Hello again!

If you're reading this, I can only assume you've enjoyed the first two chapters, so I hope I continue to please!

And once again... Good times.


In Westopolis, murder was not uncommon. Not by a long shot.

But it wasn't everyday that someone like Trey Baseer was murdered. Usually, no one would have the guts to assassinate someone involved in either big business or one of the crime syndicates, never mind both. Baseer's murder would not go unnoticed by the businesses or the syndicates, and it would certainly not remain hidden from the press for long. Soon enough, reporters would swarm all over anyone and everyone connected to Baseer, and sooner or later, someone would let something slip. Something about Baseer's syndicate connections, and when that happened, everything would get a whole lot noisier in Westopolis.

These were the thoughts swirling through the mind of Detective Danielle Kurtis as she approached the murder scene. She wasn't a tall woman, but she wasn't exactly small either and her attitude more than made up for her lack of physical presence. She was a straight-to-the-point, means justify the ends type of woman, with dark hair and darker eyes, eyes that screamed out "cross me and I'll make sure you'll never have children". As usual, she was dressed smartly: a black suit with faint white pinstripes and a lavender-coloured top underneath. Much to the annoyance of her male colleagues, Kurtis didn't wear low-cut tops, and tonight was no exception.

It was 3am when she got the call, and by the time she arrived at the cube-like building, it was about 3:30. Apparently, a janitor had heard some gunshots and called the police, and a body had been found.

And here she was, about to have a look around the scene before the forensics people got there and deemed everything untouchable. There were very few officers around; probably all busy putting up yellow tape outside. All the officers that were on Baseer's floor avoided Kurtis' gaze, finding their feet and the walls very interesting all of a sudden. Kurtis smirked as she walked along the corridor to Baseer's office; it seemed she wasn't exactly popular with the 'ground troops'.

She entered the sizeable office and found that her senses had suddenly gone into overdrive. This always happened when she arrived at a crime scene; "detective's instinct" some called it.

She immediately headed for the desk, lifting up papers and having a look at them. Business deals... taxes... staff rotations... nothing useful. She put her hands in her pockets and looked around the room for anything useful, until her gaze settled on Baseer's corpse. He was sprawled on his back, his dark-skinned face contorted in a death scream. At a glance, Kurtis couldn't see any signs that there had been a struggle, but the fact that there were three bullet wounds, all in lethal places, ruled out suicide.

Embedded in the wall behind Baseer, in a thin strip of plaster and bricks between windows, there was a bullet. Kurtis leaned in close to it, and guessed that it was the bullet that had passed through Baseer's neck. It looked custom-made; if her bosses permitted her to lead the investigation, as they often didn't, she would ask the arms dealers around the city about anyone who had bought this particular type of bullet. She suspected she wouldn't get the chance though.

Kurtis knew she couldn't touch the body or the bullet, so she again turned her gaze to the room. Judging from Baseer's placement on the floor and the upturned chair that he had presumably been sitting on, Kurtis would have guessed that his murderer had been on the other side of the desk, and the force of the shots had sent Baseer backwards to the floor. She strode around the desk and stood where she reckoned the killed would have been standing, trying to get a feel for the situation leading to the murder.

She thought over everything she knew so far, searching for something that might help her make sense of the killing. Although, a man like Baseer would likely have had plenty of enemies; it was common knowledge to the police that he had syndicate connections.

The guard at the security booth on the way in said that once he woke up and checked the security systems, he found that some of them had been shut off for nearly 20 minutes. Combined with the exact precision of the bullets in Baseer, it confirmed to Kurtis that this was a professional hit. She never had any doubt about that, really; no-one but a professional would dare kill Baseer.

Then she thought about it again. 20 minutes? There's no way it took that long to get inside the building, get up to Baseer's office and kill him. It had only taken her five from the main gate, and she had been strolling casually. So why had it taken so long? So far, there were no reports of anything stolen from the building, and if it was a professional, there's no way they'd have taken their time. That meant they were waiting for something, but what?

Kurtis paced the office, thinking it through. She did this for several minutes, until by chance her gaze fell upon the silver phone on Baseer's desk. Of course! If Baseer was in the middle of a call when the killer showed up, then that killer would have had to wait until he got off the phone. But he was he calling? Whoever it was, they might know something about why Baseer was killed.

The detective decided to find out. She took a pair of leather gloves from her pocket and slipped them on; just to make sure she didn't leave her fingerprints on the phone and give the forensics bad ideas. She picked up the wireless phone, found her way through to the most recent numbers, and selected the one at the top of the list, calling it. After about three rings, the person on the other end picked up.

"My dear Trey!" a slightly Europian accented voice answered. "Did we miss something in our earlier call?"

