Warren looked at himself in the mirror. He looked worse for wear. His shaggy brown hair almost went down to his eyebrows. His beard was thick, long, and unkempt. His eyes were almost bloodshot due to a lack of sleep. As much as he hated to admit it, everyone who said he looked like a homeless person was right. He hadn’t looked hard at himself in the mirror in what felt like years though it had only been a few months. Now that he did, he felt ashamed he let it get this bad. He wasn’t a person who put a lot of care into how he looked but even he knew there were minimum standards that should be met, standards he clearly hadn’t met in a long time.Warren knew why he looked the way he did, it was because he didn’t care. The past few months had made him feel nothing but melancholy and anger, revenge the only thing on his mind. Life was viewed through a haze, a fog that never lifted. It was still true now, nothing had changed. The fog still hung over him, there was no bright light that would lead him to happiness, he hadn’t reached an epiphany.Yet, he had an inclination to change something. That something was his appearance. He had a strong desire to shave. People had told him to shave multiple times, the latest being Sheriff Reeves who had said “you are too young to look like me”. He knew that remark alone wasn’t what drove him to borrow a razor and some shaving cream from the sheriff. Nor was it his itchy neck. Nor was it little Sophie telling him he was a nice grandpa. He didn’t know what it was. All he knew was that it was time to shave, and he did.

It had been three days since he and Akane began taking action against the Humanity Defense Front in the town of Redrock. It had gone without a hitch for the most part. Sarah told them where to go over a radio as they took out Humanity Defense Front members with ease. The sheriff told them to use non-lethal force as much as possible so most of the fights were punching and kicking affairs. Akane used her sheathed sword like it was a baseball bat, cracking mens’ heads like they were resting on tees. They attacked for 2 days on end, all around the town of Redrock. The experience showed Warren just how large the town was, and how ingrained the Humanity Defense Front was. But eventually, the town was cleared of their presence. In all, they took out about 125 men. It took them longer than they’d like. On the second day they tried to get smart, setting up ambushes around town to catch him and Akane off guard. But Akane had anticipated all of them and claimed their attempts were amateurish. Akane had also worn a cowboy hat the entire time along with the badge he and Sophie made. She spat out comic one-liners constantly during battle which Warren had to eventually block out. Then at the end Akane wanted to do a dramatic pose with him but he left her as soon as she asked.

While Akane and Warren were on their mission, the sheriff and deputy were on clean up duty. They were not too far behind them, arresting the unconscious members of the Humanity Defense Front. By the time it was all over, the police station’s holding cells were filled to the brim with new prisoners. As for Sarah, her work began after Akane and Warren returned. Sarah went around town, telling the townsfolk what just happened. Many of the non-humans were excited, and like she planned, offered to help her. They were redirected to the police station, carrying arms they had brought with them from their home lands. Of course there had also been those non-humans who decried such an action, claiming the whole town would be destroyed in retaliation. But for the most part, Sarah’s premise that the non-humans of Redrock had had enough was true. The human residents acted differently. Most were angry at her, saying that she was insane for attacking good men. They threw things at her, called her a whore. Others shook their heads in shame and closed their doors. None of that mattered to her, the plan was working. By the end of it all, the police station was compacted with those eager to fight and those already defeated.

Warren finished his shave, looked at himself in the mirror once again. His face and chin were now clear of hair. He looked like his old self, though he didn’t feel like his old self. He didn’t expect to have a complete change in mindset by shaving but he did feel different. Not better, just different. Perhaps it was satisfaction that he looked his age and no one would call him homeless anymore. He left the sheriff’s personal bathroom, strolled to the front office area of the police station. It was full of non-humans seated at different desks, on desks, and standing. There were dwarves, catkin, orcs, and even a few lizardmen armed without a random assortment of weapons. The catkin carried curved swords they had taken from their homeland, the dwarves had muskets that only they could use, the recoil being so great it would shatter the arm of any other species that tried to use them, even if they used aura. The orcs had battle axes and war hammers. Finally were the lizardmen who had short daggers. Sarah had told him that everyone in Redrock was armed, and the proof was right in front of him. The non-humans had segregated themselves, each species being in its own little cluster of office space.

