WITCH HUNTER ROBIN: Fires of Chaos

One month in a half after speaking with Amon and Robin, Michael sat at his desk, thumbing the computer board. There was nothing much to do today, Motokita and his mafia had seemingly disappeared out of thin air, and any chances of catching him went up in the same amount of smoke. True there was the Raven, but the foreign witch seemed more afraid of Motokita's reach, than he was of what Solomon could do to him. So it the case was now a complete standstill.

And it would have stayed that way, if a few minutes later, a massive blast rocked the halls of the STN-J, leaving a gapping hole where a wall had at one time been. Michael was thrown half way across the room, and slammed into the conference room window, slowly slumping down to the floor. There was silence after that first explosion, and many of his coworkers were burst in to see what was happening, when waves of gunfire began to pour out of that hole.

"Shit, an attack!" Kin roared, reaching the room last. The former police officer acted on gut instinct, and surveyed the scene, looking for the best place to kneel and return fire. Glancing at a desk that had been knocked over to the far rear of the room, the agile man rushed over, zigzagging through bullets, and leapt over the table. Already the others had found their own safe spots, and knelt, barring down on the hole with their guns ready.

None of them returned fire, but stayed crotched as the bullets flied by. It seemed like forever when the first wave of attacks stopped, and Kin peered over the desk, like a gopher peaking out of his hole, to see where Michael was. He finally found the boy lying on his side, breathing heavily – but still breathing. Blood flowed from his head, and was staining his black shirt, but Michael looked up at him and smiled, giving thumbs up.

"What was that all about?" Karasuma asked, her hands twitching near the trigger of her gun. Like the other STN-J members, she had forgone the use of her Orbo pistol, and was using the old tried and true pistols.

"Karasuma, be quiet," Karasuma snarled, her brown hair clinging to her forehead as sweat raced down her face. "It's not over yet." She turned her head, still she needed to take into accounted who was here, "If you're still alive, shout out once, and then sit still." One by one they acknowledged that they were fine, even Michael, though Kin warned him to just lie where he was.

"Its times like this that make me wish I still had my Remington Magnum with me," Director Kosaka said under his breath, running a hand over his bald head. He looked over to Kin and frowned for a moment, and then smiled as he realized that the man had heard him.

"What kind?" he asked looking at his director's eyes.

"Take your pick," the other man chuckled. "I collected many different kinds." He turned along with his employee, as dozens of armed, masked men began pouring out from the hole.

"You boys can discuss your toys later, right now, fight with what we have," Karasuma snapped. At her orders, the group rose slightly and let loose a new wave of bullets. The guns didn't have the kick of a magnum shotgun, or of anything close to a Remington style feel, but it was enough to splatter a few of the invaders into the walls.

It didn't take the invaders long to take up their own defensive positions, and the scene quickly turned into a shoot out at the O.K. Coral, minus the Coral and Wyatt Earp. Occasionally one of the STN-J members would make a clean shot, and down would go another thug, but more and more armed goons were pouring into the office, and worse, Kin could hear the distinctive sounds of footsteps behind them and the ding of an elevator. Whoever was attacking, they were now going to start coming from both sides.

Sakaki kept up his vigilance, but the invasion all too painfully reminded him of the Factory's invasion, when they tried to get Robin. And that hadn't ended to well for the good guys. Two more pulls of the trigger, and then there was a hard click. He frowned and looked down, cursing under his breath, he was out of ammo. He'd have to crawl through the overturned table he was hiding by, across no man's land, to get some more. Unless the table had any in its drawers, that was. Pushing it to the side, and hissing as a bullet barely missed his right leg, Sasaki opened some of the drawers, and then cursed every Kami he could ever think of. All of them were empty.

The eighteen year old man dropped to his belly and began slowly slinking across the cold marble flood, occasionally slipping on blood as he went, to try and reach the side of the office, where he knew that they kept their concealed weapons, in just this emergency. Unfortunately for him, the thugs seemed to some how know that, and were barricading themselves in that area. "Damn it to hell," he roared. That proved to be a mistake, the thugs looked down at him, startled for a second, and then seemed to look at each other. They raised their guns, aiming it at the boy, and began pulling their triggers.

"Incoming," Doujima shouted. Sasaki frowned, as apparently his would be murderers did too, and looked at the girl's direction, as a pale white, manicured hand tossed a small, dark green orb in the direction of the assailants.

