Chapter II

Greetings all! I am back with the second chapter of An Assassin's Second Chance. Hopefully everyone enjoyed the previous chapter, seems at least a few of you did, which is good. Hopefully you enjoy this chapter as well. If you do, be sure to leave a review letting me know. That said, I would like to thank Bakuto Masaki for his help in crafting this... thing. Anyway, enough blathering, on with the reviewer responses!

hornofdesolation: You are still going to see that, it's just going to take a while longer to get there and it won't be Kazuma but Sergio. A lot of Chaos Pawn's story elements will be carried over into the stories that follow this one.

superpeirce: And it's not 100% dead, a lot of what it did will be put into this new series, with stories following ASC. Yes, this happens before the events of Fairy Tail's Demon King. Though that story is getting the reboot as well once we get to it. The divergence happens when Kazuma got sealed in Legends of Chaos. Sergio didn't, he just chose to fuck off from history because it bores him.

akilja95: Cool. Not all of them, but a very large chunk of them are being rewritten, and I'm working on a soft reboot of Gremory's Guardian, but you'll learn the details of that when it's ready.

The Aura King: What don't you like about Sergio's attitude?

Well, that about does it, nothing else to cover here, so on with the show!

Najenda sighed as the others finished their food with worry. "Well we've seen your cooking. And as… unique as it may be, it's good. I wonder how you are with other duties."

Sergio shrugged. "I can do just about everything. I could patch you up. Fix you up. Start a business to get us extra money. Neuter Lubbock."

"How does that fit with the rest!?" Lubbock hollered.

"It's something that would benefit the group," Sergio answered bluntly.

"He's got a point," Leone added.

"H – Hey…!" Lubbock stammered, though everyone ignored him.

Sergio continued, "I am also very good in all forms of torture and a bit of an expert on the human mind."

"I see," Najenda responded, listening to him.

"And if needed I can repair or forge us weapons."

At that point she frowned in disapproval. "That's not necessarily true."

"Oh?"

"Each of us, the weapons we use are Imperial Arms, they can only be repaired by the one who made them."

"I know, which is why I'm offering to maintain them for you. And that arm your wearing is in serious need of upgrading."

Najenda was far from amused. "Are you stupid? I said the person who made them –"

Sergio interrupted her. "Was me, and I'm not stupid."

"You must be if you expect us to believe that."

"Akame," he called out, the girl handing him Muramasa. "See?" he proffered before stabbing himself in the arm with the weapon, the others all gasping as he did, the symbols of death spreading along his skin before immediately evaporation from him. "See? Made this thing to kill me and it failed spectacularly."

Najenda just stared silently.

Sergio blinked in thought. "I think I broke her again."

"I ain't doin' it," Leone remarked.

Shrugging, Sergio stepped up to Najenda and poked her cheek, causing her to reflexively lash out with her mechanical arm. However, Sergio's eyes suddenly flashed red before Najenda's passed straight through him. "Nice reflexes."

Najenda looked at him in confusion. "Hm? How'd I miss?"

"You didn't, I simply became impossible to hit."

"How?" she asked suspiciously.

Sergio pointed to his eyes, which were red with complex black patterns flaring out from the pupils. "My eyes hold very special powers. It's hard to explain, just call it magic if it makes you feel better."

Najenda just stared in confusion.

"So, you still want to see my combat capabilities?"

The silver-haired woman sighed and waved a hand. "If they're anything like what you've shown so far, I don't believe that will be necessary."

"Good. If you did, I'd ask for Lubbock as a sparring partner so I wouldn't need to worry 'bout holding back."

"Up yours!" the green-haired teen snapped.

"I don't swing that way. Your friend Bulat does."

Lubbock merely ground his teeth in frustration as Leone patted his back and remarked, "Just give it up," to which he just grumbled.

Later, Sergio and Akame sat on a cliff away from the rest, outside the compound. "Your friends seem to be taking my powers pretty well."

"They still don't trust you," she replied, looking out over the vast forest.

Sergio shrugged in response. "That's fine. So long as it gets the results you want, I don't much care what they think of me. After all, I don't need them to trust me to save them."

She frowned slightly in disappointment. "But… I want them to."

"Oh?"

"I want them to see you as a friend." Turning to him, she added, "So you have to stop antagonizing them."

Sergio sighed before shrugging dismissively. "Sorry. Just been awhile since I met new people."

"Huh?"

"It's been a while since I tried making new friends Akame. I'm immortal remember?"

"Ah." After a moment, she looked back at the entrance to the hideout. "These days still feel like yesterday in my mind."

Nodding, Sergio put a hand on her shoulder. "And it's going to be like that for a while. Once you get to this age decades pass like days. Which is why you should make friends with non-humans like Spirits, Goddesses and Youkai. They live as long as us, and they can help with the pain and loneliness."

"I see…"

"Don't worry. If your friends properly bond with those weapons they will become immortal. Sheele is well on her way already."

Akame turned to him incredulously. "Huh? Then how come she…?"

"Because bonding with it fully requires a last critical step."

"I see…"

"So don't worry, I'll do my best to ensure they reach that level. Though I am curious how Sheele met her end."

Akame proceeded to explain. "An Imperial soldier named Seiryuu Ubiquitous utilized her Imperial Arm, a large, shape-shifting dog, and had it devour her."

Sergio scowled at the explanation. "Disgusting. Sheele does not deserve such a fate."

"Unfortunately, that is the simple version of what happened. Mein saw it all happen right in front of her."

