The Hit(men) Just Keep Coming

[ngm_assassin]

It took a bit of scouting to find a rooftop with the right vantage point for the job he was employed for. One Marcelo Alencar da Silva had a big price on his head. Bullseye meant to collect on it. He had been contacted by Assassin Nation after one of the regular stable of killers failed.

The man dressed mostly in red wasn't the first one to have this moniker, but he planned on doing better than his predecessor. He set up his rifle on a rooftop a half mile away from the mark's penthouse apartment. Bullseye sniffed at the hot New York City air as he sighted the killzone. There were very soft metallic clinks beneath his flowing red overcoat.

He had strict instructions to leave the mark's wife unharmed. As she was a mutant, Bullseye figured distance would be the best buffer he could use when he blew da Silva's brains out. It gave him a chance to prepare at worst or the time to disappear at best.

He chambered his specially designed cartridge. Bullseye looked down his telescopic sight and waited. The happy newlywed should show up soon. The assassin had seen the mark's wife pass by the killzone not too long ago.

Comments

[vesper_verde]

Vesper was quite aware that the bounty on his secret identity's head had not disappeared. His superhuman hearing had given him a tip off on who the next assassin would be. Not that he had a clue who this Bullseye was. Only that he was spoken about in hushed, reverent tones by hardened killers.

The man dressed like a bat had been on patrol for a bit. He winged his way toward home and spotted something strange on a rooftop. He looped back and extended his silence field to its max. He came down on the rooftop behind the red clad man.

It was kind of odd to see a man in a red trench coat in New York's Summer heat. Even odder to see one aiming a large rifle in the direction of Vesper's home. He tapped on his night vision before silently covering half the distance to the assassin. He dropped the silence field once his wings had folded completely in.

"Too heavy duty for late-night pigeon shooting."

[ngm_assassin]

That odd feeling someone had been behind him had been scratching Bullseye right between the shoulder blades. He stopped looking through the scope and put a hand inside his coat.

When someone spoke from behind him, he rolled and drew out a throwing knife out. He threw it at Vesper's eye.

[vesper_verde]

Vesper realized he may have become a little too complacent when the knife meant for his eye bounced off the green lens covering it. He blinked at the tink right in front of his eye.

He raised his left hand and sent a concussive air blast at the assassin. As he did so, he charged forward. He was not going to stay at knife-throwing distance despite his armored gear.

[ngm_assassin]

Bullseye cursed at the knife bouncing off the hero's eye. Outside of disrupting his plans, this could be a boon. If he could kill a costumed hero, that would get him a more deadly reputation.

Though he kept moving to avoid the blast of whatever that send his sniper rifle over the edge of the building. He reached inside his coat again to grab knives for an in-close battle. He let Vesper close in.

[vesper_verde]

As he got real close, Vesper cocked his right hand toward the outside. He was hoping for a sonic blast to send the now knife-wielding assassin to his knees. What he got was a misfire. A very loud one at that.

If Vesper didn't have hearing protection, that would have hurt. As it was, he leapt at the assassin.

[ngm_assassin]

The assassin was not ready for the sonic assault. He screamed in pain and dropped one of the knives in his hand. The other knife's hilt was pressed against his ear as he staggered away.

He swiped wildly at the air with his knife to keep the costumed do-gooder back. Bullseye needed to overcome the ringing in his ears quickly.

[vesper_verde]

His leap turned into a dodging dive. Vesper was limber enough to roll into his feet. He turned on his heel and pursued the flailing assassin. He needed to push his advantage as he tried to load some pellets into his right hand bracer.

[vesper_verde]

Normally, Marcelo returned home in silence. His silence field up was the best way not to let anyone in on his comings and going.

Not tonight. Tonight he had a curved knife buried in his side. He was in too much pain to put it up. He staggered into the third bedroom and smacked into a few things. He was protecting the side with a knife in it.

He groaned and tried to keep himself on his feet.

[pyroprincess]

Stephanie was in the midst of a particularly intense exercise routine when she heard someone coming in. Marcelo didn't usually make any sound. She immediately frowned and went up to see what it was, a pyroplasmic orb at the ready to be shaped into a weapon if she needed it.

When she saw it, she nearly dropped the orb before dissipating it.

"Marcelo!" Stephanie cried out as she saw him. "Oh my god." She ran over to him. "We need to get you out of that ... and into a hospital. Now." Which wasn't going to be the easiest task.

[vesper_verde]

He leaned against an equipment rack. He couldn't exactly raise the arm on the knifed side. His other hand was trying to get his cowl off.

"So, it looks terrible then?" He sounded like Sylvester Stallone through his built in voice modulator. He gave a lopsided and pained grin. He swallowed and closed his eyes until a fresh wave of finished washing over him.

"And how are we going to explain me being stabbed without them arresting you? Or telling them I'm a terror that flaps in the night?"

[pyroprincess]

"You were mugged." Stephanie replied. "Lots of people get mugged in the city." She looked at him. "I'm not a doctor, and neither are you. What if you need surgery?" She looked at him for a moment.

"The only thing I can do is ... take it out and cauterize it. Which should stop the bleeding. But ..." She didn't really want to burn her husband. She went over to him to help support him and move him over to a couch, as delicately as she could.

