The Hit

The stars twinkled brightly over the barren desert as a frigid wind scoured the scarred landscape. Though normally a lifeless place, the roar of a diesel engine in the distance gradually filled the air as truck came motoring over the horizon. In the bed of the truck was a man who was staring at the sky.

It's kind of strange. I seem to be catching myself gazing at the stars more frequently. I guess questions about my past are finally catching up to me. Who am I? Where did I come from? How is my family? Is there a crush back “home”? Does she like me? If only I could just remember my name, there may be a chance to regain my lost memories and fill this emptiness within my soul.

“Huuu. . .”

Halfway through his sigh, a presence appeared behind him and had placed a hand upon his shoulder. His muscles took and when he finally caught himself, he was already pointing his modified Beretta at the man behind him, who had instantly froze like a deer in the headlights.

“Geeze Chris. What are you thinking? Are you trying to get your self killed? You should know better than to sneak up behind me while we are on a mission.”

Holding a beer bottle in one hand the man raised both hands into the air and began to speak,“Alex; it's your first time so you should at least show a bit more emotion,” said Chris with a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek and his eyes warily locked on the barrel aimed at him. “Your eyes seem glazed over as though you were lost in though. So I thought that I would come over and give you a pick me up,” continued Chris while he lowered his arms to use the bottom of the bottle to gingerly push the muzzle away from him. Finally Alex lowered the gun and took the bottle from Chris, who had noticed the barrel protruding from Alex's pocket.

“Can I ask you a question Alex?”

“Sure.”

“I was wondering, considering how great your skills were during the training, why did you bring modifications for your gun when we are only doing a routine hit?”

“Well I want to test out this new tech I just made, which I like to call it my little insurance. Because in case shit happens, I have my little insurance to get me out of trouble,” replied Alex as he cocked his gun and checked his clip for ammo.

“I guess that does makes sense. Maybe we should nick-name you the 'Boy Scout' cuz you are always prepared,” said Chris who was rolling on the floor laughing from his own joke.

“Ha. If they call me the 'Boy Scout' then you must be the 'Sloth' because you always take so long to kill your targets,” said Alex with a smirk on his face.

After laughing for a few moments, Chris finally caught the joke that Alex had directed towards him. “Hey! What's that supposed to mean? I mean I take a bit longer than you and Misa, but that's only because I like to take the time to know the target. I like to make each kill feel personal. You know what I mean?”

“No Chris I don't know what you mean. Personally I would just get the info on the target and go and do the hit. I don't think that I would ever take the time get to know any of them,” said Alex as he rolled his eyes.

“That's right it's not your job to know the targets background,” said Misa yelling through the little window on the rear of the cab. “Besides, there is no time to really ask about the target. We are already at the designated point specified for the hit.”

The two men peeked over the cab and to their surprise, there lay in the distance a rickety-old warehouse. When they finally arrived outside the front doors, a piece of the roof had flaked off from the many years of rust and landed a few inches away from Chris. “Holy crap,” said Chris glancing around for any more potential hazards.

“Calm down,” ordered Misa who signaled for them to ease away from the building to wait for orders. “Alex, Chris, about the conversation earlier, I may not wonder who the target is, but I am concerned of why all three of us were assigned to this mission.”

Beep beep. Beep beep. “Speaking of which,” said Chris appearing annoyed, “ I wonder who's calling?”

“Just answer the damn communicator Chris” grunted Alex.

“Alright, alright.” God, this guy can't even take a joke. What a pain. “HQ it's Long Shot.”

“Nice to hear that you made it safely to your destination. Are Junior and Chameleon there too?”

“Affirmative.”

“Your target has been cornered by the agency in the abandoned warehouse. Your job is to eliminate him at all costs. Be warned though, he is highly skilled and if taken lightly, will result in your demise. That is all everyone,” click.

“OK guys, you heard the man. I guess the general plan is for Misa to go through the front to create a diversion for me, while I sneak around the back to finish the job. Meanwhile, Chris is to provide cover fire when possible form the best vantage point accessible to him. If anything goes wrong, just use your heads and improvise. Is that understood,” said Alex with a stern look at Chris.

