"C'mon Ms. Raven, we don't have time to waste." Professional speaks as he turns about and presses back into the thick tropical foliage.
"Wait!" Raven scrambles after him. "What do you mean?"
"What I mean is that you need to move now or Fury is going to turn you to paste, and here I was under the impression you were the smart one." Professional keeps on pressing through the jungle, pushing aside fronds and thick, ropy vines.
Raven takes two steps into the rough terrain before deciding to float rather than walk. "Well, where exactly is it your taking me?"
"Someplace safe until this blasted spell of yours burns out." He pushed past a large branch and stepped aside, holding it for the girl behind him to pass.
"What?" She remains still on her position on the path. "How do you know about that?"
"Brave told me, he's also the one who told me to come and get you. Son of a bitch is plenty persuasive when he needs to be."
"Okay, so are you taking me to this, Brave?"
"No, I'm supposed to take you back to my territory, after that I don't have any more orders regarding you. I'll have done my job and that will be it."
A blue eyebrow raised "How very... professional."
"Yes, it's dripping with irony isn't it? Now get moving or I'll knock you out and carry you."
Raven bemusedly floated onward down the path, Professional settling into a spot behind her.
It was only a fifteen minute walk before Raven was standing in front of what looked to be a large clearing, in the center of which was a large metal freight container, the kind that are stacked a dozen high on board a cargo ship. All around the container crate, were uniform black iron poles that had a large blue glowing crystal set into it. Twelve rows of twelve poles, with the crate set in the middle between them. Everything set up nice and neat and orderly.
Raven didn't pay too much attention to the order of the crystals, but rather the crystals themselves.
Professional spoke with a calm even tone as he walked through the poles up a makeshift walkway path made of neatly paved dirt. "This is my territory Raven, you should be safe here. It'll take hours for Fury to get over his failure of meeting you on the beach, and even longer for him to figure out it was me who took you."
Raven didn't hear a word, so focused she was on the crystal. It was unlike anything she had seen. It ebbed with subtle psychic energy in a flow she had never seen before. It suffused power and energy, but in a constant and predictable pattern.
"If Fury comes looking for you, I'll not fight him for you. You'll have to worry about your own hide if that happens. Is that clear?"
"What are these?"
"Hmm?" Professional turned about to see her regarding the crystals.
"What, the crystal? You do not need to know, it does not concern you. I suggest you get within their radius however, unless you wish Fury to find you all the sooner."
Raven hesitated a moment before striding forward between a pair of the posts. It was at that exact moment she seemingly stepped out of the dense, tropical jungle and into what looked like an industrial complex.
She didn't have time to study her surroundings as rapid gun fire erupted in front of her, ringing her ears and further confusing her.
"He's in the east corridor goddammit! Get some fucking men over here!" Raven glances left and sees a combat readied man throw a radio down from his face and put his other hand back on the stock of his rifle, letting loose a spray of rounds. Raven turns to glance at what he's shooting at.
It is a man, wide shouldered and tall. His garb would be right in place at war. Two pistols are holstered on his thighs and an assault rifle is on his back, held in place with a magnetic strap. His whole body is covered in black, not leaving any piece of his body exposed. His entire chest is covered in pieces of wargear, grenades, spare magazines, and a long combat knife just to name a few.
The dark man rolls to the side to avoid a spray of gunfire that tears into the concrete wall behind him, kicking up a cloud of dust. In a crouch he reached onto his back and grabs the stock of a Tec-9, letting loose a quick three round burst of fire. The guard's corpse hits the ground before the casings that felled him.
The man in black wastes no time, rushing forward next to the corpse. Ugly yellow light filters in from grimed over bulbs situated above him, illuminating murky water flowing a river with catwalks occasionally placed across it. A sewer, Raven realises.
The dark man breaks into a sprint, and Raven subconsciously follows behind.
He breaks left, fleeing across the catwalk to the other side of the river of filth. He glances up just as a shot rings out. The dark man jolts, clutching at his chest. Another crack of a gunshot and the man leans back with the force of it, tumbling off of the catwalk and into the murky sewer water below him.
Flashlights further down the corridor click on, illuminating a trio of armed guards. Two are armed with bull-pup assault rifles, the third is standing with a full length sniper rifle. A thin wisp of smoke is escaping from the barrel. The sniper turns to his companions and sternly says "No way he came in here alone! Fan out and find his backup!"
