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I'm really liking Opera as a character right now, and I think she's close to my favorite.

Like I said I put a lot of myself into my characters (no I'm not a badass like her, haha,) and she's the more sociopathic, narcissistic, evil genius type character.

I can be the first two and those only :)

It's a trope I use a lot simply because it works and _looks fucking good,_I find myself using it more for the good guys than bad. More often the questionable ones.

I'm working her out to be an Amanda Waller type character (I hate that movie as much as the next guy don't get me wrong) but I love that character.

Harper's flight is getting close... (rubs hands together like sci-fi villain)

AS FOR THE JAPANESE I USE LATER IN THIS CHAPTER

I swear on my life i'm not a weeb lmao

I used google translate so before you go off on me about how I know nothing about culture and show me your katana collection blame them

Lynx herself was born in Jinn territory (which was originally America but makes more sense to have a group named after an east Asian figure in east asia) so I changed up her story to fit there

I didn't try and use the characters google gives me (as when I introduced Kyle the Cyrillic didn't pick up on sofurry) and writing it out it looks awkward and probably translates worse

It's meant to say "Blood Queen" and when you read Opera's part (just below) it's easy to see why.

///

CHAPTER 9-VOLUNTARY DROWNING

Lizard tail flicking at everything she saw she would have to change, Opera inspected them.

Eight in all.

Caine had twenty nine bullets between every clip he had, and that wasn't counting the one in his fully loaded sidearm at his hip.

She didn't like the hired guns but they couldn't be traced.

And for this... She thought, eyeing the dark metallic armor, running over the tall wolf to the short otter...

She needed someone special.

Special.

That was the point of this test, wasn't it? To find someone special?

To find someone that could do what the Black Ops units had failed to at least fifty times, now?

She gave a sigh.

"I see nothing but disappointment among you."

Uneasy shifting passed between select members, the tall wolf from earlier, the fox, the lion...

They would go first.

Be eliminated first, that was.

"But I like to take disappointment and twist it. In the most excruciating way possible."

No newcomers to the unsettled group but naturally the one with the mask and full body armor, head to toe, she couldn't tell.

He reminded Opera of the girl he was supposed to kill, and in the back of her head the choice was confirmed.

But the back of her head didn't rule anything.

He was medium height amongst the rest. Maybe a dingo, a fox, a tiger...

He looked the most intimidating. But masks always did.

"I will be testing you. If you succeed, good for you. You have the job."

She stopped pacing and about-faced them, hands at ease.

"If you don't, God in his endless mercy has smiled upon you and you are very lucky."

One more joined the beta group, a red scaled lizard who wore shades.

She didn't like people who hid their visage, and as such even Caine had to remove his shades when she directly spoke to him.

Looking back on him now, he was probably remembering his own test.

Of course, his was much less unorthodox, being a full GRA member.

His was just going into the woods and being pitted against challenge after challenge along with his peers for two weeks.

Opera only took the finest.

"This test is multiple choice, if I may, but only has an A. Nothing else."

She took a deep breath and then grinned, razor teeth and hellfire.

A demon at heart.

"Caine. First question."

The golden furred wolf ripped his handgun from its holster before anyone could see and began to fire in whatever order he'd picked out earlier, and though Opera wasn't looking, he dropped the first five in a second.

Drawing whatever weapons they had concealed, Opera had already began calmly backing away towards her wolf's side and the lizard snatched at her, missing, falling, dying.

Otter, lion, and mask were left.

The Lion quickly grabbed the otter and put him in a headlock, snatching the gun from the inferior creature's hands and putting it to his head.

With a hellish chuckle, Caine shot the Lion square between the eyes and then the otter.

Smoke filled the room, guns discharging as they hit the floor, Caine swapping his mag even as no one was left.

Opera gave a disappointed groan. As if she hadn't ordered the execution of eight men.

...

Eight?

Mask was behind her in an instant, blade to her throat, and pulled her away from Caine, wherever he'd come from a mystery.

Caine calmly and callously leveled his gun.

"Wait!"

