Triton Prism - 2. Assassins

CHAPTER THREE: ASSASSINS

A week later Douglas sat in a briefing room with the other crushers. He was scowling, flicking through a news report on a tablet screen: increased activity from Titania, there was another bank raid last night. He had his feet up on the table, scrolling with his finger as he read. Shari was studying the corkboard behind him and the others daydreamed in their seats as they waited. It was almost midday and Lysander had summoned them here; Douglas was really hoping they were going to one of Titania's bases. They had to wait for their elemental to return and tell them what the plan was.

When the door opened and the blonde man walked in Douglas quickly took his legs down and sat up with eager urgency. Lysander took a seat at the end of the long table and Shari sat down as well.

"Just under an hour ago the squad of hitmen we've been looking for were spotted in an outback town not far from here."

"What?" Douglas looked back at the printed photo of the three fugitives. Then back to Lysander "This isn't about Reburn or the Titania gang?"

"No."

"They robbed another bank! And a cargo ship!"

"Silence." Lysander reprimanded sternly. He could see how furious Douglas was, clenching his fists "I know what happened to Elise has hit you the hardest, you knew her for longer and the two of you were close. But you need to have your head in this mission."

Douglas clenched his jaw and went quiet, Lysander looked at the others "I have built and dispatched surveillance drones. They have a few hours battery life but can travel at exceptional altitudes and have state-of-the-art cameras. One is fixed on their location, they're travelling the forest on foot toward the city and aren't aware they're being tracked. Taking them down will be your first group mission. All of you will go." Lysander leaned back into his chair.

"All of us? Even the ones who aren't Mark Three?" Kanra asked.

"Yura should stay back and out of the fight. But yes, all of you are going."

"Yes!" Shari was excited while Yura went nervously pale.

"Are we taking Lucifer?" Douglas bit back his frustration to ask.

"It's a bit risky for him to carry five of you. Instead you'll take a tram and a tracker for the surveillance drone's beacon. You need to leave now before we lose them."

"Alright," Kanra set his palms on the table and stood "Let's catch these criminals!"

The five crossed the road-path by their house to the tram station and the oval-shaped carrier arrived for them, having been ordered by Lysander. They boarded and it zipped along. Country landscape and trees flew by the windows.

Douglas glanced at the others and saw Yura sitting hunched, with her hands tightly knitted "Nervous?"

She looked up "Yeah… I'm scared. Aren't you?"

"When you do it enough you realize there's scarier things out there." He squeezed his hands together and hunched forward, black eyes lowered "Lysander doesn't give us missions we can't handle. Usually…"

"What about… Elise?" Yura understood the undertone in his voice, her fellow crushers went quiet and Douglas clenched his jaw.

It was Kanra who cleared his throat to answer her "Elise was Lysander's first crusher. She was really strong. She had lightning, Lysander's own element, so she could even beat me real easy." The big guy admitted in a rare moment of honesty "Everyone and even Lysander thought she was going to awaken the Ramei. But Douglas and her were together when… well… no one expected the Titania gang to use bullets. There weren't supposed to be guns on Haphestus."

Yura looked up at Douglas whose narrowed gaze was still downward "I suppose missions help us beat bad guys who'd be hurting innocent people anyway… but what's scarier than missions, Douglas? What's scarier than pain? Losing your friends?"

She still seemed naïve. Douglas raised his head as he realized his team was now waiting for a response of some kind. Just because he was the oldest by a few months he'd taken on Elise's role of the opinion they defer to. He didn't want that.

"I am going to avenge her, that's a given. I suppose the scariest thing would be becoming something you can't ever come back from. Even after I destroy every trace of Titania, what will I be afterwards?"

"We'll help you, Douglas." Shari spoke up from the opposite seat. "For me, being alone is the worst thing I can think of, so I'm glad we're all here to cover each other's backs. I'm going to fight my hardest because I don't want to be separated or the last one standing."

Zao laughed abruptly from beside her and they looked at him. Shari snapped "Well what do you fear more than missions?"

"Well this." He answered and then struggled to explain himself. "Don't you guys ever think about how different life would be if we were born actually human and not some imitation? Like we're missing out on life?" he shook his leg, looking restless again "One of these days I might just fake my own death and get away, explore as much as I can. Missing out is my worst fear."

"Hm." Shari turned to the big guy "What are you most scared of, Kanra?"

The others waited expectantly, unsure if they were going to get more haughty bravado or if his rare honesty would remain.

"Death." He shrugged.

"Everything will be fine." Douglas looked out the window as he spoke to Yura. "We train every day for this, we'll use our formations. Yura can stay out of it while we engage them, we'll beat those guys then be back in no time."

When they got off at the wooden station they went straight into the trees, donning their white travelling cloaks with the gold dragon symbol on the backs. With the tracker in hand displaying the locations of both parties they set off. Douglas was glad the surveillance drone hadn't lost them. If they ran from here and took a little time to prepare themselves they'd meet the enemy in one hour.

"We run until we're 200 meters behind them." Douglas instructed his team, the same way Elise used to "At that point we take a breather, we make a plan of attack, then we go in fast."

