Okay, so last chapter was a mixed bag of sorts. Red's been having some weird dreams lately, the Martian Manhunter (Jon Jon'zz) went into Red's mind and found some secrets that Red doesn't even remember, and Red runs into cyborg from the teen titans. What more could you ask for? Well, I'm gonna tell you, the reader that I'm going to deviate for a bit to focus on what happened at the end of the last chapter. I don't know how many chapters it's going to take or how long it's going to be before I get to Red eventually going to Gotham and entering the shadow warriors...
Also, the song from last chapter was thrift shop by Macklemore...which I don't own (disclaimer)
Let me just say good things take time...enjoy
Location: Tokyo, Japan
(One day later)
The bustling city of Tokyo. A city filled to the brim with people hustling and bustling about, even at night. The sky was constantly lit up by stars and incoming air traffic from around the globe, including one flight that didn't even register on the radar.
It was a jet using military grade cloaking technology to reach it's destination near the ports of the massive city. As it descended to it's destination it didn't make a sound. All that could be heard was the chattering of armed guards below, and the doors of a large warehouse opening. The jet decloaked to reveal a futuristic, almost alien looking craft that landed vertically in the middle of the warehouse floor.
The armed guards marched up to the flying craft and lined up in a row, weapons resting on their shoulders. Each of them gave a salute as the landed craft's door opened. Two figures walked off of the ramp that came down from the side, one with a black suit and a red tie, the other with a half copper half cobalt blue mask.
The masked figure looked at the orderly guards around him and raised a brow underneath his mask. To him they seemed military almost, by the way that they were standing, that and the gear that they were wearing. His mind eventually focused on the man in front of him, a stranger that gave him only a code name, Sabre. He of course didn't understand why this man would think that he would trust him for a second, if he couldn't trust him enough to give him his real name. But he did take the plane ride overseas, so there had to have been something that guided him here.
Sabre's POV (thinking to himself)
I knew that Slade would follow me, I just didn't expect the deadliest man on the planet to jump into things. Whatever doctor Markov did sometime in the past must have something to do with this. I heard rumors of a child army, but I had never even thought that what had been said could be true.
It must have been an act of desperation for a failing country and ideology. You know, I never did get a grasp on the whole government knows best thing growing up in the slums of Shanghai, and this Markov guy indoctrinated little children into believing it?
Then I look at the results that my boss gave me, and I'm not surprused at all. Only six subjects survived to make it to the facility out in the Chinese wilderness, and he witnessed it all. Of course he wasn't there in the beginning, but he was the end. He ENDED the project for good, and even changed Markov in the process.
Well, I hope that Deathstroke finds what he's looking for, because all that I'm here for is the money.
Narrorator's POV
They had been following a corridor leading to a source of light for a short time now, turning around a new corner every now and then with more menacing guards. Of course these guys didn't phase deathstroke, but rather made him ask a question, who are these people? Each guard had a dull red glow that emitted from the eyepieces of the masks that they were wearing, and they didn't look artificial. It seemed suspicious, but Slade was noticing a pattern, the red dots weren't dots at all, they were crosshairs.
Eventually they reached the source of light, which blinded Slade until his eyes adjusted. Laid out in front of him was a huge underground chamber, lined with guards and banners on the walls. He wasn't impressed at the infrastructure of this facility at all. All that was done was a paint job to cover up the bunker's age and an additional flare to distract you from what this place looked like.
Out of everything there though, there was one thing that caught his attention, a person sitting on what was supposed to be a throne at the end of the hall. Slade, under his mask, scanned the man perched like royalty on the side of the room to check for anything out of the ordinary. Of course he didn't find anything interesting, that was until he looked into the man's eyes. His eyes were hidden under a pair of shades, but with the amplified x-ray in his mask he could make out a crosshair in each pupil, both giving off a small heat signature.
"So mister Wilson, are you afraid of what you see?" said the man on the throne.
Deathstroke continued walking and clenched his fists, "How did he..." He couldn't believe that this man could see through his mask, let alone threaten him. Did he know who he was toying with? Slade didn't know for sure, but he wanted to find out what this was all about.
