"Let me go, dammit!" Hannah shouted with nothing but pure rage in her voice as she violently thrashed against the branches that surrounded her. "You can't do this to me!"
"Why not?" Cyrus tilted his head in mock confusion. "I think this is much better than what you did to me."
"Argh!" The woman screamed. "I should've never let you go free! You bastard!"
"Yeah, that was a pretty big mistake on your part."
Hannah took a second to choose her next words before responding. "You do realize that this isn't over, right?! Even if you kill me, that won't be the end of it! Iznana won't take something like this lying down, even to you DPA dogs! My boss will have your head for this!"
Cyrus paused for a moment before he gave the woman his answer to her declaration. "Sorry...but Elaine won't be doing anything of the sort."
Those simple words were enough to stun Hannah. The woman then looked at the man before her with an expression of both disbelief and confusion written all over her face.
"What did you just say?"
"I said that Elaine won't be doing anything of the sort." Cyrus replied. "She already gave me the green light to kill you and your little minions. As far as she's concerned, losing you won't be too much of an issue for her. She's already planning on having Duncan take over for you after you're gone."
"Wha- What are you talking about?!"
He didn't know why, but Cyrus found himself taking great pleasure in the situation he currently found himself in. This was exactly what he wanted. It was almost everything that he had been hoping for. He finally had the woman who had raped and tortured him right in front of him. And she was utterly powerless to stop him from doing what he wanted.
This was truly the moment he had been waiting for ever since he woke up in that hospital bed over a month ago. His revenge was right there for the picking. But just because his ultimate goal was within reach, that didn't mean that he was simply going to end his opponent without doing a little bit of extra damage in the process.
"Did you ever wonder why Elaine didn't contact you as much as she usually does over the last month or so?"
Hanah's eyes began to widen after hearing about the exact thing that she had worried herself over so much during the last month.
"Well, she was actually with me. I was training at her mansion all last month in preparation for this day. To be honest, we were originally going to make our move on you without all of the chaos of a full-blown raid. But my superiors were able to track you down before we got the chance."
"The-there's no way…. Y-you're lying. You're fucking lying!"
"Nope, sorry." The young man then said as he took a few steps toward his captured prey. He also took a moment to retrieve a small acorn from his pouch and began to pour mana into it. "Elaine was very unhappy with how badly you treated me. And she was pissed that the little psycho you call a brother killed Freddy. You know that Iznana doesn't like it when you kill your fellow sorcerers."
A horrid thought suddenly crossed Hannah's mind before she spoke. One that she herself didn't want to believe. "Y-you're one of us, aren't you? That's it! Oh fuck…you're a god damn sleeper operative!"
Cyrus was glad that the dome he had created was completely soundproof. The last thing he needed was for Hannah's irrational accusation to reach the ears of his partner. He did not need any undue suspicion thrown his way because of his temporary alliance.
"Wrong again, bitch. Me and your boss just so happened to strike a deal. I get my revenge on you for what you did to me, and Elaine gets to get rid of a reckless underling who continuously violates her orders. And yes, she does know about all of the money and double-dealing you and Mikayla have been doing behind her back."
'This can't be happening!' Hannah desperately told herself as Cyrus stepped closer and closer.
This wasn't real.
It can't be.
It had to be a lie.
There was no way that the woman she had loyally served for the past three years would do something like this. Sending another one of her operatives out to deal with her like this was unthinkable. She had been nothing but a faithful and dutiful operative to the woman who saved both her life and the lives of her best friend and brother. There was no way that she would've been discarded so easily over a few simple mistakes.
Of course, all of that was just wishful thinking on her part. Iznana, at the end of the day, was a cutthroat organization. Just like any other criminal enterprise out there in the world. Anyone who disobeyed their leaders and went against their directives was useless to them. But Hannah wasn't like that. She was a rising star in the organization. Someone who always executed her orders without fail. Someone who was one day going to be a Branch Head, just like her boss.
A wave of fear suddenly washed over the 'ice magic' user's body as reality hit her like a freight train. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be. This wasn't how her story was supposed to end. It wasn't how things were supposed to go.
"Wait!" The strawberry-blonde sorcerer suddenly shouted at her former captive. "Killing me is a mistake! You know that, right?! I'm more useful to you alive than I am dead. I have valuable information that you're going to need! I know everything about the boss that you would need to take her down!"
"I'm sure you do." Cyrus responded coldly as he raised the now glowing seed up to the woman's mouth. "But honestly, I don't care."
"W-what are you d-doing?!"
The young 'tree magic' user didn't respond. Instead, he simply used his free hand to open the woman's jaw and used the other to force the seed into her mouth. Hannah did whatever she could to resist this. But Cyrus, now fully unable to hold himself back, abruptly punched the woman in the gut, forcing her to involuntarily swallow the seed in an attempt to free up her windpipe.
"You b-bastard!" The woman heaved.
