A/N: Inspired by the John Wick films, Pyrrha is a retired assassin forced to come out of retirement to save her boyfriend Jaune from a rival assassin seeking vengeance.
Sorry for the long wait. Life and writer's block has been difficult on me lately. Thank you, my fans, for all your loyal support and patience.
Unfinished Business
Pyrrha Nikos stood groggily in her kitchen watching the coffee pot slowly trickle and fill up. Her guard was down, allowing her boyfriend, Jaune Arc, to sneak up behind her and entrap her in his embrace, making her giggle. "Gotcha. The coffee ready yet? I just finished cooking breakfast."
"Just about," she answered. Once the coffee had finished, the two sat down and had their meal, then the two left for their jobs, kissing each other goodbye along the way. Both of them worked office jobs, though for different companies. Once she had sat down at her desk, Pyrrha's phone chimed with a text message from Jaune: "Have yourself a good day. See you tonight, honey!"
"Damn, where can I get such a caring honey like yours?" piped her coworker, Ruby, who poked her head over her shoulder from behind.
"You actually have to get out of your house and look instead of flaunting that cute face of yours on Maskbook first," Pyrrha teased her.
"Aw, c'mon, don't act like this smile doesn't work." Ruby flashed a smile and a cute pose while Pyrrha let out a chuckle and turned to her work.
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At his office, Jaune was already hard at work filling out paperwork, and soon enough, the hours passed and his lunch break came. He headed down to the garage to go to his favorite local sandwich shop for a rueben, but when he reached his car door, he suddenly froze, feeling as though he was being watched. Too late, Jaune spun around, fist raised, but a gorilla-sized man had already locked him in a chock hold and kept him until he suddenly went still. The gorilla put a sack over his head and took him to a nearby van and tossed him inside it before climbing into the passenger seat. A young woman with greenish hair and gleaming red eyes started the car up and took off. In the back, Jaune was being looked after by a beautiful woman with raven hair and eyes like fire, who took the sack off to marvel upon his handsome face. "Oooh, I can see why Pyrrha likes you so much, but I wonder if she knows the truth," she cooed to herself, tracing a slender finger across his unconscious cheek. "Hmm, maybe I should have a little fun with you first before Pyrrha comes to rescue you."
"Boss, you sure about this?" called the driver as they drove out into the streets. "I mean, Pyrrha Nikos is the one they call the 'Scarlet Spartan,' after all. It'll be like poking the sleeping lion."
"I know, but I know her, and she'll go through Hell and back to get back anyone she even remotely cares about, so imagine the lengths she'll go to for her precious boyfriend. She'll be walking into certain death." The woman sat down with the unconscious Jaune in her lap and stroked at his chin and lightly kissed his cheek as her eyes seemingly glowed, as if they were on fire.
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Pyrrha was not one to worry about Jaune, knowing he is fully capable of taking care of himself, but she could not help but worry a little by how her text messages to him have gone unanswered throughout the day. He's probably just busy. That's likely what he'll tell me tonight. she assured herself as she pulled into the driveway of their cozy home set out in the countryside. Already, it was six o'clock, and tonight, Jaune had promised to cook dinner for the two of them, which was fitting so as Pyrrha herself could not cook to save her life, and her prepared meals often were more deadly than any gun could be. However, when Pyrrha went inside, she found the house void of both light and Jaune.
Something's wrong, I just know it! Pyrrha thought to herself, right when her phone rang. She snatched it from her pocket and saw Jaune's name scrawled across it. "Jaune!" she yelled aloud before answering it, which turned out to be a video call. The screen went black, and for a moment, Pyrrha thought it was a bad connection, but she could hear scuffing sounds on the other end, until finally, the woman that kidnapped Jaune appeared onscreen, her eyes glowing at the camera and a thin smile across her lips.
Pyrrha's face contorted into hateful anger as her fingers curled tightly around her phone. "Cinder…" she growled.
