01: The Continental in Ostania.


The Continental Hotel in Belint was much smaller than its New York counterpart, but it still functioned as a neutral territory for the members of the criminal underworld and provided a safe haven for hitmen and high-end criminals. Le Chiffre thought he would be safe here. But he decided to take no chance. After he won the high stakes poker tournament at Casino Royale in Montenegro, he knew he would have the undivided attention of both CIA and MI6 operatives. As such, he decided to lie low for the time being and take refuge in the capital city of Ostania, a small country which was going through upheaval and change. No one would think to look for him out here.

But the trip was not a complete waste. SPECTRE, the organization he worked for, which was a global criminal and terrorist outfit, was about to join hands with HYDRA, an authoritarian-subversive paramilitary organization bent on world domination. The alliance had become necessary to survive in the new world order. In fact, SPECTRE, in a show of extending the olive branch would be handing over his entire winnings, a sum total of 120,000,000 dollars to a representative from Hydra.

Le Chiffre didn't like it.

The HYDRA agent they sent was a man named Grant Ward. He looked too much like your typical special agent from a secret, clandestine organization and Le Chiffre's judgment turned out to be true. Mr. Ward was an agent from HYDRA, but he was working deep undercover as a special agent in SHIELD with a level 7 clearance.

Le Chiffre was not impressed.

Grant Ward was built like an agent, but he behaved like a common street thug and severely lacked the intelligence and competence to function in their world. Before handing over the multiple suitcases full of money, Le Chiffre had invited him to a game of poker to test his mettle. Mr. Ward had lost the first two rounds. He either had incredibly rotten luck or he didn't know the rules of the game. In the third round, Le Chiffre had tried to cheat, wondering whether the agent would be able to catch him in the act, but his attention was drawn more towards the bottle of whisky kept on the table than at the cards in his hand.

It was around this time that there was a knock on the door. Le Chiffre wasn't expecting company. Upon questioning Grant Ward, he shrugged his shoulders and casually replied that it could be someone from housekeeping. The Continental was a hotel, after all. Le Chiffre didn't like his flippant attitude. His lover, Valenka didn't like it either. She took out a gun and pointed it at Agent Ward's head. Le Chiffre's right hand man Kratt stubbed out his cigarette in an ashtray and took out his silenced pistol. Leo, Le Chiffre's bodyguard did the same, got up from his seat and walked steadily towards the door, before finally letting his fingers curl over the door knob.

They were all thinking the same thing – HYDRA wouldn't be the first to think of double-crossing them. Especially with all the money involved. Upon receiving a nod from Le Chiffre, his bodyguard turned the door knob and the door slowly swung open. Valenka, Kratt and Leo all pointed their weapons at the door, but even with three sets of firearms pointed in her direction, the woman in the white mask, resembling a cat's head with red stripes and a wide grin, strolled into the room like she was in no danger.

"Dear guests, it's against the rules to brandish firearms within hotel premises." The masked woman informed them politely. "If you don't put away your weapons, I am afraid there will be consequences."

Nobody missed the underlying threat in her tone of voice. But nobody bothered to lower their firearms either. Le Chiffre decided to practice diplomacy. "You have to forgive us for being wary, miss. But you have us at a distinct disadvantage. None of us are wearing masks to hide our identity. If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

"You may call me Cheshire." The masked woman replied. "And I am tonight's entertainment. The manager of The Continental sends his warm compliments." She added smoothly.

The tension in the room seemed to dissipate once the masked woman said those words. Le Chiffre smirked and drank from his glass of whisky. His two bodyguards gave each other a knowing look and started to eye the woman like a piece of meat. Both of them took their respective seats, putting their weapons away. Kratt lit another cigarette and Leo poured himself another drink. Only Valenka remained wary of the other woman, but she refused to speak about it. As such, it came as a welcome surprise when Agent Grant Ward finally did something useful for a change and brought something to their collective attention.

"Sorry sweetheart, but you seem way too overdressed to entertain anyone tonight." Agent Ward spoke with a lecherous grin on his face. "You look like you are about to go to a funeral, dressed in that formal black suit of yours." His grin widened. "Unless you plan on taking off your clothes by doing a sexy strip tease, I don't see how you can entertain us tonight."

Cheshire faced Agent Ward. "…You are right. I do plan on taking off my clothes. Eventually." And then she turned and addressed Le Chiffre. "But first, let me reiterate that it's my privilege to meet your acquaintance." While speaking, Cheshire undid the buttons of her black suit, reached inside and produced two golden stiletto type blades. "Now may I have the honour of taking your life?"

Agent Ward was the first to react. Before anyone else in the room could register what the hell was going on, he shot up from his chair, pulled out his gun from his jacket pocket and opened fire while screaming at the top of his lungs. "Fuck! You're the Thorn Princess. Everyone, open fire!"

The Thorn Princess was able to dodge Agent Ward's first bullet. But she wasn't so lucky the second time. Everyone saw the bullet hit her in the upper torso, but she didn't go down. She didn't even stagger or cry out in pain. And the white mask on her face completely hid her facial expressions. To the people in the suite, it looked like the bullet had no effect on her whatsoever. It was like they were dealing with a non-human entity. Or one of the best assassin's in the business.

