Blades 24 (NaNoWriMo)

Maverick sat at his table, the fury on his face unmistakable. It had been easy to cloak all his innermost feelings behind a fake smile, but this time, there was no way to do that. His fury could not be held back.

The shootout and explosion at 121 Almond Lane had been a fiasco. A fiasco that he'd desperately tried to avoid when he first began his mission, and when he sent Yami and the three units to the address.

Now it was time to count the costs, and boy, were they many.

Three units completely wiped out. None left alive whatsoever. That was half of his manpower gone in one morning. Of course, he had expected that there would be some casualties in his camp, but a total annihilation wasn't expected.

The news stations carried the gory and obscene story of a hand found in the rubble. And no description fitting Yami's had been listed amongst the men. That gave him the idea that Yami got his hand cut off, an indication that not only had he lost, but he had been badly wounded.

But then again, he wasn't there. So there were no swords gained, not even Yami's, and instead, there was an investigation mounted. The very same operatives that had been found dead in other countries and in that same area had been found again. It wouldn't take long before intelligence agencies traced all this back to him.

No swords, no info on where the hell Yami or the custodians were, half of his force was dead, and an investigation.

He had lost on all grounds.

The knock-on his door further infuriated him.

"And who the f*ck is that?"

One of his intel sources entered, a tablet in his hand as he beamed. "I bring good news."

"Knowing the mood I'm in now, you do realize that if this news isn't 'good' enough, you'll be dead before you know it?"

"I assure you, sir," he said, smiling. "This will be good."

Maverick watched the screen, and slowly, a smile crept upon his face. "Gather the rest of our forces..."

Grabbing his sword, he smiled.

"...this time, I'm coming. And this time, we're getting them all."

******

"I had him... I swear I had him, and then..." I began.

"Suck it up," Frost said as we sat on the speedboat, zooming off to the island. I had no idea of what was going on, or where we were going, but I knew it was Kendrick's idea.

And I was putting my trust in a guy I'd met less than 24 hours ago. How quaint. My life had been hit by a hurricane less than two weeks ago, and I hadn't recovered from it to date.

"Look, the wielder of the Earth Sword lives on that island. It's just an hour away, and we've got enough fuel to get us there. Once there, we'll be safe, and we'll have one more member too. More than enough to handle Maverick and Yami, if he's still gonna come after us," Kendrick said.

"He will come, I know that," I said.

"Then we'll meet him there. And Maverick will probably be with him as well, so we'll get to kill two birds with one stone. Fair enough?"

I had to agree, as did everyone. It did seem like a good plan. But I was concerned about the beat-up boat following us behind.

"What about the guy behind?" I asked, looking over my shoulder.

"It's a fisherman boat, geez. Don't be so paranoid. This area is a popular fishing spot, or so I read," Frost said, and that was that.

******

Yami drew the straw hat over his eyes as he surreptitiously followed them in his boat, pretending to fish. His plan was simple and full proof.

When they got to the Island, he would strike from the shadows, targeting Vince first.

He was no longer working for/with Maverick as far as he was concerned. He would have his revenge, and then he would leave.

******

@Leo_kitti, @Hanzell, @gertu13, @Gwenie fine, fine. We're approaching the end!