That elicited an angered hiss from him. "That just makes it worse. Mein saw her lover consumed before her very eyes. That's just not right."

"That is how the Empire is," she answered simply.

"Then it needs to be flat out destroyed."

"There are still good people under its thumb."

"That's why it needs to be destroyed. So said good people can crawl out from it."

"I see."

"Anyway, let's get some sleep."

Akame nodded in return.

"You head back first."

"Okay," she replied before leaving.

After a moment, Sergio turned around with a frown. "Come out. I know your there."

Najenda proceeded to step out from behind a large tree, her eye trained on him.

"Najenda."

"So how long did you know I was there?"

"As you were following her."

"I see. Well, perhaps now you can explain what's really going on here."

Sergio stood and turned to her before shrugging. "Simple. Time travel."

"I'd call you a madman if I hadn't seen what happened with Muramasa, or if I hadn't found this." She proceeded to throw that time's Muramasa, wielded by the Akame the other had killed, at his feet.

Sergio just looked at it before slapping himself in the face with a sigh. "Damn it Akame. Couldn't have disposed of the sword too."

"Since something impossible like that is the only way there could be two Muramasas."

"True. I'd never make a second one after the failure of the first."

Najenda folded her arms with a heavy sigh. "So you're seriously the First Emperor? The one who founded and ruled the Empire almost a thousand years ago?"

Sergio answered with a shrug. "One I founded by accident, more or less. I blame my helpful nature and need for people to have wield my weapons to see if it can kill me."

Najenda was now even more confused. "You founded it to die?"

"I'm immortal and have been around a long time. If you ever reach my age, death will be something you crave."

Najenda remained silent for a moment before laughing weakly. "Never thought I'd be talked down to in age by someone who looks younger than me."

Sergio returned her laugh with a rather boisterous one of his own. "The only thing old looking about you is your snow-white hair, Beautiful."

Najenda folded her arms with a smirk. "Really? Then how old do you think I am?"

Sergio looked her up and down in thought. "Hm… mid-twenties?"

Najenda's smirk disappeared with irritation. "Now I know you're joking."

The brown-haired man blinked in surprise. "Wait, you're not?"

"I'm in my late thirties, if you have to know."

"Damn. You look good for your age."

The white-haired woman sighed in mild annoyance. "Hopefully you're aware I'm not like the barmaids you're probably used to seducing."

"Trust me, if I was trying to seduce you, talking isn't what we'd be doing right now, we'd be in your room filling you with your first kid."

"Well you certainly aren't lacking in confidence, I'll give you that."

"Thanks babe. I aim to please."

"Also…" Najenda remarked before putting her mechanical arm at his throat with a scowl, "if you try any of that on my subordinates I'll make sure it doesn't grow back."

Sergio, unfazed, tapped a small segment on the mechanical limb, causing it to go limp, Najenda staring in disbelief. "I only do it if they want it. I'm no rapist. Besides, you're hurting them, not me."

Najenda looked at her arm for a moment before sighing as she wrenched it back into place. "If you turn out to be an enemy to us, I don't want them to have any reservations in killing you. If something were to happen even to me, that made me a greater threat than an asset to them, for the sake of freedom I wouldn't want them to hesitate."

"Even if all survivors but you are labeled as criminals?"

Shrugging, she answered, "If that's what it takes to rip this country from the tyrants at its head, so be it. We fight for the greater good, not for ourselves."

"And that is why you will fail," he chided, causing Najenda to glare at him. "What? It's true. You may fight for the Greater Good, but such a thing can easily be used to trick good people into ensuring the rise of a new tyrant."

Najenda narrowed her eye suspiciously as she listened.

"Before you ask I've seen it happen more than a few times. After all, once your life exceeds two millennia you start to notice patterns which let you predict when the next shitstorm happens. And with the way you're going, it's not far off. So perhaps you'll actually pay attention next time I suggest something."

"Maybe," she answered crassly.

"Now, let's head back. Oh, and for their sakes, it's best the others think Akame is still this time's Akame. And that she didn't brutally murder herself."

She just stared at him.

"A new day," Sergio sighed as he woke up the next morning, before humming to himself as he saw a plate of food sitting on the table, no one else from the group around. "Smells good." Taking a bite, he considered the flavor carefully. "Tastes good to. Who made it? Better ask," he said to himself before throwing the rest of the plate in the garbage.

Najenda rest her head on her arm in annoyance. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Seems one of your members tried to poison me. The food tasted good though, with the poison adding a bit of spiciness to it."

Najenda rubbed her temple in frustration. "Just great. So now we have to figure that out."

"Well I know it wasn't Akame, and I'd at least hope you're not stupid enough for something like that since you know I can't die. Sheele I doubt would do something like that. Bulat is Bulat so I doubt him. Can Leone cook?"

Without a pause, Najenda answered, "The last time she tried it looked like volcanic sludge."

"Hey!" the blonde snapped.

Sergio folded his arms in thought. "Which leaves two. The little firecracker and the pervert."

Najenda just groaned as Sergio turned his attention to Mein and Lubbock, the former of which just huffed at him.

"Anything you want to add Mein?"

"No," she answered sharply.

"You sure?"

She just jeered at him.

Sergio sighed in exasperation. "You know, if that succeeded I'd have thanked you."

"Even if it was me I wouldn't want your thanks."

"Right. Well as I said it was a good meal. So that leaves one person," he explained, turning his attention to Lubbock.

Lubbock winced before scowling. "Hey don't look at me! I was busy in the library! I mean you're a real jackass, but I wouldn't go that far."

