At the top floor of Soweiland Police HQ, Rowan Callaghan was pacing in circles. Despite his recent successful arrest of Hans Reeman, it had been more than a week since, and his position had been getting challenged, amidst the increase in organised crime as of late. The man scratched his short beard just as his second in command, Craig, walked into the room, holding a newspaper.
"It's nothing good again, is it?" Rowan asked, a rhetorical question, since he knew the answer very well.
"Yeah." Replied Craig, setting down the newspaper on the desk. Rowan snatched it, and on the first page was a picture of Detective McCord and the Noir Assassin shaking hands, with the caption 'Vigilante stops violent mafia shootout in downtown Stormhaven'.
"The Detective-Vigilante duo has been making waves in cleaning up the dirty underworld of Soweiland, all while the Soweiland Police are nowhere to be found." Rowan read the article out loud, grimacing as he did so. He scrunched up his face and threw the newspaper aside.
"Nowhere to be found he says. What a load of bullshit!" The chief exclaimed, Craig adding "Yeah!" in agreement. "When I get my hands on that skank, Soleman…"
"Perhaps you can stop putting the blame on everyone else." Detective McCord proposed, making his entrance to the Chief's office unannounced.
"People usually knock before coming in, Detective, but I'll let it slide this time." Callaghan said, then quickly motioned to McCord to hurry up with what he wanted to say.
"There is a call for you from the ministry." McCord said, pointing outside the door he just came from. The phone could be heard in the distance, ringing.
"I'm not picking that up, that nepo-baby can leave me alone. She just sits on daddy's money all day, while I'm up here having to make all the difficult decisions, and that vigilante gets the fame!" Callaghan complained, slamming his hand against the desk.
"Well, I have been in your position, so I understand the sentiment, but unlike my time, you actually have the opportunity to do something great! Pull your men out of the investigation on the Noir Assassin, and work with him. Prove to Ms. Pascal that AXON is a necessary force in Soweiland!" McCord advised.
"I'm not gonna work with the freak! He's the reason we're in this mess to begin with! The Ministry think they can have me replaced by that buffoon in a bandana!" Callaghan threw the newspaper that Craig had retrieved from the floor earlier at McCord, who moved his head so as to not get hit. The Detective raised his eyebrow at the man.
"You must admit, he's good at crime fighting… He's been a big help for the city." He pointed out.
"I don't care about that! I want to keep being paid! Now leave me be, while I think of what to do." Callaghan shouted, and pointed at the door. McCord sighed, and took his leave, closing the door behind him, Callaghan and Craig were again alone in the office.
Callaghan took a deep breath, and stared out of his window into the night sky, trying to think of a next step. Maybe McCord was right, and working with the Vigilante was the right move? He opened the window to let fresh air in, but just then, a man clad in all-black, with a striking goatee dominating his face, climbed up to the window, and popped his head in.
"Hey there, man. Heard you had an assassin problem, so how's about you hire your own assassin?" He said, and leaped inside the office. Callaghan sighed, motioned to Craig to lock the door, and then gave his visitor a wide, toothy smile.
"Knoxx. What a pleasant surprise. Here to rob me blind again?" Callaghan asked, putting his hands together.
"Listen man, I know our last contract didn't go as planned, but I promise this time will be different." Aaron said, raising his hands up in defence, smiling. "Ever since night shift kid died, I've been forced to work overtime at the McDaniel's, for abysmal pay! I'm strapped for cash, and you clearly need my help, so…"
"Fine. 30 thousand, from my personal account, and you'll-" Rowan tried to say, stroking his beard, but was interrupted
"Not so fast, cowboy. I'm not working for low pay, especially for such a high-profile target. I want a job, Callaghan, full time. Or else, you deal with him yourself, got it?" Aaron demanded.
"Fine. I'll hire you, IF you kill the Noir Assassin as an Agent of AXON. But if you don't, you're not getting a dime from me, Enforcer. Am I clear?" Callaghan laid his terms, gave Aaron another toothy smile, and extended his hand for a handshake.
"Yeah well, better get my employment contract ready, cause when I'm back, all your problems will be solved!" Aaron exclaimed, shook Rowan's hand, saluted at his former coworker Craig, then jumped out of the window, beginning the hunt for the Noir Assassin.
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On the other side of town, the Noir Assassin was patrolling the streets, listening in on the police intercom for any disturbances. This vigilante thing was going really well for him so far, since he had been able to stop quite a few tragedies from happening over the past few weeks, or at least that's what he thought. Gazing down the busy streets from above, as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, he was able to see everything on.
