X-MEN: SHADE AND LIRERIAL
An unexpected meeting betwen two mutant assassins, Lirerial and Shade, before their ventures into the mansion, leads to a fight between the two as the latter of the two tries to defend his paying client from the girl who was paid to kill him. While hiding away in the man's house, Lirerial sneaks in, attempting to murder him, but Shade will not stand for that.
Some years before either mutant came to the mansion.
Well. She was here.
Lire thought to herself as she carefully lowered herself on to the carpeted floor from the window sill. She stayed still for a long moment as she concentrated on the sounds of the house. Had anyone noticed her arrival? It didn't seem so. She flowed to her feet and reached into one of her many hiding places to pull out one of her knives.For a girl that had no problem showing off her body, she was surprisingly reserved in her manner of dress for work. She wore her full uniform. A long sleeved, dark grey shirt clung to her body and seemed made of an elastic type fabric that, while looking like leather, affording her the range of motion as if she wore nothing, her legs also seemed to be sheathed in the same sort of fabric. Even her hands were encased in black leather gloves and a matching half mask covered the lower half of her face, leaving only her eyes showing.
A thigh holster was strapped to her left leg and she had one leather band running around her waist and the other looped over her shoulder and running down across her chest. Another large holster hung from her waist and multiple smaller sheathes adorned the belts, hiding her smaller throwing knives.
She simply wanted to finish the job and leave but she wasn't stupid enough to barge through the house. The target, while disgusting, was very well funded which meant he would have the best protection. Of course... this only meant she'd have to kill them first. She had this in her mind as she glided forward across the room and approached the door.
While the fatso that had hired him from protection slept away in his bedroom,
Shade stood guard in the massive lounge that stood before the only entrance to said bedroom, on the second floor. An by standing guard, it meant he was sitting on the lounge couch, leaning back with a glass of the crime boss' finest scotch and with his feet up on his mahogany coffee table. Some of the crime boss' men sat awkwardly playing cards, glancing in his direction every now and then as if they had been locked in with a wild animal or something of the sort. Barely at 18, Shade had been hired to kill the guy first, but being the reasonable sort of individual he was, he had decided to give the crime boss a chance to buy his life by paying Shade more than what he had been paid by the party who wanted him dead. It had been five days since and he was expecting his replacement to arrive anytime soon. In the meantime he could do whatever he wanted as long as the fat boss was alive and kicking. "Go check with the guys at the security office, would you?" he simply said to one of the meat heads standing guard with him. He'd killed a few them almost a week ago and it seemed they had not forgiven him for it yet. The house had the standard security measures, peripheral cameras and motion sensors, nothing past what a typical suburban house would be equipped with. It wouldn't stop anyone but it would give them a heads up.
Four of the men who had seated themselves at a small coffee table, cards in hand, looked up from their, so far, uneventful game of poker. Siletnyl, they glanced at each other, one or two shrugging or shaking their head, and mumbling amongst themselves. Finally, one man angrily threw his cards onto the tables, sliding his chair out noisily and standing. "Fucking dicks," he muttered, though it was unclear if he was speaking of his guard friends or of the man who had killed some of the prior. With a roll of his eyes, the guard stood from his "post", kicked his chair under the table, and left the room.
Clarence, as the man was known, made his way down the hallway, heading right for the security room, the one that held all the camera screens for all the cameras in the house. He was a skinny man, tall with lean muscle, slicked back brown hair and a small mustached that dotted his lip like a skinny caterpillar. He turned into the security room, not bothering to close the door behind him and walked straight to the desk. Having a seat in the big comfy chair, Clarence leaned back and propped his feet up on the desk counter, eyes scanning lazily across the cameras. He stopped, sitting forward suddenly, when he spotted the curtains of a window flapping in a slight breeze. Picking up his radio, he held down the button and growled into the receiver, "One of you assholes leave a fuckin' window open?"
Their defense was sadly lacking.
Lire thought to herself in mild disgust as she stood behind the door, watching the guard prop his feet on the counter. She had been about to open the door when she'd heard footsteps and had managed to get out of the way before he walked in. She didn't plan on wasting any time with this man. She knew that one person had failed already to kill the Italian pig, she hadn't been given the details, but she figured it was safe to assume that he had died. It simply didn't occur to her that a person would switch sides so easily. The buzz of the radio alerted her to his actions and she immediately sent her dagger spinning into his throat. She pulled out another dagger almost immediately and quickly crossed the room to finish the attack should it be needed.
