The War of Four: An Eagle's Cry

Total Recall! The Echoes of a Bitter Past...
It had only been a few minutes.

As in, a few minutes after our volunteers of the most recent battle and hastily constructed alliance between V-14 and the Soul Reapers were made that they had left. Leaving the majority of the winded and the wounded to take care of their duties and get on with their plans.

Even if things had a silver lining in the whole debacle, things almost took a few wrong turns to a very dark place...especially for the young Soul Reaper Lieutenant and the aledged woman responsible for the catastrophe that slaid tens of thousands of Reapers and Spirit Citizens of the Soul Society.

With each group now parting ways after breaking for a few hours, they turned back to their respectively opposite directions, with V-14 returning to their anonymous HQ in the Soul Society's Rukonagi Districts and the Soul Reaper guarded Caravan headed to Yūrei Ōkoku.

However, Fate, it seems wasn't to leave any spare grace for what was to await a certain young man...a broken, young man...

VVVVVVT! VVVVVT!

The vibrations in Oliver Holmes inner pockets, would detail an incoming and unexpected call to him. One of which would be both sudden and without desire, despite the situation he'd be in. Tidings were not in fair joys to the poor gunslinger, even as they wearily traveled back to HQ. Thankfully, with their Avian Transport with Rika as their pilot, it wouldn't take nearly as long as it would've the long way back on foot, despite the long lecture made by Angelika at the "Failure" of a mission they had. Good news, however, was that they all recieved large checks to the respective members involved in the mission, so it dampened the bad news to a certain degree...

"Oh, what in the fuck..."

At the moment, Oliver wasn't in much of a mood to have his phone going off - especially in his agitated state of mind. They had managed to survive their respective encounters. But even so, the American could not get the nature of what they had faced. Two apparently had the ability to distort time and space. Two more could pry into their heads without so much as a second thought. It was disturbing and infuriating to know that he was being superseded by such dangerous enemies. But what made it worse was that one of them knew more about him than even his leader wouldn't have picked up.

Never before had he felt so... helpless.

So it was natural that he was feeling rather irritable.

He gritted his teeth, reaching into his shirt pocket in order to pull out his own respective phone. The ringing caused Anton to look over in slight surprise from his seating position besides Hyōryu. "Someone calling you?" He questioned rhetorically, cocking a slight eyebrow. "Have to admit, that's a bit new..."

Oliver scowled. "Really. Just when I think I'm not going to be bothered, something has to bother me!" He yanked out his cell-phone, flipped it open, pressed the talk button and raised it to his ear. Had it not been for his current mood, his greeting to the one on the other end of the line would've been humorous.

"Piss off."

"Wow," Hyōryu couldn't help but snicker, noting the upset tone Oliver used in speaking to the incoming caller, "if it happened to be a hot girl for once, Oliver has quickly become the world's biggest asshole upon default just now..."

"2nd Officer Holmes," a terse, eerily familiar voice spoke over the phone, "I suggest you check the ID now. In case you have another greeting you wish to give to your superior officer...."

That was the hammer that shattered through Oliver's bitter mood.

His eyes widened in shock, and he lowered the phone from his ear in order to check the said ID. But considering what he had just heard on the other end, there was no reason to. The voice was as familiar as the very daylight itself. What was showing on the LCD screen confirmed that it wasn't his imagination running away with him.

When he raised it back up to his ear and spoke again, his voice had a smooth and cold edge that would've contested the likes of Yashin and Angelika. "...you have a lot of gall to still call yourself my superior officer. I thought you would've realized that ship sailed long ago. I know it's been years since we've spoken to each other, but surely you can't be going senile already?"

"Watch your mouth, you piece of shit!" The voice spoke with a growling tone of contempt towards the young man whom he was speaking to, "You're lucky I even greet you by phone instead of an armed squad, or you're not being tracked by a Paladin for the horrors of what you've committed that night! The fact I'm calling you, as both a superior officer and an equal, can only mean one thing, and we both know what that is. Don't we?!"

By this time, Oliver had clicked on the speakerphone, allowing the man's voice to escape to the hearing range of his comrades. With the exception of Rika, all of them had turned towards a grinning Oliver as he continued to speak. "Well, truthfully, I haven't the slightest idea. Maybe you've seen the extent of my proficiency for yourself and want to take me back? After all, the casualties I caused were in the hundreds. I mean, that must put me high in the ranking system, right?"

"Don't play coy with me! We both know your record is showing a similar parallel interest to that of that infamous traitor Kenta Sonoda of Yūrei Ōkoku. I don't think I have to remind you of all the blood on your hands from that base you massacered! Do I, 2nd Officer Oliver Holmes of the Royal Aethian Corps?!"

This was something that caught various expressions of surprise from most of the compatriots.

"Wait a minute... you were an Aethian soldier?!" Anton asked in disbelief. The behavior Oliver exhibited was not someone of a disciplined military operator moreso than it was of a freelancer militant. But then again, it would've explained Angelika's reason for hiring him. After all, Aethian soldiers were highly skilled in combat, even by themselves.

"The Aethian Genocide..." Yusuke muttered, his eyes regarding Oliver warily. "It was said that there was an incident in Aether where a base was decimated by one soldier known as the "Black Eagle". Its identity had disappeared off of the map afterwards, and people claimed that the individual had died of wounds sustained during the battle. I... I never would've thought that I'd be seeing that very same person up close...!"

"What?" Oliver smirked smugly, ignoring both of their comments for the moment. "Did you call me to guilt-trip me or something? For the record, I don't regret killing any of them. I mean, who could ever regret hearing those screams as I plugged them full of new orifices? Who could regret leaving that place in flames? All in all, I think that was the greatest day of my entire life."

"That's the Black Eagle?" Shinshin spoke with increduality, as he looked to Asuka and then back at Oliver, "that hot mouthed fool? How would he have survived against an entire batallion of Soul Reapers and armed guards, let alone murder that many people is beyond my speculation..."

"It would explain his parallel interest in killing people up close," Hyōryu said with a grim fascination, as well as a cheeky grin enamoring her face, "I guess that's why he's a lot like me, and I him. Except, I have more balls than he does, and I got myself a gorgeous boyfriend, and I haven't ever seen him go out with a girl...maybe once, and then it was over...like that...no joke."

"You arrogant fool," a sudden counter tone of both grueling hatred and a knowing smugness of his own broke through the phone, "how do you think I got this number?! You're being watched by the Paladinus Decimus as we speak, and I'll have you know...she's not in a very good mood...considering whom she's partnered with today..."

"Frau Hartmann," Shadō spoke in her ear piece, being one of the sole entities to remain off the Dragonbird to keep an eye on things on the ground, "there's some disturbances of an unusual anonymoly to your 11 O'clock and 3 O'clock, nearly a solid kilometer away. Something is watching us, and I can't pinpoint their exact location. Whoever they are, they're good...very good..."

"What?"

"Paladinus Decimus?!"

Both Angelika and Oliver's eyes widened at the new information that reached them, voicing their own respective exclamations. Both of them looked over the edge of the bird in order to sight out the supposed watchers for themselves. Because of their aerial standpoint, they were able to spot both of the entities, with Oliver looking to their 11 o'clock and Angelika looking over to the 3 o'clock.

Sure enough...

There was a man standing on the roof within Oliver's view. He was donned in complete military gear, fit with a black set of combat armor, boots, gloves, and a gas-masked helmet. There was a set of bright blue lens that served as the "eyes" of the mask, staring directly at Oliver. The individual's arms were folded across the chest. All in all, he really didn't look too friendly.

But it was the realization of who he was that caused Oliver's face to pale slightly.

"Paladin Four of the Holy Decimo..." He said, his voice controlled but clearly showing his shock. "Percival Chapman, the "Theta" of the Royal Aethian Corps...!!"

In Angelika's veiw, the Paladinus Decimus stood in a black hooded cloak with various armored scales along its exterior, almost nigh invisible to the eye with the exception of a light pair of pauldrons over it. Barely hidden were her large claymore Seelenbracher sheathed on her back, along with an unual obsidian enamored bow wrapped over her chest and shoulder lines. While barely seen by anyone less of Angelika's considerable eye sight, she had a single silver eye radiating grimace and irritation while her left eye...was seared shut by a black, sorching burn-mark scar from a previous injury.

"Holy F***!" Hyōryu's eyes widened, moving her gaze back and forth from the two entities watching them with apparent bloodlust and predatorial anticipation, "where the F*** did they come from?! How the F*** did we not see 'em coming?! F***!"

"This isn't good," Shinshin voiced the obvious, as he turned his gaze to and fro of the two apparently skilled hunters, voiced now as Paladins, "I've heard only faint rumors of the Holy Decimo...they're supposed to have more collective might than the previous generation of the Gotei 13 Captains and Lieutenants, in every fashion and sense. We shouldn't engage them, with our current wounded to account for..."

"Now do you get it, Ollie-boy?" The superior spoke in a thick, irritated tone of barely restrained contempt in his voice, "it would be a real shame if you were to get your precious little gang killed if you decided to make a run for it. But really, even if you tried to fight, they'd never let your friends leave alive and you'd probably be maimed before being brought here for your trial for the monstrous crimes you've committed, you sonuvabitch!"

Oliver's teeth clenched as he heard the infuriating words spoken. His grip tightened on the cell-phone, and his breaths became audible and expressive of his growing fury. He knew that Shinshin had a point. Even with the number of troops still active, their wounded and exhausted was a weak point that the Paladins could exploit if they didn't get what they want. Once again, they were trapped... and this time, there wasn't a thing any of them could do about it.

He wasn't the only one to loathe the situation.

Anton looked over at it all with an angry expression of his own, a scowl and narrowed eyes prominent on his countenance. It was a lesser degree than his American friend, but it was still clear. He himself had a resentment for any government, and the presence of such enforcers did not suit well with him. "The Aethan Genocide was years ago, wasn't it?" He said disdainfully. "Why in the hell would they bother with Oliver now, of all times?"

"W...what do we do...?" Rika said nervously to Angelika, who kept a contemplative frown on her face. "I can attempt to make an escape... but considering how skilled they are, they could easily bring down the Dragonbird." The last thing she wanted was a weapon pointed in her face, especially after what had happened with Shidai.

However, Angelika did not respond immediately - something that slightly unnerved the pilot even more.

"Angelika-san...?"

"Oliver."

The German directed her tone towards Oliver, earning his surprise. Slowly, she allowed herself to turn towards him, extending an expectant hand out towards him. "Hand me your weapons." She said, a cold edge lacing her voice. "Once Nakamura lands the bird, consider yourself excused from my organization."

It was the most chilling statement he would ever hear her say. His eyes widened in shock, his anger quickly receding.

"W-what?!"

"What the Hell did you just say, boss?!" Hyōryu shouted in surprise and borderline horror, suddenly showing her support for the condemned man riding with them, "are you seriously going to go through with this?! Throw Ollie to the wolves?! I may think he's a bastard, but he's OUR bastard!"

"She's making the best tactical decision," Shinshin nodded with grim admittance, looking over at the slumped, unconscious form of Shinji and the others, "with our Soul Reaper allies nowhere close to even rush to our aid and all of us completely outclassed by these military marvels, this is a politically delicate situation.' Protecting Mister Holmes with us could potentially complicate our legality and alliance with the Gotei 13. Not to mention Aether would probably get on our trail and make us their new Most Wanted. Preserving the organization comes first before Mister Holmes safety, no matter the situation, that's the way it should be..."

"W-wait a minute..."

Anton was not so quick to agree with Shinshin. He spread his hands out defensively, trying to get Angelika to reconsider her decision. "This is a friend we're talking about here, a comrade. You can't just cast him out into the hands of prosecution just like that--"

However, he regretted saying anything when Angelika whipped her head around, giving an ice-cold glare to both him and Hyōryū. "This isn't up for debate." She said lowly. "When I want the opinion from my subordinates... I will let you know. Do you understand?"

"...yes, boss..." After a moment of silence, Anton breathed out a heavy sigh and spoke his words of relent. He lowered his hands back to his lap, resuming his silence. He didn't even waver when he felt the Dragonbird descend downward - something due to Rika understanding the subtle order given.

"...so this is really it?" Oliver narrowed his eyes, glaring at Angelika. "You're really just going to sell me out, just like that? Discard me like a piece of trash, just like you did with Heigo? That's what's gonna go down right now?"

Angelika remained silent, returning his stare with an impassive one. But the words didn't need to be said, and Oliver understood the silence correctly. He lowered his head, taking a deep breath and reaching into his holsters to grasp the grips of his twin pistols.

"Should've seen this coming miles away. You really are no better than Yashin..."

Pulling out both of them, he tossed them towards Angelika. In turn, she caught them out of the air and placed them on her lap. "Once you're finished talking to your friend..." She said calmly. "I'll be needing the phone, too."

"Whatever..."

"This is ****ing Bullshit, I tell you," Hyōryū muttered as she turned her face away from Angelika, placing her head against Anton's shoulder, wrapping her arms in a empathetic gesture as she couldn't help but feel her lips quiver. She had never felt this way about Oliver...but the thought of losing him, made her heart begin to break in two.

"I'm getting the sense your comrades are seeing reason, Mr. Holmes?" The voice on the other line sounded expectant and less irritated, no doubt the onlooking Paladins reported their actions and the descent as a means of resignation rather than retaliation.

CLICK!

"Fuck you." Oliver said bitterly, abruptly silencing the connection with a click of the button. He didn't want to give his former superior the satisfaction of gloating in his face. It was something that he would probably do at the trial, but at least he would delay it as long as possible.

He tossed it to Angelika, who once again deftly caught it just before the bird descended to a safe landing zone. He turned away, preparing to stand up and get off when the wings folded back. He passed a look over to Hyōryū and Anton, with the latter looking over at him solemnly while having an arm wrapped around the female's shoulders. As much as he wanted to say something to reassure them, he couldn't find the right words. So he simply remained silent, waiting for the two Paladins to come and get him.

And sure enough...

With a WOOSH!, Percival appeared before them. In his hands was what looked like a scoped rifle, and he had it aimed towards Oliver with what looked like the intention of firing when he came close. However, he was quick to lower it, looking over his shoulder and taking a hand off of his rifle to motion his partner to his side.

SHFT!

"Oliver Holmes," Rosalina Seraphim, appearing within a flash of near blinding movement next to Percival, spoke in a still, dauntless tone as she appeared before Oliver with no weapon drawn, though both were within easy retrieval as they were strapped over her shoulders, "due to the nature of the...severity...of your trial, we are to take you the rest of the way. Our form of transportation is only a couple kilometers from here, in the event you or your comrades intended to be...difficult."

"What am I supposed to do? Punch you?" Oliver snapped, slowly standing up and lowering himself off of the Dragonbird. His feet landed with a heavy thud. "All my weapons are gone now, courtesy of my former boss. What could I possibly do to you?"

"For one..." That was when the male spoke up with a distorted and rather inhuman voice. But one could easily recognize the irritation behind the words spoken. He stepped forward, the bright blue of his lens glaring into Oliver's eyes. "You can keep running that mouth of yours and risk being snapped in two. Our commanders gave us the order to take you in alive. But they didn't say whether or not you had to be taken back intact. So it'd be wise to keep your mouth shut and your lip kept to yourself, lest you want . Got that, prisoner?"

"Yeah, yeah..." Oliver rolled his eyes. "I promise to be a good boy and keep quiet. Honest."

"Oh you will," the cloaked Paladin spoke, before producing a dark sack object from the folds of her uniform, "but you aren't going to be comfortable. This isn't procedure, but this is mine. Put this over your head and keep still as I carry you. Or," She nodded over to the said masked Paladin, "my associate will incapacitate you painfully and carry you himself. Your choice."

For a moment, Oliver stared at her in silence.

Then, he turned towards Percival with four words.

"Please knock me out."

He didn't need to say it twice.

WHAM!

The butt of his rifle slammed into his skull with what as might have been the force of a sledgehammer. Oliver sank like a stone in water, his body dropping lifelessly to the ground. The sight of it made both Rika and Yusuke wince in pain, and the sound of the rifle clashing against bone sent a chill down their spines. Sure, Yusuke was used to killing, but he never enjoyed hearing such sounds of weapons interacting with flesh.

Holstering his rifle, Percival bent over and hefted Oliver horizontally over his shoulders, each of his hands having an arm an a leg within their grasp. "You shouldn't have given him a choice..." He muttered to his compatriot. "The Royal Aethian Corps have always regarded this defector as one of the most rebellious types. You can't deal with them in any other way other than through disciplinary action."

Anton gritted his teeth, wanting to cut the man's throat for blatantly talking about Oliver right in front of the V-14 in such a manner. But he knew that he would just be risking the rest of them with his actions. So, for their sake, he remained silent and looked on.

Rosalina just closed her eye in acknowledgement to the man's choice, putting back the bag into her cloak, before turning in a swift 180 degree, not commenting on the man's choice of slightly insulting words, "Let's go. You can talk to the others about your problem with ethics and freedoms there, I just want to finish this degrading mission."

"I wanna kill 'em, I wanna kill 'em, I wanna kill 'em..." Hyōryū began to whisper in a murderous, low tone that only Anton could hear, her eyes wide with tears rolling down her face and a murderous grind of her molars could be faintly heard.

"You think your associate will allow this?" Shinshin spoke to Asuka and Angelika pointedly, seeing that the two Paladins were going to carry the man that was formerly their comrade by foot, suggesting they're as physically adept as they appear, "Shou Yoshizawa, I mean. From what I understand, they had a strong bond of comradery and if he hears about this..."

"He will do nothing." Angelika said bluntly. "He knows when he's going out of line and when he's not. Unless I give the order to, he will not move an inch out of my jurisdiction."

The only one who seemed to be unaffected by any of it was Asuka. She had her back turned to the rest of them, her hands folded within her lap and her head hung down. Her eyes were closed, and it appeared as if she was asleep. However, she was doing nothing but meditating, currently in a deep trance. It was one of the many requirements in order to keep the nervous system steady and stable. Although she wasn't speaking with any of them, she would be able to hear all of what had transpired.

Percival swiftly allowed himself to turn away from the group, the sound of his feet grinding against the dirt serving as the signal for Rosalina to lead the way.

SHFT!

Within a single blur of motion, Rosalina disappeared utilizing a Flash Step, leading the way for her companion who bore the load of their acquired objective and began heading off to their chosen transports. Leaving V-14 alone and by themselves to ponder the life changing decision they had just made. Oliver Holmes has been taken, and they won't raise a finger to save him...

