THE QUEEN OF HEARTS | Alice Drake
Alice panted heavily, struggling to catch her breath as she attempted to regain her footing despite her pained, weak and unsteady frame. Finally she found her feet, locking her knees and clutching at her weaker left shoulder with her right arm. Though as her twin blades scuttled and clattered on the floor after her enemy had relented from his vicious attacks and tossed them in her direction, she froze in shock and disbelief.
"Execute him."
Alice's brow furrowed in confusion and her jaw fell open, her characteristic steely look gone and the air pushing from her lungs as the world around her seemed to slow down and mute.
"... what?" she whimpered in a whisper, slowly scraping her swords off of the ground.
But Acchilleus didn't not reply, simply standing resolute, unfaltering.
She looked to her hand slowly, the black hilt of her red blade clasped in her loose grip. Could she...? No... Would she...?
Beat.
Alice clenched both hilts intensely, glaring back up at Acchilleus with renewed anger.
No.
With incredible speed and agility she turned, lashing out with both blades as one found her foe's neck immediately. But she was stopped.
Stopped by the sounds of dozens of rifles raising to meet her head. Acchilleus smirked, secure in his safety. She would fall before she could even move a muscle.
No...
CRIMSON | Thomas Drake
She was hesitating, stood there with her blade against Acchilleus' throat. Why?
Crimson was done, incapacitated on the floor with a broken back and who knows how many other bones, and here stood this Viper actually considering disobeying her boss - facing execution herself - if she refused to off the traitor; Crimson. Why? Why would she even intervene in the first place?
He had only seen such behaviour; such selfless bravery, in two occasions; himself with Snow, and Snow with Felix.
Crimson was so busy trying to figure out the enigma this woman posed that he hadn't even begun to recognise his incoming demise. Part of him supposed he was ready, or that perhaps he'd already outlived what he'd deserved. Death didn't scare him, but the thought of actually having unfinished business did.
Emma Fitzgerald
26th November 2056
Emma sat, holed up in her apartment while waiting out the horrific storm that had plagued the city for hours now, warm covered in heals of blankets while nestling in front of the television.
For hours now the screen had only displayed static and her phone had no signal thanks to the storm and she was starting to worry. Emma knew that Tommy had been out with Cold Steel; the bladed vigilante, but his patrol ended at 7 and the rest should have only been paperwork and going over the computer archives. She was completely isolated from the outside world holed up in here; she was normally afraid to traverse the outside unnecessarily but with this storm outside contact was impossible. There was no way she could have known what had happened.
Just then the television surged to life, albeit the signal weak.
What? Quickly Emma switched to the local news - their coverage was never the best but the city was a shit-hole; it was a marvel anybody lived here at all. Horror. On the screens sirens blared, fires roared and the blades of police helicopters beat through the air like the ever too frequent thunderclaps. Emma jumped in surprise which soon curdled to genuine terror as the read the large headline lettering plastered at the bottom of the newsfeed's overlay that read 'CITY IN CHAOS: Convict PAIN WREAKS HAVOC in DOWNTOWN MASSACRE'.
No, no, no, no.From watching - her eyes darting back and forth - Emma had learnt that the prison had experienced a large scale breakout, then - despite the best efforts of Cold Steel and his teen sidekick - the crazed terrorist Pain and a squad of armed lackeys had poured out onto the streets. The monsters had then made their way to a residential district where they had moved house to house, murdering anybody found inside. Eventually the pair of heroes found and apprehended the murderers but their estimated death toll was around 75.
Emma was shaken, physically taken aback and feeling sick due to the sheer loss of life. That was when it went from bad to worse as the helicopter camera panned to reveal part of the affected area, the familiar home of Nora Drake and her kids.
Her mind was racing, her first thought; was Tommy safe? Was he in there? Her next: of course not, the news reported Red Wonder apprehending Pain. So that meant... he knew. The police were scouring the city for Pain, having no clue where the heroes had taken him. He'd been gone for almost two hours now, so where was Tommy?
BANG. The door hurtled open, almost off of its hinges before being immediately slammed shut. In marched Tommy, battered and bruised, still in his outfit though massless and and with only the torn remains of his cape. Huffing and puffing, he was red with rage as he marched about the house, wringing his greasy, black hair in stress.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Tommy mumbled frantically, physically brought to tears.
"To— Tom— Tommy!" Emma fumbled, approaching him and placing her hand on his back.
"Get away!" he spat, lashing out and shoving her away.
Shocked, taken aback and with a quickly increasing sense of dread Emma watched the reeling Tommy slowly turn around to face her. But as he did she staggered back, suddenly terrified at the sight of the blood splattered over his face and drenching his hands.
Her breath was heavy, panic overcoming her as she felt herself being pulled out of herself.
"Wha— How did you...?"
