I Don't Know Why (Humanity)

Life is 90% shit, 9% content boredom, and then the 1% everyone actually works to experience. That formula had been accepted by Drifter, as well as mostly by his two best friends/adoptive brothers, since quite a long time ago. Yeah, it might be a bit cliche to just say 'life sucks' without further elaboration, but if anyone knew how true it was, it was Lukas.

Boycotted and slandered by family, on the verge of homelessness most of his childhood, harboring untreated mental issues, and screwed over repeatedly after working his ass off his entire adulthood up until this point. The young man had a black outlook on existence.

Politics were a clusterfuck that always managed to keep only a few families in the upper class, while the middle class bickered over scraps, and the low class either went to prison or the grave. But it went beyond society, beyond government. So many differing viewpoints, different motives and different visions of how the world should work. Humanity was tearing itself apart, and nobody could fully understand the implications of millions of people making decisions, plots, and schemes. The people that slipped through the cracks on the expense of another's desires, people like him, were damned.

So maybe that's why this kid, sitting in the diner near his apartment and eating his favorite burger, did what he did. Maybe this understanding of the uncontrollable chaos and corruption in the world was why he went out, trying to make a difference. Or maybe, just maybe, all that anger he had built up was just trying to get out. Maybe he knew his actions as Drifter would do nothing, and all the killing was just a way to satisfy his desire to murder the fuck out of those that pissed him off.

He really wasn't quite sure at this point.

Whichever it was, that was his life now. It made existing just a bit more bearable, however morally incorrect it was. It wasn't like he was a crazy serial killer or something. He still ate like a normal person, still watched the baseball game on the diner's flat screen, like a normal person. Nobody could pick him out of a crowd. Nobody could look at his demeanor and suddenly know he was a little scr-.................

Nevermind.

"What's wrong with you, guy?" A man, maybe forty and wearing a sports shirt, said. He had a wife and kid at the table, who instantly got red in the face when the guy opened his mouth. Perhaps he was one of those 'outspoken' people. How annoying.

Drifter took a drink of his coffee, drawing it out for about ten seconds, saying nothing. He didn't even spin his stool around, instead keeping his eyes fixed on the television.

"Nothing......." Drifter mumbled with a sigh. There was dead air for another dozen or so seconds, until finally Sport's Dad got out of his booth, moving to the stool next to Drifter. The man leaned in, staring at Lukas. The vigilante didn't even vaguely acknowledge his presence. The man had a smug grin on his face.

"See, we come here a lot, and you're always here. You sit in that stool, eat the same damn burger, drink black coffee, and don't say a word. You stare off into space, and have this permanent glare on your face.... So, I'll ask again, what the fuck is your deal? You think you're scary or something?" The man said. Drifter didn't move, and said nothing. He let the silence flood the air again, taking a sip of his coffee, and generally just kept up with the behavior the man pointed out. He wasn't going to play with this guy.

"Haha, yeah, ok, i get it, tough guy. Look, you're creeping my kids out, so i don't want you here, not now or ever." The man said after quite a bit of quiet. Luke just kept up the routine, staring into space as if in deep thought, and sipping coffee. The guy was getting visibly annoyed now, irrated at the fact he was getting no reaction.

After a little more silence, the Dad finally got fed up, and Drifter felt the tell tale pain of a fist hitting his face.

He stumbled out of his stool, holding his face. The man's wife started to insist they go, but this meathead wasn't having any of it. He assumed a tough guy stance while Drifter got to his feet, wiping the drool from his chin with a smile. The vigilante had managed to grab the butter knife from the counter before he fell, and now had it held in his right hand. The man just laughed at it.

"What are you going to do with that? Butter me up?" The man said. He really wanted to fight, apparant by the way he was essentially now blocking Drifter's exit. Luke decided to try to insult him, maybe get him to charge to minimalize effort. After all, why walk a few feet when someone can just do it for you?

"Nah, i thought I'd do that to your wife after it's sticking out of your fucking head." Luke said. That's when the man sneered and moved forward, a typical tackle charge only a dumbass couldn't see coming.

Luke saw the zenith of the tackle after only a second. There was only so far you could get into a tackle of someone's legs before you started to get too low, so in theory all you had to do to avoid it was quickly step back, which Drifter did, and greeted the man's face with a quick snap kick.

His wife screamed, and Drifter got into position above the man, grabbing him by the hair and holding his blunt knife, prepared to inflict some cruel damage on the guy.

But, that's when Luke's attention was brought to the front of the diner. The bell had rung, indicating the door had opened, and Drifter dropped the knife.

