Natalie Mercedes

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Natalie

“Someone once told me that vigilantes can never deliver a meaningful form of justice- that the means aren’t always justified; that I should honorably look for justice, not willfully pursue vengeance. What I can say after everything I’ve seen in the past 10 years is that both options can be ineffective. Discernment is what’s needed. And for true peace to exist the root of the evil must be exterminated. True evil needs to be killed.``

“Two weeks ago my father was killed by a sniper. I killed the terrorist that hired the sniper and her followers. Many people are safe right now because of what I’ve done. Tonight I am going to kill the man who shot my father, not because it’s justice, not because it’s vengeance, but because I need to.”

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Natalie woke up suddenly, her lower torso was covered in blood and there was a small pool of blood next to her. She collected herself and her senses quickly; she had passed out while trying to nurse a laceration across her stomach. “Emiko!” she called out as she picked up a blood-drenched towel from the puddle. Natalie heard the sound of a door opening in the distance and a short Chinese girl eventually came to the doorway of the bathroom she was in. Natalie was laying over the bathtub in the corner of the bathroom, the tub was full of bloody water. There was a slight pause as they both looked at each other- “what happened?”, they both asked at the same time, cutting the silence. Emiko looked puzzled as she went to grab a clean towel off the bathroom counter. “You went out tonight, what happened?” Natalie asked sternly as she sat up a little. “How could you possibly tell?” Emiko responded, still confused as she went and turned the sink on. “I’ve only known you for 2 weeks but I can tell your posture is slightly more droopy than usual indicating an injury to your abdomen.” Emiko raised her eyebrows and looked at her with a sarcastic look. “There’s also a drop of blood under your chin”, Nat said as she chuckled. Emiko began vigorously rubbing her chin as she brought the damp towel over to Natalie.

“You tell me first what you did and then I‘ll go,” Emiko said hastily. “I don’t want you going out at night without me; you’re not ready yet and it’s extremely dangerous.” Natalie addressed her in an authoritative tone. “I want to protect you and I don’t want you out there like that until I feel like you are ready.”

Emiko looked dismayed and annoyed but knew she was wrong so she apologized. “Look, I’m sorry it just- doesn’t feel right sitting up in this penthouse doing nothing; I wish I could-,” “wait, be quiet”, Natalie cut her off as she sat up straight. Her eyes turned from Emiko to the open door behind her; she appeared zoned out but laser-focused at the same time. Emiko realized what Natalie was doing so she stayed quiet. Natalie’s eyes focused at the open doorway as she heard guns cocking and knives sheathing. After a couple of moments, Emiko asked Natalie “is it trouble?” Her eyes twitched slightly and then she responded, “there on the 12th floor”. Before Emiko had time to think of a response Natalie sharply threw demands at her as she began to rise up; “Go to your room and lock all the locks”

“I take it tonight didn’t go too well” Emiko responded in a witty manner.

Natalie groaned slightly in pain as she stood up straight. She shot Emiko a slightly sarcastic look but ignored her,

“Keep your head down and don’t move until I tell you to’

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Emiko

“Nat seemed more shaken than usual which frightened me a little. The last time I saw that look on her face was the night she rescued me. I haven’t known her for long but one thing I know for sure is that she’s made of iron and I trust her because she said she would protect me. I’ve seen her take down legions of men before using her abilities and it’s incredible to watch every time.”

“I walked across the living room to my bedroom, locked all 6 locks on my door, and sat in the corner of my room. I looked at my securely locked door and listened to Nat preparing- a pistol cocking, a katana coming out of its sheath...”

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Natalie put the katana and a pistol on the kitchen counter. She filled a pot with water and put it on the stove to boil. She then opened the drawer under the counter and took out 2 more Glock 22s; she put one of the Glocks back into the drawer and put the other under the coffee table in the living room. “2 minutes” she said to herself as she went to her bedroom. She opened her dresser and pulled out throwing knives and two smoke grenades. She grabbed the jacket from off her bed as she left the room and slowly put it on and zipped it up just over her bloody, poorly bandaged stomach. “One minute,” she said, talking to herself again. She took one of the smoke grenades and attached it to the front door and configured it in a way that it would activate if the door was opened. The traps for the animals had been set.

“36 seconds”, Natalie said to herself as she stood in front of the 3 big window panes in the back of her living room. She turned around and started moving her eyes rapidly- analyzing. To her left was Emiko’s room, to her right was her room and the bathroom; the front door is perpendicular to the bathroom door and then the kitchen is next to it.

The men were on the 24th floor of the 26 story building, and the penthouse she’s standing in is on the top floor.

Natalie stood facing the front door a few yards away from it, armed with the katana and the pistol; she closed her eyes, slowed her breathing, and focused, “17 men, M16s, Glock 22s, and AR-15s-”. She paused suddenly, opened her eyes, and looked at Emiko’s door to her room.

