Nuka had gathered some fruits and vegetables from a local vendor, who

thanked her warmly as Nuka gave her the money to pay for the food.

“Be careful on your way home now,” the vendor said, nodding outside at

the pouring rain while giving Nuka two brown paper sacks.

“I will, thanks,” Nuka replied as she stuffed the food into the sacks. She

then walked back out into the torrenting rain, keeping her head low as she walked

through the lines of people. Zeek had to park a little farther than she had hoped,

but so far there wasn’t any trouble concerning the Templars. Still, she knew

better than to let her guard down. She looked around in front of her a few times,

and sneaked small glances behind her to see if any uniformed people were

following her. So far she did not see anyone following her.

Nick had suggested that they would meet up and quickly travel as a group

to Zeek’s location. He had said that he was near a small restaurant called Terry’s,

but as Nuka neared a sign advertising a special meal at Terry’s, she did not see

any sign of Nick anywhere. She doubted that he went inside, but peered through

the window anyways.

Nothing.

Concern began to settle in Nuka, and she clicked the speaker button on her

headset and asked, “Nick, I’m at the restaurant and you’re not here, where are

you?”

There was only silence until she heard Shane’s voice respond, “This doesn’t

sound good, where are you Nuka?”

“At a restaurant called Terry’s, almost straight across from the market,” she

answered.

“I’m on my way over.”

Nuka clicked on the button again, now looking to ask Zeek. “Zeek, is Nick

with you?”

Again, she was met with silence. Concern was swamped by worry as the

thought of Templars catching on to them reached her mind. Were Nick and Zeek

already being hauled off?

Nuka felt like she was being watched, as if there were eyes burning right

through her skull. Her current position did not feel safe anymore and she began

to walk down the street, eyes darting around as she looked for any nearby

Templar agents.

“Shane, I left the restaurant, I think they might have found me too.”

Silence, again. “Shane?” she asked.

She was now almost completely certain the Templars had found their

location. Nuka began to move faster to Zeek’s location, almost breaking into a

run as she passed through people who stared at her with either confusion or

irritation as she shoved them aside.

A heavy blow hit her shoulder. Teeth clenched in pain, Nuka was stopped

dead in her tracks. The bags of food dropped to the ground, the contents spilling

all over the ground. Cursing under her breath, Nuka turned to see a female snow

lynx dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt, a sleeveless denim jacket, jeans and

black combat boots reach out and grab Nuka by the scruff of her jacket. Nuka

saw the Templar’s ring adorned on the lynx’s finger. The lynx pushed Nuka into

the nearby alleyway forcefully, her other paw gripped onto the handle of a blade

at her belt.

“Try anything funny and I’ll cute you to pieces, Assassin,” she threatened,

adding a noticeable tone of malice when she said the word “Assassin.”

Nuka looked over the Templar’s shoulder, but the people walking by the

alley did not bother to see what the commotion was about, instead going about

their business. Her eyes then locked with the Templar’s, who did not take them

off Nuka.

“How sad must your predecessors be, watching over the current state of

your Brotherhood. You’re nothing more than rats hiding in holes, daring

yourselves to come out of your filth and be slowly hunted by our Order. The very

mention of the Assassins would send a shiver down someone’s spine, but these

days you’re just a punch line.”

Nuka clenched her paws tightly, tempted to send her hidden blade through

the Templar’s throat. She knew that the Templar was goading her, trying to make

Nuka attack her in blinding, unfocused anger. The Assassin was not going to fall

for that so easily.

“What do you want from me, Templar? You could have killed me at any

moment but brought me here instead,” Nuka said.

The Templar smirked, a faux innocent look spread across her face as if she

was keeping a secret. “Oh, you know, the boss wants Blondie brought in so we

can take a peek at his ancestors’ memories, find ourselves some Forbidden Fruit,

bring in a New World Order, all that crap. As for you and the other two fuckers,

he wants you all rounded up and brought in as a little incentive for the poor guy.

We can rough you up a bit if we have to, but…we do have permission to kill you if

you become a problem.”

Before the Templar even finished, Nuka knew that she was in deep trouble.

This Templar did not seem to want to merely “rough up” Nuka, especially since

she had not removed her paw from the hilt of her blade. There was a certain

hunger in the Templar’s eyes, and Nuka could practically smell the blood that the

blade must have collected over the years.

“You just want to simply kill me, right?” Nuka asked calmly, trying to think

of a plan quickly, her eyes darting around the area. There was only one way to

get out of the alleyway, and the Templar was blocking that only exit. There was

nothing that appeared to be of note at first in the alley: A couple of trashcans

behind her, and a balcony, which was unreachable anyways.

