The afternoon in Rome stretched endless over the capital cities skies, and the smell of flora and the touch of the gentle fibers of grass below a person’s feet. All of these contributed to the city’s authentic feel, but now, they were going to be painted red as Roman was assigned a new mission. This was actually his first time being assigned a mission to assassinate someone with some form of significance. They appeared to be a part of a Liafador family, a group of people Roman has never heard of, but according to the person who gave him the assignment, they were a family of constant quarrels and power trips. Which seemed exhausting to the Black Urchin, but the reward for killing one was great, making it worth his time.
His target was the fabled Twilight Assassin, a danger to masters of martial arts and meta-humans alike. There wasn’t much information that could be given about him due to the Assassin never being a static force, and always appearing when least expected. So Roman had to be moving blind in this one, not something he enjoyed figuring his last target nearly punched a hole through him. However, an assassin was something he could deal with.
He gestured for his men to come along and would track down the last location of this silent killer so they could get this bounty. The One-Man Spartan suit opened up from behind as it welcomed it’s host with its ominous black interior. Leaving the warehouse, the Canvas Anti-Insurgency group would begin their journey, which seemed to have been an unnamed region not too far from Rome itself, in fact it was within the Sicilia Province
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10:00 PM| Near Sicily Italy
The silent helicopters of the Anti-Insurgency dropped near an open region, dropping off Roman and five of his most elite to find their target before taking to the skies again, camouflaging with the night sky above. Roman, now as Canvas, would turn invisible, as the red glow of his Helmet's lens turned transparent. His men followed his lead and would turn invisible as well, enabling them to be unseen by anyone, or any wave of light.
Canvas ventured on into the areas of Sicily, and his men followed him as his suit made a high pitched beep designed for their own suits to pick up. They continued to follow the Black Urchin’s signal, until finally it stopped. Roman sat on the floor, before letting up a flare and turning one of his men opaque, he grabbed the now opaque soldier’s gun without taking it out of his hands, and began firing into the forest, not aiming for anything, just making noise to possibly lure out this assassin.
Roman and the other remained invisible, and he and his soldiers backed away from the one holding the gun, but while they aimed their guns at the baited man, Roman took a seat upon a rock nearby, using its unshifting mass to allow his own position to remain unknown. Now, this was the boring part of the mission, the wait, the patience.
An enigma to the world of discovery Cadmus Liafador was a great mystery, born to Marcos Liafador and Annabella Nussbaum, Cadmus' birth itself was a secret, hidden from the very man whose DNA coursed through his veins. His lineage hidden and eventually discovered by the future Assassin, Cadmus went through many rigorous journeys with his mother and eventually losing her as well.
Though it seemed time was not done with Cadmus, he eventually met and joined his Sister Zeon as a secret Cardinal under her command taking her mentorship and using it to enhance his own skill. Soon after he discovered his own abilities, he could bend reality to his own whim, though in a short-minded kind of way, Zeon and Cadmus discovered together that weaponry and Armor were Cadmus' to command, from spears to ant-matter cannons. Though like everything his time with his sister came to an end and he moved on, something that haunts him seeing how she turned out. This eventually led to Cadmus meeting divine beings who had gotten wind of the Cardinal who had recently flown the coup, able to track him through means unknown to him-though he guessed it was through his mother or fathers DNA- they were dead set on destroying the young Liafador, so of course when facing a god what does a mortal do?
The obviously find another teacher and craft a weapon powerful enough to topple deities themselves.
After joining the Caste and gaining knowledge under the tutelage of Ducran the Wise Cadmus went through another phase of his life: The Godslayer, tales were told of him through the short time that he spent slaying the holders of the Heavens, but even that had its end with Cadmus giving the weapon to Ducran and asking her to guard it.
But now, The Godslayer was once again in his possession having re-obtained it with his cousin Catalina, and Cadmus was in Italy just chilling, hoping to get away from the craziness that was his life.
