Requiem for a number

Kiba Yahashi's wife, Sugi looked at the men outside her door, and immediately tried to close it but she felt a force pushing back against her.

She was eventually pushed back, as the door was forced open.

She fell to the floor and immediately asked, "What do you want from us?" She said loudly, looking slightly frightened and moving backwards while on her bum.

Asaka began speaking, "Your husband decided he'd make himself Judge, jury and executioner and murder a member of our family. That is not something we will ever tolerate"

She paused briefly, realising how much danger she was in.

Meanwhile, upstairs, her older child, 17 year old Nakami Yahashi quietly walked to his little brothers room to wake him up.

He lightly tapped his face. "Hey, Iba. Wake up".

10 year old Iba turned around and looked at his big brother, grumbling because it was very early.

"Kami it's still early. What's up?"

"I need you to do something for me. It's really important"

Iba sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"I need you to go to your favourite hiding place. The one you hid in the last time we played hide and seek"

Iba smiled. "It took you so long to find me"

Nakami laughed "Sure did."

He patted his brother on the head before continuing. "Hey do you remember that chameleon trick I taught you?"

"What? Going invisible?"

Nakami nodded

"I do, but I have to concentrate really really hard"

"Okay, I need you to do that, but take my PMD (a device that stores and plays music). If you can stay hidden for 10 minutes without me finding you, you get to keep it "

Iba's eyes lit up. "Really?" He asked, enthusiastically

Nakami nodded with a smile on his face, and handed his brother his PMD.

"Okay I'm going to go so you can hide now."

Iba hugged him, saying, "you're the best, Nakami"

Nakami hugged his little brother back "I love you Iba" he said, in response, before leaving the room.

Nakami headed straight for his parents bedroom, specifically to his father's wall safe. He entered the combination, opened it, took out the revolver that was hidden there and quietly headed downstairs.

"My husband isn't here. He was arrested for the killing of the person you speak of" Sugi said, with fear evidently in her voice.

"We are well aware" Asaka said, "unfortunately, someone has to pay for what he's done"

"I have children" she said, with tears rolling down her face "please, don't do this"

Asaka shook his head, but 1 was the one to speak this time "unfortunately, your husband has left us with no choice Mrs Yahashi. I'm sorry"

Before anything else could be said or done, Nakami fired several shots at the three men. The first hit 7 in the stomach causing him to drop to the floor but immediately after the first shot was fired, 0 erected a gravity wall that stopped the others from hitting.

Nakami tossed the gun afterwards and immediately went invisible.

He jumped down the stairs, making minimal noise, moved towards the two men who were still standing and slammed his fist into 0's face.

To 1's surprise, 0 flew into a wall, and out of the house.

[What kind of an attack was that?] 1 thought to himself. He realised he was next, so he had to find a way to avoid the attack and counter, but he could not see Nakami at all.

Only one thing came to mind. He jumped backwards while pulling out his gun and fired once.

Sugi Yahashi fell backwards clutching her neck as her blood squirted out.

Nakami turned around, and seeing his mother in that state instantly caused a fit of rage and anxiety that caused him to lose concentration momentarily, resulting in his invisibility becoming undone while he rushed to his mother's aid.

"Mum...mum, are you okay? Please, hang in the-"

Nakami dropped to the floor, lifeless as a bullet went through his skull.

More tears ran down Sugi's face as her oldest was killed in front of her, right before 1 put her out of her misery with another bullet, the whole time wearing a non-chalant look on his face.

He turned around, "0, 7 are you guys okay?"

0 laughed as he lay on the ground, bits of brick and debris all around him, with a bloodied face "I'm gonna need a minute, 1"

He walked up to 7 who was holding his stomach.

"Is there an exit wound?" 1 asked.

"Doesn't feel like it"

"There should be a first aid box around here somewhere I'll see what I can do. Hang in there. Also, the wife said she had children. So, there's probably someone else upstairs equally annoying. I'll take care of that and then look for the first aid box. I'll be right back. Keep pressure on your wound"

1 got up, unholstered his gun and started making his way upstairs.

He checked the master bedroom first, did a full sweep and moved to the next when he was satisfied.

He entered Nakami's room next, slowly checking everything before leaving.

Next up was Iba's room.

He opened the door slowly, his eyes scanning every corner.

Gun poised in front of him, he stepped in. He checked the wardrobe first, nothing. Then under the single bed, still nothing.

[Hmm] 1 thought, before leaving the room and heading to bathroom, where all he found was the first aid kit.

He sighed and headed back down to 7 with the kit so he could remove the bullet.

"Lay flat, 7. We've made a lot of noise and you've bled on the rug. I have no doubt the neighbours have alerted the authorities. We need to do this quick and leave."

As 7 lay down, 1 spoke again, "This might hurt"

Using the tweezers in the box, 1 slowly removed the bullet with surgical precision and put it in his pocket while 7 groaned and moaned in pain.

Electricity gathered between his thumb and index finger, gradually increasing in intensity, changing colour as it did so until it was pure white.

