Hiro’s Hero Triumphs PT.27: Triumphs of New: The Rip Off’s Choice

"O-oi, is the kid okay? The hell was that?"

We could only stare in disbelief as the building his group was in crumbled away, sinking below the wasteland. I looked behind me to see our target had vanished amidst the confusion, causing me to click my tongue.

"Damn, we lost her," I grumbled, and Beatrice walked up to me, looking at the falling rubble.

"C'mon, we have bigger issues than that, we gotta-!"

There was a loud boom that shook the sky as his partner Anna flew over, her eyes scanning the perimeter as she flew around.

I guess she must be even more worried than we are…

I shook my head. "No, you're right, we gotta find out what the hell happened over there. Let's go investigate."

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Anna was flying around, whizzing through the sky in a desperate attempt to find her partner.

Roberto and his partner Beatrice were also running towards the crumbling building, trying to figure out what had happened.

I would be too, if I wasn't the one to had caused this entire thing.

Oh yeah, and the person in question, moi? Yeah, I was fine, relatively speaking anyway.

"Hey Anna, I'm alright, so don't get too worried. I'm not gonna die on yah."

I watched her flight abruptly stop at my words, along with Roberto and Beatrice.

"Wa-wait, kid, you're alive!? You mean to tell me you somehow didn't die in that massive explosion?"

"More than that, our entire group is fine; just a little frazzled is all."

"Then where might Master be right now?"

I smiled. "In front of you, by building B."

I watched her look directly at me, and with a loud boom flew over to me instantly.

I raised up a hand in greeting. "Yo."

"… Why is Master's body steaming?"

Oh yeah, that. I glanced down at my body, steam and smoke coming off my skin. I ran my hand through my nonexistent hair, sighing.

"Yeah, turns out biting down on an energy capsule will do that too yah. Who knew?"

"… Why would Master do that?"

I jerked my hand over to the Christopher, whose body was in a much worse state than mine. "To deal with this motherfucker. He nearly killed me I'll have you know. He's still alive as well, it's just he took the explosion at point-blank range like me. The others are to my right, and they're fine too."

I managed to get to my feet, my whole body aching. "Anyway, what happened to the Miku Rip Off? Did she get away?"

"HOLD UP KID, THAT EXPLANATION AIN'T GONNA CUT IT!"

I turned to Roberto and Beatrice, who had finally reached us. "How the hell did you manage to live!?"

I thought for a minute before snapping my fingers, grinning. "That's a Hiro Secret!"

"Forget asking boss," Rachel muttered behind me. "We already tried asking him, and he refuses to give us a straight answer. Not even we know what happened, and we were right there with him."

I coughed out some more smoke before smiling at Anna. "I already told you I'm not gonna die. I'll rely on you long before that'll happen."

"As a matter of fact, Master has not told Anna Master was not going to die; not until now anyway." She closed her eyes, recomposing herself. "But, Anna appreciates the message."

"Ugh, enough about that, what're you going to do now?" Roberto grumbled, looking me over. "Your plan is ruined now isn't it?"

"I already came up with another one while I was sitting here. But, I don't know if any of you will like it."

"Does it involve getting exploded again?" Anna asked, and I chuckled nervously as I averted from her gaze.

"No, it doesn't. But, us two might be in a pickle if it doesn't work out."

"Pickles are better than explosions; Anna is in."

That's one way of looking at it. "Great, alright, here it is…"

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I landed on the ground, back in front of our headquarters. It was a lonesome building, the only one upright for miles on end. It was made out of a special metal that humanity made that was basically indestructible; there only a select few things that could actually damage the thing, not that I knew any of them though.

I looked back in the distance to see a building crumbling down, causing a cascade of sand to envelop it within the wasteland. I doubt he died though, that's just the feeling I get from him.

I shook my head, scowling. Why the hell am I worried about him anyway? Because he was the only one too-!

I felt a shock go through my body, and I stumbled to my knees, clutching my head.

My memories got scrambled around, making me unable to remember anything clearly from the past couple of months. It happened to me over and over again, every single damn day…

The shock finally passed, and I clutched his jacket around me, starting to shiver before I glared down at my collar. "I swear, I'll get you off of me one of these days…"

I shook my head, relaxing my tense body before popping another lollipop into my mouth. "Whatever, let's go report what happened."

