According to the information received, the Red Sharks' main base was located in a small town near Yekaterinburg: more precisely in a secret location of a restaurant that was actually just a front. When Renegade reached the coordinates predictably said restaurant was closed. Once he established through his enhanced hearing that there was no one inside, he easily broke the padlock placed at the entrance of the restaurant and entered.
The place was completely dark but Renegade was still able to see as if the lights were on thanks to his enhanced vision, giving him the advantage of not forcing him to visibly turn on the lights. The mercenary headed into the kitchen and, remembering the information, pressed a very tiny button almost invisible to the human eye located under one of the kitchen counters.
The assassin turned toward the direction from which the noise came and saw that a small part of one of the walls had opened, revealing a narrow-looking secret passage. He headed there and began to walk through it without making even the slightest noise, his steps quieter than silence itself. In no time he reached the end of the secret passage and froze when his hearing picked up voices.
The acrobat flattened himself against the wall of the secret passage and slowly poked his head out, his gaze studying the main base of the Russian mafia. He saw a huge spacious area in the center that, just as he had been told, could easily hold about fifty people who were all armed.
The mobsters were in constant movement: those who entered and exited several other adjacent rooms, those who carried boxes, those who talked on the phone, those who marked numbers on a digital board, those who apparently took notes, those who stood in front of computers and more.
In short, they all seemed to be very busy, performing precise tasks and from their confident and never hesitant movements Dick immediately understood that this was a kind of their common routine and that each of them had a precise duty to fulfill within the mafia.
The meta-human's gaze moved up and he caught a glimpse of the infamous Bestial Dragon sitting on some kind of small throne above a small balcony watching the work of his henchmen with a satisfied smirk on his face. His appearance matched exactly the description Dick had demanded.
A light-skinned man, in his mid-thirties, short dark hair, cold emotionless brown eyes, about six feet tall, sturdy and, above all, the large scar running diagonally across his left eye that stopped inches from his nose.
Renegade gave a cold smirk, observing the arrogant and obnoxious smile of the Red Shark leader.
Keep smiling, man. Because it will be the last time you get the chance.
Being an artist from birth Renegade almost always preferred the more dramatic way, no matter how dangerous and risky his mission was, and this case too was no exception. Instead of taking the easy way, that is, throwing grenades into the middle of the room creating chaos, destruction and much shedding of blood, limbs and brain matter, Dick took the opposite route: the more dramatic and dangerous one.
He silently stepped back a few feet, took a running start and ran and launched himself into the air. As he was upside down in midair his hands landed on the railing and Dick gave himself the momentum to launch himself into a triple somersault in midair, landing easily on his feet in the center of the room next to some mobsters who stepped back terrified a few feet with a decidedly unmanly scream.
Renegade remained impassive at the fifty or so firearms aimed at him and turned a cocky grin on Bestial Dragon. "I recognize that you have a good base and a well-structured and prepared mafia organization."
Myriad emotions crossed the face of the leader who finally frowned and fixed the acrobat with an indifferent look. "Renegade. Your reputation precedes you in every nation. What on earth are you doing here?"
The assassin gave a shrug, letting casualness shine through. "I'm just here to annihilate your mafia because you're all bastards garbage scum who deserve to die, no big deal."
The man's gaze narrowed in irritation before a confident, arrogant smirk appeared on his face. "Do you really think you can take us down by yourself? I literally just need a nod and you'll have more holes than a Swiss cheese." he scoffed, pointing vaguely at his men who still had all their weapons pointed at the young assassin.
The mercenary gave a yawn, feigning boredom. "Man, I've literally faced much worse and always come out on top. Your pathetic mafia is just a walk in the park in comparison."
A flash of anger and irritation made its way across the leader's features, cheering the Talon. "If you have a death wish, I won't hesitate to give it to you. At least I'll be able to boast that I easily killed the notorious Renegade and my reputation will skyrocket more than it does now!" he emitted a dirty, evil laugh, his eyes glinting coldly. "What are you guys waiting for? I want him dead now!
"FIRE!"
