Kirsten couldn’t understand what just happened. Alicia had gone flying out the window, probably knocked unconscious even if Luis said that kick was strong enough to kill her.


    And now there was someone standing on the window that looked uncannily like Alicia, but the stark difference between each other due to the lack of scars on her skin instantly stood out.


    She affirmed to know Alicia, and implied that she was even more dangerous than her.


    Suffice to say, he was intrigued to see what this imposter was going to do.


    “Who the fuck do you think you are brat!?” – Said Luis. – “Out of our fucking sight!”


    Igor rushed at her intending to blow her away with a single punch, but right before he was close enough, she clapped.


    Igor felt his fist connect with her chest, he saw her open her mouth as blood came out from it like when you smash a fruit, he saw her fly back out. He had punched her, hell, maybe he had killed her with that single punch, everyone saw it.


    But then, why is it that after he blinked, there was nothing in front of him? Worse yet, why was he the one flying out the window and down to the ground. Why had he defenestrated himself? Why was his target standing right behind him inside the house so nonchalantly?


    Igor fell down to the ground and bruised his already wounded arms; the impact would put him out of commission for a little while.


    “Pff, fucking amateurs.” – She said. – “As if that would be enough.”


    “What the fuck did you do to Igor!?” – He said raising up his pistol.


    “Now now, a mage shouldn’t reveal her tricks!” – She said, showing Luis her teeth. They were sharp, like a shark’s, Kirsten was sure her teeth weren’t like that before. – “He may be a big guy, but his mind is vulnerable, most little brains are. I wonder if yours is similar.”


    “You won’t get to do shit with me!”


    Luis prepared to open fire, but before his finger could pull the trigger, she snapped her fingers, and he realized that suddenly his index finger couldn’t move anymore.


    “What the fuck!?” – Luis couldn’t process what was happening before she kicked him out of the room. He bounced on the wall and fell down the stairs.


    “Alicia!” – Called out Kirsten, and she turned around. – “…You are not her, are you?”


    Ten scratched the back of her head. – “Well damn, I guess the gig is up.”  - She shrugged. – “She’s gonna kill me for this later. For now, let’s focus on sending these guys packing.”


    Ten walked down the stairs to meet Luis who was standing back up. The veins in his forehead were pulsing.


    He had lost his gun, but that wasn’t the only weapon he had brought. He took out from the back of his pants a couple of Karambit knives and adopted his combat pose.


    Ten stretched her arms and legs. – “Now, with the fluff out of the way.” – She cracked her fingers. – “Let’s rumble!”


    Luis let out his war cry and rushed forward, but his hype was cut short when he got smacked in the face with a belt’s buckle.


    “Are you fucking with me!?” – He said staring at her holding that belt in her hand.


    “There ain’t no way I can win a knife fight unarmed!”


    Luis rushed forward again but Ten kept him at a distance by attacking him with the belt as if it was a whip. Luis did his best to protect his face using his arms, but this prevented him from shortening the distance between the two, but he kept pushing forward, cornering her.


    Once she had her back against a wall, Luis evaded the belt by crouching and throwing himself forward, aiming to slash both of her legs. His charge was cut short by Ten moving her knee forward, planting a strike right on his face.


    Luis fell to the ground and rolled to the left to avoid being stomped on.


    He tried to slash her chest with the knife in her right hand, but Ten sidestep and snared the arm with the belt and pulled backwards, forcing him to fall to the ground.


    Luis couldn’t believe what he was experiencing. He couldn’t believe it back at the diner and he couldn’t believe it then, he was being beaten by a teenager.


    He didn’t care if some teenagers were prodigies or talented in any shape of form, a man of his experience would always beat them without breaking a sweat, that was his prerogative as an adult and professional. But she wasn’t a normal teenager, was she? he had seen how she worked, he read her file; now he knew what it said was true.


    Ten stomped his stomach, making spit come out of his mouth as he groaned with pain.


    She intended to deal another blow but Igor stormed through the front door like a raging bull and hit her as hard as he could, sending her flying through the glass door to the backyard.


    Ten rolled on the ground to ease her fall and stood back up staring at her two opponents. Luis threw the belt away, Igor’s bandages were bloody, it was quite obvious she had gotten on their nerves.


    “Come on people, you can’t blame me for trying to ensure my own survival! That’s what self-defense is all about.” – She said showing them her empty hands, like trying to appease them.


    “Where is Butcher!?” – Asked Luis.


    “She’s closer than you think lil’ fella. Like I said, you hit her so hard that I had to come out of the bushes to deal with you. How are you liking me so far? I do classes on Thursdays; I don’t charge much…”


    Igor charged once again intending to make this one the killing blow, but this time Ten charged forward too.


