originally posted in:The New Dojo
[b][i]The Backdoor Man[/i][/b]
[i]"Concrete shoes, cyanide, TNT
DONE DIRT CHEAP
Neck ties, contracts, high voltage
DONE DIRT CHEAP"
-AC/DC[/i]
[b]Ten Miles Outside of Dojoville[/b]
[i]Wilson stepped forth from a rift in space and time, the shred closing behind him as he exited, the unconscious soldier on his shoulder. Before him, far out in the forests beyond the Dojo and Dojoville, was a small building, a shed of sorts. Opening the door, he entered the stairwell, which led down to an underground bunker about as big as a medium-sized garage. Throwing her to the ground once he reached bottom, he flicked the lights on.
All around him, the room was loaded with supplies, ammunition, food, water, medical supplies, alcohol, supplies to repair his armor, rifles, handguns, and plenty of other weapons. What stood out, however, was the metal chair sitting in the center of the room, a medical tray on a medical table next to it, with a car battery and jumper cables on the floor. There was some dried blood on the floor below the chair, and it clearly had restraints, leather straps built into the chair.
Walking past it, and tossing one of his combat knives onto the small medical table, he walked over to the power armor stand in the corner, and exited his armor. Climbing out, Wilson wore Elite Riot Armor, minus the helmet. Taking his revolver belt from his armor, he strapped it on around his waist, and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his bandolier. Pulling one from the pack, he perched it between his lips, sliding the pack into the bandolier on his person. Lighting it, he took a drag, and headed over to the soldier on the ground. Putting a foot on her neck, he reached down and disengaged it by fiddling around with some mechanism, the armor opening up.
Looking at the woman inside, Wilson's eyebrow raised. She was young, perhaps 24 or 25, pale with bleach-blonde hair, and petite. He was surprised to see someone that good-looking as a soldier, but nonetheless, he figured she'd been trained well. Picking her up, he dragged her over to the chair, and strapped her in, leaving her there while he moved the armor to its own stand. Setting up the Venom armor, he headed into the bathroom in the small building, filling a bucket with cold water. Walking out from the bathroom after a few minutes, lit cigarette in his mouth, bucket on hand, he approached her and poured the water on her. She awoke with a start, completely terrified, struggling to escape. She eyed Wilson like a deer in the headlights.[/i]
"Who... who are you? Where am I?!"
[i]She looked around wildly.[/i]
"Welcome to hell, sweetheart. Alright, here's what's gonna happen. One of my friends is gonna come in here and ask questions. You want to answer now, and I don't hurt you. You make this hard, I'll bleed it out of you."
[i]He said, smiling like a killer. [/i]
[i]She looked at him, and spat at him. Wilson sighed, and blew smoke from his nose.[/i]
"Guess we're doing this the hard way. Alright."
[i]Standing up, he tossed his cigarette, and grabbed the jumper cables from the floor, turning the battery on as well.
Laughing, he touched the two of them together, a spark jumping between them....[/i]
[b][i]The following has been cut out due to extremely graphic content.[/i][/b]
[b]Four Hours Later[/b]
[i]Nicholas Clarkson stepped down the stairs leading to Wilson's bunker, and stopped at the bottom, staring at the panting, bloodied, and exhausted-looking woman strapped in the chair. Clarkson said nothing, walking over to Wilson, and looked down to the girl. [/i]
"Hello, love. I hear you're ready to talk."
[i]He said, voice cold. [/i]
"Yes..." [i]she said, out of breath, tears running slowly down her cheeks, mixing with a bit of blood on her right cheek.[/i]
"I want to know exactly why you're here. I want to know why you're killing civilians. I want to know who sent you. I want to know why you have Venom Incorporated technology. I want a name, too."
[i]Clearly he was not in the mood for anything, as his voice took on a sharp edge.[/i]
[i]She looked up to Clarkson, pleadingly.[/i]
"Please... don't leave me here with him... anything, I will answer..."
[i]She said softly.[/i]
[i]Clarkson smiled beneath his mask, and replied.[/i]
"I won't, so long as you aren't lying to me."
"O... ok... My name is Rose... Rose Mercier... I was French Foreign Legion, Atlas recruited me.... I'm sorry, I do not know his name, but he is one man.... He recruited the remaining Venom Incorporated operators and contracted other mercenaries... He sent one other and me to agitate this place to draw out the Wolfe..."
[i]As she spoke, Wolfe approached, walking down the stairs silently, observing the conversation as it occurred. [/i]
"We were not told why. We were just told to draw him out and subdue him... We were to bring him back...."
[i]She continued.[/i]
"Back to where?"
[i]Clarkson asked sharply.[/i]
[i]Wilson simply sat watching amusedly, playing with a knife.[/i]
"Mexico. Atlas is operating somewhere in the Yucatán Peninsula. I have not been to his base personally, I have only heard that it is there..."