Three adults strode quietly through the forest. The purple-haired woman's face was sternly lined as she walked in the middle. The shaved-headed guy looked the most bored by their walking, swatting at trees and shrubbery as they passed. The reedy man took a sip of water from a tankard around his belt.

"I just wish they'd lent us a jet. The guy's rich right?" the agitated one spoke.

"An elemental lives near the city." His comrade re-strapped his tankard "We still got a bounty on our heads."

The woman stopped mid-stride.

"Gloria, what is it?"

Leaves scattered and the three whipped around. Kanra landed with a heavy thud, the big guy took several bounds forward. The reedy man sprouted a spear of black metal as Kanra pushed off with as much force as he could, cloak and hair trailing behind him. Ducking to aim under the spear and punching the guy full-force in the face. There was blood and teeth, the reedy man spinning through the air and smashing through a trunk, hitting the tree behind it. The other man and woman jumped away from Kanra as he stood with fist extended.

"Donovan!" the shaved-headed man shouted. The woman stared at their companion, similarly wide-eyed.

The reedy guy had been a Triton clan member, but Kanra's strongest punch at a critical point had killed him. His body lay limp in the broken tree, skull crushed. Suddenly Douglas flew out of the treetops with his black scimitar overhead. He was aiming for the other guy while Zao blurred out of the bushes with his fists covered in marble, aiming for the woman.

With a furious growl the man jumped forward with misting palms, he thrusted them forward and a spiked wall of ice burst upward. The iceberg was tall and wide, easily spiking over the treetops and stretching several metres longways. Douglas slashed and his weapon was swallowed, he was thrown down and tumbled painfully onto his back then stomach. Zao had punched the wall only to be thrown back as well, falling to sit on the ground as the marble around his forearms cracked and split, pieces dropping into the grass. Their two enemies were hidden from view.

Douglas winced and strained to get back onto his feet. Zao hobbled up as well "…That's a lot of ice."

Kanra was leaning back, his nose almost touching it. He stepped unsteadily away.

"You know what to do!" Douglas yelled and Zao nodded.

He pressed his hands together while focusing on the ice barrier as it shimmered in the sun. His unruly hair was even messier after the fall. After gathering energy he splayed his arms forward.

"Marble Catapult!" an elephant-sized boulder launched from the earth, leaving a crater. It hit the ice with a boom, cracks splitting its surface like glass. The ground shook from the impact but the boulder wasn't even halfway through. Zao's arms dropped "It's really solid…"

On the other side Shari had slung herself around several trees with her vines. The man was crouching before his impressive ice barrier. Shari aimed at Gloria's back with her fabled grass blade, made sharp and strong with energy. Gloria turned and blocked the strike with a sword from her belt. It had an odd shape, no hilt but a circle above the handle that glowed a dull blue light.

Their weapons shook as they held their ground. Shari's sword was a lighter green, plant matter with thorns at the hilt. Even so it didn't give against metal. She wielded it with two hands while Gloria used one. Shari swept the blade aside and the woman stepped back, their blades clashed as Shari pushed forward, heavy metal clanks before she brought the tip of her blade down and disarmed her foe. The sword spun out and embedded itself in a nearby tree.

Gloria grabbed an identical sword from her other side and slashed. She pressed forward and Shari was quickly put on the defensive. Gloria blurred, knocking the grass sword downward before slashing at her middle. Shari jumped back and away, lifting her weapon with both hands in a ready position. Gloria reached down and pressed the button of a device on her belt. It flashed blue and so did her lost sword, twitching and flying out of the tree. Gloria caught the handle and lowered the ends of her dual sabers, staring neutrally at the girl before her.

On the other side of the ice barrier Kanra was punching with all his might, the wall cracked but barely gave. Frustrated he stepped back, his top shredded and cloak fell as two bat-wings wormed out and stretched wide.

Douglas turned to Zao "Come on! We'll have to go around!" the two boys ran off while Kanra shot upward, running his hands and feet along the ice to help him.

He flapped himself up and over, able to see the entire forest-tops before swatting his wings to send himself downward and aiming his fist. The ice guy was alarmed, jumping back and there was a mighty crash, dust spewing upward. The woman glanced back and Shari grinned confidently, but her smile dropped when she noticed the woman's eyes for the first time. White eyes. They came to rest on her again.

"Oh no!" Shari lunged forward with her sword, only to crumple under the enemy's stare and fall, immobilized.

Gloria smirked before leaping up and slashing both swords down at her unmoving prey. A black scimitar blocked her attack, Douglas threw her back and away from the sprawled girl. Gloria skidded back and watched Zao sling Shari's arm over his shoulder. He jumped away into the trees and Douglas followed.

"Jordan!" the woman turned to her remaining companion.

He had one palm splayed at the dust cloud where Kanra landed, his other hand steadying his arm.

"Ice Cage!" A stream of mist shot outward. Kanra jumped and beat his wings to propel himself away. A huge sphere of ice expanded outward against the wall, prominent spikes on its surface gleaming in the light. It had a diameter of three meters easy. Kanra blinked at it nervously.