Matthew had been searching for Luke for a small while. It hadn't been long since their little encounter with the Bloodmoon and their attempt to scatter and destroy the vigilante group. Of course, Matthew was revealed to have been more than he seemed. He had not been exposed as Humanity, but he had been exposed as not being innocent. The calm, kind, patient and loving friend they knew was revealed to having been something far worse, far more deplorable. Detestable. Matthew had taken great time to avoid Patrick and Lukas, unable to face them after the feeling to betrayal that lingered. It almost felt as if he had to be the good one, he had to be the balance between the two. In all of his life he never wanted to draw people into his mindset, into his "struggle."

His mind flashed to all of those that came to the aid f the vigilantes, from Khaos all the way to Citizen Zero. Then he thought of all those who weren't there. Bolt, Alex, even people he had once stood with. Fear, Asmodeus, Rimefang, and all the others whom had instructed him, that he had stood against, stood beside. He had pulled so many into this game, this trade. Now he was partially exposed and he knew that there was no way to escape this. This isn't want he wanted for Pat or for Luke, but it was what they wanted for themselves. So perhaps now was the time to come clean. Perhaps it was time to better manage himself. Time to stop hiding from who he was, from WHAT he was and time to show the others.

It's time to practice where I preach.

Matthew stepped into the diner where he watched as Lukas begin to pummel a man. He had grabbed a knife, to which Matthew had clutched a butter knife, ready to throw it and disarm Luke, but stalling for a moment. He considered the fact that it wasn't weighted properly and adjusted his grip naturally, though wished deep down that Luke would stop himself. That intervention wasn't needed. Thankfully that was the case, as Matthew soon realized he didn't have it in himself to risk damaging his friend.

"You're under arrest for aggravated assault!" Matthew said as he walked over and reached down to pick Luke up off the man. He then bent Luke's arms behind his back and pushed him down over the counter and took out a zip tie, putting it on backwards over Luke's hands. "You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can-and will- be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one then one will be provided to you by the state of California. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?" He said as he would attempt to escort Luke from the area. He was expecting Lukas to realize what was going on, but then again...with the given situation he wasn't quite sure how Lukas would react.

Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.......... Drifter thought to himself as Matt moved forward, proceeding to play cop and pretend arrest him. Not only did his friend show up unannounced, but he had some bright idea to get Drifter out of a situation that was already handled. Luke really had no choice but to play along, or else they would both have a lot more to worry about. Drifter gritted his teeth, let himself be cuffed, and then followed Matt the hell out of there.

"Serves you right ya fucking punk!" The Dad said as Drifter was pulled away, prompting Luke to tug on the grip Matt had on his cuffs. He had a wild fire in his eyes.

"Your kids being here is the only reason I'm not beating the living daylights out of you. Watch your fucking mouth!" Drifter said, finally, with some effort from his friend, being pulled from the diner. The two would of course get some distance, Matt pulling on the cuffs until they were an alleyway over from the diner. Drifter eventually stopped, trying his best to pull away now.

"Cut it out, Matt! I had that under control." Luke said, knowing that was probably untrue. If anyone was aware of the temper Drifter had, it was the young man himself. Had Matt not pulled him to his senses, it probably would have gotten much more ugly.

"........What....... What are you doing here? You can't call a motherfucker? I haven't heard from you in days, and then you just show up? Look, i meant what i said at the club, as drunk as i was. None of it bothers me. We don't need some corny heart to heart in an alleyway." Drifter said, working on the zip tie on his hands. If Matt wanted to assist with getting it off, he could, but in around a minute Luke would have it off anyway. After that was done, he would take a moment to catch his breath and calm down, resting on the brick wall.

"You really know how to make an entrance. TEENAGE COP SAVES FAMILY FROM MADMAN. I can already see the headlines." Luke said with a laugh, withdrawing a black clove cigarette from his jacket. He didn't smoke often, but with the stress lately, he had picked it up a bit more. He lit his cancer stick, then took a puff. He blew the smoke in Matt's direction, finishing with that usual sarcastic smile.

Matthew sighed as he let Luke go and allowed him the opportunity to vent. Matthew still had a splice across his forehead, the residual of his beating and torture at the hands of the Bloodmoon. When he considered everything else had healed quite well, he wasn't about to complain about a scabbing slice to the forehead or the cheek. His entire body still ached, but he had pushed beyond it already once before. After all, he freed himself when the wounds were still fresh. If anything this made Matthew even a little more docile than usual, not truly wishing to get himself into a struggle with a friend, a brother of all people.

   "I know you did, that guy couldn't fight for shit. It's your restraint I'm worried about." Matt said as he stopped fighting Luke, whom instantly broke free and began to speak out over Matthe's disapperance from their lives. Matthew sighed and nodded as he listened. Very badly he wanted to remind Lukas that this was exactly what he had felt when both he and Patrick forsook him in a hospital for a week without so much as a letter. Then he wanted to point out the validity in his own reasoning, but he would not do so. The first reason was that what he would say was not entirely true. The second was that this meeting was not about him. It was about Luke and the other vigilantes.

