Ok, now we're getting to the writing that is familiar ground to me, so the story should be getting better. Sorry but as all writers know you have to make the background and info clear before you can really start moving on with the story. So enjoy the chapter and have a good weekend.
-Shadoword

Do you see what I see
Why do we live like this
Is it because it's true
that ignorance is bliss

Who are they
And where are they
And how do they
know all this
And I'm sorry so sorry
I'm sorry it's like this

It was going so well. Her sister's were happy and enjoying their time in Radiant Garden, Yoru was having a blast with all of the attention, her vacation was supplying her with some much needed rest that she had lost over the past ten years. Nothing could have been better, nothing could have killed the mood.

Except those four words.

"There's been an attack."

Shadow accepted the risk immediately when she took on her field of work. Being a mercenary wasn't the easiest thing in the world, and being the best normally took years upon years to accomplish, but she wasn't that patient, and quickly climbed her way up the ranks before everyone was calling her and asking her for her services. She had broken into homes, retrieved stolen property, even played body guard every now and then, and she had also killed. The first time she had done this, she was sixteen, and it was that day that she acknowledged that people would want revenge, and that she was going to have to never let her guard down.

"When."

"Last night."

She wasn't like other mercenaries, if she didn't believe in a job, if she thought that the reasons behind it were wrong, she wouldn't take it, no matter how much money was waved in front of her. Some people admired these morals, others were annoyed by it, normally the ones she rejected. She had complaints, threats, even other mercenaries and hit men come after her, the latter normally coming from the higher ups in drug rings.

"Casualties?"

"...We lost nine men."

Everyone she worked with, when they had turned from their ways of drugs, prostitutes, and useless murders, knew others wouldn't be happy with it, but they didn't care. What they did care about was the fact that they had let themselves fall low enough to where it was almost impossible to come back from it. However, Shadow had been the one to show them that that wasn't the case, a painful and slow process, yes, but not impossible.

XXXXXX
Shadow was leaning against her kitchen counter, arms crossed over her chest and head bowed slightly. Kairi and Namine were out with Yuffie and Aerith walking around town, enjoying the life that their sister had, the one that she used to cover up her more foggy one she kept from them. Across from her was Jason, Carter's brother. He was actually nineteen, but was a close resemblance to his brother in almost every aspect, you would think that he was his smaller twin, with the exception of deep brown eyes, which currently looked worried.

"Carter told me to come and tell you immediately." He said.

"He was right." She replied after a minute. "It was them, huh?"

He nodded slowly. "They made that clear. Their boss wasn't very happy that you didn't take the job." Shadow nodded, giving a quiet 'yeah' as she looked back down, letting out a slow breath. "Did they realize I wasn't there?"

"Yeah, they actually found your room pretty fast." Her eyes snapped open. "But your locks held up strong, and they couldn't get in. We caught one of the fifteen that attacked, he's being questioned now."

As soon as he finished the sentence he was slightly startled as Shadow's cellphone rang, playing 'Bleed it Out' by Linkin Park. She reached over and flipped it open. "Shade."

"It's Carter, Jason there?"

"Yeah, he's filling me in on the details." She left him sitting at her table as she walked towards the back room, opening up the first door on the right and stepping in, locking it once again. "He's shaken up, was he there?"

"Front line." Carter said grimly. We were having some food when the place was attacked, and the entrance point was the cafeteria. He wasn't hurt, but he hadn't gotten into a live fire fight yet."

"I'm sorry." She said. "So what else?"

"Shadow, they know a helluva lot about you. Where your room was, some of your higher up jobs, other mob bosses you've worked for." He paused for a moment, and her phone on the grip tightened.

"Carter..." She said in a low warning voice.

"They know about your sisters." He said.

"Shit!" Unknown to her Carter winced on the other line. "They know that the twins are staying with me?"

"No, but they do know they live on Destiny Islands, they also know about the three boys they hang out with." Shadow nodded, thinking.

"Alright, they know about my home in Radiant Gardens?"

"Not a clue." He replied.

