Original Days 2 Chapter 2: The Recovery, a better days fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that can be found in Better Days or Original Life. What I do own, is refined through the dedicated work of my friend Brian Whitfield.

Note: words in Italics denote that the person is thinking, speaking a non-English language, or is a recording. They will also be used for dates and times.

Original Days 2

Chapter Two: The Recovery

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Washington, D.C.

0117 hours

The night was black, and cold. The few vehicles that wandered the streets were accompanied by an even fewer amount of people walking the sidewalks. Being mugged was one thing, but getting picked up for "suspicious" activity was far worse, and few wanted to risk it. Fear was the oldest of motivators, and ever since the September attacks three years back, there had been plenty of it. Now with the conflict in Afghanistan, and rumors of future conflict in Iraq, there would be more panic, more hate, and more Fear.

Quietly, a black unmarked van came to a stop in the parking area of a seemingly abandoned warehouse on the docks. Its arrival did not go by unnoticed, however, by the two company guards in the guard-house to the right of the main entrance. One of the guards started systematically checking the cameras to make sure it was the only vehicle nearby other than their own, while the other kept an eye on the unexpected company.

"Who do you think they are?" the Rabbit agent, Alex Hudden, asked, eyes shifting from the van to his partner. For four years the company had kept the warehouse sealed and safe, but never had anyone shown up like this before.

His Ferret partner, Malcolm Cross, shook his head and answered "I have no clue. They're the only ones in the area though, so keep your eye on them." After saying that, he grabbed his cell and began dialing in the number for headquarters; something like this had to be reported. Before he could finish dialing, however, Alex grabbed his hand, stopping him. "Look." Malcolm did so, to see an exquisitely shaped white-furred leg touching the ground from the opened side-door, and above that a matching hand sensually motioning for them.

"Oh for Pete's sake!" Malcolm shook his head in exasperation before pocketing the cellphone and standing up. "A hooker, of course; it is the capital, after all." When he started moving for the door Alex spoke up. "Where are you going?"

"To get rid of them, duh. We can't exactly have them hanging around, can we?" said the Ferret as he left the booth to confront them. He missed his partner's mumbled "Why can't we keep them around?"

As Malcolm got closer to the van, the leg and arm quickly drew back into it. He sighed and sped up. "Couldn't these people find something better to do with their lives? Live can be too short to waste on something like this, after all." He started speaking just as he got to the side of the van.

"Shouldn't people like you be bothering a senator or somethi-" a blinding flash, a boom like thunder, and suddenly there was a huge hole were Malcolm's chest should have been. Slowly the delicate white-furred hand reached back out and, with a slight nudge, knocked the still-standing body over. Before Alex could do anything other than yell in shock, the back doors of the van slammed open; another flash of light and boom of thunder, and suddenly the booth erupted into a ball of fire.

"What a lovely explosion, simply wonderful!" Six Dogs jumped out of the van, forming a defensive perimeter between it and the building. Each wore dark-grey body armor with helmets that covered the entire head, and carried an MG4 light machine gun. After a moment the leader, distinguishable by the white strap on his right arm, motioned that it was all clear. Out from the vehicle stepped a young Feline woman, who couldn't have been any older than 17. She had creamy-white fur, and long tresses of snow-white hair falling down to her shoulder-blades. She was dressed in armored white trousers and shirt, fitted to accentuate her body while keeping it safe. Over this went a scale-armor skirt, open at the front for better mobility in combat. Strapped to her back was a three foot long, two inch wide metal staff.

"Pathetic" she said, glaring down at the crumpled body beside her. "If they're all going to be this easily disposed of, than our mission is nearly complete already." Turning to the leader of the solders, she held out to him what appeared to be an overly large grenade launcher. "Colonel Viper, when we get back to base, be sure to tell the weapons branch that the PRG works perfectly." Taking the weapon, he bowed and said "As you command, Lady Naraka."

The woman now known as Naraka smiled coldly, before motioning them forward. As one the group moved swiftly to the entrance, keeping an eye on the smoldering heap that was the guard post; stopping five feet from the door, the Colonel raised his weapon and blasted the door apart. The crackling fire drowned out Naraka's manic giggles.

Stepping inside, the group spread out, covering all corners; they needn't have bothered though. Aside from the teams that had been sent in to clear out all the dead bodies, no one had been in there in four years. Clear footprints were left were they walked, as they made their way straight to the back. Naraka stopped them, and then pointed at the two soldiers furthest back. "You two, begin setting up the transport equipment. Have it ready in time or I will kill you." Not waiting for replies, she focused on the other four.

"Listen, men, and remember. We have come here for a single, all-important reason, and that is to recover the body of my father, William Hite. I don't want any mistakes, or any screw-ups. Anyone who does make a mistake will not live to see another day!" She looked at the four surrounding her, as well as the two further away setting up some kind of gurney. Seeing that they perfectly understood her threat, she nodded and said "Good, now get to work."

