Black Cat Fan Fiction ❯ Retribution ❯ Chapter 2

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Irene Sharda
Rinslet and Jenos make their last stand against a ruthless PHOENIX agent sent to take out Rins, and they discover a love that ran deeper then they ever thought possible.

Anime/Manga: Black Cat Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action / Drama / Hentai / Psychological / Suspense | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 05.23.2008 | Pages: 8 | Words: 16.8K | Visits: 233 | Status: Work In Progress

Chapter 2
Rinslet Walker reached into her pocket for her hotel card key, sighing thankfully to be able to relax after a long day. Sven and his little sweeper group had caught their latest target, not without a little tip from her mind you.
Sven had invited her over for a little celebration dinner, but she declined. She was tired, and wasn't too keen about staying at that run-down hotel anyway. Heading back to her own hotel on the nicer, more-populated side of town, she was fortunate enough to get inside just before the rain started pouring down. After having a small dinner in the dining room, she had gone up the stairs tiredly to the third floor where her room was, hauling a few packages she had bought at a small boutique a couple blocks away.
Swiping her card in the door mechanism, the lock clicked open and she kicked her packages languidly through the dark doorway. Closing her eyes and stretching, she spun herself like a tired dancer, onto the nearby bed. Speaking aloud to herself, she sighed again. “What a day! I think I'm just going to curl up in bed with a pint of Haagen-Dazs, and watch The Sound of Music until I fall asleep.”
“Sounds good to me,” an unexpected male voice, responded back.
Jumping up from her bed she flipped around, simultaneously pulling out a small pistol from the holster around her thigh, under her dress. She aimed at the couch, where the voice had come from—only to stop midway through pulling the trigger.
“You!”
Lounging on the couch was a young man, sensually smiling at her; watching as she lowered the gun that had been aimed at him with exasperation. Her face began to scrounge up into that cute angry look that he loved and saw so much.
Rinslet tapped her foot, “What are you doing here, Jenos?”
Flipping his black hair behind his ear, Jenos Hazard looked up at her with those charming dark eyes. “I missed seeing that pretty face of yours… Isn't that reason enough?”
She rolled her eyes, not falling for his allure-laden charisma. “Uh-huh…right. How did you get in here? No, wait. I don't want to know. Just, get out.”
He stood, shaking out his leather jacket, while watching her remove her own and sit on her bed, proceeding to look through her packages. He smiled, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her shoulders. “Ooh, you're tense Rins. How `bout I give you a nice relaxing massage?”
She smiled wryly, “You'd like that, wouldn't you?”
The Chronos Number frowned a little, “I only live to make you happy, Rins.”
She looked up at him, pushing his arms off as she got up and headed toward the bathroom. “I thought you lived for Chronos, Number Seven? Didn't I tell you to get out?”
“Oh come on, Rins baby! A job is a job; you'll always have my heart.”
“Uh-huh…” her voice came out of the bathroom, muffled by the sounds of the shower.
He stood stealthily, heading to the bathroom door. “Need any help in there?”
“Come in here, and you—will be sorry.”
“I'm just here to help…”
“And I just have gun, Jenos.”
He sighed dejectedly, and plopped down on the couch once again. “You're so cold, Rinslet Walker. But I love you anyway, so I don't care.”
“That would be sweet, Hazard…if it were true.”
There was a slight pause before Jenos finally responded. “Is that what you think? That I'm being insincere to you?”
Rinslet laid her head against the tile, letting the hot water run through her lilac hair and down her back. The red blush of her cheeks, refused to leave her face. Why did this man constantly do this to her? Why did he constantly have the power to make her heart tremor and her pulse flutter? Why do I torture myself, when I know it can never be? She whispered slowly to herself, responding to Jenos' questions. A single tear falling down her face mingling with the shower water, “I wish I could believe otherwise, Jenos.”
Suddenly, a hand came up beside her, wiping away the solitary tear from her face. Turning, she looked to the owner of the hand, his dark eyes looking directly into her own. The look of ultimate candor in them, stopped whatever retort she could come up with.
Jenos stood beside the shower, and pulled her head through the curtains gently by her chin, until they were staring at each other, face to face. He smiled that charming smile as always, but this time…there wasn't any twist of artificiality about it. “You can start believing then, Rins…because the one thing you must never doubt—is my sincerity.”
For the first time, she was practically hooked by his gaze. Slowly, he lowered his own lips to meet her soft, rosebud ones. Just as they were about to touch, her feminine finger came up to stop him, lightly pushing his mouth away.
“Jenos…”
CLICK…
Hazard heard the audible click of a gun being cocked, and felt the unfriendly sensation of cold steel through his shirt and poking at his abdomen.
Rinslet smiled naughtily as she pushed the gun into him a little harder, “Didn't I warn you?”
He held up his hands in surrender, hurriedly walking backwards out of the bathroom. “But Rins, I was only…”
Her only answer was to follow his fleeting form with the barrel of her COP .357.
Jenos hurriedly exited and closed the door, before she actually used the thing. Standing against the door jamb, he too blushed ever so slightly. Not because he'd never seen a woman's body before, he'd had his share of wine and women. However…it was more because he had seen within her eyes—that she knew. She understood that he was not lying, that he was not trying to charm her, or seduce her, like he did other women. Sure it had been that way in the beginning, but now it was different. It took awhile, but he finally realized there was something different about this girl; something that wasn't like the others. That realization had taken him two months…it took him two years before he realized that she was the one…the one he'd could give—or give-up— anything and everything for.
He knew that it would be hard and dangerous, that leaving Chronos wasn't a walk in the park. Yet, he would do it for her. Sephiria would think him insane, and even Train would laugh, that he would actually leave the life of a Chronos Number behind for a woman, for a single woman. Yet, it was absolutely true. He loved her. He loved everything about her from her fierce independence, to her resilience, even the way she threatened him just now. He couldn't get her out of his head, and he missed her when she wasn't around. It was more exasperating then anything he'd ever faced. He'd rather face the Apostles of the Stars by himself, then deal with all these emotions!
