"Samson, Imma need you and Nik to make me a bunch, a shit ton of bombs. By next Saturday." Ky said when she came looking for her demolitionist.
"I don't have enough supplies." Samson admitted.
Ky nodded. "Let's go. I gave him a call and told him I'm on my way."
In the days that followed, the immediate crew had their orders for the morning of and until that night. Ultor had a huge tunnel system in which trucks went into a building at one site and drove underground to the facility.
There was a vent, the one Shaundi went to see, hidden where no one would think to look. The mountain had its guards; that were undercovers. That's why anyone with eyes wouldn't know anything was going on around the place.
That is where Gat and Ky would be going in.
The crew would make so much noise on the outside around the base of the mountain, and cause rocks around several spots where the fronts are, they would surely lure the guards away.
That was the plan. It wouldn't be too complicated. It would be outside, luring people away. The hard part would be inside, placing bombs all over to blow the lab up.
In Kyouki's mind, if you come at her threateningly you cannot be up to any good, and if you are congenial, well, you are a sheep in wolf's clothing. Dane is about to get a rude awakening.
Wednesday, there was shopping to be done, and in the oddest of places. Well, odd if you consider a Sporting Goods store a good place to shop.
"That will be $450.78. Is there anything else?"
"No, this will be fine." Kyouki smiled as she handed over five hundred dollars. Ski masks, gloves, rope, and climbing gear accessories. She and Gat fitted for harnesses, a quick lesson on using the rope, and purchase.
"Could I interest you in a warranty? In case of malfunction or damage, no fault of your own, we can replace it with no problem."
"Nah, why would I bring something I broke back?" Ky said.
"Lady, you never know." The clerk said.
"G. Bags." She tapped Gat's arm. "Thanks, have a good day." Ky said as she headed to the front door.
Johnny carried the bags, tossing them in the trunk, then they were off again. To the shop her Uncle Sheng owns. Pulling into the back lot, Kyouki parked they got out. If she only had more time, she would get a few things not on her list as she was out. Seeing the back door was open and the warmth of the kitchen poured out.
Ky stepped in, holding the door for Gat. They walked through a few rows of fully stocked shelves. Ky stopped at a door that had more shelves within. "(Hi. I'm going down.)" She called in Mandarin on her way in.
"(Did you hear from your uncle? He said to feed you.)" Johnny heard a voice call back. The sounds of sizzling, scraping, and music coming from the front he heard.
Kyouki smiled and called back. "(For three please, and thank you.) Come on." She tugged his hoodie, heading into yet another separate room down in the storeroom that was lined with boxes.
Ky sighed as they walked to a third door. "You remember one time you was talking shit about how I went in the window on the second floor to let ya'll in?"
They walked up a flight of steps and Ky walked to yet another door and flicked on the lights. "Yeah. How the hell- Woah." Gat whistled as he looked around the training room. The lights flicked on and Ky went to collect several items she would need.
"I easily derailed you. Now, I get to fill you in on a little secret. As weird as it sounds, my uncle trained me to..." She made gestures that showed throat slicing. "Assassinate." She whispered, nodding.
"Wha?" Gat said, looking at her critically.
After a few seconds, Kyouki burst out laughing. "I'm kidding!" She hit his arm, searching the shelves and boxes for whatever she needed from here. Taking a box down, rifled through it, took a black suit out, looked it over, tossed it to Johnny, grabbed one for herself, put the box back, and turned to look for something else.
"He just taught me some hand-to-hand for self-defense." She said while looking.
"I've seen you fight. I know better." Gat retorts.
Ky paused and looked at him. "Where do you think it came from?"
"I saw the Kung fu flicks. You ain't just learn self-defense." Johnny teased.
Ky smirked. Digging in the box, she threw two pairs of shoes down. Taking her shoe off, she slid her foot into black foot coverings. Gat raised an eyebrow. He knew what was up. She had learned more than she was letting on. She only ever did anything that truly required her unseen hand when her family was threatened. The former chief of police never saw it coming.
