Chapter IX: Squish-squish


AN:

Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!

First, I wanna apologise profusely for the ridiculous delay for this update. My internet got fucked for a while and it kind of still is, but it seems to be holding for the moment. Long story, much apologies, here ya go. Hope it was worth the wait.

Secondly, there won't be an update of any story for the next two or three weeks, methinks. I've got about four or five deadlines in the next month to meet and I just don't have time/energy/sanity points to write alongside that. I will be trying to work on the Airplane Job though, so that'll hopefully be popping up by the end of that time. Should be late March/early April-ish. Likelier to be April than March, but I dunno. Shit is kind of all over the place right now.

Oh, on that note, I've been talking to a couple of you about how the current Airplane Job link is... nicht so gut. Either it doesn't work, or its inaccessible, or a couple other problems that I don't know how to fix. Luckily, I found the best way to fix problems like those is to promptly ignore them and start working around them instead. I found an actual online program for writing these stories called Inklewriter. It's a little harder for me to use, but it'll be easier for you guys to access and play through, so I'm gonna give it a try. The next story update I have will let you know what the link is/where to find it if fanfiction .net keeps being a little bitch about links. I'm currently reworking (and editing, so be sure to check it out even if you've played before) the first 'episode' (Woo, delusions of Telltale Grandeur) and starting on the second (Planning it atm. I've got a hella big piece of paper with all these little boxes drawn on so I can track scenes and whatnot, it's so fucking cool.). Hopefully that turns out well, so alla y'all got that to look forward to, I guess. :)

Also, just on an interesting note, I found out that Arcadia Bay is based on an actual place in Oregon called Tilamook Bay. The posters for Arcadia Bay are almost identical to pictures of Tilamook, it's awesome. Anyways, other than the whole QI-ish "How cool is this?" moment, I'm also gonna start using this for any geography stuff in any of the four stories. Like to say how long it'd take to get from The Bay to Portland, for example. ('bout an hour and forty-five minutes, in case you were wondering.).

The Greatest Thing on the Entire Internet. Seriously, watch this.

www. youtube watch?v=o0u4M6vppCI

("Shia LaBeouf" Live - Rob Cantor)

Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

guest:

Thank you. Glad someone got some use out of my hella massive delay in uploading. Hope you enjoy this one!

ecoolasice:

Coming right up. :)

MaxNeverMaxine:

Glad to hear it. And it will be... interesting to find that out, methinks.

Yep. Very special indeed. Next to the one that's reserved for child-molesters and people who talk at the theatre. (Woo Firefly Reference!) And oh, yeah. I learned that lesson too. Tbh, possibly too well. I could probably drown myself in the amount of water I drink per day atm.

Time Dragon Ch.8 comment:

...Spoilers.

Hikin' For Feels:

Sure. Hope you enjoy it. Ending kind of sucks, but the game play is fun enough. I seem to have a weakness for games like that.

And you should. If you can master the stare that goes with it, I'm pretty sure it'd actually work on a few people. Maybe someone should get Derren Brown to try it.

Aaron Leach:

Thanks! Glad you're still enjoying it.

lycan13:

It is? Oh shoot, it is. Sorry 'bout that. To a layperson like myself, they're both interchangable, really. I know that's probably the biggest sacrilege to super-hero fans, but it's kinda true for everyone else.

Angela3000:

Me too. I make vaguely excited squeaking sounds whenever I get a review email. Love reading these things.

And no, no she is not. Very deliberate effort to make her different from The Blackwell Job Max.

And here you go. Your wish is my command.

Momijifan Low-Ki:

Yep. You'd be surprised how intimidating a good stare can be.

And, really? That's cool. I know literally nothing about wrestling, but I've played one of the original Ninja Gaiden games on a NES. 3, I think. There was a ship, I think? It was like, just over half a decade or so ago so my memory is a bit fuzzy.

Time Dragon Ch.7 comment:

Pfft. Never gonna happen. Partly because this is the most fun thing in my life right now, and partly because I'm an utterly obsessive compulsive-completionist. I'm the sort of person who goes and picks up every collectible, learns every backstory and just 100%s everything I can. My friends sometimes use my name as a verb for getting totally obsessed about something and learning everything I can about it. It might take me a while, but I will keep this going till I'm done.

