The Mirror:
Shortie by Lone Wolf
Ashley Williams "Origins" Series

~Go to the Mirror Boy!~

	Almost every member of the Hunters can attribute their membership to 
the loss of two or more members of their family. Savannah and I can easily 
tell you that. Others come for sanctuary, for protection from their life 
threatening problems. Tabitha is such a case. There are many reasons. But 
there are some that don't fit into that category.

	Michael D'Ketra is my best male friend. His arrival into the arms of 
the Hunters is a special case. He lost no family. He did not go for 
protection. Nothing about him is what we consider typical. His story is, 
perhaps, one of the most disturbing, but at the same time, one of the most 
uplifting ever.

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	My name is Michael D'Ketra. I am a specialist assassin in the Hunters. 
My job takes me to all corners of civilization, hunting down rogue 
technomages. I also do some minor work as crowd control and rescue/recovery 
operations. I am damn proud of that fact.

	But what I did before I joined the Hunters I am ashamed of.

	I am ashamed to admit that I was a bit of a rogue before I joined with 
the Hunters. What makes this more shameful was that I was once at the top of 
the "to deal with" list of damn near every "good guy" organization, 
including those whom I work for now. I wasn't one of those flashy guys 
either. My tag was simple - Bandit. And my techniques were even simpler.

	I never did anything that would be deemed as condemnable. I never ever 
committed a murder. It was very rare that I mugged anybody or held up a 
store. I perferred to work in the shadows, sneaking behind security's back 
and busting into the bank's safe. That's what put me at the tops of the 
lists - nobody could catch me doing it.

	My last job is what got me to realize what I was doing was wrong. You 
may recall it from the newspapers. "Burglar Found Dead in Bank Vault," the 
headlines would read. Heh, to think, the police still attribute it to the 
Hunters. The Hunters wouldn't leave the body there unless they were trying 
to make a point. I tell you this now, it was no accident.

	It all went down so quickly. The bank was at the corner of Elm and 
157th street. The big, gothic looking building was a challenge to break 
into. It was owned by the local government, and was therefor laced with more 
security than a teen girl's underpants. But yours truly was able to crack 
their system and slip in.

	The vault was just as tough. It had a very intricate lock system - one 
of those dial, digital, dial deals. It took me a good ten minutes, but I was 
able to break each and every one of their codes. the door opened up, 
revealing a long hallway, with the money standing there, waiting for me at 
the end. But it wasn't going to be that simple. I grinned a little bit as I 
flipped my specially designed shades onto my face. The lenses did their job, 
filtering out all but the infra-red light that the beams which danced across 
the floor used. I tiptoed my way around the alarms and right to the money. 
"Very good Michael," I told myself. "Take your reward." I started to reach 
for a brick of money.
	"Hold it," a voice called from behind me. "Don't touch that money."
	Shit, I thought. Am I busted? I slowly turned to look. Standing there, 
pistol drawn, was a rival of mine. He was known only as BC amongst the other 
burglars. BC stood, quite simply, for "Business Card". That's what he was, 
the Business Card Bandit. He always left his "business card", a little taunt 
to the cops, at every heist he did.
	Only problem was, I tended to knock off places he wanted to.
	I grinned. "Why, BC. What are you doing here?"
	The fox frowned. "You're holding me down, Bandit. You know that, 
right?"
	"Why am I holding you down? You don't get the jobs done before I-"
	He fired off a shot, barely missing me. "Shut up! You spy on me, 
getting my info. You purposely knock off my jobs to piss me off. Well, 
buddy, I'm getting my revenge."
	I turned around fully to face him. "How do you propose to do that?"
	He grinned. "That should be obvious, Bandit. I'm a lot faster than 
you. I'm gonna make sure you get locked up for good, by locking you in 
here."
	"You're mad, BC. You know it's not going to work out."
	"Oh? Watch me." With that, he took off at the speed he was known for, 
down the corridor, tripping the alarms. Damn idiot didn't know that I was 
reaching for my pistol as he started. I pulled it from the back of my belt 
and shot three rounds at him. He seemed to jolt at each blow, before 
collapsing into a bloody pile. I smirked as I ran past him, figuring I had 
only wounded him enough to keep him there until the cops arrived. "Don't 
fuck with the Bandit," I told him. I didn't have time to worry about morals 
or anything. I couldn't worry about the money either. The cops were probably 
halfway here.

