Chapter Twenty-Five:

Everybody (Wants to Rule the World)

It was nighttime and the summer air was warm, dry and filled with the hints of ocean breeze. Shooters patrolled the perimeter of Babylon Nights, which was closed for the night, for safety purposes. Jasper sat in his office, throwing back a shot of gin and tonic. He looked at his phone when he felt it buzz. He checked it: it was a text from Chanel. She's located at the Oceanview Chateau. We're on our way to you. Jasper reached into his pocket, placing on the choice specs. He then loaded up his pistol and checked himself in the full body mirror. He wore all black tonight—with silver rings on each finger. He did a brief once over, checking the sights and weight. He lit a cigarette, taking a long, anxious drag. He blew out a bit of smoke, looking over his shoulder when he heard a knock on his door.

"They're here," Chance informed him.

"Comin'," he said, walking out of his office. He locked the door behind him and gave Chance a dap and pound. They walked together, leaving through the back exit of the nightclub. Parked by the street side were three black vans with heavily tinted windows. The doors slid open and Haze helped Jasper in, with Chance trotting close behind. He sat in the middle seat, while Chance sat in the back. Haze shut the door and indicated to the driver to pull off. Sitting with Haze were Sticks, Lil Pac and Chanel. They were checking the sights on their weapons as they cruised down the local roads. Jasper texted Mardi to stay home and keep the doors locked and curtains drawn. When he set his phone aside, he looked out the window, contemplating. This might be the end, he thought resignedly.

"Oceanview Chateau is huge," Chanel explained, unfurling blueprints, "But here's the thing, it got a lot of vantage points. As we speak, snipers already settin' up, campin' here, here and here," she pointed.

"Her bodyguard was put in the hospital," Haze told Jasper.

"You tal'bout that Banette gal?"

"BeBe," Haze said, "Yeah."

"She ain't dead?"

"She almost 'dead,'" Haze said, "As more dead as a ghost type can be."

"So who her new bodyguard?" Chance inquired, looking nervous.

"Two new niggas," the Muk man informed, "One of them a heavyweight boxer, human, but he can knock yo ass out—good night, nigga and niggas on the block say he an excellent sharpshooter, his name is Mac. The other one is named Jones."

"Jones?" Chanel sucked her teeth.

"Yeah Jones—the nigga a mon."

He showed Jasper clandestine pictures of Mac and Jones. Mac was huge, with muscles bulging through his tight shirt. He was pale, dark eyed, clearly from Kalos, with his blonde hair tied back in a large man bun and his matching beard. He was armed with titanium knuckles with a sleeve tattoo that covered his entire right arm. Jones was shorter, slimmer and looked…rather cheerful, as if he shouldn't have been in this line of work. His skin was deep and brown and the tip of his nose was pink. His black-brown hair was shaved at the sides and it went well his youthful coffee colored eyes. Jasper lifted an eyebrow, realizing Jones was of the Dugtrio lineage. That line was always born as triplets and so, he definitely had brothers.

"He's a Dugtrio man," Jasper said, "Where the other two?"

"Ain't seen em," Haze said, "Ion even know if they around, but if they is, they keepin' well outta sight."

"Ah fuck," Lil Pac muttered, "I hate them niggas—they fast as fuck and they do be suss shit with the ground."

"You mean arena trappin'?" Haze said.

"Yeah—trappin' niggas. They be dangerous, bruh."

"Ay he may not have that ability," Chanel said, trying to be hopeful but then she sighed, "Who the fuck am I kiddin'."

"What part of the Chateau is she stayin' at?" Jasper asked.

"Her rooms be at the front," Chanel informed, "At least, that's what Lil Pac says."

"Ay, I be spyin'…and I only ever see her near the front of the damn place," Lil Pac chattered.

"How we gettin' in?" Jasper asked Chanel.

"Windows."

"And I'm assumin' she got security crawlin' over the place and workers, ya know, like maids, butlers, housekeepers and shit?"

"Yeah," Chanel confirmed.

"They gon' get caught in the shit," Haze said.

"Try not to kill 'em," Jasper told them, "We gon' be quick."

