A Bullet for my Valentine

[Prince Velkan]

     Breath in.....

     Breath out....

     Breath in....

     Breath out...

     With each steady breath that slowly filled his lungs with air and then exited past his nostrils, the pressure from the finger curled around the trigger increased marginally. His right eye was hidden behind his closed eyelid, hiding the steel grey optic behind a thin layer of flesh. His other eye was open, watching carefully. Careful minute movements of his wrist and his prone body kept those two thin black likes where they where suppose to stay. One horizontal, the other vertical and at their interesting was a man who had paused in his movements. He was typically walking back and forth along the a set path. The black mask he wore obscured all his facial features, and that made it even easier. It made the man seem less human somehow, and thus it would feel less awful about what was about to happen.

     The person in the black ski mask paused, looking around to make sure that nobody was watching. Then, as was typical of this particular individual, they paused where they where and reached in to a pocket and pulled out a box of cigarillos. This was a consistent pattern, observed every two and half hours. However, that very secure habit was exactly the man's downfall. As the masked individual struck a match, holding it up to the cigarillo the finger squeezed slowly more upon the trigger. As the individual took a long, deep drag from the cigarillo, a single grey eye was affixed upon him watching his sin against the government and against his body. The black intersection of the lines settled upon the a fixed spot upon his chest, about four inches lower then his neck and approximately to the right.

     Suddenly the gun jumped, the finger having pulled the trigger back finally enough to engaged the gun. The man, laying prone amidst the trees and bushes did not flinch nor did he move proving himself a true marksman. The projectile sailed through the air, and it ripped through bone and flesh and muscle. The heart was literally blown apart, followed by the sizable section of the masked individual's back which decorated the tree behind him with a fresh painting of new crimson paint. The individual remained that way for several seconds, watching to see the result of his handy work through the scope. Seeing the individual down, prone man slowly pulled his eye away from the scope of his rifle, and smiled.

     Velkan felt pride in his work. That was well four hundred yards, and he had to congratulate himself slightly for that shot. Though a single dead patrol member was not going to bring about his end objective, it did bring Velkan a step closer towards his goal. He slowly sat up , leaving his rifle for the moment to rest upon it's bi-pod and the butt upon the ground. He closed his eyes, then reached up and slowly pressed his fingers to his lips. He then moved his hand down and touched his sternum, then to his left breast and finally to his right. His lips after the initial touch to them gently formed the words. "In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti." He opened his eyes and dropped his hand, then picked up his rifle and began to move through the trees his feet carrying him through the under growth towards where the fallen soldier lay upon the ground. Velkan paused, kneeling down and rummaged through his pockets. He found nothing of value, and gently laid the mercenary upon his back and crossed his hands upon his own chest. "Go with God..." He whispered to the male, then stood up and began to move away again quickly towards the mansion of the drug lord he was here to find and kill, hopefully after extracting from him the information that Velkan needed.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Jack shoved a handful of skittles into his mouth with one hand while he attempted to pull a boot on with the other. The result was nearly an unfortunate crash into the side of his dresser, but the young man managed to right himself and regain his balance before that happened. He choked down the sugary goodness then finished getting dressed. The young man had a busy night ahead of him. He was going to murder a Colombian drug lord. And maybe a few minions. Oh, who was he kidding? Jack was going to kill a lot of minions!

    The young man grabbed his weapons and, after making sure they were all secure, sat down on his thinking couch. His thinking couch was a separate couch from his chill couch. It was for thinking. Comfy, but not too comfy. He often used it to help him concentrate for when he was planning on teleporting to an area he'd visited before, but wasn't super familiar with. Jack made one final adjustment to the laces of his boot before making the jump.

    For Jack, teleporting was a fairly unpleasant experience. He wasn't simply in one place one moment, in another the next. When he'd teleported for the first time, the young man had felt as if he'd been torn apart and sewn back together. It got easier, over time. He barely even noticed it anymore and was hardly even disoriented most of the time. Jack sat, eyes closed.

    He was in the jungle, listening to it's sounds, letting its scent fill his nostrils. The young man was looking at a tree. Not just any tree, but Edward. Edward was the name he'd given to the tree just outside the compound, where he would teleport to. Jack felt like he was being pulled apart. But instead of fighting it, he let it happen. There was no tearing, just the odd sensation of every atom drifting apart before coming back together. He opened his eyes and saw exactly what he'd imagined, just as he'd remembered it.

