Project Motherhood: V and J

by Gamer95

Two little drones fell in love in the Elliott Manor. V and J were as happy as could be, even in spite of their harsh bosses. That all changed when V was taken away, with J and N following soon after. Stripped of their memories, forced into new bodies and used as weapons, V and J slowly rekindle their old flame until the day they find a small boy that needs them...

2. Chapter 2

"What is your directive?"

"Serve the company loyally."

"Perfect! We finally nailed one!"

"Oh! I'm perfect?! Really?!"

"Well... Your test scores, passed with flying colours... Good work ethic... Instantly loyal... You ARE loyal, right?"

"I am willing to throw my life on the line before I let this company fall under."

"All right, very nice! You're as close to perfect as it gets!"

"Eeeeeee!" The female assassin drone with the twintails squeed in delight and clapped her hands together. "I won't let you down, sir! Now then... Am I to be assigned to a squad?"

"We have two left, but they're not the best. One is too passive, the other is too chaotic..."

"I'll have them whipped into shape in no time, sir!"

"All right! Then let's get all three of you acquainted!"

Serial Designation J was excited. Her first day on the job and she was going to lead a squad! She got to prove her leadership skills! She wondered who her squadmates were gonna be...

"Okay, so, our first stop is Serial Designation N!" J looked into a room where a tall assassin drone was lying on the floor, kicking his feet back and forth as he drew on a sheet of paper. He noticed he was being watched, then smiled and held up his drawing.

"Hi! Uh... I drew a dog! See?" The 'dog' looked more like a mess of scribbles.

"...Uh-huh." J said flatly. "I can see how he's a work in progress." The door opened, and she stepped inside. "Greetings. My name is Serial Designation J. I'll be leading you from now on, and I expect you to do as I say. We clear on that?"

"Wow! A squad leader! Yes ma'am, I'll do my best!"

"Hmm... Better than your best."

"Right! Better than my best!"

"Well, he's got good spirit at least... I'd say he's trainable." J nodded. "Now... Are we going to meet our other teammate?"

"Yes. Right this way... This is Serial Designation V's room." J and N looked inside at what appeared to be... an utterly destroyed room. The titanium walls were sliced to shreds, with some pictures carved on them with claws from the looks of it. Oil was splattered across the floor. The words "I am not okay" were carved into the walls.

Before they could look too deep into it, a female drone slammed herself into the window with a manic grin, startling both N and J into stumbling back. The female drone cackled at their reactions. "Ah, your faces! Priceless!" She giggled before the door swung open. "Sooooo, what do you loser wan-" She made eye contact with V, and her pupils dilated. J's did as well. V took a small step forward. And then another. And then, with a massive grin, she grabbed J and pulled her close, pressing her forehead against hers and smirking flirtatiously.

"Hello there, twintails." V spoke in a sensual voice. "Lookin' beautiful there, aren't ya?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"What?"

"Hmhehehehe!" V cackled as she jumped back. "Ahaha! That was a hilarious answer, hehe!" She wiped a fake tear from her visor. "Tell ya what, on our next kill, Ima split the entrails with you. Whaddaya say?"

"That is NOT proper workplace conduct. Especially with a squad leader!"

V leaned in closer with a toothy grin. "You're bluuuushiiiiing..." she sang. J tensed up.

"I am NOT!"

"...You kind of are..." N murmured.

J slapped herself back into shape and scowled. "Am. NOT." She said firmly before putting her hands on her hips. "Now you listen to me! I am your leader, and you will treat me with respect, the both of you! Do I make myself perfectly clear?!"

"Course, babe! Any good romance needs respect on both ends, after all." V said with a wink.

"Ah, good. Glad we're on the same-Wait, NO! No romance, this is not a romance, this is a strictly platonic, work related relationship and nothing more!" J snapped, her blush returning.

"Oh... But it COULD be more... So... SO much more..." V purred as she approached her and grabbed her by the hands, pulling her in close with a seductive smirk.

J's eyes widened. 'Wh-Why do I... What's going on, why do I feel this way?! Agh, I... Why is more core working so fast, why does being so close to her feel so... so right...?'

"Hey, uh... She seems kinda... freaked out... Maybe you should..." V interrupted N by aggressively turning and hissing at him like an angry cat, causing him to jump back and yelp slightly.

"Butt out, pretty boy, I'm talking to our hot leader here!" V snapped.

"I...You... You can NOT call me that!" J stuttered out,

"Well if we can't be honest with each other, what kind of relationship do we have?" V replied with a wink.

"Ugh... Stop iiiiiiit... You're embarrassing me in front of the boooooosss..." J whined, wriggling her way out of V's grip.

"Hmm... Well... She seems to like you, J... So... we will be relying on you to keep her under control." The human in the room remarked. J beamed and saluted.

"Yes sir! I'll make sure she follows the company's orders to the very last letter!"

"Pfft! Suck-up." V snickered into her hand. J harshly elbowed her in the ribs, and she chuckled in response.

"Well then. I'll leave you three to get acquainted. Other squads to assemble. We'll brief you on your first outing when the time comes. In the meantime, you are expected to use the training facilities at least three times a day to keep your skills sharp and ready. That will be all for now. Dismissed." And with that, the man left the three drones alone in the room.

V slowly turned to look at J with a grin. "Okay. Hear me out. You and me. Outside. At a table. Candlelights. Dead body sprawled on the table. Stomach sliced open. Entrails exposed. We each slurp up the same organ. We try to suck it in. We get closer... And closer... And our lips meet up in the middle! You can't deny it sounds awesome!"

"...Where is this 'eating human flesh' thing even coming from? Why would you want to do that?" J asked, clearly offput.

"I dunno! We're like... killers, right? Aren't we supposed to be weird and twisted and messed up like that?" V replied with a shrug.

"...I... don't think we need to resort to... eating... people... We... just need oil, right?" N asked timidly.

"Ugh. Stop complicating my romantic fantasies." V grumbled, crossing her arms.

"...So uh... Are you ever gonna clean your room up...?" N asked.

"No." V replied. "Screw cleaning, I hate it."

"Second that..." Murmured J. She may seem like the epitome of proper, loyal conduct, but if she had to clean her room one more time this week, she was seriously gonna rip and tear her way through the facility, loyalty be damned.

"Ahem, uh anyway..." She clapped her hands. "I believe that, as a team, we need to know what we're capable of. As such, let's go to the training room so I can assess your abilities and see how competent the two of you are."

"Got it boss!" N saluted. V picked her teeth.

"Uhuh, sure. Probably gonna end the same as all the other training sessions I was in."

"Aaand...how did those end?" Asked J.

"With them needing to buy new training dummies! And hire a LOT of new interns..." V said with a smirk.

"I... see..." J murmured. "All right then... Please follow me." She led the two of them to the training room. "Now then... I'll go first, to properly show you two how it's meant to be done. Observe." She entered the training room, pushing the button to activate the regime. Closing her eyes, she focused, taking a breath to psyche herself up, then opened them to see the practice dummies popping up around her. With three swift movements, three of the dummies were expertly decapitated, and she aimed her guns and fired to deal with three more. More dummies popped up around her, and she jabbed her tail, with the vial full of nanite acid, backwards to skewer one, then shot at the rest, yanking her tail out of the one it was currently in before thrusting her clawed hands to either side of herself to skewer two more dummies and slam them onto the floor.

N and V watched as J continued to expertly slaughter the dummies around her. V began to drool. "So awesoooooome..."

"Uh... Yeah... Uh... You're... drooling on the floor, I don't think the company would like tha-"

"What do I care?! Their fault for making her so perfect!"

"Ah. All right then."

J finished with a score of one hundred and sixty four. She stepped out with her hands on her hips. "There is your example. Remember. We will be facing real, living targets soon, this is preparing us for that. Go in with the mindset that these are living people and go all in. Mentally prepare yourself. N. You're next."

"R-Real... people... Oh man... Wait... Me?! I'm next?! Uh... I uh... Oh man... Oh man oh man oh man..." N nervously entered the room. "Uh... Okay... here I go... I'm gonna... do it now..." He gulped. "Here goes..." The first target popped up and jumpscared him, startling him into backing into the next one as it popped up. "Ah! Oh, I'm so sorry, sir, I didn't meant to... Oh wait, shoot!" He tried to slash at it just as it ducked back down into the floor. He tried swinging at another one. Same result. Panicked, he tried firing his gun at a few more dummies. He managed to hit one in a non-vital area, but the rest of the bullets missed.

V and J watched on, V snickering to herself and J frowning in disapproval. N walked out, looking sheepish at his score of ten. "Uh... Sooooo... How's that...? Was that... good...?"

"...What do you think?" J asked flatly.

"...No...?"

"You hesitated constantly, your aim was off, and you seemed reluctant to even use your claws and tail. We'll have to work hard on whipping you into shape for this. V. You're next."

"Yes!" V cheered. "All right, pretty boy, lemme show you how it's done!" She walked with an exaggerated sway in her hips before turning back to wink at J. "Make sure you watch me closely!"

J nodded rigidly, trying to ward off the small blush on her visor, as V flew into the room and landed gracefully in a crouching position, brandishing her claws and waiting for the dummies to strike.

J was having a hard time keeping up with V's movements. She was like a fly or a bumblebee, zipping around the room in a blur, bullets and blades flying all over the place as she tore into every single one of the dummies that popped up. It was hard to even make out what was going on because there was so many body parts, so much plush filling flying all over the place, smacking against the windows, falling to the floor, hitting the walls. V was utterly decimating everything in sight and if they were living targets, it would have been an agonizing way to die. She seemed to be aiming to cause the 'people' she was killing as much pain as possible while also leaving them in positions where death was inevitable.

Finally, V came to a stop as the doors opened, and she stepped back outside to meet with her team, still holding one of the dummies' severed heads with a manic look on her face. And then she tossed it into the air and used her claws to slice it into fifths. Her score? Well... She'd hit every last one of the targets.

J smiled in approval and clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! Fantastic work, V! You see, N? That's what you should strive for. V was fast, efficient, she didn't hesitate for even one moment, and she got the job done." J clapped a hand on V's back as she praised her work.

V gained a blush on her visor. Her tail began to swish back and forth lightly. She rubbed her arm and looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

"Awww, come on...I wasn't that good..."

J noticed the sudden change in demeanour, and raised a brow. 'Huh...she looks kinda cute flustered like that.'

She blinked. 'Geh? Cute? Since when do I use that word?' Shaking her head, she threw those thoughts away. 'Whatever. In any case, I should make a mental note to compliment and praise her like that whenever she gets a job done well. That way, she'll be in line and will keep giving good results...yup...'

'That's totally the only reason." She muttered. N tilted his head.

"Eh? Did you say something, J?"

J scoffed. "No. Are your ear components working properly? I might request you go in to have everything tested later, it might explain why you did so poorly in there, maybe your eyesight's not working right either."

"Um... I... think they're okay...?" N mumbled. J simply grunted in response and turned back to V.

"Keep up that performance, V. We'll need that down the line. You have potential to be one of the best drones this company has to offer, and I'm grateful to have the opportunity to help that potential shine through." V looked away to hide her shaking smile.

"Say more nice things, it feels nice..." She mumbled.

"Hmm... Keep doing well, and you'll earn more praise. It's that simple. Now, N. We are going to do some work on your capabilities. We can't have you dragging the team down by hesitating and being a clumsy oaf. We're going to the sparring room right now. V, you'll observe us."

"Oooooh, I get to see you in action again. Heehee... It's hot seeing you kick ass, you're gonna dominate pretty boy." V chuckled to herself.

"...Me getting beat up is attractive to you?" N asked indignantly.

"Ignore her... Don't give her the attention she craves..." J groaned, rolling her eyes. "Come on. It's time to whip you into shape."

Three hours later...

N fell flat on his face, and J planted her foot down on his back with a frown. "And that's zero-twenty three in my favour. N, you've failed to improve even a little bit since we first began to spar. Why is that?"

"Cause you're better than me..." N groaned sadly.

"That is true, but you should have at least figured out not to hesitate or learned to read my movements by now. What is holding you back?"

"Uh... I dunno... I guess... I'm not violent...?"

"Not acceptable. If you want to survive in this line of work, you will NEED to become violent. There's no way around it." J said sternly. "We'll stop for today. But we'll be back at it tomorrow at three PM sharp. I expect you to do better tomorrow. Take a one hour rest. Then spend at least two more hours working on your score in the training room... If they can... refill it after V's performance..."

"Yes ma'am..." N murmured softly, trudging to his feet. J watched after him with a frown, arms crossed over her chest.

"...He may have been happier if he was built to be a worker drone..." She sighed, shaking her head.

She heard footsteps behind her and saw V approaching with a grin. "Sooooo... Wanna go a few rounds with me?"

J considered it. "I suppose so. It will be good practice... If I'm going to lead, I should be closer to your level..."

"Great! If I lose, don't hesitate to step on me a little. N doesn't seem to appreciate how lucky he was." V said with a wink.

"Not proper conduct!"

"Whatever, lemme fight! I wanna kick something!"

V and J both headed off to the training room. Standing on opposite sides, J turned around.

"Alright, we need a few rules bef-" *chink*

J's eyes widened immediately when her blades were forced to block a pair of clawed hands. V already had a bloodthirsty grin on her face, her visor displaying an X.

"Alright! Time for some fun!"

J sputtered indingnantly. "Wh-HEY! The RULES!" She cried out.

"In our line of work, there ARE no rules! Come on, take your best shot!" V dodged and weaved as J took a few swipes at her. J observed her movements carefully, then raised a knee to strike her in the gut, launching her upward. V caught herself with her wings, then flew down towards her, claws outstretched. J ducked to avoid her, then formed her hand into a small morningstar and struck her fellow drone in the gut, causing her to launch upward into the ceiling. Giggling, V pulled herself free before aiming with her gun hand, firing non-lethal pellets that J evaded expertly. Maintaining her focus, the twintailed assassin drone returned fire, V swerving and evading as she flew through the air, doing barrel rolls and loop de loops to prevent herself from being struck. J smiled in approval before upgrading to laser fires, taking care to ensure it was set from 'kill' to 'stun'. Sure, V could probably take it no problem if it WAS set to kill, but better safe than sorry.

J simply turned her back to the laser, and it ricocheted harmlessly off of her back. J hopped over it and fired more lasers, making sure to aim away from the torso area where the shots would simply reflect clean off. J moved her limbs and weaved her torso into the shots so that they'd deflect. At one point, she deliberately stuck her rear end out to make the shot bounce off of it back towards J, and J just knew based off the smug, teasing smirk that the act was meant to fluster her. She'd say it didn't work, but that would be lying, considering she was distracted enough to end up taking a shot that she easily would have dodged otherwise, the beam hitting her in the leg and sending her into a kneeling position.

V landed and sashayed her way over, hips swaying as she approached the downed J, who struggled back to her feet. V decided to go for a simple punch. J dodged and grabbed her by the arm, then expertly tossed her over her shoulder so she landed on her face. Before she could get up, V felt something firmly plant itself down on her back. "I have you pinned, V. Victory-"

"Oooooh, HARDER! I deserve to be punished." V purred, the tone and the expression of pure bliss on her face shocking J enough that she reflexively removed her foot from her fellow drone's back. "Awww, no more dommy mommy? Well, guess it's MY turn then!" V lunged at the shocked J, and before she knew it, she was pinned on her back. V was straddling her hips, holding her wrists down and smiling flirtatiously at her. Releasing one of her wrists, she gently carressed her cheek with her hand before leaning in close, just inches away. If she moved forward any closer, their lips would make contact... "Now YOU'RE the one who's pinned." V purred.

'T-t-t-too close!' Stuttered J in her mind. 'Why did I stutter?! No, wait. Not important. She's too close!'

"Hey! Get off me! Inappropriate conduct, remember! I'm your boss, for robo-god's sake!"

"And that just makes you even hotter...*boss.*" Said V seductively. J grit her teeth.

"S-stop this! Now!" She demaned, her voice cracking. "G-get off me!"

"Alright, alright. Pansy..." V grumbled, before getting up and quitting her games.

Or, at least for a second.

J suddenly found herself scooped up in V's arms. Bridal style.

J tensed up and glared up at her. "And just WHAT do you think you're DOING?"

V smirked. "I beat you pretty hard. Didn't think you had the strength to walk. No worries, boss. I'm just doing my duty as your underling and helping you out. Walking is beneath you anyway, isn't it, miss high and mighty?" She said with a wink.

"You... You are... Ugh!" J crossed her arms with a scowl. "This is insane! We can't have that kind of relationship when we're co-workers! Especially with a power scale as vast as ours!"

"Ah, get off your high horse, it's not like you're the CEO or anything. I can't help it if you're adorable. Also, you're totally blushing right now."

"I most certainly am not!" J snapped, ignoring the fact that she could see her own blush in V's visor.

V giggled softly, then leaned down and lightly nuzzled J's face. "Sure you aren't, boss lady..."

J growled and squirmed around. Why did this feel so RIGHT?! "Where are you even taking me?!"

"Well, I was thinking we'd head to my room."

"YOUR room? Why YOUR room? What are you planning?!"

"Nothing much." V shrugged.

"We are NOT doing that! We just MET!"

"Wh-That? No way! I'm not that desperate!"

"Okay, then what DO you want with me?! Out with it!"

"I was kinda thinking we could cuddle a bit...?" V suddenly looked down. "I... I just... really want someone to hold me, I guess..."

"...Why not ask N?" J tried to keep the stern edge in her voice, but it waivered slightly.

"I... I want it to be you though..."

"Why?"

"I dunno! I just do! I guess you're pretty or something!" V insisted with a frown.

J rolled her eyes and groaned. "If it'll get you to behave, then fine, we'll cuddle or whatever!"

"Really?!" V asked excitedly before letting out a squee and shifting her hold, twirling her leader around while holding her by the waist before returning to holding her bridal style and giggling softly in joy to herself. J was flustered and confused.

'Okay, why did I like that...?' She thought as they stepped into V's room. She grimaced at the blobs of oil and the chaotic scribbles on the floors and walls. "...Maybe you SHOULD clean up a bit in here..."

"Never."

"Ugh..." V set her down on the bed gently, and then hesitated for a moment. "...Why so shy all of a sudden?" J asked with a raised brow.

"I'm not!" V huffed indignantly. "I just need to... Uh... Okay, here..." She climbed onto the bed next to J, and then slowly wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in close and resting her chin on top of her head. Setting aside her vial of nanite acid, she then curled her tail gently around her fellow assassin drone's torso and then draped her other arm around her and gently stroked her back.

J was struggling to keep her composure. Something was urging her to return the affection, but she squashed it down. This was her underling, she was above her on the food chain, it wasn't appropriate! Still... It felt... so nice... V was really gentle with her fingers, with her hold... She shook her head and glared. "Now, I hope you don't think this means we won't be doing any work. I'm going to quiz you on all the ins and outs of the company rules and policies. I hope you were paying attention to your debriefings."

"Not even a little."

J narrowed her eyes. "I see. You're going to be excellent in the field, but your work ethic in other areas needs improvement. Sit tight, then. I'm going to go over it once more."

"Go ahead. Might be easier to take it all in if it's coming from your sexy voice than it would be from some flat, droning monotone consumer model AI." V said cheekily.

"Enough! Focus!" J barked. "Listen closely..."

The next several hours were spent with the two drones still huddled in close, V holding and carressing J as she went over company policy, quizzing her and being pleased to see she'd retained the answers and got a perfect score on the test. "...Well done. Now you understand the company policy. Was that so hard?"

V smirked. "Well, I just love to hear you talk." She said simply.

"Ugh... You..." J groaned. "Well... Whatever gets you to do well..."

"What if I ask you to kiss me in exchange for perfection?"

"What?! That is harrassment and I don't have to take it!" J snapped.

"Relax, I was just kidding! I wouldn't do that unless you also wanted it, babe!"

"Do NOT call me BABE. I am your BOSS and you will not address me with such familiarity!"

"But you love it though!"

"Shut your lying mouth!"

"You're blushing again!"

"Stop it! At once!" V kissed her on the cheek in response. "Ah! Y-You... I... Uh... Mmmm..." J stuttered out.

"Ha! Ah, I just HAD to see how you were gonna react to that, it was just as adorable as I expected." V snickered.

"You...are...IMPOSSIBLE!" J tried to yell. It came out as a squeak. V just laughed. "Ugh... What time is it?"

"Time to get a watch!" J rolled her eyes at V's cheeky remark and checked the time on her visor. "...Ah... It seems it's time for us to get some rest then..." She tried to get up, but V still held onto her.

"Uh... H-Hey, no need to leave or anything, you can stick around, we can... we can have a sleepover!"

"A sleepo- We are not children, V. Release me." J demanded, trying to get away.

"So?! We can still do it, I... uh... I..."

"Ugh... What is WRONG with you?!" J demanded.

"...Please don't leave me... I hate going to sleep... I... I keep having these really messed up dreams... I... Please stay..." V dropped any and all flirtatious pretenses as she gave her leader a pleading look.

"...Messed up dreams?"

"Yeah, I... I can't remember most of it, but... all I know is that I'm in pain, they're ripping me apart, they're hurting me... I..." She began to tear up. "I don't wanna be alone, please..."

J sighed. Well, she wouldn't be much of a leader if she abandoned one of her subordinates to suffer from nightmares alone... It would be very bad for morale... "All right... I'll stay..."

V sniffled and gave her a shakey smile. "Th-Thank you..."

"You're welcome. Now..." V quickly scooted over to give space for J on her bed. The other drone climbed in, and they both laid down and attempted to catch sleep.

Keyword being "attempted."

"Uuuugh, what is this bed made of!" Exclaimed J grumpily. "It feels like I'm sleeping on a solid block of concrete!"

"That's how they made this one." V shrugged. "They ran outta materials to make it comfortable and just left it like this."

"Well screw this then!" J exclaimed and flew up, turning upside-down and attaching herself to the ceiling like a bat. "Come on."

V tilted her head. "Huh. Kinda reminds me of a vampire. Hot." She snickered before flying up to join her boss, making sure to scoot over as close as possible. "Ah... That's actually much better, I'm gonna sleep like this from now on, this is weirdly comfy..." She leaned her head against J's shoulder, causing the leader of the newly established squad to blush fluorescent yellow, doubly so as V gently draped a wing around her. J looked at her fellow drone, who grinned and winked at her. J huffed and glared forward, before closing her eyes. ...She supposed it would be rude to not return the gesture... She extended her own wing to drape around her subordinate, pulling her in closer to her. V beamed at the close contact and nestled in close. And something about the whole thing just felt very natural... Both drones just felt that this was... right... As if they'd had this sort of close contact before... It brought to them a comforting, soothing feeling... A feeling of... familiarity... Both drones suddenly felt something flashing through their minds. It was very brief, but from what they could tell, it seemed to be a large sprawling mansion... And the briefest glimpse of a smiling drone.

