It's chapter ten! Double digits! This was also a long chappy to translate. Eesh. Hopefully nothing here is *too* surprising.

Disclaimer: Yugioh, as well as Target (Cible) are not mine! I'm just translating.

10. Intrusion

It was tonight. The night when everything would be over.

Well, to be precise, it was tonight that everything could potentially be over, if everything went as planned.

But there wasn't any reason for it to go wrong… all he had to do he had already been trained for. And this time, he had a motivation, a light at the end of the tunnel that would help him do the act.

However, he couldn't stop himself from having a very bad feeling, like a claw that was squeezing his chest. But he also knew that this was normal, the 'natural order of things' in a way. He had always felt this way before a mission, and today the pressure was more than normal. In the beginning, when he was no more than a beginner, it had really been hard… but with time he had learned to squelch the whirlwind of emotions that stopped him from breathing and from going as far and hard as he possibly could. Of course, it wouldn't completely negate itself, just stack up until one day it exploded… but 'later' seemed like a good time to deal with it. He could thus pretend, with the best bad faith in the world, that the heavy weight in his stomach didn't exist or bother him in the slightest.

Whatever the case, he always managed to get over it and finish his job. Almost always. But just because he had completely blown the last one didn't mean he would do so here. This time, he would succeed! He knew what he had to do. It was easy.

Finding the place had been easy, too, especially with a map of the grounds as precise as the one that had been given to him by his employer. The place was immense – at least as large as the Kaibas'. On the outside the place resembled a prison more than anything else because of its gigantic wall, colored a thick black.

Climbing it was also easy. The folder that Joey had in his possession was so complete it indicated the place where ascension would be the easiest.

He rose up the wall, pausing for a moment at the top. He had a magnificent view of the garden – or perhaps 'park' – surrounding the residence from there. Everything seemed deserted; it was only thus for doubtless there was a number of imposing security agents that had dissolved into the shadow of the trees that the moon only feebly enlightened with its milky glow. The only truly apparent sign of life was the light that he could see emanating from the windows of a villa almost hidden behind the tree trunks.

Once in the compound Joey had to admit that the place gave off a definite air of calm and serenity. Nothing to do glacial or at least bland ambiance he had imagined he would find. But thinking it over, he supposed that, in effect, the peace and luxury had to be ideal conditions for respectable men to be plotting murder completely unbothered.

Halting his train of thought, he leapt to the ground and progressed towards the villa, the central point on the grounds. Based on the information he had in his possession combined with his 'natural talents', he approached it rapidly and in the utmost silence. He made sure to not come across any of the guards; but somewhere the absolute quietude of the place ended up making him ill at ease. For him, a place where even birdsong seemed to have been banned was perhaps a little too peaceful.

He paused several meters away from the villa to focus and prepare himself. Everything was going exactly according to plan. On the other side of the bay windows he could clearly distinguish three individuals present in the room; the first he easily identified from the photo he had received as his target, the "Big Boss". In accordance with his habits (especially if one believed the papers in his possession), he had just finished eating a copious meal that he had eaten alone at an impeccably decorated table – one that was directly in Joey's line of sight. The other two men, with ties and dark glasses, were probably his bodyguards. Planted like fence posts on either side of the door on the far side of the room, they were much too far away to intervene and stop his attack once he had begun.

The hour was approaching and it was time to act. He positioned himself in the place he sensed would be most appropriate; from there, he had a good angle to fire at, he could see without being seen, and protect himself from the inevitable counter-fire behind a large rock that formed a natural barrier and, most importantly, he was in an ideal position to double back out of the compound when everything would be finished.

He loaded his weapon as he emptied his head. The glass was likely bulletproof, but what he was using should allow him to bypass that protection. Maybe not on the first shot, but repeated shots would undoubtedly work. The point was to work fast.

He placed the weapon on his shoulder, narrowed his eye down the visor, and adjusted his trajectory. His breathing accelerated; he felt stress beginning to invade-

He could deal with this, he knew it-

He kept his weapon in place, his finger began to press down on the trigger… when suddenly, the man he was targeting got up and left the table. He walked decidedly towards the window, stopping directly in front of it, looking piercingly outwards. Exactly towards where Joey found himself, as if… but that was impossible.

But without ever lowering his gaze, the man began to open the bay window, sliding it open as if it were a door.

He can't know I'm here! He can't! , Joey told himself as he tried to persuade himself that what he thought was happening wasn't really what was happening. He knew he should just suck it up and fire anyway, but he could only stay petrified, staring in a sort of fascinated stupor at the individual's every move.

The man finally managed to open the window completely, but he did not leave the room quite yet; he first smiled oddly in Joey's direction, and then finally decided to open his mouth.

"It's over now." He spoke loudly in order to be heard, but his voice was calm and firm. "You've failed."

Joey did not make the slightest movement. Was the man talking to him? Even if deep inside he felt persuaded, he couldn't take the risk of betraying himself.

"You can bring him to me now," continued the other man.

You? Joey felt almost sickened at this point. No, they can't… they can follow me, but they can't set up a trap! What was going on?...

A noise from his right-hand side caught his attention, and he whirled around.

