He wasn't dead.

Hatch, somehow, wasn't dead. The top half of his head was shattered, which left the yolk inside completely visible. It was firm rather than sloshing around. Was the yolk his brain? How would that even work? Did he need the shell? I had so many questions but no time to ask them because Kid Ninja was chasing me down.

Ninja assumed I was helping Magma lady, so I couldn't talk him down. I have to say, for someone so young, he carried an arsenal that would put a war museum to shame. I hightailed it out of the mall as quickly as I could, but the little shit managed to stab me twice with his sword and left at least three knives in my legs. When he realized I wasn't going down, Kid tried to take off my head.

"I was trying to help," I yelled while I cut down an alleyway.

"Then why are you running," Kid asked as he followed close behind.

I jumped high enough to clear a three-story building, but he was there to trail my every step on the rooftops. Maybe my abilities weren't as impressive as I thought. Hatch was still alive after taking a direct hit from Mama Magma, and Kid had mobility just as good if not better than my own.

"Not for nothing, but you would make an awesome dojo dummy," Kid joked as he cornered me at the edge of a roof.

There was a gap between the next building over that I could have made, but with Kid hurling sharp objects at my back, chances were I would have been knocked out of the sky. With nowhere left to run, I turned around slowly with my hands up.

"I was trying to," I started to say until he used his sword to cut off both my hands at the wrists.

It hurt like hell, and I sank to my knees, but there was no blood. There were no bones. Did I have bones? I had never been hurt so badly that I needed a doctor or myself to know the inner workings of my body.

"You're just going to kill me? Aren't you supposed to be a hero ?" I tried to sway the kid's blood lust away.

He held the tip of his sword under my chin, forcing me to look up at him. He must have thought he looked cool.

"Heroes kill people every day, bad people, stupid people, people that get my friends hurt," he said, making light of the situation knowing I was at his mercy.

I could already feel my hands growing back, but there was no way to know for sure I would survive decapitation.

"It was an accident," I argued.

He starred me down while the sun behind his head made it impossible to look into his eyes. Who knows what he would have done? I didn't. Kid was supposed to be a hero, but he was downright sadistic. Maybe he was only going so far because he saw that I could take it. Still, everyone had a limit, and I wasn't interested in pushing my own. I contemplated the idea of letting myself fall off the roof. I could have taken the drop as I did earlier in the mall. Unfortunately, there was a risk. My lack of hands had me in enough pain to pass out at any moment. What good was an escape if I'd be unconscious right after.

With a sigh, Kid took back his sword and returned it to the sheath on his hip. I took a breath of relief.

"Alright, Twig, it was an accident," he said with a condescending tone.

"So I can go?"

"You have to pay for your mistake," Kid argued as he helped me up to my feet.

"You cut off my fucking hands," I exclaimed.

"You'll heal... I assume you'll heal," the little shit joked at my expense.

He pulled the knives out of my body and brushed the dirt off my uniform. I doubt he was going to say sorry for all the overkill, but he gave me room to breathe. Before either of us could say anything else, Kid got a phone call.

"But what else are you gonna do to me?" I asked, but he held a finger up to my face, essentially telling me to shut up while he spoke with whoever was on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, they got away. We almost had her, but Twig was there," Kid said to who I assumed was Scarlett calling to check-in.

They spoke for a minute or two, and I had to stand there waiting to be sentenced. The longer their conversation went on, the more I felt I was justified in ending the moment and taking my leave.

"Kid, I swear," I started to speak until Ninja raised his finger again.

He turned his back to me, and I had to believe we were done. Naturally, I walked away. More accurately I tried to walk away. After taking a step and a half, Kid kicked me off the roof.

"If I see you anywhere near my friends or me again, I'll cut off something else," he said while I plummeted to the concrete below.

My body hit the ground first, then my head followed swiftly. I couldn't move a muscle. Daylight faded until I lost consciousness.