Nocturne must Die




Ever since Nocturne began to interfere with Helix's schemes, she had become a
marked woman. Lawrence wanted nothing more than to see the Mistress of the
Night dead and he was more than willing to pay the price for it. Sure enough,
quite a few despicable characters stepped in, from Lawrence's own forces, to
hired mercenaries, everyone tried to take Nocturne out but sure enough she put
each and everyone of them in their place. One of them came close to beating
the Mistress of the Night, but once again through sheer luck, Nocturne
prevailed. A storm was brewing and it sure was about to rain.

"Nightshade, I'm on my way to the port. I want you to investigate the case we
have at palace street. Let me know what you find." Nocturne gave instructions
to Nightshade through her communicator, as she dashed her way towards the port
on her bike. "Got it, don't worry, I'll solve this before you are done over
there!" Nightshade replied enthusiastically. "Remember, be careful." Nocturne
warned, "I'm no kid, don't worry. Besides this isn't the first time I'm out on
my own." Nightshade shot back, "I know, but I don't want anything bad to
happen to you." Nocturne sounded almost maternal, "Got it, mom." Nightshade
playfully replied. "All right, good luck." Nocturne cut the transmission and
focused on the road.

Nocturne had received a tip from Hawke that a shipment of drugs and weapons
was to arrive on that night. Apparently the Mancini crime family wanted to
regain a lot of the power they lost in the past two decades. Mancinis were a
shadow of their former self, but nevertheless wasn't gonna led them rise to
power once more. Heeding his intel, Nocturne decided to strike before they
could reform. Nocturne parked her bike and proceeded to perch herself into a
few crates so as to first gather intel on her surroundings.

Nocturne scanned the area to quickly trace the ship that was holding the
cargo. Once she had located it, she began to inspect the surroundings. Truth
be told, the ship seemed to be heavily as they were preparing to unload the
goods into their trucks. Nocturne quickly surveyed any possible vantage
points, sadly, the ship was heavily illuminated, so entering through the sky
wasn't going to be an option. Instead she opted for a more creative solution,
she noticed that the vans were being brought up into the ship, because
transporting the drugs had to be top secret. It was then that she hatched a
plan. Nocturne quickly descended into the shadows and crept her way towards
the vans. Standing in her way were two goons, since stealth was a extreme
priority, Nocturne took out her classic trusty dart gun and silently shot two
sleeping darts at the goons. It didn't take more than 15 seconds for the goons
to fall unconscious, Nocturne quickly dragged and hid them in the shadows,
continuing her way towards the vans. Once she made it there, she noticed that
there were only two vans remaining outside. The vans' two guards were already
dealt with and no one seem to pay much attention to the vans as they weren't
already loaded with the drugs. Nocturne took the opportunity and hid inside
one of them, she then waited for her moment to strike. A few minutes later one
of the goons got inside the van and began to drive it into the ship. Nocturne
managed to dodge the heavy defense and make her way into the ship without much
resistance. Once inside, she sent a signal for the police hq to prepare the
ambush.

The goon driving the van parked inside the ship's interior and went back to
open the van's back door, to his surprise, Nocturne was waiting for him.
Before the goon could do anything, Nocturne grabbed him by the throat and
dragged him inside the van, quickly dispatching him and concealing him from
the others. With the goon taken care of, it was time to infiltrate the ship
and find the drugs. Nocturne, once more scanned the area before she sprang
into action. At first, she considered causing a small emp to turn off the
lights, but that would only draw suspicion and they needed to remain unaware
of her presence until she found the shipment and the boss. Nocturne realized
that in the current floor that she was located, there were five goons
surrounding the vans and these goons were placed in strategic positions, far
away enough from each other so as to avoid a quick assault. Nocturne had to
take one at a time and discreetly, she looked for a shadowy corner from which
to hide and she launched her attack. She quickly shot a dart at the one
covering the northeast corner, then she moved towards the one covering the
southeast corner, moving on to take the other two corners. The last one was
guarding the stairs that led to the lower floor, so after taking the other
four goons, Nocturne took care of him and proceeded further down the ship.

