Mission date: September [REDACTED], 2019
Location: Paris, France
Type: Assassination
Association(s): S.P.E.A.R. - Hellhounds Division
Assigned LWP(s): L2, 5A

The streets of Paris were filled with its denizens and brimmed with activity. Many flags from around the world were raised high and waved with the winds high above. The blue sky was disrupted by a black plane circling above the clouds.

Within the aircraft, two teenage boys sat across from one another. One was fast asleep while the other twirled a pistol in his hands. It faded in and out of reality with a blue spark whenever it became transparent in his grasp. He yawned and tossed up the firearm as it vanished into thin air. His hair was short and light brown whereas his hazel eyes had a slight glow to them. He wore a black jacket with a gray hood and baggy cargo pants accompanied with combat boots.

"Hey Z." He tried to wake up the white-haired boy sitting across from him. "Wake up already. We're here."

The boy whose hair was at medium length and white as snow, slowly opened his eyes. His ice-blue eyes bore daggers into his partner's soul. A black cloak with a hood was draped over his shoulders while the rest of his attire consisted of a white shirt with long, blue sleeves and blue combat pants that could be mistaken for jeans at first glance. He also wore armored pads were on his knees, elbows, and shoulders. The boy was silent and emotionless as his partner looked through a small window on the wall.

"Our first mission in Paris," the older boy sighed. "This would've been perfect if I was here with Gabby instead."

"Very funny, Arkham." The white-haired boy wasn't amused. His voice was monotone as he sat up in his seat. "After that stunt, you pulled in Las Vegas, no wonder you're still on probation."

"Touché." He crossed his arms and slouched in his chair. "At least I didn't lose that fight. Unlike you and Ven back in California."

"You turned air-to-surface missiles into ICBMs." The boy squinted his ice-blue eyes. "If it wasn't for that Valkyrie, Sin City would've been wiped off the face of the Earth."

"You really know how to hurt a person's ego, Zero." Arkham unbuckled his seat belt and stood up, stretching his arms. "Time to do our jobs." He walked over to the end of the plane and pressed a red button on the wall, causing the cargo ramp to open. "So," he looked over his shoulder, "Winner gets half of the loser's food later?" He grinned as he jumped out with a parachute. Arkham took out an earpiece from his pocket and switched it on.

Zero stood from his seat and walked over to the edge of the ramp. The strong winds made his cloak flap loudly with the flow. "Just where are you going to land without attracting attention?" he asked into his earpiece.

"With everyone busy with their protests and staring down at their phones" — Arkham pulled a strap and his parachute opened, slowing his descent as he approached the Eiffel Tower— "No one will be looking up anyway. While I'm here, maybe I can take that record for the longest sniper kill."

Zero could hear Arkham's ego inflate through their radio. "Be quiet and scout." He turned around, facing the inside of the plane.

"Whatever you say, Z," said Arkham sarcastically.

Zero leaned back out of the plane. He watched it shrink as the distance between them grew rapidly. His cloak flapped rapidly as he descended from the skies above. The plane appeared as if it was a toy with the amount of distance between them. He took a deep breath and turned around in mid-air. Zero faced the ground as he spread the folds of the cloak, suddenly slowing his descent. He glided through the air toward the palace below.

Arkham and Zero, the two rivals in a strange world that only became stranger with each passing day. They both landed at their desired locations with little to no ease. Arkham stood tall on top of the Eiffel Tower as a sniper rifle materialized out of thin air with slight sparks of electricity. Zero, on the other hand, swiftly put on his hood and approached the edge of the building.

"So" —Arkham peeked through the scope of his gun at his partner— "I'm guessing we're calling this one a tie?"

"Just spot any guards in my way," he ordered.

"Yeah, yeah." Arkham moved his sight to the balcony below him and rested his finger on the trigger as he spotted a man dressed in a black tactical uniform with an assault rifle in his hands. "There's one right below you on the balcony. Typical automatic rifle and standard slash-resistant armor by the looks of it."

"Understood," Zero replied and peeked over the edge of the roof and down at the armed guard below.

"Wait," Arkham called out through the earpiece. "I said slash-resistant. What are you gonna do? Slam his head against the railing and hope you knocked him out?" he said sarcastically.

"Exactly."

"Wait, no—"

Zero dropped down from the rooftop, past the guard but quickly slammed their head against the railing in one swift swoop. He hung himself on the side of the railing, but held the unconscious guard up with one hand to their throat, forcing the illusions as if they were standing.

"Z," Arkham's sigh could be heard through the earpiece as he looked up from the scope. "It was sarcasm." He lowered himself and looked back through it. "Stay still until I say so, someone's walking by the windows inside behind the balcony."

Zero followed as instructed and remained as still as he could. A patrolling guard stopped in his tracks and looked suspiciously in his direction. They shrugged and continued their way until Arkham could no longer see them.

"Go, you're clear," he said as Zero climbed over the railing and hid the unconscious guard flat behind the potted plants. "You're on your own once you're inside."

"I know," Zero answered as he walked up to the doors. "Go relocate for a better visual."

"Way ahead of you," Arkham's gun vanished into thin air as he stretched his arms. "Radio's going dark for a couple minutes. You're on your own until you start missing this wonderful voice."

"Trust me. I won't."

"Wow, you're getting as cold as Gabby—"

Zero shut off his earpiece and opened the door, glancing toward both ends of the hallway before walking inside and quietly closing it behind him. With his face shrouded beneath his hood, he walked silently down the hall and up to a flight of stairs. The living weapon stared down over the railing and heard many voices filled with joy. Thoughts of what-ifs flooded through his mind and wondered what his life could've been if he had his emotions. Zero shook his head, clearing his thoughts and refocused on the mission.