   Lukas made it clear he didn't want a heart to heart in an alleyway then slid on the wall as he sat there. He made a passing comment about the teen cop comment, which caused Matthew to laugh, a sharp pain in his ribs kicking in and making him wince.

  "Rational Choice Theory. No one's gonna suspect a thing." Matt said with a sigh. He recalled being taught many principles with how to operate in the world. Not every mission was able to be accomplished in stealth. There were operations that required a public finesse. "People make the most prudent choice and belief in what provides them the greatest satisfaction from the choices available. It's subconsciously made, and ultimately makes the choice of highest self-interest. It's in his interest to believe I was a cop. It was all of their best interests. The Dad doesn't go to jail and gets to live, The waitess gets to gossip about something juicy at work and has a maniac removed from the premesis. The kids get to keep their dad. The wife remains...unbuttered" Matt gave it a moment before speaking up again.

  "I disappeared because....well, I was ashamed." Matthew said after a moment. "This isn't gonna be some sappy heart to heart. But what this is gonna be, is an apology. Because for the longest time, I've been hiding something from you. From both of you."

   "Luke, will you let me introduce you to someone? It's someone I've known for a long time. They've saved you, they've gotten you arrested, Hell for a while there we thought he blew me up...but it's someone you really need to talk with." He said this, fully expecting to get flipped out on. The fact that Matthew was going to introduce him to the guy who imprisoned them was likely enough to send wheels spinning. He just hoped Luke was ready for it...

And of course, like Lukas, Matt loved to rant. Any opportunity to explain shit was jumped on by the pair. Of course, usually it was of no consequence, and in this case it was no different. They got out of the diner without blood spilled on either side, that's all that mattered. Matt's stunt was quick thinking, even if Luke decided to use it to make a joke/take a jab at his friend. That was just kind of the way he was. Even if something was altogether alright, he might poke at it on occasion, just to be a dick.

Luke listened to his friend ramble on about some theory or another, and although it was rather interesting and the vigilante would no doubt retain the information Matt was giving him, he seemed to glaze over. See, Drifter had a way of making it seem like he wasn't paying attention, when in reality it was the exact opposite. When he was off in his head, he was soaking in everything. The street, routes of escape, the sun shining in his eyes and it's effects on his already shitty vision, and Matt's every word.

Drifter took a puff of his cigarette as Matt got to the part that really mattered: why he was here. He wanted to apologize apparently, and not about the bar. It was about a secret his friend had, something that was kept from both himself and Pat. Luke smiled, dropping the half smoked cig to the ground, before stomping it out with his boot.

"I respect your privacy. You don't have to tell me everything....." Drifter said. When Matt continued, though, Luke was beginning to think he might want to eat those words he just spoke. Saved them, got them arrested, supposedly blew Matt up?........ Luke was putting two and two together. It wasn't difficult to figure out what Matt was talking about, and who this 'someone' was. The only question being, what involvement did Matt have with that son of a bitch?

Anger welled up in Luke's head. His fists tightened, and his face got a shade or two redder. The rage in his body was at a floodgate Drifter desperately tried to keep in tact. The implications of the words Matt had said were to many too reasonably identify in a single moment, so the quickest reaction was to feel betrayed....... But that was rash. That was an animal's response, not that of a logical being. Drifter took Matt's advise, and restrained himself.

"I want to hurt you right now. Not like a brother, and not like a friend, but like one of my targets....... And...... That scares me. You're right, i need more restraint. I didn't set out doing this to kill or hurt anyone that pisses me off...... I accept your apology......" Luke said, taking a deep breath as he leaned up against the brick wall behind him. He put a pair of glasses on, as the sun was hitting his eyes, and once again he found himself breathing slowly, trying to calm himself to a manageable level.

Anger was like a drug, and if you didn't get a grip on it, it could take over your life.

"Now where the fuck is he?"

"I know." He said lightly as Luke stated that he wanted to hurt him, as a target. It made sense to Matthew, it wasn't something to take lightly when an individual you trust spouts off something you're not expecting. Especially when that something is tied so deeply into a wrongful introduction. Luke seemed to state how he needed restraint, though did he truly acknowledge that? Was he just saying this because he knew it was what Matthew wanted to hear? He didn't know anymore. For the first time in his life he had truly felt powerless.

  Them believing him to be Humanity would be nearly impossible. Humanity was still active at the time Matthew was "brain dead", and his activity and M.O hadn't changed in the slightest. He was sure at some point Lucas would figure it out, especially with everything happening with Bloodmoon outing him for "conspiring" to kill their comrades. In fact if he didn't know Lucas any better, he'd bet that Lucas would be able to identify Matthew's secret within a months time, just from serious and in-depth work through the internet. It was a kick he had been looking through, to be sure.