She looked back at the front door, “suppressed M16s… 10 seconds”

Armed men stormed the hallway of the top floor. Natalie counted down to herself, “7, 6, 5, 4, 3…” Natalie paused again and turned her head slightly, beginning to look behind her. Suddenly, the front door was blown off the hinges, Natalie’s eyes cut back to the intruders entering through the doorway filled with smoke. The middle window behind Natalie shattered; she jerked her head to the left just in time to avoid a sniper shot. The bullet flew past the right side of her face; it was so close she could feel the heat of the bullet flash across her cheek. Natalie saw the bullet as if it was traveling in slow motion; it ripped through the neck of the intruder in front and hit the chest of the man behind him.

The sniper slammed his fist on the balcony rail out of frustration. As the 2 intruders fell back on top of each other Natalie dove to the left towards the middle of the living room avoiding 2 more sniper shots. She then leaped over the coffee table and hurdled over the couch avoiding more shots. Natalie was able to shoot her pistol twice while in the air and hit another intruder as she landed. Mercenaries began flooding into the kitchen; Natalie dropped the pistol, and with her head low and katana gripped tightly she dashed towards the kitchen. She stabbed the first man she saw through the chest with such force it pushed the mercenary back against the oven; she then shuffled her feet to front kick the intruders next to him. The man in front fell back while firing his AR and the two men behind him stumbled back. Before they had the chance to raise their guns back up, Natalie took one hand off the katana that was lodged in the man's chest and grabbed the boiling water on the stove and threw it at the men. As the men yelled and writhed in pain, Natalie ripped the katana from the now unconscious man’s chest and began slicing and dicing. She stabbed the man on the ground in the chest and ripped it out violently while slicing the next guy’s face. Natalie stepped over her victims and stabbed the last man in the chest and pushed him back into the smoke from the doorway. The men had stopped entering because of the abundance of smoke in the doorway and most of the hallway had barely any visibility. Natalie took the blade out of the mercenary and stared out into the smoke for a couple of seconds. A look of confusion came across her face as she walked slowly through the doorway.

Natalie saw 5 silhouettes in the smoke. She hit the two men closest to her with 2 swift powerful strikes. Gunfire began to ring out, giving the thick smoke a light show. Natalie grabbed one of the bodies she just sliced and used it as a shield. Most of the shots weren’t accurate but the man slumped over her shoulder wasn’t really good cover. She grabbed the Glock 22 out of the holster from the lifeless man and shot the intruders firing at the smoke, taking them down with two bullets each.

Natalie shrugged the body off her shoulder and paused again with a look of confusion but then realized immediately why there were only 5 men in the hallway. “Emiko”, she said to herself as she ran back through the doorway; as soon as she walked in armed men smashed through the windows, the panes on either side of the already broken one. Two men came in on the right and three came in on the left. Before she had a chance to react she was slashed by a knife just below her shoulder, the pain caused her to drop the sword. Natalie looked down at the half-conscious assailant, grabbed his arm and elbowed him unconscious. She grabbed his knife and dove into the kitchen behind the bar to avoid the AR fire from the 2 men on her left. Natalie grabbed the pistol from out the drawer above her and fired back hitting the leg of one of the shooters. She then raised her head to look to the right to see the other two men attempting to pry open Emiko’s door. The gunfire ensued, Natalie shot a couple of rounds back just to stop their gunfire momentarily. She managed to take down the already wounded gunman with her last bullet. She put her head back down and began to smirk; then the fire suddenly stopped. The man was out of bullets. Natalie stood up, the gunman dropped the rifle, took out a knife and ran at her. He lunged forward swinging his right hand with the knife at her face. Natalie dropped her head to avoid the swing, moved to the left, and slashed the mercenary’s stomach; she then jammed the blade into his neck and ripped it out. The man dropped right in front of the bathroom doorway.

As he hit the floor a sniper shot flew past Natalie hitting the edge of the front doorway. She realized she needed to stay against the wall to the left of her to stay out of the sniper’s vision. She unzipped her jacket and took out throwing knives from the inside pocket. To her surprise, she saw that none of the men were armed with rifles but they were using some type of device to cut through the door’s locks. She threw 2 knives at the man holding the device against the door which caused him to stop for a moment as he yelled in pain. The man next to him that was helping him hold it let go of the device and drew his pistol; Natalie threw her last knife at him, slashing his hand holding the gun. The man groaned in pain as the gun dropped to the floor. Natalie dove towards the middle of the living room next to the coffee table; grabbed the Glock from under the table, and rolled backwards avoiding a barrage of sniper shots that riddled the table full of holes. Natalie shot twice, blasting the man holding his bloody hand. She then began moving backwards and forwards evasively avoiding sniper shots. Her movements were sharp and precise. It was almost as if she was dancing; her steps were soft and agile as she stepped on the broken glass weaving through the bullets. The two men looked back in pure shock; one of the mercenaries began frantically looking for his knife.