"That's gonna hurt" 1 said before getting up to check on 0

7 began cauterising his wound, while trying not to make too much noise.

"You okay?" 1 asked 0

"man, that knocked the lights out of me" 0 responded. "That kid is trouble. Well, was"

1 sighed, "get up. We need to leave"

0 immediately sprung to his feet. His nose evidently broken.

1 smiled, "6 will have to fix that"

He turned around to look at 7 who was slowly getting back to his feet. 1 walked in and began rolling the rug making sure there was no blood on the floorboards.

As the men stepped outside, 1 smiled as an idea came into his head.

"0, we'll use the rug or carpet or whatever to escape. Do you think you can make the three of us fly on this thing?"

"Of course" 0 said with a smile on his face as his friends stepped on the blood stained rug. Using his gravity ability, he lifted them into the air and flew away from the scene.

"Did you find the other child or children?" 7 asked

"I'm pretty sure there was a little boy hiding somewhere but he's too young to be a threat"

0 and 7 were annoyed "1, you left a survivor? I thought we went there to send a message" 0 said.

1 smiled, "a teenager punched you in the face. A punch which according to you, knocked the lights out of you. He also shot 7 and forced me to resort to plan B, using my firearm, which you insisted I didn't bring. Now, a teenager was able to do that to us in a matter of seconds. Now imagine what his enraged father would be capable of. Then, imagine if this "father" had absolutely nothing left to lose. We'd be in some trouble, wouldn't we? If he has 1 child left, he'll be vulnerable, and we can exploit that vulnerability should he come after us, assuming he somehow escapes prison. Always look at the bigger picture, gentlemen"

0 and 7 remained silent, the cool breeze blowing against their faces as they continued to fly away.

Before he departed, 0 asked some of the others to go to two separate locations. These were the locations the supermax prisons of the city were situated.

2, and 11 were parked in a stolen van at the first location, talking to each other.

"We are a step closer to getting everyone back" 11 said, cheerfully.

"You're right. However, I'm not sure how 0 expects us to know whether this is the right prison or not. Even if it was, how do we get the guys out?"

Confidently, 11 replied, "well, that's why you have me"

2 smiled, "well, you are one of the best hackers in the city. That gives me a lot of confidence"

There was silence for a few seconds before 11 spoke again

"1 met with a very shady man today."

"What do you mean by shady?" 2 asked

"He sat on this throne, hidden by shadows so we couldn't see his face. It felt like 1 was slightly scared of him, and he asked him for help with the school kids"

"I've heard about such a man, ruthless criminal with some underlings who are lunatics. I've never encountered them before though"

"want to know the weirdest thing?"

"What?" She asked again

"Riot was quiet the whole time. It's as if it knew how dangerous he was. He didn't try to come out once"

2 was slightly surprised by this. "That's interesting. Riot always tries to fight everything"

She couldn't help but think [1, I hope you know what you're doing]

A few seconds later, her new burner phone rang. It was 0 on the other line.

"Any activity?" He asked

"I'm not sure what I'm looking for here 0"

He sighed, before explaining "we are making a lot of noise in multiple locations. Any moderately smart officer will think this is a play to thin out the amount of officers available and will link it to a possible jail break attempt send send additional units to the location where our group members are held. That way, we know exactly what station we need to go to."

"That makes sense." She paused for a few seconds before asking, "What if they don't take the bait and dispatch officers?"

"They will, 2. I know how they think. They're very predictable"

"Alright 0, I'll keep you updated"

At the other location, 3 and 6 sat in a car while she explained her experience with detective Yagita.

"It was horrible. I felt the bullet sink into my chest but it felt like every time I tried to heal, it burrowed deeper, causing me to cough up blood. It was a very vicious cycle. I thought I was going to die."

3 held her hand to comfort her as she continued to speak.

"If any of us get hit anywhere near the heart with that bullet it's over. Even I wouldn't be able to do anything about it"

"Was it the same as back then? When I was shot?"

She nodded. He gave her a warm smile, still holding her hand before saying "well, as long as I'm here, nothing is going to happen to you "

She smiled back at him before leaning back in the car seat to still regain some energy, eventually she fell asleep.

3's burner rang

"Hello, 0" he said

"any activity?"

"Nothing to report"

"Alright, keep me updated"

They hung up and 3 continued watching the entrance to the prison and the surrounding area, the whole time holding 6's hand.

Meanwhile, it was 5 this time who was on a solo mission. 0 had given him the location of the publishing company that printed the paper with 9's dismembered body on view.

As 5 stood outside the entrance, he had a wild smile on his face.

[Hmm, minigun or launcher?] he thought to himself, stepping into the building.

A few metres from the entrance was the receptionists desk, which was empty.

To the left of that were the offices and the toilets and changing rooms were on the right.

5 headed left, walking slowly and humming a tune.

He pushed the main glass doors open and looked around.

A young man looked up at him from his desk and stood up saying, "Hey, we are closed to the public, you shouldn't be in here." He got up to confront 5 "you're trespassing r-"

He was interrupted by a barrage of bullets ripping him apart, as 5 began using his minigun.