"Hey, leave me alone, man!" He heard a man shout from below. He took a peek, and it appeared he was being mugged at knifepoint. The civilian was attempting to resist the mugger.
"You want to die? Wallet, now!" The mugger lowly whispered, threatening the civilian. Jon sprang into action, latching his grapple gun onto a nearby lamp post, before swinging downwards like a pendulum, and kicking the mugger in the back of the head, knocking him out.
"Thank you, ninja guy!" The civilian waved at him, as he swung back up onto the rooftops to continue his patrol.
As he continued dashing through the city, Jon could lightly hear another set of footsteps following him. Sometimes, he noticed a metallic glint from behind walls. Eventually, it culminated when he noticed the red light of a sniper scope, directly on his chest! The vigilante quickly leaped out of the way, as a sniper round fired directly where he was before with incredible speeds, being thrusted into a wall.
"Who goes there?" He shouted upon regaining his composure.
"I knew that wouldn't have gotten ya. You're too nimble for that!" Said his assailant, walking out from behind a hiding spot. A man sporting a goatee, black hair and a pair of goggles, holding a sniper rifle, smirked at him. "Then again, it's better this way! I wouldn't wanna win without a fight!"
"And who might you be?" Jon asked, unsheathing the Night's Edge as he assessed the man in front of him.
"Only the best hired assassin in the city. And you my friend are giving us assassins a good name, and we can't be having that now, can we?" He introduced himself, smiling as always. "But regardless of my personal feelings, you've made a powerful enemy already. Your arrival has disrupted the balance of the law in Soweiland, and for that, I'm here to fix everything up real good."
Jon of course, recognised the man, but not as the legendary assassin he claimed to be, but rather as his former coworker at McDaniel's, Aaron Knoxx. Of course, he didn't share that information.
"Are you ready, Noir Assassin!? To dance for the balance of the law?" Aaron shouted, interrupting Jon's train of thought, but before the vigilante could respond, Aaron shot a round from his rifle directly at him.
Jon quickly slashed his lade forwards, slashing the bullet in two, then shot his grappling gun at the railing behind Aaron, launching his entire body forward at the assassin. He winded up a slash, but Aaron blocked it with his hunting knife, before smacking Jon with the back of his rifle on the temple, and kicking him away. Jon retained his composure, and attempted to start a counterattack, but Aaron had switched to his sidearm, and emptied an entire magazine of bullets in his general direction.
The Noir Assassin began rapidly spinning around the Night's Edge, blocking all the bullets, and followed by shooting his grappling gun at Aarons left foot. He planted his foot firmly in the ground, and then pulled it back, pulling Jon with it, and once he got close enough, kicked him in the knee, and smacked him in the face with the back of the sidearm, also removing the empty magazine in the process.
Jon seized the opportunity, despite his bleeding forehead, to try and slash at Aaron's neck, but he swiftly moved his knife in the way of the sword. Aaron then went on the offensive, repeatedly slashing at his opponent with the knife, while he blocked him with the Night's Edge, before eventually throwing the knife down at their feet, where it severed the cord of the grappling gun, still coiled around his feet until that moment. This distracted Jon, allowing Aaron to sucker-punch him in the face, and reload his sidearm.
"Sloppy. Clearly you haven't been doing this for long." Aaron commented, as the two stared each other down.
"What's your endgame then, assassin?" Jon asked, squinting his eyes at the man across from him, trying to realise his plan.
"To kill you for my client, of course!" Aaron responded, poker face firm as per usual.
"And who might that be?" Jon followed up, but Aaron just lowly chuckled.
"Pro tip, kid, when you're in a fight, don't ramble too much." Aaron finally said, and then kicked the knife, which was still lodged on the ground! The knife spun around erratically, and Jon was barely able to block it with his blade.
Before he could gather himself, Aaron had already pulled out his rifle again, and had shot at Jon, him barely managing to duck away, as the bullet penetrated his jacket. Aaron quickly followed up by launching a smoke grenade, that blew up right before hitting Jon's face, and covered the rooftop with smoke, some shrapnel scratching his cheek.
Unable to see, Jon could not see the next attack coming, as Aaron, now having equipped his goggles, rushed into the cloud of smoke, and swung the back of his rifle from low to high like a golf club, smacking Jon's jaw and tossing him aside.
Jon tumbled around in his back, but quickly stood back up and started running away, as the shots from Aaron's sidearm followed him, until he retrieved the cut off hook and piece of rope from his grapple gun. Just then, as the smoke cleared up, Aaron tossed another smoke grenade, and Jon responded by hurling his sword right through it, making it explode in midair.
