The Kidnapping Job

East Diamond was reeling. A massive explosion left over two dozen dead, and no survivors, as well as the corpses defaced in the autoshop it went off in. The newspaper was littered with speculation, but Sai would immediately be able to tell when he read the story that it was the Witch's handiwork; as she had told him when she first met him, she was very fond of spectacles. Also from the details of the story, it was safe to assume that it was the Tang family that had been hit, not Oz, so Sai would know it was time to reach back out to Valerie to see if it was safe to come out of hiding. Immediately, Valerie offered him a job to welcome him back.
"Nothing too strenuous. Hell, it's in South Emerald, and nothing happens down there. Pop out of your safehouse, head down south, and you're back to wherever you've been hiding in time for cupcakes." She had said over the phone with a laugh.
The job was simple: One of Oz's top captains was out of position. He knew everything about Oz's fighting power, as well as the locations of their higher up's safehouses, and he was going to be out of East Diamond for a short time to attend a funeral; some friend of the family, an inlaw, something like that, Valerie didn't know. All she knew was that he would be protected by only about four guards to be safe, and the rest present would be civilians. Sai's orders were simple: capture the captain alive, kill his posse, and deliver him to Valerie. The reward? Money, continued aid against and protection from the Tang family, and more work. Valerie believed in the simple things in life. Simplicity itself.
Mary sat silently in the car next to Sai outside of Topaz Cemetery; the procession was small, not even twenty people. The captain they were looking for was in inconspicuous clothes, but still stood out due to the fact he had dyed his hair green some time back, and hadn't lopped it off before coming here. It also wasn't hard to identify the four men standing around him as his bodyguards. Mary looked past Sai at the five men. "Do we engage now, or wait for the funeral to be over, sir?" She asked softly.

Sai kept his eyes out of the window the entire time, keeping an eye on the ceremony as it took place. He was wearing his own suit, along with some shades and an old fashioned scarf to serve as a mask. Today, he wanted to blend in a little bit more, just for today though. He had his full suit in the trunk should things turn too nasty. For now though, blending in was a bit better with this many people.

"There are some lines that we don't cross Mary. Interrupting a funeral is one such thing, it's bad luck" Sai said honestly as he kept his eyes one the five men. "The moment things start breaking up and the funeral is over, we move in. We don't harm civilians, only the ones strong enough to fight back"

Mary nodded, turning back to look straight ahead, falling silent.
Bad luck. The phrase turned itself over in her head. It sat wrong with her in some way.
"If luck existed, do you think you'd still be here? No. You wouldn't have let us grab you in the first place. Someone would've noticed you were gone. Someone would've come for you. But there isn't any luck. Not for you. Just reality." Someone said that to her while she was in the Chair. Who, she didn't remember. But the words were lodged in like an ax in a tree.
As Mary thought, the funeral continued. The group was mingling, and it seemed the target and his men were going to be the first to leave. They turned away from the group and made their way towards the entrance of the cemetery, and towards their car. None of them seemed aware of the out of place vehicle.

Sai smiled as he saw that the men were leaving. Good, they would be able to take care of this soon. Sai glanced over to where their car was, he had been out there only a few minutes ago. His combat knife had made quick work on the two wheels on the opposite side of the car. They wouldn't be able to notice the flat tires until they were close. By then, it would be too late.

Sai glanced back, reaching back and pulling out the shotgun that he had in the back. Making sure that it was loaded, he glanced over to Mary and gave her a nod. "Ready to get to work?" he asked. "The moment they reach their car, we move in. Understood?"

Mary blinked as she came back to reality and nodded, giving no indication she had even spaced out. "Yes, sir."
Sure enough, none of the men noticed the slashed tires at first. One of the guards immediately slipped into the car as two of the others walked around to the other side. Only then did one of them nudge the other, pointing out what had happened. As soon as this happened, Mary opened her door and stepped out of the car, walking quickly towards the group; only now did the last guard seem to notice, and he immediately began reaching towards his hip for his weapon, calling to his still oblivious comrades.

Sai also stepped out of the car after Mary. Stepping forward, he also saw that the guards were beginning to notice that something strange was going on. It would have been convenient for them to not notice, but luck never went to someone who planned for it in the first place. What was lucky though, was the guard who sat straight in the driver's seat. As the man went for Mary, he knew that she'd be able to defend herself. Sai decided to stop this group from leaving. Withdrawing the shotgun from the inside of his suit coat, he quickly aimed and fired directly through the window in to the driver's seat, likely filling the inside of the car with a bloody mess.

Sai wasn't always about stealth after all.

