Mission : A Challenge - Contract Nature : Personal
"I once thought I was going mad, only until I discovered a journal did I realize that the truth was indeed madness. But soon, soon the world will change and it is ironic that these lesser men, seeking to increase their own power, made the perfect vessel."
POV - Unknown
It was too easy, the security was a joke, the girl put up a fight but she was inexperienced, that was the problem with programmed fighting skills, the only came out in instinct, not in detail or strategy but more like a cornered animal fighting for it's fading life.
A man with the spitting image of an old legend, Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts stood over two unconscious women, one in her early 30s and one no older than 15. Around them were security, dead security who seemingly killed themselves, in the man's hands was a golden sphere made of strange material that glowed slightly.
"The perfect vessel, all I need now is proof that when trained properly, she would surpass our old forms." He bent down as if talking to the unconscious teenager, saying "Thankfully child, one of such nature already exists. If I kill him, more work must be done, if he kills me then all is going according to plan."
POV Shift - Agent 47
A mobster walked into a room, oblivious to 47's disguise as a drug dealer, when he sat down he triggered a pressure plate which in turn caused a thin yet strong string to be cut which in turn triggered a suppressed pistol hidden in the roof to end him.
Another contract was down and the money was wired to his account. This is what he does, it's just business.
Later at a safehouse his phone rang, probably another job but not one he was expecting.
"The legendary hitman, I've got an interesting proposal for you." said the man on the other end, 47 replied "How did you get this number?" it was not the usual way he was contracted which meant an outside interest.
The man replied "Oh your number? Took it from a call trace on Diana Burnwood's phone. Yes, I know all about that little dance you had with Dexter's Industries and more importantly, about the girl, Victoria."
47 was prepared to make a call trace whenever he needed and quickly tapped into some equipment provided by the ICA in the usual event of being tracked down or to track down a target. He responded, saying "What do you want?"
The man replied "You, Hitman. You needn't worry about the girl's safety, she has a role to play regardless of the outcome. Put simply, I'm calling you out. Don't bother tracing this call because I'll tell you where I am for free. I'm holed up in some abandoned warehouse on 43rd Street, no.4 in Hope, South Dakota. Used to store a lot of fancy toys for Dexter Industries before most of their assets got sold to Sarif Industries. I've hired a bunch of idiots for you to have target practice. Finding me and the girl will be the true test Hitman. I hear you've go-"
47 hanged up and walked over to a case with a logo on it, opening it revealed his most prized possessions. Two Suppressed .45 Automatics, heavily customized and termed Silverballers. He loaded them and in a harness concealed in his suit stored spare magazines in the event more than one shot was needed. His instinct could tell this caller was honest about keeping Victoria alive and challenging him. It would be the last thing this man did.
POV Shift - The Sage
"Huh, straight to business, I like that." said the man who tossed the phone lightly onto a couch, once her necklace was removed the girl was too easy to control, something that could be corrected with an altered version of the isotope being injected. He moved to a large kit and began to prepare a syringe filled with a blue fluid and took note of the apple of eden next to the kit.
The girl was weak but still able to speak, she spoke, saying "What do you want with me?" The man simply replied "Nothing dreadful I can assure you. You're a unique young woman. I'm surprised how much strength and agility can be crammed into a double-helix genetic sequence, perhaps simplicity is better afterall. I'm going to challenge that friend of yours, if he kills me you'll be free to go. If I kill him then I'm going to have to do a few tests to improve you. Either way, your future is ascension."
POV Shift - 47, three hours later
47 arrived near the mansion and surveyed his surroundings, his keen senses noticing several armed guards who couldn't be little more than street thugs, even Wade's guards were more intelligent and accurate, this man was severely underestimating him.
Easily picking them off on by one with his fiber wire he also left no body unhidden, occasionally he used his suppressed silverballers to eliminate at range and once he had cleared the warehouse the speakers began to make known the voice of the challenger who said "Well done Hitman, I'm impressed. No there are no cameras, you're not the only one with heightened senses but mine are far superior. I wonder if you have the sense of knowledge much like myself, in any case however there is an elevator on the right of the building take it down and we'll have our little duel. Feel free to use whatever you want, guns, wire, knives, your bare hands if necessary."
