Pathfinder.

One

The sky was tinted with a depressing spray of dark blue that hugged over the city streets like a saddening cloak. The city of Acre, a bustling hub for the richer members of outer colonies.

Though it had been years since the Covenant/Human war, scars were still obvious. Acre was built atop a destroyed city on a sacked planet that apparently wasn't worth glassing. In the poorer districts, uncleaned sprays of blood, human and not, were a common sight, along with the occasional broken piece of Covenant tech.

In one poor district, called The Mess, a play on words for the major street "Amestris", there was a popular fight club. Inside, iniguity plagued every corner. Drugs, booze, sex, money, and blood was everywhere, getting worse and worse as you back away from the arena rails. Inside the arena there was fierce battle, ignored by those more than a few feet from the viewing section.

The bigger man, the one who won in the bet section of the fight, slammed his fist into the face of the smaller man, who fell back on the floor, smoothly rolling over his shoulder and recovering quickly.

The smaller man sprinted forward, the mere sight of speed drove the crowd crazy. Ducking under three wild and powerful haymakers, the smaller man brought his fist down on the unbent knee of the bigger man, sending it bending in a way that reminded most of the Elites.

With a wild roar and blind fists flying, the bigger, stronger looking man  fell on his back. With almost inhuman speed, the smaller man ran to the side of the bigger man, kicking his face with all might, knocking him out.

The crowd went ballistic with shouts and curses, most of which were of anger because their bet didn't win.

The announcer's microphone rustled on the intercom a little bit as he brought it to his face.

"And the Lancer is the winner!" He yelled, somehow sending the message to the crowd to throw their food and drinks at Vance down below, who stood there victorious.

Vance made his way to the owner's office. As he entered, three large men with M6 handguns out and pointed to Vance's head.

"Okay. Who are you?" The owner asked, a large frown on his face and eyes full of rage.

"Lifetime fighter. It's not my fault the other guy wasn't." Vance said confidently, knowing very well that he could kill all three armed guards right then.

"One person put their bet on you for over a grand. Probably all of their money, too. There were people who did that on the seemingly sure thing. Ivan hasn't lost that quickly in the ten years he's been here. Now, we have one rule here, William, you know what it is?"

"Just Will. And, I do. No Rumbledrug. You accusing me? Want me to whip it out and pee in a cup? 'Cause if you do, big-n-bald here will have to hold the cup for me. I need too hands." Vance smirked at one of the goons who slowly put his finger on the trigger.

"Don't be a smartass." The owner, by the name of Angel, stood upright. "I think there's more to you than a shit-ton of training. I find out it's something I don't like and you don't tell me, you'll pay kid." Angel got in close to Vance's face, their noses almost touching.

"Now that I think of it, I watch a lot of Kung-Fu movies in my down time." Vance said, his smirk gone, as he grabbed the wad of cash from Angel's hand and left the room.

---

"How much did you make?"

"Three Thousand. You?"

"One. I'll put mine in the jar, one goes for a few month's rent, one for the next fight, and one for tomorrow." Vance said, cramming his money into a jar.

"Vance..." Jessica said, hesitating to speak. "What if we keep on doing this, and you lose?"

"Hey, Jess, C'mon. I'm kinda badass." Vance brought Jessica in closely, holding her by her hips. Jessica put her forehead on Vance's collar bone, her man marginally taller than her.

"Yeah, I guess." Jessica said, a horrible feeling of doubt crawling up from almost nowhere.

You'd think professional fighting would make a MINT for Vance. Gambling of any kind should be exponentially easy for any manner of Spartan.

Good chapter. I'ma follow this one closer than the others.

Jessica makes three times the amount of cash Vance does?

Hmm... I WONDER what she's doing...

She was his one bet.

...Damn.

A Spartan prostitute would do well. Go to the house where the john (prostitute customer, not ME) wants to meet, pummel him senseless, and take his money.

But almost all Spartans are too classy for that kinda thing.

Vale, do some collab stuff. You and Morgan are a little behind. We got Zman!

Then they wouldn't really be hookers if they did that, now would they?

Anyways, I thought Jessica was normal.

Yeah, Jessica is a casual.

Oh? I figured she was hardcore since she's probably a fan of Vance's "two handed sword".

That has to be the oddest thing to read while taking a break from bible-study....

Love you so much, Manny.

Two
This was the day Vance was looking forward to and regretting for years. On this day, he would be able to gauge himself as a man. All his mother raised him for, all he's learned for decades before have built up to this moment.

