You Just Messed with the Wrong "Kid" [Open]

Nanalie had changed a lot throughout the past five or so years. She was barely sixteen years old – her birthday having just recently passed – and already she held a job within her mother's club: ZeroSum. Of course, she didn't work at the bar, nor was she in charge of keeping the jerks out despite her great marksmanship abilities, instead she worked in her mother's helping her with the accounting and ordering of supplies. It would have been dull work had it not been for the fact that she was actually in the hottest club in all of Edge. How many people could say they worked at ZeroSum? Still, Nanalie wished she could do more: her grandfather had taught her a specific set of skills and she wanted to use them, she wanted to do more then crunch numbers and work at a desk.

Even now those thoughts crossed through her mind as she sat there on the swing in the nearby park. She knew she would have to head home soon, given the way the sky was getting darker and darker, but for now she simply sat there and swayed backwards and forwards slightly while she dug the toes of her white tennis shoes into the dirt. Grabbing both of the chains of the swing Nanalie leaned herself backwards so that her long white hair and white jacket flowed behind her: it wasn't exactly like it was cold to her but the jacket went with the white V-neck blouse and red shorts that she wore. On top of being fashionable the jacket hid the weapons she carried as well.

She closed her eyes, and began to hum softly, tuning out the rest of the world for a moment...

Watching: that was all the two Templar agents had been doing since they had happened upon an individual they recognized. She had the same white hair that the Kane's did, and the same silvery eyes – two things they were able to get a close up on from their position in their car: binoculars were a wonderful invention after all. Tinted windows were up, and they had chosen a shadowy spot to park in.

”I'm telling you that's Demi Kane's daughter.”

”Are you absolutely sure? We can't afford anymore mistakes!”

”I'm positive! She works in her mother's club, ZeroSum. I've seen her coming and going a lot from there.”

”If we could get our hands on her we'd be in business. Surely those Kane's would trade for one of their own.”

”How the hell are we going to pull this off?”

”You distract, and I'll sneak up behind her with the collar. It'll stop her from being able to use any powers.”

”Why can't you distract her and I use the collar?”

”Because I'm your superior! Now move!”

Grumbling and cursing under his breath the Templar would get out of the car, shutting the door as quickly and quietly as he could. He would then glance first to the left and then to the right, searching for any sign that anyone else was in the park – so far it was empty and quiet. Even the street was devoid of people at this time of the evening. Still grumbling beneath his breath he would cross the street as what he hoped would be perceived as a slow and calm walk, and enter into the park. Instead of heading straight towards Nanalie, which would have likely given him away relatively easy or so he assumed, he paused to stare at a nearby tree that had a bird hopping along one of is branches.

Behind him in the car his superior watched closely. He had the collar in hand: a device that would instantly strip the wearer of any powers and render them completely and totally to that of a untrained human being.

Watching the watchers: that's what he'd been doing ever since he spotted them. Templars. They were in an expensive car, and they were up to something. Templars never came out of that hole they hid in unless it was for a good reason.

Yata had put on a considerable amount of muscle after he'd bought a supplement from the local black market dealer. Some may have called it a steroid, but it didn't feel like it. Yata used most of the money Dad Kane gave him to get himself properly equipped with tools that would help him while out on the prowl, like a combat knife and a kevlar vest. He bought himself a Glock and a suppressor for silent kills, and a .45 caliber 1911 for when all hell broke loose and it was time to get messy.

Upon spotting the expensive looking car with the tinted windows, Yata scramble to the roof of a nearby building and began to trail them, free running from rooftop to rooftop. He'd constructed himself a special holster for his skateboard, which was currently sheathed upon his back. A couple of times, Yata had to tightrope walk across wires to reach the other sides of the streets that the car drove upon. The car nearly got away from him twice, but he was able to keep up with it.

And now, the car was parked across from a park that had one girl in it. Eagle Vision had her painted gold, which told Yata that they were after her. For whatever reason, Yata didn't know, but he wasn't going to let them have her, no matter what that reason was. Yata quickly and silently made his way around into the trees nearby the swing that the girl was on, positioning himself on a thick branch as the Templar got out of the car, obviously colored blood red in Eagle Vision. For now, it looked like he was hesitating...

Yata could wait here all night if he had to.

Eagle Vision Post Count: 5

Nanalie had been warned that there were some weirdos running about and perhaps that warning was what caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up when she heard the sound of a car door opening and closing. Her eyelids fluttered open and she lifted her head a bit so that she could see who had arrived at this late hour at the park – though she was currently still leaning backwards on the swing.

