HEY I SPENT LIKE 2 HOURS ON THIS NONSTOP DRANK A LOT OF COFFEE HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
The Mischief Mongers are now 12
"WHOOOOOO!" Riley yelled, her voice mingling with the other three's.
"YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!" Jace screamed repeatedly, dancing around with the others. It wasn't often he lost his calm demeanor.
"WE DID IT, WE DID IT!" Evan yowled, laughing in happiness.
"WE'RE GOING TO BE CHASSEURS!" Tony screeched, twirling around with Riley, receiving another hug from Jace.
Any assassins passing that room would look at the door with a fond smile, shake their heads, and walk off, ignoring the fact that they were disobeying curfew. The trainees were going to be masked with their names in three days time, taking them off from training (guaranteeing a huge prank increase). They had earned it.
The years following their color choosing ceremony had been the hardest yet, as they had taken a large step forward in their Chasseur education. Their colors had been added into their lives easily, and now almost all the time wearing their color on them. The bronze was harder, and each wore a necklace on a simple black leather chain, a bronze coin type thing, blank. On the back an inscription of MM in their color, their name to be added to the front. They almost never took them off.
They had passed the final test. The test included their first kill. They were given a target and resources, and had to figure out a way to kill them without getting caught. Normally the clans took them separately, if one failed they would be dismissed, but MM had decided if one didn't make it, none did. Not that it was too much of a concern. They were the best group of recruits in years.
They had gone past everyone's expectations for their kills, doing them with almost no help. They had taken no more than a month for all four to be complete.
(Until I say, this is a flashback. Ba ba baaa!)
The MM stood in front of Tourra Wolf, looking up at her with respect.
"You are almost ready for your names, children. You are to one last task, and then I will name you. Each of you are to kill a target we assign you with no help from the higher level Chasseurs. You will be provided resources, but nothing else. Here are your targets. She handed each a file.
"You have until midnight of November 16th to complete the kill. Dismissed." The clan nodded, bowing slightly in respect, and scampering off. They reach their room quickly, sitting on one bed, legs crossed, looking over their files.
Evan read his first. "Walter Pesty. Charged with six murders, three men three women, but was never convicted due to unknown reasons. Chasseur intel has confirmed he bribed the judge and a few members of the jury to get by." He took note of the residence, the middle of New York city, busy apartment with high security.
Jace went next. "Igor Haming. Charged with eight counts of sexual assault on women, but never convicted because of 'lack of evidence' despite the overwhelming amount of it. Chasseur intel confirmed he hired people to alter the files of the evidence." The man lived in Germany, in a suburban apartment complex.
Riley scowled at the image of the man on the page. "Harold Jacobs. Rich investor who puts his money into 'helping' children. Instead of doing that, he sexually assaults them. Never charged because of his money."
Tony went last. "Robert Salbester. Never charged but suspected of killing four men and two women because they were homosexual. The evidence was too little for probable cause, but they knew it was him. Confirmed by intel." They immediently went into planning.
Less than a week later, they were boarding a quinjet set on autopilot, and were headed to the first stop in New York. They had gotten plain white masks with black hoodies and a colored feather as their token for now. A comset online, and a few weapons on board for each kill, nessecary supplies in boxes nearby.
They landed in New York at seven in the morning, and headed out. Riley did recon as a girl scout (the man didn't end up buying any cookies, and didn't realize it was mid June, and girl scouts didn't sell this time of year), Jace trailed him in public, and Tony followed him digitally through cameras, as Evan polished his sniper rifle in expectation.
Night fell, and around ten o'clock, they donned their masks and hoods. Evan sat, breathing slowly as they waited in dead silence. After ten minutes, there was a soft BANG as the rifle went off, another shot firing seconds later.
Walter Pesty grabbed his groin in pain as the bullet hit its first mark, followed seconds later by a second through the throat. He fell against a wall, gurgling in pain, trying to breathe.
They crossed rooftops via cables they had set up earlier, and crashed into his living room, where he watched with wide, scared eyes.
"I'm here to honor vengence for those you have wronged." Evan growled, crouching next to the man as the terrified light faded from his eyes. Evan dropped a feather in the blood, and dropped the letter stating the man's crimes on his stomach, and they left only moments before the cops showed up.
When they got back on the quinjet, they sat in silence, adrenaline fading as they slowly drifted off.
Three days later, they were on the outskirts of Germany, following a similar pattern with Jace's target. Riley did recon (as a school fundraiser this time), Tony followed digitally, but Evan trailed this time.
