The Magistracy Hit

[csyphrett]

1

 

Jeffrey Stafford examined the room with a motion of his eyes. He was a solid man in a suit with eyes that shifted slightly as he watched his surroundings without trying. His coffee brown hair was cut close to his skull, and had been for many years.

 

"Hello," said an average man, looking slightly older than Stafford's own age. He had come in the room from a side door, and moved behind the solid wooden desk and sat in the only chair in the room. Two pieces of furniture made this room hostile to visitors.

 

"You called, you talk," said Stafford, casually looking the room over. His nerves were telling him something was wrong. He just couldn't see what.

 

"Very forthright, Mr. Stafford," said the stranger, smiling. "I appreciate that in others. I have a job for a man with your qualifications."

 

"I don't understand," said Stafford. "Let's cut to the chase."

 

"I am aware that you are the Halberdier," said the stranger. "Your record shows that you fought both the CORPS and the School to a draw. People pay you to obtain an objective."

 

"So you want me to kill someone?," asked Stafford. "Who?"

 

"They're a group known as the Magistracy," said the stranger. "I will pay your fee for everyone you can kill."

 

"You're talking about a group that wiped out an army," said Stafford. "You can't be serious."

 

"I assure you that I am deadly serious," said the contractor, placing a small box on his desk top. "I am willing to pay triple what you normally charge whether you succeed, or fail."

 

"What's your stake?," said Stafford, calculation in his eyes. He could retire on this fee if he survived the attempt.

 

"One of their members is an old acquaintance of mine," said the contractor. "I want him to suffer a little. Of course, if you do happen to kill him along with the rest, that will be a bonus to me."

 

"I understand," said Stafford. "Half up front, half when the job is done."

 

The stranger opened the box. Inside was a stack of hundred dollar bills bound into a brick. He slid it toward Stafford with a thumb.

 

"The rest is waiting for you with my assistant," said the contractor. "Good hunting, Mr. Stafford."

 

Stafford counted the edge of the brick as he left the room.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

2

 

Jeffrey Stafford started this job like he always did. He researched the target with as much care as he could. He wanted to know what weaknesses he could exploit if he had to resort to a straight up fight, if his primary line of attack failed.

 

His research was at best remarkably easy to conduct, though there were holes that he couldn't fill no matter where he looked. Still he had enough to plan an offense.

 

The most dangerous of the Magistrates was Quick. Her speed would render most offenses moot points once she was on the battlefield. Stafford couldn't hope to match her with his faster than human reflexes. That would be like a paper airplane trying to chase down a bullet.

 

If he could remove her, the others should go down like dominoes despite their capabilities.

 

Stafford went back through the pilfered records, video, and photographs he had acquired. Quick had to have a weak spot in her powers, a place she let down her guard enough to give him an opening. The problem was her speed gave her an almost invisible means of personal travel.

 

Stafford examined his problem for another hour before tabling it. He decided that he should go for a walk. Maybe that would clear the cobwebs.

 

Stafford locked his workshop up, and pulled on a jacket. He decided to walk the five miles to the library. Maybe that would shake loose the planning problems he had. If nothing else, he could do some more research on his problem, hunt for new information.

 

Stafford let his mind wander as he walked. There was always some part of him on guard, but walking allowed him to think about objectives without any filter. Sometimes preposterous schemes could be given a layer of reality when some things were excluded while the mind roved.

 

Stafford's thoughts again turned to Quick, the lightning fast speedster. Plots revolved in his head as he tried to pin down a weakness he could exploit to carry out his mission. He should just take the money he had and walk away.

 

That would be the smart thing to do.

 

It would violate his code and hurt his reputation. That would hurt future prospects. No one was going to hire a perceived coward when a brave idiot was right there for half the price. So he had to carry out the job, or at least try.

 

Stafford noticed his reflection in the glass doors of the library, realizing that he had walked the whole way in a trance. He saw a kid's science project on spiders in a case as he opened the door. It was a prize winner from a local elementary school. He stopped to look at it.

 

He smiled.

