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The mission was pretty simple, all things considered.
All they had to do was go into an old empty factory that's recently had an uptick in suspicious activity and place some bugs. They had to toss a small bomb out a window when they triggered a trap by the door, which wasn't even locked, weirdly enough. Though, they don't think that would have even killed them unless it was right next to their head. They can't say the same about the bushes outside, however…
Phoenix was placing the last bug when they spotted a giant yellow arrow painted on the wall, pointing at an ominous open door.
...What?
"Uhhhh…" Their handler spotted it too, "That looks strangely suspicious. Be careful Agent."
Phoenix wanders towards it, the paint looks new compared to the faded logos on the other walls. The room it's pointing to looks dark, and small, but they can't make out anything inside.
Well, Phoenix has always been curious to a fault. They slowly creep towards the door. There's definitely something inside. They haven't died yet, so maybe that was making them more confident than they should be.
The door clicked behind Phoenix as soon as they entered.
It's just as dark as it looked from the outside. Darker, actually, now that the door is closed. They can barely see anything. A figure looks up at them dramatically from across a table.
"Ah, if it isn't the Phoenix. I've been expecting you," The figure says, covered in shadows. Phoenix's first observation is that this place could use a lamp or something. The single barely working light bulb in the middle is not enough. The only thing they can make out from the figure is big yellow glasses.
"Go on, sit down. I'm very excited to get to play with you."
Okay, so this guy thinks he sounds cool. Alright, whatever. Not the first time some cocky asshole has made them listen to their villain monologue.
There's a wooden chair in front of them, and a square table in front of that. They take a seat and wait for them to continue the ramble.
"Yes yes, perfect. Now, I suppose you're wondering why I've led you here."
They weren't really. More wondering how they're going to get out of this, but same difference they guess.
"Well, I'll tell you. I've been working for Dr. Zor for quite some time," Wow. Shocker. "but the Doctor has never acknowledged my superiority over my peers." Great, he has a superiority complex, just what they need. "I've never sat at that big table with the VIPS, something even you've had the honor of doing! But not anymore. After today the Doctor will have to acknowledge how useful luck can be!"
...luck? They're up against someone who thinks they're lucky? Them, Agent Phoenix, who can keep testing fate until they get the outcome they want. Oh, you have to be kidding.
The person tosses a revolver on the table. Wait, no he can't be serious.
"You're familiar with Russian roulette, right? Who am I kidding, of course you are. It's gambling to the highest extreme! Once I kill you with pure luck, the Doctor will have to realize my talents. They just have to!"
He's serious. Okay. Maybe Phoenix can just kill themself and avoid this whole thing next time.
The person picks up the gun and twirls it in their hand enthusiastically. "You know how this goes, only one bullet in the chamber. It's a one out of eight chance. Here, I'll even let you go first!"
They slide the gun across the table to them. They look giddy about this. This is weird.
In their earpiece, they hear their handler warn them, "Agent, do not pick up that gun. I don't know who this is, but I am not putting your life up to chance." Which would be great advice, if Phoenix didn't benefit from just ending this quickly. Besides, they wanna see if they get lucky.
Phoenix takes the gun, spins the cylinder, makes sure they're not aiming at their kinesium, and pulls the trigger.
The gun fires.
DECEASED.
CAUSE OF DEATH: BULLET TO THE HEAD.
Wow. Okay. They weren't kidding, apparently this guy is a walking jackpot.
Or they were just tricked into shooting themself with a fully loaded gun. Phoenix would feel really, really stupid if all it took to get them to shoot themself was someone being a little weird.
Well, at least they can avoid this whole situation now, and the only side effect is a headache.
Phoenix wakes up to the sound of the door clicking.
"Ah, if it isn't the Phoenix. I've been expecting you."
Oh, come on. Nothing can be easy for them, can it?
"Go on, sit down. I'm very excited to get to play with you."
Phoenix sits down on cue and tries to make the appropriate facial expressions while they wait out the rambling. At least it's not as bad as Juniper was. He went on for like 3 minutes.
The gun is handed to them again. Okay. They don't want to gamble again. What's stopping them from just leaving?
That's not a rhetorical question, because there probably is something, they just genuinely want to know what it is.
