Chapter 9: A Place of Reflection
High Noon opened his eyes, looking at blurry images of buildings. He got up, but a pain in his head got him back down again. He rubbed his hands on his head to numb the pain, realizing something. His hands were free. He wasn’t dead, but his head felt like it was hit by a train. He rubbed it two more times before trying to get up. He was still a little woozy, but managed to get to his feet. He looked around again. He was in some alleyway with lots of water puddles and trash.
“What…?” he said as he tried to figure out what had happened.
Apparently, after the interrogation, the Assassins just left him here. He checked his pockets. The Assassins had taken his phone, car keys, and gun, but at least left him his lasso. High Noon walked out to the streets, looking for something he could use to get back to the Templars.
“Ah, there you are!” a voice said to his side.
He turned to see Ash Wood, the black haired, and not so business-oriented brother of Mahogany, jog up to him. He was wearing a red and black sports attire, with a little satchel hanging on his side.
“Ash Wood,” High Noon said, thinking the timing was too perfect. “Why are you here?”
“I’ve been looking for you,” the Templar replied. “I saw the Assassins take you, so I followed.”
“You know where their base is?” High Noon asked.
Ash Wood shook his head. “I lost them on the way. Pity.”
“Yeah…” High Noon sighed. He’d thought they’d perhaps found a lead on the Assassins. That would have made the Templars trust him again.
Ash Wood beckoned the cowboy to follow him, leading him to a nearby car. “Let’s get you back. Mahogany would want a few words with you.”
High Noon didn’t like the sound of that, but perhaps he could reason with the Chairman a bit. But then again, the Chairman wasn’t a reasonable person.
“He’s on the move,” Pierce Network confirmed, looking at his phone.
“Great!” Frigid Night cheered. “I knew placing a tracker on that guy would give us a lead.”
“Ssssh!” Pierce hissed, trying to concentrate on the little blip as it moved on his screen. “Where are you going, Templars? What secret places do you have that I can find? You can never hide from the all-seeing Pierce Network. You’re just giving me more things to do.”
“You should get going, Frigid,” Rose Petal told him. “Fire Frenzy will be waiting. You know how he is with waiting. I’ll let Pierce know that he’ll have to brief you once you’re out in the field.”
“Alright,” Frigid said slowly, not excited working with a new partner. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yep,” Rose Petal smiled, waving goodbye to the apprentice.
Frigid got down to the ground floor, thinking about following High Noon. If what the Templar said was true, he sort of felt sorry for the guy. Not being trusted by your own people seemed quite harsh… But that shouldn’t matter right now. Frigid knew what had to be done as he made his way towards the front door.
High Noon sat in the meeting room as he waited for Mahogany Wood to show. Ash Wood had brought him in and told him to wait while he went to fetch his brother.
High Noon felt the anxiety in himself as he awaited whatever Mahogany wanted to do. He had gone and gotten himself captured by the Assassins by a simple trick, and then told them secrets that he probably shouldn’t have told.
Mahogany Wood strolled into the room, followed closely by his faithful bodyguard, Crescent Wing, who has yet to fail him like High Noon has.
“Welcome back, High Noon,” Mahogany started, sitting down in his chair. “Glad to see you are still… alive. Now, what do you have to tell me? What happened?”
High Noon took a long, slow gulp as he thought of what to say. Right now, saying the wrong thing would probably waste his last chance, so he had to be really careful with what came out of his mouth.
“W-well…” he stammered. “I’d thought I’d go to Trottingham. S-see if I c-could find the Assassins, and perhaps… b-bring them in for questioning.”
He looked at the Chairman for approval. Mahogany waved him to continue. “Go on.”
“They… ambushed me. Knocked me out. When I woke up, I found myself in some dark place.”
“And what? The Assassins let you go?”
“Yes, sir.”
Mahogany leaned back and folded his arms. “I find that hard to believe. What did you tell them?”
“I… I didn’t talk…” High Noon said.
Mahogany lifted an eyebrow. “I doubt that.” He looked at Crescent Wing and pointed his head to High Noon. His bodyguard quickly moved forward and drew one of his sabers and pointed it at High Noon’s chin. “I will ask you again. What did you tell them?”