But of course, he wouldn't be a Liafador if some insane shit didn't happen to him, even if it wasn't family related. The stars twinkled above as Cadmus walked through the small crowds towards an outdoor cafe closing in towards Sicily, the tiny but aesthetically pleasing café huddled among the larger town buildings. Washed out under the darkened sky, it bolstered itself out, braving against the wind. Several people rushed by it and some even braved the outdoors with Cadmus. As he sat down and took his order he would breathe in the fresh air and take in his surroundings like a curious tourist would his fingers rested gently on his phone as he raised it and began taking pictures of the scenery with a smile on his face, to any outside eyes they would see simply a tourist among tourists, a late-night explorer with a penchant for photography, but it was right as he was about to take a picture of the gorgeous backdrop that something caught Cadmus...
He could feel weaponry and heavy armory in the area...normally in a place like America this wouldn't be such a big deal, it was legal to carry a firearm if you did the necessary work and earned it...but in Italy, it was much much harder to even own weaponry, much less the kind Cadmus was sensing.
Sighing as realization dawned upon him, the Twilight Assassin would sit still as continued to wait for his coffee to come to him, whether these soldiers were Black Claw or something else Cadmus didn't know, but he also knew that they had picked the wrong person to decide to hunt for whatever reason they had chosen. He couldn't see them but he could certainly sense them by the gear they carried, but that then changed when one of his hunters turned visible and began shooting into the forest.
Scoffing Cadmus would sip on the coffee that was just delivered to him and look to where he felt Roman and his men trying to bait him into revealing himself, getting up with the rest of the tourists and leaving as pandemonium broke out.
Cute. He thought, using one of his own men as fodder to help draw Cadmus out, it might have worked too...if Cadmus was dumb enough to follow unexplainable gunshots in the search of trouble he didn't want.
Instead what he did was leave with everyone else, keeping the entire area under his vision, zooming in with sight that no human could possibly fathom of having...he saw the lone warrior standing and he noticed the others with him cloaked from his vision but burning in his mind...
Then all Hell would break loose.
The man used as bait would instantly find the very weapon he had used to fire into the forest to be burning with anti-matter, which if he was still in contact with it would reduce both him and the weapon into nothing. Cadmus had swapped the ammunition of the gun with antimatter rounds, but he had given neither the gun nor the bullets any casing to prevent them from reacting with the matter of the gun or the soldier's body.
Another of Romans elite would find that the space of air near his oblique muscles was now occupied by a 7-foot spear comprised of pure Adamantium bent in a diagonal position where it should slice through his armor and pierce his heart while also embedding itself in the ground.
The third of his men would soon hear the slight beeping of a miniature bomb from inside his helmet as Cadmus had shifted some of the material in his armor into a small Co2 activated explosive, he had better hope he doesn't breathe out too hard or else that explosive will ring with the power of a hand grenade.
Lucky Number Two would find himself standing on a mine that had once been a clump of grass, the slightest hint of movement would trigger an explosion capable of creating a large crater in the middle of the valley they stood on.
Romans's last solider would get a very unhappy surprise as the mass of his armor would begin to constrict tightly around him as Cadmus wove the matter of the armor to his will, aiming to completely crush him within his own shell of safety.
That left just Roman, the leader of this brigade, with him leaning on the rock Cadmus would lock onto his armor and suddenly the large stone he had been putting his weight on would shift into a large metallic orb pulsating with repulsion energy, practically a large boulder-sized Repulse Grenade, which would explode throwing anyone within a six-foot radius backward like ragdolls in the wind at breakneck speeds.
The event spanned within the time of 5 seconds, leaving a trail of potential death and large amounts of destruction behind, looking at his handiwork Cadmus simply turned and followed the crowd screaming in terror until he hit a corner in the road where he would casually vanish to go check the after-effects of what he had done, his armor blossomed across his skin as he traversed a building and climbed to its rooftop where he had a clear view of the Valley, and Cadmus gave Roman an open view of him.