Sergio frowned in thought before looking around the room. "Seems I was mistaken then."

"A little," Mein sneered.

"Seems the only person left really would be Sheele."

"H – Huh?" the bespectacled beauty stammered.

"Well everyone else has their reasons for not doing it. You?"

"I was in my room all night," she answered simply.

"… That's it? That's your defense? Was anyone with you?"

She shook her head apprehensively.

"Then that means you could have made and poisoned a breakfast for me," he accused, causing Mein to flinch as he continued.

"I didn't," Sheele responded bluntly.

"Oh? Then prove it."

"I have no idea to prove a negative."

Akame frowned slightly as Sergio continued, though chose to let him go on.

"Well if you have no way of proving you didn't do it, then I can't believe you. Guess we will have t –"

"Stop!" Mein suddenly shouted desperately.

"Mein?" Sergio remarked, offering her a chance to speak.

"Sh – She didn't make it, I did! Sheele can't even cook!"

"And that's the truth?"

"Yes!"

"Oh? Then prove it."

Mein tightened her fists with anger. "I – I… I mixed some arsenic into the food."

Sergio just responded silently with a pleased smile, though a rather irritated Najenda chided, "What were you thinking?"

Sergio waved a hand dismissively to her. "Now, now, Naj. No harm done."

Twitching an eyebrow at his candor, Lubbock snarled at him. "Don't call her Na –!"

"Zip it," Sergio snapped coldly, "the adults are talking."

The green-haired teen just growled weakly.

"So, Mein, care to explain why you did that? Obviously, it didn't hurt me. Kinda burned a little bit for a while but that's all."

Mein just sighed in frustration.

"Mein…" Najenda urged softly.

"I… I…" the girl trailed weakly.

Sergio decided to offer his own theory. "I am guessing you're scared of me."

Mein just looked at him with a frown.

"That's it, huh? Your scared I'll do something to you or take Sheele away."

Mein immediately went red, though with anger rather than shame. "Th – That's not…!"

"Then explain why you jumped to her defense when I was making a false claim."

She went stiff as a board.

"It's because you care for and love her." Najenda began to speak into the situation, Sergio cutting her off. "Naj, no. This concerns Mein and Sheele."

The silver-haired leader gave him a cold glare.

"And I doubt she'd tried to poison me if you hadn't interfered with their relationship."

"What!?" Mein suddenly howled.

Sergio turned his attention to the petite girl in surprise, not expecting that much rage from a small form. "What?"

"Is that true!?" Mein asked to Najenda with furor.

Najenda grit her teeth at the situation, feeling all eyes on her, before sighing in defeat.

Realizing the answer that gave her, Mein turned to Sheele in shock, the woman turning away from her.

Sergio looked over the scene in mildly faked surprise. "Well now, looks like there's even more sludge bubbling up than I expected. Guessing you had her break it off?" He got his answer from Sheele's fists curling bitterly. "And probably told you it's in Mein's best interest?"

Mein's eyes went wider as she saw the woman lower her head with shame.

Najenda rubbed the bridge of her nose as she felt a powerful headache pounding at her mind. "For God's sake, you always make things so damn complicated."

"You're the one whose actions started this," Sergio argued.

Sheele simply hung her head in silent shame, Mein silently looking at her.

Sergio, looking over the scene before returning his attention to Najenda, asked, "So, how do you wanna resolve this, 'Boss'? My suggestion is not to interfere with my underlings' love life."

The others just looked at him.

"What? Nekomata got your tongues?"

Akame punched Sergio in the chest with a fair bit of force, though he did not move from his spot. "You keep making things worse."

Sergio just raised an eyebrow and fixed her messy hair. "How so? Tensions may be increasing now, but trust me, these situations need to be resolved if you hope to see your friends live through this mess, and that they live happy lives. Things always get harder before they get easier, or something like that. So, don't worry."

Akame just stared at him with silent suspicion.

Sergio smiled as he patted her head softly. "Akame, trust me. I will save your friends."

"… Okay."

"Good."

The next morning, Sergio sighed as he leaned back in one of the dining room's chairs. "Hm… What to do today…"

"If you want to be useful," Najenda noted crossly as she walked up to him, a frown still firmly on her lips from the previous night's events, "we've got a contract."

"Oh? Who's the dead man?" Sergio asked as Akame and the others filed into the room behind Najenda.

The woman then put several photos on the table, one of a tall, hugely muscular man with one eye and another of a short, fat, wart-covered man. "Ogre, head of the city guard," she explained, pointing to the one-eyed man.

Sergio hissed in disgust at the man. "Ugly as a male one to. Any special way you want him dead? Poisoned, exploded from the inside out, head ripped off and put on a spike?"

Najenda sighed before shrugging. "It doesn't matter. He's been manipulating things from behind the scenes. Whenever a crime is committed, or some collusion is discovered, someone pays him to punish someone else as a scapegoat. Recently, Leone was approached by a woman with a letter and contract money to pay for his assassination. She explained that her husband had been unlawfully executed by Ogre to cover up the crimes of this man, Gamal," she paused and pointed to the warty man, "an oil merchant who's primary trade was with human trafficking."

"Gutting them like a pig it is," Sergio growled before his body was bathed in light.

Najenda, surprised but also somewhat beyond giving a shit, just looked at him before his normal clothing was gone, replaced by bandages wrapping around his entire body, a long, ragged green cloak draped over his form, and a metal, skull-like mask with glowing red eyes covering his face. She was not particularly amused by the look before she realized something odd he had said. "Them?"

