Luna stood in the living room facing the TV.
She was dressed in one of Marcus's T-shirts, with her hair tied up in a ponytail. Her expression was relaxed and her hands were to her side.
On the tv, was a video of a man dancing a shine, which was used when a person danced salsa alone.
He began moving his hips sharply as he outstretched his hands. He then pulled his hands back toward his chest as he cocked his head back.
Luna copied his movements flawlessly. Her expression was blank, yet her eyes burned with determination.
As the man continued dancing, so did Luna, her small frame coping with every movement as she nodded her head to the music.
Marcus and Kael meanwhile, were dancing their own battle.
"Answer me!" The target shouted once more, his gun now pointed at Marcus. "You're the one who chased me, so how about I start with you, what do you want!?"
"It's a little late to be asking questions now." Marcus said, unintentionally smirking, "but you can hope for now is a gentle beating."
"Marcus," Kael said in frustration as he glared at him.
"You think this is a fucking game kid?" The target asked as he pressed his gun back onto the woman's head, causing her to whimper as she looked at Marcus with wide eyes. "Her life hangs in the balance bro, if I were you I'd wipe that stupid look off your face."
Marcus nodded as he fixed his expression. "Sorry, bad habit."
The target was trimmed, and he looked around the surrounding area. "I know you two aren't alone." He said angrily, "Come out!" The target shouted.
Both Marcus and Kael looked around, yet neither of them spotted anything out of the ordinary.
"Hey, man." Marcus said as he took a step toward the target, "No one is here except us, just relax, alright." He said softly, his hands outstretched reassuringly.
"Get back!" The target shouted at Marcus, he gently pulled on the trigger, causing Kael on Marcus to freeze up. "Ten seconds!" The man shouted, "You have ten seconds to show yourself!"
"Who are you talking to?" Kael asked, his voice shaking, "it's just us, and you."
The target frowned as he tightened his grip on the woman's neck, causing her face to redden as tears streaked down her cheeks, "nine!" The target shouted.
"Stop!" Kael exclaimed as he took a step forward, causing the target to quickly aim his pistol at him, "don't take another stop." The target hissed.
"Just let her go!" Kael said angrily, "She's innocent!"
The target had an annoyed expression washed over his face as he slightly lost his grip, "Of course she's innocent, that's why I got her." He said angrily before glancing behind Marcus, "Eight!" The target shouted.
Luna meanwhile, continued her dance practice. Lost in her own words of dance and music, completely oblivious to the struggle Marcus was now facing. Her movements were precise and fluid, leading to her flowing through the dance like water flowing down a river.
Marcus's heart was pounding, but not with fear or anxiety. It was with excitement and adrenaline. The moment that the target either killed or released his hostage, Marcus would kill him.
Whether he needed information or not.
But Marcus' inner thoughts remained just that, thoughts, as his expression betrayed none of his emotions.
"Seven!" The target called out.
There was a brief moment of silence as Kael opened his mouth to speak once more.
Fortunately, he was cut off by the arrival of the lieutenant, emerging from behind him with raised hands.
"L-Lieutenant?" Kael stammered as he looked over his shoulder, "You were still trailing us?" He asked.
Lance nodded as he continued to approach the target, "Yeah, I wanted to see if you could handle this guy on your own…."
Kael sighed deeply as he took a step back.
Marcus breathed a sigh of relief as well, yet he was a little bummed out about Lance's arrival. With the lieutenant here, things were about to end fairly quickly.
"I knew it." The target hissed. "Get over here!"
Lance smirked as he walked forward, his hands still raised chest high. His expression was unreadable, and his movements were slow and delicate.
The true beauty of a professional.
"What's your name?" Lance asked.
"Carlos." The man answered.
"Carlos, my name is Lance." The lieutenant replied.
Carlos narrowed his eyes as Lance grew closer.
"Stop!" Carlos shouted, "Stop right there." He gestured to the spot that put Lance just in front of him.