    All business now, the young man crept forward, slowly. He had no intention of getting his ass shot off in some god forsaken jungle a thousand miles from his video games. Spotting a sentry, Jack tossed a knife up into the air, using his ability to guide it toward the man. It buried itself into his skull and the young man hurried over, retrieving his weapon. He glanced around, not stopping, while he made his way toward the mansion. Jack paused underneath a window and peeked inside.

    The window led to a bathroom. A smelly bathroom. A smelly bathroom where one of the guards happened to be defecating. Er, taking a shit. Jack killed him and slipped inside. He flushed and washed his hands vigorously, trying not to think about the dead man sitting on the toilet. He peeked outside. Seeing no one, Jack began to make his way further into the building.

[Prince Velkan]

Velkan slung his rifle on his arm, tightening the strap to hold the weapon there with out swaying to much. He did not want to damage his precious weapon, and thus possibly cause a misfire when the timing was absolutely critical. The care of one's equipment was extremely important, and mistreating such a thing could lead to terrible consequences. However Velkan needed a new vantage point, one which would provide him with an excellent view of the manor and preferably of the majority of it without exposing himself to any unwanted....reciprocating fire. He paused, still within the tree line and thus obscured from the manor itself for the moment. He looked around, contemplating his options. There was always a tree he could climb, however that severely limited his options to escape should anything happen, as well as limiting his options of movement after shots fired. So over all, a tree was not an exceptionally pleasing vantage. There was a decent sized hill upon the south western side of the manor, upon which he could set up and cover about seventy percent of the manor but seventy percent was not very much of the manor, and he could possibly miss a decent shot because of that. The final option was getting inside the manor itself. There was a tall tower like structure upon which he could view down upon the courtyard and thus cover almost all the windows. That, however meant somehow getting up to the structure and left the whole side beneath himself uncovered.

He stood, contemplating his options for several moments, but knew he needed to make his decision quickly. So he picked upon what he for saw as the best option, and moved towards the mansion. His right hand dropped to his thigh, and his thumb quickly popped the button upon the holster there. His fingers curled around the grip of the Paratrooper 1911 Black OPS pistol upon his hip. He slowly drew the weapon, and reached in to a pocket upon his left side and with drew the black matte metallic suppressor and gently screwed it upon the barrel. He sighed, shaking his head slowly from side to side. This would make things a little harder than he had originally intended for them to be. However he needed for this to happen, so he would make it happen. So with a slow exhalation of his breath, he closed his eyes and offered a quick prayer to Varos, he opened his eyes and moved forward.

He approached the compound slowly, hiding amongst the trees for as long as he could until he absolutely had to leave them. He approached from the proper side and angle, so he had to traverse the least amount of terrain to get to the manor as possible. He planned to approach at a window, and hoped that it would be unlocked and he would be able to climb through it. If not, he had selected a window near a door way to use as a secondary entrance. He knelt down, studying the manor and watching for anybody around. When nobody came walking past the window on a round, he stood up and sprinted as quickly as he could over to the window. He pressed his back against the wall, and peeked inside the window and looked around. It appeared to be some sort of minor office or another, with a small desk beneath the window, a cabinet of some sorts against a far wall, a chair behind the desk and another in front of it with a waste basket beside the desk. Holding his pistol in his right hand, his left drew out his knife. With a push of the button, the spring assisted blade shoot out of the end and he gently worked it beneath the window and began to pry slowly to test if the window was unlocked. He grinned and exhaled slowly when the window shifted a few centimeters upwards. He set the knife down upon the sill and quickly unscrewed his suppressor and stashed it back inside his pocket and holstered his pistol.

He used the knife and began to slowly pry the window upwards until he could get his fingers beneath the window. Once he could, he closed his knife with his left hand and slipped it inside his left pocket. He then grasped beneath the window and slowly pulled it upwards. He paused, waiting to listen if there was any sort of alarm tripped over that. When no screeching alarm blared, he pulled the window higher. Holding it with his right hand, he reached back with his left and unslung his rifle. He carefully pushed it through the window, and used the long barrel to gently nudge the rolling chair out of his way before turning the rifle over and settling the butt of the stock upon the floor and barrel gently in to a corner. He then proceeded to haul himself (none to gracefully) through the window, and finally end up inside the office. He winced at his fingers, which had been smashed when the window fell closed but he had left them in the way to prevent the window crashing loudly against its frame. He stood up straight and quickly shouldered his rifle, then drew his pistol again and screwed the suppressor back upon the barrel.

