Nathan’s long, pale red overcoat churned in the breeze as he paced back and forth. He was above New Valence’s neon glow on this rooftop, a rare corner of peace and loneliness. Now that he wasn’t invisible, there really wasn’t much to the “Bloodhound” persona.
On his off-white hoodie there was a squiggly pair of eyes & a mouth, a simple ghost face drooping in sadness. He wore the hood raised, concealing most of his face in shadow. His grey pants were on the baggier side, and his black boots on the heavier side. Reaching down to his knees was his burgundy trench coat.
He clenched his gloved fists as he paced in frustration. “I’m getting nowhere.” he muttered aloud to himself. “It’s been two weeks of the same low-level fuckers. I should be closer by now.”
This one-man war of his wasn’t as straightforward as he had expected. 8-Ball’s criminal empire stretched as wide as the city itself, and despite its size it was perfectly encapsulated in secret. Nathan assumed there was a chain of command in place; the only way 8-Ball could manage even the most unimportant of street thugs over such a large area. But as he began his climb up this structural ladder, Nathan was starved for information, no matter how hard he tried beating it out of people. Either these criminals didn’t know who they reported to, or they simply preferred death over snitching.
“Maybe I need to change tactics.” Nathan stopped pacing & raised his head in thought. “I could clear the streets for a year and get nowhere. There’s gotta be some shady places around town gang leaders spend all their nights at. I need to hook a bigger fish.”
As he thought of where to strike first, there was silent movement behind him.
Despite the lack of light, on the ground behind Nathan was a dark outline that moved when he moved. A Shadow, although his wasn’t quite as much a part of him like they are for most people.
The Shadow contorted, and starting from the head, it began to lift from the ground as if it was tape being unpeeled. White & grey joined the black mass as it shifted into its true form, emitting undead hushes as it did so.
Hearing this, Nathan turned around and jumped at the sight. Recovering quickly, he exhaled deeply. “Geez, still not used to you just popping up and stuff. Or did I just call you?”
Staring back at him was his ghostly Shadow. What it was on the other side of the spirit realm he still wasn’t sure, but its grayed-out, black-feather headdress and armbands were reminiscent of Aztec attire. Out of the pale, formless mist of its lower half, a spine of dismembered vertebrae reached upwards, ending in a human-esque skull. It was missing its lower jaw, with a long black tongue curling out from where it should’ve been. Like Nathan, it had piercing red eyes glowing from inside its head cavity. Floating ribs made up its chest, with a ring around its black, motionless heart. In place of shoulder bones it had a raven skull on each side, both with their own pair of red eyes. The arms were made of more vertebrae, ending in pointed separated finger bones.
The Shadow was transparent, & made no noise despite mirroring every move Nathan made. Its eyes didn’t move with its body though; they stared straight into space, never blinking.
“Y’know, you’re welcome to talk or…emote at all.” Nathan said warily as he waved, making the Shadow wave with the opposite hand. “Then again, you’re creepy enough already.”
Waiting a moment for a response that never came, Nathan sighed, turning away to peer at the whirring street below. “There’s still so many questions about you Shadows that I wish you’d answer. Like why I’m stuck with you, or how you gave me these powers. Or why the hell you killed me when we first met.”
He turned back to the emotionless Shadow with a slight smile. “I’m not mad about that anymore, so don’t worry about it. But in return, I’ll be needing your help for a while. 8-Ball has to die, along with every creep crawling under him. I can’t live until they do.”Somewhat awkwardly, Nathan extended a hand, which ensured the Shadow did the same. Nathan made a shaking motion, even though his hand passed straight through.
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Dashing across New Valence’s urban canopy, Nathan had found that parkour came naturally to him; although that was probably because he was kind of cheating. Despite the imposing stature his Shadow rose him to, he could clear ledges & leap over alleys with ease, and at a speed that should’ve tired him out way more than it did.
His destination sat underneath him–a discreet nightclub/brothel, one of many which the Gravesey Ward of the city was unfortunately famous for. Along with the notorious Deadwood Mile, such establishments & the type of patrons they attract are the reason why out of New Valence’s five wards, Gravesey is the only one that’s never on any tourist itineraries.
