Chapter 13 – What is a hero?
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(AN: Just wanted to give a quick thank you for all the support you guys are giving me. I really appreciate it.)

3rd POV 

Under the bright lights of New York city as people moved from one place to another, some making their way home after a long day at work, others preparing to enjoy yet another night in the “City that never sleeps”. Above the crowded streets a figure flashed moving silently through the night. The only indication of his existence was the green glow that seemed to flow off his body as he moved at inhuman speeds navigating the rooftops of the city. Suddenly the figure came to a halt, stopping at the edge of a nightclub and glancing down to where a women could be seen desperately clutching her purse to her chest as she shook before the group of 5 men that surrounded her. 

 Crouching low to the ground the figure crawled his way down the building as if gravity didn’t exist. Coming to a halt halfway down the figure’s body tensed as he prepared for action waiting patiently for his chance. Waiting till one of the men suddenly lunged forward marking the start of their attack as the men became distracted in their lustful craze the figure launched off the wall at high speeds before slamming his foot into the head of the man closest to the women. Everyone froze as their minds slowly registered what the sickening crunch and the masked man signified. “SHi. Shit. Trevor!” The man who started the assualt was the first to come to his senses, but it was too late. Before he could even think to move a fist clad in metal slammed into the front of his face. He soared backwards and slammed into the wall of the club before landing heavily on the ground.  

“What?!”x 3 it was only after seeing another person fall that the remaining three were able to react. Reaching behind them all three tried to draw whatever weapons they carried on themselves. Moving quickly for fear of implicating the women he had rescued the figure turned and from his grip three sharp shuriken were thrown. Imbedding themselves into each of the thug’s chests. Standing calmly surrounded by unconscious bodies, the figure with practiced ease walked forward and removed his shuriken from the men's chest. Wiping the blood off onto their clothes the figure stood up before turning to the women. Walking towards her it was only now that the women managed to sort out her jumbled emotions enough to weakly bring up her purse and try to swing at the figure out of fear.  

Paying no mind to her actions, his lensed eyes traced up and down her body scrutinizing it for signs of injury. After a few seconds seemingly satisfied the figure turned away from the women and prepared to continue his journey. “W..Wait!” 

Crouching slightly in preparation for his jump the figure halted hearing a voice from behind him. Turning his head, the figure quietly waited for the women to speak. “Thank You!” Watching the women slightly lower her head to express her apologizes the figure simply gazed at her as if looking for something in her expression. Not finding anything the figure crouched once again and leaped up to the rooftops to continue on his way. As he vanished a robotic voice echoed in the street 

 “Your Welcome.”  

1st POV Makenzie 

Jumping from rooftop to rooftop a weird feeling seemed to cling to my chest. It appeared after I saved that lady. No more specifically it appeared after she thanked me. It had been quite a surprise, receiving her thanks. Till now the vigilante work I have been doing only involves criminals. Targeting gangs that camp out in Hell’s Kitchen and raiding their bases for resources. I haven’t put much focus into going around and saving people as crimes happen. Sure, I never ignored a crime I saw happen, but I wasn’t going out of my way to protect the common people in ways other heroes like Spiderman did.  

I just didn’t have the time to spend hours every day patrolling the city looking for crimes. The fact of the matter is there are far bigger and more pressing concerns to focus on. HYDRA, Thanos, Striker, Apocalypse. Just to name a few of the big Bads I must worry about. The worst part was I had to be equally if not more prepared when dealing with the heroes. Especially Xavier, in the movies I didn’t think he was so bad but reading about him online and reading a few novels opened the possibility for Xavier to be possibly the biggest threat I’ll have to deal with. Using the time, I have now before everything goes to shit is crucial if I want to neutralize future threats without nearly destroying the planet.  

I’ve been so focused I haven’t even finished exploring the limits of my power yet. I know that my physical body affects the strength of my transformations but what about my mind? Do my mental abilities affect it as well? What about spiritual? Can I only transform into heroes or is there more I can do? Numerous questions I haven’t had the time to answer. Climbing over the roof of a hotel I looked forward and see I’m standing opposite the Metro-General Hospital stepping back a little to ensure I wouldn’t be caught on camera I transformed into Sombra.  

Sombra among the heroes I have currently turned into always proves to be one of the most thrilling. Not in the sense of Genji, Reaper, or Solider where I’m gaining incredible amounts of raw power but in a sense closer to Torbjörn. The well of knowledge that I suddenly have at my fingertips and the feeling of constant progress I gain as I practice. Sombra had a similar feeling but instead of a set form of practice to achieve gains she gave far more freedom. Linking to the web and doing whatever I want just cause I can. That’s the experience I got as Sombra, an unbridled since of freedom. Having the whole world at my fingertips. If I wanted to, I could turn the world upside down tomorrow. There is no person on the planet except Tony Stark that can stop me. I have already prepared a contingency plan if I were to die that would release the news of HYRDA to the Avengers after their victory against Loki in the advent I’m dead or indisposed of at the time of the invasion.  

