Post by drakon on Oct 6, 2008 18:23:03 GMT -5
Basic Information:
Real name: Constantine Drakon
Current Alias: None
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Occupation: Assassin
Marital Status: Single
Alignment: Evil
Affiliation(s): Villain of Team Arrow, Associate of Deathstroke
Characteristics
Height: 5’0”
Weight: 120lbs
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
Character Type: Human
Description: Drakon is a very short man with cool green eyes and raven black hair, matching his Greek heritage. He always wears a suit when he works, but eccentrically wears a pair of sandals and a pair of red sunglasses. He is well shaven, except for his go-tee and he is extremely fit and athletic. Finally, Drakon has a swirling dragon tattoo covering his entire back.
Personality
On the surface, Drakon is quite introverted, cold and heartless, and seems able to feel compassion only toward himself. He will kill anyone should they fall on his hit list. He is able to remain calm, controlled, and emotionally detached even in the tightest situations.
In combat, he's smart, ruthless, brutal and always thinks tactically, planning ahead and using all available means to reach his goals. He studies the weak points of his opponents, and develops clever strategies - but nothing too complicated and intricate, so his plans tend to survive contact with the enemy. Whether strategically or physically, he will seize the initiative and not let it go. He enjoys using psychological warfare and using the red buttons and weaknesses of his opponents.
History
Beginnings…
Constantine Drakon was born in Athens, Greece. Not much is known about his family, except that they were rich, and Drakon received a very good education. It became quite apparent at a young age that Drakon would be shorter than nearly all other males, and this led to him being teased by other children, and even some adults. Once he started killing people at the age of ten, however, he found he was no longer sensitive about his stature. There was nothing strange or traumatic in his upbringing to turn him to murder, he was simply curious to see what he could do. So he planned for, and completed his first murder, killing the family gardener. Discovering that he was a prodigy at killing, Constantine proceeded to make a living out of it.
Encountering the first cape…
When the immigrant workers of the corrupt "Elevast" construction company developing in Star City began mutating into Troll-like beasts because of illegal Beta-Vaccine testing, the company hired Constantine Drakon. Drakon's job was to eliminate the monsters and cover up the link between the monsters and the corporation. Green Arrow's (Oliver Queen) investigations into the monsters put him in direct confrontation with the assassin. In their first encounter, Drakon completely defeated Green Arrow, without much effort and crucified him with his own arrows. He chose not to kill the archer because he wasn't being paid to do so.
Drakon's next victim was attorney "Joanna Pierce", niece of Black Lightning, shortly after she had discovered evidence of the illegal vaccine. Joanna Pierce had recently met and become involved with Oliver Queen. Although they had broken up almost immediately after starting a relationship, her death would greatly disturb him for some time to come.
Drakon would subsequently invade the Green Arrow household looking for copies of Joanna Pierce's evidence and face Connor Hawke, Ollie's son in battle. Drakon knew immediately that he could defeat Connor, just by looking at him, and Connor knew after a few seconds of fighting Drakon, that he was out of his league, and that he would need to get lucky, or get help, in order to defeat Drakon, Connor was losing the battle badly when Speedy (Mia Dearden) arrived to help. Drakon grabbed Mia from behind as a human shield while Connor focused his bow on them. Drakon was defeated only after Connor actually shot him through Mia's shoulder, and then blew up the house with Drakon in it.
Revenge…
After that Drakon did not appear again until he was hired by Brick as part of a revenge scheme against Green Arrow. Drakon attacked Roy Harper ("Arsenal," and formerly Speedy), scarring his throat and taking him prisoner. Mia and Connor again squared off against Drakon, who again outclassed them in martial arts skill. But the two heroes outwitted him for a second time, luring him into a trap set by Shift of the Outsiders. Drakon was sent to a maximum security prison.
One Year Later…
Deathstroke the Terminator was caught by Green Arrow ( on purpose), and went to prison to meet with Drakon. The two of them broke out of prison and confronted the Arrow Family. Despite being outnumbered 4 to 2, Deathstroke comments that Team Arrow "should have brought more guys." Drakon fought against Connor and Mia, while Deathstroke fought against Ollie and Dinah. Both fighters were overpowering their 2 opponents when the Justice League arrived. They used a special, 18,000,000 dollar bomb that Deathstroke had created, just in order to escape the League.
