An hour later, the alarm Drake had set went off. Groggy, tired, and not really caring much about anything in general, Drake rolled over to turn off the alarm and to wake Alina up. Much to his surprise though, Alina was in the bed with him. Her back rested against his and a giant grin of satisfaction on her face. Drake didn’t remember her crawling into the bed with him, but then again he was exhausted and knocked out the instant his head hit the pillow. And it’s not like he really cared, in fact it made him smile too, but it was time to wake her up and get going. Plus they still had to meet up with Will in a few minutes.

Drake stood up; the cold tile gave a shock to his groggy system, and walked to the other side of the bed to somewhat wake up, and then shook Alina awake. Normally Alina is ready to rock and roll the second she wakes up, but this time she was fighting to stay awake. She sat up slowly, rubbed her eyes, stretched and looked around the room. To her it was a normal view since it was the bed she normally sleeps on, and then she remembered lying down on top of Drake before falling asleep. With that memory in her head, she blushed with embarrassment. She looked at Drake, who was already changed and now picking up his gear without a care in the world, so she too got over it and started to gather her stuff.

“All set?” Drake asked after he gathered his gear.

“Yep.” Alina replied.

Drake looked at the amount of stuff he had versus the stuff she had. He managed to fit everything; cloths, guns, and the ammo he had into a bag. As for his swords, he put them into a special carbon fiber duffel bag designed specifically to carry them. But Alina… She had a full suitcase of cloths, and then a suitcase for her guns, ammo, and her Katars, and a third suitcase he didn’t remember her packing anything into.

“What’s the third one for?” He asked pointing to the last suitcase.

“Explosives!” She said with a grin on her face.

“But since we no longer need it I’ll put it away.” She finished remembering they no longer need them.

After she put everything away they walked to the door. They opened the door just as Will was getting ready to knock. With neither expecting each other, all three jumped at the sudden appearance. After a quick laugh Will got down to business.

“Perfect timing, we won’t need the explosives.” Drake stated before Will could say anything

“But we do feel bad, so we will help you carry them back since they must have been heavy.” Alina offered

Alina reached out to pick one up, and she realized just how heavy they are.

“Wow, this must weigh close to a hundred pounds.” She pointed out.

“Yep, we are giving you around three hundred pounds of the stuff. But since you guys don’t need it, yah I could use the help taking it back.” Will explained with a laugh.

“Hahahahaha okay, we’ll help.” Alina said.

“Thanks! Anyway be careful, you are not the only ones being sent in with the main force. They are sending a few others that will back you up in a moment’s notice should things get out of hand. And expect to fight other GenOpS, even ones more powerful than yourselves.” Will explained obviously flustered.

“Hahahahahaha, that’s even better!” Drake said excited

Will was just confused. After seeing his quizzical look, Alina explained things to him.

“Drake here loved the thrill of the kill. He wants more people to be there anyway so he can kill more of them and fuel is bloodlust. So thank you for the concern, but we will be fine.” Alina explained confidently.

Will was just in awe of their attitude, but he also knows the two are much more powerful than their tails lead them to be. He gave the two a hug and walked them out. As he did, he noticed that even Alina had more tails and that she was up to eight now. He wondered when that happened and how it happened. Last he remembered, just a little more than an hour ago she still had five, or maybe she did have eight and he just didn’t notice. If that’s the case, then what caused the extra three tails to grow? Not to mention she also has eight rings on each tail so she is close to her ninth. Then Will remembered something, Alina has always been ahead of Drake. She is well above Drake in just about everything. Only her talent and thirst for fighting is below Drakes. So she may have very well been hiding it from Drake to protect his feelings. Will wanted to confirm it, so he stopped Alina for a second to ask, and that was a mistake.

As soon as he stopped her, Alina changed. Her bloodlust was released, and the poor fool who had stopped her was going to get it. She quickly grabbed the hand on her shoulder that stopped her and lifted it off. Then she quickly grabbed the triceps with her free hand and threw Will over her shoulder. Before he even landed, she was already twisting the elbow to break it when she realized it was Will. With a loud thud Will landed hard onto the floor and he found himself once again in awe. Will stood almost two feet taller than Alina, and outweighed her skinny body by over a hundred and fifty pounds, yet she tossed him like he was nothing.