Kurtis closed her eyes and smirked. She knew that voice. Everyone with a badge knew that voice. Nevio Silvano, leader of the Silvano crime syndicate and possibly one of the most powerful men in the city. Kurtis put the phone down and pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation.

"Dammit..." she murmured, slipping her gloves off. Whether she had answered Silvano or not, he would soon figure out that something was going on. And once that happened, the investigation would immediately be commandeered by his men inside the department.

There was nothing more she could learn here without forensics, and now that she had inadvertently alerted Silvano to the situation, she doubted she'd get anything from them either. She turned and strode out of the office, heading back home to catch up on some pointlessly lost sleep.

"Dammit..." she murmured again.

__________

Kara Tyler woke up drenched in a cold sweat, visions of blood and death swirling through her head. Ever since she had first helped the mercenaries kill, she had been plagued by visions like this every night, and she was losing a lot of sleep because of it. She looked at the digital clock next to her bed, reading the time as 5:38am. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and got up, knowing there was no way she'd get back to sleep.

She got out of her large bed and headed to the on-suite bathroom and turned on the cold tap, splashing her face with the water. Straightening up and looking in the mirror, she saw an 18 year old lemur with bloodshot eyes looking back at her. Her black and white fur was messy, and her shoulder-length black hair followed suit, deciding to stick out at all sorts of strange angles.

Not bothering to get dressed, Kara walked through to her friend's large living room in her pyjamas and curled up in the corner of one of the large, curved red sofas. She watched the city outside through the wall-size windows that lined the outside edge of Kirah's home. The apartment was on the top floor of a building that could easily be 40 stories tall, and it gave Kara a great view of the city coming to life. This morning, the sky had been coated with foreboding grey clouds, and there was a light drizzle making the city outside dull and depressing. It looked as bad as she felt.

She often sat like this and watched the city, all the while thinking about what was going on around her. It was hard to believe, sitting in this expensive apartment, that she was a member of one of the nation's most infamous mercenary groups. What was harder to believe was that she had started out fairly normally in life, and somehow ended up here.

As the sun tried to rise above the clouds and grubby buildings of the city before her, Kara heard soft footsteps approaching behind her. Looking round, she saw Kirah walking tiredly out of her bedroom, also just wearing her pyjamas. The tan-furred porcupine walked around the sofas and sat down next to Kara, and joined her in looking out of the window.

"You alright babe?" she asked, looking over at Kara. "You look like you've been having those dreams again."

"I have," Kara replied quietly, "They're just there, every time I go to sleep, and they're not going to go away..."

"Look, if you're feeling guilty over Baseer, then don't." Kirah said, matter-of-factly. "That guy had it coming."

"It doesn't change the fact that I helped kill him..."

"You didn't kill anyone, Kara. I'm not even sure you could."

Kara looked over at her, mystified.

"You're better than the rest of us Kara," Kirah said truthfully, "You're not just a heartless criminal; you're a good, caring person. That's more than can be said for me."

Kara was going to reply, but couldn't find the right words. So instead, she just smiled at her friend. Kirah understood the gesture and smiled back. The pair sat for a while longer, just looking at the world together, before Kirah stood up and tapped Kara on the shoulder.

"Come on you," she said, "Go and get dressed. We'll go and get some breakfast, then Jin wants us to head over to his. Apparently he's got something to talk to us all about."

Kara nodded and stood up, stretching as she did so, and headed over to her room. Before she entered, however, she turned round to face Kirah.

"Kirah..." she said uncertainly, "Thanks."

"Anytime babe. Now come on, we gotta go."

Kara nodded and disappeared into her room, while Kirah stood smiling in the living room. She was wondering what was so important that Jin would text everyone to come in that afternoon. It had to be something big. It was either a big contract, or something big had gone wrong.

She hoped it was the former.

__________

Jin Lenea was waiting patiently in his living room for JJ to arrive. The hedgehog was the only one not yet here, and considering that he was the first one informed of the meeting, Jin was understandably beginning to lose his patience.

Jin was one of the founders of the mercs, and had been leading it with his partner Tobias Stone for over 10 years. Before that, he had been a member of various other criminal organisations, and had almost been daring the authorities to catch him ever since his teens. He was a grey-furred wolf with an authoritative figure and a calm head, able to stay cool even under the most stressful situations. His clothes reflected his attitude, casual but smart. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans with a black suit jacket and a brown t-shirt.

His house was an expensive one on the northern outskirts of the city, and to say it was comfortable was an understatement. It had two floors, four bedrooms each with their own on-suite bathroom, a huge kitchen joined to the equally huge living room and a large back garden. The living room that the mercs were in now was furnished with two long sofas, a glass coffee table between them and a 42" inch television in the corner of the room. The outside wall had a huge window that provided a wide view of the grass and stone path in front of the house.