High Noon stared down the blade of the saber to its hilt. Crescent Wing was a master with those two swords. High Noon had seen him train with them and didn’t want to be on the other end of those blades, but here he was. He had made the wrong decision.
High Noon gulped again. “I… t-told them about the artifact.”
Ash Wood narrowed his eyes, but did nothing. Mahogany stood off his chair and stepped towards the cowboy.
“What about the artifact?” he questioned. “What information did you give them?”
“Only w-what I know…” High Noon stuttered. Sweat dripped down his head as Mahogany stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. “I only told t-them that we still haven’t f-figured out how to… use it properly.”
High Noon waited as the Chairman remained there, staring at him. After a few more seconds, the Chairman returned to his seat and faced him again. “Alright. I believe you. You may go.”
Crescent Wing stepped away from High Noon, sheathed his blade, and returned to Mahogany’s side.
High Noon got up, unsure of what he was to do. “Sorry, sir. I can… go? As in I can leave?”
“Yes…” Mahogany replied. “I thought I was quite clear. You may leave this room. Return to your quarters or something.”
High Noon bowed before walking out through the door. Closing the door behind him, he wiped the sweat off his head. He was surprised at the outcome. Mahogany Wood had been far too lenient about the situation.
“Something’s up,” he told himself as he walked back to his room.
“So what do you think?” Mahogany Wood asked, looking out his window at the bustling roads of Manehattan.
“Say again, brother?” Ash Wood asked, unsure of what Mahogany was talking about.
“High Noon,” he said again. “What do you think we should do? I do believe he’s lived past his purpose. If he continues to live, we might regret it one day.”
“Want me to take care of him, sir?” Crescent Wing asked, taking a bow. “It would be my pleasure to eliminate him for you.”
“Oh, no need, Crescent Wing,” Mahogany said, shaking his head, but still remained looking out the window. “My brother Ash is capable enough to remove this simple man.”
“Of course,” Ash replied, standing up. “It’s what I do. I’ll be in the armory if you need me.”
Ash took a bow and left. Mahogany smiled to himself. High Noon had started out as a good follower, but after failing to protect his brother and sister, the man would soon wish he had never left Appleloosa.
Frigid Night and Fire Frenzy crept along the roofs of Manehattan. The tracker they had placed on High Noon had led them back to the big city as they followed behind.
“He’s leaving the building,” Pierce told the Assassins as they looked at the Board of Education’s building. “He still doesn’t know the tracker’s on him. It means he hasn’t bothered to change his stained clothes or anything. If he thinks he can escape us, then he’s very wrong. We’ll know where he is as long as that tracker’s on him.”
Frigid stopped listening as Pierce Network continued on and on about how Templars and corruption fit together. Frigid spied out the Templar building for signs of the orange skin Templar.
Behind him, his partner tapped him on the back, getting his attention. “Hey, rookie. I think you missed something.”
Frigid turned around. “What is it, Fire Frenzy?”
The orange-skinned Assassin gave him a grin full of white teeth. “Why, your skill of course. It’s right there.”
“Ha ha…” Frigid laughed sarcastically. “Funny.”
“Yeah, well, you new Assassins don’t know your work.”
“Well, give us time, Frenzy,” Frigid tried to tell him. “I mean, even you started somewhere.”
“Sure I did. I was never like you, though. I was way better.”
"Okay."
Eventually, they spotted the Templar wandering down the pavements, heading in the opposite direction Frigid and Fire stood.
“I’ve found him,” Frenzy told Pierce.
“Follow him,” the seasoned hacker ordered. “Find out where he’s going. We want to know who he meets up with, where he hangs out, and what business he's here for.”
Fire Frenzy took a few steps back and sprinted forward, heading straight for the edge of the building. At the last moment, he pushed off the concrete and sailed over smoothly to the next building, landing in a roll. He got up and proceeded to the next building, doing the same. He turned around and beckoned Frigid to do the same, giving him a huge smirk at the same time.
Frigid rolled his eyes and jumped to the next building, running towards Fire Frenzy’s location.
