[Right][color=lightgray]"Have the treatments been working, Mr. Masters."[/color][/right] [i][color=f26522]February 2013, Moscow Symphony Orchestra... the opening of Tchaikovsky's sixth symphony. A violent and explosive beginning... sixth floor, red door.[/color][/i] Tony Masters seamlessly floated down the narrow hallway and through the now open doorway in his memory palace as the music grew louder and louder. As he entered in, he felt a loss of control over his perception. He was back in his body once again, younger certainly. He was wearing a suit, the faint sound of the music floating in through the vent vent in the bathroom. Masters looked at his own reflection in the mirror as he screwed the silencer onto his pistol. A familiar voice came in over his earpiece. [color=FE36F3]"Turgenov has taken the bait, and is in motion to answer the call. You've got to move now. I would recommend putting that memory of yours to use... give him a classic Romanoff takedown."[/color] Masters watched himself smile in his reflection as he paused, waiting for the footsteps outside the bathroom to grow louder. Masters waited until he could hear the frantic man softly speaking Russian stomp past the door before quickly stepping into the hallway. What he wasn't expecting was the blonde woman in a cocktail dress that was trailing his target. The woman had her hand in her purse as her eyes met Masters' for only a moment. In a match of pure instinct, the two agents aimed their sidearms at each other. Before the barrels of their respective guns could hover over the chest of their targets, the two lifted their off hand and swiftly disarmed each other. With their guns swapped, the two matched stance and speed as they aimed their weapons. [color=gray]"Ah, American. CIA or SHIELD?"[/color] [color=f26522]"FSB or Red Room?"[/color] The memory froze in place as Taskmaster felt questions swarm his mind. [i][color=f26522]What was I even looking for? Red Room? That's Widow's past... or was it SHIELD? Who was SHIELD?[/color][/i] [RIGHT][color=lightgray]"Well, Mr. Masters? You seem lost in thought."[/color] [color=f26522]"It works... but the problem is knowing what I'm looking for. The music helps find a memory, but once I'm there, I don't know where I'm supposed to go next."[/color] [color=lightgray]"Then let's focus on something fresh. Your assistant said you were out of town this weekend. We could try starting there? Start up your playlist from the last song you listened to?"[/color][/right] The music stopped, and a new song kicked in after a moment. Tony turned his head as he was back in the palace, and saw that the end of the hallway didn't appear to be the same sort of door that the rest of the rooms in the mansion were. It seemed to be a bay door opening downward, and Taskmaster began running towards it. The opening on the other side was silvery white, and Taskmaster realized it was the moon as he jumped out the back of the AC-130, closing his eyes as he made himself as narrow as possible as he dove head first towards the ground. He heard a feminine voice in his ear barking out his distance from the ground every few seconds. Tony realized as he fell into the darkness of the clouds below that he didn't even know why he was here anymore. Or who he was... who was he? As he felt the air rush past him, he remembered an airport... maybe? Planes flying back and forth. Theatrics. Prop planes and jets. Golden and black parachutes. Was that him? No, couldn't be. He was on the ground. But he saw the moves through binoculars. The muscle memory... of course. He was the Taskmaster. [Center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/520041678032207887/884993855974424588/Taskmaster_Vol_2.png[/img][/center][COLOR=f26522][indent][sub][B]Location:[/B] [COLOR=0091ff][I]Berlin[/I] - [I]Germany[/I][/COLOR][/sub][sup][right][b]Reflections #1.01:[/b] [COLOR=0091ff][I]99 Luftballons[/I][/COLOR][/right][/sup][/indent][/color][sub][hr][/sub][indent][color=f26522][sub][B]Interaction(s):[/B] [COLOR=0091ff][I]None[/I][/COLOR][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][color=f26522][b]Previously:[/b][/color] [color=0091ff][I]None[/I][/color][/right][/SUP][/color][/indent] Right this moment, Tony Masters had a goal: land. His HUD highlighted a rooftop location, and Taskmaster readjusted himself accordingly to dive towards it. The voice in his ear kept repeating his height, but she dared not to scream for him to open his chute. She knew that he wasn't really listening. He was running on autopilot. At the last conceivable moment he pulled his parachute and immediately pulled his chute out into a tight aerial spin to lower his momentum, responding with two more in succession. The rooftop rapidly approached, and Taskmaster leveled out at the last second to pull just out above the designated spot. As soon as his boots touched the ground, Taskmaster pulled his black parachute in tight and removed the harness to stow the material out of eyesight from the street below. Within a moment, Taskmaster lifted a finger towards his ear. [color=f26522]"Operative has touched down. Awaiting instructions."[/color] [color=FE36F3]"1 minute until shift change. Target is a terminal with encrypted data, exact location unknown."