"Strange. I feel like a sense of Deja Vu is coming over me," Kuro says as he and Whisper are hiding out in an old camouflaged underground bunker.
Whisper sighs as she sits on the bed. "That's just you."
"Weird, also, what do you think?" Kuro asks, pointing at the antique anti-tank gun.
Whisper stares ahead at the cannon. "How the fuck…?"
"Looks like it was forgotten about, don't you think?" Kuro asks.
Whisper groans before lying back onto the bed. She then closes her eyes and breathes deeply, trying to relax.
"Not to self, contact museum after the war and tell them about this," Kuro says, writing it down in a note before starting to pet Whisper.
Whisper sighs and rolls over, grabbing his tail in a hug. "Give me an hour."
"You got it. I will work on my daggers until then. Don't worry. Not the ion ones, so we remain undetected. Iv, you mind getting me the vials in the bag over there?" Kuro asks.
The electrical wisp comes out of his belt before sparking and floating over to their bags.
"Been a while since I had a full complement of my daggers," Kuro says, bringing out knives he had stolen from the egg army.
Iv sparks happily, giving it his agreement.
"Maybe next time I will get to use you in the wispon as well," Kuro offers.
Iv seems to smile at him before floating around the room.
After an hour, Whisper stirs to seeing Kuro bathing the modified knives in a container of liquid. "Mate?" she moans tiredly.
"Yeah," Kuro asks, looking to her with a facemask on.
"Are you busy?" Whisper asks in a quieter than usual tone.
Kuro hums as he looks at the daggers in the container. "No. These will take a while anyway."
"I…I think it is time I told you about my past. You already figured out the gist of it, but I want to tell you what happened to me," Whisper says, and Kuro pets her in response.
"Alright. Take your time," Kuro says, letting her take her time with telling him all about the Diamond Cutters and the one who betrayed their group and how he led three of them into a trap that killed them. Kuro listens in silence, showing no emotions outward, but inside a rage he thought had flickered out or at least he had hoped died had reignited once again. He is already planning for this Mimic and how to make his end agonizing before he looks to the daggers still soaking, and an idea popped into his head before turning his gaze back to his mate. "I know this couldn't have been easy," Kuro says, holding her.
Whisper shakes her head before leaning against his chest. "He has caused so much trouble for me."
'Oh, don't worry, mate. I already have plans for him,' Kuro thinks.
Mimic growls as he sits at the desk. He had expected to be given command or something after having sold out his team. But he is sitting here doing freaking endless paperwork. At this point, he is starting to suspect Eggman has done this on purpose to punish him for his activities with the Diamond Cutters. Then comes an email from Egg Boss Hood with an attachment. 'Explain why this is in my territory,' Mimic reads before opening the attachment and freezes as it is an image of graffiti that said, 'Diamond Cutters aren't dead yet, Traitor. From Whisper. Follow me, Scarletfucker on Twitter.'
"What…the…fuck…?" Mimic mutters while clenching the desk. The table slowly cracks before breaking apart in his hand.
Another email arrived. 'I am waiting.'
Mimic yells out as he punches the screen. "That slut. She's still kicking," he growls as he starts sweating as he has brought evidence of her death to Eggman. If Eggman hears about this, he might be dead, and he knows that bitch Hood would do that to him to earn favor.
"And now the trap is set. Thank you, Tailsko, for this backdoor," Kuro says as he deletes all records of sending that email.
Whisper looks confused at that, still not understanding what he was doing or why he had signed her name.
Kuro then starts spraying over it with more spray paint as he has a very predator-like smirk.
"What are you planning?" Whisper asks, her tail whipping around worried behind her.
"Oh, just luring Mimic out of whatever hole he is hiding in," Kuro says before thinking, 'Then, taking my time to kill him slowly.'
Whisper keeps looking worried at him before letting her tail wrap around his.
"Don't worry. You can be the first to punch his bitch ass face," Kuro tries to reassure and make her laugh.
Whisper shakes her head and sighs. "We need to do more than three traps."
"Three?" Kuro asks.
"You have more, don't you?" Whisper asks dryly.
"I have learned that when hunting a bitch you put traps within traps. Also, if we have cubs, you think they will have a tail as fluffy as mine as I think it is genetic?" Kuro inquires.
Whisper just blushes at the mention of cubs and starts to imagine little wolf cubs running around and sleeping in their large fluffy tails.
"Gotcha, didn't I?" Kuro asks, smirking.
"Nothing like a peaceful afternoon stroll, is there, Whisper?" Kuro asks as they pilot a Death Egg Robot they stole and were going ham on an industrial district the egg army had been using.
