Gusion was in the rooftop now in his full armor, looking around to make sure everyone was ready for their agenda.
The Venom Squad was loading Hanzo into a bubble car, Hanabi on the driver's seat with Angela on the back, tying Hanzo with her magic strings as Harley and Grock stood right outside, making sure he won't escape.
Chou, Aurora and Karina were huddled next to another car. Chou was pulling his gloves tight, a faint flame already visible in his knuckles as his gaze squinted with determination. Aurora had been cold as ever than Gusion could even feel the sting of cold breeze slipping in the gaps of his armor where only his suit was covering. Karina, on the other hand, was tightening her combat belt that was filled with ammunitions and grenades all around her waist.
Then something landed right in the middle of the rooftop in a hard impact, followed by the loud revving of engine that made everyone turn to its direction with a disapproving look.
"What the hell, Johnson?!" Chou yelled in complain as the vehicle transformed into humanoid form after Layla and Cyclops climbed out of his interior.
Behind him came flying down Saber with his rocket jet and Rafaela with her wings.
"Emperor Scorpion..." Saber greeted. "Is everyone ready?"
Gusion looked around. He had been waiting for a particular someone to arrive, and he was getting impatient at every minute that passed that she didn't show up.
But he wasn't going to show anyone that.
Baring his feelings out was useless right now.
"Your favorite's not yet here." He answered .
"And by my favorite, you mean your former lover."
"She's not--!"
"We're late! But we're here." Guinevere's voice cut him off.
Gusion whirled around, ready to scold her for making such an important mission wait for her.
But his words got scattered back all over his scrambled mind as he saw her.
Guinevere. Standing just a couple of yards from the threshold, looking like she was going into a ball rather than some retrieval operation.
Her hair which was now chestnut brown curls fell all the way down her waist, a couple of curls falling at the side of her face just enough to emphasize how pretty and small it was.
She's got a corset around her body that revealed her curves, and her skirt belled out all the way down to her ankles, only that it had a slit in the middle.
He always thought she would be beautiful in her noble clothes, and he probably had seen her in gowns before he lost his memory, but the sight of her in that form was more than he could take that his brain malfunctioned.
He couldn't even help looking at her from the head down a couple of times before he stumbled with some words, "W-why do you look--beautiful--I-I mean, why are you in a ball gown?!" He corrected, recovering halfway.
But Guinevere merely rolled her eyes and stepped close him.
It took him a lot not to pull her close or cross the gap between them.
She looked up at him. He had always found it amusing how she still had to crane her neck up to look at his face despite how high her heels were.
"Trust me, this isn't the first time I went into an attack looking like this." She said.
"That's the problem, Lady Guinevere..." He answered, his jaws clenching as he fought for control of himself. "I'm having a hard time trusting you lately."
He could've sworn he saw a flash of pain in her eyes as she said it.
But right before she could say something, something came swishing down to their location.
"EVERYBODY RUN!" Dyrroth yelled and started sprinting to the edge of the building.
Gusion looked up and his eyes widened as he saw a huge ball of apparently was an explosive zooming down on them.
He grabbed Guinevere with one arm and blinked as fast as he could.
His toe left the edge of the banister just in time for the explosive to hit the floor and a wave of hot air and fire sent them flying several meters away before landing hard on the pavement.
Both of them grunted, Gusion having tried to cushion their fall as hard as he could, which caused him a searing pain in the chest that got him holding his breath for a few moments.
Guinevere got off from him and looked back at where they came from. "Oh damn." She muttered.
Gusion's eyesight cleared, and only then did he saw the blazing tower of fire that had once been the King of Fighters HQ.
He clenched his teeth and forced himself to get up. "Come on."
He yanked Guinevere up on her feet.
"Are you alright?" She asked, trying to meet his eyes.
But he couldn't look at her directly in the eyes. "We have to keep going."
"What about the others?" She asked, looking up to see a bubblecar in the air being fired by the helicopter that dropped the explosive.