Powers and Abilities
Known Powers: No known super-powers.
Known Abilities:
Strength Level: Peak human strength
Weaknesses:
*The small slit in category 5 of reflexes represents his speed/reaction, show clearly above other ‘peak humans’. While it has not been stated he is meta, it should be noted that he has outmatched other peak humans on every occasion.
Accessories
Equipment: Drakon has been paid millions for his services, so if there is something he needs, he can get it pretty easily.
Transportation: Nothing special.
Weapons: Occasionally uses pistols, explosives, knives, and throwing knives.
Sample Role Play Post
“I would have thought that you’d have had the presence of mind to learn from your mistakes, Mister Harper.”
Drakon gently clasped his right wrist with his left hand and began to lazily stretch the muscles around his metatarsals.
“Granted, I knew that you were never the sharpest knife in the figurative drawer. . .”
“Oh, I’ve done a bit of learnin…of course, that doesn’t mean that I’ve still got something to prove.”
Roy replied.
Drakon quirked his head, obviously intrigued by his opponent’s words, before he gave Roy a slow nod.
“I suppose that’s fair enough. Well, now that you’ve raised my interests, just who is the person that you’re so desperate to prove your worth too? That irritating fop with the goatee? Your daughter?”
“Me, I’m doing this for me.”
“Well, I guess something like that’s to be respected. Doesn’t mean that I won’t kill you but I suppose I can take a bit of pride from doing it now.”
Roy found himself involuntarily gasping in surprise as the goateed fighting master sprung at him like a cheetah. Despite his momentary stagger, he managed to parry Drakon’s opening palm thrust before tilting his body to the left to dodge the right jab aimed for his Adam’s apple. His shift in stance enabled him to not only avoid the caving in of his throat but also allowed him to catch the incoming kick that threatened to crack the left half of his rib cage. Drakon was quick to counter Roy’s defense as well, freeing himself from Red Arrow’s clutches with a rolling side somersault that allowed him to push the ball of his right foot into Roy’s torso.
The kick may have been the first successful strike of the fight but the time it took for Drakon to roll to his feet was enough for Roy to make a forward rush and go on the offensive. However, his own assault, a combination of simple punches and Atemi-waza strikes and feints, paled in comparison to what Drakon had to offer to him only moments earlier. It didn’t take long at all for Roy to realize the futility of his offense as he quickly changed his tactics from causing Drakon harm to making certain Drakon didn’t harm him in return. He spent the next handful of seconds employing his significant advantage in reach, gnashing his teeth as Drakon easily swerved under and around every attack.
Roy broke from the engagement with a cartwheel and a graceful back somersault that rattled the aged floorboards he landed on. A small cloud of dust wafted off his boot-covered feet as he placed himself within another defensive stance.
Drakon chuckled.
“Didn’t think you’d do this well, kid."
The assassin confessed.
RRoy snorted. Memories of all-night training sessions with agents of Checkmate, friendly sparring with Dinah and Connor, and other, more stressful memories flashed through the sharpshooter’s mind as he watched Drakon lower himself into a traditional Savate stance.
“Well, quite frankly. . . I didn’t expect that much out of me either.”
Drakon’s smile grew even wider as he raised his hands up to heart level. Both Roy and Drakon knew that it would only take a heartbeat for the tiny assassin to close the distance between them.
Roy smiled.
“Of course, that’s why I brought these along. . .”
Drakon let out a muffled curse as he abruptly broke his stance so he could dodge the first two shots from Roy’s customized revolvers with a leaping roll. Knowing he didn’t have enough time to extend his legs, he launched himself into an ungainly, leapfrog style jump to dodge shots three and four. His embarrassing evasive maneuvers finally came to a head as another side roll placed him within the protective confines of a hallway, a position that allowed him to gnash his teeth as shot number five came within inches of his left kneecap. Spinning to his feet, the agile hired gun sprinted down the hallway and into one of the side rooms before Roy could fire another shot.
“You are one lucky son of a bitch, Constantine Drakon. I haven’t missed that many shots in a row since the last time I tried to play Drunk Galaga.”