Lil Pac spun his 9mm around, "You damn straight. These nigga's wildin', bruh; a fuckin' chateau tho? Boujie ass bitch."

"She expectin' us?"

"Ion know why she would," Chanel said, folding up the blueprints, "There's tunnels runnin' underneath tho, low ass tunnels, lower than Parker's GPA. So if she get wind of us, she gon' be tryna escape through there."

"If she does, flood them shits," Jasper said, "Drown her out."

Chanel chuckled, "She'll prolly float with all them implants."

"Yeah, after I put a bullet through her fucking skull," Jasper growled. Chanel gave him a look.

"Damn, lookatchu…"

"She tryna bump me off. Fuck that bitch," he said, leaning forward in his seat, "And we wreckin' her whole crew. Don't leave any of them niggas breathin' if you can."

"Word up," Lil Pac agreed.

The vans got off the freeway, taking Exit 27. They rolled through, slowing from a cruising speed to something less conspicuous. Jasper took one last drag of his cigarette and put it out, flicking it out the window. Smoke escaped his nostrils, like a fire-breathing dragon. Very soon, they were passing a miniature countryside, with green pastures and water palms waving in the distance. It looked beautiful at night, with the stars flung across the sky like a tapestry of diamond beads. There were a few manors in the vista, but the Oceanview Chateau was the crown jewel of this immensely wealthy area. Old money lived here and their seclusion was for their own protection: the envious would flock to those who flaunted their wealth. And although this was an obvious display of consumption, they made sure to build their mansions far away from the prying eyes of urbanites. Out here, it was new world, a world disconnected from the rest of the tourist infested metropolitan of New Palm City. Once they managed to get closer to the main pathway that led into the courtyard of the chateau, they parked near a quiet, still lake that these lodges overlooked. Haze slid open the door and went to the back, getting out the firearms, the melee weapons and ropes with grappling hooks attached. The second van pulled up next to them. Parker, Rapier, Indy and Barry hopped out, already armed to the teeth. They opened the trunk, getting out makeshift pipe bombs and other sorts of explosives. They carried them in reinforced attaché cases. The third and final van pulled up. Glen and Suva hopped out, going to the trunk and getting out a fully automatic rifle as well as a flare gun. Jasper did a once over, checking if they had enough equipment and then gave a thumbs-up when he was certain. He signaled to Chance. The Charizard man sighed to himself and nodded. He told the drivers to go park the vans somewhere less conspicuous, nearer to the forest: the hunting grounds of the rich fucks that lived here. I'm facin' back to front, Jasper thought, adjusting his choice specs. Rapier was wrapping the choice band around his arm, while Sticks opted for the weakness policy, folding it and placing it in his pants pocket. Glen wrapped the expert belt around his waistline and loaded up the rifle, never missing a beat. Jasper checked his pistol and then holstered it in his black suit jacket. Chanel handed him an AR-15 and smiled at him. With that, she wiped two lines of black paint underneath her eyes and tied up her hair. She laced up her combat boots, checked if she had enough knives on her and then finished up by slipping on black gloves. Everyone else did the same routine, pinning back loose hair, lacing up and putting on gloves, concealing their faces with either masks or eye black. Jasper stuck with his black loafers, but he opted for a face mask that only showed his eyes. Then there was the final touch: Chanel gave everyone a communications link piece, placing the mic in everyone's left ear. She made sure everyone was on the same channel, triple checking for accuracy. When everyone was ready, Jasper signaled to move forward. Chance extended his wings and flew up and outward, quietly soaring through the air, moving underneath the cover of night. It was a new moon and this was their chance. Jasper moved quietly through the pasture, looking and listening for any security that may have been patrolling the perimeter. He heard a few. They were half a mile off and closer to the Oceanview Chateau's boundaries rather than the vast sea of grass that they had to cross. He put two fingers up: Glen's signal. He nodded, slinging his assault rifle around his back and got into a sprinting stance. Jasper whispered to him.

"I hear six of them."