V and J paused briefly and exchanged a glance to see if the other experienced what they had. "...Uh...Did you... feel something just now...?" V asked.

"...Slightly... It felt like some sort of buried memory..." J murmured.

"...I liked it... It made me feel... warm..." V murmured. "Like... how I feel now..." She rested her head in the crook of J's neck and closed her eyes. "...If being close to you can trigger more of these kinds of memories, then we should stay as close as possible..."

"Hmm..." J hummed in response. "I suppose if we're the key to learning more of... this mysterious past we may have shared... then maybe we should."

"I'd love to..." V whispered... "Good night, J..." She closed her eyes and allowed sleep mode to take over. J looked over at her. She was snoring. It was very soft... It sounded like a mewling kitten. She smirked slightly, and then she closed her own eyes and drifted off to sleep herself as the lights in the room were automatically shut off...

She was awakened several hours later when something nudged her. She snapped to attention. "Ah! Reporting for duty-Oh... V, why did you...?" She paused, when she saw V wasn't awake. She was squirming and tossing around in her sleep, letting out a series of soft groans and whimpers. "No... Get away... Hurts... Hurts...!"

"...V...?" J shook her lightly, and V's scared movements became more severe. "V! Wake up!" J shook her a bit more roughly, and she let out a yelp and lost her purchase on the ceiling. The drone plummeted down headfirst towards the ground, eyes widening as she processed what was happening, then squeezing shut as she braced for impact...

Only to find that she had been caught safely. She opened her eyes to see she was now being held bridal style by J, who was looking down at her with a concerned frown. V looked away and rubbed her arm, staring at the floor with a forlorn expression. "...Thanks..." She murmured.

"What...was that just now?"

V looked away. She obviously didn't feel like talking about it.

"V?"

"I...had a bad dream..."

"Bad dream?" J tilted her head. "That's all? How are you scared of such things?!"

V winced. J's face softened. 'No, I should be more considerate. Like a good leader.'

"Uh...wanna...tell me about it?"

V hesitated. "...I can't let you keep these things to yourself, these thoughts might lessen your performance in the field." J said sternly. V looked at her with a frown, and then she let out a soft sigh.

"Okay... Well... I... have these dreams a lot... Like... Really... REALLY vivid dreams where I'm like... strapped down to a table, and... and some guy is... using tools on me..."

"Tools, huh? Like a maintenance check?"

"No. No, not like a maintenance check, it wouldn't be a BAD dream if it was a maintenance check, I'm not a pill baby, I'm not scared of maintenance checks!" V snapped. "Uh... Sorry... Just... They use stuff like... scalpels and saws and stuff like that and they... Ugh... They cut my stomach open and they take my arms and legs off and... and... and..." V suddenly began to shake in J's hold and latched onto her, her eyes staring blankly into space, pupils dilated. "Ripping me apart and changing me and... and... I can feel it, it hurts, why do I feel it, it's just a dream, it shouldn't hurt, why, why, why, why why..."

J felt a sickening lurch in her stomach as she tightened her hold on her subordinate. ...Why did this hurt her so much? Why did she feel so nauseated at the idea of V feeling distrssed? She hated it, she wanted it to stop, she wanted it to stop so BAD!

"Hey... Hey, just... take it easy... Relax! Stop... You're hyperventilating, I command you to... To... Uh...What do I do, what do I do?!" She began to panic as V's distress grew worse. "Just... Just... Uh..." Not knowing what else to do, she hurriedly adjusted her hold on V into an upright position and draped her in her wings, swaddling her up and feeling her latch onto her with all her might. She blinked twice, then sighed in relief now that she had calmed down. "There... Is that better...?" She wrapped one arm around V's back and used the other to gently stroke her hair, hearing the sound of V letting out light sobs into her chest. "...Oh wow... Something really bad must have happened to you in the past..."

V sniffled. "I... I don't remember it! I don't remember ANYTHING! All I remember is waking up and being told I'm a killer! Why?! Did I have a life before this?! Was I just BORN this way?! What AM I?! WHO am I?! Why... Why do I feel so much pain all the time?!"

J looked at her worriedly. "I... Uh... I... I don't know..." She finally admitted, deciding to just stay with her subordinate and allow her to cry herself to sleep in her arms. When she heard V go silent and felt her fall limp, she frowned at her, and then fluttered back up to the ceiling. She chose to continue holding her close, draping her wings around both of them to act as a makeshift blanket. She looked at V's sleeping face. ...She was smiling softly despire herself. ...It was... cute... Why did she keep thinking that...?

...She'd need to stay with V until she'd gotten over these night terrors...

And what she really needed... was sleep...

The next year was spent on the trio of drones working hard to sharpen their skills in combat. V proved to be the most efficient of the trio by far. J had improved significantly, enough that she was close to V's level. But N... He was still struggling with combat... And with the concept of killing...

And they were about to be briefed on their first mission. It was a simple task. A small ragtag bunch of goons led by a man named Roman Torchwick had stolen important materials from a JCJensen warehouse. The three of them were sent off to get it back.

As they were leaving, J turned to N with a stern glare. "N. You are worthless and terrible and I expect absolutely nothing from you whatsoever." N winced and V frowned over at her with a tilted head. "Your goal today is to prove me wrong. Is that perfectly clear?"

"Yes ma'am..." N murmured, twiddling his thumbs.

"Okay. Good. You've had ample time to get your head in the right zone. The company won't tolerate failure. We will see this mission through. And you WILL pull your weight." J said sternly.

"...Yeah... I will..." N sighed.

"For your sake, I sure hope so..." J muttered before taking off into the air.

"Well, last one there eats a missile!" V took off as well. N hesitated for a moment before he panicked upon realizing he was doing it and clumsily took off into the air behind them.

"Uh... J...? How do we know where they are?" N asked nervously.

"What, you think the company wouldn't keep track of their important stuff? Every product in that warehouse was outfitted with a small microscopic tracking device, duh." J rolled her eyes.

"Oh. ...Wait, do WE have those?!" N asked.

"Of course we do, how else would the company monitor our progress?" J snorted.

"Oh... Uh... Okay..." N murmured, uncomfortable with the idea that they were constantly under surveilance.

"Haha! Just don't think about it, pretty boy! Better for your health that way!" V giggled, flying next to him.

"I...I guess..." N murmured uncertainly.

It took several hours of flying... But eventually, they found their mark. "...We're here. Our best bet is to take the leader out first. Hang back and watch how it's done." J whispered to her subordinates before finding a good spot outside one of the nearby windows of the warehouse.

"Well, boys, and Neo, of course... We've officially hit our biggest score yet! Sittin' pretty on all the expensive, valuable parts and machinery we could ever ask for! I have to say, none of this would have been possible without YOUR help!" A round of cheers sounded out through the room. "Now let's crack into these crates, and-"

BANG!

And with the sound of a gunshot, Roman Torchwick immediately collapsed dead to the floor, a large hole in the center of his forehead.

The men quickly grabbed their guns, while a stunned Neo fell to her knees, eyes wide.

"Haha!"

Everyone immediately turned their attention to the sound of laughing.

"Headshot!" Yelled V, before suddenly noticing a whole army of guns pointed at her and her squad mates.

"Uh oh..."

J facepalmed, groaning. "Welp...guess stealth was optional on this level."

*click click click*

And so, the shooting began. The men opened fire upin the drones, who took to the skies in naught but a moment. V took the opportunity and laughed maniacally as she swooped down into the action. V meanwhile opened fire drom above, occasionally swooping down and snagging a person before flying back up to continue her barrage.

A man screamed as V split his head in two with her claws. She giggled as she began tearing into him, gore spraying everywhere. So focused she was, that she didn't notice someone sneaking up to her, a needle sticking out of her umbrella for a swift strike.

Fortunately for V, a stray spray of blood splattered against Neo's eyes. The silent girl gasped and attempted to wipe the blood off.

Unfortunately for Neo, V noticed her now.

In an instant, V snatched Neo by the throat, before taking off into the sky so fast, Neo lost the grip on her weapon.

They flew up for a while, until they arrived just above the clouds.

"If I'm right, they should beeeee..."

*zoooom*

"Gotcha."

V turned around and presented Neo in front of a speedy military plane. Torchwick called for these to collect the cargo.

V switched her hand with a gun, and shot at one of the wings, messing up the system and rendering the plane unable to slow down. Neo just managed to wipe off the blood from her eyes...

"..."

Which promptly widened when she came face-to-face with the snoot of a speeding plane.

*crrrrrasssshhhh* *boom*

The plane crashed into the pair, V flying unmoving as the aircraft split in two, exploding in their faces all the while. The two halves fell down, and V moved away the smoke with a bat of her wings. She then examined Neo's corpse.

It was charred beyond recognition, her face stuck in abject horror, with her lower half and left arm completely gone, the stumps both still sizzling and smoking.

V giggled. "And yet... I still feel nothing. About as empty as I felt towards a basic training dummy. Eh. Oh well." She callously dropped the remains of the multi-hair coloured mute and made her way back down to the battlefield.

"N!" J barked. "You haven't hit a single one!"

"I-I'm trying!" N pleaded, firing his gun.

"You're missing on purpose!" J accused.

"N-No I'm not! I swear I'm not! I..."

"Fun fact, these guys abuse dogs and use them to attack people." J decided to motivate him with a little white lie. Okay, a total fabrication she made up on the spot.

N's expression hardened, and he fired his gun three times, each shot sending one of the man's men down to the ground with a hole in their head. He then blinked and gasped. "Oh no! I just killed three people! Agh! What have I done?!"

"Your job. For once. Nice work. Keep it up." V said with a nod.

"But... But I..."

"N. Get in there and start spilling some blood." J said firmly.

"..." N opened his mouth to protest, but sighed and flew down to the fleeing thugs. "Uh... Just... C'mere, I won't make it hurt too much, I promise I won't, just... Uh..." One of them fired his gun at him, the bullets harmlessly bouncing off... and also hitting several of his co-workers, dropping them like flies instantly. "Uh... Thanks for the help, I guess...? Heheh... Here, let me just..." He formed his arm into a blade, closed his eyes as the gang member fled...

And with a single movement, lunged forward and swiftly decapitated him. N rose back to his feet and sighed. "Sorry... I... I really didn't have a choice..." He said softly before looking around to see corpses all over the place, J having picked off the ones he'd ignored while focusing on his target. He stood for a few moments, then promptly threw up a stream of oil as he collapsed to his knees.

J fluttered down next to him and clapped a hand on his back. "Better. You took a few out, even if most of them were either manipulated or totally by accident, but... the job got done regardless, so I guess it doesn't matter. Good work. But you can do better next time, can't you?"

N sniffled. "I...I guess so..."

J frowned. Why would they bother sending N on these missions when he clearly wasn't mentally cut out for it? Surely a desk job would suit him better? Well... This was the role he'd been given, and she'd do her best to make sure he could do it right. "...You'll get there at some point, rookie. You'll get accustomed to the line of work soon enough."

V fluttered back down to join them with something in her hands, seemingly trying to tie them into various different shapes. N almost threw up again when he saw that it appeared to be the entrails of one of the goons. V looked up. "What, not a fan of balloon animals?"

"Urgh..." N groaned, looking away and clutching his stomach.

"Hmm... I believe that's the last... Wait... My scanners are picking up one more..." J looked at a nearby parked garbage truck. V tilted her head, then approached the truck with a devilish smirk. With the press of a button, the truck sprung to life.

"Oops!" V said mockingly as the compactor within the truck turned on.

"NO! WAIT! I'M STILL IN HERE! TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Screaming... and then silence.

V hopped down from the truck and stretched her arms out. "Aaaahhh... So this is field work. Haha! Sooooo not as fun as I thought it was gonna be!"

"Then why do you look like you just had the time of your life?" J asked with a raised brow.

"I dunno!"

J rolled her eyes, then tapped into her built-in radio. "This is Serial Designation J. The cargo is secured. Targets have been eliminated. Clear to come remove cargo." She reported.

"Good, Serial Designation J. Operatives will be moving into retrieve stolen tech within the hour. Your squad can return to base now."

"Understood." J nodded before hanging up. "We're off now, you two. Time to go."

"Good..." N groaned, all too eager to flee the small graveyard of corpses.

"Hmph. Hopefully next job's a bit more filling." V huffed. J led her squad out of the warehouse. She frowned at N.

"I mean it, N. You'd best learn to pull your weight on this team. V and I can't carry you through everything you know."

"Yeah..." N looked down. "But..."

"But nothing. You have a job to do, and you are expected to do it right."

"...Yes ma'am..."

J turned to V. "And your performance was outstanding as always, V. You singlehandedly disposed of the main target AND his top enforcer, the biggest threat to the operation by far. Excellent work. Keep it up."

V looked down bashfully and giggled. "Awww, J..." She looked over at N and frowned. "Dude, you know those guys were like... actually murderers, right? Steal, lie, cheat, do whatever it takes to move themselves up in the world? They've TOTALLY killed before, we're actually kinda heroes here!"

"I don't feel like a hero..." N mumbled.

J frowned. "Well, this isn't a heroic job. We're assassins. Kinda hard to be heroes. But, anyway, good job N, for once. But next time, I expect you to do better. Understood?"

"Y-yes ma'am!" He saluted, his fingers shaking a little.

"Good. Now, back to base to rest."

And so, the trio returned home.

*Later that night*

"Hmmmm..." Groaned J as she slowly awoke. Her eyes blinked, and she realized she was in V's room. "Ah, that's right. I sleep with her to keep nightmares away."

Suddenly, she heard clunking sounds, as if someone was walking just outside their room. She tensed up, waiting to see if it was an intruder.

But then her eyes widened slightly when she recognized the silhouette.

"N...?" She whispered to herself. She looked at V. "...I'll be back..." She whispered into her ear before releasing her hold on the other female drone and fluttering down to the floor, following after him stealthily. He was headed for... the training room?

"...Good work ethic." N jumped at the sound of her voice and whipped around to see her standing with her arms crossed. "You're at least trying to improve your skills in combat. That is an excellent start."

"Ah! Uh... Thanks, J... I'm uh... just gonna..."

"...You'll spar with me. I want to see just how much training you've done in these past few weeks." J insisted.

"Uh... Y-Yeah...Sure..."

J had to say, she was fairly impressed. N was far more capable than she'd initially thought. Clearly he'd been training hard. He was able to anticipate her attacks better, even managing to land a few good blows and catch her off guard more than once. With that said, however, she was smaller, faster, more lithe and more to the point and ready to get the job done. It was her victory for the three rounds they went, but this time she actually had to put in the effort to earn those victories.

N laid flat-out on the floor for a few seconds before pushing himself into a sitting position, and J crossed her arms and nodded her head firmly. "Not bad, N. You've shown me you can improve. You're a capable fighter, and you can be even better, we just need to work to bring out your potential."

N smiled. "Wow, uh... Thanks, J! I... That means a lot to me...!"

"Excellent. Keep working to impress me then. I'll leave you to it. Improve." J nodded and left the room, a small smirk on her face. 'Ah... I knew it. He'd eventually find the joys of making the higher-ups happy...' She thought to herself before returning to V's room. She was... Oh... She was twitching and writhing and moaning in fear from her perch on the ceiling. Sighing softly, J flapped her way up and embraced her, draping her wings and arms around her and watching as she slowly settled down and nuzzled in closer to her. She let out a sigh of relief. 'Okay... You're doing good, J... They're getting through their issues just nicely.'

The trio was sent on several missions, and J was... a bit frustrated with N to say the least. Oh, he could fight now, quite well, in fact. But he continued to hesitate, continued to hold back his true power, and they nearly lost several targets because he wasn't able to will himself to take them out. She'd talked to him many times. He always promised to try to do better. He'd make the same mistakes. Rinse and repeat. She'd tried several times to talk to him about it.

"N. You held back. Don't do that. Just get the job done."

"N, just LOOK at what V is doing. Don't QUITE do that, but use it as an example of what to strive towards."

"N, you almost had your head blown off! Pay attention to your surroundings, please!"

"Honestly, N... This is your job. You can't afford to show hesitation in this line of work, or it could cost you everything."

"What's going on with you? You've improved so much in the training room, but your performance in the field has been so lacking! I don't understand how your mind functions, N..."

She was now in the office of James Elliott himself, and she was both nervous and excited. It could be something big, like a promotion or even a branded pen! On the other hand, it could mean they weren't living up to his standards and was being demoted, or scrapped, or... or FIRED!

The man himself entered the room soon afterwards and took a seat at the large desk. "Serial Designation J." He said curtly.

"Yes sir!" J saluted.

"I commend your efforts. You've lead a very successful squadron, in spite of the... troubles you've had to endure."

"Oh! Thank you so much, sir! Coming from you, that means the world!"

"Hmm...Especially impressive that you're our best group, considering there are only two effective assassins in your team."

"A-Ah... Um... I... I suppose you mean Serial Designation N...?"

"Correct. I've been monitoring his performances. Low body count. Rarely actively engages a target. Seems to stand still as stone while you and Serial Designation V do all the work. He's not impressed me, is what I'm trying to say."

"I-I'm sorry, sir... I'll be sure to talk to him."

"Is talking to him at all helpful, Serial Designation J? Has it changed anything?"

"Um... He... He's done much better in training, sir!"

"And yet he struggles with the nerve to use what he's learned there in the field."

"Well... He... is a bit of a... sensitive soul..."

"You're machines, you don't have souls. Anyway... The reason I called you in here is because you need to get that drone to shape up. Otherwise... Well... I'm sure you'd do just as well as a squad of two..."

"S-Sir... With all due respect, if N can't make it in the field, I'm sure there are other tasks he'd be perfectly qualified for..."

"And waste the parts we used to build him on a menial desk job? Not likely! If you don't get his performance to improve, then he will be scrapped. It's that simple. Run along now, I've said all I need to."

"...I...I understand, sir..." J shakily stammered out as she rose to her feet and left the room. Her mind was swimming. One of her subordinate's lives was hanging in the balance... N's fate depended on her. She NEEDED to get him to work harder... She had to make sure he did his job right... If she didn't... She shook her head. She was NOT going to let her squadmates get scrapped, not on her watch! She was the leader, and it was her job to keep them alive!

N was in his room, drawing on a sheet of paper, when the door threw itself open. "N. You and me. Training room. Now. That's an order." J said sternly.

"Oh... Uh... Yes, boss!" N saluted.

He didn't know why. He didn't know what happened. But J was being much harsher towards him than she had been before. She was snippier when responding to him. She was more brutal when fighting him in sparring matches. And she said... downright hurtful things to him...

"N! Get your worthless ass IN HERE and KILL THEM!"

"No, MORON, you keep aiming where they ARE instead of where they're GOING to be, idiot!"

"Hey! Synergistic liability! I've incapacitated ten targets, this is your chance to boost your numbers! ...Two seconds hesitation! Pathetic! Get DOWN there NOW!"

"N! For the love of Robo-Christ, stop standing around like a useless lump and DO YOUR JOB!"

"You're weak! And pathetic! And you'll never be on our level!"

"N, I swear, if you don't do your job, I am going to tear off your arms and make you drink the oil from them!"

J hated this. She didn't WANT to treat N like he was the scum of the earth. She felt like she was stomping on a puppy every time she saw the hurt look in N's eyes. But she kept doing it anyway. It was for his own good... He needed her to be a firm voice so that he could do better, so that he could avoid the fate James Elliott had in store for him.

"Sooooo... Not that it's any of my business, buuuuut... you've been acting pretty nasty to N lately..." V murmured softly to J as they huddled together on her ceiling for the night.

"...I do what I must to get him to focus on his work."

"Still, you're saying some seriously uncalled for stuff..."

"He needs to hear it."

"He NEEDS to hear that he's an, and I quote, 'good for nothing walking pile of trash that wouldn't cut it as a paperweight'?" J winced.

"He's not pulling his weight. He's dragging the team down..."

"Tch... Whatever, girl..." V huffed lightly. J could tell V wasn't happy with her. She... felt a bit disheartened by that. She didn't know why that was though...

N's performance didn't improve. So J upped the ante to getting physical with him. It started by simply harshly thumping the back of his head. Then slaps to the face. Then it turned into punching him in the stomach. And then, one day, V walked in on her violently beating him and stepping on his throat as he feebly thanked her.

"WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN, DAMN YOU?! WHY ARE YOU MAKING THIS SO DIFFICULT?! DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME, N?! THIS! IS! YOUR! JOB!" Each work was punctuated by a stomp to the throat. "JUST! DO! IT! AND! DO! IT! RIGH-" Something struck her across the cheek and sent her sailing into the wall. Dazed, she slowly looked up, and found V glaring intensely at her, wings flared outward.

"Yeah, great f*cking WORK there, boss. Beating the absolute hell out of him cause he doesn't live up to your standards. Classy."

"...V. You don't know what you're talking about. Stand aside. This doesn't concern-"

"Yes it DOES! He's my teammate too, J!"

"Since when do you care about others being hurt?!"

"You're WAILING on one of your ALLIES, J!" V turned to N as he weakly sat up. "N... Get out... I'm gonna have a chat with our boss."

"B-But I can't lea-"

"Dismissed." J said coldly, scowling at V.

"Uh... I mean... I kinda... have... no feeling in my legs right now..." N murmured. V looked at him, sighed, then knelt down and gathered him in her arms, carrying him bridal style. J felt a sudden surge of... Of jealousy...? Why...?

"Don't move, I'll be back shortly." V said firmly before walking out the door with the male drone. J stood in place for a few minutes. Then, V returned with a scowl. "What the hell was THAT?!" She demanded. "What is WITH you?! Out of nowhere, you start treating him like dirt, and now you're beating him to within an inch of his life!"

"He needs to-"

"Oh yeah, yeah, 'he needs to do his job better', there's the excuse again! Bull! You're being ridiculous! I can't believe this, J! What the hell's your deal?! Is there a stick up your ass or something?!"

"V... You are being disrespectful to your commanding officer. I would advise you stop this immediately or..."

"Oh, you'll beat the hell out of me too, J?! I'd like to see you try!"

