Kanan went up the stairs slowly but steadily. She had no idea how women could walk gracefully in tall heels, because her legs were already suffering in pain from it. She had to take a break in the midst of going up. When she finally reached the second floor, she saw three rooms. The one at the far right had the door slightly opened. That caught her curiosity, and she decided to go there.
She took out her gun and slowly made her way towards the door. She leaned against the wall beside the room and took a deep breath before standing in front of the door and aiming the gun at it. Nothing happened.
She slowly pushed open the door, and almost immediately, a man wearing a blue shirt ran forward to her and kicked her in the stomach. She fell back onto the wall behind her, dropping her gun. She quickly got back up and tried to reach for the gun, but he kicked it far away from her. A bunch of masked men appeared behind him.
"Using weapons against us armorless people?" He asked, "Play fair, won't you?"
She tried punching him, but he caught her fist and kicked her left side of the body to the right. He then booted her on the stomach, and she stumbled back before falling down due to her heels. The man lent his hand out to her, signaling to her that he could help her get back up.
She glared at him and pushed his hand away. She slowly stood up, but the heels were making it hard for her to stand straight and properly. He, once again, kicked her on the stomach, making her fall down once more. She groaned in pain as she grabbed her stomach tightly.
"C'mon, my lady." The man offered his left hand to her, "I know you're a tough police officer, but sometimes you could suffer a little pain. Let me help you. Let me show you what a gentleman would do." Kanan was intrigued, and she held his hand just to see what would happen.
He helped her up and waited for her to stand before he did a roundhouse kick on her chest, making her fly all the way back to the other side of the second floor. He laughed along with the other masked men. Kanan scowled, pissed off she was being laughed at, and it was all because of the heels. She took it out and placed it at one side before standing up.
"Oh no, the weakling's getting moody now." The man teased her, "She can't take it lying down that she was beaten thrice. How 'bout you stop trying, and go cry to your mommy like a little kid."
"Let's see who'll be the one crying afterwards." Kanan then pulled his ear before pushing it downwards, bringing him down to the ground with a painful ear. Some of the men charged at her, trying to throw punches at her, but she skillfully dodged it. She retaliated with a few kicks to their faces.
The man with the blue shirt took out a nunchaku and swung it around. Kanan looked at it and thought of a way to take him down. He swung it at her, but she swerved left and right to evade the attacks. She waited for a perfect moment before she kicked his groin. He staggered backwards, but before she could kick him once more, he recovered quickly and whipped her right leg with one side of the nunchaku. He then slapped her face with the other side of it.
She moved back, rubbing her cheeks as she was in excruciating pain. She was enraged. How dare he hit a woman's face, with a weapon no less. As the wooden sticks were about to hit her again, she managed to grab hold of one of them. She pulled it forward with force, bringing the man to her. As soon as his face got near to hers, she clenched her right fist and punched him in the face.
He stumbled back with his nose bleeding, his vision watery, and him feeling really dizzy. She snatched his nunchaku and swung it around. She then whacked his face four times with it; two times on each side. For the final blow, she booted him on the stomach. He tripped over the ledge and fell on the first floor, immediately rendering him unconscious, and possibly dead.
Kanan crossed her arms with pride and smirked at the man. Zi Yang looked up at her and gave a thumbs up. As she turned back, a masked man instantly headbutted her on the stomach. Her spine bumped against the handle, and she yelled in pain. He then grabbed her waist with his hands and carried her. As he was about to throw her off the second floor, she held his wrist, bringing him down along with her. They both landed on the floor on their backs with a loud thud. Zi Yang quickly rushed to Kanan.
"You okay there, Kanan?" He asked worriedly.
"Does it look like I'm okay?" She said with a weak voice, "I'm in pain. My back is hurting like a motherfucker." He nodded his head and dialed the hospital's hotline. Afterwards, he called his police officers to scold them as they have not reached the scene yet. He also told them to be faster before hanging up.
