Thanks to those that had favorited and followed so far!
A few minutes passed and they finally heard and saw an explosion in two different directions. Those two were dummies; one was near the gate outside, two was on the garage. It would not be much help but it would give them time.
They waited until the group of people were nearer the dummy explosions before the last bomb went off, it was on the right side of the building which was their real goal, the surveillance room.
Immediately, Levi and Farlan clicked their communication device on. Levi could see the jumping shadow of their companion—Oluo as planned—stationed on the dummy site as he rapidly approached the area they were located in for support while the other three stayed to make sure that their enemies would stay there and give enough time for Levi and co to enter the mansion undetected while Oluo would take their concealed car closer to their safest escape route and park it just beside the wall encasing the mansion.
"We managed to get their surveillance room raining down their heads, captain." Petra's voice crackled as their earpiece started but it got smoother just as soon. "We're going to engage battle as soon as they see and approach us. Eld and I already fused. Gunther's currently on standby, to provide long range support."
"Copy that. Farlan and Isabel's also gearing up right about now." Levi answered back. "Be careful."
"Roger, Captain! Farlan, Isabel, I wish you good luck."
"Thanks, Petra. Good luck to you too, or so I'd say but you're sure a bad ass when wielding Eld." Isabel chuckled as Petra's laughter occupied their ears.
"Thanks, we do try."
"It's the truth though. You look mighty cool, Petra." Oluo made himself known, his tone a little bit too dreamy.
"Oh, shut it." Petra huffed out with a giggle before her voice got sharp, "Now engaging with enemies. We'll hold them off here for as long as you'd need."
"Thanks. Try not to fight them too much, just give them a good chase." Levi reminded her.
"Roger!" Their enemies down below were panicking as they were torn to whether go to the other side's aid or to remain. Levi knew that it wouldn't last for more than a minute but that was all they needed to silence them.
"You two ready?" Levi asked the two close to him, eyes glued to the pairs running towards where Petra was, he watched as one Pair held hands in mid-run before pausing as they fused and with a bright flash of green light, a geared up Meister now ran in their place.
"As we'll ever be, captain!" Isabel whooped, a fist punching the air excitedly.
Farlan stood up from where he had taken his shoes and jacket off before nodding his head. He grabbed Isabel's hand and took them in a well hidden place where the light of their fusion would cause fewer eyes to turn to them.
"Well then, Isabel. Let loose." All they got as a response was a crazed grin. Isabel faced Farlan, gently grabbing his other hand.
Closing her eyes, her whole body was enveloped in yellow shimmering light. Her Meister watched her with soft eyes for a second, always fascinated by how she would fuse with him before closing his eyes to properly concentrate. As the light intensified, Isabel disappeared and on their place was Farlan, now fully geared with his Shifter, Isabel.
"Oluo, as soon as you get the car on position. Get back there immediately and time the best opportunity to get them off our asses." Levi spoke to his mouthpiece once again.
"Yes, captain." Oluo's raspy voice answered back. "I'll be over in just a minute, Gu—" It would seem that the Weapon bit his tongue again.
There was a much expected sigh before Gunther's exasperated voice answered, "Alright, Petra's handling them fine for now. Although I'm seeing more Pairs coming and they're already fused. They look about C and B classes and one A class. Just a heads up, Petra." Petra didn't answer back but they knew that she heard.
Levi looked at Farlan, down below, their enemies lessened by a few people as they went to the other side to give support but they were now on high alert. Farlan was looking down with a peaceful but dazed look on his face.
He was now dressed in the battle gear provided by his Shifter. His formerly spiky blonde hair was swept back by the yellow-tinted shooting goggles that now occupied his eyes, while over his dark long sleeved shirt was a bright red zip jacket with patterns of yellow flames, it had a long stand-up collar with thin fur lining it.
His hands were now covered in dark gloves with the same fiery pattern while his feet were covered in heavy duty boots accented with red linings, which went up to just below his knees; even that had small bombs attached.
Instead of a belt, his waist was hugged by a wide assortment of round color-coded explosives, small almost just the size of a large coin—although to others it may seem like a decoration—along with his left thigh and right arm.
His fitted pants was now changed with pants the same color and pattern as his jacket but Levi knew that underneath that was his former dark pants after all fusing only does wonders on the Shifter's attire and could not magically take off the Meister's excess clothes so it was the Meister's responsibility to take off anything that could get in the way with their Shifter's provided gear less they wanted to wear thick double clothes and look like disproportionate oversized fuckers.
