(BANG)

The window shattered, as the old wooden frame collapsed into the room.

"Guys… weapons, weapons! Weapons now!" The voice was panicked yet controlled, and immediately the sisters dispersed.

She, however, stood frozen. In a moment Maya had become paralyzed with fear. She watched as the shards of glass, piece by piece, flew from the front window. They sliced the remains of the old chair that sat below, while the rest collected into an unnatural path, trailing across the wooden floor, to the edge of her feet.

An uneven breath she wasn't aware of escaped her lips, as all Maya could do was stare at the remains of the pane mixed with fabric and colors of decaying wood. A piece of her old home, of their home, crumbled below her.

Then as her ears perked up, she heard a far off cry. A low, dark, and dangerous one. It was accompanied, shouts and screams, that must have been miles away, yet she felt as if they shouted right before her, and they were recognized.

A haunting familiarity passed through her entire body.

Maya began to tremble ever so slightly, as her heart rate pounded against her lungs, causing even more hitched breaths.

She felt out of control.

Maya had never expected something to actually happen, not anymore.

Over the years now in their past, over the tireless nights she had stayed awake, long after her daughters found peace in their sleep, begging to anyone who would listen for this to never happen, anything to this cruel extent, had all grown into an after-thought. She felt foolish. She realized now how idiotic it was of her to believe that this looming threat had just gone away.

Maya knew she had been swayed by the years of comfort and the facade of security; it had been her new life. Her new life had taken away so many things she had grown with in her old one. Normalcy; it was her primary loss. Never once as a child would she have thought to live a day without the abundant contact of people, of society. But never could she imagine giving up what she had to go back.

She had grown a family, her family. A family that was so imperfect it made it perfect. Maya knew that her family was small, and it would for sure never grow, but it was an idea that was obsolete. She didn't care. It was her and her daughters now. They were a family that would never fit into a frame above a mantel, and would never have a white picket fence around the front yard. Maya knew her dreams to grow a family of her own in her youth spelled out nothing but, and of which now she felt ignorant.

Her family was one she would never change, and one she would fight tooth and nail to protect.

Maya never wanted it to come to this. She had tried so hard, she had prepared, she had planned, everything in the grasp of her ability to be done, she had done, and without a second thought, and with that, the best option to her had been taken to avoid this… she disappeared.

She had given up nearly everything, and she had never had a single regret. Her old life had turned to ashes of dust, as it would now never be known of what she was before.

She could remember a day once where in her youth she had wanted a name for herself, and to never have to be restricted or confined. It seemed so juvenile now.

Maya could remember.

As a child, and as a growth of a family tradition, she learned an ancient fighting style from her traditional-minded father, and it had been an experience. She practiced ninjutsu in her youngest days, growing further with it and with time. Her father had an elder mind, but the care of a saint. He had seen her in her bests and her worsts. He saw, as she trained and lived on the very floor still holding her now, that she was more than his daughter to be taken as his student.

She adored her father, and his understanding that she possessed a brilliant mind showed his unconditional care. So she went to school. Maya learned subjects in a different way, but one she put just as much effort in.

With academics, her father had seen her flourish in a new way, and he stayed as supportive as he ever had. Maya knew they had both realized at the time, after her graduations of prestigious honors from schools, it had seemed her days in the dojo were behind her. Her father knew more than she did at the time, and a painful one, was he had to let his daughter go, and to find her own path.

Maya could still remember the very day, regardless of the decades past. Her father had become ill, a sickness weakening him until he could no longer go on. Through times of heartaches, Maya, barely an adult, took care of her father from his bed. She had no more feelings of a hopeful future seeing the man who got her this far fading from her world. It was on one night had he held her hands in his and made her able to see a new hope for a future she could live, a new world she could enter, and change for the better.

Even through the devastation of his passing, Maya had been only inspired by her father. She wanted nothing more, than to change the world.

