Darker than BLACK: La Ribellione dei Fiori [PG-16]

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parallelzero

chelia.blendy
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    "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Bridges", "The City of Light", or more simply: Venice. The Italian city that had once been said to be sinking had overcome many tragedies in the past ten years. With the appearance of the Heaven's Gate and Hell's Gate ten years ago, the sea became disrupted and the water level around the city rose significantly, almost drowning most of its inhabitants, despite the MOSE system that was supposed to keep the city above water by using inflatable pontoons to keep water from the nearby Adriatic Sea out if too high. It happened again five years later, with the disappearance of Heaven's Gate, and even today the city is in the midst of recovery.

    At least, that was the story Xue had been told when he arrived in this place. The Syndicate had been very vague in the letter they sent him detailing the background of the City of Water. It wouldn't be too hard to believe such a tale, however, looking at various lower portions of the city that had been submerged and ruins of buildings that had been overtaken by water pressure and never rebuilt. And, in the orange light of the sunset in the distance, it all looked very mysterious. However, the white haired young man had his eye focused on something else. His mission target.

    He had received the orders but a day before, detailing the fact that a member of the organization known as Evening Primrose had left for some reason and was taking up residence under the guise of a civilian in the city. The youth suddenly sighed at the thought of the EPR. They had just recently come out of nowhere, proclaiming that they would spread the word about the existence of Contractors and give them rights and stuff. That would never work with the mindset of the governments around the world. Contractors were only seen as tools, anyways. On the bright side, over here in Venice they had it easy. The EPR wasn't very active, unlike in Tokyo were Xue had heard they were stationed. Hopefully the Syndicate agents over there would be able to handle it, but since they had the Black Reaper, they'd probably be okay.

    A sudden movement in the window across the canal from the roof he was situated on suddenly snapped the Contractor back to reality. The girl... his target... was undressing? She must be having a shower. But he was told to keep an eye on her, so this wasn't going to change his mission and make him look away. Nearby on the roof, a young girl dressed in white stood, staring into a rose in her tiny hands, her eyes as emotionless as a porcelain doll. Xue looked back at her. "How's Hui doing, Mei?" His voice was calm and cool, and it brought the Doll's eyes to meet his own.

    "Infiltrating the base... no issues yet..." The Doll known as Mei replied quietly in a voice with a soft tone that matched her eyes. Xue let out a relieved sigh, having been concerned this whole time. Just why the hell did the Syndicate send a girl like her into the EPR base of all places?


    ---


    "WHY DID THAT STUPID SYNDICATE SEND ME HERE OF ALL PLACES!?" A girl garbed in the clothing of a witch exclaimed to nobody in particular as she crawled through the air ducts of the building identified as the EPR's headquarters. Seriously, that Syndicate wanted her dead for sure! And why did she have to use such a spy-movie way of getting in? She was going to ruin her clothes at this point, with the way there were being dragged along the cold metal! Plus, it was getting harder for her to breathe in a place where oxygen could barely reach while the air conditioning wasn't on.

    She took special care moving over air vents, as one wrong move, one bit of undistributed weight would send her tumbling into the room below her and effectively blow her cover. She eventually came across what she thought to be the main room, as in the dark steel room below, a large number of people, all most likely Contractors, were gathered. She peered through the vent, hoping in all honesty that none of them had super hearing or something like that.
     
    On a chilly night like this, there was only ever one way to warm up frozen hands and feet, and that method was steaming up the bathroom mirror as scalding hot water poured out from the shower head. Pinning up ashen black shoulder-length hair with three randomly colored clips that looked rather silly due to their large size, Annalisa leaned over the sink, peering into the fogging mirror. Pouting at the lack of a reflection, she wiped a clumsy circle clear and examined every last inch of her visage for blemishes. It was a generally futile effort however, and a tugging need to not waste hot water dragged her away before she could try again. It she could always deal with unwanted skin conditions after a nice, relaxing shower anyway. Peeling off her navy, double-breasted vest, white dress shirt, and black skinny jeans, the young contractor jumped into the line of fire and felt her skin twist in surprise at the raining pellets of boiling droplets connected. Staying put for a second or two to get used to the heat, the very first thing she reached for was the apple-scented soap. Apple-scented was pretty much what everything in her modest flat smelled like. She had candy red candles that smelled of roasted apples when lit placed strategically around the compact one-bedroom living space, along with most of her furniture being bold red- though she had so many clothes tossed over her minimal furnishings that it was sometimes hard to spot anything buried underneath it all. Annalisa was not exactly the most organized person on the face of Venice. The ledge of her shower was most certainly a stereotypical female danger-zone. Random plastic bottles that she was simply too lazy to throw away- all containing miniscule amounts of gooey red liquid. Apple, of course. However this time, Anna was all set with both apple soap, shampoo, and conditioner at her disposal. It would be one of those nights where she actually wouldn't have to make do without one of those three.

    The three hair clips sailed over the glass wall of the shower, clattering to the floor. Better there than holed up in the bacteria-inviting ledge of the shower, right? As soon as she could feel her fingers and toes again, the teen yanked the red and white polka dotted towel into the steamy shower and wrapped it around her shoulders to fight against the bitter Fall cold. It wasn't quite as prevalent inside of her lovely bathroom, but the window at the top of the wall that she'd opened to let some steam escape still let more than enough chill get to her. Sliding it shut now that her shower was finished up, Annalisa dried herself off as much as anyone in a steam filled room could. Her skin was tinted pink from the heat, but she didn't particularly mind. There were more things on her mind, like finding a pair of PJ's in the jungle that was her living room. With her towel now wrapped around her torso and mid section to allow for ease of movement, she tossed an assortment of garments over her shoulder. Most of the clothes were already three years old, but since Annalisa had seemingly stopped growing any taller at thirteen, they were all still wearable. With her bizarre fashion, she could always make the things she wore at that age work, even though she was now at the peek of her teenaged years. Or what she considered her teenaged years.

    Honestly though, one would've never guessed that Annalisa had only recently celebrated her sweet sixteen. Not that she'd actually celebrated over something like that. She was eighteen years old to the rest of Venice- it made it much easier to get a job. And it was at this moment in time that she needed to go to said job. It wasn't exactly a stellar occupation, but it wasn't bad either. Just a little bar a few blocks and a taxi ride away. A white dress shirt, a black double-breasted vest to add a little fashion and a pair of clean black skinny jeans, and then a mad scramble for her cargo bag which was filled with her basic survival objects: A royal blue flip phone, a make-up kit, dental floss, a brush, a few magazines, black high-heeled mary-janes for once she got to the café, and then finally a waterbottle. The water was a day old, but it's not like it would kill her, and if it really came down to it, she could always refill it at the café. A pair of boots that covered up the bottoms of her jeans, a short yellow trench coat, and gloves to prevent her freshly warmed limbs from getting chilled.

    Bounding down the stairs of her building and then out down the street past many lifeless shops. In this part of Venice, where all the old folks lived and the buildings were traditional, lacking safety railings and other nonsense, stores didn't open quite as late as Annalisa worked. All the way to the edge of the canal, the young contractor kept her eyes trained on the ground, though she was careful to make sure not to bump into anyone who happened to be roaming the empty alleys. She didn't want to look at the fake sky, filled with its fake stars. Especially the star that indicated her own life. It felt more natural for the young girl to live in the night scene of Venice. Probably something to do with her history, but it was too hazy for her pin down the reason why she felt so at ease in the shrouded darkness of the city. Stopping at the edge of the canal, Annalisa peered around the corner, looking for the local watertaxi. Nope. It would probably be quite a wait. Putting down her bag and turning around to sit against the wall, and as she moved into a sitting position, she glanced at the silver watch around her wrist. Well, she had plenty of time, so-

    SPLASH!

    Her foot slipped right off the edge of the slippery corner, and she plunged right into the water, side and right leg first with the rest of her body following in an uncomfortable way. Surfacing easily due to a general lack of injuries other than a sore left thigh that had fallen off a little later than the rest of her weight, the contractor spluttered as she peeled her freshly soaked tresses away from her face. Good grief!







    Snow white hair, a red trench coat that looked more like a costume than anything else, and a pair of yellow sunglasses were the most notable things about the man known to all as "Genocide". The man who could annihilate entire armies on his own, plunging them into a mysterious darkness that they could not escape. The man who enjoyed doing the trivial, menial chores of the new Evening Primrose despite a general well-known respect for his position in the organization, Genocide was definitely the oddball of the opposition. He lay horizontally on a lounge chair constructed out of bicycle tires and their rims, the crook of his neck resting on the rubber, while the bend of his knees were cushioned by the other tire. A complicated description, but anyone looking at the way he sat would have difficulty understanding his awkward looking position as well. Nobody in the room questioned it however, because that was simply how Genocide was. They accepted it as natural, and it was, essentially. He grinned when the discussions melted into a tense silence. The mime in the corner had pointed his finger upwards and motioned out what everyone in the room knew. Still, it was so drop dead obvious that there was someone bumbling around in the ventilation system that everyone was having a hard time deciding what to do.

    "I think I'm going get a pet for myself." Genocide announced randomly, breaking the deep silence.

    "Don't be so presumptuous." A gruff voice barked.

    "Well what, is some lost puppy going to come to you, with that great, ugly visage of yours?"

    "I don't suppose it'd be interested in a clown like yourself." The large man grunted.

    "Hey, Mimey in the corner takes offense to that." Genocide jerked his thumb at the mime, who slapped his forehead in exasperation, "Well if you happen to get a pet, I'll take it off your hands, how's that Macho-Man? After all, a little baby animal tagging along after you just wouldn't serve your image right."

