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On the Hunt - A story about your favorite Assassin
pwkampfykaufmann
Posts: 253 Arc User
It was still early morning in Millennium City when the call came. Dr. Pascal Hugo Kaufmann stood in the bathroom of his penthouse and shaved. His notebook stood next to the lavatory on an aluminium side table and started to play a short ringing melody. Kaufmann sighed and interrupted his shaving for a moment to press a button on the notebook. The communication programm opened and the face of his secretary Janine appeared on the screen.
"Good morning! Pascal, I've got an important... Jeez, Pascal! Get a shirt, you're gonna poke somebody's eye out!", Janine exclaimed.
Kaufmann didn't interrupt his shaving a second time. Without looking at the screen, he just continued to remove every single hair with his usual perfectionism.
"Good morning to you too, Janine. Sorry. I'm wearing pants right now, I promise.", Kaufmann said dryly and held his razor under the running water. Janine just sighed and tried not to stare at her boss.
"...W-what I wanted to tell you is that we got something for today. A contract.", Janine said hastily and held a folder with a large black 'Confidential' stamp on it into the camera.
"Oh? Tell me about it.", Kaufmann said and started to shave again.
"VIPER wrote out a general job. Assassination.", Janine said and skimmed through the folder. Kaufmann interrupted his shaving and looked at her, or rather her image on the screen of the notebook for the first time.
"VIPER? Janine, we don't work for VIPER. They're trying to kill us.", Kaufmann said slowly and with a sour expression.
"Yeah, I know that. But as I said, they wrote out a general call. For free contractors. They apparently don't care who takes the job. Everything will be handled over middlemen, including payments over Costa Azul bank accounts. They wouldn't even know who they hire.", Janine explained and searched for the appropriate sheet in the folder. When she found it, she held it into the camera. Kaufmann leaned over to his notebook to read over it.
"Hmm... Seems pretty legit, even for VIPER.", Kaufmann said with a furrowed brow and read over it again. Indeed, the whole contract would be handled in a way, which would neither reveal his identity to VIPER, nor give someone evidence against them. Kaufmann pondered for a short moment.
"Tell me more about it.", he said and picked up his razor again. Janine took the folder back to her and started skimming through it again.
"Well, it's about that hero and his sidekick. They've been wrecking VIPER's sh*t pretty bad recently. They want them to... disappear permanently and not get involved with it themselves.", Janine explained bored. Kaufmann nodded and somehow managed not to cut himself doing so.
"So far, so standard. What kind of heroes are we talking here?", he asked matter-of-factly.
"Okay... Uhm... Two people: Hero and sidekick. They're called Captain Eagle and Girlscout II.", Janine said and held the folder into the camera once again. Two photos were tucked to that particular sheet with paper clips. One photo showed a tall, broad man in tights. He was completely bald and a camo-green domino mask which reminded one of a beak hid most of his face. His tights also seemed to be designed equal parts militaristic, but with some slight bird motives thrown in here and there. The other photo showed a young woman with long fiery red hair. Her costume seemed to be inspired by a girlscout uniform, again with some more militaristic influences. Kaufmann grimaced dismissively.
"Wow, those two must be the epitome of creative. Powers and power-level?", he asked and assessed the two photos another moment. Janine pulled the folder back and shrugged.
"He's a fairly standard mid-level brick and she's a martial artist and street-level gadgeteer. Nothing...", Janine said, but Kaufmann interrupted her.
"...I couldn't handle.", he said.
"...too impressive.", Janine finished. Both of them pondered for a moment, then Kaufmann sighed again.
"I'll take the job.", he said. Janine let out a small squee and suddenly seemed very excited.
"Alright, Pascal! I'm gonna contact the middlemen! They're gonna give us the necessary intel then. Oh, and you should come into office quickly! The new prototypes are here too. You could test them against those two.", she said excitedly.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes.", Kaufmann said and Janine just nodded and turned off the communication program. Her image faded from the screen of Kaufmann's notebook. Silence. Kaufmann watched his reflection in the mirror and ran his hand over his chin. Perfect as usual. Kaufmann grinned at his reflection.
---
Kaufmann whistled that one tune he hadn't been able to get out of his head lately as he ascended the last stairs onto the rooftop of the abandoned building. "Another One Bites the Dust... Dun-Dun-Dun... Another One Bites the Dust...", he mumbled as he opened the door which lead out onto the roof. He walked out and closed the door behind him. He looked around. It was shortly after noon and the sun had actually managed to fight through the clouds over Millennium City. The building he stood on top of lay way out of the actual city though. It was in one of the destroyed parts of Old Detroit which had never been rebuilt and more or less became small districts of ruins, spread all around the actual Millennium City. Some of those ruins were only a few destroyed walls; others were as big as several street blocks. The building Kaufmann currently stood on was in one of the bigger ones. Kaufmann - still whistling - walked to the center of the rooftop and put his briefcase down next to him. He then stretched and checked his wrist computer for the time. Perfect. He still had about ten minutes. Kaufmann lit a cigarette and stared towards the actual Millennium City. In the distance he could see the towers of Ren Cen, from Kaufmann's point of view only as big as candles and far less imposing. Kaufmann stretched out his hand and pretended to crush the 'candles' in his palm and smiled. Then he turned around and opened his briefcase.
