VECTOR IN DC

[Tom Hendricks POV] 

He had taken DeathShot over to an abandoned building in the outskirts of town. He just got back from a short trip he made to secure materials and parts he needed to build a psychotic dampener for DeathShot, so Grodd does not take control of his mind the moment he opens his eyes. 

He stripped him of all firearms and completely disarmed him just to be sure Deathstroke does not pull any surprise attack on him, not that any attack would have worked on him. 

As he finished up with the tech he was building, he noticed that his guest who he had placed on the floor was regaining consciousness and turned over to take a look at him but he still seemed sleepy and his mind might still be foggy. 

After glancing at him and  DeathShot slowly closed his eyes again only opened them when it was twelve minutes past. 

… 

[Floyd Lawton] 

Laying on the cold hard floor of an abandoned building, was a man dressed in an all-black heavy armor clothing. 

While regaining consciousness, he noticed a blurry figure at the door. A man leaned against the frames, sporting an average height figure, slender frame and a sleek costume of all black with the only other color being two white strips across the lower section of his black leather jacket. And a black mask that covered the upper section of his face. His hair was wild and shockingly white, and his white teeth were on full display in a wide, maniacal grin. 

He noticed a throbbing headache and found himself in a state of conundrum as he struggled to remember how he got there or what he had been doing before. He tried to sit up, but the pain in his head was too intense, so he decided to lay still and assess his surroundings.

Looking around him, he noticed the building was dark and empty, with no signs of life. The walls were covered in peeling paint, and the air was musty and damp. He noticed his weapons and his guns were missing from their holsters.

He struggled to get into a sitting position but immediately winced in pain and held on to his head due to the pulsating headache which greeted him that evening. 

He composed himself as his vision steadied and slowly cleared up. The disoriented man looked over at the spot he had seen the figure earlier but saw no one there, and the memory was starting to look like an illusion. 

"Finally, you're up. It was starting to become a bore, waiting for you to wake up. Was already loving the idea of slapping the shit out of you until you came back to the world of the living." The stranger in a black mask said from behind him. He took a closer look and noticed the stranger had on a similar costume as the one he had seen earlier but with a full mask on and some cool pair of black glasses that almost looked like a visor. 

With a sudden roll, Floyd rolled to the side and grabbed the M16 rifle he saw laying at a nearby Corner. 

"Who are you?" He asked as he got on his knees and took aim. 

"Welcome back to hell, Mr Floyd Lawton." The masked man bantered. "What's the last thing you remember?" 

"None of your business, now tell. Who you are and where the fuck this is." He responded. 

"For you to get an understanding as to why you are here, first you'll need to think back to what you remember. Then you can link it with your current situation." The stranger in the mask said, before walking over to a nearby stool and took a seat as if he wasn't threatened by the rifle.

"With the slightest movement of the finger I have on the trigger right now, I could easily blow your brains out. Then figure out where I am for myself."

"You can go ahead and try, but I believe it would be in your best interest if you didn't. You might just end up hurting yourself after I had just saved you." He said with a short pause. "Technically, my boss did." He added. 

"Your boss?" 

"Yes, now put down that gun and tell me exactly what you remember."

"I…I remember being out on a mission, I had been paid to assassinate a target and he was finally within my range. I mounted my sniper rifle and took careful aim through the scope, suddenly I was hit by a splitting headache then it all turned black. I guess… I blacked out." Floyd responded, still confused with the whole thing. 

"Oh yeah, you indeed blacked out and were in full commando mode for a few months now, you stole from one company to another. Fought off the police and is now on the run from the heros."

"That's impossible." Floyed blurted out. "You're kidding right." Floyd said, then broke into a short series of nervous laughter. 

"Well not to a psychic gorilla who wants to reenact planet of the apes, and I mean Gorilla Grodd."

His blood ran cold due to the inflow of the shocking information. It sounded like a lie but the blackout was real and the situation he currently found himself was proof of what the masked man had said. 

"Are you serious right now, Grodd?" 

He used you like a puppet to steal technological parts he needed." Floyd scoffed at the bizarre information but yet, he thought to himself that something like that isn't far fetched, yet again he considered the world they found themselves in and it was very much possible. 

"So how did I end up here and unconscious?" 

"Well I'm sure you're quite curious as to the answer to that question. The thing is, my employer had a preposition for you and could not get in contact with you. So he sent people out in search of the man who never misses, 'Floyd Lawton'." Which is you, that was when he found out you were doing Gorilla Grodd's bidding and sent me to help you break free from the leash Grodd had on you."

"Wow! That's a lot to take in all at once but one thing is for sure, whoever your boss is, I owe him one." Floyd said with a breath of slight relief. "And just who might your boss be?" He continued. 

"His name is 'Ghost' and he wants you to come work for him, he wants you to be part of the private group of outlaws he's putting together."

"I appreciate him helping me out and all… But thanks, I am cool with my job as a hitman."

He stood up and was preparing himself to leave the building. "That's the fun of it, you don't need to stop being a hitman. You can go along with your normal job but when he calls on you, he needs you to take up his request as swiftly as you can." 

"Sounds good to me, I am a contractor after all. When can I meet this boss of yours and what may I call you?" He asked the stranger in a mask. 

"He'll reach out to you when it's convenient enough to meet with you. As for my identity, it's better we don't speak of that now. Maybe some other time." 

"But am I free from Gorilla Grodd's mind control thingy?" He asked, his expression slowly morphing into that of wary. 

"Don't worry, so long as you don't take off that piece of tech that's been placed on your ear he won't be able to get control of your mind." With that, DeathShot reached for both ears and felt something was indeed around his left ear but he could barely feel it before. 

"What… Is this?" DeathShot asked in complete curiosity as to what had been placed on his ear, there were no mirrors or reflective surface around to check. 

"They are psychic dampeners, he won't be able to reach your mind so long as it stays on. And don't worry, it's waterproof." He said, confidence leaking audibly through his voice. 

DeathShot looked at the windows and noticed a broken piece of glass hanging on the frame, he rushed over and grabbed the glass as he used it as a mirror. The device he saw looked more like a one-eared bluetooth headphone that relaxed on the surface of his ear. 

"Take this phone, Ghost will contact you with this. So long as you pledge your loyalty to him, you'll be part of the unstoppable team he's building." He reached out his hand and gave DeathShot a burner phone. 

"Okay, you still haven't told me where exactly here is." DeathShot said, gesturing for an answer. 

"You're a skilled hitman right? Figure it out yourself, I've done my part and whatever you do from now on is none of my business unless it's an order from Ghost." He said as he started to float into the air and disappeared through the window, leaving the mercenary alone in the cold and dark room of an abandoned building. 

============

Kindly visit my patreon to read ahead. 👇

patre*on.com/Maverick_DaSupreme