Opera wasn't talking to mask, but the one trying to protect her.

She gave another grin.

"This is the one."

A tacit understanding passed.

A loud metal shiing made Opera cringe, and for a moment she thought he'd slit her throat anyway.

When she looked ahead, there was no blade, just empty air.

He pushed her not lightly back towards Caine, and she took it with pride.

The wolf holstered his gun. It was clear he didn't like that last move, and he did so reluctantly.

Opera ran her hands over her pants, dusting them off. A bit of blood on the shoes but that was just GRA standard work.

Well, only for the higher ups.

Mask was holding a hilt with grooves for his gloved fingers, and dropped it into the air but it flew towards his belt. Magnetism, she reckoned.

"Welcome to the GRA... Your name?"

He gave an arrogant huff. "You didn't take time to read it on your application?" Application meaning the brief info she'd gotten before hiring him.

That his name was... Whatever, and he could kill whoever.

His voice was metallic, deep, distorted. Like a Jinn operative's when they were wearing a mask.

Another reason she didn't like those, most of their soldiers hid their faces and their voices alike.

This one had a polyester wrap over his ears and tail, everything else black plated metal. It appeared he only had one eye from the mask, a red circle ringed with metal emitting light she could only assume was an optic implant.

The other side gave no indication anything was there, just metal and plain. Other than the optic the mask had four slits she could assume had his distortion equipment underneath, being at the mouth. It was a full helmet, she realized.

"Your name, please." She said it with plenty impatience this time and he knew her man had the trigger.

"Ajax."

"Real name...?"

He said nothing, just stood there.

She nodded. No need to prod these professionals too much or they'd leave.

Caine would have to shoot them in the back because they knew too much but she reckoned Ajax was a cut above the rest, not stupid enough to make a mistake like that.

"Do you have any guns?"

"Only my sword."

"May I see it?"

"See it." He said sarcastically, as a child who didn't want to share his toys.

She liked him already.

He held his hand out and she noticed his fingers came together, save his thumb, and spread apart again as the hilt came back into his hands.

She'd never seen anything like that, and wondered if he could control the proton/electron ratio somehow with his gloves and reverse the polarity...

She grinned again at the cliché phrase that explained away everything 'sciency' to the uneducated audience.

She might have to borrow that tech...

"Open your hand?"

He did as asked, and the blade stayed attached to his palm.

"Interesting. Will you unsheathe the blade?"

He made another hand movement she didn't catch behind the hilt, perhaps a flexing of the wrist, and before she could blink the full size one edged sword came out.

Katana... She preferred something more utilitarian but as long as it got the job done...

He'd done it again, reversed the polarity of either his knife or belt or glove...

It internally pained her more than anything else that a device so simple could be one so out of mind for her own scientists. Even the Trojans who could make fur invisible and melt diamonds with acids they could cook up in an hour or two.

"You made that yourself?"

"Stole it from Jinn."

She nodded, even more disappointed now. Not in her subject, of course, she liked him better for it.

"I... I don't think you know what you're getting into, Ajax."

She honestly didn't. Whatever confidence she had faded, even seeing how he did things.

He gave an exasperated sigh, the reverie-like tone being replaced with a powering off sound by his helmet.

"Hell did I come here for, then?"

She put a hand over her mouth and inspected him, deep in thought.

"There is a certain Jinn operative... Lynx."

His idle hand shakily touched the empty side of his mask.

She said nothing, watching it, listening to the metal clink of his clove on his helmet.

"...Yeah. I know damn well what I'm getting into."

She shared a look with Caine, tacit and deep, the years of connection more personal than any other connection the two had shared creating a silent language with only a cynical vocabulary and a bloodstained accent.

"Our security picked her up at the base of Global Squadron 201 in the Scandinavian Union, state of Norway. Coordinates will be provided. She left and went to Denmark afterwards but then turned around and is going back now."

His blade sheathed and went back to his side as he dropped it.

"And I did read your resume. Most of it was the boasting I expected from a professional but you seem to hold up. It said you never failed a contract."

