Metro International Airport, October 8th, 200X

The assassin stood off to the side, leaning against the airport's white, painted stone walls. Slightly worn and chipped with time, they showed at least a fair attempt at keeping them fresh. The airport had several terminals, all added over time, with the newer ones being clearly more modern and well-equipped than the older; this was one of the older terminals.

He had chosen nondescript dress again, leaving his elaborate coat back at his safehouse and opting for a long, black jacket over a simple sleeveless, cotton shirt instead. Dressed all in black, with his abnormally long hair and dangerous looking clawed nails, he still caused people to keep a wide berth. For being as shadowy an individual as he was, he still sometimes managed to stick out unless he really went out of his way to fit in-which he could, of course, do on the job. He didn't quite care while waiting at an airport, and he didn't mind that people stayed away from him. Making friends with strangers was not the man's strong suit, and it was only by chance that he ended up with a close one in the past couple of years, albeit a chance he was grateful for.

Smoking his long pipe, he had worked his way halfway through the thing by the time he saw his extremely jet-lagged and disheveled looking friend wander through the door of the baggage claim, one face among many. He wore a black, short leather jacket over his usual dark pink shirt, and his baggy pants seemed to have a variety of things from the plane shoved in his pockets. Stifling a yawn, the big man's eyes scanned the room until he saw Duo Lon standing there, causing him to snort laughter and quickly make his way over.

"Jeeze, asshole. You could have at least helped me with my bag." Shen grinned through his weariness as he pulled a cigarette out, lighting it desperately. It was his first in about thirteen hours, and he was practically twitching. He exhaled, that first blast of nicotine tingling his body in relief.

"I thought you liked to show off," he said, grabbing the bag and placing it off to his side by the wall with a smirk. He had a feeling it had everything shoved into it randomly, judging by the weight, with Shen likely sitting on the thing to get it shut.

"Not with this goddamn jetlag," he said. The man was notoriously susceptible to it; Duo Lon had traveled with him before a few times, and he suffered quite badly from it. He knew he'd be likely sleeping it off for a few days. "How's everything going?"

"We'll talk back at the apartment. I got you a place nearby."

"Thanks. Hope it didn't skin you."

Duo Lon shook his head. Money was usually no issue to the man-he made more from taking someone's head then most common workers did in months. While work for the assassin was more sporadic than someone with a profession, to say the least, the past several months for him had been lucrative, if bloody. With the clan cut down as much as it was, and many members scattered about, there were fewer of them to take the jobs.

"The hotel isn't that fancy, sorry to say," he smirked. "But they did give a steep discount for an extended stay."

"What chain?"

"The Royale." It was a middling chain, strictly two and a half to maybe three stars, usually used by some of the tournament competitors who were somewhat more frugal or cash-strapped. On the bright side, it was clean and well-maintained, and even had a couple of extra room perks like a safe, a small fridge, and a coffeemaker which were nice for extended stays. On the downside, it was very spartan and no-frills, without very much in the way of special amenities like shops and the like, and your view was usually some other building or an alleyway.

"Is that what I'm worth to you?" the brawler smirked.

"It was that or the ritzy one all the way on the other side of town. A half hour when the public transit moves often, at least. The rest didn't have more than a week available at once. I wouldn't have minded paying, but I didn't think you'd want to have been so far out."

"Ahh, I'm messing with ya. I don't mind the place. I can get my stuff from a bodega or something, and it's got a TV." He stifled another yawn. "Did you get a car?"

"Unfortunately no. I looked into it, but parking was too much of a hassle, and the subways run just fine here if I need to get somewhere. I could always just rent one if I need to get out of state."

"Yeah, true." He looked toward the taxi line outside, which seemed to have no lack of them. "Alright. Let's get the hell out and get some food."

"Anything particular?"

"If we're in the USA," Shen started, "We gotta get greasy diner grub."

"I think I know the perfect place, at least if the outside of it was any indication." He grabbed Shen's bag and decided to carry it for him as the two finished their smokes and made their way out to the taxi line, under the awning as they stayed out of the rain.

Duo Lon didn't quite understand the draw of 'greasy diner grub' until the first time he had visited one with Shen.

He had been in the country on work a couple of times before the tournament where he, Ash, and Shen had entered(or that Ash had entered them in, more like), but he mostly just kept to himself, ate takeaway from the most out of the way places possible, and disappeared soon after. While on work, he did nothing to give himself away, and would hide away, fending for himself in terms of food.