The only thing was, that the lady of his affections was constantly refusing his hand or feelings. He couldn't blame her of course, since his reputation with women was not upstanding in the least. He didn't know if Rinslet would ever feel the same about him as he did about her, he could sense sometimes that she cared about him, and other times she seemed to just fight her feelings, like she wasn't ready for this, yet. But that was okay with him, he could wait…he could wait an eternity for her. Love had a way of being long-lasting like that…
“Oh, stop looking all somber like that.” Her voice came at him suddenly, as she exited the bathroom in a terrycloth white robe, a towel wrapped around her hair, and little fluffy pink slippers on her dainty feet. Hazard's breath had a hard time catching up with him.
She looked back at him with those amazing green eyes of hers, a light smile on her face. “Get me some ice from the ice machine down the hall, will ya?”
He nodded, grabbing a nearby bucket she indicated. “Are you trying to get rid of me? If you lock me out, I can always get back in.”
She frowned at him playfully, “I have every right to. I mean, this is my room after all.”
Rins watched as his face got that sad puppy-dog look, that he didn't know, always had a funny way of melting her heart. Or perhaps he did, since he only used it around her…
“Don't worry, I won't lock you out, you headstrong lover boy.” Watching as he perked up a little as he reached for the door.
She smiled after him and just as he turned the handle, she added, “And…when you return, I might take you up on that massage offer…”
In all the time she'd known him, she'd never seen him move faster than he had at that moment, as he took off out the door, the wind at his heels.
Sighing, she took the towel off her head and proceeded to pat the remaining wetness out of her purple tresses. Well, girl…you, the princess of thieves, espionage extraordinaire, will now be entering into unmarked territory. Hope I'm making the right decision here. She had tried rationalizing it as much as possible, but the way he'd been in the shower, the way he had looked at her…she knew she couldn't fight it anymore: She had feelings for Jenos, and she had them for a long time. The way he was with other women, couldn't touch her hidden soul; she was too smart for those kinds of charms to work on her.
However, he was different with her than with other women. He treated her differently than any other man she'd ever met. Most men she was around would either treat her as an ally, an employee, an employer, or just as another dim-witted member of the fairer sex. Or a piece of meat. Jenos however…he would just think of her as of who she really was—she was Rinslet, that was all there was to it. He seemed to just accept that, to accept every part of her no matter how she acted or…pretended to act. She had at first thought that the strange feeling that seemed to come hand in hand with him, was just irritation, but soon she realized that it was the nicest kind of irritation she had ever felt. As a lyric from one of her favorite Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals went:
“I know how it feels to have wings on your heels,
And to fly down the street in a trance.
You fly down a street on the chance that you meet,
And you meet—not really by chance…”
She sighed. Yeah, I know how it feels, Anna.(1)Not in the same exact way, but I know how it feels.
“Uh-hmm,” a voice cleared his throat from behind her.
She smiled before turning around, “Well that didn't take long. It's only been a few sec-onds…”
The words dried up in her throat, as she saw that the man standing behind her, next to the open window, wasn't Jenos.
The man standing there was around 5'9, he was dripping wet from the rain, wearing a long dark cloak with a gold pin that was shaped like a bird, holding it together. He had his hood off and his features showed, including his fair complexion, golden hair tied back in a unkempt ponytail, and piercing eyes as violet as the flower. He would have been extremely handsome to her, had it not been for the fact that she found men who came into her room without consent, with a rifle strapped to his back, highly unappealing.
She crossed her arms, her eyes slightly shifting to the pile of clothes on her bed that hid her gun beneath them. “Who are you? And what are you doing in my room?”
The man smiled, speaking with a distinct British accent. “You know, it's nice to see couples getting together and having the classical romance like you two have. It's like you and your man came out of a Barbara Cartland or Victoria Holt novel(2). There is honestly too many break-ups and divorces nowadays. You two would have made a smashing pair. It's just such a pity—that I have to come between you.”
Maybe it was the way the man spoke, or when he reached for his gun, but either caused Rinslet to realize this was no time for witty banter with strangers. This man meant business—well, so did she!
She made a sudden dash for the bed, tossing a nearby chair at the man as a distraction. Grabbing through the clothes without looking, she rushed through it, feeling for the cold metal of the gun but instead, feeling the warmth of flesh…
Jumping back, she looked with astonishment, as the man who once stood seven feet behind her—was now sitting on her bed, her gun in his hand!
“Looking for this, my dear?” He dangled her pistol in front of her face.
She took a step back. How the heck did he got there so fast?! I didn't even see him move!
Slipping the gun into his belt beneath his cloak, the blond stood up, coming toward her. “Now, if you don't want to make this any harder on yourself, you'll listen to me and stop attracting attention.”
His eyes glowed purple for a second, before he suddenly disappeared from her sight, only to appear behind her, his rough hand somehow having captured her wrists, holding them high above her head in an unrelenting grip, the other arm wrapped around her waist! Snarling up at him, she tried to pull away, but it was no use. “What do you want from me?! Who are you?!”
“Well, the name's Cline, Clearington Cline. You can just call me Cline though. Why I'm here? Well…I'm here to take your life. Now don't let that get us off to a bad start though; you seem like a nice girl, and I can be a nice guy. I'll be a gentleman, and let you choose how you want to do this. How's that?”
This has got to be a joke! Rins twisted around to look the guy, this Cline, in the eye, trying to look as innocent, feminine, and weak as possible. “Um, Can't we talk about this, Cline-san?” she said, putting on her best faux smile.
He looked away thoughtfully as if considering it. “We could if you want, but I always found death a depressing subject, don't `cha know?”
She sighed; well the “pleading woman” approach didn't work. This guy was definitely a professional. Okay then, its time to get serious unless you want this to end in a mess.
She smiled again, “Well that's alright, we don't have to talk—at all.”
Quickly hoisting herself up by the hands that held her wrists, Rinslet flipped her legs into the air, over the astonished blonde's head, to land behind him, his arms having to let go of her from the twisted position she had put him in. Grabbing her gun from his waist, she aimed it at his left leg, firing without hesitation.