Sergio, his voice now distorted and warped, answered, "Yes. I'm going to kill them both. And before you ask, yes, I can be in more than one place at the same time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have pigs to fry." Suddenly, a second Sergio appeared in a flash of light before swirling vortexes emerged around them both and swallowed them.

Lubbock stared at the spot where Sergio once was before turning to Mein in disbelief. "… And you actually thought you could kill that?"

Mein just huffed and looked away from him, before flinching as Sheele, smiling happily, walked up behind her and wrapped her in a hug. Mein remained in confusion for a moment before smiling as well and putting a hand on Sheele's arm.

Lubbock stared lecherously as his nose bled, Mein instinctually kicking him in the groin and knocking him to the floor. With a whimper, he attested, "W – Worth it…"

A vortex appeared in the air above a tall building, Sergio, still in his cloak, emerging from it and looking down over the city from above, illuminated by the lights of the night. "So, this is the Imperial Capitol? Pathetic. Now, to find Ogre and butcher him. And to show Akame's friends what a real assassin does."

In a rundown bar on the edge of the city, Ogre, clad in hefty, black and grey armor, accompanied by a small group of men in similar armor, barged in through the door, Ogre making straight for a table in the back corner of the room. He sneered at the man sitting in it before grabbing him the collar. "That's my seat, civilian. Now leave before I remove you!"

The man swiftly sprinted away, fear overtaking him.

Ogre huffed as he flopped harshly into the chair. "Barkeep!"

The man behind the bar, running to the man's side quickly, stuttered, "Y – Yes?"

"Bring me the usual."

"Yes, s – sir," the bartender stammered as he grabbed an expensive bottle of whiskey from the top of the backbar before a slender hand grabbed it. The man turned and saw a tall, busty, fair-skinned woman with long brown hair and bright blue eyes in a plain blue dress and black high-heeled shoes. Taking the bottle, the woman smiled warmly. "Mind if I take that?"

"H – Huh? Who are you…?" he muttered.

"You can just call me Sergia, sweety."

The bartended began to protest, but his eyes suddenly went stale. "I… yes, that's fine."

"Thank you," she smiled as she approached Ogre's group, her hips swaying overtly.

Ogre was talking with one of the guards when he heard the others whistling and saw Sergia approaching. "Well, looks like that idiot finally managed to hire someone worth looking at."

The brunette just smiled as she picked up Ogre's glass and handed the bottle to one of the other men to open, who was more than happy to oblige.

Ogre leered at the woman as she poured him a glass of the whiskey and handed it to him. "I think I know a better way for us to get to know each other."

Sergia blinked in surprised curiosity. "Oh? What ever could you be talking about?"

"How about you, me, and that drink head upstairs?"

The woman thought about it for a moment before nodding with a smile.

As the duo left and entered a room, one of the other soldiers huffed in disappointment. "The lieutenant always gets lucky."

"Yeah…" another lamented in agreement.

Ogre walked into the room ahead of Sergia, who closed the door behind her. "Now, let's just skip the talk and – …" he stopped when he turned to see her gone. "Where'd she go?" Suddenly realizing his situation, he reached for a knife in his pocket.

"Too easy…" a deep voice droned.

"Huh?!" Ogre snarled before turning to the voice, stopping just shy of seeing its source as he felt his heart compress before exploding in his chest.

"Death has come for you Ogre. Now die like the vermin you are."

"You…" Ogre groaned, turning his remaining eye just enough to see a hood with burning red eyes staring at him before he collapsed to the floor, dead, as blood oozed from his mouth.

"May you burn in hell." Dipping a finger in the pool of blood, he scrawled a message along the wall. "Death has come".

Leone sat at the table, eating a small bowl of soup as Sergio walked in, whistling a tune. "You're back quick."

"It was an easy kill. And the oil merchant should be dead just about now."

Elsewhere, another hooded Sergio held the severed head of the toad-like man before tossing it to a pack of wild dogs and sticking his finger in the corpse's blood, writing, "Death shall harvest the corrupt" along the wall before vanishing.

Sergio nodded to the blonde. "Yep he just finished," he proclaimed, causing Najenda to look at him incredulously. "You want him to bring back the guy's money and business contact info?"

"That would probably be beneficial," the silver-haired woman replied.

"Good that you agree, because he already looted the place and left a message."

"A message?" Leone questioned, batting at a toy on a string held by Akame.

"Yep. Written in the bastard's blood, letting all know Death has come to the Capital."

The entire room went dead silent as they looked at him.

The man looked around in confusion. "What?"

Najenda groaned heavily. "Well you're certainly not lacking in guts."

Sergio just chuckled in amusement. "It's all strategy my dear Naj. The best way to win is to make your enemy too scared to fight. Not to mention if a new assassin with a modus operandi far different from Night Raid's appears, they will have to split their focus."

"Death's focus is simply to kill and cause chaos, leaving behind messages written in his victims' blood, telling the corrupt that their deaths shall come next. So, unlike yourself with goals of bringing about revolution, they think I'm just out to throw a spanner in the gears. Thus splitting their attention. And in this game we play, doing so is fatal."

"Ah, divide and conquer. One of the oldest strategies in the book."

Leone raised a hand in confusion. "Um, so what's going on?"

Sergio merely chortled quietly. "Don't worry about it, Najenda and I will handle the thinking, you just keep breaking stuff."

Leone's hair stood on end in annoyance. "Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"You poked Naj the first time I broke her. Even I knew that would be dumb."

The blonde lurched back with a pout, unable to argue against that.

