The Earth - 1st of November, 2020
In London, the capital of the United Kingdom, a family of three sat calmly in their living room, eating their breakfast.
Baguettes with egg, cheese and bacon.
The BBC news played on their big screen.
"BREAKING: For the last ten days the United Forces of the UK, the US and the EU managed to get the traces of the infamous ''Bringer of Euthanasia'' back to Bagdad in Afghanistan. An elite assault team has already been dispatched and we expect to get the news of the assassin''s fall in the next few days."
The presenter spoke with a voice full of authenticity, even relief, as if she wasn''t retelling a script, but instead, giving wonderful news.
…
"I can''t believe they finally got him, that bastard is slippery!" Spoke to the man, Clarence Carter, a politician in the UK, member of parliament.
"Yes dear, now… We don''t have to worry anymore." The woman spoke with relief that challenged the presenter, no, surpassed it!
Her name is Susanne, she is Clarence''s wife and a fellow member of parliament for another county in Scotland, their country of origin.
She caressed a baby''s head, this baby didn''t resemble her or the man''s visage at all, in fact, the two were blondes but the baby is raven-haired.
He innocently stared at the woman, not really knowing a different face for the last few months.
Clarence sighed in relief at her words, the Bringer of Euthanasia, he''s many things.
A serial killer, an assassin, a murderer, a bastard that sticks his nose where it doesn''t belong!
He originated precisely in the UK a few years ago and his identity is widely known, is not even a secret.
The Son of Royal Commander Lord Magnus Wagner and the late head of the Royal Scientific Division, Lady Anabelle Maxwell!
Two extremely powerful figures in the UK''s scale of power, they could only give birth to a monster.
The one that was once recognised as a genius by the whole world, Valentine Wagner.
He still couldn''t understand how such a person went from being the World''s Child to the World''s Enemy.
Be it as it may, he will surely be dead in the next few days, for the first time it is acknowledged that they managed to get his traces.
They wouldn''t place a TV broadcast if otherwise.
"How is she?" He asked casually his wife as if he was asking for the time.
"She died yesterday, we have to get a new one~" Susanne spoke with a kind smile on her face, the implication of her words having no impact on her heart whatsoever!
Clarence looked at the child and nodded, "Get rid of him as quick as possible."
"I will~" She caressed the baby''s head a little stronger, causing him pain, but stopped when the BBC''s presenter, that had been giving the weather''s broadcast, hurriedly paled and the whole channel changed from red to black!
"We have to interrupt the broadcast to inform you that the assault team previously mentioned has made contact with Valentine Wagner! They''re right now on the hunt!" She seemed frantic, even scared!
Likewise, when they heard the news the couple grew anxious!
This is a broadcast that was surely being transmitted to the whole world.
But then…
Why?
Why would they? Why would feel fear for something that isn''t happening even in the same country!?
That''s because it''s Valentine Wagner!
That psycho will do anything to attain his survival! He once exploded a big part of Brussels just to assassinate a European Mafia boss!
What if he wants to retaliate!? Surely the first ones he would retaliate to would be the English!
…
"It seems the decoy worked, Quilt."
…
That cold voice, devoid of emotions resonated on their backs and their heads turned as quick as lightning towards the source!
There, a relatively young and handsome man with raven hair and tanned skin stood smoking a cigarette and looking at the TV with interest, in his other hand… There was a gun!
He is dressed in black and grey commando pants, a shirt with a jacket and military black boots.
"Y-You!" Clarence paled like he just heard the news of his mother''s death and so did Susanne, how could they not recognise this person!
Without even shouting or saying anything, Susanne threw the baby to the floor with all due disgust and rushed for the phone!
*PIUM!*
A silenced gunshot resonated in the room and the baby started to cry the moment the poor cute thing touched the floor!
"UWAAA!!!"
A lifeless body with a hole right in the middle of the forehead fell to the floor and Clarence stared at all this as his heart started to pump blood crazily!