In that time she had worked harder than ever before, to find it in herself to leave the country. She would always have Japan in her heart and soul, while her mind had guided her all the way to New York City.

It was so long ago had she come to America. Maya had found a city where she felt she could make a change. Her brilliance had soon sparked the interest of people seeing her potential in the prospects of science.

It was on a single day she had soon met a man. Another brilliant mind, that had a wealth to ground himself and his research on. She had been promised a worthwhile future in Sacks Industries. And she had been allured. She understood more than she ever had, as she worked with fellow researchers and scientists. She grew smarter. Her aspiring mind had been both a blessing and a curse she realized, when she found a friendship with another scientist. He and his young daughter had been a light in her life that had seemed to be growing uncontrollably restricted. He understood her in a way only a true friend could. And it was that they both understood from each other, that their purpose there had all been a lie. Maya had never felt so betrayed. All that she had done, that everyone had done, to change the world, had been corrupted by those of a diseased, dark force. They both knew, they couldn't let it be tainted further.

Maya shook her head as she chose not to remember that night. The night her whole world had burned in flames alongside the remains of the project.

Only had that night been the start of her new life. The moment she saw the light in their innocent terrapin eyes, still confined in the glass cage she kept in her apartment, she made a promise to herself that the project would not harm them anymore.

But now things were changing. Her new life on the edge of being as shattered as their front window was now. Deja vu had never had such a purposeful use, as she felt she was about to see it all fall. Every single thing in her power she had done, that she had ever done to prepare for this moment, it all seemed meaningless now.

'No!' Maya straightened, and in a flash she became alert again. She turned on her heels; she ran to where she knew she could find them.

She ran through the short halls. The primary training floor wasn't far, and the weapons wall adjacent to such.

"Girls!" Maya stopped herself by the open arched entry. She had to steady herself at the moment, as she braced the frame, and spotted two of her daughters.

"Mama, good!" Talena saw their mother immediately. "The kunai knives, where are they?!" She hastily rummaged through the metal trunk.

"Talena, Larota—"

Larota, on the other corner of the mat, had quickly grabbed her sharpening stone. She caressed the roughness over the blade of her kama firm in her grip. She proceeded to her other, but turned her head in their mother's direction, to show respect that she was listening.

"Girls, I—"

"Throwing stars, tape for my bo, extra sparring slide-ons, mat cleaner…" Talena wasn't fully aware she was speaking aloud. "Still no kunai! Ugh! Since when was this the "throw anything in and not organize it" trunk! I thought, Lara did you–"

"Tally just check another damn trunk! Check the one by Vee's bonsai, the one in the corner, I don't care! We just need them, so save your hyper organizing for later!" Larota disregarded the sharpening stone on the upper shelf, before she hurriedly opened the corner trunk. The contents were an unpleasant surprise.

"Seriously?!" Larota's annoyance was near tangible. "Why the hell did Amy put all her fifty-thousand koma tops in here?!

"Larota, Talena, please–" Maya's pleas fell soft and silent, in the background of her daughters' haste.

Her mind had drawn blanks. She needed something now, a plea for hope, a prayer for their safety…no. She had those in an abundance, a plethora of which she could do in another moment. Maya knew she needed a plan, and one in a matter of seconds. To which it was a feat she had never done, and one she had always hoped she wouldn't need. Yet, one she would do countlessly, without a moment of peace, if she knew it would help them.

"Two-hundred and four last time I counted." Talena mumbles. She bares the trunk by her eldest sister's pristine tree, yet still not finding knives.

The elder sister of the two had chosen to hold her tongue, to not remark with a blatant annoyed response for her sister's correction. Larota slammed the trunk, as she turned to look for an alternative to search for their kunai knives.

At a prolonged moment, Maya took full notice of the absence of two of her children. "Where-Where are Venus and Amoly?!" Immediately a series of unforgiving possibilities swarmed her mind, when Maya realized her daughters had separated. She tried to control her verge of hysteria.

