Evelyne
She hugged the unconscious puppy closer to her chest. Her eyes moving about, trying to gain as much information as she could from this seemingly hopeless situation. Her ears were so fine tuned, she could hear the sound of footsteps from the buildings beside them.
Evelyne glanced at the Grinning Devil. His hood was down, revealing his hornless helmet. From what little she could read the man, he did not seem anxious in any way. His breathing was far too stable. This confidence made her feel a little better. The only notable thing was the tapping sound that he was making with his hand in one of his pockets.
“Sorry, I do not deal with shifty eyed fuckers that have the number advantage over me.” Said the Devil while tapping his chin, the metallic echo spreading over the alley.
Evelyne was getting ready to defend herself. She had no idea what the Grinning Devil was planning. Whatever it was, something told her it would not end well.
“…?”
The sound of footsteps from the building beside them had stopped. Evelyne thought that they were in position, their sight trained on them, but she could not see any sort of figure from the windows.
“What is going on?”
She looked around, most specifically the man known as Abraham Fu, to see if he had noticed that something was missing. The man was far too distracted by the Devil antics to perceive the lack of guns aiming down at them.
“Is this his plan?”
She again looked at the Grinning Devil, with a mixture of awe and fear. Evelyne almost gasped when she saw the Devil glancing down at her, with his index finger over the mask’s grin.
Abraham Fu’s face was flushed red and one could visibly see a vein on his forehead get bigger. But it seemed like it would take much more than that to push him over the edge.
“Are we not from the same country Devil? Be a little kinder…” Requested Fu.
That was one curious bit of information. As it was clearly visible, Abraham Fu was a man of Chinese descent. But she did not expect the Devil to be Chinese either. She had seen him without his now ever present helmet, but nothing stuck out to her. Evelyne was now very curious to what secret this man was hiding.
“Make me.” The sheer arrogance that oozed from his words and posture visibly made Fu stiffen.
Then, before the Chinese man could do anything, the Devil turned to Evelyne.
“What would you do in this situation?” She could feel all of his attention on her.
She frowned for a second, but understood what the Devil meant. She looked around more and saw emergency stairs a few meters off the ground. Even with her hands full she could easily make the jump over the railing escape from there.
The Devil followed her gaze, then nodded.
“Not bad, but what about the people down here?” He said while pointing to either side of the alley. These people had handguns aimed at them, even if they were relaxed some shots would be fired. Evelyne did not care about that, bullets of this caliber would hardly stop her but the dog would be in danger. She racked her brain for a solution.
“...a distraction.”
“Bingo!”
“允许我杀了这个该死的笨蛋” Shouted a cloaked figure beside Abraham Fu in a language that Evelyne did not understand.
With a single flick of her finger, the cloak fell revealing what was hidden underneath. Long black hair collected into a ponytail that touched her lower back. A porcelain white face with pitch black eyes filled with annoyance. The clothes she was wearing were obviously military grade but they were so form fitting one would think they were made for other purposes…
For the first time since the beginning of this whole encounter, the Grinning Devil pulled out his hands from his jacket. To the more observant spectator, such as Evelyne, they would notice that his right hand was clenched, holding something similar to a small horn.
“对不起，你不是我喜欢的类型” Said the Devil, looking at the femme fatale. Whatever he said, she rushed towards them. With a hand movement, the Grinning Devil threw whatever he was holding in the air above them. While all were distracted by what he had thrown, the Devil hoisted Evelyne over his shoulder and sprinted toward the wall opposite of the emergency stairs. A fraction of a second later, Evelyne’s eardrums were blown, blood dripping from her ear canals.
With superhuman athleticism, the Devil jumped on the wall with one foot and pushed himself off it, cracking the wall as a result. With his one free arm, he grabbed onto the railing and pulled himself over it, running up the stairs three by three. Quickly he was on the roof, where he grabbed what seemed like a mini drone and pocked it.
Evelyne eardrums quickly regenerated. She looked down at the puppy in her hands, worried that he too would be hurt. Thankfully that was not the case, the little one was soundly sleeping between her hands, as if nothing ever happened. It made no sense to her, but she was glad it was fine.
The Grinning Devil continued his parkour run until they reached Legion’s apartment, where he put her back on her feet.
“Go back with the others while I deal with some other business.” He advised her while gently pushing her towards the apartment's entry.
She nodded and ran inside. Everything that had happened, memorized in her brain. You never know.
----------------------------------------
Ludomir
He had been tended by heal-bots before, but he had never seen ones so efficient in their work. The healing past and bandages were done so perfectly that it did not limit his mobility, not even one bit. A part of him wanted to ask Legion if he was willing to sell one of them. He could leave it close to his sister to check on her.
“Mag…”
He brought out one of the pads given to him by the Grinning Devil. It was obviously something expensive, considering how new it looked. He had given it to Ludomir so that he could talk with his sister without going the extra need to use proxies and such to hide communications. He appreciated that, if that was the truth. Lud would have opened it to see how it worked but this was the Devil’s belonging so he wanted to leave as pristine as he could.
