Chapter 1
I was on top of a roof, the night wind hitting my wet body with no care. Experiencing something like this, I now knew why people would say they would move to Mexico whenever it would get cold in Canada. I mean, 6 months, more or less, of warm and cheap but good food, some good Latinas as eye candy, I can perfectly understand it.
If I wasn't going through this torturous activity with a demon looking over my shoulder.
"Not low enough, restart from zero," The white head demon spoke, making me grind my teeth in pain. Pushing my body up from the ground, I glared at him, "You have to be kidding. That WAS low enough!" I barked right back.
"Do Another thousand if you have the energy to talk back," The old man glanced back at me, his words basically growled at me, while his front facing the view.
'How could he even know that?!' I thought to myself in regret and anger. Without speaking another word, because I knew he wouldn't listen and just add another thousand reps, I lowered my body, almost hitting the ground, and then pushed back against gravity. "1," I counted, and then repeated the movement, "2,".
Within 40 seconds, I had already done about 100 pushups, with another 1900 to go just because I felt daring enough to talk back. Should have kept my mouth shut. Pushing myself up, "130," I counted, and then slowly let myself down, before going up again.
But this time, as soon as I was in the middle of the push-up, my arms bent at 90 degrees, "Stop," the demon ordered without any words. And no, it wasn't the "Oh, you can take a rest now, stop." It was the "Time to die, stop,"
I couldn't fall down, nor could I push myself up. If I did either of them, he would drag my ass to the beach, wet my whole body with seawater, and then would order me to do pushups in the middle of the raging waves with perfect posture, if I couldn't, he would add another thousand till I get it right.
The man is a demon in disguise, I tell you. He's the only reason I've come to hate beaches, waves, water, and Mexico. I would rather suffer in the woods, in Canada in the middle of the winter, learning about survival than here, doing this torturous exercise.
I was stuck in a plank position, but while doing push up. And that continued on for another 3 freaking minutes. "Continue," He spoke, making me sigh with relief, "200" I counted, doing my push up as fast as I can before he decides to punish me again with his long freaking pauses.
For the next 5 minutes, the only thing that was making any noise was me counting, the wind, the dogs chasing cats in the background somewhere, and sometimes the demon ordering me to stop in the middle of a rep until he was satisfied and then would tell me to continue. With my torso naked, the sweat that fell on the ground wet it a bit, almost as if someone had thrown water on my spot, and 4 hours later, it was drying now.
"776" I counted, going down and while I was going up again, "777-" I was interrupted by two honks of a truck.
<BONP BONP>
"It's time," The old man spoke, and as soon as I heard it, I used a part of my strength in my arms to push me back to my feet with no problem, dusting my hands on my blue camouflage military pants. And with reflex, I caught the white undershirt that he had thrown at me from the railing. I was afraid to talk back and to repriment the old man. My jacket was customized by yours truly, by that, I mean me, to be useful during battle, which is why it was heavy because of all the techs stuff I put inside it.
It took me like 5 years to build it and that demon just threw it like it was a piece of normal clothing...
Not minding the sweat, I put on my undershirt first, my back facing my instructor. When I put on the jacket without zipping it up, I turned towards the old man, only to find him gone from his place. "Seriously?" I asked, letting out a sigh, and taking the four grenades that I had made before starting to jump from one rooftop to another, going where the loud music of the van was coming from.
By the time I had reached the place of action, the lights in the alleyway were gone thanks to the old man and his electrocuted victim. In the middle of the alleyway stood three guys with cool skeleton tattoos that would only light up in the dark. I didn't know what they were, but they were cool. Maybe I should get one myself. Not skeleton of course, maybe, something like a samurai sword on my back?
"Y-You see anything?" One of the men asked, the one with the green skeletons, bringing his metal bat close to his body, ready to swing. It looked like all of their favorite weapons were metal bats or pipes. The bats had some sharp things sticking out of them, so if it hit you, you would have to say farewell to a chunk of your flesh. The one that had a pipe was another guy with blue skeletons on his body.
In the background, there were some stray dogs that were barking at something, doing what dogs do. Fun fact, did you know dogs eat their own shit? I didn't know that. And now, I am a cat person. And as if one of them, the one with blue skeletons, read my mind, "ENOUGH GAMES PERRO!"