“What are you doing?!” Alina asked annoyed but concerned.

“I just wanted to ask you something in private.” Will explained calmly.

“Oh. Well ok then.” Alina agreed.

“Drake, can you go stand by the doors?” Will asked so he could still be seen by Alina.

The truth is though, that Alina wasn’t even thinking about being separated from Drake. She was excited to get on with the mission and was annoyed because someone has slowed the process. Drake nodded, picked up his stuff he dropped to stop Alina, and walked to the doors at the end of the hallway.

“How long have you had eight tails?” Will asked bluntly

“You should be glad it was me. You know Drake would have snapped your arm if it was him.” Alina explained.

“Don’t avoid the question!” Will demanded

Alina shot him a cold glare that gave Will the chills. She was truly a frightening person to be around. And Drake managed to withstand this? Then again though, Will would rather fight Alina than Drake any day. In his mind, Drake only lacks the will to utilize his full talent and power. But when he does, he is a much better fighter than Alina and has an overwhelmingly devastating strength that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Plus he won’t stop; he will keep beating someone until someone else pulls him off. And he does it all with a grin on his face. For Will, that was the scariest thing.

“A few months now.” Alina answered coldly

“How?” Will asked wanting to know.

“Like Drake, I too have an eye ability and already know how to turn it off and on. But it’s not efficient yet like Drakes. I practice and practice and leave it activated for hours, but it’s range is still very small, and isn’t growing at all.” Alina said annoyed

Will’s jaw almost hit the floor.

“What is it?” he asked stupefied.

“Doesn’t matter. It didn’t help much when you reached for my shoulder, so as of now it is still in training. If I can extend its range, then and only then will I share what it is.” Alina explained and started to walk off.

“Wait, one last question.” Will said.

Alina stopped and turned around. Will could see she was getting very annoyed now so he made it quick.

“Why did you hide it?” Will asked.

“So Drake wouldn’t get jealous. He is oblivious so he doesn’t realize small changes with me or when he gets new tails so he doesn’t hide it. But I don’t want his feelings hurt since he prides himself in protecting me.” Alina said in a cold tone and walked off

“Tsk. Not a very good way to talk to someone who was just willing to help you out.” Will said under his breath.

Then he realized something. Why does he fear them? Sure they may now have more tails, but not by much, and he has heaps of experience over them. However, something about them sets off alarms. Almost as if the two are ticking time bombs of bloodlust just waiting to satisfy their thirst for blood. And between the two, Drake just has a much darker feeling. Will just couldn’t figure it out. He knows the two pretty well, but he has never seen the two upset. Except for when he witnessed Alina lose her mind; and that wasn’t rage or anger, but sadness and grief. Plus just now when Alina showed some annoyance it felt like she wanted to rip his head off. Will also heard the rumors of what Drake had done a few weeks ago to someone of equal standing to himself, but never got around to confirming them. So he wasn’t too sure if that was rage or not or if it was even completely true. He shivered at the thought of the rumor being true and went to catch up to them. Maybe Gabby would know something about it, or at least a little more than he did.

“What did he want?” Drake asked as soon as Alina ran back to him.

“Nothing important.” She said lifting his arm to put around her.

But Drake already knew what it was about. The hallway that exited the dorm they live in was dead quiet. All the dorms occupants were either dead from the attack or asleep because they are too weak to be involved with this mission. So Drakes already good hearing was able to tune into what they were saying. It bothered him that Alina had been keeping that a secret, and it bothered him that now she was keeping the talk a secret too. But what bothered him the most is that he didn’t notice a thing. Even up until he overheard Will say she had eight tails, Drake had thought she only had five.

“You know I have really good hearing.” Drake pointed out.

“Yah I kn…” Alina started then realized what he meant.

Alina instantly turned red from embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry Drake!” Alina said with tears forming.

She knew now that Drake heard everything, and to top it off she just tried to blow it off. Plus to her, losing Drakes trust is the worst thing she could possibly think of.

“So why did you hide it from me? You should know that I would still protect you even if you had more tails than me. Hell I would have celebrated your new tails with you, not get jealous over them.” Drake explained.

