While Don and April had their moment, the woman tried to get up. Ion had placed his foot firmly upon the woman's stomach to keep her pinned to the ground; meanwhile, Jessica was standing above her head. She was leaning over and looking down at her. Jessica gave her a smirk and playful wink before leaning back and placing her hand over the woman's face. Then, all Jessica had to do was drop the ball of fire, and the woman's face would ignite.
The woman glared at them while gritting her teeth. She couldn't see a way out of this. Sure, she could spin her body and trip Ion, but Jessica would just burn her to a crisp. If she tried to knock Jessica aside in any way, she was sure Ion would take action. Moreover, she felt far too exhausted to use her Seed. In fact, she had been trying to call upon it for some time now, but it wouldn't activate. Things were beginning to look hopeless for her.
"You know." Ion leaned forward, applying more pressure to the woman's stomach as he put his hands on his knee while looking down at the woman. "You have been a thorn in our asses for a while now. Always following the General's orders, always doing as you are told. But I am curious, why? Why don't you seek your freedom? Why follow the orders of a senile old man?" Ion only got the idea to question the woman from Don. After all, Don was originally going to question the woman; however, Ion did not know what Don would ask. So, Instead, Ion decided to ask his questions.
The woman was confused as to why they weren't going to kill her immediately. Regardless, she saw this as an opportunity to think of a way to get out of this predicament. So she indulged Ion's question. Jessica didn't care for the woman or her reasons for being someone else's tool, but she did respect Ion. So if Ion were curious about things, she would hold herself back.
"Why else? I am bound to them. I can not escape. There is no freedom. I can only follow his orders." The woman answered as she looked around the area for anything that could be useful.
"No escape? Aren't you free now? What's stopping you from running away? No one is here beside you." Ion replied to the woman, who looked back at him and shook her head. "Wrong. They are everywhere. Even if I do run, they will find me. If I fight back, they will kill me. All I can do is obey them." The woman retorted.
"And we won't kill you?" Jessica snickered at the woman, who glared at her without giving her an answer.
A sigh escaped Ion's lips, and he shook his head. "Well, whatever. I don't like fighting weaklings. So unless he wants to ask you any questions. You can leave." Ion motioned towards Don with a thumb.
Don was making his way towards them, with April smiling at his side. Jessica looked up at Ion when he said they would let the woman go. "Are you serious!?" Jessica inquired, and Ion nodded.
"Unless you want to kill a weakling like this. I was only injured because I wasn't taking the fight seriously. If I had used my Limiter Release, she would have been demolished. I mean, you weren't taking the fight seriously either, right? You didn't even use Warp or Shared Sense." Ion remarked, which caused Jessica to give him a blank expression before smirking. She dismissed her balls of fire and stepped back. "Ah, whatever." She remarked. Ion removed his foot from the woman's stomach and moved back once Don was beside the woman.
"Now then, Little Hitwoman. Tell me something, why is the World Government after me?" Don's eyes had cleared up,' although he did have a stern and strict look. His voice was also giving off an intimidating vibe.
The woman looked up at Don and saw that the haze from before was gone. It was almost like he was an entirely different person. She decided to sit up slowly. "and If I refuse to answer?" The woman inquired.
Don's lips would curve into a smirk. "Do you really want to find out?" The woman could see that she was mistaken. Don wasn't an entirely different person. He was still the same deep down inside. It was something else. She couldn't quite place it, but maybe...
"I'd rather not." The woman shook her head. Her eyes settled on April, standing beside Don with her arms behind her back. April was idly bouncing from one heel to the other with a bit of sway of her hips.
The woman's eyes then shifted back towards Don after a moment. "Your question. When you disobeyed the General's orders and fled with the Doctor, the General labeled you as a criminal. You are to be killed on sight alongside those around you." The woman answered, which caused Ion and Jessica to sigh lightly. Don narrowed his eyes at the woman. "But why?" April inquired before Don could even speak up.
"Why? Because the World Government is the New World Order. Anything and everything they say goes. Anyone who disobeys them is criminalized and will be hunted down and executed on sight. Even if you kill me, someone else will come after you. It could be another hitman, a General, or even a Warlord. No one escapes the World Government." The woman answered. Her response was cold, which caused April to shiver in response. As for Don, he shook his head. "Pushing that aside. How did you find us?" Don asked bluntly.
