"Do you want to kill them?" There is no judgement in the man's voice. He is as calm and serene...
Wheel (Worm/Mage the Ascension)
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notanautomaton
I've got 99 quests, I've finished one
"Do you want to kill them?" There is no judgement in the man's voice. He is as calm and serene as I wish I was. It's at times like these that he seems ancient, though I know that he's only about a decade older than me. He's got tanned skin, and is muscular, in a wiry way. His face is severe, but at this moment it's blank. I know academically that his name is Neal Blake, but I can only really think of him as my master.
"No, I don't. They're evil enough, but but doing that... It'd be wrong. It'd bring me down to their level."
"It is good that you don't want to descend, as killing is always an evil act, even when done with the best of intentions, against the evil. Only kill as a last resort, if the future evils you prevent are greater than the evils that you cause. And do not kill for your own sake, or solely for that reason, for to do so is to elevate your life above that of your victims. But you should not lie to yourself. To others, certainly, in service of a greater good, but not yourself. Admit that you want to kill them, accept it, and move on."
His words struck a chord. "I... I want to kill them. I want to do it so much. It would be easy, with what you've taught me. Take a knife, hit Sophia when she's unaware, then go after Emma and Madison. A few simple cuts, and everything would be so much better for me."
"It's good that you admit it to yourself Taylor, for that is the first step to controlling it. It is difficult, for one so soaked in blood as you, but to try is the first step on the path to success. Now, it is past time that we continued your training." With that he set down a pot of incense carved from a human skull. I breathed deeply from it, and allowed myself to begin to sink into the depths of meditation. And with meditation, I began to remember.
****
Hours later, when the memories flow from my mind like water leaving a cup, my master speaks again. "You have been learning well, better than I had thought for one so young, though perhaps you are old in your soul. But you lack experience in this life. So my task to you, is to solve the problem of your bullies with your newfound skills, in accordance with what you have learned. Then perhaps you will know that you are ready for the next step."
With that I stand, stretching the soreness and cramps from my muscles. I ascend the stairs from the basement, noting the subtle changes in the air as I move through the intricately carved door-frame. I walk home, deep in thought as to how I will solve the Trio. Three women. Morrigan, the Fates, the Norns. Now isn't that a thought? I can't help but laugh.
****
The next day I bear their taunts, barbs, and assaults stoically. I constantly remind myself that I have suffered far worse, but there is a gap between those lives and me that I can't just cross outside of the basement and my master. But I try my best to take their worst efforts with grace, and watch them in turn, more than I've ever watched anyone. With that I find something interesting. The Trio, and their hangers-on, are unlucky as I'd expect for them, Karma tainted as it is, but Sophia... Sophia's on a whole different level. I saw a flower wilt when she passed, and it would not surprise me to find that her family suffers from constant minor illnesses, and that their home is rotting. I can feel a shiver down my spine when she passes me by, and now that I'm paying attention I can tell that it's not just normal trepidation. The others are tainted, but she's rotting away from the inside out.
With all of them I can tell that their Karma is... disjointed. I fix that during Parahuman Studies, dropping into meditation while Mister Gladly tries to be the cool teacher, and channel Lakshmi, putting their Karma to right. They will suffer, perhaps horribly, but that is none of my concern. After all, I'm just doing what my master taught me. I won't lie, I feel no small satisfaction when their Karma falls into place, but I try to suppress that part of myself. I should not take pride in my work, after all.
However, when it comes time to do Sophia, something in her strikes back. I feel a stabbing pain in my left hand, and when I look down I'm bleeding. I quickly excuse myself and leave class before anyone realizes that I'm injured more than can be easily explained. I think of heading to the nurse's office, but instead I just head to the shop. My master will know what to do.
****
"And you're sure that you only tried to right her Karma? You didn't try to have her chair break right there or something? You just put things back on their proper course?" My master seems agitated. He's pacing, which I've never seen him do, and I can't help but start to worry.