I looked directly up and teleported above the building, looking down at the group before feeling myself get yanked forcibly downwards.

My body crashed into the floor, causing the wind to get knocked out of me. I coughed, trying hard to catch my breath before I felt my face get smashed downwards, breaking my nose.

"Look whose back then; did you run away from your duty again!?"

I gritted my teeth and tried to look up, only for my face to get smashed against the floor again.

"The hell said you could look up at me? Now, answer me unless you want more of that pretty face kicked in."

Fuck, I fucking hate this dick! "It was an ambush sir; they took out all of the enemies in the surrounding buildings while they kept me preoccupied. They're probably coming as we speak."

I tried to lift my head, only for his foot to grind down on my head. "And what the hell was that explosion? Who caused it?"

"Th-that would be the Hero sir. He seemed to be caught in the blast as well, but I get the feeling he's alive…"

A brief moment of silence before I felt him raise his foot up off my head. "So, it's come to this then. This Hero has some tricks up his sleeve, despite not having the Hero's weapon. We're going to need to kill him; and on the off chance he does make it all the way up here, destroy all evidence of what we were doing now. It would be troublesome if anyone from their organization found out."

"Yes sir!"

I got to my knees, holding my nose as blood poured out. Damnit, if it wasn't for that stupid collar he put on me, he wouldn't even be able to hurt me!

"As for you, you'll-!"

"OI, YOU DAMN ATF BASTARDS UP ON THE FUCKING ROOF! I REALLY DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO COME UP THERE AND KICK ALL YOUR ASSES, SO GIVE US THE MIKU RIP OFF AND WE'LL BE SQUARE!"

Everyone around me froze at the voice, and I watched the leader's veins start to bulge before he forcibly dragged me along with him, as we both peered down at the bottom to see the Hero himself below, along with Mrs. S Grade.

Hiro had smoke coming off his body, his dark skin reddened slightly (probably from the explosion), while Mrs. S Grade looked no worse for wear.

He was using a voice amplifier to make himself heard, and as I focused my eyes onto him, I could see him staring directly at me.

"LISTEN HERE YOU MIKU RIP OFF, JUST COME DOWN ALREADY! I KNOW YOU COULD GET HERE FASTER THAN I CAN FINISH THIS SENTENCE!"

The hell? Is he being serious right now? I immediately tensed up as I felt the leader's unbridled anger.

"So their goal was to rescue you this entire time? And you failed to tell us this?"

I kept my gaze away from his, my body starting to tremble. "I, I didn't think it to be important-!"

"YOU DIDN'T THINK IT TO BE IMPORTANT ENOUGH!? YOU DON'T GET TO FUCKING DECIDE THAT YOU WORTHLESS BITCH! YOU TELL ME EVERYTHING, AND I MEAN EVERYTHING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS, UNDERSTAND!?"

I felt myself get slapped, stumbling backwards as I fell on my butt.

"AND AS FOR YOU, YOU DON'T GET TO MAKE ULTIMATUMS! THIS GIRL IS MY PARTNER, UNDERSTAND THAT!?"

I got kicked with every word he spoke, curling up into a ball as I took blow after blow.

This is what he wanted for me. It's your fault anyway, what right do you have to complain anyway, they're all dead because of you anyway.

This punishment is nothing, nothing compared to being killed and betrayed by your own comrade. Nothing…

"HEY, YOU RIP OFF? YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY BELIEVE THIS IS WHAT YOUR PARTNER WANTED, RIGHT?"

I shot up to my feet and glared back down at him. "THE HELL DO YOU KNOW!? YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY, WHAT I HAVE BURDENED MYSELF WITH! THIS IS NOTHING COMPARED TO THE PAIN MY SQUAD FELT! SO JUST SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!"

"THEN, INSTEAD OF WHAT YOUR PARTNER WANTED FOR YOU, WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOU?"

Huh? His face was serious as he asked me this question, and he stared right at me before continuing.

"OR, WHAT DO YOU THINK HE WANTED FOR YOU RATHER THAN WHAT HE ACTUALLY WANTED FOR YOU? AFTER ALL, HE'S DEAD, THERE'S NO WAY TO KNOW FOR SURE WHAT HE MEANT BY HIS FINAL WORDS!"

