***************************************** Authors Note **********************************

In response to the review:

Hey Man,

First off thanks for the review, I hope yo answer the questions you have here without spoiling the plot of the story. ( I def wont spoil, but maybe questions wont be answered... thus 'hope'). I also wanted you to know that I read your review and am taking it to heart. I am here to see how people like my ideas and grow as a writer, so you being the first review is my first step in growing.

So first off, thank you for pointing out my punctuation. I will defiantly be looking into it and doing my best to fix it. No one has pointed that out so I always thought I was doing alright. So thanks again.

As for the characters, it gets a little difficult. The explanation for Drakes violent nature is a ways off. But I do have one I will say this though, that his nature and his abnormal body (the super dense muscles and bones and his crazy brute strength) are all tied together. But that's all I will say. And for Alina... she is a different kind of beast, she again has an explanation that I can't dive too deeply into without ruining the story. But the reason as to why I haven't explained it as of yet is because I hate it when a reader knows something the characters don't. To me it totally ruins the surprise or shock the characters feel when they find something out because the reader already knew it. It will get there though I promise. =)

So again buddy, thank you again for the review, I will make the best of it to improve my writing and planning of this story.

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The two finished all their training a year ahead of schedule, and at only seventeen they just had advance gun and combat practice. Though they both were very good with guns, it's more just perfecting their skills than gaining new ones.

One day Gabby and Will showed up and offered a spar. To Alina and Drake, who both had five tails now, it seemed like a fair spar. Will may have seven tails, but Gabby only has three so they took it. The rules were the two groups would enter the training forest on opposite sides and would have to track the other team down and take them out as silently, and quickly, as possible.

“Will is good, very good. I watched his spars and fights before. We need to take him out first and then go after Gabby.” Drake explained.

“Duh, he outranks her by four tails.” Alina pointed out.

“Yah, but she is much older with a lot more experience than Will. So she is no pushover either.” Drake responded.

“True, so what’s the game plan” Alina asked.

“We track them down from the trees. Thanks to my eyes, I can see that aura around some genetic types, and hopefully they are included in that. So we will use that to our advantage. Once we find them, we will stalk them until they stop for a break, or stop to think or whatever. Then, as long as we haven’t been discovered yet, we jump them at the same time. Since Will is more my size, I’ll take him and you take Gabby.” Drake explained.

“You sure you don’t want him just to prove you are stronger?” Alina asked with a chuckle.

“Fine you take him and I’ll take Gabby. Doesn’t matter to me.” Drake answered defensively.

“Nnaa you can have Will. I was only messing around. And besides, your eyes aren’t very reliable. Hell you just discovered this power a few weeks ago.” Alina said as she put a hand on Drakes shoulder.

Drake had noticed that Alina had been getting touchier lately. She would put her hand on his shoulder or arm or head or even grab his hands a lot more lately. More than usual and it was different for him. He didn’t really mind it, in fact he actually liked it since he had started to develop feelings for her over the years, but he just wondered why she suddenly started now. But she did have a point; it was a recently discovered power that only Alina knows about. He had no idea how to control it yet or what needed to happen for it to activate. Before he could say anything the start horn went off.

“Remember, we are using the hand signals we created in our room. Ok?” Alina asked.

Drake nodded and off they went.

Drake and Alina both jumped up into the trees to get an advantageous view of their surroundings. Drake looked around to see if he could pick up on either of their energies, but he couldn’t. He still didn’t understanding how his eye power worked, or what conditions must be met before he could use it. It would just happen; he would look at another Gen-OpS, or Genetic Operation Soldier, and would sometimes see an aura around them, and sometimes he wouldn’t. He had tried to figure out how it works but had no idea were to even begin. All he knew was that the first time it activated he was in an uncontrollable rage. But without Drakes power, all they had was to keep searching until they found a clue.

As they were jumping around from tree to tree, Alina noticed a small branch had been bent over. They went to investigate and started to find more clues, but they became suspicious as neither of their opponents was so sloppy as to leave clues like this on accident. So they took a wide rout and followed the clues from an angle. As they moved from clue to clue, Drake saw a figure that looked like Gabby. Drake stopped and signaled that he saw a three tail ahead of them. Alina nodded and they searched for Will.

But they didn’t have to look long as Drake was attacked from above. After he went crashing to the floor, Drake had a knife at his throat. A few seconds later, Alina came crashing to the floor with Gabby on top holding a knife to her throat.

“Hahahahahaha, too easy guys.” Will said as he stood up off of Drake.

“The hell! How did you do that?” Drake asked.

“You’re too obvious. We knew you would find those clues, and we knew you wouldn’t follow them directly. We also knew you would try to get us from above in the trees. So we used all that to our advantage.” Gabby explained.