"Hello again, Pyrrha," Cinder mewled.
"Where is he?" she quickly demanded. "Where is Jaune? If he's––"
"Don't fret, he is alive." Pyrrha watched as Cinder carried the phone with her and pointed it at Jaune, who was tied to a chair with his eyes blinded with a black rag and his mouth gagged with another. Tears welted up in her eyes as she looked upon his helpless form. "I must say, no wonder you left the business; he's a cutie. I'd give up my career too if I had a guy like him. Oh wait, I do now!" Cinder teased before sitting herself in Jaune's lap, who grunted at the sudden weight upon himself now. "Now, he's a bit groggy after I gave him some little drugs to keep him relaxed, we don't want him to try to escape or anything."
"Get off of him, you…you whore!" Pyrrha screamed.
"My my, such foul language for someone who was always so refined and courteous in our world, Pyrrha." Cinder glanced at Jaune, who's head hung low. "Does he know about your past?" Pyrrha stayed silent, glancing away for but a moment. "So he doesn't? You shouldn't keep secrets from your loved ones, isn't that right, Jaune?" A low grunt emitted from Jaune. Cinder glanced at Pyrrha's angry face and smiled. "You wouldn't mind if I have a little fun with him, would you, Pyrrha?" Without waiting for her answer, Cinder muted the phone, removed the gag, and pressed her open lips to Jaune's, where she made loud moans and fed her tongue into his cheeks, her eye still watching the phone and Pyrrha's horrified face. Cinder chuckled in between moans and pressed her body against his, her round breasts poking at his chest, causing a bulge to rise in his pants. "Oh, look! He got hard! Aren't you a naughty boy, getting aroused kissing someone other than your lover?" Cinder finally unmuted the call, allowing Pyrrha to speak again.
"I'll kill you…" she hissed.
"I would love to see you try. It's time we settle our business once and for all."
"Business?! You and I have no business with each other!"
"Are you sure? You remember why I went after you that one time?"
Pyrrha went silent again, but this time, she knew what Cinder meant. "You kidnapped Jaune because…BECAUSE I REFUSED TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND?!" she shrieked.
"That, and almost killing me, though you just missed me by…" Cinder pulled aside the hair covering the left side of her face, revealing a healed bullet wound in her left eye, which was now permanently damaged. "…that much. I lost so much of my charm and beauty because of you, and now, I want you to suffer the same and worse, but honestly, it wouldn't be as much fun if I had just ambushed you in your home or your work; far too easy. So, I thought about bringing you back into our world again, whether you want to or not. If you want your boyfriend back, come to my club, Beacon Plaza. I'm sure you remember where it is. Fight your way to me, and I'll consider giving this handsome boy back to you." As she said that last sentence, Cinder cupped Jaune's chin in her slender hand and licked her lips with a smile.
She's still a temptress as she's always been. Outside, Pyrrha heard loud noises and could see flashlights through the windows.
"Oh, and to test whether you still remember how to kill or not, I sent five of my boys to your home. Don't disappoint me, honey," Cinder warned her before ending the call. Pyrrha let out a yell and threw the phone to the floor before dashing off for the kitchen, where she snatched up two knives from the knife block on the counter just as one goon bursted through the window to the kitchen. With a flick of the wrist, one knife flew into the goon's neck, sending him to the floor in a gurgle of blood. Pyrrha slid for the body, snatching for the pistol. Another goon crashed through the front door, which was in plain view of the kitchen. Pyrrha brought up the pistol and fired several shots, but in her haste and in the darkness, she missed them all and the goon dove sideways into the sitting room, forcing her to start moving. She raced for her bedroom, but was tripped up by a goon from around the corner. Pyrrha spun around and caught the goon's rifle in her legs, yanking it from his grip to the floor. She jumped back onto her feet and applied a quick judo chop to the goon's neck, breaking it instantly and sending him to the floor where he laid still. Pyrrha scooped up the rifle and trained it on the goon from the front door, who was riddled with bullets before falling over. Two more crashes emerged from either side of the house and Pyrrha snatched up the dead goon and held him up as a meat shield with his pistol in her hand. She went forward and, just as she figured, one goon jumped out of nowhere and fired upon her, only to hit his dead buddy instead, wherein, Pyrrha fired two quick shots into the goon's chest and head, killing him instantly. She heard a thump behind her and spun around, just in time for her meat shield to catch more bullets as the last goon foolishly emptied his gun, where Pyrrha fired another shots, killing him as well. She let the dead body drop to the floor and wiped at the sweat upon her forehead.
