Chapter 9: Rogues
In the darkness of the night, four individual are on a standoff of the centuries. Two of them armed with the real deal whilst the other two only have a tranc darts as their weapons. In a straight up gun fight, the twin would lose against both their suspect and a new player by the looks of it.
"Have you gone insane?! It would never worked!" Himari is against her twin's idea of approach
"Hey, trust my brain for doing what it was meant to do." Akio tried to convince her. "Stick to the plan and we'll be fine."
"Okay, here goes nothing."
Having established a plan, all they have to do is execute it. Himari uses her light footwork skills and run across the rooftops. Immediately some bullets went flying into her direction. She dodges the bullets whilst Akio uses the distraction to his advantage. He runs to the other direction to get to his vantage point. The plan is to split up so that they both can get into a position to capture both targets. Whilst they're focused on shooting her, he book it towards the female shooter side and utilize the hanging live wires in between buildings to his advantage.
He's now on the same roof as the gunshots still hasn't stop yet. His heart is beating fast as the adrenaline started to kick in. He aimed his gun towards his target's back with the finger ready on the trigger. He got a few shot out sending out small and fast needle laced with some nerve calming agent. The wind is blowing behind him boosting the needles to go faster, but only a few inches away to hit her skin, Kazemi jumped up and did a back flip pointing her guns mid air towards him.
'Ah shoot!'
She immediately fired shots after shots barely missing the male as he gets out of dodges. Genya noticed that the woman is not shooting at him so he quickly changes his target from the running female to the stationary one. He was ready to fire when suddenly he felt something stings his skins. He pulled out a prick and examines it. The moment he did that, his vision got blurry as his eyes is getting heavier by the seconds.
'Ah crap.' He thought before falling down
Now with the tall male out if the match, Himari could turn her focus to help her twin who is getting shot at the moment. She zips pass the fainted man and got her gun out. Kazemi noticed her presence and aren't gonna let her coming to close. She pulled out a submachine gun from underneath her clothing and pointed at her direction.
'Oh shit!'
Himari took cover as all hell broke loose. Bullets galore flying in her direction as she dived behind a concrete wall that was the staircase down. Both Akio and Himari are now trapped as the bullets rains down on them, until.
Click click click
Her bullets runs out. Noticed that the gunshot had stopped, both of them jumps out from their cover spot aiming for her. They tried to shoot out their darts but even they have ran out of ammo. They decided to chase the suspect on foot and get closer to her. Kazemi looked to both her side seeing that both ways are blocked, there's only one way left. That is forward. She back up for a running start and took a deep breath.
"Don't do it!"
"Desperate measure calls for desperate action." She said to herself
"Stop!"
She ran as fast as she could and jumped off the rooftop aiming for the other one. She was flying for a second until gravity took over. The cold wind blew through her fingers and she landed into a window and inside someone's elses house. She looked around to see a family of five currently eating dinner. They all made eye contact with her as they thought of who the hell she is.
"Sorry guys. Enjoy your dinner." She said before running for the front door
Not long after she had landed, another pair of windows is broke again and this time it was someone else who entered their households.
"What the f*ck is going on?!" One of the family members yelled
"Sorry, had to. Enjoy your meal." The female said before running off leaving them with their food covered in shards of sharp glass
As the two female are running down the stairwell, Akio, the only one who is smart enough to not jump across opted to grapple himself down onto the streets. Just as the male had jumped down the building, the door to the stairwell bursts open with great force revealing a brunette breathing heavily as she had just ran from a long distances. She looked around and found evidence that shots had been fired here. She looked until her eyes caught the motionless body of her partner.
"Barton!"
She went over to the man and luckily she found no blood on his body. Only a few needles sticking out from his suit and face. She pluck it off to examine it closely. As she sniffs it, it gave out a familiar scent.
"Ketamine."
Whew! Prop prop! Screech.....!
Just as she had said that, sirens blared and men yelling from down below. She instantly recognised it as the police. Judging from the sirens, there are five cars and a lorry. Probably Swat she presumed. She grabbed the male and lifts him over her shoulder and carries him to safety.
'How can this night gets any worse?'
_____________________________________________________________
"Where the f*ck are we going?"
