Chapter 14 - Just a Prank

The city was quiet, it was 2 in the morning and most people were sleeping at home.

Ashe was walking down the street in a hoodie. He was trying to hide his identity and he thought that it would be scarier to be confronted by a faceless person.

'There's no one here! How am I supposed to scare someone if the only people I see are police.'

Ashe just walked around the city waiting for an opportunity. However, after walking around for half an hour he began to lose faith in this strategy.

'This isn't going to work, there are just too many cops. I have to go to the outer city, don't I?'

Begrudgingly Ashe slowly made his way to the nearest train station and took a train to the closest city wall exit.

Ashe didn't want to go to the outer city because it was quite far away from his home.

The train arrived an hour later. Ashe still had to walk 10 minutes to a checkpoint.

He got some glares from the guards. But he just ignored them and after getting his ID checked he was on the other side.

The outer city was a lot more lively than the inner city. There were people on every street and there were bright neon signs on almost every storefront.

Bars, clubs, and casinos. Anything even slightly taboo was on full display in the outer city.

Ashe was walking past groups of intoxicated people. He was looking for someone isolated to give a good scare too, but the streets were too lively.

Ashe decided to walk into some back alleys. At first sight, there was no one there but deeper in the back alleys they connected making a large maze.

He continued walking further away from the main streets and it wasn't long before he saw another person.

The hooded figure was alone and didn't pay much attention to Ashe who slowly approached it. A slow confident walk will surely make them at least a little worried. Ashe continued getting closer but the hooded person was still standing as if it didn't even care about Ashe.

'Shit! I didn't think this through. What do I do now?!'

Ashe didn't have much time to think cause he was almost in arms reach of his target.

Luckily for him, the hooded figure finally started walking away when Ashe got too close. They quickly turned a corner and disappeared from Ashe's sight.

'Interesting.'

Ashe started filling his body with demon energy. With his enhanced senses he could hear the footsteps of his target walking away in a fast-paced walk.

Ashe started following the person, trying not to make too much noise. Whenever they would start slowing down Ashe would reveal himself, making sure they knew they weren't getting away.

He was stalking them for about 15 minutes before they would break into a sprint. Ashe easily kept up but when the person sprinted out of the back alleys he decided to stop running and stay hidden in the alley.

'I think I scared them to the bone.' he thought with a smirk.

Without Ashe realizing it he had made it to the outskirts of the outer zone. The buildings here weren't taller than one floor. There weren't any neon signs or flashy storefronts as this was where the poorest citizens had to live.

'I guess I should head back now. Hope mom hasn't realized I'm gone.'

Ashe started heading back towards the inner city but he heard a loud voice booming behind him.

"You said they were here?"

"Yes! Some lunatic was stalking me all the way here."

"Do you think they knew about the package?"

"What else would they be chasing me for?"

Ashe was already behind a corner while listening in on the conversation.

'Fuck! How do I get out of here?'

Ashe looked around him. The alleyway he was in was a dead end and the only way out was into the alley where the voices came from.

*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

The sound of footsteps was getting louder. Ashe looked around again but nothing changed, walls were blocking him inside the alley. Ashe looked up and realized that the small houses weren't scalable for a normal person but he might be able to do it.

He filled himself with energy again except this time focusing on his legs and arms. With a small head start, Ashe started running at the wall. Placing his foot on the wall, he lunged himself up and followed it up with his second foot doing the same.

This was just enough propulsion for Ashe to be able to grab the ledge of the roof.

"Did you hear that!?"

"He's running away!"

Quickly the two people sprinted into the alleyway. Thankfully Ashe pulled himself up in time and wasn't spotted.

"What? I swear the sound came from here!"

"Check the dumpsters"

Ashe peeked his head out to take a look at the pair.

One of them was a big muscular man that was also carrying a handgun. The other was the same person who Ashe was chasing previously.

'Shit! Do they have guns?! What have I gotten myself into?'

Ashe continued to observe, he even funneled some energy into his eyes.

He noticed that the big man was slightly shaking. Was he scared?

'What a golden opportunity.' Ashe smiled.

'It would be risky. Let's just deal with the gun first.'

Ashe started pouring out liquid demon energy and molding it into a pair of small daggers. He solidified and sharpened them before grabbing one in each hand.

