CROFF

Croff stands still and takes in everything in the room; from the unconscious guard on the floor to the guns and finally up to The Girl. He has no idea who this is, or why she has a half dead man in her grasp. She seems to have beaten the breaks out of him, that much is certain. She stands there as still as he is, perhaps waiting to see if he'll make the first move.

"Did you do all this?"

The Girl lets go of the man and wipes the blood away from her knuckles. "No."

"I just saw you let go of that guy."

The Girl goes quiet, and now Croff grows suspicious. She could easily be a spy from the Toulours. She could have been sent to infiltrate Idris's network. Or perhaps even Enzo's. And when she pulls out a knife and lunges it at him, it all but confirms his suspicions.

Seemingly to her surprise, he dodges the weapon narrowly enough to have it graze the corner of his face. This clearly isn't the outcome she'd hoped for. "That . . . that was an accident."

Croff doesn't buy the measly excuse. He now knows the woman in front of him is an enemy. He steps into the room. "You're going to tell me exactly who you are."

The Girl watches his every move, then once he's close enough, she sends a punch for his face that narrowly misses once again due to his speedy reaction. But he can't help but notice how fast she is, and he makes note of this. He grabs her arm and quickly gives her a knee to her abdomen. With this attack, Croff is sure things are over with, so he lets her go and relaxes a bit.

But what he doesn't expect to see is The Girl still unfazed, twisting her arm around to provide it some relief.

"You're going to have to hit much harder than that." She slips her suit off and throws it to the floor.

Croff's eye twitches. He knows now to take the situation much more seriously, so he follows after The Girl and takes his own suit off. He takes the initiative this time and sends an elbow for her face, but she sees it coming and ducks just in time to have his elbow hit the wall instead.

Then she mimics him and gives him her own elbow to his head hard enough. She goes in for another punch to add to the pain, but Croff grabs her arm and throws her body against the wall. He doesn't let her go and instead, throws her over a table and into the objects that clatter down to the floor.

The Girl quickly recovers and grabs a small vase which she uses to slam into Croff's head. Then before he can act again, she quickly positions herself and gives him a roundhouse kick to the face. It doesn't fail to connect, but Croff grabs her leg before she's able to pull away and gives her a punch to the gut.

The Girl curses from the pain, which satisfies Croff. It means she's struggling. But just when he thinks she's given up, she plants both her hands on the floor and uses her free leg to deliver another kick to his chest. This secures her escape from his grasp.

Croff doesn't have the leisure to mourn the pain. He has to act before The Girl does. He goes on the offensive again and tackles her until she hits the mounted TV on the wall, demolishing it. This, he can tell did some damage, because she grunts against his body. But if he thinks she won't exact a counterattack, then he's wrong. She interlocks her fingers and brings it down on his back so forcefully, he can feel it ripple down his spine.

Now it's time to dish his own attack. He sweeps her leg off the floor, which steals her balance and causes her to slide down to the floor. With The Girl now seated, Croff sends a side kick for her face which she ducks to avoid. But he doesn't let it end there. He brings his leg up in the air and brings it back down with enough power to shatter a bone or two.

The Girl is able to block it with her arms, although barely. She grits her teeth, because the attack was painful. Perhaps more painful than the rest so far. But Croff keeps going. If he keeps delivering kicks, she'll grow too weary to block them all. So he sends another one for her head. Except this one fails and instead, connects with the wall.

The Girl makes a split second decision and delivers a blow to Croff's shin, which gives her the chance she needs to escape his trap. And now there's an interval. The Girl darts behind the wall separating the living room from the bedroom, while Croff secures his place behind a couch.

This is not how things were supposed to go. Croff hadn't accounted for the fight to last this long. Who knows how many more capable spies the Toulours could have? He checks on his shin where The Girl struck him to make sure it isn't too damaged. It stings like hell, but is still manageable.

Croff sighs and unties his hair, then ties it back once again. "Let's go to the casino, he said. It'll be fun, he said." He rolls his sleeves up to his biceps. "He just had to drag me out here."

Then from behind the wall, "Are you dead?"

"As dead as you are." Croff answers.

The Girl goes quiet, and Croff can smell the disappointment from where he is. "It'll really help me out if you just died."

Croff could say the same. He leaves his post and rolls under the couch for some cover. Maybe he'll be able to throw a surprise attack from there. He calms himself down and tries working up some plans, but with how agile his opponent is, he's not sure if three out of four of those ideas will work.

He scans the floor thoroughly, waiting for any signs of The Girl, hoping to pull a fast one on her. Except she's not anywhere in sight and the room has gone eerily quiet. Her absence worries him. Greatly.

Then just as he's about to make a move, a blade protrudes through the cushion, but narrowly misses his head by a couple inches. Croff's eyes grow wide at the sudden attack. "Where the fuck did she get a katana from?!"

The attacks only continue. The Girl thrusts the blade continuously through the couch in the hopes it will deliver a lethal blow to Croff. But he dodges them all, although narrowly. There's one that comes directly for his head, and he has to jerk his entire body to the side just to avoid the hit. He rolls himself out from under the couch just in time before an attack is able to land. Problem now is The Girl is armed, but he isn't. Croff curses again at his mishap.

The Girl calmly steps off the couch with a smug smile, and Croff's own irritation begins eating at him. She's provoking him. It works, but he soon catches himself. He will not fall prey to her taunts.

The Girl twirls the katana a couple times, gives it a couple test swings, then charges at Croff. The swings are precise, each targeting lethal areas on his body. But again, he dodges them. But try as he may, he can't keep up the evasion. She gives him no room to breathe. Then finally, the blade slices through his abdomen. The wound isn't lethal, but it still bleeds. Croff grits his teeth as his back hits the window. He's trapped.

