"Target eliminated."

"Excellent. Any witnesses?" 

"Their memeories have been erased."

"Good. Report back to the base immediately. I'll send a clean-up crew over right away."

"Understood." 

I hang up my phone after concluding my report to Master and fly back to the base.

The main base of the SMSO is located beneath a forest on the outskirts of the city. There are several skinny trees with no leaves that surround a giant tree in the shape of a semi-circle. When you look at the trees, a secret panel is hidden underneath the artificial bark on the tree with a scratch marking on one of its roots. That scanner initiates a fingerprint scan and an eye scan to verify my identification.  The scanner recognizes me  and open up a small, cramped elevator within the larger tree within its artificial bark. I take the elevator down to the training room, where Master awaits me.

"Thanks for your hard work. I've already deposited your pay into your account. You're up to 200,000,000 Yen now."

I nod. I'll be sure to spend all of that money on anime video games and manga.

 "So then, Master, shall I begin my morning training?"

"Yes, let's do that right now."

I enter the training room through a large steel automatic door. A wall of sturdy, one-way glass separates the room where Master operates the training with the one where I commence my training. The room is dark and bare, with only security cameras on the ceiling - well, what's left of them. 

"Yuki-san, I want you to do this excercise at 20 percent," Master orders through the speaker.

"'Sir," I reply. "20 percent." My snowflake necklace glows a dim, white light as my hair changes back to normal. I feel quite weaker in this state, but it's best that I train myself in all types of energy levels.

The lights are shut completely off. Nothing can be seen at all. It must be blind-eye training, training without the use of one's sight. I hear the sound of metal clanking a few moments later. It moves towards me slowly. They must be androids (artificial intelligence). Judging by how slowly the sound is moving towards me and the weight of their sound, I speculate there are around 20 of them, armed with heavy machine guns. They get into a formation where they separate into 4 groups of 5 that stand apart from each other, circling me in every direction. The sound stops after several moments, and there are a few seconds of complete silence. I get into my stance. My left leg is in front with my right hand holding my katana. I close my eyes and take a deep breath in.

The buzzer rings.

In that instant, about 5 androids fire their guns at me from straight in the front. I instinctively move the the right to dodge the bullets. They trail me like a laser beam. I use that to my advantage as I swiftly move towards the direction of a few other androids. They point their guns at me, but I slice most of their heads off before they have the opportunity to fire. The ones that I miss are shot down my the first team of androids that were initially attacking me. 

The team that was shooting at me earlier has now ceased fire, assumingly because they have run out of ammo. I use that opportunity to slice open their bodies and kick through their thick heads. The sound of metal collapsing almost completely muffles the sound of another team firing. They fire hundreds - no thousands - of bullets targeted at me. Luckily, most of the bullets have missed my body completely. I fly up several meters above their heads, barely dodging the bullets. However, one bullet was able to piece my flesh in the leg. I grit my teeth. The pain from the shot limits my flight capabilities, but I still manage to stay in the air. I have to finish this quick. I charge my mana into my katana, which converts the mana into sparkling blue Lightning. The Lightning envelops the sword. 

"Let's do this, Raeden," I tell my sword.

 I bring it up to my left shoulder and swing it diagonaly downwards to the other side of my body with all my might. 

"Aaaahhhhh!" I yell as the Lightning is released, destroying the remaining Androids. 

There's a huge explosion that makes it difficult to hear what is going on, but I am certain that they were killed off. I start panting due to my increased fatigue. I slowly drop to the ground and catch my breath. I don't have enough energy to support  Raeden, so it disappears into the air. That's one of its abilities - to be able to appear and disappear at will. However, it will disappear by force if I don't have enough mana to maintain its form.

A few seconds pass by, and Master still hasn't opened the door.

 "What's going on? Why isn't Master opening the door. I've completed training." But then the thought comes to me. "Does that mean one's still alive?" 

