The Last Hero (One shot, /sup/)

>You hear a scream in the night
>It’s down an alleyway on your right hand side
>You stop for a moment but start walking again soon afterwards
>A second scream
>You stop again with a sigh
>Turning around you throw your jacket’s hood up and run towards the noise
>Two men are shaking down a young girl with light pink hair in a yellow sweater
“I assume you two were just escorting this nice girl home safely right?”
>They both turn to look at you, one has a gun, the other a knife
>”Fuck off man or you’re gonna get it too. We just need a little pocket change that’s all.”
“I get it, times are tough, not that tough though. Just lay off of her ok?”
>”Man fuck this, let’s just get him too.”
>The one with the knife spoke up and began walking towards you
>You steel yourself
>Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad this time
>Yeah, not likely
>You wait until he gets in striking range and let him make the first move
>He stabs straight for your gut with his arm fully extended
>He must not get in a lot of actual fights
>You side step the attack and grab his wrist
>Pulling him forward and off balance you smash the elbow of your other arm into his temple sending him to the ground
>You turn to see the gunman staring in anger and disbelief
>You begin walking towards him when he raises the gun at you
>You’re only about ten feet apart when he does which puts you in position to dash at him if you need to
>He had completely forgotten the girl who had scurried away to hide behind a dumpster
>That’s good at least
“Can we please just not?”
>It’s worth a shot
>”Fuck you, you crazy ass townie.”
>You shake your head and sigh with exasperation
>It can never just be easy
“Okay then.”
>You don’t wait for him to respond
>Your muscles tense and coil before rebounding and sending you flying at the man
>You see three bright flashes accompanied by a feminine scream and feel three bullets tear through your flesh
>You don’t stop and when you get to the man you tackle him around the waist
>The mangled couple that you form crashes to the ground with dull thuds and you wrestle the gun away from him
>Clambering on top of him you send three heavy blows to his head leaving him unconscious
>You see crimson pools forming on his chest from your agonizing wounds
>That’s when you hear the other one step up behind you
>You try to turn in time to stop him but only get halfway and earn a knife between the back of your ribs for your trouble
>The blade tears into you like searing acid and drives the air from your lungs
>A second, third, and fourth excruciating wound flare forth on your back before you’re able to get up and turn around
>You look at the man who just stabbed you and he stares at you unbelieving
“I t-think I still h-have something of yours.”
>You wheeze through the words as blood begins to pool in your lungs
>You have to cough to clear your passage before shoving a thumb over your shoulder to indicate his knife
>He sees the blood trails, the gaping wounds from bullet and blade alike
>He takes one step backwards
>Then another
>Then he turns and flees entirely
>Once he’s out of the alleyway you let yourself collapse
>Your body slaps the ground with a wet smack and you roll when you feel the blade driven deeper into your back
>You lay on your side wheezing and sputtering with blood spraying from your lips with each cough
>Rushed footsteps from the dumpster catch your attention
>The girl is right beside you in only a moment and you can hear her ragged weeping
>She reaches out to touch you but recoils at the sight of your ghastly wounds
>”Oh my gosh! You need a doctor! Why would you do that?”
>You weakly waive a hand in dismissal trying to reassure her
“I’ll *cough* be ok. You mind helping me with this?”
>You once again point to the knife embedded in your back
>You see her hesitate
>”W-what do you mean?”
“Just pull i- *cough* pull it out.”
>”Are you sure?”
>You nod
>She moves around your backside and feel her grab the knife but she doesn’t pull
“Do it. One swift motion.”
>A fresh trail of anguish erupts as she does as instructed
>You gasp and splutter as the pain overtakes you
>You barely have the faculties the hear the girl frantically whispering how sorry she is to you on top of her racking sobs
>When the both of you finally calm down you push yourself up into a sitting position and crawl to the wall of one of the surrounding buildings
>You prop yourself against it and the girl scurries over to you pulling out her phone
>She starts fumbling with it trying to type in a number but you put your hand over it
>She looks at you in confusion and fear as you shake your head
>Instead you lift your shirt revealing your bare stomach
>There were three bullet holes and the girl recoils at the sight
>You roll your eyes
>Motioning her closer with a hand you point a finger at one of the holes
>That’s when she notices that it’s slowly closing over until there’s only scar tissue remaining that joins a cavalcade of others like it
>In an astounded voice she asks
>”W-who are you? I thought all of the heroes were gone.”
>You cough up a glob of blood and spit it out
“They are.”

End