"Black Widow...?" Umi whispered her name.
"You see... I'm a woman of business and intel, the reason why I am here... is to simply take control of you two," Hanayo explained.
"Well too bad, we aren't going to listen to you!" Maki yelled.
Hanayo held up her finger and shook it, "Not so fast there, Panther," she held up the remote that the two were familiar with, "Just because the chief isn't here doesn't mean you're free yet."
Maki bit her lip to keep herself from making the situation worse.
"I'll be clear from the get go, there is a rival that I must take out, and I need you two to do it," she spun the controller in her hands playfully.
"And what if we don't?" Umi asked.
Hanayo smiled and pressed a button on the controller which sent a shock across Umi's body, causing her to fall over in pain, "I think you know already."
Maki rushed over to Umi's side to help her up, "You're going to pay for this one day... What did you do with the chief?"
"Oh don't you worry about him. We cleaned up the entire station and they have all been stowed away in my own personal little prison," Hanayo explained.
Umi finally recovered enough to speak up, "What are you going to do with them?"
"Perhaps use them as test subjects for new poisons and venoms?" Hanayo said jokingly.
"You're destroying innocent lives!" Umi yelled back.
"Oh? Isn't it a little hypocritical of you to say that? You were a hired assassin before ending up here, I suggest keeping your mouth shut unless you want your head blown off from that collar," Hanayo pointed the remote at Umi with a threatening look on her face.
Umi bit her tongue to avoid certain death, "What do you need from us...?"
"There's the cooperative mood I was looking for!" Hanayo hopped off the chair and walked over to the two girls, "As you may know, the Tiger has been running around lately and causing trouble."
The two nodded and Hanayo continued, "I tried desperately to get her to join my side, but she absolutely refuses to, that's why I want you two to kill her."
"If you haven't noticed, we have been trying to do that," Maki shrugged.
"Oh, I'm well aware of that. If I remember correctly, she killed you, am I right?" Hanayo poked at Maki's chest to mock her. Maki clenched her fists tightly and suppressed her anger.
"I am also aware that you two have been training ever since that encounter, I've seen what you can do, and you two are ready," Hanayo came to a stop in front of them and crossed her arms.
"How do you know all of this?" Umi asked reluctantly.
"This police station's security system is state of the art, it's pretty good... but not good enough. I've been keeping an eye on you two for a very long time now," Hanayo explained, "And might I say, you're a demon in bed, Umi."
"YOU WATCHED US WHEN WE-" Maki raised her voice but Umi quickly covered her mouth.
"So what do you plan to do now?" Umi asked calmly.
"Well first..." Hanayo pulled out a key and stepped in closer towards the two of them, she wrapped her arms around Umi's neck.
"Hey! Umi's mine, keep your filthy hands off of her!" Maki yelled.
Hanayo laughed and inserted the key into the back of the collar, it unlocked and the collar fell off. She turned towards Maki and did the same thing.
"... What're you getting at here?" Maki backed away cautiously when her collar hit the floor.
"I'm replacing these collars with my own design," Hanayo looked over at Nico. At her signal, Nico saluted and walked over to the chief's desk to pull out a small case. She opened it up to reveal two smaller versions of their collars.
Hanayo picked them up and presented the new devices to the two girls, "Say hello to your new best friends."
"Umm... No offense, but these are way too small for us," Maki looked at them with a snarky grin.
Hanayo grinned back and grabbed a hold of Maki's arm, "I guess you're first then," Hanayo opened the device and slapped it onto Maki's arm just below her elbow. Once it locked into place, it began to change shape and flatten out to make itself look like it were an armband or an arm sleeve.
Maki inspected the new device around her arm, "I've never seen anything like this before..."
"It's new nanoweave technology, entirely flexible and durable enough to deflect bullets much like Kevlar but a lot stronger... I invented it myself," Hanayo grinned mischievously and hid her hands behind her back. A small remote dropped from her sleeve and she pushed a green button.
Maki felt something puncture into her skin and she started to feel a numbing pain in her arm. Soon enough it started to burn up and cramp like it was being continuously shocked. She held her arm in pain before she started to sweat and notice how hard it was to breathe.
"What... did you do... to me?!" Maki struggled to get her words out and clutched her chest as she fell to one knee. It was tightening and it felt like something heavy was stepping on her. It made it difficult for Maki to breathe and she struggled to get back up on her feet.
"She's had enough! Stop this!" Umi grabbed Hanayo's hand which held the remote and she shrugged before pushing a blue button.