“Ludomir…?” A weak voice from the pad. A few seconds later, a video feed was established. Seeing the lively color and the puffiness returning to her cheeks was enough to moist his eyes.
“Y-yes, how are you?” He blurted out in Polish. He could hardly contain his happiness.
“Better! I feel like I could take on a bear!” She said while touching her bicep. The sight of her still malnourished arm was able to make Ludomir physically shiver. Magdalena noticed that.
“No need for the pity look! I really am getting better!”
“I know…” - Ludomir sighed, his eyes avoiding the screen - “I just wish you never had to go through this…” He did not have the courage to look at her right now.
He could not see her face, but he could easily imagine her soft smile.
“Do not take everything on yourself Ludomir.”
“Do not take everything on yourself Ludomir.”
That was the same thing that she would tell him while they were in the orphanage. When he was just a dumb and impulsive kid that wanted to take on the whole world just to give himself and his sister a place in this dog eat dog of a world.
“Sorry…” He mumbled.
“As long as you know… by the way, I wanted to ask something.”
Now it came, the questioning. She would be asking him how he was able to afford her cures. He was able to elude her questioning when he first met her. This time around it would be harder, knowing how stubborn she could be. He had to carefully think what to say.
“Go on.”
“Who’s the Grinning Devil?” She demanded while tapping on the pad.
Ludomir's brain underwent what could only be classified as a biological reboot. His sight grew dim, his knees weak and palms sweaty.
“W-what?” He asked eloquently.
“The one who made these pads. I jailbroke the software and found that name.”
“YOU WHAT!?” The veins on Ludomir’s neck bulged to a comical degree. His face was ashen and beads of sweat were beginning to form on his forehead. Even his lunch was starting to churn inside his stomach.
“Hey! I was curious ok!?” She shouted back.
“Ja pierdole…” A cuss escaped from his lips.
If that Devil ever knew what she did… just imagining it sent shivers down his spine.
“Don’t worry, I made sure to leave no trace.” She said while grinning, puffing her chest out with pride.
Ludomir knew of the capabilities of his sister; with a computer in hand she was a wiz. Years ago, she used to keep the orphanage database up and going. That helped greatly in his escape since she made it so that he was transferred to another orphanage.
True, she had been sick for some months now, but she still kept most of her edge. Now that Mag’s health was coming back, she seemed to focus on regaining her lost skills and maybe sharpen them even more. Ludomir was tempted to ask Legion if he was willing to give some tips to her. But that would entail her getting mixed into the Unknown business. He hated that idea.
“Still there brother?” Her voice brought him back to Earth.
“Yeah, just… don’t do that again please?”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“It’s not like I broke anything…” - she mumbled - “So who is this guy?”
“Ehm… he is my… superior?”
It was not a lie.
“Superior? In your workplace?”
“Yeah.”
“So he kills people, all while getting paid for it?”
“...”
“...”
Her stare was burning holes in his soul. Ludomir bit on his lower lip and after a bit of hesitation opened his mouth.
“Ye-”
“THAT’S SO COOL!”
Ludomir’s lower jaw remained hanging.
“What?”
“He is an Unknown!” - she started gesturing wildly while her voice grew louder - “THEY ARE LIKE SUPERHEROES AND VILLAINS OF OLD!”
He wanted to reject that comparison, but it was so damn fitting.
“Wait… would that make me the Grinning Devil’s minion?”
He shook his head.
“He is the one that is providing for your treatment too.”
“Truly? I must thank him myself.”
“Then this would be your best opportunity.” Another voice was heard from the pad. A video feed appeared. It was the Grinning Devil himself.
Ludomir’s pad slipped from his fingers, thankfully he was able to grab it midair.
“D-Devil!?” Called out the young man.
“The one and only, for now at least.”
Magdalene was silent for a few moments.
“THANK YOU!” She yelled as if making it louder would make her appreciation more visible.
“You are welcome.” Said the Devil curtly.
“How did-”
“I made the pads and I host the channels you are on, of course I can hijack a call.” He made it look like a breach in privacy was nothing.
“It is truly some good work Mr.Devil.” Complimented his sister. She was usually quite proud of her abilities as a techie, so this came as a surprise for Ludomir.
“Uh, been a while since I have been called that…” - started the Grinning Devil - “... but a friend of mine helped to set it up so I cannot take full credit for it.”
“I would like to speak with him too.”
“Her.”
“That makes me want it even more!”
The Grinning Devil chuckled. Ludomir could only describe the sound of that as…hollow. It was weird.
“Little Hero.” - began the Devil - “Take good care of Evelyne and her new pet, they should arrive in a few seconds.”
“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT-”
Before he could ask why the Grinning Devil knew what his sister called him while they were little, the door to his apartment opened.
