by Kirk Twyman
Across the way, both Regina and Eli were looking at me and rolling their eyes.
“There has to be easily fifty assassins in there,” Knockout said. Gary considered this. It was impossible to see his expression from behind his mask.
“We continue with the mission,” Gary said after a moment. “We won’t get another chance like this to cripple the Assassins.”
“That place is wall-to-wall with assassins, Gary,” Knockout said. “We’ll be cut down before we even reach the front door.”
“Did you say wall-to-wall?” I asked. “So, they’re grouped together tightly?”
Knockout regarded me for a second. “What part of wall to wall do you not understand?”
“We can use the fire capsules. They’ll be sitting ducks,” I said.
“One fire capsule will just make them scatter,” Knockout said. “These aren’t rookies.”
“No, but nine fire capsules thrown at all sides will give them nowhere to go,” I replied.
“That just might work,” Gary said. “We’ll do it. Everyone pick an angle. We’ll drop the capsules on my signals.”
“Lucky guess,” Knockout said as she looked to me. “I guess you’re more than a pretty face.”
“I could say the same thing about you,” I said. Knockout walked away. Eli and Regina passed me shaking their heads dubiously at my interaction.
“What?” I said. “What?”
Beneath us, chaos reigned supreme once the fire capsules hit the floor. The flames darted across the floor, giving none of the ninjas any quarters. I made a mental note that ninjas are flammable – very flammable it turned out. I watched a dozen of them flail and scream in unison before falling into a charred pile.
Several white ninjas clasped their hands and concentrated. Immediately, the sprinklers drenched the fire. They really could commune with technology. It didn’t matter, as it gave us the opening we needed.
We descended upon the assassins. At first, it didn’t seem like a fair fight. The red assassins were clearly just cannon fodder. The white assassins weren’t much better. They could interfere with our power gloves, but they fell by our swords regardless.
That’s when Guerilla attacked. The large man dropped a flashbang into the middle of our group. We scattered, but it caught half the team off-guard. Gary’s faceplate was overloading, leaving him down for the count. That left just me, Eli, Regina and Knockout fighting a dozen or so assassins at once. That’s when the battle began to shift. The green assassin launched a barrage of small arms fire at us, giving cover to their super-powered blue allies. It wasn’t enough to stop us, but they were still holding their own. We could wear them down.
Or so I thought.
“Robert, behind you!” I heard Regina cry. I saw a large red shape appear and my heart skipped a beat.
It was the Red Assassin. I knew he was going to be here, and I was still mentally and emotionally unprepared for his arrival. I froze.
Regina leapt in between the Red Assassin and me. She blocked the first blow, her tiny form delivering a blow that cut right into the Red Assassin’s faceplate. I saw blood the same color of his armor slide down his face. The Red Assassin leaned into a counterstrike. Since Regina was tightly pressed against me, she couldn’t get leverage. All she could do was take the blow and stop it from cutting into my frozen dumb ass.
Even as it cleaved her head from her shoulders.
I was ten years old again. Red Assassin had taken everyone I loved. And now, twelve years again, he had taken one more person I loved from me.
“You bastard!” I cried, but before I could have my revenge, Trevor and Victoria launched upon him with the fury of angry cats.
“This is for Mom!” Victoria cried as she cut into Red Assassin from behind.
“This is for Hiro and Chachi!” Trevor said as he impaled the Red Assassin on his short sword using his power glove. Regina’s assassin fell at my feet.
The rest of the team was pretty badly injured. Victoria and Trevor were both nursing cuts on their side. Boo and Kofi had blood tricking down their face. Buffy had a wound along her thigh. Knockout was, of course, perfectly fine, but she was tending to Gary, who was still down from the flashbang.
I heard a cry and turned to see Guerilla stabbing Eli in the shoulder, pressing him against the wall. I remember my terror as I saw the Red Assassin put my father in the same position. I clinched my fist as I charged my power glove up and dashed towards Guerilla. My blow landed squarely in his chest, sending him falling several feet. As he fell, he retracted his sword from my cousin’s shoulder and licked it.
