Chapter 7: Killers

Tsuneo's eyes snapped open, shooting up from the bed he lay in, only to stop from the stinging pain coming from his chest.

"Easy there kid," a voice soothed as a hand placed upon his shoulder guided him back down to lay flat on the bed.

"Who're you? Ah! Is everyone ok!? What happened to those villains?!"

"Relax kid, I'm Doctor Madhouse, I work here at Sanctuary High," he said in a casual tone.

"Here at Sanctuary High? Am I in Sanctuary!?" Tsuneo couldn't help but think with excitement.

Tsuneo looked over to the middle aged man. He had semi-long chestnut colored hair tied back into a ponytail that reached down to his shoulders. His faced was refined and covered by a neat stubble goatee. The thing out of place was a scar that started on his left eyebrow, came down across the eyelid, and then ended a little past his cheekbone. Despite the scar near his eye, the pupils behind his simple round eyeglasses were quite warm and inviting, sharing a similar shade of brown as his hair. Although, Tsuneo couldn't help but get some sort of inclination that he was hiding something behind those eyes.

The doctor crossed his legs and leaned back in his swivel chair as he explained, "You were pretty hurt when that young man and lady brought you to me. I gave you a quick patch up with what I had on hand, then I had one of the other examinees carry you through the escape tunnel. Seeing as how the school was closer than the hospital, and that I was there, the police gave us a lift to have you and a few other kids treated here." He chuckled with a comforting smile, "Your injuries were certainly bad but nothing life threatening, trust me I checked."

Doctor Madhouse, his Quirk, Diagnosis. By looking at someone his Quirk allows him to immediately tell if a person is injured, what their injury is, and how to best treat it. His Quirk works for internal and external injuries.

"To answer your other questions, everyone back at the exam got out fine for the most part. Those kids that brought you in needed some help too, but they've already been seen to and taken home. As for the villains, from what I heard they all managed to escape."

Tsuneo suddenly remembered something, something that troubled him. "When we were escaping while Kimiko fought that villain…when I looked back…I could have sworn that he looked like…"

"Anyway! So, shall I operate?" the doctor asked, an insane grin spreading on his face while holding up multiple suturing needles.

"…huh?" Tsuneo's full attention was now back on the man sitting next to him. "B-but I thought I was fine?"

"Oh no, I just gave you a quick patch up. We're going to need to deal with those cuts on your chest." He got out the rest of his suturing kit, the insane look on his face growing even more frightening. "I won't lie, this is going to hurt. A lot. But hey, it'll leave you with a few wicked scars by the end!"

Tsuneo was sweating bullets. "I-is that really necessary doctor?"

The doctor had a look of disappointment before pocketing his needles and returning once more to a normal comforting grin. "No I suppose not. Nurse Mamba has been the one healing everyone with actual harsh injuries. I just figured you'd like it better if you got some cool scars out of this. That and I love the look on student's faces when I first shove the needle into their skin," he said with an all too genuine smile.

Before Tsuneo could even process what Madhouse's last sentence was, the doctor shouted out, "Nurse! This kid is finally ready for you!"

The injured boy then turned his attention to the office door, and in walked the school nurse. The young woman's body was fair and beautiful, and she wore a traditional white nurse uniform. However from the neck up she had the head of a black mamba.

"I'm relieved to see you're awake young man!" she chirped happily.

Between the worrisome doctor and now the reptile nurse, Tsuneo's nervousness increased ten-fold.

"Now, hold out your arm sweetie," the nurse ordered while coming to his bedside.

"Trust me kid, this'll heal you much quicker than my traditional operation," Madhouse added.

Tsuneo hesitantly held out an exposed arm to the nurse, who wasted no time in baring her fangs and chomping down on said arm. The boy felt something being injected into his arm, a feeling of drowsiness following suit. The woman soon released him, wiping her mouth she smiled and said, "Just rest up for a little longer and you should be good to go home."

Tsuneo then noticed the pain from his chest was gone. Observing his body, he noticed any sign of the talon cuts were completely gone.

"Another flawless operation nurse," Madhouse chortled.