"Alright, I'm going to get the twins back here then head back to Destiny Islands and pick up their friends. They aren't safe there, so they'll crash here for a while, I'll ask Leon if I can borrow his place since it's larger." She opened up the door and started walking to the front of the house. "I want a patrol set around each other their houses, I don't want to take the chance of their parent's getting hurt. Make sure Kairi and Namine's place is tight, their parent's are going to be returning soon. I also need three sheets of paper faxed to the boys with a fake field trip that their school will be hosting, permission slips and all, make it something like a traveling trip that will keep them gone for a few weeks."

"Got it." Carter said, already calling out orders around the main room he was in. "Anything else?"

"Make sure the locks on my room are still in one piece." She growled, shutting the phone.

XXXXXX

Kairi and Namine laughed as they walked towards the driveway of Shadow's home, carrying a few shopping bags in their hands. Yuffie and Aerith were chatting animated with each other close behind them before they heard the door opening and saw Jason quickly jogging out towards his truck. He glanced at the two older woman and they immediately caught onto his look before rushing into the house. the twins looked at each other with confused gazes before rushing after them.

"Shade, what's wrong?" Yuffie asked, seeing her friend walk out of the room, knowing now a few daggers and maybe even a gun were hidden on her being. She was wearing black jeans with the same tone t-shirt along with a black trench coat, fitting at the torso but flaring out some once it hit her waist, three belt ends holding the coat closed at the top, exposing only her lower half.

"There was an attack." Kairi and Namine, who had been waiting out side, standing off to the side out out of visual, glanced at each other.

"At the base?" Shadow just nodded and took a nine millimeter that was resting on top of the counter, shoving a clip in it and cocking the weapon before sliding it into its holster at her waist, obscured from view. "Was anyone hurt?"

"Nine." she replied, and quietly. A cold expression came across her face, and Aerith recognized it as the one she used when she was on one of her missions. "The twins and their friends are in danger, I'm going to pick the boys up now and bring them back here, Leon is letting me use his place for them to sleep."

"How are we in danger?" Kairi slowly walked into the house, knowing she was pushing her limits but honestly worried. Shadow looked at her, and she flinched slightly under her gaze.

"Yuffie, stay here with them, I'll be back in a few hours."

"Shadow, what's wrong?" Namine asked this time.

Their sister walked up to them and put a hand on their shoulders. "Later." That was the noly thing she said before she walked out the door, leaving behind a pair of confused and slightly scared twins.

XXXXXX

Shadow was driving her truck, windows rolled out the way down and Linkin Park blaring through her speakers as she drove back to Destiny Islands. The boys had already been notified and she had to admit she was slightly surprised when they went along with it so easily, but she wasn't complaining. I'm not going to be able to keep them out of it. She thought with a growing dread, sighing as she ran a hand over her face. Whether she liked it or not her sisters had been dragged into the war going on between her and one of the worlds most powerful mob bosses.

The actual location of their base was back in a place people jokingly called The World That Never Was, and it fit the mood. When her 'father' had lost her in the bet she had to move there, and the place with it's tall skyscrapers and dark alleys was where she learned the tricks of the trade, and had more than enough experience with gang members, hell, the people who won her in the bet were also known as one of the most powerful.

Of course then she came along and made their life hell. Shade smirked as she made a turn down one of the neighborhoods. She had made it clear she hated them and they returned the feeling. Of course there was Carter, the dude was one of the few that had pity on her. While she hated it, it also allowed her to have someone who she knew wasn't glaring daggers at her back, or mentally painting a target over her heart. After a year she had stopped the death threats and dropped down to just threatening to sever his limbs. But the guy was persistent, and had earned her respect over the years. The rest of the gang slowly started to accept her when they saw that the mob boss' son was actually on decent grounds with her.

After a year she did something that she had yet to figure out if it was simply brave or down right stupid.

"You're stupid."