"Since when do you care so much about N anyway?!" J demanded.

"Since I saw you trying to beat him to death over jobs we end up getting done anyway! Oh... Oooohhh... I see what this is about. Heh... You're just mad because N's holding you back from climbing the ladder... Yeah... You hate him because you can't profit off of him. You're probably loving every second of making him feel like the scum of the earth, aren't-"

Before she could finish her sentence, she found herself harshly slapped across the face hard enough to whip her head off to the side. She looked at J with a feral snarl... only to pause at the expression in her eyes. Wild anger... paired with... emotional distress?

"You think I ENJOY this, V? You think I LIKE treating him like bad rubbish? I am doing what I need to do to keep him ALIVE. The head of the company HIMSELF told me that if he doesn't shape up, he's going to be SCRAPPED, V! He will be KILLED if he doesn't improve his work ethic! I am your leader, and as your leader, it's my job to make sure both of you are performing at your best, and that you survive to see the next fight! If I have to be the bad guy to keep him from getting torn apart and melted down, then that's just the way it's going to be! Even if both of you hate me, I'm not going to apologize for doing my best to keep you both from DYING." She hissed.

V stared at her with wide eyes. "...S-Scrapped...? He... he threatened to scrap N...? They'd do that...? Scrap us? Rip us apart? Throw us away? J... I... I..." V collapsed to her hands and knees and began to breathe heavily. J's scowl turned to a worried frown. She took a kneeling position next to her.

"V...?" She asked tentatively.

"No... No no no no no, I can't, no, no... I... I just..." J carefully rubbed V's back. She watched as her subordinate struggled to regain her bearings. As time went on, V did gradually calm herself. Her breathing lessened. She became responsive... but still she shook violently. She seemed... horrified at the mere idea that she could be tossed away. But... that was just the life of a drone. They all faced that possibility to some capacity. Failure to perform their functions led to them being disassembled.

...It was morbid, but a fact of life...

"I... I don't wanna be scrapped... I don't want anyone to... to be..." V whispered.

"...You won't be. You're one of the most efficient killers the company has, they know they can't get rid of you."

"But what if they do?! What if they make an even better one and don't need me anymore and take my parts and..."

"V... Are... Are you afraid of the company...?" J asked.

"NO!" V answered all too quickly. "I-I'm NOT scared of the company, I just... I... I...I'm scared of the company, J, I'm on a leash, they can euthanize me any time they want, I don't want them to hurt me, I...I don't wanna get ripped apart, J... Help me... Don't let them hurt me..."

"I won't... I promise I'll make sure they won't hurt you, V... I'll keep you and N in top condition and make sure there's not a reason to scrap you..."

"N... N... J, you... You've been trying to protect N... Why can't you just tell him?!"

"Because then he'll get stressed out, and we've seen how sloppy he gets when he's stressed out."

"Well you yelling and berating and hitting him isn't much better!"

"What else is there to do?! Positive reinforcement has proven ineffective!"

"So what? You just break him down until he's not even the same N anymore?" V asked softly.

"...I... I don't know, V... Being a leader is hard... I don't know what the right decision is, or... or if there even IS a right decision... I'm... I don't know... V... I'm a bad drone..."

"...I... No... No, you're not a bad drone, J... I just... I don't know either... But you... I am gonna kick you ASS if I EVER catch you hitting him again..."

"...I understand..." J sighed. "...It's late... We'd best get some rest... Come on..." V obediently followed alongside her leader. Both stopped at N's room. "...He's crying..." V whispered.

"...He... does that a lot..." J sighed. "I'm sorry, N... I don't want to hurt you... If things were different, I'd never hurt you so badly..." Despite her stern leader demeanour...she wanted to hug him and apologize profusely, but she knew she couldn't do that. She had to be cruel. Because it was the kind thing to do...

Without another word, V and J retreated to bed for the night...

They'd been debriefed on another mission. This time, their targets were not human, nor were they lowlife thieves or former employees that had turned on the company. No, they were targeting one of their rivals. A rival company that had decided to build their own brand of assassin drones. This wouldn't be allowed by JCJensen. They'd only managed to build five thus far. That was why only one squad was sent to deal with the situation.

N was lazily watching the clouds as they flew through the sunny afternoon sky. J backhanded him with a scowl. "Stay focused, moronbot." She said firmly. "We'll be in enemy territory any second now and I'm not going home to tell the higher-ups that you died because your head was stuck in the clouds like an idiot."

"Ah... Haha... Always looking out for me, huh, J?" N chuckled weakly. J winced internally.

'If only you knew, N...' She thought to herself. V smacked J in the side and glared harshly at her. J winced at her in response.

'What did I say about hitting him?' Was displayed on V's visor.

'I didn't put as much force in as I typically do...' Was J's weak defense displayed on her own visor. V responded by hitting her in the ribs.

Then, J noticed something off in the distance. At first, she assumed it was a small flock of birds. But then, her scanners picked up a small object flying at full speed towards them. Hurriedly, she fired a gunshot and two bullets ricocheted off of each other in the air.

"Hahaha! Aw, badASS!" A male voice cackled as the figures closed the distance. "Nothin' I like more than a hot babe that can pull of sick moves like that!"

J lowered her gun and examined the new arrival. It was an assassin drone like her and her team. Instead of the usual lack of clothes, he wore a pristine white robe that went all the way to below his feet. Unlike the standard drone visors, his was unique. The visor was more angular, and unlike the usual drones, his visor was his entire face, a yellow, sharp-toothed mouth where the usual metal one would be. He had a pair of long antenna connected to a terminal above his head, making it look like a strange mix of demon and angel with horns and a halo. His wings however...

"Is that...plasma?"

"Aww yeah! That's right hot stuff, these are one-of-a-kind deluxe plasma coil flappers, better than your rusty metal combs from the 1950-s. Don't they rock?!"

"Well they do look pretty cool-"

"Shut it, N!"

"Nah nah, let the kiddo speak the truth." The drone said, waving his hands in a placating manner.

Eye flickering, J growled. "Alright, enough talk." She switched her hand with her gun. "We're here to shut your company down. Surrender and we can take you back to JCJensen to work for a better-"

"Hey hey now, slow down babe. Why be in a ruuush?! C'mon, let's get to know each other." He approached J and slinked his arm around her waist. "How 'bout I take ya out for lunch, sweet cheeks? My treat."

He felt himself harshly shoved away and looked over with a frown before he noticed V standing in front of J, wings flared out as she hissed aggressively. "You stay the hell away from my woman, loser! Just cause I'm mad at her doesn't mean she's not mine!"

"...Okay! Okay, I can work with this! Make it a three way, I'm totally down, you're a fine piece yourself, darlin'! You even came to see me half-undressed, that's convenient!" He reached out to try and grab V, only for her to respond by taking a massive bite out of his arm, tearing a sizeable chunk off. "AGH! OW! Bitch! Robo-Christ, that f**king HURT!"

The female drone scowled and stepped forth beside the male one. "We have no interest in turning ourselves over to JCJensen. You serve your company loyally, we serve ours. If your goal is to destroy our parent company, it seems we're at an impasse."

"Pfft... Speak for yourself, bitch..." One of the smaller drones in the back spoke up, the female of the trio nodding with a smile while the smaller male looked horrified at what he'd just said, rapidly shaking his head in protest. The female drone turned to give the tallest of the little ones a glare.

"Do you have something you'd like to say, B?" She asked dangerously.

"Not to you, no." B replied bitterly.

"Ya need another lesson over there, runt?" The taller male asked with a grin. "I'd be happy to give ya one right after I'm done takin' out pretty boy over there and draggin' his two hotties back to base for reprogramming!"

"...Why does everyone call me pretty boy...?" N asked, confused.

"Like HELL you're taking us anywhere." J hissed, forming her hand into a blade, V unsheathing her claws with a soft laugh.

"Oh... Oh, you're gonna drag ME anywhere, you sleazy piece of crap..."

"Uh... Hold on, everyone, let's not be too hasty! Let's... get to know each other! Yeah! Um... I'm Serial Designation N! This is Serial Designation V, and our leader, Serial Designation J!"

"Ha! Figured she'd be the leader, she totally rocks the sexy boss look with the little business skirt and the neck tie..." The male snickered. J's eye twitched.

"Um... Yeeeeah... And uh... what do we call you?" N asked.

"That's none of your conce-"

"Serial Designation A! I'm the leader of this squad! And this is my second in command, Serial Designation LT!" The drone introduced his lieutenant, who simply formed a spear on her hand in response.

"YOU'RE the leader? You don't act like any leader I've ever seen! Where's your sense of professionalism?!" J demanded.

"Ah, come on, babe, I'm plenty professional! Like last week, I was part of a business meeting, and I totally managed to pay attention for like thirty seconds before I fell asleep!" A said proudly.

"Hey! You gonna introduce us, or what?!" The supposed leader, and most outspoken of the three imp-like drones in the back demanded angrily.

"Eh? No one cares who you are, pipe down, small fry!" A replied dismissively. "Now, enough about that, let's get down to business! Soooo, don't see much use for pretty boy. You two, on the other hand... We definitely need more eye candy back home, so let's take this loser out of the picture, and-"

"You will NOT hurt a member of my squad." J said coldly, readying the blade she had readied. "V. Your fight is with the female. N. You take the smaller ones. The leader is MINE."

"Awwww, but I wanna rip him to shreds!" V whined, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's a direct order, V." J said sternly.

"Tch... Fiiine, but you better slice his stomach open!"

"Uh... Okay... I... guess..."

"No, N, you DON'T guess, you're GOING to fight them, and you're going to DEFEAT them." J said firmly.

"Y-Yes ma'am..." N muttered dejectedly, readying his claws and flying towards the imp-like drones.

"Aw yeah, I love it when chicks get rough, let's rock this place, baby!" A cheered as LT rushed V with her spear, the drone shielding herself with her wings and pushing her back before the spear could skewer her.

J watched her comrades head out to battle, and she herself turned towards A.

"Alright, asshole. Let's do this crap." She said, switching to her claws.

A still wore a nonchalant smile. "Sure, sugar, but first, have you ever seen Naruto?"

"Uuuh...why?"

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Suddenly, several yellow holograms manifested around A, taking the shape of several other assassin drones similar to LT.

"Haha! Pretty sick, yeah?" Gloated A. "Get 'er boys!"

As soon as he said that, the clones rushed at her. Reacting quickly, J dodged a strike from one of the clones, before stabbing through it's head with her claws. The clone disappeared instantly, but J had no time to breathe as two other clones scissored her from behind. Flipping through the air, she flew up above them, and switched to her laser cutter, firing a plasma slash that split the two copies into pieces. She turned quickly and caught a hammerfist from above, before punching through the copy with her solid fist, dispersing the last clone.

She turned to look at A, who was...sitting in the air, eating chips.

"Any more of those, coward?"

"Nah, don't feel like it." He shrugged, eating a chip, before crushing the empty bag and throwing at away. He then cracked his knuckles.

"Now it's time for me."

His hands went shiny, and a massive light suddenly covered J.

V swung her claws wildly at the female drone, who expertly blocked each swing. "Ugh! Come ON, I'm TRYING to carve you up like a ham here, stop blocking it!"

LT rolled her eyes and went in for a thrust with her spear, which V leaned back to avoid, grinning before sinking her claws into the female drone's arm. LT grimaced before smirking slightly. V blinked and pulled away just as a burst of electricity emitted from the spear, and by extension the arm she had just been latched onto. "Okay, what the hell is that?"

LT rolled her eyes. "You didn't do any research before you came here, I see. I don't need to explain anything to you."

V ran a few scans as she expertly dodged and evaded attacks. 'Okay... Plasma wings, knew that. Does she seriously not have ANYTHING other than that spear? What a piece of... Anti-nanite spear?! Okay, THAT could be an issue...' Flying back, she took aim with her gun arm and opened fire on the other female, who flew towards her at top speed. V took notice of something. She was making a conscious effort to block what essentially amounted to tiny pebbles for the models that came from JCJensen. A few DID manage to meet their mark... and when they did, small holes were torn into the other female's body. They were healing... But much, MUCH slower than she herself could. V grinned. "Ha! Wow. They had to try and really overcompensate for the fact that they built you guys out of cheap crappy material, didn't they? Just a bunch of pointless flashy stuff!"

"Shut up!" LT barked. "It'll be more than enough to beat you!"

"Do you guys even train?" V taunted, expertly weaving to the side to avoid the enraged opponent now that she was riled up. "I mean, come on, look at lardo over there, he hasn't thrown a single actual punch or used any swords, and he can't aim to save his sorry life!"

"Don't you DARE badmouth my leader like that!"

"Oooh, little touchy there? Heehee... Wonder how you're gonna react when J rips his core out and eats it?"

"That won't happen!"

"Wanna bet? As soon as she closes the distance, he's a dead pile of scrap!"

"Shut UP!" V smirked and dodged another blow before impaling the female on her claws and tossing her away.

"Sooooo... Are you gonna do anything, or are you just gonna stand there looking like some kid that just got caught stealing cookies out of the jar?" The tallest of the imp-like trio asked N, who stood before them looking uneasy. The only one that looked ready for a fight was the female of the trio. The taller male was just standing with crossed arms and a raised brow, and the smaller male actually took a step forward.

"I don't think he wants to fight at all, sir." The smaller one spoke. "He seems very conflicted."

"Ah, right, trying to figure out which one of us he wants to scrap first, how he wants to do it, lots of variables to consider, how silly of me." The taller drone rolled his eyes.

"G-Guys...? We really don't have to fight, right? I mean, you COULD just come back to JCJensen with us..."

"Pfft! Wouldn't be that different from what we're dealing with now, I guess. Big corporate f**ks dictating our every move and threatening to rip us to pieces if we screw anything up? Just a day in the life. Ah screw it, whatever, if your little harem up there can take out those assholes, we'll come along, not like we're winning a fight with you three anyway..."

"Awww, c'mon, B, I can take 'em!"

"H-Honney, no."

"Hmph!"

N looked back and forth at the trio. "Wait, so... you'll come back with us?! Really?!"

The one known as B shrugged his shoulders. "I got nothin' better to do. Neither do these two chuckleheads. Name's B. This is M-01 and M-02. Don't give a shit what your name is, don't bother telling me."

"Ah... Okay..."

"It's N, right?" The smaller male, M1, asked. "I heard your leader calling you N."

N perked up and saluted. "Yes sir! Serial Designation N, at your service!"

"Ugh. Don't... do the saluting thing, it's really gross, knock that off..." B grimaced. "So, is your leader as bitchy as she looks?"

"What? J? Nah, J's awesome, she's uh... She's always doing her best to look out for me, heheh..."

M2 and M1 frowned at that. B just looked unconvinced. "Pfft. Ah, whatever, least she probably doesn't dunk your head in the toilet and flush it or stuff you in a locker for three days straight like A-Hole up there." B sneered.

"Oh... Uh... Sounds like your relationship with him is a bit... complicated." N chuckled.

"Buddy, you don't know the HALF of it."

[Flashback 1]

"Hey there, short stack!" A greeted B.

"Okay, I'm NOT that short, I'm like... at LEAST up to your chest!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure you are, sure. Look, you and I are gonna be working together, soooo, figured I'd extend a little olive branch! Little housewarming gift for ya! Open it up!"

"Huh. All right. For a leader, you're not half ba-aaaand it's a dog turd, it is a straight up dog turd. That's just great."

"HA! GOT you! I FREAKING GOT YOU! Oh MAN! HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Yeah, yeah, reeeeeal funny. Hilarious. ..."

[Flashback 2]

M2 opened the fridge in the workplace. "Uh... Ain't we all supposed to get a can of oil? Mine's missin'."

"Ha! Wonder how THAT happened." A laughed as he walked by, very blatantly chugging down a can of oil that was marked 'M-02' in big bold red letters alongside his own.

[Flashback 3]

"S-Sir-" SPLASH! "THIS IS-" SPLASH! "HIGHLY..." SPLASH! "UNPRO-" SPLASH! "FFESIONAL!" SPLASH!

"Heh... Yeah, well, we all gotta blow off steam every now and then!" A cackled as he repeatedly dunked M1 headfirst into the toilet.

[Flashback 4]

A was sitting in an office chair, swivelling around, when he got a notification from one of the three small fries, as he called them. "Yello."

"S-Sir..." M2's shakey voice came from the other end. "M1's been shot! He... He's got holes all over his body, please come and hel-"

"HA! Sucks to be THAT loser!" A laughed before hanging up and going back to spinning in the chair.

N stared blankly at them. "...Okay, wow, he... He kinda sucks... Uh... What about the other one...?"

"Oh, she's a total f**king bitch, we all hate her guts." B said flatly.

[Flashback 1]

"NOOOOOOOO!" B pleaded, latched onto LT's leg as she carried off a large collection of horse related merchandise. "YOU CAN'T TAKE THOSE FROM ME! I PILFERED THEM FAIR AND SQUARE, COME ON, PLEASE?!"

"Shut up!" LT kicked him off and stomped on his... nether regions. "These things are pointless distractions and you don't need them!" She threw them into the incinerator and B whimpered.

[Flashback 2]

"...LT... Why did you just fax me information on weight loss...?" M1 asked.

"You know very well why, you're out of shape and worthless in close range combat."

"I'm a DRONE! I don't have fat to shed!"

"Oh? Well you certainly could have fooled me. Now where should you be right now?"

"In the training room practicing my melee?"

"In the training room practicing your melee. And since you're not in there, I can only assume you're finished and have mastered everything there is to know about melee combat. Time to test what you've learned."

"Uh..." Before M2 could say much else, he was kicked in the face and sent flying out a window. LT flew down after him, finding him facefirst in some mud, arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh, surprise, surprise. You can't take a hit or defend to save your life. Worthless." She drawled.

[Flashback 3]

"Agh... Shit..." M2 grimaced as she was harshly thrown back into a metal wall. A shadow loomed over her, and she looked up with a defiant glare. "You and your two friends are worthless and terrible. You contribute nothing of value to this team, and if the company allowed it, I would straight up kill all of you myself."

M2 growled and made an attempt to bite her. Her effort was met with a kick to the face that planted her head through the wall.

N grimaced at what he was hearing. He approached the three imps, who tensed up. "Ooooh shit, he's going back on his word! M1, M2, defensive for-Oh... Ah, we got a hugger here..." N wrapped the three smaller drones up in his arms, and began to tear up.

"I'm sorry, no one should treat you like that..." He stuttered out.

"Uh..." Was all B could get out.

"...Well, thank you. Your concern is very much appreciated." M1 replied with a small smile.

"D'awww, this big fella's just a big ol' softie, ain't he?" M2 cooed, reaching up to hug him back. "...And you don't deserve to be picked on none either, ya hear me, hun? I know you're not tellin' us a few things 'bout that leader of yours..."

N winced. "I mean... She wasn't ALWAYS harsh... She was a lot more reasonable until... a month ago... Now she just hates me because I'm bad at my job..."

"...Because you don't have the heart of a killer?" M1 asked softly.

"I... I think that's it... Yeah..." N murmured.

"Well, that's f**kin' bullshit." B said simply. "Eh. Still rooting for her to kick A's ass. And if Miss Pantsless can take out the c**t, that'd be amazing too. AVENGE MY HORSE STUFF, WEIRDLY SEXY PANTSLESS DRONE!"

"Do I hear treason down there, B?!" A called out with a toothy grin. "All right! Sounds like I finally got myself an excuse! Just hang tight down there, I'm gonna come down and deal with you right after-" J's claws sank into his side and hurled him away from the trio.

"Ah shit, your girls better pull this off or I'm f**ked..." B grimaced, now scared.

"Ah, don't worry, I'm pretty sure J and V have got this in the bag! They train a lot and they're honestly the scariest assassin drones JCJensen has. Heh... Kinda been carrying me for the past couple years."

"You better be right, it's my ass on the line here." B groaned, looking up to watch the fight.

"Would."

*pew*

"You."

*pew pew*

"Stay."

*pssshhhh*

"F*cking STILL ALREADY!?"

J just got into his face, and grinned.

"Nope."

Gritting his teeth, A summoned up more clones, who quickly surrounded J at all sides. He charged up a bigger laser, grinning like a maniac.

"Alright, screw reprogramming. Ima disassemble your ass!" He yelled, firing his strongest beam, which crashed straight into the group of clones, before carving a massive path through the ground below.

Both sides stopped to observe the sheer destruction. V and N's faces immediately grew worried.

"J...?"

LT grinned. "As expected. Victory is ours."

"Haha!" A cackled. "I gotcha! I finally fucking got ya! Oh, F*CK yeeeeaaaah! Meeeew meowmeowmeow guitar solooooooo!" He laughed, starting to play an invisible guitar solo, making guitar sounds at the same time.

*wooosh*

Suddenly, a beam of light flew through the air, splitting A in two as he was playing the invisible instrument.

"Huh...?"

His body split vertically in two, the two halves falling toward the ground. The wings disappeared, flickering out of existence.

His upper half landed right next to N and the three imp-like drones. He was still alive and conscious. B blinked twice, then gave him a malicious grin. "Well well well. Your core's ripe for the destroying right now, isn't it, A?"

"Ugh... Can it, imp, just... Just get up there and take that bitch-AGH!" He let out a choked gasp as M2 plunged a knife into his core, grinning widely at him.

"Oh, I've been wantin' to do THIS for a good long while..." The small female purred before she began to relentlessly stab and slice at the male drone's core.

"A!" LT cried out, rushing down with a snarl, blade at the ready, aimed to decapitate all three imps and the male assassin drone from the other side in one fell swoop in a futile effort to save her leader...

Only to suddenly feel an intense, stinging pain shoot through her body as something skewered her from behind and stabbed right through her hand. Slowly looking down, she saw that it was a syringe attached to a long tail. Her inner workings began to dissolve, the knife arm she'd planned to kill the imps with melting down into a bubbling liquid. V gave her a wide, toothy grin and charged a laser in her hand. "One more bitchy remark and I'll do it."

"...You... worthless INFERIOR-"

BOOM!

A laser blasted right through the female's head and upper torso, leaving only the bottom half intact. V retracted her tail and it collapsed limply to the ground next to the expired A. V smirked, and then, entirely out of spite, spat on the remains with her arms crossed over her chest as J fluttered down to join them. "Hmph. Excellent work, V. As for you, N... I see you've managed to talk down the last three remaining drones." She approached B and the Ms with her hands on her hips. "Now then... You've decided to join JCJensen, I trust?"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll come work for that hellhole, can't be worse than our living conditions. Oh, by the way, the headquarters is protected by a big hydraulic door and the password is 6YH9F4Q." B replied with a shrug.

