Portals are different in so many ways, shapes or forms. But especially when hungover, the thing you want to see from it the least are its insides. Some are as simple as a mirror, showing the other side, some are just a black hall you hover through, some dematerialise and materialise you with most things on the right spot- emphasis on the most.
The portals Soulhunter HQ uses are delusional feverdream tunnels from the inside, mixing sensory overload, the colors of an exploding clown and a long subway tunnel, where the drunk punks puked their hearts out with a taste of metal in your mouth....
They're amazing if you're drunk- but god have mercy on you if you are hungover just like me. After I staggered out the other end I am greeted with a grimy, foggy industry district, it's fume sickening everyone not used to it and clouding the already dim nightsky. Every now and then metal banging can be heard from the nearest cast foundry, followed by a clockhorn interrupting the rythmic clockwork of the nearby drop forges, sheet metal punches, mechanical spinners and papermills. Whilst at this time and date the factories are busy, the streets are nearly lifeless. Only the occasional joe and mongrel, sometimes even a dog are greeting the scenery. After recounting my breakfast contents and having a quick whaft of, if not fresh, but at least air, I step out to meet my first contract of the shift.
A middleaged process man, near one of the next 2 buildings. My "blind" eye imprints the sense of his soul onto it, highlighting the targets' soul in the crowd. Skilled soulhunters even develop a sense of general area the soul resides in at the moment. I keep my profile as low as a 7'15" tall thug can be-
'So you didn't give a fuck and blasted through everything in your path?'
"Who's tellin'e story'ere? Gimme at least a chance!"
Since my 2nd name was sneaky, I easily passed the guard and entered the busy factory.
And since my family name is trampling Brunhilde, I alert every single person inside and probably outside aswell, since I smashed the door shut. As now everyone has my attention I look through the crowd to check for the target. In fact the glimming soul of the target spikes through the dim and dusty hall. This place if not for the target ability, most certainly dims the very soul itself, making it hard to differentiate between souls or sensing them between even thin wooden panels. By now most have turned back to their work, though a few keep a faint side eye locked onto me. I begin to advance through the building.
"Ya can't be here mate, 'less ya wanne be working here or without safety, be buried here-"
//Same thin'....//I think to myself, as I looked at that foreman with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll be off soon 'nuff, aight? It ain't like I'm a safete inspector or anythin'-"
I just push him out of the way to save myself some time, so that I can continue to walk along the narrow catwalk over the steam driven belt system.
At that moment the foreman looks at 2 coworkers, which nod, grab some tools and follow.
"I hate repeating myself. Ya're not supposed to be here!"
At that I can't help but sigh. I got to hurry now unnless I want this to end in a masshysteric....
As soon as i had a clear visual on him I jump him down from the catwalk, pulling a doublebarreled shortbarrel gun right out of the left trenchcoat pocket. He has barely time to react but starts to stagger backwards. As I pounce on him, i press the barrel right at his chest, nearly piercing his skin by the force applied on the muzzle. With the other hand I grab his face. Synchronised with the trigger, my grapled hand starts to phase through his head, leaving him utterly shocked at the horrors of the impossible.
Not a second later, his body goes up in an explosion, leaving nothing but a red mist and a few chunks of flesh and bones, shooting through the Industrial hall like shrapnel.
After the infernal bang and its splatter, the whole Industrial complex falls silent, the witnesses staring in utter shock and disbelief on the remains of the victim. I clean my face with my sleeves, holding a weak blue flame firmly in my grip.
A soul. HIS soul.
Only annoying thing now is, that with my coat splashed with blood, stealth won't be an option today anymore. With that knowledge I slowly stand up and turn my head, to face them with the most maniacal of grins. The black imprints on my left face half, formed like a vein system reaching from my neck up and spreading over my face pulsate slighty. I raise my hands into the sky, laughing at them with all my might.
HEEEAAAARHARHARHARHAR!!!
With this beast of a taunt people are maximising their distance to me rapidly, in all panic, they run out to the building, leaving the still running mashines, the stains on the wall and myself alone. I take that time to put the soul save into my Soulbag.
"Heh, morons...."
I pull out the next contract, to cenfirm my next destination, followed by the reload of the next gunshell to my beloved doublebarrel shorties. It would actually be a crime to describe these 2 Guns as guns, as their bores more or less resemble 2 sawn of 50mm Anti-Tank canons welded ontop of each other and fitted with a grenade launcher sight. I know I know, it's overkill, but cant help it, their high explosive rounds just make such a nice boom.
Besides, unlike most Soulhunters....I can't hide and just pick their souls, I always had to bring them close to death, to even get their souls out. Unlike the others who end their life, I have to actually kill.... for them, they don't see death, but a murderer.... On times like these I actually think about it a lot.... What must the person feel? Confusion? Fear? Dread?
What are their thoughts on it? Who is this? Why me? Why now?
Being death is something entirely different, when you can actually see their reactions....see their expressions of utmost horror. They don't greet me like a means to an end. They fear me, like a psycho.
I am feared.
If I don't like the way I have to hunt my prey, then at least let me choose how I can bag my prey.
I've waited long enough. If I keep around any longer, the will form a mass against me, I should get going.
Once I know where to go, I concentrate deeply on it. My eyesight blurs a bit when doing this, as the sight, where I want to go next overlays with my actual sight, so i can adjust where in the area the portal shall open. This information gets collected like a yellow aura, burning over my left eye, collecting itself onto gunshell I desire. When ready i fire it at the wall, creating a portal to the next world I need. Unlike the portal at the company, it allows me to phase through it like a gate, although the vision to the other side is clouded in a yellow mist.
23 people die by my hand today, but inmidst them is one man, one thing that won't stay that way.