POV Rio
I won. I beat the bees. But at great cost. I was covered in bee stings. My face was really swollen up, but on the bright side, I got to use the locket. It took several hours to heal all the bee stings. But at least I got a lot of bee corpses. It wasn't that helpful or useful, but... Well... It was something.
'I hate that man greatly.'
I leave the basement, and sure enough, I end up in the house. Which was magically returned to a semi-livable state. As it had doors now and a fully equipped bathroom on the first and second floors. Still no furniture, but it was a start. I wasn't even sure what I was supposed to do with the house. Sure, it was nice, and I guess I could sell it. But that seemed a bit of a waste and even a possible danger since I had no idea what other terrible things that bastard had left in this house.
But for now, I would leave the property and make sure it has been fully registered and isn't liable for many years of unpaid taxes. For now, I wanted to go home and take a nap.
'I'm gonna hear buzzing for days.'
I didn't want to hate bees, but it was fair to say I might be a little scared of bees now. But knowing my luck, there will be a bee-themed superhero or supervillain.
'As long as it isn't Dr Bees.'
I paused, looked around, and waited for Dr Bees to suddenly appear, but nothing happened.
'Well, I guess I might be fine for now.'
I went home and took a nap. Then I went back to the usual grind. Coding, looking for buyers, researching anything I might want to know now. I was still in the grace period, and I intended to abuse it to the best of my abilities. I also planned on heading to England soon. I wanted to reach out to Lara Croft about the artifacts I recovered, and if all else fails, she will likely be able to point me in the right direction. That and I wanted to possibly pilfer a few dangerous magical artifacts. It wasn't like anyone else needed them, and it was better that they either be destroyed or kept away from those who would abuse them. I knew of at least one of these items. The Dark Sceptre, which was supposedly quite strong, at least strong enough to contend with Wong.
What followed in the next several days was a string of attacks on various groups within NYC. Specifically, criminal groups. October was a very rough month for them as I struck any places I had info on. Via these extracurricular activities, I had acquired a sizeable portion of wealth. But by the time Halloween came around, things were getting a bit too hot, so I backed off for a bit. I managed to remain secret through the entire string of robberies, but it was for secrecy's sake that I stopped. Even if they saw anything, they would see The Question, which I didn't have much of an issue with, but for now, I figured it was enough. That and I was running out of locations to hit.
I couldn't interrogate people, as that risked breaking stealth, so I just hit what places I had info on and left any other locations to be struck later. Though my actions did cause a minor gang war in NYC. But it was during this time that I had discovered a certain person at the top of my kill list. Kilgrave, or the Purple Man. Thankfully, he didn't look like David Tennant, as I like that actor. I only discovered them by accident.
There was a small part of the city that had no gang presence. Like none at all. Which while not impossible, it was even stranger that there was no cop presence here either. It wasn't deserted, but I could tell something was off. So I dug a little deeper and learned that this area is known as a no-man's land. No gangs can work here, as every single time they all die, without fail. And usually not long afterwards, the gang in question suffers a setback. This was enough of a deterrent that nobody bothered pushing further. Even Shield seemed to stay away from the area. I know because I was subtly warned to stay out of that section of the city by a "cop" telling me it wasn't safe when I was driving through it in my civilian identity.
I heeded their advice on the surface and avoided driving through that area. But I did go back through in my Question persona. Another odd thing I found was several places in the city that were empty. I sensed magic in those areas, and as such, I avoided them for now. I wasn't really sure what was in them, but I felt it was likely something space-related. And that seemed unwise to enter with no idea of what might be on the other side of it. My curiosity was more than satisfied by my previous house-hunting adventure.
But back to Kilgrave. My investigation had found him when he went on his walk. That alone wouldn't be enough, but I literally spotted him using his ability to control some passerbys. To an outside perspective, you wouldn't notice anything, but with all my superior senses, I could feel something wrong with the interactions. I had been monitoring Kilgrave before I knew who he was, due to his odd nature and because I suspected I knew who he was. But everything changed when I saw him capture a woman I recognised. Jessica Jones. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kilgrave saw her using her powers, and before I could do a thing, it was too late.
But thankfully, I had just gotten the perfect template for this problem. Agent 47. The Hitman. And also technically my first superhuman template. Agent 47 might not be Captain America levels, but he is, without a doubt, beyond human levels. Which makes sense when you consider he is a genetically modified clone super soldier made to be the perfect weapon. He was also a fantastic actor. I gained his disguise abilities, if a bit nerfed due to this not being a game. I could quickly change into a disguise, and most wouldn't be able to tell the difference right away, thanks to my confidence and other psychological factors, but anyone reasonably perceptive would notice something off.
