Chapter 50

Spinning their knives in hand, the girls launched themselves towards the raven-haired boy, and Jaye rolled to the side as they came crashing down. He blocked a knife with his gauntlet, thankful that they were tough enough to take axe blows and kicked the offender away. He slid under their flurries, rolling out of the way as the girls slashed at his prone form. He spun into a butterfly twist, throwing a kick out as he did so and knocking a knife from one of the girls' hands. He twisted into several more kicks as he landed, forcing them to back off. The girl retrieved her knife from where it had bounced off the cage wall, and Jaye narrowed his eyes at the two. Currently the older sister seemed to be the more aggressive one, but the younger sister was a touch faster. With no weapons to effectively fight back with, he was at a severe disadvantage, and he resolved to take at least one knife from the girls as soon as he could.

'I suppose at this point we should introduce ourselves. I'm Jaye.' Jaye said, watching the two carefully as they began to close the distance. The girls raised their knives at him, continuing to stare at the boy impassively, and he heaved a sigh as they continued their approach.

'Look, I don't know what Damian promised you, or what he's told you about me, but I can assure you that half of them are lies. Or at the very least, he's left out large portions of the truth.' Jaye raised his hands as they slashed at him, sliding back out of the way as the girls flurried him once more. He grabbed an outstretched arm, earning himself a kick to the gut, and launched himself off the cage wall. He kept his grip on her arm as he did so, twisting in midair and throwing the girl over his head. She bounced off the cage wall with a cry, tumbling to the floor. Her sister threw a kick into the boy's head, glancing off his gauntlet instead, and he flipped over her to escape. He charged up the cage wall, bouncing off the ceiling, and slammed his armored boots down into her crossed blades. The two crashed into the floor in a tangle of limbs, and he kicked her knives out of her hands. He dived for the scattered blades, swiping one off the ground, and she retrieved the other with undisguised contempt. The other girl, recovered from her flight into the cage wall, clicked the long knife handles together. Raising her arm, she flicked the swords downwards, and the two blades locked together as they extended into a double ended blade. The other girl extended the single knife she was holding into a short sword, and Jaye fiddled with the one he was holding.

'Well, if you don't mind calling a temporary truce to show me how to do that then well, that'd be swell.' He grinned, eyeing the handle as no obvious triggers were immediately visible. 'No? That's okay, I'll figure it out.'

The girls charged him without another word, spinning in unison as Jaye once more found himself with a significant reach disadvantage, and cursed his inability to figure out how their weapons worked. He slipped a forward slash, proving a tough adversary nonetheless as he continued to slip and deflect their furious blows.

'You know this fight would be a lot more fulfilling if I knew what we were fighting about!' He panted, catching the wrist of one of the girls, slipping to the side as the double-bladed sword spun past his waist. The girl swiped at his ankles, freeing her sister from his grasp and forcing the boy to back away into the cage wall. She started after him, her feet slipping a little on the gravel, and Jaye took the opportunity to launch a dropkick into her face, shoving the other girl aside in the process. She screamed in pain as she flew into the cage wall, and Jaye flipped to his feet as her sister swiped her short sword at his prone figure. He sailed narrowly over the blade, striking back with the dagger and spinning into a back kick with the momentum. The girl crashed into the wall with a groan, and he swiftly backed off to the other side of the cage as they recovered.

'You guys are terrible conversationalists.' He shook his head, spinning the knife in his hand and trying in vain to find out how to extend the blade. Damian yawned in his armchair.

'You know, if you're not going to fight them seriously then I ought to just kill these kiddos here right now.' Damian sighed, jerking his thumb at the currently bound twins behind him. The henchmen holding them down took the signal, forcing the twins to their knees as they pressed their guns to side of their heads. Artemis swished her tail angrily at the barrel pressed to her temple, and Jaye had to applaud her for her defiant lack of fear, if nothing else. The two girls dragged themselves, groaning, to their feet, and Damian flashed them a look of contempt. 'Scarlett, Violet, get your shit together you hear me?'

The girls, Scarlett and Violet, nodded to the red-clad man. He eyed the twins quietly, wondering who was who, before noting the color of their eyes. True to their names, the girls' eyes were vivid purple and red, and he assumed their names followed that distinction. Scarlett charged him, splitting her sword back into two blades, and Jaye groaned as they approached. He retreated once more under their onslaught, backing up into the cage, and Damian cleared his throat loudly, gesturing unobtrusively towards the pair of twins kneeling on the ground. The henchmen pressed the guns a little harder into their temples, and Jaye responded by kicking Violet across the cage. Throwing the knife at her, Scarlett ducked under it desperately, and Jaye seized the chance to close the gap. Grabbing Scarlett by the wrists, he headbutted her hard, kicking her legs apart to throw her balance and slammed the palm of his hand into her temple. She skidded across the dusty floor, and Jaye threw up his hands at the assassin. Damian rolled his eyes, waving off his henchmen, and he took the guns off the twins' heads.