Maki felt something else puncture her but this time it was a much more soothing remedy. She returned to normal after a few minutes and caught her breath before speaking up, "What the hell was that?!"
"My new venom, it shuts down almost all motor functions in the body and slowly stops you from breathing," Hanayo explained.
"Why did you use it on me?!" Maki shouted.
"To show you that I am in charge of your lives now, over time the venom will be switched out with stronger and more potent samples, it'd be best not to get on my bad side," Hanayo threatened.
Maki kept her mouth shut and watched Hanayo place the other device on Umi's arm, "Now that we have all of that settled, I'm deploying you two to take down Tiger tonight."
Maki protested, "What?! You expect us to start this soon?!"
Hanayo held up the remote again and Maki flinched. She didn't want to go through the pain of that venom again, and thinking that she would switch it out for something more powerful actually scared Maki.
"Understood... We need our gear though," Umi said calmly.
"Wolf!" Hanayo called over Nico and dropped a new case in front of them, "I have re-outfitted your loadouts to match your new skills and abilities, use them wisely."
The two girls shuffled through their new gear, Umi put everything on without a problem, but Maki frowned, "Umm..."
"What's wrong, Maki?" Umi looked down to see Maki frantically searching through the gear.
"I can't find my knife!" Maki shouted, she kept searching for it but it was nowhere in sight.
"You mean that Karambit?" Hanayo reached over the chief's desk and pulled it out from a drawer.
Maki jumped up and swiped it from Hanayo's hands, "Yes! What were you doing with it?!"
"I thought a combat knife would suit you better than that thing," Hanayo explained.
Maki unsheathed it and spun it around in her hands with precision, "This is the only knife I will use, you can take yours back."
Hanayo shrugged and closed the case, "Whatever suits you... I suppose. My months of intel collection tell me that Tiger has been hiding out at an abandoned boxing gym downtown."
Umi checked over her new sniper rifle, "This is a PSG1 semi-automatic sniper rifle..." she pulled out the magazine to check the capacity, "Ten 7.62 NATO rounds per magazine..." she posed with the rifle and looked down the scope to test it out.
"I saw how quickly your accuracy was improving, by giving you a semi automatic instead of a bolt action, you could take down enemies faster," Hanayo explained.
Umi shrugged, "We'll see about that..." she pulled the pistol out of it's holster to inspect it next, "... Walther P99, german made and fires 9mm rounds..." she clicked on a button located near her thumb and the magazine popped out, she checked the capacity, "15 shots per magazine and..." she reached down to pull out a suppressor to screw on before taking aim and trying it out.
"You like it?" Hanayo asked.
"I suppose so..." she replied with her eyes fixed on the new handgun.
"It's almost like you're James Bond," Hanayo joked.
Umi remained silent and put the pistol back in her holster. She looked over at Maki who was fiddling around with her new handgun, "Hey Umi, what is this?" she held the gun up to the stoic girl.
"That's a US made M1911, it fires .45 ACP rounds and has a 7 round magazine," she answered.
"You like to fight with your knife, so I thought it'd be best for you to have something more powerful for those tougher guys," Hanayo responded.
Maki shrugged and put it back in her holster before standing up.
"I also outfitted Maki with a light kevlar under armor that will soften the attacks from Tiger," she added.
"Wait, what about Umi?" Maki asked.
"I thought about giving her some, but her style of fighting doesn't suit the needs as much as yours does," she explained with ease.
"Okay..." Maki's eyes lit up, "Okay but what if...?"
"No," Hanayo turned Maki down immediately.
"But you didn't even hear me out!" she shouted back.
"Knowing you, it is going to be ridiculous," Hanayo replied.
"You can say that again..." Umi added.
Maki's jaw dropped, "You too, Umi?! I was just going to say, what if you made some type of armor out of this nanoweave thing you invented?"
Hanayo laughed instead, "It's not exactly something you can make so easily, just developing the amount you two have costed millions. A full body nanoweave armor would cost way too much until we figure out how to mass produce it without sacrificing quality."
"It was just an idea..." Maki took off her shirt and slipped the light kevlar vest on before covering it with her shirt again.
"Okay, Wolf will drive you to the location. Once you are dropped off, she will have to leave the area and return on foot after abandoning the car," Hanayo explained.
Maki held up her hand in question, "Why abandon a perfectly good car?"
"To get rid of any evidence that the government can pick up on," Hanayo answered, "Now if you would please follow Wolf..." she gestured over towards the door where Nico stood silently.
She nodded and left the room, the two girls shortly followed after her, "So, Wolf... What's your name?"