Nary ten minutes went by before she heard a WOOOO sound and red, white, and blue lights flashing outside the house. She kept the pistol tucked behind her back as she answered the door, finding a familiar face: her neighbor and local police officer Yang Xiao Long. "Hi, Pyrrha, I figure you must know why I'm here," she chirped, her hands resting on her waist.
"Noise complaints, I assume?" Pyrrha guessed, to which Yang nodded.
"Yeah, a few neighbors claimed they heard yelling and loud banging, almost like gunshots." Something caught Yang's eye and she peered past Pyrrha and saw two of the dead goons inside. She glanced at Pyrrha with a raised eyebrow. "You, uh, working again?"
"No, I'm just sorting some stuff out," Pyrrha nonchalantly explained.
"Ahh, I see…Well, good night, Pyrrha." With a tip of her police cap, Yang turned and went back to her car.
"Good night, Yang."
Pyrrha closed the door and went to her bedroom closet, where she pulled out an old rotary phone from a locked cabinet and plugged it in. She dialed a special number and it picked up within the first ring. "Yes, this is Pyrrha Nikos, I'd like to make an appointment, if you could come to my house as soon as possible, that would be wonderful." Without waiting for an answer, she hung up and tried to collect her bearings.
Cinder's got Jaune, and she's practically begging me to come save him…she wants me to come in a careless fury just to kill me…I can't make that mistake, but I can't waste any more time than I can. Before she could ponder any further, the doorbell rang again, but this time, it was Lie Ren and Lie Nora, who both own a waste disposal company, evident by their massive van in the driveway and their crew behind them.
"Pyrrha, good to see you again," went Ren before he and Nora lead their crew inside, where they went to work. They rolled out tarps and lifted the dead goons onto them and rolled them up. With gloved hands, they removed the guns and with Pyrrha's help, they cleaned her fingerprints off the ones she used. They removed the bullets from the walls in the foyer where Pyrrha had missed the front door goon. They even cleaned up the broken glass as well. By the time they finished, there was no longer any signs that people had broken in and were killed, minus the broken glass door and front door. Nora and the crew hoisted the rolled up bodies and threw them into the van while Ren attended to the payments. Pyrrha dropped several gold coins the size of half-dollars into Ren's hand, then gave him a kiss on the forehead. She caught the mean glare of Nora from the van and rolled her eyes with a smile. Nora bounded up to her and Pyrrha gave her a kiss as well.
"Thank you both, really," Pyrrha added.
"I hope we'll see you again, Pyrrha," Ren noted before leaving.
"I hope not," Pyrrha mumbled under her breath as they drove away.
Back inside, Pyrrha headed for her bedroom closet, a long stretch containing rows upon rows of suits, dresses, shoes, pants, and accessories. She went to the corner where her accessory cabinet laid and felt her fingers along the right side, where they found a tiny button. With a press, a hidden drawer popped open in the tight corner next to the cabinet, and inside was a small black briefcase, the last and only moments of Pyrrha's previous career as an assassin. With a heavy sigh, she took it out and opened it, where she found her favorite pistol: a Browning Hi-Power, two magazines still laden with bullets, and rows upon rows of the golden coins. I'm going to need more than just a pistol for this.