Cline smiled, his eyes glowing once again…
Suddenly, right before her eyes, the British assassin disappeared! As the bullet ricocheted off the hardwood floor where his leg had been, Rins kept her gun cocked and close to her.
Where'd he go? She looked around her, the man was nowhere in sight. As if he vanished into thin air! She kept her guard up, simultaneously backing up to the door. Well, whatever was going on, she was getting out of here. Chancing a look down, she smiled, remembering that she was wearing slippers and her small fluffy white robe, which didn't leave much to the imagination. Jenos was going to have a field day. Where the heck is that guy? He had to have heard that shot.
She reached behind her with one hand to grasp the door knob, keeping the other firmly on her Derringer firearm. However, she just couldn't get a feel on the knob. Was there something blocking it?
Looking down, she gasped and did an about-face away from the door in horror and surprise.
Cline smiled at her, his violet eyes shining with the excitement of the chase as he gripped the door knob firmly, and with one swift movement—broke it clean off, locking them both inside!
He threw the useless handle to the ground, smiling up at the clearly shaken Rins, who tried to keep her gun steady in her shock. “Now, now milady, where did you think you were going?”
What in heaven and earth is he? Does he have some kind of power of invisibility? There's no way a normal person could have gotten behind me like that. Does he have some kind of special power? Tao, perhaps? But I've never seen a Taoist like him, their powers usually seem to do with ki, but this is just…I don't know what this is.
Clearington sighed at her confusion, “Well, since you are my prey, I guess you do have a right to know about your predator. I am a gentleman, and I shall give the lady an explanation she deserves. You see, I am part of an organization known as PHOENIX.”
“PHOENIX? I'm not sure I'm familiar with that group.” She answered back, the name drawing a blank for the lady thief.
“Probably not…we try to keep a low profile. It keeps us out of the limelight of spineless factions like Chronos. I am an upper level agent of PHOENIX known as a Crisalide, which is basically the equivalent of a Chronos Number. Every Crisalide has a special power that is…well, it's kind of hard to explain in the little time we have, but let's just say that we have powers beyond those of mortal men. Mine has to do with time, space and vision.”
“Time and space? Like time travel or something?”
“Something like that. At my lowest form, I can see time as it has stopped, and therefore use my skills even sharper than before. I can shoot a target going 90 mph the same as one going less than 1 mph. However, in my second form, I can actually make a time field with my body's energy, and stop time within an area up to a one kilometer radius. Everything in the field is then at a complete standstill except myself, and I can do or go wherever I want for as long as I want, as long as I stay in the field. Time doesn't exist in the field, so to you, it will seem as if I simply disappeared and reappeared again; to you it will seem instantaneous. You won't even notice the change unless you looked at the clocks or your watch, then you would notice they have stopped moving. When I release the field, I appear visible again, you and I brought together back into time once more. Does this explanation help to ease your confusion?”
She blinked at him once then shrugged, “It would, if it was true. I mean, time fields? Come on!”
“If you look at your watch, you'll notice its 10 minutes off from the clock in the church across the way.”
Risking a look in the direction of the window, then doing a double-take on her watch, she was surprised to see that what he had said was true. And her watch was never off; it had to be to the minute for the line of work she was in. Slowly, she looked up at him, realizing that everything he had been saying was—true. “That's one amazing…talent, Cline.”
He smiled back at her, “It is quite useful I guess, but I'd rather work without it. I was good at what I did without the hocus pocus, the time vision powers just accent me. However, you do know what this means for you doesn't it?”
At that second he disappeared once again, only to reappear behind her, her gun once again in his hand. He whispered into her ear, “I enjoyed our little talk, I always like to get to know my victims before I kill them, especially the ladies. However, the night grows short, and you have nowhere to run. You see, milady…”
As he turned her head so that his violet eyes looked into her jade ones, she shuddered from the cold cruel light that existed there. This British wanker really is going to killme, isn't he?
“…for you, time has run out.”
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Time was going so slowly for Jenos that it was starting to feel as if it'd stopped. He tried to be a patient man, but two broken ice machines!? This was ridiculous! He had to go from one area to another trying to find a working machine, finally finding one all the way on the first floor.
It had already been fifteen minutes, Rinslet might get tired of waiting for him and that would be disastrous. Not that he expected something tonight or anything. No, he could wait for that type of play till she was ready. It was just that, from her tone of talk, she sounded—dare he say it—serious, about taking a big step further in their relationship. If that were true, then that would be better than sex any day…
As he filled up the container with ice, he heard two young ladies who stayed on the same floor as Rins, come down the stairs, giggling behind him as they walked past. “Did you here all that commotion in Room 307?”
“Yeah, sounded like an explosion or something.”
“Yeah, an explosion—of hormones! You know she's probably getting it on with somebody.”
The other girl sighed as they went out of hearing range, “Some girls get all the luck…”
Jenos put the bucket on top of the ice machine, before taking the steps two at a time. Room 307 was Rins' room and as far as he knew he had left her alone. The girls might have been on to something when they said they heard an explosion, but came to the wrong conclusion. Rins wasn't that type of girl, even if she had been with another man that night. No…his instincts told him something was wrong, and these instincts had served him well in his line of business.
Pulling out Excelion from his pocket, he slipped his hand into the cat-like glove with practiced ease. If this is all a wild goose chase, and she just kicked over a table or something, she's going to kill me if I go in there guns blazing. But if she was really in trouble…He couldn't take that risk.
Finally making it to the third floor, he raced over to her room to find the door closed tight and locked. Come on, Rins! I thought you weren't going to lock it!
He knocked on the door heavily, “Rins, it's me. Open up would you?”
He frowned as no answer came to his call.
“Rinslet, come on! Look, I'm not leaving till you open this door. Are you okay in there?”
Still no answer.
He began banging with his fist. “Rins! Don't make me break down this door!”
This time, he could here scuffling from the inside of the room, along with the sound of Rins' voice calling out to him restlessly, “Get out of here, Hazard! You're not wanted here.”
