Assassination Part 1 Chapter 6

The pair hurtled down the roads, violating several traffic laws and just about every speed limit before the boy put the brakes on. Drifting easily, he rounded the street corner, earning himself several yells of surprise from passers-by, and pulled into the carpark of the Safe Haven. Pulled into his parking spot, shutting off his engine and getting off the vehicle. Indigo shook out her hair, making a sound of annoyance as she found another piece of glass in it.

'Ugh, if I knew this was going to happen I would've let you drive the car.' She sighed, running her fingers through her supple auburn hair. The boy glanced at her, swallowing silently, before turning back to the entrance before them.

'Yeah, but then we would've had to find another way to stop the car. Much easier to just use my semblance.' The boy said, pushing the doors open. They greeted the concierge, stepping quietly into the elevators and back into their rooms. Indigo glanced at the boy who had been eerily quiet the entire time, watching him unlatch his door and swing it silently shut behind him. She stepped into her own room, staring around its interior with a sigh. Glancing at the adjoining door, she swung it open silently, testing the door on the other side that was the door in his room, and found it unlocked. She pushed through, finding the boy standing silently in the middle of the room. He pulled his gun out of his jacket, either not noticing or not acknowledging her, staring at it with a look of long suffering. She could tell what he was thinking almost immediately; that gun had taken two more lives today. Two more lives to save his own. Two more lives that wouldn't bring back the one that mattered. She watched him quietly, and he finally heaved a sigh.

'What's up.' He asked stoically, and Indigo leant against the wall behind her, placing her arms behind her back.

'I know you're more bothered by everything we're doing than you think I realise.' She said, raising an eyebrow back at him as he raised his eyebrow at her. 'I know you wish this could all just stop, but are you completely sure this is the right choice?'

'We talked about this.'

'And I want to talk about it again.' Indigo finally stalked over to him, seizing his arm. 'You and I both know how this is going to turn out; they always find out no matter what. Nothing we do is going to change that; we were doomed the moment you accepted my help. What's more; you told Varian you killed Khylia, but you chose not to mention that there's the possibility that Malachite is a traitor! If lying about killing her won't have you executed, withholding information about a security breach, like a double agent, will most certainly end with your death! We've just avoided talking about this for the entire time we've been going at this.'

'So what, we did all this for nothing?'

'Not really, no.' Indigo hissed, releasing him and folding her arms across her chest. 'Even if what we're doing here doesn't get you out, it will still solidify our position as the top team without two of our members. This can only help us out in the long run, and it would definitely go down in history as the only two-man team to take down the Spider where everyone else has failed.'

'There's still a chance.'

'There is no chance!' Indigo interrupted, throwing her hands into the air in frustration. 'You have one option and that's it; we kill the Spider, we get the truth out of Malachite and kill her, then you go back to them, rescind your request to leave, and we'll keep our position at the top having accomplished a job as impossible as this. Eventually we'll get new members, and we'll be back to business as usual.'

'Is that honestly all you care about?' Jaye hissed, turning to the woman. Indigo kept her eyebrow raised at him, and he shook his head at her. 'Our position? Our infamy?'

'We need a future. We need to think about it whether you like it or not. I miss Mina! Of course I do! And he wouldn't want you throwing everything away for him!' Indigo growled in frustration. 'You need to seriously think about what you're going to do even if you succeed in getting out. You don't have an education; for the most part you've not even legally existed for the last five years, and you definitely can't become a huntsman without any kind of credentials. What are you going to do if you leave?' She sighed heavily. 'When are you going to see that this is the only path you have left to you? There's a reason no one leaves!'

'I'll figure something out.' Jaye said shortly, tossing his jacket over a nearby chair. 'If you're done I'd like to get some sleep.'

'You're clearly not thinking straight, and this is going to backfire on you. I'm sure of it.' Indigo finally said, rolling her eyes and stalking to the door. 'Don't say I didn't warn you when everything goes to shit after this.'

'Yeah, I know.' Jaye muttered, watching the door slam shut behind her as she left. He returned his gaze to the bed, slumping across it with a heavy sigh. The fact of the matter wasn't going to go away, no matter how much he wished it would, and he knew he was going to have to face his demons sooner or later. His refusal to kill Khylia was going to come back and haunt him; regardless of whether he killed her now or not, they'd already informed Varian of her death. That would mean that he lied, and Varian would not take kindly to that. This would be a direct infringement of their agreement, and that would usually result in a hefty punishment. In this case, there was no way they'd let him leave.

