*Hey, everyone, here's another Revolution chapter, sorry for slacking!
Hope you enjoy it!*
Only two assassins in the Italian sanctuary were awake.
That's not to say they didn't do anything productive, quite the contrary.
"ONE-TWO!"
Luka caught the two punches quite effectively.
"LEFT, LEFT, LEFT!"
He shouted the next three punches.
"BIG RIGHT!"
The set was finished by a powerful right that was beautifully called out.
"Alright, that's enough!" Luka carefully took the mitts off. "I don't remember you doing any boxing in Croatia."
Nicole stepped back and deeply inhaled before happily smiling. "That's because I didn't. I've only started training it recently."
Luka tossed her a towel which she easily caught. "How recent is that?
"A few months maybe."
Luka grinned and exhaled out loud. "You're better than I was a year in. It's easy being an elite, ain't it?"
Nicole's eyes widened a small bit as her smile partially dropped. "Shush."
Luka laughed and got out of the ring. He began leaving the gym but he briefly stopped. "Hard work always beats talent, though."
Nicole leaned against the ropes of the boxing ring and genuinely smiled.
Luka made it to the main hall and saw a familiar lad standing in the middle of it looking at a nearby TV.
"Ruth!" He enthusiastically greeted him.
Ruth nodded his head at him. "You doing okay?"
"Yeah, I had a good workout. Yourself?"
"I'm about as grand as I could be." He directed his attention back at the TV. The news channel was on. "Mind filling me in on today's contract?"
Luka stared at him for a moment before looking at the TV himself. "Only if you fill me in on what's happened there yesterday."
Ruth chuckled. "Lucio and I stumbled upon that area while we were chasing a Templar thug. A few gunshots went off in a public place, so I took care of it."
Luka waited for a second after Ruth stopped talking. "But nobody else was hurt, right?"
"Nope, but they were Templars at the end of the day. I felt like doing it."
Luka quickly blinked a few times before he began talking again. "Today's contract is about Romeo Abate. He's leaving the country within a few days, but he may leave today or tomorrow. We have to find him before he manages to escape. G knows a general area that we could look through, so we'll start there as soon as everyone else wakes up."
Ruth gave a solid nod as he walked to the kitchen area. "I'm grabbing a coffee. You want one?"
"Don't worry about it." Luka shook his head from side to side.
He looked back at the TV and crossed his arms. A few of the thugs' portraits and identities were revealed on the channel.
*Fucking hell. The news is still covering it as if it just happened. Just for a bunch of thugs, eh?*
"You look like a bundle of nerves." Hugh suddenly entered the main hall. He quickly noticed the TV as soon as Luka turned around. "That situation still bugging you?"
"It just doesn't sit right with me." Luka turned back around. "I don't feel like it's our place to be causing shit like this."
"The lads were Templars, though, right? I understand your feelings, but it's not like I'm offended by what Ruth did." Hugh looked at Luka who returned the look after a moment. "Look, Ruth did it because he thought it was right. Personally, I would never do anything like it. I don't like drawing attention to myself or the Creed in any way. However, he didn't necessarily do anything wrong according to the Creed's rules, so I can't judge the lad."
Luka lightly nodded a few times at him and sighed before speaking up again. "It just seems like a shitty thing to do, you know?"
"I get you, Lu." Hugh patted Luka's arm. "I'll grab a coffee, you want one?"
"Ruth's in there, and he asked me the same thing. Don't worry about it, H." Luka chuckled through the last bit of his sentence, along with Hugh. Hugh was about to enter the hallway leading to the kitchen when he suddenly stopped. "Let me know when G wakes up, yeah?"
"Will do, big fella." Luka nodded at him before Hugh disappeared from the room.
...
Back in England, the Interim Grandmaster had a surprise visit.
Barton was going through some of the files in his office as a rather tall man with an intense aura entered the room after a few knocks.
Barton directed his attention at him. "Fancy seeing you back at the main sanctuary, lad." He fully turned toward the assassin. A few slow seconds went by. "Come on, Andre, spit it out."
The assassin responded to his name being called out. "Master. It's an honour seeing you again." His voice was raspy and intimidating.
"Cut the crap, man." Barton chuckled before his sentence. "Weren't you in Belgium the last time we spoke?"
Andre walked closer to Paul. "Yeah, I was working in Brussels." He placed a toothpick in his mouth out of one of his pockets. "I took care of a few Templars."
"Any important targets?"
"No."
"Alright, so why are you here, then?" Barton started looking through some files again. "There's not really a country I can send you to that you're *needed* in. Kingston placed you in Belgium just because everyone else was already distributed across the rest of Europe."
Andre firmly grunted as a response.
"Look, mate, you can stay in London for now..."
"What about Paris or Rome?" Andre cut Paul off.
Paul didn't seem to mind. "Rome is already covered. Auditore, Kaiser and Stone have got things under control. Plus, Hugh White and one more lad are there right now. As for Paris..." Barton thought about his next sentence for a moment. "Kane White is there, along with Matthews...oh, right, you know Richardson." Andre nodded in reply. "He's staying there for a bit. His twin sister's also there. If we're talking about Rome or Paris, I'd send you to Paris first and foremost, but I don't think we need that kind of firepower there right now."
Andre looked up at the ceiling and took out a cigarette. "Mind if I sit and light a fire?"
"Go for it, mate."
Andre took a seat and lit the cigar before speaking up once more. "Are you sure you can't send me anywhere, then?"
Barton thought about it for a few seconds.
"Paul?"
"I'm thinking." After a moment he spoke up again. "How good are you with heat?"
Andre's head rose a small bit. "Good enough."
"You can pick if you want to. Spain or Portugal?" Barton smirked and asked in a friendly manner.
"Who else is there?"
Paul paused for a moment. "I would have to check to make sure for anyone else, but the Cabello brothers are holding the fort down in most of Spain and some areas in Portugal."
Andre grunted a bit aggressively as he stood up from his seat. "Can I rest here until you find out?"
"Sure, man. Just take one of the guest rooms."
Andre nodded and left the office.
Barton loudly exhaled and stared at the open office door for a few moments before going back to his paperwork.
...
Scott and Ashley scouted out Elroy's apartment.
"This must be it," Ashley spoke while observing the apartment through a spyglass from a distance. "So, what's the plan?"
