Herald of death

"Excuse me," Ethan says to his neighbor, standing up from his seat. He traverses the plane towards the restrooms closest to the cockpit. 'The plane is barely a fifth full, and many are sleeping; that's a good thing,' Ethan thinks.

He glances at the stressed men. They are all dressed in different ways, but Ethan can smell the same cocktail of odors coming from the two he passes. One of them glances at Ethan, his eyes betraying his anxious mental state.

Ethan reaches the area next to the cockpit, where he finds the restroom and the stocks for the flight attendants. 'Four targets to neutralize, with unknown abilities. And they can only be discovered after we land and exit the plane.' Ethan thinks.

'I can sit behind them and kill them with debilitating hex', Ethan thinks. 'But other passengers could sense the Ether that is drawn to my body or the spell itself.'

'I can't access the hold without damaging the plane, and their bodies would be found when they unload the cargo,' Ethan's mind continues. 'And even if I neutralize them, they could be found before I get Russ back. I need to stop whatever they are planning and make their best option to not act at all.'

Ethan takes a deep breath, playing the various scenarios in his mind. He enters the restroom to play the part and triggers predator's sight to eavesdrop on them. He waits for a few long minutes, but they stay silent.

Ethan steps out of the restroom and casually makes his way back towards his seat. Passing one of the men out of the others' line of sight, he abruptly sits beside him. Ethan summons Dark fate and stabs its tip into the man's side.

The man opens his mouth to let out a scream, but not a sound exits it. Ethan's debilitating hex, fed with the dark Ether drawn by his dagger, completely paralyzes the man. Ethan only uses his dagger's dark Ether, avoiding any risk of a passenger sensing the spell.

The man tries to move his fingers to tap something on his phone, but it falls from his weakening grip. Ethan catches it and reads, 'Step one. Got the guard. Are we sure they aren't any more? Viper told us it would only be him. Get ready for step two; we wait until the attendant gets near me. The big ginger guy seems dangerous. I'll kill him when we start; no need for a hero.'

"It's laughable that you think you could kill me," Ethan mutters as he reads the last message sent from this phone. Plane mode is active on the phone, revealing that their application is a proximity one. The man's eyes lose focus as he falls unconscious, his weakened heart unable to oxygenize his brain.

Ethan keeps his dagger's tip in the man's flesh until black veins appear on his neck. 'He should be out for a few hours,' Ethan thinks. As he cancels his hex, Ethan doesn't hear the man's heart restarting. 'Fuck,' he thinks. 'If he dies, it will trigger an investigation, and it will be a mess.'

Ethan places his finger on the man's chest and casts a weak Lightning bolt. The electric arc restarts the man's heart, but he doesn't wake up, despite the intense pain it should cause. 'Good,' Ethan thinks.

With the man's phone in hand, Ethan moves to an empty row. 'The remaining three are all sitting near witnesses,' Ethan thinks. 'Perhaps I could attract their leader to my first victim.'

He taps on their app: 'I can't do it.' He hits send and watches the reactions through predator's sight. One of them looks at his phone and then towards the seat of the supposed sender. He looks around suspiciously, his scarred cheek and bald head giving him a wrathful look.

'What do you mean you can't do it?! All you must do is get the target under control,' Ethan reads. He spots the sender by the sound of his fingers tapping on his phone at the back of the plane. 'You just stand up and point your gun at him!!'

Ethan glances at the seats before his victim. A young man, perhaps in his early twenties, sits there, watching an action movie. 'Who's that kid?' Ethan asks himself.

Ethan types a response: 'Something is off.' The bald man stands up, his eyes scanning the plane. He moves towards his sleeping co-conspirator, his haversack in hand.

As the man approaches, Ethan puts on his earpieces and starts a video, faking to be innocently watching something. The man reaches his colleague's row, and his heart skips a beat. 'Don't be stupid,' Ethan thinks.

The man resumes his steps, passing along Ethan and sitting next to his accomplices. "Jacob is down," Ethan hears him whisper through predator's sight.

"The fuck," another whispers a little too loudly, attracting a passenger's attention. "What do we do?"

Their phones vibrate, displaying a text from Ethan: 'You stay idle, refraining from furthering your plans.' They look around and above their seats to scan their neighbors.

The scared man taps on his phone. 'Who are you?' Ethan reads. They look around, trying to see who receives a text.

Ethan watches them through predator's sight, every small movement magnified in his mind. He takes a deep breath, the remnants of dark Ether killing the hint of apprehension he should feel.

Ethan types another message: 'Does it matter? If you don't want to end up like Jacob, you'll do as I say.'

The bald man's eyes widen, his grip on the phone tightening. He looks at his companions, his voice barely above a hushed whisper. "I'm going to find him; we'll start the moment I kill him."

'Motherfucker,' Ethan thinks. He taps: 'Good luck' and places the phone in his inventory.

The bald man tenses as he reads Ethan's message. He pulls out a Glock from his haversack and hides it in the front pouch of his hoodie.

The man walks down the aisle, glancing left and right at each passenger. He taps repeatedly on his phone, sending a single character in a repetitive manner. His head turns as he tries to focus on his hearing.

His two accomplices watch the aisle, their right hands in their haversacks. 'That's getting out of hand,' Ethan thinks. 'I can't feint to go towards the back, as he just saw me use the front restroom. And if I disarm and grab him as he passes me, his friends will know where I am.'

'I could take him out if the lights were off,' Ethan thinks, glancing at the various LEDs illuminating the plane. He places his hand around one on the side of his seat and forms the Lightning bolt runes in his mind. 'I hope the breaker for the lights isn't shared with the rest of the plane.'