AN: Hey guys! I don't have a whole lot to say about this chapter... So I guess I'm just going to say enjoy!
The Murray, Josephina was finding out, was not the best singer. He in fact had a voice that made her want to cut off her own ears and throw herself from the still moving van which was currently traveling at just over 60 miles per hour. Clutching at the seat with a death grip as Murray swerved around a slow moving piece of equipment going in the opposite direction Josephina contemplated her suddenly prevalent mortality. Of course holding the seat made it impossible to cut ones own ears off, or even turn down the radio blaring rock and roll music. Currently the hippo was singing along to Back in Black about as poorly as a person could. Her fur on edge and eyes wide Josephina wondered how she would die in the event they did in fact crash. She was hoping she'd be killed quickly because the torture she was under currently was a slow and cruel death she wouldn't wish on even the worst of her enemies.
Were road trips always like this when it came to Murray? She really hoped not. Given the gang's propensity for moving around then she surely would end up murdering someone before very long. Sly and Bentley seemed rather sane though, despite being thieves. By the time they made it back to Cairo, Josephina was 90% sure she'd lost her hearing and 100% overjoyed to out of the van. The market had been restored to order and was once again full of people. Late afternoon sun pounded down on the streets as Murray found the holographic marker Bentley had projected using satellite or something.
"That's Kahari, Carlotta's head of security." Bentley said, voice cracking through the earpiece. "You'll have to beat him at his own game if we want to clear out some of the guards and make sure Kahari won't interfere with our plans."
"The Murray is ready to take on any foe placed before him!" Murray announced loudly causing Josephina's ears to automatically flick back against her skull.
"Don't underestimate him Murray, Kahari is a mercenary, and he's likely to cheat if he thinks he's going to lose. Watch out for his claws, he's smaller and faster than Sly is, this won't be an easy fight!"
"No problem Bentley! The Murray will take him out like yesterday's garbage before even knows what hit him!"
Josephina watched as the hippo walked up to the cheetah on the other side of the market where Kahari was trying to gode passersby into fighting with him. Rather than move to her mission she slipped through the crowd herself to suss out The Murray's abilities.
"Greetings." Kahari said as Murray approached. "You look like a man who could win a fight or two. Care to try your luck?"
"The Murray would like nothing more!" Kahari gave a sharp toothed grin.
"Very well, step into the ring." Josephina had been trained, even at a young age, how to fight. She'd been brought up in a home of paranoid people and drilled in defense. Even after her parent's deaths she got into more fights than any other kid her age, including the boys. Of course that was until the boarding school. So as Murray stepped into the ring she saw the attack Kahari was going to deliver from behind.
"Murray look out!" She yelped, catching his attention just in time for him to pull out of the way with an 'Oh geeze!'
"I know you, Murray, I saw you come into camp." For a terrifying moment Josephina's heart leapt wildly. If Kahari knew the gang were thieves after his boss, this whole situation could turn deadly quick. "Carlotta's workers rarely have the courage to come down to test my skill. I'm glad to see you are not like those pathetic lizards and goats she has hired. The girl in the crowd seems concerned for you. Are you sure you wish for her to see me beat you into a pulp? She is very pretty."
"Me and Josephina? I barely know her... I don't think she's really my type..."
"In a way I find that a relief..." Josephina muttered
"I forgot to mention, Kahari is a notorious ladies man around these parts."
"I'm surprised you're not having us go that angle then..." She frowned in confusion.
"I wasn't sure he'd go for you..."
"Is everyone but the bad guy going to call me ugly today?"
"Hey, you already know how I think you look." Sly chimed in.
"I figured you wouldn't go for a plan that called for you to be bait like that..." Josephina could practically hear Bentley shrugging on the other end of the line.
"You're right I wouldn't have, but that doesn't mean you have to insult me." She rolled her eyes and focused back on the pair in the ring. Kahari was still grinning at her with a contemplative and somewhat pleased look on his face.
"Maybe I'll have to try to win her over then..." He said, giving her a smile.
"In your dreams pal..." Josephina glared at him through the crowd. "Hey Murray, do me a favor... kick his ass." Murray nodded and got into position.
A bell rang and the pair circled each other for several seconds. Kahari, being a cheetah was fast, agile, and thin, with semi-retractable claws that were clearly kept sharp. Murray was the opposite, heavy set and slower despite years of running and two years fighting, he had the power, Kahari had the endurance Murray lacked. Even in the first few moments of the fight it was clear Kahari would eventually come out on top unless Murray could land the proper hits.
Ducking and weaving around Murray Kahari laughed. He moved like any domestic cat toying with a mouse, there one second then gone the next. Murray caught him a couple times, delivering several harsh blows but Kahari was more resilient than he'd appeared. That was until Murray was able to catch on to the way he moved and the patterns he fought with. For seemingly given up on brains for his brawn, Murray was smart when it came to fighting. He knew how to keep up his guard, which was useful against the cheetah, and knew how to find an opening.
Kahari stumbled into the fence, leaning heavily on it and casting a hateful glare at Murray. "Alright then, get in here boys, let's put this fighter down!" Several members of the crowd leapt over the railing to join the fight. Murray was already wounded in several places from Kahari's claws, long scratches on his sides and several bruises forming in various places. Of course Kahari wasn't doing much better, he too had several bruises and scrapes.
"Bring it on!" Murray shouted, clothes-lining one of his new assailants. Josephina flinched as a second hit the ground hard enough to crack it. It didn't take much longer for Kahari to follow suit. Out cold Murray roared, literally roared, in victory. Her eyes widened in panic. Even at her best, there was no way she'd be able to take him in a fight. She doubted even their strongest member, Lindsey, could take him.