Whisper slowly looks at the carnage they are leaving in their wake. "I am still shocked our mate made it so easy to hack."
"Well, the internal protection is shit. Hammer fist!" Kuro calls, launching the extendable arm at a factory where Badniks were firing at them in desperation.
"You are having too much fun," Whisper mutters as she notices his delighted smile.
"I am enjoying myself because when Infinite arrives, it's time to run," Kuro says.
Whisper hums before grabbing the pilot seat as the robot shake around. "We do need another way to handle Infinite. She will not be easy even to evade."
"That is why I still have the coordinates on my helmet locked, and the mask is calculating the distance constantly," Kuro assures.
"Which is now…?" Whisper asks, almost afraid of the answer.
"Exactly ten thousand five hundred and eighty-four feet," Kuro informs.
"Of course," Whisper notes to herself while keeping an eye on the horizon.
"Hum…our left leg is not moving," Kuro notes, getting a lot of resistance.
Whisper raises an eyebrow while turning to the exterior cameras. "Are you sure about the distance?"
"It's Infinite, isn't it?" Kuro questions.
"I don't know. Is a giant red block on the leg a good indicator?" Whisper asks sarcastically while staring at the screen, showing said red block.
"Right. Dear? Detonator number two, please," Kuro requests.
Whisper digs into her pack as the leg is ripped off-screen with a loud metal screaming noise. "Here," she says, tossing him the piece while they slowly list to the side. "Now for a surprise," Kuro says, activating it and the entire left leg goes up in an explosion.
A loud crash sounds out while rocks crumble outside. Kuro grabs Whisper's hands before blinking outside with a small smirk on his face. They then watch the large robot fall before a red blur shoots up and towers over the sheared corpse of the robot.
"I think she sees us," Whisper mentions as they carefully watch Infinite for any attack style and movement.
"If not," Kuro says before shooting up a flare into the air.
Whisper hums as the blur of red blocks slowly float over to them—the red flare lighting them in a deep shadow and red hue.
"She has a flair for the dramatics, doesn't she?" Kuro asks sarcastically.
Whisper elbows him in the gut, and he grunts in some pain. "Pay attention," she warns as the red block slowly stops in front of them, and it disappears to show Infinite in all her floating glory.
"Hello, sexy!" Kuro cheers and smiles before grinning subtly and checks a watch he has on.
Infinite slowly looks to Kuro before eyeing Whisper. "You must be the leader rather than the horny dog."
"Oh, sassy, I like her a bit more now," Kuro says. 'One hundred and seventy-three seconds.'
Whisper sighs and shakes her head before elbowing Kuro again. "He is, actually," she notes in a quiet tone that Infinite has to use her enhanced microphones even to understand it.
"One moment," Kuro says before grabbing Whisper's arm and blinks away, making Infinite's visible eye widen. She then tries to determine where they went before Kuro blinks back to where he was a moment ago.
Infinite quickly floats backward while making energy cubes appear in her hands. "The reports are not lying. You are a dangerous predator. My initial assumption of a horny dog is correct."
"No, I think you are thinking of captain Biggus Dickus," Kuro teases before chuckling at her.
Infinite stares at him before throwing a cube that flies at Kuro. He blinks away quickly and watches as the cube disintegrates where he was, including the ground. "The only wanted dog that can make such a joke. Only one problem, horny dog."
"Oh? One hundred and twenty-five," Kuro says.
"I was at one of those battles. He was never there because he doesn't exist," Infinite notes while throwing another cube at him. This time, Kuro blinks on top of a road light as the rocky pillar where he was crumbled and fell to the ground.
"Oh, good for you. You have a brain," Kuro says, being sassy with her while giving her a golf clap.
Infinite's tail twitches behind her in some annoyance. "Expect yours that seems to have been replaced with your dick."
"Actually, no. Believe it or not, I came across a captain named that once. I left him tied up, humiliated, and everything of value stolen from him. One hundred and twelve," Kuro informs.
Infinite glares at him as she wonders what Kuro is counting down to. "Then, it does not matter. You are here, and Eggman wants you for your power," she notifies before launching herself at him suddenly. Kuro tries to blink away, but she catches him in time to teleport with him in the middle of a destroyed building. Infinite gasps short as she falls to her knees, a sickly wave of nausea, gripping her brain.
"Oh, didn't Storm warn you? Then again, she is not the type to share those kinds of details as she sees me as her prey," Kuro says, blinking out of her grasp, shocking her he can choose what comes with him. Kuro then reappears, sitting on the remains of a desk with his legs crossed. "So, you figure out where we met before or still piecing that together?" Kuro asks.
