One Month Ago
Three figures stand in the dimly lit road. Smoke billows up from the fire of a burning building, clouding the air and forming a dense cover over the block. The fire spreads from the house, running into the road and forming a growing wall. Where the tip of the flames end, the black smoke begins.
As the fire continues to burn, the three figures stare at each other. Each man keeps his eyes on the others, watching their movements, standing perfectly still. One of the men moves through the fire, his yellow tinted skin unaffected by the hot embers of the flame. This man is Lyle, a brutal murderer, known for his inhumane treatment of his victims. He uses no weapons, no devices, no special enhancements He does not need them. His only weapon are his fists and his muscles, giving him a power no normal man possess.
The other man on the street is Quickfire. A ruthless mercenary whose only desire is to kill his targets, and keep the from ever getting up again. He carries an array of weapons, each a new addition he picked up after every encounter. He smiles sadistically as he holds a nine millimeter pistol, pointing it to the back of the third man’s head.
The third man’s name is Pulse. The hero of Blitzen, known for his own unconventional and underclass methods. He wears a torn and bloody costume, his suit. It is stretched over his scarred and stitched body, barely staying together from its violent encounters.
"I'm going to rip out your throat for this." Pulse says in an hateful voice.
"A wise man once said 'There's nothing to fear, but fear itself." Quickfire says with a prideful cackle.
"Really?” Pulse starts, his fingers gripping together as he tightens his fists.
"Then he's never met me."
Pulse leans forward, thrusting his elbow back as he bends at his waist. His elbow slams into Quickfire’s ribcage, causing him to lower his arm and fire his gun. As his finger pulls back on the trigger in a nervous reaction, the bullets shoot through the air, narrowly missing Pulse’s back.
Reaching his arm back, Pulse grabs onto Quickfire’s wrist. His grip tightens, causing Quickfire to drop the gun to the ground. Pulse’s twists his arm, cracking his adversary’s wrist and shattering two of the bones inside. Quickfire immediately reacts in anger, punching Pulse in the lower back.
Brushing off the blows, Pulse pulls Quickfire forward by his arm, thrusting his other elbow into the mercenary’s waist. Quickfire ends his barrage of punches, and reaches to his belt. He pulls out a switchblade, extending the knife portion and raising his hand.
Reacting quickly, Pulse leans back, and thrusts his head backward. With a strong jerk, he slams the back of his head into Quickfire’s face. The blow disorients Quickfire, causing him to be blinded by pain as the cartilage in his nose snaps away from the bone. Blood trickles down from his nostrils as he yells out in rage, ending his attack with his blade.
Pulse turns around and releases Quickfire’s arm. He flips around, hitting the assassin with his foot in a roundhouse kick. As his enemy falls to the ground, Pulse catches him by his arm, grabbing him by the wrist on his other hand. Pulse twists the arm at the joint, popping it from the upper bones and causing Quickfire to drop his knife.
Quickfire throws a punch to Pulse’s side, hitting him in a fleshy area, and causing the hero to release him. As Pulse stumbles forward a few steps, Quickfire grabs his gun on the ground. He jumps back to his feet, not realizing the extent of the damage to his left arm. He tries to pistol whip Pulse, flailing randomly at his foe.
Pulse dodges the attacks with ease, moving about the attacks with much room to spare. He drops to the ground, falling underneath Quickfire’s legs. He thrusts his fists into the ground and forces his body up, kicking Quickfire’s jaw and knocking his head upward.
Continuing the attack, Pulse flips to his feet, landing perfectly on the broken sidewalk. As Quickfire recovers, he aims his gun, preparing to fire. Pulse doesn’t hesitate, sending a shockwave from his legs, he propels himself into the air. Like a missile, he moves upward in a straight line. Quickfire fires at Pulse before his figure fades into the cloud of smoke above, disappearing into the thick mass.
Below, Quickfire falls to his knees, the pain from his arm suddenly hitting him like a bullet. He yells in anger, gritting his teeth as he looks down to his arm.
“****!” He screams, flailing his dislocated arm.
“He broke my arm! He ****ing dislodged it! That little ****!”
