--Hattori Compound--

Alarms blared through the compound as Hisayo and Hanabi strode through the underground facility.

“How many do you think there are?” Hisayo asked. Hanabi shrugged

“I can only sense four who might pose a threat, but to get this far in international airspace, they couldn't have brought more than a few dozen. Nothing we can’t handle.”

“What worries is what a draconian strike team is doing in our forest, to begin with. There's no way they’re here out of pure coincidence.”

Hisayo was right to worry. Over their family’s long history they had a tenuous relationship with the world governments, as assassins who could be kept off the record were very advantageous for political gain. Despite this, the day could come when the powers that be could decide to tie up loose ends, which means that they would be in danger.

“No need to assume the worst yet,” Hanabi assured. “Let’s go ask our guests why they would be so rude as to come unannounced.

“With pleasure sister,” Hisayo said, a wicked grin spread across her face.

--Somewhere in the rainforest--

Shelty was beside herself as she marched through the woods. She gave no thought to where she was going only that she had to go.

“Married! Really?! And he didn’t even think to tell me? That..that IDIOT!” She punched a tree in frustration, shattering it into splinters. She marched her way into some old ruins to rest and collect her thoughts.

“It’s not like I should care anyway, there’s no way I could have a chance..”

“Boy troubles, sis”

Shelty jumped at the sound of the new voice. She whirled around and a pit formed in her stomach when standing before her, leaning against the entrance to the room with a smug grin plastered on her face, was Athena.

“You’re...number 5.’ Shelty said disbelievingly. “There’s no way..”

“That I could be alive?” Athena interrupted. “Your temper tantrum did leave us in pieces you know, and the name is Athena now. Father named us not too long ago.”

“So what I was feeling was correct. You all have revived.”

“And we are here to return you home sister.” Athena approach Shelty slowly. “After all, you’re dear Freyja, we aren’t complete without you.” Her tone stung with sarcasm

“So be a good girl, and come quietly.”

“No, I’m never going back!” The motor of the Hattori Security ATV carriers pulled up. Several dozen armed guards stormed in forming a protective ring around shelty, their automatic rifles trained on Athena.

“VIP located,” one of the guards spoke into their communicator. “One unidentified individual on the premises, possibly hostile.” Another one of the guards moves closer to Shelty.

“Ms. Shelty are you alright?” he asked.

“You all have to get out of here now! You’re all in danger!’ she warned.

But it was too late. In the blink of an eye, all of the guards had been eviscerated, a shower of appendages filled the room as Athena laughed maniacally.

“Shelty?? Really? That’s what you’re being called now? Isn’t that a dog's name?” She mocked

“Shut up!” Shelty roared, her runic markings beginning to ignite in a fierce light.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re choosing the hard way!” Athena's runes lit up as well as she charged at her long lost sister.

--A few kilometers away, clearing in the rainforest--

Professor Duncan dismounted the dropship with a small contingent of troops, Baldur and Ares followed him out, dressed in their new battle armor. While the troops formed a defensive perimeter for their landing zone, he gave orders to his two creations.

“I wish Tyr and Athena didn’t run off like that. But they have their orders. Baldur, Ares remain here I will need you here.”

“For what purpose? Our landing zone has been secured by the troops.” Ares questioned.

“You see my boy. One needs prime bait to lure in a prime target.” He lit a cigarette and took a long puff.

“We are going to have a meeting with the leading lady of these lands. Did the technicians install the modifications in your armor?”

“Yes, it was retrofitted this morning.”

“Good, then we are prepared. I expect great things from you

--Deeper in the forest--

Shelty crashed hard into the side of a cliff, causing the rock face to shatter and rain boulders and debris upon her. Athena landed a few meters away, beckoning her ‘sister’ to come at her again. The bones that had been shattered to splinters had reformed in Shelty’s body as she dashed forward, attempting to tackle her assailant. Athena lazily sidestepped the reckless charge.

“You know sis, I thought about you a lot when I was in that tank.”

Shelty charged again, throwing a few punches. Athena parried then and landed a hard right hook on her cheek, a fissure of dirt created as Shelty slammed back into the ground.

“I thought about how I would feel if I saw you again, what I would say to you, what I would do to you.” She walked over to shelty and lifted her high before slamming her back into the ground, hard. The ground split as a crater was formed from the force of the slam. Shelty coughed up globs of blood, a sign that her insides had been turned to mush.

“I admit, I was jealous of you. The Perfect Creation, The Golden Child. Despite me coming after You alone were deemed the success. You alone were deemed worthy.” She brought her boot down hard on Shelty’s chest, a satisfied grin on her face as she heard the newly-formed ribs snap like twigs beneath her heel. Shelty’s scream of agony was music to her ears.