"Ah, shit," the boy roared again, and scrambled toward the safety of his barrier, crouching himself into a little ball. A few of the thugs launched themselves away from the ball of death, but one poor soul was not so fortunate. The grenade landed neatly in his lap, and went off before he could do anything about it, tossing his legs and waist back against the weapons drawer, what his torso and half his shoulder went slamming against the left side of the wall where he was. The other half of the shoulder and his head went up in orange and red dust as the explosion set off the ammo inside the drawer. Now half the office was being licked up with the flames of battle, and the other half divided between the STN-J members, and the attackers.

"Good going girl," Karasuma snarled bitterly. The young woman released the trigger to her gun, fired off the last couple of bullets, and then quickly reloaded the last few bits of ammo she had. "We've got to escape from here," she screeched over the dim of battle.

"They've got the elevator," Kin roared back. "Probably headed up here as we speak."

"And they've got that hole well guarded," Michael groaned, "There isn't going to be an easy time taking that from them." The dark blonde boy forced himself against the conference window; he could now see the enemy gaining the advantage. The loll of enemy forces exiting the hole was now over, and a new wave of assailants began to pour into the office. Michael could also see his friends inching toward where he was, their defensive points slowly evaporating thanks to the enemy, or to the fire.

"Can't go to the side, and can't go forward," Sasaki said thoughtfully. "We're going to have to go back, the conference room."

"And from there?" Director Kosaka asked. He frowned and thought, Zaizen had an escape plan set out somewhere near the conference room, should something like this take place, but where was it? Damn it, where the holy fucking hell was it?

The room was now aglow with flames and shadows. There were at least sixty if not seventy well armed assailants in the room now, and they no longer showed any sign of hesitation, or any indication that they planned to take up new defensive positions. Half of them guarded their path of entrance into the building; the others slowly were making their way toward the group of resistance fighters. Finally Kosaka sighed and nodded his head.

"Michael if you can get to the door of the conference room open it; and the rest of us will meet up with you."

"That's insane," Kin snapped. "The kid is hurt, trying something like that, might worsen his injuries, and kill him." The former police officer rose to his knees and shot a number of bullets into the gang of attackers, dropping seven of them, before slipping back to his stomach.

"And if he doesn't, we will all be killed," his director snarled back at him. "Everyone, get ready to run, those of us with any remaining ammo will hold them back." He looked over at the conference room, and then at the goons approaching, their faceless masks unable to hide the understanding of his words. "On the count of three Michael; one, two --,"

The attackers had no intention of letting them get away. At the sound of the director's instructions, they began to rush, in mass, at the conference room, blazing their weapons. Michael rose to open the door with his key card, and screamed as three dozen bullets ripped away at his arm. Blood oozed everywhere, and the boy dropped the card, before dropping to the floor, and blacking out.

"Three!" roared a new voice, from off to the side, near the elevator. The attackers and the defenders turned to look, with different expressions. A tall individual in very white clothes, along with three of his employees stood, holding semi automatic rifles. They weren't the individuals the attackers had hoped for.

"Miss me, little lady?" Nagira smiled wistfully at Doujima and then looked at the assailants. "Excuse us for barging in on you, but I don't really think that this is the way to go about getting an appointment with the director." There was a twinkle in his eye, and his smile stretched from ear to ear. "All though this is much more entertaining." Without warning, he and his employees raised their guns, and hail of deadly shrapnel engulfed the attackers. A few of them turned to their new opponents, making the mistake of turning their backs on Doujima, who produced a second grenade and heaved it into their ranks.

That was enough to decimate the seventy strong thugs to nothing more than a handful of injured and groaning living corpses. A small minority – a very small minority – slipped back through the hole, and clutched a few ropes, that took them to the safety of their helicopters. In the blink of an eye, they were gone, but not before Kin managed to glimpse a wide eyes, and furious glance at one of the helicopter's insignias.

"What was that about?" Karasuma asked, rising to her feet.

Nagira stormed over to Michael, and sighed at the boy's body, motioning his men, a few who more who seemed to appear out of no where, to carefully take the boy. Amon's older brother scanned the scene carefully and sighed. "We'll discuss it later," he said. "Right now it's not safe for us to stay here."

"But how did you know to come here?" Doujima asked, trouncing behind the man, half way like a puppy dog – though should someone tell her that, she'd tear his throat out.