   "He won't meet anyone during the day, he'd be too busy taking care of metas or...i dunno, working or some shit.  See that over there?" Matt pointed over to a tall building under construction, cranes with beams suspended and sheets of large paper covering the beams of metal as the base of the large buidling seemed to have the beginnings of brickwork laid. "I'm supposed to be there. Meet me there. 11pm." He said as he folded his arms in front of him. He sighed as he leaned forward and stood up, walking away.

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    The cool air blew through the rather warm city as the lights could be seen from below. There was the distant sound of cars and the lighter traffic. There was a very different atmosphere here tonight, the flood lights in certain areas were powered on, giving a limited form of lighting to the site and it's construction. The only thing at the scene was a small little splatter of blood against a crane door, and a hand print against the elevator door on the inside. Lukas was obviously free to do what he wished, but whatever investigative work he wished to do was up to him. Any preperation he was going for would be feesible too. It wouldn't be long now before the confrontation would happen, just floors above on this half-constructed and unfinished tower of a building.

Luke's brow furrowed. He was trying to calculate why this was happening. What was Matt up to? There was no question that he trusted Matt, but this is the sort of thing that would usually set off some red flags in his brain. Go to a secluded construction site at 11 at night and meet someone that has not always had your best interests in mind? If it was anyone else setting this up, Drifter would think they wanted to have him killed.

That said, Luke was going. Matt had always had a thing for secrets and mystery, and this seemed like it was no different. It was clear all the information wasn't in Drifter's hands yet, so he couldn't go jumping to some conclusion and then call his friend out for it. This 'wait and see' situation seemed safe, pretty much, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to prepare, but it did mean he was expecting practically anything.

"Your friend has a thing for theatrics, then?" Luke asked, mostly rhetorically. The young man chuckled at the absurdity of the idea of meeting this Batman wannabe on a rooftop, rain and lightning in the background. Why is it everyone had to be so damn mysterious? One minute this guy had his safety in mind, the next he was sending him to jail. Luke couldn't even begin to make sense of it all. Maybe that's why Matt had finally decided to clear things up.

"I'll be there.......... Just make sure your boy doesn't go off the handle. I'd hate to hurt a friend of my brother's." Luke said, spinning on his heel and nodding farewell toward Matt. He walked down the alley, plans on how to come at the situation already running through his head. Whatever this meeting was, Drifter had a feeling they weren't just going out to coffee tonight.

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Lukas had pulled out all the stops. He had his full gear on, military issue body armor lining the inside of his urban get up. Besides his usual weaponry, he carried a couple handguns and a UZI with ammo a plenty in the pack on his back. The vigilante was ready to blow the whole damn place up if need be, making sure to plant some explosives at structurally important places along the base during the day. Would it topple the thing? Maybe, maybe not, but it was worth having as a backup plan.

To make things easier, Drifter had become the middle man between the surveillance systems lining the streets and the security personal monitoring them, meaning he could essentially tap the cameras. He even set up an algorithm to detect an excess amount of movement or blue and red light appearing on the camera, meaning he would be notified if anything he couldn't handle was coming his way.

All in all, the plan was flawed. He couldn't prep properly if he knew nothing about what he was walking into, all he could do was guess what would be useful. Maybe this guy had made all of this irrelevant, or maybe it wasn't even needed, Lukas simply didn't know. Either way, after putting the last few things in place, Drifter was ready to move. He parked his car in an easily accessible alley below the building, and, get this, strapped mattresses he had dumped there on top of it. Yes, he was actually debating jumping off the building onto two mattresses strapped to a car. Crazy? Probably, but not the most insane thing he had ever done. After that, he just used the most obvious entrance to the site, intending to take the elevator to the roof.

The building was dark, cold, and eerily unfinished. The lights were sufficient enough that he didn't need night vision though, and soon enough he would find the elevator door. To his surprise, a very obvious hand print was on the door. It hadn't faded enough to be old, so that could only mean one thing.

Someone was already here.

Drifter had arrived, and Humanity was already certain that this was going to be an interesting meeting. Unfortunately, the blood was not something that was meant to be there. You see, there had been another "visitor" that happened upon Humanity's little prowling ground. Drifter would likely make his way to the elevator, and if he did then he would likely be quite interested in what he would see. There was blood splattered all across the ground, there were lighting fixtures knocked and tossed about, dangling on their yellow extension chords while the metal beams and the tarps had shadows dancing across them as the two hooded figures collided. One of them was in thicker armor and a draped trench coat, the hood up as their grim and dour mask continued to keep hidden. The other was a very clean and smooth mask, curved and fitted to the face perfectly, a porcelain mask with the appearance of blood splattered across it.

  To the ground floor there was another man, sitting against the wall with his hand on his side, sighing and growling in pain as crimson ichor seeped from his side. Drifter wouldn't recognize this face, but the second he heard the voice, it would sound eerily familiar. There was no sounds of firearms, just blades clicking and clanking off against metal. The sounds of impact could be heard up above, but save for the occasional shadow dancing, there wasn't much to see as they took their combat through shadows.