---
Several years of experience and the unique design of the 'Freisch?tz', Kaufmann's sniper rifle, make it possible for him to assemble it from his briefcase in 9 seconds. 8 seconds on his best days. Unfortunately the briefcase didn't contain Kaufmann's sniper rifle. It took Kaufmann over 5 minutes to assemble the weapon from the various parts in his briefcase, but the result was indeed impressive. Kaufmann held a high-tech rocket launcher in his hands. The metallic surface was of a dull grey color and very sleek, while several scopes and range sensors were on top of weapon. Kaufmann watched it up and down. "Not bad Talos, not bad at all.", Kaufmann said appreciative and turned to his opened briefcase again. There they were. 3 small rockets, neatly placed next to each other. Thermobaric rockets. It had taken Kaufmann or rather Wayland Talos a long time to get his hands on these powerful explosives and design weapons, which would actually allow Kaufmann to use them. Today was the beta test so to say. Kaufmann took one of the rockets out of the briefcase and loaded it into the rocket launcher. Ready. Kaufmann checked the time again. Assembling and loading the thermobaric rocket launcher had taken him longer than he expected, but he was still in time.
He watched the skies for a few moments, then squinted his eyes. "There you are. On time even. Seems like the snakes did a good job with information gathering for once.", Kaufmann said and moved behind the broken metal frame of the water tower which once stood on the roof. On the horizon one could see a green dot approaching fast. "So that's the 'Patriot Plane'? They're really taking this too far.", Kaufmann said incredulous and watched the vehicle come closer. It was an upgraded and highly modernized Lockheed P-38 Lightning painted in a really ugly green camo pattern. While the 'Patriot Plane' had been modernized one could tell with just a single glance that the owner of it clearly kept it for iconic purposes, rather than efficiency. Kaufmann glanced at the high-tech rocket launcher he was holding and felt a bit over the top. "Oh, well.", Kaufmann sighed and heaved the weapon on his shoulder. The Patriot Plane flew low and was almost in range. Kaufmann glanced around the corner of the ruined shell of the water tower. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6...", Kaufmann counted in his head and threw around numbers in his head, concerning the speed of the aircraft and the remaining distance, "...5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
Kaufmann stepped out of the cover of the water tower, turned to the aircraft, which was a few hundred meters away and aimed the rocket launcher. The weapon locked onto the target almost immediately. "Thanks, Wayland.", Kaufmann thought and pulled the trigger. The recoil was heavy, but managable. The rocket launcher spew the deadly projectile towards the Patriot Plane.
---
In the Patriot Plane, Captain Eagle and Girlscout II sat next to each other and watched Millennium City approaching. They hadn't seen the city of superheroes for a long time and were glad to be back again. The last few weeks they had spent in the Southwest Desert in Project: Greenskin and helped PRIMUS against the VIPER threat of Project: Stein. Girlscout II sighed.
"It's good to be back again.", she said and leaned back with a happy smile and closed her eyes.
"You've been missin' ol' MC, huh?", Captain Eagle, who was piloting the Patriot Plane said and smiled at his sidekick. Girlscout II nodded.
"Yeah, the desert is fine and the PRIMUS folks were friendly, but I really miss the city life. I miss the kiosks, the fastfood, the clubs, the party...", Girlscout II explained with an exhausted smile. Captain Eagle smiled again.
"Well, don't you worry. In 10 minutes we'll be back home.", he said with a laugh, then pondered for a second. "You know what day is today?", he asked his sidekick, who opened her eyes and looked at him confused.
"Uh... No.", she said and sat up again. Captain Eagle smiled.
"Today is our 5 year anniversary of being hero and sidekick!", he said proudly and Girlscout II squealed with joy.
"REALLY? Ohmygod! Happy anniversary! Has it been really that long already?", she asked excitedly. Captain Eagle nodded.
"Yep, 5 years. And it has been a great time, hasn't it? Ever since... ever since...", he started cheerfully, then his face darkened. Girlscout II knew what this was about. She looked at her mentor sadly.
"Don't you want to tell me finally?", she asked carefully. Captain Eagle squirmed a bit uncomfortably on his seat.
"What do you mean?", he asked back while trying to keep his tone neutral. Girlscout II sighed.
"About what happened. To Girlscout I.", she said with a stern voice. Captain Eagle squirmed even more, then looked at his sidekick for a second. She was his whole pride and joy as she sat there next to him, the fiery-red hair, the pretty face and the defiant expression. Fine. Captain Eagle sighed.
"Okay... I guess I really should tell you now.", he said with a hesitant voice, "Well, Girlscout I was... She was killed. And I could do nothing. We were fighting against a group of DEMON cultists who had summoned some monstrous creature from who-know-where. During the battle, the Morbane of the group cast a binding spell on me. I struggled, but I couldn't move anymore. Girlscout I was fighting against the creature... But she didn't have a chance. The monster killed her. Before my own eyes. And I could do nothing...", he said and gulped several times. Girlscout II looked at him shocked.
"I... I'm so sorry... I... Don't' know what to say.", she whispered and laid a hand on her mentor's forearm. Captain Eagle looked a bit grim for a few more seconds, then turned to his sidekick.