"The hell is he going on about? What you want? It doesn't matter what you want, you belong to me and me alone, understand?" I felt my face forcibly turn to his, getting a good look at his fat, ugly face, his bug like eyes running themselves over my body.

"AFTER ALL, YOU REMEMBER PERFECTLY WELL WHAT REALLY HAPPENED THAT DAY. STOP BLAMING YOURSELF FOR WHAT WASN'T EVEN YOUR FAULT. IT'S NOT THAT COLLAR'S FAULT YOU CAN'T REMEMBER, IT'S YOU! SO SUCK IT UP AND REMEMBER ALREADY YOU DUMBASS!"

Ah…

I felt myself start to get shocked once again by the collar, his words resonating within me. My scrambled memories started to become clearer as I finally let myself remember everything that had happened…

------------------------------

"Okay squad, you guys know the mission."

We were standing outside our designated portal. Our mission was another scouting mission, this time in the apocalyptic future in order to understand why the ATF had made a base there. It wasn't the first time they had done so, but most of the time they would abandon it within a month or two. The fact they had been there for almost six months was rather worrying.

"Blake sir, when we get back can you treat us again!? I would just love to go back to that Japanese restaurant again! They had the best sushi I've ever had," said Brianna, a dark-skinned woman with fiery red hair.

"Yeah, since you have a higher salary then us, it only makes sense you treat us more often you cheapskate," said Bryce, a young man with grey eyes.

"Se-seriously? I don't get paid that much more than you…" Blake said, sighing to himself before looking over at me. "Does that mean you too?"

I rolled my eyes. "So long as I get lollipops, I'm good. Speaking of, my supply is getting low again…"

"Of course, I'll buy you some more when we get back. You of all people deserve it," he said, ruffling up my blue hair.

"Hey, how come she gets special treatment!? Just because she's an A Grade?" Brianna yelled out, and Bob chuckled.

"Well, she could take us all on no sweat. I'm still shocked this idiot managed to get an elusive A Grade. Most people don't even see one in the entire time they work here."

"That's right, so I'll be counting on you again, right partner?" Blyke held out his hand for a fistbump, and I reluctantly did the gesture with him.

"Whatever you say," I turned away from him, feeling my face grow warm.

"Aw, look, she's embarrassed!" Bella said, giggling to herself.

I crunched down on my lollipop at her words, spitting the stick out. "Wh-whatever, I only exist to serve him; nothing more, nothing less. Whatever he wants me to do, I'll do."

Blake rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we get it. Now c'mon already, we've already wasted enough time here."

Despite my awkwardness, I quite enjoyed my time with them. Blake and his squad were good partners to their models, better than the majority of the soldiers in this organization. He often tried to treat me as his equal, as did the other members of his squad.

I really wish I could've spent more time with them, before everything went to hell…

-----------------------------

"This is going to be tricky," Blake muttered, looking at the building in the distance with a pair of binoculars.

We were observing a large white building, standing tall amidst the wasteland; there was no cover, so anyone approaching would get seen miles away and get promptly killed.

We were in a collapsed concrete building, about 5 miles away from their headquarters.

"That stupid metal makes for a great base, I hate to admit it. It doesn't rust or degrade, and since the building is made entirely of that substance, it's one of the few upright buildings here," Brandon said, an older, brown-skinned man with light blue hair.

"Indeed, this is going to be troublesome. Even my partner here, despite being insanely cool with her teleportation abilities, would have trouble sneaking into such a place. Makes me wonder what the hell they've been doing…"

"Should we call in the combat squads to handle it sir?"

Blake sighed, ruffling up his bright green hair. "Ugh, we might not have a choice. That thing is basically a fortress, and we aren't well equipped enough to take on what seems to be at least 200 enemies."

I stared out the window, focusing in on the building as I watched people patrol. "Do we at least know where some information might be held?"

Blake nodded. "17th floor, third window from the rightmost side. There are two guys guarding a door; the only other place where there might be information would be at the roof, where that fat bastard Antonio is hiding out. But that's too risky, even for you partner."

I got up, grabbing two energy knives. "I'll be back then."