There was a momentary silence, one who no one dared to break.

That is, until Angelika opened her eye back up and stared at her group. And when she spoke...

"V-14... be prepared to move out first thing in the morning to Aether. We're going on a rescue mission."

...the majority of her heads turned towards her, faces expressing complete shock and surprise at the change into her tone. It was a complete change from what she had relayed to both them and the Paladins a while back. Gone was the cold and ruthless edge, replaced by a commanding but assuring tone that dominated both voice and her expression.

"...are you sure that's wise?" Asuka cracked open an eye to look over at her former student. "Such a move would be considered an invasion of territory, and considering our stance with the Gotei 13, it would probably disrupt the alliance we have. Are you sure you want to risk making the Soul Society our enemies again for the sake of one person?"

"I could care less about the alliance." Angelika answered firmly. "Do you think I'm the one who would just step back and let genetic test tube experiments do whatever they please with one of my best soldiers? I already have the Inner Circle attempt to make me their bitch. I'll be damned if Aether thinks it's going to do the same."

"Hell yeah!" Hyōryū pumped her fist into the air, before pointing in Oliver's direction, "Oliver's my bitch, and he's going to stay that way! No one takes my nut cracker and gets away with it!"

"If we're going to go against Aether, we'll need all the help we can get," Shinshin spoke in a reserved tone, looking towards Asuka, "I think we should call Zaii and any others that are attending the base. If we're going to be potentially stuck going to war with the largest military in the Spiritual Realms, we're going to need every contingency plan available to us in the event the Holy Decimo adds us to their Bingo Book along with the Royal Aethian Corps."

"Of course." Asuka said coolly, closing her eye again.

"We may not have to go to war... that is, if we pull this off correctly." Angelika commented, turning her head towards Rika. "Get this bird in the air, Nakamura. What are you waiting for?"

"Oh--!!" That seemed to startle the girl back into her senses. "M-my apologies, Angelika-san..." Quickly, she turned forward, gave a few clicks of the tongue, and got the bird to ascend into the skies once more.

Angelika herself turned back towards the group in order to continue to explain. "Based from what we saw out of the Paladins..." She began. "It is most likely that they'll possess high security. The last thing we want is direct confrontation with any of these Paladin characters. So this will be strictly a stealth infiltration mission. That means all air support will be able to do is insertion and extraction. So we'll have to stick together as a team at all times." She momentarily turned her head towards Rika. "Understand that, Nakamura?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Rika gave a nod to signal.

"Shit..." Anton gave a weary stare at Angelika, the frown of disapproval clear. "No offense, boss, but you were really starting to scare me. I get that was nothing more than a means to fool the Paladins from sensing any deception, but you almost had us, too! Besides... now Oliver thinks you really expunged him from the V-14!"

"That was the idea." Angelika said simply, causing his eyes to widen in surprise.

"Wha--?"

"There's always the event that we won't get to him in time. Maybe it'll be due to outside conditions or our misconception of the potential time we have. In that event, I made sure to leave our newfound friends one last trick. Now that Holmes has assumed that we've betrayed him, there'll be nothing stopping that old psyche from rising to the surface."

Slowly, a smile crossed her face - one that conveyed nothing but a malevolent satisfaction.

"I think Aether's going to have fun reuniting with its "Black Eagle", don't you think?"

"Somehow that doesn't sound like a good thing," Shadō spoke aloud, appearing out of the shadows of Oliver's former seat, crossing his arms nonchalantly, "but it may be interesting to spectate."

"Stupid stealth missions again," Hyōryū spoke with a sour note, before snickering, "but I hope it turns out like that mission in the Rukon outskirts. That mission was a blast, hehehehehe!"

Shinshin could only assume a meditation stance of his own as the bird began to take off, flying with haste and purpose towards Aether. Having never personally traveled to Aether, he could only imagine what awaited them there. For whatever reason...he could smell blood in the wind...

Oliver's Trial! The Black Eagle's Last Stand...?
SMASH-SMASH-SMASH!

"ORDER! WE SHALL HAVE ORDER!" The Noble Judge smashed his hammer against the pedestal, creating reverberating echoes that grated on the outrcries of the attending crowd, which had become packed beyond belief. And who could blame them? This is to be one of the biggest trials of their era, as the infamous Black Eagle had been found through various anonymous sources and tips before tracking him wandering the wilderness, surrendering arms when realizing he was outmatched by the Holy Decimo's might, or so it was told that way...

With a British-accented courtroom, much more appealing to the 18th century decor, with instead of 46 random anonymous judges were actually made up from the Noble Families that held the popular power throughout Aether itself and its various territories it covers. The only difference, was that none of the judges had white fluffy wigs nor all had thick british accents, but rather a culmination of several Midwestern to European cultures involved in their attire as well as their nationality.

Oliver was held up in a podium, bound in durable chains comprised of Kidō-based materials rather than Sekisekki as the latter material would not be needed for someone with such little Spiritual Power. Surrounding him were a number of high ranking volunteer guards, made up of the Eleventh Corps, otherly known as the Prime Cohort, were the Elite and renowned professionals among the Corps. Should Oliver even twitch, they were given orders to have no discretion and maim his body.

After the outcries died down, the Center and Highest seated Judge rose to his personal stone carved balcony with each of his opposing flanks composing of slightly elevated podiums holding at least four or five other Noble Judges, each of them assuming various stances for various reasons.

The Highest Ranked Judge, Judge Stronghelm, spoke in a deep revered tone towards the convicted, "Do you foreswear to uphold the best behavior that is expected of an Aethian citizen within these revered and hallowed courts as we take these proceedings? If you do not, we will grant you the right to be silent, and we shall start and end the trial without need of your words or defense to be voiced."

It was as if they were expecting Oliver to defend himself.

Within his chains, he stared ahead of him with blank and seemingly weary eyes. The bangs underneath them conveyed the visage of a jaded man, and the chains made it seem like he was more frail than anything else. As of his position, he had plenty of reason to feel miserable. His leader had callously dumped him into the hands of his enemies and dismissed him. It was a perfect message of just how valuable he really was to V-14.

Unable to bring a fire to the courtroom, he brought a subdued and controlled voice instead. "What is there to defend? I have no reason to defend myself. I'm the Black Eagle, the one who massacred an entire base and is responsible for the lives of hundreds of soldiers. The Royal Aethian Corps knows my face, the Paladins know my face, and so does everyone else. As far as I'm concerned, this trial is nothing but bullshit to make yourselves look democratic."

"Watch your tone, Holmes!" One of the lower aligned Judges, Judge Corsair, pointing his finger with a angry vehement tone in his voice, "we are not monsters or anarchists like you! We do things in a much more civilized manner, and you will abide by our La-"

"You're wasting your time, Judge Corsair," one of the higher aligned Judges, Judge Dorado, spoke with a bemusing tone as he looked down upon Oliver, "if he truly is the Black Eagle, he will not and shall not abide by the Law that we've strived so hard in laying down. Might as well give him his sentencing now and be done with it-"

"Don't interrupt me like a fool, Judge Dorado!" The other Judge snapped back with venom, now yelling back at the other Judge, "you're in no position to speak of Laying down the Law, when your own House was responsible for the near destruction of this great Society!"

"How dare you accuse House Dorado of being associated with that mad, rabid dog-!"

SMASH-SMASH-SMASH!

"ENOUGH! BOTH OF YOU!" Judge Stronghelm smashed his hammer harder this time, his voice bellowing and commanding, with enough ice through his tone to thoroughly end the petty argument between his fellow colleagues. Turning back to Oliver, he cleared his throat before speaking in his favored, revered tone, "with that said, Mr. Holmes, I will begin to read you your crimes so that this Court, its Jury, and its witnesses here shall be clear for what you are being sentenced for..."

Judge Stronghelm then looked at a sheet of paper in front of him, putting on glasses to read them off, as he continued to speak in said tone:

"7 Counts of Resisting Arrest, 17 Counts of Sabatoge to Aethian Military Property, 26 Counts of Destruction to Military Property, 347 Counts of 1st Degree Murder, 7 Counts of 2nd Degree Murder, One Count of 3rd Degree Murder in regards to one Genesis Holmes, and One Count of High Treason to the Royal Aethian Corps whom serves the Sovereign National Society of Aether," Judge Stronghelm then looked to Oliver, still intending to keeping things official as he spoke, "any last words may the accused speak to this Revered Noble Court?"

"Granting me my last words?" Oliver asked rhetorically. "You're too kind."

He slowly turned his head, his eyes meeting each and every one within the courtroom. "The Black Eagle wasn't some highly trained assassin or some powerful super soldier that had some militant reason to destroy Aethan HQ. He was an entity born from madness, and that madness was born from the nest of the Royal Aether Corps. They made me the killer I am, they gave me the skills needed to slay each and every one of that weak bunch you call an army. So the next time you claim how much of a monster I am or how great this society is... know that you were the ones that allowed me to exist in the first place. Know that there are and will be plenty more of me among you. I'll see you in Hell."

SMASH!

"Oliver Holmes! You are hereby sentenced to death for your crimes against your King, your Country, and your Comrades! Method of execution will be public hanging, as is custom to all who bear the shame of being a traitor and a murderer! Court is now adjourned!" Judge Stronghelm spoke aloud in a bellowing, condemning tone. As he finished, the Judges rised and began to leave through their individual exits from which were carved archways while leaving Oliver to be escorted publically to prison, before he awaits the time for his execution.

"I'm being hanged."

The ghost of a smile came across Oliver's face as he heard the words.

Hanging. It was one of the most universal and widely known methods for execution. The noose which could hold anyone's neck was a symbol of death within itself, used widely for both intimidation purposes and a signal for someone's approaching demise. To die in such a manner might as well have been an honor for him, as dying in battle was the honorable way to end a soldier's life. Any other method would have been insulting. It was the way it had to be.

"I never did have a chance to say anything before you went ahead of me, did I?"

He waited patiently for his guards to escort him to his personal cell, eyes closed and head hung down.

"Hang on, Allison. I'll be with you soon..."

The guards formed a box formation, escorting him as well as protecting him from any potential violence the crowd might have on him before his sentence can be carried out. Leaving the Courthouse was already a trying task, as a number of the audience shouted and snarled at him, almost anxious to see him dead and be done with the likes of him. Others, mostly women and children, tried to keep away at a safe distance in the event the Black Eagle sprung actual wings and began to devour anything in hsi path.

The large lines that were awaiting Oliver and his escort outside, were no less violent or anxious with an entire row of Prime Cohort troops dividing the crowd from the escorting prisoner. While it became impossible to be kept from being hit by the occasional rotten food or drink thrown by the average citizen, the Cohort made sure to dissuade any attempt of attacking the traversing convict.

Meanwhile, on one of the highest points of noticing near the courthouse was the elevated Victoria Cathedral, based to the Paladin Order that served the Royal Aethian Corps. Looking down from one of the arched stone balconies, Rosalina watched the passing escort with feigned interest as she watched her prior assignment be lured to his cage before awaiting his execution.

"Enjoying the view?"

The distinct voice of a male spoke behind her, and the figure of the source moved from the shadows of the inside to stand beside her.

It was not that of the one who had accompanied her for Oliver's arrest. Instead, she would be greeted by a Caucasian man with silver hair that was somewhat wild, a black scarf around the neck, a purple coat overshadowing a white and plaid shirt, purple pants, and what appeared to be black shoes. He looked over at her with a slight curiosity, folding his arms across his chest.

"Can't," she spoke barely without turning her face to give him a feigned sideglance, nodding towards him with her scarred eye towards him, "not without this eye. I'm merely observing the area for any potential hostiles that might utilize the chance of such an open space to rescue the accused."

"Your diligence is admirable." The man remarked, leaning over the balcony in order to take a look for himself. "Though, I personally hold doubt about the necessity of you even being here. Considering the security is held together in a tight and secure fashion as well as the very presence of us... well, I am unsure that anyone would dare to preserve this man's life."

"V-14 is plotting something," she spoke with assurance in her voice, though it was subtle at best, as her stoic gaze matched the fluid tranquility in her voice, "you could tell that they held a deep bond with him without even looking at them. I could hear their leader's heartbeat dance irregularly for a few moments when they were descending and I could see a few telltale signs from where I was standing. She's not aiming to sell him out...or at least, not that he knows it."

That sent her companion into silence, and he took to looking down at the man in question. As he peered down and squinted his eyes, he could see nothing than a weary and defeated look. All of them had claimed that he was the Black Eagle, the murderer and destroyer. But all he seemed to see was a broken soldier, a veteran who had come back with a burden on his shoulders. It was somewhat disturbing when you took into account the crowd's anger and fury against him.

"Now that you bring that up, it could be a primary concern..." He murmured, turning his gaze back to Rosalina. "Have you taken the liberty of alerting our associates of the possible predicament of their interference?"

"Yes, she did," the voice of a familiar comrade spoke, walking in behind the both of them, unsurprising to Rosalina whom merely acknowledged her presence with a backwards nod, "Rosalina has a keen sense when things could go awry. If we are to put our faith in anyone's gut of my Paladin brothers or sisters, its her, Simon."

"Ah!" The said Simon's eyes widened in surprise, and he instinctively turned towards the sound of the voice. "Master Saras!" Quickly, he recomposed himself, placing a hand on his chest and giving a short but respectful bow. "Please forgive me, I did not mean to speak any ill or lack of faith within my compatriots..."

He had plenty of reason to watch himself while around the woman that had come in. Her name was Aesa Saras, Paladin I of the Holy Decimo - the name of the group they were all in. Although other members would consider her as nothing more than an associate, he regarded her as their impromptu commander-in-chief. She was also one of the most respected and feared out of their organization, considering her status as well as the way she carried herself while on-duty.

No one sane would want to incur her wrath...

"Its alright, Simon, relax," Aesa allowed her impassive stance and stare to soften into a empathetic smile, placing a hand on his left shoulder with a light grip in emphasis, "she only does so because of the importance of who is being executed. Its understandable if it was a fool's errand or if his comrades wouldn't reach him in time. That's why they didn't give him any hope, you see, of rescue," she walked over past Simon, before looking out towards the escorted man's progress, "however, there is another reason why I'm keeping us on our toes..."

"Hm?"

After allowing himself to relax, Simon turned himself around with Aesa with a slightly quirked eyebrow. "And that would be...?" He inquired.

"The Blood Coat is on the move," she spoke in an ominous, almost dreading tone, as she explained, "it wasn't but two days before we got the tip on the Black Eagle. Paladin XVII was on patrol near the outskirts near here, in the Capital City. However, her and her unit found a strange unknown anonymoly near one of the abandoned building alleyways. It happened so fast but...he...it..." Aesa spoke with grief, clogging her throat keeping her from revealing the gruesome details as she bowed her head in reverence, covering her face with one of her hands.

Much to her chagrin, Rosalina filled in Simon with a turn of her head, showing him her steely, dispassionate gaze, "Paladin XVII was disembowled before her head was snapped off in a counterclockwise fashion. Her men were brutally crushed and torn apart in similar effects, covering their remains thickly in their blood, his most prized MO."

"Disem...boweled?" As he repeated the word, Simon's eyes dilated and the expression of slight horror was clear. "And decapitated?" After a moment of regarding Rosalina, he clenched his teeth and turned away. His face changed to a look of disgust and resentment of what he had just heard. "Typical." He growled, shaking his head. "The murder isn't a murder unless it's made as gruesome as possible. If there was a worse psychopath than the one we have in custody, it would have to be that man!"

He quickly shifted his tone to a lighter one once he raised his head up to see Aesa. In return for the gesture that she had given him, he raised a hand up and placed it onto her shoulder sympathetically. "Rest assured, this will not go unanswered. The Blood Coat may have evaded our watchful eyes, but he cannot run forever. We will bring him to justice, whatever it takes."

"I know," Aesa spoke in a low, menacing tone that voiced the true underlying wrath hidden under her composed tone and stance, sliding her hand off her face to show shining, eery silver eyes, staring off into the distance for emphasis, "he will pay. Just as all scum of the earth, they will pay. Whether its by my fist or my blade, I will crush them all. And if I cannot do it, my brothers and sisters will!"

"If we could only find him," Rosalina spoke with a impassive tone despite the severity of the news, "the man is akin to a wraith. He's whispered, even within the Prime Cohort, as a nightmare that sings an eery tune, signaling your demise before you drown on your own blood. At least, that's what's rumored anyways..."

"Rumors and whispers are not enough to intimidate the likes of us." Simon furrowed his eyebrows as he took his hand off of Aesa's shoulder. He directed his gaze to the horizon, walking over towards the balcony and allowing himself to lean on it once again. "All this murder has done is made us more alert of his presence. The next time he strikes, all will know before he has time to sink his teeth into our flesh."

"I'm going to attempt to contact our fellow brothers and sisters of the Holy Decimo," Aesa spoke as she turned on her heels, moving back into their headquarters, using the form of a place of holiness into a headquarters of the most terrifying Black Ops Commando unit in all of Aether, "we're currently only five strong in the Capital, with only twenty seven Paladins guarding the Palace, the Royal Aethian Fortress, the Noble Court, and the Prison, we're taxed at capacity, even with us five watching from Vitoria Cathedral."

"We have nearly five Knight Captains here in the Capital at all times, with nearly seven Knight Lieutenants working also at all times," Rosalina spoke with a lax, impassive tone as she continued to monitor the area in her sight with the convicted still being escorted towards the prison down the cobblestone road, "we also should be expecting our Knight Commander to observe the execution personally, even if from a distance. It will be unlikely the Black Eagle will escape his demise, but we might have potential casualties from the failed attempts..."

"I will descend to the ground level and keep watch on security stability." Simon said calmly. "Now that the Blood Coat has made himself known once more, it is unwise to let down one's guard at any time." Folding his arms across his chest, he turned away from the balcony and moved to follow Aesa. "I shall see you another time, Rosalina."

Rosalina impassively locked her eye on Simon as he retreated back into the sanctuary, before turning her gaze back at the crowd. Something amiss came to her attention, but she immediately knew it was an isolated threat, completely uninvolving the main threats she was looking for. With a hand reaching back to grasp the rare and unique black staff, she unholstered it in a fluid movement, sifting blue-black Spritiual Energy into it, causing it to take the form of a dark, glowing bow blue kanji symbols running up and down the shaft.

With a single hand, she raised her bow towards the crowd, before forming what appeared to be thin, condensed spiritrons to form the bow's "thread" before condensing a glowing white arrow appeared above her aiming finger, pulling the "string" back past her cheek, her right eye narrowing at the target.

