Chapter 36: No Honour Among Thieves
"Whatdowedowhatdowedo!?" Bow panicked.
"Run for Bluefin Tunnel!" Hat yelled.
But it was too late. We hadn't even taken two steps before we were suddenly surrounded by darkness, that was hordes of Metro Cats all surrounding us and blocking the way to the tunnel.
"We're surrounded!" Knit cried.
"Hiyaaaaah!" Instantly Metro Cats began descending on us.
"We'll have to break through!" I told the four of them as I turned my nunchuks into their mace form and battered one away. Hat and Bow attacked with their umbrellas as Knit pulled her needles out of her hair and jabbed one, causing it to recoil with a pained cat screech. But as soon as they were gone more took their place.
"There's way too many of them!" Bow cried.
"Bluefin Tunnel is right there! If we could just-!" I swung my weapon at the wall of cats, but somehow it stood firm, as if the cats had all molded their shadowy selves into a cat barricade.
"It's no use, Tie." Hat told me as she held me back. "Everyone! This way!" She pulled us along as we fled down a back alley into Yellow Overpass. "We're going to have to go the long way around!"
We dashed as fast as we could, using the various cleaning robots around to bounce us up higher as more and more walls of cats continued to swarm us, cutting off paths and forcing us to constantly change directions.
"More up ahead!" Bow warned us as we were backed into a corner.
"Oh! Down here!" Knit's arms stretched out and pushed a manhole cover off, which we all falled into. "So, we're in Bluefin Tunnel now, right? Right?"
"No. I remember this way." Hat said. "It's an underground path to Green Clean Station. We can't get to Bluefin from here."
"But we haven't got many other options." I admitted. "For now, we have to keep moving until we can find an opening."
We moved around in the underground until we came to a large area with trains running underneath. Thankfully it seemed like the giant cats pulling the trains were neutral in all of this, leaving us free to begin climbing up.
"Where do you four think YOU'RE going!?"
We all froze as none other then the Empress herself descended on a metal platform, wielding a DIAMOND BAZOOKA.
"Is that a diamond bazooka?" I pointed dumbly.
"Now she's just showing off." Knit commnented.
"Run all you want, you'll never be able to get away from me!" She declared as she took aim and fired a diamond, forcing us all to dodge as it exploded.
"It's a genuine rocket launcher, though!" Bow cried.
"Make a dash for the door!" Hat yelled, making us all sprint, only to stop.
"What's this!?" Bow gestured at the electronic wall guarding the door.
"It won't go away!" Knit shouted as we banged against it with no results.
"Dodge!" I shouted and we all instinctively jumped out of the way to avoid another diamond rocket.
"Is she putting it up?" Knit questioned.
"This is bad, if we can't get through, they'll catch up to us..." I hissed, glancing up at her as she glared down at us with that feline look. "...Bow! Hold Knit!" I gave her the little yarn girl as I flew up with the Bat Bow.
"Tie!?" Knit cried.
"So, you're coming right to me, brat!?" Empress shouted
'I'm still scared, but I have to knock her out!' I thought as I turned my nunchuks into a mace. "Take this!" I brought my weapon down as hard as I could, but she blocked it with her launcher.
"Is that ALL you can manage?" She lashed at me with her free, clawed hand, but I swerved out of the way and fell underneath her just in time.
'Too close! No doubt about it, if that hit me, I wouldn't survive.' I admitted in my head as I flew up onto another platform. Thankfully, I now had her full attention.
"I always had a horrible feeling about you, boy." Empress admitted as she took aim at me. "You have that annoying look of angry defiance I've seen far too often. But I thought that since you were such a little lapcat to the girl, you'd fall in line once she was under my paw. And now I have to get rid of you all. Unfortunately for you, there's a reason I've seen that look so many times; because I always crush it under my boots!"
"Just try it!" I provoked her and she fired at me again. I jumped over the attack and switched to the Spark Sunglasses, unleashing a bolt of lightning directly at her, when she suddenly leaped away onto another platform!
'She's fast! As expected of a cat I guess...but to dodge lightning!?' We were right all along. She was incredibly dangerous.
"Those abilities...you could have been SO useful. Such a shame..." She purred angrily before taking aim.