“I’m so sorry Drake. I thought you would have been disheartened or bummed that you weren’t stronger than me.” Alina replied in a small panic

“But I have always had less tails or markings than you, and our last fight proved you are stronger. I know full well that you are incredibly strong and I didn’t care. In fact I love that about you. But the fact that you think I would be upset that you are progressing, and that you had to hide it from me… that hurts.” Drake said in a depressed tone.

That tone got Alina’s worst case scenario thinking into overdrive. She was on the verge of a full on panic that she upset Drake and thought he would leave her.

“Sigh. And even after I have always been one hundred percent honest with you too.” Drake started.

Alina cringed waiting for him to tell her to leave.

“Just promise me you will be honest about everything. Okay? I love you for you, I always have and I always will. The number or type of tails means nothing to me. And even if you are stronger than me, I will always protect you.” Drake finished with a smile while holding out his hand.

Alina smiled a huge smile.

“Okay. I promise!” She said elated as she took his hand.

She once again wrapped his arm around her shoulder and held his hand from there. They opened the door to welcome the dark and starry sky as Will finally caught up with them. But a group of armored personnel who were assigned to retrieve Drake and Alina showed them the way and would not allow them to carry the unneeded explosives any farther. They apologized to Will, handed him the explosives they had and headed for the airfield to board a plane that would take them to where the main force is gathering.

“Here are your identifications. They are just standard forms of ID so you can identify yourself to the main army.” The first personnel said.

This excited the two.

“There you will be able to buy ammo or anything else you may need.” The second one said as he handed an envelope of money.

“But my rifle requires a special bullet I can only buy here.” Drake pointed out.

“Very well, hurry up.” The guard said after a sigh.

“Where do I get it from? The same place as before? Or do I have to go someplace else now?” Drake asked

“Yes, only this time they know you will have to pay. This is no longer training.” The guard confirmed

“Right. Let’s go Alina.” Drake said.

“Na, I will get everything loaded up n’ set to go.” Alina replied.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Drake confirmed.

Drake hadn’t realized that Alina had just offered to be alone, away from him. And it didn’t even faze him as he left her his gear and took off to the armory. The closest one was also the only one that he knew of that made his bullet and is a five minute run from their room. Once he got there, he wondered how much he should take. He already had twenty rounds for his rail gun, and ninety-six rounds for his Tamooras, so enough to fill four mags for each gun. He figured he could get more ammo for his pistols at the base and just needed to focus on his MissionStatement. So he walked up to the armorer.

“Hey Sasha.” Drake exclaimed.

“Boy’o! How’s it going?” Sasha replied.

Sasha was an older man, and a human. He was missing his left eye and had a giant scar that ran through his eye and down to his chin. And he was no small guy. He stood up to Drake, who stands at six feet two inches, and he outweighed Drake by over two hundred pounds.

“So… Saw what you did to Mathias a few weeks ago Boy’o.” Sasha said.

“Who?” Drake questioned.

“The seven-tail you beat to a pulp.” Sasha told him

Drakes smile grew at the thought of it. The beating, the blood, the sense of total dominance, the fear in his eyes as someone who was supposed to be weaker kicked the crap out of him.

“Aaaaahhhhh yes.” Drake said with his grin.

“That smile of yours is something else Boy’o. You’ll never get with that beauty Alina like that.” Sasha teased him

“You’re late old man, we already hooked up.” Drake proclaimed proudly

“Oh really?” Sasha said in disbelief.

“So where is she then?” He asked Drake.

“She’s loading our gear into the plane.” Drake said annoyed

“Okay, okay.” Sasha said raising his arms in no contest.

“So what can I do for you today?” Sasha asked.

“I need about eighty Statement rounds.” Drake answered.

“You’re in luck Boy’o. I just finished crafting some, though I don’t have the eighty you want.” Sasha replied.

“What you got?” Drake asked.

“I only got forty.” He replied

Drake sighed. It was only half of what he wanted, but it will have to do. So he signaled for Sasha to hand it over.

“Okay, forty thousand ruble.” Sasha said.

Drake just stared at him.

“I only have eight thousand, and I need it for other stuff as well.” Drake pointed out.