With a sudden release of the arrow, she spoke, "Verzehren," before releasing the projectile and string...

THWACK!

SHEOOOOOOOOW-SHOOP!!!

...sending the dark, contorting arrow directly towards a single, rage-filled civilian who was holding a weapon partially concealed in his coat. What Oliver would see, or rather hear, would be the slight startled scream of the man before a shadow formed from the man's insides pulled on his insides and made his entire being implode, causing a few gasps of shock and screams, sending a good deal of the proximate crowd running from the sudden disturbance.

"You may see me, Simon," she spoke to herself, lowering her bow down as she impassively stared down towards Oliver with near perfect clarity, "but they never see me..."

Inflitration Immininent! The Plan for Rescue Unfolds!
"Are you done in there, Angel-chan? Come on!"

"...do I really have to wear this?"

"Oh, don't be such a baby! You're acting like I'm making you wear a maid outfit or something!"

"This might as well be the equal of it."

"Besides, you said yourself that we needed to not look so familiar, and thus a change of clothing style had to be made. I went through so much trouble of picking out that outfit for you!"

It was a rather humorous scene back at the V-14 HQ.

Asuka was standing in front of what appeared to be a dressing room, her arms folded across her chest and her foot tapping against the floor in a somewhat impatient manner. Instead of the standard kimono, she had switched to a less feminine attire. Her new clothing consisted of what looked like a blue and sleeved tunic, black wrappings that fit around the entirety of each arm, a white sash around the waist, and black pants. Compared to her kimono-style attire, she looked more... lanky.

"C'mon, Angel..." Asuka complained. "I know we're early, but I told the others that we'd only be a few minutes! By now, they're probably going to send someone up and complain!"

"Is there a problem, Asuka-dono?" Shito came up next to the second commander of the operation, with Shinshin flanking him. Shito already took the liberty of wearing a dutchman's hat to cover his obvious scar overlapping his forehead and skull. Along with a ruffles white sailor's shirt that was unbuttoned three to the top which gave a hint of his well developed physique that was already showing somewhat from the belt tight jeans and shirt itself. He even wore sailor black boots with brass buckles, "is Angelika still not finding a suitable attire?"

Shinshin on the other hand was silent. His attire made himself appear more like a medieval witch doctor with his long hair draping down his back and shoulders, with a black flat-top hat and the protruding white mask he utilized to make himself out to be a old-time doctor. Only difference being is that his sword was kept in a very large carrying case which he held with no difficulty.

Asuka sighed heavily. "Yes, she's found something. But she's being fussy about it!" She said. "I've tried to convince her that she won't look bad in it, but she just won't budge!"

"Should I enter and give her a second opinion?" Shito asked with an honest query, placing a hand on his chest while locking his eyes with Asuka's. Apparently, he did not fully understanding the ramifications on walking in while a lady was dressing.

"I--"

Asuka immediately stopped herself, falling into silence for a moment. She immediately stopped herself from giving him a look that made it seem like he had two heads. A smile came across her face, and she gave him an encouraging smile and nod. "On second thought..." She said, her tone carrying nothing but innocence. "I think that's a good idea. Go in there and check on her, would you?"

"Alright," Shito smiled with a nod, walking past Angelika to her dressing room door, and knocked a few times, "Miss Hartmann! For the sake of expeditiousness I am going to assist you in giving you a second opinion. I promise not to look at your person below the neckline in the event you aren't dressed, as well as give you an honest opinion on your chosen attire. I'm coming in now," he spoke aloud in the most gentleman manner he could, before opening her dressing room door and quickly shuffled in before closing it behind himself.

"This isn't going to end well," Shinshin thought silently, as he could only observe a man willingly approach his surrogate sister's door and could potentially see her exposed skin. If anything, if Shito ended up doing something untowardly to her...if he survived Angelika's wrath for any reason...HE would be the one to make him regret any disgusting thing he did to her.

There was a few moments of silence. Asuka held a hand to her mouth, for she could already see Angelika giving Shito a death glare as soon as he stepped into the room. She almost fell sorry for the boy and his apparent obliviousness. "And the fireworks should be coming right... about..."

Click.

First the cocking of what could only be Angelika's gold-plated HCA-50 pistol. Then...

''BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!''

Gunshots followed shortly afterwards, a few of them piercing the door.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!" Shito shouted in horrified alarm, the door comically opens with Shito clinging to the door with one hand while an inverted position with opposite. A neat outline of bullets carved his figure in the door, making a comical appearance for Asuka.

"You did just walk in on a woman dressing, you know this, right?" Shinshin asked in a very dry manner, clearly irritated Shito walked in dumbly into not only their leader's dressing room, but his surrogate sister's dressing room.

"Well Asuka-dono didn't tell me that Ms Hartmann would try to kill me! Why would she send me?!-" Then, with sudden, horrified exclamation, Shito turned his gaze with shock at Asuka, "why are you trying to kill me?! What ever have I done to you?!"

The response to this?

"Hahahahahaha~!!"

Asuka was now holding her stomach and bent over with shameless laughter. All of her sympathy for the man had now vanished, replaced by mirth at his misfortune. She could barely bring herself to speak a response to the shaken-up Shito. "I...I had no idea you were clueless about dressing room etiquette, dear!" She exclaimed. "That should've been greatly obvious! You don't just walk into a room when you're a guy and there's a female changing on the other side!"

She looked over at the now open door to see Angelika angrily place on the top half to what would've been her new outfit, turning herself around to give an annoyed glare at both her and Shito. "You are very lucky I had my lower extremities covered already, Herr Shito. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered to actually miss you."

Compared to her common attire, this had a much more feminine feel to it in contrast to Asuka's. She wore an olive green and plain kimono that was covered by what appeared to be a dark green haori. It was combination of elegance and a look that made her seem like a poor, homeless woman. She had one hand on her hip, a slight blush over her face.

As she approached, Asuka slowed her laughter down. "Oh, you really were being picky!" She chided. "You look great!"

"I look like some sort of hobo..." Angelika muttered, spreading her arms out and letting the sleeves fall back over her forearms. "And this kimono alone shows off too much of my leg."

"It does not! It's no different from my kimono. You are fretting over nothing, honestly..."

Shito's jaw dropped and felt himself comically freeze at the realization. He had entirely intended on being a gentleman in helping a lady, and he ended up looking like a perverted scoundrel. Falling to the ground with a thud, he whimpered at his assumed foul play, "I'm...always...failing..."

"You look quite stunning, actually," Shinshin cleared his throat, trying his best to smile while not looking at her legs, causing his cheeks to sport a rare flush of crimson.

Asuka bent her knees to lower herself beside the fallen Shito, reaching over to place a hand on his shoulder. She gave a cheery smile. "You just didn't know any better, that's all..." She was quick to get back up, directing her gaze over towards Angelika. "Hear that, Angel-chan? When you hear a compliment like that from a guy, you just can't look that bad, can you?"

"W-well..." Now it was Angelika's turn to look somewhat flustered, a faint blush spreading over her face. "I suppose so... thank you for reassuring me, Herr Fūten. I can only hope I'll get positive reception from the rest of them..." With that being said, she placed her hands on her hips and started walking away from them to begin the walk downstairs. "Come on. The others are waiting."

Shito sighed, sweatdropping in embarassment as he got up to his feet before acknowledging Asuka as he followed, "Sorry...I never really knew it wasn't polite to enter dressing rooms. I've never heard of people using them often enough to hear the courteousy involving them..."

Shinshin stayed silent, as he regressed back into impassivity to forget his own bit of shyness, walking down the hall after Angelika, more than welcome by entering after Angelika to meet the whole gang in the debriefing room.

The briefing room wasn't some overly done place like the Sect's, mind you. It had a walls/ceiling combination of a light blue color and a carpeted floor of brown. There was a large table in the center of the moderately big room with enough chairs to seat just about everyone within. There was a large TV-like monitor hooked to the wall opposite of the door and a computer terminal right beside it sitting on a desk. Although it could easily be described as a rather casual visage, it was still very clear that this was solely meant for business.

"...so you're telling me that this chick took on one of these guys? One on one?" Anton was asking Shou, in slight disbelief.

Shou nodded. "He was extremely intoxicated, from what she told us." He explained, his hands folded on the table as he looked at his "audience". "Even then, he still put up quite the fight against her. She managed to defeat him, but ended up sparing him afterwards. So yes, there are ways to subdue such powerful enemies despite being potentially lacking in the stopping power necessary to contend with them."

"Guess regular troops weren't enough for Dad, huh..?" Genesis muttered quietly from a seat, underneath her breath.

Or at least, she tried to.

"Uh, what?" Apparently, Anton had heard it, as he quirked and eyebrow and leveled a slightly surprised gaze in her direction. "What was that you just said, Gene?"

"Huh?" Genesis's head abruptly snapped up. "I didn't say anything."

"No, I swore you just said--"

"Ahem."

Thankfully, Genesis was saved from explaining herself when Angelika cleared her throat to make herself known. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything..." She said calmly, walking into the table with the rest of her compatriots in tow.

"No, not at all, though some of us don't know when they're really talking or not!" Hyōryū spoke in an annoyed tone, being the most proximate nearest to Anton and being between Genesis and her boyfriend, sideglance glaring at the said Daitenshi girl. Her attire looked that of a biker punk girl, with studded black leather jacket with a sleeveless muscle shirt underneath and worn, weathered jeans to go along nicely with her stained leather brown shoes. Her guns were clearly concealed in her jacket rather than the usual shoulder holsters.

"Actually we're being told what was spoken of an actual battle between one of your Sect buddies against a Paladin, though we're not certain what Rank or Skill he possessed, as he was plainly told by your associate, Shou-san, incredibly intoxicated," Zaii spoke with great interest, for once not donning his mega-large sword but rather just assuming a more "tucked-in" appearance of his usual Gi outfit, making himself out to be more of a touring martial artist than a ingenious swordsman of incredible Spiritual Power. He was seated only a couple seats perpindicular and on the end from Shou's placement.

"As informative as that would be, Shou," Angelika remarked, stepping into the room and allowing the ones following to enter. "I doubt that any of the Paladins would dare allow themselves to be caught under the influence at a time like this. Especially considering that they have the likes of the Black Eagle in their clutches. They'll be more alert, coordinated, and one of the more dangerous threats that we'll be dealing with during our infiltration."

"Is everyone here?" Asuka questioned, looking over the occupants within the room.

"Just about," Mōka spoke aloud, walking over to meet Angelika and Asuka, lightly remarking visibly with a smile at their new attire before nodding her head back, "Yusuke and that Lieutenant chick are patching up Shinji in one of the medical rooms. Don't know what he did, but he's shaking like a rattlesnake whenever he's not knocked out..."

"An old Client with a bad vibe about him," Shinshin spoke lowly, before nodding to the table, "we'll fill you in sometime."

"Damn! Finally got dressed, did you? What, needed to add some perfume to accent your pretty features?!" Karitori sneered at Angelika, having to sit still for so long made her irritable, as she sat next to Yajū who looked equally irritable but less vocal about it. having sat directly across from Genesis, Anton, and Hyōryū, they were the most proximate to the arrivals.

"Shut your goddamn trap for once, Kari!" Shito snarled surprisingly, stepping in front of Angelika and Asuka as his glare bordered menacing and threatening, "you don't get to run that shit-trap of a mouth just because your girlfriend is here!"

After taking the brunt of the outburst, Karitori blinked surprisingly but before glaring at him, her body faintly glowing of the unusual Dark Energy before she caught a disapproving stare from Mōka, causing her to just roll her eyes before slamming her head audibly against the table, "Can we please just get on with this?!"

"Woah."

Anton now regarded Shito with a look of absolute surprise, matching the looks that both Angelika and Asuka was giving him behind his back. He was expecting his leader or their leader to come back with a rather snarky remark, but not Shito to defend them both with such passion. Inwardly, he knew Oliver would've cheered at the display. It was enough to make him smile and chuckle a little, even if it was at the expense of Karitori.

"Remember who it is you're talking to that way, Frau Karitori." Angelika was quick to switch from surprise to a quiet anger, leveling a withering glare at the female who had dared to talk to her in such a scathing manner. For a few seconds, she held that glare for just enough time for discomfort. Then, she turned away and proceeded to walk towards the terminal. Her hands were folded behind her back until she reached the terminal itself, where she unfolded one of her hands in order to begin typing.

"A-asuka-dono..."

The quiet voice of Rika brought Asuka's attention to the currently mousy girl, who had her head down and her eyes directed towards leader as she sat down. She had to keep herself from smiling at the girl's attempt to make eye contact willingly - and failing. "I took the liberty of informing Yusuke-kun about the mission so that he could come with us... is that okay?"

Asuka's eyes widened slightly in surprise - something that make Rika flinch involuntarily out of the fear that she did something wrong. However, the next words spoken were quick to remedy that. "Of course! After all, where would a wounded team be without the medic? We all know that..."

The girl nodded in turn, grateful that she had not done anything stupid. "O-of course..."

"Courtesy of Herr Valentine," Angelika's voice spoke out, gathering both of their attention back to the front. The "TV" was projecting what she had brought up on the computer was a blueprint-style satellite layout of their destination. "We've managed to obtain a bit of detailed information regarding the layout of Aether. The target destination will be the capital city Shinhae, the place where public executions are normally held."

"How do you know he's going to be executed?" Anton asked, quirking an eyebrow.

In response, Angelika regarded him with a look that should've made it obvious. "Well... I'm certain that genocide and defection combined would contribute to that belief, are you?"

"If they sent the Paladins I hear you told me about, then they must be executing him," Mōka spoke with certainty, as if she had personal experience with them, "they don't send members of the Holy Decimo to pick up a common criminal. If Oliver Holmes is more widely known as the Black Eagle, they'll hang him for all of the citizens and troops to see, to make an example for anyone who revolts against the system..."

"It sounds like you've dealt with them yourself too," Shinshin inquired, speaking for the first time since he's arrived with the others, catching the gaze of Omega Team's leader, "what do you know of these Paladins, and of their Holy Decimo compatriots?"

"The Holy Decimo is the equivalent of what was planned to be Anti-Knight Captains of the Paladin Order," Mōka spoke as she looked to Angelika and Asuka, shifting around in her usual attire that hadn't changed despite the majority shifting their appearances for the upcoming journey, "while the Paladins are elite commandos of Royal Aethian Corps, their potential is not to be overlooked. Should the Royal Aethian Corps fall, or be split apart by another Civil War that was instigated, the Paladins are supposed to purge the enemies and take the place of the deceased and absent Knight Captains.

The Holy Decimo, are the only qualified entities who can successfully surpass the powers and skills of the Knight Captains. Their strongest I fought nearly twenty years is named Rosalina Seraphim, the Paladinus Primus, designated as the Hawk," she looked over at the entiriety of the briefing table as she spoke in truth, "those who possess the rank of Paladinus Primus are potentially capable of exceeding the strength of Knight Commander or your Gotei 13 Head Captain..."

"...our Gotei 13 Head Captain?" A slight scowl came across Anton's face, and he leveled a rather annoyed stare in her direction. "Look, we may be allied with them, but don't make it sound like he's leading us."

Hyōryū scrunched her face up at the implication before nodding back to Mōka, "Yeah! Who said that guy's OUR Head Captain?! Last time I checked, we were not wearing black & white like a bunch of sissies!"

"I never insinuated that he was your favorite man to take to parties, nor did I say he was your boss," Mōka said with a slight note of irritation, though she didn't stop to debrief Asuka and Angelika, "in any case, a direct confrontation with any of the Holy Decimo is a bad idea. Knight Captains, we could outmaneuver and use tactics against, but Paladins are bred to kill those who use underhanded and coordinated tactics. Loners, nearly all of them yet are incredibly capable of collescing into an indestructable force when necessary. They are the true Vanguard of Aether's Military."

"Indeed." Angelika agreed. "As a matter of fact, direct confrontation is a negative until we have obtained our cargo, and even then we will have to lower to a strict minimum. The last thing we want are the Paladins breathing down our necks before we even begin to reach extraction."

She turned back towards the computer terminal, typing in a few more codes. Upon the calculative command, the screen zoomed in on the capital. There were certain points that were marked with a blinking red dot. "There are two points of entry into Shinhae. One is through the main gates, which will require the use of the forged documents each you were handed. Most likely, there will be a Paladin guarding at least one of them. So if you're thinking of going through there, make sure that you remain inconspicuous. Another route is through the underground river system that runs through to Shinhae's natural water system. That route will require those that are much better suited for stealth purposes."

She turned herself around, away from the computer and towards the table. "There will be three teams. I'll lead the team that takes the underground. Asuka and Mōka will take their teams through the main gates, with each team going through a separate gate. Make sure to stay in radio contact at all times and keep your situations updated. Are there any questions?"

"What about our equipment and weapons?" Hyōryū spoke out, nodding to Anton and the others, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd rather have bad odds with a gun then being unharmed with the same odds."

"When we regroup inside the city, there are a number of locations Herr Valentine has set up for supplying purposes," Angelika explained, motioning towards points that were indicated with a blinking green dot. "If you can't bring any weapons and equipment with you into Shinhae, you can head there in order for some. Just make sure to keep your money with you. Just because we're affiliates doesn't mean that anything's free, after all..."

Genesis gave a heavy sigh, resting her cheek on her fist and expressing slight agitation. When she spoke up, there was a slightly exaggerated tone of exasperation. "All these locations and points are becoming harder to remember than my ex-wife."

Shou and Anton were quick to regard her with surprised looks and the same vocal reaction.

"Wuuuuuut?"

So she decided to follow up with a curl of the lip and two more words.

"Fat bitch."

Once again, her rather strangely placed comment earned chuckles and laughter from the likes of the two males, along with Asuka and Rika. The latter of the four had to stifle themselves from laughing at it by covering their mouths with their hands.

"Somehow, I doubt you'd ever be married," Shinshin spoke bluntly, sighing at another joke he seemed to be left out of the loop for, only knowing someone as unappealing as Genesis would never attract any desire for a long-lasting relationship such as marriage.

Zaii could only snort and laugh at the implied joke, along with Yajū, with the latter speaking aloud in emphasis, "I can't believe...you just ****ing said that! HAHAHAHA!!!"