Moving to the door, he paused inside it, trying to peering through the frosted glass and, and did not see anybody outside it or nearby. At least he did not see any shadows moving that would indicate any enemies directly outside. He gently gripped the doorknob with his right hand, keeping his pistol held ready in his left with his finger upon the trigger. Velkan gently pulled the door open just a crack and peered outside the room. Unfortunately his view was only one directional, so he would have to open the door more to check to his right. He did so, ever so gently easing the door open and poking his head out of the doorway and looking right up the hall. He looked left again, and right again, then left again and stepped out in to the hallway and closed the door behind himself.

Fully inside the compound now, he moved through the hallway and came to a door. He glanced at it, and the symbol beside it gave him the information he needed even though he could not fully comprehend the words upon the sign. These where the stairs and that was what he needed to make his way up to the tower. He pulled the door open and stepped inside the stairwell and began to head up them. He continuously kept looking over the railing and upwards through the rails towards the tower. He was watching and listening for anybody else coming down the stairs and did not want any surprises heading up them. He moved cautiously but swiftly, trying to get up the stairs as quickly as possible to find a position and occupy it. The more time he wasted the more people and opportunities he could be missing.

Halfway up the stairs, he finally ran in to trouble. A door was opened in front of him as he stepped on to a landing, and he flung himself forward. His pistol leveled, and as the door opened he squeezed the trigger. Despite the subsonic rounds, and the suppressor attached to the barrel, the barking cough of the weapon was loud in the stairwell. The bullet tunneled in to the man’s head chest that he had just shot, a messy very unclean wound that would not kill him right away. The man would bleed out rapidly, but not quickly enough. Velkan despised killing this way, wanting good clean kills that did not leave people tortured and hurting and yet this was unavoidable. A head shot would have been much cleaner, much more precise and ended the man’s pain quickly enough however without having seen him before a headshot would have been a complete guess as to how tall the man was standing and his posture coming through the door. All those guesses left Velkan with a distinct impression of a possible miss upon the first shot, and thus lead to a drawn out fire fight. Not something he wanted to happen.

Velkan knelt, and quickly rifled through the man’s pockets as well. He removed a firearm, proving his suspicion that this man was a guard of some kind. Then he pulled out the man’s wallet, and thumbed through it. He stopped, pulling out a small picture of a girl and woman holding each other and smiling. Velkan sighed, putting the wallet back but gently pushing the picture between the man’s still trembling fingers. He whispered a soft pray, even as his fingers grabbed the walkie talkie from the guard’s belt before he whirled away and headed back up the stairs again. He had tucked the second gun in to his pants, and would either dispose of it or use it as needed later. The radio walkie talkie he clipped to his belt, and looping the ear piece over his ear he plugged it in and began to listen in to the enemy’s communications. There was nothing yet, and thankfully guards did not seem to be checking in which meant his rush to get here was good because it might be a while before they found out about their two missing comrades.

Velkan entered the doorway on the last landing and found himself in a large spacious room that was occupied with lots of boxes. Apparently this was looked like some sort of supply or storage room, which was perfectly alright with Velkan. It probably meant that there would be less likely that somebody would find him up here, as well as all the cardboard would help muffle the sounds even further from his silenced sniper rifle. It was unfortunate that the weapon was still supersonic, and the crack of the bullets would be heard though that would not be from where he made the shot which would help conceal his position even longer. He moved along the tower, opening several windows facing down in to the courtyard before he picked the best position which was one where he could see inside several windows, a couple doorways and had a perfect bead upon the main doorway. Velkan unslung his rifle, setting his pistol upon a box within easy reach in the chance he needed to reach it and defend himself from people who would come in to the room. With everything settled, Velkan swung the bipod down upon his rifle and settled behind the weapon.