"Don''t kill me! Why are you here!? I haven''t done anything wrong!" Clarence Carter lifted his arms in defeat, moving slightly to the right table only to stop when the young man pointed the gun at him next like he didn''t just end someone''s life!
Clarence stared at the man''s lifeless eyes and couldn''t believe this!
''Why is he here?! He should be-!''
He caught it the next moment, it''s all fake! Those imbeciles were being misled!
"Clarence Carter… I have been after you for so long, to think you were so close all this time." The man huffed out a mouthful of smoke and threw the finished cigarette to the side with disdain, it fell right in the deceased woman''s body.
The baby''s poor wails filled the room.
"Why do you need me? I''m just a parliament member!? Do you want money!?"
The man smirked at Clarence''s ridiculous acting.
"Cut your crap, where is your laptop…? Give it to me and I will let you live." He didn''t care about words, he came here with an objective!
!!!
The moment the laptop was mentioned, Clarence started to shiver!
"V-Valentine, I don''t know what you''re aware of, but… I''ll give you everything-!"
*PIUM!*
A bullet shot straight through his leg and he pitiful fell on the floor!
"UGH!! FUCK!!"
"I told you to cut the crap, Malcolm… I''m aware of your wrongdoings, you have the codes to access ''his'' server… To think that you committed such stupid mistakes and led me to you, now crawl to where your laptop is!"
''Valentine, you have to leave quickly, we noticed something suspicious…'' through a communicator on his hear, Valentine heard a frantic voice.
''What is it, Quilt?'' Valentine stared at the crawling man and walked up to where the crying baby was before he lifted it up and moved back and fro until the baby stopped crying, his gun still pointing it at the crawling man.
''Our subject in Afghanistan… He''s been eliminated, but…''
''But what!?'' He asked and upon seeing the laptop on top of the room''s table, signalled Clarence to unlock it… The man did with a lot of struggle.
''But… They didn''t send as many officers as we expected Valentine, they only sent ten units with a dozen officers each! Only one tank to top it off! No missiles, no helicopters, something is wrong…'' this time it wasn''t Quilt who spoke, it was a feminine voice.
Valentine chuckled at his girlfriend''s insinuations, ''What? You wanted more?'' He noticed the files he had been looking for in the computer, and upon confirming it was what he wanted, pointed the gun at Clarence!
"W-Wait!! THAT''S NOT-!"
*PIUM!*
…
''Y-You know that''s not what I meant.'' The girl''s voice sounded flustered.
''Listen, Rose… I have the files, with this, we can incriminate that bastard!'' He said and taking the laptop, he moved from room to room to see what he could find.
''Dear, you''re not listening to me… Don''t you think, it was a little simple? The way we found Malcolm''s lead!? We have been tracing him for so long… A Royal Mail''s signed letter, don''t you think that''s too simple!?''
''What do you mean simple? I had to assault the whole branch to get hold of that letter! He could have sent it on email for us to intercept it, or use a middle man that we could have caught, instead, he used a secured letter, its cautions but not enough. And it doesn''t matter, I have the files that confirm everything, he is ''his'' accomplice and I can decipher his security measures now!''
''D-Dear your anger is blinding- AHH!!''
…
!!!
''Rose!? Rose! Quilt! Adam! What''s going on!?'' He yelled to the communicator as gun shouts and painful groans were heard from the other side.
He kept asking what''s going on, thinking that likely some other group managed to find his hideout, Quilt and Adam would surely take care of it like always… But something didn''t feel right, his senses were screaming at him to leave and his senses had never failed him… Still, he opened a door, and inside there lay the deceased bodies of a man and a woman!
Their wounds were fresh, clearly, they hadn''t been dead for long.
His expression turned from surprise to disgust, he covered the baby''s eyes… Those were his parents.
Andrew and Eleanor Mayer, a couple very prominent in the politician department, confirmed it… Those two were that man''s rivals, they had long since found his money-laundering scheme and were investigating, ''his behaviour.