    "Hmph."

    "Maybe I'll catch a little mouse."

    "A dumb mouse."

    "Yeah well, stupid people are more interesting than smart ones."

    "That's a first."

    Genocide's lips curled into a smile as he stared up at the ventilation grates, "I hope it's a cute mouse."
     
    If Zephyr Wells had any kind of particular pet peeve, it would be when people beat around the bush. For example, his fellow Evening Primrose members seemed to be making exchanges about the intruder in the air ducts above, but they were masking it in superficial words since they didn't want to alarm whomever was up there, most likely. But still, it had to be done sooner or later... Like a gentleman, Zephyr rose from his red velvet chair and tilted his red and black top hat upwards so that his face could be seen. It was a soft, mysterious face lined with white locks of hair that framed his face and fell down to his shoulers, and one of his redish-brown eyes, the left one, was covered by a pitch black eyepatch. His arms moved into a shrugging position, the beige and white pinstriped shirt moving with his appendages accordingly, his brown shoal, tied by a red ribbon in a bow, ruffling from the movement. As he took a step forward, his brown dress shoes tapped against the cold floor loudly and his tight blue jeans moved perfectly to match the movement of his legs. He let out a sigh, and glanced at the strange Contractor who went by the name of Genocide.

    "Now, now, Genny. Even you should know that if you want a mouse that badly, you need to set a trap~" The young man tapped his right foot twice before a small red dot lit up in the center of his eyes, before glancing up at the grate. "Just remember that if you want to keep it as a pet, you need to buy one of those traps that doesn't break it's neck~!"

    Hui had been getting a bad feeling ever since the pet topic had come up and the occasional glance was sent her way from the people below. Was the plan the Syndicate had sent her faulty? Did the ventilation system make too much noise? Ugh, chances were probable this was her way of attempting to kill her off. Things took a turn for the worse when the boy in the top hat stepped closer to grate and looked directly at her. She was sure their eyes met, and she was pretty sure he had activated his ability as she suddenly began to feel really heavy, pinning her to the ventilation shaft. The sound of metal twisting could be heard as time passed quickly, and with the girl unable to move, she was brought along for the ride when it caved and fell to the floor below, leaving the girl clad in a ridiculous witch costume pinned to a grate on the floor with the enemy all around her.

    She suddenly found herself able to move again, and promptly stood up shakily, when the light in the stangely dressed man's eyes faded. He promptly walked away from her, however, after lighting a cigarette and then putting it out... by pressing it into his lower, right arm. Most likely his remuneration. It looked painful, and it was remunerations like that which made Hui happy hers wasn't one that involved pain. "Well, Genny, it seems like you were in luck! It was a cute mouse after all!" He exclaimed, before taking a seat on his velvet chair once more. With any luck, the rest of the group would do the rest.


    ---


    Since he had an opportunity to do so, Xue quickly got changed into a set of casual clothes. It was time to meet the target personally. Clad in a pair of blue jeans, with a black dress shirt overtop a white t-shirt underneath, he climbed the slippery steps that lead to the street the target's flat was on, just in time to see the said target take a spill into the water. ...Was she really a Contractor? With a sigh, he put up his best concerned face and ran over to the girl, whom had just surfaced in the water. "Miss? Are you okay!?" He exclaimed with concern as he tore off his clothes aside from his plaid boxers (which got him a few looks from some nearby girls due to his impressive physique), and dove into the canal after her, eventually surfacing right beside her, dragging her out of the water whether she was struggling or not and raising her onto a nearby step. Xue took note of her soft skin and the overwhelming smell of apple mixed in with the smell of canal water, before he hopped up onto the step with her, breathing heavily as he glanced at her with his uncovered left eye, the right one covered in a much less unique eyepatch than usual, being only black in colour.
     
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    Sighing, Yu took a calm note of how cold she was now and decided… well it was probably a good idea to get out of the water before a watertaxi showed up and decided to plow right through her. Reaching to the edge of the sidewalk, she found that her hand fell limply into the water instead of grasping onto it. A boy was… undressing, in the middle of Fall? In… front of her? Blushing hard Yu slapped her hands to her eyes before he lost any more articles of clothing. "I'm okay!" She spluttered quickly, her voice much higher in pitch than usual as she struggled to stay afloat with her hands in such a strange position, "I'm okay, so you can put on your-!!" He dove in and Yu squeaked, her substitute for a shriek that probably would've been a little exaggerated for this hour at night. Eeeeek! Too close, too close! Far too close of a proximity for comfort! Without registering much more than the fact that this guy was seriously freaking her out, she didn't even have time to let him know that she could swim very well and could get out herself. Instead, she was like a frozen statue, trying her best not to move. As if he might not be able to tell that she was alive and concious. In no time, she was back on dry- mostly dry- land, her hands still clamped firmly over her eyes. She heard him splash out of the water as well, and she turned her head away, shaking like a leaf, before she carefully peered between her fingers to see if he was still half-naked. Of course he was! He'd just gotten out of the water! Dumb Yu! She squeezed her fingers together and buried her face in her knees, assuming the fetal position, "Puh-Puh-Please puh-put on your c-clothes S-S-Sir!" She stammered, more out of embarrassment than cold.



    "And here I was gonna scare her wits out with my contract. You always steal my thunder, Zenny." Genocide replied, twisting around to put both his hands on the floor. Swinging his legs into the air, he calmly bent his back and pulled himself back up into a standing position, pushing his sunglasses back up into their proper position. "You're right, it is a cute mouse. Is it just me, or do I attract cute things? Check out that costume!"

    He strode over, putting his hands on his hips and leaning back a little to assess his new toy. "Daring, flashy… knows how to make an entrance, though Zenny sort of helped on that note… Perfect! I will name her Mousey!"

    "Original." The man muttered sarcastically. The comment went ignored.

    "So Mousey, tell me," Genocide lifted his hands to notion to the room around them- a dimly lit room with various chairs of all shapes and sizes arranged into a circle, including the velvet chair that belonged to Zephyr, the junk-assembled chair that was Genocides, and various others, all seemingly personalized to match the owner's personality. The room was generally empty otherwise, the middle dipping downwards as a kiva would- steps leading down until it leveled off into a small platform- upon it, a projector. "How do you plan on explaining yourself to a room full of... nasty wolves?"
     
    "Brr... that was actually kind of cold!" Xue exclaimed as a shiver ran down his spine and he stretched his arms upwards towards the growing darkness, the words of the girl bouncing off of him like basketballs off a backboard. Unfortunately, the girl wasn't getting any baskets. He slipped his clothes back on rather quickly in order to keep himself warm, before rushing over to the girl whom he found crafted into the fetal position in a manner that looked quite uncomfortable. Not sure what else to do, he gentle placed the back of his hand onto the little bit of her head that wasn't buried alive amidst her knees and arms, and let out a sigh of relief. "Well, you don't seem to be sick at the very least. Do you live near here? Perhaps you should get a change of clothes before the temperature drops even more out here?"

    The young man gave an awkward smile as he rubbed the back of his white-haired head, before reaching into the right-pocket of his jeans. "Actually, I've been kind of lucky lately, so maybe I'll test out that luck right now..." He seemingly murmured to nobody in particular before removing what seemed to be a leather, black wallet of sorts from the pocket, only to grasp it from one half and have the other flip down, displaying a shiny golden badge that looked similar to a star with it's five points. "I'm an investigator for the local authorities, and I'm supposed to be investigating a series of murders that have occurred in these parts lately. I was kind of curious if we could have a little chat, seeing as it must be fate that we met like this." Of course, Xue was pulling words from his ass. It was all part of his cover, and the murders were made up. He just needed a way of discreetly getting the info he needed.


    ---


    Hui's mind raced as she evaluated her situation. There were far too many Contractors in the room for escape to be a viable route, especially with the one with the top-hat being able to pin her down with his gravitational powers. Fighting was more or less out of the question too, since more of them were too far away for her to activate her powers without leaving herself energy drained afterward. It was looking like one of those situations where she'd have to give away her objectives and take a chance at not being killed. Of course, it meant the Syndicate would probably off her soon after for causing security issues. But, rationally, speaking now would ensure her life would keep glowing for at least a little bit longer. ...Even if she wanted to hit that one guy for calling her 'Mousey'.

    She inhaled slowly as the one that had been referred to as 'Genny' by the top-hat man continued on, asking her what she had to say. Then, she exhaled just as slowly, before straightening out the skirt of her favorite costume and making her case. " 'To gather intelligence on Evening Primrose by infiltrating their hideout', is all I was ordered to do." Hui spoke in a calm voice as she relayed what she knew, only taking a brief pause to gather her thoughts before a pair of eyes in the farthest darkness lit up red and something shot out of it at the witch-clad girl with a rapid speed, the sound of of a dart hitting a board heard soon after before a shrill shriek from Hui as her eyes grew watery from the pain. The eyes eventually wandered to where the pain was centered around, her left shoulder, where a fork of all things was sticking out of a freshly placed wound. The most unusual and disturbing part was that the handle of the fork was deeply embedded into her body, the prongs that one would eat with and usually associate with being sharp enough to pierce a body stick out in the air. Hui sat there in shock for a moment as footsteps echoed from the darkness.