This caused fear to bubble in the hearts of the people.

Fear lead to panic.

And panic bred chaos.

Three shots were fired in the ensuing chaos. And three bodies hit the floor, each making a dull thud. Kratt aimed for her body and received multiple stab wounds to the gut. He bled out in seconds. Leo took careful aim and fired a bullet at her head, but she managed to dodge it with ease and in retaliation, decapitated him, his head coming clean off and spraying blood everywhere. Valenka called her a 'whore' before firing her shot and her throat was crushed with a single punch, rendering her unable to speak any further.

Only Le Chiffre remained. A drop of blood leaked out of his scarred left eye and he wiped it away with a clean handkerchief before speaking in an even tone. "I would like to speak to the manager, please. You have broken the rules of The Continental Hotel."

"I have done no such thing." The Thorn Princess replied.

"The dead bodies of my men and my lover say otherwise." Le Chiffre countered.

"I was simply defending myself." The Thorn Princess informed him. "It was an act of self defense. In fact, I only killed your entourage after they shot at me. It's not my fault that they all missed. But it is their fault that they are all dead."

"I see." Le Chiffre ignored the dead bodies and the blood spreading on the floor. He could always get a new right hand man and a few more enforcers. Even a lover or two was no problem. All he had to do was get out of the country and escape the clutches of the deadly assassin. He would rather take his chance with the MI6 and their agents. He was already coming up with a plan to get himself out of this mess. "In that case, you can't kill me." He informed the assassin. "I have not tried to kill you."

"You were not the target." The Thorn Princess informed him. "Your job is to be a simple messenger. Tell SPECTRE, tell HYDRA, they are not welcome in Ostania. And if they ever think of stepping foot in my country, they will face the wrath of the Thorn Princess."

Le Chiffre listened carefully, before asking one final question. "Why didn't you kill Agent Ward? He shot you first. He's from HYDRA."

Agent Ward chuckled and grabbed the bottle of whisky from the table. "Because we are working together. I'm not Agent Grant Ward from HYDRA." He smiled brightly. "I am Agent Twilight from WISE."


A/N: Please ignore the first chapter. I think I'm gonna delete it later and make this the official first chapter. I actually wanted to write a bit more, but I decided to end things here with the big reveal.

Also, I know a lot of people wanted me to take the romance route and believe me there will be romance in the future, but the purpose of the "Ikebukuro Series", is to kinda start from the very beginning, so I decided to start from Ostania and slowly move the action to Ikebukuro. I hope that's okay with you guys.

Now, it's time for some polls -


Poll#1: What Happens In The Next Chapter?

Option 1: Agent Twilight and Thorn Princess bicker like a married couple.

Option 2: Agent Twilight escapes with Le Chiffre's money.

Option 3: Agent Twilight and Thorn Princess set the money on fire.

Option 4: Agent Twilight and Thorn Princess throw the suitcases full of money in the bottom of the river.

Option 5: Thorn Princess reveals her real identity to Agent Twilight

Option 6: Agent Twilight reveals his real identity to Thorn Princess.

Option 7: Agent Twilight and Thorn Princess become a team like Hawkeye and Black Widow.

Option 8: Agent Twilight is visited by Agent Nightfall and told about his next mission. (Or it could be Twilight's handler Sylvia Sherwood)

Option 9: Thorn Princess is attacked by The League of Shadows.

Option 10: The Characters From Assassination Classroom Save Yor Forger.


Now,

Poll#2 is gonna be a bit different. For the time being I have started only two fics in the Ikebukuro series – "A Bohemian Hikigaya's Rhapsody" and "A Rhapsody of Twilight and Thorn". But I want to start an Ikebukuro fic for some of the really big fandoms. And I want you guys to decide which big fandom I should pick. Let's do a poll –


Poll#2: For Which BIG Fandom Should I Write The Next Ikebukuro Series?

Option 1: My Hero Academia.

Option 2: Naruto.

Option 3: Attack on Titan.

Option 4: One Piece.

Option 5: Fullmetal Alchemist.

Option 6: Avengers.

Option 7: Harry Potter.

Option 8: Fate/stay Night.

Option 9: RWBY

Option 10: BIG fandoms from the reviews.


Finally,

Poll#3 is about a new fic. So I have been thinking about writing a romance fic. It will feature Hikigaya and a female character from another anime. It's gonna be like the two Shouko Nishimiya fics I posted. So I want you guys to pick who is gonna be the main female character. Let's do a poll –


Poll#3: Who Should Be The Main Female Character In My Hikigaya Romance Fic?

Option 1: Komi Shouko – Komi-san Can't Communicate.

Option 2: Kaguya Shinomiya – Kaguya-sama Love is War.

Option 3: Ai Hayasaka – Kaguya-sama Love is War.

Option 4: Ai Hoshino – Oshi no Ko.

Option 5: Hitagi Senjougahara – Bakemonogatari.

Option 6: Misaka Ackerman – Attack on Titan.

Option 7: Mordred – Fate

Option 8: Female Character From The Reviews.


Please pick accordingly


Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter.

Leave lots and lots of reviews, follow and fave.

Won't betray your dreams.