Volume II: Unforgiving Kingdom
Chapter XVI: Hunted (Part I)
Location: Old Clock Tower, 10th Floor, Goldenia
"Over here." Feena said, pointing at a large tower. "There's the clock tower."
The group consisting of Ragna, Monika, Feena, Grena, and an unconscious Chat Noir now stood in front of a large tower made out of stone and wood. A clock that was still ticking correctly was built into the front of the clock, high up for many people to see. On the side there was a small door that had been boarded up with several planks of wood on the front of the door. The group walked over to the aforementioned door on the clock tower.
"I didn't realize it had been boarded up on this side too. Now how we get in?" Monika asked.
Grena proceeded to answer Monika's question by drop-kicking the wood planks, knocking them off the door and allowing her to push the door open.
"After you." Grena responded to Monika as she opened the door.
"Um... Right."
Monika walked ahead inside of the clock tower, followed by Ragna and Feena who was still carrying Chat Noir. Grena followed in last, closing the door behind her. When the group made it inside, they were surprised to see that the interior of the clock tower was still in good condition. The place seemed to be almost as clean as if it was freshly built. Though despite that, looking around there were cobwebs in many corners and in places all about the clock tower as well as dusty and broken lanterns that could barely hold a flame, which helped indicated that it was clearly very old. There were many stairs leading upward and broken ropes hanging from above. There was also a small stove in the back of the first floor that was covered with dust, showing that it's been here a while.
"What's a stove doing here?" Grena asked.
"Back when this place was still under construction the workers used to live close by here." Monika explained. "The place they were staying at didn't have enough room for it, so they stored it in here. Guess when they finished building it, they forgot all about it."
"Dammit. It's too bad we don't have anything to eat on us." Feena sighed while setting Chat Noir down. "I'm starving."
"Everything we had with us is back with Goblin Mage." Ragna stated. "We'll have to deal with this dilemma first before we can get back to her." Ragna looks down at Chat Noir. "How's the kid?"
"He's fine. It'll be a while before he wakes up after that hit."
"Here, let me." Monika walked over to Chat Noir as she spoke. "I'll heal him and see if I can speed things up a little."
"Meanwhile the rest of us should try to figure out where do we go from here?" Grena said.
"Where CAN we go from here?" Ragna asked.
"Huh?"
"What are you talking about?" Feena asked also.
"After what just happened, pretty sure this whole place is bound to be filled to the bitter end with guards, all foaming at the teeth waiting for a chance to catch whoever caused that mass explosion back there. If we step out there now with this bounty we have on our asses, there's gonna be people pursuing us by the dozens if not hundreds trying to catch us. We'll stand no chance trying to fight our way through an entire kingdom's worth of enemies."
The girls couldn't deny what Ragna said. If they went out there now, they were goners.
"In that case, I think our best course of action is to maybe stay here for about a full day." Feena replied. "While I would hate to leave Goblin Mage on her own like that, she's must safer alone than she would be with us."
"Alright, then it's settle." Grena said, falling back as she sat up against a wall. "Looks like we're have to kick back here and-"
Everyone's attention turned to Grena as the woman suddenly shrieked and hopped off of the wall.
"Grena?" Feena asked. "What's wrong?"
Ragna and Feena walked over to see what Grena so scared. There, they blink at what they saw; a spider was simply crawling along the wall that Grena was sitting against a moment ago.
"It's just a spider." Ragna said. "What about-" Ragna turned to Grena, and saw that she was currently trying to hide an embarrassed look on her face. "Wait a minute are you- You have arachnophobia don't you?"
"Wha-No, i-it's not like that!" Grena said with a blush. "I... just don't like them."
"Grena? You're afraid of spiders?" Feena asked also.
"Shut up about it will you?! I'm not scared of them or anything! I just don't-"
Ragna walked over and gently kicked the spider in Grena's direction. Upon seeing this, the chained mercenary shrieked once again and went airborne, hanging in the air by her chains which latched on to a hole in the second floor. This prompted both Ragna and Feena to start snickering before outright laughing at the girl.
"You are scared!" Both Ragna and Feena said while pointing at Grena.