The sniper grew even more frustrated; he shot until he ran out of bullets in the clip- not a single shot hit. Natalie rose up and gunned the man running at her down but as soon as she fired the gun the device the man was holding had broken through the locks on Emiko’s door. He dropped the device, kicked the door open and ran in while drawing his knife.

“Emiko!” Natalie yelled as she began to run towards her room. Before she could make it to the door she was tackled by the mercenary that had slashed her arm earlier. He threw her to the ground and attempted to choke her with both his hands around her throat. Natalie took the mercenary's own knife out of his sheath and stabbed him in his side. His grip loosened as he shrieked in pain; Natalie pushed the knife deeper and pushed him off of her to the left of her. She climbed on top of him and began punching his face repeatedly- viciously. But then she paused suddenly in her fury and looked out through the broken windows. Her eyes cut back to Emiko, she had the intruder in her room in a chokehold on the ground, “get cover!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

As soon she yelled, machine-gun fire tore through the penthouse. Natalie wanted to run to Emiko but the barrage of bullets wouldn’t let her. Natalie was forced to run the opposite way avoiding the onslaught. Frantically looking for cover, she ran across the living room and dove into the bathroom landing on her shoulder. The storm of bullets let up a little bit; Natalie began to feel a burning sensation in her back, but before she could move to examine it the gunfire intensified again. Bullets began ripping through the wall of the bathroom, bullets broke through the toilet bowl, splashed bloody water from the bathtub onto the floor, bullets shattered the mirror and even blew the door off its hinges. Natalie covered her face with her arms and began to tuck her legs into her chest waiting for the hurricane of bullets to stop. The gunfire ensued for a couple more seconds even though for Natalie it felt like it would never end.

The man on the balcony threw the empty minigun to the side and put his finger to his ear.

“Is anyone left- does anyone copy?”; dismayed by the answer, the man pulled out a grappling hook gun. The sniper was stationed at a building across from Natalie and Emiko. It was taller allowing him to fire shots down. He shot the grappling hook and the hook landed just above the penthouse’s broken windows.

Emiko pushed her intruder off of her; the man had several bullet holes in him. She rose up slowly holding her stomach. “Natalie”, Emiko called out weakly as blood dripped out of her mouth. She groaned loudly in pain and began to slowly make her way to the doorway. Natalie was flashing in and out of consciousness because of the burning pain but mostly because of exhaustion. When Emiko said her name Natalie’s eyes burst open. The sniper zip-lined in and landed in the living room armed with a pistol. He looked at Emiko’s room and walked towards it a few steps but then heard shuffling coming from the bathroom. He pointed his pistol and walked slowly towards the bathroom.

Natalie looked around and saw a pistol underneath the rubble. She dragged herself towards it and grabbed it. She then looked out the doorway; her eyes began to lock in again.

“This is it Natalie, it’s been an emotional journey for both of us but it ends here.”, the sniper said monotonously. The burning pain began to worsen and spread across her body. It hurt to breathe at this point but Natalie moved a little closer to the doorway trying to get the angle. Natalie stared at the rubble and aimed the gun. She closed her eyes, slowed her breathing and fired.

The bullet bounced off the katana on the ground and ripped through the neck of the sniper. The shot instantly crippled him, he dropped his gun and fell back holding his neck. Natalie yelled in pain as she began to get up. She grabbed the counter to pull herself up and leaned against it dragging herself to the doorway still groaning in pain. She stumbled out the doorway and fell to her knees. Emiko walked out of her room hunched over with her hand still on her stomach; she saw the bodies all over the room and the sniper crawling on the ground holding his neck with blood spilling out of his mouth. Emiko gave out a sigh of relief.

Natalie limped around the kitchen counter with her katana in her right hand. Blood was dripping off of her but Emiko couldn’t pinpoint where the bleeding was coming from. Natalie grabbed the sniper and held him up with his knees still on the ground. Natalie looked down on him with a bloody face of pure malice. The sniper raised his head up weakly and smirked. Natalie put the blade up to his neck. “I know why you’re killing me but just so you know, 120 packages have already been sold and shipped this month so…”, the sniper said that and just looked at Natalie, smiling devilishly. He then closed his eyes. Natalie looked at Emiko, looked to the side and sliced the sniper's throat.

The man dropped to the floor bleeding out. Natalie dropped the katana on the ground and fell to her knees; Emiko caught her before she could fall forward.

Emiko whispered to her, “Are you sure he had to killed Nat?”. Natalie rose up slightly and looked Emiko in the eye,” the 120 packages were children.” Emiko felt horrified but also furious as she looked at the corpse. “True evil must be killed”. As Natalie said that smoke began to surround them.