In Stormhaven, at Walker Surgical Clinic, on a bed in a white room, and for the past three days, there laid the Soweiland Vigilante, Noir Assassin, wrapped in bandages all over. Jon had been made aware the previous day that finally, after 2 delays, he was going to be discharged. Dr. Walker had been keeping him in the clinic longer than anticipated, perhaps to help him recover better, or maybe he was following the instructions of Detective McCord. Who knows?
Dr. Walker came in the room through the sliding glass door, staring at a clipboard with a stern look on his face. He lifted his head to meet Jon's waiting eyes, ready to deliver the news.
"Bad news, chap." He declared, with his distinct British accent. "Your situation doesn't seem to be getting any better, I'm afraid. I must insist you stay for another 5 days in the clinic, for close monitoring."
"No way doc. You've pushed me back far enough, there's an assassin out there, and I'm the only one who can stop him!" Jon declared, sitting up on his bed with a sudden movement. The movement ached, and he grunted, as he slowly laid back down on the soft mattress. "I refuse treatment." He added.
"I refuse your refusal. As a medical professional, it's my sole responsibility to make sure you are healthy, and I can't have you parkouring off rooftops in this condition." Walker insisted.
"You know you can't keep me here, right?" Jon asked.
"I have followed your instructions to the letter, and haven't found your secret identity, but if that's what I must do to protect you from yourself I will. Stay down, Mr. Assassin. You cannot help anyone in this condition." Walker exclaimed, and quickly left the room, leaving Jon alone again.
Jon quickly took a peek around the room. Out the window it was dark, seemingly late in the afternoon. He checked the clock on the far wall and indeed, it was 7:30PM. On a coatrack by his right were all his personal belongings. Longcoat, Night's Edge, radio and busted up grapple gun. He took another peek out the window, and noticed a nearby low building right outside; that was his way out.
He waited until the doctor was distracted, speaking to his secretary whose office he had a clear view of through the glass door, and quickly got up, pushing through the pain of his aching bruises being pushed around, and jumped through the window towards the short building nearby, stabbing the Night's Edge into the wall, and slowly sliding down it. Landing on the pavement, Jon began running around, trying to find any means of going back to Sowei City, and as he did that, he turned on the radio on Sowei City 1, where the news was playing.
"It's been three days since the mysterious disappearance of the Noir Assassin, and criminals have already taken the chance to escalate their crimes." Said Theodore Soleman. "Most recently, two rival gangs were engaged in a shootout on the old port of Stormhaven, and were broken up after over 20 minutes had passed by a gaggle of AXON Agents and police officers. The Noir Assassin, the usual first responder, was nowhere to be found."
"This begs the pertinent question: is this the last we see of the Noir Assassin?" Soleman finished up, before moving on to the next subject of the day.
"I sure fucking hope it is, don't you agree, Craig?" Rowan Callaghan exclaimed, as he walked through the police station up to his office, listening to the news broadcast with his right-hand by his side.
"Yeah!" Craig said.
"Atta boy!" Callaghan proudly said, as the two got to the door of his office. Bizarrely, though, it seemed to be unlocked. The pair exchanged a worried look, as they slowly opened the door to the office and went inside, being greeted by the displeased mug of Renee Pascal, sitting on Rowans chair with her arms crossed.
"Oh boy. Couldn't ya have called, woman? I thought I got robbed!" Callaghan shouted upon witnessing the minister.
"So you could ignore my calls again? Right." Renee said, and gestured at Rowan to sit across from her on one of the guest's chairs.
"In my defence, I just have a really relaxing ringtone, and I forget to pick up… But I struggle to see why you'd want to contact me anyway! My men are always the first responders now, take that gang fight for example!" Rowan exclaimed.
"Ah yes of course, first responders. Your men arrived drunk, Rowan. I knew because there were police officers present there, with your men. The same people who have recently began cutting checks signed as the police force to buy their alcohol, draining the state's bank account. Did you think I wouldn't notice that?" Renee asked. A rhetorical question, that Rowan definitely had an answer for, even though he wasn't able to state it.
"I've been doing tons of work, Rowan, growing the actual police force, that I struggle to find any reason for us to renew our contract. It's almost ended, you know. Only two months left." Renee said, twiddling her thumbs.