"No problem," Glen whispered back. He dashed off, sprinting through the field at incredible speed and he moved silently, as if he was ghost. He withdrew his silencer pistol from his side holster. He leapt upwards and went over the silver plated gate with extraordinary ease. He shot one security guard in the head—a quiet tap, tap. He fell to the ground, blood and brain matter oozing from a partially blown out skull. Glen soundlessly stepped over him and dashed towards the topiary display, hiding behind it. He shot another armed guard in the back of the head, severing the brain stem in the process. They fell to their knees instantly, as if overcome by a sudden plague. Two, Glen thought, creeping through, using the shadows to his advantage. He zipped towards the fountain, kneeling down as he spotted another guard doing his round around the left perimeter. Glen checked the chamber and then shot: tap, tap. The bullets pierced the man's skull and he fell over, crumpling to the ground in an unnatural position. Three, Glen tracked. He sprinted from behind the dimly lit fountain and back into the shadows, not making a sound. He spotted the fourth one, doing his rounds towards the northwest corner. He rushed over to him, popping him in the back of the head.

"Oh shit—!" Another security guard gasped, scrambling to get his gun out. Glen shot him in the face. Five. He whizzed around, heading to the southeast corner of the chateau. The last security guard was smoking instead of patrolling. Glen easily got him in the head, splattering his brains all over the sandstone path. He tapped his ear, checking the signal of the comm. He spoke softly.

"They're dead."

Jasper nodded, looking back at the others, "Move in."

"There're cameras," Chanel warned.

"I gotchu," Lil Pac said, "Go, go. I'ma handle that shit."

They moved forward as Lil Pac took a different path. He darted as fast as he could, sprinting even. When he got close to the Oceanview Chateau, he got down on all fours and scaled the tall stone fence. He moved swiftly, keeping an eye out for cameras. There were eight, one for each cardinal and ordinal direction. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, Lil Pac counted in his head. He rushed forward, keeping close to the ground and stuck to the shadows, using the ostentatious topiary sculptures as cover and springboards. He leapt off of one, scrambling up against the ragged, stone wall. He shorted out one camera and then went to the next one. He inched across a narrow windowsill and somersaulted off of it. He landed gracefully on a stone protrusion. His eyes flashed gold as his cheek pouches lit up, shorting out the second camera. He continued on, jumping and bounding as quickly as possible while avoiding the prying eyes of rooftop guards. He shorted out the third camera and took a moment to catch his breath. He recovered and continued on, wall jumping and scrambling across the uneven surface of the chateau. He shorted out the southwest camera and smiled to himself. He went on, flattening himself against a window with the curtains pulled when a rooftop guard walked by. When he was certain he wouldn't be seen, he shorted out the southeast camera. Three more to go, he mentally counted. He scrambled, finding the northwest camera and shorting it out as quickly as possible. He jumped, doing a perfect front somersault and grabbed onto the ledge that hoisted up the penultimate camera. With one quick flash of his eyes, he shorted that one out. He caught his breath again and scrambled across the ledge on all fours, leaping up to the last camera. He sparked it and it went off.

"Iight, no more cameras," Lil Pac said breathlessly.

"Remain there," Chanel said, "Did the windows have locks or are they just decorative?"

"Some do, some don't," he said.

"Iight," Chanel said, "Parker go."

Parker nodded and took off, moving only a tad faster than Chance, who'd been circling high above the chateau. They attached their silencers onto their pistols and dove down, shooting the six rooftop guards in their heads. When they collapsed, dead, they landed, talking into their comms.

"Them niggas dead," Parker said, kicking the corpse of a guard, "Took care of it."

The rest of them moved towards the Oceanview Chateau. Glen got the gate for them, quickly leading the crew to the southeast side of the building, picking the window Lil Pac was chilling at.

"The locks are on the inside," Lil Pac said over the link.