“Yah, if we didn’t expect you, or didn’t know when or where you would strike from, you would have gotten us since you were so quiet. But you fell for such a simple trick so you didn’t stop and look for unintentional clues. Ones I would have made while climbing up, or jumping around the trees. And when you found her, you relaxed a bit and that’s when I jumped down. Alina was then surprised by my sudden attack and didn’t see Gabby coming and was taken down easily as well.” Will also explained.

“So experience won this one huh?” Alina asked rhetorically.

“Uuummm, yah pretty much.” Gabby replied sarcastically.

“In a straight up two v two fight, you two could probably win, just on pure talent, skill, and power. But this fight required know-how, something you both lack right now.” Will explained.

“Hey, better we learn this now while it’s safe versus when our lives are on the line.” Alina said.

“Very true.” Will agreed.

“We want a rematch. Same thing, same time tomorrow?” Drake asked.

“Ha, don’t wana lose huh? Sure; same time tomorrow, or even now if you want.” Will said excited.

“That’s a negative, we need to re-work our plan to overcome your experience and our lack of it.” Drake replied.

“Good answer” Gabby said with a smile.

Gabby and Will helped Alina and Drake up and they all walked out of the field together. They went over some pointers to look out for, in case future targets have hidden guards or the couple themselves are hired to guard and need to keep an eye out for assassins.

Alina and Drake couldn’t believe the amount of detail Gabby and Will went into. Even going as far as to explain how to look for marks on the trees signaling something had climbed there, and how to set up traps much like the ones they had just fallen for. By the time they had reached their room, Gabby and Will had filled their heads with knowledge, advice, and tactics to use in stalking and defending missions. With their new found knowledge, Alina and Drake spent the rest of the night thinking of a new game plan for the next day. But they didn’t get the chance to use them.

Right as the sun started to rise, a large explosion ripped across the entire facility. Alina and Drake were still planning when they heard the loud boom. Without even thinking they grabbed their weapons and gear that had their pistols and some extra ammo, and ran outside. The first thing they saw as they walked out of their building was a large cloud of smoke and the glow of a fire.

“Hey, you two!” Will yelled at them.

Alina and Drake just turned around and looked at him confused.

“Yah you two, you’re with us. We are forming a team for now.” He finished and took off with Gabby.

Alina and Drake followed close by.

“We know you have your own code, but we will be using standard hand signals got it!” Gabby yelled back at them.

They both nodded their heads and continued forward. When they got to the sight of the explosion things were a mess. Gen-OpS were on the ground screaming in pain while others were dead, some missing limbs or entire parts of their body. When Drake saw the carnage he felt the rush of excitement as a grin slowly formed on his face. He looked at Gabby and Will and they were both having the expected reaction. Gabby was covering her mouth, with her eyes watering up, while Will just stood there. Gabby then leaned into Will and started to cry as he just held her close. Alina did much of the same thing as she always does. She slowly grabbed onto Drakes arm, but what was different was her expression of shock with a small hint of elation. They had never been on the field before, they had never experienced death. Nor had they ever killed anyone, but Drake had the feeling that was going to end today.

“GET DOWN!” Will yelled.

But before Will even finished yelling, Drake had already grabbed Alina, spun around and dove to the floor. He heard bullets flying by above him, but he didn’t hear any gun shots. He thought that was weird since silencers don’t actually silence the shot. They hide the flash, and prevent the bullet from reaching supersonic speeds, but the bang that is heard comes from the chamber when the gunpowder explodes; so it should still make a noise. He didn’t get much time to think about it before he got hit. A sharp, burning pain in his left shoulder was a pretty good indicator that he had been shot. Quickly, he stood up, pulled Alina up with him, and started to run for cover dragging Alina along the whole way. They kept running deep into the forest, even after the gunfire had stopped they kept running. Drake was in a panic and hadn’t realized how far they had run. When he finally did realize it, they went for some cover. As soon as they got behind something solid he reached back to feel the wound. When he pulled his hand back, he saw it was covered with blood.

“Turn... around... let me... get that.” She stammered in odd pauses.

Drake turned around and she quickly pulled the bullet out. She ripped off a part of her shirt and tied it around Drakes shoulder to stop the bleeding.

“That will... have to do for... now.” She managed to stammer out with inconsistent pauses.

Drake wondered what was causing the odd pauses but didn't put a lot of thought into it. Alina on the other hand was trying to figure out why the sight of blood was making her feel odd. Nothing bad, but nothing good either. It was almost like a state of craving.

“Thanks” Drake said as he pulled out one of his pistols.

