Soul Drive: Ignition

Naomi extended her palm, offering the glinting coin to Hisoka with a steady hand. "Hide it well," she said with a smile.

Hisoka eyed her skeptically, as she flipped the coin over in her hand, like it was somehow a trap. "And why shouldn't I worry about you cheating?"

"Because," Naomi replied smoothly, tucking a strand of auburn hair behind her ear, "that would get me killed, and I have no intention of losing my life tonight—especially not due to a technicality."

They turned on their heels, moving in opposite directions, Hisoka headed out into the night while Naomi ventured into the greenhouse. The room was silent as both women disappeared, neither side sure what to do without their commander. Hiro watched Nori, hoping he wouldn't do something stupid before Naomi returned.

When the woman reconvened in the stone room, Hiro watched both women carefully, he planned to use the game as a distraction to free himself from Masumi's grasp, he just needed to wait for the right moment. Nori stood statue-still but with his hand in his bag, Hiro had no doubts about what he was holding in that bag. The Canadian agents formed an impenetrable wall, their presence a silent threat.

"Alright," Hisoka began, her composure as cold as the steel in her hands, "who's first?"

"You can go first, you'll need the advantage," Naomi conceded with a nod, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Did you hide the coin in a pot?" Hisoka's question was direct, expecting an equally straightforward answer.

Naomi smirked as if she expected the question. "No," she said simply.

"Your turn then," Hisoka braced herself, but nothing could have prepared her for Naomi's curveball.

"What was your childhood like, Hisoka?"

The abrupt shift caught Hisoka off-guard, her carefully composed demeanour faltering for a brief moment. "Why is that important?" she retorted, glaring at Naomi.

"It tells me about you, which will lead me to where you hid the coin," Naomi countered, her tone light but firm. "The rules of our game are clear, you must answer."

"Fine," Hisoka spat out, straightening her blazer. "It was fine. My father was away a lot."

"Ah," Naomi nodded thoughtfully. "Follow-up: why choose the same career path as your absent father?"

"Wait," Hisoka interjected, clearly unamused by Naomi's line of questioning, "I didn't ask you my second question."

"Actually, you did." Naomi's smile was almost playful. "When you questioned the importance of my first question."

Hisoka's foot began to tap on the stone flooring, but she relented to Naomi's logic. "I wanted to understand him," she admitted, though it tasted like defeat. "Understand how someone could take a like one moment and go fishing with his family the next."

"Interesting," Naomi said aloud before leaning forward, she seemed to be trying to read Hisoka's body language.

"Where did you hide your coin?" Hisoka rolled her eyes, she was getting tired of this game already.

"Greenhouse," Naomi answered without missing a beat. "If you wanted the exact location then you should have phrased your question better."

Hisoka's posture stiffened and her face shifted to a bright red colour, as she eyed Naomi. It was clear now; Naomi wasn't just playing to win—she was playing to dominate.

Naomi took a few steps back before she started to pace. Her arms folded across her chest, she looked like a shark circling its prey. "Your last relationship," she began, her eyes locked on Hisoka, "how did it end?"

Hisoka's jaw clenched visibly, and her eyes narrowed into slits of controlled fury. "Are you trying to humiliate me?" she seethed, the air around them crackling with tension.

"All I am trying to do is figure out where you hid your coin," Naomi retorted, her calmness was almost off-putting. "You've answered questions and I analyze your answers to come to my conclusion. That's how the game works."

"None of your questions have been relevant. You are simply trying to through me off because it is your only chance at winning," Hisoka spat out, her anger was radiating off of her. "If you must know, he was distracted, unfocused... I ended it before he could."

"Before he left you," Naomi corrected smoothly. "Well, I think that will do," She stopped pacing and took a deliberate step closer to Hisoka. "I know where your coin is."

"I doubt that," Hisoka scoffed, her composure teetering on the edge. "You haven't asked a single question relevant to the situation."

