Chapter 2: Killing

Jin adjusted his footing on the wet Earth beneath him for only a moment, before beginning to move. He made sure that his steps were even. Not too fast, but not too slow at the same time. He couldn't afford to go taking off into the night- Even with his info about the environment, Jin couldn't know what security Byzantium had set up, even at this distance.

"...."

Jin continued to walk unbarred by any security or sensors. Not because there weren't any, mind you. He just knew how to avoid them. Slowing down his heartbeat, lowering his body temperature, completely freezing his breathing and movement… All methods he'd mastered to avoid various vibration, heat, and sound scanning. He was at ease for a moment, realizing nothing he hadn't expected blocked his path.

"I'm telling you man, it wasn't anything. Military-grade tech like this picks up microscopic vibrations and heat from stuff like animals all the time, so quit overreacting."

"Do you wanna get paid or not? We're supposed to cover every possible base if we pick something up."

"Who the hell is gonna know???"

"Uh, our boss!? They've got cameras and shit stationed across half the damn forest! You think we can just play hooky and get away with it?"

"Fuck, man, fine, fine. Let's check it."

Jin stopped in his tracks, ducking down into a wet bush. Through the heavy rain and the darkness, he could see his new targets; Two men, both heavily armored, their faces obscured by masks and their voices also seemingly shifted by a modulator of sorts.

On the right stood one whose voice was kind of like Darth Vader from Star Wars, deep, but verbose. And the man on the left had a child-like voice that rang in your ears, as if a kitten had been given a human form and the ability to speak.

Jin held back the urge to groan. "Damn it…" He thought to himself. He must've been getting sloppy to be caught even minutely by any sensory technology. Luckily, the one on the left seemed to be adamant that Jin's presence was just that of a mere animal…

"See, man? Nothing here!"

"Hold up, hold up. Give me a damn second."

The man on the right held up some sort of device, shaped like a compass of sorts, as his partner rummaged through the moist foliage. He'd never seen anything like it… A new model, maybe? But a model of what? Jin didn't know what kind of tech they were using to begin with.

"Find anything?"

"No… Not really. This thing ain't broken, so I guess you were right."

"Like I always am. Now let's get back to our post."

"Of course, since you're obviously so concerned about doing work…"

"Of course I am!"

Jin began to see them walk away, and now was his time to make a move, while they were distracted. He dropped his stance ever so slightly, and began slowly pulling out a combat knife from by his side.

"Any idea why they even upped security? If they gave you something as advanced as a Model II Hermes, then the boss must be wary of something, yeah?"

"Of course he's wary of something, but obviously low level grunts like us don't get to be privy to that kind of info… The new tech and gear is just a formality."

Hermes… Of course. Any underground business worth their salt used Hermes brand security for everything- It was the best on the market, both in and outside the criminal underworld. Hermes motion scanners were circular in shape like a compass, and picked up on everything, whether it be heat, motion and vibrations, sound, etc. It also doubled as a communicator, so if you somehow could afford multiple, you were equipped with high-speed sound transmission as well.

Jin sighed internally… This made things more complicated, but he didn't plan to let it interrupt his plans. He continued to listen to them speak, waiting for the right time to strike. He may as well get rid of them while he could, after all.

Jin purposely took a step forward with the tiniest amount more of force than usual- To purposely set off the Hermes sensor.

"Wait, wait! It's picking something up!"

"Dude, I told you, it's just an animal or some shit!"

"It's not an animal this time! These readings… Someone is definitely here!"

"Ugghhh!! Why the hell are you so difficult!? Can't we please just GO!?"

"I'm just trying to do my fucking JOB!"

Jin held back the urge to laugh out loud. What the fuck were these two donkeys doing, arguing like children on the job? Whoever trained them must've been brain dead… But whatever. The more they got worked up, the easier it'd be to kill them when the time came.

"And so am I! We were assigned to a specific place, at a specific time, with a VERY specific fucking purpose! To! Guard! The! Entrance! I don't have time to be fucking around with you and potentially getting us axed!"

"Oh, right, you don't have time! What the fuck else would you be doing? Huh? You can't do ANYTHING else! Neither can I! At least I'm trying to be fucking thorough, so we get paid more!"

