Chapter 7 - Alone

Arthur had snuck off upstairs, finding his presence with his struggling family members to be unneeded. Within his heart was an influx of conflicted emotions, all spanning from confusion, hatred, annoyance, irritation and the most difficult to deal with..

Self-hate.

His mind was full of thoughts all concerning why his parents treat him the way they do. When he was younger, life was good. They were nice, they treated him and his sister the same, but now that he's older and more involved in Arnolds work…

It's like a switch flipped and now all they manage to dish out is disdain and hate towards him. It's like he's not even their son anymore.

'Whatever. I need to find this mole.' He told himself, figuring what happened with the facility and his dad was linked to a singular person, or a group of outsiders that snuck in and got some information.

'An inside man makes more sense. There's no way dad wouldn't sniff out some unusual behavior from a new member… Not like we accept new people that easily anyway.' He mused, muling over his idea while he slowly undressed.

His body was fairly muscular for his age, well defined and outlined muscles packed with power, though the most noticeable being the many scars that layered his skin.

All from either knife wounds, gunshots, or the repercussions of utilizing his own power.

He found himself staring into a full-body mirror, his hair down and in face as he stared through the loose strands, looking into the eyes of the boy in the mirror.

"What am I doing wrong…?" He asks himself, moving close to the mirror. Reaching out, but stopped in his place when he heard his mother scream in horror.

With widened eyes, he disappeared in a flash, One For All already working throughout his body to aid his decision. Appearing just before his dad, still shirtless, he found his mother and sister cradling his body.

His fathers head in his mothers arms with a slump body. Lifeless.

Lily looked up, gazing at her brother, looking for any sort of comfort but within his own mind, Arthur was in even more pain than the two combined. The man that raised him, that taught him to be strong.. Was now dead in their living room.

A giant hole in his chest and seemingly no reason as to why he died.

"W-Weren't you healing him? W-Why's he dead…" Arthur questioned, taking a knee beside his sister as he places his hand on his dad's shirt. His mother sniffles, sending a hurt, sorrowful glare at her son.

"W-whatever he was h-hit by.. I-It ate away at him! I-I couldn't battle it! Neither could your sister!" She cried out, her wails drowning out Arthurs own thoughts.

Glancing to his sister, he felt his heart crumble into millions of pieces as she was a teary mess. Silent tears poured down her face as she stared at her lifeless father.

Arthur reached out towards her, but hesitated.

Does he even have a right to comfort her? If he was with his father, he could've helped him. He could've prevented him from getting hurt.

"Arthur…" His mother called out, snapping him out of his self-destructive thoughts. "Hmm?" He hummed, unsure how to completely feel about all this.

Amelia raised her head, looking at the blackened flesh on her husband's chest. Her blood stained hands imprint themselves upon her mind.

Raising her gaze to Arthur, she grinded her teeth. "Find them. Hero, vigilante… Villain- I don't care." Arthur felt his eyes lower, the feeling within his chest slowly hollowing out.

Amelia's eyes closed, her lips quivering as a flame of hatred roared to life in her eyes. "Kill them. Kill them all." Lily looked at her mother, completely bewildered.

She understood what her mother was feeling, she loved her dad more than anyone could imagine.. But going as far as to hunt and kill everyone involved…

Especially that hitman being her own, ten year old son?

"M-Mom.. What-"

"Alright." Arthur kept his sister from speaking, worried that she would earn the wrath of their mother instead of him. He knew that he couldn't undo his supposed mistake.

But who would've known that the rumored, "invincible" man could be killed so… Easily. Standing up, he went to his room, sparing a glance at his hesitating sister.

Feeling pity for what she was going through.

Heading to his room, he changed his clothes back into another, undirtied black jumpsuit after taking a quick shower. Without a second thought, he jumped out his window, choosing to avoid his other family members and the hateful eyes of his mother.

He wanted to cry, but he forced them back. Thinking they'd only get in his way during his mission. His father always told him emotions would hinder one's goals, make them deviate.

But he also said that emotions were a wonderful thing. Something one should cherish, nurture and share. But one when the time is right, and when he's ready.

Shaking his head, Arthur sucked in a cold breath of air, setting his sights on Tokyo once again, he ran One For All through his veins at a higher percentage than he's ever managed to use successfully.

'Push eighty percent.' He tells himself, feeling the incredible surge of power flow through his veins. Without waiting a second more, he took off, the wind pressure from his movements blowing bundles of leaves and carving a hole in the ground where he stood.

…

Once he got closer to the city, he had to dial down his power, making the previous one hour trip turn into a twenty five minute one. Though, in return, his body was aching like crazy and his bones felt like they were seconds from shattering.

But he pushed through.

Arriving in Tokyo, he made his way to a small warehouse only him and his father knew about. It was on the edge of the city though, so he had some more traveling to do.

Upon arrival, he felt himself still battling with his own mind. Fighting back memories of him and his father, before he started laying heavy pressure on his shoulder, before he started grooming him as his successor.

It was hard for him, harder than any of his family members knew. His ten year old mind hadn't discovered nor experienced enough about life, or himself, for him to be battling such pains alone.

But he couldn't go to his mother, so all he really had was himself. Disregarding his sister completely, the one who cares the most about him in the entire world.

Opening the warehouse door, Arthur was bombarded with the smell of old furniture, a moist atmosphere and sense of security. His eyes began to redden as he stumbled around, looking for the light switch but ultimately failing, choosing to plop onto a nearby couch instead.

He laid there, in silence, in the dark. Nobody but him and his thoughts.

*Sniff.* No matter how hard he tried.. He couldn't fight back the tears, the years of pain and sadness and anger and hatred, all of it just came rushing through the already crumbling dam, collapsing it fully.

That night, Arthur didn't bother to look for the people who were responsible for destroying his organization and killing his father.. That night, Arthur cried.

Alone and scared.