On the barren planet Faros, a colony had been long established by people who fled their original world due to environmental disaster and rampant politics causing wars, creating even more destruction that left their home world uninhabitable. Granted, moving from a man-made wasteland was a good idea, but Humans had a way of carrying their bad habits with them.

This colony was again suffering the same backlash of corruption and politics as before, but harsher laws had been enforced so the same tragedy wouldn't happen again. They were effective... but far from perfect.

In any case, if anyone rich enough to burn their money wanted to purchase rare items or weapons, they went to the Faros Premier Auction Store. Anything and everything imaginable was on sale here. The owner, Terence Bitrate, made a lot of money off of ridiculous sales taxes and service charges, possibly making him one of the most powerful men in the colony. Everyone knew him, and no one liked him.

Tonight, he greeted a vast audience with a massive combat ship embedded with a peculiar maroon jewel in its weapons system.

"It gives me a great sense of honor to be moving history with this very combat weapon," Bitrate continued, having droned on about his precious sale for at least ten minutes. Most audience members tuned him out a long time ago.

"The Magic Transfer Unit is one of a kind. No other army in this galaxy has this weapon. If you are capable of magic, you can use the Magic Transfer Unit to 'transfer' your spell into this gem, and then it will store the energy until you target the enemy and fire. The greatest part is that there is no need for ammunition, since the sorcerer provides the energy needed to utilize the MTU's capabilities.

"I have worked hard to discover the formula for melding science and sorcery together. This weapon - no, the future - can be yours, starting at 1 million gio!" he exclaimed, starting a frenzied bidding process. Wealthy nobles shouted higher and higher prices, and phone calls overwhelmed the phone lines. The auctioneer kept up with the frenzy at an impressive rate. Bitrate stood back and nodded proudly, knowing he would be making a gigantic sale tonight.

*CRASH* *CRASH* *CRASH*

"What the-!?"

"The windows!"

Several small 'objects' smashed through the surrounding dome window and clattered into the audience. Then they burst, sending blinding amounts of smoke billowing throughout the entire auction room. People panicked and scrambled to find the obscured exits, causing a disastrous pileup.

As the seats emptied out, a nimble figure wearing a traditional Anbu mask landed on the backing of one chair and flipped gracefully across the auditorium chairs towards the stage. Bitrate noticed the person and screamed only one name, his confident gait shattered by terror:

"Evil Anbu!!"

His bodyguards jumped in the way and fired their guns at Anbu, but the attacker just danced around the bullets with incredible reflexes. He (she?) reached the stage and dropkicked a guard out cold, then unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks to the others. The guards couldn't react to his/her agile movements, and they fell one by one. The stranger batted the gun out of the last guard and thrust their fingers right at his eyes!

Luckily, the guard's eyes weren't gouged out.

The stunned man stared at his opponent. Upon closer inspection, Evil Anbu turned out to be a woman dressed in a white coat, blue pants, and black gloves and boots. He couldn't see her face due to the mask, but she had short brown hair.

Before he could react, she punched his gut, twirled on her toes behind him while producing a clear blade on her arm and stabbed him clean through the back, killing him instantly. She looked up to see if Bitrate was still around, but he long since fled. She didn't seem bothered and approached the MTU still on stage. She pressed two fingers to her temple, as if listening to something intently, then nodded and stood on guard.

Suddenly, a black wormhole opened up beneath the battle craft and sucked it inside. Within seconds, the MTU and the wormhole were gone. Approaching guards briefly witnessed the spectacle and stopped in awe. Evil Anbu gave them no chance to recover as she knocked them out with quick punches.

Meanwhile, Bitrate scrambled through the emergency exit and stumbled back to his office to call for help. But when he reached the oak double doors, someone else was waiting for him for arrive. The anxious crime lord gazed at the newcomer in terror.

He was an unusually-dressed fellow, wearing a long purple cloak that covered his entire body, a chemist's hat, and had lavender hair fanned out like wings. The most bizarre feature was the mask he wore; a garish, yellow smiley face.