Silence greeted the comment as she stood in front of one of the worlds top mob bosses, the room so dark that the man was hidden from her proper view as he sat in a large chair on the other side of the table. A few of his members were stationed along side the wall, and were watching as the interesting scene unfolded before them.

"You and your guys have so much potential. I mean seriously, I thought you would all be idiots, but I was happily proven wrong. You've got gun experts that know basically every single gun out there, weapon masters who can name the perfect blade for the right fight, great field experts and people who can study the terrain like the back of their hand. You have power that few others have and with a few adjustments you guys could have a life where instead of people fearing you or cussing you out you could be thanked and acknowledged on better terms.

Yeah yeah, but then no one would fear the big bad boss. That's not true, you still demonstrate your power for the world to see, just under different circumstances. Instead of shooting some guy in an alley for asking you what time it is you could shoot the drunk guy who's trying to take advantage of the teen girl and her friends. Stop the robber who just took down an innocent couple. You can help them, and make a better name for yourselves, one that when people hear it they aren't afraid but know that some bad ass guys are going to help them out."

Shade took a breath and smirked, shaking her head. "You guys may have made a reputation for yourselves, but you dug yourselves into a hole too. But that doesn't mean you have to stay on this road, you can still do good, you can still help defend the weak instead of taking them out with no good reason." She opened her eyes and momentarily glanced at the redhead that was gawking at her, but also noticed the silent encouragement he was giving her. "Think about it." And with that she turned around and walked out, leaving the room to fall back into its solid stone silence.

It took a couple weeks, but then she saw them. The changes were minor at first, the guys weren't making their usual Saturday night rounds at the bar that would no doubt lead to sleeping with some random chick that night, instead they'd order pizza and play the two XBox 360 they just bought. Then it steadily grew into the bigger things, instead of beating the cash out of a few rich people some members actually started going out and helping people, simple tasks like moving or heavy yard work that they would get paid for. When the police department started to get interested in it things took a positive turn from there.

It started with a break in they had to do, it was with one of the local gangs that had been getting heavily into the drugs. The boss happened to know them, and the police almost asked if they would help them out. Shade was stoked when they said yes. Of course, their first mission did have a few complications.

Axel and Carter had been the ones that brought her with them, now at the age of fourteen. She had been training in fighting as a past time and target practice, so she also had a small side arm concealed under her jacket that the two encouraged her to bring. The boss wasn't there, but the chief police officer was, and the whole time the operation had been going on she stood next to him by the cop car, arms crossed over her chest and looking with a stone gaze, listening to the commotion through her earpiece that Axel was hooked up to on the other line.

The entire operation took about an hour to fully bring everyone out and officially draw it to a close. Everything had gone great, except for the gunshot wound Reno got, Axel's look-a-like brother but a man who was in no way related to him. Shade had been walking towards them when she took notice that a group of cops were bashing the former gang members, and their chief was standing idly by, not agreeing, but not disproving it either.

"The man just goes and shoves me to the side, the bullet hitting him. I don't know what was going through that idiots mind!" A roar of laughter could be heard and Shade paused on her way to the ambulance and veered for them instead.

"Then you have that big black dude-"

"Say another word and I can promise you won't be walking away with the only thing keeping your gender from being that of a woman." Her voice was laced with ice cold venom. "That 'idiot' is the reason you are standing there with your arm in tact. You wouldn't have seen the gun aimed for you in the first place because you were to busy fumbling with reloading your gun as smoothly as you should have learned the second week you were in training." The man was staring at her with wide eyes. "And if I see any of you insulting these men who actually have the right of calling themselves that you are going to be wishing that the Goddess of Death had actually come and killed your herself compared to the hell I'd put you through. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Were her answers. When she stood there, still staring them down they all bent there heads, suddenly finding the ground very interesting before she made her way over to the speechless chief. "Next time keep a better leash on your men, and make sure they damn well know how to actually load a gun." She growled before turning around and making her over to the ambulance.

Ok, she had been pissed, who wouldn't? These men were making something out of their lives and were being slammed because of their background. You don't go around judging people what they did in the past, you look at who was standing before you then and there. And back then she had seen a group of guys who wanted something better for themselves. They deserved respect just for trying to right the wrongs of their lives.