Shito rolled his eyes, having to cover his face to stifle his own unfortunate giggles to his chagrin, before attempting to clear his throat and get everyone back onto topic, "I have another query: Since we will need to scope out the city for both security routes, location of Mr. Holmes' execution, and what guests we should be expecting, are we going to regroup all at once or separately and work independent of each other in order to accomplish our goal?"

"Independently." Angelika answered readily, after rolling her own eye at Genesis's joke. "Which is the reason why it is required to stay in radio contact. Each group will work separately until the event of emergency - particularly, a moment in where it seems like our cover is blown. Hopefully, that will not be until after we've obtained Oliver."

"What if we are unable to reach him? What then? Is there a backup plan in the event we can't approach him by ordinary means?" Shadō asked stoically himself, as his own appearance remained unchanged as well, looking almost very Aethian in how his usual get-up protrays his essence.

What if we are unable to reach him?

Only an exceptionally good eye would've caught the flicker in Angelika's gaze when she put on a grim smile. "As much as I'd like to say that there's always a back-up plan... there isn't." She answered. "If we don't reach him, then he will die. Simple as that."

"I see," Shadō bowed his head, grasping his hat to put it deftly on his head before smiling slightly in understanding, "I guess we could always wing it from there, eh? Eye for an eye, and all that..."

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!

"Hey you guys!" The unexpected voice of the Burning Knight himself came as he knocked just outside the entrance to the moderately sized debriefing room, clad in his usual black robes with his passively worn Fullbring along with his blade on his back to boot, "here I was thinking, as long as I'm here, why don't I pull my own weight? You guys certainly make that hard when you guys leave half the time I'm napping...can we make an exception for that this time around?"

"Who's this?! A Ryoka?! What's he doing here with an active Fullbring?!" Zaii suddenly spoke out with suddenly interest, as well as surprise as an entirely new person walked through the door and began to talk directly towards Mōka, Asuka, and Angelika as if they were old drinking buddies.

The three women (two of them, at least) would help to enforce that fact.

"Oh, I see that you've finally managed to stop pretending to be a bear..." Angelika muttered dryly as she looked at the figure who had walked in. "Herr Kodai, I just got done explaining everything. You're quite late if you wish to join us..."

Asuka gave an exasperated sigh. "For someone with so much power, you have a habit of doing nothing but eating and sleeping. It is a wonder you haven't grown fat yet, dear!"

Mōka smells the air a few times, chuckling as she leaned her head over to Asuka as she thumbed to him, "At least he groomed recently. From how clean shaven he's now, I bet he's forgotten to clean himself up for the past week or so he's been here..."

"One thing your should know about Fullbringers, my dear," Kenja spoke with a roguish grin, winking at her as he took smooth steps with the jingling of his armor resonating in the room, emphasizing with his arm gestures, "we have probably a lot higher stamina and metabolisms than Soul Reapers do. And I happen to have even more than the average Fullbringer, meaning I need to work out and eat as often as I can, otherwise I'll end up losing the edge my Fullbring had when I took on all of you."

"Wait! He took on all of you?!" Shito suddenly, made a time-out sign before looking incredulously at all of the gathered people in the room, before scrunching his eyes, realizing it might've been insane if he really had taken them all now as they were.

"We were a third the size group we are now, to be fair," Shadō spoke with mild interest in the man's boasting, amused that the human actually decided in participating now instead of the other times they needed man power and assistance.

"And you were totally going to get your ass handed to you when I got there!" Hyōryū pointed out at Kenjai, with a protruding vein on her forehead, infuriated that he'd go on about actually beating them when the fight had barely begun between them.

"Definitely sounds like the story I should hear about," Zaii leaned back with a smile of fascination, as he studied the man in black armor and then at the others' reactions. He could already tell this man was capable, despite circumstances, but to earn their respect after facing them must've been an incredible feat in of itself.

"Maybe some other time..." Asuka said gently, regarding him for a brief moment before turning her attention back to Kenja. "For now, Kenja-san, the very least we could hope for is that you happened to be listening in the whole time. After all, I don't think Angel-chan is too keen on explaining the same thing twice--"

"Stop calling me that." Angelika interrupted.

"Yes, Angel-chan."

Asuka had to resist the urge to smile cheekily when she saw Angelika's eye twitch.

Then...

WOOSH!

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that, boss ladies! I already told him before he came here."

The newfound voice came from Yusuke, who had used a Flash Step to appear in the room. However, he didn't appear in the standard standing position. Instead, he was sitting on Kenja's shoulders with a paper held in his hands - presumably Shinji's medical report. But he was carrying himself as if everything was normal. "We crossed paths a while back in the hallway, so I decided to fill him in on everything just in case he wanted to join us." He explained. "I mean, everyone seems to want to go on a field trip, right?"

"I... don't think "field trip" would be the best word for it..." Rika muttered, looking over him with a slight frown.

"Sure it is!" In return, Yusuke looked at her with genuine surprise. "I mean, we're going to Aether, another spiritual society! Meet new people, see new sights, all the like! I've always wanted to check out the secret underground river close up!"

"Sounds like I know who my partner is," Shadō spoke in a bemusing tone, nodding to Yusuke from his seat position.

"Yeah, so you don't need to worry if I'm clueless or not," Kenja gave a toothy grin, pointing a thumb to his chest, declaring outright, "this my way of paying back the debt I owe you. The debt, for sparing my life and allowing me sanctuary...this will be more than enough payment to all of you."

"I like this guy already," Mōka said flatly, smiling ruefully to the other two female leaders, "so? Who's to say we don't one of our own Black Knights on our side? Might tip the scales in our favor just by that much..."

"Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to have additional reinforcements." Angelika said in admittance. She folded her arms across her chest, looking over at Kenja in an expectant manner. "I guess you'll be coming with us, Herr Kodai. But just remember that as long as you're on this mission, you're under my jurisdiction. So make sure not to get any funny ideas..."

"Yusuke-kun." Asuka inquired, catching the said boy's attention. "How is Shinji-kun doing?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Um..." Being surprised by the question, Yusuke had to switch his attention over to the said topic. He looked down at the paper's words. "Well, according to the medical report that I wrote out from basics, it seems like he's stable. But he's having periodic panic attacks after abruptly snapping from unconsciousness. The times varies from several seconds to a few minutes before he's knocked out again." He beamed a little. "Keikai-chan was nice enough to take up for me so I could come with you guys!"

"W-wait a minute..." Anton allowed himself to turn and look at the boy, quirking an eyebrow. "Are you saying that you loosened the collar to some degree and allowed her to use powers? Isn't she supposed to be a prisoner?"

"Well..." Yusuke shrugged. "Now that V-14 and the Soul Society are allies now, I don't think there's much reason for her to be kept on a tight watch. Besides, I only loosened it to the point where she could heal efficiently. Wasn't sure how the boss ladies would've reacted if I did otherwise..."

"She's not a bad gal," Kenja waved a hand insistantly, after nodding to Angelika in admittance to her command, "I can vouch for her. Despite her undying loyalty to her Captain, it seemed that she valued you as both as a group and people. She's a lot more heart than mind, and I think her willingness to heal your wounded shows that, don't you think?"

"She might pry for information from the poor slob," Yajū spoke in a guttural, suspicious tone as he propped his gloved knuckles against his jawline, narrowing his eyes at Kenja before looking to the three female leaders, "who's stopping her from turning us in as leverage if things go south for this arranged alliance of ours with their kind?"

"That's right!" Karitori nodded, gritting her teeth as she got off her seat and walked over to Mōka, speaking in a barely restrained voice of venom as she pointed pass Kenja, "are we going to have a stranger give us his word and expect to take it like cheap hand-outs?! That bitch tried to KILL Ollie boy-"

"So did you, to be fair," Shito piped in, much to the butch-dressed girl, before she continued.

"-and tried to take the boss lady, Angie down, not to mention didn't have a problem with using her blade against any of us as well-"

"She did stop that Yashin fellow from vaporizing us blindsidedly," Shadō, much to the increasing chagrin of Karitori, made by the usually stoic and withdrawn man he is within a group.

"-so are going to put that much faith and leave this place virtually unguarded by some Gotei 13 bitch?!" She finally made her point, glaring at the prior men who interrupted her before growling lowly at how much effort she made into trying to verbally convince her lover.

"You have a point, Kari-chan," Mōka nodded in admittance, cupping her chin, dramatically pacing back and forth next to the other two female leaders, "I guess we'll need someone just as strong, if not stronger, than her to be left behind to keep watch. Someone who has the personal trust of myself, as well as my two partners, wouldn't you say so?"

"Damn straight!" Karitori said with a rueful smile, looking to Kenja expectantly, almost suspecting the volunteer would be staying to pay for his mistake.

"Great!" Mōka unexpectedly hugged the prior woman, recieving a bulging-wide-eyed experession, as she suddenly realized what her next words were to be, "I'll be counting on you, Kari-chan! Make sure I don't find this place wrecked or any of our occupants and guests!"

"B-B-But...I...what...the...fuck...?!" Karitori could barely function, as she suddenly felt herself guided back to her seat, with slowly building and simmering anger, but knowing that she'd kill herself before challenging her lover and mutual boss's command. That, and she'd looked stupid in front of the collective V-14 organization...

"Karitori-san."

Yusuke, in a moment of rarity, lowered his happy-go-lucky attitude to replace it with a somewhat stern look - or as much of a stern look he could give off without making it seem like he would be completely out of his usual character. "I won't forgive you if you do anything hurtful to Keikai-chan. So don't do anything stupid, okay?"

With a prompt clearing of the throat heard by Mōka, Karitori rolled her eyes as she sighed, raising her right hand before crossing her left over her heart, "Cross my heart and hope to die a painful death to be tortured mercilessly in eternity in the clutches of the Bitch Queen of Hell, so help me Spirit King."

Shito couldn't help but snicker a little, covering his face as he turned his face away from her, "I can't believe she actually said that...omigosh this whole moment is priceless...!"

"I only have one question," Shinshin raised his voice to supercede any future conversation, as he looked to Asuka and Angelika, "when do we leave?"

That was when the two leaders looked at each other.

Slowly, a smirk stretched on both of their faces.

When Angelika turned her eye towards Shinshin, she spoke the words that would wipe out any thoughts of potential waiting.

"Well, I know we're a bit early from the time. But since we're done with the meeting and understand what we need to do, we can leave right now if everyone wishes it. The Dragonbird is already prepared and waiting for us."

"Whoo!" It snapped Yusuke out of his momentarily serious demeanor. He pumped a fist in the air, letting out a cheer. "Going on a field trip! Gonna have a good time! Gonna rescue our buddy!" Quickly, he directed his hand down and slapped Kenja's head, although not in a painful manner. "Giddyup, stupid horse!"

"...I think I'm gonna get used to having that kid around." Anton muttered to Hyōryū, chuckling as he allowed himself to stand up from his seat.

"Splendid!" Mōka said with a clap, rubbing her palms together as she walked out of the room, snapping her fingers as she walked to the exit, "let's go, let's go, let's go! Can't wait to get the party started!"

Despite having himself grinning at the boy's childish eagerness, Kenja couldn't help but ask as he walked after the V-14 mutual team leader, "Aren't you a little old for this game, Yusuke?"

"Don't forget about our kid, lover boy," Hyōryū grinned ear-to-ear, hefting a large, conspicuous black case onto the table with a proclaimed thud, "cause I spent EXTRA time in making sure each of his parts were disguised as nothing more than painting supplies, and other misc. articles..."

"Good Lord, what the Hell is in that thing?!" Zaii's eyes nearly shot out of his head as he spotted the large case, seeing its length was about as long as his own behemoth weapon.

"Death in a box, my friend..." Anton said simply, inwardly grinning at the surprised reactions at Hyōryū's case. "That's all you need to know. I'd be spoiling the surprise if I gave out any more details." Sticking one hand into his pocket, he lent an arm for Hyōryū to grab so that he could walk her out in a gentleman's fashion.

However, he stole a glance at Genesis as she walked out to follow Shou as he moved to follow Asuka and Angelika.

"I could've sworn that she said "Dad" just now... did I hear correctly...?"

Commence the Rescue! Mission Impossible?!
"Its a good thing we parked our ride a few miles away," Shito spoke to Angelika, as her assembled team approached as a traveling sight-seeing group towards the guarded gate of Shihae. Much like the imposing security Sekisekki walls of the Seireitei, they stood tall and wide, with various marching squads moving across the top of the city's line of defense.

The soaring jetstreams above indicated Shinhae's air force, maintained by members of the Royal Aethian Corps, driving much more sophisticated air ships than the ones seen in Tendan's, as well as squads of jet-troopers that transcended the appearance of the so-called Black Bat group that met its demise during their prior mission.

With a small squad checking the passerbiers of the people coming and going from the city, a tall stalwart masculine man with a flowing grey cloak and chain-mail-like army with the mark of the Paladin armor bore directly on his collar area.

All-in-all, the city looked well defended for any hostile force that'd foolishly attempt an assault on this fortified city-society.

So it was good that this wasn't an assault operation.

Angelika folded her arms within her sleeves, taking in each and every detail of the security. "Tendan was nothing compared to this..." She commented coolly. "Military and law enforcement seems to hold a stronger presence here than anywhere else." Seeing it all up close made the necessity of stealth all the more clear, lest they wanted such a force to come down on their heads.

"Aether is mostly known for this criminal regime within," Shou commented, "The presence of enforcement is rather surprising, to say the least. Then again, we are heading towards the capital, so I suppose it would be more important for a fortified position to be held here than anywhere else."

Anton had his eyes narrowed slightly, a slight scowl on his face as he walked with the group, "I'm starting to hate this place already..." He muttered in disdain, keeping a steady pace with Hyōryū.

"I promise not to go apeshit as long as they don't ask me to strip," Hyōryū said firmly, waving her left hand in emphasis while looking to Anton with a slight smirk, "I only save that for our special nights..."

"Please don't be descriptive," Shito spoke with a sigh, comically sweatdropping as he emphasized his point with a flourishing hand gesture towards the front gate, "we're about to infiltrate one of the most secure cities within Aether, let alone all of the Spiritual Realms, and you're talking about your fetishes?!"

Anton cocked an eyebrow at him after raising both of them at Hyōryū. "Of course you would act like that's something unusual, rookie..." He said coolly, putting on a smirk and quirking an eyebrow. "With a little bit more time, I'm sure you'll understand."

"I've done missions where infiltration was a must, but Karitori never talked that much, and Yajū would just grouch about anything close to small talk, but seriously. This is what you come up w-"

"Shut your dumbass mouth!" Hyōryūsuddenly whispered vehemently, noticing five guards blocking their path with the Paladin in question stepping forth to raise a hand to them.

"I'd like to see your travel permits please and the reason for buisness," the Paladin, a young blonde looking man with a large, muscular figure plainly displayed behind the muscle-tight mesh of armor and accessories, asked in a much more cordial manner than the Tendan patrol officer had.

It was time to put on her happy face.

Angelika walked up towards the Paladin, reaching into her green and haori-like coat to pull out a roll of the said travel permits. She unfolded and handed them to him while keeping them piled neatly on top of each other. All the while, she kept a pleasant and kind smile on her face. She had dropped her dry and serious tone for a positive and somewhat eager one. "We're tourists, come here to see the sights, sir. I've heard that the weather's good for tourism this time of year..."

"That's your opinion," The Paladin spoke in a brusk, almost irritated manner as he took his time to look over each ID, not appearing to look suspicious as the traffic of colorful individuals was to be expected, "with this mess with the Black Eagle's execution, I got a bad feeling the crowd might turn murderous and strangle the poor slob before they get a chance to put a noose around his neck."

"..."Black Eagle", you say?" Angelika's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looked at the man. She placed her hands on her hips as she looked at the Paladin. "I'm... afraid I have never heard of that particular term before. A code name for a supposed criminal, perhaps?"

The Paladin smirked, the first sign of amusement close to joy since they got there, nodding to the group with a distinctive stare, "You really are tourists, aren't you?"

"You could say that," Shito spoke with a nonchalant, casual attitude, placing his hands in his pockets while looking around idly.

"Well, if you should know, there was a Civil War many years back," the Paladin explained with a slightly excited tone, as he found something to speak about other than the usual jargon with passerbiers, "some soldier was being escorted out of town with his family and a number of fugitives. Everything was chaos everywhere, so no one could spare extra man power. From what I heard, the sick psycho lost it due to something with his family, shooting his daughter and proceeded to screw things over for the 3rd Cohort, the division he worked in the Royal Aehtian Corps.

Somehow, he managed to sneak into one of the F.O.B.'s that was staged against the enemy rebels, and began to cut loose, killing everyone in his path. It didn't matter about skill or rank, or equality in force or power, this guy butchered them all, and from the story went, swooped in with a scream that almost sounded like a bird of prey. That and the dark matte attire he wore when he went commando on everyone, he slaughtered almost several hundred men before fading from the darkness, including an uncounted amount of refugees taking refuge in the base. He's been hunted and called by the title of the Black Eagle ever since, until now that is..."

At that point, Angelika might as well have earned herself a career in acting.

Her expression went from slight curiosity to a subtle apprehension and wariness. Her mouth opened slightly, and she fell silent for a few moments after he was finished. "I...I see..." She muttered, averting her gaze away momentarily. She closed her eye and took in a deep breath before exhaling. "Maybe what I heard about the weather being nice was a bit off, after all..." All of it conveyed an extent of anxiety, something that the knowledge of the criminal's detainment didn't remedy.

After she finished exhalation, she looked back up with a weary look and smile in her eyes. "W-well, I suppose if he's detained now, everything's fine now, right? The criminal will be executed and justice will prevail..."

"Yeah, well the city is more secure than before due to this execution, I just wish there were more of us Paladins keeping watch," the Paladin spoke out with a nervous tone, not really knowing why he was sharing that particular information other than to share his feelings on the matter, "with only Five of the Holy Decimo keeping watch and less than two dozen of us maintaining guard at all key areas, I don't know if we could handle mass riot without collateral damage to take into account for."

"Aren't the Paladins a little tougher than your average Soul Reaper?" Hyōryūspoke, suddenly playing along with a curious tone as she scratched her head with feigned interest, "I met a bum who claimed to be a Paladin who was drunk off his ass but still managed to beat a bunch of highly trained thugs...wouldn't a little riot be easy for you guys to handle?"

"Well there is the worry about...certain elements entering and disrupting the execution," the Paladin looked over his shoulders and forward, noticing the guards weren't really paying attention anymore, allowing him to lean in to whisper to Angelika, "the Blood Coat has been said to be on the move. Between him and the Black Eagle, the Blood Coat's body count is nearly three times higher, and it ranges from civilians to military, to even tourists. I'd stay locked indoors if I were you."

