Reputation: Book One

Prologue:

ADVISE: This is a boyxboy (LGBT+) story that includes some mature language and content, (with also some incomplete chapters due to a stalled editing process) so if you do not agree with any of this, I suggest you do not read! ALSO, this book is written in DIFFERING perspectives, and through and through, its edited but also half-assed, so please don't comment to correct me on grammar or spelling. Please do not copy anything of any sort from my story; this is my writing from my own hand. I worked hard on this for you guys and would be shattered if I had to take it all down. Plagiarism is a repulsing crime, and if you do it, shame on you. I hate liars, especially if it involves my work flipped for your credit. With that said, let's not make this a huge deal. If you're inspired by my works, please let me know so we can talk it out, yeah? I am very friendly if you're willing to compromise and work with me.
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Songs of the chapter-

7/11- Beyoncé

Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) - Kelly Clarkson

Elastic Heart- Sia

A piece in Autumn's perspective:

It takes extreme faith, endurance, teamwork and trust to be able to accomplish a mission this complicated. And we lacked one of those things, which is why we failed. Bad.
I could've sworn we had the whole thing in the bag; It played out perfectly. From the little distractions to the very end when we had him. We were so close to the final ending. So. Damn. Close.
For eight years I have worked alongside my husband fighting for the civilization's safety against the anti-germany-france alliance, Myonarida. After the Blitz religion and people broke out from hiding, Myonarida captured as many as of them as they could and stole their power crystals that fuel their life and extend their power. I didn't know they existed until my ex-boyfriend found one, injured and hiding, and brought it back to me nearly dead three days ago. We even have an ex-Myonaridan woman here with us, and the only trust there is is what we show her. We have more blood on our hands than anything imaginable.
Who are we, you wonder? Well, to start, I have two beautiful daughters, one each with a different dad. It's a long story, I'll say something about it later. But after being dumped by my fiance, I figured he was gone for good and moved on. My first mistake was going back to my fiance and leaving the prince of Germany for him after birthing his daughter.
Years later, we are both equally moved on, and his petty new girlfriend can't stay out of trouble; with money, with her family, with gangs or drugs. And now, rescuing her from his brother who runs a serious local gang, here we are in an old boony warehouse, hiding a Blitz from Myonarida and the Parisian government while trying not to get her, or anyone really, killed. Let's see how long we can last.