"It's okay. That's the past now. I've learned my lesson. I will never, ever let any... monster hurt one of my sidekicks again. Never. I swore an oath and I intend to keep it that way. I will do everything to protect you. Everything!", he said firmly. Girlscout II smiled at him.
"Thank you.", she said breathless. Captain Eagle just reached over and tousled Girlscout II's hair. They both laughed. They were flying over the outskirts of Millennium City now, much of it ruins of Old Detroit. Suddenly a 'CLANK!' sound could be heard. Then the sound of a huge explosion echoed and an inferno swept over the Patriot Plane and its passengers.
---
Dr. Kaufmann put the rocket launcher down and watched his work with awe. As soon as the rocket had hit the aircraft, the thermobaric explosive had gone off with impressive effects. A giant fireball had engulfed the Patriot Plane and literally ripped it to shreds. Chunks of burning metal fell down into the ruins below. Kaufmann whistled. "Wayland Talos, you ingenious son of a b*tch...", Kaufmann said with a grin, put the rocket launcher next to his briefcase and walked to the edge of the roof. He looked down at the ruined streets and buildings before him. Chunks of burning metal, which once were the Patriot Plane had fallen down everywhere, some of them smashing through the rests of some buildings, some of them spreading fire to nearby walls. Smoke and dust were all over the place. Kaufmann grinned and lit another cigarette. Then he saw something move for a small moment. Kaufmann squinted his eyes. It could have been a shadow created by the fires or a particularly thick cloud of smoke. But Kaufmann would take no risks. "Confirm your kills.", he intoned one of his personal rules of assassination in his head. A blunder like with Claire Thompson wouldn't happen again. Kaufmann turned around and ran for the stairs which led down from the roof.
"Good morning! Pascal, I've got an important... Jeez, Pascal! Get a shirt, you're gonna poke somebody's eye out!", Janine exclaimed.
Kaufmann didn't interrupt his shaving a second time. Without looking at the screen, he just continued to remove every single hair with his usual perfectionism.
"Good morning to you too, Janine. Sorry. I'm wearing pants right now, I promise.", Kaufmann said dryly and held his razor under the running water. Janine just sighed and tried not to stare at her boss.
"...W-what I wanted to tell you is that we got something for today. A contract.", Janine said hastily and held a folder with a large black 'Confidential' stamp on it into the camera.
"Oh? Tell me about it.", Kaufmann said and started to shave again.
"VIPER wrote out a general job. Assassination.", Janine said and skimmed through the folder. Kaufmann interrupted his shaving and looked at her, or rather her image on the screen of the notebook for the first time.
"VIPER? Janine, we don't work for VIPER. They're trying to kill us.", Kaufmann said slowly and with a sour expression.
"Yeah, I know that. But as I said, they wrote out a general call. For free contractors. They apparently don't care who takes the job. Everything will be handled over middlemen, including payments over Costa Azul bank accounts. They wouldn't even know who they hire.", Janine explained and searched for the appropriate sheet in the folder. When she found it, she held it into the camera. Kaufmann leaned over to his notebook to read over it.
"Hmm... Seems pretty legit, even for VIPER.", Kaufmann said with a furrowed brow and read over it again. Indeed, the whole contract would be handled in a way, which would neither reveal his identity to VIPER, nor give someone evidence against them. Kaufmann pondered for a short moment.
"Tell me more about it.", he said and picked up his razor again. Janine took the folder back to her and started skimming through it again.
"Well, it's about that hero and his sidekick. They've been wrecking VIPER's sh*t pretty bad recently. They want them to... disappear permanently and not get involved with it themselves.", Janine explained bored. Kaufmann nodded and somehow managed not to cut himself doing so.
"So far, so standard. What kind of heroes are we talking here?", he asked matter-of-factly.
"Okay... Uhm... Two people: Hero and sidekick. They're called Captain Eagle and Girlscout II.", Janine said and held the folder into the camera once again. Two photos were tucked to that particular sheet with paper clips. One photo showed a tall, broad man in tights. He was completely bald and a camo-green domino mask which reminded one of a beak hid most of his face. His tights also seemed to be designed equal parts militaristic, but with some slight bird motives thrown in here and there. The other photo showed a young woman with long fiery red hair. Her costume seemed to be inspired by a girlscout uniform, again with some more militaristic influences. Kaufmann grimaced dismissively.
"Wow, those two must be the epitome of creative. Powers and power-level?", he asked and assessed the two photos another moment. Janine pulled the folder back and shrugged.
"He's a fairly standard mid-level brick and she's a martial artist and street-level gadgeteer. Nothing...", Janine said, but Kaufmann interrupted her.
"...I couldn't handle.", he said.
"...too impressive.", Janine finished. Both of them pondered for a moment, then Kaufmann sighed again.
"I'll take the job.", he said. Janine let out a small squee and suddenly seemed very excited.
"Alright, Pascal! I'm gonna contact the middlemen! They're gonna give us the necessary intel then. Oh, and you should come into office quickly! The new prototypes are here too. You could test them against those two.", she said excitedly.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes.", Kaufmann said and Janine just nodded and turned off the communication program. Her image faded from the screen of Kaufmann's notebook. Silence. Kaufmann watched his reflection in the mirror and ran his hand over his chin. Perfect as usual. Kaufmann grinned at his reflection.
