002, 004, and 005 followed silently behind Yu Ijin.
Except he wasn't Ijin anymore now, was he? He was back to being 001. He knew it, and they could feel it. It was why 002 had so readily conceded command, and 004 wasn't contesting the change in leadership.
One way or the other, everything would change tonight. If they didn't make it out of Rajapura, than that is where 001's story would end. But if they did...
Too many people knew what he was now. Going back to school like nothing happened was out of the question. Even just living normally with his family was doubtful. The government may have been lenient with him when Major Kang Hamchan brought him back, but that too would change.
He was going to kill so many people tonight, no one would be able to look at him and not see a weapon.
But those were all thoughts for later. Right now, they were closing in on the Rajapura presidential palace. Thankfully, it was in the outskirts of the capital, most likely because those who built it, centuries ago, hadn't envisioned it becoming what it was now.
Well, less civilians they had to sneak past. And by sticking to the vegetation on the side of the road, they only had to deal with one patrol.
004 had been quite eager to dispatch them.
Sneaking into the palace's grounds had been almost laughably easy. Much like the soldiers at the airfield, the guards were on the lookout for large groups seeking to oppose the change of regime, not a small team of skilled infiltrators.
The last 200 meters were the hardest, because they had to crawl through the low grass and bushes. Anytime a group of guards came closer, they were forced to go completely still. Human eyes were very attuned to motion, but not so much something - or someone - stationary.
Still, those 200 meters took them nearly an hour to traverse. Although, 001 considered the fact the palace wasn't a hive of activity even after all that time a good sign for Major Kang's group.
006 and 018 were waiting for them in a depression of the terrain not 50 meters from the walls of the palace, which allowed them to keep watch over the structure without being seen.
A smile from 006 and a nod from 018 was all the acknowledgement their presence received.
In many ways, this was very familiar to them. No matter what problems or grudges the Numbers might hold for one another, once they were in an operation, none of it held weight. It was what made them so effective. They could try - and had in the not-so-distant past - to kill each other in other moments, but right now, be it 002, 004 or 006, 001 trusted all of them with his life.
006 nudged him, gestured at a side door - their entrance point - and delivered a flurry of hand motions. To most everyone else, it would have meant less than nothing, but to the Numbers, 006 couldn't have communicated better if he had been speaking out loud.
The gist of it was: how did 001 want to do this? Quiet and sneaky until everything imploded? Or with a bang from the start?
For an answer 001 lifted his gun, and his companions stirred. 001 just knew that under their bandanas and masks, they were smiling savage grins, with far too many teeth.
"#@K&*&@"
And just in time, another Rajapuran patrol passed, circling the wall of the palace. 4 men total. Two of them smoking and chatting, while the other two looked bored out of their minds.
With another snap of 001's wrist, the Numbers exploded into motion. The Rajapuran soldiers barely had time to look up at the noise before one of them crumbled to his knees, a knife sticking out of his throat.
The other three didn't last much longer. 001, 002, and 005 each pressed the trigger once, instinct and familiarity letting them know which soldier to target, and they dropped to the ground with holes in the side of their heads.
For five unending seconds, the gunshots echoed in the night, seemingly silencing everything else. Then the palace exploded into activity.
No sooner than the Numbers reached the palace walls, soldiers came careening around the southeast corner, only to be gunned down by a spray of 018's rifle.
Another group popped up from the north, and met much the same end by 006's hands. By then, 004 had taken two large steps back before raising his foot and stomping the doors open.
RATATATA!
001 and 002 swept in from the left and right respectively, opening fire the moment they caught a glimpse of movement.
Three bodies went down, one of them a civil servant's. 001 grimaced, but thought no further on it. This was always going to be a bloodbath, and they were too heavily outnumbered to handicap themselves by being selective.
His muzzle spinning from one side to the other, 001 quickly verified that there were no other hostiles in sight.
They were in a short corridor, with a door each to their left and right, and which seemed to open perpendicularly unto a wider hallway.
Feeling someone tap his shoulder, 001 moved to the door on the left, taking a position to the side of it while 005 provided him cover. 002 and 004 did the same to the room on the other side, while 006 and 018 kept watch over the hallway and outside respectively. The later slapped an explosive charge on the busted doors.
With a nod from 005, 001 kicked the room's door open, while the female Number kept a cross fire. A quick scan revealed an empty sitting room, with an ashtray and still smoking cigarettes on the coffee table. Probably where the three Rajapurans had been before the commotion outside attracted them.
The noise of wood breaking from behind them, followed by silence, meant the room 002 and 004 checked must have been similarly empty.
Stepping back out into the corridor, 001 gestured with his fingers for them to advance. He took point, 005 a step behind and to his left, 002 in the same position to his right, with 004 closing their little square, while 006 and 018 walked backwards, guns aimed at the outside.