47 quickly noticed the elevator in question and disabled it's circuitry and located a welder nearby, deciding to weld open a hole in the floor and easily climbed down the shaft walls and entered an air vent, his senses were heightened but somehow, he could not find anyone in this small basement but Victoria, another thing concerned him was two empty syringes on a table next to her. Even stranger was that her necklace was still on, perhaps placed after being injected with sedatives.
Exiting a vent silently he suddenly shifted his body to avoid three throwing knives, his opponent disappeared into cover quickly and 47 reached for one of the knives only to decide against it, noticing metal pricks about the grip that retracted when his hand grew near it and some kind of electronic sensor according to his knowledge, these knives could only be used by his opponent.
47 moved through cover, careful not to reveal himself only again to be forced to evade throwing knives. His opponent must be like him to detect him so easily.
The Sage quickly and silently scaled up, tens of thousands of years of experience all kicking in. In all honestly it wasn't until much later that he learned the skills of the Assassins just after his life as the infamous Black Bart.
Moving silently he tapped into his sense, what was now called Eagle Vision, something all his people had before their destruction at the mercy of the sun. He was actually being challenged to stay hidden, the Hitman was more than capable of finding him just as much as he was able to find him. Several minutes passed as he threw one knife at a metal support beam, the bounced off and spun towards 47 who deflected the knife with a round from a Silverballer and had decided enough was enough. Moving quickly to evade the ensuring barrage of soundless bullets one made it's way into his shoulder though he shrugged off the pain and moved swiftly and with something he pried off a nosy assassin the past month he lunged at 47 from behind.
47 found he was unable to line up a shot so instead used the silverballer to deflect the blade which came unheld from under his assailant's wrist.
Something came to memory, an impossible thing. He had killed this man once before when he was young, more specifically during his escape from Ort-Meyer.
Ignoring the memory 47 quickly attempted to move his other silverballer into a firing position when the assailant moved as swiftly as he did, disarming him of one silverballer and scraping 47's arm with the hidden blade at the same time. Forced to fire early, 47 disarmed his assailant of the stolen silverballer only for him to ignore the pain and sweep down, feigning a leg sweep which 47 reacted by moving back only for the hidden blade to be ejected at his gun, leaving both men unarmed.
Both were less than an arm's length away and their only options was unarmed combat and 47 quickly engaged the man in hand to hand, eventually surpassing his attacker in technique and speed and quickly got into a position to break his arms, both of them.
47 then calmly walked over to pick up his silverballers as the man spoke, saying "Heh, so I was right, you have surpassed us. Excellent. Now go ahead, kill me, it will begin a new, glorious era."
47 however holstered his firearms and took out his fiber wire, saying "Not before you tell me what you did to Victoria."
The man grinned and said "Nothing serious. I merely ensured, finally, the resurrection I worked so hard to accomplish."
Pain, confusion and anger overcame 47, despite his training. The cause was unknown, it was this man, an urge to shoot himself came apparent but 47 resisted it and sent himself in a roundhouse, knocking a golden sphere from Victoria's hands. The moment the sphere left her hands she fell unconscious to the floor. She snuck up on him which was impressive but more importantly, she attacked him. He used the fiber wire to choke, but not kill the man before him, saying "Answer me! What did you do? Drugs? Psychotherapy? What was that sphere?"
The man grinned and said "In time you will know, but know this, no amount-" Again 47 pressed with the wire, choking the man who then let one last grin and bit something.
47 released him as he began to spasm and die before him, Cyanide Capsule imbedded in a tooth. Looking at the slowly waking Victoria who seemed puzzled by her surroundings and when she looked at the sphere, she reached for it only for 47 to grab her hand instead whilst saying "No, that device somehow caused you to lose your sanity. I'll repair the elevator mechanism and we'll leave. I'm taking the sphere with me and if possible, I'm destroying it."
Victoria replied as 47 grabbed the sphere, saying "What happened. What did he want?"
47's face was calm as always, inside however he was confused and concerned. He replied, saying "I don't know. But I intend to find out. I've encountered this man before and I can run a search for facial recognition for any past aliases."
47 placed the apple in his coat and proceeded towards the elevator shaft in order to climb back up and undo the circuitry damage which was possible, he did not leave himself without an exit. He would later call for a team to sweep the place and find out what was in those syringes but until then, he had only questions and no answers.
End...?