Mission 2

Type: Action

Inauguration

Make yourself known

/

Walking down the alleyway, Tony was brainstorming ways to get his mercenary career started up again. Starting from scratch isn't something Tony was new to. He'd done it once before, so he can do it a second time. Here lies the problem, when Tony started the whole mercenary gig, there was already an established scene he could integrate into. But with superheroes in the wild, chances are that they've eclipsed the old scene or replaced it. Which means that there's a large chance he's reinventing the wheel when it comes to his old business.

As he turned the corner of an alleyway, a fist was swung at his face. Naturally, he weaved out of the way and watched as his attacker smashed into the nearest wall. In his sights were a trio of thugs wearing red skull shirts and skull masks.

"Looks like Halloween was just around the corner, huh?" Tony ducked under an air bullet, which struck the first assailant, "Sorry, but I'm fresh out of candy to give out." he stepped aside and directed the incoming punch to the thug with a wind power, "I was never really the trick or treating kind of kid anyway..." the last guy charged in, only for Tony to trip him, "Then again, it was never a popular holiday in my country... You guys still listening?"

On the ground, the thugs laid in a pile unconscious.

"What a shame, I was just about to get into Mischief Night."

After looting half of the thugs' money, Tony stepped out of the alleyway. On his way out, he spotted a sign.

"Feruci City, huh? Bit of an odd name." He walked away and continued to ponder.

'Let's see, if I were in a comic book, how would I make a debut?'

Out of nowhere, an explosion sounded nearby. Tony looked off into the distance to see a giant hole blown through a bank.

"Well, I suppose stopping a bank robbery would do it."

Tony dashed towards the bank as he unzipped his guitar case, pulling out his sword. He got close to an unsuspecting grunt and whacked them with the sword's fuller. The robbers turned to Tony and sneered at him. From what he could tell, the group was rather small, with only 4 members standing. He can't help but snort at their sense of fashion.

"It really is Halloween, isn't it? And I thought the guys back at home were weird."

"Boss, some hero wannabe is trying to stop our operations. What are your orders?" The grunt with an elongated duck bill spoke to the leader of the group.

The thug with red hair and a gas mask narrowed his eyes at Tony, "Earthbreaker, take him down."

'Earthbreaker?' Tony turned to look at the giant with rocks for gloves.

"On it. Pillars of the Earth!"

Earthbreaker bumped his fists together, lifted them into the air, and then slammed the ground with massive force. Rising rock pillars began to make their way to Tony at an alarming rate. Just as the final pillar was about to erupt under Tony, He rolled out of the way and seamlessly charged at Earthbreaker.

Earthbreaker lifted his arms again, "Pillars of-hrk!" His super move was interrupted by Tony's boot burying itself into his face.

"Note to self, only shout out attack names when they have already hit." Tony somersaulted around and smashed Earthbreaker's face with his heel.

Tony kickflipped off Earthbreaker, who got pushed back, and analyzed the entire room for any hostages while in the air. Besides the bank tellers, there were 6 civilians, two of them were protecting a small child. 'Pressure's on, I guess.'

Tony pulled back his sword and then charged at the leader. Before he could reach him, ashes flew into his eyes, causing him to miss a sword swing. He was then blown away by a gust of wind, leaving him skidding across the floor. He slammed against a wall and stumbled forward. He wiped the ash from his eyes and stared down at the robbers. Somehow he missed the female robber.

"Gust Boy, Dusty Ash, keep up the good work." the leader muttered.

Tony smirked as he spotted his next move, "And I'm guessing your name is Mr. Lava based on your naming scheme?"

Earthbreaker had just gotten up as the leader snarled, "It's Volcano! And from the way I see it, you're outnumbered, there's no way you're going to get out of here alive! It's all over for you!"

"That name's not much better."

"Stopping being so cocky! There's no way you can bring this to your favour! It's 4 against 1! There's no winning for you!"

"Is that so?"

Tony flicked down the light switch.

In the pitch darkness, rapid footsteps rushed all over the room before a crunch of bones was heard. A few swooshes sounded out as cries of pain became more and more prominent. Thuds hit the floor and the pop of a maker followed. Footsteps wandered off before the light came back on.

On the floor were the now unconscious robbers, now covered with bruises, cuts, and specks of blood. On their faces were scribbles made by a marker that laid by them. Behind the hole in the wall were the now confused civilians who were wondering who their saviour was. And by the light switch was Tony, wearing a cheeky smile.

"Well, my work here is done." Tony made his way to the hole in the wall and looked at the civilians. "Do any of you want to call the police to pick these guys up? I got places to be."

Some of the civilians pulled out small thin devices and stared tapping on it. One of the bank tellers looked at Tony in disbelief.

"What are you?"

Tony smirked as he briefly stopped, "I'm a mercenary for hire. The name's Tony Redgrave, If you have a job for me, I'll consider taking it."

Tony walked past the civilians as he gave out a salute on the way out.

Moments after he left, a man in tights barged through the front door, "Surrender yourself villains! Or face my..." The hero looked on in confusion at the scene of the crime. "...wrath? What happened here?"

/

Mission Complete!

Time: S

Orbs: S

Style: A

Damage: A

Bonus': None

Rank A

Time Since arrival: 2 hours and 30 Minutes

Mr. Marlet stared over and over at the brief footage of Tony Redgrave. Ever since the man's debut, Feruci City had been in shock over the vigilante who not only didn't bother to hide an identity, but offered services for pay. Unknown to the mercenary, the entire encounter had been recorded and broadcasted to the internet. A close associate of his shared the video with him, and the timing couldn't be any better.

"This may be my greatest chance... But where could he be?"

Meanwhile, in an abandoned building, Tony laid down on a run-down bed with a box of leftover pizza.

"Yep, this is the life..." he muttered dryly as he took a bite, "This is a dull slice of pizza though."

/

AN:

Thanks for reading this chapter, and I'll see you next year for the next chapter. Half-joking aside, I've been working on other projects since I started working on this story, which is why updates have been so slow. Next year might have two more chapters, but I won't promise anything more than that. Just know that they should be longer than this chapter.