"Stay here and wait for help, Kanan." Zi Yang took out his pistol, "I'll go up the second floor and finish the rest of the men for you." With that, he went up the stairs before Kanan could say anything. She wanted to stop him as she thought Umi might be on the second floor too, but the agonizing pain on her back made it hard for her to even talk. She had no choice but to let the inevitable happen.
In the middle room on the second floor, Eli and Venus were standing opposite of each other. Eli glared at her enemy while Venus grinned back and straightened her leather jacket. They walked in circles, not even risking a second to take their eyes off each other.
"So you're that bastard's assistant, eh?" Eli asked, "Miss Venus, right?"
"I don't know." Venus retorted, "How 'bout you tell me?"
"What a nice katana you have." Eli glanced at the assailant's weapon, "I'm sure you used that to slit Yosuke Lee's head off."
"Thank you for complimenting my katana." Venus smiled, "It is very beautiful to me. It is carved out by one of the most professional bladesmiths in the world. Also, I'm surprised you're able to figure it out. You stopped three of our robberies and even defeated Ruby and Dia. It looks like I've been underestimating you and your group of friends. It's really commendable."
"Thank you, but I do not deserve such compliments." Eli replied, "Honey-tongued praises coming from people like you only make me cringe."
"This is where your journey of retaliation will stop." Venus got into a fighting stance, "I will end your life today. After that, I'll kill your other two comrades, and then I'll bury you three side by side. You'll regret ever trying to go against our crime syndicate."
"Let's see if you can honor those words." Eli reloaded her gun and aimed it at Venus, but the latter managed to kick it out from Eli's hands. As soon as Venus swung the blade at Eli's head, Eli ducked and tried to do an uppercut on Venus, but Venus moved her head back with ease, with Eli's fist missing her face by an inch. Venus then booted the blonde woman on the stomach, which sent her stumbling back.
"Not bad, Ayase." Venus gave a nod of acknowledgement, "You're quite good. Too bad it takes more than that to beat me." With that, she tried slicing Eli's arms. Eli could dodge the first few, but when her back hit the door, she was stunned for a moment and she couldn't react in time. The blade sliced her left arm, and it made Eli whine.
As Venus was about to stab Eli's chest, Eli slid under her and pulled her legs backwards. Venus fell onto the floor on her face. Using this chance to disarm Venus, Eli twisted her arm before snatching her katana away from her. Eli then threw it away from her enemy. Venus fought back by using her boots to kick Eli in the stomach, causing Eli to fall down. The both of them got up within a second, glaring at each other.
"Stop depending on your katana, pussy." Eli growled, "Fight me with your bare fists, not with your weapon. You already took mine away. Unless...you can't fight at all without your dearest katana?"
"You clearly know how to do some taunting." Venus smirked, straightening her right arm, "Don't get too cocky, though. You'll be begging on your knees soon." The two then started fighting. Venus tried kicking Eli's face, but the latter held her hands up to her eyes and crossed her wrists, blocking the attack.
Venus punched Eli's chest multiple times before Eli managed to retaliate by grabbing Venus's fist. After that, Eli held Venus's wrist and pulled her over before drop-kicking her. Venus flew to the door, her back hitting the handle. She groaned in pain before getting up and cracking her knuckles.
Eli charged forward and tried to jump-kick her but Venus swerved her body to the left. Venus tried punching Eli on the face, but Eli managed to block it with her arms before she grasped Venus's wrist with her left hand. Eli held onto Venus's arm tightly with her right hand. She then turned herself around and brought her hands forward, flipping Venus in the air before slamming her onto the ground.
Before Eli could strike again, Venus booted her on the face. She then chopped Eli's neck with the side of her palm. Venus swiftly wrapped her arms around Eli's neck and kneed Eli's chin thrice. After Venus let go, she jabbed Eli on her face for a few seconds before kicking her on the waist. Eli fell down onto the ground as she spit blood out from her mouth. Venus picked up her katana and went to a wounded Eli.
"I'll end your life once and for all, Eli Ayase." Venus was about to slice Eli's head off when a man swung into the room through the open windows and kicked Venus away. His face couldn't be seen clearly due to the black cloak he was wearing that almost covered his entire body. Venus slowly got up and patted the dust off her leather suit.
