The large, burly man hissed and rubbed his sore arm having received a nasty bite from Anya when he handed her over to be transferred to Jumping Jack's candy factory. The other large man walked over and gave him an ice pack. "You okay, Clyde?"

"Does it look like I'm fine!?" He held up his arm showing off the bite mark. "That brat did a number on my arm."

The other man nodded. "Well, at least we followed the boss's orders to a T."

Sighing, the first man rolled his sleeve back into place. "I just hope we get paid handsomely for this."

The littlest Forger had just been sent to the candy factory to be held as a bargaining chip. It came as a result of revenge for Agent Twilight preventing the distribution of one of the trucks. Unbeknownst to him, Jumping Jack anticipated that he would try to stop his mission and used his resources to trace him to the picture of Anya's first day at Eden.

"Do you think the girl's mother read the message?" the second fat man asked.

"If she didn't, that would be a lot of time wasted. I'd rather have iced that girl if it came down to it."

Ten men wheeled carts full of candy and placed them in the back of trucks. It was a synchronized project with the large men going back and forth tirelessly stocking trucks and sharing the occasional chat. There were some rumblings of targeting the Desmond family as a means of acquiring some wealth off them due to Donovan being the former Prime Minister. What parent would not pay big money to prevent their child from being poisoned?

While the men talked endlessly about how much of a cut of the profits they could expect once the Westalian terrorist group's plan came to fruition, not a one noticed a young woman walking through the doors of the warehouse. Neither did they notice her wearing a black dress and her eyes glowing with ferocity. She withdrew one of the knives aligning her hairpiece and wordlessly approached the first man, a bald, beefed-up individual.

"When this is done, beers on me-"

Two of the men he was conversing with immediately shot their heads in his direction when they noticed him not finishing his sentence. The woman stood behind the behemoth of a man, and, more astounding, she lifted the man off the ground with the knife despite him being three times her size. A look of fear was plastered on his face. His eyes trembled in pain and glazed over. He opened his mouth as if he were going to let out a deathly scream, but no sound came out. Blood pooled from his open mouth, staining his lips. The woman then dropped him on the ground in disinterest.

"Where is my daughter?"

As the first two bald men were speaking, they heard a succession of screams ringing through the warehouse. "What the?"

Large men who would normally handle infiltrations ran for their lives some heavily wounded and bleeding through cuts on their body. Before the first fat man could digest what was happening, he saw something shoot up in the air. It moved at laser-sharp speed bouncing off the walls and performing backflips on the fluorescent lights. He rubbed his eyes with the fists of his hands hoping to catch a glimpse of what was performing all these gymnastics.

His eyes widened to see it was just a woman, most likely the mother of the little brat they had sent to the candy factory. Shrugging, he stopped six of the men from escaping and tossed them bats, hammers and switchblades to fend for themselves. "You are not leaving; do you understand that?"

One of the men muttered. "B-but..."

"No buts. Get her you idiots!"

With reluctance, the men ran back into the direction of the woman and took mad swings at her. Yor merely grabbed the arm of a man wielding a baseball bat. He flinched as he tried to pry himself free from the woman's colossal grip, but the only good it brought him was the cracking of the bones in his wrist. He was in enough pain as is, but then she held his arm out and brought her elbow down hard on his arm breaking all the bones in it.

"Ya!"

Before he could respond, the raven-haired woman took ahold of his head and swerved his neck until a sickening crunch rang out. As he fell to the ground, another man, with dirty brown hair and scars, tried grabbing Yor by force. She responded by taking the previous man's bat and hitting him over the head with it making his movement more sluggish. He groaned the sheer force of the blows caving the top of his skull in. Yor pounced in the air using her feet to kick him to the ground. While he watched, Yor slammed the bat into his face. Blood splattered everywhere and stained her face in crimson color.

More men ran forward, but it did not deter her. Instead, she broke the bat in half and charged toward them. Blood spilled on the floor accompanying the screams of the dying. Yor thrust the sharp, splintered side towards the assembly with the woman stabbing the bat into chests and guts before moving on with the next target as if she were just a machine. Sounds of broken arms and legs filled the air. The twin men started bolting in the other direction unwilling to help their teammates who were dropping like flies.