After landing the third time, the Assassin joined Fire Frenzy on the ledge to take a closer look at High Noon. The Templar walked over to a bar, looked around, likely to check for Assassins, then went inside.
“He’s gone inside a bar,” Frigid told Pierce. “Maybe for a drink?”
“Ridiculous,” Pierce replied harshly. “There’s probably a secret Templar base in there. Oh ho, where are you going, Templar? I can see your every move. What do you plan on doing?”
“Yeah, kid,” Fire Frenzy chided. “No way that bar’s just a bar. It’s got to contain some secrets.”
“Should we enter?” Frigid asked, watching the front door in case anything fishy happened.
“I say… yes,” Fire Frenzy said. “Pierce, what do you think?”
“Go on in, but be careful,” Pierce stressed. “You never know what you may find.”
“What do you mean he’s gone?” Mahogany asked angrily.
“As in he’s not in his room,” Ash told him. “I shot through the door and when I opened it, no one was in. A whole waste of bullets, if you ask me.”
“Great…” Mahogany said, putting a hand to his head. “Did he know we were going to kill him?”
“I dunno.” Ash shook his head. “But I can find him. He couldn’t have gotten far.”
“Go,” Mahogany agreed. “I’ll stay here in case he returns.”
Ash reloaded his pistol, throwing the used magazine into a nearby bin. It was a waste, but he never liked to leave out bullets in a magazine. Moving down the hall to the elevator, he pressed the button as he put his pistol back in his shirt holster.
He steeled himself mentally. High Noon might have known about the attempted assassination, so he left. Ash made a note to not underestimate the cowboy. If he knew about the attempt, then he might know about more.
He walked out the front doors of the Board of Education, moving down the street, looking for signs of the man from Appleloosa. Something in front caught his eye. A flash of white scaling down a building.
“What do we have here…?” Ash said to himself.
If there were Assassins here, there had to be a Templar nearby. Taking his chances, Ash Wood hung back and watched the Assassins as they moved across the streets undetected to most people. Seeing his chance, he followed behind them, making sure to keep a safe distance, but also being able to see them. The one in the white coat followed behind a one in a white and red coat, heading towards the local bar. The one in red pushed the door as they both disappeared into the place.
Ash made a long smirk on his face. “Seems I’ve found myself a cowboy and some extras…”
Frigid Night followed behind Fire Frenzy as they entered the bar. Some of the patrons looked at them as they entered, but said nothing about their strange attire.
Fire Frenzy nodded to chairs on one of the sides, leading Frigid over to them. Sitting down, they immediately blended in with the people at the table. People looking at them turned away and soon forgot them.
“Alright, rookie,” Fire Frenzy started, getting Frigid to listen closely. “Seeing as this place is probably a Templar holdout, we’ve got to determine the secrets.”
“Secrets?” Frigid asked.
“Yeah, secrets. You know, information, entrances, all that.”
“Right.” Frigid Night nodded.
He looked around, concentrating on his vision. Most of the people in the bar gave out gray auras, indicating their passiveness. Except one man, seated at the front of the bar, wearing a black suit.
“They’re all harmless,” Frigid told Fire Frenzy.
“Nonsense,” he shook his head. “Your vision must be faulty. Let me see.”
Fire Frenzy concentrated, while Frigid kept his eyes on High Noon. The Templar was just sitting there, having a drink from a long bottle. He had already drained about half of its contents.
“Blimey…” he said in a slow tone. “You’re right. It is just a normal bar.”
“I have my own skills,” Frigid smiled, pulling down on his coat sides.
“Well, don’t let it get to your head, Frigid Night. I’m still more experienced.”
“So what do we do now?” Frigid asked, looking back to High Noon seated at the front. “You said he’d lead us to more Templars here.”
“Well…” Fire Frenzy started, trying to find something smart to say.
A newcomer to the bar caught their attention. It was a man in a red and black sports attire, with a little sling bag at his side.
“We’ve got another one,” Fire Frenzy told Frigid as he sighted down the new guy.
The man in the sports garb opened his side bag and drew out a pistol, pointing it straight for High Noon.