Evelyne walked inside, closing the door behind her. She looked a bit scruffed, as if she had some intense exercise before coming home, but otherwise looked fine. Most curious was the little puppy she was holding in her hands that was biting on her fingers. He immediately recognized it as a Rottweiler of sorts, most likely a mutt of it. After nodding to Ludomir she went to her room.
When his attention turned back to his pad, the Grinning Devil video feed was gone. Yet he could still imagine his damn mocking laughter.
“Ty zjeb…” Another cuss escaped his lips, this time only for his ears.
His sister's giggle brought him out of his thoughts. The Grinning Devil was the piece of shit, but he still gave him the opportunity to hear his Mag laugh. So he would not take this to heart. He was not one to hold grudges. No sir.
----------------------------------------
Khutulun
The Grinning Devil had asked her to search this location in search of someone. The building was officially owned by a man known as Abraham Fu, but some in-depth research and a keen observer would see that it was just a front for the Chinese to sink their talon into European land.
Her partner was currently being a bat for the Chinese man, so to allow her easy access to the building, most specifically: the underground jail. According to him, they were keeping someone of high importance to the “operation” in Ural city. She took out her laptop.
She pressed the start up button. Immediately, the ventilation system started running full throttle. She and the Devil had disassembled it many times before, but they could never get rid of that sound. Even changing the fan itself had no use. It had driven them both to madness. Now he has a belief that as long as this thing makes noise, it will work fine.
The screen too flashed some color and with some quick taps an image was shown on it. It was a bust shot of what could only be described as old world Ninja. Only thing visible on its face were its eyes, clearly showing her Asian heritage and with unnatural purple irises.
“Mochizuki Chiyome, the Last Ninja.”
She was a peculiar individual, as the Devil would put it. One of the few people that was able to survive the aftereffects of taking the Chinese variant of the Officer Human Enhancer. Though she needed a very extensive and intrusive cybernetic operation to modify her body into that of a cyborg since the enhancer fried almost all of her nervous system. Unfortunately that did not help with various neurological problems. The Devil had a whole dossie on her quirks and such, which he has burned more than once since it was almost impossible to try to predict her.
“That is what worries me the most…”
She trusted the man with her life since they lived through thick and thin together, but she still could not get into his head at all. Unless they were playing chess, then she would have an easy time against him. That thought made her chuckle.
Khutulun closed her laptop and hid it in her backpack, her gaze set on the entrance of the building. The Grinning Devil had told her to make a huge mess while rescuing the prisoner, but he had allowed her free reign on how to do it. She could blow the place out, but that would be too similar to the Devil’s style of doing things.
She caressed her mask while deep in thoughts. She would do it her own way: through overwhelming strength. The plan was to rush into the barracks on the building and lay waste to as many henchmen and she could inhumanely can. The surprise factor would play a huge factor in it.
Her legs muscles bulged, threatening to tear through her pants. Few seconds later the glass entrance was shattered as something that passerbys could only describe as a human sized bullet flew past them. She had already memorized the layout of the various floors so she rushed with clear intent into the most heavily guarded section of the building. With a drop kick the metal door flew off its hinges, with one henchman behind that crushed it and the wall.
Before their brains had even rationalized what had happened, Khutulun started punching people on their head, most of them losing consciousness from the first punch. Some of the cyborgs she used her electrically charged clawed glove to fry their circuit.
In less than a moment a room full of lively people was turned into a graveyard. The Devil had asked her to avoid killing them, for whatever reason, so she did her best to not punch them to death on the spot, though she was sure some of them had a pretty heavy concussion.
The thought of having three other rooms almost filled her with excitement. But seeing the sleeping people on the floor, her hopes for a thrill were destroyed. Their main force was with the Devil, so they left only small fries here. It was pretty boring for her.
So Khutulun systematically and very efficiently took care of the other three. Such was her prowess that the alarm was not even triggered once. Well, she had disabled it beforehand, but it seemed she had been overcautious. His partner would be pretty proud of her right now.
After flicking a camera off, she went into the containment zone. Again she was able to masterfully and stealthily deal with the guards before they even had the random thought of wearing a green hat.
Khutulun stood before a cell, the translucent plasma caging daring one to touch it. Inside it, strapped to a chair, was Mochizuki Chiyome. The Last Ninja had long, rough hair that had been done in a bun and a face full of tiny scare that created dissonance with her childish looking face. The captive slowly moved her head upwards, until their eyes met. A smile was beginning to appear on her face. The words she softly spoke were overshadowed by the alarm blaring.
“I am not your sister.” Said Khutulun in Chinese.
She punched the code in and the plasma wall dissipated. The smell of dampness overwhelmed her nose, but she ignored it and went to free the ninja from her bindings.
“But I need you to come with me.” Continued Khutulun.
“Shit sister, that was enough! I would do everything to get out of this place! Even sell my soul to the Devil himself” Her shrill, quirky voice was just as Khutulun had imagined it. It was a bit annoying.
The Last Ninja jumped from her chair, almost hitting the ceiling on the process. While Mochizuki was laughing at her own antics, Khutulun sighed.
“This will be a long day...”