"Hey! Empress!" We both stopped and turned towards Hat, who was blowing a raspberry at her. "You stink! Pbbtthhh!"
'Hat...' I thought. 'There's no way she's gonna-'
"You little-!" She instantly changed aim and fired at Hat. I guess it was that easy. Must've been her colossal ego.
Hat easily dodged the missile, but the diamond actually embedded itself into some kind of generator and exploded, which caused the electronic barrier to vanish.
"Now, Tie! Run for it!" Hat called to me.
"Got it!" I agreed as I switched to the Paradox...Gum, and teleported over to them.
"How dare you!?" Empress cried, offended, and fired one more missile at us before I shut the doors and tightly locked it before following them.
"Hat...!" I breathed.
"I figured out that the generators power those barriers." She hurriedly explained. "Sorry, Tie, but we really can't afford to fight her. We need to get out of here!"
'Oh thank goodness.' I breathed a sigh of relief in my head.
Suddenly there was a whine as Empress' voice rang out over the underground: "Can none of you catch ONE child out of FOUR!?"
"I think she's mad." Knit pointed out.
"Quick! We'll climb up into Green Clean!" Hat pointed out as she bounced up, followed by Bow..."Uh-oh."
"Why uh-oh?" I called up before bouncing up myself. "Oh..."
Lots of cats were in front of us. Not the impenetrable black wall kind, but a lot. All armed to the teeth and looking at us with a hungry look.
"Not good! If we take too long fighting these guys...!" Bow couldn't finish.
"But there's no other way to go." I pointed out.
"I'll deal with them!" Knit declared as she jumped in front of us.
"Knit!?" I gasped.
"I'm made for fighting, remember? I can clear a path." She assured us. "Besides, all of Dad's magic in me is gone now. I'll be okay."
"Even still..." Bow mumbled, looking at the cats approaching us, as rabid meows began coming out of the hole we had just jumped out of.
"We'll count on you, Knit." Hat agreed, reaching into her sleeve. "Tie!"
"...Okay." I nodded and reached into my own sleeve, as we both pulled out a bunch of magic yarn. "We've still been picking them up."
"But we don't need them anymore." Hat said. "These belong to you, right? It's only right we return them."
"Tie...Hat..." Knit accepted them. "They're what I'm made of, the pieces that were scattered around the planet when dad was erased."
"So that's why..." I whispered.
"I'm sorry, but can you hurry!?" Bow begged as the cats closed in from both the front and back.
"Alright! Here I go!" Knit said as she unravelled the yarn balls and wrapped herself up in them like some kind of magical girl transformation.
When she reformed, she was now three times as tall as us and her body was more feminine, as well as dark pink in colour. Her hair was now much longer and flowed freely, and was a golden yellow in colour as her eyes were now leaf-shaped, but still glowing gold. She now sported a very long crimson red scarf that wrapped around the lower half of her face as the two ends fluttered around her. The two needles that held her hair up had lengthened into twin golden rapiers she wielded in each hand.
"...What?" I stated dumbly. I mean, how was all of that fluttering with no wind?
"That's so cool!" Hat cheered.
Without saying anything, the ends of Knit's scarf wrapped around Hat and Bow, picking them up and carrying them as her hair reached down, picked me up and tied me to the top of her head. Yes, it was humiliating.
"Hold on tight." Knit warned us.
"Wait-" Was all I managed.
Before Knit began tearing through the small army in front of us, pulling us along for the ride, all screaming. Hat and Bow in joy, me in terror. She was incredibly nimble, aided by the fact her yarn body would unravel and latch onto things so that she could Spiderman us around Green Clean fairly easily.
"Whooooooo!" Hat cheered.
"I'm gonna be sick!" I screamed.
"Oh, sorry." Knit actually stopped. "Are you okay, Tie?"
"Yeah...yeah..." I gulped. "I'm sure I'd be used to this speed if I was doing it myself."
"There you are." A horribly familiar voice spoke, and we all looked up as Empress once again descended on a platform. "You all are just full of surprises, aren't you? It's a real PAIN."
"She's back!" Bow cried.
"I could try to fight her like this." Knit suggested.
"Nonono! The rest of the cats are catching up, we need to keep moving!" Hat denied.
"I'm with Hat. Get us out of here, Knit." I agreed.