"Piss off assholes!"
Grena blushed deeply as she pulled herself upward through the opening in the second floor. Ragna chuckled at the girl, as he was able to laugh at her for a moment like she did over his fear of ghosts. Suddenly he and Feena looked back upon hearing somebody groaning. Looking back they saw that Monika had finished healing up Chat Noir, the phantom thief groaned as he started to sit up while rubbing his head.
"Chat Noir." Feena said while walking over. "You alright?"
"Well, I'll probably have a headache for a while." Chat Noir answered, rubbing his head. "Where are we?'
"We're in the old clock tower. We've decided to hide out here till things lay low."
"Ah right. That's understandable. We did cause quite the show back at the docks now didn't we? Hey, speaking of which." Chat Noir starts to stand up. "How come you guys brought me here?"
"We couldn't just leave you out there." Monika answered. "You saved my life out there. I owe you one."
"Think nothing of it. I have a creed I live by. Despite my thievery and mercenary work, the one thing that I will never, ever proceed to do is take the life of another person. Even if it would jeopardize my mission or almost my identity, I won't allow anyone to die due to anything that is my fault. This whole chase was my fault and I couldn't just let you fall because you were after me."
"No wonder you don't do mercenary work often." Feena said while smiling. "You don't take lives."
"I couldn't thank you enough for this." Monika responded. "That was such a close call back there."
"More like I should be the one thanking you guys." Chat Noir replied. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be a goner right now. I owe you guys one, definitely."
"You could start by handing over those photos you took earlier." Ragna said.
"Oh that's right."
Chat Noir reached into his pocket in order to give them the photos that he took of them from earlier. However he blinked all of a sudden as he did not feel the pictures in the pocket that he placed them in. Suddenly Feena whistled to get everyone's attention. She then reached into her pocket with a smirk and pulled out the two pictures that were mentioned.
"Looking for this?" She asked.
Chat Noir only chuckled in response. "I should've known you'd swipe them off of me when you've had the chance." He said.
Feena and Chat Noir just laughed at that comment.
"In any case." Monika spoke up to everyone. "We should probably try to rest up for now, since we're gonna be here a while. Hopefully things will blow over pretty quickly."
Everyone nodded as they all decided to head on upstairs and rest on a higher level.
Location: 12th Floor, Goldenia
"Over here!"
"Sir we've found her! She's alive!"
Meanwhile during the incident that transpired on the tenth floor, two floors above it a smaller incident has also taken place. Several soldiers, alongside Prime Minister Aglovale and the former Prime Minister Alexiel had recently found one of Aglovale's retainers, Iska. The girl in question had lost her fight against Ragna, Monika, Feena and Grena. While her opponents didn't kill her, they made it a point to leave her somewhere she would be found, but away from the underground tunnels. When Aglovale and Alexiel had arrived, the soldiers that had found her carried the unconscious woman back to them.
"She hasn't regained consciousness yet sir." The soldier explained. "We aren't sure when she will-"
"That's quite alright." Aglovale said in response. "Just knowing she's alive right now is good enough. Take her to the infirmary immediately."
"Yes, Prime Minister!"
Soon the soldiers all ran off, carrying Iska away to be taken care of. Aglovale sighed, leaving him alone with Alexiel.
"I'm sure she'll be alright." Alexiel said. "But now. You know what we need to do."
"Of course. But... Just give me a moment to analyze our situation."
"What do you mean?"
Aglovale and Alexiel walk off while talking.
"As of now, Iska is the only person we have that can inform us of our objective's most recent situation." Aglovale began to explain. "From what we know there were only three of them, but if what I saw when she contacted me was correct..."
"Then that means that there was a fourth member, possibly more." Alexiel chimed in. "Meaning that they have other allies that we are absolutely unaware of, and completely unaware of any of their abilities and anything that they're capable of."
"Indeed. This would mean that if we found them now, we're technically going in completely blind. Most likely, we would suffer a worse fate than Iska."
"We can't let that deter us. We have a goal here, and we cannot let numbers be something that'll stop us."
