Chapter 11 // Peacekeepers

Peacekeepers, a name that to the uninitiated did not seem to fit. What type of "peace" are they keeping anyway? In short, they eliminated any opposition that bothered the establishment enough for them to send out a death note. They functioned as the primary protectors of the Citadel, but their operations usually took place on Earth. The chain of command went from Omega police, to the Peacekeepers, to the witches underneath Matriarch Ebiru, then to whatever she was interfacing with. While Omega police tended to roll in bigger squadrons, Peacekeepers operated under three-man groups at most.

Squad 3 was assigned with eliminating the Genesis terrorists of today. They were the 3rd most highly decorated squadron in all of the Citadel. Squads were named by their placements on the Peacekeeper leaderboards in terms of most powerful, most kills, most deadly… After today's mission success, they would surely be moving up in the ranks to become Squad 2.

Skullface, a 6'7" buff guy with a high-and-tight haircut. He fought primarily with an energy sword that created two parallel blades. He wore skull face-paint on the battlefield, hence his creative name.

Kaguya, a short, tiny woman, quite frail in her appearance. Her eyes were covered with a black blindfold. Her hair was red in a choppy bob cut. Her lips were full, moist and pink, but she spoke even less than Mocha.

Deek, a pyrotechnics expert. His face was gaunt and shaped like a gas mask. His body was skinny but incredibly ripped and vascular, despite being unable to bench over 135 for 5 reps. He only wore jeans and boots on the battlefield, along with his strappy vest full of explosives.

Mocha was waiting underneath the red torii gate. She stood with her katana low to the ground. Surrounding her were deactivated husks and a mass of dead bodies with chunks of flesh missing. The stench was awful and the sight was depressing. 

It had been a long time since Mocha fought Peacekeepers. They were nothing to be trifled with. And it would be three against one? She felt tingles from the excitement, but her analytical mind knew that it would be a challenge. Zero backup, huh? Would Genesis really let me die here? It's as good a day as any. She looked up at the moon who over the course of her life had become one of her only friends. She smiled at its heavenly light and asked for strength and guidance. She tightened up when she saw the three Peacekeepers floating down from the rooftop.

"Genesis!" Skullface yelled. He activated his energy sword and pressed the circular node on his chest, activating his biotic shield. Deek did the same. Kaguya was like Mocha and did not fight with a shield for the fact it constricted her movements. Like Mocha said, all shields break, and all flesh can be cut.

Mocha eyed the blindfolded girl as the one to watch out for—only cowards utilized shield technology because they were far too slow to dodge bullets and attacks. But these were not crystallized thoughts to Mocha; every situation was taken afresh and she never underestimated any opponent, no matter how many kills she racked up on her karma meter. No thoughts were in her mind, leaving room for only instinct. I do not hit… It hits all by itself…

"That's Genesis all right, look at her," Deek squinted his eyes and leaned forward with hands on his sides. "She's covered in blood. YO, where are her shoes? HA!!!"

Deek started laughing hysterically, squatting down and holding the ground like he was about to fall over. In an instant he stopped, stood up and grabbed a grenade in each hand.

"How would you like to proceed?" Kaguya whispered.

"Deek, get a good vantage point on her. Kaguya, stand by and do what you do best. I'll fight her first, get a good idea of what we're up against. If it gets dicey, we'll smash her together. She looks easy enough. Trust?"

"Trust," Deek said. Kaguya did not respond, but this was normal. She did not speak unless absolutely necessary, and "trust" was a stupid catch-phrase that Peacekeepers learned from the ignorant masses.

The giant man with skull face-paint approached first. Mocha noted the shirtless guy slivered away into the shadows, likely to pounce when most convenient. The blindfolded girl stood in place.

Skullface dragged the tip of his energy sword against the dirt floor, making upward cuts in a circle like he was warming up his shoulder. He did not get into a fighting stance and neither did Mocha. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Skullface grinned and rushed her with a swing.

Mocha flashed her eyes open and barely stepped back; the man was incredibly slow, but the wind from his swing made Mocha's hair fly back like a gust. One hit would be enough to turn the tide in his favor. She kept her sword low, dodging his attacks with no effort.

Skullface stopped attacking and laughed. "You can't avoid me forever, Genesis. Come on! HIT ME—" in the middle of his yell Mocha dashed forward, barely moving the rest of her body as she cut his chest, making his shield vibrate against him. He disregarded the strike and continued laughing as he swiped toward her.