Gusion could make out Harley's form inside the car, and the shine of his cards as he tried to throw them far enough towards the figures in black on the next building.
He resisted the urge to go and help them. He knew there was something more important he must do. "They can handle it. We just need to find Claude."
He started running around alleys, Guinevere following right behind, panting and gasping for air but keeping up.
"CLAUDE!" He yelled. "CLAUDE!"
"Do you think they're there to retrieve Hanzo?" Guinevere asked.
"Apparently."
"But why now, of all time?"
Gusion halted and looked at her over his shoulder. He had been wondering about that, too. It was as if they knew their team would be doing doing something important tonight.
Then a thought came into his mind. Something he didn't want to believe but couldn't help suspecting.
"You said Baker also captured you right?"
Guinevere stared at him as if trying to figure out what he was trying to say.
Then a flash of surprised crossed her eyes, making her back away. "A-are you... suspecting me right now?"
The disappointment in her eyes looked so genuine he had to look away from her. "You've been proving yourself too manipulating lately, Guinevere. And you involved yourself too much in this event. You can't blame me for being too suspicious."
Her eyes glistened, and Gusion feared it could have been tears because she blinked a few times before looking at him straight again. And he knew right then and there how he screwed up.
"Having you push me away I could quite understand... But damn how it hurts to hear the doubt in your voice. It makes me realize how much of your trust I had lost."
She turned away from him immediately and headed the opposite direction as him.
"Wait!" He caught her arm before she could get further.
Guinevere faced him again.
And his chest turned all tight when he confirmed she was crying. Again. Because of him.
"It's not your fault." She still managed to say calmly.
Guinevere with violet hair was pretty. It made her look carefree and cool and beautiful in a rebellious-chick kind of way.
But Guinevere in curly brown hair? Ethereal.
Like staring at a goddess- a crying goddess, thanks to his idiocrisy, but a goddess otherwise. And he wanted to smack himself in the head for still finding her beautiful even when she cried.
"I-It was not my intent--!"
"This is all on me, Paxley." She cut him off. "This is all on me. So I promise you, I won't bother you anymore once you guys retrieve the cube."
"No, that is not what I'm--" He paused, having remembered the other reason he had on pushing Guinevere away.
There he was again, almost slipping in her irresistible charm.
He wasn't good for her. They'll just make each other drown.
And while he was so down into drowning into the depth of her own soul, he did not like to ruin her.
His selfishness would cause disgrace on her reputation and dishonor on her family.
That was the last thing he wanted to do to her.
"I'm here!" Claude's voice rang from the next alley.
Both of them scrambled to his direction, and met Claude halfway.
"Good. You survived." Claude said as soon as he saw then two of them. "You think the others did as well?"
"There's no time to pause and worry. Let's go!" Gusion urged.
They ran along the streets, hiding in the darkness whenever an helicopter with its search light came flying over their way and vans filled with guys with guns passed.
"Well, this also counts as the other Venom Squad baiting some of Baker's troupes away from that particular building, doesn't it?" Claude asked as the three of them had their backs pressed against a wall while walking sideways as another helicopter came flying low and searched for them.
"Yeah. This could really count." Guinevere answered. "You think that's half of Baker's troupes?"
"Let's hope." Gusion replied. "Let's go."
He spotted a car at the side of the street and ran towards it, Claude and Guinevere following. He merely grabbed the doorhandle and his venom armor seeped through its lock and a second later a loud click came audible and the car door opened.
"Hmm. Impressive." Claude commented, eyeing Gusion's armor as he slid into the passenger's seat of the car.
Guinevere, who came in the back, leaned forward to look at Claude. "In case you're having ideas, that suit couldn't be stolen." She informed. crossly.
Gusion ignited the engine and kicked the gas pedal hard.
"Why would I think about that?" Claude asked, feigning innocence.
"I don't know. Maybe because I once dreamt of being the King of Thieves at one phase of my childhood."