He took some lazy steps down the hallway, tapping the barrel of one of his guns against the wall that was keeping him from his target. Too well supported, he deduced, no way the capsules’ll break through that. As he continued to lope down the corridor, he could hear Drakon tutting.
“Can’t say that I’m not a little disappointed,”
Drakon whispered. The combination of the shoddy acoustics of the apartment and the fact that the smaller man was throwing his voice made it all but impossible for Roy to determine just where his quarry was hiding.
“Only a desperate coward would pull out a gun in a fistfight.”
Roy rolled his eyes.
“Well, I didn’t bother to bring my bow. And besides, there’s only so many times that I can watch you catch or dodge my arrows until even I realize that it’s just a waste of my finances.”
“Make as many amusing excuses that you can muster, Harper.”
Drakon hissed. Roy couldn’t stop himself from chuckling.
Roy did manage to fire a shot before Drakon swung around from his hiding spot above the doorframe. However, Drakon had managed to swing his left foot at the discharging revolver, an impact that caused the shot to miss wide left and for the gun to spring from Roy’s grasp and fall to the floor. Harper quickly counterattacked as he warded off a spinning knife-edge chop by whipping the pistol in his right hand across Drakon’s jaw. The impact caused Drakon to stumble and fall to the floor. Roy hadn’t noticed that Drakon had rolled with the strike, and had made it look worse than it was. Roy took just enough time to aim his next shot before forcing to leap over a Wushu-style tripping maneuver.
“HAAI!”
Drakon roared as he twisted his body into the perfect position for a handspring kick that send both of his feet crashing into Roy’s abdomen. Bones crunched, and the combination of force and an airborne target resulted in Roy being launched into the air as if he had been jumping on a trampoline. His head came within inches of slamming into the top of the hallway as he soared out of the hallway and back into the common area. The gunman’s body finally came to a stop with a hard crash against the same part of the floor that he had landed on before.
Of course, that was when the floorboards shattered and sent Roy tumbling down to the floor below.
Real name: Constantine Drakon
Current Alias: None
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Occupation: Assassin
Marital Status: Single
Alignment: Evil
Affiliation(s): Villain of Team Arrow, Associate of Deathstroke
Characteristics
Height: 5’0”
Weight: 120lbs
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
Character Type: Human
Description: Drakon is a very short man with cool green eyes and raven black hair, matching his Greek heritage. He always wears a suit when he works, but eccentrically wears a pair of sandals and a pair of red sunglasses. He is well shaven, except for his go-tee and he is extremely fit and athletic. Finally, Drakon has a swirling dragon tattoo covering his entire back.
Personality
On the surface, Drakon is quite introverted, cold and heartless, and seems able to feel compassion only toward himself. He will kill anyone should they fall on his hit list. He is able to remain calm, controlled, and emotionally detached even in the tightest situations.
In combat, he's smart, ruthless, brutal and always thinks tactically, planning ahead and using all available means to reach his goals. He studies the weak points of his opponents, and develops clever strategies - but nothing too complicated and intricate, so his plans tend to survive contact with the enemy. Whether strategically or physically, he will seize the initiative and not let it go. He enjoys using psychological warfare and using the red buttons and weaknesses of his opponents.
- Cunning: Drakon is very cunning. He is a threat that would rather be hidden, a creature of fear. The best attack is one that begins before the enemy even knows you’re there. Every one of his physical attacks is well planned, and he is capable of adjusting them on the fly to make them still more effective.
- Enigmatic: Drakon is quite adept at hiding what he is thinking and feeling. He is a mystery to those around him, never quite letting them get a read on him. This trait doesn’t lead to having many friends, but Drakon isn’t about making friends.
- Mocking: Drakon, when he does speak, often mocks his opponent’s. Calm insults, contemptuous speech, and ridicule are all part of his game.
- Patient: Despite a fondness toward taking bold moves when things come down to the wire, Drakon is also a careful and methodical fighter. He fears no setback, and learns from defeat... and plots and plans for his next move.
- Perceptive: Drakon is extremely intuitive. Part of his intuition is his ability to look at a situation or person and determine things that are normally not seen. He can judge a person's expression, their body language, and tell whether they are lying, and even tell what move they will make next.
