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Chapter 2: Ringing Fox

There were less people out and about at this hour as Yuri and the others headed to the mana lab in Zaphias. Almost in the center of the city was where the lab was located, just below the noble's quarter. The street laps were no longer lit by blastia and had to be lit every evening manually with flames. The lower quarter didn't have such luxuries when blastia were around so they were used to things like that. But the rest of the capital was finding it difficult to adjust. Yuri even once heard some high society people saying they felt like they were back in primitive time, like any of them would know what that was like.

Hopefully they were right and the bastard that called himself 'Ringing Fox' was here. Oh Yuri couldn't wait tell he got his hands on him and neither could Rita for that matter.

"If only my magic was the same as before so I can torch that stupid fox right there or even open up the ground and have him swallowed up," was just some of the things she said. Magic is also an issue with the lack of aer. Some people, like Rita, could still cast it but only at a small fraction of what their spell's power was. Rita carried a large scroll on her back that had spell formulas written on it to help with her casting. It was only Estelle who kept all her power intact with the conversion of mana.

"Rita darlin', you wouldn't mind saving some of that spunk for when we actually run into this guy?" Raven suggested.

"Shut up. If I want to raise some hell then I'll do it. This guy's not getting off easy, especially after all the hard work I've put into this lab."

"How's about you all stay quiet so both the knights and the fox don't hear us coming," Yuri offered.

Rita didn't voice her opinions but she folded her arms and started mumbling things Yuri couldn't comprehend. Hopefully Rita would direct all that pent up anger on the guy who'd been framing him.

Finally Rita guided them through the alleyway that would lead them in front of the lab. Yuri thought it was strange that the lab was set up sort of cut off from the rest of the city and the fact someone could only get to it was through an ally just looked shady. Then again it could have just been to prevent regular people from entering at random.

The lab looked plan and was only one story with no windows. It looked incredibly small but then again most of it could be underground.

Up ahead was the person Yuri really hoped he didn't have to deal with till the morning; Flynn. Crap, Yuri couldn't help but think. By the entrance there was an unconscious knight (it was hard to tell because of the helmet) and another one that looked to be trying to help the knight wake up. Standing next to the commandant was his ever diligent Second-in-Command Sodia. Yuri would be lying if he said he didn't have a problem with her. It was mainly the fact he still didn't fully get over the fact that she tried to kill him that one time and attempted to arrest him at the worst possible time; like when they were trying to save Estelle from Alexei. He understood completely why she did what she did. Hell, if their roles had been revered he'd probably do the same thing. But that didn't mean he could forgive someone who tried to kill him that easily.

Flynn noticed them before they even exited the ally and he had that disapproving look of his. "You just got the charges on you dropped and now you're here at a lab. Yuri you have to realize how bad this looks right? And you brought Lady Estellise with you!" He sounded more upset about the last part.

"You know as well as I do she does what she wants," Yuri told him. This earned him a small pout from Estelle but she quickly walked over to the unconscious knight to see if her healing arts would be of help. "So is it true? Is the Ringing Fox here?"

"And if he is?" Flynn asked. "It's going to be hard to prove you're innocent if the real culprit gets away."

He knew Flynn was just trying to look out for him but the commandant had more things to worry about than a friend who keeps getting himself in trouble. "Then let's not let him escape," Yuri told him.

"It's best not to try and stop us," Raven added, "this Ringing Fox has been framing one of our own. As you may know we guilds don't take kindly to such things."

"That's right, this concerns Brave Vesperia just as much as the knights," Karol stated.

Before Flynn could say anything, Sodia alerted him to the knight who was now conscious. Flynn knelt down next to the knight and asked, "Can you tell us what happened to you?"

The knight seemed startled that the commandant was here by the way he was speechless. But he shook his head. "…All I remember is hearing a bell, I thought maybe it was a cat or something but then…it's all blank after that."

"That's alright. Just head back to the castle and tell the other knights that the Ringing Fox is here," Flynn said to him. He stood back up looking at his two available knights and then at Yuri's group. "It sounds like the Ringing Fox is here and with that we have probable cause to search the lab. We don't have time to wait for reinforcements. Sodia, you and Jones wait here for the other knights to come and set up perimeter. Make sure the culprit can't escape. If Brave Vesperia would care to lend a hand, I'll head into the lab with them?"

"Commandant, are you sure about this? What about the princess' safety?" Sodia asked. She may have been talking about Estelle but she was really meaning Yuri. Like him, she wasn't too comfortable working around him for the same reasons.