The radio signal cut off just before the knife sound its way into the side of Clarence's neck. He struggled to turn quickly, grabbing at the pistol in his holster. He lifted the gun and fired at Lire, several missing as he tumbled out of his chair and to the ground.
"Nobody's been near no windows," came another, more gruff voice from the radio after a moment, the guards having discussed the topic among themselves. the three other guards at the poker table stood abruptly as the gunshot went off throughout the house. They looked at each other, then to Shade, as if awaiting some sort of order or command.
Shade sat quietly, as if he was simply lounging about and sipping his whiskey as he heard the radio go off. Suddenly, gunshots could be heard echoing in the hall. The young man stood up and pretended to dust his pants before putting his hands on his hips and turning to the trio of hardened gangsters by the table. "Ah... about time. That took long enough." he said simply and then added, "Now ladies, here is what we'll do...". Shade knew superior numbers were an asset, but he wasn't about to fight arm in arm with those people. Either they'd stand back and let him handle the assassin, or he'd do the same to them, and that was the best case scenario. It wouldn't surprise him if a stray bullet hit him in the back in the middle of the fighting. "Either you three go out there and kindly get killed-" he proposed, pointing at the door. Maybe the trio could take down whoever his former bosses had sent, in that case Shade wouldn't have to lift a finger for his pay, which he had been given in advance. "Or you go hide in the closet until I'm done. In either case, just stay out of my way when I'm fighting." he added with a big smile as he held the glass of scotch up, as if he was toasting, and then drunk whatever was left in it.
The guards in the room could've jumped out of their skins when Shade stood, one of them with his hand already on his gun in its holster. They all stared as the man gave them their choice of whether they would try to fight off whatever intruder was there or let Shade handle everything. Exchanging looks, the three mumbled something, and one named Lewis spoke up. "We can handle dis one, Freak. You just stay cozy and have some more Scotch," said the man, his deep voice propelling his thick New York accent through the air.
Lewis picked up the radio and held the button down again. "Clarence, you alive in der?" he asked, and when he received no reply for a few seconds, he nodded to the others. The trio headed out, walking towards the same hallway where Clarence had disappeared.
Well there went the element of fucking surprise.
Lire thought sourly to herself. She'd managed to dodge all the bullets, though one had come frighteningly close as is brushed past her ear. She hated guns, a flaw she lived with daily since she refused to use them. She quickly pulled out the dagger from Clarence's neck and wiped it clean on his clothes before tucking it back into it's place. She could hear the man's radio go off again and for a moment she studied it thoughtfully and then grinned as she picked it up. "I regret to inform you but Clarence is currently bleeding out at my feet." She spoke into the radio and then dropped it on the dead man's lap. She needed to get them close, guns would always win against her knives, especially now that she was alone on the job. She quickly crossed the room and hid once more near the door, crouched down as she pulled out a second dagger and held it in preparation for an attack.
Lire's message came through too late for the other guards to hear, as they had already made their way down the hallway, in a staggered line, one behind the other. Lewis led the front, his gun already aimed and ready to fire as he rounded a corner. He stopped just at the entrance of the security room, signaling his men to hang back, just in case things went awry. Slowly, the man stepped into the room, gun still at the ready, and scanned the area.
She wanted them dead.
Lire was not the most forgiving of people. They were in her way and she had no qualms with getting rid of them. She was waiting tensely for the first man to come close enough for her to strike. Now. She moved forward and reached for his arm, attempting to pull him off balance and get out of the immediate range of his gun so she could shove a knife in an upwards motion under his rib cage and into his heart.
Lewis wasn't expecting to have to look behind the door to find their intruder, so when Lire grabbed at his arm, he was taken by complete surprise. His left hand came loose from holding his right hand steady but he still held his gun, which he promptly tried to fire at Lirerial. Like Clarence, however, the man had little ability to aim as he was pulled down and impaled by one of the girl's sharp knives, and the three bullets he fired were embedded in the wall across the room. The next two men surged forward as the watched their comrade fall, both blindly firing their guns at Lire simultaneously.
Shade had been sitting comfortably on the couch when Lire's voice came in through the Radio. "A girl?" he said to himself, turning towards the radio as she went off.
