I don't own Disney and I don't own Eidos or IGN, therefore I am using the characters from Gargoyles and Hitman without permission
Oh, this is set in more in the Hitman timeline, so these events are occurring about early 2003-4. I've made some assumptions about the gargoyle universe at this point, so…yeah.
Manhattan Island, New York
Elisa hated this elevator. She'd taken it dozens, hundreds of times since she'd moved into the Eyrie but she still despised it. The elevator itself was nice enough; spacious, the ride was smooth, and it didn't have the smell of tightly packed humanity that most other elevators she'd been in this city seemed to have acquired. But it was so infernally long.
Finally, the elevator slid to a stop and she steeped out to find Owen Burnet standing in the castles plush lobby;
"Ah detective Maza, how are we this evening?"
"Fine Owen. Long day at work…"
"Would you like me to prepare you something? A drink perhaps?"
Elisa rolled her eyes; this was the other thing that still annoyed her about living in this building. Owen insisted on acting like she was her personal servant as well as Xanatos', no matter how many times she'd informed him she really, really, didn't need the help.
"No Owen. I'm fine." she said trying not to show her annoyance.
"Very well…Mr. Xanatos was going to be in the courtyard to greet the clan upon their awakening. Would you care to join him?"
Elisa sighed, wishing she could have met the clan on her own. Oh well; it was technically Xanatos' castle anyway.
"Why not?" she said, and turned to walk to the suite of rooms Xanatos had given her and Goliath after she'd moved into the castle.
Owen watched her go, and then headed down a different corridor, to speak with his employer.
Inside the elevator, all was silent. Until the small roof hatch gently lowered from the ceiling, and a dark figure stealthily leaped down into the elevators interior.
47 pulled a PDA from under his suit jacket and reviewed the blueprints Diana had sent him with his mission briefing. The assassin carefully picked out a spot that would offer the best vantage point of the courtyard, memorized the best route to it from the Keep, and then slipped out of the elevator and into the interior of Castle Wyvern.
In another part of the castle David Xanatos was in his office finishing the last bit of paperwork for the day, and looking forward to watching the clan break out of stone slumber, when Owen walked in.
"Anything to report Owen?" he cheerfully asked his assistant.
"Nothing too serious Mr. Xanatos…they were having some problems in the security office earlier. It would seem that a few of the security systems in the lower castle went out for a few moments, and have been acting up ever since."
Xanatos raised an eyebrow,
"Did they find a cause?"
"Not yet, Mr. Xanatos…"
"Hmmm…any trouble with the systems up here?"
"No Mr. Xanatos."
"Oh well. Schedule a full shakedown of the buildings security systems as soon as possible."
"Already done Mr. Xanatos."
"Excellent. Now if there's nothing else…"
47 crept to the crenellations surrounding the turret of the enormous tower he had selected as his firing position, then knelt behind and arrow loop and opened the black attaché case he had with him. Lugging the thing around with him while he infiltrated Wyvern had been an interesting experience, but it was proving to be worth it. There was no way he could have made this shot with just his Silverballer's.
The assassin began to deftly assemble the weapon that was concealed in the small briefcase; a light weight stock; a customized barrel; a night vision 20x scope; a long, thick silencer, and finally a magazine of armor piercing bullets, which he inserted into the
magazine well just behind the weapons wooden grips.
47 checked his PDA one last time, making sure that his target was coming from the right direction, and then took up position just under a massive gargoyle statue…
Xanatos emerged into the courtyard squinting slightly as the a few waning rays of sunlight struck him. After his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw a familiar denim and red leather clad figure waiting for him.
"Ah, Detective Maza, so good to see you…"
"Wish I could say the same Xanatos."
The billionaire chuckled slightly,
"Come on Maza, it's been five years since I 'reformed'. Can't I get some consideration for good behavior?"
47 watched the byplay between the two once-enemies with disinterest, and he began to carefully dial in the rifles scope for the range to the courtyard. He paused briefly, as it seemed that both his target and the police woman focused in on his exact position…then he saw that they seemed focused on something just above him. 47 wrapped his finger around the trigger, and began to slowly breathe in and out as the sun slipped below the horizon…
"I always look forward to this, no matter how many times I've seen it…" Xanatos whispered, as the tower slipped into darkness,
47 began to take up second pressure on the trigger, staring down the sight straight into Xanatos' eyes. He was milliseconds away from making the kill.