While he had amassed a veritable fortune from his previous jobs, easily enough to last him a lifetime, most of it wasn't even stored by any legal channels. Blood money was blood money; it was hard to keep a bank account when you're not really supposed to exist, so most of his credit chips were stashed away in safehouses and little hideouts where he would likely have had use for them on or between jobs. Even his apartment right now was being paid for using pay from new jobs as they came; he didn't dig through savings unless necessary. Mostly to make sure he always had enough in a safehouse at any point of time, so if he did manage to get out he'd have to retrieve all his cash from those areas. But considering that they were all technically linked to the Faction… it was hard to say what their exact terms for leaving were going to be. He wouldn't be surprised if they revoked his access to all their services immediately if they agreed to his departure, leaving him unable to retrieve his belongings and savings. Which meant he was likely going to have to figure out some way of earning an honest living at some point, and that was going to be the real challenge. Either way, there wasn't even a guarantee that he was going to get out alive, which meant accomplishing his goal first. He pushed all thoughts of the future to the back of his mind, setting his sights on Arthur Watts, praying silently that the prematurely declared deceased genius would actually have some answers for him.

After a rather tense journey to Atlas

'Well now, to what do I owe the pleasure?' Watts said, raising an eyebrow at the pair that had appeared before him. Despite their arguments, Indigo seemed intent on still helping the boy, and she raised her empty hands to the wary man to show that they were not a threat to him. 'I was certainly surprised to receive your call; I can't think of any jobs recently appeared that would require my expertise.'

'This was more of an impromptu thing.' Jaye grinned at the man. 'And who better to go to than the genius who helped us bring a whole city very nearly to its knees with nothing but your intellect.'

'Spare me the flattery boy and tell me what it is you want.' Arthur rolled his eyes, placing his leather suitcase down on the floor. 'I'm a busy man.'

'Right, because you've just been flooded with work since dying.' Jaye scoffed, folding his arms across his chest. 'I'll keep this short then; where's the Spider?'

'That's what you want to know?' Watts scoffed. 'All of my expertise; all of my knowledge, and that's what you want to know?'

'You designed their system. You know how to get into it.' Jaye clarified. 'We need to find the Spider, which means you're the person to ask how to do it.'

'Well now, colour me surprised.' Watts raised an eyebrow at them. 'You're certainly the first person to accuse me of designing an entire system for one of the biggest criminal information networks to exist.'

'Heard about it from a friend. Goes by Tsukuyomi; ring a bell?'

'Hmm.' The tech expert made a disgruntled sound of annoyance. 'Well I suppose there's no point in hiding it then. Yes, I designed their system. But I also gave my word that I would keep it secure; so unfortunately giving you access to the system would be the definition of a security breach.'

'I am the definition of a security breach.' Jaye said, stepping forwards. 'I think you know who I am and what I can do, so frankly if you can't or won't help me then I hardly see a reason for me to leave you alive to warn them.'

'That's a rather hard bargain you've struck there.' Watts raised his eyebrow even higher. 'You need me alive, surely you realise that much.'

'Yeah, but I don't need your legs to work. Just your hands.' Jaye rolled his eyes. 'I wasn't going to threaten you, honestly, but I can't afford to be held up by this. And frankly, if you won't help me, then really I'm losing nothing by killing you. And we both know you've got no hope at stopping me from doing that.'

'Ever the brash one.' Watts sighed, adjusting his coat. 'Did you really think I came here unprepared?'

'Nope, which is why I took the liberty of disabling anything that could possibly pose a threat to me.' Jaye said, shoving his hands into his pockets. 'Even if you had a sniper poised on any roof it wouldn't be able to penetrate any ice wall I erect, just in case you were wondering about it.' He gestured to the rooftops. 'Your automated guns are disabled. I'm sure you know as well as I that I froze them solid; I've got no delusions that I can possibly hack your tech.' He grinned at the man. 'But you know me, I've never been one to make unfavourable deals for no reason.'

He yanked a credit chip out of his pocket, tossing it at the man. Arthur snatched it out of the air, eyeing the value on it with a raised eyebrow.

'That's just to give me your access credentials into the system so that I can pull the data that I need; I know you have credentials. You just mentioned earlier that you're paid to keep it secure. That means system updates. A simple data reference job; nothing but a log in the system that you entered. I can even synchronise it with your maintenance schedule to avoid raising any suspicion.' Jaye yanked another chip out of his pocket, tossing it to the man, who raised his other eyebrow at the number written on it. 'That's your usual rate for a simple cracking program so that I can disable their security systems. We can just say that you had no idea what I was going to use the program for; after all, it's just business.'

'Hmm.' Watts fiddled with the chips, spinning them between his fingers. 'Still, a risk is a risk.'