"That don't matter," Haze responded, "Move out the way." Lil Pac did exactly that, jumping down from the windowsill and landed perfectly on his feet without harm. Haze inhaled deeply, as if clearing his nasal cavity. He spat out a globule of rainbow acid. It hit the window and he waited. The glass began to melt until there was a gaping hole where the lock was. It opened up by itself due to the night wind. Sticks twirled the rope and threw the grappling hook towards the window, securing it. Jasper, on the other hand, didn't need the climb up the rope. He sprinted up the wall, moving so blindingly fast that he was in the room in less than five seconds. He looked around, noting that this was an empty bedroom. He went to the window and helped secure more grappling hooks. Glen and Indy were fast enough to dash up the wall as well, although they needed to wall jump to do so. In about ten to fifteen seconds, they were entering the room, assault rifles in hand as they stood watch. Chanel climbed up first. She was light and nimble, and was able to get up the wall in about three to four minutes. Jasper helped her through and she took her post, keeping an eye out. Lil Pac scrambled up the wall with no use of the rope and got in window in about forty seconds to a minute. He got on one knee, his semi-automatic drawn as he covered Chanel's blind spot. Sticks was the next one to climb, using the rope. He was less nimble than Chanel and took a while—five whole minutes, breathing heavily when he hopped in through the window. Barry was next, taking about the same amount of time: five minutes, stumbling the whole way up. Rapier climbed up the rope, moving quickly, in the windowsill in about a minute. Haze sighed, knowing he'd take the longest. He grabbed the rope, making his way steadily up the wall. Jasper signaled to Chanel and Lil Pac to go on ahead and make a sweep of this floor while Haze was climbing. As he ascended, Parker and Chance soared through the window, landing with their guns drawn.

"We gotta go," Barry said lowly.

Haze was still climbing, grunting as he did.

"Go ahead," Jasper said, "Sweep and snipe."

Barry nodded, walking out with Sticks. Eventually, Haze reached the window, a whole agonizing ten to twelve minutes. Jasper helped him through. He huffed and puffed as he caught his breath, but he soon recovered. He got his rifle in hand and left the empty bedroom. Jasper looked around and checked the sights on his AR-15 one last time and then zipped out. The Oceanview Chateau was divided into three floors, each floor having nine bedrooms. The lobby area was enormous and lavish. There were several contemporary drawing rooms, a modern ballroom and a dining room that was decked out to the nines. Jasper burst into the room of one of the members of Natasha's entourage, shooting them in their bed before they could react. He zipped out, going in and out of rooms in a blink of an eye, shooting whoever the fuck was in there. Parker ran down to two flights of stairs to the lobby, setting the explosives by the entrance. And with that, a human man emerged from one of the drawing rooms, holding a semi-automatic in his hand. He opened fire and Parker lunged to the floor, shooting back. Barry caught the man in the head before he could swiss-cheese Pidgeot man. And as this happened, more people rushed out as the lights began turning on.

"Fuck," Chanel hiss, reloading, "Flank! Move left! Move left!"

Jasper rushed through the lobby narrowly avoiding their bullets as he made his to the blue drawing room. He dashed up the wall and leapt off and sprayed one of the mons who'd been shooting at him. The bullets tore up the opposition's body, turning into a bloody, shredded mess. Fuck! Fuck! Damn! A screaming woman ran out from the kitchen area. Jasper aimed at her but lowered his weapon when he realized it was a cook and not Natasha's entourage. However, she was shot in the throat by a stray bullet. Jasper whooshed away, making his way through the dining room and yellow drawing room in a matter of microseconds.

"Reload!"

He turned around and saw one of Natasha's bodyguards, Mac. He was shooting at Chanel who was ducking behind a marble renaissance statue. He kept shooting until he was out. He tossed aside his rifle and withdrew his pistol. Chanel was crouching behind the statue, trembling. She used the hesitation to shoot back, catching Mac in the shoulder. But he barely flinched as he fired back. Sticks tackled him, knocking the pistol out his hand and Jasper snatched it up, shooting an opp that was trying to snipe Glen. Mac punched Sticks in the face and threw him off. Sticks wiped a bit of blood from his mouth, but was no worse for the wear. He swung at Mac, who blocked expertly and punched him twice in the gut. He grabbed the Skuntank man's arm and spun him around, slamming him onto the marble floor, cracking it underneath him. Sticks spat out more blood, but he could take a hit. He could take many hits. He kicked Mac away from him and got to his feet, scarcely avoiding Mac's left hook. Sticks sucker punched him when he was trying to re-center, getting Mac in the jaw. Mac recoiled, but not for long, grabbing Sticks and throwing him into one of the glass cabinets. Fuck, Sticks groaned, feeling shards of glass sticking him in side. He was still standing though, despite the blood loss. Mac rushed towards him but was blown the fuck back by a bullet through the cheek. He reeled forward and Sticks seized him, throwing him down. He looked over at Chance, who had been one to shoot Mac. The bodyguard was not dead, but the whole side of his face was blown off. He laid on the ground, bleeding out.