[i]She looked fearfully up at Clarkson, eyes darting between him and Wilson.[/i]
"Why do you have tytritium weapons and the Venom armor?"
[i]Clarkson asked, tone becoming flat.[/i]
"Atlas gave it to us. I promise you, monsieur, I do not know anymore, please..."
[i]She seemed to be on the verge of crying. [/i]
"Thanks b*tch!"
[i]Wilson said, drawing his revolver and pulling the hammer back. [/i]
[i]Before he could shoot, however, Wolfe spoke up, stepping into the light.[/i]
"Don't kill her."
"Why the hell not? She basically slaughtered all those people..."
[i]Asked Wilson, almost offended.[/i]
"You're not one to talk, Wilson. Keep her alive. She's of more use to us alive."
[i]The room was silent, Rose silently awaiting her fate. Wilson and Wolfe stared each other down for almost two solid minutes before Clarkson spoke.[/i]
"Wolfe's right. Keep her alive. The armor is yours to keep, Wilson. Ms. Mercier, you'll be with us. Understand, however, that should you decide to betray me, I won't hesitate to kill you. Am I understood?"
[i]There was a clear emphasis on Clarkson's last two statements. [/i]
[i]With that, he turned and left, heading out of the building. Wolfe stood silently by the stairs, and Wilson reluctantly slid his revolver back into place, sighing.[/i]
"I hate you, kid."
[i]He said, walking back over to his power armor, strapping his pistol belt back to it, and climbing inside. [/i]
[i]The armor locked around him, and he walked forwards, and undid the restraints on the chair. Rose stood slowly, unsteadily. Her whole body ached, the shocks, beatings, and waterboarding had left her beyond exhausted. The three exited the building, and began making their way to the Dojo. Rose needed a new set of armor, and some new gear, and neither the Courier nor the Vengeful Son trusted her.[/i]
[spoiler]Open[/spoiler]
English
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... Lucien stood silently in the shadows as he saw the woman's life being spared. What Alexander Wilson put her through was indeed cruel, but just for someone who would take it upon themselves to kill innocents for a supposed 'greater purpose' by following orders. Nothing more than another mercenary who hid behind their figurehead's ideals and hurt anyone they wanted to. He put back on his wide-brimmed hat and began to head out before turning to Alex Wilson. "Ronin said that there were more of these Cobra soldiers even though their faction fell. Any idea as to why?"
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Well, that ain't my job to know. What she told me was enough to find where to start lookin', but it enough for a solid answer, but I guess a little background will probably get ya up to speed. Alright, so the soldiers you've seen were part of a big-ass private military contractor, Venom Incorporated. I worked for 'em for a while when they were here operating on a large scale. Wolfie's dad did too, he was their bossman's right hand man. Anyway, they eventually went back to their world and got involved in the Third World War, and they got their asses kicked, because fighting a multi-front war is stupid. They scattered, the commanders scattered, and a few of the commanders went nuts and tried to take command of some nuclear missile silos. Couple commanders joined back with their respective countries and put a stop to all that sh*t. One of 'em now runs the group Wolfie's working for, the other one, Wolfie's dad, got iced by the CIA. Anyways, I was told that they know there are some wildcard groups out there, and some of the gear is out there. What it looks like now is that some b*stard took the lead and is trying to play with the big dogs. [i]He explained causually.[/i]
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"A multi-front war? A horrible tactical error. I read about such things as the Old-Earth wars in many documents. I... Remember that symbol from somewhere. The video you showed me. It was on that man's armour - the one you called Phoenix. Was he a part of these mercenaries?"
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Yeah at one point. I killed the b*stard for getting in the way of a target I wanted to take, found out that he came back, advanced healing or some sh*t. Venom offered him a position, got him a new spinal implant, allowed him to move again, built him a custom suit of armor. He died before they broke up, though. [i]Wilson said, nonchalantly.[/i]
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"I see," Lucien said with an air of calm. However beneath this was somewhat of a worry - a man who fought and acted much like him dead? It seemed as if treading upon the Dojo's very ground was like stepping on a grave. He didn't belong. It felt too unnatural. "What did you find out from the girl?" Lucien asked, not even glancing at the beaten captive. He seemed disgusted by what she did, and perhaps even pitied her - not because of her torture, but because perhaps she had finally realized the weight of her actions.
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We got a bigger problem than we thought. Birdie boy ain't happy, and that ain't good... She's just a pawn in the game, a disposable killer as far as what she said. [i]Wilson said, not completely filling Lucien in, but then again, Wilson didn't totally know what had Clarkson so upset in the first place.[/i]
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"So there's more of them then? Damn. Did she give any information on how they were able to infiltrate the Dojo so easily?" Lucien shifted and adjusted his holstered revolver almost restlessly. His holster was somewhat of a mechanical amalgamation, similar to his katana scabbard. New modifications, it seemed.