But after going to his first, he had to admit there was something to it. Holding up the mozzarella stick that Shen had insisted they get for an appetizer as they waited for their main food, he examined it in his long fingers before dipping it into some of the sauce and taking a bite. It really wasn't bad, but he imagined it would be difficult to make deep-fried cheese truly terrible.

"...You're getting that look again," Shen scowled, grabbing a stick and crunching away at it. He sipped some of the coffee in front of him.

"What look?"

"The disapproving one."

"I don't even recognize that I do it."

Shen sighed. "Look, I may have gotten involved in a couple things I shouldn't have." He didn't get too far into it, but they were in the back corner of said seedy diner, and no one was paying attention to them. The only people in there were folks stopping in for a late-night bite, and they mostly kept to themselves, as well. "Not that I don't watch my back, but…"

"Backstabbers?"

"Kinda. I dunno if they were dirty from the jump," he replied, fiddling with a packet of coffee creamer.

"Did you look into them?"

"I thought I did. I always do. Maybe I missed something." He rubbed his hair, shoving another stick into his mouth and crunching it down. "Guess I did."

"What happened?"

"Dude I was dealing with…he wound up shot a few times in a back room," he said, quieter. He glanced around, though he suspected no one there would care what was going on in the underbelly of Shanghai, anyway. "It felt like a message. I went to chase down one of them, but he hightailed it out." He rubbed the bullet scar on his upper shoulder-an old one from another time he had crossed someone. "Then another guy's car exploded."

"Damn," his friend replied, blinking. "They mean business, then."

"Yeah. Wasn't about to risk a grenade gettin' thrown into one of my watering holes," he said.

"I would help, but…"

"I know. You got some…shit happening here, as I understand it."

"Yes. I cannot leave. I will help you sort things out after this job is done, however."

Shen sighed. "I feel like such a…goddamn wimp when I can't sort my own bullshit out." He lightly slammed his fist on the table, careful to not actually damage it. "You already pulled my ass out of the fire once when they tried to garrotte me. Bastard came out of the shadows and I didn't even see him."

"You were betrayed."

"I was stupid. And now I feel like I gotta ask for help again."

"My friend, there is no shame. You cannot punch a sniper's bullet from the shadows, nor an explosion in your apartment…though I have no doubt you would come closer than many."

This caused the big man to laugh. "I've broken a few guns before, at least."

"I know," the assassin smirked. "But trust me. I've no doubt they fear you far more. Why do you think they take such drastic measures?"

"...Didn't think of it that way," he said.

Duo Lon simply smiled. "Let them scatter. I will help you when this is done."

"Thanks again," Shen said, looking over at the waitress who was making her way over with their tray. Nodding and placing down their plates, she refilled their coffee cups and took away the empty plate that once held the mozzarella sticks.

"Anything else?"

"No thank you."

She nodded, walking off toward the counter where a tired looking businessman sat with the evening paper.

Looking down at their plates, they had decided on some fairly traditional diner fare. Shen had decided on the ever-popular burger platter with thick-cut fries; Duo Lon, on the other hand, had thought that the chicken pot pie looked interesting. He liked fowl in about any form, and he figured to get something that the diner seemed to specialize in, since it was on the special menu. It smelled extremely good; the crust seemed extra buttery upon closer examination.

"Cheers," Shen said, holding up his coffee.

Duo Lon silently held his cup up, clanking his friends' as the two tucked in.

All in all, he was not displeased with his diner meal-if anything, he was somewhat impressed, even if it was nothing too special-and made it a point to tell Shen he'd go back with him a few times, particularly for breakfast one morning.

After depositing his jet-lagged friend to the hotel he had set him up at-he suspected the man immediately passed out, probably still almost fully dressed-Duo Lon made his way back to his safehouse and decided to check out the evening news, which for now, he'd probably have to start watching. His drop-spot was empty, so his client had nothing new to give him yet, and he would have to wait until Monday to hit the college campus as he planned…the one where one of the victims had gone.

Having tossed off most of his clothing with the exception of a pair of loose trousers that he might have worn in full ninja garb, he sat on the couch to put the TV on. Debating getting a glass of absinthe, he decided to watch some first, as he had gotten comfortable rather quickly.

Television was not the assassin's favorite thing. He didn't really care about any shows, and all he really enjoyed were music television channels, a documentary here and there, and the occasional Wuxia film, which he would sometimes watch with Shen. He found that they may have not quite gotten the poison fist technique down in those, but they somewhat amused him anyway. He far preferred the company of books or music.

