6To my other readers, sorry for not updating my other stories but I hit a wall, and I need a place to offset my other ideas in my head. This one is part of an OCT contest made by Rapidfyrez's "The Calling", and here is my character, using Watch_Dogs as a place to put my OC in. Enjoy, and I hope to continue this as much as you do.
Now unlike most of the other OCs in the tournament, mine is relatively new, made from scratch, and I wanted to put a little back story first before I dump him in the thick of things.
I do not own Watch Dogs or the other OCs in Station S-6-S.
Act One: Down the Rabbit Hole.
A yellow cab stopped right outside a blue commercial building. Inside was a man in his middle 30's, black hair, dark eyes, Caucasian and was wearing a blue hoodie jacket with a Nexus hat worn in reverse wearing dark trousers and black boots. He looked as if he was waiting for someone and soon a young woman was coming out of the building and activated a switch to turn the light on his taxi sign, a signal that his cab was available. The woman looked at it and called the taxi to her by waving her hand at him and the taxi moved to her position.
Hal Durandal picked up his latest passenger in his taxi. She was blonde, 35 years of age and she was really pretty. If you didn't know better, you'd say she was single.
"Where do you want me to take you ma'am?" He asked his passenger.
"Western Train Station." She replied. With that, he got his engine on and soon, his yellow cab went to the destination that she pointed out.
After a few minutes, he suddenly went off course and into an alleyway. The woman in the back got concerned.
"Ummm, where are we going?" She asked, her fear was slightly noticeable in her tone. The man nonchalantly replied "I'm taking a shortcut, the traffic from here to the suburbs is bad and I don't like to wait around." She was still unsure but she still thought she was safe. She was simply paranoid after that phone call made to her house about the locks.
A few more minutes, they arrived at Western Train Station; she was relieved that her paranoia did not turn into a reality.
"We're here, ma'am. Have a nice day." Hal said, and she paid her fee and got out, faster than normal. Hal was still there when she was walking to the train station and the woman wondered why he did not leave yet.
Her answer was swift as a chloroform laced handkerchief hit her face and she dropped like a sack of potatoes after a while. The man then dragged her body to a Racine van and stuffed her body in the back. The man then walked towards the cab and Hal lowered his windows to speak with him.
"Damien Brenks appreciates your assistance, Mr. Durandal." The man said and Hal stiffly nodded and drove off. On the way he saw a young boy holding a tablet shaking in fear and he ran off when he looked at him. His face was covered in shadow so he did not need to worry about being recognized.
As he drove off, the only thing Jackson Pearce ever saw and remembered was her mother being stuffed into a Racine van and that was all he remembered. He would try to remember the man in the taxi, but his face was in shadow, and he was too scared for his mother and himself to take note of him, so only the van that took his mother was burned into his mind.
Hal sighed as he watched the little tyke go. He could have gotten out of the cab and snatched the kid, but he decided that it was too much trouble, and he had a "no kids harmed" rule that even someone of his gray morals could do. Plus, it was cause unnecessary ruckus and he did not need to trouble.
{One hour later.}
"Hal, my boy, you never cease to amaze." Damien Brenks gleefully proclaimed as he and Hal overlooked the transfer of Nicole Pearce to a secure room, one where Aiden could not hope to trace any future calls he and Damien would have if Damien needs to remind him to do his job or rub in Aiden's face.
"Save it, Damien." Hal shrugged his praise off, mostly because how uncomfortable the man's presence was when he was around. There was a time he and Damien where best of buddies; now, thanks to the hit on him and Aiden's life for screwing up the Merlaut job, Damien was less tolerable, mostly because his smug face and his underhanded tactics made him very unlikeable. "I'm only doing this to cover my debts and to make sure I'm free from the fallout you and him will do to each other. I just want out. You were lucky I was in a good mood 6 months ago when you called me. Now this is my last job, for real."
