CHAPTER-10: BEST SERVED COLD
OCTOBER 23rd
LONDON DOCKS-ENGLAND
2:37PM
"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Milo exclaimed after hearing Nero's request. "Those guys almost got you killed. Now you want to go over their for a tea party? No. I wont do it, Nero. I wont help you get yourself killed." The red-head continued, looking totally baffled.
"Come on. You owe me Milo." Nero replied sternly.
"I think I've more than paid my debt to you this past week . You may not remember it, but your alive because of it." Milo retorted, crossing his arms over his chest in a huff.
"You know I'm going anyway, so you might as well tell me." Nero stated.
"Your not bloody well going anywhere." Milo said angrily.
"You cant stop me. In fact, I'd like to see you try." Nero challenged the older man and Milo's eye narrowed as he accepted, reaching over and grabbing one of Nero's twin pistols, holding it with both hands and aiming at Nero. The silverette smirk at the sight before him and raised an eyebrow.
"What? You gonna shoot me?" The teen questioned with a mocking tone.
"I was in the army. I killed people." Milo informed sternly.
"You where as doctor." Nero corrected.
"I had my bad days." Milo retorted. They both locked glares. Neither one backing down, the gaze held as the tension thickened. Until finally Milo crumbled and backed down. let his arms drop to his sides and throwing Clyde onto the nearest table. Refusing to look back at Nero.
"Look, just point me in the right direction. I'll do the rest." Nero requested with a pleading look. Milo contemplated for a minute before sighing and giving in.
"Alright, look. There's a Czech, goes by the name of Kafka Dvorak. I'll make a call. But that's all I can do." Milo explained with a sigh, before walking away to make the call.
2:53PM
"All right. The calls been made. She's interested in meeting you. She wants a trade." Milo informed the teen as he walked back into the room.
"What kind of trade?" Nero questioned, looking up from the table where he was cleaning his guns.
"She didn't say. But if you want her help, you'll do as she asks." Milo replied and Nero nodded his thanks, before standing up and preparing to leave.
LONDON PUBLIC LIBRARY
4:02PM
Nero stood looking at one of the ancient books sat cosily in the glass display case. Milo had arraigned for him to meet Kafka here. But she was late, apparently. Suddenly feeling a gentle hand softly stoke his silver hair, he spun round.
"Beautiful." The woman stated with a envious smile. She was quite short and had her long black hair pulled up into a bun. Her eyes where a faded chocolate colour and she wore an elegant black pinstripe suit with black heals.
"Your Dvorak?" Nero said, but it was more of a statement than a question.
"Please call me Kafka. And you must be the Raven. Your reputation proceeds you. Although I must admit I've done a little research. And I'm quite impressed with what I found." The Czech said still looking him over.
"I'm glad you approve." Nero said his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I most certainly do." Kafka replied, not seeming to notice the tone in his voice or maybe just ignoring it. "You see, Raven, this is a thirteenth century treatise on the geographical architecture of London. This particular volume in the third of three." She explained calmly, motioning toward the book in the case.
"Is that why we're here? Because you love books?" Nero asked looking a little annoyed.
"I love the written words. Written words mean power. Books today mean nothing. Glue and pulp and mass marketed machine written pages. Nothing compared to what it was-" Kafka was cut of rudely by Nero's impatience.
"Ok. I get it. Now what do you want?" The teen demanded.
"I want this." Kafka said as she turned back to the book in the case. " I own it's two companions. And this one is being transported by plane to Rome tonight. Bring the text to me, and I will tell you all you want to know." Kafka declared as she walked away.
HEATHROW AIRPORT- LONDON
9:12PM
Nero snuck carefully behind a crate as he watched two armed men haul a wooden box aboard the plane. Waiting till the coast was clear, the Raven snuck into the plane and began searching for the crate, hopping to be in and out before it took off. But Nero's luck was out, as barely a second after he boarded, the loading door closed leaving him trapped inside. "Shit. This is going to be a long night." Nero thought to himself as he heard the engines start and minutes later they where in the air.
Waiting for the plane to level out, Nero held on tight to the railings while his eyes scanned the area in search of the crate. When the aircraft was steady, the Raven ran over to a large crate, marked: Rome. And taking out Yamato, he forced the wooden panels open and looked inside. Routing around he eventually found the old book and removed it along with a small Egyptian statue. And placed them both on top of the crate.