---
Kaufmann whistled that one tune he hadn't been able to get out of his head lately as he ascended the last stairs onto the rooftop of the abandoned building. "Another One Bites the Dust... Dun-Dun-Dun... Another One Bites the Dust...", he mumbled as he opened the door which lead out onto the roof. He walked out and closed the door behind him. He looked around. It was shortly after noon and the sun had actually managed to fight through the clouds over Millennium City. The building he stood on top of lay way out of the actual city though. It was in one of the destroyed parts of Old Detroit which had never been rebuilt and more or less became small districts of ruins, spread all around the actual Millennium City. Some of those ruins were only a few destroyed walls; others were as big as several street blocks. The building Kaufmann currently stood on was in one of the bigger ones. Kaufmann - still whistling - walked to the center of the rooftop and put his briefcase down next to him. He then stretched and checked his wrist computer for the time. Perfect. He still had about ten minutes. Kaufmann lit a cigarette and stared towards the actual Millennium City. In the distance he could see the towers of Ren Cen, from Kaufmann's point of view only as big as candles and far less imposing. Kaufmann stretched out his hand and pretended to crush the 'candles' in his palm and smiled. Then he turned around and opened his briefcase.
---
Several years of experience and the unique design of the 'Freisch?tz', Kaufmann's sniper rifle, make it possible for him to assemble it from his briefcase in 9 seconds. 8 seconds on his best days. Unfortunately the briefcase didn't contain Kaufmann's sniper rifle. It took Kaufmann over 5 minutes to assemble the weapon from the various parts in his briefcase, but the result was indeed impressive. Kaufmann held a high-tech rocket launcher in his hands. The metallic surface was of a dull grey color and very sleek, while several scopes and range sensors were on top of weapon. Kaufmann watched it up and down. "Not bad Talos, not bad at all.", Kaufmann said appreciative and turned to his opened briefcase again. There they were. 3 small rockets, neatly placed next to each other. Thermobaric rockets. It had taken Kaufmann or rather Wayland Talos a long time to get his hands on these powerful explosives and design weapons, which would actually allow Kaufmann to use them. Today was the beta test so to say. Kaufmann took one of the rockets out of the briefcase and loaded it into the rocket launcher. Ready. Kaufmann checked the time again. Assembling and loading the thermobaric rocket launcher had taken him longer than he expected, but he was still in time.
He watched the skies for a few moments, then squinted his eyes. "There you are. On time even. Seems like the snakes did a good job with information gathering for once.", Kaufmann said and moved behind the broken metal frame of the water tower which once stood on the roof. On the horizon one could see a green dot approaching fast. "So that's the 'Patriot Plane'? They're really taking this too far.", Kaufmann said incredulous and watched the vehicle come closer. It was an upgraded and highly modernized Lockheed P-38 Lightning painted in a really ugly green camo pattern. While the 'Patriot Plane' had been modernized one could tell with just a single glance that the owner of it clearly kept it for iconic purposes, rather than efficiency. Kaufmann glanced at the high-tech rocket launcher he was holding and felt a bit over the top. "Oh, well.", Kaufmann sighed and heaved the weapon on his shoulder. The Patriot Plane flew low and was almost in range. Kaufmann glanced around the corner of the ruined shell of the water tower. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6...", Kaufmann counted in his head and threw around numbers in his head, concerning the speed of the aircraft and the remaining distance, "...5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
Kaufmann stepped out of the cover of the water tower, turned to the aircraft, which was a few hundred meters away and aimed the rocket launcher. The weapon locked onto the target almost immediately. "Thanks, Wayland.", Kaufmann thought and pulled the trigger. The recoil was heavy, but managable. The rocket launcher spew the deadly projectile towards the Patriot Plane.
---
In the Patriot Plane, Captain Eagle and Girlscout II sat next to each other and watched Millennium City approaching. They hadn't seen the city of superheroes for a long time and were glad to be back again. The last few weeks they had spent in the Southwest Desert in Project: Greenskin and helped PRIMUS against the VIPER threat of Project: Stein. Girlscout II sighed.
"It's good to be back again.", she said and leaned back with a happy smile and closed her eyes.
"You've been missin' ol' MC, huh?", Captain Eagle, who was piloting the Patriot Plane said and smiled at his sidekick. Girlscout II nodded.
"Yeah, the desert is fine and the PRIMUS folks were friendly, but I really miss the city life. I miss the kiosks, the fastfood, the clubs, the party...", Girlscout II explained with an exhausted smile. Captain Eagle smiled again.
"Well, don't you worry. In 10 minutes we'll be back home.", he said with a laugh, then pondered for a second. "You know what day is today?", he asked his sidekick, who opened her eyes and looked at him confused.
"Uh... No.", she said and sat up again. Captain Eagle smiled.
"Today is our 5 year anniversary of being hero and sidekick!", he said proudly and Girlscout II squealed with joy.
"REALLY? Ohmygod! Happy anniversary! Has it been really that long already?", she asked excitedly. Captain Eagle nodded.
"Yep, 5 years. And it has been a great time, hasn't it? Ever since... ever since...", he started cheerfully, then his face darkened. Girlscout II knew what this was about. She looked at her mentor sadly.