The two never got a chance to respond as a large shadowy shape lunged out of the rushing river of filth near them. The one nearest to the river had eight inches of steel jammed through his neck before he even had a chance to react. Their leader steps back, unsnapping the clasp to his sidearm. The dark man pushes off with the knife, slumping the man's corpse into the second guard who crumples under the sudden weight. The maneuver simultaneously draws the knife from it's recent kill. In one smooth motion the knife is hurled at the leader, the blade bisecting his forearm, sending his gun clattering to the ground. The dark man crosses the distance to him in one long stride. He grabs the knife and pulls his arm to the side, eliciting a pained scream from the man that is suddenly muffled when the dark man wraps his arm around his head and violently spins it, creating the gut wrenching sound of a snapping vertebrae followed by a splash as his limp body ragdolls into the filthy canal.
The guard's slumps his companion's bleeding corpse off of him and snatches up his gun. Before he can aim he feels uncomfortably warm steel press against his throat, drawing a narrow line of crimson across his jugular. His eyes widen and his body stiffens, but he has enough sense to remain still.
The dark man threateningly leaned over his impromptu hostage, knife held ready to tear his throat out. He spoke calmly and evenly, "I am going to ask you a short series of questions, of which I expect you to give short answers, no prattle, no threats. Follow these rules and you can walk away from this with your life and an interesting story to tell. Nod very slowly if you understand."
The guard nodded so slowly it was hard to tell if he was moving at all.
"Good. Where is your boss?" He pulled the knife an eighth of an inch away from the man's throat to allow him room to speak.
"Further down the corridor, near one of the pump control rooms." A slight edge of fear was in his voice, which was actually quite impressive.
"Is the girl there?"
"Yes."
"How many more are there of you and your men?"
"Ten all together."
"When are they expecting you back?"
"We should have made a radio comm already."
The dark man sighed before continuing. "Thank you, you've been very helpful. Your free to go."
A thin smile creeps onto his face and his body visibly relaxes with his sense of relief. The look of mirth stays plastered onto his face as his head falls to the ground with a meaty thump, blood pouring out of the neck stump in steady, rhythmic pumps.
Raven looks up at the dark man almost aghast, having barely caught the movement of his knife decapitating the man who he had promised life to. As she stares at him, she comes to the realization that she can feel his surface thoughts. Not hear them, feel them. It's like everything that goes through his head is laid out before her on sheets of paper that have all merged together into what at first appears to be gibberish. She realizes that she can't focus on any one piece, but has to view it as a whole for it to be translated into a method that makes sense.
She knows that he feels to no remorse, no sympathy, no mercy for the man that lies before him. She knows that his justification is that he would have fought back if he saw it coming, and he made sure that it would be quick and silent. A dignified way to go, no crying, no begging, simply an ending. In the back of his mind he hopes that he'll die in a similar fashion.
In a split second the dark man breaks into a sprint down the corridor, sheathing his knife as he runs. He leaves wet footprints from the sewer water that runs down his body. In his mind he thinks that speed is now more important than stealth. They're already alerted to the fact that the group they sent out hasn't called back, and if they are worth their salt they'll pull out with the girl rather than risk losing more men than they already have. His mind jumps back to the several weeks previous that have been spent tracking down these men, and the dark man realises that if they get wind that someone is on them it will be impossible to track them down again. This is his only chance.
His bulky form rounds a corner, glances down the hall, and dives to the floor as a spray of ordnance blasts chunks of stone off of the walls all around him. He rolls into a crouch and draws an uzi, hosing the corridor with hot lead. Screams and groans sound from the dark end of the corridor, followed by the unmistakeable sound of a body hitting the floor.
The dark man held down the trigger, easily handling the jerking weapon. Of it's own accord the gun stops, a casing lodged in the chamber. A one in a million jam. The weapon clatters to the floor as the dark man starts to back-pedal, hoping to put distance between him and his opponents.
The hidden figures open up with their rifles, spitting out long lines of hot tracer rounds. Ten find a home in the dark man's chest, each met with an unwilling grunt of pain. The dark man staggers under the assault before limply falling to the ground. Raven winces.
One of the two men flicks a switch in the pump control room, letting clean white light filter down from above onto the 3/4 dozen men standing in the room. One turns to the other, "Did we get him?"
The second glances down the corridor at the body laying in a pool of it's own blood. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that we did. Grab the girl and let's go. How's Mitch?"
"Dead." The mercenary kicked at his bullet riddled companion's corpse, a series of nine-millimeter holes in his body. "Better him than us, eh?"