There was a single male walking slowly into the park who was completely childless. Nanalie took a moment to glance about, wondering if perhaps there had been a child there the whole time that she had missed – but there wasn't. It was just her, and apparently this stranger who was now staring at a bird hopping along the branch in the park that she could see. Not wanting to draw attention to herself she simply sat up straight on the swing and dragged her white tennis shoes in the ground softly until the swing came to a stop. She stared down at her shoes as she dug the toe of her right shoe into the dirt; pretending to be fascinated by what she was doing. In truth? She was watching this strange individual out of the corner of her eye.

She just couldn't shake the gut feeling that something was off about this guy: why was he arriving in a park at this late of an hour without any children?

The Templar goon that was in the park was slowly working up his nerve to approach the girl: he knew he was going to have to keep her distracted long enough for his supervisor to be able to sneak up behind her and apply the collar. He looked away from the bird and over to the girl to see that she was no longer swinging but was in fact digging the toe of what looked to be brand new tennis shoes into the dirt. She wasn't looking at him, in fact it seemed as if she hadn't noticed him at all – or that was what he thought anyway.

Squaring his shoulders he got up and began to wander over slowly. Behind him he could hear his supervisor getting out of the car as quietly as possible; shutting the door just enough to keep it closed without making a lot of noise with it. Out of the corner of his eye he watched his supervisor, collar in hand, head off further down – he apparently planned on taking the long way around as to not be spotted.

“Hey uh... little girl. You happen to know what time it is? I seem to forgot my watch... oh wait. Aren't you that girl whose mother owns ZeroSum? That's so cool if you are!” Talking, blabbing, trying to do anything he could to keep her seated there and distracted long enough for his supervisor to get around behind her.

They were up to something. Eagle Vision had this guy painted red, so he definitely had bad intentions. He seemed to be watching some bird in a tree for a while, before eventually turning his attention onto the girl, who'd stopped swinging. The girl looked sort of familiar, but Yata just couldn't put his finger on who she was.

In the meantime, another Templar got out of the car on the opposite side, and began to head around presumably to get behind the girl. Yata was going to wait until he got closer before he made his move. The first Templar worked up his nerve to go over closer and start speaking to the girl. At first he asked the time, then he asked if Demi, who owned Zero Sum, was her mother. That's why she looked familiar. This girl was Demi's daughter? She was a Kane?

If that was the case, and she was anything like the rest of the Kanes, she would probably gave some special sort of powers to protect herself. Still, Yata wasn't going to just stay in this tree and watch. He'd trained too hard. Extending and retracting his Hidden Blade once, he waited for the other Templar to try sneaking around behind the girl Kane before leaping out of the tree and ending his life.

Eagle Vision Count : 6

When she heard footsteps across the grassy park lawn she paid closer attention out of the corner of her eye as the individual who had been bird watching approached. Only when he actually began to speak to her did she properly lift her head and focus her silvery colored gaze onto him. His words caused her to frown: he called her a little girl which she wasn't – she was sixteen after all, even if her birthday had been less then a month ago. She was definitely not a little girl.

Then he was asking the time, trying to make small talk she figured as the suit he wore stated quite clearly he had the money to either have a watch on him or perhaps even a cellphone.

And then... he was asking if she was the daughter of the owner of Zero Sum. She was. But, she didn't feel like telling him that. Something in the back of her mind, some sort of inner voice, told her to lie and lie well so that was what she was going to do. ”No, sorry. You've got the wrong person.” she said smoothly.

She then glanced about as any “kid” likely would and then back to the man. ”You waitin' for someone, mister? Bit creepy for a grown man like yourself to be in a child's playground at this time of night.” Right. She had balls. They were made of brass and big as church bells. She was her mother's child after all – she didn't do fear. It was why she was so calm and collected now, despite this stranger in her midst.

This girl was claiming that he was wrong in his assumption, and she lied well. If he hadn't had the information he did, had he not seen her before with his own eyes, he would have believed her and called the whole thing off. But, he knew she was the real deal, and he wasn't going to fall for her tricks. Before he could respond though she was asking him why he was in the park and if he were waiting for someone, while commenting that it was creepy for a full grown man to be in a child's playground at this time of night alone. This girl had balls, and wits: she didn't talk nor act like a normal young girl her age. Just when he was beginning to search for something to say he noticed his superior getting into position: he was in the bushes about fifteen feet behind the girl with the collar held in both of his hands.

The superior gave a nod to his subordinate who grinned and spoke again to try and further keep Nanalie distracted, “You're a brave kid to be saying something like that to a stranger. But, I guess you're right... I just like to come here sometimes at this time of night because it's peaceful and I can watch the birds.”

His superior was out of the bushes now and taking slow and cautious steps towards Nanalie from behind her.