"You did?" Gusion asked, glancing at her through the rear view mirror.
Claude chuckled. "Really?"
"Yeah. So maybe you could make a girl live her fantasy sometime."
"Uhh...I don't know what you're talking about."
Gusion tried to keep his focus on the road and went at the fastest speed he could handle, but there was definitely something weird about Claude's defensive tone and Guinevere's sardonic statements.
"What is going on?" Gusion demanded.
"What is going on, Gusion, is that you trusted the wrong person. Again." Guinevere answered.
Gusion glanced at Claude, who looked like he had been cornered. "You have something to confess?"
"Uhh..."
"You've been looking for the thief all these time." Guinevere revealed. "He didn't even know what he stumbled into."
Gusion realized what Guinevere had been trying to say. "You stole the cube?!"
"I didn't exactly steal it!"
Gusion's fingers gripped the steering wheel, reminding himself to focus on the road ahead. "Then what do you call it? Borrowing without permission?"
"I just helped it get back to its rightful bearer."
"What are you talking about?! Where is it?!"
Claude blinked, guilt apparent on his face as he looked away from him. "Well... it is with its rightful bearer. But..."
"But what?!" He snapped impatiently.
"Well, the one who's supposed to keep it safe is--!"
"Gusion, watch out!" Guinevere interrupted, her hand flying to his shoulder to stop him from driving straight towards the gate of the property they were meant to enter.
Gusion kicked the breaks before they could get closer to the bridge.
The three of them climbed out of the car and surveyed the area ahead.
Tall metal bars blocked the bridge, yet Gusion was relieved to see it slightly ajar, and in front lied five unconscious guards in full gear, their frozen rifles lying just a few feet from each of them.
"Good. Karina and the others went through already." Gusion declared and yanked up a couple of unconscious guards. "Let's go change."
Claude took one of the others, dragging the man by his feet all the way to the building across, where they started undressing the poor beings.
Fortunately, one of the guards was a woman, and Guinevere was taking the liberty into stealing every one of her gears, leaving nothing but her undershirt and shorts.
Gusion buckled up the last strap of his vest and looked at his companions. "Alright, let's--!"
"Don't turn around, you idiot!" She snapped.
He whirled just as quickly as he faced her, but it was too late.
He caught a glance of her bare back as she was pulling up the guard's upper suit and the image of it in his mind seemed to have created some heat right on his throat and face.
"S-sorry. Sorry " he muttered too quickly.
Then his eyes fell on Claude in front of him, who was grinning.
"Saw something?" Claude teased.
"Shut up!" He grabbed him by the neck and turned him around to keep him from stealing a look at the changing Guinevere.
"I'm done." Guinevere announced a minute later, walking right next to them with a couple of holstered guns on hand.
Gusion turned to her and almost choked.
Guinevere had her hair tied up in a messy bun, the strands of her escaping at the sides of her face made her look even more appealing.
Gusion thought the lady guard's clothes would be slightly bulkier for Guinevere because of training, but as his eyes trained down on how the jeans fitted around her thighs as if it was going to rip any minute he realized how wrong he really was. And he had to make an effort to tear his eyes off it.
Guinevere cleared her throat, making Gusion realize he had been staring at her body for too long.
"Here, let me help." He offered, too eager to distract her from the fact that he had been caught hankering over her physique.
He grabbed one of the holsters, bent right in front of her and wrapped the strap around one of her thighs, trying but failing to focus.
Without really making an effort, Guinevere was really making it harder for him to ignore the attraction he felt for her that was gathering dangerously full in his gut, making his fingers tremble.
He quickly stepped away right after he was done because he had no idea what he was going to do if he stayed too close to someone he badly wanted.
"Let's go." He urged, going ahead towards the gate.
Only when they crossed the long bridge leading to the estate did they really see the ongoing battle right outside the main building.
Gusion stopped right at where the bridge ended and the pathway started, his fingers instinctively tightening on his rifle as he stared at the violence upfront.