- Professional: He considers what he does not just a job but a vocation, and takes pride out of the businesslike manner in which he operates. He is a consummate professional and always has an air of control about him. He is very calm, serene even, and it takes extreme stress to make him show emotion. Drakon never kills unless he is getting paid to do so. There has been the occasional exception. On most of these occasions, the victim had made the mistake of angering and provoking him.
- Secretive: Drakon does not share his plans, or even his personal life with anyone, even his allies of the moment. He generally works alone, and he plots and plans in secret, guiding things along his desired paths until everything is in place to his satisfaction.
- Versatile: Drakon is one of the most combatively skilled people on earth. He has abilities ranging from extraordinary martial arts prowess, marksmanship, speed and agility, to stealth, and assassination. In any combat situation he is never without advantage, always seeing ways to attack, to use his environment, to set up his opponent for the death blow three moves away.
- Well-spoken: Drakon is a man of few words, but when he does speak, he tends to run circles around everyone, even CEO’s and superheroes. He is very articulate, but calmly smug. He uses a calm voice with a fluent vocabulary, and is capable of verbal judo that would put many lawyers on their toes.
History
Beginnings…
Constantine Drakon was born in Athens, Greece. Not much is known about his family, except that they were rich, and Drakon received a very good education. It became quite apparent at a young age that Drakon would be shorter than nearly all other males, and this led to him being teased by other children, and even some adults. Once he started killing people at the age of ten, however, he found he was no longer sensitive about his stature. There was nothing strange or traumatic in his upbringing to turn him to murder, he was simply curious to see what he could do. So he planned for, and completed his first murder, killing the family gardener. Discovering that he was a prodigy at killing, Constantine proceeded to make a living out of it.
Encountering the first cape…
When the immigrant workers of the corrupt "Elevast" construction company developing in Star City began mutating into Troll-like beasts because of illegal Beta-Vaccine testing, the company hired Constantine Drakon. Drakon's job was to eliminate the monsters and cover up the link between the monsters and the corporation. Green Arrow's (Oliver Queen) investigations into the monsters put him in direct confrontation with the assassin. In their first encounter, Drakon completely defeated Green Arrow, without much effort and crucified him with his own arrows. He chose not to kill the archer because he wasn't being paid to do so.
Drakon's next victim was attorney "Joanna Pierce", niece of Black Lightning, shortly after she had discovered evidence of the illegal vaccine. Joanna Pierce had recently met and become involved with Oliver Queen. Although they had broken up almost immediately after starting a relationship, her death would greatly disturb him for some time to come.
Drakon would subsequently invade the Green Arrow household looking for copies of Joanna Pierce's evidence and face Connor Hawke, Ollie's son in battle. Drakon knew immediately that he could defeat Connor, just by looking at him, and Connor knew after a few seconds of fighting Drakon, that he was out of his league, and that he would need to get lucky, or get help, in order to defeat Drakon, Connor was losing the battle badly when Speedy (Mia Dearden) arrived to help. Drakon grabbed Mia from behind as a human shield while Connor focused his bow on them. Drakon was defeated only after Connor actually shot him through Mia's shoulder, and then blew up the house with Drakon in it.
Revenge…
After that Drakon did not appear again until he was hired by Brick as part of a revenge scheme against Green Arrow. Drakon attacked Roy Harper ("Arsenal," and formerly Speedy), scarring his throat and taking him prisoner. Mia and Connor again squared off against Drakon, who again outclassed them in martial arts skill. But the two heroes outwitted him for a second time, luring him into a trap set by Shift of the Outsiders. Drakon was sent to a maximum security prison.
One Year Later…
Deathstroke the Terminator was caught by Green Arrow ( on purpose), and went to prison to meet with Drakon. The two of them broke out of prison and confronted the Arrow Family. Despite being outnumbered 4 to 2, Deathstroke comments that Team Arrow "should have brought more guys." Drakon fought against Connor and Mia, while Deathstroke fought against Ollie and Dinah. Both fighters were overpowering their 2 opponents when the Justice League arrived. They used a special, 18,000,000 dollar bomb that Deathstroke had created, just in order to escape the League.