Looking up at the sound of guns being cocked, Nero saw three of the armed guards standing before him at gun point. Thinking fast, he upholstered Bonnie and shot the guard standing in the middle, in the head. Before jumping up and kicking the Egyptian statue towards the guard on his right, knocking the guy over. Seeing his moment, the Raven grabbed the book and ran for cover behind some other crates, while shooting blindly behind him.
The remaining guard shot after him, but missed and instead hit the loading doors controls, making them open. Stray objects flew out into the night air, along with a few crates. Panicking the guard continued to shoot and one of the speeding bullets went astray and hit a fuel line, causing it to ignite and run along the side of the place until it hit the fuel tank and exploded.
The impact of the blast hit Nero and sent him flying out of the open loading door. Looking up as he fell, the teen saw the plane disintegrate into tones of flaming pieces, as one of the jet engines flew past his head.
Freefalling through the sky, Nero saw that one of the other guards had also survived the explosion and that he was holding on to one of the planes inside panels which contained a first aid box and a parachute case. Intent on survival, Nero aimed Bonnie at the mans chest and shot him straight threw the heart. The dead-mans grip slackened and his corpse fell from the panel, leaving it open for Nero.
Leaning his head down further to propel his momentum downwards, the Raven headed into the wreckage, standing between him and his survival. Dodging the many crates and pieces of daubery as he went, Nero roll- dived out of the way of the left hand wing, as it flew past him and them aiming himself just right he fell threw the small hole in the right wing, to avoid colliding with it. Ahead of him the second jet engine's propellers where still spinning around, with no way to dodge them, Nero timed it just right and glided threw the gap, only managing to lose the ends of a few of his silver hairs.
Finding the main body of the plane, Nero fell threw it and shot dead the two guards desperately holding on to its walls as he went, before coming out the other side and landing on the panel holding the parachute and began trying to pull it off. Behind him a guard also landed and managed to grab onto Nero's back and wrapped his arms around the teen's neck trying to strangle him. Struggling, Nero slammed his head back and head-butted the guard, disorientating the man enough for his grip to loosen and for Nero to shoot him in the neck.
Turning back to the job at hand, Nero yanked off the parachute and jumped clear of the panel. Placing it on his back, the Raven pulled the cord and his momentum slowed. Still holding on tightly to the book, Nero glided to safety and landed somewhere in a disserted field.
OCTOBER 24th
DVORAK PRIVATE ESTATE- LONDON
4:56AM
Nero walked confidently down the marble hallway of Kafka's home and kicked open the door to her private office, where she sat patiently reading an old script.
"Here's your fucking book." Nero said as he threw it over.
"This is it. You've done it." Kafka exclaimed gleefully. " A deal is a deal. And know you get what you came for Raven. Information on General Hod and the Frostbite association." She smiled.
OCTOBER 25th
SOUTH-SIDE HONG KONG- CHINA
7:01PM
Nero knocked loudly on the red, wooden door of the little flat he was standing outside of. Kafka had sent him to Hong Kong and had told him exactly where he could find Hod's private residence. Inside the flat a few scurrying noises was heard and the the door swung open.
"Ah. Nero, good to see you have arrived safely. Come I will put your things in the spare room." The young Chinese man, greeted cheerily and took Nero's bag, containing his weapons, from him. Stepping inside, the silverette closed the door behind him.
"Nice to see you to, Zhi. Hey Shen." Nero greeted the two men as he looked over at the overweight guy playing videogames on the sofa.
"Oh. Hey Nero." Shen replied, not looking away from his game.
"Come on Nero. I'll get you something to eat. You look half starved." Zhi mocked as he beckoned Nero into his tinny kitchen.
"No thanks." Nero declined politely as Zhi attempted to hand him a box of noodles. Shrugging Zhi placed the box back down on the side.
"So what brings you to Hong Kong this time?" The Asian man asked with intrigue.
"I'm going after Hod." Nero said calmly, while the colour from Zhi's face drained.
"You cant be serious!" Zhi exclaimed.
"Of cause I am. Don't worry. I wont get you or Shen caught up in any of this. All I need is a ride." Nero informed. And Zhi nodded. You see, Zhi was Nero's Asia informer. He currently worked as a cab driver and was often in the know about the city's underworld dealing, but he used to work as a limo driver for Hod and his men . They had met almost a year back when Nero had, quite literally, fallen into Zhi's life.
