After three years, she never knew his name. And he never knew hers. Three years of being partners. The things they’ve done. The things they’ve seen. The people they’ve killed. Three years. All they knew were each other’s code names. Apollo and Athena: the two Greek gods who were brother and sister. And as she watched him descend into the manhole, she felt as if things would never be the same.

Athena soon shook those thoughts. She had a job to do. A mission. Athena jumped back to reality and scurried off to do her part. She stealthily headed toward the jet-black van, jumped in, and locked the door behind her. She viewed the monitors of the hacked security cameras inside the nuclear power plant. She put on her headset and spoke into it, “Can you hear me Apollo?”

A voice answered, “Do you really have to ask that every time we do this?”

“Well you don’t want to end up in the middle of a Russian power plant without a guide, do you.”

“…True.” Apollo commented. “Just let me know when I get to work solo so I don’t have to put up with you anymore.” He said joking.

“Oh please. Without me, you couldn’t find your own ass with both hands…and a map.”

“Yea yea. Speaking of maps, where the hell am I?”

Athena chuckled. “Told ya.”

As she looked at the monitors, she noticed that something was wrong. “…Where did you go? According to this, the path you took should have lead you to the center of the compound. But…you’re on the side where the militia is meeting.”

“What the hell Athena? Were you wrong? Or were your sources wrong?”

“…I don’t know…it doesn’t add up…hang on. I’m gonna try to retrace your path.” She expertly hit a few keys and followed the schismatic back to the start. When she realized the mistake, her face soon turned to fear. “You idiot! You didn’t take the left at the beginning! Get the hell out of there!”

“…There was no left turn! Only straight! This was your plan so you better get me out before the Russians find us!”

Athena heard noises out side the van. “…Too late.”

“What?”

“The van’s been compromised. You’re on your own Apollo.”

“Wait! What?”

Athena disconnected the monitors and shut everything down. She opened a hatch on the van floor and slipped out, escaping just as three armed men enter, guns drawn.

Athena lay on the road, under the van. She crawled out and scampered away, keeping low. When she was about a hundred feet away, she pulled out a detonator and hit the switch. The van instantly flew into the air in a ball of fire. She fled the scene as fast as she could.

Apollo was cautious around every corner. His M9 handgun drawn and ready, he continued around to the exit. Just then, he heard the van explode. And as if on queue, soldiers came barreling down the halls toward Apollo. Hearing them, he pulled out a second M9 and flew around the corner, firing at everything that moved. Every shot counted. Every bullet met another man’s head. Blood soon soaked the floor. The men never even had a chance to fight back. They were dead within seconds. Nine of them had met the furry of Apollo, and when he’s around, there are no such things as survivors.

As Apollo approached the bodies, a horrible realization swept over him.

They weren’t Russian. They were American. They were from his agency.

“…Oh…Crap….” Was all he could say. He had no choice but to flee the scene and find Athena.

Athena lost contact with her squad. She figured the Russians had got to them. She could only hope that Apollo had made it.

Apollo sprinted out of the plant, saw Athena, yelled foe her to follow, and hijacked a convertible car. Athena asked what happened. Apollo didn’t answer.

Apollo sparked the right wires and floored it. “Murder Incorporated” By Bruce Springsteen ironically played on the radio as the car accelerated to 100mph. As Athena pleaded for him to slow down, the unthinkable happened.

They saw the smoke first. Then came the fire. It flooded out the top of the reactor. And then the entire plant exploded into a mushroom cloud of smoke and fire. Everyone around the plant was instantly killed. And if Apollo and Athena didn’t get out soon, the radiation could kill them.

Athena gaped at the cloud. She’d never been more frightened in her entire career. And that’s saying something.

“What the HELL did you DO!?” She screamed. “MILLIONS of people will DIE!”

Apollo said calmly, looking straight ahead, “I didn’t do anything.”

“Oh yea? Where are your clips? Where’s your GRENADE?”

“I don’t know what happened.”

Before Athena could respond, a small carrier plane flew overhead and lowered to the road in front of the car. It dropped a ramp and the car easily slid into the plane as it lifted back up and flew away before the radiation got to that point.

As soon as Apollo stepped out, he was shoved to the car and handcuffed by his own men.

“Please.” Athena said sincerely. “Don’t hurt him.”

Their boss, Zeus, stood before them and said, “Apollo has killed nine of our men and destroyed a nuclear power plant. We can treat him anyway we want.”

