Dark Deeds

Author's Quick Intro: I decided to take a quick break from Shadows of the Past and try something else for a while. That doesn't mean that I won't finish it, it just means that I'm at a difficult stage and need to focus on something else for a while. So, what better than to go from a full-on hunter to a retired one?

Chapter One

Her name was Tomiko Asukai. A semi-retired FOmarl – emphasis on retired – who ran a small business out of her flat. Namely, Technique training.

Most people didn't know she was there, and that was the way she liked it. She only took on students recommended by the Hunter's Guild or the Labs, and even then she insisted on seeing them in action first. So, really, I didn't think I had the faintest hope of getting her to take me on as an apprentice.

My name is Mutsuko Gosetsuke. I'm 17 years old, and I'm a FOmarl in training. My hair is long and a soft shade of white-blonde, my eyes are a dark brown, and my Hunter's Guild trainer painted a small black sigil on my forehead with some kind of inerasable dye, so I have a funny flower-like thing above and between my eyes. I'm kind of skinny, almost boyishly so, so I don't really get much attention from others, especially men. I mean, I'm like a stick, and I'm not even all that tall… if not for my robes, I could pass as a FOmar or even a HUmar if I tried.

Not that I bother. I have an older brother who's a FOmar, and he's, well, famous! You remember that big ruckus a few months ago about the demon in the Ruins, Dark Falz? Guess who's older brother helped take it down? Yeah, that makes Shirinji famous. And it puts a lot of pressure on me, because all the trainers at the Guild keep comparing the two of us, all the time.

I think that's half my problem. As my Offensive Techniques trainer told me a while ago – "You have the strength, you just don't have the right motivation." Two days later he told me to find Miss Asukai's flat. He wanted me to train with her.

That's how I found myself standing in front of that door when I did. I was staring at it, plain and simple. All I could think was Where did she get the paint? There were flowers and trees and stuff all over it, painted in the most delicate but lifelike style I had ever seen. I was ten when we left Coral, and I could swear that I'd never seen anything so vibrant and alive in my life.

"It's nice, ain't it?" I jumped and spun around, hands already forming the pattern for Foie, the one technique I know back-to-front and inside-out. Then I looked up. And up.

Let me tell you, I'm kind of short, but this guy made me feel like a bug. I've never been too fond of RAcasts, and this one reinforced that. I'd guesstimate that he clocks in at about 7'5', maybe even 7'6". He had a fairly normal white and blue body, and one of those heads that looks like, like, you know. It makes me blush just to think about it, although I did eventually get used to it. Kind of.

"Hey, calm down there short stuff!" he chuckled – insasmuch as an android can chuckle – and ruffled my hair, bringing a petulant pout to my face. "You here to meet Tomiko, right? She sent me to collect you and take you to the Guild. She must really think you've got potential, kid, to take you somewhere on your first lesson!"

I have to admit, I stared blankly at him for the better part of a minute. I'm not sure why – think I must have just blanked out. It happens to me sometimes, it's a bit of a disability but the doctors say there's nothing wrong with me.

"You are Mutsuko, right?" He sort of blinked at me, tilted his head a bit, then nodded. "Yeah, you match the file. Come on, don't be shy!" And with that, he literally grabbed be and perched me on his shoulder, chatting merrily as he carried me towards the Hunter's Guild.

I didn't say much, but he talks enough for five, does Bolt. Yeah, that's his name. He apparently has a 'brother' called Nut, but I've never called him out on that one, even thought it does sound too silly to possibly be true.

"Who made you, Bolt?" I asked during one of his rare lulls in conversation. He gave me a kind of piercing look and decided that apparently I was trustworthy.

"Doctor Olo," he said with a definite note of pride. "He works for Doctor Jean-Carlo Montague, you know!" Well, I didn't know before, but now I do. I must admit, I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the good doctor. He pretty much thumbs his nose at authority, does what he likes, and they still fund his work. Plus he's as eccentric as can be, and I've grown to like eccentrics.

"Hold on tight, kiddo!" I screamed as he literally jumped over the edge of the platform we were currently walking along. We landed safely maybe thirty metres below, but I still tried to remove his head-thingy. I almost succeeded, too, yelling some words my mother would kill me for using as I did so.

"Great Lutz Flaeli you where the sun don't shine!" I roared as he casually grabbed the collar of my robes and swung me out in front of him. He held me close to his face and made a rude sound. I kicked him in the faceplate.

Odd way to meet someone who's now one of my best friends, no?

