Same location — ViVi's Bakery, two hours before Sera's plane landed at the airport.
"Hey! Take order 3 to table 5, will you? What's taking so damn long, huh!?"
ViVi, a dark-skinned woman in her early fifties, shouted while hurrying across the bakery to the front counter, where a group of three or four staff were scrambling to serve customers and manage orders.
Seeing their boss in a temper, the staff immediately snapped into action.
"Sorry for the wait, sir!"
ViVi watched her employee serve the customer with pride before turning her attention back to overseeing the store.
Originally from the U.S., ViVi was an African-American woman who moved abroad to open her dream bakery at this airport. Thanks to her self-crafted recipes and impeccable taste, the shop had earned a stellar reputation — the kind of place people would seek out even if it was tucked away in a corner.
The store buzzed with the usual chatter and energy of travelers. That's when ViVi noticed three distinctive women entering her bakery.
They looked like tourists — two Caucasians and one woman with a Brazilian look to her.
Click... clack... click... clack...
The tan-skinned woman looked up at the sign of the bakery, then turned to glance behind her, seemingly aligning her angle or checking something.
The other two stood waiting with arms folded. After a moment, the tan woman made a decision.
"This is the place," said the half-skinhead woman.
"Isn't it a little too far in?" the blonde with a bob cut frowned.
"No... this is a choke point. Whether the kid's flying commercial or private, they'll have to pass through here."
"If you say so..."
With that, the two women split up to make preparations while the tan woman walked into the bakery alone, pretending to be a regular customer. She looked around, surveying the place she'd chosen for the operation. Her thoughts drifted back to when she first accepted the job — from a certain man.
Four hours earlier...
The three women were summoned to a private room by someone. Sitting at the head of the table was a man in his thirties. Next to him sat his beautiful wife.
The women were:
Soniya – the tan-skinned team leader.
Yuri – a sharp-eyed Russian woman with short, blonde-black hair.
Marley – a dark-haired woman of unclear nationality.
All three were elite assassins currently working under the man and his wife.
The husband rose from his chair, his face tight with tension. His wife sat beside him, arms crossed.
As the team leader, Soniya instantly read the room. This was going to be a serious job.
"…Hhhaaaah."
The man exhaled deeply before delivering the news.
"Parasite and Freefall have been eliminated."
"...!!"
The three women froze, wondering if they'd heard that right.
"…Who did it?" Soniya asked, puzzled.
She wasn't surprised so much as curious — because in their world, Fitz and Soo-min were well-known for their strength. Even if they didn't like them personally, they had to admit that Parasite and Freefall were highly capable. For them to be taken out?
That meant whoever did it wasn't just any group. They had to be just as skilled — or smarter.
"A mystery group," the man's wife answered for him. "Not CIA. Someone else."
She took a puff of her e-cigarette, then exhaled smoke before continuing.
"But at least... the two of them managed to identify some of the enemies before they died."
She tapped a monitor, sending a few images—presumably the last files received from Fitz—to the three assassins.
Soniya opened the images and found two young men. One wore a red jacket and sunglasses; the other had blue hair and was also wearing shades to obscure his identity.
"Just two?" Yuri asked.
"There may be more," the wife replied. "But this is all they could get us."
Soniya studied the images. She didn't recognize the man with blue hair. But the other one—the one in red—
She recognized him.
"…"
Yuri and Marley exchanged glances, noticing the shift in their leader's demeanor. Her silence. The way her expression darkened. She knew something.
They'd worked together long enough to read that much.
"We've tried tracing their route," the man continued. "Last seen at the airport. We believe they're leaving via private jet. Around that time, about a dozen private jets took off."
"But they all flew back to London."
"Which means…"
"Yes. Your job is to retrieve the girl alive—and eliminate the enemy. Use whatever method you need. It's up to you."
"…."
"…Any questions?"
The man asked. Soniya responded with one.
"For this mission, which is more important? Killing the enemies… or retrieving the girl?"
"…"
"...…"
"Bringing the girl back alive… is the highest priority."
"..."
"Understood."
The three women accepted the mission and turned to leave.
Yuri noticed something was off. Soniya looked deeply troubled. She wasn't acting like her usual self.
"Boss? Is something wrong?"
"…"
"…?"
Soniya took a moment to decide before responding.
"You two… don't recognize the guy in the photo, do you?"
"…The two guys in that file? Not at all."
Marley pulled up the photo again. Yuri nodded in agreement.
"…Haaaah."
Soniya exhaled long and slow.
