The Witch Hunt of Mineral Town

Chapter 4: Showdown of Fire

A/N: AS I last left off, Robin has been confronted by Jack, who turned out to be the witch. Two hunters are about to show up on the scene. How will this final confrontation turn out? Find out in the exciting conclusion.

By the way, what happened to the reviewers? I only had one review for the last chapter, much thanks go out for it. I hope that a few more of you feel the need to write something after you're done.

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"Leaving so soon?" Jack asked for the second time, continuing his slow but steady advance on the young girl. His face was illuminated by an eerie glow from his fire hands.

Robin looked over her shoulder at the ashes of her Vespa. "I don't think I can leave." She stated calmly, trying to hide the fact that she was frightened.

Jack shook his head. "Sorry about that, but I just couldn't let you leave. I can sense your powers. The two of us were meant to be together, forever." By now, Jack was standing within inches of Robin. He raised his hand to her cheek, the fire suddenly extinguishing itself.

"Why do you want me to stay? I'm not sure that I can trust being around a murderer." Robin inquired as she readied her powers. Jack might strike out at any second.

The farmer placed his head next to Robin's, whispering, "I've seen your powers in action. The two of us combined would be able to take control of this town, no, the whole country! Then, we could settle down and have kids. Imagine how powerful they would become with access to both of our powers."

Robin let out a short sigh, barely loud enough to be heard by Jack. How come all witches had to be so power hungry? She might have considered the proposal if it didn't involve taking over the country and killing people. Jack had been kind to her and she might have fallen for him under different circumstances, but as it was… "I'm sorry Jack, but that won't be happening."

"Fine! Then you are going to have to die, just like Kai!" Jack lit his fire hands and took an angry swing at Robin. Her fire shield was ready, easily deflecting the attack.

A stray spark from the fire clash lit a small patch of grass on fire. Soon, the fire spread to form a perfect circular arena for the two combatants. Neither seemed to notice, each too intent on defending against the other's attacks. Jack's attacks were being deflected by Robin's shield, while her attacks were being absorbed by the farmer's hands. They were too evenly matched for either to gain the upper hand.

The dance of fire didn't stay even for much longer. Robin was still relatively new to fighting and using her Craft. The sheer physical and mental drains were becoming too much for her. It wouldn't be long until she would be unable to continue.

Jack seemed to notice that Robin was weakening, stepping up the intensity of each blow. He seemed to be unaffected by the strain of using his powers. This was probably from all the work that he had been doing on the farm.

Robin's fire shield was just barely managing to deflect the attacks. With each new strike against it, the shield appeared to glow dimmer and dimmer. Finally, the shield collapsed and Jack broke through. His fist descended on Robin, who was gasping for breath. The one strike caught her squarely on the cheek, sending her reeling.

The victorious farmer stood above his victim. She was lying on her stomach, face buried in the ground. Jack extinguished his flames and knelt beside Robin. She was still conscious, but barely. Jack placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face to his. "I told you that you aren't leaving. Are you going to agree to my suggestion or are you going to resist, thus forcing me to kill you?"

The hunter's eyes were blurred but her determination was still showing. She opened her mouth to retort to Jack, but no sound escaped her lips. A seal had been formed over her mouth by Jack's own pair of lips. Suddenly, the farmer bolted up to his feet, screams leaving his mouth as flames licked away at his tongue.

A smile crossed Robin's lips as she watched Jack writhe about in agony. A sharp hiss could be heard from outside the fire ring. A second, third, and fourth hiss followed the first, each one barely audible above the roaring flames. Jack collapsed into an unconscious heap in front of Robin's face. The female hunter lifter her head to look in the direction of the source of the sound. Amon and Tim, guns smoking, could be seen walking through the flames towards her. That was the last thing she remembered before she blacked out.

"So, you're coming around I see." A male voice commented from beside her. Robin's eyes flickered open revealing her surroundings. She was lying on her back on a soft mattress in an extremely white room.

Robin looked over at the speaker and was shocked to see that it was Tim. He was dressed in his formal medical garb and for once didn't have a gun pointed at her head. "Where am I?" Robin managed to ask, a ripple of pain searing through her cheek with every word.

Tim chuckled. "You're in the Clinic. Where else would you be if you wanted to recover from that nasty burn that you've got?"

"That means that I'm not getting sent to the Factory?" Robin stated in disbelief.

The doctor nodded his head. "Amon and I matched Jack's fingerprints to some of the prints burned into the back of Kai. We jumped the gun a little by suspecting you because of your fire Craft."

"Is that an apology?" Robin smirked, knowing that Amon would never personally apologize to anyone.

"Yes it is." Tim replied, "Amon left a message for you when you got up. You have the rest of the day off, but you still have to go to work tomorrow."

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A/N: Believe it or not, this actually marks the first multi-chapter fic that I have actually finished. I know that this is really short, but I never had any more to add to this story. I probably should have just added this at the end of the last chapter, but too late for that. Thanks for reading The Witch Hunt of Mineral Town!