Kayla was an unusual woman.
Japanese-Russian by blood, born from a Russian father and a mother rumored to come from old Japanese aristocracy, she had somehow turned personal fascination into elite weapons engineering.
Drex Valen approved.
She was stunning, undeniably so, but more importantly...
Competent.
To Drex's standards, Kayla easily ranked among the highest tier of women he'd encountered.
"Your weapons are finished," she said, carefully returning his silver Desert Eagles to their case after completing another maintenance cycle.
She had also clearly polished them.
Drex appreciated craftsmanship.
"I've heard Desert Eagles are notoriously temperamental," Drex said with a faint smile as he accepted the case. "But these performed beautifully. Your modifications?"
Kayla's expression sharpened with satisfaction.
Compliments were common.
Compliments from extraordinarily handsome men with Kryptonian-grade physiques?
Far more enjoyable.
Drex, dressed in fitted black tactical underlayers, looked like someone had taken peak human aesthetics and upgraded them with alien engineering.
Perfect musculature.
Broad shoulders.
Controlled danger.
If Captain America and Thor had a dangerously stylish cousin, it would probably look something like this.
Kayla crossed her arms.
"Standard Desert Eagles are oversized hunting weapons," she explained. "Not combat platforms. They're fragile, maintenance-heavy, and react badly to sand, moisture, or poor conditions. I rebuilt them extensively."
Then her lips curved slightly.
"If you're satisfied... show me how you use them."
Drex nodded.
"Fair."
They descended to Sublevel Ten.
The Midnight Hotel's underground firing range was expansive, luxurious, and free to registered assassins.
Private rooms.
Multiple combat simulations.
A playground for killers.
Since this was Drex's first visit, Kayla handled setup herself.
"Moving targets," she asked, "or high-speed?"
Drex paused.
"High-speed?"
Kayla gestured toward the control wall.
"Tennis balls launched from multiple angles at high velocity. They ricochet unpredictably off the walls."
Then she added:
"Almost nobody chooses that mode."
Naturally.
Precision was one thing.
Shooting hyper-mobile targets in chaotic trajectories was something else entirely.
Drex smirked.
"Let's do that."
He put on hearing protection.
Even modified, his custom Desert Eagles were thunder incarnate.
"Countdown... five... four... three..."
Three tennis balls launched simultaneously from hidden wall ports.
What happened next...
Left Kayla speechless.
Drex moved.
His draw speed was almost impossible to visually process.
BOOM. BOOM.
Two simultaneous shots.
Two tennis balls exploded instantly.
The third was casually destroyed a fraction of a second later.
Total elapsed time?
Approximately 0.02 seconds.
Kayla blinked.
Then stared.
"Your draw speed..."
Now she understood.
This was why Drex consistently landed impossible headshots.
He wasn't merely accurate.
He was absurdly fast.
Fast enough that aiming itself became nearly irrelevant.
Her mind immediately shifted into optimization mode.
"You should be using revolvers."
Drex raised an eyebrow.
"Explain."
"Revolvers don't rely on slide cycling," Kayla said immediately. "Your hand speed far exceeds what the Desert Eagle's action can fully capitalize on. With revolvers, your firing speed would only be limited by your trigger control."
Technically...
She was absolutely right.
Revolvers had endured for centuries for a reason.
But Drex simply shook his head.
"I prefer Desert Eagles."
Kayla exhaled, halfway between professional frustration and resigned admiration.
"Fine."
Customer preference overruled perfect efficiency.
"I'll shorten trigger travel and further optimize cycling speed."
That, at least, would help.
Then Drex added:
"I also need armor-piercing rounds. At least a thousand."
Kayla froze.
"That's excessive."
She frowned.
"Most targets don't wear heavy armor. Armor-piercing ammunition sacrifices terminal deformation against soft targets."
Drex nodded.
"I'm aware."
He wasn't planning solely for ordinary humans.
Kayla clearly found that mildly concerning.
Still...
A client's request was a client's request.
After several days of rest, Drex accepted another contract.
Youth, after all, was the ideal time to aggressively accumulate wealth.
Eventually, he might become too powerful for assassination itself to remain profitable.
Best to exploit the current window.
This target:
Daken
Bounty:
$3,500,000
High-value solo contracts like this typically fell into two categories:
Exceptionally dangerous individuals...
Or heavily protected ones.
Drex barely required additional preparation.
He reviewed Daken's photograph, location, and basic intel.
Then departed.
Midnight Hotel logistics once again expedited transport, this time to New York City.
Drex couldn't help but feel a strange sense of significance as he arrived.
This city would eventually become one of the chaotic epicenters of the Marvel universe.
Thousands of superheroes.
Countless supervillains.
Corporate empires.
Alien invasions.
Apocalyptic nonsense.
For now, though?
Still relatively normal.
Drex located Daken quickly.
No major security.
No visible private army.
Interesting.
He followed the target into a loud nightclub.
The music was obnoxiously intense, but Drex adjusted his super-hearing with growing ease.
One pleasant recent development from continued solar absorption:
Heat vision had finally begun manifesting.
Useful.
Inside the club, Daken spent some time aggressively making out with a blonde woman before eventually heading toward the restroom.
Drex followed.
The bathroom was empty.
Perfect.
He drew one Silver Eagle.
BOOM.
The gunshot vanished beneath the club's deafening music.
Daken's skull exploded.
Body down.
Target eliminated.
Simple.
Efficient.
Drex holstered his weapon and turned to leave.
Then...
Movement.
Fast.
A fist tore through the air behind him with violent force.
Drex shifted instinctively.
Dodged.
Turned.
And froze.
Daken stood there.
Alive.
Completely intact.
Well.
That was new.
Daken attacked again, moving with remarkable speed and strength.
Enough force to create audible wind displacement.
Enhanced human, at minimum.
Drex avoided several strikes before pressing a Desert Eagle directly into Daken's chest.
BOOM.
A massive hole exploded through Daken's heart.
This time, Daken dropped.
For several seconds...
Stillness.
Then he moved again.
Drex reacted instantly, seizing him by the throat before the resurrection assault could fully launch.
His eyes narrowed.
"...A vampire?"
Now things had become interesting.