I'll start by telling you about myself, shall I, Doc? Wherever you are reading this, I'm sure you're going to have to agree with me on what follows next.

I'm 24, slightly taller than average, and also more than slightly dumpy. Even at this age, I still have acne. Get them on my arms sometimes, even my chest, but mostly on my back and face. It looks awful during summer, and that just makes my never-been-cut-by-a-hairdresser hair looks worse. I can never find the time to wash it, and well yeah. Thus my head is all-round oily - but occasionally I deign to wash my hair and use that weird cleanser on my face.

So the main idea you should be getting about me is some random azn chix0r with bad hair bad skin, and also slightly overweight.

No glasses though. And no braces, cos I got them off ages ago. So yes, my teeth are straight, and that's about the only plus. I don't even have pretty eyes.

And I guess you're wondering how I manage to even hope so much that I get hung up over several pretty chix0rs at one time, right, Doc?

Well, I answer is I have absolutely no fscking idea.

So now you should realise that I don't have 'delusions of grandeur', or at least as to my personality, looks and whatnot.

But then you ask 'Why does she think so many of those pretty girls are attracted to her?' right, Doc? I know you ask yourself that when I'm gone as you go through the list of troubled people you've seen today.

Why? Why do I think I have a chance, so much that I can't help but get attached and when Fate pulls her strings, I feel really, really bad afterwards? Maybe it's because I read too much into things.

Like take this for instance. Girl I like normally sits on one of two benches that are close to each other. Another friend is sitting down on that bench, on the end near the other bench. I am sitting on the 'other bench'. Girl I like puts her school hat down where she normally puts it down, but then walks from that end all the way to the other bench. And sits in the middle of it, right next to me.

Now tell me. if that happens once during a month, then two times, then almost twice every week. TELL ME WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!

And don't say 'maybe her seat was taken', because when she gets to the bench, it's pretty early and no-one has taken her seat. Of course, I get there even earlier from getting out of class as quick as possible.

That not enough? Sure, hows about someone you tell more than twice a day that you are gay and that they should please restrain from glomping you, continues to do so? Rests their head on your shoulder frequently, leans against you when you stand behind them looking at their computer screen, grabs onto your arm and.

Okay, that's enough information. I don't know what to see, how far to read.

And then there's that other one. to me, she could sprout wings and a halo and I wouldn't notice the difference. Okay, so maybe I would, but you get the point. I reckon she's the most beautiful person on the planet. more beautiful than anything I've ever seen or experienced.

She reminds me of something. someone, actually. someone from a long, long time ago, it almost seems like another life, another time, another world.

But I don't really believe in reincarnation, since I'm in for the 'in the end, we're just lumps of dirt' theory, that when we die, that's it. We're gone forever, when everyone that has ever known or heard of us dies.

Anyway, I guess I 'fall in love' so easily because there is this constant yearning in my heart for something - not for money, of course, else I'd be more motivated in school - something that rears its head whenever I encounter a pr377y chix0r that. reminds me of that someone that I can't really remember.

I see it now, really, the ones I've been really attached to. they've all been not azn, and considered pretty, and they're also quite intelligent. Long hair in the darker colour range, pale skin and well formed facial features.

Perhaps I aspire to be like that.

Perhaps, that is, if I were more motivated to do anything.

Yep, I'm a self-professed lazy bum, and has no 'When I grow up' wishes. Except for 'when I grow up, I want to be happy'. But doesn't everyone wish for that? Okay, so not many people actually ever think of wishing that, but they would, right? Or am I so confused, unhappy and freaked out that that's the best thing I can think of?

Now you see why I was referred to you by the hospital. I was in a mess physically and mentally, and I guess now, I'm not so battered on the outside. But inside, everyday, it feels like I'm scoring in more and more marks.

Everybody wondered how I got those wounds when I was admitted to hospital, and it's your job to find out, right? But then you found out that the only thing I'd talk about was my load of non-violence related baggage. Or so you think.

Everything in my life is linked, in more ways than you or even I can imagine.

My parents and brother dieing back a few years ago, all three of them in the same car when it crashed, even that is connected. The car blew up when it hit the wall; they say that it was the fuel tank, but when I was there, stirring up the rubble slightly, I smelt the scent of ammonia rise up, something we'd been experimenting with at school that day in our Chemistry practical. I think I was the only one there who smelt it, me with my astronomically freaky nose.

