Erik Goldstein woke up and went through his morning routine like any other day. He woke up, took a shower, ate breakfast, and took the train to work. On the train he made sure to take his thiotimoline pills to combat the radiation still lingering in the air.
Flashbacks to the attack on the Independent Nation of Blackwald, formerly known as Germany, raced through his thoughts: the fall of Berlin, the bombing from the United States of Earth, the decade-long depression. Outwardly Erik winced, he still remembered the feeling of going to bed hungry and seeing his parents names on the list of the dead. Erik shook his head and chuckled. "What twenty three year-old's have PTSD," he thought. He got off at Bratwurst Bay and went to work at Victoriaquarium.
He arrived at work at exactly 0915 hours. However, something was different on that particular day. Erik thoughts were interrupted by a young man running up to him. "You've gotta help her please! She's in the alleyway," the young man said, talking a mile a minute. After that, he ran away. Being the Good Samaritan he was, Erik went to investigate.
He came across a strange scene. A young woman with strawberry-blonde hair was fighting off three men. She seemed to be winning the fight when one of them snuck up behind her and covered her mouth and nose with a white cloth. Before she collapsed to the ground, her wide, electric-blue eyes made contact with Erik's. "Help!" they seemed to scream.
At twenty years old, Erik was about five foot eight inches. He was built like a runner, long arms, lithe body, and muscular arms. The men had yet to see Erik so, he quickly, but gracefully, stepped into the shadows of the alley. He quickly made an assessment of his surroundings; there were a few small rocks on the ground near his feet, some trash bins scattered around the alley, and a thin layer of sand covering the alley's ground.
Sticking to the shadows, Erik threw a couple of the rocks at different trash cans. The men started, searching for the source of the sound. When one of them wandered near Erik's hiding spot he received a face full of sand. Erik then proceeded to, in one motion, stomp on the man's foot and then knee him in the stomach. To make sure he was incapacitated, Erik quickly attacked the man's pressure points around his neck and face.
By this time Erik had gained the attention of the other men. Although they both towered over Erik, they seemed reluctant to attack. That was their first mistake. Their second mistake was attacking one at a time. As the first man swung, Erik pivoted his body, having the man land in a pile of trash bins. The other man didn't have time to look surprised before he was hit by a trash can. Erik stood there for a moment, gloating. Then, behind him he heard the sound of a gun clicking. He slowly turned around with his hands in the air. With the cold metal of the gun pressing into his forehead Erik sarcastically said "A gun's unfair don't you think?" When the man failed to smile Erik tried again, "Wow tough cro..." his voice faltered as he saw the object glinting in the man's ear. "Fichat anna Klaus" (Take me to Klaus) Erik growled at the man. A look of surprise briefly flickered over the man's face, quickly replaced by a look of sternness. "Vikovarerat qisi" (Stay near) the man replied. He left his two companions drowning in a pool of their own drool and, carrying the young woman, briskly walked into a nearby manhole.
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A few minutes later, Erik was still walking behind the man when, he came to a sudden stop. Erik lifted his gaze from the floor to see why. "Ahh rubble, man's greatest enemy," Erik sneered. When there was no response, Erik turned around to find him self facing an empty sewer. "What the..." Erik stopped himself as he saw the man impatiently waiting near a golden door. An actual, real, bonafide golden door. Erik was enchanted by it before returning to his normal self, "It's ok I guess," he said to the man, who was shaking his head.
Erik walked through the doorway to find a man sitting on a throne of gold bars, which was sitting on a pile of money. He was surrounded by young men clad all in black with green armbands. One of the young men looked slightly similar but, before he recall where from, he was spoken to. "Ahhh Erik, I wish I could say that it's nice to see you but..." remarked the man sitting on the throne. He was a very frightening-looking man. He was six feet tall with a handlebar moustache and a blonde buzz cut. Beneath his tight black shirt, his bulging muscles rippled but, the most terrifying part was his face. Half of it was covered in scars as if it had been burned. "The feeling is mutual Klaus," Erik said his voice dripping with hate. "Tell me, you look different since we last met, what is it?" Erik asked cruelly, "A tattoo? No. New piercing? No. New..." "Enough!" Klaus shouted, cutting Erik off, "We have business to attend to. You see, you injured some of our best agents and as you know, these things do not go unpaid," Klaus said coolly. "Your best?" Erik snorted, "Wow things here have changed," he continued. "You see," Klaus continued, ignoring Erik, "the German Mafia has been moving up in the ranks. Unfortunately, we aren't very pleased with the job our government has been doing. We have a new target, the Chancellor. He is scheduled to be giving a speech at Chilehaus tomorrow evening" Erik could barely hold back his curiosity, "Who's being sent on this mission?" Klaus chuckled, "Why our best member... you." "M-me? But..." "Nuh uh uh, no buts," Klaus interjected, "the way this works is, either you do what I say or Hans hear puts a bullet through your foot, then your head." At the mention of his name the man who had led Erik to this death trap, Hans, straightened his posture. Although he was very reluctant to kill the leader of Blackwaldian government, Erik saw no escape. "Well the way I see it, you need me," when he saw Klaus' smile begin to fade, he continued, "so let's get everything straightened out. I want weapons, funding, and a companion," Erik stated. "You can have whatever is left in the old store room near Chilehaus and enough money for a train ticket there. No companion." Klaus replied. "But you see, I need a companion," Erik stated, now agitated, "And I don't want just anyone, I want her," at this, Klaus and Hans looked to where Erik was pointing, the woman with the strawberry-blonde hair. "Ugh you are just so hard to work with. Don't you understand? No companion, period," Klaus answered. "Well sir, I mean we have no use for her," Hans said uncomfortably. Klaus sighed, a long drawn-out sigh that had Erik wondering what this man's lung capacity was. "Ok," Klaus said tiredly, "Hans will give you the key to the store room." "Already got it," Erik grinned, holding in his hand a lime green key he had pick pocketed earlier.