"She introduces herself AND gives me her position, how quaint" smirked the young man as he picked up the radio and killed it. He could assume a few things from the information Lire had just decided to drop on his lap. He had heard gunfire from a single pistol, unless both hers and Clarence's had been the exact same make and caliber, so regardless of whether she had done the shooting, she was stealthy. She was also in the security room, which was just by the corridor that led to the lounge where Shade currently was. He walked towards the door of the crime boss' room and knocked on the door. "Hey Fatso, wake up service! They sent a girl this time." he called out with a grin. As he did that, he sent a sliver of shadow into the room, which he promptly called back after a few seconds. Suddenly, Shade heard more gunfire and turned towards it's direction, "Security room still, uh? Morons walked right into an ambush.." he muttered to himself. Amateurish and dramatic as her methods might be, the girl was beginning to pique Shade's interest. If she could survive and kill four armed enforcers, that mean it might be worth Shade's time to take her on. For now, he simply sat back down on the couch and turned, grabbing the remote, he turned on the crime bosses PA system, playing some music to pass the time until the woman was done. With a flick of his wrist, a small tendril of shadow slithered away from him and stretched along the edges of the room, lest he be surprised too.
Lire was actually smiling. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her now that she was really in the thick of it. She hadn't stayed with the first victim for long, she heaved him towards the other two as hard as she could and allowed his weight to pull her dagger free for her. She hoped the body would stagger them, giving her an opening to execute a roll that would take her a bit off to the side where she could quickly pull and throw two more daggers; one for each man in an attempt to get rid of the distractions and find her real prey.
"H-hey!" the next-in-line guard shouted as his buddy Lewis was thrown through the door and his direction. He stumbled backward, falling right on his ass and almost knocking over his companion. The second man continued to fire, loosing two more bullets in Lire's direction, stopping only when his arm was sliced open by one of the girl's daggers. The first dagger found itself lodged into the side of the grounded man's head, and his eyes were wide as he fell backwards, head hitting the floor with a thud. The man still standing screamed in agony as blood gushed from his new wound, but he had one shot left, and he fired it squarely at Lire's head, or at least where it was at that moment.
There was only one left. In a small way
Lire actually felt sorry for the men but it didn't last. They had made choices that had brought them there and Lire had been bored. She hadn't taken a job in several months and would've turned this one down but she'd found her interest peaked after hearing how the first person had failed. There had to be something else besides these pawns, she would be sorely disappointed if these men were all the toys she could look forward to playing with. She had already been moving when the last man fired his gun at her head and she watched as it whizzed by her harmlessly. She turned back to him and tilted her head as she smiled up at him. She was attempting to catch his gaze, her silver eyes really stood out against her dark skin and dark mask which helped to draw attention to them.
In the moment that Lire used to look away and towards the bullet, the last man standing fired his gun once more, though the giant gash in his arm kept him from aiming properly. The bullet missed his target, her head, but effectively streaked across her shoulder, leaving a nice gash before plowing into the wall behind Lire. The man's gaze was suddenly caught by Lire's and he found himself completely unable to moved and slightly off balance.
Fuck. She'd gotten cocky and she was paying for it. She flinched as she felt the bullet graze her shoulder and turned her glaring eyes at her target and watched in satisfaction as he froze. It was a flesh wound, not enough to slow her down but certainly enough to hurt. She held his gaze as she slid up to him, reaching out to grab on to his shoulder so she could keep him from falling over. Using her powers meant that she was forced to stare into her victim's eyes until they died or she looked away; it was something that she had quite enjoyed. She was still staring into his eyes as she pulled out one of the larger knives hooked to her belt and moved slightly to the side, she wasn't able to hold his gaze in her new position but she used her superior speed to try and swipe the thicker blade across his throat. If it worked, the release from her eyes would've stalled him enough to keep him from fighting the blow to hard.
The guard had zero time to react, even after Lire broke her gaze from his sight, and the poor man fell victim to the assassin's blade, crumpling to his knees as his trachea and carotids were sliced open, blood spewing from the long gash.
Mmmmm. This was her favorite part of her job.
Lire had purposely not moved enough to completely avoid the spray of blood and she delightedly allowed the blood to coat her skin. Sure, it was sticky and started to smell bad after a while but normally she was able to get out of her clothes fairly fast after a mission. It was the warmth of the liquid that was the real draw not a sadistic joy in the kill. She let the man fall to the ground and carefully wiped her eyes clean as she enjoyed the small warmth he had offered her before the blood started to cool. She would need her knives to continue so she quickly retrieved them, wiping them clean before tucking them back into place. She was keeping an ear out for signs of reinforcements
; when she didn't hear any, she left the room and continued down the hall until she came up on the doorway to the massive parlor. She drew one of her knives and peeked over the edge, a little puzzled to only see one person in the room. Was this all?