"Now that that's done, we can move on to actually making you a team of assassins, instead of one assassin and a bunch of brawlers. So get ready. Sheele, Akame, you both will help me."

Akame nodded in agreement.

Soon, the entire group stood outside in the courtyard near the base.

"Why'd I get dragged into this?" Lubbock grumbled.

Sergio, somewhat irritated, explained, "As much as I'd like to just let you atrophy in your room, the weakest link breaks the chain. Which is you."

The green-haired teen merely aimed his middle finger at the man.

"Now let's get started. First, I need to see how strong you all are without use of your weapons. So everyone except Najenda put them away."

Leone immediately raised a hand.

"Because hers is part of her body."

Leone immediately lowered her hand.

"Wait, I'm fighting?" the silver-haired woman questioned.

"Of course. Great leaders lead by example after all. And my belief is I would never send my subordinates to do something I wasn't willing to do myself."

She just frowned in confusion.

"Now, to test what you've got."

"How?" Akame asked.

"Simple. Finding and sneaking up on me. If I detect ya, I hurt ya."

"When do we start?" Mein asked.

"Right now," he answered before disappearing, leaving the group to stand in bewilderment.

Sergio sat at a table, reading a book when he felt two fingers against his neck. "Well that was fast."

Akame, standing behind him, put up two fingers and poked a spot next to her, revealing the real Sergio hiding.

Sergio frowned in mild disappointment. "Akame… you're supposed to be helping me train them."

Akame pouted slightly. "… I wanted to play too."

Sergio couldn't help but laugh gently at her logic. "Alright, well you're the first one to get me, so now how about you play a little subterfuge?"

"Okay," she answered with a nod before disappearing.

"Now I wait."

Elsewhere, Lubbock snuck down a hallway, quietly clinging to the walls before a rope trap suddenly snared his legs and hung him upside down like a piece of meat. "Wh – What the…?! Oh come on!" After a moment, a floating screen appeared showing each of their names, Akame's with a green check mark next to it, Lubbock's crossed through and greyed out. "Seriously!?"

Mein looked at the floating screen in front of her. "Well that's not too shocking. Wait, what is this thing?" She poked it several times as it simply floated in front of her. "It's like a floating window. Weird…"

Sergio's face suddenly appeared on it. "I wouldn't stand still like that."

"Eh?" Before she has time to think about it, a giant ball of slime emerges from underfoot and envelopes her. "Eek!" Her fear turned to anger as she saw her name get slashed out. "Damn it!"

Elsewhere, Sheele looked at the screen and hissed as Mein's name got crossed out and batted it out of the way before ducking under the swipe of a wooden dummy and punching its head off. "Damn it…" She dashed forward a bit and quickly found Mein encased in the slime.

Before Sheele could go to aid her, Mein urged, "Don't worry about me! Got sock that creep!"

"But…"

Mein, with some trouble, forced her head out of the ball of goo. "I can get free on my own!"

Nodding, Sheele headed down a nearby corridor, only to find herself suddenly frozen in ice, though her hand was outstretched enough to trip a lever that dropped a large boulder, shattering the ice and freeing her, allowing her to push on before a mechanical hand grabbed her by the ankle, tripping her. Kicking the hand apart, she looked around in bewilderment. "How many traps did he rig?" She was then wrapped in bandages emerging from the floor that held her in place, though she quickly freed herself with a needle in her pocket and kept going.

In a secluded room, Sergio watched several screens floating in front of him, showing the various members as they searched for him, though he had his attention focused on Sheele with a smirk. "Looks like Sheele saw through what I was saying. Good girl. She'll go a long way. Now… How long will the other three remaining ones last?"

He watched as Leone punched through numerous boards that continually appeared in front of her before smashing through a few training dummies that sprung up. "Holy shit he put a lot of traps!"

"She'll be down soon."

Bulat merely walked through and ignored or blocked most of the traps which proved ineffective.

Sergio felt a bead of sweat fall down his chin in disbelief. "Okay… wonder if the pit and quicksand trap will work."

On another screen, Najenda stood silent and still for a moment before leaping up to the ceiling and smashing it with her fist, reaching inside to the hole and pulling out several wires, rods, and gears, disabling the traps they armed.

Sergio sighed in amusement. "Geez…" Pressing one of the holographic buttons floating near him, Najenda's arm was suddenly yanked up to the ceiling by a powerful magnet.

"H – Hey! Damn you!"

"Now let's see what you'll do to get out."

"Tch, crafty bastard," she cursed as she tried to free her arm before pulling a pin out, causing her arm to detach and for her to drop to the floor. "I'm gonna kick your ass when I find you."

"That's if you make it."

Several hours passed as the group continued their hunt for Sergio, eventually ending in defeat as he looked over the defeated group. Leone bound up in a web of strong silk, Bulat stuck firmly inside of a large tub of syrup, Najenda trying and failing to stand from an ice-covered floor with only one arm, Mein still covered in the slime, and Sheele on the floor with Akame sitting on her back.

"Well… That was fun to watch. I'm disappointed none of you actually managed to reach me." As Akame began to speak, Sergio interrupted, "I already said you don't count. You were supposed to be helping me train them after all. I'm also surprised Mein hadn't tried eating her way out."

Mein, who was still pulling globs of slime from her clothing, hissed, "I'm not gonna eat this crap!"

"I thought girls like jelly?"

Mein quickly froze with a small sound reminiscent of a mouse, giving Sergio an expression halfway between shock and rage.

"What is with that look?"

"It's… jelly?"

"Of course. I'd never let an actual slime trap a girl. Even the Youkai kind. They get… curious."

