[A/N] Jeralee: muaahahahaha! Gotta love cliffhangers when you're the writer of them. Hopefully this will make up for both the cliffhanger and the Dante-absense... As will the next chapter ;D /teasetease And thank you for your kind praises ^^
Turning one more corner, Lee halted, a shocked breath escaping her throat as she laid eyes upon the sight before her.
Atlas's disgusting body was hovering over a young woman. She couldn't tell whether the woman was conscious or not, or even still alive, though that didn't make the frightful stare that she seemed to be directing towards the detective any better.
"You motherfucker..." Lee growled, and without waiting a moment longer, she raised her gun and shot at the monster, anger flowing through her.
The beast yowled in pain and turned to look at her, not having sensed her approach any earlier. The corners of its mouth turned down in a grimace and she bet that if it could, it would have frowned.
"It's you...!" it yelled and tried to change its angle to face her. Unfortunately for Atlas, its body happened to be a bit too big for this narrow alley, unable to turn around.
Lee noticed the blood dripping down its chin and scanned the unmoving body beneath it for any signs of bite marks. A pair of arms from behind her interrupted her as they wrapped themselves around her shoulders, a foreign smell infiltrating her nose as, from the corner of her eye, she noticed blond hair.
Cursing softly, she struggled to free herself, only for Blondie to tighten his hold on her, forcing her to stay still and, unfortunately for him, giving her the opportunity to calm down and rethink the situation. Realising that her hand with her gun had free range, the corners of her mouth twitched upwards and she wondered whether Blackie was both the brawl and the brains of their team.
While Blondie was still none the wiser of her plan, Lee aimed her weapon slightly behind her and pulled the trigger. She winced as the recoil seemed worse than usual because her arm refused to move with the flow, with Blondie hugging her from behind.
The man yelled out in pain and released her as a bullet buried itself into his foot.
Lee ran off in the direction of one of the other paths that began in this alley, but not without throwing in a few more gunshots aimed towards Atlas, who had almost managed to turn around by now. Her finger kept pulling back the trigger until it gave a click, after which she flew into an opening.
More yelling and screaming came from behind her, but she didn't actively listen to it as she quickly reloaded her gun with some new ammo. She took in her surroundings as she did so, noting this road was just as narrow, if not more so, than the previous one. That would aid her in this stupid battle she had begun with the demon, knowing fully well she would never win like this. Especially not with Blondie thrown into the mix.
She rounded the corner at the end and took a few steps until another gap opened up, leading back into the direction from which she had just come from, the pathway that had been closest to Atlas. There, she stood and listened for a while, trying to gather what the others were up to.
That wasn't such a difficult task, with both of them shouting loudly at each other. Was Blondie a demon, too? Like Atlas? Why else would they have what seemed like such a comradery? That meant that Blackie, too, was one. If he were to join this fight, then it was sure to be a quick death for her.
Still, she wasn't planning on going down easily.
Atlas tried to quiet down, but it was impossible not to hear the sound of his sides scraping against the walls as it made its way towards her. Blondie, on the other hand, had the advantage here, and Lee knew that he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
Raising her gun in the direction of the scraping, she pulled the trigger two more times. Without waiting to listen if she had hit her mark, she jumped up and jogged back to one of the other paths to try and discern Blondie's position. She was in luck, or so it seemed, and she heard soft muttering and cursing coming from this alley, and so she chose the third and final pathway to sneak back to where she had first seen Atlas, thankful for the lack of snow.
Once there, she kneeled down next to the unfamiliar woman, whose eyes were now closed. Two fingers pressed against her neck proved that she was still alive, and Lee also had the chance to check over the body for any wounds. A small puddle of blood lay under the stranger and quickly Lee found that the woman had lost half her arm.
Her stomach churned at the idea of it having been eaten by Atlas, but what else was there to think? It was then that she also realised that having come back hadn't been such a good idea. She should have led the two of them away from this girl.
Sudden movement behind her proved that she was already too late, and before she knew it, pain erupted in her side and it was only then that she realised a gun had been shot behind her.
Pressing a hand against her side, Lee watched the blood flow from between her fingers and wondered whether the bullet was stuck in her, or had just barely grazed her; she couldn't think properly at the moment. Then she turned around to glare at the perpetrator, finding Blackie had caught up with his friends.
She growled and clenched her teeth together when she heard more commotion up ahead. It wouldn't take long until Atlas and Blondie made their way back to her.
So she grabbed her gun and fired behind her just as she got to her feet. When she was standing again, she pulled the trigger again, and once more before she disappeared into the alley which she had already established to be empty.
None of her bullets had hit the man, but at least it had given her the opening she needed to get away from there. She felt horrible for leaving the woman behind, but she thought that she was the only one who knew the truth about Atlas. If she was to die, only more people would die. And anyway, maybe they would be too busy catching her to feast upon the girl's body.
This time, Lee didn't allow herself the time for stealth. They knew which way she had gone, and the blood trail she was leaving behind would give her away anyway, so she opted for speed instead.
