Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Akame ga Kill franchise and this fanfiction has not been written for profit!

A/N: Sorry for the delay, boys and girls. I'm a full time defense-attorney now though, hence my comments about having a hectic schedule. Fortunately, I already know what I want to do in each chapter, so I can type the chapters out when I get time. Nevertheless, to make up for my insolence, I'm going to try to release two chapters simultaneously by the end of November or the beginning of December. Or maybe earlier depending on how easy my caseload is. Before we proceed, I'd like to address a couple of things.

Reviews: Again, I love reviews, so keep 'em coming. As to fanficfan117, again, sorry for the delay. I meant to get this chapter out last week, but again, hectic schedule. As to Doom Marine 54, yeah, I deleted the guest review you posted yesterday morning. Sorry bro, but I googled your name after finding it a little strange that you'd opt to add a new review for the same chapter you already reviewed weeks ago and it looks like you're a pretty infamous troll, lol. Look, I don't mind trolling (talented ones anyway). I used to do it all the time back when I was younger, but it's an art that requires subtlety. For one, if you're gonna use a guest review, don't go using the name you used with your actual account. Mmkay?

Favorites/Follows: As always, thanks!

Story points: Keep in mind the rules I posted in the first chapter. If it wasn't mentioned prior to the 14th episode in the anime, I am not bound to it. If I see something I like in the manga, I'll add it here. Otherwise, everything is up for grabs. Also, keep in mind that I'm a strong believer of chekov's gun (google it!). Everything I write is written for a reason. And that's all I'm gonna say for now!

Without further ado . . .

Updated 1/17/17 - Fixed prose and grammatical errors.

Episode 17: Kill the Diplomats – Part 1

To the east of the Empire was the vast desert like kingdom, Ali Jinnah. A hot and humid country littered with mountains, cacti, sandy dunes and very little rain; where much travel was conducted with the use of camel led caravans.

At their lonesome, in the middle of a wide, empty, scorching humid desert were Akame and Lubbock. Both were rode on their own camel's back and were fully decked out in thick robes appropriate for such a harsh environment.

Lubbock desperately reached for the gourd shaped canteen strapped to the side of his camel. He had fervidly untwisted the cap, hoping to pour the contents of the bottle down his throat. But as he shook the bottle, not even drop landed on his tongue. Frustrated, he threw the bottle down onto the ground. "How do people live in this country?"

"It's not so bad once you get used to it", Akame replied, the tone of her voice nonchalant as ever. Unlike her companion, despite the climate she was in, she was perfectly composed.

"Of course YOU would say that, but I'm talking about regular people!" He wiped the heaps of sweat from his brow. "It's amazing how we're the only ones who were assigned to travel without an air manta."

Akame shrugged her shoulders. "Have you forgotten already? Unauthorized use of air mantas are outlawed in this country. If people saw us traveling on one, it'd raise plenty of suspicion. Fortunately, our target has access to many."

"Yeah yeah and as soon as we've eliminated him, we can take one of his and pass ourselves off as officials. I get that. But coming all this way by camel is still a pain in the ass."

"Maybe not for long", the Akame smiled, boldly pointing ahead. "Look."

Lubbock shifted his eyes, looking ahead, his eyes exuberant as he gazed towards what his companion was pointing at. It was a small oasis with several tents set near it. Moreover, a robed bearded man was standing outside one of the tents, waving for the two to come forward. Seeing this pumped the green haired assassin full of newfound energy; he leaped off his camel and ran towards the oasis at full speed, much to Akame's astonishment. Upon reaching the pool of water, he plunged his entire body in without regard for composure.

As Akame approached the oasis, the bearded man walked towards her, cheerfully smiling. "Hello there, young lady. If I didn't know better, I'd say you and your friend could use some rest and reprieve."

Socially reticent as ever, she merely nodded her head.

But this didn't bother the bearded man. "I thought as much. By all means, this oasis is free to everyone . . . provided they're willing to make some purchases."

Akame scratched her head, unsure of what the man was getting at; uncertain of his underlying meaning. "Purchases?"

"Where are my manners? My name is Raja Aboo and I lead one of the most famous merchant guilds throughout all of Ali Jinnah. Part of our illustrative services involves being available to wealthy foreigners like yourself out here in the wide open desert. Come, take a look at my wares. Make some purchases and your friend there can help himself to our oasis to his heart's content."

"Just buy something!", Lubbock yelled, backstroking in the calm and cool pool of water.

And so the bearded merchant took Akame to the side, showing off a variety of wares, from gold chains, to sweet perfume, to medallions of various shapes and sizes, to silk dresses and shirts; the merchant had it all. Yet nothing which thus far piqued Akame's interest.

However, as the merchant continued to guide her through his various supplies and trinkets, one particular item caught the female assassin's eyes. "Where did you get this?", Akama hurriedly asked, grabbing an antique wind up music box from one of the nearby shelves.

To which the bearded merchant rubbed his chin. "Ah, that. Remarkable craftsmanship isn't it? A desperate vagrant once sold it to me for a meager amount of coin. Quite the bargain. It peaks your interest though, doesn't it?"

She unreservedly nodded, holding the music box close to her chest.

The merchant held out his hand. "30 gold pieces."

Hearing this, Lubbock leaped out of the water full of outrage. "30 gold pieces for a friggin music-box?! You can get a music box in the Capital for two gold pieces!"

"This is no ordinary music box", the merchant responded, now rubbing the whiskers on his beard. "As you can see, it's custom-made."

And to Lubbock's dismay, Akame appeared to agree, handing the merchant his requested amount without hesitation. "Sold"

Lubbock buried his face into his palm. "Akame, what do you know about haggling?"

To which the red eyed assassin gave her companion a look of slight confusion. "Haggling?"

"Yeah . . . give me the rest of the gold", Lubbock sighed.

As Akame handed her fellow Night Raid companion a medium sized pouch of gold from her bag, Lubbock turned to the bearded merchant. "Lets talk business. We're headed to the city of Ayatollah. You got anything that can make our trip there easier?"

The merchant gave off a knowing look. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? If it's an easier trip you're seeking, what you need is the right supplies."

