Aylin looks down at her little girl. She was surprised when she found out that she had been pregnant. She was even more surprised when she went to tell her mother she was pregnant and discovered she already knew. When asked how she knew, she used the excuse that mothers knew everything about their children.

She leaves the new nursery in her and Mark’s new home. Her mother had moved to Cambridge to be with her husband and their adopted children. She didn’t mind having new siblings. She has always been the only child. Well, that’s not entirely true. She did have a half-brother back in England from her bastard of a father. He got remarried after putting her into that mental hospital.

She hasn’t spoken to or seen her half-brother since the day she killed their father. She walks downstairs to the exercise room and starts working out. She had the baby monitor on, just in case Hollace woke up.

She named her firstborn daughter after her birth mother. If she ever has another baby, and it’s a boy. She’ll call him after Mark, after his father. Aylin starts her workout, so she can get back into fighting shape. She took some time off while pregnant, but now she needed to get back into fighting shape.

While Aylin is working out, a young Asian girl comes walking into the gym. She was dressed in a blue and black leotard that showed off her womanly curves and medium size chest. Her shoulder-length black hair had strips of white hair intermixed into it. She had it gathered and tied into a high ponytail, so it wouldn’t get into her face while she worked out.

She walks over to the stretching bar against the wall and stretches the muscles in her slender, well-toned legs. A smile appears on her face when she spots Aylin lifting weights on the weight machine. She noticed that her aunt Aylin was doing high reps but low weight.

The weight machine designed for her was over in the corner of the exercise room. She was the only one in the house capable of lifting the weights on it. She continues to stretch her legs and her body before heading over to the weight machine and begin lifting two hundred pounds.

Aylin watched as her niece stretched first, and once she was stretched and limber, she moved over to the weight machine designed strictly for her niece. There was no way she or Mark could lift the weights on that machine. She still couldn’t get over what that quack of a doctor did to his victims.

She, Jamie, Taskhtali, and Mark had learned that an illegal medical clinic was experimenting on people. The doctors at the clinic had informed their patients they were suffering from a rare disease they had manufactured. They had to take a specially formulated pill to cure or treat the illness.

All the pill did was delivered the drug responsible for rewriting their DNA. Each medication prescribed to different patients did different things to them. It rewrote their DNA and gave them unique gifts.

The patients didn’t know that the drug was reprogramming their DNA and giving them unusual abilities. When Aylin and her team discovered the clinic’s true purpose, they and a government team called FLEX raided the place. They managed to get all the support staff, but the three doctors involved in developing and disturbing the drug tended to escape. Two doctors experimented on themselves and were looking for a cure for the generated side effects.

Aylin stopped her workout and walked over to where her niece was working out. She noticed that Sakura was lifting low weights but doing a lot of high reps as she did.

“I still find it fascinating that a girl your size can lift that much weight.” Aylin knew Sakura was only sixteen years old but could already lift twenty tons. Her strength was still increasing as she aged.

Strength wasn’t the only thing she gained from the experiment. Her skin was impenetrable, and she could heal at a remarkable rate.

“I never wanted to be a freak, Aunt Aylin.” Sakura stops lifting weights and looks at her adopted aunt.

“I know, sweetie. No one should have experimented on you as they did. I know all about being used as a guinea pig.” Aylin still gets upset when she thinks about all the experiments done on her in the mental hospital.

“Thanks. Are you and Uncle Mark still planning on going out with Jamie and her wife on Friday?” Sakura knew Aylin had to go to a social function on Friday.

Usually, Anika would attend, but she was living in Cambridge now with her husband and kids. So, now Aylin and Jamie had to participate.

“Unfortunately, yes. There is no way we can get out of it. Will you be able to babysit Bree and Hollace for me?” Aylin was lucky that Sakura stayed with them while attending the college near her.

“Sure, but I need someone to teach me how to drive.” Sakura had just turned sixteen and wanted to get her driver’s license.

“I’ll speak with Mark about teaching you. He’s got more patience than I do.” Aylin knew she had come a long way since she broke out of the mental hospital.