Jaye tossed another chip to the man, who raised an eyebrow at it once more. 'Double then. For something of this little risk, I'd say this is a pretty sweet deal.'

'Mm.' The edges of Watts's fluffy moustache pointed upwards, which Jaye took to be a smile. Watts pocketed the chips, picking his bag up from the ground and pulling a scroll out from his jacket. Jaye watched him quietly as he tapped on the screen and glanced at his own as it beeped. He noted the data that appeared.

'There you go. The Spider's schedule for this month. And the strongest hacking program I have at the moment. Use that, and I find it entirely unlikely that anyone would even realise it had been tampered with.' Watts said, replacing his scroll into his bag. 'He arrived in Atlas four days ago and will be here for ten longer. After that, he will move on to Vacuo, and the system will be updated once more when he arrives. Best finish your business soon; or he just might go missing in transit and you'll never know when he comes back to the surface.'

'Thank you, Watts.' Jaye said, pocketing his scroll. 'This conversation never happened. You have my word.'

'I have your money.' Watts clarified. 'That's far more of a guarantee than anything you could ever say.'

'Whatever keeps your panties out of a bunch. We'll try not to get back in touch.' Jaye said, and the pair sunk backwards into the darkness. The man watched them go, bemused, before turning sharply on his heel and heading back down the alley which he came. He paused for a moment, retrieving his scroll from his jacket. He opened it, accessing the program he used to control his guns, and laughed aloud as the tell-tale whirring of machinery revealed the still functioning guns perched on the ledges above his head.

'Crazy bastard.' He chuckled, ordering the guns to move themselves back to wherever he stored them and replacing the device in his clothing. 'This will certainly be a story to tell if he succeeds. So succeed, little Jay. Fly free.'

Two days later

'We're at the halfway mark of his stay. This is the period when security is the laxest since guards have fallen into their routines. We need to get in before we hit the last three days, or we might run into them readying for departure and we won't have any reliable patrol data to refer to.' Indigo said, laying out a map of the complex. It appeared that they were infiltrating a Schnee Dust Company property; a basic factory complex that could be found anywhere in both Atlas and Mantle. With so many around, it made complete sense that at least one or two of them were covers for illegitimate businesses. In this case, it made the perfect cover for an organisation like the Spiders; the Atlas government couldn't simply raid their factories whenever they wanted to due to the sheer size of the conglomerate, as well as the amount of unofficial political power they wielded in light of their contributions to the Kingdom's economy. This would keep them out of the limelight at any point of time, and any suspicion around their facilities couldn't be easily investigated, at least not by anyone of importance.

'Makes sense that the Schnees would be involved in this. Never put anything past Jacques.' Jaye growled. 'He might be a beneficiary of the Faction now; but once I get free and I can prove he has ties to the Spiders then not even the Faction would stop me from killing him.'

'Let's worry about that after, yeah?' Indigo sighed, placing her hands on her hips. 'Their protocol is simple; the moment a siege on the compound is confirmed, they immediately put the Spider in the top floor and seal him in. The windows will be barred completely; so the only route in is right through the front door. We'll have to fight our way to him, but we expected that already.'

'So for once, no lengthy infiltrations or complicated plans. We approach, we fight. We win.' Jaye grinned, placing his hands on his hips. 'In this case I'm going to need way more Dust and gear. Time to invest in some explosives.'

'You still have access to Faction facilities for now, so procuring those will be easy. The question is, how do we want to approach?' Indigo sighed, placing a finger to her forehead. 'Our opening will be the deciding factor here; if we don't get past their inner circle fast enough they might run him out the back. Their protocol kicks in when they sense the threat level to be too high, so we're going to need something to declare we mean business. Even a rocket launcher might not do the trick.'

'This is one of those times when infamy might be our best bet.' Jaye said, and Indigo gave him a look that said "explain yourself". 'Well think about it; what better reason to hit absolute lockdown than having the Faction's top two assassins standing right at your doorstep killing your men?'

'That… might work. But most don't know your face, so we're going to need some better way to declare who you are.' She folded her arms across her chest. 'Maybe a big old ice wall will be a good enough declaration.'

'Might be, but the question is do I want to burn my semblance doing that?' Jaye said, making a frown until his lips touched his nose. 'Just ice dust won't be enough to make something at a big enough scale; at least not any amount I can carry on me.'

'Then maybe it's time for those.' Indigo said. 'If we need an amped entrance.'

'Then we use an amp.' Jaye finished. 'Not a bad idea, if not for the side effects.'

'Shouldn't be anything you can't walk off.' Indigo grinned, placing her hands on her hips. 'That plus a few explosives ought to do the trick.'