"Well, Bolt, I see you've exercised your normal charm on my new apprentice." Bolt dropped me and managed to look very guilty. I just massaged my tailbone and grumbled, until I saw the tall woman in front of me.

I knew her as soon as I saw her. All Forces do. Tomiko was a legend, still is, and we're all told about her brave attempts to stave off monster infestations on Ragol, and how she wound up in hospital, almost dead, whilst my brother and their team-mates took on Dark Falz. A lot of us respect her more than any of the others, because she almost died trying to protect my brother. That's a special kind of loyalty.

She helped me up, and I finally got a real look at her. She's really beautiful, in her late 20s with long brown hair and grass-green eyes, and a come-hither smile that I can personally verify makes men go weak at the knees. She has the same symbol on her forehead than me, although she prefers dark blue robe to my pink and grey ones. She's pretty tall too, actually, but somehow she doesn't look like an amazon, just a supermodel. Some people have all the luck!

"You definitely look like your brother," she said with a grin. "Probably a lot better behaved than he was, though! You don't have the look of arrogance he carries." She waved a finger in my face, and I stepped back instinctively. "Lesson Number 1: Don't get cocky. Down there it's life and death, and the last thing you need is to have an overblown sense of your own importance!"

She's right, too. Lesson Number 1 has kept me alive.

"Y-yes, Miss Asukai," I stammered. She had that effect on me, still does sometimes.

"Don't call me Miss Asukai!" she scolded, and I actually cringed. Then she ruffled my hair – twice in one day! Argh! – and smiled again. "It's Tomiko. Or Tomi. Now follow me, I'm going to get you a Guild ID."

If Bolt hadn't picked me up again, I probably would have just stayed there forever. A Guild ID? But I was a trainee, and not even a very good one!

"Rule Number 2, kid. Don't bother, she's already made up her mind."

Actually, travelling by RAcast is pretty fun when he behaves, but at the time I was kind of in shock. Damien used to terrify me with stories of Ragol, I must say. We've been here for three years now, and I was a pretty impressionable fourteen year old. So I had this kind of ingrained terror at the very idea. Because let's face it, Hunters don't bother with ID unless they're going planet-side. Or to some kind of social function. But mostly just planet-side.

So I sat there on Bolt's shoulder, quiet as a mouse, until Tomiko came back with a Guild ID. She'd even picked out a name for me. Oh, you guessed it.

MOUSE. I was a Greenill called Mouse! Needless to say, Bolt treasures the picture he has of me when I first saw what she'd named me. He also has an audio recording of my reaction. He plays it at parties to annoy me. It works.

Eventually I calmed down, and Tomiko pretty much dragged me over to the counter, still grinning like a loon.

"I'm back with my apprentice and our back-up," she said to the Guild Girl, all matter of fact, whilst I tried to conceal my shock at just how low-cut that shirt was. "You said you had something that's right up my alley?"

The Guild Girl made a dramatic sigh (and I averted my eyes – she practically falls out of the shirt every time!) and punched something up. I didn't get to see the screen, but even then I took one look at my teacher's face and I knew it was lucrative. And therefore rather risky.

"It sounds absolutely perfect," she gushed, mock-punching me in the arm. "Tell the client we'll meet him immediately!"

"Of course. Please wait in Lobby 14." I just sort of blinked at everything going on, even as I was pretty much dragged to the small-scale teleporter. I swear, there were so many things going on in the Guild right that second that I could have written a term paper on behavioural psychology just from a couple of hours sitting there with a data device. I never got around to it, though.

Anyway. We teleported into Lobby 14, and Bolt instantly clanked off to play Lobby Soccer with some other androids. I found it pretty interesting, and soon I had a whole teams worth of android coaches teaching me how to play. I'm actually damned good now, thanks to them – if you don't believe me, I'm quite happy to tan your hide.

So yeah, I spent a pretty enjoyable hour playing soccer with a bunch of HUcasts and RAcasts big enough to squash me, and by the end of that hour Bolt and I were kicking their asses. Turns out sheer power just can't beat small and sneaky when it comes to soccer. I eventually decided to stop, though, so that I'd still have some energy left for whatever mission I'd been signed up for, but I had a standing offer to come play any time. Turns out there's a few android hunters who do nothing but do quests and play ball.

Tomiko was shouting out abuse and encouragement in equal parts to the players, and I was studying their tactics intently, already planning our next match, when our employer arrived.

Doctor Jean-Carlo Montague.