"He's not here!" The big man said holding open a dumpster with one hand and the gun in the other.

'Perfect' Ashe thought.

He threw a dagger at the man's gun and controlled it in the air to make sure it hit.

"What the hell!" The man screamed as his gun left his hand and was now pinned to the ground.

The man looked at his partner and was even more shocked. Behind his partner, a hooded figure was blocking the exit. In one hand they were holding a crimson dagger and in the other a small flame.

"Behind you!" The big man screamed.

The shorter man jumped back at the sight of Ashe.

They were both shocked by fear and the shorter man was now on the floor begging for his life.

"Please don't hurt us! We'll give you the package, just please spare us!"

'What do I do now? I can't just leave, and I can't take their package. I should just say something vague and hope they don't ask questions.'

*Click*

Ashe snapped his fingers with his other hand and the dagger stuck in the gun liquified and turned into flames so fast it looked like a small explosion.

"This is your last warning," Ashe said while trying to make a deep voice.

After that, he just walked off.

Little did the two men know, Ashe was also nervous about causing too much trouble. He just wanted to pull a prank on someone but it escalated into threatening random people's lives.

'That got way out of hand! I hope this doesn't come back to bite me.'

He thought as he was heading back home.

___________

Ashe made it back home at 5 in the morning.

He opened the door quietly. Someone could have gotten up to use the toilet or get some water so he was on high alert.

He slowly closed the door behind him and took off his shoes.

He tiptoed around the apartment until he reached his room and got back in his bed unseen.

Ashe's heart was pounding. On his way back he started thinking about the men in the alleyway and how careless he was.

'They could be gangsters for all I know! I hope they didn't see my face.'

These thoughts kept circling inside Ashe's head making it hard for him to go to sleep.

He didn't even get a wink of sleep before the sun started lighting up his room.

Ashe checked his phone.

'It's 6:30 already?! I didn't even get to speak with Sap.'

He was deeply disappointed that after going through all that trouble, he couldn't even reap the rewards.

A frustrated Ashe got up to make himself some breakfast. He was used to waking up at unreasonable hours so it didn't bother him much.

While frying up a simple egg he started thinking to himself about the day ahead.

'As much as I would love to go back to bed, I'll have to go see a doctor first. What if they find out about my mutation? It shouldn't be a problem but there's no going back after I register… maybe I should ask Sap?'

These thoughts just made Ashe second-guess every possible option. His brother's fate was on his shoulders, putting him under a lot of stress.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't even realize that someone was standing right by his side.

"You're going to burn the egg." His mother said while turning down the stove.

Ashe flinched before realizing who was standing beside him.

'Am I that easy to scare!' He thought to himself.

"Thanks." He said quietly before taking out a plate for his single egg.

"Maybe let me take care of breakfast." His mom said while giggling slightly.

"Go sit down. We have to talk a bit."

Ashe did as his mom asked and sat down on the couch.

"How have you been holding up?" She asked from the kitchen.

"I know you and Josh were close."

"I don't know… I don't understand what I'm feeling. But I haven't lost spirit." Ashe replied with a solum tone.

"I'm more worried about how you're doing."

"Thanks but I'm your mother. So there's no need for you to worry about me." She said before leaving the kitchen with two cups of tea.

"You said you don't understand your feelings right? How do you feel about seeing a therapist?"

"I'm fine mom. I really am."

"I know but there's something else I haven't told you yet and I don't want to overwhelm you but I can't hide this from you either." Tears started to swell up in her eyes as the calm facade was washed away.

Ashe gave his mom a warm embrace. He didn't know what to say to his mom so he just stayed quiet.

The silence lasted for half a minute before Ashe's mom started speaking again.

"Thank you." She whispered before giving him a smooch on the forehead.

"I bet you noticed that I haven't told Roy what happened yet." She continued.

"I don't think he's ready for the news. And I don't think you're ready for the full story either."

"That's fine. Take your time mom. You can wait for dad to get back from his assignment before making any big decisions." Ashe said, trying to calm down his mom.

More tears started to drip down from her face. She took a deep breath before saying her next sentence. As if it took all her strength just to say these words with a straight face.

"Your right. We can just wait for your dad." her voice breaking at the end of her sentence.

The facade was yet again not enough and Ashe realized what this likely meant.

"W-What happened to dad?"