“And why is it so expensive?” Drake asked.

“It’s a one of a kind bullet that only I make. But I’ll tell you what Boy’o. You kick some ass for me, and I’ll give them to you for free one last time.” Sasha said.

“Deal! You won’t have to worry about me kicking some ass!” Drake proclaimed.

“Oh I know Boy’o. I’ve seen your results.” Sasha said as he pulled out the forty rounds for Drake and put them in a box.

“Here you are. Have fun out there.” Sasha said.

Drake thanked him and ran back to meet up with Alina. By the time he got back, Alina had already loaded everything and was just waiting patiently where they had parted.

“Welcome back love, get what you wanted?” Alina asked

“Sure did!” Drake said happily.

“Are you finally ready to go?” One of the armored personnel asked impatiently.

“Sure” Drake answered bluntly, and they started to walk off.

On the way, they were also handed a cell phone and were told that is how they will receive the signal. But the cell had other purposes since it was capable of going onto the internet, they were now able to do some research on their own because they had no computers or anything of their own yet. Nor had they ever really had to plan for something like this, so they were excited to do something new.

When they got to the plane, Drake noticed about twenty other GenOpS were getting on the plane. It was a large prop plane with a huge cargo area for troops and equipment in the back of the plane and a ramp leading out of the rear to make for easy access. However, seeing the group of people, and the small area designated for troops made Drake uncomfortable. He tensed up and Alina quickly responded.

“Hey Hey Hey. Right here.” She said pulling his face to look at hers.

As soon as his eyes were off the crowd and on her he relaxed again.

“Listen. Just focus on me ok? Everything will be alright.” Alina said to comfort him.

And it worked a little bit. Drake was able to relax all the way up to the check in.

“ID number.” The armored personnel said to Drake.

“For what?” Drake asked

The personnel looked up at him like he is the biggest idiot in the world.

“So I can verify you are on this flight, and so I can give you the right meds to hide your tails.” She said with an impatient tone.

Drake shot her a cold look that sent a chill down her spine, but she didn’t cave in.

“I’m one four four.” Drake said coldly.

“And I’m-” Alina started.

You already checked in hun, you don’t need to again.” She said to Alina

The personnel confirmed his number and handed him his meds.

“The yellow one will eliminate your tails. It will stay in your system indefinitely until the red one is taken which will neutralize the yellow pill. It takes a few hours for your tails to fall off, and a few hours for them to regrow.” The personnel explained

“Oh and one four four…” The personnel called out to Drake.

He turned around and gave her a quizzical look.

“These are for you.” She said as she handed him a contact case.

“What are they?” He asked after starring at them for a few seconds.

“Contacts. To cover your eye colors so you can blend in if you so choose.” She said

“Never seen eyes like yours either. Pretty weird.” She added.

“Weird how?” He asked somewhat offended.

“Well not ‘weird’, just different. Never seen eyes like yours before.” She tried to explain.

“Huh. So I just put them in my eyes or what?” Drake asked.

The personnel once again gave him a quizzical look like he was the biggest idiot on earth. Then it hit her; for GenOpS, who have better than perfect vision, contacts are a foreign thing to them.

“Yah pretty much. You just put it on the tip of your finger and put it in your eye. It will take a little while to get used to, but they will change your eye color to a human one and give you circular pupils instead of your slit ones.” She explained

“But again, it’s your choice, just like with the tail deal. If you want to blend in you can do so, if not then don’t. It doesn’t matter.” She finished

The two shrugged and decided they didn’t need to blend in. They liked the way they are. After stepping aside and talking about their mission a bit more they boarded the plane. Alina and Drake picked the two seats closest to the exit to help keep Drake as calm as possible, and so he has a clear view of the exit. After storing the ammo Drake got with the rest of their gear they sat down and waited for everyone else. It didn’t take long since they were some of the last to check in and board, it was mostly just waiting for all the final checks to be done before takeoff. Once everything was ready to go, they pulled in the ramp and closed the rear hatch. When the hatch finally closed, Drake instantly tensed up again. And once again, Alina was there to calm him down.

