22:32 PM
New York Harbor
Devils and humans have a lot of things in common more than anyone else thinks whether it be that they have motivation, purpose and the resort to violence. Hence why no matter who I kill by my hand, devil or not, it's all the same in a day's work for the Agency.
Killing devils pays a half decent amount in the public sector and private but it pays a helluva lot more selling the scraps on the black market, hell even countries are willing to fork over millions just to get their hands on a powerful devil. Uncle Sam and the Soviets are practically tearing each other's throats out to get their hands on one of them, trying to get high on the scoreboard.
I looked down the scope then added a few minor adjustments turning the knob slightly, adding a few hundred meters zooming on my target: a devil. Disgusting, big ugly ass motherfucker that has two fish heads on him and tentacle arms all around his body then curled like a human flesh ball, it was eating a poor guard dog that was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
"What a scumbag… " I muttered under my breath and I heard a chuckle to my side.
"Good thing we're dropping it then.." My partner said to me with a smirk, I could see her just in the corner of my eye.
"Poor dog though, wrong place at the wrong time… wind?" I carefully rested the reticle on its main head, I felt my finger twitch around the trigger.
"Almost none, compensate for the bullet drop with two notches up." She said to me and I did so, lifting the scope upwards to two notches above its head then I could feel the twitch in my fingers.
"Alright, looks like you got a green light… take the shot." She said to me and it was all I needed.
I took a deep breath then it was as if time just stopped as everything around me slowed down, there was nothing more than just me and the devil huddled in front of me. I gently squeezed the trigger and the bullet rushed out from the rifle, the heatwave from the shot and the recoil was all felt in just a second.
It didn't take long for the 7,62 round to meet its mark as the devil on the other end of it turned it into a splatter of brains and guts, all of its pieces scattered on the floor or the waters of New York to be eaten by the fishes. Then the world kicked back in and everything started moving back to the way it was.
"That was fuckin beautiful, his brains are scattered all over the pavement and the harbor.. " My spotter said to me, uttering a chuckle from me.
I stood up and planted down the cap on the scope, sitting upright as I took a look at the carnage caused by me, taking off my patrol cap as I do.
"Shit, Port Authority cops are not gonna like this one huh?" I said to her and she chuckled.
"Yeah well, deadbeat harbour cops ain't got anything exciting to do anyways so fuck them for complaining." I scoffed at her then started packing up the M110, pulling the scope off and the little parts after.
I suppose this is the part where I tell you who I am and what I do right? Name's Blake and I am a sniper, a fuckin good one as well and that female joker is my best friend and partner Jess. Both of us are devil hunters for the CIA, and we're pretty fuckin good at it, this recent kill makes 50 and that's how many we've killed or "exterminated" If we are counting the ones we had while we still served.
I was a recon marine, "a devil dog" A nickname that's pretty ironic don't you think? A devil dog that hunts down devils, sounds like the end of a bad joke. I or needless to say me and Jess have been killing fiends and sometimes devils since Iraq, landed us a full-time job as hunters for the CIA since then been hunting them all over the states wherever the suits start pointing us at what direction, we just simply follow it.
Half an hour later…
Once we cleaned up the sniper hide on top of the warehouse, we took a ride to a nearby diner where the suits are supposed to meet up with us. News of the devil we killed was playing all over the tv, then there was just me and Jess in a booth. I helped myself with a late night cheeseburger and fries while Jess just simply wanted a coffee with a smoke, no-one else was really there but us and the staff.
"Ever think about where these devil punks came from? They just pop out left and right… " She took a whiff of her cigarette then let out a huge sigh, I was too worked up with chewing my food to even care.
"Does it really matter? As long as they come out, we'll be there to whack them with the stick. Since when are you an idealist anyway?" That comment earned me a punch on my left shoulder and based on the look on her face, she didn't take kindly to it.
"Wise ass…" She said, scowling at me.
Jessica Riley, my best friend since boot camp at parris island, and back then we were bitter rivals trying to compete for top of the class then and after in scout sniper school. Our superiors say that it'd be best if we work together instead of against each other and that rang true when we were in Iraq, killing devils left and right.
Soft ginger hair tied up in a ponytail using a small red ribbon with a pair of violet green eyes and a devilish smile on her can kill a man if they so much as catch sight of her, plus a body fit for a supermodel and yet instead she chose to be stuck with me doing the agency's dirty work. Other than knowing that she came from Virginia, She wouldn't say much about her family except that they weren't thrilled that she joined up and they didn't even show up at her graduation, i guess some things are just better off not known.
