Month: July 2021

Disclaimer: All marvel references belong to MCU but all drawings, characters and the plot is mine.

Phew! Finally, the Blade of Humanity is gone, the world is safe and I can go back to having a normal life. Well, as normal as my life can be. Wondering what the hell am I yapping about? My name is Jason Hunter, and this is my story.

I watched the clock’s second hand slowly tick by, counting the seconds left for my last semester of the day to be over. Tring! The bell at last rung and as students slowly trickled out of the room (including me), I heard my professor desperately trying to remind everyone to study for the quiz tomorrow. I slouched low in the corridors, dragging my feet, trying, trying to forget the dull pain flaring up in my abdomen. Suddenly someone put a hand across my shoulder and supported most of my weight. That’s my buddy Steve Lawrence: incredibly smart and the size of football player. Through my half-lidded eyes I could see he wore a blue sweatshirt and jeans, topped of with some ratty snickers – same as always.

Jason?”, a voice broke me out of my musings. I looked up at the concerned face of Steve, eyes tight with worry. We were standing in front of my dorm. “Yeah”, I responded like the idiot I was, and fumbled in my pockets for my key. I was one of the few lucky students who got a dorm to themselves, rest had to share with one other person. It was actually because of that, my dorm is smaller than most, but I don’t mind. Steve set me down on my bed and pulled out his phone; I knew he was calling Amie.

“Well?”, questioned Steve. Well? What was he talking about- oh. In all the pain I had forgotten about the sole purpose of my mission yesterday, the reason I got hurt in the first place. Lost again? You ever heard stories of people going missing or found dead in alleys yet the police never have any leads? That’s me. I, Jason, am the Blue Reaper. Deadly mercenary for hire, killing people for big bucks, atleast up until yesterday. No, yesterday I killed for information, information of my father. Howard Wyatt is my father, apart from his name I know nothing about him. Mom said, on her dying breath, that the real reason we moved to California was because he used to be an abusive jerk, power hungry and possessive. For years I’ve heard his name whispered among the folk, name spoken with fear and dread like how one might say the word Voldemort in the wizarding world. Yesterday, once my target was neutralized, my client gave me a piece of paper. I took out that same piece of paper from my jeans pocket and read out aloud. “‘Tomorrow. 2:00 am. 24^th Venlinet street, 4th warehouse from the left. Go alone.’ Well that’s not vague at all”.

2:00 am. 24^th Venlinet street, 4th warehouse from the left

I silently walked along the street; my stoic mask unreadable yet my head was a whirlwind of thoughts. Am I going to see my father? Will he see me? Would he like me? Would he kill me? I banished that thought, psht, my own father tries to kill me? What a joke.

The ‘royal dead army’ as I dubbed them, stood at attention in rows of 12. In front of them stood my father. After all these years, speculating, imagining some sort of evil villain, he looked quite normal

I watched with interest as he held up a yellow stone. “From the power of mind stone”, my father thundered, “may it’s true powers finally be allowed to unleash!”. The royal dead suddenly awakened, throwing jeers and cheers, clanking their swords in approval. How did skeletons even have voice boxes’?

My father held up the stone and cast it downwards; I thought for sure it was going to break. It did not. No, instead it transformed into a spear and floated right back into his stretched-out hand. “Behold! The Blade of Humanity!”. My jaw dropped down, the back of my head hitting the top of the vent and making a dull clunk! sound. I hoped nobody noticed, hoped that the sound would be swallowed by the deafening cheers of the royal dead. But of course, I have a Hunter’s luck because in that very second the room exploded into deafening silence. I didn’t fight when a skeleton opened the vent. I didn’t fight when it pulled me out. I didn’t fight when it gripped my forearms painfully tight and dragged me towards my father. The royal dead army parted like the dead sea for Moses, except I wasn’t feeling very powerful then.

The skeleton deposited me in front of my father and at that moment I didn’t feel like the confident, cocky Blue Reaper. I felt like 18 year old Jason Hunter crying at his mother’s funeral right after she told him his father was abusive. My fingers itched in anticipation and impulse to grab my katanas but I resisted. Fighting was not going to get me answers, plus, I was way outnumbered anyway.

“Jason Hunter”, drawled my father, staring frostily at me, the recognition in his eyes poorly hidden by his cold, empty gaze.