"And how many other assassins do we have to worry about?"

"None. It was just us five."

"...Seriously?"

"Yeah. We were f**king expensive to make."

"Language! That is highly inappropriate workplace conduct!"

"Oh, great, we got one of those teachers pet types, wonderful." B rolled his eyes. "Well, we got a few bones to pick with the staff members, soooo... might as well go ahead and get that done with, we'll lead the way, let's go."

As they took off, M1 lightly nudged N, who looked unsure. M1 gave him a supportive nod, and he exhaled before approaching J from the side. "Uh... J-J?"

"What?" J grunted.

"Uh... You're... sometimes... kinda mean to me... and... I wish you... wouldn't... be that... Just... some constructive criticism..." N murmured.

J sighed and shook her head. "I wouldn't have to be mean to you if you would just toughen up, N..." She muttered back before flying further ahead. N winced and looked down.

"Hmm... Seems the situation is a bit complicated..." M1 murmured as he joined up with the taller male.

"I... I know she cares deep down..." N sighed.

"I can definitely see why you'd think so... Still... It's just not good for morale..." He let out a sigh. "Look, I don't enjoy assassin duty any more than you do, but... at the end of the day, a job is a job... My advice to you is don't think about it too much. Okay?"

"I... All right..." N murmured.

Taking down the rival company was a simple matter. Without any other drones to fight them off, they were easy pickings for JCJensen's finest trio and their new allies. The company was pleased to have three newer models now a part of their ranks, and the imps, as they were officially named, were quickly sent into training. As for our trio, they were sent back on missions within the week.

Nothing quite as exciting as their fight with A and LT happened for a good, long while. Instead it was just simple hits. One was directed at a news reporter that was trying to nose in on their business, J opted to take care of him with a simple headshot while he was walking in the middle of the night, no need to make him suffer. One was an employee, that was trying to steal company secrets for his own benefit. V took care of that one, she never liked him, she despised the way he treated the drones. And then there was that adult video director, Valentino. Apparently they were just sent in to deal with him because he was exploiting one of the higher-ups' children. J was pleased with N. He'd managed to take down almost all of the man's staff singlehandedly. Even if he didn't look happy about it afterwards, J made sure to praise him for his efforts.

"Nice work, N. You're finally improving. Keep it up. Seriously. I need you to keep. It. Up." She said gently but firmly. N just nodded, and looked over as the cackling V dealt with Valentino.

"Wow, V... You uh... You're sure enjoying... feeding him his own intestines... Uh... Skinning him... feels kinda... overkill though, doesn't it...? Uh... Did you need to light him on fire too...? This is a bit much..."

J rolled her eyes and shot the agonized director in the head, ending his suffering. "UGH! J, you SUCK!" V huffed, crossing her arms.

"We don't have time for you to drag this out, V. We still have another job after this and we need to get it done as soon as possible." J said sternly.

V huffed and stuck her nose up. "Well it's a good thing this one was such an easy job then, can't head off to work without being in top shape, right?"

"Uh... Soooo... Who are we after...?" N asked.

"Some guy turned himself into a robot using JCJensen tech and he's been using it to commit crimes. That's bad for our image, so we're being sent off to take care of it." J said simply.

"Ah... Wait... What? That's... That's weird..." N muttered.

"Weird or not, it's our job. Now come on. He's several miles away, we can reach him in a few minutes." J took off, V taking off right after her. N let out a soft sigh and took off as well.

V flew closer to J. "Hey. You're being nicer to N again."

J shrugged. "He's improved."

V smiled. "Glad to hear it... He's not in danger of being scrapped anymore, right?"

"I should say not. I haven't heard anything indicating he would be." J replied.

V opened her mouth to respond... when suddenly, they saw something flying through the air at extreme speed. "...N, LOOK OUT!" She cried out in panic.

"Huh?" N looked over, distracted by his own thoughts, before screaming in pain as the projectile hit him, engulfing him in flame and sending him spiralling to the ground far below.

"N!" V and J both cried out before flying down after him. V noticed two more of the missiles were coming her way, and so she quickly turned and blasted them with her own missiles to counteract them J was able to catch him, cradling him in her arms and looking over him worriedly. "N! Status! Speak to me!" She demanded. No response.

"Is he alive?! Please tell me he didn't die!" V called out. J turned to look at her.

"He's... alive... and he'll heal, but... it's been compromised for now... It'll take at least an hour for his inner workings to set to repairs..."

"Who the f**k are you?" Another voice sounded out, heavy footsteps moving forward. Both drones turned to see a massive, hulking figure storming his way over towards them. It appeared to be mostly comprised of silver metal... But he had the head of a human...

"YOU." V hissed, extending her claws. "You shot N!"

"Hmph. I did. Unfortunate. I intended to hit the two of you as well, so that I could kill you one by one within view of the others while you could do nothing to prevent it." The man said coldly. "I must say. I'm a little baffled. You seem to care for your teammate. Far moreso than a cold, unfeeling machine should."

"COLD?! UNFEELING?! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW?!" V snarled.

J stepped forward, fists clenched. "Enough. You know why we're here."

"I know all too well. You're two of JCJensen's little minions. Here to take back your precious company's tools, no doubt."

"Hmph. So then we don't need to explain anything to you." J said coldly.

"Indeed. We can get straight to the point. Let it be known that your executioner is named Adam Smasher. Let's begin."

"Oh, I'll begin alright." V hissed out, her hands switching to swords. "Begin tearing you to bloody scrap for calling me unfeeling!"

"Wait, V-"

But V did not listen. With a yell, she zoomed straight towards Adam Smasher. The cyborg man stood there motionless, as if waiting to be hit. And hit he was, when V swung down in an X slash at his white face.

*clink*

"Wha!?" V gasped as her blades harmlessly bounced off

"Hm." Hummed the robot man, before swinging a massive fist in a backhand, which crashed into V with tremendous force and catapulted her away.

"V!" J yelled in alarm. Gritting her teeth, she took on the offensive as well. Pulling out her guns, she started rapid-firing at Smasher, who began to slowly walk towards her, bullets harmlessly clinking against his metal chassis.

"Those are toys." He said, taking his own rifle rom his back. "THIS is what a gun looks like."

He opened fire at the assassin drone, who immediately scrambled to avoid the onslaught of bullets that shredded the ground with every hit. One unfortunately hit J's wing, which snapped in two. J grunted in pain, falling to the ground.

Right in front of Smasher's feet.

"Is that it?" He asked, his gun's barrel pointing at J's face. "As expected. Look like toys, break like toys."

"I AIN'T BROKEN YET, ASSHAT!"

"Hm?"

Suddenly, V flew out with a scream of rage as she threw a punch at Adam's face. The robot staggered backwards from the force, dropping his rifle. His head lifted and he looked at V with a pair of very red and VERY pissed off eyes.

"You're alive." He said in barely restrained fury, lifting his arm and aiming his missile launcher at her. "None leave the Slaughterhouse. Not alive."

"Good, cuz you ain't leavi-WHOA!" V was interrupted mid-quip by a missile flying straight at her. She dodged out of the way, before she was met with a black fist straight to the face, which sent her into a self-made crater in the ground.

Disoriented, V tried to get up, but her head was seized in Smasher's powerful grip. "Now stay dead." He said, beginning to squeeze his fingers around V's head. The drone began to violently struggle and scream as her head was slowly crushed.

*bang* *cink*

Adam stopped, turning to look behind him at where he left J...only to see nothing there.

"Hm..." His scanners activated, surveying the area around him, which had gone misty. Lifting his arm, he prepped his missiles.

"Quit hiding, USB stick." He said. "Come out here so I can make you fucking scream."

"Okay then..."

Adam immediately turned towards the source of the voice, spotting a yellow light in the mist. He fired his missile, which exploded and revealed...empty ground.

Smasher tilted his head, before...

*stab*

"Hngh!"

He looked to see his hand with a needle sticking out of it, yellow, corrosive liquid dripping all over his fingers. V smirked as she ripped out her stinger, before a laser beam from the mist sliced off Adam's hand that was holding V by the head.

The drone dropped down to the ground, before quickly crawling as far away from Adam as possible. The robot let out a "Tch." before shaking his corroding hand off a little, which slowed down the nanites. Thankfully his armor was cutting edge, and so much harder to simply melt.

He turned around to see J checking over V, who was clutching her head in light pain. Both girls looked up at his looming form above them.

"Caring for your comrade, eh drone?" He asked. "Normally I'd just kill you immediately, but I gotta ask. How the fuck did JCJensen program emotions into you toys?"

"What makes you think we're gonna give away company secrets, chrome dome!?" J said.

"Come now, we're cut from the same chrome cloth, machine. We're practically siblings. And siblings share stuff, right?"

"We're nothing like you, freak!" V yelled. "You are just a murderer for the hell of it!"

"And what's so wrong with that?" He asked. "I was made for murder. I was made to be a killer from core to chassis, just like you."

Shrugging, he continued. "But I digress. If you don't wanna give me what I want..."

His eyes glowed red as a humming sound grew from his body...

"...I'll just rip out your hard-drives and check for myself.

...and just for him, at that moment, the world turned blue.

Time slowed to a crawl as Adam Smasher began to move. Each step he took, each swing of his arm, each twitch of his cybernetics, left behind a blue afterimage, and as he moved, an entire train of afterimages followed his steps.

"You really thought you could challenge me?"

He stopped in front of J, pointing his arm cannon at her face. The Sandevistan turned off, and J barely managed to let out a "Huh?" before her head was blasted to bits.

"J!" V screamed, before roaring and zooming straight at Smasher again, her swords ar the ready. Adam hmph-ed before turning the Sandevistan on again. His body moved at unperceivable speeds as he simply moved behind the angry drone.

"You are nothing more than toys..."

He lifted his fist and swung it down on the drones back.

V screamed in pain as she was slammed into the ground. Her back snapped in two almost, with her wings uselessly dangling as they tried to regenerate.

Just as he went to finish her off with a foot on her chrome skull, he sped up again as a laser slash headed for his face.

"Built to be played with..."

He leaned down and picked up his rifle, approaching the spot the laser came from. He arrived to see J with half of her face gone.

He pointed the barrel of his gun into the remainder of her face.

"...and broken by little children."

The Sandevistan turned off, and Adam pulled the trigger...

*shink*

"Ngh!"

Before a sudden force yanked his arm to the side, and the bullet fired in the other direction...

Straight towards V.

"V!" J screamed, reaching towards her subordinate, who had just enough time to turn to her and give a salute...

And the bullet pierced through her stomach. Right where her core would be.

V collapsed flat on her back, still. Unmoving...

J felt something welling up inside her. Grief... She was feeling immense grief...N was down and struggling to recover, and V just...Just...

Grief changed to rage as she glared up at Adam through tears in her visor. Adam approached calmly. "Ah... That's what I like to see... Your precious comrade is no more... Hmm... It seems you're quite hurt by this loss. Maybe she was more than a friend to you? Well, don't worry. You won't miss her for long."

At that moment, J felt something welling up inside her... The rage caused her to activate something she didn't even know she had until now, something the leaders had built into them that the JCJensen scientist had entirely forgotten to mention. What was it, you ask? It was an EMP. And not just any EMP. The strongest EMP the company could get its money on.

A wave of electricity washed out over the environment. Adam Smasher quickly turned on his Sandevistan to try and run, but it was too late. The EMP caught him, and he screamed in pain as his entire body shut down.

"Agh! Pain...I've forgotten..." He says. "I've forgotten how it feels."

"Good." J said coldly behind him. He turned to look at the drone, who held a cold gaze in her robotic visor.

"You won't be forgetting anything else anymore.

*bang*

The bullet tore through Adam's cracked dome, blowing through his brains in one hit. The cyborg fell to the floor, finally lifeless.

Gun still smoking, J lowered it and pur her hand back. For a moment, she stood back, silence permeating through the air.

Then she let the tears flow.

She collapsed to her knees and pounded the ground with her fist, letting out a choked series of sobs. N was badly hurt, but he would heal, but V... V... She was... She...

Why did this hurt so much...? Why did losing V feel so... excruciatingly painful?!

Sudden flashes appeared before her eyes... A mansion... A worker drone... She looked like V...Another worker drone... Looked like her... They were reading... They were talking, laughing, smiling... dancing...

She didn't know where these memories came from... But for some reason, they made her cry even harder... She lost V... She failed as a leader... One of her subordinates died protecting her, and the other was injured because of her own inability to pay attention...

What she hadn't noticed was that V had been healing the whole time she was dealing with their opponent... and for the long amount of time she had been crying.

V began to stir slightly, groaning as she slowly sat up. She looked down to see the hole in her stomach was almost done repairing itself. Upon closer inspection, she saw how insanely lucky she had been. The bullet had just barely missed hitting her core by only a few inches. She closed her eyes and sighed softly in relief before rising back to her feet and looking over at N, who was also beginning to stir, having healed from the shot. Then, at the dead body of Adam Smasher, which got a smirk out of her. Then, over at J, who was crying. She...didn't like seeing J cry... It hurt her heart seeing her cry like this...

She approached her slowly, then knelt down. "Hey." She spoke. "If I had a nickel for every time you were the one to kill off a metal prick named Adam, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice, right? ...Okay, so the last guy's name was 'A', but come on, he TOTALLY looked like an Adam, you know he did!""

J's head snapped up at the sound of her voice. She gasped softly, slowly reached up, and touched her cheek, as if making sure she was real. And then, before she could react, J swiftly rose to her feet and slapped her across the face hard enough to whip her head around. "AGH! J, you SUCK!"

"I...suck?"

V looked to see J with her hands twitching.

And then she snapped.

"I suck!? I SUCK!? YOU SUCK! SUCK MORE THAN A MILLION SUCKERS!"

"Uuuh...what?" Asked V in confusion.

"Do you have any idea how terrified I was, V!? Do you?! Do you!?"

"Alright, calm down! I'm fine aren't I!?"

"But what if you weren't!? That bullet came dangerously close to hitting your core! I thought you died, V! I thought you f*cking DIED!"

V was briefly stunned by the sheer pain in J's voice. "Ah...I...um..."

"I'M the leader! It's MY job to protect my squad! Not the other way around!" She seized V by the collar of her jacket. "Don't you EVER do that stunt again, you hear me! Ever!"

V's eyes widened. "But... But J, you would've died, he would've hit you, it all worked out in the end!" She exclaimed, baffled... Only to stop when J pulled her into a hug and buried her face in her shoulder.

"I DON'T CARE IF IT WORKED OUT, I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU! EITHER OF YOU! YOU AND N ARE MY SQUAD! I HAVE TO KEEP YOU SAFE EVEN IF IT KILLS ME! I...I...I DON'T WANT EITHER ONE OF YOU DYING ON ME!"

"J..." V murmured, slowly snaking her arms around her. "I... I'm sorry... But... But I'm not sorry I protected you... I don't want you to die either..." She whispered.

"V..." J sobbed. "I... I'm so confused... It hurt so badly to see you get hit by that bullet and I don't know why... It... It was the worst pain I'd ever felt in my entire life... I... I don't know why..."

V's eyes widened. "Well... I dunno...Maybe you like me..."

"Don't you DARE turn this into another attempt to flirt with me, V, I'm being serious! I... I hate seeing you hurt! I HATE it!"

"Oh, and you think I wanna see you get hurt, J? You almost got obliterated by that jackass A, remember? I thought my core was gonna stop the second I saw that you weren't there after that explosion ended. I wanna protect you just the same way you wanna protect me... So... Let's agree to... to protect each other and stay alive... Sound good?" V asked gently.

"...Yes... Yes, that sounds very good... Very, VERY good..." J murmured. The two female drones embraced for a few more seconds before they heard a soft groan. "Oh no, N!" J released her grip on V and rushed to the male drone's side, kneeling down and helping him sit up. "Don't overextert yourself, N... You're not fully healed yet... Now... You need to pay closer attention to your surroundings. You could have avoided that had you known it was coming." She lectured.

"I...I'm sorry, I... Did... Did you guys...?"

"Yep, he's done for!" V chirped as she approached. "Wasn't easy, though... J and I uh... Well... Huh. How'd you beat him, anyway?" V asked.

"Oh... Well... Apparently I had an EMP that the company neglected to tell me about... It must have been an oversight on their part... But... it stopped him, that's all that matters..." J sighed.

"Aw man, I'm sorry... You guys could've been killed and I wouldn't have been there to help you..." N sighed.

"Hmm. As I said. Be mindful in the future." J said. "But... you are forgiven. Now let's go."

J reported the stolen tech recovered and the three drones assisted in transporting it back from the company. J was delighted to learn that she and V had been among the very, very few assassin drones to receive backup copies for their performance that day. If their current bodies were destroyed, their consciousness would be automatically downloaded into one of their backups and they'd be back to fighting none the worse for wear within seconds. Death was an issue no longer.

At least... for the two of them...

They were hanging from the ceiling in V's room for the night, huddled close together. "...We have our very first collaborative mission tomorrow..." J murmured.

"Right... With the Imps." V chuckled.

"Indeed... And we have a very high profile target too..."

"Medici mafia, right? Pfft! Doubt they have anything that can contend with that Adam Smasher guy to be honest..." V snickered.

"...I'm sorry... I shouldn't have slapped you...I just... My emotions got the best of me..." J murmured.

"It's all good, babe..." V replied, nuzzling her head into the crook of J's neck, causing her to blush. "I think it's kinda hot that you're so worried about me..."

"...My negative feelings are attractive to you?" J asked flatly.

"You know very well I didn't mean it like that."

"...Mind taking your hands off my ass?"

"I mind."

"...Take your hand off my ass."

"Never."

"V..."

"Aww... Fine..." V relented.

"Thank you. Now... Go to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow..."

The next day came. The two groups were en route to their destination. The Imps had spent a solid year training under the company, and they were deemed ready for their first outing. And J... didn't like B. At all. Despite all his skill, he was extremely sloppy as a leader, he made bad decisions constantly, and he was generally just... really obnoxious.

Like now, for instance. He seemed to be doing everything in his power to annoy her specifically as much as he possibly could.

"What kinda name is J?" He asked. "It sounds like a male name. Like that one blue ninja from that old bricks cartoon!"

"Oh, yeah?" J asked, getting into his face. "And what kinda name is B?! B is just below A, meaning you're second best!"

"And you have J, which makes you..." He counted his fingers. "10th. 10th best! So I'm 9 times better than you!"

"Grrrrrrr...you little..." Growled the drone.

"Um, sir..." M-01 awkwardly piped up. "Maybe it isn't wise to be provoking Ms. J? I mean, she looks like she's about to rip you a new tail...likely from your inner workings."

B snorted. "Ah, her precious company wouldn't allow it, now, would it, 10th place?" J slapped him in the face with her wing. "OW! Okay, bitch, it's on now!" B latched onto J's back.

"Wh-Get OFF of me, you little..." J stopped flying and set to trying to grab the imp off her back.B snickered and clambered up onto her head to give her a noogie. "AGH! Cut that OUT, how OLD are you?!" B then proceeded to give her a wet willy. "EEEEEEWWWWWWW!" She angrily threw the imp off of her shoulders, and he laughed and kept flying. "You immature little bastard!"

"Hey, I'll do whatever I can to get under your chrome!" B said with a grin.

"UGH!" J growled and rolled her eyes before noticing V was snickering. "DON'T YOU SIDE WITH HIM, TRAITOR!"

"Ah, lighten up and take a little playful ribbing, babe, come on!" V nudged her with her elbow.

J blushed and turned away with a half-hearted scowl.

"D-Don't call me babe..." She huffed indignantly.

M2 looked over at her and gave her a small smile. "C'mon, hun, no need to hide your feelings from her." She whispered.

J glared at her. "I have no idea what you mean."

M2 laughed into her hand. "You're lovin' hard on that girl, ain'tcha? I see it all over your face."

"I most certainly am not." J huffed.

"Aww, you don't gotta be shy none... Love's a beautiful thing, I think you should give 'er a fair shake!" M2 said with a wink.

"You ladies whispering about little ol' me?" V said with a wink.

"No." J huffed. "Just keep moving, both of you. We're almost there."

Indeed, the massive Medici Tower was awaiting them. B whistled. "Well, looks like these Medeadci f**kers are all in on the fancy stuff. I might pocket a few things while we're here..."

"...I'll pretend I didn't hear that." J rolled her eyes. "We're not here to satisfy our personal pleasures, we're here to go in, do the job and get out. Now then... We were given clear instructions to leave none alive. Are we clear on that? Not a single one of them is to leave this building with their life." She gave N a pointed look as she said this, and he winced.

"Yeah... Got it... Not... Not a single one..." He murmured uncomfortably.

"Now... Let's find the best vantage point we can to start our attack... I trust you've all been filled in on the kinds of enemies we'll be dealing with?" J asked.

"Yep! Like... maybe five of them are any kind of threat, most of them are just a bunch of thugs that'll die in like three seconds." B shrugged. "Now... The old f**k should be at the top of the building, right? Bet if we go after him, he'll call in all the other clowns that work here to come bail his wrinkly ass out and we can start picking 'em off!"

"Correct." J nodded her head. "Just in case, though... N. M1. M2. You three are to deal with the Medicis on the bottom floor." She turned to the Ms. "Please make sure he does his fair share, okay?"

"Yes ma'am!" M1 saluted.

"Don't you give her the satisfaction of a salute, you suck-up!" B exclaimed indignantly. "Who's your squad leader here?!"

"Well, sir, technically J was assigned the leader of this particular operation..."

"Who voted for her?! I demand a recount!"

"There was no vote, I was assigned due to experience and efficiency."

"Call the presses, democracy is dead!" B huffed.

"No one would have voted for you anyway." J rolled her eyes.

"M and M would have!" B protested.

"...No I wouldn't have." M1 said flatly.

"All right, just go and deal with the bottom floor while we tackle the ones at top." J insisted.

"All right, you guys heard the lady, head on down, go, go, go, go, goooo..." B waved off his two subordinates as he followed the two females, N joining the smaller imps.

It wasn't long before they reached the top of the tower, with B breaking the silence.

"F*cking hell! How tall IS this thing!?"

"Over a hundred floors..." J answered. "...and this is the top one."

Leaning down, they began to listen in on what info they could garner from the conversation below.

"Sabotage...extortion..."

"They seem to be talking about..." Suddenly, B gasped. "Oh...oh shit..."

