The van stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse. Vic and The Boss stepped out. The Boss looked down at a GPS, which had a red dot slowly blinking inside of a square, representing the structure in front of them. Vic looked suspiciously at The Boss, who gave him a reassuring nod as they both walked towards the door.
Vic opened the door and raised his rifle as he scouted the dark interior. He turned to The Boss and motioned for him to follow. Both men entered the warehouse and glanced around suspiciously, before realizing they wandered right into the center of the warehouse. They smelled the bitter cherry smoke of a cigar, before they saw the faint flame of the cigar... and two red orbs in the shadows. They orbs disappeared for a moment as they were covered by something (presumably a helmet). The man in the shadows got up from his seat, and scanned the room. This figure stood tall in the darkness, silent as ever.
"... Have you been followed?" He asked in his robotic voice.
Vic raised his gun, but The Boss pushed it down. "Just him. Besides him, no. I got what I promised."
The Boss reached into his eye socket once more and pulled out the case. He opened it and pulled out Plan A, which he showed to the figure in the dark.
"Plan A I presume?" The man asked, as he took a step forward, remaining in the shadows, he stuck his massive gloved hand out. Almost certainly giving them a startle with his sheer size, "Let me examine it."
The Boss clenched his fat hand around it. "Not quite yet. How do I know this is really a MAVERICK agent right here?"
"MAVERICK..." The man trailed off in his robotically distorted voice. He retracted his hand for a moment. In a sudden burst of movement, the gigantic man came out of the shadows. However, he moved like a machine, and grabbed the Boss by the neck, and raised him over his head.
His body was covered in a black, thick, armor from head to toe. His eyes shining a bright red color. "I
am MAVERICK."
"The boss yelped as his neck was nearly crushed by hard metal, and raised his free hand to grab the wrist of his attacker.
"Let him go!" Vic shouted, aiming right at the head. His eyes widened as he realized the true nature of the stranger.
"Wait a damn minute... It's you... you're Abel!"
Without another word, Vic yelled loudly as he suddenly opened fire.
The bullets tickled Abel, as they could neither pierce his armor,
or his ki-guard. He just turned his head as he waited for the man to run out of ammo. With one swift movement, he pulled out an oversized revolver and fired one round at Vic. One round was all Abel needed to end this annoyance of his. The bullet went clean through Vic's head, and the man fell to the ground in a bloody display. Abel merely tilted his head, as he turned back towards the Boss. Who was scared pissless at this point. He put his revolver back into his holster, as he said.
"Let me tell you something," Abel pulled the man very close to his helmet. The Boss could vaguely feel the man's strained breathing on him. "This is the deep dark secret of the organization... but I created MAVERICK, and
I lead it from the shadows." He narrowed his eyes. "Not Director Caryl, not that fool in all the pictures, but me."
His voice was deep, robotic, almost demonic in tone. He was definitely dark and hostile.
"And two... my employer wants that chip, and I'm going to give it to her. Your compliance is as optional as your survival.... but, as you can tell..." Abel started off, "Your options are
fairly limited."
The Boss choked for air as Abel pressed the air from his neck. "But... I thought you were... the good guys..."
"Naive as that may sound, in a way, you are fully correct," Abel answered him, releasing his grip just a
little. "MAVERICK fights to preserve humanity, and it's continued existence...."
There was almost a dark chuckle as he extended his arm with the Boss in his grasp. "However, to ensure the safety of humanity as a whole... a few people have to suffer. An acceptable price compared to everyone dying. So, I'm going to cut you this deal...."
He gripped the Boss' neck so hard that he was practically choking him. He brought him to face level, as he made it clear, "... You can survive with the whole, or die with the rest... the choice is yours."
The Boss knew, that he was screwed. If he said no, he died. If he said yes, Horizon would most likely take him out anyway.
"I'm... I'm already dead either way. My employers's coming for me... Give me a moment to... to just weigh my options..."