"Oh..." Guinevere said, coming next to him. "I knew these guys are reliable."
On one of the lower roofs of the building stood Aurora, standing mighty and fearless as she hailed giant boulders of ice at every direction, freezing Baker's men and destroying their lines.
On the other hand, Karina was on floor level, exemplary at her own combat skills as she sweeped through their lines, knocking them off before they could even see her.
Claude laughed out loud and ran to Karina's direction, Dexter screeching excitedly on his shoulder.
"Where are you going?!" Gusion exclaimed.
"I'll catch up in a minute!" Claude answered and lunged right towards the flood of guards who parted to avoid him, which was simply wrong for them to do.
They gave Claude space and as soon as his boots hit the floor, he started shooting all around as he spin in a crazy manner.
Gusion had no time to watch him longer for a few of the guards spotted them and started heading to their direction.
He grabbed Guinevere by the elbows. "Come on. Stay close to me."
He started dragging her towards the rear side of the building, throwing anyone who comes near them with his tail and flicking his daggers at the ones who attempted to.
They were at some botanical garden overlooking a made-up river at the side when they heard several heavy footsteps, causing both of them to halt.
"A lot more is going to Aurora and the others." Guinevere stated.
"Which is good, don't you think?" He replied. "Now let's go in before we ruin this whole plan."
He yanked Guinevere into his arms and hauled them up to an upper balcony.
"What about Claude? Guinevere asked, looking over for the guy who was still hysterically happy shooting and spinning.
"He was able sneak and steal on the Saber Squad. He'll catch up."
He settled Guinevere down, and they walked in with their hands instinctively intertwining as if it was the most natural thing to do.
"Security breached. All units proceed to gate A. Security breached. All units proceed to gate A." A female command voice rang all over the building as they walked in, alomg with the sound of uniformed footsteps hurrying down the flight of stairs.
Gusion saw a door right at one corner, pushed it open and pulled Guinevere inside before any of the guards could spot them.
"Let's stay here until the corridors clear up." He said, realizing too late that there was barely enough space for them to move.
It was merely the storage room that had oval mechanical devices parked and stacked as if they were sleeping.
Guinevere leaned perfectly still at the corner next to the door, trying to give Gusion enough room in front of her, which was apparently still not enough.
Their bodies were merely separated by an inch, and Gusion could definitely hear both of their breathing in the muffled space they were in.
He was definitely aware of how fast his breathing was, caused by the lady right in front her who was proving to be irresistible by the second.
He stared at her eyes and wondered if he was fond of letting himself drown in its depths before like how he was getting fond of it now.
"W-what?" She muttered, looking at anywhere but him.
He reached for her chin, gently making her head tilt up to catch her gaze and held it firmly.
A crease formed between her brows and her hands came at his chest to push him.
But he contrasted her push and came even closer to her, his hand now cupping one side of her face.
"When will you start accepting," he began, holding her gaze firm. "that no matter what you do, or what this world does, I will always--always--gonna end up coming back to you?"
"Gusion..." She muttered.
The tone of her voice was enough yet again another stab of pain in his chest because it sounded begging; as if she was pleading to him not to hurt her even more.
"I just couldn't do what you want. I tried, alright? You know damn well I tried! But I just couldn't get myself to leave you, Guinevere." He trembled.
He was just sick of the world. He was sick of everything happening to them. He was angry. Mad. Frustrated. Tired.
"Gusion..." Guinevere pressed her palm against his face to calm him down.
It was amazing how her touch could agitate him and also calm him.
Maybe she was just so good at manipulating. Or maybe she only had that control over him.
Because he felt his breathing went into a stedy rhythm, her eyes looking like it was lulling him to sleep.
"You can." She said firmly. "I'm sorry I'm making things harder for both of us. But I swear, once this is over I'll leave. You will get the chance to forget me. To move on."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" He snapped.
Was it really this easy for her?!