Looking down from the club rooftop, Nathan waited. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before a shady-looking individual came out of the building, scanning the streets before proceeding with his posse of three bulky bodyguards.
“The gazelle has left the watering hole.” Nathan whispered. “I guess that makes me the lion. I can rock with that.”
The more accurate term would be Bloodhound, & like a switch Nathan cast his normal demeanor aside, all too ready to act like one.
As the gang leader stepped into his shiny black sports car parked outside, Bloodhound waited for the vehicle to rev up and head on its way, following it from the rooftops. Seeing a construction side up ahead, Bloodhound sprinted past the car & jumped down onto a fire escape, then onto the street.
As he descended, a chrome liquid streamed from his back, coating his entire body & clothes. Once he was completely covered, he became completely invisible. On the street corner opposite the construction site, Bloodhound waited. Just as the gang leader’s car sped past, he kicked with all his might, hitting the fender with a smash.
The car was immediately derailed, maintaining its high speed as it barrelled to the right, straight into the construction site where it landed in the dust. Bloodhound wasn’t far behind. He maneuvered the unfinished skeleton of steel beams and descended quietly onto a pallet of wood. It was pitch black and several feet below street level down at the bottom.
In bewilderment, the gang leader & his security stumbled out of the car coddling bleeding wounds. Fumbling for their flashlights, they quickly scanned the area, although the light wasn’t nearly enough.
Before any of them could shout an expletive, one of the bodyguards’ necks suddenly snapped, causing the three remaining flashlight beams to zero in on his collapsed corpse in stunned surprise.
The three remaining criminals all grabbed their handguns, furiously searching for something to point them at. They all yelled at each other for not finding anything yet.
Another bodyguard fell on his face, and was then dragged by his feet into the darkest corner, screaming in terror. The sound of blood splatter ceased his cries.
The last bodyguard took a knife from a holster on his leg & threw it into the abyss of the corner. There was no sound of an impact, as Bloodhound caught it. He threw it back at the man at breakneck speed, lodging it squarely into the bodyguard’s throat. Sputtering up blood & gasping for air, he too collapsed to his death.
“What do you want!?” the gang leader shouted hoarsely.
As if to answer, Bloodhound rushed up behind him & smacked his head against the roof of the battered car. Bloodhound held the gang leader against the car with a cold hand on his collar.
“Who pays you?” Bloodhound demanded, in his wispy layered voice.
“I-I dunno.” the gang leader whined, but Bloodhound tightened his grip. Blabbering much faster, he said, “It’s all online! Online! I get money sent to my account and that’s all, I swear!”
The criminal plunged his hand into his pocket, and tapped a concealed button. Coughing for breath, he tried prying Bloodhound’s hand open to no avail. “OK, OK! I got a name for ya, so ease up!”
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Reluctantly, Bloodhound softened his grip to let the man speak. “There’s gonna be a big event goin’ down soon.” he panted. “Down, huff, in the Mile. One of the big dogs is hostin’, they call him Steamroller. That’s all I know, man I swear.”
Bloodhound released him but reeled back to kill him in one blow. Out of nowhere, an excruciating blast of screeching sound attacked the construction site. All the windows on the car shattered into tiny pieces. The gang leader’s ears spurted blood as he fell unconscious.
Bloodhound’s stance faltered as he stood frozen for a moment. Blinking, he gritted his teeth as his ears throbbed in pain.
From above, two powerful yellow searchlights exposed the entire site. Sure enough, Bloodhound remained completely invisible, save for a few patches where physical exertion evaporated the concealing liquid.
“That’s a neat trick.” came an amplified voice above him. “Gotta say, I wasn’t sure I’d ever find you. And about that, a little tip: the harder you hit these muh’fuckers, the quicker they tip us off.”
“Here’s my bigger fish.” Bloodhound muttered, as he held a hand up to shield his eyes under the harsh light.
Above him, a tall man in a black bomber jacket and green cargo pants stood suspended in the air. He wore a sleek purple aviation helmet, with a full yellow visor & a respirator designed for high altitudes. Most notably though, were the two giant purple mechanical wings extending from a harness on his back. They boasted a wingspan large enough to fit two more people inside, hovering with an electromagnetic hum. Large speakers were embedded in the wings, the source of that deafening sound earlier.
