Vermillion

7

"The Kuznetsov's have already raided and destroyed five of our bases" Raffaele told the group of girls sitting in front of him.

It was a hot morning in Italy, but the girls were cooped up in Raffaele's office while they devised a plan for their first attack.

"They have stolen millions worth of drugs, weapons and ammunition and killed a handful of my men" he gritted out.

These losses barely put a dent in the mans bank account, but he wouldn't let  Kuznetsov get away with disrespecting him in such a manner.

If there was one thing Raffaele hated, it was being disrespected.

"They have a base in Latvia" Raffaele began to explain the plan. "It's one of their smaller ones but contains more valuables than in any of the others"

The four girls listened intently, taking notes and memorising maps of the base and surrounding area.

"We have three days until we fly out. In the meantime you girls will be training with my second in command, Mario. Be at the gym for 3pm sharp" the girls then left his office and made their way towards their respective rooms.

At 3pm, the four girls stood in the gym, waiting for this 'Mario' to arrive.

Circe was wearing a pair of large black boxing shorts that came down to her knees. She wore a red sports bra with it and a pair of training shoes.

"Hello girls" a voice came from behind them causing them to all turn around.

"I'm Mario, nice to meet you" he smiled sweetly at the girls. Circe narrowed her eyes.

"Hello love" he winked at her cheekily. She narrowed her eyes some more, but said nothing.

"We are going to do some one on one sparring first, I want to see your combat skills" he told the group, they nodded their heads obediently.

"Okay, Fleur, you're up first" he told her and she nodded, walking into the boxing ring Mario was standing in.

They watched as the girl tried her hardest, but was obliterated by Mario, using both his strength and skill to his advantage.

Although her face remained expressionless, the cogs in Circe's head were turning while watching him fight Fleur, Kaia and Ilaria.

She noted some tension between him and Ilaria during her turn, but decided to make nothing of it.

She picked up on his most used attacks, his movements when he was at a disadvantage and the times he left his face unblocked the most.

She continued to observe his fighting techniques until it came to her turn.

"Circe" he announced at last, seemingly unphased by the other girls attempts. He hadn't even broken a sweat, the other girls were panting slightly but weren't put out too much.

They were trained assassins after all.

Circe kept her calm demeanour as she stepped into the ring and in front of the young man.

"Prepared to get your ass beat?" he smirked devilishly.

She didn't reply.

"Well you're no fun" he pouted. She continued to stare at him emotionlessly.

He didn't say anything else as he lunged at her. She knew it was coming however, quickly dodging his attack and landing a punch in his gut at the same time.

He didn't take long to recover and was up and guarded again, bouncing on his feet slightly.

She lifted her foot and kicked, knowing he would grab onto it, just like he had in the fight with Kaia. She used the grip he had on her ankle to her advantage, hauling herself up onto his shoulders and bringing him down with a crash.