"Sir, we have a hostage situation and they're demanding for an escape helicopter." The officer spoke into a car radio.
"How many hostages are there?" The chief asked.
"We are unsure, but there are more than one. The hostiles threatened to kill off hostages in 30 minute intervals unless they get that helicopter," he replied hastily.
The chief clicked his tongue and thought for a moment, he took a deep breath and spoke with a hushed voice, "... I'm sending in the girls."
"But sir..."
"It's for the safety of the civilians, stand down until they arrive," the chief hung up and left his office.
A team of armed officers followed behind him as he made his way down to the basement of the police station. He clicked on a button and the wall began to move. It slid open and he took a step inside, signalling the team behind him to stand down.
It was a small room that resembled an average apartment. There were two beds and a girl with red hair sat on one of them. Over in the corner was a desk which was occupied by a girl with blue hair. Their clothing was normal, but both of them wore a distinct collar around their necks.
"Well, well, chief... letting us out of the cage?" The one with red hair said.
"I need your services," he replied.
"It's not like we have a choice," the one with blue hair said.
The chief walked in and gave the two a sitrep, "We are currently dealing with a hostage situation downtown. There are numerous hostages and they are threatening to kill a hostage every 30 minutes until their demands are met."
"I like their style..." the red haired one spoke.
The chief ignored her comment and continued, "They are demanding an escape helicopter."
"Quite a flashy way to escape..." the blue haired one added.
"It is your job to eliminate the hostiles and save the hostages. If any of them are killed, consider the mission a failure."
His voice became grim, "and you know the consequences of failure," he pulled out a small remote with a button that was labeled 'detonate'.
"Yeah yeah, just give us our gear and we'll be on our way," the red haired girl stood up and stretched.
The chief looked back at one of his guards and signalled him in, he carried a large keyboard sized case and set it down in front of the girls.
"There will be a helicopter on the landing pad to take you to the scene of the crime, use it as a decoy to land on top and infiltrate the building." he announced before leaving with his guards.
The red haired girl pranced over to the case and opened it, "it's been a long time since we were let out, Umi."
Umi walked over, "Yeah... let's make sure to have some fun today, Maki."
Maki snickered and moved over to the side for Umi to grab her gear. The two suited up and made their way to the helipad on the roof where the chief was waiting. They hopped in and the helicopter flew off.
"Why didn't you send in our response team which has more men?" an officer asked.
"Because these two have no other option than to succeed in the rescue." He said.
"What do you mean by that, sir?"
The chief turned around and motioned the officer to follow him back downstairs, "Tell me, why do you think police forces are prone to failure in these kinds of situations?"
"I'm not sure sir," the officer replied.
The chief spoke a single word, "Hesitation."
"Hesitation? I don't understand,"
"When it comes down to it, whoever can pull the trigger first is the victor," he explained.
"I guess that makes sense... but why send those girls in?"
The chief replied, "What's a better way to stop a criminal by using another?"
"You mean to tell me that those two are criminals too?" the officer widened his eyes in surprise.
"Yes, they are bound to a contract with their lives on the line. That is why they cannot fail."
"But sir, isn't this illegal?"
"Would you rather we lose our fine men over a pair of criminals? These women aren't afraid to pull the trigger and kill, they enjoy it. That is why they are useful."
"But sir... what if one of them decides to run or turn against us?"
The chief pulled out the small remote from earlier, "Their collars are rigged with a remote explosive. Escape is impossible."
"Who are they?" the officer questioned.
The chief took a deep breath and began to explain, "The one with blue hair is Sonoda Umi. She was a hired killer who took jobs not only for the money, but the sheer joy of killing. Her preferred firearms are sniper rifles and pistols, something reliable and accurate. Her gunmanship is unmatched to anyone in our police force."
He took another breath before moving on, "The one with red hair is Nishikino Maki. She was once a stage actress that performed in many theatre performances and musicals. She lost her mental stability and went on a psychotic rampage while on stage one night and killed numerous amounts of fellow actors and audience members. She is highly skilled in CQC and prefers to kill with knives. She seeks pleasure from doing so."
The chief looked into the officer's eyes, "Together they make up the Rabbit Panther Unit. A tag team of criminals doing the dirty work of the police force."
The two girls sat together in the helicopter, checking over their equipment.
Umi glanced up at Maki, "I have a plan."
"Storm the building and kill them on sight?" Maki replied.
"No, even if we succeed with that tactic, a hostage will surely die and we'll end up lying on the ground with no head."
Maki frowned, "These restrictions suck."
"When we land, I'll enter from the top. I want you to enter through the back entrance after I start a distraction." Umi explained.
"And I can kill them right?" Maki asked.
"Just make sure they aren't the hostages," Umi replied.
Maki danced in her seat, "It's been so long since we've left the cage, I'm excited."
Umi looked out through the helicopter window, "I am too..."