He frowned, “But Rinslet—”
She cut him off hurriedly before he could even request an explanation. “That's Walker-san to you. You're an eyesore, Hazard. I can't stand to look at those roman numerals anymore, engraved like a medal stuck permanently on the left side of your chest. It's disgusting! Go back to Chronos, Number VII!”
His face was full of confusion at the backlash. What was she talking about? Did he make her mad or something?
“Uh, Rins is there something wrong? Did I—?”
This time her voice was almost hysterical, “Just go! And take your shiny Gungnir Chronos gun with you!”
This time something clicked within Jenos' head. Rinslet was making a lot of incorrect references, using the wrong names, and positions—things she should know by heart, being in the kind of business she was in…
She knew that his Chronos weapon was a garrote-wire glove, not a gun, and that it was named “Excelion”; “Gungnir” was the name of Number II, Belze's weapon. And it had been she that had pointed out the interesting fact; that his “Lucky VII” Chronos tattoo was on the right side of his chest, in comparison to Train's “Unlucky XIII” tattoo on the left. She of all people would know that.
Putting these incongruities together, along with Rinslet's strange behavior (she hardly ever got hysterical), and the reports of loud noises and “explosions” in her room, he came to a solid conclusion. Not only was something wrong, and the woman he loved was in danger, but also that the person responsible…was still in the room with her.
Gritting his teeth with anger, he thought to actually break down the door, but knew that would be foolish and might cause his lavender-haired beauty to be seriously harmed. Thinking it through, he realized that she had been trying to do two things: warn him of the true situation inside, and keep her captor appeased. That meant that the captor had the upper hand, which wasn't easy to get with the phantom thief whose blood ran with independence and feistiness.
Faced with all these facts, he put a plan together quickly in his head, meanwhile answering angrily at the door, “Fine! I'll go! Don't expect me to come back either, Rinslet. I'm surprised I even found you remotely interesting. Well, guess what? I was never sincere with you; I always liked Sephiria more than you anyway. This is goodbye, Walker-san.”
Jenos then stalked off in a light run, not down the stairs toward the exit, but up to the roof. He had to know what the situation and who was in the room with Rins. Please be okay, baby. Just wait till I get there.
Barging through the door onto the rooftop, rain soaked him to the bone, but he didn't care. He instantly began punching numbers on his cell phone. He wasn't going to call anyone in Chronos, this didn't concern them. However, having some back-up was always a good idea, and he knew some people who were in town that might be willing to take the job.
He listened for awhile to the line ring for Heartnet's cell, only to hear the beep for his voice mail. He cursed under his breath, what is that hell raiser doing, taking a nap? He then switched to Sven's phone number, only to get an `out-of-order' message. Well, that's not surprising. The guy probably didn't even pay his phone bill this month with his bad luck. What did he expect traveling in the company of the famed Black Cat? That guy is double bad luck in more ways than one.
Well, he couldn't wait for them and he could probably handle this job on his own, but just in case, he left a message with Train, if the guy ever woke up from whatever he was doing.
Then, using the agility he had be trained for, Jenos swung himself off the roof and onto the nearby fire escape, careful to avoid making noise as he slid and swung down the slick metal rungs, choosing the faster route down rather than the safer. It's a good thing the fire escape is positioned near her room, or I might have had too do some really magical moves that might scare her more than impress her.
Getting to the window with record speed, he was surprised to see it was already slightly open. So that's how the guy got in—bastard. Taking a slight look through the window, he gritted teeth hard, his heart trembling with a mixture of rage and apprehension at what he saw.
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Rinslet squeezed her fists frustratingly as she heard Jenos leave, but she was glad he had caught her hints. The day he and Sephiria got into a relationship—Hell would form snow drifts. And what he said about being insincere…it keyed in to what he said in the shower:
“…the one thing you must never doubt—is my sincerity.”
He had said that to grab her attention, and tell her he was on his way. Please be careful Jenos, even together, I don't know if we can take on this guy. He's got the power of time in the palm of his hand, and he seems very versatile in knowing how to use it.
They guy in mind, slowly took the hunting knife from her throat, yet kept his close hold onto her. “That's a good girl; you're an excellent actress. As expected from the famous phantom thief and saboteur, Rinslet Walker. It's a good thing you cooperated, or I would have had to kill your Chronos boyfriend as well, and that would have been a great shame now, wouldn't it?”
She tried to pull away from him viciously, but to no avail. “Go to Hell, you vomited piece of crap!”
Cline smiled at her words and placed his knife back in its sheath around his ankle, before twirling her away with a twist so that she faced him, keeping a firm grasp on her wrists, holding them again above her head. “My, my you have such a dirty mouth, milady. I've truly enjoyed our time together, however, I'm afraid that it is time I end this. If you don't move too much, I'll try to make this as quick and as painless as possible. I am a professional after all.”
She watched in alarm and horror as he reached within his cloak and pulled out a Glock 32, the handgun's barrel aimed straight at her heart!
“Wait! W-Why are you even doing this? We've never even met until tonight!”
The blond blinked at her statement, raising the gun upwards in wait, as if thinking about it. “This has nothing to do with anything between us, milady. This is simply…a business transaction.”
A “business transaction”? She had understood that he was an assassin, but for who? Who would want to see her dead, and have enough money to pay for it? There was more to this than met the eye. What was this PHOENIX?
Rins was suddenly brought back by the sound of the gun's safety catch being pulled off. Looking at him and the gun's barrel once more, she could only wrestle all the more in her frustration, in response to the fear that was beginning to grip her. Where are you, Jenos? If I die alone here, I am so going to get up from the grave, haunt you for all your days, and then kill you!
“It was nice to meet you, Ms. Walker. I guess this is—what do you Japs say? Oh yes—Sayonara…”
Rins thought of everything she could, from every angle. If she screamed, he'd get agitated, and no one would notice or be able to do anything in time anyway. She had no room to maneuver and fight back, and even if she could he would just warp time into his favor. She had no weapons and unless nature decided to be kind today, and send a bolt of lightning through the building to hit him…there was absolutely nothing she could do. She was helpless, and he knew it.