Even before Bestial Dragon finished the sentence Renegade had already grabbed his two swords from his back and dived to the side, stabbing straight through the heart of the first two mobsters he saw. The Talon turned sharply and deflected the hail of bullets directed at him with both blades, his movements with the swords so fast they were literally a mere blur impossible for even the most experienced eye to see.
A great multitude of bullets were fired in the direction of the assassin who, however, continued to deflect them all with rapid and superhuman movements of the swords: one protecting him in front of him while at the same time the acrobat protected his back by bringing the other sword behind him, without even having the need to see behind him.
For more than a dozen seconds the only audible sounds were the deafening sounds of gunfire -which forced Dick to ignore the dark blood that began to drip from his ears- and the metallic clang of bullets being deflected by the young assassin's sword blades. But then the rain of bullets ceased as the mobsters had to reload their weapons and the Talon immediately took advantage of the moment.
Renegade sprinted with superhuman speed toward five mobsters and in less than two seconds they lay dead on the ground. The mercenary turned and swung his swords again and again, decapitating and maiming every single criminal he faced.
And again and again and again and again and again-
Fresh blood splashed violently all over Renegade's armor and masked face and he ignored it, concentrating on brutally and efficiently killing any mobster who came his way.
At that moment the acrobat was anything but a normal being.
He was moving and killing like the war machine that he was.
Like the most dangerous, lethal, deadly and efficient weapon in the world that he was.
His every body movement and every swing of his swords was merely a blur that was impossible to see and counter. No mobster even had time to blink as they immediately lay dead by decapitation, mutilation, stabbed through the heart and more.
Renegade was literally relentless.
The only thing Dick felt at that moment was the adrenaline coursing through his body and the need to feed his swords with the blood of others.
One of Renegade's swords violently stabbed the throat of a criminal while simultaneously the other sword mutilated with one clean cut both arms of a mobster and then turned sharply and stabbed both into the eyes of yet another, the sound of excruciating screams of agony were music to his ears.
One sword of Renegade cruelly decapitated three criminals with one horizontal blow while simultaneously the other sword bloodily ripped out the heart of another and then turned sharply and completely severed the upper torso from the rest of the lower part of another mobster with one expert, clean cut.
The more Renegade killed the more he felt the pure bloodlust growing within him the more his movements became more and more automatic with the sole purpose of slaughtering everything his swords encountered.
The change of sounds was rapid.
One moment deafening and very loud gunshots resounded throughout the room while in the next there were many screams of pure and excruciating agony, pain, fear, terror.
In about three minutes the screams ceased altogether, replaced by an eerie, deafening silence.
Renegade stood at the center of what could only be described with one word.
Bloodbath.
The room was literally filled with some fifty bodies brutally, mercilessly and cruelly murdered. Countless liters of blood flowed on the floor like a veritable ocean of blood just as several walls were splattered with blood. A great multitude of heads, eyeballs, arms, spinal cords, legs, guts, hearts, hands and more were bloodily detached completely from their bodies, some of which were literally split in half. Floor and walls were covered not only with probably a hundred liters of blood -at least two liters per criminal- but also with flesh, limbs, brain matter.
To the vast majority of the population this was a gory, revolting and horrifying spectacle to say the least but to Renegade it was a normality and he was indifferent to the massacre, extermination, slaughter and bloodbath that he himself had just committed. The room smelled very much of blood and death but Dick was now completely immune to the nauseating smell and sight of so much blood, death and brutality.
The Talon ignored the fact that virtually all of his armor and masked face and swords were literally drenched in blood from top to bottom and cast a cold smirk in the direction of the leader who was completely paralyzed on the spot, his face very pale and his eyes wide open and filled for the first time with horror, fear, shock, disbelief and other negative emotions.
"H-h-how was t-that p-possible?" Bestial Dragon stammered in shock, his eyes wandering from one side of the room to the other encountering only death, blood, slaughter, and extermination. "Y-y-you easily k-killed more t-than fifty experienced m-mobsters in j-just t-three m-m-minutes and y-you're not even m-m-minimally w-wounded! W-w-what the h-h-hell are you? S-S-Satan?"