After dark, they donned their mask, except for Jace, who walked into the building head on and knocked on the man's door, batons out. Tony altered any video footage of them there flawlessly, no one knew it was missing anything.
The others hid on the fire escape in the shadows, never seen. Jace knocked three times, and slammed his fist into Igor Haming's nose, shutting the door behind him as the man stumbled back. He smashed his baton into the man's stomach, and pulled on his mask and hood.
Haming shakily stood, swearing, only to have a baton smash his kneecaps and jaw. He fell, wimpering in pain, as Jace toward over him, looking down with scorn, blood smeared from Haming's body on his batons, and Jace twirled them threateningly.
The others kicked in the window, and stood next to Jace as he exposed the hidden blades in the batons in one fluid motion, before driving them into the man's chest.
As the light faded from his eyes, Jace spoke. "You are being punished for actions of your own free will." Jace dropped his red and bronze feather in his blood, as well as a confession note onto his chest, and they slunk away, Haming not found until the next morning.
They found themselves calmer after this kill, adjusting already. They all drifted off, this time with small talk.
Two days after that, they were at a gala in London. Riley's target, Harold Jacobs was hosting it for children, adults invited too, and they had falsified invitations. The weapons would be detected by the security devices, so Riley had come up with an interesting solution.
Underneath fake red fingernails, she had glued small razor-sharp blades to her actual fingernails. A little altering by the girl, and she barely noticed them. Her eyes always flashed viciously when she looked at them, and the boys would have to step away.
The boys wore tuxes, plain black a white with bowties, and Riley wore a violet dress, coming to just above her knees, showing off her curves (quite a few for a twelve year old). A small black handbag held her token and mask in a fake wall.
They got past security just fine, and set off in their tasks. Jace had already gotten some punch, and was waiting for the signal. Evan had broken into the janitor's closet, and stolen a out of order sign, placing it in the hallway leading to the bathrooms, causing people to stay away. Riley wandered around, waiting for Tony's signal over the coms.
Tony snuck into the security's room, altering the footage, leaving no trace of them from their own servers, making it even harder to detect a flaw. When he gained control, he signaled to Jace, who 'accidently' spilled punch all over Harold Jacobs, who headed to the bathrooms to clean it. Evan pulled the sign away, and let him walk in, Riley seconds later behind him, before putting it back.
Riley quickly pulled off her fake nails, throwing her mask on, dropping the purse, and tapping Jacobs on the shoulder.
He turned, then stumbled back in fear. Riley shoved him against the wall, slashing his groin, then slicing open his stomach, and finally his throat in a matter of five seconds.
Jacobs gurgled, looking at her with fear. Riley cocked her head at him.
"Fear isn't fun, is it Mr. Jacobs. Do you like the way it feels? Neither do those children." She started soft, but snarled the last part, bending down and grabbing his wrist, knife-nails digging into his flesh.
Jacobs writhed in pain and fear, life finally leaving him, and Riley dropped her feather and note, washing her hand from blood, took off her mask, and walked out, knife-nails hidden in her purse. They walked out, ignoring the surprised screams of shock as Jacobs was found, and boarded the quinjet. Riley, for some reason, couldn't stop randomly chuckling, before growling, and then chuckling once more for almost five minutes, and they fell asleep in a pile that night.
Tony's kill was child's play after that. They decided a more public killing was in order for the man, and decided to kill him at the store he went to every Sunday.
They walked into the store, spreading out, and waited until Robert Salbester was near the back of the isle, then had Riley (who really enjoyed this part) crash a cart into the shelves full of canned food, causing the people to turn towards her, helping her pick them up. Jace kept other people from entering the isle by asking random questions, and Evan plugged in a flashdrive Tony had encrypted to wipe few minutes they had been there off the footage.
Tony, mask and hood on, grabbed Salbester's head, pulling it backwards, shooting him once in the back of the skull (he had a silencer on), and let the body drop with the note and feather. Riley waited until Tony slunk out of the eyeline of the people, before screaming in fake horror (which was actually really realistic), and pointing, before following her brothers calmly out of the store.
All done in under fifteen minutes.
They slept well that night, knowing there were four fewer human monsters in the world.
They arrived back at the den in just over three weeks, well under the deadline. Tourra Wolf smiled in pride at the four headlines pulled up on the screen.
(Back to the present now!)
The next morning, the dining hall was subject to a massive glitter bomb, covering an entire wall in pink glitter, in green letters the word(s) BOO-YAH! Written out for all to see. It was nearly as big as the Christmas of '97, when the MM were only nine.