The larger man I was trying to fend off seizes me by the front of my shirt without warning, lifting me right off the ground and tossme into the side of a weathered Ford parked inside the shop. I hit it with a loud bang, my head slamming back into the driver's window. I hear a sickening crack, not completely sure if it was my skull of the glass behind me. I fall forward to my knees, gripping the back of my head and biting back a cry of pain as I fought the urge to collapse. Through blurry vision I glanced at my watch, groaning. Eleven minutes.
I staggered to my left and grabbed a push broom, twisted it violently between my palms to remove the head and brought it across his back, the slap echoing out and blending with the background noise of gunshots, yelling and screaming. He swirls around as I try to attack again, catching the shaft of my broomstick as I swung it at him. My expression drains as he rips it right out of my hands, repositions it in his own hands and strikes my thigh with it before I could roll out of the way. I cursed aloud, tensing against the impact as that knee buckled, sending my should-have-been roll into a crumple-to-the-floor.
I groan as I peel myself from the cold cement floor, standing on my hands and knees as I blink quickly, trying to ignore my shoulder pain. There's rapid gunfire behind me and all I can see is the flashing lights reflecting off the metal walls enclosing me. My ears sung loudly, my pulse bumping slow. The man steps forward, beats me down again with the staff to knock me onto my side and presses his foot to my chest. I suck in a breath, forcing the tears back down. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry...
I grip around the end of the broomstick and thrust it back up at him, gasping for air as his foot lets off. He stumbles backwards, holding his eye, and I'm searching desperately for my gun. When I glance back, all I can see is the underside of his boot a split of a second before it comes crashing down on my abdomen, crushing every organ in my stomach as my vision goes dark. I cry out in excruciating pain, and a few tears escape their slits as I roll onto my side, pawing at my throat for air. I felt almost like I was drowning, slowly, painfully. Like someone had tied me down and dropped a 50 pound block of stone on my chest.
My skin beneath my black uniform pants stung and throbbed where he had hit me with the broom handle, and I couldn't think straight. I wrapped my arms around my stomach as I slowly managed to get back up to my feet, but I weakly fell back to the cold cement. I shuddered as I feel my body relax, mould against the floor like wet clay. I felt like I was dying.
Grunting in effort and pain I got back up on my feet, limping to fetch my glock that'd slung out of my belt and under a pile of stock boxes. I heard one of the men scream my name just before someone rammed a wider object into the backs of my knees, making them buckle. I collapsed, grunting as my nose bashed the ground. I couldn't get a damn break. I guess that's a hero's life in a short sentence.
I hissed in pain, the metallic and bitter taste of blood oozing into my mouth. Instead of getting up, I used my legs to push myself and army-crawl across the floor to get close enough to grab my 10mm. I snatched it back up into my shaky hands, rolling over onto my back and blind firing three shots into my opponent's direction.
Blam, blam, blam.
I quickly stood up, spitting the blood out of my mouth and hurrying over to help the team. I honestly felt like I was about to puke after my guts nearly spewed from both ends.
Before I could reach them, a dagger whizzed past my face, making me freeze. I slowly looked over, my eyes narrowed. One of Finch's little red-headed girls stood there, smiling at me as she pulled another knife from her wrist sheath. I reflexively reach for my pistol, wrapping my hot, swollen, blood-soaked fingers around the cool metal.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that," She sneers, stroking two fingers across the next blade. I lift my finger from the trigger and click the safety off, raising it up and pointing it straight at her face. Her smile hardens and she turns just her head towards Finch, keeping her eyes on me.
"Finch," She calls, her voice trying to remain steady. I hear a bullet slide into its ready place from another gun and I hold in a nervous breath. I look up to see Finch with his arm wrapped around Eliza's throat, his knife pressed to the underside of her jaw. Liz gives me a pleading look with glassy eyes, the corners of her lips cracked and bleeding from the rope gag. Jerzei stood behind him, a handful of his hair bunched into her fist and her barrel pressed to the back of his head. Tripp had his gun pointed at the redhead who had tried to slice me, Qrow's sword pointed to the taller guard. Adrien stood there, clueless, eyes wide in fear for all of our lives. Sucked when you have a grown man that doesn't know how to shoot a fucking gun.
"Drop your gun Autumn," Finch warns, eyes stern and threatening. "Or Elizabeth dies."
His blade presses into her skin and Eliza cries out, blood trickling down into her low-cut shirt between her exposed breasts. Qrow bites his lip, unable to do anything. He looks at me with begging eyes. I look around, trying to come up with a solution. Nobody could do anything.
I stay still, giving each one of my team members a glance before locking eyes with Finch again. I let my eyes fall down to his feet, and then I see the yellow extension cord below his feet. His feet were both in the cord.
I peer at Tripp, eyes wide. He gives me a confused look but soon catches on to where I was nodding, trying to keep it as minimal as possible.
"Okay, I put my weapon down, Jerzei backs off, and you step away from Eliza," Tripp pipes, bending down and setting his gun on the cement floor. I shoot him an alarmed look. What was he doing? Jerzei was the one we needed, the one born to kill. Knew every way to snap a neck, could throw a dagger with incredible aim over sixty feet and could change a magazine to an AR in three seconds. She was priceless and extremely valuable to our team. I had no idea why she had to be the one to back off.
He gives Jerzei an authorative glance and she lifts the blade from his skin, flinging it to the ground and moving away as Tripp continues to sneak closer and closer to the dangling cord thrown over the rafters. I didn't really figure out what he had planned, but I hoped it worked, 'cause if not, we're all screwed for sure.
Finch hesitantly takes his arm away from Liz, eyeing us all doubtingly and taking a step back. Eliza inhales sharply, pressing her lips together tightly as a tear slips out. My lungs constrict my heart as I see her fall forward, sobbing. Her hair drapes beside her face and curtains her eyes from me, but I still heard her crying. And it sucked because I couldn't do a thing. Adrien moves behind Finch and Jerzei sidesteps to the left, Qrow closing in on the right. He was surrounded.
"Where's the crystal?" Finch barks, shooting a glance to the other red haired chick. She scrapes her blades together, stepping forward and pointing one at Tripp. For how short she was, she wasn't very scary. Ooh, I think my fuzzy socks just ran for cover.
