Act II: The Rising Gods of the East

In the aftermath of the events following the deaths of main detectives Lee Minwoo and Park Junjin, the Beast Killings case had been closed at the collection of the bodies of the students and of the head scientist Hu Fengmin. However, this was only the beginning as both Hell and Schatten were to find out. As one case closes another one opens up. Who was Eric Mun and how exactly was Dr. Hu connected to Park Yoochun?

In the distant past, in an ancient sky, an angel had appeared

Sword of David was in his hand, and with it he divided heaven and hell

And he smiled at the world as it began to break away

So here I stand to slash that smile, here I stand to say goodbye

- Piece of Heaven, Weiss Kreuz -

CHAPTER 18: ♖

Pacing was not a habit Rai wanted to develop, and before she gave into the urge to start walking around in circles again, she drew her swords and fell into a familiar stance. She was never one for smoothly lined techniques. Moves that flowed freely were the always the best in her opinion and she easily found a rhythm that matched her mood. Izayoi swings diagonally to the left, Sadame right across it. Turn. Hook kick. Jump, twist, and land a roundhouse.

Her footsteps were light now that she was fully recovered, even without the deep red carpet underneath her she would not have made a sound. This was how Kwon found her as he entered the backroom through the backdoor as he usually did.

“You’re here, I didn’t expect you to come before me,” he said, sounding pleasantly surprised.

“I was bored,” Rai answered flatly. “What did you want?”

Kwon tossed her a file. “Just a little field trip. Staunton thinks you’re more than enough to get rid of Choi Zara. She has no other affiliations other than with a man who calls himself Xiah.”

Nodding, Rai flipped the file open and turned to leave.

Kwon produced a brown paper bag from under the desk. “Oh,” Rai turned back to look at him, “since you’ll be going out in the middle of the day, I think it’s best you blend in in a different way,” he said, eyeing Rai’s black combat trousers and dark red shirt. “Also, the kodachi need to stay here.”

Rai frowned, but conceded nonetheless. She changed into the clothes Kwon procured for her, and she exited through the shop just in time to see Chansung hauling up several bouquets for delivery. “You have a delivery.” It was more of a statement than a question.

Chansung stopped short, not accustomed to seeing Rai outside her usual dark clothes. She had stepped out in denim shorts that reached mid-thigh, and a light gray sleeveless shirt. Perhaps what was most jarring about her look at the moment was the evident absence of her tabi boots. Instead, she wore a pair of black combat boots. “What did Kwon need you for?”

“Assignment.”

“In the middle of the day?”

Rai nodded, only then noticing the small crowd that had gathered in the shop. Several school-aged girls were lining up by the rose section, and near the storage room, where Nichkhun’s table was set, was Victoria Song from next door. Rai eyed the other female curiously. There was a different feel about her that particular day, but she couldn’t quite place what it was. Victoria was talking animatedly to an obviously frustrated Nichkhun, her hand every so often coming up to touch his arm. Rai wondered how the blonde managed to not stick the paring knife up - or preferably her eyes.

Behind her, Junsu was on the phone with Kass who had been missing in action for their briefings lately. Whether it was because of Nichkhun or some other assignment, Rai did not really care. All that mattered to her was that Kass was not around. Of that she was pleased.

Jinwoon came around, pushing his wheels this time. “Are you going to be okay on your own?”

Rai nodded.

“Alright, you have your phone? And your bud?”

Another nod.

“Alright, I’ll be with you every step of the way. Once you get the job done, could you please connect me to her personal computer?” Another nod from Rai. “Thank you.”

There was something oddly calming about Jinwoon smiling at her. Something oddly comforting knowing Jinwoon was backing her. Though Rai was not one to easily take instructions from someone younger than she was, she was willing to make this one exception. Or two, should you take Chansung into account.

“Why are you fussing,” she muttered under her breath.

Chansung smiled from behind the bouquets he had in his arms. “Because the last time you went out on your own you nearly got squished.”

Rai rolled her eyes and pushed past him. “Hurry up, lady will be done walking her dogs soon.”

Chansung’s eyes narrowed. “Hey, what are you going to use...?”

Without facing him, Rai pulled out a pair of black fingerless leather gloves from her back pocket. The knuckles sagged down from the weight if the claws hidden within, and Chansung shook his head. It was going to be a messy crime scene.

Rai waited with all the patience she had, and that was saying a lot as she was not one to wait. Chansung loaded the flowers onto the compartment at the back of the delivery bike and got on before handing Rai her helmet. An amused chuckle left her lips as she mounted the red motorcycle. It was not what Chansung used on missions, the delivery bike was made for ease of transport and delivering wares. It was shorter, and Chansung, with his height, looked awkward in such a bike. Rai had no complains though, it was a good feeling having her toes be able to touch the ground.