He nodded, nothing more given.

"Do you accept?"

He gave a chuckle, distorted and metallic as normal. It took away all value it would have had, only made him intimidating.

Opera wagered that was what he wanted.

"You'll shoot me in the ass if I said no. But consider Lynx dead."

Opera gave a smirk. "Return to me before she isn't and I will kill you. The greater public cannot know we hire so lowly."

"Of course."

///

My eyes snapped open and as routine, I tensed, expecting the pain...

No.

This morning, at least, I was spared.

Just to break habit I didn't look myself in the mirror this time, just pulled on a shirt and went to breakfast.

Looking at the digital on my nightstand before leaving, it was 10:30...

I never remembered sleeping in so late.

Rubbing my eyes, I caught just a bit of myself in the portal and saw the bags under them.

Shaking my head, stretching, I left.

Rochelle was on top of breakfast today, but was later. Everyone had slept in, it looked like.

Maybe this was normal...? After all, I did average 4:00 every day...

The jackal was absent.

I bit my lip idly. I'd rather have her under my thumb.

I wasn't her enemy, despite her altercation with Riddick, and I didn't know how to make that clear.

Everyone was chatting over on the couches in commons. I waved to Rochelle, walking through the fateful kitchen hallway, and went over to them.

Alvin was showing Jake a picture on his phone, the wolf's eyes widening. "I told you she was real. Now yours."

Jake scratched the back of his neck, avoiding everyone's gaze. "I'd have to go get my phone from my room."

Everyone laughed and I caught a hint of a smile from the timber wolf. I had no context as to the conversation going on so I awkwardly sat down beside Alvin.

"Really? I think she might not be real."

"She is, swear."

"Can't pull that she goes to a different school crap anymore, can ya?"

Everyone laughed again and I shoved my hands in my pockets.

"What about you, Tai? Got a girl back home?"

I opened my mouth and they closed theirs again, realized and remembered, and were silent.

My face turned bright crimson as I realized what they were talking about, and I grimaced, wishing the blood would go back where it was before.

"I never had much... Time. For that."

I could have expanded and said I didn't have friends in the least but that was a little...

Overdrive.

"What about you, Riddick?"

He'd been fidgeting with his hands and stopped, a habit that passed under the radar but was now clear to me.

"Had, but shit happened."

"Ah, that sucks. What was her name?"

"Not like you would know them."

"Just curious," the retriever said, punching him on the shoulder lightly.

"So, what was her name, Rid? You bluffing like Jake?"

He shook his head, and a smug look formed on his face.

It wasn't such that he was recalling good times, or anything like that...

Just that he knew something we didn't, and expected something from us.

"Nah, you're right. I didn't have a girl."

Alvin looked genuinely surprised. "Damn, man. _Everyone's_having a dry spell."

"Not on a dry spell."

"But you said you didn't have a girl?"

"Yeah. I didn't. Cause' I'm gay."

The entire room went completely silent. I...

I wasn't taken aback, just...

This was Riddick's smug look, for sure.

And that which he expected.

He never gave any indication to me previous and I was surprised just as much as anyone....

Maybe more.

"That's, cool, I guess... Yeah. Takes some balls to, uh, admit..." Alvin looked towards Jake and raised his eyebrows, something only I caught.

It was even more devoid of sound now that Alvin said that, until everyone nodded in agreement.

"Look, bro, if you didn't want to say anything just know I'm not going to judge you." He said. "And I'll kick Jake's ass if he says anything about it."

The wolf grinned. "Weight room, Al?" I could feel there was still a challenge from the wolf but it was more to relieve the tension.

We were all grateful, especially the hyena, whose smile never faded and whose dark blue eyes were infatuated with the floor now.

"Just enough time before breakfast"-

Footsteps. The jackal walked in and her enigmatic presence cut off Alvin.

She drilled into Riddick with her eyes and he didn't challenge anything this time.

I wondered if it was because of yesterday, or now...

I silently prayed to whoever that Jake would say something, get Reyna away from-

"Coming, Tai?"