"..."
"Mike?"
The man turns around to see Mike glancing about nervously "Where's the guy's corpse?"
Just then the overhead light vanishes with the sound of shattering glass. Before the men can even gasp in surprise a bloody gurgle is heard from amongst them. The darkness is split when one of them opens up in the direction of the sound only to fill one of his companions with shells. He does catch a startlingly short glimpse of the spectre in the dark by way of his muzzle flashes. Though it does little to help him amid the chaos and screams of the sewers.
After only a few violent moments, all noise has stopped in the chamber. This nothingness exists for only a few scant seconds before the shadows are cut by an igniting flare in the hands of the now standing dark man. He glances down at a petite form dressed in a grimy jacket and shorts that had gone unnoticed in all the fighting. She huddles away from the man, a look of stark terror in her features. The dark man asks "Claire Averson?"
She nods.
"I've been sent by your father, I'm here to bring you home." He extends a hand to help her to her feet, a hand which she tentatively takes. "Are you hurt?"
She shakes her head, the look of terror never leaving her face.
"Good. Now I must apologize first and foremost, but it is simply easier this way." The man reaches forward, pressing a rag to the girl's face. After a second of inhaling the vapors, she falls limp into his arms. The man slings her over his shoulder and starts to slowly walk away, holding the flare ahead of him to light the way.
Raven remains standing in the dark, watching the dark man leave because all of a sudden she cannot move her legs. She watches as the light fades away down the corridor, leaving her in darkness.
And then it's all gone in an instant. She was staring up at a roof of blue sky with absolutely no idea what the hell was going on.
"Took long enough, didn't it?"
Raven sits up and turns to see Professional crouched down near her, a half cigarette hanging loosely off his lip. "What-"
"You triggered a memory crystal Miss Raven, you just witnessed events that happened years ago. And in case your wondering, the man in black was indeed yours truly." He gestures towards himself with a mischievious smirk.
"What happened to the girl?"
"Woke up a few hours later, safe and sound in the hands of people who love her. What kind of professional would I be if I didn't deliver the goods when ordered?"
"How could that have been you? Your just an abstract representation of Reaver's psyche, you can't exist out of this place."
"Oh but it was me dear girl. Everything Reaver does is embroiled in a code of conduct he's made for himself. From the way he fights to the way he lives to the way he speaks, it's all part of what he considers proper. I'm the manifestation of that sense of honor, an avatar if you will. Each of these crystals hold the memories that have developed due to that sense of honor, therefore they exist in my domain and only mine."
Raven clutched at her suddenly pounding head, groaning slightly in pain. Professional scoffed "For what it's worth you helped Reaver a bit."
"What?"
"Don't tell me you can't sense it girl, use that lump three feet above your ass and find out for yourself."
Raven didn't need to be told twice. She closed her eyes and focused for a second, expanding her consciousness outward.
She could sense it, a sense of wholeness that existed in the mind of her friend that wasn't there before. Like a shattered plate that had two shards suddenly fused together. She glanced up at Professional and immediately understood.
"When Reaver's mind backfires on itself, it's putting all of these memories back at once. It puts too much pressure on his psyche and his mind breaks, making him even worse off than before. But by allowing this memory to surface early, then it isn't as jarring and he can accept it."
"Funny, isnt' it Raven. Reaver's speed healing is what isn't letting him heal. Irony is a bitch."
"All I need to do is get Reaver's memories to return at a more staggered rate, rather than all at once." She stood up. "Where should I go next?"
"I don't frickin' know."
Raven's shoulder's sunk. "Fine, I'll figure it out on my own then." The girl floated up and away.
Professional put one hand out for her. "Wait miss Raven."
"What?"
"Were you at all surprised by what you saw in the crystal? Did you know your friend was capable of that level of callous brutality? Because I know he's capable of far more than that my dear. There are several sides to your friend that he has never shown to you, or anyone for that matter. There's a reason why Reaver's raw mind can't accept itself, it's because it's a scary place. You'll need to make sure your ready to face that before you go any further."
"...Thank you for your concern Professional, but regardless I need to do this, no matter what I find out."
"It isn't concern Raven, just a fair warning so's you can't whine later on when this all blows up in your face." He grinned.
"...I'm leaving." Raven turned and flew away before the suited man could say anything else.
Professional simply shrugged. "Pfft, women." He made a flippant gesture and turned back to his container.