The man in the driver seat had no chance to react, and practically exploded into blood on impact. The green-haired man's eyes went wide with panic, and the remaining three guards drew their pistols. Mary immediately sprinted forward and threw a fist foward at the throat of the nearest guard, instantly crushing it and causing him to fall backwards, choking on his own blood. Mary wrapped her arm around the other man's throat, not crushing it this time, but using him as a shield between her and the third guard. Her eyes swept to the green-haired lieutenant, their target. "You will comply with Master Sai or I will dismantle this man." She ordered in her monotone droll.

"I'd listen to the lady, she honestly doesn't lie" Sai said as he kept his gun aimed at the last guard. "You know that you're cornered here, all we want is your boss here to come with us. No one else needs to die" Sai said as he glanced from the guard to the green-haired man. "One more body isn't gonna bother me though, so this is your only chance to walk away. I'd take the opportunity, I'm usually not this merciful"

The green haired man's eyes shot back and forth from Mary to Sai to his unheld subordinate. He sighed and raised his arms. "Fine. Leave those two alive and I'll cooperate." He glanced at his subordinate. "Drop the gun. And make sure you get home alive. Alright?" After his guard dropped his pistol on the ground, the captain offered him a weak smile before turning back to Sai. "Deal's a deal. Let my other man go, and I'll tag along with you two."

"Back up" Sai said to the man that dropped the gun. Sai walked forward and picked up the gun, his shotgun aimed right at the surrendering man's chest as he took the weapon. "Deal's a deal, Mary let the other guy go. He needs to be alive...but let's make sure they're not tempted to follow us" Sai said before throwing Mary a ziptie to bind the other man. Sai motioned for the surrendering man to come forward, tying his hands behind his back as well. Their hands would be useless, even if they were to try and chase on foot.

Sai lifted up his man and motioned the green haired man forward. "Alright buddy, let's go for a ride."

Mary immediately complied, ziptying her captive's hands so tightly that his hands started to go white. The other guard winced as his wrists were tied, and the two began making their way back to the procession, undoubtedly to try and get some sort of help. The green haired man offered no resistance as Sai escorted him back to the vehicle. However, as they did, Sai would notice another vehicle pulling up in front of theirs, parking in such a way that they wouldn't be able to easily drive off. Out of the back seat, a large, heavily tattooed Chinese man wearing a kevlar vest rose.
"Wars are nothing if not predictable." He sneered. "An Oz captain isolates himself in the midst of a war. The Witch would be a fool not to take such a vibrant opportunity." As he continued to speak, four more men began unloading from the vehicle, all wearing kevlar and brandishing magnums, with large knives on their belts as well. "And the Witch has made an enemy of Master Tang, and declared war on him. So we would be fools not to take such an opportunity as well. But even in great predictability, surprises can still be had." He smirked as he looked over to Mary, reaching for something tucked into his back pocket. "You four. Kill the green haired man and the one escorting him. Leave the girl for me; she is a super beyond your skills."
Immediately upon hearing someone threatening Master Sai, Mary grabbed the handle of the door of the Oz captain's car and ripped it off, winding it up to throw at the tattooed man. Before she finished, however, the man pulled a tape recorder out of his back pocket and hit the "Play" button. Over the recorder, everyone present would hear a recording of Shoushan's voice. "Mary Knett. You are to not use your powers. You are to not fight back. You are to not resist. These are my direct orders to you." Immediately after the words hit the air, Mary's arm seemed to lose all strength, and the door collapsed to the ground, her struggling to raise it again with nothing more than normal human strength. The tattooed man grinned. "Now. That makes things simpler for us."
The other four men immediately moved in, surrounding Sai and raising their pistols. After a few moments of silence, one fired off a shot, killing the captain with a round between his eyes.

And...that was how a really easy mission turned in to a slaughter in just a moment's notice. Sai hadn't expected members of Shoushan's gang to show up and cause interference here. How did they know where to attack? The man said that they had deduced it, but Sai wasn't entirely convinced. For now though, he had bigger problems to worry about. He looked over to the captain's body as it went limp in Sai's arms. He had the shotgun in one hand and was holding the captain by another. Along with this, Mary seemed unable to use her powers now because of hearing Shoushan's voice. This...really wasn't good.

Glancing around, Sai knew that he had to act quickly. The situation wasn't going to get any better, and reinforcements weren't coming. He'd have to take this down himself. "Well played" he said before turning and throwing the shotgun at one of the four men. He knew it'd barely slow him down, but at least it was something. Running, Sai used the dead body of the captain as cover as he tried to move around the car they had brought. "Run Mary!" Sai shouted. As he slid behind the car for cover, he pulled out his own pistol along with that from the guard they had disarmed earlier. He didn't like using two pistols at once, it was too stylish at the cost of accuracy. But four on one? Sai would make an exception.