They could always replace the couch.

[vesper_verde]

"I don't think it's too far in." He had certainly had deeper. "Curved blade. Also, I think most of my blood is going into my suit. My boots feel squishy."

Or his feet were extremely nervously sweaty.

While Stephanie was delicate, Marcelo was anything but in his movements. He was in pain and tired. The only concession was his hand clamped around the blade to keep it still.

"If there has to be a doctor, I know a couple clinics. Pay enough money and they won't mention who they've treated and why. But out of this suit."

[pyroprincess]

"The suit goes off first." Stephanie replied as she started her best to peel off portions of the armor. "Maybe once it's off, we can get a better idea of how bad it is. And be careful."

She looked at him again. "You're probably in a lot of pain. We have some decent painkillers here. Hold on." She went over to the cabinet quickly to get some water and the pills. "Take these." She continued taking bits of armor off of him.

[pyroprincess]

"As long as they give you the quality health care I demand." Stephanie replied with a small smirk as she got into the car with Marcelo. "You'll have to tell me where it is, though. My knowledge of no-questions-asked clinics is not as strong as it probably should be.

How's your side feeling? Are the painkillers kicking in yet?"

[vesper_verde]

"Well, that's more my nightly milieu than yours." He settled into the passenger's seat. He did not remotely reach for the seat belt.

"You should maybe see about putting in a free clinic like that in Mutant Town." He puffed out a breath.

"I feel fiiiiiine. Yet still able to give good fin-directions."

[pyroprincess]

"My nightly milieu mostly consists of studying." Not to mention planning for the development of Mutant Town- which needed a proper name, she reminded herself. She'd had a little more time on her hands ever since being removed from the Board, but still managed to keep busier than most people.

"I want to, it's a matter of finding the people who want to operate in a district populated largely by mutants. It's not just bigotry, it's also mundane things like insurance.

Good. Tell me where I'm going, mi amor."

[vesper_verde]

"That's because you're a good, hard-working girl married to a... me." He lost where he was going with that toward the end. It came from reminding himself to pay attention to where they were going.

"That's probably where donors come in. Because American insurance is a pain in the ass. Also... free clinic."

Once they were on the street, he started giving directions. He even remembered to tell her to turn a half block before the corner she needed to turn at. He looked rather pleased with himself for that.

[pyroprincess]

"A wonderful hard-working, sexy man." Stephanie replied with a faint smile. "Donors, yes. I've managed to find some, but not as many as I'd like. I'll probably have to approach Stark again."

"For a man who's probably halfway to the moon on painkillers, you give very good directions." She teased softly.

[vesper_verde]

"If that's how you describe someone who thought the armor he made was great, then yes. That's me." He nodded with pain killer addled definitiveness. He sniffed a bit.

"How does your old school stay afloat? Cutting corners or posh hidden mutant wallets? Maybe they'll help."

He smacked his lips and raised an eyebrow at her. When he spoke again, he had a terrible British accent. "The view from up here is exquisite, darling. Take a right at the next corner."

[vesper_verde]

After he got stitched up and made a large cash donation to the clinic, it was time to get food. Marcelo let Stephanie drive since he was still a little loopy from the pain meds. The whole not operating heavy machinery sounded real good, so he knew he was not supposed to drive. They picked up Ethopian food and headed home.

"Querida, I have something to ask you when we get home," Marcelo said without preamble a couple blocks from their building. Even if he could put the pair of them in a silence bubble, someone could be out there reading lips. With what he had planned a little paranoia was called for. "And I promise it's not about taking the last cookie. Though maybe we should order some ice cream donut sandwiches to be delivered..."

[pyroprincess]

Stephanie had been very quiet most of the ride home, clearly a lot being in her mind. She was half-starved, but she barely noticed her stomach growling. The horrible feeling of knowing her husband had been hurt by someone hired by her father was giving way to cold rage. Had the man presented himself in front of her, she would have been sorely tempted to kill him.

"... yes, sorry." She replied, trying to cast her attention back to him. "Ice cream donut sandwiches. And talking. Yes."

[vesper_verde]

"You're going to walk fast when we get out of the car, aren't you?" He knew Stephanie's habits. Particularly when she was a bit too thoughtfully quiet.

"You'll have to give me a piggyback ride while I hold the food then."

[pyroprincess]

"... probably. I'll try not to." It sounded like Stephanie was going to laugh for a moment, but it seemed to die in her throat. She wasn't in much of a laughing mood.

When she had parked the car, she remained there silently. It looked like she didn't know whether she wanted to cry or destroy something more. After about twenty seconds she pulled herself together enough to get out of the car.

[vesper_verde]

He quietly waited in the car with her. He wasn't sure what that look on her face meant. If she was going to cry, he wanted to be there to comfort her. If she was going to destroy something, he needed to know where the blast radius was going to be.

When she moved out of the car, he pulled himself out and grabbed the bags of food. He straightened up with the bags crinkling in his hands.

"Come on, Stephanie. Let's get home." He paused. "And maybe get you a hug, too."

[pyroprincess]

Stephanie nodded. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything crazy. Yes, let's get home." She looked at him, suddenly feeling a little ashamed of herself.

"How are you feeling?"

She went to grab the door, so he didn't have to struggle with that and all the food.