"One Minute. Time to go." Ted whispered to her. Cybelline nodded. Then she climbed like a cat up the high shelves, hiding behind a lost Picasso. She watched the men below coolly as they fanned out, search for the intruder.
"Kill the intruder." The man in the front ordered, "If they leave, you all die." Cybelline frowned.
"How much time do you need?" Ted asked quietly. Cybelline motioned 5 minutes and put away her gun. As the men searched, she struck. Dropping down from the highest shelf, she struck and left a trail of unconscious men in her wake.
"Six more men, and then you've got two minutes before they send the back up." Ted said.
Cybelline melted into the shadows, she found the five men by Leonardo da Vinci's portraits and made quick work of them.
The man in charge walked into the aisle as she had finished the last of them. Taking out his gun, he grinned, "Gotcha." His eyes widened at the sight of her winged mask, "You're not suppose to be real!" He squeaked in terror and fired.
Cybelline dropped to the ground and rolled, the bullets missing her by an inch. She closed the distance between them, grabbed his wrist and twisted, hard.
The man screamed, and his hold loosened. Cybelline flipped the gun out of his hand and shot him through the mouth.
She made it through the door and back into the booby-trapped hall, "Ted, if you activate all the traps in this room. would it affect the warehouse of ridiculously priceless treasures.?" Cybelline said as she ran through the unarmed room, everything had been deactivated when the men had showed up.
"Nope, that room is built with twenty feet of reinforced concrete. It'll probably take a day to dig them out. But they'll be okay."
"Then on my signal." said as she made it through the door that lead onto the street. She hid in a dark corner as more than sixty men rushed into the warehouse past her.
She said quietly, "Now."
There was a muffled boom that caused a slight tremor, Cybelline breathed a sigh of relief. "Building by the bridge on Braddock. The agency should have sent a helicopter." She said and strolled casually away.
Ted smiled, "A job well done. I look forward to our date." And clicked off the intercom. The cold barrel of a gun pressed into the back of his head, and Ted froze.
"Unfortunately, not yet." A cool, melodious voice said.
---------
Cybelline arrived at the meeting point within the rendezvous time. but instead of one person, there were five.
"Jung" Cybelline said, as she studied the Asian man, "Still not dead. That's...disappointing."
"It's too bad that the Winged Reaper, other wise known as the boogeyman of assassins and the killer of killers made flesh, has failed to kill me." Jung inspected her black hoodie and mask with a crazed grin, "Surprise! I survived the Himalayas. " Jung said with some satisfaction, "I messed up your hundred percent kill rate."
Cybelline smiled and held up her scroll "No, no, no. There's still time." She continued, "I'd like throw you into an active volcano one day. Always wondered if cockroaches could survive anything."
She pointed to a building down the street, "Your sniper's missed three times since I've walked up here. I hope you're not paying him by the shot." She twirled the tube in her hand, "If he hits this, well, if you're working for who I think your working for, then you're a dead man."
Jung's smile faded and he spoke into his sleeve, "Tell those imbeciles that if they take another shot, I will put my foot through their eye-sockets." Then his mask of congeniality was back on, "They'll succeed eventually. Hand over the scroll."
Cybelline rolled her eyes, "Yes. I'm going to hand over the only thing that's keeping me alive. Who dropped you as a child?"
Jung dragged out Ted, and shook him by the collar, "How about a trade?" Ted struggled against the two men who held him, he yelled at Cybelline, "Just go!"
Cybelline sighed, "Jung, can you not? I'm retiring and I'm really not in the mood for your bullshit."
Jung shrugged, "Okay. Kill him"
One of the men raised a gun to Ted's head. But before he could press the trigger, a bullet had already gone through his brain. Ted watched as his executioner fall dead, his face draining of color.
Without looking away from Jung's face Cybelline raised gun and shot towards the building she had pointed to earlier.
Jung's face eyes narrowed as he realized that Cybelline had just taken out one of his snipers. He sighed and patted Ted's head, "See, maybe your cute face is worth something to that she-demon."
Jung held out his hand, "The scroll, if you please."
Cybelline raised her eyebrow, "My date, if you please."
Jung scowled at her, "You're both going to die anyways."
Cybelline grinned, "Wanna bet?"