(That Christmas was talked about for almost 70 years afterwords. There were a total of sixty-nine glitter bombs that went off, covering almost everything in red and green glitter that took forever to scrub out, small robotic elves that had jumped out of nowhere and painted NAUGHTY or NICE on your forehead before you realized it was happening, and many people awoke mornings after to discover their noses painted like the red nosed reindeer himself, in paint that didn't come off for almost three days.)
The assassin laughed, and the trainees smiled in pride and anticipation for the next two days to pass.
The night of The Naming, they were put in the simplest of black clothes (black pants, no shirt for the boys, black pants and a sportsbra for Riley), and had their bodies painted their color solidly.
The paint when from their waistline, up to just over their jaw where it faded out. There were patterns of bronze paint decorating their bodies as well. They sat, laughing at their looks for a minute, before falling silent in anticipation. They were called forward by Wolf, who began speaking.
"Chasseurs! Tonight, four jeune have proven themselves worthy to become full Hunters!" A cheer rang from the den.
"Tonight I bestow them with their names, their masks, and their weapons! Tonight, they truely become one of us!" More cheering, and Wolf raised her hand to make them fall quiet.
"Jace, step forward." Jace stepped forward, kneeling before Tourra Wolf, who was in her dress uniform, including a silver cloak, signifying her leadership.
"You have proven yourself by slaying a monster who took women against their will. You have earned the name of Usar Bear." She placed a mask over Jace's face, black in the shape of a bear, decorated with red and bronze. Wolf stepped back, gesturing to one of four tables set up.
In the days before The Naming, they had chosen their weapons of choice, which had then been crafted especially for them. Jace picked up the bronze batons, patterns of red swirling around it, his short sword (modern), also bronze, but with a red leather wrapped grip instead, his final weapon was his dagger, bronze with a red wrapped grip as well. He put each on, and returned to his spot.
"Evan, come forward." Wolf spoke again, and he did, kneeling before wolf as well.
"Evan, you have proven yourself by slaying a monster who killed innocents. You have earned the name of Waiku Dragon." She placed a dragon mask over Evan's face, black with emerald green and bronze accents, and motioned to another table.
Evan picked up his most favored weapon first, his sniper rifle. Each bullet green, the gun bronze with green patterns swirling over it. The next was his bow-staff. It was bronze, just taller than him, and patterned in green like everything else. A green grip in the center, and a simple twist brought out two hidden blades in the end. It folded into thirds, and sat across his back. The final one was his modern battle axe, bronze with a green leather wrapped handle.
Riley was called forward next.
"Riley. You have proven yourself worthy by killing a monster who took advantage of children's youth. You have proven yourself worthy of the name Estra Hyena." She placed a black with bronze and violet designs Hyena mask over Riley's face, and gestured toward the third table.
She picked up her first weapon. Or weapons. A knife set is considered one weapon, and Riley chose that. They were beautifully crafted, different sizes, all easily concealed under clothing. Each bronze with violet patterns and leather wrapped handles. Next, she picked up the daggers she had designed herself. She had accidently discovered that daggers curved to look like a small scythes worked well for spinning and movement, which she used to her advantage. Each were modernized, and patterned in violet against a bronze blade, violet leather wrapped handles. She wore them crossed across her back. Her final weapon was her pistol, black with bronze and violet patterns traceing it.
Tony was called forward last.
"Tony," Tourra Wolf looked at him as his heart thudded in nervousness. Blood roared in his ears, and he listened to Wolf's voice.
"You have proved yourself by killing a man who killed others based on their attraction to the same gender. You have proven yourself worthy of the name Tagoi Panther." Tony was almost glowing in pride as the mask was lowered onto his face. Sapphire blue and bronze tracing the black panther mask.
He walked to the final table, and picked up his weapons. The first, two twin pistols, black with bronze and sapphire blue bullets and patterns. Then his wrist-knives (all he did was flick his wrist, and out they came), bronze with blue holsters for his arms, and blue patterns, and finally, his katanas, which were crossed on his back, blue patterns and grip, bronze blade.
He walked as if in a dream back to his brothers and sister, and they gripped eachothers hands as the den chanted: "Chasseurs maintenant, chasseurs pour toujours! (Hunters now, hunters forever)"
Later that night, after they were cleaned from the paint and in their sleep clothes, masks, weapons, and new uniforms in their trunks, they sat on one bed, hugging, laughing, and talking excitedly until they fell asleep in one big pile.
The family had graduated.
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