Heh. She certainly is going to have to. I am trying to avoid the traps shows like Smallville fell into though. Aside from the truly shitty melodramatic acting (Here's looking at you Tom-I'msoEmo-Welling), they tended to just rotate "Victims of the Week". Was pretty much a running joke among fans at one point, I'm told.

I trot out of the cave and take a look around. Still nobody about. Fantastic. I straighten my clothes and take off at a run for the town. Four and a half miles, give or take. Easy terrain, should take me 18 minutes. (AN: According to my maths, this should mean Max runs at only slightly slower than the fastest woman's mile, which is Svetlana Masterkova at 4minutes 13seconds. I did fail A-Level Maths, so I could be wrong though.)


As I run along a back street near Chloe's house, my phone rings. I quickly stop and duck into a back alley. The ID says Rachel, so I pick up. "Rachel?"

"Hey, Maxie. What's up?"

I frown. What? "Um." I look up. "The sky?"

She laughs, all high and melodic and I get the vague feeling I've missed something. "So true. So..."

I wait. She doesn't continue. "Uh... So?"

She laughs. "I thought you'd never ask."

What.

She sighs, deep and soul-consuming agony, and continues. "So, Chloe is busy at work and can't play and I am so fucking bored." She says this like it's the greatest tragedy ever to hit mankind. "You want to hit the beach with me?" Her voice is enticing, all sugar and honey. From what Chloe says, that's never good. Means she's 'planning something'.

I frown. "The beach?"

"Uhuh." I can practically see her lazy half-grin in my mind and I know what it means. Trouble. But refusal never enters my mind. Rachel wasn't someone you ever wanted to say no to.

"At..." I check my watch. "8pm?"

She laughs. "Sure! Why not?"

Why not indeed. I shrug. "Okay."

"Awesome. So, I'm at Blackhell right now, but the sooner you get that cute little butt over here, the sooner we can hit the beach. That sound good to you, babe?"

I blink, still utterly baffled. "Uh. Okay?"

She laughs again. I'm still missing something. "Awesome." She repeats. "See you soon!" She hangs up.

I take the phone away from my ear and stare at it for a few moments. Huh. Definitely still missing something.

Well, I have somewhere to be, I guess. I turn and run for Blackwell.


I hugged closer to Rachel as the Harley purred beneath us. She was swerving in and out of the late evening traffic with ease, the bike responding to her every move exactly.

Cars wooshed past us on both sides, blowing the little tufts of Rachel's hair that stuck out from under her helmet. I stared, semi-entranced by the little fluttering motions. Rachel caught my eye and winked.

I found myself grinning back. The bike was fucking exhilarating! Rachel bent low to the bike as we banked hard around a corner, revving the engine. I looked out over the countryside flying by. Heh. I really missed this place...

*Flashback Begins*

I wandered through the wilds, The Hunter maintaining vigil over her surroundings while I searched desperately for the telltale tap-tap-tap of the miners. Now the Hound and his Mistress had found me, they would never cease the hunt.

It took two days, but eventually she found them, excavating a large vein of ore and chattering excitedly. The Hunter found she could not understand them, but the words plucked at her heart like nothing she'd heard since she came to this place.

Although the Hunter's instincts warned against remaining, she found a perch high in the rock and watched their activity. When the time came for them to leave, she ignored The Hunter once again and trailed them, careful to stay out of their sight at all times.

The trip was largely uneventful. She followed the caravan for days on end. She had no idea exactly how many. They had a brief skirmish with a few creatures of the underground, where The Hunter aided them, picking off a few foes on the edges of the battle.

By the time they finally returned to the city, The Hunter had rescinded and she was in control once more. She watched them follow familiar long-practiced motions as they climbed the stair and loaded their carts onto the conveyor.

The Hunter froze as the miners climbed the stair, instincts screaming at her to retreat, to do anything but go up there.

She took the stairs and stepped out into the radius of the bright hall lights. The guards, all gathered around the doorway, immediately whirled and drew their weapons. An interesting mix of polearms and swords were pointed at her. The Hunter screamed to kill them, show them our dominance and strength. It was the way of our world, after all.

I pushed The Hunter down and raised my hands in a gesture of surrender. I could only hope that, in their panic, they would understand. As I curled my mouth into an unfamiliar smile, I reached a single hand down and undid the clasp of my weapon-belt.

They fell to the floor and I went with them, dropping to my knees as they closed around me. They jumped back when the Cat padded out of the darkness, but one recovered quickly enough to fire off a bola at her. I resisted the urge to fight back as the ropes wrapped around her. This was painful, but necessary.