“Well, yeah. I haven’t had any fun lately, unless you think it’s fun sitting on

your ass and waiting for some poor bastard to piss off the bosses.” The Templar

observed Nuka for a moment before looking slightly disappointed. “Damn, you

don’t have your bow.”

Nuka raised her eyebrows slightly. “So you know that I favor archery?”

“No shit. What, is it really that surprising that we have information on you

and your buddies? I was hoping that you would have your weapon, but I guess

I’m not going to have the pleasure of getting a challenge from you. Oh well,” she

added, shrugging slightly as she unsheathed her blade. Nuka recognized it

immediately as a Kukri knife, noticing the blade’s unique shape and curve. The

Templar unsheathed a second knife, a small smile forming on her lips.

“Can’t promise you a quick death, sorry. I love tearing you Assassins to

pieces.”

She lunged forward, swinging her knives in a circular motion. Nuka pulled

out her own knife, paying as much attention as she could to the knives and the

Templar’s foot movements to try and read her moves before she made them.

The Templar made a zigzagging motion with the knives, which Nuka barely

managed to parry with her blade while stepping back. The Templar continued her

movements with precise accuracy, with each swing aiming for Nuka’s head.

Another swing from the Templar’s knife was blocked, but the lynx quickly spun

around a full-circle, her lethal blades whirling violently as the first knife’s

momentum struck Nuka’s weapon and knocked it out of her paws. The second

knife quickly followed, cutting wide across Nuka’s arm.

Nuka let out a sharp cry of pain, but did not take her eyes off the enemy

knowing that one mistake, even if for a fraction of a second, could mean her

death. Without a weapon, Nuka was forced to shuffle back from the Templar’s

knives as they weaved closer and closer to her head with every move. The

Templar seemed to enjoy toying with an opponent, especially a defenseless one,

before killing them. Nuka also knew that she was nearing the wall at the end of

the alley, and would be damned if she allowed herself to get cornered back there.

She did not know what else she could do, however. If she tried to get past the

Templar, she’d end up receiving more cuts from the knives.

“What’s wrong Assassin, not used to being trapped like a rat?” the lynx

asked as she approached closer, spinning her knives in her paws as if showing off.

“I’m guessing that you’re getting thoughts running around in your head. Don’t

worry, it’s the same thoughts your victims think of before you kill them in cold-

blood and hope it’ll make a difference in our plans.”

“And what makes you think what you’re doing is any different?” Nuka shot

back. “You are under orders to capture me, yet you just want to kill me for no

reason! You’re just a blood-craving psychopath!”

The Templar bared her fangs, growling loudly as she sprung at Nuka with

unprecedented speed. Reacting just as quickly, Nuka grabbed a lid from the

trashcan next to her, holding it in front of her like a shield. The Templar’s knife

cut seamlessly through the metal of the lid, and the Templar collided with Nuka,

sending them both to the ground. The knife seemed to have gotten stuck on the

lid since, while Nuka held onto it, the Templar unsuccessfully tried tugging the

knife out, swearing to herself. Nuka swiftly tossed the lid and knife out of reach,

while at the same time she thrust up her right paw upward to the Templar’s head,

her hidden blade unsheathing itself and poised to skewer through.

The Templar was caught off guard, but if she had not been so trained in

combat she would have been killed right there. She quickly craned her head up,

leaning it back as the tip of the hidden blade cut her chin, but that was as close

the blade could get to her. Countering quickly, the Templar grabbed Nuka’s blade

arm, pinning it across her neck as she held her remaining blade over the

Assassin’s eye. The Templar was breathing heavily, and if it wasn’t raining at the

time, Nuka would have sworn that the Templar was crying.

“You…you don’t know a fucking thing, BITCH,” she said hysterically. “What

you Assassin’s did to me…ruined my fucking life!” The Templar was shaking badly,

and Nuka saw that the Templar had closed her eyes, gulping as she seemed

distracted.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the Templar was trying to kill her, Nuka would

have felt at least a small amount of pity. Out of the corner of her eye, Nuka

noticed that the Templar’s knife finally came off of the lid. Reaching out with her

free paw, she managed to grab the handle of the knife and smashed it into the

Templar’s skull, knowing that the handles of Kukri knives were strong enough to

cause concussions.