Her cellphone rang, and she was once again pulled back into the current day. Yes, they had come far and grown stronger than ever, but that meant now taking on even tougher opponents. She flipped the small device open and held it up to her ear. "Shade."

"All three of them are at Riku's house, we've got patrol half an hour behind you set up for their homes."

"Got it." She snapped the small device shut and her foot weighed heavier on the gas peddle.

XXXXXX

As soon as the truck pulled into the driveway the guys were off the couch and heading towards the door. Their morning had been nothing close to normal. Instead of waking up to the sound of their parents complaining that it was almost noon and they were still asleep they had been met with a phone call at seven thirty from Shade, the last person they expected to hear from. And she wasn't as laid back as she always sounded when they talked to her, she sounded, colder, and whatever she said was a firm command. Guessing Kairi and Namine knew what was going on, they went along with it, packed their stuff to last a week or so, then met up at Riku's to wait, slight tension in the air as they all debated on what could be wrong.

A hard knock came at their door and Riku opened it to see Shade there, and his eyes widened at the outfit she wore, more more importantly the expressionless look she had. "You guys packed?" Same cold tone too.

He nodded and the guys turned around to get their bags from the living room while Shade looked over her shoulder, almost like she was checking for something. Sora came first, and as soon as his foot stepped out the door things started to pick up speed.

Something grabbed the back of his shirt and he felt himself pulled forward and behind Shade, stumbling some as her one hand kept a firm hold on the fabric while he saw something black glint in her hand. Then three timed gunshots came from somewhere a few feet by him, causing his ears to start ringing as his eyes recognized the sound of gunshots.

Shade pulled him up to look at her and was speaking while motioned to Riku's house. "Get in the forest." She said, pushing him towards the rest and watching as he started to job after them. She turned around and noted the numbers of how many were here before turning around and running as well into the bright, but heavily cluttered tree fortress.

"What's going on?" Roxas asked as they hit the edge.

Shade motioned inward. "Go in there, and keep running, start heading back when you hear a whistle, got it?" The three guys nodded. "And ignore the gunshots." Their eyes widened as she pulled out a second handgun and looked towards the house. "Move."

Riku grabbed the other two and shoved them before him, setting the pace of their run as they quickly made their way deeper into the confinements of the trees. They had ran through this place hundreds of times when they were younger, and their feet still knew the paths they had made by heart. "Guys, remember that tree setting where we would have climbing contests?" Roxas asked.

Sora nodded and Riku's gaze turned thoughtful. "You sure?" They all jumped when they heard a steady stream of gunfire and they could have sworn a shotgun was in the mix.

"We gotta help her out." Roxas said. Riku smirked and nodded. "Let's go."

Shadow ducked behind a tree, both guns being held up and align with her body as her elbows bent in to hold them next to her shoulders, listening as silence suddenly settled on the area. She heard whispers slowly start to interrupt that peacefulness and heard the crack of a twig to her right. Spinning around she only took a millisecond to aim before her finger pulled the trigger and she felt the bullet tear through the barrel, nailing the target square in the chest while his companion returned fire. She took refuge behind another tree before breaking into a run, her boots crushing the fallen leaves and twigs underneath her, while black eyes studied the trees above her.

Hearing the sound of pursuit behind her she quickly holstered her weapons before jumping up, her hands catching a branch and flipping her body lithely on top of it, coming in a crouched position with her hands holding onto it to keep her balanced before she quickly started to climb faster, out of view in seconds.

The dead man's companion slowed down when he came near the tree she was hidden in. Shadow stayed dead silent as she watched him, staying low on one of the heavier branches. The man slowly studied all of the trees around him, and when she made a slow move for her gun he immediately turned towards her tree, studying it before very slowly raising his gun in her direction.

Her knife flew through the air from higher up, avoiding his line of sight before embedding itself into the tree across from her, causing the leaves to shift loudly. The man immediately spun around and yelled as he let out a steady stream of bullets from his machine gun attack the poor tree.

