Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

After taking a dip in the pool of Envy again to cleanse themselves in the same order as before, the group decided to just rest up for the night inside Envy's lair. Apparently, the water there was constantly being refreshed, so there would always be a fresh supply of clean water to use—even drinkable, according to the Sentinel of Envy herself—none of them were about to actually drink from it, though. That would be… somewhat disgusting, considering they'd just bathed in it.

In any case, for dinner, they had some snake meat thanks to Ragnar's hunting efforts. It wasn't especially tasty by any means and carried the stench of metal inside it due to the mutation process, but they had to make do. None of them complained about the food, mostly because everyone here either had gone through far worse before (Dianna, Falcon, and Ragnar) or simply didn't care about taste all that much (Cyanide and Luna).

While they ate, Ragnar tried to make conversation to ease the quiet atmosphere, but apparently, he was the only one who thought this to be awkward. The rest all preferred the silence, especially Falcon. She refused to speak any more than her name, mostly because she didn't know anyone here except Cyanide, and would only talk to him. Very vaguely, it resembled a little sister who hated everyone and refused to talk to anyone except her big brother, who was the only one who she felt close to and as a result was extremely attached to.

Eventually, Ragnar gave up on trying to crack jokes since it really wasn't working, and the group went to sleep—well, mostly. Cyanide stayed up, deciding to climb to the top of the cavern using the tree in the middle of the chamber through the hole in the ceiling. Whenever he wanted to get some thinking done or simply relax, this was his go-to action.

Leaning back and lying down on the solid rock floor, he slid his hands beneath his head and stared up at the night sky. It was beautiful—the stars and moon shone brightly in contrast with the dark blue-purple sky, and the calming humming of cicadas was accompanied by the gentle rustling of the wind on leaves.

To think he would meet Falcon here, after so many years…

But then, Cyanide saw a face appear in his vision, upside down. Then, he felt his head being lifted onto something warm and soft, and the face turned into a soft smile.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Dianna asked, tapping him on the forehead with a finger.

"Not much," Cyanide replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Hm… mutants don't need sleep. Since you were up here… I figured I'd drop by and say hello, y'know?"

"… I see. This is not very interesting, is it?"

"You're right, it isn't. So… tell me something that is interesting, to make up for it, yeah?"

"Like what? I'm an assassin, not a storyteller."

"And I'm sure an assassin has many fabled stories to tell. For instance… that girl. Who is she?"

"Why don't you ask her?"

At this, Dianna laughed. "Are you kidding? She won't talk to anyone except you. So if I want to get her know her better and figure out a good way to approach her… I'll need some info."

Cyanide pondered for a moment, and after noticing someone hiding behind a tree a short distance away, thinking they were discrete, gave a sigh.

"… Very well."

*****

Indeed, that mission was truly unforgettable.

Not only did Cyanide meet Ragnar for the first time then… it was also the first time he'd worked with someone else—namely, Falcon.

Indeed, she was the one who had landed the beautiful, flawless snipe on the target—her very own father.

Ragnar was right. Her father wasn't some greedy CEO or corrupt politician. He wasn't a criminal. His records were all clean. There was no reason to kill him.

But that was all on the surface.

Deep down, he invested a lot of money into the development of the bioengineered supersoldiers, and wanted to turn his own daughter into one without considering her own opinion and choices. He was self-righteous and thought what he was doing was best for his daughter, but…

Falcon herself was the one who put up the request. She offered no money for the job completion—instead, she offered to become an ally, essentially selling her skills. Any normal assassin would've simply scoffed and walked away after seeing this request. Seriously? Expecting to hire a hitman without any monetary rewards? What a joke.

But to Cyanide… this wasn't funny by any means. This was intriguing. What kind of person would be confident enough to sell their skills to an assassin rather than a monetary reward? He'd never experienced something like this before, and just like usual, he was eager to try something new.

As a result, he took the request. The two met, got to know each other a bit—professionally—and executed the plan. Both parties were distrusting of the other at first. Neither told the other much about themselves, keeping the relationship strictly client and assassin, teammate and partner.

But after Cyanide did some digging of his own through Luna, he discovered the truth behind this request. Luna was easily able to hack through any database—nothing on the web could be hidden from her, and thus him. Even after discovering the truth, though, he continued with the mission and didn't let Falcon know he did research.

This girl… she was remarkably cruel.

Just because her father was trying to force something upon her, he was still her father. To kill him with her own two hands was…

… Impressive, to Cyanide.

After all, he'd done the same exact thing to his teacher Anthrax, and that was because he had been told to by the man himself. If anything, this girl was even colder than he was, and that was something to appreciate.

But right after the mission, that impression was suddenly left shattered.

In the end, Cyanide was the only one who truly felt nothing.