InsaneJournal

Characters: SHIELD Agent Michael Van Patrick
NPCs: Agent Emily Preston, The Harvester
Location: Dubai
Timeline: 1:30am - August 30, 2024 [Future-Backdated]
Description: SHIELD Agent Michael Van Patrick and Agent Preston track down an assassin known as The Harvester.
Rating: R (violence, language)

No matter how these missions started out, they always seemed to end the same. With some daring midnight chase on a rooftop or a dangerous catwalk over a pit of lava or boiled molten metal. In this case it was the rooftop of a lavish Dubai hotel. These villains always seemed to base their operations in some exotic local. It must be a tax break thing, or just an excuse for a vacation.

The subject in pursuit was an assassin, tracked down by SHIELD over months and months of undercover work, known as The Harvester. He burst through the stairwell door onto the rooftop so fast the door snapped right off the hinges. Close behind were two SHIELD agents dressed in the standard black suit and tie. The first agent was incredibly handsome, in that sort of roguish debonair sort of way, a stoic face and the body of a super soldier. He paused at the top of the stairs to see if his fellow agent was alright. The second, a female agent, paused at the top of the stairs and took a breath and waved her hand.
"Woo! Go on, sugar, I need a breather."

"He's making his way south, head back down to the Crowne Plaza and head him off, Agent Preston." The first Agent drew his gun from inside his jacket and took off across the roof. Emily sighed and threw her hands in the hair before heading back down the stairwell, grumbling about how she shouldn't have worn heels on this mission.

Handsome Agent darted across the roof-top, making an impossible leap to the second building and paused. The SHIELD agent checked his watch. No movement, but the high-tech device was definitely picking up a signal. Someone was up on this roof with him. FWIP! He winced as a punch landed on the right side of his face before he could even see where it came from. Another rush of air and The Harvester landed eight more punches and he stumbled backwards before raising his gun and firing twice. Both shots missed as the man in the skull mask seemed to move faster than the gunshots. Within half a second the assassin crossed the rooftop and had his hand on Agent's throat.

With every punch the Agent threw, the Harvester seemed to be able to block it faster than Agent could think of a counter and the grip on his throat was getting tighter. The man in the skull mask landed another punch, another and another, and another. Agent's super soldier body could take a punch but even he was feeling a tiny bit woozy after several super-speed blows to the head. He raised his gun and the Harvester's hand landed on top of his. The two struggled for the weapon when a sound broken the midnight silence.

Beep Beep! Beep Beep! Battery Low, please recharge.

The Agent glanced down at the small device on the Harvester's belt. The assassin's speed was suddenly reduced down to average human speed. The man in the skull mask quickly jumped backward, lit by the enormous glass dome behind him and drew two razor-sharp and incredibly deadly looking blades from holsters on his back. With only a few twirls of his fingers, they ripped through the air with majestic ease, like a human blender with blades that could easily carve Michael's face to ribbons.

The Agent raised the gun and fired four times. The Harvester fell backwards, crashing through the glass dome of the hotel, plummeting four stories and crash landing on a desert cart in the middle of some lavish gala. Agent Emily Preston wheezed as she panted up to the Harvester and yanked a sword away from his hand. "Got....em!...whew! Don't pay a gal enough...to run...like that!"

The Agent grinned down at his fellow agent and looked at his right hand, where he held the super-speed device he'd nabbed from the assassin, and tossed it up and down. Flipping the gun like a cocky country western star, he slipped it back into his holster inside his jacket and traded it for a phone. He lifted it to his ear.

"This is Agent Van Patrick. Target is neutralized and ready for pick up. Might need a clean-up crew."