An Assassin's Respite

Zer Makes His Move

“Kazuna let me know that he had Vanessa rescue him from the room he was trapped in, so she’s fine. I’ll shout for her so we can regroup and formulate some type of strategy. I also have to let her know about my failure.” Micheal tells Matt as they reach the area Kagura and Ria had been training.

He shouts for her and they wait for a few minutes before she and Ms. Saugoma appear.

“Micheal, are you alright?” She asks.

“I’m fine, but we’re in a little pickle right now.” He says as he goes to inform them about what had just transpired.

“It seems things are more complicated than I had originally thought.” Ms. Saugoma notes.

“I don’t even know how to react to that. Under normal circumstances, it would be insane to leave an injured student when there are enemies all around, but considering the situation and the reasons he gave, it seems like the correct choice. But why kidnap her? I have no idea what he could be after.” Vanessa notes.

“I don’t either, but I do know that what we should be doing now is getting control of the island,” Micheal states.

“I trust Kazuna’s analysis of the situation and Ria’s ability to patch him up. Vanessa, who’s the closest agent to us?” Ms. Saugoma asks.

“That would be Togami,” She answers.

“So Shiba and Haruna. That’s perfect. Shiba’s speed will be great for reaching other agents.” Ms. Saugoma says.

While Ms. Saugoma prepares them for their fight to take back the island. Zer was making his move. 

“It looks like KM2 is stirring up quite a bit of chaos. I guess I should follow his lead.” Zer notes.

He got out of the car that he was in and was facing the headquarters of The Coalition. The staff inside were busier than usual since there were so many agents away due to GA’s training camp. The staff’s busy but normal day was abruptly ruined when the front doors were blown open.

“Good day everyone. Sorry to interrupt when you’re all so busy, but I have some important business to attend to.” He says with a wry smile as he calmly walks in through the open doors.

“Even after all these years, this place still has the same boring feel.” Zer thinks to himself as he looks around.

He was quickly surrounded, but that seemed to be something that didn’t bother him in the slightest.

“You are all in dire need of new decor,” He says nonchalantly.

“Don’t move or we will attack with lethal force!” One of the guards shouts.

“Always so serious,” Zer says with a sigh.

There was a brief pause where the tension was practically radiating through the air. Zer slowly lifts his head up and claps his hands together. On the higher floors of the building, all that could be heard were the screams of the people on the first floor.

It was instant pandemonium. People were scrambling to try to get out of the building. Zer was moving along the floors, killing anyone that stood in his way. He was looking for the higher-ups, so he didn't bother killing every staff member, he just focused on the guards and any staff that had any relevant job. 

As the situation worsened, the higher-ups had locked themselves in their meeting room in order to solve the problem they were currently facing.

“He’s running through our guards like they’re nothing,” Price notes. He was a pudgy man with short white hair. He was once quite dashing and powerful, but the years of lazing on his rear end took a toll on him.

“He must be quite capable in that case,” Sakura points out. She was a short woman with long pink hair. She had made a name for herself thanks to her kindness, beauty, and approachability.

“Yes, but who could it be? Based on the reports, he isn’t someone that’s in our database.” Valkyrie asks. She was a tall slender woman known for her intellect and strategic abilities.

“It’s her,” Ban says. He was a tall fair-skinned man with short black hair, a muscular body, and glaring blue eyes.

“Zer? You mean the man that Yuu has been hunting down?” Dyonal asks. He was a massive, bald, bulking man. A real act first, think later type of guy.

“To think he would show up here,” William says. William was a very average man. He often didn’t stand out and liked to blend into the crowd.

“Okay, we know who's attacking now, but we’re still no closer to formulating a counterattack. Zer’s power and abilities are unknown to us and we can’t be sure if he came alone or if he has men lying in wait.” Christopher notes. He was the youngest member of the higher-ups and was very intelligent.

“We should contact Yuu and get him here as soon as possible. He’s a higher-up too, so he should be here anyway.” Yanel notes. He was the oldest member and he had a long beard and a bald head.

“Yuu technically isn’t a member, he just attends our meetings as the number one agent and leader of the number one agency in Japan.” William points out.