Tommy looked at his hands and flinched, genuinely repulsed by the unsightly sight. Though throughout his sorrow anger always over-reign it all. "He- he got in my way. He shouldn't have tried to stop me but he..." Tommy winced, scrunching his eyes together and curling his fists until it hurt, "but he had to go and get in my way." He growled, hissing through his teeth in a gruff voice as he held back his rage.
"Tommy, I don't understand," Emma said carefully, edging around him as not to displease him again. She had grown up surrounded by explosive, volatile people and unfortunately knew a lot about how to handle with people when they were angry.
"Pain..." Tommy heaved, exasperated, "he ki– he killed them, Emma. My mom and Damian, Alice and Kay!"
He struck the wall, leaving a dent in the plaster as Emma leapt in shock.
Emma dropped her head, defeated but by know means done, "And the blood...?"
"He tried to stop me... He wanted to let Pain off; turn him in to the same bastards that let him escape." Tommy murmured sombrely.
"And you—?"
Suddenly Tommy flared up, screaming at her with death in his eyes, "I KILLED HIM!!" he roared, slumping back into a growl as he watched Emma scurry away with glassy eyes, "There was a gun, there was a struggle. Bang... and Dave was dead."
Emma clutched at her hair, moving away looking for something to ground herself back in reality. Cold Steel was dead.
"And..." She wallowed, "Pain?"
Tommy interjected immediately with a depressed yet somewhat celebrative groan, "Right between the eyes. Pow... way less painful then he deserved."
Who was this man that stood before her? It wasn't Tommy; it wasn't the same man that rescued Emma from her parents and horrible drug abuse. Tommy Drake was no murderer. Yet here Emma was, trapped with this creature. She couldn't leave; he had just lost his entire family in one fell swoop; she needed him now more than ever and who knew was this unpredictable mess would do.
"Tommy," she pleaded, "We can talk about th—"
The door exploded with destructive knocking.
"Emma!!" the voice behind it roared, "Emma, we checked. I KNOW you're in there!"
Her father.
"Emma!" his voice grew quiet and somber "Emma, please say you're in there. I know you were with that Drake boy, and his family's house... Well, it was on the news. Please Emma, I can't lose you too."
Emma watched the door, brought to tears by him finally showing weakness. Despite everything that he had done she wanted nothing more than to run to him, away from the red-clad killer she lived with. Slowly she was drawn towards the door, but as she slowly wrapped her hand around the round doorknob she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"No," Tommy hissed, still heaving, "He's not going to hurt you anymore, he's not going to take you away from me."
He put his hand on her chest and pushed her away from the door, placing his hand behind his back and then levering open the door. There stood Carl Fitzgerald, a small husk of the man he was last time they had met; defeated and weak. He gasped at the sight of the tall, dark figure of Tommy Drake in the doorway, but his eyes lighting up at the sight of his daughter behind him.
"Emma!" Carl exclaimed hopefully, looking past Tommy, "Thank God you're alive!"
He tried to move past the doorway to embrace her, or even touch her, only to be protested by Tommy.
"Dad!" Emma smiled, in tears.
Tommy coughed, getting Carl's attention, "I told you," he seethed, squaring up to the feeble husk of Emma's father, "I told you what would happen if you tried to hurt her again."
Carl was stunned, "I don't– I don't understand."
"I. told. you... to stay away."
And with that Tommy went berserk, delivering a clubbed left hook to the man's face, throwing him to the ground.
Tommy pounced on Carl, beating him relentlessly and unleashing all of his pent up rage.
"You've caused so much damage, so much hurt." Tommy cried, continuing to pummel the middle-aged man, Emma helpless while trying to hold back her boyfriend's punches, "She is so broken! And it's because of you!"
Quickly Carl revolved around, getting in one well timed punch which launched Tommy off of him. He met eyes with Emma's terrified and desperate gaze before rising, placing himself between Tommy and Emma to protect her while shaken, bloodied and beaten.
Tommy rose, spitting out some blood before reaching around to his back once more and drawing the exact long knife that Carl had previous pulled on him.
"I won't let you take her away from me!" Tommy roared desperately, approaching Carl with the knife, "I won't lose her too!"
He lunged with the blade, Carl ducking and disarming Tommy with another lucky hit. But Tommy growled, drawing another weapon; a handgun.
"Tommy!" Emma panted, a crying mess, "Don't. Please. You can stop now."
"Not until you're safe!!"
Bang. A single shit rang out as Emma's father's brains were splattered up the walls.
Emma froze, dropping to the ground in disbelief and tears.
Tommy finally caught his breath, his eyes widening as he realised what he'd done. Annoyed by the flapping scraps of cape, he tore the rest of it off before storming back into the house without saying a word. Moments later, he emerged wearing Emma's jacket over his costume and his mask back on his face.
"Tommy..." Emma whimpered.
He looked her in the eye and walked out the door. Never to return.
Emma looked to her dead father, numb, and then down to herself; placing her hand on her stomach. If only he knew.