Larota and Talena, about to respond, had paused, as on cue their youngest sister ran into the dojo.

"Ok ok ok ok!" Amoly had come in holding a large crossbody bag around her shell. "I got 'em, I grabbed all the stuff I could find! I raided the fridge and all the cabinets! I got waters, frozen stuff, Sprites, Orange Crush, gummies, some chips, cereals, oooh and I found all the rest of the Pocky from Tally's secret stash under the sink!"

"Amy! We get it!" Larota barked

Talena directed her immediate attention to her perky sister, pointing an accusing finger. "I knew you were the one stealing them!"

Amoly made a playful face while rolling her eyes. As if her sister really thought she could hide cookie wafers from her.

"And Amy, the point was for you to grab food we could ration! You grabbed more sugar than sustenance!" Talena emphasized.

"And knowing you, you'll go through half of that bag on the first night!" Larota saw it as meaningless for their sister to pack rations of junk food that highly, wouldn't last a full day.

"Hey! And for your information, I got substance!" Amoly reached into the bag, ignoring her sisters mumbling something about a wrong word. "Look! I also grabbed five apples, one for each of us! Huh! What do you call that?!"

"Ridiculous!"

"A for Effort?"

Both sisters faced Talena with a variant of expressions. To Talena's defense, she thought the subject was losing focus, and didn't know what to say edgewise.

Larota scoffed. "Leave it to you Tally to give someone a grade. Urgh! Where are the kunai knives?!"

A nearby pounding of multiple heavy footsteps, and the jagged rustling of tires on dirt, passed through the grounds below their home. Maya's mind and body whipped a previous direction, as she heard the barks of violent intent. Closer, louder. The painful weight on her chest, it swelled with agony.

"What, do I need to pack more?!" Amoly had wanted her role to be useful, but with her sisters' rebuttal, she felt that maybe it was lacking. When she received no response, she decided to go look again for good measure. "Ooo! Wait, I think I might have seen some bananas! I'll be right back!"

Maya had stopped her daughter in haste before she could run out of the training room. "No no, umm, honey it's fine, I'll pack more in a minute! She quickly took the satchel from her youngest daughter. "Could one of you please tell me where Venus is?!"

While Talena and Larota had still been preoccupied with their search for their combat knives, Amoly began to respond, before she paused. Looking closer, she took a longer look at her mother.

She, she was… scared.

The youngest sister was one to not always understand complex situations and responses, but she was one to understand more than what was right in front of her. Amoly had been surprised by her mother's demeanor. Of a woman who always seemed so in control, so able to know just what to say and what to do, in the times to do it, pure fear wasn't what Amoly expected. It worried her.

Maya could see it in her child. She knew Amoly had always been one to lead with her heart rather than mind; Maya could see all of which now. She stared at her mother with a silent concern, the plea that she was under a misunderstanding, that her mother wasn't afraid. Maya wanted nothing more than for herself to give the reassurance she could see her daughter craved.

It crippled her knowing she couldn't.

Maya looked into her daughter's eyes for her attention, as she placed a hand over hers. "Venus honey?"

"Oh… oh!" Amoly came to her foremost senses. "Um, I-I think she's–"

"Right here Sensei."

The attention of the room was directed to the rightmost entrance arch. Venus had come bearing the addition of multiple weapons of hers and her sisters.

Maya turned her glances fondly towards her eldest daughter. She had always known of Venus' perplexed habit of retaining the title of "Sensei" when addressing her. Despite her insistence that she was accepting of being referred to as a mother than a teacher beyond training, Venus persisted. Maya only imagined it was out of pure respect. As her daughter so excessively tried to show. Maya had been rather happy when Venus had first begun to refer to her as mother.

Maya still knew a more internal battle, caused Venus to revert in high pressure circumstances. She offered no judgment in appearance nor action.