Nurse Mamba, her Quirk, Healing Venom. Mamba has venom that she can inject via her fangs, which can heal injuries almost instantly. The side effect is that the recipient of the venom will become numb and drowsy for a short time.

"I'll be taking my leave doctor," she said with a bow to her co-worker.

Idly waving he called, "Thanks Mamba, see you tomorrow." Looking back to Tsuneo, who was struggling to keep his seemingly heavy eye-lids open, he got up and explained, "Blade Dancer wanted to talk to you for second. Why don't you have a little rest while I fetch her."

"Talk to…me?" Tsuneo uttered, trying to fight off the urge to curl up and sleep in the comfy infirmary bed.

"She's had a short chat with most of the examinees, don't worry it'll be quick," he casually explained still halfway out the door and not turning back.

After waiting for a good fifteen minutes, Tsuneo shook himself awake to listen to the Pro that had come through the door. Silently she strode in and delicately sat cross-legged in the swivel chair. "Glad to see you're all right young man. Madhouse didn't give you too much trouble did he?" she asked, clearly trying to break the ice.

"No, it's just…he's a little…"

"Frightening?"

"Yeah."

The Pro rolled her eyes, explaining, "Well that's to be expected. He used to be a villain after all."

"He was a villain!?" Tsuneo couldn't help but shout in disbelief.

"Well technically. When he was younger he was a back alley doctor for criminals. Then one day he decided he liked inflicting pain more than treating it," she finished in an ominous tone.

"How the Hell did he get a job in this place!?" Tsuneo screamed internally.

"But thankfully, Mother Nature set him straight, and now he teaches here and serves as our secondary nurse." She shifted in her chair, leaning a little closer. "Now then, on to a more important matter. You were one of the examinees that actually had an up close encounter with some of the villains that attacked today. So I was wondering, could you tell me anything of interest?"

"Anything of interest?" the boy repeated.

"Yes, did they mention anything odd, did you catch where they might have gone, basically anything that can help us understand or find them." She folded her hands and gave a sharp stare, waiting for a response.

"Oh, well….no I don't think so."

Her brow rose as she continued to stare.

"It's not even worth mentioning. It's stupid. You were hurt and tired, which probably just made you imagine things. Hell, maybe that guy just looked like him….yeah." Tsuneo continued to struggle with these thoughts as he looked back at the Pro, trying his best to make sure he wasn't showing any of his self-doubts to the woman.

Blade Dancer sighed, "Yeah, that's been the general answer." She started mumbling to herself, a scowl following suit. Looking back at the young man who had a look of worry for her, she apologized, "Sorry, it's just that you were the last one for me to question. I thought for sure at least one examinee would have caught something of note." Standing up she continued, "Anyway, we already called your parents and informed them of the situation while you were asleep. A police escort will be taking you home shortly." She then turned and made her way to the door in one swift motion.

"Wait!" Tsuneo called out.

She stopped and looked back, waiting for him to continue.

"I hope it's not rude of me to ask but…will our exam score still count despite what happened today?"

Somewhat surprised that after all that happened today that this is what the boy was worried about, she informed him, "The test was minutes from being over anyway. So yes, all scores will be counted, and you should receive your result in the mail within the next few days. Now then," she resumed her original exit, "good day and stay safe young man."

Despite all that happened, Tsuneo couldn't help but lean back in the bed in relief. "I just hope my score was good enough," he whispered to himself.


When I had finally arrived back at the hideout, I could see that I was fifth to make it back. Reina, Habrok, Cleric, and Crimson were already here, milling about and discussing the mission. As I entered, I could hear Habrok and Crimson talking heatedly about something, while Cleric sat reserved, clearly too nervous to stop the two. Reina was sitting in a chair attentively looking over something on her laptop, but that was nothing out of the ordinary.

"So after all your boasting and having your foe severely handicapped, you couldn't even kill one pathetic dog," Habrok taunted.

"Hey, I had to use a shit ton of blood beforehand AND I was by myself! You were at full strength and you had Akio with you, what's your excuse!?" Crimson shouted back. "I mean come on, not killing the Pro is one thing, but you couldn't even kill one of those fucking brats?" Noticing that I had walked in, Crimson focused his gaze on me. "So princess, how many did you kill? None? What a shocker," he said in a mocking tone.