"None of you are going anywhere!" Empress yelled as she fired at us with that diamond rocket launcher again, but Knit was able to easily avoid it.
"Ah! Knit! Over there! Those are the generators!" Hat pointed.
"Got it." She nodded as she instantly zipped over to one of the generators and stabbed it with both needles, instantly destroying it.
"Don't you dare move!" Empress fired again but Knit dodged once more and cut through the second generator, causing the barrier blocking the way to go down.
"Go, go, go, go!" Hat pointed, prompting Knit to leap over to it quickly and avoid another exploding jewel.
"This is Pink Paw." Bow nodded as we ran down pink streets, before whirring started up again.
"That's it! TWO million for each of them! Now get to it you lazy paws!" Empress half-threatened half-encouraged the cats.
"Seems like she's frustrated." I noted.
"There's definitely a way to Bluefin Tunnel this way." Bow nodded to herself.
"Alright then! Let's go!" Hat cheered.
Suddenly, we were stopped in our tracks as the three of us tumbled to the ground.
"Knit!?" I gasped. Her body had just suddenly…collapsed! What was once carrying us was now no more then a pile of yarn.
"Ohhhhhh…" Thankfully, Knit sat up out of it in her normal form, though now dark pink in colour, her hair completely down. "I'm tired…"
"I guess using that form really exhausted her." Bow mumbled.
"Sorry for pushing you, Knit." Hat said.
"You did a really good job. We'll help you the rest of the way." It was my turn to carry her. "Come on, let's keep going."
"Mm-hm." She nodded, on the verge of sleep, before we continued running.
"We should be able to get down to Bluefin through this way." Bow explained as she lead the charge, a bit more familiar with Pink Paw…y'know, after being stuck in it.
"Hopefully, Empress and her goons won't be able to follow us so easily down there." Hat said.
"Emphasis on hopefully." I added.
We ran into a more open area with a train station on the side. "There's the passageway!" Bow pointed, and we ran up to it, only to be stopped again. "What the-? ANOTHER barrier!?"
"Oh, is your little friend exhausted?" Once again Empress descended on her platform. "Why don't you hand her over? I'm sure my goons would LOVE to have her."
I clutched Knit closer to my back. "Why don't you just give up already? You can't stop us!"
"Oh, but I believe I can. Did you forget? I know EVERYTHING that goes on down here. I know everything all of you are capable of. That little transformation that ball of wool pulled off just caught me off guard, that's all." Empress boasted. "But I assure you, this is as far as you'll go. You're not strong enough to break my generators on your own, and if I don't fire any missiles at you, you can't use them to break the generators. Which means all I have to do is wait for my cats to catch up with you. And then this little game of cat and mouse is OVER!"
"H-Hey, are we seriously stuck!?" Bow gasped.
"Those generators are tough, none of our abilities can break them." Hat admitted. "And the cats are closing in soon."
"So we really are trapped." I hissed.
"That's right." Empress purred. "No more pipes for you to zip through with that pendant of yours, no more walls to break open with bombs, no more giant gaps or secret passageways for any of you to scurry into. I never leave ANYBODY to their own devices. You learn about your enemy and you use that to crush them."
That evil smile of hers grew a little. "Which is why Felin will never make it with those pathetic excuses of drawings of his. Not when I can pull some strings and buy a piece, or make a counterfeit, that crushes any hopes of his pieces ever seeing the light of day. As if that little mongrel could ever have dreams in MY Metro."
"You…" Hat gasped.
"You're vile, you monster!" I yelled.
"That's how you make it to the top. And why you're down there, about to be torn up and thrown to me." She mocked.
"I can hear them coming!" Bow gasped towards where we'd just come from.
'What do we do? We can't let her win like this!' I racked my brain for an answer.
"Tie." I stopped and looked at Hat, who looked at me. "Let's show her just how good we are."
"…Right." I nodded, knowing what she was getting at, before I handed Knit to Bow and we both rushed towards one generator.
"Guys!?" Bow gasped.
"Oh? Flailing around before the inevitable?" Empress croned. "Didn't I already tell you? I know the extent of your abilities, so I know you can't break that, no matter how hard you try."
"You may know how strong each of our powers are…" Hat spoke as she put on her Brewing Hat whilst I switched to my Bat Bow. "…But you don't know how amazing we are together! Tie!"