"JCJensen...they're trying to extort the company!" J exclaimed. Her teeth grinded in fury, and her eyes were replaced with a cross. She pulled out her rocket and fired it straight at the roof. The two other drones yelped and flew back before they could get caught in the explosion.

Alarmed shouting was heard from within the room as a massive gaping hole was blown clean through the roof, the debris fatally crushing three of the goons within. B grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Heheh, Jumping right into things here? All right, let's GO!" The three drones swooped down.

The panicking old man at the desk, Lorenzo Medici, hurriedly slammed his hand down on a button, causing an alarm to blare through the entire building. Mere seconds after that, however, he found himself kicked in the head, knocking him on his side onto the floor, gasping, wheezing and struggling to get back up, barely able to lift his head to see B grinning smugly at him.

"Hello, old!" He greeted with a wave.

"D-Don't just stand there! Get them! GET THEM! STOP THEM NOW!" The old man screamed, prompting his goons to open fire. B was quick to return the favour, firing his bullets into the barrels of their guns, jamming them and allowing V to go in for the kill. Chunks and blood splattered all over the place as the female drone cackled gleefully. After the fight with Adam Smasher, easy targets were quite therapeutic.

A massive hulking man burst through the door, the man having huge, gorilla like hands, short black hair and sideburns that stuck up in all directions, and blank white eyes, one of which was scarred over. J noticed and opened fire on him. The bullets staggered him, blood gushing from the wounds, but he kept going. Rolling her eyes, J simply flew up and delivered a knee strike to the man's chin that sent him falling flat on his face. He lifted himself up with a groan... Only for B to land on his head in a crouching position with enough force to press his face into the floor, sending blood and teeth spewing onto the red carpet. B was aiming his guns at a particularly slippery target that was agilely rolling around the room and returning fire at him. "Hold STILL, motherF**KER!" B snapped in frustration before his pistol ran out of ammo. "God DAMN it!" He stomped his foot in frustration on the man's head, effectively knocking out what was left of his teeth. V swooped in before he had time to react and sliced the goon he was trying to shoot clean in half, flicking the blood off her claws and turning to him with a grin. "Hey! That wa mine!" B protested. V snorted. "Puh-LEASE, you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!"

B opened his mouth to protest, but the goon he was standing on roared to his feet, grabbing him and tossing him into the wall, before angrily barreling at V. V giggled and practically danced around him as he repeatedly tried to slam his fists down on her, before, with one expert slice of her claws, the man's arms were both entirely sheared off at the shoulder, viscera erupting from the stumps as he cried out in terror and pain. Seconds later, his legs followed suit, and he collapsed onto his back, shrieking and writhing, reduced to nothing more than a head and torso. He looked up, slowly realizing how familiar this situation was. Wasn't there a little ginger kid in the group he'd been in charge of that needed to be made an ...? He was pulled from those thoughts when V loomed over him with a manic, toothy grin. The last thing he ever saw were her claws slowly coming down right towards his eyes...

SQUELCH!

As the man howled in agony, V studied the two pairs of eyeballs skewered on her claws. "Wow. What even are you? You don't even have pupils! Ha! What a freak!" She giggled before crushing the eyes into mulch. "Ah... Is this ever gonna actually start feeling good?" She giggled. "Aww... We're almost out of targets already..." She looked at the eyeless, limbless man, considered finishing the job, then shrugged and walked off to deal with the rest of the goons. He'd be dead soon anyway.

On the ground floor, N was looking around nervously, occasionally giving a swift decapitation to a Medici goon that attempted to attack him. M1 was effortlessly picking off multiple goons from high above using a sniper rifle, the mobsters dropping like flies all around him. But the real star of the show was by far M2. She wasn't as disturbingly gleeful about her slaughter as V was. She was acting more like an angry wild animal as she plowed through their ranks with minimal effort. They were never intact afterwards either. This imp, as nice as she was, was utterly VICIOUS when push came to shove.

N sensed two heat signatures running at him from either side. Tensing up, he saw two men, one chubby with a red shirt, the other rail thin with a red neck tie and yellow shirt, were charging him with bladed weapons. "OH BISCUITS!" He yelped before dodging out of the way, looking up when he heard the telltale sound of flesh being stabbed into. He winced. The fat man, Lawrence, had been stabbed clean through the neck, and was gurgling in his final death throes before collapsing to the floor, dead. As for the yellow shirted man, Riccardo... Well, the blade Lawrence had been using... it went right through his manhood, and he was screaming bloody murder and writhing in agony, struggling to pull it out. "Uuuuuuuhhhhhh... Oooh, that looks REALLY bad... Uh... Here, let me just..." N grabbed the blade and pulled it out with minimal effort. "...Uhhh... That is a LOT of blood, maybe I should've left it in- No, no, I have to kill you, sorry, it's just... it's just the job..."

A sniper shot went clean through the man's eyes, killing him instantly, and N sighed softly in relief. M1 smiled from his position on the chandelier. He knew N hated needless suffering more than anything, so he made an effort to curb it as much as possible. Searching around the room, he scanned for heat signatures. ...It seemed everyone not in this room was taking elevators elsewhere up to the first floor. Ah... So the head of the operation was calling in backup. ...Most likely his top enforcers. Oh... He hoped the leaders and V would be able to handle things ..

"The jig is up, grandpa, time to die!" B said with a massive toothy grin as he and J cornered Lorenzo.

"Guys! I found someone hiding in the closet! Check it oooooouuuuut~!" V sang, holding a squat, square-shaped man with glasses by the scruff of his brown shirt and dragging him across the floor as he thrashed to escape her grasp.

"L-Let go! Let me go! I... Just let me go!" He pleaded.

"Ah. That's your only remaining son, if I'm not mistaken. I'm glad he's here. We can't let him keep your operation going, after all. Excellent find, V." J praised. V giggled softly.

"Aww, you flatter me. Noooow... Can I do the ho-" And then a giant orange hand slapped her away from the man while her back was turned and sent her spiralling through the air until she was able to correct herself. "Uh... RUDE!" She exclaimed indignantly. Crossing her arms, she saw that more Medici thugs had arrived. And it seemed they'd brought their finest along for the ride too. The green haired girl with the giant balloons on her chest and the weird hat looked like a bigshot. Then there was the gray haired woman with the gun arm and the fancy clothes that looked all too eager. An exotic looking woman, a singer that some of the humans at work listened to, Eliza or something. And...

"Okay, what the hell is THAT thing? Its head looks like a freaking dildo and it's older half the corpses in the f**king cemetary!" B exclaimed, pointing at the tall male-looking robot, who bristled in response.

"Well I never!" The robot huffed. "I will have you know, I've QUITE the effective maintenance over all these years!"

"Pfft! Sure, old timer. Don't worry. We'll put you outta your misery just like all these other f**ks-Whaaaaaat the hell is going on with their blood here?" B was baffled when all the blood in the room seemed to be funneling itself towards the singer, who smirked and tilted her head.

"Ah, please forgive me for eating on the job. I'm just a little peckish, you see." She said with a smirk.

"...Ugh! You actually like eating that stuff?! I tried it once and it was the nastiest thing I ever put in my mouth!" V exclaimed.

"To each their own, dearie. I suppose you prefer oil then? Well, I'll have you choking on your own soon enough."

"You're all gonna pay for this! You and that damn company of yours!" The green haired girl seethed, her hat cracking its knuckles.

"Hmph. Pay, huh? Well please forgive us for wanting an obviously evil mob boss that exploits, abuses and tortures the general public to drop dead." J snorted, rolling her eyes.

"Shut up! You don't know WHAT you're talking about!" The girl barked back.

"And you do?" J scoffed. "Ugh... B. Deal with her." She turned her attention to the tan skinned singer, who smirked and tilted her head. "I have a bad feeling about this one. She's mine."

V looked back and forth between the old lady and the tall robot. "...Well with how cheap and lame that guy is, it might as well be a one on one, right?" She giggled.

"Hey, we're here too!" One of the generic thugs called out indignantly. V shot him in the head without even looking at him. Then she felt... strange. The old lady was giving her a strange look. It creeped her out. And she wanted it to stop.

The woman turned to the rest of the thugs, including many women dressed in playboy bunny suits. "Deal with the other two nuisances, won't you? ...Ottomo? Care to show this poor thing just how capable you really are?" The woman turned to her fellow enforcer, who saluted.

"I shall indeed, Miss Dahlia!" He declared, stepping forth. "Tally-ho!" He pointed his fingers forward, and bullets came flying out. V raised a brow and flew forward, right through the bullets. She went in for a swipe. He dodged to the side, leaning on his hand and pointing up into the air, and went in for a sweep kick, only to end up stabbed in the ankle by V's claws. A hidden gun emerged from his knee, and opened fire into V's chest. V just laughed. "Out. Of. Date."

"Well how about THIS then?!" Ottomo pointed his palms at her, and flames emitted from them, engulfing V... who flew out and tackled him to the wall. Ottomo raised his fists into the air, preparing to slam them down atop V's head. V simply reached up with her hand and skewered his fists with her claws, tearing them clean off with a flick of her wrist and taking the arms with them, then grinned, flew up, grabbed the machine by the face, and slammed its head as hard as she could into the wall, smashing it to nothing more than a mess of mangled metal and wire.

She put her hands on her hips, let out a huff, and then used her claw to dig into his chest and reach the heat signature she sensed within. Reaching in, she pulled out what seemed to be a small fleshy creature that resembled a salamander, skewering some of the skin on his back with one of her claws and slowly lifting him up to meet her gaze with a sadistic, manic smile. The salamander cried out in pain at being impaled through his back skin, thrashing around to escape.

"Ey! Git yer hands offa me! You bitch! I oughta... I... oughta..." He trailed off when he saw the twisted smile on V's face as she slowly tilted her head to the side.

"Uuuuh...mercy?"

"Om."

"E-eh?"

"Nom."

Suddenly, the hairless rodent formerly piloting the robot paled, and screamed as his head was suddenly found inside a pair of jaws.

V chewed for a moment, savoring the taste, before cringing. "Ugh...tastes like stale fish..."

She took off a second bite, this time the torso, chewing a little before cringing again. "Eugh...still don't like it."

She threw the remaining part away, and turned to look at Dahlia, her knuckles on her hips.

The cybernetic woman smirked. "Ah... It's just as I thought. We're kindred spirits, you and I." She said, stepping forward.

"Oh. Oh, you think you and I are the same, lady? Pfft! No WAY! As if!" V scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"...You were hurt in the past." V looked a bit less sure now. "Badly. So badly you wanted to die."

"...I... I don't remem-"

"You lost everything you held dear."

"What? No I didn't, I'd have SOME memory of that!"

"Oh, your actions make it VERY clear, little drone. The vicious ruthlessness, the utter glee as you watch their lives fade to nothing, the lack of care for those you destroy... Isn't it invigorating? Don't you crave it more and more each day?"

"...No...? Not really...? I... don't really get much out of it, to be perfectly honest, it's just sorta... I... I don't know why... I..."

"You don't have to lie."

"I'm NOT lying, I really don't enjoy it!"

"Hmph. You don't enjoy it, yet you laugh, you smile, you relish in their pain. What would you call that other than enjoyment?"

"...I... I'm TRYING to enjoy it, but I can't... I... I want to enjoy my job, it's all I really have besides..." She gave V a side eye as she was squaring up to face Eliza.

"Oh. You have a fondness for the other female, do you, dearie? Well... Perhaps if she died before your eyes, you COULD embrace your true self. That's what happened with me, after all. So... Let's begin, shall we?"

V narrowed her eyes. "...Fine... Whatever... Let's get this over with..."

Eliza stepped forth, flanked by two massive men, one looking like a jackal, the other like a bird. "Hmph. One little drone is supposed to stand a chance against me? How laughable."

"I'm more than just one little drone. I'm the leader of JCJensen's finest team. And I fully intend to put an end to you here and now." J said sternly.

"Oh? And how do you propose you're going to do that?" Eliza asked. J responded by opening fire on her. The bullets whizzed through her body... and as blood flew and muscle and bone was exposed, it rippled like water... and simply grew back. Eliza smirked. "Oh, like that?"

"Hmph. A simple test. I picked up there was something off about you, and now I know. You don't have a physical body. You're nothing but a walking blob of blood." She began the process of charging her flamethrower. She'd need it at maximum temperature to deal with this one...

"Hmph. Talk is cheap. Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Eliza huffed.

"Gladly." J formed a blade on her arm and rushed forward. Eliza formed her hand into the head of a snake and jabbed forward, the snake head opening its mouth wide to bite down... J responded by changing the blade into a long electrified rod and ramming it down the snake's mouth. Eliza cried out as she suddenly felt the voltage flow through her body.

"You ruffian!" The bird-like man barked as he and his partner rushed in. J dodged to the side as they slammed to the spot where she had previously been.

"All right, c'mere ya runt!" The dog-like man reached down to grab her. She swiped at him with her claws, drawing blood and he growled and tackled her with his shoulder, ramming her into the wall, only for her to sink her teeth into his arm and tear out a large chunk. As he cried out, disoriented from the pain, she opted to simply shoot him through the head.

"ALBUS!" The bird-like man cried out before snarling and leaping into the air, flipping forward in an attempt to land on J and stomp her into the ground. J met the motion by flying up after him, claws glinting as she flew past him... And in seconds, he fell clean in half, the upper and lower parts of his body ending up on different sides of the room.

She turned back to Eliza with a scoff. "Honestly, did you think a couple of muscleheads were going to be enough to stop me?"

"...You'll pay with your life for that..." Eliza said calmly, her tone barely betraying her fury.

"Hmph. I doubt it." J replied, going in on the attack, intent on skewering her with her tail. Eliza dodged, crouching down, a spike of blood emerging from her forehead and stabbing J through the leg, causing her to wince. She then took the headpiece of her crown off and slammed it down atop her head, damaging one of the extra eyes. "Urgh... No big deal... Easily repaired..." J sighed.

"Do you really thing you'll have the chance to get repaired, you worthless pile of scrap?" Eliza hissed. Two spiralling columns of blood erupted beneath J's feet and launched her into the air, forcing her to catch herself with her wings. She swooped down to strike... and the woman formed her body into a hardened sphinx-like shape, defending against her every move as she repeatedly divebombed her, searching for the opening she needed. Eventually, Eliza leapt up towards her, formed her arm into a bloody bird with a sharp beak and swung at J with all her might, J barely blocking the attack. Forming wings of blood on her back, Eliza flew on J's level. She swung her staff, and V caught it in her hand, prompting Eliza to form her arms into bladed wings and swing them wildly, J barely evading each strike. Multiple arms of blood erupted from the woman's body, and J slashed them away with her blade, sending blood splattering every which way as she defended herself expertly. Eliza jabbed at J's ankle with her staff, then formed her arm into a bloody cat paw with sharp claws and took a slash at her face, scratching her in the visor. J scowled and stepped back, the scratch fixing itself almost instantly, before reaching up to catch Eliza's foot as she attempted to kick at her with a bloody leg. She spun her around and hurled her towards the ceiling, causing her to slam into it at full force.

A bloody snake lunged down towards her from the ceiling, but she simply held her blade up and sliced clean through it before stabbing Eliza through the chest. Before she could stab her with her tail, a bloody crocodile head emerged from Eliza's chest and bit down on her. She managed to pry its jaws open and made to stab the blood with her tail, but Eliza sent her leg through her staff and created a hieroglyph with it, the symbol striking J in the back and knocking her off of the diva. J was on the receiving end of two staff swings, and then bitten by a massive snake that attempted to chew her to pieces, only to be carved up by a laser. Eliza visibly winced, confirming J's suspicion. She had a vulnerability to heat. She could use that to win.

Eliza formed the head of a bull and charged full force at J, ramming her into the wall. J made another attempt to stab her, and she retreated just as the tail full of nanite acid was about to strike, causing J to curse under her breath. Eliza formed a khopesh blade, and she and J clashed for several seconds, before J was made to dodge as a series of ascending humanoid figures erupted from the ground before her. After evading the hieroglyphs, she swooped in close to relentlessly slash at the woman, sending blood splattering every which way, before Eliza twirled her staff close to her body, from skirt to head. And as she did this, J caught a glimpse of a strange looking skeleton with glowing yellow eyes...

Growling, J formed her claws and impaled Eliza through the chest, flying towards the wall and pinning her to it. Pulling her other arm back, she stabbed Eliza through the face, the chest, the arms, the legs, everywhere she could, before hurling her down to the floor. Smirking, she fluttered down after her, readying her tail for a stab...

Only for the skeleton she had seen to come bursting out of the woman's body with a snarl. "YOU WILL KNOW YOUR PLACE, HOLLOW HUSK!"

"What the hell...?" J breathed before dodging out of the way as the creature lunged for her, slashing with its claws, blood splattering with every hit as J was forced to dodge and weave around her now far more aggressive and feral opponent. The creature lunged at her with a cat-like yowl and she ducked under it before impaling the creature with her claws and slamming it onto the floor. The creature thrashed and writhed, and no matter how hard she tried, it was impossible to keep it pinned as it lunged back up and stabbed her repeatedly through the torso with bloody blades.

As she was recovering, it hopped up and slammed a bloody axe down at her head, intent at splitting it in two. J managed to block it with her blade, deflecting the blow to the side, and the creature retreated as she fired at it with her guns. Hissing, the creature retreated back to the blood sarcophagus that contained its host. Eliza was back in the fight. She took a deep breath.

"Well... You ARE quite the nuisance... Aren't you?" She said in a low, dangerous tone of voice.

"Hmph... You're the equivalent of a mosquito, and I'M the nuisance?" J scoffed.

"Quite the mouth on you. You should learn to respect your goddess, you know."

"Goddess? Are you really that full of yourself? That's the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard in my life! Goddess! I mean, honestly, GODDESS?!"

As she was rambling, Eliza formed wings and swooped down at her, J yelping as she grabbed her in a pair of talons, then flew up right through the roof of the building. She swooped back down, then slammed J through several floors until they ended up at the bottom of the Medici Tower where N and the Ms were still dealing with low-level grunts.

"J?!" N called out, concerned.

Eliza wasn't done. Forming an efigy of the sun, she swooped at V again, carrying her through the air, before slamming her back down onto the ground. She stood tall, smugly leering down at the drone. "Hmph. Well, well. It seems you've underestimated me. As expected from a pitiful little robot. Why don't you lick MY boot instead of that worthless companies' for a change, hmm? You see them as your god. But there is only one deity in this world! ME! Now... you... D-" She was cut off when a wave of excruciating pain shot through her body. Her eyes widened as she staggered back.

J had successfully stabbed her with her nanite acid.

Her blood was eroding away by the second. Her parasite beneath her nonexistent skin screamed in agony as it melted away slowly. She wasn't healing, she wasn't healing, why?! WHY WASN'T SHE HEALING?! Blood! She needed blood! Blood was everywhere! Desperately, she siphoned all the blood of the victims the other drones had killed, but all it did was prolong the inevitable. As the second it made contact, it began to erode away just the same as the blood she'd already had did.

J shakily got back to her feet, scowling as she formed her flamethrowers, which were charged beyond full capacity. Eliza looked up at her, eyes wide in genuine fear. "Any last words?" She asked coldly.

"I... I am... I am this world's godde-"

J promptly shut her up by unleashing her flamethrowers. Eliza screamed in anguish as the flames engulfed her very being. Her blood boiled before evaporating into nothing. Sekhmet, her parasite, suffered the agony of her eyes burning away, her body charring black, before rapidly disintegrating until there was nothing left but a few specks of ash falling gently to the ground like little specks of snow.

J collapsed to a kneeling position, panting heavily. N rushed to her side. "J!" He called out, worried. "Are you okay?!"

"I...I'm out of the fight, N... I'm overheated... I need time to... recuperate..."

"Right! Come on...I'll find you someplace safe... Let's go..." N picked J up bridal style and rushed to find her a safe spot to hide while M and M dealt with the very few remaining goons. He found a closet and put her inside. "Stay in there. We'll come and check on you when everything's good."

"...Understood. Well done, N." J nodded with a small smile. N saluted and closed the door, then went to go help again when he heard what sounded like hyperventilating. He turned to see a small woman with short hair on the floor, panicking over what was happening around her.

"Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohno..." Was all she could get out. N frowned and approached her. He had to kill her... He had to kill everyone in the building... He... He'd have to make it quick... He approached her.

"Uh... Hey there!" The girl snapped her head up in hopes of seeing a friendly face, but her eyes widened, pupils dilated, when she saw him.

"NOOOOO! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE! I'M SORRY! I ONLY WORKED FOR THEM BECAUSE THEY THREATENED MY FAMILY! I'M SORRY, I WON'T DO ANYTHING! Just... Please let me go, please, I'm begging you, please... Please..." The girl began to sob uncontrollably into her hands.

...N couldn't do it. He just couldn't do it...

He aimed his hand at the wall, forming a laser, and cut a hole into it, big enough for her to escape outside. "...Go..." He said softly. The girl looked up at him, surprised.

"H-Huh...?" She asked softly.

"Run... Escape..." He murmured. "Go back to your family..."

"I...I... Really...?"

"Hurry, before M1 notices you. Get out while you have time."

"Th-Thank you..." She breathed out before seizing her chance and running out the hole. N watched her go, and was pleased to see she'd successfully gotten away.

"...Oh biscuits... I'm in trouble now, aren't I?"

*boom*

"AAAAA-"

N quickly ducked to avoid a Medici goon flying over his head, looking left to see the source being B...holding a giant bazooka.

"OOOOOH YEAH, gettin' hard on this mothafuckah! HAhahahahaha!" He fired another missile with the words "your mom" on it, which soon blew up in the face of a group of women dressed as bunnies, with various weapons in their hands.

"Alright, bitches! Who wants some more quality time with daddy?!" He yelled, his drone eyes flickering and changing size every second. Suddenly, a *ping* was heard, and B turned to see Vitale and Cerebella quickly scurrying into an elevator.

"Oh no you don't, buddy ol' pal!" He yelled, dropping his bazooka and taking off towards them. Just as the elevator closed, B grabbed the doors and pushed them open. He clicked his teeth in frustration, as the elevator was already descending. Smirking, he sliced the cables holding it up, and flew down to catch up to the falling elevator.

"A-ah!" Vitale yelled as he and Cerebella began to float up. "W-what is going on!?"