Before I could even retort, Habrok cut in with, "Actually, Akio seemed to have a hard time even hurting our opponents."

I was filled with embarrassment as Crimson got a big grin on his face. "Really now? Ha! So you're telling me after all this training and preparation, when you actually go against the enemy, you fucking choke? Wow kid, I'm sure glad you're on the team," his words were filled sarcasm and disdain.

Holding out his bird like hand in objection, Habrok explained, "No, I've seen how a man hesitates in a fight. Akio was holding back."

Crimson stepped closer to me, his fists clenched. "Oh! So he didn't even just fuck up, he fucked up on purpose!"

"That's enough, all of you!"

Libra had walked in with Gorou and Rorschach. The well-dressed woman wasted no time with us and headed straight for her room, Gorou shuffling over to where his sister sat. Libra stared all of us down.

"So, no one was able to kill a single Pro?"

Crimson's glare was now on Libra. "Like I said back in the tunnel, it was out of my control. And it turns out Habrok, got fucked over by this little moron," he accused while pointing at me.

Libra's gaze slowly shifted over to me, stepping closer he sternly asked, "Akio, is this true?"

I was dead silent, feeling everyone's accusatory looks upon me made a cold sweat run down my back. I hadn't felt this way since I had first joined the group, I felt like I was an outsider, like I didn't belong with these hardened criminals. "I…yes, but I just didn't…think it was necessary to kill the examinees."

"Didn't think it was necessary!? Kid, you're-"

"Crimson, enough!" Libra growled.

Crimson gave me one last contemptuous look before stomping off, muttering under his breath something along the lines of "stupid fucking kid…". Cleric quickly got up and went after him, most likely going to try and calm him down. However I wasn't off the hook yet, because Habrok then gave his opinion, "Akio, our hunt would have gone much more smoothly had you taken care of the fledglings distracting us." With crossed arms he looked at me with disappointment and parted with, "Do not show mercy to your enemies, because they will give you none. Make that mistake, and you'll wind up in a cage." Without another word, the bird man made his way to the roof.

I turned back to Libra, only able to utter what felt like a pointless, "I'm sorry."

Whether it was because of my actions, the failure of the mission, or a mix of the two, Libra sighed while rubbing his temples and walked away. He was clearly trying to bottle up his frustrations.

I sat crestfallen on the couch for a fair amount of time, just trying to process my short comings and of course the ire I had earned from some of my teammates. Thankful though, there was still one person in the room who wasn't upset with me.

Wrapping a protective arm around me, Reina tried to ease my distress, "It's okay kiddo, we all make mistakes. What's important is that we learn from them."

"This mission was a failure and I can't help but feel like I'm the one who botched it. Maybe if I had done a better job, Habrok and I could have killed that Pro in time," I said dejectedly reflecting on my choices.

"Akio, there's no point in worrying over what you could have or should have done, that time has passed. Focus on what you can do in the future to make things better," she said with a smile, almost sounding somewhat wise, which was rare for the often lazy woman. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I've earned a nap. All that damn walking has tired me out."

Content with her day of work she fell face first onto the couch and immediately shut her eyes, Shade showing up soon after to curl up with the sleeping woman. Smiling and silently thanking her, I ruminated on what to do from there. I knew I'd have to try and make amends to everyone, but I'd have to do it carefully, as some were angrier than others…clearly. I wasn't sure when I'd talk to Crimson or Libra, but for the time being I decided it'd be best to start with Habrok. Wasting no time, I carefully made my way up the many old dilapidated stairs to get to the training area up on the roof. The training area was almost entirely used solely by Libra and I, however every now and then Habrok would come up as well to train and stretch his wings, which eventually led to us sparring and training together.

Stepping out onto the roof bathed in the light of the setting sun, I approached the sitting Habrok, who was looking up at the sky. "Hey, Habrok."

Focusing his attention on me he replied curtly, "Akio, if you've come to apologize, don't. Just do not make that mistake ever again."

Well that was unexpected. I stood there awkwardly for a moment, I didn't know what to say, but I didn't want to just walk away. So I came up with an idea to learn something useful while it's just the two of us alone.