  "Drifter, is it?" The person asked as they chuckled a little, groaning in pain. "I assumed the last guy was you too...look where that got me." He said as he looked up. He wore a hood, just like Humanity, however his attire was far more plain-jane than you'd expect from a vigilante. He had the old western bandit mask on, further inspection would reveal that he was wearing some rather sophisticated titanium armor on beneath the apparel, however for all practical purposes he appeared to be nothing more than a thug.

   It only took another moment before there was the sound of yelling, a body fell flailing about as it quickly rushed towards the floor, crashing with a sickening snap and a chorus of crunches. There was a loud groan, a whimper and whine as the prone being lifted it's head from the ground. They seemed to be unable to catch their breath, and more than the wind had been knocked out of them. There was a moment of relative quiet before there was a loud "Dhonk" and the bellowing and echoing of metal beams ringing. In just a moment, the darkness was met by a large, ever creeping shadow that grew smaller, and smaller. A loud impact boomed as the man's face was forced forward, the back of his head opening as a heavy boot collided with the back of it, the force of an entire person and the force of gravity splitting their skull open and painting the floor with crimson life.

    The figure that landed started to fix it's standing posture, the chain covered trench coat jangling a little as the deep breathing growls of the voice modulator echoed in their infrasound. The man, Humanity, turned to look at Luke and the wounded hoodlum. He turned and growled.

  "It's about time we've been properly introduce. A pleasure to meet you Drifter." As Humanity spoke, his hand came up and pulled off his hood, both gauntlet hands pressing fingertips behind the mask and slowly pulling it from the man's face as he slwoly lifted his head to look eye level with his brother.

  "My name is Humanity."

After traversing the building to get to where he needed to be, it wasn't long before Drifter ran into a situation that he had not expected. A fight, and a wounded casualty of it. The battle raged on in the shadows above, happening so quickly and so deep in the darkness that Luke couldn't tell exactly what was happening. What he did see, though, was the downed vigilante in front of him. He called Drifter by name, and spoke with a voice Luke recognized as the one who had saved Malachi. What his involvement in this was Lukas didn't know, but he could only assume this man was on his side.

"At your service......" Lukas said offhandedly as he gazed upward. Drifter was far more interested in what was going on on the half constructed beams above him. The battle seemed evenly matched, the sound of blade on blade contact echoing throughout the dimly lit building; shadows lashing out in attack and reeling back in defense. Despite the valiant efforts of both parties, soon enough a victor made themselves known, in brutal fashion might i add.

Humanity had dropped down, along with his opponent, to the level Drifter was on. The crucial detail being the man was under Humanity's boot, his skull cracking and blood spattering on contact with the concrete. Combine that with the dread of Humanity's presence, and Drifter couldn't help but understand why people were afraid of this guy. The infrasound filtered voice was creepy, low, and intimidating, but Lukas didn't move. He had his gauntlets primed to fire at the man who had just brutalized another, but even so, the vigilante was still as a statue. He wasn't about to jump to the idea Humanity was his enemy. If the man truly was, he would have killed him that night with Travis.

Humanity didn't move to attack him though. He straightened his posture instead, the tense fighting stance he had previously fading from existence. After that, he moved to take his helmet off, slowly. Drifter's eye twitched, running over the variables of this equation. He reasoned there was only one reason that Humanity would be revealing himself to him, barring any extraordinary circumstances.

Oh, Christ, who the fuck.......? No, no it can't be...... He wouldn't be taking the mask off it i didn't know him though.......... It has to be someone I'm familiar with.... Is it.... Is it really you? Lukas thought, pale grey eyes widening as more of his brother's face was revealed. After it was all done, there Matt was, proclaiming himself Humanity, the fallen, the villain. It had taken a year and a half for them to get to this point, and the only question on Dirfter's mind now was........

Why?

Drifter couldn't believe it. He didn't move, didn't even flinch. The only semblance of action was the tightening of his fists. He stood there, staring at his friend, his brother, for a good thirty seconds. His eyes went from being filled with fiery rage and contempt, to compassion and sadness..... Then back again.

Moving his leg forward was like moving a truck, each step heavier then the last. He closed the distance with Matt slowly. Judging by Drifter's posture, it seemed he had every intention to hit Mathew. He probably wouldn't blame his friend for assuming that, either, but it simply wasn't the case. Drifter's steps became more labored, until finally, about three steps short, he fell into a hug with Humanity. He would squeeze his brother tightly, speaking in a low voice.

"Why...? Why did you do this to us? You were trying to protect us? Did you ever think we would want to protect you? This thing we all have, it goes both ways." Drifter said, hugging it out. He eventually pulled away, faint tears in his eyes visible through the open visor on his mask. He rested his arms on Humanity's shoulders, wondering why it all had to go this way, but nonetheless glad it was happening now.