Lubbock curiously rubbed his chin "The right supplies, huh."

"Correct. And the right supplies just so happen to be my specialty. You could call them . . . the heart of my trade. Come, I keep them in another tent"

The two followed the bearded merchant to the other tent he spoke of, curious to see what would make their trip through the desert less arduous. However, as they reached the tent, the merchant motioned for them to stop. He then looked to the tent. "Numbers 1 through 15, come right out so the customers can see you.

In response, a total of 15 men and women young and old, exited the tent, each clothed in rags. Both Akame and Lubbock's mouths dropped at the sight of this.

The bearded merchant walked proudly across the group, showing them off much like he had his wares. "These will get you very far. They've been groomed well enough to endure this harsh desert all while hauling supplies. What's more, they will obey your every whim. I will sell them to you for 20 gold each."

Lubbock sighed and sternly shook his head. "No thanks. We're not interested."

"Are you sure? They may not look like much, but I assure you they're very talented. If it's not manual labor you're seeking, perhaps something more . . . carnal." The last word uttered with a wink and a nudge.

Lubbock was about to respond, only to find himself caught off guard by his red eyed companion, who had her imperial arm unsheathed and pointed directly towards Raja Aboo's throat.

"Let these people go", she said, her voice cold, certain and direct.

The merchant appeared to be confused about this reaction. "Calm down, young lady. I assure you I'm just trying to make a profit. Surely you can understand . . ."

But Akame would not hear any of it. "I said let them go!"

"Now look young lady. I am trying to be civil. I run a clean operation. I have no wish to shed any blood."

But she remained unphased. "I won't ask again!"

To which the bearded merchant sighed, snapping his fingers. "Abbas, Cid, Hazim. It seems we are going to get some exercise today after all."

Three robed armed and muscular men emerged from the other tents and approached the two Night Raid members. Raja Aboo himself removed a dagger he had had strapped to his side. The entire group then swarmed Lubbock and Akame, intent on taking them with overwhelming force.

Unfortunately for them, their numbers alone didn't muster any kind of advantage. With just a quick twirl of the wires from his imperial arm, Cross Tail, Lubbock swiftly removed the heads of all three of the merchant's henchmen without a moment's notice.

Simultaneously, Akame effortlessly sliced off the hand Raja Aboo had been holding his dagger in, causing him to drop his knees and cry out in pain. "You damn witch!", he cried as he saw murasame's black ethereal markings traveling up his body. "What did I do to deserve this?!"

But Akame ignored him, knowing that any further communication with the man was pointless. She instead watched him silently, waiting until he had breathed his last breath before sheathing her sword and glanced towards all of the slaves. With a warm smile on her face, she said "You're free now."

And though in some circles, perhaps this gesture would've been cause for heartfelt praise and celebration. Instead, most of the slaves present looked blankly into Akame's eyes. Additional slaves came out of the tent, horrified at the sight of the dead bodies they saw lying on the ground. A few of them began to weep, others immediately began digging fresh graves in the ground.

One of the slaves, a middle aged woman, walked towards the red eyed assassin before stretching a hand back and using it to slap Akame across the face.

Akame didn't really flinch at the physical sensation she felt, more concerned with what had actually just occurred. She saved these people from a life of slavery. So why would they react in this fashion?

"Why would you do this?!", the middle aged women cried. "You've doomed us all."

Akame couldn't fathom what this woman was talking about, indicative by the befuddled expression on her face. "I don't understand. Don't you want to be free?"

"Free to do what? Now, thanks to you, we have no place to go."

To which Akame asked, "What about all of the merchandise here in this encampment? I'm sure if you sold it in the nearest city, you could . . ."

Another slave interruptively spoke out. "We have all been branded as slaves. We don't have the right to trade goods and would be executed for trying."

As Akame heard these words, she somberly looked to the ground, coming to the terms with the gravity of her heroism in this instance. "I see."

Lubbock, however, calmly decided to speak up. "It doesn't have to be this way. Once my associate and I have finished our business in Ayatollah, we'd be happy to come back here and smuggle each of you out of Ali Jinnah and you could sell all of this merchandise without having to worry about being killed. What do you say?"

But the same slave that had slapped Akame spat in Lubbock's direction, looking at him with hate and venom in her eyes. "You've helped us enough. We don't want to have anything else to do with you! Leave at once!"

"Suit yourselves", Lubbock said, indifferently shrugging his shoulders while pulling his companion away by the wrist. "Akame, c'mon. Lets go."

She looked upon the group of slaves in disbelief as she was tugged away, for once being less cool and collected than her green haired accomplice.

[. . . The prodigal son returns . . .]

In the middle of the imperial palace courtyard sat a pre-occupied Prime Minister Honest, enjoying what was evidently a delicious plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Next to him stood an underling, briefing him on a long list of matters that predictably did not grab the Honest's full-attention.

"Thus, as you can clearly see, the Durellione family's new estate is not in keeping with the Empire's zoning regulation 45-6347, and should therefore be required to . . ."

The Prime Minister munched on a handsized meatball. "The DuRellion's have paid ample tribute to the Empire, thus I'm sure you can overlook a pesky zoning violation."

"Very well", the underling nodded his head while look down a long sheet of paper. "But there is also the matter of . . ."

"Enough", Honest interrupted, his eyes fixated on a figure approaching him from the distance. "You will brief me at another time."

To which the underling bowed his head before turning away and leaving the courtyard. At the same time, however, another individual approached the Prime Minister.

Wrapping some spaghetti noodles around a fork and plunging it into his mouth, Honest simultaneously greeted this visitor. "Ah, it's been a while . . . Syura. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

A young man with tan skin, green eyes and white hair casually sat himself at the table Honest was sitting at. "I've just returned from my investigation into the first emperor's hidden remote imperial arm foundry."

"I take it the existence of such a foundry wasn't simply a rumor?"

"No, I was able to locate the place. Most people would not have been able to access a location 15 miles underwater, but my Shambhala makes even that sort of hurdle trivial at best."

"Fascinating. What did you uncover?"

