Operation Kingpin / Project Equalizer precursor

The job was simple.

It usually was these days. Many considered the Crimson Reaper to be a simple strongman. No real tact, no class, no mind for anything other than violence. He would never claim to dislike violence or killing, or even that he wasn't one of the best at the job. No, never...and yet they had always overlooked what he truly was. A true villain. Not some loser who wanted profit or was unhinged from the world. No, he was a villain to be a villain. There was so much more class than the greedy or the insane, there was passion behind what he did and that made him all the more dangerous.

As he stood in the dimly lit basement, staring at the bloody face of some random lower crime boss, he couldn't help but feel bored. In any other case, he would've denied this job, yet it came with a reward he needed and also...a promise. He wasn't sure how the promise would be followed through, but the man who hired him guaranteed the appearance of a Super, maybe even a few. The reward was enough to accept the job, but that promise? Oooh ho ho...that was just icing on the cake.

While many villains lamented in the intervention of heroes, even if they could be easily handled, was the fact that heroes were the reason behind his passion. What was a villain without one, after all?

So, the job to interrogate this small-time crime boss did have merits in itself, there was some pertinent information he had, but what the Reaper was really waiting for what was...

From above he heard the creek of the warehouse door open, those old hinges proving to be all the alarm he needed. So, with a pat on the cheek to the man tied up, he turned and started for the stairs that led upward. With each step, a new sensation would begin to spread out from him. An aura of fear crawled from the depths of the dark warehouse and out to whatever poor hero awaited him. It was a slow, building tension, only amplified by the slow and steady steps of the Reaper ascending the staircase, making sure each step had a dark and ominous weight to it.

He was coming, and he was ready.

The inside of the warehouse was unnervingly empty, especially since the tip mentioned a major head of a small crime family. One would think the place would have some guards, or a doorman, at the very least.  

But, as Speedrun strolled through the building, scanning his surroundings, he started to feel that he might have been played. “I get it, must be a thing in this city...” He didn’t bother to keep his voice low, not like anyone was around. “New hero comes in, you tell him there’s a crime boss just waiting to be brought to justice, and send him off on some wild goose chase to some dusty old warehouse.”  

As he continued further in, he felt a sudden chill crawl up his spine, a sensation of fear suddenly grasped at him.  

As he looked around in a slight state of unease, the footsteps echoed out of the dark.

Someone was here.

Even as the fear crept in, the young hero pushed it down, stepping towards the source of the sound. “Hello, I’m here for the dance battle classes, I was told this was the eastside curbstompers meeting spot??”  

Even as his body was wracked with fear, the Speedster looked completely calm on the outside, with his trademark superhero smile, and witty humor.

It was faint at first, but she felt it. The feeling of being unprepared initially, then beyond that, feeling afraid. That said... She had been briefed on this. As such though she was afraid, she didn't slow, nor did she stop. Instead, Elaine drew a flashlight, clicking on the light. She held the light in her left hand, while keeping the right hand trained ahead. Pistol aimed directly at the center of the beam of light she produced.

Continuing, she would turn kicking doors open with ease, even breaking any locked doors open as if they were made of cheap material, and not the good wood that they were indeed made of, splintering before pushing in and quickly clearing them back-to-back. He was here, she knew that much. She just needed to find him.

The feeling of unease intensified, but she was used to that. Having served in multiple wars, she was trained to push through the very same nightmare fuel that was pumping into her form right now... Then, something happened.

She snapped her weapon onto the person, aware that he had effectively snuck up on her. Though she wasn't exactly sure who he was. Judging by his discourse she imagined he wasn't opposition, but was still on a mission here.

"I feel it, but I don't see it... Lieutenant Sierra Wolff, I'm here to take down Crimson; you want in?"

Elaine asked him briefly, lowering the light from his face, and pushing forward a bit. Apparently, not waiting for a response from the new party.

The footsteps, as the Reaper climbed up those old and dusty footsteps, would echo throughout the building, making it hard, at first to tell where it was coming from. He wasn't surprised to hear the first baiting call of the hero, the one that seemed to carry the smug arrogance of an overconfident hero. What did surprise him, however, was the voice of a second, a female...another hero that was after him. It was two heroes, not just the one he hoped for, but two.

As soon as the woman's words left her mouth, a dark, sinister, yet amused laugh would fill the warehouse, echoing throughout the building. Like the steps, it was hard to pin the origin of it, but soon the source would be found. Stepping away from the darkness that clung to the space near the staircase and into the dim moonlight in front of it, he made himself known to the room. His eyes seemed to burn with a vicious intensity and his grin was wide and full of malice. He looked to be a textbook villain, clad in reds and black, a skeletal design to his attire, and gripped firmly in his hand...a giant hammer that blazed with an intense heat.

That sense of dread and fear would be pouring off of him now, the looming figure that stood only a few feet from the dark. "Ah, so I do have company." He spoke in a low, dark tone, his voice easily carried through the warehouse. "Good. Just as expected." He let the end of his hammer touch the floor, small bits of ash rising from the dust that caught flame. He lifted a hand to reveal a remote with only a few buttons. Clicking it, shutters covering the windows began to lift, letting more moonlight pool in to better illuminate the room. It was still dark, dim...hard to see, but at least now everyone's visage could be known.

"I am the Crimson Reaper and I welcome you to my current place of business." Each word he spoke seemed to carry a weight to it, and while nothing was overtly threatening, his tone conveyed otherwise. "It is my greatest pleasure to meet you both."

As he continued to move closer, a light appeared from the dark, revealing another person in the room. With the light shined on him, it was hard for the speedster to make out the person, but the voice told him they were a young woman.

“I’m sorry, Crimson??” Speedruns would’ve sank, if he wasn’t already experiencing the irrational fear. “You mean Crimson Reaper??”

As if to answer his question, the sound of laughter echoed throughout the dimly lit warehouse, the acoustics of the building making it impossible to pinpoint the direction.

From the shadows, a third figure stepped into the moonlight, introducing himself as the Crimson Reaper, confirming the heros’ suspicions.

He certainly looked like the type to go by Crimson Reaper, dressed in his red and black attire, with a rather large hammer, the head glowing with an unnatural heat.

On the inside, the speedster was screaming, wanting nothing more than to just run. But, something much stronger than his fear pushed him forward, as he put on his best calm face. “Gotta say, I did not expect your lair to be some random warehouse...” He motioned to the mans attire. “I pegged you as a haunted mansion kinda person at the very least.”

The more he quipped, the less he thought about the fear, though it was still hooked into him, and got worse Crimson appeared.

“Are you doing that??” He pointed to the villain. “What is that, some kind of aerosol drug, developed to trigger anxiety??”