"I thought we just had to break into the apartment." Scott bluntly replied.
Ashley stopped looking through the spyglass to give Scott a mean stare. "And I think rainbows are just a result of a rainbow cow shitting them out in heaven."
Silence followed for a moment.
"You bloody idiot, we can't just walk into a public apartment complex!" Ashley lightly smacked Scott's head. "Look, you hang around the entrance of the building and I'll see what I can do."
Ashley didn't even give a chance to her brother to reply before she already took off.
A couple of people casually gathered at the main entrance. They seemed to be neighbours.
Ashley simply walked past them with a few greetings from the polite folks there. She tipped her hood in response before entering the building. Ashley immediately noticed a bunch of cameras set up in every hallway.
*His apartment's on the third floor, so let's see what I can do.*
She began walking up the stairs.
*This shouldn't be difficult, but the cameras might be a nuisance.* Ashley reached for her earpiece and began whispering. "Scott, there are cameras set up here. See if you can find a control room using my laptop."
"On it, Ashy."
The earpiece made a satisfying noise in Ashley's ear indicating that Scott let go of his earpiece. Ashley continued to walk up the stairs until she eventually made it to the third floor.
*Let's see...* She carefully looked around the massive hallway. *Elroy's apartment should be the last apartment on this floor...*
Ashley's thoughts were swiftly cut off as she noticed the door to Elroy's apartment was open.
*Well, ain't this a son of a bitch.*
She carefully walked up to the door and pushed it open. There were rummaging sounds coming from the living room. Ashley slowly snuck up to the entrance of the room while leaning against the hallway wall. She peeked her head from behind the wall. A moderately-built man was looking through a few documents that seemed important.
*I mean, he doesn't look armed, so...*
The man's back was turned towards her. Suddenly, something sharp and small was rammed into the wall beside the man's face. He immediately turned around and noticed Ashley wielding a few throwing knives.
"Who the hell are you?" She spoke out loud.
"That should probably be my line." The man clenched one of his fists and waited for an opportunity.
As soon as Ashley blinked for a split second, he bolted out of the room through the balcony.
Before Ashley began shouting at him to stop, she quickly scanned the room. *He took all the fucking papers!* She restrained herself and instantly touched her earpiece. "Scott, there's a very agile man that just jumped off the balcony of Elroy's apartment!"
Scott's expression tensed up as he stood up. He carefully looked around the general area of the complex. "I see him! I got this!"
Scott suddenly noticed Ashley jumping off the balcony herself. "It's no use, he took everything important! Just follow me!"
Scott immediately shut off his earpiece and began running in the direction of the escaping man.
...
Kane took a casual stroll a few streets away from the Parisian airport. He lit a cigarette as he manoeuvred his away past a few groups of rough-looking people.
*It sure is busy this morning.* He inhaled a drag of smoke. *It's not like Paris is a rough city or this is a rough neighbourhood, but it genuinely feels like London back home...fuck me, what a shithole has the world become...one of the most reputable and beautiful cities of the world is close to being ruined. Drug dens being created in storage units, corrupt CEOs of major companies...*
His thoughts paused for a few moments as he made it to the airport's main entrance.
*A revolution is an appropriate title.*
There was a security guard that glared through Kane as he got dangerously close to the entrance with his cigarette still lit. Kane made a friendly gesture with his hands as if to say: "Relax, man."
He tossed the cigarette away as the guard nodded at him.
*Alright, let's see...*
Kane slowly read through every board hanging from the ceiling that listed the current flights that would land soon.
*I got 15 minutes. Flight 249. Eastern part of the airport.*
Kane turned his body to the side, but his head remained focused on the information board. After a moment or two of him repeating the information in his head, he began marching towards the eastern landing gates. He made it after a few minutes.
*Flight 249, this should be it.*
A large man surrounded by bodyguards seemed to be waiting for the same flight as Kane.
*Something tells me that lad isn't friendly.*
Kane walked in the opposite direction of where the man was facing and sat down on a nearby bench. There were two people on each side of Kane, making it a nice area where he could blend in.
The large man frequently turned his head in Kane's direction unintentionally.
*A black man in his late 20s or early 30s...looks built enough. I don't recognise his face, though.* Kane overheard the man speaking. He couldn't distinguish what he was saying, but he heard a clear British accent. *A Brit? This just got interesting. What kind of business would this lad have with a man like Owen Roberts?*
The plane eventually landed and Roberts came out immediately. The two men exchanged a friendly handshake and a hug. They radiated positive energy while talking to each other. A car was waiting for them in the airport's underground garage. The two men began making their way there, along with several bodyguards.
*There's no way I can cause a ruckus here and not go unpunished. Luckily, Harris told me the establishment where these two should be going to. I better get there before they do.*
Kane hurried out of the airport through the main doors and carefully sprinted through the crowds outside of it.
*Who knows what kind of business plans those two have. They're meeting at a restaurant, by the looks of it. Well, whatever it is, I can't let this deal go through. You aren't making it back to England, Roberts!*
...
Nothing unusual was happening in Rome that morning. The streets seemed busy, but not *that* busy. People greeted each other and got into wonderful exchanges and conversations. Our main group of four men was marching down a narrow street.
Luka and Hugh walked in the back of the group with Gabriel and Ruth in front.
"Remind me of where exactly we're going." Luka's slightly raised voice popped into the conversation.
"I told you before, the bar is on an outskirt in between a rural and urban area. We should be there in about 10-15 minutes." Gabriel kept a steady pace while looking at Luka from the front.
"Got it, bossman," Luka replied before turning his head towards Hugh's. "What do you reckon, is he out of the country by now?"
Hugh briefly looked at Luka before turning his gaze upwards. "Hm, I'm not sure. Normally, I'd say no, but considering what happened yesterday...it's very possible."
Ruth joined the conversation. "Do you really think I messed up that badly?"
"You didn't mess anything up, lad. It's just unfortunate timing, that is all." Hugh spoke directly to Ruth this time. "Don't blame yourself for an unlucky situation."
Ruth turned his head slightly at Hugh and nodded in appreciation. Hugh's expression slightly worsened, but he shook it off almost immediately.
The streets became less and less busy as the group of men entered the rough area in question.
"I know this is unnecessary advice, but stick together no matter what." Gabriel's voice and expression became serious during his sentence. "There's no telling who we might run into."