“But seeing you now made me realize the difference between you and me. While you were sitting here playing house, you became weighed down by useless things, like morals and love. I discarded such things. I evolved.” She kicked Shelty once more and put her face close.

“And evolution always wins. Let me show you how I have evolved”. Her eyes glowed dark blue as energy pooled in her eyes.

A shockwave blasted in the clearing catching Athena in the chest. The eye beams fired off course harmlessly into the sky as she was knocked off her feet. She scrambled to her feet to see what had blindsided her.

“While normally watching two girls wrestle in the dirt would be interesting, I’m going to have to cut in on the fun this time” Satoru pointed his Guan’dao at her, the blade still glowing from releasing the blast.

“You must be the boyfriend. It’s about time you showed up, saves me the trouble of hunting you down myself”

Satoru ignored her and walked over to Shelty, her clothes were in tatters, but other than that her wounds were healing fine.

“You ok?” he asked, offering her a hand. She blushed and looked away before taking his hand.

“You know you don’t have to ask me that,” She said gruffly.

“So who’s this,” he gestured over to Athena.

“A troublesome younger sister,”

Satoru nodded silently as he faced Athena.

“Well, why not introduce me.”

--back at the compound--

Yuko and Haru sat huddled together in the living room of the main estate. Hisayo had ordered the compound on full lockdown afterword of hostile intruders had been reported. The staff had all been ordered to return to their rooms and Akane had been ordered to safeguard the estate, which also meant babysitting the two hapless girls whom she sat across from. She stretched out across the sofa twirling a knife in her hands, her sheathed sword laying next to her.

“This feels like an active shooter drill,” quipped Haru

“Except you know, real.” Yuko finished. The two girls laughed nervously. By now Yuko had adjusted to being in imminent mortal danger, but Haru was still fairly new to being a guest of the assassins and she clutched on to Yuko’s hand fiercely. Something which bothered Akane, slightly. She was annoyed at being kept on babysitting duty. Her last conversation with her mother had left her frustrated and she was wanting an outlet for her pent up feelings. Quite frankly, she wanted to kill something. She let out a deep breath, in an attempt to relieve some of her anxiety.

“No enemy has breached the compound before. You two will be safe.”

“I also assume you have never been attacked before as well,” Yuko added. Akane sat silent for a moment before answering.

“Not in my lifetime, no. Should any foe breach the compound. I will kill them myself.”

“Well let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Haru added. “I don’t think I can stomach watching someone else die in front of me.”

Yuko recalled Haru’s reaction after watching Akane slaughter a contingent of guards during the Oshan assignment.

“It may be unpleasant for you, but I must do what is necessary. Please understand.” Akane rose from her seat, wanting to relieve her anxious energy. “I will check the status of the defense in the command center, I will provide you both with updates.”

As Akane strode away Yuko noticed Haru gazing at the young woman as she walked out of view.

“So, how long has this been going on?” She said.

Haru seemed to flinch as if she was in a trance.

“W-what do you mean?”

“I’m talking about the googly eyes your making at Akane,” Yuko teased. “And after all of that fuss, you made about ‘not getting too close’ to them. What happened to that huh?”

“I...I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Haru turned away from Yuko, attempting to hide the deep blush on her face. Yuk grabbed her shoulder and whirled her around, forcing Haru to meet Yuko’s triumphant gaze.

“I knew it! You do like her!”

“Shut up! It’s not like that….I don’t think.”

Yuko usually wouldn’t pry into the related matters of others, but upon remembering that the young assassin may be hostile towards her, she now couldn’t afford to not exploit the premium leverage that was now her friend Haru Shimomura.

“Anyway, I think you should go for it.”

Haru looked at Yuko sheepishly, twirling a strand of her hair.

“You...think so? I mean she’s..”

“Out of your league?” Yuko finished. “I can’t believe that Haru Shimamura is nervous. The girl I knew never had a problem making the first move on her target.”

Haru waved a hand dismissively. “Those were just meaningless flings. This is….I want it to be different,” she said.

“Well,” Yuko said. “It will be different, that can be guaranteed,” Yuko quipped.

While the girls chatted enthusiastically, Akane was barely within earshot when the topic of their conversation, froze her dead in her tracks.

“She..l.l.l..likes me?” Akane stammered to herself, her cheeks burning with warmth and her heart beating uncontrollably. She leaned against a wall for support as she felt her knees go weak as her pent up sexual desire combined with her genuine social awkwardness and excitement, caused a romantically induced panic attack.

“Haru...and me on a date?” Her mind began to wonder about the possibility, causing a complete meltdown of her faculties as she fainted in blissful delight.