If he needed news, he'd catch up on the headlines or check online, even. But this time, he actually needed to keep caught up with the goings-on of the city. Grabbing the footstool, he stretched out his long frame and placed his pipe on the small, round table next to him along with the ashtray.

As he might have guessed, the program opened with news of the killer. Or, well, telling that the authorities were still looking. They had now gotten together with state police in the tri-state area to keep a lookout for any suspicious individuals who may try to escape; so far, no victims had been found outside of the city, or ones that went against the MO of all the others yet.

The authorities had stepped up security at places like universities and libraries, as well. Duo Lon thought these were good precautions, but likely not enough as whoever was doing this was clearly someone fitting in somehow, if they even went to a university in the first place, which he doubted. The fact that one managed to leave the library with one of the victims was proof enough of that. Monday, when he would go check out the campus posing as someone looking into the place, he would take a few mental notes of anyone, or anything, suspicious.

The anchorman then went on to read off the names and ages of the victims again; still sitting at eight, these were nothing new to him, as these were all in the case files he had stored safely with his things in the bedroom. He did take a good look at all of the victims, at least-he didn't have those. The only thing they really had in common physically was that they were young men, aged 18 to 22, and that they all had some level of interest in strategy games. They looked different, came from different backgrounds, and had different majors.

Duo Lon was somewhat cynically grateful they hadn't made up some stupid nickname for the killer yet, though he figured it was only a matter of time.

This entire situation seemed to, at least, be something he'd be able to investigate easily. Being skilled at strategy games, he decided that this weekend he would poke around a few city parks and libraries that offered game tables, and then on Monday, drop by the campus, all while checking out the papers to see if anything else dropped. He felt like he needed to move as quickly as possible, given the kills were starting to get somewhat close together, but for now, it was the only way.

He thought about trying to liberate some more information from the authorities, or even figure out how to perhaps spy on them. It would be easy for him, given his abilities, though it was more a matter of catching them when they were speaking about things.

Turning away from the news after they started discussing the latest sports, he flipped to a music video channel and lit his pipe, blowing the thin stream of smoke to the ceiling as he started to finalize the weekend's plans in his head.

Monday, October 11th, 200X, University Campus

Being around large crowds in broad daylight like this was not one of Duo Lon's favorite things, but investigation was investigation.

While nothing could be done about his nails, they could be passed off as fashion fairly easily; he also did his hair up in his braid, though kept it more loose and casual, adding a couple of dark gray stone weights at the end just to keep it steady. He otherwise chose nondescript clothing-black jeans, his boots, a sleeveless shirt worn tight to his body and his leather jacket, giving him a bit of a gothic-metalhead look. He did wear a few shirts of his favorite bands from time to time normally, though he went slightly more plain for this. His overall look made him fit in about as well as a six-three pale fellow with deadly-looking nails and hair almost as long as he was tall could.

Students milled busily about the campus, chatting with friends or sitting around the sides reading in between classes. A few were grabbing cigarettes on the outskirts of the place. The campus was on the outskirts of the central district, based in the city, so the student housing was located a couple of blocks away; he made it a point to go check that out at some point, too.

For now, his goals were simple. Check out the main campus, the library, the laboratories, and the cafeteria mostly before trying to ask a few nonchalant questions to slightly chattier sounding people to see if he could put his finger on the pulse of the student body, trying to perhaps glean a clue or two. The city park he had checked out over the weekend showed nothing of note, though he planned to go back again this week.

Despite his slightly out of place appearance, no one paid him much mind. He was just one of a crowd. He could tell some students eyed him in a flirtatious way-Duo Lon was an incredibly handsome young man, even if he had a bit of a melancholy or even creepy air-but he had little interest. While he thought he would just not have an interest in anyone, if he did, it would likely be to someone as withdrawn and quiet as himself.

No one bothered him, though. He was simply able to walk about, picking up some brochures and papers to act interested as his sensitive ears picked up conversations. He checked in with the office, as all potential visitors did, and allowed the school security to check him like everyone else who was touring that day, as he had nothing to hide.

He could tell security was on point, and he was somewhat surprised that they still held tours at the moment, but he also knew universities liked to make money, and that business had to continue. Classes hadn't been shut down, after all. It wasn't like the students came from one university; they just all happened to be students, with an interest in certain types of strategy games.

After a bit of poking around the halls, he decided to go check out the various club rooms that had such games. Unsurprisingly when he arrived, it was relatively empty-a few students were around, and there were a couple of signs reminding anyone who saw anything suspicious to contact the school authorities.

He saw nothing suspicious. They were just rooms with various chessboards, game boxes, and the like set up. There was a Mahjong table which tempted him for a moment, though he wasn't sure if campus tour guests were welcome to do so.

