Chapter Text
His sleek black sniper gleamed menacingly in the orange glow of the sunset as the fading rays of sunlight hit the rooftop, bathing the man holding the weapon in a fiery orange glow.
"You know what to do, Viper. Eliminate the target, and secure the cash."
The instructions given by his Captain and fellow partner in crime echoed in his head as he steadied his breathing, closing one eye as he peered down the scope of his rifle. He was no stranger to this, there were countless reasons why dozens of wanted posters with his face plastered on them all around this small, western town to prove that fact, after all. He and his Captain worked as a team, and they'd each racked up their own bounties after countless years. Last time Viper checked, the bounty over his head was nine hundred million won.
Taking another deep breath, his finger pressed down on the trigger, letting loose a bullet from his gun that flew through the air with inhumane speed. Viper smirked subtly as the bullet struck his target exactly where he planned, bringing the barrel of the rifle up near his lips, blowing away the small trail of smoke drifting from the end. He never missed a shot, and he knew exactly where to shoot and kill a person with only one bullet. Pulling his bandana over the lower half of his face, he stood up from his crouching stance, vaulting his body over the side of the building. With practiced ease, he slid his way down the sides of the two buildings, a small cloud of dust slowly floating upwards after his boots hit the ground.
Glancing both ways, making sure nobody was around him, he dashed out from his hiding place. Sprinting towards the person who he'd just killed, he swiftly snatched the bag of cash laying beside their corpse, doing one last shoulder check before vanishing back into the shadows just as quickly as he'd appeared.
Navigating his way back to the hideout was simple, and he arrived back without any issues. Pushing open the hidden door, he carefully closed it behind him. Behind this door was a small hallway, which eventually gave way out into a big, open space that was full of plush furniture and a small kitchenette. Captain, who's real name was Kim Hongjoong, was lounging on the couch, studying a worn map with a bored expression clear on his face as he sighed in defeat, reaching up to massage his temples with his free hand.
Viper, better known to Captain as Mingi, dumped the bag of cash beside the entrance of the room, leaning his prized rifle up against the wall. He made his way over to the couch, dropping beside Captain and peeking over to see what the map looked like. Captain glanced over at Viper, then jerked his head to get a good look at the bag of cash by the room's entrance, humming in approval. He then glanced back to Viper, shooting his fellow assassin a pleased grin. "As always, outstanding job Mingi. Nobody saw you, right?" The older of two men asked, passing the map to Viper per his request.
Viper rolled his eyes with a grin, snickering softly to himself. "Hyung, what kind of assassin would I be if I was always getting caught? I'd think I'd be a really terrible sniper if I was always getting caught, don't you think?" He questioned, his brows furrowed in confusion as he tried to make sense of the worn map. Captain chuckled, shrugging lazily. "You've got a point. But you're a great sniper, Mingi, you never miss!" He praised, beaming at the dark haired male.
"Oh, trust me, I'm aware of just how great of an assassin I am!" He paused for a moment to smirk at his confidence, before clearing his throat and continuing. "Anyways, I'm going to get some sleep. I've got a big job for tomorrow, I was given a request to head down to the local saloon to… talk.. things out with the owner." Viper remarked with a mischievous smirk, standing up, waving lazily to Captain as he left the room and made his way towards his bedroom.
*The next evening*
Clad in a long black trench coat and a cowboy hat that hid his eyes by creating a shadow over his face with a bandana hiding the lower half, Viper's hand twitched impatiently, snaking towards his hip where a smaller gun than his usual sniper rifle was resting in the holster slung around his hips. He stared up at the saloon, scoffing in disgust at the fancy decor of two pistols spitting flames instead of bullets that were higher up on the building. The saloon's wooden doors had the logo burned into them, which was a chilli pepper. The words 'K-HOT CHILLI PEPPERS' were burned into the wood around the logo, but Viper paid the details of this building no attention, kicking the swinging doors open with his boot.