FLASHBACK
JANUARY 30th
BANK OF HONG KONG- CHINA
6:47PM
Nero ran as fast as he could down the corridors of the seventh floor, dropping multiple little packets of explosives as he went. Behind him an angry mob of security men ran after him. Shooting blindly behind him, Nero glanced at the count down clock on one of the last little packet he was holding and threw it behind him as he ran to the nearest window, smashing through the glass as he jumped, he fell from the building just as the explosives detonated and the seventh floor was engulfed in flames.
Down below, Zhi waited impatiently in the drivers seat of his limo. He had been ordered to wait for one of Hod's executives and to drive him home. When suddenly he heard the explosion and seconds later something fell through the open sun-roof in the back seat of the limo. Shocked he looked into the back to find a young man, clad in black and wearing a mask, lying dazed and in a heap in the backseat.
Panicking Zhi drove away from the building as quickly as he could, as the Raven sat up and found his composer. His head hurt and his ears where still acing and ringing badly from the noise of being too close to the explosion. Nero stumbled to his feet and jumped into the front seat, taking out Blue Rose and holding the revolver to the drivers head.
"And where the hell do you think your going?" The raven demanded angrily.
"I was taking you away from the bank. The police are bound to turn up soon and I didn't think you would want them to find you." Zhi explained with his hands in the air, as a sigh of surrender.
"Oh, yeah? And what do you know about what I want? Who are you, anyway?" Nero asked not trusting the other man.
"My name is Zhi. I work for Mr Sakkini. I'm his driver." Zhi explained.
"Yeah, well I just put a bullet in your bosses brain. Looks like you need to get yourself a new job, pal." Nero smirked.
"Does that mean you'll let me live?" Zhi asked hopefully.
"I was never gonna kill you. Your innocent. I only kill people who are guilty." Nero stated as he holstered Blue Rose. Zhi sighed in relief and started driving again, working up the courage to talk to the other man.
"How about I work for you?" Zhi asked and Nero raised an eyebrow at the question.
"Sorry. But I work alone. And even if I didn't I couldn't afford to pay you." The silverette replied truthfully.
"Then how about I help you instead?" Zhi asked hopefully.
"And why would you want to do a thing like that?" Nero quizzed.
"You killed Sakkini. He was a tyrant. He once held my brother, Shen, hostage once when I was late for work and threatened to kill him if it ever happened again." Zhi confessed. "I'm glad he's dead."
Ever since that day Zhi had been helping Nero out anyway he could and it was true to say that they had become friends.
For the rest of the day Zhi helped Nero upgrade the vehicle that he was going to borrow, while Nero explained what had happened n London.
Finally as the sun set all the preparations where ready and Nero said his farewell to Zhi and Shen, before walking into their garage and starting the engine of his ride.
DOWN TOWN HONG KONG- CHINA
11:34PM
Nero raced down the busy streets of Hong Kong, gliding in and out of the different lines of traffic on a sleek, black Yamaha YZF-R6 Motorbike. He was heading towards the Tiger Claw estate, which Kafka had informed him was Hod's private home. Nero had Bonnie and Clyde holstered at his waist s well as the Artimus Bow , and both Yamato and Red Queen on his back. He knew getting into Hod's house was not going to be easy, the guy had his own private army of guards and demons, and Nero had no idea what he was going to be up against.
Skidding around a corner, Nero drove the bike into a multi -story parking lot and drove up to the top floor. Putting his left foot on the tarmac floor, the teen stopped the bike as he looked out ahead of him. Across the road from the parking lot stood the Tiger Claw estate, a grand old, traditional Chinese's mansion surrounded my a 20ft wall situated in the centre of he city.
Nero revved the engine violently as he prepared himself, flipping the shaded visor of his black helmet down over his masked eyes, Nero made his move. Lifting his foot back off the ground the bike lunched forward, leaving a few scorch marks in the tarmac as he went, Nero headed towards the parking lot ledge and using the car in front of him as a romp, he drove the bike edge and soared through the air high above the road.
The Raven held on tight as he lost height over the Tiger Claw estate. Standing up on the seat he jumped off the bike and leaped onto the buildings lower roof just before the bike crashed though the third floor window. Cart-rolling to a stopp on the ornate tiled roof, Nero rushed to his feet, looking down he saw a large group of guards forming on the ground, being summoned by the crash.
Finding a window and smashing his way through, Nero broke into the upper most level of the mansion. The room he entered was a large bedroom decorated in rich reds and golds, with oriental furnishings. On the was a huge tapestry with the Frostbites symbol in the middle. "Well at least I know Kafka was telling the truth." Nero thought as he made his out of the bedroom door and into the hallway.