                                                                ***

"Rude." Arkham let out a sigh as he flinched at screeching feedback from his earpiece.

"What are you two doing?!" The voice of a young girl blasted his eardrums. "There's no time to be messing around!"

"QT, do me a favor," Arkham calmly took off his earpiece and held it near his mouth. "Don't yell into the mic!" Afterwards, he placed it back on.

"Okay, damn!" She said annoyed as Arkham was struggling to stifle his laughter, "Why'd you have to be the most irritating person on the team?"

"Well, I don't know, why are you the most bitchy, hm?" He retorted and looked through his scope, searching for Zero through the windows.

"Agree to disagree."

"Glad we're finally on the same page for something," Arkham spotted his partner on a higher floor. "Found Z. We'll update you if anything comes up."

"Understood," said QT as the sound of papers being ruffled could be heard through the earpiece. "I'll check in on the others then."

"Finally," he sighed with relief. "Some peace and qui–" Arkham flinched again from hearing suddenly white noise feedback.

"Arkham." Zero's voice came through.

"Oh, come on! I didn't even get to reposition myself!" He complained and pressed a button on it. "What is it?" he sighed loudly.

Zero peeked around a corner and saw two heavily armed soldiers guarding a double door. "Tangos near my position. Either empty their ammo or snipe them."

"Z, that's... literally too far for my abilities to even work and I can't get a clear shot from here." Arkham quickly glanced around his partner until a mischievous idea came to mind. "Unless you want me to ricochet the bullets to catch them off-guard for you."

"As long as I can get through that door to the target" —Zero materialized two daggers out of thin air and into his hands— "That's all that matters."

"Roger that." Arkham aimed down at the barrel of a soldier's gun barely seen behind the corner near Zero. He held his breath and steadied his aim. The sound of his own heartbeat overshadowed everything else as he pulled the trigger.

A single bullet escaped the barrel of Arkham's sniper rifle and soared through the air. To the marksman, time slowed for a moment, but to his partner, it was only a matter of seconds. The fired round pierced through the window and hit its target. The sound of two metals clashing was more than enough of a signal for Zero to run around the corner and lunge at the two soldiers.

They sprayed a storm of bullets at the white-haired boy, who was unfazed by the sound of rapid gunfire. The first several rounds were sliced into fragments by Zero's blades. There were too many for him to cut, so he flipped over to the wall on his left and stabbed one of the daggers into it. Forcing the blade in one hand to anchor himself and run across the wall, he deflected as many as he could during his rush toward the two soldiers. He soon released his grip on the first dagger and rolled between the two armed men. He swung at their ankles before plunging his second blade and a newly materialized knife through the back of each of their heads.

The sound of a struggle was quickly silenced as it was almost immediately replaced by a crowd of panicking protesters from outside. Zero stepped away from the two lifeless corpses and his weapons vanished into the air, followed by blood slowly escaping the bodies of his victims.

A hallway riddled with bullet holes and dead men, he stood before the double doors when the noise of static came through his earpiece.

"Target is confirmed to be on the balcony," said Arkham as he stretched his arms and his gun faded from sight. "You sure you got this covered? An assassination in front of a large crowd will attract international coverage, y'know?"

"Affirmative." Zero rest his hands on the knobs. "Everyone in this crowd will be silenced too. This is our only chance to take down Vallotton."

Arkham pressed a button on his own earpiece. "Well, lucky for us that QT can take out anything that's digital. With over two billion people on social media, everyone is practically begging to be monitored." he walked into one of the tower's elevators. "I'll head over to the LZ for pickup. See you soon, buddy."

"Understood. Commencing assassination." Zero forced the two doors open and rushed up to the speaker on the podium. The emotionless boy removed his own cloak and tossed it in front of the target. As the cloak began its descent, he placed the hilt of a sword against the back of the speaker. "Jean Vallotton. For your betrayal against S.P.E.A.R., your punishment is death."

The man in his fifties glanced back over his shoulder at the boy. He was well-dressed in a black suit and a red tie for the special occasion of speaking to a crowd. "It's been quite some time, Zero."

Time between the two froze as if they were the only two people left on Earth. Zero was unsure what to say nor what he could do. The boy was never addressed by an assassination target before but instead always expected a struggle of some sort. However, this moment was different from all the others.

"What? Cat's got your tongue?" Vallotton scoffed. "Well, no matter, our time is short so I'll keep it brief." He didn't try to resist nor make any sudden movements. "There is more to the Living Weapons Project than you and your colleagues know. If you're curious about your past and I know you're just oh so curious, search the archives of the Hellhounds division when you return."

"And I should believe your words, why?" Zero held the hilt with both of his hands.

"I worked on the Living Weapons Project," he sighed. "What else could warrant for my betrayal? They want to silence me and I want to be free from this sin. There's a common interest and I doubt Commander Desrosier would be willing to spill confidential information." Vallotton stared at the black cloak in front of the podium. "Smart, aren't you? Go ahead. I can't run anymore."

Zero's grip tightened as he could see a faint outline of the blade reaching the man's heart from the hilt.

"One more thing," Vallotton took a deep breath. "Beware the name of Steele, but that shouldn't be too much of an issue with what all of you are."

"We are only Living Weapons," said Zero as the blade materialized from the hilt, cutting and piercing through flesh and bone as it ruptured the heart of Jean Vallotton. He was dead within seconds as time around them flowed once more and the cloak fell over them. Security officers ran over and tossed Zero's shroud to the side, only to find Vallotton dead on the ground and the boy nowhere to be found within the premises. Mass panic quickly took place as a helicopter took off in the distance.