It was as he had feared. He hadn't seen them, he hadn't heard them, and he couldn't explain it; but as he looked to his right he found himself face to face with the barrel of a gun. But this wasn't the worst part. He could take down one adversary, two at his limit – but he quickly came to realized that he was completely surrounded, four guns pointed directly at him.

"Yes, Joey, you understand it's over. If you would obligingly get up, so I can see you, and come join me? And of course, you can drop your weapon where you stand."

He definitely didn't feel obliged, but he was certainly forced to do so; so he reluctantly complied, and began moving slowly towards the villa, feeling many eyes follow him.

When he and his body guards had entered the large room with posh furniture, his host closed the window once more, and turned towards him with a sad smile.

"You know, it's such a pity, Joey."

Joey felt himself become astounded.

Who are you talking to? he thought. The furor of recent events had left him perplexed and, stupor notwithstanding, he began to ask himself a myriad of questions. First, how did this guy know his name? He couldn't possibly remember the name of every single one of his employees…

"What's a pity?" Joey managed.

"Oh, nothing. I was just hoping you'd succeed."

"That I… would succeed in killing you?"

"No, not that of course…"

"Then succeed at what? And how'd you find me? I thought I was so discreet… and your men… how did they approach me without me hearing anything?"

"Oh, but you see, that's quite simple. They didn't approach you, they were stationed there waiting for you!"

"But how… how could you have known?"

"How could you possibly doubt it now – it's thanks to my very dear Mr. Mozet, of course!"

"Who?"

"What a shame. How long have you been working for us again? And you still don't know the name of the people you collaborate with? Let me refresh your memory." He turned towards the door, and the man continued with a louder voice, "You can come in now!"

It was true, Joey had never known his name, but only because he had never said it and because Joey had never thought to ask. He at least knew enough information about the organization that employed to him to at best know that he always took care of himself. Somehow it was a way that he kept his distance. Yet when the door opened, he recognized him immediately. So Mozet was his name. The name of the person who, for so long, had given him missions that he had to pull off. The name of the only person who would know where he was tonight. It was so perfectly logical.

"But why?"

"You were very unjust when you came to see me the other day," Mozet began. "Do you remember? You reproached the organization for condemning people before having judged them. We are proving to you here that that isn't always the case."

"So this was a test."

"A test?"

"Exactly, a test," continued the Big Boss. "And you should be flattered, Joey, not everybody has that right. Often, it's true that we prefer to take no risks whatsoever; it's for our own survival, you see. But I have to admit that you are a great member, one of our most efficient. Well, you were." As the Big Boss had stopped, leaving a long pause, Mozet took the initiative of following up the explanation which had been alluded to by his boss.

"Suddenly we started a procedure that has existed for a long while, but that very few people know about and that is reserved exclusively for cases such as this one. After a certain fashion, I doubted that you would have come to see me with a good explanation for the failure of your mission."

"Precisely. And even if there had been a strong – perhaps quasi-so – certitude that it wasn't just a bunch of lies and schemes, seeing that you had numerous witnesses and quite a number of pieces of evidence against you, we nonetheless told ourselves that we should have left you had a chance. A last chance."

"So all of this- "

"Yes, Joey. When you went to see him, Mozet gave you something completely different than what you had been looking for. He sold you me on a platter. At the time, even if you acted in good faith, it would have been very difficult to refuse. Not responding to his…advances… ran the risk of him eliminating you completely. But once you found yourself in possession of the information, it was up to you to decide what to do with it. You could have come here and denounced Mozet and his plot, proving both your true intentions and your desire to remain faithful to us. But you preferred to come and execute me and paint yourself like a criminal."

"However," Mozet intervened, "I almost helped you. Remember, when I gave you the folder, I counseled you to 'make good use of them'."

"And you could have asked yourself some questions. It was obvious that a society such as ours doesn't tread lightly and that every member has in their disposal a certain responsibility, no matter how low, that is handpicked. And this folder? How could anyone have details this precise over my property if I hadn't given them myself?"

It was true. Everything they had said was true. Joey wanted to be angry with himself for what he had done, but it was the only option that he had had. He really wanted to believe that.

"If I understand you…. I have to die now… right?"

"Not quite. I am first expecting a visitor. You can't stay for our conversation but you will be able to hear the discussion if you wish. We can't delay any longer." Take a more commanding tone, he began to address the armed guards that encircled Joey. "Men, you can accompany my host. And don't forget – I don't want to hear a sound. I hate being bothered during business meetings. You also, Mr. Mozet, it is time to leave us. Thank you for this exceptional visit and return home safely."

Joey was then escorted by his four new "friends" into an adjacent room, while Mozet, after having extrapolated his highest respects for his venerable boss (and more than likely he was also meeting for the first time), left via another door, the one in back that probably led back to the main entrance, leaving him to receive his client under the best possible conditions.

As soon as the door shut once more, Joey pressed his ear against it, in the hope of gathering as much information from the coming discussion as he could. After all, the "Big Boss" had said that he could listen in, and that could be interesting. And his "friends" couldn't stop him from trying!

Any guesses as to who the new visitor might be?