'Entertain me, puppet boy!' He declared, spreading his arms wide, and Jaye swore loudly at the sociopath. Seeing no way out of the current situation, he seized Violet by the arm, driving his foot into the side of her knee. She screamed in pain as she buckled, and he wrenched the sword out of her hand. She twisted her arm out of his grip, backing away to a safe distance, and Scarlett dived headfirst into the boy. Her blades at the ready, she spun them in vain into his gauntlets and Jaye kicked one sword out of her hand. He deflected a few blows, spinning the short sword expertly between his fingers, and she tried to distract him with a kick to the stomach before following up with her blade. He seized her hand in his, slamming his forearm down on the blade clutched between her fingers. It shattered with a loud crash, and she stared at the stump of a sword left in her hand.

'Extendable blades tend to sacrifice structural integrity, while stronger materials tend to have too much weight.' He said, breathing out as he blocked her retaliation. 'In most cases the housing section of your blade would be made of a stronger material, while the solid blade portion would be made of regular steel to balance out the weight and keep consistent durability through the weapon. Your blades were designed poorly.' He seized Violet's arm as she slashed at him, shattering her sword as well. 'I could tell the moment I spun your sword in my hand. Whoever you got it from must really not care if you live or die.'

Violet backed out of reach, retrieving the previously discarded dagger, and the two girls huddled together in the middle of the cage. They suddenly didn't seem quite as sure of themselves, and Jaye felt the momentum shift in his favor. He stepped towards the girls, each of them now brandishing a dagger each. They had smartly returned them to their dagger forms to avoid him breaking them once more, but the threat had served its purpose and now significantly reduced their reach advantage. Not much he could do about the fact that they were taller than him, but the shortened blades helped a lot. He launched himself over their heads, kicking Violet in the back and separating the two. He seized Scarlett's hand as she slashed at him, removing the knife from her grasp and slamming his elbow into her temple. She stumbled to the ground, shaking her head, and he launched his foot across her face. She cried out in pain as his foot connected, and her aura fortification fizzed out as she collapsed. Violet let out a war cry, charging the boy, and he threw the knife at her as she approached. Swatting it out of the air, she cursed as she realized the knife was a distraction and the boy had seized her wasted movement to close the gap between them. He struck the knife out of her hand, launching a fist across her face, and she swore in response to the blow. She shielded her face desperately as he barraged her with bare handed strikes, and she doubled over as his fist collided with her stomach. She gasped in pain, and an uppercut finally cut between her arms and slammed into her chin, rocking her on her feet. She felt a hand grasp her collar, feeling a leg slide between her own, and the world spun as she went head over heels and into the floor. Executing a solid uchi mata, Jaye dropped her unceremoniously onto the metal, apologizing under his breath to the girls as he turned once more to face the assassin still nonchalantly picking at his nails in his armchair.

'Well? Fight's over.' Jaye panted, crossing his arms at Damian, and the red-clad man got to his feet with a shake of his head.

'Is it? I didn't notice you finish, on account of it being so boring and all.' He yawned, stretching out his legs as he paced around the twins. 'I thought I told you to kill them.'

'I thought I told you I wouldn't?'

'And I thought I told you that either you die, they die, or the twins snuff it.' Damian rolled his eyes, his hand falling to his swords at his waist. 'You really hate following orders, don't you?'

'It's part of my charm.' Jaye said. 'The trade is simple really. You have me, so let the twins go.'

'I think not.' Damian laughed, drawing his blade with a flourish. He spun the katana between his fingers, indicating for the henchmen to remove the gags of the twins. He grinned devilishly at the boy, raising the blade in his hands. 'You see, even if I let them go, they're just going to come right back to me. There would hardly be a point.'

Jaye stared at the twins, who were now wiggling their eyebrows as their gags were removed. Artemis gave the boy a smug smile, winking at him, and he felt the smile fall off his face in realization.

'…Well I guess that explains it.' Jaye let his arms fall to his side, picking up the two discarded daggers in the cage with him. 'They were yours all along.'

'They were.' He placed a hand on the twins heads in turn, ruffling their hair, and they smiled bashfully up at the assassin. 'I trained them, largely for fun, but it gave them purpose. So imagine my surprise when in the end, they would be the ones to bring you to me? I certainly never expected it until they gave me a call right before you lot left Vale.'

'So that's how you tracked us all the way to Mire. I thought it was a bit too coincidental for you to just happened to be here to kidnap them.'

'It's a bitch ain't it? Your past mistakes are coming back to haunt you. And it mattered so much to me that YOU were the ones to drive them to such desperation! It gave me so much relish to know that I could groom them into pawns used solely to kill you.' Damian slammed a maniacal hand into the side of the cage. 'You really brought this upon yourself you know. Jaye Ryder, Niflheim. The star boy of the Faction. Unparalleled in every way, and he has never failed; not once. Of course, not one man could live up to the legend that was you. Not even me.'

