"Would you sacrifice a thousand people to save the lives of a million? It is a question that invokes debate on both sides of the decision. Someone once asked me this question, and I answered him: I would decide which group will live depending on the value of the individuals in that group. Sometimes, that thousand possesses more potential than that million. "
-Sniper
19 years ago, 14th of February, Paris, France.
A limousine rolled to a stop in front of a hotel. On both sides of the car stood 5 Japanese bodyguards. A well-dressed middle-aged Japanese man stood out of the vehicle before being led toward the hotel. He is Yakuza's supreme boss, Aito Shinoda. After being led to his hotel room, Aito turned around to see the bellhop ready to leave.
[Aito] - "Where is Sniper? Shouldn't the host be arriving before the guests to such a meeting? That is ridiculous! "
Said Aito in a thick Japanese accent.
[bellhop] - "We will guide you to him shortly. Please be patient, sir. "
Said the bellhop before gently closing the door behind him.
During this time, many other businessmen, celebrities, politicians and major criminal leaders from around the world were led to the same or different hotels around the city of Paris.
Meanwhile, Sniper walked perpendicularly to the Eiffel Tower until eventually he reached the top. As the crowd from the coffee store on top of the tower stared curiously at Sniper, he suddenly raised his fist to the sky and conjured a massive bolt of electricity that struck the top of the tower. The subsequent shock and noise caused all the civilians to flee the scene in a panic. When there was no one left on top of the tower, Sniper stepped in front of the guard rail and reached one of his palms forward. In an instant, the whole city shook with a slight vibration as Sniper's crystal glowed brightly like a supernova.
[Sniper] - "Echoing Verdict: Half-Rapture! "
In his room, Aito walked up to the window to admire the view. After a few seconds, he realized that Sniper must have chosen the rooms based on how powerful each of the invited leaders was. As the leader of the Yakuza, he was given a room high in the sky with a 300-degree panoramic view of the city.
Below, at ground level, Primo travelled inside his limousine toward his designated hotel across the busy streets of Paris. Suddenly, with a flip of his palm, Sniper caused the centre of gravity inside the city to shift toward the North Pole. Before Primo could process what happened, his car smashed into the side of a building. The lighter elements inside the city, like people and cars, started to fly downward parallel to the ground. Soon, some tall and large buildings lost their grip and fell apart toward the north of the city. Other buildings, like the hotels housing the important guests, were intentionally held in place by Sniper's power.
After slowly opening his eyes, Aito found himself pressed against his window, which is the last barrier between him and death. Aito jumped up from his position in a panic before pressing himself against his room door in fear.
[Aito] - "What... WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?? "
Screamed Aito in terror.
During this time, Primo slowly woke up in his smashed car. He could hear the screams of people barely hanging onto diverse objects that were still attached to the ground or buildings. Slowly, Primo rolled on his back and realized that his car was barely hanging by a tread on the edge of the building. Primo tried to remain calm, but droplets of blood soon started to pour onto his face. He looked up to see the body of his driver and bodyguards smashed into an unrecognizable mess. Luckily for him, the car soon stabilized itself on the smooth surface, thus preventing further fall.
[Primo] - "Sniper... you fucking snake! "
Said Primo in an anguished voice.
Meanwhile, on top of the Eiffel Tower, Sniper slowly turned his hand another 90 degrees downward.
[Sniper] - "Echoing Verdict: Full-Rapture. "
Just as Primo breathed a sigh of relief, his car started to slowly slip toward the top of the building. Upon seeing how things outside his window started to fly toward the sky, Primo understood that he won't be able to escape what was coming next. During this time, inside the hotel, Aito quickly found himself colliding against the ceiling of his room. Before he could react, a chair fell on his legs and caused a heavy bone-cracking sound to fill the room.
[Aito] - "Stop... STOP IT! "
Screamed Aito with a pure expression of terror on his face.
As his car slipped closer to the top of the building, Primo pulled a picture of Mike out of his pocket and held it against his chest. Primo closed his eyes before his car, alongside other people and objects, fell into the sky. Gently, a random helium balloon inside the city pushed its head against the ground, which is now the sky. Sniper, on his end, stared at the city, unfazed by the amount of death and destruction he had caused. Although his helmet concealed his face, behind that visor reside the cold and emotionless eyes of a cruel man.
