Chapter 6: Unlucky Day

"Don't bother acting all shocked, I don't have the time or the will to explain how you came to be." the blond assassin stepped treacherously towards her crouching son.

"A-are you really-"

"Sigh, what did I just say! You being here has caused me to loose apart of myself that's important in my life. A constant burden is what you've become and it's time I lifted it off my shoulders!"

Finishing her words, Nina rushed Steve in a blinding moment-you could barely keep up with her! Taken aback but not off his guard, Steve tried to defend himself while still drinking in all that she had to say. With yet another dagger in her hand, she aimlessly flung it in the young boxer's face until it made a minor cut on his cheek. The stinging sensation did not bother him one bit, and now that he was flustered Steve cut off Nina's assault by spinning around and knocking her off her feet. She fell down hard.

"I'm still confused ma'am..." he said in a huff, "how could you possibly be my mother? You look old enough to be my sister or something! And why are we doing this?"

"I told you, I'm not going to explain myself! You were a mistake and that's all that needs to be said."

"Well I'm thinking that you've got a whole story to tell! Either that or your insane..."

With haste she scrambled back on her feet and stared hard at him. Out the corner of her eye she spotted the same girl she'd had an unpleasant encounter with earlier.

"Still so attached are you?" she asked slyly.

"If you mean do I still hope for a relationship with you...then yes. I never would put down something as important as family even at my age. I just want to-"

"Maybe you will after this little incentive." she declared, leaping over Steve and by Lili.

As the girl opened her eyes to see what was going on, Nina's hand was over her mouth firmly and she egged on Steve to react.

"What are you doing? Don't be so rash!"

"I'll be whatever I want! I'm the greatest assassin in the world and you...your just a boxer who can't even meet my standards! If she's really so special then you'll come and take her but just be prepared to kill me, because I want to kill you."

He was not buying into any of her talk. The way she proclaimed herself to be the world's greatest assassin right down to threatening to kill Lili was downright fake. Steve knew she was bluffing but decided to play along.

"I won't let you take her away from me!" he announced almost like a bad actor.

Damn, I hope she didn't catch that...

He's such a bad liar, but I guess I am too if he caught my bluff. Looks like he got something from me other than a pretty face...

Nina dropped Lili without care and stomped up to Steve childishly.

"Alright I give. This was all just a bad attempt at trying to forget my past and I guess it's time I told you the truth."

"Really?" he met her face to face. "Like why I never knew you until now..."

She could already sense it. The gullibility the man had was to a staggering high. Now she could pull off yet another bizarre stunt.

"Of course. And it isn't for whatever reasons you believe because I didn't even know about you until the tournament you first appeared in. Now are you fully prepared to know the truth?"

She slid a hand onto his collarbone in a nurturing sense. Steve's eyes widened in wonder.

"It's because I was-betrayed!" in a split second she'd snapped his shoulder, making him gasp in pain. "Now then Steve Fox, you will not remember a word I have said from this day nor will you try to pursue me any longer. Nina Williams is just a name of a person and nothing more. Understand?"

"Hey wait! Stop hurting him!" cried out Lili unable to move her legs.

Instead of listening Nina cracked his shoulder once more and put him to sleep

She shoved him down and glanced at Lili, then sped off. The girl from Monaco started to shed foreign tears not simply for Steve but for the situation he was in. Not even her father going bankrupt was as depressing as this. Struggling to get up, she could only drag her body near his. Gazing up at the sky did her no good so she put her head on his stomach and patiently awaited a sign of hope.

Hours later Lili was mobile again and still the streets had turned ghostly. She rose up and noticing Steve shook him vigorously for a response.

"Hey, wake up Steve! It's over come on get up!"

After shaking him violently for a while he came to and first noticed her face.

"The girl from the bar...what are you doing here..."

"Forget about that! We need to get out of here, to a safer place until the tournament starts. Are you following?"

"I guess," he said sluggishly, "but answer me this first, was there someone else here earlier?"

Note: Hi again! Been too long hasn't it? Well now that it's Thanksgiving Break and can totally devote my time and energy to You might be wondering how snapping a person's collarbone makes them lose there memory. Well while I was talking to my friend about that new Aeon Flux game that came out and all of a sudden we started discussing ways to cause memory loss. She said that if you apply enough force to the base of a person's neck and shoulder at the same time then the pressure shoots up into the brain (obviously wherever memory is used) and causes temporary memory loss from that point. I was a little skeptical of this, but I was still thinking it was cool! R and R and don't lose faith!