Mocha dodged and kept a fair distance, readying for a counter attack, but Skullface was beginning to speed up along with his aggression. He sprinted toward Mocha to tackle her, but she flipped sideways over him and dragged her blade against the top of his high and tight. Once again the shield protected him, but one more strike would leave him vulnerable. She found it curious how reckless the man fought…

Just as Mocha landed, Skullface pushed his foot against the floor and redirected his path toward her. She was startled by his speed! She jumped backward with all her might, but he managed to leap and grab her ankle. He pulled her and went for a stab to her chest, but she deflected it with her gauntlet; the scales sparkled against the energy sword. Skullface's eyes lit up as he saw her bracers were made of a beast! Not even he had killed one of those. It exhilarated him—she was no ordinary terrorist! Squad 2 here we come!

The gaps of his missing teeth showed as his eyes bulged out of his skull. He grabbed Mocha by her arm and tossed her against a building with so much force she nearly broke through the wall. A crater formed behind her back and she coughed out blood. She was rattled…

She fell on her hands and knees as Skullface ran forward with that unpredictable speed to stomp her face to smithereens. She got up just in time and did a sideways aerial out of the way. His entire boot tore through the wall. Inside were a group of husks and dead bodies. He deactivated his sword and picked up a husk in each hand, walked out of the door he just created, and tossed them at Mocha.

She took the offensive this time by running forward and jumping up, stepping off the body mid-air, jumped to the next one, then propelled herself forward to stab Skullface. She pierced his shield and the blade went deep into his pectorals. He smiled and grabbed Mocha and headbutted her in the eye. It was the worst headbutt she ever felt in her life, like his skull was made of titanium. Blood dripped down her nostrils and her vision went black for a split second. Skullface hooked her in the stomach, launching her at a building. She tore through the architecture and landed inside like a ragdoll. The room had three citizens hiding inside, shrieking at the uninvited guest plunging through their wall.

Mocha was on her stomach now, coughing up buckets of blood. She eyed around for her katana but it was still in Skullface's chest as he walked through the holes in the building.

"Looking for this?" Skullface mocked as he pulled the katana out. Mocha rolled onto her back. It was time; she couldn't hold off any longer. With one hand Mocha created three hand signs in succession; her eyes pulsed a purple glint and the entirety of the blade burned with a purple fire. Skullface dropped the sword while yelling curses, his hand becoming severely burnt.

"What the hell?!"

Mocha dashed forward, not as elegantly or fast as before. Her body ached all over and surely her ribs were shattered. She pulled out the revolver from her kimono and used the last two bullets to fire at Skullface as she ran ahead. He put his hand up and blocked the bullets with his big hand, creating two holes. She tossed the revolver and it bounced against his forehead. 

She ran past Skullface and grabbed the katana from the floor. It was still wrapped in its purple aura. She dashed outside.

"Now… I'm… Pissed…" Skullface squeezed out the bullets from his palm like he was popping a bad pimple. The bullets fell to the ground. He stepped through the hole in the wall and looked for Mocha. She dropped down from the rooftop with her sword circling a purple ember, ready to deliver a final downward thrust through the crown of his skull.

An explosion blasted her through the wall. She was now inside the second story of the building. She blocked the explosion with her katana and lost grip of it from the impact. It fell to the ground outside, that purple aura still whirlpooling around it.

"I got you, Skullface!" Deek gave a thumbs-up from a window at the building across. In his hand was a grenade-pistol. Skullface raised his fist to the air at his comrade. He climbed up to the hole in the second-story. Mocha unsheathed the tanto from her kimono and with the edge of the short blade, she cut his throat as he was coming inside. His eyes filled with fury. He grabbed Mocha by the arm and tossed her outside. He used his other hand to cover the missing chunk of flesh in his neck, 

She flipped over and landed on her toes. Right as she landed, she heard a swarm of balls hitting the ground near her. She sprinted and dove inside the first-floor of the building.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! She ran through the holes inside the building, hoping to find a place to reposition and catch her breath. She turned a corner and the blindfold girl was in front of her.

Kaguya lifted a finger, pointing at Mocha. A red Chinese lantern covered in red ethereal smoke manifested in the air and hurled toward Mocha. It pushed her in the stomach and out of the building. The lantern kept contact and hurled Mocha above the rooftops then exploded into a collective of red spikes, cutting across her entire body. Mocha grit her teeth as the magic pierced every cell in her body with an agonizing sting. She fell from the sky and landed on her back. She fell unconscious for two seconds. When she awoke she did not know how long she had been gone.

"Skullface! Damn, she got you good!" Deek said as he rummaged through his pockets for a fire aid spray. Skullface kept his hand over the wound, his entire torso and arm drenched in his own blood. He released the wound and Deek sprayed it with green mist, then put a piece of medical tape over the gash. Kaguya stepped out of the building and created 6 lanterns that surrounded the downed Mocha.