When they finally reached the end of the hall the mysterious man waved his hand and without a sound the guards disappeared. He stood up before Saber and Deathstroke with his hands behind his back, holding something in secret.
"So let me ask this," Slade started, "who are you, what is this place, and where is Markov?"
The man grinned at Deathstroke's impatience, and stepped down to his level, "Here are your answers. One, you're in a temporary base of mine, because of renovations back at command. Two Markov isn't here, and three? Well, I'll save that for later." He still held that grin seeing that Slade hadn't unclenched his fists yet, and he just wanted to see how tolerant Deathstroke could be with somebody that isn't as serious as the merc himself.
"Then why did I even bother coming here if Markov isn't in your custody?"
The shady figure put his hands behind his back and began to pace. "I know you Mister Wilson, I know that you can't resist the opportunity to go back and finish what you couldn't do..."
Slade's face twitched, because this man could read him like a book. Who the hell is this guy?
"Yes I do want an apprentice. I want somebody to carry the Wilson name with pride because I know that I'm getting older, and I'm not going take an easy contract any time soon."
"That and you killed your children out of pure frustration." said the shady figure with that same grin.
"Why you little!" yelled Slade with his broadsword at the ready.
The merc slashed at the man in front of him, but only heard the sound of steel instead of the ripping of flesh. Slade looked up and saw that Saber had blocked his blow. He saw what the man was doing. Testing him to see if he met the criteria for some kind of stupid task or mission. Knowing this he slowly sheathed the long steel sword back into its rightful place and put his hands behind his back.
"What do I have to do to get to Markov?"
The sinister figure reached up to the glasses on his face and slowly removed them as he spoke, "Listen closely and you will know."
AT THE HALL OF JUSTICE...
Marcas had passed two of the exams required to enter the Justice league already. Everybody, including Cyborg considered them to be the hardest tests because they didn't require any combat or technology. More or less the tests required common knowledge like math, chemistry, biology, investigation, and even how to maintain a cape if you had one. This was material that he could easily pass through, all except for the final exam, which would test his mettle.
The final exam was all combat. It wasn't going to be divded into quarters like the previous two, but it would all be combined into one. Which in Red's case, you would think that this would be easy, but in his mind he was running in circles. He watched as he stood behind the viewing glass in an observation room on the side as a recruit faced wave after wave of synthesized foes that the league had prepared. Each wave was more difficult than the last. One wave consisted of replicas of the Weather Wizard and Mirror Master, then in the second wave it was amped up to Firefly and a swarm of Thanagarians. Now in the final wave, which the newbie was in, the poor soul was facing the simulated force of Solomon Grundy, the Joker, Sinestro, and unbelievably Darkseid.
The last one confused Red until he saw what powers this new recruit had. He had bulging muscles with oddly tinted purple veins and he had a basktball jersey from his home town, which was now almost torn form the beating that Grundy was giving him. He couldn't bear watching the fight as long as it was going on, not just because the guy's strength was fading , but how much he resembled another Andrei. It all fit together in his head except for the basketball jersey, and the fact that he didn't have a huge pack with tubes on his back.
Marcas didn't notice it, but there were tears streaming down his face, and when he did he almost panicked.
"What if this happens during the test?" He asked himself mentally, "What if I lose control like I have in my dreams?"
He didn't even want to think about the possibility of him losing control during the test and failing, all because he is a little torn up inside. He quickly pushed the thought aside as an all too familiar face sat right next to him...it was Cyborg.
"Something bothering you?" he said as he looked into the confused being next to him.
Marcas nodded with a sigh,"I just don't know if I can pass this next test as easily as the others..."
Cyborg gave Marcas a funny look and laughed, "Man I don't know why you're doubting yourself. I mean yesterday I saw you sparring with Black Canary of all people, and you nearly got her to say uncle. Now if that doesn't say anything then I don't know what will, because out of most of the leaguers here she's probably the best hand to hand fighter, right next to Batman."