Don't get Hal wrong, he did some pretty nasty things himself, but he reserved for the very worst of scum, like the goons from the Viceroys or the Chicago South Club, and when he needed to, threaten the family of the target with either bankruptcy or implicating them in crimes they never committed nor heard of. What Damien is doing not only makes him a target, but he is digging a hole for himself, if his reports on Aiden Pearce were right.
Aiden will not stop to find his sister, and will bulldoze mountains and bankrupt the mayor if it meant keeping her sister safe. He should know because he would do the same for his sister as well. Hal may not concern himself with Damien's well being, but he wanted to make sure the fallout did not reach him in any way possible.
Damien scowled. "You sound like you know Aiden's gonna one up me, is that right?" Hal stared at him with a blank face.
"There's an old saying, "In a tale of revenge, dig two graves. One for the enemy, and the other for yourself." I'm telling you, this will blow up in your face one day. Not today, nor tomorrow, but certainly sometime in the future."
Damien narrowed his eyes at his former partner. He may not like his opinions, but he did not become his partner by giving him bullshit. "I appreciate your concerns, Hal, but I think you should put more faith in me once in a while." Damien snaked his hand around Hal's neck but Hal shrugged it off.
"This is the last time I'm doing this so I can clear my debts. I want nothing to do with whatever you and Aiden are gonna dish out. Because while I am good in what I do, a man with everything to lose is even more dangerous than you give credit for." Hal said sternly, narrowing his eyes. Damien wasn't very concerned.
"And that is what I am counting on. Besides, he and I are technically after the same thing. I'm just, making sure he gets a perspective of what he needs to do." Damien sneered, before he headed out for the exit, but cocked his head to Hal's direction. "Sorry to see you go, Hal. But I do keep my promises, and I will let you go. Don't worry for reprisals, my old friend, you have my word." He promised, before he turned around and said. "And if that's out of the way, I have to meet my old partner and ask his help once again. He won't refuse, not with me holding all the cards." He proclaimed before he headed out.
Hal was unimpressed. "Trust me, old man. You won't see him coming. Thing about the people you love, is that you can be sure they will be willing to anything so they can to get them back." He whispered to himself before he left and decided to go home and see his sister.
Hal sighed. In another life, he and Aiden would have been friends, as they had much in common. But he decided to get out of the way, and hope he doesn't know that he kidnapped his sister. He wanted out of this life for a while and he was not gonna have a vigilante ripping that away from him.
{Durandal Household, 30 minutes later}
Hal stood in front of the house of his sister, Joanna. Part of him wanted to go inside and tell them it was all over, but years doing his job made him less optimistic and more pessimistic. He kept looking over his shoulder on his way to his sister's house, thinking some Fixer or anyone will come behind him and blast him in the face via run and gun.
He stood out in front of the house, afraid that what happened to Aiden's niece will happen to him, but he had to swallow it. As much of a snake Damien was, he did not lead him astray so far, and if he is gonna keep his word, he was hesitating only due to his paranoia that he was about to be backstabbed.
Joanna Durandal was a woman who had been blessed with a good life. Her cerulean blue eyes, brown hair and fair skin made her so beautiful; one would think she was single. She has been asked out a lot and her brother has been known to keep tabs on her about that. She used to be married but her marriage disintegrated due to his bad behavior and drinking. She was grateful to her brother when he found evidence to put his drunken ass behind bars (but not before beating the crap out of him for harming his sister). She was on her to check with her girls when she saw a car rolling up her house.
Joanna saw her brother outside from her window and he thought he was coming in. But when he just stood there, he must have been pretty disturbed seeing as he was immobile for a while until she decided to invite him in.
"If you keep standing out there on my lawn, you might as well be a statue." She called to Hal, breaking him out of his reverie.
"Sorry, sis." Her brother said. "I had a lot on my mind." Joanna put her hands on her hips and breathed out. "Well, if you are gonna think on something, at least come inside and greet the kids." She gestured for him to go in and he obliged without hesitation. His sister always was looking out for him, even if he was doing the care taking for her.
Putting doubts aside, he entered the house with his sister.