Renegade's smirk increased in size and he emitted his chuckle that echoed eerily throughout the base, sending shivers of fear down the spine of the mafia leader who looked like he was about to have a heart attack.
"I'll give you a choice. Will you come down or shall I come to you?" the mercenary asked instead, fixing the man with an icy stare as he stowed his swords, crossing them in an X shape behind his back.
Bestial Dragon opted for the safer route and stumbled often over his own steps as he stepped down from the balcony to approach the world-renowned assassin and he knelt in front of him. "I-I-I b-b-beg! D-don't k-kill me! I-I-"
"Shut up." ordered Renegade abruptly and the man immediately shut up, staring at the youngest with a completely terrified and pleading look. "You will answer honestly any question I ask you. Clear?" he demanded, receiving quick nods of assent from the man.
Pathetic. Leader of one of the most dangerous and morality-less mafias wanted for the worst crimes not only in Russia but all over the world who kneels only to uselessly try to save his own life. What a little man without dignity.
The interrogation lasted just long enough for the mercenary to learn all the information he needed.
The Red Sharks had gotten hold of sensitive and classified information about the United States because there were internal traitors: two corrupt ministers within both the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. They preferred to receive millions of dollars rather than to think about the good and security of their country, not caring about all the risks the U.S. would take as a result of their sales of information to a very powerful Russian mafia, which in turn would sell it to terrorist organizations and enemies of the United States.
Renegade tightened his lips and shook his head in disgust.
Gross.
The young assassin mentally memorized the names the leader gave him and gave him a brusque nod. "Evidence of their treachery and corruption?" he asked, already analyzing how to act in such a situation.
Dick was undecided whether to anonymously hand over the evidence of treason and corruption of the various ministers to U.S. federal agencies so that they could be sent straight to prison with life imprisonment where they would rot for the rest of their miserable lives, whether to kill them because of the serious crimes they had committed or whatever.
"A-all p-present in my c-computer!" stammered the man, nodding his trembling head to one of the other rooms.
"Are there also the names of the terrorist organizations and enemies of the United States to whom you sold the U.S. information?" the mafia boss nodded shakily and he shuddered at the mercenary's frightening grin. "Thank you for your kind cooperation. Now you are no longer useful to me. Go to hell and rot."
Bestial Dragon barely had time to open his eyes wide in shock and terror before a dull pain spread from the center of his stomach to the rest of his body, a large amount of blood beginning to pool in his mouth
Renegade pulled back his fist, heedlessly tossing the man's heart he held to the side and watched the body fall backward, a bloody hole in the stomach allowing a view of the man's innards where his heart had previously been. The young assassin numbly walked past a multitude of corpses whistling a little song as if he were strolling through a park instead of a bloodbath and, after completely wiping away all traces of his dark blood, he made his way to the room that the now former leader of the Red Sharks had indicated.
It did not take him long to find Bestial Dragon's computer and connected his holographic glove to it. He made a copy of all the information and evidence incriminating the various American ministers with corruption and treason. In a few minutes he finished his work and detached his holographic glove from the computer and he walked away, his mind wandering.
In a little while I'll contact Jade and Sandra to see where they stand and possibly help them. Then return to the hotel and while they sleep I will hack the servers of the terrorist organizations and enemies of the U.S., permanently deleting all the information they have bought from the Red Sharks with all their copies and backups. Tomorrow we will leave again and decide what to do with the traitorous ministers.
Renegade abruptly stopped in his tracks when his enhanced hearing picked up something that should not have been possible. The acrobat narrowed his eyes, thinking briefly that he had been mistaken but quickly learned that this was not the case and he frowned in confusion.
Why the hell do I hear seven heartbeats that surely do not belong to the mobsters since they are all dead? And are those... voices?
The Talon soon knew the answer when he saw seven familiar figures coming out of the secret passage. They froze in place and stared completely shocked at Renegade who returned the gaze equally surprised and shocked.
Are you fucking kidding me?
"Renegade?"
"Justice League?"