"Fuck, Arceus…" Sticks muttered, pulling the glass out of his side and dropping it to the ground.

Chanel ducked out the way of someone trying to smash her head in with the butt of a gun and shot them in the face. She jabbed someone in the throat and kneed them in the balls, shooting them through the skull. There was a loud click and the sound of chains grinding. Jasper grabbed her, zipping her out the way of a fully automatic machine gun spraying up the lobby.

"Make sure Natasha ain't getting' away," Jasper shouted at her.

"Iight!"

Chanel began making her way to the stairs, looking over her shoulder multiple times to see if anyone was following her. There was one—a human man wearing shades in the night for some reason. He was reloading and ready to fire. Lil Pac intercepted, however, jumping on his back and shoving the barrel of his pistol in his mouth. He blew out the back of his head and leapt off of him, darting after and eventually past Chanel to the second floor. She's in the front, she reminded herself, running behind Lil Pac. She kicked open a door and shot whoever the hell was in the room. Lil Pac provided cover fire. There had been three people, all of them armed opps. She walked into the room, looking around. The windows were locked and the bed was empty. Fuck. Lil Pac sniffed the floor and then the walls.

"Help me with this shit," he said to Chanel, trying to push a heavy wooden wardrobe out the way. She obliged, helping him. Behind the wardrobe was a passageway. Lil Pac tapped his link.

"Ay bruh there's a passageway in the first room on the second floor—"

"I see."

Lil Pac jumped in surprise, seeing Jasper already there, walking towards them.

"Should we…go in?" Chanel asked.

"We need cover," Jasper said, turning around and readying his AR-15 when he heard footsteps close to the door. It was one of Natasha's goons. But he was already injured. He fell to the ground. Suva stepped in behind them, kicking the bleeding man down and grabbing his gun, dismantling it and tossing it aside.

"You should prolly tell your flying man to blow out the front."

"You heard that Parker?" Jasper asked.

"Way ahead of you," the Pidgeot man said, clicking the switch to detonate the explosives. Indy and Glen zoomed out the lobby as the explosions went off, collapsing the vestibule and bringing down the atrium surrounding it. Haze melted a man's face who'd been trying to stab him (to no avail). The man howled in unimaginable agony as his skin and bone turned into a vile liquid. Haze pushed him off the edge of the balcony, watching him drop to the ground, his face completely melted off, only leaving half consumed eyeballs. He reloaded and leisurely made his way through the fray, bullets tearing through him, but leaving no real damage as he walked through. He got to the chamber that everyone was now going to: the room with the passageway.

Everyone walked in single file through the passageway, with Chance leading, using his tail flame as a torch. Chanel sprayed full restore on Stick's injuries and then on Haze's. The bullets had gone through him, but left holes. Despite not leaving bloody marks on Haze, it was still a bad injury that would worsen if not treated. Due to their high HP stat, both Sticks and Haze could take hits upon hits, but it was still painful and debilitating and if not treated, they'd die from their injuries.

"Thanks," Haze said to Chanel. She nodded.

"Ain't nothin' to it," she answered, pocketing the full restore. They all continued down the long passageway, which was completely stone. Jasper wondered if this was one of the tunnels that were underneath the Oceanview Chateau. Soon enough, they reached a clearing. Jasper listened around, his ears turning left and right. He heard footsteps above them.