 

This was just the inspiration he had needed to kickstart his operation planning. He knew the library would help him out. He took a small notebook out of his hip pocket and jotted down some notes. Now he just needed to do a little more research to make his new idea happen.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

3

 

Jerry Silver frowned as he came out of the doctor's office. He had assembled the Magistracy in the hopes of helping mankind move toward a peaceful world. As the leader, his word was law.

 

The problem was his team would try to have him stand down if they knew about what was going on. They would want him to try treatments, sit on the sidelines, give up his life.

 

He wasn't going to do that no matter what. So he took the coward's way, and said nothing to them.

 

That secret created a situation for Jerry on the day of his latest appointment.

 

He had been secretly seeing the doctor under the guise of UN business. His appointments were every ten days, or in an emergency. So far, the doctor didn't know what was wrong with him. He killed time after the testing walking the city unless there was an emergency. Then he would shift back to HQ.

 

Jerry's abilities dealt with electricity, especially the generation of lightning bolts. He could train his senses to look at electric pulses as a side effect of his ability. That didn't lend him any special detective abilities. That's why it was easy for a trained man to sneak up on him while he was walking along.

 

No hero expects a quiet assault on a crowded New York street.

 

One jab from a plastic needle flooded Jerry's system with enough tranquilizer to put down rioters at a soccer match. He staggered from the numbness working through his body. He reached a storefront, tried to ask for help. A sharp blow and the magistrate was another homeless person being helped by a fellow bum.

 

Stafford dragged his victim into an alley and buried him in some trash. He left, returning a few moments later with his undercover van. He blocked the alley with the vehicle so no one could see what he was doing. Jerry Silver went into a special box designed to keep him asleep until the rest of the job was done.

 

He would have just shot the hero, but had no idea what would happen if he did. There were safer ways of doing things, and getting rid of the hero would go like clockwork.

 

First the others had to be dealt with.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

4

 

John Public held the Engineer's hand as they wandered through the Museum of Natural History in New York. They could go anywhere in the world, but preferred the island of Manhattan for different reasons.

 

Public preferred a city with a large amount of people resident. His powers depended on the number of people he had around him. The more he had around him, the stronger he was.

 

It was a comfort to be able to draw on the collective will of eight million people.

 

The Engineer liked it because this was her home town, where she had learned to use the gifts that she had been given, where she had earned her stripes so to speak. If any of the magistrates had a home city to defend, New York was her city.

 

She had been assigned to another city during the invasion since the Corps had already been in action to limit the destruction. Her techniques had helped heal the wounds left over in the aftermath.

 

"Are you enjoying our date?," John asked, smiling slightly.

 

"Is this a date?," said the Engineer, smiling wider. It was an unnatural movement on her usually placid face. "I thought we were just taking a walk to get away from Luna and Phaeton."

 

"Hopes and dreams shot down before they can take flight," John said, mugging agony with a twinkle in his eye.

 

"You are not a convincing actor," said the Engineer, smiling more despite herself.

 

A sharp pain bit into the Engineer's neck. Shock and pain swept across her face before she went down in a heap. John ran to her, lifting her in his arms. His psychic knack reached out to find out what was going on. Two blasting impacts flung him across the room, chest and head mangled by high velocity rounds.

 

The Halberdier dumped the Engineer into a trap box first. He couldn't chance her recovering enough to shut down what he had done to her. He checked on Public. The man's body was repairing itself from the damage he had inflicted. He had thought he had killed the man.

 

He readied a second box for the metropolis man.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

5

 

Jeff Stafford was pleased by his progress. He had gotten so lucky, he should have bought lottery tickets while he was taking care of his business. Three of the targets were out of the way, and he knew where the rest were.

 

All he had to do was get them.

 

Stafford knew he was on a clock now. Sooner or later, the rest of his targets would realize that he had taken three of them. He should kill them, but now they were hostages until the rest were helpless and ready to be disposed of. Then he could get rid of all of them at once.

 

Stafford stashed his victims in the special area he had commissioned to be built. He drove to the docks and hid his van. The next phase of his plan would rely on some new stuff he hadn't tested yet. It could kill the target just as easily as taking them out.