“Thanks. Oh, mom’s birthday is coming up. Have you gotten mom her birthday gift yet?” Sakura wonders what Aylin has gotten her stepmother for her birthday.

“Your mother is the most complicated person to buy for.”

“Tell me about it. I know she loves anything that deals with anime or Hentai.”

“Does she still dress up like an anime character?” Ayin couldn’t remember if her friend Clair was still dressing up as anime characters.

“More now, since she married my father. The two of them collaborate on a lot of anime series. She sometimes dresses up like the main character to help write the script or comic.”

“That sounds like your mother, all right.” Aylin still needs to find the perfect gift for her friend.

“She may be strange and a little younger than my birth mother, but I still love her. She’s so much fun to be around and do things with.” Sakura liked her stepmother a lot.

“That she is,” Aylin remembers the first time she met Clair.

She always thought she was weird with the way she used to dress as the Mad Hatter. That was until she met Clair and discovered that Clair loved dressing up as anime characters. Her favorite characters were the Lolita ones.

Sakura noticed that Aylin was thinking about something. She has observed subtle differences between Aylin and her alter ego, Mad Hatter Aylin. Her mother told her stories about the things the Hatter would do.

“You better get back to your workout. Afterward, I’ll continue your hand-to-hand combat training.” Aylin was teaching Sakura to defend herself, so she didn’t have to rely on her strength for protection.

“Are you sure you want to do that, Aunt Aylin?” Sakura had a mischievous look on her face.

“Oh, I’m sure, youngster. You might be strong as hell, but if you don’t learn how to use it the proper way. You could end up seriously hurting someone. Right now, you haven’t been attacked by anyone. But a day might come when you have to defend yourself. And I want you to be prepared and be able to safely put someone down without seriously hurting them.”

“Okay.” Sakura knew Aylin was right. Even Shade has said she needs to learn restraint when fighting someone weaker than her.

Sakura returns to finish her weightlifting while Aylin goes to the punching bag and starts practicing. She watches Aylin moves from the punching bag to the Martial Arts wooden training dummies to practice her kicks and arm blocks. She still couldn’t get over how good Aylin and Mark were in hand-to-hand combat. Even Jamie and her wife, Taskhtali, were good at fighting.

She knew Aylin and Mark were MMA fighters, and Jamie was a bounty hunter. As for Taskhtali, all she knew of her was that she worked at one of the museums in New York. Her specialty was ancient Egyptian artifacts and hieroglyphs. She could translate it without any problems.

After Sakura finishes her weight-lifting exercises, she prepares herself for the hand-to-hand combat training Aylin will put her through. She had strength on her side and knew she wouldn’t feel any pain from Aylin’s punches. Aylin shows her a few moves and makes her repeat them several times.

She continues to learn more moves from Aylin. Some of the actions were hard, but she managed to know them. She looks at Aylin “are you ready old lady, to get your butt kicked?”

An evil smile appears on Aylin’s face “bring it, youngster.”

Sakura makes her move. She was lying on her back and looking up at Aylin within three seconds. She slowly gets up off the training mat “how did you do that?”

“Experience. I used your inexperience to my advantage. I already knew what you were thinking and took advantage of it.” A smirk appears on Aylin’s face.

“I want a rematch.” Sakura didn’t want to give up.

“Okay, let’s see what you got.” Aylin prepares herself.

Ten minutes later, Sakura couldn’t believe Aylin was smiling at her as she lay on her back. She thought she would surely land at least one hit on Aylin.

“How do you keep doing that?” Sakura slowly gets up off the floor and looks at Aylin.

“I used your strength and momentum against you. Remember, I have been doing this for a while now.” Aylin had to give Sakura credit. She almost landed a hit to her body.

“But I almost had you.” Sakura couldn’t believe she had lost again.

“Yes, you did. I will give you credit for that.” Aylin listens as she hears her daughter crying over the baby monitor.

“I’ll be back.” Aylin runs out of the gym and upstairs to the nursery.