His double-colored Balaclava gleamed in the night air as the Twilight Assassin stood strong against the wind...
It wasn’t long, in fact it happened to be only a minute later when everything went down. There was of course the man who was visible who was used as bait was shot down by his own weaponry. This hint of power gave Roman a bit of thrill as the rest of his men were wasted. Perhaps this person was more than just an assassin, he seemed to be a person who could manipulate metal at will, something that Roman had a lot of. However, just as he would get up, he felt the slightest change in the material below him, at that time itself seemed to slow down for Canvas. He managed to react in time to make space between him the newly shifted rock, but not enough to fully clear himself from the explosion.
The Black Urchin was launched across the plain at speeds that cars would envy, but thanks to his armor and reaction time, he landed unscatched. Then, with the power of the Earth’s interior, beams came out the suit’s lens, but they weren’t aimed at the attacker, but instead his own men, burning their armor, weapons and gadgets, only leaving ashes in their place.Then, Roman exited the battle armor, exposing himself to the elements. The only thing he wore was some black sweatpants and a confident smile. “So, you’re the man of the hour?” He yelled in the distance as he approached him.
“If I’m gonna be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting that. What do you prefer to go by? Cadmus or The Twilight Assassin. ” It didn’t matter to Roman either way, as he was going to kill him for the resources. “You made some powerful enemies, but I can see why. "You’re like me except you probably have some forms of morals.”He crouched down, picking at the ashes of his men, tasting them, and using it as motivation.
Then, he sprung forward using his incredible leg strength to reach where the Godslayer stood in a matter of seconds, but stopped short of a couple feet of him. He then ran towards the Godslayer, taking a mixture of defensive and aggressive stances. Once again, he dilated his sense of time, allowing himself faster movement and the better ability to predict his opponent’s next moves.
His fists ripped through the air of darkness of night, and at the last moment, he’d step to the side of his opponent aiming for his opponent’s jaw line, his fist hitting with the force of a bus, before stepping back. He continued to bounce around as he waited for his opponent to strike, while still dilating time for himself. “Come on Twilight, you gonna let me do all the work? I mean, I know you’re not scared after you took out my men, nah.” His time dilation began to work better, making it seem as if almost everything is standing still for him
Silence, was all that Roman would find himself hearing, he was exposed, Cadmus' eyes flashed over everything about him, from his skin to the black sweatpants he wore, he studied his body language, learned how he moved, studied the very twitch his muscle fibers produced, he was strong, but nothing Cadmus hadn't faced and beaten before, his posture didn't change, and words never exited his mouth even as Roman continued to call out.
If I’m gonna be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting that. What do you prefer to go by? Cadmus or The Twilight Assassin.
He knew his name...
No one. Knew his name...
No one would know his name.
Shifting his feet into the dirt slightly the change was minuscule to the outside eye but to Cadmus this little shift meant everything, his stance stayed open, even as his promethium clad fists gently brushed the open air his pupils extended giving him an unparalleled view of the world, and that view began to shift and change as it bent completely to the will of the Twilight Assassin.
“You made some powerful enemies, but I can see why. "You’re like me except you probably have some forms of morals.”
If anything would have made Cadmus laugh it would have been this, Cadmus had no morals, no guidelines that would save Roman, Cadmus wasn't a superhero or a vigilante, given the chance the Twilight Assassin would eviscerate Canvas and gut him like a fish and feel no remorse about it, Cadmus would level this entire city if he had too, and if he really needed, he would beat the Trench Dweller within a nanometer of his life and let him live to revel in his defeat.
Then as quick as the shadows around them Roman was heading towards Cadmus, Roman may have been physically stronger than the Liafador, but speed was his advantage, and his combat ability, and so as the fist that could crush men sailed towards his face, Cadmus' body would explode with motion, his head would weave outside of the attack where Cadmus would then grip Roman's wrist and use the brutes own force and momentum against him pushing him out of his reach.