The assassins took things seriously as they kept carefully navigating the streets before eventually reaching the pub.
"Alright, this is it. Now, before we go in, do we have a plan?"
Gabriel looked around himself for approval. All he got were confused or normal expressions. Hugh briefly spoke up. "So, what's the deal with this pub? Are we just gonna get jumped as soon as we enter?"
"We will get jumped as soon as we get noticed..." Gabriel dramatically paused for a second before continuing. "...which will be almost instantly."
Hugh's expression comedically changed to a frown. "Welp, alright. Let's do this, I guess."
Hugh began walking up to the door, but Luka grabbed his shoulder. "Are we seriously gonna go in without a plan?"
"Do you have a better idea?"
"..."
"That's what I thought."
Hugh proceeded to open the door to the pub. It was a loud and old-fashioned establishment, but it looked relatively well taken care of. The four men all entered and stood beside each other in terms of height. Luka was in front of everyone, followed by Ruth in the middle and the two absolute huge beasts, Gabriel and Hugh, behind both of them. The loud bar slowly but surely began turning quiet. Eventually, the entire place died down.
Luka shifted his pose a few times and turned to Hugh very slowly. "Rough place."
Hugh met his expression by extruding his chin and bottom lip and nodding back at Luka. "You're telling me."
A few of the larger men in the bar looked at each other and nodded their heads at the assassin group.
Hugh simply exhaled loudly in response. "Alright, how do we settle who does the job?"
"Why don't we do it properly?" Luka crossed his arms and replied.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" Hugh briefly questioned.
Luka thrust his elbow at Hugh's arm. "I meant fairly. Who here has been in a fight recently?"
An awkward silence followed for a moment.
Gabriel, Hugh and Luka all gazed through Ruth.
Ruth loudly sighed. "Could you even call that a fight?"
Suddenly a thug sitting at one of the nearby tables charged at Luka. He looked pretty drunk as he was holding a beer bottle in the middle of his attack. Luka easily dodged a swing from the drunk fella and jabbed the man's stomach. He immediately collapsed and began vomiting on the floor.
Luka kicked the drunk lad to the side. "Alright, who here has recently fought in a pub?"
Gabriel and Ruth each shrugged their shoulders after a second or two of thinking. Luka immediately rose his eyebrows and nodded at Hugh.
"Son of a bitch." Hugh grunted.
"You wanna take this one then, G?" Luka looked at Gabriel's face this time.
Gabriel took a moment to reply as he looked around the pub. "To be honest, you can take this one."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
"Alright, then." Luka turned back towards the open area of the bar.
He stepped up and placed himself in a convincing stance.
The other three assassins hung back as they were prepared to spectate an entertaining fight.
Hugh's expression turned a bit serious as he crossed his arms.
*Go on, lightweight.*
Gabriel and Ruth relaxed their poses.
*You've got this, Luka.* Ruth clenched one of his fists.
Gabriel briefly glanced at Hugh who returned the stare. They nodded at each other.
*Hugh's thinking what I'm thinking. If anything happens, we're jumping in.*
Hugh leaned in and whispered to Gabriel. "Keep an eye on the back of the room. If someone tries to escape, we have to catch them."
"Right." Gabriel nodded in reply.
The thugs began talking in Italian as a very large man shouted something that sounded like combat commands to the other men in the pub, but none of the thugs moved even the slightest bit.
Luka rolled his eyes and dashed in front of a man that was near him in the blink of an eye. A heavy barrage shattered the man's ribs around his liver followed by a quick right hook to the man's body. The lad slowly fell to his knees and collapsed, but he couldn't lay on the floor fully before Luka sent his head flying backwards with a sturdy kick. The man was fully unconscious at this point.
Several stares of awe and gasps filled the room.
Luka tightened his stance once more.
"Is nobody gonna grow a pair in this goddamn room?!" Luka shouted at the top of his lungs before hunkering down to lower his centre of gravity. After a solid few seconds of nobody moving, Luka spat on the ground beside him, dashed to a nearby table and jumped off of it to land on his next target. He threw a punch down at the thug's face from his elevated position, almost like he was chopping a log in half. Luka grabbed the man's shirt and tossed him over a few tables, breaking them instantly. The floor was starting to become viscous from all the beer bottles and mugs that Luka broke. A sudden beer mug was tossed at Luka's face, but he easily caught it.
"Guess that answers my question."
A man that looked like a full-on biker grabbed a pool cue and launched it at Luka's body, but he took a safety measure and began sprinting at Luka at the same time to close the gap between them. Luka ducked under the pool cue, but it kept travelling across the room all the way up to Ruth's face. The cue almost took his head off as Ruth's eyes widened and he froze for a split second. The only sight Ruth noticed after momentarily closing his eyes and opening them back up was the pool cue levitating in front of him until he shook his head and realised Hugh grasped the cue as firmly as he could. Hugh simply smirked before immediately turning his head towards the biker.
"Cunt." He murmured before gripping the cue with both of his hands and tearing it in half. Hugh suddenly raised his voice. "LUKA!"
"Yeah, whatever, just jump in!" Luka immediately read Hugh's mind and replied with his own shout.
In a matter of a second, Hugh was standing right behind Luka. The biker was just about to make it into punching range before Hugh shouted once more. "DUCK!"
"Duck?!" Luka shouted in response.
"NO GOOSE!" Hugh jokingly exclaimed as Luka properly ducked.
Hugh stomped his foot down, rotated his hips, shoulders and upper body, tightened his back and threw out a monstrous punch. All of that within a millisecond whilst throwing his arm forward, the biker was flung backwards and fully rolled over twice.
"My bad, Ali, didn't know I was in the presence of the greatest of all time!" Luka sarcastically remarked.
"Shut your mouth, Leonard!" Hugh chuckled and enthusiastically replied.
The rest of the men inside of the bar didn't move a single bit. They all seemed petrified to even consider taking Luka or Hugh on directly. A cold and intimidating atmosphere took over the room. After Hugh and Luka straightened themselves out and stopped moving, the only movement in the room came from the thugs themselves who trembled in fear.
Hugh leaned over and whispered to Luka. "Think they shit their pants yet?"
Luka loudly inhaled before opening his mouth, but he couldn't get a word out before he noticed a man that looked like the bartender escaping through the back entrance. "Son of a whore."