I looked up at one and smiled, trying to seem... friendly? The miner's face immediately creased in panic and he struck her across the head with his weapon.

The last thing I, or The Hunter, saw as we drifted into unconsciousness was the two stone doors opening to reveal a city hidden inside.

I smiled, and let go.

I had denied the brutal truths of The Hunter's existence... and now, finally, I could be free.

*Flashback Ends*

A car roared past us, creating an air draft that made the back of my coat billow and Rachel's hair flutter even more. I shiver at the chill air blowing down my back and pull tighter to Rachel.

We're riding along the beach road, waves to our right and the town to our left. We've left the traffic behind now, with only single cars passing every few minutes or so.

My eyes leave the scenery and move to Rachel. Fascinating, confusing Rachel. The girl who my best friend had called hers for the last five years while...

While I was away.

I sigh inwardly and look back out to the water. No point in dwelling on shit I can't change.

She twists something and the bike starts to slow, drifting along the beachfront until it hits a smooth stop right in the assigned bike-spot. Rachel turns, pulling off her helmet and throws me a smug, self-satisfied grin.

I hop off the bike and offer my hand to help her down.

Rachel takes my hand with a smile, dismounting and leaning back on the bike as she takes her helmet off. She takes my helmet and her own, stowing them in a sidebag. This done, she goes back to leaning, staring at me with a smirk. I focus on her. "What?"

She smiles enigmatically and pushes off the bike. "Be right back." She saunters off along the promenade, disappearing into the crowd.

I watch her go, then turn to look out over the bay. I didn't know how much I missed this place. I might've lived on the Island for five years, but this place is my home and always will be. A memory pops into my head, and it's so real I can almost see it.

Chloe and me, maybe ten, maybe eleven years old. We're dodging and diving through the promenade crowds, laughing and playfighting like we're actually pirates. We always were competitive. All the while, Joyce and my Mom are a little ways off, smiling at our antics.

I match their smiles. I was so happy...

Then, the memory starts to sour. The buildings burst into flames and the crowds stampede, screaming louder than any Tak hound and Chloe and I get caught right in the fucking middle.

We get pulled apart by the crowd, our outstretched hands flailing helplessly at each other as we're taken further apart. I remember the sheer terror of being knocked about by everyone, like a buoy in a tsunami.

There's so many voices around us, shouting, pleading, that I can barely hear myself think. "Find Chloe." I repeat to myself, over and over. "Find Chloe. Find Chloe." I push into the crowd, trying desperately to spot her. I finally think I catch a glance, only to be pulled away again.

I turn, and we're at the top of the cliff, up by the lighthouse. There's a storm, a freaking tornado pushing towards the town. I'm stood right on the cliff's edge, watching it tear into the town.

A scream pulls me out of the reverie and I look down. Chloe is hanging off the edge of the cliff! I reach down to try pull her up, but instead of pulling my hands latch on to hers.

When I speak, the voice that comes out of me isn't mine. It's The Hunter's growl. I grin wolfishly down at Chloe, who stares up at me, eyes filled with terror. "Long live the King."

Wait, what?

I extend my claws and tear Chloe's hands from the cliff, tossing her into the storm with a triumphant howl.

I wave a hand in the air and the storm surges forward, tearing the town into pieces.

I blink and I'm back on the pier, looking down into the water. The reflection looking back at me is like a wild beast, teeth bared and eyes savage. The Hunter grins up at me. "Hello, Max. Care to take a dip? The waters are so inviting..." It croons.

I close my eyes and it laughs. "What good do you think that will do? You are mine, little weapon, to do with as I will."

I concentrate.

The mouth curves into a grin and the teeth become jagged, clearly designed to rip and rend. "And my will is..." It blinks. "Is..."

It looks up at me suddenly, eyes panicked. "No! No! Not the cage! Not again!" It launches forward, arms outstretched, nails growing into razor sharp claws. "Nooooo..."

I slam the little box in the back of my mind shut, and dump another two or three on top of it for good measure. This is my mind. I needed you back then, but I do not need you now!

I take a deep breath and open my eyes, just in time to see Rachel ambling down the shore, something tiny in each hand.

She hands me one. I look at it for a moment. I raise an eyebrow, staring at her. "Ice cream? In October?" I feel a familiar headache I'd almost forgotten. This feels close to how dealing with Chloe's... less well thought out ideas did. I smiled, faintly. Good times.