"Not relevant?" Naomi laughed and shook her head, moving even closer to Hisoka. "Well then Hisoka, let's test your theory. Your coin is in your left pant pocket." She watched Hisoka carefully as the other woman glanced down at her pocket, confirming Naomi's guess. Naomi took a step back, wearing a confident smile.

"How did you..." Hisoka Stuttered as she reached into her pocket and revealed the coin. "How could you possibly—"

"It was easy to tell once I looked over the evidence," Naomi interrupted, returning to her pacing, "you're a woman who trusts no one but herself. You keep things close, control them, just like you pre-emptively ended your last relationship so you could be the one in control of the fallout."

"A lucky guess," Hisoka snapped, but her hand with the coin twitched in anger.

"I don't believe in luck," Naomi corrected. "It was deductive reasoning. You're a sniper, Hisoka. After a hit, you pocket the casings—leave no trace and all that. And given you're left-handed, it's second nature to use that pocket."

Hisoka's face twisted in rage as she realized Naomi had played her perfectly, reading her actions as easily as one might read a children's book. Hisoka was at a loss for words as silence filled the room, she could feel the eyes of her agents on her and feel them questioning her as they shifted on their feet.

"I believe this means I get Hiro," Naomi said quietly, standing right next to the frozen Hisoka. "But you can keep that coin."

Hisoka remained silent, her cold gray eyes now filled with rage. Finally, she found her voice as Naomi approached Masumi and Hiro. "Kill them," she commanded, her shaky and quiet. "Kill them all" she finally screamed.

But before her agents could even flinch, Nori's fingers had already tapped the power button on the VR headset, the nanobots whirling to life. The greenhouse was bathed in an eerie crimson light as his body was coated in its armour in a matter of seconds. His blaster came to life, spitting out energy towards Hisoka. She twisted away, the blast singing the air where she had stood moments before.

"Masumi, kill Hiro now!" Hisoka's shouted but it was too late.

The girl holding the knife to Hiro, once so sure of the plan, now wore an expression of pure shock. Frozen in place, she watched a blast from Nori barreling toward her, unable to step out of the way. The glowing ball of energy struck her shoulder, and Masumi crumpled noiselessly, as the pain crawled its way through every nerve in her body.

"Damn," Naomi muttered under her breath, as she charged toward the Canadian agents with her sidearm. "I was hoping this would have ended a little neater than this."

As the Canadian agents opened fire on Nori, be batted them aside with ease, he reached out and grabbed Hiro's extended hand. He pulled Hiro behind him, shielding him from the bullets whizzing by them, before aiming his blaster at the sky. A shoot from him tore through the glass ceiling—shards rained down like crystal raindrops—and they were gone, Nori took off through the skylight with Hiro on his back.

"Come on, Ai." Naomi's voice cut through the pandemonium as she reached the dazed girl.

"He took Hiro! He just took him and flew away," Ai's voice trembled as she stared at the shattered glass.

"No one will keep Hiro safer than Nori," Naomi assured her, guiding her deeper into the thicket of greenery. "Now while they are all distracted, we need to get out of here." She motioned to a small door at the back, while Canadian agents continued to fire into the night sky.

Naomi guided Ai past rows of exotic plants, and through the small door. Outside a garden shed tucked into the tree line as just visible in the moonlight, the pair carefully made their way over to it. Naomi noticed a single agent standing guard at the door, she made her way over and applied a swift, lethal twist to his neck with clinical precision.

"You just killed him... this is madness," Ai whispered as they ducked into the shed, Naomi dragging the body in with them.

"I did what was required," Naomi explained dryly while scanning out the windows for another escape route. "This isn't a game and these people are more than happy to kill both of us. In this situation you are given two choices, do whatever it takes to survive or die. We have to adapt, survive, and most importantly, outwit."

Ai's eyes began to well up with tears, that she tried to brush aside. "But what if there's no way out?"

"Then we make one," Naomi said as if it were a simple fact. "There's always a solution, Ai. Always. And I'm about to find it."