It was midnight and two men are currently inside a car driving in the middle of nowhere. The yellow haired male didn't seemed to mind having to drive in the dark whilst listening to the whining of his partner for this covert mission.
"Quit your whining Meng." He blankly said
"How do I quit when you're the one who dragged me into this mess. At least tell me what the hell are we going!" Meng yelled
"We're on a hunt for a man." Zenitsu handed a file over. "His name is Rui Ayaki, a retired physicist."
"What does this dude has to do with our mission?"
"He was last employed by Dr. Kibutsuji himself and got fired a few years later. Coincidentally the time that he got fired was around the same time the former Agent Red Sun, was reportedly got killed."
"Former Agent? Are we picking up after a dead man's trail?"
"Not just that, but also for the former agent himself." Zenitsu calmly said
"I thought you said he was killed, like isn't he dead by now?" Meng gave him a side look
"The report did mentioned that the body was not recovered. They speculate that the blast of the explosion had disintegrate him whole. But if that's the case, then how come the scientist he was investigating survived?"
"Maybe because he isn't in the same room as him?" Meng speculates
"He is and the fact that his whole face got burned is evident that he's in the same room."
As soon as he had said that, Zenitsu steps on the brake and stopped right in front of a house in the middle of the woods. Meng looked at him with a "Are you serious?" face and Zenitsu simply steps out of the car.
"C-chotto matte! Where the hell are we?!"
"His house. Supposedly he lived here along with his family. Or so it seemed." He looked at the front porch
"What do you meant by that?"
"Do you remember our in agency's slogan? We're Tsugikunis not rogues." Zenitsu turns over to the male
"It was annoying yes."
"Well tonight we're no longer a Tsugikuni. From this point forth, we are rogues."
Zenitsu casually pulls out a real gun, like an actual gun instead of the non lethal one the agency uses. He got a silencer at the end of the muzzle and loaded with full ammunition. Meng sees the gun and had quite a reaction seeing it.
Since the beginning of his criminal days, he has been disliking the usage of a gun to take someone else's life. To him, it was loud and messy or some would say it, lack of elegance. He prefers to using a knife when he needed to kill someone quickly and stealthily. Less blood meant less time needed to clean his clothes, not that it matters since he already wears red as his primary colour of choice. He pulls out a butterfly styled knife and flips it until the double edge of sharp steel glimmers under the moonlight.
"Does a knife will be all you need to take down some enemies?" Zenitsu questions him
"A knife doesn't determines the kills, it's the user who does the killing." Meng casually flips his knife around
"Suit yourself. You want to take the front or the back?"
"Back of the house seemed nicer. I'll take that." Meng put on his mask
"Alright then, leave no witness. I think you get that quite down to a science already." Zenitsu said in strict tone
"My knife and I are ready. Lets get to killing."
As agreed, they both went on their separate ways. One tackles the front portion of the huge three stories house whilst the other goes around the back. Zenitsu crept up to the only window that has light lit up in it. He stood right beside it with his back against the wall and took a peek. He sees a chair right in front of a burning fireplace and it seemed like someone is rocking in the chair.
"Found ya."
He tried to lift the window up but it was locked. He went to another part of the house and tried to open the windows there. Still locked. As he was thinking of another way to get into the house, he heard the front door creak opened. He quickly dash over to the front and saw a girl taking out the trash. He didn't even hesitate and just shot her in the head. Her body flop down and laid on the ground with a pool of blood forming around her.
"One target down, a few more to go."
He went towards the slightly ajar door and enters the house. Meanwhile around the back, Meng had already gotten into the ho0use through the window on the second storey. He found himself inside a room with two beds in it. Judging from the accessories and make ups by the mirror, it was a girls room. He cautiously walk towards the door and put his ears against it. It was eerily quiet, a weird thing considering no one is in the beds, at least in this room that is.
'Coast is clear I guess.'