 

That part didn't matter so much if he succeeded on his first pass. And he still had three for other traps if he had to go that route.

 

He liked a lot of options when he had a job like this going on. One little thing could backfire on him. He couldn't expect a clean getaway if that happened.

 

And that was the most important thing as far as he was concerned. Escape to fight again was a lot better than rot in prison healing up numerous injuries.

 

Stafford had analyzed the Magistracy headquarters as best that he could from the outside. He was aware that the inside would almost certainly not match up to the mental map he had created from observation and guesswork. He would deal with it.

 

Stafford packed his equipment in waterproof bags. He donned a wetsuit he had fitted with equipment to foil detection by the security systems on the man made island. He pulled his air tank and fins on before jumping over the side of the boat he had left anchored just outside of the net. He would have to swim in, and then back out with his targets unless he was able to steal an aircraft.

 

Stafford had already picked out a jet that should take care of his needs as far as transport for his victims. It was sitting in a hangar built into the tower. He would just have to liberate it when the time came.

 

Stafford reached the shore, disabling the security as he went. The mercenary opened the personnel door with a card reader, slipped inside, and made his way to a stairwell. His devices defeated the cameras and sensors without too much trouble.

 

Stafford avoided the staff as much as possible, using his technology to defeat the automated security as much as possible. When he couldn't avoid someone working for the Magistrates, he made sure to leave them drugged and hidden so he could carry out his mission. He avoided killing them more out of professional ethics than anything.

 

He wasn't being paid to kill people who worked for his targets, so excluded them as much as possible from harm. A headache was better than a box in his opinion, and kept him from just crossing the lines of work into turning into a mad dog.

 

Stafford came across the Chemist first. The magician saw him for a second, tried to fashion a protection from one of his symbols, but the Halberdier's reflexes sent the man flying with one swipe of his polearm. The mercenary wrapped his prey up, making sure the man would not come around for hours and hid him.

 

Stafford went back to searching for the rest of his victims.

 

He encountered Phaeton and Luna in their quarters. They were engaged with each other and didn't hear him until he struck. He made sure to neutralize Luna first from ambush since she was a better hand to hand combatant than he was. One silent needle took care of her before she was aware of him.

 

Phaeton was a horse of another color.

 

He came off the bed, flaming aura starting to light up as he summoned his solar powers. A dart wouldn't cut through that. Several dozen grenades designed to freeze everything they touch shut him down before he could cross the room.

 

"So much for the love birds," Stafford said.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

6

 

Stafford made his way to the hangar bay, carting his three captives in front of him. They wouldn't wake up for a while, and if things worked out, they never would. All he had to do was deal with the last Magistrate.

 

That was easier said than done.

 

Quick wouldn't be stopped by projectiles, or anything short of a complete surprise attack. His research had shown that she was a thousand times faster than he hoped to be. So he had to rely on trickery.

 

Stafford stowed his human cargo in a plane. It had been mothballed since the tower used the SHIFT to move men and material once the base had moved to a barely operational basis. There was no way he could use the teleporter since he didn't have a key to it, but the plane should do just fine once he readied it.

 

Stafford ran through the emergency checklist, ignoring the warnings that called for intervention. He knew that would just bring Quick to the scene, and he had to be gone before she got there. He launched the plane before the bulkhead could clear all the way, reflexes saving him from a crash before a take off.

 

His sudden impulse might have saved his mission. He thought he saw a flash of green as he pushed the throttle all the way forward.

 

This was where things got a little more trickier than he liked.

 

Stafford landed the plane close to where he had set his trap. He dumped his prisoners in three more special boxes designed to hold them until he was through with them. The boxes were hidden quickly. The mercenary depended on Quick to attack on her own. He set the rest of the bait and hid behind a specially constructed screen.

 

Quick arrived a few seconds later. She examined the boxes. Then she chopped one with her hand. It broke apart in a cloud. She whipped her hands back and forth to prevent being poisoned by the red mist. Then she staggered, lost her balance, finally passed out.