"You shut your fucking mouth…"

"Oh, and what, huh? What the fuck do you have to do elsewhere, aside from getting your poor ass paid? Please enlighten me, O' master! Clearly you are so busy-"

"YOU KNOW WHY! YOU FUCKING SHITHEAD!"

Jin's eyes widened as the two argued… Things were getting personal, a bit too personal for his tastes. The man with the unbearable cat voice grabbed the one with the overly verbose villain voice by his collar, violently shoving him against the bark of a wet tree.

"You… know damn well… why I don't have the time to be fucking with you… Don't you…?"

"...Gregory, I… Is she…?"

"...She isn't getting any better, obviously. I wouldn't be here if she was getting any better."

Another mistake, right there… Revealing one of their names. If they were in their right minds they probably would've thought to not reveal anything personal in the open, but both of them were getting emotional. Gregory addressed his partner.

"I need the money, alright. Which is why I want us to do this job RIGHT. Okay? I'm not trying to be contrarian just for the sake of fucking with your work ethic, I'm not that fucking petty."

"I… I get it, man. I'm sorry. But you gotta understand me when I say I want to be thorough with this, right?"

"I do. I DO understand it… Fuck, man."

"Look… You go back to post, and I'll check out whatever the fuck this is. Our shift ends in a few hours, we get our paycheck, then ditch this place, alright?"

"Alright… Alright."

Gregory nodded. Jin could hear him sniffling through the pounding rain, sucking up saliva and snot. The two of them exchanged final nods. Gregory began moving back in the direction they had come from, and his still unnamed partner began moving in Jin's direction.

This was an… unexpected development, especially for Jin. But it played in his favor… Now that he was coming closer, he was off his guard, still recovering from that emotional moment he'd shared with Gregory. Were they friends? Brothers? Whatever, it didn't matter.

Jin froze for a few moments…

"Wait." He thought to himself. Why wasn't he moving?

"Come on, now… agh!"

As he wished, he broke out of his frozen trance, nearly tripping over. His boot splashed into the wet mud below, creating a semi-loud POP sound.

"HEY!"

"Motherfucking…" Jin groaned.

In recognition that he'd been had, he lunged forward, dropping his gun to the side. His opponent was also armed, but luckily, that didn't matter. Before he could draw, Jin slashed at his right wrist, where he'd surmised was his dominant arm.

"FUCK! Damn it…!"

The man groaned, dropping his weapon. He made an instant judgment, and looked over at the Hermes in his left hand. Jin already knew what he was planning- And he wouldn't let him call for help. Without making a sound, he slashed at the man's left wrist, causing him to drop the device onto the ground beneath, coating it in leaves and mud.

The man groaned out in pain and dejection… The pain itself didn't seem to be the issue, but he'd lost use of both of his hands, and he was bleeding quickly. Jin moved to deliver a swift strike to the center of his neck to instantly disable him, but the man countered. He lunged forward and raised his right leg, delivering a front kick- Taekwondo, it seemed.

Jin instantly side-stepped the attack, not only because he was faster, but because his opponent was completely off balance without proper use of his arms. Jin instantly and seamlessly changed stances, lowering his guard and charging forward, causing his opponent to begin to trip. Jin immediately used this to his advantage.

"You motherfu-"

Jin cut the man off, and delivered a deadly punch straight to his Solar Plexus as he was falling, slamming the man to the ground. His eyes immediately went dark as he felt a shock- "Agh.. Ha… Fk… ka… a…"

"Still awake…?" Jin thought. With a swift motion, he socked the man directly in the jaw with untold precision and speed, knocking the living daylights out of him. With his injuries, it wouldn't be long until he died from blood loss from the wrist cuts.

"That could've gone much, much better…" Jin murmured. He leaned down and swiftly snatched up the muddied Hermes device, looking down at it. On the device detailed the activity of everything within a thousand mile radius… A

"Damn… Surprised that this thing can function precisely with all the disturbance from the rain." Jin thought. He looked down at his victim, squinting.

"Why the hell did I freeze…?" He couldn't have actually felt sorry for that shithead Gregory and this guy, right?