Erik began to walk away smugly before Klaus whistled for him to come back. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Klaus asked him. "Don't worry, Hans will take care of the procedure," Klaus said. His last memory after that was a cloth over his mouth
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When Erik woke up, many things were different. The first thing he was aware of was a tingly feeling in his ear. Then, he noticed the rumble beneath his feet and the chatter of people around him; a train he deduced. The last was the scent of amber and sandalwood near him. Really near. In fact it was right under his nose! Erik's eyes shot open and quickly analysed the nearby surrounding. He was correct about the train and that there were few people in it. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the train's window and noticed something different. In his ear was a 250-karat gold earring. He started to understand why the passengers on the train were giving him a wide berth. All except for one of them.
"Are you done looking at yourself, hot stuff?" the young woman next to him asked. To Erik's surprise, it was the woman with strawberry-blonde hair! "Elizaveta Gurkovsky," she introduced herself, holding out a hand. She had a slight Russian accent and up close Erik could see that she was about his age, give or take two years. "Erik Goldstein," he replied coolly, shaking her hand. "If you're done sleeping, we are almost Chilehaus," Elizaveta told him. "I used your money to buy us the train tickets by the way," Elizaveta said to Erik as he dug around in his pockets. "I guess you've taken care of everything huh El-elis-can I just call you Liz?" Erik asked. "If you must," Liz sighed. "As I was saying Liz, thanks and all but, I prefer to work alone. I just wanted to get you out of harm's way. So I guess what I'm saying is, goodbye," with that said, Erik walked away. "No no no, that's not how it works. You see, they got me too," Liz replied pointing to a gold stud in her ear. "The way I see it, you got me into this mess and doing this job will set me free." Seeing no way around that logic, Erik sighed and sat down next to Liz.
Liz and Erik sat next to each other, occasionally stealing glances at the other. Now that they were close, Erik started to notice Liz's beauty. Her hair framed her face and her cheekbones. She had long legs and never stopped moving. She was constantly shaking her legs, twirling her hair, tapping her fingers, fussing with her bracelets. She was wearing a plain black T-shirt and jeans. Only then, did Erik notice that his clothes were different. His regular work clothes had been switched for shorts and a light blue T-shirt.
Liz noticed Erik looking at her and grinned inwardly, she couldn't blame him. She new that she was beautiful but didn't go around bragging about it or shoving it in everyone's faces. When she thought he wasn't looking, Liz stole a couple glances at Erik. He was lithe, slightly muscular, and handsome. She sat there for awhile admiring him before remembering that they were on a mission.
"Next stop Chilehaus," the conductor's crackly voice echoed throughout the car. Erik and Liz got up and walked out of the train at the same time. They walked by the Chilehaus-the building for which the town had been named after. It was an angular building, about ten stories high, and one of the only buildings left over from Germany. It was made completely out of bricks and the top is shaped like the prow of a ship. Already, security for the Chancellor had started to arrive, men that would make Klaus cower in a corner. From across the street Erik was able to discern the pistols tucked into their jacket pockets. "Come on let's go" Liz said impatiently. Erik took his eyes off the security guards and continued walking down the street.
Liz walked ahead looking for the old store room. Meanwhile, Erik was walking around as if he was in a daze. He thought about his previous encounters with the Mafia; being recruited by them when he was eighteen, his first mission, his escape. He about 20 more feet before he realised Liz wasn't in front of him anymore. He looked around worriedly before seeing her leaning against the wall, smirking. "Whatcha thinking bout hot stuff?" "Don't wander like that! Are you trying to get killed?" Erik yelled in response. "Whoa whoa calm down," Liz replied, "I was just going to the store room while you were wandering around like a blind person." "You don't understand!" Erik yelled, now outraged "I spent years cutting off all connections with them only to be dragged back, because of you!" With his fists clenched by his side, Erik stared into Liz's eyes. "Well I hope you don't expect that therapy session to be free just because you're hot stuff," she joked, lightening the mood.
