Yuna, in her Aegis suit, stood in the corner of an underground area, similar to the one she had fought in prior with an arena at it’s center. Reina-sparrow hovered overhead while Yuna affixed a device to a wall. Armed guards in similar suits stood throughout the area. At the entrance, Leon watched over a steady flow of guards screening people. Excitement and oppression filled the air in equal measure, mixing into a heavy tension. Yuna turned, gazing out over the sea of spectators filing to their seats.

“I should be down in that smelly ass room, instead of playing babysitter. God damnit. Such bullshit,” Yuna said.

“We’re almost done,” Reina said. “Are you really going to keep grumbling all night?”

Yuna sighed. “I’m just so much more annoyed now that we’re actually here. Dante, you fucking bum, you should be here helping.”

Inside Reina’s basement room at Vyxora, Dante leaned back into his chair, feet on the desk while he watched numerous surveillance feeds of the arena.

“And risk running into a family member? Yeah, no,” Dante said.

“Big fuckin’ deal, you pussy.”

“Call me whatever will make you feel better.” No way in hell I’m risking being verbally abused by them while these two listen in.

“Clear comms,” Leon said.

“My bad, Pops,” Yuna groaned. Reina led her to another nearby location, where she affixed another device. “You still think they’re gonna show, Reina? Especially with how packed this place is with security now?”

“I…” Reina-sparrow glanced about. What should I say? There really is so much security, the council’s being careful. Would they still risk it? What would they even have to gain? To think another month passed with almost nothing since Argonix. I had Papa call in a favor just to test my theory. I enlisted the Nezins to make these. Yuna might start a fight if someone so much as bumps into her…I had so much more confidence in all this last night. Why? What if I’m wasting everyone’s time?

Yuna plucked Reina from the air, shook her a few times and then held her at eye-line. “Hey, birdbrain, you’re overthinking things again, aren’t you?”

“What? I, um, no…no,” Reina panicked.

“Give me some credit, I know you. And I know I’ve been pissin’ and moanin’ but I wasn’t questioning you.”

“Nothing,” Leon said.

“Exactly, Pops get’s it. The rest of us tiny brains couldn’t even come up with something.” Yuna poked the sparrow’s forehead several times.

“Quit it, that’s more disorienting than you’d think,” Reina said. She squirmed out of Yuna’s grasp, returning to hover.

“‘What if I’m wasting everyone’s time?’“ Yuna mocked in a dainty tone.

“Wha-what?”

“That was you. Got it right, didn’t I?”

“Maybe.” It’s true, I really don’t give Yuna enough credit. I’m glad she can’t see my face. Glad I can’t, either.

“So, you seen your fam yet, Dante?” Yuna asked.

“Yeah, why?” Dante asked.

“Where they at?”

“Somethings telling me, I shouldn’t tell you.”

“Oh c’mon, I’m just curious.”

“Your intuition’s right, Dante. Not happening, Yuna,” Reina said. “This street goes both ways. ‘Hey, why’d you bleeping bleeps not re-challenge me first. Are you a bunch of bleeping bleeps.’“

“Accurate,” Leon said.

“Thanks, Papa. So?”

“Fineee. Yeah, mighta said something like that. Everyone’s against me.” Yuna kicked at the floor.

“This’ unlikely to make you feel any better, but I did just hear back from an old contact,” Dante said. “It’s as we thought, the council must’ve sanctioned this to avoid system breakdown. The Immortals and The Legionnaires have been ramping up hostilities for a while, long before your duel. Then, since the Praetor’s death, The Immortals really pushed things to the edge. Basically, this is to prevent a huge ass skirmish breaking out. You already know rocks-for-brains Nero is capable of such stupidity.”

“Doubt,” Leon said.

“Yes, it’s unlikely the council would’ve allowed this if the Legion declared on Vyxora again,” Reina said.

“I get it, I get it.” Yuna said. “I’ve no choice but to hope Reina’s theory is correct. Oooh, that mother fucker’s gonna regret ruining my duel.” She grinded her fist into her other palm.

“Calm,” Leon said.

“I am. Such a damn worrywart.”

“End.”

“Just in time,” Reina said. “Sensors are good to go.”

“What now?” Yuna asked.

“We wait.”

“I forgot, what’re the thingys for again?”