He took a few pictures, as long as he portrayed the connection between Clarence Carter and ''him'', this accursed family would be finished and he would finally be able to exact his revenge.
''…''
The silence at the other side of the communicator worried him.
And it was at that moment that his eyes widened.
''N-No…'' he thought and his brain moved at myriad revolutions!
''W-Why would they be here of all places!? Right at this very moment!?''
The world seemingly stopped and his senses activated harder than ever before!
He got the laptop in one hand and the baby in another, without even thinking of a reason, he ran outside of that room!
''VALENTINE! R-RU-! *PA!*''
!!!
That was the last time he heard his girlfriend''s despaired voice, followed by a gunshot!
He contained the tears in his eyes and stared at something outside of the window where central London could be seen!
*FIIUSSHH!!*
Something approached at great speeds towards the building.
He saw it and cursed! "FUCK!"
A missile!
''Let''s see if you can survive this, Bringer of Euthanasia!~'' An evil and cold voice resonated through the communicator!
But he didn''t have time to curse at the motherfucker!
Without even thinking of consequences, he grasped the baby and discarded the laptop, ran as fast as he could and jumped out of the four-story building!
Halfway through his fall, the missile struck the building like a vengeance in an explosion that threatened to shatter his eardrums!
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!*
The shockwave spread through his body, wreaking havoc inside his organs!
Gritting his teeth he witnessed the distance between him and the ground shrinking and his trajectory led towards a vehicle!
Embracing the baby, he closed his eyes and braced for the impact!
*BAAAANGGG!!!*
"UUGGHH!!"
Several of his bones cracked as she grunted in pain, it took him several seconds to recompose, he knew that he had to get underneath the car or escape!
A moist feeling resurfaced through the pain the moment he struggled to lift his body up... Valentine grit his teeth intensely and stared down to where the baby was supposed to be.
And the image was simply too grotesque to describe, this wasn''t an image foreign to him in the slightest, but the pain was still there.
''I have to leave!'' His lifeless eyes refocused the next second, the image of his possibly dead girlfriend resurfacing in his mind the moment he somehow managed to get off the vehicle!
*BANG!*
A particularly heavy boulder fell beside him cracking the asphalt floor and he sped up his pace as quick as possible!
''Survive, I must... Survive!'' This is the motto of his life, the trigger that would always allow him to leave with several scars, broken bones... But alive!
He moved through the narrow abandoned streets, looking briefly at the people that stared at the burning building throw their balconies!
The noise of a helicopter coming from far away resonated in the background, police sirens...
''Quilt! You son of a bitch! Once I get my hands on you!'' He growled inwardly and stood through the corner of one of the streets, looking at both sides.
That last voice... It was Quilt, one of his best subordinates, or at least that''s how it was supposed to be.
''What should I do? it was a trap... They know I''m here, they will send everything they''ve got!'' He took out his gun, it had ten rounds left with two remaining cartridges.
''Steal a car? Hide in a building and call the second team? No, that won''t work, if the first team is compromised then the second...'' He kept walking through the corners, moving through the shadows as a boost of adrenaline took care of the pain.
The police sirens grew louder and louder!
''There is no tube station nearby, but... The railway, no... If it''s ''him'' behind all this, then that''s what he expects me to do!'' One of the sirens grew noticeable louder and he saw how instead of a regular British police car, what showed up at the corner was a black Mercedes SUV with heavy-armed officers hanging on!
''Fuck!'' He concealed himself in a corner as the SUV stopped nearby and the officers, at least a dozen of them each with a carabine of their own, left the vehicle and started making their way through the narrow street adjacent to the one he was in, in mere seconds they would make contact!
''If I engage now, It''s going to give them my location...'' He thought, but there were no alternative options, the helicopter''s noise became louder as lower turned his opportunities to escape.
He prepared his gun and thought deeply, ''Two cartridges, three explosive grenades, two smoke grenades...''
And the curiosity of the fact that only one unit had shown up so far despite the ringing sirens in the distance.
...