Sakura rewinds the video that Aylin makes of everything that goes on inside the gym. A few times, she has seen Mark and Aylin having sex in the gym. She stops the recording and watches what Aylin did during their practice. She replays it several times until she learns how Aylin managed to predict what she would do. Sakura knew two deadly assassins, and her mother trained Aylin.

While Sakura was reviewing the video footage, Stacy walked into the gym. She stops and spots Sakura looking at some video.

“She beat you again, didn’t she?” Stacy knew why Sakura was looking at the video.

Sakura nearly jumps out of her skin when she hears Stacy’s voice. She turns around and looks at her cousin “don’t do that. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry, cuz.” Stacy loved sneaking up on people.

“When did you get here?” Sakura looks at her cousin.

“Just a few minutes ago. I still have my door key.” Stacy holds up her keychain. It had a Hello Kitty kitten on it.

“Does that mean my mom is upstairs?” Sakura wonders why her mother would be at the house.

“Nope, I flew over here to see your plans this weekend. I have tickets to a Black Eyed Peas concert.”

“I’m babysitting this Friday for Aylin. She has a social function she has to attend. When is the concert?”

“Saturday night. It starts at eight o’clock.” Stacy loved the Black Eyed Peas.

“Cool, I should be able to go. We can grab some dinner before we go.”

“That sounds good. So, how bad did aunt Aylin beat you?” Stacy has trained under Aylin and has been on the losing end of their training sessions.

“Not too bad. I came close to landing a punch on her.” Sakura saw where she messed up, and Aylin managed to parry her punch away.

“You know what they say about close, don’t you?” Stacy looks at her cousin.

“No, what do they say?” Sakura was curious.

“It only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” Aylin comes walking back into the gym and looks at both her nieces.

Stacy was Brandy’s oldest daughter. Brandy adopted Stacy several years ago during the Blue Lace incidents. Stacy, at one time, had been a boy who had turned into a young girl. She was a runaway that was living on the streets. Her birth parents were real pricks, and even after what happened to her, they didn’t want her back. So, Brandy adopted her as her daughter.

She was also one of the people that had been experimented on. Brandy had taken her to the same clinic Sakura had gone to. Stacy had developed the ability to fly. She kept it quiet because she had been seen and reported to the government several times.

The department that handled people like Stacy and Sakura was known as the Department of Scientific Investigation. They were created to investigate and help people who had been experimented on by mad scientists.

The thing was, Jack had found out that certain people in the pentagon wanted to be able to recreate the experiments that made people like Stacy and Sakura. They wanted to use those people later as agents. He had to remind them what would happen if they didn’t stop the project.

Those same generals and admirals supported the Hunter organization and the Human Superior League.

“Oh, I didn’t know that.” Sakura hadn’t heard that statement before.

“So, what brings you over here, Stacy?” Aylin didn’t mind her nieces dropping in on her or using the house.

“I wanted to see if Sakura wanted to go and see the Black Eyed Peas with me on Saturday?”

“Oh, well, that is good, I guess.” Aylin has heard some of their songs.

“So, you don’t mind me going?” Sakura looks at Aylin for an answer.

“I’m not your mother, Sakura. Also, I don’t see any problems going to a concert. Just let me or Jamie know when it is over, and one of us will come and pick you guys up.” Aylin didn’t think Clair would mind. After all, they did something similar like it when they were younger.

“Thanks, Aunt Aylin.” Both girls run over and hug Aylin.

Even after all these years, Aylin still felt uncomfortable being touched. She tolerates it as the girls hug her. She didn’t mind Bree or her husband touching her.

The girls release Aylin and help her clean the gym up. The girls knew Aylin liked to keep the gym clean. When they finish, the three head upstairs to the kitchen and fix some lunch.

Around three o’clock, Bree arrives home and smiles when she spots Sakura and Stacy. “What mischief are you two up to?”

“Nothing much. How was school?” Sakura knew Bree went to a private school.

“It was okay. I had a problem with two stuck-up snobs at school.” Bree walks over and hugs her mother.