“Type O Negative,” he said with a wicked smile. “My favorite.”
He removed another flash bang from his flak jacket and hurled it at us, ducking away in the commotion. I turned to see Trevor removing the helmet of the Red Assassin. I was always curious what was beneath the armor. Instead, I saw only another mask. Trevor removed the second mask and Victoria looked angry.
“It’s not him,” she said. “It’s not father.”
“It’s just another double,” he said as he dropped the prone body.
I didn’t know which revelation shook me more – that the Red Assassin was Trevor and Victoria’s father, or that Regina had been killed by an impostor – meaning my parents’ killer was still out there.
That’s when the ceiling completely exploded. A dark shape fell to the ground, and I knew exactly who it was. I had seen the armor before.
The Black Assassin.
We still had the numbers advantage, but we were weary, beaten and bloodied from the battle. The Black Assassin was fresh and unhurt, and given what Frank had told me about the armor, he would remain that way as long as he still had that damn armor on. It was time to change that, I thought. I pulled out the Red Assassin’s sword and charged at him.
It was time to end this.
Revenge
I thought our fight with Black Assassin would change everything, but it only made it worse. After all, we still had power gloves and short swords, and between eight of us plus Knockout and Gary, we could surely remove the armor, or find some way of shorting it out.
I was wrong.
Worse, I was angry, still reeling from Regina’s loss, and I was sloppy. The adrenaline which kept me going through the fight was starting to fade. I aimed a right hook, but the Black Assassin simply swept it away with a block.
“There’s no room for mistakes here, boy,” he said. And with that, he raised his sword and I was sure I was dead.
“No!” Knockout said, dropping the still-dazed Gary, she interceded between me and the Black Assassin. I saw Regina do the same thing, and now she was somewhere on the floor, her head several inches from her body. I couldn’t bear for the same thing to happen to Knockout that happened to Regina, so I pushed her aside as I laid a block directly into the Black Assassin’s stomach.
My power gloves were on full blast at the time, and I knew inside that armor shell of his, Izuki’s rib cage must have been shattered. With any luck, he might even have internal injuries. The Black Assassin skidded a yard backwards and came to rest upon his sword as he hunched over.
“Watch it!” Knockout said. “This isn’t amateur hour.”
“Just stay out of my way,” I said fiercely. “I’ve fought him before.”
“So have I, dumbass,” Knockout replied. Then it all fell into place. That’s why she was so familiar. She had been the one to save us from the Black Assassin the first time. If she hadn’t been there, we’d have surely died.
The realization of his armor’s capabilities struck me right around the same time Black Assassin’s spinning kick did. With one split kick, he sent both me and Knockout spiraling to the floor. The others launched at him, their blades spinning as they cut into Black Assassin, but only half of the blades struck. I watched as Black Assassin elbowed Eli into a wall and brought the hilt of his blade down upon Buffy’s forehead, swept Boulder’s feet out from under him. Boo and Boulder charged at the same time,
but Izuki took them all out with a round-house kick. Kofi received a punch to the throat. Trevor and Victoria put up quite a fight, their swords spinning they managed to hold Izuki long enough to deliver a cut to his leg, but as soon as he healed, he used his sword to cut down a beam, trapping them beneath rubbles.
It took Izuki less than five minutes to bring down our entire team.
I heard a whirling sound within his suit, and I knew he was now fully healed. The Black Assassin towered over us, walking over my fallen team as he pointed his sword at every member once.
“Who shall I kill first. Eeenie, meanie, minie,” his eyes – and sword – fell upon me.
That’s when Gary brought an upper-cut right into the Black Assassin’s jaw. He had removed the faceplate, and though he looked a little worse for wear, we all did.
“Just call me Moe, bitch!” he said as he delivered another blow right do his chest. It was ten times stronger than the one I had laid into his abdomen and sent Izuki gasping for air.