What if he fails? What if he makes a wrong he can never right? Vance has faced giant alien robots, but this is the most stress he's ever faced in his life.

The target walked inside the dark room, alongside Vance's "Inside Man" who was assigned to bring the target at the perfect time. The light turned on, and, with Vance and his group hiding behind furniture, he motioned for them to go up.

Shock and awe.

Audrey screamed, grabbing he mother's hand for a split second, totally afraid.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUDREY!" Vance and the boys and girl (and their parents) shouted.

Audrey, Vance's daughter, looked around in awe at the "5" shaped balloons and the stacks of presents off to the side of the room. She hugged her mother's leg before running as fast as her tiny legs could take her to her father, who picked her up and spun her around before hugging his daughter and placing her on the floor.

"Have fun, sweety. HEY, YO! All the little boys! Come here!" Vance yelled, nicely, but with force.

The small boys gathered around Vance while the little girls crowded his daughter.

"Here's the game plan. You rough house with eachother. Lay one hand on my daughter or her presents, I break you. It's been cute so far, guys, but from this day on,you are all my enemies. Have a blast." Vance said, putting fear in the children's eyes he hadn't seen since combat.

"Did you really have to threaten the kids?"

"Only the boys. They're five now. Little boys just get shittier and shittier. I have to be ready to breaks some skulls." Vance said, like it was no big deal.

The rest of the party was insane. The girls all attacked and brought down Vance three or four times, the presents were all princess themed, and Audrey was jumping off the walls from the cake. It was a day to remember.

Hours later, when the guests were all gone, and the apartment was a mess, Jessica was cleaning the house while Vance laid on the couch, Audrey asleep in his chest.

"You want me to clean?" Vance offered, slowly lifting his daughter from his chest and into his arms.

"No. You set all this up, I'll take it all down. Besides, I'm almost done for tonight. But the princess to bed and we'll get ready for tonight." Jessica wiped the sweat from her light skin, her dark blonde cluttered with rice and confetti.

A wide grin came onto Vance's face as he thought about what was planned for tonight. One of the few legitimately exiting things he got to do often.

"Alrighty." Vance's exited tone suddenly dumbed down to a hushed, soft tone, "Hey princess. You ready for bed?" Audrey, half asleep, her eyes even still closed grunted "Nuh uh" and shook her head as she rubbed her eyes.

"What if... What if I told you a story. Then would you be ready for bed?" Vance asked, still hushed and soft. He smiled as he daughter smiled and nodded, struggling to stay awake.

Vance carried Audrey down the hall to the small bedroom where his daughter set up shop. He lied her in bed as he thought of a way to tell the story that was on his mind.

"Okay. Let's do this. Years and years ago, before even you were born, there was this hero. Remember the hero from the last story?" She nodded "Same one. Anyways, the hero met a friend named Dex. Dex was a total nerd who always told the hero what to do. Most times, the hero didn't listen to his friend. If he did, the hero would have avoided a lot of pain. Not feelings either, like, actual pain. Anyways, the hero needed to explore this planet no one's ever seen before, so when he got there, he was exited. But then, this big, huge badguy came and took Dex away, hurting the hero in the process. Using all of his hero-like strength and bravado, the hero treked for days looking for Dex, but couldn't find him no matter how hard he looked. When he found him... Dex wasn't quite the same." Vance stopped spacing out and looked at his baby girl, who had fallen fast asleep a while ago.
Vance quietly stepped down the stairs, Jessica standing with her back to him, unaware of his presence. Vance took three large steps and wrapped his arm around Jessica's neck. Supprisingly quickly, she jammed her elbow into his ribcage and twisted out of his grip, smiling as she turned to see him.

"Good. Pop quiz, where are the guns in the house and what are their names?" Vance said, a huge shit eating grin on his face.

"Top shelf in the kitchen, under the couch, and next to our bed are M6... C? There's a shotgun and ammo in the cabinet, keys on me at all times. And there's an SMG taped on the ceiling of the space under the sink." Jessica said, with pauses every few seconds to try and remember.

"Good. Knife on the leg, right?" Vance said, pointing to Jessica's high boots she had to wear at all times now.

"Yessir."

"Okay. Now, we're going to practice anti capture countermeasures."

"Why?"

"There are plenty of people who wanna kill me, Jess. If they are smart and want me to do something, they'll come for you. So, I need to teach you how to kick their ass. First of all, if Aud is home, send her upstairs if you can, if not, whichever door is behind you. When they first attack you, they'll toy with you." Vance stated, an intense stare tore into Jessica's eyes as he held her shoulders.