She grins and takes a bite. "Yep."

I stare at her for a minute, then shrug. What the hell. I take a bite of my own.

Rachel leans back on the railing next to me, and we quietly look out over the bay, eating. I can sense Rachel looking at me out of the corner of her eye. I angle my head, ever so slightly, and look at her. "Yes?"

She quirks a roguish little smile. "Nothing. You're just cute when you're all brooding like that."

My cheeks flush. Damnit. She laughs, takes another bite of ice cream. "So, whatcha thinking' 'bout?"

I flail desperately for a convincing lie, but settle for a distant "This is weird."

Rachel snorts and waves her cone with a grin. Little rivers of ice cream start to trickle down the side. "No ice cream on the island?"

I laugh and shake my head. "No. No ice cream."

"So, what did you eat?" She tilts her head curiously. Her tongue darts out to catch the trickling rivers.

I... I, um... Huh? I shrug, carefully not looking at her. "Whatever I could hunt, mostly. A few plants, here and there. Most of them were poisonous, so I had to be careful."

She takes another bite and smirks. "How totally Bear Grylls of you."

I laugh. "Me, Bear Grylls? I'm flattered." I tilt my head and frown. "I think."

She snorts, throws me an amused wink. "Well, Chloe tells me you cook a mean rabbit. I'm almost entirely sure I saw him do that on TV a few times."

I tilt my head again. "She told you that?"

Rachel laughs. "Of course she did. Chlo's always talking about you." She waves a hand. "Max did this, Max did that." She takes a bite of her icecream, smirking at me over it. "It's very cute."

I flush and fumble my response, ending up spluttering and mumbling everywhere. Rachel just laughs. "It's cool, Maxie. I'm just so curious. You've kind of taken my whole mysterious enigma thing and blown it out of the water."

I frown. "I did what?"

"You're the hot new mystery in town, Max." She winks, then she shrugs and her voice and face go... different. Not sure if it's good different or bad different. Just... different. "We're all wondering 'bout you, Max. You've made quite a splash since you got back. Even the Vortex were all a-twitter" She wiggles her fingers. "about you after your little jedi-reflexes ball-catching thing. They're wondering what's gonna happen next." She smiles. "We all are."

Huh.

I don't respond, I just take another bite of ice cream, thinking over her words.

We finish off our ice cream in silence, just leaning back and looking out over the bay. I try to start conversation again. "So, Chloe has a job?"

Rachel smirks. "Surprised?" When I flush and shake my head insistently, she smiles. "It's ok. Chloe was the most surprised of any of us. Turns out her punk-rebel delinquent thing was exactly what the place was looking for."

"Where does she work?"

"Coffee of Doom." She laughs at my bemused expression. "I know, the name is kinda on-the-nose, but they make it work. The whole 'bitchy bachelorette barista' thing they've got going pulls a weirdly dedicated crowd." She snorts. "I guess some people are into that."

I hmm and look back over the bay. I can feel Rachel's eyes wandering over my face for a few seconds until she looks away. A couple of silent seconds pass and I almost don't notice her pulling off her shoes. I turn and look at her, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

She looks up at me with a pleased-looking grin. "We're gonna go walking on the beach!" She smirks. "And walking on the beach in your shoes is just the worst." She pulled off her second shoe. "How are you gonna feel the squish-squish of the sand like that?"

I can't help but smile down at her. "The what?"

"The squish-squish!" She stamped her feet on the sand for emphasis. "It's the best thing about the beach. Well," She amends. "apart from the sun."

She tosses her shoes on the ground next to me and hops up to her feet. Taking off at a run, she reaches her hands up to the sky, twirling and dancing around on the beach for a good minute or two before calling back to me. "Come on, Max!" She grins, teasingly. "You know you want to..."

She laughs at the hesitation on my face. "Come on, Maxie! Live a little!" She heads down to the water, stripping off her clothes at the edge of the water.

I trail behind, still not taking my shoes off. I just watch as she... well... splashes about in the shallows. Its kind of cute.

I start to take my shoes off, but a mental flash of crashing and screaming stops me. I... damn it. Damn it to hell. I sit down on the beach and watch Rachel play around, light and breezy and laughing.


She comes out of the water a little while later. I can see her shivering as the cold October air hits her exposed skin. There's a dragon tattoo running over her right calf. One of the traditional Chinese river ones. It's bright and colourful against her skin.