	I was only worried about self presevation at the time. That changed 
quickly the next morning.

	I was busy walking the streets early the next morning, under my 
mild-mannered guise, when I came upon a newstand. I smiled, figuring I'd 
pick up a paper to see BC's face as they hauled him away. I paid the man and 
got the paper. And there it was, in big, bold face:
	"Burglar Found Dead in Bank Vault"
	I stopped dead in my tracks. It sank in so suddenly. I thought I 
didn't hear the comeback he should have shouted at me becuase I was too 
pre-occupied with getting the hell out of there. I was dead wrong. I stepped 
out of the way and continued to read.
	"Police today removed the body of the Business Card Bandit from the 
1st national back at the corner of Elm and 157th street this morning. This 
infamous criminal was found last night in an apparent failed robbery attempt 
with two firearm wounds to the back and one to the back of the head. Cops 
are attributing it to the Hunters, who have been known to deal with 
criminals in this sort of manner."
	I folded the paper up and put it under my arm. A sense of anguish had 
overcome me. I was only used to robbing people of their material posessions. 
The night before, I had done much worse. I had robbed someone of their life.

	I spent a good part of the day walking around, trying to figure out 
what to do with myself. I truly felt horrible. About four that afternoon, I 
decided to turn myself in. I looked to see where I was. And, lo and behold, 
I had walked myself right out of town, some thirty miles down the road, and 
right up to the Hunter Headquarters. Two guards were eying me suspiciously. 
I sighed. "It's over, Bandit," I muttered to myself. "Your career ends 
here." I turned to the fortifications and walked right up to the guards.
	"Who are you , pud?" one asked, getting in my way. "And what do you 
want?"
	I shut my eyes. "I think you know very well who I am." I pulled my gun 
from the back of my belt. They grew tense and started to aim their guns at 
me. I twirled mine around, the handle pointing their way. "My tag is Bandit. 
I believe I'm on your hit list."
	They looked at me. One kept watch over me as the other went to radio 
it in. He came back and took the gun from me. "You've done a wise thing 
turning yourself in," he said. "Anything else you'd like to declair before 
we take you into our custody?"
	I took the newspaper and showed him the headline. They looked at me. I 
shut my eyes. "Yes."

	I was put into a small room. They sat me down in a chair and told me 
to wait. I waited patiently for five minutes before someone came in. The 
lynx carried with him a tape recorder. He put it down on the table that was 
sitting in front of me and looked me dead in the eye. "I am Jeshua Eslovic," 
he said. "Head interrogator for this branch of the Hunters. I am giving you 
an option, and it's going to be the only option you will get during this 
investigation. Do you understand?"
	"Yes sir," I responded quietly.
	He blinked for a second. "I figured the legendary Bandit would be a 
little more livelier. Anyway, I'm giving you the option of giving a taped 
confession. Do you wish to confess your crimes?"
	"I would like to."
	He took a small microphone from the machine and attached it to my 
shirt collar. He started to fiddle with the contraption. "When the light 
turns on," he said after a few moments. "Start talking. Say anything you 
want, but keep in mind that we will use anything you say against you in our 
courts. Do you understand?"
	"Fully." He pushed a button and a little red light turned on. I took a 
deep breath. "My name is Michael D'Ketra. I am better known as Bandit. I am 
22 years old, a career theif and, as of last night, a murderer..."