Then he heard a loud, continuous cracking sound erupt above him.
Goliath awoke with a mighty roar and a rain of broken stone skin. He stretched his massive arms and looked down to see that his clan was wakening in one piece, then waved down at Elisa in the court yard. The he heard a metallic clattering from just below his feet…
47 dropped the Walther to the stone floor of the tower as he fell flat on his rear in awe of the creature that suddenly towered above him. He hastily pulled himself to his feet and began to back peddle as fast he could.
Goliath stared in surprise at the black suited human who had been underneath him, then looked at the bizarre rifle that was now laying on the ground below him, then got a good look at the deeply set pale blue eyes of the would-be sniper, and suddenly he knew he was facing an enemy to be reckoned with.
"What business do you have here?!?" Goliath demanded, as he leapt of his perch and began to storm across the turret towards 47.
The hitman decided to forego the stairs, and without a word turned and leapt over a crenellation and down unto the lower turret. Unfortunately this brought him face to face with Hudson, and more to the point, with Hudson's sword.
"And who might ye be then?" the old soldier growled, as he held the point of his blade at the bald assassins neck.
47 raised a disdainful eyebrow, and then jumped backwards, feeling the sword crease his neck as he did so. Hudson was surprised for a moment by the human's incredible speed, but quickly recovered and tried to bring his sword across the stranger's throat. All he succeeded in doing was slicing off the collars of 46's starched white shirt and the midsection of his blood red tie. Before Hudson could lunge forward, 47 turned, ducked a hasty grab from Broadway, and then ran into the portal to the towers stairwell.
"After him!" Goliath shouted from above,
"Come on!" Broadway shouted, as he ran down the stairway after 47, with Lexington close behind.
"Lass, yuir with me!!" Hudson shouted, as he motioned for Angela to follow him before leaping off the tower and gliding to the ground. Elisa and Xanatos ran over to the two gargoyles as they landed,
"What's going on?" Elisa asked, as she reached under her jacket for her pistol.
"Assassin, as far as I kin tell…" Hudson explained, as he made his way into the castle,
"After who?"
"Judgin' by his position…I'd have ta' say one 'a you two."
Elisa and Xanatos stopped and looked at each other.
Xanatos shook his head;
"I'm going for my armor. No one threatens me in my own home."
Hudson glanced back at him,
"Oh indeed?" he quipped
"Well, not since you and yours ceased your…wanton suspicions of my actions."
Hudson shook his head,
"Aye, I'll keep tha' in mind. Now if your away to fetch yuir fancy armor, stay on the lookout; this lad is bloody fast."
Xanatos waved and ran off in the direction of the castles hangers, While Elisa motioned for Angela,
"We should go keep an eye on the elevators."
"Okay Elisa." Angela agreed and the two ran off towards the castles elevator.
Hudson found himself momentarily alone, but Bronx came running to the old gargoyles side.
"Aye, well, not too eager there boy." Hudson told the gargoyles beast, "I've a bad feelin' about this…"
47 made a right down another one of this castles seemingly endless supply of grim-looking corridors, and drew his .45 caliber Silverballer's out from under his jacket.
He was unsure what these creatures were, but it was time to see of they were bulletproof.
The first one charged around the corner behind him, a paunchy light green skinned creature with batwing-like ears. Always good to presented with such massive targets the assassin thought, as he quickly brought his pistol up and squeezed off a quick burst.
Lexington was close enough to Broadway to see the bullets slam into his clan brother's gut and chest. Broadway bellowed and fell to the floor, doubling up in pain as he did so.
"Broadway!" Lex shouted, as he ran to the larger gargoyles side. The web-wing glanced down the corridor and saw the black suited killer ducking around a corner down the hall.
"How bad is it?" Lexington asked his stricken comrade,
"Hurts like hell…don't think he it anything that important…"
"That's…good. I guess."
