[SS] Unendliche Jagd (Unending Hunt)

(Consolation and advices do not mean the mistake is okay. You don’t stop moving on to fix your error just because you’ve been patted.

Applauds do not nullify the mistake within.

Newcomer or veteran is irrelevant.

I feel as if someone had to bear with this day with me ….

What a long day it has been ….

Paces …. Turns …. Oddities …. Voids ….

Foolish decisions and their outcomes, if you had to went through it too …. I’m sorry.

That’s the kind person I am, the kind that makes bad decisions before knowing.

But let me tell you, I don’t think it’s gonna be over soon.)

---

The man who leapt through time …. leant against the wall, perspired and tried to control his breath.

The interval of farewell was over, as was the visitation from the specter of the past. Crave as much as one wants, he should eventually come to the realization. And that was what started pushing the mind of the man whose name was Tougane Masaru, the name he has been given and never liked, to calibrate his priorities towards the most important matters and divert away from the trivial. It was a fact that the act of leaving someone behind was what caused pain and scars as remembrances, those that led him here, in most cases, he was that ‘someone’, he rarely ever revealed what was going in within. “Don’t let them see you bleed”, he remembered it well. Accompanied with pain, there was a drive. Standing on his feet once again, was the man who strives on conflicts.

The only thing that was within the grasp was future, the path ahead that he believed he could choose, for the best that was yet to come.

The problem solver? The problem eliminator? Or the problem accumulator? The terms blew hot and cold.

Tougane no longer had a vision of them briefly as he felt the gaze of sluggish combatant who stood behind her commandant. They all did, both he had saw and was seeing, possessed lovely looks and looked unfit for the place he thought he was in.

(Flowers in the battlefield, these flowers bloom as any normal one does, but they prosper on the lives of the fallen. Make no mistake in entrusting in their appearance. They may even have the teeth of their own to do so.

That become of what people advise, never fall for the appearance. Especially, in love.)

What could be a killing machine clothed by a charming outer appearance, both of her owns and what she wore, uttered her words, contextual to what she was saying earlier.

"Listen up Frenda. With only the three of us it would be best to regroup ASAP before we search out the target. The plan has not changed, so I would like our firepower to be as great as possible, so that we can dumb that trash quickly. This is getting kind of boring after all..."

The voice sounded dead boring as much as she said it for herself, this – whatever was happening - may be a scenario she came across any day of a week. Despite the tone and the emotion, what she said was not meaningless.

A dead limb bounded to be cut, to keep the body alive and move on, there was no use of holding back what was essentially gone. She spoke of it and did what she claimed. The client and the woman in the mourning, who he departed not too long, would do the same to him, but he was not there to find out for sure. A downed teammate is as much a burden as an enemy, both drain the endurance.

The firepower is a key to victory, but who and how he employs it matter more. He was seeking for one with an apparent lack of one.

Speaking of it ……

There were two for him to face there.

(I couldn’t even take that one out single-handedly, with one more I would end up in a gang-spanking fest. I need bargaining power. What can I-)

"Mhh, let’s go shopping afterwards. That cheapskate Zorro imitation got my dress dirty...sigh…that’s the 10th this month..." The content earned his attention and cut off what he was onto.

(Pfft … Seems like it’s not just me who has to replace a new one to the wardrobe. That girl … Frenda, got my recently-acquired suit. Dunning for each suit is a bitch to do already, the tailor is always either busy moaning about his payment or enjoying chatting things with other clients. Maybe I should have gotten 10 of this Prince of Wales check in the first place. Better if I wear combat wears to start with, but that wouldn’t be the image I pursue, boring salary-man, who takes part into driving the economy of this country forward. Well, I do that … in a way. A cheapskate Zorro imitation? Sounds quite familiar to me …. He may be one of ‘that’ party I slipped past. I’m just hoping we will never have to meet) He could not hold some of his silly thoughts after all. This time he just let them out and leave them behind.

Heels made the sound that echoed back and forth the tunnel, they might be on their move.

He peeked again from their behind, the girl in pink removed her sight from his direction and move along with the leading one, as if she spoke out ‘that was just my imagination’ or ‘my mind is playing tricks on me’ and then erased the question mark above her head. Remaining hidden twice was already beyond his expectation.

Not too long, they would be on their way to getting the man – Tsukasa – and that would be the end of his mission.

(People coming for your life …. I guess I should KILL THEM FIRST [BGM], that is what I’m paid for after all…. No, no, no, no ..... I’m getting myself a little bit confused here. No, I am paid for getting him out alive. I only just have to pave the way out for him. The necessity of killing is up to the situation. And I need to make sure it doesn’t get in the way of my objective.)

The enemies, yet again, turned their backs from him. It maybe another chance to retake what was lost after all.

He tucked the pistol into the vest, to get a grenade out, he then pulled and put away its ring into his pocket. He switched it to his right hand that was bound with a black arm strap clinging over his neck to commandeer the pistol again, holding it tightly so it would not go off unexpectedly.

He was living a suicidal life before this moment anyway, another suicidal move would not change anything much, it may put the angst to rest in the end.

He walked out from the corner and tried to catch up to the duo, refraining from shooting any at the moment because one of them may just be able to simply dodge it even at close-range, disintegrate or catch it. He would say “screw it” to that if that ever happened.

(This is getting repetitive after all ….)

Mindful steps that were erased of noise, caught up with the girl who posed the least threat.

Drastic actions that were about to happen would surely agonize them.

Putting it like that might sound too much, just ‘anger them’ would be enough.

Another fail attempt would cause his life this time, unlike the last ….

(Here we go.)

A strike with the right brogue of his jabbed on the back of the girl in pink’s right knee, he slipped his hand through under her left armpit and, with force, he pushed her up from almost falling with the tip of the barrel of that VP9 by around her chin and her throat.

The girl in the front would be an utter idiot if she had not noticed it by now, with all those moves being pulled and the hurtful voice.

He started to move back with the girl in captive slowly.

At the gunpoint, 9mm JHP +P+ travelling at 426 meters per a second did not mean much, it was already more than enough to open her head up at the other end at this range. It only required 5.65 ounces to pull the trigger, but as a madman he has always been, he put at least almost 4, he would reach that ‘crisp’ soon, and the bullet would go all the way in and out of the poor girl’s head. What would happen if he slip on something and accidentally pull it? That would be unprofessional at its best.

“Move or find that a little girl group of yours missing a member. Before you do anything, I just want to let you know that this is purely business and –" his right arm’s position would be right behind the girl’s back, he stretched his arm as to his left and away from the girl’s outline as much as possible, still not so much, to let the other girl see what he held in that hand and then pulled his arm back to its prior position, “I’m now holding an incendiary grenade as you can see. Need I remind you what would happen if you try to pull something off that you think it might work? I'm quite sure your little annoying blonde – whom I just had a gas and a blast just not long ago over there - understands how this particular type of grenade works. She seems quite well at getting around with them.”

It was not quite a bluff, if she did retaliate, he would let it go off, either the gun or the grenade. He considered himself pretty much dead in this situation. Despite his hobby was resurrection after all, he was not sure, even remotely, about how this would end.


The opponent was changed, the backlash may come even harder that the first did. He knew and worried about that, but there was no going back now ….

He still moved back slightly and slowly, pressing the girl with the pistol hard to force her to move along.

He kept his eyes on the girl before him.

“Either of you must be ‘Mugino’ as ‘Frenda’ said it so. You should blame her for that if you consider secrecy critical for the nature of your work. You wouldn’t want to run around with everyone knowing you by your name. I’m betting on that you are ‘Mugino’,” he emphasized the name as he shook his head a bit toward the girl who stood in front of him, “it sounds that it suits you, for how … Hmm. I wouldn’t know how to put it, I’m never familiar with how Japanese do their things, including naming a child. Let’s not waste time, shall we? I know why you are here and I think you know why I’m here.” He could feel his saliva pouring out more that he needed to swallow it back to continue.

“I’m not so surprised about what ‘they’ did to you …. Little girls as mercenaries without causes, putting gifts this city has granted you into good uses, for yourselves, for those above you. I’m not particularly interested in the choices you’ve made that got you here, but I am in those you are about to make from now on. It would be such a shame to end all those lives in this filthy hole. I hate to torture or kill a child any day, especially girls, they do not belong in the fields, I’d love to let you go if you comply with my offer. You might not get your payment for this job, you might lose some confidence, pride or whatever you hold on to, but if you know what’s good for you, you would know those things do not matter at all. Last chance to take a decision with no regrets, if you mess this up, your friend has to die and the rest may end at the hands of others, but that’s not my part to talk about.”