Thinking about the implications to that, her face turned blue.

"Moving on, the one who got the closest to the goal was Sheele."

Leone twitched an eyebrow as Akame used a knife to cut the threads off of her. "But I was the closest to you when everything ended."

"Who said that was the goal?"

"You did!" she protested as Mein tasted some of the jelly and blinked in surprise.

"Did I? I just said for you all to sneak up on and find me. I never said that was the goal of the test."

"Then why say that?!" the blonde growled as Bulat slowly pulled himself from the tub of goo.

"To see if you'd figure it out. Because if you'd paid attention, I said you couldn't use your Imperial Arms to get to me. And I think just about all but Sheele did use them."

Leone shouted, "No I didn't!" as Akame cut Lubbock down from the rope, his head dizzy from all that time upside down.

Sergio immediately looked at the belt around her waist.

"I didn't activate it!" she argued as Akame helped Najenda stand before giving her back her mechanical arm.

"But it gives you a boost in power even when inactive."

Leone looked at him, surprised. "It… does?"

"Yep. It also slowly transforms women into a Nekomata."

"Ah," she hummed in recognition before going pale. "… Wait, what!?"

"What?"

"This thing's gonna turn me into a cat!?"

"No. A Nekomata. Specifically, a Nekoshou, which can manipulate Natural Energy."

The blonde's eyebrows twitched as she tried to comprehend his words. "So what's any of that mean…?"

"It means in the future you're going to have permanent cat ears and tails. It also means you can use the energy from nature to greatly increase your power and sense where others are. Oh, and your breasts will get bigger the more fatty foods you eat." As soon as he finished that sentence, Mein scowled at Leone with a tic mark. "And Mein has breast envy."

Now the petite pinkette had two popping veins of anger. "Shut it!"

"Milk helps with growth."

She did not have a witty retort to that.

"Well the inspection was an utter failure. Only one of you managed to see what I was talking about. Just great."

Leone folded her arms in irritation. "If you wanted us to see the point then you should've said it."

Sergio smirked confidently. "Then what would have been the point in it?"

"I still don't know what it was!" the blonde snapped.

Sergio turned to the bespectacled member of the team. "Sheele, tell them"

Nodding, Sheele turned to the others. "The goal of the exercise was to get through his traps using tools other than our Imperial Arms, to not rely solely on them to get through situations. Getting to him was just the impetus of fighting through the traps."

Leone winced as the others considered her answer.

Sergio nodded and added, "And Sheele here did just that. Using everything around her, and on her person, to escape trap after trap to reach me. Not once going for Ecstasy. Though I will admit expecting her to get past Akame was a little much. Still, she did amazing. Though might have reached me if Mein let her save her from her jelly prison."

Mein gave a small mumble of confusion at him.

"You heard me. If she had back up, she'd have had someone to help her with Akane."

Mein just sat silently.

"Believe it or not, stopping to help an ally isn't always a surefire lose situation. It often leads to more good than bad. Got it? Sacrificing yourself doesn't always end well." Sergio then turned his attention to Najenda, who was in the process of reattaching her mechanical arm. "And that is another thing. Taking off your arm and not taking out the magnet to retrieve it."

The silver-haired woman just huffed at him. "And would you have any ideas how to take out a magnet like that?"

"Cut the power. Do that and it's off," he explained plainly.

Najenda stopped what she was doing and simply stared at him. "… What?"

"Am I seriously going to have to explain how magnets work? Geez… Guessing your brains are in your tits. Anyway," he began, leaning to the side to dodge a large rock thrown by her machine arm, "they work by flowing electricity through a special piece of metal that pulls other metals towards it. So cut the electricity and it turns off. But since you didn't you decided it be a bright idea to continue disarmed." Sergio elected to ignore her snarls and turned to Bulat, who was busy wiping syrup from his armor. "And you Bulat should not just keep charging like a tank."

Bulat just shrugged with a smile. "Yeah, probably."

Sergio was caught slightly off guard by the plain reaction. "… Good. Lubbock," he addressed the green-haired man, who just turned to him expecting a verbal beating, only for Sergio to simply sigh.

"Wh – What?! Say something!"

"Anyway… quite frankly you all have a lot of work. So I imagine it's going to be a long process turning you all into proper assassins. Some longer than others," he added, training his eyes on Lubbock, who just flipped him off. "At any rate, that's enough for now, let's take a break and begin training anew tomorrow."

The others groaned in exhaustion.

The following morning, Sergio sat in his bed when he felt a tingle in the back of his mind and turned to the window of his room. "Hoh?" Though his attention was diverted when he heard a knock at the door. "It's open."

Leone rushed into the room in a hurry. "Get up. We've got trouble."

Sergio stood as he flexed his arms. "I know. I sensed them as soon as they got within two hundred meters."

Leone was unamused.

"Well, let's get cracking."

Sergio threw a man clad in white cloth and plain armor against a tree hard, killing him, before grabbing the sword from another and stabbing his partner with it as he punched the other man's face, killing them both. "Well this is boring."

Bulat, clad in elaborate armor with a large crest and a huge spear slammed another of the soldiers into a tree before carving another in half. "Yes, the least they could've done is sent some handsome men."

"I prefer women," Sergio answered as he swung a hand, sending a shot of energy through a man's head.

"I've noticed. It seems we can at least agree," Bulat paused as he smashed a man's sword before carving him and his two allies in twain, "that their selection of assailants is subpar."

"Indeed," Sergio lamented as he jabbed another man in the throat, causing his skin to shrivel as he collapsed, before hearing a loud scream nearby and rushed towards it, finding a surprising sight.