"I need to get my head in the game… head in the game… head in the game, Jin…" Jin recited to himself, wiping the mud from the device as he moved back to retrieve his gun after he had sheathed his blade. Luckily enough for him, he now had a complete visual of everything within a thousand miles- More specifically, he had a complete visual of Gregory, the poor sap's partner.

Jin's stolen Hermes told him that Gregory had gotten about 100 feet away from the scene. And it wouldn't be long before he started getting suspicious as to where his partner was.

Jin crept forward, continuing to keep his breathing and footsteps deafened. The distance between him and his 2nd target to close with each passing moment. Soon, 100 feet became 80 ft, which became 75 feet, which became 60 feet. Gregory had come into Jin's view completely by the time he'd reached 50 feet away.

"...." Jin remained silent, observing his target's actions.

"Damn… Jacob's taking way too damn long for just a basic search…" Gregory mumbled. So the last guy's name was Jacob… and they seemed rather close.

"Fuck, this is why I told him not to spend to much time on this shit. He can't do anything right… Ugh…" Gregory tapped his foot against the wet ground rapidly, clearly getting impatient with his partner Jacob's actions. Jin's eyes squinted.

"This one's… difficult." Jin thought. He could tell that Gregory was a much tougher op than Jacob just by looking at their builds, but also through the way they carried themselves as they moved. Gregory seemed carefree unlike Jacob, who seemed diligent. But it became clearer to Jin as time went on that his perception of the pair had been warped by circumstance… Gregory was, to Jin, even through his thick clothes and padding, the much tougher and more disciplined adversary.

"With muscles like that… Kyokushin? Or some kind of composite…" Jin began trying to decipher what kind of fighter Gregory would be. His partner practiced Taekwondo, so it wouldn't be strange if he practiced some form of Karate with a build like his.

"No… Not just Kyokushin. A mixture of that, and some Boxing." Jin clicked, deciphering Gregory's fighting style and build within a few moments down to a T. "Close combat won't be favorable… Best try and take him out quick."

Out of the pair, both of them weren't bad at their job. Based purely on their builds, he could tell that if this were any normal security situation, they'd be the tip of the top. Both had the sense for it, at least… But they were both clearly emotional, and didn't seem to work too well together.

"Sorry…" Jin raised his gun, and got into position. He kept both of his eyes open- Peering through the darkness of the night which was further skewed by the incredibly heavy wind and rain that obscured his view. His finger swiftly pressed itself against the trigger, and fired off into the distance.

"..."

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"...

"Oi." After around 2 minutes of complete silence, Jin flipped his gun and grabbed it. With all his might, he swung it into the darkness, the back of the gun cleanly smashing against something.

"Fuck…!" Gregory was knocked back, his feet sliding against the muddy ground. Had Jin been any slower in delivering his attack, he would've been had.

"The hell…?" Jin thought. He must've gotten out of his line of sight a moment before he fired the bullet and charged him. But it didn't matter. He immediately flipped his gun into the proper position, and wasted no time in pulling the trigger.

Gregory was a beat faster, instantly regaining his composure and rolling to the side. His younger, more flexible body gave him a huge advantage over Jin when it came to pure mobility and reaction time. He drew his gun, and fired into the darkness, clearly being able to see in the darkness just as well as Jin could.

Jin grunted, jumping to the side. One of the bullets barely grazed his shoulder, but his armored padding simply caused the thing to bounce off, if anything. Before he'd even hit the ground he began shooting continuously, aimed at whatever vital points he could find-

And Gregory did the same. Their skirmish quickly became a shoot-out, with each of their bullets missing the other by a hair- They were each reading a step ahead of the other.

"What the fuck did you do to Jacob!?" Gregory yelled out with all his might. It didn't take long for him to run out of ammo.

"...." Jin was silent, also beginning to reload.

"FUCKING ANSWER ME!!" Gregory shouted, straining his throat. He chucked his gun at Jin with all the rage he could muster, "YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Jin's eyes widened, dropping his gun and raising his arms… Luckily for him, he'd read ahead and guarded, the gun slamming into his armored sleeves, but that wasn't the issue. The moment the gun hit Jin, Gregory was already on his feet, charging towards him. He lunged forward, making an attempt to kick Jin straight in the face.