They slowed down slightly when they reached the hallway, mainly because they could hear a lot of feet stomping their way.
Pressing his body against the wall, 001 waited for the first Rajapuran soldier to turn the corner. The man had a split-second to widen his eyes in surprise before the assassin grabbed the muzzle of his rifle and pulled him forward, slamming a knee in his gut at the same time.
Instead of letting the soldier double over and throw up his dinner, 001 let go of the enemy's weapon, wrapped his left arm around his neck, and turned him around.
Letting go of his own rifle so it could hang from the strap around his shoulders, 001 quickly pulled out his pistol, just in time for the rest of the hostiles to reveal themselves.
The seconds of surprise they wasted at the sight of one of their own being used as a human shield cost them dearly. Three of them went down with bloody holes in their foreheads, and that was before 005, 002, and 004 popped up from behind the corner and opened fire.
In short order, there were 10 freshly-made corpses on the hallway, none of the soldiers having managed to so much as fire a single shot.
As for 001's meat shield? The silver-haired killer kicked him in the back of the knee, pressed his pistol to the back of his head, and squeezed the trigger.
It had been a grand total of 71 seconds since they started, and just 33 seconds since they entered the palace itself.
As one organism, the Numbers advanced into the hallway. 005 tapped 001's shoulder before switching with 006, who pointed up. That was where the president's - and now General Tabik's - office was.
001 nodded, his gaze still trained at the end of the hallway. Gunshots in an enclosed space made it hard to hear anything else, but there was a lot of shouting coming from that direction.
Stepping over the bodies, they walked towards the commotion. It was the only way to go.
001 and 002 opened fire at the same time when more soldiers burst out of a doorway about 20 meters ahead of them - likely another corridor that led to the main area of the palace.
Two Rajapurans fell, but the others had smarted up. They took cover and only showed their hands and weapons, firing blindly.
001 dropped down to avoid the rain of bullets, but 002 chose the more direct approach of popping the pin of a grenade and rolling it towards the enemy.
The Numbers who were still standing dropped down and covered their ears. The ensuing explosion seemed to rock the entire hallway, and was accompanied by plenty of blood-curling screams of agony.
Screams which quickly cut out as 004 dashed forward with a knife in his hands and a maniacal grin on his face.
Taking advantage of the lull, 001 got up and examined his companions. 005 had some blood on her shoulder from where a shard of wall had clipped her, but one glance was enough to tell 001 it was nothing but a scratch.
He tapped 002's shoulder, and they continued moving.
That was when the second explosion hit, coming from behind them, and that one rocked the entire palace, not just the hallway.
Someone had crossed 018's rigged door.
------------------------
Even from several kilometers away, 032, 008, Major Kang, the South Korean troops, the hostages in the plane, and the Rajapuran soldiers in the runaway could hear the sounds of combat.
The faint popping of gunshots could have passed for fireworks or something else if everyone wasn't so on edge already, but there was no mistaking the explosion.
Sirens started blaring, coming from all three directions: the palace, the capital, and the airfield. In a matter of minutes, nearly 200 soldiers were scrambling to get in their trucks and go reinforce the palace.
032 watched all of this from the top of the control tower while slurping on an energy drink he bought from a vending machine.
"Sounds like boss started. Once they stop panicking, what do you think will happen first? They will check on us or the plane?"
Major Kang glared at him in disbelief of his light tone. Many of the South Korean soldiers would have done the same if they hadn't become utterly and completely terrified of the teenager in the last hour and a half.
With just 30 men, they had managed to take over the main terminal and the control tower of the airfield, and all without firing a single shot or warning the literal army not a hundred meters away to their presence.
And all of that had been because of 032 directing them. By staying in the very first office they had come across and hacking the terminal's security system, 032 had managed to guide them into taking out all 52 Rajapuran soldiers inside while never leaving his chair.
His instructions were timely, accurate and precise, sometimes down to how they should kill the enemies. By the time they had cleared the building and rejoined with the young teen at the door of the airfield's control center, Major Kang and the South Korean troops were all staring at him like he was a monster.
Those stares extended to 008 too when, at a word from 032, the mountain of a man just straight up ripped the doors to the main room of the control tower off their hinges, startling all the poor souls inside.
The handful of soldiers inside had the unfortunate fate of being right next to said doors while keeping guard, which put them well in range of 008's hands. Needless to say, their end wasn't pretty.
That left only the tower operators inside, who, despite being garbed in military uniform, since this was, after all, a military airfield, were not armed.
Major Kang's men subdued them easily, and the man was wondering if he should tie them up or take more drastic measures when 008 took the choice out of his hands. With mechanical precision, the nearly two dozen operators had their necks snapped.