Nico remained silent towards Maki's question, "Um... Hello? Can you hear me?"
She turned her head towards Maki slightly, "I only tell my name to the ones I trust."
"And that would be?" Maki continued to press on.
"Not many..." she answered.
Umi placed a hand on Maki's shoulder and shook her head to signal her to stop with the questions. Maki obeyed and kept quiet until the three of them arrived at the car. It was a small black sedan that looked like it was from a lower income neighborhood.
Nico got in and started the engine while the others got in and drove off quickly towards the location Rin was at.
The car came to a slow stop and Umi pushed the door open to get out. Maki followed shortly and the two of them turned to face Nico, "I'll be back in 30 minutes... Don't die," she rolled up her window and sped off.
Maki turned to face Umi and smiled, "Let's show Tiger who's boss!"
Umi nodded and the two of them jogged lightly towards the front entrance of the boxing gym. It was old and decrepit, the front entrance glass was shattered and allowed for a cool breeze to continuously blow in and out. The sound of shattered glass drifting across the concrete floor set an eerie atmosphere and captured the idea of an abandoned building all too well.
Umi pulled out her new pistol and looked at Maki to do the same. They posted up on opposite sides of the entrance before Umi signaled Maki to rush in. She followed closely behind Maki to cover her blind spot but there was no one in sight.
"Do you think she knew we were coming?" Maki whispered.
"I don't know how she would... keep your eyes peeled and stay close to me..." Umi stepped over a dusty punching bag and motioned Maki to follow after her.
There wasn't much in the abandoned gym, just leftover punching bags either on the ground or barely hanging up with their rusted chains. There was a boxing ring in the middle and the leather on the ropes began to show its age.
"I don't see anything here..." Maki whispered again.
"Don't let your guard down yet Maki," Umi surveyed the area. There was no signs of anyone living in this gym, at least for now. She walked back to Maki and tapped on her shoulder, "Let's check the locker rooms."
Maki nodded and followed within 5 feet of Umi, she kept her new handgun raised and held it close to her body like Umi had taught her. This way if someone were to attack, they wouldn't be able to grab it from her.
Umi stepped inside the locker room and turned on the flashlight attachment on her pistol, she waved the light around and found nothing worth noting, "It's empty..." just as she turned away, a glint caught her eyes and she approached it slowly.
"Maki, I found... I think it's a bullet?" Umi reached out to it.
"Really? What's that doing here?" she stepped in closer towards Umi to look over her shoulder.
"It looks like a regular 9mm bullet..." Umi picked up the round to inspect it.
There was a clicking sound and Maki quickly pushed Umi out of the way. A hole opened in the wall in front of them and a sharp spear thrusted outwards. It hit Maki right in the abdominal region and sent her flying backwards.
"Maki?!" Umi got up and scrambled to get over to her.
She let out a gasp of air and struggled to catch her breath, "T-that knocked the wind out of me..." she slowly sat up and pulled on the spear, "Hanayo wasn't kidding when she said," she pulled the spear out to reveal that the tip was slightly bent, "this would soften blows..." she fell back and took deep breaths until she returned to normal.
"What is a trap doing in a place like this?" Umi asked herself.
"I don't know, maybe Tiger had some defenses," Maki answered.
Umi shook her head, "I wouldn't take her as the trap using type... and plus, would she even be able to create a mechanism like this?" Umi stood up and helped Maki up to her feet.
"I don't know bu-" Maki cut her sentence off when the sound of a lead pipe being dropped echoed across the gym, "Where did that come from?"
Umi stuck her head out of the locker room doorway to see if anyone was inside the gym. There was no one in sight but Umi had an idea of where the general direction of the sound came from.
She motioned Maki to follow behind her and made her way across the gym, the sound came from the other side of it where the management office was. As she approached the door, she leaned her ear against it to try to make out any sounds.
"...Music?" she listened closely to pick up a song that sounded like a lullaby. She listened closer and heard a ticking noise, "Is it being played out of a music box?"
Maki grew impatient, "Umi, obviously someone is in there!" she shoved Umi out of the way and kicked the door in. Using the iron sights on her pistol, she surveyed the room to find nothing inside except for a music box sitting on a table.
"Maki step back," Umi pulled Maki out of the room and pushed her to the side.
"O-ow! Being rough is fine but not now!" Maki massaged where Umi had grabbed her, "What's all the fuss about?"
"A music box doesn't play on its own..." Umi peeked through the corner to look for any abnormalities with the room. A single music box on the center of a table pushed against a wall, almost as if it was meant to be seen.