"You've finally arrived, Esther." Venus grinned at the man, "What an entrance. You tryna impress people here? Doesn't work on me."
"I'm here to bring down a stinky crime syndicate." He replied as he brandished his sword, "The one that reeks of shit. I'll take you down no matter what."
"Honestly, you caught me by surprise." Venus remarked, "I know I need to hunt you down, and you're super hard to find, but I clearly didn't expect you to be standing in front of me just like that. You appear and disappear as you please. You really love playing hide and seek with me, don't you?"
"I thought you were smart, Venus." Esther retorted, "Locating me shouldn't be a problem for such an intelligent woman like you. After all, you acted like one, so I assumed you were one. I guess I overestimated you. My bad, I was wrong."
"How dare you insult me in a sarcastic tone!" Venus roared, "I had enough of your bullshit! I'll put an end to this rivalry once and for all! I'll make you swallow your words back down your throat before I murder you in cold blood, you incorrigible betrayer!"
"Bring it on, you low class bitch." Esther sneered. The two of them started fighting, their blades of their weapons clanging against each other. Eli was confused when she heard the word 'betrayer'. What did this Esther guy do? She decided not to care about that for now. She stood up slowly and looked out of the window. She saw Jeff parking his truck beside a mattress on the grass patch. Using this chance to escape, she leaped out of the room through the window and landed on the mattress. Jeff quickly got out of his vehicle and went to help her up.
Zi Yang walked up the stairs to the second floor, his gun facing downwards at a forty five degree angle. He saw three of the injured men rising up from the floor, preparing to fight the police inspector. He sighed and shook his head before running towards one of the men and jump-kicking him on the chest.
As another man tried to attack him, Zi Yang punched his ear before doing the same to the side of his face. The last man tried to attack him from the back, but the policeman elbowed his chest before doing a back kick on his crotch. Zi Yang then turned around and booted him on the stomach. The man flew back to the wall and turned unconscious.
In the first room, Maki and Umi were almost done defeating all the men in the room. Only one remained. Maki swung her left fist at his face and did two high kicks to his left ear and waist. Umi picked up three knives and threw them at his left shoulder, causing him to scream in agony. To end it off, Maki wrapped her hands around his right arm, turned around, and brought her arms forward. The man was flipped in the air before he landed on the ground with a thud. Maki stepped on his back with her heels and held his right arm and twisted it. The man whined in pain.
"That's all of them." Maki told Umi as she let go of the man's arm, "Definitely not what I was expecting when I came here. I'm a bit exhausted from fighting so many people."
"We should probably get out of here now." Umi uttered, "If the police arrive, we're all gonna be screwed."
"You're right. We probably should leave…" Before Maki could finish her sentence, the desk, which was in front of her, was flipped upside down, and a chair was flown towards her at a relatively fast speed. Maki managed to barely dodge it. A muscular man appeared and stared at Umi and Maki.
Maki tried going forward to attack him, but he held her fist and kicked her legs sideways, making her fall down to the ground. He then picked her up and threw her at one of the cupboards.
As he was about to approach her and whack her, Umi picked up whatever knives she could find and threw them at him. However, the knives just bounced off the man. He turned to Umi and stormed towards her. Umi was about to punch him when he grabbed her up by the neck. He laughed at her as she made many attempts to pull his fingers away from her throat. However, his grip was too strong for her.
"Your knives are absolutely doing nothing to me, because I'm wearing a stab proof vest." He said to her, "You made the wrong choice attacking me, miss." He then threw her at the door, breaking it down. She landed outside of the room. She got up and patted the wooden dust off her dress and stockings. At the same time, Zi Yang heard a loud noise behind him. He decided to turn around to see what was going on.
Umi and Zi Yang's eyes met. Zi Yang was shocked and enraged. He glared at her as he clenched his fists. Umi, on the other hand, widened her eyes in horror and gulped in fear. She certainly did not expect her higher-up to be here at all, much less any police man. She cursed under her breath, knowing that she was fucked and was gonna have a hard time dealing with Zi Yang.