"Why?"

"Because, they're hired because they do shit like this all the time and love what they do, OR, they're soldiers and don't see pretty girls often. So, you scratch, you kick, you scream, act like you can't fight until they actually try to hold you down or physically capture you. Then, you know what you should do from there."

The lesson continued on from there. Jessica practiced on Vance until she was too tired to continue on.

The next day, Vance left early, packing his gym bag with extra clothes and a combat knife. They lived in one of the worst slums on the planet. Any mugger in his right mind wouldn't attack a man who looked like Vance, but most of the muggers here were desperately trying to get enough money buy drugs. They'll attack anyone.

Vance soon made it to the gym, a nasty, grimy looking place in desperate need of renovations. Broken punching bags and speed bags with holes spouting out foam and threads. Vance put his things into his locker and went to go on his daily routine: arms, legs, speed bag, punching bag, sparring. When he exited the locker room, he saw a terribly familiar face.

"Hey there champ!" Angel said, fire in his eyes as he smiled like an ass.

"What do you want?" Vance said, annoyed at the confrontation.

"So, remember our talk the other day?"

"Little bit."

"I decided I wanted to know who you are. Just to let you know, it's a lot harder to hide yourself from the world when you're a famous as you are. Killing the Super-Terrorists, a Forerunner A.I., an entire league of rouge A.I., stopping one of the most catastrophic attacks on Earth in history, saving a Freelancer Station? You think you can hide a past like that?" Angel leaned in, speaking more quietly and intensely.

"You need something?" Vance said, lifting his chin up defensibly as his heart began pounding.

"You. From now on, you work for me. I say you throw a fight, you throw it, or I take a finger. I say win, you win big. I can make a monopoly off of you. We have a deal?" Angel said, getting even closer and even quieter.

"I guess... It doesn't seem like I have a choice." Vance shot Angel with a look that tore any sense of superiority away in an instant. Vance walk through Angel, shoving himself past the smaller, fatter man as he went to start his workout.

"Darius. Keep an eye on him." Angel ordered his large bodyguard, who simply grunted and nodded, his huge muscles proof enough that he was a threat.

Vance was really close to making a powerful enemy.

Angel! I remember that guy!

Anyways, I THINK Vance's mom's name was Audrey as well, right?

Oh and when Vance asked for the names of the guns... I thought something cheesy was about to occur, such as the guns having actual human names.

Shoulda done that....

But, no. Vance's Mom's name is Aundrea.

Three

Vance hit the punching bag as hard and as fast for as long as he could. He combo-ed elbows and knees, the Muay Thai in his combat style flourishing. He noticed a tear begin to form in the side of his bag and decided to stop, remembering the low budget the gym was in. They'd probably make Vance pay for it.

Making his way to the locker room, a workout session well spent, Vance was stopped by a large black man; high-topped fade and goatee facial hair all adding to his menacing look; coupled with his tight black shirt showing off his muscles and his Hell themed arm tattoos.

"Excuse me." Vance attempted to walk past, blocked by a meaty arm, the words "Head Hunter" written in black ink on his arm.

"'Head Hunter' huh? Who was your partner? What kind of armor did you wear? Or are you the kind that gets tat's to show off how mean and gruff and tough and stuff you are?" Vance mocked as he moved the tree-trunk like arm away from his so he could pass.

"Excuse me." A familiar voice said from behind. One Vance wanted to avoid for as long as possible.

"What?" Vance turned to mean mug Angel, who was surprisingly without additional body guards.

Angel had a look of disgust and anger on his face, sneering at Vance either out of spite for Vance's lack of honesty, or something else.

"You're fighting tomorrow night. Primetime. I'm going to put a lot of my money on the other guy. You know what that means, right?" Angel condescended on Vance as he removed his black sunglasses from his face.

"I'm not throwing fights." Vance turned back around to enter the locker room.

"I'm not asking. Now, I know you can beat this guy, probably easy compared to a brute or something. But I want to know you work for me. You do work for me, right?"

"No." Vance stopped, once again to turn around, now annoyed. "I don't work for you, or anybody. I'll fight, win, make money, feed myself."

"Bullshit. I know about your family, Vance. I know what they look like, I know where you live. I say you work for me, YOU work for ME. I am the fucking boss, not you, you genetically altered freak!" Angel stepped to Vance, poking him hard on the chest.

Vance calmly moved Angel's hand away from his chest. "Fine." Vance walked away, using all he's got to not assault the man right then and there.

