Vengeance

The team had arrived at Mind Mountain after just a fifteen-minute flight by jet. During the journey, Samantha had been taking unpleasant glances at Sindy, not being afraid to showcase her dislike. However, Sindy was far too busy observing Andrew to notice. She was still very much worried about him.

"Okay, listen up everyone..." Began Amanda. "This mission is highly dangerous. We're up against two powerful commanders from the Cliques. Naturally, we shouldn't engage them in any form of combat since we're far weaker than them. This is why I've devised a plan to rescue our target without engaging the commanders."

Amanda then took a digital map from her pocket. She then proceeded to point at areas across the map as she began her explanation.

"Firstly, I'll use my Cloning Art to create multiple copies of myself and have them wait on standby. Next, I want Leo to use his Illusion Art to create a fake explosion in the distance. Naturally, one of the commanders should move away from the target to check what happened. Once one of the commanders are gone, I'll send in my clones to serve as a distraction. While the commander is distracted, the rest of us will hurry and rescue the government official!"

"Wow, that sounds like a decent plan! Which means I'll be back at HQ, soaking in a hot tub in no time!" Squealed Leo with delight.

Following this, the jet landed a safe distance away from the commanders to give the assassins time to prepare.

"Sindy, Andrew, and Samantha, I don't know what's the problem between you, nor do I care to know, but this is a very sensitive mission," continued Amanda. "I've picked up on a hint of resentment between you three which could jeopardize the mission! Please remember that teamwork is of great importance and one mistake could cost all of our lives. Are we clear?"

Sindy nodded in approval but for some reason, Andrew and Samantha did not respond.

"For now, the terrain is of great importance to us. Everyone should go and familiarize themselves with the area so that when the time comes, we can make a clean escape. We meet back here after ten minutes!" Ordered Amanda.

Following this, Andrew sheathed his swords across his back and stepped out of the jet without a word.

Noticing this, Sindy quickly followed. She had to find out what he was planning.

"Andrew, let's scout the area together!" She appealed.

"I think it would be best if we split up here, princess. We'll cover more ground faster that way."

"Well, yeah... But-"

"It's fine, Sindy. I know you're only following me because you're worried. But you can stop now."

Sindy then went silent for a short moment. Since Andrew had brought the topic up, this was a good chance to talk to him. Not to mention that they were now a good distance away from the jet which meant the other assassins wouldn't hear their conversation.

"And Andrew, while I want to believe that, I find it hard to... So just until I feel a little more secure, I'm going to stay by your side!"

"That's fine but as I said before, I think it would be better for us to split up for now. We can talk later, okay?"

"No, I want to scout the area with you too..."

"I'm not planning on scouting, damn it!!" Suddenly shouted Andrew.

Sindy then came to a halt with a worried look across her face.

"Huh..? Then where are you going, Andrew?"

"Where do you expect? To find that bastard King of course!"

A feeling of anxiety quickly washed over Sindy. She then grabbed onto Andrew's uniform, preventing him from going any further.

 "Andrew, stop!"

Andrew was now becoming agitated. He wanted Sindy to leave him alone but she was sticking to him like glue. He then grabbed her hand aggressively before forcing her to release him.

"Don't try to stop me, Sindy! Just go back to HQ..!"

"I'm sorry, Andrew but I can't allow you to proceed any further. You can't fight the Beast King alone!"

"Hell, I am!"

"Why..? Why are you taking this all on yourself?! Nate and I were there too! We experienced the same pain so why take it all on yourself?! I'm worried about you, idiot!"

Andrew then tightened his fists with a pained expression melting his face. It soon became evident to Sindy that Andrew was carrying guilt.

"It's because Nathan wasn't the only one who hesitated to kill the Beast King, okay..?"

"What do you mean..?"

"That time when I activated my Water Art, the Beast King thought he had blocked my attack... But that wasn't the case..! My Water Art was amped with my Destruction Art. There was no way a single Demon Beast was going to withstand such an attack... I had cut straight through but I deactivated my Art at the very last second...

 I did that because I was afraid of killing him too! I was hoping that something or someone else would come and do it for me! And because I hesitated, the burden fell onto Nathan which resulted in everyone present in the village being killed! It's all my fault!!"

Sindy looked on in disbelief. She was speechless. Andrew had been secretly blaming himself for what had happened. What could she say to him to make him feel better?

"Sindy, I'm sorry but I'm going. So it's either you go back to HQ or simply stand aside."

"I'm sorry too, Andrew but I choose none!"

"Sindy, don't stand in my way. Once I kill the Beast King, everything will be better! Nathan will feel better and everyone back at HQ will stop mocking us for our failures!"

"Andrew, this isn't the way to go! Vengeance solves nothing... It only leads to more pain, in the end. Trust me!"