    A small silhouette suddenly stepped out into the light, and the opponent showed it's face. A girl, probably no older than Hui herself was standing before her, hair green as the leaves of a tree rolling down her back and bright teal eyes watching the witch with irritation. Even with the sharp pain in her shoulder, the witch took notice of the other girl's outfit. It was very... risque biker? Definitely not appropriate for a girl her age, seeing as the leather didn't cover her navel and the black short-shorts didn't help any. Hui could at least appreciate the flower in her hair. But... the strangest thing about her was that she was carrying around a pink stuffed rabbit, which seemed to clash with her outfit a LOT.

    The girl continued to approach the orbital Contractor, and began talking with a cute but obnoxiously high voice. "Of course you came here to spy on us, you little witch bitch. We're not complete idiots. Giving some better stuff than that! Like your name, or your Messier code, or who you're working for!" With her speel finished, she approached Hui, who seemed adverse to moving, and ripped the fork out of the wound, making the girl scream out a little again and causing the blood to start flowing.

    "Selia, calm down!" Zephyr shouted with irritation as he rose from his velvet chair once more, only to storm over to the green haired girl and drag her away to his seat by the wrist, the girl protesting the entire way. "Contractors or not, we don't welcome guests into our home like that! Besides, surely you've noticed she's made no hostile movements towards us? She's being a good Contractor, using his instincts to determine that behaving is all she can do~"

    Hui took a gulp, trying to distract herself from the pain in her shoulder. The next step to living seemed to be to answer the questions she was asked. "My name is Hui, my Messier Code is HL-666, and I work for an entity known as 'The Syndicate'. As for them, a name is all I know about them..." She was partially relieved. The girl hadn't asked about her power, so she wasn't exactly obligated to spill.

    "Well, at least she's obedient." The girl known as Selia muttered to herself bitterly. She really wanted that stupid, little, witch girl to scream in pain a little more. It was fun. "So what do you guys want to do with her? We should just kill her, right?"

    Zephyr shrugged with a humored expression on his face. He'd heard about this Syndicate. They were pretty famous for remaining completely hidden yet executing all of their plans flawlessly and disposing of those that needed to be disposed of. And, the fact that this girl had been sent there alone indicated one thing: they didn't need her anymore. She had been left to die, most likely. "I don't think it's our placer to say whether she lives or dies... she's Genocide's pet after all!" He didn't really care either way what happened to her, to be honest.
     
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    Clothes, clothes! Yu's inner voice silently pleaded with her strange and unnecessary savior. Clothes, please! She tensed up when she felt his hand on her head and tentatively took another risk. Clothes…? Her face popped out from under her fingers and she loosened her stiff position. Oh, he'd already gotten dressed. Now that she thought about it, taking his clothes off so that he would be more dry for the most part was a smart idea. She probably would've flushed a little at her own soaked attire, but it was much too cold for that, as he promptly pointed out. "Well you don't seem to be sick at the very least." Not that she could tell, but she had been nice and warm just minutes ago only to be splashed into a pool of freezing water. Her state of health would most likely be best assessed later. "Do you live near here?" Yes, yes she did. "Perhaps you should get a change of clothes before the temperature drops even more out here?" Yes, yes she probably should've.

    Instead of responding, Yu looked up at the male who'd pulled her out of the water, with big blinking eyes, silent as she listened to his inquiries. "Um…" Came the almost inaudible sound of her voice. He continued before she found the words to respond however, talking about his luck and then taking out his wallet. Oh wait no that wasn't a wallet. It was a- ... Yu swallowed the lump her throat as she stiffened again, staring at the smooth plate that showed his status as a policeman. … Or an investigator, as he said. Murders? Yu hadn't heard about any murders. But then again, she didn't really participate with the old folks' local gossip. Yu dug her manicured nails into the palms of her hands as she shrunk away. A chat? Did… Did he suspect her?

    "I…" Yu glanced at the badge, wondering if he knew she was a contractor. Maybe he knew that she was even apart of an organization. Or well, that she was once the member of an organization. "I live down there." Yu dumped her worries out the back of her head, sweeping them out as best she could. He was probably just a normal guy here to ask normal questions. No need to raise false alarm, Yu's instincts told her. Somehow, something in her managed to hitch up a smile as she untangled herself from her fetal position. Clasping her hands together in front of her, she pulled her shoulders up a little in the cutesy way that she'd saw other girls do- she was an expert at imitation. "Thanks for saving me- we can talk at my place, it's a little ways away, but I hope you don't mind the walk. I can make something hot to drink when we get there." She walked over to her bag, picking it up and checking it's contents. Yes, everything was still in place. Shouldering her load, Yu motioned for the investigator to follow her.

    A bone-chilling walk later and up a few flights of stairs and Yu pushed open the door to her flat with the easy turn of a key, revealing the utter disaster inside. She closed the door before he could get a glimpse, blushing hard as she glanced at the investigator out of the corner of her eye. "…. Um….." She mumbled, "It's… kind of messy. I hope you don't mind…" She squeezed her eyes shut and pushed open the door again, a few pairs of shoes clattering out of it's path. Quickly making her way inside, the young teen turned up the heat, flipping the control panel cover back in place when the steady thudding sound of a very old heating system rumbled to life. "You can sit anywhere. Just… move whatever's in the way and throw it where you want. I'll make us some hot chocolate. Oh- Or would you like coffee? Or tea? I think I have all three…" Peeling off her jacket and tossing it onto the floor in order to loose the heavy dead weight, Yu rummaged through her pantry, trying to be natural. No, she wasn't trying. It just came out as if she didn't mind that there was an investigator in her home. That there were murders in the area. Yu wasn't afraid of people, she was afraid of being found out. Her contractor instincts moved her along. "You can ask me whatever you like while we wait." She said lightly, pulling out a packet of hot chocolate for herself.


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    Genocide moved his head ever so slightly towards the perpetrator, his eyes seemingly staring right past Selia, off into nothingness and space. The smile on his face had not yet been extinguished, but the mirth failed to reach his eyes as he mulled over what to do. Given his general lack of any sort of loyalty to Evening Primrose so long as he ceased to find it an entertaining place to be, Genocide generally wasn't the kind of person to watch his words. He enjoyed saying whatever he liked, whenever he liked. Very much like he did with the great brute sitting across the room whom Genocide couldn't even pin a name to, despite having held an entire conversation with him. It simply was out of character for Genocide to think twice before speaking. And yet, he always did when it came to Selia. Intimidation? Not quite. Perhaps a genuine dislike? She was the very kind of person that Genocide hated the most. The kind who couldn't have any fun, but rather liked to knock all the pieces off of a game board just as the game begins. The kind who was all seriousness and no humor. The kind who had even less tact with words than Genocide himself. Ah, this was the word. Sadistic. The kind who liked to hear and see people in pain. See, that wasn't Genocide's style. He liked seeing people being nervous- anxious. Pain was so overrated. "That would be my pet you're putting holes in, Seli," He finally spoke, his eyelids sliding shut behind his sunglasses as his smile widened, "Hasn't anyone ever told you: Don't touch, just look?" Genocide took a few steps forward, trespassing on his bubble of what he considered a safe distance. There was no way he'd give up his toy to some girl who would just tear it to pieces without even savoring it. "You're too serious about this- it makes everything so much more boring Selia. If you're so frank, it takes all the fun out of making her dance."

    Genocide's eyes opened, glowing red pinpricks illuminating the yellow lenses and his body glowing cyan before it dissipated without even a trace of anything happening. After a moment's consideration, he moved fluidly towards Hui, picking up his little mouse with ease and tossing her over his shoulder. "I'm going to go find this little troublemaker a cage. Stop throwing dinner utensils around Selia," Genocide waggled his free finger and shook his head, "You know its bad manners! Can't even have a proper conversation with my own toy when you guys are around!" Strolling over to the door and pushing it open, Genocide remembered that

    "I'll keep her alive for awhile and then decide whether to let her go or get rid of her. Depends on how entertaining she turns out to be." Genocide glanced over his shoulder towards Zephyr, "Just if you were curious."

    Letting the door swing shut behind him, Genocide maneuvered the hallways easily, striking light conversation, "So Mousey, I have done you the deed of saving you from a room full of enemies. Not that I'm very fond of them myself when it comes down to the way they make decisions. I'm sure you're wondering at least one of these things, so I'll go ahead and tell you: First, my codename is Genocide, if you hadn't already deduced that. Second, we're headed for my personal quarters, seeing as I'm sure you would be received the same way as you were by Selia if I chose to head towards the infirmary. Not that the infirmary is much worth mentioning anyway. We take care of ourselves here. Third, I will keep you alive so long as you behave- you can gather as much information about Evening Primrose as you like while you're with me, and you can try running away as much as you like. I will remind you of two things however, the first of which is that this building consists of 50 floors of contractors. We, as you may already know, are on the 36th floor. Second, if you try running away even once, you must be prepared to lose something precious- something that could possibly be the decided factor as to whether you escape this facility alive or dead." Genocide slid a door open, walking inside and flipping the light switch to illuminate a plain, modest room that was completely devoid of personal belongings in the visible vicinity. "And now that I've given you the basic spiel, you may tend to that wound with the first aid kid in the second drawer on the left of the armoire, and we will take turns asking each other whatever questions we please. I will decide whether I wish to answer them or not, and you may decide whether to answer mine or not. I will start." Genocide dumped his cargo onto the seemingly unused bed before moving over to the upright chair, pulling it out and sitting down upon the stiff cushion in a surprisingly normal posture. ".... What, is your favorite flavor, of ice cream?"
     