"I should have figured it out by now....... Should have called you out before you even had the chance to reveal yourself...... Oh, how that would have pissed you off." Drifter said, his saddened voice breaking with a soft chuckle. He moved away from Matt slightly, surveying the damage. The man Matt had jumped on was dead, no question about it. But the downed vigilante was still alive, and more then likely needed medical attention.

"I don't know who you are, but you saved my brother. Saved my brother when i couldn't, because i decided to abandon him. Thank you." Drifter said, bowing his head slightly. He turned back to Matt. Drifter didn't know how to feel about this. He felt he should be mad, but he simply wasn't. Luke understood better then anyone that sometimes you had to keep things from those you loved. He could go on all day about betrayal, but what would it do? Matt was revealing himself now, and that's all that mattered.

"Gonna be honest, I'm a bit impressed. I didn't think you'd have it in you to kill someone like that.......... Not that I'm congratulating you or anything, but damn." Luke said, a smile evident on his face even though he was masked. He had so many questions for Humanity, but the answers would come in time. There was no need to throw them all out in this moment. It was far to surreal.

"If you stab one of mine, then you'd better say your prayers. I don't care if you're Elena Vexus, Lucius Alba or Travis Masters." Matthew said in response to the comment of him killing someone. He looked over to the guy holding his side, they just gave an awkward laugh before shrugging.

"Huh? Oh it's no problem. I just go where Humanity tells me. This guy though. This fucker here, I thought he was you. I brought him up here and he got me pretty good." He said haphazardly, as if this had been a completely normal conversation. He was still applying pressure to the wound. Matthew stepped aside, dragging his boot across the ground and looking down, completely and totally unbothered by it, unlike his previous revulsion to blood, displayed in the club. Matthew looked at Luke, a smirk to match his smile when he made the comment about killing a man.
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"I was raised in this. You guys were drug into it. Seeing as I can't dissuade you from this path, I might as well show you how to do it right." He said with a small chuckle. The wounded vigilante let out a little scoff before a little but of hysterical laughter broke out from him. He went into a spout of wheezing like that was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

"H-he says-he says he'll show-" His laughter was stopped abruptly as he calmed down and then looked to Matthew. "Oh shit, you-you're serious? You're gonna bring even MORE people into this?" He asked as he looked down and shook his head. He seemed rather disappointed to hear that, though he let out a dejected sigh and nodded.

"Oh well if it makes you feel any better, He can have your spot after I leave you here to bleed out." He offered before looking to Luke and sighing, shaking his head just slightly. "You probably have so much to say and ask...so ask. All masks off."

Lukas drifted off to the side, taking a rest on the concrete wall. He was out of breath, seemingly exhausted from the adrenaline rush and emotional impact of the situation. He was still trying to take it all in, memories of the past few years now making so much more sense with this new bit of information. He chuckled in amazement between breaths, shaking his head at how naive he had been. He looked to Matt, who was nursing his fellow vigilante's wound. Humanity said to ask all that was on his mind, and you could tell by the way Lukas was gearing up that he was preparing to rant. The simplicity of the moment faded, and Lukas started doing what he always did—deconstruction.

"With all I've learned, all I've been through, all I've seen, and all I've heard......... Through all my trials, challenges, and tribulations, i still can't wrap my head around the way you think, Matt. Realize that before i met you, i got a read on everyone. That isn't tooting my own horn, it's true. They're all like open books to me, but you? You're something else entirely." Lukas said, removing his mask before tossing it aside. The metallic helmet made a smack against the concrete, and then Drifter removed his hood. He looked Matt dead in the eyes, grey iris' staring intently at their mismatched counter parts. A look of confusion, sadness, and perhaps a tinge of anger was prevalent on Luke's face.

"I don't know why. That's a difficult thing for me to admit at times, but it's true. I don't know why you thought you had to be the last to reveal your face. I don't know why you felt the need to keep me from something you knew damn well i was heading toward anyway. And most of all, I don't know why you had to hide an entire aspect of yourself from us after so long.... These are questions i can't answer, and they're questions that will probably never be satisfied in my obsessive brain, even if you try to spell it out for me......" Luke said, taking a few steps forward. His eyes wandered over the puddle of blood that slowly traveled along the concrete. This was something he thought he would never see. But, then again, the signs were all there.

"But, what i can ask you, is why do you do it? There's no point in playing the blame game or wondering why the hell your head works the way it does, but i do hope that at the very least what you do here is for something that fucking matters. What's the motive Mathew? More so, is it a motive you thought you should keep hidden from me? Because, you know i wouldn't object to your means, not if the cause was right. What's so wrong with Humanity that you kept him from the friends closest to you?" Luke said. He understood that was a lot of information to figure out a response to, but he would give Matt the floor as long as needed without interruption. Plus, his friend did say to ask any of the questions he had, not that Lukas had even scratched the surface yet.