He twists the knob ever so slowly and open it just a crack to peek through it. He can see that the light is on but even that one single light is flickering. He opens the door further as it creaks loudly down the hallway. He took a step and the floorboards underneath him creaks as well. He grits his teeth acknowledging how annoying these floors are. Halfway towards the stairway, he was concentrating on not making too much noise. To the point that when a person opens up the door to the bathroom, his instinct kicks in and he stabbed her in the head mercilessly as not even a yelp came out of her mouth. He let her bloody body fall back into the bathroom as he slowly closes it.
'That was a bit messy.'
He forges onto the next room, it was situated right in front of the stairs that leads downstairs. He listens into it as well and hears nothing behind it. But he need to check it nonetheless, so he did what he had to do. He creaks it opened and found the room was very dark. He looks around the darkness as he wanders into the room. That's when he heard the door behind him closed shut. With a slight panic, he went back to try and open the door, but of course, it was locked.
'Ah shit. What should I do?'
The shivering cold atmosphere didn't help as he felt a stare coming from the darkness. Then he hears a giggle of a woman. He quickly turns around with his knife on the ready. He sees yet another door mysteriously opened and the voice seemed like it came from there. Meng wasn't that easily scared as he had been through worse, so with a stone cold face he went into the next room with such confidence.
The moment he steps in, he heard something snapped from underneath his feet. His senses went off as he just barely dodges a sharp sword swinging by his neck and got stuck into the walls. Upon close inspection, he noticed a bunch of strings hanging around and about. All of it seemed to be taut and shaped like as if a spider had laid out all of these strings. He uses his knife to cut one of them and came out poisonous arrows from his side. He ducked underneath all of it until it stopped shooting. Then the woman's voice echoed through the long hallway.
"Looks like someone is here to play~"
'What the f*ck?' Meng thought confusingly
"Come and play, that's if you could get close to me." The voice laughs it off
Meng feeling annoyed by the strings decided and basically thought 'F*ck this shit, I'm out.'. He turns around to go back through the door he just came through, only to find it was gone. He didn't realized that setting off one of the traps causes a wall to fall down and blocks the door making it as if it had disappeared. Meng clicked his tongue in annoyance as he looks at what he has to deal with right now.
'Ah f*ck it. I'll kill this bitch if it's the last thing I do.'
.
'I hear something upstairs. Is he alright up there?'
Meanwhile back downstairs, Zenitsu is slowly walking through some rooms trying to not make a noise. He doesn't want to kill if he doesn't need to but he's now a rogue. He literally cannot leave any loose ends, including the lives of each and every soul inside this house. That's the rule he abide by and will stick to it for the sake of his friend.
Using his heightened sense of hearing, he could easily locate the people inside the house. It was surprisingly big considering it was located in the woods in the middle of nowhere. Then he hears something whooshing by behind him. He turns around to find nothing. He tried to use his sharp sense to find the source. He hears heartbeats that doesn't stay in one place. He listens carefully concentrating onto one sound until,
'Above me.'
He didn't even bother looking up and points the gun directly towards the ceiling. He shoots multiple round and that sends a shadowy figure scurrying into a room with the fireplace. He reloads his gun and quickly went after it. But the moment he opens the door, what greets him next was nothing short from anything that came straight out of a horror movie.
"Didn't think we would be having visitor now are we?" A male voice spoke to him
"If I were inside a horror movie right now, you're the monster that lurks in the dark. And for good reason." Zenitsu shows a hint of disgusts on his face
"Is it that weird to see someone with six arms and two legs?"
"Very much so."
As the male had described, he is indeed a young male who seemed to have grown two more sets of arms than a normal human would. But they aren't fully developed so they looked like a spider arms more than anything. Zenitsu has faced quite some foe before, but never faced one with six arms. His face shows no fear and full of determination. But in the back of his mind, he was screaming. Even after all of his training and fighting with some of the most dangerous crooks out there, somewhere deep inside of him was still a bit of fear that had been instilled in him ever since he gets rejected for confessing his love to a girl.
'Calm down Zenitsu, this isn't your first time finding someone like this. Just remember your trainings.' He thought to console himself
"You know, you seemed like a fun guy to mess around with. Are you here for my little bro?" The male with six arms questions him
"Nah fam, I'm here to f*ck your mom." Is what he had said in his mind. Thankfully it didn't go through
"Which one?" Now he had said it, he immediately wants to facepalm himself
"I only had one little brother. If you want him, you got to go through me."