"Here 7th Team at Valleyfield Road, we''re close to the Streatham Common Station, haven''t made visual contact with the objective, we await orders and secure the street." He heard the team leader speak as the whole team approached from the corner!
"Boss, roadblocks await at Leigham Street and Valley Road, we should just secure this junction... The other teams have the perimeter closed, if we close the perimeter further it will create opportunities for him to assault us and escape!" One of the officers gave his opinion.
The man lifted his hand in a fist signalling to stop, his gaze still fixed to the front.
"Very well, we will-!"
Right at that moment, from one of the corners, ''something'' the size of a fist flew through the air in front of them!
"Wha-!?"
*FIIIUSSHHH*
Valentine shot the grenade he just threw to the right side midair, making a loud explosion as smoke started to spread from the grenade!
!!!
The dozens of officers were momentarily stunned and pointed the guns to the smoke, but only two of them noticed the grenades rolling through the ground towards them!
"GRENAD-!"
*BOOOOOOMMM!!!*
*BOOOOOOMMM!!!*
Valentine''s cold eyes stared at the officers flying through the air, several dismembered and it was his cue to start!
He left the corner and pointed his gun towards the officers that were still on their feet.
''Four dead or incapacitated, three heavily wounded... Five!''
*PA!*
*PA!*
*PA!*
He didn''t shoot their heads or torsos, they were wearing helmets and kevlar, he shot them right at their weakest point, their thighs and calves!
"UGHHH!!! W-We have-!" The team leader immediately lost his balance due to the sudden pain in his calf and tried to communicate but as quick as lightning, Valentine jumped and gave the man a fierce kick with his knee, right on his head, so hard in fact that the shock phased through the helmet and blanked the man''s mind!
The other two officers managed to raise their carabines and pointed at Valentine!
"DIE!"
*PAPAPAPAPA!!!*
*FIUSH!*
Like a primordial ghost, he took the team leader''s body and used it as a shield!
"UWWAAAAAA!!" The man screamed in pain as his chest got hit by dozens of shots, some of them his kevlar could protect, but the rest of them went straight through his flesh!
Valentine''s emotionless silver eyes stared at the three remaining officers as one of them had yet to stand up after he shot him in his thigh.
''SIX BULLETS LEFT IN THE CARTRIDGE...''
He pointed his gun through the team leader''s armpits and started to shoot!
*PA!*
*PA!*
*PA!*
Three bullets shot straight to one of the man''s whose helmet cracked after the grenade explosion, the three shots hit straight on the same spot, and the protective glass broke!
*PA!*
The next shot went through the officer''s brain.
''TWO LEFT.''
He took his remaining grenade and bit it before throwing it towards the two!
"GRENADE!" One of them shouted and tried to crawl out of the way, turning his back towards Valentine!
The other also did the same!
...
That''s all Valentine needed.
No explosion came, it was a fluke... But one of the men felt marginals amounts of pain right after, coming from his neck the moment Valentine''s knife went through cutting everything in its way!
"AHHHHH!!"
With one swift movement, Valentine dragged the knife until the man breathed his last ounce of air, and took his carabine, pointing it at the last one!
*PAPAPAPAPAPA!!*
He unloaded the gun on the last member until he moved no more before quickly pointing it at the man who only received a shot on his thigh, the man was unmoving, he either died from shock or fainted.
''I need to leave, too much noise!''
He took two cartridges of the carabine from one of the corpses, took the vehicle keys from the Team Leader''s corpse and took his decoy grenade, then ran towards the vehicle as fast as he could, the police sirens getting closer!
''As expected, they thought I''d take the Rail Station, I need to take Penwood Road as the other two are blocked!''
He needed to go fast, not only did he make a lot of noise, but one of the officers managed to speak through the communicator, the helicopter was a few seconds away if going by its noise!
There is no time!
Boarding the Mercedes SUV he started it with the keys he took from the late Team Leader, he placed the carabine on his lap and drove with his pistol in hand always looking at the visor.
...
''This is weird why is everything so empty?!''