"He's good…" Jin couldn't help but say out loud as he rolled out of the way, immediately jumping to his feet. Gregory's toes SLAMMED directly into the tree behind Jin, digging into the wood and splintering a portion of the tree.

"Shut your fucking mouth…" Gregory immediately pulled his foot from the tree, and charged at Jin. There was no point questioning what had happened to Jacob… Because he already knew what had happened. There was no time to mourn Jacob's death- The only time either of them had to do was fight. Gregory bared his fists.

And Jin did the same, keeping his guard. Gregory's posture stiffened, and his toes pressed into the ground beneath. His arm extended outward like a bullet, blasting through the rain and directly towards the center of Jin's throat.

"How is this guy a mere grunt when he's so freakishly strong…" Jin thought to himself, keeping his cool and moving accordingly. Like water, he flowed to the side, gently brushing off Gregory's punch, and spinning where he stood. Gregory stopped his momentum, but he was too late. Jin's elbow slammed right into his jaw, knocking him back around 3 feet.

"That skill…" Gregory thought, shaking his head. He didn't seem all too affected by the attack, which puzzled Jin. His skull was stupidly tough… In fact, Jin felt that his elbow hurt more than whatever pain he'd inflicted on Gregory.

"Look… I hit you square in your jaw, can you just go down…?" Jin murmured. The tension in his body melted… Then exploded as every muscle fiber in his body tightened, launching him towards Gregory.

"What the-" Gregory instantly raised his guard, and this time he succeeded. Or at least… he thought he did. He THOUGHT Jin was going to go for another elbow, and instead he… he jumped into the air? What the hell was he going for? He couldn't have been going for something as stupid as a drop-kick, not if he knew what kind of fighter he was, and definitely not in this environment.

Gregory's feet expertly slid across the ground as he kept his stance tight and his guard up, not even losing his balance for a moment. At this distance, his kick wouldn't connect, at least not fully. Kicks needed momentum- centrifugal force, to maintain any power. This was doubly so for an unconventional move like a drop-kick… You need to be able to hit your opponent with maximum momentum the moment you extend your legs outward, to ensure you'll achieve full force. But at this distance, where Jin had already extended his legs, even though they'd made contact with Gregory, the power dealt was… minimal, at best. And at worst, it was pathetic.

Unluckily for him, though… That's not what Jin was going for.

"Dumbass."

"You-"

Before Gregory could get a rebuttal in, and before Jin could begin plummeting to the ground after his drop-kick had failed… His legs coiled like snakes, wrapping themselves around Gregory and clinging to his neck!

"Grappling!?" Gregory internally panicked, his eyes wide. But he instantly regained his composure, and made his move. He lunged downward, slamming Jin to the muddy ground beneath with his vastly superior strength-

But Jin wasn't letting go. He'd been smashed against the Earth directly onto his back, right onto his spine… Even Gregory could tell that he was old and weak the moment he'd seen him, even through his thick armor and paddings. So a blow like this should've been catastrophic for him… It should've paralyzed him, at the very least.

"No, wait… fuck… he wasn't stronger… I was… just…" Gregory noticed it then.

That moment Jin's legs had wrapped around him…

He'd unsheathed his knife with blinding accuracy.

And plunged it… right through Gregory's neck.

\

"Fu… k…kh… h…"

Gregory gently opened his mouth, allowing blood to begin pouring… He couldn't allow it to continue to pile within his throat, or else he'd choke, but he couldn't remove the knife, or else he'd bleed out. Even now, he was still assessing the situation- Still figuring out how to survive.

"How is he still holding on…?" Jin thought, Gregory not releasing his grip around Jin, even as his throat had been skewered. Gentle crackles of electricity could be heard by Jin. Nobody else would've been able to hear them, but… he did. He saw the light shine through Gregory's insides, illuminating his skin for a few moments.

"I see…" Jin gripped his knife by the handle, and ripped it out of Gregory's throat with all the might he could muster. The speed and force of the action severely worsened Gregory's wound, causing him to recoil back, releasing Jin from his grip.