“It’s ok love. Focus on me and me alone.” She said with a smile

Once Drake looked at her he calmed down. She somehow had that power over him; no matter how upset or distraught he is, she can always calm him down. When he thinks about why, he always comes to the conclusion that he trusts her with his life and she means more than the world to him. And as always, he is satisfied with the answer. As for the reason why he keeps thinking about it is mostly because he never remembers thinking about it originally.

When they heard the engines starting up the two got excited, they had never been in a plane before and wondered what it was like. And when the engines reached full power, the noise was deafening. They had not expected it to be as loud as it was, but it bothered them none. After a few minutes the plane began to roll forward accelerating faster and faster until it reached takeoff speed. Though the two knew what to expect, feeling it and experiencing it was well beyond their expectations.

After reaching cruising altitude, everything just felt like they were on the ground. Bored, everyone started up conversations with their respective groups.

“So…” Alina started

“Hum?” Drake questioned.

“What are you going to call your swords? You have had them for so long, and yet never named them.” Alina asked.

“Do I need to name them?” Drake returned.

“Duh, all swords have beautiful names for them!” Alina exclaimed.

“Why is that?” Drake asked but starting to understand where she was coming from.

“Every good book that I have ever read that had a swordsman had a named sword!” She said with energy.

Drake knew it; he hated reading with a passion and never did unless required. Alina however, loved to read and had quite an imagination because of it.

“Then I’ll let you do the honors.” Drake said with a smile.

Alina’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Really?! Can I?” She asked with more excitement than Drake expected.

He simply nodded his head and she began to think. She wanted to pick the perfect names for the twin blades. So the names had to be somewhat related since they are both Drakes beloved swords, yet they had to represent the distinctive characteristics of his blades. Plus the names had to fit with his personality. And when he had to actually use them, he had a very dark and somewhat evil aura. Then her hyper mind went from thinking of what to name his blade to how much she liked that personality of his, one that loved to fight and cause chaos. Not to mention his sadistic smile when he saw someone suffering. To normal people that would be a major turn off, and downright terrifying, but for Alina it was a reason that drew her closer to him. Then she remembered what she was thinking about and jumped back to that. After a second she had narrowed it down to demon themes, but couldn’t think of a good name for his blades. To Drake it looked like she would blow steam out of her ears from thinking too hard when, after a few more minutes, she finally figured it out. She jumped out of her thinking pose and started jumping around all gleefully. And Drake just couldn’t understand what she was so excited about. But to Alina, it was a huge deal. She could finally use her active imagination for something that was important; well to her.

“I got it!” She exclaimed loudly that made everyone jump.

“What?!” Drake said with his heart racing from the sudden scare.

“The black blade will be ‘Demons Heart’.” Alina started

Drake didn’t think that was very original, but he went with it for her.

“And the red blade will be ‘Demons Eye’.” She finished.

Drake wondered what was up with the Demon theme in the names, but he liked them. They kind of fit together, and they did fit with the blades. So he agreed to the names and Alina was ecstatic; she finally felt of use to Drake who would always stand up for her, and put up with her monophobic tendencies. Though in Drakes mind he owed her more than he could repay; she always helped him stay calm in crowded situation, and even did random stuff like this to keep his mind off of whatever was bothering him. Neither of them realized that they both felt indebted to each other, nor just how much they helped each other out.

Alina, now satisfied, rested her head on Drakes shoulder; who in return rested his head on hers. With his good hearing, he was able to hear the whispers of some of the others on board, even over the roar of the plane engines. Most of it was just talk, but some was jealousy about Alina, and some was ridicule about the couple and how they got special permission to be the only two man team, though it seemed like they didn’t know who Alina and Drake are. Drake was used to it though since for as long as he could remember other GenOpS have always been jealous of their special treatment. Even though they aren’t the only GenOpS to receive special lessons due to their power, they are the most recent ones and therefore the easiest target. So he ignored them as to not cause a commotion on a plane with very limited space, but the talk about Alina got him thinking. Recently others have commented on Alina’s looks, and Drake didn’t really like it. Drake knew that it was his feelings for Alina that made him jealous like that, and that jealousy is the sole reason he attacked another GenOpS, named Mathias according to Sasha, a few weeks ago. On the plus side, that incident awakened his eye power.