"Oh shut it, self-defense." Ky tapped Johnny to try the coverings on and grabbed a different pair in his size. "Damn, need to get... someplace else. Oh, maybe Nik has some." Ky stated.
"Have what?"
"Nightvision goggles." Ky took what she needed and headed back up with Gat. There were a few bags of food waiting for her on the counter. "(Thank you. I'll see you later.)"
Gat took the bags and headed to the car. "So you always spoke Mandarin?"
Ky nodded. "Well, I learned it when I was little, and I grew up around it." She hopped in the passenger's seat.
Johnny started the car and pulled off. They came to a corner, and he made a right. He had a destination he needed to go to. "Odd roots you got."
"Not really, it's more... Marriage and less complicated. Just one of my odd quirks."
"I'm all ears." He said as they were heading to the house in the suburbs.
Kyouki wasn't paying much attention to where they were. On the phone texting, she sent it off, then looked over at Johnny. "You really want to know about me?"
"We've known each other for too long to not know more about each other. Finding out you are related to the... No... You are an Akuji. Your fuckin' uncle is the Oyabun. I think that counts as a need to know." Johnny drove some more and then pulled into the driveway.
Kyouki had to admit that a need to know after so many years of even bleeding all over each other, he and Aisha are the only two who she is comfortable with, to dish everything about herself. Ky snorted. She's slept with them. She could offer more than the bare minimum she had.
Johnny got out and opened her door. There was nothing unusual out on the streets and no one should see them. "I have to get something. Come on."
Ky slid out of the car, following him inside. "Well. The funny thing, Uncle Akuji said that I am in control. That means I have to figure out what to do with Shogo. But I told you pretty much everything. And as far as the Mandarin... My grandfather, uncle Sheng's brother, married my Obachan."
"You know how they met?"
"The Wong's and Akuji's were family friends."
"Were?"
"Shogo."
"Nuff said." Johnny closed the door and pushed Kyouki against it. He dipped his head and kissed her.
"Johnny..."
"I know... No. But why? You aren't marrying that prick."
"I will have to. Eventually." She bit her lower lip. Ky won't admit she misses Johnny's kisses. She has to stuff that away. "This is why you brought me here? Let me go outside." It was getting warm. It takes every ounce of restraint to fight the urge to go back to what they had some months ago. "Well, put a pin in it." Ky stepped outside.
Johnny stood there. He punched his fist into his hand. He went to the bedroom to grab the thing Aisha had sent him for. "How can she still think to marry that fucker?" Johnny shook his head, but he got the kiss he wanted. It wasn't all bad. "Pidge, we need to have this place cleaned, it's dusty."
"Alright." She sent out a text again.
Ky was shooting out another text and got the confirmation that Nik had what she needed. She also got word that the bombs needed should be ready by Thursday. He and Samson agreed to a compact sticky design. They will send them to Purgatory when they are ready.
With that out of the way, the only thing that Ky needed to do was ensure she had everything. "Johnny..." She wanted to finish that thought, to let him know what was on her mind, but she opted against it. It was still too soon, too fresh, and she didn't like the feeling it gave her. "Nevermind. I'll tell you later."
Johnny nodded. He wouldn't push it. He could only assume what she wanted to say. Gat knew it was about them, but what about exactly? He will wait.
"Oh! Head to Image. I need to get something." Ky chirped.
"What?"
"Contacts." Ky nodded.
"What for? You don't wear glasses."
"On the off chance that they catch us on the cams, even with most of our faces covered, don't you think that maybe these eyes will be a giveaway?"
She wasn't wrong. Her eye color was odd, beautiful, but definitely a distinctive feature of her.
For the next day, Kyouki had a strict diet and exercise routine. Assuming that the vent she would go through, she would have to fit in tight spaces. Every day she stretched forwards, back, dead weight, by hanging from her wrists, or ankles. She felt pops. Her body was used to the weight of light weights and cardio, simple stretches. She slid into splits and twists that loosened every muscle from her toes to her fingertips.