“One of the only rumors with any real credibility is a railgun’s being used. The Nezins theorized that sensors could pick up the building energy required for it to fire. That’s the idea, anyway. We have no proof, though.”

“Not like anyone else seems to have any better ideas,” Dante said.

“Yeah, these lame-asses from the council are treating it like a numbers game. Flooding the area with bodies,” Yuna said. “If one thing’s clear, the assassin’s a real tricky bastard. Disappeared into thin air twice now. This ‘railgun’ junk’s over my head but it’s better than nothing.”

“Alert,” Leon said.

“Quit naggin’, I know.”

“Care.”

“I know, sheesh.”

“Looks like they’re coming out,” Dante said.

“Whoa, is that a spear? Damn, I’ve always wanted to fight a spear wielder.”

The arena announcer commenced with the expected hype building of the ensuing match. Nero walked out in near identical attire that Vigo, the Praetor, had worn. Opposite him, an individual in a combat suit strode out. They were adorned with clothing reminiscent of the ancient Persian empire. It appeared light and robe-like. They had a large shield along with a transarm spear.

“I swear, what’s with this fucking city and cosplayers?” Yuna said. “I really don’t get it, no matter how many times I see it.”

“History,” Leon said.

“I know you’ve told me that before, but still.”

Weird, am I getting used to Leon? Think I know what he said, Dante thought.

“It’s actually simpler than you might think,” Dante said. “I’ve played games in all kinds of eras, so I get the appeal. But, basically, when swords and stuff came back in style, people looked to the past. You could say the idea is to channel the warrior cultures of old where melee combat was all there was.”

“Ehhh. Still pretty lame shit.”

Heh, wonder if she has a hard time comprehending wanting to channel them because she possesses a ‘warrior’s spirit’, as Reina put it, Dante thought with a chuckle.

“Mm.” Leon grunted, barely audible, only Dante seemed to notice.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

That was weird?

“Dante!” Reina shouted as she flew off toward the ceiling. Dante almost fell out of his chair. “Quick! Do you see anything? The sensors are reacting!”

“Looking…looking,” Dante scanned the dozens of feeds laid out in a grid in front of him.

“One after another is going off but they haven’t triangulated the source yet. Where could they be?”

“God damn, they really showed? Where? Where!” Yuna scanned the arena. However, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Spectators placed bets, guards patrolled and the combatants waited. Lights dimmed, increasing the exposure of the center arena.

“Not seeing anything suspicious, somehow?” Dante said.

“I might have something?” Reina said. “It’s…it’s…coming from a wall near the ceiling? What?” She flew closer to a corner of the area. “Is there maybe ventilation or?” The unforgettable boom of a shot rang out. She saw a faint flash of light for a split-second emerge from the wall. “Yuna! This ceiling corner! There’s something. Sending it’s location now!”

Reina flew closer while switching to thermal optics. The thermal glow of a human appeared in stark contrast to the surrounding area, as if the wall didn’t exist. A notable heat signature lay at their feet. The figure moved and for a moment, Reina thought they looked at her, despite such details indiscernible from thermals. She froze aloft. Then, at the sight of them walking away, Reina pursued. She had forgotten about the wall as she passed through it unhindered. She passed over the heat signature of the weapon and at that realization, she paused above it while she switched off thermals.

“Yuna! The wall’s a hologram! This must be some kind of maintenance tunnel. Hurry!”

“Already on my way.” Yuna sprinted up the sheer wall from an angle. “Okay, I’ll admit, this feature’s pretty fuckin’ handy.” She started to lose balance as she looked at where Reina waited. Her HUD displayed Reina’s form within the wall. “Should’ve practiced though, fuck shit fuck.” As one foot slipped from the wall, she slammed one of her axes into the wall, creating a hold.

Meanwhile, Reina observed a device that projected the wall. The tunnel had dim light. She glanced at the weapon. It appeared massive, reminiscent of a cross between a high caliber sniper rifle and a bazooka. Heated vapor emanated from it. After remembering the assailant, she quickly glanced down the tunnel, and saw no one. She switched to thermals again in a panic. The heat signature of the individual she’d seen prior, casually strode some distance away.

“Almost…there!” Yuna had further scaled the wall, then made a great leap to the ceiling corner, slamming both axes into the wall. The hologram of the wall disappeared a moment later and Yuna hopped into the tunnel.