Broadway bit down on another scream as he clutched his wounds shut,
"You should…keep after him…"
"Lexington shook his head,
"No, way." Lexington look up to see if the shooter was returning, "There's no way I can leave you like this."
47 slowed to a stop again and ducked into a side room off the corridor he'd ran down,
then checked his PDA for to get his bearings. As he flipped through the floor plans stored in the small device, his ear pierce began to transmit;
"47, Diana here…"
"Ah, I was just about to call and thank your intelligence staff for mentioning the band of giant winged monsters that almost killed me!" the assassin snarled, displaying a rare moment of anger.
"47, the Agency had no clue that…"
"Copy that Diana." 47 cut his handler off, "This castle is now on full alert. its only a matter of time before the more…conventional security systems are fully operational. I'm scrubbing this mission now, before it's too late."
There was a long pause on the other end of the conversation,
"Agreed 47. Get out of there, Agency will continue to provide satellite surveillance for as long as possible."
"I appreciate it."
"It's nothing personal 47; we don't want to lose our star asset on a botched mission of our own making."
47 raised an eyebrow, turned off his transmitter, and then cautiously opened the door back into the hallway.
The assassin was greeted by a frantic deluge of barking and snarling as a blue skinned beast tore down the hallway towards him, with the bearded, sword-wielding creature right behind it. The assassin quickly slammed the door shut, threw the bolt shut, and quickly looked around the room for an alternate escape route. There. Behind a set of French doors, there was a small balcony. 47 dashed across the room, kicked open the flimsy doors, and looked around. There was another balcony next to this one, and it was right next to a large drain pipe that snaked its way down to the courtyard below the keep.
Excellent.
Bronx paused in front of a door half way down the hallway and began to frantically scratch at it,
"Have ye got him boy?" Hudson said, as he ran up to the watch-beats position. The old soldier tried the door; locked. He stood back, drew his sword and effortlessly kicked the heavy wood portal in with a single blow. Bronx immediately dashed inside, nearly bowling Hudson over as he did so. The beast sniffed the air in the room, then dashed to the balcony and began his barking frenzy anew. Hudson ran outside himself, and looked down to get a final glimpse of 47 as the killer darted into the main hall.
"Blast it!" he shouted, as he leapt off the balcony and glided down to the courtyard.
Bronx watched him go, whimpered once, and then began to cautiously scale down the side of the building, digging his claws into the stone as he went.
Down below, Hudson cautiously surveyed the main hall, checking for any sign of ambush. he was about to enter when Goliath landed heavily at his side.
"Broadway has been shot…" he rumbled, as he followed Hudson inside, both of them ready for anything.
"I know, lad. How's he doin'?
"As well as he can." Goliaths scowled, "We need to end this before someone else is harmed."
"Agreed lad."
When no bullets whizzed at them from the shadows, the two gargoyles moved into the next room…and found Angela sprawled on the ground in front of the elevators.
"Angela!" Goliath shouted, as he ran to his daughters side, "Angela what…" too the clan leaders infinite gratitude, the lavender beauties eyes fluttered open at the sound of her father voice.
"Drugged…" Angela groggily whispered, motioning towards a heavy surgical steel syringe that lay on the ground nearby, "Came…from behind…" her voice trailed off and she lapsed back into slumber. Goliath shook her awake again,
"Angela please, where is Elisa?"
Suddenly the quite was shattered by seven rapid pistol shots, followed by a barrage of silenced gunfire that was barely audible even to a gargoyles sensitive ears.
"Elisa!"
Goliath shot to his feet and ran towards the sound of gunfire.
Elisa ducked behind one of the bits of machinery that dotted the floor of Xanatos main hanger and cursed as bullets sparked off it. She cursed even more when she felt one of the whit-hit bullets art the op of her hair.
Whoever this bastard was, he had a pair of full auto .45's and he knew how to use them.
Elisa held her Glock up over the top of whatever it was she was hiding behind, and fired off a few quick rounds, and then her pistol locked open on an empty chamber.
Cursing even more, she dropped the magazine and started to reload. That was when she spotted the warning label on the side of machine;
Danger, Highly Flammable contents.