"Don't you want to tell me finally?", she asked carefully. Captain Eagle squirmed a bit uncomfortably on his seat.
"What do you mean?", he asked back while trying to keep his tone neutral. Girlscout II sighed.
"About what happened. To Girlscout I.", she said with a stern voice. Captain Eagle squirmed even more, then looked at his sidekick for a second. She was his whole pride and joy as she sat there next to him, the fiery-red hair, the pretty face and the defiant expression. Fine. Captain Eagle sighed.
"Okay... I guess I really should tell you now.", he said with a hesitant voice, "Well, Girlscout I was... She was killed. And I could do nothing. We were fighting against a group of DEMON cultists who had summoned some monstrous creature from who-know-where. During the battle, the Morbane of the group cast a binding spell on me. I struggled, but I couldn't move anymore. Girlscout I was fighting against the creature... But she didn't have a chance. The monster killed her. Before my own eyes. And I could do nothing...", he said and gulped several times. Girlscout II looked at him shocked.
"I... I'm so sorry... I... Don't' know what to say.", she whispered and laid a hand on her mentor's forearm. Captain Eagle looked a bit grim for a few more seconds, then turned to his sidekick.
"It's okay. That's the past now. I've learned my lesson. I will never, ever let any... monster hurt one of my sidekicks again. Never. I swore an oath and I intend to keep it that way. I will do everything to protect you. Everything!", he said firmly. Girlscout II smiled at him.
"Thank you.", she said breathless. Captain Eagle just reached over and tousled Girlscout II's hair. They both laughed. They were flying over the outskirts of Millennium City now, much of it ruins of Old Detroit. Suddenly a 'CLANK!' sound could be heard. Then the sound of a huge explosion echoed and an inferno swept over the Patriot Plane and its passengers.
---
Dr. Kaufmann put the rocket launcher down and watched his work with awe. As soon as the rocket had hit the aircraft, the thermobaric explosive had gone off with impressive effects. A giant fireball had engulfed the Patriot Plane and literally ripped it to shreds. Chunks of burning metal fell down into the ruins below. Kaufmann whistled. "Wayland Talos, you ingenious son of a b*tch...", Kaufmann said with a grin, put the rocket launcher next to his briefcase and walked to the edge of the roof. He looked down at the ruined streets and buildings before him. Chunks of burning metal, which once were the Patriot Plane had fallen down everywhere, some of them smashing through the rests of some buildings, some of them spreading fire to nearby walls. Smoke and dust were all over the place. Kaufmann grinned and lit another cigarette. Then he saw something move for a small moment. Kaufmann squinted his eyes. It could have been a shadow created by the fires or a particularly thick cloud of smoke. But Kaufmann would take no risks. "Confirm your kills.", he intoned one of his personal rules of assassination in his head. A blunder like with Claire Thompson wouldn't happen again. Kaufmann turned around and ran for the stairs which led down from the roof.
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Suddenly he felt something around his foot. He looked down. Actually he saw more of the shadow of the barely visible tripwire, than the wire itself. Then he felt a sharp pain to his left as the explosive trap he just stumbled into exploded. The blast sent him crashing through the doorframe, crushing it while doing so. He hit the ground hard and crushed the remains of a wall. He coughed heavily. It hurt like hell, but he wasn't injured. This had been a weaker explosive and his super-toughness had been enough to ward off the worst of it. Even though the world around him was spinning, he managed to get to his knees. What was going on? "What the...", he started, only to feel several impacts in his back, followed by painful stings. He turned around with a yell, then jerked back. A man stood a few meters away from him, half obscured by the smoke. Captain Eagle could see a long dark trenchcout, a pale face thrown in deep shadows by crimson-red sunglasses and the silenced gun he was aiming at him. With the other hand the man held a small rebreather before his mouth to protect him from the smoke. The rebreather made the breaths of the man throaty and creepy. "What the... YOU! What's going on! Where is Girlscout? Who are you?", Captain Eagle yelled angrily and got to his feet. The man breathed once more through the rebreather, then held it away from his mouth and mimicked a gruff, throaty voice: "I'm Nighthawk." Then the man laughed, turned around and ran into the smoke. Captain Eagle yelled again and ran after him.
Despite the fact that Captain Eagle ignored most of the ruins around him and just waltzed through everything, he couldn't catch his unknown attacker. The mysterious man was quick on his feet and Captain Eagle could barely see through the thick smoke. Sometimes he could glimpse the silhouette of the man or the tails of a trenchcoat in the smoke in front of him, but actually Captain Eagle was running blind. He didn't care. That man had killed Girlscout II and he would make him pay for that. Suddenly the smoke cleared and Captain Eagle could see that he was running towards a large ruined structure. After a few more large steps he realized that he was actually running out of a large structure. The ruin walls in front of him were everything that remained of the buildings that had once surrounded a square-shaped backyard, but now it looked like the backyard had been the building. Captain Eagle ran towards it and passed through an opening in the blasted walls. But his anger had made him too reckless. He felt the tripwire around his right ankle, then the explosives went off, this time behind him. The blast sent him flying into the backyard. He hit the ground and groaned in pain. Again these explosives hadn't injured him badly, but it still hurt. He stumbled to his feet and tried to get his senses together. Then he heard somebody laughing behind him.
