Robbery (3)
The fog outside the Woodland mansion was continuously repelled by the massive fans in the corners of the mansion.
"Hahahahaha…."
"Hahahahahaha…"
Bursts of laughter erupted, livening up the rather dull compound.
"Bunch of idiots"
Blaze glanced at the three guards laughing merrily with scorn. Then again, he couldn't blame them. This job was as boring as it could get. All they had to do was sit around all day. No one was stupid enough to actually attack the woodlands.
To be honest, even the worst idiots wouldn't do it.
Then, the turrets turned.
The three jesting guards noticed immediately. For a second, none of them understood. The machines had always tracked outward.
When the turrets' barrels rotated towards them, fear slowly replaced their confusion.
"Ah shi…"
The first round of gunfire tore through them before the word could finish.
The night erupted. The air exploded with metal and blood. Armor split. Flesh scattered. The three guards had been completely obliterated.
A fourth guard, who had been patrolling nearby, turned to flee for cover. But, his legs were evaporated in the first volley, the rest of him in the second.
Blaze, Scorpion and the remaining guard fled for cover, evading the bullets ricocheting in their path.
"What the hell", Blazed spat. "Control, the fuck is happening here?"
He couldn't fathom why their own turrets were attacking them.
"Turrets malfunction", a technician barked from the comms, his voice trembling. "We're working on it."
"What do you mean working on it…" Scorpion raged. "Fix this now!"
"Fuck this", Blaze erupted.
He stretched out his right hand, encased in a silver high tech metallic glove, a conduit. Sparks gathered across the metal veins, merging at the center of his palm. They abruptly condensed into a ball of blinding read flame, searing hot.
"Let's see those damn things shoot through this."
He rose from cover and furiously hurled a fireball right at a reloading turret. The turret, upon impact, erupted with a bang, blown to shards.
Encouraged by the fact that his attack had worked, Blaze hurled two more fireballs at two other turrets, destroying them as well.
The final turret detonated loudly before he even had the chance to lunge a fireball at it.
"Whooo…that's some fine marksmanship."
Scorpion emerged from his hiding place, his face a mixture of relief and awe.
"Remind me never to get on your bad…."
Boom!
Half of his skull was blown to bits before he had the chance to complete his statement.
Sniper!
Blaze stiffened.
A cold looming sense of dread overwhelmed him. His instincts screamed too late. He immediately begun regretting leaving his cover. He had nowhere to hide now. He was caught directly in the cross hairs of the sniper.
How right he was.
Boom!
The second shot tore a hole clean through his chest. A void now occupied the area where his heart and his mutant heart were supposed to be.
Fuck!
His body crumpled lie a ragdoll, smoke curling from the wound.
Boom!
The third shot tore off the head of a trembling guard who had dared to peek out at the chaos.
Silence reclaimed the courtyard.
Inside the mansion's, House head Dervin Woodland slowly turned away from the monitor displaying his compound, fuming with rage.
"Bring my armor," He instructed, coldly. "It seems we have guests.
"Compound empty. You are clear to infiltrate."
Coin's cold voice flickered in Wraith's comms.
Acknowledged.
Wraith moved. The world around him was muted, the roar of turrets had long faded. He descended from the rooftop, landing soundlessly on the cracked tiles below.
"I've temporarily diverted the attention of the protectors. You have thirty minutes to get in and out." Coin's voice came in through the comms.
Acknowledged.
The mansion loomed closer, gloomy. Wraith slipped past the gates, dissolving and re-condensing his body.
Seven corpses. No sign of life. All clear.
He moved.
The building came into view. He leapt, without a sound. His body hollowed out, nanites shifting weightlessly, allowing him to descend gently onto the ceiling.
His feet touched, soundlessly.
"Ventilation duct up ahead".
Acknowledged.
Wraith silently glided across the roof. At the highest ridge, he stopped beside a ventilation duct.
"Hold"
Coin flipped a switch next to him, causing a blackout in the mansion.
"Breach". The command came.
Acknowledged.
His body dissolved into nanites, slipping into the vent.
The exterior of the mansion remained silent.
In the slums, Coin added a note to a series of long texts on his screen titled, 'Nanite Body'.
'Confirmed. Can incorporate weapon structures into physique. Unknown whether said weapons can be reverted back to their previous state once transformed as a part of his physique.'
Wraith reformed at the mouth of the vent, nanites converging into flesh, armor and guns as he dropped soundlessly into a dark corridor.
The hunt had begun.