(Now a long chapter lol)
Mackenzie (still .-.)
Two men walked cautiously onto the old, rickety dock where another man, dressed in a nice suit, stood in wait. The approaching men were wearing suits as well, one a dark grey and the other a deep black. The man who awaited their arrival glanced at his watch then picked up a briefcase, stepping forward slowly to meet his guests.
"Snipe or storm?" Mackenzie whispered and glanced at her brother. He still held up his binoculars, staring at the exchange taking place below. The two watched from a perch at the top of a small hill overlooking the docks. "Hello? Hey don't ignore me!" She hissed. He waved a dismissing hand at her and continued to observe their targets. "What's so interesting anyway?"
"Shhh..." Ben said simply. His sister turned away, annoyed, and picked up her own binoculars again. The men were exchanging words, then the two motioned behind them, beckoning the twins' gazes to where they had gestured. Seemingly out of the shadows, multiple figures approached. There were maybe three or four, and Mackenzie noticed that they seemed to be surrounded by a faint blue haze. Synchrotron radiation. Great, these men have contractors, so much for an easy job.
"Which one do you think is Yoshida?" Ben asked in an expressionless voice.
"I don't know, maybe one of the guys that have the contractors. Did you not notice that our job just got ten times more difficult?" Mackenzie tried to keep her angry voice quiet. Ben shook his head slowly, almost sadly.
"It's nothing compared to what we've handled before..." He breathed simply.
Mackenzie was quiet for a second, picturing the series of jobs they'd more or less been forced to take on in the past, "Yeah... I guess..." She murmured.
"I say you snipe, I'll storm." Ben spoke cutting her silence, "When they notice you, get down there and help me."
Mackenzie nodded in agreement of his plan. Only three or so contractors. Nothing we can't handle. She reassured herself. This could be fun.
"Ready?" Ben whispered. Mackenzie stared back into the binoculars with squinted eyes. The single man was retreating, obviously trying to talk his way out of trouble. "Go."
Ben shot out from their cover with incredible silence and stealth. Mackenzie could feel her heart pump into action as she watched her hands begin to glow a faint blue. She grinned Yes this will be fun. I think I'll go with the M200 Intervention. Nothing wrong with a little badassness now and again. She pictured the weapon in gruesome detail and in an instant the exact item appeared in her hands.
Peering though the scope, Mackenzie caught one of the two men in the cross hairs. She took a second to analyze the trajectory in consideration to the wind, mind working on an unimaginably skilled level. In that second all she could hear was the hiss of her breath and the pound of her heart.
One, two...
Bang! She sent a bullet straight through the man's skull. The bullet exited the other side of his head, pulling a gush of blood with it. Mackenzie watched him crumple to the ground as his partner stared at him, mortified. Three seconds confusion, five till the hit. Gives me a good twenty.
As the man collapsed in a growing pool of blood, his contractors swiveled around, searching for their hidden assailant. One, two, three, one of them pointed in the direction of her perch yelling at his companions.
Four, five, Out of nowhere, a blast of flames engulfed one of their bodies. Mackenzie could hear the screams even from where she sat. The other three contractors now turned to their new foe, forgetting completely about the sniper on the hill. Oh too easy. Laughing, she reloaded the cartridge and took aim again, this time at the other baffled, well dressed man.
Mackenzie aimed for his chest this time and hit the small target with perfect accuracy. Through the scope she could see his terrified expression as the bullet tore through his body. She knew it was a dreadful sight, but somehow she was unaffected by the horror of it.
Grinning, she dropped the gun and jumped off the side of the hill, sliding with effortless control until she reached the bottom. Upon impact, she immediately broke into a sprint. I'll use a Katana. I mean we are in Japan now. This time she materialized a sword, a katana, like the one she'd seen in a museum back in America. Mackenzie launched herself toward the contractors, who seemed startled to see another attacker.
She lunged for the nearest target. He recovered from his surprise quickly enough to spare himself from a fatal blow, but she still caught one of his arms with the blade. Stumbling back, the man cradled his wounded arm as blood gushed through his fingers. He resumed the blue glow that signaled the use of his powers as he hissed in pain.
With glowing red eyes, the contractor charged Mackenzie. He let go of his bleeding arm and reached out with a red stained hand. A purplish orb formed in his palm and he pulled back his arm, hurling the ball at her legs. Mackenzie anticipated this move though, dodging it with a well aimed back-flip. She landed in a kneeling position, staring at the ground where the orb landed. The grass and dirt that had been impacted now sizzled and burned away, leaving a small hole in the ground.
Acid huh, she remarked. The man was clutching his wounded arm again and Micky shook her head, "you're gonna have to do a lot better than that!"sheI taunted him. He clenched his teeth at the challenge and set loose two more orbs. Mackenzie dodged both with ease. He responded. So he understands English then, she noted and continued to yell, "Oh please, that's all you got?"