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Same tech Wolfie and Crow have. Remnant of Venom's gear. They can use rifts to get between their world and this one seamlessly. She doesn't know how many there are, she said that everyone's too spread out to be able to tell.
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"Sounds a lot like Guerilla warfare to me, albeit spread over a much larger area. The fight you have on your hands is my fight now as well, I suppose. What do you say we do about this situation?" As much as Lucien didn't want to get involved with another man's fight, he wouldn't just stay low and let more innocents be slaughtered if he could do something about it.
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Yeah. They're playin' it that way. I don't know what the plan is, but we got a talker and Crow's got information. That's good enough for me to know I'm gonna be chillin' and killin'. [i]He said, seeming to be fairly unconcerned with all of it.[/i]
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"Would you like an extra set of eyes? I've recently found out my virus inoculation still allows me the same abilities here as it did on Mars. I can turn some of the local fauna into an Infected version that is connected to me. I've discovered that birds are most versatile for finding information." Lucien then slowly turns to the imprisoned woman, narrowing his eyes at her. "And that one. Do you plan on keeping her imprisoned still? She has no more information, right?"
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Well, I think the kid wants to basically tell her to get lost and let her live, but I've got a tracker and a shock anklet on her, she doesn't even know about. She passed out after her second round of waterbo- I mean freedom baptism and I put it on then. Got enough power in there to keep her down if she tries anything stupid. Although I will say, I think I scared the bad out of her. You'd be amazed at how f*ckin' easy it is to break people with batteries and water. [i]he said.[/i] But if you're bored and in the mood, sure, f*ck it, more eyes we got, the better off we are. [i]He shrugged.[/i]
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He didn't seem to get the joke. "Freedom baptism? Sounds like some cultish Abbatial ritual. Forgive me, my view on religion is rather jaded." Lucien then strode up to the imprisoned mercenary with a stone-cold face. "Tell me, girl. Do you look into the eyes of the people you kill?"
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[i]Wilson sighed, knowing the the man didn't get the joke. So much for that. Lucien approached the woman, who did not say anything. She looked to the ground, tears flowing silently from both eyes. She seemed to be shaking, still fairly traumatized from the ordeal. [/i]
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"Look at me," he says with the calmness of a serial killer. In a flash he raised his hand to her throat, his bladed ring popping out and poking into her skin. He raised a hand to Wilson to signify he would do no harm. "I may not know what that man did to you down here, but you deserved every bit of it. Atonement is a painful thing, is it not? Yet here you are, still living in contrast to all of those you have killed. Oh how I would love to draw my ring across your throat and put you into the shoes of that little girl... But that would be too kind. So I will ask again: do you look into the eyes of the people you kill?"
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Edited by Trashcan Jesus: 11/11/2016 8:47:01 PMOui. [i]Her face looked like she had taken a heavy blow to the cheek, an open wound bleeding slowly. Her left eye was black, and blood matted her hair to her forehead. [/i] I was told it instills fear in them. [i]Her voice shook, even as quiet as it was. Wilson simply watched, expression unreadable behind his helmet.[/i]
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"My people used to follow a mantra of an Old-Earth philosopher. Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. Have you heard of this before? You seem like a smart girl. Let me let you in on a little secret. You may bring fear into your targets behind the visor of your helmet, but within their dead eyes lies an ocean. An unfathomably deep ocean that whispers your sins. And when you take off that helmet of yours... All you can hear are the screams." Lucien traces his finger across the woman's throat, imitating where she held the knife to the girl. "Can you see them now? Halfway to death yourself... Soaked in whatever unholy ritual this 'freedom baptism' is... They await you. Beneath that ocean, every eye is watching. For you, dear mercenary. And I hope that terrifies you. It should, really. That's the fate for people like us. One day you'll look into the eyes of the living but see only the abyss. Perhaps it was in Mr. Wilson's visor, maybe it will be the reflection from my mask. But that horrid abyss will always be there, giving you that same look you gave to all of your targets. You work for a man named Atlas? Then be sure to not break under the weight of his world."
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[i]She stared off silently, shaking a bit. Clearly she was more than traumatized, but it seemed that she was most certainly facing her punishment.[/i]
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Lucien pressed the woman, showing no sympathy for her at all. "Would you like to know why I'm still speaking to you? It's because I'm making sure you understand the weight of your actions. The only way to truly wound a monster is to make them realize who they've devoured... And to let them know that there are greater monsters than them." He nudged his head towards Wilson. "I would like to know more about you, miss. What lead you to such a predicament? Now, now... Think beyond the attack. Beyond Atlas. To when you were a small lass with big dreams. What did you want to become?"
