《Rise of the Henchman》 Chapter 1: First Day Today I start my life as a henchman. You might be wondering why I chose to work under a villain. The reason is simple, it pays. The money I am able to make is far more than anything I could make through normal means. I have no particular talents and I don''t come from an influential family, so it¡¯s either this or flipping burgers. A fellow newcomer asks "Why am I #23 and and the others numbers don¡¯t follow any sequential order at all?" "Because you are all replacing dead members and taking their numbers" replied senior henchman #7. So yeah, we just received a real morale boost there. I am with five others as we finished our orientation for our boss, the Puzzle Master. He is a supervillain without any remarkable achievements, nor is he a promising talent, just an ordinary villain. His specialty is puzzles, he is smart but his plans are very convoluted and the mortality rate of his henchmen are high, mainly because of the death traps he makes them build. Worst of all, we wear a white one-piece tight suit that covers our entire bodies with black question mark symbols all over the suit and we wear a mask to boot. It¡¯s one thing to work us to death but to also humiliate us by wearing this crap? It¡¯s just down right insulting. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. After the orientation is done, we are assigned numbers instead of names, of which I am #63. My role is to loot and fight with the hero that comes to stop us but when I¡¯m not partaking in a request by the guild I am working with the trap creating group. Currently we are building a box that traps the person inside it and when it activates it starts the timer of a bomb. The only way to get out is by saying the correct word. The question is what is god''s name and the answer is Judgment. Curious I asked the head designer ¡°What is the theme that the puzzle master uses?¡± ¡°The main thing is that he uses references to Judgment¡± replied senior henchman #3 ¡°Does he get off on controlling the fate of others or something?¡± ¡°Probably, he is a major control freak. You better keep a low profile because he will use people as lab rats and will outright kill those that survive if he is in a bad mood.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that get him in trouble with the FOA?¡± ¡°He is, word is if he fails his next mission he could be up for termination. So right now he is in a perpetually bad mood.¡± Damnit, why does my life suck so hard. Chapter 2: Rushing Ahead It has been one week since I¡¯ve come to work under the Puzzle Master and right now we are on the final stages of his trap ¡°The Box of Judgment¡±. When a new recruit asked the Puzzle Master why the answer is in the name of the trap, he was chosen to partake in an ¡°experiment¡± and ¡°accidentally¡± died. Right now everyone is frantically working while being as quiet as possible when the Puzzle Master barged into the shop. ¡°This trap is too simple, make it so that I am shown asking the question. Add a touch screen to answer the question and shorten the timer to 10 seconds!¡± Screamed the Puzzle Master. ¡°Understood¡± responded #3. This is the third time this week that he has charged in and demanded a change in the trap. The first was the change in the question and answer to the trap, the second was the color scheme, and now this. We boarded a train and left overworked station three stops ago. It¡¯s to the point that several people are falling asleep while standing and we narrowly avoided a crisis twice so far. Everything would be done already if he hadn¡¯t kept making changes and it is easy to see the resentment in everyone¡¯s eyes. Shortly after we completed the trap when the door swings open and the Puzzle Master comes in. ¡°About time you lazy idiots. We are going to perform a heist at the Egyptian museum of Little City tonight at 11. So get your bum asses moving.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. After he left we all performed the orz pose because it was a little after 10. ¡°Everyone take a five minute break, then get to the gathering area¡± stated by #3. ¡°But we haven¡¯t finished the checks on all the system and we rushed the install of the pad¡± commented # 72. ¡°The trap design sucks and it is going to be seen very easily so it probably won¡¯t even be triggered. If anything happens it¡¯s Puzzle Masters fault so don¡¯t think about it¡± said #3. I then asked ¡° But what about the potential fight with the hero, I¡¯ve been here for a week and have not done any group training since I got here.¡± ¡°#63 you are new here so it¡¯s expected you don¡¯t know how we fight. It¡¯s pretty simple, use your judgment and fight like how you were taught in boot camp to try and survive.¡± #3 responded matter of factly. At that I face palmed and truly regretted working under the Puzzle Master. Chapter 3: First Job Currently I am setting up the trap with a few others, while the remaining are taking out the museum guards. As we are doing this the Puzzle Master is looting the Egyptian relics and yelling for us to move faster. After about 20 minutes, we finished and the others have secured the guards. ¡°Finally, now loot, you bunch of fools!¡± Screamed the Puzzle Master. With no energy we went to loot. I went and looted the cash register in the gift shop. While I did that the Puzzle Master screamed at me ¡°Why are you looting the gift shop you twit!?¡± I replied ¡°There is cash in the register.¡± ¡°DON¡¯T GO AFTER SOME CHANGE YOU DAMN LAB RAT!¡± After the exchange, I hurriedly left to help the others with what they are doing. We are trying to move a huge granite tablet with Egyptian writing. While we were holding it above our heads, the doors swung open and there stood a superhero, Mongoose. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Stop right there evildoers!¡± Exclaimed the Mongoose. ¡°So you¡¯ve come Mongoose. Today you shall die!¡± Yelled the Puzzle Master. As this exchange occurred I thought to myself, ¡°How did the Puzzle Master expect to have the Mongoose trigger the trap?¡± I then asked #3 in which he replied ¡°Now that you mention it, he sucks at fighting and I didn¡¯t hear a plan involving anyone else.¡± With that said we, who were holding the tablet, dropped the tablet and fled to the emergency escape exit. There were a few others within earshot of our conversation that also ran with us. As we ran, I could hear the puzzle master yelling something loudly but I was not paying much attention. Suddenly I could not hear him anymore. I looked back and saw the trap had activated but I could not see the Puzzle Master. Shortly after I left the building there was a loud explosion with smoke surrounding the building. Side Story: Puzzle Master Aftermath "So, what''s the damage Chico?" Asked Mr. Smith. "We have confirmed with the FAO guild that the head belongs to the villain Puzzle Master. We have retrieved most of his left arm but the rest of the body is spread out and it will need to be pieced together by the M.E." Replied Chico. "And the rest?" "The hero, Mongoose, received the brunt of the damage and is in critical condition but is expected to survive. Also, two henchmen are dead, another two are in critical with a 50/50 chance of survival, and five more are injured but are expected to fully recover. Finally, the guards were under some rubble but fortunately only one suffered a concussion and that is it." "It''s good the guards are alright but this never would happen if we took those guys down." The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Mr. Smith, you know that we are in a del-" "Stop spewing their bullshit Chico. The higher ups feed you that shit so as to keep people like us in line. They are gutless cowards that won''t fix this world." "Then what about the GOP, they fight to keep the FAO in check." "More bullshit, they don''t desire peace because they won''t get any more benefits. Listen to me Chico, those backstabbing shitstains collude with the FAO to keep this senseless violence going. What I want, what we should all want is for this all to end so that the civilians can live their lives in peace instead of this." Mr. Smith then kicks some charred rubble on the floor. Chapter 4: A new start The following day, all the henchmen that fled the museum were ordered to go to FAO headquarters to give a deposition. It was a week later, in which we were under house arrest, before we were sentenced. The ruling was we were not at fault for the explosion because it was determined that the defects were because the Puzzle Master was overworking us and the blame for that will fall on him. But the real issue was us fleeing, the ruled that they do not fault us for running away from a boss the was acting irrational but they can¡¯t not punish us, so they sentenced us to do 1 month of boot camp. It is now the day my sentence is over and I am using the guilds void library to research my new super villain boss. He is Lord Zek, a promising supervillain that is less a year away from becoming a senior super villain. His abilities are super strength and the ability to manipulate heat. From what I read he is a level headed person and he is more of a scientist than a fighter. But I came across a video in which he used 1 finger to burn through a car door and cut out a circle and then through it like a discus and decapitated a hero. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! A thing that makes him different is that he has three ¡°right-hand men¡± who are Claymore, Leon and Madam Mist. Claymore can manipulate clay and related substances, there is some is some rumors that he can do more but at this point it is pure speculation. Then there is Leon, he has super strength and abilities of animals such as a bat¡¯s sonar and a dog¡¯s smelling power. Finally, Madam Mist, she creates illusions with the condensation in the air. Also, it looks like Lord Zek is paired up with a superhero team, Defenders of Angel Grove (DAG). They are a 5 person team consisting of 3 men and 2 women, with the men''s color being red, blue and black while the women¡¯s are pink and yellow. Their suits provide them with enhanced strength and an individual ability. Red¡¯s ability is camouflage, blue can control drones, black¡¯s is enhanced defense, yellow¡¯s extreme speed, and Pink¡¯s spacial manipulation. With my research done, I begin to get ready to leave for Angel Grove. Chapter 5: Jasper I have been assigned to Claymore¡¯s group and am now wearing a black and white get-up. The jacket and pants are a cream white, the boots and gloves are black and a mask that¡¯s grey and looks like a mummy. Also I am assigned a name, Jasper. Currently there are ten of us and our names and colors correlate with gemstones, they are Slate, Jet, Lime, Azure Malachite, Tanzanite, Unakite, Heliodor and 2 senior henchmen Rhodonite and Star Garnet. We are gonna be working in two-man teams and my partner is Jet, who is 1 of 3 females on the team (Azure Malachite and Star Garnet). I was getting a tutorial by Jet, who is wearing a black jacket and pants with a pair of brown boots and leather gloves along with the black mummy like mask. Jet ¡°Our job is mainly to cause distractions and to take on the yellow defender.¡± ¡°I read that yellow is very fast, so how do we handle her?¡± I asked ¡°Her speed is only for short bursts and when she uses it she can¡¯t change her direction making it pretty linear. So the general plan is to stay close and force her to run into a corner of sorts.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°If that¡¯s general plan, then what about her fighting ability, some countermeasures must have been made?¡± ¡°She¡¯s average at fighting but the problem is that she tends to retreat to black, who is a gifted fighter and muttles our work with Tanzanite and Heliodor. So when we practice, they will be the main partners. Also our job is mainly to stall, not to win, most of the time we are tasked with either theft or destruction. We need to always be on alert for the signal to retreat.¡± ¡°Then what does Claymore do then?¡± ¡°He directs us from behind or is the one doing the thieving. The only time he will fight is when we need to win and the only one to see him fight among us is Rhodonite, who refuses to say anything about it.¡± After the conversation, she showed me around the base and informed me that my first job will be next saturday. With all I¡¯ve learned today, I¡¯m actually optimistic about working here. Chapter 6: Courthouse Destruction Currently I¡¯m in downtown of Angel Grove destroying the courthouse that is undergoing maintenance. From what I¡¯ve been able to gather the local politician embezzled and he is trying to cover his tracks by hiring us. After asking around I¡¯ve found out this is one of the most common request. Star Garnet ¡°Ok everyone, we will start by destroying the west corridor and then move east until the Guardians show up, now disperse.¡± With Star Garnets orders we began the demolition. Jet and I are the uppermost portion and are taking out our equipment. We are using jackhammers, that we took from the maintenance crew, to drill through a stone pillar in order to weaken the structure, create a hole in the pillar, and place explosives in it. The bombs are gonna be remotely detonated when we leave the building. In order to do the most destruction, when the guardians come we will fight them until Claymore finishes the job and tells us to pull out. Me and Jet are on our third pillar when they finally arrive. ¡°Stop this pointless destruction, evil doers!¡± Cried Red After their entrance the henchmen and I split up and start our fights. I am swinging my fists as fast as I can but I am not even close to hitting Yellow. Jet on the other hand is really pressing Yellow, twice she has had to use her quick burst to back away from Jet. I look around at the others fighting and besides the senior henchmen, they are struggling like me to an extent. Feeling relieved that Jet is just really good. I try to disrupt Yellow by throwing some rocks at her face I also throw a kick at her, which was able to connect. After she groaned, she used her speed to back away. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Jet ¡°Good job.¡± Jasper ¡°That was way too easy.¡± ¡°Like I told you before she is not that good at fighting.¡± After the brief talk, Black charges from Jets blind spot and I pull her out of the way and take the brunt of the hit, sending me to the wall. I have the wind knocked out of me and before Black could follow-up, Jet struck him and was able to push him off. Jet screamed at the other team ¡°What the hell are you doing letting Black blindside us!?¡± Heliodor ¡°Sorry, he suddenly just charged and we couldn¡¯t contain him.¡± As they were talking, I see Black is acting very concerned about Yellow. Looks like they are closer than just partners. As I get up, we start the joint fighting like we practiced and this continued for about ten minutes before Claymore gave the retreat orders. We rushed out of the building and got into our vehicle and fled. Once we were at the safe zone the bombs went off and about ? the building went down. Gray dust clouds covered the courthouse and its courtyard. Chapter 7: After the Courthouse After leaving the medics room, I¡¯m now in the lounge area in my sweatpants with no shirt since my upper body is bandaged, restricting my arm movement. I take a seat in a recliner and tried to grab the tv remote but it was a little out of reach, so I just gave up. Right after giving up, Jet hands it to me. ¡°Here.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°No problem, what¡¯s the diagnosis?¡± ¡°Cracked sternum, nothing physical for a month.¡± ¡°Glad it wasn¡¯t worse. Also thank you.¡± ¡°Welcome, I¡¯m sure you¡¯d do the same.¡± After the brief conversation she took a seat and I turn on the tv and start to watch the news. Before I could really pay attention to it, I took note of Jet. This is the first time I¡¯ve seen her without her suit on. Normally we train, hit the locker room, and then retire to our quarters. Now I¡¯m able to fully view her for the first time in casual wear. She has shoulder length blond hair, blue eyes, and a big set. I am really dumbfounded at how her suit could hide them. ¡°Looks like they are talking about us.¡± Heliodor commented, as he walked in. ¡°Yeah, we did do a number.¡± replied Jet. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Then I draw my attention back to the tv and watched the news. ¡°Veronica, could you please tell us any new information you may have learned.¡± Newscaster. ¡°Yes, we have learned that the destruction was caused by a sub group under the supervillain Lord Zek but we do not know at this time which one.¡± Veronica. ¡°Thank you. Now to reiterate today¡¯s top story, the Angle Groves courthouse has been partially destroyed. There have been no casualties reported. Fortunately the attack occurred before the scheduled shift began for the day so there were few workers at the site. However, some workers arriving to work were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. This was caused by the supervillain Lord Zek in his plan to destroy the courthouse building. The Guardians of Angel Grove were at the scene at the time of the incident but are still missing. Early speculation is that the Guardians were trying to foil a plot by Lord Zek and were unsuccessful. Although they are currently missing, there is speculation that they are fine. We are gathering witness testimonies as we speak in order to give you all more accurate information.¡± As the news was going on it showed security footage and I noticed Heliodor''s fight with the Black Guardian. Looks like I¡¯ve finally did something news worthy and I need to do some studying. Chapter: 8 Surveillance It¡¯s been a few weeks since the courthouse incident and I''m still not ready to get back to do my normal job. Currently my job is to scout out our next target, Claud¡¯s Software. The goal is to steal some technology for a rival tech group. I am somewhat familiar with the area is because I got Jet to show me around, but I kinda regret it because I learned she is really into fitness. I asked her to show me the town since I¡¯m new and let her show me the way, and it turned into a tour of the fitness related places, It kinda ruins my image of her because on the tour the only thing that she really talked about was fitness related, I have some hope that things might workout but I¡¯ve really become disillusioned with her. I¡¯m passing by the building while taking note that their security is really tight. The reception area is filled with security and they seem really competent or at least really attentive. What I mean is normally they are moderately fit but all these security members are clearly not the norm. Continuing my walk, I enter the park were I pull up the software companies information. Looking through it I found that they hired Zeno Corps Protection Agency but aside from that nothing abnormal comes up. Apparently they hire ex-military, however I¡¯m not convinced that that is all that there is to it. I call in to report this to Claymore and he says he will look into this. With this done I decide to walk around the city a bit more because my last stroll was a real disappointment. When I went to the mall, I was near the food court area and heard some obnoxious laughter. Turning to look at the people making the ruckus, what I see are a man and a woman laughing at a man on the ground holding onto his groin. From what I could make out the guy was struck in the groin from a swift kick from his girlfriend. And the woman''s voice sounds familiar so I take a picture and do a cross reference of her face finding out that she is Yellow. So by process of elimination the guy she is laughing with is Black. Out of curiousity I decided to tail them for a little bit to see if I can find something out about them. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. After a few hours I gave up on tailing them and learned a few things. First that the guy that got hurt was dating Pink, but she ended things with him because he was fooling around. Second, Black and Yellow are dating and they have an explosive relationship. They would argue and make-out every five minutes. This could be useful but I don¡¯t have confidence in properly using this info because I¡¯ve never dealt with such a volatile relationship before. And third I¡¯ve found out that they are being trained by a ¡°Mr. Zord.¡± After doing a brief search I couldn¡¯t find anything about this person and finally relayed all this to Claymore as well. I think I really found out things I did not want to. Chapter 9: The Mall Job The following day after my report, Claymore called off the mission. I tried to get some info out of him about why, but I was shut down. Now It¡¯s three weeks later and we have a new task, It¡¯s to destroy the local mall. Our goal is to fight the Guardians. After a bit of time we will be called back and it will be end of the job. That is all he told us, I don¡¯t really understand what his goal is. I just know that ignorance is bliss and will leave it alone. As we go in, Jet and I go to the food court and start rampaging. As I dump the hot nacho cheese sauce from the mexican stall in the food court area, Jet smashes the chairs and the tables. I am momentarily stunned by what I see, she first starts by smashing the chairs on the tables and they would explode. Then she throws up a chair and uses a table as a bat and sends it to the sports store shattering the windows. As this goes on, the civilians are running in terror. Regaining focus, I looted the cash register and then disconnected it and placing it behind a pillar. Then I went to the sandwich shop, dumped the condiments onto the food court area, and looted the cash register placing it behind a large potted plant. After Jet finished demolishing the tables and chairs, she asked me, ¡°What should we do now?¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°How about we line our packets, it¡¯s not like we don¡¯t have the time.¡± I responded. ¡°I would rather do something productive.¡± ¡°There is a sports store right there, you could find a good weapon there.¡± ¡°Fine, what will you do?¡± ¡°Loot.¡± We then went to the sports store Jet went to the baseball isle, while I hit up the cash registers. As I was working on my third cash register, I found a cashier hiding under the counter. She is hugging her knees, with a face full of tears and mucus. I, being the kind person that I am, picked her up and tossed her out of the mall entrance and returned to the cash register. I almost finished raiding the last register when the Guardians finally appeared. ¡°Are you ready?¡± I asked Jet. ¡°Yep.¡± She replied as she held brass knuckles with a discount label on them. Damn, this could get vicious. Chapter 10: Mall Job Part 2 ¡°Where the hell did you get brass knuckles?!¡± Exclaimed Jasper. ¡°They were in the back.¡± Replied Jet. I decided to just drop it and we went off to battle. As per usual all the henchmen split up against their respective guardian. We found yellow near the food court area as planned. The fight began like normal and yellow was forced to retreat into the food court, where she stepped on nacho cheese sauce. This caused her to lose her balance and through a series of panicked movements barely prevented her fall. However, we still couldn¡¯t prevent her from retreating away from the food court. Jet circled around and got in front of her to push her back. When she was back in the center of the food court area Jet got serious and landed a solid blow with the brass knuckles forcing a loud scream out of Yellow. As this was happening, I was behind a pillar waiting for Black. You see, I know Black will come because the last time he interfered was not by accident. It was because Heliodor intentionally allowed him to attack me and Jet. I watched the security video of the last encounter and saw that he kept directing Black¡¯s gaze at our fight and he got out of Black¡¯s way when he charged at us. From this I developed the current plan with Jet to slow down Yellow and allow me to get the jump on Black. And on cue Black came rushing at Jet, while I lie in wait. I pull the register cord and swinging it with all my might and it smashing it into Black¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Fuck!¡± Screamed out Black as he abruptly hit the ground. ¡°Black are you o-¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look away from me!¡± Yellow sought to inquire about Black¡¯s heath before she was struck again by Jet. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. With him on the ground holding his shoulder, I go and deliver a kick to the back of his helmet and sent him face planting to the ground. I then went to Jet and regrouped. During this time Heliodor and Tanzanite came and start to fight with the weakened Black Guardian, ¡°Thanks for taking him down.¡± Said Heliodor. ¡°Fuck you, Do your job properly you asshole.¡± Replied Jasper. ¡°Where did that come from?¡± ¡°I studied the surveillance tape, you jackass.¡± ¡°What ever could that mean?¡± ¡°Stop talking and get back to fighting.¡± Interjected Jet. As we got back to the fighting, the other guardians gathered together and turned this into a group fight. Blue Guardian used his drones to attack us and forcing us away from Yellow and Black. With the changed dynamic we fight back the best we can but we are slowly being overwhelmed. Claymore then gave the order to retreat. While pulling back to the planned rendezvous point, Pink was fighting with Heliodor and a bad dodge got him a kick to the crotch. He was then carried out by Tanzanite and we managed to successfully retreated. The world really does small favors. Chapter 11: After the Mall With the fight over, I am now in the lounge relaxing and watching the news. The only thing I can really take from it was that Black and Yellow were injured and there has been no disclosure of the severity. Since I figured no important information will come, I started to fully ease my muscles and let the fatigue drain away from my body. ¡°You look relaxed.¡± said Jet. ¡°Yeah, I feel I deserved to completely relax.¡± I replied. ¡°Does sitting in a chair really count?¡± ¡°I stopped thinking, I am always thinking. With what happened, I am letting all my stress out.¡± ¡°Weird.¡± ¡°Whatever, this is just me.¡± We then sat and watched the tv for the next few minutes before Heliodor came limping in. He took a seat and the placed a bag of ice on his crotch. ¡°How¡¯s it hanging slap nuts?¡± I Asked. ¡°Fuck you.¡± Heliodor said in a groaning voice. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.¡°So, do you need a sex change or are you gonna get a transplant from an animal?¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up!¡± While saying this, Heliodor started to stand up from his seat before sinking back down in pain. During this exchange Rhodonite came in and said ¡°Stop playing grab ass. Jasper and Jet come with me, Claymore wishes to speak with you two.¡± After being summoned, Jet and I left the lounge and went to Claymores office. When we arrived, we were greeted by Claymore. ¡°Good, you two have come. I will keep this short. You two are gonna be promoted.¡± ¡°Why me? I¡¯ve only been doing this for a few months.¡± I asked a befuddled. ¡°Simple, you got results. You both did commendable work and deserve a reward. Now with that said you two are dismissed.¡± Jet and I returned to the lounge with Heliodor making a face of agony, I decided to rub it in and told Heliodor about the promotion, after which he flipped out and stormed out of the lounge. Chapter 12: Date In the excitement of being promoted, I asked Jet to a date and she said yes. We met up at the appointed time, Saturday at noon. I decided to go the classic rout of movie and dinner. I choose the new action movie with more explosions than a Michael Bay film in an attempt to suit her tastes. Turns out I was right, it appears that she really enjoyed it while I toughed it out. I am a bit of a movie aficionado, so the plot holes and cg was a bit rough to say the least. With the movie over, we headed towards a cafe to eat. We both got a sandwich, after a couple of bites I start to ask Jet some questions I really wanted to know. ¡°Hey Jet, why are you a villain?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve always fought growing up and I don¡¯t really know what else to do.