On an empty dirt road, in the middle of a cloudy autumn day, Cindy and Kai had failed to escape Baldimore in time. Exhausted of most of their auras and on the verge of collapse, the duo just sat there helplessly, awaiting their inevitable demise. Aria was quickly approaching the two assassins and would soon catch up to them in a matter of minutes. Although Cindy and Kai were inexperienced, they both could still sense it; an overwhelming and fierce energy rapidly headed their way.

"Kai... Do you feel that presence, or is it just me?" Cindy asked.

"Yeah, I can feel it, Cindy. Aria will be here any moment to finish us off. Damn, just when we were getting the hang of this aura shit," Kai said, wiping tears from his face. "Cindy, I'm glad we met. You've been a good friend to me these last few months," he smiled wryly towards the half elf.

"Kai... don't make me cry again, yet. I have to save up my last few tears while Aria's killing us horribly," Cindy said, grinning.

"Heh," Kai smiled. "You're low-key pretty funny, Cindy. I'm gonna miss that messed up sense of humor of yours. I still don't forgive you for ruining my date the other day, though! Dammit, I could've at least gotten laid before I died, if it wasn't for you!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Cindy blushed. "I guess I was... sorta jealous. I've never been on any dates before, so seeing my friend on one... I don't know, it was stupid," she said, shutting her eyes tightly.

"Dammit, Cindy, you're really hard to stay mad at, you know that. What in the hell are we doing, anyways? Shooting the shit moments before we kick the bucket? God, this is frustrating!" Kai said, slamming his fist into the ground. "Fuck, that hurt!"

"Heh, should've used your aura," Cindy remarked.

"Smart ass!" Kai responded.

"Heehee!" the half elf giggled, laying on her back and looking up toward the sky. Her right, prosthetic arm was stretched out above her, as she pondered off for presumably her last time.

As the half elf pondered, she quickly composed herself not long after. Cindy was not ready to die just then. She still had questions for her grandfather, who she had not seen since her accident. She wanted an honest and mature conversation with the old man, at least for once. Cindy also thought about her father. What ever became of the man that abandoned her and her mother? Was he still out there, with some new family, after leaving his old one? Cindy surely had questions for him as well. What would become of Jon, the boy she took in, were she to perish? The boy had already led a rough enough life before Cindy saved him. She surely couldn't just leave him now. The thing bothering Cindy the most, however, as she pondered in deep thought, was:

"I wanna get laid too, dammit!" Cindy shouted, springing herself up from the ground.

"Uhhh, what?" the puzzled Kai asked.

"Sorry, didn't mean to say that one out loud," Cindy said, slapping herself in the face. "Listen Kai, I'm... I'm still not ready to give up that easily, so I decided; I'm not going down without putting up a fight, at least. Aria's much stronger than we'll ever be, I know that. There's definitely no point in even trying, and I have no plan at all! But... but, let's just give it our all, okay?!" Cindy screamed, hyping herself up. "Let's show this bitch we don't go down so easily!"

"Um, C-c-c-cindy," Kai said, pointing his finger toward the half elf.

"What, do I have something on my face? Come on Kai, let's put up one last stand! I want my death to look cool, at least!"

"She's... Aria is right behind you!"

"Huh?" Cindy said, quickly turning around to be met with a vicious glare from the curly haired woman. "Eek! Get away from me, you psycho!" she screamed, falling to the ground and hurling dirt towards Aria.

Cindy's bravado quickly faded once she actually encountered Aria. Her face became pale as snow, her hands shaking intensely, while the sweat around her body increased even more.

"Hm, you made it quite further than I expected," Aria said, wiping the dirt from her suit and unsheathing the katana on her back. "You chaps truly were my most outstanding students. This brings me no pleasure, you know? You've simply lost my trust, is all. Even the unlikeliest of threats, must be eliminated in order to protect my family," She said in a melancholic voice. "Do you two have any last words or requests? I'll try my best to fulfill them, if I can. Your deaths will be painless as well, so don't worry."

"Y-yeah, actually, I do," Cindy said, holding her head down with a whimpering smile. "Eat this!" she screamed, quickly removing her pistol from its holster and firing bullets towards Aria.

Aria just stood there, her body shrouded with an impenetrable, red aura as the bullets hit her in succession. The woman's skin remained completely unscathed as the bullets hit the ground, becoming twisted and mangled from colliding with her aura.

"Those bullets were laced with a bit of Aura," Aria commented, slowly walking towards the half elf. "Marvelous. Simply marvelous, dear child. It's such a shame all this potential has to be snuffed out. It really is."

Fuck, that was the last bit of aura I had... and it did absolutely nothing?!

"Any other tricks you have up your sleeve, dear?" Aria continued.

"P-please don't kill me!" Cindy sobbed. "I-I have a kid now and-and I can't just leave him. Please, teacher... please show mercy on us. I don't wanna die, I don wabba!" she continued, becoming delirious and slurring her words.

"How unsightly. Have some dignity, woman," Aria groaned, wincing her eye.

"Cindy, get the fuck out of the way!" Kai screamed.

Cindy's eyes lit up as she looked back at Kai, stunned by the aura emanating from him. With his right hand stretched out, Kai produced a small amount of aura in his palm, shaping it like a baseball. Cindy could even see the color of his aura clearly, as the sphere burned an intense yellow energy. The half elf quickly leapt out of its path, giving Kai the signal to launch his attack.

"How's this for aura shaping, bitch? Aura Sphere!" Kai deemed his new technique, releasing the ball of energy from his hand, and chucking it towards Aria in a pitching motion.

"Struggle all you like, the result will still be the same," Aria said, a smile subconsciously creeping on her face.