"I figured it out long ago. You have no idea the amount of trouble you have caused. And not just to Eggman, but those who are living under him," Infinite gasps before getting back to her feet. She then floats up and makes more cubes appear around her.
"That is Storm's fault. I was independent before she hounded me over, I think, four areas now," Kuro confesses, thinking it over, very much at ease. This shows Infinite he has full confidence in his power to get out of the way.
Infinite slowly tests out this theory by slowly floating over to him. "Then you should have rolled over and played dead like a good little doggie," she huffs before letting some cubes fly at him. Kuro quickly blinks away, letting the cubes destroy the desk.
She looks around before crying out in pain as she is sent flying into a wall. "I am a wolf bitch. Dogs are not what I am close to," Kuro informs, sounding a bit mad.
Infinite slowly grins under her mask while holding her side and floating back into the air. "Is the poor little doggie weak? Want me to get you your food bowl?" she mocks while brushing off a brick on her shoulder.
"Oh, how funny coming from a Jackal bitch," Kuro retorts back, surprising Infinite that he had identified her species from their exchange.
Infinite then raises her hand and clenches it, confusing Kuro before the floor glows red under him, a few lines of red coming through. He quickly blinks away from the sight and smacks into a wall that came flying at him when he reappears. "This bitch, at least, knows her place. Standing on your little…doggie…corpse," she huffs and clears the debris on top of him as Kuro tries to stand. "But what fun is merely destroying you in one go?" she asks while holding a hand behind her back and preparing a cube without him seeing.
"Twenty," Kuro informs, not smiling anymore as he coughs.
"Ok, what the hell are you doing?" Infinite demands having listened to it for a while now.
"Oh, just counting down the timers of the rest of the explosives covering the interior of that Death Egg robot that we took on a joyride. By the way, five," Kuro informs.
Infinite glares before flying at him as the explosions occur just as she reaches him. Kuro grunts when he tries to blink but is suddenly shoved through the stone wall, knocking his sense of direction loose. Infinite screams as she reappears and flies into a glass window of an intact building before landing onto a desk, breaking it apart. Kuro grunts and cries out when he hits a metal door, making him land through.
Infinite groans as she tries to get up before gasping for air when she feels one of her arms not moving. She shakily breathes in and looks to see her arm hanging limply before looking to Kuro open the door he went through and rubs his head as he enters. "The horny dog survives," she spits before floating and glaring at him.
"Been through far worse. Bravo on hitting me a few times and…" Kuro stops before taking out a dagger and deflects some shuriken with it. "Nice to see you too, Storm."
"Been a long time. And now I have you," Storm's voice calls out from everywhere.
"Uh-huh…you remember what I did last time you tried? What makes you think I can't do a repeat?" Kuro asks.
"Well…we didn't try poison until now," Storm notes.
"Oh? Please try," Kuro announces, sounding far too confident than what Infinite would have liked. Was it faith in his power or something else?
"I already did," Storm mutters and seems to be behind Kuro. A quick dagger throw behind him catches nothing but a sparking TV screen. "Check your ears, dog."
"Oh, is that what that is? Sorry to break this to you, Storm, but it's too weak to affect me," Kuro announces.
"Who said it went into your ears? You missed it the first time," Storm points out as Infinite is now charging up another cube behind her back, trying to keep her limp arm still.
Kuro sits there thinking as he looks between the two, considering something when his watch starts to buzz. "Take five, you two. Have to take this," Kuro says as he starts to fake a call. "No…No. This isn't a bad time at all," Kuro says sarcastically.
The watch suddenly explodes in a red cube, and Kuro glares at Infinite. "The more annoying part of your voice is you on the phone," she spits before Kuro notices blood leaking from the jaw of the mask.
"Take five, you. You're highly injured, and I have barely been hurt," Kuro remarks.
Infinite huffs before Kuro feels a tap on his shoulder. He slowly looks over and sees another Infinite floating beside him before a punch hits his other side, making him fly into a wall and an office. "I don't have to fight you as much now. I can just watch the show," she whispers and clenches her side tighter. Even the red protrusion on her chest glows brighter than before as more of her clones appear around the area.
"Oh, interesting…I wish I were a bit more cold-hearted as I would have taken that jewel for myself despite it being a part of your life support," Kuro's voice calls before one of the clones goes in after him and comes out looking around for him.