¡± ¡°Why not MMA or become a hero?¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.¡°I tried MMA and it wasn¡¯t for me. As for being a hero, it would take forever before I could fight. How about you?¡± ¡°Nothing special. I don¡¯t have it in me to get a degree to become an office worker and the requirements for being a hero is too much for me. For me to live a life that¡¯s not at best middle class, it¡¯s either this or the lotto.¡± After that we talked a bit more before we left. We are walking around downtown, when we passed by an electronics store where Jet took notice. ¡°Hey Jasper, looks like something big is happening.¡± I then looked at the t.v., where it shows a true disaster unfolding. Side Story: Prelude to Destruction The is a man that went by the name of Mark Jones that resides in a mental health institute and will only acknowledge the being called by Phanuel. His only dream was to be a hero, and he had the tools to become one. He has strength comparable to the upper echelons, he was once clocked running 100 mph and he had a strong desire to help others. To no one¡¯s surprise he signed up to be a hero and he quickly ascended the ranks. In less than a year he was scouted by Mighty Mike and became their sidekick. For the first few months all was good until he fought Sinister Mountain and killed him. This weighed heavily on him, he never wanted to kill, he was even a vegetarian and volunteered at animal shelters on his off time. But the shock of the incident lead him down a terrible rabbit hole. In his first job after the incident he showed hesitation and the result was some innocent civilians got heavily injured and this slowly eroded him. He then began to get more aggressive in his fights and started to kill villains. His mentor acted too late in noticing the the increasing violence of Mark and when he finally tried to stop him a struggle occurred between the two. Unbenounced to the two, Mark had another ability and that was the ability to absorb some of the strength of the people he killed and he inherited bits of the mind of the deceased. And in the fight he killed his mentor. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. This lead him to shut himself down and become zombie like. During this time he was institutionalized and was under heavy watch. He was away from the public eye for ten years without incident until one fateful day. A riot broke out in the facility and it spread out to his area. With an orderly pinned to the ground in imminent danger Mark saved him but he also killed the assailant. The riot soon ended with the deaths of all of the rioters. After the incident he rewrote his memories, he is Phanuel a hero that kills villains and vowed to kill them all. He then left the facility and went on a killing spree. But these killing did not stop at villains, this included those that broke the law. Any crime that was committed was deemed evil, weather it be jaywalking or speeding, if you commit a crime you were evil and evil needed to be killed. And this serves as the prolog to the person that would be the first domino in shaking the foundation of AOE and GOP. The next chapters of this side story will be on the story by passingthunder by the name of Number One Side Story: Zek Vs. Phanuel Lord Zek charges and throws a flurry of punches at Phanuel landing on his head and body. But Phanuel toughs it out and lands one solid shot on Lord Zek sending him flying into a building. Lord Zek peels himself of the building and puts some distance between the two. During this time Master Brushstroke and the others flee from the fight. ¡°Villain, running away is of no use. It is time to die and serve as the fertilizer for the good.¡± Phanuel says to Lord Brushstroke and the others as he walks to Lord Zek, who is leaning on a car. As Phanuel draws closer, Lord Zek uses his finger to cut out a circular disk from the car he was leaning against. When Phanuel was about ten feet away he threw the disk at him, which Phanuel caught with his right hand. The disk cuts into his hand but it is a shallow wound. He then grabs it with his left hand and throws it at Lord Zek, at a blinding speed. In the peripherals of his vision Lord zek sees something land on the ground next to him. When he directly looks at it he realizes that it is his left arm. The severing is at just below his shoulder but Lord Zek grit his teeth and suppressed the pain. To stop the bleeding he concentrates heat into his right hand to the point that his fingers start to produce flames and used that to cauterize the wound. After the emergency first-aide, he then ducks into the convenience store that is near him. Phanuel slowly walks into the store as he says ¡°Come now, let''s put an end to this. I would rather not make this any more painful than it needs to be.¡± During this time Lord Zek obtained a sheet of paper towel, placing it in his mouth while maneuvering through the alcohol aisle. He opens up a bottle stuffing the sheet into it and then uses his right hand to set it ablaze. He catches sight of Phanuel and throws the bottle hitting him on the face where it explodes. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°You bastard! YOU BASTARD!!!¡± Screams Phanuel in agony. Robbed of his sight, Phanuel is enraged. He then starts to throw punches in the area he last saw Lord Zek. The shock waves from his punches decimates the store. The punches thrown were far stronger than his earlier punches, so Lord Zek decides to retreat to the street. As Lord Zek catches his breath, Phanuel has lost all reason and is desperately searching for Lord Zek destroying everything in his way. Lord Zek cuts out the quarter panel of a nearby car and takes out the gas tank. He launches it at Phanuel, who destroys it and covers himself in gasoline. During this Lord Zek aims at Phanuel¡¯s throat with his right hand. His fingers punctures the skin but is stopped by Phanuel. He has Lord Zek by the wrist, before Phanuel could go further, Lord Zek heats up his fingers and ignites the gas that on Phanuel. Phanuel let''s go as he tries to put himself out. With severe burns to his hand, Lord Zek resolves himself. While Phanuel is still distracted, Lord Zek heats up his fingers as hot as he can grabbing Phanuel¡¯s face and the fingers slowly penetrate his skull while frying his brain. Phanuel tries to rip off the hand off but instead he ripped off Lord Zek¡¯s arm at the elbow. Lord Zek loses his balance and falls to the ground. The fingers still stuck in Phanuel¡¯s skull continue to burn and roast his brain. Phanuel finally stops moving and falls to the ground, brain dead. Side Story: Phanuel Aftermath Mr. Smith and Chico entered Larch¡¯s office when he calls out to them ¡° Good, you two are here. Take a seat and watch the t.v.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have time to lollygag.¡± Stated Mr. Smith. ¡°Sit down and watch.¡± Relenting Mr. Smith sits down on the couch with his partner Chico. ¡°With the information that the maniac from the other day being revealed to be a former hero there have been massive protests against the GOP. And with their delay of an announcement, it appears they are digging themselves into a bigger hole.¡± ¡°I completely agree with you Chet. They need to do something before the protests become more aggressive. They screwed up, and now need to prostrate themselves.¡± ¡°Now Jake, that is too strong. We don¡¯t have-¡± With the t.v. being turned off Larch speaks, ¡° As you can see, we are in deep shit. Someone leaked the info about that guy being a former hero. Do you have anything to say Smith?¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Nope. Couldn¡¯t his parent¡¯s have let the cat out of the bag?¡± Responded Mr. Smith. ¡°No, we searched that avenue first, no one has approached them. Smith, I don¡¯t have any evidence it was you but if I get enough to hang you by your testicals, I will. You are now dismissed.¡± ¡°Gotcha.¡± As Chico heads to the door he is stopped by Larch, ¡° Hey chico hold up a sec. You have a bright future, don¡¯t let him pull you down.¡± ¡°Understood sir.¡± Replied Chico. As they leave in their car, Mr. Smith speaks to Chico, ¡° I told a reporter what I knew. It was ten years ago, I saw him. He was smiling with hollow eyes, covered in his partners blood. It haunts me to this day. Chico, always look for the truth and don¡¯t accept what you are feed.¡± ¡°Understood.¡± Chapter 13: Changes With the death of Lord Zek and the rampage of Phanuel, we are in a real perquis situation. FOA has decided to promote all the subordinates of fallen villains by one level to compensate for the large loss. But with the sudden promotion, a conundrum has been created and that is Claymore. Claymore has four right hand men, while a villain can only have up to three. After waiting a few days I was deemed the odd man out and was sent to headquarters to wait assignment as a villain. Before I left, I said my farewells to Jet and hopefully we can meet again. After a few days of waiting, I was taken by a staff member and driven to a remote location where I was dropped off and told to wait for my pick up. An hour later a car comes and a menacing looking man appears. He is wearing steel-toe boots, baggy pants, a black long-sleeved shirt and a mask. The mask covers his whole head, the face part was like an old hockey goalies mask but it doesn¡¯t have any holes and the only part visible were his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m Jason, I am your villain, now get into the car.