Lubbock stood in a tall cave, his wires wound and strewn across the various natural pillars, with his strings perilously hoisting a young woman with a lithe figure and dark skin, her hair silky black and her eyes the same shade of color, wearing hardly any clothing, her body covered in cuts from Lubbock's wires. The teen groaned in annoyance. "Of course I'd have to fight a woman."

Sergio looked at the woman in thought. "Huh. Looks like you caught a prisoner."

Lubbock huffed as he pulled on the strings, causing them to tighten around her. "Sorry, no prisoners."

"P – Please, let me go. I'll do anything," she begged to him.

Lubbock sighed in annoyance. "No can do. I knew someone who died once because of a woman's charms."

"Guess that was your libido," Sergio taunted before tugging on one of the strings, causing them all to go slack and the woman to drop, Sergio catching her before she hit the ground.

Lubbock looked at the sight in shock as his cables recoiled. 'H – He can make Cross Tail slacken just like that…?'

Sergio frowned as he saw the cuts all over the woman's body before his hands were bathed in green light, the wounds sealing up swiftly. "Now you didn't need to go so far with her. No wonder you're still single."

"I seriously don't think that's relevant!"

"Well best lock her up and mind wipe anything she sees that gives away her location."

After the battle's end, Sergio stood in the main hall with everyone else, the woman unconscious by his side, Najenda just staring blankly at him. "I didn't break her again did I? Stringy, go wake her."

Lubbock twitched an eyebrow before Najenda interjected, "I'm awake you stubborn sack of crap. I'm just trying to figure out how you justify this," she growled, pointing to the unconscious tan beauty beside him.

"Simple. Information extraction. That and Lubbock's love of torturous bondage didn't sit well with me."

Lubbock attempted to get in a retort, but Sergio simply kept talking.

"And that is why I took her prisoner."

"So you did it to save her," Najenda groaned.

"Maybe. If you're worried about anything bad, don't be. I already mind wiped our location from her. I went as far back as when she had her briefing with her commanders."

"You can do that!?" Leone shouted.

"Yep. Anyway, later I'll get more information from her."

"And you didn't just do that before, because…?"

"The more time I spend messing with her mind the more broken she's likely to be."

"Right…"

Sometime later, the dark-skinned girl grumbled as she woke up in a room, lying on a bed, and looked around. "Where…?"

"Yo beautiful," Sergio greeted.

She tensed immediately and looked at him, but her expression contorted as she tried to piece together the situation. "Th – That's right… I was captured… but… I can't remember where this is…"

Shrugging, Sergio explained, "Nowhere important. You're lucky I saved you in time or else you'd end up turned into confetti."

The woman frowned in thought as she tried to piece her mind together. "That… man with the strings."

Sergio nodded plainly. "Yep. Though I think that's being a bit generous."

She just looked at him before asking bluntly, "So… what are you going to do to me?"

"Just talk."

The woman frowned suspiciously.

"Something wrong beautiful?"

"My name is Navera," she corrected crassly, "and I simply want to know what your true motive is."

"I just told you."

Navera huffed dismissively. "I'm not a fool. People only keep prisoners for three reasons. To interrogate, to ransom, or… to use."

Her answer garnered a frown from the blue-clad man.

"So, what's your reason?"

"Talking."

"So I'll take that as interrogation," she responded with an irritated sigh.

Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "How? Would you feel better if you knew I wasn't human? I'm not like them, or at least, I try my best not to be."

Navera furrowed her brow suspiciously. "Then what are you?"

"Hm… if I had to give it a name, I'm a demon. Though dragon works to."

"I see. Our people consider dragons to be the source of the myths of gods and goddesses."

"That's… a little dumb but okay."

"Huh?"

"The gods and goddesses are their own beings, they aren't just stories. Except Jashin. That one's… complicated."

The girl's entire body perked up with interest. "You know of Jashin-Sama?"

"… Ah." Sergio scratched his chin in consideration. "It's more like… I am Jashin."

Navera just stared at him for several moments in thought before collapsing back and fainting.

"Why do they always do that? Oh well, I'll talk to her later then."

Sometime after, Leone sat in the main hall with the others when she noticed Sergio walk in. "Well, how'd it go?"

Sergio shrugged as he sat down. "She's a Jashinst."

Mein rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Oh great, those crazies."

Bulat rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I've heard of them, but they don't really have any handsome men, so I haven't paid much attention."

Najenda added, "The empire's greatest general is one."

"Oh?" Sergio asked, intrigued.

"Her name's Esdeath. She was born to a tribe of those psychos and was the daughter of the chief."

"I see. You know her well?"

"I used to. She's the one I have to thank for needing this damn contraption," she explained, pointing to her mechanical arm.

"Ah. Explains why you survived."

"Pardon?" Najenda retorted, annoyed at his reply.

"Jashinists don't kill their lovers," he explained, causing her to narrow her eye angrily. "What?"

The others just looked at Najenda in disbelief, whilst Lubbock stammered, "L – Lover…?"

Najenda groaned heavily. "Forget it."

"They don't know?" Sergio retorted.

Najenda angrily answered, "And they don't need to. All they need to know about Esdeath is that she is the enemy."

"Right…"

"Are you a Jashinist?" Sheele asked plainly.

Sergio shrugged. "In a sense. Does being Jashin count?"

The group just stared at him.

"What?"

"You get more irritating every moment…" Najenda grumbled.

"I get that a lot."