"Yes, I just put her back onto the Wheel, and this happened! Do you have any idea what happened?"
"I've had this happen before but only... is there any chance that Sophia is a parahuman?" My heart stops for a second. Sophia, a parahuman? But who could she be? She couldn't be in the Empire, and the ABB's out for similar reasons. I can't imagine her in the Merchants, which only leaves independents. Things start to click into place. The way they could always get into my locker for one, but other, smaller things as well.
"...I suppose it could be possible. She could be one of the minor criminals or something." I start talking almost aimlessly, but my Master is already moving, opening a cabinet and looking through cards.
"Here we go. Sophia Hess, Shadow Stalker." My tormentor was one of the Wards. Even when she stuffed me in that locker, she was pretending to be a hero.
"What the hell am I supposed to do?"
"You do not need to worry Taylor. I'll handle Sophia. It is troubling that the that the Technocracy has allowed such taint into their ranks. But this is above your pay-grade, so to speak. Not that you get paid." He smiles at his own joke. "But remember, avoid using magic directly on parahumans. Their spiritual taint shreds the wheel of Karma, and can injure or spread to attackers. If you run across another parahuman, use your powers to enhance yourself, or attack them indirectly instead."
"I'll keep that in mind master, but I'm not sure when I'm going to run into another parahuman. I mean, they're not exactly common."
With that my master smiles. "You will have a chance sooner than you'd think my student. You see, I think tonight you should start the next phase of your training. Tonight, you will go out and help people, while wearing one of those costumes. Did you not want to be a superhero when you were a child? Well now is your chance, though never forget that we are no heroes."
With that he opened one of the cabinets on the side of the room, pulling out a costume. It looked like something that could be homemade, if you were a cosplayer or something. Black jeans, a black shirt, under a black leather jacket. On top of the assembly was a helmet shaped like a demon's face. And did I mention the knives? Because there are a ton of them, in every pocket, all sharp and balanced for throwing. He also handed me a bat, saying "your sword," with a smile. I have little doubt that the assembly was enchanted for durability, and possibly more.
I change quickly, under the expectant eye of my master. I no longer have much of a sense of modesty, at least when it comes to my underwear. That had been one of the first things to go in our sessions, right before my innocence and my helplessness.
"Walk the threads of fate, and find where you must go."
And so I walk up the stairs and into the night.
****
And that's how I ended up in an alley, watching Lung rile up his troops.
"…the children, just shoot. Doesn't matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?" My blood went cold. Killing kids wasn't something I could allow, but I didn't have a cell phone, and it would take forever to find a pay phone in the Docks. This left me with only one option.
I sink to my knees, entering a meditative state so as to draw on the skills of my past lives. The instincts of one thousand blood-soaked killers flows through me, adding to the work already done with my master. By now, even normally I'm skilled in all forms of combat, from guns to knives to bare hands, as well as stealth and athletic abilities. Unfortunately my body can't really keep up with my reflexes, but I have enough 'experience' fighting while weakened that it's not as much of an issue as it would be. With my mind open I take on the battle-stances of the ancient Chakravanti, preparing for the coming storm.
With death in my heart I strike, three knives flying across the crowd to embed themselves in the chest of the dragon of Kyushu. Someone yells. "Cape!" I can't bring myself to care.
I move like wind and water, ever flowing between their strikes while dealing my own in turn. No movement is wasted, almost as if I am a warrior-monk or samurai in a wuxia movie. Of course, those characters are heroes. I'm not even close.
A roundhouse swing to one gang member's head with my bat. Another gets a knife in the guts, and yet another's nose is splattered across my foot. The gangsters are fearful creatures at their core, and when they realize that I won't fall easily they scatter. I take a moment to exult in my first victory in this incarnation.
That was my mistake.