You might think me paranoid, but now that I look back on that day. I know that someone had also made an attempt on my own life. I hadn't recognized those sounds as what they were back then, but now I know.

I was standing under the tree in the courtyard, and had turned and moved towards one of my friends, the better to talk to them. There was a hissing noise - rather faint, but picked up by my again astronomically freaky ears - and then a dull thunk. We all looked around at what could have caused the noise, but we didn't see the bullet embedded deep within the trunk. Instead, we blamed it on some person dropping a pile of books or something like that.

When we walked away, I had noticed a wink out of the corner of my eye, from the tree, but since I had recently begun 'seeing' bright white things in my otherwise normal vision, I didn't give it a second thought.

Until a year or so later, when I had become accustomed to the life I now live. Or at least, the life I had lived until I was found on the streets, bleeding from several serious wounds and in a dull confused haze.

But you could say everything starts with my parents and brother, the day they died and I almost did too. When they died, I was left with no relative in the entire country. I had friends, yes, but their parents - whose parents were? - were not the type that would take in a recent orphan.

And so, one day at school - I went to school because I didn't want to sit around all day moping around - my world-hopping aunt arrived in my classroom. She beckoned to me and I went outside the classroom to talk to her.

'I have already packed up everything at your house. You are coming with me to Japan, where I am working now. I have organised for you to attend an international school there, and I am now your legal guardian.'

My mind took all this information in. I had no-one to look after me, and now that someone had turned up, someone I knew, and that someone was now organising my life for me, I felt truly grateful for this sense of direction.

I went back into the classroom, packed up my books, and as I passed the teacher, told them that I wasn't coming back.

My friends there didn't hear about where I'd gone until about a week after I'd arrived in Japan, when I had everything set up in the apartment. Several hundred e-mails were in my various inboxes, and I spent several hours wading my way through them.

Then, to save time, I sent out a mass e-mail to everyone who had wondered where I was, thanking them for their concern, and then I informed them of my situation, although my aunt had for some reason made me promise not to tell anyone where I lived or what my phone number was.

My new computer - I was in technology heaven, JAPAN!! - even with its dual processors, was severely stressed as people from all down the Eastern coast of Australia sent tens of questions each through the messenger service.

They all gaped - electronically, of course - when I informed them I was now in Japan, that my aunt had informed me I had to learn Japanese in one year, when I would then be enrolled into a normal gakuen.

What does this all have to do with how I got all those wounds that left me lying half-dead on the streets of London? I'll tell you, just keep reading, Doc.

'Japan is a dangerous place. You must learn martial arts.' My aunt said.

I didn't really know what her true motives were back then, but I was happy. I had always wanted to learn martial arts, and now my guardian was actually telling me to learn it, whilst my parents had forbidden it.

Karate, jiujutsu, taekwondo. everything. Now that I look back, I really wonder how my aunt expected me to learn to read, write and speak Japanese and do well at school and do my various martial arts classes.

But do it I did. I learnt little snippets of Japanese by listening to my martial arts sensei, which were extra to my Japanese tutoring sessions. Martial arts, it turned out, was something I picked up relatively easily. What with all this frequent and strenuous exercise, I shed my extra kilos. They also improved my flexibility and strength, and I could execute some pretty spiffy gymnastic moves too. School wasn't too hard; I passed through a quirk of genetics and a lot of luck.

Now you're probably wondering how on Earth I managed to gain all that weight back again, right?

I was in London, for goodness' sake. In frigging freezing ENGLAND. In the words of Fleur Delacour from Harry Potter 'It is too 'eavy, all zis 'Ogwarts food, I will not fit into my dress robes!' Okay, so I'm not eating Hogwarts food, nor do I have dress robes. But the theory is still the same: food in England is heavy, and thus I gained weight when I came here.

But anyway, back to where I was in Japan. I learned Japanese, and then things starting moving quicker than ever.

Enrolled into a normal gakuen, and also a cram school at night. My timetable was: wake up in the morning at 5, eat breakfast in fifteen minutes, grab the obento the maid had made, stuff it into my schoolbag that I had packed the night before, and then straight to school. After school, it was to one of many martial arts classes - I had one each day - and grab a quick snack from the vending machines outside. After martial arts class, it was back home for a quick dinner, and then to cram school.