"I got it!" I said.
Hat threw a bomb whilst I launched the two attached missiles at the same time, the combined force of the three projectiles managed to make the generator explode!
"What!?" Empress gasped.
"Woo-hoo!" Hat cheered. "Two more to go! Let's try Ice Cap and Spark Scarf next!"
"That could work." I nodded as we switched again.
Hat jumped over the next generator and turned into an ice sculpture as I electrified it, causing to to sparkle brilliantly with lightning as the crushing force of the ice and the electrocution completely flattened the machine.
"Awesome, you two!" Bow cheered.
"You maybe really strong and scary on your own Empress, and you may have hundreds of goons working for you…" Hat spoke with a confident grin. "…but you clearly don't know the power of working together!"
"Trying to make a fool out of me!? ME!?" In her rage Empress pulled out her diamond launcher and fired one at her. But that was all I needed to switch to the Paradox Pendant and create two portals that redirected the missile at the third generator, destroying it.
"It's open! Come on!" Bow called to us as she jumped down with Knit.
"You're not getting away again!" Empress shouted as she actually leapt towards us, claws raised for an attack!
"Tie!" Hat grabbed onto me and suddenly, everything around us seemed to slow down as Hat activated her Time-Stop Hat, pulling me along and down into Bluefin Tunnel.
"This is weird…" I spoke.
"Cool, huh?" Hat responded as she quickly put the manhole cover over us and twisted it to lock it in place, before time resumed as normal, and we could hear cursing above us.
"We made it…we made it to Bluefin Tunnel…" Bow breathed a sigh of relief.
"We're not out of the woods yet." I told her. "Which way to the exit elevator?"
"Um…this way." Bow pointed, as we followed behind.
We darted through Bluefin Tunnel, with the only obstacles now being the running trains and any loose electricals. There were no cats in sight.
"Do you think they lost us?" Bow suggested.
"I don't want to stick around and find out." I countered. "How much further?"
"Not long now, I don't think, as we all turned a corner, and Bow yelped.
"What's wrong B-…oh." I stopped.
"Felin?" Hat asked.
"Nyeah…" The cat sighed heavily. "I figured you four would go down this way. It's the only exit not under Empress' control, after all." He seemed to shuffle awkwardly.
"Are you here to catch us?" Bow questioned.
"…Nyeah." He huffed. "Look, it's nothing personal, I actually really like you guys. But…two million is a lot. I mean, a LOT a lot. Enough to get me out of here and…anywhere else."
"Hey." I began. "You know all the money she makes is-"
"It's okay, Tie." Hat stopped me. "I think Felin knows all that already, don't you? Like how you heard her talking about you to us. Right?"
He instantly looked both ashamed and uncomfortable.
"If you wanna try and stop us and get the money, that's fine. We'll fight you and go on through." She shrugged nonchalantly. "But it's your decision, Felin."
I looked at her. I honestly didn't know what her game plan here was. It was very odd of her. But at the same time, it was still that serious side of her.
"I told you both you couldn't fight her." He eventually spoke, not looking us in the eye. "I'm actually envious of you. Not many get the chance to run like this either. Meanwhile, I'm just stuck here."
"You could come with us." Hat suggested.
"I'm blocking you from the exit elevator. I could have left a long time ago." He said. "I've stayed because, well, mostly out of fear, but also because…" He scratched the back of his head. "I didn't want to give up. I wanted to try and prove that I could make something of worth, more then her. To prove to myself that it mattered. To prove to all the cats supporting me, that it's worth it."
"Ah…I get it." The captain adjusted her namesake. "Sorry. We wanted to topple Empress to help you, but that was too big a hurdle for us."
"'S okay. Didn't expect that anyway." He waved it off.
"But I don't think you need to prove anything." Hat went on. "You're already amazing enough as it is. We've seen that firsthand. We know how great your art is, so I'm sure you can make it, even with everything against you. It's your decision."
He looked at us for a moment, before he stepped over and leaned against the wall. "Go on, get out of here."
"Really?" I questioned.
"Really." He nodded. "Maybe I really am never going to get anywhere in art. Doesn't mean I'm gonna stop doing what I love. Going with you guys would mean abandoning that, and turning you guys in, well, you're too nice. It'd leave a very bad taste in my mouth."