Naraka waited as the team went down into the flooded depths of the lab. She would have gone with them, but her brother had forbid her from putting herself in harm's way, unless it was necessary. Not wanting to disappoint him, and knowing everyone with her would tell if she did, Naraka obeyed. Not that she had wanted to disobey him anyway.

"Big brother has always protected me. When father was murdered he comforted me; when mother died he made sure that he was the one to tell me. I could never hurt his trust."

Naraka was the cofounder of the terrorist organization O.F.T.A.N.A.M.P., as well as second in overall command. Loving daughter of William Hite, she had studied and trained all her young life for the day when she would leave Japan, and go work with her father in America. The stories he had told her about the place; the people, the landmarks, the trademark American way of life! But then her father died, and a 13 year old girl grieved with what family she had left. Soon the grief turned to rage, righteous fury! She would make those who killed him pay! The ones, who took the light out of their lives, caused their mother to die of grief! They would all suffer!

The nervous looks from the nearby soldiers signaled to Naraka that she was giggling again, and she instantly forced herself to calm down. "Patience, Naraka, patience. The first step of the plan is nearly complete. Revenge will be had, and my father's dream will be fulfilled." Suddenly the communicator on her belt beeped. Grabbing it, she moved away from the grunts before responding. "I've been waiting for your call. Is everything ready?"

A calm, composed voice reached her ears. "Everything is how it should be, dear sister. Copperhead has just returned and given me some very useful information. There will be a change of plans; we will discuss them after the revival." Silence for a moment, and then "Be careful, sister. I don't want to have to bury any more family." With that the caller cut off the signal, leaving Naraka to ponder what the changes could be.

"Maybe we'll finally be installing railing on all the damn walkways at headquarters" she said to herself, before noticing that the two grunts were staring at her.

"What, did I say that out loud?" Before either of them had the chance to answer, the sound of cars pulling up outside could be heard. Instantly the two dropped what they had been doing and formed up between Naraka and the door. One began radioing the others to hurry up, while the other kept his gun trained on the entrance.

Naraka rolled her eyes in annoyance, before pushing her way between the two and marching towards the door. The voice of one of the two caught her attention. "Lady Naraka, wait! It's too dangerous!" She stopped, before turning back to them with a twisted grin on her face. "Stop me, and I'll kill you." Then she turned back and started walking again. Sharing a look, the pair of soldiers nodded to each other once before hurrying to catch up. One of Lady Naraka's bloodbaths was not something to be missed.

Outside, Naraka found herself staring down a seven agents, all of them with guns drawn and aimed at her. The one who appeared to be the leader yelled out for her and her soldiers to drop their weapons and surrender. Naraka motioned for her bodyguards to lower their weapons; they did so with hesitation. She nodded in satisfaction, before turning to the agents and speaking.

"I've heard the average agent can take on three U.S. marines and win. I would like to test that rumor!" Dashing forward, she delivered a crushing punch to the lead agent, before grabbing his gun and firing off two rounds into the chest of another. Dropping the gun, she spun around and used the body as a shield to absorb the sudden barrage of bullets. Dropping the body, she then rolled behind one of the parked cars to relative safety.

Grabbing the staff from her back, Naraka twisted it at the center and pulled; she suddenly had a pair of Katanas in her hands, each with a 18 inch blade. Twirling each once, she gave a satisfied nod before jumping up and over the car. Landing on the roof, she kicked off again and threw the sword in her left hand, piercing straight through one agent's gut. Landing in a crouch, she swung upwards and split another agent in half. Suddenly a kick to the back sent her stumbling.

Recovering, Naraka turned around and blocked a knife that was aimed at her chest. Pushing forward, she forced the agent away in time to dodge another slash from a different agent. Backing up she took stock of her opponents. Three remained, each one looking like they wanted to kill her in the most painful way possible. "Hm, brother would probably be upset with me if I kept going. Oh well, they seemed like they were becoming a threat anyway." Holding her weapon in her right hand, she made a series of hand signs with her left; a second later a barrage of gunfire from her bodyguards cut the distracted agents down.

Naraka walked over and grabbed her second sword from the impaled agent, listening in pleasure as the blade slid out of its meaty sheath. Once it was fully free from the helpless Dog he groaned in pain, giving away that he was still hanging on to life. Raising her swords, Naraka prepared to end his suffering, before an idea entered her head. Grabbing him by the throat, she lifted him up to eye-level and said "Remember what's happened here, and warn your masters. Their days of ineptitude and incompetence are over. So says Naraka, daughter of White." Dropping him back to the ground, she turned away and returned to where her guards were. She noticed that the Colonel had returned and loaded up the package; everything was going according to plan.

A/N: Hello everybody! What did ya'll think? I hope you like it, because there's a lot more to come!