Amethyst Origins Ch. 01

Author's Note: Hey everyone! First off, I want to thank you with all my heart for opening this chapter and reading it. I hope that you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm a true superhero/heroine fan to the core. Antiheroes and vigilantes are my favorite because even though they don't really have to live by a code they do. This is because they feel like they've become worse than the villains they are hunting if they don't follow this code. I always enjoy feedback and ratings. Please let me know what you think negative/positive. Enjoy this adventure!

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"If we don't get this shipment in by dawn, the boss is gonna' be angry."

"We'll get it."

"Ya' know, that crazy lady is all over the news—"

"Tony," the other man interrupted. "Are you afraid of some little girl who's out way past her bedtime?" he asked with a serious tone.

Tony straightened himself up all five feet of himself and glared at the other man.

"I—I ain't afraid," he said before taking a drag of his cigarette to fight off the chill of the midnight air.

"I'm just cautious."

The other man chuckled. "Well go be cautious over there, Tony," he said before turning away from the short man. "Just radio me when you see he cargo ship," he tossed back over his shoulder before walking away.

"I ain't afraid of no little girl," Tony called after the man. He finished off the rest of his cigarette before flicking it over of the railroad ties next to him.

"You really shouldn't litter."

Tony turned around towards the sound of the voice.

"Who—who's there," he said with a shaky voice as he reached for his handgun. He gripped the handle with both hands so tightly his knuckles began to turn white.

"I'll shoot you!" he shouted into the seemingly empty rail yard. Tony searched frantically for a direction to point his gun.

"Tony, Tony, Tony," the feminine voice taunted from somewhere in the darkness. "Is that any way to speak to acrazylady?" she asked with a soft chuckle.

"You bitch! My boss is gonna' have your head! He's already got a bounty out on you for half a million," Tony sputtered reaching for his radio. It wasn't there.

"Now Tony, you take something of mine," the voice scolded softly, not having to finish the sentence for him to get the idea. "Now, be a good boy and tell me when the shipment is coming in and maybe I'll let you walk out of here," she offered in the darkness.

Tony was shaking uncontrollably now. "I ain't no snitch! You're gonna' have to make me, sweetheart," Tony said with as much courage as he could muster. "My boss is gonna' get you and everyone you have ever loved," he added with about as much courage as he could muster.

Suddenly, a dark shadow crossed in front Tony and he was flying back. He landed hard, halfway on the railroad tie. Just then the whistle of an oncoming train filled the empty air. The dark shadow approached him and pinned him to the railroad track with her heel as easily as a cat pinning its prey.

The dark shadow leaned down closer to him and all he could see were a pair of blue eyes that glowed so bright in the night that they looked violet. The blue eyes were hidden behind dark black paint that covered half of the woman's face. Dark curling hair flowed down all around her angry face. Tony realized the woman could have been a real looker if she weren't about to let a train run him over.

The woman smirked, her plum colored lips turned up on either side in amusement.

"Focus, Tony," the woman ordered. "Tell me what I want to know," she continued as reached down with one hand to wrap it around his scrawny neck. She squeezed tightly making Tony gasp for air.

"Ah, now we're getting somewhere," the blue-eyed woman said in triumph.

She stared into the little man's wide brown eyes as she continued to squeeze the air out of him. The whistle of the oncoming train blew once more signaling it was quickly approaching them. He tapped her forearm with his small hand, admitting defeat. She stopped squeezing and took off some of the pressure on his windpipe so he could speak.

"Dawn," he choked out his eyes darting towards the oncoming train. "It's coming at dawn, you crazy bitch—" he started.

"You really need to come up with better insults, Tony," she interrupted before punching the wimpy man in the face, knocking him out cold. Tony's limp body rolled to the side and she pushed him away from the railroad tracks before the train ran past them. She wouldn't kill the poor excuse of a man.

"So nice of you to crash the party," said a masculine voice from behind her.