    Once she was within range, Igor tried to trap her with his arms but she slid between his legs, catching his right leg and pulling it backwards, forcing him to fall to the ground. He couldn’t get it, how did she do that when he was supposed to weight over one hundred kilograms? Someone like shouldn’t be alive to just sweep his foot as if it was nothing.


    He became aware of the state of his arms once again, he remembered how his arms were mutilated by what he assumed was magic.


    Igor remembered what he was actually dealing with, but it was already too late as a roundhouse kick landed on the left side of his face, sending him to the ground once again.


    Next up was Luis determined to slice her throat with his knives, but as he ran forward Ten chose the right moment to kick the leading leg, coming close to shattering it, but not quite, though it was still quite painful.


    That kick threw him off balance, Ten took that chance to grab his right arm and bend it, forcing to him to drop the knife. She grabbed it before it could touch the ground and used it to slash the back of his knee.


    She was about to stab him in the back now that she was in that position, but Igor had managed to get himself together and stand back up, just in time to strike her in the stomach with a powerful punch, and this time he was sure he had hit her and not some weird hallucination.


    Effectively that hit bashed her away a couple of meters, and he could tell it smarted. Ten held onto her stomach while groaning. Igor thought that he had her on the ropes, so he charged once again, intending to punch her in the face this time.


    When he got two steps away from getting in range, Ten clapped, and for some reason Igor found himself unable to make another step or to make a move at all.


    He had a hard time remembering what he was doing and had lost control of his own body. Igor found himself disturbed at the realization that he was unable to think.


    But then he was spared of this suffering by a powerful hook punch to the point of his chin, a lightning fast strike not even Luis managed to perceive its movement from where he was.


    Luis witnessed as Igor blacked out entirely and dropped to the ground like a ragdoll.


    Afterwards, Ten raised up her leg in perfect form, intending to drop an axe kick right on top of Igor’s neck, ensuring a quick and painless kill. Seeing this, Luis was possessed by a strength he didn’t know he had in him, a rush of energy that allowed him to ignore the pain of walking with a slashed leg, to focus on a single thing and provide a desperate attack.


    Luis stood up and jumped forward, Ten noticed him just in time and put her arms in between him and her neck.


    He made a long and swift cut through both of her arms. Ten jumped backwards to escape the man’s slashes, evading them just barely, then she took the first chance she could get to clash her knife with his, confronting him to try and determine who was better at knife fighting.


    Their blood mixed together on the grass as they engaged in this lethal dance of knives, Luis used his good leg to support himself as he took short jumps forward and slashing desperately with a knife that wasn’t meant to be used like a cleaver. He had a mix of contradicting emotions rushing through his rumbling heart. The fear he thought he had managed to kill after slaying dozens of humanity’s finest and worst returned reborn and choleric, only obfuscated by a powerful drive brought to the surface by the rush of adrenaline, and this too was being toppled by the urge to protect his own life, comradery be damned. All of these emotions were product of putting his life on the line when he never intended to do so. This was supposed to be a simple assassination, but he had lost so much in the process that the bounty wouldn’t be able to repay it all.


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    Now he had no other choice but to survive, and in order to survive he had to kill Butcher, no matter the cost.


    Luis released a cry full of rage and determination as he dealt a powerful slash that destroyed Ten’s blade, then he took advantage of this motion to stab her on her right shoulder.


    He pushed her to get the knife out and continue attacking. – “Just die!” – He yelled, but his charge was cut short by Kirsten, arriving just in time to intervene and tackle him away from her.


    Kirsten pummeled Luis, dropping a flurry of punches on his face that more than shaking his resolve and consciousness, it further aggravated Luis’ blinding wrath.


    Luis pushed Kirsten away to give him a window of movement big enough to sit upright and headbutt him, getting him off of him entirely. Luis proceeded to return the favor by unleashing a flurry of fists on Kirsten’s face before remembering he was holding a knife.


    He was about to cut Kirsten’s throat open, but he was interrupted by his target’s powerful kick, bashing him away from Kirsten.


    Luis used every ounce of strength he still had in the lower part of his body to recompose himself and stand as upright as he could.


    Once he faced his enemy once again, he bore witness to yet another unexplainable event. The girl standing in front of him changed right in front of his very eyes.


    The arms of the girl he concluded was an imposter were suddenly covered in scars that just faded into existence, followed by her face being covered by the scars that were so characteristic of his target. Now he was in the presence of the real Butcher.


    “What in the hell are you!?” – He asked, gripping at the knife harder.


    Alicia stretched her neck, feeling numb after that nasty kick he landed on her after she had lowered her guard. – “I don’t know.” – She said.