As expected Penwood road was cleared... But there weren''t even civilians, which means that the whole area had been cleared a long time ago!
It almost seemed like he could escape, but his senses were screaming louder and louder, to get out of there!
This continued until gunshots started to resonate and impact his vehicle!
*PAPAPAPAPAPA!!!*
Two SUV''s loaded with officers appeared behind him the moment he went through a junction, he didn''t slow down at all.
Gritting his teeth, he took out his grenade and removed the secure then waited with his gaze between the street and the visor...
...
The shots continued and when the time was right, he extended his hand out and dropped the grenade!
...
*BOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!*
The grenade exploded the moment it came close to one of the officers'' vehicles and engulfed it into a fireball!
The howlings of despair and chaos motivated Valentine, together with the anger produced by the image of his possibly deceased girlfriend in front of the ever so slightly approaching noise of the helicopter!
''R-ROSE, I- I CAN STILL ESCAPE!''
He saw the other SUV catch up to him and prepared the carabine to shoot at them as he drove, but he didn''t manage to see... The giant truck awaiting him in the next intersection.
*PAPAPAPAPA!*
*BAAAAANNNNNNGGGG!!*
The moment he pointed his gun at the other SUV and started to shoot… A black garbage truck ran over not only his SUV but the other...
His consciousness blanked at that very moment.
__________
*SLAP!*
He regained his consciousness with burning pain on his cheek... Like a computer that had been switched on, his consciousness activated once again, taking from the last memory he had stored.
He analysed the room until the figure of a man appeared in front of him, the same bastard that had slapped him awake a moment ago!
Like a renewed flame, his anger rose and his silver eyes nearly turned red!
He rushed with the intention of strangling this piece of shit to death, only to notice that his arms and legs were bound by chains to a chair!
They were in a closed room, devoid of many lights... He had no idea of the location.
"I''LL KILL YOU QUILT! I''LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!" He struggled free, obviously unsuccessful, the grim of the bastard in front of him raising his anger to unprecedented levels!
"I SAVED YOU, AND THIS IS HOW YOU PAY ME!!" He had experienced betrayal before, and to some extent was even prepared for it, but this bastard, just like Rose was someone he could never imagine betraying him!
"I''m sorry Valentine, this is how we humans are... You had what I craved the most..." Quilt spoke with a ''regretful'' expression that changed the next second, he pulled up his falling pants that were unbuttoned and moved to the back, where there was a... Camera, pointing at him?!
"What you craved?! You betrayed me for something material!? Disgusting bastard! is that how I taught you?!"
"Material..? No no, you''re misunderstanding..." He began, fixing the camera and switching it on.
"What I craved was... Rose~" He smiled wickedly and licked his lips!
!!!
"SON OF A BITCH! WHERE IS SHE!!?" Blood rushed on his head the moment he imagined this bastard doing ANYTHING to his girlfriend!
"She? I''m afraid she''s in a better place now, stubborn until the end, she couldn''t bear to betray you... I had to do with her corpse~" The disgusting pig licked his lips, remembering the atrocities that he did not too long ago.
And now, Valentine went silent, his eyes turned bloody red, he only clenched his hands, knowing full well how this is going to end.
"What I didn''t expect, was for her to be pregnant, huh? I guess she was concealing it from us... Hoping that her child wouldn''t have to live this life, she tried to convince you and even considered it a few times when I offered her to escape with me, but in the end, she couldn''t betray you. She would be alive now... It''s your fault, Valentine... EVERYTHING IS YOUR FUCKING FAULT!"
"..." Valentine bit his lips so hard they bled! ''Pregnant... With my child...''
"Do you think because you saved us... that gives you the right to fuck the woman I love? TO STEAL HER FROM ME!? WHAT I DID IS JUSTICE! I GOT BACK WHAT WAS ALWAYS MINE TO BEGIN WITH!"
"SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH, COWARD!"
*BANG!!*
*BANG!!*
*BANG!!*
Quilt lounged on Valentine and punched his face, Hard!