Only reflexes honed across millennia stop me from being grabbed by a claw the size of my torso. I realize with panic in my heart that Lung has grown massive; nine feet tall and covered with metallic scales, themselves wreathed in fire. My knives seem so very small against such a beast.
I turn and run.
"'ill 'ou!" Shouts the dragon, charging after me. I knuckle down and run faster, thinking desperately of ways to save myself.
I try channeling Hanuman, then Vayu, to get the speed that I'd need to escape, but the magic doesn't take, or rather, it doesn't take enough. With the dragon fast approaching, I give myself up to Karma.
Moments later I'm covered in darkness! I can't see, and I can't even smell or hear. The darkness feels like oil on my skin.
The darkness fades, revealing the forms of three monsters being ridden by costumed figures. One yells at me; "Get on!" He's wearing a skull helmet, and biker leathers. I dimly remember him as being Grue, of the Undersiders, a minor gang of villains.
I grab his leather-clad hand and swing onto the beast, which I now realize to be a dog mutated by Hellhound, and we ride away almost the instant I get on. It's not a moment too soon.
Lung lunges out of the darkness, coming after us. But now that I'm on a dog-beast I should be able to outrun him... And then his head explodes.
Shards of bone go flying, and the dogs peter to a halt. What the actual fuck is going on here?
My master steps from the shadows, moving as silently as the owl tattooed on his back. His voice is soft, and smooth like silk as he speaks.
"Hello Undersiders. Hello retard."
"Master I-"
"Shut up retard. Thank you for coming to her aid in her hour of need, now would you kindly let her go. We need to have words."
I get down from the dog-beast and walk over, head held low. Tattletale speaks up; "Well, it was nice meeting you guys, but I kind of left the oven on, so..."
With that they turn and leave, leaving me to my fate. I guess you could call it Karma.
"So retard, tell me what you were thinking back there, if you were indeed thinking at all."
"Lung was going to kill kids! I couldn't just sit back and let that happen, if I could have any chance of stopping it!" It's weird fighting with my master, rather than just sitting back and letting him guide me. But this is important.
"Yes you could have you fool! Are you suicidal, or just retarded? You could have run for help, you could have run away and called the police, you could have looked ahead and saw that he meant the Undersiders, you could have done any of a hundred different things." I'm floored. He had been talking about the Undersiders? I had almost gotten killed over a bunch of criminals? Even as I'm working through my shock, my master continues; "Your life matters Taylor. You matter. Even if you are one of the Chakravanti, there is no reason for you to throw your life away, not when you can do so much more alive."
"...I understand master. Nothing like this will happen again." He nods, and hands me a cell phone.
"Start carrying it, so that you can call for help if it does. Now, go home and think about what you've done."
****
The next day I log on to the internet in my Programming class to check my PHO account and see what people are saying about Lung's death. After a few minutes of browsing it becomes apparent that the two main suspects are the Euthanatos and the Empire, given that Victor's been known to use a sniper rifle. The Undersiders are presumed to be accomplices in either case, after someone saw Grue's cloud of darkness. What's more interesting is a post in the missed connections section of the forum.
Subject: Thug
We gave you a lift. Need to talk. Meet?
Send a message,
Tt.
Tattletale wants to meet with me? Why would a villain want that? She has to have figured out what me and my master are by now, especially if she's half the Thinker we think she is. She has to know that we're no friends to the criminal underground, even minor criminals like her and her team. I can't help but be curious.
In Parahuman studies later I can't help but notice that Sophia is missing, and Emma is subdued, leading to a relatively small amount of harassment through the day.
While eating my lunch in the bathroom, I pull out the phone my master gave me and check the contacts. He's in there, labeled as Neal. I send him a quick text; 'Tt wants to meet. What should I do?'
A minute later I get a response; 'Check the portents, see if they foretell danger. If they're clear, you are free to go.'
I finish my lunch quickly, and walk to a window facing the road. There are ten crows, or maybe ravens, sitting on a power-line. I have to go to the meeting. The library is clear, so I log on to one of the computers and send a message back.