“Can’t believe Sarah was right. They really did come.” Sheriff Reeves said to Warren’s left.

Warren turned, saw the sheriff looking at everything. Warren could swear the sheriff was enjoying the sight.

“Yeah. Her plan is working so far.” Warren concurred.

“How was the razor? Thing is pretty old so I apologize if you got cut.”

“I’m fine.”

The sheriff looked at Warren, studied his face.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Same. Different. I dunno.”

“Well if you don’t feel better at least you look better. I was surprised when you asked to borrow my razor.”

“Me too.”

“Maybe that’s you taking my advice, at least partly. Changing how you look on the outside can change how you feel on the inside.”

Warren shrugged. He honestly didn’t know. Maybe that was it. Maybe it wasn’t. If he really took the sheriff’s advice he wouldn’t want to kill Andrew, yet the anger remained.

“Where’s Akane?” Warren asked, peering at the crowd.

“I think she’s in the training room”

“Still? She hasn’t gotten any sleep since we came back?”

“She hasn’t left since you two returned. Tarz said she’s fine despite being in there for a whole day.”

“I’ll go check on her.”

“Good. Bring her back too. Sarah said she’s ready to begin the next phase of the plan.”

Warren nodded and headed off. He passed the non-humans who gave him nods of approval. They were grateful for what he did, even though they knew things were just getting started.

Warren entered the training room, the same room that not too long ago had been the place of their ‘test’ given by Tarz. He saw Akane in the middle of the room, surrounded by a dozen fighting dummies. They looked like brown mannequins, armed with real swords. A green aura emanated from each one. Training dummies like these were magic powered, and could replicate the experience of fighting a skilled swordsman. They had a switch on the back of their head and once flipped, they attacked anything armed in their immediate area. Warren knew they were dangerous to use, the probability of getting killed quite high which was why he never used one himself. He also knew that one was supposed to spar with one dummy at a time, not a dozen. Yet there Akane was in the center, her blade unsheathed, her cowboy hat on her head. The dummies slowly walked around Akane, waiting for an opening. Akane put both hands on her blade, shifted her feet apart. The dummies rushed in. From every possible direction they attempted to strike Akane. But before any of their swords could cut flesh, Akane moved. She swung her blade, cutting the arm off of each dummy. Her feet remained planted to the ground while her arms moved in indistinct blurs. Within a few seconds, all the dummies were disarmed but they weren’t done. They now sought to punch and kick Akane. They launched their blows, Akane dodging each one while her feet remained in place. After each dodge she would hack the attacking limb. Even without limbs, the dummies continued their assault until eventually, Akane was surrounded by limbless torsos. The whole ordeal took less than a minute.

“The orc needs to get me more dummies,” Akane said to herself.

Warren approached her, noticing that behind her in the back corner was a large pile of limbless torsos. Akane must’ve gone through dozens of them.

“You’ve been training this whole time?” Warren questioned.

“Yes. Those Humanity Defense Front men were too weak to give me the training I needed.” Akane replied, her face looking at the pile of dummy torsos.

“Why? If these guys are so weak what’s the point in training?”

“It’s not the Humanity Defense Front I’m worried about.”

“Then who?”

Akane paused, said “Someone only I can handle. You just focus on Mason.”

Akane turned around, saw Warren’s face for the first time since he entered the room.

“I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

“What?”

“I thought you were my friend Warren.”

“Akane it is me.”

“No you’re not. Warren is a man in his late forties. He has a beard and is presumably homeless.”

Warren facepalmed.

“I’m 23. Do I really look that different without a beard?” he asked, feeling his chin, noting how smooth it was.

