𝐷𝐼𝑆𝑇𝑂𝑅𝑇𝐸𝐷

chapter fourteen

'𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒔, 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅.'

____________________________________

"Just before we nabbed them... the one called Francois sent a transmission."

The butler didn't deny the claim and responded, "Yes. If that troubles you, you may verify the morse code content for yourselves. 'We've split into two teams.' That's the message I sent to the U.S. base just as a precaution."

Stanley glanced at them trying to see of they are telling the truth and they sure are.

"Another useless message?"

[Name] heard what he said and couldn't help but wonder why would they even send that in code if they could just say something in Japanese. As far as she could recall, Brody did not make a deal for them to only communicate in English since it would be considered unfair to those who only speaks Japanese.

"Not really. Besides, they also have a scientist in their side so it's safe to assume that this is another clue before they activate the Medusa, as they would like to call it."

She then helped Charlotte, assisting her as they walk throughout the forest. It would be nightfall before they arrive at the fort and the h/c nette ordered her to not 'fight' for now.

Charlotte was in no condition to protest as she could only nod in response. Although [Name] is smaller and much more petite than her, she was baffled that the h/c haired woman is not having any sort of trouble supporting her while carrying guns as well.

An amused chuckled snapped her out of her daze, only to see [Name] silently giggling to herself, "Your face does say it all."

Upon receiving no answer from Charlotte, she continued speaking, "I told you to not underestimate me. So... are you fine now?"

"I-yeah." she awkwardly answered before wearing her armor again and avoiding eye contact with her. Even though the two of them have been friends for years, Charlotte had never gotten to her this close since she respects other people's boundaries, "Seems like they only came from one direction."

.....

"If we cut off their communication while maintaining ours... we won this war." Hyoga said calmly, thinking of a plan that could ensure a quick victory.

Francois and Suika got caught and the moment Kohaku heard about it, she sprinted to where the Americans are suppose to be which left Tsukasa and Hyoga no choice but to follow her.

"How's that?" Kohaku asked in confusion.

The man let out a sigh before explaining, "Well, think about it for a moment." He said in exasperation, "Why not hold a blade to Xeno's throat and demand Stanley to surrender? Why haven't we considered playing that obvious card?"

Tsukasa answered that question easily, "Because back at their base, Nikki and several dozen of our allies are hostages. The hostages on both sides have created stalemate."

"Right. If we do anything to Xeno, they wouldn't think twice about contacting their people in Corn City and tell them to retaliate...." She stopped momentarily before her eyes widened in realization.

Whatever era they may lived in, communication is the key to have an upperhand in any kind of war.

"Exactly...." Hyoga confirmed what the blonde is thinking, "Once they've lost their line of communication, the hostages on their side are rendered useless." He then paused for a second before speaking once more, "Then we can take our sweet time slicing off Xeno's fingers, toes, appendages, one at a time until Stanley's team agree to surrender."

Kohaku and Tsukasa both grimaced at the thought and it seems that Hyoga is looking forward for this to happen.

"Wait, that wouldn't work! Since they'd have Suika and the others as hostages!" The blonde warrior snapped back.

"All of our lives hang in the balance. If forsaking four could bring about victory ... Then it's an option that must be considered."

.....

Gunshots were heard and they immediately deduced that this was all fake but they needed to play along to deceive those who are lurking by. One of them covered Ginrou's mouth as an attempt to shut him up and not let others learn that they bought the hostages.

Maya and the others have sprinted to another direction, finding the ones who might be behind this ambush.

The sounds were obviously layered with one another and Senku's team cannot afford to waste time and create gunpowder and if their little experiment could go wrong, that explosion is enough for the Americans to pinpoint their exact location.

"Stop! It's a speaker just another one of their traps that someone activated." [Name] called out before her unit, which only includes Charlotte and three others are in charge of sniping the enemy from afar.

"Who are we killing this time?" One of them asked before setting up the rifle, "Wait-who is even our enemy?"

"Not me." [Name] responded bluntly, aware that their foe had sent their aces to fight against them and it seems that even Stanley haven't caught up to their schemes, "Three fighters, the best one out there."

"And they're up against the military elites." Charlotte added, "Will they even win? No. Will they even survive this time?"

The h/c haired woman refused to answer that question, rather.... She have nothing to say regarding that topic. Everything is uncertain at this point and who knows what could possibly happen next.

"You guys stay here." [Name] instructed, "If you find an opening don't hesitate to shoot. Got it?"

"Yes Ma'am."

.....

'Another MMA champion.' The h/c nette thought to herself as she ran back to where the others were, jumping from one branch to another as she couldn't put all her weight to her left leg due to the long term injury she sustained during one of her previous missions.

Things like this are never to be taken lightly, and at the end of the day, they're humans.

A gust of wind stopped her dead on her tracks, only for her to recognize Maya. The brown-haired woman look like she was beaten up by none other than Tsukasa.

[Name] tip-toed to where she is and gently poked her cheeks to check if she was still alive, "Maya? You there?"

"Ow..." A painful groan from her confirmed that she's just fine, "Where have you been?" Maya asked in confusion before sitting up and leaned to a tree, "You just disappeared."

In an attempt to clear things up between them, the h/c nette explained what she had been planning while patching her teammate's wounds.

One thing Maya sure did notice, [Name] never explained why she refused to fight and only stayed in the sidelines.

Their conversation was cut short when Tsukasa lunged towards [Name], making her put up her gun to shield herself from the impact. She was able to take a step back, yet her attempt wasn't exactly working.

"You're an MMA champion...." [Name] muttered as Maya fled from them to assist the others. "Am I right?"

She wasn't one to recognize such people in the media, nor did she have any time to do so. However, there's no denying that the man standing in front of her was none other than Tsukasa Shishio.

If this wasn't the situation they were in right now, [Name] would be pleased to meet him, but this isn't the right time and place for it.

"Move." [Name] said, but he didn't budge.

Tsukasa does recognize her, and it wasn't for a good reason. From what he had heard earlier from Luna and her friends, there are people they should look out for, which included [Name].

"No." Tsukasa said. "I won't."