"Look, stairs," Rapier pointed out. Jasper darted over and cautiously took a step. They were hard sandstone stairs that were uneven. He felt the earth beneath him shake and he stepped back. The stairs crumbled one by one, collapsing underneath their own weight, blocking off that exit. Fuck. Jasper looked around and saw that the passageway went deeper. But before he could take a step, someone tunneled through the collapsed stairs, breaking through the wreckage. He coughed from the dust and dusted off his sleek, high end clothes. It was one of Natasha's bodyguards: Jones.

"…Well," Jones began, "Seems like—"

Jasper opened fire without hesitation. Jones dashed away with striking speed. He rushed down the tunnel and the ground beneath the others began to shift and feel unstable.

"He's gonna collapse the tunnel!" Rapier shouted.

Barry shook his head and rolled up his sleeves. He outstretched both his arms. Out of the shell like scaling that covered his forearms, organic-metallic cannons emerged. With not a second to spare, he released a huge geyser of water from those cannons, blasting away the wreckage from the where the stairs were. When he cleared them, they could see hints of starlight. Jasper zipped out, now in a green pasture that overlooked gorgeous hills. Glen, Rapier and Indy were the next ones out, helping the slower ones through. Soon enough, everyone was out of the tunnel, reloading their rifles and pistols.

"Fuck," Jasper hissed, "She's gone."

"Ay fuck that shit!" Parker yelled, "Gone my ass!" He cocked his gun and took the skies.

"AY PARKER!" Chanel shouted.

Parker was climbing into the sky at incredible speeds, gaining altitude quickly. Using his keen, hawk like vision, he spotted Natasha walking towards her Porsche, escorted by one of Jones' brothers, a Dugtrio triplet. He circled around a few times and spoke into his radio earpiece.

"These niggas at the east side… they tryna leave. Bitch goin' to her car. Ain't no way y'all catchin' em—"

Jasper zipped off once he heard where they were. He moved through pastures like a lightning bolt moving through the heavens, going at his top speed.

"Ay this nigga gon get got bro," Parker said, soaring back to where the others were at, "Them niggas don't play."

Lil Pac sighed and went after Jasper. Chanel followed him while Indy, Suva and Glen darted past her, rushing through the grass, leaving a trail of dust behind them. Rapier ran his top speed, bolting through the grass like a runaway train, kicking up a dust trail as well. As they caught up, Jasper reached the Porsche, opening fire at two of Natasha's men, killing them. He was out now and so, he dropped the AR-15 and reached for his pistol. Natasha ducked behind her car, taking her firearm from her purse and shot back. Her shooters flanked her, shooting back at Jasper. He whizzed out he way, whooshing by at immense speeds. Jones tunneled up, signaling to his two brothers to follow him. All three ran after Jasper, moving at incredible speed themselves. They spread out, damn near catching him as they closed the gap. He shot back at one of them, catching him in the leg. The brother fell over, tumbling painfully as the other two kept on running. Jones, however, got shot in the head by Parker who was in the air. The last brother was catching up to Jasper. However, he did a sharp hairpin turn, shaking him off in the process. The Dugtrio brother had to slow down and lose momentum to do that expert turn. He grabbed his pistol, ready to shoot Jasper. Rapier intercepted, however, as he slowed down, impaling him with his horn—one hit kill. He kicked him off and reloaded, shooting at more opposition flooding into the field. Natasha got into her Porsche with a mon jumping in her backseat, providing cover fire as she drove off. She rammed through the gate and headed into the road, ignoring any signs and signals. Jasper skidded to a halt, catching his breath and saw Chanel going behind a tree, providing cover fire for Lil Pac who was backing up Sticks.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He shouted, holstering his pistol. He heard Chanel scream as a bullet caught her in the shoulder. She fell over, crying out. An opp closed in on her but Rapier shot him in the back and kicked him over. His vermillion hair had become flames as his eyes burned a fiery orange. He set the pasture ablaze, creating a firewall between approaching shooters and his crew. He helped up Chanel and got her to safety, away from the fray. But the flames didn't stop these relentless motherfuckers. They kept shooting and closing in. Jasper gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. His eyes went white gold as he stretched out his arms. The streetlights and the lights from the manors surrounding them had overloaded briefly and then went dark, shadowing the whole hillside. He roared, letting out waves of lightning out of his body. The lightning leapt into the field and went right through the bodies of the opposition, stopping their hearts, exploding their eyes right out of their heads and searing their flesh, electrocuting them within an inch of their life and then some. His choice specs cracked as he did. He took a deep breath and fell to his knees for a moment. Rapier made a fist and snuffed out the flames as he saw everyone who'd been shooting at them were incapacitated…or dead. Some twitched in pure paralytic pain, others had their skin and hair burned off and the rest had gone into cardiac arrest.

