Author's Note:
- *stares at noodlebirdie and June's reviews* Omg so 大哥 and 哥哥 can also be used interchangeably for single siblings, after all XDD
Herman stuck to just 哥 (gē) after I let him use it though, so I guess I'll just stick with that :3
- Got a persistent headache the whole day on Sunday because I didn't sleep well on Saturday, so this chapter got delayed x.x I'm back up and running now though, so have this! :DD
【Chapter 10: Icarus Paradox】
The phenomenon where after a period of apparent success, failure is brought about by the very elements that led to the initial success. Strength and past victories bring about over-confidence, which then leads to complacency and eventually, downfall.
Rooftop, International Commerce Centre, West Kowloon, Hong Kong 23:12
The cool night breeze blew softly through the high rise cityscape of West Kowloon, its streets and buildings made colourful by bright neon lights. Despite it being the late hours, people still went about their business, enjoying the night life. The children of tourists laughed cheerfully, nibbling on tasty street food and taking happy pictures with their parents. None of them had a sign of worry on their faces.
The calm before the storm.
Atop the roof of the International Commerce Centre, the highest skyscraper in Hong Kong and the fourth tallest building in the world, Wild Dog and Wild Fang stood overlooking the city, their greatcoats billowing lightly in the wind, looking down at the oblivious civilians below.
Wild Fang stood with a big silver suitcase in hand, talking to their underlings on his phone. He smirked dangerously as he thought of what great disaster they were about to unleash upon the world. Wild Dog on the other hand, was standing at the edge of the roof. He held out a vial containing a purple liquid to the full moon, the moonlight shining through it giving it an otherworldly glint.
"MK-X... How I've waited so long for this day," he said, studying his finally completed masterpiece with prideーthe ultimate mind control drug.
The scientists of Project MKUltra had worked for 20 long years trying to develop the formula, willing to conduct even illegal experiments to realize their goal. Wild Dog felt honored to be able to pick up the halted project and have the crystallization of their hard work in his hands. Now, he shall use it as his first step towards world domination.
The police and the VSSE must have never expected that the poison gas incident which Giorgio and Evan had foiled in the previous days was actually just a test and preparation for thisーWild Dog's large scale operation to cover the entirety of Hong Kong with the gas form of MK-X. The entire country's population, brainwashed and willing to do his every command, would then be his hostage and army, supporting his eventual conquest of the world country by country.
Wild Fang, being his apprentice and right hand man, would be playing a major role in commanding his troops and making sure that everything ran smoothly. Thus, his unexpected capture had been an unwelcome problem and hindrance.
Luckily for him, the victory had brought about a period of complacency among the VSSE agents, and a chance to win Wild Fang back presented itself when his men told him that Giorgio had left his hotel room, leaving his sleeping partner unguarded.
Sure it had been hard to break into the hotel room, what with all the traps that the VSSE agents had set up for intruders. But wanting to carry out his plans at all cost, Wild Dog managed. And it had paid back all too sweetly when Giorgio bit his bait, distracting the entire police force with his actions and allowing Wild Dog to reinstall all the equipments which had been extracted by the VSSE during the poison gas incident earlier.
Now standing on top of the tallest building with no obstacle in his path, he was ready to send a signal that would activate all his hidden machines and commence the release of the MK-X gas once all his men were in position.
"Wild Dog, I got a confirmation," Wild Fang said, putting his phone back into his coat pocket once he was done with his call. "The men are ready. We can start anytime now."
He knelt down and lowered the big silver suitcase he was holding onto the ground, opening it. Inside, there were two gas masks. To their right, a vial containing a yellow liquid laid safely secured into an indented box.
"Here," Wild Fang said, passing one of the gas masks to Wild Dog, who promptly put it on. Wild Fang took the other one and put it on himself, before giving Wild Dog a thumbs up to say that he was ready. Wild Dog nodded. He took out his remote, ready to release of deadly chemical.
But at that moment, the sudden loud batting of rotor blades was heard as a helicopter rose from the side of the building, sending gusts of wind and dust and surprising both of them. Several other helicopters came and encircled them, shining their blinding searchlights upon the ICC's rooftop.
"Wild Dog, you have been surrounded. Surrender immediately!" Agent Steven said through a megaphone, leaning out of the side of the leading helicopter. Raymond, Giorgio and Richard were standing behind him, weapons ready. Giorgio spotted the vial of yellow liquid in the open suitcase on the floor next to Wild Fang.
"The antidote!" Giorgio exclaimed, recognizing it immediately from the reports of Wild Dog's decoded files. Wild Fang and Wild Dog looked up indignantly at them.
"Hah! To think that you have to show up at the last second!" Wild Dog yelled at the VSSE agents, "It's too late now, though! Hahaha!" He looked at his remote, about to click the button and hammer in the final nail to the coffin.
"Not happening," Richard said calmly, holding his pistol up in front of him and pulling the trigger. His aim true, his single bullet whizzed past Giorgio and Raymond, flying over Steven's megaphone to travel swiftly through the air, finally impacting against the middle of Wild Dog's remote.
"Argh!" Wild Dog yelled in surprise as his remote was knocked out of his hand, landing on the tiles of the rooftop away from him, sliding and stopping near the roof's edge. Luckily, he had made the remote strong enough to take a beating, so it was still perfectly functional. He looked to the helicopter, which had closed in towards the roof, dropping off the four VSSE agents in it to deal with him.