Akane stared at Warren, squinted her eyes like the image before her was a mirage and wanted to verify that there truly was something in front of her. She grabbed his face with her free hand.

“Akane stop!” Warren yelled as he slapped her hand away.

“Hmmmmm.”

“It’s me alright? Come on, Sarah’s going to explain the next part of the plan. We don’t have time for this. You can quiz me on your backstory later”

“How did you-”

“Because of course that’s what you were about to do. Let’s go.”

Warren headed back to the door, Akane trailed behind.

“You look better than I thought you would,” Akane muttered to herself.

Akane and Warren rejoined everyone in the office area. The non-humans were still in their little enclaves, talking amongst themselves. To their left was Sarah seated in front of the map of Redrock, little Sophie in her lap. Tarz stood next to her, looking over her shoulder at the map. Sophie noticed them, gave a wave. Akane returned the wave, Warren simply nodded. They strode to Sarah until they stood on the other side of the map.

“The sheriff said we’re starting phase 2 right?” Warren inquired.

Sarah looked up from the map, a wide grin on her face.

“Yes we are! Way ahead of schedule too. This is going perfectly so far. We already have everyone we need.”

Warren glanced behind him, noted that there must’ve been about 80 armed non-humans in the room. He thought to himself that wasn’t very much but maybe Sarah’s plan didn’t require a force to match that of the Humanity Defense Front. He looked back to see Sarah circle a large dot that was drawn a few inches away from the town proper with a red marker. The rest of the map was filled with markings and scribbles all over. He couldn’t make out what they meant but knew they were important for whatever Sarah had cooking up

“This large black dot here is where the Humanity Defense Front has set up their base. It shouldn’t be a long drive for you two, less than an hour I’d say. You’re going to stake the place out. Once you see that their little army has left the place, you go in and kill that bastard James.”

“Mommy what’s a bastard?” Sophie asked.

“Shhhhh! Sophie pretend you didn’t hear that, mommy got caught up in the moment. That was a bad word, never say that in your life.”Sarah blurted.

“But what’s a-”

“Shhhhhh!”

“So when are we leaving?” Warren asked.

“About now would be nice.” Sarah replied.

“So soon?”

“The Humanity Defense Front is going to attack asap. They have no reason to delay therefore we have to beat them to the punch. It’s already been a few days since we began. I know they spent that time going over logistics and battle plans, just like us. By now they’re ready, so an attack is imminent. I’d say within the next two days, or even tonight if we’re unlucky.”

“This is very sudden. Do these new recruits of yours even know how to fight?” Warren brought up, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the assembly behind him.

“Mr. Warren, you don’t know them like I do. If you did, you’d know that they all fled conflict of some kind so they’re used to violence. Besides, they’re eager and angry. They can more than handle the rank and file H.D.F members. It’s the council I’m worried about but that’s why we have you two.”

“You just do your job, and everyone else will do theirs.” Tarz assured.

Warren nodded in acquiescence.

Sarah continued her explanation.

“Tarz retrieved your car for you. It’s in the front and is filled with enough food and water for about three days, though I doubt you’ll need them. I know you two have only gotten a few hours’ rest but you two are integral to this plan.”

“I’m fine. Akane, you don’t need to sleep?” Warren asked, turning his head to her.

“I’ve evolved beyond sleep” she stated.

“Well alright then, let’s get this over with.”

“Before you go the sheriff wants to talk to you” Tarz interjected, looking at Warren.

“About what?”

“Dunno, you’ll find out when you see him in his office.”

Warren shrugged, turned around, and began his way to the sheriff’s office. Behind him he heard Sarah call out “By the way you look so much better without a beard.”

“He's handsome now, mommy” Sophie added.

Warren went up to the door of the sheriff’s office, opened it. In the room was the sheriff seated in his chair, his forearms on the desk.

“Come in, make sure to close the door behind you” the sheriff told him.

Warren did as told, took a seat in front of the sheriff.