Not hearing anything being discussed, he decided to go back to check out the cafeteria area, before moving onto the labs. He had some interest in those, given the medical residue that was discovered on several of the bodies. He knew his investigations would be limited there, but nonetheless, he'd try.

Threading his way among the halls, he'd catch the eye of a student or faculty member now and again, but he got none of those gut feelings that he was prone to get when something was wrong. He didn't think the killer was a student, at least not a younger one.

As someone who had been trained to kill at an age that would make absolutely anyone with even somewhat of a conscience uneasy, one could say he knew the type.

Reaching the cafeteria, he decided to grab something to eat-he noticed a few others there who he had seen in the office who were also touring the place-and also to see if he could pick up on some lunchtime conversation. This was generally the time people would use to chat about stuff of that nature, and he'd have been surprised if nothing was discussed.

Selecting an array of pre-packaged sandwiches and what seemed to be a bag of cheese-flavored corn chips that he heard Shen talking about all the time, along with an iced green tea, he paid with cash as he almost always did and went over to the guest area where he saw a few other of the prospective students sitting and sat down to eat and listen.

The game clubs have been calling off due to lack of people, he overheard someone say at a table over.

I know. Can't blame them, though. Safer to just play at home.

He ain't here, is he?

Nah, but I guess people aren't taking their chances after the eighth one popped up.

You goin?

Yeah, why not? If he ain't here, then I don't see the problem. Last time I went there were four other people, and I know none of them did it.

I don't even think he's a student. Can't live in fear.

Yeah. This city has what, eight million? And he's hit eight? And they all come from different campuses and schools. It sucks that the guy who went here, but…

Yeah. I don't get it.

Low chances. Play the damn games. I dunno why everyone's so spooked. Not the first time people have been killed in this city and it won't be the last.

Duo Lon did find himself agreeing with the conversation; with as big as the city was, and the fact that the students all came from different schools, the chance of any one here being the next one was relatively low. But, human nature was hard to change. He knew-as well as many-how safe flying was, and how there were very few incidents each year, but people still found themselves with a greater fear of air travel than car travel, which was proven to be far, far more dangerous.

Many of the students probably knew they'd have a bigger chance being mugged in a seedy part of town at night than ending up on this guy's hit list…but the fear was still there, especially if something hit close to home like this one.

Not wanting to loiter too long after his meal was finished-he had decided to get a piece of packaged lemon pound cake they were selling with a cup of coffee to cap everything off, which was surprisingly not bad for stuff sold at a university cafeteria-he cleaned up and went in the general direction of the tour. The folks were allowed to deviate and check out things at their leisure, they just had to check out before they went through security after.

The assassin could simply fade into the crowd or even through the walls, but he decided to not alarm people, and thus would play by the rules.

Checking his watch, he followed the paths to the laboratory buildings for his final bits of investigation. He hadn't learned a whole lot-he didn't expect to-but he at least was comfortable with the fact that whoever was responsible did not target any particular school; it just so happened that the victims were students.

He planned on going to investigate some more city parks and libraries tomorrow. The central park he had visited over the weekend had a few people milling around, but nothing suspicious. There were a few others he had discovered which he needed to drop by. He'd also pore around a few stores that sold the things.

The labs were what he expected; clean and sterile, with varied students-clearly those in the medical, biological, or chemistry majors-shuffling about. Nothing looked off, and he could see a couple of the other prospective students here that he had seen coming in for the tour checking the place out as well.

This building almost resembled a hospital; he was only able to see inside a few of the rooms, and he eventually got to an area with a lot of more locked up areas, including the refrigerated room.

He knew what they kept there, of course.

Content that nothing was suspicious that he could see, he eventually made his way out, also having memorized the layout of the place, as he did with the very city he was in. If he had to come back here for something, he'd be ready, knowing exactly how to get somewhere. He even mentally filed away a few potential hidden passages and the like-mostly air vents. If he had to spy, he'd be ready…though he suspected he would not have to.

Heading out of the lab, he checked his watch; he wasn't sure if Shen would be awake or not, but he figured he'd have time to walk across town to see. Turning around one more time, he scanned the grounds, planning on going through the notes again one more time tonight to figure out his next move.

Monday, October 11th, Evening

The rest of the day had mostly gone by about as normally as it could.

After leaving the university, he had taken some time to get acquainted with the city again; while he remembered a lot of the general areas and the directions on where to go to hide out and such, stores and shops would have a fairly high turnover rate, and something that had been here even a year ago may have moved. Some had, in fact. He did pass by a music store that he stepped into, filing the location away to come back at some point to poke around when he had a bit more time.