He wondered if this actually happened: That ‘Mugino’ girl letting him talk all the way through … maybe this just happened inside his head.

He should have learnt what to spare: words, not bullets.

Words into waste.

Just make the point and get this over with.

“Call the attack off. CALL THEM OFF!”

"There are two people ahead down this path."

At his partner's warning, Tsukino stopped in his tracks and immediately pressed his back against the wall. He didn't know whether the two people Yasuo was referring to were their targets or their rivals, but that would not change his reaction. The first step to both an ambush and a retreat is to hide yourself from sight, after all. After waiting a half second for Yasuo to re-position himself, he took out his scope that he'd managed to salvage from his rifle.

All it took was a glance to confirm that the figure was not the girl he had encountered previously, but he couldn't say for sure that it wasn't either of the two that Yasuo had encountered. In addition, while Yasuo had said that there were two people there, he could only see one.  With the intent of confirming it all one way or the other before deciding on a course of action, he wordlessly handed the scope off to his partner, all too aware that any words spoken could draw the figure's attention to them.

Trusting that his partner understood his intent, Tsukino anxiously awaited the verdict.

Yasuo took the scope that was handed to him. He knew what he had to do. He glanced at the person and immediately realised it was neither of the girls he had met earlier. However, he could only see one person. She was a teenage girl wearing a sailor uniform. If the other person was sensed by his equipment but couldn't be seen, then they most likely were hidden somewhere nearby. And no one would need to hide this well unless it was the target himself, to protect himself from the many monsters coming after his head. So this girl was surely one of his bodyguards, trying to protect him.

Yasuo returned the scope to his partner. To avoid attracting their enemy's attention, he chose not to talk. He would use signs to communicate instead. He shook his head to tell Tsukino that the girl was none of the rival team members. In order to confirm his partner's observation even further, he pointed ahead and raised one finger, as if to say 'There was only one person there'.

Surely Tsukino should be smart enough to deduce the rest himself.

The target most likely had more than just one bodyguard. So this meant whoever else was supposed to be protecting him was left behind. This let place to a number of possibilities.

One, he was ordered to stay behind to intercept any possible followers.

Two, they did encounter one of the girls the assassins fought against themselves, and he was left to deal with them.

Three, and the worst possibility, is that they encountered another member of the rivaling team the assassins had yet to meet. This meant that the other three girls were probably already on their way and would arrive anytime. And there is a one more enemy out there whose powers they ignored.

They had to finish this quickly before the other team gets here.

Tsukino put his hands in his coat, getting ready to draw his guns without wasting time when he needs to. And he looked at his parter waiting for a mutual signal to launch the attack.

Wherever is isolated from the rest of the world, where eyes from outside do not see, where ears from outside do not hear and where mouths from outside do not speak of is where a man has a chance to let his demon to take a toll on him and take control if he is not strong in his will and code, especially if he is rotten in the core. Thus one may be tempted to commit an atrocity.

An ordinary path underneath the city turned into a maze of abyss, every meter this place got lower felt closer to the gate of hell. The more he ventured through, the harder it became for him to get out, and when he did, he would realize something within might be left here or something might cling onto him on his way out to the world above.  

He yearned and asked for the feel of battlefield, thinking it was necessary for him, where he was needed and treated with purposes. He fought and he lost because of his own ego and overconfidence, and of course, not the same ego and overconfidence could help him comeback from the humiliation. Victory slipped out of his grasp the moment he thought the battle was over, but in fact, it barely had just begun. He knew that truth very well – the truth he would prefer to forget and admit. There were a lot for him to come to his term with them, one by one at each time and for now.

The number of combatants and their powers did not make this battle different, whether one of them was a level  3,4, 5 or a mere normal human being, it was not different from the last battle he just lost. What was different was what he was doing: he was bargaining with a girl’s life. It was indeed a longer game than the previous and kill-count was not necessary to achieve victory, still, if he messed up, more blood would be spilled on the floor of this tunnel.

And now, here he was ….. holding a girl at gunpoint.

It was an uncomfortable place he put himself in and dragged the girl in a pink tracksuit along with. The vibration from the tip of his pistol’s barrel and her rapid inhalation and exhalation were clear indications for that. Not a single cry or plead was heard, he admired her courage. He sympathized for her.
A slightest of thought slipped into his mind, wondering what and why was she doing here with her colleagues, if not friends.

She looked like a good kid, absolutely out of place with her colleagues who were accustomed to this bloody business. Genuinely scared of what was going to happen and if the outcome would end the life she knew.

But, as matter of fact, any of them and his party walking on the ground above, they would look good as any and not know what each other were capable of and did to live through each day.

The more he thought of it, the greater it stalled him from doing his job.

Was it a privilege not to know? Not to be able to think of?

Why should he care about it?

The body that follows the order from the brain of an assassin should never listen to its heart of a saint and should never possess it in the first place. What good does he get from doing that? Having oneself to be the enemy to himself is the greatest burden.

A heart of broken glasses, defiled …. Deep inside, the abandoned child was forgotten? Was that why?

[BGM]

No one wants him to be a half-monk, half-hitman.  

No one cares about what he thinks and speaks, only in what he does and he does best.

To pull the trigger.

And they expect the outcome they prefer.

He does his job and that is all it matters.

So the way to get back from hell is to go even deeper until it rejects?

(When time comes, I’ll pull the trigger.)

---

“Don’t give me that shit”

He let a sigh, paralleled to the girl’s panting.

“To cast a pearl before swine, huh?”

For how generic it did sound, it illuminated him nevertheless. He had his answer by now. He has used words …. and the attempt was quite ineffective.

“I’ve always thought there’s something diplomatic when a gun and a hostage are involved in such cases.”

He was familiar with the situation but the other time he was not the one with a hostage, this and that situation should have taught him that negotiation was not his strong suit and someone usually died because of so.

All the emotions the hostage had, the girl in charge possessed none, he guessed that he and the hostage hoped that the lack of emotion besides anger and annoyance from the girl was only to get an upper hand, not her true feeling.

"I don’t care about your ideals, your reasons, your expectations or whatever trumps you have in your hands. I don’t even give a shit about your stupidly pointless vision of this world. You’re just some jackass amateur, aren’t you?"

The emphasis on the attention and care reminded him why he started to pack guns and blades to battlefield instead of books and stationary to school, he never got those from them as he could recall.

With that and getting called an amateur by some high school girl left him startled. For the record, those who would consider him a professional should all be dead by now, he can ask them for confirmation and comfort when he gets there. For the time being, he only needed to hang tight and get this over with.

He was not expecting for a change of heart from the girl who – as she claimed – did not give a shit as she merely just exuded coldness, madness and nothing else significant from herself, pretending or not was not so important.

"You know what? I’ll give you a chance, drop your weapons and piss off. Maybe I will either kill you quickly or even spare your sorry ass, old fart. However if you pull the trigger, it won’t hold me back. I will get you alive. I will drag your sorry ass along and have you witness your beloved Tsukasa-sama’s death. Then I will break each of your bones separately, starting with the toes and fingers and then continue further and further. Afterwards I will start by burning your limbs along with that thing between your legs slowly and piece by piece, until the point where enduring the pain becomes so great burden that you’ll lick my shoes begging for your life to finally end."

"Then, maaaybe…I might consider killing you. How’s that?"

*chuckles*

(Which part am I supposed to be scared of? Oh, boy. Kids these days are getting ruder and ruder.)

His overdeveloped trigger-finger almost slipped and sent the hostage to meet her creator.

“Is she always like this? You know you should find some else to hang out with if you are not alike.” He spoke to the ear of his hostage, he would even pat her if he had another hand for it.

She tried to make it sounded the worst possible, yet it went into his ears and his acknowledgement just considered it as any other day in the office. Words from a villain. A note for her, physical pain stays physical, the pain is just in the mind, as long as one can hold it off. She certainly never knew the pain that lasts forever, the kind that is far greater than what she boasted and offered to him. Just maybe, one day she would have that privilege.

