New story huzzah. Multi chapter this time, if I can get it off the ground lol. Hope you enjoy.

Hunted

"…..though the creature was quickly dealt with by heroes from the Hero Association. In other news, Sir James Falkret, the CEO of the multi-billion dollar electronics manufacturer FoneTEq has been found dead on his property in the early hours of this morning. Though the police and FoneTEq have yet to make a statement, initial reports suggest that he may have been murdered. We are awaiting a statement from the chief of police. Now for the weather-"

Dead, huh? He was supposed to be my hit later this week. Did my client look elsewhere or something?

Sonic pulled his small phone from his hoodie pocket, looking for missed calls, texts; anything that could suggest what was going on. Maybe this was the work of someone else, and they had simply given the order first?

Well that was supposed to be this month's rent money. S'pose I'll have to look for a new job if I don't wanna end up out on my ass.

What a pain. He'd find out who had done this and make damn sure they knew better than to steal his targets in the future. The situation as it stood was pretty dire, he was losing a lot of jobs recently and his savings were almost gone. If he couldn't turn this around, for the first time since leaving the ninja school he'd be officially broke.

Come to think of it, work has been difficult for a while now. This isn't the first time one my targets has been done in or gone missing from right under my nose, clients have been hiring me for bodyguard duties and then cancelling before I've even started, and even my most faithful clients have been almost silent for weeks now. Is the Hero Association behind this? I'll torch the place if they're messing with me!

Sonic felt real physical relief an hour later when his phone rang with the screen displaying the name of one of his best clients, a multi-millionaire who traded mansions during the day and imported vast quantities of drugs by night. His colleagues who knew nothing of his drugs cartel thought he was unnecessarily paranoid hiring a personal bodyguard but Sonic's real job was to protect him during meetings and deals with other drug lords and suppliers. The nice thing about this job, apart from the prospect of not ending up homeless by the end of the month, was the fact that working for rich old men meant he got to hang around their vast mansions and go to fancy restaurants.

The Boss wants you here by 8pm – front gate. Wait for the car.

The texts informing him of work were never particularly detailed, though this was probably for the best should he ever lose his phone and have it picked up by some moron hero.

They didn't specify smart clothing, so I'm gonna go with the assumption this may get ugly. At least there's the possibility of trying out my new sword.

…..

As it turned out, this wasn't just a small get together between "business partners" to discuss plans. Every major drug and weapons lord throughout the cities was here, and they all had extensive teams of armed men protecting them. Sonic got no small amount of satisfaction from the fact that his employer, Mr Deniro only had a small team in comparison, made up of Sonic and his two most trusted employees, the ego boost didn't last for long as the sheer boredom set in. The room itself was beautiful, huge and panelled in white-painted wood decorated with French baroque motifs and small flowers painted in gold. On the parallel wall were large gothic windows nearly reaching the ceiling, though they had been closed off behind curtains hours ago. Grand glass chandeliers reflected on the excessively polished walnut table which was large enough to seat all 12 of the drug lords. Sonic would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy working for rich people, the shame being that most of the time these jobs involved standing around trying to look scary for hours on end.

The ornate double doors suddenly flung open, with the final member of the congregation arriving late, followed closely by a huge team of suited bodyguards….and one figure in particular who caught Sonic's eye.

"So sorry for being so late, we encountered some trouble with one of our suppliers."

The man certainly didn't look particularly sorry, calmly walking over to his seat amongst the others with his huge private army having to push their way in amongst all the other bodyguards.

Well, all except for one. The one Sonic couldn't stop staring at, not caring even slightly if his staring was obvious. The tall figure all in black. Chest length hair the colour of burnt wood, which had been half tied at the back. The inscripted strap of a sword sheath pulled taut over a broad chest. And the sharp brown eyes staring right back.

One of his former classmates from the ninja school.

This only means trouble.

Sonic made sure that his gaze didn't once waver or move from the eyes of the ninja stood in front of him. There was no way in hell he was going to allow himself to appear frightened or weak in front of someone like him. The last hour of the meeting was easily the slowest hour of Sonic's life, and if it hadn't been for his professional-killer charade he always put on at work he would have let out an enormous sigh.

"I wondered if I'd run into you, the others warned me it might happen."

Sonic turned and took a step back, his face stoic.

"They say you're calling yourself 'Sonic' now?" The other ninja's mouth turned upwards in a half grin which Sonic would have given anything to slice off his face.

"It's Speed of Sound Sonic, actually. And it's pretty apt really, considering how none of you could ever hope to keep up with me." Sonic crossed his arms over his chest and slanted his hip. "That was quite some time ago now "Sonic", are you sure you should still be so cocky? I'm not surprised you haven't grown out of your arrogance, not even the masters at the school could beat it out of you. I felt bad sometimes" that small smile inched upwards, and Sonic was just about ready to tear it off with his hands, fuck getting his sword out for this loser.

"Hmph, the reality is that when I say none of you could keep up, I was including the fucking instructors. You know what tradition does? It chokes you, restricts you and holds your potential down until it dies pathetically. Like you will. Every single one of you are pathetic because you refuse to see how much you've stepped on your own feet by sticking to what you have been told to do. Everything you do is "traditional", and therefore very easy to predict."

"Sonic! What are you doing? The boss is waiting to go!"

"Well I wish I could say it's been fun, but that would be like saying I enjoy fucking cacti."

The ninja chuckled lightly, "it has been most interesting "Sonic". I hope we'll be seeing more of each other in the future."

Over your dead body.