Hub world, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.
"Have you heard anything from Kasumi-Oneesan or Mai-nee?" Tatsuo, standing in front of the stove in the penthouse's kitchen, asked while stirring a pot of miso soup.
"Not yet." Tio replied from the living room. "I would assume it won't be too much longer, though."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Tatsuo replied. "Anyway, dinner is ready. I just hope they get back before we put it away for the night."
With that said, Tatsuo prepared two plates. Then, he left the kitchen and headed to the kitchen table, Tio entering slightly afterwards.
The two then sat down to eat, calmly discussing random topics. Around the time they were both ready to finish with dinner, they heard the elevator doors open. Expecting both Mai and Kasumi to return, they were surprised when only Kasumi stepped into the room while Mai's usual yelling was nowhere to be heard.
"*Sigh* I'm back." Kasumi said tiredly.
"Welcome back."
Tatsuo replied with a smile as he headed into the kitchen with his and Tio's empty plates. "How did the stake out go?"
"Well, it turned out to be more than just a stake out." Kasumi replied as she took a seat at the table. "I had to engage the enemy before leaving. Somehow, my position was discovered, and they sent a quartet of Alphas after me."
Hearing that, Tatsuo, who had already began to make a plate for Kasumi, paused momentarily. He had overheard Lisa, the scientist in charge of the project to clone him, known as the Omega Project, speak of it in the past. So, he knew that Kasumi's cloning project was referred to as the Alpha Project and that the Alphas were her clones.
The difference between the two projects, however, was the fact that Lisa succeeded in cloning Kasumi while cloning Tatsuo failed spectacularly.
"I see." Tatsuo replied eventually. He then returned to the kitchen table with dinner for Kasumi. "So, did you put them down?"
"I did." Kasumi replied nonchalantly. "Though, I must say, as much as I despise those people from DOATEC's R&D department. They are truly talented. Every one of those clones was only a little less powerful than I was when I was in their captivity. If they have a little more time, they may even be able to make clones that match me from back then."
"*Growl* Though I hate to admit it, too…" Tatsuo said angrily as he took his seat at the table again. "That woman, Lisa Hamilton is good at what she does. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she was eventually able to make a clone that surpassed the you from back then."
"You really think so?" Kasumi asked, her chopsticks halfway to her mouth with her first bite of dinner.
"Yeah, I do." Tatsuo said with begrudging respect.
'Because I know the DOA storyline, as convoluted as it may be, I know just how good she is.' Tatsuo muttered internally. 'But for that same reason, I also know that she's a double agent working for Helena. And that pisses me off so much. Because of all those experiments, I really wanna kill her. I mean, IREALLY wanna kill her. But I won't. That won't stop me from teaching her a very painful lesson, though.'
Feeling the irritation radiating from Tatsuo, both Kasumi and Tio looked at him with worry. Kasumi even stopped her bite for a second time.
Meanwhile, halfway around the world, Lisa, in her lab at DOATEC's research and development department, shuddered in terror. Looking around, she felt as though she was in danger. Though, not life threatening danger. Even so, the feeling unsettled her greatly.
Back in the Soramoto's Apartment, Tatsuo, Kasumi, and Tio continued to chat, with Kasumi letting Tatsuo and Tio know that Mai would be out all night tonight because she was in charge of the investigation and needed to understand all the information that was gathered by the other members of Sumire's organization.
"*Sigh* It's easy to forget just how good she is at what she does.' Tatsuo said in an exasperated tone. "If she didn't act the way she always does, I would probably be more receptive to her advances."
"And I'm sure she would act just the way you want her to if you told her that, Tatsuo-Sama." Tio said while covering her smile with her hand fan.
"Tio is right." Kasumi replied. "And I'm sure you know that, too. So, why haven't you told her that?"
"Because there is no point in her changing because I want her to." Tatsuo replied in a serious tone. "If she, herself, does not want to change, then doing things contrary to her feelings will only breed resentment."
Hearing just how serious Tatsuo was from his tone, Kasumi and Tio both nodded their heads, agreeing with Tatsuo's view on people and the changes they go through.