Taking advantage of the smoke like his opponent did before, Jon attempted to sneak up on Aaron with the cut off part of the grapple, spinning it around like a flail, but failing to account for Aaron's goggles, his plan was foiled, when the hired gun grabbed him by the wrist and swung him overhead, slamming him down, and then kicked him in the side, making him tumble a few feet.
Severely wounded and clearly outmatched, Jon attempted a last-ditch attack, by retrieving his sword, but using his knife that he had also retrieved, Aaron disarmed him and knocked the Night's Edge down the building into an alley. Before Jon could attempt anything else, Aaron smacked him with the back of his sidearm, and he seemed to be falling off the railing into the alley as well.
Until Aaron caught him.
"So, this concludes our little dance, then." Aaron said, holding onto Jon from the collar of his jacket as he dangled from the edge.
"So, you gonna kill me now?" Jon muttered. Aaron ignored him.
"Real shame you had to cross my path. You were doing good work out there, saving all those people, but alas, it wasn't mean to be. There are forces at play here, much larger than you or I. We're just the pawns in their game, and we either follow the money, or die." Aaron explained.
"There are always other options." Jon tried to say, but Aaron shushed him.
"Hopefully, we don't end up in the same place on the other side. Farewell, cowboy." Aaron said, before pushing Jon off the building, as he tumbled 5 stories down into the alley.
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By the time Aaron returned to police headquarters, it was 12AM. Rowan was smiling widely, as he stared at him running through the city from his office. When he got in, the door was already locked.
"Did you do it?" Rowan asked, still smiling.
"'Course I did it. He fell five stories. There's no way he survived that." Aaron confirmed. Rowan started slowly clapping. "Where do I sign?"
"Ah, yes." Rowan pulled out a sheet of paper from his drawer, as well as a pen. Aaron eagerly signed everything, finally rid of his dead-end job, at last.
"Welcome, Mr. Knoxx, to AXON." Rowan declared, and handed Aaron a patch with the capital letter A coloured red.
"What's AXON stand for, anyway?" Aaron asked, as he fidgeted with his new patch.
"Advanced Expeditionary Operative Network." Rowan said.
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When Jon came to, he was in a place unfamiliar to him, that didn't resemble the alley he was in before. He was lying on a bed, in a simple room with white walls, and a window that looked upon the sea and starry night. Jon himself was rather dishevelled, his right arm in a cast, and various machines hooked on him that monitored his vitals on a screen nearby. He deduced that he was in a clinic.
"Ah, you're awake." An unfamiliar voice told him. He turned around and saw a man dressed in gull medical gear, wearing glasses. He looked middle-aged, around 40-45 years old, was average hight, skinny, and his hair was light brown with white streaks. "My name is Dr. Curtis Walker. I am a surgeon." The doctor introduced himself.
"You had a bit of an accident, Mr. Assassin. A detective fellow brought you in, they found you in a rubbish bin in an alley. He's waiting outside for you right now." Walker explained.
"How long was I out? Did you see my face?" Jon muttered, slowly attempting to get up.
"Please relax, you are in no position to talk. Just know you haven't been out for long. It's almost 3 AM now, and you were brought in at 12." Walker stopped his, and put him back down on the bed. "Shall I let the detective in? He seems eager to talk to you." He asked.
"Yeah, okay." Jon whispered. Walker left the room and shortly after McCord, came in. He wasn't wearing his coat, and was holding his hat with his right hand. He gave Jon a concerned look, and sat on a nearby stool.
"What happened, kid?" McCord asked upon sitting down. "You have a broken arm, three fractured ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a sprained ankle. You're lucky that bystander you saved from that mugger was still nearby, otherwise you'd still be in that garbage bin."
"I was attacked by an assassin. He was- he didn't tell me his name. Or who hired him." Jon explained. McCord rubbed his chin.
"I should have known this would have happened eventually. You had a good run, kid, but I can't allow you to keep at this any further. When you're discharged, go home. Get some rest. Sleep well, knowing that even for three weeks, you made a difference." McCord told him.
"So I should give up after the first hurdle? That is a coward's way of thinking." Jon stated, awkwardly moving around in his bed, with his eyes closed.
"You've made a great enemy already. It's not worth dying for this, kid." The Detective said.
"Funny, that's just what the assassin said, too. But I disagree. It is worth dying for. If I die, it's not a tragedy, it's a blessing! Because my death prevented the death of another! Is that not why you signed up for the force, detective? To save lives?" Jon exclaimed, as loudly as he could. McCord frowned.
"Go home, kid. You can't change the way things are on your own." McCord finally said, put on his hat, and went out the door.