That hadn't sat well with Major Kang or his men. They were soldiers, and, while far from twinkle-eyed idealists, the idea of cold-blooded murder still bothered them.
032 shot down all their objections by asking if they were willing to gamble the 224 lives aboard the hijacked plane for their flimsy morals.
After that, it had been a matter of spreading a few sentries throughout the building just in case, and waiting for 032 to work his magic.
Major Kang wasn't sure how he did it, but after going through half a dozen different computers, 032 declared that the radars were disabled, and pointed to a metal box on the wall, which he said was the cell signal jammer.
008 ripped it off.
And just to be through, 032 went around the control tower with his knife, cutting chords, cables, and powerlines, and ensuring that even if disaster struck and the the Rajapuran army recovered the building, there would be nothing usable for them.
And then they waited. Major Kang contacted the SW bodyguard in the plane, Koh Sukjoo, using a radio he had left behind, to say that they were making progress and he should keep the passengers calm, but other than that, it was mostly waiting.
Some of the more experienced soldiers took the opportunity to sit down and rest, while the more restless ones paced around.
008 just ripped off the seats of three chairs to create a makeshift pillow, laid down, and started snoring.
And Major Kang, after checking in on his men, made his way towards 032. He was curious about someone Ijin called family, especially when the high-schooler once said he didn't know what that was before he regained his memories.
He was also curious about how someone as young as 032 ended up here. 008 was easy to understand. The man, while younger than Major Kang, was big, scarred, and scary. One look at him and you knew he was a mercenary.
032 was different. He was young, his features were delicate, and he spoke and acted like a kid sometimes.
A kid who could slash someone's throat without batting an eyelid, and step over bodies like it was an everyday occasion.
And maybe for him it was.
"So... 032."
"That's me."
"I know. But what I meant was: what's up with the numbers? I understand codenames, of course, but why those ones? 032, 008, 001, 004."
The young teen took his eyes off the monitors and tilted his head, a curious gleam on his gaze when he looked at Major Kang.
"I can't speak for the others, but 032 isn't my codename. It's my name. Only one I remember, anyway."
Major Kang blinked. That... Abort. He didn't want to go down that particular rabbit hole and all its implications, which certainly included 'crimes against humanity' somewhere in it.
"Then... What about that 003 woman 002 mentioned earlier. Is she one of yours?"
He must have hit a nerve, because 032's expression clouded over. The young mercenary bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood.
"She was. Then she betrayed us. A lot of the Numbers who are missing died because of her. Or by her."
The capital 'N' in Numbers flew over Major Kang's head, but the bitter hate in 032's voice didn't.
He decided to drop the subject and let 032 do his thing, whatever that was.
Now, watching from the tower while the airfield exploded into activity, Major Kang had forgotten all about that conversation. He felt all the tension returning, his lips suddenly dry.
On the airstrip, soldiers moved everywhere, while vehicles roared off. It was like someone had kicked a beehive.
No, that analogy didn't quite cover it. It looked more like someone had taken a sledgehammer to said beehive, and smashed it into pieces.
"What the hell did they do?"
"Knowing 001? Raised hell."
008's deep, rumbling voice came from behind him, and Major Kang was once again impressed by how someone so big could move so silently.
"Is that normal for him?"
"Eh, he rarely does it on purpose, but somehow it's how it always ends. Although, this time I do believe making as much noise as possible was his target from the start."
"Ijin..."
Not for the first time tonight, Major Kang had to fight down his instinct to worry for the friendly high-schooler. He needed to trust Ijin.
"What do we do now?"
"Dunno. Ijin left you in charge, remember? Although, I do think they are going to move on the plane soon. The hostages are their strongest card. They will want to secure them."
032 said it so nonchalantly, like it wasn't his problem. Which, unbeknownst to Major Kang, it really wasn't. The only one he cared about was 001, and he wasn't in the plane anymore. He only cared about the hostages because 001cared about them.
Crtz!
That was the radio Major Kang had left with Sukjoo. The officer quickly picked it up.
"Major, what's the situation? Are we in trouble?"
Crtz!
"I'm assessing. The commotion is Ijin and his allies causing a distraction and securing our insurance. However, I want you to get all the passengers to crouch in front of their seats, or lay down on the corridors. Enemies may attempt to board the plane, in which case we will be forced to engage."
Crtz!
"Copy that. May I tell them this is the work of the rescue forces?"
Crtz!
"You can, that should help calm them down if nothing else."
Major Kang ended the exchange. He quickly barked orders for his men to stand at readiness, and looked at 032.
"Any news from Ijin and his team?"
