Unsuspected Heroes

An alternate look at the Prophecies Universe

"You were in a fight," stated Ker's sensei bluntly as the teen walked into the compound in the hills.

"Hai." Ker sat down heavily and let out a great sigh.

"Not a good date, then?"

Ker gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, it was an excellent time until I got it into my head to fight a holding action against two metahumans. A decently successful one, but the deck was a little stacked."

Ker's foster father raised his eyebrow. "Who were they, and how did things play out?"

Ker drew his legs up under himself and collected his thoughts for a couple of seconds. "One was Jinx, and I think the other one was named Bumble Bee. I sent Rachel to run to safety and charged at the HIVE operatives. Jinx fired a huge hex blast at me, which I jumped and turned into a flying kick. That sent her through a store window. The other girl started firing at me with what I think were a couple of shock pistols and I entered a cross-body roll to evade those, coming up in the perfect position for an elbow shatter. I started to try and disarm her, but she got a point-blank shot into my torso which sent me staggering. Jinx then reentered the fight with a hex wave that put me on the ground, then another which sent me into a shop which sold weapons of mostly display-quality, but with a few that could be used in combat in a pinch. A thrown sai ruined Jinx's shoulder, then she took another one out of the air. It gave me the chance to close and use the katana though. She evaded the first cut, but I stopped her from hexing me by putting a rising stab through her palm. We clinched for a bit, then I kicked her off the blade to free it up for a guard which ended up getting me zapped, anyway. They started to run for it but the Titans showed up. Jinx is in custody, but in intense medical care, at the Titans' Tower, I think. The other got away." He fell silent.

Ker's sensei sighed. "You do realize how hard it will be to keep the Titans from trying to recruit you, neh?" He shook his head. "I know how hard it would be for you to try and give up the life you have now, and I know full well that you don't think you're the right type for so-called hero work. Didn't the thought of running and only fighting if you and Rachel were attacked cross your mind?"

"Ile. In my defense, it seemed that we had been attacked." Ker looked down at his feet, hands constricting tightly around them. "It looks like I just followed in Pandora's footsteps."

A small smile made its way across the old man's face. "Then do not forget what is left in the box, just waiting to be plucked out."

The inklings of a smile played at Ker's lips. "Kitai." His positive inklings were short lived, however. "I think I should have chosen a different legend. Heroes would not want someone who deals such grievous damage working with them."

Ker's foster father bounced his head from side-to-side, as if considering something. "There are ways around that…but I do not think that acceptance from the Titans is all that gives you doubts. Kitsu ka?"

Ker's head, which had come up somewhat during his foster father's suggestion that there might be a solution to his art's deadliness, fell again. "Un…I can't imagine that Rachel would want anything to do with me after perhaps seeing, or even just hearing about what I did to Jinx. It was the only way, but still, it was not current society's way."

"Current society, sadly, has little room for warriors, it is true," sighed the old man. "But I think that if Rachel attracted you for the reason that I think she did, she might just surprise you."

"Deshou…I just wish that I could have found out how I truly felt about her."

Ker's father smiled, then leaned forward and pulled the pendant out from under Ker's shirt. His finger tapped it twice and he smiled warmly. "I know. My son, this pendant belongs to her." He stood. "You have much to think on. Come to me when you have decided what it is you wish to do with your life."

Ker didn't respond with words to his father, merely taking the pendant in hand and running his thumb over the grooves in the teardrop-shaped gold pendant that formed a kanji with a great deal of meaning to him.

"Ker?" Sarah knocked on the door to the suburban house that Ker and his father ostensibly lived at. There was no answer and the lights were out. Knowing full well where Ker really spent most of his time, she hopped the fence and entered the path that lead into the woods. The only person besides Ker, his father, and Faris to even walk this path, she felt a bit of trepidation at her first solo walk up it. She had been privileged to enter this most private place in Ker's existence…but now it felt that she was violating a trust.

He wasn't training with a sword in the courtyard, or running through a barehands form. He wasn't even sweeping the flagstones. Sarah didn't call out as she walked into the unusually quiet court yard, casting her gaze about as she tried to find either her friend or his foster father. As generally was the case, Ker's father found her first. He had a way of seeming to appear like that.

"Hello, Sarah," he greeted. His English-speaking voice was very heavily accented, but kindly. He approved of Ker's friends, though Sarah wasn't quite sure why he spoke in English with her. She was just as fluent in Japanese as any native speaker.

"Hello sir…where is Ker? We're getting worried about him."

"Oh…where is Faris?"

"I kinda meant Rachel and me, sir. Ker has told you about her, right?" She would be rather surprised if the martial artist hadn't.

He nodded. "Yes…he has. Ker got in a fight, I trust you know?"

A somewhat sardonic smile played across her lips. "Yes…Rachel told me about it, as did the news. They didn't give his name, but it wasn't too hard to identify the style when I saw the video, even if it was that bad of quality. And since I know full well that wasn't going to be Faris…"

He smiled back a bit. "Yes…well, you do know my son well." He pointed to the room that Ker was still sitting in. "He is making a very important pair of choices…ones that are inextricably entwined."

Her mouth formed a silent O. "I suppose that's why you have Kanesada and Muramasa on you? You're giving them to him? But…couldn't he decide not to go with a path that would require them?"

He gave an enigmatic smile. "I too, know my son well."

"You've decided?" asked Sarah of Ker a few hours later.

He nodded, his face set in determination. "Hai. I should have done this a long time ago."

She frowned. "Faris is going to be very unhappy."

"He already is. I'll still keep the secret."

"I know…Rachel is going to be unhappy as well."

"You aren't making this easy, you know. It's better in the long run…and I knew I was going to need to make sacrifices."

"Fine…are you going to explain to her?"

He nodded, then dipped a hand into his pocket. "And give her this." The pendant hung shining at the end of the chain, the jet-black lines of the kanji for ai clearly apparent.

A/N: I'm surprised at the lack of response to the last chapter. I was under the impression that such a well, I suppose 'messy' would be a good word, fight, I'd get more of a reaction, outraged or admiring. Ah well. Anyway, I realize that Raven doesn't even appear in this chapter, but it's primarily transition from the last to the next one, so, oh well. Please review. They make me feel happy, and as always, let me make the story better.