Shade counted the screams and shots, noting when each ended to be able to guess how close the assassin was coming. It seemed this one followed the scorched earth method, killing everything in her path. It was crude, but one couldn't argue with results right now, considering all of the grunts that had been assigned to 'help him' had been promptly dispatched. Hearing the dull, faint thud of the last guard's body hitting the floor on the opposite end of the hall signaled Lire's approach. "Tsk tsk... didn't bother to catch the bodies missy..." whispered Shade before he took the last sip of scotch in his glass, setting it down slowly. As Lirerial stood right outside the room, close enough to peek in, the shadow the young man had set up around the edge of the room was triggered, tipping him off. It's time, though the young man to himself as he calmly stood up and straightened out his dress shirt and black pants. He looked like a more casual version of the enforcers, with an open collar, pin striped white dress shirt and a pair of formal pants. The young man cleared his throat, standing very straight, as if in attention, "Excuse me?" he called out in the direction of the hallway. "Uhm.. Miss?" he called out again, arms relaxed and hands crossed in front of him.
Lire blinked in surprise as she heard someone address her and a small smile spread on her lips. She couldn't remember the last time someone had actually addressed her while on a mission. It was always, 'please don't kill me!' and 'Noooooo!'. Pitiful and pathetic, humans groveling at her feet... well they would if they managed to get that close before one of her daggers met their throat. Oh well, she could always humor him and see what he wanted before he killed him. It wasn't like she had anything else to do that called for her immediate attention unless... "Trying to buy some time for that pathetic bastard you're protecting?" Her voice was deep and velvety smooth though her tone was a mixture of amusement and accusation.
"Oh, no, not really." replied Shade with a small, polite smile, still waiting for the girl to come out of her hiding spot. "The name is Reeds. Jonathan Reeds. From Steelwall security." he said simply in the best pencil-pusher voice he could muster as he began to feel around his pockets for something. "Ah.. damn... forgot my card. I apologize." he added throwing his hands up on the air for a sec before putting them back in front of himself. "I simply want to talk to you for a bit. It's obvious our people couldn't stop you so I really could not." he added, inviting Lire to come over with another movement of his hand.
Well... this was interesting. For several long moments Lire stayed where she was; she wasn't convinced by his words and she doubted the name he'd given her was real. She distrusting at her best, let along in the middle of a job. She wasn't getting anywhere hiding in place, however, and she steeled herself and stepped around the corner. She was confident one of her knives would reach the man in front of her before he could draw a gun but just in case, she held one loosely in her grasp. "Well feel free to start talking." She ordered as she watched him, waiting for the chance to catch his gaze.
"I'm part of the last line of defense we offer our customers." said simply the young man, sitting back down and motioning towards the couch across from the coffee table, Shade looked extremely calm and comfortable, as if he had done this a million times. "A financial line of defense." he continued with the most cordial smile. "We understand sometimes butting heads is not the only... or even the ideal way of resolving conflict." he said simply, looking every bit like some young, hotshot corporate lawyer. "You obviously have a flair for the dramatic." he said simply, nodding towards her choice of weapon, the blood she had undoubtedly gotten on herself by killing several people in close range by throat strikes, and her quaint little radio message. "That is very uncharacteristic for an assassin. Makes me think you might be reasoned with." as he finished talking, he noticed how wary Lire was, "I promise I do not bite." he then added with a smirk.
"A financial defense?" Lire repeated and then her eyes narrowed. "You want to pay me off." She grinned, the thought was amusing. "I'm afraid that's just not an option. You see... I just don't give a damn." She'd had this sort of thing happen before but it had always failed. No, it wasn't because she was trying some sort of misguided attempt at honesty. The answer was fairly simple. She wasn't the one who handled the finances or the jobs, she was only the one who carried them out. It was satisfying, being able to refuse this man even if it was petty of her. She didn't like the way he spoke so casually about her and assumed things about her. She refused to admit that he was dead on about her love of the dramatic. She shifted on her feet tensely, her knives still gripped in her hands. She wanted to see what else this man would say before she killed him.
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