Flynn certainly didn't like putting Estelle in harm's way but he knew just as well as Yuri it would be more difficult escorting her back to the castle. "I'm sure Lady Estellise will take precaution to stay out of harm's way. So far the criminal hasn't killed anyone but that could change. So be ready for anything." Flynn drew his sword and headed into lab. It was late and so none of the workers should be there meaning there was less chance of a bystander getting injured or worse.

"Let's just hope we're not too late," Yuri commented as he followed Flynn into the lab.

It was dark inside the mana lab and just as Yuri thought there were a set of stairs leading underground. But right inside there was another knight who was unconscious. He must be one of the guards for the lab. Estelle hurried over to the fallen knight and was about to use her healing arts on him when Flynn stopped her.

"We have reinforcements on the way so they can take care of him," he whispered. "If we're going to catch this guy we need to move as quickly and quietly as we can." She nodded and so they all started to make their way to the lower levels.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, however, Yuri realized that it was going to be more difficult finding the Ringing Fox. There were four separate hallways that looked to branch out into more hallways. Not to mention the light source was on top of the walls and it gave off an eerie green glow that made the shadows jump out. It certainly was creepy.

They started talking about splitting up when Repede started growling down the corridor on the far left. The canine smelled someone else down there. Yuri was never one to doubt his faithful partner so he wordlessly proceeded down the hall.

"Wait a minute Yuri," Karol whispered.

Yuri stopped and looked back at him. "I'm going to catch this fox bastard. You all are welcome to come." He then kept on walking with Repede by his side. Eventually everyone else followed out of worry about what Yuri might do if he ended up with the Ringing Fox alone and also trusting in Repede's nose.

As they came near to where ever the hallway led they could hear a low murmur of a machine running. The walls and floor gave off a slight vibration that would come from some large machine. Under that, Yuri was able to hear a constant tapping noise.

"That sounds like the mana collector!" Rita declared. "It's not supposed to be running at night or it'll overheat."

"What exactly does it do?" Yuri asked. He was sure it was the Fox who had turned it on and he didn't want any surprises if the intruder decides to use the technology on them.

"All it does is absorb mana. It's similar to what the blastia did with aer. All the other mana technology is hooked up to it to power them since we've yet to figure out how make them self-sustaining," Rita explained like she always did. "But if that fox freak destroys the mana collector it'll be months until it's repaired and none of the mana technology in the city will be functional until then."

"Sounds like this fox knows more about this technology then we thought if he's knocking the whole grid off," Raven said.

That makes him all the more dangerous, Yuri thought. This Ringing Fox wasn't just someone who was vandalizing the labs; he planned to hit them where it hurt and make sure they weren't going to operate for a while. Thankfully the mana tech was only used by the scientist and mages who were preforming experiments. Common people didn't have access to them yet so the imposter wasn't hurting them directly but he was preventing the development.

"Come on, let's hurry and stop this guy," Flynn urged taking the lead this time.

They quicken their steps since the awakened machines hid their approach. Yuri felt his hand tighten around his sword. He couldn't wait to use it on the guy who was pretending to be him.

The opening to a large room that the mana collector was held in was close and so the group slowed down. They split and stayed close to the walls so they could still surprise the intruder. The Ringing Fox hadn't killed anyone else but neither has he been in an open conflict. Estelle wasn't armed and Rita's spells took too long to cast if they were going to do any real damage. Yuri wondered if the fox would leave the girls alone.

But there were still five of them that could fight: him, Flynn, the old man, Karol, and Repede. Five against one? The odds didn't sound bad. But there had to be a reason why no one had fought this guy yet. Most likely, he was quick and sneaky. Maybe that was why he wore a fox mask.

Yuri and Flynn were both by the opening to the mana room to inspect the area. Most of the room held a large brown machine with colorfully lights all over it. Just like the halls, this room had the same green glow as its lighting. It reminded Yuri a lot of being inside of Heracles. But his attention was soon on the raised platform in front of the mana collector.

A figure was standing in front of one of those holographic keyboards that Rita and other mages used to work with blastia (Yuri never understood exactly what it was). This person was dressed in dark boots, dark pants, and a long dark shirt. The guy even had long hair! Through the dim lighting, Yuri could make out pointed ears that must have been part of his mask. This was the Ringing Fox who everyone was mistaking for Yuri.

Yuri wanted to rush toward this guy and rip the mask right off to see who it was but Flynn grabbed his arm before he could even step into the room.

They only had to wait just a few minutes to determine if there was anyone else. But it looked like he was the only one there tapping away on the keys. But waiting became too much for Rita as she ran into the room all of the sudden. Hell hath no fury than a mage when their work was being destroyed.