That didn't go too well, though, and at the end of the way she had to lean against a wall to regain her breath, her head swimming from the sudden blood loss. She pinched herself to stay focussed and pushed herself on, entering the final alley that would lead out of this maze, judging by the dim light she could see at the end.
Her feet were accompanied by the shaking of the floor as Atlas, who seemed to have recovered from most of its wounds, pursued her, Blackie and Blondie probably not far behind.
Once more in the open, she was surprised to see that the street was completely deserted, all the attention in the main street. She had only gotten farther away from the busy streets by using the alleys, after all.
Instead of making for the other side of the road to create some distance between herself and Atlas, she chose to hide behind the corner instead. The other side of the street was filled with buildings, there were no gaps through which she could escape, and the only other ways to get away were to just run through the streets. That didn't seem like such a great idea with a huge demon following her.
It didn't take long for the tremors in the floor to reach her position. Lee closed her eyes, saying some last words and all that crap as she believed that this might well be her final moment alive.
She held her gun so that she was aiming at the entrance of the darkness, her finger on the trigger and ready to pull at the first sight of Atlas's horrible head.
One of its paws became visible and landed just before her, a jolt running through her body as it slammed onto the ground. She couldn't hear anything else and guessed that Blackie and Blondie had been given the order to back down and leave her to Atlas itself.
Its head finally left the dark alley. First its nose, then its grinning mouth with its deadly teeth. Just before she could see the cloth over its eyes, and so just before it could see her, she fired her gun at it in fast succession, emptying it in one go.
Atlas yelled again and thrashed around, its tail hitting the sides of the wall in its throes of pain. It shook its head about and Lee jumped back just in time to dodge a paw it swatted in her direction. She had learned from her previous encounter, but mainly she had just blinded his eye with a bullet.
Using that to her advantage, she once more created a distance between the two of them while she reloaded her gun at the same time. She was running out of ammo and hadn't inflicted any lethal damage - she was going to have to make every shot count from now on.
But then again, how was she supposed to do that when she did not even know its weak points? It looked as though it didn't have any in the first place, and she didn't have enough bullets to experiment.
"Will you stop shooting at me!" Atlas barked at her and freed itself from the narrow path it had almost gotten stuck in.
The sight of its tail gave her hope. Trails of its own blood were joining in with what she now presumed to be poison, dripping to the floor as one. So it wasn't invulnerable after all.
"Only when you stop killing innocent people and eating them," she replied, frustrated at the predicament she had gotten herself in once more.
By now, she was standing at the other side of the road, having decided to go down that route anyway. She didn't want any people straying from the parade to have to meet Atlas, which would most likely end in their deaths, and so she didn't really have any other options. All her hope rested on her final clip of ammo.
"You know, you're very stubborn for a human," Atlas commented and tilted its head to the side. Its covered eyes held her back from reading its emotions, leaving her hanging in the dark a little about how it meant its statement.
"Really? I always thought that stubbornness was some kind of normal human trait that everyone has," she replied anyway.
Atlas shook its head from side to side. It didn't look like a 'no' and so she interpreted it as a shrug as it continued, "Maybe. But a normal human trait is also that they die when you want them to. You, you keep escaping..."
Lee scoffed at that. "You say that as though we have had many more encounters than just these two."
"Well, if you're used to your prey dying before encountering you even once, meeting someone for the second time is a rather special occasion," it shot back, growing slightly frustrated at the thought of having to meet this woman a third time.
"Whatever," said woman then answered, deciding that this confrontation had been going on for too long.
She raised her gun one final time, and Atlas even had the nerve to tilt its head to the side again, almost waiting for her to do her thing. It wouldn't have been any worse had Atlas started laughing at her and broadened itself to make it easier to hit it.
In her fury, she first aimed for its other eye, effectively taking that out as well. Atlas yelled, but otherwise remained still. This was obviously a challenge, and she knew she was going to lose it.
Another gunshot rang out. A bullet buried itself in its chest, which was quickly followed by one more exactly next to it.
And so Lee carried on, frustrated by the lack of defeat Atlas showed her. Sweat dripped down her temple at the combination of tiredness, pain and ire burning inside of her. Where was the justice in this? Weren't the good guys supposed to prevail? Then why was she obviously on the losing side right now?
"Are you done yet?" Atlas chuckled when her weapon stopped firing shots, the last round having been fired.
It didn't wait for an answer from her, instead going in straight for the kill. The blood loss made her brain function slower than it should, and in an almost sluggish manner she looked left and right, trying to find a way to get out. Trying to escape wouldn't work, her feet refusing to move in fear of collapsing if she did so.
So she did all her mind could conjure in that moment. She bent down and then straightened her back again, revealing a knife she always kept in her boot. With knife she meant a switchblade, and as she unfolded it and held it out in front of her in a defensive manner, she was thankful for the fact that Atlas couldn't see the uncertain doom to which it was rushing.
When it got close enough, she would stick her hand into its mouth and try to stab it somewhere inside.
That had been her original plan, at least.