"Yes, yes..." Angelika closed her eye and fervently nodded in agreement. "That would be the wisest thing to do while we're here. As a matter of fact, I would feel better if I got everyone within a respective hotel as quickly as possible." To emphasize this, she reached out and gently took the papers back from the man. "I do wish you the best of luck dealing with these men, sir Paladin..."

"As do I!" Shou added in, giving a respective nod to the man.

"Oh...yes! Of course," the Paladin nodded with a smile, moving aside to let Angelika's group by while waving to them as they passed, "enjoy your stay in Shinhae!"

"We will!" Angelika flashed one last smile and a wave to him as the group passed by, entering the boundaries of Aether.

Once he was sure they were out of earshot, Anton let out a whistle of impression. "Well, shit, boss..." He commented, grinning from ear to ear and chuckling a little. "Did you get your lessons from Heath Ledger, or what?"

"Yeah..." Shou agreed, folding his hands behind his back and regarding her with a quirked eyebrow as he walked in step beside her. "That was quite an impressive ruse. For a moment, I was certain that you were actually a clueless tourist."

Angelika chuckled, closing her eye for a brief moment. "You're talking to someone who's been in the "acting business" ever since her late teens. It's one thing that I can be proud of..."

"I have to say though, they didn't choose a clever member of their Order, did they?" Shito spoke in a curious tone, silently admitting Angelika's suave, cool restraint allowed her to appease the young Paladin whom appeared to be very wet behind the ears, "why did he just spill all that intel to us? That's seriously not their only Front Gate man, is it?"

"Who cares?" Hyōryūspoke in jubilious cheer, as her carrying case wasn't even looked twice over by the proximate RAC guards or the Paladin himself to notice, "we got extra intel without being harassed, and we got another person to worry about. This Blood Coat...ever heard him, Anton?"

A slight frown came over Anton's face at the inquiry. "Hey, I may be the foreigner around these parts, but it doesn't mean I know everything you don't." He complained lightly, before regressing into a more casual tone. "To tell the truth, I haven't heard that term before. But from the way the Paladin put it, he seems like a serial killer. From the words said, the pattern of killing he takes seems sporadic at best..."

"Or made to look sporadic to hide traces of his contract kills," Shito guessed, putting his hand up to his chin to cup it, looking up as he pondered aloud, "why does the name Blood Coat sound so familiar though? How long has he been killing? Is he a myth or a legend? Can't be, since his name is mentioned by the Front Gate Paladin and too coincidental for it to be something that happened years ago..."

Reaching into her coat, Angelika pulled another rolled-up sheet of paper. She unfolded it, inspecting it closely for a moment. It was the Aether travel map that she had acquired as a means for easy location. She wasn't sure if any of them had been in Aether prior to this visit, so it was necessary that they had a back-up plan in the event that they got lost.

"According to this, the nearest inn is just a few blocks ahead." She reported. "Asuka and her group will be residing within another."

"Speaking of Inns," Hyōryū spoke aloud in thought, looking over to Shito with a furrowed stare, "what's this so-called Tendan Spill you told Ollie you'd be serving him? Some kinda alcoholic rarity?"

"Actually, its a common drink that's a favorite at nearly any bar or club you go to," Shito spoke with a sly grin, rubbing his chin as he looked up in a reminiscent way, "from what I can call its basically a hard liquor with an unusually attractive scent, with a highly erratic mental disruptance chemical that leads to instaneous indisposed beahvior-"

"Whoa, doc, speak smaller words!" The tomboy suddenly waved her hands comically, her eyes as wide as dishes as she slightly regretted asking the straightforward man in explaining the drink, "I meant to ask is it a good drink as much as you talked about?"

"One of the best I've ever tasted, and by reputation, something very few people can stomach, men or women. I think I remember that conversation about the drunk Paladin? Due to their Genetically Enhanced bodies, it would've taken at least three bottles straight to cause someone like him to be drunk, let alone raving. For you or me? Drinking large gulps would lead you to start ranting in a alcoholic induced cry that'll make you sound crazy..."

"You don't understand the depths of my pain!! Neither of you do!! I must drink it all away!! That is my destiny!! You cannot turn me away from it, you vile heathen!!"

One of Shou's eyebrows twitched at the mention and the memory of Genesis. "Yeah, I think that "sounding crazy" would be a big understatement..." He muttered, looking towards Shito. "I didn't tell you about what happened during that whole talk about it, did I?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Anton turned his head to look over towards Shou to listen.

"Well, it just so happened that Tōketsu-san had a bottle with her, right?" Shou decided to start using hand gestures in order to explain. "Two bottles, to be exact. She gave one to Genesis as a token of appreciation for keeping her alive throughout the whole ordeal, she drank it, and..." He took in a deep breath, lowering his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah. I'm grateful that she didn't start bouncing off the walls or anything like that..."

"So allow me to get this straight..." Angelika muttered, looking over her shoulder with an unamused look at Shito. "You offered to give him a drink that would've potentially made him... "crazy"?"

"No more than any other drink would!" Shito defended, shaking his hand in emphasis in a restrained burst of pride, "you'd never feel more enlightened than when taking a drink from Spill! Its probably one of the best sensations of elation that you'd ever feel!~"

"Yeaaaah, forget I asked about it," Hyōryū rolled her eyes after she heard what happened, blinking only to see the Inn mentioned by Angelika just to their right, "let's just try to get through the day without drinking mind-spasm alcohol, shall we?"

"Agreed." Angelika added, quickly shifting to her right and walking towards the building. As she looked up, she could see the words "Sarin's Haven" hung in big, neon letters over the entrance. Had it been night-time, they would've been glowing. "The last thing we want is for one of us to go clinically insane..."

Once she reached the doors, she reached out and pushed them open. As she stepped aside for her compatriots to enter, she took a moment to look at their new surroundings.

For the main lobby, it was quite massive. The fact that there were only a few other people currently within the area emphasized the size. The walls were made orange by the many chandeliers that hung across the ceiling. It was somewhat cooler than it was outside due to air conditioning, but the temperature was still kept to a comfortable level. Overall, it seemed like a pleasant place to stay...

"Nice and cozy," Shito spoke aloud in wonder, looking around as he scratched his chin as he blinked at the chandliers, "a bit too premium for my tastes, but at least it smells cleaner and feels nicer than I'd expect it to be."

"Guess being in the Capital of a large society allows you some extra privies," Hyōryū muttered aloud, looking around herself, finding it such a large and nice looking establishment.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen," the Innkeeper, according to the nametag, Johanne, spoke to them with a well established buisness suit, with a jet black combed crop of hair and a clean shaven, strong jaw, smiling a pair of winning smiling teeth, "welcome to Sarin's Haven! The best place of sanctuary and comfort in all of Shinhae! Please, allow me to aid you into getting yourselves any room of your choosing," he ended up looking at Angelika, winking briefly, as he caught her appearance as the most commanding as well as the most attractive of the group.

At this point, Angelika had to admit that maybe she didn't look too much like a hobo.

She gave a nodding bow in return to the statement, picking up where he had left off. She kept a formal, but relatively light tone in her voice as she spoke. "Thank you very much. All of us will be preferring single rooms, with the exception of the couple." She nodded her head to indicate Anton and Hyōryū, the former of which raised his hand to give a light wave.

"Very well! I'll arrange for the Gentleman suites available for all of you using your own rooms, and the Lovers Suite for the lovely couple," Johanne spoke in a fetching, polite tone as he began marking down spots for each of them, smiling approvingly to Hyōryū and Anton, the prior blushing heatedly and tried to look away in embarassment.

After signing a few things, he looked over his shoulder to a woman, dressed in an assistant's uniform with a nametag of her own, and spoke out to her with a beckoning tone and gesture, "Angel! Will you be a dear and hand these lovely guests their keys and show them to their quarters?"

It was here that Angelika turned her gaze over towards the one who had immediately reacted towards the command.

She was a woman of Caucasian descent. Her long, blonde hair was swept back behind her in a neat fashion, going past the neck and a little past the shoulders. Her uniform was standard, with a black dress coat, the purple collar exposing the existence of the shirt underneath, and a black skirt. Her high heel shoes clapped softly against the ground as she walked towards them in a coordinated fashion. One leg moved in front of the other with enough of an angle to cause a slight hip sway - something that would definitely be noticeable to the males of the group.

"Sometimes, it sucks having a girlfriend." Anton thought, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"Those are some rather... expressive... legs..." Shou was doing the same... with a bit more success, considering that he didn't have to worry about anyone slapping him in the face.

"Of course, sir." The woman in question spoke with a clipped and light tone, giving a nodding bow to him. She turned towards the group, raising a free finger to quickly count out the number of people. In the other hand was what looked like a binder, presumably for the storage of active key cards. It only took a few seconds before she lowered her hand back down, giving a small smile an a nod to each of them. "If all of you would, please follow me!"

Smoothly, she turned on her heel and began to lead the way, her heels continuing to make that a rhythmic click.

"She has lovely eyes," Shito thought with a smile, his mind going in a completely different direction, as he couldn't get over the long, smooth and silky looking blonde hair that hung down her back and shoulders, but most of all her eyes were captivating when he momentarily locked onto them, "crap, I think I'm crushing on her and I just met the gal...!"

"Well aren't we miss show-off?! Stupid bitch cheerleader hostess!" Hyōryū glared heatedly, with eyes that were locked onto the back of her blonde head after doing a once-over the casual, yet subtle flirtatious walk she did. Sideglancing, she thought she saw Anton spying on her legs but dismissed it, intending on making her collateral damage should the enemy track them down here.

Although the blonde didn't notice it directly, it was hard not to feel the sudden animosity that bore into the back of her head. She half-lidded her eyes, her brows furrowing in a hidden expression of humorous discomfort. There was even a comical sweatdrop, as she was completely oblivious to what she had done. It was a perfect moment for her hair stereotype to fit. "Is one of them glaring at me? What'd I do?"

When she stopped at an elevator, she turned her head back towards the group. The expression of comical anxiety had vanished, replaced by a pleasant and positive smile. "So I see you've already met with Johanne." She commented, pressing a button. "Hope his demeanor didn't get to you in any way. He just wants to make sure all of the residents of this inn are comfortable living here."

"...right." Anton deadpanned, his snarkish attitude distracting him from his former thoughts. Inwardly, he was grateful; any more, and he was certain he was going to get caught. "Well, the next time we meet, could you tell him not to wink at us? That shit can carry many different messages, and the one I'm thinking of isn't the best of them."

"I'm pretty sure it was directed to Frau Angelika and Hyōryū-san, not us, Anton," Shito leaned his head over, whispering to him in emphasis of what he was certain wasn't directed to him or everyone as a whole. The man certainly didn't meet the visual he'd take for a man interested in both opposite ends of the gender.

Hyōryū however, managed to drop her smile to a lopsided grin of humor, snorting as she elbowed Anton as she joked, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure since he arranged the Lovers Suite that you weren't his type, hehe!~"

"Ow." Anton was quick to rub the spot in where he was hit. Truthfully, though, it didn't hurt him that much. "Yeah, I bet..." He rolled his eyes, folding his arms across his chest and working his neck out for a bit.

Ding!

The elevator's doors closed, and Angelika was quick to step inside first. This was followed by Shou, then Anton, and then the rest of the group. As a result, they all ended up having to sit in the back in order to make room. There was plenty of it, but just enough to keep anything from being suffocating or crushing. After all, Sarin's Haven did have awareness of potential claustrophobia...

Once the blonde stepped in, the doors swiftly closed around them. With a slight shake, the elevator began to rise up towards its designated floor. Quickly, the blonde took the time to hand them all their respective keycards for their doors.

"So..." Shou was quick to begin talking afterwards. "I have a joke to tell. Why did the chicken--"

"Get out."

The interruption by Anton was enough to cause the lot of them to start snickering. Even Angelika couldn't help but chuckle, folding an arm across the chest and placing the other hand over her mouth.

"Anton, you've told everyone that chicken joke too many times," Hyōryū gently sighed, rolling her eyes as she smiled, chuckling along with everyone else.

Well, except Shito, whom just furrowed his brows before looking back at Anton, "What? Why did the chicken...what?! What did I miss?!"

"I guess not enough yet," Hyōryū lowered her head, starting to have a hard time believing Shito was actually a professional in any line of work. He seemed like a complete dunce! What, did he just focus on work and not socialize at all?!

"What?" Anton sported a slightly surprised look, even as he kept chuckling. "Don't look at me! I'm not the one who said it this time, it was Shou!"

In turn, Shou took in a deep breath in order to quell his own laughter. The grin was still on his face as he turned towards the rest of the group. "You didn't even let me finish what I was going to say! I could've said "Why did the chicken get eaten by the wolf" or "Why did the chicken lay an egg"? I might've even provided an in-depth answer of why it crossed the road!"

"Oh, really?" Anton cocked an eyebrow. "And what would that very deep answer be?"

"Well, maybe the chicken was a rooster that had a well-paying job, but no transportation. Maybe he had to run through traffic, dodging cars and big rigs just to get to his workplace. Then he has to run all the way back just to get to his nest where his beloved hen and two chicks are residing. You guys never think about that kind of stuff, do you?"

"And what type of job would involve making annoying noise in the morning?"

There was a thoughtful silence.

Then, the blonde of all people, had to speak up.

"...telemarketers?"

This time, Shito had to laugh aloud. He laughed so hard that he had to hold his gut and place a hand on his knees from falling forward embarassingly on the elevator's floor, "HAHAHAHAHAHA! WOW! I can't believe she said that...ehehehe!~"

Hyōryū couldn't help but laugh as well, not just about the truism joke that was told, but that Shito finally got a joke someone was telling, "Nice one Shito...you just might have some hope after all, hehe!~"

Inwardly, the blonde cheered for her addition within the conversation, even if it was only one word.

Ding!

At that moment, the elevator doors opened back up to reveal the hallway that would be accomodating their lot. The attendant was the first to step forward, turning herself and walking backward so that she could face them. "This is the fifth floor, which you all'll be staying on. For you two..." She pointed towards Anton and Hyōryū. "Your suite will be a while back from the rest. You understand, don't you?"

"Yeah, I suppose..." Anton shrugged lightly. "But..." His eyebrows furrowed, his expression taking on a look of disdain. "Seriously. Lover's Suite?" Briefly, he opened his mouth stuck his tongue, making a "blech!" sound. "That is just so... cheesy! The least your hotel could do is make it a bit more subtle..."

"Yeah, sure...it would be nice if it was that...subtle...ahem...," Hyōryū, however, was finding it hard for her to meet either Anton or this Angel's because of the awkwardness thrust upon her. Even as Shito gave her a shit-eating grin and a thumb's up, all she could do was lower her head, hoping her bangs would cover her blushing, crimson face.

"Have fun you two!~" Shito spoke in a sing-song voice as he exited with Angelika and Shou, allowing the assistant to take the couple up a ways before they'd get to their own personal suite, "remember: Safety first!"

"Piss off, virgin!!" Anton shot back over his shoulder.

Ignoring the giggling coming from the attendant, he turned his head back to face forward as they turned the corner. However, Hyōryū's face caught his attention. He couldn't help but smile a little. Her blush was rather adorable, to be honest. He allowed himself to lean his head downward to whisper in her ear. "Ey, don't get so stressed out over something like this..." He said gently. "We've all got a day of free time, and the least we could do is enjoy it. Relax..." For emphasis, he reached up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. His hand gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"Y-Yeah, you're right," Hyōryū smiled sheepishly, clearing her throat to renew her confidence, glad that Anton could be so reassuring to her, "after all, we have to set up shop and make sure we got a good view of the city so we can get in all the sights. After all," Hyōryū then leaned away slightly, asking Angel politely, "your Suite does have a good view of Shinhae, doesn't it?"

The woman was quick to give an affirmative nod, following the stop right outside the door of what would be their room. "Of course! You'll be able to get a bird's eye view of the main area of Shinhae, to be specific. It's also where the "Black Eagle's" execution is supposed to take place. If... you're into the public execution thing, of course..." The last bit of this was said with a tone of slight nervousness, which was emphasized by a light chuckle.

Once she pulled out the keycard for their room, she inserted it into the slot and retracted it once it let out a confirmation beep. She handed the card to Anton. "So, if you need anything, please don't hesitate to buzz us up. An attendant will be right with you."

"Thank you very much." Anton nodded in approval, giving a grateful smile all the while.

"I hope you will enjoy your stay..."

The woman extended her hand out towards Hyōryū's, clasping it in a formal shake...

...and that was when her voice, clipped and pleasant as it ever was, held the undertone of a person who knew more that they let on. The way she lowered her volume and pitch was enough to send a slight chill down Anton's spine. "...and I hope to see a good result of your future--" She took a brief, but subtly expressive glance towards the woman's case. "--endeavors."

She released the hand, promptly walking away from the two and whistling an innocent tune...

All Hyōryū could do was gulp nervously, before smiling as innocently as she could back to her, watching her sawshay away while whistling her carefree tune. As soon as she was out of earshot, she began walking towards the door where their Suite number was supposed to be, before looking over her shoulder nervously before whispering heatedly to Anton, "What the Hell was that about?! How in the world did she catch onto any of us?!"

"I..."

But Anton was unable to produce a straight answer. He could only watch as the attendant sauntered off, his pupils dilated slightly. How had the woman figured out who they really were? He was certain that everything had been hidden. They had even double-checked to make sure that no wire could be seen by the naked eye. It was next to impossible for anyone to identify them. So how did she know? And how long...?

"I don't know..." He muttered, after a brief silence. His eyes continued to follow the woman, even as she turned the corner and disappeared from their sight. "We took extreme precautions before we left. There was no way that she could've known. But... why did she act so... calmly about it? It's almost as if she's... encouraging us. No normal person would behave like that if they knew..."

"Whoever she is, we shouldn't act out of place. If she's an old friend of Angie's then it should be alright for us to proceed as if nothing happened," Hyōryū sighed, trying to slow her heart rate from the nervousness she felt when the woman departed their company.

"If she's an old friend..."

Anton's foreshadowing reply was followed by the opening of the door, and he allowed himself to step through. He stepped aside in order for her to enter. For now, he knew they would have to keep an eye on the girl. Something just wasn't right about her. Not only that, but she seemed vaguely familiar. Had they met before...?

Oh, well...

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Only a floor between Angelika's selected rooms...