“They’re still here. Turn on thermals, they must be using an optical camouflage,” Reina said. Yuna sprinted past without a word, spinning her dual axes in her hands. “Be careful, Yuna! Don’t underestimate them. They must be incredibly confident in their escape route!”

Yuna did as Reina advised and soon saw the assassin’s heat-mapped form appear in front of her. She closed the distance until suddenly the assassin moved with incredible speed and then stopped just as abruptly. She sped up in pursuit while she switched off the thermal vision. The tunnel opened into a room. Among some pillars lay nondescript storage and general maintenance equipment. She slowed as she took in the environment through her peripheral yet her gaze remained affixed on her target. No longer camouflaged, they stood on the opposite end of the room, leading into another tunnel corridor. They wore a pitch black combat suit. It appeared similar to Yuna’s and struck an imposing figure. They held a small blade at their chest in their right hand, a wakizashi transarm. Their left held an immense transarm claymore slung over their shoulder. Yuna sped up again, her axes disappeared to her back on her approach until, without breaking stride, she unleashed on the assassin.

“Gotcha, motha fucker!” Yuna yelled. The assassin narrowly deflected her axes with the wakizashi in time, yet their claymore followed in the immediate after in a downward arc. She dodged. “Finally!”

Meanwhile, Reina analyzed the weapon left behind. She determined the reasoning for it’s abandonment, for it had been bolted into the floor.

“It does seem to be a railgun, I think? Is it really so powerful it required being made stationary? Oh. Dante, how’re things out there? I totally got lost in thought,” Reina said.

“Well, it’s good you’re alright, tried hailing you a few times,” Dante said.

“Sorry.”

“No big. Out here, it was pretty chaotic for a bit.”

“‘Was’?”

“Yeah. If your dad ever wants another career, he’d be one hell of a legendary bouncer. Everyone was running around like headless chickens while the guards searched in vain for the shooter. Even had to mute the sound for a bit, could feel a headache coming fast. I didn’t catch if he said anything, but people started to file out the exit in an orderly manner while his imposing figure stood towering over them. It was a pretty weird sight.”

“And…your brother?”

“Unfortunately, after he inspected himself for a bullet hole for an embarrassingly long time, he realized the poor Immortals fellow lay dead.”

“Uhm.”

“That was a joke in poor taste. Anyhoo, this kinda means your theory was on the money, no? Crazy.”

“Detective,” Leon said.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Papa. It sounds like you did a great job, though. I’d heard after the fact that there were numerous injuries last time from the stampede. Some almost died.”

I really am starting to get Leon, maybe. That was basically a reference to my bouncer comment. Heh, Dante thought.

“It’s hard to believe, but whoever’s behind this, their goal really does seem to be to incite chaos. But, in stark contrast to that, their preparedness is even more unreal.” Reina went on to explain how the wall must have been removed and replaced with the hologram, along with recapping how things had transpired for her and Yuna to that point.

“Yuna?” Leon asked.

“Ah! What am I doing? It must’ve only been a few minutes but I think I can hear the clangs of metal. Going now.”

“Be careful,” Dante said.

“I’m not really in danger, Dante.”

“Oh, right. Bird thing.” Dante chuckled.

“Thanks, though.”

Meanwhile, Yuna and the assassin were in an intense duel. Curses from Yuna were drowned out by the clashing of their transarms. The room had already become scarred from their lethal dance. Her transarms morphed into other variants often between exchanges. However, her opponent countered each in stride, their own unchanging. Countless parries, deflections and ripostes occurred as the seconds passed.

Reina arrived in time to see a particularly powerful confrontation. Yuna swung two swords in a downward arc. Her opponent absorbed the blows with the brunt of their claymore as a shield. In turn, she kicked the claymore, staggering them. She followed with a thrust of a rapier. However, they’d already recovered and parried with the wakizashi. A moment later, the claymore swung in a wide horizontal arc, causing Yuna to leap backwards as it cut clean through a nearby pillar.

“Too much time,” the assassin said.

Yuna paused for only a second, but in the next a thick smoke filled the area. On instinct, she guarded herself while jumping further away. However, as a few seconds went by with her sensing no incoming attack, she switched to thermals. Her visor became a mess of heat signatures, so disorienting that she turned it off in response.

“Yuna? I forcefully turned your comms back on, can you hear me?” Reina asked.

