The Assassins (5)

Standing over the mangled corpse of the assassin that had gone after the Chief, with the man himself cleaning the blood off a katana he had wielded just moments prior, Bazel's phone rang.

Answering it, he was surprised by the news that he had received. Hanging up the phone, he told the details of the conversation to the curious Chief who was sitting across from him.

"Well i'll be damned, looks like that fool has turned a new leaf. I do wonder how he survived an attack from one of these assassins though, our own was a nasty one. He was able to react to your ambush and still hold his own even when I sliced him in two for you....I have no idea how that coward was able to survive."

Looking at the wounds that he himself had sustained, his beloved suit torn to shreds in several places, Bazel replied.

"Who knows, it is even possible that he turned coat and is just a talking piece for whatever has him under their thumb. We will know in time when we pay him a visit, but for now we need to go and head back to the department.

"The rest of DASF is locking it down and so it is probably the safest place for us. So far we have killed two assassins, and a third one if we believe the Governor.

"There could still be more lurking about, although the traps we laid in Neto's and Captain Schwarz's locations seemed to have not been triggered."

The two men were in agreement with that, as they both knew how dangerous these assassins were.

Another call stopped the two in their tracks, this time it was from Captain Schwarz.

'Did the trap go off after all? We did not have much time to set up the Captains, having them stay in an a rental house on the southernmost part of our jurisdiction.'

Answering the phone, Bazel was not able to even get a word in before the panicking voice of Captain Schwarz surged forth from the speakers.

"MY HOME! It's under attack, please Bazel, you are closer to them than I-"

Bazel did not even finish listening to him and instead threw the phone to the Chief, picked him up with a shadow, and bolted straight for the car at his top speed.

Not even bothering to open the door, he cut it to pieces and ran through the debris.

---

Standing outside Captain Schwarz' home was the leader of the assassins, Marie. She was waiting with a bored expression, hiding in a nearby tree in a misty form that was hard for normal people to perceive.

'How annoying, is this Bazel fellow never going to show up? The intel said he has been coming here every single day for a week now though...how odd'

She started to feel that something was off, that maybe it was not a coincidence that the largest threat suddenly changed his behavioral patterns on the day that the assassins had arrived.

Before she could fully entertain this thought, however, a golden bracelet on her right arm vibrated slightly and one of the red gems dimmed.

Marie's heart skipped several beats as a chill ran down her back, with eyes full of disbelief she brought the bracelet closer to her face hoping that the what her eyes showed her was but a lie.

Alas it was not.

"The eternal gem...it only goes out if the one who gave you their heart blood dies..." muttered Marie as tears fell from her eyes.

The bracelet had three gems, one for each of her beloved men. The first one had gone out, the first one she had ever received which belonged to the first man she ever decided was worthy to be hers.

Then another went out, just mere moments later.

Marie's world froze and all color drained as the grim reality before her refused to change no matter how much she cried or pled. There was still one gem lit, the latest addition, and her final hope.

Reality was determined to crush such a hope, for that one went out just a minute later.

"John...Jake...Dave...NOOOOOO"

The woman's shrill cries and wails sounded out throughout the night, at such a high pitch that all the passerby were knocked unconscious as their ears bled from the sudden sound.

Marie was so distraught that she fell from the tree she was hiding in, crashing to the ground disgracefully. Her head smashed into the ground first, blood running down her face but she cared not.

For a few moments she was in pure shock, but soon her rational mind awoken and presented her with the truth.

"That Rogue, he changed his behavior because he knew we were coming...HE DID THIS. You will pay..."

Rage filled her soul as she swore vengeance and it just so happened that she was outside a place where she could do just that.

"It seems you are fond of the commoners in here...so be it, you have stolen from me so I will steal from you."

Standing up, not even bothering to fix her scuffed dress or even heal her wounds, she stalked up to the massive front gate and turned it into scrap metal with a single move.

She was met by small rounds fire from the guards, as they phoned in for reinforcements and alerted the homeowner that they were under attack.

She cared not, and advanced as every bullet that came her way was sliced into pieces by the barely visible strands all around her.

The defenders were pushed all the way to the front door, unable to do any damage whatsoever despite unloading magazine after magazine full of bullets into their enemy.

With a wave of her dainty hand all of the men fell to the floor, their legs having been chopped off.

"I will not kill you so easily, your screams are required to ease my sorrow..."

----

Arriving at Schwarz' house, Bazel jumped from the car while it was still moving and bolted into the compound.

Running past the destroyed gate, past the bloody mess that littered the entire front side of the house, and moving past destroyed fire door after destroyed fire door...Bazel had all of his shadows attached to his legs so that he was moving faster than he had ever moved before.

Finding the hidden room that Schwarz had told Bazel the location through the Chief of Police, he jumped down the stairs and saw the panic room that had been put in place.

It was a massive underground steel bunker that had layers upon layers of defense, built to withstand a nuclear bomb.

Standing at the end of a long hall, he saw a woman frantically slicing through the steel with surprising speed. She was cleary using more strength that she should, for her pure white skin was quickly shrivelling as she burned her very life to have the strength required for the feat she was undertaking.

Breaking off two lances from the shadows that were around his legs, he sped forth whilst aiming them directly for the woman's heart and head.

Marie turned around and saw Bazel approaching, flashing him a cruel smile as she kicked down the last steel in her way and entered the panic room.

Gunfire rang out from within as well as a shriek of sorrow, as Bazel entered the room barely even a second after Marie had and saw what had happened.

Amber was in the back of the room with a gun drawn, her hands shaking and her face twisted in extreme pain.

Isolda was standing protectively in front of her, with Marie's hand in her chest cavity holding her heart.

Bazel froze upon seeing this, and Marie could almost feel the panic that was coming from the man.

"The Rouge, right? Kekeke, looks like I was right to come here. Feel my pain!"

Then she brought her hand out of Isolda's chest, leaving a gaping hole, and presented the still beating heart of Isolda.

Then, right in front of Bazel, she crushed it into pieces with a look of ecstasy on her face.

Bazel was not sad, nor was he angry, or even wrathful from what he had just witnessed. In his mind the figure of Lily was clearly overlapping with Isolda, who had fallen onto the floor in a pool of her own blood. His mind froze over instantly, everything but the sight in front of him temporarily turned off.

With a completely neutral expression he stood at attention and looked at Marie, whose face was twisting in annoyance at the lack of reaction that her hated foe was experiencing.

"So, you are one of those assassins then. Perhaps their leader? Well whatever your story is, I really do not care. Just die."

A shadow darted out from behind him, but instead of one of his usual weapons it was instead a feline figure that was wrapped in black flames with purple eyes.

It headed straight towards Marie with red claws extended from its paws, aimed for her throat with deadly precision. Behind the cat was four sharp scythes, intent on cutting a path for the feline.

Marie moved to defend herself, but as weakened as she was she could not stop the feline for her net of strands she created was sliced apart by several scythes that Bazel was manipulating.

Her last thought as she watched the claws enter her throat and tear it to shreds was,

'My revenge was had...and now I shall join my lovers in death...'