The music came to a stop and Umi could hear a faint clicking sound just like before. She instantly sprang into action and dove towards Maki to get the two of them to safety. The music box exploded and sent shrapnel flying in a 360 radius, if the two of them had stayed in that room, they would have died from the blast.
"Another freaking trap? Okay, you know what?" Maki pushed Umi off of her and got up to dust herself off before puffing her chest out, "Whoever is playing with us, get your ass out here now!"
"Maki, that won't work..." Umi reached out to grab her shoulder.
A bright light shined onto the boxing ring and the two girls quickly reacted to it. Standing in the ring was a young woman around their age who was smirking to herself as she looked at them, "You two have done well to dodge those traps," she announced.
"Who are you?!" Maki shielded her eyes with her forearm to reduce the amount of light that was invading her pupils.
The woman laughed in response, "How are you, Rabbit & Panther?"
"How do you know our code names?" Umi took a step forward and felt a wire wrap around her ankle. She was immediately suspended into the air and dangled with an unamused face.
"Did you see that Nozomi?! We totally caught the Rabbit!" the woman pointed at Umi to mock her and looked up towards the light.
"I sure did, Elichi, I'm surprised these two are so horrible at avoiding traps!" the woman who was shining the light jumped down and stood next to the blonde.
Maki scoffed in response, "Well your traps failed either way."
Nozomi hugged onto the blonde's arm, "That doesn't change the fact that they set them off, right Eli?"
"Your traps are always brilliant, Nozomi," Eli reached her hand up to cup the girl's cheek.
"Elichi..." she whispered.
"Nozomi..." Eli closed her eyes and locked lips with her. Maki glanced over at Umi with an unamused look on her face. Umi pointed up at her ankle in response and Maki tossed her knife over.
"Nuh uh uh! I wouldn't do that if I were you~" Nozomi separated herself from Eli's lips and waved her finger as if she were speaking to a child. She pressed a button on a remote she pulled out from her shirt and the floor that Umi hovered over collapsed to reveal numerous metallic spikes, "That is unless you want to become human cheddar."
Eli laughed boisterously, "I love your sense of humor, Nozomi."
"I love you more," Nozomi caressed Eli's cheek with her fingers before kissing her again.
Umi made eye contact with Maki again and she responded by going cross eyed as she spun her finger around to mock how insane they sounded.
"Alright, jokes aside, who are you two?" Umi asked.
"Who are we?" Nozomi repeated.
"She asked who we are," Eli responded.
"We're star crossed lovers brought together with one common goal!" Nozomi answered.
"To kill for money," Eli added.
"Yeah yeah, that's nice and all but what are your names?" Maki wanted them to hurry up and waited impatiently.
Nozomi clicked her tongue and pulled the remote out again to press a button. Umi fell closer to the metal spikes, "It's rude to interrupt people during their introduction!"
Nozomi took a deep breath to calm herself down, "As we were saying, I am Nozomi otherwise known as Tanuki!"
Eli pulled Nozomi in closer to her, "And I am Eli, otherwise known as Fox!"
They locked their hands together and performed an obviously choreographed routine before finally saying in unison, "And together we are Fox & Tanuki!"
"Wait wait! No! You can't do that, that's our thing!" Maki's tone and expression showed hints of annoyance and anger.
Umi nodded, "Yeah, it's like... copyrighted."
"Copyright is the last thing you should be worried about, Rabbit," Nozomi threatened Umi by holding up the remote.
"Ahh Nozomi, why don't you have some fun with Panther?" Eli suggested.
"That sounds like a good plan, you keep an eye on Rabbit then~" Nozomi jumped off of the ring and approached Maki slowly.
She took up a defensive stance as Nozomi inched closer, when the two stood 10 feet away from each other Nozomi held out her hand, "You have very pretty hair, Panther."
Maki backed away and tried to maintain a good distance from Nozomi, but she kept up her slow pursuit, "Do you mind if I touch it?"
"Keep your hands away from me or I'll shoot..." Maki continued to back up until she hit a wall. Nozomi smiled mischievously and reached over Maki's shoulder to wrap her fingers around her hair. She felt something prick against her neck and saw Nozomi backing up slowly. Her vision began to distort and she couldn't get a sense of direction, "W-What did you do to me?"
"Just a little drug to make you a little coo coo~" Nozomi answered.
Maki looked around for Nozomi but couldn't find where she was. It sounded like she was next to her ear, but she would look and see nothing. All she could make out was a distorted image of a gym and Nozomi speaking up every now and then.
