Hearts Disguised

Chapter 21

The New Yang

Note: I apologize for not updating last Friday. A couple of days ago, I underwent some surgery that prevented me from spending time at my computer. I hope you all can understand. Other than that, I hope you all enjoy and be sure to let me know how I'm doing and what you think of the story.

Yang remained in the shadows of the streets. She took to back alleys and stayed out of public eyes. As she ran through the area, she was running through everything she read on the paper. He was the leader of the black market mafia so it was obvious that this guy was dangerous. She imagined his image over a hundred times to make sure she knew what he looked like. The last thing was the comment section. It was a normal area where people just blaze through, but she decided to remember it. It said that because of his work, he was forced to late night shifts so now was about the time he would should himself. She pressed her breast pocket and felt the pen. It was almost time.

She reached the inner city and found a nice alley that gave her a good view of the street in front of her. Hey eyes proactively scanned the area for anyone that matched the description. Since it was so late at night, there weren't many people to identify so that made it easier on her.

A few minutes went by and the streets slowly started to empty. However, this didn't discourage Yang. She kept her focus and made sure that no one passed by that she wasn't able to identify. After some more time, one last person entered the street and took a seat on the bench. He had on a black coat and took out a cigarette. Yang focused her eyes on only him and quickly realized that he was the one she was looking for. She looked for a way across the street without being spotted and went through with the rest of the plan.

Once she made it to the other side of the street, she veered her eyes in every direction to make sure that no one was around. She started to walk towards the man with her hand on her breast pocket. This was her chance to finally make this world a better place. With this kill, it was her first step to becoming a true "world saver." Right as she was behind the man, she shoved her hand over his mouth and jabbed the pen into his neck.

"Mmm!" She gripped the pen tighter and drilled it in even deeper.

"Feel the pain of the all of the lives you're poisoning." She pulled the pen out of his neck and disappeared. Blood spurted out of the hole in the neck as he leaned over and fell onto the ground. He was dead and Yang was successful.

In record time, Yang returned to Cinder's workplace as she made her way through the lobby and into the elevator. Everyone saw her enter, but no one commented on her return. She was just silent as there was only one person she wanted to talk to at this point. When the elevator arrived on the top floor, Yang quickly stepped out and walked to Cinder's door. She knocked and waited for Cinder's approval.

"Come in." Without wasting anytime, Yang walked through the door and walked across the room to her normal spot. She took a knee and looked at the floor.

"Mission success."

"Hmm, that was an impressive time. Any interferences?"

"None. It went as smooth as possible."

"Interesting." Cinder had her back facing Yang as she was sitting on her chair, staring out into the city. She had something on her lap that she was contemplating on giving to Yang.

"Is that all?" Cinder got up from her chair and walked over to Yang.

"Rise." Yang slowly returned to her feet and looked right at Cinder. "You just took your first step in saving this world. How does it feel?"

"I'm afraid I can't really answer. I have a clear objective and I won't be satisfied until it is met."

"Wise words." She turned around and sat down on the edge of her desk. "Let me refresh my memory a bit. You little sister is you goal, right?" At that moment, Yang's eyes shot wide open. That's when Cinder snapped her fingers. "Nailed it. That's a great goal. She's your only family now. Ruby… That's her name." Hearing that name nearly caused Yang to collapse onto her knees. She didn't realize it, but it's been three years since she's seen her little sister.

"This may be selfish of me, but… Do you know if she's alright?"

"Don't worry. Your precious little sister is safe. I've been having my people keep an eye on her all of this time. I couldn't have my best protege's relative die, can I?" Yang suddenly fell onto her knees as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." Cinder got off of her desk and knelt down in front of Yang.

"I understand how important your little sister is. I'm giving you the power to protect. All I need you to do is make sure that she stays safe… Just like the rest of the world." She placed the small box in front of her which caused Yang to stop crying in wonder.

"What is this?"