As for the equipment, I got the expected stuff like the classic black suit with red tie. I also got the AMT 1911, a .45 ACP pistol. The Sieger 300 Ghost, which was a Bullpup Sniper Rifle that shot 7.62 Nato Rounds. Various other firearms for almost any occasion, with around 40 in all, and of course, all firearms were silenced. Various Poisons and Sedatives meant for quick and silent assassinations, as well as the formulas to craft more. A Fiber Wire for strangulations. As well as various explosives. And the infamous ICA Homing Briefcase. With that last one working in a very unscientific way. And it can be instantly recalled from anywhere, but only into the inventory. All of those items were cool to have, but when I would use them wasn't clear yet.
Now back to Kilgrave. Once he captured Jessica, he retreated to the Hotel he controlled and was clearly paranoid and unwilling to leave the hotel for a while. It's likely because he knows others are monitoring him. At the bare minimum, Shield was watching them. I knew I didn't have much time, and I had to act fast. As such, I first located the room Kilgrave was staying in. It was a room in the centre of the hotel, more than likely. Then I got onto the roof and put on the invisibility cloak. I was confident that any staff member would kill themselves to alert Kilgrave, and I couldn't afford Kilgrave ordering Jones to protect him. As I don't want to survive 12 hours against her.
Regardless, I slowly made my way through the hotel, being careful not to alert anyone or anything to my presence. Eventually, I found the room where Kilgrave was. It was a bit tricky, but thankfully, Kilgrave loved to hear himself talk, so I just had to listen for that. Next came the tricky part. Getting into the room without alerting them. To do this, I inserted a wire camera through the bottom of the door and waited for them to be out of line of sight from the door. Then I unlocked the door and quietly snuck inside.
It seemed I arrived just on time. Kilgrave was having Jessica remove her clothes sensually. I waited for a moment when Kilgrave was distracted, which wasn't long.
Bang
A ping-pong ball-sized hole was made in the forehead of Kilgrave, splashing Jessica with some blood and brain matter. Then he fell forward, and I swiftly moved to a different position in case Jessica started attacking me. But she didn't, she finished removing the piece of clothing she was supposed to and then just stood there. Her eyes spoke of both horror and relief as Kilgrave was dead, but she wasn't free. I waited for two minutes, but nobody attempted to come check on Kilgrave. As such, I put on my Question disguise and took off the invisibility cloak, but I made sure I had the nano suit underneath my suit so that when the cloak was removed, I was still invisible. Thus making them believe I just had advanced technology.
"He's dead now. I assume you aren't going to attack me now, right?" I ask.
She doesn't respond, but my guess is that she was ordered to be quiet by Kilgrave.
"Can I approach his body? If yes, look right; if no, look left," I request.
Her eyes look right.
"Okay, will that cause you to attack me?" I ask.
She looks left.
I slowly approach his body, and when she doesn't react, I start taking blood samples and enter them into a portable chemistry kit. I wanted to see if I could develop a cure for her condition.
"I'm attempting to create an antibody to his virus. It's how he controlled you. Otherwise, you would have been released the moment he died. If I can't make one, then at the very least, the virus should fade over time," I say aloud to her.
I kept working in silence. I wasn't worried about falling under the virus's effects, as I was positive it would have a hard time dealing with elven physiology combined with the cleaning charm I had cast in a bubble around my head. I could have also used a Panacea Pill or even the locket, but I thought it best to avoid revealing such magical items. That and I was confident in my chemistry and biology skills.
It took three hours, but I made a vaccine of sorts that should at least help suppress the effects of the virus. I administered it to Jessica using a Prothemium syringe due to her enhanced durability. Moments later, she fell to the ground and started crying. While she was distracted, I stored Kilgrave's body. The Steiner part of me believes his abilities could be used for the Numbers Program. That and it would alleviate the stressor of seeing her kidnapper. Given the nature of the issue, I didn't attempt to approach her. I just took a seat in a chair and waited for her to process what happened.
"Thank you," Jessica says.
"No problem. Do you need help getting home?" I ask.
"N-No..." Jessica says nervously.
"Hmm, very well," I respond while tossing a card towards her.
"What is this for?" Jessica asks.
"Call that number if you need help. I know the kid on the other end. He can set you up if you need help with anything. Don't let this incident break you. You can still do great things. And talk with someone about what happened. Other than that, good luck, oh and I'll leave some loot for you, take it as compensation for what he did to you or was going to do," I reply while getting up to leave.
"Wait! What's your name?" Jessica asks.
"Me? I'm nobody important. Just a faceless man trying to do what's right. But you can call me Question," I answer after some thought.
I walk out of sight and vanish. She gets up to follow me, but sees that I have vanished.