Luka looked behind him at Gabriel and nodded his head in the direction of the fleeing bartender. Gabriel immediately got the gesture and sprinted out of the pub from the front entrance.
"Ruth, on me!" Gabriel shouted instructions to his fellow assassin right before running through the front door.
"Right behind you, Gabriel!" Ruth replied with vigour and determination in his voice before quickly following Gabriel.
Luka stared at them until they were physically out of sight. He turned his head back to Hugh's. "So...what now?"
Hugh looked up at the ceiling. "Do we feel like following them?"
"...no."
"Well, there you go," Hugh replied in a normal tone and stood still for a few moments.
An awkward tension filled the room.
Luka briefly spoke. "You do know that we have to follow them, right? Let's end this quickly."
"Right, right," Hugh grumbled and slightly grunted after his sentence. Suddenly, Hugh began shouting into the open pub. "DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE WE CAN FIND ROMEO ABATE?!"
Luka's eardrums ruptured a small bit as he clenched one of his ears and lightly smacked the back of Hugh's head. "WARNING?!"
"WARNINGS ARE OVERRATED!"
"Your goddamn face is overrated!" Luka gripped his nose bridge, lowered his head and loudly sighed. "Look, just take care of this."
"Alright, Leonard." Hugh stepped forward and cracked his knuckles.
"Is that what we're doing now?" Luka slightly laughed.
"I couldn't help myself." Hugh chuckled as well.
Hugh inhaled the biggest breath he possibly could and threw himself in the middle of about a dozen men.
There was a thug in the bar who was slightly bigger than everyone else. He grew a pair and stepped forward a few metres away from Hugh. Hugh tightly gripped his fists, raised his guard and slightly leaned forward before dashing in once more.
...
A toned, mysterious and rough-looking man occupied the residence of a nearby office building.
"Viktor!" The clearly Italian accent coming from the man suddenly shouted into nothingness, almost as if he yelled into the void. A man that looked like his henchman or sidekick hurried his clumsy legs down the empty hall.
"Yes, sir?" His voice was hesitant and a bit quiet.
"When are we departing from Rome?" He lit a girthy cigar and inhaled before continuing. "I'm afraid our time has run out in this city."
Viktor unnoticeably gulped. "Sir, we could leave before the end of the week..."
Viktor suddenly stopped talking as it felt like the Italian was burning a hole in his forehead from the intense stare he gave him. Viktor eventually spoke again with an even more hesitant tone in his voice.
"...we can leave today if we broadcast an emergency to Grandmaster Giovanni, sir."
"Good. Get her on the line. And do it quickly." The man stood up and proceeded to walk out of the room.
He paused after making his way out of the building through the back entrance.
*There will be a time when I'll be back here, in my hometown...but today marks the start of something grand!*
He gripped his fedora, tossed his cigar away and stomped his foot on the solid concrete floor.
*You'll all see, I'll burn my name into your skulls and memories, one letter at a time!
R-o-m-e-o
A-b-a-t-e.*
...
"One more to go, H." Luka's voice sounded unbothered and bored at this point.
Hugh swiftly knocked out the last man that was left standing in the pub. He wiped his hands together and let out a chuckle. "That was fun!"
"Alright, can we follow G and Ruth now?" Luka's stance relaxed as he began turning towards the exit.
Hugh's phone suddenly rang. "What's up, G? Uh-huh. Yup. Okay, got you." Hugh hung up.
"What do we got?"
"G got some information from the barkeeper. According to him, Romeo Abate is scheduled to be leaving any moment now." Hugh's tone changed to a more serious one near the end of his sentence.
Luka's eyes widened and he uncrossed his arms. "Do we know where he's leaving?"
Hugh shook his head.
"Do we know when exactly he is leaving?!"
Hugh repeated the motion. "G told us to wait for him outside of the bar, they're on their way back now."
Luka briefly exhaled. "Alright."
The moment both of the men stepped outside, Ruth and Gabriel could be seen running across several rooftops across the street. Luka and Hugh looked over in their direction.
"I guess that's our queue." Luka looked at Hugh who returned the gaze almost instantly. "Come on, big fella."
Luka ran across the road and began climbing the building. Hugh sighed and quickly cracked his back. "On my way."
Luka and Hugh caught up to Gabriel and Ruth after passing a rooftop or two.
"G, talk to me!" Luka shouted during the high-speed exchange.
"The barkeeper told us Abate is leaving town as soon as possible, after a little bit of interrogation he said he's leaving today!" Gabriel shouted back. "Which airport is he flying from?" Hugh joined the conversation with a raised voice.
"He isn't!" Ruth responded immediately. "He's leaving via ship from the Civitavecchia port!"
A question mark appeared above Luka and Hugh's heads.
"It's an old city and port within Rome. Long story short, we have about 20-30 minutes of parkouring from here!" Gabriel shifted up a gear and traversed several apartment rooftops.
Hugh grinned and sprinted ahead as well. "You're an energetic bastard today!"
"I'm just trying to stop Abate, H!" Gabriel pulled ahead of Hugh once more.
Hugh chuckled and shouted behind him. "BOYS, KEEP UP!"
"Let's go, Ruth, we can't eat dust forever!" Luka attempted to motivate his British comrade as he maintained a solid pace.
"Already on it, mate!" Ruth kept up, as well.
The stormy clouds enveloped the sky and it quickly started to rain.
A few dozen droplets began forming in the corner of a rooftop the four assassins just ran across.
...
Paris was a different story.
There wasn't a single drop of rain or any signs of a storm anywhere. The sunny weather completely contradicted the intense chase Ashley and Scott were going through.
"STOP, YOU COCKWOMBLE!" Ashley furiously shouted at the lad that was several metres in front of them.
"I don't think name calling will do anything here, Ashy."
"Do I look like I give a fuck?!" The two twins shared an exchange as they swiftly parkoured next to several pedestrians.
The chase quickly took them to an urban area with lots and lots of apartments around. Leroy's apartment complex was a bit fancier and more expensive than the rest, but there was a huge neighbourhood loaded with apartments nearby.
"Why is it always goddamn stupid ass apartments?!" Ashley rightfully questioned.
"Houses are expensive," Scott replied. Ashley threw a light jab near Scott's face, but he dodged it. "Fair enough."
