Chapter Text
Zero staggered through the rubble of what was once the shittiest bar in Midgard, swearing quietly to herself. She whipped her head around, searching the street for any sign of movement. She couldn’t see for shit when she kept having to blink blood out of her eyes- fuck, eye. She clutched the small stone in her left hand a little tighter.
“ZERO!” The voice echoing from the rubble behind her sounded a hell of a lot bigger than the tiny woman it came from. It still sounded distant, almost hard to hear over the damn ringing in her ears. Zero whipped around in time to see One marching out of the burning remains of the building behind her, pristine white suit charred and ripped. Zero barely had time to appreciate the sight before One raised a bloodied hand, pointing a gun at Zero’s face.
“If you simply give it to me now, then all of this can be over.”
“You’re fucking delusional,” Zero scoffed, swiping a hand across her face to wipe away the blood she tasted on her lips. She took a step forward, dragging a broken ankle behind her. One bristled as she approached, and the corner of Zero’s lips quirked up as she noticed the other woman’s hand start to tremble.
“First off,” pins and needles shot down Zero’s arm as she raised her hand, letting a glint of pink gemstone peek through her fingers. “Sure, dipshit, come and take it from me. That’ll be a hell of a show.” Another step forward and the tingling turned to fire down her veins, power starting to course through her body. “Second, if you really think this ends when it’s out of my hands, then you’re even more of an idiot than you look like.”
With a yell, One charged at her, throwing away the gun to whip out her chakram artefact. The small circle buzzed with magic, growing with every step One took, until it was nearly as large as her. Zero lashed out in front of her, sending a blunt wave of force towards One that shimmered pink in the air. The magic curled into itself like a ribbon, marked with strange symbols. One dodged, not quite quick enough, and the magic sliced through her side. She choked on a noise that sounded less than human, before lunging at Zero.
One swung her chakram at Zero’s throat, ready to chop her fucking head off if Zero hadn’t shot up an arm to block in time. The blade dug into her wrist, only getting an inch deep before it stopped, clanging as if One had just hit a tin wall. Both women stopped for a fraction of a second, staring at Zero’s arm as it hummed with energy, a pink glow slowly starting to leak through her skin.
“You clearly can’t handle it, give it to me,” One ordered. Baring her teeth, Zero flicked her wrist, sending both the chakram and One flying, skidding to a halt a few feet away.
“You’re so damn pretentious, talking like you can’t feel its damn pull, like you’d just lock it up nice and safe.” Zero spat a glob of blood and saliva onto the ground at One’s feet, relishing the way she flinched away from it. Her arm ached. It felt like a balloon filled too far, her skin straining and ready to burst. She couldn’t even feel the gash that One’s weapon had left. She couldn’t feel the hole where her right eye used to be, either. “You want it just as bad as I do, but you can’t admit it, because that’d make you look weak, huh?”
As Zero started to advance on her, One growled and flung her chakram towards her. Zero laughed, her voice taking on a distorted edge she didn’t recognize and grabbed the weapon from midair. As she opened her fist to catch it, a beautiful pink jewel fell from her grip. The sharp edge of the chakram dug into Zero’s skin, but both women’s eyes were on the rock sitting on the concrete, like it’d pulled them there itself.
The chain connected to One’s chakram fell slack in her grip as the last of her focus slipped off Zero. With a soft noise, looking like she was approaching an injured kitten, One dropped to her knees, eyes fogging over as she reached for the stone. Zero laughed, then kicked her, the sound of bone cracking as she connected singing in her ears. One tumbled back, skin scraping against the concrete as she rolled to a stop meters away, like she’d been hit by a damn truck.
Somehow, the stubborn bitch was still conscious. Zero grimaced as she saw One struggling to get back up, tossing the chakram back to her. The chain, attached somewhere under One’s suit, reeled it in gently, coming to a halt perfectly in One’s waiting hand. But that didn’t matter, because Zero had already bent and picked the stone back up. It glistened in the hand of its rightful owner.
“This,” Zero growled, “is for Michael. Now get the hell out of my city!” With a flash and an unsettling smell of burning flesh, The Flower activated properly for the second time since Zero got her hands on it. The ringing in her ears grew louder, like a discordant chorus of church bells. The Flower felt hungry, so goddamn hungry, the same kind of hunger Zero felt when she first saw it. The difference was, The Flower always got what it wanted.
One year later…
“I said,” Zero barked, “you don’t need to know what the shit is, you just need to get it!”
“Love, I’m starting to think you didn’t take the time to really mull this decision over. We’re not the kind of mercenaries you hire on a whim.” Five had a foot braced against Zero’s desk, keeping herself busy rocking her uncomfortable wooden chair back and forth. From the way Four’s eyes kept flicking towards her, she knew her partner was just itching to make a comment on how Five was about to fall and break open her head. Luckily for the both of them, as Five knew exactly what kind of argument that would lead to, Four was too polite to make snide remarks in the office of a potential employer.
Zero, for her part, looked none too pleased with Five either. She was pacing behind her desk, wearing a hole in the already grimy carpet as she did her best to explain their task in the least helpful way possible.
“What the hell does it even matter?” Zero asked, finally halting to stare at the two of them. “I already told you that as long as you kill her, I can retrieve what I want myself. Unless that’s going to be too hard for you.”
“You called us in here for a reason, didn’t you?” Four’s voice was sharp, laced with insult. A smile drew at Five’s lips as she turned to watch her partner, enjoying the indignant little furrow between her brows. “We’re the best. We don’t fail, and honestly, I don’t appreciate you suggesting otherwise! It doesn’t matter who she is, we’ll take care of her.”
“Good.” Zero actually looked pleased with that answer. “Because I ain’t hiring you to kill some random douchebag, got it? One’s rich as fuck, and isn’t the type to play around with leaving herself open.”
“I assure you we can handle it,” Five cut in. “Now, onto the matter of payment?”
“Yeah yeah.” Zero bent down, reaching for the handle to one of her desk drawers with her prosthetic arm. As plastic fingers hit the wood, she scowled and switched sides, wrenching it open with her good hand. She pulled out a wad of cash she clearly already had prepared. “This is a quarter of what I promised, you get the rest after you bring me her head.”
“How gruesome!” Five commented, letting Four grab the money and count it. At her partner’s nod, they both stood. “I assure you we don’t need to resort to such measures to prove we’ve done our job. After all, the leader of the most prominent gang in Midgard? Surely someone will notice if she doesn’t show up for afternoon tea. Why, Four! We might be on the news, isn’t that exciting?” Four scowled back at her, and Five could see Zero rolling her eyes from across the table.
“I’d really prefer not to have to flee the country,” Four said. “Unlike some people, I actually have friends here.”
“Oh my goodness, you’re so cute. I can’t believe you’d really lie like that right in front of our new employer.”
“Alright,” Zero snapped. “I really cannot emphasize enough how much I don’t want to fucking listen to this. Get out of my office.”
Four huffed, sending a glare over her shoulder before following orders and marching out of Zero’s office door. Five followed close behind, content to leave Zero to stew. It must be so exciting, waiting to hear the results of a hit job, like the night before Christmas!
With a little smile, she looked over to Four and asked, “Same plan as usual?”
“Yes. You talk to your… sources and find out where we can find her. We start surveillance tonight.”
“And you’ll spend the next few hours lovingly cleaning all your weapons, right?” Five chuckled at the glare that earned her, pausing in the doorway of the tiny rundown office building Zero had laid claim to. “Toodles then, sweetheart, I’ll be on my way.”
Leaving her with a loving, heartfelt middle finger, Four split off down the street. Smiling, Five pulled out her phone to start preparations for their newest job.