The Legendary Junkmaster

Jason slowly lowered himself into the town of Highrise as sweat ran down his brow. The climb had been challenging due to the height of the walls. Luckily this was an abandoned neighbourhood in the town which was not far from his store. 'There's still so many empty buildings, yet we still have people sleeping on the streets. Ridiculous!'

Syssie glanced around nervously as Jason's boots touched the ground. There was nothing he could really do to hide the rope that was dangling down the wall. He could only hope that it would remain unnoticed. 'Ok, Syssie. Let's go.'

As Jason moved silently from shadow to shadow, they gradually made their way to the closest inhabited area to Star Gear. As he peered around the corner, he spotted the goons camping in front of his store while making quite a bit of noise. 'Tch, they're having a good time since they think they've got nothing to do.'

Jason grinned as he glanced at the nearby buildings. He already knew which building would provide the best firing angle for the Arbalest, but he had to make sure that nobody inside was still awake. Jason slowly circled the tall apartment building while keeping his eyes open for any signs of a lit fire inside. Since the whole building was dark, he could assume that nobody would accidentally discover him.

This building did not have a door that blocked entry to the staircase to reach the different floors that housed its apartments. Which was a good thing for Jason as he quickly ascended the stairs. Fifteen floors were quite a lot to climb up in a short space of time, and Jason felt breathless once he exited onto the roof.

He took his time to regain his composure before moving to the corner of the roof, giving a clear line of sight to the tents outside of his shop. Although the goons looked relatively small from up here, Jason felt like it should not be much of a problem. It was quite an advantage to be firing from an elevated position after all.

Next, he had to prepare his escape route. He knew that his targets might be able to figure out which building the bolt had come from once he fired. There was no way that he would be able to reach the ground floor before they swarmed inside. So Jason grabbed the second grappling hook and rope he had made for this situation.

He securely fastened it to the railing that overlooked a smaller apartment building attached to this one's side. As he tossed the rope over, he clicked his tongue when he saw that it came up a little short of the roof. However, the gap was nothing too severe and should not affect his plan.

Jason calmly approached the spot he had chosen to fire from before laying down in a prone position. The tripod clicked as he unfolded it and loaded a heavy bolt. With deep breaths, he gazed down the iron sight as he settled on his first target. The unsuspecting man was sitting on a foldout chair, brightly illuminated by the fire the group had set.

With his basic knowledge of physics, Jason calculated where he had to aim for the bolt to strike the man's centre of mass. He knew that he had to do this, but he still felt conflicted when the time came. Right now, he had the life of another human in his hands. 'Don't think about it. This is necessary. They would do the same to me if it benefitted them.'

His hand shook slightly as he took hold of the lever. His eyes narrowed as he fixated on his target. Then, a deep calm took over his mind. Jason slowly squeezed the trigger. The string thrummed, and although the sound had been dampened, he saw his target react as the noise reached him. He glanced around curiously for a moment before suddenly struck his chest!

The force was so great that the man toppled backwards along with his chair. There was no movement from the lifeless body as the others stared at him in confusion. As the camp hesitated, Jason furiously wound the hand crank and loaded another bolt. The string thrummed again as he picked out another target.

The woman he targeted this time suddenly jumped up when the sound of the Arbalest firing a second time reached her. This quick motion saved her life as a heavy bolt struck her hip! This sent the woman into a spiralling action before she hit the ground. Jason heard her agonised screams for help, but that did not make him falter.

His hand furiously spun the crank again, and a clicking noise alerted him that it was ready for another bolt. His eyes widened as he retook aim. A few people ran in his direction while the one in the lead was pointing in his direction. Logically speaking, he should practically be invisible to them due to his dark clothing and poor lighting from the moon.

'Tch, they brought along someone with good eyesight.' Jason sighed before calming his racing heart. Now that he had been discovered, he only had time for one more shot before making his escape. He was not confident enough to hit fast-moving targets, so he instead took aim at the camp again.

Someone had rushed out from cover to help the woman who was still screaming in pain. 'Bad move, chump.' The Arbalest thrummed again as another deadly bolt was released. The goons had already associated that dull sound with death, which caused a moment where they would freeze as they reacted to it.

When nobody in the group running for the apartment building got hit, they let out a sigh of relief. That was until their comrade let out a scream as the dead body of the one who came to help her collapsed on her chest. Those who had stayed in the camp had their eyes widened in fear. It was basically a declaration that you could expect to be killed if you tried to save her.

However, there was also a chance that she would bleed to death if she did not receive help anytime soon! As the group continued their sprint for the building and those in the camp froze in terror, Jason quickly packed up the Arbalest. Little did he know that the woman with sharp eyes could accurately describe his clothing to the others.

Jason slung the Arbalest over his shoulder before sprinting for his pre-arranged escape route. As he slid down the rope, he eventually passed a point where he could hear voices shouting furiously as they raced towards the roof. Jason chuckled as he passed straight by them without them knowing.

Eventually, he let go of the rope as he reached the end. There was only a six-metre drop to the neighbouring roof at that point which was nothing to worry about. As he landed, he turned it into a roll before getting up and racing for the door to this building's staircase. At this point, the fastest of his pursuers managed to reach his previous firing position and glanced around furiously.

The man in question made it to the roof's edge in time to spot Jason disappearing into the building next door. 'Fuck!' He slammed his fist onto the railing before racing over to the roof's exit again.

"Turn back! He's already escaped next door!"

A chorus of curses echoed throughout the building at that point. The residents who had been awoken by the clamour shivered in fear. Jason was oblivious to this as he fled down the stairs as fast as he could. He had to make sure and find an excellent spot to tail those who would return to Sam. After all, that was his goal tonight. Not to perform wanton murder.

As Jason escaped onto the street, he heaved a sigh of relief. From the noise, he could hear his little escape trick had bought him enough time to lose these pursuers. 'This is going far smoother than I thought it would!'

"Maybe…" Said Syssie, who ran beside him. "But we still don't know how many people around Sam have abilities or what they are. Don't get complacent now!"

'I know, these are probably mostly dregs of the Red Steel Gang. They probably thought it would be a nice easy assignment. So why would they waste anyone with talent on it? They just needed a show of force. Now that I've flipped the table, they'll have a lot to think about before responding.' Jason felt like laughing as he finally paused to rest in a nearby alleyway. For some reason, he felt more alive than he ever had his entire life!

"Well, since they'll think that it could not have possibly have been you, what do you think they'll do?" Syssie smiled nervously as she leaned against the wall beside him.

'No idea, but I'm sure we'll find out.' Jason replied as a wolfish grin spread across his face beneath the mask.