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I wanted to make a difference in the world... I wanted to be heard... [i]She stared off at Wilson, who now had drawn his combat knife, and was approaching, in full armor, an absolutely terrifying sight. She immediately began attempting to escape, screaming.[/i] NO NO NO NO NO! I'M SORRY PLEASE GOD NO MORE MONSIEUR! PLEASE! [i]She was nearly crying. Wilson on the other hand, was laughing like a mad man, flipping the blade in his hand. Approaching on the opposite side of her from Lucien, he stopped, putting the edge of the knife on her cheek, catching a tear with it in the blood groove. He leaned down to look at her, and spoke.[/i] He's right, you know... you ain't the biggest fish in the sea, sweetheart... You're also damn lucky Wolfie's got a heart, else I'd have put a bullet between your eyes... [i]He leaned in close, and practically screamed in her ear.[/i] NOW ANSWER HIM! [i]She screamed, closing her eyes tightly, forcing more tears out and down her face. Wilson laughed again, and slammed the blade down into her hand. She shrieked in pain, and he simply continued on laughing. Struggling, she answered. [/i] I wanted to be a nurse... a medic...
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"A medic, you say? And look where you are now. You do not delay death - you inflict it onto others. You became a monster in the eyes of medics, medics who thought they could save the lives you took only to see a red line drawn across your victims' throats. But this entertains me. You wanted to change the world by saving lives. How did you end up deviating so greatly from such an objective? Answer quickly now, or Mr. Wilson will have to take the other hand." The faintest hint of a smile peaked at the corner of Lucien's mouth. Another part of him was coming out - something even he was scared of sometimes. But he could not feel his own demons rising, as he was blinded by toying with the girl.
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[i]Wilson wrenched the blade free, wiping her own blood on her cheek, and holstering the knife, in turn pulling out his machete, twirling it in the air. [/i] I.... I joined the Foreign Legion as a soldier... I was trained to be a field medic. I was approached by Atlas through an emissary, the man said that Atlas wanted someone with my abilities, said that there was a better salary, a better everything, and with as devastated as my home was from the Third World War, I took the opportunity. [i]She spoke through clenched teeth, clearly in a great deal of pain. She looked between the two men, terrified.[/i]
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[i]Another lost soul caught up in the war of another man. Desperation is a powerful force indeed.[/i] "So I am to understand that you joined up with Atlas in order to survive. I get that, at least. We do what we must in order to survive. No one's innocent I suppose. You're as much as a monster as we are now. Even if your means justified the end, those lives you took are all calling your name. And look where we are now." Lucien raised a hand towards Wilson, as if to say [i]don't do anything just yet.[/i] "I could leave you alone with Mr. Wilson if you wish..." he said, letting that sink in. "Or I could keep you company for a tad bit longer. Something tells me you would prefer the latter. That language of yours - Old French, I assume? A local village in my home spoke a bastardized version of it. Through some old linguistic documents and learning, I picked up on a simple term of identification." He leaned in close to her ear, as slowly as a lover would when embracing his newlywed bride. "Je suis le prophète du faux. La deuxième bête des révélations. Je me nourris de vos péchés. Remember that, miss. Remember my name. Remember it every time you stare into that abyss - because I will be watching. And if you believe in God? Pray that you do not sin once more while I watch."
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[i]She looked directly into Lucien's eyes, until Wilson grabbed her by the throat, undoing the restraints on the chair with his other hand. Lifting her by the throat, he looked her dead in the eyes. She tried to grasp his gauntlets and free herself, but it was to no avail.[/i] Listen to me, and listen good, blondie. He's gonna be the last of your concerns if you f*ck around on us. I personally promise you that I'll send you to hell myself, and it won't be quick. I don't give a damn about your repentance, I just wanna watch you burn.... [i]He threw her like a rag doll into a shelf loaded with ammunition, her body hitting it and flopping to the ground as a few crates fell out on top of her. Wilson approached her again.[/i] Get up, kid. [i]He grabbed her by the ankle, and pulled her forwards across the floor, throwing her again, this time towards the stairs.[/i] Let's go, sh*t-for-brains. [i]Struggling, she tried to pull herself up the stairs, but Wilson was too quick, grabbing her by the collar of her tank top, dragging her up the steps and out the door at the top.[/i]
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[b]PoV: Julian[/b] "Hey, So you caught the bitch." [i]I say as I approach the area, twirling a Kukri around in the air. I face Rose, a small grin beginning to break out on my face. [/i] "Well, I told you I'd bring you the Wolfe, but...." [i]I chuckle slightly. [/i] "...It seems the Wolf's much scarier and much larger friend didn't quite like the prospect. Quite coincidental, ain't it? You telling me what you want and then you finding it. Albeit in an adverse way." [i]I grin, some slight sense of satisfaction in my eyes. At the top of the steps, Kaden leaned against the door. We'd gotten over our little skirmish at the Hostage-Taking. He understood that I was simply trying to get Information. [/i]