He bet she - stripped of her power - would not be able to brag this much. A common type of an esper one can expect to run into in this dark world. The type that became infatuated with their power and turned blinded, and the worst for their own, into a psycho.  

Yes, this kind of business was filled with a bunch of psychos, a fact he had to bear with.

“You are very sure of yourself, aren’t you? What asylum did they dig you up? Only a sick mind would be able to get those words out of his mouth. Such a waste …… of a face that you use to hide your monster within. Killing, to me, is a matter of necessity, you just made it sounds like it’s a pure joy for you.” He spoke with a calm tone despite what he felt.

Things were about to get nasty, he could feel it coming in the air.

He took another deep breath as he was short on it and has yet ceased to move since he grabbed the hostage.

“Well, if you’re gonna shoot me with something, remember that the odds of you landing a shot without getting both of us here killed is just as easy as winning the 1st place in lottery.”

It would not be friendly fire if the hostage was not considered worthy as a friend should be, it would be just an acceptable collateral damage. He could only hope that she would feel guilt one day if it came to that point.

Was it him that exposed the girl’s demon?

What if the girl he held hostage was not even scared of what he would do, but how much her colleague cared about her and the action her colleague was about to make. He wholeheartedly cared about that aspect, but he could not do anything, in fact he caused this whole mess.

By this moment, he needed to realize what he wanted – what he needed to do. To fulfill his task, what was needed to be done? Kill every combatant he and his party stumble upon? He would just blew this girl head, then the next one before him and the rest of them, if he survived, he had to take on the third party.

But …. Was the most effective way? Is killing the most effective way to solve every problem?

"…mh…maybe I’ll just take you down right now. Sorry Takitsubo, but this might hurt a little."

A green orb appeared out of thin air on her right as she spoke.

(Dire straits, that chunk of money for nothing. But yeah, since when I fight for the money?

I live to win another day. If I lose and survive, I will try to win the next day.

The cycle keeps going.

If this is the end …. Then be it.

I won’t have to feel any of this when I’m dead anyway.)

“Your call?”

He gritted and munched his teeth as the orb manifested itself.

“Maybe …. Maybe you are right. I should really have taken the chance, dropped the weapons and pissed off.”

He lessened the pressure from his right palm.

“I really should have done that in the first place, in the end, I’m just an amateur, old-fart who keeps making bad choices.”

He dropped the canister the left side of his, a second passed its fuse time.

Was it really over for him now?

Only one way to find out.

He kicked that grenade with his left foot as far as he could from him.

When it landed in front of her it should kill her ….

He was waiting for it to go off ….

---

[BGM]




*poof*

Despite what he said, it was never an incendiary grenade, he never had that in the first place and he knew it very well.

It unleashed smoke as it was spinning toward to the threat. He moved his right arm over the hostage’s head and down to her abdomen, with the strap from his splinter clinging onto her, he started to rushed back and fire his pistol forth. He was bending down so just his head would not stick out of the hostage silhouette, and brought his arms close to the hostage flank for the same reason.

“Hold steady and stay low.” He said to the girl he held hostage after taking a drastic action.

With smoke started to fill in the tunnel, he was quick on the evasive move. Firing and moving simultaneously with a human shield.

He tapped each burst in 3 rounds forward, to the walls on left and right and the ceiling. He was expecting the ricochets would hit her from the angles she was not anticipated or to hit some pipe that would leak gas or hot steam.

Every fire from him ceased as he made it passed the corner he came.

“Put your hands over your ears.” He told the girl in pink as he still hugged around her with his right arm.

He holstered his pistol in haste after it ran dry, pulled a flash grenade and threw it back to the wall to bounce to where the femme fatale might come rushing for them. He dropped the last smoke grenade on the floor as he started to run.

The humming did not struck his ears as severely as it should have as he tried to get away.

He counted the remaining ammunitions, he only had 2 spare magazine for his pistol, 5 for his submachine gun and 1 tear gas. The grenade rounds were not useful as he already left it in the previous scene.

He brandished his submachine gun that has been slung and sprinted for the next corner along with his hostage.

What do they say about the rats?

Once again, he was running for his life and hers (as a valuable asset), and into the maze, struggling for a chance to achieve victory in this game of death.


The reality is ..... Nothing goes as planned.

He was confused between ‘he was ready to die’ or ‘he wanted to die’.

He was hell bent on saving a man named Tsukasa whom he might end up having to kill the other day, a job is a job, he would go all the way through and do everything he had to just accomplish it.

He came out of the last battle like a child crying after getting beaten up by a bully and now he walked into another, from a normal fight to a suicidal one. That grenades-throwing and loafers with blades-wielding bitch like Klebb may have awaken or taught him a few things.

Handicaps, setback …. He entered the fight like he had not thought of it clearly. But yes, he would insist he do.

Everything could have gone as planned.

He would be out of this hell hole, sipping his favorite martini, hitting on that girl who dresses as if she was mourning and sulking about people he killed at night on the very pillow he keeps his gun under.

He did move his right arm over the hostage’s head and down to her neck, with the strap from his splinter clinging onto her, almost stepped his foot and began to move. He now moved his pistol by and close to her left hip, it was pointed forward to be ready to fire.

Everything was set, except ……

The green light that was certainly neither a bloody Christmas light nor a fisherman's headlight fired a beam to the canister that had not only contained what would cause smokescreen: his hope and chance.

It just spun there, blown with a hole and burnt rim. Its liquid that poured up but never lived up to its purpose, as if it premature ejaculated.

Such a disappointment.

“Life's full of small challenges”

And if one of those challenges was a mad hag who could fire green laser beam and curse every goddamn sentence, he should consider an early and voluntary retirement.

The essence of heat still lasted in the air after the beam was gone.

Despite the demonstration, the battle was as he expected: anything could happen and he could die before he even realised, whether the foe was just a back-alley goon, a twisted level 5 or a standing-upright giant mech that could fire railgun and a nuclear. He would resort to his resources and go all the way in, if he was aware of the situation.

"Are you fucking taking me for a fool? Haven’t you caught on you fucking geezer? A grenade? Did you think that this would cut it? Or did you maybe hope to create a distraction that’d buy you time to escape? Don’t make me laugh. If that’s all you’ve got you’re really nothing but another of those old fuckers that jack off to the stories of their own great deeds on the battlefield. You’re just another of those greenhorns that believe their experience from the outside world makes them capable of surviving in the Darkness. Fucking ridiculous."

“But of course, it is. What doesn't a brat like you know?” He just said it with a sincere smile. What a madman he was.

He has been through battlefields, but for who still fought as if it was Laos in ‘73, claiming that he had experiences would not be a good idea. His experiences could already be obsolete for this very part of this world. As of today, does this world still need men like him to support its chains of conflicts and retaliations which are what truly bind this world as one?

For how much she just spoke, she looked like she was satisfied with herself for just blowing a hole in that piece of crap can. If it was another limb he had to lose, did he need to hear more? A horror to hear. To think about that at this moment he hoped she just kill him with that fucking Christmas light to spare his ears from her words, blabbering and boasting …... Vanity? She was full of it.

She claimed that she would the author of his pain, offering the most painful death ever to him. He accepted the possibility but did not surrender.

Every round would not be spared until he had to go down to blades and blunts. Every limb she promised to break, burn and tear apart would be used against her until its time. Then depriving of those, he would rely on every bit of his teeth. There would be nothing coming out from his mouth than the blood he spat on her sumptuous dress and shoes just to piss her off one last time.

Orbs illuminated themselves again, but this time there were more than just one, four of them were present.

He tried to inspect how it works, he doubted it anyway that he would be able to truly understand it before he was dead.

His easier chance has yet again, passed away and he could not do a damn thing with it.

(Has Feminism been giving women too much freedom, to the point they start to throw grenades and fire beams at me? And lest forget how this lady speaks.)

"Your guns, your skill, your tactics, they’re worth shit before my Meltdowner. Any defence, any offence, it will be erased, just like your little grenade over there. Just one hit and all that’d be left of your dick can’t even be called dust."

(I have a trouble of keeping it my pants anyway.)

Guns and tactics that were worth shit to god-like esper abilities may just be a pile of shit to a tank. But for him, throwing a pile of shit to a tank must feel really good.

One thing was for sure, she killed a lot of people. No one wakes up at one day and has an attitude just like that, it had grown on her over the time that she became like this. She valued those lives in her way very little.