"I tailed you. Did you think you were the only one with a motorcycle? All agents of my status are allowed personal vehicles. Once I tracked you back to your base, I saw just how many people were there. I wasn't sure if there were more or not, or even who was capable of what. So I decided to wait until you left. I would kill you in isolation; however, it seemed you somehow dodged my attack..." The woman showed disappointment when Don evaded her attack and deflected it. "Speaking of which, how did you know?" The woman inquired.
"If you call that stalking, then you are a sorry excuse for a hitman. Your killing intent was leaking all over the place. I am surprised no one else was able to detect you." Don stated, which drew out question marks from Ion, Jessica, and April's heads.
"Now that you mention it... I did feel a chill in the air." Ion said while thinking back on it.
"Yeah. It felt rather odd." Jessica added.
"Mhm, like someone was watching us. I just figured it was the bugs, though." April pitched in after realizing that what she felt was actually another person staring at them.
The woman's cheeks turned a shade of pink out of embarrassment. "I see... I'll be sure to keep that in mind for next time." Then, the woman would comment softly.
"One more question." Don spoke up, which drew her attention.
"How long have you been here?" Don peered over the woman.
Her combat suit covered her hand so that he couldn't see the number on her hand. The woman's brow rose curiously. It was an odd question, to begin with. "At least seven years. I arrived here when I was nine." The woman answered, which caused Don to nod. "And you didn't go home after the first year?" Don asked.
Sure this wasn't the 'final' question, but this question just came out of nowhere.
"I couldn't." The woman shook her head.
"The World Government found me. They saw what I was capable of and enslaved me. I tried to escape, but they pretty much killed me and revived me. I would attempt to escape each time, but they would just kill me and revive me each time I did. Finally, when I tried to wish to go home, they killed me and revived me. After the eight-hundredth time, I just stopped counting. I lost hope in ever getting home and decided to follow the General's orders. After all... no one escapes The World Government." The woman explained with a broken smile.
"Jesus... dying over and over like that..." Jessica muttered.
April grimanced at the thought.
"Revive...?" Ion inquired.
Don glanced at Ion since Ion had the same thought as him. "Yeah. They had a person who could cure the undead and bring people back to life while fully healing them. That person died a couple of years ago, though. Their Seed had the drawback of aging them each time they brought someone back. The World Government has yet to find a replacement, but I assume they want the Doctor because of her ability to save people from near-death states." The woman answered.
A brief silence overtook them, and everyone seemed to let their thoughts roll around. "So... can I go now?" The woman asked, which caused them to perk up and look at the woman. "Yeah. Do whatever you want." Don stated.
Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. Sure Ion and Jessica planned to let her leave, but they figured Don would have killed her. "But, if you come at my friends or me again..." Don glared at the woman, "I will kill you." The way he spoke those words was like an oath.
The woman released a heavy sigh. She wasn't too fond of being killed and knew Don was serious. The only reason she even answered any of Don's questions was simply out of kinship. From one hitman to another. She had a form of respect and admiration for the man. After all, he appeared relatively young. So, just like her, he was trained at an extremely young age.
"Well, I may not come after you, but others might." The woman stood up and dusted herself off. The feeling of numbness all along her body caused her to stumble a bit when she got onto her feet, but she managed after that. "Are we really going to let her go?!" Jessica inquired while looking at Ion, who closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.
Jessica looked towards Don, who nodded. "Ugh... Fine. But if I see her again, I will burn her!" Jessica exclaimed with a pout. Perhaps she still wanted to hurt the woman. Probably because the woman hurt Ion, but who knew?
April watched the woman walk away.
"Umm... wait!" April called out to the woman, which caused her to stop in her tracks. Don looked at April, who had this concerned expression. "What about your mission? What will happen to you?" April asked. The woman was honestly awestruck. April generally seemed like she cared, which was odd, considering April was about to kill her moments ago.
"What about me?" The woman called back.
"I mean... Won't you be punished or something? Why would you go back knowing what will happen?" April asked, and the woman sighed softly.
"Because I can not escape." The woman replied as if repeating the same thing she had said earlier.
"Then come with us!" April exclaimed, which caused Don's brow to rise. Jessica looked at April like she was crazy, and even Ion was dumbfounded. The woman was just as stunned as the others. "What...?" The woman muttered.
