~ Ø ~

The stinky alley was as dreadful as it is silent.

Sweat ran down Ace's cheeks even though the cold winds embraced him in its clutches. "What do you want from her?" He gently laid her unconscious body near the dumpster bin right next to him.

"Confidential." He smiled. "You know, I hear your mom calling your name in the distance kid. I think she's looking for her missing child."

"I'm not really the type who gets lost Mister. I only retrieved something on an intend to return it." Ace spoke gallantly though his trembling knees and hands said otherwise, something the man in front of him had noticed.

The gigantic man chuckled after seeing the boy's shaking limbs. "Well then, why don't you give her back to me before something happens." He grabbed a cigarette from his pocket, inserting it between his thin, chapped lips. Lighting it with his silver lighter that had a red star symbol.

"That would be unnecessary because I'm returning it where it belongs."

He inhaled at the carcinogenic object, releasing a smoky gray hue. "Yeah, six feet under."

His gaze went straight to Ace's brave eyes evident behind his glasses, a malevolent grin forming on his wrinkled face. His straight posture then snapped and contorted into that of a hunchback's. Within a second, his brown eyes changed. It was bigger —crazier. He continued with a high pitched malicious laugh as his back bent violently, his head almost reaching the back of his legs.

Ace's brows furrowed, his stone legs tried to take a step backwards but it was useless.

The man who had his back bent quickly hunched forward, his neck popping, licking his lips after hearing his bone crack from the sudden movement. He stared down Ace hard, almost through his soul. "Entertain me more.... would ya?"

He mercilessly shot all rounds on the teenager standing in the distance, grabbing another gun from his briefcase, each bullets fired off like a bull chasing a red mark. The smoke coming from the muzzle of the two submachine guns clouded everything in front of him but that didn't stopped him from laughing hysterically.

"Eat this, and this! And this! Here! Have a little moooore, brave little child!" His cigarette fell though he caught it using his feet all the while shooting. Laughing. Glaring.

A frown developed on his face when no more bullets shot out no matter how many times he pulled the trigger. He leered back and forth between the guns in his hands. "T-that's it? But I wanna shoot more!" He cried like a little child, puffing an unhealthy amount of cigarette for a moment when the hazy smoke in front of him started to die out.

The man's face lit up, his eyes widening in sheer joy. He was delightfully surprised by what was in front of him, laughing like a little kid on Christmas. "I didn't know you could do that!" His gloved hands clapped marvelously for the boy.

Ace had his trembling hands reached forward, groaning. All sixty four bullets stopped midair in front of him before they could all land on his skin. One golden bullet was just inches away from his forehead, its intense heat brought out waterfalls on his scalp that tasted like the sea once it reached his lips. The loud gunshots still rang on his ears like church bells on a Sunday morning.

"S-shit! I should've finished eating that disgusting sandwich." Ace grunted with exhaustion as the bullets in front of him started falling down, clucking once they landed on the ground one by one. Eventually, his lower limbs followed, landing on his knees as he gasped as much air his as lungs could contain.

"It appears as though cockroaches like you knows how to kneel in front of the great Ballistic. Are you begging for mercy?" he mocked.

"I don't beg Mister." Ace stood back up, shaking his hands gently while breathing slowly, looking at the man a few distance away from him.

"Well then." Ballistic grabbed an unknown glowing object and two loaded magazines from his briefcase. He then pressed the magazine release button, the empty clips crashed on the ground. The man grinned, licking the glowing object sensually. "There's a first time for everything!"

Ballistic hurled the object at Ace who in turn smacked it with his backpack thinking it would deflect back to its thrower. The glowing object however exploded into a thick mist of red smoke upon impact that covered a large area around him. He spun out of control inside peering for a way out, running in every direction that led him to the exact same place where he started, bumping against hard dumpsters and appliances. His breath becoming unsteady as moments inside passed by.

His miscalculated move created a delightfully gigantic smile on Ballistic's face who had finished reloading both of his guns. "That mist messes up with your perception while it slowly kills you on the inside the longer you are in it." He crouched after cocking the firearms in his hand. "I hope you're ready!" He leaped towards the pipe on the right wall which immediately bent upon grabbing it with his muscular arms.

Ace's gaze darted everywhere inside the mist which covered every direction with hazy red hue searching for the injured girl. A blazing bullet passed by his face barely missing his nose. The heat caused by the projectile was enough for him to fall on his back, landing on something very large and hard that left him groaning for a minute. He stroked the mysterious object violently, feeling a handle somewhere along the way. A refrigerator.

One... two.... three... four! Blazing bullets came out one after the other flying wildly within the mist trying to search for a living target. Ace looked above him hearing a faint noise of what seemed to be a maniac laughing hysterically.