"Habrok, how are you okay with killing people?"

He looked at me like I had just asked the dumbest question in the entire universe.

"I mean, Pros I could somewhat understand but…I mean you showed no hesitation trying to kill those examinees," I followed up on my previous question.

"What, you think just because they're children I am supposed to show them mercy?" he asked back. Before I could answer, he continued, "In truth, I take no joy in killing children. But these are no mere children we're dealing with Akio, they're Pro Heroes in training, you mustn't forget that. They are our enemy just as much as the Pros are."

"I understand…" I should have understood this from the start. Kimiko is incredibly strong despite having no official training, and no doubt many other examinees that passed the test are just like her. I can't hold back just because they're kids like me. But killing…

"To answer your other question on how I'm okay with killing others….well I suppose the simple answer is, I just am." Noticing my confusion he attempted to explain it better, "I won't lie, I know it isn't normal to take pride in killing another, but I just can't help it. It's all thanks to Pros and my brother that I've come to accept this fact."

"You have a brother?"

"I did, an older one. Our parents died when we were both still young, and the two of us ended up living on the streets. We looked out for each other and he taught me how to become a stronger man. When we were younger we survived by stealing, but as we got bigger and stronger, we resorted to mugging as well."

Hoping I wasn't over-stepping my boundaries I asked, "So, what happened to him?"

Thankfully Habrok answered with no hesitation, "One day while we were mugging some old man, a young fresh faced Pro came along and tried to stop us. I was still a pathetic whelp back then so I was frightened by the Pros, but my brother tried to fight him off. That 'hero' just wouldn't stop hitting him, he just kept going and going, seeing my brother beaten to a bloody pulp finally gave me the courage I needed. I wanted him to experience even worse suffering than what he had done to brother, so I jumped onto his back and started digging my talons into his flesh."

"So did he…"

"That Pro was the first person I ever killed. I was overwhelmed with emotion, relieved that I stopped him, yet I shook with fear. Passing civilians heard the commotion and called for help, and thus against my own desire to stay and help him, my brother ordered me to run. So I did," his voice clearly had a hint of regret to it.

"So what happened to him?"

"I soon found out that my brother was far more injured than I had realized. After he was captured he had died from his wounds. I then heard what people were saying about me." He looked down at the ground angered. "The family of the young Pro I had killed was in an uproar. Everyone covering the story kept painting him as an innocent victim, and they kept saying the same thing about me over and over again," he paused, clearly reliving the experience. "Lock that damn animal in a cage. That's what everyone said. I didn't mean to kill him, and yet everyone treated me like a bloodthirsty monster."

He got up, towering over me he asked, "So do you know what I did?"

I simply shook my head.

"I decided, if they're going to call me an animal then I might as well act like one too. They're the ones that so desperately wanted to paint me as a monster, so I'm merely obliging their request. I'm somewhat thankful those events happened however, otherwise I would have never experienced the thrill of hunting Pros and the sheep they try to defend."

"Habrok I…"

"I don't expect you to understand my reasoning or feelings. Just know I've come to terms with killing, and if you're going to be a villain Akio, you'll need to come to terms with it as well." For the first time I had ever seen, Habrok's face wasn't intimidating or angered in any way. It was a look of sympathy.

"I understand. I don't know if I can come to terms with it quickly, but regardless, the next time we're on a mission I won't hold back."

He nodded and patted me on the shoulder. "I know you can do it little Akio."


Tsuneo sat at his desk idly browsing his phone. After the incident with villains at the entrance exam, Tsuneo's worried mother had smothered him for an hour constantly checking to make sure he wasn't hurt. Tsuneo's father on the other hand just congratulated him on surviving a villain attack and gave him a high-five. Now he was in his room finally able to relax after the day's events.

"Hmm?"

His phone buzzed, alerting him to an unexpected text from Kimiko. Curious, he opened it.

Kimiko: We need to talk. Meet me at the park at six in the morning.

Short and to the point as always. Tsuneo knew it must be something serious if she would bother to grace him with a face to face meeting. Pondering on what she wanted to talk about, Tsuneo thought back to the villain he had seen during the attack. His Quirk, the way he talked, and that small glimpse of him without his mask...