Without warning, the front door to the house opened and JJ strolled in quite the thing, seemingly oblivious to the glares he received as he walked across the room and plonked himself down next to Kirah. As usual, the hedgehog was dressed in a casual black shirt and navy blue jeans, accompanied by a pair of black trainers with a flame-like pattern on the sides. His emerald green eyes oozed mischievous charm, but unknown to most, they also glimmered with a thinly concealed rage. His spines were damp due to the gradually worsening rain outside, but they took no notice of the rain and stuck up like usual.

"Did I miss anything?" he asked nonchalantly, "I hope you haven't started without me."

"Wouldn't dream of it. But next time I call a meeting, try to come in before I start decomposing, would you?" Jin retorted.

JJ smirked and sat back, easing himself into the expensive sofa, and took a small steel lighter out of his pocket and began playing with it. Kirah sat next to him, wearing jeans and a light green top, and Kara was on the other side of her, dressed in all black as usual. On the other sofa, which was positioned at a right angle to the first, Zack, Zon and Tobias were all looking at Jin, waiting for him to speak. Jin was standing in front of the room's large window, and clasped his hands together, which everyone present knew was a sign of important news.

"Right..." Jin began. "As you all know, last night JJ assassinated Trey Baseer. Until he called me to tell me how things had gone, I assumed the job would be carried out without a hitch. But JJ heard something before he killed Baseer, something that could come back and not just bite us in the ass, but completely rip it off and cremate the remains.

"It seems that Baseer was good friends with Nevio Silvano, head of the Silvano crime syndicate. I'm sure I don't need to explain how serious this is to any of you. If Silvano somehow finds out that we were involved, he'll likely kill us all. So, no matter what any of you are offered to talk, you give away nothing. Understand?"

Everyone in the room nodded, fully understanding their situation. Tobias raised his head to ask a question. He was a spiny lizard with grey-brown scales and a kind nature. He was also one of the sharpest tools in the shed, and he always had either a question or a solution to offer. He wore, as usual, a smart, non-creased suit; black jacket and trousers with a navy blue shirt. He didn't wear a tie; Tobias couldn't stand ties.

"I assume we've considered the possibility of Silvano finding out on his own, and are going to come up with a contingency plan?" he asked Jin. Despite being in joint control of the mercs, Tobias always treated Jin as the true leader.

"That's one of the things we're here to discuss." Jin answered. "Anyone got any suggestions?"

"I say we leg it." JJ said bluntly, flicking his lighter shut. "I mean, if we have a syndicate boss hunting us, what other choice do we have?"

"What about assassinating Silvano?" Zack asked. Zack was Kirah's big brother, and was very similar in appearance. His fur was a slightly darker shade of brown, and his eyes were deep blue unlike his sister's own lilac ones, but otherwise, they were very similar. Zack wore a black t-shirt with a metal band's logo on it and torn blue jeans, making him look like an old-style rocker.

"Assassinating him would do no good, Zack, someone else would just rise to take his place and come after us anyway."

"Could we pay him off?" Kirah asked as her brother sat back. "I mean, he's a businessman right? So in the end, all he really wants is money."

Jin considered this briefly, then replied: "That could work, but it would depend how much he asked for and, of course, how close his ties were to Baseer. If they were good friends, he may just come after us for revenge."

"All of this is assuming he actually finds out anything..." Zon muttered quietly. Like JJ, he was a hedgehog, but that was where the similarities ended. Zon had none of JJ's humour or charm; instead he was cynical, antisocial and brooding. He had blood-red fur and wore a black long-sleeved top and navy blue jeans. He usually wore an ankle-length trench coat as well, but there was little point indoors.

"We need to be ready Zon, just in case." Tobias chided.

Zon's scowled and sat back, arms folded. Then his golden eyes widened all of a sudden, and he quickly said: "We need to be ready full stop. He's here."

Everyone in the room immediately fixed their eyes where Zon was looking, and saw that he wasn't joking. No surprise there. Nevio Silvano, flanked by two large bodyguards, was making his way through the rain outside and up the front steps to Jin's house. Jin said nothing and quickly assessed the situation, then told everyone but Tobias to get out of the room and find a vantage point. They didn't need to be told twice and cleared out, Kara lagging slightly behind the rest.

Silvano didn't bother knocking and simply strolled in the front door as though he owned the place.

"Jin... Jin... Jin..." he said dramatically. "You've made the biggest mistake of your life, my friend." Silvano oozed power from every pore, and he knew how to use it to good effect. He was dressed in an expensive navy-blue pinstriped suit, with a black shirt and dark purple tie. He was a tall, thin man, but he had the presence of a heavyweight boxer.

