Inside the van, located half a mile from the Superior Church's HQ, Hailey Meyers stared intently at the monitors.
"All teams check in," she said.
"Alpha team, North secured."
"Bravo team, West secured."
"Charlie team, South secured."
"Delta team, East secured."
Hailey nodded, her teams in place for the raid on the Superior Church. With luck, Operation: Exorcism would proceed without any issues.
"Echo, Foxtrot, Golf teams remain on standby," Hailey stated. "Operation: Exorcism is a go in t-minus five mics."
Operation: Exorcism was an ambitious plan concocted by Hailey and several higher echelon S.P.E.A.R directors. After months of surveillance, S.P.E.A.R finally was able to pin down the Superior Church's location. The operation called for a lightning raid of the headquarters, taking the highest ranking members of the Superior Church into custody and effectively neutralizing the church as a threat.
Four teams consisting of a dozen well armed, well trained, agents would breech the perimeter quickly neutralizing the guards and taking the head of the church into custody. Analysts had run the numbers, believing the operation could be conducted with minimal loss of life. That was what Hailey was hoping for, which is why she had requisitioned close to 70 agents.
Things, though had become complicated.
The Superior Church had taken hostages, Lilith and Alyssa Kane. S.P.E.A.R was forced to alter its plans slightly, the priority was still neutralizing the church, but a rescue mission was secondary. For this rescue mission Hailey entrusted Natalia MacGregor and Delta team. Nat was one of the best agents within the agency and Delta team was loaded with top notch agents. Hailey believed Delta could rescue the Kanes and escape as Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie secured the members of the Church. They just needed to be fast. Before Fukushu showed up.
An explosion near the Eastern part of the complex now drew Hailey's attention. Quickly grabbing the radio, the Director of S.P.E.A.R ordered her teams to check in.
"Delta report!"
"It's Fukushu!" Nat exclaimed.
Hailey glanced at the surveillance video, her heart skipping a beat. There on video was the fearsome nine tailed kitsune.
Fukushu had destroyed the sentry towers and fuel dumps with magic, the explosion reaching towards the sky. Methodically the kitsune now tore through the soldiers of the Superior Church. Even from a distance Hailey could see severed limbs sail into the air as Fukushu butchered his enemies. This also alerted the Superior Church of what was happening as alarm klaxons began to blare.
"Damn it," Hailey cursed. "Primary units move in!"
Already Hailey could hear the sounds of gunfire, the vampire biting her lip nervously. Things were escalating quickly. Hailey had hoped to keep the reserve units for cleanup, now it appeared she would need to deploy them.
"Home 1 to Echo and Foxtrot."
"Echo leader is on go ahead," Alexa Ross replied.
"Alexa advance your team into the Eastern part of the complex to assist Delta," Hailey stated. "Foxtrot will be reinforcing Bravo and Charlie units along the Southwest corner of the complex. Have Echo link up with Alpha and be careful of Fukushu."
Alexa nodded, motioning the team forward as she glanced at Tom.
"You ready?" she smiled.
"You know it," he smirked. "Let's just be careful."
"I was going to say the same thing to you," Alexa smiled.
Inside the base, Fukushu roared as yet another Superior Church soldier fell before him. These soldiers were well trained yet they posed little threat to the experienced kitsune warrior. Seeing a group now attempt to mount a defense, the kitsune sneered.
Moving faster than the soldiers could react, Fukushu cleaved the barrel of their 50 caliber machine gun in half before beheading the soldiers in one fell swoop. A maniacal grin fixed itself upon the kitsune's face as the heads of these soldiers soared into the air like champagne corks. Turning, he now noticed others, breaking through barriers engaging the church, and taking them into custody.
"NO!!"
Nat and her team turned, gasping in alarm as the fearsome kitsune charged towards them. The dhamphir screamed as she watched the agents under her command attacked. Those arresting the Superior Church were swatted away like insects, Nat watching their bodies tumble into the darkness.
"Fukushu stop," Nat exclaimed. "We came to stop the Church! Arresting them and take them into custody."
Fukushu snarled, his nine tails knocking her fellow agents away. Nat ducked, turning to see her colleagues knocked unconscious before Fukushu turned to the restrained soldiers. With a single swipe of his blade, he now cleaved those captured soldiers in two.
"They do not deserve to live," Fukushu bellowed. "The only justice they deserve lies at the end of my blade."
"No," Nat countered forcefully. "We're not butchers! And I won't let you massacre these people. They need to face actual justice."
Fukushu paused, a low, deep, growl emanating from deep within the kitsune. Fukushu bared his teeth, sheathing his katana as he glared at the dhamphir.
"If you will not execute those who deserve death," he threatened. "Then you are no better than they are."
Nat now assumed a fighting stance, her body tense as her vampiric features became more prominent; her face feral, her eyes glowing with a magenta hue as she bared her fangs.
"Akira has told me all about you Natalia MacGregor," Fukushu growled. "The dhamphir trained to fight like a kitsune. His greatest student. That which he is most proud of."
A swipe of his tails sent Nat skidding backwards. The dhamphir winced, having blocked the attack. The kitsune's tails were powerful, strong. Nat felt as if she had been whipped with a iron chain.
"I am about to prove my old apprentice wrong about you dhamphir," he snarled. "Your failure to do what is necessary proves you are too weak to have been trained in our ways. I am about to show you what a true warrior looks like!"