The glare of the gun's metal reflected in her olive eyes, but she couldn't close them. She wouldn't! She would see this through till the end…even if this means that I die without telling Jenos how I really feel…
Cline sighed as he pulled the trigger, without any hesitation, as always…
BANG!
Rinslet watched in shock at the gun went off—and the bullet shot off to the left, missing her by a whole five feet!

Clearington frowned at his arm, at the last minute his trigger hand had been pulled by an unseen force!
What the heck? Was this Llewellyn's work again? That guy and his insufferable mind powers! Had he finished his work and come over to annoy him? It wouldn't be the first time…
But as he tried to pull his arm down, he felt it not held by telekinetic means, but by something else. It was almost as if his arm was snagged on something…
That's when he saw it. The thin, blue tinged wire wrapped around his wrist, glinting in the moonlight that stubbornly filtered itself through the rain clouds.
Tracing the wire, with his eyes, he was surprised to see more wires. They twisted and turned throughout the room, and different angles and rotations, interweaving around his body. How had he missed them?
Rins had already figured out what happened, and relaxed visibly, a light smirk on her face.
Cline tried pulling his arm harder, but no leeway was given, these wires weren't weak, they weren't made of any normal metal either; and no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn't get loose from the tangle!
“I wouldn't do that, unless you want your head to come clean of your body.” A new voice spoke.
Turning towards the voice's direction, he suddenly felt a slight pressure around his throat. Looking down ever so slightly, he saw a wire had been looped around it—one that had been connected tautly with the wire coiled around his arm. If he pulled anymore, the wire around his neck would get tired, either garroting him to death, or cutting right through his neck and beheading him as effectively as any guillotine.
Jenos stepped from out the shadows near the window, holding the Excelion's Orichalcon wires nimbly in his gloved hand. The usual free and charismatic look was gone from his face, and only silent fury remained. He was dripping wet, hungry,and mad as Hell…
Cline smirked, recognizing him immediately, “So…the Chronos Number did return when he said he wouldn't. My my, so you came to rescue your lady love did you? Well, this is really a shame; I don't like having to kill unnecessary people.
Hazard didn't say anything, the wires glinted and shined almost supernaturally, as he pulled and twisted them with a flick of his wrist.
Suddenly, the British sniper hissed in abrupt pain, as the wires collapsed and tightened on one another. They twisted and constricted around his body, and one practically crushing his wrists, making him let go of both Rinslet and the gun.
As the girl fell to the ground, she was caught softly by another set of the Excelion's strings, set an almost life-size cat's cradle. She looked over to Jenos, but was surprised to see such a dark look consume his features.
“You should know…it's taking ALL my self-control right now, not to snap you to pieces.” Number VII looked at the captured assassin with venom, his hand trembling as he tried to keep a grip on his anger.
He looked down at Rins, a light smile coming through. “You alright, Rins baby?”
She picked herself up and made her way through the thicket of wires towards him, “You know, for a while there I thought you'd actually gone off with Sephiria.”
“Like that would ever happen…girl's not even my type. And me? Use a gun? How could you ever suppose such a thing?”
Finally getting by his side, she went back to the business at hand. “What are you going to do with him?” she nodded to Cline.
At the mention of the assassin who had dared come after his Rins-chan, Jenos flicked his gloved finger ever so, making the strings painfully tighter, letting them start to cut slowly through cloth and exposed flesh. “I would kill him on the spot, but I think I'll torture him first and make him spill his guts, proverbially first, and then…maybe literally. You'd better turn your head, baby. I don't want you to have any nightmares.”
She shook her head ruefully, “Sorry, I'd rather stay right where I am. I'm the one who had the gun pointed at her chest, after all.”
Cline couldn't hold it anymore and proceeded to laugh aloud. “You guys sound so cute and naive…it's ridiculous!”
The two looked at him strangely, “What's so funny?” Hazard looked at him with a harsh eye.
“You Chronos Numbers…you're always underestimating your opponents. Torture? How can you torture me, when you haven't caught me yet?” Clearington smirked as his eyes lit up, and he completely vanished, the wires all going slack!
“What the heck?” Jenos looked at the empty space in astonishment. Drawing his string back into his hand, he looked around him keeping his guard up.
Rins stood guarding his back, “Watch out Hazard, this guy can control time.”
He had to do a double take, “He can control—what?”
“The lady said I have the power to control time. Listen up next time, Number VII!” Cline reappeared right in from of Jenos, taking hold of his arm and throwing him promptly over his shoulder to the ground! Right before kneeing him heavily in the stomach!
The raven-haired Eraser gasped in anguish from the sudden impact, but using his hand, flung his wires toward his attacker's body, promptly coiling around him and throwing him aside into the wall.
Rins took this chance to take back her gun once again, which had fallen from Cline's person. “I'm so tired of you, right now!”
She shot the derringer twice, but neither of the bullets hit their intended target. The blond disappeared once again, only to reappear behind her, knocking the gun from her hand, sending it crashing out the third-story window!
He was about to grab her arm, when he felt heavy resistance. Looking to his wrist, he saw a tendril of wires wrapped around it tightly, holding it back.
“Your fight's with me!” Jenos said, pulling Excelion toward him, keeping the strings taunt. “I can cut off your hand if I wished, but I'd rather you come along quietly, so I don't get blood on the lovely lady.”
Cline smiled, vanishing once again and reappearing in front of him. “Now we wouldn't want that, do we now?”
Punching him square in the face, Clearington then proceeded to kick him in his stomach, and then made a high leg kick to the man's jaw. Jenos trying his best to block him, matching his fighting tactics tit-for-tat, it took all his speed and agility to try to keep up with the gunman, and even then, he wasn't quite fast enough! Who was this guy, and what the heck does he want? His moves and that disappearing act—can he truly control time?
As if hearing his thoughts, the blond suddenly struck out, grabbing him by his throat and pushing him to the ground! Planting a foot on both of his arms, he pinned him there. “The name's Clearington Cline, PHOENIX agent. Who do I have the honor of fighting?”
“Let him go!” Out of the blue, Rins grabbed the assassin's hands, trying to get him to let go of the young man's throat. But the man simply threw his arm, tossing her crushingly into a nearby corner.