The laughing maniac was of course none other than Ballistic who jumped from pipe to pipe like a gorilla, circling around the mist underneath, going ballistic with the shooting. Each bullet shot were of silver colors, setting ablaze as soon as it touched the red veil around the helpless teen.

The light from the bullets were enough to show Ace where the injured girl was, still lying on the floor in front of him. Fiery projectiles came raining down on them which made his legs shudder. Quickly, he knocked the refrigerator once, and then two more times. It was definitely metal.

A flaming garbage hit by a bullet levitated towards Ace's palm, redirecting it above the refrigerator as a light source. He let out a tiny laugh. "Steel."

He opened the refrigerator and levitated the heavy object above him as bullets bounced off of the disposed appliance, unable to penetrate through its tough exterior. His hands trembled the longer he held it with his powers so he sprinted towards the girl, sheltering themselves inside the refrigerator where he swallowed every saliva produced whenever a bullet would try to invite itself inside their safe haven.

Ace matched his breathing according to his increasing heart rate as moments passed by until no more bullets struck the refrigerator. It did however started getting warmer and warmer inside which was peculiar. Ace's head still sweated like a waterfall, drenching his red locks with sweat that glued its strand to his forehead and the back of his neck. A hint of salt lingering on his lips from the bodily liquid that ran across his face.

He decided to come out of the refrigerator, the cold overtook his body as soon as he opened the door. Everything was on fire. He got out and faced every direction. His legs were noodles, almost toppling over due to the slight lightheadedness from the smoke accompanied by the volatile mist. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.

Ace grabbed the girl inside the refrigerator and held her tightly. There was no way out no matter which direction his eyes laid upon so he looked for one with his vision shut. He thought of a way out in a state of tranquility. He breathed slowly, steadily, freeing his mind to do so. Feeling the delicate wind that caressed his face, brushing through his thick hair.

He was calm until a loud gunshot caused his shoulder to jerk upwards. Gently opening his eyes transitioned into a widened stare, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets confused as to why everything looks so clear and free of smoke. He can see the blue sky. He can feel the wind. He can even breathe!

"Good fucking morning Dumbo!" Ballistic aimed his gun above him.

Ace followed the voice of the man. "W-why is his voice coming from down ther— Oh my god I am flying!" His mouth opened as wide as his eyes, his body drifted wildly in the air while holding the injured girl.

An amused Ballistic watched the boy spun out of control midair before dancing, shooting at him with a laughter filled with excitement, each shot barely missing the target's body.

Ace watched in terror as bullets danced upwards alongside him in the air. He growled, pushing his body forward evading the deadly projectiles, bumping from walls to walls most of the time. A close shot to his face pushed his body backwards, smashing against the wall, letting out a grunt. The impact had him seeing bright lights for a second before flying to the opposite wall when Ballistic threw himself at Ace, landing a blow on his stomach that hit like a truck.

The boy lost his grip to the girl and was sent flying, crashing into the ground before rolling endlessly like a barrel. His arms and left cheek scraped by the harsh pavement, finally stopping when he hit a dumpster, eventually falling unto the ground.

He laid on the floor, shuddering. The punch left him gasping for air. It was definitely more powerful than his father's fist. The sound of the rodents rustling about and the man's laughter all disappeared when the piercing pain in his lower abdomen traveled to his stomach causing him to cough up blood. His left hand searched for his missing glasses.

"I must admit, you gave me quite a performance there." Ballistic smiled at Ace, crushing his glasses before turning towards the girl underneath him with a glare. "Unlike this bitch."

He grabbed the injured girl by the neck, flinging her next to Ace's weakened body. The police sirens started echoing from the distance, alarming the gigantic man and causing a sense of relief to Ace.

"J–just leave us alone for our sake just as much as yours," Ace stuttered between heavy breaths. The metallic taste caused by the blood mixed with the salty fluid running down his cheeks left a nasty taste in his mouth.

The man's eyebrows curled up, licking his dry lips. "Now where's the fun in that?" He skipped towards Ace with a gigantic smile.

"I–I don't want anyone else getting hurt so stay away from us!" Ace shouted, conflicted on what to do next. His gaze locking with Ballistic's sadistic eyes igniting an intense fear within him.

"Too bad, one of us is already hurt and is probably knocking on death's door. But don't worry, I'll make sure you visit the underworld together." He puffed at his cigarette, staring at Ace's face filled with conflict and uncertainty.

"I'm not gonna let that happen," he mumbled, gathering what was left of his energy to get back up but ended up falling on his butt.