¡± After I get into the car, Jason begins to explain things to me as we drive off. ¡°I am a cleaner. Cleaners are those that handle only blacklist jobs. With you working under me, you are now a cleaner. Once you are a full fledged villain, you will have the option to work as a normal villain, but you will be obligated to take blacklist jobs from time to time. You would also have to have two identities, one for villainy and one for blacklist jobs. I do exclusively blacklist jobs, so I only have one identity, hence the drop off. Also, the only people that know of my existence are the councilmen.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Why was I chosen?¡± ¡°We cleaners are only allowed to have one right hand man to work for us. I myself would prefer a person who just becomes a henchman, so that they don¡¯t pick up the bad habits that most do as they ascend the ranks. You are only a few months removed from your initial training, which makes you a real gem in my eyes.¡± With that we arrived at his base of operations, a cabin by the lake. I¡¯ve seen this movie before, it sucks. Chapter 14: New Gear When I get out of the car, Jason tosses me a bag. ¡°That is your uniform, go change into it and come back outside. Ah, bathroom is the first door on the right.¡± With that I went it and changed to my new uniform. Steel toed boots, baggy pants, longed-sleeved black shirt, and steampunk goggles. When I went back out, Jason proceeded to talk again, ¡°Good, now some important information. One of my abilities allows me to view things in different formats, such as infrared, night vision and x-ray to name a few. As for the goggles you are wearing, they also do the same thing as mine does, except they don¡¯t have an attack option. They are my gift to you, once you become a villain, you may keep them, for I give them to all of my successful students.¡± ¡°Thanks and what was that about your eyes having an attack option?¡± ¡°I have things like heat vision and such. Also any of my abilities are only explained under need to know circumstances.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I tell this to all my students because I normally take jobs that are benefited by being able to change the visual perceptions. Now, we are gonna acclimate you to your goggles. They are not something to take lightly, for jobs like assassination and tracking they are absolutely vitale. Also don¡¯t mess around with the goggles, the eyes of most people are very sensitive. So if you make the settings too strong or if you switch through different functions too quickly you could go blind. Finally, if you use them too long they will heat up and quickly at that.¡± After that explanation he proceeded to explain the different functions, settings, and how long I should wait from switching from different perspectives. Along with the previously mentioned functions, they can also act as binoculars, ultraviolet light, welders goggles and it has the ability to take pictures and video. ¡°Ah, one more thing, failure means death. For blacklist missions, anytime you fail one of those you are to be terminated if you are still alive.¡± Great learning curve you have there. Chapter 15: New Name ¡°Ah, before we start the training we need to give you a name. How about Freddy?¡± Suggested Jason. ¡°Hell no. I will not be named after that guy. I will not be associated with that type of criminal.¡± ¡°Fair enough, though he does have a really nice weapon and is witty.¡± ¡°Not a chance. We villains are allowed to have lines and that¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°Ok, ok then let¡¯s see. Dajin, Michael, Crowley, Nosferatu, ah I know Ash. Your name will be Ash.¡± ¡°I thought I was suppose to get a bad guy''s name.¡± ¡°He may not be a bad guy, but you really can¡¯t call him a good one.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Point taken.¡± ¡°Now it¡¯s time to train.¡± With that I proceeded to undergo gruelling training for the next three months. I trained in home invasion, tracking, sniping, boobytraps, wilderness survival, camouflage, and many other things. Things probably wouldn¡¯t have been so bad if he didn¡¯t insist on having me learn with my body. Speaking of which, I now have several scars, most notably one that goes into my left eyebrow and another that grows from my left shoulder curves into the center of my chest then curves to my left side ending at around my kidney. ¡°Stop daydreaming Ash. Today, I will take you out to the field for your first assignment.¡± Great, maybe I can finally stop knocking on death''s door. Chapter 16: Killingem Softly After telling me of my first assignment Jason passed me a stack of papers of the target. ¡°These papers contain everything you need to know for your mission.¡± ¡°Wait a second, I have to assassinate Joe Doe? I really like his policies.¡± ¡°Yeah, he seems like a good politician but what can you do. An assignment is an assignment.¡± ¡°I understand, but that really sucks. By the way, why is he the target?¡± ¡°A person from old money feels threatened.¡± ¡°Dammit.¡± ¡°What makes this worse is that his father is closely advising him, so we have no loophole to exploit.¡± ¡°Is the guy a puppet?¡± ¡°No, he has a real mean streak. His father seeks to keep him in check to the extent that he keeps things from becoming public.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. ¡°So he could be trouble in the future?¡± ¡°Yes, he has the potential to be like his father. Just so you know the father is one of the ones that really carries weight in the government.¡± With that I am now sneaking into Joe Doe¡¯s townhouse with Jason watching me from afar. I enter through the back door and disable the alarm system. I then activate my goggles and set them to infrared to check to see who is here. I see two heat signatures, one in the bedroom and the other in the study. I deactivate the goggles so as to confirm my target and like I thought he was in the study. When I looked in, he was asleep at his computer. I creep up behind him, then I covered his mouth and slit his throat. I look at his computer that was on and decide to download all his files just in case I can find something interesting. After a couple of minutes I retrace my steps and leave the house and head back to base. With this I am truly down the path of villainy. Chapter 17: Heros Kid After finishing the mission I met up with Jason at the extraction point, where I entered his car and we drove off. ¡°Good job, you were swift with your kill but I would advise to not act outside the scope of the job. Fortunately you had leeway to take some liberties but you won¡¯t always have such a luxurie. So don¡¯t do it again.¡± After the lecture we continued to drive to the point we missed our exit home. ¡°We just missed our exit.¡± ¡°No we didn¡¯t. We are going to the next job. What, did you think that cake walk was it? That was just to wet your feet, the real job is next. Also, you should know since there are a small number of blacklist agents there are times where we get jobs in quick succession.¡± ¡°Dammit.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the spirit.¡± We drove through the night and arrive at the designated location at daybreak, where we can see a cabin next to a lake. After getting out Jason passes me some papers and starts giving me the rundown. ¡°The target is John Monier, he is the son of The Falcon. We are to eliminate him because he is causing a lot of trouble.¡± ¡°What is he doing? killing villains?¡± ¡°No, he is a spoiled brat that just won¡¯t stop. So far we have evidence that he has raped a couple dozen women and it is believed he has killed one by accident and it¡¯s believed that he will escalate things. The reason he is free is because of daddy. This has caused some problems for the heroes so we have gotten the call. From the intel I¡¯ve received there should be six people coming here, two are his friends and the other three are women. The plan is to kill all them.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Why all of them?¡± ¡°His friends have enjoyed the ¡°fun¡± with him. While the women, well they are just collateral damage.¡± With that we wait until the guest arrive. At around noon, we finally see them, where Jason makes some small talk. ¡°The guy maybe a bastard but he has some taste.¡± ¡°Yeah, the blond is really amazing.¡± ¡°Sure is. Wait, I think I know her.¡± ¡°From where?¡± ¡°Shut it, I need to confirm this.¡± After which he walk away working his using the void library app. After a few minute he comes back and says, ¡°This has gotten complicated.¡± Great, I needed it rougher. Chapter 18: Scary Opponent ¡°I Just confirmed it, the Blond is Shelly Duncan and she is on our wanted board. She¡¯s a serial killer that will gives unwilling men a ¡°sex change¡± while they are awake and the lucky one¡¯s die during the procedure. Also she got on the board for her work on a guild member, he wasn¡¯t as lucky.¡± Said Jason. ¡°Why hasn¡¯t she been caught?¡± asked Ash. ¡°She has an annoying ability, it¡¯s teleportation. If she can see it then she can teleport to that spot and that¡¯s all we got on her about the ability. We are gonna need to be careful, she has killed three full-fledged blacklist agents already.¡± ¡°Damn, this sucks. So, what will she do to the two girls?