Closing the briefcase, Pyrrha picked up her cell phone––which now had a small crack in it, making her curse at her sudden short temper––and called a special number in her contacts labelled only "Hotel."
"Hello, how may I help you?" asked a friendly voice, one that Pyrrha knew too well.
"This is Pyrrha Nikos, I wish to make a reservation for one, I'll be staying only a day or two, and I wish to take advantage of the hotel's restaurant and surrounding parlors and attractions."
"Of course, Miss Nikos. I can have your room reserved right away, so feel free to come by anytime." With that, Pyrrha went to bed for the night, though she barely slept, fearful of what Jaune may be going through while trapped in Cinder's clutches. She did not bother changing her clothes and left her pistol and coins on the nightstand.
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The hotel of Forever Fall, named for the season it was constructed in, was an elegant and high-class establishment, and while it catered to anyone able to afford its expensive rates, it served instead as Vale's personal safe haven for assassins in all of Remnant, and all of its surrounding attractions, restaurants, and shops served as fronts for the hotel's services for assassins: guns, clothes, disposal units, and whatever else an assassin may need. However, the hotel and its shops serve as Holy Ground, meaning that no assassin may commit murder else face the same punishment.
Pyrrha strolled through the front lobby that morning wearing only the dirty work clothes she had on from the previous day and the briefcase in her hand and up to the reception counter, where the owner of the familiar voice, Glynda, stood, as she always has and always would. "Miss Nikos, what a surprise. I thought you had retired." Despite her words, Glynda did not appear surprised to see her or the state she was in.
"I am, but I had to come back for some unfinished business," Pyrrha answered.
"I see…" Glynda typed out Pyrrha's information into her computer and handed her the keys to her room. "I'm sure you remember that payment must be upfront, especially for our guests on business…" With that, Pyrrha slid over a few gold coins. "…Thank you, Miss Nikos. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"I'm going to be needing a new suit, as well as some accessories to show off before I go to work tonight," she remarked.
"Coco Adel's shop would be the best place, and if you want accessories, I would recommend the MacKay's store. Anything else you wish to know?"
"I could use a haircut. Last thing I want is all this long hair to be a distraction while I'm working, especially in this warm weather."
"Then you'll want to visit Arslan's Salon. Did you know that she recently got married?"
"Oh? She and May finally tied the knot?" Pyrrha took her key and headed for her room, where she dropped off her briefcase, had a shower, and took a large stack of coins with her before heading back down to the lobby, where she went out in the Forever Falls Center that consisted of the many stores and parlors that serviced both casual civilians and the secret assassin society. She first visited Arslan's Salon, where she was greeted by the owner with a hug.
"It's been so long, Pyrrha, how have you been?" Arslan asked her.
"I've been alright. Been enjoying retirement, got myself a boyfriend recently."
Arslan beamed upon hearing this. "Oh? Tell me all about him while I take care of your hair, hon." With that, Pyrrha sat down in a chair while Arslan ran her fingers through her long red hair. "What's your plan with all this hair, hon?"
"Just cut it off, down to the neckline. I still want to make a short ponytail out of it," Pyrrha told her. "I've got some business to take care of tonight."
"But I thought you…"
"I am, but an old associate wants to settle some business from long ago."
Arslan hushed up right there and then, but she understood fully. "I'll get your hair in perfect shape to take that bitch down," she promised her. "Let's change subject. Who's this man in your life? Is he cute? Is he good in bed?"
Pyrrha chuckled. "He's cute, depending on how you look at it. A bit of a goofball too. And we've only done it once, but he was amazing; so kind and gentle, and he really pays attention to you throughout the act."
"Damn, hon! Had I met this guy first, he probably could've turned me straight!" The two women shared a laugh while Arslan felt up Pyrrha's hair. "It'll be a shame to see all these beautiful hair gone." Despite her complaints, Arslan went to work, and in due time, Pyrrha's hair was shortened down to neck-length and tied into a ponytail, courtesy of Arslan's own hands. "All done, that'll be 2 coins."