Ballistic on the other hand was gleefully smiling at Ace, licking his lips at the entertaining sight of a child trying to stand up before his mercy. Ace panted heavily, switching gaze back and forth between Ballistic and the injured girl right next to him.

"It seems as though you do not have any more energy to keep up your so-called heroic act which from where I'm standing is reckless stupidity. My question is, why do the stupidity?" Ballistic took out something from his tuxedo, revealing a silver revolver in his right hand which Ace noticed had a glowing cylinder in the color of red.

"My father may have treated me like a useless trash ever since I was little, but my mom made sure I was still hum–."

"Yeah, yeah, I wasn't actually asking for an answer you moron." Ballistic's wide eyes and an even wider smile admired the gun that he was holding. "Do not worry kid, this will only hurt a bit." He laughed menacingly, pointing the gun at Ace whose color drained out of his face.

"About your father. He's right about you." Ballistic's expression hardened.

Noticing that the man was about to pull the trigger, Ace swiped his right arm with a grunt using his remaining energy, knocking back everything in front of him with immense force. Ballistic flew at an intense speed, smashing his back at the brick wall at the end of the alley, falling unto the ground with blood coming out of his mouth. The palm of his right had been stabbed by a small metal pole from the other objects that had been knocked away by the force.

Ace did not waste any second, immediately grabbing the injured girl by her thin waist. Her blood stained clothes was as cold as her arm that he wrapped around his neck. His noodle legs limped their way out of the stinky alley. Ballistic's loud and terrifying shriek behind them pierced his ears like thunder, enveloping his whole body in fear causing his pace to quicken. "W-were in here!" He shouted with sirens of police cars responding to him as he got closer and closer to the street.

Ace released a pent-up breath once he was inches away from the entrance of the alley. The corners of his mouth curved upwards, his eyes lit with the light from the street.

A single scream of a gun enveloped the streets with an echo of ringing despair, the lights in front getting dimmer. The starving rodents on the garbages scrammed away in fear.

He stopped and noticed an abnormal heat coming from his right limb. His mind told him to continue walking towards the street in which he disobeyed, slowly directing his face to the side to get a view of his right arm. A hole in the size of a quarter was in his shoulder, blood oozing out.

The sight of the bleeding wound caused his stomach to drop unto the ground alongside the gushing blood. He continued limping towards the clear but it was no use, his shaking legs barely kept him from standing.

"I-in here......." Ace moaned in pain. With every blood coming out of his wound, the bright street slowly got dimmer, the sound of police sirens were muffled and his body got heavier, and heavier, and heavier. He collapsed on his back alongside the injured girl. His right shoulder burned until it became numb as seconds passed by but the bleeding wasn't stopping.

"You fucking bitch! I will come back for you!" Ballistic roared with all his might at the end of the alley, climbing over the brick wall, fleeing the scene right before the cops arrived at the street in front of the alley.

The police got off their cars and immediately tended the injured people at the alleyway.

"This is Deputy Sam requesting for an immediate 11-41 here at 25th avenue near the Rolph Nicol Jr. Playground, we've got two 10-45B here." The woman with blonde hair radioed to the other line while applying pressure on Ace's wound.

"You're gonna be fine okay? Just hang in there kid, help is on their way."

"Ace! Ace! Is he okay!? Ace!" Jason came sprinting from the streets towards the cop tending Ace's wound. "Oh my god! W-will he be okay? P-please tell me he will be okay!" he pleaded for an answer in which the woman nodded.

"Ugh–, S-sam? You might want to take a look at this." A worried colleague stood next to her, his eyes widened in shock and his lips tried to search for words.

All the garbages and objects in the area were scattered everywhere at the end with the brick wall about to fall apart due to an intense force. The walls and windows on the opposing side of the alley were also damaged creating noticeable holes on the concrete.

"What in the hell happened here? It's like a hurricane past by," Sam muttered in confusion while looking at the damage on the walls surrounding the alley.

"Jace please, come on you gotta be okay buddy," Jason cried while grabbing Ace's left hand as tight as he could.

"I-I'm f-fine.... y-you i-i-idiot..." Ace stuttered, coughing. "W-why a.....are t-the p...p-police s-oooo..... l-late?"

Jason's face brigthened, forming the biggest smile ever since the tragic experience he had years ago. "This idiot was worried sick about you, you stupid shithead! I told you not to go in there!" He wiped his tears using his forearm, his hands still still holding Ace's.

Ace's head got lighter, everything turned white though he was determined to say one last thing to Jason, forcefully opening his mouth and using what remained of his non-existent energy to speak.

"T-t-tell t-the p-p-p-pol....ice, t-they're s-s-low.... a-and use..less... a-as fu—."

~Ø~