"This hotel is niiiiiice!~" Zaii spoke out as he stretched out, looking out the window and over most of the residential neighbourhood they passed through in, "can't believe Asuka found such a great place to stay!"

"And the lady who led us up here wasn't a bad looker," Yajū spoke with his usual guttural tone, his smile leered as he looked out towards the door, remembering how often he was able to get away with looking at her body, "she's got a mighty fine pair of legs to go with that nice pair of jugs on her chest, mhmhmhm!"

"Yeah, she's hot, that's for sure!" Zaii nodded in agreement, strangely bonding with the Omega team member as he smiled with an equally lewd smile of knowing, turning around to face him with a twinkle of agreement that sparked between their eyes for their mutual lust.

"You two are repulsive," Shinshin spoke flatly, his eyes narrowed comically in a dry manner as he had removed his mask from earlier after entering the city, his hair now pulled back into a high-rise ponytail, giving him an effeminite appearance, "the fact you two don't even consider how easy it would be for you to be seduced by a potential spy or an assassin is laughable. Or did you not even notice the telling signs of how it appeared she knew something awry was with our company?"

"The only thing awry here is the fact you still have a stick up your ass," Yajū spoke with a disapproving growl of annoyance, before turning to face him while crossing his arms over his Aethian spellcaster coat he donned before entering the city, but kept his gloves intact, "why did she stick us in a room separate from the ladies anyways and kept us with someone as dull as you?"

"Perhaps so that white haired chick Genie wouldn't bloody your ass all over the walls for trying to molest her?" Zaii spoke in an almost snorting tone, trying not to make fun of his new teammate as to incur his wrath upon him.

"I just offered to be a little friendly with her during our down-time," Yajū spoke in an attempt to sound innocent, though the leering grin present on his face when he thought of the snow-white haired Daitenshi, it was all too clear what friendliness he would intend it to be.

"In any case, separate rooms gives us an advantage anyways, as they're stationed in the opposite end of the hotel but on the same floor," Shinshin spoke logically, trying to steer the path of speech to the intended reason they were all here, "Asuka will come get us when they're done setting up so we can start our assignments."

"I just hope they get done soon!" Zaii spoke in anxiousness, looking out the window with the anticipation of a little kid wanting to explore, "I want to see this city! Its so enormous, I can almost see it rivaling Tendan in size easy!"

Things within the ladies' quarters were a bit less than positive... at least, on Genesis's side.

Currently, she was demonstrating an ability that was natural for the Daitenshi: shape-shifting. It was a means to allow for the Daitenshi to openly spy on the populace above Hell without worry of being sighted out by others. The form she was donning was that of a woman with raven hair that was at neck-length and tinted with white, freckles on her face, and her skin a creamy color in contrast to the ghostly paleness of her usual form. For clothing, she wore a more casual attire; a gray hoodie with a black, four-pocketed vest, and a black skirt. She sat on the bed with her legs crossed, her hands folded within her lap. There was an expression of anxiety on her face, her eyes closed and her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Click!

"Are you sure you're all right, dear...?" Asuka asked quietly, shutting the bathroom door behind her. Her expression was one of motherly concern as she walked up, sitting beside her. The motion seemed to jolt the Daitenshi out of her anxious trance, and her head snapped up immediately towards the "older" woman's direction. It took several seconds for her to register the question fully, and when she did, a smile was quick to race up on her face.

"Who, me? C-c'mon, you old hag, of course I'm all right! Why wouldn't I be?"

But both the smile and the tone she took clearly conveyed her undertone of nervousness. The expression on her face had faltered under Asuka's knowing look, and so they both knew that she wasn't "all right".

"You've been acting a bit strange ever since you saw that Angel girl..." The woman spoke up. "It's not good to keep stress-causing feelings to yourself--"

"Oh, and who do you think you are?" Genesis was quick to cut her off, her wary look immediately replaced a somewhat resentful one. She fixed the woman with a glare, which only intensified when she saw that it had no affect on its target. "My counselor? My mother?"

"A friend and a comrade." Asuka said simply, slowly raising her hands up in defense. "You don't need to get so defensive. I was only worried about you." Much to her displeasure, all this earned was a snort from Genesis.

"A friend and a comrade, huh?"

The female Daitenshi stood up, folding her arms across her chest and took a few steps away from Asuka. "I barely know you people. We've only been around each other for a few damn days and you're already calling me "friend"? That's a load of bull crap and you know it. You're a criminal, a scumbag, someone who does dirty deeds just to pay their rent. Someone like you shouldn't even have those two words in your literature!"

She swung herself around to face the expression of a slightly hurt woman.

"Besides... even if all of it was true, what are friends even good for? All they're going to do in the end is stab you in the back and throw you away when they're sick and bored of you? For a woman that supposed to be older than me, you are so fucking naive. Makes you wonder what that Angelika chick was thinking when she hired you, huh?"

Silence.

Then, Asuka gave a heavy sigh and pulled herself off of the bed. Her expression conveyed a weary disappointment, but it was clear that she wasn't going to push the argument any further. "All right. Sorry if I delved too far into personal issues... I suppose you're ready, then?"

It was something that made Genesis drop almost the entirety of her anger. There was no malice, no sarcasm within the tone Asuka took with her. As a matter of fact, there wasn't even much irritation. It kind of unnerved her, as she was expecting some sort of backlash for her rude and uncalled for outburst. Not that she had been saying stuff just to get the other woman riled up...

"W-well, yeah, I guess..." All fire had gone out of her tone, and she was left scratching the back of her head. "Let's go, then..."

Knock, knock, knock!

"Pizza delivery!" Genesis's voice came from the other side of the men's room. "All hot and ready for you--!"

SMACK!

"Ow!"

Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-Tap-SKIIIIIIID-C-CLICK!

"I don't know what pizza is, but please give it to me!" Zaii, with the hyperactive overload of a child ran across the suite room's floor, before skidding before the door and swinging it open with a big smile and wide saucer eyes.

What he got was the deadpan stares of both Asuka and Genesis. The fact that Zaii seemed so ready for something that he didn't even know about was rather... brain-defying, to say the least. Then again, most of it was justified. Maybe it was simply due to the customs and culture he had been around.

Unfortunately, Genesis was not going to forgive him simply because he was raised around a certain society.

"...can I kill you now?"

"You can try," Zaii winked at Genesis, smiling toothily as he was seemingly unaffected by the dry stares, "but many have failed! Now seriously where's the pi-"

"They don't have pizza, ya idiot!" Yajū growled from inside, walking casually over while wearing a blank stare of his own to match the ire of both of his female companions, "she's just acting like a bitch is all. Its called sarcastic lying, if you must know..."

"Dammit!" Zaii swore aloud, pouting his head at realizing it was all a joke.

"I thought that's just her passive emotion," Shinshin spoke with a neutral tone of understanding, turning around to stand just beside Zaii as all three men unintentionally barred the women from entering. However, Shinshin turned a courteous smile to Asuka and nodded, "hello mother. Did your room get the vantage point you wanted?"

"Yes..." Asuka allowed herself to nod politely, her hands folded behind her back. "Thanks for asking, Shin-chan. But I prefer not to talk while we're standing out in the hallways. Could you please let us in?"

"Sure thing," Yajū spoke in interruption, grabbing the door and opening it in an unnaturally gentleman gesture of good will to the ladies. This allowed Zaii to walk over before flopping onto the bed, face first, groaning aloud in boredom as he kicked the bed while waiting for the girls to get in. In the meantime, Shinshin showed them in like a good host, while glaring at Yajū for looking at both pairs of legs entering the Suite.

"Is there a particular plan you had in mind for us, or are we planning as we go?" Shinshin asked in query, as he took the wall proximate to the window, crossing his arms within the folds of his large sleeves, his black matte attire and black high-rise ponytail made him almost meld into the darkness save for his fair complexioned face.

Asuka let out a heavy sigh as she stepped in first, with Genesis briefly following her lead before breaking off from her path. "I'm afraid this is a case in where we'll have to plan according to how everything is revealed to us." She said, closing the door behind her. "Details on the security patterns aren't exactly clear as of this particular minute. Because Oliver's execution is a big deal, security keeps shifting patterns in order to throw potential assassins and disruptions off track. It's going to be tough securing a position in such circumstances..."

"Pfft..." Genesis scoffed, placing a hand on her hip as she looked over in Yajū's direction. "You look at us as if you haven't seen a woman before in your life. Desperate, aren't we...?"

"No, but I know what I like," Yajū smiled leeringly with a full set of teeth, growling at the back of his throat as he walked around Genesis, eyeing her up and down while keeping out of arm's reach just barely, "and you're more than a handful from what I've seen."

Shinshin chose to ignore Yajū and Genesis' dialogue, nodding to her with certainty, "We should try avoiding contact or being seen with the other teams. That way, if one of us or one team is caught or finds no way out, we can let them assume they were working alone."

Asuka had to admire Genesis for not sweating under the gaze of what might as well have been the gaze of a predator.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the girl smirked in return and began to shift her weight on each leg in accordance to where Yaju's positioned. "Oh, am I...?" She purred, meeting the man's gaze evenly. "I make you hot under that collar of yours, don't I? My presence makes your skin tingle, your fingers electric, and every part of your system boil. You just want to pounce and sink your teeth into me, don't you?"

"Oh, for the love of--"

Mentally facepalming, Asuka tried her best to keep her attention to the subject at hand. "Direct contact, at least." She added in. "That was the reason why we needed to stay in radio contact. If any sudden developments were to occur, we could easily get in touch and know about it..."

"Should we contact the others now and see how they're doing, or wait until we found some feasible information to exchange with each other?" Shinshin asked, fluently holding his concentration flawlessly under the overlaying dialogue laced by his compatriots.

"Ohhhh you know I do," Yajū growled back, smiling ferally as his eyes locked onto hers, continuing to draw closer as he circled around her, "I'd like to pin you down, make you beg to have the tenuous, arduous pleasure I'd give you. Then I'd make you want to fight back, draw blood, and tie me up and give yourself the impression that you're still the one in control. Then...I'd wrip that leash right back from your hands and pull you down on me..."

"What...the...hell?!" Zaii's eyes widened to a comical pair of saucers, as he momentarily raised his body up to see what was happening. On his left, Asuka and Shinshin talked serious about their plan of action. On his direct center was a circling Yajū, exchanging words of such thick sexual innuendo Zaii would have to use his sword to cut through it. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, let alone witnessing. It almost looked like the start of what would appear to be a rape scene...something that made him sweatdrop in witnessing such a debaucherous act, "what are you...two...doing?!"

Genesis did not bother to grace the shocked man with a response.

Instead, she placed both her hands on her hips and began to follow Yajū's path, resulting in both of them circling around each other. Briefly, she shuddered under the man's words, grinning all the while. "I like the way you tango, tiger..." She whispered. "But, really. Do you think you'd play with fire and get away unscathed? This bitch'll make you writhe and scream... just like a newborn baby..."

Asuka's eyebrow started twitching.

"I... think it'd be best to contact them now. In the meantime, could you be a dear and make sure that Genesis-san and Yajū-san don't do anything... inappropriate?" She asked sweetly.

This time, Shinshin could genuinely smile as he was given official power to do as he pleased to keep the two from messing around. Especially in a way he detests. "I'll make sure there won't be too much of a mess for you to clean up...I'd hate to dispose of their personal items onto the street below."

"Please," Yajū chuckled, suddenly bare inches flush with her, but not touching due to certain aware people from stopping them from having real fun later, whispering in a predatorially erotic tone, "By the time I'm finished with you...I'm going to make you wish you could scream...baby bitch!"

Zaii's eyes rolled to the back of his head and passed out, comically faceplanting onto the floor just over the foot of his bed, with his lower half still lopsidedly laying over it, and his arms flopped on either side. Twitching, gasping, and gurgling, the scene made him completely lose it due to the shock. How tragic.

"...now would be good." Asuka muttered pointedly.

With that being said, she turned away from the scene to click a finger on her hidden earpiece. "Hello, Angel-chan? This is Asuka. How's everything going down there? Over..."

SHFT-SNK-SNK!

"Back away from each other slowly," Shinshin spoke in a neutral, slow tone with his hidden palm blades extended out to hold bare centimeters away from both of their throats, "and I won't be forced to clean up the mess I'll make out of your throats, without killing you."

Yajū could only blink, barely restraining the urge to maim his comrade for interrupting his moment with his unofficial mate. Then, with a low growl, he spoke only two words that spoke his resentment of withdrawing, "Boner Killer..." before backing away from Genesis, only narrowly avoiding the blade's edge as he licked his lips at looking at Genesis one last time before walking over to his own bunk to pout.

"W-wha--"

Genesis, initially just as annoyed as Yajū was at having been interrupted by Shinshin, dawned a slightly surprised look when the man pulled out blades on them. Although she was barely aware of her own regeneration powers, she stumbled back out of instinct. "Woah, what's wrong with you?" She complained, folding her arms across her chest. "First you get confused at all the jokes I tell people, and then you threaten to slit our pipes when we're just flirting with each other?"

"That wasn't flirting..." Asuka thought, sweatdropping as she picked up the words. "That was downright verbal molestation of each other! How could you call that flirting?!"

Once the Daitenshi relaxed, she folded her arms across her chest and stared with a confused frown at Shinshin. "Who taught you your social skills, dude? A pack of wolves?"

"If you must know I was abandoned as a child by my mother," Shinshin began, speaking flatly to her with a unwavering stare, "then was found by my teacher who then in turn left me to fend for myself. Forced to become one of the most notorious swordsmen and killers in all of the Eastern Spiritual Realms, I became the right hand man for a murderer and a thug. I also made sure to disconnect my emotions in order to use them as my weapon to cut down my enemies instead of crying every night due to the emptiness within my heart and soul," he then spoke flatly as he gratingly, and morbidly sheathed the blades back up into his arms, a testatment to how vividly painful the life he endured, "I was never given an option to become social, Genesis, but was given a chance to learn to feel life again."

"Wow...this guy's life sound so sad I might actually start feeling less likely to kill him in his sleep, boner killer," Yajū thought sarcastically as he rolled his eyes at what he was hearing Shinshin speak of. He bore the physical pain as a means of enjoyment and way of eliminating his targets. He had no need for proper etiquette himself, but he knew enough street smarts when to listen to people telling you things you should do.

"...sorry I asked..."

Although she was somewhat expecting such an answer, Genesis couldn't help but feel a bit of the usual fire dim down against the melancholy of his words. Her expression softened, and she looked down at the ground for a brief moment in shame. Despite her rough nature, she never wanted to feel like she was a bad guy. She had just possibly and unintentionally struck a nerve with the man, and the last thing she wanted to do was create too much resentment for her.

Even if all of them were criminals...

But before she could say anything else...

"Everyone..." Asuka's voice was serene, but held a rather serious tone within itself as she turned towards the three. "There's been a bit of development Anton-san and Hyōryū-san discovered. Remember the blonde attendant that saw to us?"

Her eyes darkened slightly.

"Apparently, she's caught onto us. Though they don't know to what extent... she knows who we are, and possibly why we're here..."

"I suspected as much," Shinshin spoke finally, in a admittant and unsurprised tone as dropped any note of resentment he might've bore to the female comrade whom he was speaking with, "she seemed to drop too many tells to be an ordinary attendant..."

"The Hell do they know?!" Yajū spoke aloud with a chuckle, though irritation could be heard in the tone of his voice, emphasized with a dismissal wave of his hand, "how do we know they aren't completely paranoid? That chick didn't say anything to us suspicious, did she?!"

"Uhhhh," Zaii suddenly looked a little sheepish, as he came to and heard what had just happened and what was going on made sense behind his wide eyes, "I think...she knew...who I was...somehow..."

That was when all eyes turned towards him... and the two females' eyes were on him in particular.

"...please tell me... whatever it was wasn't some obvious, novice mistake." Genesis deadpanned, giving him an annoyed glare.

"Please tell me you didn't brag about your exploits did you?" Yajū spoke in a equally annoyed tone, glaring heatedly at him if he was the cause of their cover being blown.

Zaii's eyes widened further at the accusatory stares and shouts, waving his arms in panic as he emphasized his innocence, "NO! It wasn't like that! You all remember when we were in the elevator right?! We were all making jokes, laughing, well...," he sideglanced at Shinshin, "some of us were...and then when we got off onto our floor, I realized dropped something. It turned out to be nothing but a few coins I thought looked cool on the street but had pocketed them improperly. When I rose up, she was kinda looking me weird like with this eery smile. She then said, 'I hope you get your excercise here on your trip...it seems you're aching to take on the competition. Have pleasant stay,' and then she walks off, whistling creepy! I didn't know if it mattered or not because she was so vague, I swear...!"

"...you fucking idiot...!" Genesis was tempted to slap a palm on her face. "She probably saw your wire when you were bending over! And this was over some coins that "looked cool"?! Give me one reason why I shouldn't ram my fist down your kleptomaniac throat!" She was almost ready to walk right over to the man and follow up on that particular threat.

"Now, now!" Asuka's eyes widened slightly in alarm, and she raised her hands up in defense. "It was something with Team One. In any case, whatever it was, I'm pretty sure that it wasn't anyone's fault. Our attendant in question may have just been extremely intelligent and observant." A frown came over her face as she continued to speak. "But... I asked Angel-chan if she knew the woman, considering she has a considerable amount of moles in good places. Turns out that she's not affiliated with us an that she could be a leak..."

"Would you allow me the chance to dispose of her?" Shinshin spoke aloud and upon instinct, "if she's as intelligent as you claim, we'd need to send someone that can be subtle and track her down with ease. Whether she should be killed or not, it would be a good start to find out who she's working for and how long we have before our cover is exposed."

"I vote for killing the mole bitch as well!" Yajū spoke in a heartless, annoyed tone, finding it irritating some good looking babe became a possible cover as a way to take them down, "in my experience, whenever you find a spy, you decorate their hideout with their insides and take pictures with their equipment and send it back to their boss. It ususally sends the proper message fairly well..."

"Is it really necessary?" Zaii asked in query, realizing they were in a tight bind inadvertently due to his clumsiness, but also due to the fact they really could be in serious trouble.

It was a query that Asuka had to think about.

Of course, killing the girl right away wasn't an option. Murdering someone was something that couldn't be simply done and done with. Obviously, there would be people who would notice her sudden disappearance. Considering that they had just arrived on scene, people would quickly put the pieces together. Offing Angel right off the bat would prove to be more detrimental than helpful.

But obviously, they couldn't let her off the hook. Angelika knew this, and thankfully, she had known what to do.