Rachel quickly gets dressed, sighing with relief. "Fuck it's cold out here!" She grumbles. "So unfair."

I snort at her downtrodden expression and she grins. "Supermax, are you laughing at a poor, shivering girl?"

I shrug. "Maybe. Come on, let's get inside where its warm." I snort. "You'll dry off quicker."

She tilts her head as we head up the beach. "Not a fan of swimming, are you?"

I shrug again. I'm doing that a lot recently. "No."

Her face does the different thing again. It's sort of... soft, but curious? I shake my head slightly, not looking at her. This is not something I can talk about yet. I risk a glance over at Rachel. Her face has stopped doing the different thing and she's looking off behind me. I follow her eyes to... of course.

Rachel looks at me and grins widely. "Come on, Maxie. You know you want to."

I sigh. "Okay. Let's go in."

Her grin gets impossibly wider. "Fantastic. This is gonna be so fun!" She darts into the arcade.

I trail her in, following her over to a line of claw-hand machines. Fucking things. I couldn't even remember how many quarters Chloe and I had lost to these things.

Rachel puts in a quarter and leans over the controls, a determined look on her face. "I want that damn Charizard and I'm going to get it." I look over and, sure enough, there's a largish Charizard Plushie in the back corner of the pile. The bottom half of it is buried in the pile.

I raise an eyebrow. "You think you can get it?"

She quirks another smile. "Have a little faith, Supermax. You have your superpower, this is mine."

She slams a hand down on the start button and goes to work.

*Flashback Begins*

The Hunter jolted awake as the bars of her cell were rattled. A man was glaring down at her, the point of his spear clattering between the cell bars. He spat on her and said something she didn't understand, growling and jabbing his spear in her direction.

Even from her prone position, The Hunter's instincts took over in an instant. The man died quickly, the point of his own spear buried in his throat.

I stared in silence as the man's body fell to the floor. Damn it. Damn it all to hell.

Escape was now a necessity. The Hunter knew if they caught her she'd never make it back into a cell. Grabbing the point of the spear, she carefully manoeuvred the corpse over to her cell, filching the keys. She unlocked the door and eased it open quietly. Her cell was at one end of a long stone corridor, one of many cells along it.

The Hunter crept through the shadows of the corridor, careful to avoid the few low red lights dotted along the walls. Most of the cells were unoccupied, save two at different points along the corridor. Both occupants were deep in sleep, enabling her to sneak past easily.

When reaching the end of the hall, The Hunter closed her eyes and focused her senses beyond the door.

There were two... no, three individuals in the other room. Heavy-set and tall, by the volume and tempo of the footprints. The Hunter was unarmed, so stealth was necessary here.

She waited at the door, silent and patient, listening for footsteps. After an hour, the footsteps started to close. The Hunter caught the metallic scraping of a key turning in the lock and carefully hid herself in a patch of darkness in the corner behind the door.

The door eased open and a figure covered in feathers walked through. It headed down the corridor towards her cell. The Hunter eased the door closed behind it and trailed the creature until it suddenly stopped, alarmed and raised it's weapon, a long stick with an axehead on the end.

The Hunter blurred forward, reaching around and twisting the creature's neck. Unusually, there was no sickening crack, just a faint ripping sound as whatever was in the creature's throat tore.

She didn't let the body drop, catching it in mid-fall and dragging it quickly into a cell. Almost as an afterthought, she dragged the first man's body in there too, hiding them both under the cot.

She moved back to the door, listening again. Nothing.

With the barest exertion, The Hunter eased the door open and crept through into a larger room that looked, by the large table in the centre, the weaponry mounted over the walls and the large rack of keys on one wall, to be the prison guard-post. It was currently unoccupied.

There were two exits to the room, a closed door on the far side and an open archway leading into a corridor off to her left. She could see shadows flickering on the corridor wall and the faint sounds of voices echoing down it.

Quickstepping as quiet as she was able, The Hunter made her way to the table and began searching it for anything of use. The table was covered with an assortment of disorganised papers and drinking mugs, along with mismatched miscellaneous objects. She dismissed it quickly as useless and moved over to the wall, looking for what she needed. Her last sword was stolen, so it appealed to her that this one would be too.

Unlike the table, the wall of weaponry was well organised, so she found a sword meeting her requirements in little time. After a few experimental cuts and slashes, she stowed it at her back with a satisfied grin. It was a simple thing, a straight length of metal, without decoration or flair. A tool made for killing.