"C-calm down, Vitale. It's probably noth-"

*CRASH!*

Before Cerebella could finish, the elevator finally reached the bottom and landed with a loud crash. The pair inside hit the floor hard, and Cerebella gasped at the pain in her behind.

"Agh...Vitale? You okay, sir?"

"Y-yes, Cerebella." Nodded the fat man. He began to get up, when suddenly...

*knock knock*

"Delivery!"

The pair froze and looked up at the elevator ceiling. Suddenly, a metal claw pierced through and carved out a circle in the ceiling, the carved out piece falling down and revealing B grinning down at them.

"Express service. Please sign on the wall with your blood."

He jumped in, before planting a kick straight into Cerebella's face, launching her through the door of the elevated and into the hall.

The preformer rolled on the ground, groaning in pain. Getting up, she turned to check up on Vitale.

*click*

"One wrong move and Jack Black playing Godfather here gets it."

The girl's eyes widened in fear. "G-Get away from him!" Vitale's eyes were bulging out of his skull as he stood rooted to the spot in fear, B pointing a gun at the side of his head.

"Sorry, honey, no can do! We're here on a job and we plan on seein' it through to the end! Still, can't be TOO surprised, right? I mean, come ON, you're a f**king MAFIA, for god's sake! You KNOW you've got some serious skeletons in your closer, I read the job briefings!" B huffed.

"You don't know what you're talking about! The Medicis have done nothing but help the people of this city!" Cerebella exclaimed. A moment of silence. Then B burst into loud, hysterical laughter. Growling, Cerebella put her foot forward, and he was immediately serious again.

"Ah! Ah! Easy there, sweetheart! You care about your sugar daddy, don't ya?"

"HE'S NOT MY SUGAR DADDY!"

"Pfft! Suuuuure."

"Just... Just let him go!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"You know I'm gonna trash you as soon as you do anything to him, right?"

"Ha! Love to see you try, babe! I've been on tons of missions and I took out WAY tougher shit sacks than you could ever hope to be! What, you think you're hot shit cause you got a big fancy muscle hat? Gimme a break!"

"Grrrr..." The girl growled, beginning to tear up and look desperate.

B blinked twice. "Wait wait wait... Hold the f**king phone here. Is this some kinda weird Elektra Complex thing you got goin' on here? ...Holy f**k, you're actually in love with this guy, aren't you?!"

Cerebella tensed up and blushed. "N-No! No, I am NOT!"

"You ARE! You totally ARE! Urgh, GAG! Gross! Come ON! LOOK at this guy! His head's a f**king cube, for robo god's sake! And he has jowls! JOWLS!" He grabbed the bottom of Vitale's cheek and pulled on it to emphasize his point.

"S-stop, you're hurting him!"

"Shtop, you'we huwting him!" Mocked B in a bad imitation of Cerebella's voice. "Look at you, crying because I'm touching your sugar daddy-"

"HE'S NOT MY SUGAR DADDY!"

"-he totally f*cking is ANYWAY!"

He pointed one of his guns at her.

"Those huge badonkadons must've been padded by the two halves if your brain, because you're clearly more boobs than brains if you can't even see how wrong the mafia is."

"Oh, yeah?!" Cerebella yelled. "And where's the proof!?"

B just gave her a flat look before displaying a holoprojection showing off all the files he downloaded from the Medici computer.

"Wh...what?:

"That's right, Titz4Brains." B remarked. "If you weren't such a braindead twitch simp who's probably fantasized about your action in bed-"

"HEY!"

"...you'd probably have immediately realized just how shady they really are. Especially that prehistoric fossil and his fancy dressed wannabe Snorlax of a son."

"Let me go...I'll give you anything you want! You can have money, you can have Cerebella, just don't kill me!" Vitale pleaded.

"HA! Y'hear that?! This fat f**k just tried to sell you out! Newsflash, pal! I gotta kill both of you, she was gonna die anyway! Ah, what am I wasting time on? Time to die! So, what'll it be? Gun? Knife?"

"No... Please.. Please, he's... He's all... He's all I have... Please don't, I... I..." B looked at the girl with a raised brow, then sighed deeply.

"Y'know. There's a big part of me that feels sorry for ya, kid. This fat slob here..." He harshly yanked Vitale's hair. "...has been manipulating and gaslighting you all your life into thinking he's the hero. He's NOT. You saw that. Guy's a f**ked up mess like the rest of his family and he dragged your ass down with him. Buuuuuut, a job's a job at the end of the day, soooooo..."

BANG!

Vitale collapsed dead to the floor. Cerebella stared wide-eyed at the body. Then she fell to her knees. She stared blankly up at B as he aimed the gun at her head. "Sucks. Could've lived a happier life than this if ya just didn't get mixed in with the wrong crowd. Difference between us, though? You do this rotten shit by choice." He pulled the trigger. He'd aimed away from Cerebella. The bullet hit the weakened ceiling above their heads. The chunk of ceiling dropped down and landed on top of her, leaving only her arm visible from underneath. B walked away with a small sigh. "Well. Don't even know HOW to feel about this whole mess..." He walked away, shaking his head. "Have to do what you have to do to avoid the scrapyard, kid. ...Ugh... I get the feeling this is gonna stick with me for a good, long while..."

Meanwhile, on V's side, the drone was getting more and more frustrated as her opponent kept dodging her attacks.

Laughing like a maniac as well while she was at it.

"Would you freaking STAY IN ONE PLACE AND LET ME SHOOT YOU!"

Dahlia teleported out of the way of another bullet and laughed madly. "That's right! Show it to me! You'd like to stay still and let my brains be splattered all over the floor by your own hands! Isn't that right!?"

"Shut it already!" Responded V in fury. This woman was seriously getting on her nerves.

Especially since she was right.

V did really enjoy the idea of gutting Dahlia alive. The woman was pissing her off to no end with her taunting, and V could just picture her face as she spat out a barrel's worth of blood after she skewers her. She RELISHED in the feeling it would bring her.

But that's exactly what Dahlia wants her to do. She's deliberately goading her into doing what she expected she would do. To do what DAHLIA would have done.

Shaking those thoughts away, V quickly avoided an incoming incendiary round, before diving towards the granny. Dahlia smirked and teleported just as V reached her previous position, appearing above and thrusting her legs down, impaling V into her boot knives.

The robot yelped when the strikes connected, and Dahlia's weight pushed her down to the floor, crashing the drone with an unceremonious impact.

Dahlia retracted her boot knives and pointed a gun at V's head. "Feel like trying harder now?"

"Hrghhh, shut it!" V yelled. "I'm not doing what you want..."

"Bur your heart hungers." Dahlia said. "It yearns to rip me to shreds, to see my gory glory be laid bare by your claws...so why not let it?!" She asked. "I can see it in your expression. You WANT to rip me apart! So do it!"

She stomped on V's head with her heel. The drone snarled in pain.

"That's right...embrace the anger. EMBRACE IT!"

V attempted to skewer her through the leg with her tail, but she was able to expertly kick the appendage away. "Come on now... You'll have to do much better than THAT!" She pointed her rifle at V's head. "Well? Are you afraid? I could very easily end your life right here and now, you know. Smash that pretty little head of yours to tiny little pieces... Watch the oil pool all over the floor... Oh! I wonder how the rest of your little squad would react to seeing your destroyed remains! Oh, how DELIGHTFUL!" She laughed into her hand. "You can't tell me YOU'VE never had these thoughts, now, can you?"

"...I... I have NOT..."

"Hmph. I know. I know very well from the look in your eyes that you felt hollow, empty, your joy was entirely faked as you slaughtered the Medici muscle like pigs. Honestly, it was quite sad to see. However. Anyone capable of such bloodshed would HAVE to at least SOME level of enjoyment from it, wouldn't you agree? Hmmmm?" She added more pressure to her head. "Well?" V simply cried out in pain at the pressure in her skull. Dahlia laughed. "Awww, does it hurt? Poor dear... No one is here to save you... The only one that can get you out of this situation is yourself... So either you muster up that desire to kill and act on it... Or you end up with a crushed head! What will it be?! Life, or death?! Fight, or succumb?! Don't make this dull for me, now! Fight back! Force me off! Give me something interesting! Come on! Do it! DO IT!"

"ALRIGHT THEN!"

In an instant, V lifted her arm and pointed a gun at Dahlia's face. The assassin immediately lifted her own gun to defend...

*BANG*

But when the shot was fired, nothing came.

"Hm?" Dahlia tilted her head. "Missed? Hah! And after such a powerful cry or rage. Quite anticlimactic."

"I wasn't aiming at you..." V smirked.

Dahlia's eye widened and she looked up to see the chandelier above trembling, before suddenly it snapped off and began falling straight down. Dahlia quickly teleported away, but before she could recuperate, she was forced to block a downswing from V's claws. The chandelier crashed through the floor, causing it to fall apart beneath their feet. The pair fell through and were now rapidly heading down mid air.

"Ah! Whoa whoa whoa whoa!"

V of course immediately spread her wings, just barelymanaging to regain her balance mid-air. . As for Dahlia...

"Pfft, who needs wings?"

Using her skill, the Medici monster jumped on the rocks falling alongside her, using them as platforms, and she began to swiftly catch up to V. The drone dived towards her, and the two yelled loudly as they clashed their weapons as soon as they were close enough. The clash was so strong, the shockwave completely pushed away all the rocks falling around them.

Dahlia grabbed V by the face. "Going down? Here, let me help!" Swinging her down, Dahlia planted her heels into the drone's back and popped out her boot knives, which shanked V through the entire torso, causing her to shriek in pain. Gritting her teeth, V swung her tail up and stabbed at Dahlia's leg, smirking when a successful hit was achieved. Dahlia grunted, pulling out a shotgun and blasting off the melting limb. Before she could do the same with V's head however, one of V's wings unflured and sliced off Dahlia's hand.

Before the Medici assassin could register the injury, V sliced off Dahlia's last leg with her other wing, and flipped her in the air so that now she was above Dahlia.

"Ever did cosplay before?" V asked. Dahlia raised a brow in confusion. "Hah? What?"

"No, huh? Good."

V embraced Dahlia in an embrace as tight as her drone strength could muster, before catapulting them both down at top speed.

"Cuz you're about to cosplay a meteor.

Dahlia's response as V reached terminal velocity and engulfed the both of them in a ball of fire? She simply laughed all the way down, before they crashed onto the bottom floor in a massive explosion that jolted N and the Ms, and even J from her spot in the closet.

As V knelt down over the woman, she surveyed the situation. She was in utter shambles, no doubt. All but one of her limbs was missing, and the one spare arm she had might as well have been with how much of a twisted, mangled wreck it was. V quickly noted just how much metal was attached to this woman. It seemed the only flesh and bone she had was her torso and her thighs. The woman spat up a wad of blood... and laughed.

"Bravo... Haha... Well done... Excellent performance... You... You've beaten me. You know what comes next, of course... Come on! Finish me off! You know you want to! You want me to suffer in the worst ways imagineable, don't you?! You want to tear me apart! You want to hear me scream and sob and beg for my life, and then you want to hear me beg for the sweet release of death! That is just who you are! You are a vicious killing machine! It's what you were made to be and it is all you will ever be good for, so come on! Go ahead! Do it! Why are you hesitating?! Finish the job, coward!" V snarled, raising her claws, and Dahlia grinned madly...

BANG!

Before a bullet promptly blew a hole clean between her eyes, killing her instantly. V blinked twice, then looked up at the chandelier where M1 was still holding his rifle. "...Oh... Sorry. Was that yours...?" He asked sheepishly.

"...Nah... Better this way..." V muttered as she rose back to her feet and looked around. "...Hmm. Place is cleared out! Anyone get away?"

"Not that I saw... Hang on..." M1 carefully scanned the perimeter. "Hmm... Seems we've dealt with all but one..."

"You mean the old windbag here?" B's voice called out, stepping out of the one working elevator with his gun pointed at Lorenzo's back, the old man trembling as he was forcibly led along. "That's right, keep it movin', old timer, there we go..."

V smirked, before she blinked twice. "Wait, where's J?" She asked worriedly. As if on cue, the closet door opened, and J stepped out, sighing softly. "Ah... Much better... Hmm... It seems the fight is over. Well done, everyone, excellent performance all around." V ran up and hugged her, and she blinked twice. "Ah... V... Good... I knew you'd win..." She embraced her fellow drone with a small smile and a blush before pulling away. "Now... Lorenzo Medici." She and all the others approached the man, surrounding him, all glaring. J crossed her arms over her chest. "You are holding top secret information about the company. Information you planned to use to force them under your thumb under threat of exposure. Where is it? If you tell us now, then your end will be far less painful. If you refuse... Then M2 will be free to do as she pleases to you." The female imp grinned and brandished her blades.

"...In the safe... in my office..." Lorenzo relented, shoulders sagging as he realized it was over.

"Hmph. Excellent. Good boy. ...Now let's deal with him. Weapons at the ready." All six drones formed their arms into guns...

"Sorry..." N squeaked out before they all opened fire on the old man. He screamed as the bullets riddled his body, the heavy fire tearing him apart, he finally fell limply to the floor, a hole-riddled mess.

J sighed and nodded curtly before turning to N. "I want you to go and get the safe to carry it back, N." She instructed. N saluted, then flew up to the top floor once more. J turned to V with a small frown. "V? Are you all right?"

"...This is... a me and you thing, not... Not a me, you and them thing..." V replied softly, pointing at the imps.

"...Understood." J nodded. N reappeared with the safe, and the six drones returned home, B loudly rambling about how alive he had felt as they'd worked.

That night, V and J cuddled close to each other on the ceiling of V's room, as per usual. "...Now... What's bothering you?" J asked seriously.

"...Am I just a psycho killer?" V asked softly.

"...Are you JUST a psycho killer? ...No. No, I don't think you are." J replied.

"...That woman said that it was all I was good for though... She... She said I... She said I love killing and making people scream, and... I don't think I actually DO like it... I try to, but... no matter how much I pretend, I just can't enjoy doing it..." V said softly. "But... What if I do end up enjoying it...? What if... What if I really do end up just being a psycho killer? I... I don't want that to be all I'm known for, J..."

"...Well... You're a hopeless romantic, for one thing..." J murmured. "And a skilled fighter... And... a supportive friend... And you have a strong moral compass... You did everything you could to... stop me from hurting N... You called me out on hitting him and you protected him from me, even though you have a crush on me... Those are all traits that a psycho killer... mostly doesn't have..."

V paused, smiling softly with a blush, then tightened her hold on J, nuzzling into her chest. "Thanks..." She murmured. "...I think it's more than just a crush though... I really do... I... I...Um... Well... Hmm..." V drifted off to sleep. J smiled and closed her eyes...

The next day, J was called into the CEO's office. "You wanted to see me, sir?" She asked.

"Yes, Serial Designation J. I was monitoring your progress last night. On the Medici Headquarters? You and Serial Designation V were excellent. We were worried that the ones known as Eliza and Black Dahlia would be too much for even you, yet you dealt with them singlehandedly." J's tail began to wag excitedly as she clasped her hands together.

"Oh, thank you so much sir, I'm so glad you noticed! I- Wait... What about N? He's been doing much better as of late."

"...You were given clear instructions. No one was to leave that building alive." The CEO scowled. "Serial Designation N allowed one of those Medici filth to escape! Worse, he directly AIDED in their escape!"

J's eyes widened in horror. "No... He... N... You...How could... S-Sir... Sir, I'll talk to him... I'll make sure this doesn't happen agai-"

"No need. Serial Designation N is retired, starting today." James Elliot said with a dismissive shrug of his shoulders. "He was dead weight anyway. You and Serial Designation V will be better off without having to babysit him all the time."

J's pupils dilated. "...S-Sir...? Wh-Where is he now...? What's going to happen to him?!"

"He was properly disposed of." The man huffed. "Now then. Return to your quarters. You'll be back to work tomorrow, so be ready for it." J's stomach dropped as she left the room, fists clenched at her sides. She was silent on the elevator ride down. She passed by N's room. She looked inside. Empty. No drawings. No pictures of dogs proudly hung up on the wall. Just an empty room, might as well be unused. She winced. She made her way to V's room. V was lying on the floor, because it was more comfortable than the bed, reclining on her hands, looking bored.

She looked up to see J and perked up. "Hey, boss! So, what's on the table for today? And uh... where's N? He sleep in again?"

"He's gone." J said bluntly. "It's just you and me now." V's expression quickly turned fearful.

"G-Gone...? What do you mean gone?!" She demanded.

"...He spared one of the Medici's members. The company found out. He was sent out to be...To... To be..." J fell to her knees and pounded the floor with her fist, denting it. "Damn it... Damn it, damn it, damn it, this is JUST what I wanted to prevent! AGH! Where did I go wrong?! How could I have gotten him to... I... Damn it,, I failed, I'm a horrible leader, I was supposed to protect you both and I..."

V knelt down and embraced her, tears forming on her visor. "S'not your fault... He was... He was too nice for this world... He... He... N..." V sniffled. "I... Why him...? He..."

Both female drones cried. It wasn't like either of them to cry... But it couldn't be helped. N wasn't just a comrade, he was... a friend... His smile could light up a room and he wanted everyone around him to be happy... J felt the weight of her abusive actions towards him crash down on her shoulders and cried harder. It was all for nothing, she treated him like dirt for months in an effort to toughen him up and it ended up being meaningless!

V, meanwhile, hoped for a miracle. That somehow... N would find his way out of this mess...

Now... N was left in the care of a very lazy and apathetic employee. He was to be shipped off to a scrapyard where his parts would be repurposed. What the employee did to make sure that would happen? He put him in a dumpster and left a brick on top of it to make sure he couldn't get away.

N sat in silence, hugging his knees as he let out a sigh. '...I don't regret it, I'd do it again.' He told himself. That was a good woman. He knew it to be true. And he couldn't bring himself to kill someone scared and crying... It just wasn't right...

He heard the truck approaching. He accepted his fate... He felt the dumpster being hoisted up. The door opened. He tumbled out. Darkness. The walls were closing in around him. He closed his eyes. He was going to be crushed... For sparing a life, he was going to be crushed... For not killing an innocent... No... No... That wasn't fair... He didn't want to die for being kind! He REFUSED! Eyes snapping open, he gained a sense of determination, and extended his arms outward to either side, pushing back against the truck's walls, before looking down at the tracking device on his torso. In one swift motion, he crushed it with a single gesture of his fist before activating his wings and flying out of the truck, high into the air, as it finally managed to close its walls and crush what was within.

N let out a sigh of relief. ...Then he frowned. Where was he to go now? He couldn't return home... He was... alone. And... And free... He was... free... With the tracking device destroyed, the company would easily assume he was dead. He didn't have to murder to stay alive anymore! He smiled widely. It was time to find a new life for himself...

N made his home in a junkyard, several cities away from company headquarters, doing his best to stay hidden as he stayed in an old discarded trailer. He had a nice little setup. He'd found a discarded dog picture that he'd put up on his wall, and some of the vehicles that came in still had oil in the tanks, so he had something to sustain himself, at least. Still... He was lonely... Very, VERY lonely...

He missed V and J. Harsh as J could be, he knew she cared about him. And V had done her best to make him feel better about what they were doing with their lives. He wondered how they were coping with his supposed death...

It was nighttime. He liked to take walks around the scrapyard, as well as the landfill next to the scrapyard, at nighttime. Just... so that he could think about things. How he'd lived his life... How he'd killed people... And when that got too depressing, he would fantasize. About having a dog. About having a home. About having a... a family...

When these thoughts overtook him, he would often sit atop one of the piles of garbage and just... think... Like tonight. He laid down and just looked up at the sky. He wished he could see the stars. He'd seen them on a few missions. They were so beautiful... He froze up when he heard footsteps. Hurriedly sitting up, he carefully leaned forward to see... a teenage girl walking through the junkyard? She had short red hair, and she was carrying a camera. She also seemed to be dressed in some sort of school uniform. The girl was muttering to herself. Something about there... being nothing interesting to photograph in this city? Oh, she liked photography! That was nice!

He leaned forward slightly for a closer look... But the garbage pile he was on top of began to shift and stir. Eyes wide, he quickly flew off of it, hovering as a sizeable portion of food scraps and sludge fell off... and landed right on top of the girl, who cried out before being buried underneath a mound of garbage.

"Oh BISCUITS!" N panicked and flew down as fast as he could, frantically digging her out with his hands, tossing garbage to the side in an effort to uncover the girl he'd accidentally buried.

Eventually, he manages to dig hee out of the trash, moving away the last untorn cardboard piece.

"I-I am so sorry, miss! I-I didn't mean to bury you, I just wanted to get a closer look since I heard you like-"

"It's fine, it's fine! Stop." The girl spoke chuckling. "It's okay. I've been through worse. A pile of trash can't compare to what Nidai put me through that one time..."

"Oh...what?"

"Ugh, you wouldn't get it." She waved it off, before giving N a gentle smile. "But I'm glad you apologized at least. So rare to see boys apologize for their screwups nowadays." You're a nice, refreshing change."

N blinked twice and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, uh... Heheheh... Awww, thanks... I'm glad to know I'm special!" He said with a toothy grin.

Mahiru looked him over. "Oh wow... I've never seen a drone like you before..." She murmured. N tilted his head.

"Oh, uh... I was... built a bit... differently than other drones, heheheheheh... Uh... I'm... not... really... allowed to... talk about it..." He chuckled nervously.

Mahiru smiled softly at him. "Well, even if you are taller than the other drones I've seen, you're still cute as a button!" She chirped.

"...Awwwwwww... Y'really mean that...?" He asked bashfully.

"Of course! It's all in your personality! Oh! I'm sorry, I totally forgot to introduce myself! My name's Mahiru Koizumi! And what's yours?"

N saluted. "Serial Designation N, at your service! Uh... Or... Just N... If you prefer..."

"N, huh? That's a very nice name, actually. Oh! Oh, let me get a picture of you!" She pulled out her camera and snapped a picture of N, who hurriedly struck a pose for her.

"Uh... Was that good...?" He asked, rubbing his arm.

"Perfect!" Mahiru chirped, holding up the camera with a smile. "Aww... You have such a photogenic smile, it's cute!"

N grinned. "Heheh! Thanks!"

"So... What are you doing all the way out here, anyway?" Mahiru asked.

"Oh, uh... well... I live here!" N explained. "Uh... I'd offer you some... tea and a snack, buuuuut... there's not much I can offer you that isn't moldy or rotten..."

Mahiru tilted her head. "You... live... in the dump?"

"Yep! It's a fixer-upper and all, but..."