Stepping out, Nero was met with two huge Frosts prowling the hallway. They both growled angrily at the sight of an intruder and lunged forward intent on ripping Nero to shreds. The teen only just made it out of way, as the first Frosts claws slashed at his abdomen. Rolling back on to his feet, Nero grabbed Red Queen's hilt and revved her engine. The sound filled him with adrenaline and he jumped up and thrust the war-blade down onto the closest Frost's protective shell, cracking it severely.
Twisting the sword around, Nero caught the second Frost's claws mid attack and server them. The creature bellowed out in pain and swung its tail round, hitting Nero in the chest and sending him flying through the hallway wall. Landing hard on his back, the teen looked up to see a group of guards standing over him, with their guns pointing at him.
Nero was just about to jump up and fight back against the guards when the Frost reached in and grabbed his foot, pulling him back threw the hole in the wall. The teen groaned as he was thrown into another wall and sank to the floor. Looking up he saw claws coming towards his face and side-rolled to the left while pulling out the Artimus Bow from it's holster.
By time the guards had stumbled through the hole and into the hall, they where just in time to see Nero running down the hall towards the Frosts and drop to his knees, seconds before crashing into one, sliding between it's open legs and firing an explosive arrow into the beasts chin, before the teen bend backwards, in a great show of flexibility, and shooting out several arrows at the group of guards. Getting up again, Nero used Yamato to slice into the remaining Frost and splitting its cold body in two. Seeing the familiar red glow of his arrows, Nero dived round the corridor corner as the weapons exploded, killing all of the remaining enemies.
Glancing back the way he came and taking in the sight of the gore, Nero smirked. "Man, I'd hate to be the cleaners in the morning" He mentally joked and began to walk on down the hall.
11:57PM
It didn't take Nero long to take out the other guards and demons he met on his search for Hod. He was now on the second floor, heading to the Mob boss's office. The Raven barged through the door, pistols drawn and looking totally bad-ass.
"Well if it isn't the little pigeon." Hod mocked snidely as he sat in his desk chair, with the back facing Nero. "What have you come for this time.? Hum? My money? My merchandise? My life?" The demon lord laughed as he spun the chair round and reviled himself.
Hod was sitting in his demonic form. His skin had a blue tinge and was mostly clear as if made out of ice. His black hair had frost caked at the ends and he was dressed in a dark suit and blue shirt. Hod was overweight, and he was sat slouched in his huge desk chair. Before the demon stood up and stepped around the desk, standing directly in front of Nero.
"Are you ready to die, pest?" The ice demon spat out bitterly. "It's obvious you have a death wish. Just coming here alone tells me that." Hod sneered.
"Just because I have a death wish, doesn't mean I want to die today." Nero replied, his eyes cold and hard under his mask. With that he held up Clyde and fired at the Demon's head. But Hod just laughed at the attempt as he built up a protective ice barrier in front of himself, catching the bullet.
"That all you got?" Hod mocked as Nero's scowl hardened.
"Oh. I'm just warming up." The Raven retaliated as he unsheathed Red Queen. Charging forward, Nero swung the war-sword back and forth as he went, blocking and retaliating the ice-blasts coming his way. Getting close to Hod, Nero threw Red Queen towards the demon at lightening speed.
Satisfied with the pained cry Hod made as the blade pierced threw his lower stomach and pinned him to the desk, Nero stood in front of the trapped demon, smirking while pointing Clyde to the man's head. But Nero hesitated, his eyes locked onto the demons form.
"Ha! You cant do it, can you? You fucking punk." Hod chuckled darkly. "Well I can!" The ice demon, yelled as he swung out the thin, metal cord he held, towards the Raven and it wrapped its self around the teens neck.
Nero let out a veriety of strangled gasps as he was chocked. Dropping Clyde, he reached behind him, fingers desperately searching for the hilt of Yamato. Reaching it, he grabbed on tightly and unsheathed the blade, slashing it through the air before him, braking the cord.
Dropping to his knees, Nero coughed and gagged as he struggled for breath. Still clutching his burning throat, the Raven stood as he recaptured Clyde. Not taking any chances this time, he aimed and pulled the trigger. A loud bang echoed around the room, followed by a sound similar to glass breaking, and as Hod's demon blood covered the walls, Nero turned and left the room. "Good riddance." The silverette though darkly. "Now lets see, what they think about that." He grinned.
Hi everyone.
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