The man growled in frustration and, over his shoulder, Mackenzie caught a glimpse of Ben sending one of his foes into the sea with a crushing blast of wind.
Her enemy launched another set of orbs, this time a lot more. She weaved in and out of the droplets, barely dodging a few of them. Damn that was close, she thought then stood to look the man in the eyes.
"That's more like it!" she cooed to him, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, "but I'm afraid it's still not enough." With a disapproving shake of her head, Mackenzie launched herself toward him, katana in hand. She crosses the space between them in a second's time, running straight past him and toward the remaining two contractors.
A screech rang out behind her, but she didn't need to turn to know the scene. Mackenzie had hit the man in the side of the neck. It kept his body in one piece, but was still as effective as cutting off his head. It just took a little longer for him to die. What is this? This... emptiness? I've just killed a man, but there's nothing. Was there ever a time that I did feel something? She asked herself.
Without pause, she continued to where Ben held off the two remaining enemies. One had a tall, stalky figure with dirty black hair and emotionless eyes. The other was a bit shorter, but he appeared fit. He owned a head of thick brown hair and a twisted grin. They may be contractors, but I've killed none the less. Why is it that death no longer phases me?
Ben launched boulders at them, but they were nimble, and dodged. They countered with their own powers. The tall one threw glowing green darts that exploded on impact. The shorter one seemed to contract inhuman strength, splitting Ben's boulders with nothing more than a steel punch.
Mackenzie leaped for the shorter one, using her momentum to back up the attack. The contractor noticed her at the last second and rose his arm to shield his head. The katana came down hard on his forearm. She had used enough force to cut straight through a normal man's arm, but this contractor was not normal, nor was he truly man. The sword was stuck in his arm, but it barely pierced his skin. Abandoning the weapon, she jumped away before he could counter. Perhaps it is what these powers have made me, she thought.
Through her peripheral vision, Mackenzie could see Ben overwhelming his attacker with fierce blow after blow. He used every element with consecutive fluidity. His enemy stumbled around in confusion as he was struck with a blast of wind then swept off his feet by a whip of ocean water. This was followed by the crushing weight of a boulder on his chest. The man struggled desperately under the jagged stone as Ben approached with an almost arrogant walk.
Micky turned back to her opponent. She knew just what she wanted to finish the job. As she began to think up every detail she could recall of her next weapon, Ben placed a palm to the contractor's forehead. The now defenseless man was pleading for his life, trying to make a deal with her brother, but Ben would not hear it. He clenched his fingers around the man's face, summoning a blast of scalding flames that lit up the dark night for a few seconds, then died out, taking the man's life as it departed. Or is it these jobs that have numbed us from emotion? The sheer simplicity of repetition?
By now, the remaining contractor was seeing less and less of a reason to stay and fight. He knew that the only rational decision to make would be to run. Mackenzie saw him begin to inch away slowly, before turning into a mad dash. She looked Ben in the eye, and he nodded. He sent a ball of flame to the ground directly in front of the escaping man, forcing him to stop. When he turned around to confront his attackers one last time, he came face to face with the barrel of Mackenzie's hand pistol. She pressed the icy metal against his forehead with cold reserve.
"Our orders were to kill all associates." Her voice was a hollow whisper, "I guess this just isn't your lucky day," She pulled the trigger, its sound ringing across the silent harbor.
No, perhaps it is the world that has changed. A world where death is the simple choice, the rational one. What better way to put a stop to something than to destroy it? Mackenzie thought, lowering her gun and turning from the body.
She left the man crumpled in the dirt and turned to walk along the abandoned dock. The man with the briefcase was still there, huddled in fear. He had witnessed the entire scene. As Mackenzie approached, she could see that he was shaking. He held up the briefcase as if it could protect him.
"Take it! Take it all!" He cried helplessly, "Please don't kill me! Please, I'll do anything! Just-" she lifted the gun to his terrified face and pulled the trigger, not even flinching when his splattered blood dripped down her cheek. She kicked the briefcase into the water and walked off toward the hill without a single word.
"And you argue that we have emotion..." Ben's voice was tired. Mackenzie didn't turn to look at him. She didn't even acknowledge his presence. They had reached the top of the hill where her rifle still sat. She kicked it over and used her power once again to make it disappear and keep it out of the wrong hands.
"It's started," Ben said simply and sat down on the grassy hillside. Mackenzie turned and stared at him for a second before she took a seat next to him and looked up at the stars. Four of them are gone because of us.
"Bad?" She asked Ben in concern. He nodded and tucked his knees to his chest, closing his eyes and plugging his ears with his palms. Micky put an arm around him because it was all she could think to do.