I really don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I ripped of my mask. “Dad”, I sarcastically spat out as if something disgusting were on my tongue. All that anger, regret, burning, burning rage was permeated in to that one single word.

The surprise on his face was evident, I guess he didn’t expect me to know who he was. “Do you plan on hurting anybody?”. It was a childish question really, like a kid asking what happens after death. What I did not expect was an answer and definitely not an honest one. “I do plan on hurting a lot of people and let me tell you something. I’ve not made a lot of mistakes, but I never regretted them as much as I regretted you, Jason” the last sentence was spoken softly almost kindly and I think that’s when I snapped out of my trance. He had no right, no right, to tell me that he regretted me in a kind voice, like he actually cared, loved me even. It was despicable. My sudden flinch bought on the attention of the royal dead and one of them gave out a shout. That’s when all hell broke loose.

In one fluid movement I brought out my katanas while my father simultaneously stood on guard with his Blade of humanity. I bought my weapons in front of me, my mask long lost, and I spoke: “This is our fight dad”, again that word spoken so sardonically, “between you and me, just you and me. Leave your dogs and let’s fight, man to man, father to son”.  Said father snarled at me, then raised two fingers outwards. The royal dead instantly calmed and formed a tight circle around us, if you have watched Black Panther, you know what I mean. My father smile cruelly as he gestured at me, “Let’s fight”.

What happened next was series of clangs and clashes as I attacked him, fueled with burning emotion. My father simply parried each strike, just defending. “Coward!”, I screamed at him. “Fight like a man.”

Something changed in his expression because a second later I was the one dodging hits, barely missing the blade. Then one single strike knocked my wrists and send my katanas flying to the ground. I gaped like a fish as I stared at my father and in that one second everything slowed down. I saw the pure maniacal look in his eyes. I felt him pounce on me. I tasted the iron flavor of blood on my tongue as my chin knocked the floor. Then everything was fast again. I quickly scrambled on my back as I saw my father stalk towards me. It was too late. He thrust and I felt the blade pierce my heart. Through my suit I felt the blood pooling around me. I screamed. I screamed in pure agony and pain and gods! it hurt.

You ever felt that moment, that single moment you think you’re going to die? I for sure thought that I was a goner but then something else occurred. Probably something that should, under no circumstances, not be happening. The infinity stone that was in me now, connected with my heart. I let out another ear-shattering cry as my heart magically sewed itself back together. I guess ‘mending your heart’ can actually happen, who would have thought? Through my peripheral vision I saw the royal dead marching out the door, my father leading them. He never turned. His only son bleeding, dying on the floor -putting him there in the first place- and he didn’t even bother to turn around, all that screaming falling on deaf ears. That bastard. Slowly but surely, I got up, pulling the Blade of Humanity from my heart.

I chased after the army jumping from one roof top to another and when I got a clear shot of my him, I jumped straight on him, from the roof mind you, and plunged my katana into him. Unlike his blade, these babies don’t have no superpowers, so when they pierced his heart, he was dead and truly gone.

As the royal dead advanced on me, I crashed the infinity stone on to the ground and watched as the skeletons crumbled to dust. It was only then I noticed how cold I was and how badly I was shaking. I put a shaky hand into my concealed pocket, pulled out my phone and called Steve. I was a long way from home but I knew he would be there, he always was. While I waited for him, I hid in an alley and dialed 911. I may be a heartless killer but I had only ever killed people who had deserved it, drug lords, smugglers, rapists, and such. I knew my father deserved this but maybe I could see to it that he had a proper funeral. Maybe some psychopathic lunatic would cry for him; I sure wouldn’t.

When Steve arrived, I realized he had brought Amie with him, I guess he heard how shaken up I was. They didn’t speak as they walked towards me and saw my fathers body. I stared numbly at Amie as she knelt in front of me and wrapped an emergency blanket around my shoulders. My mind when blank as Steve lead me inside the car and we three spent the whole ride in silence. Back in my dorm I saw Amie give a small nod to Steve and he gave me small shoulder clap before exiting. I turned back to Amie, lord, I am so lucky to have her. “Amie I-”, I started but she interrupted me. “Shhh” she told me, face pinched with adoration. She put a blanket over both of us and proceeded to thread her fingers to my matted hair. It was so soothing I wanted to cry. Turns out I didn’t have time to, in seconds I was fast asleep.