Aylin returns her daughter’s hug. She knew Bree got teased and bullied by some of the rich kids that went to the same private school as she did. Most of the kids that attended that school, their parents went there. Sometimes, she wishes Bree didn’t have to leave the school she liked so much.

“What did they say this time to you?” Aylin didn’t like anyone picking on her baby.

“The same names as usual. Cripple, peg leg, cyborg, and a few others that aren’t polite to say. They also called you and dad names as well.” Bree holds her mother.

“You know names about me and your dad. Don’t bother us.” Aylin didn’t care if the kids at school called her or Mark names. They have been called names these kids would be punished saying.

“Yeah, Bree, if those kids knew what your mom and dad did. They would shit their pants.” Stacy knew how dangerous Aylin was and how well-trained Mark was.

“I know, and I ignored what they said. I didn’t respond to their taunts.”

“Sweetie, I know it’s rough for you. Did you at least report them to Mrs. Fletcher?” Aylin knew Mrs. Fletcher looked after Bree when she could.

“Yes, ma’am. She said to record them next time they taunt me.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Sakura figures that if Bree had evidence to prove what she said. It should be enough to get the kids expelled from school.

“I’ll ensure you have what you need to record them, sweetie.” Aylin wanted to know who they were, so she and Jamie could visit them and give them a scare.

Mark shows up a few hours later. He walked into the house and smiled as he smelled the aroma of dinner floating in the air. He enters the kitchen and spots Bree, Sakura, Stacy, and Aylin cooking dinner.

“You ladies look like you have been busy.” Mark looks at his wife, daughter, and nieces.

“Daddy!” Bree walks over to her adopted father and hugs him.

Mark returns the hug. He looks into Bree’s bright blue eyes “how was school today, pumpkin?”

“Same as usual, daddy.” Bree knew her mother would tell her father later what she said.

Mark knew it had been hard on Bree to adjust to a new school since they moved. The thing was, members of the Hunter Organization were sending assassins to their old place. Their neighbors were caught in the crossfire, so they needed to move where their neighbors wouldn’t be affected.

They bought a place on Staten Island, an old tutor-style house with a 2-car garage and basement. They turned the basement into an exercise room with a custom weight-lifting unit. The weight-lifting equipment for Sakura had to be specially made for her. The reason was that she could get a good workout and build her muscles.

The rest of the gym was equipped with martial arts training gear, kendo sticks, batons, and other necessary training items. He looks at Aylin “where’s the little munchkin?”

“She’s been fed and is upstairs in her crib.” Aylin had breasts fed Hollace before getting dinner started.

“How long before we eat?” Mark walks over to see what the girls are cooking.

“You have enough time to go upstairs and change.” Aylin knew Mark liked to get out of his work clothes.

“Okay.” Mark places a kiss on Aylin’s cheek.

Mark heads upstairs to his and Aylin’s bedroom. He changes out of the three-piece suit he wears to Eruptions Communication. Anika had made him the assistant security chief of the Eruptions security force. The skills he used working cases out on the streets. It has come in handy doing security at Eruptions Headquarters.

After Mark changes clothes, he peeks in on his daughter. Hollace was sound asleep as he looked down at her sleeping form. He couldn’t believe how tiny she was. She inherited her mother’s looks but had his eyes and hair color. He knew she had a birthmark in the shape of a kitten on her left leg.

He places a kiss on her forehead and goes downstairs to have dinner. When he walks into the dining room, he spots the roast and vegetables that Aylin and the girls cooked.

“You ladies did a good job.”

“Thanks, dad.” Bree looks over at her adopted father with a smile on her face.

An hour or so later, after dinner. Sakura and Stacy have left to go and catch a movie at the local movie theater. They called an Uber driver to pick them up. Mark warned both girls that they were still underage and needed to return by midnight.

Aylin was helping Bree with her homework. She didn’t understand much about Bree’s math, but she was a quick learner. What she didn’t know, she looked up on the internet to get a better understanding.

Mark watches Aylin as she helps Bree with her homework. He couldn’t believe the crazy woman he met years ago would turn into a loving mother. Sure, she still had moments when the craziness inside her peeks out and threatens to come out and cause mayhem. However, it wouldn’t do it around Bree. If nothing else, it was very protective of Bree.