[/color] Taskmaster walked to the edge of the Berlin rooftop to eye the warehouse across the street. He readjusted his Armored gloves, his eyes scanning over the scene from behind a skeletal face mask. Thirteen guards manning the side lot, covering the only entrance or exit into the warehouse... no, safe house. Taskmaster tapped the side of his helmet, magnifying his vision to focus on the neck of one of the street Thugs. His HUD highlighted over the fringes of the tattoo peaking over the collar of the Thug's jacket, and then provided a secondary image showing the symbol the tattoo was based on: a dark circle with a multi-headed Serpent in the center. Taskmaster nodded in recognition as the term "Hydra" appeared over the image. Flashes of instant recognition fired in Taskmaster's synapses as his muscles worked on their own. He removed a compressed bow from his belt and pumped his arm to expand it to its full size. He produced an arrow from a small holster on his right calf and tapped the knock against a small grapple on his belt. After attaching one end to the wall next to the roof access door behind him, Taskmaster fired the line arrow down towards the opposite rooftop. [color=f26522]"Line set. Why am I stealing from my former employers?"[/color] [color=FE36F3]"I don't know, TM. You created this contract."[/color] Taskmaster didn't have time to ponder the revelation as a small clicking sound in his ear signified the minute had passed. He collapsed the bow with one hand as another produced a small metal handle that attached to the zip line. Within a moment the Mercenary was sailing through the air as his free hand grasped onto three bat-shaped shuriken between his knuckles. With a flick of the wrist, the projectiles aimed true to impact against the flood lights in the parking lot to plunge the area into darkness as the moon's light was obscured by heavy cloud cover. The thugs lifted their guns at the sudden change in light, and the Taskmaster drank in their fear from the shadows of the rooftop. He pressed a small button on the side if his mask to switch to night vision. He tapped his left wrist guard to reveal a small wrist mounted bow, knocking two small arrows and letting them loose to strike two separate Thugs in the northwest corner. They wouldn't be able to reveal much as they were busy choking on steel and their own blood, but they did helplessly fire their automatic weapons into the air. The Thugs turned their attention away from Taskmaster's location in response, giving the Mercenary an opportunity to jump down into the shadows of the parking lot. Taskmaster produced a knife from his belt and moved swiftly, his footsteps silent and mirroring the movements of his scared prey... a little trick from the League of Shadows. One quick slice along the jugular and two stabs in the chest to puncture the left and right lung. The first thug didn't have any breath or energy to scream for help by the time Taskmaster had moved on to his best friend only a few paces away. The rest of the guards didn't notice something was wrong until seven in total were down for the count. With half their number gone, the remaining guards in the center of the parking lot recoiled at the sight of their adversary and raised their weapons. Taskmaster pulled his shield over his shoulder into his arm to intercept the hail of gunfire, rushing forward. He charged into one of the guards to catapult him backwards into a secondary guard while pulling out his sword into his main hand. Bullets were caught by the shield as the Taskmaster cut through the guards still standing, tearing through blood and flesh like paper. Once they were dispatched, Taskmaster twisted in the air to launch his shield back towards the guards he had charged into, who were getting back to their feet. The disk bounced off one of their skulls into the head of the other, and the sickening crunch confirmed their deaths as the Taskmaster caught his returning shield. He slung it over his shoulder as he reached a finger up to his ear. [color=f26522]"Perimeter secure. That's got to be a record."[/color] [color=FE36F3]"Not even close, Operative. Stay on target."[/color] Taskmaster nodded as he slung the shield back into place on his back and flicked the blood off his sword before sheathing it. He knelt down next to one of the dead guards, his visor scanning his face as he pulled his hood back. Lights on the mask began to shift and create a holographic image of the deceased guard. Taskmaster rolled a finger over his left gauntlet as footage of his observation of the parking lot rewound. With a few quick taps, he isolated the voice of the guard speaking to his comrades. After a couple of taps, Taskmaster plucked the guard's rifle from his dead hands and stalked towards the entrance. He slammed the butt of the rifle into the metal door, and an slit opened as the inside guard peeked out. [color=f26522]"Hail Hydra."[/color] Taskmaster's voice modulated inside the helmet and shifted into a recreation of the guard's voice in German. [color=gray]"Hail Hydra. What was with the shooting?"[/color] [color=f26522]"Franz got scared shitless by a bat. I need to piss, mind letting me in?"[/color] [color=gray]"Do it quick, before the officers get back."[/color] Taskmaster nodded, and the door opened. He slipped inside and quickly bashed the hard end of the rifle into the guard's temple as the disguise faded and Taskmaster stood in front of five guards lounging about at the security checkpoint. Everyone stood still for a moment as Taskmaster's eyes darted around around room. Five vs one was hardly fair for the five when the one had the training of the Punisher... and had his hands on a loaded gun. As the Hydra guards reached for their weapons, Taskmaster swung the rifle in an arc while pressing down on the trigger. Blood sprayed against the back wall as the guards all fell limp. Taskmaster tossed the weapon aside as he tapped a small button on his gauntlet. [color=f26522]"What is my objective here..."[/color] Almost as if in response, text scrolled along the side of his HUD. Taskmaster nodded, unholstering the sidearm from his side as he pushed deeper into the facility. [color=f26522]"Whatever you say... me."[/color]