"Step away from that machine!" Rita shouted as she stepped into her pose like she was about to cast a spell.

The intruder flinched when he heard Rita. The holographic key board disappeared and he slowly turned to finally face them. Yuri and the others quickly joined her with weapons drawn. Now that they were closer and the imposter was facing them, Yuri could see more details. The guy was wearing an orange fox mask that had small eye slits. Around his neck was also a small sliver bell that he was depicted in the wanted posters. His clothes were also too big for him. Unlike Yuri, the Ringing Fox's shirt was buttoned all the way up to his neck and one of his sleeves covered his hand while the other looked like it was ripped at his elbow. But his skin on his right arm wasn't exposed since there was a leather arm guard. Lastly, there was an unsheathed sword tucked through his belt.

Seeing the Ringing Fox face to face, Yuri could see why people could mistake him for the crimes. But that didn't mean people had to just assume it was him. The longer Yuri looked at the imposter the quicker his anger began to rise. But the group already had one person who was being hot headed, they didn't need two.

Flynn raised his sword toward the imposter and said in a commanding voice, "As commandant of the Knights of Zaphias, I hereby place you under arrest. Come down slowly and quietly and no harm will come to you."

For a moment the Ringing Fox just stared down at them. It became evident that he had no intention of surrendering, especially when his right hand began to glow blue.

In a swift motion, the imposter pivoted around to the machine and punched the controls, smashing them beyond repair. Instantly, the noise the machine had been making was silenced. Yuri wasn't familiar with the arte he used but it shocked Yuri to see how powerful it was. People could still use their artes even without blastia but they weren't as strong as they use too. Even Yuri's artes were just a quarter of what they once were.

"You bastard!" Rita yelled as she cast one of her signature spells. A small fireball about the size of a fist was quickly formed and shot toward the fox.

But he imposter was quick and jumped off the platform making the fireball spell hit the machine, further damaging it. The fox landed in front of them gracefully. He then pulled his sword free with his left hand and pointed at them.

The fox's stance implied that he at least knew how to hold a sword and probably had a few lessons on swordplay. But was he any good?

Yuri felt a grin come across his face as flung the sheath off his own sword. "Looks like someone wants to fight," he said as he got into his regular fighting pose. As much as he was worried about Estelle and Rita, he couldn't help but feel a tinge bit of excitement now that he'd be able to get back at this imposter.

"Please," the Ringing Fox pleaded. His voice was a lot higher and softer than Yuri would have imagined. At least he wasn't trying to sound like Yuri. "I don't want to hurt anyone. Just let me go and forget I was here."

"You've got to be kidding me! There's no way I'm letting you get off that easy after what you've done!" Rita snapped.

"This is your last warning, come quietly and answer for your crimes," Flynn repeated.

"Why? So I can have my throat slit while I wait for a trial? No thanks. There are still things I need to do and a promise to keep," the fox answered.

Suddenly, the Ringing Fox dashed toward them and swung his sword in a wide arc toward Flynn. But anyone, probably even the tweedles, could block it, which Flynn did with ease.

Before the imposter had a chance to regain himself, Yuri ran over and went to stab at him. But the fox was sharp and quick, so he dropped down to evade Yuri's attack. In the blink of an eye, the fox had retreated out of the swordsmen reach and was holding up his own sword in defense.

This guy is no stranger in a fight, Yuri thought as he stared down his opponent. It shouldn't surprise him after the arte the imposter displayed just moments ago. Yuri wasn't worried about the imposters since he had fought many people who had stronger artes.

The others were standing in front of the exit and Yuri and Flynn were between them and the imposter. The fox wouldn't be getting away easily. If the imposter was smart, he would just give up since he was outnumbered and his escape was slim. But something was telling Yuri that he had other plans.

Flynn lowered his sword in attempt to resolve this with as little fighting as possible. Honestly, Yuri would rather beat the imposter to a bloody pulp. "I'm not sure what has caused you do this, but if you are afraid for your life I can guarantee you'll be safe until your trail," Flynn tried to reason.

But Yuri heard the fox scoff underneath his mask. "You knights. You speak of valor and of protecting the people. But you've done no such thing in this new world. You better be ready to kill me because I'm not leaving this place alive with you," the imposter said sounding very serious.

"Fine," Yuri spoke up. "I prefer beating you until you're unconscious. So bring it!" Yuri charged toward the imposter.