Poking his head out, he started firing as quickly as he could at the four men. He wasn't being accurate enough for instant kills, but right now he needed to get himself some breathing room and come up with some sort of plan.

The man he threw the gun at awkwardly leaned back to dodge the thrown shotgun, and the other three seemed caught off guard by the reckless move, allowing Sai to make it to cover before they started firing back. As he began firing back, the four of them ducked behind the other side of the car for cover, allowing him to gain a significant amount of ground on them. The ringleader, however rolled his eyes. "Four against two, a simple kill order and you four can't manage..." He muttered. Immediately upon hearing the order, Mary let go of the door she was holding and broke into a sprint after Sai. "Not so fast there, Mary." He barked at her, raising on of his arms to point at her; as he did, the chain tattoos on the arm began to shift and writhe like snakes, before flying off his skin and tangling around her ankles, causing her to trip and violently fall face first onto the asphalt. The chains began to drag her back to him, increasing the already notable distance between Sai and Mary.
Over at the procession, people were starting to take notice of the gunshots and violence; Sai would hear the gasps and screams from where he was, along with someone crying for someone to call the police.

Sai glanced back, just in time to see that Mary was getting dragged back by some chains that came off of the leader. "Damn it" Sai muttered, seeing that this was getting rapidly move complicated than he had wanted. And now, he had to fight just to retrieve Mary again. She wasn't able to use her powers now, so he was alone against five people. Placing the newer pistol in to the back of his pants, Sai readied his own familiar pistol before turning back. Taking careful aim, he fired to try and take down some of the tires of their vehicle.

If they wanted to escape with Mary, he'd have a better chance pursuing them on foot rather than a vehicle. Whether or not it worked, he started to move back, hiding behind whatever he could on the way to avoid gunshots.

Only one of the tires was sufficiently in Sai's line of sight to get a clear shot at, and he managed to blow it out. The tatooed man looked back and scowled. "Bastard. No worries. We take the keys to his car off of him." By now, Mary had been fully dragged back to him, and he knelt down, getting to work wrapping his chains around her arms and legs so she couldn't easily escape. As he did, he played the recording again, causing Mary to cease what little struggling she had been doing.
The other four men continued firing back at Sai, more specifically the car he was crouched behind. One of the four picked up the shotgun he threw at him and began making his way to Sai's cover, remaining behind the other procession goers' cars for cover. The other three maintained their covering fire, making any further changing of position risky for Sai.

Sai didn't have a ton of options available to him at this time. Right now, he was going to have to deal with these men one at a time. The line of them firing at him, they were going to have to wait. Sai was more interested in the one that was approaching. The man was hiding behind the car, but he wasn't going to be able to hide entirely. Sliding down as he moved forward, Sai aimed at the man's feet once they were exposed before firing. If his shot landed, the man wasn't going to stay standing for long. Should he fall, Sai would fire two shots directly in to the man's leg to try and take him out of the fight.

The man with the shotgun cried out as his foot took a bullet, but managed to crawl behind the wheels of the car to provide him full cover before Sai could completely take him out of the fight.
The leader groaned and pulled Mary back behind their car into full cover himself, clearly frustrated by the situation. He pulled out a silver cell phone, hitting speed dial. The other end picked up quickly. "Retrieval Team C, this is Retrieval Team A. High priority merchandise Mary has been retrieved at Topaz Cemetery, currently engaged with high-skilled combatant. Requesting evacuation for merchandise and back up. Police is expected within ten minutes." The other team leader responded over the phone, and the leader smiled before hanging up. "You three, keep him from running. Backup will be here shortly." He peeked over the hood of the car to keep an eye on Sai; with his arms occupied holding Mary with his chains, he couldn't participate directly, but he could prevent Sai from running without being spotted.
The other three guards had reloaded by now, and made their move; all three breached cover at once, moving at Sai across the open ground, but spread out enough that firing at all three would be difficult. The all maintained a small level of suppressing fire, closing the distance on Sai, trying to force him to stay in cover as they got back into melee range.

Sai ducked down again, avoiding the hail of bullets that was coming his way from these men. Right now, he needed to play defense until he could get a few of them taken out. Right now, he had to play it smart. He wasn't the strongest in the fight right now. He'd have to get through these four, and then he could take on the Super that had Mary. Patience was going to be a virtue that would get him through this fight right now. Taking a deep breath, he reloaded his pistol and prepared for his battle plan.

Sai waited to hear the bullets die down for even a moment. After that, he moved out of one side of his cover, trying to expose himself as little as possible. HE would blindly fire at the first person he saw. If he could down one of these guys, it would make the others scared to face him. He just needed a moment to get back to the car. It had been a horrible mission to not wear his gear on.

