Warning:
This chapter contains graphic violence, intense action, and strong language. Reader discretion is advised.
The inky expanse of the sky above the city was shrouded in dense, ominous clouds. An unheard symphony of foreboding played in the background, and an indescribable stillness hung over New York City. A crescent moon cast its pale, silvery glow below, but some sections of the city remained untouched by light. Those were the dark corners of the city infested by vermin, negativity, and sin.
Joe stood at the top of one of the buildings in the city, gazing below like a god watching over mortals. His armored figure blended well with the darkness, making him hard to detect. However, the subtle glow of the helmet's red eyes made the scene more eerily terrifying.
"What's wrong, Joe? Your heart rate and blood pressure have been spiking steadily for quite some time," Minerva said in concern as the HUD flickered with Joe's vitals.
"That's contradictory, Minerva. I've never been calmer than I am right now," Joe said, his voice as bland as it could get.
"You may fool many with your excellent control over your expressions, but you'll never fool those capable of seeing inside you, Joe."
"That's hella creepy, Minerva. But you're right. It will be impossible to fool people with telepathy, super hearing, tactile hypnosis, or even supervision." Joe then paused and exhaled soundly.
"You know what? I'm nervous. I've never done this before, never sheltered the thought of getting physical with literal superhumans. It would be my first rodeo, and it somehow scares me."
"I understand, but don't you have me? You're no longer alone. I'll support you, don't fret. However, if you aren't up for it, there's always room for backpedaling," Minerva advised, her voice sounding empathetic. Of course, she got to know of Joe's loss from small clues. With how quickly she was growing, she could draw millions of probabilities and arrive at the right conclusion in a matter of seconds.
"I made my resolve long before I created you. Taking a step back is an impossibility at this point," Joe muttered as his eyes lingered in a certain direction of the city. It was the outskirts. Minerva could access satellite imaging and assess radio waves which made it easy to pinpoint rhino's whereabouts. You'd think that Aleksei would be careful and discreet, but with his pea-sized brain, he did shoddy work to mask his trail.
"I respect your wishes if that's what you've chosen, Joe. But I advise you to be extra careful since Aleksei isn't alone. His friends would be troublesome since they are many."
"Oh? I'm aware. Do you think I'll be stupid enough to confront them head-on at first?"
"Stealth is your safest bet. Since we currently don't know the defensive—"
"It's fine against normal bullets, but I'm not confident against the real destructive stuff," Joe interjected, already aware of what Minerva was implying.
"Then, the more reason to be quick, efficient, and more brutal in our approach," Minerva added, her concerned tone shifting to battle mode like a warrioress.
"Man, you're cold. I like that. Now, let's get the party started." Joe smirked as he began heading towards the city's outskirts, effortlessly jumping from building to building.
"May God be with us."
"Minerva, are you secretly writing my eulogy? Don't be like that."
"There's a fifty percent chance of dying."
There was a momentary silence and it was only after a minute that Joe said something.
"There's no time to die. It's a promise to myself and someone who wished for me to live a good life."
"..."
"You're unusually strong-headed, Joe. That's the small analysis I've made from the little time I've spent with you," Minerva responded after a moment. "I'm curious about all of you."
"You're growing, I see. I ain't going nowhere so you will always have that chance," Joe chuckled lightly, amused by Minerva's unfiltered curiosity.
'So straightforward.'
...
It only took 30 minutes for Joe to arrive at the old shipping docks, courtesy of the suit and his consistent workout. Also, Minerva's directives and guidance along the way played an important part.
"I have already scanned the local area. Five armed guards are patrolling around the warehouse. There's no alarm system in place." Minerva communicated her findings.
"Oh?" While standing under the shadow of a random tree, Joe's thermal imaging picked up several life signatures around the warehouse. Most of the red dots were concentrated inside the warehouse.
'It seems these bastards are having their usual villainous deals. It's interesting.'
While it was advantageous knowing about the 20 criminals congregated in one place, it didn't bring Joe any form of consolation. He didn't know what kind of freaks that would be present in the group. There was a certain possibility of an enhanced individual, other than Aleksei, being inside.
"Other than Rhino, are there any interesting individuals, like those exhibiting inhuman abilities?" Joe cautiously asked.
"None. But we can't rule out that possibility."
"Okay then. Lemme start with these guards then." The Predator Killer armor went into stealth mode. One of the best ways the Yautja terrorized their prey was through their stealth technology. Nothing was more horrifying than an unseen enemy capable of gutting your gang into a bloody shit show.
Silently, Joe approached a lone guard that was carefreely taking a piss at a massive container.
'Just perfect and convenient.' With calculated precision, Joe clamped a strong hand around the guard, taking him by complete surprise. Before the guard could react, Joe brutally broke his neck, instantly taking his life. A perfect assassination.
Joe carefully carried the corpse to a shadowy corner, his eyes briefly scanning the AK47 beside it before he moved on to his next target.
Under the ghastly shadows of the night, Joe was like the grim reaper, casually harvesting the lives of the remaining four guards. After sweeping clean the surveillance team stationed outside, Joe had become used to the act of swift killing. His opponents didn't have the time to react before they met their demise.
"You... Are you okay?" Minerva asked with deep concern in her voice. "Your stress levels—"
"I am...not okay, Minerva. It's my first time taking a life." Joe furrowed his brows. Have I always been like this? So unfeeling and cold when committing murder? Is it the NZT, or is this who I am at my core?
"Everything that lives is designed to end. What you did was noble. Don't doubt yourself. They deserved it, Joe."