After cram school, it was back home to do all the homework that had been set during the course of that day.

And then, on top of that crazy schedule, my aunt said:

'Japan is still a dangerous place, even if you know how to fight. You must learn like I did how to handle a handgun.'

When I heard that, I almost went over to her to see if she had a fever. I was stunned. A handgun? Were students allowed to have handguns?

But get one I did. Some non-descriptive cheap-ass handgun. And so I stayed up until twelve every night, practicing my shooting with my aunt in shooting galleries. Occasionally, she would give me a silencer, and then she would take me out to shoot at the night wildlife. Now, if anything, that was illegal.

I should have seen it coming. Moving targets at night? That move quickly? Yep, I really should have seen it coming.

I was being trained to be a mercenary.

And the day she informed me as to the true nature of her job, I had been handling guns for several years - I had even been instructed in the use of rifles, automatics and other firearms.

She was a 'hired hand', to put it nicely. And her task was to find someone to succeed her and her late partner. I was one of the people she wanted to test.

By then, I had already killed several hundred animals, but under duress. I was sickened inside by the mindless way I killed them without ever seeing what kind of animal they were. If she had known this, I doubt she would have gone to the trouble of training a would-be-a-vegetarian-but-I-like -meat-but-I-can't-stand-senseless-killing-either.

Those other girls I mentioned earlier, they were the other candidates. All of them looked beautiful, and from the information I found on them, they were probably as well if not better trained than me. Or so I thought when I was 20, bathed in the soothing glow of my constantly upgraded or replaced computer.

Two of them had been at the same school as one of the many schools I had attended in the course of my schooling life. The other, I had encountered in a chance meeting - this I truly believe to be one of the things that they had never engineered, perhaps it was not supposed to have happened.

Two omnivores (the ones who I had been school-friends with) and a vegetarian (the chance-met). You can probably see the pattern, can't you, Doc?

When I had reached a certain level of competency, my aunt introduced me to the underworld. And there I met the three once again, in an illegal underground competition similar to WWF, except that all weapons except for guns were allowed.

We were the ones that had been trained, and so. we were the final four. One of the omnivores now sported a fancy tattoo on her left shoulder - a snake eating its own tail. Clichéd, yes, but very apt when it came to how she died. The other omnivore had a brilliant green gem hanging from her right ear. Too fancy and too eye-catching, my aunt muttered. And she too died later on.

That left the vegetarian and me. But we didn't know that then, we were all equals fighting for the prize.

And somehow. everything revolved around me. Everything they said and did was a reaction to what I said and did.

The first move is a feint, but the quickest hand wins.

The four of us were sent on missions, sometimes all four of us, sometimes in pairs, and the results were reported back to our four instructors, although my aunt was frequently absent. It always seemed to end up with me being the bait to draw the mark out, and then the others would finish them.

Stupidity points? 10 out of 10, as far as the three other instructors were concerned.

It wasn't my aunt's choice on who succeeded her and her late partner. It was the people who had 'hired' her. And they noticed what the instructors did not; they noticed that when we were asked a question as a whole, I was left with the task of speaking for the group.

They noticed everything. Including the things they should not have been able to see, like the adoration bordering on love that I regarded the other three with, on varying degrees.

You're probably wondering if I'm more than just a little deluded, aren't you, Doc? Well, I haven't even started yet.

So life went on like that for a while, until they decided (when I was about 22) that 'the time was ripe', so to speak, for my aunt to formally retire. And for the next two to take her and her late partner's place.

By now, 'they' knew who we worked best with. The two omnivores were small and lithe, while the vegetarian and I were substantially taller, and not as slim, me especially. And so it was that the two omnivores were partnered against the vegetarian and I, and we were given several tasks to complete, within the time limit and also to a certain standard of quality.

The vegetarian - let's say her name was Julie, shall we? - and I were given several tasks that deliberately challenged our slightly larger frames. The first five tasks were the illegal procurement of several obscure objects (and even a slave - he was killed later, as 'they' didn't need him). Two were assassination missions of police protected witnesses that were needed to indict some prized members of the group that was going to hire us. The last three ranged from hijacking to seeking out information to busting out a criminal.

