Chapter 4 Mercenary

Reaching New York City was easy. All Michael had to do was head for the place with the most lights and a giant statue. Finding KingPin on the other hand? Not so much.

If it was another Marvel fan then they'd probably know every location and history of each character, constantly correcting others. Michael on the other hand was just a casual fan who would watch a movie once and never watch it again unless it was really good. So in terms of knowledge, he varied.

Kingpin for example, he had watched some of Daredevil and sort of understood the character dynamic. Ruthless? Yes, he was. Cold? He could be that at times but he was also more than this. Wilson Fisk was a good leader, ambitious, a man who valued manners, and a pretty decent partner.

Now when it came to his personal life he really didn't remember. It was mentioned in the show, Michael was sure of that but the show had come out like a decade ago so useless info like that is gone. Leaving him unaware of where to search.

Standing on one of the many buildings in New York Michael looked down at a library and wondered if he should check out their computers to look him up but the idea had its own issue. 'KingPin is a guy who cares a lot about one's presentation. Especially when meeting someone as he considers himself a sophisticated individual. So flying in and demanding or negotiating things might put us on the wrong foot.'

After some thought, he figured he needed a guy in between to introduce them to get things started and he had an idea of who.

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Around an hour or so later Michael exited the library with the information he needed. The first and most obvious was on Kingpin. Before he did anything he needed to make sure he even existed. Fortunately, the famous crime boss did in fact exist and was known to frequent the Chrysler building. When he learned this he was able to vaguely recall it from the show which proved it was accurate information. Now all he needed to do was head to his next location. Which didn't take long as it was just a quick flight away.

Thud

Landing softly on the ground Michael looked at the building ahead of him. It was made entirely of bricks and seemed pretty old and not well taken care of but he knew there was more to it than its exterior. Especially when he saw the familiar name above the door.

[Sister Margaret's School For Wayward Children]

A school for problem kids may sound like the last place to go but this wasn't just a school. In reality, it was a hub for mercenaries to rest, get tasks, or cash in on completed tasks like a quest spot in a game. Much like those game locations it also was a good source of information and had somebody in particular who could possibly even get him a meeting with the big man.

Reaching the door Michael entered nonchalantly where he soon encountered the man he was looking for. A blonde bespectacled guy who looked like he'd run at the first sight of trouble. Not exactly who you'd expect to run a mercenary joint like this but what can you expect? This is weasel, Deadpool's Besto Friendo after all.

Weasel looked up from behind the bar, eyes widening as he saw Michael approach. "You're new around here," he said, voice cautious. "New isn't something we see too often"

"Just passing through," Michael replied, leaning on the counter. "I need some information and from what I hear you're the guy to go to when you need it."

Weasel raised an eyebrow. "Information I can help with that but first I'm going to need the password"

'Password? Was this an actual thing?' He didn't remember this being in the movie but it would make sense to have one.

"I don't have one… Will that be a problem?" Michael asked as his eyes looked through the desk where he saw weasel holding a sawed-off shotgun.

"It depends. Usually, when we get newcomers we have them take on a task before they can officially join. Can you do that?" Weasel asked, completely ready to pull the trigger from beneath the desk.

'This feels a lot like Skyrim. Here I am trying to do one thing but before that, I got to do a couple others but I guess I don't mind.'

Anyway Michael loved that game and binged as many side quests as he could so doing one in real life seemed interesting. If this was a game or if he had a sort of system he probably would have heard a quest notification.

"I don't mind but do I get to choose the task?"

Hearing his agreement weasel settled down a bit and pulled out a list of jobs. "Sure but it has to be from one of these C-ranked jobs or higher. If you can pass one of them then you'll get access to everything with a price of course. Whether it's more jobs, information, and weapons."

Giving a nod Michael reached out and pulled the folder to himself and began reading the listings. Surprisingly Weasel kept things pretty well organized by giving different job ranks that went from D to S.

"Pretty interesting," Michael said before noticing one job in particular.

Rank: S

Job Type: Assasination

Target: Tony Stark

Reward: 150 Million

Client: Multiple Sources

150 Million now that was pretty impressive but not nearly enough in Michaels's opinion. Maybe if this was arms dealer Tony Stark they were talking about but the current Tony was already Iron Man. Which would be troublesome for anyone to deal with.

As for him, he wouldn't be interested no matter the price. While he wasn't the best guy he wasn't also going to needlessly bring trouble for himself. Flipping the page Michael began to read some more listings until he found one that was perfect. Not only would it get him a nice little membership but it could also get him in contact with Kingpin. Killing two birds with one stone.

