166 SideStory: An Immortal Prank
Twenty minutes ago…
Within a dimly lit room, two figures stood there. One of them leaned against the wall fiddling with his phone, while the other one was placing objects in a suitcase.
"Hey, number sixteen. Your order is up." [???]
One of the figures moved, lighting up a cigarette in the dark.
"Customer number?" [Sixteen]
"Number forty nine. They go by Dante." [???]
"Got it. Do I have to meet him in person?" [Sixteen]
The leaning figure shook their head.
"You can have Crow do it for you. He just came back from another job." [???]
"Sure. I'll take him." [Sixteen]
The figure closed his suitcase, leaving the room while donning a white mask with something inscribed on it.
"God speed." [???]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The masked man soon arrived at his desired location; the rooftop of a high rise. He wore a black suit and tie, something that he found comfortable to wear on his usual jobs.
"Hm… This should do." [Sixteen]
Opening up his suitcase, Sixteen took out rod-like metal pieces. He then put them together one by one, each part falling perfectly into place. At the end of it, he held a scoped rifle with an incredibly long barrel.
"Sniper, check. What else…" [Sixteen]
Checking the inside of his suit jacket, he found a pistol snugly packed into a holster.
"Sidearm, check." [Sixteen]
After nodding in acknowledgement, he trained his rifle towards a building in the distance.
"Distance… One thousand six hundred meters. Perfectly within range." [Sixteen]
As he held his scope onto a run down church, Sixteen saw a car park next to it.
("Three kids… and an adult?") [Sixteen]
Silently watching, the crosshair hovered over the adult.
"Huh?!" [Sixteen]
Sixteen's eyes widened with surprise as he saw the adult snap his head towards the scope, causing him to flinch a bit.
("Is he looking over here? …No, I must be delusional.") [Sixteen]
Still observing from afar, Sixteen saw the adult wink at him.
("...I've been spotted?!") [Sixteen]
Realizing he had been discovered, Sixteen aimed to shoot.
("Wait, is he with the customer?") [Sixteen]
Steadying his trigger finger, he continued to observe. He watched the adult turn back to the children, speaking in a casual manner.
("...Maybe he didn't spot me.") [Sixteen]
He watched the children enter the church, then suddenly noticed something amiss.
("...Huh? Where's the adult?") [Sixteen]
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Yo." [???}
Sixteen jolted, leaping away from his original spot while pulling out his pistol.
"Y-You!" [Sixteen]
He found himself holding his gun towards that very same adult a few seconds ago. Sixteen wasn't too sure of how he got here in such a short time, but he felt like he had the upper hand.
"Wow. I uh… didn't mean to scare you like that." [???]
Waving his hand apologetically, the adult seemed calm.
("He's not afraid even though I have a gun trained on him?") [Sixteen]
"...Who are you?" [Sixteen]
"Oh. Me?" [???]
"Is there anyone else?" [Sixteen]
The man glanced around and shrugged.
"Eh, I guess you're right. The name's Roy, pleased to make your acquaintance." [Roy]
Lowering himself, Roy greeted Sixteen with a polite bow.
("...The hell's wrong with this guy?") [Sixteen]
"What is your business here?" [Sixteen]
"Isn't it obvious?" [Roy]
Raising a hand, Roy pointed at Sixteen.
"You." [Roy]
Sixteen suddenly felt threatened, causing him to stiffen.
"I couldn't help but see you pointing your gun at me and the kids. Honestly, I wouldn't care if it was just me, but… You see, I'm the assigned babysitter." [Roy]
Sixteen was confused as to what Roy said..
"...What are you on about?" [Sixteen]
"Nothing much. Tell you what, I'm gonna kick your ass. But… I'll let you get the first shot. Literally." [Roy]
Sixteen was in disbelief.
("Is he serious?") [Sixteen]
His eyes questioned what he was seeing, yet Roy simply stood there.
