The Action

Ding!

The nail bounced once it made contact with Ed's armored arm, thanks to his alien gene, his reflex was fast enough for him to block before Leona could pull the trigger.

He could feel the impact through his armored suit, had he failed to block it then he would have a nail and an extra hole in his face.

"Bzzt... Captain, I just take over the hacked system, sorry for the delay. According to the room scan, Leon is armed with a spaceship nail gun and a laser cutter," The AI finally contacted him.

"She is smarter than I thought, I thought she fell for it when she took the gun with her but she actually baited us," Ed thought as he blocked a volley of nails that the girl shot at him.

He did not remain passive and reach out for the nail gun; he wanted to disarm the girl before she could harm him.

He used his left hand to wrestle the nail gun out of her arm as he tried to pin her down, but the girl already prepared. She pulled out a laser cutter and swung it toward his unarmored neck.

Ed hurriedly used his other hand to catch the laser cutter in his palm. It burned the metal but would need some time to cut through the armor system.

"Look who is here, I get an unexpected night visit it seems," He said while trying to disarm her.

"You already expected me to come, didn't you? Or maybe you sleep with armored suit every day?" she asked him scornfully.

"You too, you seem to know that I prepared a welcome party for you but you come anyway, how much did you know?" He asked back.

With both of their arms occupied, Leona started to use her leg to kick him, but she could barely hurt his armored figure. Their talk and composure was a bluff.

Ed could feel the laser cutter on his arm starting to melt his armor, and he needed to disarm the girl anytime soon while Leona was trying her best to not let him overpower her.

"Don't you think it's strange? Your AI is very advanced, but it did not detect that I took over some of the ship systems and there suddenly a weapon inside your storage but of course I didn't realize yet at that time, It might just be my hacking was really good," she talked while gritting her teeth.

"What gave me away then?" he asked as he pushed her to the wall. She had less room to move now that her back was on the wall.

"You suddenly want to sleep early while you never finish your work early, you always have more things to do! I have observed you for weeks and there is no way a workaholic like you will suddenly sleep early!" she pointed out.

That startled him a bit as she suddenly let go of both of her weapons and pulled out a simple knife made of cut metal. She tried to stab him in the face.

He could only move back to dodge but she did not let him go, she jumped at him and pushed him to the ground.

Ed could see the knife's sharp edge closing to his eye, he barely let go of the nail gun and laser cutter to catch her hand before she could stab him in the eye.

He did not have any more leeway in talking as he almost became a one-eyed pirate. He pushed her arm to the side and used his lower body strength to push the girl.

They rolled to the side and swap position, Leona had her back pressed to the floor while Ed's armored body was on top of her.

He pressed both of her arms to the floor so she could not move. He positioned his body between her legs so she could not kick him either.

"Let me go!" She struggled to get free, but he did not let her.

Ed could feel his heart beating Fast as adrenaline was coursing through his body, their exchange was short but it was so close.

He could actually beat her up but he did not plan to hurt her, he needed her to tell him everything without forcing her to finish his mission.

"I made a miscalculation. It almost cost me my life," he lamented as he realized that he had not adapted to his situation. In his old world, people were easier to predict. Here, people are extraordinary. He should have seen them as a matching opponent.

He disarmed her and held both of her hands on top of her head with one hand; he played with the knife in his other hand.

Being calmer, he continued to the next part of the plan. He exuded confidence and dominance, "Now, what should I do?" he asked.

Leona could see his eyes glinting dangerously, she knew he was planning something vicious, "What are you doing?" her voice panicked, she even forgot to make it sound like a man's voice.

"Oh? You sound like a little girl, are you that scared to be punished?" he teased her while baiting her.

He only needed her to say that she is a girl and he would be done with her. He tried to mock her, so she rejected him.

"What. What are you saying? I'm a man!" She persisted.

"Tsk... I could not press anymore or I will fail the mission," he lamented as he couldn't force her to confess.

"Okay then, little boy. I did let you try to take revenge, but that doesn't mean I won't punish you when you try, and fail." he put the knife near her face.

She stayed silent and glared at him; he saw fear in them, only deviance and hatred. Her only purpose was to take revenge on him.

Every time he met her, she would have that eye. She was working with her all, but her purpose never changed, she wanted revenge, she only did her best so he would let her have her revenge.

"You have beautiful eyes, that hatred and anger always burning in them, maybe I should take them?" he tried to make her fear him just like he did with Aya and Dea.

He put the knife right before her left eye, but to his surprise, the look in her eyes never changed. She hated him to the bone.

She kept her silent while looking at him. She did not struggle as she knew she had failed this time, she would need to wait another month to try again.

Even though she still had forty minutes of freedom, she was currently caught red-handed already.

Seeing no change in his eyes even though he threatened to blind her, he moved the knife and traced it on her face to her neck where she couldn't see the knife but could sense it when he let the knife touch her neck.

"Or maybe I should just kill?" he asked while bloodlust oozed out of him.

That stiffened her body, but the anger did not leave her eyes. She would regret it she could not get her revenge but she did not fear death.

Ed wanted to grimace as he could not break her no matter what he did, but he kept control of his face so she could not read his emotion.

"I won't kill you since you are still useful to me," he said in a teasing tone.

He traced his knife down her neck toward her chest; it was still bulging a bit, even though she had bound her chest.

He swiped his knife on top of her left chest just like swiping butter on top of bread with it. He could still feel the bounciness of the imprisoned chest even through her clothes.

He could see her face redden a bit by what he did, but he did not mind them, "Maybe I should play with you instead?" he grinned.

Her body shook as that was the lasting she wanted, she would rather be killed than do such a thing with her uncle's killer.

Out of her expectation, he got up and bound her arm before he left her in the corner of the room.

"Why are you so shocked? I'm a generous man, I will forgive you this time, moreover, I don't feel like forcing a little boy like you," he said so she would not be suspicious that he knew her real gender.

But the result was different. She looked at him strangely, "Right! He thought I'm a man, does that mean he likes men? Doesn't that mean it would be more dangerous if he thinks of me as a man?" she thought.

If he could hear her thoughts, then he would open her head up to check what is in her mind and how could she come to such a conclusion.

Once it passed midnight, Ed let her go and told her to rest while he tried to make a new plan, "This Leon girl is really different, I can't break her with fear," he mused.