Nocturne was now in the same floor where the drugs were located, a goon was
heading towards her, but before he could spot her she launched at him,
smashing his head against the floor and leaving him unconscious. Nocturne then
hid in a vent as she scanned her surroundings. To her surprise, the Mancini's
boss himself, Hector Mancini, was overlooking the operation. He had five armed
goons along with him and they were all awaiting his orders. "Boss, we haven't
heard from the drivers, they should be here by now. Do you want me to check?"
One of the goons asked, "I hope these idiots aren't slacking, go check and if
anyone is slacking. You know what to do." Hector replied, as he continued to
count the goods.

Before the goon could go check, suddenly the lights went off and all the
electrical devices ceased to function. "What the fuck is going on?!?" Hector
shouted at his goons, "I dunno boss, there seems to be some sort of electrical
malfunction." "Well go fucking fix it!!" Hector shouted once more, "But I
du....AHHHHHH!" One of the goons screamed as Nocturne attacked him. The other
goons tried to shoot, but they couldn't aim as the room became engulfed in
smoke. One by one, they all fell to Nocturne's might and once the smoke
cleared, the only one standing was Hector and the Mistress of the Night. "Ahh
fuck it's Nocturne!!" Hector barked, as he tried to grab a gun. Sadly for him,
his chubby physique wasn't ready for Nocturne's speed and before he knew it
she had him grabbed by the throat. "Hector Mancini, you little worm. Thought
you could get away with your dirty little deed without me noticing?" Nocturne
intensified her grip over his throat. "How the fuck did ya knew?" Hector could
barely get the words out due to Nocturne's hold. "This is my domain, Hector.
Nothing goes in or out without me knowing." Nocturne grinned, as the man
before her broke in fear, "I'll get you for this, you bitch!" Hector shouted.
"Empty words from a pathetic little worm." Nocturne proceeded to smash his
head against the crates, rendering him unconscious. She tied him up, along
with the other goons, and by the time the goons on the outside realized that
something was wrong, the police was already there.

Nocturne brought Hector to the police and left the ship.With her job done, she
wanted to check on Nightshade and see how she was doing. She tuned her
communicator to Nightshade's signal, yet the only thing she could hear was
static. "Hello!? Nightshade can you hear me?" Nocturne spoke, hoping someone
would answer on the other side. Suddenly the static ceased, but the voiced
that responded didn't belong to Nightshade, "If you want to see your precious
one safe, come to the abandoned theater at palace street right now." The voice
demanded, "Who the hell are you!?!?" Nocturne shouted, "An old friend. Do as I
tell you or else you won't see her again." The voice demanded, "YOU BASTARD!"
Nocturne shouted, but the person had already hanged up.

Without hesitation, Nocturne got on her bike and dashed away to the theater.
Whomever had made the threat was about to pay, as Nocturne was sure to make an
example out of them. In less than ten minutes she had arrived at the theater.
She barged in, knocking down the door. When she arrived, to her dismay,
Nightshade had been tied to a chair in the middle of the theater. Nocturne
rushed towards her, but before she could rescue her, someone fired at warning
shot, near Nightshade's feet. "Nonono, can't have you do that. Nightshade
can't miss the grand finale of my play." The person who had fired was none
other than Aksana, the bounty hunter. "After all, who wants to miss out on my
masterpiece? The Fall of Nocturne, quite a catchy title, huh?" Aksana said in
a mocking tone.