'Guess we're going to need some guns.' Jaye sighed. 'Let's go shopping.'

The Schnee Dust Company Factory Compound

The guard breathed out slowly in the icy weather, rubbing his hands together as he huddled into himself for warmth. Ahead of him, the snow sank lazily into the sidewalk in big mounds, nothing but the crunching of snow under his own feet breaking the silence. It was a cushy job all things considered; the Spider had never been found before. There was no reason to think that he would be discovered now. Even as he thought that, an image flashed in the corner of his eye, and he squinted at it. Through the snow, he saw two figures approaching slowly in the distance, and he dismissed them as a couple who'd just taken a wrong turn somewhere. Ignoring them and returning to his ministrations of his hands, he slid his rifle between his legs to hold it in place and rubbed his hands against his thighs for warmth, glancing up as the figures continued to move closer. Even as he watched, he realised with a start that they were no ordinary people; if the guns hanging from their bodies were any indication, and he scrambled at his firearm between his legs. The man finally yanked it into his hands, glancing up at the two figures who had now pulled to a stop in front of him, and he grimaced as a pistol was levelled with his head. Jaye grinned at the man.

'Ah, slacking off on guard duty I see. That's never a good sign now is it.' He flicked the safety off his pistol. 'I'm sure this would've been no big deal any other day, but really you're just gonna have the worst day of your life right now.'

'Who are you.' The guard hissed, hand inching towards the pistol on his waist. Jaye reached over, sliding the firearm out of its holster and putting it away in his jacket. The guard grimaced, and Jaye glanced at the walkie talkie on his side.

'Well that'll work. I need you to pass a message to your whole compound.' He said, the guard gave him a confused look. 'You're going to tell them that Niflheim and The Untouchable are here. And we're going to kill every last one of you.'

The guard's eyes widened in realisation, and Jaye grinned even broader at him.

'I guess that means you know who we are then. We're here to make an entrance; so we're gonna give them one. What are you waiting for?' Jaye said, and the guard slowly pulled the communication device off his waist. He raised it to his lips, pressing the button.

'Boss.' He said shortly, and the radio crackled to life on the other side.

'What is it.'

'I got 2 people here. A guy and a chick. Gun to my head.' The guard swallowed roughly. 'It's team RKHD.'

'Well more like RH, but you get the point.' Jaye grinned. Beside him, Indigo retrieved an explosive from her bag, hurling it deftly past the locked fence and towards the cars stacked by the entrance. 'Good job mate. Why don't you take the night off?'

'You got it.' The man said, dropping his walkie talkie and rifle into the snow below. Jaye held out a hand, and the guard dropped a ring of keys into his palm. He flinched as the grenades went off, and the cars promptly multiplied the explosions, each going up in its own individual ball of flame. Indigo tossed another to the other row of vehicles, watching with bemusement at the veritable fireball she'd caused, and the guard glanced back at the scene of carnage. Inside the compound, several alarms started to go off, and it was obvious that they were scrambling to respond to the new threat. He nodded to the two of them, taking off at a run down the snow-covered street. Jaye tossed the lock and keys aside, kicking the fence inwards and grinning at his partner.

'Let's go wreak some havoc shall we?'

Commercial break

'Dang, talk about an entrance.' Kamina said, leaning back across the bed. 'What were those amps you were talking about? Is it those that boost your aura regeneration?'

'Yeah, the Dust based ones. Raw energy basically.' The boy said. 'Bad side effects though, so they're not really approved for commercial use.'

'What side effects?' Weiss asked. 'And since when was my family involved in this?'

'How do you think your family got all your money?' Jaye scoffed. 'I really did plan on killing Jacques after everything was said and done; too bad I didn't get the chance to. Regarding the amps, they're basically performance enhancers. The side effects are pretty bad; the moment it wears off nothing happens, which is why it's useful in a pinch, but you get a hangover the next day, and slow regeneration for a few days with only about half your normal aura levels at maximum. But in exchange you basically get double the power of your semblance, with like half the aura cost. And your regeneration gets boosted to nearly three times as fast as normal. They're something you only really use when you absolutely need to.'

'But prolonged use can cause organ failure, so as much as possible we never used those if we could.' Kamina cut in. 'I'm surprised you chose to though.'

'Couldn't take any chances.' Jaye grimaced. 'We knew they'd lock him up as per protocol, but we also wanted to make sure that not only the threat seemed big enough, but also that we would be able to hand the number of people in that compound. It was basically two against about fifty, maybe more.'

'Wow, sounds rough.'

'Again, you realise I'm talking about what I did because of you, you know that right.'