Marcas took everything that Cyborg said in and gained a little bit of encouragement from it, but he still wasn't sure about getting in the arena and using his guns, after all the last time that he used them he was aiming them at his girlfriend, and at Deathstroke. He reached to both of his sides and pulled out his desert eagles, looking at each with a look of mixed feelings. Cyborg saw this and instantly knew what Red was thinking about. He pressed a button on his forearm and opened a panel revealing two glowing pistol clips that he crafted just a few hours ago. He carefully pulled them out of their sockets and handed them to Marcas, who had his face buried in his hands.
"Here, take these."
Marcas looked up at to see what Cyborg had in his hand and widened his eyes. He didn't know what exactly what Cyborg was giving him, but from his judgement he thought that they were pistol clips. He took both of the glowing objects from his roommate and examined them a bit before an idea popped in his head. He reached grabbed both of his pistols and cleared both of the clips out of the guns and put in Cyborgs clips. To his surprise they fit in perfectly into his desert eagles.
"So, what do you think?" Cyborg asked.
"I'll know what I think when I see if these things actually work."
Cyborg nodded and grabbed Marcas's arm,"Well if you want to test them then you'll need to go to the shooting range."
"Ok, and where is that?"
"It's in the basement."
The tall metal man just pulled Marcas along for the ride, off to test out Cyborg's new toy. Hopefully they would make it back in time to take the final exam.
2105 hours Eastern time
Metropolis, USA
Deathstoke had just arrived at the Metropolis international airport under one of his aliases, with a led infused suitcase in hand. He was given all the tools that he needed back in Japan to carry out his mission, and they were all so small that he could fit them all in a single suitcase. Of course he didn't really need everything inside, but his new boss, as he referred to him as "shadow man", sent him to track down a fugitive that escaped his custody a few days ago.
Slade knew on the inside about situations like this, knowing how shadow organizations prefer to stay out of the light, and how some people that decide to bail out could jeopardize the whole organization. But he didn't like the mission that he was sent on and why. It isn't the fact that he's done dirty work like this in the past for other people, that didn't piss him off. What did was the matter of the fact that he didn't just kill his new boss and take the information from him. Why couldn't he just go to somebody else to grab Markov, and why did he trust this new benefactor?
He just shook his head at the thought of everything and went on with the mission at hand, hunting this Oleg down and on the side finding out what information he has on the shadow man.
(Twenty minutes later...)
He already had the address memorized in his head, and found where the apartment complex was that this man was hiding at and ordered the cab driver to stop two blocks away. In his head he planned out what he was going to do to get in the building, it all just depends on a few factors. One, is there a guard detail, and where are they. Two is security systems, like laser wires, motion sensors, and noise detectors, all which are things to consider if your target has vital information and is afraid for his or her life. There would be a three, but seeing that the target is in a city must mean that he feels secure.
Slade got out of the car and payed the driver his fare before he went into a nearby building, labeled "The Daily Planet". Slade walked into an empty lobby, and was surprised to see not even a single guard in sight. Funny that this building is in the city of Metropolis and yet they don't have any protection against the city's villains?
"How spoiled these people must knowing that they have the man of steel at their beck and call." he thought to himself as he shook his head.
He approached an elevator at the back of the lobby and pressed the button to call the elevator down.
(Ten Floors above)
Michael Tiplin was the lone security guard for tonight's shift, and was making his rounds by going floor to floor to check for any break ins, but decided to take a break of his own. He was sitting back in an office chair that he had found in one of the cubicles around him and sat himself in front of a TV.
He was trying to cope with the fact that his son decided to join the Air force by wiping his worries away with the latest episode of Quack Kingdom, his new favorite TV show. On the screen was a group of people sitting around a warehouse drinking iced tea and making duck decoys, something that Tiplin hadn't seen since his father passed away.
He was slowly drowning himself in the TV show when he heard a series of dinging noises from across the room. He stood up to see what was causing the noises when he saw the lights on the elevator going down the set of numbers above the doorway.
"What the hell?" he said to himself quietly as he moved to investigate, a nightstick in hand.