The boss withdrew his walkie-talkie screaming into it. "Hey, hey!"

Yor was gaining on them. The walkie-talkie droned to life in a long, drawn-out tune. Jumping Jack picked it up. "What is it?"

"Boss, you have any idea that the girl's mother was some crazy woman?"

"What do you mean?" The chubby man held the device up so his boss could hear all the mayhem transpiring. "It's some woman with a black dress, gold hairpiece... she is killing us!"

The connection went silent for a moment. His partner, growing tired of running, accidentally swerved his foot and tumbled on the other. Once that happened, the woman descended on him and stabbed the knife into his spine. He stared up at the other man begging for assistance, but to no avail. He could see his partner high-tailing it, it being the final image in his mind before Yor rammed the knife into the top of his head.

The man hid behind some crates bowing down and getting on his out-of-shape knees. Sweat beat down from his head with his heart on fire. Catching his breath, he spoke again, trying to be as quiet as he could to not alert the woman. "She was some... assassin, I guess?"

"Ah. So, she must be one of those operatives from the Garden," Jumping Jack replied.

The fat man's eyes widened. "Wait, you knew that she was an assassin?"

"From the way you were describing the young woman, I just did the mental work," Jumping Jack explained.

"Well, send some more men in to take this woman down!"

What Jumping Jack said next made the man only more frightened. "Ooh, I'd love to help you out, but I have a Westalian spy to draw in."

"You bastard! What about the cut of the profits you mentioned!?"

"I believe the saying goes there is no honor among thieves. Adieu, my good sir."

The walkie-talkie became disconnected. The man, desperate, shook the walkie-talkie in mad haste. "Sir, SIR!? Pick up, pick up! Please!" His body shook all over with growing anxiety. He bashed the device on the side of the crates thinking it would change his employer's mind. Yet, the receiver never picked it up. Ugly tears rolled down his fat cheeks as he begged for someone to save him even if it were the Secret Police. He would rather be in the country's federal prison being tortured by the SSS then being hunted down like prey. In his desperation, he did not notice that Yor stood over him with her knife drawn.

He yelped, flipping on his back. He tried to use the back of his palms to crawl away, but he did not move much. He clasped his hands together, his nose running. "No, wait! Wait! Please have mercy!"

Yor smiled for a brief moment and grabbed the man's shirt by the collar. "Sh...sh... please die."

Yor dropped the blood-stained knife on the ground and walked around leaving bloody shoe prints. Every opponent was left sprawled on the ground. Taking down about 10 people at once was tiring, but it was not asking too much from the Thorn Princess. She rubbed the sweat off her forehead, unfortunately smearing her face with the red liquid.

The woman saw a desk and rummaged through it. However, the blood on her fingers was making everything sticky to touch. Opening the cabinets, she noticed a mitten on the flat surface of the desk and took it. She turned it around seeing a note attached to it.

Your daughter is being held at Jumping Jack Deen's Candy Emporium. She will not be hurt as long as you comply with our demands.

Yor hissed. Going her first was nothing more than a complete waste of time and her favorite assassin uniform was ruined by the accumulation of blood. Regardless, she placed the mitten into her cleavage and exited the front doors of the warehouse.

Anya was held in place by two larger robots gripping her arms. She kicked and bucked but she was no match for the machines. "Let me go! Let me go! Mommy? Daddy!?"

The robots went around a corner and brought the young girl into the industrial area of the candy factory. Jumping Jack sat in a chair that seemed to strain under his weight. He was giving his pet flying spider a good pat eliciting some "purrs" from the wicked arachnid. He looked up to see the robots bringing Anya in. "Ah. Good work. Drop her."

The robots did as they were told dropping her on the ground like she was a hot potato. Anya looked around the factory seeing a green substance gets added to a batch of candy and then dispensed into boxes. Robots on wheels whirred and beeped as they collected the heavy load and went in reverse. "Anya?"

