More Heroes: Endless Struggle
"TRAVIS TOUCHDOWN...!"
A sound breaks me from my sleep. It was a sound that had become way too familiar to
me. The sound of some dipshit yelling my name from outside my trailer. As if I hadn't decided to
go on my extended vacation for a reason. Just another idiot trying to make a quick buck by
ripping off my shtick probably.
"...GET OUT HERE AND FACE ME YOU COWARD!"
Its been ten years since I hacked and slashed my way up the ranks and became the
number one assassin. Long time right? And ever since, assholes like this guy haven't let me
forget it. It's been one fight after another for what seems like forever. Back home I couldn't get
rid of these guys. Santa Destroy may have been a cesspool but it was my cesspool. And after
the whole assassin thing got popular? Well. You know what happens to things that get too
popular...
"HEY! I can hear you monologuing in there! No one wants to hear you recaping your
whole life story! They want a fight! NOW GET OUT HERE AND GIVE ME ONE!"
Ripping me off and interrupting me? I've killed motherfuckers for less. Now I had to see
this guy.
I kick in the side door to reveal some Undertaker looking dude staring at me with hate in
his eyes. Guy had long black hair and a trench coat to match. Looked like the poster child for
suicide prevention. He was carrying one of those big fuckoff assult rifles. Gun guys bore me to
tears. They're always way too serious.
"You have no idea," he said in a low, gravelly voice he must have thought was scary.
"Alright, you've got my attention. So who the FUCK are you!?"
"Who I am is not important. But you… are Travis Touchdown. The name rings out across
the world as a beacon to all those that kill for pleasure. I hate all things. Even killers. You will be
my greatest challenge."
He draws his weapon and I draw mine. A flash of light cuts the darkness of night as I cut
through bullets. His mistake was coming at me all cocky. Who did this guy think he was? Not
important, huh? Well I couldn't agree more.
SLASH
One stroke. That's all it took. A geyser of blood erupted from the stump where Mr. Not
Important's head used to be. What? Expecting more? Come on. You must not know me. Or
have you not been paying attention? Low Lifes like this guy show up on my doorstep every day.
The real question was who was going to have to clean this shit up.
"Huuuuuhhh…..I'll leave it for the morning."
I sat back down in my gaming chair.
This had become my routine. No. My endless struggle. It's been so long since this all
started. I really can't remember what my life was like before this. Had I had a life before this?
Gotta find the exit. All the killing. All the battles. Gotta find the exit. How were there still more
opponents out there? Gotta find the exit.
"You still don't get it. There is no exit. I tried to tell you, but the young never listen do they?"
And there he was, sitting in the darkest corner of the room. Same as the first time I saw
him. Death Metal. How long had I been seeing these visions of the dead? I couldn't remember
that either. I didn't answer.
"Oh, you can't ignore me, boy. I'm inside your head. The one place you can't escape."
"Shut up old man. I ain't Ichigo and you ain't Obi-Wan. I dont fucking talk to ghosts."
"Hehehe…. Still as crude as ever. Time hasn't made you any whittier has it Travis? Even
now you still don't know how high the wall is."
"Well you could have just told me instead of being cryptic about it."
"I suppose. But if you didn't want this cycle of endless violence you should never have
bothered. Are you tired? How tired will you be next year? Or the year after that? How long can
you go on?"
Fuck. I came out to this forest to be left alone. Now not even the silence of a clear mind
was possible. It was like playing on nightmare mode.
"Is this really all it takes to break you Travis?" said a calm, airy female voice. Death
Metal wasn't the only ghost that had taken up residence in my head. There, standing just
outside my vision was Holly Summers.
"The man who beat me must have more fight in him than this. You cannot run from the
choices you have made. The path for the killer is only forward or downward," she said.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I got plenty fight left. I just need to… rest my eyes a bit."
"Rest...?" came a third and final voice as syrupy as it was venomous. But this one was
different. The words were heavy and haggard. The figure just behind me.
"You don't actually think you get to sleep do you? Fucking pussy. I can't believe you
actually killed me. It's embarrassing," she said. This voice pissed me off the most.
"Hey! If you're gonna hang around the least you could be is a friendly ghost!"
"You want friends? Go join a fucking Baseball team. But that shit can't satisfy someone
like you, can it? You can't get off unless the prize is gallons of blood."
"Ok, but..."
"COME ON…!" She grabbed both my shoulders with blood stained hands. They felt so
real. I look up in my chair. Starring over me was the bloody face of Bad Girl. The second ranked
assassin.
"...I didn't come back from the dead to watch you jerk off and play retro games for eight
years. Now stop wasting everyone's time and get back to work! It's time to kill, not time to kill
time!"
"LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"
"Ok. Christ, I'll come back later."
A new voice breaks my trance. One I hadn't heard until recently. I swing my chair
around to make sure I was right. In the door frame stood a dark skinned girl in a darker black
suit. A head of big silver hair and a sword at her hip. How many cameos were in this thing? It
was…
"Shinobu!? But you're not even dead!"
"Not the last time I checked," she said in a mocking tone. "Are you okay? You were kinda
talking to yourself there. Which wouldn't normally be weird for you except that I think it was to
someone else."
"Yeah, I'm good. Unless you're here to kill me too."
"Not this time. Actually I'm here to give you this. A new contract was just issued." She
hands me a sealed yellow envelope.
"I'm not taking jobs right now."
"Yeah, I know. Everyone knows. Don't you at least want to know who issued it and why?"
"It's always the same shit. Mob revenge and corporate takeovers."
"Would you stop whining and just open the stupid thing so I can go? It's cold out here."
"Fine, alright. Hey, shouldn't you be nicer to me? I thought you were in love with me or
something."
"Heh…Please, Travis. You're cool and all. But that was like… eight years ago."
"Whatever." As I unseal the folder I couldn't help but feel a distinct dread. I never could
have guessed who the target could be. I had been out of the loop for a while but this was
crazier than I could have imagined.
"Sylvia?!"
"Yeah. It was issued by the UAA just yesterday."
"The UAA is after Sylvia? I knew I was gone awhile but…. why?"
"No one knows yet. But whatever she did they want her bad. They're offering 5 million to
the one who finds her first."
"Five million LB$s to kill Sylvia? That's insane."
"Look, everyone is going to be after this one. I just thought you should know."
"Thanks."
"I know you made it out and all, and I hate to say it but… things were more fun when you were
around." she said before taking her leave.
"Well would you look at that. Things just got interesting again. So what's it gonna be
hero? You gonna go save the princess?"
"This shit doesn't make any sense. Why Sylvia? Why now? You know what? I'm sick of
not knowing what the hell is going on. I'm gonna find Sylvia before any of those amateurs, and
get all the answers."