“Even so, we should still contact him,” Yanel adds.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,” William says.

“Why?” Christopher questions.

“He’s currently watching over a little girl named Kari. Currently, Yuu has suspicion that Zer was conducting some type of research on her before she was rescued from that incident a few weeks ago.” William answers.

“Even so, I’m sure Yuu wouldn’t want to pass up the opportunity that’s right in front of him. Besides, I’m sure he can leave her in the hands of someone he trusts.” Valkyrie retorts. 

“Taking down Zer would remove the target on her back as well,” Dyonal notes.

“But we still don’t know the extent of Zer’s reach or the subordinates he commands,” William points out.

“Listen here, in our current situation, we don’t have time to contemplate what-ifs. We know that Zer is attacking and is heading straight for us. If we don’t do something, then we’ll all be killed.” Price exclaims.

There was a brief pause as they came to terms with the unfortunate situation they were in.

“Do you really think that this Zer could take all of us on at once?” Sakura asks.

“Neither me, Valkyrie, or Yanel are fighters and Price is far removed from what he used to be. We don’t know what he’s capable of, but based on how difficult it’s been for Yuu to track him down and how cautious he has been about approaching locations he thinks Zer is at, I’m sure he has to be relative to Yuu in strength.” William states.

“Blasphemy! If he has that much strength, then why hide in the shadows all this time?” Yanel questions.

“He said he was relative to Yuu. That doesn't mean he's stronger necessarily. He’s gone about everything he’s done up to this point in the most cautious way possible. He’s trying to increase the possibility of his success as much as possible.” Ban notes.

“You talk as if you’ve been keeping tabs on him,” William noted.

“I have been keeping tabs on him,” Ban replies.

“And you decided not to share any of that information with us?” Valkyrie asks.

“That’s because I suspected that there was a spy in our midst,” He answers.

There was a collective sigh as everyone immediately started to look at one another.

“Do you have any proof?” Sakura asks.

“Nothing concrete at first glance, But based on the fact that Zer has been able to evade our views all these years and always seems to be a step ahead of us had me suspicious. That suspicion only increased when he infiltrated GA and after I began investigating him.” Ban replies.

“How long have you been investigating him?” Yanel asks.

“A few months now,” Ban answers.

“How do we know you aren’t the spy and that you're only bringing this up to remove suspicion from yourself?” Valkyrie questions.

“A fair take, but I’ve already found out who the spy is,” Ban answers.

“Oh yeah? And who would that be?” Christopher asks.

“Care to admit it or do I have to say it out loud?” Ban asks as he looks toward Yanel.

“What are you talking about!?” He exclaims.

“You know what I’m talking about. Out of all our members, you have been the most suspicious. Around the time Zer started to make significant moves, you started to leave HQ much more frequently, as well as having more calls to random areas. Also, on the day GA was attacked, your granddaughter just so happened to miss school.” Ban adds.

“A mere coincidence!” Yanel states.

“Coincidence? Okay, you could pin those instances on chance. But let me ask you this. What’s your assistant’s power?” Ban asks.

Yanel was silent before he sighed.

“To think that you would be the obstacle that gets in my way the most,” He says.

“Did you seriously betray us, Yanel?” Sakura asks while holding her hands over her mouth.

“Betray you? Young lady, you understand nothing. Yuu has been lying to you and withholding information. Why do you think he has put so much focus on Zer? A case such as this is something that he typically doesn’t take part in so directly. Not just that, but the recent instances Yuu was given credit for solving weren’t even handled by him.” Yanel states.

“What do you mean by that?” Valkyrie asks while glaring at him.

“There’s a certain student at GA that recently transferred there that has made quite the commotion,” Yanel says vaguely.

“So it seems that I was right,” Ban says.

“What are you talking about?” Valkyrie exclaims, becoming irritated by the fact that she seemed to be behind the loop.