The little Forger looked for the source of the voice her eyes falling on Muriel. She was firmly tied to a chair that dangled over a cauldron of scorching hot chocolate. "Miss Old Lady!"

Jumping Jack laughed in amusement. "You are acquainted with each other then. This will be fun, wouldn't you agree?"

A big cackle bellowed from the pit of his stomach. Seeing him up close and personal, he absolutely towered over the young girl likely weighing 200 pounds at the least. His face was so pale like porcelain, with his right eye drooping lazily. As he laughed, Anya noticed how he spasmed and vibrated in his chair. His laughter was nothing more than a recycled compilation of giggles and monotonous chuckles. His lower jaw descended and hung there lifelessly. While laughing, his voice was caught on a string of chuckles forcing him to ball his fist and punched the side of his mouth. This action dislodged his jaw and it returned to position. "Hm... pardon me."

Muriel angrily stared at her boss. "Mr. Jumping Deen, what is the meaning of this?"

He turned to the Scottish woman. "You were always a fool, don't you see? I only invited you here so I can finally get one over on you."

Muriel was confused. "What are you saying? We never met before."

"No, of course not, but I am greatly familiar with you winning first place using vinegar as your secret ingredient."

Muriel gasped. How would he have known that? She never saw him around Nowhere so unless he was a very dedicated stalker, it made no sense he would know something that crucial. He shrugged and continued speaking. "Whatever, it does not matter. All that I have to do now is wait for a special lady to arrive. Both of you factor into my plans."

Anya thought on instinct to escape, but the owner of the establishment summoned three robots into the area. He made it very apparent that he would use his machines on her. "Now, come over here, little miss."

The pink-haired girl did not want to, but she had no choice in the matter. He commanded her to stand beside his chair which she obeyed. The spider hissed at her with green drool trickling from its large mandibles. Anya gulped and turned away not wanting to make contact with the creature's many eyes. She tried to read the criminal's mind out of concern for what he had in store for her mother, but all she got back was mechanical clanks and whirring of inner mechanisms. He turned to look at her and smiled. Somehow, his mouth was about the size of Bond's mouth. His teeth were unnaturally white for someone who owned a candy factory. And it was not like he was not guilty of snacking on his own merchandise. His right eye still was off track with the rest of his body. The more he stared, his eyelid drooped to a drunken stupor.

He probed his big, meaty hand on the desk and slipped out a piece of gum. Taking it, he offered it to the young girl, but she wisely declined it. Shrugging, he just placed it back on the desk.

BANG! CLANG! SMASH!

The three, startled, look in the direction of the door. The door banged and gave way due to the heavy hits on it. The door collapsed revealing the Thorn Princess to be on the other side. She maintained that murderous glare. "I will not allow you to cook and eat Miss Anya!"

Jumping Jack tilted his head. "What?"

Muriel stared at the woman for a few seconds. If she were able to wipe her glasses clean to make certain what she was looking at, she would. "Miss Yor? What are you doing here?"

Yor almost froze up. "Mom - Miss Muriel, is he trying to cook you too?"

"No one is getting cooked," Jumping Jack groaned, "I have lured you here to use you as bait."

Yor's intense glare lessened a bit. "Eh?"

He got up from his chair with the floor shaking. "I am sure you are familiar with a certain spy from the West?"

Yor was aware that there were rumblings of an infamous spy working for some spy agency. In fact, he was being heavily monitored by the Garden who were wary of the man since his existence could culminate in an all-out war between the two countries. The problem was his status as a man of a thousand faces. This made the spy an elusive threat. However, why would he come here?

Yor nodded and Jumping Jack continued to speak. He held his arms behind his back. "It was so obvious, but it looks like it slipped under your nose. I will say this just once to help you grasp things. One Mr. Loid Forger is the spy, Agent Twilight."