Jordan straightened, fists clenched at his sides "I can't believe someone as skilled as Donovan was killed so quickly."

"He who strikes first wins!" Kanra snapped back, readying in a crouch as his wings flexed.

"These aren't just normal kids." Gloria spoke up, sounding bored. "They're Lysander's crushers. If we kill them all here we should be able to go directly to the city and finish our mission. Since we've been found anyway."

From amidst the trees Zao had his eyes closed with his hands on Shari's shoulders. He focused his energy, tried sensing Shari's disjointed energy, then jolted it like restarting a heartbeat. The girl's green eyes snapped open.

"Shari," Douglas sighed in relief.

"That woman has the Kurei! I shouldn't have charged her directly, that was stupid. But I saw it and panicked."

"The Kurei… we can't fight her one-on-one." Douglas recalled the white eye with black patterns from Lysander's training lessons. An eye power like the Ramei and Lysander's red dragon eye. If the user was still for long enough and staring at a target that wasn't moving out of their line of vision, they could trap them within their own mind. But basic energy work is all it took to undo the spell, and that was something anyone could do if they knew how, provided they weren't already caught in it.

"I was in a white temple, bound in chains…" Shari explained while leaning forward "The air was hazy and red…"

"Douglas!" Zao snapped to "We can't let Kanra fight them alone!"

Back in the fray, Jordan jumped away when Kanra lunged forward. Unexpectedly the woman flew to meet him, gaze fixed. She landed in a crouch and the big teen fell forward and skidded across the ground behind her, his wings like slack nets beside him. Still holding her swords the woman stood and turned, Gloria stepped over and raised a blade. She stabbed and the tip bounced harmlessly off his back. She blinked in surprise before trying again, no effect.

"His skin's impenetrable? His power should deactivate while he can't control energy!" Gloria examined his long, wild hair and the long, broken fingernails on both hands. Realizing to herself "…his power doesn't turn off."

Her face snapped up when Douglas flew at her, she dodged his black scimitar swing. Jumping back further as Shari lunged with her grass sword. Douglas and Shari stood defensively with their unique weapons, Gloria flew back and landed at Jordan's side. Zao took a stance in front of the slumped Kanra, ready to shield them when necessary. Douglas whipped around and put his hand on the big guy's back, disrupting the flow of invisible energy.

Kanra groaned and raised his head "We gotta take them down…"

"You got to be careful." Douglas chastened. "That woman has the Kurei. Weapons may not work against you but if you get frozen your body temperature will drop and you will die." He straightened and raised his scimitar again. Kanra's wings folded up as he climbed to one knee with a scowl.

"Hmph." Jordan splayed his palm at the group "Ice Cage!" A jet of mist shot straight at them. Zao clasped his hands together and a slab of marble rose up from the ground between them, ice exploded outward as it froze into a great spherical prison.

"We can take them!" Douglas shouted "Nobody stand still for too long and don't run at her directly!"

"Right!" his team responded and they raced off and around the ice.

Kanra beat his wings and launched himself over, punching another hole in the ground and forcing the two enemies to leap back and separate. Douglas sprouted a metal hexagon on his forearm, he slashed at Gloria and shielded from her counter-strikes. Shari backed him up with her plant sword, the two of them fighting the dual-bladed woman together. Blades clashing within their coordinated timing and teamwork, Gloria barring her teeth as she stepped back and fended the pair off.

"Ice Cannon!" Jordan shouted.

"Marble Catapult!" Zao yelled back.

Human-sized ice projectiles collided with marble boulders and shattered. Each attack was stopped by an equally-sized one, Jordan grit his teeth in frustration. Kanra flew into the trees and weaved around them. Zao dropped and splayed his hands on the ground. A podium of marble rose up from beneath the shaved-headed man and he lost his balance. Kanra blurred out of the trees and punched him in the stomach. Jordan flew into a marble slab that rose up to meet him, hitting the stone with his back and falling into a slouch. Kanra flew up, grabbed the top of the slab and used his strength to pull it down, sandwiching their enemy. Jordan was crushed, his blood pooling out from under the marble.

Douglas hooked his sword under and flicked one of Gloria's away. Shari jumped and kicked her in the chest, the purple-haired woman flew back and dropped her other sword. She hit a tree and slumped, opening her eyes painfully to see the two teens pointing their weapons at her.

"Who are you working for? Who were you three paid to kill?" Douglas demanded.

"…the leader of the Titania gang. Reburn."

Douglas's eyes widened in shock. Shari was distracted by his reaction. Gloria pressed the button of the device at her belt and her two swords whipped at the backs of the two teens. Douglas and Shari jumped aside, Gloria caught her blue-glowing swords and backflipped away. Running off into the trees and making her retreat.

Douglas leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. Kanra and Zao ran over while Shari stared at him.

"What happened?"

"I know what I saw that night…" Douglas answered her. "Reburn is a Triton clan member. For whatever reason he can create working firearms in seconds. Reburn is the one who killed Elise, I'm sure of it…"