Johnny was right next to her, the mass he had picked up from when he worked out in the Pen. He mimicked all of her poses before giving in and Ky and Aisha laughed because she was much more limber than he was.
"A for effort there." Kyouki would snicker, bringing her forehead to her knees.
Even Aisha stretched with them, but could not match their double-jointed girlfriend.
"Yeah, ok, but that fat ass you got ain't gonna fit in most places." Gat retorted.
Kyouki gasped. "You big ass... leave my ass outta this. Have you seen the dump truck you got? You got no room to talk."
Gat did squats to prove a point. "Damn real!"
"I'm done!" Kyouki laughed. Heading off to take a shower.
Gat relaxed and sat on the floor with Aisha. "She said she needs to figure out what to do with Shogo."
Aisha patted her face dry with the towel. She thought for a moment and she sighed. "I guess that's it. She is really the Head of her family. Ky will leave after the ceremony."
"Once she decides what she is going to do. She is going to do it." Gat laid back. "Fucking girl is doing a helluva job."
"Doesn't she always? The Carnales, Rollerz, Kings, Samedi, Brotherhood, she's taking on Ultor. Or will that be taking down?" Aisha laughed. "I just... she doesn't look like the type of person to be who she is, ya know?"
"Shit yeah. Damn, we gotta keep an eye on her this time."
"Yeah. Promise me you two will be careful."
"No doubt." Johnny and Aisha went to shower and had an early dinner.
The morning of destruction, the crew in small groups went out to do as much damage as possible to get the Ultor hounds on their trails. Shaundi and Ramon headed to the west of the city, Ren and Carlos to the east, Pierce, Samson, and Donny in the middle of the sprawling city.
A week ago. Pictures were all over the table in Purgatory. "So what's the plan?" Pierce asked as they looked over all the photos from the cams Ren could get.
Kyouki nodded. "It's gonna hurt me more than Ultor... We're gonna hit what they care about the most... money."
"Alright, so what are we blowing up?" Gat added, rubbing his hands together.
"There you go with the French again. And it should be simple. I want you seven to hit their delivery trucks, and the places that they are driving in and out of."
Shaundi was all for getting in on the action. "You think that'll pull enough of them away from the Pyramid?"
"Well, if it doesn't, it just means there are more corporate whores to kill." Johnny smirked. "So it's a win-win situation..."
They all agreed. This was a change of hands in Kyouki's eyes. Much to her dismay, the hit will be more beneficial than trying to fire people at a later date. She specified that Ramon, Carlos, and Donny were to drive and try to keep a low profile. The sticky bombs will do their thing after the detonator is pressed. There were several capped triggers bundled together.
"What about us? What are we going to do?" Gat asked later when everyone left for the evening.
"Stakeout and the mount with me. We may get to tranq people."
"This is my kind of plan..." Gat smirked.
Kyouki snorted. "I thought you'd like that..."
It didn't take long before the cops were called in. They scrambled, hitting another area, causing another wave of cops. The groups were told to meet up near the base of the mountain and cause a scene there, too. That was when Johnny and Kyouki would slip in.
In the police headquarters, Troy was losing his shit. He couldn't get a handle on what the fuck was going on in the city, just that the reports came in flooding the station. Explosives and smoke. The explosions caved in the entry, and exit points Ultor had been covertly using. The groups sped off to Mount Claflin to meet with the mayhem experts.
"Have you decided what to do about Shogo?"
Kyouki nodded. "I want to talk to him again. He's really pissed about this. He acts like I asked for it."
They sat in the car, waiting. They had eyes on a suspicious-looking couple near the vent they needed to get in. Their duffle bags were packed with explosives and bolt cutters, a plasma cutter Gat thought to bring as they were just killing time while they waited for the others.
"I mean, I get why he's pissed. I would be too. But I had done nothing but try to help him growing up. I visited every summer and I don't even know why my uncle is so angry with him. I tried to talk to uncle but he just grumbles and changes the subject." Ky shrugged.
Both Gat and Ky's phone rang, a text saying they are near where the two are and that was the pair's signal to go.
"G, you ready to blow up an R&D facility?"