“High Noon!” he shouted, getting the attention of the other patrons. They eyed his firearm, some moving further back into the bar while some others left the bar instantly.
The Templar in front turned around as some of the patrons left. He got off the stool and tried to make his way towards the Templar with the gun, but apparently, he had too much to drink. “Yes…? Ash Wood. How… nice to see you. What’s that you have there?”
“Thought you could escape did you? Well, time for you to get what you’ve deserved after everything you've done.”
High Noon sort of realized what Ash Wood was holding, stopping in his tracks and holding his hands up. “No… don’t do it.”
Frigid couldn’t sit there with all this going on. He got up, against Fire Frenzy’s words, grabbed a beer bottle off a nearby table, and headed for Ash Wood. The Templar looked like he was about to pull the trigger, but turned just in time to see Frigid swing the bottle at his head.
“What?” he instinctively said as he brought his arm up to protect his face.
The bottle smashed against his arm as he aimed his gun under his raised arm. He shot off a round, but Frigid, having seen his gun moving, moved to the side, avoiding the bullet as it flew straight into a picture, cracking its glass covering.
Fire Frenzy got up, getting an idea from the startled looks of the patrons. He put his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Bar fight!”
For a few seconds, no one did anything, but soon, the place was a mess of bodies flinging themselves against each other. That gave Frigid the time he needed to throw a kick at Ash Wood, getting him in the side, knocking him into the weight of another patron.
Frigid watched the Templar’s body getting thrown around in the sea of people as he tried to get back to the Assassin.
“Good job kid,” Fire Frenzy said, patting Frigid on the back. “Although, starting the fight was my idea.”
“Yeah,” Frigid said, looking around. “But where did High Noon go?”
During all the confusion and fighting, High Noon had made his way out the side door, heading straight for the road. He could barely walk in a straight line, but he gave his best to make sure he got there.
“Gotta… go… somewhere,” he muttered to himself as he moved. "Somewhere safe..."
Arriving at the road, he raised an arm, trying to call a taxi as all kinds of cars drove by him. One yellow taxi eventually stopped, waving for him to get in.
“Where to, sir?” the taxi driver asked as High Noon got into the vehicle.
“Appleloosa,” was all High Noon said, closing the door and putting on the seat belt.
The taxi driver nodded and pedaled down the accelerator, speeding the car down the road towards the highway.
Appleloosa was a long drive away, but that gave High Noon plenty of time to clear his thoughts.
Ash Wood had had made his way back to the Board’s building after losing High Noon. He had pounded down most of the patrons, but the Assassins and traitor were nowhere to be found.
“Ah, Ash!” Mahogany said as he saw his brother return. “What news do you have for me? Did you find him?” Ash shook his head, raising an eyebrow from Mahogany. “No?”
“No. He got away. Assassins. They got in my way. Messed up everything.”
“Huh…” the Chairman said, rather disappointed. “You at least took down the Assassins?”
Ash shook his head again. “They started a bar fight. Too many civilians. After I took them all down, the Assassins and High Noon were already gone.”
“Could they have taken him?”
“Perhaps. I can find out.”
Mahogany raised a hand. “It’s fine, brother. Lumberjack will take care of it. He’s downstairs with the killers. I’ll task him to send them out. Perhaps they can canvas the area for the Assassins… and that traitor of an agent. We can’t let him live any longer. High Noon has become a liability, and you know what we do with liabilities.”
“Of course, brother,” Ash nodded. “We have some… cleaning to do.”
“You look better like that, Dagger Wind,” Pressure Point told the wounded killer. “Maybe about twenty-percent cooler?”
“Shut your mouth!” he shouted back, putting a hand to his new eye patch. “Now I can’t see as well as I used to!”
Wolfgang walked up to the man. “Well, you didn’t see very well before anyway. You let a blade take out your eye in the first place.”
Dagger turned to him, daggers in his eyes. “Perhaps if you had helped me, I wouldn’t have lost this eye! You sat in the shadows doing nothing!”
“Yeah, that one I agree with Dagger,” Pressure Point added in. “While we took a beating, you hid in the corner. You only showed up after.”