Now she was armed, The Hunter felt more comfortable in this place of civilisation. But escape still remained a priority.

She moved over to the far door, careful to avoid being seen by those in the corridor. After a minute or two of silence, she opened the door and went through. The next room was an outpost of some sort, holding very little aside from a number of weapon racks along one wall and a series of vertical slits along the other. She walked over to one and peered out through it down onto some sort of courtyard. So, she was high up, possibly in a tower, or a building carved into the cavern wall.

She focused more on the walls, trying to spot a way down. Nothing. She'd never survive a jump from this height. But the walls were finely carved, straight-edged all the way to the ground without a single obvious handhold. That settled it. She'd have to make her way down through the inside.

She left the outpost and found herself in a long corridor. Off to her left, it ended a fair distance away in a t-junction. To the right was a shorter corridor that expanded into a larger chamber with more slits in the far wall. Unlike those in the outpost, these were larger and horiontal. There was a door in the wall just before the new room's entrance.

The Hunter pushed open that door, pacing across the next room to a set of stairs going down. She made it three floors before she encountered anyone. Two guards were standing on the landing, chatting lightly. Both were armed with spears and heavily armoured.

And both were looking at her, eyes wide, as she stepped off the stair.

She raised her sword and stepped forward, swinging experimentally at the left guard. He barely managed to raise his guard in time, blocking the blow with the shaft of his spear. The other swung the point of his staff wildly at The Hunter, forcing her back towards to the stairs.

She dodged and swung back, slamming her blade into the guards side in a powerful blow that should've sliced into his gut, but bounced harmlessly off his armour. The other jabbed at her, trying for her own side. But The Hunter's instincts were fast, and the attack was too slow. She grabbed the end of the spear and carried the momentum forward, burying it into the exposed flesh under the guards chin.

The last guard fell, and the Hunter stopped swinging, panting lightly for a second. She gathered herself together and wiped her blade off on a guards' jacket, then pushed on.

The next few rooms were empty and quiet, just offices and corridors. So quiet...

She didn't hear a thing until the voice rang out from behind her.

"You really are a hard woman to keep up with." The Hunter spun, flicking her blade up in an instant. The man standing in front of her smiled, utterly at ease despite the sword tip at his throat. He was short, even more so than she was. His face and demeanour were comfortable, yet distant, and obviously so or she'd never have noticed. He wanted her to know there were things he wasn't saying.

She growled, and his smile grew. "I mean it as a compliment, I assure you. I've been doing this for a decade and you're the first gwai-wu to make it out of the cells yourself."

The... first? "More came here?"

He nodded. "Many more. Ratigan makes you powerful to where they cannot match. Your... carers are thoroughly incapable of keeping you in that place, should any of your kind put their mind to escape."

She pauses, watches the man carefully. She has spent months alone, only the panther for company. The ways of civilization are unfamiliar, after so long. She isn't sure if she should trust him, but really, she has no other choice. "gwai-wu?"

He shrugs. "Monster. What the people here call your kind. I'm afraid the children of Ratigan haven't made a good impression here. It's even worse on the surface, but its your only option."

The... "The surface?"

He nods, taking out a cylinder of dark vellum and, after a second looking around the room, unrolled it on a table pushed up against the wall. He taps a circle on the edge of the map. "There is an exit to the surface here. Around a week of travel. It will be hard, but it's your only option." He smiles. "Luckily, you will not be travelling alone."

A familiar purr attracts her attention and she turns just as a quick, lithe black form slams into her. She grins as the panther licks her face. "Holly..?" She looks up at the man. "Where?"

The short man shrugs. "She was being kept two floors away from you. It was a simple matter to get her here, once I remarked on my intent to rescue you. You have a rather remarkable animal there." The panther stands up and begins to pad gently around the room.

She looks down and nods, then back up to him. She takes a breath. "Thank you." She pauses, unsure how to ask. "Why?" Her voice is still rough, harsh, but the man smiles.

"There are those who hate you for what you are, and those who are willing to give you a chance." He reaches out and lays a hand on her shoulder. "Now, go. I will open the gate, but you must be ready." He shrugs his satchel off his shoulder and hands it to her, slipping the rerolled map back inside. "This should be sufficient for a few days at least. I'm sure you'll be able to find more when you need it."

"Will... won't they punish you?" Each word is tenuous, strange and unfamiliar.