Matthew had heard Luke out, as he tried to always do. But he didn't actually have much time to answer any of the questions asked. Not that he didn't try. You see, he'd open his mouth but then Luke would start another sentence. Matthew respectfully closed his mouth, causing the wounded vigilante to look at Luke with a contorted face. Apparently Humanity didn't shut himself up in front of him frequently. But Matthew would wait after the third question, waiting for the full force thoughts to be fleshed out and laid bare on the court. With a slight smile he nodded his head, and he accidentally waited a little long before the last question came across.

"I was almost out..." Matthew said as he looked to Citizen Zero.

"Wait-WHAT!?". Matthew closed his eyes and let out a heavy exhale through his nose, eyes opening slowly as his head slowly turned to the wounded vigilante. The response was the vigilante to clear his throat and put a hand up in surrender as he returned to applying pressure to his wound.

"Khan was the last one.  I was on my way out. but I knew too much about it. I knew that if you two got into it, I'd never have the chance to be normal. Not that I ever had that option I guess. I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of doing this. I'm not getting anywhere." Matthew said with a sigh, the look on his face and in his eyes alone could give off the fact he was a very weary individual. He fixed his posture and shook his head and followed it through with rotating and stretching out his arms. "Khaos, Citizen Zero, the others...all of them... I wasn't gathering apprentices. I was gathering replacements. I never wanted to drag you, or Pat, or your family into this."

"HUMANITY!" A voice called as the tonfa-weilding menace ran up the stairs, freezing as he saw Humanity unmasked and his comrade wounded on the ground. Khaos, the vigilante that assisted them in their defense against the Bloodmoon ninja-warriors arrived. Matthew held up a hand and nodded, allowing Khaos to peel his mask from his face, revealing it to be Ashtyn. "Shit man, rough night?" He asked as sirens filled the night, lights flashing just a few blocks away. He flourished his wapons and put them in holsters attached to his thighs. Ash made his way to the wounded comrade and began asissting him.

"Luke, I can't keep hiding shit...Will you give me the chance to make this right? I promise I can answer everything about this, just...not here." He sounded almost like he was pleading with Luke before he began to place the mask back on his face.

"But....but you just...... You just said i could... Oh, fuck it." Luke said in partial defeat. You could tell he was going to bring this back up in full force, but having his rant blunted when he thought everything was ready to be put on the table wasn't fun. Of course, it was by necessity. Police sirens were going off, and they had a wounded vigilante on their hands. Luke understood it probably wasn't the best time, but if that was indeed the case, Matt should have held off on the 'ask anything' comment—If only to spare Luke of anxiousness.

Luke's phone buzzed in his pocket. The cameras he rigged picked up movement and Police lights. They had to get out, and get out now. Before they did, however, another vigilante entered the scene, somewhat unannounced might i add. Drifter nearly shot him in the face, actually.

Of course, the realization he was a friendly came quite quickly. It turned out this other man was Ashtyn. Apparently every single friend Matt had was a part of this group, except, of course, Drifter and Charlatan. It would be unreasonable not to wonder about that, and Luke definitely did, but what he was confused about more then anything right now was how nonchalantly Ash revealed himself.

"D..dude, what the fuck? This isn't one of those heist movies where all the stars take their masks off once inside the bank just to gather more screen time. Me and Matt were having a moment, but you...... You literally had no reason to reveal yourself..... Please tell me this isn't a regular occurrence with you guys." Lukas said. He wasn't being rude, or not trying to be anyway, he was just wondering if Ash at any moment would just randomly take the one thing concealing his identity off.

"....Anyway.... Whatever. We have to go, like, now." Drifter said, dashing off into a run away from the group. He had his own method of getting out of this place, and wasn't about to wait up for some kind of plan. He assumed his fellow vigilantes were competent enough to contact him if they got separated.

"Uhm, 'xcuse me bitch. That's EXACTLY what this is. I'm totally gonna go rogue and start robbin' shit. This hero thing doesn't pay." Ash started the joke but he saw Luke getting rather irritated by this. With a sigh he informed Luke:"Don't worry, we all got SIIC's. Besides...if the guy who taught me how to do this is okay with you seeing his face, I'm totally not gonna keep mine on."

"Just be thankful that's the only thing he's taking off." The wounded vigilante scoffed as he tried to stabilize himself a little, working on standing up on his own."I don't know you, I don't care to. Nothing personal. Attachment and probability of death type thing." Citizen Zero said as he nodded to Luke and started to walk over towards the ledge of the building.

Luke made the announcement that they needed to get out of here, to which Matthew was all too eager to agree with, just a few moments prior, which was evident by his already being gone. When Ash looked back he saw that Drifter had gone about his own escape plan and it caused him to huff.