He swung his sword once again but this time the imposter tried to parry. But Yuri struck the sword with such force that the imposter lost his grip on his own weapon and it flew out of his grip. Before Yuri could switch his sword to his other hand for the next attack the imposter jumped back a great distance away from Yuri.

The imposter did not retrieve his discarded sword or even spare a glance at it. Instead he crouched down and pulled out a dagger that was hidden in his boot. His stance resembled a thief's which seemed to suit the fox better than trying to imitate a swordsmen.

Moving much faster, the imposter charged toward Yuri again but this time he kept the knife closer to his person. Yuri had just enough time to redirect the attack. Any other move would have left Yuri with some kind of injury.

But after the imposter was redirected at Yuri's side he kept running right toward Flynn. He made a swipe at Flynn again but it wasn't nearly as wide a swing as the first. Once again, Flynn successfully blocked the attack.

They were at a standstill. But Yuri caught sight of the imposter lowering his right hand and it began turning blue again. "Flynn, look out," Yuri shouted.

The commandant looked down just in time to see the Fox's hand reaching toward him. Flynn put more force in his sword and pushed the imposter away from him before he could attack. The fox staggered backwards for a moment and his hand was still glowing.

"You're mine!" Karol shouted as he came up from behind the imposter with his hammer above his head. The fox seem startled that Karol managed to sneak up on him; even Yuri was surprised at his swiftness. But to his dismay the Fox sidestepped to avoid Karol's attack. Once the young guild master's hammer struck the ground the imposter dealt a swift kick to Karol's side that made him fall over.

Before the imposter had the chance to attack Karol again, Repede dashed with his own dagger in is teeth and swiped at the fox. Repede managed to make a small cut at the imposter's thigh. Repede didn't pursue. Instead he kept his ground to defend Karol and Estelle, who had rushed to Karol's side.

The imposter didn't have time to realize if he was injured since an arrow, which could only come from the old man, flew toward the imposter. The imposter managed to evade but the arrow only scraped some of the paint off the cheek of the mask.

To Yuri's astonishment, the Fox's hand was still blue which meant that he was ready to use his arte at any time. After all that the imposter hadn't lost his concentration to use the arte. That thought made the imposter seem more dangerous.

Raven didn't let up his attack, arrow after arrow was fired at the imposter. They came close, but none of them managed to hit their target. The only thing Raven accomplished was to distract the imposter long enough for both Yuri and Flynn to get the jump on him.

The two swordsmen never let up on their attacks. They kept attacking as fast as they could but the imposter, remarkably, either dodged or blocked completely. And still, the imposter still had his hand glowing.

Soon Yuri saw an opening. Yuri wouldn't be able to do the finishing blow, he wasn't sure if he would be quick enough to do a second attack before the imposter could use his arte on him. But Flynn was on his heels, he could finish it.

Yuri grasped the handle of his sword with both hands and, with as much strength he could muster, he swung at the imposter's left hand that held his dagger. He failed to get the imposter's weapon out of his hand but now he was wide open. As expected the fox started to swing his glowing right hand at him but Yuri was already out of his range.

Flynn didn't miss a step. Before the imposter could even realize that there was another attack, Flynn managed to cut deep into the imposter's left shoulder. He nearly cut the Fox's arm off. Blood spewed everywhere. Most landed on Flynn and the Fox but some sprayed across Yuri's face.

But the injury didn't stop the Fox's arte. His glowing fist kept moving right toward Flynn.

The next thing Yuri saw was Flynn flying toward him. His friend crashed into him and they fell to the floor, knocking the breath out of Yuri. Both of them lost their grip on their weapons. Yuri wasn't sure which hurt worse, Flynn's weight or his armor. Either way he felt like his chest was flatten. He would definitely be sore if he ever got to sleep.

That didn't matter. Yuri quickly tied to shove Flynn off as the commandant tried to scramble to his feet. Yuri was up first and directed all his attention to the imposter.

The Ringing Fox's hand was no longer glowing but it was now clutching his shoulder in order to stop the bleeding. He was shaking and all Yuri could hear were ragged breaths coming from underneath the mask. It slightly impressed Yuri when he didn't hear the imposter cry out in pain after Flynn nearly cut off his arm. But what was truly sad was that the imposter still had an iron grip on his dagger even though it probably caused him great pain and he was even trying to lift it up to defend himself. He must truly be desperate.

"Put that down before you hurt yourself," Yuri told him simply. This guy had enough and if this lasted any longer than the imposter was going to die without giving them any answers.

"I told you…" the imposter whimpered but tried to keep up the tough guy routine, "…the only way you're taking me is over my dead body." Try as he might, he couldn't hid the terrible pain he was in.