"Hey Panther, want to know something?"
"S-Shut up! Fight me like a real woman!" Maki yelled to her left where the voice came from. There was no one there again.
"I wonder what it would be like if you saw Rabbit dead?"
The voice came from the other direction next to her ear and she bolted her head to the right. Again nothing. A sinister laugh surrounded Maki and she held her ears. It amplified and refused to stop ringing in Maki's head.
"Shut up!" Maki screamed.
"Rabbit doesn't love you."
"Shut up! Umi loves me!" Maki shook her head furiously to deny what Nozomi was saying.
"She doesn't need you, you're just luggage to her."
"No! You're wrong!" Maki refused to let Nozomi win.
"Think about it, you're the one who almost got her killed."
"I-I didn't know it was a bomb! Leave me alone!" She screamed.
Nozomi began laughing again and Maki held her ears in pain. It suddenly came to a stop and Maki opened her eyes to see a body lying on the floor lit up by a spotlight. Her heart sank and her chest tightened when she recognized the blue hair, "U-Umi...?"
Her voice cracked and she struggled to get up to her feet. The drugs wouldn't allow her to stand up, but she pushed on even if she had to crudely crawl along the floor. "Umi!" her voice hastened and she crawled faster. Upon reaching the body, she noticed the pool of blood around the blue haired girl.
"U-Umi no..." she reached out to brush the girl's hair away from her hidden face. Maki gasped and fell backwards, Umi's face was missing. "F-face, where is Umi's...?" her eyes widened in shock and she struggled to breathe from the surprise.
"This is all your fault, Maki..."
A voice surrounded Maki's head again, but this time it wasn't Nozomi's. It was a voice she had grown too familiar with and loved. Umi's corpse stood up and towered over Maki, the posture looked as if she had broken bones all over her body and the only thing keeping her up were invisible puppet strings.
"It's your fault that I'm dead!"
The voice rung inside Maki's head and no matter what she did, it wouldn't go away or drown out in her own screams.
"If I had never met you, I would still be alive!"
"Noo! Umi would never say these things!" Maki screamed at the top of her lungs in denial.
"Your reckless behavior caused me to die!"
"No! No! No!" she shook her head and shut her eyes tight.
"I only pretended to love you so you would shut up!"
Maki felt herself go cold. It was something she had never experienced before, she opened her eyes and the faceless Umi was mere inches away from her face. She screamed and crawled backwards only to be met by another faceless Umi. Everywhere she looked, a faceless Umi would appear, completely preventing her from looking away. All she could do was shut her eyes and cover her ears as the faceless Umis chanted her name.
"MAKI, SNAP OUT OF IT!"
She felt a hard smack across her cheek and fell to the floor. Maki pushed herself up and shook her head, the gym was back to normal and she could see a body where the faceless Umi was lying before. She turned her head towards the voice and met with the amber eyes that she had grown to love.
She started to tear up and lunged to wrap her arms around Umi's shoulders, "Umi!"
"Maki are you okay? What did Nozomi do to you?"
"I-I don't know, she injected me and there were voices and you were dead and you had no face, then there were like an unlimited number of your faceless self and, and," she buried herself against Umi's chest.
Umi brought up her hand to comfort the red head.
"Hey!" gunshots rung out across the gym and the two looked towards the boxing ring where Eli was still standing.
Umi stood up and held her hand up to signal Maki to stay down, "I'll handle her..."
"Don't you dare think I will let you get away with hurting Nozomi, now I'm mad!" Eli pointed her gun at Umi.
She remained unwavered and continued walking towards the ring.
"So you want to die first? Get up here!" Eli kept her gun pointed at Umi until she reached the edge of the ring.
Umi climbed up over the ropes and circled around the ring.
"You're dumber than I thought, Rabbit," Eli fired a few rounds but Umi dodged them easily, "What the..." she fired off three more shots but missed again, "Hey, stop cheating!"
Umi rushed forward and got underneath Eli's firing arm, she punched her inner elbow and the gun dropped to the floor.
Eli smirked and kicked Umi's gut, "So you want to do it like this, eh?"
Umi stepped back and got into her Rabbit Trap stance. Eli countered her stance by putting her arms up like a boxer. She showed off her speed and smirked, "Try to keep up."
Eli pushed herself forward with her back foot and threw a straight punch, Umi dodged it but she was soon struck by the other hand. It came so fast that she couldn't register it. Umi stumbled back and regained her stance, "You're pretty good..."