The man's slight movement allowed Jenos to flip his legs around the man's neck and throw him off, while simultaneously flipping back onto his feet. Breathing in and out raggedly, he looked at his foe with poison in his eyes. “Jenos Hazard, Chronos Number VII, and you and your organization are going to wish they'd never heard of me, if you ever throw her like that again.”
Cline picked himself up and vanished once again, this time reappearing by the open window, holding Rins precariously by one arm, over the cold empty streets below! “Is that so? Chronos could strengthen its forces tenfold and it still couldn't stand up to one-forth of PHOENIX. Now, drop your weapon or she's sidewalk stroganoff.”
Jenos looked at him harshly, “You'll drop her anyway.”
The blond seemed to think about it, “Hmm—yeah, I guess I would.” He said before promptly letting go of Rins arm.
The violet-haired woman screamed as she fell towards the ground below, not noticing the blue-tinged wires curling around her waist. As she felt the resistance yank her upward in midair, she saw Jenos hurtling towards her from the sky, having thrown Cline back with a fast kick of his own and crashing through the window. Grabbing the young woman, he threw his body towards a nearby roof ten feet away, and dropping into a roll, skidding against the wet tiles.
Slowly picking himself up, he helped the girl up as well, checking her for bruises and cuts. “You okay, baby?”
She brushed herself off testily, now thoroughly soaked by the rain. “No, I enjoy getting thrown out of third story windows and falling desperately to the ground…Of course I'm not okay!”
He smiled at her wryly, “Well, that's nice to know.”
Jenos then promptly took her into his arms and began to run across the rooftops, despite her protests. “Put me down, lover boy! I can run on my own!”
“I know you can, hon. But he's after you, more than me. You're his main target. So…for once, could you just let me protect you?” he asked her truthfully.
She was instantly shut up by his earnestness, and just decidedly nodded.I've heard him promise to protect me several times, but I just thought it was some sort of bravado he put on to impress me. He's actually serious about this…
“I'm going to head for this old abandoned church on the outside of town, and we can regroup there. It used to be a—”
BANG!
Rins was shocked by the sudden loud gunshot, and even more by Jenos' outcry in response. She felt him lurch forward a little, but he kept going, faster, and slightly favoring his left leg. Hunching over to look at his right, she was shocked to seeing blood leaking from a hole in his thigh, staining his pants dark. “Jenos, you've been shot!”
He nodded, keeping the pace, “Yeah, I know. The guy's following us, like I guessed he would.”
As if to reflect his words, two more gunshots were heard; these two were aimed at his shoulders…
Rins shrieked slightly, seeing the blood spurt from his body, some splattering on her face. Thrown slightly by the impact, he gritted his teeth at the pain, but still kept going.
“Jenos, let me go now! I can run by myself!”
However, it was obvious he was ignoring her word. He simply went on as if nothing had happened. She knew that he knew he couldn't defend himself against the bullets, because he was defending her instead! He was holding her close, using his body to cover her own, making sure she stayed unharmed. He was protecting her…
BANG!
This shot plunged into his side, sending him to one knee! He gasped and breathed slowly, trying to catch his breath. And it was at this moment, when his grip was weakest, that Rinslet freed herself from his grasp.
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Cline hopped from roof to roof, after the rapidly fleeing couple. Taking out a semi-automatic from his boot, and using his first form of time vision, he shot quickly and silently at his targets, intent on slowing them down.
The first few shots had been aimed at the man in non-lethal areas, but enough to bring him down. However, the man didn't stop! My, he's a resilient one. I guess I'll have to take this up a notch.
He started to aim for the man's other leg, when he suddenly saw him fall from the impact of the fourth bullet and the girl jump from out of his arms! Well, if this isn't a break. Shifting his gun slightly, he pulled the thrice, the barrel aimed at the woman thief's torso.
“Let's end this, milady.”
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Rins was only on her feet for a few seconds, when she heard the gunfire once again! What the—
She only had time to gasp, as Jenos once again covered her. He held her closely, like a parent holding a frightened child, making sure nothing happened to her.
He held her tightly, even as he felt the three hot metal bullets enter his body: one, plunging deep into his left lung, the second rupturing his spleen, and the third making direct contact with his pancreas. But—he still didn't let go.
In fact immediately after the gunfire ended, led by mostly his determination and adrenaline, Jenos took the shocked and stunned Rinslet back into his arms, and continued fleeing off as fast as his wounded body could take them.
Cline cursed the two and flew after them. How the heck did that guy take all that? This is totally ridiculous! His anger flaring slightly, it sent his trigger finger into frenzy. That guy's made me lose too many shots! Why can't he just die?!
The shots went one after another into the Chronos jerk's back, and the man kept jerking ever so from the impact, blood flying through the air and splattering upon the roofs to mix with the driving rain, but other than that he didn't slow down—not once! Even as he could hear the girl's screams for him to stop and put her down, he didn't slow down or stop. He just kept going…
“What is he immortal or something?” Clearington said in disbelief, hearing his gun start to click, telling him it was out of bullets.
Throwing the gun away in aggravation, he moved on, pressing his body to move even faster. That was an ENTIRE clip I emptied into that guy, and I know they hit. You know what? This guy is getting on my last nerves!
He thought, as he followed them in the direction of the old abandoned church.
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Kicking open the weathered doors of the old church, Jenos carried Rinslet tiredly inside and out of the rain. The stone cathedral had stood unused for decades, weeds, wildflowers and grass grew though the cracks of the granite tiles, some of the stained glass windows were intact, while others were gone all together, the wooden pews had rotted and were falling apart from water damage, rain water came through the ceiling where cracks had formed, and nearby broken statues of angels and saints stood askew, still looking over the place of worship. Letting her down in the center of all this, he almost collapsed from pain and exhaustion.
“Jenos!” she rushed to hold him up, feeling his blood flow slickly onto her hands.
He sighed and smiled at her, heavy perspiration covering his face. “I'm sorry, Rins…I don't think I can carry…you anymore.”