My assumption was correct. A survivng android jumps up from behind me and points its gun at me. My injured leg prohibits me from moving. I reach behind me and I feel a scrap of metal from the remains of one of the androids. I change the piece of scrap metal into a hand gun with only one bullet inside to preserve my mana. I quickly point the head of the gun at the android and shoot it in the head. It collapses to the floor and ceases to function. Shortly after, the gun turns back into a piece of scrap metal.

The buzzer rings again, which means that training is over. I release 40 percent of my power, which accelerates my healing ability of any flesh wound. I am able to walk again half an hour later, when I deactivate my powers.

I walk out of the training room, where Master greets me in a disappointing tone.  "You got hit."

I bow down in apology. "I'm terribly sorry I did not meet your expectations, Master."

"Raise your head," he orders. I do as he says and look him in the eye. "You're lucky you're alive. A split second later and you would have been dead. I'll let this slide for now, since it was a minor shot to the leg. However, next time, I'm deducting half of your pay. In real combat, if you start to slow down because of a little wound, you'll end up dead."

"I understand," I reply automatically.

I take the elevator up to my room and wash off all the blood and sweat from the mission and training. My room is quite small, containing a futon, a small coffee table, a shower, a dresser, a small screen to watch television, and a shelf full of video games and manga. I put on a fresh set of clothes - a hot pink crew neck t-shirt, a black hoodie, and a pair of blue, boot cut jeans. My long-awaited breakfast is provided for me using a machine similar to that of a 3D printer hooked up to the ceiling. It projects a hologram onto a small coffee table in the middle of my room, and then materializes it within a few seconds. I give thanks and I consume my meal slowly.

Master opens the door to my room after knocking. "You left your scarf in the training room."

"Thanks," I respond quietly, taking my blood-stained scarf.

"By the way, Yuki-san, you-"

Master is interrupted by the ear-piercing alarm of the siren. He is contacted by the head of the Crystal Search Bureau. He speaks with him using a wireless speaker.

"What's the situation?" he asks.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Sir, we have identified the location of an active Akuma Crystal. It looks like it's in the hands of a criminal that escaped from the Los Angeles Detention Facility in America," he reports.

"Send me and the assassin the coordinates," Master commands.

"'Sir!" he replies. 

My phone vibrates, indicating the coordinates on the map. I wrap my scarf around my face and release my power to 50 percent. My snowflake necklace glows a bright white light as my hair transforms into a glowing, pinkish color and the kanji symbol for "release" appears on my hand.

Master and I take the elevator up to the floor that is just beneath the ground. He opens the hatch that leads to the outside. I fly out the hatch and up into the skies, heading towards California. "Raeden, my summoning tool, come forth!" I announce. My katana, Raeden, materializes in my right hand. It has a red hilt and a long, silver, elegant blade that can cut anything: flesh, bone, steel, etc. I  charge my mana into Raeden as it converts my mana into Lightning. I position Raeden behind me and use the Lightning to give me a speed boost. 

I arrive at the designated location within 15 minutes (yes, that's how I can fly when combining my flight ability with my Lightning).

I survey the area, looking for the poor soul who picked up the Crystal. I search near the LA Detention Facility that is located conveniently across the street from a bank.

(Wow, how stupid is that?)

"Where could he-"

I feel a pain in my chest, which is a sure sign that my life is in danger. Something is coming. I notice the shadow of of a large object hurdling towards me. I turn around and realize a gasoline truck is heading my way. With no time to react, it hits me. A fire breaks out and people are panicking  amidst the chaos. 

"I'll give ya'll one last chance to give me the money. If you refuse, I'll kill you all! None of you will escape," a man, who is most likely the one  being possessed by the Akuma crystal, threatens. He is a tall black man with large muscles and blazing red eyes - a sure sign that he is being possessed by the Crystal.

Several banktellers crouch down and hide while the police arrive on the scene, armed with handguns. "Freeze! You are charged for breaking out of prison, harming civilians, and damage to property. Put your hands behind your head and turn around slowly!" they demand.