Nocturne walked into the stage, unafraid of Aksana, ready to take her down
even if she had to pay the ultimate price. "This is between you and me, leave
her out of it." Nocturne looked furious. "Oh don't worry, I don't intend on
killing her, no, not yet. I want her to see her heroine fall before I put a
bullet in her chest." Aksana once more mocked Nocturne, "Last time, that
little snake saved you in the nick of time. This time, I will finish you for
good, no one is coming to save you." Aksana pointed her gun at Nocturne, but
the latter took out her grapnel gun and fired it at the gun, grabbing it and
tossing it away."If you want me to make your death a slow and painful one,
then so be it." Aksana replied nonchalantly, not minding the lack of a gun.

Nocturne replied with a stern look as she spoke "You better kill me tonight.
Because I promise you one thing, if you can't finish the job, I will make your
life a living hell. You will death to be a mercy that I will not give to you."

Aksana launched her attack, throwing a barrage of punches, but Nocturne
avoided them all. Nocturne then responded with a couple of punches of her own,
the assassin was agile as well, dodging the swift punches being thrown at her.
Nocturne however, was not in her usual tactician mindset, she had come with
the sole purpose of destroying Aksana and her fighting style showed it. Her
punches packed a lot more of strength, Aksana had clearly tried to get her out
of her game, but sadly for her this strategy had backfired on her. Aksana had
to shift her strategy into defensive as Nocturne's aggression was becoming
hard to counterattack. Nocturne landed some heavy blows that drove Aksana
backwards.

Nocturne kept pressing her attacks, however Aksana was able to grab a hold of
her.

Putting her feet against Nocturne's abdomen Aksana fell backwards and
catapulted Nocturne over her, tossing her hard on her back.

As Nocturne hit the floor Aksana quickly pounced on her. Swiftly she trapped
Nocturne's arm between her thighs and fell backwards in an armbar trying to
hyperextend her arm over her hip.

Nocturne tried her best to defend the armbar but the assassin began to extend
her arm, making Nocturne scream in pain as her elbow popped.

As her elbow joint was about to get dislocated the heroine changed direction
and managed to slither out of the hold.

Both women got back to their feet and Nocturne was barely able to avoid a
whirling kick aimed at her head.

A bit more measured Nocturne landed some heavy punches towards the Sambo
expert.

A punch straight into her face caused Aksana to fall on her knees. Aksana
retaliated by charging at Nocturne with a tackle that had them crashing
through the red curtain. Pinning Nocturne down by pressing her knee on her
belly, Aksana tried to punch her in the face, but Nocturne avoided her
attacks, instead struggling from underneath her and hitting Aksana with her
feet on the chest.

Aksana fell down, giving Nocturne the chance get up and retaliate, Nocturne
proceeded to grab Aksana and dragged her towards the wall, she then began to
smash her against the wall. Nocturne landed three hits like that, but on her
fourth, Aksana countered with her elbow to Nocturne's stomach, making her lose
grip. Aksana then connected a solid punch to Nocturne's jaw that dazed her.

A groggy Nocturne was unable to dodge Aksana's kick, knocking her straight
into the floor, Aksana then began to brutally kick her in the stomach and ribs
in an attempt to make Nocturne lose her breath, but Nocturne countered with a
side sweep, making Aksana fall on the ground.

Aksana got back up but Nocturne immediately threw her to the floor.

Nocturne was able to straddle her chest and landed heavy punches straight into
her face. Aksana however still had fight left in her and was able to buck her
hips up and get her legs around Nocturne's waist. Nocturne tried to keep
punching but Aksana wrapped her arms around her and pulled the heroine tightly
against her. Aksana held Nocturne in a tight embrace, staying chest to chest
with her rival as she did not gave Nocturne any space to punch. Both women
breathed slowly as the pace of the fight had slowed down. Aksana suddenly
threw her legs up and wrapped them tightly around Nocturne's neck and
shoulder, creating a tight triangle choke.

Nocturne tried to get out but this only resulted in falling on her side with
Aksana's thighs still choking her. The heroine felt the pressure on her jaw
and neck increase. Slowly her vision was getting blurry as she realized Aksana
was tightening the triangle to make her pass out.