Cyrus then used both of his hands to cup Hannah's face, forcing her to look him in the eyes. The cold expression on the young man's face sent a chill down the 'ice magic' user's spine. And the images of back when she had him strapped to her exam bed briefly flashed through her mind to contrast the man she was looking at now.
"I want you to know something, Hannah. This isn't the end." Cyrus began to say as he brought his face closer to hers. "Even after today, you'll never be able to get away from me. Whenever I finally make it down to Hell with you, I will find you. If we're ever reborn into this world, I will find you. No matter what, I will find you. And I'll make sure that you suffer for what you did to me. You'll never be able to get away, not until time itself comes to an end."
"You're a sick bastard…." Hannah grumbled.
"Yes, I am. Because that's what you turned me into." The man replied. "And don't worry, I'll be sure to deal with half-brother of yours, too. He's the next one on my list."
Cyrus then released the woman and took a step back, taking a moment to examine her one last time before he put the final coup de grace on tonight's festivities.
"You won't get away with this!" Hannah defiantly shouted after seemingly finding her nerve, not that it would do her much good in this situation. "Aaron's gonna turn you into ash for this! You hear me?! Those stupid little trees of yours won't be able to save you! My brother's gonna fucking destroy you! You're a stupid little fucking toy! That's all you are, that's all you'll ever be! Just a stupid fucking toy to be used by others!"
"Yeah…we'll see about that." Cyrus raised his right hand and gave the woman a soft smile. "Goodbye, Hannah. It's been real."
"N-no…"
"Splinter!" Cyrus said with a snap of his fingers.
The last thing Hannah ever felt was the seed inside of her stomach suddenly exploding to life within her body. And before she even had a chance to fully register what was happening to her, the last thing her eyes ever saw was a wooden spike forcing its way out of her mouth with the pace of a speeding bullet.
-(o)-
[Three Years Ago]
"You three aren't very smart, are you?" Elaine MacNamara said to the three young sorcerers currently kneeling on the ground before her with their hands tied behind their backs. "I mean, seriously, I've met some pretty stupid thieves in my life. But trying to boost my car right out of the parking lot was pretty reckless. You did know that we could see you, right?"
"It's your own fault!" Michiko Honda echoed with a casual wave of her hand. "I told you we should've chosen something less flashy. But no, you just had to take your new gift out for a test drive!"
"Can you really blame them, though?" Quintin smiled in the direction of the three youngsters. "This thing will easily net you a hefty profit if you take it to the right guy. At the very least, they have good taste."
'Fuck man….' Hannah silently cursed. This was supposed to be a simple grab-and-go job.
"I told you this was a bad idea." Aaron scowled in Mikayla's direction.
"Shut up!" The curly-haired brunette shot back with no small amount of ire in her voice.
At the moment, Hannah, Mikyla, and Aaron, along with Elaine, Michiko, Quintin, and Nick, were all in the wooded area just a few miles outside the city limits of Los Angeles. A place far away from any prying eyes and unneeded ears. And considering how secluded the place was at this time of night, it was unlikely that they would be getting any surprise visitors anytime soon.
Not even half an hour ago, the troupe of Iznana operatives had caught Hannah and her crew trying to steal Elaine's new car from the parking lot of a restaurant that they were all eating at. By luck, they just so happened to stumble upon the trio right when they were about to force the door open. Of course, Elaine and Quintin were quick to subdue the three after discovering their nefarious escapades. But no one in their group was particularly interested in dealing with all of the headaches that would come from calling the LAPD to come deal with this.
So, the quartet decided to wrap them up and bring them out to a place where no one would disturb them in order to figure out what to do next.
"Now then…what should we do with the three of you?" Elaine said to them while casually rubbing her chin in thought.
Quintin was the first to propose a solution. "I say we just take them further into the woods and let them fend for themselves. I hear coyotes are all over this place."
"We could just bust up their mana cores and let them go." Michiko then suggested, much to the horror of the three teenagers.
"Does it really matter?" Nick then asked his friends. "Besides, we can't just let them off scot-free. They'll probably just run to the tabloids and tell them what happened here."
"We won't!" Hannah then shouted in an attempt to save their skin. The fear in her voice was only matched by the expression on her face. "We're sorry! We'll forget that this ever happened! We'll even pay for the damages ourselves!"
"Yeah, I doubt that." Elaine replied with a quick laugh and a flip of her dreads. "Don't take this the wrong way, but the three of you don't exactly look like you're rolling in cash."
Michiko then stood up from her seat on the hood of the car in question and made her way over to Aaron. The short, pink-haired woman then bent down and used her hand to cup the 'fire magic' user's face before looking down at him with a wicked smile. "Hold on, now! They might be on to something. They may not be able to pay us back, but there are other ways that they can work it off. Besides, this kid here is actually pretty cute."
"Here we go…." Nick rolled his eyes.