Inside, he was greeted by two girls who cried uncle and Hal scooped both of them up gleefully. The girl on his right was Eleanor, wearing a pretty pink dress with white pants, and pink shoes and her sister, Suzanne, who was wearing jeans, a Yankees baseball hat and a shirt with the words "I Love The World" colored in blue.
"Uncle Hal!" They greeted in unison. He smiled at them warmly. Hal then took his attention to his sister and asked "So, what's happening with you guys?" Joanna smiled and began explaining.
The next 3 hours were a blur to Hal, as he and his sister began to catch up on things they did since they last met, and the children were playing with some neighbor's kids just next door. Hal, over the course of the year, had revealed to her sister about his profession and what he had to do to keep her and her family safe. She did not take it well over the last few months, giving him the cold shoulder for a while before she started opening up to him again. When she did, she was still apprehensive but she wanted nothing more than her brother to be safe.
After he was done explaining, Joanna had an understanding as to why he stood out in the open for that long. "Are you worried about that?" Her brother sighed and narrowed his eyes on the floor.
"Yeah, I am. This isn't some job that you can just walk away so easily. People like Quinn or some rich bastard will pay top dollar for the best Fixers in Chicago and they won't let just anyone with my skills walk away without some strings attached."
"But your friend Damien said-"She was interrupted by Hal.
"Damien is a snake who cares for nothing in the world but himself and his ego. He let me go because he kept his end of the bargain and I kept up mine but the minute he needs something done that his former partner can't do, he may come sniffing for me once again. I can't just let this go out of paranoia. I heard stories of former Fixers ending up in the newspaper's obituaries. I know that "walking away" is not as easy as it sounds." Hal argued.
Joanna leaned forward and took his hand into hers and made her look at her. "But despite that, you are here, in my home, seeing your nieces and talking to me about that aren't you? If you were right, then they could have taken you out on the way here, and this conversation would not have happened, now won't it?" She said.
The one thing Hal admired about his sister was her optimism. In today's world, people like her are chewed up and spit on the sidewalk with everyone's pessimism or cynical behavior. Her personality was a good balance to his grittier view on the world, which was appreciated when his own paranoia works against him sometimes. He chuckled
"You always had a way of thinking of the sunnier side of life, Joanna. That was the one thing I was envious of when we were kids."
"And when I was a kid, I was envious of you being able to have the strength to do what most kids in our old neighborhood couldn't do." She admitted. Both shared a laugh and they generally enjoyed having talks like this every time Hal visited.
They talked and talked and time passed them by as the hours whisked by until it became night. By that time, Hal was eating with Joanna and her kids and they had a pleasant time together.
Hal laughed as his nieces began chatting incessantly about their day, their hopes, what they want to do in life, and much more. Honestly, Hal could care less. He was simply happy being in their presence, as sappy as it was. He enjoyed being with her and her daughters because in that brief moment, he saw innocence he lost long ago being played in front of him and hoping something better will come out of it. He was cynical and skeptical in nature, but he hopes something good comes out of it in the end.
After that, he and the kids watched a home movie together. It was 2 hours long and by then, the children fell asleep.
Finally, it was time for him to go. Joanna accompanied him as he headed to the door.
"So, that means you're unemployed now?" Joanna asked as she and Hal stopped at the door.
"I can get by just fine. There are some other ways to get money, that's for sure. Besides, I still have a lot of money in my account, so I won't need to worry about paying the bills for at least a few years or so." Hal answered.
"Alright, so take care now." He waved good bye to his sister, and she did the same "Don't be a stranger."
Hal left her house feeling great and, while he was late at night, he wanted to have his own fun first before he turned in for the night. He went into his car and drove off into Chicago's downtown district, The Loop.
{The Loop, 3 hours later}
Hal was pretty pleased with himself.
Over the past few hours, he had been involved in a lot of recreational activities he had no time for when he was around, and now he decided to do them all. He played Chess in coffee shops for fun, drinking games, shell games and even some Digital Trips. Heck, he has the highest score in the whole city for the game called Alone. Cash Run and NVSN aside, he was enjoying himself. Although he was willing to try out new things, he decided to get some more cash to pay for them.