 

The poison wasn't in the cloud. It was on the box, and designed to take effect through touch.

 

Stafford rushed over to the speedster and scooped up her body. He dumped her in a special box of her own. He didn't think there was anyway she could get out of it, and he wasn't going to allow her time to recover from the drug and figure a way out.

 

Too many schemes had been blown due to overconfidence. Stafford had everything under control at the moment. He had to arrange to blow his victims to pieces, then collect the rest of his money. He might even retire from the mercenary life.

 

The only downside was that no one could know he had killed the world's new team of heroes. Then he would never be able to lay low with his gains.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

7

 

Jerry Silver woke up in darkness. He was less than pleased. His hands confirmed that his com was gone. That meant he was cut off from the SHIFT, and the rest of the team. He wondered how long he was out as he felt the inside of the coffin.

 

Jerry realized that the material he felt was designed to resist the high voltage he was capable of putting out. His lightning bolts would race around with no effect. He was trapped like a rat.

 

He hoped he was smarter than a rat.

 

Jerry checked his pockets again, grimacing when he realized that all of his personal effects had been taken. He had wanted his keys, or pocket knife. That left him with teeth and fingernails.

 

He sure wasn't going to bite his way through a foam covered metal lid.

 

Jerry hoped the others were doing better than he was. Maybe the Chemist, or the Maker, was looking for him. They could find him with ease.

 

He couldn't count on that.

 

Jerry decided that he couldn't hit the lid hard as long as the padded interior was in place. He needed to remove it so he could work on opening the coffin. That had to be his starting place.

 

He gripped the padding as much as possible, sinking his hands in it. He started pulling in the hope of creating a hole, something he could put his fist through. Then he could try to find a lock, or some kind of inner mechanism, to blast apart.

 

Jerry worked diligently at the cushioning material. He dumped the inner material out next to him, glad it was some kind of solid rubber, and not water, or some kind of deadly poison. His fingertips scratched against something plastic. He tapped on it before feeling around for a nonexistent lock bolt.

 

It was obviously supposed to trap his lightning inside the box so he couldn't electrify anything on the other side of it.

 

The coffin started to move. The magistrate braced himself to not flop around inside the plastic walls. The movement stopped with a jarring collision. Evidently he was not going to be around much longer with that kind of treatment.

 

He needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

 

Jerry balled up his fist. He started punching, hoping that his escape attempt would go unnoticed. His blows didn't seem to affect the lid. He paused to come up with a new plan. This wasn't exactly going the way he wanted.

 

Jerry placed his hand against the lid. He let electricity move around his hand, heating up the air. It took a lot of concentration since he generally let everything out in a directed bolt. He couldn't chance that without knowing what was on the outside.

 

The current heated the lid top to a bright cherry red. It parted away from his fingers, melting into flakes falling on him as he sliced away with his hand. He was going to get out of this.

 

Jerry listened before reaching through the hole. He felt around, finding a lock. His fingers stopped on the computerized slider just long enough to slag it. He kicked open the box, sitting up, finger pointing for someone he could shoot.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

8

 

Jerry got to his feet, still pointing his finger at the only door he could see. He was not surprised to see a masked man in a brownish red costume, loaded with an armory of weapons, come through the door with another box on his shoulder.

 

"Hold it," said Jerry. "Put down the box, and put your hands up."

 

The masked man put both hands on the coffin. He moved with a cautious slowness, gauging his opponent. Then he flung the casket at Jerry with inhuman strength and speed. The plastic box slammed against the electrical man's chest before he could get out of the way. He went down under the weight.

 

Jerry fired a bolt, hoping to take the guy down with one shot. The masked man leaped out of the way, reaching behind his back. His hand came back with an expanding shaft, axe head at one end. The magistrate fired another bolt, hoping to at least hit the halberd. The blade slipped past the hastily thrown lightning, slicing open Silver's chest as he tried to push away.

 

"You don't have a chance," said the Halberdier. "I am faster than you."

 

Jerry spread his lightning in an aura to catch the shaft, hoping to fry his enemy into submission. He was not pleased that the axe man flipped back out of the area of effect. He needed Luna to help him out here.