Hisoka's heels clicked sharply on the concrete as she paced back and forth, her gray eyes burning with barely contained fury. She sized up the men and women before her, a look of disgust on her face.

"Useless!" she spat at the cluster of agents huddled before her, their faces etched with anxiety. "How could we lose the two people without Machs?"

"Ma'am, you said our priority was Hiro..." one agent began, only to be silenced by Hisoka's ice-cold glare.

"Listen, and listen well," Hisoka commanded, her voice low and dangerous. "We have this entire park sealed off. Radio in and start shrinking this permit, cutting off any chance they have at escape. They're on foot; without a Mach, they won't be able to slip past us."

"Understood, ma'am," an agent replied, tapping commands into his wrist-mounted tablet.

"And as far as Mach two is concerned, do not engage," Hisoka continued, her gaze falling back onto the night sky. "Just track him. He won't leave his partner behind, so he can't go far."

"Tracking protocol initiated," another affirmed, eyes glued to the screen as he coordinated with the others.

Hisoka withdrew her comm-link with a swift motion, dialling a number that connected almost instantaneously. "Osamu," she said curtly, "I have a situation."

"Hisoka? I thought your plan was foolproof?" Osamu's deep voice crackled over the line.

"The Japanese government decided to crash our party. I need you ready to take down Mach 2 and Hiro if they try to leave the area. We can't allow them to get past us."

"Copy that. I'm prepped and on standby," Osamu assured her with a small salute. "Haven't seen the Mach yet, so they must be on the ground right now."

"Good." A small, satisfied smile played on Hisoka's lips. "Stay alert, and wait for my signal."

"Will do." and with that the link went dead.

"Update on Masumi," she barked, turning to an agent who had been attending to the fallen operatives.

"Critical condition, ma'am. We need to evacuate her to a medical facility now," the agent reported a note of urgency in his voice.

"Then get moving," she ordered, dismissing him with a wave of her hand. "And keep me updated."

"Right away, ma'am."

Hisoka looked around at the mess she had created, her mind already racing with contingencies and strategies. This mission was salvageable, and she would be the one to turn it all around and come out on top.

Hisoka's heels clicked methodically against the cold concrete as she approached Kazuki, her gray eyes scanning him with an unsettling blend of sympathy and calculation. "Kazuki, right?" she began, she did her best to look sympathetic to the scared boy. "How are you holding up?"

Kazuki's blonde hair was dishevelled, and his posture slumped against the wall where he sat. His brown eyes, wide and reflecting a mix of fear and confusion, met hers. "I-I just want to go back to school," he stammered. "I won't breathe a word of this, I swear."

"Your silence is appreciated," Hisoka replied smoothly, tilting her head to the side as if considering his promise. "But there's something else I need from you, Kazuki. Something only you can do for us."

"Me?" Kazuki's voice cracked, betraying his fear of the woman before him. "What could I possibly—"

"Help us," Hisoka cut in, placing a hand on his shoulder as if trying to reassure him. "And in return, your path back to your ordinary life will be clear. You have my word."

"Your word..." Kazuki echoed, though he wasn't certain he could trust the woman whose men shot him just hours ago. He eyed her warily, knowing full well he didn't really have a choice—he could say no but he was certain that would mean death.

"Listen closely now," she continued. "If you succeed, we'll get you to the hospital right away, you'll be a free man with a clean slate. But fail, and well..." She trailed off, allowing him to read what was clearly between the lines.

"I understand, I'll do anything you want me to do," he said, trying his best to hold himself together and wondering how a simple party turned into this. Hisoka's smile widened ever so slightly, pleased by Kazuki's willingness to fall in line, even if it was out of desperation.

"Smart boy," she praised, stepping closer. "Now, let me tell you what needs to be done." Her words came out crisp and clear, like the final click of a lock falling into place as she explained his role in her plan.

Kazuki swallowed hard, nodding. He was terrified and just wanted to go home and forget this night ever happened.