"Tsch. What do your silly coppers have against my highly trained men?" Rowan questioned, shrugging. "Besides, we all know you don't have the guts to cut me loose!"
Rowan had gotten up, and was looking down on the still sitting Renee, her eye twitching. She quickly shot up from her chair, now standing up as well, now it being her looking down on Rowan.
"Listen, Callaghan. I've had enough of your tricks. I don't know what exactly you told my predecessor to get him to hire you, but I'm not like him. You and your men have gotten pretty comfortable leeching off my money and doing nothing, and you seem to forget that I don't NEED you. You have two months to give me a reason to need you. Got that?" Renee exclaimed, sick and tired of Callaghan's antics by now. The dark-skinned man soured his expression for a moment, but quickly reverted it back to a large smile.
"Ya know what, princess, I think you're right. Things do need to change around here, and I'm ready to take action!" Rowan declared, placing an arm on the taller woman's shoulder. "I just thought up something, and it's going to blow your mind."
"Well, I'm glad you turned around." Renee said, her voice noticeably more relaxed than before.
"Yeah… Just sit back and relax while I get my changes going." Rowan told her, smiling. Renee returned him a smile, and bid him farewell as she took her leave.
Rowan landed on his chair with a poof, dropping the smile.
"Go get me Knoxx. It's time for his first assignment." He told Craig.
"Yeah." He responded.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
As this confrontation was taking place, Jon had managed to make his way to a very specific location. A bar near the outskirts of Sowei City, that one lone, former McDaniel's employee frequented after the end of his shifts. Opening the flimsy wooden door, Jon was greeted by a cozy atmosphere, in a room with walls painted brown and wooden furniture. On one side of the establishment were some couches and tables, one of which was occupied by a biker gang drinking beer, and on the other side was the bartender, a slim guy in his 50's with a twirly moustache named Terry, who was wiping down an empty wine glass with a rag, his bench and a couple of stools. A mysterious man in a cloak was also present, sitting alone on a table at the back of the bar, but Jon didn't notice him, as he blended in with the backround.
Sitting on one of them, just as Jon had anticipated, was Aaron Knoxx, drinking beer out of a bottle. His cheeks had gotten rosy from the alcohol, as he had two more empty bottles near him. Jon, who had taken off the accessories that were concealing his identity, took a seat next to him, and asked the bartender for a whiskey. Aaron noticed he was there, gazed at him up and down and finally coughed out something.
"Night shift kid? You're alive?" He asked, with a bewildered expression on his face.
"Good to see you again, Aaron." Jon responded.
"Man, hold up- didn't you die in that incident?" Aaron asked again, confused. Jon gave him a quick synopsis of what happened, but skipped out on the faking of his death, just saying he miraculously survived.
"Man… Sure is a good thing you survived. We wouldn't be having this drink if you hadn't!" Aaron commented, then burst out in laughter, slapping Jon on the back.
"So, how's McDaniel's going? Still having trouble with the fryer?" Jon asked, taking a sip from his whiskey.
"Oh, man. I left that hellhole, just recently actually. I got a new gig now, I'm working for them, uh, contractors the police have. AXON or something…" Aaron explained. He chugged down his third bottle of beer, and motioned to the barkeep to get him another. "Another round for the both of us!" He exclaimed, then reassured Jon that he wouldn't have to pay for the day's drinks, it was all on him.
Suddenly, a loud beeping came from a device on Aaron's belt. His brand-new AXON communicator, went off, and he excused himself to talk to his bosses. In the meantime, though, Jon turned his attention to the bartender, who was having an altercation with one of the biker dudes he saw earlier.
"You tryin' ta rob Big Zeeg, bartenda'? I told ya ta put it on my tab!" Their leader, a fat guy with a long bear exclaimed, getting all up in Barkeep Terry's face.
"I explained to you, Ezekiel! That's not how a tab works. So pay me, or I'll alert the authorities!" Terry responded, but 'Big Zeeg' wasn't particularly exhilarated with the response, and pulled out a switch-blade, intending to threaten the barkeep. Jon then decided that enough was enough.
"Excuse me… it's none of my business but you should really pay your tab." He spoke.
