Enjoy this chapter, the start of the display of our protagonists abilities. And to MR. Sam Xin Moran, the chapters will get longer. Enjoy and comment
Two of the merc captain’s underlings opened the door in a silent manner unbefitting of their burly build. The doors opened into and they immediately proceeded in, their boots clicking quietly upon the tile floor of the old warehouse. As they proceeded into the warehouse, the luminescence visors quickly adjusted, giving a sickly green sheen to everything in sight.
“Jacob, Butowsky, you’re on the east and west side. Rookie, you’re with me.”
“Yes sir.” Said the new rookie
“You’re too uptight Jack.”
“Yeah, lighten up. This is easy money. A regular defenseless citizen and we’ve caught him with his pants down to boot.” Said the two more seasoned mercenaries. They split off from the merc captain and treaded to their respective sides.
They treaded carefully through the dark warehouse. There was a bit of a rumble under their feet and their luminescence visors flickered from light and dark.
“Solar Flares…” The merc captain muttered under his breath along with some more colorful words.
The rookie, a man of a slightly lesser build than the others finally voiced the question that had been bothering him this whole time.
“Sir? Something’s been bothering me for a while now. Why in the world would someone hire you, a member of the upper echelons of the SN Mercenary Coalition, to kill an ordinary citizen? I’ve read the target’s profile. A Zatch Jacob Grissom. An ordinary citizen as far as I could tell. He isn’t high up in any organizations, nor does he have any exposure to any important information. Nothing that would make him a target, much less a target for you, Jack Crow. And then—“
The merc captain, Jack Crow, suddenly turned around and pushed the rookie up against the wall.
“Alright, I know you’re new to this and all, but I do not appreciate the constant stream of crap that seems to be flowing from your mouth. We don’t ask questions. We do our job, and make sure it isn’t traced back to our clients. Got it?” He said with a dangerous edge to his voice. Before he could continue his lecture, he received a call over the comms.
“Hey boss. We moved through the warehouse as told to do. West and east sides are clear. We’ll meet each other in the middle and then move to the north side. He won’t be able to escape through the north side either, Butowsky rigged it with explosives prior to our entrance.”
“Noted. Be thorough. The “good” doctor was very specific about how he wanted the job done.” Voiced Jack over the comms as he proceeded to the center of the warehouse. The sensual moans grew louder and louder as they continued their approach.
“Whoa… Boss, we’ve got a code black and blue. You’ll want to come see this for yourself.”
Jack’s face darkened as he hurried his pace, the red dot dancing across the walls as he ran.
“Code black and blue? What is that supposed to mean.”
“Means that the target is already dead and there are other corpses with him.”
They rounded a corner and came to the approximate center of the warehouse. There were cargo crates stacked high making a square enclosure. The rookie turned his head away from the sight.
“Wow. That’s impressive” Said Jack with a low whistle.
On each of the four sides of the enclosure was a body. A wolf demi-human body to be exact. Each of the bodies were slumped up against the cargo crates. Above them was painted one long streak flanked by two shorter uniform streaks in something that looked suspiciously like blood. In the center of the enclosure was the most shocking sight of all. Suspended by a rope swung the target, Zatch Grissom. His eyes were closed and a happy expression floated upon his face. Below the hanging body was what looked like a recording device: Both the sensual groans and moans were originating from the machine.
“Seriously, how could the bastard have such a smug look on his face when he’s been hung?” asked Butowsky.
“Maybe he killed them all and then hung himself? Who knows? Maybe Dr. Kulm saw him as a threat to society and wanted us to take care of it.” Said Jacob
“Idiot, we’re not supposed say the name in the vicinity of the target.”
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“Oh who cares! He’s dead anyway, and so are all the slaves. The light on the slave collar is dark, but there is still traces of light, so the bastard must have killed them pretty quickly.”
While the two mercenaries bickered, Jack was doing vital checks on all of the wolf demi-humans. As much as he hated these impure humans, if there was a chance to gain information, he’d take it. As he was running vital checks on the demi-humans he perked his head up after getting a reading on the small demi-human boy.
“Oi, get over here, we have a live one.”
The three other mercenaries gathered around the small boy quickly knelt down.
The small boy began to stir, his wolf ears twitching slowly as his eyes opened slowly, showing brilliant green irises that contrasted with his naturally grey hair. As soon as his eyes opened they scanned his surroundings. His eyes widened in fright at something behind him.
“Ashne-gah! Ashne-gah! Ty Ashne-gah ohk Vorsne!” Screamed the small child in terror as he scrabbled backwards, trying to escape from whatever it is he saw.
“What is the brat sayin?” Jacob asked brusquely.
Under the helmet, Jack made a curious expression
“He’s speaking in Qettish. It roughly translates to ‘Hell Gone! Hell Gone! He has gone to hell and returned.’ The last sentence was more on a name than anything. It’s a name for a demon in the common mythology among the civilizations of the Explorer’s Ring. It’s another name for the Fiends.” Jack said.
He turned around and looked at the hanging Zatch Grissom, the place where the boy’s eyes were looking in terror. The earth beneath their feet started to tremble and the luminescence visors flickered and then went completely black, throwing everything into the darkness. The sensual moans and the groans also cut off completely.
“Dammit, solar flare fried our visors and the speaker, switch to the shielded flashlights.” Jack said as he looked around. The whimpering of the small boy continued through the dark.
Their flashlights attached to their guns flickered to light, piercing into the veil of darkness. Their thin beams of light illuminated the boxed in area of cargo crates.
“Umm… Where’s the body?” Muttered Butowsky.
His flashlight shone a beam upon the now empty noose as it swung slowly in the air.
“AAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGG gggggggg Help ME! HELP ME! Help M--*loud crackling static*” This was followed by 5 shots from the G-7 EC Auto Rifle in rapid succession outside of the enclosure.
Butowsky and Jacob looked at each other and in a single moment of realization.
“The rookie!” they said as they both rushed out.
Jack just sighed and ran out with them.
At the entrance lay the rookies G-7 EC, the barrel still slightly smoking from its recent discharge. They could hear a dragging sound as something receded into the darkness.
“Jacob, Butowsky, fan out. Coral whatever the hell that things is to the north side. We’ll get it, or the explosives will.”
Both of them split up and Jack went back inside to see if he could recover the kid. Instead, he was met with a frightening sight. The wolf demi-humans were no longer there. They were gone, but those strange blood marks were still upon the wall, and a new one was on the floor, right below the now occupied noose.
Swinging slowly from the noose was the rookie. A knife was planted firmly in between his ribs.
“Isn’t that my knife?” Jack approached the body quietly.
“Jacob, Butowsky, what did you guys find?”
The only thing that answered him was cold, emotionless static.
Then, the static cleared up suddenly, and an eerie giggle came through the comms.
“*giggle* NO Communication. But don’t worry. They’re still alive. I’m a bit more generous than you are with your targets. So I’ll give you a chance. Walk away and don’t come back.” Said the voice, light hearted at the beginning, but carrying a dangerous edge at the end.
“No way in hell Mr. Grissom. I’m coming to kill you and mount your head on my f*cking Wall!”
“*giggle* Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, Language Mr. Mercenary. You are now on my kill list for that.”