The fleeing man kept traversing over people, parked cars and various other objects you would find on a busy road. He took a huge risk by running across a very busy and wide road, but he successfully crossed it with only a few loud beeps from a few driving cars.
Ashley and Scott quickly stopped once they made it to the start of the road. They both frantically looked around for some sort of solution.
Scott suddenly shouted at his twin sister as he looked to their right and pointed at a nearby motorcycle. "Ashy!"
"Fuck me sideways," Ashley murmured before they both hurried towards the motorcycle. She jumped on it instantly. "Get on, Scott!"
Scott hurried and firmly planted his behind on the seat of the bike before the loud and rough sound of the engine filled the lukewarm air.
"Let's test this baby out."
Ashley turned the steering handle of the bike and they took off almost immediately. They were in the middle of traffic in a split second.
"ASHY!" Scott shouted at her as they nearly crashed several times, but they remained unscathed the entire time.
"RELAX!" Ashley quickly reassured him and continued to steer their way through the rough highway.
It wasn't long before they made it onto the streets of Paris, right on the same one the fleeing man was on, as well. The rough terrain wasn't ideal, most of the roads were covered in decorative stones and were not properly designed to fit a high-speeding vehicle, but it was only a minor inconvenience for a skilful driver such as Ashley.
"THERE!"
They finally saw the man in their field of vision and chased him down relentlessly. The man began panicking and his frantic movements were apparent as he knocked over several people, signs or smaller statues. The twins slowly closed in on him and they were in the range of catching the man within a few seconds. Ashley drove slightly past him and sharply turned so that the man would have no choice but to jump over them. Luckily, Scott managed to shove the man's body onto the ground as Ashley stopped the bike and they pinned him down in a matter of seconds.
Scott inspected the man's condition and he noticed the man wasn't moving at all. He moved a bit closer and began moving the man's face. "Don't tell me you killed the lad..."
"If I did, it would only be proof of how fragile he was." Ashley crossed her arms and pouted.
"That's true, at least. We didn't go nearly as hard as we could have." Scott nodded in reply. His eyes suddenly lit up as he rummaged through the pockets of the man's coat. "I got something here."
He pulled out a small stack of papers. Before he could properly read them, police sirens could be heard slowly approaching them from a distance.
"We have to move, we can check those later." Ashley quickly patted Scott's shoulders as they both stormed off in the opposite direction.
There were two important words on each of the papers that were more noticeable than the rest.
Mikhailov Kirill.
...
*Phew, made it just in time.*
Kane successfully finished the intense parkouring session that took him to the establishment where Roberts and his mysterious partner would be spending their time today.
*I have no clue what kind of business they'll be conducting, but better safe than sorry.*
Kane entered the establishment which turned out to be a fancy restaurant. Luckily, it had a bar that Kane could comfortably sit down at.
"Red wine?" Kane immediately asked the bartender after sitting down.
The bartender firmly nodded at him with a slightly pouted lip. His French accent was quite distinguishable. "Great choice."
After Kane got his wine rather quickly, the bartender started a conversation.
"Tourist?"
Kane briefly chuckled after a brief nod indicating thanks. "Yeah, just sightseeing. I heard this was quite a good place."
The bartender lifted his face and nodded a couple of times. "Yes, even without my personal bias, it really is a nice one."
"You seem like a friendly lad."
"I was raised to be a gentleman." The bartender's expression grew more positive by the minute. "Let me guess, British?"
"Half 'n' half." Kane smiled through his sentence. "My father was Welsh, but my mother is British."
"Was?"
Kane lightly shook his head a few times. "He didn't get along with people."
The bartender's expression couldn't hide the slightly shocked expression he put on.
Suddenly, Roberts walked in with his fellow Templar and two bodyguards. He gave a friendly nod to the bartender who slightly bowed. Kane casually scanned the two bodyguards and the big Templar some more. The small group walked through the restaurant and climbed a nearby staircase made for staff members.
Kane suddenly stood up and spoke to the bartender once more. "You're a good lad. I'll be back in a few to pay for my drink."
The bartender nodded at him and walked to the other side to serve a different customer.
Kane proceeded to walk up the same staircase as Roberts and his crew did. He remained unnoticed. It wasn't long before he found an office room that the four men walked into. He walked up to the door and carefully listened to the men speaking inside. Luckily, the door was quite thin.
Kane could discern that Roberts was speaking
*Who the hell is he talking to?*
"Yes, master, yes. We're making some good progress."
"Don't get my hopes up for nothing, Roberts." A distinct Russian accent came out of the device that they used. "I've been in this exact situation not too long ago. Radanov pledged the same thing and he never made it back."
*Mikhailov...*
"Relax, sir. We're nothing like some Russian henchman bloke, we got this!" Roberts spoke with confidence in his voice. The black Templar lightly slapped Roberts immediately.
*You fucking moron...the man you're talking to is a goddamn Russian.*
After a moment of silence, Mikhailov's raspy voice became more intimidating. "I don't think you realise who you're speaking to, idiot. Get a move on and finish this task by tonight or you'll be in for a lot more trouble than your shitty private schools ever put you through, you goddamn privileged fucker."
Mikhailov hung up the call as Roberts' impression and the beads of sweat forming on his face indicated his distraught state. "Bloody hell."
"You're a dickhead for trying to argue with a Russian. Look at you, you're a mess, go wash yourself up in the restroom." The black man talked some sense into Roberts.
"Whatever, Riley." Roberts could be heard heading out of the room. Kane immediately fled the scene and entered the nearest restroom. He opened a stall door and closed it instantly.
*Welp...this is convenient.*
Roberts entered the bathroom and began washing his face.
*Alright, no fancy tricks or bullshit. Just get it done.*
Kane opened the stall door and immediately closed the distance between the two of them.
Kane uttered a one-liner before slicing Roberts' throat. "Say hi to the Queen for me." He caught Roberts' body and shoved him into one of the stalls, locked the door and climbed out of it.
As soon as Kane exited the restroom, Riley and the two bodyguards left the office room.
"Do I go check on Owen, Steve?" One of the bodyguards briefly spoke.
"You could do, honestly..." Riley's sentence suddenly cut off as Kane fled for a nearby window as soon as he saw them, but Riley noticed him halfway through his escape. "OI, STOP!"
"I'm sure we'll meet again someday, Steve Riley!" Kane broke the window and got into position to jump out of it. "Somehow, I know that'll be very soon!"