"What's it to ya? You sum kinda Nou-a Assasheen fanboy?" Zeeg asked, getting all up in Jon's face now, gesturing at him to do something. Jon responded by kicking him in the stomach, and forcing him to collapse. The other gang members quickly rushed to the aid of their leader, and began attacking Jon. Two of them rushed at him from either side, while one charged at him face first. Jon ducked underneath the first two's attacks and swiped their legs, then got up and fought hand to hand with the other guy, who was clearly unmatched despite his larger stature. Jon delivered a punch to his stomach, followed by a kick to the back of his knee, that brought the larger man down.
"So, will you fellas pay for your drinks now?" Jon asked, but while he was distracted Big Zeeg snuck up behind him, and shoved him down.
"You made a fool atta Big Zeeg! Now I'll end ya!" He declared, but before he could do anything, he found Aaron's hunting knife lodged in his foot, as he had just come back from talking to the AXON Director from outside.
"Bad move, m-man." Aaron said, and hiccupped. "That's the issue with your types, you know how to fight, but even four bottles in a real fighter like me can take you down without a hitch."
"So, what did the bosses want?" Jon asked Aaron, dusting himself off after having gotten up.
"Something about a police force party or whatever… He wanted me to work the uh… security detail. Yeah, that works." Aaron explained, mumbling over his words as he tried to hide what he was actually asked to do. "Apparently he rented out the community centre and wants to prove to the big brass why AXON is a good investment or whatever."
"How interesting." Jon commented, making sure to keep that information for later. Just as they were about to sit back down, some sirens came into their earshot from outside, and in walked Detective McCord, as well as patrol officer.
"We got a call about a fight- oh." He stopped, noticing the biker gang sprawled on the floor, one still with a knife lunged in his foot, and Jon and Aaron, staring at him from the bar.
"No worries, Inspector McCloud, AXON Agent Aaron Knoxx was here and saved the day!" Aaron said, saluting the detective as he looked on with a weirded-out face.
"Agent, are you drunk?" McCord asked.
"What? Where'd you get that impression?" Aaron sked, pretending to be offended as he knocked his empty bottles behind the bar. "Anyway, I'm outta here." Aaron stumbled out of the bar, tossing a 50 towards Terry, letting the officer and McCord to do the cleanup.
As the officer dragged the downed men into the patrol car, McCord dragged Jon aside.
"What are you doing, kid?" He asked. "Why aren't you at the clinic?"
"Do I know you, sir?" Jon spat out.
"Christ, you forget I'm a detective… I know you're the Noir Assassin, kid!" McCord exclaimed. "Now explain to me what you're doing here, picking fights with Big Zeeg's gang?"
"I'm investigating!" Jon shouted.
"You should not be investigating! You should be resting, and leaving the investigating to me!" McCord responded.
"Well, you wouldn't do anything… You're just a coward! You saw what happened today… a punch and a kick put 4 criminals away thanks to me and Aaron… You just sat behind your wheel and blared some sirens." Jon said, not fully of sound mind thanks to the alcohol.
"Maybe you have a point though, maybe the coward's way has its merits. It was your inaction that caused the Sowei revolution to happen. But maybe if you had acted, things would have changed without the death of an innocent woman." Jon continued. McCord's brow furrowed.
"Go home. Get help, and stop throwing your life away." He said, and left to help the officer with the gang.
___________________________________________________________________________
Over the coming days, Rowan prepared his event in the community center, which was really something of a party for the police force with a special presentation at the end, and he extended a few special invitations to Renee, and Achilleas O'Lop.
This of course had to do with his actual plan, that this was a cover for, and what Aaron was really asked to do, rather than security detail. Of course, knowing Rowan's record of attempting to eliminate his opposition, Aaron's assigned mission was to assassinate Ms. Renee Pascal, for the second time in his career.
While Jon didn't know the plan itself, he did know that drunk Aaron from the bar was lying when he said he'd be working security detail, and continued his investigation leading up to the event. By listening in on the police radio line, which he still had access to, he was able to pinpoint the time and schedule of the event.
Unbeknownst to either party, however, a third force had also entered the game, hiding in plain sight. The cloaked man from the bar had also begun conducting his own little investigation behind the scenes, and the conversation he overheard that night at the bar was like hitting the jackpot.
The night of the event Jon staked out on a tall building near the community centre, getting the perfect view for any spots Aaron could have set up. One thing the AXON assassin had said when they were together at the bar had struck a chord with him; no matter what he did, Aaron was just better trained, so he'd win in conventional combat every time. Jon had to take advantage of numerous other factors in order to win.