Maybe the vodka still has not worn off, he just stood there like an idiot, listening to her glorified and outrageous sentiment, and trying to make childish comebacks. The hostage he had was pretty much nonexistent.

Stranded with the green beams of death, and all he had was useless toys in her eyes.

He was never something more than a boy with toys, and standard operating procedures which would bring destruction to either his enemy or him.

The latter was more likely in this case.

He wanted to avoid such scenario like this …

But it all came to ….

Just get it over with.


There were paths behind him, he could take it.

But this sick-mind esper would come chasing and rain fire upon him.

It was his mistake for choosing to get himself in this.

And it would not be fun if it he just chose that.


Just when he thought he could not be more stupid ….

Since there was no word to get her listen and speak like a normal human being …..

(If you fail the first time ....... keep trying again.)

The palm from the arm that wrapped tight around her neck pressed on the safety levers of those two remaining grenade’s hanging on his vest, the index and the middle fingers flicked the pins off. It was awkward to do with just one hand, but he managed to grab both by his right hand and then threw it into the air.

As each grenade thrust through the air, he locked the hostage tight by her neck and began to rush forward with firing support from his pistol to the beam-firing hag to find out the result once and for all.

(As expected, the prowess and that attitude wouldn’t exist if she had no counter-measure against mere projectiles ….)

Sometimes, he hated his intuition.

A round of 9mm +P+ hollow -point would down an average Japanese-size man, with 5 rounds grouping for the chest, the target would not stand a chance. But ‘The Meltdowner’, as she called it herself, stood still on her bloodied white boots. A mechanism of some sort saved her from the slugs, dissolved those before they could reach and dig into her skin. ‘Disintegration field’, he would dubbed it, had a green vibrant aura glimmered each time the projectiles touched upon before disappeared like nothing ever was there.

The mindless, reckless and suicidal goon was trying to do his job as the employer would expect him to. But he was like a dog chasing a car, he did not know what to do when he caught up with one. He only knew that he had to do the job to get himself and the client out, since he almost met his demise he never thought why he had to and what would happen after. He was so consumed in the process that he started to ignore the morals that he once held in at some point of his life.

He only had one card in his disposal and the enemy knew well what it was. The right timing for it to be used is the only thing that still made that card useful. Still … the cards the enemy just laid down could be only just a glimpse of what trouble it could be.

“Please …. Stop ……”

A weak and faint protest came from the girl. A dear girl looked frightened like he was as a child. While he might be touched on the soft spot he would deny of, he still did not let go or slacken the arm that locked her neck tighter as the situation worsened.

He would be surprised with himself once in a while how happy and honorable life as a law enforcer that he was given with a chance turned upside down into this … Stood for nothing and against everything in the way, using every method to achieve the goal. He hardly recognized the face he wore, what it used to be.

As time passed, a life mattered less and less. On some occasions, he might save it or avoid getting it wasted either it just would make him feel better with himself or he would gain something. On the other occasions, he might just let it face its destiny.

It was no time to worry with such a thing … As of now, he already crossed the line and it seemed to late to turn back.

He failed to change the heart of the enemy, or very least to prove her wrong about something. The chance to do it again would not come until either side went down and bled. Even her death was deemed necessary by him, he would prefer her to live on to suffer when her days come. But then again, that was a mere whim as he was overwhelmed in force at this very moment. Satisfaction in proving those kinds of people he always hated wrong seemed not to come so soon.

He kept firing as he was closing into this esper, the effort was in vain as it should be. But the attempt was enough to buy some time for him to reach her and charge her.

The grenades he awkwardly threw surely caught the attention of the enemy, but she never did anything to them as they landed not too far from behind her and discharged the smoke and tear gas painfully slow.  

Instead of taking them like before, she merged the green orbs of destruction on her right into one and fired the roaring beam into the wall from her left.

She was up to something …. She was not scaring him or just missing her aim.

She was trying to get the pipes hidden under the thick wall, it was normal to have them installed in a location like this. And if unfortunately, those pipes could be for gases.

The attack was meant to hit him without risking blowing a large portion of the hostage from a straight shot. But still, with the trail she might and would drag her beam across from the current position that the beam dug deep in, the hostage could still end up in a blast.

Whether it was a price she was willing to pay or she was just out of her mind, she was on the verge of pulling it off.

At this range, even close to her, she would not take any damage because of her disintegration field.

A dead chunk of fleshes in his arm would mean nothing by then.

It was a matter of a few seconds. The options were very limited.

He detached the arm strap from his neck with his right hand, freeing his arm and the hostage before throwing her with full force to the esper before him.

He tried to speed up his pace as there was no restriction.

He pulled the trigger rapidly as much he could with the tip of the barrel aiming forward.

Then the loud noise and force struck from the side …..

Humans cherish their lives and they do cherish others' as well. It is wrong to assume that anybody would be willing to simply throw away theirs and even wronger to claim that sacrificing ones own to save another’s was a thing absolutely not befitting of our species.

In the end there are kind souls out there.

Souls with wills strong enough to challenge destiny itself.



Takitsubo Rikou had understood that man’s intentions, seeing through every phase of his planning and every step necessary to break through the absolute defence that was the Meltdowner. She had seen herself as the tool he would use to the fullest only to exploit any advantage that human shield she was would grant. She had suffered a great amount of humiliation by being used like that, but she had also received a simple chance through it.

That weak and frail girl had understood the fact that there was one final means of using her.

You could say she had foreseen his next move long before his muscles had received the command to act.

That moment when she felt the push, her leg had wrapped around his, relying on her foot as an anchor chaining her existence to his, whilst avoiding a pull on his strong leg that’d drag him down as well. Hit by the force of the mercenaries muscles, she wouldn’t be sent travelling towards her unavoidable death, but cling to that last string of fate.

Her leg wouldn’t hold on for long, it’d lose its grasp after just a mere second. Shifting her own body’s weight she forced every inch of her body to draw the best from it. And she fell

…face forward straight to the ice cold ground. It hurt.


Only a blink later the loud noise would cover everything. She would feel the shockwave and heat graze her back, a feeling tremendously painful, yet not as heavy as taking a direct hit. Her body would be spared from most of the burns, direct impacts and all those sufferings that man was likely to feel, had she done all to ensure he would.

From the beginning on that man’s mistake had been to think he would get away with using her.
From the beginning on that man’s mistake had been to use her against her comrades, no her family.
And this would be the point where she would get him back.

As the world had turned, that mercenary would be sole person to take the explosion’s full brunt.

…Mugino…Kinuhata…I’m sorry…I couldn’t do more…



What neither of them had known was another fact.

That green shield of light had many properties among its specs. The most well known may have been the fact that it held the power to disintegrate the absoluteness of everything, but that wasn’t all. In a sense it was a weakness that held quite some value if you saw through it, however in most cases that very weakness lacked graveness as that shield could simply block anything anyway.

As simple as it could get. That shield blocked the user’s vision for as long as it would be kept up. She wouldn’t see a thing of what was going on on the other end, at least right now.
So right now that girl in the violet dress was fully unaware of everything that man had tried. She wouldn’t see the underhanded act of pushing that girl towards her wall of instantaneous death and she wouldn't witness that truly admirable act of heroism her comrade had forced herself through to prevent disaster.

All she could sense was the noise from upfront and the hissing from behind.

Something took him back to memories he had forgotten ….

It was long before he realized that he was no longer adorned with school’s blazer, no longer carrying the backpack and no longer the boy he was used to be.

The ground that his hands were used to push up the body was no longer a concrete pavement on his way to school with cracks he used to trip on, it was muddy and wet.

The rural-farmer clothes he wore, similar to those men and women scuttling to the opposite direction from where he was facing, were covered in mud and blood, his left hand still clung on to the handle of the unconventional farming-tool, furnished with wood. The tool which was made behind the iron curtains and the rightists would consider an armament of evil that threatened their free world has taken many lives as it ejected its round to the fleshes of those white men on his way, it was more than enough to buy him some more time to live on and do whatever he thought he needed to do.

His order was simple, to make it to the village behind the jungle he faced, he only had to cross that jungle and rice fields he was at. Though, to think about the distance and the process would crush his will before he did anything. The struggle to achieve the objective was not easy as the order sounded.

No matter how much he inhaled, he felt the oxygen never reached his lungs. It became too excruciating just to live.