 

Hand to hand fighting wasn't his forte.

 

The Halberdier grabbed a collapsed boomerang from his belt and threw it. The unfolded weapon spun right on target. Jerry went down in a heap from the blow to his head. The mercenary clipped him hard with his axe to make sure.

 

That had been a nasty surprise. Silver shouldn't have come to so fast.

 

Stafford bound the sleeping Silver with plastic cuffs. He still had to bring the other caskets in and set the explosives. Then the job would be done once and for all.

 

He had to hurry now. There was no telling how long Silver would be out from the swings to his hard head. Stafford could see his fee piling up in his bank account.

 

A spot at a luxury resort would soon be filled by his retired butt.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

9

The Halberdier finished loading the caskets holding the rest of the Magistracy in the room he had devised. He made sure to keep checking on Jerry Silver. The last thing he wanted was another contest of skills when he was so close to earning the rest of his money.

 

He set his explosives as quickly as possible. Everything would collapse into that room, but not before the targets were reduced to ash and shattered bones. Then everything would be covered with water from the river.

 

Stafford wasn't concerned if somebody found a body years from now. By then, he hoped to have established enough identities that no one would be able to track him down.

 

The mercenary checked his arrangements one last time before pushing the button. Something looked wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it. He scanned the room one last time.

 

Where was Jerry Silver?

 

Stafford searched the room, thinking he had been mistaken where he had dropped the electric man. He had walloped him hard enough to give him a concussion. A man didn't get up and start walking around from that.

 

At least not so soon.

 

"You shouldn't have messed with me or my friends," a female voice said behind Stafford. "I tend to be real petty about extracting revenge."

 

Stafford turned, long axe in hand. Luna stood in the doorway to the chamber, still clad in the sports bra and panties she had been trying to get out of when he had interrupted her and Phaeton earlier. She had not armed herself, but then she was a living weapon.

 

"There's only one way out of here," she said. "I'll get the others to let you go if you can get pass me."

 

Stafford nodded, knowing he didn't have a snowball's chance, but forced to go for it anyway.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

10

The Halberdier decided his best course of action was to stall and keep his distance. He still had the explosives set up if he needed a suicide gambit. He had studied Luna with the rest of her team. She was the best hand to hand combatant ever made.

 

Stafford grabbed a flock of collapsible boomerangs from his belt. He flung them with easy precision, hoping they would open a hole for him to use as they unfurled their wings as they spun through the air. Slender hands plucked them apart without any effort. The throwing weapons fell in pieces to the floor.

 

"Do better," said Luna.

 

The mercenary backed to the other side of the room, leveling his axe. It had a one use rocket built into the shaft between the blades. He fired it with a flick of a button. The missile flew across the chamber in a trail of flame and smoke. Then it fell in two pieces to the floor.

 

"I am going to come over there and show you some things if you don't start impressing me," said Luna, taking one step inside the room.

 

Stafford unclipped a grenade from the webbing he wore. He plucked the pin out and threw it like a baseball. It came right back at him like he planned. The mercenary charged forward as the grenade exploded into a cloud to cover the whole room. He should be unseen inside the cloud, and his mask filtered out anything unbreathable.

 

He pulled out the remote for the charges he had set, triggered one to cover his movement, add to the cover, and blow out an escape route. He turned inside his cloud, dropping a regular explosive grenade in his wake to stop anyone trying to chase him, then headed for that newborn escape hatch.

 

Stafford planned to regroup and try again later. One minor setback wouldn't stop him. All he had to do was get away from the burial chamber without letting Luna grab him.

 

A whistling undercut Stafford's thoughts. He turned, swinging his axe with both hands. Something struck the shaft near the middle and it split apart. The head flew away in a deadly spinning motion for anyone who stood in front of its flight path . Shocked, the fighter jumped away in front of grasping fingers.

 

That was a lucky move.

 

He was just inches from freedom

[Manic Typist]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

More!!!!

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

More!!!!

I got caught up in some work related stuff this week. I'll try to get back on track tonight after I catch up on some stuff.

