The 28th floor of the Star Tower.
*Ding!*
The elevator doors slid open.
The next second, Megan Walsh, who had blacked out the tower's surveillance from inside the elevator, stepped out. She had changed into a lightweight tactical suit and pocketed her phone.
Megan glanced at the security camera down the hall and even offered a mock wave.
In the security room, however, no image of Megan appeared on the screens. Two guards were busy watching a basketball game, chatting and ignoring the feeds.
Megan moved swiftly to Locke's front door. She pressed her ear against it, listening intently for any sound from within.
There was movement.
And... the scent of iron.
Out of the corner of her eye, Megan noticed a single drop of red liquid on the floor by the doorframe.
She reached down.
Swiped.
Sniffed.
The scent of blood.
Megan looked back at the door and pulled a set of lock-picking tools from her pocket.
*Click.*
In a matter of seconds, accompanied by a nearly inaudible metallic snap, Megan gripped the handle. She stowed her tools, drew a suppressed handgun from her back, and cautiously pushed the door open.
Information on the Peerless Assassin was scarce.
Even though he had been active for two years, the files on him were thinner than those of any other high-profile killer—not to mention his glorious recent record of bathing an entire textile mill in blood.
However...
S.H.I.E.L.D. believed that the Peerless Assassin didn't win through sheer martial prowess. They suspected he relied on schemes—poisoning the water supply of the mill before the assault, for example.
Otherwise, it was impossible to explain how one man could slaughter nearly two hundred trained assassins.
This wasn't a movie.
Therefore, while Megan knew the Peerless Assassin was terrifying, he was still just a man. Moreover, based on the conversation she had overheard in the stairwell earlier, the target was injured.
And likely quite badly.
Megan steadied her racing heart. Suppressed pistol in hand, she slipped inside and gently closed the door behind her.
The next second, she was certain he was in the apartment.
The reason: the stench of blood.
The second floor!
Megan's nose instantly tracked the heaviest concentration of the scent. Her eyes locked onto the spiral staircase. It wasn't just the smell; there was a clear trail of blood droplets leading up to the second floor.
"Kill him."
Megan couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. "If I kill the Peerless Assassin, I'll finally be free."
If she completed this mission, she could return to school and experience the things someone her age was supposed to do.
Guilt?
None whatsoever.
Despite her claims of wanting a normal life, she was a professional—an agent bred from childhood for the sole purpose of killing.
The distance from the first floor to the second was barely a hundred paces.
But Megan moved with extreme care, fearing she might alert the man upstairs. She could already hear the faint clinking of surgical forceps and the occasional muffled groan of pain coming from one of the rooms.
Soon, she reached the second floor. The metallic tang in the air was overwhelming.
There!
Megan focused on the only door left ajar, where a sliver of light cut through the darkness of the hallway. She rushed forward.
Kick.
Aim.
Fire!
*Puff! Puff!*
"...What?"
The moment she breached the room, Megan fired two shots with lightning speed toward the source of the noise.
Two bullets tore through the air in quick succession, slamming directly into the back of a leather lounge chair.
Wait.
Where was he?
Megan froze, a realization beginning to dawn on her.
Just then, Locke—who had been hanging from the ceiling like a spider waiting for his prey—dropped silently behind her. *Thud.*
Megan's pupils constricted.
She spun around.
*Crack!*
The handgun was knocked from her grip instantly, skidding across the floor.
Locke's right hand lunged like a striking viper.
*Boom!*
As his hand knocked the gun away, his palm slammed toward Megan's exposed throat.
"Shit!"
Terrified, Megan reacted purely on instinct, twisting her body to the side. *Thud!* Cold sweat broke out on her forehead as she felt her right shoulder nearly shatter under the impact. She stumbled backward, gasping.
"Don't move."
With a flick of his wrist, the Silver Dancer appeared in Locke's hand. The suppressed barrel pointed straight at Megan, who was doubled over in pain, clutching her ruined shoulder. "I was starting to think you weren't coming."
Megan gritted her teeth against the agony and looked up at Locke, who was wearing dark sunglasses. "It was a trap!"
She wasn't stupid. She knew now that the Peerless Assassin wasn't injured. Megan might lack social common sense, but she was a professional when it came to her trade.
Except... she didn't understand how she had been exposed.
And more importantly...
"Why?"
"Heh."
Locke's eyes flickered behind the dark lenses. He listened to the same cliché question he always heard. "When you broke in just now and prepared to shoot me, you didn't seem interested in letting me ask 'why'."
Locke shook his head.
Megan instantly felt a wave of thick, suffocating killing intent erupt from him. Her eyes widened as she prepared for a desperate, final struggle.
But...
*Puff!!*
*...Thud!*
A bullet took Megan right between the eyes. She fell to the floor with a heavy crash, her eyes still wide, her body frozen in the beginning of a lunging motion.
Locke didn't like talking nonsense. That was a villain's specialty, not his.
And he wasn't a villain. Megan had come here to kill him; he was merely acting in self-defense.
Locke looked down at the corpse on the floor with an expressionless face, shaking his head. His tone carried a hint of genuine pity. "A beautiful lady, yet she chose the life of a thief."
In truth, Megan had been given one chance to live. If she had reported the intel to S.H.I.E.L.D. and let them come for him instead of coming alone, she would have stayed on Locke's blacklist, but at least she wouldn't have died today.
The difference between dying early and dying late is a fundamental distinction of time.
Locke turned around and looked toward the doorway. "Come out, Victoria!"
As the words left his lips, Victoria Knox—blonde ponytail swaying, dressed in a business suit and holding a suppressed pistol—stepped out from beside the door. A sweet, charming smile played on her lips.
"Long time no see, Peerless!"
While he was hanging from the ceiling waiting for Megan, he had already caught the scent. Victoria's perfume was unmistakable the moment she entered the apartment following behind the girl.
Such a shame.
***
Let's keep 100 powerstones as goal
I'll post a bonus if we reach it
I'll post 3 more bonuses if we hit 300 stones before Sunday reset
Thanks for reading 🙏
***
Read 30 Chapters early on P-atreon.com/Redestro666