"Aw, look at you, trying to act all cool." Hat beamed as she pet him on the head like a proper cat. "We'll be rooting for you, whatever you choose."
"Nyeah, sure, whatever." He whispered with a faint blush. "Go on, before I change my mind."
"Thanks, Felin." I nodded to him.
"I don't really get it, but, good for you!" Bow beamed as we all ran past him.
He sighed heavily at that, but then flinched and looked to the side. "Huh?"
We ran down more corridors until finally we saw an elevator at the end. "There it is!" Bow pointed as we ran towards it.
"So this'll get us up top, then what?" I asked.
"We can try teleporting again with a closer distance. If not, Leviathan should be able to help us." Hat said, though it didn't fill me with much confidence.
However, as we approached it, the doors opened, and we screeched to a halt in horror at the figure inside.
"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." Empress spoke with suppressed anger.
We backed away, only to find several cats blocking our escape route. "Step inside, won't you?" We didn't have much choice as we were herded in.
We were trapped in a small elevator with her.
"Did you think you'd get out? Did you all think you were oh so clever? I must admit, it's impressive how much of a run around you all gave me." She spoke. "You certainly gave me some nasty surprises with how much you were capable of. It's such a shame, I'm usually very careful with my investments. Perhaps your otherworldly abilities is what made me rush into things carelessly."
'This is bad. Really, really bad.' I was in thought the entire time she was talking. 'I can't teleport us out if I can't see. There's literally nowhere left to run.'
"It's all my fault really. Perhaps my eye for these things is going after so long." She sighed. "Your little group could have truly been something special here little girl. But, you've disappointed me. And it's time I cash out."
'What do we do!? What do we do!?' I looked at Hat and Bow, but they were equally terrified. 'No good...all I can do now is save one of them with the Necro Necklace.'
All I could do, like back with Vanessa, I braced myself.
But nothing happened. Except for a slight choking sound. So I looked up.
What I saw was the last thing I expected.
"Voice!?" I yelled.
The cloaked figure was standing on Empress' shoulders, their Time Tuning Fork held against Empress' throat as she tried to claw at them in her blind spot.
"Who...are you!?" She coughed.
"Sorry, but I'm the only one allowed to kill him." Voice spoke.
"What are you doing here!?" Hat gasped.
"Boss' decision." They shrugged, before kicking a button on the elevator. "You and me are getting off here, Empress."
"Don't think you can-!" She began, but Voice tightened their hold, as with a 'ding', the elevator doors opened.
"Leave this to me." They told us. "We'll meet again. Very soon. And for the last time."
"Wait, Voice!" I yelled.
But they unleashed a shockwave from their weapon that pushed them and Empress out of the elevator and us against the opposite wall, as the doors closed.
"They...saved us." Bow stated. "Why?"
"No idea." I admitted. "I don't buy that wanting to kill me themselves reason."
"You must be special to them." Hat smirked teasingly.
"H-Hey, we almost died." I breathed at her.
"Wouldn't be the first time." She said. "We'd have found a way out either way."
Before the speech could progress further, the doors opened again...and a cat cop walked in.
"Oh! Thought the boss would be in here." The cat said.
'What? Oh, he's one of her flunky's.' I thought.
"Hey, you lot are collecting these for her, right? Here, you can deliver this one." He handed us a Time Piece. "Welp, gotta get going. See you cats around." He then left, leaving us to ascend all the way to the top.
"...We're really lucky." Was all Hat could say.
I chose to remain silent. Wondering what in space Voice was planning.
The blast shot Voice and Empress so far they both crashed onto a building top, finally unscrambling from each other and landing on opposite ends, as the neon from all the surrounding buildings illuminated them,
"You...who do you think you are!?" Empress growled as the two of them picked themselves up.
"An emissary." They answered simply as they slung their weapon over their shoulder. "But right now, I'm on a mission." They pointed the tuning fork at her. "My partner says you're evil. So I'm here to take you out."
"Take me out? What a joke!" She stood up fully. "Who sent you? Some gang trying to pick themselves up again after I crushed them?"
"Nah. A little girl with a moustache." Voice shrugged. "But of course, I seconded this decision. Across most, if not all dimensions, you are a definition of 'evil' on this planet. If anybody deserves to be toppled, it's you."