'Again, no one asked you to.'

'Furball.'

'Ice-brain.'

'Dipshit.'

'Shit-dip.'

'Okay!' Yang waved her hands in front of the two, bringing their attention back to the subject. 'Can the two of you possibly not insult each other every few minutes?'

'Not possible; they're idiots.' Artemis piped from the doorway, appearing with her brother in tow. 'What are you guys up to?'

'We're talking about Jaye's final job to get out of the life.'

'To get out of life? That can't be right; he's very unfortunately still alive.'

'No to get out of the assassin life.' Jaye rolled his eyes. 'What's the point of those ears if they don't work?'

'Can you really blame me? I've had to listen to your voice all this time.'

'Furball.'

'Ice-brain.'

'How are your insults the same as Kamina's?'

'Cuz you're a bitch.' Artemis settled herself back into her bunk, draping herself across her brother lazily. 'Get on with the story.'

'Wonderful. Three shite-eating bastards. I blame you Mina.'

'Thank you, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!'

'Move up!'

'I can't! Goddamn she's a good shot.'

'AGH!' A guard dropped to the ground clutching his shoulder where Indigo had put a bullet through it. The pair had breached the main door with relative ease and were currently pushing through the first wave of soldiers. The Spiders were dropping (ironically) like flies as the pair's expert marksmanship was carving a path straight to the elevator. Her rifle pressed up to her eye, Indigo dropped three henchmen in the blink of an eye with single taps to the head. Jaye, for all his skill with firearms, couldn't match the impeccable accuracy her semblance afforded her, particularly in its boosted state. With Perfect Vision activated, it was easy for her to tell when and where her target was going to move, allowing her basically free headshots with a nearly zero chance of missing by accident. With the booster coursing through her system, her usual weakness of a time limit had been all but neutralised, and with Jaye raising ice walls for cover the pair was practically invincible. He froze yet another grenade to the ground, neutralising it, and the waves of foes before them continued to cuss out the intruders through the hail of gunfire and explosives. Indigo promptly turned her attention to a newcomer in the back with an RPG, nailing him through the head with a well-placed shot and sending him careening over backwards. The RPG scattered across the floor, and their surrounding members dived for it immediately. Pulling a grenade off his back, Jaye cooked it in hand for a brief moment before hurling it at the group, watching the green explosive device bounce between their legs as they raised the RPG, and whistled to himself as they went up in a blast much bigger than possible from a grenade, and reasoned to himself that the RPG head must have been set off in the process.

With the last of the heavy artillery gone, the two could then focus on the remaining stragglers, who without support, dropped easily with little in the way of resistance. Sweeping their corners, the pair kicked open the stairwell beside the elevator, knowing full well the transportation device would likely be a death sentence, and made their way rapidly upwards. Jaye ducked as a bullet careened off the railing next to him, swinging his rifle around and cracking the offending shooter through the chest. He fell in a tangle of limbs, dropping across the stairs and obstructing his allies advancing behind him. Jaye seized the opportunity to round the corner of the stairwell and fire into the mass ahead of him. The group dropped heavily as the bullets carved through them, and a shooter on the stairwell above keeled over the railing and dropped the rest of the way down as Indigo's shot passed cleanly through his head. The pair continued their advance, systematically disassembling the hoard of shooters that arrived to stop them. Scavenging weapons from their fallen offenders, the pair had little worry in the way of ammunition as they finally arrived at the top floor where the Spider was supposedly being held. They leant heavily against the door as Jaye prepped a charge in his hands.

'How many was that, damn.' Jaye shook his head, unfurling the breach charge and sticking it to the door.

'Too damn many, that's what.' Indigo grimaced, placing a hand on her head. 'I can feel the strain on my eyes already.'

'Don't push it; we've still got a way to go. I'll clear this floor; you give yourself a rest.' He said, flipping the detonator in his hand. They turned sharply away from the door as the charge went off, and Jaye immediately raised a chest high wall of ice before them. A barrage of bullets went off on the other side, slamming into the thickened ice that at this point was like steel. The amp clearly doing its work, Jaye fired several heavy chunks of ice into the corridor, scattering the shooters and compromising their cover. Several shooters dropped heavily, bullets through their heads and chests as even without her Perfect Vision Indigo's marksmanship was nothing to scoff at. Jaye threw a grenade into the back of the room, sighting the one who went to throw it back to them and shooting him right as he made to cock his arm back. The body dropped to the ground, grenade and all, lighting up the back row of shooters and distracting those at the front. Seizing the opportunity to advance, Jaye shot up another block of cover before them and vaulted over the ice. He slid behind his new position, listening for the tell-tale break in the peppering sounds of the bullets, and chucked a grenade blind into the mass of gunfire happening before him. Hearing them scramble, he raised his gun over the edge of the wall, expertly tapping five more through their heads as they ran for cover. The grenade went off with a bang, sending several more across the ground and more still crouching behind what was left of their cover; cover which was promptly destroyed by the boy and his boosted ice. Those that hadn't been crushed by the icicles were now left in the open and vulnerable, and the pair dropped them with ease. Scavenging a magazine from a nearby body, Jaye flicked out his empty cartridge and reloaded loudly, kicking down a wounded soldier and shooting him through the head. Down the hall, the final armoured door leading to the Spider's saferoom stood, unmoving, even as the pair watched. They took the time to scavenge the magazines from the bodies around, reloading their weapons and prepping themselves for the fight ahead. Approaching the door, Jaye placed a hand on it.