"You brought this on yourself." [Sixteen]
Sixteen pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight through Roy's skull.
"Ah." [Roy]
Roy's eyes rolled into his head, causing him to fall. Blood then began to pour out of his head as he laid on the ground.
("...That was easy.") [Sixteen]
Seeing as how Roy was dead, Sixteen lowered his gun and approached the body.
"Boo!" [Roy]
Roy lifted his bloodied face while wearing a strange expression, causing Sixteen to flinch and fire multiple rounds into Roy's body.
"Ow! What the hell?!" [Roy]
He slowly picked himself up, the wounds closing as a few bullets fell out.
"Man… I told you I'd give you the first shot. Not the first fifteen." [Roy]
Sixteen was stunned. "How was he still alive?", he wondered.
"This… The level 10 ability, Immortality…?" [Sixteen]
"What? No?" [Roy]
"Then how are you alive?" [Sixteen]
"...I'll tell you if you give me an arm." [Roy]
"What?" [Sixteen]
Roy moved a hand behind his back, only to pull out a dismembered arm.
"Payment received." [Roy]
"Huh?" [Sixteen]
Sixteen suddenly felt tremendous pain near his right shoulder. Upon looking at it, he realized his arm was missing.
"Agh…! That's… My arm?!" [Sixteen]
Roy smiled, playing with the dismembered arm as if it was a puppet. Using the hand as a mouth, he spoke in a high pitched voice.
"Hi, my name is Righty. As in, right arm. You must be in a lot of pain. Am I right or am I right?" [Roy]
He cackled to the horrible pun, leaving Sixteen to deal with a great deal of blood pouring out of his shoulder.
"You-!" [Sixteen]
Sixteen attempted to ignore the pain and trained his pistol onto Roy, but was interrupted when his phone rang.
"You might want to pick that up." [Roy]
Sixteen looked at him cautiously. He only had one hand left, and answering the phone would mean putting away his gun.
"...What? I'm not going to do anything. In fact, I'll even help you." [Roy]
He then waved the arm around as if it was a wand, then pointed at Sixteen.
"Now look at your shoulder." [Roy]
"Eh?" [Sixteen]
Sixteen found his shoulder now wrapped in bandages. It was as if it was always there.
"When did you…?" [Sixteen]
"Answer the phone." [Roy]
"..." [Sixteen]
Still a bit hesitant, Sixteen put aside his gun and answered his phone.
"Hello?" [Sixteen]
"Sixteen, this is Crow. The client seems to be dealing with a problem in the church. Should I go deal with it?" [Crow]
Sixteen glanced at Roy, then glanced at his rifle.
"Go ahead." [Roy]
He mouthed the words for Sixteen, then moved away from the rifle. This made Sixteen slowly inch towards the rifle to take a look at the church.
("They're fighting?") [Sixteen]
"Ah… That must be the kids. Hey, is that Crow guy strong? Why don't you let him go give the kids a thrashing for a bit." [Roy]
Sixteen looked at Roy as if he was insane.
"Are you with someone right now?" [Crow]
"...No, don't mind it. You can go help the client. I have something else to deal with." [Sixteen]
He then ended the call and placed the phone back in his pocket.
"Coolios. Now I have one favor to ask of you." [Roy]
"...What is it?" [Sixteen]
"I want you to use two shots. Two shots from this rifle, at the kids. Doesn't matter which one. As long as it doesn't immediately kill." [Roy]
Sixteen was genuinely confused. He didn't know what the man wanted from him, and didn't know what his goals were. It somewhat frightened him.
"Why would you want that?" [Sixteen]
"Just teaching them a lesson. Anywho, I'm gonna dip." [Roy]
He stood by the edge of the high rise and turned around.
"Oh, one more thing. Tell your boss to stop messing with this area. They'll comply if you tell them Black Rabbit asked you." [Roy]
"Black… Rabbit?" [Sixteen]
Without another word, Roy dropped from the high rise.