Yes.

A smiley face.

To anyone else, this man would be weird as hell. However, Bitrate did his research prior to tonight and learned of a brilliant but unusual genius of multiple scientific fields. Few knew him personally, but many knew of his outlandish habits, quirky traits, incredible intellect...

And his cold-blooded cruelty towards all forms of life.

No doubt this man orchestrated the attack on the auction house tonight. Only he had the authority to send Evil Anbu to disrupt the evening with all of this insanity.

"E-E-Evil Otto!!" Bitrate jolted.

"Oh, I'm pleased you know about me," the robed man replied cordially in a deep, ominous voice. "That means you've done your homework on my projects. You know it's not nice to steal others' work, even if it was leaked to you; that's a little thing we call 'plagiarism'."

"Gu-Gu-Get back!! I'll call for help!!"

"Go ahead. I won't stop you."

He eagerly whipped out his cellphone and shouted, "Guards! Someone come quickly! Someone's trying to kill me!"

No answer.

"GUARDS!"

"How unfortunate," Evil Otto shrugged. "There's one little thing I forgot to mention; Evil Anbu is far more capable than your army of misfits put together. She should be coming back anytime soon now."

Just then, Evil Anbu crashed through the window, spraying glass shards everywhere and sending Bitrate into a panic. Evil Otto didn't budge whatsoever as his accomplice approached him and murmured, "My part's done."

"Are they all dead?"

"Barely even put up a fight," she affirmed, pulling out a severed arm belonging to a soldier. Amazingly, there wasn't any blood on her white coat, even though she was responsible for such carnage. Bitrate was mortified.

"Thank you, Anbu. I shall handle the rest from here," Otto said and shuffled inside his mantle until he revealed a bulky, laser-guided pistol. Bitrate huddled against a corner as the robed individual aimed at his forehead and pulled the trigger without hesitation. A powerful shot found its target, and blood and brain matter spattered across the wall everywhere. Evil Otto waited for the steam to dissipate from his weapon before re-holstering it.

"You didn't want to wring all of the terror and panic out of him first?" Anbu asked, barely fazed by the grisly murder. "Y'know, it's the latest rage."

"Nah, not in the mood. I'm a villain, not an overlord," Otto answered, removing his mask and cape, and spitting out a small voice changer off his tongue. Underneath the cloak, he wore a garish yellow-and-purple scientist outfit - hardly befitting for a 'villain'.

"I don't see the difference," Anbu retorted while removing her mask. Unlike her cheerful partner, she was more fierce-looking with her ice-blue eyes and pointed fangs that were visible at all times. In fact, if it weren't for her voice, breasts, and petite 4'5" posture, she could have been mistaken for a man.

Then in a more high-pitched and jubilant tone, Otto added, "Who cares? In any case, keeping it brief is enough, or else you'll become tacky. Ain't that right, Addie? ;D "

"Yeah. Keep it up long enough and I'll be tempted to kill you instead, Malim," 'Addie' - real name Adamas - threatened.

"Very funny. Well, enough with the comedy routine. Better plunder this place before the mob-controlled cops show up."

"Oooh, I'm scared," Adamas rolled her eyes as she followed Malim into Bitrate's office, bypassing the dead man like he was garbage. They found themselves in a massive library surrounding a lavish and expensive-looking oak desk with more drawers and storage compartments than anyone could comprehend. Several tacky paintings of Bitrate surrounded the walls.

As Malim fiddled with the desk and Adamas investigated the bookshelves, the assassin asked, "So why're we here anyway? Bitrate may be a top player in the black market, but he's hardly a blip on the radar compared to this planet's underworld CEOs."

"Au contraire, mon frere!" Malim raised his arm victoriously.

"Since when was I your brother?"

He ignored her and ranted, "Bitrate may be nothing to you, but he took off with some valuable information that could have skyrocketed him into the vestiges of fame and fortune! Furthermore, that information was hacked straight out of MY computer! Akujin! Kemono! Bakayarou! >:o "

"If you're that fired up, then that means he stole an unfinished patent of yours, right?" Adamas frowned.

