POV Murata Takashi
I look at the various cameras and the empty hallways in fear. I couldn't comprehend how it had come to this.
"My men have been eliminated, now they are coming for me! You must hurry before they kill me, too!" I yell into the phone.
"Murata Takashi. This is the end," says the intruder I hadn't seen yet.
"No!" I yell in fear as I drop the phone.
I am grabbed by the hair and slammed into the wall before being thrown into a chair.
"I... I know you... The Louvre!" I say with dawning horror.
"Your evil has claimed the lives of many good men... no longer," the man says as he punches me in the face over and over again.
"Killing me will not stop the Yakuza!" I say with fake confidence.
"I do not care about the Yakuza!" the man yells as he grabs my throat.
I struggle to breathe, but then he lets me go, and I gasp for breath.
"My name is Victor! Reznov! And I will have... my... revenge!" Reznov says while pulling out a pistol.
Flash
POV Shift Katia Jovonovich
"For the High Table that is seeing this recording, know that I will not rest until every last one of you is dead and buried. Victory cannot be achieved without sacrifice, we Russians know better than anyone," Reznov says before the recording ends.
"W-What do we do?" Don Alexei says nervously.
Normally, I would mock him for being scared, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. Reznov was just that much of a threat. The Yakuza were no pushovers, and yet a single man not only infiltrated their bases but systematically wiped them all out. The few that survived did so with no memory of what happened. And worse still, almost no remains were left behind, so it was incredibly hard to tell how they all died. Other than nearly silently.
"Increase the bounty on Reznov's head. 200 million dollars," Ming Feng, the leader of the Triads, offers.
"And how will that help? The man is a ghost. He appears and disappears with no way of predicting his movements. The Yakuza didn't even manage to realise they were under attack until it was too late. How do we protect ourselves from such a person?" Don Alexei says with anger and fear in his tone.
"We fight, we will not go quietly into the night. We have the money and resources. Let's start recruiting everyone we can. While we can't be certain how Reznov gets around, we can ascertain that he isn't flawless; the Yakuza did notice they were under attack and were able to request reinforcements," I comment.
"I can contact the Ninja, Ten Rings, and the Hand; they owe me a few favors would be willing to help us," Ming Feng suggests.
"I can contact my subsidiary groups and get them to send some men. And the Hotels should start turning over some skilled workers to help in our defence," I suggest.
"Should we withdraw our support from 'Ndrangheta?" Don Alexei asks.
"Even if some enemies are supporting the Camorra in the background, 'Ndrangheta should be able to handle the weakened Camorra," I reply.
"Then they are on their own for now," Ming Feng replies.
We all agree and go our separate ways to prepare our defences. When Victor Reznov comes for us, we will be ready, or as ready as we could be when facing an unknown enemy.
POV Shift Rio
"Thanks again for the help," I say to Ghost Rider.
"You were punishing the wicked; it was only just that I helped as much as I could," Ghost Rider says while taking back the energy he let me borrow.
"Sinful Sight is a ridiculously powerful ability," I say with legitimate awe.
"It is strong, but only when wielded by the right person. In the hands of a wicked soul, it is no more useful than a square wheel on a bike," Ghost Rider replies.
"Fair enough. I won't keep you any longer," I reply and let Ghost Rider continue whatever he was doing before we met.
Ghost Rider nods and vanishes in a flash of fire.
I had borrowed some power from the Ghost Rider so that I could sense the level of sins a person has committed before deciding what to do with them. I wouldn't be devastated if some less-than-evil people died, as when you are in a gang, you have to acknowledge that it is a job where you can lose your life. The same can be said for soldiers. If you are a combatant, then you cannot be upset when you get killed in combat. I was probably overthinking the situation, as I found very few people who met the criteria to be spared.
That didn't surprise me too much, as the people I was dealing with were mostly high-level enforcers and high-ranking members. And you do not get to that position without doing some really messed-up stuff. And Sinful Sight allowed me to basically visualise the level of sin the person had committed. And I don't mean sins as in the Christian Bible, where eating shellfish was a sin, I mean the kind of sins that are universally agreed upon in most civilised societies. Rape, Murder, Paedophilia, Torture, Maiming, and so on and so on. And from what I was told, a person doesn't become sinful from doing those things under duress. Such as in the case of self-defence. If you kill someone who was trying to harm you, that isn't a bad thing. Unless you purposely set up a situation to make it a so-called case of self-defence.
Now I chose to strike now as the world was still in a chaotic state, and with the compass, I can locate all of my targets no matter where they go. Before the compass, I had to slowly track down their whereabouts with various methods, many of which aren't quiet. I also wanted to make sure I had all the info I needed before I struck. It also helped that by waiting a while, I could ensure more leaders and the like would be located in the same general area. Gas was not cheap, and if someone became a little unruly or rebels it would be hard to find and wipe them out. So to maintain control, they called back many higher-ranked individuals to the main compound, where they would lead from there.