“Sure thing boss,” said Chris with a little sarcasm in his voice. “I'll be supporting you from the tower over there. I hope you two stay out of trouble and get along like good little children while I am gone,” Chris stuck his tongue out as he strolled back towards the truck to retrieve his M4 Custom.

When he was sure that Chris was out of hearing range, Alex turned to Misa and said, “If the two of us get out of this alive, I have something that I would like to discuss with you. Even though my past is a blur, since the first time we met you seem to remind me of someone I once knew.” With the stare of a marionette she replied,” I am not sure if we have met prior to you joining the syndicate. But I can grant you that talk. So remember not to die on me,” and then gave him a slight smile.

Alex stopped half step, and thought for a second. Did I really see what I though I saw? Did she actually smile, or where my eyes playing tricks on me from all this pressure? No, it was a smile and it was directed towards me. He landed his hovering foot on the ground and then placed a hand on his chest as it started to tighten. It was at me.

“Hey Alex. Do you read me?”

Snapping back to reality, Alex looked around while trying to regain his composure.

“Yeah you heard me. I can see your flustered face fairly clearly from my position.”

“Is that you Chris,” said Alex who was now looking in the general direction of the tower.

“Of course not It's Uncle Sam. Who else would it be.”

“Chris, what did I tell you about surprising me.”

“Yeah yeah. I heard you loud and clear. Now get your ass into position. By the way, what just happened between you and Misa to make you like that?”

Alex stopped at the back door and felt the blood rush to his face as he thought back to what just happened. “It was Misa. She actually smiled. And to top it off it was at me.”

“What do you mean, that Ms. Marionette actually smiled. She normally never shows any emotion on a mission.” Perhaps this kid means more to you than I had originally thought. I wonder what your pasts may have been like? If I am guessing right, I would say that they have been intertwined in some way or another. Maybe. Just maybe. This kid is the key to your lost memories, and most importantly, your emotions that have been locked away by that ass of a doctor. Chris shifted himself to prepare for the potentially long game of cat and mouse that lay ahead. I wish that he would abandon his dreams of a super assassin. Then if that were to happen, innocent people like these two wouldn't have to be dragged into our world. When he was finally comfortable, Chris said with a sigh, “Alright Alex I'm placing my faith in you. So don't let me down,” and propped the M4 on his shoulder. Chris put the scope against his eye as he watched the scene below him unfold.

“Are you in position Alex,” asked Misa.

“Yeah”

“Remember, Chris, if given the opportunity, take the shot.”

“Will do.”

“O.K. We are now commencing with operation Ghost Buster.”

A bit of moonlight entered the warehouse through the crack that Misa was using to peek inside between the door and its frame. “I don't sense any movement within the building. Chris can you see anything from your position?”

“Negative. All I see are a bunch of crates and a forklift.”

“Understood.” Misa ran her knife around the door to check for booby traps. After checking most of the door, she stopped as her knife snagged on what felt like a wire. I was right to worry about this target. He seems to know what he's doing. I better inform Alex while there is still time. “Alex do you read me?”

“Yeah.”

“Tread lightly. The target has set up booby traps within the building.”

“Understood.” After hearing the news, Alex released the doorknob and backed away to collect his thoughts. If I were the target, were would I set up my traps and how?

“Now that he knows, I must figure out how to get past this little hindrance. Hmm.” Misa nudged the door open in order to get a better look at the trap. It looks simple enough. Reaching around the edge of the door, Misa's fingers came across something that felt like a steel pipe directed at her. I see he was using a shotgun instead of a claymore. Moving her hand down to where the doorknob should be, she lifted her wrist and removed the hindrance from the doorknob. Once she was certain that the trap was disabled, she quickly darted past the door only to finder herself slipping on the thin layer of powder like film on the floor and crashing into the nearest crate. CRASH! “Unn. My head.” With her right hand, she examines the spot on her head that was hit. A warm gooey liquid oozed between her fingers. It seems that the damage taken is more severe than I had suspected. The sound of foot steps approached her though muffled by the film that she had slipped on moments ago. Who's foot steps are those. I need to my get on my feet, but my body isn't responding to me.

The foot steps come to a halt as the man leaned over to subdue Misa with zip ties. “You know. That wasn't quite how I planned it, but I'll take it. Now all that's left is that sniper and the pup.”