The blonde finally seemed to have gained his bearings as he let out a relieved sigh, a beautiful smile blooming on his face.
"It's warm…" As if sensing Levi's stare, he hastily added in a clipped tone, "I've been freezing my ass off for almost an hour. Isabel's gear keeps me warm…" Perhaps it was because even to Farlan's ears that sounded lame that he continued, "It's the truth! What are you looking at?!" Farlan's face was tight with nerves, cheeks dusted a light pink. Levi saved him from the embarrassment by turning away to hide his amusement.
"Remember the plan, just sleep and force bombs. I'll be supporting you from here but be careful. Mask up." Levi wore his own plain dark mask that covered the whole of his face—something Isabel had, in her moment of wisdom, suggested—to conceal their faces since their informant had said that there were people still inside the mansion like the maids and the like and there might be more cameras inside that was working even with the surveillance room blown up so they had taken that precaution.
While the others were paired up with their Shifters, the only people who'd need a mask were Levi and Gunther. Levi for obvious reasons, while Gunther's gear does not have any head gears or anything that he could cover his face with so they had a custom steel mask made for him to go along the gear his Shifter provided.
They may be a criminal team but Levi hated unnecessary violence, or death in that matter, so they always made sure to avoid killing anyone but they were also ready to hurt or kill anyone who would prove to be quite the handful and bring their operation down to hell or worse, get them arrested just because they saw their faces as of yet, they had managed to avoid killing people. Maiming though was a whole other matter.
"Yes, captain. Isabel said 'Right back at you.'" Farlan relayed to him before he zipped up his jacket to conceal his lower face so that only his goggled eyes could be seen. Levi nodded and took hold of his sniping gun and lied flat on the roof as Farlan jumped down a ledge before settling over the walls then dropped down to the ground.
He stuck close to the shadows of the walls, concealing himself behind plants. Stealthily, he approached their enemies. Levi watched him along with the others near him in case the blonde was spotted.
As soon as Farlan was in a good position, his gloved hands took hold of a white colored bomb on his arm. Surveying his position once again, he searched for a good spot that could make the most damage. He waited for a few seconds until he could see them bunching into a good space before he threw the bomb at them. It exploded right on impact with the ground. Their enemies only had the moment to look at the white smoke that was now quickly spreading when sleep overtook them and they dropped on the ground like flies.
It didn't take them all out; there were still three people standing with one now grabbing a hold of his partner but before they could fuse, a quick throw of silver-colored bomb between them took care of that and a sleep bomb ended it all while the other was swiftly dealt with the same white colored bomb.
The silver colored bomb or the Force bomb were soundless but does not deal great damage other than throwing or 'forcing' the victims far from each other which was a good tactic in making sure that enemy pairs could not fuse although it was only made possible by the blonde's great ability of timed precision, an ability Farlan got from being a talented knife thrower which he had shared to his Pair.
Levi stood up from his perch, surveying the ground for any leftover pests which was unnecessary since he had already counted them all including the ones that had left for the dummy site but still, Levi wanted to make sure. Farlan was already on the door, working on the password to open it up.
"Right." Once done, Levi took Farlan's discarded shoes and jacket—which, Levi was proud to say, was folded neatly with the shoes covered in plastic— and put it in his backpack. With the unused gun on his other hand, he jumped down from the roof. He took some time to stretch his muscles; they'd been stuck up there for almost an hour after all.
"How is it?" Levi had already approached Farlan whose eyes were glued to the device on his hand.
"We're already down to two letters and a number. Letters. Can you believe it? I wonder what is so important that they had to use the fucking letters and numbers like some algebra shit." Farlan grumbled, brows furrowing as he eyed the device with such concentration.
"Stupid. This is their house so of course they'll want to make sure that they are well-protected, pair that up with a bank full of dough and that's what you get." Levi walked away from him to gather their sleeping enemies and tie them up. "Oi. Stop being a lazy ass and come help me tie these people up."
"…Fine" Farlan answered grudgingly as he trudged over a knocked out woman.
"Captain, I've already park the car. I'm going on ahead to Gunther and Petra." Oluo reported.
"Hurry it up, Oluo. Petra's being ganged up here and they got a hold of my position sooner than expected. I'm currently fighting them with a handgun."Gunther whispered, probably in hiding. "I still can't believe how Captain can take these people on without being fused with a Shifter."
"That's Captain for you." Petra commented, as she panted.