Let's say that the other pair's tasks were mostly the same, except for one task that they had to do whenever possible - to prevent us from completing all of the tasks. From time to time, they would attempt to take away one of the many items we had bargained hard for and for all but one, stolen.

Now I can see that 'they' were never actually interested in the two omnivores. The only reason why all their tasks had not been simply 'prevent the other group from finishing' was to give them the impression that they also were in the running.

The first time, they were able to take one of our items, but we tracked them down and captured it (a scroll) from them, and also took one of their own whilst we were there. After that incident, we took turns sleeping, and did our best to finish all ten tasks in as short a time as possible. We finished them in a week's time, although Julie left the actual killing of the mark to me. Something about the fact that that person had a name to her troubled her more than killing twenty or so faceless and nameless policemen.

We trekked to the drop-off point, in the middle of the Black Forest of Germany. When we got there, there was no-one else there, and we set up camp next to the stone-paved area. The next day, a group of the organization turned up, and it seemed they were genuinely surprised to see Julie and I already there. The other two arrived the day after, and I realised then that really, the two girls I had worshipped didn't really exist anymore, hidden as they were under the grime and gore of the underworld.

The vegetarian next to me, however, was still somehow aloof of it. Perhaps it was the fact that she was vegetarian, that she still objected to the senseless taking of life. Or perhaps it was just that despite everything, I still worship-loved her.

'It seems that the first pair to reach here has finished all ten of their tasks. The second pair, however, has failed at one task.' We still had their little amulet. I fished it out of my pocket and flung it towards them, as a last gesture of goodwill. Something about the chilly air here in the forest told me that it would probably be the last thing two of us would ever see.

'Okay. make that both groups have passed within the time limit.' The woman looked around at the paved area. She pulled out two pieces of cloth, then handed one to each pair. 'You must survive in this forest for two weeks without leaving it or having contact with any humans other than the other group. At the end of the two weeks, you must return to this place. If one group has died, then that will be the end. If both of you have survived and still possess your flag, then a two-on-two duel will be held here.'

If both teams still possessed the flag. So to make things easier, we could just kill them and take their flag- Oh God, what was I thinking?! Make things easier?

'. now, here are your supplies for these two weeks. You may find other stashes around the Black Forest, you may not.'

The four of us grabbed our backpacks and sprinted off into the closing darkness.

'They're following us.' Julie muttered as we raced through the terrain.

'I know.' With that, I jumped up and used my momentum to propel me up a tree. Julie followed my example, and then we were racing through the trees.

Tension-enhanced hearing informed us that the other pair thought we were setting up an ambush, and they veered off of our path.

'What's that. over there?' Leaping from branch to branch, I prodded at the small green sack.

Inside, there was fresh food and bullets that fit the four identical handguns each of us had been issued with. 'What's in the packs?' We hadn't had time to check them, and so we rummaged around. 'Two hammocks, two blankets, two walking sticks, some cartridges, magnifying glass, binoculars, some rope, a net, some dried food. That's about it.'

'The other two. they're too small to live up here in the trees, right? Legs not strong enough, wasn't it?'

'Yeah, they did pretty badly in the rock climbing section that time. Guess we're safe enough up here.'

'Well, we better set up camp when it's still light. We still have the stuff from the tasks, don't we? Our GPS system says that we are. still at the rim of the forest. Let's get further in tomorrow, okay?'

'Sure.'

The first night was chilly, but the next day, we found another two sacks full of provisions, both containing food, extra blankets, clothing and cloaks.

'I feel like I'm in Neverwinter Nights.'

'No shit, Julie. Cloaks? Check. Leather belts? Check. Sword with scabbard? Check. Small dagger? Check. Small leather backpack? Check. Rolled up blankets? Check. Technology? Next to nil. All we need to complete the picture is some magic.'

She looked at me strangely, but then looked back in front of her, the better to concentrate on where she was going.

'Magic, huh?' I heard her mutter.

I glimpsed something between the gaps in the foliage, and motioned for her to stop. Pointing downwards, we saw a small thin trail of smoke curl up from beneath a rock. I signed with my hands to Julie cave, fire. She nodded. Them, she signed back. Get away, I'll leave them a signal that we've been around, I said. She frowned slightly, then raced off.

I pulled out a bright red apple, then dropped it between the leaves, where it landed with a plomp outside their cave. Then I raced away, although I could hear them talking loudly behind me, wondering where it had come from when there were no apple trees nearby.

