(A/N: Hey everyone sorry for the long wait. As it turns out, this semester for me is going to be busier than I thought, but that's college for you. I will try to keep up with things and hopefully I can still dish out a chapter every week or so. By the way, if you guys love action and like hot-looking women then I have an anime you should all check out! It's called RWBY and it's produced by the same people who do Red Vs. Blue and it's awesome, especially if you like guns and weapons merged with guns. But before you actually watch it, make sure to watch the trailers for it because they themselves are pretty sweet. Anyway, the song I'm using for this song is "Rules of Nature" from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.)

Chapter 3

Kursed continued on the path provided on her radar, going through the back alleyways towards the tram station. Gunfire continued to sound in the distance as Macbeth reinforcements arrived, but judging what she heard, the other group was putting up a good fight.

"Lewis, can you find out anything about these guys?" she asked.

There was a pause. "I managed to get a few pics of them from the security cameras around the city," Lewis replied. "The uniforms are unfamiliar, and they don't look like Venomians. My guess is either this is some local militia or rogue faction of some military."

"They're really hell bent on getting to the councilman if they're willing to go through Macbeth forces," Kursed replied. "Just keep an eye on him for me."

It was odd not seeing people panicking in the street. Perhaps they were told to stay in their homes, especially those in the main part of the city. However, what got Kursed's attention was that the gunfire immediately stopped. Something was going on and it was probably in her best interest to check it out.

She changed routes before arriving at the square of the main street. There were tanks and equipment around but everything had been abandoned. Something was wrong. Then like being stung by a bee she felt it, coming at an incredible speed.

Suddenly from behind one of the buildings a large figure jumped over and crashed close to where she was standing, putting a small crater in the road. *Once the dust settled, Kursed saw it was not a person but a thing; thing being one of those new AI-operated mechs that stood about thirty feet tall.

The mech instantly scanned the area and picked her up. "Lifesign detected. You are an enemy. You are to be eliminated with extreme prejudice." One of its arms opened up, displaying seeker missiles.

"Oh shit!" Kursed had to run and dodge out of the way as the missiles were fired at her. Fortunately they missed but they quickly kicked up debris and exploded into some of the hopefully now abandoned homes.

Kursed fired her rifle at the mech but the bullets just reflected off of it. That armor was tough but the only way to shut this thing down was to take out its AI core. She had an idea how to do this but she only had one chance. One of the buildings in front of her had part of its walls removed but there was a staircase.

She quickly across the road, now avoiding the mech's burst of machine gun fire. She ran up the stairs as she pulled out her staff. She was now on the second floor and waited for the machine to take her bait.

She didn't have to wait long as one of its arms crashed through the walls still standing. She quickly hopped onto its arms and ran over to where its "head" was. It tried to shake her off but Kursed held her ground as she jumped into the air while activating her staff. The Super Quake function slammed into the mech's head, shattering the armor like aluminum and exposing its core.

The blast must have scrambled the mech's programming for it started to spill out gibberish before once again saying, "You are an enemy."

Kursed pulled out her blaster. "Nighty night," she said before shooting the core three times. She quickly jumped off as the mech shut down and collapsed onto the ground. Kursed patted the dust off her suit as she holstered her gun and pulled her staff out of the machine's head.

"Hey Kursed, I got some bad news," Lewis said in her ear. "I just lost Evans' signal."

"Damn it," Kursed growled. "I'm almost there."

She broke out into a run, realizing she had already wasted enough time. She was almost at the station when she saw a train passing by up ahead. Then, to her horror, she saw that Evans was on one of the cars with the leopard from before holding a gun to his head.

Her run turned into a sprint as she managed to catch the last car before the train speeded off. She climbed up the ladder to the top and was almost blasted off due to the wind but kept her footing. She pulled out her blaster and jumped from car to car until she could see the two figures. She aimed her blaster once she was on the same car and slowly walked to them.

"I wouldn't get any closer Kursed!" Adamska said as he pulled back the hammer on his gun. "This train's a bit rocky but I assure you at this range my bullet won't miss."

Evans was gagged but he looked at Kursed with pleading eyes. "I don't know what you want with the councilman or who paid you but it's over," Kursed said. "But since you happen to know me, you know I won't let you escape. You get to choose life or a body bag."