He collapsed, finally, but not because of the endless walking and shooting he had to do ….

He just found out he only ran into another dead end.

Engines of the giant metal birds in the sky roared as they thrust through the air and unleashed their wrath unto the surface of this earth.

Trails of large metal shells fell through the sky and emitted fire and smoke after each exploded with a loud burst of noise.

The White Phosphorus Napalm that would ensure a painful death was creeping closer to him, from the jungle to the fields.

All he could do was just staring blankly forth until the abundant force shoved upon him …..

---

*wink* noise hissed from his left ear …..

Dust, debris and smell of death scattered in the area once again, it was not the first time of the day but it did look like the last time …. He was on the top of the girl in the way and the situation he would not want. He was used by her in the way he has used her up until this point, a meat shield. It did not matter how she did it, it just mattered that she did it. Even that her intention was not so, he should thank her that she interrupted his move, he survived the full blast as he was tripped. If everything went according to what he had in mind, he was not even sure from the start that he would make it.

The dragon breath blew from the side to another, it would have incinerated any flesh between its way. The flak vest and wool coat rendered him an inflammable object, but within, he started to catch on fire.

He got on his knee, pulled the vest off of him, grabbed and put on the gas mask that was hung on the vest despite a cracked rib because of incoming debris was pinching from inside that caused him to wince in pain.

He could not even hear his heavy panting, the sound of a head banging to the floor or the girl screaming in pain as he grabbed her hair and smashed her head against the floor repeatedly for the amount of time he was not aware of it himself.

Soon, the place would be filled too much inflammable gas and it would kill him and her in a way, the damn esper who fired green beams would survive again because of her gifts, that was what he was annoyed about, no one started equal and somebody started with too much of a headstart which in the end he had to bear with. But to think of leaving the girl in pink he exploited behind was too black-hearted, he had no clue if the esper would help her in time or not.

“Fine, you bloody idiot” he muttered as he grabbed and dragged her by wrapping his under her left armpit with sheer brute-force.

The explosion pushed the smoke from the smoke grenade and tear gas he had thrown back slightly, revealing a green disintegration-field, though he could not see through the green-tinted, he knew what was behind. It was not long before the smoke started to fill the hallway again.

He was staring into this impenetrable wall …. He was obsessed with the thought of crumbling it down. But then he must take account of his capability ….

He just walked away back to the way he came with the girl in his arm ….

He sniffed for the freshest air he could get that area and then settle down.

He threw the girl on the floor without care.

He walked a few feet back, sat down on his bum with his knee up and the right arm on it.

A crave for cigarettes came … But he knew it was not the time for it.

He lost his VP9 at some point of the explosion, but still he had the submachine gun. He placed it on the right arm and aimed down the sight with his right eye.

He was breathing heavily, his hand was not steady ….. He figured it was the end of the line for him.

"Hmmpf …. A problem solver my arse ….”

He had no better idea than keeping the tip of the barrel pointing towards what he wanted to kill.

Patience was not among Mugino’s strengths. The moment the explosion had gone by, she had already changed from defence to offence just in another swift single hand movement. Before the slight amount of little seconds could even go by, her shield had disappeared to build up the foundation of her lance.

The first scene her eyes were to witness was that man kneeling atop Takitsubo, preparing for the final lethal strike. Before however he could grab her hair, right after he had put his gas mask on, it was already too late for him to consider any further movement.

«Can't you finally drop dead, you persistent piece of shit?»

Another simple attack, another simple beam of green light that’d simply cross any substance it’d come across, was released. It was merciless and cold, just like her previous ones. And unlike before there was nothing blocking her path, nothing preventing her from simply taking aim, nothing appealing to her mercy.
That mercenary was bare naked.

A simple beam was all it’d take. Travelling at beyond human perception it would simply come and go with nothing but destruction as its company.

In just a split second there would be a hole in his upper body.

The smokescreen of his own started to consume the sight before him as it crept back closer and closer to him ....

Green-glowing light was cast among that smoke. His hand was about to reach the girl to subdue and move her out of the danger zone, but the realization struck and stopped his hand from moving further.

"Can't you finally drop dead, you persistent piece of shit?"

"I was having the same idea."

(Damn it, here she goes .....)

The smoke hindered the figure that was behind the green-lit shield from what he saw earlier, he could not have known if the shield was up or not until he heard the hoarse voice.

It was indeed too late to think of fancy moves.

But he did notice something before he put on the mask, it was something on his mind that he had taken an account of.

At this moment, it was too close, too powerful for a mere mortal to survive any attack at this range. He was not in the position he could deter or distract. The pistol had been knocked off and was nowhere to be seen. He would not be able to draw his submachine gun in time. He could not do anything to the girl lying on the floor, whether good or bad.

A simple beam it would take to kill him, a clean cut through his body. He was within the grasp of this 'Meltdowner', and soon she would crush.

It was only a matter of a second to do anything to slip through that grasp. His acknowledgement was ‘there was a beam coming for him’ and his natural instinct would be to evade it. He could only order his muscles to plunge and dove back, he twisted himself to the right and pushed himself with his feet into the air. From the crouching position, he would not be at a ridiculous height from the ground.

A hiss noise of the beam struck …. He could feel the heat scratching upon….

To reaching this point, the only explanation was he was careless (and probably stupid, but he was hurt enough already) ….

But so was she.

After the beam tore through the air, a combustion of fiery and scorching flame appeared behind him.

She had not taken notice of the leaking gas from the work of her own earlier, by the time she had brought down the shield, the gas would have spread all over the area they were at. It was as if she tried to smoke a cigarette in front of the no-smoking sign in a gas station. No doubt that heat from her green beam would ignite the gas, just like the attack she pulled earlier. There would be no need for funeral if he was caught in it.

It was impossible to escape with no injuries in that situation, even for himself who has taken notice of it.

It all occurred in a blink of an eye, it was a blur that he lost track of the situation.

He landed his face on the ground, the impact he would make him feel a significant pain but that was not what he was feeling. A sharp and burning sensation of pain was concentrated just upper his left elbow.
But he was out shape to realize of anything worse than that ….

His conscious was as faint as his breath ....

A gap between each heartbeat was long that it signaled that it could stop any moment, but it went on and on nevertheless.

A loud burst of explosion roaring like one of those he heard in warzones woke him up from a deep sleep.  A grasp craved for air badly as if one emerged from diving in the deep sea, but it was not dear oxygen he took for granted, it was something worse. A deep breath was inhaled into his lungs but it was not breathable.

He could only tilt his head to the sides, to see orange-tint light shined on the wall. It was not dimly lit old bulbs like before.

It was fire.

A quake vibrated as the impact of a heavy object occurred continuously.

It was a mutual understanding between the mind and the body telling that he needed to run, as much as he felt pushing the floor so hard with the arm he thought he had earlier, he could not get up. He slid his face which lied on the floor with small debris as the size of small pebble grains so he could use his forehead to push himself up with the support of uncooperative legs.

He finally got his battered, bloodied head and body up. He did not bother to look back as he hurried to get away from the breath of a dragon scorching from behind, creeping closer as it sounded more rampant, with crumbling ceilings and blown walls chasing at the same time.

It was either the chain of explosion that would get him or a heavy chunk of concrete that would crush him.

He limped mindlessly into the dark hallway, it was illuminated each time the explosion flashed, though he was not certainly hoping for the enlightenment before his untimely death.

The only thing he could see further away was a lit sign over a door, written as something his distorted mind and hazy vision could not tell. But hell, it did not even matter. It felt so close he would make it to the door and yet so far away that the threat coming from behind would get him first.

Much to his surprise, he was in front of it in no time.

But the damn door had a metal knob that would need one to twist it either clockwise or counterclockwise. And of course, with his a few attempts he could not even use the dead limb that looked most intact to open it.

The image he saw when he turned back was explosions erupted from the ceiling and wall, closer and closer. He was not even sure if he was still in the maintenance shaft as it did not seem so now. His pants went heavily as he stared into the burning abyss, he blinked and grasped the last breath anyway despite he might not even need it.

In this situation, there was only his head that he could use to get through. A loud grunt in pain he let out without knowing each time he swung his head with the utmost force he could use accompanying with gravity, he lost count of how many time it needed to break the damn door knob off after he madly bashed it with his head.