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    Was this girl really a Contractor? Xue considered the possibility that she wasn't as he followed her to her apartment. The way she carried herself, the tone in her voice, she was a damn good actor if she was a killer deep down. Though, was his acting really any worse? She had taken the bait, after all, so the white haired "investigator" kind of liked the idea that maybe he mimicked normal human behaviour rather well himself. The girl lead him to her apartment quickly, although he could have just as quickly lead her, seeing as he'd been watching her all this time. Before turning to enter the apartment building, he took a glance to the roof of the building across on the other side of the street to make sure Mei was okay. Despite the cement guard blocking his field of vision from the small girl, he could see a bit of her head over top of the obstacle. She was sitting and watching just as he'd asked, good. He'd left his sword up there too, unfortunately, but he doubted he was going to need to use it on this girl. At least... not yet.

    After ascending a few flights of stairs, they eventually reached the girl's apartment. Xue was a little bit confused when the girl at first opened her door and then slammed it shut again, but it all became clear when she apologized with a beat red face for the mess. It was hard to pick out which portions of this girl's personality were real and which were fake. It could all be face for all the man knew, but he couldn't dismiss that the girl could actually be embarrassed. After all, Hui was like that all the time, especially with her remuneration. When the door was finally opened, he couldn't help but wonder why the girl was so concerned. It was a little untidy, sure, but considering where his group lived - the basement of an abandoned car parking building, it was a pleasant place to be. Though, he wasn't so sure he'd ever adjust to the smell of apple.

    Taking the invitation, he cleared some room on a nearby couch, pushing some miscellaneous objects out of the way to make room, while transferring a short-cut rose from underneath his dress shirt into the pile of things so that it was hidden but with enough of a view for Mei to witness what was going on. At the drink invitation, the boy finally spoke for the first time in a while. "Hot chocolate is fine with me! I have a sweet tooth, so I'm not particularly fond of coffee or tea... If you have it, I wouldn't mind it with a bit of whipped cream, but if you just have milk, that's fine as well!" Xue didn't hate it, talking in such a manner, letting his human side talk once in a while. It was reminiscent of how he used to be before those Gates appeared, so it was kind of nostalgic. "Just a quick question to start before you finish up there, though. How long have you lived in the area?"


    ---


    Zephyr let out a sigh at the actions of Genocide, whom more or less tore the mouse out of the room after chewing out Selia, who stood beside Zephyr's chair, her brain nearly sizzling with frustration. The man was rather amused, however, that while the mouse had been for the most part, calm throughout the entire ordeal despite what her 'owner' had said or done, she instinctively panicked the second he threw her up on his shoulder, her hands shooting to her behind to hold down her skirt as her face went a crimson red. It looked like pet or no, Genocide had a lot to learn about women. Selia got a good laugh out of it, however.

    Meanwhile, Hui's head was racing as she attempted to figure a way out of her conundrum. Obviously, if she went with this guy treating her like a pet she'd be out of the fire a little more, but then she'd be at his personal disposal and that would mean all kinds of trouble. She could try attacking him, but she had no clue what his power was. As he took her threw the halls over his shoulder, her hands still holding her skirt down, she listened to his little speel about the facility. Escape was really looking hopeless. But, she thought she may have gotten a hint about his power. She may lose "something precious"? She continued to remain quiet as she was brought into a plain room, Genocide's quarters where she was placed onto a bed and guided to a method of tending to her wounds.

    Hui got up from the bed, watching her captor carefully as she approached the armoire and removed the first-aid kit, before quickly shuffling back over to the bed and using her right hand to pull the neck of her dress over her left shoulder to reveal the flesh wound from the knife, blood having dried slightly around the edges, but blood still trickling down to her hand and off her fingertips from the center. She used her right hand to remove some cut-cleaning solvent from the kit, and poured it gently on the wound, allowing for a pained gasp to shoot from her lips as she used a cloth to clean it all away. As she reached for her bandage, Genocide finally asked his first question. Her favorite ice cream? Was he toying with her?

    "I... like vanilla the most, sometimes with hot chocolate sauce and sprinkles..." She obediently said as she wrapped the bandage around her wound, making sure it was tight as to subdue the blood flow. When she was done, she straightened the collar of her shirt and painfully put both hands on her lap. As for the question asking, she was in a pickle. She was clearly more obligated to answer the questions than he was, considering the circumstances, and if she asked the wrong question then she would most likely be killed. So, it was best to start small. "What about you?" At the very least, she could stall until Xue could help her.
     
    It was a miracle that Yu had managed to find two packets of instant hot chocolate. "A sweet tooth?" She commented off-handedly, "You don't seem the type! You see something new everyday!" Pausing, she laughed, dragging her hand through her dripping black locks, "Kind of like a girl falling into the canals in the middle of the night, right?" Emptying the contents of the packets into two large red mugs, she busied herself with putting heating up milk via her handy-dandy microwave. She never used hot water, like most people did. Water was so bland. Only milk was acceptable in Yu's eyes, as it gave the hot chocolate a much richer flavor, which she always ended up enhancing via chocolate syrup anyway. Speaking of that guilty brown bottle sitting on the second shelf of her refrigerator door, chocolate syrup and the half-eaten apple pie were the only things in her modest refrigerator that screamed unhealthy junk food. Otherwise, she was a relatively good eater, with a surplus of eggs, tofu, avocados, berries, and yogurt littering the chilly shelves. Not to mention she was a relatively good cook for someone as spacey as herself. When she didn't accidentally burn things after getting sidetracked, meals usually turned out pretty tasty. It was probably just an inherent talent that she'd been born with. Looking up over the counter Yu held up the chocolate bottle, "I don't have any whipped cream- but I do have chocolate syrup if you'd like me to add some of that. I have extra milk as well, so I'll set that out."

    Not but three minutes later, Yu had brought over the two steaming mugs of hot chocolate, clearing a skirt, camisole, and denim blazer off of the coffee table to make room. At the very least she was decent enough to leave most of her underwear in the drawer of her room, or buried under everything else. Bringing over the syrup and extra milk, Yu set them down on the remaining space, motioning that the Mr. Investigator was free to help himself. "I actually haven't lived here for very long." Yu brought her mug up to her lips and blew on the liquid, waiting for it to cool before risking a burnt tongue. "About a month, maybe? I enjoy it here though- it's slow and not too fast paced. Things aren't made into a big deal here, and everyone is really laid back." Yu commented, before realizing something that pretty much any normal person should've noticed right off the bat. "By the way, I forgot to tell you," Yu put her mug down, stretching her arm out across the table, "My name is Annalisa. Sorry for the late introduction- It's nice to meet you though."


    "Vanilla, huh?" Genocide mused, staring at the opposite wall without seeming to notice that he wasn't even looking at the person he was addressing, "That's interesting. You like adding stuff to plain ice cream, but I like having crazy flavors without any toppings. My top three favorites…" He glanced up at the ceiling, as if three cups of his favorite kinds of ice cream were floating above his head, "Blueberry Cheesecake, Raspberry Chocolate, and… oh, Cherry Vanilla is good! We can buy some vanilla ice cream sometime, and I'll add cherries and you can add chocolate or sprinkles or whatever. See? Now we have something in common." Genocide grinned, "So, my turn again, huh? … Hmm… How about this one: Are you afraid of me? Or are you simply biding your time, because you're surrounded by EPR? Again, you can choose not to answer and still ask me a question with your turn. Especially since I technically asked you two questions just then! That would be minus 10 points for me, I'd say. And for being so cooperative with me, I'll give you 5 points. If you reach 100, then I'll let you go. If I reach negative 100, then I'll also let you go. I like the sound of that game."

    Genocide nodded before tilting his head to the side, "Oh, sorry. I got sidetracked from our first game."
     
    "It actually happens more often than you'd think..." Xue muttered to himself at the girl's comment about seeing a girl falling into the canal at night as being rare. It was the city of water, after all. People fell into the canals accidentally all of the time, some not being so lucky as to make it out alive, especially in the colder months. He'd seen it enough, which was more than enough reason for him to dive in after the girl earlier. After all, he couldn't have her dying on him, especially with the Syndicate wanting her alive. The idea of protecting this girl suddenly brought up the though of Hui in his mind. Was she okay? She was capable of taking care of herself, but the mission she was sent on was more than risky. He glanced out the window to double check on Mei, and still faintly saw a head over top of the barricade on the rooftop. Only that doll knew the answer to his concerns.

    The white haired youth accepted the hot drink happily - after all, if he couldn't enjoy the simple things, even after becoming a contractor, what could he enjoy? - before setting it down on the table to add the chocolate sauce and milk with a steady and cautious hand. He didn't want to spill anything, after all. "Annalisa, huh?" He repeated the girl's name after taking a sip of the drink. He'd added enough milk so that it didn't burn him, his favorite temperature for beverages. "My name is Tengfei. If it makes you feel any better, I didn't move here too long ago either! I'm still trying to learn the ropes of this city. I'm not used to so much... water."

    Another quick glance out the window suddenly had Xue alarmed, and he dropped his hot chocolate onto the ground, spilling it's contents all over the floor. "Er... sorry, but I just remembered something I need to do quickly! I'll be back in a few minutes to finish this and clean up my mess!" He dashed out the door without letting the hostess utter even a word as he bolted down the apartment's stairs. Out the window, he had witnessed two men dangling Mei over the side of the apartment from her arms, as if threatening to drop her if her partner didn't make an appearance.

    He burst onto the street, taking the two thugs by surprise as he sent an emotionless, menacing glare up their way. He wasn't dressed for combat, but it wasn't like he had a choice. Now, it all came down to whether or not they were contractors. There was always the case they were just your everyday criminal.