"It's just coincidence or my mind playing tricks," he kept thinking to himself.

He decided to head for bed and get some deserved rest. Thinking that perhaps he could bring the topic up with Kimiko in the morning.


The next morning I decided I should apologize to Crimson next. The whole night I had been weighing who would be better to start with, Crimson or Libra. Despite what had happened yesterday everyone still went about their usual morning routines. Gorou and Rorschach were in the kitchen area, Reina sat with Shade on the couch, Habrok was up on the roof for some morning exercise, and even Crimson and Cleric were watching TV like usual. However Libra was still holed up in his room, and so I decided I should speak to Crimson first.

"What do you want?" he snapped as I approached.

Taking a deep breath I pushed myself to just get it over with, "I just wanted to apologize for failing my part of the mission."

"Apologize!? Look here you weak little-" he stopped when Cleric gently squeezed his shoulder. Composing himself he uttered, "Right, stay calm. Inside voices." Letting out an exhale he looked back at me, still having an unfriendly aura about him, but clearly restrained. "Look there's no need for your half-assed apology. Do whatever you want, just make sure you don't fuck over the rest of us when you do it. Got it!?"

Well that went better than I honestly could have expected. But I couldn't just say 'Really? Ok, thanks!' no, I wanted to make sure he understood I wouldn't put the team at risk again with behavior.

Dropping to my knees I made a solemn vow, "I swear I will not disappoint you. I will do whatever it takes to make sure we succeed in the future. So thank you for this second chance!"

Cleric smiled and giggled at my gesture, while Crimson had a disgusted confused look on his face. "Yeah sure, whatever you little weirdo. I'm dead serious though, if you don't shape up in the future I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Deal," I agreed, leaving our exchange at that. As I walked away I could hear Cleric faintly offering Crimson praise for not punching me in the face. Briefly peeking back I could see he was blushing as Cleric wrapped her arms around him. I still wasn't sure why Crimson was always so irritated with me, but hopefully I could prove my worth to him in the future.

Now that I had made amends with Habrok and Crimson there was only one person left that I had greatly wronged. Standing outside Libra's door I mentally prepared myself. Up until now I had always viewed Libra as a partner and mentor, but yesterday when he looked at me after hearing what I did, I was reminded that this man was technically my boss and he could get rid of me if he wanted.

Suddenly the door was slightly ajar, leaning out was Libra, still masked but missing his usual white cloak. "I heard you shuffling about out here. What do you need Akio?"

Caught off guard I stammered, "Oh! Um I just wanted to…apologize?"

He stared at me for a moment, it was the same look he gave me back when I had first introduced myself to him. Then he ordered, "Come in."

Not even considering questioning him I dutifully entered. Libra had certainly done his best to turn this once grimy abandoned living space into something of his standards, that is to say his room looked immaculate in comparison to the rest of our hideout. He motioned for me to sit on the lone chair he had in the room while he sat upon his fairly clean bed.

"Akio, I'm going to ask you a question. Know that no matter what you say, I will not be angry. I need you to be honest with me."

Tensing up a bit I said, "Of course, what is it?"

"Do you have what it takes to be a villain?" he leaned forward, his words cutting into me, "Do you honestly believe that you can hurt or kill others in order to bring about a more just society. Because if you can't, you need to quit. Now."

Even hidden behind a mask just his look alone made a chill run down my spine. Just like when we had first met I knew he would be able tell if I was lying, and so I needed to decide whether it was true or not. We won't always be fighting Pros. Police, civilians, students training to become heroes, all of them might end up in our path of destruction. Can I live with myself knowing I might have to kill some of them?

After all I had been through so far, how could I say anything else but, "Like I said when I first joined, I'll do anything it takes."

He just stared at me in silence for a moment, looking for any hint that I was lying. Seemingly satisfied by his investigation he stood up, saying, "And just like I said. We'll have to see if you can live up to those words."

After he had said that it felt like I was able to finally breathe and relax from the events of the entrance exam mission. Though now I knew I had even higher standards to live up to, I was just relieved that I had a second chance. Now I'd just have to steel my nerves to face the future ahead. A future where I might have to hurt people I once called friends.