	I was held for a week after I made my half an hour long confession. I 
went into details of how I pulled off some of my more famous heists and the 
details of what had happened the night BC lost his life. I knew that the 
confession would most likely warrent my death. I didn't care anymore. I was 
willing to give my life because of what I did.
	My cell door opened and Jeshua walked in. "Hello again, Michael."
	"Sir," I said quietly. "What has your court deemed my punishment?"
	"They have been considering to lock you up in our prison for the rest 
of your natural life." I nodded silently. "But there was a minor 
complicating factor."
	I quirked a brow. "Please explain."
	"Well, according to our judges, you seemed to have a lot of remorse 
for what you did. They have dealt a second sentence."
	"And that would be?"
	"You can repay your debt to society by becoming a Hunter yourself. We 
would have to keep an eye on you, but we would be willing to train you to 
protect the people you once thought of only as targets." I fell silent. "You 
would be protecting the banks that you once knocked off." I shut my eyes. 
"Well, what's you choice?"
	I took a deep breath. "Where do I sign up?"

	That's my story of how I came to be in the Hunters. Normally, this 
where the story ends. But there's more to the story of why I've chosen this 
path than just that. Because, quite frankly, I was never really that 
enthusiastic about the job to begin with. True, I could handle the different 
weapons they offered up, and I could handle myself in the field, but I 
lacked the one thing that the rest of the Hunters did: Emotion.

	Five years after I joined up with the Hunters, I was sent out to 
investigate a town that had been demolished by a brigand attack. They were 
turning back for the town. We figured they had left something behind and 
were going back to find it or finish it. They sent me out on this one. My 
partner on this trip was a three and a half year veteran you should all know, 
who by the name of Tabitha Evans.

	When we got into town, we split up to search it. It took only a few 
moments to realize where I was. I rounded a corner in the ruined financial 
district and ran smack dab into the bank. I knew immediately it was the one 
where BC lost his life. It was like looking into a mirror. I could see my 
past for what it was. It was all around me - chaos, destruction, death. I 
was looking at myself.

	I began to feel queazy and started to back away. But then it happened. 
I heard the cry. The mirror was shattered and I was brought back to reality. 
I didn't understand what the cry was, but I knew that it was coming from 
down that street. I raced down it to see what was going on.

	In the middle of the street, lying on the ground, I saw a vixen.

	When I got to her, she looked horrible. She also looked a little 
malnourished, like she was walking the town by herself. I gave her some of 
my emergency rations, which seemed to revitalize her. We struck up a 
conversation, but I didn't pay attention. I knew that she was the reason the 
brigands were coming back. I was going to make sure that we would get her 
out of there safely...

########################################################################

	"Ashy, you decent?"
	"Yeah Michael," I responded. "You can come in." The door slid open and 
he entered. He wore his trademarked trench coat and shades. "I'm going out 
on a mission. You need anything from the store while I'm out?" He grinned 
jokingly.
	"Yeah," I replied, playing along. "Think you can get me a box of 
ribbed condoms?"
	His eyes grew wide. "Why?"
	"Well, ya never know!" I winked at him.
	He chuckled. "Why did I ever get into this maniac business?"
	"Becuase you care for the world."
	"Yeah. Just making up for the three years I robbed them blind." He 
smiled. "Thanks for the reminder Ashy. You're the greatest."
	"I know. Take care of yourself out there, Michael." He smiled and 
started to go. But he stopped right in front of my mirror. He stood there 
for a few, awkward moments before smirking.
	"To think, after five years, I'm finally able to look in the mirror." 
He chuckled. "See ya later Ashley."

	Some of us Hunters fight for revenge, be it a lover, a family, or for 
being wronged. Others are true to the name. They are the bounty hunters, the 
ones who fight for a profit. But there's that slim 2% of us that have 
something to prove, not to the world, but to themselves. They want to prove 
to themselves that they can repent their sins against their own people. 
Michael is one of them. He's the embodiment of what the Hunters are all 
about. 

Michael D'Ketra, Bandit, one of the greatest Hunters of all.

END
Ashley Williams, Michael D'Ketra, Tabitha Evans, and Jeshua Eslovic are © 
Lone Wolf and <([ Lone Wolf Studios ])>

Until we meet again.
   - Michael D'Ketra