"You've caught me in a VERY bad mood little brat." She warned. "Coming after me with such bold words and getting in my way, you've more then given yourself a death wish!"
"Well then, will you be able to take me on all by yourself?" Voice questioned, which made Empress raise an eyebrow. "Seems like that group of four took out an awful lot of your pawns."
"You honestly think I'm going to do something 'noble' like fight you one on one? Don't make me laugh." She denied, before snapping her fingers. "I need some boys to join me here, deal with a different kind of troublemaker."
After a moment of silence, nothing was happening.
"What did you do?" Empress immediately knew something was up, and that it was Voice's doing.
"Nothing. That's my partner keeping them busy." They shrugged. "Seems like you're all out of pieces."
A pause.
"Hahahahaha….HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Empress burst out into depraved laughter. "Is this some kind of joke!? I don't think a day has ever gone this terribly ever since this city became mine!"
"You should be proud. You're the most definable definition of 'bad' in many dimensions. Congrats!" Voice gave a mocking applause. "Which is why, it's kind of exciting that we've decided to take you down. I wonder if this will leave a big impact."
"...Take me down?" Her eyes suddenly gleamed dangerously at them. "In case you don't know, you ignorant fool, I didn't conquer this entire Metro with talking and playing nice. I did it by crushing anyone who got in my way and taking what I needed!"
She swept her arm out and pulled out a light purple scabbard. She drew a long, shining katana with a purple handle that had white fish on it, wielding it in one hand.
"It's been a long time since I've used this. But after this disaster of a day, I just HAVE to kill someone. How unfortunate you're the final one in my sights!" She readied the blade as a feral look overtook her eyes.
"Just try it." Voice challenged as they held their own weapon poised and ready.
For a moment, everything was still. Then they launched themselves at each other, and clashed.
There was a shrill clang of metal as the two blades clashed against each other, the wielder pushing back as sparks flew between them, before they broke away and were pushed back to the other sides of the rooftop from the force alone.
"You're deceptively strong." Empress hissed.
"And your strength comes from your speed." Voice responded.
Once again they dashed and struck at each other, this time with multiple swings, again and again they parried and blocked the other, the sound of clashing blades ringing out in the air over and over as their flurry of strikes rebounded off one another. Switching tactics, Voice thrusted forward, only for Empress to sidestep, and slash at them with her free claw instead of her blade, and they barely just managed to jump away before getting struck.
'She's incredibly fast, plus she can use her claws as well as that blade.' Voice thought quickly.
"I've had quite enough of people running away from me!" In an instant she closed the gap and swung her sword downward heavily. But in a moment, Voice 'caught' the blade inbetween the two prongs of the tuning fork, and twisted their wrist to lock the captured metal in place. Before Empress could comprehend what had happened, they threw the weapon, along with its wielder, skyward and went to slam her into the ground. At the very last moment she pulled it free and leapt away from him.
"Crafty little pest." She snarled.
"I learnt from the best." They responded.
She began zigzagging towards them to try and confuse them, but Voice held the fork upas it began to vibrate, and created a soundwave barrier all around them that repelled Empress with extreme force the moment she touched it.
"What!?" Using her cat reflexes she landed perfectly despite being flung back. "That's no ordinary weapon. I'm getting sick of all you superhumans showing up."
"I'm no more human then you are." Voice said. "I'm an emissary." They didn't add anything else before unleashing a blasting soundwave from the tuning fork, that Empress leapt away from and onto another rooftop. Voice made the destructive beam follow after her as she ran and leapt across rooftops to keep ahead of it, until she managed to get completely behind them and leapt down, blade drawn into their blind spot. However, Voice instantly cancelled the attack and jumped over her slash, before swinging their weapon downwards towards her back, but she knocked it away with her free claw, making them gain some distance between each other again.
'We keep coming to a stalemate, but I'm mostly on the defensive here.' Voice admitted in their head.
"Out of sheer, utter curiosity, what could you ever hope to gain from ending my reign?" Empress questioned, unflinching from her hateful glare and ready stance.
"Nothing, really. Funnily enough, curiosity is a motivating factor." Voice said. "What would happen if you were gone? Would things here be better? Or worse?"
