The Mercenary

Makito sighed, Nothing to do in this city... he thought. His world having been completely wiped out when reality compressed, he didn't have any home to return to. The closest civilization he could find was this place, called the Genesis Complex by those lived there. He seemed to be wearing some kind of high-tech suit, with a short white jacket, blue jeans, and shoes over it. He had a head of light brown hair and was crouched down so his height wasn't all that identifiable. Next to him, he had a simple wooden sign with 'Man for Hire' scratched onto it, and remained silent waiting for someone to approach him. He needed to make some use of his skills, after all.

A small white hare slowly made it's way up to Makito. Something seemed to be tied around it's neck like a collar- it was a note.

Makito glanced down at the white hare that made its way up to him, tilting his head quizically This is odd. he thought, noticing the note tied to it's neck. He reached for the note and opened it, giving it a read-over twice so that he didn't miss anything hidden in the words. Wonder why some guy who want's a man for hire would send a rabbit for his message though. he thought.

The note read as follows.

"Dear sir or madam. I couldn't tell; I can never tell with your race. I hear you are a mercenary for hire, and I feel as though your skills as a mercenary would do me well in the long run. Follow the hare to find me, as it would be..unsightly for me to appear in person."

The hare could be seen, quickly making its way off.

Makito raised an eyebrow, just deciding to pocket the note and follow the rabbit down to wherever it was leading him. He hoped he wasn't walking into something suicidal or stupid, I mean seriously, if the person went through the trouble of training a rabbit to guide people somewhere and deliver notes so he didn't have to appear in public then he probably wasn't all there. I'm. . .following a rabbit, this is a first. he figured, stopping for a moment and glancing over as he saw a shadow dash past in a nearby alleyway. He stared for a few moments, before continueing to follow the rabbit.

The hare turned a corner into a dark alleyway. It seemed to emit a sort of glow, as though to lead Makito through the darkness.

Makito followed the hare into the dark alleyway, this was starting to be rather suspicious, or at least more so than it was before. Where the hell is this thing taking me? he wondered.

The hare stopped, turning to look at Makito, then fading away to dust. As this happened, the alleyway began to twist and contort, a light shining in from above. Grass seemed to sprout from the ground, and gigantic flowers littered the alleyway that seemed to be widening. The alleyway seemed to continue on for a ways longer, Makito's path now illuminated.

Starting to regret this. Makito thought, continueing down the odd alleyway without the rabbit guide, which was somehow transformed as grass began to sprout from the ground and gigantic flowers grew out of every nook and crannie. The alleyway continued to widen and become brighter as it illuminated, but Makito just continued to go down the middle. This is strange.

A butterfly seemed to flutter past Makito. As it passed him, it's wings seemed to clip. It fell to the ground, almost as though in agonizing pain. As he continued, the flowers slowly began to wilt, and the grass began to die. The sky began to turn a blood red color. "Well well, look what the cat dragged in." A deep, dark voice uttered amidst the brewing chaos.

Makito ignored the enviroment, seemingly unaffected by the sudden change. He had been aware that it was an illusion of some sort, but now he imagined that this was actually some sort of power or magic than the technology he had grown to be accustomed with. "...This is new." he said, being aware of the deep, dark voice but not directly responding to it.

In the distance, a floating door could be seen with no apparent place for it to lead. "Come in, come in." The voice sounded again. "We've much to discuss, Alice."

Makito raised an eyebrow when the odd voice caused him Alice. "Alice?" he asked, walking over to the door and opening it. He took a quick glance of what was inside if he could before stepping through. It's official, this customer is crazy. he concluded.

As the door opened, a quartet of hands reached out, attempting to pull Makito in. These hands were obviously not illusions.

Makito was suddenly pulled in, shaking his head and regaining his composure. That wasn't really necassary, was it? "So, you said you needed a mercenary?" he asked, dusting himself off.

In front of Makito, a table stood. It looked to be 5 feet tall at least. On the other side of the table, a giant, bipedal rabbit could be seen. "No, not a mercenary. I have a better task for you." the voice sounded, seeming to come from the rabbit.

On the other 2 sides, to the left and right of the rabbit, a giant mouse rested on a stool, and on the other side, a bone-thin man with a gigantic hat sat, drinking a cup of tea.

"As long as I get paid, need some way to make a living." he replied, walking up to a table and aiming to take a seat on the opposite side of the rabbit. That is, assuming there had been a seat open. He was surprised by the fact that his customer was a giant talking rabbit, but keeping his composure was still do-able.

The rabbit seemed to pull something out of it's pocket. It was a pouch. He quickly tossed it to the other side of the table, over to Makito. "I'm paying you in advance, because at this point, you won't be able to escape unless you succeed anyway." the rabbit said. A bit of scorn could be heard in it's voice. This was it's goal all along.

Makito pocketed the pouch, cracking his neck and preparing. "So this was your goal? Guess I should've seen this coming. So, what do I have to do then?" he asked. In the background, the sound of claws sharpening against the walls could be heard, but no figure was visible in the shadows.

What seemed like a smirk spread across the rabbit's face. "Looks like the riff-raff got in." he said. The ground under Makito's chair caved in, attempting to drag him down to a lower floor.

Makito was caught off guard by the chair he was on caving in, losing his composure for a moment as he fell. He seemed to hit some sort of floor, standing up in a daze he looked around. Thinking he heard something in the room, he quickly pulled out a sawn-off shotgun and pointed it in the direction he heard the noise. Guess I just have to survive.

The room that Makito fell into seemed to have a sky. Somehow. He was in the clearing of a large forest. The source of the sound seemed to move closer. It was a giant creature, standing dressed in a suit of armor that seemed to be made of playing cards. It carried a giant meat cleaver, and all of the cards that seemed to make up it's armor had hearts on them.

Makito didn't wait to observe his surroundings, narrowing his sights in the direction of the sound. The moment the creature approached optimal battle range for his shockgun, he shot at its legs in an attempt to immobilize it. He wasn't going to take any chances against something that was bigger than him and carrying around an absurdly large meat cleaver. In the background, the sound of claws scratching against the wall could still be heard.

The beast's surprisingly durable card armor seemed to shrug off the shotgun blow. It then raised it's cleaver, turning and preparing to swing. On it's back, it's unarmored heart could be seen pushing through it's spinal column. Before giving Makito any time to think about it, it swing it's cleaver in a wide arc.

Makito just barely rolls under the giant meat cleaver, regaining his balance and exhaling a sigh of relief. He takes a quick look at the monsters exposed heart, figuring that it would have a rather large time to recompose itself between blows with that massive cleaver. He immediately fires a second blow from his sawn off shotgun at the exposed heart, trying to see if that did any damage to the beast.