"Unfortunately, there weren't any items of practical value, but I did find some blueprints and research notes that could be of use to your ambitions, father."

Hearing these words, the Prime Minister put his fork and plate aside, deeply intrigued. "Oh? And what would you know of my ambitions?"

Syura smirked, seeing that he now had his father's full attention. "We've had imperial arms for a thousand years now, but still know so little about them. Imagine if what we could accomplish if we knew of a way to bypass their basic limitations. Compatibility? Drawbacks? The inability to use more than one at a time? All things of the past."

"That does sound quite useful", Honest mused, twirling the hair on his beard.

Syura then removed a scroll with detailed blueprints from his pocket, only to dramatically place them on the table. On the scroll was a diagram of an item that resembled a silk glove. "It's called the limit breaker. Gathering the needed materials and manufacturing will probably take a few years, but once enough of these are produced, you can be a lot more selective about who has the privilege of owning an imperial arm."

"Bringing that stubborn bastard Budo's usefulness to an end."

"Ah, that old geezer. Does he still talk of dealing with the Empire's so-called corruption once the Revolutionary Army is crushed?"

The Prime Minister nodded. "It's just as well. According to Esdeath, the war should be over soon anyway. I was planning on having her deal with him then, but with these gloves, finding a suitable replacement for Budo will be much easier."

"Well its been nice chatting with you father, but its been a long day and there's a young lady I met in the schoolyard earlier and it would be rude of me to keep her waiting."

"I'll trust you'll at least be discreet, this time."

Syura started getting up from the table, presumably preparing to head back to his quarters. "No need to remind me, father. I've already had the palace craftsmen sound proof my walls."

"One more thing", Honest said, his eyes narrowing sternly. "Exactly when did you return to the Capital?"

Syura stopped dead in his tracks. He paused for a few seconds, silence deafening the courtyard, only to then say. "Just this morning. Why?"

To which Honest responded, continuing to dine upon his plate of spaghetti. "No reason. No reason at all."

With that, Syura walked away. And just as soon as he was out of sight, he removed a silk glove from his pocket and marveled at it with immense satisfaction. "Sorry father, but I've got some plans of my own. First things first, I need to get a hold of the right imperial arm. And I know just the one."

[. . . To kill an ambassador. . .]

Although the country's deserts were vast and bleak, the city of Ayatollah appeared to be busy and prosperous. Merchants on every street corner, luxurious water fountains sprinkling in various places, grandiose statues on full display throughout the city.

Unfortunately, the slave trade didn't appear to be restricted to the likes of Raja Aboo. Rather, slaves were placed on full display, prominently being sold throughout the city. Slave traders made sure all of their pieces of human merchandise were branded before selling, in some instances even branding the slaves themselves with a branding iron.

But slavery didn't appear to be of any consequence in this country, much less this city. As several slaves were being branded on a street corner, a man, evidently of great importance, walked right pass them with impunity. The man was in his 60s, was dressed in white silk robes, alongside 10 high ranking guards and an adviser surrounding him at all times. The guards themselves all wore robes suitable for the hot climate, were each masked and each equipped with a semi-automatic rifle.

This man of great importance and his adviser were currently in the middle of a conversation, the adviser sipping tea while talking. "Ambassador Abdullah, is it wise to be traveling out in the open like this?"

To which the ambassador responded. "You worry too much! These rumors are clearly just a tactic by the Grand Empire to improve their bargaining position in today's negotiations."

The adviser, however, didn't seem convinced. "Even if that's true, should we really take such chances here, your excellency?"

"Not to worry. I doubt these rumors of assassins are true, but even if they are, these men surrounding us are some of the king's personal elite guards and the finest protection Ali Jinnah has to offer. As long as they're here, an assassin would be foolish to confront us."

"As you wish your excellency, but I'll feel much safer after we've returned to your office."

With that, the group made its way to the center of the city, entering a refined piece of architecture that looked very much like a tower. Adjoined to this building appeared to be a hangar of sorts, with air mantas flying in and out of it, no doubt the ambassador's private means of long distance travel. The air mantas themselves were unlike any seen in the Empire, all gold in color and each with a small cabin strapped to their backs no doubt to make travel more comfortable as well to differentiate between air manta's in Ali Jinnah and air mantas from other countries.

The Ambassador, his adviser and the guards eventually made their way into a large office room with a custom crafted desk as well as a writing quill and some documents on said desk. There was also the ambassador's portrait hanging on one of the room's walls.

As ambassador Abdullah sat at his desk, he motioned for everyone else to leave. The adviser then turned his attention to the elite guards they had been accompanied by. "Two of you stand guard at this the door at all times. The rest of you are to remain outside the building's entrance. Let no one inside the building until the Grand Empire's delegates arrive and don't let them come up to see the ambassador until I have cleared them myself. Is that clear?"

To which all 10 elite guards responded by saluting simultaneously.

And thus, just as the adviser ordered, two elite guards remained at the door to the ambassador's office. The rest stood outside the building entirely, not only preventing anyone from coming inside, but also actively looking around for anyone engaged in any suspicious activity.

No more than 10 minutes had passed until the door to the ambassador's office had opened again. Ambassador Abdullah, in the middle of paper work and not expecting anyone so quickly, looked up with suspicion. However, his eyes swiftly were at ease as it was only the two elite guards who had been standing outside his door.

The elderly ambassador cleared his throat "Well? What is it? Are the Grand Empire's delegates here?"

"Ambassador Abdullah, we need to take you to safety immediately!", one of the guards sternly remarked.

To which the ambassador responded fearfully. "What seems to be the problem?!"

The other guard spoke up. "Two assassins have broken into the tower. The other guards are barely fighting them off, but won't be able to hold out forever. We need to get you out of here pronto!"

The ambassador pulled a signed card with a picture of an air manta on it out from his desk and anxiously rushed towards the door, turning the nob himself. "Two assassins? So then the Grand Empire was right after all? Let's go at once. We can take one of the air mantas and . . ."

Within an instant, the tip of a katana was protruding from the ambassador's chest. Abdullah's eye bulged with horror, suddenly realizing the horrific truth.