Lance nodded as he obliged. She stopped directly where Carlos had asked.
"I've done what you asked, now I ask that you release this woman," Lance said in a neutral voice, neither demanding nor desperate.
"No." Carlos answered, "You'll just kill me the moment I do."
"Carlos we were never looking to arrest or kill you, we don't have the right nor authority to."
"Then what do you want?" Carlos asked.
"For you to release that woman," Lance answered.
Carlos narrowed his eyes, "I'll let her go if you answer one question."
"I'm listening."
"Does your chest hurt?" Carlos asked with a sincere expression.
Lance raised an eyebrow, he looked down at his chest. "No, no I d–"
Before he could finish speaking, Lance's chest exploded, followed by the sound of a loud gunshot from a distance.
Marcus and Kael's eyes widened as they watched Lance drop to his knees. His chest was opened wide, revealing a hole where his heart and by extension his implant, should've been.
Lance face-planted in the dirt, his body twitched for a second before his blood began pooling beneath him.
"Sniper!" Kael shouted to Marcus as he ran back from Carlos.
Marcus hadn't moved, his gaze still enraptured by Lance's corpse. He slowly raised his head up, looking in the direction from where the bullet had come, noticing that same unfinished skyscraper Kael had spotted earlier.
This was a setup…..
Marcus turned to look back at Carlos who had the gun pointed to his head, "You can't stop progress." He said with a smirk before shooting himself in the head, blasting his brains all over the walls of the unfinished parking garage.
— — —
Hours earlier.
It's been a day since CJ and her sister Dina, had arrived in New York. They were sent here with the mission of eliminating Organization Officer Lieutenant Lance.
Apparently, he had been investigating the Kiba mercenary group and was getting dangerously close to some important information.
And now he had finally left the safety of the training complex back in Manchester, leaving him open for the perfect opportunity.
"We'll set up the trap here," CJ said, pointing at the new expansion area, on a map on a table. "I'll take up position on the unfinished skyscraper, Dina, I want you to be here." She pointed at the area with the parking garage and unfinished office building.
Dina sighed, "Can't we just get one of our troops to do it?" She asked, her voice muffled behind her iconic mask.
"No, you'll be back up in case Lance doesn't take the bait," CJ explained, she then looked over at Carlos, who was a loyal servant and a close aide to Dina. "And you, will lead the rookies to the trap, understand?"
"Ma'am yes ma'am!" Carlos said with a salute.
CJ nodded with a satisfied expression, "Good."
"So how are we supposed to kill this guy," Dina asked, glancing over at CJ's sniper.
"I've been given six EI bullets, enough for a full magazine. As long as I hit his Implant directly, he should die almost instantly."
Dina sighed. "Alright, come along Carlos."
— — —
Marcus was confused on what to do, he looked over at the woman, who seemed genuinely distraught, yet Marcus couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about her.
"A-are you alright ma'am?" Marc asked as he approached the woman.
"Stay away." The woman whimpered, "Stay away."
"Marcus we gotta go!" Kael hissed, hidden behind cover, "That sniper could still be out there."
Marcus frowned as he looked back to where the sniper had fired from. He couldn't see the glint anywhere, so the chances of the sniper still being there were unlikely.
"They're gone," Marcus said with a frown.
"You don't know that!" Kael replied angrily.
Marcus turned his attention back towards the woman, his frown spreading across his lips as he narrowed his eyes. "Come on." Marcus said, "We need you for a statement."
The woman continued to tremble, her eyes wide with fear. Marcus sighed as he approached the woman, yanking her up by the hand.
The woman hastily rose up, stumbling forward as she pressed a hand against Marcus's chest for support.
Kael frowned but remained silent.
The woman, visibly surprised and shaken looked up to Marcus with wide eyes. But her eyes weren't filled with genuine fear. Marcus didn't know what to call it, but he had seen genuine fear before, this, whatever this woman was feeling, it was not fear.
