Mea and Nemesis felt a presence coming to Earth. The presence was actually a space capsule heading towards the outskirts of Sainan Town. When it crash-landed, Black was seen coming out of it in search for Yami. Not long after Black leaves the space capsule landed on Earth, Mea comes to the outskirts to investigate it.
"The structure of this capsule looks very familiar. Why do I feel I have seen this somewhere before?"
As Mea continues to look inside the capsule, her suspicions grew. "No doubt that I have felt this presence before. Back when I was still in the wasteland that was formerly my home world before meeting Master, I saw a dark figure that was passing through the debris. He had a different presence compared to everyone I know and now he is here again. Who is he?"
Black then walked through Sainan Town and saw people walking by peacefully. He became surprised for some reason.
"Weird. I received Intel that the three wanted terrorists were here on Earth in an attempt to lure Golden Darkness. To do that, they planned to bomb an entire area to get her attention yet there doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary."
In the meanwhile, Train and Sven accomplished another mission involving a criminal gangs smuggling bombs near a harbor.
"Another job well done." Train said as he relaxes on a chair in a restaurant with Sven, who is reading the newspaper while drinking his coffee.
"Hey Sven, when was the last time we saw Little Princess?"
"Probably a couple of months ago. Why do you asked?"
"I figure that since we have some time off tomorrow, would you like to go to Sainan Town and see how she is doing?"
"We have nothing better to do in our time off, but I got a feeling that Eve might not need us anymore knowing her."
"No, but she will be happy to see us. Come on, the Little Princess has been with us before we allowed her to take her first mission of watching over Sainan Town. Don't tell me that you don't miss those adventures Sven."
"It's not like I don't miss the times when all three of us are together, but when I send Eve, it appears that she has also wanted to do this, even though she was worried that we might not keep in contact at first."
"Come on, even I want to see her again. Don't tell me that her father figure has decided to abandon her." Train teases Sven, getting him angry.
"Let's go visit Eve tomorrow." Sven said before focusing his eyes on the newspaper again.
Meanwhile, Eve and Rito are currently shopping together to get groceries for Mikan although both are having trouble seeing eye to eye since Eve took both his first and second kiss and both are now embarrassed over it.
"Hey Rito, do you still feel weird about what happened yesterday?"
"Yeah. It was very embarrassing when you suddenly kissed me not once, but twice."
"Don't misunderstand. Remember that I said I won't be doing anything like that until you return the same feelings I have for you. At this moment, I can tell that you heart is still not mature enough to choose."
Rito feels annoyed at Eve's comment. "I understand. Let's not worry about it anymore."
"Speaking of yesterday, it appears that you have taken my training to heart, seeing how you handle those thugs after they subdued me."
"I couldn't wait for my friends to come help. I kind of knew that these guys do not waste time in doing things they want so I guess I just attacked out of instinct."
"And it paid off. You handled the thug better than I did despite lack of fighting experience. It shows how fast you are growing Rito. Now you will be able to assist your friends if they need help."
Rito smiled. "Yeah. If my friends are in danger, I can finally help if needed. Speaking of which, when do we train?"
"When we get home, but we only have half of the ingredients needed for Mikan so we better continue."
Black caught sight of Eve, but mistaken her for Golden Darkness, causing him to become a little surprise over her change of personality.
"It seems as though Golden Darkness' life on Earth has made her far from the heartless assassin she used to be. This might be dangerous if the thugs attack them. I better watch over them to make sure nothing happens."
The real Golden Darkness, however, is actually at the library, looking at the romance section. Her stoic expression almost disappears when she saw a book with a cover of a man and woman kissing, causing her to blush upon remembering Eve's kiss with Rito.
"I can't stop thinking about them. Why?" Yami puts the book back at the shelf and checks out.
When they arrived home, Mikan told Rito through a note that she was cooking for their Dad and Zastin back at their workplace while Lala, Nana, and Momo (albeit reluctantly) attended a Magical Kyouko live performance.
As promised, after Even and Rito got home, they immediately went outside to train. Eve's combat experience over Rito overwhelms him, as he is not able to land an effective strike against her. Rito attempts to sweep her of his feet by swinging his leg at the bottom, but Eve jumps out of the way.
"Not bad, but you are going to have to do better than that in order to hit me. Just one hit is all you need to win this battle."
However, as Eve attempts to do a butterfly kick, Rito finally notice vulnerability, as Eve can't change directions in the air, leaving her mid section vulnerable. Rito takes advantage off that and kicks her by the stomach after Eve does her twist. This sends Eve backwards, but immediately gets back up with a smile on her face.
"Good job, Rito. I didn't expect for you to find such vulnerability."
"Looks like I win, right?"
"You win this round, but let's see if you can keep up. This time hit me with two strikes." With that said, Eve and Rito began fighting again.