Pyrrha paid up and said her goodbyes to Arslan, then headed for Coco's shop, where she was greeted by Coco Adel herself behind a counter. "Hello, Pyrrha, it's been too long." Coco's eyes were drawn to her dirty clothes. "Goodness, you're a mess. Let's find you some suitable clothes for someone of your stature." Coco lead her into the back and had her stand upon the short pedestal before a revolving set of mirrors. She stripped her shirt and pants off and took a tape measurer to every length of her body. "Let's see, you've been maintaining your weight, still getting exercise?"
"I jog at least five miles each morning, do some dumbbell lifting and push-ups morning and night," Pyrrha answered.
"And the purpose of your visit to our humble abode?"
"Business, but I intend to do some recreation too, so I need something that'll allow free movement of my arms and legs, like to do squats or swinging." It is courtesy within their world to do business while speaking casually as any other person would, even when you know you are alone. After all, it would be awkward to say "I need a new suit that'll just get covered in bullet holes and blood for when I go assassinate a target later tonight."
"You would want the Amanti brand. They provide elegance and comfort, and not only that…" Coco went into a drawer and retrieved what looked like a piece of cloth. "…we got this recently. We line these into the back and chest area of your blazer or jacket and it'll stop knives and 9 millimeter rounds, very handy if you are paranoid about being mugged while going home from the movie theater or dinner."
"Nothing bigger?"
"Sadly, no, at least, nothing yet." Coco let out a chuckle. "Anything else you need for your suit, dear?"
"I also need straps inside the jacket and along the pants. I intend to carry a lot of accessories to dinner," Pyrrha explained, her coy words not slipping past Coco one bit.
"Obviously, they will be one-handed accessories?" A nod from Pyrrha. Coco wrote out a slip and handed it to the redhead. "If you haven't visited the MacKay's store yet, give this to one of the twins, and they will set you up with the proper accessories to wear in your jacket and pants. I'll have your suit finished by tonight, I won't rest until it's finished."
Pyrrha said her thanks and headed onto the next store, far down at the end of the street, to a dusty shop called MacKay's Antiques. Inside, past the shelves lined with ancient weaponry and artifacts of ancient civilizations, sat a redhead with her head in a book at the counter. Without a word, Pyrrha produced the slip of paper and the woman took it. She scanned it for a moment and her hand fiddled under the counter. A bookcase suddenly slid open into a door to the back room and the two women went inside, which was lined with all manner of weaponry, namely guns, knives, short blades, and other exotic ones.
"I wasn't expecting you to be back in the game," Keira MacKay said out of the blue after seating herself behind another counter with glass containers filled with pistols. "And you need something small to conceal, according to Coco?"
"And some bigger firearms, I have a nightclub to clean out to save my boyfriend," Pyrrha answered, dropping all pretensions.
Keira let slip a grin. "What you'll want is something small, easy to maneuver with, especially in tight corridors. "Submachine or assault?"
"Submachine, please."
Keira went into one cabinet and pulled out a Heckler & Koch MP5K and laid it upon the counter. "You can't go wrong with the German H and K brand, always reliable and compact. We also have the PDW model that comes with a bump stock, if you need more accuracy and less recoil."
"No need, this will do."
"It holds thirty rounds, allows for single, full auto, as well as two round and three round burst fire," Keira also added.
"Good, I'll need something like this when things get hairy." Pyrrha laid the SMG upon the counter. "What about shotguns? I need something with good stopping power and one that's compact for inside my jacket."
"I've got just the right one in mind." Keira went under the counter and pulled out a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun. "This baby ain't no simple double-barreled. This is a beaut. Specifically designed to reduce recoil and its spread remains just perfect to slaughter anything, even at medium range. Two shells, obviously, but you can reload her in mere seconds with how smooth and fast this baby is."
"So it's better than a double-barrel? Why?" Pyrrha asked, answered with a nod from Keira.