It was then that Kael shouted out. "Marcus!" He exclaimed, darting away from his cover, aiming a hand towards the woman.
The woman quickly unsheathed a knife and plunged it upwards into Marcus's jaw. The pain was like a white-hot burn, it was searing the inside of his mouth like it was a stake.
She then yanked the knife out, and blood gushed from the wound like a fish being gutted.
Kael fired off two air shots powered with ether from his palms. The woman waited no time in dragging Marcus's body and using him as a shield.
The air bullets hit Marcus's back with a powerful impact, cratering deep and drawing blood.
Marcus coughed up a clot of blood as a result, it smeared over the woman's face, yet she wasn't fazed in the slightest.
"Give up now!" She demanded as she held Marcus close, aiming her knife directly at Marcus's heart. "The mission doesn't involve killing you, but I won't hesitate."
Marcus chuckled as the woman held him. Her arm wrapped around his neck as her knife hovered over his heart.
He could feel her heart racing behind his back, leaving no doubt that her adrenaline was pumping, making her just that much dangerous.
Kael grimmised, frowning at Marcus as he held his hand toward the woman.
"Dammit Marcus." Kael hissed, "All you had to do was listen."
"Just shoot through me," Marcus suggested.
"Are you stupid?" Marcus hissed, "Your previous wounds hadn't healed yet."
Marcus sighed, he knew why his wounds hadn't healed as fast as usual. It was because this woman was using an EI blade, similar to the one that masked women used at the airstrip.
"I'll be fine," Marcus explained.
The woman tightened her grip around Marcus's neck, as she pressed her knife on Marcus' chest, "do you really wanna test that?" She threatened.
"Ok!" Kael said loudly as he lowered his hands. "Ok, just let him go."
The woman shook her head. "Not happening, I wanna see you leave, then I let this bastard go."
Kael frowned but nodded. He took back several steps while facing her. The woman gestured for him to continue.
He sighed as he took a few more steps back, and then he turned around and walked away, glancing over his shoulder with narrowed eyes.
As Kael disappeared in the distance, the woman breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"You know I could still kill you, right?" Marcus asked.
"I'm going to count to ten." The woman said calmly, "During those ten seconds, you will walk forward without looking back, do you understand?"
"Wait," Marcus said. "I have a question."
"Not interested." The woman said coldly, before beginning her count, she pushed Marcus forward, "One…"
Marcus stumbled forward, however he didn't let that distract him from asking. "The Mayflower!" He shouted. "What does the mayflower have to do with your group?" He asked turning around, only to see the woman scaling the parking garage, slipping inside through an unfinished window.
Marcus watched her with a frustrated expression, before turning his attention back towards Lance.
His lifeless body was a strange sight to see.
He barely knew the lieutenant, so he wasn't really torn up about his death, yet it felt wrong to be so nonchalant about it.
"Fuck." Marcus said with a soft sigh as he reached a hand for his temple. Not only was the lieutenant dead, but he failed to get any information. "If only Luna was here…."
Meanwhile, Luna was still happily dancing away without a care in the world. The music played loudly as she continued to move her body with the beat.
Just as she finished dancing, she heard the front door open. And Kael quickly burst through. "The lieutenant's dead." He said, his breath ragged and heavy, "and they got Marcus, I think…."
Luna paused dramatically, her eyes slowly turning to face Kael. "You left Marcus?" She asked coldly, her joyful expression gone.
Kael flinched, "Y-yeah, but only because I had to, they killed the lieutenant." He explained.
Luna narrowed her eyes. "Where's Marcus?" Luna asked.
"He's out near the new construction site, but the lie–"
Luna sped past Kael, darting out of the room and towards the stairs that led to the ground floor.
Kael stood at the door with a distraught expression. "The lieutenant…." He whispered to himself as he dropped to one knee.