CES

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

11

 

Jeff Stafford knew he was in a bad spot. He was no match for any of the Magistracy without surprise on his side. He couldn't allow himself to be captured. He had no doubt they would try to dump his brain out for his employer.

 

He had to at least try to protect the man.

 

Stafford hit every button on his remote. He hoped that would give him enough cover to leap through the hole he had already blasted in the wall. The explosions ripped the room apart just as planned. The mercenary made his move, pulling an extending baton from his belt as he went for the impromptu escape route he had devised.

 

A small piece of debris cut Stafford's arm as he leaped through the hole in the wall. The ceiling collapsed behind him. He ran as more of the building came down behind him. The mercenary paused to glance over his shoulder as the building collapsed.

 

So much for all that planning, and time.

 

Stafford put his baton away, and started walking. He had a car hidden away that he could use to drive away from the scene of the crime. He had a travel bag, and false papers. The mercenary would disappear into the underground until things blew over.

 

He would just have to write off the rest of the money. There was no way he could try and collect it while he was on the run from the authorities.

 

Stafford regretted that. He had such plans to spend that money in his retirement. Now he would have to work that much harder after the heat came off. Maybe he should move to terrorism for money, or anything safer than taking on superhumans.

 

Stafford dumped his equipment in the trunk of the battered Nova, pushing back his hood, and adding a jacket over his distinctive costume. He got in behind the wheel, and cranked it up. He casually drove off, heading away from the docks at a normal speed to avoid any run-ins with the local police.

 

Maybe a stint in South America would improve his coffers while he avoided his targets. The Colombians always needed someone to bust heads for them.

 

Stafford drove across New York City, finally veering northwest. His escape plan called for a crossing into Canada, where he would abandon his car and equipment, then take a plane south.

 

It should be easy.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

"Oh, I'm going to kill that man," said Luna, wiping blood from her arm and hand. Her body was littered by debris cuts, but nothing serious. "I'm going to break his bones, and then rip out his heart."

 

"Take it easy, love," said Phaeton. "Let's get those cuts looked after, then we can ask this guy some questions."

 

Jerry Silver lit up a cigarette. He had gotten lucky catching Luna's box in his electrical aura before getting his skull cracked. A minutes of work on her part had been enough to rig the scene for the hit man. Things could have gone better but at least Luna hadn't been killed by the exploding bombs. All they had to do was track their man down, and that should be easy enough thanks to the Chemist and Maker.

 

First he was going to enjoy this cigarette, even though his doctor had commanded him to stop smoking. Then he would worry about catching the guy responsible for the pain behind his left eye.

 

"Chemist, let's get a fix up and clothes for those of us who need them," said Silver, enjoying the tobacco as much as he could. "Then we'll need a search for this villain guy. Quick, put out that fire. It might be damaging vital clues we'll need to prosecute later."

 

The group went to work. It was a moment for Quick to put the fire out with her speed powers. While she was doing that, the Chemist wrote his symbols to wipe away the harm from the abuse the team had taken. Then it was another symbol to clothe Luna, Phaeton, and John Public in their work clothes. Maker did a systems check, then activated the armor that protected her, and channeled her nanomachines.

 

"Everyone feeling better?," Silver asked, stubbing out his cigarette on the ground. He was glad to find his personal belongings in a bag, ready for disposal. There was nothing like a cigarette when you needed one. "This guy is pretty good. Let's see if we can be a little better. Chemist?"

 

The magician picked up a piece of charred concrete, writing on it with his finger. The concrete stretched into a rectangular frame, a door. Writing in moving letters etched themselves in the warped stone.

 

"He'll be within a few yards of the other end," the Chemist said, adjusting his glasses.

 

"Quick?," said Jerry.

 

The speedster in green vanished through the portal.

 

13

Jeff Stafford enjoyed the open road. His reflexes made him and his vehicle as one, allowing him to pass anyone in his way. He left a trail of disgruntled fellow drivers that didn't approve of his methods.

 

Then his car came apart under him.