"Double time, Oluo. Petra, you concentrate on your fight. And Gunther," Levi's voice suddenly got a hard edge. "It's not much different from fighting another person with a normal weapon. It's not like just because you're fused with a Shifter, you're suddenly fucking superman. A Pair's worth and difficulty goes down to how well and how hard the Meister trained to wield them. With a skilled Meister even a fucking kitchen knife would be hard to fight. If you're having a tough time fighting, that would either mean you're slacking off in your training or the Meister's just that efficient with his Shifter."
"Sorry, captain."A male and female voice chorused, there was a pause before Gunther added, "Oluo's here, captain. We're now fusing."
'Well that was fast. Oh well, since Petra's in trouble of course the knight in shining armor comes to the rescue but in this case, Oluo's the sword.' Levi thought staring at the device plastered near the door.
"Isabel wanted you to know what a nice speech that was.'" Farlan said with an infuriating smile. "I think so too."
"Shut your fucking trap, Farlan and tell Isabel to stop laughing." The bomber's head whipped to him so fast.
"How the hell do you know that? Nevermind." Farlan sighed, "Hey, Isabel, shut up already. You're giving me a headache."
Levi knew the last one was Farlan talking to Isabel. Either Farlan was just that irritated that he said it out loud or he meant for Levi to hear it.
After all, Farlan and Isabel, having their wavelengths tied by a Fuser, could talk to each other telepathically while fused and since they had been together as a Pair for so long, Farlan had said that they could also do it even when not fused together as Meister and Shifter as long as they were looking each other in the eye.
It was a handy thing when the two felt like bickering and Levi was in the immediate area to shout at them to fucking shut up. It was just another thing that they had observed with an Aberrant in the team.
Levi merely shrugged his shoulders in time as a beep sounded telling them the decoding was done. "Let's get this over with. Farlan, you know what to do."
"On it, Captain." Farlan answered, before he dashed inside the now open back door to implant small time bombs all around the mansion since they had been asked to cause as much havoc to their property as they could along with their respect for the woman who had ordered them with the mission. They don't do things half-assed after all.
Levi, sighing, followed suit but not after taking the decoding device still plastered on the wall, they can't just leave such important equipment after all and even though it was understandable—him, being the only one who didn't have a Shifter, not because he can't find one but rather he didn't want to, the fussy fucker—he hated the fact that he was left to pick up things after them but he was given the position of Captain on the insistence of them all, he had accepted and with it the responsibility to look out after them.
Levi aimlessly opened and kicked down each and every room he could find, not even taking time to properly look at the grandiose mansion—although his critical eye still picked up the fact that the mansion was clean—since his team was out there fighting.
He almost gave an old woman a hard attack when he forcefully opened another locked door which turned out to be the servant's quarters. And what an intimidating sight he was to them, dressed in dark clothes with a similarly dark mask where his silver eyes peeked from slanted holes. Levi might have given them the illusion of Death personified.
They were all cowering in fright as he muttered an apology—something they hadn't, most probably, heard—before telling them to get the hell out in two minutes since they were bringing the house down to the ground.
It might have been the bad thing to say because they all looked as if he had killed their family but then a thought crossed his mind. He might as well have, since he was taking their jobs but, oh well, a job was a job, and it wasn't like this was the first time they had caused such misfortune to other people. Directly or indirectly.
"Do you know where I could find a baby boy? And perhaps, the jewelry box?" Of course, he didn't let the opportunity of making their search easier.
They seemed reluctant to answer first but one look at Levi's masked face—the shadows seemed to come alive with him in the room—made them shouting in unison.
"Second floor, two doors at the right!"
"And the jewelry?" Levi prompted.
"W-we're not sure w-with the jewelry but it might be in the locked cabinet of the M-mistress' Bedroom. It's… the largest room upstairs." The oldest of them answered, reluctantly.
"Well, then. You better have hauled your asses here after two minutes. We're not going to hesitate on bombing this house down even with your sorry asses still stuck here." A lie, of course but they didn't need to know that. Rivaille' Squad had a reputation as criminals to uphold. "Stay here in the meantime if you don't want to get in the crossfire outside. Two minutes, understand?" Levi informed them coldly before he quickly made way towards the stairs.
"Ah, Levi." Said man was about to take the stairs up when he met with Farlan. "This is quite the big ass mansion but I've already planted all the bombs. That should be enough to cause quite the expense for them. I don't need to put some upstairs, do I?"