[BLACKOUT]“It’s your fault, Quickfire.” [/BLACKOUT]Lyle says in a disappointed voice.
[BLACKOUT]“You took your eyes off of him!” [/BLACKOUT]
“For one second!”
[BLACKOUT]
“One second too much. Pulse is fast. You can’t blink when dealing with him.” [/BLACKOUT]
“Yeah,” Quickfire says as he reloads his gun with one hand.
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
[BLACKOUT]“You let him get away, you fool! Now he could be anywhere! You can’t **** up like that again, boy!” [/BLACKOUT]
“I’m not stupid, Lyle!” He retorts with a sneer.
“Pulse didn’t run. He’ll be back. He’d never runaway from a chance like this.”
[BLACKOUT]“Like what?” [/BLACKOUT]
“To kill two guys like us. Murderers. Assassins. To him,” he smiles, rising to his feet and pushing the clip of the gun in, pressing it against his thigh.
“It’s personal.”
[BLACKOUT]“Guess you’re right.” [/BLACKOUT]Lyle says with a grin.
[BLACKOUT]“Guy’s too damn stubborn for his own good.” [/BLACKOUT]
Lyle shakes his head in laughter, his grin wide and sinister. His eyes fall onto the area around Quickfire, staring intently. As he looks closer, he notices something odd. He notices something missing, an object that was there not seconds before. His grin fades as he remembers what the object was, and he stands straight as his eyes slowly move up to Quickfire’s head.
[BLACKOUT]“Hey,” [/BLACKOUT]he starts as his body becomes tense with worry.
[BLACKOUT]“Where’s your switchblade?” [/BLACKOUT]
Quickfire looks down to the ground, looking intently for his blade. To his surprise, it is gone, no trace of the small knife left behind. Immediately, Quickfire raises his head, trying to search for the imminent danger. Before he can blink, a loud whistling noise sounds.
It quickly dies, cutting off abruptly with no trail. Blood sprays up from Quickfire’s neck, spewing into the air like a leaky pipe. He yells out in a silent cry, blood and saliva dripping from his mouth.
As Lyle looks more closely, he notices something in Quickfire’s neck. It’s his switchblade, returned and embedded in the assassin’s throat. Lyle’s eyes move to the sky, intently looking for Pulse. As he stares at the sky, he hears Quickfire’s body hit the ground with a thump, followed by a dying groan.
[BLACKOUT]“Dammit…” [/BLACKOUT]Lyle whispers to himself.
[BLACKOUT]“He killed him. He ****ing got him.”[/BLACKOUT] Lyle moves forward, cracking his body and trying to untense his muscles as he prepares to fight his seemingly invisible opponent.
[BLACKOUT]“Nice moves, Pulse.” [/BLACKOUT]He calls out with a nervous smile.
[BLACKOUT]“But it will take more than just a knife to kill me.” [/BLACKOUT]
“I know!” A voice yells out in anger. Suddenly, Pulse descends from the sky, moving faster than he had when he ascended. His feet plow into the back of Lyle’s head, knocking him forward and sending his face crashing into the hard asphalt ground. Bits of rocks jump up into the air as Lyle falls, hitting the ground with a loud thud.
"That's why I've thought this through."
Pulse immediately flips off his enemy’s head, landing flatly on his feet in front of the behemoth. Lyle rises slowly, quickly recovering from the attack. He growls in rage as he stares at Pulse, his teeth glistening in the dim fire light. Pulse stares at Lyle with his arms folded across his chest, smiling beneath his mask with a wide grin.
“Hurts doesn’t it?” Pulse asks with a small laugh.
[BLACKOUT]“I’m going to pierce your organs with your bones, little man!” [/BLACKOUT]Lyle roars.
“You think you can kill me?” Pulse says, breaking his stance of leisure and changing to a fighting ready position.
“First you’ll have to touch me.”
[BLACKOUT]"Touch you?" [/BLACKOUT]Lyle asks as blood drips down from a single scratch over his eye.
[BLACKOUT]"I'll crush you!"[/BLACKOUT]
"Come on, then." Pulse says raising his hand, motioning to Lyle with his fingers.
"I'm eager to see more of your blood spill out on the ground."