"Good. Tomorrow night; either you're there, or you're on another planet starting a new life." Angel demanded, pointing at Vance as he barked at him before marching out, his large companion following suit.

---

"Hey, Tommy, thanks for watching my girl for me man." Vance said gleefully as he greeted his friend.

"No problem man, any time." Thomas nodded in response, moving towards the child on the couch, tapping her on the shoulder.

Audrey woke up violently, looking up with a worried face at Thomas, which began to melt away as she realized she was asleep. The look of worry, however, was dropped the second she saw her father, the child quickly crawling over the couch to give him a hug.

"There's the love! Yeah! How's my princess?" Vance asked affectionately as he picked Audrey up.

"Well... Uh.... Thomas and I played games.... And I did his hair... And I" She went on for a few minutes, struggling to pay attention to what she was saying with her natural child attention deficit.

"That's nice sweety. Hey, listen. I wont be home in time to give you stories tomorrow night, okay? Daddy's gonna be busy, and Mommy's got shi-... stuff to do. Tommy over here's got no love life, so he's gonna watch you. Feel me?"

"Yes daddy." She replied with a sad face for the forewarning.

"Alright. Give Tommy and I sec. Go wait upstairs for stories." Vance said in an exited tone, pumping her the fuck up for stories.

"Hell yeah!!" Audrey said with her hands literally in the air while she ran upstairs. Thomas' mouth was held open with a slightly confused smile while he pointed in Audrey's direction.

"What? I got exited once and she repeats every single think I say." Vance shrugged as he walked into the small kitchen to open the fridge.

"I bet Jess hasn't let that one down." Thomas chuckled as he watched Vance shuffle through the packed fridge, filled completely with bulk-bought cheap foods.

"Not even a little bit. Beer?" Vance asked, Thomas nodding before Vance tossed a bottle towards him.

"This is brand named, man. Jess let you get this shit?" Thomas opened the bottle, taking a sip as he sat on the couch.

"Yeah. I just put it behind all the bulk products in the fridge. If my career choice was willing to pay me in full in cash, we'd be able to buy actual food and shit without all this god damned laundering to deal with." Vance sighed as he sat next to his friend.

"Sucks man. What's going on tomorrow that you have to scar your daughter for life for breaking her story cycle?" Thomas asked, noticing the stress on Vance's expression. He almost looked pissed.

"Gotta throw a fight. Either that, or I get to go to war with a bunch of goons who've seen too many movies, thinking they're part of a twentieth century gang family. I could kill them all, easily, but my new boss is the kind of guy who'll ruin your life instead of fighting you like he's your bitchy ex girlfriend from school or something." Vance said, sarcasm and anger radiating off of him.

"Huh. Well. That's rough. Good luck with that man. I'll just stick to my loveless life and listen to your daughter all day every day, I guess." Thomas chuckled along with Vance.

"I'll drink to that." Vance said, laughing as he raised his beer, clanking it against Thomas'. "Listen, I got two six packs in the fridge. We're finishing it tonight, but you bought it, and I need to tell Aud a bedtime story." Vance said as he stood up, tossing his bottle into the trash next to the kitchen door.

"Right."

Vance walked upstairs and entered his daughter's bedroom, desperately thinking of a beginning-middle-end story to tell. When he walked through the door, noticing the lights were off, Vance stopped in horror as he watched Audrey fiddle with a magnum easily the size of her head.

His unnatural Spartan speed came into effect when he noticed the safety was off, snatching it from her hand, carefully and quickly putting a finger behind the trigger.

"What the fuck!?" Vance said, careful not to yell, to upset to not curse.

"I found it, and it was really cool looking!" Audrey said, her hands up in front of her.

"No. Not even a little okay, Aud. You don't touch these, okay? They hurt people, and they're Daddy's. One day, I might teach you how to shoot one. But you gotta put these back when you find them." Vance said, trying his hardest not to freak out.

"But, daddy! I-" Audrey spoke out, yelling, like this was up for debate.

"Nuh-uh. No. Listen, you want a story, Aud? I'll give you one."

The Lancer Spoiler

Spoiler:

"Can I at least look at it sometimes?" She bargained.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Plllllllllleeeease?!"

"Did you pay any attention to anything I just said, Aud?"

"No." She replied, a huge, semi-toothless smile on her face.

"That's probably for the best, that's probably for the best. It got real dark a second ago." Vance talked to himself a little bit as he moved to the nearby master bedroom and re-hid the gun.

"Daddy, can I get a real story?"

"Fine, fine, fine. How does Where The Wild Things Are sound?" Vance sighed, picking up the tablet to begin reading.