Just then, the helicopter from the agency arrived. Cybelline grinned, "Our backup's here. And in about two minutes, I'm sure that the original owner of the scroll is coming soon too. It'll be a real fun tango."
Jung's jaw clenched as Cybelline continued, pointing to Ted, "But I'm feeling nice today. If you let him get on the helicopter, I'll hand over the scroll."
Ted looked hopeful, "We can just wait for the Agency to come and take them down."
Jung snorted, "Obviously she picked you for your pretty face" He grinned at Ted, "But if you are worried about her safety, you should definitely wait for the Agency to open fire." Ted opened his mouth.
Cybelline shook her head, "Right now, everyone is waiting to see who wins, no one wants to damage the scroll, so no one is coming. Don't feed the troll Ted, Jung's fat enough as is."
She looked at Jung, "The fight's between you and me." She held her gun up to the scroll's protective tube, "If you don't let him get on that helicopter, I'll shoot this open. Can you imagine what a perfectly preserved 3000-year-old scroll will do when it hits open air? I sure hope you like selling dust."
Jung growled and signaled, "Let the helicopter through." In a moment, a ladder was thrown down. Jung fired a shot near Ted's feet in warning, "Get on the ladder. But not high enough where I'll miss my shot."
Cybelline frown, she raised her gun and fired towards the southeast corner. The other sniper Jung had brought was dead. "Take another shot at him and I'll shoot you dead." She grinned, "Don't test me."
Jung growled at Ted and jerked his head to the chopper, "What are you waiting for, an invite?"
"Wait. I don't even get to say goodbye?" Cybelline asked innocently. She raised the scroll above her head, "No tricks. I promise you'll see this all the time. But, if you try to shoot me or him. I'll open it."
Jung rolled his eyes, "Fine."
Cybelline moved to Ted's side and gave him a fierce hug, whispering "For the record, I'm not dating you just for your pretty face." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "You've got a great butt as well." Ted's eyes opened wide as she pushed him onto the ladder, he didn't even notice that she had given him her gun.
"The scroll." Jung said, his voice had a hint of impatience.
Cybelline turned to the man after Ted's helicopter had flown off a safe distance.
"Here you go." And threw him the tube. Cybelline slide the mask off her face "Do you know why I'm letting you see my face, Jung?" Cybelline asked.
Jung caught it caught the tube. He grinned and raised his gun "Don't care. Goodbye bitch."
Cybelline sidestepped the bullets "Let me enlighten you." She whipped out a spare hand gun and shot his two men casually. Jung's eyes widened, as she neared, Cybelline smiled, "My face should be the last face you see before you die."
"Stand back!" He stammered and raised his gun, "He's still within range. I'll kill him and destroy the scroll!"
Cybelline smiled, "Actually, I would check the goods first" Jung shook the tube, his eyes opened wide in anger, as he opened it. Inside, there was nothing. Screaming, he raised his gun to the chopper.
Three bullets ripped through his body before he could even take one. Cybelline grinned, "100% kill rate. Bitch."
He looked into her face, and like a crazed person, he started laughing, the blood spewing from his mouth.
She looked at him with disinterest, "Enjoy hell."
"Only if you come with me." Jung gasped, his eyes now the color of blood, He pulled out a black box with a red button and pressed it.
Cybelline's eyes opened wide and she started sprinting for the edge of the building. The sound of the dying man's laughter and the blast of the bomb swiftly following thereafter.
"CYBELLINE" Ted roared as the helicopter flew out of range safely. He held tightly onto her gun in one hand and the scroll in its protective packing in the other. Always one step ahead, she had taken it out of the tube before she had gotten onto the roof, knowing that it would have more than one layer of protection inside the container.
In the din of fire and smoke, Cybelline felt her body thrown off the building from the impact. She landed in the water with only a few cuts and bruises.
This is a fine way to start my retirement, Cybelline thought ruefully as she began swimming to the shore, not noticing that the box in her pocket had shuddered upon touching her blood in the water.
The ancient box she had stolen floated out of her pocket and opened itself, the ancient ring shaped like vines of a twisting banyan tree slipped onto her finger. Cybelline glanced down as she felt warm gold fuse with her skin. There was a flash, and Cybelline disappeared from the world.
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