Zara Choi lived somewhere in district IX. She lived alone with two dogs, and today was her day-off. Chansung stopped in front of a tall white building, and turned to Rai. “Smells like dogs. She’s probably home.”

“I hate dogs,” Rai muttered as she eased off her helmet and hopped of the bike. She squinted as she looked up to the twelfth floor where the target lived. “I don’t like this.”

“You think it’s weird too?”

“It’s been weird for a while. Something feels wrong. I don’t like these shoes either.”

Chansung frowned. “Hey, I’ll go around with the deliveries quick. I don’t have my earbud so I’ll call you. Place looks like it’s got the high end surveillance things. Did Jinwoon say anything yet?”

She shook her head. It’s been nothing but silence on Jinwoon’s side, another thing that had her on her toes. “No. Jinwoon’s never this quiet.”

“Rai.” Even under the light of day, Chansung did not feel confident about this mission. Perhaps it was the fact that it was midday that had him on edge. Had it been night, he wouldn’t be as worried for the shorter girl. “Don’t go.”

“I can’t not go Chansung,” she stressed. “It’s just another assignment. How hard should it be to kill some lady scientist?”

Rai waited until Chansung disappeared into the street before returning her attention to the high building in front of her. The sun was directly over head, and the sun prickled her pale skin. Shuddering at the lack of vibrations going through her feet, Rai stepped into the building. Going in from the back would have been her first choice. A climb on the emergency staircase at the back would have been easier for her, but to do so in the middle of the day would attract too much attention.

Lobby guards eyed her boredly as she walked in, and Rai quickly made her way up the elevators. Tapping her foot impatiently, she watched the numbers go up one by one. To the left side corner of the elevator was a surveillance unit, and Rai tilted her head to stare blankly up at it. Jinwoon always told her to be wary of such cameras especially when inside targets’ rooms. This could easily place Rai in a crime scene, but she blew a strand of hair away from her face in apathy.

The elevators stopped, and she counted down the doors to her target’s apartment. Her eyes flew to the edges and corners and her hands ran across the wall. No one else was on the floor with her, and there were no other surveillance cameras directly at her. Rai stared at the door for a moment. If Chansung were there with her, he would have picked the lock, but there was no Chansung, and Rai kicked the door hard. It swung open and her brows furrowed- it shouldn’t have been that easy. On closer examination, the door wasn’t double locked.

Rai marched right into the room, and she found it empty.

~ ☖ ~

Jinwoon banged his fist against the flat surface of his table. He was not as strong as Nichkhun or Chansung, not even like Junsu, or maybe even Rai to create any form of damage, but the frustration he felt was not any less. He balled his fists tightly on his lap. Jinwoon had never felt so trapped before.

All forms of communication he had to Rai had been cut off as soon as she left Fourth Avenue, and what was worse was him realizing too late. Someone had managed to tap into their frequency and blocked all two-way communications. Something wrong was definitely going to happen, and Rai would get caught in the crossfires.

Jinwoon reached over for his phone, but his fingers merely grazed the edge. Frustrated, he swiped at the device only to push it further until it dropped far away from his reach. Teeth tightly gritted, he pushed himself up the ramp and into the shop proper. Nichkhun and Junsu were thankfully idle, and he sighed in relief.

“Rai’s in danger. Someone blocked our frequency and I can’t warn her. Junsu, could you please fix the radio? Nichkhun, could you please call Chansung and meet him at the target’s location?”

Junsu nodded and dropped down from the high stool and slipped into the backroom while Nichkhun pulled out his phone. In a sense Jinwoon was surprised to see them cooperate so easily. The youngest rolled back into their meeting room and found their frequency modulator all opened up. Junsu picked up his phone off the floor and tossed it to Jinwoon.

“There really isn’t much I can do here. It’s not like we can rewire frequencies, what we have is interference. Something must be following Rai with a jammer. That’s the only thing I can think of.”

“I can’t reach Chansung’s phone either. Whatever it is, it’s following him too,” Nichkhun said, appearing through the doorway.

Jinwoon dug the heels of him palms into his eyes. “Nichkhun, will you please go to her?”

Nichkhun nodded at the request and left just as easily as he came in. Junsu stared worriedly at the computer screen. “What were you waiting for?”

“Whatever we can get off Zara Choi’s computer. Fei and Jia are still trying to find the main Fortuna lab. We were hoping to get something off the scientists.” Jinwoon shook his head. “I can’t think of that right now. Junsu, what if something happens to Rai.”

Junsu sighed at the youngest’s frazzled state. “Jinwoon, she’ll be fine. Rai’s not the type to die that easily. She’s impulsive, not stupid.”

~ ♖ ~

Uncomfortable as she was, Rai searched for a computer or a laptop, or anything at all to at least send Jinwoon something- anything so her coming here wouldn’t be in vain. It wasn’t her fight she knew, it was the Main Office’s and Nichkhun’s fight, but Rai served under a new master now. Honor came before her.