Guess its now my turn to share, i grew up in foster care for most of my life because my dad left and my mom was a junkie that couldn't find herself except under a needle laced with heroin. I can't tell you too much about what happened since i got taken away to me joining up with the corps except that i went in trying to find a sense or purpose i guess, this was even after news of the gun devil was wreaking havoc in philly came to light.
"Looks like you too are hitting it of, all too well it seems…"
We turned to see the source of the voice, an older man wearing a suit like ours with greyish hair and a straight face. Except only one thing stood out and that was the huge claw scar on his left eye with an eyepatch covering it.
"Nice to see you again too…Tanner."
Jess said and he simply scoffed, she made some room for him to sit beside her.
"Be a sweetheart and give me one of those will ya?"
She handed him a smoke and he proceeded to light it on his own using a golden lighter.
"First of all, good job in taking out that sea devil…someone was holding onto it for a sale and somehow it manage break free luckily no-one was killed or maimed by that thing."
The man speaking to us so casually is Case officer Joe Tanner A.K.A our boss and superior, which means that he's the leash that the Agency holds onto against us and whatever orders we have it all goes through him. I could tell just from the way he's speaking about our accomplishment that something was up and we might have another job to handle.
"Cut the friendly shit Tanner, what do the suits want us for this time?"
"Yeah, seems like everyday Langley and washington has been tellin us to go frog jump from every state all the way to Alaska…what gives?"
Tanner gave a heavy sigh before he spoke.
"Alright i'll just cut to the chase, Langley's been tracking the gun devil and it seems he just popped up on the radar somewhere in Japan."
"And we know about this how?"
Jess let out a huge puff of smoke and just then Tanner placed a series of photos on the diner table.
"We knew it from them, meet special division 4 of the Tokyo public safety devil hunters…"
The photos he had laid out showed two men and two women, the first guy was younger and had blond hair (Denji) while the other was older and he had black hair (Aki). The first girl had a weirdly alluring look on her and she was a redhead (Makima) while the other was obviously a fiend since one thing sticking out from her were her horns (Power).
"Supervising head's name is Makima, she founded the division as an experiment for integrating devil hybrids, fiends and humans into one just for the sole purpose of killing devils….based on what our asset told us, it seems that their higher ups are just trying to find whatever excuse they can to shut them down."
"They're just a bunch of kids, why are they worth the agency's time?"
"I thought you might ask, we believe that these individuals have information regarding the gun devil's whereabouts in Japan, they're all connected to finding where it is and your Job is to recover or eliminate the devil with extreme caution…Langley has struck a joint deal with them in finding the bastard, which means they are your new team and also one thing: plausible deniability which means you should not fuck up."
Several days later…
12:24 PM
Haneda International airport, Tokyo
Japan, the jewel orient of eastern asia and also uncle sam's closest friend here if you take into account the world politics shit. Langley flew us in a private jet all the way from washington, i could see the heavy rain pouring outside the window and the silhouette of our welcoming party standing at the edge of the runway, i couldn't see their faces because of the bright light coming from the headlights of their cars behind them.
"Sir, they're ready for you…"
In addition to assigning us with the Tokyo division, Langley also attached an assault platoon of 20 guys with us alongside the equipment and intelligence that we have about the gun devil to share with them.
"I'll step out first, make sure the equipment is stowed away Erikson."
"Got it sir."
I opened the hatch door of the plane and was greeted with the rumbling sounds of the rain with thunder, the rainwater soon started to stain me as i walked down the steps to greet our Japanese hosts.
I walked towards the lead figure in front and as my eyes adjusted as i got closer to her, i could see it was the one that they call "makima".
"I take it that you are the American help?"
"That'd be us and its a pleasure to meet you."
I gestured my hand for her and she soon took back shaking it.
"I'm Blake, you must be Makima from division 4."
"Pleased to meet you Blake-kun."
I couldn't help but feel something from her, something like a dominant aura just radiating off of her, that smile she made too gave off a vibe that says that she could kill you just from underestimating her. I should tread carefully and so should Jess, these Japs won't be fucking around.
"hey hey! When are we gonna get some grub? I'm starving already!"
"You dumbass! Shut your mouth!"
The kid with the empty stomach must be Denji, 'the chainsaw man' that Langley talked about and that must be his handler Aki I believe was his name. Judging from how they're acting right now must be a really fruitful partnership they have.