'No wonder their protocol is to lock the Spider inside one of these; it's pretty damn hard to bust one of these down.' Jaye whistled, running a hand over it. He glanced at the control panel in the corner, pulling out his scroll. Activating the cracking program Watts had sold to them, he grinned as it connected to the system without a hitch. With a resounding bang, the locks on the door disconnected, and the heavy metal doors slowly swung outward. A myriad of muffled curses resonated inside, and the sound of several guns aimed at the door at once reverberated through the room. Without hesitation, Jaye stuck his hand between the metal, discharging a furious blast of ice at the shooters inside. Only one was struck by the blast, the rest diving out of the way at the last moment, and Indigo promptly shot one of the thugs in the back on the floor. The bullet bounced off his aura fortification, and she grimaced as she realised that this group must be his elite guard. At the end of the room, a thin man sat quietly behind a massive wooden desk, hands crossed in front of his face as he surveyed the situation. Jaye immediately flicked his sights to him, firing cleanly at his head, cursing as the bullet was struck out of mid-air by one of the guards, now brandishing a blade at him. In all, there were seven of the Spider's elite guard, and with how things were they were at a clear disadvantage. Indigo's eyes glowed a gently purple, indicating that her semblance was active, as she prepared to engage the enemy. Jaye raised his rifle to his eye, growling at the group as they stalked warily around him. The man in the middle narrowed his eyes at the pair, brandishing his dual blades at them.

'Just the two of you did all this.' He said, shaking his head. 'The two top assassins of the Faction; why now? After all these years of remaining neutral, why break this unspoken agreement now?'

'Sorry mate, wish it was for a better reason.' Jaye said, firing at him, and his bullet was deflected promptly. 'But this is personal.'

'And what exactly did we do to Niflheim?'

'Nothing really. Just that you're standing between me and my freedom. I'm going to take my freedom, and if I have to go through you then so be it.' He said, charging the group. He weighed his odds; one short sword dual wielder, one handgun user, one lance user, and one katana wielder. His objective was then to take out the gunner to remove that from the equation, and he immediately knocked aside a blade aimed for his head. He sent a line of full-auto bullets up the man's leg and into his body and rolled backwards as a katana narrowly missed his neck. He took a shot to the body, tagging the gunner right back and sending him sprawling across the floor. He rolled out of the way as the katana came down with a fury, backing up furiously as the four continued to assault him. He knocked aside a short sword, feeling it glance off his barrel, and kicked the man in the head. Spinning on his knees to avoid a lance thrust, he immediately switched targets to hit the gunner in the distance. Sending the man sprawling again, he flipped over the head of the dual wielder, charging the gunner and shooting him repeatedly as he advanced. The man shot to his feet, backing up, and slipped as a pad of ice appeared beneath his feet. Jaye slammed into him with a fury, shooting him repeatedly in the head as his aura fizzled in response. Rolling out of the way as a spear thrust for his head, he formed an ice pad beneath him and sent himself sliding away from his opponents. Even as he slid, he took careful aim for the gunner's head, squeezing the trigger. The bullet stopped cold, finding its mark, and red blood pooled across the floor as the man lay still.