One of the two guards casually pulled the ambassador's card out from his increasingly cold hand. Clearly Lubbock, given his demeanor. "Thanks, but we can ride an air manta just fine on our own."

The other guard, evidently the one who had stabbed the ambassador from behind, pulled the katana out from his back, shaking the blood away from the weapon in one sweeping motion before sheathing it in a hilt that had been out of sight up until that moment. Clearly Akame.

Ominous markings appeared all over the dying ambassador's, but he nonetheless used the remainder of his strength to turn around and gaze upon his murderer. "When . . . did you . . ."

"I can answer that", that guard that had taken the elderly ambassador's card said. "Several hours actually. Your adviser was correct. Walking out in the open while knowing full well about the possibility of assassins being after you was a foolish mistake. We were able to watch and monitor you long enough to come up with a way to replace two of your guards without anyone noticing. The rest was just a matter of striking at the right place and the right time."

"I . . . see", Abdullah coughed, blood spewing out of his mouth, falling face in the floor.

The guard with the card in his hand turned to his accomplice. "We should hurry, Akame. Those laxatives I slipped in his adviser's tea won't last forever.

And thus the two left Ambassador Abdullah's office, discreetly closing the door behind them after making certain that no one was in sight. They walked by an adjoining restroom, Lubbock chuckling at the sound of the adviser audibly experiencing some discomfort. They both subsequently made their way to the entrance of the Air Manta hangar, fortunately reachable without crossing the 8 remaining elite guards standing guard at the tower's entrance.

Directly outside the hangar's entrance was a customs agent sitting at desk and filing paper work. Clearly tasked to keep track of who enters and leaves the city via air manta. Lubbock approached the agent, holding out the pass-card he had confiscated from the ambassador.

To which the customs agent responded, taking the card and meticulously peeling every inch of it with his eyes for several moments before giving it back. "All clear. Enjoy your flight."

Akame and Lubbock, still in disguise, nodded before walking pass the agent and heading into the hangar. Once inside, they marveled at the sight of the dozens of available air mantas all sitting patient and ready for travel.

Sensing the completion of their mission, Lubbock took the opportunity to joyously pat his comrade on the back. "Now this is what I'm talking about! Not a single hitchup! We should work together more often!"

"But this is our last mission", Akame replied rather bluntly.

Lubbock began climbing up the nearest air manta. "Yeah, but . . ."

But before he could utter another word, a shot from a rifle interrupted him. Almost concurrently, Akame's murasame was unsheathed and was postured in such a way as to look as if she had just sliced something inches away from her companion's face.

Lubbock himself, realizing what had just transpired, could barely contain himself. He turned his head in the direction the rifle was fired, seeing three familiar faces. "Jaegars."

Run, Seryu and Kurome emerged from the other end of the hangar, gunsmoke blowing out of Seryu's Taizan's cannon of Justice.

Run clapped his hands, smirking with the utmost confidence. "Impressive. You-the one with Murame. Akame I presume? Your reputation is certainly well earned. You were not only able to react to anti-tank fire coming at you all of the sudden, but you even prevented Seryu's shell from exploding by cutting it in the midair. Had you simply pulled your friend out of the way, you both still would've been caught in the explosion."

Kurome looked cheerful. Showing no hesitation, she jotted towards the two Night Raid members like a cougar ready to pounce. "Sister, is that really you under that mask? You have no idea how happy I am to have run into you here. Just hold tight so I can you add you to my collection!"

Akame rushed at her sister with equal intensity, clashing blades with her the instant they came into contact.

Meanwhile, Seryu plunged her right arm into Koro's mouth, pulling it out and revealing a giant drill instead. "Number 5: Enma's Spear of Justice!" She spiritedly leaped into the air above Lubbock, extending her drill arm and firing it upon her target in the process.

The green haired assassin barely averted her enormous projectile. "That's right. She's the one who killed Sheele. I've got to be careful."

Just as Lubbock had dodged Seryu's attack, a stream of razor sharp feathers came flying in his direction, not detecting them until the last second. "What the . . ."

A few feathers grazed Lubbock's arms, but the rest were promptly blocked by a makeshift shield created out of the limitless wires from his imperial arm. "Two on one is not exactly fair, yah know?"

With wings sprouted out of the metallic discs on his back, Run hovered towards his opponent. "As they say, all is fair in love and war."

Seryu removed her massive drill from the ground, revealing a large hole beneath. "Evildoers have no right to speak of fairness."

At that instant, the customs agent and all 8 remaining elite guards marched into the hangar, no doubt suspicious of the crashing and sword clanging sounds coming from within the room.

Lubbock smirked beneath the mask he was wearing, not about to pass up on the opportunity created by this sudden instance of serendipity. He dramatically pointed towards the Jaegar members in the room. "It's the assassins we were warned about! We can't let them reach the ambassador!"

Seeing the Jaegar's attack on what was believed to be two of their own, the elite guards didn't hesitate to proceed opening fire, unknowingly aiding Ambassador Abdullah's murderers. The custom's agent himself was so convinced that he immediately ran away to call in reinforcements.

Run used his great flight speed to maneuver out of the way of fire whereas Seryu leaped for cover behind a fully grown Koro.

Mid-movement, the winged Jaeger shouted to one of his comrades. "Seryu, take care of the small fry. As far as we're concerned, they're all in league with Night Raid."

To which Seryu uttered with a devilish grin on her lips, "Anyone evil enough to help Night Raid won't receive any mercy from me!"

All the while, Akame and Kurome continued their battle uninterrupted, Akame breaking out of a blade lock with a swift kick to her sister's stomach.

Kurome, having been knocked back several feet, took a few moments to regain her composure. She then sighed in disappointment. "It's no good. With all of my enhancements, I thought I had finally bridged the gap between us, but you've somehow gotten even better since last time."

Hearing her sister say, Akame firmly gripped the hilt of imperial arm and looked her dead in the eyes. "You're correct. At the rate this battle is going, there's no doubt that you will die."

"Yatsufusa!" Kurome raised his sword in the air, black sparks of energy flashing all around her. "It's unfortunate. I wanted to finish you quick and painlessly, but now it's going to be a little messy. Sorry sis."

