Chapter 70: Aden Strong: Pest Control
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(General P.O.V)
"Still don't get what's so important about this guy. I bet we could take him. Hell, I bet you could take him out if you wanted to, Hook. Despite your superpower being… you're a good cosplayer?"
Black spider whispered to his partner. The two were perched on the roof of the building across the one housing Club Lux.
Black Spider was a man dressed in a fully black suit that was heavily inspired from a certain web slinging hero, popular from the studio next door (Spiderman). Even his powers were similar but the difference between the two was that Black Spider was a Merc and a Supervillain.
His companion was someone who had had an encounter with Aden before. Both of them had actually. Hook was a Merc with a hook for a hand…that's it. Granted, he was deadly, able to go up against the team and possessed some useful functions in his prosthetic hook arm. Useful functions that culminated into one ability. The huh…hook was attached to a chain and could be shot at enemies. Yeah. Super cool ability that one.
Hook grunted, letting the insult wash over him and kept silent. His gaze was fully trained on the window of the Penthouse. Their job was to observe and report any developments while their last companion scouted the premise for entry points. Hook was regretting getting left behind with Black Spider. The guy didn't shut up.
"…And that's why I think missions like these should be carried out by the grunts, y'know? We're mid tier at worst but the Demon's Head is using us as low tier assassins. It's frankly insulting."
A Sai appeared on Black Spider's neck without warning. Cheshire's familiar mask materialized out of the shadows behind the Spider Merc
"Be very careful of what comes out of your mouth next."
She said, menacingly. Hook tensed minutely while Black Spider shivered in fear.
"Whoa whoa whoa Jade. Calm the fuck down…I…I was just messing around."
The Sai in Jade's hands stabbed a little into Black spider's neck. The taller man's heart hammered in his ears. This wasn't the first time he'd been so close to death before but the bloodlust pouring off Cheshire in waves told him that one wrong move and he was off to meet his maker.
"Sorry. I apologize for my disrespect of the Demon's Head, Cheshire. Please spare my life."
The words burned coming out of his mouth but luckily it was the right move as Cheshire simply shoved him away.
"Count yourself lucky that this mission is so sensitive and we cannot afford to leave a trace of our presence." Cheshire pushed past him to crouch next to Hook. "Otherwise, your cold corpse would be left rotting on this roof."
She told him and ignored him.
"Any changes?"
She asked Hook, while pressing a finger on the side of her mask. Her vision was magnified underneath it greatly allowing her to see their priority target's form, staring out through the window. The man was otherworldly beautiful. And for the umpteenth time, Cheshire found herself tongue tied by his good looks. It was… unnatural.
"Negative."
Hook grunted.
Cheshire nodded and resolved to wait a few more hours before they moved in. As if sensing her gaze, the man she was observing made contact with her eyes and smiled. Cheshire hid her shock with practiced ease but the tension in her shoulders did not go unnoticed by the other two.
"What happened boss?"
Black Spider asked from his crouched position. Hook readied his hook while expecting trouble.
Cheshire ignored both of them and switched to thermal imaging on her mask. Instantly, she could detect 2 more heat signatures inside the Penthouse, just out of view of the window. Her brows furrowed underneath the white mask and she tightened her hold on the Sais.
"We've been made."
She softly but clearly informed the two.
"What? How?"
Black Spider questioned in disbelief, his voice had changed from the lazy tone of before to a veteran professional's. The distance between the Club and where they were positioned while not particularly large was nothing to scoff at. Especially due to the higher vantage point that made observing the Penthouse easy but vice versa hard. Plus, say what you will about their personal quirks but they were all trained professional assassins. If they did not want to be seen, they wouldn't be seen.
"We fall back. For the time being at least. A round sweep of the place and then we double back after confusing the enemies with false trails. Hook you take the south…"
Cheshire's words were cut off suddenly when the door on the roof of the building they were observing, opened. She held up her hand to silence her colleagues and magnified her vision.
Instantly, a sinking feeling made itself known inside her.
"Oh crap."
She muttered. The mission had just gone from a simple observe to a full on battle. And it was with this guy. The jacked aerokinetic in Artemis' team. It really was time to fall back. They couldn't take him down and still remain hidden, compromising the first of objective of the entire mission. What the fuck was he even doing here? Was the Kiddie team around too?
"We've got company. Batman's little black ops team. Though I've only got sights on Maelstrom. Keep a look out for the rest."
She informed Hook and Black Spider.