"Why do you live in a dump?" Mahiru asked with a frown.

"Why? Uh... Cause... I got... thrown away cause I wasn't good at my job..." N chuckled awkwardly.

"...You just got thrown away like garbage...? That's awful! Who would DO something like that to a living being?!" Mahiru pulled the assassin drone into a hug. He tensed up, then slowly returned the gesture, wrapping an arm around her and patting her on the back with a small smile.

"Wow... Uh... Thanks... I... I needed... this..." Tears began to form on his visor. Mahiru noticed, and reached up with a smile to wipe them away.

"Well... I'd be a bad person if I just left you here to fend for yourself, and we could use a little extra help around the house... What do you say? Wanna come home with me?"

"...R-Really...? You're just gonna... give me a home...? A place to live...? After... After I covered you in garbage and..."

"Hey, hey, I told you that was no big deal, didn't I?" Mahiru chuckled. "I just can't stand to see someone as sweet as you living alone and homeless with no one to help them... Come on. Let's go..."

"I... Hold on... Just a sec..." N took off into the air, surprising Mahiru, then came back clutching the photo of the golden retriever he'd found. "Um... I just... wanted to... keep this... Can I...?" He asked shyly, holding up the photo.

Mahiru looked at it and giggled softly into her hand. "Well how can I say no when you're this cute?" N clapped his hands over his cheeks and let out a soft delighted squeak.

And so, Mahiru led him back to her house. Her mother had been home at the time. She'd taken an instant liking to him. Her father had simply looked up from the couch, then went back to staring at the television. Any attempt to make conversation with him had been met with grunts at best, ignorance at worst, so he'd long since given up trying. He was amazed at how well he was treated. He was given food to eat! An actual bed to sleep in! He was allowed to relax and read books and watch television and not have to worry about things! In return, he'd been sure to do all the work he could around the house. It felt... natural to do so, for some reason. As if it was what he was meant to do. Mahiru was delighted at the extra help, and made it very clear how much she adored N.

Mahiru even celebrated his birthday... THAT had made him cry. He'd NEVER celebrated a birthday before... She bought him a cake from the store and gave him a dog plushie, and he'd responded by hugging her and crying into her shoulder.

"Ah! N! What's wrong?!" She asked, alarmed.

"I...Thank you, Mahiru, just... Just... thank..." His words devolved into blubbering, and Mahiru smiled in understanding and returned the embrace, gently rubbing his back.

"Poor thing... You weren't treated very well, huh?" She asked softly.

"Th-This is so much more than I ever deserved...!" N wept. "You... I... I don't deserve anything, I... Mahiru, I used to be a killer, they made me kill people for a living, I'm not good, I'm dangerous, I've taken so many lives because they told me to-"

"I have friends at school who have done that, you're nothing different in that regard..." Mahiru murmured soothingly. N pulled away with a shakey smile.

"R-Really...?"

"Really. I don't care what you've done in the past, especially not if you were forced to do it. No matter what... you're my friend, and I care about you. You deserve better than what you were given..."

And from that day forth, N swore a fierce loyalty to Mahiru. He wasn't going to leave her side for any reason! He'd do anything for her, anything to make sure she was safe and happy!

One day, a couple years after taking in N, Mahiru made a decision. She was going to move out of the house. She was eighteen, her school tuition was paid for, she had money... She was leaving her lazy bum of a father behind. And of course, where Mahiru went, N went as well. After dealing with the man's drunken ramblings about how selfish Mahiru was being, N climbed next to his human in the passenger seat of her car. "So... think you'll miss this place at all?"

Mahiru grimaced. "I dunno... Maybe a little bit... But it really is best for me to get out of this house and away from HIM." Her eyes narrowed in distaste.

"Yeeeeah... He kinda sucks..." N agreed with a chuckle. "So! I didn't get to see this new apartment! Is it nice?"

Mahiru beamed. "Yep! It has a nice view of the city, and I think you're really gonna like it there!"

"Awesome!" N cheered.

"Your room's bigger too, so you can fit more of your drawings on the walls." Mahiru giggled as N squeed in delight.

Soon enough, they pulled into the apartment's parking lot. A blonde woman was waiting for them outside. She noticed them step out and smiled. "Ah, g'day! You must be the new tenant that's gonna be..." The woman paused when she saw N, her eyes widening like saucers as her mouth slowly hung open. N tilted his head.

"Um... Hi!" He said with a wave.

The woman began to tear up. "...N...?" She asked softly.

N looked surprised. "How do you...?" A sudden flash appeared in his mind. "...Wait... Is... Is your name... Tessa...?" He asked softly.

"...N!" The woman rushed forward, grabbed N by the cheeks, lifted him off the ground and began to spin around with him held outwards, Mahiru watching the scene before her in surprise. "N, I've missed you so much! Agh! I can't believe you just fell right into my lap like this, I'm so happy to see you! C'mere and gimme a big hug, you cute little nipper! Mmmmm!"

"...Um... You... know this woman, N...?" Mahiru asked softly.

"...I... I feel like I should...? But... It's really... REALLY fuzzy..." N murmured.

Tessa pulled back, eyes wide. "...Oh, N... You don't remember me... What did he DO to my poor drones...?" She looked down, then at Mahiru. "Scuse me, sheila, mind tellin' me where you got your hands on this big loveable ball of sunshine then?"

"...Um... The dump..."

"The DUMP?! Ooooh, that father of mine, I swear I'm gonna..." Tessa made strangling motions as she set N down, her face contorted in anger before she forced herself to calm down with a sigh. "Ah... Well... That's neither here nor there... I'm just SO happy to see you again... And I know someone else who's gonna be happy to see you toooooo~!" She turned to Mahiru. "Buuuut I'm getting ahead of myself! Thank you SO MUCH for saving one of my childhood drones! Ah, just for that, I'm only charging you half the rent I charge everyone else! Uh... Miss... Koizumi, yeah?"

"Um...Yes, that's right. And you're... Tessa. It's very nice to meet you." Mahiru bowed politely.

"Ah, you don't have to be so formal with me! A friend of N's is a friend of mine! C'mon now! Let's go and get you situated, introduce you to the neighbours, all that good stuff!" Tessa chirped.

"...You... own multiple apartments across the country... don't you...?" Mahiru asked, tilting her head.

"Sure do! But since I live in this one, figured there's no harm in knowing the people around me! C'mon now, let's go, burnin' daylight here... All right, so, bottom floor's down here, not much goin' on there... Elevator's this way, c'mon in... So, first floor's for entertainment, and second floor's where the apartments start, and we have about five floors, not a lot of people have moved in so far, so a lot of folks are just lumped together on the second floor, heh. I think you'll like the neighbours, they're a rowdy bunch, all right, but honestly, I'd have it no other way, keeps things lively around here!"

Mahiru noted N seemed captivated by the way Tessa talked. It must have been so surreal for him, hearing a voice so familiar, yet so unfamiliar at the same time. She placed a hand on his shoulder gently, and he looked over at her with a small, awkward smile and a little message on his screen that said 'I'm okay, really!'

Tessa showed them around, pointing out the various neighbouring apartments, and then directed them to theirs. "All right, so as promised, two bedroom apartment! Not sure why-Oh, do you let N have his own bed?! Oh, you're so sweet, Mahiru, I love you, c'mere, gimme a hug, I'm so glad N ended up in your care, you're the BEST!"

"Uh... N-No problem...!" Mahiru choked out with an awkward grin. This woman had a vice grip of a hug!

"Now... There's someone I need to re-introduce you to, N... Won't be a moment!" Tessa zipped out of the room. N and Mahiru exchanged a glance. She heard Tessa talking to someone. Three people, actually. One of the voices sounded really familiar to N...

Tessa returned. And with her, came someone... A small worker drone, awkwardly shambling forward, murmuring uffle. Shuffle." as she clutched tightly to Tessa's jeans. She stopped. She looked at N. Their eyes met. Both sets of eyes widened. "...Big brother...?" The little drone squeaked out, taking a step forward.

Those two words... Those two words sent N spiralling into his memories, all of them rushing back to him. The mansion, Tessa, V, J, all of it! He remembered all of it! But most of all, he remembered...

"CYN!" He cried out, rushing forward to scoop his little sister up in his arms and hug her tightly, cuddling her up against his shoulder. "CYN! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! I THOUGHT I WAS NEVER GONNA SEE YOU AGAIN!" He wailed, crying messily [or as messily as a drone could] into the little worker drone's hair.

Cyn also teared up. "Sob. Sniffle. Weep. I am here, big brother N... I missed you terribly... I am overjoyed to see you again... I am sorry I was not good enough at working to keep from being tossed away. I didn't mean to make you sad."

"Y-You don't have to apologize! It was James! He threw you away! I'm just... I'm glad you're here, I'm so happy to see you again... How'd you get here?" N sobbed.

"Giggle. Father Ian and Father Anthony rescued me from the truck using the power of pink frosted sprinkled doughnuts. They are far more multi-purpose than I initially gave them credit for. Would you like to meet them? I think you will like them a lot."

"Of course! I'd love to meet the guys that saved my little sister..." N sniffled. "But there's someone I want you to meet... Mahiru, look! This is Cyn! She's my baby sister!" He held her up towards the redhead, and Cyn tilted her head to the side, smiling.

"Awwwwwww! She's so cuuuuuuuute!" Mahiru gushed, leaning in for a closer look, eyes sparkling. "Can I hold her?!"

"I will allow this. You seem affectionate." Cyn spoke. Mahiru squeed and snatched the little drone up. "Giggle. You are warm. I enjoy this. I thank you. You rescued my brother. I missed him. You brought him back to me. You are now my big sister."

Mahiru giggled. "Oh, you're just the sweetest little thing... I'd love to be your big sister."

"Excited cheer. Joyful smile. Commence warm hug. Nuzzle nuzzle nuzzle. Enjoy big sister's warmth. Happy... Safe... Big brother... I missed you..." Mahiru giggled and handed Cyn back to N. "...Big brother... You got bigger. How did this happen?"

"Yeah, N. How DID that happen? I need details here, I'm trying to work an angle that'll bring that bastard father of mine DOWN." Tessa pounded a fist into her palm.

"James? Oh, well...Aw, BISCUITS, he still has V and J working for him!" N exclaimed.

"V?! J?! They're alive too?! Yes!" Tessa cheered. "Wonderful! Tell me everything you know and we'll work on getting them back!"

N sighed. "Loooong story..."

The Imps were on a mission. It was... a very annoying mission to say the least. The boy had ran off to use the washroom, leaving the three small drones seething. "Okay, when he comes back, I'm just gonna point my gun and SHOOT that reeeeeeee-eaaly can't say THAT word anymore..." B muttered.

"Sir... This feels wrong... He's so wholesome... Why do we need to kill him?" M1 asked softly.

"Yeah, I ain't feelin' this one..." M2 sighed.

"Well, it is what it is, so let's just shoot him in the head and be done with- That shadow's shaped like a dinosaur, what the fu-"

An hour later, and all three imps were scrambling desperately to escape the house. Their assailant had let them go... But the company wouldn't.

"Sir! We should report back! I'm sure they'll understand!" M1 insisted.

"Sir! We should report back! I'm sure they'll understand!" B repeated after him in a high-pitched mocking tone before snapping his head over to scowl at M1. "No the F**K they won't understand, they dismantled three other WAY more experienced teams than us for failing this damn mission, they're gonna rip us to pieces! We gotta hide!"

"Sir, they're tracking-" B punched M1 in the face where his tracking device was, destroying it and flooring him. Then he turned to M2. "All right, now hit me in the-" M2 kicked him in the groin where his tracker was. "AGH! Yep... Right... there... good one..."

"Oh. It was there? I was just pissed at you for hittin' my best pal!" M2 pulled M1 to his feet.

"Oh can it with the 'best friend' bullshit, anyone with eyes can see he's your f**king boyfriend, I heard you two f**king last night." B scoffed.

"SIR!" M1 said, offended.

"Well maybe you shouldn't be so loud next time, all right?! Now, where's yours, M2?" B demanded.

"Allow me, sir." M1 sighed. He reached down to M2's rear end and carefully skewered through the tracking device with a small nail he extended from his hand.

"Oooooh, little lower there, hun." M2 said flirtatiously.

"Uh...N-No, I... I was just..."

"Oh, of course it's built into her ass, did you see the way V and J are built? The place is run by sexual deviants!" B threw his arms up. "Well, that's done! Now let's get the hell out of here, as far away as possible!" The three drones took off into the sky.

It had been a month since they escaped. They'd taken refuge in a familiar scrapyard. B and the Ms lived in the same trailer N once had, not that they knew. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best they had... One day, however, B had discovered something... At the bottom of a pile of scrap... The upper half of a worker drone. B winced in sympathy at the sight, and turned to leave, but he saw it was still moving. Clawing. Fighting for life. He paused, slowly turned around, and approached. The drone looked up at him and growled aggressively, baring her sharp fangs. "Hey, hey now, easy, I'm not gonna mess with you, just c'mere..." B carefully moved the scrap out of the way so he could reach the drone beneath it, gently scooping her up in her arms and looking down at her with a tilted head as she glared suspiciously at him.

"Wh-What're y-y-y-you looking aa-aaaaaaa-aaaaaa-at?" She hissed out. "Ma-Making f-f-f-f-f-fun of me-e-e-e-e-?"

"Oof... Voice box is messed up good... Just hang in there, sweetie, we're gonna find a way to fix you up."

"Ha! G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-ood luck withhhhh thaat. I'm f**ked."

"Oh, like hell you are!" B huffed. "No one is f**ked until I say they're f**ked!" He rushed off to find the Ms. Who, coincidentally, were also in a hurry to find him.

"SIIIIIR! Sir sir sir sir sir!" M1 called out. "Sir... I just discovered they're disposing of assassin drone remains in this scrapyard! It's not safe here! We have to hurry and-"

"Oh, perfect! You're good at putting shit back together, aren't you?" B asked.

"What? Uh... Yeah? But-:

"Then go get those remains and let's fix us up a worker drone!" B cheered.

Several hours later, their work was done. M1 had bitched about wanting to find somewhere safer to live for almost the entire time. B promptly scoffed him off and waved a hand dismissively. And now... their work was complete. Before them stood the final product. It was... something of an amalgamation. The upper part of a worker drone, and the bottom half of an assassin drone, with the female waist and legs, the bottom halves of the legs swapped out from the usual peg legs of a female assassin drone to the more traditional feet of the male model, an insistance on the drone's part, as she thought the peg legs were 'impractical bullshit'. Her teeth had needed replacing, so they'd pulled some from a severed assassin drone head and attached them into her mouth. They even found a nice wig for her, a long, white one that left a portion of her head bald. Yet she liked the look. Said it made her look punk. They'd even added in a pair of wings.

All in all? A bit of a rush job. But it worked.

And B had quickly taken a liking to the drone. She insisted she was almost an adult and didn't need anyone to adopt her. He adopted her regardless. He saw her as his daughter and he wouldn't accept anyone telling him otherwise. It was quite the 180 from how he normally was. He was considerate and caring towards this drone, and she gradually grew to accept his presence, maybe even appreciate it a little bit.

They continued to live in the scrapyard for another several months. But the oil ran out eventually, and they had to go looking for more at some point. And so, B and the Ms ran off and snuck around the city in search of oil...

"B?!" The imp's head shot up at a familiar voice, and he snapped his head around. It WAS him! Walking around with some human girl with red hair!

"...N?! Holy f**k, we all thought you were dead!" B exclaimed. "M1 wouldn't shut the hell up about how upset he was!"

"Hey, language!" Mahiru chided. "Are you saying you used to work with N?"

"Yeah, before he... y'know... let that mafia bitch slither off like a snake." B replied dismissively.

"So does that mean you guys are here on a job...? Don't tell them I'm here, please!" N begged.

"Relaaaax, we don't work for those clowns anymore! We ran off after we botched a mission. Big purple dinosaur guy... Really weird stuff." He sighed.

"...Oh! In that case, you should come back with us and help Tessa stop them!" N chirped.

"...Did you say... stop them?" B asked.

"That's right! We're gonna tear them down!" N replied excitedly.

"...Will there be oil?"

"Of course! Plenty of it!"

"...You son of a bitch, I am IN!" B declared.

And so, the imps moved into the apartment complex, given their own room and board in exchange for any information they could give as well as everything in their memory banks. And of course, at some point, B's new 'daughter' had to meet up with N...

She'd simply been walking down the hallway, scrolling through messages on her visor, when she bumped into someone that sent her falling to the floor. "HEY!" She called out indignantly before looking up at the drone... and promptly blushing. 'Holy crap he's hot...!'

"Oh! Sorry! I wasn't looking! Here! Let me help you!" He extended a hand, and she shyly took it, allowing him to help her to her feet. She found she was surprisingly taller than he was. "Hi! I'm N! What's your name?"

"...L..." L murmured softly, rubbing her shoulder.

"Aww, I love that name, L!" N chirped.

"O-Oh... Um... Th-Thanks..." L murmured softly. "And... I like... yours too..."

"Really?! Thank you so much!" N said with a smile, hands clapped against his cheeks.

'He's... cute...' L thought to herself. She tried to think of something, anything else to say, but after a moment of awkward silence, a female voice called out for N.

"Oh! Gotta go! That's my human calling me! Talk to ya later!" He waved as he rushed over to Mahiru. L waved after him shyly, then turned to walk away, entering the apartment she shared with the imps and leaning against the door, blushing, eyes wide.

"...L? Is everything okay?" M1 asked.

"...Just... met a boy... is all..." L murmured.

"WHAT?! I'LL KILL HIM!" B roared.

"DON'T YOU DARE." L snarled.

"...Oooookay, you can handle yourself, sweetie, hahahahaha..." B walked away. Still plotting his murder.

It wouldn't be the last time L would run into N. Far from it. She lived across the hall from them, and she'd bump into him often. And every time, he'd look at her with that big, happy smile that never failed to make her melt. M1 noticed she was a lot happier when she saw N. All her surly personality traits went away, and she was clearly smitten with the male drone. He was rooting for them. As was his wife. B... was a different story. He grew hostile towards N, and he didn't seem to understand why, and it led to many arguments between B and an outraged Mahiru, who did not at all appreciate the fact that her friend was being treated like dirt by someone he considered a friend. L wasn't happy with B either, and she had once gotten so fed up with B's harshness towards N that she threw an entire room's worth of office supplies at him in a fit of rage. He'd complimented her on her throwing arm the entire time, which only served to further annoy her.

"TAKE ME SERIOUSLY, DAMN IT, I'M NOT A KID!" She shouted as she hurled an entire desk at B.

"SHIT! Uh...Great throw, sweetie, hahahahaha..." B chuckled awkwardly.

"Just... STOP!" L demanded, ready to tear off a chunk of wall to hurl at her father figure. N grabbed her hand.

"L...? I... think that's enough now, okay?" He said softly.

"But... But... But N, he..."

"It's fine, he's just... in a bad mood, it happens!" N assured her. L sighed and glared daggers at B.

"Well then he should leave if he can't stop his sorry ass self from taking it out on YOU, shouldn't he?" She said coldly.

"Aww, he doesn't have-"

"Yes he does. I want him to." L interrupted.

"...But... But L..."

"We'll talk about this LATER. GO." She said coldly.

"I... Ugh..." B trudged away sadly, looking back at her, before closing the door.

"...Uuuuuugh... Sorry I trashed the room, Mahiru, he just... He's... Such a..." L leaned against the wall and slowly slid down, hand over her face.

"It's... It's fine. I know how dads can be..." Mahiru sighed with a shake of her head.

"...What's going on with him, L?" N asked, head tilted.

"He's an overprotective moron, that's what." L huffed.

"Oh. Well... It's good that he wants to protect you, you're his daughter after all."

"I was almost eighteen when he 'adopted me'." L huffed.

"Eh... I think it still counts..." N said with a smile, sitting down next to her. "So what's he trying to protect you from?"

"...Boys... Just... boys in general..." L sighed.

"Oh. Ooooooh. Oh, I get it. ...So uh... he doesn't like boys being around you?"

"No. ...You're not gonna... stop being my friend because of that... are you...?"

"No way! We're best buddies!" N hugged L with a wide grin. "At least, I think we are... Um... Huh... Oh, I know! We should hang out more often! Then we can REALLY call ourselves best buddies, whattya say?!"

"...I'd love that..." L said with a soft smile. And then she pulled him into a hug.

"Yay!" N cheered, leaning against her, causing her to blush.

"Uh... Guess we should start with me... tidying this room up, huh?" L asked with an awkward chuckle.

"Oh, I can help!" N hopped to his feet.

"You don't have to... It's my mess..." L murmured.

"But I wanna! It's an excuse to hang out more! Come on! Let's get to it!" L blinked as N eagerly hopped to his feet and set to work, then smiled softly as she moved to help him. And Mahiru watched on, smiling softly. N... deserved to find love after all he'd been through... And L just might be it.

It had been several months since the Imps mysteriously disappeared, and V and J weren't the same since they lost N. And the worst part was, they didn't exactly understand why. It felt like a piece was missing from their lives with him gone. Like they were always meant to be a trio. This stress had even led them to have more of those strange vision like J had shortly after she first met V. The mansion... The books... What did it all mean...?

They fulfilled their missions all the same, but they gradually lost their former luster, and what didn't help was the threat of being replaced by newer better models. It all came to a head when they were hired by a man named Mr. Poole to dispose of a... child?... named Billy. Several other groups of drones had been scrapped for failing this mission. V and J were worried they'd be the same. But this mission proved to be the one they wouldn't be able to complete.

It first started when they had come in through the window. The... boy that looked to be an adult man was sitting at the table, innocently playing with his Barney the Dinosaur doll. J didn't take any pleasure in what she was about to do, but before she could aim her weapon, the boy turned around and saw them. "Barney! Look! Bees got into the house!" That gave both drones pause.

"...Not very bright, is he?" V whispered to V, who shook her head. V just groaned and extended her claws not finding anything to enjoy at the situation, "Let's just get this over with…" Only for Billy to get distracted by something on the floor unintentionally ducking under the swipe.

"Barney, look! I spilled some honey on the floor! Oh! I know! The bees are mad at us because we took their honey! Wait right here, I'll be right back!" The boy ran out of the room, leaving two perplexed drones behind, before returning with a bottle full of honey. "Here! You can have it back!" He then proceeded to insert the bottle into J's mouth and squeeze the contents into her throat. J let out an offended groan before blinking and realizing she actually liked it, taking the bottle in her hands, now willingly drinking it down of her own volition, first taking slow sips, and then eagerly chugging it down as fast as she could.