Velkan got comfortable, seated upon a cardboard box that would support his weight and settled behind his rifle. He slowed his breathing, taking several long deep breaths and holding them for several seconds then letting them out before peering through the scope. He slowly panned it from one window to the next to the doors, making a logical progression between them to keep an eye upon them for movement and for somebody to eliminate. The more he could get this way, the less he would have to face head to head. Which was better off for him, because he really did not like having to kill people face to face.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    As he exited the bathroom, Jack adjusted his mask slightly. The climb he'd made through the window and the struggle that had followed had left it slightly disarrayed. He flexed his fingers inside the gloves he wore, wishing for a moment he'd taken just a few moments longer to dry his hands. It wasn't a big deal though and he soon forgot about them before he'd even completely closed the bathroom door. He kept a light carbine loosely slung in front of him, in case things got messy.

    The young man stalked through the halls, wary for any movement or noise that would mean he was nearing another person. He held himself at the ready, prepared to disrupt any weapons that might be brought to bear against him in a moment of surprise. Jack was somewhat nervous. He'd never worn a mask or anything on his jobs before, usually just opting to kill mostly everyone he happened across. It worked to conceal his identity but it also made it apparent that he didn't belong. None of the guards he might encounter in this place would hesitate to shoot if they saw him, an obvious intruder, sneaking around.

    Hearing voices ahead of him, the young man slowed considerably and listened, just around a corner, hidden from sight. A man and a woman, likely a guard flirting with a maid or one of the kitchen staff or somesuch. Jack wasn't in the mood to understand spanish, so he didn't bother trying to figure out what exactly they were saying. Once he was ready, the young man turned the corner, smoothly drawing two knives from their sheaths. One took the guard through the back of his skull while the other slammed into the woman's throat, end first, choking off any scream she might have made.

    Jack was on her before she knew what was happening, knocking her to the ground with a punch that rendered the woman unconscious. He crouched next to her, using the counter to hide himself from view as he debated with himself as to whether or not he would kill her. On one hand, she probably didn't deserve it and hadn't even seen his face. On the other, loose ends were potentially life threatening nuisances. Ultimately, after a moments consideration, he decided to stab her in the heart and stash her corpse in the pantry along with the guard's.

    After wiping off his blades, the young man continued to make his way through the house before coming to some stairs. Jack looked around, uncomfortable with how vulnerable he would be while making his way up. He hid in a niche while cocking his head to the side, listening for people. If he heard someone coming, he would wait before heading up the stairs. Otherwise, he would move. Once finding the boss's bedroom, Jack would probably wait for him to return or continue searching the house.

[Prince Velkan]

Velkan sat there, rather still and waiting as he looked through the scope of his rifle. He was a patient man, waiting and biding his time for the people to come to him like he was suppose to. A trained sniper, not one of those grunts who went running in with guns blazing and roaring like a wild person drawing attention to himself. He waited patiently, silently, and struck with out warning. He watched one female go past, then a glimpse of somebody else moving the opposite direction. However there was not enough time to get a clear line of fire, so he panned steady along until he found another window that the passerby should be heading for. His finger rested upon the trigger lightly, ready to pull if needed but not anxious. A shot would present itself when the time was right.

The opportunity finally presented itself, however it was not in the form of the man who was coming from the direction that Velkan had followed. Instead, somebody new appeared from the opposite direction, apparently coming down some stairs as that person moved downwards in to the frame of the window. Velkan didn't hesitate, but lined up and gently eased the trigger backwards. The rifle bucked, a loud retort echoing about the room but mostly contained with in the room itself and muffled by the cardboard boxes around himself. He did not flinch, or even move other then the strong jolt against his shoulder. Instead he continued to watch through his scope, not that he could follow the bullet. It was not that far of a shot, and it happened in less then a split second. The man jerked backwards as the bullet entered his right chest, and the opposite wall was repainted in red along with a decent sized new ventilation hole as the bullet passed through and out the other side of the individual. The person crumpled in the same instant, out of sight beneath the window. Velkan sighed, softly muttering his pray and watching the window to see if anybody else might be stupid enough to show themselves in an investigation of the individual who had just been slain.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Footsteps. Someone was coming down the stairs. Jack froze in the niche where he'd stopped to think, remaining almost completely still while keeping his breath inaudible. Instead of reaching the stairs and continuing on, the young man heard the sound of breaking glass, followed by a dropping body. Curious, he peeked out from where he hid before ducking back in surprise.

    In that single glance, he'd first noticed the still body and the blood pooling about it. He felt it was pretty safe to assume the man had been shot and, keeping the glass sound in mind, Jack's eyes had been drawn to the damaged window. Hidden once more, he contemplated the implications of someone going around and shooting people. Someone other than himself, of course. Though the young man hadn't been much for leaving himself open to begin with, now he would have to take care when passing by windows or through any other relatively open area where he might find himself overly exposed.