"Nothing yet. They are probably fighting. By the way, we will need to move soon-ish. This tower is a nice vantage point, but it outlived its usefulness since we destroyed all the equipment. But while their radars may be toast, the AA batteries are manually operated, and the missiles have their own guidance systems. If we don't want that plane to get shot out of the sky, we need to disable them. And that means going down there."
"They are more alert now than they ever were before. A fly wouldn't be able to sneak past them."
"Which is why we won't even try. My suggestion is to take a page out of 001's book. Rig this place to blow, cause a big distraction, and when they inevitably spot us, kill our way through."
Again, 032 ignored the incredulous stares his words evoked. He just looked at Major Kang and then smiled when the man sighed.
"Alright. We are already betting our lives, so I guess go big or go home. Or to an unmarked grave in this case. Everyone, ready up! This tower is going down and I don't want anyone inside it when it happens!"
----------------------
A handful of kilometers away, truck after truck with Rajapuran soldiers arrived at the presidential palace, spewing their contents to join the seemingly never-ending stream of troops already there.
It was chaos. There were shots being fired inside the palace, explosions going off, and nobody knew who the enemy was, or how many of them there were.
An entire portion of the south wall had collapsed thanks to a detonation, killing half a dozen soldiers instantly, and burying twice that number again in over half a ton of rubble.
The situation inside the building wasn't much better. Whoever the invaders were, they were good, not to mention merciless. No one could give a proper report on them because they left none alive.
001 was in his element. For all he enjoyed the normal life of a student back in South Korea, there was no denying that this, the rush of combat, of putting your life on the line, felt much more familiar.
He was already on his third rifle magazine, and he had no doubt the muzzle was hot enough to cook an egg, but he kept squeezing the trigger relentlessly, mowing down anyone the Numbers came across.
So far, it had been mostly soldiers, with a few palace staff mixed in. He felt sorry for the later, but between sparing them and leaving an unknown at their backs, there was not much pity in his heart.
Ducking behind a solid, dark-wood bartop, 001 ejected his nearly empty magazine. If he counted right - and he did - it still held 3 bullets, but he would rather have a full mag. It wasn't like weapons were hard to come by.
Wincing as bullets carved trenches on the mahogany above his head, a barb cutting his cheek, 001 gave a signal to 006.
The long-haired Number raised his rifle over his head and fired wildly, causing the hail of bullets coming their way to falter for a few seconds as the soldiers instinctively took cover.
Taking advantage of that single moment, 001 sprung up and vaulted over the bartop, firing his gun while running, and hitting two of the enemies. One went down with a hole in his neck, while the other held a bloody shoulder.
Out of the corner of his eye, 001 saw another soldier fall, courtesy of either 005, 002, or 018. He couldn't tell. His focus was on getting closer to the pocket of hostiles that had managed to pin them down, even if only momentarily.
There were about a dozen of them. They had turned over a dinning table, and were taking cover behind it. 001 discarded his rifle, letting it clatter to the ground, and pulled out a pistol with his right hand, while drawing his karambit with his left.
Jumping over the dinning table landed him right on top of a Rajapuran soldier, which 001 was quick to end by punching him in the chest with his gun and then squeezing the trigger twice.
With his left hand, 001 lashed out, cutting and slicing the wrists, thighs, and abdomen of another soldier. The man screamed in pain and dropped his gun.
001 let him curl up on the ground in agony, not sure of which wound to clutch, and aimed his pistol at the two soldiers behind him.
They cursed in their native language, but that didn't slow the mercenary down at all. With almost indifferent casualness, 001 shot them dead, before rolling to the left, just in time to avoid getting skewered by a bayonet.
The sharp blade still grazed his side, drawing blood, but the biting pain was nothing to 001. Mid roll, his pistol peeked out from under his armpit and fired thrice, the force of the bullets sending the bayonet soldier flying back.
Then 001 was on his feet again, and charging at the remaining 6 soldiers. They had made the right choice, and abandoned their rifles in favor of pistols and knives, much like him, which were more suited for such close-quarters combat.
Twisting his body to give them as small of a target as possible, 001 threw himself at the closest soldier, but the blossom of heat on his arm told him at least one of the projectiles had found their mark.
It was ignored in favor of stabbing his blade on the man's jugular and pulling. Karambits weren't meant for slashing so much as slicing, but it worked anyway.
Holding the body up as a makeshift shield, 001 felt the impact of bullets on it as the remaining enemies fired with reckless abandon, and heedless of their fellow soldier's life.
It was a brutal waste of bullets, and when 001 heaved and threw the corpse at them, three were already clicking empty.
His blade found the soft spots of their bodies and cut ruthlessly. The inside of the thighs, calves, groin. Anywhere that would hurt and main, 001 attacked. And just to be sure, he followed through with a bullet where he could.