She didn't blame them for not knowing.
Because very few people in the world knew the true identity of him.
"…You see this guy?"
She pointed at the picture of Syd Barrett.
"Even with the sunglasses on, I still recognize him... that posture, that manner—I'm sure of it. He's Syd Barrett."
"Syd? Barrett? Who's that, boss?"
"...That guy's not someone we can just waltz up to and assassinate. Drill this into your heads: in this mission, there's no direct confrontation. We're going to outmaneuver them. That's the only way we stand a chance."
"...Whoa. That serious?"
Both Yuri and Marley were stunned by the intensity in Soniya's voice. She wasn't joking. Not even a little.
She was truly afraid of him.
"...At first, I wasn't sure who he was. But once I realized it was Syd Barrett, it made perfect sense why Fitz and Soo-min were eliminated. So listen up, girls. If you want to live to take another job after this—follow my orders to the letter. Got it?"
"...But why? He looks like just a regular kid. Why should we be afraid of him?"
Yuri trailed off as Soniya glared at her with such a terrifying aura that even Marley flinched.
"He's no ordinary kid..."
"...Then what is he, boss?"
"..."
Soniya hesitated. She weighed her words carefully, knowing full well that if she told them the truth, it might destroy their morale.
"...Someone I knew once got killed by this guy's power. It happened while they were on a mission... in Thailand."
"...What can he do?"
"He's a user of Techniques... just like you, Yuri."
"!?"
The short-haired blonde was visibly surprised.
"His ability is property-swapping. He's a Flexible type. Different from you—you're Poison type."
Yuri: "...I see... so he can counter us without even revealing himself. Property-swapping, huh? That means he could turn his body to stone... bullets won't penetrate. Got it."
"That's why you're the key to this mission, Yuri. His technique may protect his external organs, but your poison..."
"...attacks from within."
"Exactly. Now we can begin planning. We have two hours before the plane from Paris lands."
As Soniya watched her subordinates scatter to prepare and gather intel, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. Because the truth was—Syd didn't kill her friend with his technique at all…
Back at the bakery, Soniya sat alone at a table, tapping the menu lightly with her fingers while surveying the place.
The store was momentarily quiet—no seated customers, just a few grab-and-go visitors.
But even in that short time, she'd already drawn up a mental map of the whole layout.
"May I take your order?"
The woman who approached was none other than ViVi herself.
"Do you have any specials?"
"We don't have special dishes here. Just the daily menu."
"...How unusual."
Soniya played along casually.
"Then I'll have today's special."
ViVi turned and shouted her order back to the kitchen, her voice sharp and commanding. Soniya was momentarily rattled by her aggressive tone toward her staff, but paid it no mind.
Just then, Yuri returned from setting something up outside and sat across from Soniya.
They exchanged a nod. The large amount of tear gas had already been prepped inside the suitcase Yuri brought in.
It was almost go time.
Moments later, Marley arrived dressed in a police uniform, face scrubbed clean of makeup. She was accompanied by a man—Officer Harvey, whose blank stare made it clear something wasn't right with him.
Marley entered the bakery, leaving Harvey outside by the wall.
ViVi was instantly suspicious. Immigration officers didn't usually wander this far in, and they weren't there to buy bread either.
"Is there something I can help you with, officer?"
"We're sorry, ma'am. But we need you to shut the counter down for a bit."
"What? On what grounds?"
Though ViVi protested, seeing Marley's (fake) police ID left her with no choice but to comply—even if she didn't like it.
Marley playing the female officer part helped defuse some of ViVi's instinct to push back. It was a subtle but effective tactic.
Meanwhile, Soniya discreetly planted a small square-shaped device under the table and pressed a button.
Nothing appeared to happen.
But from the security camera's point of view, the signal had been disrupted and cut. Nothing from this point forward would be recorded.
"Is this your full staff?"
"...There's one more in the back. Why?"
"Well, you see, ma'am..."
Marley gently took ViVi's hand.
"We received intel from the American consulate that one of your four employees may be involved in a transnational drug trafficking ring."
"!!!"
"R-Really?!"
ViVi's eyes widened in shock. She didn't fully believe Marley, but it did explain why the officer outside hadn't come in.
"Please remain calm, ma'am. We're only here to investigate. That's all. We ask for your cooperation."
Marley's serious tone made ViVi start to believe her. And since she didn't want to get in trouble—especially with so few people around—she complied.
ViVi flipped the Open sign to Closed and locked the front door. That's when she looked back at Officer Harvey and noticed something... off. His eyes were unfocused, drifting.