    Now that he was unsure of the path ahead, Jack popped back to the bathroom where he'd first begun his journey. No one seemed to have found any of his bodies yet, so that was nice. He continued on again, this time heading in the opposite direction, away from the kitchen and the stairs. The young man listened behind every door and started using a small mirror before turning corners. When he would come to a window, Jack would slither underneath. All of this slowed him down considerably but seemed preferable to taking a bullet.

    Eventually one of the doors he happened to try just so happened to lead downstairs, to the basement. Cellar. Whatever. Jack started down, moving slowly so the stairs wouldn't make too much noise. The basement was full of valuable junk that Jack didn't bother paying much attention to. Of more concern was the bored guard who sat in a chair playing a handheld video game. Not that he was of much concern. After strangling him with some wire he happened to carry on his person for just such an occasion, Jack began to inspect the room more thoroughly, eventually stashing the corpse in a corner behind some stuff before memorizing the location, just in case he needed a fallback point later.

[Prince Velkan]

Velkan slowly panned along the courtyard, looking through the lens upon his scope like it was an extension of his actual eye. His lips began to move silently, as beneath his breath he began to mutter a pray to himself. If anybody could have read his lips as they moved, they would have instantly recognized the pray as The Lord's Prayer. Velkan removed two more people from the equation, one that happened to exit the building and walk along a path while the second was somebody entering the compound. After the second, Velkan decided he had pushed his luck far enough already, and he stood up and folded his bipod down upon his rifle. He slung it over his back, then picked up the pistol upon the box beside him and moved towards the door.

Opening the door, he left the upper room and moved down the stairs, keeping the pistol ready this time in case somebody showed up. There had been enough killing that surely somebody was going to figure out that something was going on by now. So Velkan decided to be upon his toes. He moved swiftly down the stair, trying to make as little noise as possible and he came out peeking around the corner. He spotted another person, moving quickly towards the stairwell and gritted his teeth. This was the part he hated, getting in to the thick of things and having to do it like this. He waited, listening to the hurried footsteps approaching and steadied the pistol with one hand, aiming with the other. As the person came around the corner, he pulled the trigger and sent the bullet burrowing deep in to their chest. The retort rang out loud, and Velkan quickly searched the man for more ammo and if his weapon was better. See that it was the same, Velkan dropped the mag from the gun and cocked the weapon, catching the bullet from the chamber back in to the magazine that he slid in to his pocket and quickly moving off down the hallway, now with an extra magazine and bullets for his acquired pistol.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    When he heard the shot, Jack turned toward the stairs so fast he nearly broke his own neck. It wasn't in his immediate vicinity but it was far closer than he would've liked. He contemplated simply teleporting away but quickly dismissed the idea. If he left now before finishing the job he'd come to complete, then things would only become more difficult for him. If the boss didn't decide to flee and lay low somewhere, requiring Jack to find him all over again, this time with the criminal's guard up, then he sure as hell would beef up his security considerably.

    Moving as quickly as he could without making very much noise, the young man made his way back up the basement steps, pausing at the top of the landing. Jack wondered who was shooting people. Who else was here, trying to kill the boss? At least, he assumed that was why they were here. No one sneaks onto a guarded compound to kill a couple grunts. That wold just be silly.

    But who were they? The fact that they'd made it into the house without setting off the general alarm seemed to imply they were possessed of some level of competence. Perhaps they were skilled, perhaps they'd merely been lucky so far. It was largely irrelevant. Whoever they were, they were dangerous and their presence was only making his job more dangerous. Was it even just one person? Sure, one person could sneak into the house more easily, but a small squad could manage the same and would be a better bet. It all depended on the skill of the individuals involved and if there was a supernatural element then all bets were off.

    Jack took out the little mirror he used for seeing around corners and checked to see if the hall was empty before stepping out.

[Prince Velkan]

Velkan moved at a steady pace, keeping his side to a wall and moving along it. He checked it corners every time, peering around them with one eye to make sure it was clear while also glancing outside the windows. He was on high alert, knowing that any moment all those bodies he had taken out and not removed could be spotted easily and that would sound the alarm. Time was no longer in his favor, but he still had the element of surprise with him. So he moved steadily, making sure to cover his ass and make sure he wasn't being being stupid by running face first in to somebody waiting for him with a gun pointed in his direction. That would be a sure fire way to take a slug and probably fail the mission and even possibly die.