Yor stood there speechless uncertain on what to say with that information being dropped on her lap. It was an insane theory, but the more she thought about it, it made a surprising amount of sense. For one, there was that time he excused himself to use the restroom but he was gone for a long time. That happened around the time that wannabe terrorist tried assassinating the Westalian prime minister. Yor could not help but sigh in relief for a brief moment. So, it wasn't her cooking that made him take that long leave. Then there was that time they went to the aquarium. Come to think of it, he would never actually tell her what his job entailed. She never asked because she did not want to intrude, but slowly but surely, it was all coming together.

"I shouldn't be surprised. Someone of your mental capacity would not understand. But, alas, that is the power of naivety."

Bubbles of molten chocolate popped on the surface of the scorching liquid. Muriel could feel the heat radiating from the concoction and became uncomfortable. "Why are you doing this, Jumping Jack?"

He laughed. "It's simple, my dear: money, buckets of it. Once I initiate the plan I was tasked with by my organization, 75% of Ostania's citizens will become infected with nanomachines. Upon activation, the nanomachines will line themselves along the walls of their stomachs bringing a ghastly case of abdominal pain. And then, once they are rendered paralyzed, let's just say... it would be a blast."

He cackled and clutched his forehead. Muriel looked at Yor with shock. "Miss Forger, you have to do something."

Jumping Jack held up his finger. "No, no... the assassin must not intervene if she knows what is good for her."

With the snapping of his fingers, the robots surrounded Anya and extended a hand to her. Their hands reeled back like an animal retracting its claws. The hands collapsed on themselves with the fingers shrinking into stumps. In their place, metal shifted into place and morphed into a tight funnel. From the funnel came a red, pulsating dot. The robots all demonstrated that feature.

"Anya?" Yor's murderous rage subsided as she shifted into Momma Bear mode. Before she could move one foot, Jumping Jack stopped her.

"No sudden moves. If you try to attack me, I will have no choice but to make your precious daughter into a pile of ash."

He snapped his fingers again indicating to the machines to start their lasers up. The lasers shuttered to life with a buzzing sound and charged up. Several red dots danced around Anya's body. The laser machines started to heat up and prepared to fire. The pupils in Anya's green eyes shrank her only reflex being to hide her face in her arms. "Mommy!"

Yor's fingers cracked into place. She would have loved tearing the fat giant to pieces, but he has her precious daughter in his grasp. She could not afford to lose her. Scowling, Yor allowed herself to calm down. "Alright, just please spare her."

"Smart choice," he replied. He ordered his robots to stand down. Jumping Jack walked back to his desk and withdrew a briefcase. Opening it, a trace of blue flicked on his face. He withdrew a vial and glared at it as if it was the first time, he saw something so colorful. He then placed it back into the briefcase and flicked his fat fingers on the combination wheel. "Of course, I will be providing the antidote for the nanomachines, but hopefully, we get some customers who are willing to pay a good deal on the cure."

Muriel looked at Yor and then at Anya. Thinking about what to do, she stared at her boss almost not noticing something behind his back. It was a big, clunky industrial truck. A forklift. Yes, while he was distracted, she could turn the forklift on noticing how it had a huge lever on the inside.

She considered alerting Yor, but the robots were still surrounding Anya. Looking down, she pondered her next course of action. If only she could throw something at the lever and that would make the forklift go forward. Something hard like a boot. She got a brain blast. While he was distracted, Muriel took her left boot and curled the tip on the shaft. It was something she never liked doing as removing her boot using that method would be time-consuming.

She looked at Jumping Jack again to see if he was watching. When she saw that she was still in the clear, she dipped the outsole into the shaft and pushed down. It did not work at first, but soon, she could feel it sliding off. She looked once more at her boss before resuming her work. The shaft rolled down to its heel. Next her ankles and the balls of her feet. Sighing in relief, Muriel completely removed the boot almost forgetting that she was over a cauldron of chocolate.

As it fell, she quickly shot her foot out and grabbed it with her toes. She turned her attention back to the forklift. For someone as old as her, her eyesight would not be the best, but this was her one chance. She squinted her eyes behind the lens of her glasses trying to figure out the angle. Anya noticed what Muriel was doing but opted to say nothing. Thinking about the probability, Muriel finally came to an approximate angle and reared her foot back. "Please work, please work."