“Come on Twilight, you gonna let me do all the work? I mean, I know you’re not scared after you took out my men, nah.”
His head would shake slightly in his helmet, amusement forming in his body, Romans' attempts to bait Cadmus into acting irrationally was laughable, he could feel his eyes on Cadmus roaming through his body seeing if there was any information about the killer that was to be had, any skill that he could pry from Cadmus' body. He would find none.
Cadmus shot forward like a bullet, he pushed the air in his way out of it, and sailed forward like Mercury fulfilling his messenger duties, his feet pulsated with purpose but his upper body was different, his fists were mysteries of the greatest ages, his promethium clad knuckles glinted as he pushed forward into Romans personal space, taking out his advantage of the strength he had initially had, less space to move less force that can be applied meaning any blow that he unleashed would be significantly weaker than any blow he could perform normally.
Capitalizing on this moment Cadmus' fist would creep forward with the silent lethality of a snake, but striking like a missile headed directly towards Romans throat, but it would never hit, instead redrawing his left hand and replacing it with his right he would strike again this time sailing for the opening between Romans rib cage, but this too would be but a feint of Cadmus true intentions. The muscle in the Twilight Assassin was instantaneous and lethal, able to react on it's own with not a thought from its owner, Cadmus' mind processed everything around him, the speed of the wind, the positioning of Romans body all was being calculated in nanoseconds by the killer of gods.
Finally deciding to strike, The Twilight Assassin did a two-step shuffle for which he swapped his momentum entirely putting most of his weight on his right foot and leaning backward.
The space between Romans' face would grow compact as an impossibly sharp item birthed itself into existence right near his face, aiming to impale him straight in the face with no resistance to stop it. This would objectively force Romans guard down further as he had to either take the spear in the face or lurch back and dodge the thrusting motion it did with no human hand to guide it, taking this as the moment, Cadmus would use that motion to drive his own forward momentum; pushing forward and aiming to drive his fist into Romans' sternum with enough progressive force to break steel aiming to throw him off the building they stood upon, his Promethium armor only enhanced it causing a small shockblast to come forth shattering the windows.
If successful Cadmus would hop off the roof of the building, landing on the ground softly ready to push forward.
He was there and then he was, as soon as he was there, the Twilight Assassin seemed to have disappeared in thin air, as if he was a magician. The night was silent for the tinies second, until he felt the hands of Twilight Assassin the instant he touched him. The tightening grip sealed the Twilight Assassin’s fate as the Orange Assassin towards him, pulling him much like how a bus would drag a child. Then, just as it had earlier, time slowed down around him. The body of the Assassin would appear in an extreme slow motion as he was like a pendulum holding on to Roman’s arm.
Just as the Twilight Assassin would move, so would Roman, but now in this slower portion of time. To Roman, any movement Assassin would be seen nearly frozen in the air as if the night sky itself encased around Cadmus. Then, he himself would unless a barrage of his own strikes, but instead of that lousy strike he threw that began the fight, Roman would begin to aim for the vital points, as well as the flexible joints in his armor. His fist would find its destination, the assassin’s throat, which seemed to have the least amount of armor encasing it.
He pushed through, causing it to move in his frozen state, as if he was a ragdoll in a video game. Then, instead of a singular strike, Roman unleashed barrages of coordinated punches aimed at the Assassin's helmet. He wouldn’t let up until signs of fatigue showed against the blackened armor, leading to Roman getting more aggressive in his strikes, until the helmet would give way to the forces of his fist.
Even then, the ferocity of Roman’s strikes, which could shatter entire metallic walls, wouldn’t let up, as they struck the exposed skin of Cadmus’s face.Bringing a smile to Canvas’s face as he watched the impacts (from his perspective) gradually take effect. However, he still wasn’t letting up from his attacks, ending his first wave attack with a full force elbow to his nose.