Several years ago…
Nasiriyah, Iraq
It didn't take long for us to enter the city under the darkness, the Iraqis put up a good fight and there are several among them that have been using fiends to fight their battles but its all useless even if they tried to lift a finger on us. Since we set foot on Iraqi soil, they' threw in everything they have whether it be devils, fiends, civilians just to name a few. Devils are no different than weapons of mass destruction in fact, they fall into the same category and thats why we were sent to Iraq in the first place.
My unit was tasked to move into the city first and make way for the main force to secure choke points in the city but we got hit by an ambush as soon as we went in. I myself got separated when our humvee took a hit and here I am by my lonesome walking through a deserted Iraqi Alley with no help.
"Hitman 1 actual, do you read me over?"
I could only hear static on the other end but I decided to press on, holding my rifle steadily checking each corner diligently as i could until a stray bullet whizzed past my right ear. The cracking sound came shortly after as it hit the wall behind me then some more followed and then i ran as quick as i could shooting back at my unseen attacker, all the while i soon scrambled for cover in a nearby house.
I immediately slammed the door behind me and checked a nearby window if anyone followed me, right after i took a look at my surroundings, i could barely see anything but my eyes adjusted to darkness. The house was empty although the furniture still stood by and some tea along with snacks were on the table, it was quiet and i heard nothing except my breathing and clunk of my rifle.
"Hitman 1 actual, do you read me? Does anyone fucking read me?"
I tried my radio again and it didnt respond with the usual static, taking a look down i saw that a bullet went right into it.
"SHIT!"
I threw it down in frustration and soon raised my rifle to check the rest of the house, the tea was still warm and the food as well. This meant that someone was still here or someone was here, leveling the barrel carefully i see a door leading to a basement.
I kicked it in with the heel of my boot and turned the flashlight on as i walked down the steps, peeking a corner there's nothing out of the ordinary with just some old knick-knacks belonging to the previous owner of this house. There was faint light from the sun going through the basement window and I looked over some photos as i turned off my flashlight, the previous owner was an republican guard based on the uniform on him and he had a wife with a daughter. I wonder what happened to him?
Then I heard a clink like bullet shells clattering behind me, immediately i turned to the source of the sound with my rifle aimed at it. I couldn't see who it is or what it is so i kept my guard up by having a firm finger on my trigger, ready to blast whoever was there devil or not.
"Who's there?!"
I didnt get a response and a bullet rolled in front of me, in view of the sunlight and that made me all the more anxious to see who was there.
"Show yourself! Or i'll shoot you! I swear to god i will!"
The figure stepped forward and the bullet clattering got louder then more rolled down towards me, the figure was a woman as she stepped in view of the sunlight. She was probably as young as Jess with fairly tanned skin and soft yellow eyes, her silver hair was at shoulder length and she wore nothing less then a cropped top and shorts but one thing stood out. She had wings made of tank shells on her upper back, she looked right at me giving off a devilish grin and right there I knew it was a devil.
"You seem lost, soldier…"
She spoke in a soft tone but i kept my rifle up and wasn't gonna let her get the best of me.
"Who the hell are you?"
She chuckled at me then leaned on a wall, looking at a bullet in her hand before turning to me.
"I'm the tank devil and I have an offer for you…Blake.."
"The fuck? How did you-? Nevermind just stay right there!"
"Hehehe… I can feel the adrenaline in your body and all the tiny fun emotions that you have inside of you…"
I was just itching to squeeze the trigger as I have the barrel pointed right at her pretty fucking head, she didn't even flinch or blink, she just smiled at me like she's toying with me.
"What the fuck do you want? It's obvious you're some kind of devil."
I asked begrudgingly and she simply gave a small giggle.
"Ufufufu… the question is what do YOU want? I see a petty human that no matter how many devils or fiends you've killed, will ever amount you towards anything other than something like shall we say a worn hammer?"
"So you think I'm just some tool?"
She just laughs.
"Precisely, a tool that we devils make a contract with since without humans, we wouldn't be able to manifest or even exist."
As she said that, I realized what she meant and soon the barrel of my gun was lowered.
"You're offering me a contract, aren't you?"
She gave a sultry devilish grin and soon stepped closer to me, drawing circles on my chest and she leaned closer to my ear.
"My… You catch on rather quickly, better than any humans I have seen~"
Her breath stings to the side of my neck and I couldn't help but feel a little disgust as I huffed it.
"I'm not stupid either, you must be wanting something from me in return, isn't that how contracts work? So what's my fucking catch?"
