(Alternatively titled: I Decide To Update)

I still can't believe it. She was always there. The base is too empty now, without her. The cluttered mess, once controlled chaos, now feels as though trying to make up for her absence. The base was once my favorite place, a symbol of safety and spontaneous decisions. A place without rules, without consequences. I can't stand it there, not anymore.

In a cruel twist of fate, my wandering has led me to the last place I want to be right now. Maybe I'm here because I need to be. Whatever the reason, I'm here now. There's no point in going back to the base now, not without our leader. Our leader, who is laying in the ground before me. Still as dead as she was the day that "hero" decided to put an end to her. Some hero they are.

Standing here now, the futility of the situation strikes me. Nothing I do can bring her back now. Nothing anyone does can. I can feel tears pooling in my eyes, and quickly wipe them away before they fall.

"Never cry in the presence of an enemy," I remember her saying, every day, "to cry is to show weakness. And don't you forget that." Funny how, in the end, it was she who cried out first, and left us frozen in our own misery.

This is all the fault of that hero, and their warped views of "justice", as if they can even call it that. What's unjust about a mother protecting her child?

I feel something wet slide down the palm of my hand, and take a look out of curiosity. Wincing, I gently release my fingernails from within the flesh of my palm. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out a bandaid and apply it to the pooling blood. She can never have anything normal, can she? Bright pink, of all the colors for a bandaid to have.

A drop of water splashes across the surface of the bandaid before sliding off, and for a second I think it's raining. As if to make me feel even worse, my own body has betrayed me and let the tears fall. The one thing I swore I would never do, no matter what, and here I am.

I fall to my knees, unable to hold myself upright. I can hear music and laughter in the distance, the sound of happiness. Today, I recall, is the day of the parade for that monster. To celebrate my mom's death. A flash of anger blinds me, before it is replaced once again by the crushing weight of sorrow.

I have neither the energy nor the ability to fight, much less win. Not to mention the hordes of people, of witnesses, of innocent lives. The gang may be ruthless, but we only target those who target us.

As I think over those words, I vow to uphold them. That pathetic excuse for a hero is going down, no matter the cost. As next in line, and now the sole founder, I hold all the rights to leadership. I intend to take full advantage of that.

Rummaging through my pockets, I search for something to leave on her grave. I'd rather not have come all this way just to cry. A packet of seeds is all I have. Tulips. She always loved tulips.

I empty the contents of the packet into the dirt. I stand up, brushing off the dirt. I'll really miss her, now and forever, but I have a base to get back to and a revenge plan to formulate.

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Author's Note

I never thought I'd make myself sad writing, but here we are. I really should update this more often, but I was struck with writer's block for the longest time. Hopefully, any future breaks won't be as long. Until next time, whenever that may be.