"Oh great...now there's two of them. Disappearing the second you turn your back. Batman-wannabes...am I right John?" He laughed a little as he looked back to where his wounded compatriot had been, only to see that there was no one, just a small silver looking cylinder on the ground. Ash bent over to pick it up, and suddenly the door burst open, shocking Ash and causing him to drop the object of obsession, an explosive haze taking the area by surprise. When the smoke cleared, there'd be no one left to shoot.

The best course of action from there was to regroup in Matt's mind. He had to make good on his promise, because frankly he was absolutely sick of everything getting in the way of him keeping to his end of the deal. Luke deserved to know. Not Pat though, fuck that guy. He'd be salty about it forever, and Matt didn't have time for that right now. He already had to deal with this lemonhead motherfucker and a dose of his sour mentality in a fuck-it-all cocktail. Oh no, he didn't forget himself either. What possessed him to keep this a secret as long as he had? Yeah he was trying to get OUT but why did he fight so hard to keep them out of this? If the dumbasses wanted to die that was their choice, right? But that's when it hit him. Luke's question... Why?

"This is John. RESTing." The voice came through his mask's com receiver. Humanity's flight-suit began to give a bit of resistance and complication, he couldn't find the best place to land. He'd need to crash into something or splat on the ground at this rate. With s deep breath in he released himself from fear and fired out his grappling cord, letting it latch into a wall as he began to swing downwards. He was going to crash right into this building and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it.

"This is Alex, RESTing." Another voice came across the way. Both of them had successfully escaped. He wondered about Luke, but he knew he didn't need to. But he worried anyway. Once again, Luke's question came to mind. Why?

Closing his eyes he felt his body reach the low of the swing, bringing his knees up as he brought his free arm across his face. A cannonball of a man shattered through a window, raining glass down on the street below. He wasn't sure if he was distracted, or if he just...did it wrong. But out of all the times he had to crash through a window he always landed as he should. Except this time. He crashed through and flopped to the ground, rolling like a log as he lay limp and aching all over.

"This is Stan, RESTing very uncomfortably. I should check my alarm clock for work tomorrow. He groaned as he tried to sit up, his body not wanting to cooperate with him. Part of him wondered if he had been poisoned, but he already knew the answer to that. Wasn't that why he was doing this to begin with? He groaned as he sat up, wondering howlong until the police responded to the silent alarm. He recalled his cord, then shot it into the ground, using it to lower himself to the ground about two stories down, hearing the sirens wailing in the distance. He saw people looking at him in fear, some of them even panicking as they ran away, leaving him to sip into the shadows of the alleyway. Through all of it all he could hear, all that was on his mind...

why?

As irritating as his questions being brushed off yet again was, Lukas had to accept it for now. He could just as easily rant again, it's not like the questions would change. Maybe that's what Matt wanted. Maybe that's why he put things off. So he could retreat from a situation where he was confronted with the hope it would change to something more manageable the next time it was brought up. Now, that may have worked for some people, but Luke was relentless. He wasn't about to let the situation be changed to favor Matt.

No, Drifter didn't really hold this against him as much as he could have, but he hated having his points be ignored. If they were to truly get past them like Matt said he wanted, the guy had to face the music, and not just from Luke, but from Pat as well. There was no way this would be forgotten about. Drifter had too good of a memory.

All this went through Drifter's head as he ran. His freerunning was as much a meditation as it was a way to get from one point to another. He loved Matt, but he didn't know all that much about him. He didn't know WHY someone like his brother would be living the life of a vigilante. What ideals did he have? What reasons did he use to justify his actions? Did he even fucking have any, or was this just for fun? Luke cared too much for Matt to let that go.

Drifter bounded over a guard railing, and just like that, he was free falling three stories. He hit the mattresses on top of his car with his back down. Sure, it was terrifying, but he was fine more or less. He'd been slammed harder, after all. Regardless, after landing the vigilante got up and cut the pads loose from his vehicle. After that, it was only a matter of getting in, and storming off.

Luke used his phone as he drove, swiping a few times. He had gotten a read on the communications link the others were using. Granted he couldn't tap into the network, but he knew the specific frequency they were using, meaning he could send and perhaps receive a message with that frequency. He of course did so with a simple radio app he had.

"....I'm out. Just past the corner of Third and Ash.... Where are we meeting? And please, nobody say 'tomorrow' or some bullshit. There's still some unresolved crap we need to talk about," Luke said as he drove, awaiting a response. He couldn't just accept Matt and these others were vigilantes and not even question why. Everyone had a reason. Drifter knew his, and intended to share it, but he needed to hear Matt's, from his own mouth, and maybe even the reasons the others had for doing it. Otherwise, they were no better then criminals. No better then serial killers, doing it just for enjoyment.