“A couple of months ago, a student by the name of Kazuna Katsuchi transferred to GA. Teachers and students alike had nothing but praise for his abilities and intelligence. He was far ahead of his peers. After the school was attacked, I noticed that the information on his medical reports was weird. It said that he was at the ER at Vixel hospital. I wanted to question him about who attacked as I had suspected that Zer was responsible, but upon checking the rooms, I never found him. I thought that maybe his family had him transferred to a hospital in their country, but there were no records of anyone that had his name checking out of the hospital. I started to investigate him since the event had raised suspicions in me, but to my surprise, I wasn’t able to find anything about him.” He says.

“Nothing suspicious?” Christopher asks.

“No, nothing at all. All the information that I could find about him seemed to peter out at some point. His birthplace, location of his parent's home, all of it was false as far as I could tell. I couldn’t find anything solid: an address, a family tree, a phone number. I couldn’t even find any records of his birth. It was almost as if he was a ghost,” Ban adds.

“I do recall Yuu warning us about a possible threat coming to Japan. But he said that he may have been hasty in his declaration. Do you think he changed his mind after this Kazuna fellow defeated Ken?” Dyonal asks.

“If my hypothesis is correct,” Ban answers.

“So what is the simple fact that Yuu has been withholding information enough for you to betray us, Yanel?” Sakura asks.

“Heavens no. It’s simple politics to withhold a little information even from your allies. The reason for my choice is that boy himself.” He answers.

“Kazuna,” William says.

“Yes. You would know even better than myself since you’re so close to Yuu. That boy is a monster,” Yanel notes.

“A monster? How so?” Valkyrie asks.

“He belongs to a clan as old as Japan itself. A clan renowned for their assassins,” Yanel answers.

“A clan of assassins?” Sounds like a manga plot.” Christopher notes.

“Oh, they’re real. There are signs of their existence throughout history,” Yanel states.

“He’s not lying. Yuu told me himself that that boy is used to killing,” William states.

“So what if the boy had a troubling past? Yuu himself seems to have changed his opinion of him. It’s still not enough reason to betray us!” Valkyrie exclaims. She was starting to get irritated due to how little she knew about the situation they were in. She knew

Yanel was still hiding some things.

“That boy holds the future in the palm of his hands. The world’s fate rests on the shoulders of some teenager, absolutely inexcusable. I refuse to set my hopes on someone as untrustworthy as him. Even if I have to become your enemy, I will do what I must,” Yanel states.

“Stop being so vague and just let us know why?!” Valkyrie shouts.

“Oh, I would love to tell you everything, but it seems like we won’t have time,” Yanel says as the doors to their emergency meeting rooms were blown open.

“Greetings board members of The Coalition,” Zer says with a bow.

Dyonal wastes no time and immediately jumps into action. He activates his power, which allows him to turn his skin into diamond. He slams his arms down, leaving a hole in the floor where Zer stood.

“You know, it’s rude to interrupt people when they’re talking,” Zer says. He was now standing by Yanel.

“Zer. What are you after?” Valkyrie asks.

“Don’t worry, I’m not after your lives. I’m after a much bigger fish,” Zer states.

As he says this, Yuu appears in the meeting room.

“Ah, just in time. How are you doing today Yuu?” Zer asks.

The next thing Zer knew, he was floating outside in some random location with Yuu holding his arm.

“This isn’t high up enough to kill someone like you. Don’t disappoint me here, I have a lot of questions for you.” Yuu says as he drops him.

Zer watched Yuu disappear as he fell. He assumes that Yuu teleported somewhere below him. Before he fell halfway, a portal opened up and he fell through it. Yuu, who had teleported to the ground, looks to his left and sees Zer.

“If only it could have been that easy,” Yuu sighs.

“Both you and I know that this is not going to be a walk in the park for either of us,” Zer notes.

Yuu glares at Zer, wondering if it would be worth the effort to ask any questions or if he should just get right into it. But before he could decide, Zer chooses for him.

“Before we begin, why don’t we talk a little,” Zer suggests.

“I have no objections,” Yuu replies.

Zer takes off his mask, revealing his burned face. He had a burn mark that encompassed the left side of his face.

“Since this will be the last time we speak in a civil manner, no matter who the victor is, why don’t we get a little nostalgic here, brother,” Zer says.