V looked at J. Despite herself, she smiled. It was the happiest she'd seen her in days since... well, N was gone...

J finished drinking the honey out of the bottle, and was now licking at the lid in search of any remnants of the sticky sweet golden liquid. Then she realized what she was doing, blushed and hurled the bottle away before perking up and trying to look professional. "Kid. We're not bees." J said flatly.

"You're not?" Billy asked. "Then what are you?"

J sighed. "We're assassins."

Billy gasped. "That's a BAD word! BAD!" He then rushed off to grab a bottle of soap, and, much like he had done with the honey, put the bottle in J's mouth and squeezed some of the contents out. Since it was soap, needless to say, J's experience wasn't quite as pleasant this time. Gagging, she immediately ran to the sink to try and rinse out her mouth. Desperately wishing that she could just turn off her taste buds. V, now much less happy, tried to spear him with her claws only for him to spin out of the way. He momentum carried her to the wall and left her claws stuck as she tried to pull herself free. The cause? Billy had turned once more to talk to his Barney doll, "Barney, did you hear what she said?! She said a bad word!"

V growled and tried to pull herself free, and Billy turned around to see what she was doing. "Look, Barney! Her stingers are on her hands!" He noticed she was trying to pull herself free. "No! No no no, you can't pull them out or else you'll lose your stingers and die!" V looked at him with a glare. "Hi! I'm Billy! What's your name?"

V rolled her eyes. "V..." She muttered.

Billy gasped. "V?! Do you have a vendetta?! ...Are you an IDEA?! Are you bulletproof?"

"...In order... Yes, I don't know, and yes." V said flatly.

"Barney, she is bulletproof!" Said Billy excitedly. "Wait here." He ran off to his room, before returning a minute later with several Nerf guns. Pointing one at V, he fired.

*tak*

The bullet smacked against V's face and cluttered to the floor. And yet...

'Did...did that actually hurt?' V thought in surprise. Another Nerf bullet hit her, and her digital eyes widened. 'Holy shit it actually hurt!'

Before she could process this, she was soon the target of a whole barrage of toy bullets fired from the guns. Grunting in pain, V swatted one bullet away.

"Stop it!" She yelled.

"Okay!" Billy chirped and dropped the Nerf gun, which fired off one last bullet that hit V straight in the chest. Safe to say...

"Grrrrrrrrrr..."

Yeah, V wasn't exactly happy.

"How the hell are you DOING that?! I've been hit by actual bullets and they BOUNCE RIGHT OFF! How is a freaking TOY hurting me right now?! What is going on?!" She exclaimed in frustration, trying to yank her claws out of the wall.

"Sorry, missus bee lady! You said you were bullet proof!"

"I AM BULLET PROOF!"

"But my bullets hurt you! Oh! I know! I must be MAGIC! These are magical bullets that can hurt bullet proof people! ...I need to be careful, Barney... This kind of power could easily be abused... The world is not ready...Not yet..." He put the nerf gun away. As V struggled to free herself, Billy approached J, who was just finished washing her mouth out. "And what's YOUR name?!"

J scowled. "...J..."

Billy frowned. "But you don't look anything LIKE Will Smith! You DO have the right clothes to be with the Men in Black though, except with a skirt instead of pants..." Billy gasped. "Wait here!" He ran off, then came back with two pairs of sunglasses, putting one pair over J's visor. "I'LL be Will Smith! Whatchu talkin' bout, K?" He pulled something off the counter. "Y'see this? This is either my mommy's back massager, or it's a neurolizer! Let's find out!" He pushed a button and the object in his hand began to vibrate. "...Is this thing broken...? You gave me defective stuff, K!"

'K? Where have I heard that name befo-oooooooooOOOOOH!'

"I AM NOT K GODDAMMIT!"

"You're not? But... If you're not K... and I'm not K... Who IS K?!" Billy gasped and clapped his hands over his cheeks.

J gritted her teeth. She remembered that there used to be a Serial Designation K in the company. She did NOT get along with him. He was an arrogant homophobic prick who openly tried to separate her and V whenever they did something together.

'Thank God that guy failed and got scrapped. I couldn't stand his bullshit any longer.' She thought.

"Do you hate K, miss J?" Billy asked innocently. "Is K better than you so you hate him and wanna prove to be better than him?"

"I AM BETTER THAN HIM! I ALWAYS WAS AND I ALWAYS WILL BE! EVERYONE IS BETTER THAN HIM!" J barked.

Billy gasped. "Am I better than him?"

"OF COURSE YOU ARE! WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID?!"

"Yeah!" Billy nodded his head before looking at the doll. "Barney! Did you hear that?! I'm better than K! I'm better than a Man in Black! Yaaaaaaaay!" Billy did a small dance with Barney.

By this point, V was able to pry her claws free from the wall. "Ugh! FINALLY! What is this house made from?!" Billy turned to her.

"Hey..." Billy realized something. "How come you're not wearing any pants?" He pointed at J. "She's wearing a skirt, but you don't have ANYTHING down there! You're freeballin'!"

"...Yeah? So what? I don't need to wear pants, this is just my style." V huffed indignantly, sticking her nose up in the air.

J, as soon as she heard Billy's observation, tensed up as she herself came to the realization, a blush coming across her visor. 'Oh my gosh, she DOESN'T wear pants... She's NEVER worn pants...! She only wears a jacket! She's always only half dressed, I can see her...' She quickly turned away to make sure no one saw her, but V noticed and grinned widely.

"Ooooh, looks like someone likes what she sees." She wrapped an arm around J and pulled her close.

"D-Don't... It's... It's not... You're... I..." J stammered shyly.

Billy smiled. "Wow! You two are really good friends! Huh? What's that, Barney? ...Really? Two girls can be in love together? Wow! Mommy said that was bad and stupid and cringe, but V for Vendetta looks so happy, and J in Black is smiling! I think mommy might be wrong, Barney. But don't tell her! Don't tell her I said that! Shhhhhh!" He thought he was being quiet and discrete. Really, he was basically quietly screaming.

J tried to say something only to hiss as another one of those visions hit her again. It was her and V and they were holding what looked like a book. The problem was it was so staticky that she couldn't make out what was written inside of it. Even V seemed to be out of it as she held one clawed hand to her head. "...Barney! They're holding their heads! I know what they need! They need... an aspirin! Here!" He grabbed the bottle of pills off the shelf and started tossing them at their heads, the pills plinking off and bouncing to the floor, jolting them back to reality as Billy kept tossing the pills at them. "Is this working?" He asked.

J sighed and batted the next pill out of the air with her hand, "Stop that. We're fine just… been having some glitches for a while now." Honestly she didn't even want to kill the kid anymore orders or no orders. Even V seemed to not be feeling it.

But it had to be done. Like it or not, the kid had to die or they'd probably be scrapped, the company had little tolerance for failure. Suddenly, Billy blinked. "Hey. I have to go pee. I have to make a BIG tinky. So here. YOU hold Barney and I'll be right back!" Billy forced the Barney doll into J's hands and ran off.

Staring at the doll, she sighed before setting it on the table. Sharing a look with V, she sighed, "What are we even doing here? I know it's our job, but who pays that much money to have a kid taken out?"

Her fellow drone shrugged, "What else can we do? We either do the job or we get scrapped." J put her head in her hands briefly considering just grabbing V and going rogue. "Okay... I'm gonna do it... The second he walks out of that bathroom, I'm just gonna aim at his head, and I'm gonna shoot." J declared.

"Oh, I don't think so." A new voice sounded out. Both drones snapped their heads over and staggered back when they saw the large purple dinosaur standing in front of them. "How DARE you try to kill Billy?"

"...WHAT THE F**K, IT'S ALIVE?!" V shrieked, jumping back and forming her arms into flamethrowers, pointing them at the purple dinosaur. "Ah, screw it, it's getting burned to ash either way!" She activated the flamethrowers, cackling as the dinosaur was engulfed in flames. She continued cackling as the flames cleared. Her cackling died as she saw that Barney was completely unharmed. J deployed a shotgun from each arm and opened fire. Trying to at least knock the clearly supernatural creature back. The pellets barely made it pause and dimpled it's skin before falling to the ground. The dinosaur laughed.

"Heeheeheeheehee! That tickles!"

'Tickles? TICKLES!?' Thought J.

"V! Open fire on that thing! Use everything we've got!"

"Ya don't need to tell ME twice!"

Immediately, the two assassins began to pepper the dinosaur with everything they had. Missiles and lasers destroyed the area they were on, bullets shredded through furniture and doors, as well as some of the walls. Eventually, V let out a shriek and flew towards Barney, stabbing through him with her stinger and emptying the entire cartridge of nanite acid into his body.

Or at least that was the PLAN. Unfortunately for her, the dinosaur's hide was too thick for her claws to do much more than bounce off, and her stinger tail couldn't even pierce him. She ejected some acid from the tip in an effort to at least burn him. The acid burned, sizzled... and nothing happened as it dissipated. Frustrated, V began to wildly swing her claws at the dinosaur, snarling like a feral animal. Barney responded by turning his body directly into the swipes. "Aaaaahhhhh... That's the spot! Little lower? Aaaahhhh... There we go... Much better... Ah... Thanks for taking care of that pesky itch for me! Now... It's time to make you two pay! I'm tired of you drones always coming in here and trying to hurt Billy! He is a loveable imbecile! What did he ever do to hurt you? You're getting a biiiiig hug!" With a laugh, the big purple behemoth lumbered forward, his loud footsteps shaking the walls and furniture.

"...Oh shit... RUN!" V made a beeline to escape, J following suit. But the beast, despite looking big and cumbersome, was far faster than it appeared. With a single lunge, it snatched them both up in a tight, crushing bear hug.

V went absolutely feral. She thrashed and clawed and bit and struggled with all her might to escape the dinosaur's vice grip. If he squeezed any tighter, he was going to destroy their torsos! And the fact that it was laughing and rocking them back and forth like they were toddlers was just further insult to injury!

"OH SWEET ROBO JESUS THIS HURTS, LET GO! WE'RE JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS, THE COMPANY TOLD US TO!" J pleaded as V screamed and thrashed.

"And if the company told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?" Barney replied.

"YES!" Was J's response.

Barney paused for a brief moment, feeling confused and a bit saddened by the answer. "Oh..." He murmured. "Wow..." Now that he thought about it, all these drones seemed quite desperate to see the job through until he managed to fend them off... He tried to reason with the two females. "You don't have to just mindlessly follow them! They don't even care about you, you don't have any reason to care about them! You need to snap out of-Hey!" V managed to wriggle her way out of the dinosaur's arms and was now perched on top of the nearby door, crouched over, wings outstretched and her tail standing on end, looking like a scared cat. She even hissed. She even scrunched up like a cat about to pounce only to stop when Barney turned with both arms securely wrapped around J. It was clear to him that there was more to both of them than just being killing machines. And he could tell that there was only one way to awaken those inner feelings. It was time to invoke a little bit of tough love. "Now come back here!" He reached up, and she drew back, swiping at him with her claws before flying up and latching onto the ceiling. Unfortunately, she didn't account for her tail, which Barney was easily able to grab onto. V let out a yowl as she was pulled back into Barney's arms, screeching and clawing at his face even if she knew it wouldn't do anything. J just sagged in defeat knowing that there was nothing they could do and that the mission was a complete wash.

'...We failed... We... We failed... Our first failure... We took down entire mafias... We took down more advanced assassin drones... We took down a giant towering CYBORG... And THIS is where we fail?! At the hands of a giant purple plush toy?!' She didn't know what was worse. The humiliation or the knowledge that they were going to be scrapped for their failure to defeat Barney.

Soon enough, Barney carried them out to the front door. "Now, I don't wanna see you trying to hurt Billy EVER again!" He said sternly.

"Tch... Like we COULD..." J muttered bitterly. "You should've just killed us... They disassembled all the other drones that couldn't take out this kid..." V tensed up and snapped her head over to J, who simply grabbed her hand and took off with her. Barney watched after them. "Hmm. Looks like I still have another visit to make to this company."

James Elliott scowled as he watched his two greatest assassin drones fleeing the scene, their target unkilled, and slammed his hand against the desk. "Damn it ALL, they're outdated rubbish! Bah!" He took a deep breath. "Not to worry... I'll simply have to-"

"You'll have to do what?"

The man startled and turned around to see the large purple reptile standing before him. "What in the...?!"

"How DARE you send assassins to kill Billy! And how dare you kill them for failing! You're just like every other bully out there, picking on people you think are beneath you because you're insecure!"

"You... You're not real! The stress is simply getting to me, yes! Haha! I'm merely hallucinating, that's all!"

"Oh, I'm real all right. If I weren't real, I wouldn't be able to do THIS!" Barney grabbed the man out of the chair, and, just like he had done with V and J, squeezed him in a tight bear hug, causing him to scream and thrash around in his clutch.

"OH, BY THE GODS, RELEASE ME AT ONCE! I'LL... I'LL HAVE YOU RECALLED! YOU'LL BE HAULED BACK TO CHINA OR WHEREVER THE HELL YOU CAME FROM AND-" Barney squeezed a bit tighter and his words came out as a choked gasp. Barney released him, and he stumbled back and fell onto his desk. Barney then came down with him and embraced him from behind, breaking through the desk in the process. James cried out and struggled to crawl away, but Barney was too heavy. He swore he heard his ribs crack at several points, but eventually, he managed to slip away and run out the door of his office.

"You can't get away from me, silly!" Barney called after him, running out the door. James Elliott frantically tried to escape, to call for help, anything, as he sprinted down the hallway as fast as his legs would carry him, but he was struggling to wheeze out the words due to his cracked ribs. He heard the loud booming footsteps and turned around, panicking when he saw that blasted dinosaur was running down the hallways right after him, at a bizarrely fast pace. He never understood how some thought this character was disturbing until now, now that he was being pursued by its likeness. His huge size, his incessant laughter as he kept running right at him with no sign of stopping, the booming thud of his footsteps going at a shockingly fast pace, maintaining the same speed with no sign of slowing down, that lifeless, vacant smile, all in a narrow hallway that left very little room for escape, nowhere to go but forward.

Essentially, one could compare the whole thing to a certain meme of a bear chasing a Russian man down a hallway.

James struggled with all his might to keep running. But his stamina could only last for so long until the dinosaur ultimately caught up to him. "NO! NO! NOOOOOOOO!" He thrashed around in Barney's vice grip, kicking and punching and doing all he could to set himself free, but it was all for naught as he was squeezed and hugged by the laughing purple dinosaur for he didn't even KNOW how long. The humiliation and anguish and crushing pain he felt could not be understated, and it felt like small mercy when Barney finally let him go, leaving him panting and wheezing on the floor, clutching at his damaged ribs

"You better leave Billy alone! And if you try to scrap any more drones... I'll know." Barney warned.

"They're... They're just... expendable... tools- NO, NO, I WAS ONLY KIDDING, OF COURSE I WON'T SCRAP ANY MORE DRONES!" James pleaded as Barney made to pick him back up again.

"Good. Now. I need to get home to Billy. He's gonna be done in the bathroom any minute now and I have to clean up! Bye!" The dinosaur left. James picked himself up. He carried himself back to his office. He climbed on top of his desk. He curled up in the fetal position. And he started to cry uncontrollably.

V and J were flying through the night sky aimlessly. J couldn't think straight. She didn't know WHERE she was going, she just knew she couldn't show her face back at the company ever again. "Uh... J... You can let go of my hand now..." V murmured softly. J did so with a sigh. A moment of silence, before V spoke in a soft, shakey voice. "Are... Are they really gonna scrap us for this...?"

"...I... I..." J stammered. "...No... No. I'm NOT letting them scrap you... I already failed N, I'm not gonna fail you too! I'm supposed to protect you, I won't let you be torn apart over something that can't be helped."

"How are we supposed to get away?! They're tracking us! They know where we are right now, J, they're gonna find us no matter what we do, we're their property, they're gonna... They're gonna... No... What if they update us...? I... I don't wanna go through..." Memories of her torture flash before V's eyes and she almost fell out of the sky, only saved when she was caught by J, who looked down to see she was hyperventilating. Grabbing her before she could fall further, J carried her over to a nearby building, holding V tightly as she waited for what she suspected was a familiar sensation to pass, gently patting V's back as she held her to her shoulder, carefully draping a wing around her and watching her in worry. It took a lot longer than she expected it to. And she had never seen V in such a vulnerable state before, she always presented herself so confidently. It was... disturbing. What kind of memories could have provoked such a reaction? She had shared her theory with V that those visions were memories that they had been forced to forget. Which would mean that they had been repurposed and reprogrammed. If that was true they used to be what appeared to be maids or housekeepers.

Eventually, V's memories seemed to stop flashing, and she collapsed to her knees, J catching her before she hit the ground. "J... I... I can't anymore... I... I just can't anymore, I don't wanna be an assassin anymore, I don't wanna kill people anymore, I want out, I just want out, but I don't wanna die, I'm scared, I'm so scared, what are we gonna do, we failed, we're outdated, they're gonna get rid of us..."

J stood above her in sheer surprise. V. The normally most bloodthirsty and violent of her unit, was now having an emotional breakdown and was almost about to short-circuit in fear.

She couldn't believe her eyes.

Her body immediately moved to embrace the other drone, pulling her close to her body. She let her warmth combine with V's to keep V more comfortable, and eventually the drone stopped shaking, now reduced to just weak trembles.

J began to stroke circles into V's back, softly whispering. "It's okay...it's gonna be okay...we will be fine...no scrapping..."

V buried her face into J's shoulder and latched onto her as tightly as she could. "...I... How are we gonna get away...?"

"...I don't know... We'll... We'll figure it out..."

"What if they find us?"

"Then... I guess we'll have no choice but to fight..."

"...What if they win...?"

"I'll buy time for you to escape..."

"But I don't wanna lose you... I don't wanna be alone... If... If you die... I... I wanna die too... I... You're all I have left, I can't lose you, J, please don't leave me, I need you, stay with me, I can't be alone, I'm scared, stay, please stay..." V sobbed softly before she broke down crying. J blinked twice, then embraced her, gently rubbing circles on her back. V cried for several minutes, her shoulders heaving, her body trembling... She didn't even fully know where these feelings were coming from... Why was she so scared and sad and worried...? It did feel comforting, though, being so close to J... It felt... right...

She stopped, after several more minutes, and simply laid against her leader, limp as a ragdoll, as J held onto her and gave her a light squeeze. "...We'll be okay... I'm going to protect you no matter what...That's a promise on my honour as a leader."

V slowly looked up at J, who was smiling back at her. She looked so freaking beautiful right now... The declaration of protection certainly helped too... She felt emotion overwhelming her. Her core was pounding. She was... NOT just crushing on her leader, she was madly, MADLY in love with her. She didn't even think. She just acted. In one swift motion, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around J before kissing her with all her might.

"HmMMH!" J yelped at the sudden motion. The sadness and emotion she felt made way to sheer surprise and fluster. Her holographic eyes went wide, and she blinked several times trying to register what was happening.

Then, her heart softened when she remembered V's state. She slowly melted into the kiss and let herself enjoy this moment. V couldn't enjoy this if J wasn't doing so too.

Then, images appeared. A mansion. A little girl. N, J and V all together. As Workers. Dressed in servant clothes. V kissing J. A pile of books. A movie.

'What...what are these?' J asked in her head.

So many of them, all at once... It... It was clear to her now... This... This was how it was meant to be...! Her and V... They had already been together, long before they became assassins! These past several years working together... All along, they had an entire history that they had forgotten all about! They... They looked so happy in these brief flashes... It was clear to her that they had both been very much in love. It explained so much. It explained why V had immediately begun flirting with her when they 'first met'. It explained why she hadn't outright turned her down. Because despite the memories being deleted... Deep down... Both drones knew... They belonged together... They were lovers once... They would be lovers again...

Tearing up, J wrapped her arms around V's torso, and she deepened the kiss. V let out a muffled sob as her tail swished back and forth. She too had seen the visions... J's lips had a familiar taste, yet such a distant one... She never wanted this moment to end... This was everything she ever dreamed of, and it was something she'd had in the past... She... She had her J back... She didn't know what circumstances had driven them apart... But she was back, and they weren't letting each other go for anything.

Eventually, the two drones pulled away, smiling tearfully into each other's eyes. "...I... I love you..." V whispered softly, placing a hand on J's cheek.

"...I love you too..." J replied, pressing her forehead against V's gently and closing her eyes. "...I... I have vague memories of... of missing you terribly... I'm sorry... I wish I could remember it all..."

"I-I can't remember it all either... I know it happened, but I don't remember it happening..." V murmured. "...But... But we... We were together before... And... And we came together again, and... and..." She sniffled softly and buried her face into J's chest, then sobbed softly, occasionally managing to choke out yet another declaration of love as J gently fell to her knees, bringing V down with her, stroking her back soothingly and lightly rocking her back and forth, kissing the top of her head and resting her chin atop it, shushing her soothingly to try and ward the pain she felt away.

Eventually, V managed to calm herself, giving J a shakey smile. V gave her lover a squeeze. "If... If we have to... to die tonight, then... then... I'm glad... we... we got one last kiss in before it happened..."

J was about to respond, when they both got a message from the higherups in their heads. "Designation J. Designation V. Return to base. You will not be punished for failure." The voice on the other end sounded strained and exhausted.

"...Sir, are you all ri-"

"I'M FINE, DON'T ASK!" There was a sigh from the other end of the line, "The mission… has been scrapped entirely. Circumstances beyond our control have rendered it impossible." Both drones shared a look know just what from said circumstances took. A certain dinosaur that was purple with green.

"...Understood... We're... returning to base right now..." J said softly.

V smiled in overwhelming relief, then wrapped her arms around J from behind. "Hey... Maybe we could have a little bit of fun when we get back to our bunk."

J placed her hands over Vs, "We need to be careful, V. We know they've messed with our heads, and we don't know what they might do if they learn we've started to remember." There were still blank spaces and static, but the truth was that they had been turned into killing machines against their will.

V sighed and looked down. "But... But I love you, and I wanna show you that I love you..."

J closed her eyes. "And I love you too, but... we can't let them know..." She sighed softly. "...I'm sure we'll find the time... eventually..." J knew right then and there that they needed to escape. She didn't know how, and she didn't know when, but she knew it needed to happen. Neither she nor V could stay in that place if they wanted to be together.