'Willing to meet. Boardwalk, 8:00 tonight.'
****
That evening I go the boardwalk and give myself up to Karma, letting the wheel take me where it will. I soon find myself standing in front of a girl, about my age, wearing fashionable clothing. She's blonde and has a smattering of freckles across her cheeks.
"Hey there. Thanks for what you and yours did last night, we would have been dragon chow. Here." She hands me a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lunchbox. When I open it it's filled to the brim with twenty dollar bills. "Take it as a show of thanks."
My voice is monotone. "I can't accept this. We're not supposed to take money for what we do, and you should know that."
"Come on, think about all the cool toys you could buy with this! Assault rifles, a pistol, or whatever. You could even go right out and donate it to charity if you want. And if you don't take it, I'll just use it for something, which will probably be less altruistic than what you would do with it. Think of it as a thank you from someone you helped."
"...Okay, I'll take your money." I mentally resolve to drop it off at a homeless shelter or something.
"Good. Now, there's a way you could make a lot more money, if you're so inclined. It'd even be within the remit of your.. organization."
I become a bit wary. I've heard horror stories of what happens when we take commissions. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. In fact, it's probably something that you would have done eventually anyways. I want you to kill my boss."
"What?"
"You heard me. My boss recruited me at gunpoint, forced me to use my power on his behalf, and I think he's planning on taking over the city. He has an army of mercenaries, that he keeps loyal by playing to their vices. He lets them do some pretty nasty shit, and he doesn't care so long as they're loyal."
"Your boss is Coil."
"Got it in one chief! He's a nasty son of a bitch, and I need you to take him down."
"If, and only if, what you say is true, then I think we could swing killing him. We'll need to do our own, independent, investigation first though. And I'll need to ask my master."
"Alright. Be careful though, I haven't gotten a good read on his power, even with my super-intuition. He claims that he can control destiny, but I'm not sure if he's bullshitting me or not. And don't take too long, or he'll realize that I'm lying to him about why I contacted you, and have me killed, or worse."
"Fine. Be careful." I turn to walk away, simultaneously picking up my phone and dialing my master.
"No, I don't. They're evil enough, but but doing that... It'd be wrong. It'd bring me down to their level."
"It is good that you don't want to descend, as killing is always an evil act, even when done with the best of intentions, against the evil. Only kill as a last resort, if the future evils you prevent are greater than the evils that you cause. And do not kill for your own sake, or solely for that reason, for to do so is to elevate your life above that of your victims. But you should not lie to yourself. To others, certainly, in service of a greater good, but not yourself. Admit that you want to kill them, accept it, and move on."
His words struck a chord. "I... I want to kill them. I want to do it so much. It would be easy, with what you've taught me. Take a knife, hit Sophia when she's unaware, then go after Emma and Madison. A few simple cuts, and everything would be so much better for me."
"It's good that you admit it to yourself Taylor, for that is the first step to controlling it. It is difficult, for one so soaked in blood as you, but to try is the first step on the path to success. Now, it is past time that we continued your training." With that he set down a pot of incense carved from a human skull. I breathed deeply from it, and allowed myself to begin to sink into the depths of meditation. And with meditation, I began to remember.
****
Hours later, when the memories flow from my mind like water leaving a cup, my master speaks again. "You have been learning well, better than I had thought for one so young, though perhaps you are old in your soul. But you lack experience in this life. So my task to you, is to solve the problem of your bullies with your newfound skills, in accordance with what you have learned. Then perhaps you will know that you are ready for the next step."
With that I stand, stretching the soreness and cramps from my muscles. I ascend the stairs from the basement, noting the subtle changes in the air as I move through the intricately carved door-frame. I walk home, deep in thought as to how I will solve the Trio. Three women. Morrigan, the Fates, the Norns. Now isn't that a thought? I can't help but laugh.
