Intoduction Part IV
By Alpha Anomaly
The smell of smoke and beer filled the packed bar area as Zelda coughed and choked her way out the door. 'Common bars are no place for the princess of Hyrule,' Zelda mused to herself as she finally managed her way through the throng of fans surrounding her. 'Besides, they shouldn't even allow these common middle-class citizens near us; I had to disguise my self to escape the men!' Zelda understood where they were coming from, though. It wasn't the fault of these people that this was the most exciting event many of them had seen in their whole lives, and probably would remain as that.
Four contestants had been enjoying solitude in the bar near the hotel, in the center of the grand metropolis constructed for the sole purpose of fighting, when they were immediately ambushed by at least a hundred people waiting just to say hello or to shake their hands. Lloyd Irving was the one who took in all the publicity with earnest as the young man enjoyed being known by everyone. The fact that every one of them seemed to automatically respect his ability as a fighter boosted his spirits as well as his ego even more. As long as it had nothing to do with learning, Lloyd would probably be fine with it, until he got bored a little way through.
Sure enough, about an hour of sitting at the table of four and constantly being bombarded with publicity, Lloyd turned to the stony Kratos Aurion and spoke in his ear, "Get me outta here, Kratos! I'm tired of this place, and especially these people! You absorb their attention for a while."
The maroon-haired swordsman brushed a spike of hair out of his eyes and calmly replied, "You got yourself into this mess of attention, Lloyd, and you must also rid yourself of it. I want nothing to do with it either, that's why I didn't get involved."
Lloyd was sick of answers from Kratos such as this, but he had also gotten used to them. He had been around the intimidating man for a very long time. "Dammit, Kratos, just help me out here!" Kratos adjusted his scabbard on his double belt, then stood up and calmly strode through the throng of people, ignoring Lloyd's plea completely.
Lloyd stared after him until the last of his blue outfit had disappeared through the door to his bar. The young man figured he would be here for a while, and he didn't even have Genis or Raine to help him out here. The only other people there with him were Zelda and Carl Johnson. 'Zelda seems nice enough, from what I can tell', he considered, 'but then she put on some funny outfit when the people started to flood in, made her look like some loser. I haven't really talked to her since then. Too many people. That Johnson guy isn't really the friendly type either. He just shot some guy for talking to him! I guess it's just me for a while longer.' Lloyd took a drink and snapped his overall straps, sat back, and anticipated the flood of fans.
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Meanwhile, Zelda strolled down the desolate road back to the hotel. She had removed the Sheik façade at this point, and tiredly meandered around, getting herself lost. The two drinks that she had had in the bar had affected her apparently, and she was having trouble detecting where she was going. The wind was picking up, and Zelda hurried along as she wanted to get back quickly. She turned down a seemingly lifeless street, as she looked around, confused. She had no idea how to get back and she had left her companions in the bar. She didn't detect the silent movements behind her. She wandered down the road and soon she became aware that this was not the place that she needed to be. She was about to turn around and start back when a hand shot out and covered her mouth. Agent 47 smiled quietly behind her.
'All I have to do is keep this useless being busy for a little while, then I can collect.' 47 held her tightly until she instinctively thrashed around, her weak, thin hands gripping at 47's strong arm and flailing about wildly. She was trying desperately to gain a gasp of breath. 47 held tight until she started to go limp, then he let go. Zelda collapsed on the ground in front of him, drawing deep, wonderful breaths, as life flooded back into her oxygen starved body. Zelda turned around to face her assailant, and was shocked to see that it was in fact a contestant. In horror, she gasped, "Why…why are you attacking me?"
Agent 47 stood silently and deftly drew his pistol and pointed it straight at Zelda's head. 'I can't kill her, as much as I would like to. I never like to let my victims escape me with firm knowledge of me in their heads. I prefer them to be dead. Oh well, it can't be helped, and this job is paying well. With this place around me, it's no wonder. I'll just scare her a little bit longer, then I can collect.'
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High up above on the rooftops, a dark figure looked down on them, saw what he needed to, and sprinted away across the houses.
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Zelda desperately scrambled to her feet and tried to run past Agent 47 and back into the street so she could get some help. Obviously, Zelda wasn't thinking very clearly due to a combination of the drinks as well as the shock of the sudden attack upon her. She wasn't considering all of her options and sprinted straight into 47's waiting arms. He took hold and gripped her tightly before tossing her up into the air. She landed hard on her backside with a thud and then proceeded to scream.
47 cursed himself for not keeping her nearby and keeping her silent. 'Dammit, this could ruin everything! I really hope no one is nearby,' he thought to himself as he ran towards Zelda to quiet her down. Zelda reached up with her leg and kicked 47 straight in the shin with all of her might. The hitman stumbled backwards, hopping on his left leg momentarily, before getting fed up with Zelda. He once again pulled his pistol and aimed straight at her forehead.
