Chapter 15

"Angela had located Harley, she also has the exousia with her," Dr. Baker reports to Mr. Ton upon having contact with his mechanical doll.

Mr. Ton grins for his plans are going on smoothly as he wishes but when he remembers Johnson, his favorite warrior and the tank of his SABER squad, his smirk vanishes. For him, the Venom squad is simply a tool that would bring his Saber squad back.

"Who shall become the tank?" he asks and the two doctors remain quiet for they had not yet found someone who is fit for the role.

Having Tigreal would be of huge advantage for them for the royal general is highly skilled and possesses intellect. But the problem is how they would convince him to join them or how to kidnap him to forcefully turn him into one of the VENOM squad. Tigreal is no joke for he had fought countless battles and has won many victories for the Moniyan Empire. Capturing him would be like catching a tiger using a useless trap.

The glass that Mr. Ton is holding is shot right on the ground, its shards are scattered on the floor and everyone in the room could feel his rage despite him wearing his usual stoic face. The CEO fixes his necktie and buttons his suit and leaves the laboratory without saying any word, not even sparing a look at the doctors. The two doctors let out a heavy sigh for their lives are being stretched out to the limits. The smell of booze reeks in the room after the CEO had vented his anger on the poor glass.

They both look at Gusion who is feeling comfortable by the couch, not giving a care about Mr. Ton's actions. He is currently reading the documents about the Magical cube which he has set his eyes on from the very beginning.

"Gusion, you might know someone who could serve as your tank in the team?" Dr. Rooney asks and takes out another set of documents from his desk. "I could give you the other half information about the Magical cube."

Hearing his words made Gusion interested but he pretends like he does not have any interest in it. If he is not careful, he could be exposed and has Mr. Ton hunt his head for trying to betray him. Gusion did not give any response, he simply covers his face with the document and has gone to sleep. Unknown to the hardworking scientists, Gusion has other plans aside from retrieving the captured Saber squad.

Dr. Rooney grits his teeth and is tempted to throw the papers he's holding towards the ungrateful brat. Dr. Baker smiles and stops him. He shakes his head and tells him they needed to go and check on Hanabi's condition.

"Grock would be a good candidate," Gusion says as the doctors leave the room but they are able to hear his answer. The two nods their head in agreement. Grock may be an amiable giant yet his strength is incomparable especially when he is in his full size.

As they enter the main laboratory, they see Hanabi awake. Her heartbeat has stabilized, her skin color has also turned back into its original state, but the color of her eyes has been permanently altered, from ocean-blue to scarlet. Dr. Baker walks towards one of the monitors and checks her vitals which has turned normal compared to the previous days wherein she almost died.

"The exousia is the only one left for her to adjust in," Dr. Baker states. He grabs the papers of Hanabi's information and writes on it for the daily observation of the Nephila.

Since she is the very first member to be exposed in their experiments and has been set as a testing medium, she needs to be highly monitored for she might turn into something they did not expect.

While Dr. Baker is focusing on Hanabi, Dr. Rooney has started to work on the other four huge tubes where the remaining members would be put in. He lays different papers on the long table and labels them each; Vespid, Emperor Scorpion, Octopus and Monitor Lizard. Beside the titles are the names of the warriors that shall be marked with the VENOM seal and be titled as the saviours of the SABER squad.

Their work is interrupted when they hear a tapping sound coming from Hanabi who seems to be in her right mind to question them. Her eyes may symbolize the color of danger yet she gazes at them with eyes of a curious child.

"Who am I?" she asks them which made the doctors look at each other with their forehead creased. They both rush towards the woman so they could talk to her and she would be able to look at them. Dr. Baker initiates to answer her question and telling her the truth is crossed out from the list.

"You're Nephila, the spearhead of the VENOM squad. Keep that in mind," he tells her with a smile. Hanabi stares at him with her red eyes as if she's trying to comprehend on what she just heard. Dr. Baker looks at the monitors to see if her vitals change but they remain normal. Hanabi simply nods after a while, before she lets herself float inside the tube she's being kept in.

Dr. Rooney heads towards one of the monitors and makes some few clicks, then two images appear. Dr. Baker peeks in to see the monitor as well.

"Her brain cells are being altered. If she continues to receive information, it will become her new memories," he states which sparks an idea from Dr. Baker. Probably the torture she has undergone has taken a toll on her that her brain started to make her forget the pain and turn her memories into nothing but back to being a blank slate.

"Then, it's the best time to teach her," he says with a smirk. A nod of agreement is the response of the other doctor. With her memories gone, it is easier for them to make her do her job without using force.

Back at the Iga town, Hanzo is currently having a talk with their chief. The atmosphere is heavy for he has decided on something without even speaking to their leader beforehand. But Hanzo has no regrets for he is confident that his decision was the best choice they had during that particular time.

"How could you promise Princess Odette that we'll lend a hand in a war we're not even supposed to be involved in?! I shall have you grounded, Hanzo! We are an independent state, we take no sides and we have no business with the people outside Iga!"