"Those little shits are here? What are they doing in L.A?"
Black Spider inquired. He was still mad from the way they had failed the Roquette mission. The team had made them look bad. And disappointing the Light was not something smart. Especially if you had a repeat performance. In this game, rep was everything.
Cheshire stared at Maelstrom for a few seconds as he watched his surroundings and then without warning, his visor turned to stare towards them. A yellow flame, exploded out of his feet as he shot off towards them in crazy speeds. The ground behind him was left cracked due to the heat and force generated from the move. Since when could he do that?! His abilities were supposed to be aerokinesis!
"We're outta here!"
Three smoke bombs appeared in-between Cheshire's fingers. She slammed them onto the roof and flipped over a static vent, headed towards the edge of the building. They had a good escape strategy; her using Black Spider's web to hitch a ride with him while Hook would swing on his weapon. And then they would rendezvous and come up with a follow up plan. After giving an update to Ra's Al Ghul of course. Cheshire knew he wouldn't be pleased but for now, she elected to leave rather than get into a fight with the Junior Justice League team. An extended conflict would just lead to their target, getting more information on who was after him.
Before the three of them could reach the edge of the building and jump over. Something landed right before them. She felt a brief surge of heat following the impact and ducked behind an air conditioning unit. Hook on the other hand shouted and sped forward to attack.
The large Caucasian man's right hand pulled back and thrust off towards Maelstrom. The hook left the former's hand while attached to a chain, aimed at the latter. Maelstrom settled into a low position while staring at the incoming attack. His senses were hyper aware of his surroundings. Focused on the real threats. The ones that would attack from the shadows.
He leaned his body to the side allowing the hook to miss and overextend. Maelstrom then reached out with his right hand and grabbed the chain. Using his superior strength, the young superpowered teen torqued in place, pulling an unsuspecting Hook towards him. A fist landed on the jaw of the older man, breaking it and slamming his body on the gravel covered roof of the building. Hook passed out within seconds.
Maelstrom looked up and muttered,
"Who's next?"
A hail of Kunai and shuriken shot out of the darkened roof towards him. He ducked and weaved through the metallic storm while running forwards, towards where they were coming from. He jumped and while in mid air, spinned and kicked out. A blast of fire jutted out of his foot. The flame blast destroyed the air conditioning units. Sending pieces of metal, burning plastic and flashing circuitry flying away.
Cheshire rolled out of the way and strafed along Maelstrom's left side, with her Sais in hand, looking for an opening. An opening she was soon enough given when red webbing grabbed on to the chassis of the destroyed air conditioning unit and threw it towards their opponent, courtesy of Black Spider.
The lady assassin immediately ran forward using the cover of the metallic projectile to hide her actions. Cheshire had already figured out that Maelstrom was alone. So her hope that maybe they wouldn't lose was ignited again. And then it was brutally shattered. Maelstrom took a step forward and slashed the Chassis apart using a swirling flame covering his palm and wrist.
His palm snaked out quicker than Cheshire could react to and grabbed her neck. Jade, slammed her feet onto his chest, aiming to use the force and manuever out of the hold only to fail. 'Fuck.' Her feet felt as if they had slammed onto a concrete wall and lost. Her vision started blurring around the edges as the hand on her neck tightened. Shock and fear warred inside her. How was he this strong? Not to mention, he was way brutal than their last encounter.
The look on his face, from the little she could see, was calm if a bit sour. He didn't like what he was doing but he would do it regardless. Cheshire refused to be taken in. Her eyes flashed with a cold light inside the mask as she twirled the Sais in her hands, before trying to stab them on his neck.
"Stop."
Cheshire closed her eyes and ears in pain as that one word disoriented her. Her brain started feeling sluggish and she couldn't focus on what was happening. Maelstrom had used a sonic blast at close range to stop her actions. The latter then spun out of the way of a double kick and threw Cheshire's body to collide with Black Spider who had swung towards him from the water tank above head.
The two assassins rag-dolled on the ground full of pebbles before stopping right next to their other member, Hook who was still passed out. Black Spider tried to get up but Maelstrom slowly walked forward and slammed a fist on the back of his head. The spider themed mercenary passed out, slumping back to the ground. Maelstrom shrugged.
"He'll probably be fine."
He muttered, thinking of how he would get back to the next building with all three captives in tow. His gaze lingered on Cheshire a bit before he shook his head in regret. There was nothing he could do about it.
Wouldn't pay to keep the devil waiting, though.
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