****
The next day I bear their taunts, barbs, and assaults stoically. I constantly remind myself that I have suffered far worse, but there is a gap between those lives and me that I can't just cross outside of the basement and my master. But I try my best to take their worst efforts with grace, and watch them in turn, more than I've ever watched anyone. With that I find something interesting. The Trio, and their hangers-on, are unlucky as I'd expect for them, Karma tainted as it is, but Sophia... Sophia's on a whole different level. I saw a flower wilt when she passed, and it would not surprise me to find that her family suffers from constant minor illnesses, and that their home is rotting. I can feel a shiver down my spine when she passes me by, and now that I'm paying attention I can tell that it's not just normal trepidation. The others are tainted, but she's rotting away from the inside out.
With all of them I can tell that their Karma is... disjointed. I fix that during Parahuman Studies, dropping into meditation while Mister Gladly tries to be the cool teacher, and channel Lakshmi, putting their Karma to right. They will suffer, perhaps horribly, but that is none of my concern. After all, I'm just doing what my master taught me. I won't lie, I feel no small satisfaction when their Karma falls into place, but I try to suppress that part of myself. I should not take pride in my work, after all.
However, when it comes time to do Sophia, something in her strikes back. I feel a stabbing pain in my left hand, and when I look down I'm bleeding. I quickly excuse myself and leave class before anyone realizes that I'm injured more than can be easily explained. I think of heading to the nurse's office, but instead I just head to the shop. My master will know what to do.
****
"And you're sure that you only tried to right her Karma? You didn't try to have her chair break right there or something? You just put things back on their proper course?" My master seems agitated. He's pacing, which I've never seen him do, and I can't help but start to worry.
"Yes, I just put her back onto the Wheel, and this happened! Do you have any idea what happened?"
"I've had this happen before but only... is there any chance that Sophia is a parahuman?" My heart stops for a second. Sophia, a parahuman? But who could she be? She couldn't be in the Empire, and the ABB's out for similar reasons. I can't imagine her in the Merchants, which only leaves independents. Things start to click into place. The way they could always get into my locker for one, but other, smaller things as well.
"...I suppose it could be possible. She could be one of the minor criminals or something." I start talking almost aimlessly, but my Master is already moving, opening a cabinet and looking through cards.
"Here we go. Sophia Hess, Shadow Stalker." My tormentor was one of the Wards. Even when she stuffed me in that locker, she was pretending to be a hero.
"What the hell am I supposed to do?"
"You do not need to worry Taylor. I'll handle Sophia. It is troubling that the that the Technocracy has allowed such taint into their ranks. But this is above your pay-grade, so to speak. Not that you get paid." He smiles at his own joke. "But remember, avoid using magic directly on parahumans. Their spiritual taint shreds the wheel of Karma, and can injure or spread to attackers. If you run across another parahuman, use your powers to enhance yourself, or attack them indirectly instead."
"I'll keep that in mind master, but I'm not sure when I'm going to run into another parahuman. I mean, they're not exactly common."
With that my master smiles. "You will have a chance sooner than you'd think my student. You see, I think tonight you should start the next phase of your training. Tonight, you will go out and help people, while wearing one of those costumes. Did you not want to be a superhero when you were a child? Well now is your chance, though never forget that we are no heroes."
With that he opened one of the cabinets on the side of the room, pulling out a costume. It looked like something that could be homemade, if you were a cosplayer or something. Black jeans, a black shirt, under a black leather jacket. On top of the assembly was a helmet shaped like a demon's face. And did I mention the knives? Because there are a ton of them, in every pocket, all sharp and balanced for throwing. He also handed me a bat, saying "your sword," with a smile. I have little doubt that the assembly was enchanted for durability, and possibly more.
I change quickly, under the expectant eye of my master. I no longer have much of a sense of modesty, at least when it comes to my underwear. That had been one of the first things to go in our sessions, right before my innocence and my helplessness.