Working with Dead Sec before he got into the job with Damien, he ran a few errands for the group and they paid him not in cash, but in control with a backdoor program into the ctOS network. Transformers blew up when he hacked them, blockers held incoming pursuers at bay, he can even turn the switch of the entire block's power supply off when surrounded by cops. In short, he was the closest thing to a demigod among people, especially when he can just reach into someone's bank account, file or phone call, and take it or listen in. Arrogant, yes, but with this much power, who wouldn't be?
Pulling out his Profiler App in his cell phone, he quickly found a Blume Affiliate with a huge payout in his account. When he found him, he got $2,770 from him. Normally, this would be the time Hal would go to an ATM and pull the money out, but he lingered on a bit longer. Affiliates with Blume have a tendency to call for Fixers to deal with hackers to their bank accounts. As soon as his phone was in contact with Blume, Hal promptly grabbed it, smashed it on the pavement, and warned "Walk away. Now." The man was now spooked and he took his advice. Now, he was simply walking around, enjoying the sights, and occasionally using his profiler app to see what secrets the people he passes by.
He passed through a tunnel and he ended up in one of the parks that littered the Loop. He kept on walking around, just enjoying the night breeze, with only a few cars passing by and some chatter from nearby pedestrians, it was almost too quiet. His reverie was interrupted, however, when an old man wearing a green trench coat black undershirt with grey trousers, brown leather shoes and wearing dark aviator glasses called his attention. "Hey young man, care to be interested in taking a Digital Trip?"
Trying to be polite, Hal shook his head. "No thank you, I've had my fill." And Hal kept on going until the old man really got his attention.
"Oh come now, Mr. Durandal, it's a good game." In a flash, Hal had his M1911 Pistol with silencer attachment held up into the old man's face and hissed. "Who are you and why do you know my name?" The old man smiled, even with imminent death staring in his face. "I know many names, and my master likes to keep tabs on interesting individuals such as you. I know for a fact that Damien Brenks recently, let you go, and my master has a proposition for you."
Hal looked at the man as if he grew a second head. Master? He sounded like he was a few pills short of insomnia, but the fact remains that he knew too much and he wanted to figure out who sold him out. "You have a minute to live. Fill it with words. And FYI, I no longer work with Damien anymore."
The old man chuckled. "My name is Mercurio, and my master has been searching for certain individuals like you to participate in an event. Are you interested?"
"I am only interested in finding out how you knew what I do and who I worked with. Besides there are other Fixers who are just as good, if not better, than me. Why pick me out of all of them?" Hal demanded out of the old man. He did not pull out his profiler yet because he trained his attention to the man who somehow knew something no one else should know.
"You are more, exceptional, than most others in your field, with only one comparison in this city. I would have asked his participation, but sadly he is indisposed at the moment, thanks to your recent escapades." Mercurio mentioned.
Hal narrowed his eyes at him, he was mentioning of Aiden Pearce. He stayed silent and let Mercurio continue, so when he was done, he won't second guess his decision on perforating this man or not.
"This will be a contest of sorts between who is the best, well in your case, Fixer in the field, consisting of four rounds. 16 participants will join in and will battle it out for supremacy and the last one standing will win this contest." Mercurio finished as Hal blinked.
"You expect me to risk my life again for shit like that? I got out to not be in mortal danger and to live my life peacefully. I do not need to die for something I know for a fact: I. AM. THE. BEST." Hal emphasized his last sentence.
Mercurio looked on. "Normally that would have been the case, but we have taken a different approach to this. Have you checked your phone recently?" Mercurio asked, making Hal narrow his eyes at him. Hal was skeptical, but he brought his phone out without breaking eye contact and checked it. He saw his inbox has a new message, and in it, it was stated:
Dear User: Thank you for downloading our new digital app, The Calling. This game will take you to places you have never seen before and you and 15 other participants will duke it out to claim the ultimate warrior in the multiverse! Last man standing will be the winner. Enjoy! Your new game will be in the Digital Trip app of your phone if you wish to participate.