When evening hit, he had stopped by his favorite noodle bar for a bite-he had messaged Shen, but he could tell the man was still sleeping off his jet lag(it could take him a week, sometimes, to recover from an overseas trip), so he went to go grab his newspapers and then, before he had gotten back to his safehouse, suddenly decided to take a detour to his drop-spot to see if his client or someone connected had left him anything. He hadn't gotten anything for the entire week he was here, but it never hurt to check, and he always listened to his instinct.

His instinct had proven correct. Something, indeed, was there.

Digging out the large envelope when he reached the place-a covert lockbox-he quickly made his way back to the safehouse apartment, leaping high up on the low buildings, kicking off the alley walls, looking every bit the shadow. When he utilized his boosted physical abilities, very few could hope to see or catch him.

Making it back in no time, he let himself in, locking things down securely-he had made sure to install two deadbolts-and checked the apartment, making sure everything was tight. He had purposefully rented a place with an extremely rickety fire escape, to ensure people couldn't come in from the outside; he was not concerned about any sort of fire escape, given he had his ways to get out, thanks to his strange Hizoku training. He would leave more money in the 'landlord's' drop box soon enough, making sure to have it so he had zero reason to poke around-not that he was likely to, anyway.

Satisfied there was no one or nothing spying on the place, he settled into the bedroom after kicking his boots off, sitting on the bed and slitting the envelope open with one of his long nails, dumping the contents out on the bed.

It seemed to be more case files; recent ones. Official ones, though clearly copies.

Very recent ones, in fact, as in they had not yet been announced to the public yet.

Looking through them, he sighed; it would seem that he had to start working faster…though he was now thoroughly convinced that whoever had hired him was on the inside, and this also convinced him that his client knew that the 'proper authorities' were not going to be able to solve this, for whatever reason.

Two more corpses were found, and these were younger than the others. A high school freshman and sophomore, one found somewhat close to the library in an old alleyway, and another about a kilometer from his high school, near the central park. It would seem the killer had started to get both bolder, and unfortunately more twisted, with his game.

Duo Lon looked at the photos, rubbing the back of his neck. His mind thought back to a certain serving boy who had brought him tea several times, back when the assassin himself was only fifteen. He somehow saw the boy in both of these young men.

The serving boy had seen him just as he had finished one of his early jobs-his first multi-person kill. He was young, and stealthy, though had not nearly perfected his craft yet; he hadn't learned things like melding through walls or teleporting short distances through the death veil. He was sneaking through his own skill, and perhaps slightly louder than he had to be.

Alas, he had strict instructions to let no one see him.

By the time he left the restaurant, no one had.

A/N: Things seem to be building up here, now, and perhaps a bit more quickly than one might have wanted, at least in-universe. But if you hadn't figured it out yet, this one's a bit of a slow burn, so I hope it keeps interesting!

Not sure if I have too many headcanon notes here, but a few:

-I HC Shen is susceptible to jet lag. In a team story, it mentioned how he was quite out of sorts after a flight. Thought it made for a decent character bit.

-As mentioned before, smoking indoors was a bit more accepted for awhile more in this time. However, while I'm sure ''KOF Earth'' probably didn't suffer the same disasters and scenarios as Real Life, I try to sort of 'mimic' the times in those days, and the early 2000s was a time when people could no longer go into airports to meet people at the gates like in the old days; they had to basically stay outside of the baggage claim in the pick-up area.

-Duo Lon I imagine can drive-given he's someone I see living in the middle of nowhere, no matter how fast he can move with his enhanced abilities, he probably had to learn to drive at some point when leaving the village, and I imagine sometimes one might have to drive ON a job. He just doesn't do it very often, and parking in big cities is a pain. He probably rents a vehicle when he needs. Shen can probably drive just fine too, but yeah, not worth it when having to pay parking when you can take a subway.

-He is also is mostly a cash only guy. He's a damn assassin for his primary profession. He probably hides money in his basement at home, though I imagine he has maybe some sort of overseas savings account under another name that he only uses to withdraw some money from machines with. (Remember the days of Mac cards…)

-The job in the restaurant mentioned at the end goes way back to "Let No One See You," which indeed was one of Duo Lon's early jobs, still in training, after he was blooded-he had to take on his first multi-person kill. You can read the story if you'd like to know how it turned out…but the ending was not too happy with this one.

See you next time as our anti-hero continues his hunt!