He only looked back in a hope that he still had time and it was not the case, he would be burnt to crisp or crushed to death if the door refused to do its job.  
A cornered wild animal, beaten and burnt forced itself to charge and barge the door like a bull to a matador in desperation and rage, hoping for last luck in this mess of misfortune.

The launch to air was longer than expected, he flew with the metal door he brought along with sheer brute force for a few second before he landed and laid on it as it continued to slide like a sledge on a ridiculously long staircase, upon impact the force sent him rolling a few times as he was not even able to brace or resist.

He lied on his back the number of time of today that he could not think of, caught a glimpse of brief burning flash coming the door above he went it before it was blocked by the crumbled chunks of concrete.

He coughed in blood and struggled to breathe after the impact pushed his cracked rib deeper into the lung.  

Knowing that the last obstruction to his mission was gone did not help him to go easier …. He could only think if it was worth it to go for great length to pursue the impossible.

He could not come up with an answer ….. It did not matter now.

A pale breathe persisted to go on in the dark.

---

Murder? Employment.

Someone needed to die today. Two assassins were dispatched to get the job done.

The plan, the intention and the execution, all of this wasn’t for personal reasons, it’s business. Someone usually dies in a while, his job is to be there to make sure it happens. Nothing too complicated, it is just a trigger that needs to be pulled with the tip pointing to the right direction, a few extraordinary skills and tricks might be needed, but the overall concept is simple. The man named Tsukasa might be a somebody to someone, to Tsukino, he is just a bullseye he needs to perforate in the middle of it.







The Olfactory sensor he borrowed from his partner swayed in his hand as he tried to track the target.

Today was not a usual day, he did not get to kill from afar as he was supposed to and he lost his piece: the sniper rifle, the only way he could proceed from now on was to get up close and put 2 rounds from his pistol in the between of the man’s eyes to make sure he wouldn’t get up and cause more trouble than he already did. The way he clung on was behind him, he had to work with the experience he brewed over the years. Time was scarce and options were running out.

As of now, there was just one thing in his way to accomplishing the task: a heat signature behind the maze of pipes he saw earlier. Tsukino did not know either this was their last stand or the bodyguard trying to stall Tsukino and his partner while the man he came to kill was running cowardly away, which the latter could be even more troublesome. However, that was not the worst bit, the rival organization could catch up with him any moment, as the detail he heard and inspected from his partner, at least one of the members had the firepower to end this operation in the way he least wanted.

The tartan plaid lining was revealed as he unzipped the windbreaker for his gun. He walked forward with his piece in ready stance and by his partner. While being as loud as usual may let the enemy hear him, he spoke quietly and coarsely near his partner with the help from working mechanics going on around to hinder his voice.

“Wait”, he said it as harsh as his grab on his partner shoulder. Something told him that the man standing by his side was driven by something understandable yet complicated, it would not be of his concern if it wouldn’t get in the way of working. Kurosaki Yasuo could be a gun-maniac who loses shit whenever the things he holds onto crumble before his eyes and needs to go suck on the toe of the only person who cares about him for comfort for all he wants elsewhere, not now, not when the odds were like this, not when Tsukino needed him most. It didn’t matter if it turned out to be true or not, it only mattered that Kurosaki was or wasn't an effective tool as the employer and Tsukino expected to be. “Whatever happened to you back there, you’ve gotta to let it go. If you let ‘it’ consume you, it might foil our chance to get the man. We’re here for one thing and one thing only: Tsukasa Katsuhige. I need you at your best you can give.

It was true that the physical injury was affecting the man, but ignoring what was going inside might ruin the whole thing. Only an arm was gone, the rest was intact, he hoped, this was more than enough. Tsukino expected his partner just to have a limb to inflict damage and the brilliance of his mind, that was Tsukino needed, especially when the enemy they were about to face was not a mere mortal like them.

The corner of Kurosaki's mouth was pulled lightly up without a glare in his eyes, "Hey", the eyes then deviated to his, "Who do you think I am?" By the end of the words he spoke, the eyes were strained and sparked with .... realization? The whole body expressed nothing but coolness as a substitute of calmness, although the eyes were beyond of his control. The authenticity of this coolness in response was not the question Tsukino had, it could very well be faked due to fear or arrogance or it could be simply be real either from realistic realization or delusional figment, given the circumstances, he might have an idea which was more likely than which but he wholeheartedly hoped he was wrong. When time came and told him he had switched this bloody machine on, it would not be easy to switch it off if the situation required.

A single blink for a reply, he drained the saliva before he got his words out of his mouth, "You wouldn't want to hear *quakes* all of it ..."

A tremor trembled throughout the tunnel, it came along with the chain of explosions. In that silence between the pair, Tsukino only looked upon the way the tremor came in acknowledgement before he turned back to his partner, “Somebody’s making a progress, we’d better get moving”. The situation was not for two men to chit chat and it was not what they were here for, still .... at a cafe, would they be able to find something normal to talk after all?

They slowly stepped into the romantic place his enemy awaited. It was a matter of perspective that either they came here to kill the target or get killed in an ambush. It was a hall with 2 floors, pipes, machinery and pillars obstructing all over the area.

Two assassins walked into bars of pipes, machinery and pillars, to the direction of this technology in Tsukino’s hand was telling them to, its capability was tracking people via smell. They crossed and avoided those obstructions until they reached where one of the signals was as strongest as it could be.

It was just a floor covered with black mats.

He put the sensor aside, readying that free hand to grab the edge of the mat and keeping his pistol by the hip pointing to the mat he was about to tear. He made sure he stood in the angle that anything down there would not get him as soon as he tore this mat off. He trusted his partner to cover for him as he inspected the scene.

He tore the mat out in one pull with sheer force.

Under the mat there was ……..

Yasua didn’t know when exactly did he start getting nervous of making a second failure. But what he knew is that, right now, his heart was oddly wavering. This was the first time he hesitated before launching an attack. But then again, he had just experienced failure for the first time as well. The bitterness he had felt was a new feeling to him. He started wondering if he would make another amateur misstep agai―

“Wait”, Tsukino suddenly grabbed him.

“Whatever happened to you back there, you’ve gotta to let it go. If you let ‘it’ consume you, it might foil our chance to get the man. We’re here for one thing and one thing only: Tsukasa Katsuhige. I need you at your best you can give.”

Yasuo found himself making an irritated smile. The sniper was too right for his pride to be unhurt. Here he was, once again, about to make the same mistake; to let his emotions get the best of him, threatening to push him to make a reckless mistake.

He truly was a fool.

Afterall, he was still alive. Isn’t that enough for him to change the final outcome?

Yes.

The gods did not abandon him yet. The proof is that he is still breathing.

He had an ally he could rely on.

He was about to forget the blessing they bestowed on him barely some minutes ago, had the sniper not reminded him of it.

His duty was to thank them properly for their mercy.

Words were meaningless. He would show it with actions.

“Hey”, Yasuo looked at his teammate, “Who do you think I am?”

His eyes were colored in their usual determination and pride and his face was collected again.

He had regained his cool.

However…

If you look at it from an outsider’s perspective, it was frightening how he twisted Tsukino’s words and interpreted them in a way to fit his beliefs.

Some illusions would not break that easily.

Or maybe, it was that people cling desperately to their illusions because they would feel empty and lost otherwise.

Suddenly, a tremor echoed through the place, followed by the sound of explosions. Yasuo looked in the direction of the sound.

This was the warning signal that time was limited and the goal was threatening to slip from their grasp.

“Somebody’s making a progress, we’d better get moving”.

The coat-wearing assassin nodded silently and both of them headed to one of the two targets that the Olfactory sensor showed them, going through pipes, pillars and some machines in the process.

They approached carefully one of the points that was the strongest it could get, meaning it was just behind this mat.

Just before Tsukino opened the mat, Yasuo had been preparing one of his guns and was now ready to cover for his ally.

The sniper tore the mat in one quick move.

Seeing who was behind it, Yasuo narrowed his eyes and a predator’s smile appeared on his lips.

Afterall, this person was...

The assassins were fairly quiet upon investigating the water treatment plant. The room was filed with a variety of pipes and the lighting was absolutely dreadful. While there is obviously someone is inside, which is most likely the target, the pipe was still very thick. Upon further inspection, grooves or rather clean cuts in the metal show that the outer metal may be removable. However, although they scanned the room, they missed one other presence watching over them.