"Damn nigga," Lil Pac yelled as he got to his feet. Rapier set down Chanel, looking at her wound. The bullet had grazed her, but it was a bad injury. He reached in her pocket for her full restore. He tore open her sleeve and sprayed the injury. She clenched her teeth in agony, feeling tears starting to fall down her face.

"She got away," Chanel moaned, gripping Rapier's arm. Jasper walked over to her.

"No she ain't," Jasper said, tapping his nose.

"Ay then, go get this bitch," she said, holding Rapier close, "We gon' catch up. Don't worry."

Jasper looked at Rapier, who gave him a reassuring nod and stayed with Chanel. He stretched and sprinted off, accelerating in mere seconds, racing down the pathway and into the streets.

Natasha came to a loud screeching halt at The Rag. She was shaking, but not out of fear or distress, but sheer anger. She reached for her phone, dialing a contact. She waited until they answered.

"I am in trouble!" Natasha screamed, "I need to get back to Kalos. I cannot deal with no more shit here. People here are too caught up in wanting to keep their way of life. I say, let them have it! I need a ticket to Kalos immediately. I want to be gone by morning's light. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am," a soft voice squeaked over the line.

"Good. I am done here. I will go back where I am wanted," Natasha hissed, hanging up. She grabbed a cigarette from her fur coat pocket and lit it with her diamond studded lighter. She took a long drag. She looked at the mon who'd been sitting in the back seat. He was shot, but barely injured, only having a nick on his hand that bleeding as much as a paper cut would bleed. He was a fair skinned man with loose curly white hair that had black splotches decorated all through it. He was of the Dubwool lineage, having the mon's dual horns and rectangular pupils.

"Come on Alexei," Natasha said, getting out of her car and walking towards the hotel. Alexei sighed angrily and followed her to the entrance. She walked through the door, looking clearly fatigued. She rang the bell agitatedly until someone came to the front desk.

"Yes ma—"

"One room, one bed," she said hastily. Alexei's eyebrows perked up as he looked at her. The woman at the front desk exchanged looks with the Dubwool man and nodded slowly, going to get a keycard.

"Overnight is 100," the woman said. Natasha reached into her purse and paid with cash, snatching the keycard from the gawking receptionist. She was about to walk away but she heard the woman scream and Alexei shout. He pulled out his gun, but didn't see anything…until he heard Natasha's voice.

"Alexei…" she gasped.

He turned around slowly, seeing that Jasper had her in a headlock, with the gun pointed straight to her skull. The woman shrunk back, ready to call the cops but Jasper shot her a look so terrifying that she stood still and pissed herself.

"Drop yo weapon, nigga," Jasper growled.

Alexei listened and slid the firearm over to Jasper. He kicked it out the way and out the reach of her bodyguard.

"Alexei!" Natasha begged.

"You's dismissed," Jasper said.

"Ay man, ion wanna be around this bitch anyways. See ya," Alexei said, leaving the hotel in a hurry.

"Alexei!"

Jasper bashed her head in with the butt of his pistol, rendering her unconscious. The woman behind the front desk gasped and cried out.

"Ay," Jasper reached into his pocket, slipping her five hundred dollars, "Don't say shit, iight?"

She took it the money and pocketed it, slowly nodding as she turned around, pretending like she didn't see anything. Jasper saluted her and ran out with Natasha, putting a black bag over head. He was gone in a flash, leaving behind nothing but dust and empty air.