“You need something sheriff?”

“No. Tarz told me you were about to head out soon.”

“I know, I’m surprised by how sudden it is. I expected things to slow down after we cleared out the town.”

“Sudden for you maybe, but after you and the girl returned Sarah was busy setting up everything.”

“Yeah she recruited those people outside right?”

“Yes that, and surprises when the Humanity Defense Front shows up.”

“Like what?”

“Mostly explosives. The outskirts of town are now a minefield.”

“Where did she get explosives? And how has she already got them planted? We’ve only been back for a day.”

“She got them from me. After the war the government had a surplus of mines so the lord gave some of them to this town. Since we’re on the border, the theory is that we would use them to hold off the elves should they invade again. But I find it more appropriate to use them now. They’re still being used for their intended purpose: destroying an invading army. As to how they got planted so quickly, you can thank those non-humans out there.”

“Impressive that they planted them within a day.”

“Indeed, they were eager to do so when Sarah asked, but I didn’t call you in here to discuss that. I wanted to give you something.”

The sheriff rose from his seat, reached under his desk, pulled out a sword wrapped in white linen. He unwrapped it slowly, carefully, as if fearful that doing it incorrectly would result in damaging the blade.

“What’s that for?” Warren asked.

The sheriff finished unwrapping the blade. The sword had a bright gleam to it, looking like it came out of the factory. It was completely straight, light blue, the words “To protect the flock and confront the wolf” were inscribed onto the blade itself. The handle was a deep blue and had a metal guard in front of it to protect the wielder’s hand.

“This here is the first sword I ever owned. It was given to me by my father as a gift.” the sheriff revealed.

“It looks brand new,” Warren said in astonishment.

“That’s because I put in a lot of effort to take care of this blade. I polish it every night. I’m giving it to you.”

Warren was taken aback, looked at the sheriff like he couldn’t comprehend what he was just told.

“Why?”

“You’re going after Mason. It’d make me feel good knowing that he dies by this blade. Besides, you don’t have a weapon right?”

“I have knives. I was going to borrow a sword from the training room.”

“Don’t. This blade is much stronger than any of those. It’s made of Dwarven steel. It’ll cut through anything, especially James.”

“Are you sure? Don’t you need a sword for when the Humanity Defense Front comes?”

“I’m positive. I won’t need a blade as strong as this to protect the town. I’ll be fine with a standard sword. Take it.”

Warren rose to his feet, picked up the blade. He performed a few practice swings. It was heavy, heavier than any blade he ever wielded before yet it felt comfortable, like it was an extension of his arm. The sheriff smiled at him, reached under the desk again, took out a blue sheath and gave it to him.

“I’ll return this blade to you when this is over '' Warren promised, putting the sheath around his waist.

“Heh, you should keep it. I feel you’ll make more use of it than I ever could.”

“No, I'll return it. This is your prized possession.”

“Then I look forward to getting it back.”

Warren sheathed the sword, said “Is there anything else you need?”

“No. Just remember what I told you and when you see James...tell him that he’ll die by my blade.”

The sheriff reached a hand out, motioned for Warren to shake it. Warren did so, feeling that he understood the sheriff on a deeper level somehow. A part of him wished he didn’t have to go, a part of him wanted to just sit and talk to the sheriff some more, get some more advice. He felt like he wouldn’t get another chance.

“Don’t look so glum. We’re all going to get through this, I may be old but I can handle myself” the sheriff said, breaking Warren’s train of thought.

“Of course.” Warren agreed.

“Once you come back, we’re all sharing a bottle of vintage wine I’ve been saving for a special occasion so look forward to it.”

Warren nodded.

“See you soon sheriff.”

“Yep, take care Marshall.”

Warren whirled around, left the office, the feeling of anticipation for the upcoming fight rising in his gut.