She kicked her leg and sent the boot flying. Jumping Jack stared having heard something being thrown. "Wha-huh?"

The boot flew towards his face. On instinct, he moved out of the way... not realizing that it landed perfectly on the lever, and shifted it to gear. "What is the meaning of this, Muriel?"

Muriel smiled. "I believe you have a bigger problem on your hands."

He questioned her cryptic response but immediately realized what she meant. The forks raised high in the air. He attempted to dodge once more, but his big, lumbering body was unable to move at the last minute. The sharp blades pierced through his back and worked their way to the front. He tried squirming only to get further stuck on the forks. They lifted his heavy body into the air but struggled to keep him on. They slashed and tore their way toward his upper body but instead of blood, black ooze poured from his chest. In addition, they caught something metallic as they all heard the whirling of wheels.

Using that opportunity, Yor ran towards the robots. They were once more prepared to set the young girl on fire, but Yor pounced on one. She stabbed the back of the robot and left deep cuts before slamming her fist into its metallic face and shattering its "eye." She then reached in and grabbed its artificial brain. The robot collapsed with oil pooling on the ground. With the remaining bots, she ripped off that one's arm and bashed them with it. Sparks flew in the air accompanying the sound of metal smashing. Always in her element, she ripped the head off the last one not caring that she was smearing herself in oil, especially after her first encounter.

"Anya...are you okay?"

The Thorn Princess stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She wiped her sweat away with the back of her arm unwittingly smearing oil on her forehead.

Anya's eyes bulged. "Yes, Mommy."

She smiled for a brief moment. At least she was able to save her daughter. Her undeterred hatred for Jumping Jack was rekindled. After making sure that Anya was not bruised or damaged in any way, she walked around Jumping Jack's desk and looked at the man with enough anger that alone would kill anyone. "How dare you harm my daughter?"

Jumping Jack laughed to himself. "Looks like you were the one who did most of the harming."

Angered, Yor swung her fist and punched Jumping Jack in the face. The force of the blow ripped his head clean off its body and it flew through the air and crashed. When it crashed, wires peeped out through the holes of the head. His cranium cracked open exposing whirring gears behind a glass dome. He continued laughing as if on repeat before shutting down.

Yor crossed her arms somewhat irritated. "Well, that deals with that."

Yor gathered Anya and she pulled a chair up to get Muriel down. She was happy with herself. She stopped some bad guys that day and prevented Jumping Jack from enacting his plan. This called for a celebration of sorts. At least that was the idea until she heard a door open.

"I wish you hadn't done that."

Yor and Anya turned around at the sudden voice. Whoever it was spoke with a monotonous tone somewhat indicating some annoyance. From the darkness of the door, the two saw yellow lights shining. Yor hid Anya behind her back preparing to fight whoever was in the dark.

Out walked a red cat with purple-tipped ears and nose. He stood at around 6 inches and was lanky. He held a controller in his paws and gave the two the occasional conniving glare. Whatever he had planned for the two Forgers was not good. "Allow me to introduce myself; I am Katz."

"You were working with Jumping Jack?" Yor asked.

Katz stared stunned for a brief moment almost in disbelief that she was asking that question. "I am Jumping Jack, you dunce."

He sighed. "It took a lot of investing in making that robot decoy and puppeteering him behind the shadows. But it is but a minor hiccup. The plan will resume on schedule."

Yor grabbed her knife and held it in the feline's face. "You make any movements and I will gut you."

"Oh dear, I am so scared," Katz said sarcastically, "if I had boots, I would be shaking in them."

He snapped his fingers bringing two robots in. Before Yor could react, they grabbed her and Anya and restrained them. He chuckled to himself. "Since you are my customers, how about I offer you some free samples?"

The robots grabbed hordes of candy while Katz ordered another one into the room. "Collect the old woman; I also want her to try the candy."

Yor and Anya tried fighting against their binds, but the robots were stronger. They began to cram the sweets into Anya and Yor's mouths. They screamed in protest, but the robots were not letting up. Katz laughed again. "Do give me a good review when this is over..."