Powers and Abilities
Known Powers: No known super-powers.
Known Abilities:
- Acrobatics: Drakon has trained in various forms of acrobatics since a young age. With his natural agile frame and near supernatural speed, he has become one of the most agile men in the world.
- Assassination: Drakon has been rigorously trained in the art of assassination. He has an extensive knowledge of murder and of the means to accomplish it. He is skilled in all the basic techniques, from strangulation, throat-slitting, smothering, poisoning, and the use of improvising deadly weapons from objects he finds on his missions. While he is more than capable of using his world-class skill to bring down a couple dozen armed men, Drakon is also an extremely creative individual, capable of devising cunning and stealthy ways of eliminating his targets without creating a commotion.
- Athlete: Drakon is in peak-human shape. He maintains a strict regimen of exercise that keeps his body in the utmost condition. He is performs gymnastics, martial arts, weightlifting, and aerobics, keeping himself constantly primed and ready for battle, should the need arise.
- Body Reading: Drakon, like most world-class fighters, can study an opponent’s movement, allowing him to calculate and anticipate their movements. He can use this ability, combined with his speed, to almost appear psychic. This ability is in no way perfect, as it is more of a split-second calculation, but it does help him to set up the perfect counter to any attack.
- Criminal Underworld: Drakon, being a lethal and skilled assassin, has ties to most of the powerful and influential criminal organizations in the world. When he needs information, or a contact, or a job, he knows where to go and who to speak with.
- Disguise:: Drakon is quite adept at the art of disguises, often donning the uniforms of dispatched guards or civilians in order to blend in and infiltrate an enemy stronghold without being detected. He may not have the height required to appear like most, but he knows how to pull it off against most.
- Firearms: Drakon is not just good with his hands and feet, but also in all forms of firearm use, and has nearly perfect aim. When fighting Olly, he used dual-pistols and shot at Green Arrow from over 5-stories away, while nearly blinded. Green Arrow barley survived, commenting multiple times at how close each shot was coming to his head. His accuracy and speed is unsurpassed, even in complete darkness, so that he can hit targets on all sides of him, and even behind him. His exceptional calmness and discipline are most useful in combat situations.
- Infiltration: Drakon is adept at breaking into, and out of, even heavily guarded facilities with maximum security systems. He is capable of picking locks, bypassing cameras, and sneaking past or defeating security guards with little trouble. Even if he comes upon a system he cannot immediately bypass, he knows enough tricks to improvise.
- Intimidation: Drakon is a normal human among villains that range from the strongest to the fastest to the smartest, and he is capable of using his speed, skill, and wit, to intimidate the best of them. He is a powerful fighter, entirely capable of demonstrating his physical prowess over just about anybody.
- Martial Arts Prowess: Drakon is trained in all manners of classical unarmed combat such as wrestling, brawling, kickboxing, and ancient and current martial arts. He has trained with nearly all of earth’s greatest teachers, and has shown to be nearly peerless in hand-to-hand combat, having effortlessly taken out Connor Hawke (one of the top fighters on earth), while at the same time fighting Speedy. These showings put him above the skill of earth's top fighters, including Batman, Batgirl, and even Lady Shiva. His technique focuses more on training his muscles to respond quickly and in perfect harmony, utilizing his speed and reflexes, and more importantly, to the call of the imagination. He understands that improvisation, not rote responses; separate a warrior from a master. He is fully capable of changing direction in mid-air to avoid blows or even to roll with strikes in order to prevent damage. He is also highly trained in all aspects of nerve strikes and other atemi techniques, even using them in mid-air while fighting Connor Hawke. In their encounter, Drakon used a full force blow to knock Connor through a door, while at the same time targeting his nerve centers and causing his arms and legs to go numb.
- Multi-Lingual: Being born in Greece, having a privileged education, and traveling the world, he has learned many languages. He is fluent in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Modern Greek, Russian, and Spanish.
- Rogue Skills: Drakon, being a world-reknowned assassin, is a skilled master in a variety of rogue-like skills: Escape Artist, Forgery, Lock picking, Pick Pocketing, Defeating Security Systems, Shadowing, Streetwise, throwing his voice, and poisoning. While not the best in the world at any of them, he is definitely a master of them all.