...And that's when Yata struck. Time seemed to go in slow motion when he jumped silently from the branch. In mid-air, he brought back his left arm, extending the razor sharp Hidden Blade, having jumped from the branch to position himself so that he was directly above the sneaking Templar. With the angle that he jumped, Yata would land on him. If successful, Yata would take the sneaker by complete surprise. The last thing he would see was a hooded individual wearing a white and red jacket, a kevlar vest and black clothing. Yata would bowl the man over with his weight and drive the Hidden Blade into his chest cavity, piercing his heart.

After he would viciously rip the blade from the Templar's chest, seeing through Eagle Vision that his color would turn from red to a shade of grey, meaning he was expired, Yata stood, turned and began walking toward the other Templar, his right hand behind him and on the handle to his silenced Glock pistol. If he ran, he would be shot. If he stood where he was, he would be stabbed just like his partner. Either way, he was going to die here. With the way he just Assassinated his partner, and with the way his hood looked, the remaining Templar would easily be able to recognize Yata as one of the Assassins, if he'd done his homework. Yata waited to see what he would do while walking toward him calmly.

Eagle Vision Count: 7

Nanalie's bullshit meter was still going off when it came to this strangely dressed individual. She didn't believe for a single second that someone dressed as nicely and impeccable clean as him would come to a park at this time of night for no reason other then to watch the birds. He didn't sound worried about being robbed or mugged, and with the way he was dressed he would be a likely target. No, this was just too weird.

But, before she could say anything there was a quick commotion behind her that had her off of the swing and across the park in a blur of motion; certainly she would move too fast for the Templar who had been speaking to her to see. As she turned, facing the one who had been speaking to her she saw an individual she hadn't noticed before who had apparently killed someone behind her who was dressed very much like the other man in the suit.

Her hand slipped beneath her jacket, gripping the gun hidden there and pulling it free from its holster before pointing it towards the Templar who had been speaking to her: her gut instincts weren't telling her to be weary of the indiviual not wearing the suit, and she was trusting those instincts for now. ”Someone mind telling me what the fuck is going on here? I suggest talking quickly... I have an itchy trigger finger.”

One Templar down: and only one left. His superior didn't stand a chance against the Assassin who killed him: he had had no idea that the Assassin was hidden so close by and by the time he realized what was going on it was because he was taking his last dying breath.

His partner was in shock: he saw the whole thing from his vantage point, followed by the girl seeming to disappear and reappear some several yards away. The girl was armed, surprisingly, and that weapon was being pointed at him. The Templar looked between the girl and the Assassin and then back again.

“Assasssin... “

The Templar turned, deciding to try and make a run for it for the car: if he could get it he would be at least somewhat safe. But would he?

As soon as he turned, the Glock was drawn from it's holster located at the small of his back beneath his jacket, the suppressor connected to the muzzle. After he pointed the weapon toward the fleeing Templar, 2 silenced shots would be fired, one toward his left knee, and the other toward the middle of his back. As they were Hollow-Point rounds, the damage they would do would be devastating.

A hollow point bullet is an expanding bullet that has a pit or hollowed out shape in its tip often intended to cause the bullet to expand upon entering a target in order to decrease penetration and disrupt more tissue as it travels through the target. Hollow points are designed to increase in diameter once within the target, thus maximizing tissue damage and blood loss or shock, and to remain inside the target, thereby transferring all of the kinetic energy to the target (whereas some fraction would remain in the bullet if it passed through instead). Both of these goals are meant to maximize stopping power.

His left knee would probably be destroyed. From the back shot, his spine and other internal organs such as his intestine and liver would be ruptured. He would be dead in minutes from blood loss. Still, Yata would stroll over to the Templar - were the shots to connect - and sink the Hidden Blade into the back of his head, ending his suffering. "Goodnight," Yata would say to him. "Sleep tight..."

While holstering his Glock, Yata walked back over to the first Templar to pick up the collar device he was about to use on this girl. "You're Demi's daughter, right?" he asked her, taking off his hood. "My name's Yata, i'm one of the bouncers that work the front door of Zero Sum." If she really was Demi's daughter, she'd probably recognize him. "I guess these Templars meant to use this on you and take you hostage to ransom you to Jr dude and the Darkman. This thing strips people of powers and turns them into humans from what i'm told."

Yata looked the thing over, wondering where the Templars were getting the funds to make such a thing. "Did your mother or Jr dude or daddy Kane tell you anything about what's going on?"

Nanalie watched the remaining individual carefully: he had killed two people without seeming to show a single sign is distress from it – a task not many others would be able to pull off. He picked up some sort of collar looking device and then asked her if she was Demi's daughter. She had been about to contemplate answering him when she saw him remove his hood and easily recognized him even before he explained who he was – she had seen Yata around, at least on the security cameras while she was busy in her mother's office, so she knew who he was. She also knew from what her mother had told her that he was also a Company member.