He then scrolled into his Digital Trips section and saw it. It was a rusty colored space station and the title The Calling was highlighted in Red. He looked up to Mercurio who still had a smile on his face, but Hal narrowed his eyes. He decided to lower the gun, but his attitude of him did not change. However, he was now interested about it. This tournament, The Calling, was actually a Digital Trip app, yet why did they go all the way for him to be in it? Something did not add up, but the fact remained that he was now interested in whatever this man was selling him.
"Say that I am interested in this, then what? What do I get out of all this?" Mercurio shrugged and got Hal confused.
"It depends. My master, who goes by the nickname "The Caretaker", was not specific on the rewards, but he did say that he will personally reward those who can successfully conquer is tournament. And if you refuse, you get nothing. You neither win nor lose anything, and you will have missed the opportunity of a lifetime." The old man explained.
"Then what is stopping me from saying no and giving you a new hole to breath in?" Hal threateningly asked, raising his gun again to create the emphasis.
"You have everything to gain in accepting this, and my master can grant you anything that is in his ability to do so. And even then, refusal is simply saying that you are simply content with what you have right now and you still walk away having gained something. In short, you have already won; all you have to do is choose: Risk everything to gain something greater? Or are you already content with what you got." Mercurio explained.
Hal did not like not having all the variables, but he was also interested in what he can offer. He might be facing mortal danger, but he was a Fixer, when was the last time a Fixer's job was bloodless in any job handed to him whatsoever? Besides, challenges always gave him a good time and he wanted to know just how far this rabbit went down this hole.
"You have my interest, Mercurio, but not my answer. I will tell you when I will accept, but only after I have a good night's sleep to think about it." He said to him, which Mercurio nodded. Hal looked at the Calling app briefly before he began to speak again.
"Now, how did yo-"He trailed off when he realized the man was gone.
"What the hell?" He looked around for any sign of him but nothing. No footsteps, no cars running, he just vanished into thin air. He walked away to his apartment after searching for a few minutes. He did not know where he went and honestly, he did not care. He wanted to know how the hell he knew all that much about him.
{Next day, Hal's apartment.}
"Who the hell is this guy?" Hal pondered to himself when he searched Mercurio through his access into ctOS. And it surprised him when he did not come up, as if he did not exist. It was literally impossible not to be profiled by the ctOS, as even the homeless left a digital footprint, no matter how small it was.
He was so engrossed in his work that he did expect a hand to grab his shoulder. On instinct alone, he grabbed the offending appendage and dragged it, the arm attached and the person owning the arm to the nearby table. Hal was surprised when he recognized his wannabe intruder's identity.
"How the hell did you get inside this room? IT was locked." Hal snarled as Mercurio gave a smile, despite the discomfort of his position right now.
Ignoring his query, Mercurio decided to go straight to the point. "Have you decided yet, Mr. Durandal?"
"You know I could just blow your brains out and be done with it." Hal hissed, but the man didn't even flinch nor hesitate in his answer.
"You may do so, but I die happily in service of the master." Hal narrowed his eyes. On one hand, it could be a bluff to save his life, but his expression and mannerisms say otherwise, and if that was true, this guy was a fanatic, and Hal knew how far fanatics will go. Deciding on not decorating his room with brain matter, he let go of Mercurio's hand, and Mercurio straightened himself.
The former fixer weighed in his options. While it was true that whatever this man's offering will bite him in the ass eventually, he could gain something out of all this. If he refuses, then he has nothing to neither lose nor gain. In short, it was a win-win scenario.
Hal then spoke to him. "I am curious and interested, so yeah, I think I have something to gain from all this." He agreed.
"Excellent!" Mercurio clapped his hands together. "Shall we depart?"
"Let me get my stuff in order first. I have a feeling that wherever this tournament is, I may need it." Hal said, and Mercurio nodded, having a cheery disposition despite what happened to him earlier.