"Oh no, you're not going that easily," Rita shouted at him. "I'll knock you out myself if I have to."

Suddenly Estelle start taking small steps toward the imposter. Yuri was ready to dash toward her if the imposter made the slightest move toward her. But he remained where he was because, whether he like it or not, Estelle need to heal him.

She stopped right beside Yuri. "Your wound is still bleeding," Estelle said in her calm voice. "Let me heal you and then we can figure something out."

The princess took another step toward the Fox but he backed away like Yuri was coming at him again. "Stay away from me!" He shouted like he was terrified of the princess. He somehow managed to lift his dagger all the way to stomach.

Estelle looked baffled at the imposters

This is getting out of hand, Yuri thought. "Look," he said, "your trapped. It's over. Now give up or bleed to death."

"Am I?" The imposter questioned. He slid his dagger into his belt and his hand fell limply at his side. But then a small cylinder appeared in his hand. With a small motion, he tossed it toward them.

It rolled a little ways toward them. Yuri instantly ran toward Estelle to place himself between her and the object since it was closest to her. By the time he grabbed her there was a blinding light that caused Yuri to duck Estelle's head down. He managed to close his eyes in time.

By the time he opened his eyes again the darkness returned to the room and the imposter was long gone. Yuri gritted his teeth in frustration. But there were other things to worry about other than the masked freak. "Is everyone alright?" He called out. He knew Estelle was fine.

He looked behind him and saw that they were a bit disoriented but physically fine. Some of them gave an affirmative noise. Karol, however, was on the ground. "My eyes hurt," he mumbled.

"That's because our friend had a flash bomb," Raven told him. "They tend to do that if you don't cover your eyes in time."

"A bomb?" Yuri repeated. "If the Fox knew how to make one of those then why didn't he just blow up the whole lab instead of destroying it with his bare hands?" Yuri didn't know much about the craft but a flash bomb couldn't be any more difficult to use or make than one that exploded. Then why wouldn't he use them?

"Maybe he really doesn't want to hurt anyone. A large explosion would be hard to control and so a lot of civilians could have been harmed," Estelle said. She was no longer by Yuri's side and was instead by Flynn healing him.

Yuri hadn't notice the damage Flynn received from the Ringing Fox's arte. The armor just below his left arm was completely obliterated and was replaced with blood. Though Flynn looked to be in some pain it didn't look nearly as bad as the wound he gave the imposter.

Suddenly, Rita got all their attentions. "Don't you think, oh, I don't know, go after that masked freak!" The mage was close by the door, ready to make chase with Repede by her side who made an affirmative bark.

But Flynn somehow managed to keep her form going off. "He won't be going far, not with the wound I gave him. Besides, Sodia and our reinforcements should be at the entrances ready to apprehend him."

Right after he said that, the ceiling began to shake and was followed by a loud boom.

"That doesn't sound good," Yuri said before he joined Rita who was already heading toward the exit.

It didn't take long as they ran all the way. Yuri and Rita exited the building at the same time to see about ten knights on the ground with scorched marks all around. None of the knights looked seriously hurt. But more importantly, there was still no sign of the imposter.

"What happened here?" Flynn asked once he and the others caught up with them.

Sodia had been tending to another knight. But she quickly approached the commandant with a look that told them that they failed to do what had been ordered of her. "My apologies," she said. "We saw the culprit exit the building and we surrounded him. But we seriously underestimated him."

I'll say, Yuri thought as he examined the scorched marks. There was even a small trail of blood leading into the alley. While it wouldn't surprise him if the Fox had another arte to do this damage it seemed unlikely in his condition. "So a dozen knights couldn't handle a culprit with one arm?" Yuri just blurted out. He was pissed off that the guy got away; especially because of the knights incompetence.

Sodia glared at Yuri. But her attention was brought back to Flynn. "We were never informed that the imposter could use high level magic. It was like the culprit was using a bodi blastia."

/~/~/

Z-Skit:

Karol: Say Estelle, notice anything different about me.

Estelle: Umm...

Rita: Let me guess, you finally hit puberty?

Karol: N-no! Besides I've already went through that.

Rita: Oh yeah, you voice is already cracking.

Karol: Sh-shut up Rita!

Estelle: I'm sorry Karol but you look the same to me.

Karol: Oh come on guys! Can't you tell that I'm taller than the last time you saw me?

Rita: Is that so? How much taller are you?

Karol: One forth if an inch!

Rita:...Good grief...

Estelle: I'm not sure what to say to that...