However, Black mistaken the training as a form of attack and immediately lands in front of Eve, while aiming his pistol at Rito.
Rito is very surprised to see the hitman again after a terrifying first encounter. "Black?"
"I didn't expect Golden Darkness to be taken out by a mere Earthling."
Before Black could continue, an explosion was heard. Rito, Eve, and Black then head to the site. A large crowd is seen running away from the sight in terror. Gunshot bullets then knocked several of them down. Despite them still being alive, Eve does not want Rito to see the carnage and covers both herself and Rito by transforming her hands into a large shield.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Rito screamed out of panic.
"A deadly assassin Veron escaped from a high security prison planet and temporarily took refuge on Earth. He has a vendetta against humanity in all planets they exist in and Earth is no exception. Veron then remained in hiding so he could gather more weapons needed to carry out his crime." Black explained.
Rito attempts to climb Eve's shield to take a look, but Eve blocks him from getting up.
"Sorry Rito, but I don't feel you are ready to see actual warfare."
"Let me take a look Eve. It's not like I lived an exactly normal life after everything that has happened." Rito makes a jump to the top of the shield to see some of the crowd getting shot down.
"They are still alive." Rito takes notice of a civilian grabbing his damaged arm.
"Veron is a cold-blooded psychopath who enjoys seeing people suffering in pain rather than killing them. He believes that all the fun will be taken if he just kills. We have to wait until he shows up as there are too many civilians in the area that he is in and a fight will only endanger them even further."
"Are you saying that we will let him enjoy torturing civilians until he shows up? This is unacceptable!" Rito protested.
"If a fight were to happen in a civilian populated area, he would surely kill them out of retaliation."
"Knowing this is the reason why I am blocking you with the shield Rito. You may have the skills, but you need to use your brain more." Eve's comment got Rito annoyed.
"Very well then." Rito wait patiently, but continues to hear civilians screaming in pain as they run.
"Black is who Rito called you, right? I am Eve, not Golden Darkness. I have never heard of her until just a few months ago and I already know how people would mistaken me for her. I will explain everything after we stop the terrorist."
After a brief moment, the gunman shows up wearing ammunition belts as armor while wielding a Howa Type 89 Assault Rifle in the left hand and a Glock 22 pistol in the right hand. He also carries a Barrett M82 sniper rifle on his back and hides several unseen pistols in his pockets. Veron uses the assault rifle to slow civilians he could not catch and shoots them with the Glock 22 in non-fatal areas.
"Such primitive weapons compared to the last planet I have been in yet satisfying to see those people suffer."
The shootings continue as Eve, Rito, and Black prepare to ambush.
"The armor itself is weak, but Veron was a former hitman so it won't be easy to kill him if you have his attention. Can both of you distract him?"
"Yes. Rito come with me." Eve forms back her hands and took Rito to hide in an alley.
"I will draw his fire while turning my skin to steel to protect myself. Go to the rooftop of buildings to draw his fire from a safe distance."
"Understood." Rito starts climbing the fire escape as Eve prepares to ambush Veron.
Black remains in hiding holding his pistol while waiting for Eve and Rito. Veron then saw Rito running on the building's rooftop and aims his rifle.
"I see you." Veron begins shooting, but many covers on the rooftop protected Rito from his fire.
"Sometimes these weapons are useless." Vernon shows frustration over the more primitive design of weapons gathered on Earth compared to the weapons from his former job.
Eve then summons her angel wings and begins shooting projectile feathers towards Veron, but being a former hitman, he was able to shoot them all.
"Very clever waiting until the bulk of the crowd ran away. No worries, I will have fun playing with you and making you suffer."
Eve continues to evade towards the right while Rito throws whatever small debris he could find to draw his fire. Despite their best efforts, they could not find an opening for Black as he shot down several civilians who walked by while Rito and Eve try to distract him.
"Come on. Find an opening before he can hit you." Black becomes slightly desperate as he observes the battle.
Eve transforms her hands into blades to cut down a few firing bullets while all Rito can do is hide.
"Very hard to run out of ammo when someone is wearing a large ammunition belt with magazines hidden beneath it." Rito commented.
"This is getting old." Veron then throws a flashbang towards Eve and temporarily blinds her and throws a frag grenade towards Rito hiding behind the doorway leading to the stairs of the building.
"Wah!" Rito immediately moves out of the way before the grenade explodes, but the detonation knocks him off of the building and grabs hold on to a pole sticking out, leaving him vulnerable to Vernon's gunfire.
Eve recovers and saw Rito's position. She then tries to stop Veron by charging, but was shot in the shoulder.
"No armor is bullet proof at close range."
However, this left an opening that Black was waiting for and shot him through the armor. Upon taking sight of Eve wounded, Rito let's go of the pole and rushes to her side while Black does the same.
"Eve! Eve! Are you okay?" Rito then sees Eve's wound healing rather quickly.