The chief is enraged, he knows that Hanzo is not a rash decision-maker but his promise to the princess is nothing but a huge risk on their part.

The Shadow faction has remained unbiased between Magical City, Moniyan Empire and the dark abyss. They have always refused their offer of joining hands for their belief and way of fighting are of different level. The people of Iga are loyal to the culture they got from their ancestors and staining it with foreign traditions would make them strangers from their origin.

"Only the princess has the power to surrender the killer of our troops. If we join hands with her just this once, the culprit will fall on our hands without putting the safety of the village at stake. Chief, this is the time to take a risk by having a small change," Hanzo tries to convince him but the chief refuses to agree to him and simply looks down on the piles of papers he has to work on and did not spare a glance at Hanzo.

"It is not a small change, I know you know that more than anyone," the chief stated after a long silence, "You're dismissed."

The akuma ninja leaves the room and as he shuts the door, the image of Hanabi walking away suddenly crosses his mind. He feels his chest tightens but he shakes his head to ignore the pain. He has decided to focus on the issue of their village first before taking action to find Hanabi.

"Hanabi always comes second," he thinks before walking back to their quarters where he has found Yukimura waiting by the living room.

Upon his entrance, the woman stands on her feet and jumps on him and wraps her arms around his fit body.

"I missed you. You've been gone for so long," she pouts but no single word comes from Hanzo. He simply pats her head to show he's somewhat grateful of her presence and her concern. Yukimura lets him go and drags him into the kitchen where she has prepared quite a lot of dishes just for him to eat.

They both sit down across each other with Yukimura initiating the talk but Hanzo simply eats in silence without giving much attention on what Yukimura is saying.

"Excuse me, I need to get some rest," he suddenly says which kind of hurt the woman for he barely touched the food she made wholeheartedly.

Hanzo walks by the living room and the memory of him kissing Hanabi flashes in his mind. The memory is vivid, that time was when he saw the scarlet ninja crying for being weak and she had blamed herself for being a burden in their missions. That was also the very first time when he had acted on his own without rationalizing on his actions.

He is dragged away from his trance when he hears the husky voice of his teammate, Hayabusa.

"Let's go back to the city tomorrow to see the princess and get this mission over with," he says as he walks down the stairs. Hanzo could sense the different aura from him, it is as if he is in a rush.

"Are you planning to go and find Hanabi?" he asks as they stand facing each other. Yukimura, who could overhear their conversation, purses her lips as she senses the tension between the two men.

"That has nothing to do with you," Hayabusa replies that made Hanzo grab him the collar. He looks at him with fury and gritted teeth.

"Please, calm down!" she interjected.

Yukimura immediately gets in between them, she tries to set them apart but only got pushed away and fall on her butt. The two men are glaring at each other, not wanting to lower their pride. Kagura wants to stop them as well while she's watching them by the stairs but she decides not to meddle in their fight.

It is something that only them can solve by themselves without the intervention of other people.

Hayabusa forces Hanzo to let him go and lands a punch right across his cheek. He did not stop there, before Hanzo could fight back, he kicks him right on his gut. The akuma ninja moans in pain as he tries to stand back up and retaliate. He dodges the next jab and this time, he manages to land simultaneous punches on Hayabusa, giving him no chance to attack.

"Please, stop it already! Making each other bleed would solve nothing!" Yukimura tried to stop Hanzo but for the second time, she didn't succeed at all.

Kagura simply looks away as she lets them talk by exchanging punches, making their faces bleed and hurt each other. She closes her palms into fists as she painfully hear them fight. As a team for years, she had never seen them fight to this extent.

"If you cannot make Hanabi your priority, I can do it. You are lucky to have her affection but I pity her for she has loved someone who does not deserve her worth," Hayabusa spits which stops Hanzo from hitting him. He clicked his tongue and pushes him down on the floor before deciding to go in his room.

"Then, go get her yourself," he scoffs before shutting his door close. Yukimura tried to console Hanzo but the akuma ninja has no plan in opening the door of his room and hear someone nag at him.

Kagura helped Hayabusa get in his room and prepared some cold water and towel for his bruises.

"You don't have to go against him to the point that the two of you ruin each other's face," she said as she wipes off the blood from the rdge of his lips and on his cheekbones.

"He needs to get his mind straight first," Hayabusa stated.

"Why do I feel like I'm about to be stabbed behind if I don't look at you?"

Those were the last words Hayabusa heard from the scarlet ninja. Even before he thought of betraying her, Hanabi has sensed it as if she had seen the future.

Kagura dipped the towel on the bowl and she felt the cold crawling up her bare skin. As the color of blood fades in the water, flashes of Hanabi's smiles came rushing in her mind.

"I wonder where Hanabi could have gone to," she stated as she tightens her grip on the towel. Remembering their last encounter, Kagura blamed Hanabi and indirectly told her that she is a curse.

The mage felt guilty for she had pushed Hanabi away instead of pulling her close and convince her to come back to Iga town.

If she had convinced her before, would the outcome be different?