Hal then went over to his armory to clear his head. He usually headed there to tinker around with his guns with new attachments or by using and experimenting with ammunition. His Chrome revolver has multiple ammunition types, but he favors the tracer rounds, which he can use to track people when he fires the round, the bloodshot round, which is a filled with a chemical compound that simulates death and is very useful in capturing targets, and his explosive rounds, which can take out armored units, but only if aimed right. Hal decided to stock up on them, because he had a gut feeling he might need them soon. He soon walked over to his other arsenal, a customized version of the 416 assault rifle, the Wildfire, with EOD scope and hand grip attachments on it to provide better aim and stability. He then went to his shotguns and took the Piledriver, a custom SG-44 Shotgun with laser attachment, hand grip and silencer attachment and finally, his Sniper rifles and took the SVD Dragunov Sniper Rifle with Silencer attachment. He took his guns and put them with the explosives and gadgets and put it in a large duffle bag. He then took a black neck warmer that also serves as his mask. He got a blue and black hoodie and took his Nexus cap and put it on his head and finally, put on black combat gloves that fit his style.
He got out of the room and faced Mercurio, whose facial impressions were still cheery and he was still waiting on him.
Shouldering his duffel bag, Hal turned to the man in front of him "So, you have car waiting for us?"
Mercurio shook his head. "No need, just tap your app on the phone and we will proceed shortly."
Hal looked at him incredulously. "Unless you can teleport us to wherever you want me to go, playing a digital trip on my phone won't do shit in terms of getting anywhere."
The old man simply smiled at him. "Why don't you activate it and find out? Like you said, you have nothing to lose in doing so anyway."
Hal was still skeptical, but he was right and decided to press the damn app. "Alright, but I tell you, we still need some trans-" He was cut off when everything in his vision turned to pure white.
{Station S-6-S}
"-portation." Hal finished as he finally realized he was not in his room anymore. His duffle bag was with him, but his surroundings were not the same. He saw a rather rusty colored hallway he was in, with small lights lighting the way.
"Where the fuck am I?" Hal seemingly asked to himself, but scratchy, metallic voice answered for him "You are in my Master's personal playground."
He turned he was shocked that in the place of the old man he saw before was now replaced by a silver colored looking robot that Hal would see in the Digital Trip "Alone", complete with a singular eye-looking optic, but with a thin, skeletal frame instead. The Fixer raised his gun to its "face" out of shock.
"Mercurio?" Hal asked tentatively and the "robot" nodded its head.
"Correct, Mr. Durandal. I shall escort you to where the tournament shall begin." The robot moved forward but Hal leveled his gun at its head. "Hold on, before I go anywhere, I need some explanations to all this" He gestured to the hallway they were in.
"Believe me, Mr. Durandal, this is far larger than you know but I think what I said early is still true: 16 of you are going to fight it out to the death to find out who is the top dog in the whole multiverse. Even if you refuse, you cannot leave unless you participate, so basically, you are in it for better or worse."Mercurio explained, as Hal narrowed his eyes but he eventually dropped the gun as the robot had a point.
"Should've mentioned that before I decided to go along with this…" Hal muttered. Wherever he was in, he just realized that while he was not in imminent danger, it was clear to him he was in clear and present shit. And it will just get worse from here.
The robot motioned him to follow, and Hal went with it down the dimly light corridor.
{Unknown Location, Station S-6-S}
Insane laughter echoed throughout this area of the station, in the middle sat a mysterious being whose spittle was flying, his laughter and indication of the madness this being has descended.
The Caretaker laughed at his new arrivals, but stopped for this one. "Hmmmm, this one is interesting, although he possesses no history of interesting battles like the others, I can see that his skill is just as impressive." He said, as his monitors were able to see his activities for the past 5 years. It was his bio, and a few of his more action packed jobs as he cackled manically.
"Yes, he'll do just fine here." The man's insane laughter carried all the way in the entire room.
Rate and Review please. In the off chance I don't get accepted, I enjoyed writing this chapter anyway.