Blake stopped me with his hand, a look of concern passing over his face. "Are you sure? I know you can hold your own in a fight, but if something happened to you…"

I gave him a smile in return, moving his hand. "If we send in the combat squads, they could destroy any information on what they're doing here before they got to it. I can take out those two guards no problem and teleport in through the keyhole. I'll grab what I can and escape. I won't be long, promise."

He hesitated, biting down on his lip slightly. "Fine, but if you're not back here in 10 minutes then I'm coming after you, no question."

I grinned, turning back towards the window. "I'll back be in 5."

I teleported in front of the door, throwing the two knives into the respective guard's throats. They were dead before they knew what happened. I plucked the knives out of them, teleporting the blood off before peering into the tiny keyhole.

Alright, coast is clear. I teleported inside the room, taking a cursory glance.

It was shaped like a conference room, except there was only one chair. There was a central computer in front of the chair, with wires extending outwards into various vents. Besides that, there were a bunch of strange objects I couldn't recognize, rusted over and beyond disrepair. There was one that seemed relatively intact however, in the center of table.

I walked over to it, frowning. "Why would they need a scythe of all things? It doesn't even look usable." I was just about to pick it up before an overwhelming sensation of death filled my being.

I leapt back, looking around the room frantically, trying to find what had caused it.

"Wait, it couldn't have been this scythe, right?" I put my knives away and put my hand closer to it, only for the feeling to return.

The hell? What could they possibly want with something like this? I shook my head, my internal clock telling me I had already spent about 3 minutes in here. It would be another 2 before the patrols came and noticed the dead bodies, and I hoped to be out of here before that happened.

I walked over to the computer, scowling. Of course it's locked. Should I just take it with me? I looked around at all the wires connected to it, seeing if there's anything I need to specifically bring.

"Agh, screw it, I don't have time for this. I'll take the thing and worry about it later." I placed my hand on it and teleported it into my other hand, the wires staying in their place.

Alright, now to get out of here before it's too late.

"What the, we have an intruder!?"

"Sound the alarm, they can't have gotten far!"

Well shit.

I busted through the door, throwing one of my knives into my adversary's throat, killing him instantly. I looked around, grinning.

"Well, looks like a job well-!"

"Oh, who might this be?"

I froze, feeling an overwhelming amount of fear fill my being as I collapsed to my knees.

"Wh, what just happened?"

"She doesn't have anything she fears Phobos?"

"Well, one thing. But I dunno if I wanna do it, seems like a pain in the ass Somnus."

What!? Why are two of the ATF's Commanders here!? I'm screwed, but I gotta wa-!

I felt my face turn towards a young man wearing nothing but a bathrobe and slippers, and watched his green eyes glow.

"Now sleep, and suffer through your worst nightmare."

----------------------------

I groaned, shaking my head. "The hell just happened?" I got back to my feet, looking around.

I'm alive, but how? Did they just not consider me a threat? I looked down at my hands to find the computer was gone.

I turned to the broken door, only to see everything in the room had vanished. I shook my head, picking up my stray knife from the dead body.

"I have to warn them, about everything. It seems it's something much bigger than I was expecting." I turned back to the window and teleported back in front of the collapsed building.

I ran inside, an uncomfortable feeling starting to grow in the pit of my stomach.

"HEY! We gotta go, this is much bigger…" I trailed as the stench of blood filled my nostrils, causing me to gag.

"Wha…?"

Dead bodies littered our impromptu base; no, it would be more accurate to say body parts were flung around the room, blood dripping from the ceiling, faces gouged out, and the blood, so much blood, so much!

I threw up on the spot, heaving out the contents of my breakfast. "W-why? Wh-what happened while I was gone?"

"It's your fault we died." I froze as I saw a faceless head start to speak to me. "You killed us."

"N-no, you're wrong! I didn-!"

"Remember what you did," said another faceless head, stuck to the top of the building. "Look at yourself, our blood on your hands."

I looked down, starting to shake as I saw entire body covered in blood.

"Wh-why would I-?"

"Murderer!"

"Betrayer!"

"And your partner, had it the worse…"

Ah, right, Blake isn't in here. "Wh-where is he?"

I heard them cackle before all the strewn body parts turned to me, pointing right behind me.

"Look, look what you did to us, betrayer."

"Kinslayer."

"Murderer."

"Butcherer."

I looked behind me to see Blake, standing on his feet, looking up towards the cloudless sky.