As soon as I said that she turned to bring herself face to face with me, her yellow eyes were illuminating to me like I could get hypnotized at any moment before flashing a sinister like smile.
Present day…
13:04 PM
Public safety headquarters, downtown Tokyo
The headquarters was inside of a usual ordinary office building and it didn't stick out or anything of the sort, it just look like your usual government building that barely anyone or the public would bat an eye on. Come to think of it, neither how i or Jess look among the devil hunter employees in the building, as a matter of fact we didn't stick out much like a sore thumb except the obvious fact that we were foreigners but we dress the same with them and that being black suits, ties and overcoats.
We finally reached Makima's office and it was just me and Jess, according to our dossier about her its understandable that she is one of the most high ranking devil hunters because of her unusually high intelligence, charisma which we at the agency believe is the result of a contract with a devil but we don't know what kind. As she set her coat aside and sat in the office chair in front of us, we looked on at her when she gave a friendly smile.
"I take it that you are searching for the gun devil, correct?"
She was straight on point and i hesitated to answer for a moment until i spoke up.
"The last sighting where it was spotted is in Japan, probably around the Tokyo area or at least the Kanto region."
"I see, did your government officially sanctioned an order for you two to be here? Or rather that team of agents that you came along with?"
I didn't want to answer her and gritted my teeth inside, its almost as if she's trying to wrap ourselves along her fingers but Jess spoke for me.
"Our orders are only to cooperate with your division within public safety in regards to finding the gun devil, anything other than that we are not at liberty to discuss and i am sure a woman in your position might understand."
She took the words right out of my mouth and i could see that Makima wasn't flinching, not even a bit its almost and she's not giving out any body language that i can read off. It might be just a gut feeling for me but those bright ringed yellow eyes tells me that she is someone sinister, maybe even on parr as being dangerous as the gun devil itself.
"I do understand…the gun devil is a threat that needs to be extinguished and i think its fitting to know that we are working with our closest ally. After all, Japan and america shared a unique relationship when it comes to our neighbor overseas."
I try not to flinch and to tell ya the truth, i'm already used to meetings in an office or even somewhere similar to that but this just feels different. Maybe its because of Makima or the fact that as if thousands of eyes are looking at me right now.
"When do we start working with your hunters?"
Makima gave a grin and leaned back in relaxed posture on her chair.
"Tommorrow morning should be good, we have devils or fiends reported almost everyday here. So i'm sure you wont have any shortage on what to kill during your stay here."
"We appreciate your understanding then, we'll take our leave now."
Undisclosed location, CIA safehouse
We had to lay low and settle for a safehouse inside a two story apartment building in Tokyo, it was well maintained and out of the way courtesy of the station chief in Tokyo. I am slumped beside the bed of my room as i looked over the dossier of personnel files detailing the devil hunters that we'll be working with. The station chief and the agents on the ground before us have been collecting intel on them since before we arrived.
Each of them had their own pretty little remarks at the end of the page whether it be "approach with discretion" or "possible threat". I flipped the page and it was the file about the blonde guy, the one they call Denji.
I read through and this kid had one helluva life, mom died when he was young, dad died leaving him with the debt and he had to work on his back to pay it all to the Yakuza loan sharks. Psych profile says that he is mentally deranged or unstable or in other words a fucking psycho who would do anything to achieve a goal. It also said that he tore the shit out of a bat devil just for the chance to squeeze a pair of tits, its what it literally says on file.
At first glance, this kid is a fuckin idiot but one thing stood out and it was the fact that he is a human/devil hybrid. Its not just any devil either that he's merged with, its the one and only chainsaw devil. The file says it merged with him after an attack by the zombie devil and it also says that this kid has attracted the interest of even POTUS to get him badly.
The last line on the file read: "once gun devil has been confirmed neutralized or defeated, special attention shall be taken to the chainsaw devil or chainsaw man. You are to execute an order to capture/kill the target by direct orders of the president of the United States."
I gave a scoff as i read that line and i closed the file, got a cigarette from my bag and lit it up for a drag.
"Well….Denji….it looks like you and me are gonna have a little showdown."
Devil dog: a nickname referring to a US marine coined by the Germans during world war 1 which was "teufel hunden".
Parris island: a marine corps boot camp located in south carolina of the US.
Philly: Slang for Philadelphia, a city in the state of pennsylvania
Langley: a metonym or an expression for the CIA, their headquarters is in Langley,Virginia
Washington: another metonym for the US government, essentially located in Washington D.C
Plausible deniability: a term meaning that the CIA will deny any involvement if there is an incident.
