Mineko was, typically, a difficult person to follow undetected. She was always ten steps ahead of her pursuer; aware of their exact location and their intentions. However, this place was new to her, its norms weren't familiar at all. And most importantly, there were always hundreds of people on the streets at any given time.

In such a crowded place, her senses were dulled. She simply wasn't trained to deal with the sheer amount of threats that could be passing her at any given moment. This would explain why she had no suspicion of being tracked as she wandered back to Barry's apartment. As soon as she had entered that empty structure though, she was immediately hit with a feeling of dread.

Now that she was away from the large groups of people and the tall, seemingly endless buildings, she regained some control over her own abilities. Now she could tell that she wasn't alone. The air smelt slightly different to the usual twinge of pizza that hung in the room, it was now obscured by the musk of newly stitched leather. In the distance, if she listened intently enough, she could also hear the steady breathing of a well-trained combatant.

She could vividly recall Barry's unusually fast and erratic breaths, Wally's was almost identical. Whoever was in that apartment, it wasn't either of them. Mineko's body immediately tensed in the darkness. Every muscle contracted until felt as unmovable as solid rock. Her hand extended towards the light switch, only recently learning its purpose.

The moment she flicked it light flooded the room. Immediately, she caught sight of the intruder. He was hanging from the ceiling like some form of spider, wearing a costume draped primarily in black. That explained why she couldn't see him in pitch blackness.

His wrist flicked forward, and a strange contraption unraveled from his wrist, extending a kind of barrel outward.

Mineko had no time to react. Suddenly, an ear-piercing bang swallowed every sound in the apartment. She fell to the ground behind Barry's couch, unknowingly providing herself with cover from this strange new weapon.

Her ears rang with deafening volume as she realised there was a fresh wound on her abdomen. It bled profusely...and Mineko was more confused and shocked at what the would-be assassin did to hurt her like that.

Mineko's hearing slowly began to fade back in, just in time to hear the thud of the man's feet against the far wall. He came barrelling over the couch, and just as he aimed his weapon for another hit, she concentrated all of her strength into lashing out with her wind magic.

She swiped a hand at the assassin, and a gust of wind pushed the man off course. His weapon discharged and exploded a pile of books mere centimetres away from Mineko, as he flew into a bookcase with great force, causing it to tumble over. The man gave a surprised grunt, and just as Mineko tied her robe around the gaping wound in her stomach, he managed to roll off of the collapsed shelving.

Mineko didn't know how this weapon worked, but she knew that getting hit by it again was not ideal. As fast as she possibly could, Mineko made a break for the assassin and snatched his right arm before he could set the weapon on her again.

The assassin wrestled with Mineko, knowing that she was trying to break his arm. He tried to bring the barrel of his gun up to her face, but the pair were evenly matched. However, Mineko drove her knee into the man's gut, and this gave her the opening she needed. She twisted the man's arm around and pushed her palm against his elbow with strength made more intense by controlled wind pressure. There was a loud crack as his arm broke in the opposite direction.

He grunted in pain, and his weapon tumbled out of his grasp and dropped onto the ground. Mineko trapped it beneath her left shoe and kicked it to the other end of the room, as far away from him as she could manage in such a position.

"Who are you?!" She hissed, putting pressure on his damaged arm so that the bone was visibly sticking out beneath his costume. "Who sent you? Tell me, and I'll consider sparing your life."

The man said nothing. He simply flicked his left hand out...and another one of his weapons appeared inside it. Mineko could only manage one swift motion before it went off; she snapped out with a slap to bat the weapon away from her body.

Another bang sounded and a sharp pain gripped her thigh. Blood splattered onto the wooden panel flooring, and Mineko grimaced in pain.

She reeled backwards then lashed forward with a burst of air pressure. The assassin was propelled towards the window, and before he had time to recover, Mineko sprinted at him with her teeth gritted.

The man's masked face rose just in time to see Mineko throw herself into him. Barry's window shattered into shrapnel as the two people came hurtling to the ground in a dark and damp alleyway. There was a loud 'oof', primarily from the intruder that had landed beneath Mineko and softened her own fall.

The dazed and injured woman used this to her advantage and cracked a loud punch against his jaw. It seemed as if he was barely keeping conscious when she finally ripped the mask off him.

As expected, she didn't recognise him at all. She could attribute that to the loss of blood, but she only knew very few people in this odd future. His hair was as dark as the mask he had previously worn, and his skin was only slightly lighter than that. Upon first glance, he looked like any other person she'd see down the streets of Central city, it was only when she squinted more intently that she noticed his eyes. They were completely milky, blank and empty like that of a week old corpse.

Mineko instantly knew what this entailed. He was under the influence of Yan, the leader of the Uesugi clan. Her power of manipulation and control was known throughout Mineko's monastery, it left the victim unaware of their own actions. Only a moving, breathing tool for her to use for her own gain.

The plan had been to kill this intruder; a good, clean and honourable death. This was no longer a viable solution. He was being controlled, and so was no longer accountable for his actions.

The alleyway was just starting to fade into a giant blur in her mind, turning so quickly that dizziness was the least of her concerns. The man beneath her attempted to push her away, but he was feeling just as weak as Mineko was. The moment his hands shoved her shoulders, Mineko struck another hard blow against the man's temple and knocked him out cold.

"Hey, isn't that Mineko?" Wally's familiar voice said from the entrance to the alley.

She only barely managed to stay awake long enough to glance up. Barry's eyes met hers then wandered to the blood seeping through her clothes. The soda in his hand dropped to the ground and splattered against the gravel. Wally, on the other hand, continued to sip loudly from his drink.

The last thing Mineko heard before passing out in a pool of her own blood was Wally, speaking a little too calmly for the situation at hand. "Oh, shit. You gonna help her, Barry?"

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