Later in the night, Sergio sat quietly in Akame's room with her, drinking alcohol while she ate quietly.

After a long silence, the girl suddenly spoke up, getting his attention. "Yes, Akame?"

"This… isn't turning out like I expected."

"Oh?"

A small smile on her face, she continued, "But… it's fun."

Sergio returned her smile and patted her head softly. "Good to hear you enjoy it. It comes with being an immortal powerhouse."

She just nodded silently.

"So, thinking of becoming a Jashinist?"

"No," she retorted incredibly blunt.

"Okay," he answered with a small chuckle before thinking. "Hm… I wonder if any of my contacts from this time are still around. Though it might not be a good idea to reach them."

"Okay…?"

The next morning, Leone was training with Sergio, large gauntlets adorned in long blades covering her hands as she chased and swiped at him. "Why do I have to wear these stupid gauntlets with knives on them?" she snarled as he dodged another swipe before tripping her.

"So you get accustomed to fighting with claws rather than brute force fisticuffs. After all, claws are a Nekomata's second greatest weapon."

"Hah?" she huffed, stopping her fighting momentarily.

"The Nekoization Belt turns you into a Half-Nekomata temporarily. So, to use those traits effectively, you need to learn to fight like a Nekomata, not a human. I'm sure you've noticed the changes already. The muscles in your legs getting stronger and more reactive, the bones in your fingers becoming denser. These changes aren't to make it easier to kick and punch, it's so you can run faster and grip things without breaking your hands."

Leone felt her head go cold as he spoke.

"So I have to teach you to focus on running around your opponent, swiping at their weak spots, rather than just charging in and beating them to death. Because that is in complete opposition to how Nekomatas fight. They also use magic to but you don't have the brain power to master that yet."

The blonde hissed at him.

"Sorry. But I'm pretty sure you'd fall asleep studying magic."

Her eyebrow twitching, Leone just folded her arms with a defiant huff. "… Fine…"

"Good. After this we'll get you a big dinner."

That lit a new fire in her eyes as she resumed charging at him.

"Hungry I take it?"

"She's always hungry," Akame explained, sitting nearby and watching.

"Understandable given her body is developing more and more. Now, let's continue."

Nearby, another Sergio stood next to an irritated Mein with a sigh. "You're not going to progress if you don't do the exercises, Mein."

Mein snapped back, "I'm a sniper! Why do I need to do strength training exercises?!"

"What happens to a sniper that gets cornered up close?"

"That's what a spotter's for."

"Need I remind you that you couldn't even fight your way out of a ball of green jelly?"

She just silently glared at him.

"My point stands. So get to work and eat what I make you."

Mein flinched back in concern.

Sergio, seeing this, put a hand up to assuage her. "And don't worry, I'm not petty enough to poison someone back. Not when I have plenty of reasons to keep you alive. Besides, you're too cute to kill, as well."

"Eh!?" she shouted, her face turning bright red.

"What? You are."

"D – Don't just say stuff like that!"

"Oh? Thinking my words will lure you away from your loving Sheele?"

"SCREW YOU!" she shrieked.

"Oh? But we hardly know each other."

Mein just ground her teeth ineffectively.

"So, just focus on strength training for now. You're a good enough shot with that gun that I don't need to worry about that just yet."

"… Fine…"

"Good. Twenty push-ups, twenty sit-ups, twenty squats, three chin-ups, and run two kilometers."

Her face turned blue in disbelief.

"After which you eat all this and start again," he explained, pointing to a table lousy with steaks and burgers.

Mein's eyes went wide in horror. "All of that!? Are you trying to make me fat!?"

"No. You need meat on your bones to develop more."

"Huh?"

"And eating lots of protein whilst you exercise profusely will do that. So eat it all up and become strong, healthy and more beautiful."

Mein just puffed her cheeks defiantly, her face tinted red, and began the exercise.

Sergio just smirked before vanishing, reappearing next to Sheele who stood nearby, watching what was happening. "Not going to help her?"

Sheele turned to him, not reacting much. "Hm? No, not yet. She's still trying to resolve everything in her mind. When I originally broke things off I hadn't told her that it was Boss who told me to, so I'm sure she resents me."

Sergio frowned slightly and put a hand on her shoulder. "I doubt it. I think she is waiting for you to make the first move. And if you don't soon and something happens to you… it'd probable destroy her."

Sheele turned her attention back to Mein, doing several push-ups, and thought silently.

"She knows what I told her to do, and I doubt she'll ignore what I said, so I'll make myself scarce for a while," he stated before disappearing.

Sheele stood silently in the shadows before steeling herself and walking out.

Mein, finishing up the first round of push-ups, looked up in surprise. "H – Huh? Sheele?"

"Mein," she answered with a smile.

Later in the day, Sergio walked through one of the hallways of the base and looked down at the courtyard, seeing Sheele and a somewhat exhausted Mein leaving it, hand-in-hand, and smiled.

And fin! Thus ends the second chapter of An Assassin's Second Chance. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it, be sure to review it if you did. If you were confused, uncertain, or had questions about anything let me know with a review and I will address your concerns in the next chapter's reviewer response. Though if your questions are extremely spoilery I would recommend a PM to get those questions answered, as I try to avoid giving out spoilers if I can. Anyway, if you did not enjoy the chapter, review if you must, but do try to have a point as well as proper understanding of the English language. Or, better yet, go and do something you actually enjoy instead! My sarcastic dickishness aside, until the next chapter, bye-bye!

Navera is mine and Bakuto's custom name for the girl Lubbock kills in Akame ga Kill episode two.