Captain Eagle spun around. His unknown attacker stood several meters behind and above him, on something which might have been a balcony facing the backyard once. For the first time he could see the man clearly. Indeed he wore a dark trenchcoat with white fur collar over a black vest and a white dress shirt with a crimson tie. Black slacks, leather gloves and dress shoes completed the outfit. The face of the man was very pale and unhealthy looking, the veins on his neck clearly visible. His black hair was neatly combed and slicked back and he wore it in a ponytail he had casually thrown over his shoulder. A stark white streak was running through the otherwise black hair. The eyes of the man were still hidden behind crimson-red sunglasses. The man grinned down on Captain Eagle arrogantly. "How nice of you to BURST in! Having a BLAST, I hope?", the man asked with a cruel grin. Captain Eagle said nothing, but took a menacing step towards the man, who reacted lightning fast and pulled two small metal spheres from his coat, pressed a button on them and lobbed them down towards Captain Eagle.
The superhero jumped back, but the blast of the two grenades still hit him and sent him staggering back and to his knees. He held his arms up to protect his face. Then he felt several painful stings along his forearms. He looked up to see that the man had pulled a silenced gun and was taking potshots at him. Captain Eagle gritted his teeth as another bullet hit him in the arm. It didn't pierce his skin, but it still hurt incredibly. "Those are no normal bullets... And that's not a normal man either!", Captain Eagle thought and threw himself to the side away from the man's shots. He used his momentum, performed a combat roll and came up on his feet. Then he saw his chance lying before him: A huge piece of fallen debris about the size of a small car. The shots had stopped for a moment; Apparently his unknown attacker reloaded his gun. Captain Eagle used the advantage of the moment. He rushed to the debris and picked it up without even breaking a sweat. With an angry yell the superhero turned around and lobbed the chunk of concrete and stone towards the balcony where the man was indeed reloading his gun. The attacker looked up and jerked back. "Motherfu*king son of a...!", he cursed.
---
Kaufmann had just put a new clip into the 'Hexenschuss', his upgraded and modified Heckler & Koch Mark 23, when he looked up and saw his doom flying towards him in the form of about one ton of concrete. He expressed his displeasure in his subtle and distinguished way, then threw himself off the balcony. The drop was only about 3 or 4 meters, so Kaufmann wasn't seriously hurt. In fact he didn't even feel anything, because he had injected himself with a big dose of experimental painkillers before the open battle with Captain Eagle had started. A moment after he hit the ground, the chunk of debris came down on the once-balcony Kaufmann had stood on a moment before. The force of the impact made the balcony and even the whole wall behind him tremble and creak. Small chunks of debris fell down. "God Bless painkillers... Oh... Better get away from here!", Kaufmann thought and jumped to his feet. When he looked up he saw Captain Eagle charging at him like an angry rhinoceros. Kaufmann grimaced. When that guy hit him his super-strength would turn him into a stain on the wall behind him. The wall! Kaufmann dropped his gun and prepared for the angry metahuman charging at him. Captain Eagle brought his right arm up for a devastating uppercut, but Kaufmann side-stepped it effortlessly. He was still faster and more agile than the hulking mountain of a man before him. Captain Eagle raised his left arm for a downward blow against the hitman. Kaufmann ducked, dodged to the right and spun around, effectively slipping under Captain Eagle's blow and managing to get behind the raging superhero who had punched an ugly hole into the concrete instead and promptly had his fist now stuck in the ground.
Captain Eagle yelled angrily and tried to pull his fist free, while Kaufmann reached into his coat and quickly pulled out a sticky explosive. He pushed the activator button, punched the explosive onto Captain Eagle's back finished his attack with a spinning heel kick towards the superhero's neck. Kaufmann's foot connected with Captain Eagle, but didn't do any damage, except maybe to Kaufmann's ankle. But the impact did throw the superhero who had managed to get his fist out of the concrete in that moment off balance and he stumbled a few steps forward, under the balcony Kaufmann had stood on. It took him a moment to realize what had happened, but then he desperately tried to reach the explosive on his back. Too late. I exploded and sent the superhero crashing into the creaking and trembling wall, which promptly gave in and brought not only the whole of it, but also four balconies down on him. Kaufmann shielded his face from the dust and flying debris and only looked up after the noise had stopped. He was very satisfied with his work. Where once had been a ruin wall, with several just as ruined balconies over each other, there was now a huge pile of rubble and debris with Captain Eagle somewhere under it. "Kaufmann Inc., demolishing buildings at bulletspeed.", Kaufmann quipped with chuckle. Then the pile of debris shook. Then again. "Oh, come on!", Kaufmann exclaimed annoyed as Captain Eagle burst from the pile sending pieces of rubble flying everywhere.