"Because it's better. Because it's super," Keira simply answered with a massive grin.
Pyrrha smiled back. "I'll take it." Keira put it aside and showed the redhead a line up of pistols.
"And your pistol lineup?"
"The H&K lineup as well, thanks." Pyrrha chose a pair of H&K P30Ls and placed them with the rest of the guns. Once collected in a duffle bag along with a selected amount of bullets, shells ammo pouches, a grenade, and a tactical sling, Keira collected a handful of golden coins from Pyrrha.
"I'll have them sent to your room at the hotel. Have fun killing."
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After a hot shower and dressing in her new suit that was delivered to her room, Pyrrha headed down the Hotel's restaurant, where she sat herself down to eat a medium-well steak and potatoes, something simple to fill her up, and a tall glass of ginger ale to wash it down with, as she never partakes in alcohol before a job. Though she was hungry, all she wanted was to go rescue Jaune as soon as possible, but she knew she could not do it on an empty stomach unless she had to, and thus she forced herself to eat. When she had finished, she returned to her room to suit up, slinging her submachine gun and the sawed-off to the inside of her jacket. She slung the pistols to her waistline in holsters and loaded up spare magazines into the tactical sling. Last, she took one of her most prized weapons from home, a long Harsey dagger from her assassin life, and strapped it to her leg. She headed for the lobby, earning a good luck and farewell from Glynda.
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Cinder ran a nightclub as a cover for her job as an assassin, and Pyrrha knew it was where she was keeping Jaune. She had a plan: stealth, then full-out assault when that fails, and she knew where to start.
The guard at the front door was someone she knew from long ago. She waited nearby until he let in a line of club goers, then snuck up behind him, pointing a pistol to his head and pulling on the hammer for him to hear the click. "Hello, Neptune."
Neptune dared not turn his head. "Miss Nikos…it's been a long time…" He swallowed the lump in his throat. "…I take it you're here on business?"
"I'm afraid so." Pyrrha glanced down at his waistline. "You've lost weight. How much?"
"Almost twenty pounds, ten on the lower gut, ten on the top heavy."
"Impressive. Hey, go take the night off, okay?" Neptune slowly nodded and then headed off down the street into the night without further word. "Thank you, my friend."
Pyrrha moved around back and went through a back door, where she found herself in an employee's backroom, where she saw one guard with his back towards her, headphones fit snuggly around his head and his face buried in his phone. Pyrrha drew her dagger and approached. Quickly and quietly, she plunged the dagger into the guard and carefully laid his body to the floor. She moved fast, turning down a hallway and ducked into a nearby janitor's closet before another goon appeared around the corner. Just as swiftly as the last, she popped out and dragged him into the closet with her dagger plunging into his heart, all without a peep.
Up on the top floor, in her private office, Cinder and her minion Emerald watched Jaune Arc groan and sway as he sat strapped to a chair, still exhausted thanks to the drug Cinder sedated him with. "Check on the guards, see if Pyrrha Nikos has arrived yet," ordered Cinder.
Emerald tapped her radio earpiece. "Checking in, how is everything?"
"Nothing here but drunk adults," said one guard by the dance floor.
"Top floor is secure," said another.
"Neptune, how's the front door?" went Emerald. Silence. "Neptune, respond." Silence again. "Be on guard, everyone, she must be here." While Emerald loaded up her gun to prepare herself, Cinder chose to seat herself on Jaune's lap to seduce him some more.
Pyrrha merged into the dancing crowd out on the dance floor, watching two nearby guards as she wiggled her hips and waved her arms in place. She saw one guard break away to head towards the back room, and that is when she acted. She weaved through the crowd closer to the guard until she was at the crowd's edge, and when he came close, she leapt out and plunged her dagger into him, unbeknownst of the dancing crowd. With the darkness of the club combined with blinking lights, none of the guards on the open top floor saw what had happened.