Venus upon looking, had been first to notice her mother and youngest sister. An unmatched understanding had seemed to be conflicting between the two of them, yet she decided to guide her focus to the more dire matter.

Venus walked the training room minimally, as she delivered her sisters their weaponry.

"Tally, here's your bo staff." Talena took her primary weapon with a thank you to her big sister.

"Lara I knew you had your kamas, however I grabbed your far range throwing stars." Venus had handed her sister the blades, and appreciated the nodding in her sister's reaction, knowing her different way of gratitude.

Venus came over to the two.

"Amy, here are your kusari-fundo whips."

"Thanks Vee!"

"Goddamnit!" Larota still had an unsuccessful search. "Vee for God's sake, where are the kunai knives?!"

"Lara calm down! And they're all in the wardrobe of our spare hanging weapons!"

With exhales of annoyance from two, all four sisters immediately came to the brown oak wardrobe on the left wall. Quickly opening the cabinet doors, Venus pulled out the second to bottom drawer, placing it on the table beside the wooden dresser.

Each sister, without hesitation, grabbed their respective knives.

"No, Amy…" Venus grabbed the two kunai her baby sister had chosen. "Look, I'm sorry, but you can't take these two kunai!"

"What why not?!"

"BECAUSE THEY'RE PINK!"

Amoly huffed out at all her sisters' obvious observation that she painted her knives. "What?! They needed a pop of color!"

"Amy, you have to use them for training only! They're too bright to use elsewhere, sorry." Talena said.

"Yeah but–"

"No! Stealth is a dire key that we will need, and those can not be used!"

"Vee come on, they can be stealthy enough!"

"Amy we don't have time for this! Just shut up and take the damn black ones! The ones that don't look like Barbie's badass nail files!"

"Wha– Urgh, fine I'll use the stupid black ones!" Amoly unhappily took two remaining knives. She mumbles to herself in protest to Larota. "I bet Barbie would like a badass nail file, but whatever floats your stupid boat–"

(BOOM)

The nearby sound of an explosion rung through the thin air. The five women heavily flinched and turned their heads and minds to redirect to the sound.

Maya's ears held the deadly pitched ringing, in a moment of utmost uncertainty. An oncoming headache pierced her skull. She could feel it, heavily, wholly… painfully. Not the headache, nor the sheer ring in her ears, it wasn't what she felt the most. The feeling of their presence. The light seemed dimmer, the air seemed suffocating, the approaching threat, it all seemed… too close.

Too close.

'Too close…' Maya had felt this before, but never in a long time. Without thinking, she ran. The satchel around her shoulder, flung with her frantic pace. To the closest outdoor viewing window, she found herself staring. She lingered her eyes on the scenery view of miles of forests. It had always enveloped them and their home. Guarded them from the outside by concrete layers of wood that always seemed impenetrable. Maya stared. She squinted her sights, looking for what she never wanted.

It was the trees and the ground, the brush in the nooks and crannies of every little corner. She still stared.

She saw.

Within the forests, the beautiful nature of her home, she saw black. A color of darkness, the color to bring anything to the touch of death, the color worn by those under the loyalty of an identical force.

They moved in closer, and the assault vehicles drove in. Both destroyed the grounds below with everything they stepped over.

Too close… too late.

'It's too late…' Maya knew. Hastily the curtains flung shut, by Maya's deathly unstable grip.

Heavy footsteps approached hurriedly behind her, these had purpose, but intent pure as gold. The sisters came rushing into the room, but stopped, before their mother.

"Sensei!"

"Mama!… Mama?"

They were words spoken with determination, that faded fastly to words of concern, and fear. All four sisters stared helplessly at their mother. The older woman was rippling with distress, shaking with fear. Her back was still turned, and her body was still rattling.

Maya finally turned around and faced her daughters.

A hushed gasp of breath was stolen from each of the girls, seeing their mother's eyes glassy, with a fragile tear cascading her cheek. Their mother had not spoken yet.

