5 Chapter Four: Putting Suspicions Together (The Night Raid Cometh)

The next day, Gunnar and Tatsumi were stuck on guard duty as Arias' escorts. To and fro, from one building to another, they tagged along with two of the household guards in aiding Aria in her shopping spree; not really the best plan Gunnar was hoping for. It wasn't even past noon and they had already gathered what Gunnar estimated as two wagon loads of merchandise. "Man, Aria's a serious shopper, isn't she?" Tatsumi commented. "I mean I've never seen so much stuff before."

Disgruntled, Gunnar scoffed. "Yeah, no shit dude. What was your first fucking clue?"

"There's no need to be grouchy about it."

"When we were going into town with Aria, this wasn't what I was expecting to do." Gunnar had hoped to get some history about this town and/or country he was in, but he only got so little information from the family's library. That's why when he heard Aria was heading into town, he hoped they would stop at some historical center or at least the towns' archives in order to get some intel. It was either that or kicking someone's ass. Instead, he's playing chaperone for the rich kid.

"The young lady does enjoy it,-" said one of the guards waiting with them; "-but I assume all women behave this way, yes?"

"Some more than others," said Gunnar. He could remember on more than one occasion he got conned into helping Kitty Pryde with her shopping. Though he could have enjoyed accompanying her without the girly shopping. He was a man after all.

"I don't know," said Tatsumi. "I have this other female friend and she kinda wears what she has."

"By the way, boys, you see that castle over there?" The mutant and the kid looked into the direction the guard was gesturing at, in which was the tall castle towering over them. "That's the center of the entire empire. It's where everything happens." While Tatsumi was amazed by the sight, Gunnar had a hunch that was the nerve center of this entire city.

"Still, it's a most impressive sight to behold." Gunnar thought to himself. "Almost makes the Taj Mahal look less grand."

"I've always wanted to see where the emperor lives and makes decisions for the entire country!" Tatsumi stated, amazed by the palace surrounded by the two layers of thick stone walls.

"So it's that kind of monarchy, huh?" implied Gunnar, in which he thought to himself again; "Now the only question that remains is he a good emperor or a bad emperor."

The guard then lowered his voice so that only the three of them could hear. "Yes, he is the emperor but he's only a child. Our land is plagued by corruption. It's the minister who controls the emperor from the shadows."

"The minis...?!" Tatsumi was about to ask until the guard put a hand over his mouth before he continued.

"Do not let yourself be heard," he sternly warned the boys. "Those who oppose are beheaded."

"Oh great! A kingdom not only ran by a kid, but by a kid who's corrupted by a complete totalitarian asshole! This place just gets better all the time I'm here." Gunnar thought sarcastically in his head. Needless to say, he was not liking this place one bit. And it was just about to get even better as Tatsumi then spoke up.

"So he's the one who ordered all those heavy taxes on my village."

"The entire town knows," the guard added.

And like Tatsumi, the mutant was most displeased. "I stand corrected." he muttered under his breath. He then asked the guard in an equally lowered tone, "Has there ever been anyone who opposes this douchebags' rule of the kid? Despite the possible threat of completing beheading?"

"Not really, especially when we're having to deal with this scum." The guard then gestured to several wanted posters behind him, all entitled under the name of 'Night Raid'.

"Night Raid?" questioned Tatsumi.

"A band of assassins terrorizing the area. As the name implies, they tend to attack at night. High-ranking officials and the upper class make up most of their targets. It's only wise to be very cautious."

A small devious smile crept over Gunnar's face. "Almost sounds like my kind of people," he said. He never cared much for the upper class, much less had any reason to. High-ranking officials, however, seemed more up in the air. "In any case, I'll keep that in mind."

"Right." Tatsumi said in agreement.

"But for the time being, let's do something about that." The guard pointed to what happened to be the biggest box either of them had ever seen behind him and the X-Man, being carried by the two other guards with Aria leading the way skipping towards them.