Eli bounced off her feet and wore a cocky grin before beginning her attack again. This time Umi was able to keep up and hold her own against Eli. Maki got up and walked towards the edge of the ring to see the two of them go toe to toe. She looked at the pistol that Eli had dropped and noticed that it was the same as hers. If she counted correctly, there should still be one shot left in it.
Umi pulled out her pistol to begin her Rabbit Trap but it was quickly knocked out of her hand and out the ring, "No guns allowed in a fist fight, Rabbit!" She threw a punch and it landed on Umi's cheek. It sent her flying against the ropes only to bounce back and get hit again. This time it was a right hook and she fell to the side.
"Umi!" Maki climbed up the ropes but Umi held her hand up to signal Maki to stop. Umi remained silent but the look in her eyes was enough for Maki to climb back down.
"How admirable of you, Rabbit, facing your death with dignity," Eli stood over Umi and smirked.
"I'm not ready to die yet, Fox," Umi kicked Eli's knee outwards and caused her to fall down. This gave Umi enough time to grab Eli's pistol from before. Eli got back up and the two of them went at it, this time Umi avoided getting the pistol knocked out of her hand and focused on opening Eli up for the perfect shot.
Umi closed the distance between the two of them and stuffed the barrel of the pistol into Eli's stomach. She pulled the trigger and Eli felt the hot lead bullet penetrate her body and come to a stop halfway through her gut. She let out a muffled scream of pain and grabbed onto Umi to keep herself up, "W-well played, Rabbit," Eli struggled to keep herself from coughing up her blood.
Maki rushed onto the ring and pushed Eli off of Umi, "Who sent you two?"
Eli smirked and laughed before she felt a stinging pain in her abdomen, she coughed and waited for it to settle down, "All in due time, Panther."
"Elichi!" a familiar voice rang throughout the gym and a small cylindrical grenade landed in front of the group. Eli smiled and turned away from it, the grenade exploded and released a high frequency noise accompanied by a bright light, it was a flash grenade.
By the time their senses recovered, all that was left was a small bloodstain where Eli was before the flash. Umi tossed Eli's handgun to the ground and Maki cursed under her breath, "Here," Umi handed over Maki's knife from before.
She took it and sighed as she put it away, "No Tiger, and now we have these two to worry about..." Maki frowned and crossed her arms.
"Let's get back to Black Widow and report what we found ou-" the floor of the boxing ring suddenly collapsed and sent the two girls falling until they crashed onto the floor of what looked like a basement.
"They're all yours... Lion."
A girl wearing hi-tech goggles stepped forward and cracked her knuckles, "It's time for a hunt."
Maki got up and rubbed her back, "What the hell just happened? Umi? Where are you?"
"I'm over here, I can't see a thing," she replied.
"J-just follow my voice!" Maki yelled out, she looked around and saw a faintly lit area, "Umi! Try to make it to that faint light."
"Gotcha," Umi responded.
Maki reached it first and waited for the reunion with Umi. She tapped her feet and crossed her arms, "Umi? What's taking so long?"
"I'm almost ther-" Umi breath was cut short when she felt something smashing against her solar plexus. She flew backwards and crashed against a stone pillar.
"Umi? Are you okay?" Maki called out.
"T-there's some-" she was cut off again when something struck her face. The amount of force felt like it could have completely dislocated her jaw. She couldn't see a thing and that wasn't the worst part. Umi scrambled to her feet and felt a strong kick to her stomach, she knelt over and felt something drive against her back, causing her to scream in pain.
"Umi?! What's wrong? Where are you?!" Maki yelled.
Umi went to raise her voice but felt a pair of hands wrap around her neck, the grip was monstrous and she was way too weak to do anything about it.
One of the hands let go and Umi was able to catch a quick breath before she felt a fist smash against her cheek. Another one came and they kept on coming. Each hit would multiply the pain she was feeling and she felt like blacking out. Without the ability to see, she was completely powerless to stop the onslaught.
Just as her consciousness was about to give out, she felt herself getting thrown down to the ground and a weight sitting above her. She braced herself and covered her face with her arms, however the attacker targeted her stomach instead.
Each punch made Umi want to wretch and gag, but the continuous pain kept her from doing so. It wasn't only her stomach that was attacked, but her chest as well. She could feel her ribs about to crack at any moment, unfortunately they did. She couldn't exactly count how many broke, but she felt one of them puncture one of her lungs. She was having difficulty breathing and tried to stay conscious.
"M-Ma...ki..." she called out in a raspy voice.