Riley drew a gun from his suit and fired a shot, but Kane already jumped out of the window and was long gone. He safely landed on some soft carpets that were on display in front of the restaurant's door and immediately fled down an alleyway.
*T'was more successful than it usually is.*
Before he could even turn around properly, Kane blended into a crowd that was far enough away from the restaurant.
*Easy pickings today. Harris will be proud.*
...
The bad weather grew stronger and stronger.
A casual drizzle turned into a mad storm as the assassins were getting closer to the Civitavecchia port, but their hopes were nothing but high.
"How fucking long have we been running?" Ruth was getting noticeably tired.
"The weather's slowing us down, for fuck sake!" Hugh slowed down for a few moments to regain some of his monstrous stamina. Ruth joined him and panted severely.
Luka sprinted right by both of them. "We can't stop now, lads, come on!"
Hugh shook his head from side to side and began running again. Ruth quickly followed. Gabriel was way ahead of all of them.
"G!" Luka shouted to grab Gabriel's attention. He turned his head backwards. "How long until we're there?!"
"Look down the road, that's the port!" Gabriel turned his face back around and sprinted even harder and faster now.
Sure enough, down the massive street was the Civitavecchia port that they were heading for. Only one ship was set to sail from the port at this time.
"There's only one damn ship there, that has to be him!" Luka shouted in front of him before turning around. "H, LET'S GO!"
Hugh chuckled and grinned before turning up a gear and sprinting right past Luka. Luka shook his head from side to side and immediately bolted for Hugh who was now even ahead of Gabriel.
The two boxers pulled ahead of the pack as they both landed on the final rooftop before making it to ground level.
Unfortunately, as soon as they set their feet down on the ground, the ship was already out in the waters with a loud horn beeping throughout the entire departure procedure.
Hugh slammed on the brakes and immediately stopped himself while panting severely. Luka slid across the harbour floor and landed in a crouched position to catch his breath.
Gabriel and Ruth just managed to safely land on the harbour floor.
Hugh looked at both of them before fully turning around and shaking his head from side to side a few times. "No dice."
Gabriel patted Hugh's shoulder and stared in the distance at the ship. Ruth lowered his upper body and sat down after a few seconds. Luka stood up and spat on the ground beside him. "No other ships or boats are here. That was the final departure."
All four of the assassins couldn't hide their simultaneous disappointment in their expressions. Luka turned around and walked back toward the group. He patted each man on the shoulder as a way to say that he was proud of all of them for even making it this far.
"Let's go home, lads. Today just wasn't our day."
...
Well, there's one assassin in Rome who had a chance to redeem the Creed.
Nicole has spent the last several hours trying to locate Jacob Prins, a retired businessman that she was looking for.
Unfortunately for her, the crowded streets of Rome did not help her in her goal whatsoever.
*I knew it'd be tough, but I didn't think it'd be this bad.*
The weather was clearing up a small bit as the rain finally stopped.
*I wonder if my luck will turn around now.*
She navigated a few streets around the theatre that Prins was supposed to be visiting.
*Would have been nice if they told me the timeframe of when he would be here...why is everything complicated for no reason?*
Her eyes suddenly burst with hope and charisma, much like her usual self.
*Bingo.*
She spotted Prins speaking with another man across the street from the theatre. They safely crossed the street and casually walked inside. Nicole closely followed.
The theatre was as old-school as it could be. Nicole walked inside and the scent and feeling of nostalgia instantly filled her brain up with dopamine.
*I remember the stories of how important theatres were to Edward and his surrounding family and friends. At least that part of the tradition remained intact.*
She navigated her way inside of a very busy theatre play. Nearly every seat was taken except a convenient one located near Prins. Nicole carefully hid and listened out for their conversation.
Unfortunately, due to the very loud play and musical performances happening, she couldn't hear much of anything they were saying. She didn't even catch the other man's name or any important information. Prins suddenly stood up and he gestured his goodbyes to the man after handing him a sealed envelope. He hurried out of the building with the other man following shortly after. Nicole sprinted out as soon as she safely could, but she lost the man almost instantly. Even during the play, a thick crowd formed at the front gates of the theatre, causing it to be nearly impossible to locate her target. Nicole thought she caught a glimpse of the man after frantically turning around in nearly every direction, but she was quickly overwhelmed by the density of the crowd she was currently in. She lost any sight of Prins, as well.
After several minutes of this, she swallowed her pride, sighed, slightly lowered her head, put her hood on and began walking away from the theatre.
*What kind of a sorry excuse of an assassin am I?*
Her thoughts were sporadic and irregularly loud.
*Can't even do a simple contract properly.*
All she wanted to do was scream her lungs out.
A slight tear formed in her eye as the skies slowly darkened once more.
Another storm was brewing.
...
By the time the sunset turned into a harrowing emptiness and nighttime arrived, the four members of the Italian Creed made it back to the sanctuary, with Nicole already there.
Gabriel was the first to walk in. He noticed her right away and nodded his head upwards. She shook her head from side to side.
"Nichts." The German word for 'nothing' came out of her mouth.
"Niente." Gabriel's response was the same word in Italian.
The rest of the assassins made it to the main hall.
Hugh immediately bolted for a bottle of beer from a nearby fridge. "Rough night for all of us, then?" Everyone's silence sort of confirmed Hugh's question. "Well, nothing we can do about it now." He walked back towards the group. "Abate escaped us. He's probably in England as we speak. I'm assuming the same thing happened with Prins, Nicole?"
She firmly nodded after a brief sigh. Hugh replied by lifting his eyebrows for a split second and taking a sip from his beer bottle.
Nicole briefly spoke. "Barton sent us something." All of the assassins lifted their faces as Nicole walked over to the computer that was connected to a big projector.
"Winter is over, we're moving into spring times. I'm sure you guys know what that means." Nicole pressed a few buttons and a huge table came up on the projector. "It's the winter rankings for this year. Feel free to look through them." She moved away from the computer and joined the rest of the group to look through it herself.
"Kane and I told you about the top 10, Luka," Hugh spoke to Luka directly. "There are two primary rankings we focus on. COR and CAR. Current Overall Rankings and Current Alive Rankings. The former includes the current Master or Grandmaster and any dead assassins, the latter list only contains alive assassins."