"Oh shit." She murmured, then leapt away just as the gunman's next burst found the machine sweet spot and triggered a massive explosion. Elisa went flying through the air and landed heavily on the concrete floor of the hanger.
She lay stunned for a moment, then came crashing back to reality as she saw the black suited killer coming walking out of the flames like something from a nightmare.
Outside the hanger, Xanatos spotted the explosion and quickly steered his armored suit towards it.
"Alert everyone that there been an explosion in the hanger." he told Owen vis his suits radio,
"Yes, Mr. Xanatos. Should I activate the fire suppression systems?"
"Not quite yet Owen. My sensors can easily penetrate the smoke and fire, but I doubt the killer is so well equipped."
"Alright, Mr. Xanatos. But I'll trigger them the moment it looks as if the fire might spread."
"Good man." Xanatos kicked in his after burners and roared inside the hanger.
He quickly spotted Elisa, and then he spotted what had to be the assassin looming over her with a gleaming pistol in either hand. Xanatos quickly flipped out one of his wrist laser cannons and fired off several warning shots over the killers bald head,
"Drop 'em." he commanded.
47 locked his icy blue eyes with the machines glowing red photoreceptors for a moment, then nimbly dodged to one side, dropping one of his Silverballer's as he did so.
He pulled on of his remote mines out of his jacket when he reached a new position, then dodged again as the machine sent a volley of laser fire at him. 47 crouched under another blast, tossed the mine at the machine armored flank, heard it lock unto its side with a loud thunk, and then triggered the detonator he'd palmed when he grabbed the mine.
Xanatos suddenly found himself propelled across the room with a searing pain in his side.
The armor suited billionaire quickly came to a halt, however, when he crashed into one of his own helicopters. System failure, system failure flashed on the internal display in Xanatos' helmet, and then the power in his suit died.
47 turned his attention back to the woman he'd been closing in on earlier, but found that she wasn't there. The assassin immediately dove for cover, but when he saw the woman gun still laying where she had dropped it, he cautiously stood back up. When no sudden attacks materialized, he turned and ran to one of the vertical takeoff and landing jets that were parked in the hanger and scrambled into the cockpit.
Goliath and Hudson burst into the hanger just in time to see one of Xanatos' jets spring into the air and swing its rather extensive arsenal at the hanger's steel doors. Goliath tried to run at the fighter, but Hudson grabbed his shoulder and shouted,
"Nay lad, 'tis too dangerous!"
Before Goliath could protest, the jet launched too missiles at the doors, ripping open a huge, jagged hole. The VTOL's jets then swung forward and it shot out of the hanger.
Goliath quickly shrugged off Hudson's arm and ran inside,
"Elisa, are you in here?!?"
"Over here, big guy."
Goliath found Elisa in the remains of a smashed Helicopter trying to pry the helmet off of Xanatos' power suit.
"I think the power is off in this thing…" Elisa explained.
Despite himself, Goliath smiled slightly,
"I think I can help." He said, before placing his hand on the helmet and wrenching it off.
Xanatos took in along gasp of air,
"My thanks, Goliath." Xanatos nonchalantly commented, doing his best to ignore the wringing in his ears from the sound of rending steel.
"Anytime."
"So did that killer escape?"
"So it would seem."
"Wonderful."
47 landed the jet in a corner of Central park that looked relatively deserted, than hopped out and quickly took off running. He didn't slow down until he reached the sidewalk on Fifth Avenue. When he hit the bustling thoroughfare, 47 casually looked around, adjusted dropped the sliced remains of his tie in a trash can, and melted into the crowd.
He was just starting to hail a cab when his cell phone began to vibrate. He answered it as he climbed into the backseat of the cab that answered his hail.
"Lamplighter Hotel." he commanded, before bringing his cell to his ear, "What is it?"
"Gad to see you made it away clean , 47."
"Of course."
"Are you still interested in finishing the contract?"
"Always. Besides, you've already paid me for it, haven't you?"
"I…yes. In any case, we're going to need time to reassess the situation, considering the new…factors which came to light earlier."
"Mmhm, I'm also afraid your going to have to figure those factors into my fee."
"Naturally 47. In the meantime, we have several other contracts in New York that could do with your attention…"