The Templar fell off of Nuka, holding her head in pain. Nuka considered

driving the knife through the lynx’s heart, but when she held the knife in her paw

she thought about the countless others that the blade may have cut down,

stained with their blood. How many innocents? How many unnecessary deaths

were caused by this evil blade? The Templar’s morals were obviously a polar

opposite of Nuka’s: The Assassin believed that she should kill only when it was

absolutely necessary.

Nuka dropped the knife and then unsheathed her hidden blade. Standing

over the Templar, who was still curled up on the ground and clutching her head,

Nuka struck downwards towards the Templar’s neck.

The Templar countered with surprising speed as she kicked her leg out at

Nuka’s, tripping the Assassin. As the Templar reached for her fallen blades, Nuka

scrambled to her feet and, knowing that this was her only option now, ran

towards the alley wall. As she had hoped, the Templar followed her. She then

reached the wall, ran three steps up the wall, and leapt from it, flipping over the

Templar. Momentarily astonished, the Templar swung her blade as Nuka jumped

over her, but missed her head by just inches.

Landing squarely on her feet, Nuka turned on her heels and sprinted down

the alley. She heard the frustrated growling of the Templar and, looking behind

her, saw the Templar swiftly catching up to her.

Just as she exited the alley, a black car screeched to a halt behind her.

Before she even had time to react, a pair of paws grabbed her and pulled her into

the car. As the figure who grabbed her slammed the door, the car sped away

from the alley. The Templar’s scream of rage could be heard faintly as Nuka tried

to fight her way out of the paws of the person who grabbed her.

“Calm down for a minu—“ the figure began as Nuka drove an elbow into his

ribs. Nuka realized her mistake too late as she saw the fox groan in pain.

“Oh my God, Zeek I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed.

He shook a paw at her as if to say, “don’t worry about it,” taking in a deep

and pained breath. “It’s alright…you probably broke another rib or two but I’m

fine. I’d hit me too if I was just nabbed like that.”

She gently embraced him, which he returned with the arm that wasn’t

clutching his side. However his paw traveled too far as he accidentally touched

Nuka’s arm wound. Stinging pain flooded down her arm as she took in a seething

breath.

“Oh shit…I didn’t--”

“Shut up,” she responded, lightly smiling at him. “I probably deserved that

anyway for almost killing you.”

“You should be a professional fighter with those elbows,” he responded,

smiling in return. Zeek reached into the medical bag next to him, pulling out

some alcoholic wipes and a gauze bandage to temporarily tend to Nuka’s wound.

“Who is that?” Nuka asked, indicating the driver who was talking on his

phone.

“His name is Harry, and he works for Nick’s uncle Malcolm,” Zeek

responded.

Harry hung up his phone before looking at the rearview mirror at the two

Assassins. “I’ve made contact with Master Malcolm, and he just got Master

Nicholas to his car. They’re on their way to get Mister Sicarius and to contact a

trusted doctor to tend to your injuries at the McIntyre Estate.”

Shane stepped out of a hardware store, sighing frustratingly to himself.

This was the third store he had been to that did not hold any generators, and he

was told that the stores in his area would have some. He knew that the group

would probably have to either go to another section of the city or risk going into a

bigger store to find what they need. In the meantime, he would check the

remaining stores so he would be absolutely sure.

He began to walk further down the street, seeking out the nearest store.

Shane knew that he was straying away farther than the others would have

wanted him to go, but he felt he had no other choice. He was certain that there

should be a store nearby that would have what he needed and could not risk the

group’s safety, especially with the added risk that Templars may be nearby.

“Nick, I’m at the restaurant and you’re not here, where are you?” came

Nuka’s voice from the headset.

Shane paused for a moment, waiting for a response. None came, and he

took it upon himself to respond. Nick should have been waiting nearby, but if

Nuka couldn’t find him…

“This doesn’t sound good, where are you Nuka?” he asked.

“At a restaurant called Terry’s, straight across from the market,” she

answered.

“I’m on my way.”

Shane walked quickly up the street back to the market, swearing to himself.

Perhaps they should not have all split up, but they would look more noticeable

walking around as a group. Either way, the decision was a double-edged sword,

and they may be paying the price for it.

As he made his was back up to the market, Shane’s eyes scanned the area

in front of him while he listened for any footsteps that may come up from behind.

He walked past several strangers, but one of them caught his eye the most: A

lizard leaning back against the wall of a building, apparently texting on his phone.

But Shane managed to pick apart the lizard’s ploy, as he saw the Templar ring on

the lizard’s finger and took a mental note as he saw the tip of a gun holster on

Templar’s belt poking out of his jacket, which might have been completely

unnoticed to the untrained eye.