Tsuneo yawned as he walked into the old park where he, Akio, and Kimiko used to play as children. Walking past some of the worn out playground equipment brought back memories of simpler times, when his dad was still a Pro Hero, when Akio and Kimiko got along, when the two of them used to be a lot happier.

"About time you got here," Kimko huffed from the wooden bench she sat upon. "I said six, it's six twenty-four, you were almost half an hour late!"

"Sorry, you're the one who wanted to meet up so early…"

"Humph. Well I'm sorry I didn't want to risk anyone hearing what we're talking about!"

"Then why didn't we talk over the phone?" Tsuneo questioned, rubbing his sleep deprived head.

"Because this isn't just something we can just chat over the phone about! Sit down!"

Shocked, the grey haired boy quickly sat on the opposite end of the bench. Nervously he spoke up, "Okay so, what do we need to talk about?"

"Are you dense!? Akio, what else could I possibly want to talk about right now!?"

"Akio, what about him?" Tsuneo asked trying to bury his growing worry that what he saw might have been true.

She sighed in frustration, "I know you were busy running away, but I saw you kept looking back over shoulder at me. Surely you saw him after I had blasted him with all that water."

"Well I thought…you know maybe….I think…"

Nodding knowingly she shut the boy up right there, "Yeah you saw him. Like it or not, Akio is working with goddamn villains."

Tsuneo rubbed his face, his anxiety growing. "Okay, maybe it was Akio. But maybe they're forcing him to help them or maybe he's brainwashed. Or-"

"Or maybe he's just another selfish villain abusing his Quirk. Trust me, I talked to him, and he's working with them willingly."

A sudden thought hit Tsuneo, "But wait, Blade Dancer said she questioned everyone for any information on the villains! You didn't tell them about Akio!?"

"That's what we're here to talk about. I didn't want to just rush into a decision like that. He used to be my friend too you know."

Tsuneo ran a hand through his hair, trying to process all this. "So, what should we do?"

Kimiko looked down at the ground and explained, "The police will find out who he is soon enough on their own, there's too much evidence to connect the dots to his identity. But I feel like it's our duty as Pros in training to report him."

"No, well…I mean you said the cops will find out soon enough on their own, so why don't we just leave it be for now…"

"Tsuneo-"

"Kimiko please! Can we just please pretend things are still somewhat normal, just for a bit longer please! I don't want to imagine the guy I've known since I was five is actually capable of helping killers…"

Kimiko didn't like the idea of letting Tsuneo live in his fantasy, one in which Akio was still just this innocent lost boy. But perhaps for the sake of their old friendship she decided to oblige to that request. "Fine, but we have to tell his father."

Tsuneo looked over to her, still trying to grasp the fact Akio was trying to hurt his fellow examinees and future classmates.

"Right? I mean if anyone has a right to know where Akio is, it's his father right? Villain or not I'm sure he'd like to know that his son is alive and well. So you don't have a problem with telling him right?"

Recomposing himself Tsuneo nodded. "Yeah, you're right. He's been worried sick since the day he left. We should tell him together."

"Agreed. But there was actually one other thing I wanted to ask you while we were here." Seeing that Tsuneo replied with a simple questioning look, she continued, "Even if you somehow managed to pass the exam, do you think you can make it as Pro?"

Somewhat lacking its usual full energy, Tsuneo still put on a determined face and replied with, "Yes. Of course I can."

"Even if that means fighting Akio?"

He returned her question with a bright smile. "Fight him? If smacking him in the face until he comes to his senses is what you mean by fighting, then yeah sure. Akio's confused, but we'll help him."

Unable to give a remark about how idiotic that was before the boy got up and started to walk away, Kimiko resigned to just sit back on the bench at look out at the rising sun.


The rest of the day had actually passed by rather pleasantly. Local news channels covered our attack on the training grounds, news which made Crimson excited to hear that he had landed Mr. Action in a hospital, and Rorschach was pleased to hear her beasts had caused a startling amount of death and destruction. Libra seemed delighted that parents of the examinees were terrified by the event and worry if Sanctuary can keep their children safe. However it seems that despite the event, Sanctuary faculty assured everyone that this was a minor mishap and that nothing like it would occur again in the future. Another important detail was that some covering the news referred to us as The Syndicate.