    Kirsten was in awe witnessing such a bizarre event, how many secrets did that assassin have? However, aside from being surprised by this enigmatic display, he also noticed something that in the near future he realized was very important.


    Butcher was fighting for her life, she was wounded, bleeding. In this moment that beast that usually lurks behind her eyes should be wide awake and raving at her opponent, up and ready to take him down with extreme prejudice. But, with a single look at her he could see that it was quite the opposite.


    There was no fire, there was no emotion, just a cold indifferent tundra.


    Kirsten had seen this many times before, the fatigue that was so characteristic of soldiers and assassins alike.


    He had a feeling about what he had to do next, and he was convinced it was the right thing to do.


    There was now enough adrenaline flowing through Luis’ stream, allowing him to ignore the pain of severed muscles. He charged forward, letting out a war cry, decided to take her down with only one strike.


    Once he was close enough, Alicia took a step forward, and fast like a shadow, she used her index finger to reach into Luis’ mouth and grab the inner part of his left cheek, then she pulled to the right as hard as she could, bringing him to the ground and almost tearing his mouth apart.


    She then bent his wrist until breaking it, forcing him to drop the knife. Alicia grabbed the knife and blindly stabbed him over the shoulder, then the arm.


    Once she was focused enough, she raised her arm high to penetrate the side of his torso to reach his lungs and then bend the knife once the steel was inside to secure a lethal wound.


    But once she had raised it up in the air, she noticed she was unable to bring it back down. She looked up to see Kirsten holding her arm back.


    “Look at you.” – He said. – “You are so tired even I can hold you back.”


    She stared at him, then she looked back at Luis who was panting violently, blood was escaping through his mouth and was about to fall into unconsciousness.


    “It’s over.” – Said Kirsten. – “You defeated them. You can stop now.”


    “*wheeze …what? Kill me now, you fucking animal! Kill me…” – Said Luis using what remained of his will to talk. – “…Kill me, you assholes…kill me…”


    “Butcher has already killed enough for a week.” – Said Kirsten.


    “…It’s never enough…” – She said. One would think she’d plunge the knife into Luis after saying something like that, but instead she allowed her arm to rest and stay idle. – “…It never ends.”


    “I say it ends now.” – Retorted Kirsten. – “You are done, now. You painted a whole town red, and defeated three dangerous assassins coming after you, and who knows how many people you have killed this week. It’s over.” – Kirsten wiped the dirt off his shirt and adjusted his coat. – “Besides, it’s obvious at a glance, you are tired of killing.”


    Alicia stood back up and walked towards the house. – “I wouldn’t say tired…maybe full.”


    “Maybe so, but believe me, you are tired.” – He responded. – “You might think you are not human, but I can assure you, you feel and react the same way as anyone else, and those are very human things.”


    Alicia felt like flipping him off, but it was ultimately pointless so she held back. She walked into the house and found Adler hanging from the roof as it was usual at this point.


    “So the rave’s over. You gave them a good one tonight, good job.”


    “(Glad you enjoyed the show.)”


    “You did everyone around here a favor, and they won’t forget it. Maybe one day you’ll be in trouble, and the dead will be the only ones to answer the call.”


    “(As if they could do anything for me.)” – Said Alicia. – “(I just want to be left alone.)”


    “Now now, don’t say that. You are never alone where spirits lurk.” – She puffed cold air through her mouth.  – “You helped a lot of people, and you might not care, but you also helped me. I honestly want to see what else you do, so I’ll keep an eye on you, but I’ll try to not bother you as much, I don’t think you need my input anymore.”


    “(Whatever you say…)”


    “I might not be the last ghost that’d like to have a chat with you. Everyone is so happy to see one of your kind in the flesh…”


    “(What do you mean one of my…?)” – But when Alicia looked back, Nyx was already gone.


    She could only think she had finally snapped, but she couldn’t care less, she was already too tired to worry about her sanity.


    “I think now is a good time to depart, Butcher.” – Said Kirsten. – “I’ll take care of these guys, patch your wounds and…”


    He looked at Alicia and discovered she had passed out standing. There were only a few people in the world who could do something like that, special people who had a determination beyond what their body could endure, finding out that Butcher was one of these people was no surprise to him, but in that situation, it was rather saddening.


    Even knowing who she was, seeing a battered and wounded girl falling asleep standing up was a sight that managed to move Kirsten’s heart, even if a little.


    Just then he saw Alicia’s scars fade away until only the fresh wounds remained, and suddenly Alicia was full with energy once again.


    Oh, but whoever she was, she wasn’t Alicia, was she?


    “Aahhh…man, she and I must have a conversation.”  - She said placing her hand on her hips, moving her shoulder as if she didn’t have a bad wound there. – “She doesn’t know when to stop, even for her own sake, she always ends like this after an important fight. I worry that one day she might go to sleep and never wake up.” – She looked back at Kirsten. – “I’d be all alone in here if that happens.”