Everyone who was unfortunate enough to be in the building began running and screaming. There were about 10 of them. Some ran for fire exits, others ducked behind their desks and began trying to call for help.

5 chuckled as his mini gun arm began to spin. Moving from the left side of the room to the right, 5 unleashed a storm of bullets.

They destroyed computers, desks, chairs, Windows and walls. Anyone who happened to be hiding behind desks, or still running was hit and killed.

Even those who had been running for the fire exits did not make it. Afterwards, the only sounds in the room were the sounds of sparks flying, electricity buzzing and lights flickering. 5 had killed everyone

[Damn, I overdid it] he thought to himself before turning around to leave. Right before he left the building, he heard whimpering coming from the toilet. He opened the main doors, and there were two more, leading to the male and female toilets respectively.

The noise was coming from the right, so he pushed the door, and the whimpering stopped.

5 immediately spoke, "if you don't come out in the next three seconds, I'm going to start shooting"

"please don't" the woman said as she stepped out of the cubicle she was hiding in. "I've got children" she cried.

"What is your position in this company"

Her voice breaking, she replied, "I..I'm just the receptionist"

"that works" he said, "get out here. I need you to access your computer"

She complied.

"Now, Imana Yutsami. Was she in the office this morning?"

"No, she went home a few hours ago"

"Her address. Write it down"

The receptionist typed Imani's name into the system and then wrote her address down on a piece of paper, shakily handing it to 5 afterwards. Who then fired a few shots into the computer, destroying the system. Before asking, "final question, and do not even think of lying to me. While you were hiding in the toilet, did you call the police?"

She nodded and began to cry again, as she knew what that answer meant.

"Thanks for your honesty". He turned his arm into a blade, and in a single Slash motion, cut off her writing hand.

She instantly screamed in pain, as her detached hand fell to the ground in front of her.

"If you're lucky, they'll get here before you bleed out " he said to her, before leaving the building.

He looked at the piece of paper, looked around to see if there were any vehicles. After finding one, he pocketed the piece of paper and began making his way. He passed the response unit in his way there and laughed to himself.

When he arrived, he parked in front of her house and admired it. A 2 storey building with well trimmed hedges in front and on the sides, and a patch of grass in front of the entrance.

He didn't bother knocking. He turned his arm into the barrel of a rocket launcher and fired at the front door, blowing it up and the neighbouring windows.

Alarms in the house began going off, and 5 calmly stepped in.

He headed straight upstairs because he knew at this time, she'd still be sleeping. However, Imana's boyfriend, Yuri stepped out into the passageway with a shotgun. Spotting 5, he aimed downstairs and shot.

Immediately 5 saw what the man was holding, he jumped downstairs and out of the way, so that shot didn't hit him.

"Leave this house or you'll die" Yuri said, "as you can hear from these alarms, the police are already on their way and I am armed" 5 began wondering if the receptionist had sent him to the wrong address, before Yuri continued speaking.

"So, walk out of this house right now and you may yet live"

5 laughed and smiled to himself. Then responded to Yuri saying, "you heard a loud explosion and your first instinct was to come outside with a gun?" He laughed again,"You're a very brave man, but did you even stop to think what caused it?"

As he said this, he turned his arm into a rocket launcher once more. Leaned in, while aiming at the top of the stairs and fired.

After the resulting explosion, he wasn't surprised to see Yuri's leg fly down the stairs, spraying blood everywhere.

He assumed Yuri was dead, seeing as there was no screams of pain.

As he started walking up the stairs again he finally heard a scream, but it was feminine.

"YURI! NO" the voice said, in extreme agony.

She couldn't even process what she was seeing. There were body parts everywhere.

Immediately 5 came into view, she lost her temper as rage consumed her. Her teeth grew tremendously in size and strength, her nails turned into claws. Her eyes, glowing orange and as fierce as ever.

[Oh, shit] 5 thought as he saw her go on all fours. He raised his arm but he couldn't get a clear image of the weapon he wanted in time. Imana was too fast. She crashed into him, her claws sinking into his chest and her teeth deep into his shoulder.

5 anticipated what was coming next, so he wrapped both arms around the back of her neck and squeezed tightly. This prevented her from moving her head, and subsequently ripping the the flesh off his shoulder.

She dug her claws deeper as she struggled, causing him to groan in pain, but he didn't let go.

She stabbed him in a new spot but even then he refused to let go. After a few more seconds of the constant struggling, using as much strength as he could muster, he rolled her over so he was on top, turned one arm into a blade and stabbed her through the chest.

She reverted back to her human form slowly, coughing up blood and staring intently at 5, while holding his blade arm.

5 coughed, struggling to get to his feet. He knew he had to leave immediately but he wanted to send a message.

"I want you to know something. Your husband dying, your current predicament. This all happened because you thought it was necessary to disrespect the dead, in the name of doing your job."

He smiled once more."Well, now it's your turn. The whole world will see you the way they saw him "

After he was done, he hurriedly got back into the parked car and drove off at a great speed. He was bleeding a lot and 6 no where near him. He knew he was in trouble.