Adamska laughed. "Who said we wanted anything with him? Perhaps some of the locals do, but his life is no concern to us. We're just here to… keep the order in check, and we answer to no one. But I suppose we are after the same thing." Suddenly, his gun went off and Evans crumbled to the ground. "Sorry councilman, nothing personal. It's just business."

"You're going to pay for that!" But before she could fire, a blast rattled the car and knocked her off balance.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that!" Adamska said as he took off. Kursed looked over and saw a ship flying towards her. She then realized it wasn't one of Macbeth's. The aircraft started to fire at her and took out the car she had been standing on before jumping over. She could see it was targeting her and fired her blaster rapidly at the ship's cockpit. It cracked the canopy but one shot appeared to have struck the pilot for it veered off to the left and soon crashed.

Kursed looked at the charred remains of the car, Evans' body long gone now. She bowed her head. "I'm sorry Evans… I let you down. But I won't them get away with this." She kept moving, heading towards the engine, where Adamska had to be.

However, she then saw someone else up ahead and took caution. "Who the hell are you?"

The figure turned and she almost jumped. The person was a gray fox, resembling Fox slightly but she was female. She had an amused smile on her face. "Mind if I…cut in?"

"As a matter of fact I do," Kursed said. "Let me guess, you're working with your friend the sharpshooter?"

"You could say that," the fox said. "But he's not my friend, nor do I agree with his methods of execution."

"Well, if I have to go through you to get to him so be it," Kursed said.

"Of course, now I remember you Kursed," the fox said. "Ridding the galaxy of the wicked. Tell me, is your cause just or do you just tell yourself that?"

"Fuck you!"

"It appears I struck a nerve," the fox said as she unsheathed the blade she was holding at her side. "It appears we'll have to settle this formally."

"Tch." Kursed pulled out her staff as well. "Before I end up killing you I need to know your name."

"The name is Rina, and I'll have the first strike!" Her actions were quick and fluid, quacking putting Kursed on the defensive. She quickly held up her staff to block an overhead slice. "Ah, your weapon is strong as well," Rina remarked. "But a weapon is only as good as the wielder who uses it!" She struck again, forcing Kursed back slightly.

Soon the train entered a tunnel and everything went dark. She could quickly sense Rina and tell she was waiting, but she didn't know Kursed was a Cerinian. Finding her, she launched herself forward and attacked but Rina blocked her strike before moving back. "Nice try, but my senses are exceptional as well."

Kursed growled and kept up her attack. Rina kept blocking but now she was being forced back. "Not bad, not bad at all," she said. "I can see you've been taught to fight at a young age and your skills prove that. Unfortunately, I still have a few years on you and this is no ordinary blade."

The train then cleared the tunnel and both of them were facing each other. The blade Rina carried soon started to glow a bright red and instead of attacking head on, she swung her blade in a large arc and the glowing red arc shot off towards her.

Kursed tried to use her staff's ability to shield herself but it was too late. The attack knocked her off her feet and she crashed hard onto the metal of the car they were standing on. She had hit her head hard and it wasn't long before she soon blacked out.

(A/N: For this next part, the song I'm using is "Sad" from The Last Story. I don't think that's the actual name of the song but oh well.)

Two years ago…

*The cold rain fell on her fur as she ran through the streets of Corneria. She no longer knew if she was still crying or not. She then stopped at the corner and broke down. The guilt she had been harboring for some time had finally gotten to her.

What she had done to Fox and the others was unforgivable. She had deserted them and instead went along with Star Wolf. But now she realized the fame and satisfaction she had for a short while hadn't been worth it. She went from being loved to hated by the people of Corneria and it was those words, including "traitor", that finally got to her.

After a short while she finally recovered and a strange calm came over her. There was only one thing left to do then. If they wanted her gone, then so be it. She wanted to make up for what has been done, but she can't do it herself. No, someone else had to do it.

"Kursed," she then murmured. A sad smile crept onto her face. The name seemed perfect given her predicament. "I'll no longer be Krystal. I will always be Kursed."

Once she dried herself off, she turned back and headed to the hangar to get the Cloud Runner. There was much to be done.

(A/N: Eh… I'm not so sure what to say about this chapter but I'm alright with it. I know you guys probably don't mind though. Well, I got this all done in one day so I'm off the hook right? Just kidding, but like I said before my schedule is going to get crazy. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you guys soon.)

FoxMcCloud7921