As if the whole room wasn't fixated on us.

I followed her out, Alvin and Jake's plans were canceled, and everyone except Kyle looked apologetic, because the wolf obviously didn't know what was happening.

"I must admit," she said, as soon as we got past the kitchen hallway, Rochelle pretending not to notice, "I haven't done you justice."

Was she being-

"There is something I did not teach you that could benefit you greatly."

I said nothing.

Was I to seethe?

Scream?

It was just exercise...

Looking back on it now, it was tame.

It was very tame.

///

"Now, when I strike," Reyna said, advancing towards me in an instant, fist stopping an inch before my face.

"I set myself forward with my back leg, advancing, giving myself distance. But if I am already in close quarters..."

She withdrew one fist and I leaned forward again, narrowly missing her next.

"I twisted my foot to gain range on you." I looked down and as she reverted the black appendage, she lost an inch or two.

"An inch doesn't seem like much more range..." I said, just to say something.

I felt I would get left behind if I didn't communicate as much.

"In battle, any advantage is to be seized at all costs, and not ignored or left to the opponent. As the hyena did when the two of us sparred."

I nodded. I understood, of course.

"Reyna..."

She stopped before she was going to tell me to do whatever.

I'd caught her off guard, I realized.

It had taken the two weeks or so I'd been here, but...

I'd done it.

"I... I really think that I might find an alternative to this. I appreciate what you're doing, but..."

"You don't want to leave more black and blue than white." I nodded.

She did the same.

"What I do is unorthodox, Tai. You would see my mentors as gods of war, but they are my equals now."

She cracked her knuckles.

"I promise you I will not bring you so close as you were a few days ago. But I know you can take it. Otherwise I would not have done it."

I fell into the sea again, words flowing through my head, as I inspected the many shades of Reyna.

Opening my mouth, I couldn't make noise.

My hand twitched involuntarily and I grabbed it with the opposite to stop it.

"And, as you understand, in the war of the gods... There is no place for mortals." Her words, however austere, rang true.

She was right, at least, in that moment.

To me.

Or perhaps I was too paralyzed to do anything about it.

"Now, strike. But advance as I told you."

I raised my fists, and since we were already relatively close, went for the countertechnique right off the bat, twisting my foot.

Reyna ducked under it. Last time I tried it she judo tossed me, a more welcome response this time around...

I found it wasn't grazes or even misses anymore, Reyna was forced to swat away everything I did with open hands, backing away.

"You see, it is easy. Better you learn that way, in fact. Be starved until you set aside your reservations, and know what to expect."

"I take it you were trained this way?"

The very corner of her lips angled upward, nothing else.

"Worse."

We proceeded to go back and forth, my newfound prowess that I'd perhaps had all along satisfying my fear and the anger I was always left with whenever I left or entered practice.

I was nowhere near Reyna, but I was nowhere near Tai either.

Lost in thought as Reyna swatted everything away, the familiar fatigue just waking up and beginning its routine of eating away at me, Reyna suddenly angled her arm out and blocked.

My fist cuffing the steely arm, I felt pain in the extreme in my own and winced, opening my eyes just in time to receive a jab to the face.

My head snapped back, and though no fluids snapped back with it I knew I'd been opened up.

I fell, slamming into the ground, reminiscent of our last lesson.

"Do not be so quick unless you can react as well. You've had the lesson in pain, and since I deemed it too soft, last time I decimated you in every way I could without deeply injuring you. But those are to put the fear into you."

My eyes lazily and now heatedly, after the moment of weariness expired, fluttered back open.

Her hand was just above my chest, offering me a...

Reyna?

Offering a hand to help me up?

I didn't move, the torrent of emotions breaking through the weak barriers finally, flooding in, everything Reyna threw at me in the past two weeks and more finally reaching the central part of my being.

The old Tai that was still back at Gibraltar finally got to Norway.

I stared up at her for at least ten seconds, and she stared back, not displaying any signs of awkwardness.

Maybe she knew I was just registering things.