¡± ¡°She will kill them. The only comparable situation to this one is when she killed a guy and his girlfriend. When the girlfriend came home unexpectedly. As for the girlfriend, she only received a stab to the heart. Now on to the plan, we are gonna wait for sundown and you will be near the house waiting. You will go in and kill everyone after I take a shot at Shelly from my sniper rifle. I will come and back you up if needed but you''re on you''re own for the first few minutes. I need to stress this, even though I am confident in my sniping, there is a very good reason for her to still be alive after being put on the board.¡± With the sun down Ash is crouching down near a window waiting for Jason to take his shot. Inside the two guys and girls were playing drinking games while Shelly was upstairs with her next victim. While waiting Ash did his best to keep his composure, this is easily the most danger he has ever been in. ¡°Crack.¡± With the glass breaking, Ash then gets up, smashes the window, and jumps inside. Like a deer in headlights, John was blankly staring at Ash. Ash then charged and stabbed John in the chest, penetrating his heart. After the stab, Ash then takes out a handgun and shoots one male and two females with two chest shot and a headshot. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. After killing four people, Ash uses his goggles to look for the remaining two. With infrared he finds one person in the second story of the house but they were not moving even with the noise. The thing that stood out the most was that there was only one person. Before he could contact Jason, he felt a presence near him and instinctively drove forward. Even with the quick reaction, he still got a large cut across his back. When he turns around, Shelly stood right in front of him with a large knife. Then she disappears and out of desperation, Ash jumps out of the broken window. Without a chance to catch his breath, she appears in front of him and swings down her knife. Before she could connect, a shot rang out and Shelly fells to the ground. She then disappeared from sight. ¡°You alright Ash?¡± ¡°Yeah, just a cut to the back.¡± ¡°Good, I winged her shoulder just now but we need to be weary of her attacking. Before we leave we should check on the guy upstairs.¡± With that dialog done we proceed upstairs and entered the room the guy was in. He is out cold, he has clearly been drugged, but he is alive and hasn¡¯t been operated on. After confirming his situation I proceed to slit his throat and we took our leave. I can now look forward to getting stitches, thanks Shelly. Chapter 19: Seel Even a week after my confrontation with Shelly my back still hurts. What I didn¡¯t know when I faced her is that her large knife had a lot of small chips and so instead of a clean cut I got shredded. Because of this I¡¯m sidelined from the front line for an extended period of time, but that doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t work. Right now I¡¯m heading to a person Jason uses for his information and I¡¯m gonna learn under her until I¡¯m healthy. ¡° I need to make something clear, I usually introduce my students after a couple of years of training but with your injury, I¡¯d hate for you to have a stop in your learning. But I need you to be ready for what you''re gonna gonna face. Her name is Seel and she is not easy to handle.¡± Explained Jason. After bringing her up he stops talking about her and lets out a sigh and doesn¡¯t talk. This continues for a minute before Ash says, ¡°What did you want to say?¡± ¡°Sorry about that, first she has an ability that allows her to talk to others telepathically, read your mind, and mess with your senses. Because of her abilities she was given the job to support the guild behind the scenes. Also don¡¯t believe what she looks like to you. I¡¯ve known her for over twenty years and she looks the same as back then and she aided in my training.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. With that we stayed silent until we approached the building and Jason started to shake. ¡°One more thing, do not anger her, never anger her.¡± Jason said this with a very solemn voice and we finally came to a full stop. I grab my bag and headed for the building, while Jason sped off. Slightly puzzled, I watched him drive off before entering the building where I met a voluptuous beauty. Auburn colored hair, long legs, and breasts that seem to barely be contained in her blouse. I approached her and introduced myself. ¡°Hello I¡¯m Ash.¡± ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Seel. Looks like Jason isn¡¯t here, a shame I couldn¡¯t correct him in person about insinuating that I¡¯m old.¡± I¡¯m scared, for her to know of our conversation. I hope she goes easy on me. Chapter 20: A Fathers Grief ¡°Before I train you on information gathering, you should watch the news. The police found Johnny and his friends.¡± Stated Seel. Following her instruction I turn my attention to the nearby t.v. and watched it as the news had the breaking news logo on and had under it the title ¡°Falcon¡¯s Son Murdered¡± and had two analysts in a heated conversation. ¡°Someone is trying to take down the heroes and they are going after their families first!¡± ¡°No, we can¡¯t go there, the cops found booze and drugs at the scene. Furthermore, there has been word of a sixth person in their group that has not been found yet.¡± ¡°And she got close to John and killed him. They are an agent to bring down the heroes.¡± ¡°I just said they had booze and drugs scattered around, they easily could have angered their dealer and he killed them. And what are you getting at by saying the heroes are targets?¡± ¡°Come on, after the Phanuel travesty, people have been in an uproar and terrorist groups are sprouting left and right.¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Stop spouting nonsense, there is no proof of anything you''re saying.¡± ¡°We interrupt this program to bring you live to The Falcon¡¯s news conference.¡± ¡°Yesterday night I learned of my son¡¯s death. He was a bright boy with a great curiosity.¡± The Falcon is standing stoically, making sure his words are clear as he continues, ¡°My son wasn¡¯t perfect but he was still mine. I raised him from a baby to a man and even though he stumbled he was still supported. I still love him and I knew that my bright little boy could come back and shine brightly but this tragedy has ended his potential. Someone took him away from me. He took away his opportunity to change. He took away the most precious of all things, his future.¡± The falcon looked coldly at the camera. Killing intent permeated the air. He then slowly said, ¡°The person responsible¡­ WILL PAY DEARLY.¡± Hurrah, my first nemesis. Chapter 21: Back to Work A month has gone since the newscast of the cabin killings. Seel has been teaching me the basics of espionage, information gathering and such. However, a couple of days ago I¡¯ve been told that I am eligible to go back to the field but Jason has elected for me to stay with Seel for six more months. As I am organizing some files, Seel telepathically tells me to go to her. I stop my work and go to her main work space. I feel like I¡¯m her mindless lackey, she really figured out how to work me. I see Seel sitting behind her desk twisting a lock of her blond hair. As I entered the room her hazel colored eyes looked at me through her glasses. Her red lipstick clashed seductively with her porcelain skin as she slowly said, ¡°Honey, I need you do some snooping around.¡± Half mesmerized, I replied, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I need some information on some baby toys that have entered the market. I am keeping an eye on Abyzou¡¯s Toys and they have been making moves that concern me. What I want you to do is check out the factory and follow the shipment of a certain truck.¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°What is up with the toys?¡± ¡°They are being used to distribute information. We believe that the Abyzou Toy company is putting chips in their toys and then distributing them to some dangerous people. It was by chance that we got this information. a target was in the middle of looking over this info when he was taken out.¡± ¡°What does the chip contain?¡± ¡°Classified~.¡± ¡°How dangerous is this job?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing special, the worst case scenario should be getting arrested for trespassing. You will go to the factory tomorrow and the specified truck should arrive at noon. You may go.¡± With that I leave the room and start to prepare for the next day. Chapter 22: Another Investigation At the crack of dawn I head out to Abyzo¡¯s manufacturing site. When I get there, I take note of their tight security and decide to just scope the facility from a distance. Using my goggles I see that one of the security personnel is wearing a Zeno Corps Protection Agency insignia. Feeling anxious, I contact Seel. ¡°Hey Seel, this place is place is protected by Zeno Corps.¡± ¡°Really~¡± ¡°Yeah, so what should I do?¡± ¡°Observe from a distance and track the truck as planned.¡± ¡°Ok.¡± I cut off the conversation and keep watching the building. After a few uneventful hours the truck finally comes in. I get into my car and wait for the truck a few blocks from the manufacturing plant. when the truck exits the driveway I begin to tail it. I followed it for about two hours as it drove its designated course. When it reached the designation I contacted Seel. ¡°The truck went to the designated spot without any suspicious maneuvers.