Translation, perro means dog in Spanish. School is useless. I mean, why learn Spanish when I can come to Mexico with the old man, and start beating the shit out of the gang members and learn Spanish from them? It's free, it's fun, and it's stress relieving.
But hearing him call old man perro, I frowned, 'Rude,' I wanted to remark. "COME OUT AND FIGHT!" The man continued yelling, his buddies watching his back, all of them facing three different directions. But nothing, "Whose there?!" The green tattooed guy asked and seeing the old man's red visor activating in the dark alley right next to where the gang members were, I smirked.
"Your father is back with cigars!" I shouted from the rooftop over them, making them look up as a distraction. Taking that as the signal, the old man sprung into action. The one that wanted the fight, the blue tattooed guy got a straight punch to the nose, which send him flying and crashing into the wall, though he wasn't knocked out.
Charging in the middle of the two standing men, their attention was brought to him. The big guy, the one with the pink tattoo guy, and the quietest of the three swung his bat. But the old man dodged it by ducking down. Seeing the blue guy standing up, I jumped down, while the green guy was about to swing his pipe like a hammer from over his head.
Funnily enough, the old man just gave him a back slap almost as if the gang member was some bitch, knocking him back, the pipe falling from the green guy's hand. With one hand on his rifle and the other grabbing into the pipe, the old man swung it on the head of the pink guy, knocking him back.
The blue guy was about to jump on him, but he couldn't anymore. "Rooftop tea bag!" I shouted, my feet landing on the back of his head, knocking him to the ground. "Here, here!" I crouched once or twice with a smirk on my face, my nuts hitting the back of his bald head, while my attention was still on the fight.
Seeing the green guy about to jump on the old man again, but empty handed now, I took the bat that had fallen on the ground from the guy I tea bagged, and threw it at the man's head, only for the handle of the bat to hit the man's head, not knocking him back or anything. Just stunning him for a moment. But that was all the old man needed. Spinning on his heels, he dropped a sidekick to the stunned guy's head, knocking him off his feet, again.
The pink guy tried to get up again, his arms supporting him, his form was a very bad pushup-like. "This is perfect for the punk kick!" I muttered with a smile and without any hesitation, ran at the guy. With him being a bit dizzy and stunned from the old man's hit, I had enough time to kick the man's head like a FOOTBALL, NOT SOCCER.
Though I heard a snap, I don't think it was from his neck. Maybe it was... I don't really care. Though I didn't see the blue guy getting up again because I wasn't facing him, I heard his movements. And if I had to guess, he would be wrathful because of the dry tea I had served him. But I didn't need to concern myself with it. Because the green dude that was getting his life knocked out of him was then thrown on the blue guy.
Both of them fell back to the ground. The pink guy that was near my feet tried to get up, making me frown. "Seriously? What are you eating?" I muttered, landing another punk kick on his head. And this time, he was knocked out.
While my back was facing the van at the entrance of the hallway, not seeing what was happening, I saw a little girl hiding behind some boxes or crates or whatever, deepening my frown. And I know she knows that I now know she's there, which froze her up. The two remaining tattooed guys that were behind me had now gotten up. The old man passed me without any words, he continued to knock the shit out of the two guys without any problems, while I winked at the little brunette, a finger on my lips to shush her.
Seeing her eyes trailing to one of the two guys that the old man was using to blow off some steam, I turned towards the beating as well. Searching their bodies with my eyes and seeing a cute little coin purse. "Ahh!" I exclaimed, realizing why she was here. Sometimes I scare myself with my bright and smart deductions.
By the time I had reached them, both blue and green dudes were knocked out, while the old man also took a glance behind us, at the place where the girl had hidden, though his red visors made it difficult to know that.
Ignoring the whistle from the man on his van, I crouched at the knocked-out men, taking the cute little blue coin purse. "Come here!" The old man growled at me, taking me by the back of my jacket's collar, and dragging me to an alleyway underpass. I am sure it would be a funny sight or terrifying, depends on your persceptive, to see a 21 years old guy getting dragged by a old white haired man to the dark alley, while the bullets of machine gun flew at the place where we were and are.
Me? I would say terrifying because it's not just any old man. It's freaking Soldier 76. Usually, when this happens, I get turned into a punching bag and then thrown around as a lesson to get stronger.
And as if that wasn't enough, more party people joined. At least 5 of them were on the rooftops somehow, firing down at us. Thankfully, the little girl was away from our position, so she was safe from the strays.