Having lived with Julie for several days, I knew her scent well, and it was easy enough to find her again. She whirled around and pointed her gun at me when she heard me, but then lowered her hand and returned the gun to her belt upon recognition. 'Easy enough. They'll be jumpy for days.' We giggled silently, and pushed on further into the forest, when we both felt the GPS system vibrate in the pouch at our belts.

The screen read:

Message Received

I used the stylus to press 'ok', and then it showed up the message.

'Congratulations on having survived the first two days in the Black Forest.

We would like to take this opportunity to inform you all that we have released several packs of trained wolves and various other dangerous animals that are currently tracking your scent.'

I looked at Julie. 'Wonder if they've set some tree-climbing animals after us?'

She looked at me. 'Maybe. It's highly likely that they'll have anticipated either group taking to the trees, what with all these provisions up here.'

'True that.'

The message went on.

'Team Green, your task is to find the Silver Halberd.' Our flag was green, and a map appeared with a green dot flashing on it when I clicked the underlined words. 'Team Red, your task is to find the Gold Axe.' The red dot appeared somewhere south of us, about five or so kilometres. The green dot was west of us, further in the forest, about three kilometres.

'Let's get the Halberd now.'

'Yes.'

Racing through the trees at breakneck speed, checking occasionally as to our position.

I shined the torch we had found in a sack as we travelled to the Halberd around, but it did not illuminate anything looking remotely like a Halberd or something that would hold it.

'Guess it's somewhere down on the ground, huh?' I asked.

'I'll go down. You watch my back.'

'Sure.'

She climbed down slowly, and stirred the leaves around a little, then checked her GPS system, zooming in on the image.

When the howl of wolves started up, and she shoved the PDA back into its pouch and pulled out her handgun. I also pulled out my handgun, watching as she climbed back up slowly. The wolves entered the area, and leapt for where Julie was. As Julie leapt higher and higher, I shot at the wolves as they attempted to climb up after her.

They learned their lesson, but not quickly enough as I picked off each and every one.

'Do you want me to go down?' I asked Julie. She nodded, and I dropped down silently.

It took me about half an hour to find it, inside of an ash box inside an ash tree. The Silver Halberd? It was small enough to be a brooch, and I stuffed it down the bottom of my backpack.

When I clambered back up to where Julie was, I realised she had not fired a single shot and that she was shivering slightly.

'Julie, are you okay?' I leapt over to where she was sitting on the branch and sat down next to her. 'Is something wrong?' I took hold of her hand which was cold and clammy, and brought the back of my other hand to her forehead gently. She was cold, but perspiring slightly. I pulled out a blanket and wrapped it around her, gave her some water to drink and then wrapped my own arms around her.

'You're not sick, are you?' She shook her head, no.

'Was it being surprised by the wolves?' She shook her head again.

'Was it me killing them all?' She paused, then nodded, and I wondered why she let me hold her. Perhaps she was too tired. Or perhaps she was more shocked by how quickly they had all died, rather than who and how they had been killed.

'Are you going to be okay in a few minutes?' She shrugged, maybe. I nodded as if she had said yes, and sat there for a few minutes, which stretched out into an hour, when I gave up. I let go of her, but she grabbed at my arm as I rose to set up camp.

'Don't leave me here alone, please!' she begged. I hushed her. 'Don't worry, I'm just going to set up our hammocks here, okay?' She quivered slightly. 'Can you. can you sleep with me tonight?' I blinked. To do that, I would have to sleep on top of her, as she was taller than me. I sighed, then nodded okay.

I set the hammock up further up in the trees, then found that her limbs had frozen from not moving, and so I was forced to carry her up. She crawled into the hammock as I hid our backpacks nearby. I crawled in, where she immediately latched her arms around my waist. Awkwardly, I spread the blankets over us, and then let the sounds of the night sweep me into sleep.

I woke up the next morning to find that in the course of the night, I had twisted around slightly in her arms and wrapped my own arms around her. She was already awake, and smiled sleepily at me.

'I'll make breakfast.' I said, blushing slightly at the close proximity. At that, I scrambled out of the hammock and went about my morning ablutions then started fixing breakfast.

'Can you move okay?' She nodded, just as our GPS systems vibrated again.

