A Hitman's Guide To Becoming A Hero

The morning sun filtered through the rain-streaked floor-to-ceiling windows, casting faint reflections across the office as droplets slowly slid down the glass.

Larry sat casually behind his desk with his legs crossed, a comic book resting in his hands. He wore a simple Victorian-style shirt, his hair neatly styled to the side, while that same ever-present grin rested on his lips, creating a sharp contrast with the worried expression of his secretary standing before him.

"Sir Larry, you placed the bounty without any permission from the Association. Chief Director Eric isn’t going to be happy about this, and it could cause problems for us later." His secretary, Xavier, said. His voice measured, yet edged with worry.

Larry remained completely carefree, casually flipping through the pages of his comic book as Xavier continued explaining his concerns, barely looking as though the situation was worth his attention.

"It’s a great plan for taking down Phantom, but you’re putting a lot on the line. You’re making your involvement too obvious. If things go wrong, they’ll eventually realize you had a hand in all of this."

Larry casually closed the book and tossed it on the table.

"Xavier, you’re worrying too much. It doesn’t matter if they know or not. Everything is still under control," Larry said with a chuckle as he stood, straightening his clothes before reaching for the glass of wine sitting on his desk.

"They won’t be able to link anything back to me, and I have a fail-safe if things don’t go exactly as planned so don’t worry" Larry said, taking a sip of the red wine.

"If you say so. But how exactly do we deal with Phantom, what if he somehow manages to prove himself? What do we do? Do we take specimen B back to the lab?"

"Hahaha, Xavier, you worry too much, but I suppose it’s understandable." Larry laughed as he placed the wine glass back on the table. "Here’s the thing. I don’t expect Phantom to sit back and do nothing when someone tries to impersonate him. Of course he’ll act. He’ll probably go after them himself, just like we’re expecting. But you’re looking at this from the wrong perspective, Xavier." A dark grin slowly spread across Larry’s face.

"Specimen B isn’t impersonating Phantom. Specimen B is Phantom. How else do you think we discovered that our strongest hero isn’t even from our world?" Larry said as a dark grin cut across his face.

"The plan is not to impersonate Phantom, Xavier. The plan is to make sure there’s only one Phantom left after this." Larry said, giving him a soft pat on his shoulder, "It’s unfortunate that we lost Joan, but with Specimen B, we have nothing to worry about. Consider it a little payback for everything he’s done to disrupt our plans," Larry said, casually running a hand through his hair.

"Specimen B has already informed me that Phantom plans to lure all the heroes into one place and take them all on. He expects the culprit to make an appearance there, and there’s a good chance he’ll even kill one of the heroes to strengthen the story we’ve created." Larry’s grin widened. "But Phantom has no idea that the person who’s actually going to die in that gathering will be him."

"You know, this would make an awesome plot twist for a comic book, right Xavier?" Larry added with a laugh.

"Indeed it would sir Larry" Xavier replied back calmly.

"Have you sent out Zero?" Larry asked, turning toward Xavier. "He’ll make a good starter pack for Phantom.".

"Yes, Zero is on the field now. I had him go to the location the moment he returned from his travel to Africa, he should find his way to Phantom by now"

"Good, I can’t wait to see how things will turn out. Since he retrieved that plagued item, I assume he’s gotten considerably stronger by now."

"Yes, Sir Larry. The item should have increased his strength considerably."

"Perfect. Now let’s sit back and watch. It’ll be fun to see how everything turns out." Larry’s grin widened. "And who knows? Maybe we should tune in to Peach Fairy. Things are about to get interesting."

-----

Rain poured relentlessly across the empty road as Nicholas stood outside the van, his gaze fixed on the seemingly deserted street ahead of him.

"No one is there Phantom" Julie muttered with her camera raised, staring at the empty road in confusion.

"Hiding is pointless now, I know you’re there, show yourself" Nicholas said with a stern voice looking ahead.

Nicholas had been watching the side mirrors for some time when he finally caught the strange outline flickering across the reflection every few seconds. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what was happening; someone with some form of invisibility ability had been following them for some time, carefully keeping themselves out of Julie’s cameras and Nicholas’s direct line of sight.

The moment he stepped out of the van, he quickly spread out a wave of spatial energy that rippled through the air scanning the space and truly, someone was there.

"I did hear of the new hero climbing the ranks rapidly while I was away. Thought you were some pushover, but it seems you’re not bad"

The space rippled in front of them before a figure slowly emerged from the distortion, revealing a middle-aged man with short white hair styled into sharp spikes.

He wore a sleek black combat suit, with both hands resting casually around the long blade strapped across his shoulders.

Unlike many heroes, he wasn’t wearing a ceremonial mask, leaving his scarred face completely exposed, with a long scar running across his forehead.

Julie’s camera came down in an instant as she saw the figure in front, her eyes widening with shock "Wait! Is that Zero?!"

"Wow, I didn’t know I’m still popular here. I mean, it’s been nearly three years since I went on my expedition" Zero said as he brought the blade down, its sharp edges catching the light as it sliced cleanly through the air with a whoosh.

’From her reaction, he seems like a big shot. And it seems like he was out for a while, hence why I don’t know him’ Nicholas narrowed his eyes as he stared at Zero.

Nicholas couldn’t sense even the slightest trace of the plague coming from Zero. As far as he could tell, the man himself was completely normal, which only made the weapon in his hands more suspicious.

Dark miasma constantly pulsed from the blade, and buried deep within the hilt was a strange black substance that seemed to move faintly whenever the weapon was swung.

Zero casually swung the blade, catching Nicholas’ attention once more.

"You like my blade? I recently upgraded" Zero said with a smile, "The old one was much lighter, but this one looks much better. I heard you’ve been causing trouble over the city and you’ve got a big bounty on your head. So I wanted to come see for myself"

Julie took a few steps closer to Nicholas, "Phantom, Zero used to be Nectron’s rival," Julie said quietly, taking a step closer to him. "They were considered the two strongest heroes in the state back then. He left three years ago on an expedition in Africa after the Association received reports about a strange Impure, but he never returned. No one even knew what happened to him until now." Julie said with a low voice tingling with worry.

"Nectron’s rival? How’s that possible? He’s only carrying a plagued weapon. He doesn’t even have an ability of his own," Nicholas said, finding it difficult to believe. As far as he knew, plagued weapons were almost useless without a compatible user, and once the weapon was taken away, the person wielding it should have been little more than an ordinary human.

"Phantom, please. Be serious with him." For the first time, Julie’s voice wasn’t playful in the slightest. She was genuinely serious, her usual excitement completely gone. "Zero isn’t just another hero. He’s got records of killing several heroes, and he eventually earned the title Hero Killer and—" Julie felt a lump in her throat as fear gripped her in an instant as she felt the intense bloodlust boring down on her.

"Please, allow me to introduce myself, dear. And while I’m at it, I’ll formally teach Phantom here something." Zero’s smile widened slightly as he tightened his grip around the blade. "I doubt you’ve quite understood how the plague works."

"Allow me to show you" Nicholas heard the cold whisper in his voice as the sharp blade came for his neck.

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