Drake preferred the good old Temoora 2020 .45 pistols. A resemblance of a 1911 model handgun from the distant past with some minor tweaks to appearances and safety. The gun now had a bio-metric scanner built into the grip allowing only the registered user to fire the gun. And the chamber opening now went across the entire slide instead of just one side or the other. They packed solid power and accuracy and they are easy to customize and repair since they are a popular gun with lots of add-ons available. But with his left hand out of commission, using both of his guns is impossible for now. He peaked out of cover and scanned the area for any hostile targets, but found none. He signaled to Alina they were going to move. On the count he would move to the next cover and signal when it was clear for her to move as well. She would keep any suppression fire that was needed, and he would do the same when she moved. Drake held up his hand and counted down, as soon as he reached zero, Alina popped up from cover with both of her pistols drawn and Drake bolted. At the speed either of the two ran, they would reach the next cover that was a fallen tree trunk and was one hundred feet away in less than a second. When Drake got to the cover, he holstered his gun and drew out his black blade. Since his left arm was damaged, and that was the arm he used to swing his red blade, only his black blade would be usable for now. Drake put up his hand and told Alina to hold on as he jumped up the tree right next to him. He heard some movement a little farther down, and wanted to confirm before he attacked or not.

After climbing up out of sight, he check to make sure he had raised no alarms, and no one was looking his way, or acting as if they had seen something. When he realized no one was actively looking his way he figured he had made it quietly. Drake searched and searched but only one target came up. She was wondering closer to Alina, and was holding a pistol. As for any other weapons he couldn’t see any under her suit jacket, so he watched the way she moved and shifted weight for any clues of extra weight. He wondered why she was wearing a business suit to a battlefield. Maybe she was to sneak in after the mess had calmed down and gather data or info from inside. He had no idea, and wouldn’t wait to find out. He had to take her down quietly so no one else would hear the struggle and come searching.

As the target moved closer and closer to Drakes location, she became visible to Alina who now knew why Drake had jumped up the tree. To her it just seemed like he just randomly decided to jump up a tree. She analyzed the target and saw that she was holding a gun, and around her belt carried what seemed like extra magazines. That didn’t faze her too bad since she would be able to dodge the bullets at this range, and Drake would do something before the target got any closer.

“Common Drake, any friggin moment now” Alina thought to herself.

After Alina had thought that, the target had stopped moving and started to look around. Drake had intentionally made a noise to get the target to stop. And when she looked up she saw Drake falling down on top of her. Before she could even let out a scream, Drakes sword had pierced through her chest and exploded out her lower back in a mist of blood. The force causing her to collapse to the ground as the sword continued until the hilt reached her body. Quickly, Drake grabbed her head and spun it around sideways; breaking her neck. Her eyes watered and rolled back into her head, and she died instantly. Drake then pulled the sword out of the ground and her.

Alina came running to Drake who had signaled everything was clear, but when she got to him, she noticed he was in his sadistic mode again, but this was something different. His eyes were cold and unfeeling, something she wasn’t use to, and had seen only once before. Normally his eyes were always filled with warmth and kindness towards her, or filled with excitement when he was watching others suffer. Drake swung his sword to get the blood off and sheathed it. Then looked at Alina and his eyes changed back to how they always are, warm and kind.

“Are you ok?” He asked her.

She nodded her head.

“What about you?” She asked concerned about his shoulder and his first kill.

“I’m fine. Shoulder hurts a bit after that, but otherwise I’m totally cool.” Drake replied.

Alina wanted to ask how he felt about killing, but decided that was a question for a later time. She looked down at the now dead body and saw that her shirt had a huge gash in it and was stained with a lot of blood. Even though the heart had stopped beating, blood was still coming out of the wound. Alina felt indifferent for her, and since she was an attacker Alina hated everything about her. Her comrades had hurt Drake, killed several others, and destroyed a part of her home. But seeing all that blood once again gave her a weird feeling. She still didn’t know what it was; all she knew was it wasn’t bad like a sickening feeling. It really confused her but she snapped out of it and turned her attention back to Drake.

“Bitch, don’t scare me like that then.” She said in a joking manner.

Alina then punched his arm, but made sure to hit his right arm as to not hurt his left one farther.

“Aaawww bitch.” Drake replied in a mockingly sympathetic tone.

They both smiled and then got down to business.

“We need to find Gabby and Will. Asap.” Drake instructed.

Alina agreed, and they started to move back to where they had started. They didn’t get very far when they came across another team in business suits. Both Alina and Drake wondered why they were here and dressed the way they are. So they figured they would question one of them this time. The cells in Drakes shoulder had started to heal and recover, but it wasn’t fully done yet. Even so, he was going to need both his arms for this one. In total there were six targets in the group, though they didn’t seem to be Gen-OpS or anything, just normal humans. Even if they were Gen-OpS, Alina and Drake as a team are considered to be one of the strongest individual teams. They know each other’s thought process and movements to the point that it’s like they read each other’s minds. That gives them an incredible increase in combat strength and ability.

