The Reincarnated Hitman

"What’s the dark room?" Zero asked.

Magnus frowned at the question. If the HA had truly sent this kid, shouldn’t he have knowledge of what the dark room is or even of what happened during the Fracture Event?

Isn’t that why the HA sent him here, alone, in the first place?

There was also the fact that he had been killing the Aberrants so far, rather than acting like some self-righteous hero and trying to save them all.

Even though that was impossible at this point.

It made Magnus wonder if he was really sent by the HA? Or perhaps, "You weren’t sent by the HA, were you?"

The mad scientist finally asked, rather than outright assuming as he had been doing all this while.

"Not really," Zero answered with a shrug. "I’m simply just a grey market hitman who was hired to get rid of you, probably because you have been kidnapping people all this while."

"Now then," the hitman looked at Magnus, "it’s your turn to answer my question: what the hell is a dark room?"

For over a year, he had been trying to find the person that his parents had left the code to within the HA, but he hadn’t exactly been lucky on that front.

Magnus was the only clue he had gotten so far.

Instead of an answer, the mad scientist suddenly started laughing, "heh... hehe...HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

It started as a low chuckle before evolving into a full-blown maniacal one.

"This is perfect," Magnus said after laughing for a while, "since you’re not part of the HA, then they won’t care if I use you for my experiments or not."

"They’re still sending a hero, though," Zero reminded the mad scientist.

"That won’t matter," Magnus answered, "especially after I make the perfect Aberrent out of you."

"As long as I can prove to be enough of a danger to them, those cowards will leave me to my research, just like they did the Ouroborus."

"I see," the hitman nodded, "and I’m guessing you’re not going to answer my question?"

"Oh, I will," Magnus said with a smile, though it was hidden behind his mask, "after I make you useful to me."

"Well," A katana reappeared in the hitman’s hand, "I should probably end this then."

He then crouched and, the next second, launched himself towards the Abarrents.

The hitman closed the distance between them in an instant, and without giving them a chance to react, he was suddenly behind them.

Magnus watched in surprise as his creatures froze in place before their heads suddenly disconnected from their necks.

But instead of worry, the mad scientist became excited, especially given the fact that Zero’s actions had just worked to convince him that he was truly a candidate for becoming the perfect awakened human.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The scientist gave a slow clap as Zero sheathed his katana and the corpses of the Aberrants fell to the floor.

"I really was right," Dr. Magnus said. "You truly will be the perfect candidate."

He then extended his gloved hand towards the hitman and added, "Would you be willing to take the chance of becoming the perfect human? One that stands above the rest?"

The hitman looked down at the scientist’s hand for a while, and Magnus took that as interest, so he continued, "You could even become a god among humans... if the experiment succeeds."

Magnus basically whispered the last part, but the hitman heard him very clearly, which caused him to chuckle.

The next second,

SLASH!

"Nah," Zero responded, "I think I prefer the average me."

Magnus didn’t realize what had happened until his arm, which had been cleanly cut through, slowly slid off.

"AHHHHHH!" The mad scientist let out a scream of pain as he clutched the bleeding arm.

"Goodbye now, Krell." The hitman lifted his katana to slice off the scientist’s head, but just before the blade could reach the man’s neck, Zero’s arm suddenly froze.

"Y-you bastard." Magnus lifted his head, though his pain was still evident in his voice. "I was wondering when it’d kick in."

Zero was still frozen in place as he realized what had just happened.

"I’m guessing you’ve been releasing a gas within your lab all this while?" Despite his predicament, the hitman didn’t sound worried in the least bit.

"V-very perceptive," Magnus answered, still clutching his arm as he walked to a table and picked something up.

It seemed like some sort of metallic gun, but with a syringe that held a glowing purple liquid within.

Without hesitation, the scientist jammed the gun into his arm and watched as Zero watched the glowing liquid disappear into Magnus.

The next second, something almost impossible seemed to happen, especially for someone without a Factor.

Dr. Magnus’ arm started regrowing, and a few seconds later, it seemed as if it hadn’t been cut off at all.

"Meat trick,"

"The gas is designed to interfere with the nervous system. It doesn’t kill immediately, but after enough exposure, the body begins to shut down."

"And now that you’re immobilized, I can finally begin."

A mechanical hiss came from behind Zero as one of the large glass tubes within the laboratory suddenly opened up.

Several cables detached from the machinery and began moving across the floor and towards the frozen hitman.

Magnus watched them with anticipation as he spoke, "Your body, your Factor, your resilience... everything about you is extraordinary."

The cables slowly wrapped around Zero’s arms and legs.

"But don’t worry," The mad scientist’s voice became almost gleeful, "I’ll make sure to preserve as much of you as possible."

The cables started pulling the hitman towards the tube...or at least they tried to, but Zero suddenly smiled, and the next second, he formed something in his free hand and let it fall to the floor.

Magnus looked at the device in confusion, but before he had the chance to ask anything,

BOOM!

An invisible shockwave blasted out of the device, causing all the devices in the lab to immediately shut down, which included the cables wrapped around Zero.

THUD!

The hitman fell face-first onto the floor and then muttered, "Yeah.... I still can’t move."

Dr. Magnus, on the other hand, immediately turned towards the rift. "No, no, no, no!"

He rushed towards it, trying to turn the tech around it back on, but it was all for naught, since the EMP blast had completely fried it.

"I’m guessing whatever’s happening is not good?" Zero said as he stood up after creating an antidote in his mouth.

"You just shut down the containment field around it," Magnus explained as he moved from device to device, "without that, the rift is going to explode and swallow up this entire facility."

"That’s not good," the hitman muttered as he watched the rift suddenly start releasing some sort of energy that tried to pull everything towards it.

With a sigh, he formed a gun in his hand and shot what seemed to be a syringe towards Magnus, who was unaware of the danger until it hit him.

"What the hell?" The mad scientist turned to him.

"Well, I still have a job to complete," Zero said with a shrug, "and I won’t be able to when the hero that the HA sent arrives."

As if on cue,

BOOM!

Something, or rather, someone, blasted open the top of the lab and slowly landed inside it.

Zero smiled as he noticed the hero that the HA sent, but she seemed surprised to see him here. "You?"

"It’s been a while since we last met," the hitman’s smile widened, "Radiance."