She turned around to face a large muscular man dressed similar to her. He dark eyes were hidden behind a black mask and a large trench coat covered much of his frame. Two handguns were strapped to either of his thighs. She smirked at him.

"Death Row, still playing with guns I see," she pointed out with a nod towards each of his handguns.

Her acquaintance had a thing for customized weapons. She figured his latest creation would soon make an appearance. Her blue eyes flickered to his.

"It's better than what you're packing," Death Row stated simply. "The shipment comes at dawn," he began waiting for a confirmation nod before he continued. Amethyst nodded slowly.

"What do you say we help each other out tonight? Bygones?" he offered.

Amethyst watched him with a cool stare. He stared back at her expecting her gaze to waver but it didn't. She didn't trust him. He was okay with that since they really didn't agree on anything since the day they ran into each other on the streets. He'd declared her the mask savior and she'd declared he'd end up on Death Row one day.

"Fine," Amethyst agreed. She walked up to him and placed an index finger in the center of his chest. "No killing," she said with a steeled voice. "I'm serious," she confirmed with a jab into his concrete chest. Death Row held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Let's do this before I change my mind," she scoffed before turning away from him and walking into the night. She had bigger problems to deal with than Death Row with a happy trigger finger. He'd get them both killed if she wasn't careful.

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The shipment arrived at the shipyard as soon as the first rays of sunshine peaked up over the water. Amethyst and Death Row took a position on top of one of the massive warehouses that were scattered across the shipyard. She crawled to the edge of the roof of the warehouses to get a better look.

Her blue eyes scanned the site through a pair of binoculars. "Six bad guys with fully automatic guns," she began in a low voice. "The shipment is being loaded into the two white vans. Must be at least a hundred kilos of heroin in those black bags," Amethyst whispered before turning to look over her shoulder.

Death Row nodded his understanding. He pulled his trench coat off revealing his muscular body clad in a blue and black suit. He reached behind his back and pulled a large caliber sniper rifle over his shoulder. Amethyst blinked surprisingly at him.

"What? I came prepared," he said defensively.

"I warned you, no killing," Amethyst growled.

Death Row smiled a brilliantly white smile at his fuming companion. "Now, you know I love it when you get all feisty," he teased before his jaw tightened. "I'm a man of my word," he stated as if it was absurd of her to think anything else. He reached into one of his many tactical pockets to reveal bullets with yellow vials inside of them.

"Just something to put the kids to sleep, sweetheart," Death Row said before he flashed her one of his breathtaking smiles again.

Amethyst felt like punching the smug bastard. He was just trying to raise her ire at him. It had been like this for months since he'd gotten her out of a particularly sticky situation with another one of Marcello's goons. She was starting to believe he was a man who liked trouble.

"Just take the thugs out, I'll blow up the vans," she ordered before pulling a small detonator with a fuse.

They spilt up. Death Row took a closer vantage point and Amethyst made her way down the far side of the warehouse to where the goons stood in a semicircle. She pressed her body against the rusty metal wall and kept herself hidden in the last remaining darkness.

She waited for the sound of six bodies dropping before she made her way to the front of the warehouses. The goons had yellow vials stuck in every one of their chests. She nodded her approval, Death Row may be a pain in the ass but he was one hell of a sharpshooter. She wondered briefly where he'd received his training.

Amethyst mentally shook herself. She knew next to nothing about Death Row accept that he was trouble and that was all she needed to know to keep her distance.

She stalked towards one of the white vans and set one of the fuses inside the gas tank. She set the other fuse inside the second white van and was about to blow them both to hell when a gun cocked behind her and pressed itself to the back of her head. She mentally kicked herself for forgetting about the second thug from before. She knew this could be a fatal mistake for her.

"Turn around slowly," the thug ordered.

Amethyst did as she was told and came face to face with one of Joe Marcella's lieutenants. Louis Verona was a scuff bag rapist and human trafficker. Amethyst had met him on more than one occasion and it was never pleasant. He had a wicked scar on the left side of his face to prove it.