The last of the soldiers died gurgling in his own bloo-
"Urgh..."
Scratch that, the second man 001 had attacked was still alive, although bleeding heavily from 8 different cuts.
BANG!
It was mercy when the mercenary walked over and put a bullet in his head.
After it was over, the rest of the Numbers walked over to him. 006 and 018 immediately started searching the bodies for suitable ammo or appropriate replacements for their weaponry, while 004 made a face - probably because 001 had gotten to kill the enemies instead of him. And 002 was as cold as ever.
"Reckless."
005 purposefully pressed a finger on the bullet wound on his arm while checking him over, and 001 hissed. The woman clicked her tongue.
"Bullet's stuck inside. We don't have time to take it out, you are gonna have to toughen it out. The rest are just scratches."
001 was far from the only one injured. No matter how good the Numbers were, with how many bullets were flying around, a few were bound to hit the mark.
But they were trained to position themselves to expose as little potentially lethal body parts as possible, so 001's injury was actually the worse of the bunch.
Not bad considering they had already dropped somewhere north of 100 bodies.
"We should move. There are more of these bastards coming up."
"Grenades."
018 and 005 pulled the pins of theirs without missing a beat, and threw them out of the dinning room they had just cleared, and
down the stairs.
"Arggh!"
They were rewarded by screams of pain, which turned to horror as 006 added his own explosive just for good measure.
Picking up his rifle again, 001 kicked open the door at the other end of the dining room, exiting in a smaller side room. Two maids were cowering in the corner, and he aimed at them.
"Wait, 001."
018 put his hand on his arm and pushed it down. Walking over to the maids - still alert for the possibility of a trap, of course - the taciturn Number crouched next to them and started speaking in hushed tones and in their native language.
Whatever he said, it caused them to burst into tears and wail, gesturing wildly to another door. 018 nodded calmly before suddenly striking both of them in the temple with the butt of his rifle.
"They said Tabik's been holed up in the presidential office since he took over. We are on the right floor. It's after that door and down the corridor."
No one commented on how he only knocked out the maids instead of killing them like literally everyone else they came across. It would be ungrateful of their part to do so after they helped them.
"If Tabik's there, that's where 003 is too."
004 snarled, a knife spinning in his fingers. Even 002 narrowed his eyes under his mask. 001, on the other hand, was cold as ice.
"How many associates did she have with her, 006?"
"I saw four total. 3 men, 1 woman. They are all pretty big names in the mercenary scene. Not us-good, but dangerous."
001 nodded. No one was more aware than the Numbers that, no matter how good you are, it only takes one lucky hit for you to be done for.
"We need Tabik alive. Once we have him, we can work on getting out of here. Kill everyone else."
As if they were planning on doing anything else. Still, the Numbers nodded before 005 took point out into the corridor.
"Ack!"
And promptly fell back, blood streaming from her torso.
"Fuck!"
"005!"
006 and 002 dragged her back by the arms just as a veritable shower of bullets punched the ground and doorway full of holes. Chips of wood and shredded carpet flew everywhere, and 001 knelt down to inspect 005's injury while 004 and 018 returned fire.
It was bad. The bullet had perforated her lower abdomen, and definitely hit something important if the way 005 was cursing was anything to go by. Numbers had a very high pain tolerance, it wasn't easy to get them this riled up.
"Don't bite your tongue."
001 tore up a bandage and rolled it into small cylinders, which he shoved into the wound. A very crude way of stopping the bleeding, but it worked. Meanwhile, 006 injected her with a shot of morphine, and 002 knelt by her other side.
"Is it them?"
"Ahg, fuc- Yeah, it's them alright! That bitch 003's the one who shot me! Urghh... And she got what looks like a fucking platoon with her! Ack! Be more gentle, 001, you motherfucker!"
He ignored her, wrapping her wound with a new swathe of bandages, which quickly stained red.
"Can you fight?"
005 snarled and pushed 006 aside.
"Of course I can fucking fight. I'm gonna kill that puta!"
Even if she said that, 005's expression contorted in pain when she tried to push off the floor. But she did get up, discarding her rifle for a pistol so she could keep one hand pressed on her wound.
001 looked out of the doorway, which as getting shredded by an unending hail of bullets. He counted at least 20 guns firing.
"There's a room on the other side of the corridor. 006, on my mark drop flashbangs. 002, 018, cross to the other side. We need to spread their fire. How many grenades do we have?"
"I've got two."
"One here."
"I'm out."
"Me too."
"I have- Ack... One left."
001 had two himself. Each Number had gone in with four of the explosives, and made liberal use of them to fasten their way through the palace.
"I'll save mine. 005, give 004 yours. 004, 002, on my signal, throw the grenades towards them, 1 second delay per. We storm it when the last goes off."