Nanalie sighed, allowing herself to relax as she put her own weapon away. ”Aye, I am. My name's Nanalie.”

She laughed suddenly. ”They must be stupider then I thought: they would have only ended up with my family ripping their building down brick for brick to get me back...” Nanalie could only imagine the type of violence her family would have caused had those Templar's actually been able to manage to kidnap her.

”My mother mentioned there was some strange organization roaming around – that they were the ones who kidnapped and tortured Cala. But, she didn't go into that great of detail with it, just said that I should watch my back and that if I left the Tower I should be armed.”

Yata looked over the device a little while longer, then handed it over to her. "Templars," he said, pulling his hood back on, looking around to see if he could find any more of them. The strain of using Eagle Vision so much was upon him, so he'd deactivated it for now. With as long as he'd been using it, a little longer and there would be no strain. "A cult of people looking to run everything. Real big on order and control. They're looking for artifacts called "Pieces of Eden." I guess if you have one, you can do anything. End of the world type shit. There's one locked up in your grand dad's tower there..."

Yata grabbed one of the dead Templars and dragged him out of the park, across the street and to the car they arrived in. he pulled off his suit coat and soaked it in his blood, then drew the Assassin's symbol on the hood of the car, as sort of a message. The rest of the Templars would get it. Knowing the Assassins were back in action, maybe they'd start to have second thoughts. Maybe fear would set in; fear of a blade sinking into their liver from anywhere at anytime, and it would make them sloppy.

"We Assassins aim to stop them," Yata said, tossing the blood soaked suit coat aside. "I, for one, ain't one to be ruled by anyone..."

Nanalie listened in silence as Yata began to explain what was going on, while looking at the strange device that he had handed her. There were Templar's and there were Assassin's. The Templar's were aiming to find Pieces of Eden, artifacts that sounded insanely powerful. What they wanted to use these artifacts for were to basically strip everyone of their own free will and rule over them. The very thought of which caused Nanalie's temper to spike and a frown to appear on her face. She didn't like the idea of people trying to tell her what to do, and she definitely didn't like the idea of these Templar's.

She watched as Yata used a suit jacket, soaked in one of the fallen Templar's blood, to write a symbol on the hood of their car – she had a feeling this as the Assassin symbol and a sort of in your face to the Templar's who might come looking for their people.

”Hm. Yata... how would one join the Assassin's?”, she asked curiously. Oh, she knew she would likely have to run the idea past her mother – and perhaps listen to one or more family members telling her to be careful or that it would potentially be dangerous – but she really had been looking for a way to put her skills to use and this was the perfect way. She was a deadly shot at the best of times, and more then willing to learn other methods of fighting. Plus, given what those Templar's had likely been planning on doing with her? She didn't want someone else to end up in that position, not if she could help to stop it.

"My grandad a few years back taught me how to shoot. I've since grown those skills quite a bit. If I could use them for something good, instead of letting them go to waste, then I'd want the chance to."

This car would probably be towed. If it wasn't, The Templars would come looking for it, and see the message left behind in blood. Yata aimed to make the Assassin presence known again. Those Templars wouldn't know exactly who it was stalking them; this he was just fine with. They wouldn't know until it was much too late, until they were bleeding out and dying.

Nanalie said she wanted to join the Assassins. She said Dad Kane had taught her how to use a gun. She was fast too, just as fast as he could get. If she wanted to join, he wasn't one to judge. It wasn't up to him, furthermore. "The 5th floor of Darkman Tower," he answered. "There's a girl there named Jayr, see her. Once she knows you're one of the Kanes, I think she'll sign you right up..."

Yata had to go get his hands on a few more pieces of equipment, then he'd be ready to hunt Templars full time. He planned on totally immersing himself into ridding the world of as many of them as possible. Having found himself a purpose, it would be all he was about, day and night.

"You should take that thing back for your people to examine," Yata said, stepping away from the car and taking off his skateboard. He stepped onto it after dropping it onto it's wheels and began to kick off. "Jayr is probably goiong to test you, but it shouldn't be anything for one of the Kanes. Good luck, i'm gone... More Templars to be hunted."

He quickly rolled off and seemed to vanish into the coming darkness of the evening...

[Exit]

Total Words
1,842 + 1,143 (left over words) = 2,985 Word Count

Nanalie nodded to Yata's instructions. The fifth floor of Darkman Tower... she was definitely going to pay that floor a visit. However, she was going to head to her Uncle Junior's office first. She was sure he would want to see this collar for himself, and maybe Devon would too so she could get her mad scientist on. Perhaps they could even find out what the device was for, and how to make it malfunction so the Templar's couldn't use it.

Manifesting her wings, Nanalie spread them, and flew off straight towards Darkman Tower, gaining height as she went so that she could reach the 1000th floor.

-Exit-