Warren returned to the table where everyone was. There he saw Akane holding Sophie in her arms, the little girl wearing Akane’s cowboy hat. Sarah was speaking with Tarz, presumably about the plan. They stopped speaking once Warren rejoined them. Tarz flicked his eyes at Warren’s hip, and noticed the sword.

“So he gave you his sword did he?” Tarz asked, mildly amused.

“Yeah. Said he wanted Mason to die by it.”

Tarz chuckled, said “Figures. He can’t kill Mason himself so he’s using you as a proxy.”

“Oooo” Sophie said in awe, staring at the blue sheath attached to Warren’s side.

“Child, my sword is better. It is longer.” Akane interjected.

“But his is blue. I like blue.”

“Orc, get me blue paint. Now.”

“No.”

“ My anger towards you is infinite. I will end you once I return orc. Fear for your life.”

“Can you two leave now?”

“Yeah. Akane let’s get going.” Warren said, motioning towards the front door.

“Very well. I will take my leave.”

Akane put Sophie down, looked at her and said “Goodbye Akane the younger.”

“For the fifth time that’s not gonna be her name Ms. Akane.” Sarah corrected.

“But it suits her so well.”

“No it doesn’t. Please stop.”

“Bye sword lady, bye Mr. Warren. You better come back alive.” Sophie said to them, hugged Warren’s leg.

Warren looked up to see Akane staring at him with bulging eyes, angry that she didn’t get the hug.

“Ok we’re leaving.” Warren said, gently removing Sophie from his leg.

Warren headed to the front door while Akane hissed in his ear “Why did she hug you and not me? Does she like you more than me? Did I do something wrong? Did you do something to her?”

Warren ignored the barrage of questions as he opened the front door and left the police station.

Presently, Warren found that his car was parked in front of the police station. Still ignoring Akane’s question barrage he went to his car, opened the door and saw that the key was in the ignition. In the back seat were all the supplies Sarah mentioned. He got into the driver’s seat. He turned on the radio and looked to his right, saw that Akane had stopped walking towards the car, instead she was talking to Sarah who must’ve ran out of the police station. He saw Sarah say something to Akane, give her a hug. Akane awkwardly returned the gesture, making it clear she wasn’t used to hugs. Warren turned the key, the car roared to life. Akane turned away from Sarah, entered the car as Sarah waved goodbye.

“Are you ready for this?” Warren asked.

“Yes. Let’s break faces.”

“You get that from a comic?”

“No. That was an original line. It’s good, isn’t it?”

“I’ve heard worse.”

Warren pushed his foot on the gas pedal, the car started moving forward. Eventually the car picked up speed and after a few minutes, Redrock was a speck behind them.

The drive through the desert reminded them of the journey to Redrock. The heat was scorching, even with the AC on full blast. The sun was at its zenith, making the heat even worse. But something was different about this journey. Because they were heading further into the desert, the sand became smoother, dunes were visible in the distance. They were now in pure desert. The desert where next to nothing survived, the desert that could kill you and leave your bones buried underneath so much sand the body would never be recovered.

“How about this, we call ourselves the dynamic duo.” Akane proposed as Warren drove.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Sounds dumb. Why do we need a title?”

“Because titles are cool and help people remember us.”

“Why do people need to remember us?”

“Because we’re heroes. Heroes have their deeds recorded.”

“For an assassin you sure care about your image a lot.”

“Former assassin. How about...Akane and friend.”

“That’s not even a title. It’s just a description.”

In the corner of his eye, Warren could see Akane lean forward, trying to make eye contact.

“You admit that we’re friends?”

Warren could see Akane eagerly awaiting an answer, he wished he could jump out the car.

“We’re not enemies at least.” Warren stated.

“Say it. Say we’re friends.”

“We’re...allies.”

“Friends. Say it. Say it now.” she persisted.

“Why does it matter?”

“Because, you get stronger with the power of friendship. If one acknowledges their friends their strength increases. It’s a fact of life, it’s in all the textbooks.”