Akame watched carefully as two beings began to claw their way out of the ground around her sister. She opted not to use this moment to attack, instead erring on the side of caution. Upon crawling out, she noticed two danger beasts at Kurome's side. One was a fearsome brown haired muscle bound ape, 5 times Kurome's size. The other was a green menacing like creature with red spots and bulging yellow eyes, about Kurome's size and with its eyes shifting in different directions with every passing second.

"I hope you like them. The big oaf on the right? He's called the Apeman. The one on the left? He's called the Kaiser frog."

Without pause, the Apeman ran towards the red eyed assassin, its fists raised high, preparing to smash. Of course, though it clearly had a lot of power based on looks alone, its speed was clearly no match for Akame's. Rather, just as the beast smashed its fist in her direction, she had already jumped in the air above it faster than normal human eyes could see. But just as quickly as she had moved, an elongated tongue with a sharp hook on the end had pierced its way through her flesh, no more than a centimeter below her rib cage.

Beneath the mask she was wearing, Akame winced in pain. She landed on the ground as it ripped the tongue out of her side, her own blood soaking garments as she did. "Had I had not seen that at the last instant . . . have to deal with the frog first. With that kind of speed, there's no question who the bigger threat is."

Disregarding the wound that had been inflicted, Akame dashed towards the Kaiser frog, her movements yet again untraceable to the normal human eye. The frog, however, didn't appear to have any trouble registering her movements, its hooked tongue instantly lashing out towards her once more. Seeing the incoming fleshy appendage flying towards her, the red eyed assassin jotted to the side. But the Kaiser frog's tongue simultaneously jolted in her direction. Akame proceeded to jot in another direction, only for the tongue to follow her once more. This continued with a dozen additional high-speed movements from Akame, only for the frog's tongue to keep up with her at every turn, matching her speed.

Akame continued to move, this time sensing the Apeman behind her, once more attempting to crush her with its fist. She instinctively prepared to dodge, only to recall what happened the last time she tried this. Evading the Apeman's attack would give the Kaiser frog enough time to tag her again. On the other hand, not evading would surely result in her getting crushed, if not killed. Weighing her options, she did the only thing she could afford to do under the circumstances.

She leaped over the Apeman's head once more, yet again being punctured by the Kaiser Frog's tongue simultaneously. However, Akame maneuvered well enough to again keep the tongue from piercing a vital organ, the tongue yet again being a centimeter from crushing her ribcage. In her mind, a worthwhile sacrifice, for although she sustained another injury, she was in the perfect position to decapitate the Ape like danger beast. Still in midair and with blinding speed, she swung her blade at its neck.

But Akame looked surprised. Although the blade hit and pierced the beast's skin, it was only by a few centimeters. An imperial arm that had been used to cut people and danger beast in half on many prior occasions proved not be sharp enough to slice through any more than a trinket of the monster's skin. What's more, the usual poison-induced markings that appear all-over one's body when cut by murasame didn't appear on the beast.

"That won't work, sis", Kurome remarked, watching her sister's struggle. "The Apeman's skin is about as hard as reinforced steel and mere poison is useless against anything in my collection."

Away from the two sisters, Lubbock and Run were squaring off. Run flying towards Lubbock while yet again firing a stream of razor sharp feathers and Lubbock proceeding to defend himself once more with a makeshift shield made entirely out of the wires from his imperial arm. Having blocked his opponent's entire barrage, the green haired assassin then created makeshift harpoon out of his wires, using all of his strength to throw in the Jaegar member's direction. An attack which would've surely slain an ordinary adversary. But Run was no ordinary adversary. Not remotely perturbed by a harpoon flying at him, he swayed to the right and continued flying towards the green haired Night Raid member, his hand stretched out, preparing to fire a barrage of razor sharp feathers at close range.

Though Lubbock wasn't done yet. The makeshift harpoon he had thrown had one nearly invisible wire attached to it and had suddenly spun around 180 degrees, now on the path of running the blonde Jaegar through from behind.

But before the harpoon could pierce Run, his eyes widened in superb clairvoyant realization and he once again jolted his body out of the way of incoming fire. This time, however, he didn't escape without injury. He avoided being impaled, but wasn't quick enough to avoid the harpoon messily cutting through his shoulder.

Run proceeded to land on the ground to catch his breath, clenching his shoulder with one of his hands. "It's been a while since I've fought someone who extensively uses their head."

Lubbock swiftly caught the wires that he had used to create his makeshift harpoon. "Tricking this guy won't be easy. I only slightly tugged my index finger to pull that off, but he still noticed it and dodged just in the nick of time."

Run modestly laughed to himself, his pride unaffected by his adversary's attack. "You've got some talent there, assassin. Tell me, how would you like to become a Jaegar? With Dr. Stylish gone, we could use a replacement. Whatever Night Raid is giving you, we'll double it."

To which Lubbock grinned beneath his mask with a lecherous smile. "Tempting. How are the Jaegar's women?"

"One of them proclaims to be spoken for. The other two are both present."

Of course, the green haired assassin shivered at the thought, "A sadistic psychopath or a short haired Akame. Yeah . . . I'll pass."

Run shrugged his shoulders. "Suit yourself. By the way, your friend seems to having trouble dealing with 'short haired Akame.'"

Lubbock glanced in his comrade's direction, noting the blood stains in her outfit and how she was continually having to dodge the Kaiser's frog hook embedded tongue.

Run confidently smirked. "You're welcome to go and offer her some assistance."

Lubbock dismissively waved his hand at his opponent's suggestion. "Thanks, but no thanks. Don't think I haven't noticed that those guards are giving your other teammate some trouble as well. If I went to help Akame, you'd go help your other teammate and it'd quickly become a 3 on 2 battle."

And it was just as Lubbock had assessed; Seryu was indeed experiencing difficulty. True to their title as elite, they lived up to it, not a single one of them having a scratch on him despite their battle just far. The Ubiquitous girl used Kuro to switch from the drill-like spear she had been using to a weapon she referred to as 'Number 1: Shinkou's Ball of Justice', a large flail which surely had the potential to take down a large number of opponents all at the same time.