Strolling inside and receiving confused and scared looks from the saloon patrons, Viper scoffed, smacking a ball that was resting on a pool table as he passed it, which sent it rolling across the surface. He reached the bar, where the owner was standing, drying a glass with a small rag. Viper spotted dozens of wanted posters taped up behind the bar on the wall, most of them being for himself and Captain, but there were also two names he didn't recognize; Outlaw and Dune. The saloon owner then glanced up, noticing that someone was standing there.
The second he did, his eyes grew wide. He glanced over at his shoulder at the wanted posters, checking to see if the man in front of him matched the person who's face adorned most of the posters. Turning back to the assassin, he swallowed nervously, his eyes as big as saucers. "Y-You're him. The one they call...Viper. Y-You know, the police would pay me quite handsomely for turning you in-" The owner began in a trembling tone, only to choke on his words as he felt the barrel of Viper's gun press against his neck. Viper growled deeply, his finger hovering above the trigger. "You'll do nothing of the sorts, do I make myself clear? Listen, I just want some answers here... buddy." He paused on that last word, his tone sharp and serious as he narrowed his gaze. "Do you know someone by the name of Minjae?" Viper pressed on, his finger still hovering just a few meters away from the trigger of the gun, the threat of imminent death being mere meters away which caused the saloon owner to swallow hard before he chose to make any sudden moves.
The owner then slowly nodded in fear, his hands up in defense, as a bead of sweat made its way down the side of the old man's face. "Good. Because you owe him and his gang a lot of money. But, you're aware of this, I assume?" Viper asked, pausing as the old man nodded once again. "I-i said… I would get the m-money back to him.. I'm working on it, I prom-" With a pissed groan, Viper pressed his finger down on the trigger, the bullet of the weapon going cleanly through the man's neck and getting lodged into the wall behind him. His tolerance for bullshit and blatant lies that he'd heard a million times before was extremely short, and his emotions ended up getting the better of him.
Whipping around, he began to fire off rapid shots at the people who had rushed at him for attacking the saloon owner, and each of his bullets hit their respective target with perfect ease. His ears were ringing loudly with each bullet fired, but it was the least of his worries. He'd grown used to this. After all, as an assassin, you'd hear gunshots regularly. Within moments, everyone in the saloon was dead, and Viper scoffed, rolling his eyes as he loaded more bullets into his gun. This had been too easy, hardly enough to be even considered as a challenge. He clicked the safety of the gun on, placing it back in his holster.
Pulling his hat lower, he adjusted his bandana on the lower half of his face, never speaking a word as he left the saloon. When he got back outside into the town, he noticed the sun had fully set. Glancing up, he smiled softly at the sight of stars. One seemed brighter than the others, so Viper focused on that. He closed his eyes, making a silent wish that one day, he'd meet someone fearless like himself and form a close bond with them. This someone would be a person Viper could trust with each of his secrets and someone who wouldn't be frightened by the way of his lifestyle. They'd understand that he's simply doing what he needs too in order to survive, avoiding the strict rules and multiple bounties on his head.
He and Captain had sworn the day after the two of them met, that one day, they'd take down Z together. That man was the leader of the twisted, corrupt government and the huge dystopian city that was called Strictland, which was not too far from this western town that they'd fled to after escaping the city with the help of a infamous group that was hated by Z. This group called themselves The Black Pirates. The eight behind the revolution, the spies on the inside and the ones who have always escaped from the Android Guardians whenever they were caught. They escaped each time by using an ancient artifact called The Cromer, which allowed the user to travel between dimensions during a full moon.
The Black Pirates had escaped a while ago, but never returned. The people of Strictland had lost all hope for their return, and eventually gave up and forcefully fell back under Z's reign. The entirety of the Prestige Academy was the first to be targeted by Z and the Android Guardians, including all the young teen students who attended the Academy. Viper and Captain had always made plans to go to the academy and free the students after their eventual return to Strictland, but there was zero way they'd be able to free everyone by themselves. They needed a real team, people they could trust. Without people to help, if either of them were to be caught by the Android Guardians, it'd be game over for both of them.