Like for example, the element of surprise. Noticing Aaron atop a nearby building, Jon sprang into action, jumping from his elevated position towards Aaron, rolling on the ground then kicking him away, just as he was arming his sniper rifle. The sniper rifle fell down the building into the pavement below.
Aaron quickly regained his composure, and readies his sidearm.
"Noir Assassin… I knew the moment I saw you were the resilient type, but I wasn't expecting you to survive that fall! I assume you want to dance again?" Aaron asked him, spinning the handgun on his finger.
"Indeed." Jon said, and the battle resumed.
Of course, the element of surprise shouldn't be enough to win. Aron quickly took the advantage, emptying magazine after magazine of his sidearm at Jon, who repeatedly blocked the bullets with the Night's Edge, before utilising the second tool up his sleeve; non-conventional combat strategies.
As Aaron was reloading, Jon hurled his sword directly at Aaron's utility, piercing one of the smoke grenades. Being strapped to his belt, Aaron of course got caught in the explosion, and while his explosion-resistant clothing shielded him partially from the blast, avoiding any severe injuries other than a large scar around the waist, the knockback of the explosion was enough to knock his pistol out of his hand, and into the street.
In just two attacks, Jon had managed to disarm Aaron twice.
"You don't dance fair, partner." Aaron said, taking out his knife, and the duel continued. Much like their last duel, Aaro was much more proficient in close combat than Jon, and alas, managed to disarm him again, lodging the Night's Edge on a nearby water tower. But unlike last time, Jon had once last ace up his sleeve.
The Noir Assassin took out his grapple gun, with the rope still missing it's hook, and it was still hanging out. He grabbed the edge of the rope, and began spinning the gun around, using the heavy pistol as a flail. This effectively gave Jon the range advantage, and posed Aaron with the threat of blunt damage, his light and sleek clothing wasn't built to resist.
"What in the world is this?" He exclaimed, ducking away from the flurry of attacks from the makeshift flail. Nimble as he was Aaron kept dodging the attacks of the flail, but he was unable to counterattack with his knife, since the ropes of the pistol would hit him if he got too close.
Essentially at a stalemate, this is where Jon utilised the final component of his plan; utilising his surroundings. Using the flail, he led Aaron into a corner, where the only thing behind him was a fall. Eventually, with the available space to move shrinking, Aaron got hit, and as he was about to fall…
Jon grabbed him.
"Ah, the ol' switcheroo. Impressive, getting creative on me, really. So, you gonna drop me now?" Aaron asked, his smile standing firm despite being in a losing situation.
"Nah." Jon responded and pulled him back up.
"But why?" Aaron asked, baffled by this decision.
"Who would pay for my drinks then?" Jon responded, and removed his buff, revealing his identity to the dumbfounded assassin.
"No way…" Aaron muttered at a loss for words.
"Knife please? I could drop you instead if you don't comply." Jon said. Aaron raised his hands up in defeat, and handed Jon the knife, who snagged it on his belt, before resting his hand on it.
"So was everything you told me a lie?" Jon asked. Aaron scratched his chin.
"Nah, not all of it. I did get hired by AXON, after the director asked me to assassinate you. If I knew who you were, I never would have tried, for the record." Aaron explained.
"And what was it that the director really wanted when he called you?" Jon followed up.
"Even if I tell you, there's no way you'll get to him. Who'd even believe you?" Aaron pointed out. Jon gestured at him to carry on anyway, making the assassin sigh. "Alright, I suppose it won't hurt to tell you. He wanted me to assassinate the little princess. I never could hurt that woman." Aaron lamented.
Jon smiled in silence, holding back a chuckle as he stared at Aaron, who was beyond confused by the reaction. He kept looking around, as if he was expecting a surprise party to kick off, or something, but instead all he saw was Jon removing his hand from the belt, revealing the police transponder, which was concealed by his coat, the vigilante's thumb firmly on the broadcast button.
"You got all that, Detective?" Jon spoke into the transponder.
"Loud and clear." McCord responded from the other end, as in the Sowei City community centre, the transponder of every officer in the building had just broadcast everything the assassin had said.
"You- tricked me? With a sleight of hand trick? Me!?" Aaron exclaimed, baffled at the surprising turn of events.