Merely 30 seconds or so from completing their mission sooner than expected, the sound of grinding is heard in the darkness. If the assassins took notice the sound, they would soon fine two thin concrete slabs roughly two inches thick, were sent hurdling toward both of them. A direct hit from those, especially in the torso region would undoubtedly do so heavy damage.

"Don't think it's that easy..." Rin muttered to herself, as she seemed slightly aggravated at the fact they found him so easily. Though it was to her own mistake to leave the think concrete block out of the hole, instead of re-securing it in place. Finding a place in the shadows, she gained eyesight of the very concrete she cut out to get to the pipe. She quickly concentrated her mind on it, as it suddenly came to the life, as the large cube found its self moving quickly over to the pipe the target was in, and plugged the hole before they could do anything.

Rin wasn't exactly armed to do a head to head fight. Her tactics take patience and strategy. Even with such power, it only takes one bullet before it's all over for her. After deducing that the assassins not appearing to have anyway to get through the thick material, she retreated a into the pipe maze, but needing to make sure they move away from the hole. They know the target can't go anywhere at that point, but with Rin running around that can change. However, the problem is if Rin's deduction is wrong and they can finish the job right then and there. She managed to grab some explosives and a GPS.

"Even if they don't follow, they'll be an easy target where they are..." She muttered to herself, knowing plenty of ways to get rid of them if they choose to stay in the open. She prepared her knife and her sword as she silently cut more objects to manipulate.

There was a hole here …… now it’s plugged. A square shape concrete was carved out of the floor with the precision of machine and put back where it was. Evidently, it was recently carved as stone powder was around the mark, it was not cut by some sort of breaching torch as there was no burnt mark. In a brief moment and without any sign of machine capable cutting through inches-thick stone, it was likely the work of an esper he was soon to face. If the path below was enough to fit a man in some way, the square cut block should not align with the floor, it would fall down if the floor was not so deep, unless that power could also glue it back or ….. currently using her power to hold it steady.

By that it could mean anything ….. but for sure, she was close by ….

Tsukino shifted from observation to the scene he was just inspecting earlier to alarming realization as the sign of threat was imminent.

A thin slab of something was already paving through the air for him. It was clear that the threat they were facing was a telekinesis user. The timing was sudden, either a trap or an ambush, it was uncertain.  From the crouching position, he could only lunge to sideway to avoid it. His left-side flank paralleled the ground as he launched himself in mid air in a manner one would find in a cheesy Hong Kong action flick, he vaguely pointed and fired his gun twice to the direction the attack was from. He would land on his flank behind a control panel nearby, only if … But alas, he realized too late.

The slab was moving at the speed that exceeded man, the best Tsukino could do was to be hit on the right of his flank around the belly by only half length of the slab. The impact was strong enough to twist him in mid air before landing.

Despite it felt like hitting by a family car, he dragged and pushed himself on the floor to the control panel for cover. It may be possible that the slab could carve that section of body out of him if it were not for the Kevlar-modified Baracuta windbreaker he was wearing. Still, it dealt great blunt force damage that overcame the fabric’s capability to absorb the impact, as it would likely reduce his mobility for every amount the pain he felt.

He peeked from the panel to lay cover fire with a pace between each shot to the same direction he was shooting at earlier until the magazine ran dry. If his partner was in the same groove with him, his partner would likely relocate to a position he would earn more advantage as the threat was likely suppressed.

He kept the very eye he use to take a life from afar as usual on that direction and the finger on the trigger, reminding himself that a sniper without his rifle was not entirely useless and that his shot was not always meant to kill the target every time he fired, but rather also to facilitate a window for his teammate to get the kill-shot by his aid.

The rat he was coming for was escaping through a pipe underneath, him and his partner trapped above and ambushed … Not exactly as planned.

As his left hand was laying over the control panel, he had an idea. If circumstances were kind: height and width of pipe and turns to slow the rat down, by releasing water at maximum rate to flood the entire pipe may drown whatever trapped in that watery grave. That was a whim he wished it to turn out to be true. Desperate time, desperate measure.

Today does not sound like another day in the office at all, his thoughts as he mashed the buttons he hoped it would work in the way he wished.

Note: 1)Some details I recently heard from Hyokas which this post was based on, from my point of view, may differ from the other info. If any fix is required, I will attend as soon as possible. 2) The 'control panel' was mentioned earlier in the thread, "Next to a water treatment control machine marked c-12 she moved one of the many black mats which dotted the floor across the entire facility and cut out the floor by just with the point of her finger." (Alex, Sep 23) I am aware of the possibility of utilizing surrounding whether it can be used as the RPer wishes or not, as demonstrated by Mugino in her briefly-ended fight. Therefore, this 'move' is still pending.

Kurosaki Yasuo

Beneath the mat was a great hole in what was an otherwise completely solid concrete floor, which exposed the surface of a pipe that had a suspicious square carved into it, as if someone had cut  a piece of it out and then placed it back in its original position. That would be suspicious enough on its own, but the olfactory sensor was vindicating that their target was somewhere below them as well. Those two slivers of information, supplied by their own eyes and the tools of their trade were each enough to point them in the direction of the truth on their own, but together they told a story so complete that there wasn't even any point in pondering any further.

Most assuredly, this was not simple good luck, nor was it simply the carelessness of their foes. Rather, the only thing this could possibly be was providence. They were telling him where to go, granting him their favor. This was simply further proof that despite his mistakes, they had yet to abandon him. Yes, his gods were watching over him still.

That was why, even when he and Tsukino were assaulted by two large flying slabs of concrete, he did not panic. He was not so arrogant as to claim that he felt no surprise, nor that he had not been caught unawares, but at no point did his thoughts come to a halt. A man chosen by them would never falter from such an assault.

Quickly, he flying himself to the side, and felt a cold sweat run down his back immediately after. That had not been a successful dodge. No, the stone should have clipped his arm, crushed it, and then sent him spinning like a top until his assailant took advantage of his helplessness to follow up with a finishing blow. Indeed, that was what should have happened, as well as what would've happened, if it weren't for one all important caveat. The arm that the stone block would have clipped, was the one that that woman had blown off just earlier. He had been saved by what should have been a damning injury. Was this, too, the blessing of his gods?

As he quickly got back on his feet following his tumble and made to step back to open up more space between him and their enemy, there was no chance for him to think further. Gunshots resounded from the other side of the room, in the direction he assumed Tsukino had evaded towards, and he took that as his signal to draw his MP7 submachine pistol from his coat and open fire. This ambush may not have been expected, but that did nothing to change the plan that they had laid out previously. Just as they had agreed upon, Tsukino would lay out suppression fire, and he would crush their enemies with the might of his masters. He would have preferred to use his Glock 20 or Caliburn, if he were allowed to be perfectly honest, but neither had very many rounds in their magazines, and without the use of both his arms reloading either of those guns would leave far too large an opening for the increased firepower to be worth it.

And as he fired, filling the air with a great stream of lead, Yasuo finally recognized their mysterious adversary. It was the girl that they had seen in the tunnels earlier. A slight smile formed on his face as he continued backing away and firing his weapon of choice. He knew nothing else about the girl, but what little he did know exactly the cause of joy. This was not yet another new foe crawling out of the woodworks, but a previously confirmed player. Yasuo relished the small stroke of luck that their enemies had not multiplied further, and carefully eyed the girl, waiting to see her next move.

Rin clicked her tongue in slight annoyance as she remained behind a layer of pipes for her own protection. She hopes the slabs of concrete would be able to make her job a lot easier, when in reality both the assassins got out moderately okay. If taken a direct hit they would definitely only be able to make a pitiful last stand, but in reality they took minimal damage. They were now alarmed by her presence and also felt the pressed on time. She noticed that one of the assassins was missing a limb. So perhaps this would be an easy fight.

However, Rin's tense body cringed at the loud clashing of lead against the pipes, as the one armed assassin was now firing some sort of automatic weapon at her. The bullets made loud echoing noises, making it almost impossible to hear anything unless someone were close enough. Rin was unable to hear anything, or able to directly look at the man shooting at her, as a stray bullet may go through her skull. But she did keep a safe angle view on the other man as he seemed to have run off to one of the consoles. Rin had a clear opening to send a slab of concrete at him, but she was puzzled as to why he was pressing random buttons. It didn't quite make sense, but she wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

Rin had prepared four objects, two in which were square concrete slabs similar to the ones tossed earlier, and two much smaller objects, shaped more like oversize arrow heads. The slabs could be used for protection, while the other was for more lethal attacks. While she could throw knives, her accuracy was much better when she can manipulate the object itself.