Night soon fell upon the household and everyone but Gunnar was asleep. He became restless after his discussion with the guard earlier. He decided to take a walk around the mansion to set his mind at ease. As he was walking down one of the halls, he thought in his head about Night Raid and what these guys actually stood for. He hoped they would stand for justice in a manner of speaking, but a part of him was wary about what their true intentions were. He could try locating these assassins and do a little investigating of his own.

His mind then snapped back to reality when he, Tatsumi and everyone else got home from Aria's spending spree. He took the time to find the father and ask him if he ever got around to asking his 'friend' from the military about helping him and the kid out. The father replied that he had sent word out this morning and has not heard word back yet. Thinking back to what was previously said before, about Aria taking in another stray traveler, he then asked the father what kind of people she brought home. The father replied only the newcomers who've had a bit of bad luck.

This didn't seem to satisfy Gunnar's curiosity enough as he then asked what was in the shed in the back of the house, for it gave off a bit of a foul odor when he caught whiff of it. Even when the father said it was just bad soil, the mutant could see a bit of surprise in his eyes if not a bit of worry. With a bit of a suspicious glare, Gunnar went back to help with the rest of the merchandise; but not before looking back to see a bead of sweat running down the father's face. That only roused his curiosity even more.

All while he's been walking in the near quiet house, his mind conjured up various scenarios about what could possibly be in that shed. The one assumption that always came to his head was if this family was secretly doing a little Sweeney Todd practice to unknowing visitors, whether it was to the city or this household. One thing was definitely certain, he had to check out that shed. It was the only way he can know for certain.

As he rounded a corner, Gunnar looked to see that he came across the mother who he thought at first was up doing some late night reading. "Well, well. Now I can add another entry to my diary," he heard her say with a giggle. "What an addicting little hobby this is." No sooner did she just said he heard a sudden metallic slice and the next thing he saw was the upper part of her body flying through the air, blood splattering everywhere. It was all so sudden that he needed to snap himself out of it.

When he came back to his senses, Gunnar could see the assassin responsible for it; athough it was nothing he was expecting. It was a woman who was, if Gunnar were to guess, in her mid-twenties with lavender purple eyes shielded over by glasses and long hair to match. She wore a revealing sleeveless lilac cheongsam (a close-fitting dress for those who don't know) with detached lilac arm sleeves and white boots.

In her hands she wielded a most comical weapon he's ever seen: a pair of giant scissors. As ridiculous as they looked, they certainly did the job. He heard her apologize as he then made his way back to Tatsumi's room to get him and anyone else he could save out of here. "Kid's a nube but I'm not heartless," he thought to himself. He was almost there until we nearly ran into Tatsumi, his sword with him.

"Gunnar?! What the hell is happening?" he asked him.

"Trouble, that's what!" was the mutant's only reply to him.

"You don't think it's Night Raid, do you?"

"I'm wanting to say yes!" Gunnar then looked out the window to his right. "And I think they're all here!" Tatsumi looked in his direction and there they were: five assassins all standing on what looked like wire to Gunnar.

"What do they want?" he asked.

"I'm assuming the family either because they're rich or for some other reason." Although he couldn't make them out from a distance, the mutant clone knew that this was no time for finding out who they were in person. He turned back to Tatsumi, putting both hands on his shoulders. "Tatsumi, listen to me very carefully! I need you to find anyone else in the house that's not dead yet along with any remaining guards, then rendezvous to the shack out back!"

"What about you?!"

"I'll be right there, but not without my stuff! Don't worry about me, kid! Don't hesitate, just do it alright? Trust me!"

Tatsumi nodded as they both off on their mission. A few moments later, Gunnar came across one of the servants and asked him where his uniform was. When the poor bastard was hesitant, Gunnar pinned him against the wall and asked him in his usual threatening tone to which the man replied in his master's room, but recommended him not to go in there. When the X-Man asked what he meant by that, the servant said nothing else other than he wished he shouldn't have said that. With an annoyed growl, Gunnar just told the man to grab whatever personal belongings he could grab and get the hell out of here. He then made his way to the couples' room and what he saw in there was something that he did not like one bit.