Bree loved when her mother helped her with her schoolwork. Her birth mother never did and always called her stupid. She would always say girls like her didn’t need to learn how to do schoolwork. They would never amount to anything and live off the government’s money because they were disabled.

Mark and Aylin didn’t treat her like that. They helped and encouraged her to push herself. If it were something she didn’t understand, they would explain it to her and make sure she understood. Because of their help, she was taking advanced subjects in school. She also excelled in track and field as well. Even with her artificial leg, she was pretty fast.

After she finishes her homework, she gets ready for bed. She hugs her parents good night. She knew they were going to stay up until Sakura came home.

Unbeknownst to Aylin and Mark, a lone figure has been spying on them. The mysterious person has been observing the daily routine of everyone that lives at the residence he was given. The person was given an envelope with orders to kill the person inside it. He was also informed to make it bloody as hell.

The person pulled the information inside the envelope and discovered it was a picture of an infant. According to the background information provided, the child was the daughter of Aylin and Mark Jagger. The client who hired them wanted the baby killed.

The assassin wonders why the client wanted it bloody? Typically, their client wanted things done quietly, not loud and bloody as this client wanted. They did notice that the Jaggers had a dog protecting the place.

The assassin finds out that Mr. and Mrs. Jagger will be at a social event on Friday. The only person that will be home that night is the teenage girl who lives with them. According to the weather report, they would strike that night since the weather is supposed to be nasty.
Friday:

Aylin and Mark look at Sakura before they leave. Aylin didn’t feel comfortable leaving Hollace’s side. However, she did agree to attend this social event for her mother. Someone from Eruptions Communication needed to be at the event.

Since most people knew she was Anika’s daughter. There wouldn’t be any problems. She was surprised that Mark took her mother’s last name instead of his family surname. She knew Arnold had taken Gina’s last name instead of making her take his.

“Remember, Sakura. If you need anything and you can’t reach us. Terry and Dakota aren’t too far away from here.”

“Especially with how fast Wraith goes.” Mark loved driving Wraith when Terry let him.

“Nothing will go wrong, guys. If I can’t handle it, I’ll call for reinforcements.” Sakura knew she could handle any trouble that might occur.

“Just be careful.” Aylin hugs Sakura.

“Yes, ma’am.” Sakura returns the hug.

Afterward, she watches as Aylin and Mark take the Lincoln. Once they drive off, she locks the front door and arms the security. She walks into the kitchen and pops herself some popcorn. Afterward, she grabs a 2-liter bottle of soda and settles down in the den. She selected a movie that was playing on Vudu.

Grim Stalker watches as Aylin and Mark drive off. He knew the babysitter and the little girl were the only person home right now. The other teenager was spending the night with one of her friends. He waits for the thunderstorm to start before making his way to the house. He already knew where the weakest part of the house was.

He climbs onto the slick roof and up to the third-story floor and disables the alarm on the window. He enters through the spear bedroom window and over to the bedroom door. He knew the nursery was on the second floor, next to the main bedroom.

He quietly makes his way down the stairs to the second floor. He looks around for the dog but doesn’t spot it. He moves towards the nursery and slowly opens the bedroom door. As he opens the door, he spots the dog lying in the bedroom.

Sakura had the baby monitor near her, and she started hearing a growling sound from it. The next thing she hears is a crushing sound and Hollace screaming bloody hell. She gets up and runs upstairs to the second floor. She spots some figure dressed in black, trying to keep Bear
from ripping their throat out.

She could hear Hollace screaming from inside the bedroom. She looks down at the figure and notices some silver masks covering their face.

“Bear, heel!” Sakura watches as Bear backs up some. He was still watching the stranger.

“Mr., You have two choices. You can either surrender to me, or I let Bear tear you to pieces.” Sakura knew Bear could do it.

Grim Stalker turns and fires at Sakura. He watches as the bullet hits her and bounces off her body.