Mocha had been covered in gore since the beginning of the fight, but now she was bleeding with a new flurry of wounds. A pool of red drenched her kimono that was torn in every area. Her back was exposed and not only raw, but a gnarly bruise began to form. Her left eye socket felt fractured and she thought her ribs might be broken. 

A kaleidoscope of memories always appeared during a tough battle, like her soul was drawing from the well to fuel her fighting spirit. She recalled the faces of the people she was fighting for… Her thoughts appeared one-by-one in a predictable formation. They don't care about me. Why go on? Just let it happen… Be at peace, my friend… Next, her ambitions become… selfish. You still have the Citadel to blow up, remember? Those filthy scum up there in their pitiful spaceship… Are you going to die before getting your revenge? Oh Mocha, how pathetic have you become? Get up… Cut them down… Taste their blood… You've never lost before… Show them… Show them!

Mocha began to laugh, a chuckle at first, then a maniacal cackle as her cheeks turned scarlet underneath her blood-soaked face. The trio turned their heads toward her. She stood up and looked just like the husks with her crazy hair covering her face, head pointed downward…

She performed three hand signs with her right hand then squeezed her fist. Her eyes pulsed and her eyes held a purple glow. Every wound on her body spit out a purple mist, and for a moment it looked like her internal body was made of a purple glow. Curvy purple lines appeared underneath her eyes and an insignia of a phoenix appeared on the tops of her feet and wrapped around her ankles.

The Peacekeepers knew exactly who this was now. The infamous Lavender Kunoichi… They began to experience new emotions on the battlefield: doubt, uncertainty… Fear??? Peacekeepers better than they had been notoriously butchered by this woman.

Deek yelled out, "What the hell are you?!"

Skullface put a hand on his comrades chest, then stepped forward. The wound on his neck had stopped leaking blood, but he definitely needed to go to the infirmary after this fight. He activated his energy sword. He was confident that with as much damage he inflicted and how frail Mocha's body looked, they had a chance at defeating her and becoming legends.

"Kaguya, take her out," Skullface commanded.

Kaguya nodded and lifted both arms in the air like an orchestra conductor and threw them down. Every lantern surrounding Mocha hurled toward her and exploded in that red smoke, shooting hundreds of red thorns. Mocha had jumped upward in a forward flip, twisting her body so rapidly that blood flung out in all directions, along with purple spirals wrapping around her.

She landed at her katana and grabbed the blade encased in the purple flames. Skullface jumped toward her with an overhead swing, but his blade only made contact with purple smoke and the ground. Mocha had disappeared!

They looked all around and found her underneath the torii gate behind them. She had a ravenous smile across her face that terrified Deek. He pulled out every bomb in his arsenal and chucked it toward her. The explosions destroyed the torii gate and the surrounding concrete walls, making a deep crater in the ground and propelling smoke like a tiny nuke into the sky.

"She's dead! She's dead!!! YES! I got her! It was me!" Deek yelled while huffing for air. Mocha's silhouette appeared in the clearing smoke. All she did was dart backward outside the range of the bombs. They saw the bloodlust in her eyes through the shroud of smoke.

"No! No! NOOOOO!!!" Deek pulled out a pistol and shot toward her silhouette. Mocha dodged the bullets, jumped over the torii gate rubble and slashed her blade from a 10 meter distance. Her sword created a projectile shaped like a crescent of jagged purple flame. The trio jumped out of the way before it made contact. It continued moving forward about 30 meters before it dispersed into nothing.

"Demon! Demon! De—" Deek yelled, but suddenly a gunshot was heard from afar that echoed throughout Omega. His neck jerked to the side and he fell on his cheek.

His shield had saved him from certain death, but he failed to stand back up.

"Deek! Kaguya, find out where that—"

Another shot and Deek's head popped like a watermelon. From the angle of impact Kaguya was able to "see" where it came from. She created a lantern and stood on it and floated to the sky.

Skullface watched his comrade but suddenly remembered his predicament. He turned and saw Mocha's blade falling toward his face and her fully-fledged smile that filled him with an unfamiliar feeling—terror. He lifted up his energy sword just a millimeter before it made contact. He yelled from the incredible force of Mocha's attack. He pushed her blade away and tried to punch her in the face.

Mocha tilted her neck just a hair and Skullface's fist slid right past her cheek. She spun her sword with a twirl of her wrist and sliced him underneath the shoulder, all through his armpit.

"AHH!!!!" Skullface's arm separated from the shoulder and fell to the ground along with his energy sword. He was screaming like a wimp. Blood poured out of his shoulder like a water feature.

Mocha cut sideways through his abdomen. She repeated the same strike from the other direction, the two purple lines stacking with precision, and his upper torso separated from his legs and fell to the ground.