Velkan checked around another corner and pulled his head back quickly. There where two people standing down the hallway, both with their backs towards him and conversing in some language he assumed was Spanish. Straining his ears, he listened and recognized a few of the words but nothing to put together something concrete. Italian and Spanish was very similar, but not enough for him from this distance to gather what they where saying. He slowly peered around the corner again, judging the situation. Both men had their backs towards him, facing the other direction. They where carrying pistols in holsters and two weapons he couldn't really see from this angle but they looked like some sort of assault rifles. They where standing watching down the other hallway for some reason, but Velkan could not figure out why. Their weapons, whatever they where, were raised up and ready and he knew he could only take one out before the other spun around and was firing. He contemplated then decided he could take them, but not properly.

He slowly and quietly stepped in to the hallway. Tip toeing quietly, he moved across the hallway and to the other side and out of the corridor. He pressed against the wall, raising his left hand and pressing it along the hallway down the corridor the two goons where standing it. With his profile minimized, and arm steadied by pressing it against the wall he slowly aimed towards the individual upon the right. Instead of aiming for the head, which was a much smaller target, he aimed for the chest. Aiming slightly left of the spine, and upwards towards the breast he aimed for the heart. He may or may not hit it, but the bullet was guaranteed to puncture a lung and send the man down the spiraling steps towards death as he drown in his own blood. Velkan squeezed the trigger slowly, and the pistol barked out it's death and the man collapsed and writhed as he began to die. The second spun around, already squeezing the trigger and spraying ammo down the hallway but it was a wild and completely random counterattack.

Velkan pulled his arm back and spun behind the corner. He moved down the hallway backwards quickly, keeping sight of the hallway the guy was about to come down and attack him from. He side stepped in to a doorway, and shoved his foot against the door where it would open outwards. This way if somebody tried to come out, it would not send him sprawling across the hallway, and he would not instantly and would be able to turn his weapon upon the door. He was also out of the main hallway,for the most part and when the assault rifle wielding goon stepped in to it and began to spray death towards him, he was not a perfect target and was extremely hard to hit. His own pistol barked twice, jerking in his hands and the goon spun and dropped to the floor, Velkan unsure of where exactly he had hit the man but knowing he had done significant damage.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    When he didn't see anyone in the hallway, Jack quickly exited and shut the basement door. He could hear more gunfire that seemed to be coming from upstairs. Well, it was about time he made that trip anyways. The young man began to move, quickly making his way toward the stairs. Though the situation was feeling more urgent by the second, Jack still made sure to move in a methodical manner, despite his impatience. The proved particularly useful when he was in the midst of turning a corner and his danger sense started going haywire.

    Jack came face to face with two surprised guards who'd been on their way to check out the commotion. He was ready and their guns were mere lumps of scrap metal before they could so much as blink. The young man took a few moments dealing with them, but by the time he was done, he left them in worse shape than their guns. Jack left them in pieces before continuing on his way.

    Reaching the stairs just in time to watch the man Velkan had shot in the chest hit the base of the steps, Jack nearly jumped out of his skin. He was by no means squeamish but if he had to be entirely honest with himself he wasn't particularly used to having bodies dropped in front of him. At least, not when he wasn't the one doing the dropping. The young man paused for a few moments listening. The next shots came from some distance further away, telling him it was probably safe to head up the stairs.

    Proceeding cautiously, Jack made his way up the stairs after dropping a blade in the skull of the man at their base, to ensure he was gone and done with. He paused at the top and prepared to look over the last step. Well aware of how exposed he was, Jack prepared himself for quick teleport back to the basement just in case he had to retreat.

[Prince Velkan]

Velkan grunted when he took out the last guy. The door he had his foot pressed against suddenly jerked open and shoved his foot several inches. Velkan turned his gun down and fired it in to the foot that was pushing the door open against his own foot. Somebody shouted, and Velkan jerked the door open and planted another bullet in the person. Velkan sighed, dropping the magazine of his pistol and checking it. He has three more shots in this magazine. He looked at the male and the bent down to pick up the pistol the other male had in his holster. He frowned, noticing this was a different pistol and he knew that that meant he would need to carry another weapon with him now. This was some other weapon, with a different caliber and magazine. Velkan slipped it in to his pants as well, sighing knowing he might need the second weapon and deciding to keep it as well.