What she did next was risky. She took the guard's place and made her way to the back room, waited a few seconds, then came back, walking with a strict pace as if she was one of the guards, and made her way back to the other. Her plan failed, however, as when she approached the other guard, he quickly recognized how different she appeared from his comrade and quickly spat a code number into his radio before Pyrrha plunged her dagger into his throat. Too late, the alarm was raised and the goons began moving.
"I SEE HER! KILL THE BITCH!" yelled a guard from above, who opened fire on her with a pistol, sending the club goers into a panic for the front doors. Pyrrha took cover using the dead goon for a shield as she moved for a nearby bar, using one of her pistols to kill the bartender that drew a shotgun on her. Her meat shield stopped several bullets before she ditched it to dive behind the counter. Drawing her MP5K, she popped out like a gopher to spray a few bullets at the oncoming guards, taking out two before she dived down for safety.
"GET HER! SHE'S JUST ONE WOMAN!" screamed another guard as a hail of bullets screeched over top Pyrrha's head. She scooted over to the edge of the counter and poked her head out to see three more coming towards her, this time with SMGs. She fired some bullets towards one of them, sending him down to the floor dead, only to take cover as more bullets sprayed overhead. Pyrrha sped out, head ducked low, as she ran into a nearby hallway to meet a guard there, whom she slammed down to the ground, firing a few shots into his chest as she ran past. She pulled a grenade from her belt and dropped it as she ran on with six men trailing behind her. The grenade detonated, sending the six flying into the air dead. She turned around the corner and found herself back into the main area with the dance floor. A thug rushed out onto the dance floor, his body illuminated in the flashing lights, and Pyrrha cut him down with a hail of bullets before she moved on, switching her last magazine into the MP5K. She made her way for the stairs, where one thug surprised her with a pistol shot to her stomach (thankfully, the armored lining in the jacket absorbed the bullet impact), but she was quick to return fire, sending him to the floor, and then another at the top, whose limp body slid down as she went up. Moving up to the second floor, Pyrrha quickly felled another three thugs before tossing her empty MP5K and drawing her pistols, firing onto two nearby thugs who went down, one spraying bullets into a nearby wall.
Up on the top floor, five thugs remained, but it was clear four of them were frozen in fear, daring not to fire upon Pyrrha. The last one still with any guts in his system took aim with a submachine gun, but a quick bullet to his knee sent him spiraling to the floor with a scream, shocking the remaining four. They instead tossed down their guns and took leave, choosing their lives over losing them to the Scarlet Spartan. Now it was a clear path to the boss room where Cinder was no doubt situated, but Pyrrha knew she could not barge in, knowing that not only was Cinder in there, but so was her right hand Emerald.
Inside, Jaune was still handcuffed to the chair while Emerald was by a counter, chain whip in hand and a machine pistol on the countertop. Cinder was by his side one arm around him and a knife in her hand. "You get ready to shoot as soon as she comes through those doors. She'll hesitate once she sees her darling with a knife to his throat." Emerald nodded at the order and checked her gun.
"You…can't…kill her…" garbled the words out of Jaune.
"Oh, and pray tell, why do you say so?" Cinder purred, tracing her fingers across his chin. "Are you going to stop me, with your hands still bound?"
"Yes." With that, Jaune's hands flew up, one wrist still with the handcuff locked, but the other was open. Cinder's face contorted in shock, but it was too late. With a pen from his coat pocket, Jaune grabbed at the witch's face and jammed the pen into her only good eye, sending her screams rebounding around the room.
"CINDER!" cried Emerald, grabbing her gun, but this distracted her right when Pyrrha burst through the doors, sawed-off shotgun in hand. A pair of simultaneous buckshot rounds tore through Emerald, sending her crashing against the wall dead. Pyrrha turned and watched as Jaune hunched over Cinder's shivering form, pushing the pen deeper into her eye socket until she ceased movement, where he dropped her to the ground, her face frozen in horror staring up at Pyrrha.