The room was clean and organized as she had expected. Clutter-free meant it should have been easier to find something, and she instantly knew that not finding anything meant Zara Choi was hiding something. Her footsteps were light on the orange carpets as she entered the main bedroom. One sweep of her eyes and again Rai’s brows knotted in the middle of her forehead. Her eyes flew towards a black toolkit under the desk towards the side and she knelt down next it. It was locked, a simple combination lock, and Rai glared in annoyance at the single turn dial mocking her.

She stood up and kicked the tool box, eyes wandering around again for something else to look into. Growling noises followed by a woman’s voice alerted Rai to the scientist’s presence. Shaking her head for coming in too early, Rai returned to the living room and looked up. There was a corner pocket of shadow on the ceiling and she vaulted herself up using the table nearby.

She held herself in place, locking her feet on the two sides of the corner, her back tightly pressed to the ceiling. Zara Choi walked in with two Golden Retrievers, all three of them confused and in a panic. The dogs yipped violently and the scientist tried her best to calm them both. Zara Choi was short, only a little taller than both her dogs on their hind legs. Her hair was in a tight bun on top of her head, and her glasses lay askew on her face. It was the ratty t-shirt that Rai couldn’t fathom.

Once Choi shut the door closed and secured her dogs in their kennels, Rai dropped down to the floor. The woman was reaching for her phone, and it suddenly fell from her hands as she staggered back towards the wall.

Rai’s amber eyes gleamed almost gold as she stepped slowly towards a terrified Zara Choi. The scientist was too paralyzed to speak and Rai was determined to hear her talk. The two dogs growled fiercely in their cages, one of them trying its hardest to get out. Rai estimated only a few minutes before the kennel broke down.

“Where’s the main Fortuna lab?” she asked, a hand pinning the scientist’s neck into the wall.

Choi sputtered out gibberish, and Rai lost her patience. Lifting her other hand and clenching it tight, she dug the blades into Choi’s cheek. “Tell me, and I might reconsider just leaving.” It was a lie, but Rai also knew that victims clung on to any form of hope they could see. Dangle life in front of a target, and they would speak.

“Chornaya Cherepakha? You’ll never find it!” Choi’s eyes glazed with a mad glow.

“What does that mean?” Rai asked, choking her more and digging her claws deeper until a small trail of blood ran down Choi’s cheeks.

Her target laughed maniacally. “You’ll never find it!” she shrieked.

Rai smirked. Choi may have been stubborn, but her eyes did not lie. The scientist was looking intently at something behind Rai’s back, and the assassin found her answer. Rai stepped back, letting her go. With both fists clenched she swung her arms in a wide arc. The serrated blades of her claws cut Choi’s face and chest open. Rai watched as the scientist staggered forward and managed to run to her room. Rolling her eyes, Rai kicked the two noisy dogs first before following. A small black box dropped from the kennel, and Rai’s eyes widened.

She recognized it as a wireless signal jammer. She stomped on it hard, breaking it into tiny fragments. The static wailed in her ear until the noise cleared. “Jinwoon?”

“Rai!” the hacker’s voice was loud and too much relieved. “What happened? Where are you? Wait, I’m getting a signal again!”

“There’s a jammer in the house,” Rai said, walking into Choi’s room. The scientist was fumbling around with the black toolkit, it was open now, and inside was a hard drive among a few other things.

“That explains many things, but Rai I lost a signal from you since you went out of the house. Did you notice anyone following you?”

“No, nothing. Hold up, I found something.” Rai pulled the scientist up by her ratty old shirt and heaved her into the wall again. “Well, this is the end of the line for you.”

With a flurry of slashes Choi Zara fell into a bloody mess onto the floor. Several lacerations gashed her skin and muscle. Her face was nearly unrecognizable, and her chest lay cut open. Rai stepped back from the blood pooling by her feet. She pulled out the flat sheet from Choi’s bed and wiped her claws clean. She would just need to find some other way to get rid of her stained clothes. For now, the tool kit was what she needed to take a look at.

~ ☖ ~

Jinwoon felt as if he were about to cry. Junsu shook his head at the younger’s sentimentality and knocked him lightly on the head before standing up to leave.

Jinwoon ignored the older assassin and concentrated on his screen. He was finally getting a GPS signal as well and he studied the satellite images he received. He grimaced seeing a cold body down on the floor with a pool of liquid surrounding her. Rai stood in front of a black box, and Jinwoon froze.

“Rai! Rai get out of there! That box! It’s going to-”

Jinwoon stared in horror as Zara Choi’s room blew up into smithereens. His fingers trembled uncontrollably as fear pulsed through him. “Rai...” his voice came out weak as his screen blurred for a few moments following the blast. A faint red dot beeped slowly on his screen, the pixels were breaking up, and the dot was getting fainter.

There was nothing but silence on the other end.