"Anyway, have either of you heard from Mom and Ayane-Neechan yet?" Tatsuo asked, deciding to change the subject.
"Not yet." Kasumi replied. "But there really isn't much in the way of service in the Mugen Tenshin Village. So, we probably won't hear from them until they return tomorrow."
"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, Tatsuo-Sama." Tio said gently. "With Sumire-Sama there, nothing will happen to them."
"Oh, I'm not worried at all." Tatsuo replied with a chuckle. "It's just I'm expecting there to be some kind of fight. Especially when Mom exposes that there's a traitor in the village. And I wanna know what nee-Chan thinks of the new armor, that's all."
Hub World, Earth, Japan, Mugen Tenshin Village.
Meanwhile, Sumire and Ayane were walking casually through the Mugen Tenshin Village, making their way towards the Village head's Residence. At the same time, many eyes were focused on them. And while most of the younger members of the Mugen Tenshin Clan did not recognize Sumire, those of the older generation were looking at her with existential dread because they were aware of what she was capable of.
"Boo… Why does everyone look so scared?" Sumire asked childishly as she looked around at all the adults in the village and how they were gripping their concealed weapons so tightly.
"It's probably because they know that you could wipe out the entire Mugen Tenshin Village if you wanted to." Ayane replied with a deadpan.
"Aww… Am I really that kind of monster to all of you?" Sumire asked with a pout.
"Yes, you are." Ayane replied, still in the same deadpan tone. "you're the killer that other killers are afraid to run into."
Sumire's pout became even more pronounced after hearing that. Ever since the day she saved Tatsuo, she had not killed anyone. And that had been almost a whole year now. After remembering that, she could not understand why these people would not just get over it.
At the same time, Ayane glanced at Sumire. And when she saw the expression on her face, she felt as though she knew exactly what the inhuman former assassin was thinking. And because of that, she could not help but roll her eyes at her adoptive mother with fond, albeit hidden, exasperation.
Eventually, the two arrived at a large, traditional Japanese mansion, undoubtedly packed with all sorts of traps and hidden guards. And standing in front of that mansion's main entrance was a group of five men, presumably the leaders of the village. However, while four of the five were at the very least, at the end of middle-aged, the last, and the one standing in the center, was a young man.
This young man, the eighteenth head of the Mugen Tenshin Clan, Hayate, was a well-muscled man with light brown hair and eyes wearing a short-sleeved white martial arts gi with black accents, chainmail under his top, a black sash, white and blue wrist guards, black boots, a katana hanging on his back, and a wakizashi slung across his lower back.
Standing there with his arms crossed, Hayate watched Sumire and Ayane approach with both wariness and relief. Especially after hearing that Ayane had attacked Sumire's son during her mission. Even worse, she was tricked into it by Christie, an assassin on DOATEC's payroll, which made him hate the company even worse than he already did.
The reason for which was simple. When his half-sister's, Ayane's, father betrayed the village, Hayate tried to stop him. Unfortunately, he was defeated, soundly. As a result of such a defeat, Hayate ended up on the verge of death and comatose. Then, while unconscious, he was kidnapped by one of the Alpha clones and experimented on before DOATEC lost him during transport.
Finally coming out of his coma after DOATEC lost him, things did not suddenly get better for Hayate, as he woke up with amnesia. Things were not all bad, though. Instead of being left to die or reclaimed by DOATEC, he was found by a German karate practitioner and nursed back to health by the karate master and his family.
Then, after regaining his health, he even began practicing karate alongside the master's daughter. And thanks to his previous experience with martial arts, although he had no memory of them, he picked up the fighting style rather easily, mastering the style in a short time. Then, to push his limits and find answers about who he was, he chose to leave the family and roam the world, which led him to entering the second Dead or Alive Tournament, where he regained his memories after meeting his sisters and best friend.
Finally, after regaining his memories, Hayate returned to the Mugen Tenshin Village and was made the Clan Head. Unfortunately, that meant that he would have to take up all the responsibilities that came with that position. Meaning, he would have to send someone to either capture or eliminate his younger sister, Kasumi. And that person happened to be Ayane. As for what happened after that, that is how we ended up in the current situation.
