The Sniper of Vlopolis

Chapter 5: The Two Sides of Vlopolis

The pitter-patter of the rain on the window almost made Mercury fall asleep while typing on the computer. She checked in her bag if she brought a coat, but she didn't. She looked outside, saw pouring rain and people with colorful umbrellas and raincoats. "Aw man, I didn't know it was going to rain," she groaned. Mercury packed up her belongings, turned off the lights to her office, and left the building.

She shivered in the cold rain on her way to Nikolai's house. She thought of stopping at a store along the way to buy an umbrella, but she had to get to his house to suit up since she brought it there that morning.

She knocked on the door and Nikolai let her in. "Wow, you're drenched! You didn't have a raincoat?" he asked.

"No, I didn't know it was going to rain, and I got extra clothes in this bag." She raised a blue Walmart bag to show Nikolai.

"Ok, good."

He led Mercury into the room where he hid their suits. Nikolai lifted a mirror off of the wall and behind it was a secret storage space, big enough for both of their suits. Then he went to a closet in the bedroom and handed Mercury her sniper rifle and pistol. "You get changed in here, I'll get changed in the bathroom," he said as he took his suit from the small storage space. "And by the way, there's a towel in the dresser for you to dry off." He closed the blinds and went to the bathroom.

Mercury dried off with the towel, braided her black hair into French braids, and got dressed in black leggings and an Underarmor t-shirt. She then zipped up her purple and black suit and her jacket over her clothes, put on tactical gloves, combat boots, utility belt, backpack, neck cover, and finally, her iconic mask. After, she attached her stun batons to her backpack, loaded her pistol and put it in her holster, slung her sniper rifle on her back, and pulled up her jacket's hood so people won't know what her true identity is.

Nikolai knocked on the bedroom door. "Are you done?"

"Yeah, coming."

Nikolai stood at the door in his brown, black, and white suit, holding a knife in its sheath. "I bought this for you to add to your utility belt since I noticed you didn't have one." He handed it to Mercury and she took the knife out of its sheath. It was a Trailing Point knife, one of the knives she's always wanted. "Thanks, I really like it," she uttered. She slid the knife back into the sheath and attached it to her utility belt. "Let's go. I know where Raven is going to be. Follow me."

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Tyler landed at the concrete steps of the old warehouse on Wahl Street and pushed the metal door open. Inside were guards holding AK-47s and Jakeem, or, his dealer. "Ah, Raven, good to see you!" Jakeem greeted in Arabic.

"I'm surprised you didn't get caught. Now let's get to business," Tyler also said in Arabic.

Jakeem called for his assistants and they all brought out crates of bombs. Tyler pulled out his phone and paid Jakeem 10,000 dollars. "Are you sure you don't want more money for all of these bombs?"

Jakeem shook his head. "No, no, it is an honor being in business with you, I don't need any more money," he disputed. "If you want, my soldiers and I will help you take all of these crates to your home since there are so many. If you lose the bombs, I'll give you more, you won't have to pay for anything."

"Thanks, and I'll...." The metal door of the warehouse flung open, and a samurai with glowing sapphire-colored katana swords stepped inside. The guards yelled "shoot her!" in Arabic. The bullets made a pinging sound as they hit her samurai armor, which didn't seem to harm her. Sapphire Samurai found them.

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"Ok, this is the place," Mercury notified. Weeds grew in cracks in the sidewalk, potholes filled the street, and street lights flickered.