 

Stafford's reflexes took over. He leaped clear of the phenomena, vaulting over to the sidewalk. It didn't take a combat genius to figure out what was going on. He just hadn't thought it would be this short of time.

 

He should have known better.

 

Stafford looked around for a weapon he could use. He didn't have a chance but was determined to go down fighting.

 

"Freeze," Quick said, slowing down to be seen and heard. "We want to ask you some questions before arresting you."

 

"Forget it, lady," said Stafford. "I rather walk."

 

"I'm sure Jerry will ask the prosecutors involved to ask for a light sentence for cooperation," said Quick, standing a little closer.

 

"I can't testify," said Stafford, spotting a tree branch that would do fine. "That's against the code."

 

"The code of the mercenary is something I thought was gone for good," said Quick. "You're not getting away scot free."

 

"I'm not going quietly either," said Stafford.

 

The Halberdier grabbed the tree branch above him and snapped it off with a simple twist. He swept it forward in a one handed swing to the bleachers. The club passed through empty air.

 

"Bad move, jerk," said Quick.

 

A rain of blows fell on Stafford. It was like being in the middle of a pileup, and everybody was hitting you, and you couldn't hit back. At least his armor sucked up some of the beating, but he would still be hurting later. The tree branch flew across the street from a snatch that tore his gloves.

 

Stafford hit the ground, a weight on his back holding him down. This was his chance. All he had to do was grab the speedster and take her out with a simple follow through. He had done it numerous times in the past. It usually resulted in a broken neck for the person he used it on.

 

"Game's over," said a new voice.

 

The rest of the Magistracy stood around the mercenary. A grab would do for Quick, maybe, but he would never fight his way clear from the rest of the group no matter how good he was.

 

Stafford's mind locked up, became a black hole as his brain shut down. He collapsed, face hitting grass loosely.

 

"What did you do, Quick?," Jerry Silver asked.

 

The Magistracy Hit epilogue

It was an unfriendly room to visitors with only a desk and a chair for the man who used it. The owner sat behind that desk, nodding to himself. His agent had put the Magistracy on notice, but it wouldn't do to allow the Chemist to delve into the man's mind, and see him.

 

That would be too much tipping of the hand.

 

This would also allow Stafford to be placed in a hospital where he would be taken care of while waiting for his mind to be restored to his body. It should be easy for the mercenary to escape from such a place instead of a prison geared to stopping that sort of thing.

 

"Higgins," he said into an invisible intercom. "Make sure to wire Mr. Stafford's payment to his bank. It's always good to pay your debts my father used to say."

 

"I'll take of it immediately, sir," the assistant said. "The funds will be available to him as soon as his bank verifies the transmission."

 

"I don't think there will be a need to hurry, Higgins," said the man behind the desk. "Mr. Stafford might not be able to touch it for a while."

 

"Understood, sir," said Higgins.

 

The man swiveled his chair to look at the blank wall behind his desk. He held up his hand, a letter unknown to humanity as a whole writing itself in the air. A shifting kaleidoscope of pictures from around the world played out in front of him.

 

All the world was a stage for him to play with as he wanted.

 

He expanded one picture to take over the wall. He laughed at the Chemist and Jerry Silver visiting the hospital and talking with Stafford's doctor. The doctor's lack of explanation and their frustration was priceless. It was a moment that was frozen and stored in a file for such things.

 

How long will it be before you put things together?, he wondered idly.

 

The man behind the desk cut off the screen, and went back to the papers that documented the things he wanted done. Things were going well there, better than expected.

 

It was almost time to let his secret project come to life. The Magistracy should like that.

[Trebuchet]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

Wow. Repped.

[Manic Typist]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

Yes. I must rep. I wanted him to win though!

 

He really should have blown up a few of the boxes immediately. Kept at most ONE for hostage material.

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

Thanks, guys. I'll try to start on part three before the week ends.

CES

[Manic Typist]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

There's......... a...... part three?!??!!!

 

Woot!

[csyphrett]

Re: The Magistracy Hit

 

I have four other stories to do for this. I might even done by 07 if I'm lucky.

 

CES