Sensing a glare from my side, I turned towards its owner, finding the demon. "You missed the rooftops." He said and I had all the information I needed to know what he really meant. So, let's translate.
"You didn't scout the area properly, even when I was the first one on the scene. For that, you shall die from drowning while doing pushups in the middle of the waves, and do sit-ups. 10 000 each, before the end of the day. If you don't finish it, well, you got the preview of what I'll do to you by watching the three guys I just beat up."
So, I responded with, "I didn't. They magically appeared there!"
Was that smart? No, it wasn't. It was stupid. Why? Because, ignoring the sound of machine guns, and riffles raining bullets on us,
"..."
Silence. Anything is better than silence at this point. Silence meant that we'll jump straight to the action, skipping the push-ups and sit-ups. Me and my freaking big mouth. I hate myself. Really.
Letting out a sigh of acceptance, "get ready," I muttered dejectedly, taking out one of the four grenades from my pocket. Pulling up the zipper on the jacket, I tapped my left forearm, and immediately, a little screen popped up from underneath my jacket. Using that as a mirror, I looked at where the machine gun was and how far away it was. Doing simple math in my head, I threw the grenade very hard at the edge of the wall in front of me.
Bouncing on it and then bouncing another two times on the ground, it stopped in the middle between us and the truck, before it exploded, black smoke covering the entire alleyway immediately, from us all the way to the truck. With that, all the attacks stopped.
Without any words, the old man used that opportunity, rolling in the middle of the alleyway, his rifle ready and aimed, with his red visor glowing like a demon. Reloading his weapon like a shotgun, he fired at the van. Three tiny rockets were launched from his rifle, spinning in circles and heading towards its destination, his visor made it seem like there wasn't a smoke screen to him.
And as expected of an elite soldier and former leader of Overwatch, he hit his mark, exploding the car and the machine gun guy together. And while he was doing that, I also took out two other grenades from my pockets, shutting the screen on my forearm.
Pressing the button on top of them twice and holding it for a second or two, I then threw them at the previous location of the gunmen on the roof. Two seconds later, two small, but powerful explosions brought down all the men from the rooftop to the ground.
Letting out a breath at the short but sudden, peaceful moment, I started to walk towards the little girl very carefully. She had taken cover behind the boxes, so none of the gang members had seen her, and hopefully, she wasn't injured at all. But when I was about halfway to her, another van had suddenly cut to where we were, my attention, the girl's, and the old man's snapping to it. And since the old man was too close, he was about to get it run over, but he rolled out of the way.
But we weren't the only ones. The guys that were on the ground, knocked out or injured from the explosion, at least half of them got back up again, "Son of a-" I shouted in surprise at their endurance.
I readied myself to fight them again, but surprising me and the old man, they instead ran towards the car, getting on its back. The old men tried to run after them, but one of the injured guys near him, grabbed his right heels tightly, not letting him go.
With his other foot, he kicked the guy's hand and head, freeing himself, but the gang members needed that extra second to load themselves up. Of course, I wasn't doing nothing. Taking out the last grenade I had, I pressed the button on top of it once, just like the first grenade, and threw it at the men.
Who knew if they had another machine gun on the back of the van. I couldn't throw a home run, but I could make them blind with it. Decreasing their chance of spotting us and injuring us too much. And with us taking cover, that probability would go down to zero.
But surprisingly, they didn't do what I expected of them. Because I saw something fly over my head. And when I realized what it was, my eyes followed it, seeing it bounce and roll right in front of the little girl, who was now looking at the grenade in front of her in terror, letting out a cry of fear, while backing off in a sitting position. Her mind was too preoccupied with the object in front of her for her to realize that she could stand up and run.
Not even looking back, my cheerful and careless front fell apart and I ran. "I GOT THE GIRL!" I shouted, running at her, ignoring the explosion behind me. Though I didn't hear anything, I knew the old man enough to not let them escape like that. With me covering the girl, his worry should lessen and chase after them without any concern.
As soon as I had reached the grenade, it had already let out 3 fast beeps, meaning it was going to explode. Ignoring it, I forced myself to think about the aftermath. Yeah, we'll regroup and then finally chase after the gang members again and find out what they were doing.