"Fine then, you leave me with no choice..."

Suddenly, Andrew landed a powerful punch into the stomach of Sindy. She grabbed her stomach in pain, arching her back as she staggered backward. She then fell to her knees coughing violently. She could hardly believe that Andrew had hit her.

"Tsk..! I forgot that even though you're a girl, you're also a trained assassin. One punch won't be enough to make you unconscious."

"This is not like you, Andrew! You would never hit me..." She cried.

"It's for your own good..."

 Sindy had now come to the painful realization that words alone wouldn't be enough to reach Andrew. He was far too lost in his thirst for revenge to listen.

With tears growing in her eyes, Sindy picked herself up. She then placed her hands at her sides before slowly unsheathing her knives. 

"Sindy, let's not do this. You can't beat me. Just go back to HQ."

"No, if you won't listen to words then maybe I can at least knock some sense into you!"

Seeing as Sindy was prepared to fight, Andrew also unsheathed his swords. A fight between the two friends was now unavoidable.

 The atmosphere was now filled with tension and the area became as silent as an assassin. The only sound that could be heard was the wind fighting against the leaves of surrounding trees.

Quickly, they charged one another. Sindy jumped high into the air before coming down with a twirling spin— slashing her knife at Andrew.

Andrew however blocked the attack effortlessly before launching a counterattack. He sent one of his swords swinging dangerously towards Sindy's head.

 Sindy didn't know how but she managed to parry with her knife, sending Andrew's sword missing her face by mere inches. Fiery sparks danced through the air as metal slammed against metal. The two assassins were fighting neck and neck. 

Hastily, Andrew then came with a downward

slash, aiming to clip Sindy's legs. Luckily, Sindy pulled off a move she had never done before. She jumped and landed on the side of Andrew's sword, trapping it underneath her feet. Due to this, Andrew was forced to release it from his grip in fear of being wounded.

Unfortunately for him, Sindy was not about to let him get away unscathed. She slammed her foot under Andrew's chin delivering a painful uppercut.

 Andrew was sent flying backward with immense force but he was able to maneuver a backflip, landing safely on his feet.

"Do you think that just because I'm a girl, I can't beat you to a pulp, Andrew? Let me fill you in on something. A woman is most powerful when she's protecting something very precious to her! She becomes unbeatable!"

"Ridiculous..!"

Andrew realized he had to be smart. Sindy was a genius when it came to fights. Rushing at her without a plan would surely end in his defeat. Instead, he held his ground and waited for Sindy to get close enough. 

Sindy then ran towards him like a true assassin before attacking with an upward slash that skimmed past Andrew's face.

However, this was what Andrew had been waiting for. Competently, he dodged the attack and caught her arm. He then forced his knee into the back of Sindy's elbow, almost shattering her bone.

 Sindy screamed as the pain forced her to release one of her knives. The knife was forced high into the air, swinging freely above their heads.

However, Sindy wasn't about to give up. She jumped and used Andrew's shoulders to boost herself into the air before reclaiming her weapon.

Following this, she twirled herself skillfully, aiming to disarm Andrew. 

Sadly, it wasn't about to be that easy. Andrew had predicted her attack and countered with a powerful kick to her gut. Sindy's eyes threatened to pop from her head due to the pain. But Andrew still wasn't finished.

While Sindy was still recovering, Andrew caught both her arms and bashed his forehead into her face. Sindy's eyes squinted shut which resulted in her dropping one of her knives. Finally, Andrew then delivered another kick to her stomach which sent her crashing into a nearby tree.

"This is pointless Sindy!" Shouted Andrew. "You'll only get yourself hurt if you continue. Let me go and end this pointless fight..."

Sindy coughed violently as a little blood surfaced from her forehead. It pained Andrew to see her in such a state but he believed that he was doing the right thing.

However, to Andrew's surprise, though stricken with pain, Sindy forced herself back onto her feet with tears in her eyes.

 "It's not pointless Andrew... You're my friend and I can't watch you throw your life away on vengeance..! Friends help one another and that's what we've been doing since the day we met... I'll help you and Nathan, no matter what I have to do!"

"Sindy, please stay down!"

"No! I told you, didn't I? Once a woman is protecting something precious to her, she becomes unbeatable! So no matter how many times you knock me down, once it's for you and Nate, I'll never stay down!" 

Sindy then paused as she took a deep breath. She was ready to give her all in one final attack.

"Fire Art: Flaming Swing!"

Sindy's knives quickly became coated in a sea of flames as she charged towards Andrew.

With no other choice but to defend himself, Andrew was forced to respond with an Art Style of his own.

"Water Art: Rain Slash!"

Andrew's sword then quickly became shrouded in water as he prepared to counter Sindy's attack. It was fire against water. Water would inevitably win and Andrew knew this.

