A Hitman's Guide To Becoming A Hero

The forward staging camp on the dusty outskirts of Cairo was little more than a cluster of heavy canvas tents, reinforced shipping containers, and a private dirt landing strip surrounded by barbed-wire fences.

The three battered rovers ground to a halt near the main hangar tent, their engines ticking loudly as the superchargers cooled under the afternoon sun. Their frames were heavily dented, covered in fine, ash-gray sand, and scratched from falling rock.

The moment the vehicles stopped, the doors swung open.

Nectron climbed down first, groaning as he stretched his massive frame. He grabbed a fresh gallon jug of bottled water from the back of the rover, unscrewed the cap with one hand, and poured half of it over his head. The cool water washed through the thick layer of desert dust covering his face.

"Man, that feels good," Nectron muttered, shaking his head like a wet dog. "I feel like I swallowed an entire sandbox."

Beside him, Zero stepped down onto the dirt. His dark travel cloak was gray with dust, but his movements remained calm. He unbuckled his sword harness and checked the purple gemstone at the base of his blade. Its glow had settled back into a steady pulse, no longer reacting to the overwhelming energy from the buried dreadnought.

Nicholas hopped down from the second rover, his boots kicking up a small cloud of dust. He walked to the back and reached for his light canvas duffel bag. His dark blue eyes moved across the small staging post as he checked their surroundings.

There was no immediate danger. A small group of trusted Association ground crew and private contractors were already moving around the vehicles, inspecting the damaged tires and blowing sand out of the radiator grilles.

"Get the analysis kit set up in the command tent immediately," Selena ordered, walking past the mechanics. She carried the vacuum-sealed containment case in both hands, holding it carefully.

Her jacket was stained with sweat and stone dust, and a few strands of dark hair had escaped her ponytail, but she paid them no attention. Two senior field supervisors followed behind her, their faces tense as they understood the importance of what was inside the case.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

At the back of the rover, a dramatic, breathless groan came from the cargo bay.

Julie rolled out of the back seat and tumbled onto the dirt like a sack of laundry. She lay flat on her back for five seconds, staring up at the clear blue sky. Her clothes were covered in dust, and her pink hair stuck out in every direction.

"I survived," Julie whispered dramatically to the heavens. "The history books will write songs about this day. The day Peach Fairy conquered the cosmic abyss and looked death in the eye."

"You cried because you dropped a piece of aluminum," Selena called out without looking back as she pushed through the flaps of the command tent.

"It was anodized rose-gold aerospace alloy!" Julie yelled back, quickly scrambling to her feet and dusting off her trousers. She looked down at her handheld camera and tapped the screen until the display flickered to life. "Battery at four percent. But the footage is safe. The cloud backup initialized the second we hit the satellite relay. Chat is going to lose their collective minds."

"Thirty percent," Nicholas reminded her calmly as he walked past with his canvas bag over one shoulder.

Julie groaned, throwing her hands into the air. "I almost got squashed by a forty-ton alien ceiling, Phantom! Have some compassion! Can’t you offer a near-death discount?!"

"No," Nicholas said without breaking stride. "Thirty-five percent if you keep yelling."

Julie clamped both hands over her mouth, her eyes widening in mock horror as she hurried after him into the shade of the tent.

Inside the large command tent, the air was considerably cooler thanks to two portable industrial air-conditioning units humming in the corners. Long folding tables were covered with satellite communication arrays, analytical computers, and high-resolution optical scanners.

Selena placed the containment case in the center of the main table. She entered a four-digit code, and the motorized latches unlocked with a soft hiss.

The strike team gathered around the table. Vixen pulled off her gloves and leaned against the edge of the console, her green eyes focused on the parchment. Zero stood near the tent entrance with his arms crossed.

Using fine, static-free tweezers, Selena lifted the animal parchment and placed it beneath the high-magnification scanner. The optical lenses hummed as a bright blue grid passed over the weathered hide, showing its uneven texture, dried resin strokes, and broken words.

"The preliminary scan is compiling," one of the field supervisors said, typing rapidly on the main terminal. "The material is organic mammal hide, approximately fifty years old. That matches the timeline of the initial global plague outbreak."

"Look at the continental markings beneath the text," Selena said, pointing at the image appearing on the main monitor.