But back to the situation at hand, I couldn't kick the grenade forward, because it would only explode right in the face of the little brunette. I couldn't try to pick it up and throw it in the sky, because I didn't have enough time and if I did that, I would die. That left me with only one option, to use the momentum I had from my sprint, throw myself and take the girl in my arms.
With any luck, my speed would knock us away for a bit before the grenade explodes. So that's what I did. I passed the beeping grenade, threw myself at the screaming girl, and took her in my arms, my speed let us slide on the ground for a bit. And then, we were knocked away more. A second later, sharp pain and then extreme hotness hit my back, making me grunt in pain, and my eyes shut, my teeth clenched tight so I wouldn't scream, scaring the little girl even further.
A moment later, the sound of an explosion hits me, making me understand why I was feeling a burning pain on my back. "Fu-fuck..." I muttered in extreme hurt, all of the sudden, finding my whole body very stiff. But the burning sensation wasn't getting away. If anything, other than the feeling of hundreds of needles on my back, I was also feeling... Hot.
Ignoring it for a second, because I had felt movement in my arm, I moved from my side, sitting on my knees while being careful in my movement in case the brunette was hurt. "Hey... You okay?" I asked, making her slowly open her eyes and then look at mine in disbelief, probably wondering how she was alive. A moment later, her eyes landed behind me, going wide in what I could identify as terror and fear again.
Ignoring the burning pain that was spreading through my back, I put up my front again, "Hey, he, grr-" I spoke, and then grunted in pain, my persona falling for a second. With the pain increasing with every second, I let her go and touched where I was feeling hot.
"You're- You're on fire!" The girl shouted, crawling back from me and though she tried to stand up, her legs gave up on her. Realizing why I was feeling the extreme pain, I was about to put my back on the floor, sand and gravel on my burns be damned if I could put out the fire that was literally on my back.
But before I could do it, I sensed movement behind me. Though I wanted to turn, thinking that it was an enemy, the big arms putting what felt like a blanket on my back was enough to tell me otherwise. And thanks to the new jacket with the writing 76 on its back, the fire was put out. "You okay kid?" The old man asked me from behind. His words always seemed like a growl, but I think I could hear a bit of concern.
Toughing through pain, "Thought you went after them?" I asked him, surprised since he was researching the gang's activity for quite a while. And in his own way to show love, "You sound fine to me then. Prepare for tomorrow." Though his voice sounded... weirder than usual, I ignored it.
Hearing that, all my toughness and courage were gone, and all my pain and soreness came back in full force. "Owe, owe, owe, I am dying. I almost burnt to death. I-" I started listing everything, putting up my persona. Ready to do anything to not do what the old man was intending to do with me. Even so far as ignoring the bewildered little girl in front of us.
Scoffing at me, the old man slammed a device on the ground right next to me, and then a small area around us started glowing yellow, lessening my pain and, interestingly enough, healing me a bit. Of course, it was nothing exceptional. It will take me a couple of months to fully heal and at the least, at least a month before I can move like a normal person.
Letting out a sigh of relief and relaxing a bit. "You... You saved me..." We heard an uncertain voice. Turning towards it, I let out a smirk that was doing his best to hide the pain since the adrenaline was going away now, "Yep, Cause I'm awesome," I replied back, making her look at me like I was the biggest mystery in her life.
Before she could say anything else, I painfully tried reaching my left pocket, but couldn't. But thankfully, the old man didn't need to be told anything. He crouched next to me, and searched my pocket, taking out the cute blue coin purse and throwing it at the girl's lap. "There you go, rich girl. You're welcome," I spoke again, trying my hardest to take her attention away from my back and the previous scenario and the most painful thing, my ripped apart jacket!
I didn't want her to have a traumatic life after this and If she starts developing it later on. I want to make it seem as little as possible. "Thank you..." She spoke, her eyes slowly glowing with life now instead of uncertainty and doubt amongst other things. A look that I was very familiar with. Seeing that, the old man gave her a gentle nod, and he turned back, heading toward his target. While I stayed where I was, the device took away the pain for now.
Before the old man could go too far, "You- you guys are one of those heroes aren't you?!" She asked, looking at the parting back of the old man and then at me. Hearing her, my smirk grew even more. Though it was painful, I needed to see the old man's reaction, so, doing everything I could, with the help of the girl that realized what I was doing, we stared at my mentor, who was enveloped in the smoke of the explosion.