Soon the bullets coming at her would stop, as eventually the man pinning her down would run out of bullets. At that point, she'd have a significant window to attack the man at the console. With one arm gone, it won't be easy to reload. So as soon as the loud click was heard from his Automatic pistol, she quickly manipulated the two overly sized arrow heads, and sent them at high speeds toward Tsukino. Just like the slabs, a direct hit could be equally devastating, or in fact lethal if making a solid hit on the torso region.

Whether or not they will hit their target, wasn't her concern, as she needed to insure the stronger of the two were dealt with. Unaware if the injured assassin had a sidearm to quickly switch to, she ran out with the remaining two square slabs, acting as more of a riot shield. The bullets won't be able to easily penetrate the wall before her, as she would attempt to utterly crush the man at the console. Though knowing full well the man could move out of the way, she quickly reached for a dagger, and attempted to open the gap between the two slabs to throw a knife through it, aiming toward either thigh. That way she may insure he wouldn't get away.

Both actions and decisions alike must be made in the space of an instant, when the cost of the slightest delay was your life, assuming the best case scenario. Tsukino had been mashing buttons and turning knobs as his partner held off their assailant, hoping to trigger a deluge of water to kill their target who had sequestered himself within the pipes below, but partway through, the sound of Yasuo's gunfire cut off without warning, and Tsukino immediately barreled to the side with all the speed be could muster. And he wasn't even an instant too late. Immediately after an opening in Yasuo's curtain of gunfire appeared, the girl sent two stone projectiles flying his way. The line of thought the girl had employed was predictable, but it was efficient. It was efficient enough to kill him the instant he let his guard down, so only a fool would dare to look down upon it.

As he reoriented himself, he directed both his line of sight and the line of his gun's sight in the direction the assault had originated from, and witnessed the tide of the battle turning. She was charging straight at him, with two large slabs of stone floating before her like great walls to halt any attacks. He could tell at a glance that the caliber of his gun was woefully insufficient to penetrate them. So he backtracked, as quickly as possible, though he made certain to never turn his back, though it would slightly slow his speed.

And thanks to that choice, made not out of some sense of honor but rather a base fear of being unable to react to an assault he could not see, he witnessed it. For an instant, a gap opened up in the two walls and showed the girl's figure. She held a knife in her hand, and that made it clear that she had willingly given up her absolute defense in favour of another active assault. Tsukino could only see that as an amateur's mistake. Had the girl been cornered by gunfire, and left without a choice but to abandon her immediate safety for the purpose of surviving in the longer term, his judgement may have differed, but in the here and now she could have simply run him down and forgone the risk that came with exposing yourself on the forks of battle. But in this moment and at this place, none of that mattered. This was no place for pride or sentimentality. And so, he discarded those thoughts to be picked back up later should be feel the need, andwith motions that been drilled so deep into him to have become purely reflexive, he raised his gun, aligned his sights with his target's vitals, and taking advantage of the same split-second of vulnerability that all snipers did, sent a single bullet flying straight towards the girl's windpipe. Under normal circumstances, he would have aimed for the chest, but this firearm lacked the firepower to punch the vest the girl was doubtless wearing, so he had no choice but to settle for the next best option.

The tide of the battle had turned. The girl had given an opening before a sniper, and now she would pay the price.

In a grand hall, he sits before the grand piano.

Arpeggios at the speed of constant-firing from machine gun, by the tips of his fingers of both hands.

Every note comes from the love of his, he care not if any adores the way he plays as he pleases.

To others, it sounds like aggression. To him it is a beauty of the gospel he lives by.

The firing pin tamps down and backs up, fingers press the keys, high and low it climbs up and down, he plays along the sheet.

Eyes track the note to the last line; last note.

There is no page for him to turn to.

Silence in sudden.

As he takes notice, his very right hand becomes limp as it lays flat. Every finger tips shake uncontrollably.

The light of the hall fades into black.

“Cheap.” Cold, short but enough to remain in the whirlwind of his mind. Disdain to him.

The barrage of beams burst in that darkness.

---

Smell of gunpowder was by his nose. An empty magazine soon dropped after the last shell did. The fresh magazine he tried to reload with his right hand did not come to the magazine’s well as he thought he had done. The handle he tightly gripped, wet of blood and sweat in his palm, was let go.  The overture was over, he swallowed that thought like he inhaled the smoke from the cartridges he fired, embracing every micron that entered his lungs to bury his doubt or fear of his own capability.

Little damage had he done to where he aimed the divine mace to bring destruction to. He pondered what it took for him to earn that strength to be able to kill the foe he faced.

There was she who hurled, rushing up front for the man who stood for the same cause as did he for today with her might and shields made of stone, the only thing that stood in his way.

A wounded man he was, a wounded man he was deemed. Useless it seemed, no heed paid to him. In the awe of his, no more.

She should be.

From the moment she ignored , negligence left a breach for him. Once more unto the breach, his chance to prove he wields the gift of god, or god himself better than anyone has come.

But his accuracy bestowed to him, was taken along with a mere appendix. He, from where he stood, may try and eye behind tritium sight, pull the trigger each time the window came, the chance to succeed was low. To compensate the rate of success, lied a greater risk for him. Pack of pipes arranged, stairway to heaven to him. 3 large lunges and steps to each, he would launch himself pass behind her in the air from her side, shields forefront would be useless to protect her now.

If she shifted attention to him and struck with that large slab of stone, it would be almost inevitable to avoid a devastating outcome, but then that meant a vulnerability to where she had kept her guard tight; upfront.

He did not hesitate, the cloak blown as he leaped and drew his sidearm.

The figure that hid behind the slabs moved to her front passed him, as did he to her in mid air from her side. The distance increased as she headed further to where she rushed and as the gravity pulled him.

I shall rain fire upon thee.

Sight aligned on the figure, the dark piece made of metal and polymer exhausted rampantly 5 times with a loud eruption each time.

The precious hat fell to the floor with drops of blood tainted on it.

Rin felt she had the advantage at this point, as she continued to push toward the sniper. She was well aware that she was vulnerable on all sides other than the front, but in her mind, with the other mercenary bleeding out, this was the one that truly mattered. She was running out of time. If by chance the mercenary turned on the water, the pipe in which the target was hiding in may already be dead. However, there were many factors pertaining that specific pipe. First off, randomly throwing switched and pressing buttons might have done pretty much nothing. Was it in fact even on at all? Then there's the many pipes that route through out the facility. The chances of that specific pipe being flooded was small. Very much so. At least that was the factors that kept her level headed. If she died, the target might as well be dead. With that, she can focus on the fight first.

Upon throwing her dagger through the opened crack she made for herself, she barely caught the image of the man, quickly aiming his pistol and firing at round at her. Though by the time the sniper registered an opening and tried to take more careful aim, the slabs already closed shut before the bullet made it out of the barrel. The loud crack of lead smashing into concrete is heard from the other side. Rin bit her lip as she can tell that bullet was on a direct course for a vital region of her body. Just milliseconds later, she would've been dead, but she couldn't worry about that right now. The sniper would fail his shot, but not only that would find a dagger coming right for him. Rin being blinded in the front though, stopping her advance in fear of taking another, found herself in another situation.

Five consecutive muzzle flashes sound off with a loud roar, the bullets impacting around Rin and one of them meeting her shoulder, as some of the blood splatted against the very wall protecting her. "GAAAH!" She yelled out in pain as she crouched down, looking angrily at the attacker, as she would suddenly look back to the now broken console, seeing on the the arrow head slabs she cut out, quickly taking control over it again. And unleashing the rage she had for letting her guard down on this individual. She didn't think after all the punishment Yasuo had taken, that he'd still give a trying effort. However, whether his actions were significant or not, Yasuo may never know as the large arrow head like concrete slab went straight at him once he hit the floor.

Now wounded, Rin found herself in a bigger predicament. Should her Arrow head miss, she'd have to take up the challenge of facing two mercenaries in a more or less open space. Things were not looking good at this point, as blood slowly flowed and soaked her clothes from her shoulder. She can feel some of it drip from her fingertips.