“No it’s not.”

“You haven’t read the right textbooks.”

“Comics aren’t textbooks.”

“You only say that because you’re old.”

“What?”

“Comics are textbooks for young people. That’s why you don’t understand.”

“I’m in my 20’s.”

“Exactly.”

“Then how old are you? You never told me.”

“Not 20.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Women don’t reveal their ages.”

“I didn’t think you had such a woman-like attitude towards age. ”

“I’m a woman. I do all the woman things. I go shopping for weapons. I use beauty products, out of the blood of my enemies. I read comics. I defeat villains. Normal woman activities.”

“Alright.” Warren said, thankful that she was no longer pestering him about friendship.

“Now say we’re friends” she ordered.

“......”

“Don’t say ‘....’. Say we’re friends.”

“Fine. We’re friends ok?”

Warren glanced to his right, and saw Akane breathe a sigh of relief.

“Now we can’t lose.” she said.

Warren slowly nodded, wondering if Akane had felt a sense of worry this entire time and his saying they were friends put her mind at ease. He returned his focus to the road, and in the far distance, saw the blurry image of a large grey wall. They would soon be at their destination.

Warren stopped the car behind a large sand dune, to ensure that no one would be able to spot them from the base. Akane was the first to exit the car, walking her way up the sand to get a view.

“Hey be careful, they could spot you.” Warren warned, exiting the car as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

Akane was on top of the dune, her cloak billowing behind her. Her eyes squinted as she stared off into the distance. Warren ascended the dune. On top he saw what Akane had been looking at. It was a small city protected by a 46 foot high stone wall. From their elevated point they saw the inverse of Redrock. It was the same size as Redrock but while Redrock was in shambles, the base before them looked like a high end neighborhood. Large houses lined the streets, grass planted in front of each one. There was a noticeable uniformity. All the buildings were houses and were identical in design except for one. In the dead center of the base, was a white mansion that dwarfed the rest of the buildings in size, design, and elegance. Between the mansion and the other houses were so many trees that looked like a mini forest surrounded it on all sides, serving as a natural barrier but given where they were, those trees were anything but natural. It was a very strange sight after having seen nothing but sand dunes for the past few hours.

“This place looks like it’s ready for a siege.” Warren commented, noting how tall the outside wall was. Were they not elevated, all they would’ve seen was the wall and the tip of the mansion.

“They are ready for a siege. But their wall won’t help them. We’re scaling the wall, not breaking through it. Once inside, we’ll sneak our way into the mansion.” Akane said, eyeing the mansion.

“I’m surprised you’re not suggesting we barge in there.”

“It would be easy to. Most of the soldiers will be gone once we go in and those who stay around will be pushovers. But we need to conserve our strength for when we are inside the mansion. That’s where everything will be decided.”

“Fair enough. For now we have to wait until their army leaves. Let’s go wait in the car.”

Warren turned around, began to descend the large sand dune, almost losing his footing in the process. At the bottom of the sand dune, Warren looked up at Akane, saw her continue to stare at the mansion, her cowboy hat protecting her from the heat.

“Akane!”

She turned, saw Warren. She slowly descended until they were eye-level with each other.

“They’re all in the large mansion.”

“Mason and his subordinates?”

“Not just them. I mean all of them. They’re going to attack tonight.”

“How do you know?”

“I sense it. Their auras are all concentrated in that large isolated mansion, making final preparations. They’ll move out once it’s nightfall, to avoid the heat.”

Warren nodded, entered his car, made his seat go all the way back so he was staring at the car’s roof. He closed his eyes and said “Then we wait.”

Akane walked to the other side of the car, entered and adjusted her seat to match Warren’s.

“Yes. We shall meditate in the meantime.”

“No I was going to sle-yes we’re gonna meditate. That means no talking about comics, team names or your backstory. Complete silence.”

“Very well. But after 15 minutes of meditation we shall stop. That’s when I’ll tell you which comics you should read by giving you an in-depth review of each one.”