She was barely hanging on to consciousness and felt herself getting picked up. The attacker pulled on her hair and swung her across the room. She let out a dry gasp and looked up to see Maki whose face was filled with horror.
"U-Umi?!" Maki knelt down and shook the girl, "Umi! Stay awake, don't close your eyes!" Maki scrambled to look for something to help the injured girl. There wasn't much she could do other than try to compress her injuries.
A laughed filled the dark room and Maki looked around cautiously, "The Rabbit & Panther are completely useless in the dark!"
Maki stood up, "Who's there?! Show yourself!"
A girl stepped out of the shadows and into the dimly lit area. She had ginger colored hair and it was tied into a ponytail to the side. She reached up to take off her goggles and smiled sadistically, "I'm Lion, a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she bowed sarcastically which annoyed Maki.
"You'll pay for what you did to Umi..." Maki reached for her knife and rushed forward.
Umi tried with all of her might to warn Maki about the girl but it fell short, "Maki... wait..."
She jumped forward and held her knife with both of her hands. She thrusted the knife downwards but it was stopped by the woman singlehandedly. She tried to pull away but the grip was unlike anything she had felt before, "Let go of m-"
Maki felt a monstrous force drive into her stomach and her legs went weak. The only thing that kept her up was the attacker who had a firm grip on her hands, "Be a good little cat and watch me play with your precious bunny some more..." The girl tossed Maki to the side, the attack had left Maki in extreme pain and it was hard for her to move.
"Now where were we?" she cracked her knuckles and stood over the injured Umi, "Let's give the cat a good show," the girl dragged Umi's limp body closer towards Maki so she could see everything.
The girl laughed, "I didn't think it would be this easy to take down the infamous Rabbit & Panther!" she raised her fist and drove it down against Umi's solar plexus. She let out a dry gasp and tried desperately to cover the area.
"Let it be known that me, Kousaka Honoka, the Lion killed the Rabbit!" she used her other fist to attack the same spot. Umi almost black out from the next hit and desperately tried to stay awake. She wouldn't be able to last much longer in the condition she was in.
"Now it is time for an old fashioned ground and pound!" Honoka sat on Umi's chest and raised her fists. She punched Umi's face back and forth continuously. Umi was too weak to put up a defense, every single hit made her wish that the pain would be over. If she could just give up, it would all end.
What drove her to stay awake? She looked over towards Maki who was desperately trying to get over to her. She looked back up at Honoka who balled her fists together, "Now for the crushing blow, a good old fashioned hammer fist!"
Umi watched in slow motion as Honoka's hammer fist came crashing down against her face. This time she couldn't do it, her eyes closed and everything went black.
Maki's eyes widened when she saw Umi blackout, "Umi... Umi!" she struggled up to her feet and leaned against a stone pillar. She felt something snap inside of her and lost all sense of reason. It was like something had taken over Maki's body and she couldn't stop it.
Honoka looked back, "Oh, looks like the little cat is ready to play again."
A sinister chuckle escaped Maki's lips before she broke out into a maniac laugh, "AHAHAHAHA! It's been so long since I've been let out!"
"What?" Honoka stood up and faced Maki.
"Ehehehe, let's have some fun, and try not to die too quickly. It's rare for her to let me run free like this," Maki sprinted forward and jumped at Honoka with the knife in hand.
"Did you lose a few screws?" Honoka blocked most of Maki's attacks but not without taking a few cuts from the knife.
Maki jumped back and licked the knife clean, "Are you familiar with the Tokyo Theatre Massacre?"
"Vaguely, why bring that up?" Honoka asked.
"They dubbed me The Bloody Mary of Tokyo," Maki answered.
Honoka flinched at the name, "What? That was you?"
"I suppose you could say it was..." Maki straightened up and played with the knife in her hands, "That was until I was hidden away because of that woman over there," Maki pointed towards Umi.
"What are you trying to say?" Honoka asked.
"That I am like a guardian angel for this useless girl... or rather... a vengeful demon? I might not agree with her loving that stoic chick, but she is me and I will protect the body we share!" Maki stepped forward and started attacking Honoka again.
She was much faster, much deadlier than before. She didn't cut to kill, she cut to bleed. No matter how many times Honoka blocked Maki's attacks, a cut would appear instead. The bloodlust in Maki's eyes sent chills down Honoka's spine.
"What the hell are you?" Honoka yelled.
"Just a girl who needs to satisfy her bloodlust!" Maki stabbed the knife into Honoka's shoulder and kicked her to the ground, "I have to admit, you are insanely strong, you might be less human than I am," she pulled the knife out before using her knees to keep Honoka pinned down, "and that's sayin' somethin'."