Captain Eagle's costume was a mess, it was ripped and torn and he himself also seemed more than just a bit injured, but he still rushed towards Kaufmann like a steam train. Before the hitman could even react he was upon him, throwing punch after punch. All Kaufmann could do was dodge. As strong as he was, as agile was Kaufmann, but he couldn't keep it up forever. Captain Eagle slowly pushed Kaufmann back into the middle of the backyard. Captain Eagle pulled his arm back for a haymaker, but Kaufmann backflipped out of the way of the punch. "Either I've got a concussion and didn't notice it or I just had an idea. Time for a gamble...", Kaufmann thought while landing. He reached into his coat and pulled another explosive out. This one was different. It was also a small metal sphere about the size of an apple, but it had a bright red section in around the center on which stood in white letters 'Thermobaric'. Unlike Kaufmann's other explosives this one also had a pin along with the activator button. Kaufmann gripped the explosive firmly with his left hand. Captain Eagle brought his right arm up for another downward blow towards Kaufmann's face. Kaufmann brought the thermobaric grenade up. Captain Eagle saw the danger and tried to slow down his punch but he had too much momentum. His fist connected with the explosive and pushed the activator button.
The Doctor on the PDB
Fahrenheit on the PDB
"What... Have you done?!?", Captain Eagle yelled. Kaufmann still grinned.
"That is a grenade with a thermobaric payload, just like the one that destroyed your sorry excuse for an aircraft. And it has been activated. If you or I even twitch, it's going to blow us both to Kingdom Come. Do you think you can survive another blast like that, big guy?", Kaufmann asked and flipped the pin which still hung on his thumb into Captain Eagle's face. They both stared at each other for a few seconds, nobody of them moving.
"You're insane!", Captain Eagle spat out. Kaufmann chuckled.
"No, I'm not?", Kaufmann said, "I'm a genius."
---
Captain Eagle stared at the face of the hitman just a few inches away from his own. During the battle some strands of his neatly slicked back hair had broken free and hung into his face and his sunglasses had slipped down on his nose, revealing dark-brown eyes, which sparkled with a glint of insanity. Suddenly he heard six loud noises and felt an unbearable pain in his abdomen. He stumbled back, fell to the ground and looked up with a horrified expression. "The thermobaric grenade! NO!", Captain Eagle thought. The hitman still remained in the same pose, one arm raised, clutching the grenade tightly. Then Captain Eagle saw it: During their staredown, the hitman had stealthily reached into his coat and pulled a huge revolver out. It was a JTL-E .500 S&W Magnum 12", heavily modified and with the word 'Blattschuss' etched into the barrel. The barrel of the gun still smoked. The bastard had unloaded the whole clip into his abdomen. "MADMAN! YOU KILLED US BOTH!", Captain Eagle screamed and glanced at the grenade horrified. The man chuckled and dropped the explosive. Captain Eagle watched in bullet time as it fell.
The explosive hit the ground. Captain Eagle closed his eyes. "Sorry Girlscout... I failed. Again...", he thought. Silence. Nothing happened. Captain Eagle first opened one eye then the other one. He was still there. Around him the ruins of Old Detroit, he lying on the ground with six nasty bullets wounds in his abdomen. In front of him the mysterious hitman who slowly stood up from his kneeling position and started to calmly reload the hand cannon in his hand. Before him the deadly explosive on the ground. Then Captain Eagle realized and the truth hit him harder than any explosion.
"You! You tricked me! It's a prop!", Captain Eagle yelled. The hitman shrugged and continued to reload the hand cannon. "Damn you! I will...", Captain Eagle started and struggled to get up, but the bullet wounds hurt too much. Wait, bullet wounds? What had he shot him with to cause BULLET WOUNDS? The hitman raised the hand cannon.
"Believe me, the 'Blattschuss' and those bullets aren't props.", the hitman said with a dismissive expression on his face, "Coated with a layer of questionite dust. Not even your sorry hide can save you from that." Captain Eagle struggled to get on his feet. "Don't even try it. Your body isn't used to handle great amounts of pain anymore, because you haven't been hurt this bad for a long time. Trust me on that, I'm a doctor. Now... Do you have any last wish? Maybe something I can tell your sidekick when I kill her?", the hitman said with a mocking tone.
"DAMN YOU!", Captain Eagle yelled. That meant Girlscout II was still alive! He'd find her and make up for his mistakes! The hope and just rage gave him new powers. Ignoring the pain of his wounds he jumped to his feet in a heartbeat, raised his arm to strike a blow and charged at the surprised hitman. The hitman managed to shoot his hand cannon once and the bullet grazed his shoulder, but he didn't feel the pain. He thrust his fist forward. It connected with the hitman's chest and sent him flying through the air. He hit the ground hard a few meters behind and laid there in a miserable heap. The hand cannon slid over the ground and stopped way out of the hitman's reach. Not that it mattered. Captain Eagle stood there panting, one arm clutched tightly over the bleeding wounds in his abdomen.
He spat out a glob of blood. He had to get medical help. Someone would surely be on the way already, with all the explosions, right? No, he had to find GirlscoutII! He took two tentative steps then stopped right there, trembling. The hitman had been right. It had been a long time since he had felt such pain and he wasn't used to it anymore. He tried to breathe slowly. "Calm down. Calm down. Girlscout is alive. You are alive. Everything will be alright. Girlscout is...", he thought and took another step away from the battlefield, back towards the spot where the Patriot Plane had crashed. Suddenly he stopped with a horrified expression. Behind him somebody chuckled. It was a dark, cruel chuckle, which suddenly erupted in a full-blown maniacal laughter. Captain Eagle turned around. He saw the hitman slowly stand up, with an insane grin on his face. The air around the hitman flickered subtly and sparks of blue energy slowly disappeared. Captain Eagle trembled with horror. "A force-field.", he said flatly with a disbelieving expression. The hitman just laughed and pressed a hidden button near the buckle of his belt. The force-field disappeared fully. The hitman grinned at Captain Eagle, who yelled in rage and collected all of his remaining resolve and strength for one last attack. He charged at the hitman.