Phoenix spins the cylinder, makes a show of hesitating, and then chucks the gun at the shitty light bulb hard enough to break it. (which isn't saying much by their judgement.)
Sparks and glass fly out of it, and there's no other light source besides the now broken one, so it's a sufficient enough distraction for them to stand up and try the door handle.
DECEASED.
CAUSE OF DEATH: ELECTROCUTION
Okay. Electrified door. Honestly, they were expecting explosions. This is a nice change of pace though.
The door is probably still locked, considering the clicking. Eh, they're not worried about it. Phoenix has broken open far more than a thin metal door in their time, so if they can get it powered off, they can probably just pry it open.
Well, attempt 3 it is.
The door clicks, and, now that Phoenix is listening for it, starts to faintly hum.
"Ah, if it isn't the Phoenix. I've been expecting you."
Phoenix nods, already disinterested. They sit down and wait for this guy to tell them about how Dr. Zor won't notice them and this will finally fix that. An untrue statement, but they can appreciate the effort. Kind of.
They're handed the gun. Okay, they don't like it, but it seems like it's them or him. Well, no one said this job was easy. Their best bet is probably just to try and shoot him instead.
Phoenix spins the cylinder, maybe they'll get lucky this time, who knows. If not, it doesn't really matter ultimately. They will eventually.
They aim the gun at the person. It clicks.
Shit.
"Ah ah, maybe I was too presumptuous. You're supposed to aim it at yourself. Well, I suppose it makes no difference if we play an altered version."
The person holds their hand out, "My turn now!" They say with a smile.
Phoenix, despite their better judgement, hands it back over.
They shoot, and the gun clicks. They start giggling.
"Ehe! Well would you look at that. Your turn!"
Phoenix takes the gun, it clicks. This is starting to stress them out.
They hand it back over. He aims, pulls the trigger and–
DECEASED
CAUSE OF DEATH: BULLET TO THE HEAD
Yeah, they should have seen that coming. Their headache is only gonna get worse, isn't it?
Actually, it's already pretty bad. Wait, did they hit their implant? Oh, that bastard.
Note to self. Don't let them aim a gun at you. Got it.
The door clicks behind them.
"Ah, if it isn't the Phoenix. I've been expecting you."
Phoenix sits, waits, are they just annoyed or is this taking longer? Probably just annoyed. They're finding that even if it's not John they hate sitting through villain monologues, who knew?
They take the gun when it's given, spin the cylinder with extra force because they don't get to do any violence here, and-
Actually, y'know what? New idea.
Phoenix stands up, aims the gun out of the person's reach, and doesn't stop firing until a shot goes off.
The body of the person goes limp. Okay, gross, but easier than expected. Why hasn't anyone else ever done that?
Their handler starts speaking. "Agent?! Are– oh. I see. Good work Agent! Excellent idea. Stuff like that is the reason we aren't allowed to play cards at the Agency company parties anymore."
Oh? Phoenix will have to get a story out of him later.
"Now, be careful. It seems a lot of the building's power is being routed to the door of the room you're in. Don't touch anything, it's an overkill amount if you ask me."
Oh. Right. How are they going to leave now? They'd rather not be trapped in a small room with a corpse for any longer than they have to.
"You can't turn off the power from where you are, can you? No... I didn't see any breakers on the way here. Hm. Give me a moment, Agent."
Phoenix gives a thumbs up and waits. Hopefully this won't be too complicated, they just wanna go home.
After a few minutes, Reginald comes back. "Alright, so this building is rather old, so it might not be up to code, but I think if you damage the wiring, it should trigger a fail safe and turn off everything in that section. That's how power works, right? I'm not an electrician, but you should try that."
Oh, that sounds plausible. They're also not an electrician, but they're just gonna trust him on this.
Phoenix looks around, okay, there's an outlet on the wall. Uncomfortably close to the dead body, but Phoenix can just... uh... gently TK their chair away. Yeah.
Okay, how does one damage an outlet so badly they blow a fuse? Their first thought is to unscrew the cover, but the screws are weird and they can't get them to budge with their hands. Okay. Maybe they can damage it from the outside?
The wooden chair they were sitting in is pretty sturdy, but not sturdy enough for them to not be able to break one of the legs off with enough effort. Maybe if they just start whaling on the outlet with it something will happen.