"Cut the theatrics, Silvano, what are you doing here?" Jin asked, completely disregarding the man's status.

Silvano, however, didn't skip a beat and reached into the inside of his suit. Jin moved onto the balls of his feet, ready to defend himself if need be. He was surprised when Silvano didn't produce a gun, but instead withdrew a small plastic bag that looked like it belonged in a forensics lab.

"Do you know what these are?" Silvano asked, shaking the bag.

"They're bullets." Tobias said bluntly. "What do they have to do with us?"

"Oh, they have everything to do with you." Silvano replied threateningly. "You see, I have several operatives inside the Westopolis Police Department, and they retrieved these from the body of Trey Baseer. Do you have any idea who put them there?"

"We didn't even know he was dead." Jin replied.

"I see. Unfortunately for you, Jin, I had these bullets analysed by a local arms dealer and he revealed that they were custom made. He also revealed that he only sells this type of bullet to one person in this city. And that person is a member of your team, Jin."

Jin's face remained completely unchanged, not revealing any of the fear or anger he now felt. He weighed up his options carefully, and decided that perhaps appealing to Silvano's ego might prove beneficial.

"Okay, Silvano. Okay. We took a contract that required us to kill your man, and we did. It was just another job; nothing personal. To be honest, I was worried that you might show up, but I didn't expect you so soon."

Silvano smirked.

"Jin, if you're trying to talk your way out of this, then please, stop. Although, you are right about this being nothing personal; Baseer was just a business associate. But he owed me a lot of money, and now you're going to pay it on his behalf."

Jin sneered and considered telling Silvano where to shove it, but he quickly thought better of it.

"Okay," he sighed, "How much?"

"Well..." Silvano said, obviously pretending to work out a sum in his head, despite the fact that he knew how much he was going to ask for ever since he received the bullets.

"I think that about... 4 million should cover it?"

Tobias' eyes widened noticeably and Jin's fists clenched. They didn't have that much on them, as Silvano knew full well.

"I'm afraid we can't pay that much right now Silvano," Jin said, keeping his cool.

"Well, we'll have to do something about that, now won't we?"

He clicked his fingers and the bodyguards flew towards Tobias at a terrifying pace. Jin moved faster, however, and moved between the huge men and Tobias, grabbing the forearm of the closest one and using his momentum against him, flipping him over his shoulder into the wooden floor with a loud crash.

The other man had reached Tobias and was pulling out a gun, but Jin had swept in close to him within a second and drove his foot directly onto the side of the bodyguard's shin, snapping it with an audible crunch. As the man fell, Jin followed up with a backhand blow to the face and turned to glare at Silvano as the huge man crashed to the ground.

Silvano found all of this very amusing. The bodyguards meant nothing to him, and watching two nearly 7 feet tall men get destroyed by a 4 foot tall wolf was nothing if not entertaining.

"Tut, tut Jin..." Silvano said, smirking. "You really shouldn't have done that. 5 million. One week. Get it done."

And with those closing words, he turned and walked out of the house, leaving his two bodyguards to agonisingly help each other up. After a minute or so of grunting and growling, the two men followed their boss out into the rain and into the waiting car. Jin had already forgotten about them, however, and was busy asking Tobias if he was okay.

"I'm fine Jin, seriously." The lizard said irritably. He was visibly shaken however; like Kara, Tobias wasn't used to being involved in the more violent aspects of life.

The rest of the mercs gradually filtered back into the room after they were certain Silvano had left.

"Jin..." JJ said, in awe, "That was awesome! Seriously, you need to teach me how to do that stuff."

"I have done, JJ," Jin replied, "Many times..."

"Oh yeah..."

Jin composed himself and turned to glare at JJ.

"What did you think you were doing, using custom bullets? Anyone could have traced them to you, least of all Silvano!"

"I wasn't thinking, alright?" JJ replied, surprised by Jin's outburst. "I didn't think there'd be a problem."

"I'm assuming you didn't buy them from Simm?" Jin asked.

"No..."

"How many times..." Jin growled, his usually calm demeanour disappearing for a few seconds. "How many times have I told you? All of you! If you're buying weapons, only buy from Simm! He can be trusted, and his stuff is untraceable!"

"Okay, okay... I'm sorry..." JJ muttered, sounding almost exactly like a scolded child.

The mercs stood around aimlessly for a few minutes, before Kirah broke the awkward silence and asked the obvious question.

"So, what do we do?"

Jin took the question on board, weighed up all the options in his mind, and found himself with only one possible answer.

"We go out to McGrady's, and forget all of this for a night."


Ooh... What will our far-from-heroes do now?

More than likely: get hammered.

Onward!