The scanner enhanced the crude scratches drawn with dark tree resin.

Beneath the broken sentences—"I... HIdE... SEvEN... STONeS... ACROsS... SEvEN... LAnDS"—were seven distinct geographic clusters. The drawings were primitive and lacked precise borders, but the continental shapes were unmistakable.

"He hid the master drive cores in different parts of the world," Selena said, zooming in on the first cluster. "One here in North Africa, which corresponds to the ship’s crash site and the gemstone Zero recovered. But look at the others. There’s a marker in the Appalachian mountain range in North America. Another in the dense rainforests of South America. One deep beneath the ice shelves of Antarctica. One in the Siberian tundra, one in the Himalayan highlands, and one in the oceanic trenches near the Pacific rim."

"Seven master power stones," Nectron muttered, rubbing his chin. "Why scatter them like that? If he wanted to keep them safe, wouldn’t it make more sense to bury them all together in the deepest hole he could find?"

"Because if the Dominion fleet reaches Earth and searches a single site, they only find one dead battery," Nicholas said, his voice flat. "Scattering them forces an invading force to search the entire planet. It buys humanity time. And it gives awakened humans across different regions a chance to find a weapon."

"The note mentions the shield," Vixen said, crossing her arms. Her eyes narrowed as she read the broken text on the screen: "BUT... SHIELd... BReAK... WhEN... SOUL... AWAKEn."

"That part worries me the most," Vixen continued quietly. "Every time someone awakens an ability, the planetary energy output increases. In Grayland, in Chicago, across every major continent, heroes and impures are unlocking higher tiers of Qi every single day. We are essentially burning away the camouflage Ikar built for us."

"Which means the clock is ticking," Selena said grimly. "We need to get this parchment and the high-resolution scans back to the Association’s primary research division in Grayland. Eric needs to brief the highest security council without letting corporate syndicates get wind of these coordinates."

Before Selena could finish the file transfer, the primary satellite radio on the communications desk began beeping with an urgent signal.

A field supervisor immediately clicked the receiver switch. "Forward staging, Cairo. Go ahead."

A sharp burst of static crackled through the speakers, followed by the tense, exhausted voice of Eric.

"Selena? Phantom? Is the strike team secure?"

"We’re secure, Eric," Selena replied, stepping up to the microphone. "We breached the vessel, recovered crucial intelligence, and got out safely before the ruins collapsed. The site is permanently buried under the basin."

Eric let out a heavy breath over the link. "Good. Because the situation back home just went from bad to catastrophic."

The mood inside the command tent changed instantly.

Nicholas stepped closer to the console. "What happened with the clone?"

"He stopped playing defense," Eric replied, his voice strained and grim. "Two hours ago, the clone breached the hero containment perimeter in downtown Chicago. He didn’t just dismantle the response units—he tore through three top-tier hero squads in less than fifteen minutes. The local hero garrisons in Detroit and Chicago are completely overwhelmed. He’s moving east toward the state line, and he’s leaving a trail of pure devastation in his wake."

"Is he heading for Grayland?" Nicholas asked, his tone perfectly level, but his eyes darkening with cold intent.

"We don’t know his target," Eric said. "The media is in a total frenzy because he’s still wearing your face and using your abilities. The public thinks Phantom has gone rogue and is actively destroying the Midwest. The High Council is preparing to authorize extreme lethal protocols, and the city defenses are buckling."

Selena clenched her fists against the edge of the table. "Our transport jet is fueled and ready on the airstrip. We can be airborne in twenty minutes."

"Get back here as fast as you can," Eric ordered. "Secure the artifact, lock down your data, and get on that plane. We need our primary strike team back on the ground before the entire regional defense grid collapses."

"Understood," Selena said. "We’re wheels up shortly."

The communication cut out with a dull click, leaving the tent in silence.

Julie quietly lowered her camera, the playful smirk gone from her face. She looked at Nicholas, then at Selena, realizing that their narrow escape from an ancient extraterrestrial tomb was only the first half of the nightmare.

Nicholas turned away from the table, his canvas duffel bag already in his hand.

"Pack the gear," Nicholas said quietly, his voice cutting through the heavy dread in the room. "We’re going home."