"Not exactly the ending I had in mind for you, however I am not complaining.
The Mistress of the Night choked to death by the Great Aksana"

Aksana talked satisfied as she saw Nocturne struggle unsuccessfully in an
attempt to escape the triangle choke.

"You know you lost, stop fighting, it will be just like when you go to sleep.
Except you will never wake up again." Aksana said with a mocking laugh as she
watched Nocturne's face turning deep red and her struggling slowing down.

Suddenly she felt a jolt of pain through her thighs and in a loud scream she
let go off Nocturne.

Nocturne rolled away quickly and got back to her feet as Aksana saw the taser
in her hand she had just used to give the assassin a high voltage shock.

"You are not the only one who uses tools. "

Aksana rubbed her leg which now had a burn mark, she then got back to her feet
in a fighting stance.

"I must admit you have a talent for escaping death."

Having recovered from the choke Nocturne tried to hit Aksana with the taser.
However the nimble assassin dodged her attempt and kicked the taser out of her
hands.

She aimed another kick for Nocturne's head. However the heroine caught her leg
and threw her towards the floor.

Nocturne tried to apply a submission hold on her leg however the assassin
slithered free and pushed Nocturne away, the two women quickly stood up once
more, ready to continue their brutal duel.

Aksana launched her wave of punches, landing some hard punches to the face and
belly, Nocturne quickly recovered and landed a knee to her stomach. This time,
Nocturne launched her own tackle, pinning Aksana against the wall and landing
a barrage of punches to Aksana's ribs.

Nocturne aimed a knee for her gut, but Aksana blocked the knee with her
forearms. In a swift motion Aksana pushed Nocturne back and at the same time
sweeped her leg away with her feet, making the heroine lose her balance and
fall to her knees. In a swift motion Aksana jumped on her back and wrapped her
legs around the heroine's waist. Nocturne fell on her side with Aksana behind
her hooking her legs inside the heroine's thighs to keep her immobilized.

With her left hand Aksana pulled Nocturne's forehead back while trying to
sneak her right arm around her neck to apply a chokehold.

"You are a great warrior, but when I took the contract on your life you faith
was sealed."

With both hands Nocturne was able to pry the arm away from her neck.

"You must be proud to kill for money, selling yourself to the highest bidder."
Nocturne replied and at the same time she spun to the side and was able to
escape the hold of the assassin.

Both women stood back to their feet and circled each other for a moment as
they took a breather.

"Oh yes I am, however the money is merely a formality. I take pride in taking
down the hardest targets. Proving that I am simply the best." Aksana glared at
Nocturne and then sended a kick to her belly which she barely blocked.

Nocturne replied with a swift punching combination but Aksana dodged her blows
and then performed a low kick, slamming her shin hard on the outer thigh of
Nocturne.

The kick nearly knocked Nocturne of balance and Aksana used the moment to land
a looping punch that made her head snap back.

Nocturne tried her best to fend off the attacks of the assassin. However
Aksana kept attacking the heroine. Nocturne tried to throw a punch but Aksana
blocked and at the same time slammed a punch into her belly which made her
gasp for air. Aksana placed her left hand at the back of Nocturne's head to
keep her in place, with her right hand she began to send violent uppercuts
towards Nocturne's belly, further winding her.

Nocturne tried to block the uppercuts but Aksana then dazed her with an
upwards elbow towards her chin.

As Nocturne staggered Aksana wrapped her left arm around her head and flung
Nocturne towards the floor in a perfect hipthrow.

With a loud thud Nocturne fell on her back and gasped for air. Aksana stood
over her with a devilish smile on her face and kicked her hard in the stomach,
knocking the air out of the heroine's lungs.

"I must say I admire you. When you became a vigilante you must have known one
day you would meet someone that would outmatch you" As Nocturne tried to get
up Aksana quickly pinned her down by laying sideways over the chest of the
heroine, pressing her shoulder against her chin. Nocturne tried to wiggle out
but Aksana pressed her bodyweight in her to keep her pinned and tire the
heroine out. Slowly and methodically Aksana began to isolate Nocturne's arm
trying to apply an armlock.