"Minerva, some things you'll find hard to understand if you weren't human. But, you're right. We are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death. I don't need to lie to myself with justifications if I kill people that deserve being felled." Joe tightly clenched his hand, a resolute glint shining off his eyes.
"Won't you have regrets?"
"I'll only regret it if Rhino doesn't die while I'm still alive."
"How righteous."
"Brutal of you to ruin my cool lines, Minerva. Now then, it's time to put the weapons to good use."
With one thought, Joe activated the laser gun and slowly carved out a rough version of his own door. Next, he threw several smoke grenades he confiscated from one of the surveillance guys.
At that moment, multiple eyes inside the large warehouse menacingly gazed towards his direction, guns abruptly raised as panic ensued.
"Who the fuck snitched to the feds? Wasn't this meet-up supposed to be totally a secret?" Someone in the group barked as they corked their gun.
"And what the fuck are you waiting for? Shoot at the door!"
BANG! TU TU TU!
Several rounds of bullets were blindly fired uncontrollably at the door, leaving a lot of holes.
'How predictable.' Joe, who was in stealth mode, masked even more by the screen, activated his claws and drove it into the heart of a clueless hooligan. Thud! Blood splattered like hot springs everywhere as the corpse dropped to the ground.
Lasers cleaved through the men, leaving several 'divided ones' scattered on the floor. A lingering blood mist formed as screams, cries of distress, and terror reverberated like a death song. And with each drop of blood landing on his stealth figure, Joe's armor became more visible and spine-chilling. He was like a bloody Asura crawling from the depths of avici and wreaking havoc on the battlefield. With Minerva constantly watching his back, Joe was an unstoppable force of nature. Before long, the only people left standing were Joe and the man he was after - Rhino.
Rhino was a giant of a man, easily towering Joe at six-five. His buff frame made him look more intimidating and taller. His current rhino suit was different. An upgrade? Joe analyzed the suit that now seemed permanently bonded to Rhino's body. It was sleeker and cool, Joe had to admit that.
"Who are you, cowardly, little man?" Rhino bellowed in fury as he flexed his biceps, ready for a confrontation.
"You dare mess with me, Rhino?!"
"Who sent you? Was it that fucking Kingpin?"
"How am I supposed to answer all those damn questions, bud?" Joe replied uninterestedly.
"Then answer me from hell!" Rhino roared, before charging at Joe.
"Joe, target his joints and his face. Make the battle as quick as possible. The commotion we've made has already alerted the police," Minerva warned.
"Don't want Spidey swinging by or things might get complicated." Joe had already anticipated the chaos he might bring. So Minerva's warning just came at the right moment.
"Die bastard!" Rhino swung a mighty fist at Joe's head. Joe could even hear the wind howl in resistance against Rhino's punching force. There was no way he would wait to test the punch. Rhino was fast, but Joe was faster. Joe perfectly dodged, leaving Rhino pushed forward by his own momentum.
'His footing has been messed up. Time to capitalize on that.' The mounted shoulder plasma canon targetted Rhino's knee joint and blasted a hot stream of plasma energy. Well, it didn't end well for Rhino as his thick, meaty leg flew a few distances away from him.
There was an oppressive silence as Rhino paused and gazed at his right leg with shock. From his knee, going downwards, there was nothing. There was only a broken remnant of the tibia, severed joints, and, red viscous blood sprinkling.
"Aargh! Aargh! My leg! My leg!" It was at that moment that Rhino fully processed the pain, the agony, and the terror of being one-legged.
"What the fuck did you do?!"
"Fuck what did I do to you, man?!"
Rhino dropped on the ground, girthy veins prominent on his reddened face, as he hovered his large hands over his severed leg. Saliva dripped from his mouth as strings of profanities escaped.
"What did you do? You are asking me to list all your crimes?" A low, eerie chuckle emanated from Joe, the helmet making his voice even more crooked and nightmarish in Rhino's ears.
"Nah, I'm here because..." The plasma cannon pointed at Rhino's shoulder joint and his eyes widened in fear when he saw it.
"W-Wait~!" Rhino raised his huge hands in surrender, but it was too late as one of his arms was pulverized into gory meat chunks.
"Aargh! FUCKING BASTARD!!!" Rhino cried, hot tears rolling down his cheeks. A grown fucking man cried like a baby! The torture, the pain, Aleksei couldn't resist it. It was too much even for a hardened criminal like him. All the experiments he had gone through to increase his pain resistance were nothing in the face of a demon like Joe.
"P-please! Spare me! I will never do bad things! Please, I have a family!" Rhino weakly sobbed, showing a pitiful expression at the masked Joe.
Joe recoiled in revulsion after hearing Rhino's pleas for mercy.
"It's in your nature. Redemption isn't for men like you. You'll never change. Now rest!" Joe's voice was nearly sub-zero as a red laser target appeared on Rhino's forehead.
A thin line of concentrated laser energy drilled through Rhino's forehead, instantly melting his brain into primordial goo.
"Joe..." Minerva's voice was blurred in his ears as his blank eyes looked down at the grotesque corpses littered on the floor. Blood, piss, and minced entrails flowed into puddles. Severed heads looked at him in terror as if they had seen the devil himself.
"What have I done?" Joe muttered under his breath as the distant wail of sirens was transmitted through the summer night air.
"Joe, get a move on. Now's not the time for existential questioning and self-pity," Minerva's voice broke through his thoughts, clear and urgent.
Joe soullessly nodded, his movements mechanical as he started quickly leaving the mass murder scene. He knew Minerva was right; there would be time to grapple with his conscience later. For now, survival was paramount.
At the end of it all, will it be possible to live with blood in his hands?
…
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[Word Count 2165]