DC Technomancer: Chapter 16 Introduction Pt.3

Victor stood over Diego who was sprawled across the floor holding his profusely bleeding ear and screaming incoherently. Reaching down Victor tried to grab the crying man child only for Diego to flinch away scrambling back on his hands and knees, “S-stay away from me! D-don’t get any closer!” 

Cocking his head to the side watched Diego flee trying to make it to his desk once again. Letting him go this time Victor stood with his rifle over one shoulder and watched as Diego dived beneath the table before popping back up with a heavy caliber pistol embroidered with gold and ivory. 

“Die you mother fucker!” Diego shouted as he pulled the trigger. 

There was a loud bang and Victor felt something slam into his chest followed by a second and a third impact lighting up his torso. Diego ended up emptying the entire seven round mag exhausting all of his ammo and the only weapon at his disposal. 

Rolling his shoulders Victor let out a long sigh as the dull pain from the gunshots quickly faded away, “Are you done?” 

Diego glared daggers at Victor nearly foaming at the mouth with rage, “Who are you and what do you want?!” 

“Shoot first and ask questions later?” Victor asked as he holstered his rifle, “Doesn’t really matter though I guess, nothing you say is going to change your fate.” 

Diego’s eyes narrowed, “You! You’re the one who burned all my fucking money and product!”

“No, not all of it, I took a sizable portion for myself. Not the coke or weed, just the money.” Victor corrected as he stared at Diego enjoying the way his face flushed with anger. 

“You think you can just come in and take over my turf?!” Diego screamed as he waved around his unloaded gun, “I own these streets, and I’ll be damned if-” 

In a flash Victor drew his pistol and fired off a shot, grazing Diego’s hip, but the force sent the man spinning and he stumbled back, “Mother f-fucker!” 

“I’m going to explain this once, so listen carefully,” Victor started speaking while keeping the barrel of his gun trained at Diego, “You’re going to die tonight, not in a particularly painful way but I can tell you first hand that death no matter how peaceful is still a bitch.” 

Victor started to walk towards Diego who could only hobble a few steps back before he collasped as his supporting leg gave out underneath him, “What the fuck are you talking about you fucking psychopath?!” 

Walking around the desk Victor lowered his gun at Diego, “Don’t worry you’ll understand soon enough. Do you have any words for your final moments?” 

Diego’s mask of rage and fury cracked at the edges and Victor caught glimpses of the desperation and despair hiding underneath, “W-why are you doing this?! What have I done to you?!”

Victor paused for a long moment before speaking, “I could say something cheesy like you preyed on the innocent and made decent people’s lives a living hell. But I’m planning on taking over this planet and I have no doubt innocent lives will be harmed in the process. Honestly I probably would have ignored you for the large part, but the truth of the matter is…”

Victor reached up with his free hand and took off his mask revealing his face, “You ruined my date.” 

A flash of recognition crossed Diego’s face and he opened his mouth to say something when Victor’s gun barked. 

Standing over Diego’s corpse Victor let out a sigh before holstering his pistol and walking away, ‘Nex?’ 

[I believe we are done for the night Victor. Police activity has reached dangerous levels and I calculate the risk of discovery to increase exponentially with any further actions.] 

“That’s fine with me,” Victor muttered as he put on his mask, “Now comes the hard part.”   

---

Stepping into his apartment Victor froze in the doorway and stared into the dark room, “I know you there.” 

There was a brief pause before all the lights in the room turned on revealing Stella sitting in the corner. She was wearing a bathrobe, but her hair was mostly dry meaning Stella hadn’t showered recently. For a brief moment Victor felt like he had entered a lioness’ den as Stella glared at him without moving an inch. 

“I saw the news…you killed all of them.” Stella’s voice was soft, but there was a steely edge hidden underneath, “And don’t try denying it, I'm not stupid.”  

Victor was silent for a long moment, the entire ride back he had played out this very conversation in his head trying to figure out the best response. But even with his ever evolving intellect Victor couldn’t reduce such a stressful conversation to a simple equation. 

“I didn’t kill all of them,” Victor stated, “I only killed those who were repeat offenders with felonies.”

“And that somehow makes what you did okay?!” Stella asked angrily as she stood up from the chair, “You still killed people, that makes you no better than them!” 

Victor stared unblinkingly at Stella, “Actually in many ways I’m worse, I know that none of them asked for this life. They were just unfortunate souls who were dealt the wrong cards without a chance to draw new ones.” 

Tears welled up in the corners of Stella’s eyes, “So that’s all they were to you, some poor bastards that got in the way?”

Victor frowned, “You’re acting like they were innocent. Some of those same men I killed most likely set your apartment on fire with you and your father still inside.” 

Stella blinked trying to clear away the unshed tears and for a moment Victor stared into her eyes trying to piece together her thoughts, “What aren’t you telling me Stella?” 

Stella stared Victor down for a long moment before all the fight seemed to go out of her, “I’m so fucking sick of this city…everyday people are dying in the streets or some insane psychopath is trying to blow up half the city. But the worst part is that people don’t have a choice. The only way to make a decent living is through crime and godforbid you try to live an average life! Because there’s always a chance some asshole will burn down your house with you still inside it!” 

By the end of her speech Stella was screaming at the top of her lungs with tears trailing down her eyes as she stared at Victor helplessly, “I-I don’t know…if I can take it any longer.”