Tripp's patience runs out and he makes a dart for it, and I scream ha name. I knew he would do that. Finch instantly raises his gun and shoots at Tripp, the bullet grazing his bicep. Damn you, stupid Hollister boy.
Tripp utters a growl of pain and grabs his arm, stumbles and grabs for the cord, using his body weight to hoist Finch up into the air. The cord tightens around both feet and he hits the floor, one foot slipping out as he flies into the air. He begins to scream orders at the other two people and I spin around, running back to the old junk truck parked in the back between stacks of boxes. I told her to hide there if she broke free. I told her specifically the truck.
With my body screaming in protest I drop to my back leg, sliding under the carriage to make my escape with Liz. Hopefully, she had listened to what I said before and would follow orders. Hopefully.
When I got to the exit, she was still over there, caught up in the mess. I cursed again and yelled her name, but too many shots were being fired for her to hear. I started to run back to the team seeing it quickly spiral out of hand. I prayed everyone would read the situation and do something to take him down, but I watched Finch raise his pistol again, pointing it at the group.
"Get down!" I scream, covering my head with my hands and dropping to the floor. The shot rang out and I winced, everybody going quiet. I slowly looked up, praying nobody got hit.
Please, God, I think as I look around to everybody on the floor. Please, please, please.
But then, with Jerzei's primal scream, I realized that this night was the first one to have the death of a teammate in it.
I look up, scrambling to my feet and rushing over to help. I thought Jerzei was the one hit, but I saw Elizabeth laying there on the ground, gasping and hunching over her stomach. Oh no, I thought as I try to keep calm. Oh no, no, no...
Qrow shoved me aside violently and pulled her from the ground, staring down at her blood soaked stomach. He bites his bottom lip as he strokes Liz's face. I had to look away so I wouldn't cry. Tripp knelt down beside me, ripping his shirt off and handing it to Qrow. I shift uncomfortably, making room for him to sit. I look up and realize Jerzei is fist-fighting the woman over Finch, trying to keep her away. I stumble to my legs but a pair of hands grab me from behind, tearing me away and flinging me back. I slide across the floor, reaching down and pulling my pistol free.
I thought I already killed this guy, I think, waiting for him to close back in. Before he has time to reach me I fire two shots at him and send him stumbling back, and I stand over him, emptying my magazine. That should be enough.
When I look up again Jers has the girl pinned to the floor, using the other end of the cord to tie her up like a pig. Relief washes over me as I wipe blood from my face. It was finally over. For now.
I look back to Liz and her body is draped over Qrow's arm, Qrow leaned over her and holding her head. Every cell in my body seems to die for a second, every one of my limbs going numb.
"No..." Qrow breathed, inhaling deeply as he tried to hold himself together. Tripp begins to speak to him but he yells in protest, and it takes Adrien and Tripp both to pull him off of her.
"Damn you, brother!" He roars, trying to pry at Tripp's hands. "Damn you, Finch! Over a damn game! Go to hell, you prick!" He screams, and Jerzei's face flickered with pain. The three are all related by blood.
Qrow tries to fight back, kicking and thrashing, but when his eyes land on me he stops for a second. Our gaze seems to sharpen and he snaps to Finch, dangling by one leg and trying to cut himself loose. Qrow breaks away from Adrien as soon as Tripp lets go and snatches my stranded dagger up off the floor beside Tripp.
"Look at you," He hissed, aggressively stepping forward and grabbing his brother by the throat. "Pure clone of our father, a dangling disgrace to the heir," Qrow says in a low voice, striking him right in the face. Finch grunts, exhaling sharply as he shoots Qrow a challenging look. Finch spits blood at Qrow, his face a deep purple. "He... would always remind us we are blood... and anything you are to speak so much of him... will be echoed in the depths of your resting place," He sputters, stumbling over his words with grunts of effort.
"In relation to that told fantasy," Qrow responds, kneeling down infront of him and grabbing his face. Finch's dark hair sways beneath him and his diamond eyes are fluttering with his weaving consciousness. "I hope you rot in hell with him," He sneers, his voice rising. Qrow wasn't the type to be anything merciless or violent, so this was a new side I've never seen to him. And it wasn't something I wanted to be on the other end of. Suddenly, Qrow hit him again with such force his lip split open and his head snapped halfway around. I gasp and cover my mouth, my eyes screwing shut as he traces Finch's jawline with the tip of my dagger.
"We'll be seeing you soon," He shoots back behind gritted teeth, and it didn't take a word for me to know what he would do next. Qrow grabbed his shoulder and plunged my dagger straight into Finch's gut, blood immediately beginning to trickle out his mouth and nose. Finch gasped and tried to sit up, but Qrow put both hands on the handle to my blade, twisting it sideways and pushing it deeper and deeper inside him. I grimaced, turning away as my knees began to weaken. Once it was so deep I supposed it was protruding out his back, Qrow dragged the knife down the length of his belly, slitting him wide open. I've never seen the inside of a person before.
I watched Adrien cover his mouth in shock and Jerzei hide her face behind her sleeve, turning away and shrieking as we watched some of his internals fall out of him, spilling out of his body and popping onto the floor with a repulsive splat. Tripp made an intense gagging sound beside me as Qrow dropped the dagger and took a few steps back before falling to his knees. I held back the urge to throw up. I could never.
I'm the first one to rush forward and throw my arms around him, burying my face in his grimy, dirty, bloody shoulder. His blood-caked hands wrap around my back and pull me closer, and he starts to sob into my sleeve.
"Autumn," He cries, fisting my shirt in his hands. I pet his hair, biting back tears. "I-I am so, so sorry."

Hey my lovely reader! Thank you so, SO much for reading my first sneak-peek at my original story, Reputation! No, seriously; It means a lot to me. So thank you. I'm a first time writer so I am completely inexperienced, so if you could comment with positive suggestions to improve my writing, feel free! Also, add to your library so you can find me later and keep up on updates! My updating schedule is whenever I have time to, so please don't bug and heckle me about updates, because plotlines and 1K word chapters are hard! Please remember to vote and comment if you have any questions or suggestions on anything I could do better! And if you don't... well... at least keep reading onto the next chapter... It won't hurt you, right? Xoxo

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-Elissa-