Phoenix gets about 5 whacks in before Reginald says something.
"Err... not that I don't admire your creativity, but I don't think that's going to do anything."
Right, of course. Phoenix tosses it over their shoulder haphazardly. Something else then.
"Are there any bullets left in that gun? If you shoot it that'll have to be enough."
Oh, good idea! Phoenix grabs the revolver again and tries to open the chamber to check. They can't get it to pop open though. Huh, what kind of gun even is this? Not one Phoenix has ever seen, and that's saying something.
Eh, fuck it, Phoenix aims the gun at the outlet and shoots eight times, all empty. No dice.
Maybe they can just... shove the metal inside the openings? They try, across the room with their telekinesis, but it's a lost cause. They chuck the gun at the outlet and try to think of something else.
TKing the door doesn't work. It feels like TV static when they try and they can't get any type of grip. If only they had another bullet.
...Well, they could, if they restarted again. Is that their only solution here? Seriously, what was this guy's plan? Did he even know that the door was trapped? He made a big deal about the luck thing just to have another way to kill them. Actually… going off his vibes, yeah, he might not have known that could kill them.
"Hm… well, I can send someone to get you out, but it'll be risky. Zor will know we messed with the power and will not like that you were here. I hate to say it, but this mission is likely a bust. Well, that's no matter. Just hang tight alright?"
A bust? No, Phoenix doesn't do busts.
Before they can hesitate, they slam their body into the door.
DECEASED
CAUSE OF DEATH: ELECTROCUTION
Eugh. They shake the electric tingling off. They hate dying like that. It always hurts weird.
Alright, what's the plan here? They need a single clean shot at the outlet. It's close to the floor, so if they stand out of arms reach they can't guarantee a hit. If they just spam it again that person will likely try and rip the gun out of their hands. They could count the bullets, but that would require another death...
Well, what's one more, right?
Click
"Ah, if it isn't the Phoenix. I've been expecting you."
Phoenix can't say their body feels particularly good right now. Multiple zaps and shots to the head hurts pretty bad. Sitting down for a minute isn't so terrible, actually. The person is still pretty annoying, but the gun comes too soon.
Phoenix does not spin the cylinder. (Why didn't they do this before?) Instead, they point it at themselves and start counting.
Click. 1
Pass gun. Click. 2
Take gun. Click. 3
Pass gun. Click. 4
Take gun. BANG
…5..
DECEASED
CAUSE OF DEATH: BULLET TO THE HEAD
See, that wasn't so bad, was it?
Click. They know the drill.
Phoenix still tries to look and act appropriately. Because if all goes well, this should be the last time. Gotta keep up appearances and all.
"–Here, I'll even let you go first!"
The gun slides over to them. They pick it up, inspect it, and turn the cylinder exactly five times.
"Wait, what are you-"
Phoenix shoots the outlet.
The socket violently sparks. There's smoke marks on the wall, not that you can see them for very long, because after a second there's a loud electrical whine and the light goes out.
They really hope that whatever is powering the door also went out with the light. Because this is gonna suck if it didn't.
"What?! No! That's not how you're supposed to play!"
Phoenix isn't listening. Instead, they're getting up and blindly feeling for the door. Ah, there it is.
Once they find it, they start trying to bust the door down with their foot. Hey look, they do get to do some violence. Hooray.
There are footsteps in the darkness behind them. The sound must've alerted the person that they are in fact actively trying to escape. Because of course they are.
They feel hands on their back, and the person gets a reflective elbow to the throat for their efforts.
He stumbles back and hits the chair from the sounds of it, but the door still isn't budging. Damn, how strong is this?
"I don't get it! The House always wins! Always! What are you–"
The lock snaps. Finally.
It's still attached, but not by much. In the sliver of light from the other room they can see that the person is indeed on the floor, along with their chair.
Phoenix flips them off as they shove their entire body into the door, breaking it fully and finally letting them free.
"Agent, how did you even-" their handler starts, "You know what, we don't have time for that. Quick! Get outside, we'll talk about this back at the office."
Aaha no they won't.
From behind them, the person is apparently incapable of pursuing them and starts shouting instead. "This isn't over Phoenix!"
Aaa funny thing about that, it actually is.
Now, to get back to the Agency building and figure out how this gun actually works.