"Cat got your tongue?" The assassin blurted out. Her face might have been hidden behind the crimson cat mask, but Allen could feel her smirking behind it. She was full of herself.

He was contemplating ways to capture her. But he knew he would need help to do so because of the sword she was wielding. And the only help he could get was from Nina.

​​

While he was thinking all this, his heart went crazy. It was a similar feeling as he felt whenever Arnold was in danger. He desperately wanted to reach out to him, but he knew it wouldn't be wise to ignore the one in front of him. But he knew that the assassin in front of him wasn't the only one there. She had brought her friends as well.

"How many of you are there?" Allen finally called her out, pulling the sword at his shoulders length, "Tell me now, and you shall live."

"You shall live? Hahaha..." The woman broke down laughing as if her life depended on it, "that's pretty impressive coming from a man who couldn't even stay in his own family."

Her insult opened a closed wound. One which had been very close to his heart. He was about to lash out when he remembered what Arnold had told him.

"Anger is your enemy. Control it and it'll be your greatest ally."

Of course, these were the exact words, Nicholas had told Arnold.

Allen gulped down his anger. His blood was boiling but he was in control of the situation. He couldn't let a coward who hid behind a mask, get into his head. Never.

"Why are you so interested in my daddy issues?" Allen smirked, "but thanks to you now I know this, isn't an outside job anymore. I might not have been here much, but I know on whose door I'll have to knock on once you're dead."

He was bluffing. Although he was fairly sure someone on the inside was helping these assassins. Still, he had no idea who it was.

"How... Never mind. It doesn't matter what you think. You'll be dead soon. Don't worry, your brother will follow you soon enough."

"Trust me, he's been through worse. He'd kill you a thousand times over before you even manage to put a scratch on him. Even in his current situation."

Hearing this the assassin went silent and readied her sword. Soon the moon got covered with clouds and the fight began.

The assassin charged at him like an enraged bull. In place of horns, she held her blade. It was a weird way of attacking someone but Allen wasn't going the risk it. He waited for her to come close, then he neatly sidestepped her, leaving his opponent's attack go worthless. Once Allen was out of 'danger', he kicked the assassin hard on her back. He could've killed her by using his sword but he wanted to capture her alive.

'The hell? Is she even serious?'

Allen was seriously thinking it was some kind of joke. But the next second, the woman disappeared. She had used the power of the sword. A second later, she was standing behind his back. She drew the sword rapidly and slashed at Allen.

Allen, however, had been expecting the short lady to do a sneak attack. He swayed backwards, allowing the blade to whistle past his head harmlessly. Although the lady was skilled, the sword was clearly too much for her to wield.

As her strike cresented in front of his eyes, Allen leant in and stabbed the hilt if his sword into the woman's chest. He didn't attack her there because of some perverted reason, but because it was the safest place to strike at.

Anyways, thanks to his strike, the woman lost balance once again. But as she fell backwards, she kicked his sword out of his hands. But Allen didn't mind it at all. He had been training along with Bad-Breath for a while now. So he was kinda confident in his brawling skills as well.

With his now free hands, Allen punched the woman twice near the ears. Cracking the mask. The woman crumpled on the ground. The woman was surprised by this move, he wasn't supposed to be good at hand to hand combat... At least that's what her report said. And her reports were rarely wrong, if ever.

"You're better than I expected." The woman broke the lower half of her mask to spit some blood out, "At this rate, I might not be able to take you down by myself... Not without this either way."

The woman then proceeded to take out a syringe from a hidden pocket. It had some weird black liquid in it. Allen knew instantly he needed to stop her from using whatever it was. He was happy with the way the things were up till now. Not wanting to lose his advantage, he lunged forward, arms outstretched.

But before he could reach her some appeared right next to his opponent out of nowhere and kicked him across the jaw.

The kick was packed with raw strength. Allen went tumbling down and stopped right next to his sword. He looked up to check his new opponent out. The man wasn't wearing anything to cover his herculean body. But the face had been tightly warped by a piece of clothing... And he wasn't alone. Two more people appeared right next to the man. Their swords were drawn. Waiting for Allen to make a move.

'Just how the hell are they getting in! The security here is much worse than the Alpha base. FML.'

After kicking him, the man turned his attention towards the lady. The real-life hulk pulled the woman back to her feet and effortlessly took the syringe from her hands, before shattering it.

"What are you doing here!?" The woman gasped in shock. Her cool demeanour had evaporated.

"Your father is disappointed by your antics. Now we are leading this mission and you're going back." The man spoke in a hoarse yet muffled voice

"Like hell I am!" The woman went nuclear, "This is my mission and I'm completing it!"

But her protests weren't heard of. One of the smaller guys grabbed her hand and puff! They were gone. The hulk now turned his attention towards Allen.

He pointed at the sword next to Allen and said, "If you wish to fight, then pick up your sword. Or else step down. We won't attack an unarmed enemy."

"Ethical assassins are you? Well, that's unheard of." Allen smiled.

He picked up the sword and swung it twice. It wasn't a sword anymore, but an extension of his arm. Although Allen was smiling, he knew the difference between his strength and that of the hulking man. Just one of the man's kick managed to knock a couple of his teeth out. In short... He wouldn't go near the man, not with his second-tier combat tricks. And he didn't know a thing about the other guy either. For the sake of simplicity, it was safe to say Allen was screwed.

Even then he smiled. Remembering what Arnold had told him after defeating the trolls, "If you don't like the odds, then just overcome them."

'Overcome them, eh? No harm in trying right?'