Nicole followed up on Hugh's statement. "Of course, there are other lists as well, like the OAR or Overall Assassin Rankings. This list includes people like Grandmaster Altaïr and Grandmaster Ezio. To put it into perspective, nobody from today's era is on that list currently."
The room fell silent as the assassins properly scanned the list.
...
COR (Current Overall Rankings) - Winter 2032
1 - Gabriel Auditore (Italy) - 123 contracts finished
2 - Andre Aakster (Belgium) - 118 contracts finished
3 - Paul Barton (England, Interim Master) - 115 contracts finished
4 - Ryo Galler (Hungary, deceased) - 124 contracts finished
5 - Rayna Freja Bjorke (Sweden) - 110 contracts finished
6 - Hugh White (England) - 103 contracts finished
7 - Kane White (England) - 99 contracts finished
8 - Aleksander Gorski (Poland) - 96 contracts finished
9 - Harrison Matthews (Wales) - 105 contracts finished
10 - Nicole Kaiser Kenway (Austria) - 103 contracts finished
...
CAR (Current Alive Rankings) - Winter 2032
1 - Gabriel Auditore (Italy) - 123 contracts finished
2 - Andre Aakster (Belgium) - 118 contracts finished
3 - Rayna Freja Bjorke (Sweden) - 110 contracts finished
4 - Hugh White (England) - 103 contracts finished
5 - Kane White (England) - 99 contracts finished
6 - Aleksander Gorski (Poland) - 96 contracts finished
7 - Harrison Matthews (Wales) - 105 contracts finished
8 - Nicole Kaiser Kenway (Austria) - 103 contracts finished
9 - Gustavo Cabello (Spain) - 88 contracts finished
10 - Fausto Cabello (Spain) - 88 contracts finished
...
A solid minute went by without anyone saying anything.
"Look at that," Luka spoke up and genuinely smiled. "Ryo is still up there. You reckon he's gonna be there for a while?"
Hugh deeply inhaled. "Hard to say for sure. He'll stay there for the spring rankings and possibly the summer ones, but I'm not sure about anything beyond that."
Gabriel crossed his arms and stepped forward. "Is there anyone on this list you don't recognise, Luka?"
Luka looked up at the table once more. "Aakster, Bjorke, Gorski and both of the Cabellos."
"Each of them has complete control over their native country in terms of defending it from the Templars. Andre has kept most of them out of Belgium, Rayna has held the fort down in most of the Scandinavian countries with the help of a few Norwegian, Finnish and Danish assassins, Aleksander is probably the greatest Slavic assassin we currently have and the Cabellos are keeping Spain and Portugal protected." Gabriel briefly explained. "To put it simply, most of Europe is covered. Italy, France, Germany, Ireland and the eastern countries were hit the hardest recently, which is why we need all the help we can get."
"I feel like you'd get along with Gorski." Ruth joined the conversation. "I've worked with him in Poland, he's a good lad."
"He sounds like a pure Slavic legend." Luka stared at the table for a few more seconds. "Congrats, by the way, the three of you. Maintaining the top 10 must be tough work."
Gabriel, Hugh and Nicole all accepted the compliment.
"Considering neither of our groups completed the contracts, let's just call it a night and reflect on it in the morning." Gabriel attempted to encourage the group. "Get some good rest tonight, everyone."
The tired assassins swallowed their pride and went to bed.
...
"Steve Riley." Kane immediately mentioned the name of the Templar that Roberts was meeting up with. "They seemed to be working in an expensive restaurant. I caught them having a phone call with Mikhailov."
Harris' seemed mildly stressed but he wasn't surprised. "That just confirms our suspicions that most of the French and English Templars work for Mikhailov. Riley is a new name, though, I haven't heard of him before..."
Kane's arms relaxed as he briefly inhaled. "Well, he seemed pretty young. He was maybe in his mid or late 20s."
Suddenly, the twins blasted their way through the front doors of the French sanctuary on their way back from their contract.
Luckily, Kane and Harris were standing near the entrance.
"Kane, Kane!" Ashley called out her mentor's name.
Kane turned towards them and kept his arms crossed while pausing his conversation with Harris. "You've made it back! What's the situation?"
The young assassins seemed genuinely tired but excited at the same time.
"We got something off of a man rummaging through Leroy's apartment!" Scott reached into the inside of his jacket and pulled out a small stack of papers. He handed the letters to Kane who directed his gaze at Ashley before reading them.
"It's a long story, but we ran into someone going through Leroy's apartment and taking these papers." Ashley summarized the situation.
Kane took a moment to browse through the letters. His expression worsened with each passing second. Harris approached him from the side to have a better look.
"This just confirms what Leroy told us. Mikhailov is the one who directly gave him any kind of orders or contracts for the drug supply stashed in the company's warehouse." Kane continued reading each letter carefully. "Yeah, nothing much sticks out for now..." He briefly paused while coming across a seemingly blank paper with only a single imprint on it. Kane immediately looked at Harris and showed him the page. "Isn't this...?"
Harris carefully took the page and briefly analysed it. "It just might be, kids, follow me!" Harris hurried up a massive staircase towards his office. Everyone else quickly followed. Kane walked into the office first and noticed that Harris was searching for something.
"Where did I leave the bloody thing..." Harris murmured to himself.
"Check your drawers, mate." Kane steadily walked up to the massive desk to give him a hand. They eventually found a device that looked similar to a UV light.
After shining the light on the surface of the paper, it began revealing a map.
"What is it?" Ashley curiously asked.
"The real name has been lost in translation, but simply put, these are pages required to find special stones that unlock a tomb deep in Tulum, West Indies," Harris briefly explained as he pointed in between the Americas on a massive map hung in his office. "The West Indies lie in between North and South America, near the many islands surrounding Central America. Unsurprisingly, there have been tribes of assassins working in Tulum for centuries. The most notable mentor-figure of the Creed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries was Ah Tabai, who worked with the famous captain Edward Kenway."
"To unlock this tomb, we need Mayan stones, and to find Mayan stones, we need these pages that decipher their locations." Kane continued Harris' point. He lightly tapped the location of the West Indies on the massive map a few times. "They're all scattered throughout the West Indies."
Scott crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow before speaking. "What's supposed to be in this tomb that makes it so important?"