The male figure rolls his neck from left to right making a crispy neck cracking sound. The wood splitting in the hearth releasing the gas it contains which makes the fire go brighter. The tension was getting higher as Zenitsu quickly looked at his surroundings. He needed a way to defeat this guy quickly. But then, he realizes something very obvious.
"Fine by me."
He uses the gun that was clearly inside his hands and shot a few rounds. His opponent swiftly uses one of his six arms and grabbed a shield hanging on the wall. It did what it was meant to do and deflects his bullets. The figure grins when he uses four of his hands to wield a gun each. Zenitsu quickly noticed it and jumped behind a furniture. Hell was unleashed as loud sounds echoes through the whole house as multiple rounds of bullets was released. Slowly the bullets chips away at his hiding spot as he has no way of retaliating against such firepower.
"They say four guns is better than one." The figure casually reloads their guns. "You better get your ass out here before my bullets does the work for you."
"A little bit unfair don't you think?" Zenitsu simply said
'Well shit. He has four guns and a shield that could take a beating. What do I do to get out of this mess?!'
The sound of woods cracking in the hearth suddenly gave Zenitsu an Idea. Thanks to the onslaught from earlier, he knew that each gun can only fire seven rounds at a time. If his opponent were to be careful, he can shoot 28 times before he had to reload. Zenitsu reach over to a piece of wood that was part of the destroyed furniture and throws it to his left. Shots were fired and he took the opportunity to go to the right.
'Four bullets.' He thought as he slides behind another furniture
"You damn bastard aren't gonna escape me that easily!" He shoots a couple more rounds towards Zenitsu
'Ten bullets. Halfway there.'
Without an ounce of hesitation, Zenitsu kicked the couch he was taking cover behind and let it get shot numerous times. Each time a bullet was fired, he can count how many are there left. As expected, the furniture didn't last long and he had to use the shield function on his watch. The figure blindly fired at him as he gets closer with every step.
'Five.'
"Die you scum!"
'Four.'
'Three.'
'Two.'
"Get back!" The figure said as he's getting closer and closer to the fire
'One.'
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"Zero."
As Zenitsu was right in front of the man, the gun clicked with no bullets coming out. All four chambers are empty and as a desperate attempt, he swings the shield he was holding towards Zenitsu but he counters it and disarm the man quickly. The figure didn't think much as he was ready to use all six of his arm to punch but not before Zenitsu pulled his gun and shot the male in the head. Just before the body fell, Zenitsu grabbed it by the neck and shoved the body into the fire right in front of him. He looked at the burning body with a disdain look.
"Maybe not being to cocky would've helped. Now burn in hell."
He walks out the room through the door that was riddled with bullets. He can no longer sensed any presence downstairs, so he figured he would go upstairs and see what else to explore.
'Where did that bastard go?'
.
Boom! Bang bang! Fwoosh!
Meng in the meantime was dealing with numerous traps set by someone. He figured it was someone who's waiting for him at the end. Knife, guns, giant axe. You name it, they got it. It was hell from where he came from as he's finally at the end of the hallway. Looking a bit tired, he didn't give a shit and just kicked down the door ready to scream his thoughts out.
"Who the hell set up those traps?! Cause I will f*cking murder you now!" He roared
"Fufufu. Didn't think you would survived the traps I've set there." A woman giggled in delight
"You're the bitch who did it aren't you?" He points his knife at her. "Choose your last word wisely."
"Since you're still here and alive, why don't you play with me hmm? I got some interesting dolls that I wanted to tests on you." She grinned
"Dolls? A bit too old for dolls don't you think? Lets just get this over with."
Meng without any second thought lunges forward with knife in hand trying to get close to the woman. That's when his senses tingling. He move his head back and a blade just barely touching his neck whoosh on by. He did two back flips in a row and regain his composure after that close call.
"A bit too old you say? Well it's perfectly fine for all ages. Won't you agree my darlings?"
She pulls some strings with her own two hands and came out some creepy looking dolls wielding weapons such as sword and knife. Even a butter knife if you can believe it. But these aren't just any dolls.