Maybe she knew I was surprised.

Maybe she thought she'd killed me with the jab or something and was paralyzed with shock.

"Because," she broke the silence, "if I do not instill fear into you, then you will dive upon the blades of our enemies."

Taking her hand finally, I did most of the work getting back up myself, but she was still immensely strong.

I noted her usage of the arcane blades instead of bullets.

She inspected me for just a moment, just as the blood began gushing out of my nose.

Her mouth opened and closed quickly, and to my surprise she sat me down on a bench near the weights, telling me to look up and pinch my nose.

I expected her to say something like 'for now you rest, but you will learn to fight while injured', somewhere along those lines, but she held back this time.

As soon as the warrior inside subsided I saw Reyna as...

Just a girl that I...

I had a crush on.

It finally came to me, the odd elements of fear and sensitivity I hadn't adopted in the arena, but somewhere else... Maybe in the green sea.

And I liked this side of Reyna, the one that set aside Trojan and adopted the normal social values and behavior.

We talked and I strained my eyes just to look at hers, that odd obsession making me feel more complete than...

No, I'd never felt complete.

One couldn't in Gibraltar, nor out of their element there.

Drowning in the torrent, among all places...

...

I wondered how the hell I reached this level of attraction to Reyna when she beat me up nearly ever day.

Only an idiot, I suppose.

///

It had only been a few days but I felt like I needed to return.

He hadn't said anything about it.

I didn't even think he realized what it meant.

I didn't pin him as an idiot, either. Maybe just too much on his mind.

I could relate.

I had abandoned my red in favor of black, but the mask was staying on.

Always.

Walking through the front lawn, I'd already taken out the cameras.

Well, they were on loop. I figured one camera goes down and I have half of GRA swarming here.

For reasons only the higher ups knew.

Just another reason I was taking a risk here.

To give myself satisfaction and to give Gynezis a good night's sleep.

Fucking Janus kids....

My hand brushed the conifers and I realized just how much I missed the sense of bare touch.

Especially on my face...

No.

I contemplated what to put in the message.

Nothing blatant, nothing "I'M GOING TO KILL HARPER", just something to get his attention.

Well, my last message was supposed to get his atten-

It wasn't even a second.

Not even half.

I felt the wind before I heard it bend around the steel, forever dodging whatever was going through it.

I formed a plan in the small time I had.

Remaining still just a moment to feel the wind on my back, through the one yet all-obscuring layer of body armor I had, touch, sense, and sound combined.

Ducking the slash, he was clearly surprised I did.

Then again, I read his thoughts.

It was me.

I backed away and he did too, looking at me this time, blade facing me.

"Ajax."

"..."

I laughed. It had been years.

Years since his eye got ripped out by my bare hands.

He could tell something was different about that laugh.

It wasn't just a fake intimidation tool for the opponent.

No. This wasn't the old Lynx. This wasn't last time.

This time it was genuine.

"Gynezis has a bounty on your head, so I guess I'll just collect that here. But one way or another..."

I dropped my fake voice, adopting the natural raspy and low whisper.

"I hate traitors..."

Lunging at him, my dual daggers met his katana in a flurry of sparks and I didn't need to see through them to predict his movements, smoke rising.

We were probably making enough noise for those inside to hear but I didn't care...

I would get at least something done today...

Our animalistic growls and grunts weren't half drowned by the blades and whatever sense I hadn't set aside for the fight could pick up on the wind getting more intense, snow blowing wildly.

I flipped around in an arc after a flurry of missed blows, stinging his blade twice with mine, and he staggered back. I withdrew. My stamina was lacking and now it was his time to attack.

Idly swatting aside his movements, I hoped he was suffering right now.

It was only a moment but this time it lasted short enough to catch me off guard.

Ajax side kicked me, sending me onto the ground, snow biting through my armor.

"I hate traitors, too. But you know what I hate more?"

He plunged his sword into the snow and I rolled out of the way, then scampered up the rift of rocks covered by the snow.

"I hate being underestimated."