"That just shows how naive you are." Empress growled. "Before I came along there were gangs all over. I finished them off and took complete control, and everything is much better off for it."
"How noble of you." Voice sarcastically spat. "More like you just absorbed those you didn't get rid off into your own gang and stomped out anybody who tries to stand up to you in any way. You're just another gang but grossly bloated."
"And you think that this sunless cesspit can function without someone controlling it?"
"I'm not interested in that. All I care about is how things would change if you were to vanish. How many people would feel relieved, what would others do in response...would anybody miss you, or would you fade from memory? Trust me when I say your loss is a perfect chance for me, because you won't be bad on my consciences."
"If you can talk so confidently, then you'd better come over here and kill me!" She challenged.
'If there was ever an incentive.' Voice thought as they ran towards her.
Empress then in a flash pulled out her rocket launcher and fired at them, Voice not reacting in time as the diamond exploded into them and sent them flying back.
"I certainly didn't get here by playing fair, either." She told them. "If you want to beat them, you must use every dirty trick you can!"
Voice stood up, shrugging off the damage, and dusting themselves down. "...It's funny."
"Hm?" She hummed, even though she clearly wasn't interested.
"I found myself feeling exhilarated fighting Tie. But fighting you? I just feel annoyed." Voice droned. "Maybe I have some sense of honour from someone? Either that, or you really are just terrible. I feel sorry for your subordinates."
"Like I care about your opinion. Honour has no place in a proper fight, and that's how you get people to follow you; by showing how ruthless you can be."
"Then why don't I show you how ruthless I can be?"
Voice held the fork skyward as soundwaves began emanating off of it, before their badge took effect, and flames began spinning around above, before combining into a flaming vortex of twisting fire.
"So you have little tricks just like them!" Empress snapped.
"Here I go." Voice warned before bringing the now gigantic blade of pure fire downwards. Empress leapt away, but the impact sent waves of fire exploding outwards, as Empress had to cut a hole through the flames itself and jump through to escape unscathed. They swung their weapon to unleash a volley of fireballs towards her, but she dodged inbetween them with deadly agility before firing another missile at them, which they blocked with another sound barrier.
"No matter what ridiculousness you pull off, it's useless against me!" She went in for the kill with a flurry of attacks.
"You sure?" But Voice countered with sudden surprising speed, which actually overpowered here and hit her several times before she was tossed across the ground like a ragdoll.
"I-Impossible!" She pushed herself up to her knees. Her hair was dishevelled and her fancy clothes were scuffed. "I lost in terms of speed!?"
"I used Forward on myself." Voice said as the red rune on their hood vanished. "I became faster then you for a brief moment. And..." Before she could react he shot a blue clock sigil at her that hit her and froze her. "Pause will stop you in place for a moment. That also means nothing I do to you will affect you. Until it wears off, that is."
Voice prepared themselves, getting into a stance as if sheathing their weapon at their side, before pausing, then, by launching a soundwave beam, they propelled themselves forward, and just as Pause ended they slammed their weapon right into her midsection with the accelerated force.
"-!" Empress breathlessly opened her mouth as the wind was knocked out of her, before she was sent flying back and crashing into a wall.
"I gotta admit, even I'm amazed I timed that just right." They coughed awkwardly. "Hmmm...this still doesn't feel right. Maybe because I'm fighting for the wrong purpose?"
Voice stopped when they heard movement, and watched as Empress picked herself up. "She survived that!?"
"...You..." She tossed her missile launcher away angrily, as her eyes gleamed a bloodthirsty red. "I'll tear you LIMB FROM LIMB!" She leapt towards them, sword at the ready.
Voice instantly blocked with a sound barrier, causing her to br thrown back, but she didn't even hesitate to rebound and begin darting around them, slashing at them with every opportunity only to be blocked again, and for the cycle to repeat.
'Looks like she's lost it.' Voice thought, still having to concentrate so as to block all of her attacks with a 360 barrier. 'It feels more like fighting a vicious animal. But, if I can wait until she tires out-'
Their thoughts were interrupted by a pain in their side, and they found that it had been slashed by the katana.
'She broke through my barrier!?' Voice could now only block as an insane flurry of slashes from both sword and claw assaulted them. 'Her speed was enough to rip through it! So she really is this dangerous!'