With the temporal dilation still up, Roman would then move on to his torso,back and lower body, giving it the same treatment as he did with his helmet, barradeing them with blows of unnatural strength. Eventually, he moved on to Cadmus’s arms, which flailed around in a nearly still fashion. With his own unnatural strength, Roman had very little trouble snapping his arms in unnatural positions and continued to twist it, giving his legs the same treatment. If successful, he’d grabbed him by his throat, smashed him into the ground below and then threw him off the building. However, even then he wasn’t finished, as the body barely would move, Roman delivered a heft kick to his head before letting him soar, or for Roman’s case, float slowly. He remembered a line that he liked from a television show, and that line held truth here. "One second has passed..."
Strength and speed combined were devastating, blows upon blows landed on the Twilight Assassin, but despite the heavy assault Cadmus' armor held true, not cracking under the pressure and the massive onslaught unleashed upon it, repairing as it broke; instantly absorbing the blows and transferring them into energy much like vibranium did turning it stationary saving its use for later, Roman was even daft enough to even go for the most durable piece of Cadmus' armor...his helmet, smashing his hand across it would be like a normal person smashing his hand across a brick wall over and over again.
But eventually, Roman's own supernatural speed began to slow down for Cadmus, as time went on he was able to perceive and even if he wanted to react to what the Fish Mech was doing, but he kept his cool and let Roman continue doing what he was doing. Cadmus was a master of misdirection, a king of it actually. He let his false screams of pain echo throughout the city.
As his arms began to twist and contort The Godslayer began to act, each blow Roman unleashed sent several thousand nanoscopic pieces of his armor slowly break away from Cadmus' and drift inside Roman's body (Unless he was able to simultaneously fight Cadmus and also destroy each individual piece, but even then even only one piece would do it) where it would rapidly generate more and more pieces, blossoming like an under armor under Canvas' skin, continuing to grow until Canvas would notice that his entire being would feel different...he would be able to feel the pulsating rich metal of Promethium humming with the stored kinetic energy that had been produced by Roman's own attacks underneath his fleshy exterior...the vibrations would hum and grow until Roman would be able to feel his body's temperature rising...getting closer to the explosion that Cadmus had in mind.
Finally moving Cadmus would twist his body wrestling his arms out of Romans grip he would kick backward sailing off the rooftop plummeting towards the ground, his body would roll to the as the setting he had just been standing on erupted in a violent explosion, and unless Roman managed to rip his own skin off and pry the unyielding and flexible metal off his muscle and bone, he would find himself as the ground zero of the explosion.
Flesh and Fire, that’s all that could be described. As the explosion happened underneath his skin, Roman braced himself for the explosion, tensing up his own muscles. Then, it happened. Roman’s skin was ripped apart from by the explosion, exposing his pink,but slightly charred muscles. The pain was wonderful, a burning sensation throughout his body as the wind graced his skin. He laughed into the wind, a shout that could be heard by miles as he felt the burning. However, the sensation was short-lived as his skin began to come back and his muscles returned to their original form.
However, by the time he fully recovered, his target seemed to have vanished. Roman was once again alone the cold province of Sicilia, Italy. Roman felt as if this was a failure on his behalf, he didn’t get the head of the target. And his men died for no reason, at least not any good enough reason. He leapt off the building, landing where his armor laid in wait for him. The Black Urchin Battle Armor reflected back upon him
“Well then I’m sure if he didn’t control metal you’d be much more of a help huh? Too bad the Twilight guy ran huh?” He shook his head in disappointment at the fact he wouldn’t get the resources he needed. After today, he’d need to talk to his suppliers about improvements that could be made to himself and his men. He didn’t put his suit on yet, in the case that the Twilight Assassin was still there.
“Heard there was damn good Winery nearby…”He thought about it for a second, and then let out a howling laugh. “Wine’s for middle aged mothers who have trouble controlling their kids. The owner must have a lot of family quarrels if they own a winery all the way out here.” He muttered to himself as he dragged the Black Urchin suit by its arm to minimize physical contact with it until he was certain he wasn’t followed.
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