Chapter 31 ━━ Mr Batman

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Hedeon opens his eyes and blinks rapidly through his blurring vision to see shadows of upside-down men.

He looks around and groans as he notices him restrained and hanging upside-down inside of a building under construction. The building is only occupied by Robert Ruffal, an American general, and two heavily armed thugs other than him.

He struggles to get loose the ropes and groans once again. "Come on, man. I'm not the Batman to hang upside-down."

A thug taps Hedeon on the forehead twice, when General Ruffal speaks. "This is not how I wanted the evening to go."

"I know how you wanted this evening to go. Believe me, this is better." Hedeon tells.

"I'd like to know why they sent you to carry out a carrier, a stained glass and other random items."

"How can I answer when I'm hanging upside-down?" The former Destroyer questions. "I barely can process what you're saying from this condition."

The general nods at the thugs who look at him for permission and cuts the ropes that held Hedeon upside-down.

"Oh-uh." He mumbles before the ropes loosen, ending him on the floor with a loud thud. He let out a grunt and then a chuckle. "Be a little gentle next time, dude. I'm a sensitive man."

The tall thug collects a handful of his hair, points a gun on his temple and forces him to get on his feet. Even though his feet are free now, his hands are still tied behind his back.

"Please be careful with my hair. It costs me 250 dollars per month to maintain it to look this cool." Hedeon states as the taller thug shoves him down into a chair and the other thug ties him to the chair.

"Stop rambling." The taller thug punches on his face.

Hedeon laughs as he feels the crimson liquid running down his nose. "You should do better to scare me off."

"I'm repeating my question. I'd like to know why they sent you to carry out a carrier, a stained glass and other random items." General Ruffal repeats sternly.

"How the hell do I know?" He snickers.

The taller thug pushes his chair back, tilting it over the edge of a few story drop, and Hedeon attempts to hide his fear, which fails at the end. "Okay. Okay. I don't prefer heights. You can stop. I'll say everything."

The thug sets his chair back on its four legs and Hedeon sighs in relief.

General Ruffal smirks at his reaction and gestures to him to start answering. "Please."

"I thought General Doherty was in charge of the export business." Hedeon says.

"Doherty? Your reputation is quite a progression. The famous Agent Klimova. The best detective of Shield. Nothing but a handsome face." General Ruffal shakes his head with fake sadness.

Hedeon's face lights up for a moment. "You really think I'm handsome? The redhead at the bar said that I look like a Spanish pig. Trust me, her words wounded my entire soul."

"You talk a lot for your limit, stupid boy." General Ruffal walks over to a table filled with tools of torture and interrogation, picking up a pair of pliers. "And I know how to silence them."

"How about we talk this out, huh?" Hedeon proposes.

"No way, I wouldn't have missed this for the world." General Ruffal dismisses, waving his hand in the air.

"It's nice to meet a fan." The supersoldier remarks smugly, finding the situation he is in somewhat amusing.

"Oh, that's cute. You wanna know what else is cute?" The general states, a sadistic smirk tugging on his lips. "I know who you are. You were a major part of your father's plans to hold the ends of the world's balance. And here you're playing the good guy."

"I've always loved the idea of not being what people expect me to be. I'm Russian. Or I was. Maybe I still am. My point is, we, Russians prefer to be unique. You get what I'm saying?" Hedeon asks, only to receive a confused look from the so-called General. How stupid can this man be? He sighs, partially feeling bored. "It's really not that complicated. I got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out."

"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Son of Dreykov. Your ledger is dripping. It's gushing red. You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you. And they will never go away." General Ruffal questions, trying to provoke the Shield agent.

Hedeon huffs. "Son of Dreykov, blah, blah, blah... What is wrong with people these days? I'm a part of my mom too."

"I think he is drunk." The weasely thug says to his superior.

"How about this? We can do a sobriety test, okay? We'll do the alphabet, start with 'F,' end with 'U." Hedeon sarcastically remarks.