In a matter of seconds, a plan had been hatched out and was ready to be executed. 001 patted 005's shoulder, who was leaning against a wall.
"You got our backs?"
"Of course I fuckin' do! Now go kill that bitch for me!"
He was going to. Nodding to 006, he turned his face away and covered his ears when the long-haired man threw the two flashbangs out of the door.
BAN-ZOOONG!
They bounced of the opposite wall at an angle and rolled further down the corridor. Even with a wall between them and his back turned, 001 still felt the world brighten beyond his closed eyelids, and his ears ring from the piercing noise.
From the screams of the soldiers they had gotten it much worse. 002 and 018 dove for the other side of the corridor without missing a beat, 001's second-in-command shooting the lock for expediency sake.
But this time, their opposition wasn't simply a handful of elite soldiers. There were also the people 003 brought, and the woman herself.
Looking up, 001 saw that his fellow Numbers had made it safely across the corridor, but not unscathed. 002 was glaring at a cut on his left arm, while 018 clutched a bleeding hole in his calf.
Neither were debilitating wounds, although the later would no doubt affect 018's mobility.
Still, the Numbers had sustained much worse injuries before and walked away. 001 was ready to order the grenades when a sudden silence filled the floor.
The ringing of explosions and whistling of bullets still seemed to echo in their ears, but the real thing was distinctly missing.
"Hey, 002! I thought that was 005 I shot. How nice of all of you to come support President Tabik's inauguration. I didn't even send you the invites. Is everyone with you?"
003's singing voice came from somewhere down the corridor, and 001 could almost see that gentle, inviting, fake smile she always had. 003 never got angry. She never stopped smiling.
"We are here for you, 003. You betrayed the Numbers."
Unless you knew 002 extremely well - which 003 did - you wouldn't be able to detect the subtle edge of pure hatred in his voice.
"Oh, 002. Still stuck on the same old thing? That was just making full use of an opportunity. I knew if I stayed in the Numbers my luck would run out someday, or Mad Dog would decide we were too dangerous and dispose of us - which, correct me if I'm wrong, he tried just that with you. Eliminating hounds that would surely be sent after me when I left was just good strategy. Wouldn't have worked if 001 didn't do most of the dirty work. Although, he had really gone soft. Leaving our old comrades alive. Mad Dog would probably have been more pissed at that than his betrayal. Not that it mattered much once I finished cleaning up his mess."
The Numbers knew 003 was saying it on purpose. She had always been a sadist, although sheer fear of 001 usually had her curbing her dark urges back then.
Still, provoking the enemy into losing their minds in anger was her specialty, and not even the Numbers were immune to it.
"Grr... That whore! I'm going to fucking kill her so fucking slowly!"
001 and 006 had to grab 004 by the arms before he could charge out, blade in hand. 003 heard him, though.
"Ho-oh-ho, is that 004? My, you really did bring everyone, 002. Let's see, I already saw 018 and 005... Are you there, 006?"
"Right here, 003. Why don't you come over so we can talk face-to-face?"
"Hahahaha... I'll think about it. Who else, who else... 016?"
"Out there looking for a window through which he can put a bullet in your head."
005's pained jab only evoked more laughter from 003.
"Oh, I have no doubt about it. And I guess 008 and 032 are securing your escape?"
"Something like that."
She didn't mention 001. She didn't know he was still alive. They may have fought at the hotel, but he had been using a gas mask and wearing a suit, not to mention he was about 6 years older than the last time 003 saw him. She didn't recognize him, only believing that SW's chairman had hired a particularly skilled bodyguard. After all, while the Numbers might be the best, there were others not too far beneath them in the world.
This could be used to their advantage. On the other hand...
"Grenades."
001's voice was low, but the Numbers heard him clearly. 002 and 004 pulled the pins of two grenades each, and threw them blindly down the corridor without showing themselves.
"#@^%#!"
After the flashbangs, the other side was slightly more prepared to the rolling balls of doom. 001 could hear screams and a lot of bodies moving, predictably diving for cover, but a few were still caught by the series of explosions that rocked the palace.
"Light them up."
001, 004, 006, 002, and 018 all stepped into the open. For the first time, 001 saw what laid beyond the door: a corridor that was once decorated with expensive furniture, gold inlays, and no doubt priceless paintings, but was now a charred wasteland covered in scorch marks, debries, shrapnel, and body parts.
At the very end of the corridor was a room, double doors scratched and bent, but still mostly intact. 001 realized 003 must have closed it when the grenades were thrown, which also explained the concentration of dead Rajapuran soldiers outside. They were caught without a path to survival.
Well, 003 cared for no one, possibly not even herself, so it wasn't much of a surprise that she would abandon them.