Athena stared at Apollo in disbelief. Without saying a word, she stormed out and to the cabin of the plane. Apollo was handcuffed in the cabin until they reached AFJ base. (Assassin For Justice)

As soon as they arrived, Apollo was thrown in the brig until Zeus could figure out what to do with him. Two guards cornered him and beat him to a pulp as the doors shut.

Zeus strode up to Athena, who was torn at the sight. Zeus said, “He’s been playing you this entire time. Don’t let him get into your head. He killed nine Russians. Remember that. Because of him, he has potentially killed millions.”

Athena looked at him and said with confidence, “Innocent until proven guilty.”

“Not here. Not anymore.”

With that said, Zeus walked away to leave Athena to dwindle in her thoughts. She then stormed up to the cell door and said to the guards, “Leave us.”

The guards did what they were told, leaving Athena with a potential enemy. Through the clear door and the air holes, Athena said one word. “…Why?”

“You know I didn’t do it.” Answered Apollo. “Any of it.”

“No. I DON’T know. Help me understand.”

“I can’t. Zeus, he’s corrupted. Anything I say will be twisted by him and used against me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do Athena. Watch him. Russia is in crisis and he’s striding around like he’s king of the jungle.”

“He’s acting like that so the people here won’t feel fear.”

Looking at Athena’s sad face, Apollo stated, “Apparently it’s not working.”

Her eyes red and wet, Athena wiped away a tear forming.

“Three years.” Apollo began. “We’ve been with AFJ for three years. They say we do all this for the greater good. Killing. Sabotage. …Treason. I don’t know what I’m fighting for anymore. I’ll never fight for this hellhole again. This is how it ends. Are you with me?”

“…I don’t know. I…can’t.”

Before Apollo got a chance to convince her, Athena hurried away, practically crying.

“Come on! Be careful!” Screamed a morgue worker. Athena saw three of the workers wheeling away some bodies.

Nine bodies.