'Congratulations, Green Team, on having finished your first task. The next task is to acquire the other team's item, in which case, Green Team, you must find the Gold Axe. Red Team, for you to be able to make an attempt on the Silver Halberd, you must be in possession of the Gold Axe. The team which holds both items wins.'

I glanced at Julie. 'Looks like they haven't got their item yet. Think we can make it?' She nodded.

And we raced off through the trees.

There they are, I signed to Julie.

They're heading to the site of the Gold Axe: they must not have found it yet, she signed back. I nodded. Let's hurry.

We overtook them, and judging from their speed which was hampered due to wolves, lack of sleep and small injuries due to traps, we got there ahead of them with an hour or so to spare.

'Found it!' I whispered, about ten minutes into searching. We shot up high into the trees, and just as we reached safety, the other pair appeared in the clearing. They began searching, and Julie and I snuck away quietly.

We examined the two small models, and found that the main blade of the two weapons resembled keys. Our GPS systems vibrated about five hours later, at lunchtime.

'Congratulations, Green Team, on having acquired both items.'

It said simply.

'Guess we have a few days off, huh?'

A week passed before our next task, and by then, Red Team had been injured to the point that they had to stop in a cave. Unfortunately for them, a pack of wolves found them, and had trapped them.

In a fit of sportsmanship and again, another salute to our old friendship, I dealt with the wolves.

'Your task in these final days is to do everything in your power to get the other flag.'

I laughed quietly. 'Easy enough.'

Rolled up cloaks under the blankets in the hammock, and a decoy backpack (one of the ones containing supplies).

We watched from above as the Red Team approached the hammock which was set up much lower than we had ever done. It was low enough for them to find it but hidden away enough for them to think it was genuine.

Julie followed the trail back to where they had kept their things, and let a squirrel I had captured run into the cave. She prodded with her walking stick, but could see no visible traps.

She pulled the bags out with the stick, and opened the bags. She found a red piece of cloth that was identical to ours except, of course, it was red, and then hurried back to where I was.

They were opening the bag when I let go of one of the thin twine ropes. A log came crashing down, and they jumped out of the way. Through a little trickery, the decoys also flew up and out of the hammock.

'What the hell!' One of them shouted, pointing her gun around wildly. I smiled sadly as I let go of another rope, and the ground beneath them collapsed and they fell down into a small pit. Another rope, and a boulder came crashing down on them, which they somehow managed to scramble out of the way of, although they were flung outwards slightly from the impact.

Julie appeared beside me, and I let her take the ropes. Literally. She handed me the flag, and I transferred the green one from my bag into hers, and the red into mine. Minutes later, the Red team had fled, bruised and dirty, but clutching the backpack which we had kindly filled with food. From our little reconnaissance trips, we discovered that the supplies were all in the trees. And so we had left them some nearer to ground level, placed again so that they would not suspect our hand in the matter.

'Awesome job.'

'You don't say.'

'We have the rest of these days free. They haven't found us yet, and I doubt they'll find us anytime soon. I want to make somewhere more comfortable to sleep tonight.'

And so we spent the rest of that day weaving a bed of sorts out of supple branches and twine, then set our hammocks so that they lay on top of it. If the branches were to give way, we would still not fall to our deaths.

We were eating dinner in our hammocks, which we had somehow contrived to be close enough to sit up in, reach across and hug the other person. I watched her eat her dinner, and she watched me eat mine. Being a quick eater, I finished mine, and chased it down with some water.

I stretched, and my face and upper body was suddenly bathed in moonlight. Julie had stopped eating and was staring at me, but I hadn't noticed it back then. Sighing contentedly, I sat back down and grabbed my toothbrush and water bottle, then turned around and brushed my teeth, rinsing my mouth out down onto the foliage below. Julie also finished her dinner and brushed her teeth as well.

We sat there in companionable silence, and I looked sidelong at Julie when she put her arms behind her and stretched upwards, round breasts rising up as she stretched her back, and her hips dipped upwards as well.

Something in me snapped, and I leapt from my hammock onto hers, knees on either side of her thighs. I leant down, my face so close to her shocked expression, which slowly eased into a smile. I took it as a silent 'yes' to my unvoiced question, and dipped my head down further in a kiss.