"Bl-Blake? Oh, thank God you-!" I stopped myself as I teleported in front of him, taking a step back.

His entire body was broken apart, just an inch away from connecting. His fingers, his hand, his arms, all of it were disconnected and connected through a thin wire, like a doll.

I took another step back, feeling something squishy, only to find all of his organs, including his skin, strewn around him in a sick fashion.

"I, I, I…" I clutched my head, falling to my knees.

"You did this. You killed me, your own partner."

"I didn't! I would never-!"

Eh? No, no no no nononononononononononononononononononono!

"So, you remember then? What you did?"

Gleefully laughing, I tore them apart, teleporting their bodies into smithereens, laughing, dancing in the show of blood I caused, laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing-!

"Even now, you're laughing, you killer."

It was true, I was laughing, laughing so hard as I bathed in his blood, laughing as the blood streamed down my face, hysterically laughing.

"I, I caused this. I'm a murderer! I killed you all!"

"Now go then, join them, and murder for their sake."

And so I laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

But, was that the truth?

"REMEMBER WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, YAH DAMN RIP OFF!"

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I felt someone touch my face, tears streaming down it as I lay broken.

"Ah, this is the end for us, huh dear partner?"

Blake wiped away at my face, coughing up blood. "I'm just glad I managed to get you outta there. It seems like one of those commanders got to you before I could. I'm sorry about that."

I collapsed to my knees, shaking. "I, I killed you. I killed you all. I, I don't deserve to live, I'm trash, disposable fucking trash who couldn't even achieve the duty I was born to do; protect your partner with your life, no matter the cost."

"Y-yeah, never been a big fan of that. Your people too you know," he said, his hand falling away from my face. "Ah, can't really feel my body anymore."

"Ah, ah, ugh…"

"I don't… know if you can hear me in there, but I want you to do something for me. Please, go on and live. I won't tell you how, but please, for me?" He let out a bloodstained smile.

"Ah, join them? Because I killed you?"

"Maybe? If you still wish to complete your mission? But whatever you choose, make it your own. That's what freedom is all about…"

He took a deep, raspy breath. "I just wish I could've told you that sooner. That… you've always… been… f…."

"Hmm, that went better than I expected."

"I really do outdo myself sometimes. Anyway, Antonio, the girl is yours to control. So long as you don't forcibly go unconscious or die, she will never be able to disobey you. Make sure she doesn't find out anything else about what we're doing either. Her trauma should be big enough where she shouldn't remember anything before she entered the building, but you never know. Push comes to shove, kill her."

"As you wish Somnus."

I watched the young man peer into my face, sighing. "I hate everything about their kind, but your kind I pity. Well, sweet dreams darling. Dream something nice for a change…"

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I collapsed to my knees, holding my mouth. "Is, is that what really happened? So, then, everything was a lie?"

Antonia frowned as he looked at me. "What's the problem? I already told you you're mine and mine alone, partner."

I felt another shock go through my body from the collar, but I ignored it, getting back to my feet.

"SO, WHAT'LL IT BE? WHAT DID HE WANT FOR YOU, RIP OFF!?"

I grabbed onto the railing, shaking my head. "I DON'T KNOW, HE'S DEAD NOW! I'LL NEVER REALLY KNOW!"

"THEN CHOOSE FOR YOURSELF WHAT HE MEANT! WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO!?"

What I want to do? No one's ever asked me something like that, not even my partner Blake. But, if his words were really true, then…

I, I want…

"I WANT TO BE FREE DAMNIT! FUCK DOING THIS, I'M TIRED OF WEARING THIS COLLAR AND BEING CHAINED TO THIS FATASS, TIRED OF MISREMEMBERING AND BEING CONFUSED! ALL I WANT IS TO GET AWAY FROM HERE NOW!"

I watched him smile from all the way down below. "THEN, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT!?"

And with my answer, I yelled it out with every fiber of my being.

"I WANT YOU TO FREE ME, YOU DAMN HIRO!!!!"

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I grinned, throwing away my voice amplifier. "You heard that too, right?"

"Indeed, Anna heard it with Anna's own two ears."

I slammed my fist into my palm. "Then, Anna?"

"Yes, Master?"

"Throw me."

"Rodger Dodger."