A Hitman's Guide To Becoming A Hero

[A/N: the last two Chapters have been edited, do read those before this.. sorry]

Nicholas slowly walked away from the group, having no intention of remaining there any longer. Every second he spent doing nothing gave whoever was using his face more time to cause havoc throughout the city, and he wasn’t going to sit around and let that happen.

’I should use Vixen’s abilities,’ Phantom thought, but when he looked at his rapidly depleting Charm point reserve, he could only grit his teeth in annoyance. ’I feel poor. It’s disgusting.’

Somewhere along the line, he’d started treating Charm points more like actual currency than simple system points, and now that his reserves were running dangerously low, he couldn’t help feeling as though someone had emptied his wallet.

As Nicholas reached the side of the road, a large van suddenly screeched to a halt in front of him. The windows slid down, revealing Julie behind the wheel with a pair of black-tinted glasses covering her eyes. She lowered them slightly and stared at him.

"What do you think of the new van?" Julie asked, resting her arms on the door.

"It looks ridiculous," Nicholas said as he climbed inside.

"That’s a lie! You haven’t even looked inside yet!" Julie retorted with a pout.

"Whatever."

The rain hammered against the reinforced roof of Julie’s armoured broadcasting van. Inside, multiple monitor banks glowed in shades of neon blue and orange, their light reflecting across Julie’s wide eyes as she glanced toward Nicholas.

Julie, clearly expecting some sort of reaction from Nicholas, only for her excitement to fade when she saw his passive expression.

"Tsk, you can’t even say congratulations? You’re always so indifferent," Julie pouted, turning her attention back to the road. "So what do you want to do now?"

Nicholas sat on the narrow bench across from her, calmly wiping the water from the tinted lenses of his X-glasses with a cloth.

"I want to make a broadcast. I’m not the type to show up on TV screens, but I’ll make an exception just this once. We’ll go live at the plaza."

"Are you insane?" Julie whispered, gripping the edge of her console as she turned toward him. "You want me to hijack the billboard screens and announce your exact location to every bounty hunter, hero, and government strike team in the city?"

"Yes," Nicholas replied without looking up. He slid the X-glasses back over his eyes, concealing his dark blue gaze behind the dark tint.

"Phantom, Larry just offered fifty million dollars for your head! Half the registered heroes in the state are already foaming at the mouth to redeem their reputations after Vance’s leaks! If we broadcast your exact coordinates, they won’t send negotiators. They’re going to come with lethal force."

"I know," Nicholas replied calmly. "And when they come, your drone network is going to stream every second of it to the entire continent."

Julie tilted her head, her manicured fingers hovering over the broadcast controls. "Wait... you’re not going to kill them?"

"If I kill them, Larry wins. The media gets their proof, the public confirms Phantom is a monster, and it’ll only make matters worse," Nicholas said, glancing sideways as his system interface hovered faintly in his vision.

[Charm points: 9,840]

The pool was still bleeding out, slowly but surely. Every passing hour of false accusations ate away at the foundation he’d built, and if he allowed the situation to continue, there might not be enough Charm points left for him to recover.

"The culprit wants everyone to believe I’m an unhinged butcher," Nicholas continued, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "So I’ll show them the opposite. Every hero and bounty hunter that comes after me will leave Broadstairs alive. I’ll disarm them, put them down, and make sure not a single drop of blood is spilled."

Julie stared at him, blinking rapidly as the magnitude of the plan settled in. "A bloodless takedown on a live feed... while everyone thinks you’re a bloodthirsty killer. The contrast alone could destroy everything they’re trying to build."

Julie beamed, a sharp grin spreading across her face.

"It’s brilliant! If you spare everyone while completely overwhelming them, people will start questioning everything they’ve been told about the massacre. The entire narrative could flip!"

Nicholas could only sigh in disappointment.

"You don’t seem to understand, though. Whether I kill anyone or not isn’t the point."

Julie’s smile faded slightly.

"The person behind this won’t just sit back and watch me prove my innocence."

Julie smiled wryly. ’Well, that won’t matter! I’ll get to stream the most epic scene! The hero becomes a villain and now has to face the heroes! A perfect evil arc.’ Excitement bubbled through her veins, her eyes beaming.

Nicholas could clearly see the gleam in her eyes and could only sigh, "The idea is simple: if he doesn’t want me to prove my innocence, the culprit will probably be there as well. He’ll try to make me look like the villain and might even kill someone just to strengthen the narrative."

"Wait a second," Julie stammered, her voice dropping. "It’s a brilliant PR stunt, but how on earth are you going to face all those people at once? We’re talking A and S-rank heroes, syndicate elites, maybe even high-ranking Association vanguards. And you’re not even allowed to use lethal force?!"

Nicholas reached into his coat, his fingers lightly brushing the edge of his materialised equipment inventory. A cold, faint smirk touched the corner of his lips.

"They’re relying on numbers and their abilities. I can handle that," Nicholas said, turning his head toward the rain-streaked window as the van slowed to a halt outside the wide, open expanse of the transit plaza.

"Don’t worry about the heroes, Julie. I have the perfect plan for them. Besides, we have a few people to welcome us."

"Huh? People? What do you mean?" Julie asked, confused.

Nicholas pushed the van door open and stepped into the pouring rain. He looked toward the surrounding buildings, his gaze moving slowly across the rooftops and dark windows.

"You can stop trailing us now," he said calmly. "Come out."

"Get the cameras in the sky," Nicholas commanded calmly. "The show is about to start."

[A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the delayed Chapters, was working on having the Chapters edited. The second Chapter might be delayed as well]

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