'These smells. They're corpses. She's using dead people as her dolls?! That's f*cking disgusting.'
"Shall we crack on then?" The female giggled
"Whatever it takes to kill a psycho like you woman."
Meng raised his guard up as he sees four dolls armed with sharp weapons being controlled by nothing but strings. Normally if they were a living being, he would carve through them with ease, but now he's facing what essentially is a puppet controlled by their puppeteer. The lady moves her arms and the dolls reacts to her movements. Meng dodges a blade coming from his side and blocked an axe wielded by a pretty buff up guy. He knew stabbing them won't do shit so he did the next best thing. He pushed the axe away and climbed on top of the dead corpse. This time, he's the one controlling it. He let the other puppets to slash onto the guy he was on until no limbs were left attached on its body. He rolls down and landed right next to the window where moonlight penetrates through. That's when he sees it.
'Strings, like the great puppeteers.'
As the dolls went for an attack, he swiftly jumped and gracefully twists in the air and cuts the majority of the strings. Once he had landed, he sees one of them had already fallen limp whilst the other two seemed to be limping as well. He smiles knowing this and went straight for it. He pulls out a second knife and dance his way in between and cut the remaining strings till the corpse drop like they should've been the moment they're dead.
"So much for some stupid dolls. Ain't a match for someone like me." Meng looked at the female
"Oh really? Then, darling? Could you please handle him for me?" She called out
"With, pleasure."
Suddenly a deep husky voice replied to her calling and Meng already got a feeling that this is gonna be a challenge. Then a male body dropped from from ceiling and rose up almost as high as the ceiling would go. He got some strong beefy arms and armed with some sharp saw like blades along both his arms. And he seemed to be very angry.
"What's up big guy?" He took a stance. "Ready to die?"
"Stay away from my family!"
The big male figure charged for him as he jumped to the side causing it to ram into the walls. He got back up and saw his opportunity. He ran back towards his back and stabbed his knife into the body. The figure screamed as it reachs for Meng and pulled him off from his back. Meng couldn't hold onto his knives so he was unarmed and was tossed over to a wall. He blasted through to the next room as he suffers a bloody nose just from that.
"You're gonna pay for that." He spits the blood in his mouth
"Die!"
The giant charges for him as Meng grips his fists tightly. The massive fist was aimed at him but he jumped above it just to be at the same level as the guy he's fighting. He gave a one two punch and clearly it did nothing to the beast. He got punched back into yet another wall almost breaking it. He didn't give up as he launches from the wall to give another punch.
One punch, two punch, three. Even after receiving a thousand punch from this man, Meng never gives up as his face is filled with blood but the flame in his eyes never goes out. He throws punches after punches and it gets stronger with every hit. He punches it in the gut and the monster finally shows some blood on the floor.
"Gragh!"
Never wanna give him up, the male fiercely punches Meng into the floor bursting through and inside the living room. Thankfully Meng had blocked it or else he would've been knocked out. He look directly up and sees the male coming down through the hole. He rolls to his sides and felt the wind blowing through the room. He got back up on both feet with a stance. This time he's the one who charges first.
He ran and jumped above the fists that was meant for him and grab onto the neck of the beast with his full arm. He pulled him down and got into a chokehold position. With his opponent now struggling, he had to use all of his strength just to hold him down.
"Go to hell!"
"You first you ugly bastard."
Meng pulled on the neck as hard as he could and in one motion snapped the vertebrae in the neck. A few seconds later, the body had finally stopped moving and went limp.
'F*cking finally.' He looks at the hole. "Now to deal with that bitch."
He dropped the head and uses the dead body as a spring board to launch him back to the next floor. He got back up and wipes off the blood he got from the fight. With anger overflowing, he waltz right back into the room with the female he had fought earlier.
"Are you done dar- What?! Impossible!" The woman yelled
"Your husband I'm afraid is dead." Meng cracks his knuckles. "And you're next."
"You absolute piece of garbage! Die!"
The woman summons her spiders she had been using to tied up her opponents to create a new puppet for her dolls collection. These spiders were so small and plentiful so even if Meng had stepped and killed some of them, it's still wasn't enough to avoid him from getting entangled in the webs. The woman is now able to control his body using the webs she got.