"Just think of it as a gift from me for completing your very first mission." Cinder grabbed Yang by the shoulders and brought her back onto her feet. She leaned in and whispered into her ear. "The world is a cruel place. It needs more people like us… Like you. With this, you'll be able to make this world a better place. People will look up to you as a beacon of hope that everything will return to the way it should be." Suddenly, Cinder kissed Yang on the cheek and spoke a few more words. "I saved you… Now save yourself." With those words, Cinder left her office and disappeared for the night.

Once Yang regained her composure, she headed back to the elevator and made her way down to Floor 5. During her year of training, Cinder said that it was best to live at the company building so this was now where Yang lived. All of her things were there and she had the whole floor to herself. This allowed her space to train on her own as well as giving her space to be a teenage girl.

When she arrived at her floor, she walked over to her training mat and sat down right in the middle of it. She set the box down right in front of her and simply retreated to her thoughts.

Cinder said that she was giving me the power to protect Ruby. Ruby… She's my younger sister. I used to care for her all of the time. I used to… I still love her. Where did the time go? All of this time, I haven't been able to see her. I wonder how she's doing. Ah no, you can't think about that right now. You have to become strong to be with her. That's all that matters now. Yang took a deep breath and slowly opened up the box.

Inside of the small box was a syringe with some kind of liquid inside. Yang didn't really know what it was for, but she was definitely curious so she took it out of the box and tried to examine it more carefully. When she did, she quickly realized that there was nothing suspicious about it. She also realized that there wasn't really a reason for Cinder to give this to her. She didn't have any kind of illness that forced her to take things that come out of a syringe. That's when she put it to rest. She placed the syringe back in the box and got a good night's sleep. Her first mission was a success and she was going to carry that with her for the rest of her time there.

…

The next morning went as it usually did. Yang met on the training floor and went through her motions. However, there was something different. She was more motivated than ever before. She called out for Neo and asked for a fight. Neo couldn't refuse so she grabbed her things and walked onto the mat. Yang was about to do the same when her name was called. She turned around and saw Cinder standing near the entrance of the floor. She ran over to her with the small box in hand.

"Cinder," she said with a bow.

"That box. Did you take it?"

"There's no need. I have the power I need to protect my sister. But thank you," she said as she handed the box to Cinder. However, instead of taking it back, Cinder gripped her by the collar and looked her in the eye.

"Reject my gift and it'll get you killed." She pulled her in closer and irradiated such a scary aura. "Don't get cocky." Cinder let go of her and pushed her back to the mat with the box still in Yang's hands.

"Alright newbie, you ready for your beat down." Yang put the box on the ground and grabbed her things. This time, it would be a kendo-style fight. Yang took her place right across from Neo and waited for the go-ahead.

"Begin!" At that moment, the two of them ran at each other with full force. Unfortunately, it was already a one-sided match. Neo was so quick that she managed to get multiple hits all over Yang's body. However, this wasn't going to stop her. She rolled out of the way and regained herself. She examined the situation and saw her chance.

"There!" She aimed low with the intent of going back to up top, but Neo saw this. She initiated a beautiful counter and ended up throwing Yang on the ground. She grabbed her arm and pulled it back behind her. "Aaahhhhh!"

"Pathetic." Yang did her best to look up and when she did, she saw Cinder with a disappointed look on her face. She then turned her body and headed for the elevator. This was the first time she caught Cinder watching her so she couldn't let her down now. She turned her head the other way and looked at the small box. Whatever was inside of it was pulling Yang towards it. At that moment, Neo forced her arm back even more which caused Yang to scream out in pain.

"Aaaahhhhh!" She gritted her teeth and came up with the only solution she could think. She pushed off the ground and tried to bounce towards the box. When she did, her shoulder popped which caused everyone to freeze in shock. Even Neo froze up because this was unethical for Yang to do this. That was her chance. She broke away from Neo's grasp and ran towards the box. She quickly opened it up and pulled out the syringe. "I don't know what this is, but I'm relying on you."

End of Chapter 21