"I have my sources," he curtly replied. "There was no time to warn you of an attack before it happened, so we made the decision, to come here as quickly as possible, to help out. "

There was something about the way he had said that word. "We?" She crossed her arms and looked at him, her eyes squinting.

Nagira sighed. Not now Doujima. "I'll tell you when I think I should," he said quizzically.

There was another click of a gun, and Karasuma held a pistol to the back of his head. "You will tell us now."

Director Kosaka shook his head, and grasped the young woman's wrist, "Not now, let's just rest, and try and figure this all out." He looked at the body of the boy on the stretcher and groaned.

"What will happen to him?" he asked, pointing to a broken and bloody Michael.

"I have a few doctors who are good friends of mine," Nagira said quickly. They'll take good care of him. But for now, let's just get out of the view of the public, hmmm?"

There was no doubting the wisdom in the man's suggestion. Raven's Flat was ablaze. There were other fires other than on the floor where the combat had taken. Kin didn't doubt that he had been right on his first assumption that the enemy had taken the first floors during the initial attack, but had fallen, or supposedly fallen to Nagira's guys. A small crowd of on lookers had gathered to see what had happened, and the last thing anyone wanted was public attention right now. One thing was for sure, Solomon was going to be very, very pissed.

The officer frowned and narrowed his eyes. There was something about Nagira that screamed that he was a good guy, but there was an air around him that said, "Beware, do not trust, at least not completely."

Then there were those whirly birds, those insignia that they bore. Kin's eyebrows dropped even further, if they had dropped much more than what they were they'd slip right off. Kin had always thought those people where behind everything, pulling certain strings. How ironic that they would attack just a day after he had talked to mother, if he could even bring himself to call her that anymore. Kin felt his muscles tighten and flex. Damn Motokita, now he had another reason to bring that bastard down. He stood there, gritting his teeth, and hissing under his breath, so much so that it had caught the attention of his friends.

"I just hate seeing them get away with so much," he said, nodding toward the direction the helicopter's had fled. Most of them seemed to accept that much, but there was something in the way that Nagira stared at him, that said as much as, yeah, I've got things to hide, but I know that you do too.

Fair enough, Kin thought. I'll keep my books to my chest, and let you keep your chests to your desert isle, but sooner or later, we're going to have a one on one. Nagira seemed to read his mind, and chuckled silently as he turned away from him. This would be an interesting little game.

So, that's the great Nagira, brother of Amon. Kin smiled predatorily. So far, I'm not real impressed.

Robin's paced quickened as she walked through the woods, to the church. It was nearly evening, and she wouldn't normally be seen here during this time, but there was something that urged her to go. Danger, those people are in danger, I have to help them.

Amon had told her to ignore the feelings, to just push them to the back of her mind, but the young woman would not, could not do that. If God had given her these gifts, even through the use of science, then who was she not to use them for His good? And what better good was there, than defending the defenseless.

The woman picked up her pace, and soon she found herself at the edge of the door of the church. She blinked and slowly opened the door, pulling back as a puff of black smoke floated outward. She gasped, and initially began to run inside, to look for survivors, when Amon's training kicked in.

Get a hold of yourself, Robin. It's not real smoke. Stop, think. Look at your surroundings, and wait for your opponent to make the first move. It was her voice, but his words that sounded over and over in her mind. The young witch took a step back and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply. She stood there for a long time, until finally she could hear tiny footsteps near the back of her.

"Your illusion is impressive," she said in a low tone. There was no sound except a minuscule cackle. It was male, and though strong, very weasel like.

"The files on you are right, girl. You do have a strong sense of the craft," the hunter said. "I'll enjoy gutting you." He had a strong Russian accent.

With a flick of motion, one that a normal human could not see, Robin pulled her glasses from her pocket, and slipped them on, spinning around and sending hot waves of air toward the hunter. But he was just as quick, there was no sign of him.

"Are you familiar with the legend of the Leshii?" his voice rang out. There was something to her left, a light of some kind. Robin spun and gasped as a huge train soared toward her, hooting and wailing for her to move.

"That's impossible," she hissed, and leapt out of its way. The locomotive spun and turned on its wheels, like a snake coiling for the strike. Robin sent flame after flame toward it, but it was no use, small flames were no match for the metal behemoth. She turned to run, but then screeched to a halt, as the vehicle slowed and vanished into air. What had the hunter just said?