Sure enough, Shane heard the lizard he just walked by move away from the

building to apparently follow him. It would have been a coincidence, had Shane

not picked out the details from a simple, quick look-over of the Templar. He

heard the footsteps getting closer to him, and eventually heard the sound of the

gun’s hammer being cocked back. It was time.

He spun around quickly, keeping his head as low as he could while lifting his

leg in synched movement with his turning body as he kicked the gun away from

the lizard’s paw. Raising his fists up, Shane threw a quick fist at the Templar’s

face, which the lizard slapped away quickly as he brought up his own fists. The

two eyed each other for a moment, daring the other to make a move. Shane

hooked a left fist at the Templar, which he blocked while spinning quickly and

striking Shane in the face with his elbow, following up with a straight kick at

Shane’s chest.

The Assassin staggered back and brought his arms to his head as the

Templar delivered a fast roundhouse kick. Shane blocked the attack and

countered by striking out quickly with his right leg, tripping the Templar. As the

Templar was about to hit the ground with a hard thud, Shane brought his right leg

into the air, swiftly bringing it down to strike at the Templar’s chest. The lizard

swiftly rolled out of the way as Shane’s foot hit the ground and quickly leaped to

his feet. The Templar crouched low, and Shane knew that he was about to strike.

The Templar dashed forward, and as Shane raised a kick, the Templar

leaned back, almost touching the ground. Using his right paw and foot to balance

himself, the lizard used his free foot to kick Shane in the side. Recoiling from the

kick, Shane barely managed to see the foot strike him in the head next, sending

veering towards the wall of the building. He managed to hold out his paws to

prevent himself from slamming his head against the wall, but before he could

recover the lizard grabbed him tightly by the shoulders. He quickly fought free

and sent his own elbow into the Templar’s face and then violently kicked at the

Templar’s knee.

The Templar’s mouth opened widely, emitting a pained, raspy whine.

Glaring back at Shane, the Templar moved as quickly as he could, attempting to

tackle Shane down. The Assassin held his ground and caught the Templar in a

tight headlock. In response, the Templar sent quick fists into Shane’s injured side.

Growling through gritted teeth, Shane struck heavy knees into the Templar’s

chest before releasing him from the headlock. Grabbing the Templar by the back

of his jacket, the Assassin threw him against the wall, pinning the Templar with his

right forearm across the lizard’s throat and flicking his left wrist, extending his

hidden blade.

“Answer my questions! What do you want? How many of you are there?

Where are my friends?” he yelled at the Templar.

There was a gleam of silver, and Shane knew he only had a split second to

react. He drove his hidden blade into the jugular vein of the Templar; warm blood

ran down onto his paw as he pushed the blade deep into the Templar’s throat.

Eyes widening, the Templar shook violently and soon went limp. The knife he

attempted to use dropped to the ground with a slight clang. Shane pulled the

blade out of the Templar’s neck and watched his body slowly slump to the

ground, his eyes empty of life as they stared at the ground.

“HOLY SHIT!”

Shane whipped around, seeing two teenagers who had pulled out their

phones to record the fight. However, they seemed horrified at what they saw,

their eyes flicking from the dead Templar to Shane. One of them started to back

up slowly before breaking into a run up the street, yelling, “Murderer! Call the

coppers, someone’s been killed!”

Thankful that his hood was pulled over his head as they should not have

been able to record his face, Shane raced down the street, trying to calm himself

and think clearly on how to escape the city. As his luck seemed to have turned in

his favor, a car that passed by him suddenly stopped. The back door opened, and

Nick stepped halfway out of the car.

“Come on man, my uncle will get us out of here!” he said quickly as the

sound of police sirens reached their ears.

Thankful that his friend was not captured by the Templars, Shane hurried to

the car, asking as he climbed in, “What about Zeek and Nuka?”

“Uncle Malcolm’s bodyguard got them. We’re going to his house for a little

while,” Nick responded as he climbed in after Shane, closing the door.

Malcolm signaled the driver to drive away. As they passed by the street

where Shane killed the Templar, the Assassins saw several police cars and an

ambulance in the area. The two teenagers were talking to the police, and a

stretcher was carrying a black bag that undoubtedly held the body of the dead

Templar. As they observed the scene briefly, Nick thought for sure he saw the

wolf he fought earlier suddenly turn his gaze to the car as if he knew who was

inside.

As they drove out of the city, Malcolm let out a small and relieved breath.

Frowning slightly, he looked over to Nick, who locked eyes with his uncle.

“After we get you patched up, we’re going to have a talk about this. You,

me, your friends…and your father.”