Rank: A

Job Type: Eradication

Target: Italian Mafia

Reward: 25 Million along with a 10k bonus for every gang member killed.

Client: Kingpin

"There's no way you're considering that one right? Like I figured you had some big balls coming here but if you're looking at that then you might have testicular cancer" Weasel commented from the side while reading the listing but Michael ignored it and asked a question instead.

"If I do this job will I be able to meet Kingpin or will everything be handled through you?"

"No way… that information you wanted. It was for Kingpin, wasn't it? No offense man but if you want to die there are better ways of doing so."

"Just answer the question," Michael said with a slightly annoyed voice.

"Sigh alright. Yes, it is usually handled without a meeting but sometimes on rare occasions if the contractor wants to meet the client a request can be made. But whether it is accepted or not all depends on the client."

"Good, that's all I need to know. Get it set up this shouldn't take long" Taking the listing Michael stuffed it in his pocket and walked out of the mercenary den without even looking back at Weasel who just stood there gawking.

"Boys! I think we got ourselves a new dead pool!" Shouting this out he ran over to the board. While also being followed by a couple of other mercenaries.

Taking the chalk he prepared to write the name when he realized he never even got it but that didn't matter they'd just give him a nickname and wait for the news.

'Mental Blonde Dude'

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New York was a bustling city that was usually seen as the personification of the American dream. Most people who moved there were immigrants and even the locals that grew up in New York were immigrants in some way. However, things weren't all they were cut out to be.

Further into the outer edges of the city were poorer neighborhoods that even the homeless avoided with the worst of them being Hell's Kitchen. This place had already been long forsaken by the police and was pretty much ignored by everyone. No laws worked here and no one would help. Making it the perfect nest for criminal activity. One such nest was in the midst of a drinking party as they celebrated another achievement.

"Haha did you see the looks on their faces? Poor bastards probably didn't expect anyone to attack them with the kingpin backing them. Bet that'll teach em!"

"Aye they'd been getting cocky ever since they sold themselves like hookers" The rest of the men practically cheered with that comment as they chugged down some more hard liquor, uncaring of how it would affect their liver.

One man named Vincenzo got up from his seat and stood on one of the chairs gathering everyone's attention. "It wasn't too long ago brothers that this city thought it had gotten rid of the Italians but I tell you no more. Our families back home have contacted us and are preparing at this very moment to give us full support. This city will remember who it really belongs to! And it's not Kingpin."

This short speech sent another jovial tone throughout the building as some men danced while others drank but all could agree that things were going to start looking up. Most of the men here grew up hearing about how their families ruled the city with a fist but it was all lost by the time they were teenagers. However, this would change they were sure of that.

Kingpin and the other Mafias may have been impressive but they were nothing to the Italians. All those here fought over a city while back home the mafias had already taken over their government and ran things from the shadows. Soon they'd begin this here in the States as well.

"You poor fools aren't even big fish in a small pond but rather small fish with an illusion of being bigger than what you are"

Hearing the strange voice that lacked an Italian accent caught everyone's attention as they looked toward the door at a young man they'd never seen before. He had wheat-like blonde hair and was dressed in overly baggy clothes that looked old and worn. If there was anything significant about him then it would be his red eyes but such a detail was easily ignored by the question currently running through their minds.

'What's a homeless doing here?' Some looked at the young man with pity thinking he must be mentally ill with a sort of schizophrenia while others seemed eager to beat him where he stood.

Vincenzo, being the leader, had the final say and noticed the mixed feelings some of his men were having but this wasn't shared with the majority. No, instead they wanted this kid taken care of and so it would be.

"Take care of him but make it quick we still have a long night ahead of us," Vincenzo said before giving the young man one last look.

"A long night? No, it ends now" While saying this his eyes glowed red illuminating the dark doorway where he stood. If his words hadn't caught everyone's attention then this definitely did.

One man figured it was just a gimmick and pointed his pistol and fired without hesitation but the color in his face slowly drained as the bullet fell to the ground.

"My turn…"

For the rest of the night, various parts of Hell's Kitchen experienced more screams than usual. Many who grew curious about what was happening investigated but all they would find was a path of carnage. Very few clues were left behind with no signs of struggle or bullet wounds.

Instead, it seemed like the men would die instantly with their necks being snapped. Maybe this was an act of mercy many didn't know but the only clue they had was the record of a child who had seen red eyes hovering in the sky before it disappeared. But no one believed him.