"You have caused enough trouble, you little bitch," Lu said hotly.

"It's time to put you down for good."

Amethyst looked him straight in the eye. "You know, Lu," she started before flicking her eyes towards the direction she knew Death Row to be in. "You always talked too much."

A bullet whizzed past Amethyst and hit Lu Verona in the shoulder. Amethyst cursed under her breath before prying the gun out of his trembling hands and hitting him the face with the butt of it. Lu fell to the ground, blood gushing from his broken nose and the hole in his shoulder. He began cursing and spluttering threats all the while nursing his wounds.

Amethyst dragged the sobbing thug away from the vans so she could blow them. Death Row met up with them on the side of the warehouse with a victorious grin on his face. Amethyst glared at him before she zip tied Lu and rested him against the side of the building. She turned to Death Row with fury in her eyes.

"I said no killing!" Amethyst burst out.

"What the hell is so complicated about that?" she asked angrily. "If we kill these bastards we are no better than them," she finished before turning towards the vans and firing the detonators.

She turned back to see an unconscious Lu and a very pissed off Death Row. He stared at her with fire burning in his dark eyes.

"So that's it? No thank you?" Death Row roared at her.

Amethyst took a step back. She'd never seen him angry before. She fell into her fighting stance and prepared to lay him out.

"You literally can't stand having someone help you on your little vendetta against Marcella," he stated vehemently.

His dark eyes fixed on hers daring her to deny what she knew was the truth. Amethyst's eyes never wavered from his. She refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing she was terrified of him.

"You're not the only person who's been affected by that monster," Death Row confessed.

Amethyst didn't, or couldn't say anything. She felt her chest tighten.

"Whatever," he said finally. "You welcome," he added, but his tone was anything but sincere. In a few seconds he turned and was gone.

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Dawn approached and Amethyst checked to make sure all of the thugs were breathing before she left. The cops would find them and process them. Their work was done. Joe Marcello wouldn't be able to continue to poison her city for a few more weeks.

Thanks to Death Row's help, the voice inside her head chided. She ignored it.

Amethyst walked over to her bike she'd hidden behind one of the warehouses. She straddled the black Ducati speedster, which had belonged to her late brother, and started it up. She zoomed down the city streets towards her small apartment on Cole and Main. Her brother, Marcus, had left her his house as well. It was located in the upper west side of the city but she hadn't had the stomach to live there. She wouldn't sell it because of its constant reminder of what she was fighting for.

Amethyst tried to drown out Death Rows words the whole ride home. His comments had cut into Amethyst like one of her sharp knives she carried just in case things got messy. Death Row was never someone who could make her feel like such crap. It wasn't like he'd been her friend and she stepped all over him.

She steeled herself. Death Row wasn't a friend. He was a killer. He was one of the vigilantes that made being a hero in this city extremely difficult, well that and the cops. She shouldn't feel guilty about how she had treated him.

Amethyst had never killed anyone before and had no intention of doing it. Her city could only be saved by doing what was right. Justice would prevail for the other citizens of her city even though they hadn't for her brother and his family. Her stomach tightened as the images of their bodies flooded her mind.

Amethyst pulled into the parking garage and parked her bike. She rode the elevator up to her fifth floor apartment. She walked into the sparse living room, pulling her gear off as she crossed to the bedroom then the bathroom. She started the shower and turned to look at her bedside clock.

It was nearing six in the morning.

She cursed before stepping into the hot shower. She let the water cascade down her back hoping it would wash away the evening and her sins. She'd wanted to stay in the shower for at least half an hour but she knew she had to crash now so she could get up for her afternoon class. That was thing with her night escapades, she still had to get up in the morning and face reality.

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Thanks for reading! Look for new chapters every week! Don't forget to rate and comment. -Thanks, Senzie