“I’ve got a visual, boss. Sorta, anyway.” the winged man said to the radio in his helmet. “We goin’ for termination?”
“How dutiful of you, Malik.” 8-Ball said over the line. “Yes please. And if you’d be so kind, could you bring his body back for a closer look?”
“Can do, boss. Oh, and…call me by that code name you gave me earlier. It’s badass.”
8-Ball chuckled. “Alright, Echo. I look forward to your return.” The line went quiet.
Malik, or rather Echo, turned back to where Bloodhound was standing to find that he had vanished. “Shoulda figured.” he muttered. Tapping his helmet, his visor switched to sonar mode, picking up a source of sound from the corner of his eye.
Whirling around, he reacted just in time to see Bloodhound leap towards him from a steel beam. Power burst into the harness on his back as he rocketed several feet higher in the air, immediately aiming his wings at Bloodhound’s trajectory. Noise cancellation padding activated in Echo’s ear plating, and he let loose another blast of high-intensity sound.
Bloodhound instinctively covered his ears as he winced, missing the chance to grab onto another beam & crashing into a pile of gravel on the ground.
“So this is who he sends when I annoy him enough.” Bloodhound thought aloud as he hopped out of the gravel & dusted himself off. “Gotta be careful about this.”
As Bloodhound gave climbing the steel framework of the construction site another shot, Echo’s searchlights suddenly switched off. In the moment it took Bloodhound’s eyes to readjust to the total darkness, Echo circled overhead like a buzzard. His sonar gave him as much vision as broad daylight, albeit without color.
“You think you can take us all on by yourself.” Echo challenged, his voice broadcasted over the wings’ speakers. “Can’t tell if you’ve got huge balls, or if you’re just plain dumb.” He watched in amusement as Bloodhound climbed the several stories of metal with impressive agility getting higher & higher into the skies he dominated.
Bloodhound didn’t want to dignify Echo with a response, but he felt like he had to defend himself. “And you’re blind. 8-Ball took everything, he’s got this coming.” he snapped.
“The boss saved my fuckin’ life.” Echo snorted. “He saved all of our lives. All that kindness, and in return he gets a problematic prick like you. Least I can do for him is bury you in the hole you crawled out of.”
Bloodhound clicked his tongue. He was getting as high up as he could, but vertically Echo held the ultimate advantage. “C’mere then!” he shouted.
Like a falcon, Echo rose up in the air & stalled, twirling back downwards with his wings closed to gain speed. He opened his wings, dive bombing Bloodhound’s position, carpeting the construction site in deadly noise. “Man, Air Force gets all the best toys!” he shouted in laughter.
The sound was intolerable, but Bloodhound had resolved to tolerate it anyway. He kicked up a plank of wood laying across two beams and grabbed it. He had a small plan at the ready, although he could barely hear himself think at this rate.
Echo swept in low again, seemingly heading straight for Bloodhound. Gritting his teeth & resisting the urge to cover his ears with all his might, Bloodhound raised the plank & threw it like an Olympian, sending it rocketing straight for Echo’s body.
Echo barely had enough time to draw in his wings to protect himself, forcing him to relent his sound bombardment. In this small moment of opportunity, Bloodhound lept towards him, counting on his superhuman strength to end this in one blow once he got within arm’s reach.
All of Bloodhound’s invisibility had evaporated at this point, and suddenly Echo found himself face to face with him. The air went cold, and Bloodhound reared back a deadly punch.
In defiance, Echo’s wings flew open, and as Bloodhound got in close he raised his arms palms open, revealing miniature speakers fastened to his hands. They unleashed a compact sonic blast, stunning Bloodhound in the moment before he could react. Echo grabbed his arm and accelerated straight through the steel jungle gym. He angled himself such that he was between two floors of metal beams, with a stunned Bloodhound dangling straight in the path of the oncoming structure.