- Senses: Drakon has heightened his senses: sight, hearing, smell, to the maximum potential . He can see quite well in darkness, and can use other senses when in complete darkness or blinded, to hear and know where his targets are. He has even caught arrows shot at his back, without even looking, and nearly shot Green Arrow in the head with his pistols, while blinded.
- Speed, Agility, and Reflexes: While it was noted that Drakon was peak human on his physical abilities, it must be noted that he is far above other ‘peak humans’ in terms of speed and agility. Multiple times throughout his encounters, it was shown that he has, what appears to most, as supernatural speed. This natural ability always gives him an edge, and he has used it to perform amazing feats, such as catching 5 arrows simultaneously shot by Green Arrow, and caught literally dozens and dozens of arrows from the Arrow Family. He even caught an arrow fired by Ollie that was fired less than 10 feet away, at his back. Drakon didn’t bother to even turn around, but caught the arrow by its tip. He has also used to arrows as deflecting devices, blocking knives and stars being thrown at him. Finally, in a room full of people all starring at him, he threw a knife into a man's shoulder so quickly, no one even saw him perform the motion. He has proved heads and shoulders above Connor Hawke in speed, a man that is one of the best martial practitioners on the planet.
- Stealth: Drakon has spent years learning to be both silent and invisible to those who are looking for him. Being barely 5-foot tall and very ‘normal’ looking, has made him one of the best in the world at hiding, moving quietly, and blending into a crowd. He is familiar with moving silently and invisibly through crowded areas and has learned to effectively disappear from plain sight.
- Weapons Master: Drakon has studied many weapons and the general fighting styles associated with them. He is capable of sword fighting, fighting with a knife, and the weapons associated with any number of martial arts.
Strength Level: Peak human strength
Weaknesses:
- Mortal: Drakon is entirely human. His body is just as susceptible to injury or disease as that of anybody else. While he can take a lot of damage for a human, he still is only human.
- Underestimates: Drakon knows he is good… in fact, he knows he’s better than pretty much everyone. That arrogance tends to make him under estimate an opponent, not in skill, but in ingenuity. The few times he’s been beaten have resulted in being outsmarted.
- Mental Attacks: Drakon has no special defenses against mental attacks, and his willpower would only take him so far against a powerful mental attack.
*The small slit in category 5 of reflexes represents his speed/reaction, show clearly above other ‘peak humans’. While it has not been stated he is meta, it should be noted that he has outmatched other peak humans on every occasion.
Accessories
Equipment: Drakon has been paid millions for his services, so if there is something he needs, he can get it pretty easily.
Transportation: Nothing special.
Weapons: Occasionally uses pistols, explosives, knives, and throwing knives.
Sample Role Play Post
“I would have thought that you’d have had the presence of mind to learn from your mistakes, Mister Harper.”
Drakon gently clasped his right wrist with his left hand and began to lazily stretch the muscles around his metatarsals.
“Granted, I knew that you were never the sharpest knife in the figurative drawer. . .”
“Oh, I’ve done a bit of learnin…of course, that doesn’t mean that I’ve still got something to prove.”
Roy replied.
Drakon quirked his head, obviously intrigued by his opponent’s words, before he gave Roy a slow nod.
“I suppose that’s fair enough. Well, now that you’ve raised my interests, just who is the person that you’re so desperate to prove your worth too? That irritating fop with the goatee? Your daughter?”
“Me, I’m doing this for me.”
“Well, I guess something like that’s to be respected. Doesn’t mean that I won’t kill you but I suppose I can take a bit of pride from doing it now.”
Roy found himself involuntarily gasping in surprise as the goateed fighting master sprung at him like a cheetah. Despite his momentary stagger, he managed to parry Drakon’s opening palm thrust before tilting his body to the left to dodge the right jab aimed for his Adam’s apple. His shift in stance enabled him to not only avoid the caving in of his throat but also allowed him to catch the incoming kick that threatened to crack the left half of his rib cage. Drakon was quick to counter Roy’s defense as well, freeing himself from Red Arrow’s clutches with a rolling side somersault that allowed him to push the ball of his right foot into Roy’s torso.