The young woman used her disappearing trick to teleport right underneath Agent 47's nose and lifted off, giving the notorious hitman a powerful uppercut using her body's leverage. 47 felt his jaw rattle with the force of her attack, and his gun fired off instinctively, missing Zelda by a few feet.
Zelda smiled as 47 crouched down, holding his jaw in pain. "That will teach you to mess with a woman, you bastard."
47 looked up in disgust and anger. "I could have killed you in a moment, woman. Don't you dare voice doubt in my abilities, insolent fool."
Zelda realized that somehow her sarcastic attack on 47's abilities as a hitman seemed to jar him a little. 'He must be hiding a little bit of pride underneath that big bald head of his, hmm. I may be able to use that and get out of here in one piece.'
As she watched 47 nurse his chin she began to muse to herself, and Zelda wasn't even paying attention to the fact that Agent 47 had recovered and was beginning a bull charge at her, seemingly in anger. Zelda deftly bolted to one side of the street and by the time 47 stopped his charge, he already had his pistol out and was ready to fire at Zelda the first chance he got. When 47 whipped around, however, Zelda was nowhere to be found. He began to fire wildly around in the air, fully intent on striking down Zelda. He didn't care anymore about the tournament; he figured he would lose anyway. However, his instincts as a hitman began to take over. And hitmen always kill their prey.
Agent 47 began to look around for Zelda, checking for the nubile young woman, ducking behind the cars lining the dark street and waiting for the slightest sound so that he could wheel around and fire.
Zelda lay down ducked in the space behind the lone dumpster in the street. She was afraid to even breathe, paralyzed with fear that Agent 47 would find her. He had more resources than she could handle for the time being, as all of her Sheik equipment was back in the hotel room. She only had the suit with her, and that would do her no good against 47's high-powered weaponry. She simply had to lay low and wait for a miracle.
Agent 47 walked along the curb of the dark road, watching and listening. Suddenly, he heard a noise behind him. 'I've got her! She's dead meat,' 47 thought. In a shimmer of confidence, he turned and fired his pistol straight at the sound.
Agent 47's bullet made contact.
"Damn! Watch where you're shooting, you insensitive jerk! Man, I'm just here to rock and roll, and I got guys shooting me up in the middle of the road. I heard some screaming, thought I'd check it out, and I find some nut shooting at everything he hears. Now, now, didn't your mother teach you better?" The waggling, condescending finger in front of 47 belonged to none other than the half-demon Dante Sparda.
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The heavy door finally unlocked as the shadowy figure crept into the darkened hotel room. Quietly closing the door, the man crept around the room, looking for a sign of some kind.
Eventually, after five or ten minutes of creeping, he found exactly what he was looking for. Glimmering in one of Zelda's bottom drawers, the object flashed blue and lit the darkened room with its eerie glow. The man carefully knelt and reached his trembling hands into the awaiting wooden drawer and delicately picked up the object.
The robed figure returned everything to the way things were before and quietly crossed the path to the door and exited the room, his intentions fulfilled.
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Dante and Agent 47 struggled in the streets while Zelda sprinted away. 47 looked on in horror. The powerful demon was overcoming 47. The hitman desperately tried to reach his gun on the ground but he could not break the strong grapple they were engaged in. Finally, Dante managed to throw 47 to the ground and reach for Ebony and Ivory, his twin handguns. 47 reached for his pistol and aimed it at Dante just as he found the twin guns pointed between his eyes. Zelda ran past them just then and Agent 47 took the risk and took his aim away from Dante and instead aimed at Zelda.
Dante realized what was going on just in time and swiftly holstered his own handguns and just as quickly whipped out the Cerberus, an icy tri-nun chuck. Dante spun the Cerberus and knocked the pistol out of 47's hand as he fired, landing the gun with a clatter a safe distance away.
Dante leaned down and whispered to 47, "Get out, you slimy bastard." 47 got up and glared at Dante. He adjusted his crimson tie and strolled off down the street to collect his pay. He was glad that he got that much out of this irritating situation.
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"You did well, Agent 47. I'm glad I was able to count on your…services." The robed man now stood before 47, careful not to show his face.
"So, tell me, were you able to at least get done what you wanted to? That was a lot of trouble, and I now have two people who know I assaulted Zelda," 47 complained to the figure, as if he expected him to somehow do something.
"I am not concerned with the trivial matters of a hitman. Deal with them upfront. Your pay." The man handed Agent 47 a thick wad of bills and a few more gems.
The currency system in Cloud, Link, and Sephiroth's world worked so that gambling, jobs, and such could still go on, and yet at the end of the contest when everyone went home, the currency was exchanged back to their home's way of dealing with money. Agent 47 had no clue how much this money was worth in American dollars, but he figured it had better be a lot for what he just went through. 'I'm going to have some trouble in this contest if I can't even stave off a demon and some girl for more than fifteen minutes. Damn.'
47 began to turn around, but turned back to ask a last question. "What was it that you took from her, mystery man?"
The figure callously replied, "That is none of your concern."
