brutal

Chapter 7

VERENA

"Dying to meet me?"

"Is that what you're here for? You've come to kill me now, Brutal?"

I shrugged my shoulders. He looked pretty calm, bored even, considering the gravity of the situation.

"What? Too boring for you, Deimos? Not meeting your expectations?" I goaded.

He lightly laughed as he kept his gun pointed at me. "No. Actually, you exceeded them, Brutal."

If we were in a different world where he was saying that to impress me, I might've. But not here.

I kept my hand steady, remembering the mission. He tried to kill my mom. He's a part of Siege and the owner's son. And above all, he forgot what he did to me.

He changed my life, and he forgot about me. The only thing he remembers was the incident in the diner a few days ago, but even then he should've recognized me.

He didn't recognize me when I was in front of him in a pretty dress with a bare face, and he most certainly doesn't recognize me when I traded it all for my hooded suit and the mask that changed my voice.

"Here's what's going to happen," I slowly walked forward towards him. "You'll die by my hand and I'll take down your little family company, the Deimos Project. Throw in the Siege as well, then we'll be even."

He tilted his head and mimicked a person deep in thought. "You know... I've heard many stories about the infamous assassin you are."

One step. "Oh?"

He took a step forward as well. "Yes. Epic battles, the taunting messages, and all that."

Another. "Are you jealous? Do you want a story to tell of your own?"

"Well, how can I? You are, as you confirmed, going to kill me."

My gun was only a few inches away from his chest, his own the same distance from mine. A pull of a trigger would easily shoot the other, and it wasn't easy to walk away from a wound like that.

He chuckled at me. "You are a legend, Brutal." The gun he held lowered, and though he couldn't see it, my eyebrows vehemently raised in shock. "But so am I."

Kai tucked the gun back into his suit and held his hands high. "So, let's settle this like the real fighters we are. You and me."

"What's to stop me from pulling this trigger?"
"Even villains have morals."

Villain. He called me a villain. I wanted to take my mask off and ask him if he thought the girl he was just flirting with earlier would make him think she was the same villain he's talking about.

I chuckled and returned the gun to the holster on my waist. "You're awfully pretentious, Kai. If you think I'm a villain, do you think you're a hero?"

"I didn't say that, Brutal. I'm just stating the obvious." He pocketed his hands and paced around as if we were just having casual conversation.

"And what is the obvious?" I queried.

He stopped to look at me. "That you think you've done more good than bad, and that calling you a villain is something that isn't true. But it is true. Everything they call you is true."