Wolfgang started laughing, earning strange looks from the others. “Oh, you have no idea. I did do something. I watched. I analyzed. I studied. A true tactician knows his enemy’s moves.”
“So you’re staying you can beat them?” Pressure Point asked, challenging the gray-skinned man.
“Of course!” Wolfgang smirked. “I’ve learnt quite a bit of their tactics and skills. I can take them with one eye closed.”
“Hey!” Dagger Wind shouted, taking a step forward. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh nothing,” Wolfgang said, turning away. “I’m just saying I have two eyes, and I can fight with one closed.”
“Well, let me take that other eye then!”
Dagger Wind ran at Wolfgang, but a hand in front of him stopped him.
“Save all that energy for the Assassins,” Lumberjack said, moving his form in front of Dagger Wind. “You’ve got more friends to play with.”
The three killers turned to see two more people, coming to join them. Both of them were female. One of them wore a red jacket and a few pouches with explosive markings on them, and the other wore a flame pattern t-shirt and had a flamethrower slung over one shoulder.
“New friends huh?” Wolfgang asked, stepping forward to inspect the new killers. “Seems to me these two like to play with fire.”
“That’s right,” the one in red said. She gave a formal bow. “The name’s Volatile, and I do love to play with explosives.”
Pressure Point took a look at her. “You sure do.”
The second newcomer stepped forward and shook each of their hands. “And my name’s Smokey Flames! Glad to meet you all!”
"Volatile and Smokey Flames here are ex-military," Lumberjack briefed. "Just like you, Dagger Wind. They've sold themselves to resurgence forces in Maretonia and such. Now, we Templars have bought their expertise, so here they are."
"Sounds like them fancy types." Wolfgang tossed his knife up and let it clatter to the floor behind him.
"Good to have more of you with military background, unlike some of these other... barbarians." Dagger Wind eyed Wolfgang.
“Y’all ready to get back out there and make trouble for the Assassins, then?” Lumberjack asked, excited to see the five of them out there, tearing down the hooded people.
“We sure are,” Pressure Point guffawed. “It’s payback time! And this time, they get the chance to play with fire!”
Wolfgang nodded, heading to his personal stash of weaponry. He had sure to get out there, suited for the right circumstances each time. “You ready for more killing, Dagger Wind?”
Dagger whistled, calling Aero down from his perch. “Course I am. You ready… Wolfey?”
Wolfgang gritted his teeth together. “Come on now. Don’t call me that. It makes me sound soft and weak.”
Dagger Wind formed a little smile on the side of his mouth. “Good. Just the way I like it.”
Volatile was the first to move for the staircase, pulling out what looked like a little piece of clay to play with. “Let’s get on with it! I wanna blow some stuff up! Especially these Assassins you keep telling me about.”
“Yeah, why not?” Wolfgang agreed. He equipped a switchblade and a few throwing knives. “The faster we start, the more people we get to kill.”
With everything settled, the five killers made their way up, ready to do what they do best.
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Templars be bringing in some more hired help. Since none but Wolfgang show up in Leap of Faith, I'm guessing the Assassins do away with them in this story? And When is High Noon going to wise up and realize the Assassins are the winning team?
I'm just waiting to see when High Noon and Mirror Match decides to turn sides now. What happened?? I mean for High Noon, I guess he just goes on over, but for Mirror it mustn't be easy to just change sides.
7913899 I disagree. I think it'll be much easier for Mirror Match to swap sides than High Noon. High Noon's on a slow and painful process of realizing he's on the wrong side for his ideals, but Mirror? Mirror's been out for herself since the beginning, and is going to defect once the Templars become more appealing to accomplishing her goals.
I'm personally thinking that Pierce needs to get a life.
7914245 oh sorry. I wasn't clear. What I was trying to say is that the Templars must not have trusted her first, so she might have to prove herself or something. That might take some work or a lot.
7916365 Oh, I see. Yeah, you're probably right about that. Though I imagine if she kills a few Assassins she'll be in the Templars' good graces.
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Is Pressure point a relative of Rainbow Dash's?
Cause if she is, then damn, Rainbow has merc blood.