The Origin of Something Wicked [story]

I wasn’t always a Villain.
Once, I patrolled the streets of Paragon City side-by-side with my sisters, Monica and Sascha. All three of us were highly skilled in the art of the sword, and we all took the name of our blade when we filled in our Hero Registrations – Monica became Broadsword, Sascha became Claymore and I took the name Dai-katana.

One summer evenin’, we was out on patrol, as usual. I was on point, as usual. My ninjitsu trainin’ givin’ me a hand to stay hidden until the right moment. We’d heard that the Lost were steppin’ up their snatch squad activity in King’s Row, and had decided to hit the rooftops near the sewer entrances to try and stamp out the kidnappings before they began.
A good plan, the Mutates and Scroungers would be little trouble, and even if we ran into a Headman or two the three of us should be able to cope.

Walk in the park, right?

Well, no. It all went wrong. We had just jumped a group of Mutates and Scroungers and were gettin’ stuck right in, when a Headman Blaster started layin’ into us with some kind of Plasma rifle. Monica got hit pretty bad, but she uses regen enzymes, so Me and Sascha just kept on. I went for the Blaster and Sas kept the pressure on the mooks. We knew Monica would be on her feet before long and come help us out. Boy were we in for a shock.

She left us. She crawled away and healed herself, and left us hung out to dry. Little [censored]! Y’all don’t know what it’s like, love and trust all goes out the window when you see your backup, your family, your blood, crawl away and abandon you.
Sas went mad. Clinically, terminally, and totally insane. She was doin’ well, from what I saw. She channelled the fury into her fight, and soon had the survivin’ Mutates on the run. As she chased ‘em up I lost sight of her.

Nothin’ I could do. I saw two Headsman chase her down an alley, carryin’ those big-[censored] curvey sword-staff things they like. I woulda’ helped, but a Prelate chose that exact moment to step up and fill my head with white noise.

I came to with blood in my mouth, and runnin’ down my face from my nose. Even my eyes were bleedin’ at that point. I looked down through the red tinge and saw why I had come outta that fuzz the Prelates stick in your brain. Stupid mutation had his claws in my guts. Last thing I saw was his other paw swingin’ round at my head. I couldn’t dodge it. I was too weak, and it was too fast.

As the darkness closed around me, I thought of Sas and Monica.
I hope they got away.
Black.
Pain.
Nothing.

Bright light burnin’ through my eyes woke me. I was surrounded by grey mist and bones, and held in the air like a puppet. As I spun, I saw what had happened.
I looked into the sunken eyes of the Necromancer and realised I was dead.
Had been dead.
Whatever.
The stupid Mortificator had tried one of Dr Vahzilok’s rites, aimin’ for an Eidlon of his own, I guess. Not gonna happen, I am too strong for that.

As the rite ended, and I was free of the invisible strings that held me, I saw my sword. It was broken, shorter than it used to be, but still with a wicked edge. As I felt the blood dry in my veins, I plunged the broken edge of my Dai-Katana straight through the Mortificator’s chest, and he collapsed in a clumsy heap. Two Abominations and a Cadaver followed him to the grave.

I laughed and raised my face to the sky. As it started to rain, I realised that my spandex hero costume was in tatters, and I was freezin’. Some biker guy chose to walk into the alley just then, and he saw me and the mess around me.

“Murderer! Heroes don’t kill. Murderer!”

As he ran, I planted two of my little knives in his back. I was just takin’ his jacket against the freezin’ rain and wonderin’ how I was gonna explain to the Freedom Corps what had happened, when this hero in a bright yellow and red outfit knocked me off my feet with a blast of fire.

I went down like a sack, my broken sword spinnin’ from my hand. Two more blasts and I was losin’ consciousness.
As I went out, I heard the hero…
“There is a special place for people like you. I think you will like it.”
I heard the cuffs click, and felt their steel against my wrists.
“It is called the Ziggurat. Just the place for a super powered villain to cool off and reconsider their crimes, yes? We do not like rogue heroes in Paragon City.”

I woke up in a cell, and I been in and out of them ever since. Last time, I got busted out by Arachnos troops and taken to the Rogue Isles. This time I’m stayin’ out, even if that means killin’ anyone who tries to put me back in.

I had the Arachnos teleporter thingy stuck in me too, and I’m learnin’ more Ninjitsu. I swapped my Dai-katana for a Ninja-to, and learned how to hide and hit people in the soft places.
Things are lookin’ up.
They call me a Stalker now.

And people shiver when they hear that Something Wicked this way comes.

One day I might go pay Broadsword a call…

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"they call me a stalker now..."

Very enjoyable!