"Sure, you hurt Don, but so did Jessica and Ion. I figured you were out to kill him for no reason, but you are only following orders to stay alive right? So, why not come with us? If you come with us, then you won't have to return to them. You won't have to follow their orders, and you can live."
"You saw how strong we are. We can take on anyone who comes at us! If we fight together, we can beat anyone who tries to hurt us. I am sure you've seen the number of our people. We have a wonderful atmosphere with food, water, and shelter. I may not know what it is like on your end, but I am sure it will not be as fun as ours. We laugh and smile every day. So why not join us?" April expressed as she steadily made her way toward the woman. Once she was within arm's reach, she would extend her hand out.
The woman turned around to look at April. She saw a warm and friendly smile on her face—something she had never seen once in her life. The warmth felt odd... but gentle. It was nice. She could feel her heartbeat race. This was an entirely new feeling.
"Uh... Umm... I would just bring more problems. Besides, even if you people are strong. The General and the Warlords are super strong! So how can you say you will be safe..." The woman retorted.
"So what? Don's plenty strong, and I know he's only gonna get strong. Ion was able to fight one-on-one with Don in a brawl, so he's pretty strong too, and Jessica is also strong! We have a lot of other strong people too. Rebecca is pretty badass. She is also pretty cool-headed and can make sound judgments under pressure. She's like a second in command."
"John, Josh, and Jake are also pretty strong. They were able to fend off Jessica! Plus, Josh is suuuper smart! He knows what to tell others and what not to tell people. He can be a bit cold at times, but I know he is just looking out for everyone. John is like a teddy bear. He likes to observe what goes on around him and make sure everything goes smoothly." April expressed warmly while making big expressive motions with her arms and hands.
"As for Jake. I think he's a pothead, but his laid-back demeanor makes him fun to be around. He is even a jokester. But, of course, he likes pretty girls. I heard he was about to do whatever Jessica asked of him, but Josh stopped him." April chuckled lightly at the recalling memory.
"Then there is Juan, Catalina, and their daughter Sofia. They are just the cutest family. Sofia is suuuuuuuper duuuuuper adorable. I just want to hug her all day long! We also have Alice and Sarah. We have only known these people for a few days, but we can already tell they are great people. Alice and Sarah went through something traumatic but are hanging in there. They are strong girls, and I stand behind and support them every step of the way!" April continued.
"Then there is Ryan, Dillian, and Susan. I've talked with each of them personally. They have led a pretty calm life until now. Being brought here caused them despair, but I think with Rebecca's help, they will make it! We also have a dorky little crafter called Noah. He's pretty cool and easy to talk with. Then there is Tyrone, we also just met him as well. I don't know much about him aside from the fact that he has a pretty calm life as well, but he's easy to talk to." April seemed to go on and on.
"And lastly, John's Mother. Without her, I highly doubt any of us would have been able to have this warm and friendly environment. I suspect she doesn't realize it, but she holds everything together. We can all smile and have fun conversations because she keeps everyone from despair. Sure, she isn't super strong like Don, but she is amazing in her way!" April expressed firmly.
"So, I assure you that you will be fine with us. So, I ask again. Please join us?" April once again extended her hand outward towards the woman. Don had his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed with a soft smile across his face. Ion had been blushing a bit while scratching his cheek. Jessica couldn't seem to find it in her to disagree with April. In fact, she wanted to support April. Something about her gave off this warmth she hadn't felt in years. It was friendly and beautiful.
Jessica wasn't the only one who felt this warmth. The woman also felt it. She had steadily begun to raise her arm. April's words caused some emotion to swirl within her. The woman began to feel like she could live without being a slave... maybe she could be free...
"I..." The woman murmured.
"I... will..." She continued.
No matter where she looked, it didn't seem like anyone would disagree with April. No matter what thoughts she had, April's resounding warmth about those around her seemed to ease her worries.
The woman began to recall her questions to Don. Why he was here... Why he was traveling with others... Why was he not alone... Her questions were being answered.
The reason Don was with others. The reason Don wasn't alone. It was because of April. April was a warm, bright light. So much so that April could accept Don for who he was, a hitman. If April accepted him, why would she deny the woman? The only reason the woman was going to kill Don was that she didn't have a choice. It was for only survival, but if she had a choice... would she need to kill Don?
No.
Nothing stopped her from escaping now, and nothing kept her from going home. With these people, she felt like the time to go home was soon. So she came to her conclusion.
"I will--!"