Gravity remained reversed for a total of 20 minutes. During this time, anything that tried to enter Paris quickly found itself falling toward the sky and into outer space. Although the gravity reversal lasted for 20 minutes, to the people still alive in the city, the process felt like hours. At exactly 20 minutes, Sniper abruptly retracted his arm before gravity suddenly shifted back to the ground.
Calmly, Sniper sat against the railing and used his ability to make himself a cup of coffee from the instruments left inside the coffee store. The city remained silent while Sniper gently turned his spoon inside his coffee.
Meanwhile, Aito peeked out of a small hole below the bedsheet to see that everything seemed to have gone back to normal. After struggling out of cover, Aito looked at the destroyed city in front of him. Suddenly, a helium balloon passed by his window. Thinking it was an object falling back from the sky, he ducked for cover, but he soon realized that nothing was falling down. As his eyes followed the balloon up the sky, a bone-chilling realization shot through his mind; Nothing was falling back down because they were already too far into space to fall back down. This realization caused Aito to become paler than a white sheet of paper before he passed out from shock.
During this time, Sniper finished the last sip of his coffee before he dropped his cup over the railing. He watched as the cup fell all the way down before a sudden phone call snapped him out of his trance.
[Judge] - "Amazing work, my lord! I can see everything from the news podcast. I doubt the bastards would have the courage to defy your authority again. "
[Sniper] - "Is the main objective secured? "
[Judge] - "Of course, my lord! We have sent the best assassin the Empire could offer you for this operation. "
[Sniper] - "You may proceed, my friend. I'll attend by the end of the party. "
Everywhere around the world, the news of the tragedy in Paris overtook the media. No one could explain the attack or know who was responsible for it, except for those Sniper intended to scare. The message was clear: The hubris of mortals shall never challenge the will of a God. In the end, two million people are declared dead or missing following the disaster. France was in a state of grief and outrage, yet it could not put the blame on anyone or anything.
For the first time, the world witnessed the power of a malevolent God claiming benevolence. On the other hand, the investors, criminal leaders and wealthy capitalists have been keen to put all their money into Sniper's project following the demonstration. However, another faction reacted with muted shock and anger toward Sniper's blatant act of cruelty. That day, all the supporters of Michele's rebellion threw in their unconditional allegiance to the traitor's cause, with more joining soon after, including cyberknights.
The world will never be the same, not after Sniper had carved his will with the blood of the innocent.
Meanwhile, in Italy, people still lived while oblivious to the atrocity that had taken place just moments ago. In this sky, a single Imperial gunship flew over the city before dropping down a single assassin in front of the Gioacchino residence. With a murderous glow in her eyes, the assassin immediately set out to dispatch of the two guards at the gate. Before the men could even react, a massive gap opened on their throats, causing them to immediately bleed out on the ground.
With a swift jump, the assassin leaped over the fence into the garden, where she hastily moved through the field toward the mansion. Arriving at the door, the killer extended her wrist blades and dashed toward the guards at the door. In a swift cut, the two guards were dissected from the middle of their bodies before they could even compute their own death.
Once inside the house, the assassin swiftly located Charlotte and Gioacchino and subdued the couple with such brutality, she nearly snapped both of Charlotte's collarbones with a single chokehold. As she finished tying the couple's limbs, she covered their faces with duffle bags before raising her com device.
[KD-550] - "My lord, the work is done. "
[Sniper] - "Very good! Secure Mike, and leave the two to me! "
[KD-550] - "As you wish, my lord! "
Said KD-550 as she instinctively kneeled despite Sniper's absence.
On the second floor, KD-550 slowly approached Mike's room, while the little boy was still oblivious to what was happening downstairs. Without a word and with sheer efficiency, she leaped behind the boy while he was playing with his toys and gagged him with a sleeping agent. Soon, the boy fell unconscious without even the chance to see his parents for the last time. Soon, Sniper himself arrived at the mansion, phasing directly through the roof without damaging the material.