    "Does this Doll belong to you, contractor?" And then one of them, one with a dirty mustache, made the mistake of talking. "Try anything funny and we'll drop her!" They weren't very original contractors, nor very smart, apparently. If Xue was any regular contractor, they should have realized that he wouldn't have cared for Mei's safety, and they'd be dead already. Luckily for them, she was needed for his remuneration. Either way, dealing with them was going to be a piece of cake. If they were members of the EPR, they were probably grunts at best.

    He didn't say a word as he reached down for a rock, only to whip it at the nearby streetlight which broke the bulb, darkening the area significantly. If he operated in the bright light, there was a higher chance of somebody noticing the three contractors, thus starting a panic. At the act of the thrown rock, one of the grunts let go of one of Mei's arms, allowing the small girl to dangle down farther with an almost non-existent expression on her face. The one with free hands quickly threw his hands into the air, Xue's sword resting on top. "Not so fast! Your little Doll told us you can't use your powers without this blade, so I'd like to see you try pulling anything!"

    Bingo.

    The assassin crouched again, this time grabbing a shard of metal that had fallen from the streetlight earlier. He smirked, and whipped the shard towards the metallic shutter of a window right below where they were standing. "Of course she did..." He began to run towards the bottom floor of the building, two red spots lighting fire in his eyes amidst the dark just before the two pieces of metal collided and the sound rang out. "That's what I told her to say if someone found her..."

    The men couldn't react to his movement or his words, they couldn't even move their eyes as they had been temporarily paralyzed by the sound from the metal. Unable to provide muscle support necessary to hold the girl over the ledge, Mei began to fall rapidly, dragging the paralyzed thug behind her. Luckily for the doll, Xue managed to catch her. Unluckily for the thug, Xue did not catch him and he landed on the ground on his head, which began to ooze fluids as the skull cracked open.

    The white haired man let out a sigh as he bent over to confirm the kill, placing Mei down, whom in return gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. His remuneration. It was odd, but it was what he required in order to use his powers: a kiss from a doll.

    He disposed of the other thug easy enough as well, getting to the roof of the building before the paralysis wore off and cleanly removing his head from his shoulders with his sword, only to go back down to retrieve Mei again. It was only a matter of time before the authorities found out something had happened. Which was ironic, since he was an investigator himself.

    ---


    The main thing going through Hui's mind at the time was something along the lines of "God, does this guy ever shut up?" He was really dragging on this ice cream topic, and it was hard to follow his words while tending to the wounds on her body. Although, some ice cream did sound really good right now. She was parched, for one, and the blood loss really didn't help that fact. She was quickly snapped back to the painful conversation as Genocide decided to ask two more questions, neither as innocent in nature as the first. The witch took a suspicious silence as she considered how to answer what had been presented to her while entertaining the idea of his little points system. The points seemed to be added and subtracted based on his own opinion, so there was no way it was a reliable means of escape.

    After a moment, she finally replied, tackling both questions at once. "I'm a contractor like you, so I think the answer is obvious. I'll do whatever I need to in order to guarantee a longer life. Whether or not I'm afraid of you really doesn't change whatever decisions I make..." It kind of hurt her a little to speak like that. It was a harsh reality, that she couldn't think like a normal human. Surely a human girl her age would be too afraid to even talk in this sort of situation. Not that Hui knew, she'd only been a human for four years of her life. Hoping the man was satisfied, she moved onto her next question. "Why are you a member of Evening Primrose?" As she asked, she removed a rose from up her sleeve and placed it on the bed beside her after giving it a whiff. Mei needed to see what was going on, and this guy probably couldn't imagine a doll using flowers as a means of sight. Even if he asked, he'd have no way of proving what the flower was for.
     
    Tengfei? So he wasn't Italian. Though there wasn't a single move in the muscles of her face as she listened with a smile, she suddenly felt that her smile was considerably faker than before. This man was Chinese, by the sound of his name. Blowing lightly on her beverage, she jumped a little when his drink spilled onto the floor out of nowhere. He stood, saying something about cleaning up after he'd gotten back. It wasn't as though she were annoyed by his attitude, but she wasn't pleased by the fact that he'd spilled hot chocolate all over her floors. He was damn lucky that it hadn't hit any of her clothes or the rug- otherwise she wouldn't have been able to overlook it. As it was, Annalisa calmly considered her position and decided that action needed to be taken before the brown beverage did a number on any of her possessions other than the worn hardwood floor. Tossing a rag over the puddle and soaking up most of the mess, she sat back and frowned a little. It was nagging at her again. Those dumb instincts telling her to double check the man before saying anything more, or letting him back into her home. He certainly wasn't as professional as an investigator should've been. He didn't look like an investigator. Why had he been out there in the middle of the night anyway? Keeping a watch out for the murderer perhaps? Then why hadn't he apprehended her simply for being out so late? And why hadn't the kindly woman next door who loved her gossip informed Yu of these deaths yet?

    Dropping the rag on the floor, Yu's often sweet and charming expression was blank- the look that so many attributed to the unfeeling race that she belonged to. In a moment, the apartment was empty, and she swept out of the room. It wasn't hard to find them- as a contractor, Yu was better at this kind of thing than most people, and some idiots were dumb enough to be speaking at a normal volume in the dead of night. Not to mention that a dying street lamp gave it all away to someone who knew what she was looking for. It was enough to hear the fight, even if her eyes hadn't quite adjusted to the dark. She almost flinched when she heard the skull crack open- but for some reason, her body didn't seem too disgusted by the sound. Yu stifled a sigh. Probably from people she'd forgotten. But one thing was certain- the man was a contractor, that must she'd deduced by the signature blue glow. What in the world did a contractor have to do with her? And if her now adjusted eyes didn't deceive her- that was a doll, was it not?

    Looking up as she heard this… Tengfei man scuttle to the rooftop again, Yu silently stood at the end of the street that led to her building, drawing lines between her conclusions and circumstances. She smiled when he returned to his Doll's side, speaking up to catch his attention, "Well, Mr. Tengfei." Her cheerful voice almost mocking the subject she spoke of, "I have no intentions of housing a murderer such as yourself, so you may proceed to investigate your own person. Once you have decided as to whether or not this murderer you seek is really anyone other than yourself, please feel free to come in and clean up what remains of your mess." Yu turned to return to her apartment, but not before pausing to add, "Oh, and your doll can come too, if you'd like."



    Genocide scoffed, smiling at the girl's response- it was all in good conversation, of course. But what a practical answer. "I've never been one to think that we can all be categorized under one big umbrella. People like us- contractors that is. But I'm sure you're interested in my answer to your question, rather than my musings." Leaning back and taking a deep breath, Genocide tapped his fingertips together for a moment. He swept his eyes around the room with a movement of his head, thought for another few seconds before answering, "I joined Evening Primrose initially because I needed a place to get away from being a crazy lunatic. Which is pretty much everywhere in the world, if you're a contractor, y'know?" Genocide laughed carelessly, not really caring much for the world he'd dreaded facing before he'd found a place amongst other contractors. He didn't care to remember it, nor did he particular feel ousted wherever he went anymore. It was much more comfortable, existing in one's own world. "Now though, I'm just in it for the fun. Anything to keep me from getting too bored- anything that doesn't put me in chains. I probably wouldn't have had much of a problem with joining this… organization of yours, if they'd asked first. Just a- go with the flow sort of thought process."

    The agent of Evening Primrose paused for a moment as his little captive put something onto the bed. "So. My turn, huh? Well, how about this? What is that," Genocide pointed towards the flower, "For? Most prisoners don't tend to randomly take things out in predicaments like this. Perhaps my easy nature has you-" His ears caught the sound of a ringing telephone, not but a few paces away from each other. Oh how he hated when things like this interrupted him.

    "Oh, you'll need to be quiet for now, Mousy. We don't need to let more people than necessary know I'm keeping you here." Striding over to carefully grasp the receiver before swiftly bringing it up to his ear, Genocide answered his telephone call. Genocide said nothing throughout the entire call, save for his initial, "Hello". As soon she he hung up, he sighed and put a hand on his hip. "Got work to do." He stated simply, "But first, let's make a quick pitstop."

    He picked up his captive and threw her over his shoulder again, "You can leave that in here," He motioned to the flower, "You won't need it." He marched her out of the room, maneuvering easily through the many hallways before reaching a room that felt extremely far away from his own quarters, but was still on the same floor. The door opened to reveal a perfectly clean, laboratory type room, with various metal shenanigans lined up on the walls like decorations. Without asking permission or checking to see if there was anyone else in the room, Genocide glowed cyan for just a split second before dumping a blind Hui onto the metal bed. "Stay," He said, before looking around the walls with her vision. "Ah, this is it." He spoke, moving away and plucking a collar off of the wall. A click sounded before Genocide returned her vision to her, "Okay, now we're all ready to go on this mission! First of all, I'd like to let you know that that collar you have on now is specially designed by Dr. Ruiha- if you'd look into it a little, which you obviously cannot since you're wearing it, you'd see a needle, waiting to inject you with a lethal dosage of poison. Don't worry, it'll kill you before you can say your abc's. Now, it won't prick you even if you shove the inside of the collar against your skin- it's hidden enough that it'll only get to you if I hit the control button, which, of course, I am keeping on my person somewhere. You can run away, but expect to die if you do." Genocide motioned for her to stand, "Now, we've got a little job to do, and if you want to help me, you may, if you don't, you can just stand there. Now come on, we've already wasted enough time. I'll let you walk on your own this time, so let's go."
     