"Fuck yeah."
Johnny always forced Kyouki to practice her shooting. Specifically pushed her to do better. Anyone who rolls with Johnny Gat better be a sure-shot. Even if she hated guns, they were much too loud for her tastes. But there she was, taking aim with the tranquilizer darts. Taking down the couple they had been watching for the past few hours.
Pulling the masks over their heads, they tied up the knocked-out guards and tied their hands and wrist. They quickly and quietly as possible got the vent open. In case there were people on the other side. Kyouki went in first and Gat had her back. The sounds of explosions sounded off behind them as they echoed in the tunnel.
Together, they set bombs, planning to backtrack when they planted the other stick bombs. The red lights indicated they were armed, ready to blow. The further they went in the feeling of unease. Pictures are one thing, seeing up close is another. Ky tied the ropes to a thick metal pipe and removed the vent that led into the first room. Kyouki looked around the room from the shadows of the open vent. There were a few people in there and she would blow them to hell along with their monstrous products.
She patted Gat and went down the rope. Johnny followed. There were two wide doors that were to the left and to the right of them.
Johnny patted Kyouki's arm. He pointed to the room on the right and her to go to the left. With a nod, they moved in silence. Planting the bombs as they went. Just a few seconds more. Power cut, they could hear the whole of the facility powering down. A backup generator whirred some lights. They slipped on their night goggles. Adjusted to the light, they each picked a scientist that was sure to have a keycard for the doors. Kyouki slipped behind a lab coat and covered their mouth, snapping their neck. Dragging them behind the table, she searched the pockets and took out another with her silencer dragging the second body to lie on top of the other.
Slinging the duffle bag behind her back, she was off into the tunnels, ducking and breezing past the sparse guards that littered the lab. Tossing sticky bombs on most of the large screens that she passed. Seeing the plans for weapons, trucks, and a bread box. "Well, I'll be damned, they were making a breadbox."
Johnny was making quick work of the armed guards on his end. He passed by a large utility truck, the plans for it a Bear, an Armoured Personnel Carrier, APC for short. "I'll be back for you." He said as he took off tossing bombs. Johnny ran into a cafeteria. He then heard Kyouki in his ear.
"They have bunk beds here. They live here? Johnny... What the fuck is Ultor up to?"
That would explain why there is a cafe here. "That's your dude. Not mine. Are you almost done?"
"Yeah. You."
"Just about. Meet in the central lab. I got an APC to get us out after this shit blows. It will withstand a ton of shit."
"Roger that."
Johnny tossed the last bomb on the carved-out ceiling of the facility. He heard a loud boom, and the ground shook. "Ky!"
There was static on the other end. A guard behind Kyouki shot one of the small bombs as he was aiming for her, setting it off. It also blew the comms frequency in that room. The explosion startled Ky so badly that she stopped moving and couldn't catch her breath. Flashes of the night of the yacht blowing flashed in her mind. The ground shook and Ky clung to the wall.
A rumble and the room collapsed on itself. It was so dusty now; she had to snatch the goggles off. Kyouki covered her arm over her mask. She could not breathe. "Fuck. Johnny?" When she didn't get a response, she cursed and made her way back to the main room. She followed the small blinking red lights that were her trail back to the central lab.
The power came back on and she stood in the middle of one of the carved corridors. Ky could do the only thing she knew. She shot out the lights. Personnel was still confused as to what happened and now noticing the bodies that blood trails left.
Johnny had to take out more guards as he made his way to the Bear. Buttons a plenty were on the console before him. Pressing the red button, he started the large APC up. Stepping on the gas after two more explosions went off. He growled as he swung the ass end of the truck to plow through whoever was in the way. The center room was dusty, and Ky was nowhere in sight. The slatted windows. He could see both ropes dangling. He tried calling for Kyouki again and still nothing.
The fans were sucking up the dust as fast as they could and he saw the tunnel collapse the way Ky went. "Shit!"
Stepping on the gas, he floored it as he ran through the rock. In the next area, he scrambled out of the vehicle. He drew his gun and ran up the hall. "Li!" He called after.