As Gary engaged the Black Assassin, the rest of us slowly rose to our feet. We watched as Gary dodged Black Assassin’s blade like a prize fight, taunting his opponent while bouncing on his feet and laying in several more solid punches to the head. We quickly formed a circle around the Black Assassin. This time, there was nowhere to escape.
The tide has turned, I thought.
I was so wrong.
The Black Assassin came at Gary with a slash aiming at his right shoulder. Gary weaved, but the blow was a feign, as the Black Assassin quickly changed directions. By the time Gary realized what his opponent was doing, the assassin’s blade was already lodged into his throat. He fell to the floor, gasping for air as he chocked upon his own blood.
Knockout covered Gary while the rest of us fell upon the Black Assassin. This time, we didn’t bother with the swords – we only used our power gloves, since they disrupted his armor’s healing properties. The Black Assassin could barely keep us off him, and we were swirling around him like hornets, delivering stinging blow after stinging blow. He was already down to one knee, and I knew we almost had him.
“We have to go,” Knockout said. She had bandaged Gary’s neck as best she could.
“In a few minutes, the Assassin will be dead,” I said.
“So will Gary,” she said, her eyes suddenly cold. I knew I had to make a choice.
I chose Gary.
“Smoke capsules now!” my voice rang out.
Every one of us dropped our smoke capsules at the same time. In an instant, smoke had completely covered the interior of the room, covering our escape as we disappeared into the mist. The Black Assassin didn’t pursue us. He was too badly injured. But he would heal.
I wasn’t too sure about us. We had lost things that night that we would never get back.
***
We broke into a closed restaurant to tend to our wounded. I watched as two long tables were slid together and the bleeding Gary was laid onto it. I clasped his hands as Knockout did everything she could, but there wasn’t enough pressure to stop the bleeding.
“Hold on, Gary!” she said. “Hold on!”
“You have to…tell Frank… it’s going down tonight,” Gary said. “They need to know…Izuki’s suit…”
“Don’t talk, Gary,” Knockout said, and I could see tears forming in the edges of her eyes. She wasn’t the only one. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. “Save your…”
That’s when I felt Gary’s hand on limp in mine. He was gone.
“Strength,” Knockout finished her sentence, but Gary was gone.
In an instant, the man who trained us was dead on a fast food joint’s long table. I held his hands for a few moments before standing up and looking at Knockout. I wanted answers. The last time I had seen her, she had saved us from the Black Assassin’s blade, and now she was attached to a mission where the Black Assassin had just happened to show up. That was way too coincidental. I locked eyes with Knockout, and her gaze told me she had no interest in talking. I started to approach her when the whole ground shook beneath us.
Everyone was on edge after the attack. Had someone followed us here? Were more assassins on their way? That was when Eli came running inside from outside.
“The Enlightened Base got hit,” he said. “It just went up in flames.”
We didn’t have much dealings with the supers. That was Frank’s department, not ours. His business was watching the supers, ours was punishing the ones that turned against humanity. Still, we certainly knew where the battle lines were. Blaze was one of Frank’s most dependable allies, alongside Orion. The Enlightened were the good guys, beyond reproach.
If they had been hit, or completely taken out, what did that mean for the delicate balance we were trying to uphold?
It also seemed far too coincidental that the base was attacked the very night the assassins were scheduled to meet. Gary knew something before he- I was still wrapping my head around his death. Like Regina, it hadn’t sunk in for me or anyone on my team. But I knew what I needed to do next.
I needed answers.
I saw Knockout heading for the door. Her face was a cold mask of pain and numbness equal to my own. If I was smarter, I probably would have noted this, realized she was hurting just as much as me, and backed off a bit. But I wasn’t that smart. And I wanted answers.
Now.
“Things are going to hell out there,” she said without facing me. “I need to tell Frank.”
“Like he doesn’t already know,” I said. “I’m more interested in what you know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, turning to face me.