Captain Eagle was unsettled and disturbed. "Who is that guy? What is that guy?", he thought as he rushed towards the man who just watched him with an emotionless expression. Suddenly he rolled the sleeve of his trenchcoat back, revealing a small wrist computer. He pressed a single button on it, then held the arm out towards the charging Captain Eagle, who slowed down marginally. The wrist computer started to project a small hologram in the air over it. At first the image was corny and difficult to see, then suddenly after a few twitches the picture was clear. Captain Eagle stopped dead in his tracks, his face frozen in an expression of terror. The small hologram showed a dark room with three people in it. Two of them were large men, who wore identical black business suits with sunglasses and each of them carried a high-tech assault rifle. The third person was handcuffed to the aluminum chair standing between them. "No!", Captain Eagle whispered. The hitman just nodded. It was a young woman wearing a costume resembling a militaristic girlscout uniform. A large burlap sack was thrown over her face, but her fiery-red hair still fell down on her shoulders. She moaned and struggled weakly.
"Let her go! LET HER GO!!!", Captain Eagle yelled furiously and took a step towards the hitman, who just stared at him devoid of emotion. The smile, the cockiness, the glint of insanity, everything was gone. The man just watched Captain Eagle coldly.
"One more step and she dies.", the hitman whispered. Captain Eagle stopped.
"You wouldn't dare to!", he yelled and trembled with rage.
"I will. You will do exactly what I say. Or. She. Dies.", the hitman said coldly. As if to underline the words of the hitman, the hologram showed one of the men aiming his assault rifle on Girlscout II's head.
"DAMN YOU!", Captain Eagle yelled.
"Step back.", the hitman said. Captain Eagle twitched.
"Damn you...", he whispered defiantly but finally bowed his head and complied.
"Another step.", the hitman said. Captain Eagle glared at him and complied again.
"Damn you..."
"Another step."
"I hate you!"
"Another step."
"You're scum!"
"Another step."
"She's just a girl!"
"Another step."
"...and you brought her into this!"
"Another step."
"...just because you couldn't win otherwise!"
"Another step."
"I hate you!"
"Another step."
"You're lower than dirt!"
"Another step."
"I LOOK DOWN ON SCUM LIKE YOU!"
The tone of the hitman changed. It was his usual cocky, sarcastic voice again. "Well, then: Do look down, will you?", he said with a grin. Captain Eagle glanced to the ground. He was standing right over the prop of the thermobaric grenade. "Oh, sh*t!", Captain Eagle thought and looked up. The hitman had a remote in his hand. "I never said it was a prop.", he said, while pulling his sunglasses down to wink at Captain Eagle. Then he pressed a button on the remote.
---
The explosion was just as impressive as the other one, albeit smaller. Kaufmann actually liked the grenade version better. As the thermobaric fireball slowly faded away, Kaufmann looked over the battlefield. Bits of superhero were here and there. Kaufmann sighed satisfied and collected his guns he had dropped during the battle and put them in his coat. He lit a cigarette and activated the hologram projector again. The image of the dark room with his two bodyguards, Mr. Cloak and Mr. Dagger along with the tied up Girlscout II appeared again.
"Mission accomplished. Captain Eagle is dead.", Dr. Kaufmann said into the mic on his wrist computer. Mr. Cloak and Mr. Dagger relaxed and put the assault rifles down.
"Well that's about time, Pascal!", a female voice said through the line. Suddenly Girlscout II jerked up shed the handcuffs which were just laid around her wrists but not locked and pulled the burlap sack from her face. Dr. Kaufmann's secretary, Janine Golami stared into the camera with a gloomy expression. Her fiery-red hair was a bit tousled from the time under the burlap sack.
"Do you know how hot it got under there? Freakin' hot!", she exclaimed and used the burlap sack as a makeshift fan. Kaufmann laughed into the camera.
"Hot? How did you get hot? Look at your outfit!", he said with a grin.
"Yeah, yeah, very funny, Pascal.", Janine grumbled and adjusted the 'military girlscout' uniform she was wearing.
"You can keep it if you want.", Kaufmann said, still grinning.
"Thanks, but no thanks.", Janine said, "By the way: Sniper team Lambda has the real Girlscout II in their sights. She's been going in the other direction towards MC. Do you want them to take her out, or do you want to do it yourself?"
Kaufmann pondered for a moment, then realized that the effect of the painkillers had started to wear off. In a few minutes he'd be on his last legs. Kaufmann sighed.
"No, they take her out. Just send me an extraction helicopter and a clean-up team.", Kaufmann said and took a drag from his cigarette. A moment of silence as Janine passed down the order.
"Done. She's dead.", Janine finally said. Kaufmann blew the smoke out. Perfect. As usual.
The Doctor on the PDB
Fahrenheit on the PDB