“Big mistake, dumbass.” Sakura reaches down and picks the figure up off the floor. She tosses them down the hall into the linen closet.

Grim felt the impact through his bodysuit. He shakes his head to try and clear it as he spots the teenage girl walking toward him. He managed to keep hold of his gun when he was thrown. He points it at the young woman again.

“You are one slow learner.” Sakura snatches the gun out of the guy’s hand.

Grim couldn’t believe that the teenage girl standing before him had taken his gun from him. He felt his fingers hurting from her snatching it out of his hand. He was thinking about getting up when he spotted the colossal dog standing next to the girl. It had its teeth bared at him.

“Now, let’s try this again because Bear is getting impatient and wants to play with his new chew toy. You stay right where you are while I get something to secure you.” Sakura turns and walks into Aylin and Mark’s bedroom. She knew Aylin kept her gear in her bedroom.

Grim watches the teenage girl step into the main bedroom. He looks at the dog watching him. He could tell it was ready to attack him.
After a few minutes, the girl returns and secures his hands behind his back. He felt her squeeze his arm extremely hard when he tried to be difficult with her.

Sakura leans in toward the guy. “I can break your arm like a twig, so you would be better off cooperating with me.”

With one hand, Sakura gets her point across by picking the guy five feet off the floor. She starts walking towards the stairs with him. She heads downstairs and drops him in the foyer.

“Bear, guard.” Sakura turns around and heads back upstairs.

She pulls her cell phone out and dials Terry and Dakota’s number. She knew Jamie and her wife were at the same social event as Aylin and Mark. She holds Hollace while she talks to Terry. Once she manages to calm Hollace down, she puts her back in her crib with her favorite plushy.

Fifteen minutes later, Terry arrives in Wraith. Sakura spotted him as he pulled into the driveway. Wraith had his emergency lights flashing. She watches as Terry gets out and walks up to the front door. She opened it before he could knock.

“Hi, Terry.” Sakura smiles at Terry.

“Are you okay?” Terry noticed the bullet hole in Sakura’s shirt.

“I’m fine. I can’t say the same for my shirt.” Sakura fingers the bullet hole.

“Where’s the intruder?” Terry looks at Sakura.

“He’s sitting in the garage with Bear guarding him.”

“He’s lucky that Bear isn’t one of Jack’s wolves. He would be wolf chow right now.” Terry knew what Jack’s wolves could do.

“I’ve heard stories about uncle Jack’s wolves. I wouldn’t mind meeting them one day.” Sakura wanted to see how tough and big the wolves were.
Terry and Sakura walk into the garage and spot the guy bound in chains. Aylin kept some chains in the garage.

“You bound him in chains?’

“I couldn’t find the rope. Besides, he can’t escape from them.”

Grim watches as the girl comes walking into the garage with another person. The other person looked male and stood a little taller than the girl. They were dressed in black T-shirts and black jeans. He was also wearing a pair of dark work boots.

The man stops in front of him and kneels before him. He could tell the man had spent some time out in the weather. He had a rough-looking face.

“I don’t know who you are, but you’re going to answer my questions. If you don’t, I will turn you over to the mother of the child you tried to kill. Once she learns you were in her daughter’s bedroom. She will extract everything you know from you very painfully.” Terry knew what Hatter was going to do.

“I’m going to leave you two to talk.” Sakura didn’t want to see what Terry was going to do.

Sakura heads to the living room and continues to watch her movie. She wonders why the guy tried to kill Hollace.

Epilogue:
Mark had to hold Aylin back when Terry informed them that someone had tried to kill their daughter. The assassin didn’t know the identity of the person who hired him because he had received the contract from a third party. However, when Terry called Sakura into the garage and had her squeeze the guy’s shoulder. He gave up the name of the website he got the contract.

A few weeks after locating the person who hired the assassin. They learned that the person was the son of the drug lord that Hatter had tortured. She had cut the man’s toes off one by one for information.

The man survived having his toes cut off but didn’t survive the attack in prison. Someone inside the prison he had been sent to had killed him a day later after his arrival.