"I'd stabbed you right through your trachea… Severed several major arteries in the process… And you aren't batting much of an eye, are you?" Jin said, finally beginning to speak. Gregory gripped his throat tightly… But the amount of blood pouring out was far, far below what would usually be spewing from such a grievous wound.

"You're enhanced, then." Jin grunted as Gregory stepped back, unable to speak. "Cybernetics always get in my fucking way…"

Jin stepped forward. "After making contact with you for a bit, I can definitely tell- You're strength, speed, and resilience aren't from any kind of training or conditioning… It's just that your muscle fibers and bones have been toughened up by nanomachines. And the blood vessels? Coated in some kind of… special titanium alloy, right? That's why you aren't bleeding out as you should be."

If Gregory could've cursed at him, he would, but he was right on the money… "He figured that out just from stabbing me…?"

"Now, your skill itself… Probably isn't manufactured. But now I see… The way you were reading my moves while we fought wasn't natural, was it? Nano-Chip in the brain, then? Like a mini-computer shoved right into your cranium… You were probably seeing my dozens of steps ahead. You weren't younger than me… You're just a fucking cyborg." Jin sneered.

"This guy's a fucking monster… Who the hell is he…?" Gregory thought, continuing to step back. He was so focused on his wounds, that he was unable to realize he'd backed himself into a corner, feeling himself push up against a tree.

"And the ability to see in the dark…? Sight enhancements… Probably have even better hearing boosts, if you were able to hear me approaching when even the Hermes barely could. You're like a whole ass unit, aren't you?" Jin clenched his fists, now face-to-face with Gregory. Although, Gregory still had his face covered.

"Of course, he has something against cyborgs… Whatever!" Gregory didn't give a fuck. Electricity began building in his right hand, his skin beginning to melt away.

"DIE… YOU… FUCKING… PSYCHO!!!!" Gregory let out a shout, raising his hand as energy built into it. He moved to sock Jin right in the jaw with his nano-charged fist-

SHLICK!

"..."

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"..."

"..."

Gregory froze.

"You things… made of metal, and nanomachines…"

Gregory's arm hit the ground. The moment he raised his arm to attack… Jin had already sliced it off with his knife, barreling through the metallic skin like it was made of butter.

"You fucking disgust me…" Jin growled, his eyes like that of a wolf, and his teeth bared like one.

"I… I couldn't… read that… move… did he get… faster…?" Gregory tried to figure out what had happened. He couldn't have gotten faster… He was definitely moving at max speed just to avoid and guard against his attacks.

"You… read… me…?" Gregory coughed out, nanomachine-enhanced blood running down his neck and spewing out of his crackling arm. "How… How is that… How did you…?"

Gregory couldn't move. Not just because he was on death's door, but… When he looked at Jin, he felt a dread he'd never felt before. He'd felt pure, genuine fear… A fear he thought he'd lost, a sense of primal terror that made every cell in your body tighten up like they'd been dunked into the bottom of the ocean.

"A… A..h…" Gregory tried to speak, but he couldn't. Jin raised his knife.

"Keep talking…" And then he lowered out.

And… Gregory called out. "J..a…c..ob…"

"Ju…li…a-"

The tip of Jin's knife collided with Gregory's forehead, piercing through the bone and skewering directly into Gregory's brain.

"Ju…lia… Jul… ia… Juli… …a…"

Gregory continued to call out for a few moments… Before his cybernetics could no longer keep him together, and his entire body went limp at once. He was dead.

"..." Jin promptly removed his knife from Gregory's head, sighing. When it came to cyborgs, most normal organic wounds wouldn't cut it when it came to killing them. You needed to go right for the brain… That was the only weak spot.

"His enhancements were like children's toys in comparison to the Courier's stuff…" Jin muttered. He'd spent too long here… Well, only 2 minutes, but 2 minutes was still long. He was still far off from the base… and he didn't know what other guards might come his way if he was off guard.

"I need to keep moving…" Jin immediately found his gun that he'd dropped during their fight, and retrieved it. He let out a breath.

"..." And he looked back at Gregory's corpse.

"Never hesitate… Not again."

Jin kept moving.