But unfortunately for her, with every swipe of her flail, the elite athletically outmaneuvered her, pelting her with their semi-automatic rifles simultaneously. It was as if they had been trained in style much like the Grand Empire's Imperial Fists. And their gunfire had been taking its toll; tears, holes and electrical sparks scattered all across Seryu's body. If not for the mechanical modifications she had undergone, she surely would've perished after one round these relentless attacks.

Seryu gritted her teeth. Not at the damage she was receiving. But rather at the apparent success of what she thought of as the 'tenacity of evil.' "Koro, lets show these villains why justice will always prevail."

Meanwhile, Akame continued her bout with her sister, evading the Kaiser frog's tongue at high speed intervals. All the while, Kurome looked on with amusement. "It won't be long sis. It was hard enough beating them individually? But together? Even you don't stand a chance."

"Lets just see about that", the red eyed assassin said, leaping, ducking and dashing out of the way of the Kaiser frog's repeated tongue swipes. Undeterred by the trickles of blood leaking down her sides, she continued the dance, the frog's tongue following her every move, the distance between the hook and its target decreasing by a centimeter each second.

Kurome was quick to notice this. "Her wounds must be slowing her down."

Akame continued to avoid the frog, jotting out of the way in all sorts of directions. But it was no use. The danger beast amphibian's hooked tongue was closing the distance more and more. Until finally, Akame was once again in exact same position she had been in earlier, the Apeman preparing to smash her with its fist. She painfully recalled all too well what happened last time she took the time the dodge the ape's assault, but . . . to Kurome's surprise, dodged once more in the exact same fashion.

At that very instant, the frog's tongue came flying towards Akame once more. Only this time, the hook ended fleshy appendage came to a sudden hault, inches from piercing its target. Kurome looked surprised, uncertain of what had just transpired. But as she took a closer look at the scene, it all became clear. The center of the Kaiser frog tongue . . . it was tied in a tight knot.

"Of course", the black eyed Jaegar surmised. "Her wounds didn't affect her speed. She only made it look like she was getting slower so that I would focus entirely on closing the distance, giving her the opportunity to dodge in a way to cause that to happen."

Sensing what was about to happen, the Kaiser frog tried to retract its tongue as quickly as possible, but it was too late. For before the tongue could even get back into its mouth, Akame sliced it off from the knotted end with one swipe from her imperial arm, the tongue becoming a fraction slower after being knotted. Then, with her superhuman speed, she bursted towards the frog itself, performing a downward slash between its eyes and slicing its entire body in half.

At that moment, the Apeman charged towards Akame from behind, attempting to succeed where it had thrice already failed. But unfortunately for it, Akame's speed was far too great' for all the beast managed to hit was thin air once more. And without the Kaiser frog to assist it, it was nothing more than a side-hazard to be kept track of. Just as the Apeman had swung its fist through thin air, Akame herself blitzed towards Kurome, hoping to continue the duel she had been involved in earlier.

Kurome happily obliged, blitzing towards her sister simultaneously. "How long can you keep this up, sis?"

Akame, didn't answer, but was quite mindful of the blood that was leaking out of her sides. She was already feeling somewhat light headed and was sure to lose if this battle weren't to be ended quickly. Though before the two could clash, they both observed something peculiar through the corner of their eyes. A multitude of miniature missiles were hurling towards them. Not just them, bust just about everything inside the hangar.

It was within a split instant that red eyed assassin considered her options, quickly realizing that avoiding the missiles was impossible. The way they were dispersed and the sheer amount of them, they were bound to hit just about everything inside the hangar.

During that moment, the Apeman grabbed Akame from behind. It was the danger beasts' first successful contact with the assassin since the start of the battle. If not for her being distracted by the missiles, this effort would've surely failed. Oddly enough, however, the beast did not use this opportunity to pummel the life out of the girl. Rather, the Apeman quickly placed her on the ground and shielded her with its body.

Akame, instantly realizing what transpired, cried out. "Kurome! No!"

The younger of the two sister's simply looked in her older sister's direction and smiled cheerfully before the missiles came bombarding down upon the immediate area.

On the other side of the hangar, Lubbock and Run had already reacted to this sudden danger. Run had wrapped himself in the two wings on his back whereas Lubbock had erected a barrier completely comprised of wires at the last second.

"Seryu, you idiot!", Run snarled, fully aware of the source of this current predicament.

Indeed, Seryu, laughing maniacally, stood in the center of the hanger with two missile launchers attached to her shoulders. "Number 2: Suzaku's Holy Wrath!"

A full stream of miniature missiles fired all around the place, not only killing the remaining Elite guards, but also the remaining Air Mantas that had yet to escape the hangar in fear of the chaos of the battle thus far.

Seryu continued firing for another 10 seconds, until finally stopping to see what had become of her opponents. She surveyed the battlefield, pleased that the evildoers who had wronged her had been punished in the name of justice. Surprisingly, the hangar was still intact, although it was clear that the building was barely stable.

Akame pushed the Apeman off of her, instantly realizing that the beast was oddly unresponsive. It laid on its back, eyes closed, completely immobile. She then turned her attention to the place her sister had last been standing, that area now being covered in rubble. The red eyed assassin frantically started removing said rubble, her eyes full of worry and concern.

Within several moments of tossing bricks, pipes and damaged floor fixtures aside, she saw Kurome's face, eyes closed and looking rather peaceful. Akame checked her pulse, but didn't feel anything. Still masked and disguised as an elite guard, one could only wonder what kind of look was present on her face, but it was no doubt one which she seldom allowed others to see. Nonetheless, it made no difference. For before anything else could transpire, Kurome's eyes flew wide open, causing Akame to instantly leap backwards, her hand tightly clutching the hilt on her imperial arm.

The twin sister swiftly rose up from the ground. Rather than immediately continuing her duel, she took the time to do some stretches and pop her knuckles. "Ah, much better."