The helicopter came to a stop and hovered over the building, it lowered down until the pair could jump off. Umi looked at Maki and pointed to the ladder leading down, she nodded and followed Umi's order.
Maki made her way down the ladder and propped up against the wall next to the back door. She looked up to see Umi's head sticking out and put a thumbs up.
Umi got up and pulled a small pistol from her holster, she grabbed the silencer and started twisting until it came off. She stuffed it in her pocket before she entered the building.
"Psst, Umi? What's taking you so long?" Umi heard from the radio in her ear.
"I'm almost in position, calm down," Umi replied.
"My fingers are itching to kill," Maki said.
Umi shook her head and reached the second floor, "Okay, are you ready?"
"I'm dying here," Maki replied.
Umi reached into her pocket and pulled out the suppressor she removed earlier. She chucked it down the staircase to create a loud noise.
"Hey did you hear that?!" yelled a guy.
"I'm going to go check it out, watch my back!" another guy yelled.
Umi waited at the top of the staircase silently until her targets were in sight.
"I see nothing here, man," one of the guys said.
"Let's head back before the boss gets mad," the other one suggested.
Umi sprung out of cover and pulled the trigger twice. The gunshots echoed throughout the building and the two men were on the ground in an instant and the rest of the hostiles went into full alert.
"Hey did you hear that?!" they yelled.
"We're being attacked, keep your guard up!" a man screamed.
Maki listened closely for footsteps around the back door. They shuffled around until she couldn't hear them and took the chance to sneak in.
"Of course YOU get to have all the fun, Umi..." Maki stayed low and approached the doorway to the main room. A man walked by with his back turned to her.
Maki smirked and reached into her pocket for a small knife, "Kill number one..." she lunged at the man and put him in a chokehold. She held the knife to his neck, "How many of you are here?"
"Let go of me, bitch!" The man struggled against Maki's surprising strength.
"Ooo... that is not what I wanted to hear," Maki brought the knife up to his eye, "Now I'm going to ask again, and you better be a good boy... How many?"
"You're going to regret this, bitc-"
Maki thrusted the knife into the man's eye and covered his mouth to muffle his screams.
"Oops, I didn't hear what you said, can you repeat that?"
"Y-you're fucking crazy!"
Maki hovered the bloodied knife over to his other eye, "I'm going to count to three..."
"T-there are 7 of us!" he finally answered.
Maki smiled, "Good boy!"
She stabbed the knife into his neck until he stopped moving and brought her hand up to her ear, "Umi, there are total of 7 hostiles..." she looked down and corrected herself, "6 now."
"I took out two so there are 4 left," Umi replied.
"I'm moving in," Maki cut off her radio and snuck into the main room. She spotted many of the hostages huddled into a corner. She glanced around and saw two of them standing guard.
"I see two of them by the hostages, the other two must be headed your way," Maki reported into her radio.
"I'll keep them busy, you handle the other ones however you want."
"Thanks Umi," Maki cut off the radio again and returned to the guy she had just killed. She dragged his body into a room and started taking off her own gear. Everything was taken off except for her knife which she kept hidden. She reached down with her hand to pick up some of the dust on the floor to dirty herself. She then messed up her hair and took a deep breath.
"Time for an A+ performance," Maki prepared herself. She walked to an empty room and closed the door behind her. She then took up a position in the middle of the room and faced the door. Maki sprinted towards the door slammed herself against it, letting out a shriek as she fell to the ground.
"What was that?! Did we miss a hostage?!" One of the men yelled and made his way towards Maki.
"Just as planned..." Maki acted like a panicking hostage.
"Hey!" The man ran through the doorway.
"Nooo!" Maki screamed and tried to crawl away.
"Get over here!" He reached for Maki's leg and pulled her.
"No! Let go!" Maki put up a fight until the man wrapped his arms around to restrain her.
"Calm down and you won't get hurt!" The man squeezed Maki.
Maki screamed one last time before she let go of the act, "You? Hurt me?"
"I could snap you right now," the man threatened.
"Hehe..." Maki giggled.
"What's so funn-"
Maki thrusted her knee into his stomach which caused the man to let go of her. He swung his arm to punch Maki but she was too quick for him. She ducked and kicked the man off of his feet. He crashed down and she quickly got on top of him. She pulled out her knife and held it against his neck.
"W-who are you?" The man asked.
Maki leaned down to whisper into his ear, "Panther," she pushed the knife into the man's neck and watched as his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
"Hey!"
Maki looked up and saw the other man standing at the doorway with his gun pointed at her.
"Whoops, I got caught," Maki dropped the knife and held her hands up.
"Get up!" The man commanded.
Maki did as she was told and she was guided over to where the hostages were. The man knocked Maki down, "Don't you dare move!" he kept his gun pointed at her.
Gunshots rung throughout the building, Umi was engaged in a firefight with the other two men. They were blindly firing at her, it was obvious that they were untrained with using firearms.