    “If you are not Alicia, who are you?” – He asked, ready for anything.


    “You don’t need to know my name, big man.” – Said Ten. She placed her fist over her chest. – “All you need to know is that I’m Alicia’s sister, I’m sure she’s mentioned me before. We take care of each other, so watch your mouth when you are near her, because I hear everything.”


    “A split personality?” – He wondered. – “That’s quite rare.”


    “A split what? Pff…” – Ten laughed. – “I know what you mean, but I bet I’m not exactly born from her. We just share the same body, mate, trying to comprehend it any further is useless, believe me I’ve tried. Besides, she’d hate herself for being so mentally weak to resort to pushing all her issues on a separate identity.”


    “That’s quite rude, isn’t it?” – He said. This whole situation was overly bizarre to him, but on retrospective that entire month had been weird, so to cope with this situation he lit up a cigarette. – “I saw you fight. Can I assume that you too are an assassin?”


    “Hmmm…I like to think I’m more of a fighter…” – She said touching her chin. – “But yeah, when the task requires it, I can kill just as effectively as my sister, I just like to find the enjoyment in it, unlike her who’s so…militaristic about it.”


    “And how about that thing you did back there, when you snapped your fingers?”


    Ten laughed again. – “Everyone’s mind is susceptible.”


    That’s all Kirsten needed to hear to know it was hypnosis.


    “She was very pissed when she thought you guys had crossed her. She has issues trusting others, you were the first person she trusted in a long while.” – Ten sighed. – “Now I think that trust has been vindicated, so don’t waste this second chance, she doesn’t usually hand them out, so you should feel honored.”


    “And what about you?”


    “I still don’t know about you man, but if she sees you with good eyes, I might as well do the same.” – Ten swayed from right to left. Kirsten thought she had passed out. – “Hmm, I’m running out of time…Now I must take my leave. Last thing: Don’t hold all of this against her…she just does things the only way she knows. I’m being serious when I say…that she wants to fix this world just as much as you…”


    Ten leaned forward, and before she could fall to the ground Kirsten held her with his arms. Upon looking at her again the scars had returned.


    Kirsten had learned Alicia’s greatest secret, and a big secret it was indeed. No matter how much he thought about it, Kirsten could never think of what to do with this knowledge.


    Maybe it would’ve been for the best to kill Luis and Igor to make sure they wouldn’t return later to finish the job, but Kirsten could think of many reasons to spare them instead.


    For one, enough blood had been shed that single night, and even if this was his trade, this time it just didn’t feel right.


    On the other hand, killing them might cause as a consequence that a bigger and bad group would come after them next.


    Finally, he held no ill will against these people, and in a way, he felt pity for them because they were way over their heads since they thought they could come after Butcher and come out unscathed.


    He patched them up with little to no resistance, Igor was completely knocked out and Luis didn’t have enough blood in his system to struggle against Kirsten’s good intentions. Knowing they weren’t close to dying now, Kirsten left them there to deal with their own shame and carry themselves away to where they felt they were safe.


    As for Alicia he performed the same procedure, only more carefully this time, even if she was out cold; she didn’t even react when he used alcohol to make sure that the wounds over her forehead and shoulder didn’t get infected.


    He put new bandages on her and carried her away from the house in her arms, only to put distance between them and the assassins if they tried to get up just for the sake of a round two, or if someone had heard all the racket and decided to call the police, and those guys were already on edge as it was.


    Whenever she walked Alicia’s footsteps sounded heavy and potent, as if she weighted more than 200 pounds. But now that he was carrying her, Kirsten realized just how light she actually was.


    It made no sense to return to the hotel with all that heat, so he walked into the forest, and once he was far away enough from the noise, he placed Alicia on the ground and he sat next to her on a fallen tree. He needed to tell Charlie what he was doing.


    “Charlie, I’ve got Butcher.” – He said through the radio. – “We are hiding in the forest for now. I’m going to get away from the town as far as possible and find a place to rest, can you try and catch up to me? should I tell you where I am once I get there?”


    “Oh, don’t worry about that boss…I know exactly where you are, I’ll be there shortly.”


    Charlie ended the transmission. Kirsten was puzzled as to how could she know with so much confidence where he was. Then, thanks to the moonlight, he saw the sparkle of a string hoovering and extending itself in between the trees all the way to his coat.


    He was not surprised; Charlie had her own tricks up her sleeve.


    In any case, there was a long road ahead of them, so Kirsten carried Alicia on his back and continued walking.


    Overall, he was glad he was glad this mission was complete, now it was a matter of making it home safe.