A few kunais suddenly land onto a wall, and Kuro blinks into place, outlining the thrown weapons in an awkward pose. "Don't forget me. Stupid dog," Storm calls from everywhere still.
Infinite's clones quickly fly towards him but are quickly kicked or thrown away by Kuro and him throwing the kunai back at them. Only to then blink and reappear in front of Infinite, grabbing the jewel in her chest. But she grabs his wrist, twisting it back and makes him cry out in pain at the sudden shock. "You forget. Once a mercenary, always a mercenary!" Infinite yells before kicking him away into another door, but still having a shaky voice and stance after the sudden threat.
"Oh? So we are starting to get serious and not just playing around anymore?" Kuro asks, getting back up as if nothing has happened with his tone. This unnerves Infinite a bit, reminding her of when she fought other mercs back in the day who had killed a lot.
More kunais land in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. The Infinite clones reappear behind him before kicking him forward, making him trip over the planted weapons and onto the ground. "Kuro, you are a danger to the Eggman Empire and anyone living on the planet. You can not be allowed to live for their sake," Storm declares as she heard the tone and did not like it one bit.
"Yeah, we both know that you want me," Kuro says before in a single movement, removes the throat of an Infinite clone with a swipe of his claw. "There is a reason I don't usually fight Storm and just run," Kuro informs.
Infinite shakily float back with the rest of the clones following her example until three more suddenly have their heads lopped off. She stares in shock as Kuro slowly holds up his claws and points them in her direction. Kuro then blinks and disappears, but then reappears in front of her, pinning for a stab. The other clones block his way, but he quickly disappears. Infinite turns her head and tries to find him before she hears something land at her feet and is suddenly knocked upward into the air, loud metal screeching as the front of her helmet is ripped apart.
"This fight is over. I have to go take care of some things now," Kuro says, starting to move away.
A red cube suddenly flies by him, hitting and destroying a wall in his way. The other clones also disappear one by one as every shot of a cube keeps destroying things around him. "Not yet…" Infinite hisses, now getting on her feet instead of floating.
Kuro looks back at her, eyebrow raised, and sees the look in her eyes before saying something that stops her. "I see. Your eyes are just like mine. Dead inside."
Infinite shakily keeps her hand raised towards him, trying to power up another shot. "It will be worth…" she stops as Kuro suddenly appears beside her, grabbing her wrist. She looks through the open gashes of her ruined helmet and turns to look at him before she reappears with him in the sky, now slowly falling and accelerating downward. "It?"
Kuro watches as she falls with him and notices her body become limp in the air. He quickly grips Infinite again before blinking down, safely on the ground. Kuro sighs as he looks over her body for any other injuries before pulling the helmet off of her head carefully. He regards her bloodied and bruised face and places the helmet beside her. A small whiff of air is heard as Storm lands nearby, catching Kuro blink away before she even lands on the ground.
"Didn't think you had it in you," Storm says, now wanting him a bit more than ever seeing how he mercilessly killed the clones.
"Well?" Whisper asks as Kuro reappears near her. She then grunts as she is pushed aside and watches Kuro walk past her, seemingly in profound thought.
"Tired, and I think Infinite is going to pursue my ass now like Storm," Kuro says, getting into the car.
Whisper looks worried at him as he inputs the place to go next. Though she feels he is only giving the bare minimum report. "Kuro, what happened?" she asks softly, walking up to his window.
"I may have beaten her and damaged her mask," Kuro explains, waiting for her to get in and start driving.
"Kuro. That is not all, is it?" Whisper tells, watching how his expression hasn't changed from a serious one at all. "What happened?" Whisper sighs after he doesn't answer for a while. "What do you need?"
Kuro takes off his mask, and Whisper didn't like what she saw with his hollow eyes. "Smack me."
"What?" Whisper asks in some shock.
Kuro leans toward her through the window, now having the harshest glare coming through those same eyes. "Hit me!"
Whisper suddenly punches him, sending him back into the car. "Never look at your mates like that again! You got it?!" she yells shakily for one of the few times in her life as Kuro slowly gets back into his seat. "If Tailsko or the others saw you like that…they will never recognize you for their entire life."
"…Whisper," Kuro groans as he rubs his face. "You shared your past with me, so I think I can share a bit of my history with you now. What you saw was me slipping back into my old self. The one from a war where I killed a lot," Kuro says, his eyes now in focus again.
Whisper sobs and shakily gasps, trying to reel back from the fact she just hit her mate, and he wanted it. "Never again…please. Just…never," she sobs before grabbing his collar and pulls him towards her. "Tailsko will never forgive me or anyone else if you become this way," she pleads while Kuro pulls her mask off to let him see her crying now with tears down her cheeks.