'I can't really blame them, as losing a little from some embezzled funds from some low-level mooks is better than losing an entire section of operations to a rogue mid-level enforcer.'
For now, I wouldn't strike the next group, as I wanted them to gather up their forces again. I wanted a decisive strike, not an endless game of whack-a-mole. Though I likely didn't have to worry about much, as with only three still active seats, the High Table's worldwide control is slipping away rapidly.
'Maybe I should step in and make Shield rip itself apart? Hydra likely still controls a decent portion of Shield.'
I considered it for a bit but chose not to flip the table. Shield was still dealing with the Xenomorph Hive, though I heard they were getting pretty close to wiping it out. Well, Tony is close, not really Shield, as they are just funding Tony.
'Actually, maybe I should instead head to The Box. I think one of Lucy's fellow Diclonii was moved there recently. And if anything, I might be able to find some additional items to sacrifice.'
I had not long ago remembered that I totally forgot to steal the Dark Sceptre, but I only remembered because I saw a news report that it was stolen when I went to visit Lara.
Ring Ring Ring
'Speak of the devil, and she doth appear.'
"Hello," I answer.
"Hey, Rio, I got a job offer that I thought you might want to join," Lara says.
"Oh? What great mystery has caught your eye this time?" I ask curiously.
"I got approached to look for the Holy Grail," Lara replies.
"The Holy Grail? That's a pretty big deal. Did they give you any leads? Or do you know what they want with it?" I ask with some curiosity and some suspicion.
"Yeah, they let me see a stone tablet that was found in Spain during the recent rebuilding efforts. It seems legit, and from what they tried to investigate themselves, it leads to Venice, Italy. They say they want it just to prove that it exists and that Christianity is the correct religion," Lara replies.
"But..." I inquire.
"But, I don't really buy it. Something about the man who sent me the stuff doesn't sit right with me. It also doesn't help that I haven't been able to dig up much info on him. But it also seems like they might be able to find the Grail with or without me, so I figured it might be worth it to look for it, and if they betray me, then I wouldn't mind some magical backup," Lara explains.
"Sounds like an adventure to me. Let's just hope we don't end up having to fight Nazi's and old WW1 era tanks," I joke.
"I don't get it, but get over here before noon tomorrow; they've been kind enough to fly me to Venice," Lara says with what I feel might be a smile.
"Got it, be there or be square," I joke again, but Lara responds this time by hanging up.
I put my phone down with a smile, and I wonder what strange adventure we'll get up to this time.
'How odd that Venice is a hotspot for two of Lara's adventures. First, the Illuminati and second, the Holy Grail. Huh... Now that I think about it, is the Rabbit of Caerbannog template a clue? I hope not. I'd rather not hear some Frenchman insult my father and mother.'
I shrug my shoulders and decide to wait and see what this adventure evolves into. Though I make sure to let everyone know I will be gone for a bit.
"Take me," Lucy demands.
"Uh, sure, I suppose. But we might need to disguise you, as I don't want those who harmed you to find you again," I say after a little thought.
I was going to say no, but I felt that she had been stuck in a lab for the last 70-plus years, and she deserved to see the world. And I figured Lara wouldn't mind if I brought someone else along.
"Hey, John, you want to take your wife on a trip to Venice?" I ask.
"I thought we were in hiding, and isn't most of the fighting happening in Italy?" John asks with a raised eyebrow.
"I can disguise you two. And while being around nature like this can be nice, I think you guys have been cooped up here long enough," I offer.
"Let me ask Helen, if she says yes, then sure that sounds lovely," John says with a smile.
Once Helen agrees every starts packing their luggage, and I start making the disguises. I didn't want to use masks as they were too uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time, and we might be in Venice for a bit. Instead, I enchanted some rings with some changeling magic, which is basically just a more in-depth illusion spell. They were made of sterner stuff, so the illusions wouldn't break easily. They would also not bother the user whatsoever. The only downside was that they needed to be charged quite often, but I could deal with that manually.
'That should do it.'
The disguises changed everyone so drastically that there was no way anyone could connect them to their original forms.
"Just be wary of any magical disturbances. The Witcher Necklace vibrates when you near magic or magic users. As long as you avoid magic users, you should be fine. Well, also avoid taking too much damage as that might break the illusions as well," I warn while giving everyone their rings, except John, who got to use my Wolf School Necklace.
Once that was done, I let Lara know I was heading over with some additional guests, and I apparated with everyone along for the ride and ignored the puking and nausea that everyone suffers from the massive teleportation.
'Eh, I doubt Lara will mind as it's on the lawn.'