Sniper kneeled over Gioacchino and pulled the cloth off his head. With a cruel look on his face, Sniper activated his crystals and created a metallic necklace using the metal from a random art piece. Like a small snake, the necklace crawled around Gioacchino's neck and tightened its grip. As Gioacchino gradually choked and rolled on the ground, Sniper pulled the cloth over Charlotte's head. As soon as she saw him, her expression switched from fear to anger and disgust.
[Charlotte] - "What are you doing here, you fucking psychopath? "
Yelled Charlotte with a voice full of hatred.
[Sniper] - "I prefer you show me a little more respect, Charlotte. Just like how you rejected your past and identified with the rich and immoral, I now reject my limitations and identify as one amongst the Gods. "
Said Sniper, mockingly.
[Charlotte] - "You are a sick man! You have lost your god fucking mind! "
Without a warning, Sniper slapped her in the face.
[Sniper] - "Look at your pitiful husband; A filthy, disgusting scrum of humanity who used crime as a means to elevate himself above others. When you are here, wasting your life in luxury, did you ever consider how many innocents suffered under his hands? Let me remind you who you are. You are Charlotte Mundy, a peasant girl without any future who would've ended up in a prostitution brothel if I didn't provide for you. Only under the umbrella of my power did you manage to marry the son of the most powerful mafia leader in Italy. "
Said Sniper as he grabbed Charlotte by the hair and forced her to watch her husband suffocate.
Charlotte finally began to feel the heart-crushing sensation of fear and dread. With tears in her eyes, she got up on her knees and began to beg Sniper for mercy.
[Charlotte] - "Please, spare my husband! You can't do this, brother! "
[Sniper] - "Suddenly, when your life depends on it, you recognize me as one of your own blood. Such is the pitiful state of hypocrites like you, poisoned by lies no one but your own perverted mind believes in. No God is brother to such a lowly wench. "
Said Sniper with a grimace of disgust.
[Charlotte] - "I'm sorry! I was wrong! Please, anything but my family! "
[Sniper] - "I don't need rotten apples in my new empire, and Mike doesn't need garbage in his life. You don't deserve to have him as your son. "
Said Sniper in a spiteful tone before slamming Charlotte against the floor.
[Charlotte] - "Please! Anything but Mike! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for being a piece of shit! Charles, please, I beg you! "
Yelled Charlotte in desperation as she clung to Sniper's boots.
[Sniper] - "Don't touch me, trash. "
Yelled Sniper as he kicked Charlotte away.
Suddenly, Charlotte screamed in terror and pain as both her arms disintegrated into a puddle of rotten flesh. Meanwhile, Gioacchino finally stopped moving after a long and painful struggle. Charlotte quietly sobbed against her husband's deceased body while Sniper watched without a flinch. After a while, Charlotte turned around with a burning sensation of hatred, but as soon as she saw Sniper's face, her entire body went soft. At first, she thought it was because of her trauma, but she soon realized that it was due to her own fear.
[Sniper] - "I think I have wasted enough time with you. "
Said Sniper as he got up.
[Charlotte] - "What's the point of all this violence? What do you want from me? "
[Sniper] - "Your son is destined for greatness. For too long, he has been denied his purpose under your care. Today, I have come to claim what is mine - a warrior for the future of humanity. "
Said Sniper with a finger pointed at her head.
[Charlotte] - "God... You will not get away with this, Charles. You will not! You are not my brother, you are an inhuman monster! "
Said Charlotte, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Sniper didn't react to her insults, as he simply raised his hand and pointed his finger at her head with an empty expression in his eyes. Embracing his self-imposed divine status, Sniper stood tall above the woman who used to be his sister.
[Sniper] - "Boom, headshot! "
A small splash of red launched onto Sniper's unflinching eyes. Like tears of blood, the crimson droplets slowly descended from Sniper's cheeks, all the while he maintained his cold and apathetic stare.
From that point onward, the rest is history. Mike was told that a rival mafia gang had raged a brutal war of extermination against his family's gang. At first, since Mike was young, he believed Sniper's lies. However, as Mike grew up, Sniper also gradually manipulated events to fit his narrative. During the course of 19 gruelling years, Mike never managed to discover the truth of his or Sniper's past. That is, until now.
To be continued...