"Don't worry. I don't want to go back to that place. I never want to go back to being more dead than alive," Kuro says as he holds her.
Whisper keeps sobbing, trying to hold onto him and steady herself. "Tailsko…she can not know. I don't want her to worry."
"She knows a bit about my past, but only that I survived where everyone else dies. I also don't plan to reveal that unless she presses me," Kuro assures.
Whisper sniffs against his shoulder, burying her head into his neck. "I only ever saw that look once before. Please, never again. Not after all of this."
"I won't," Kuro reassures before a beeping starts. "We best go before Storm arrives."
Whisper nods against his neck but still holds on. Kuro sighs as he pulls her inside the car and starts to drive himself, seeing as Whisper is not going to be able to in her state.
"I am actually impressed that someone was able to do this kind of damage to you with the phantom ruby even if you were using only a fraction of its power. It is a shame that all the data was destroyed when they destroyed your mask," Eggman says as the medical badniks see to Infinite's condition, already finishing up and working on her arm, making it as good as new.
"I need more time. And more power unlocked," Infinite states, just staring straight up the blinding medical light.
"You will get it, but for now, you should rest and recover. Don't want you falling to pieces in the middle of the next fight, do we? Besides, it will take time to make a new helmet for you," Eggman says before tossing the remains of her helmet into an incinerator.
Infinite growls to herself as she is forcibly injected with a sedative. She sighs and breathes out deeply, closing her eyes at the same time. The last thing on her mind being of that moment in her fight where Kuro mentions the dead look in her eyes.
Storm sits in one of her clan's safehouses in Eurish, thinking over what had happened. She knows she managed to poison him. Is that what set him off? The poison was keyed to make the victim delirious, but Kuro didn't seem affected by that part. Was he immune or have a different reaction to it? These questions plagued her as she recalls how mercilessly he killed the clones Infinite had made, which he had never done in the past. Come to think of it, he has never stood his ground and ever fights at all. He always blinks away and escapes. What the heck changed?
"What the heck happened down there?" Clove demands, walking into the office, which surprises Storm for a second. But she then realizes that they are supposed to be on the lookout for Kuro, and safe houses are needed. "I got reports of Infinite losing her clones, the place blown to smithereens, and now, Infinite injured and out of commission for three days."
"I am still trying to piece it together. I was there, and I saw the fight. Our wolf might have had a bad reaction to the poison I tried using on him. After that, he used his claws to tear through the clones like they were paper mache," Storm informs, sighing.
Clove frowns heavily, looking at the ninja with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Then, this just became worse for him. Eggman is close to considering changing the wanted placement to kill order. If it comes to it, Eggman might nuke or laser his tail," Clove warns. "So we have to find him quickly and capture him before Eggman gets around to considering those options."
"Oh, no. Actually, he wants him more now," Storm says, making Clove gain a skeptical look.
"Excuse me?" Clove asks.
"He defeated an Egg Boss with a powerful weapon with me supporting her on his own and has a power the doctor wants to study badly. You better believe that this makes him a lot more valuable to him," Storm clarifies as she keeps thinking this over.
"Then how are you going to capture him? He seems to be capable of fighting and killing others in a snap," Clove challenges.
"He never did so before. That is why I believe that poison I used caused it," Storm says.
"Then find another. Because no matter what we grab onto, he teleports away, no problem. If we can not come up with something, our future is at stake," Clove points out before seeing Storm look out the small window. "There is something you never placed in your report, didn't you?"
"Like you did?" Storm accuses.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Clove shot back. "Like I would cheat on my reports."
"You didn't meet him in person in a restaurant?" Storm questions silencing her.
"It is not a lie," Clove adds, crossing her arms and huffing.
"But not the truth either," Storm tacks on before groaning and laying back in her seat. "Fuck. He mentioned something to Infinite," she starts and catches Clove's attention. "About how her eyes are like his. Dead. Nowhere in his history of what we have is Kuro killing or hurting others like he did those clones. He seemed almost…predator like," Storm mutters.
Clove slowly relaxes in her pose before observing Storm. "Tell me the truth. Why didn't you strike him when you had the chance? A precise strike, and it would have been over."
Storm slowly rolls her head forward and looks at Clove straight in the eye. "That Kuro Infinite and I dealt with is not the one we are hunting."
Clove frowns before the door opens, and Cassia leans in. "Oy. Food's ready. Geez. I called five times."
Clove and Storm look to each other before they get up and follow the little sister to eat.