“We only had intel on the Red, White, Green and Blue assassin classes,” I said. “Yet the Black Assassin also turns up, and you just happen to be attached to our team.”
“Your point?” she said.
“You knew he was going to be there. You and Frank knew, and you withheld it from us,” I said.
“Are you questioning me?” Knockout asked, and I saw a fierce look boiling within her eyes.
“I’m questioning this need-to-know bullshit,” I replied. “Secrets. Compartmentalization. We lost good people to that shit!”
I expected this to mean something. But Knockout was in battle mood. She had a job to do. And I was in the way.
“You done?” she said. “Because I need to go.”
“No,” I said, grabbing her hand. “We’re safer together.”
I wasn’t entirely sure if that was true. Being together hadn’t exactly done us any favors. At that point, I was lost in a cloud of anger and confusion. I wanted my way on this. It was my mistake, but I was going to own it for all its worth.
“Let go,” she said. “I’m leaving.”
“No,” I said. I felt all eyes on me, on us.
She looked at me like I was a child having a temper tantrum.
“Remove you hand,” she said in a quiet yet stern voice. “I have to go.”
It was then that I started to think that, you know, maybe trying to command the woman who went beat the Black Assassin to a draw wasn’t the best idea. I started to try a different tact, but by then, it was too late.
Knockout spun around and used my own momentum against me. In an instant, I felt my whole side bending over her hips as she flipped me over. I hit the floor with a painful thud, but I let my anger bring me to my feet with a jab to her stomach. She dodged and laid a chop to my shoulder.
“You’ve got some nerve pinning this on me,” she said. “If it wasn’t for you, Gary wouldn’t be laying there with his throat slit open. He’d still be alive!”
I blocked one punch to the face, but she kept going. I was her punching bag, and I deserved any minute of it for the way I behaved.
“I don’t know why Frank chose you, you weak piece of shit!” she yelled.
I tried to come back with a right hook, but I left myself completely open. I heard the whirl of a power glove, and I realized my mistake too late. Her punch sent me flying to
the ceiling and falling back the ground.
“Fuck you,” Knockout said. “Fuck all of you.”
And with that, she stormed out of the restaurant as everyone watched. Eli helped me to my feet.
“That went well,” he said. “She’s still hot though.”
I glowered at his remark. That’s when Kofi started heading for the door.
“Hey, where are you going?” I asked, more confused than outraged.
“I can’t stay… after Regina…I can’t do this anymore,” he said.
I bit my lip and looked down at the floor. Losing Gary just minutes after losing Regina – it hurt so much it was difficult to think about either.
Regina and I went to junior prom together, but we were never anything more than friends. Kofi, on the other hand, was the real deal. He’d always had a crush on her but was too shy to ask her out when they were both in school. That changed after we graduated. When Regina called me with fresh intel, I’d heard about their dates. I knew they were getting serious. I suspected Kofi was gearing up to propose soon.
All of which made her gruesome death all the more heart-wrenching.
“Kofi, I know it hurts but…don’t do this,” I said. “We need you.”
The thin Ghanaian shook his head. “I’m no good to you. After watching Regina…what happened to her…I don’t feel rage. I just feel…empty. At best, I’m a liability. And at worse, I’m compromised. Neither one bodes well for all of you.”
“None of those things change the fact that you’re my brother,” I said, clasping my hands on his shoulder.
I wasn’t close with Kofi, not as close as I was to Regina and Eli, who I bonded with after the grueling events at Zero Temp’s facility. That didn’t change the fact that I still regarded everyone there in that room as family. We had come of age together. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for any of them.
“I love you all,” Kofi said with tear-streaked eyes. “But I can’t do this anymore. And if something went wrong again …I can’t have it on my conscience.”
With that, he wrapped me in his long arms with a quick hug, and then he left, exiting through the same door that Knockout had left in. Our numbers were depleting fast. That’s when I had an idea. But I needed help.