Akame was puzzled to say the least. She could have sworn she just watched her sister die. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Surprised?", Kurome responded. "It's Yatsufusa's trump card. Any time I would otherwise die, by removing the essence of one of my puppets currently in use, I can keep myself from dying. I knew that with a weapon like Murasame, there was no way you'd be able to kill Apeman, giving me a perfect shield just in case something like this happened."

Akame promptly turned her head, seeing no sign of the Apeman. What was its body moments ago was now just a pile of dust. What's more, she noticed that the light head sensation she was feeling earlier had worsened. She was losing more and more blood the more time passed.

Not missing a beat, Kurome gripped the hilt of her blade and casually approached her older sister. "It's over. Maybe at your best, you would've stood a chance, but you'll never beat me like that."

Akame just about fell to her knees, rapidly feeling her strength parting from her. She held herself up with her imperial arm, but found herself unable to do much else in this situation.

To this, Kurome raised her sword into the air, preparing to strike Akame down. But before she could deliver the coup de grace, a familiar set of wires wrapped themselves around the assassin's body like a lasso and pulled her away.

Almost like a yo yo, Akame was hurled into Lubbock's arms. "Gotcha."

Seryu and Kurome once again at his side, Run walked towards the two Night Raid assassins, intrigued by this latest development. "Well well well. So much for preventing this from becoming a three on one battle."

Lubbock looked around, assessing the situation. Seryu, though damaged from her skirmish with the elite guards, appeared more than capable to continue fighting. Kurome was oddly in pristine condition, despite having just gone toe to toe with one of Night Raid's strongest members. The situation looked dire to say the least.

Run smirked in approval of what appeared to be an overwhelming checkmate. "If you surrender now, I might be able to persuade our commander to only break half of your bones before killing you, but that's only if you're willing to cooperate."

"Another generous offer?", Lubbock chuckled. "Keep this up and people might start thinking the Jaegars are only mostly bad instead of out-of-their-minds bad."

Run was equally amused. "We try."

The green haired assassin swiftly removed his robe, revealing his regular attire, but still hiding behind the elite guard mask he had absconded. "I'm going to have to pass you up on your offer, but maybe I can interest you in an offer of my own."

To which Run, being readily observant, instantly realized what his cunning adversary was up to. On the interior of Lubbock's robe were dozens of grenades all taped to the cloth. They also each appeared to be connected to the nigh-limitless wires from his imperial arm.

Lubbock then sternly looked into the three Jaegar eyes and "My offer is 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . ."

"Kurome! Seryu!", Run shouted, pulling his two comrades towards him before creating yet another protective shield with his wings.

Instantly, yet another explosion filled the area. And with the damage the hangar had already sustained from Seryu's missiles, this one was enough to cause the entire building to collapse into itself. Run's wings were fortunately durable and resistant enough to not only shrug off the blast, but also the tons of concrete that fell onto them as the hangar started falling apart.

With his razor sharp feathers, Run sliced his way out of the rubble and immediately looked around to see what had become of the two Night Raid assassins he had cornered moments ago. But to his great misfortunate, they were nowhere in sight. "Damnit."

The three Jaegars looked around the hangar's rubble remains, attempting to figure out whether their targets died in the explosion or escaped. But as they did this, the customs agent and a legion of city guards arrived on the scene. "There they are! They're the ones here to kill the ambassador! Seize them at once!"

Kurome began to approach the group. "I'll take care of this."

But Run swiftly grabbed her shoulder from behind. "No. Our priority is Night Raid."

"But she could still be alive under the rubble!", Kurome retorted.

To which Run shook his head. "Neither of them are under the rubble. If you'll recall the earlier part of our scuffle, Seryu drilled a sizable hole through the floor in an effort to hit the one using the wires . . . the imperial arm referred to as Cross Tails, if I'm not mistaken. Just before he used those grenades, he was standing right next to that hole. When we take into account that this city has an extensive sewer network, it's obvious what they did."

"I see", Kurome responded before resheathing her imperial arm.

"Good, then let's flee for now and pick up our search in some place more inconspicuous."

[. . . Akame's wish. . .]

A few hours passed since the skirmish within the Air Manta hangar. The sun had long gone down and Akame found herself waking up in a daze. As she opened her eyes, she detected a foul odor; the aroma of raw sewage filled her nostrils. It did not take long for her to become more conscious of her surroundings, quickly becoming cognizant of the fact that someone was carrying her on his back. What's more, his hair was light green. "Lubbock."

"Bout time you woke up", he responded. "Had me worried there for a bit."

"I remember you hopping in the sewer before I passed out. How did we get back here in the open desert?"

"I only stayed in the sewers long enough to temporarily stitch your wounds."

"But the Jaegars . . ."

"Don't worry. I took care of that. I knew the blonde one would figure out what I was up to, so I sent them on a wild goose chase. According to my research, the one who killed Sheele has an imperial arm that has the ability to detect scents. So I took the robes and masks we stole from the elite guards and placed them in two random locations within the sewers."

"But won't she still be able to detect out scents?"

A wincing look of disgust appeared on Lubbock's face as he heard her say this. "Not exactly. I kind of rolled the both of us around in some . . . well, you don't wanna know. The point is that we're going to need week long showers after this. And Miss Najenda won't wanna be within 10 feet of me until then!"

Akame seemed amused about something, giggling to herself as her comrade said this.

Lubbock wasn't sure what to make of her sudden laughter. "You know . . . that's not the kind of thing you'd think a lady would find funny."

"No, it's not that. It's just Najenda . . . why are you always staring at her?"

"What?! Who told you I did that?! Was it Tatsumi? The next time I see him, I am going to . .

"It's something I've noticed before Tatsumi even joined our group", Akame interrupted.

"Oh. Well . . . the thing is . . ."

"I won't pry, but you might want to be more open with her. With our profession the way it is, you never know when your last chance is going to be."

"You're right", he sighed before smirking. "But enough about me, lets talk about you. Is there a man in little Miss Akame's life? Someone who catches her eye? It's Tatsumi, isn't it?"

"No", she bluntly replied. "Tatsumi and I are just friends."

"It's just as well. From the looks of it, you'd be competing with Esdeath, Leone and . . . maybe Mein. The jury is still out on that last one."