But his fast thinking is able to pull him out of that bind. He creates a rope out of the curtains, a shield to defend himself with against the attacks. And it works. Once the blade hits the cloth, Croff wraps the curtain around and forcefully pulls it out of The Girl's hands. Then before she has the chance to land a counterattack, he sends another kick to her abdomen which he's sure did some harm from the way she winces.

But The Girl is already on to her next move. She grabs hold of the leg he used to deliver the blow, then sweeps his other foot off the floor. Once again, the odds are in her favor.

The Girl wastes no time and climbs on top of Croff with legs astride. She pulls out another knife and sends it straight for his head, but before it makes contact, Croff grabs a hold of her hands. Now, it's just a battle of who has the most brute strength, which Croff knows is him. She must be aware of this as well, but still pushes the blade towards his head as hard as she can.

However, not only does Croff push the blade back, he propels it so the sharp end now faces her. Then he pushes and pushes again before realizing this is the most strength he's ever had to use on an opponent.

The blade inches closer to The Girl's neck and even manages to prick her skin, drawing a drop of blood in the process. Before it can go any further, she shoves the knife towards the floor. And with this chance, Croff pushes her off of him before finally regaining his freedom. Except, he has to act quick because he's not sure what next The Girl will come up with.

He grabs her arm and pulls her towards him in an attempt to deliver a staggering headbutt. But The Girl seems to have already seen through it, because she grabs his collar and goes in with a headbutt of her own. The two end up with too powerful a clash, leaving them both in a daze. They have to spend a couple seconds waiting out the pain before their strength returns.

The two are at it once again. They scan the floor for anything to use. Croff even contemplates the katana, but he picks up on something better; the guns belonging to the unconscious guards. The Girl notices the weapons as well, and in a competition of speed, dives for the pistols the same time Croff does. They point their weapons at each other, but come time to click the safety back, the door flies open.

~《¤》~

JOSI

The last Josi heard of Dami, she was in Enzo's suite. She's not sure what happened after that, but seeing as the assassin hasn't reported back with some bad news, the operation must have been successful.

But with the sounds coming from her mic, Josi grew worried. Lots of crashing and things breaking. Dami must have been in some fight. So Josi ran towards the suites, and after searching room by room, had found the source of Dami's struggle.

She opened the door only to be met by a brawl between Croff and Dami. Both wounded with clothes in tatters. Both breathing heavily, but still at each other's throats. And now they have their guns pointed at each other.

"Josita?" The two say, almost simultaneously. Then they give each other a look of suspicion.

"You two know each other?" Croff asks.

"She's Rosari Maranzo's new guard." Says Josi.

Dami keeps up the facade. "Yes, I am . . . Esther. Hired to guard young Ms. Maranzo. Pleased to make your acquaintances."

Croff grows even more suspicious. "Then why were the men unconscious when I walked in?"

"Because I felt threatened." Dami tells him. "Self defense."

Croff just studies her, and in that moment Josi can see him accept her answer. But he still doesn't lower his weapon. Neither does Dami.

Josi sighs. "The misunderstanding is over. Just put your guns away."

A couple more seconds of staring go by before the two finally decide to end the tension. Then in comes Rosari, more troubled at having been used as bait to stall her father. She stops just besides Josi and surveys the tattered state of the suite. The room is in shambles.

"What happened in here?"

Croff tosses his gun to the floor. "Your guard happened."

Dami rolls her eyes at his accusation. He heads for the door, but on his way out, he shares an intense look with Josi that doesn't go unnoticed by the rest.

Both Dami and Rosari's mouths widen. "You two had sex?" Dami asks.

Josi, a bit taken aback, simply sighs. Was it so obvious? "It was one time. Except he's too loyal to Idris, so he's not too happy about it."

"Loyal, my ass! He fucked you!" Rosari exclaims.

"Wait. We're obviously missing the most important question here." Dami steps closer to Josi and in a much silent tone, asks, "Who's better in bed?"

"Who do you think is hotter?" Rosari pipes in.

"Which one do you prefer?"

"Who lasts the long-"

Josi clears her throat. "A lady never sleeps and tells."

Both Rosari and Dami give it a rest, and now the room has been engulfed in silence. Until finally, Rosari decides she'll ask just one last question. "Okay, but whose dick is bigger?"

__

Now that the operation has concluded, Josi heads back down to the casino below. Dami has already left with the flash drive, the only thing with the ability to guarantee Josi's safety. And now it's Rosari's turn to depart.

"Well, I have to head back to that grotesque excuse of a human being."

Josi nods. "Then I'll see you next time."

Rosari smiles, though Josi can tell it's forced. She must really not want to return. Once she's left, Josi goes in search of Idris and finds him by a poker table with some colleague of his. A stranger, Josi first thinks. But when she studies him, she realizes it's the man she'd bumped into earlier. The man with the scar across his face.

"We meet again, Ms. Cade." He says with the same smile.

"You two know each other?" Idris asks.

Josi still doesn't pry her eyes away from the man. "We bumped into each other earlier."

The man agrees to this, then turns his attention towards Idris once again. "I'll see you later." He flashes Josi another friendly smile, fixes his suit, and heads off.

"Who is he?" Josi asks, only after he's disappeared into the crowd.

"Ainse Vanetti. He's been out of the country for some time and recently came back." Says Idris. "I like him. For the most part."

Josi has never once heard of him, but she will keep an eye out for the new guest. Because if he's someone Idris is fond of, he definitely can't be good news.

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