    "...Busted." Mei said aloud in absolute monotony at Annalisa's discovery, and Xue promptly put his hand over her mouth in attempt to prevent the Doll from saying more than she had to. It was extremely important to keep his special relationship with the Doll a secret, else it would be a problem later if a contractor decided to take her hostage so that he couldn't use his powers. It had happened before with other Dolls, and it certainly wasn't a very good ordeal to be in when your battle ability tends to rely a lot on your contractor powers.

    In the end, though, Xue was a little more concerned about the girl's invitation to come clean up his mess, presumably the hot chocolate he had spilled in his hasty departure. But, since the girl was beginning to show her true colours, was that really a wise idea? He knew nothing of her actual contractor abilities, so the chance of it being a trap was high. Even so, if there was ever a chance of gathering the intel he needed, this was certainly it. He gave a disgusted look towards the corpse by his feat, bodily fluids leaking through the skull in a repulsing manner. The contractor just sighed and gave it a swift kick into the canal, not wanted someone to stumble over the body in the dark of night. It'd be someone else's problem later.

    Taking Mei's hand, he followed after his target, not saying a word. It was too risky to bring up too much of his mission in public, middle of the night or not. He'd have to wait until they were in the confines of her apartment before he could question her. Even so, that place could be bugged by the EPR as well, but the girl didn't seem like she was in any mood to get pulled away from her humble abode, that much was certain. And thus, the contractor and doll followed.

    And followed, and followed, until they were in the target's apartment again. The white haired contractor motioned for the doll to take a seat on the couch, and she did, quickly noticing her flower buried underneath a mixed arrangement of mess and removing it, before returning to staring blankly at nothing in particular as she waited for the man to finish his business.

    "I guess to make a long story short... what do you know of Evening Primrose? I know you were a member not too long ago."


    ---


    Zephyr was a little less than pleased. Out of nowhere he'd received that annoying little bit of news that they'd lost contact with a few of their men. The worst part was that the location where they'd gone missing was around the spot where a well-known flightless bird had taken up nest. Had the bird gained her wings again and was responsible? Or maybe someone was hunting the bird for some reason. With the appearance of the clumsy mouse, that was a likely scenario as well. But, those things weren't really putting him in a bad mood. It's just... Genocide was the ONLY high ranking operative that he could find that didn't have their hands full with some other mission, and that man was a disaster to work with. Not to mention he'd probably be bringing the mouse with him, which meant he'd be doing a side of babysitting as well.

    It didn't take the eyepatched contractor long to find his temporary partner, the mouse in tow on a leash with a rather blank expression on her face. No doubt that collar was rigged with some sort of trap, and no doubt she was trying to comprehend the depth of her situation at the moment. He had to hand it to Genocide, he really sure knew how to steal hope from a victim. Though, considering his powers, he should specialize in that. "Are you ready to go? We'll need to hurry if we want to deal with whatever's going on at the bird's nest." He took a quick moment to remove his top hat and bow courteously to the mouse, who didn't really seem to respond at all. Just what was going through her mind?
     
    Yu's mind had essentially gone blank by the time Xue made it through the door. She'd thought and thought about her circumstances before finally deciding that she wouldn't be getting anywhere in terms of deciding on a plausible outcome until he spouted it out of his own mouth. Picking up a bit of her mess on one side of the apartment to shove it into one larger pile, she paused and thought she might speak to make up for the earlier slip in personality. No need to prolong the visit though. She was still damp from canal water- no doubt smelling something like it, too. Another shower was in order, and it wouldn't do to put it off. She sat down on the armchair she'd just cleared away, her knees resolutely pressed together and her hands intertwined in her lap. The doll sat, and the contractor busied himself with his task of cleaning up his mess. Well, at least he was decent enough to remember something insignificant like that. In her experience, the few contractors Yu remembered were always more concerned with the bigger picture, and neglected the details. A weakness, in her own opinion.

    "Evening Primrose?" Yu's brow furrowed as she curled away from her guest ever so slightly at his inquiry. She had been a member? Rubbing her cheek and trying to wade through the muck that her memory was, she tried to remember anything about being a member. She knew what it was, of course. Someone had told her once before- she remembered him, and so she remembered what he'd told her. But she never recalled being offered to join it. Or applying. Or whatever it took to get into that organization. It would make sense, though. If she were a part of that organization, then that would explain why her memory was absolutely in shambles. She never really had much need for her… distasteful powers in day-to-day activities. So that was why she had a huge gaping hole in her memories. "I don't remember anything about being a member- or much of what I did before I ended up here in Venice." She stated honestly, dropping her hand back into her lap, "I can't tell you anything other than what you probably already know, and that is that Evening Primrose consists entirely of contractors- like you and me." Yu paused, reaching for her hot chocolate which had since cooled. She drank it anyway. "My remuneration is to forget." She revealed without much hesitation. She knew that if she so wanted, she could easily leave this stranger as a bloody mess on the floor, perhaps at the price of forgetting someone else. It was of no consequence at this point though. Most likely, she would end up forgetting who the doll was. Or perhaps, who the contractor himself was. No loss there. "…. I doubt this conversation was very helpful to you." Yu laughed lightly, "But that's all I can tell you, Mr. Contractor."

    "The rest is just a very big blur."



    Genocide patted his pet on the head, "I'll take the collar off when we get back, so there's no need to be so down~!" He looked up, staring down the hallway. "And that, I think, would be my good partner in crime, Zephyr. He'll be coming with us today, I forgot to mention." Straightening his red trench coat, the enigmatic man nodded at Zephyr's question, "Indeed I am ready to go. Well Mousy might not be, but she will be in due time. Let's make this a quickie, Zephy~ No time to lose before our little killing machine runs off on us!"
     
    Although she didn't show it, Hui was in a panic. She had been provided with a chance for escape and then swiftly had it taken away, all in the same ten minutes! Not to mention the whole portion of the ride where she lost her vision. Was that related to the man's powers at all, or was it something else? As she was lead out into the hall, she made a point not to acknowledge anything. Anything she did could be used against her, most likely. Then, things took a turn for the worst, and that guy with the gravity powers joined their little party, rambling on about a bird's nest or something. Geez, these guys were weird! Though, one thing was said before they set out that really bugged her. What did Genocide mean by that she'd be ready in due time?


    It wasn't a particularly long trip to their destination, seeing as Venice wasn't a very large city at all if you knew how to get around. Besides, Zephyr had been by this apartment enough times in the past month to pretty much walk there blind from the EPR building. They climbed up to a nearby roof - coincidentally the same one that Mei had been situated on earlier. There was no corpse on the roof however, as another member had come by earlier to clean things up a little. The view of the apartment they were looking for was crystal clear from this position, and there were certainly more people than just the bird in that building.

    Intriguingly, the mouse seemed to have snapped out of her daze, and was frantically trying to get a good look across the street at the figures in the window. The gesture brought a slight upwards curl to the young man's lips, as the girl's sudden interest more or less revealed what they had come to determine. And thus, there was no reason to hold back. "You're having a good day, Genny. You've gotten a new pet, and you get to play a little as well!" With a twisted laugh, he began to glow blue...


    ---


    Xue watched the girl carefully as she explained herself, prepared to note anything that contradicted the facts he had already been given. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be anything to contradict it with as the girl explain. She lost her memory due to her remuneration? It certainly put a damper on whatever the Syndicate had planned, at least. Not that it was any skin off of Xue's back. However, this raised a very serious problem in regards to what he had to do next. As by standard procedure, he should kill the girl as she could be a risk later. But, if what she said was true, and she sounded honest, then would there ever be a chance of that? "It's okay, you were helpful enough..." He said with a hint of gratitude in his voice. Right, he didn't have to kill the girl. He was thankful for that much.

    Deciding her was done here, the youth grabbed the hand his doll and began to lead her towards the door, when he suddenly could have sworn he heard his name being called by a familiar, scared voice. Hearing this suddenly made him more aware of his surroundings, and he could hear the floor above him creaking and cracking, as if it was under the pressure of a ridiculous amount of weight. His mind quickly went to work, reasoning the best method of escape. They were too high to risk jumping, so there was only one other option.

    The contractor threw his sword out the window, which landed on the cobblestone below. This was all to free a hand so that he could grab the target and drag her out of the room with him and Mei. And that he did with an iron grip as he shot for Annalisa's hand and began to pull both her and Mei behind him at an alarming rate, just as the roof began to show signs of caving. They booked it down the stairs, just in time to emerge as the building seemingly toppled over in the opposite direction, spewing out dust behind them as Xue led them off to the side of another building to avoid debris. "Mei, how many of them are there?" It was shocking. What kind of power could level a whole building so easily?

    "...Three, one of them is Hui." The little girl replied to the question, confirming Xue's fears. He made a hand motion to the two girls that suggested staying as he ran into the cloud of dust before them, grabbing his sword off the ground on the way.


    ---


    Hui let out a high shriek as Zephyr plowed her in the face with his fist, sending her tiny body flying until she ran out of lease, the restraint choking her thoroughly as she fell limp onto the ground. "WHAT. THE. HELL. WAS. THAT?" The enraged gravity manipulator shouted as he whipped out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one before pressing the lit smoke deep into his arm. "Genny!? Control your pet a little better, would you!? She clearly doesn't respect how much power I needed to use to pull off a feat like that, now what my remuneration requires for such a thing. I'm looking at at least thirty cigarettes into my flesh over the next hour!" He lit another, and did the same thing, but in a different spot on his body. "Maybe... maybe she needs to learn what it feels like?" He whipped out another one, lit it again, but this time took hold of Hui's throat, lifting the girl in the air before pushing the cigarette behind her right ear, the feeling of melting flesh being too much to bare, and she screamed again. When he was done, he threw the girl to the ground again.

