Dangerously In Love

~𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑵𝒊𝒏𝒆~

Looking down at his phone, DaMario sat on a bench within a park that was next to a beautiful pond with brightly colored fish swimming around in it. Before he left, Keiko insisted on taking Pow-Pow with him to keep him company, for the time being, so he brought her on the pink leash she had and a squeaky toy bone for her to play with. Her fluffy tail batted against his ankle as she bit into the toy and made it squeak while staring at the people passing by. DaMario's phone buzzed and saw that a message from Diana popped up. With a smile, he replied to her quickly and was so deep in his conversation with her that he didn't even realize Phoenix standing next to him. Being the nosey man that he is, Phoenix looks over DaMario's shoulder then slaps his hand on his back, making the red-dreaded man jump. "Aw, isn't that cute. It must be nice to text your crush. Mine doesn't even have my number yet." Phoenix states with a sigh before sitting down next to his best friend. "My bad, I didn't see you. Since you wanna be nosey, we were discussing the plans for the firework festival." DaMario acknowledged while resting his elbows back against the bench rails. "Uh-huh, and I'm sure you're planning on doing more than just watch fireworks. Anyways-" "What you say?" "Nothing." Phoenix smiled sheepishly, making Mario roll his eyes, then pulled out his laptop from the black bag he carries it in. "So, the other night I tried gathering intel on this chick that's trying to 'put you to sleep' but I couldn't find squat except for the fact that she works for some guy named Metrix." The named sounded ridiculous to DaMario and he looked over at his laptop to see if that was his real name. "Also known as Joseph W. Clarke...out of all the cool villain names this man could've had, he picks something that sounds like the Matrix. He sounds like a lame if you ask me." Mario remarked smugly. Phoenix scrolled down and continued to read about Metrix. "Soooo...he's a drug addict running a facility with highly trained assassins. That's nice." He adds sarcastically. "It says that he runs on a certain type of drug called flake-o..?flecko-" "Flakko." DaMario interrupted him while slipping his phone back into his pocket. "I know that drug, my uncle DaMario use to sell that shit. It comes in red and green and it's a hell of a lot stronger than any known drug known to man." He knew this not only because of his uncle but also because he tried one red Flakko pill and he was immediately hospitalized and felt strange the next day.."Wait, DaMario? You were named after your uncle? I never knew that!" Phoenix exclaimed as he closed his laptop and placed it back inside of the black bag. Shrugging, DaMario looked down at Pow-Pow and watched as she gnawed on her toy. "Mom said that dad would always talk about how he wanted his next son to be named after his brother that died just before Lee was born. He never did live to see the day that mom did what he requested when I came into the world." DaMario hung his head in deep thought and Phoenix placed a hand on his back to comfort him. He didn't mean to bring up bad memories, he was just curious. "Imagine being given a name by a dead man who you'll never see."
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"Are you sure this is the place? I don't see anyone." DaMario asked Phoenix quietly while hiding up in a tall tree. Phoenix had found the building the assassin worked at and they both followed her without being spotted. "Yep, this is the place. No wonder it's hard to find, it's almost in the middle of nowhere." Phoenix answered then rubbed his nose with his thumb. They both sat quietly as they watched the female assassin speak to a man that wore a black trench coat. He didn't look right and something about him made DaMario shudder. The man, who they assumed was Metrix, placed a hand on the woman's shoulder and pulled a glowing pill bottle out from his pocket with his other hand. It looked as if he was offering it to her, but she shook her head and backed away. "That must be the Flakko, right there in his hand," Phoenix whispered, pointing to the point from afar and DaMario followed to where his finger was pointing. Another woman with blue hair and a mask covering her face walked up to the two and placed her own hand on the other woman's shoulder. The two women gripped their masks and were about to pull them off. This was it, the moment DaMario would finally see his attacker's face. All they had to do was lift the masks and bam. Slowly, his assassin lifts up her mask but only shows her lips. DaMario eyed her hard, gradually becoming impatient and right before the big moment, his phone rang loudly and echoed. Jumping from the sudden scare, he quickly digs in his pocket to try and silence his phone. Pulling it out, he saw his mother was calling him and he mentally cursed. Both Metrix and the two women looked in the boys' direction. With one motion of the man's hand, a group of other men and women were sent out towards them and they all had their katanas out and ready. "It's time to GO, move it!" DaMario yelled as he pushed Phoenix out of the tree, but didn't let him fall completely to the ground. He could've easily taken on all of them by himself, but he was more concerned about his best friend's safety. The boys ran as fast as they could with the pursuers right on their tails. "Phoenix goes ahead and runs to my house, you'll be safe there with my mom with you. Make sure you aren't being followed."    Phoenix, hesitant on leaving him, finally dashed and made a sharp right towards the woods. Looking back, DaMario saw that three of them turned right as well and went after Phoenix. He stops running and waves his hand towards a nearby tree and knocks it over with his telekinesis, making it fall over on the three. As for the rest of them, DaMario kneels down and slams his fists down through the ground, making it crack and crumble underneath him and the goons that were chasing him. His eyes were glowing red as he emitted energy into the soil which made huge waves of energy flow towards the enemy and it threw them high into the air and land almost 100 yards away from where DaMario was. Standing up straight, Mario dusts himself off then quickly makes a run for home. The little cherry blossom keychain Diana gave him had unsnapped from his pants and fell onto the ground, but he was so focused on getting home that he didn't even notice.

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The wind blew through Diana's hair as she stared off into the direction the intruders ran to. Taking off her mask, she sees her fellow comrades walking back to HQ. The one in the front goes over to Metrix and they seem to be discussing something as the man opens up his hand to Metrix. With on eyebrow raised, he takes the object from the smaller built man's hand and walks back over to Diana and Isis who was standing in the background quietly with her arms crossed. As soon as he got close enough, he held the object up to her which she then recognized it as a little cherry blossom keychain. It looked oddly familiar. "Diana I know you're very fond of the Japanese cherry blossom. Is this yours by any chance? Or do you recognize it at all?" Diana examined the chain and a confused look appeared on her face. "I...I don't know. It looks familiar though." Deep down she thought it was the gift she gave DaMario, but she knew it was risky to say names without being sure. All she could do was hope that it wasn't who she thought it was.