"Killing her isn't." She said coolly. "But detainment is. We'll need to get her back here and have her tell us. We were left with the task of capture and interrogation, provided we have...well... more of the intimidating type out of our group than anyone else."

She then glanced over towards the four occupants of the room.

"Uh... no offense to any of you, of course..."

"The Hell it is!" Yajū growled, hopping up to his feet as he walked across the expanse between him and the pair, glaring at the woman in front of him before pointing nearly proximate to her face, "you saying we're not cut out to be intimidating enough?! Is that it?!-"

"I don't have a problem with it," Zaii shrugged, placing his arms behind his head in a carefree attitude, not particularly earnest into doing dirty work such as interrogating and torture.

"Me neither," Shinshin spoke nonchalantly, but smooth toned, as he turned his gaze back to Genesis and then Asuka, "who did you have in mind?"

"...it's rude to point, Yajū-san."

With that somewhat cheeky comment, Asuka gently pushed his finger away from her face before speaking to Shinshin. "We'll have to wait until nightfall. When that particular time comes, you'll be going out to fetch her. Tracking her won't be much of a problem, considering all you need to do is keep an eye on her spiritual signature. From there, incapacitate her and bring her back here. But make sure not to leave any long-lasting harm..."

"I'll be as gentle as I am able," Shinshin spoke with a hidden smile, his eyes twinkling with mischief only he could project to his mother, and his mtoher alone.

"Its rude to interrupt too," Yajū growled, turning around and faceplanting on the bed with a sigh.

Zaii then blinked, looking over at Asuka as he raised a hand in question, "So...what do we do in the meantime?"

"Well..."

This was where Asuka had to trail off. She looked down thoughtfully for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly it is they were supposed to do. Angelika had not supplied them with any specific orders on what to do, other than the upcoming detainment of the potential mole. So having racked her brain, she eventually allowed herself to shrug.

"I guess we can do anything we want, considering we're essentially tourists now..." She answered smoothly, allowing herself to stand up from her seat on the bed.

"YAAAAAAAY!!!~" Zaii shouted for joy, comically leaping off his bed and making a mad dash to the door, opening within a heartbeat before shouting back to the others, "I'll stay in contact! See ya laters!"

SLAM!

Shinshin could only blink. He couldn't believe how hyperactive Zaii had become over the course of arriving here. While the splendor and architecture was surely nothing like Tendan, the Soul Society, or Yūrei, it was almost as if he found the whole place like his personal theme park.

Yajū sighed, getting up from the bed before walking to the door himself, "If the hyperactive nutcase swordsman wants to see the sights, no need for me to stick around," he briefly smiled ferally at Genesis, winking at her before walking past her and the other two, waving back without looking, "I'll go check out how good the bars are around here. Chime me when something goes wrong...laters..."

______________________________________________________________________________________________

At the exact same time, in a more ground level area...

"Ahhhh! Fresh air!" Kenja spoke out with relief, walking out of the alleyway from which they've navigated away out of the secret entrance from the river system they've spent the last hour or so maneuvering through. With nothing changed other than a black hood covering his head, Kenja's naturally medieval appearance looked like a common attire someone within Aether to wear, whether they were military or not.

Shadō graced their presence as he withdrew from the shadows, thankful he didn't have to bear the scent of some of the areas where the "bad" water was redirected away from the city while traveling with the "good" water stream path. The realms from which he traveled had no real senses required, but just the sense of energy. He looked around in his usual attire, save for the rather large sword being replaced with what looked like a musical instrument strapped over his shoulder.

"Wonderful to be back to a place where I was almost murdered by Paladins," Mōka spoke glibbly, maintaining a positive attitude despite being morbid with her choice of words as she looked around. Her swords dematerialized and now sporting an exotic dress, hidden only by an olive green robe that covered herself more than Kenja's, and her hair pulled back in the same way, you could tell she was a visitor just by looking at her.

"Yippee--!!"

''CLATTER! BANG!''

Yusuke's entrance... was less than spectacular.

Although he had approached flawlessly behind his compatriots, he had purposefully lagged behind to see if he could jump three trash cans they would've passed by otherwise. Luckily for him, all of them were empty. So at the risk of tripping on it, he performed a physical running leap.

The result?

His foot getting caught in the an open trash can, and him promptly crashing to the ground.

Now, he had a palm to his face and was laughing, his chest heaving with each and every vocalization. "I... I think I sprained my ankle...!" He managed to get out. Apparently, the thought of making a monkey out of himself upon his first impression wasn't a shame-bearing one.

Kenja couldn't help but chuckle at the childish sight Yusuke protrayed. Walking over, he bent down ruffled his hair, asking him in good humor, "When you're done laughing at your own clumsiness, are you able to stand, or do I have to play horse with you again?"

"I can't believe this boy managed to hold of someone as strong as Zaii," Shadō thought in a nervous, almost comically disbelieving line of thought, sweatdropping at the sight of Yusuke laughing his head off after landing without grace after tripping over his destined obstacles. He could only hope he didn't accidentally trip during a stressful or critical point throughout their mission.

"No, I--" Yusuke had to fight through his snickers in order to speak. "I'm good, I'm fine..."

He rolled himself over and (due to his own laughter) had to struggle in order to get on his feet. He placed his hands on his knees, trying to recover himself. "Ah, jeez..." He said mirthfully, shaking his head. "I'm sorry about that, but... I just saw those trash cans, and I couldn't help but think to myself, "I have to jump those cans." Well, now I know I can't!"

"Let's hope Paladins don't rig traps involving trash cans then, kid," Mōka spoke aloud with a snicker of her own, nodding to him and the others, leading the way into the populated cobblestone streets of the marketplace, making sure to allow them plenty of time to catch up and within ear shot, "our objective is to pay attention to the little details. From what it sounds like, the other teams are handling the unknown variable and the patrols bordering the area of interest with where we'll pick up the package."

"We'll need to check some of the local Inns and Taverns around here then," Kenja nodded, looking around with a casual gaze, making sure he could see them even within the densely populated street.

"Good," Mōka nodded with casual acceptance to Kenja's offer, "feel free to do so. Just, try to hold back from being too casual. It would be such a shame if you got into a bar fight and drew attention to yourself, or passed out with us having to drag you along..."

"I'll have you know I have an excellent resilience to liquor of any kind, thank you," Kenja spoke insistantly, raising his head with pride before smiling widely as he spoke, "besides, I need a whole lot of casual talking before I even get tipsy..."

"What place would you suggest first, boss lady?" Yusuke questioned, hands folded behind his back. His eyes were doing exactly as Mōka told them to o; inspect the little details. This was done through the guise of a sightseeing gait and attitude, with him paying special attention to the more prominent ones.

"We should start with that Inn first," Mōka nodded to their upcoming left, a fairly large establishment approached with a large chimney on its roof. It read out in bright, light-reflective letters, The Merry Men Inn, and from the tone of the music and the hustle being sounded within, it certainly gave off that aura. Still, Mōka knew to be careful about appearances, as they could be monitored by anything or anyone that could give them away if they asked the wrong people the wrong questions.

"Should I stick to the shadows for additional recon?" Shadō asked smoothly, looking to the guidance of his assigned squad leader.

"Do it," Mōka spoke casually, but held a hidden note of command in her tone as she rolled her neck passively, cracking a few loose knots in her upper back as she did so, "make sure not to kill anyone unnecessarily. We don't want people to check for people not checking in."

"Understood," Shadō nodded, splitting off into the shadows within the alleyway, soon after disappearing from all sensation and sight.

"Now gentlemen," Mōka spoke with a smile, looking to Yusuke and Kenja as she wrapped an arm around each of their own as she walked in with a hearty spirit in her eyes, "let's go in and have some fun!"

Yusuke didn't bother to question why.

"Whoo~!" He let out a cheer, pumping his fist in the air. "We're gonna get wasted!" However, he abruptly stopped himself, a confused expression on his face. "Uh... that's a good thing... right?"

"We're trying not to get wasted, dear boy," Kenja corrected Yusuke with a laugh, as they entered the smoke-filled atmosphere of the loud and boisterous atmosphere. Many tables scattered around, with various wooden carved pillars holding up the roof and floor of the next few floors up the vast heighted tavern, there appeared to be a small elevator shaft that sent bartenders up and down each counter to the various floors. All-in-all, while it wasn't packed uncomfortably, it was very busy, "we're trying to see why everyone is celebrating in here. Then, we can get wasted..."

"Whoo~!!!" Cried Yusuke as he scurried off to enjoy the writhing atmosphere of the alive, excited bar. As the three went their separate ways to act casual, Mōka couldn't help but feel a little...trepidation...when mingling with the commoners. Was there someone watching them? Someone disguised? She knew she'd have to take that chance, as she sat at the bar counter and asked around, little knowing a sharp eye watched her from the darkness.

An eye...that seen her once too many times...

In the Middle of the Night, Twilight Hour of the Eagle!
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

"Holmes! You have a guest!" Yelled the jailor, a man impartial to both sentencing and to what all prisoners have done within the dark, damp, and cold cells from which he imprisons them. Balding, overweight, and looking forward to the day of retirement from his dreary and morbid job, he hadn't spoken a word to Oliver since the Prime Cohort guards deposited him into his cell. With no special weaved cuffs other than being nearly impervious to shattering with brute strength, he was pushed into a ten foot by ten foot steel room, with no lights to speak of as well as anything to sit on other than a purposely studded floor.

The door separating him from the outside was also made of similar material, retaining only a few creases to allow ventilation and little else.

Needless to say, it wasn't the best of places to say.

Because of the lack of material within the cell, Oliver couldn't really do much other than sit down. However, the cold temperature that he was in forced him to eventually get up and pace around occasionally in order to build-up warmth. It wasn't a very fun position to be in, and he might as well consider it an insult to injury considering that he was going to be executed. But it wasn't exactly something that would break him. He would live... for the time being.

He had been pacing around once more when the jailor banged his baton against the steel bars. Slowly, he turned around and regarded the man for a moment, tilting his head to the side as he approached the barrier. In contrast to the tongue-lashing he had given the judges, he had been strangely cooperative and silent during his stay. Maybe it was because of the inevitable?

"Wonder who exactly would visit the big bad Eagle?"

As the door opened, a soft voice could be heard but not audible to the prisoner, as it was directed only to his warden. As soon as the door opened, the slight and stubby form of the jailor could be seen, followed by the blonde, blue eyed caucasian visage of the man's former superior. Wearing grey matte fatigues instead of his usual colorful attire that befitted his Knight Captain position, the man bore no usual cheer or playful gleams within his eyes. They only bore a solemn, stoic sadness that was barely restrained from the neutral tone in his voice.

"Oliver," he spoke firstly, walking in to face him, not wearing any weapons or armanents upon his person as per procedure, "its been awhile."

And unlike the rest of them, Oliver would personally recognize the man.

"Captain Xavier Longstreak of the First Cohort..." He answered readily, meeting the man's gaze with a serene and casual look of his own. "The years seem to have been quite harsh on you, haven't they?"

"And to you, if what I've heard is accurate," Xavier spoke back smoothly, crossing his arms as his eyes met his without flinching, looking at his long prodigal subordinate's appearance and the disposition he held himself in, before responding next, "you haven't changed a bit from what I remembered. Except...broken, now that I see you standing on death's door and with no one to come to your aid."

"Broken...?"

Oliver repeated the word as if it hadn't been written in the dictionary, as if he had heard incorrectly. But when he spoke again, his smooth tone conveyed a slight bit of annoyance. "You obviously don't know the meaning of the word, then..." He spoke. "I have been twisted. I have been bent. But I have never, ever, been broken. If I was indeed broken, I would be in a mental asylum right now instead of a jail. Unless, of course, Aether's sense of discrimination between the lost and the found are still as blurred as I remember them to be..."

"Your confidence is gone, Oliver, that is what I'd call broken," Xavier spoke without fault, closing his eyes briefly, an indication of regret before opening them again, "you were always a man that saw things outside the box. You refused to be held down by the order and the way of things. While you may be deemed too dangerous as a normal, common soldier, you had...potential. Looking back now, I realize that it wasn't the kind've power we should've tampered with. Your powers are still hidden from you, but your potential for destruction and death...still hangs over you, Oliver Holmes."

Oliver's upper lip curled slightly at the first sentence, and for a moment, anger flashed within his eyes. He didn't like the fact that Xavier was speaking to him as if he knew him from the inside out. But of course, it could be justified; at the time of his service, Xavier was a father figure and a mentor to his troops, caring for each and every one of them as though they were his own children. It was a result of their closeness that allowed it.

But then he remembered what it led to.

The anger was quick to recede.

"Yes, potential..." He said back, a small smile crossing his face. "I only needed "potential" to slay an entire base of Aethian soldiers, didn't I? And it's all thanks to you, after all. You were the ones who gave me the tools, the skills, and the ability to kill in cold blood for the sake of destroying our enemies. Aren't you proud of me, my teacher? All of "them" were my enemy, and I killed them with efficiency and without hesitation. The higher-ups must've been thinking of giving you a promotion when they heard that one of their elites blew up an HQ all by himself, right?"

"You may have been giving the means, but that has never given you the right, Holmes," Xavier spoke with a sudden shift into a guttural growl, lowering his hands to his sides. The audible squeeze of his leather gloves indicated the barely restrained menace held in his tone, something none of his subordinates present and past had ever seen within him. When confronted with the most bitter and unpleasant work, Xavier ofte had to push himself into this disposition, shown from the cold glare in his eyes and the slight curl of his lips as he spoke venomously and without restraint, "I hope you're satisfied with how your life turned out. Not only have you murdered your family, your friends, and your comrades, you were able to kill and maim for years after, under the work of someone who's no more innocent than you are. My only regret now is that she isn't the one hanging next to you, Oliver Holmes!"

"And she never will be." Oliver answered readily, shaking his head for emphasis. "If you couldn't catch me in all those years..." He paused for a moment, briefly lowering his head to take on a smile and a chuckle before he raised it back up. "Well, you're obviously not going to catch her. She's too cunning, too smart, and too slippery for those pudgy little fingers of yours. So yes... my life under her was far better than someone who had the gall to mess with the inner workings of my head. But at the very least, you got your "perfect" soldier, didn't you?"

"I never got that soldier," Xavier spoke lowly, turning his back upon Oliver, as he opened the gate and left the prisoner with only a sparing glance, "all I got was a monster instead..."

SLAM!

With the sudden slamming motion of the cell door, all became deathly quiet once again.

That was when Oliver allowed himself to smile - a gleaming, toothy smile that seemed to shine even within the darkness of his cell. He retreated back into the shadows and continued his idle pacing motions, satisfied with the outcome of the conversation. Even if it was his last moments, he wouldn't care. He would use every bit of it to instill everlasting terror into the ones who would come to his execution, making sure that his legend stayed afloat for another millennium. No one would ever forget the Black Eagle, the atrocity that the military created. No one would dare to forget the ones lost at his hands.

"That's what soldiers are, teacher... that's what soldiers are..."

______________________________________________________________________________________________                              At the same time, at a particular Inn's lobby...

"I have her in my sights, mother," Shinshin spoke in a low, subtle tone as he casually read the paper while keeping his keen senses locked onto the woman as she looked as if she was turning in for the night, "she appears to be ending her shift here at the Inn. She doesn't seem to be hurried or stressed as I can see...she might be keeping her cover so no one expects anything."

"They always do." Asuka answered readily on the other end. "Wait until she makes the move to either exit the building or head towards the dormitories. Then apprehend her."

As for the girl, she let out a heavy sigh as she leaned over the counter, a rather weary expression on her face. It would've been hidden from everyone else, but the execution tomorrow had a rather negative effect on her. One could say that she simply abhorred the taking of life in any way. But if one looked deeper, they would understand that such was only part of the reason why she was so tired. Of course, she wouldn't let that slip...

She pushed herself off of the counter and drew in a deep breath. She shut her eyes, folding her fingers together and stretching her arms over her head. "Jeez, I'm so tired...!" She complained. "Feels like I haven't slept in days... oh, well. That's gonna be remedied once I go home and pass out on my bed..." She allowed herself to turn around, making her way to the exit.

"Heading off, Angel?" The Innkeeper spoke aloud, washing his hands from helping out in the kitchen behind the counter. He had a curious, yet still lighthearted tone, as he was naturally pleasant with all the help he came across, Angel being no exception.

"Yeah, I might as well..." The girl muttered, stopping for a moment to place a hand on her hip and turn her head over her shoulder. "Since I'm done sorting out the luggage now, I should be going home and preparing for the big event tomorrow. As... morbid... as it is, it's also going to be quite a popular event. The journalists are going to be all over it..."

"Yes well, nasty buisness. No matter the sins of another person, I still think its quite...barbaric...stringing poor souls up like that," the man spoke in an honest, disdainful tone before looking up at her with understanding, "still, I'm glad to see you're doing your part in witnessing it. Suppose to be history in the making, from what I've been hearing..."

"Yeah... history..." A resentful sigh came from Angel in response to it, and she turned her attention back to the door in front of her. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow, Johanne..." With that being said, she pushed the door open and stepped out into the cool, night air.

"I'm following her out," Shinshin spoke lowly as he put away the paper, taking slow, purposeful strides out to the exit, reaching it in only a few seconds.

Johanne, however, looked over to see Shinshin and called out to his attendent, "Hey, Angel dear! Considering the watch for the Blood Coat has gone up, why don't you have this fine gentleman accompany you home?"

"Dammit..." Was all that Shinshin could think, but maintained his stoic and passive features as he looked to Johanne in particular before looking out the open door which the said Angel was standing out in the cool open cobblestone streets.

"Uh--!!"

That was enough to take her by slight surprise.

She abruptly turned her gaze to Shinshin, a subtle expression of disbelief on her face as she regarded him. For one thing, she was surprised at the quickness he had displayed within the few seconds. One moment, he was sitting at a table. The next, he was right in front of her? She would've assumed that such a display would've tipped Johanne off to something to suspicious. But then again, he might've assumed that he was with her...

Slowly, she put on a slightly bashful smile. "W-well..." She began, chuckling nervously. "I guess I forgot about that... if it's not too much trouble..." She looked over towards Shinshin - a hidden inquiry of whether or not he wanted to accompany her.

"I wouldn't mind at all," Shinshin spoke in the most courteous tone, nodding to Johanne smiling slightly, indicating to the other man he was indeed with her. Turning to the woman with a knowing look, perhaps being the face she somehow keyed off as a earlier, he couldn't care at this point. At least it would give reason to see what this woman knew instead of attempting to chase her down through the streets, "shall we be off, Angel-san?"