“....Right.”

Warren and Akane closed their eyes, both falling asleep after ten minutes.

When Warren woke up it was nighttime. He rubbed his eyes, slowly got out of the car. He looked up at the sky, saw it littered with bright white stars, constellations being visible. It was the first time he had seen so many stars at once. It was truly a view that could only be seen once one was far, far away from civilization. He would’ve enjoyed the view it had it not been for the cold. The extreme heat had been replaced with extreme cold. Every time he breathed he saw his breath and his fingers felt a bit numb. Ignoring how cold he’d gotten he looked up the sand dune, saw Akane standing there. He walked up until they were side by side.

“It’s begun,” Akane said as soon as he reached her.

Warren looked down, saw there was an opening in the wall. There must’ve been a gate that blended into said wall, only making its presence known when it opened and closed. A massive caravan of horses, trucks, and men marching were emerging from it. It looked like a parade as music blared from some of the trucks. The marching men sang along to the tune as their weapons-a mixture of swords and rifles-dangled from their hips. Their outfits were the ones Akane and Warren had gotten used to seeing, brown sacks to cover their heads, blue cotton shirts and pants, and white x’s on their tops.

Our God is an awesome God.

She reigns, from heaven above with wisdom, power, and love

Our God is an awesome God.

They chanted the same lines over and over as they moved.

“It’s the chant of Vienna.” Warren remarked.

“Funny. Vienna won’t be helping them tonight” Akane replied.

She looked past the growing caravan, examined the large wall, trying to find which spot was the best place to climb.

“There. That part of the wall is scalable. Let’s move.” she said, pointed off into the distance towards a part of the massive wall.

Warren and Akane slid down the sand dune, the caravan of men chanting and walking in the far distance. As they moved Warren saw that the caravan was getting longer and longer. He became slightly worried about the town of Redrock, wondering if they could really defeat the small army. He shook his head, he didn’t have time to be concerned about anyone except himself right now. Presently, he and Akane were in front of the massive wall, the chanting still audible. They activated their respective auras, began their ascent, grabbing onto places where stone had fallen out of the wall. They quickly scaled the wall and were soon on top. Below them was a residential neighborhood, the houses looking much bigger up close. They dropped down to the ground, their auras protecting their legs from any damage. Akane moved ahead of Warren, motioning for him to follow her. They moved through the shadows, avoiding the lights that lit up the dirt streets of the neighborhood. As they moved Warren could hear the sound of women and children inside the houses, having mundane conversations like nothing of import was happening tonight. Presently they were past the houses and now were in the unnatural forest, the large white mansion in sight in the far distance.

“Stop.” Akane hissed, stopping in her tracks.

They were at the edge of the unnatural forest. 15 meters away from them was their target in full glory, standing alone, nothing but flat grass around it. Warren could see the mansion looked more like a government building than a home. A large portico with four white columns spaced evenly apart stood in front of a large brown door. There appeared to be three major floors as there were 3 rows of eleven windows on the face of the rectangular white building.

“What is it?” Warren whispered.

“Something’s off”

“Like what?”

Akane pointed towards the mansion’s front door. The door slowly opened, as if the mansion itself was inviting the two of them inside.

“They know we’re here,” she said.

“When did they find out?”

“No idea. Maybe we just tripped an alarm, maybe they’ve known the whole time.”

Akane went ahead, walking out into the open towards the mansion.

“You’re just going to walk in there? You know it’s a trap” Warren pointed out, surprised that the assassin who wanted to do the stealth approach now chose to waltz up to the building.

Akane looked behind, said “It’s too late. Sneaking in is impossible. The only option left is to go in there and beat them.”

Warren nodded. As much as he didn’t like it, going through the front door was the only plan. They knew he and Akane were coming, and it wasn’t like they could just leave. Warren took a deep breath, walked with Akane to the mansion.