But suddenly, red blocked Lee's vision, and she took that cursed step backwards in surprise. Her knee buckled and she crashed to the ground, shaking all over now that her concentration had been broken.
"You really are more trouble than you're worth, do you know that?" the voice which she had come to loathe yet long for in such a short period of time spoke.
Her heart clenched painfully at his words, and she wasn't sure if she was happy because he had gone through all that trouble to save her again, or if she was devastated at how he seemed to consider her unworthy of his energy. Maybe she should just be grateful that she was once more going to be saved, but she really couldn't stop despising herself because she kept needed to be saved.
"Then why don't you just leave me be?" she whispered, not expecting Dante to hear her words.
He did hear them, though he didn't react as Atlas clashed against his sword. The demon began to curse at the devil hunter for arriving so suddenly and taking its meal from it, again.
"Stop meddling with my affairs, you bastard!" Atlas spat and jumped back a few paces, brandishing its wounded tail as it did so.
"Yeah, you'd like that, wouldn't you? I'm a man, I understand the need to eat in peace, but maybe you should search something more of your own size," Dante retorted before holding his hand before his mouth in a fake gasp. "Oh, don't tell me, all of those are far too powerful for you to fight?"
Atlas chuckled at Dante's taunts and shook its head, but didn't reply.
When it didn't move, instead waiting for Dante to make the next move, the half-demon sighed and replaced his sword on his back before pulling out two guns from their holsters in a far too showy fashion.
"Have it your way," he said and began to shoot at the demon without giving it a chance to react.
Atlas grunted and tried to get out of the way, but wherever it went, Dante repositioned himself and the bullets followed it.
When it seemed that it had had enough, it lifted its head and opened its mouth in what looked like a silent cry. No sound came and Dante looked around in confusion, wondering what the meaning of Atlas's move had been.
That became obvious quite soon when he shifted his two guns from aiming only at Atlas, to aiming at both Atlas and a movement somewhere to his side.
Lee saw Blondie appear, the wound in his foot already gone, which was why the man now managed to dodge all the shots with ease. And after all, Dante had to concentrate on two moving targets at the same time while making sure nothing happened to her, still sitting on the ground behind him.
"Do you... do you have any ammo on you that I can use?" she mumbled once she started feeling guilty for causing such trouble for the man trying to protect her.
"Check my pocket," was all he said as he turned his body slightly so that one of his pockets was turned to her.
Having lost too much blood to blush, Lee reached in and pulled out whatever she could find, letting out a sigh of relief when she realised that, somehow, it was exactly what she needed.
"Why..." she wanted to ask, but Dante shushed her before she could finish her question.
She shrugged and reloaded her gun. Then she looked up and wondered which enemy she should target, with Blondie being too fast for Dante's rain of bullets but Atlas seeming too menacing to just let him be. As though sensing her dilemma, Dante now turned to the other side, indicating for her to reach into that pocket as well.
"What...?" she began, but she stopped herself when she felt her hand touch the familiar and cool metal of a gun.
With a frown she pulled out a brand new weapon from his pocket, and without wondering why or how Dante could run around town while being so packed, she checked the ammo and was happy to find it full.
"You do know how to dual wield, right?" Dante asked, his frown visible in his voice.
At that, Lee let out a laugh as she lifted both guns at the same time, trying to get the feel of the new arrival while ignoring the tremble of her arms. "Who do you think I am?"
And with that, as though some silent pact had been made between the two of them, Dante shifted his aim from Blondie back to Atlas. At the exact same time, she began to fire both weapons at Blondie, who had a harder time dodging two sprays of bullets and was forced to keep his distance after all.
Atlas noticed the added disadvantage they had gotten by the adding of two guns and it let out a yowl, calling the retreat. Blondie disappeared with a few bounds, while Atlas ran down the street to find itself a place to regenerate and turn into human shape.
"Next time will be the last!" it yelled before vanishing around a corner.
"I sure hope so! I couldn't stand to see your ugly face any more!" Dante called after it, but the lack of response indicated that Atlas could no longer hear them. Or chose to ignore the insult.
A sigh from Lee as she dropped the guns to the ground to lean forward reminded him of her presence, and soon he kneeled down next to her.
"You're wounded," he stated, which got him a sore look from his friend.
"Thank you for informing me of this, Captain Obvious. I had not yet noticed it," she shot back at him as she pressed a hand against her side with a wince. She had managed to ignore it with the threat of the demon hovering above her, but now that Atlas was gone, the weight of it all came crashing down on her.
"Excuse me, I was a little busy trying to keep you alive," he offered with an apologetic smile. "Plus, you managed to handle yourself so well, I hadn't thought to check up on you."
She shook her head, dismissing the subject. "Not important right now. We need to get back to..."
Dante interrupted her by holding up a hand before he handed her her guns and picked her up with ease.
"Wha-!" she began to exclaim, but the half-demon cut her off once more.
"James is on it, don't worry. I'm taking you back to my place, it's closer than your house. Just try to keep pressure on it while we're on our way," he then helpfully informed her before trotting off, not waiting to listen to her protests.