After hearing the crash, Alex reached for his communicator and tried to contact Misa. “Hey Misa. I heard a crash that came from your side. Are you alright?” A few moments passed without a response. “Chris do you see anything?”

“Negative.”

“Fine. I'm going to proceed as planned.”

Taking Misa's advise, he hastily examined the door for anything suspicious. Luckily there wasn't anything out of the ordinary and with a shove, he advanced into the unexpected.

With a few steps, Alex found himself awed with the inside of the warehouse. Though it was dark the ceiling reminded him of the night sky with all its stars. And everything inside the factory was covered with what looked like snow. But inside he knew better. It was just spots of rust peppered throughout the ceiling letting light in, and a layer of dust that had been accumulating over all of the years of inactivity.

When out of the corner of his eye noticed movement. Swiveling around to with his gun aimed at the suspected area, he catches the glint of metal and dodge rolls behind a crate. Bang! There was a small hole in the floor where Alex was once standing. Alex returned fire however his target had taken cover behind the forklift that Chris had spotted earlier. Crap, these 9mm rounds won't even leave a dent on that forklift, let alone pierce it. To make matters worse, I have only one round left. I guess that I could test that thing out now. But I should ask Chris if he has a shot on this guy. “Chris do you have a shot?!”

“Sorry man. From the angle that I'm at, all I see are crates. If you wait a bit I may be able to find another spot for a shot.” said Chris with a grimace on his face. Sorry Alex. I was ordered to just be an observer. Believe it or not, this mission was intended to test your skills to see if you could fill his shoes. You are on your own on this one.

“Great. I mide as well try the new tech that I brought with me.” Alex removed the slide from his gun and switched the barrel with his own. Not knowing how many shots his Beretta could handle, Alex waited for an opportunity to attack.

Clunk.

Alex realizing that his target was reloading took aim and let loose his makeshift hand cannon.

BANG!

As the moonlit room began to fill with the grotesque smell of gunpowder and death, a man's silhouette slowly crept out through the cloud of smoke and dust. With his gun at the ready Alex cautiously approached the decrepit forklift to confirm his target's termination. Upon reaching the forklift, along with the gaping hole in the side, he noticed a dark liquid seeping out from beneath it. Unsure of its source, he peeked around the side of the forklift and froze at the scene that lay before him.

Using the forklift for support, the man was leaning back with his hand against his side. “That was a nice shot. Did you make that yourself Tatsuya? I suppose that you would be in shock being that you just shot your mentor.”

Staring at the man with a perplexed look, Alex asked, “Who is Tatsuya?”

“Huh. That's your real name. Tatsuya Sanada. I was planning on telling you it,” said the man who was interrupted by a bloody cough, “before I ran away. But I missed my chance.” Wiping off the blood from his mouth, the man began to breath laboriously. With his last few breaths, he said, “As a parting gift to you. I give you. My title of Shinigami, the Death God. The best assassin in the organization.” Then with one final breath, the man's face became placid and his body limp.

Tatsuya's gun gradually slipped through his trembling fingers as he used one hand to close the eyes of the man, and lay him down. Raising them both to his face, beads of sweat formed on his brow as images of his past flash across his mind. Who he was, where he was from, and his family all came rushing back to him as though a mental dam had been removed. He was a high school student from Japan who came to America for a senior field trip leaving behind his parents and sister. Finally, her smile filled his thoughts. A smile that seemed so familiar. He was certain that it was the smile of the girl that he had a crush on. But in the back of his mind, he knew that he had seen it somewhere; somewhere recently. And then it hit. Misa. Why did the image of her appear in my thoughts? However, the moment that Tatsuya thought of her, a jolt of pain came across his head. Wincing from the pain, ha asked, “Who are you Misa?” With his mind reaching its limit, Tatsuya felt his legs buckle beneath him as he tried to cling to what little sanity that he had remaining.

Staring at his crimson covered hands, an eerie silence filled the room as his eyes began to blur. Orbs of warmth rolled down his cheeks while his eyes started to glaze over. And in the moments before total darkness enveloped him, he finally understood the weight of his situation.

“What have I become. . .”