"This town isn't big enough for the two of us, like you say back home in the States. Stay out of my town." Jon told him, placing a hand on the dumbfounded assassin's shoulder, before jumping towards the community centre, slamming his feet through a window and landing in the middle of the room, a small theater, right across from where Rowan was standing.
"The jig is up, Callaghan!" Jon shouted, pointing directly at the man's face.
"Indeed it is…" Callaghan muttered, before shouting: "Rattle him, men! And the princess! Turn them into Swiss cheese!"
In that very moment, all the AXON agents in the room took out their weapons, including Callaghan himself, who took out his Uzi, and opened fire on the Noir Assassin, and Renee, a brawl beginning in the community centre. And while Jon was holding his own against the barrage of bullets just fine, blocking whatever came his way, the same could not be said for the unarmed Renee, who desperately tried to duck for cover.
With a few seconds left before a bullet inevitably hit her, a shadowy silhouette crashed down from the skylight with bullet-fast speeds, and covered the vulnerable princess with his cloak.
'The guy from the other day!?' Jon thought, remembering the events of his fight with Hans Reeman.
"Who in the world is this?" Callaghan exclaimed, and the figure removed his cloak, revealing a rather tall and built man, wearing a white and brown leather suit with a feather-like design, artificial wings covering his arms, a birdlike mask covering his face and concealing his identity, a jetpack strapped to his back, and a shotgun around his waist.
"I am JET EAGLE, the greatest superhero in the history of this country, and you, my friend, are going down!" Jet Eagle introduced himself to the world, and with a turbine blast from his jetpack, flew directly towards Rowan, pulling him into the backstage, as the battle raged on.
Jon thought he didn't have what it took to withstand the onslaught of projectiles from every direction, and whilst the officers in the room were trying their hardest to combat the AXON agents, they definitely didn't have the numbers to watch his back as well. Fortunately, Jon also had another ally, in the form of Achilleas O'Lop, who after making sure Renee was brought to safety, took out his trusty hammer and arrived behind Jon, spinning it rapidly and blocking the path of bullets heading towards Jon from behind.
"Noir Assassin!" He exclaimed, "You are a formidable warrior, but allow me to assist you I your time of need!"
"Gladly, Mr. Minister!" Jon accepted his proposal.
"You'd make a n incredible royal guardsman in my army, Noir Assassin! Now, let us take care of these fiends!" O'Lop said, and with a loud battle cry, rushed into a group of AXON Agents, smacking whoever he encountered with his weapon.
The battle continued, and O'Lop and Jon proved to be an untouchable duo, seemingly invincible to the bullets being fried at them, as they watched each other's back from enemy fire. In a few short minutes, the pair had dispatched of every AXON Agent in the room, with minimal casualties.
In the backstage, Jet Eagle was locked in combat with Callaghan, who despite his age, was a decent fighter, and was able to land a few shots with his Uzi, even though the Eagle's bulletproof armour protected him. Jet Eagle was attempting to fire on Rowan with his shotgun, but kept missing because he was unable to control his flight simultaneously. Eventually, with another turbine blast, the Eagle dashed into Rowan, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket, and pushing him outside, burning through the curtains of the theatre.
"Make way for JET EAGLE!" He screamed as he flew through the room, and slammed Rowan against a wall, knocking him out. "My job here is done. You're welcome, Soweiland!" Jet Eagle said, and slowly flew out of the skylight that he had come from, flexing his muscles in ridiculous poses as he did so.
Noticing the fight had calmed down, Renee returned to the room. She found Rowan's unconscious body, snapped her fingers so he'd wake up, and then said. "I think we'll have to terminate out contract earlier than expected, if that's okay." Rowan, of course, didn't respond.
"Now, I really must thank that Noir Assassin… where did he go?" Renee asked, looking frantically around the room. Jon, of course, was long gone by then, escaping from a window while Jet Eagle was doing his shenanigans.
"Why has nobody commented on the fact the Noir Assassin was having a friendly chat with that killer from before over the intercom?" Screeched Soleman, who had crawled out from under a table he was hiding in.
"Are you insinuating he was in cahoots with the hired gun?" Renee asked, raising her eyebrow.
"Steve, get me pictures of the Noir Assassin!" He declared, completely ignoring Renee's question, and rushed off.