All contractors have a payment and the twins were no different. Mackenzie believed that Ben's was perhaps one of the most terrible. For a time, he would be connected with the spirits of the dead. They could be real souls, or maybe they were just parts of his imagination. Either way, in the few minutes they are present, Ben can actually feel the emotions that burn inside him.
We have too many ghosts in our past and too much loss. Mackenzie thought, It's not fair that he has to listen to the whispers of what could have been, and see the memories of what we could have had.
Mackenzie was silent as Ben rocked and shook his head. The night air was full of the chirps of insects. She felt an incredible nagging in the pit of her stomach, but pushed it away. My payment can wait until I see him through to the end of this torture. Micky growled, fighting the feeling.
"Kiana..." Ben whispered and then she felt it. Mackenzie actually felt something. It was such a terrible pain that it seemed to weigh her chest down. It pulled on her heart with such force that she felt ready to collapse. It hurt so much, but at the same time, it was nice to feel the pain. It was better than feeling nothing at all.
"Kiana." Mackenzie repeated and clutched her hand in a fist. She shook her head to try to thwart the memories, but it was too late. She saw a little girl, Kiana, twirling in the rays of a spring sun. The girl laughed a beautiful laugh, a laugh that made Mackenzie's heart throb. She could picture Kiana telling funny stories, singing songs, and smiling in their mother's arms. Mackenzie could imagine her sleeping quietly, and crying over simple things, and she could see the image of her beautiful baby sister lying on the floor-broken in a pool of blood as the darkness closed around us. She cringed with a whimper.
Ben looked Mackenzie in the eyes now. For that moment the two of them were connected by the same horrifying pain- the pain of losing their little sister. Ben's eyes seemed old and wise, and his face seemed to droop. Micky wrapped her arms around him and did what no one would ever expect of a cold, heartless being like a contractor; She embraced him and cried.
The two stayed like that for a while. Ben patting Mackenzie on the back as she sobbed and sobbed, but when it was over Mackenzie didn't even feel embarrassed like she would have any other day. She felt empty inside and the nagging was back, so she stood and walked a few feet away from her brother.
"What's it this time?" Ben asked his sister in a somewhat concerned voice. She stared up at the bright stars and sighed.
"A strange one," Mackenzie called to him as she leaned over to scoop up a few stones. They felt cool in her palm, their strong, earthy feel was sort of comforting. She laughed at the stupidity of this payment, and threw the stones toward the bright stars. They rained back down on her, but she didn't flinch as they batted her head and shoulders.
"That was a strange one," Ben agreed and walked over to Mackenzie's side. She could see the hint of a grin on his face.
"I've had stranger," she replied and wiped the dirt on her hands off on her jeans. That was the beauty of her contract. She could materialize anything she could think of, just as long as she knew what it was made of or how it worked, then as payment she would get to perform a random act. Like a roll of the dice, the payment could be different every time. More often than not it was the same payment of whomever she'd just killed.
Mackenzie drew the handgun that she'd placed in her pocket and examined it. It shone in the starlight with an almost eerie glow. A smiled curled her lips, "You know I was gonna destroy it, but I think I'll keep it for a bit." She was moving to put the weapon back in her pocket when the silvery metal glowed with the dim blue of a doll specter.
"They said they'd be watching," Ben offered when his sister didn't speak.
"I know, but I didn't think they'd have a doll with a metal medium..." Micky replied quietly, That's a really helpful one. There's metal everywhere... The specter disappeared like a ghost and she shoved the gun back in her pocket.
"Uh... did you get the train route?" Ben asked to change the subject. Micky nodded and pushed her overworked thoughts to the back of her mind. Her head spun as she pieced things together and thought up questions. How long has the Syndicate had a doll with a metal medium and where did they get it from? This changes a lot, especially since we're headed toward a city. Nothing but metal everywhere.
"Yeah, let's find a place to sleep and catch the next train out of here." Mackenzie turned in the direction of the town.
Ben looked down at the mangled bodies below. They looked twisted and beaten under the stars' burning gaze. The blood that pooled around them seemed to creep along the cold ground. He looked to Mackenzie, "The sooner we leave, the better."
Mackenzie stared out the fingerprint stained glass at the passing vegetation. The train car rumbled as it passed over tracks. She looked to her right at Ben who breathed softly as his closed eyes fluttered in the world of dreams. There were few people around the two, but their presence was hardly known as no one said a word. Micky checked her surroundings for any suspicious characters, but nothing caught her attention so she returned to gazing out the window. In the distance she could see rising buildings and a giant wall that almost blended with the sky. Mackenzie shook her brother softly and he shot up swiftly, instantly looking around with concern.
"Almost there," Mackenzie said to him as he blinked in the light that shone through the window. Ben squinted and smiled as he processed the image before him.
"Tokyo," He whispered.
