think he actually took it seriously! Bruno….you've gotta believe me, I would never…"

"It's too late for that, Karen. Your contempt for him made him feel unwanted." Lance snapped. "You should have kept it to yourself."

Karen approached his body, laying on his back on the cold floor. That was when she noticed for the first time, his lack of a mask. She saw the scar tissue and gasped.

"Will…." She then realized why he was so awkward around people. Anyone would have cringed upon seeing all the scarring. "Your eye…"

"Karen, why are you concerned at all? I should have you canned for this!" Lance snapped.

"I never hated him…on the contrary…" Karen cried. "I liked him….but he wouldn't have liked me…I could never let him know. Never did I think…. something like this…."

"It's too late for that, Karen. You're out of here." Lance snapped.

"….that's alright. I could never remain here anyway. It would be too painful thinking of him…."

She walked out the door, and smiled back at Lance. "It's….been a pleasure." She said, then was gone.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered under her breath. "Will, I'm so sorry…"

But she knew that even if he could hear her, he would never forgive her.

And that was the worst pain of all.