Athena, with her game face on, went over to “inspect” the bodies. Once the workers left, she began rummaging through their stuff. She found an ID badge. It read “Tesevn Makarov” A Russian name. The crime against Apollo was that he killed Americans.
“Levi Lovacovich” Russian.
“Mavrick Lazaravich” Russian.
“Bob” Russian.
Eight of them were Russian. The last ID read, “Jack Garrison.” American. Athena continued the frisk and found a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it to find that it was a letter…
“Jack Garrison. You have been selected of many to lead an assault group of Russians to a traitor known as Apollo. You are not to fire a shot. Let the Russians take care of him. Make sure the Russians are blamed. Then kill them. Take a Grenade and attach it to the bomb that’s already been planted. You are to activate the countdown once the agent, Athena, calls for backup.
Good Hunting,
Zeus”
Astonished at the letter, Athena soon realized how right Apollo was. He didn’t plant the bomb. He was attacked when he killed the Russians. But could he still be trusted? Was he really a traitor just like Zeus said in the letter? She didn’t know. She didn’t care. She had to get him out.
Athena raced down the hallway back to the cell, ignoring the suspicious looks from her fellow agents. She got to the cell, only to find that it was empty.
Confused, she began to turn around when someone grabbed her in a headlock from behind. She felt the cold metal of a gun at her head. She saw the two guards on the floor. Dead or unconscious? It didn’t matter because at the moment, she would soon meet the same fate.
“Are you here to kill me?” Said the gun wielder.
“Apollo?”
“Shut up and answer!”
“I found the bodies. They were Russians. You were framed!”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
After a long pause Athena said, “So now what? You gonna kill me?”
“You know I couldn’t do that.” Apollo let go, spun her around, and kissed her. “Been waiting three years to do that,” He said jokingly.
“Well what took you so long? Big mean secret agent scared of a girl?”
They both laughed. Which was rare.
Killers don’t laugh.
In all seriousness, Apollo said, “Come on we gotta go.”
He took her hand and they sprinted like hell down the hallway and didn’t stop until they got to the staircase.
That’s when the sirens blared. They could hear soldiers coming up the stairs to their level.
“The roof!” Said Athena. Apollo nodded and followed.
Once they were on the roof, Athena said, “There’s a small armory up here, used for last minute supplies.”
Minutes later, the two were equipped with bulletproof vests, handguns, Assault rifles, knives, clips, everything they needed to kick some ass.
The army squad soon arrived, barreling up the stairs and onto the roof. Fifty men roamed around on the roof in full body armor and machine guns. They didn’t see anybody. Apollo and Athena were nowhere to be found.
The two waited till the army spread out. Separated. Vulnerable.
Apollo checked his guns, looked to Athena, and said, “Out skilled. Out numbered. Out of our minds. This is suicide. We’re screwed.”
“Just like old times.” Athena said with a smile.
With that said, the two darted away from their cover, splitting up, guns blazing. Apollo used two, single fire handguns. Athena was blasting away with a UMP sub-machine gun. The two instantly killed five men before the rest realized what was happening.
Apollo was out of ammo after another man went down. He threw his guns up in the air, pulled out two clips, caught his guns, and shoved in the ammo while wasting no time at all.
Athena replaced a clip and continued firing. Someone came up from behind and blasted at her with a shotgun. She fell forward, dropped her gun, rolled, and jumped back up while taking a knife and throwing it straight into the guy’s chest. She then drew an oozy and shot another one.
Apollo was getting hit. His vest protected him, but it wouldn’t last much longer. He dove behind some cover to reload. Athena joined him.
“We’re getting our asses kicked!” stated Athena.
Wincing with pain, Apollo replied, “I know. We can’t last much longer…how many are left?
“There’s actually not that many. I’d say twenty.”
“Then lets finish this.”
Apollo jumped up and tackled a guy, taking his M16 gun and shot another one.
18.
Athena dove over to him, picked up a shotgun, and blew away another.
17.
The two went back to back, firing away. Athena picked up two pistols while knifing another guy.
14.
Apollo ducked when he saw it. A soldier up high on some scaffolding had an RPG bazooka. And fired. The miss-guided missile flew past Apollo and exploded by more soldiers.
11.
After recovering, Apollo easily took out the RPG wielder and picked up two pistols while Athena reloaded.
10.
The two agents fired away with two pistols each. Back to back. Arm to arm.
8.
Bullet after bullet.
7.
Make every shot count.
6.
Never give them the chance to fight back.
5.
Apollo and Athena.
4.
Fighting with every last breath.
3.
Two trained killers.
2.
Michael and Sarah.
1.
The two stood. Out of ammo. Out of breath. Out of time.
The lone soldier stood, gun down. He took off his helmet to reveal silver streaked hair and the face that started it all.
Zeus.
Apollo and Athena were too exhausted to even move. Zeus angrily stormed over and grabbed Athena with a death grip, holding a gun at her head.
“You made a mistake Michael. You’re a traitor now. You and Sarah have to die.”
A helicopter flew overhead and dropped a rope ladder for Zeus.
“Yes.” Zeus continued. “I admit I set you up to kill nine men, but hell, whose gonna know?”
“Why?” Apollo said through bloodied and gritted teeth.
“Why? Money! Why else? The Russians have a bounty on your head Michael. They’ll pay millions to watch you die, billions to blow up their reactor. They want the Russian government to think that it was an American terrorist bombing. They’ll want revenge. Blood for blood is how the world works. They’ll use the explosion as an excuse to start a war. They invade America and start a new Russian empire. With me as their king!”
“You’re insane! And you’re not even Russian!”
“I am…actually. Fake ID can do anything. Even get you into AFJ. Who would’ve thought?”
Zeus threw Athena to the ground and climbed the rope ladder up to the helicopter while saying, “have fun dying! Hell should be better than this sad excuse of an agency.”
The vehicle rose up into the sky as Apollo rushed to Athena’s aid. He helped her up, and then glared at the helicopter with hatred in his eyes.
Knowing what he had to do, he limped over to the scaffolding and grabbed the RPG.
As he loaded the missile, he said, “My name is Apollo. God of the sun. God of fire.”
He lifted the bazooka and aimed accurately.
“You’re fired.”
He hit the trigger and the missile blasted out, hitting the side of the helicopter. It came twirling in circles, smoking. It finally crashed on top of an adjacent building in a ball of fire and metal.
Athena rushed over to Apollo.
“You okay?” She asked.
“I’ve been better.”
“So what now?” Without Zeus, we have no proof of the Russian conspiracy.”
Apollo re-loaded his pistol. Gesturing to the gun he said, “Well then we got some convincing to do.”
“Convince the Russian government?”
“Screw the government. They won’t do crap. It’s up to us now.”
“Two against the entire Russian militia …Sounds like fun.”
“You in?”
“Without me, you couldn’t find your own ass with…”
“Yea yea.”

From the wreckage of the helicopter, a piece of metal moved. A cold, metallic hand rose above the ashes. A metal body dug itself from the rubble, its eyes deep red and its “objective” nearby. And scrolled along the silver skull was one word…
ZEUS.