PER3- PreFight

It was late afternoon in Exodus, the barest bits of the sunset hinting at the sky.  The buildings and Ecks Tower glowed in the late day sun creating a spectacular skyline, of gold, silver and blue.

Standing stoically on top of a tall building, a figure watched the fighting below occur. Most of the fighting, he thought, was too rough, amateur. Even his own student was making basic mistakes, losing her temper, not paying attention to her surroundings. Rookie mistakes honestly. He sighed shaking out his long hair then retying it. This contest, he thought, was a perversion of their craft; killing was not something taken lightly and was not a game.  He had thought Kai was able to make good decisions on her own, and for the most part she was. But this contest… did not bode well with him.

He heard the young man approach before the he had even spoken. “Sir?” a clear voice asked. Kenji raised an eye brow.

“Yes?” he said softly. It caused Mach to be startled slightly, seeing as he was told that Kenji was well… a man. And Kenji sounded nothing like a man. Regaining his composure, Mach continued.

“I need you to come with me.” He said clearly. “Mr. Warren requests your presence.”

Kenji turned slightly, and to Mach, that slight profile looked very womanly, but as Kenji faced Mach, it was difficult to tell if he was a woman or not. “Really then?” the assassin asked. “Well then, lead the way.”



The young blond assistant heard the two down walking down the hallway of the Ecks Corp building. Looking up she saw Mach and a tall Japanese man coming towards her little desk outside Mr. Warren’s office.

“Mr. Warren’s 4:15 is here to see him.” Mach said confidently. The blond nodded and clicked on her desk phone and muttered into the head piece. Mean while Kenji stood passive aggressively off to one side, a storm cloud seemed to grow around him. The assistant  looked back up.  

“Mr. Warren wi--” she said before Kenji strode past her. Opening the door, Kenji slammed it closed after him; causing both the assistant and Mach to flinch a little.    



The office of Mr. Warren was dark as Kenji glided into the room. The only light came from the window at the end of the office and the computer screen. The man himself sat in his chair like a king in a throne, a glass of red wine dangled in his hand as he watched the sun set behind the city.  He didn’t bother to turn when the angry assassin stormed into the room.

“Warren,” Kenji growled. The red haired man turned to look at the man, and similes; it didn’t reach his dark eyes.  Kenji’s light gray eyes narrowed over her clear blue visor, information scrawling across the surface.

“So nice of you to join us Kenji,” Warren said smoothly. “After all, your little apprentice has graced us with some amazing stunts of her own as late.” He fingered a file on his desk, and then slid it forward. On the cover it said # 7091 and scrawled in messy handwriting that didn’t match the printed number: Nunui, Kai.

Picking up the file Kenji flipped it open causally, “You haven’t changed much over the past decade have you, Warren. You’re almost doing a better job than your old man.” Kenji said smoothly, however there was a terseness that seemed to pepper the words.

Warren scoffed at this, “I’m taking this company to new heights, Kenji. Don’t you see that?”

“And yet you continue the monstrosities that your father started. Just on a larger scale.  It makes me sick thinking about what happened to Kai, and yet you continue.”

“She still belongs to us.” Warren said softly, smiling. “And she returned to us, a willing victim.”

“You really think that?”

Warren snapped out of reverie.  “Of course.”

Kenji looked at the red haired man straight in the eye. “She doesn’t remember who changed her into what she is; or who stole her soul. She’ll never remember if I have something to do about it.”

Kenji turned and began to walk out, then paused. “If that child is hurt, remember I will come for her again.  And if I have to return for her, I will kill you.”

And with that the assassin walked out.