"Sou datta!! It was that Magic Transfer Unit he was hawking at the auction this evening! That damn fiend wanted to profit off me, and he knew it! He wouldn't have done his research into the notorious Evil Otto otherwise!"

"Sheesh. If you don't want your precious patents getting stolen, then don't drop hints about them on your nerd forums in the first place!" Adamas complained while investigating the room for any valuables to steal. She found a particular bookcase with lots of thick books, and she pushed a specific dictionary that triggered the bookcase to sweep aside and reveal a security lock.

"Ooh, not too shabby, yo!" Malim smirked, his foul mood suddenly swinging to an upbeat tone. He was mesmerized with the information in Bitrate's computer, and he copied it while remarking, "Bitrate was a lot smarter than he looked. Lookie, lookie! He finished the final MTU design, and it's pretty accurate too! Just needs a few adjustments, and then-"

Adamas rolled her eyes and moaned, "Let me guess; you allowed him to steal your work so he could finish it for you. Then you swoop in, kill him, and patent whatever he discovered without any effort on your part."

"That's my Addie! What would I do without your charm to keep me company? ^o^ " the scientist clasped his hands together adorably.

"Why couldn't you do the research yourself? Not like it's that hard for you. You should use those brains more for research than for underhanded schemes," Adamas asked while punching the security lock with an ice-powered punch.

"I know, but we're so busy all the time that I have no time for myself! Since I knew Bitrate was so interested in magic-powered battlecraft, I leaked some of my findings to him. He just picked up where I left off, that's all. Much better than hiring some goofy part-time schoolkid, huh?"

"In the end, this was all just some money-saving Evil Plan for you."

"Daaww, don't be such a sourpuss! :3 " Malim whined and made the cutest sparkly eyes he could, giving Adamas the chills. "Admit it; you had fun too! You were SO cooped up that you were just itching to slaughter some small fry! Kill two birds with one stone, am I right?"

"If you're going to pull off crap like this next time, at least tell me about it! Don't go dragging me by my ear to some craphole mansion without a good explanation!" Adamas said and unleashed a final punch, destroying the security door and tossing it aside before examining the treasure inside.

"Gold coins, some diamonds, several pieces of jewelry, stolen art pieces... wow, this collection isn't very impressive, given how notorious Bitrate was."

"That treasure trove's your reward, Addie. You've earned it. <3 "

"In contrast, whatever is on that computer is worth more than Fort Knox."

"Err-"

Just then, they heard the faint sound of police sirens approaching the mansion. Hundreds of footsteps charged out of the black-and-white vehicles, surrounding the large house with an impressive barricade of uniformed SWAT soldiers. The captain yelled into a loudspeaker about demands for 'Evil Otto' and 'Evil Anbu' to come out and surrender, but the intruders didn't pay attention to him.

"Oh noes! It is DA MAN! I hope we don't get carted to the big house!" Malim panicked in a falsetto pitch while waltzing from the window without a care in the world, retrieving Bitrate's laptop. Adamas stuffed whatever treasure she could in her bag and joined him.

"So what's the escape plan?" she asked calmly.

"I'm too excited about this data to go all out tonight. Let's make it quick and simple. The less evidence left behind, the better."

"How boring."

Malim raised forth a fist and slowly opened it into a palm. An inky darkness peeled open before them until it resembled a black eyeball. It was a portal that only Malim could generate, thanks to his vast array of occult and archaic intelligence. Adamas jumped through first. Malim took one last peek at the area to make sure they weren't spotted, and then leapt inside as well. The vortex closed, leaving no trace of its existence.

It was a good thing they left this way too because about a minute later, the SWAT team broke through the doors and windows to Bitrate's office, wielding power weapons and guns like you wouldn't believe it. Everyone was stupefied as to how Evil Otto and Evil Anbu got away from such a tight barricade...