¡± ¡°Ahh~ this sucks. This means that they are using a very annoying method to distribute the info.¡± ¡°What would that be?¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°The short version is that they put the info in certain toys and the trick to getting the correct toy is keeping track of the bar code. The reason this is annoying is that we now need to find out how they relay this info and which toys contain the storage drives.¡± ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± ¡°Come back.¡± ¡°K, but I got to ask what is Zeno Corps?¡± ¡°Where does this come from?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve run into them before.¡± ¡°Why the suspicion~?¡± ¡°The last time I was told to back away.¡± ¡°Right~ you did serve under Claymore. Well~ just think of them as a group of failed heroes.¡± ¡°Wait, were they-¡± ¡°Bye~¡± With Seel abruptly ending our talk I begin to head back. I really want to puke from the unease. Chapter 23: Secret Agent Fun Time It has been a week since my last mission and I¡¯m back to filing papers. I¡¯ve tried to learn more about the mysterious group but Seel has been avoiding talking about them. While filing a paper into cabinet R2 Seel comes in. With radiant red hair and crystal clear blue eyes, she beckons me over. ¡°I have great news, you are going under cover.~¡± ¡°Wait¡­ you''re telling me I¡¯m not a secretary?¡± ¡°Great~, more spy work, hurray hurray (monotone).¡± ¡°Now, now, honey buns. This will be purley training.You are gonna be at a high society party next week and your job is to identify our agents. They will be an unspecified number mixed in and the event is your run of the mill charity event. So lots of drinking and just enough ¡®charitable contributions¡¯ to cover the cost of the party. Also, you won¡¯t be alone. You will be working alongside a girl by the name of Rocinante. She also works under a blacklist agent, which brings up an important point. Do not tell her about Jason.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°When a black list agent is to be terminated, the task is given to a blacklist agent. To ensure loyalty the guild keeps blacklist agents separated from each other.¡± ¡°Then why are we working together?¡± ¡°Because neither of you are blacklist agents and the two of you have the option to not be blacklist agents. This leads to another point, you are not allowed to use an ability or reveal that you have or don¡¯t have one. I know you don¡¯t have one but given the circumstances it is best for you if you don¡¯t reveal anything. Before you go, you must leave your goggles behind since the goggles could lead to Jason being revealed. Now the last part, she will becoming in two days to get to know you.¡± ¡°Why does she need to know about me?¡± ¡°Because if you guys fail, there will be punishment. Also, there are a few ways to fail. First, you don¡¯t identify at least half the agents. Second, you guys are exposed for not being a couple. Lastly, if you guys cause a disruption or reveal your identities.¡± With that she left me and I went back to filing the paper into cabinet D2. Well, I guess I can be James Bond now. Chapter 24: Getting to Know Rocinante After being informed of the upcoming exercise by Seel, I just continued doing miscellaneous jobs. The day I finally met Rocinante quickly arrived. I am rather anxious in meeting her since she is in the blacklist courses she could be psycho. While drowning in my worry, I am summoned by Seel. Seel is sporting shoulder length pink hair, which makes her lavender colored eyes shine. I also notice a woman standing next to her. She is a tall Latina, with long black hair, auburn colored eyes, and long legs as well as a sleek body. ¡°This is Rocinante, please introduce yourselves.¡± Seel gestures with her hand towards the woman next to her. ¡°Hello, I am Ash.¡± ¡°Rocinante, pleasure to meet your acquaintance.¡± She has a slightly husky voice that exudes seduction. I involuntarily take a step towards her. For some reason I get the need to throw myself at her. Wait, dammit, she must have a seduction related ability. Thankfully I can resist it to an extent because of the training from Jason but for me to be affected so easily I need to be careful. ¡°With the greetings out of the way, it¡¯s time to prepare~. Remember you two, you need to work together and even if you figure out all of the plants, if you don¡¯t have your act together then... punishment time~.¡± With that me and Rocinante head to my normal work area and start to map out our plan. We decided that our names will be Nick and Sarita Murray. We¡¯ve been married for a little over a year and our jobs are that I¡¯m a dotcom millionaire and she is a designer. We then give Seel the info so that everything fits when we enter. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Finishing the backstory, we start talking about ourselves. ¡°Let¡¯s see, I joined because I don¡¯t have a list of opportunities and I felt this was a good source of money.¡± Ash. ¡°For me, I needed some excitement and I found the heroes were way too be boring.¡± ¡°I am not that great with getting to know people, so is their anything you want to know?¡± ¡°Can you fight?¡¯ ¡°To an extent yes, why?¡± ¡°I need to stretch, so let''s spare.¡± ¡°Right~, I guess we can spare in the garden. I will lead the way.¡± With that we enter the garden where she proceeded to decimate me. Seriously, what¡¯s with me and battle nuts!? Chapter 25: Barely Through the Door After a few days of getting to know each other, the time has arrived. We pull up to the building hosting the charity event, which is a fundraiser for starving children in some poor wasteland. We proceed down a red carpet like area with photogs and others posing in designer clothing. Getting a little agitated, I almost made a crass statement. In order to calm down I spoke with my companion, ¡°Sarita¡± Rocinante. ¡°Sarita, I really don¡¯t like this, can you please take the lead until we get inside?¡± ¡°No, don¡¯t wanna.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, please just do it.¡± ¡°Mmmmn, nah you can take the lead.¡± ¡°Dammit, fine but if we fail it¡¯s your fault.¡± Really I am starting to get pissed and we are not even inside yet. While agitated, I proceed to take poses with Sarita and make small talk with the people ahead of us. After what felt like hours we finally made it to the entrance and officially entered the fundraiser. After entering I am approached by an individual. ¡°Hello I¡¯m John Weinner, nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Hello I¡¯m Nick Murray and this is my lovely wife Sarita.¡± ¡°Hello.¡± ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you two. I never meet people my age at these events. Maybe you heard¡¯ve me I¡¯m the Vice President of Sync Computers and the youngest vice president in a fortune five hundred company.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Wow, he¡¯s such a blowhard. I sneak a glance to my side to see how Sarita is fairing but she was nowhere to be found. ¡°If you¡¯re looking for your wife, she went to the other hens. You know women and their yakking.¡± That traitor, I wish their was something I could do to her. She will pay, I just hope it¡¯s soon. Twenty minutes later. When will this guys shut up. Seriously, he doesn¡¯t shut up. Fifteen minutes later I can¡¯t kill him, no one can be this annoying. He must be a tester. There¡¯s no way someone like this can really exist. In the corner of my eye I see my hand make gestures itching to stab him. I need to get away before I kill him. And by luck a waiter goes by and John grabs a glass of water. ¡°Nice talking to you John, I gotta catch up with my wife.¡± With that I was finally free. Chapter 26: My Luck Sucks I managed to get away from the giant douche. I then wondered around the party meeting people for a couple hours before finally meeting up with Rocinante. ¡°Hey Nick. so how was your conversation?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t, just don¡¯t. I¡¯ve never had to exert more self control in my life. So don¡¯t bullshit me and let''s just share information.¡± ¡°Wow, he was that bad? I really am a good judge of character huh. I knew he was gonna be annoying.¡± ¡°Please stop. I am really drained so please just stop.¡± After the back and forth we proceeded to share our intel. As we were talking there was a loud crash. And what we turned we saw was a huge chandelier on the floor with several people crushed. I immediately start to look around and see two people who clearly do not belong. One was lanky, had a large blond mohawk, and was in leather clothing. The other was well built, bald, and wearing sweatpants with a tank-top. The doors then slam shut with a loud bang. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°You people are now our hostages. Now get on the floor and or die in the name of the holy one. Hahahaha¡± Said the lanky man in a high pitched deranged voice When one person tried to subdue him, the bald guy got in his way and punched him. That one punch obliterated the head into chunks of flesh. With that panic spread and some people tried to open the doors but they ended up just falling over for no notable reason. The rest just proceeded to get on the floor and wait for what¡¯s to come. During this Rocinante pointed out the tattoo on the of both them. It was a skull with a heart in the background. This was the symbol of the Genesis cult, a group bent on destruction. They have been quiet the past few years because of the imprisonment of their leader. My luck can¡¯t get any better. Chapter 27: Getting Uncomfortable It¡¯s storytime. The New Genesis Cult are lead by by ¡®Saint Lust¡¯ and their primary goals are to rape and pillage. Lust is a part of the Three Saints, which was known as the Seven Saints before a few of them died, that is a long story in itself. The Three Saints are independent religious cults that represent a sin. After the New Genesis Cult became an issue the hero''s took them down but it required direct help from several councilmen. The effort was directed purely against Lust and not his subordinates because he is that tough an opponent. Also, Lust maybe the weakest of the remaining Saints but he is the most reviled because of his interest in the youths. Some of his men have similar taste while the others just take anything. With that said, I clench my fist in fear of what¡¯s to come. After they took us as hostages we were then lined up and taken to a corner where they intently watched us. After an hour of nothing a guy named ¡®Lanky¡¯ began to speak. ¡°Looks like the heroes aren''t coming anytime soon! So let¡¯s play a game. I will throw a knife in the air if you move you will be given to Bulk over there.¡± He then gestured to a man who either took too many steroids or is a shaved gorilla. Smiling he then threw a knife into the air. Soon as he threw it, a couple men and a woman moved on reflex. When the knife landed it hit no one but I looked at the tank of a guy named Bulk, who was clearly excited.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Hahaha great! Bulk I can¡¯t have you be too busy so you can only have one of them at a time.¡± Before they could even run Bulk moved like lightning killing the women and then dragging one guy kicking and screaming to another room. ¡°Ah! that¡¯s right, Bulk hates women. Well more fun for me. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this but Bulk doesn¡¯t let people live when he is done.¡± A minute after the lanky guy said that a big bang occurred and Bulk went flying through the wall. The person that followed him was Akrafena a fairly high ranking hero. After he entering, he immediately jumped far away. When I looked at the spot he was standing on I saw a slash mark. He then threw his weapon, a longsword, at the area in the ceiling that held the chandelier and a person fell and landed in front of us. ¡°Hahaha, as expected of you. To find Cammie so quickly but that doesn¡¯t change the fact we have hostages.¡± Lanky said with a full grin on his face. The hero¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change but then the sound of glass breaking rang out and Cammie and the lanky guy have big holes in their heads. I then whispered to Rocinante, ¡° Since when do heroes go right for the kill?¡± She responded with a grim face, ¡° That¡¯s Akrafena he is well known for his cold calculating methods. He probably figured that this was most optimal.¡± God, I hope he overlooks us. Chapter 28: Ending the Evening After the New Genesis members were taken care of, we waited in a corner until two individuals in overcoats and masks entered. They were then told to handle the rest and we ended up leaving with no further commotion. When we left in the car, I tried to talk about the situation. ¡°I thought those guys were wiped out.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± She responded in a distant voice, not really paying attention to me. ¡°So, want to do it?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± She responded in the same manner. ¡°Can¡¯t even lighten the mood. Seriously what¡¯s with you?¡± I grumbled to myself. Stolen story; please report. After we got back to Seel¡¯s place we were greeted by said person. ¡°Hello~. You two had a big day today. Good job on keeping a low profile.¡± ¡°Do you know what is going on?¡± Ash asked. ¡°Right now it¡¯s a real jumble. But what I can tell you is your party was not the only place hit. I know of five other confirmed sites and a few others that I am awaiting for more info on. Also we decided to pass you two because you got out safely without raising suspicion.¡± With that we retired for the night and the next day Rocinante left to return to her superior. I was feeling a bit irritated when she left because I never found out her issue but that was quickly replaced with another feeling. Seel called me and I then laid eyes on the beauty with blue hair and pink eyes. ¡°Hey Ash dear, I waited till Rocinante left, so now I will give you your punishment.¡± ¡°What?! What did I do?¡± ¡°A couple of days ago you made a filing error~ .¡± Dread, a feeling I am most familiar with. Side Story: Church of New Genesis Mr. Smith walks into Larch¡¯s office where Larch immediately cuts to the chase. ¡°Smith, close the door and this does not leave here. Lust is gone. Last night, the prison had a blackout and when the power was restored he was gone. Also, this was minutes before his followers made their presence felt.¡± ¡°What the hell is going on? Why did his followers do that if he was already out?¡± ¡°Right now, our best guess is that it was to announce his resurgence. Of the ones that were captured alive, they have no knowledge of his escape. Our best guess is they were viewed as disposable pawns.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°So, who did it? I can¡¯t think of anyone with any power in New Genesis that fell through the cracks.¡± ¡°Before the blackout, we got footage of a possible culprit. He is not a known individual but a facial recognition program indicates he resembles one of the children Lust abducted.¡± ¡°What!? We rescued them!¡± ¡°Keep it down Smith. We started to look into him and found his parents dead. Right now we are following up on all the children. So far we have not received any good news, on the ones we have confirmed, all the children are missing and the parents are dead. Furthermore, it appears that Lust has someone controlling these kids. This is purely speculation but we fear that he knew that he was gonna get taken down and entrusted things to someone that can mess with the mind.¡± What¡¯s next?¡± ¡°You will continue your normal work until further notice.¡± Smith then left the office with a sour expression while feeling impotent. Chapter 29: Back to the Feild After my punishment Jason came by. Curious I asked him, ¡°Why are you here?¡± He responded, ¡°I just got an assignment that is perfect for you to get some experience. You¡¯re gonna break into a prison and collect a certain item.¡± ¡°What!? My job is more than killing people!?¡± ¡°Quit being a smart-ass.¡± ¡°Ok, but really why a prison?¡± This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Hmmm, unfortunately I can¡¯t tell you too much because only senior villains can know about the item. The most I can tell you is it relates to the Church of The New Genesis and the item in question is important.¡± ¡°What is our standing with New Genesis and why prison?¡± ¡°We are fully against them, their fundamental philosophy contradicts ours. Also, about the item, I can¡¯t tell what it does or its purpose. We are heading out asap and after the job you will come back here to continue working under Seel. So get your equipment and headout. I¡¯ll be in the car.¡± With that I go to my room and get my equipment and head to the car where I see a very tense Jason with Seel. ¡°About damn time, get in now!¡± ¡°Oh, what¡¯s the rush, we never talk.¡± ¡°Leave me alone, hag.¡± During said conversation, I get into the car. Immediately, Jason floored it and sped off. ¡°What¡¯s the rush? Why are you so hostile to Seel?¡± ¡°I envy you, I really do. Because of my ability I can see the real her but what is worse is that she can use her ability in other ways and it really gets to me. Worst part is that she knows my triggers.¡± A sense of pity formed on my way to prison. Chapter 30: It Just Cant Be Easy After the prep, I broke into prison and made my way to the designated location. It turned out to be Lust¡¯s cell. On the wall is a full body restraint that is bolted to the wall. It appears that he wouldn¡¯t even be able to move a finger with those restraints. As per the plan, I proceeded to remove a false brick and pull out a dense metal box. When I lifted it up it felt very heavy. I then escaped the prison with no issue. With the completion of the mission Jason proceeded to drive us away. We are on a mountain side road when the car shakes furiously and we go off the road. Thankfully we landed on some trees that held us up in midair. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Ash, get out of the car and brace for battle!¡± I placed my goggles on and scaled the tree down to the ground. What greeted us is a dead-eye teen. He is on the slender side with long hair that covers his face. Then without warning he dashes at Jason. Jason proceeds to perform a sidestep and swept his legs from under him. Jason then threw a punch at the guy''s head but he slipt into the ground and came up behind me. I jumped to the side at which Jason threw a round object which electrified the air. With the assailant immobilized I set my goggles to infrared and scanned the area. I saw five people. Then I heard a gunshot, and turned to see Jason with a handgun and the assailant with a hole in the head. ¡°We have to hurry. We are going to a cave nearby during which you will contact HQ and I will keep tabs on the others.¡± With that we run.