"No. That's not necessary but go upstairs and look for the baby. Two doors at the right. Also, keep the bombs waiting, there are still people here and they're all hiding at a room down." Levi jutted his chin from where he came from before he went up the stairs, Farlan following behind, as he continued, "We can't have them running out like a stampede of panicking monkeys. That's sure to get the fucker's attention so I told them to get out in two minutes. When you got the baby, meet me in the largest room, I'm going to look for the necklace."
"Alright." Farlan immediately went into the stated room as Levi concentrated to finding his. Behind him, a woman got out of the room the bomber just entered and went running down the stairs, she might have been taking care of the baby. Just as Levi was about to enter the room he'd deemed to be the master's bedroom, Farlan had called out to him.
"Levi!" Farlan was now holding a sleeping baby with a teether stuck on his mouth and a bag slung over Farlan's chest.
"What?"
"You don't need to find the necklace. It's with him." Farlan struggled to hold the baby in one arm to show him the necklace covered in the baby's clothes but soon gave up.
Levi approached them to check and sure enough, a golden circular locket embedded with various stones that formed a camellia, hang around the baby's neck, the necklace must be worth quite a fortune. Anyone else would have taken it for themselves and sold it, but they were not greedy assholes.
"The bag has baby goods. Considering that we will be taking care of him for a few minutes, might as well be ready."
"Huh. Well that was easy." Levi muttered. Farlan grinned at him but the raven knew that he was thinking of something he won't like.
"So, since we already got everything and the bombs are set up and ready to detonate on your command… Could we go see whatever was on the coffin? Isabel won't shut up."
"No." Levi shut back as he went fast down the stairs, they couldn't afford to satisfy their own personal curiosity when his team was out there fighting.
When he got down though, he was surprised to see Petra, Eld and Gunther—still on his battle gear—already waiting for them downstairs.
"What…" He turned towards Farlan who had a grin on his face.
"I told the maid earlier to go tell the others to run since the bombs about to explode but I don't know what they're doing here."
"Then stop looking as if you know." Levi snapped, frowning before turning towards the others. To others there he may have looked bored but they have been together for years to see the gleam in his eyes. He was proud of them.
"So, don't tell me you handed their shits to their faces in less than five minutes?" The bright, proud smiles were answer enough.
"Not bad." Levi told them with a pleased smirk as he pat them on the back. Petra looked ready to explode with how red she was while the other two puffed their chests up in pride.
"Well then, I guess we could go down there and see what's inside the coffin. Petra, Eld. You two get back to the car now, you've fought more than anyone else." He looked the both of them in the eye, his normally hard expression a softening as he said, "Good work. Take the baby with you and have Eld treat your wounds."
Farlan cheered as he handed the strawberry blonde the baby, who was still dozing off. "What?! But I want to see, too!" Petra whined before adding, "Eld wants to as well."
"No. There's a Pair guarding whatever's down there and from the looks of it we might engage in battle with an S class." Gunther looked determined.
"Remember, the mission always goes first so you secure the baby and the necklace. We also need you, Eld, to look out for anyone that's about to enter the grounds. Tell us immediately if there are." Eld nodded his head, taking the bag of baby goods from Farlan.
"Alright…" Petra still looked miffed but then the baby finally opened its huge baby blue eyes and it seemed to have awakened Petra's motherly instincts as she cooed at him and tickled his stomach which got the baby giggling.
"We'll be going. I guess, I'll just have to placate myself with this gorgeous baby here." She cooed to the bundle in her arms once more as they walked away.
"Petra! Oluo said you looked so cute!" Gunther shouted after them. There was a bright light and suddenly Oluo was there blushing furiously as he glared at Gunther and tried to explain himself only to fail horribly since he kept biting his tongue. Petra merely giggled as he waved them goodbye and good luck.
"Let's go now then!" Farlan said excitedly.
Sometimes, Levi thinks that maybe being fused with a Shifter also affects one's personality. Farlan was far too happy right now considering they were on a mission or perhaps they had underestimated him as a hardcore fan of anything mysterious and fictional.
A/n: It's mysterious, alright.
Hm, Writing is so hard -_-'
The Shifter/Meister pairs may seem weird to you but that was the fruit of my 'just-pick-one' laziness. I wrote their names on strips of paper and just picked one and whoever they were is now a pair. The Eld/Petra and Gunther/Oluo pair is just one of the victims. But that does not mean that they are romantically involved.
Sorry, if the conversation and narration seem awkward. I'm still trying to get the hang of things. If you see any errors please tell me :) English is not my mother tongue. Thank you!