Voice was completely locked into defending from the monstrous attacks, and even with all of their concentration they were still getting cut every now and then. They couldn't even create a rune.
'At this rate...!' They thought.
Then suddenly, she stopped, almost instantly, and fell to her knees in a coughing fit, as Voice fell to their knees from pure exhaustion.
"It's..." She coughed. "Been too long since I had to go all out like that." Empress wheezed, using her sword as a support in order to stand up. For the first time, her age was getting on her.
"I admit. I can see now how you got the title of 'Empress'." Voice admitted as they also had to pull themselves to their feet via their weapon, trying and failing to hide how hurt they were.
"Hah...the climb to the top is stained red. And I...hah...spilled a lot more then necessary. But that's fine. I'm fine with ruling through fear, as long as it means I STAY at the top!" She staggered for a moment, but fixed her footing. "So for those four to insult me...and for you to make me like this...!"
"That's messed up. Fighting pointlessly like that. I would like to believe, that every fight I do is for a purpose. But maybe, maybe sometimes I do fight for a selfish reason." They gripped the Time Tuning Fork with both hands. "Oh well, at least I'm not you."
They glared at each other for a moment.
Then they both gave off pained laughs.
"I hate your guts." Empress chuckled.
"Yeah, I really hate you." Voice laughed.
Then in a flash they struck at each other.
And Voice's fork was tossed out of their hand and landed behind them.
"Too slow." Empress hissed, holding the tip of the blade at Voice's throat. "Looks like my ideals win in the end."
"Yeah. Maybe one on one." Voice breathed. "But the thing is, Empress. I have an ace up my sleeve."
"An ace that'll stop me from cutting your head off in less then a second?" She mocked them.
"Uh-huh." They nodded. "After all, it's the reason you lost to those four."
"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Suddenly, Moustache erupted out of the ground and hit Empress with a hard uppercut. The cat's eyes shook violently in her head as she was launched back. Her blade fell to the floor, and she crashed to the ground, unconscious.
"Got her!" Moustache cheered.
"You sure did...Moustache." Voice huffed.
"Woah! Voice! You okay?" Moustache went to them.
"Yes...nothing a Rewind can't fix." Voice assured her as they staggered over to retrieve their weapon. Only for Moustache to run ahead of them, pick it up, and hand it to them.
"That Badge of yours is pretty cool. I could beat those cats no problem!" She complimented them. "Thanks, Voice."
"...Thank you, Moustache." Voice nodded back.
"No, seriously. Thanks. For everything." She suddenly hugged them.
"...Um...are you okay?" Voice asked. "Did you hit your head?"
"Voice, you look like a mess, and you're my friend, let me hug you." She muttered.
"...Fair enough." They returned the gesture.
The two eventually walked over to the defeated Empress.
"Now we can see, how her vanishing will affect things." Voice whispered.
"I get that this is important for you...but I'm just SUPER stoked we actually took down the baddest bad guy there is.!" Moustache couldn't help but smile.
"Well, since you're the hero who took her down..." Voice slung their weapon over their shoulder. "What should we do with her?"
"Hmmm." Moustache pondered for a moment, before smirking. "You wanna make some jam?"
"I'd love to." Voice said as they created a portal.
This was the moment that the Empress was finally toppled.
But the world-shattering events had only just begun.
Woven Knit: Knit's more righteous transformation. It grants her increased speed, power and usage of her yarn body, though it is on a timer and exhausts her afterwards.
Catana: Empress' personal katana. It's beautiful appearance hides a monstrously deadly nature that thirsts for death.
It's finally here!
Sorry for the wait everyone. I was on a break for a bit, knowing this chapter was going to be a long one, since it has both Rush Hour and Voice vs. Empress in it. I wanted the fight to be a proper clash between blades in comparison to the clash between abilities the rest of the fights are, so I hope it felt enjoyable and a bit different. Sorry if it was too anime.
And yes, with this, the Nyakuza Metro Arc is now over. And we are moving into the final arc of A Hat and a Tie in Time. It's coming close to the end, as the very fabric of dimensions begins to crumble. But for now, our heroes are returning home.
Thank you to Konan720, Rally K, Fighter33000, ScalchopWarrior, Mr. Mega 1423, EmacSane and Snow Blizzard for reviewing!
Next time, we're making our way towards the end.