He calmed down again when he noticed how she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Then he took a while to really stare at her form.
There was a disturbed crease on her forehead. Her jaws were clenched and her free hand was balled into fist.
She was also trying to calm herself down.
"What if I don't want to forget you?" He said defiantly, grabbing her by the waist that it left no space between them anymore. "What if I don't want to move on?"
"We ha--!"
Gusion was out of control. He kissed her, full on the lips, hard at first.
But this was also the reason why he just found himself a whirring ball of tension whenever he was with her; it was because of the fact that he knew--he felt-- she was feeling exactly the same way.
Despite of all the efforts she made to push him away, he felt this kind of force from her, pulling him towards her, as if she was saying the opposite of what she felt.
And his anxiety melted as soon as he felt her lips melt with his own and she started responding, her hands pulling him to her with such yearning that he trembled with his own suppressed passion for her.
He let out a sigh in her mouth, his heart shaking inside his chest.
Guinevere's lips kept ajar near his, taking it as a chance to catch her breath.
But Gusion kissed her again, this time gently, passionately, cherishing every spark he felt.
He ran his tongue across her upper lip, the feel of nostalgia hitting him as if the feeling of not getting enough of her taste was so familiar, as if this wasn't the first time he had to consume all of his energy suppressing himself.
His hands came at her back, pulling her tight as he pressed his body hard against hers, his fingers almost digging through her flesh with longing that he was afraid he might break her.
"Paxley..." She muttered, his name ending into a sigh as Gusion lowered his kisses down her neck, her arms clung around his neck desperately.
"What..." He whispered into the nook of her shoulder.
"The mission..." She sighed.
"I know..." His hands traveled down her back until they came in the healthy bulk below her hips.
He gave them a tight squeeze, pushing her body harder against his in the process, fueling the blazing fire in his system.
"Why aren't you stopping...?" She panted in a whisper, making it harder for Gusion to stop.
It didn't really help that she had her hands burried in his hair and was pushing him against her hard, as if urging him to continue what he was doing.
"Screw the mission..."
Screw everything that was happening.
Let everything fall into darkness.
At least in darkness,
He would be with her.
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"PAXLEY, SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Gusion blinked and Guinevere's impatient face came into view.
He was panting, the loud beating of his heart almost deafening, his entire body felt like it was being toasted.
He looked around.
They were still in the small storage room, his fingers still cupping Guinevere's chin and she had this anxious but impatient look on her face as she stared at him.
She slung his arm down to his side. "I NEED YOU TO FOCUS!" She scolded.
She wasn't gasping and sighing with desire just as he had in his mind.
And it irritated him even more that he was feeling disappointed about not having his lips all over her.
He had to turn away from her to keep himself from actually doing it to her, not only in his mind but in reality.
"Are you alright?" She asked, leaning to look at his face.
"I'm alright!" He snapped, embarrassed.
Yet his eyes still caught how the curve on her neck and shoulders were so slender that they looked perfect.
"Why do you have to wear your hair like that?!" He mumbled.
"What?" She asked, in a tone that clearly implied that she heard it and was mad about it.
He was almost grateful for the alarms going off because it shifted Guinevere's focus back into the mission.
"That's our cue. All the doors are closed. " Guienevere pushed the door open and ran out.
Gusion grabbed her elbow before she could turn to the corridor.
Her head whipped to face him, and the serious look on his face must have been the reason she hesitated on snapping at him for being so unfocused.
"Let's talk. After all this we need to talk."
"Gusion, that is if we'll be able to get out of here alive. I need you to focus for us to be able to do that."
He gripped her elbow tighter. "Just promise me we'll talk."
She stared at him for a moment, just a brief moment, but long enough to make one more crack on Gusion's already broken heart.
Why was talking to him hard enough that she had to actually think about it?
Then she sighed in surrender. "Alright. Once we get out of here, we'll talk."
He nodded and finally let go of her elbow. "Alright. Let's go."