"It's okay Rito. My body can regenerate and heal itself from injury, although it would have taken a long time if the wound is more serious."
"Let's head back. You need rest." Black then meets up with the others back in Rito's house, where Eve lays on the sofa as Rito treats her with first aid.
Eve turns her attention to Black. "You've mentioned Golden Darkness when you first came. Do you know her?"
"I was the one who freed her from the organization that turned her into an assassin. Seeing that you are identical to her, it is obvious that most people who knew Golden Darkness would mistaken you as her."
"I see. The assassin who just attacked us is why you were here, correct? He is definitely an alien since he criticized Earth's weapons."
"Yes, but still very dangerous. I intended to come here to warn Golden Darkness. Seeing you like this because of him shows that Golden Darkness may not be a much for him. Luckily, he is down and out, hopefully. I would like you to tell me who you are and why are your powers the same as Golden Darkness."
"I wish I knew myself. All I know is that I was cloned from somebody and was used as a weapon by a power hungry mansion owner, who even turned me into a monster to destroy his enemies, but those same enemies are the ones that freed me and gave me an experience of humanity. I feel closer to being a human because of them. I wonder of Golden Darkness could be the same as me after hearing her brief background."
"I wonder that as well. While you may have similar functions as her, we have no idea if you two are even related. My apologies for mistaking you for someone else. I am going to find Tearju Lunatique and ask her a few questions. Maybe she has the answer if she wouldn't mind telling."
"Knowing Tearju-sensei, she probably won't mind." Rito said.
As Black was about to leave, Train and Sven suddenly came bursting through the door. "Hey Little Princess! We thought that we may pay you a surprise visit and…"
Train made eye contact with Black. While Black seems stoic, Train had a surprise expression on his face.
"WHAT THE HECK IS THIS? WHY IS THERE ANOTHER ME IN THIS HOUSE? WHY IS HE HOLDING A PISTOL SIMILAR TO MINE? WHY IS NOBODY ANSWERING ME?"
"I should be asking you the same thing." Black said calmly.
As Train complains, Sven took notice of Eve being treated and rushes to her in a panic.
"Eve! What happened to you? Why do you have those injuries? Did someone here do this to you?"
"It's okay Sven. All of them actually helped and protected me. If it wasn't for them, my injuries would have been much worse."
Eve sits up to take a look at Rito. "You have done well trying to distract the assassin. Don't feel at fault for my injuries. You've helped more than causing trouble."
"Thank you Eve." Rito feels relieved after hearing Eve's opinion about him.
Sven turns to Rito. "Ah, so you are the kid whom Eve is protecting. Tell me kid, what made you so special? You've got criminals after you so there has to be something."
"I wish I can answer that, but I don't know if it's me they are really after. After all, I got three princesses who ran away from home to live here. Eve happens to be our newest addition to the family."
"Eve seems to trust you the most so I am expecting you to take very good care of her. Can I count on you to do that?"
"Yes. Eve has been the one protecting me in the beginning and now it is my turn to protect her and the rest of my family." Rito's determination grew, but at the same time, so did his anxiety.
Train turns to Sven. "Come on Sven. He is still a kid so try not to put too much expectations on him."
Train then turns to Rito. "But seriously, help out Little Princess whenever you can. Anyway, my name is Train and since Eve is staying at your house, Sven and I will keep in touch with you as well. We only visited to check on Little Princess so we better go."
"Take care Eve and try not to get yourself hurt next time." Sven then turns to the door.
"It is good to see both you and Train after a long time. See you later." Eve smiled at the two.
Train turns to Black one last time. "I will be keeping my eye on you."
"Good luck with that." Black responded with a stoic expression.
After the two left, Black also prepares to make his leave, but turns his attention to Eve. "You already knew that I wasn't Train despite my appearance, correct?"
"Train would never wear that style of clothing and is more child-like compared to you."
"I also have one thing to say to you, Rito. You have a lot of potential so I put my trust in you as well. I better go see Tearju, good to see you both again." Black then left the house.
"I am going to go water the flowers. You stay and rest until your wound heals."
"My body heals faster than those of a human. I actually recovered enough to do a little work so I will go make dinner, especially since Mikan is with your father."
"Try not to push yourself if your arm is still in pain." Rito then heads outside.
As Rito begins pouring the watering can, a familiar figure lands on the yard. When Rito turns around, he sees Yami standing in front of him.
"Yami? What are you doing here?"
"Yuuki Rito, I want you to meet me in front of the taiyaki stand tomorrow at noon."
"What? Why?"
"No time to explain it, but please do."
Seeing Yami's slightly desperate look on her face, Rito reluctantly agrees. "Okay, I will meet you there."
"I feel relieved now." Yami then flies away.
Eve took sight of Yami and becomes suspicious of her intentions.
Sorry it took me so long for a new chapter. I had finals and wanted to take a break after words before writing again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