In complete contrast to her usual serious demeanor, she continued to smile. "When I think about it, this is the first time we've . . . 'hung out.'"

"Weird, right?"

"A little."

Just as Lubbock took another step across the open desert, a trinket fell out from one of his pockets. It was the wind-up box Akame had purchased from Raja Aboo earlier in the day. The green haired assassin bent down to pick up this antique item, taking a moment to inspect its features as soon as he had grabbed it. "There's something special about this, isn't there?"

"My sister and I didn't always live in the Grand Empire. We were actually born here in Ali-Jinnah. Our mother died not long after she was born. Our father hardly ever wanted to have anything to do us, blaming us for why he was so poor. So I took it upon myself to be the one who looked out for Kurome. When she was hungry I'd steal food-often sweets. When she was sick, I'd steal medicine. When she was sad, I'd cheer her up."

"Sounds like you two were inseparable."

"In those days, we were. One day, Kurome and I were looking through our mother's old things. Father had told us to throw them away since he thought it was all useless junk cluttering the house. As we sorted through them, we stumbled across what we thought to be treasure; it was that music box you're holding. Kurome and I immediately dropped what we were doing, went into our room and played it for hours. Watching and hearing all the little parts and sounds mesmerized us to no end, but more importantly, whenever we played it . . . it felt as if we were still with our mother."

Lubbock continued to observe Akame's trinquet. "No wonder she clung to this so tightly. It must mean the world to her."

"Eventually, our father caught wind of this. He noticed how happy we were as of late and it really angered him for some reason. One day, I was a bit careless. Kurome insisted I let her steal sweets from one of the merchants for a change while I stay home and listen to the music box. And so I did. Kurome brought the sweets home, but not without being seen evidently as the merchant stopped by our house not long after Kurome returned. The merchant threatened my father, telling him that he'd turn us all in to the city guards if we didn't pay him back. So my father did something that shocked me to this very day. He walked into our room, dragged us both by the arm and sold us both to the merchant like it was no big deal. We cried and cried, begging him not to do it, but he didn't care. Like a lot of merchants in this country, that merchant also happened to be a slave trader, so he didn't mind. Gaining two children at the loss of a couple of sweets was 'good business', he called it. Kurome reached for my mother's music box before we were dragged out the house, by my father snatched it away, presumably with the intent to sell it for some easy gold pieces."

"So that's why you reacted the way you did around that slave trader we ran into earlier?"

Akame nodded her head, anger somewhat filtering her voice. "That slave trader forced us to do all sorts of . . . demeaning things. Things no one should ever be made to do. I hated every moment of it. And I hated my father for subjecting us to that hell in the first place. But I couldn't let Kurome fall apart, so I lied to her every step of the way. I kept telling her things would get better. That our father would regret what he did and come buy us back. But that never happened. It wasn't until several months had gone by that we were sold to the Grand Empire as part of a rigorous recruitment process for the military's assassins division."

Lubbock curiously rubbed his chin, pondering on what he was hearing. "There's still one thing that doesn't add up. You obviously still love your sister. Why do you also want to kill her?"

"Upon joining the Grand Empire's assassin's division, the first thing our commander did was place all siblings into different groups. He reasoned that it would be bad for us to depend on each other. So he separated us and made sure we couldn't contact one another. I didn't see Kurome again for 9 years; it was when I made up my mind to defect from the Empire. Najenda had insisted I leave immediately, but I decided to go find my sister and take her with us. I managed to sneak into her barracks one night. Initially, she was happy to see me, hugging me on sight. I then told her about about my plans to join the Revolutionary Army. Upon hearing this, she didn't hesitate to push me aside, telling me I was a traitor. I pleaded with her, but it was as if she could not be reasoned with. What's more, I remember my sister being sweet and gentle when we were younger, but this one was warped and psychotic, acting much the way she was during the battle earlier. We briefly fought, but I didn't want to kill her and thus left rather than finish her off. I then decided to infiltrate the Imperial Records office in an effort to find out why my sister had changed so much since I had last saw her. Apparently, she had been used as a test subject to find a suitable user for Yatsufusa. They had been subjecting her to all sorts of mind and body enhancing drugs, making her better able to manipulate and influence her puppets during combat. However, the drugs took their toll over the years. She's lost just about every trace of her sanity and there's no way to reverse the damage. Besides what her fellow Jaegars are seeing, there's very little left and soon, even that will be gone. Right now, she can't even tell the difference between her puppets and an actual living being."

Lubbock was taken aback; he immediately realized what his comrade was implying but could hardly believe it. "So then . . . that's why you want to kill her? To put her out of her misery."

"That's right", Akame replied, the sorrow in her voice as plain as day.

[. . . Mission Failed? . . .]

Twelve hours earlier, in the nation west to the Grand Empire, two of the other Night Raid members were partaking in a mission similar to Akame and Lubbock's. This was the nation of Reispin. Whereas Ali-Jinnah was known for its vast sandy deserts, Reispin was the opposite, full of grassy jungles and rivers. Within one of these very grassy jungles, Mein and Leone stood back to back in the center of a group of armed guards, each pointing their rifles at the two. Both Night Raid members had their hands up, reaching for the sky.

Night Raid's talented sniper didn't appear too pleased with their predicament. "A fine mess you've gotten us into."

Leone's temperament was more along the lines of hilarity. "Oh c'mon, lighten up. It could be a lot worse than this, couldn't it?"

A/N: Woot, the end of another chapter! As you can see, I've made some changes here to Akame and Kurome's back story as far as anything reflected post-episode 14 goes. I'm trying to do an alternate take on the anime, so that doesn't just mean writing about Tatsumi and Esdeath (though they are the two key characters in this fic). In addition to advancing the plot, I'd like to flesh out the characters for each member of Night Raid. As another review and I agreed in a private discussion, that's a serious weak point in this story. Don't worry, everything ties together here. Chekov's gun folks!

Thoughts? Hate it? Love it? Meh? Feel free to favorite, follow or leave a review! Lemme know what you think of this fourth chapter in this Down a different branch AKG installment. Till next time! :D