'So that's what this is about.' Jaye breathed a condescending sigh, touching a gloved finger to his forehead. 'All of this just to prove you were the better assassin?'

'But of course.' Damian grinned, running a finger down the side of the cage. Jaye took a disgusted step away from the crazed man, shivering slightly as he did so. 'When we were on the same team it was always Team RHKD and their fearless leader Jaye Ryder. No matter how many kills I made, no matter what part I played in the missions, even my solo runs, you were always the star. The man to be feared; Jaye Ryder. I was living in your shadow, and I hated it.'

'Then you should have worked harder.' Jaye spat, crossing his arms once more. 'I earned my title and my respect.'

'And so have I.' Damian smiled, spreading his arms wide. 'I have amassed power and fortune. People tremble when they hear my name; the Red Devil of the Faction! I've taken your place, AND your legacy. I have defeated you not once, but three times now. I have taken everything that you ever had for my own!'

'Good job. Want a medal?'

'I have become more than you EVER will be!'

'That's great man. But I've got a boat to catch, so if you don't mind, I'll just take my teammates and go now.'

'And now this is the end. I will take everything you hold dear to you and strip them away. I will erase my shame from the history books, I will erase Team RHKD from existence. No one will ever speak your name again, and I will finally have beaten you.' Damian let his arms fall to his side, breathing out in a slow sigh. 'And I will finally have everything I deserve.'

'You already have everything. What more could you possibly want?' Jaye slammed his fists into the cage wall. The guards took a step back as the cage rattled, the chains seemed like they were going to snap off at any second. 'You've beaten me, destroyed my home, and taken away the peace I so desperately longed for. What more could you possibly want?'

'That is quite simple. I wish to take away the humanity that you have tried so hard to regain.' He breathed, pointing his blade at the twins. He withdrew his wakizashi slowly, pacing towards them. The looks of adoration on the siblings' faces suddenly turned to confusion, and they attempted to inch away from him as he approached. They yelped as the henchmen around them seized them, forcing them back down onto their knees. 'I may have defeated you, but those hardly matter. You were weak, you ARE weak, because of them. You have let your humanity get in the way of your power. There is no meaning in a victory like that.'

'You're delusional.'

'I'm POWERFUL!' The red-clad assassin howled at the moon, and Jaye took an involuntary step back. He raised the knives in his hands, slashing at the chains holding the cage walls shut. 'And if killing these two is what it will take to return you to your former glory, then it is a small price to pay.' He turned his grin on the twins. 'After all, children like you are in great supply.'

'Master, you bastard!' Apollo swore, pushing himself in front of his sister. 'We trusted you!'

'And what was the first lesson I taught you? Don't trust anyone.' He raised the swords in his hands. Jaye screamed in anguish as the knife shattered against the chains, and he blasted cold air at the lock. 'Goodbye children. It was a pleasure.'

'No!' Jaye yelled, slamming his foot into the cage door. The lock cracked but did not break, and he howled as the red-clad man drove his blades down at the boy's chest.

As if on cue, a heeled boot slammed itself into the man's head, and Indigo pushed off his temple as she backflipped off the assassin. Damian swore incessantly as she slid in front of the twins, glaring back at the henchmen who were currently reaching for their guns. Kamina sprang up from his spot on the floor, kicking the henchmen away from him as he danced to the side, shit eating grin plastered across his face as he did so. Jaye heaved a sigh of relief, turning his attention back to the lock. He launched up a pillar of ice, the cage rattling against the chains as he pushed, and he launched blasts of cold air at the chains securing the cage to the ground.

'You won't kill them that easily.' She declared, raising her hands into a fighting stance, and Kamina made for the henchmen guarding their weapons. She grimaced at the kids behind her, still bound on the floor, and Damian laughed as he raised his swords.

'Don't kid yourself Indigo. We both know that you're not the best hand to hand fighter around. And you're going to find it a tad bit hard to retrieve your weapons.' He raised the blade at the girl. 'My men have that covered.'

Kamina skidded to a stop at the corner, waving sheepishly at the crowd of henchmen guarding the heavy safe their weapons were in. They raised their guns at him, and he flashed away with a girly scream. Indigo rolled her eyes at the fox boy, glancing worriedly at the boy now trying to break the chains of the cage as the henchmen began to fire at him. He had gathered the two girls still in the cage with him behind his ice walls, but he was having trouble keeping the ice solid while freezing the chains.

'So, what will it be girl? Run away and leave the kids to die? Or stay and die yourself?' Damian spun his swords nonchalantly, and Indigo shook her head.

'How about no.'

'Then it's settled.' He dashed towards her, slashing at her feet, and she backed away out of reach. She kicked at his blade as he struck, using her perfect vision to keep out of reach of his weapons. He fired at her a few times, and she flipped away and out of reach. She cursed as she did so; the children were exposed.

'That was a mistake.' Damian smiled, pointing his gun at the faunus. Artemis swore at the assassin, and Indigo sprinted for the terrified girl. 'Goodbye.'

He pulled the trigger.