Nihonmura (Little Tokyo), Pacifica Bay, Northern Califonia, USA
'History. I fucking hate history tests. Thank God I have Lee to help me. You gotta remember shit like the isolation of Mutants, the increase of climate formulation, the war with Wakanda. That one's the worst. The "murder" of T'Chaka and the imprisonment of T'Challa caused a war with Africa and Wakanda, which Africa is losing. Then there's the Vampire Collusion-'
Hsss. Something jumped at Hiro, tackling him to the ground. Even in the shadows, the moon reflected his fangs. 'A vampire, just my luck.'
Before the Vampire could have his meal, Hiro spit a mist of water he had been gurgling since he left Jubi's house. Vamp Victim Prevention Tactics #1: "Always keep a bottle of holy water on hand and easily accessible. "
The Vampire groaned as he covered his eyes, the pain searing his face. 'Thank God Blade mandated and gave out Vampire Prevention Books.'
Hiro got up and implemented Vamp Victim Prevention Tactic #8: "Always stay strapped with Bling." Following the tactic, Hiro takes out a rod of silver Jubi gave him. He frowned as he looked grimly at the silver in his hand, thinking of its value in this dystopian city. He reeled his arm back reluctantly and started wacking the shit of the Vampire. "1 FUCKING K! All because of your bullshit, I gotta waste my gift! One use only! I'm broke! My family lost everything to a lawsuit! And I gotta balance my job, school and fuckfaces like you and you just had to be hungry!"
Hiro held a bloodied silver rod that bent in ways it was not supposed to. The vampire's body lay mangled and collapsed. It was still twitching. 'Fucking Vamp.' thought Hiro in a rage. This happened every 3-5 times a week if he was lucky, and this was his 6th Vampire on Thursday.
Hiro breathed calmly and reeled his arm again until he heard a shout, "Hands where they are, Pipe Boy!"
Hiro froze and turned his neck slightly to look back: 'Officers, great just my day. Can it get any worse?' "Officer, officer, what can I do for you?" Hiro's voice whistled cheerfully.
"What's with the Pipe kid? You wanna get shot?"
'Not really. Too expensive. But the Silver. Goddammit, it's not worth it, Hiro. It's not worth the medical bills.' "It's a Vamp." Hiro shuffles aside slowly to show the regenerating corpse with great displeasure. "On its last legs. Wanna end it for me?"
"For a fee." One of the cops said while making a money sign. "You know how this goes, kid."
"Fine, you can have the silver. Should run you a few hundreds." Hiro said while swinging his sliver rod, which had probably seen better days. "So you gonna stab it with a wooden-"
BANG
"The silver, kid," The cop demanded as he held his gun to Hiro. "I'd rather not spend more time in this dump."
"Here. Can I go home now?" Hiro said as he threw the silver, which the cop caught. "Got a test tomorrow."
"Yeah, you can go. But don't go down 5th Street. There are a couple of Vamp Hunters there. You can handle yourself, so you know what that means. Take the abandoned construction site by the Nox Centre; it's been vetted by patrol, so it should do you alright, kid," said the officer with a toothy smile as he cleaned the silver rod of its blood, revealing a colourful firework imprint.
"Thanks. I'll do that, Officer. Let's meet on better terms next time!" Hiro said, walking away with a fake wave.
In this world, Cops are Dickheads. Good Dickheads, but dickheads nonetheless. They rob you less but still need something to help you, and if it's more complicated than pulling the trigger, you better be ready to dig in your pockets.
Hiro walked into the construction area and whistled cheerfully as the moonlight shone in the sky. He felt a buzz in his bicep pocket and took out his phone; it was his mother. 'Oh no!' Hiro answered and met with Japanese Shouting and a worried mother.
"Mom, I'm on my way now... Don't worry, I'm just around the corner... Okay, I'll see you soon... Bye." Hiro ended the call, put his phone away in the biscep pocket he stitched, which he was very proud of, and rolled up his sleeves. "It's been a while since I did parkour. Mom's not gonna let me hear the end of it if I arrive even a second late." Hiro ran, jumped, grappled a beam and leaped between each separated support beam. He went through the configuration of beams and pillars and finally made his way to building rooftops. He felt the wind in his black silky hair as he jumped and rolled from rooftop to rooftop. A big jump came, and Hiro sped up, but as he made the jump, the reason he quite parkour in the first place awoken. His only human weakness. His Achilles Heel.
Feeling a sharp pain, Hiro wrinced as he jumped. He made it halfway until he started falling and bent the railing on his head; he flipped over from the recoil and collided with a crunch on his ribs as another railing broke his fall, leaving his hunched over a balcony. He slowly slipped off and fell into a manhole, landing in the sewage pipes. The chemical smell and the sound of clicking spider legs slowly awakened Hiro from his daze.
Hiro tried to get up, but every ache told him to lie down. The shifting rib fragments in his chest cavity. The rattling ring in his ears, and the blood soaked within his shoe. Despite the pain, he shuffled to his knees when he heard a rumble. His eyes widened as his knowledge of physics class using the underground pipes as an example flashed through his memories, but Hiro only covered his mouth and eyes as the green water rushed him. "Jesus, No!"
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hiro was violently flushed out of a massive sewage pipe into the Ocean near an Industrial Plant.
Splash...
Gasp "Fuck. Shit! GODDAMIT!" Hiro was angry, more at himself than anything. Maybe if he slept a minute more, he would have thought running and parkouring on a recently recovered Achilles heel was a terrible idea. 'But no, I had to lie to mom like a dumbass and rush home.' After letting his rage out, Hiro looked around the sea for land and found a rocky coast where cars were driving about and even a landmark. "Thank God, a road, and I'm around the Pacifica Bay Trask Industries Branch. At least one saving grace."
Hiro made his way to shore, and the waves gave him a motivational shove into black jagged rocks that awoken his forgotten pain. Hiro cradled himself while sitting on the rock, but he pushed the pain aside and looked up at the passing headlights while grinning with determination, "Come on Hiro, homestretch. Just like your first flip, you can do this!" Hiro grabbed a rock and pulled himself up as his organs gushed in protest. He moved diagonally to minimise the strain and rested on some of the bigger rocks.
"Halfway there, Hiro, halfway there." Hiro collected his thoughts positively as he witnessed the sun rise. Hiro smiled, his breath leaving him, but he clenched his fist in fury. "I gotta rush! Don't know when the adrenaline's gonna end. Come on, Hiro, one more."
Hiro continued to climb and climb, muttering, "Just one more." With each rock, each ache and each slip of the finger, Hiro only muttered, "Just one More." He felt like something was missing from the phrase, but he kept using it as he was only two rocks away from the end, but then his hand slipped. He fell 2 rocks down before his foot made contact with another rock. His adrenaline spiked, and he launched himself off that foot and grabbed the final rock. He pulled himself up with everything he had and landed safely on the road. "Shit, my leg hurts like hell."
He tried to get up, but sadly, his triumphant momentum had led him astray and landed him directly on the road just after a bend, and he met headlights in blinding shimmers. Everything flashed through his eyes. The studies his father kept shouting into his ear to focus. His mother somehow having the strength to clean despite starving on some nights for him. His teachers letting him nap in class. His friends did his homework when he was absent, and his Best Friend, Jubilation Lee - A name so pretentious it screams 'trust fund', but she still gave me that silver, saving me... in a way. 'I think I'll miss her the most.' Even when faced with death, Hiro grinned happily. 'It's been a good life.'