A strange feeling crept up her spine—but she said nothing.
All the bakery staff were called out to line up. Marley stood before them, authoritative. The employees looked nervous and confused—none of them knew why they were suddenly under scrutiny.
"W-What's going on, officer?"
"One of you is a suspect. Cooperate, and this'll be over quickly."
"...Gulp."
ViVi stood at the back, watching Marley move through her staff, wondering which of them was the one supposedly involved.
And then—
Suddenly, ViVi's neck was seized from behind, and a syringe plunged into her spinal cord!
"Ugh!!!"
ViVi twisted, trying to escape by instinct, but the grip on her throat tightened. The green liquid inside the syringe was fully injected into her system.
"Aaagh!"
She screamed, but her throat was locked tight. When she turned to look—
It was Yuri holding her.
The staff turned around at the sound of their boss's scream—only to be met with the flashes of suppressed gunfire. Both Marley and Soniya executed them swiftly—four shots, four corpses.
"...Oops?"
Yuri momentarily let ViVi go. The woman was stronger than she looked and tried to flee—only to be tripped and sent crashing into a table, shattering a porcelain plate. A few shards scattered into the cracks of the wood.
Clatter!
Soon, the poison began to take effect. ViVi started frothing at the mouth. Her eyes rolled back, and the neurotoxin, injected directly into her spine, ravaged her brain.
Moments later, she was dead.
"Nooo... Boss, you splattered blood all over my shirt!"
Yuri whined, pointing at the stains.
"You were going to change anyway. Stop complaining."
Marley dragged over one of the dead female employees and removed her skirt for Yuri.
Yuri took it without complaint, but as Marley handed her the blouse, Yuri pointed out a bloodstain on the sleeve.
"Wait—this one's stained too."
"...Huh? Oh, right..."
While the two bickered, Soniya walked over to ViVi's body.
"Use hers instead."
"Huh? You sure?"
"Her shirt's the same, and the body's cleaner."
"Alright then."
Yuri swapped into ViVi's blouse. The team spent the next several minutes cleaning the entire store.
Soniya stepped forward and activated her Technique—a dark gray aura emanated from her body, with a molecular symbol glowing faintly.
The wooden floor beneath the bodies began to behave like liquid. It wavered, then swallowed all five corpses—including the blood—before solidifying into a perfectly smooth surface.
This was Soniya's power—also known as "Lunar Sea." She could turn any material into a liquid-like state, including the floor.
Outside, Marley opened the door to check on Officer Harvey, who was still slumped against the wall. She touched the back of his neck, and her own aura—pink, with a spiral symbol—flared out.
Harvey's eyes snapped open. At the same time, Marley's eyes closed.
She had entered full control mode.
Her ability, "Lure Man," allowed her to hack into anyone's mind and control them completely. Speak through them, act through them—as if they were a puppet. The only condition was: she had to close her eyes and remain still while doing it, seeing only through the eyes of the person she was controlling.
Meanwhile, Yuri, now fully dressed as an employee, spun around in a circle and posed.
"How do I look?"
"...Like a damn construction worker," Marley shot back.
"Too harsh!"
"Who cares? This place is just some stupid little bakery anyway. Just play your part."
Soniya cut them off.
"Yes, ma'am~"
Yuri returned to the cashier station. She took ten minutes to familiarize herself with the cash register and the layout of the store. Then she turned to Soniya.
"Aren't you going to play the employee role too?"
"No. I'm a customer. If you get exposed and I'm standing with you, we're both screwed."
"...True, but still a little insulting."
"It's necessary. We don't know how many of them there are. This is the safest approach."
From there, the trio continued prepping—mapping out entrances and exits.
Marley: "The intel said that kid has some kind of x-ray vision, right?"
"Which is why you're playing the cop. If you're armed, they won't question it."
Soniya continued,
"From this angle, we can monitor the main passageway. I'll use Lunar Sea to herd them in here. Or, if we're lucky... they'll walk in themselves."
She pulled out her suppressed pistol and dropped it into the liquefied floor. It sank beneath the surface, and the floor returned to normal.
Yuri hid the syringe under the coffee machine for easy access later.
The fake names were finalized:
Soniya became Rachel
Yuri became Amy
Marley became Joy
Finally, the moment arrived. Soniya walked to the door and flipped the sign from Closed to Open.
"Alright… remember this: the most important thing today is patience. Don't forget what I said. No matter how many of them show up, as long as they still have the kid, we can't afford to be reckless."
"Yes, boss."