Just as he came to his senses, Bloodhound smacked his face straight into a beam as Echo flew just above unharmed. Falling down a floor, he landed on his back on more metal. He noted his reaction time was getting slower, his brain weary of the constant sensory assaults. Not to mention his ears were ringing, such that it was hard to make out the sound of his own breath.
“This is probably too late to ask, but what kinda music you like?” Echo taunted as he flew up above the unfinished building. “I can put somethin’ on for you. For your last moments, and all.”
Realizing time wasn’t on his side here, Bloodhound came up with another idea. Echo’s sonar was too cutting-edge; it could see right through his invisibility. So he had to be invisible in two places at once.
Releasing the chrome liquid from his spine again, Bloodhound took a deep breath as he concealed himself. He yanked out a loose bolt from the beam he was standing on, and aimed his throw at the edge of a girder a few grid squares away.
He stomped on the beam he stood on & then threw the bolt as hard as he could, making a small dent in the girder he had targeted. Sure enough, there was a large ping on Echo’s sonar, and then another smaller one some distance away. Bloodhound must’ve leaped.
Zeroing in on the second ping, Echo descended to where he assumed would be Bloodhound’s backside. Before he could realize he’d been tricked, Bloodhound jumped onto Echo’s harness from behind, grabbing the top of his aviation helmet, about to snap his neck.
“Sucks." Echo said through stressed breaths. “Boss loves crafty fuckers like you.” Both of his wings swiveled backwards & angled towards Bloodhound. A single second of gruesome volume at that range was enough to rupture both of Bloodhound’s eardrums completely. He felt his brain shudder in his skull as his hearing was ripped away from him in a wave of excruciating pain.
He clenched every muscle in his body, refusing to be fazed. Bloodhound maintained his grip, and kicked down on Echo’s left wing. Kicking again, the wing snapped out of the harness & plummeted to the ground below.
“Gahdayum.” Echo shouted, putting all power in his flight harness to rocket himself & Bloodhound as high into the sky as possible. The ascent was pretty flimsy with only one wing, but it was fast enough to keep Bloodhound clinging onto the harness instead of snapping Echo’s neck.
It didn’t take them long at all to get at least 2 stories higher than the unfinished building, at which point Echo started stalling. As his speed dropped & he started to roll backwards, Echo tried in vain to wrestle Bloodhound’s hand off his helmet. He raised the speaker on his other hand.
Blood trickling down his neck from his ears, Bloodhound ignored how light his head felt, grabbing Echo’s poised hand & squeezed, crushing the speaker along with his bones.
Echo screamed in pain as his harness’ power gave out, giving him half a second before they both entered free fall. “Boss!” he shouted over his helmet’s radio. “Mayday! Thanks for everything, sorry I failed…”
“The first of many.” Bloodhound growled, although he couldn’t hear either of them speak. He grabbed Echo’s chin and yanked upwards, hyperextending his spine & giving him a fatal dose of whiplash.
Bloodhound began to plummet, losing grip of Echo’s limp body falling beside him. He twirled around midair to see the impact below rapidly approaching him. “Fuck!” he yelled, to his own deaf ears.
He crashed onto a metal beam squarely on his chest & immediately ricocheted down & away. He dinged his head on more metal halfway down the structure. Smacking onto the ground on his stomach, Bloodhound lay still for a few moments.
He couldn’t hear the impacts or even his own groans, but he felt all of it just fine.
Echo’s corpse splattered behind him, having been blessed with a straight shot to the bottom.
His head swimming, Bloodhound panted & coughed in pain & struggled to come to his feet. His eyelids drooped low & his mouth sat open, blood dripping out. Clumsily regaining his balance, he stood up gripping his ribs. With strained effort, he stumbled off, not even giving Echo a final glance.
“Is *agh* this how it’s gonna be?” he whispered aloud. It was beginning to dawn on him why no one had ever been able to threaten 8-Ball before. And now that he’s tried, there will be no escape until the job is done.
Not to mention he might be deaf for life now. But Nathan’s determination never wavered for a second. Leaving the construction site, he turned to look back at the aftermath.
“You won’t shake me that easy.” he resolved, the image of his target in a purple suit clear in his mind. “Same time tomorrow?”