Maki stabbed her knife into Honoka's other shoulder and laughed in joy after hearing her scream, "Oh how I've missed doing this!" she pulled the knife out and stabbed it into Honoka's left arm, again, Maki's face filled with pleasure as Honoka screamed.
"I really wish Maki would let me out some more, but killing you is enough to satisfy me until next time," she pulled the knife out and stabbed it into Honoka's right arm, "Ahh~ I love hearing you scream, it just sends chills down my spine and warms me to the core," she smiled sadistically, "I can't wait until you stop breathing."
Maki pulled out the knife and started making small cuts on Honoka's body, "Have you ever heard of death by a thousand cuts... I never been to China, but I do like their styles of torture."
Honoka tried her best to remain calm in the situation.
"Then again, I never had the patience to get to a thousand!" she raised her knife but stopped when she heard a peculiar noise of something metallic dropping and rolling on the floor. She turned around to see a cylindrical object that immediately started releasing a cloud of gas. Honoka took this chance to kick Maki off of her.
"Honoka! This way!" a light voice called out. When she looked up she saw a silhouette of a person hanging off the edge and holding a steel pipe. Honoka nodded and jumped for it, pulling herself up to safety.
Maki got up and shook her head, "Ugh... what happened...?" She stood on her feet and noticed the gas cloud expanding, "Eh? We have to get out of here!" she rushed over to Umi's side and slung her over her shoulders, "How do we get out?!" Maki looked around frantically for an exit but everything was closed off.
"Get under something!" A voice yelled.
Maki obeyed quickly and got underneath what looked like a table. An explosion soon followed and there was an opening in the ceiling. Maki looked up to see Nico who dropped a ladder down, "Hurry up!"
Maki nodded and made a break for the ladder, she climbed it as quickly and carefully as she could until Nico could pull Umi to safety. She then helped Maki up and kicked the ladder down, "What the hell happened? I was gone for 30 minutes!"
"It was a trap!" Maki yelled back, "We have to get Umi medical attention!"
"Move," Nico pushed Maki over and reached into her chest pocket to pull out a small syringe. She inserted it into Umi's neck and pushed on it until the syringe was empty, "That should keep her alive until we get back to the station."
Nico stood up and hoisted Umi onto her shoulders, "Let's hurry back if we want Rabbit to live."
Nico and Maki rushed Umi back to the station where she was given immediate medical attention. She had numerous cracked ribs, a fractured cheekbone, a punctured lung due to her ribs, and temporary blindness. It took her a week to fully recover but for the most part she was alive and can continue fighting.
Maki stayed by Umi's side all week, making sure to provide for Umi when she needed it such as eating or helping her sit up.
Hanayo knocked on the door and walked in, "I see you have recovered nicely, Rabbit."
Umi bowed in response and Hanayo continued, "I need a sitrep on what happened at the gym last week."
Umi looked over at Maki who kept her eyes to the ground, "You didn't tell her yet?"
"I was worried about you," Maki replied.
Hanayo cleared her throat, "So what happened?"
Umi reached over for a glass of water before starting, "We arrived at the gym and saw that it was empty. We searched around and there were traps set up for us."
"So Tiger knew you were coming?" Hanayo asked.
Umi shook her head, "She wasn't there, there were others."
"Who?"
Umi sighed, "There were these two women named Eli and Nozomi, they went by Fox & Tanuki," she noticed Hanayo's expression change, "You know them, don't you?"
"They're annoying…" Maki added.
Hanayo nodded and sighed, "I'm afraid I do know them… and if they were there... I'm assuming you met Honoka as well or Lion as she prefers."
Maki bounced off her seat, "Did you set us up?!"
"Relax, just because I know them doesn't mean that I'm associated with them!" Hanayo yelled back.
"How do you know about them?" Umi pulled Maki back and asked the question.
"They work for someone I used to be close to, did you happen to see another woman there?" Hanayo answered back.
Maki shook her head, "After seeing Umi blacking out, everything just went blank for me. I don't even know how Lion escaped but when I came to we were surrounded by a gas."
"Who do you have in mind?" Umi asked.
"Her name is Minami Kotori, otherwise known as Swallow. She's an escape artist and was once my partner," Hanayo answered.
"Then why were her women there?" Maki asked.
"Who knows…? Maybe she convinced Tiger to join her side, or she picked up on my movements and is trying to take me out," Hanayo stood up and walked for the doorway,
"Either way it looks like this is just the beginning… Watch yourselves out there..."