"How… How… Kaguya… Where…" Skullface spoke with his face in the dirt, upper body away from his lower. Mocha stabbed his temple. It was this final strike that made her wince—she couldn't hold this form for too long… Her limbs felt like they might explode, and she was repeatedly warned by her Sensei that this was a legitimate possibility.

She needed to relinquish the purple embers. It was not safe yet, but she had to do it. She couldn't carry on like this. And finally she had some backup, wherever and whoever they were… She performed three kuji-in signs with a single hand and clenched her fist, then the flames receded around her blade and body. The purple insignias across her cheeks and feet faded into a light brown. Her glowing eyes receded into their glossy purple.

Mocha's legs buckled and she fell to her knees as a sharp pain traveled from her feet and across her entire skeletal structure. Every muscle fiber pulsed violently. She coughed again and more blood spurted out of her throat. She used her sword to help her stand…

She had one more task—Kaguya. During the last moments of her fight with Skullface, several more gunshots were heard. She followed the noise and found the blindfolded woman on the street covered in blood.

Mocha lifted her palm in the air, 'cease fire, cease fire'. She leaned over the blindfolded woman that laid on her back with blood pooling out her mouth.

Kaguya lifted her hand and Mocha pushed it back down with the sole of her foot.

"Kagura Sakamoi," Mocha said weakly. Kaguya gasped and turned her head in Mocha's direction. Kaguya stopped resisting and her arm fell limp underneath Mocha's bare foot.

"Your sister. Did you know she is with us? With Genesis?"

"My sister?" Kaguya whispered.

"Would you like to see her?"

Flames crackled down the road where the fight took place. Some pedestrians began to leave their pods to observe the scene, but hid when they saw Mocha and the girl. They were not allowed to be outside anyway; not until the husks were cleaned up.

"I don't believe you," Kaguya said.

"Do you want to see her?" Mocha repeated.

"...Yes."

"Mocha!" a woman yelled from behind. Mocha recognized the voice and smiled but did not turn around. She lifted her hand and curled two fingers twice. She leaned to the blindfolded girl's ear and whispered a set of coordinates and a date.

"Will you be there?"

"Yes."

"What are you doing, Mocha?!" the sniper approached with a blush on her cheeks. From her angle it looked like Mocha was kissing the girl! She saw it was not so when Mocha retreated from Kaguya's ear. The sniper sighed in relief and kept her confusion to herself.

"You know Kagura Sakamoi? This is Kaguya Sakamoi."

The sniper looked at the blindfolded girl she shot in the chest, the realization slowly spreading across her face.

"Ohh, you're right. I forget; it was so long ago! Kagura did mention she had a sister in the Peacekeepers! Damn, I shot her good… Eh, she deserved it." The sniper rested her rifle on her shoulder, pointing the barrel toward the sky.

"Do you have first aid?" Mocha asked.

"Mocha…"

Mocha turned around and looked at the sniper. She was a tall, muscular girl with short, choppy white hair that fell just below her ears. She had golden eyes and a diagonal scar on the edge of her pink lips. She wore an all white jumpsuit and a white bulletproof vest with a biotic node strapped to the center of it. Light streaks of dirt were apparent against the white outfit. Her combat boots were also white and covered up to her calves. She wore thick knee and elbow pads. In her gloved hands was a gold sniper rifle just as long as her body. It was a completely distinct attire from Mocha who liked to enter the battlefield weighing as light as possible.

"Mayumi..." Mocha pleaded.

Mayumi lifted her chin to the air, "Ughhh," then reached into her pouch. She pulled out one of her three first-aid sprays and tossed it to Mocha. She caught it without taking her eyes off Mayumi's. She smiled at her faintly…

"It's good to see you, Mayumi," she offered her fist. Mayumi pushed her lips out with frustration but tapped Mocha's fist anyway.

"You too, Mocha. Hurry up, please?"

"Uh huh..." Mocha unbuttoned the silk fabric on the blindfolded girl and sprayed above her breasts with the first aid. She turned the girl to her side and sprayed the exit wound, then fixed her clothing. Mocha reached to pick her up, but her whole body shuddered. She pushed through the pain with a grunt and lifted the skinny girl.

"Mocha?! Come on, what are you thinking?! You can't bring her back—"

"I'm not. I'm going to hide her so she can recover."

"Aghh, you drive me crazy! Fine! Hurry! Up!" Mayumi said, stomping her boot to the dirt.

Mocha walked over to the closest building and slid open the plastic door with her foot. She set Kaguya against the wall. Mocha stared at the girl for a few seconds then left and shut the door behind her.

The act of kindness from an enemy made Kaguya's heart full of terrible things. But one thought radiated above all else… My sister… Alive? A faint smile appeared.