The other three froze, staring in disbelief at the now dead man sprawled out across the floor, and Jaye took the opportunity to shoot the lancer. The man deflected the rest of the shots with his weapon, cursing as a few found its way through and depleted his shields. The dual wielder charged him, slashing furiously to avenge his dead comrade, and Jaye promptly kicked a slash downwards and away from his body. He rolled over the man's back, shooting the lancer who approached him in an attempt to follow up and sliding across the ground once more as the man continued his assault undaunted. Kicking off from the ground, Jaye slid backwards on his back while firing, catching the lancer in the body again with numerous bullets before he dived to the side. Rolling backwards over his head, Jaye ducked the katana slashing for his neck, kicking the man's wrists as he tried to follow up and shooting him square in the face with a hip fire. He slipped backwards as the blade arced towards his neck again, feeling it cut through his rifle strap, and charged a pillar of ice from his foot that extended straight into the man's stomach. The katana wielder coughed hard, stumbling back and eating the half magazine Jaye had left. Flicking out the empty cartridge and throwing it at the man's face, he ran up the wall to avoid the dual wielder's attacks, backflipping off it casually and reloading as he did so. He landed hard, rolling backwards as a katana swiped at his landing position and shooting the offender in the gut. His aura fizzled, and Jaye promptly rolled over the lance user's back as he pressed his attack.

Noting the katana user's low aura, he barraged him with strikes and bullets, neatly evading his companions' attempts to protect their pressured member with well-placed ice pads and short walls. His aura fizzling out with a pop, the katana wielder spun out of range of Jaye's strikes, pushing him back with a furious cry. Pressured by the group, Jaye backed up rapidly, feeling his rifle get knocked from his hands. Seizing the lance shaft, he dragged the man across to him, throwing an elbow into his head that was blocked with an arm. Grimacing, he tightened his grip on the weapon as his boosted aura froze the shaft solid in barely a second, and slammed his forearm instead into the lance, shattering it. The man gasped at what was now a shortened staff in his hands, crying out as Jaye raked the tip of the spear he was still holding across his chest. Ducking the katana from behind, the attacker gasped in shock as the lance head was driven through his gut. Stumbling back, he swung again at Jaye, feeling the boy seize his wrist and disarm him deftly. Jaye rolled out of the way as the lancer grabbed his friend as he fell, helping him remove the spearhead from his stomach. Blood poured from the wound, shocking the two, and using the moment of hesitation Jaye pulled his pistol from behind his waist and shot the swordsman through the heart. Blood spurted from the bullet wound, and he collapsed in a tangle of limbs. The lancer stared at him in shock, eating another bullet from the boy, and the final member immediately pressed his attack.

Now armed with a more practical weapon for the situation, Jaye deflected the dual blades with practiced ease, overwhelming the man with effective strikes that made it past his guard and put his aura under pressure. Spinning out of range, the man attempted to use the element of surprise to halt the boy's assault and flipped a sword over in his hand. Sending it flying towards the boy, Jaye nearly scoffed at the stupidity of such an attack, snatching the blade of out midair as it rocketed past his face. He redirected it easily, sending it flying into the now staff wielder's face and knocking him off his feet. His aura fizzled as well, and Jaye promptly knocked away the swords aimed for his head. Shooting the man to make him back off, he abruptly switched targets to the lancer now regaining his footing, slamming a knee into the man's chin as he got to his feet. Sending him skidding across the ground, he loosed a heavy blast of ice at the man, pinning him to the ground where he lay. Raising his pistol, he shot the man almost contemptuously through the head, turning his attention to his final assailant. The man brandished his sole short sword at the boy, and Jaye spun the katana in his hand. Firing as he approached, he promptly slammed the short swords clear of his attacker's hands. Staggering backwards, disarmed, the man could do little but try to get out of the way of the rapid sword and gun attacks the boy was sending his way, ineffectively trying to evade them as his aura took a beating instead. Trying to disarm him, Jaye shot the man in the thigh as he seized the boy's sword hand, kneeing him in the gut and wrenching his wrist free from his grip. Shooting him several more times, his aura finally left him with a sound almost like a defeated sigh, and Jaye dropped the katana clutched between his fingers. The weapon clattered deafeningly against the marble floor, and the man raised defiant eyes to the assassin.

'That freedom you're working for; I hope it's worth it.' The man spat, hands still on his sides. Jaye noticed his fingers creeping across his jacket, seeing the edge of a concealed throwing knife between his fingers.

'Yeah me too.' He said, raising his pistol.

'Can a man like you even know peace?'

'Stop quoting John Wick.' Jaye rolled his eyes. 'Are you going to throw that knife or not?'

The man promptly flung the knife, albeit in vain, at the boy's face. Jaye snatched it out of mid-air, pulling his trigger. The gunshot reverberated through the room, the room going quiet as Indigo dispatched her last assailant as well. The man dropped to the ground with a meaty smack, and Jaye turned to the man who had remained seated behind his desk. He finally let his hands drop from where they were covering his face, and Jaye raised an eyebrow at him. The pair approached, and the man spread his hands in welcome to them.