"Guess we'll have to give them a welcome party," Wild Fang said with a grin, straightening himself as he faced them, taking out his pistol.
"Hmph," Wild Dog scowled, readying his gun and mechanical arm, "I suppose it can't be helped."
And the next moment, they sprung into action. Wild Dog and Wild Fang fired at Giorgio and the agents, who quickly dove to take cover behind the machines and structures on the roof.
"Men!" Wild Dog called through his earpiece. Immediately, armed men with gas masks flooded out onto the roof from the floor below, helping him attack his enemies and making it difficult for them to get to him.
"Shit!" Steven cursed. The situation needing a quick decision, he took the initiative and gave orders to the others. "Mr. Miller, Mr. Bruno! Raymond and I will handle Wild Fang. We'll leave Wild Dog to you!"
Richard and Giorgio nodded, splitting up with Steven and Raymond to open the road and charge at Wild Dog. The enemy showered the two of them with bullets relentlessly, forcing them behind cover. Wild Dog however, was already on his way to grab his fallen remote.
"No!" Giorgio shouted, seeing how they wouldn't make it.
"Tch!" Richard clicked his tongue angrily. Jumping out of his cover, he shot at the remote again, this time effectively knocking it further and throwing it off the edge of the building.
"NO!" Wild Dog cursed, stopping abruptly at the edge and watching his remote drop down to the city below.
Too bad for Richard though, he was now out and exposed with nothing protecting him. Not wasting their chance, Wild Dog's men immediately shot at him. Richard brought up his arms in an attempt to cover himself, feeling the pain as the enemy's bullets ripped through his arm and thigh, bringing him crashing to the ground.
Opening his eyes and seeing a gunman in front of him pointing straight at his head, Richard thought that he was going to die. Fortunately, Giorgio caught up and jumped in front of him in time, shooting down the enemy gunman and taking out their other attackers.
"Mr. Miller!" Giorgio called out in horror, astonished that their ace had been taken down at the start of the fight. He knelt down to look at him. Richard was breathing heavily, hissing through gritted teeth as he tried to hold back the pain. He gripped at the multiple wounds in his left arm and shoulder.
"Don't... worry about me... WILD DOG...!" He shouted at Giorgio urgently.
"...!" Giorgio's attention was immediately brought back to the threat. He turned around, looking at Wild Dog. The criminal stood there, scowling at them in frustration.
"Don't think that this is over yet!" He said, swinging an arm at Giorgio angrily. He then turned around, swaying forward and allowing himself to drop from the edge of the building.
"...?!" Surprised at his action, Giorgio ran there, stopping at the edge of the rooftop to look down.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" His evil laughter echoing into the night, Wild Dog dove his way down the tall 188-storey building. Nearing the bottom, he held out his mechanical left arm, striking it into the glass windows on the side of the ICC. Curling his metal fingers into a claw, he dragged it against the glass, slowing his fall as he headed to the bottom floor to recover his remote.
"Cazzo!" Giorgio turned around, sweating and looking all over the roof as he frantically tried to look for a way to stop the crazy old man.
"Bruno xiānsheng! (Mr. Bruno!)" He suddenly heard.
Quickly directing his attention there, he saw one of the police helicopter pilots bringing the vehicle closer to the roof for him. Wasting no time, Giorgio dashed towards it, jumping off the roof into the helicopter.
The pilot seemed surprised that Giorgio didn't wait for him to land, but having no time to comment on it, he immediately drove the helicopter away from the roof, lowering the altitude quickly to head to the bottom floor.
Downstairs, civilians had begun gathering in the open area in front of the ICC building, curious about the numerous police helicopters that had been circling above. They gasped when Wild Dog suddenly landed on the concrete floor in front of them, making a huge crack with the velocity of his fall and his metal arm.
"..." Everyone in the crowd held their breath, tense. No one spoke a word and Wild Dog stood up.
Raising his right hand, he fired two shots from his Mauser C96. He laughed as the crowd screamed in panic and ran away in fear. Once they had cleared up, his attention was brought to his MK-X remote, lying there on the floor untouched. He smirked, walking over to it and promptly picking it up. He dusted the dust and debris off it and was about to press the button when once again, he was suddenly distracted by a shower of bullets, making him curse.
Giorgio's helicopter had arrived, with Giorgio firing at him using the helicopter's mounted machine gun. Several other police helicopters followed closely behind, the men in them ready with their weapons.
"Curse you!" Wild Dog yelled in frustration, seeing how he couldn't get any peace to operate his remote. Throwing a hand grenade at the ICC's entrance to destroy the doors, he ran in for cover.
"I won't let you get away!" Giorgio shouted, jumping off his helicopter once it had gotten close enough to the ground. He quickly ran into the building after Wild Dog.
"Go! Go! Go!" One of the higher ranking officers shouted at his men from his helicopter.
The other helicopters landed, the policemen in them getting ready to provide Giorgio with backup. However, more of Wild Dog's men came to surround them from the side of the building, immediately engaging them in a shootout. They cursed, hoping that Giorgio would be able to stop Wild Dog by himself.
He was their last hope.