"Brother…" Ayane said quietly after she and Sumire stepped into hearing range.
Yet, Hayate did not even acknowledge her. Instead, his gaze remained glued to Sumire, who was still pouting after seeing just how scared everyone in the village was of her.
'This looks bad.' Hayate thought to himself. 'She seems like she's in a bad mood. Is she truly looking to wipe us out after her son was attacked? I haven't even been Clan Head for a year yet. Will the Mugen Tenshin be destroyed so quickly under my rule?'
Meanwhile, Ayane, after not receiving a response, lowered her head, feeling terrible about disappointing the person she respected the most. As for Sumire, after seeing Ayane's reaction, she turned her pout into a frown.
"Now I understand why Ayane turned out the way she did." Sumire said, clear displeasure in her tone. "You can't even respond to her because she's a traitor in your eyes, is that it?"
Sumire's sharp, displeasure-filled question immediately snapped Hayate out of his thoughts. At the same time, the clan elders turned to look at Hayate with displeasure, as if everything that happened was his fault, and his fault alone.
"No, that's not it, Soramoto-Sama." Hayate replied. "I was lost in thought. I had no intention of ignoring Ayane."
With that said, Hayate turned to Ayane and nodded in response to her earlier word.
"Ayane, it's good to see you again." Hayate continued, though his expression did not change much. "I'm glad to see that you are healthy."
"Thank you…" Ayane replied, her head still lowered.
"Though, I am curious." Hayate said. "I've heard the report, that you attacked Soramoto-Sama's son to get to Kasumi. But why? And more importantly, how did you not know that young man was Soramoto Tatsuo? We've known that Kasumi was with Soramoto-Sama for several months."
At that moment, everyone noticed that one of the elders, a middle-aged man with grey hair wearing a wooden mask to conceal his face and a black haori over his shinobi attire, flinched. Then, before anyone could react to that, Sumire disappeared from where she stood next to Ayane. An instant later, greatly surprising Hayate and the other three elders, she reappeared in front of the flinching elder with her right hand gripping the wooden mask tightly.
"From what Ayane-Chan told me, you should be her foster father, Genra." Sumire said coldly. "Not only that, but you're also the one who assigned her to bring Kasumi-Chan back without proper intel."
*Boom!*
Sumire then, with only her grip on the mask, slammed the back of the middle-aged man's, Genra's, head into the ground, creating a small crater upon impact.
"I'm also suspecting that you told DOATEC that Ayane-Chan would be the one coming after Kasumi-Chan." Sumire continued while looking down into the eye holes of Genra's mask. "Otherwise, how would the dearly-departed Christie have known that she was in Shibuya looking for her? But even more important than that, do you know what that makes you in my eyes, Genra?"
Reaching that point, Sumire paused for dramatic effect. At the same time, she reached up to the pins holding her bun in place. She then twisted one of the pins before pulling out a thin blade that was no thicker than the average senbon.
'She actually keeps weapons in those?' Ayane asked herself dumbfoundedly. 'Does Mai know about that? She's the one who usually helps her put her hair up, right?'
While Ayane was escaping reality, Hayate and the other elders subconsciously reached for their weapons. Though, they did not move to save their colleague. Instead, they listened to what Sumire had to say.
"On top of being an idiot for provoking me and putting your entire village in danger had things gone horribly wrong." Sumire said as she lowered the thin blade to Genra's throat. "It makes you a traitor. And the only thing I hate more than traitors are people who try to hurt my Tatsu-Chan."
The killing intent rolling off of Sumire at that moment was enough to make everyone present, despite all the lives they've taken as shinobi, start to sweat.
"And as it just so happens, you actually became both of those things." Ayane said as she carved a thin line across Genra's throat. "So, before I make you regret every line of thought that led you to making such a foolish decision, do you have anything to say in your defense? Although it probably won't do too much good for you, I'm not a monster. And if you can make a good point, I can reduce your punishment. So…?"
Hearing that, everyone present to witness this event only had one thought on their minds.
'Not a monster, my ass.'