Glancing at her, "Not anymore," He spoke, entering the smoke, and disappearing from view, while I could only let out a chuckle, which was turning into a laugh now. I didn't care if the injuries on my back were rubbing on the old man's jacket, hurting all over again.
Though the girl was now looking at me in confusion and wonder, all I could do was laugh, remembering the same situation, the same old man, the same new kid that found hope, looking at his back. Calming down after a bit, I stared directly at the brunette's bright eyes with my own emerald ones. "Don't listen to him. He's being humble." I told the girl.
Hearing me, her expression also changed to a smile and wonder, nodding at me. "I think he is... And so are you," Hearing her words, I could only smile gratefully, before trying to stand up, which the girl tried to stop me.
"Let's get you home, little girl. Wait, what's your name anyway?" I asked her. The healing device had already finished doing its job, so right now, it was just useless junk. "But aren't you hurt?" She asked back, her previous expression replaced by worry.
Shaking my head, "I'm good now. That thing healed me enough. All I need is to rest after I drop you at your home," I answered her. Though she tried to support me, which I found cute, I stopped her first. "Your name?" I asked again, making her pause. "Alejandra, you?" She asked back.
"Viktor, but you can call me Vik," I answered her with a smile. "Before we do anything, could you help me a little?" I asked her, to which she nodded very eagerly. Taking the old man's jacket from over my back, I unzipped my burned one. "Help me take off my jacket, will you?"
Receiving her nod, I didn't let her go to my back, just in front of me. This way, she wouldn't see my burned injuries and realize how bad it was. Even I didn't know how bad it was, but the pain that I was receiving just from moving a little bit, was a good enough hint. If I was lucky, a second-degree burn, but if not, a third-degree. Safe to say, my back skin wouldn't be like it was.
And with that little piece of information, I knew I had to pay a visit to aunt Mercy, so she could help me heal up a bit faster. Come to think of it, the old man did get a recall from his old teammates a few days ago... While mulling over all those things, I was now wearing the old man's jacket over my bare back.
"Thank you," I told Alejandra, who simply nodded with a blush on her face seeing my, proud to say it, developed body, making me smirk teasingly at her. Though tactfully, she changed the subject before I could start, "Um, I have to buy some groceries before going back home..." She muttered in hesitation. "Oh, then, I'll help you out with it."
"But you're injuries-" She started, only for me to cut her out.
"Are fine. Like I said, I'll rest after dropping you home. And it's late. So, C'mon." I motioned for her, toughing through the pain and already walking in front of her.
Calmly walking together and talking about this and that, we were close to her house, and all she needed was flour. Though I had suggested taking the flour for her, she stubbornly rejected my help, even to the point of staying away from me a couple of feet away whenever I tried to help with it, glaring at me and scolding me to take care of my injury.
"So, how did you meet him?" She finally asked about my mentor. Thinking about it for a moment, "Like you met us." I answered her, making her jaw drop to the floor. "I was in deeeeep shit. I wanted to kill some guys for what they had done to me, and surprise surprise, I was caught and almost beaten to an inch away from death. Before he dropped in, kicked everyone's ass, saved me."
"After that, I stuck with him, finding him in any way I could and bothering him. Finally, after months and months of trying, he took me under his wings." I surmised my story, skipping or not telling some parts.
"Oh..." She muttered, probably understanding the blanks with the information that I gave her. I mean, of course, she would understand. Though she lived in a situation and world better than mine, our circumstances made us learn the blanks in this kind of talk. Seeing the poster wall on the street, her eyes lit back up, and her smile also returned.
Running up to the remaining posture on the wall, she put the flour on the floor, took the poster of the golden age of Overwatch in her hands, looked at it for a second, and then showed it to me, with a radiant smile. Pointing at the blonde man on the posture of Overwatch, "this is him, right?! Can I have your autograph right next to it?!" She asked beamingly, running up to me.
Not confirming the identity, I nodded at the autograph part, "Sure, but I don't have a pen," Hearing my answer, she let out a smirk, rolling the posture and taking the flour, "I've got some at home, come on." She enthusiastically replied, marching at a faster speed.
After another left turn, we came right in front of her house, while she was calling out to her worried mother in excitement. Though I tried to sneak away, she dragged me inside. Before entering the house, I send a pleading look at the man that had followed us after Alejandra bought the floor, only to see the old man going away, ignoring that he ever saw me.