It was far too dangerous to couple there, not to mention it might draw some unwanted attention, but we slept in the same hammock that night and the following nights. We packed the other hammock away, and spent the last three nights swinging through the trees and tracking the Red Team.

I woke up late that final morning, about 9 in the morning. Perhaps my body understood that today, I would need all the strength I could get. Julie also slept in, and we were ready to go by 12.

The Red Team had already arrived at the paved area, as had the organization. The Red Team were looking around impatiently, and were totally surprised when we dropped out of the sky and landed behind them.

'So that's where you guys were!' One of them groaned. Julie and I both noticed that the pair looked scrawny, grubby, bruised and scratched. One of them sported a bandage wrapped around her left arm, obscuring the tattoo there.

We pulled out the flags and the Silver Halberd and Gold Axe, and lay them on the small stone table the members of the organization were standing around.

'It looks like Green Team has completed all of the missions, and are in perfect condition. Red Team, however, has completed no missions, and are likewise in a state that does not bode well for their survival.'

The girl with the bandage growled and leapt at us. She was about to reach us and we were already swaying around her blow when she dropped down dead at our feet.

Her partner held a smoking gun and we gaped at her as a tear rolled down her cheek. 'The three of us promised that we would never, ever harm you. And. she made me promise that if she broke that rule, I would have to kill her.'

I gaped. 'You. three?' Julie nodded. 'It was. in all of our best interests.'

I looked away, deep into the Black Forest. The members of the organization looked on uninterested.

Bending down, I rolled the girl over then picked her up and placed her on one of the other, longer stone tables. I realized that it seemed to have been made for such a purpose, that another identical stone table stood on the opposite side of the paved area.

'Well. it looks like Red Team has chosen death.' One of the members of the organization held up a gun and shot the remaining girl of the Red Team, the one with the bright green earring.

I blinked, two tears rolled down but I wiped them away. I laid her on the other stone table.

I guess you didn't realise that the reason I was talking about them in the past tense was because they were dead, did you, Doc? You thought I was just crazy, right? Thought I had them all mixed up in my memory, hey? Well, now, you'll either think I was really talking sense or I'm even more crazy than before.

The instructors of the two dead girls bowed their heads in acceptance of their loss to my aunt and Julie's instructor. My aunt and Julie's instructor did not say anything when we both moved out and bought an apartment of our own.

The first night was a blissful one, with moans and groans issuing from our bedroom for hours. Silence prevailed at the eleventh hour, and the next morning, I was swept away to oblivion again. Several times.

And so for an entire year and a half, we ran around the world, doing assignments together, and losing ourselves in each other afterwards.

Except about eight months ago, Julie was killed as she crossed the street, by a man driving a car that I could not find a link at all to anyone who wanted us dead. He was not connected at all to the underworld - it was a mistake. To have survived so many attempts on our lives, yet to be killed by a mistake.. The irony kills my heart over and over again.

And so I came to London, somewhere I had not been before, despite my globe- hopping ways.

About five months in, when the police found me on the streets, I was accosted by a gang of men.

They chased me all over London, at one point trapping me in a closed-off alleyway, but I escaped by leaping up the walls of the buildings on either side, like I had long ago in the Black Forest.

It wasn't just one gang, there were several groups of them out looking for me, and when I saw the helicopter, I realised that the police were also after me. Or at least corrupt ones, judging from how they worked together with the men that dressed and fought like members of the underworld.

For just how long can one person run and hide from several thousand people who have been given information on how they will act and react? How long can anyone run, whether or not they are being chased by professional assassins?

I guess I must have broken that record, managing to escape for an entire week, until they finally caught up with me.

Perhaps I was lucky there were so many of them present there. Else they might have taken me to their stronghold, and made sure I died. I was beaten up, sliced, shot at. and left for dead.

Luck may have 'smiled' on me when someone found me almost immediately, and I was shipped into hospital. But I would have been even luckier if I had avoided the whole fiasco entirely.

And so here I am, writing this story for you, Doc. If you were me, you'd be frightened out of your wits, wondering when the next attempt at your life will come. But you're not me, and I can only feel a slight apprehension. This time, I will be ready. This time, I will know the streets of underground London better, and will be better armed.

And I'll be fitter too, not all flabby like I am now.

I will be ready, and even if this account is seen by corrupt policeman who find out I am still alive, and pass the information on, it will be too late.

They will face me again, and I will kill them.