With that finally off his chest, Erik walked down the alleyway with Liz. When they reached the store room, Erik reached into his pocket only to find, to his obvious surprise, that Liz was already holding the key in her hand. He started to question her, the just decided to accept it. When they opened the door, Erik was very disappointed. He wasn't expecting a full arsenal of weapons, or rocket launchers, or snipers that could be used from five hundred feet away and yet, he was still disappointed. The room was room 20x20 and contained three items. There was mannequin leaning against the back corner, a single sliver of wood next to it, and a glass vial containing a lilac liquid. As Liz went over to examine the toothpick, a robotic voice rang out "Hello, it is nice to meet you. My name is John Doe." Startled, Erik called out "Where'd that come from?!" "Why I'm right next to you," at this, the mannequin's eyes opened. In unison Erik and Liz screamed, robots were nonexistent. "I apologise for frightening you." John said in a monotone voice, chasing the two companions around the room. When he realised that wasn't helping, he morphed into Erik. Little by little, John's body began to match Erik's. He became taller, darker, clothed, gained a full head of hair, and his eyes changed colours. At this, Erik stopped running. "How'd you do that?" He asked carefully. "It is in my system for I am John Doe," replied the mannequin. Erik leaned in the observe the mannequin, John moved and looked like a human. Erik realised that John may be of some use to him. "How do you feel about assassinations?" he asked John, "You see, me and Liz here are in some trouble and we need your help." Meanwhile, Liz had been gathering the rest of the items in the room. She walked over to Erik and told him "There's petrichor in this vial, Erik." "Pertichor- a highly deadly poison that kills in seconds. It works by first paralysing the nervous system then, shutting down the major organs," John's voice rang out. With this information, Erik started to form a plan. "Ok this is what we're gonna do."
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7 hours later
"Is John in place?" Liz whispered into Erik's ear. Erik gave her a slight nod, telling her with his eyes not to worry. The Chancellor was due to arrive in 5 minutes. Erik began thinking about the past 24 hours; the young man running up to him, attempting to save Liz, meeting Klaus, meeting Liz officially, finding John, the formation of the plan and now, the execution of it. The young man. Suddenly, Erik realised why the young man in the Mafia Headquarters looked so familiar. He was the same kid from that morning. The whole thing had been a setup! Klaus wanted Erik back in the Mafia and arranged the whole event. As Erik discovered this, the Chancellor walked into the room.
John Doe, disguised as a security guard, readied himself. Inside his shirt sleeve was the toothpick which had been dipped into the petrichor. Amid the flashing lights of the reporters' cameras, John thought he saw Erik trying to mouth something to him. Unfortunately, it was lost among the reaction to the Chancellor's arrival. John stood up and walked over to where the Chancellor stood on his podium. As John was about to stab the Chancellor with the toothpick he was tackled by someone. It was Erik! "The plan's off, run," Erik whispered into John's ear. John took this advice and sprinted out of the room. "I apologise for that Chancellor, that man was attempting to murder you," Erik told the surprised ruler calmly. "I am forever in your debt sir, is there anything I can do, don't hesitate to ask," the Chancellor replied. "Well I guess there is something," Erik said, smirking.
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Klaus was sitting on his Golden Throne when he heard of Erik's betrayal. In his rage, Klaus took each gold bar and hurled at the wall of the room. When the Blackwald government found him, he was surrounded by chips of gold bars and the floor was covered in money. He was taken into custody along with the rest of the German Mafia. It was later estimated that the amount of money in the room was around 1.5 billion dragons. For his assist in arresting the largest organised crime group in Blackwald, Erik 10 million dragons.
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3 years later
Erik and Elizaveta moved far far away from the city after the whole tearing down the German Mafia incident. They moved onto a large plot of land in the middle of nowhere, where they eventually fell in love. They ran a summer camp where they taught kids how to move sneakily and told them the story of tearing down the German Mafia. John Doe stayed in the city and worked in a museum, teaching kids about different historical figures, their favourite was Erik Goldstein.
One day, Erik and Liz were sitting inside watching the television when they received a phone call. "Hello Liz Goldstein speaking, how may I help you" Liz said politely into the phone. Erik watched as his girlfriend's face grew more serious with each second. "Erik you might want to hear this," she said somberly. Erik took the phone and was surprised to hear the voice of the German Chancellor. "Erik, we need your help, it's the French, they're starting to attack our borders," the Chancellor said. Erik looked from his wife then at his reflection in a mirror. "Who's our target?" he asked.