Chapter 31: Mercenary

(A/N: There is gonna be a lot of jumping from one character's situation to another, so bear with me)

(Andrew's POV)

The ringing in my ears was still there. The syringe just suddenly blew up right before the needle was injected into my neck. Then the next moment, the ceiling crumbles down as I see people in soldier uniform rappel down, shooting everyone down in the room as they return fire.

"Secure the hostage!" I can hear one of the soldiers say, although blurry. Someone rushed to me and my eyes adjusted to the scene. That someone was my brother.

(Cato's POV)

"Secure the hostage!" Red ordered as he gave me covering fire.

I saw Andrew on the ground and ran towards him. He was still bound by a rope. I dragged him across the room until and I loosen it.

"Cato..?" he asked.

"It's me, Andrew. I'm here. You'll be fine." I say hesitantly, worrying about getting him out.

He took some time to adjust to the situation, sadly time wasn't on our side. I handed him my gun, "No time to explain. Take this gun and make sure you stay behind us."

As shocked and questioning he looked, he nodded.

By the time I got out of cover, half of the assembly area was empty. I saw some of the fleeing, others still fighting till their last breath. The three leaders were nowhere to be found.

"We need to get outta here! We got no time taking on these guys!" Riki shouted.

Red stared into space with frustration before he ordered the squad to move.

(Lexy's POV)

We gathered near the marked spot where we were supposed to be. I had a bad feeling about the plan. I know them for about 12 years, they won't put something so valuable at a place that doesn't have that high of a security measure. However, 12 years with them wasn't enough to earn me the exact truth on why they did it.

Kent was our squad leader. He took point along with me, CJ, and 2 other soldiers. We brought trucks to the base to bring back the hostages. One of them can fit up to six people, so we needed to bring a few trucks and used the two helicopters the Assault Squad took to get here.

Me and CJ readied the C4s and planted it around the wall so that it makes a hole big enough for more people to escape at once. Then, we hid in the trees and bushes.

I held out a weird-looking device - well, weird to them. I'm used to it already - in my hand.

"What's that for?" CJ asked

"I used to stand guard here. I know the mechanics of this area. The cells are locked by a certain keypad for each cell. But there's an override keypad near the door out of there. All I have to do is stick this device on the keypad and we'll get the kids out without pulling the alarm." I explained.

She nodded, but I know she doesn't really get it. The explosion went off on top of the assembly area, which was our signal. Kent planted a mute charge near the wall that we had to blow up to get into the hostage room.

Kent gave me the OK and I pulled the trigger to the C4s. Eventhough the sound was almost as good as none, the force of the impact was still huge. Everyone moved in and somehow, all the kids were out of their cells already, all gathered. I looked at the keypad by the door and it was already short-circuited.

The kids were escorted by the troops out of the building and into the trucks. I don't see Anais anywhere. I saw a guard sitting limp under the keypad, probably unconscious. I walked up to him and woke him up, instantly putting a knife on his neck.

"Please don't hurt me!" Said the guard.

"Where's the pink bunny rabbit?!" I asked.

"We brought her to the lab. She was one of the smartest and they intend to make her the fourth leader." He answered.

Furious, I punched the guard out cold. The alarms were starting to become annoying. I turned to the others.

"One of them aren't here. She's placed in the lab."

"We need to wait for further instructions. But we'll inform the assault team as well." Kent said.

By this time, the Recons Team came to help, including Gumball who had an instantaneous worried look on his face. I walked over to him and CJ.

"Anais isn't here, they took her to the lab." I said.

"What?!" Gumball shouted.

"They're not gonna wait for some goddamn ceremony, they're gonna do it right now maybe."

"I say we go. We need to get there first." CJ said.

Then, Kent was talking over the radio. "We need to assist? We've got a whole different situation now. One of them are placed at the lab...we'll go get her...understood."

Kent turned around to the team "We need to retrieve the hostage from the lab. Let's move team."

"I'm coming along. That's my sister." Gumball said.

Kent was just about to say something until Sykes stopped him. "Let him. He'll be of some help."

And with that, we left. I hope we'll get to her in time.

"By the way, anybody saw Anna there earlier?" Gumball asked.

(Cato's POV)

"This way! Move it!" Red yelled at his men.

They were about to get out of the vicinity as the Support and Recons Team have successfully evacuated the hostages. One problem comes to mind, however, Anais is still somewhere.

"Hey, Cato. Pick it up!" I heard Riki scream from in front of me.

Something doesn't feel right though. They can't just have let us go that easy, not without a fight. Suddenly, Riki stopped me, raising his arm in front of my chest.

"Guys, stop! It's a booby trap!"

Before there was enough time, it was too late. Someone stepped on a trip wire and the wall about a foot long from our right exploded. Everyone was down on the ground.

We don't even have to ask if they were gone. None of them were moving a muscle, none of them breathing, no beating hearts. It's gonna be hard to explain this one to Blu.

"We need to watch where we're going." Riki said.

"Brother?"

We turned around and Riki was so close to bursting into tears. We found Anna, but not in her usual happy condition. Her fur was very fuzzy and I could see lightning streaks like mine, only black instead of red or blue.

Riki ran to her and hugged her as she hugged back. "Are you okay?" She nodded. "You finally got those powers you've been waiting for, huh?"

"It's been too long." She replied.

"Uhm, guys. Not to break the reunion but we still need to get outta here." I said.

"You're right. Let's go, and watch out for booby traps." Riki said as he leads the way.

Right after, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Two people stood in front of him, one was a blue cat with black hair and a red nose, the other, one of the leaders, Mindbreak.

(Strike's POV)

Me and Mindbreak found two of them. The other one must be one of the victims we brought in.