"I ain't going back to the slammer!" the man yells as he lifts a car parked on the street and chucks it at them. The police escape from the attack and fire their guns. The bullets definitely hit, but the man is shockingly unharmed. The power of the Crystal must have really increased his endurance. The police gasp and cease fire.  Aggravated, the man flings another car at the police. They retreat to a farther location away from him and call for backup.

"Don't move! I've already killed a little girl over there. You don't want me to all of these bank tellers there would you?" he asks.

I slice up the truck that fell on me into many shards and walk through the fire that is slowly spreading throughout the area. "Who said I was dead?" I ask with fiery rage.

The black man turns around slowly out of fright. "Impossible. I-I was sure you were dead!" He gasps; then, with uneasiness in his voice, he whispers, "Wait, glowing pink hair and a long katana that can cut through anything. Don't tell me you're-"

"People like you who think they can kill me so easily are the ones that piss me off the most. They're all so full of themselves. That's why it's fun to see the look on their face when they die, thinking, 'How could I lose?'" I laugh. "I got bored watching your little spectacle. I'd like to join in on the fun now."

The man grits his teeth and clenches his fist. But, he suddenly calms down and laughs. "This is great. With my new found power, I'm now free from that cell, and I can inherit the title, 'The Man who Killed the Lightning Assassin.' I'm sure to make a fortune for your head."

"Oh? I hope you don't think that fantasy of yours will become a reality. It's a fact that it will never come true," I taunt.

"We'll see about that!" he yells as he hoists up a large truck and flings it towards me. 

I effortlessly catch the vehicle with one hand and set it down gently. Enraged, he rips a street sign out of the ground and charges towards me. (Wait, he's a Shizuo now?) He sluggishly swings the sign in an attempt to kill me with one blow, but I use my speed to dodge the attacks. I plant my foot on the ground and push off it for a counter attack. The man, to my surprise, instinctively dodges my attack and elbows me in my back when I am caught off balance. I fall to the ground and moan at the agonizing pain. I can't take another one of those blows or else I'm done for. As I try to slowly stand up, the man kicks me hard beneath my stomach. I bite my lower lip to hold in the screams from within. The kick sends me rolling on the ground a few meters away from him, toppling into a nearby building.

"What's wrong? I thought you, the mighty Lightning Assassin, we're going to kill me," he teases. "I guess that means... That I'm the stronger one." He bears a hideous grin on his face. He steps on my head and glances over behind him. He sees woman with her child hiding behind a lamppost. 

Don't tell me.

He chucks the street sign in his hand at the two. The child cowers in fear as the mother shields her child. 

Crap!

In a last ditch effort, I charge my mana into my sword and convert it into Lightning. I pour enough mana into it to shoot Lightning at the street sign like a laser beam and burn it to ashes. The mother and child sign in relief, unharmed.

The man curses at me and lifts his foot up to stomp me. I use the opportunity to roll on the ground away from him and stand back up on my feet. He's got strength, all right. And he has enough speed to dodge my attacks. I have to change tactics if I'm going to beat him. 

I charge my mana into my sword as it converts into Lightning. The Lightning extends to form a long, rope-like shape. "Lightning Whip!" I bellow as I attack him. The attack is slow, so I bet he will try to dodge it. Which is why I use my powers to change a shard of broken window glass into a small throwing knife. As expected, the man leaps into the air to dodge it. However, I release Raeden from its physical for, and make it disappear. By doing so, I am able to quickly move to his location and throw the knife at his face, which ends up piercing his left eye. He grabs the left side of his face and screams at the pain.

"Aaaaahhhhh! Why you-"

I don't wait to hear the rest of his sentence. I summon Raeden in my right hand again, move behind him, and cut the criminal's head cleanly off. Blood splatters everywhere as the corpse now rests in a sea of red. I notice a faint green glow in the man's pocket. I take out a pair of tweezers from my pocket and obtain the fragment. I store it in a small tube and seal it. 

Next thing I know, the police are pointing their guns at me. I quickly pull out the memory wiper from my pocket and push the button. A bright white light envelops a portion of the area as I make my escape back to the base. 

"Target eliminated," I mumble to myself.