'Ding, Ding, DING'
The elevator sounded out as it slowly approached his floor. Tiplin watched the numbers draw down until he saw that the elevator was five floors above him.
He quickly mashed the down button in front of him and waited for the elevator to reach his floor.
(Back in the lobby)
Slade had already suited up in his Deathstroke costume, and was waiting for the elevator to reach his floor. He had been waiting for fifteen minutes and was tapping his foot out of pure impatience.
"All right, that's it!"
He walked over to the other side of the front desk and pressed the button for the other elevator to come down. A few seconds later the doors opened and he stepped inside. He pressed then pressed a button and a few seconds later he was off to the newspaper room.
A few seconds after the other elevator left, Tiplin's had arrived on the bottom floor. Tiplin aimed his flashlight around like the actors in the movies and quietly scoped out the lobby. He looked for anything out of the ordinary, and just saw a few potted plants. The security officer took his hat off and scratched his head his head in confusion. Then he just shook his head and shrugged it off.
"I've got to be tired" he said as he pressed the elevator to go back up. Then he heard the noise again. His heart skipped a beat and leaned back to look at the other elevator, and there it was. the lights were going off again, this time they went past the tenth floor. Tiplin saw this and knew what to do.
He scrambled to get back in his elevator and pressed every button that was above the tenth floor. Somebody had broken into the building and he had to do his job.
(In the Newspaper room)
Deathstroke had arrived at his destination on the the production floor of the daily planet, which had a clear view of most of Metropolis, including his target's apartment. He opened up the suitcase that he had been carrying to reveal a line launcher, similar to that of the Dark Knight, and a few other assorted combat weapons.
One weapon that he pulled out was a handgun that had an oversized barrel to compensate for the built in suppressor. He eyed the piece for a minute, then holstered it away at his side. Then he turned at an angle that faced the target building, and the wall in the back, so that both cables could latch onto something. he kicked the suitcase aside and was about to go on with his mission when he heard a ringing sound coming from the elevator.
'Shit' he thought to himself as ran to hide behind a desk.
He ran and ducked behind the closest desk which was at the end of a row, just in time to get out of site of a now heavily armed security guard.
Tiplin had stopped by the security suite on the twelfth floor, which had SWAT body armor and plenty of firepower to boot. He was ready for a fight, and tonight he had no plans to die, especially at the hands of some lowlife. What Tiplin wouldn't expect though wouldn't be an ordinary low life, he would be facing down none other than Deathstroke the Terminator.
Deathstroke on the other side of the room activated his night vision on his mask and took a peek at who he was facing and smiled.
"All that this building has is a single security guard?" he said as he stood up.
Tiplin turned the flashlight on Deathstroke and blinded him, then opened fire. Deathstroke didn't expect the guard to start shooting and quickly ran across the room while dodging shot after shot from the guards shotgun. He quickly rolled into cover behind another desk and tried to gather his thoughts as Tiplin started shouting.
"All right you brightly colored scumbag, you have two choices." he stated as he started loading more shells. "Either you come out with your hands up and come quietly or we're going to have do this the hard way."
After the last word Tiplin cocked the shotgun to make his point known.
Deathstroke couldn't believe this. He was being held hostage by a damn mall cop, and all that he grabbed from the suitcase was the line launcher and a pistol. He quickly thought of his choices that he had. He could use the pistol and try and shoot the guard first, but by the way that the guard had the flashlight aimed, he would just be a deer in the headlights. His second option was to fake surrender and kill the poor idiot before he could raise his shotgun, but with the precision that he showed earlier that would be stupid. There was one last choice, but it was crazy as hell, and even Deathstroke didn't think that it would work. But he had to try something. So he turned towards the desk and sat the line launcher on top, and aimed it towards the guard's flashlight.
Deathstroke pressed a button on the side and before Tiplin could react a claw was attached to his face, and was over his eyes. He dropped the shotgun that he had in the process, just so he could have both hands to pry off whatever was on his face, wrong move. Deathstroke saw an opportunity and pressed another button that caused the cables to retract, pulling Tiplin across the many rows of desks in front of him.