    There were other problems, Zephyr soon realized, as it occurred to him that the culprit had escaped, along with the bird. At least, that would be what your usual contractor would do. It was hard to tell with all the dust around. As he went to turn to Genocide to ask for some ideas as to what to do next, however, he suddenly felt the cold of steel pressed up against the back of his neck. "You know, you shouldn't be introducing kids to cigarettes. I'm pretty sure there are laws about that..."
     
    "Hah!" Genocide scoffed in good nature, pocketing his hands as he commented off-handedly on Zephyr's earlier observation of his lucky day, "It certainly is an exciting evening." He closed his eyes, pulling off his sunglasses and wiping them off on the edge of his coat, passing time as he waited for his own moment to take the stage. As a higher ranking agent of EPR, he seemed to be doing less and less as he climbed higher and higher. Not that that wasn't perfectly okay with him. Genocide was certainly the kind of guy who had more lazy moments than most. Sliding his glasses back on and opening his eyes to look over his shoulder in the direction of the little birdie's apartment, he waited silently- a stark contrast to his talkative self back at headquarters. Though fairly eccentric, Genocide was still a contractor, and making more noise than necessary was not on his list of things to do in the middle of the night.

    Indeed it was exciting, as Hui called out the name of her fellow agent inside of the nest. Genocide smacked his forehead with his free hand, seeing exactly why the Syndicate had been so keen on getting rid of this burdensome deadweight. Some kind of contractor she was! Only good for a pet- which was good, because that's all she really was. He said nothing as the building caved in, listening to the lovely sound of destruction as Zephyr scuffled with Hui in the background. The leash tugged violently, but a stiffening of Genocide's muscles was more than enough to reel his little mouse's light body back in. He turned his head ever so slightly towards her- raising an eyebrow that told her she deserved what she was getting. When it came to baseless retribution, Genocide most certainly would've stopped it. But in action, her reckless moves probably would've been more than enough for Genocide to let her go with the press of a button. It's not like he couldn't make another pet out of someone else…. "Are you done damaging my merchandise, Zephy?" Genocide sighed as he heard Mousy scream, putting a finger in his sensitive ears, "You've forgotten all about the original plan, and you know I can't help you in terms of keeping watch-"

    Genocide fell silent, and not moments later, let his head swivel around to look straight at Xue. Dumb kid was dumb enough to say something too, helping Genocide pinpoint exactly where he was. Not that the kid could've known that it was a dumb move. "I'm pretty sure there are laws about flinging around fancy weapons and threatening people, too." Genocide grinned, turning and tugging on Hui's leash, "Now- Let me take a good look at you." There was no need to bring alarm to the boy and have him end up chopping off Zephyr's head. That was what the mouse was for. Glowing cyan for a moment, Genocide blinked once or twice, adjusting to the environment before pulling off his yellow shades. "Mind telling me where our little bird is? Did you leave her in the building thinking she was useless? Perhaps you let her run off already?" Genocide closed his eyes, returning Hui's vision to her and stealing yet another sense from her. This time, however, it was something that he wasn't completely deprieved of. Taking away her sense of hearing would be more than enough to shut her up. Stepping his foot onto her head to keep it still, Genocide put his sunglasses back on once more. "If you think about it, I could use my powers to drop that sword right through the roof of this building before you could do anything to my dear partner, don't you agree? It wouldn't be much different from turning that building inside out, now would it? In the meantime, you haven't the slightest idea as to what my partner's ability is! You really are an interesting fellow, dancing right into the palm of your enemy like that. Reminds me of this little girl here, though it seems that you were on an actual mission, rather than a disposal run." Genocide rambled on, biding his time. The only one who could do anything in this situation was Zephyr, who would have to drag the agent down with his own powers. Genocide's stealing powers would do little in a situation like this, since he could only steal one sense at a time. Unless he wanted to give a remuneration for overtaxing himself, but becoming trapped in a black void wasn't really on his list of things to do this evening.



    Standing up to see her guest out, Yu put her mug down, "Well, good luck with whatever it is you're doing." She said calmly, but a sound broke the tranquility once more. An action packed night it would be, tonight. The contractor swiftly grabbed her- as though she wouldn't have been able to escape without his help! She didn't resist however, allowing herself to be dragged out as she stared at the collapsing ceiling. And there went her flat. At this point, it was just a matter of going with the flow. She was thankful of the fact that he hadn't asked her to go with him, to fight whatever it was that had destroyed her home. Sure she wanted to get even, but she wasn't so desperate as to square off with her remuneration for it. Fruitlessly trying to wave some of the dust away from her face, she looked remorsefully over her shoulder. All of the other tenants had surely perished- crushed under the rubble. Not to mention a good number of them were already on death's doorstep. Looking down at the vague shadow of the doll, Yu considered just leaving her. Dolls were inconsequential, after all. But, it's not like she would be chased in this thick cloud. Gently taking her hand, Yu pulled her away in the direction she knew an alley was waiting, maneuvering around as best as she could with her poor vision until she could see the night sky.

    Sighing as she brushed off her dust-covered clothes, Yu sat down on an empty beer crate, looking over at the expressionless doll. "Your contractor doesn't really like being subtle, does he?" She shook her hair out, amused at her own observation. She didn't expect a response, but kept Mei's hand tightly in hers, lest the doll wander off. They could be annoying like that.
     
    So maybe it had been a little careless to announce himself before attempting the kill, but there was no point in killing an enemy if they didn't at least know they were about to die. But looking back, maybe it wasn't a very good idea with two enemies... Xue reconsidered this point first before allowing his situation set in. He had heard the man with cigarettes say something about his remuneration when he was coming up the stairs, so he assumed that he was responsible for leveling the building across from them. But as the one who held Hui captive continued speaking, he realized it could have been either or. Especially while looking at the grounded girl, who seemed to be trying to talk but couldn't. He could have done something to her as opposed to destroying the structure across the way.

    There were other aspects to consider before making his next move as well. He didn't have a chance to identify the cause of the building's collapse, so even if he did have the right person, anything could happen. Though, Hui's safety came before anything. "...Take your foot off the girl first. She has nothing to do with this situation." Xue's voice was cold, serious, and above all else, poisonous. "Once you've done that, I'll talk."

    He had taken his eyes of Zephyr for only a second, but that was more than enough time for the gravity user to activate his powers, getting a good look at the sword-user before Xue started to feel heavier and heavier. His teeth clenched as he attempted to stay upright, but eventually gave in with a grunt as he fell to his knees, the cement below him slowly cracking as a surge of pain ran throughout his body. However, he held onto his sword tightly. He couldn't drop it yet. Not yet. "Are all of the Syndicate's contractors are stupid as you two?" Zephyr laughed before giving Xue a swift kick to the left cheek. "If you hurry up and tell us where the little bird is, maybe I won't completely crush you. I saw you had a cute little doll, too! Is she with the little bird? I wouldn't mind adding her to my collection!"

    Zephyr glanced over at a panicked Hui, who could not speak but was struggling to get free of the foot her head was under. "Hey, Genny. It seems like your mouse likes this rat more than you. That's kind of sad~ Especially seeing as they're both contractors. If he doesn't talk, you have no problems with me putting him down, right~?"


    ---


    Mei took note of all that was unfolding around her as the building collapsed and she was dragged along by the strange girl, but said nothing other than when her master asked her for the number of enemies. While everything occurred, she made sure to hold on tightly to the two roses she had in her possession, having her own and the one she recovered from the girl's room. In response to the girl's comment, the doll shook her head slowly from side to side. Her eyes, soon after, slowly focused on the face of the girl, before extending a rose in front of her, indicating she wanted her to have it. Mei considered that she might be of more help to Xue if she kept tabs on this girl too.
     
    Genocide let out a breath of relief, rubbing his temples with his fingers a few moments after Zephyr had disabled his assailant. "Be more careful, Zephy. Look what you made me do to my pet." Pulling Hui to her feet, Genocide traded senses with her again, now that the little vermin who had been with the bird had most certainly deducted which contractor had which ability. Not that he'd really be able to tell what ability Genocide had if the mouse didn't say anything. Zephyr's comment prompted him to use his newfound eyesight to look down at his pet. He couldn't read expressions well, since he rarely saw them anymore, but this was probably one that was… along the lines of scared? Now this wasn't fun. He took no particular joy in tormenting his victims like most other contractors in Primrose. Twisting a strand of Hui's hair around his finger in thought, Genocide looked down at the boy. To save this little runt who had interrupted his evening? Or to save him the little runt who had interrupted his evening? "No." He replied to Zephyr, "Don't kill him." Genocide commanded, adding as an afternote, "But if Mousey so much as opens her mouth to say something, then go ahead and get rid of him. I want to do a damage assessment with this kid first- keep him on his knees and watch Mousey."

    A moment's pause as Genocide took in the appearance of the intruder, committing it to memory. Anything that might have made a certain sound when he moved, or something to that extent. "I don't mind if Mousey likes you better. I'm not the jealous type. But I might change my mind if you answer incorrectly." Genocide began, stepping around to face Xue, "… First, has Yu remembered anything? Second, has she told you anything? Third, why is your organization after her? Be honest, too. It's the least you can do for someone who just helped you keep your head on your neck."


