MarvelWatch

I've had it with these MF*** ninjas on this MF*** street! I just wanted a quiet night for improving my lair and making new toys for myself.

I resisted the urge to look behind myself, since I knew what I would see. Maybe my ten-year-old body was getting to me, but I was desperately hoping that as long as I didn't turn and see them, they wouldn't see me either. Equally desperately, I was thinking, "they aren't coming for me, they aren't coming for me."

After a moment, I realized that nobody had approached me yet. Maybe I was safe.

Then soft footsteps came from behind me. This kind of thing was only supposed to happen in movies! Or TV. Wait. I'm in a movie world. And TV. And comics, for good measure and even more story clichés and such. Dang. I guess anything goes.

I picked up my pace, looking for a place I could duck into and reenter Resonance. I ran down the list, looking for a good fit for the situation. Meanwhile, the footsteps behind me kept up with me. They were a distance behind me, so if I broke into a run and jumped into the alley, I had a shot at Resonance without breaking my secret identity.

A few steps later, an opportunity came. I rushed into the nearby alleyway and into the shadows. Quietly, I said the words that I thought would bring this to the quickest end. An end that would come with a bit of a statement.

"Reaper, Resonance!"

I was wrapped in smoke that I knew was black, but with the darkness, it was hard to see. It had been tempting to go with Winston. A nonlethal option that there would be no real defense against, with the Tesla Cannon. Then I could just jump away into the night and get to the lair. Or back home, which felt like a good option as well.

A good night's sleep really sounded good.

But I couldn't back down. I felt that if I showed any signs of weakness now, things would just get worse. If I let them think that I in my various forms was vulnerable, then they might try their luck until it came through.

My transformation finished. I stepped back out of the alleyway to face my attacker. I materialized a shotgun (still a weird sensation) and raised it as I turned the corner.

"Whoa!" *Click! *

Guess who? It was Coulson. With a gun, which accounted for the click I heard. I could have sworn I'd heard a ninja drop to the ground behind me. What else could that rustling have been? I looked around. I wasn't too concerned about Coulson. He wasn't the trigger-happy type. Instead, I was worried about…

"Duck," I rasped out.

Without further warning, I pulled the trigger on my shotgun as Coulson dodged. Whether he trusted me or was scared of me, at least his instincts told him to move. And not be Han and shoot first. Although, would that have killed Reaper?

My shot flew over Coulson's shoulder and hit the ninja solidly around their upper body. As he flinched from the pain, I shot again. At this distance, the spread was enough that he only suffered a little bit of damage, but it was enough. The other effects, like the sound and psychological damage were what I wanted more than physical damage. At this point, I didn't care about making a scene or attracting more attention from the ninjas. It was time to make them back off. Of course, that was only going to come after they had suffered a bit more.

Right on cue, more ninjas dropped from above. Others ran from the streets. I guess quite a few had come out to reinforce their brothers from before. They took up positions to surround me. And Coulson, I guess. He stood back up, gun at the ready, and looked at all the ninjas surrounding us.

It was perfect.

"What the he-"

"Language, agent, kids are watching! Now get back down and it'll all be over in a second."

"There's no way you can take down this many-"

Death Blossom.

The smoke that had gathered around my feet pulsed out away from me, and suddenly I was a flurry of arms, guns, and bullets materializing and dematerializing. Some shots even flew directly out of the smoke, instantly picking a target and flying out.

The ninjas had come out looking for a martial artist. Or a relatively untrained thug with a gun. They were definitely not prepared for Reaper and his Death Blossom. Maybe they actually did have some kind of body armor below their cloth outfits, but clearly, it was not up to the barrage of shotgun pellets that I was dishing out.

Within a few moments, all of the ninjas were downed. Since most had kept their distance, they were just heavily injured. Or maimed. Wherever the line between the words was. Besides, there was something nasty in Reaper's bullets- himself.

A moment after the Death Blossom finished, a black mist leeched out of the wounds of the ninjas and back to me. I gave a creepy Reaper sigh of relief as the wounds I had suffered before were healed as this mist came to me. Lifesteal. Gotta love it, as long as you're not the one bleeding.

"If I may…"

"… you may," I rasped.

"What the HELL just happened?" Coulson shouted with a notably higher voice.

I just laughed. A real laugh.