Venus, first to approach, reached out for their mother gently. More tears broke the barricade. Afraid a single touch could shatter her, Venus refused to make contact. Her hands were held openly in front of her mother, as she spoke in a voice of silk.

"Sensei–M-Mama, it's okay." Venus couldn't highly believe that statement was true, but all she wanted was to reassure her mother. "We're ready, we've gotten all we can. Tally's even used an aerial view scan of the forests to lay out our route. We'll be okay."

Taking the risk, Venus gently placed her hand over her mother's.

Maya squeezed the three fingers of her daughter's hand, as if committing the feeling to memory. She looked between all her daughters. Despite the tears, she smiled. She then reaffirmed Venus as she reaffirmed and tightened her grip.

"Follow me." Still taking her eldest child's hand, Maya gestured for her three younger to follow where she was leading.

The four sisters had been only concerned by the actions of their mother, but now that bled to confusion as she began leading them within the deeper rooms of their home.

The further they went, the more their confusion swelled. After a cross between two rooms, the sisters realized they had been led to a room they had never been in. The room was dusty yet utterly organized, and vintage yet homely.

"Mama what room is this? Where are we?" Amoly had let her curiosity overcome her worries sealing her speech.

Maya had released Venus' hand and she went onto her knees in the middle of the room, and slid an old patterned rug. "This was my father's room, but that's not important right now."

The sisters were all taken aback by this information. Their mother rarely ever spoke of their grandfather. It had always seemed to them of a pain of her old past. After understanding of a deep internal scar, they held their questions. Despite their deepest desire for inquiries, they didn't ask, and they didn't dare go further in the house than they had ever been.

Their confusion held firm, as their mother seemed to be inspecting the oddly new wooden floor, yet the sisters stayed silent.

After a brief moment, Maya had grabbed a small rod against the dirt collecting by the unused fireplace. Immediately, she used a forceful jab, and stuck the rod into the floor.

The sisters momentarily gasped in surprise. They watched their mother, as she pried a plank from the floor, before descending onto her knees again. After hearing the unusual sound of beeping, the girls stared in shock as their mother slid open two large doors.

Their select moment of astoundment was interrupted, as their mother stood. "Girls, I need you to hide in here–"

"Hide?!" They all became appalled, for the split moment of their mother's word.

"Yes! I need you four to hide!" Maya shunned herself for the selfish outburst, but persisted in her explanation. "Please, please, I know that nothing makes sense right now. I know. But please you have to trust me."

The sisters hesitated… but did not rebuttal.

Venus brought herself behind her sisters, as she made herself last, and kept an eye, as one by one, one after the next, her three younger sisters gripped the wall ladder on the cave in, and plummeted themselves into the bunker.

Venus gave one last glance to her mother. She saw an uncertain look behind her glossy eyes, but all grounded by love. She too descended.

Climbing down the ladder only minimally, brought Venus in close proximity with her sisters, and she left the ladder to stand on their grounds.

While deep, the bunker refused to be spacious. The sisters took tighter breaths, never once in these moments had their anxieties unclenched.

They all looked up to their mother back on her knees.

"There's a small light on the left wall. This vault has plenty of ventilation and has a bulletproof cover in addition to walls–"

(BOOM)

The much higher amplitude explosion rung with the same veracity. And swelled the same fear as the one before.

"I will be back, but girls, please, you have to stay here and you have to stay quiet. Please, please trust me. Please promise me you'll stay here."

The sisters, none of them, could find it in themselves to bring their lips to coherent words. They tried and failed. Their lips moved, and some quivered, but did not make a sound.

In a final moment, they nodded.

Maya took one look at her daughters. Beautiful as ever, stronger than before. They had grown so much. She wasn't going to let their growth wilt. She wasn't going to let it be poisoned. She promised herself; the project wouldn't harm them any more.

It was a promise and it fueled her.

"I love you." Maya spoke in nothing but loving words, before she closed the doors.