    Yu looked down in surprise at the rose, before double checking the doll's blank expression. Of course there was nothing to see in that face. She smiled and took the flower, patting the girl on the head. She sighed, slipping the bloom into the sleeve of her jacket. The only place where it wouldn't suddenly fall out without Yu noticing. Ah, if only she'd had more time to change before her flat had been utterly demolished. This was why she didn't associate with contractors anymore. They were too flashy these days. "Is there a place we can hide, where Mr. Contractor can find us later?" She asked, looking around. It'd be best not to idly stand around after that entire building had been pulled to the ground. Not to mention when there was no other contractor to protect them against other contractors. Yu wasn't about to use her abilities any time soon.
     
    "All the girl has told me is that her remuneration makes her forget, and that she can't remember much of her past." Xue sung like a canary, although his words could have been taken for false at the drop of a pin considering their predicament. "I was about to leave her be when you attacked, actually." He had to play it cool. There were a lot of unknown factors in his scenario to which he couldn't yet account for. Primarily, what was this other contractor's power? Also, Hui's strange behavior was another problem. Was she under the influence of something? Drugs, a contractor, or something? Either way, he needed to hold onto his sword a little bit longer. It was too risky with the both of them present, at the very least. "As for what the Syndicate needs her for, that is not something an expendable tool of war like myself is made aware of." His voice was cold, uncaring. It was the truth, after all. They were never told what exactly it was they were ultimately trying to accomplish. The Syndicate thought of them as tools, and a tool that malfunctions, perhaps by spilling important information, are thrown out. How long until he was thrown out, following the path he was currently living?

    "Now, could you possibly amuse me for a moment? What exactly has Hui have to do with this? Why do you have her collared like an animal? Could you let her go?" After asking these questions, he felt the gravity increase again, his body starting to succumb to pain as the ground below him began to cave into a dent in the ground. Clearly this gravity contractor did not feel asking questions was part of the deal at all. But, he needed to get to the bottom of her current situation. Clearly the Syndicate wanted to kill her off one hundred percent this time. So, even if he could help her now, what could he do for her after, if even the Syndicate wanted her removed?


    ---


    Mei focused on her flower for a moment, after Yu had requested a place to hide. "Two blocks to the south... there's the remains of demolished house. You can hide there... but I need to stay by Xue." The doll attempted to pull herself away from the girl's grasp, full well knowing her duty to fulfill Xue's remuneration. If she didn't, who knew what would happen? Besides, she had been ordered to stay near at all times by Xue himself.
     
    Yu looked at the doll. Hiding, huh? Kind of like she'd been doing? There was no point. She had nothing to go back to, really. And why was she so afraid of forgetting? There was no one left to remember. What was taking out one more slice of her memory to save someone who knew more about herself than she did? Standing up, Yu patted the girl's head, "I'm a contractor too- I don't need to hide." The normally chipper young lady turned her eyes back towards the demolished building, "I'll come with you."


    "Huh." Genocide tapped his chin, "That's convenient." Contemplating the little captive's answer, the snow haired gentleman nodded once, then twice, affirming his thought process in silence. "Well I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I admit; I lied. Your answer probably wouldn't have made any difference." Chuckling at his baseless threat, Genocide listened carefully. After all these years, he could hear even the slightest mouse squeak in a far off silence. With the aid of Hui's hearing amplifying his, it shouldn't have been hard to find the little bird. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Too many other night sounds interrupted his hearing- the particularly the steady flow of water below. He attuned his ears to short-distance once again once the captive began to speak again. Amuse him? Oh goody, what a great guy! Finally someone who would do the entertaining.

    "Ah, Mousey?" Genocide answered ecstatically, "Well you see, we found her snooping around our building. I called dibs, so she's mine now. As for letting her go, I have full intentions for doing so. Just…" Genocide paused, a mischevious smile crossing his face, "Not now~"

    "I could keep going all night, but I'm sure Zephy is getting tired of the chit-chat." Genocide declared, "So I guess I'll just have to-"

    "Wait!" The door that lead to the rooftop burst open, a panting Yu who had sprinted the stretch back cried. She paused in the doorway, catching her breath as she stared hard at the three strange faces through the dark. She wished she could recognize at least one, but it was, of course, futile. She didn't remember anything about the syndicate, so why would she be able to remember the people in it? "Stop."

    Genocide tilted his head, stating the obvious: "The birdie showed up."

    "He didn't do anything, and I don't have anything to do with you people anymore. He has nothing to do with this, so let him go."
     
    Xue shot Yu a 'why the hell are you here when I told you to stay behind' glance after making her debut. The point of him asking her to stay away in the first place was that there was no particular reason for her to get involved, especially if it would require her to use her powers and thus lose more memories. Though, what came with the girl was highly beneficial to his predicament, as he saw Mei peering from behind the girl. Zephyr, on the other hand, seemed highly irritated by the intrusion as he threw his hand in the direction of the female contractor, extending his gravitational force to her and the doll as well, although not anywhere as strong as what Xue was under.

    Though, this gave Xue the perfect chance he needed to execute his plan, now that Hui seemed to be paying complete attention to the situation instead of zoning out randomly like she had been. Slowly getting to her feet after having been knocked around so much, she caught a glance of her collapsed companion, just in time to see him doing a countdown with his fingers. In Xue's opinion, if these bastards wanted to trick him with who's power was who's, then perhaps he'd do the same.

    3. "What are you doing here, birdie? Have you come back to us? Did you? DID YOUUU?" The gravity user exclaimed as all focus was on the new arrival. "And you brought us a doll, too, as a gift? My, how nice!" 2. Hui made a dash for Xue, despite knowing that Genocide could kill her with the touch of her button, her petite body collapsing hard when she entered the range of the gravity power. Though, she was close enough. "Oi! What are you doing, you stupid mouse!" 1. Xue let got of the sword he had been holding onto for so dear, his eyes lighting up red the second the sound of it smashing against the roof below as his body began to glow blue, Hui doing the same.

    More or less at the same time, Zephyr lost control of his hold on the gravity around his victim. Something made him trip up, and it had to be one of those brats. He would have done something about it, but strangely it became increasingly difficult to sort out the thoughts in his own head. It was like someone had thrown his head into a blender. Like Hui, and anyone else who was extremely close, Zephyr suddenly collapsed. Thankfully, Yu and Mei were far enough away so that it was nothing but a sudden headache. It was interesting, since the sound manipulator hadn't the foggiest idea what the sound in particular would do to the minds of those nearby.

    Xue, barely able to stand from being subjected to an increased gravity for so long, quickly drew his sword from it's scabbard and wandered over to a disoriented Zephyr, only to find an equally disoriented Hui pulling on the back of his pant leg. "Don't... we need to leave..." Grunting, he put his sword away and picked the girl up. She must have had her reasons, but she wasn't really in the state to be telling them to him. As he walked by Yu and Mei, the doll jumped up and gave the white haired contractor a kiss on the cheek.

    "Come with me, Miss Annalisa. I'll find you a place to stay from now on. But we need to hurry, before they snap out of it."
     
    Genocide twitched his face towards the intruders, his eyes glossing over the general area. "What are you doing here, birdie?" Genocide narrowed an eye. "And you brought us a doll, too, as a gift?" Smirking and laughing to himself the officer clapped his hands, "Nice observation Zephy! Here I was wondering why she'd bothered to come back. I get it now." He snapped his fingers and pointed towards her, "But you can't-" He felt his hand go empty as the loose grip on his pet was pulled free. Staring into the deep blackness, Genocide twitched his hand into his coat as he shook his head, an amused smile crossing his face as he resolved to let his little pet go. It really was a shame. She'd only been able to entertain him for a few hours. Best to make sure that pesky little friend of hers couldn't help either. Glowing cyan as he touched the remote in his inner coat pocket, all of a sudden the glow vanished like a candle blown out. His hands instantly pulled away as a shrill, unbearably unearthly sound filled his sensitive ears. "Ah-AHHHHHH!" He crumpled away from the source, completely disoriented as he fell backwards, landing with a thud on the ground.

    "Old Lady. Hey, Old Lady! Why's it so dark in here? Turn on a light or something!"

    His gloved hand felt completely useless as he felt around, confirming the presence of solid ground in the general vicinity. He hadn't fallen too close to the edge of the roof. No unpredictable movements. Just take it calm- Genocide choked, feeling his forehead crashing against the cold cement as he tried to cast away the torturous sound splitting his head open. "… Old Lady." Don't show it. Genocide bit his tongue, surpressing another cry as he tried to block out the sound. His eardrums would surely burst. He wouldn't even be able to hear, and then he'd be… he'd be…

    "I can't see."

    The painful writhing finally ended as the sound died away, and Genocide thought to check if his eardrums had really burst, but the consideration died away instantly under a mass of thick incoherence.



    Yu hit the ground. It wasn't as if this kind of thing could stop her. Cheap things like requirements didn't apply to her ability. She began to glow, focusing her energy on the form closest to her- the one that wasn't Xue anyway. Her power didn't take the chance to do anything significant however, as a commotion distracted her and changed things around. She could easily blow the brains out of the man she'd already focused on, since he hadn't moved too far, but that would risk the person who had just moved killing the contractor who had gone to the trouble of helping her escape. (Not that she'd shown very much thanks for that opportunity.) She'd spent too much time in human territory. She hesitated. It was for the better, however. The weight that felt like it was dragging her ankles and wrists down lifted, and she took the chance to assess the situation, lifting her head. Oh? So the third girl who looked like she had just gotten back from Halloween trick or treating hadn't been a bad guy?

    Ouch. She pressed a hand to her temple, looking back down as she reeled away. Killer headache.

    "Come with me, Miss Annalisa. I'll find you a place to stay from now on. But we need to hurry, before they snap out of it."

    Glancing up at Xue she nodded, obediently following him down the staircase.
     
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