However, it wasn't like her to trap herself with no escape route. Unless she thought she could fight off all the Numbers at once - doubtful - or that the associates she brought could take them on in equal grounds- doubly doubtful - she must have something to rely on.
001 decided he didn't really care. 003 was in the room, and so was General Tabik. He had to get to both.
With a gesture from him, the Numbers moved up. Only the occasional gasp of pain from an unlucky survivor, almost immediately followed by a lone gunshot, accompanied their steps...
"You gonna be okay holding the rear alone, 005?"
"Just get this over with, 006."
"As you command, my lady."
"Don't croak on us, 005."
"Fuck off, 004!"
...Until 006 opened his mouth, because he would never miss a chance to needle 005, potentially fatal wound nonwithstanding, and then of course 004 had to add his two cents.
"My, you are still as lively as ever."
003's voice came from the other side of the door, slightly muffled buy still recognizable. As the Numbers took position to the sides - just in case she decided to shoot or blast through it - 001 nodded to 002.
"Come out, 003. We will end this like Numbers."
There was a pause, then 003's spoke again, and nobody missed the undertone of coldness and viciousness.
"I am not a Number anymore, 002. There are no Numbers anymore. Mad Dog is gone, Camp is gone, and you are gone. If you didn't come after me, maybe you would get to live a little longer. But you just can't let go, can you? Just like with 001."
The barb would probably have hurt more if 001 hadn't been right there with them. 003 knew better than anyone just how affected by 001's seeming betrayal 002 had been.
"Bitch!"
004 grumbled. For all he was belligerent, hot-headed, and hated 001's guts, 004 was also an extremely loyal person. That was why he followed 002 so closely back in Camp, and had been so angry when 001 was chosen to lead the Numbers. However, once that decision was made, he obeyed his orders unflinchingly.
"Eloquent as always, 004."
004 was about to snark back when 002 put a hand on his shoulder. The knife-wielding Number glanced over his shoulder, only to see that 002 wasn't even looking at him. Instead, his gaze was fixed on 001, who had stepped out of cover and was standing right in front of the doors.
"003. Open the door."
For what felt like hours, nothing happened. Then, the doors slowly creaked open, revealing a handful of Rajapuran soldiers, a middle-aged man behind a desk who could only be General Tabik Srendra, three men and a woman in tactical gear and armed to the teeth, and, in front of them all, in a form-fitting silver dress, white hair hanging loose, 003.
The two just stared at each other for a long time. 001's expression was blank under his bandana, his eyes cold. 003 looked outwardly calm, but her missing smile, lips pressed in a thin line, spoke volumes about her shock.
For many of the Numbers, this was the first time they felt they had seen 003 actually speechless. It took until General Tabik and the Rajapuran soldiers started getting antsy for her to work her jaw and get some words out.
"001. You are alive."
That was all she said. All she had time to say, really, because the next second General Tabik yelled something in his native language, and the half-a-dozen soldiers inside the office, who had already been aiming at the Numbers, and especially 001, started to squeeze the triggers.
Then they died.
General Tabik's eyes widened as his men's blood sprayed the walls of the office as they fell to the ground, riddled full of bullets.
Neither 001 nor 003 broke away from their staring contest.
"018, secure the general."
002 ordered coldly, and 018 strode into the office while pointedly ignoring 003 and her associates, who hadn't moved a muscle when the Rajapuran officers were gunned down.
"You! How dare you! Do you know who I am!?"
With a crazed look in his eyes, and no small amount of fear, although it was currently being overriden by rage, General Tabik spat at 018, only to be ignored.
That seemed to piss him off more than having the presidential palace invaded or his men killed. He reached for a pistol on his waist, only for 018 to kick the desk, causing it to smash into his stomach, and knock the general into his chair, which couldn't take the weight and toppled over, sending the general sprawling onto the floor.
"Ah! You filthy- Arghh!"
His curses were cut off by 018 stomping on his arm and snapping his right elbow like a twig. Then the Number hauled him up by the collar of his military uniform, and pressed a pistol against the small of his back, right over his spine.
"Shut up."
003 let him drag the general past her, the man who had staged a coup and orchestrated one of the biggest terrorist attacks on South Korea now relegated to nothing more than a footnote to the Numbers' reunion.
"You faked your death. And 002, 004, all of you... No, you didn't know it. The kind of reaction you had back then couldn't be faked. But I have no doubt at least some of you would want to kill 001 when you found out he was alive. So how come you are working together again?"
004 growled, and 002 narrowed his eyes. Down the corridor they could hear 005 cursing, and 006 gave 003 a smile that had enough teeth to be halfway to a snarl. 018 jabbed his gun forcefully against General Tabik's back, eliciting a grunt, because that was the stress relief mechanism he had a hand.