Turning invisible, I stepped up to the edge of the roof top and pulled out a translocator. Pulling my hand back and feeling the strength flow through my body, I threw it towards the window of the fifth floor directly across from me. Waiting for the landing response I activated translocation for the first time and disappeared. It was a freaky experience one moment your body is flesh and blood the next its code, numbers running down the screen. Thankfully Reaper’s constant shifting from flesh to mist made it so the discomfort disappeared quickly and not a second later I was attaching myself to the window so I wouldn’t fall. Looking into the room to confirm it was the right one, I hacked the camera before breaking the window and entering.  

There, laying peacefully on the bed, was Aunt Diana. This would be the last time I would come to see her. It wouldn’t be good if my transformations were seen constantly around her. So, I resolved myself to see her one last time before I truly began my journey to eliminate the evil that plagues the marvel world. Shifting back into myself I walked up beside her bed and watched Aunt Diana sleep. My hand raised on its own instinctively reaching for her, but I controlled myself. I couldn’t leave a trace of myself in the hospital there were far too many people in the X-men verse who could make clones from seemingly anything and I didn’t know enough about my power to ensure I wouldn’t soon be facing the evil version of Overwatch.  

Still, this was enough for me. Being able to see her one last time reassured me that what I would do in the future was the right decision. I regret having to put her through so much pain, but this is the best for her and for me. I wouldn’t be able to work at my best with the constant worry about Aunt Diana’s well-being. Focusing my attention back on Aunt Dianas relaxed expression as she slept, I engrained the image into my mind before turning around and disappearing. I had another stop to make tonight and after that it would just be finishing my preparations before entering Oscorp.  

… 

(30 minutes later) 

Standing next to John as he lay handcuffed to his bed, I watched him eat the dinner another officer had just delivered before hacking the surveillance cameras and turning into Reaper. My sudden appearance shocked John and as he registered who I was he started to scream and struggle desperately against his restraints. I watched him struggle for a few seconds enjoying the terror that laced his features before leveling my shotgun with his head and pulling the trigger. {Bang} {drizzle} Huh so that’s what happens when you point blank someone with a shotgun, good to know. Watching as John’s headless body spurted blood like a fountain, I turned to the cell entrance and kicked sending it barreling across the hall.  

Alarms sounded in response to my “breakout”, but I ignored them and continued walking. Looking up at the cameras all focused on me I continued to walk forward. When I had first transformed, I was barely conscious, and my only focus was on getting revenge for my father. Which led to Reaper’s memories and instincts dictating most of my actions and from my memories I know at least one camera caught sight of Reaper. So most likely at some point I would need to “kill” Reaper. But until I have prepared a sufficient stage for his death, I plan to use Reaper as my public villain persona. Using him as a cover I will be able to act with much more ease and the first step to that is showing Reaper to the world. 

Walking out of the holding area into the hallway I could see about half a dozen officers pointing their guns at me. “Freeze. Drop your weapons and get on the ground!”  

One of the officers shouted at me but I ignored him and continued to walk forward. Successfully pulling off what I wanted to do would be hard but not impossible. While Reaper may be my villain persona that doesn’t change that I plan to be a hero and no matter what “mask” I’m wearing I don’t plan to change that. So, while it will be impossible to avoid injuries if I do this correctly, I should be able to avoid killing anyone or leaving anyone permanently crippled. Seeing that I wasn’t slowing down the officer shouted another warning before they took aim and started to shoot at me. Letting the bullets harmlessly pass through me I retaliated by raising up my guns and shooting back at them.  

The hall quickly became filled with gunfire and shouts as the officers called for backup. Watching the shells as they traveled, I used my enhanced mind to predict where they would land and if I found any that would lead to death or disabilities I focused on and forced them to soften. When I transformed into Reaper for the first time, I was surprised that the shotguns he used in game didn’t come with his characters like the other characters equipment. It was only when reviewing his memories that I realized he didn’t use real shotguns in most cases. Normally he compressed the chemicals in his body into a shotgun shape and filled them with even more compressed shells of chemicals capable of doing far more damage than any bullet could. Seeing that incredible control in his memories had made me wonder if it would be possible to do the opposite and watching as the shell landed on the officer but didn’t pierce through his armor but instead broke apart on contact confirmed my thoughts. 

But there was a new problem that came along with this. Reaper had never bothered to learn how to lighten his attacks which means right now I’m not drawing from Reaper's experience to maintain this technique but instead am using my own willpower to force the shells to loosen. And my mental state is deteriorating rapidly. At this pace I wouldn’t be able to make it out of the building before I passed out from exhaustion. Deciding quickly that I needed to act quickly, I started to sprint through the hallway instead of walking.  

Flowing past the officers as they tried to tackle me I Put even more focus into mentally tracking all my shots as I ran full force. Thankfully the holding area was far from the center of the building so their reinforcements were late showing up and I sped past them without looking back as they all fell over clutching various shot body parts. Within half a minute I had made it to the entrance of the building with a crowd of officers chasing after me. Paying them no mind I bulldozed through the doors out of the building before turning into an alley and disappearing.  

Reappearing on a roof half a kilometer away, I leaned on the wall as I experienced exhaustion for the first time while transformed before turning and starting my journey home. Arriving half an hour later I practically wobbled my way to the basement before I exited my transformation and fell onto a mattress I had stolen and cleaned thoroughly from a drug dealer. Falling asleep immediately I barely managed to see what looked like a dark glow out of the corner of my eye before entering dreamland. 

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