She looked at him fearfully, “Come on, Hazard. On your feet! We need to get you to a hospital!”
He shook his head, “Get out of here Rinslet…he's coming. I'll distract him as much as I can…”
Her green eyes went wide, looking at him with alarm, as if he were crazy, “Do you think I would leave you? You're the one that's hurt; we have to get you help. I can handle him—”
Suddenly, he pushed her away with as much force as he could muster, before coughing violently, spilling crimson blood onto the ground. “Run as far and as fast as you can. Find Train, Sven and Eve; tell them what happened. They'll help you. If you can, send word to Chronos about this guy and his organization. They definitely need to know. I'll try to hold him off for as long as I'm able.”
She looked at him, tears threatening to run down her cheeks. “But Jenos…”
He turned away from her slightly, a ragged smile gracing his face. “It's okay, Rins…it…it doesn't matter anymore. Just know one thing…”
As she realized what he was saying, the tears fell, followed by many more. But then she was in his arms and he was holding her close to his body, his scent filling her wonderfully to the brim. He whispered in her ear, “I love you Rinslet Walker, and I have for a very long time. I would have given up…anything for you. And tonight—I would have asked you…to be my wife…”
A sob caught in her throat, as she listened to his heartfelt words.
He looked at her, before holding her away. “But instead, I'm going to ask you to run. I need you to run as fast as you can. Can you promise me that?”
She balled her fists aggravated at her inability to do something to help the situation. Nodding sadly, she could only answer “Y-Yes…”
He nodded at her smiling. She then turned from him, running out the back of the church as fast as she could.
Be safe, Rins. I regret I can't marry you as I wished, but I will protect you…I always have. He thought as he watched her leave.
A twang on one of his set wires, told him that his opponent had arrived. He turned, Excelion at the ready.
First, two shots came at him, which he promptly cut to pieces with a swirl of his hand, the metal strings dancing in the air as they had been made to.
“Hmph, so you still have the energy to fight, huh?” Cline smiled as he walked through the church doors.
“You'd better believe it, buddy…” Jenos jumped into the air, swinging out his clawed fingers sending his wires flying against his enemy. Clearington easily dodged the attack and instead of using his feet, jumped off a rotted pew into the air. Weaving almost superhumanly through the constant assault of keen wires and meeting Jenos in midair, he struck out with a swift kick to the man's injured side.
Jenos cried out in agony, falling back to the ground with a crash. Struggling to pick himself up from the ground, he shook his head trying to clear the lights flashing in front of his eyes. Man, I'm out of it today. Come on Hazard, you're acting like an old man!
Suddenly, he felt Cline grab him by his hair, tossing him into the nearby stone wall! “You just don't know when you're outclassed, do you?”
Jenos rolled from off the ground, and threw himself at the British assassin, raking the man's body deeply with racing speed, drawing blood with his Orichalcon claws. “And you don't know who you're dealing with either.”
Pushing his hand out, he sent his metal strings whipping over to the nearest statue, coiling tightly around it. Then, with expert skill, he twirled it towards his enemy; letting them do their thing of their own will, yet controlling them with the strictest restraint possible.
Just before the statue came into contact, the PHOENIX agent invoked one of his time fields, vanishing from the dimension that human eyes could see.
VII cursed angrily, looking around him swiftly, for where his opponent would strike from next. “This is plain cheating. How am I supposed to fight a guy who can control time?”
He unexpectedly felt a tap on the shoulder and a cold metal object hitting his right arm. The agent spoke lightly in his ear, having reappeared in real time. “The answer to that is…you can't.”
Pulling the trigger of his latest gun (which he seemed to have an endless supply of), he shot straight through Jenos' forearm and again through his left thigh, before using a roundhouse kick to send the Chronos Number across the room, hitting the wrecked alter with a slam! Jenos hissed at the sudden pain of the last two shots, more blood pouring from his body. Gritting his teeth, he took stock of himself: Even if he did have the strength to move, his fighting arm was now kaput, and his legs were no better. He wasn't going anywhere soon, and he could only hope he had given Rins enough time to hide and get help. I tried my best, baby…I'm just sorry my best—wasn't good enough…
Cline aimed his gun for the fallen man's chest. “I must applaud you, you gave quite a fight, and have taken more bullets and lived more than any person I can think of at the moment, but in the end this would have been the result. It's been sweet, Number VII.”
BANG!
As the assassin pulled the trigger, Jenos knew that he didn't have enough energy to make a run for it. He had known his fate and accepted it, the moment the first bullet sank into his body. When Rins had jumped from his arms, he had known that she would be the assassin's first target, and he would be shooting to kill. He hadn't had time to deflect the shots, especially in his wounded condition. He had done the only thing that he could do, what his instinct led him to do. He had lost count of how many bullets he had taken, or where they were. From then on, it was just impulse…
Closing his eyes, he waited for the inevitable.
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He waited for longer than necessary, and when the inevitable didn't come, he slowly began to open his eyes. The sight he saw, shocked his system…
“Rins? Rinslet!”
The lavender-haired woman leaned over him as a shield, her eyes closed a bit as if trying to conquer some pain that had come over her. It didn't take him long to tell what she had done.
“You idiot! I told you to go! Why?! Why Rinslet, did you come back?” He shouted, glad she had returned to him, but crushed by the sacrifice she had committed.
Falling to his side, she sighed as the pain from the mortal bullet that had nicked her heart and punctured her lung, seemed to ebb slightly. “Do you honestly think…I would leave you to…die alone?”
He looked at her in shock, a lone tear welling in his eye. “Rins…”
She gazed up at him smiling, “I love you Jenos, and I'm not going to leave you. I did as I promised. I ran as fast I could…I just went to get something from my secret stash that I hid in the park, for a mission or emergencies.”
Out of her hand, a metal ball rolled onto the floor, a small metal ring around her finger. Jenos could see what it was, but he didn't care. The woman he loved, loved him back! That was all he truly cared about…
Cline, who had been watching the touching scene, took a couple minutes to recognize what the object was. What the heck? Is that a—
BOOM!!