"Keep making your jokes because I'm about to send you to the worst place in the world!"

Hedeon makes a smug face, not bothered by General Ruffal's harmless threat. "Your Instagram account?"

The tall thug next to him forces his jaw open as Hedeon struggles in horror.

"We do not need Doherty to transfer the tanks. Tell him, well... You may have to write it down."

A phone rings and the weasely thug looks to his phone in confusion. He picks it up. "Ya?"

He looks to General Ruffal. "It's for you."

General Ruffal takes the phone, annoyed and angry. "Who the hell is..."

"You're at 114 Solenski Plaza, 3rd floor. We have an F22 exactly 8 miles out. Put the man on the phone or I will blow up the block before you can make the lobby." The stern voice from the other line threatens.

General Ruffal places the cell phone against Hedeon's ear seeing how he's tied to a chair with his hands tied behind his back.

"We need you to come in." Nick Fury, the director of Shield talks through the other side.

"Are you kidding? I'm working!" Hedeon squeaks dramatically, rolling his eyes at the end.

"This takes precedence."

"I'm in the middle of an interrogation and this moron is giving me everything." Hedeon reasons.

"I don't give everything." General Ruffal says mildly puzzled.

Frowning at General Ruffal, Hedeon speaks again to the phone. "Look, you can't pull me out of this right now."

"Another Widow was brutally murdered." Nick Fury informs. "I'll see you in 30 minutes."

Hedeon sighs and nods to General Ruffal. When he grabs the phone and hangs up the phone call, Hedeon hits him with his leg and headbuts him.

He stands, still tied to the chair, and kickboxes the tall thug in the face. Then he rolls over to the weasely thug, trips him, and stomps on his foot when he tries to pin him, then he knocks him out with a headbut.

He flips, breaking the chair on weasely thugs' rib cage, and looks to the tall thug, standing up. He kicks him too, choking him out cold to death.

The weasely thug looks at this horrified and looks up at him.

"I suggest you to run." Hedeon smiles innocently at the weasely thug who runs not thinking twice.

Hedeon then wraps Ruffal's legs with a chain and pushes him down the hole he was threatening to drop him down. He hangs there, in pain.

The shield agent then picks up a gun and shoots the weasely thug in the heart effortlessly from a long distance, killing him instantly.

He wipes the blood on his already healed face before he looks at his reflection from the broken mirror and frowns at his now messed up hair. He fixes it back and picks his leather jacket from the table and puts it on, whistling a tune.

"You're right. I talk too much. It comes from the genes. Can't help." He grins at the confused and frightened Ruffal and pockets in his phone.

"What do you want?" Ruffal wheezes in pain.

"Nothing much." He pauses for a second, then shows his perfect white teeth flashing an innocent smile, leaning his back against the table and playing with his gun. "My friend's birthday is tomorrow and I want to give her a gift. Something remarkable. I'm all ears for suggestions if you have any."

Hedeon thinks, tapping into his chin and wonders loudly. "Maybe I should buy her something expensive. Girls like expensive stuff, right?"

Ruffal shakes his head with distaste at the idea. "You can take her on a friendly date."

"Great." Hedeon smiles sweetly and stands up, startling Ruffal in fear of the next move of the young agent. "Thank you for the investigation. I truly enjoyed every second of it."

"Sure." Ruffal draws a fake smile on his face in response.

"So you're smiling. You know? Studies have shown that smiling releases endorphins, natural painkillers, and serotonin. Together these three neurotransmitters make us feel good from head to toe. Not only do these natural chemicals elevate your mood, but they also relax your body and reduce physical pain. Smiling is a natural drug. I read it from this article and-." Hedeon plays with his gun, aiming it at the American general and accidentally pulls out the trigger, shooting. He looks up at the chained general to see the bullet has pierced the Ruffal's forehead, killing him. "Oops! Nothing personal. I swear."