I jumped down after him, and only at the last second realized it was a bad idea as he simply moved his katana to impale me.

I hadn't a second to move and aerial maneuvering was awkward, but I felt the katana grind against my mask, the thin porcelain layer the only thing between me and another scar.

Or more.

Both feet slammed into his chest and he flew back against the house.

Whatever reservations about noise we had...

He backed off, twirling the blade with finesse and the familiar sound of wind screaming as it was cleaved.

"You're on the wrong side, Jax.... We really could use you..." I held my chest, the side kick and the dropkick's fall taking its toll.

No, I wasn't going to die here.

At least not today.

Would I be repeating that mantra on my deathbed?

"I don't care about you Jinn freaks and your little experiments. Wouldn't have lost an eye if it hadn't been for you."

The irony of it all made me laugh and what he didn't know amused me.

"Who hired you to kill me? Opera? KetsuekiKu?n?"

"Congratulations. You aren't a complete idiot. Then again, just as likely Gynezis might have had you offed by now."

A savage grin formed under my mask, and there was no such thing as combat to me.

Just a time for smiling and a time for smiling more.

"He only kills people who can't do their jobs right."

He rushed at me, and our blades met again, this time locking for a few seconds, breaking and moving further into the dance.

Ajax was no one to be underestimated, alright.

He'd come closer to killing me than anyone else, and now that he wasn't on my side anymore...

"You know," I said calmly between clashes so the deafening bang of steel wouldn't drown it out, "I'm kind of trying to be quiet here?"

"Damn good job of it." His mask cut through the sounds, no pause for him.

I didn't need to change my voice because no one had a face to match it to.

Just the porcelain entrance to insanity.

Ajax kicked snow and it got in my eye, through the mask, but I ignored it.

The amount of times I'd avoided kicking him between the legs out of generosity was just stupid at this point...

Neither of us said anything else, and for the next ten minutes we fought.

Absentmindedly, though when someone broke through the sleepwalk to strike at the other it was no use.

"You know you're getting nowhere with this?"

He pressed harder and I realized he was _going_to.

If I didn't end this right now...

He attacked and expecting the retaliation, in that instant I turned and ran.

I realized the threat of hot metal in my back but forgot he swore off the gun.

Sprinting for the half a mile my body and Jinn training would allow me, at least in the tundra, Ajax made no attempt to follow me into the woods.

I didn't expect him to.

No, Ajax would only stalk his prey if I refused to leave Norway and regroup.

Next time he would strike without warning.

At least, more so than this time...

I gave a frustrated sigh.

If he had been using a gun, the sheer amount of times I would have died...

I patted my own uzi, concealed under my coat.

Tai would get the fucking message.

I hoped.

I'd cut down Brasilia Esquadrao to get to him.

And knowing Harper liked the big guns close to him... I probably would.

Not that Harper was my objective at all.

///

I released this way earlier because I ended up typing it all in two days or so and I can't stand sitting on finished work.

It's a habit no one seems to shake and imo it's the worst to have.

Give yourself a buffer of time to work on that next chapter.

Don't be an idiot like me lmao

I want to do stuff with Tai and Reyna, speaking of, but I have to take it slow.

Imagine Tai confessing right now, the sheer amount of stuttering and instant +1000 wordcount

I did nothing with Riddick either and at this point I'm thinking about editing out the "bombshell" and saving it for later.

3 more days until Summer vacation and 9999999 exams :)

BTW I mentioned them once during Harper and Opera's conversation around chapter 7 I think...? But Brasilia Esquadrao is the most badass GRA squadron.

I have a really cool character I've been working on for a while in their number and he's like the lambo under the blanket just collecting dust until I can show him off.

The chemistry of GRA squadrons works as such: if they're good they grow in size until they're pretty much a company.

If they're better they'll start losing people until they're around 5-6 strong and be a Black Ops unit.

Brasilia Esquadrao isn't just Global 063 or something because they're an entire Black Ops company.

I might just be writing from said character's perspective once I introduce him around Harper's flight.

Stay frosty

Djynnerate

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