He laughs lightly as something explodes in the distance. "I'll be fine. As I said, this is hardly the first time I've engineered an escape."

She opens her mouth to enquire further, but a second explosion blasts far louder and far closer than before. The man pushes her through the doorway. "Right on time. Go! Run!"

And she ran. Faster than she'd ever run before. The Panther matched her speed every step of the way. Across the courtyard and through several towering buildings and labyrinthine backstreets and finally through a small side gate out to the foyer leading to the great stone doors of the city.

The foyer was occupied.

A dozen armed guards were milling around in front of the entrance. Three of the feathered beings were sat on the ground with two short, grey humanoids playing something, while the other seven were in various spots around the area, laughing and talking with one another.

The Hunter smiled. They were entirely at ease, unaware their sanctuary had been infiltrated. The Panther took position to her left, watching the guards with an implacable gaze.

A scan of their foes revealed the need for a frontal assault. They were between her and the door and The Hunter could see no other way to get through them.

She sighed, resigned to the necessary course of action. She steeled herself and drew her weapon, preparing to charge the door, trusting the Panther to follow.

Just as she started to move, a call sounded, a deep, resonant baritone from deep in the city. It sounded once, twice and then once more. The guards looked up, their faces shocked, chattering amongst themselves. They collected themselves quickly, charging off into the city proper and leaving the gate unprotected.

The Hunter smiled. Her recently-made friend certainly was effective. She hurried over to the doors, keeping to the shadows wherever possible, and waited.

Two teeth-clenching minutes later, the huge stone doors creaked open, revealing the familiar stair. With a hasty glance checking for pursuit, The Hunter fled into the dark caverns, The Panther at her heels.

She had a destination, now. And she was not going to let anything stop her getting there.

*Flashback Ends*


"Fuck!" She curses, loudly and a bunch of people look over. She shrugs at them with a sheepish grin. "Sorry."

She glares through the glass at the Charizard, still sitting at the back of the case. "Smug little bastard. Damn thing keeps dropping." Another quarter goes in, sacrificed to whatever Demon lives in these fucking machines. "Ok, that was a warm-up. I can do this."

She tries again... and fails. Again. I laugh at her irritation, clearly showing when she hits the case. "Damn it!" She scowls. "The thing is probably stuck on something." She slumps, dejected. "Shit." She looks really sad...

Damn it.

I ease her out of the way and take the controls. "I need a quarter."

"Max?"

"Quarter." I repeat.

She looks at me for a second, then slots a quarter in. I concentrate, then let the Hunter take the reins. She starts to move, manoeuvring the claw with tiny dexterous movements.

I can feel Rachel tense next to me, eyes following the claw as it moves, then flicking to my face, focused and determined. I can do this.

I rotate the claw, getting each hook in the right place over the Charizard's head, then... I fire.

The claw grabs down on the head and pulls, wiggling it out of the pile. Both of us take a quick breath in as it starts to rise with the claw. It drops. Rachel swears again.

I give her a confident smile. "Just a warm-up."

She laughs and elbows me. "Smart-ass. Just don't drop it this time. That's my last quarter."

I drop a second quarter in and push the start button again. This time, I manage to get the claw around the Charizard's torso. I pull the vertical lever enough to get the plushie out from the pile, then slowly and carefully guide it over to the depository. I let it go.

It drops straight into the chute and Rachel cheers. I reach down, pull the toy out of the slot, and hand it to her.

Rachel grins back at me, then leans in and kisses my cheek. I flush. Damnit. "Thank you, Maxie. I never doubted you for a second."

I eye her, one eyebrow raised and a shit-eating grin on my face. "Uh, yes you did. Right there in the middle when it dropped."

She snorts. "Lies. Never happened." She looks up. "We should probably get out of here. The moms are glaring at me like I'm 'corrupting their children'." I look around and she's right, there are a few older women glaring over at us. Probably due to the loud swearing.

I nod, "Okay", and we head out into the darkness.

I look over at her as we stroll down the beach. "So..." I start. "What do we do now?"

She looks over at me with a teasing grin. "It's getting late, Maxie. Shouldn't you be in bed by now?" She taps her imaginary watch. "It is a school night."

I snort. "Har har. I'm good." I can go without sleep for a lot longer than she can.

She smirks and I'm not sure if I'm imagining this, but she looks pleased. "Awesome. How 'bout we head to the diner?"

I grin and nod. "I could go for some waffles."