Deathstroke almost laughed as Tiplin hit every single desk along the way, knocking off computers and everything else that was left there that night. A few seconds later and the security guard was in the grasp of his worst nightmare.
Even after getting pummeled by office furniture, Tiplin struggled to free himself from the grip of his captor, but the monster in front of him wouldn't allow that. Deathstroke tightened his grip on Tiplin's throat, hoping to crush his airway and rid his world of another pest. Tiplin flailed his arms everywhere and kicked as hard as he could, but nothing could do. He was bout to give up on life when he had an idea.
"Please...don't kill me..." his grip didn't loosen.
"Pleeeease...I have a family!" nothing.
He gathered as much air as he could get into his lungs and struggled to try to send one last message.
"I...want...to see...my wife and son again." he then reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, which unfolded immediately.
What was laid before Deathstroke was almost a family album. Every single picture included Tiplin himself along with his wife and son, and not one deviated from the pattern. Deathstroke, was not a man of consequence, but what purpose would it serve to kill somebody that wasn't part of the mission? Somebody that had a purpose in life, maybe not too many goals, but the security guard knew what he was doing.
So instead of killing this man, he instead put him on the ground and punched his lights out.
He picked up the line launcher from the desk and stood where he was before this all happened. He pressed the button and off the line went, through the glass of the window and across the street to his target. He jumped off the ground and let the cable guide his way to complete the mission
(Meanwhile at the hall of Justice...)
Ten hours before Deathstroke arrived in Metropolis...
Red was unloading round after round from his desert eagles on the firing range, and for the first time he didn't have to reload. Cyborg's little inventions were becoming more and more useful in Red's mind than the fifty caliber bullets that he used for ammo. He noticed that the stun rounds sounded as intimidating as the rounds that he used, but they left a nasty burn wherever they hit. But that didn't matter, especially in some cases that could become life or death.
Cyborg on the other hand knew exactly what was going to happen, he just didn't know what Red's powers were and how he used them. He watched in awe as Red made precise shots to the targets wrists, elbows, knee joints, and even some shots to the groin, which would get him a few marks on the report in the end.
"Hey, uh Marcas?"
Red put down both of his firearms and turned around.
"What?"
"You need to stop aiming for the groin area on the dummies."
Red looked at the training course then back at Cyborg.
"And why is that?"
Cyborg shook his head, "You'll get points marked off if you do that."
Red just smiled and shook his head, "Well, then i guess that I am ready."
Cyborg looked at him with a puzzled look, "Are you sure? We've only been here for thirty minutes, besides, you haven't even trained with your weapons yet."
Red reached on his back and pulled the collapsable sickle and hammer off his back and swung both of them twice.
"Nah, I think that I have this down."
Just then a beeper went off on Cyborg's wrist. He looked down and saw a message from a friend saying, 'your roomie's up'. He deleted the message and headed towards the elevator.
"Where are you going?" asked red.
Cyborg motioned Red to follow him and said, "I just got a text from a friend that I made. He says that there are people looking for you upstairs."
"Why?" asked Red.
"Because you're next."
AAAAAAND stop. Well, I've got to say that my boy Red is going to be facing a tough challenge next chapter, and who knows what lies ahead with his time at the hall. As for Deathstroke, it makes you wonder, who is the target that he's after? Who is this shadow man?(let me tell you it's not Shadow from the Shadow Warriors) Who is Saber, and why couldn't Deathstroke find him with the thermal vision in his mask? Stay tuned and find out in the next shocking episode of, THE RED CROSSHAIR!
A/N I've looked at the charts of people visiting and looking at my story, and I'm shocked at the numbers. There is only one problem, NOBODY IS REVIEWING! Except for Shadow knight and Daniel Wilks, I thank you guys for your support/questions and I appreciate your reviews, but I am just frustrated that nobody else is voicing their opinion about this story. If you have any comments or questions, please review or send me a private Message. Also if you want to participate in it, there is a poll on my page that should tell me about how this story is going and how you the reader feel about the direction that it is taking. Please consider what I am asking and, UNTIL NEXT TIME!