"You motherf*cker, I'm gonna kill you!" Meng struggles
"You're gonna be begging for mercy after the torture I'm about to put you in. Lets see. First the arms, then the legs, then your whole body. And lastly, your head." She giggled
"Do what you want bitch, cause I ain't screaming for your damn pleas- Argh!" He got cut off when his arm was twisted
"Do scream as loud as you want. Cause no one will hear you." She licked her lips
"I do."
Bang!
With one shot through the head, the woman didn't even screamed. She just simply fell over with a bullet hole in her head. Meng looked behind him and saw the one and only male who he didn't know how glad he is to see him. But of course,
"What the hell took you so long?!" He wouldn't show it
"A little thanks would go a long way." Zenitsu reloads his gun. "Would you like me to free you or not?"
"Of course goddamnit! Get me down already."
"Right."
Zenitsu swings his knife to his side and that apparently hit the main chords of the webs releasing everything that was tied onto the webs. And that includes Meng who fell onto both his feet. He turns around and went close to the yellow haired male.
"Thanks I guess." He said whilst trying to pop his joint back in
"Good, now onto the final part." He shoots the ceiling. "Meeting the man himself."
Coincidentally, the place where he had shot had dropped a hidden staircase into the attic. Which is technically the third floor. Meng grabbed one of Zenitsu's knife as he had lost both his and went up. Zenitsu follows and what they found was a man sitting in his chair looking out the window. His face was pure white as it had to be surgically replace his old burnt face and it left him with quite some scars. His already white hair covers one of his eyes and it resembled of what looked to be a spider latching onto his face.
"Isn't it beautiful?" The young male spoke
"Is he the one we're looking for?" Meng whispered
"Dr. Rui. We finally meet." Zenitsu announced
"I had thought of this day would come, eventually." Rui calmly spoke
"Alright enough of this bullshit. Stand up with both your hands up." Meng ordered
"Either it was him or you. I already knew it would come down to this." Rui spins his chair around. "You don't even know with what you're getting involved with here."
"I know pretty damn well that you didn't just survived the explosion just by damn sheer luck." Zenitsu cocks his gun. "And the death of one of our own."
"You came here, killed all of my family member-"
"They weren't even your family. They're strangers being lumped up with you for no reason and died for nothing." Zenitsu coldly said
"You killed them and destroy my house, all for a man who is still alive." Rui was angry
"So you acknowledge that the man who had followed you, is still alive this very moment."
"Tell us where he is right now you son of a bitch." Meng is losing his patience
"You know damn well where he is. Now that my family is dead and my real family is dead as well, I might as well be dead too."
"Wait, no!"
Zenitsu quickly realized of what he was gonna do and dash for him before it was too late. Rui pulls out a gun that he hid beside his seat it is not for them, but for himself. Meng sees the gun immediately throws his knife as it travels past Zenitsu and spun its way until it hit Rui's hands that was holding the gun. As soon as he dropped it, Zenitsu jumped and landed on top of him. He dragged the male down onto the floor as he gets his fist out ready to punch the living hell out of him.
"Tell me, where is he at exactly." Zenitsu is losing his patience
"You know who I worked with. If I tell you, might as well die along with my family."
"I'll gladly do that if you just tell me where he is."
"Be my guest. If I were you, I would quit and run. Cause before you know it, the world you've known your whole life, will end in a matter of days. Kakh."
"No no no no no."
Right when Rui had finished his sentence, a white foam came out of his mouth. Judging from the sound and smell, it was cyanide poisoning. Zenitsu let go of the now deceased male collar and stood up in anger.
"F*ck! Why the hell do they all act like this?! Suicide like it was nothing. This is madness!" Zenitsu screamed in frustration
"So, what now airhead." Meng casually asked
"Now," Zenitsu calms down. "We burn this place down to the ground."
"Don't have to tell me that twice."
As the two men are on an agreement, they both head downstairs and out of the house after they had planted some explosive in the house. They got back into their car and drove away from a massive fireball right behind them. They couldn't careless if the poor bastard of a professor died on his own volition. All they cared about is for the intel he had given and now they're onto the next leg of their journey.