"Walk the threads of fate, and find where you must go."
And so I walk up the stairs and into the night.
****
And that's how I ended up in an alley, watching Lung rile up his troops.
"…the children, just shoot. Doesn't matter your aim, just shoot. You see one lying on the ground? Shoot the little bitch twice more to be sure. We give them no chances to be clever or lucky, understand?" My blood went cold. Killing kids wasn't something I could allow, but I didn't have a cell phone, and it would take forever to find a pay phone in the Docks. This left me with only one option.
I sink to my knees, entering a meditative state so as to draw on the skills of my past lives. The instincts of one thousand blood-soaked killers flows through me, adding to the work already done with my master. By now, even normally I'm skilled in all forms of combat, from guns to knives to bare hands, as well as stealth and athletic abilities. Unfortunately my body can't really keep up with my reflexes, but I have enough 'experience' fighting while weakened that it's not as much of an issue as it would be. With my mind open I take on the battle-stances of the ancient Chakravanti, preparing for the coming storm.
With death in my heart I strike, three knives flying across the crowd to embed themselves in the chest of the dragon of Kyushu. Someone yells. "Cape!" I can't bring myself to care.
I move like wind and water, ever flowing between their strikes while dealing my own in turn. No movement is wasted, almost as if I am a warrior-monk or samurai in a wuxia movie. Of course, those characters are heroes. I'm not even close.
A roundhouse swing to one gang member's head with my bat. Another gets a knife in the guts, and yet another's nose is splattered across my foot. The gangsters are fearful creatures at their core, and when they realize that I won't fall easily they scatter. I take a moment to exult in my first victory in this incarnation.
That was my mistake.
Only reflexes honed across millennia stop me from being grabbed by a claw the size of my torso. I realize with panic in my heart that Lung has grown massive; nine feet tall and covered with metallic scales, themselves wreathed in fire. My knives seem so very small against such a beast.
I turn and run.
"'ill 'ou!" Shouts the dragon, charging after me. I knuckle down and run faster, thinking desperately of ways to save myself.
I try channeling Hanuman, then Vayu, to get the speed that I'd need to escape, but the magic doesn't take, or rather, it doesn't take enough. With the dragon fast approaching, I give myself up to Karma.
Moments later I'm covered in darkness! I can't see, and I can't even smell or hear. The darkness feels like oil on my skin.
The darkness fades, revealing the forms of three monsters being ridden by costumed figures. One yells at me; "Get on!" He's wearing a skull helmet, and biker leathers. I dimly remember him as being Grue, of the Undersiders, a minor gang of villains.
I grab his leather-clad hand and swing onto the beast, which I now realize to be a dog mutated by Hellhound, and we ride away almost the instant I get on. It's not a moment too soon.
Lung lunges out of the darkness, coming after us. But now that I'm on a dog-beast I should be able to outrun him... And then his head explodes.
Shards of bone go flying, and the dogs peter to a halt. What the actual fuck is going on here?
My master steps from the shadows, moving as silently as the owl tattooed on his back. His voice is soft, and smooth like silk as he speaks.
"Hello Undersiders. Hello retard."
"Master I-"
"Shut up retard. Thank you for coming to her aid in her hour of need, now would you kindly let her go. We need to have words."
I get down from the dog-beast and walk over, head held low. Tattletale speaks up; "Well, it was nice meeting you guys, but I kind of left the oven on, so..."
With that they turn and leave, leaving me to my fate. I guess you could call it Karma.
"So retard, tell me what you were thinking back there, if you were indeed thinking at all."
"Lung was going to kill kids! I couldn't just sit back and let that happen, if I could have any chance of stopping it!" It's weird fighting with my master, rather than just sitting back and letting him guide me. But this is important.