Umi waited until one of their heads poked out. As soon as one did, Umi was able to pick him off without a problem. The other man watched as his buddy died in front of him, "God damn it! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
He jumped out of cover and started firing in Umi's direction. She waited until he had to reload and she took him out easily.
Umi stood up and dusted herself off, "I thought they would be more challenging." She walked over to the bodies and threw one of them over her shoulder. She dragged the other body and rolled it down the stairs to join the other two.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and dropped the one that she was carrying on top if the pile. Umi peeked through the doorway and spotted the last man pointing his gun towards the hostages. She looked down to see Maki who made quick eye contact with Umi.
The man noticed Maki looking away and turned to face where she was looking. The man spotted Umi and raised his gun, "HEY!" he fired his gun and Umi dove out of the way.
He rushed over and lifted Maki to her feet, he wrapped his arm around her neck and pushed the barrel of his gun against her head, "Give up or I'll shoot this girl!"
Umi slowly stepped out of cover and raised her hands.
"Good… now drop the weapon slowly," he pointed his gun back at Umi.
Umi did as he said and slowly put her gun on the ground.
"Kick it over here," he demanded.
Umi kicked the gun forward and it hit Maki's foot. The man looked at the pistol and smiled, "Good… now die!"
He pulled the trigger and fired off a few rounds, Umi jumped to the side and faked a cry of pain. The man laughed, "Not so tough without a gun, huh?!" He kept a tight grip on Maki and approached the "wounded" Umi.
Maki and the man stood over her and he pointed his gun at her face, "It's a shame that I have to kill a pretty girl like you." He pulled the trigger but a clicking noise came out instead of a bullet. "What the hell? Is it jammed?"
He slightly loosened his grip on Maki to check his gun. Maki took the chance and grabbed the man's arm, she lifted him over her shoulder and slammed him onto the ground. Umi knelt up and caught the weapon that he dropped during the throw. She disassembled the weapon quickly and got up to get her pistol.
Maki kept the man on the ground until Umi returned with her gun.
The man felt Maki flip him over and his eyes widened. When he saw the two of them standing over him, he didn't see them as women. They were monsters. Both of them smiling at his defeat.
"Hey, can I kill him? Can I? You've already killed four of them," Maki asked.
Umi shrugged and nodded, "I guess it's only fair."
"Keep him down, I have to go get my knife," Maki got up and skipped to the knife she had dropped earlier. Umi kept an eye on him until Maki returned.
Maki sat on top of the man and licked her knife, "Do you know what they call us?" she asked.
The man shook his head, he was overcome with fear and couldn't talk back even if he wanted to.
"We're the Rabbit Panther Unit…" Umi said.
"Do you know why they call me Panther?" Maki continued as she played with the knife in her hands, "Because I like to rip my prey apart." She held the knife up to his neck and smiled sadistically.
"I'll go take care of the hostages. Tell me when you're done," Umi turned her back and left Maki alone.
"No! Please help me! I won't ever commit crimes again! Please spare me, Officers!" the man yelled desperately.
"We're not officers," Maki leaned in closer to the man's face, "We're criminals just like you."
Umi walked away and listened to the man scream in pain from Maki's "fun". She knelt next to the hostages and untied them, "Get out of here," she commanded.
They did as they were told and evacuated the building. Umi stood up and called out to Maki, "Hey, are you done?"
"Almost!" she replied back. She stabbed her knife into the man one more time before leaning back, "Whew…" she wiped the blood off of her face and smiled at Umi.
"Had enough fun?" Umi asked.
Maki nodded happily and got up. She pulled the knife out of the man and wiped it clean before putting it back in it's holster.
"Let's hurry and get out of here before reporters spot us," Umi said.
Maki hurried back to where she left her gear and put it on. She came back out and hugged on to Umi as they walked back up to the roof.
"Hey, how did I do, Umi?" Maki asked like a little puppy.
Umi pet her head and smiled, "You were great."
Maki smiled back and kissed Umi's cheek.
There was a helicopter there waiting for them. The man signaled for them to get on and they did as they were told. The helicopter lifted into the air and was en route back to the police station.
The helicopter landed shortly after and the two were escorted off of the helipad. The chief was waiting with a team of officers which lead the two girls back into their room. They unpacked their gear and placed it back into the case from earlier. One of the guards picked it up and left the room.
"I call taking a shower first!" Maki yelled, "Unless you want to join too, Umi."
"Sure, why not…" Umi replied.
The two girls entered their small bathroom and undressed.
"You've got blood all over you, Maki," Umi pointed out.
Maki stood under the shower and turned it on, "Help me wash it off?"
Umi stood behind Maki and helped her clean off the blood on her body, "I wonder when we'll be let out of the cage again..." Maki muttered.
Umi shrugged, "I don't know, it's up to the readers."