He hardly had time to finish his thought, before the grenade exploded! Rocking the ground, the blast shockwave hit the dilapidated church walls, causing them to collapse sending stone and glass everywhere; closing Jenos and Rins in the inner half—practically cut off from the world by a pile of rocks and rubble…
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In that little inner area, the two laid next to each other on the steps of the weed-overgrown alter. The moonlight shone through the cracks in the ceiling, the few intact sculptures and stained glass looked down at them.
Rins sighed; she knew that nothing could have saved Jenos. Even before she had taken that shot for him, he would have never have survived. However, that didn't seem to matter to her right then. Her love had made her act—and she always had been the type to listen to her heart…
“I…I must look…a mess, huh?” she sighed, thinking of all the blood, dirt, and glass that must be on her by now. It felt like only fifteen minutes ago that she had taken that wonderful shower.
“Honey…you never looked so beautiful…” He smiled at her, flinching slightly from the pain, as a rivulet of blood flowed from the side of his mouth,
She looked down at herself slowly, ignoring the pain that came from the opening in her back. She smiled, once she saw herself. She had completely forgotten that she had been wearing only a little white robe all this time. The robe once immaculately white, was now ruined, torn, and stained, and had all but come completely apart. She left hardly anything to the imagination of the man lying beside her…but somehow, she didn't mind. She loved him, and now—at this moment—that was all that mattered.
“Y-You know…I never thought…it'd end like this.” She smiled, snuggling closer to him, to try to halt the chill that was beginning to come over her.
He shifted her hair from her face with his good hand, “Don't think…of it as the end, but…as a new beginning.”
He coughed a little more, his lungs having a hard time breathing past all the blood that was leaking into them. “If this had…happened to me yesterday, I would have had regrets. But now…with you beside me…I truly have no regrets at all. Oh…I love you, Rins…and I think I always have…I just couldn't realize it.”
“Well…are you going…to ask me?” she asked the man lying beside her.
“W-What?” Jenos looked at her reverently, even as his blood began to pool under him, staining sacred ground.
“The…the question you were…going to ask me…tonight.”
“Well…its kind of…wrong time and place isn't it?”
“What other time is there? And…what better place?”
He laughed lightly at that, “I guess you're right. Well…Ms. Walker, will you… marry me?”
She smiled, struggling to keep her eyes open. “You don't know how…happy that makes me, Jenos. I also…love you. It's a real shame…it took me this long…to accept it. I just want to be with you…for us, to be together.”
He leaned on her bare shoulder slightly, the skin cold but still holding that sweet smell. “Then, I swear on whatever breath is left in me…from now on…we will always be…together…forever.”
She snuggled more tiredly, hearing his heart beat against her very slowly, but still steady. “Then I…also have—no regrets. The answer is yes…I vow to love you, and be with you for always.”
He sighed contentedly, his eyes also struggling to stay cognizant. “I guess I do have…one regret.”
“And…what is that?” she murmured slightly.
He tilted her head up as much as he could so that their eyes met. He noticed that her eyes weren't as bright as before, but a slight sparkle still held up there. “I only wish…I could…just kiss your lips…one more time.”
She smiled, “What's stopping…you?”
She lifted up her hands slowly—the metal ring from the grenade, still on her left ring-finger—to his face, moving him even closer to her. He smiled and leisurely touched his blood-stained lips to hers, and though they were cold, the fire of their passion was enough for them. They had said their vows, and taken their kiss, their love as a bond—underneath the curling arcs of the old church, the cracked stone angels as their only marital witnesses…
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Clearington Cline sat up, the explosion having startled him a bit, blowing him into the churchyard, but he was pretty much no worse for wear. He knew the sounds of the explosion and all the commotion that had gone on would attract the attention of the local law enforcement, and that wasn't something that he felt like dealing with as of now.
Making his way into the collapsed church ruins, he sighed at the look of all the crushed stones sealing him of from the pair that was trapped on the other side. Placing a time field around the church, he then began to move the rocks, one at a time. After about a minute, he found one stone that when removed, caused a rockslide that gave him access to the closed off section of the derelict church.
Stepping into the shadowy moonlit dimness, he could see the couple was lying where he left them. They didn't move as he walked closer, which was a good sign in a way…
Standing over the woman and the man, he looked at them silently, observing that they had lain close to each other, holding hands tightly, looking peaceful as if this was the first night as newlyweds.
He could tell from their pallor coloring and their complete lack of warmth that they were dead, but out of habit he put a finger to their necks, checking their pulses.
Finding nothing, he sighed “Already dead, are ya? Well, just to be sure no one wants to perform a miracle in the church tonight…”
He took a small revolver from his second side holster, and quickly and simply shot both of them, once through the heart. Neither moved, unfeeling to the bullet piercing their chests.
Putting his weapon away, he turned and walked out the collapsed chamber, out the church and into the rain-filled night. Leaping onto a nearby rooftop, he canceled the time field with a wink of his eye, and not a minute too soon as he began hearing sirens closing in.
Turning his back and putting his hood over his head, he made his way, a shadowy figure, nonchalantly walking across the rooftops. Taking his cell phone from his pocket, he called Dante. “Job's done, Stage two for me is complete. What about you?”
He heard the man sigh, “My part is done, but Shinigami is still—”
Cline rolled his eyes, “That man is sick, sometimes I think he likes his job a little too much.”
“Yeah…look, we'll meet you at the gathering place soon, in an hour at most. I might have to drag him out of there, but we'll be there.”
He nodded in response, “Got it, see you then.”
Closing his phone and putting it in his pocket, his mind flitted back to the couple he had killed that night. Hmm, those two…they were more like a Shakespearean tragedy than a Victoria Holt novel. Oh well, in the end, the conclusion was the same—they would always be together.
He whispered slightly into the night, as the rain hit and immersed his body with water, “Sleep peacefully—Romeo and Juliet…”
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(1) The reference is made to the lyric above which comes from Rodgers & Hammerstein's "King and I". The singer is Anna, the star of the musical.
(2) Barbara Cartland and Victoria Holt were both famous British romance writers, writing over 1200 novels. Most of their works take place in the 13th-19th centuries.