"Tell you what…if you let me have Shaggy here all to myself for the next couple of days, he might be able to make up for the damages to the car. With a bit of interest, of course."
"What?" Hannah looked at the 'dark magic' user in disbelief. There was no way that she was implying what she thought she was. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that your partner in crime over here is a nice piece of meat. He looks like he'd be able to show a girl a good time!"
"You're fucking craz-"
"Alright, alright!" Elaine cut in before Mikayla could finish insulting her friend. "No, Michiko, we can't make the boy slut himself out to save their asses. Honestly, I don't see why you just don't hire a hooker to help you work out all of that pent-up frustration that you have."
"For the last time, it's because my pride won't let me! I prefer to not have to resort to paying for it, if I can help it!"
Quintin scowled at the woman. "But forcing a minor to sleep with you is totally okay, though?"
"Fuck you!"
"In your dreams, pedophile bait!"
"God, it's too late in the night for this shit." Nick interjected with an annoyed expression. "I knew I should've stayed at the hotel with Duncan."
To say that Hannah, Aaron, and Mikayla were thrown off by this little display in front of them would be an understatement. Never in their wildest dreams did they imagine that a famous actress and her entourage would behave like this, especially in front of others. It was truly a testament to how it was impossible to know what celebrities were really like behind closed doors. Granted, they had no clue that Elaine's car was the one that they tried to steal back in the parking lot of that restaurant. But even then, it was still shocking to see.
Elaine seemed to ponder over what to do as she eyed the tio in front of her. In all honesty, if they weren't all sorcerers, she would've simply killed them and gone about her business. Doing so would've been as easy as pie. But, the Iznana Branch Head had a certain set of morals that restricted her from doing such a thing. She always made sure to avoid killing any of their kind if she had the chance, and that time was no different.
That being said, Elaine knew good and well that she couldn't just let these idiot kids walk. Such a thing was simply too risky.
Suddenly, an idea popped into the 'wind magic' user's mind. This whole ordeal might've actually been a blessing in disguise. And the three of them did seem relatively capable.
'Yeah…that could work.' The woman said to herself before walking up to Hannah and bending over to look her in the eyes. "Tell you what, I'll promise to let this whole thing slide if you agree to do something for me."
"Like what?" The 'ice magic' user questioned.
"Boss?" Nick looked at his leader in confusion. The 'healing magic' user had spent more than enough time around the woman to recognize that look on her face. Elaine just thought of something wicked in regard to these three losers kneeling before them. And whatever that something may have been, it wasn't going to be pretty.
"You see…" Elaine continued with a slight grin. "There's a certain rockerboy who's been working my last nerve as of late. One that's been casually stalking me ever since we arrived in town. I want the three of you to steal his car for me and drop it off at the location I tell you to."
"Seriously?" Mikyala was the next to speak, totally unsure as to whether or not she was hearing things.
"Yes." The 'wind magic' user nodded. "Since this seems to be right up your alley, you three might be the perfect ones for the job."
Aaron cut a glance toward the Iznana boss. "What's the catch?"
"If you agree to do this for me, then all will be forgiven. Hell, I'll even pay you for it. If you can't do it, or you fuck around and get caught again, then we'll just have to deal with you to stop you from ratting us out to the cops."
Hannah, Aaron, and Mikayla all exchanged looks with one another as they decided on what they wanted to do. In truth, there really weren't a lot of options available to them. On one hand, all of this seemed too good to be true. On the other, this might give them a chance to escape in one piece.
"H-how much are you going to pay us?" Hannah then asked.
"Ten thousand bucks a piece." Elaine replied. "That sound good to you?"
That sounded way more than good as far as Mikayla was concerned. That much money would have the three of them sitting pretty for a while. Hell, it might even be enough for them to finally afford that nice condo that they were talking about buying not too long ago.
Hannah briefly considered their options before finally giving up. After all, their hands were already tied, literally. If this woman agreed to let them go in exchange for a simple grab-and-go job, then that was more than fine with her.
"We'll do it." The 'ice magic' user announced, speaking for the others.
"Excellent!" Elaine tilted her head with a creepy smile.
Quintin and Nick then freed the trio of teenagers from their constraints. For a brief moment, Aaron considered using his power to light their captors on fire before trying to make their escape. However, he knew that would be pointless. Quintin had already displayed his unique 'fire magic' ability to be able to control flames that he himself did not create. So, the stoic teen decided that attacking them here would only cause more problems than he needed.
"So…when do you want us to do this?" Hannah then asked the Iznana leader.
"Tonight." Elaine replied.
"Fine."
Elaine then gave the woman another smile. "I don't know about you guys, but something tells me that this might be the start of a very lucrative friendship. Shotty thieving skills aside, I think you three have a bright future ahead of you."
"Yeah, sure, whatever you say, lady."
Little did Hannah and the others know that this one slip-up would be the first step into their new lives. Along with their eventual downfall at the hands of the person they decided to put their trust in three years later.