The kick may have been the first successful strike of the fight but the time it took for Drakon to roll to his feet was enough for Roy to make a forward rush and go on the offensive. However, his own assault, a combination of simple punches and Atemi-waza strikes and feints, paled in comparison to what Drakon had to offer to him only moments earlier. It didn’t take long at all for Roy to realize the futility of his offense as he quickly changed his tactics from causing Drakon harm to making certain Drakon didn’t harm him in return. He spent the next handful of seconds employing his significant advantage in reach, gnashing his teeth as Drakon easily swerved under and around every attack.
Roy broke from the engagement with a cartwheel and a graceful back somersault that rattled the aged floorboards he landed on. A small cloud of dust wafted off his boot-covered feet as he placed himself within another defensive stance.
Drakon chuckled.
“Didn’t think you’d do this well, kid."
The assassin confessed.
RRoy snorted. Memories of all-night training sessions with agents of Checkmate, friendly sparring with Dinah and Connor, and other, more stressful memories flashed through the sharpshooter’s mind as he watched Drakon lower himself into a traditional Savate stance.
“Well, quite frankly. . . I didn’t expect that much out of me either.”
Drakon’s smile grew even wider as he raised his hands up to heart level. Both Roy and Drakon knew that it would only take a heartbeat for the tiny assassin to close the distance between them.
Roy smiled.
“Of course, that’s why I brought these along. . .”
Drakon let out a muffled curse as he abruptly broke his stance so he could dodge the first two shots from Roy’s customized revolvers with a leaping roll. Knowing he didn’t have enough time to extend his legs, he launched himself into an ungainly, leapfrog style jump to dodge shots three and four. His embarrassing evasive maneuvers finally came to a head as another side roll placed him within the protective confines of a hallway, a position that allowed him to gnash his teeth as shot number five came within inches of his left kneecap. Spinning to his feet, the agile hired gun sprinted down the hallway and into one of the side rooms before Roy could fire another shot.
“You are one lucky son of a bitch, Constantine Drakon. I haven’t missed that many shots in a row since the last time I tried to play Drunk Galaga.”
He took some lazy steps down the hallway, tapping the barrel of one of his guns against the wall that was keeping him from his target. Too well supported, he deduced, no way the capsules’ll break through that. As he continued to lope down the corridor, he could hear Drakon tutting.
“Can’t say that I’m not a little disappointed,”
Drakon whispered. The combination of the shoddy acoustics of the apartment and the fact that the smaller man was throwing his voice made it all but impossible for Roy to determine just where his quarry was hiding.
“Only a desperate coward would pull out a gun in a fistfight.”
Roy rolled his eyes.
“Well, I didn’t bother to bring my bow. And besides, there’s only so many times that I can watch you catch or dodge my arrows until even I realize that it’s just a waste of my finances.”
“Make as many amusing excuses that you can muster, Harper.”
Drakon hissed. Roy couldn’t stop himself from chuckling.
Roy did manage to fire a shot before Drakon swung around from his hiding spot above the doorframe. However, Drakon had managed to swing his left foot at the discharging revolver, an impact that caused the shot to miss wide left and for the gun to spring from Roy’s grasp and fall to the floor. Harper quickly counterattacked as he warded off a spinning knife-edge chop by whipping the pistol in his right hand across Drakon’s jaw. The impact caused Drakon to stumble and fall to the floor. Roy hadn’t noticed that Drakon had rolled with the strike, and had made it look worse than it was. Roy took just enough time to aim his next shot before forcing to leap over a Wushu-style tripping maneuver.
“HAAI!”
Drakon roared as he twisted his body into the perfect position for a handspring kick that send both of his feet crashing into Roy’s abdomen. Bones crunched, and the combination of force and an airborne target resulted in Roy being launched into the air as if he had been jumping on a trampoline. His head came within inches of slamming into the top of the hallway as he soared out of the hallway and back into the common area. The gunman’s body finally came to a stop with a hard crash against the same part of the floor that he had landed on before.
Of course, that was when the floorboards shattered and sent Roy tumbling down to the floor below.
Codeword: Anti-Life Equation
