074 GREED BEFORE CAUTION
Zairgid's scream was swallowed by the grinding roar of steel on asphalt. Damen's head slammed against the side window — the world tilted, sound fading into a high, painful ring.
Then came another impact — this time much harder — flipping the car onto its side. Sparks screeched along the road before the wreck finally slid to a stop.
"What the hell—who crashes my new ride?" Zairgid shouted.
He wasn't hurt in the crash. One of his charms had triggered a force field protecting him faster than the airbags could deploy.
With a single heave, Damen tore off the mangled roof of the car. They clambered out, dragging the dazed driver to safety.
Then came the sound of heavy boots thudding against the pavement.
"Great, for once the City Rescue came on time", Zairgid muttered.
But these were not rescuers. And this was not an accident. It was a hit.
"Who the hell are these people? Are they here for you?" Zairgid hissed.
"I don't know," Damen replied, scanning the shadows. "I've pissed off too many lately… Lost count."
The boots drew closer. Eight figures emerged, each holding a crackling electric baton.
"I've seen those before in Fort Myrone, standard issue," Damen muttered. "These are soldiers…. No, mercenaries. maybe retired."
One stepped forward, his visor glinting in the dark. "Those two walked out of that wreck without a scratch. They must be the meta-human students."
Zairgid raised his hands. "If it's money you want, I'll double whatever they're paying."
The man laughed behind his mask. "We take money for life, but not at the cost of our honor. A contract's a contract. We don't change the terms for another bidder."
Damen leaned close. "There's eight of them. Can you take two?"
"Take two? I'm the peaceful type," Zairgid muttered while clutching nervously on his charms.
"Damn you," Damen said and …. vanished.
He reappeared behind the mercenary leader, his leg whipping forward in a blur. The impact detonated like thunder. A kinetic pulse rippled outward, crushing everything in its path.
"Momentum Collapse- Echo enhanced."
Damen blinked and was stunned. "Is this how Echo Core works? It enhances my current abilities?"
He vaulted over the mercenaries, finding the perfect alignment. With another strike, a shockwave erupted, knocking several off their feet at once in a line. One coughed foam, the others howled as the echoes tore through them, shattering bones and organs alike.
"This Echo Core is so damn cool, it's worth every dime paid for it," Damen said, launching another blow.
Moments later, there was only silence. The mercenaries lay scattered, twitching and broken.
Zairgid brushed the dust from his coat and pointed at the mercenaries. "Told you to take my money. Now you don't have a life to spend it."
Damen crouched beside one of the survivors. His voice dropped cold. "Who sent you to murder us?"
A sudden flash seared the night—ZAP!
A laser beam tore through the mercenary leader's head, silencing him mid-breath. Damen flinched back instinctively to defend against the unknown strike.
The fight wasn't over.
Those mercenaries had only been cannon fodder.
Three new figures stepped from the darkness, their faces hidden behind red handkerchiefs. Their movements were smooth, practiced, and lethal.
"They… I recognize them," Zairgid stammered, backing away.
"Who?" Damen asked, already raising his phone.
"They're the Red Hanky—a professional assassin cell!"
"Red Hanky… You recognized them from a comic?"
One of the masked men noticed Damen. "Taking our pictures for evidence? You won't live long enough to share them."
"Not for evidence," Damen said coolly. "For Moments."
He glanced at the profile flashing on his phone:
Name: Yvette Bard (Red Hanky)
Rank: E
Strength: 26 | Charm: 15 | Meta: 69 | Command: 66
The other two had similar stats…. About roughly his equal.
Damen remembered the laser beam. These assassins had range meta-abilities or ranged weapons. He'd have to be careful.
"What do you want?" Damen asked, his voice low.
Yvette smirked beneath his mask. "Someone paid well for us to take your lives."
Zairgid stepped forward desperately. "Whoever hired you—I'll pay triple! Just let us go!"
Yvette's laugh was sharp. "Why bargain when we can take your money after you're dead?"
Damen's eyes flicked between their positions. They were too far apart for his Echo Core to chain properly. He needed them close.
"What now?" Zairgid whispered, panicking. "Are they really going to kill us?"
"Give me your money," Damen said, hand outstretched.
Zairgid blinked. "What?"
"Trust me."
He passed over his Aur card. Damen held it up.
"There's no need to be uncivilized," he said evenly. "If it's money you want—take it."
He tossed the card lightly across the asphalt making sure it landed only a short distance from them, so it was within his striking range.
The cards gleamed with their deep jade green hue on the dark floor, sending out invitations to the assassins.
"Come on… come pick it up all three of you." Damen thought.
The assassins hesitated. "Is that some kind of trick?" Yvette asked the other.
They shook their heads.
"They are just a bunch of students, do you think they could hurt us even if we tied our hands?" one of them said.
Although instincts told them there was something tricky going on with the money cards but eventually their greed won over caution.
Red Hanky moved first, "I'll pick the money for all of us…the card belongs to the one who picks it first," Yvette said.
"No bloody way", the others replied.
All three stepped forward together to grab the aur cards.
"Thank you," Damen murmured, "for being so predictable."
In an instant, he was gone.
When he appeared, his leg crashed into Yvette's chest, the kinetic crush slamming him to the ground, the kinetic crunch smashing him in.
"Momentum Collapse"
The Echo Core pulse followed, the kinetic crunch multiplied and echoed towards the others… crushing bone and air alike to those behind him.
"ARRGGHH—!"
Before they could recover, Damen dropped down with a brutal knee strike on another making sure the trajectory of his echoes would capture all three of them.
The Momentum Collapse erupted outward, echoing through their bodies. One blow became effective for three.
"One for all and all for one", Damen screamed with excitement.
"This is so much fun," Zairgid laughed on the sides.
He hit again. And again.
The Red Hanky were Ranked E metas but they were usually powerful at range, shooting from a distance. At a close distance, they only had their meta stats to rely on.
They collapsed in a heap of blood and twitching limbs.
Damen grabbed Yvette by the neck, lifting him effortlessly and asked again, "Who sent you?"
The assassin gasped, his eyes wide. "We don't know… it—it's someone from the Aukuoma family…he's a secretary or something."
Damen's eyes hardened. He released his grip then heard Zairgid's shout.
"Damen! He's sneaking an attack behind you…."