"The Leshii is a fairy, a forest man of my country," his voice taunted. "He is lord of the forest, and is capable of taking many forms." As the train disappeared, so the hunter reappeared. He had long red hair, his body was very hairy, and he was wearing his clothes backwards. He smiled through his gangly beard and mustache, his eyes dark and twinkling like black twilight crystals. "He would cause much mischief, before killing his prey. Of course the Leshii, is only legend, myth." He rose his hand dramatically and sang something in his native tongue before looking back at Robin. "Of course, I am very real, and have all of his powers."

"What did you do to Kano and his family?" she snapped, sending twin flaming arcs in his direction. The hunter leapt on his toes, and swiftly avoided both of them.

"Just convinced them that the church was haunted," he said mockingly. "After all they were only useless homeless peasants, not much good for anything else but a laugh." He cackled as she screamed and leapt high into the air, disappearing again.

As he vanished, a flock of crows took his place and swooped down on the girl. The pecked and clawed at her, tearing her dress and flesh, before she could zero in on them and scare them off with a ball of fire.

"Speaking of good laughs, the Leshii was known for giving his prey the last one," he cackled yet again from the shadows. As Robin spun around in circles, looking for him, large trees seemed to appear from no where, and surround the girl. "Course I'm the only one allowed to have the last laugh here, so won't pull his tickling trick with you."

Before she could do anything, a quick kick to her gut, pushed her into one the trees, and its branches swooped down, grasping her arms and legs, pulling her arms up over her head. She struggled, but the tree might as well have been made out of iron than wood. Four long roots pulled themselves from the ground, and hovered over her body for a second, before belting her with quick slashes.

"Oh no, that doesn't seem quite right, the mythical Leshii would not stop, and neither shall I," he chuckled. "You see, gifted in the craft as you are, there is much more you would have still needed to learn girl."

"The same goes for you," she gasped, closing her eyes. "Lesson one, never use wood to attack a witch with fire powers!" Robin pulled herself up to her full height and smiled.

Flames raced around her body, in a spiraling circle, and then launched out at the trees, liking at their wooden flesh. The illusions seemed to scream in pain, and through the sounds of those screams, Robin heard the sound of her opponent, hiding near one of the trees.

"A coward always like to hide in the shadows, don't they?" she asked, her voice low and in control. With a flex of her muscles, the girl snapped the branches away from her body and engulfed the illusion that attacked her with a ball of flames.

The hunter howled with rage, and raced forward, running straight into Robin's foot. The witch snapped her left arm upwards, and caught the hunter with a massive uppercut. She spun again, and caught him in his midsection, bringing him down with karate chop to the back of his neck.

He pulled himself up, and vanished into the air, a large brown bear appearing behind the girl. Robin ignored the beast, and focused on an area just to the left of her. She squinted her eyes, and the hunter again screamed, throwing his ragged shirt to the ground.

"Hiding in the shadows only works, where there are shadows to hide in," she said calmly. Looking toward the sky, Robin sent a wave of flames into the sky, illuminating early night sky. It had the effect she wanted, double fold.

She'd been right; he could only use his craft when he was standing in darkness, using the shadows to create his illusions. Plus with the sky lighted up as it was, she had him staring up toward it, probably wondering what the hell she planned to do with that. Before the realization struck him, she rushed forward, landing well placed kicks and fists.

He landed to the ground with a grunt and attempted to pull himself to his feet, scowling at her, "The files I stole said nothing about that," he hissed.

"That's what you get for stealing," she said calmly. He howled and pulled a blade from his pocket, but didn't get the chance to use it. With clarity of thought, Robin struck the hunter to the ground and incinerated him. All that was left was a large pile of dust.

Robin quickly cleaned the mess up, and said a quicker prayer that Kano and his family were indeed all right, and would return.

But one thing bothered her, who had files on her, other than Solomon, or the STN-J, both of whom it was impossible to steal files from, and how had this man managed to get them? Or had he at one time worked for one of the two, and decided to go out mercenary style, to hunt witches, like that hunter from America. A shiver of dread raced down her spine. This hunter had been annoying as hell, but something told her that he was nothing compared to the power of the American Hunter. And somehow, she felt the other woman closing in on her, like the opposite side of a magnet, racing to meet its cousin.

Why is it that I feel I'm in for the fight of my life?

Well Sparky16, I hope these three chapters qualify as a well read update soon . The same for the rest of you! Anyway I'll try and update with at least two more chapters sometime in at least October.