"Josephina, you need to get those items I need before Kahari wakes up..." Bentley called dragging her out of her shocked thoughts.
"Eh... right, sorry Bentley. I'll make contact with Gafar now..." She slipped into the alleyway on the other side of the market, thoughts whirling with slight panic. Gafar looked up, a hearty greeting on his lips dying with a look of exasperation.
"Oh for the love of all things... what do you want with me now? I've told you all you wanted to know!" He barked.
"Relax Gafar, I'm here for some items this time. I'll even pay you." Gafar's eyes lit up with greed and he nodded for her to tell him what she was buying. "I need tar, barrels, sealant, a half mile of cable, and as many magic lamps as you can carry." Grinning wildly he fetched the items she needed and she passed over the last bit of money she had. "Bentley you are so repaying me for all this crap..."
"I'll be sure to. Get Murray so he can load up the van... Kahari seems to be coming around..."
"How do you-"
"I hacked the street camera on the corner."
"That's nice..." She gave a tight lipped smile to Gafar and slipped out to get Murray's help. The hippo took exactly three trips to carry all the barrels while Josephina loaded the rest on her own. An enraged roar caught her off guard, and she spotted Kahari yelling at his men, who then proceeded to make their way towards the van. "Hey Murray... we gotta go..." She said, pulling him away from a vendor selling small glass figurines. The ferret leapt into the passenger seat as Murray took the wheel and the van peeled out of its parked position, kicking up gravel and sand. Josephina clutched to the seat again, looking in the side mirror to see the men had taken up motorcycles and were in pursuit.
"Of course they do... Murray get us out of this market, try not to hit anyone. I'll see if I can't pick them off so they can't do any damage to the van." She ordered, frowning as she pulled out her gun and checked the ammo. "Perfect fully stocked. Murray, don't stop for anything you hear me?" The hippo nodded, a determined look on his face. "Good." She pulled the spare earpiece from Trista out of her leg pouch, hitting a button that was an emergency broadcast to her team she threw it in the ring as the van passed before leaning out the window and firing three shots at the closest follower. She could see Lindsey appear on the roof tops moments later, followed closely by Hel and Aline, and instantly closing in on Kahari. Turning she gasped and pulled her upper half back into the van seconds before the van crashed through a stall.
"Keep us on the road there pal." She said as Murray swerved around another person. "I don't want to die."
"Sorry Josephina..."
"Josie, just call me Josie. Please, it's shorter." She took a deep breath and pushed back through the window, wincing as several shots connected with the van.
"Hey Jose, you gotta keep 'em from hitting us... If we take too much damage we're stranded."
"Just worry about not hitting stuff!" She growled, firing several times and taking out another of the guys following them. "Two down... eight to go... If we don't lose them before we get of the market they'll warn Carlotta... Gotta take them all out..." Shooting accurately while in a swerving van was hard, nearly impossible. Honking the horn and yelling at people to get out of the way Murray was swiftly leading them out of the market, and there was only a few men still following them. Swapping out her spent charge clip for a fresh one, Josephina took aim at the three still a threat. Yelping as she was hit from behind by a stall front she pulled back into the van, losing her gun in the process.
"Sorry Jose..." Murray winced, giving her a sidelong glance and noticing the red spilling down her neck from the back of her head. "Oh hey you're bleeding!"
"Yeah I know... That mess should stop that guy from following us... Damn... Just get us back to the camp." She slipped into darkness moments later.
Lindsey, Hel and Aline smirked as Kahari and his men were hauled away from the once again chaotic market. Carmelita glared at the mess with contempt as she walked away from the police cars as they drove off.
"This is getting out of hand. We need to move in and catch Cooper now." She said, kicking at a small pile of rubble. "We're lucky no one's been hurt!"
"Relax Carmelita. This isn't bad compared to some of our past jobs together... There was a time in Mongolia where we completely destroyed a small village in the middle of nowhere... and the last time we were in Mexico I got to blow up the entire top floor of a major skyscraper so... This really isn't that bad." Carmelita stared at Lindsey as the tabby streached, looking over the minor destruction of the market and her eye twitched, if this was their definition of not bad, she didn't want to see total disaster.
"Lindsey has a point. We've had much worse in terms of destruction of property." Aline mused. "We'll help clean up. Trista said that Josie told us to hold off, so we'll hold off. Besides Triss is close to getting the exact coordinates for Carlotta's camp. We'll move out and be ready for when Josie gives the green light to take down the raccoon." Hel nodded.
"Fear not Carmelita, we will have the Cooper gang soon. With the six of us working together there is no way he will elude capture." Hel's voice made Carmelita's fur stand on edge. It was cold and rasping, and made Carmelita feel like she needed to clear her own throat.
"He better not. With this much manpower and effort he'd better be in handcuff when this is all over." The inspector stalked off, muttering angrily in Spanish as she went.
"Threat without an actual threat, and here I thought she would be boring..."
"She's definitely an interesting woman. I just hope we can keep her under control long enough for Josie to suss out all the Cooper gang's weaknesses and strengths." Aline mumbled.
"Don't worry about her, if need be we can always tie her to a chair. The real problem is making sure we're ready with a plan for when we get the go ahead." Lindsey frowned as she watched the inspector leave the market.
"Tris will think of something. Cooper's gang is crafty but there's only so much they can do when two are untrained and one's a cop."
"If Josie can hold it together… this is the Klaww gang we're talking about, murderers of her parents way back when? Remember all that?"
"Josie will be fine, we have to trust her. She's always pulled through. Just give her time." Hel finished definitively, glaring between the other two. "Let's get back to Trista and make sure we have all that we need for the trip out to the camp. We will worry about the other vixen if the need arises." The other two nodded and they set out back towards the hotel.
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