“Ok, so here is the plan.” Alina started.

“We will both throw a rock and kill one to get their attention. They will open fire and at this range we can dodge them, so when they run out we can…” Alina continued but was cut off.

“Sorry, but their guns will make too much noise. Those are .45 Temooras, and they are very loud.” Drake pointed out.

But what they both failed to realize thanks to their lack of experience and their pumping adrenalin, was that gun shots were being fired all around. Both armies had met up with each other at this point and were fighting it out.

“So we will need to take them all out as quickly and quietly as possible.” Drake finished

Alina popped up to look and sure enough he was right. She nodded and thought for a few seconds.

“Ok, new plan. We will run up behind them and take out the two in the back. We will throw a rock and hit them in the skull for a quick and quiet kill, and then we will charge the last four before they know what happened. You use your heavy swords to cut through as many as you can reach, and I’ll finish of whoever you can’t.” Alina said.

“Not very tactical…” Drake replied in a smartass tone.

“Just follow my lead ok?” He said after some thought.

Alina sighed then nodded. Drake got ready and so did Alina; he then looked back, and gave a smile. Alina knew that it was time to rock and for her first kill. Then both Alina and Drake came out of their cover and approached the group quietly, but quickly. When they got close enough, they hid behind some trees. They both got set then Drake looked Alina in the eye and nodded. Both picked up a small rock and stick and threw it across from themselves. The group reacted and pointed their guns in the direction of the noise. Now that their attention was focused away from the two, Alina and Drake got even closer. When they got close enough Alina jumped out and stabbed one through the back, and at the same time Drake had already ran up and was stabbing a target through the back. Immediately, Alina pulled the trigger in her Katar and the blades exploded out, cutting her target in half with a spray of blood and guts that showered her. Using the red blade as a harpoon, Drake stabbed one all the way through so the arrow head barbs held the target in place. He swung him out of the way and into Alina who grabbed and ripped him off, leaving some of his guts on Drakes sword. Alina then threw the guy she had just ripped off at another target to stun her as she jabbed the closed Katar into the stunned targets stomach and ripped up, then quickly put the opened Katar around the targets neck. Pulling the trigger again, closed the Katar, decapitating the fourth target.

Drake, wondering how Alina was handling her first kills, looked to see her expression, and he was shocked. She had a face of pure enjoyment and elation and was covered with blood. He quickly switched his focus back to the battle and quick drew his black blade to cut the fifth target in half. Alina then ran up and stabbed the final target from behind. As Alina’s Katar exploded out of the final targets chest in a spray of gore that hit Drake, he put his red blade up to the final targets neck, hooking it with the barbed tip. He smiled his devilish, sadistic grin, relishing at the enemies final face of terror, and as the targets eyes watered, Drake then pulled the sword back and decapitated the final target. The body went limp and Alina pulled her Katar out.

Alina was amused as she pulled her Katar out of the final body and it started to twitch. She looked at Drake who had his devilish smile with cold eyes again. As soon as he looked at her though, his warm eyes returned.

“How was it? Your first kill?” He asked her wanting to hear her excitement.

But to his disappointment, she just shrugged as she started to walk back to where they got separated from Gabby and Will. Alina knew what Drake was aiming for and thought to play with him a bit; keep what he wants from him, and now it was her turn to torment him. They had a game rolling, one where they would torment each other in various ways. They both got a sick kick out of it and it has help progress their connection to its current level. So even though she knew he knows the truth, she also knew he wanted to hear it for himself. And for that reward; she would make him wait.

“It was alright. I don’t really feel much compassion for people who attack me.” She replied.

“Ah, I see.” Drake replied after he caught up with her.

But he knew otherwise and figured she was toying with him.

“What about you?” She asked him, though she knew the answer

.

“I thoroughly enjoy it. Their face of total terror as they stare death in the eyes…. Ah nothing can beat that!” He replied with sheer elation.

But she already knew that. Drake is truly psychopathic and a sadistic person. He lacks any and all form of compassion, except for Alina herself whom he cares deeply for, and he enjoys watching others suffer in any way. Rather he caused it or not only affects how much he enjoys it. So Alina knew he would probably enjoy this.

“Here, you got blood all over your face.” She said as she walked to him.

She then reached up to Drakes face and wiped the blood off of his face. But then she felt an uncontrollable urge to lick it off her hand. So she did, and she enjoyed it, letting out an approving, almost aroused, moan. For her this was what was making her feel so weird about the blood. That odd craving she was having was finally being satisfied. For Drake, this not only didn’t scare him in the least, he couldn’t help but smile. His dream girl is just like he is. Now if only she felt the same way about him. Then there was an awkward silence.

“Well let’s head back to Gabby and Will.” Alina suggested, breaking the silence.

“Yah.” Drake agreed.