"Yes you could have you fool! Are you suicidal, or just retarded? You could have run for help, you could have run away and called the police, you could have looked ahead and saw that he meant the Undersiders, you could have done any of a hundred different things." I'm floored. He had been talking about the Undersiders? I had almost gotten killed over a bunch of criminals? Even as I'm working through my shock, my master continues; "Your life matters Taylor. You matter. Even if you are one of the Chakravanti, there is no reason for you to throw your life away, not when you can do so much more alive."
"...I understand master. Nothing like this will happen again." He nods, and hands me a cell phone.
"Start carrying it, so that you can call for help if it does. Now, go home and think about what you've done."
****
The next day I log on to the internet in my Programming class to check my PHO account and see what people are saying about Lung's death. After a few minutes of browsing it becomes apparent that the two main suspects are the Euthanatos and the Empire, given that Victor's been known to use a sniper rifle. The Undersiders are presumed to be accomplices in either case, after someone saw Grue's cloud of darkness. What's more interesting is a post in the missed connections section of the forum.
Subject: Thug
We gave you a lift. Need to talk. Meet?
Send a message,
Tt.
Tattletale wants to meet with me? Why would a villain want that? She has to have figured out what me and my master are by now, especially if she's half the Thinker we think she is. She has to know that we're no friends to the criminal underground, even minor criminals like her and her team. I can't help but be curious.
In Parahuman studies later I can't help but notice that Sophia is missing, and Emma is subdued, leading to a relatively small amount of harassment through the day.
While eating my lunch in the bathroom, I pull out the phone my master gave me and check the contacts. He's in there, labeled as Neal. I send him a quick text; 'Tt wants to meet. What should I do?'
A minute later I get a response; 'Check the portents, see if they foretell danger. If they're clear, you are free to go.'
I finish my lunch quickly, and walk to a window facing the road. There are ten crows, or maybe ravens, sitting on a power-line. I have to go to the meeting. The library is clear, so I log on to one of the computers and send a message back.
'Willing to meet. Boardwalk, 8:00 tonight.'
****
That evening I go the boardwalk and give myself up to Karma, letting the wheel take me where it will. I soon find myself standing in front of a girl, about my age, wearing fashionable clothing. She's blonde and has a smattering of freckles across her cheeks.
"Hey there. Thanks for what you and yours did last night, we would have been dragon chow. Here." She hands me a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lunchbox. When I open it it's filled to the brim with twenty dollar bills. "Take it as a show of thanks."
My voice is monotone. "I can't accept this. We're not supposed to take money for what we do, and you should know that."
"Come on, think about all the cool toys you could buy with this! Assault rifles, a pistol, or whatever. You could even go right out and donate it to charity if you want. And if you don't take it, I'll just use it for something, which will probably be less altruistic than what you would do with it. Think of it as a thank you from someone you helped."
"...Okay, I'll take your money." I mentally resolve to drop it off at a homeless shelter or something.
"Good. Now, there's a way you could make a lot more money, if you're so inclined. It'd even be within the remit of your.. organization."
I become a bit wary. I've heard horror stories of what happens when we take commissions. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. In fact, it's probably something that you would have done eventually anyways. I want you to kill my boss."
"What?"
"You heard me. My boss recruited me at gunpoint, forced me to use my power on his behalf, and I think he's planning on taking over the city. He has an army of mercenaries, that he keeps loyal by playing to their vices. He lets them do some pretty nasty shit, and he doesn't care so long as they're loyal."
"Your boss is Coil."
"Got it in one chief! He's a nasty son of a bitch, and I need you to take him down."
"If, and only if, what you say is true, then I think we could swing killing him. We'll need to do our own, independent, investigation first though. And I'll need to ask my master."
"Alright. Be careful though, I haven't gotten a good read on his power, even with my super-intuition. He claims that he can control destiny, but I'm not sure if he's bullshitting me or not. And don't take too long, or he'll realize that I'm lying to him about why I contacted you, and have me killed, or worse."
"Fine. Be careful." I turn to walk away, simultaneously picking up my phone and dialing my master.
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