"Pyrrha…" heaved an exhausted Jaune.
"Jaune…" She stumbled forward and fell into his arms. "…You're okay…"
"And you came for me…" He lifted her chin and kissed her lips while her hands––still gripping her shotgun––curled around him.
"You think I would've left you in the hands of that foul witch?" Pyrrha gazed down at Cinder's corpse once more. "I'm more shocked that that rumor about you was true. You really did kill someone with a pen."
"I'd rather not have to if I can avoid it…" Jaune gaze the corpse a glance as well. "…and worse, that was my favorite work pen."
A laugh left Pyrrha before it turned into a cough. "Sorry, I'm kinda hurting, you know, getting shot at, diving onto the floor, killing thugs, it can be so tiresome."
Jaune's answer was to scoop her up into his arms and carry her out, where he made his way downstairs and to the back door, where he found Pyrrha's car nearby. With her lying in the back seat, he drove them to the Forever Fall Hotel right as red and blue sirens appeared in the distance for the night club.
Back at the hotel, Jaune took Pyrrha up to her room, where he laid her upon the bed. Before long, the hotel's private doctor, Oobleck, arrived at the door, courtesy of Glynda. He inspected the two and went to work bandaging up Pyrrha's bruises and cuts while confirming that Jaune was not badly hurt and did not need treatment. Jaune gave him a gold coin as payment and another for a tip and the doctor took his leave.
With that all said and done, Jaune stripped off his shirt and climbed into the bed with Pyrrha, where the two clung close to each other and drifted off to sleep. Come morning, they returned back to their destroyed home and back to their retired lives, albeit now the next morning felt too different, even as they sat together side by side at the small kitchen table, still dented with bullet impacts. "I've been thinking…" Pyrrha suddenly started.
"Don't we all?" Jaune harmlessly joked, earning a smile from his love. "Sorry, continue."
"…I've been thinking, can we really, ever truly retire from our old lives? We left our lives as the Scarlet Spartan and the Yellow Death, yet our past came back to haunt us. We tried taking up simple office jobs, yet when the time came to fight, we fought with deadly precision as if it were reflex. Maybe we never should've left…"
Jaune pondered a moment as he stared into his coffee, his mind thinking back to how he first met Pyrrha, which made a smile stretch across his lips. "Remember that dinner we shared as we discussed the target the night we met?"
Another smile from Pyrrha. "How could I? Remember how upset we both were at our employer when he hired us both without knowing of the other?"
"And yet, we made quite the duo that night, didn't we, with our fighting prowess?"
"And our charm. The same charm that later lead us to our room and…"
"Though, was it just my charm at work, or did I fall for yours as well?" His hand reached over and intertwined with hers. "Here's another question to ponder: do you find retirement rather boring?"
( )( )( )( )( )( )( )( )( )( )
Four months passed before the secret underground world saw Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos again, two of the best within their line of work, and the day they returned, it was at the Forever Fall hotel as they strolled side by side in matching suits with duffle bags on their backs and on their sides.
"Mr. Arc, Miss Nikos, what a pleasant surprise," went Glynda, still at her place at the counter.
"It's Mrs. Arc now," went Pyrrha, placing her left hand upon her jacket's collar, showing off a fine wedding ring upon her finger. "My husband and I are here for some business, as well as pleasure afterwards."
"Of course." Glynda exchanged a room key for some gold coins. "May you two have a pleasant day of work, and congrats on your union."
"Well, shall we go?" Jaune asked his wife, his hand reaching out, which she in turn took.
"Hopefully our target doesn't take up too much time before the honeymoon." The two headed off.
A fine union, indeed. The underground world would later be shaken at the news that the Yellow Death and Scarlet Spartan joined hands in matrimony, but their reputations would only grow as a result, and potential enemies learned of the lengths they would go to protect each other, with Cinder as proof of that. In time, their fellow assassins would come to simply call them Arkos