--

Tyr trudged through the jungle. Despite being shielded from the humidity and heat in his temperature-controlled armor, walking through the dense foliage and rocky terrain was still a chore. He was tasked with reconnaissance of the, as well as seizing and capturing any members of the main family he could find. However, aside from the occasional patrolling security personnel, his route has so far been unimpeded. He seen made it out of the rocky jungle path, into the ruins of a temple courtyard.

“You sure took your time getting here,” Hanabi Hattori said, as she sat in the middle of the courtyard taking long puffs from her pipe.

The helmet he wore masked Tyr’s sudden surprise. I hadn’t even felt her presence until just now. Nothing on the radar either.

“I take it you’re one of the people I’m supposed to find,” Tyr said. “Hmm, you’re not the one I fought last time. I was hoping for some payback.”

Hanabi exhaled a thick plume of smoke wafting in the air as she leisurely sat on the crumbled staircase...

“Are you looking for my niece? I apologize but she isn’t here. So you’re stuck with little ol’ me.” Hanabi said playfully.

“Well, my orders are to take one of you with me. I’m sure we can avoid some senseless bloodshed if you could just help me with that.”

“I’m sure, doesn’t seem like you gave our guards the same choice.” She stated.

Tyr took a moment to answer. “They gave me no choice, they refused to get out of my way.”

“Do you think that I will be any different?” the veteran assassin rested her head in her palm, the calm smile never leaving her face.

Tyr removed his helmet, his eyes serious. “No,”

“Listen, kid.” Hanabi started. “I know why you all are ultimately here. I also know what you are. Despite what others may say, I still believe you all are human. So ill give you a choice. Sit here with me and forget those foolish orders of yours. I’m sure Shelty would love to have one of her ‘siblings’ harem and more importantly we can avoid a needless fight. So what do you say?”

Tyr pooled his energy together and fired it at Hanabi in a devastating blast. The beam of pure energy arced toward her threatening to vaporize the defenseless woman.

“My my,” Hanabi, swatted the beam away, as one would an annoying insect, causing the blast to explode harmlessly into a nearby cliff. “It seems you are choosing to be obstinate. Very well,” She rises to her feet, placing her pipe away. “It seems I’ll have to deal with you here,”

“Fine by me,'' Tyr says, as he launches another blast.

--meanwhile--

Professor Duncan rode in the caravan of scout vehicles with a contingent of soldiers. It hadn't been too long before one of the vanguards has reported getting a successful foothold that would work as a staging area. Everything was going according to plan so far, which usually was a bad sign. As if on cue the caravan pulled into the clearing, only to be met with a field awash in flame. The wreckage of light assault vehicles and dropships littered the area as distant gunshots and burnt corpses sprinkled in between. The remaining soldiers and Ares exited the vehicles cautiously and formed a defensive perimeter, slowly approaching the massive wall of flame. A figure walked from the fire, the flames parting like a curtain, making way for the one responsible for the destruction of the vanguard forces.

Hisayo Hattori sauntered forward, a confident grin on her face. She dragged the body of an unconscious soldier next to her. “I’m so glad you all came to visit!” She held the soldier up and set him ablaze, he screamed in agony before being completely disintegrated by the extreme heat, leaving nothing but ash that was carried away by the wind. “As I just love entertaining my guests.”

She took a step forward, as the remaining soldiers took a step back, weapons trained on the lone assassin. “So, who’s going to introduce themselves next? I think that guy was...Schneider, Schroeder, it was something with an ‘s’ you Draconians have the weirdest syllables after all.

“Fire!” Ares shouted. The soldiers let loose a furious stream of hot lead at Hisayo, who stood motionless. As the bullets nearly made their mark, tiny explosions went off several feet from Hisayo, sparking like firecrackers all around her body.

“The last group tried that as well, guns are useless against a lot of us you know. At the heat I'm currently giving off, it should be detonating your bullets prematurely. Which means-” Hisayo disappeared, instantly droppingg right in the middle of the formation of troops. “You’re going to have to get a little personal.” Hisayo intensified her Ki, which increased the heat her body emanated, the soldiers began to boil inside of their armor before they began to explode like human balloons. Ares had acted quickly, getting Duncan and himself out of range before he could be affected.

“How boring, I didn’t even make it that hot this time. No matter.” She dissipated her aura, looking at the two remaining hostiles, eyeing Duncan in particular. “I think It’s time for us to have a chat. Why don’t you come with me? I’d love to hear your explanation as to why you decided to invade MY home.”

“You must be Hisayo Hattori,” Duncan said formally bowing in a mocking, grandiose fashion. “It is a pleasure to meet you in person. The stories don’t do you justice at all.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere with me.” Hisayo dropped her conversational tone, her voice remained calm but her bloodlust weighed heavy upon her enemies. Shall I escort you to oblivion?”

--end--