Angel gave an acknowledging nod. "It's going to be a long walk, though. Just follow me..." She let go of the open door to let it close, closing her eyes for a moment as she headed down the sidewalk. The cold air made her shiver a little, but it wasn't much to pay attention to. As a matter of fact, it was a bit refreshing to be out... even with the threat of the "Blood Coat"...

Shinshin then walked in step with Angel, leaving Johanne behind as he waved them off before finishing up to close up the Inn. They walked down the cold, autumn air of Shinhae, with relative peace. With the occasional squad of RAC men patrolling the streets and a few stragglers getting home in the twilight hour, it was a very quiet and tranquil setting.

It wasn't until a good fifteen minutes passed of silence between the two came until Shinshin broke it, speaking in a inquiring tone, "I assume Angel is your forged identity you chose to work with at the Inn?"

"Angelina McKenzie..." Was the response that she gave back, looking over her shoulder. The tone in her voice conveyed that she had been ready to answer - something that could be justified with the time given. "Johanne calls me Angel for short. But yes... that's the alias I go under here..."

"Ah," Was all that Shinshin responded verbally, walking another minute within silence, waiting until another question became more prompt.

"You seemed to know our female companion, the one with raven hair and speckled skin." Shinshin looked over with a still nonchalant attitude, not ready to press for a full interrogation when simple small talk might get him what he needed, "was there a reason for that?"

Here was where Angelina stopped herself, her eyes widening in slight surprise.

"The raven haired..."

She turned herself around, regarding Shinshin with a look of genuine confusion. "No, I... I'm afraid I didn't know her, per say..." She admitted, turning herself around towards him. She knew that she had to keep her conversation shifted, for she knew the R.A.C. were listening on everything. "I guessed by the shape of the supplies she was carrying. My job requires that I myself handle those types of cases when dealing with customers..."

"I don't think so," Shinshin pressed, his eyes now looking at her eyes, noticing the shifting of her eyes before nodding in understanding, "how about we continue this conversation at your home over a cup of tea? That is, if you think this information is best left away from prying eyes, do you?"

"Of course..."

Though she was a bit unnerved at the judgmental gaze, the girl simply confirmed agreement and resumed walking. She knew that if she wanted to pass this little session, she would have to spill a bit of truth to him. It was risking her true identity as well as the reason why she was here. But it was better than getting the answers forced up her throat via interrogation methods...

It didn't take too long to reach her abode. With only another quarter of an hour's travel, they eventually reached one of the several residential districts, this one being the most proximate to that of the market district they came from. Shinshin nodded to the girl promptly, allowing her to guide him up to the door step of the house that would be hers, one of the many town houses similar to that of what is commonly seen within City residences within Aether.

Quickly, Angelina reached into her pocket and pulled out her key ring, picking out the right one. "You'll have to forgive me if it's a little warmer in here than usual, I have a habit of keeping the heating vent on just in case the night's cold..." She said, pushing the key in the hole and twisting it the right way. Then, she grabbed the handle and pushed her way in, clicking on the lights.

It was a rather informal place. The walls and ceiling were colored blue, while the floor was colored in a tile's mix of black and white. In rooms such as the living room or the dining room, there was a green carpet placed on the floor. There was a flight of stairs that led upwards - presumably to her attic. All in all, it was a simple place.

"I'll get the tea ready..." The woman said softly. "Um... sit anywhere, I suppose...?"

"I'll sit here," Shinshin spoke with assurance in a soft tone of his own, walking over to sit next to the fireplace and sat in a atypical Indian meditative stance, sitting on his calfs and knees, keeping in an upright passive stance. He looked quite comfortable, hence the calm tone he turned to her as he asked, "do you have any Oolong herbal tea?"

"No, but I do have green..." The woman looked slightly thoughtful as she disappeared out of sight, presumably on her way to the kitchen. "Is that good enough?"

"Quite," Shinshin nodded, finding himself smiling slightly, despite the nature of his visit with this woman, "are you a woman with an acquired taste for such drinks?"

Though he wouldn't see her expression, he would hear the slight increase in mirth in her reply. "Oh, I'm a bit of a traveler, to be honest!" Her voice rang from the kitchen, clear for him to hear her. "So I've have the chance to be around multiple types of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic included. Would you like it cold or warm?"

"Warm, please," Shinshin spoke with a nod, even though she couldn't see his expression other than the neutrally polite tone, "ever made your way to the Seireitei or Rukon Districts of the Japanese Soul Society? I've actually traveled past there from the East, if you can imagine, so this is my first time here in Shinhae, Aether."

"I actually do business in the Seireitei when I'm out of Aether..." The girl's voice explained. "You see, journalism and hotel service are simply side things for me. My real job is situated within the Rukon districts. I serve as a gunsmith and armorer for Kidō gun manufacturing, and we've gotten quite popular with both enthusiasts and government-based individuals alike. It's gotten to the point where I've needed a few helping hands in order to help me pull through and not stress out..."

It was at that moment she came back into view, entering the area he was in. After looking down on his position with slight interest and curiosity, she moved closer and shifted herself into a sitting position in front of him. Her legs were positioned underneath her in a parallel-leg seating posture. "When I said that I could tell who she was, at least to an extent, by the supplies that she was carrying... I wasn't lying to you. I deal with them regularly."

"I see, that makes sense," Shinshin spoke in a passive tone, though his piercing eyes gazed into hers, as he tried his first attempt of making an accusation, "Even the girl who came in after us on the same elevator? The one who was carrying a large case made to appear like a art supply case, that was concealing a highly illegal ranged armanent within your gaze?"

"Not that one, no..." Angelina explained, using her hands to gesture out her words and feelings. "The one she had held a weapon of a different company other than mine. The heavy caliber rifle I had designed was the G1A1 Crusader - something that was meant to contest it in terms of firepower and accuracy. As a matter of fact, I had one delivered to your doorstep along with two H1NO Archenemy Pistols... did they ever get sent through?"

Shinshin now understood. Still, he had to pause as he just realized who this woman was to them, as V-14's main source of Kidō tech and armanents. With a smile of recognition, he nodded, "Yes, actually, the man who recieved them fairly recently was able to employ them in the field. I had no idea that our other supplier was none other than the Head of the Taikodansō Company. Oliver never did tell me that such a capable woman was the source for his new, errm, toys..."

"That's..."

This was where Angelina's casually positive mood faltered a little. There was a wistful look in her eyes, and she momentarily averted her gaze away. "That's because he... didn't know about me..." She muttered. "I made sure the shipping package was labeled as anonymous before it was sent. He still doesn't know that I'm the one who sent those weapons to him..."

"I apologize," Shinshin bowed his head, feeling like he hit a nerve unintentionally when it was supposed to be a compliment, "I didn't know. I'm actually a little new to this little group you've supplied us with armanents. I only know vague details here and there besides specs. Speaking of which," he then looked back up at her, attempting to divert the conversation, as unpleasant as the subject might be, to the seriousness at hand he intended from the start, "what's your connection with him? Oliver Holmes, the accused Black Eagle who's going to be executed tomorrow?"

Silence.

Angelina folded her hands in front of her mouth, with only her blue eyes visible. They conveyed a mixture of apprehension, nervousness, sadness as they looked at him. She didn't bring herself to speak to him in that moment, fighting over the idea of telling him or not. Would it be a risk? Or would it be something that could be taken to her advantage? Could she really trust this man and hope that nothing would go wrong?

In the end, she decided to go for it.

"...let me say up front... that I'm only telling you this on the hopes that it won't be taken out of the boundaries of your group..." She said lowly, lowering her folded hands to her lap. "I never planned on telling anyone this, and I wanted to keep it a secret... but now that they've got him, I guess that's not much of an option anymore."

She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes and blinking away the salt water that had accumulated within the corners. When she opened them, she leaned forward, almost as if she was fearful that what she would say would somehow reach the ears of someone outside.

"The man that they're going to hang tomorrow... he's my father."

Silence followed once more as those words were said softly.

"It all makes sense," Shinshin thought, even as his normally stoic gaze widened at hearing this revelation, with the audible hitch of his breath gasping at such a proclamation made by the woman, "the way Genesis was acting after she saw her must mean they're related as well, especially with the latter young woman's reference to Oliver being Dad. The reason she'd ship high grade weapons anonymously to him without a name. The fact she knew about all of us and gauged our intentions for being here as well as her usual base of HQ being in the Soul Society's Rukon Districts: To save Oliver Holmes, her father."

"I see," Shinshin spoke softly, trying to be as delicate and as well as empathetic as he could with the woman, a basic stranger to his case, as well as one whom has been unknowingly aiding them from the shadows. After considering for a few moments, Shinshin nodded, "so I assume that's why you're visiting Shinhae? For the most historical event of Aether since its Civil War?"

"Yeah..." Angelina nodded. "My father was a good man... he really was. Even through the hardship that he suffered with the R.A.C.... he always did his best to look after Mom and us. He always put himself in front of us when we were in danger, always taking the brunt when times were too rough. He always made sure his daughters grew up to be independent and able to stand up on their own two feet, while at the same time making sure we grew up in a good environment. He did all the work..."

She closed her eyes, placing a palm to one half of her face and lowering her head slightly.

"I have a debt to repay to him. I don't care about the massacre he committed. No one, let alone Dad, deserves to get hung from the gallows and have his body strung up like some artwork in a museum. Tomorrow... even if I have to face down the wrath of the Paladinus Primus herself, I'm going to save him."

Shinshin reached out with his right hand to place it on her free one, squeezing it empathetically and reassuringly as he spoke in a smooth, confident tone, "That is why V-14 is here. We're here to rescue your father, our comrade, from certain death. While I've never known him to be a morally straight or socially polite individual, I know that he has heart for serving the woman whom saved him from despair. This is her way of returning the favor once again, as is my own debt I must repay..."

"!"

The contact made the woman's eyes open back up, a slight blush crossing her face as she felt Shinshin's hand squeeze hers. But this was nothing more than a brief reaction, before her surprise receded. She smiled in appreciation, turning that hand around so that she could give his hand a return squeeze. "...thank you. Thank you so much. I know that you're not doing this just to help me now... but it's nice to know that you, of all people, would be quick to grace me with some encouragement. I swear... I'll make it up to you... all of you... somehow."

"Your father's mutual comrade, Hyōryū Fūsoku, the one whom you saw carrying the concealed armanent is a regular buyer all things Kidō weaponry. Give her some sales or deals on some latest and greatest custom worked arms as well as the rest of V-14, and you might consider yourself repaid in full," Shinshin spoke with an intuitive spark in his eyes, smiling slightly at having thought up a way for her to be relieved of her "burden" to them.

In response, Angelina gave an acknowledging nod. "I'll be sure to talk to her once I meet back up with her."

Then, her eyes widened in surprise, and she abruptly turned her head towards the direction of the kitchen. "Oh! That reminds me, I need to go check up on the water. Might be done now..." She allowed herself to get up from her seated spot, quickly making her way from the main room and back into the kitchen. "It'll take just a few minutes, I promise!"

As she disappeared out of sight, Shinshin's earpiece would crackle back to life.

"You... seem to have gotten comfy, huh, Shin-chan?"

If Shinshin was in a TV show, he would hear glass cracking in the background in a rude awakening moment.

With a few subtle twitches of irritation, Shinshin cleared his throat to compose himself before he raised his right hand to his own earpiece, "How much have you heard, mother?"

"Only the whole thing..." One could practically hear the grin within Asuka's voice. "I know you told me you'd be as "gentle as you're able", but I didn't assume you would be having tea with her. If I knew you were going to get charmed by her, I would've sent you earlier!"

Shinshin could feel the faintest of blushes creep onto his face, for the second time in his life lately, before he scowled with widened eyes of embarassmen, "I didn't know what kind of woman she was! I was prepared for the worst outcome and here I find myself having an honest conversation with a common ally and a most capable, attractive woman. How was I supposed...what do you mean charmed?! You're not insinuating I'm...falling for her are you?!"

"Well, I can tell you this." Asuka chuckled. "You referring to her as "capable and attractive" isn't really helping your case if you're saying you're not..."

"Unless you want something, I'm going to cut my connection's audio to end this pointless jeering at me," Shinshin glared at the wall, his face completely red as he clenched his left hand to almost audible snaps and cracks to be heard in the room.

On the other end, Asuka just had to wince at the cracking being heard after the rather harsh statement.

"...ouch. Really hurting my feel-goods, Shin-chan..." She muttered, giving a mock sigh of sadness. "Maybe I was just wanting to check up on you and see how you were doing. Everyone else is busy with something or other right now, and I'm all by myself. You can't blame me for wanting to talk to someone and alleviate boredom."

Her tone was quick to regress to a more serious one, although still containing its mirth. "But, there is a legitimate question I wanted to ask you. When exactly do you think you'll be back? It's not a necessity to come right away, considering it's still early in the night... but we need to make sure that none of us sleep in or anything like that. The execution's going to be at 12:00 noon, and the last thing any of us want is a crucial person out of place due to trivial reasons."

"Hardly a problem," Shinshin spoke with a huff of slight irritation mixed with seriousness, relieved to feel some of the blood regress from his face to its normal color, "I've trained my body when working for Xanxus to allow me to extra vigilant without the extra necessity of food, water, or rest for a good three days maximum. I only require a full twenty four hours of sleep and the following day and I can resume normalcy afterwards. However, shouldn't be long," looking over at the kitchen where he assumed his hostess was fixing tea, he couldn't help but pause for a few seconds, "if I don't check in the next five minutes, assume I won't be back for several hours."

"Right. Have fun with your date~!"

With that sing-song statement ringing in his ear, Asuka cut the connection with a click of the button.

At the same time, and coincidentally enough, Angelina walked in holding two saucers. Each one held a mug with the respective and steaming green tea contained inside. "By the way..." She began, kneeling down to set his cup in front of him before she sat back down herself and placed her own in front of her. "I don't think I got your name. Mine's Kaitlyn."

Shinshin cleared his throat after hearing his mother's voice, before smiling appeciatively up at his hostess. Upon hearing her name being declared to him, he grasped the handle of his mug, bringing it up to his lips before speaking aloud, "My name's...Shinshin. Shinshin Fūten," he nodded to her with a smile, sipping on his tea while his glimmering, stoic eyes locked onto hers.

He would certainly be more than five minutes.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Something isn't right," Hyōryū whispered as she looked out the scenic balcony view of the Suite she and Anton were in. Dressed in her short jeans, black tanktop, and her hair let down onto her shoulders for once she felt incredibly light without any gear or weapons on her person. However, it wasn't the lightness that was bothering her as she gazed out into the nearly still, quiet night...

"A million things aren't right. Which one would you be happening to think about?" Was Anton's readied response.

For him, he was dressed in the usual attire of a black shirt and white pants. He was laying on the bed with his hands folded behind his head, a casually curious gaze directed towards her as she looked out the window. A lit cigarette was in the corner of his mouth, its smoke creating a thin trail that led up to the ceiling.

"The Midnight Hunger," she spoke vaguely, turning her head back to Anton's direction, nodding to him in emphasis, "that's what Oliver and I used to call the feeling you get when you can feel bloodlust in the air during the middle of the night. Its like a predator is out, ready to leap from the shadows to sink its teeth into something. Usually, we'd pretend that we were the predators and that's why we would feel a sense of apprehension of our own wanton for carnage. But not tonight," she looked down towards the empty, nearly deserted alleys below near the Inn and the surrounding marketplace, "tonight, I feel like something...more menacing...than Ollie ever felt before is out there, waiting to pounce on something...maybe us? Them? Him?"

A slow grin crossed Anton's face. "You non-spirituals have a way with picking up the things we do, huh?"

Slowly, he got up from the position on the bed, feeling a jolt of cold when his bare feet hit the floor. He folded his arms across his chest, sauntering over to her side and stopping to stand beside her. A look outward presented a rather beautiful view of the lights of the buildings beside and below. He exhaled a breath, puffing smoke out of his mouth as he did so. Sure enough, he himself could feel the distant aura of that need for destruction, murder, and carnage. A slight shiver went down his spine at the feeling.

"Never could get used to it myself..." He muttered. "Right now, I can bet you that the said "Blood Coat" is the one that's emitting that... that feeling, hunting for some unsuspecting victims. After all, it's the dark of night, and everyone's out partying or asleep in their beds. It's the perfect time for a life to get taken." Upon finishing this sentence, he took the cigarette from his mouth and held it between his two fingers.

"I wonder...I wonder if Oliver was like that," Hyōryū murmured as she folded her hands and leaned down, looking straight down upon the cobblestone streets, watching only a few passerbiers walk on by, nothing conspicuous about them as they moved onwards into the night, "he...he never told me about his time as a Aethian soldier. I don't think he told any of us about how Angelika found him, or how Shou managed to stop him from going psycho on them too. I wonder if his Black Eagle side felt like this...cause at times," she looked up right at Anton, a slight smirk with a hint of her canines could be seen with a shiver of anticipation felt within her, "I felt like he could kill me without even blinking. That's how enthralled...and terrified I was of him when I first worked next to him on missions."

That caused Anton's eyes to widen in complete surprise.

"You... were afraid? Of Oliver?" He repeated, turning his attention completely towards Hyōryū. Out of all the things she would've said about him, he would've never suspected her of being afraid of the man. "I didn't work with him immediately, but I had always assumed him to be nothing more than the common freelancer. What was it like, working beside him in those early years?"

"He wasn't always the dumbass you see him as of now, probably why I'm so pissed at him most of the time," Hyōryū spoke with a shrug, smirking as she looked to Anton, "if you ever saw him the way he looked on that last mission, the way he mercilessly slaughtered all of those Soul Reapers and took sword wounds, jabs, and punches all in stride. That's how he acted nearly all the time, except with hardly any outwardly projected emotion.

He was just...cold, efficient, and withdrawn. Not like Shadō or that Shinji guy...but, more like he didn't want to have socialization period, as if it was a burden to him. However, after I began to work up the nerve I began to work with him closer, I began to get him to open up more and allow him to let down his shoulders a bit. We became mutual rivals, and thus the illogically dumbass Oliver was born," she snorted at her last line before turning around and leaning back against the balcony, allowing the full moon above her bathe her in its luminiscent rays, giving her an exotic appearance as she looked at Anton with a crooked smile, "not exactly what you expected out of Ollie, huh?"