"The Mayan armour!" Harris exclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention. "It's a supposedly bulletproof set of armour worn by captain Kenway himself for a brief period. As far as we know, many rich rewards and possibly other artefacts might even be included in there."
Kane lightly smirked. "We're mainly doing this so that the Templars don't get access to it. A similar thing happened with Grandmaster Altaïr's armour. It was kept in the Auditore Villa in Monteriggioni, Italy." Kane crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "After Grandmaster Ezio passed, the Villa was left unguarded and the Templars eventually got their hands on it in the following few centuries after his death. Nobody has seen it since."
"Well, if this tomb really is as important as you say it is, why hasn't anyone discovered it yet?" Ashley brought up a solid point.
"Not enough people know about it, unfortunately. The Mayan assassins loved to keep everything under wraps as much as possible." Harris grabbed his pipe smoke and lit it. "It wasn't until recently that we even discovered the existence of it."
"How close are we to unlocking it?" Scott questioned once more.
"How many stones left, Harris? Two? Three?" Kane shook his face a bit whilst asking.
"We need four more stones, including this one that we now know the location of." Harris checked the clock in his room after sitting down in his chair. "Kids, it's late. Let's keep this under wraps and look into it tomorrow. Overall, both of the contracts were fulfilled and I'll consider them finished. That's another contract you three got under your belt now, so go have your deserved rest." Harris dismissed the assassins as the three of them left the office after brief waves from everyone.
...
The night was chilly and lonely in Rome.
Luka was resting on the balcony that was facing the direction of the city.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
He walked over to the small coffee table, dragged some smoke from his cigarette and calmly answered. "Paul!"
"Nice to hear from my favourite Croatian again." Barton's voice sounded friendly and enthusiastic. "Mind telling me what happened today?"
"Long story short, we all fucked up our contracts. Abate got away and is likely fleeing for England and Nicole did not get any information on Prins or his partner in crime." Luka exhaled some smoke once more after a short pause. "Overall, just a shit day for all of us."
"I get that. Don't worry about it, it happens sometimes. Say, you've heard of Andre Aakster, right? You checked the rankings I sent over?"
"Oh, right. He's the Belgian lad. Ranked #2."
"He's currently in the sanctuary here in London and I'm deciding where to send him for more work." Paul paused as his tone became more and more positive.
"Paul, you there?" Luka questioned after a few moments of silence.
"Yeah, just thinking of how to word this." Paul thought about it for a little bit more time. "How are the summers in Croatia?"
"Excuse me?"
"Think you can tolerate a bit of heat?"
Luka's eyes widened for a moment. He couldn't hide the confusion in his voice. "I'm not catching on, man."
"I gave Andre two options, Spain or Portugal. After you get a bit more experience I was thinking of sending you to either the country that he doesn't pick out of those two or I'd put you two to work together for a while." Paul leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his coffee. "Ideally, you'd spend the next few months getting contracts and experience under your belt in Rome. I didn't send you there just for you to leave instantly, you get me?"
"Of course, I get you."
"Just keep up your reputation and do any contract you can get your hands on. I'll keep you posted within the next few months, sound good?!" Paul asked with positive energy behind his voice.
"Yes, sir!" Luka exclaimed in reply.
Paul chuckled for a second before the two men exchanged a proper goodbye. Luka's eyes began filling with determination and motivation as he finished his cigarette and immediately stormed off to the gym for a workout. He couldn't contain his excitement and energy any longer, so he did the one natural thing he always does.
...
Ashley was preparing to head to bed in the bathroom as her phone rang.
She picked it up. "Paul, what's up?"
"Just checking in, here to give my congratulations on a job well done with today's contracts!" Ashley blushed and thanked him before Paul spoke again. "That's not the only reason I called, though."
"You here to compliment my devilishly amazing looks or wonderful personality?" Ashley chuckled at the end of her sentence.
"I don't think you need me to say that when you already know it." Barton shortly laughed too. "Listen, I just got off the phone with Luka..."
"Luka?! How are he and Hugh doing?" Ashley suddenly became excited.
Paul toned his voice down and spoke in a disappointed tone. "They flunked both of their contracts for the day, and we have a huge Italian Templar called Romeo Abate on the run. We believe he's making his way to England as we speak."
"Oh, I didn't expect that one..." Ashley's voice also became disappointed.
"Some days are just shit for everyone. This sort of thing isn't uncommon in today's age." Paul quickly changed the subject. "I got a question for you, though. I proposed a similar idea to Luka just now, so I'll get straight to the point." This piqued Ashley's interest. "Andre Aakster is a Belgian assassin. He's ranked #2 and is currently staying in London, here in the sanctuary. I offered to send him to either Portugal or Spain in the next few months. I was thinking of sending Luka to either the country that Andre didn't pick or the same one so they could work together." Barton sipped on his coffee once more. "You have a similar choice in front of you right now. I'll keep you in Paris so you can get some experience and contracts done over there. In a few months, you can pick where you want to go. I'm giving you two options."
"Wow, that's...a lot to take in." Ashley's tone became a bit insecure, but she looked at herself in the mirror with happiness and hope in her eyes. "Go on."
"You can either come to the UK, specifically England or Wales, or you can pick one of the northern Scandinavian countries to head to. Now, here's the thing, just like Luka gets a chance to work with a top 10 ranked assassin, you get to, as well." Paul cleared his throat. "Rayna Freja Bjorke. She's a classic Swedish assassin, almost like a Viking. She dominates the Scandinavian countries which is the main reason they remain one of the more secure areas of Europe. Rayna's also the highest-ranked woman on the current top 10 list." Silence followed for a few seconds. "I'll give you some time to think about it, but I want you to keep doing contracts and rising up in the ranks. We can repeat this conversation in the future whenever you feel like you're ready, sound okay?"
"Yup! I'm looking forward to it if you think I deserve the chance!" Ashley enthusiastically replied.
"Of course you do, Ashley. Right, get some rest and we'll speak soon. Kisses!"
Ashley made an audible kissing noise with her lips and quickly hung up. She was all giddy and excited now, but she still needed as much rest as possible. She looked in the mirror and firmly nodded to herself before finishing her nightly routine.
...
*End of chapter 14!
Thank you for reading and I'm so sorry I took so long to post this one, I've been super busy and depression has been kicking my ass. I don't know when the next chapter will come, but stay tuned!*