Shade dropped down and grabbed his head with both hands before forcefully cracking it, breaking the neck and causing the bullets to freeze as the dead body fell to the ground. Pleased with a clean death, she noted that there were now three more men still after them, having killed the first one when they were attacked at the house. When she heard the sounds of heavy footsteps coming her way she started running again, hoping to have them finished off while she made her way to find the guys.

XXXXXX

"Ready?" Sora whispered from his spot up in the trees. Roxas nodded next to him while Riku was still on the ground, playing bait for them.

Riku picked up a nice and heavy branch that they had cracked from one of the trees. He waited until he could see the faint sight of dark green mixed with black before taking it and swinging the wood almost like a baseball bat, having it crash into the tree and the cracking sound echoing through the forest.

The mix of colors started to move his way and he took a few steps back, making sure to make sounds, before turning and running back to the clearing where the other two were. When a gunshot went off he saw a tree a few feet away from him have the bullet embedded into it, and started running faster.

Sora and Roxas watched as he broke into the clearing, his running from track paying off for the task. He glanced up there way and broke for there direction, just as the man came into the clearing where he was. The silver haired teen quickly jumped behind a wider tree as the gun was fired at him, hearing their attacker curse and run towards them. Riku stepped from behind the tree to make sure he came in the right direction.

The man grinned as he walked closer and closer to the still teenager. "Finally realize you can't outrun me?"

He leaned against the tree and had his arms crossed over his chest while a smirk overcame his features. "Don't have to."

Brief confusion came over his face before two battle cries came from above him, Sora and Roxas dropping down from the tree and landing right on top of the guy. He grunted as he was slammed into the ground and the force of the two guys together was enough to knock him out. "Oh yeah!" Sora said, throwing his fist in the air. "We are so awesome."

Their little victory party was cut short when a gunshot resounded nearby, and Roxas' eyes widened when it hit the ground just a few inches away from his foot. They spun around to see another attacker aim his gun again, finger already moving towards the trigger.

The shot went wide as he was tackled to the ground, and they watched as Shade effectively got his own gun away from him before sliding a dagger out from its sheath and into his upper arm, earning a cry of pain. While he was distracted she let go of the knife and once again broke his neck, letting the body go limp and the cries died off before she stood up again, taking her knife and wiping it off with the man's bandanna.

The three stared at her, not sure if they should be surprised, happy, or horrified. She glanced over at them before noting the body which they stood around, and raised an eyebrow at this. "Did you actually kill him?" She asked curiously.

"Just knocked him out." Sora said in a shocked whisper. "Did you just...?" She just nodded silently before pulling out a cellphone from her pocket and quickly dialing a number.

"Carter, I have five dead and one unconscious bodies in the forest behind Riku's home, when patrol gets here make sure they take care of them first before hitting the guys' homes." The phone snapped shut and she started walking over to them.

Roxas unconsciously took a step back and she noted this, deciding to stop walking as well, opting to just stand there with her hands crossed over her chest while she let them take it in.

Riku was the first to speak. "Relax guys, if she wanted to kill us she'd have done it by now." He rested an encouraging hand on each of their shoulders, and after a moment they both nodded in agreement. A small smirk came over Shade's face.

"Any wounds?" She asked, finishing her walk over and checking the body of the unconscious one. Everyone replied they didn't and she nodded before she took out a piece of paper in one of the guy's pockets. Opening it up she could see the name and address of each of the guys. A low curse escaped her as she shoved it into one of her pockets and stood up. "Come on, we're heading back to Radiant Gardens."

Roxas and Riku started walking towards the direction of his house once again but Sora paused next to Shadow. "Hey Shade, is everything alright?"

Wasn't expecting that. She thought, How about a, 'Hey Shade, why the hell did six guys just try to kill us?' She shook her head and sighed. "Not really Sora."

That's when he gave her a small grin. "Well then, looks like we're just going to have to help you make it alright."