“Reina! Do you see the bastard?” Yuna asked. “Thermals are fucked. Can’t see shit.”

“They’re gone.”

“What? No way.”

“The smoke was pure diversion, it’s even equipped with a myriad of flakes that interfere with any vision I try.”

“But—!”

“I’d see a larger distortion if they were still in the room.”

“God damnit. Thought for sure they were lurkin’ still.” Yuna emerged from the dissipating smoke near a hovering Reina.

“If we consider how prepared they were, they must have only engaged with you in the first place because they thought they could end it quickly.”

“Well,” Yuna sighed as she shook her head, “the lil’ bitch is skilled, I’ll give them that. Dono how much time passed, but—”

“Formidable,” Leon said.

“Yeah, Pops. Fuck.”

“Okay?”

“Of course I am, ya old fool.”

Later that evening, Aelfric walked at a brisk pace in a dim alley way. He wore a sizable coat, with gloves. He glanced in a nearby window of a closed storefront at his reflection as he placed a baseball cap upon his head.

Shameful. You’re missing Lady Artemis’ reading because you were not careful enough, Aelfric thought. Then, as he lifted his chin some and inspected his face, his skin color slowly changed, as did his eye and hair color. It’s done, might be able to catch the end still. Hurry.

After a short time, Aelfric approached a well-maintained, unassuming building with a dilapidated concrete fence. In haste, he opened a gate and closed it. He repeated the same to the building door, taking care to reduce noise. The interior stood in stark contrast to it’s outside appearance, exuding a cozy home and atmosphere. Pictures of children lined the hallway walls as Aelfric moved quickly past, with little to no sound. His pace quickened even further at the sound of Artemis’ voice. He turned into a room. A group of children of varying ages huddled among one another around a woman. An elderly man and woman off to the side exchanged a smiling glance with Aelfric, who nodded.

Wew. Think this’ the halfway point, at least. There my Lady is in all her splendor, Aelfric thought as he stared, grinning, at the woman reading aloud. Artemis’ skin, eyes and hair too were of a different hue than normal. She wore glasses as well and starkly casual attire to her usual, along with an altered hair style.

Some time later, Aelfric and Artemis sat across from one another within a drone taxi. They remained in their altered appearances.

“You were late?” Artemis asked.

“My sincerest apologies, Lady Artemis.” Aelfric bowed his entire upper half low.

“Were there complications?”

“Yes. However, the objective was completed prior to my being delayed. I had to ensure I wasn’t compromised.”

“You appear unharmed.”

“I am undeserving of your concern, my Lady.”

Artemis tapped away at a screen nearby. “Safe now, report in full.”

“Understood. Everything proceeded according to plan up to my exit, with no deviations. As I engaged cloaking, despite being obstructed by the hologram, it seemed as if a bird watched me. I dismissed this strange event. However, shortly after, I was pursued.” Aelfric recounted the details of his battle with Yuna. “I determined the confrontation was far too prolonged and executed maneuver E-S.”

“I assume there are no recordings, per protocol?”

“Correct, my Lady. My apologies.”

“Cease with the apologies.” Artemis shot Aelfric an icy glare as he opened his mouth. He stopped and nodded. “We prepared so thoroughly specifically for such complications. Admittedly, I did not think it would happen so soon, however. Your pursuer must have proved exceedingly skilled?”

“I am loathe to admit, yes.”

“I recall you mentioning they wielded dual axes at the start of your confrontation? Are you positive?”

“Yes, I’m quite sure. Why do you ask?”

“Your ability to focus on the task at hand is a great boon. However, that compartmentalization can also be a detriment.” Artemis tapped away at the air, her movements reflected onto the keyboard in her IRIS. A nearby monitor screen turned on to display a picture of Yuna in her Aegis suit. “The chances of this being mere coincidence are unlikely. Does this appearance match your pursuer?”

“It does. The suit isn’t a guarantee, but their frame and build are identical.”

“There appears to be little information on this ‘Yuna’. She was the one meant to duel the Praetor.”

“May I humbly beseech, how did you—?”

“Research is never wasted time, Aelfric. I have not been preparing for so long without learning this simple truth.”

“As ever, I am humbled by your wisdom, Lady Artemis. I would prostrate myself in shame were we on the ground.” Aelfric bowed deeply.

Artemis sighed.