"Some of the news stations were smart not to mention our group's name," Reina commented. "But the few that did have given any potential villains looking to work in a group a name to track down. Ours."

With our spirits lifted we were able to relax and go about our usual business for a few days. One night soon after however, Reina was browsing her laptop and had received a message from someone, someone important.

"Hmm? Giran?" A smile spread across the woman's lips, "You old dog, what could you possibly want?" The message was labeled "Important offer". Opening it and reading through the details, her heart skipped a beat at the last sentence. "Libra!" she shouted as she hopped out of her chair, off to inform her partner of the very intriguing plan being put together by a group known as The League of Villains.

Of course while all of this was happening, none of knew about a villain who had returned to Corasu city.


A middle aged man made his way down the sidewalk, talking to his wife over the phone as the day grew late. After arguing with his spouse for few more short minutes he hung up, just eager to get home and try to relax after a hard day. However as he neared a shaded alley, he heard a rough coughing. As he approached he could see a dirty dumpster with a man sitting next to it. The sitting man had tattered jeans and a jacket in rough shape which was most likely at one point black, but was now a dusty grey, clearly due to the wear and tear of time. The outfit clearly marked the man as a street bum. The man planned to just pass by, however he heard the bum call out.

"Hey man, I could use your help."

The man stopped at the entrance of the alley to address him, "Look, I'm sorry but if you're looking for a handout-"

The bum waved his hand dismissively. "Nah nah, nothing like that man. It's just that I've been walking for a good long while now-" he cut himself off with a brief and rough cough, "and I've just been feeling pretty weak."

"Do you need me to call someone for you or something?" the man asked, curious as to where this was going.

"Heh, nah man. I could just really use a hand up. I feel real weak, I can't even get up without pain…" The bum's hand outstretched towards him, "So, can you give me a hand please?"

Against his better judgment the man sighed and walked into the alley and in front of the sitting vagrant. The man reached out and took the sitting man's hand, hoisting him up onto his feet. The man was shocked for a moment when he felt the bum's other hand grip his forearm, however the shock soon passed as he felt the homeless man shake his arm gently.

"Thanks dude, glad to see there are some good people left in this world man," he laughed lightly before giving a brief cough.

"Sure no problem," the man said as he tried to pull his arm back. But suddenly he felt the man's fingers digging into his skin. "Hey!-!?" Before the man could yell at the bum, he was appalled to see that his skin was starting to stiffen and turn to a rusty color where the bum was holding onto him. He tried to pull back once more, but his assailant didn't let go, and thus the rusty substance continued to snake its way up his hand to connect with the substance spreading over his forearm, leaving his right arm unresponsive and heavy. The man next tried to call out for help, but the hand once in his hand was now covering his face, the metallic substance now spreading over his mouth and up to the rest of his face.

The bum forced him to the ground, trying to suppress himself from cackling. "Take it easy brother, don't waste your breath struggling."

The man tried to open his mouth only to find it wouldn't open, it felt as though simply moving his lips was an impossible task. The rusty colored substance continued to spread across his face, the smell of aged iron filled his nostrils, and then he realized what the substance was. His skin was being turned to rust, however something more alarming caught his attention. He couldn't breathe, the rust had sealed his mouth shut and had closed off his nostrils.

The killer looked into the man's eyes. "Shhh, just relax fella."

The rust soon spread over the man's eyes leaving them frozen in a state of horror. For another minute or so the man used his free arm to flail and scratch at the rust covering his face, desperately trying to cling to life as he began to suffocate. The man's arm began to move more slowly and soon enough went limp, seeing this event caused the man's killer to get up and drag him over to the dumpster. After quickly searching the man for what he was after, he extracted the man's wallet and emptied it for any cash inside. Content with his earnings, the vagrant pocketed the cash and dumped the body into the dumpster.

"Thanks again for the help man." The vagrant walked out onto the sidewalk, breathing in a breath of fresh air as he appreciated how heavenly the city looked during the afternoon. "It's good to be home."