The three had made it between Sai's cover and the trunk of his car when two of them needed to pause a moment to reload. The third went for a wider flank to try and force Sai into deeper cover, but the plan backfired as Sai came barreling out and firing at him. He took several shots to the chest; his kevlar kept him from falling dead, but the wind was knocked out of him and he seemed more or less out of the fight. Sure enough, the other two fell back behind Sai's car and next to their injured ally to avoid his aggressive push. One of them dropped their magazine in the retreat, so only one of them was still a threat.

As the men retreated, Sai knew that he had to take advantage of this short moment that he had. Fear was a powerful weapon in the right hands. Even men outnumbered, when facing a great threat and the risk of death would hesitate or pause. Had all of them just charged in, Sai would likely be dead by this point. Running forward, Sai sprinted to the trunk of his car. As he moved up, he turned and fired his pistol straight down at the downed man. No sense in even giving him the chance to get back up. After killing him, Sai opened the trunk of his car to try and retrieve his suit. It was a little too elaborate to fully place on mid fight, but for now at least he had a little protection closer to his chest. For the moment, Sai waited, wanting to see what these men were going to do so he could counterattack.

The guard who dropped his magazine snatched the shotgun from his injured friend, and he and his friend stood up on the other side of the vehicle just as Sai finished armoring up. Between the hail of pistol fire and the threat of a shotgun at such close range, Sai was forced back up the street into the cover he had just been at. Once safely in cover again, Sai would see the two men again making another push, much more aggressively this time; caution didn't work for them, so now they were using numbers and superior firepower to their advantage.
As the two began their push, Sai would hear tires screeching to a halt about half a block behind him. When he turned to look, he would see a windowless van had parked, blocking off half the road. A lean man with a permanent sneer hopped out of the drivers seat and raced around to the back of the van. After a moment, three large mastiffs came around from outside the car; the man let out a sharp whistle, and the hounds began racing towards Sai.

Well that was just great, two men with guns from the front, and three dogs charging at him from the back. Not a great position to be in right now. Sai wanted to prioritize the men with guns, but right now the dogs were much faster and would bite and hold him in place. If he didn't stop that from happening, there was going to be a bullet in his head very soon. Sticking close behind the cover he had, he drew his pistol and tried to shoot the dogs to down them or stop their approach. Should that not work, Sai used his remaining hand and drew his combat knife out. If they got in close, he'd finish them off quickly if he could.

One of the hounds was immediately gunned down by Sai's pistol fire, and another still was clipped in the leg, causing it to slide to the ground, howling and whimpering in pain. However, the third was able to make it to Sai, pouncing on him and biting into his forearm. Sai's slashes with his knife managed to get him some breathing room for a moment, but the beast almost immediately went back in for more, this time biting hard at his leg and dragging him to the ground.
At this time, sirens could be heard in the distance. The man with the van perked his head up and immediately hopped in the car; it was time to get out of there. He immediately floored it, driving past Sai and the dog, almost hitting the two men who just rounded the cover to attack Sai, buying him more time. He parked next to the leader and Mary, who immediately shoved her into the back of the van and loaded up himself. "Finish him off quickly! If you get taken into custody, we leave you!" He barked at the two men, who were still recovering from almost being run over.

Sai let out a pained yell as he felt the sharp teeth digging into his leg. Biting his lip heavily, Sai leaned forward and drove his knife straight in to the mastiff's neck, removing it and stabbing it a few more times to make sure the beast was dead or was going to bleed out soon enough. Kicking the dog off of him, Sai started to stand up but found himself weakly being able to do so. Sai looked at his partially mangled leg, no doing anything fancy with something like that. He stood up and just aimed his pistol forward, wanting to clip someone off if he could. With the sound of sirens, Sai was going to have to do what he could to just get out of here now. He really didn't want to risk his face getting revealed to authorities at this point. "Come on you bastards! Face me!"

One of Sai's shots clipped the pistolman's leg, causing him to cry in pain and collapse. The last with the shotgun let out a frustrated sound and fired at Sai, forcing him back into cover. He seemed to be more focused now on getting his comrades to the van than killing Sai. Every time Sai poked his head out of cover, it was instantly met with the booming sound of the shot gun. After getting the one who was with him, the man ran back to the last living guard behind Sai's car. In cover and out of sight of Sai, he pulled out his own combat knife and jammed it into the tire of Sai's vehicle; he wasn't getting away now. After the deed was done, he popped out again, slowly making his way back to the van, firing at Sai whenever he dared to pop out again to slow them down. The sirens grew louder as the police grew closer, and the funeral-goers continued to stare on in horror from a safe distance.