As Nocturne managed to pull her arm free and Aksana quickly put her leg over
and straddled Nocturne's waist.

Aksana intwined her legs with Nocturne's in a grapevine pin, painfully
spreading her legs.

Driving her hips hard in Nocturne's stomach Aksana kept wearing down the
heroine.

Nocturne breathed heavy as she tried to block the short punches towards the
side of her head.

To block the punches Nocturne was forced to raise her arms, making Aksana let
go off the grapevine and slide up high on her chest.

With her hips pressing on Nocturne's chest Aksana kept raining punches and
elbow strikes down at the exhausted heroine.

Nocturne tried her best to block the punches but she got hit hard and her nose
and mouth were bleeding.

Nocturne was realizing she would not keep this up for long. A hard elbow
landed against her cheek and the world spun. With her vision blurry Nocturne
kept trying to block the blows aimed for her face.

"The great Nocturne, after I have killed you I will show your body to
Nightshade before putting a bullet through her chest."

Thinking about Nightshade gave Nocturne new energy. Throwing her legs upwards
Nocturne was able to suprise Aksana and push her forwards. As Aksana braced
her arms out Nocturne slid from underneath her.

Both women ended up on their knees. As Aksana tried to stand up Nocturne dove
forward trying to tackle Aksana to the floor.

However Aksana threw her hips back and sprawled to block the takedown attempt
of the exhausted Nocturne.

Nocturne was forced on all fours and Aksana wrapped both her arms underneath
Nocturne's, while trapping her head underneath her armpit. Pushing her leg off
the floor Aksana spun Nocturne towards her back while connecting her hands
together.

Aksana slowly began to lean backwards, forcing Nocturne's head towards her
chest while both of her arms were trapped.

"I so much admire your warrior spirit, just know that you were the best
fighter I have ever faced." Aksana said with unhidden admiration in her voice.

Nocturne was trapped and she knew it.

It was true, ever since the beginning she knew that becomming a vigilante
could mean one day she would die. It seemed like today was that day. There was
only one thing she could try....

"Please, do not harm Nightshade. Your contract is on me. Leave her out of it."

Aksana paused for a short moment before she spoke.

"I promise." Then with an explosive pull Aksana leaned backwards and forced
Nocturne's head forward in an angle it was never meant to go. With a dry
cracking sound her neck snapped.

Immediately Aksana felt the heroine's body go limp in her grip.

Letting go she looked down at the heroine who stared at the ceiling with a
lifeless expression on her face.

Using her phone Aksana took some pictures of the broken body of the once great
Mistress of the Night.

Almost ceremonically Aksana removed the mask of her face and took some
pictures of her face.

"It was an honor Nocturne." Aksana said while making a small bow.

Calling the number Helix had given her he quickly picked up.

"Is it done, did you did it."

"Yes it is, I just send you the pictures. The adventures of Nocturne have come
to a permannent end."

Helix paused for a moment as he seemingly watched the pictures.

"I must say I doubted if you would be able to take her out after so many had
failed. My sincere appologies. Clearly your skills were as good as promised."

Aksana recognized there was admirattion in her voice as she spoke. "I can
assure you she put up more than a fight."

"Without a doubt, I will transfer the money. I assume that with with this
payment you will retire and retreat to somewhere quiet?"

"Perhaps one day, there are other goals I need to pursue first."

"You just saved my enterprise. I will contact you again when I am in need of
your services. All the best Miss. Aksana."

Aksana checked her bank account and noticed the payment had been made indeed.

Taking one last look at Nocturne's body she then picked up her gun and walked
away.

A challenge like this was what she had been craving for, now she had finally
won she felt satisfied but also restless.

There was so much more she wanted to accomplish.

Up towards the next assignment and the one after that.

The End