"Yo." She hopped down behind Gat, scaring him. "No comms. Let's go." She would not show her fear.
Ky heard Gat coming, the APC was loud enough to wake the dead. She had the good sense to hang from the thick power cables that ran along the ceiling. And in Gat's style, he did what he knew she would.
"He grabbed her and hugged her tight. What the fuck happened?"
"Less talky more getting the hell out of here." Pulling him into the heavily armored vehicle.
Dex was livid. The silent alarm woke him up when it alerted his phone. He had cams everywhere in the lab and when the first cam went out; he checked the others. There was someone hacking the system. His eyes narrowed, looking rewound the one cam just before it blew, and saw two bodies on the right side of the screen. Dex checked the other recordings, seeing the lights go out and then nothing else. When the lights came back on, there was a black-clad figure in the hall shooting guards. Climbing the wall and hanging from the cables.
"Kyouki?" He rewound the tape a few times and the stance. Quickly Dexter checked the other cams, caught by a larger person black-clad. That wild man shooting people coming towards him. "Johnny?"
Dexter shut his PC off and went back to bed. In the morning, he would inspect. His young daughter was crying, and he needed to tend to his little princess.
"It was a revelation that no one expected. The Pyramid is real. Emergency crews responded to powerful explosions that started deep within Mount Claflin, not expecting to find the ruins of a major Ultor Research and Development facility. It was a fictional place constructed in the minds of conspiracy theorists and the severely deranged... or was it? Today, an explosion destroyed more than just bedrock... it obliterated our fragile beliefs. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you're sitting down: The Pyramid... was real. For more on this breathtaking development, tune into channel 6 News tonight. I'm Jane Valderamma, Channel 6 News."
The next morning, the one man who thought he had the most sway over the other board members greeted Dane. One Anton Heyward. Stomping practically into the younger man's office, he did not hold back. "You will finish out this quarter and you will turn in your resignation letter. We have had enough of this. I know that woman did this!" Mr. Hayworth lit into Dane the morning after the fall of the Pyramid.
At that moment Kyouki walked in. "I did what?" She stood with her arms folded, looking at the red-faced accuser.
"You know very well what you did!" His ire turned to the woman now with them.
"Please. Let us not continue to point fingers. I know for certain Lady Akuji knew nothing of the explosion." His facade was cracking, the veins in his forehead protruding.
"Dane. you should calm down. Showing anger is a weakness." Kyouki gently stated.
Dane nodded. "Please, Mr. Heyward. I am certain we can fix this."
"No Dane. This isn't." With that, Mr. Heyward stormed away.
When the door slammed, Kyouki jumped slightly. Patting her heart, she turned to Dane. "What have they accused me of this time?"
Dane looked at Kyouki and smiled. He was furious. The last quarter is at the same time he would have become the head of Ultor.
"Nothing my Lady. I am pleased you are here."
Dane was through, those old dicks would get what was coming to them. Especially Anton Heyward.
When Kyouki came in, Dex was ready. If that was her, he will find out. Coming to stand before Jamie, Dex was announced and let in.
"Ah. Mr. Vogel, oh Ky. You are here too?"
"Hey, Dex. How's everything?" Kyouki gave Dex a quick hug.
"Good." Dex answered.
"What do you need, Dexter?" Dane said as he was much calmer now that he had Kyouki with him.
Dex smiled and handed a file over to Dane. "They had backed everything up, so we lost nothing." He smiled with a nod. Glancing over at Kyouki, there was no reaction.
"Dane was just telling me about some incident that happened last night. Was it important?"
Dex was trying to read Kyouki. He was getting nothing. It seemed as if she knew nothing. Dane raised his hand and shook the folder. "It was, but everything is safe."
"Good, I would hate to continue to be in a foul mood. Can we go now?" Kyouki stood to walk out.
Giving Dex another hug, there was a slight cut on Kyouki's temple when she turned her head. It was still healing. Dex smiled and walked out with the couple. He knew. Now it was a problem. She is fucking up his money.