Velkan left the room, shutting the door and moving down the hallway. Somebody else came around the corner, and two more bullets let off on the fly dropped them as well. One left....Velkan dropped the magazine and left it on the floor, fishing the second from his pocket and loading the weapon. With a full magazine again, he felt more relax and moved further down the hallway and finally stopped near a broad flight of stairs that went one direction...up. He grimaced, looking around from the corner of the hallway that went out in to the foyer and saw plenty of places for other people to hide and seek shelter while he would be left in the open. Perhaps there was another way?

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    The young man let out a sigh of relief when he peeked over the top of the steps and wasn't met with the sight of a gun barrel pointed at him. Jack quickly moved up the remainder of the stairs, wishing to get out of the opening as soon as he possibly could. Just as he cleared the last step, his danger sense began going haywire. Jack's mind worked quickly to make his body react before it was too late.

    Jack threw himself forward and hit the floor. He could practically feel the bullets cutting through the air above him as much as he could see them. It had been a split second judgment call, more instinct than conscious thought, really. The young man hadn't seen anyone in front of him and until he'd hit the floor Jack hadn't even managed to process the sound he'd heard. A door behind him had opened shortly before the gunfire had begun. The shooting stopped and a man shouted something in Spanish. From his tone of voice, Jack inferred he'd been commanded something. Probably somewhere along the lines of "Stand up so we can shoot you!"

    After a brief roll of his eyes, Jack teleported back downstairs. Naturally he appeared some feet to the man's side, on his back. The young man already had his hands on his gun and fired three rounds into a very surprised thug's chest and upper thigh. Jack was gone a moment later, back up the stairs. He climbed to his feet and looked down the stairs at the man. He wasn't dead. Not yet, anyways, though he would be soon. Jack picked up the man's own gun using his power and put him out of his misery. Then he moved past the staircase and began to search the upstairs.

[Prince Velkan]

     Velkan pulled his head back around from the corner and began to work over things in his head. He could have a shoot out right here, which would probably result in him getting shot and killed. Not something he was look to achieve and accomplish today, because it just did not seem like it was his time to go like that. He had not even made it to the drug lord yet after all. He could attempt to find another way around, which would burn up precious time energy and possibly run the risk of the drug lord escaping through some other exit or secret passage way which would mean all this energy would have been completely wasted.

     Velkan stood there, contemplating his options for several seconds while making sure to keep an eye down the corridor he had just come in case somebody decided to come towards him that direction. He decided that he needed to get through this way, it was the fastest and most direct route to take, yet he needed to make sure he did not get shot in the process. The question was, how was he going to do that? He thought of several options almost instantly. He could always make some sort of distraction, throwing something out there or even somebody...or he could attempt to go back and acquire the outfits of one of the people he had killed. Attempt to impersonate one of them, and sneak close enough so that their cover was not adequate enough to protect them.

Velkan did not very much like the idea of dressing up in a outfit take from a dead body, which may or may not save his life. Then he would simply accomplish dying in somebody else's clothing and achieve nothing. After all, he could not exactly change his looks and he looked nothing like any of these Hispanic looking individuals he had killed so far. His skin was to light to start with, and he was definitely European looking.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    As the young man peered around corners, checking for more henchmen while he inched from room to room, clearing one after the other, Jack couldn't help but wonder if perhaps it was time for him to cut his losses. By now, they definitely had to know there was an intruder. Who knew what sorts of resources they were mustering up to put an end to him? He'd lost the element of surprise and all it would take was one mistake and he'd be completely screwed. As things stood, his chances of getting to the boss, killing him, and making it out unscathed were looking increasing unfavorable with every passing moment.

    Jack murdered two more guards while he contemplated this conundrum. If he left now, it was unlikely that he would get another chance like the one available to him now. The boss would beef up his security. Attacking like this would be futile. He'd need to abandon the target and move on to simpler prey. The young man had his professional pride and he just didn't like leaving a job undone.

    Underneath the mask he wore, a bead of sweat made its way lazily along the curve of his jaw. There was always that option. Jack could level the entire villa and skedaddle. But that would be like taking the easy way out, no?