A Hitman's Guide To Becoming A Hero

"What’s the meaning of this?!" Eric’s voice flared with anger as he dropped the heavy folder onto the glass table, the reinforced glass groaning beneath the impact as vibrations rippled across its polished surface. His anger was rare, but this was one of the few situations that could genuinely piss him off.

Inside the private directorate office of the Hero Association’s Regional Headquarters, Eric sat staring at the screen as Larry’s broadcast played again.

The headline remained plastered across the bottom of the screen, almost taunting him. SENATOR LARRY PLACES 50 MILLION BOUNTY ON POPULAR HERO PHANTOM.

Eric felt the urge to throw the file straight at the TV screen.

"Sir Eric, calm down. This isn’t the time to be angry," Dana said calmly, leaning back against the edge of the conference console with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Councillor Larry has already done the damage, so the least we can do is try our best to manage it."

Eric rubbed his forehead. "Manage it? How do we manage this, Dana?" Eric growled, turning sharply on his heel. "Larry completely ignored the Association. He didn’t let us investigate the matter, skipped every mandatory requirement, and ignored half the protocols in the charter! The public is already outside our front gates throwing red paint at our sentries and burning association flags, and Larry decides to go on national television, declare the very man who broke the barrier a public enemy, and slap an open bounty on his head!"

Eric gestured furiously toward the screens, where commentary feeds were scrolling at a dizzying pace, tearing whatever remained of the Association’s prestige to shreds.

"The council had an agreement," Eric continued, his deep voice rumbling through the spacious room. "Any major action concerning the public required a joint sign-off from both the administrative branch and the Association." Larry went behind our backs, mobilised the Federal Defence Directorate’s emergency civilian-threat clause, and pushed the bounty through the private defence contractors before our morning debrief even opened. He’s deliberately cutting our legs out from under us!"

Dana listened patiently, her expression unreadable. She walked over to the terminal, tapping a sequence to mute the looping audio of Larry’s sanctimonious voice.

"Of course he did, Eric," Dana said, her voice settling into a cold, measured cadence. "Larry isn’t just some councillor we can threaten into backing down. He’s got political power, connections inside the government, and enough influence to make this situation difficult for us. And he’s clearly using all of this as a distraction. The public is furious. They’re demanding resignations, audits, criminal investigations, and even trials for some of the board members. The Association’s credibility is bleeding out in the streets."

Dana looked straight at Eric before continuing. "Larry knew exactly what he was doing. Putting Phantom in the crosshairs, he creates a brand-new monster for the public to fear. It diverts attention away from the corruption files and gives the council a convenient scapegoat. If the Association takes Phantom down, Larry gets to present it as justice. If Phantom kills more people, he gets the justification he needs to push for emergency powers. And somewhat, all of this pulls the association out of the current trouble we’re facing. It’s a smart move, just that he had to pick the wrong hero to do it with."

"Either way, he wins."

"It’s dirty," Eric spat, leaning his hands heavily against the edge of the table. "It’s cowardly."

"It’s politics," Dana corrected dryly. "And in politics, truth is always the first casualty."

Eric stared out the window, his gaze drifting over the sprawling metropolitan grid. Sirens were wailing in the distance, their red and blue strobes reflecting off the wet asphalt four hundred feet below.

"I know it’s not Phantom," Eric muttered, his anger slowly giving way to concern. "He wouldn’t do something like that. Not after everything we’ve seen from him, and especially not when he has absolutely nothing to gain from it." He paused, his brow furrowing as he looked back at the frozen frame of the alleyway murder.

"Yet the news we’re seeing... the footage from District Four, the second slaughter at the docks, the audio recording... it makes it hard to believe it’s not him. The movements, the frame, the eyes behind those glasses—it’s an exact match. The public doesn’t care about all that. They hear him saying he’s going to turn into their villain, and they’re terrified. When people are terrified, they want a head on a spike." Dana said.

Eric let out a heavy sigh, turning back toward Dana with genuine anxiety etched into his rugged features.

"I’m worried about Nicholas, Dana. If every high-ranking hero in the country descends on him all at once, he could get overwhelmed. He’s powerful, but he’s still human."

Dana stared at Eric for three long seconds.

Then, the corner of her lips twitched, and she let out a dry, incredulous laugh that bounced off the acoustic paneling of the room.

Eric blinked, his expression hardening in confusion.

"What’s funny about that?"

"You’re worried about Nicholas?" Dana asked, shaking her head as she picked up her coffee mug. "Sir Eric, with all due respect, I’m far more worried about the people going to attack him than I am about Nicholas."

"Dana, there are over four hundred registered heroes in this state alone," Eric countered, crossing his arms. "Not to mention the other governmental agencies that support heroes with impure invasion."

"And every single one of them is walking into a meat grinder," Dana replied bluntly, the humour fading from her eyes. "Did you already forget what happened two weeks ago? That man cleared dozens of top heroes by himself, round after round, during the tournament, and then went on to face the most powerful hero we’d seen throughout the entire event. He still won. It’s about time we stopped underestimating him. Phantom clearly can’t be measured by the standards we use for ordinary heroes."

She stepped closer to the console, tapping the screen to bring up Nicholas’s combat file from the arena.

"He doesn’t fight like other heroes who rely heavily on their abilities, overwhelming their opponents with bursts of energy or brute force," Dana continued, watching the arena footage with a faint smile.

"Phantom fights with versatility. He watches everything around him, calculates his opponent’s movements, and adapts before they even realise what he’s doing. It’ll take a lot more than a few second-rate bounty hunters and arrogant heroes to corner him in the streets for an easy fifty-million-dollar payday. They’re going to learn that the hard way."

"And besides, Phantom isn’t alone. He’s built a strong network around himself. If someone thought they could frame him simply because he acts like a loner, they were completely wrong. He has some of the strongest heroes in the Association standing behind him."

Eric fell silent, the weight of her words settling into his chest. He looked down at his hands before letting out a sigh.

"You’re not wrong. Phantom will probably deal with the people coming after him. My hands are tied, then," Eric said quietly, the resignation in his voice heavy and bitter. "Larry pushed the button. Whatever happens next... he’ll have to live with the consequences."

He reached out, resting his palm flat against the cold glass of the window, feeling the distant vibrations of the city beneath his fingers.

"We can’t deploy backup. We can’t cancel the bounty without a unanimous council vote that Larry is currently blocking," Eric murmured, his voice dropping. "We can only watch, Dana... and hope that Nicholas wasn’t truly going rogue."

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