(The Looming Danger)

*September 18th, 1918*

*2:40pm*

Peter Ermakov walked across the town of Lodz Poland as the man had a smile across his face as it seemed that he was reaching near his destination.

"I shall arrive at my location as early as tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait to finally kill those Romanov scum and hopefully that Kaede bitch!" Peter Ermakov thought to himself with a smile as he noticed his walkie-talkie buzzing from his pocket.

"It's Mr Claude. I wonder what he wants" Peter Ermakov said to himself as he picked up the walkie-talkie and answered the call.

"What seems to be the issue Mr Claude?" Peter Ermakov asked as he sat down on the ground in the process as he heard John Claude beginning to speak.

"No issue in mind. I'm only congluating you on making it this far on your quest but have no fear Mr Ermakov. You shall reach Akito's place in quite a short time and remember! Your rocket launcher will come in handy…" John Claude spoke in a happy tone of voice as Peter Ermakov was a bit confused at what he just heard.

"Who is this Akito person or whatever and how do you know all of those names?!" Peter Ermakov asked in a more aggressive and annoyed tone of voice as he sighed and rested his back on the wall while waiting for a response which had taken quite some time.

"Well aren't you gonna answer me?" Peter Ermakov said once more as he finally heard John Claude begin to speak once more.

"Did Mr Yurovsky tell you that Kaede is from the year 2020 correct?" John Claude answered back while deflecting the original question.

"He told me about that and It seems that Kaede bitch came from the future or whatever to save the Romanovs but not just that he also told me that Anastasia went to the future somehow for that time…"Peter Ermakov answered back in a more calm voice this time.

"Correct and as for me I am a time traveler as well. My goals are quite simple and they are to kill the Romanovs and Kaede in order to restore history as it truly was before Anastasia went back to the past because let me tell you something quite clear shall we? I studied the history of the Russian Revolution and I've noticed something odd regarding the disappearance of Anastasia Romanov and you wanna know what that is?" John Claude explained as his tone turned into a more serious one.

"What is what?" Peter Ermakov asked as he waited for John Claude's response.

"I realized that history was changing since Anastaisa's remains never remained to be found alongside her family so I devised I plan to go back to 1918 and carry out my work and restore history to the way it was…" John Claude explained further as the new information shocked Peter Ermakov as he was feeling mixed emotions about what he just heard.

"Peter? Did you know that in the unaltered events of history. It was you that delivered the final blow to Olga Romanov and you also heavily injured Anastasia and Maria right?" John Claude spoke once more as his tone turned into a mixture of glee and seriousness as that surprised Peter Ermakov even more.

"Interesting. It seems that I managed to kill one of them after all but how did the others die…" Peter Ermakov asked in a low but confident tone of voice as he awaited his answer.

"Tatiana was shot in the back of the head by Mr Yurovsky when she tried to stand and as for Alexei he was also shot in the head by Mr Yurovsky two times and isn't that crazy? Poor boy had Hemophilia yet he was so hard to kill and finally Anastasia and Maria were killed through blunt force trauma although it remains a mystery on how Maria died however they also had Jewels within themselves but they have been removed so you should be good" John Claude explained as the new revelations surprised Peter Ermakov greatly.

"So you MEAN that all of this changed once Anastasia went to the future or whatever but how? Why didn't Mr Yurovsky just kill the others when he had the chance?" Peter Ermakov asked once more with great confusion as he took some deep breaths.

"History is slowly changing so we need to kill Kaede and the Romanovs and not just them but that damned Doc as well but all is well cause you will reach their location in less than one day.." John Claude answered back.

"All of this is crazy but thanks for telling me everything. I really appreciate it" Peter Ermakov said as he had a smile on his face.

"I shall be leaving now but I wish you the best of luck on your mission" John Claude spoke as he hung up the walkie-talkie while Peter Ermakov hung up as well.

"So it seems that History favors those Romanovs? That doesn't matter to me because I shall recreate the killings myself! Nothing can or won't stop me! I am Peter Zachariahovich Ermakov! I shall be remembered in the history books as the one who personally killed the Romanov scum themselves! That Kaede bitch won't stop me! And yes not even you Mr Claude..." Peter Ermakov ranted as he laughed and laughed towards the sky and proceeded on with his journey with a new and evil burning motivation in his heart.

*Akito's Place*

*September 19th, 1918*

*1:00am*

It was late night as Maria was suddenly awake by some grunting and other such noises.

"I wonder who's up at this time of the night…" Maria said in a tired voice as she rubbed her eyes and got up from the bed and walked across the house to see Bartok practicing his technique.

"I've been doing this almost all night however If I wanna get stronger I must break this rock and fully master the Two-Fold Punch" Bartok quietly whispered to himself while shivering due to the sheer coldness as he felt a warm hug from behind him in which belonged to Maria.

"Honey. Please get some rest okay? It's late and I don't want you to get sick or anything worse okay? Maria whispered softly as she heard soft cries.

"What is wrong honey? You can tell me anything" Maria whispered in a concerned tone of voice as she waited for the response.

"D-Do you think I'm weak?" Bartok asked softly as he was trying his hardest not to cry.

"Of course not! You are a very strong and wonderful man. I truly mean that!" Maria answered back in a quick manner.

"But what if all of this is for nothing and I lose like I don't want anything bad to happen to you and any of your siblings…" Bartok asked once more as he wiped some tears while also feeling Maria kissing him gently on the neck as he blushed.

"I have faith in you my love. You can overcome whatever is coming our way and if you fail then please know that we have Kazumi, Akito, and Kaede there to help you and pick you back up okay?" Maria replied as she smiled warmly while Bartok looked back at her.

"T-Thank you. I'll try my best to have confidence within myself but did anyone tell you that you have the prettiest smile" Bartok said as he smiled back.

"Awww Thank you so much. I love you so much" Maria said as the pair shared a kiss under the moon night sky.