Just as an example of how serious Abel is, he lifted his free hand up into the air. With one press of a button in his palm, the hand began to crackle with electricity. Not just any electricity, an incredibly intense energy that cast a light throughout the room.
The Boss glanced at his electric-laced hand, and then down to his feet. Weakly, he looked up at Abel, and muttered.
"...I...want...I want..."
He then gulped, and looked Abel straight into his glaring red eye.
"I want you to know that if you take this chip, then
you'll be the one with my employers up your ass, hunting you down. And they have abominations so horrifying it makes you look like a fucking teddy bear..."
If Abel wasn't wearing a helmet, the Boss could see him smiling. "... And I am not frightened for a moment," Abel started off, "I know what they are capable of, and I wish to put a stop to it... Hey, doesn't that mean we have common ground? We both want them out of the way, correct?"
The glove was still crackling with deadly electricity.
"We don't have to be enemies, nobody else has to die," Abel said. "Just give me what I want."
The Boss opened his palm with a despaired groan, and Abel let go of the boss. He bent forward, and picked up the golden chip. He thoroughly examined it, and the scanners in his helmet confirmed it.
"Thank you, for your cooperation... now, let's start over again," Abel said, as he stood overtop of the man. "Let's pretend you gave me the chip without question, and move onto discussing your... continued survival."
"... What did you have in mind?"
"You see... I had no intention of killing you from the beginning..." Abel said, before he glanced at Vic's body. "Him neither... I was only
forced to defend myself."
He crossed his arms as he stared at the Boss. There was no emotion in his body language, or his tone. It was cold, flat... as if he was cold as metal. "As I said before, I only have the best interests for humanity at heart. So does MAVERICK, so does...
MIRAGE."
He paused for a moment as he let the words hang in the air.
"Has that name ever come up in your work?" Abel asked, "Has anyone ever mentioned them?"
The Boss mustered up the courage to stand. "No. Not in your context, anyway."
"MIRAGE... where do I begin?" Abel started off. "There are threats out there... threats out there far more dangerous than people realize. One woman... I'll call her the
Pariah for now, is one of the few who realized that, at this rate, the world is defenseless. So, she gathered an alliance of people who believe in her cause for global safety... at any price."
He trailed off, as he stared the Boss in the face.
"As we have no intention of showing ourselves to the world... we are free to act as we please," Abel said. "As there is nobody to hold us accountable."
His eyes shined extra bright for a moment, before he continued.
"She has one end-all solution to all our fears and worries, but she just needs one ingredient..." He walked off for a moment. "Say... do you believe in fairytales?"
"Buddy, the things I've seen are no 'fairy tales'."
"Then what about legends?" Abel suddenly turned towards the Boss, and walked towards him, "What about the Kallistei?"
"Kallistei? What's that?" The boss took a single instinctive step backwards, and for every step he took backwards, Abel took another step forward.
"Some say it's a treasure, others say it's an ancient superpower, but according to legend, it was the reason why we don't see too much of the magical world anymore," Abel explained, after finally forcing the Boss against a wall. Looking down on the significantly smaller man. "It's guarded by a lock that cannot break... unless you bring the twelve keys to it, and open it. Then you'd have the treasure that God's pined for."
Abel paused for a moment.
"We
need the Kallistei for our plans," Abel said, "And... provided that you prove your worth, you won't ever have to worry about the Horizon Frontier again... Do we have a deal?"
"...Yes..."
"Good..." Abel said, as he held the Plan A, as he called it, in the air. He pressed a button on the side of his helmet. "I have recovered the chip... do you want me to commence the attack on the tournament?"
"No..." A feminine voice spoke. "Just bring me the chip as you can."
She laughed.
"... Leave them to me, we will have that piece tonight."
Member
Ashen Penguin
D3AD ST4R
Atrophy
Antlers
iibread
Lunamaria Hawke
teenangstlife
Scrawl Banditta
Neziul