"Ah, the kitty cat and the ghost boy. Two of the five 'mercenaries'." Mindbreak said, chuckling at that last part. "Be a good boy and drop your weapon."

The white cat dropped his guns, following his orders. "Uh, Riki? What're you doing?" The ghost boy said. At least now I know the cat's name is Riki.

"He's under the spell of my mind control. He does what I want now. And you'll do the same!"

Instantly, the other two were standing stiff, the ghost boy dropping his weapons too. "Good boy."

This is my last chance. One thing I know about Mindbreak is that he flatters himself too much, and he gets distracted in his pride. Now or never. "You know what, Mindbreak. I think you've improved on your mind control skit."

"Really? Why, thank you, Strike. It's been taking me a lot of practice."

"Cool, but still.." I took out my shank and stabbed him in the chest right around where his heart was. "Too bad you can't read minds."

He dropped to his knee and I gave the final blow, shank to the skull. He collapsed and I saw the three standing still, waking up from his control.

"Thought you guys need some help." I said, as if I did absolutely nothing.

Riki tackled me to the ground with his knife at my neck. "What're you plotting?!"

"Hey, this isn't much of a thank you I was hoping for. Not after everything I've done for you."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" asked the ghost boy.

Riki let me off and I got up, dusting myself. "I was the one who's been giving you information this entire time."

"You're Info?" Riki asked, and I nodded.

"Now I'd like to stay with the introduction, but we still need to get outta here. You guys already taken out most of the members back at the Assembly, but Asashin and Nova are still somewhere in here and I plan to take them out."

"What's your beef with them?" The grey bunny-cat asked.

"I just wanna take them down. This whole thing down. Simple as that."

"Welcome to the club. Let's move then." said the ghost boy.

"Alright, ghost boy."

(3rd person POV)

Anais lay unconscious on the lab table. Nova and Asashin stand beside her by a computer strapped with wires and tubes connected to Anais.

"Are you sure about this, sensei?" Asashin asked with a thick Japanese accent.

Nova stared at Anais through his orange mask he likes to wear. "This is our last resort. According to the scouts' findings under Mindbreak, she's a scholar despite at the age of 8. We should not underestimate her potential and take advantage of it while we still can."

Then, an alarm started making noise by the control counter. Nova walked over and a monitor showed a camera feed from outside the lab. It showed the Cato's group along with Strike. He sighed of disappointment to see one of the members betray him as such.

"Asashin, take care of our guests." Nova said.

"Hai, sensei." Asashin said, bowing to his sensei.

Meanwhile, outside the door...

"You sure you can break the lock?" Anna asked.

"I've been practising hacking mainframes since I got here. This digital code-secured lock is nothing." Strike said.

He tapped something on his wrist pad showing all kinds of codes, numbers and algorithms. About a few seconds passed, and the door opens.

"Got it."

"Good work. Wish I could do that." Riki said.

"Compliments later, we got a job to do." Cato replied blankly.

Everyone tensed. Something was amiss. The door stopped opening halfway. Cato and Riki pulled out their guns, until something spherical was thrown out towards them from the inside.

"LOOK OUT!" Strike yelled.

As soon as the spherical item exploded, a smoke popped out of it. A smoke bomb. All four of them coughed at the brief distraction, but brief was enough to catch them off guard.

In the blink of an eye, blades were thrown right at them, some shredding their skin, others missing them. Even Cato couldn't predict the blades due to the smoke.

Scars and blood began to show as the blades kept coming. Strike had to put much effort to jump to the front and tapped on his wrist pad.

"Get behind me!" He said.

As everyone did as told, a force-energy shield manifested from Strike's wrist pad. Cato and Riki noticed it was the same shield he used to retreat from back at the abandoned airport.

The smoke finally cleared, and standing before them was Asashin, ready for battle. He made hand signs and yelled out something. All of the sudden, there's 10 of them.

"Am I going crazy, or is there 10 of him?" Riki asked.

Without getting an answer, all 10 of them started charging after the group. The hits were real, this isn't mind games. Anna had a hard time concentrating on her newly-found power with all the commotion. Riki, using his Sharingan, easily blocked every single attack they threw at him. Cato had to resort to instinct, eventhough most of their hits connected. He used his shockwave and 4 of them turned into a puff of smoke. Strike swang his shank violently, yet blindly, getting 2 of them.

In a second, black electric balls hit the rest of the Asashins. It took everyone a second to realize where it came from.

It was Anna. Her fur puffy and filled with static again. All the fake Asashins turned into smoke while the real Asashin was attempting to recover but still on the ground. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cato smashed his hand onto the ground and lightning bolts started towards Asashin. This got him stunned and gave Strike a chance to charge right for him with his shank. Strike got him through his stomach, but Asashin smiled and turned into a puff off smoke.

Riki, still with his Sharingan, saw a black figure on the dark ceiling. "Guys, look out!" He called out, but it was too late.

As Strike turned around, Asashin got the jump on him and had his body weighing Strike down and his blade on Strike's throat. "No traitors left alive!" He yelled at Strike's ear.

A gunshot was heard, hurting Strike's ears. Asashin's body went limp on top of Strike's back. Strike moved his body out of the way and noticed a gush of red blood forming on Asashin's black mask. Riki put down his gun, now out of ammo. "Close call."

"Thanks." Strike said.

Not even expecting a reply, Strike went on ahead inside with the 3 behind him. Two down, one to go.

That ends this chapter for now. I gotta say, I'm really behind schedule and I apologize for it. I've been having exams over the past few months which is really getting me off-schedule. I've also been losing my touch on making these chapters nowadays. Too much going on. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Leave a comment and hopefully I'll get back to you soon in the next chapter. Peace out!