'Well you got me.' He said, smiling at the two. Jaye narrowed his eyes at the man, the spider tattoo obvious on his neck, before finally scoffing aloud. Indigo gave him a look that said "what?", and Jaye kicked the desk in frustration. The man smirked, knowing that he'd realised, and Jaye growled at him.

'You're not the Spider, are you?' He hissed, and the man grinned widely at the boy. Jaye kicked the desk again, this time sending it tumbling across the floor. 'Well who are you then?!'

'I'm what the world knows as the Spider. I am the figurehead of the Spiders, the face of the man behind it all.' He said, and Indigo's eyes widened in realisation.

'The figurehead?' She whispered, slamming a palm into her face. 'So you're a pawn?!'

'That's right. The real Spider has always been there, always watching. I'm the one everyone chases; everyone in the organisation thinks I'm the Spider. But really all I've been doing is relaying orders as they arrive to me.' The man grinned leaning back in his chair. Jaye raised his pistol to the man's head, and he grinned even wider. 'You've been in the web this whole time.'

'Then who is the Spider!' Jaye hissed, pressing the barrel into the man's head with a frustrated growl. 'Where is he?! I am sick of this shit!'

'She's always been there. In the exact same place. How do you think we know the Faction's moves before they're made?'

Jaye narrowed his eyes as he realised who the man was talking about, while Indigo gave the two confused glances. The man smiled, turning to the desk that had been turned over. A projector flickered to life, and the boy made a sound of intense frustration. He yanked the desk back to its feet, flipping it back over and letting the projector cast its image to the two. A woman's voice came to life over the device, her plump face smirking at the pair.

'Howdy there darlin'. Had fun on your little crewsade?' Malachite grinned, and Jaye hissed in response to her.

'Malachite. This has to be the biggest plot twist of all time.' The boy promptly shot the man through the face, watching the decoy Spider slump backwards in his chair, holstering his pistol with contempt. 'If you tell me this building is going to blow up, I swear I will come back from the grave to fucking kill you.'

'No worries my dear; I ain't gonna kill you. I doubt I could anyhow; no one's ever gotten so close to finding me before, but here you are.' She picked at her nails, and he kicked the wall again.

'And you're going to be gone long before I get there, aren't you?' He hissed, and Malachite clicked her tongue at him.

'Well not exactly. See, I've been hiding for far too long, and that ain't really good for business see. Makes it a little hard to manage things from where I am right now. And seeing as you killed the living shit outta my boys over there, I'm a little short on staff at the moment.'

'Cry me a river.'

'Well point is, it's gonna be hard to get people to stop leaving once they hear the Spider's been killed. That means I'm gonna havta take my proper place as the head, and that can only work out well for you.'

'And how exactly does that work out for me?'

'Simple really. Your deal was to kill the Spider. Not to destroy the entire organisation. This point, I've seen what you can do. And you did what no one else could've; you found me. So let's make a deal.' Jaye hissed at her over the radio. 'We're going to ground after this, reworking the whole thing from the ground up because you've officially destroyed our system. You compromised everything, meaning we got a lotta work ahead of us. And that's a lotta work we can't get done with you hunting me down. So you get your out; you killed the Spider. And we won't come back up as any kind of real threat to the Faction until at least a year or two after you've been gone. Win-win for the botha us.'

'Or I could come right over there and kill you right now, rather than risk violating my agreement.'

'Ya already violated it dear. The fact that little miss red hair is standing behind ya means the deal's off with the council. I could just as easily tell em exactly what I saw here; I could even mention that I found out about a certain little kitty you've let run free, and that'll definitely send you to the gallows if nothin' else does.'

Jaye remained silent, watching the woman silently. Malachite shot him another grin, flicking her fan back open.

'Your choice darlin'.' She said, and Jaye heaved a sigh.

'Fine; you get your shot.' He said, and Indigo shot him a glare that said "what are you doing?!". 'You keep your trap shut, and you walk.'

'Nice doin business with you hon. But really, we know it won't make a difference in the end.' Malachite smiled widely at him. 'You ain't gettin' out. Not like this.'

'Piss off. You worry about you; I'll worry about me.' He said, kicking the desk over. The boy turned abruptly on his heel, stalking straight to the door in a huff of anger, and Indigo ran after him, grabbing him by the arm.

'Are you insane?!' She hissed, and Jaye shook his head.

'She's not instating herself as the true Spider; she's just taking his place. That's not violating the agreement.'

'You say that as if they care about technicalities.' She folded her arms across her chest. 'You've already violated so many terms; adding more is only going to make this worse for you.'

'I know.' The boy muttered, slowly making his way down the stairs. He ran his hand along the blood-stained banister, grimacing at his stained palm. 'Trust me; I know how this ends.'

End