Rushing inside the Superior Church HQ, Alexa took a moment to appraise the situation. It was mass chaos, the soldiers of the Superior Church not even fighting. Instead these soldiers appeared panicked, running for their very lives deeper into the complex. Immediately the Nekomata noticed members of Delta team.
Several agents lay prone, dazed and hurt inside the rubble. Ordering her team forward Alexa and the others now tended to their wounds.
"What happened?" the Nekomata asked, as she now pressed a pressure bandage to a massive leg wound.
"Came out of nowhere," the injured agent mumbled, wincing as Alexa tried to stop his bleeding. "Too fast....couldn't be reasoned with...Agent MacGregor."
"Where's Agent MacGregor?" Tom asked as he now placed a sling on an injured agent's broken arm.
Without warning, a massive crash echoed through the area. Tom and Alexa gawked as Nat crashed through a cement wall. The dhamphir agent grimaced, her suit torn in numerous spots and missing a sleeve. It was obvious she was in a fight, the question as to who was quickly answered as Fukushu sailed into the room.
A fearsome roar emanated from the kitsune as he slammed his fist into the ground, barely missing dhamphir agent. The ground shattered as the crazed kitsune snarled at Nat.
"Alexa!" Nat exclaimed, grasping her wounded shoulder.
"Get my team out of here."
"What about you?!" Tom yelled, watching as Nat and Fukushu began to fight once more. The two warriors were fast, masters of their chosen martial arts. Nat was employing every trick she knew, becoming corporeal to avoid strikes before counter attacking. The dhamphir's strikes though seemed to barely slow Fukushu down. Leaping into the air, Nat delivered a roundhouse kick, sending Fukushu into a series of crates.
"I'll be fine," Nat called. "My team won't. Evacuate them back to the medical unit."
"Echo team get the injured out of here," Alexa ordered. "I'm staying. We still have a job to do."
"I'm with you partner," Tom answered.
"Tom, I need you to get Delta team out of here," Alexa countered.
"The others can handle it," Tom stated. "Face it, you're going to need backup and I'm not going to just abandon you."
"Tom's right," Nat said. "Alexa, you and Tom proceed inside. Finish the mission."
"What about you?"
"I've dealt with worse," Nat grumbled, the dhamphir's eyes glowing. "I'll hold Fukushu off, you two capture the head of the Church and find the Kane's. That's the only way this ends."
Tom and Alexa nodded, sprinting off as Fukushu emerged from the wreckage. The kitsune snarled, a golden flame slowly rising from his body.
"Do you truly think you can stop me child," he growled. "As skilled as you are, your skills pale in comparison to mine. Do not make me hurt you any more than I have too. We both want the same thing."
"We do," Nat answered, her voice low. "The difference is, I want justice. You're interest is solely in revenge and bloodshed."
Fukushu furrowed his brow, a sneer slowly cracking along his muzzle.
"So be it dhamphir!"
Fukushu roared, leaping into the air before striking Nat. The dhamphir once more on the defensive under the kitsunes relentless attack.
Fukushu was relentless, his speed increasing far beyond even the dhamphir's ability. For every blow she blocked, another would sneak in, the kitsune using his tails to attack like fists. Nat was being battered, the dhamphir trying to hold off Fukushu to the best of her ability. She just needed an opening, a break in his defense to land an attack that would turn the tide of battle.
Instead, Nat found her defenses collapse. Fukushu had broken her guard through overwhelming force. A series of heavy blows to the dhamphir's face and torso caused Nat to double over. As she tried to catch her breath, one of Fukushu's tails wrapped around her throat, squeezing it in a vice like grip. She now clawed at it, her eyes bulging. She was close to blacking out as Fukushu readied to deliver a finishing blow.
Just before Nat was knocked unconscious, a blue blur streaked towards Fukushu; slamming into his chest. Releasing Nat, Fukushu watched as the barely conscious dhamphir landed into a surprising foes arms.
"Akira?"
Akira furrowed his brow, gently lowering Nat to the ground before glaring at his master. "What have you done my old master?"
"Removed those too weak to do what is necessary," Fukushu replied, his voice deep and foreboding. "Your apprentice will live. She is just out of the way while I deal with these fanatics."
"The only fanatic I see is you," Akira stated. "You attack allies in your madness. Instead of working with S.P.E.A.R, you choose to fight them. For what? Because they wish those of the Superior Church to face justice? To be judged by the law?
"Justice is far better than they deserve," Fukushu snarled. "And human laws are flawed at best. The only true justice will be their deaths."
"At the expense of any who stand in your way," Akira replied. "Including those innocent in all of this, such as Lilith Kane and her daughter."
"They are connected to the Church," Fukushu said. "None of the Kanes are innocent."
"They are," Akira replied, his voice more of a growl as he slowly withdrew his katana. "And they are under my protection."
"Is that so....Guardian?" Fukushu chuckled menacingly. The nine tail now withdrawing his own kitsune.
"I am the Guardian of Magic Fukushu," Akira proclaimed. "Sworn to protect the next generation of magic with my life. Lilith and Alyssa Kane are friends of that generation. No one shall harm them as long as I draw breath!"
Fukushu furrowed his brow, gripping his katana tightly. With a mighty roar he now charged Akira, determined to best his former apprentice and destroy all connected to the Superior Church.