The two friends then clashed violently with one another. Just as Andrew had predicted, his Water Art had successfully countered Sindy's Fire Art. Due to this, steam quickly engulfed the area.

Little did Andrew know that he had fallen right into Sindy's trap. Sindy had known that Andrew would use his Water Art to counter her Fire Art. Due to this, she had already taken the blinding steam to follow from their clash into consideration. Just before the two had clashed, Sindy had already marked Andrew's location. She now had the advantage.

Andrew looked around frantically searching the cloud of steam for Sindy. Unfortunately, there was too much steam for him to locate her. 

Suddenly, Sindy reappeared at Andrew's side and kicked his sword from his hand, disarming him. Finally, she then came down with her knife aiming to place Andrew under submission.

Regardless, Andrew quickly reacted and skillfully knocked the knife from her hand into the air. This pained Sindy deeply but she refused to give up.

With one final attempt, Sindy faked catching her knife which resulted in Andrew reacting incorrectly. Andrew's eyes then widened with shock as he realized he had fallen for her trick. 

Sindy then doubled her fist while screaming "ANDREW, PLEASE COME TO YOUR SENSES!". Sindy's fist then slammed into Andrew's jaw, flattening him into the ground with a mighty roar. The punch held so much ferocity that it had forced the ground to crack open upon impact. 

 Soaked with pain and defeat, Andrew looked up at Sindy who now sat atop his chest. She panted heavily as if she had just finished running a marathon. Sweat bathed her face and her body was filled with exhaustion. She was almost completely out of energy which was a problem since they were still on a mission. 

However, Sindy didn't care as she wanted to save her friend more than anything else.

Andrew looked at Sindy from the corner of his eye. His nose was bloody and he had even lost a tooth from her monstrous punch. Andrew's face was wrinkled in distress and pain. He couldn't understand why Sindy was so adamant about him not getting his revenge.

"Why..? Why Sindy?! Why stop me from avenging all the innocent lives taken!? Why stop me from getting revenge on the guy that hurt you and Nate??! It makes no sense!"

Before replying, Sindy smiled sweetly as tears filled her bright blue eyes— making them sparkle even brighter. 

"Because you're my friend, Andrew..." She began in a sweet voice. "You've always been and you'll always be... Nathan nor myself wants to see you endanger yourself for the sake of revenge... It's not something we want you to do for us! Heck, if Nathan were to see you like this, he'd probably snap out of his depressed state right now and throw a fit, you know..."

Andrew turned his face away from Sindy as he tried to ignore his surfacing emotions. He felt embarrassed and weak for what he had allowed himself to do. Sindy however grabbed his cheeks and forced him to look into her eyes.

"Andrew, I know how it feels... It hurts. It hurts that so many people died and we were unable to help them... It hurts that we allowed Nathan to take up such a burden on himself! I know it hurts! But you can't allow the pain to weigh you down!"

Andrew didn't know what to say. Tears started to climb into his eyes. His heart felt as if it was about to explode due to Sindy's kindness.

 "I don't understand how you can be so optimistic... How can you remain so strong after everything that happened to us? How can you smile and move on so easily..?"

"Because I learned that dwelling on your failures forever gets you nowhere. When you fail, you should just get back up and try again. Use the pain you experienced to make yourself a stronger person..." Sindy then paused as she held Andrew's cheeks in the palm of her hands, "I understand, okay? So, Andrew, it's okay..! I'm here for you as your friend! Never feel like you have to do something by yourself! I'm here for you!"

Andrew's eyes filled with tears. He had built up so much stress and now it was time for him to release it. He had not only begun to walk down the path of vengeance but he had allowed himself to hurt his friend both emotionally and physically. He now deeply regretted it all.

"I'm sorry, Sindy! I'm sorry that I hurt you! I'm so sorry!" He cried.

"It's okay, Andrew! I forgive you..! It's okay!"

The touching moment lasted for a few minutes before It was interrupted by Amanda who was contacting them over their smartphones. She needed them to regroup at the jet to execute the plan immediately.

Andrew sighed with a breath of relief. He felt as if an elephant had been removed from his chest. Sindy had saved him from a dangerous path.

"Are you okay now?" Asked Sindy curiously.

"Yeah... I am. Thanks, Sindy..."

Sindy felt relieved as one problem floated away from her. She had managed to save her friend from a path of revenge.

"Hey princess, how long are you gonna sit on my chest like this though? If Nathan were to see this,  he'd think somethings up!" Suddenly teased, Andrew.

Sindy hadn't realized that she was still sitting on Andrew's chest. She quickly jumped off and stood herself up. Her face was flushed with playful rage and embarrassment.

Andrew laughed at her as his genuine jovial personality returned.

Sindy then took one last look at him and finally thought to herself;

"At least he's back!"