And 001 refrained from speaking. The question had been directed at the other Numbers, after all.
"Circumstances. But 001 didn't kill the Numbers sent after him. You did. You are the traitor."
002 spat - actually spat - in what was probably the most intense display of disappointment and vitriol he could manage. 003 shook her head.
"Heh. In the end, it doesn't really matter how you came to be here, does it? Only what you are going to do now, 001."
The silver-haired killer stared at his counterpart. Then he threw his rifle away, followed by unbuckling his belt and the pistol strapped to his chest, and dropping it all.
The only thing he kept was the military knife hooked to his thigh, which he unsheathed.
Spinning the blade through his fingers, 001 held it in a standard forward grip. His feet slid apart, and he flexed his knees and stretched his joints.
"You are 003. A Number."
He was contesting what she claimed earlier. And 003... Sighed. Then smiled.
"I am."
Turning her back to 001, she walked over to a military duffel bag that had been hidden in the corner of the room, overlooked by everyone.
She slid the zipper to reveal stacks of cash, which she wholly ignored. Under the cash were black clothes, very similar to the ones the Numbers were wearing.
And under that still, enough plastic explosives to level a small house. Nobody missed that, even if 003 gave no indications that she was planning on touching it. 006 tilted his head.
"I'm guessing that was your escape plan?"
"Eh, insurance. Just in case General Tabik decided not to honor his word. It was woefully easy to slip it past his men in their rush to commit treason."
003 shrugged, uncaring for the wonderfully wide-eyed look of outrage the suddenly pale usurper was shooting her.
A look which turned to straight fear as 003 lifted the hem of her dress to reveal a detonator strapped to her thigh.
Even the Numbers tensed up then, but all 003 did was pick it up and then lay it down on the desk. Then she proceeded to, without an ounce of shame, take off her dress.
"Help me with the zipper, 004 dear, would you?"
She gracefully dodged the knife he tried to stab deep into her gut, and pouted.
"Guess I will do it myself."
Nobody moved or spoke as 003 stepped out of her dress in nothing but black panties and a matching bra, before slowly putting on the clothes she took out of the bag.
"I thought I might need these."
"Yeah, well, if you could just hurry up and let 001 kill you, we got a few interlopers coming up!"
005 limped her way to them, shooting 003 a venomous glare. The sound of dozens of people running up the stairs and the shouting in foreign language followed her.
"Go deal with them, would you? Tell them General Tabik is otherwise occupied."
003 gestured to her 4 associates, who, after a series of silent exchanges between themselves and with her, carefully stepped past the Numbers. 006 moved to the side so they could squeeze past, and even gave them a cheerful wave of hand while calmly stopping 005 from shooting them in the back.
To General Tabik, their unwilling audience, the whole series of events was insane.
He had just executed a coup he had been preparing for for weeks, and it had gone flawlessly!
A large part of it had been thanks to the woman who called herself Queen (and who the Numbers called 003), who had warned him of the president making moves for his arrest.
Now, that same woman hadn't bat an eyelid when those damn intruders broke into his palace, slaughtered his troops, and took him prisoner!
And not only that, she knew the intruders! Hell, she used to be part of them! And now she was going to fight to the death with their leader, in his office, while the others watched!
And the cherry in top, he heard her 4 subordinates talking to the Rajapuran soldiers who had been coming up to defend him. He was livid when he heard the woman telling them they couldn't come up,, although a small smile of vindication broke through his scowl when he heard one of his closest supporters, Colonel Malif, tell her to step aside or be shot.
The colonel was supposed to be in charge of the airfield, but with all the commotion the intruders had caused, he must have come back to investigate. Good man. He would set everything right and kill all those damn foreigners!
BANG! BANG BANG RATATATA BANG!
The smile vanished from his lips when he heard a lone gunshot, followed by Colonel Malif screaming in pain. And then a burst of automatic fire silenced the protests of the rest of his men.
General Tabik heard very clearly when the woman said: 'the floor is closed, unless you want to stay here forever'.
None of his men tried to force their way past again.
While the general went through a roller-coaster of emotions with an scheduled stop at despair, 003 had finished preparing herself. None of the Numbers had so much as looked back at the noise.
Stretching her limbs, 003 pulled out a butterfly knife. She didn't bother showing off her skills with it. That only worked to intimidate lesser opponents.
"Like Numbers, then. I don't suppose you will let me walk out if I win, 002?"
The stout Number didn't answer. 003 sighed again.
"Thought so. Then, 001, let's finish what we never got to the day you died."
There was no signal to start, no countdown. One moment 003 was speaking, the next her blade was drawing a bead of blood from 001's neck, while his left an equally fine line over her ribs.
And then they started to fight for real.