"Don't let whatever grudge you have get you killed, Alexiel."
Alexiel clenched her fists as she stopped walking and turned to face Aglovale, who also stopped.
"I never let death stop me before." Alexiel stated. "I won't let it stop me now."
"It is true, your powers to infinitely resurrect yourself after dying in battle is a sight to behold for many." Aglovale responded. "But like all abilities, it can be beaten. And you can still be killed permanently. You and I both know that even you could not recover from having your soul shattered."
"If that were possible..." Alexiel muttered. "Then I wouldn't have this damn grudge in the first place."
"Hm? I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."
"It's nothing. We're wasting time standing here." Alexiel starts walking off. "We need to hurry before they get too far."
"But Alexiel-"
"If it worries you that much, fine, I'll approach this a little more cautiously. If you want to talk about this, we'll talk on the way to the lift. We'll start by heading back up to the higher floors and return with the royal guard to aid us in our search. Isn't that better than just us searching alone?"
"I suppose." Aglovale sighed in defeat, seeing that Alexiel won't listen to him on this. "However..."
Aglovale stopped walking. Alexiel turned around after noticing and faced him.
"What is it?"
"The only way that you'll convince me to continue venturing along with you is for me to understand you."
"Is that necessary? We have more important-"
"You forget that by all means, you're not supposed to be here, correct?" Alexiel took a step back as now Aglovale had room to nearly threaten the woman into submission. "As a proud member of Goldenia's Imperial Court it would be best that I arrest you would it not?"
"So what?" Alexiel placed her hand on her zweihander. "You're gonna turn on me?"
"I wasn't finished. I can easily pardon you for disobeying order by expressing that I am the one who sought to bring you along to aid me with this task. But, I see no need for me to go out of my way to do any of this."
"What's the point of trying to understand me?" Aglovale blink in surprise at Alexiel's response. "Why do you even care?!"
"You've been a member of Goldenia's Imperial Court just as long as myself or Vira. Yet neither of us know much about you, and you've never talked to any of us in regards to your past, or how you feel. You know more about us than we'll ever know about you."
Alexiel didn't say a word as Aglovale walked over to her.
"I want you to understand something, Alexiel." Aglovale continued. "Vira and I are not your enemies. We're allies. If there's anything bothering you, we'll be happy to help." Aglovale places a hand on Alexiel's shoulder. "But we cannot provide that unless we can understand somewhat how you think."
"Aglovale..." The former Prime Minister started to respond. "Don't."
"Pardon?"
"The more you try to understand me, the worse I'll feel if something happens to you because of me. That's what happens to everyone that wants to get close to me."
Alexiel pushes Aglovale away and sighs.
"I want you to just focus on the task at hand and help me catch them. Not focus on me..." Alexiel continues walking off. "I'll be nothing but trouble for you..."
"Alexiel..." Aglovale sighed before walking off after Alexiel.
Location: Old Clock Tower, 10th Floor, Goldenia
Soon, nightfall came across Goldenia, the sky now darkened. With the rest of the group, everybody had decided to rest on the top floors of the clock tower, Ragna being the one who decided to stay up and keep watch. At the same time, the man used this time to himself to gather his thoughts about everything that he's experienced in the past day. Most importantly, the kid that Chat Noir reminded him of.
"Just who was that kid...?" Ragna wondered to himself out loud. "What are the possibilities that it could be him...?" Ragna started making his way down to the lower areas of the clock tower as he thought aloud. "Dammit... Why can't I remember? I know that both of them are experienced in bounty hunting apparently. Their outfits were... more or less the same..."
Ragna thought quietly for a moment.
"Although..." He said to himself. "Chat Noir didn't seem to know anything about my Azure Grimoire like before. Hell, I don't even think he knew about it in the first place. Unless he's just playing with me..."
Ragna yawned as he stretched when he stopped walking. The man had been up for quite some time now. He rubbed his eyes and was getting ready to return back to the top of the clock tower.
"All this isn't worth me losing sleep over anyway." He said. "It's Monika's turn to stay up anyway. I'll just think about this later on in the morning." Ragna started heading back up the stairs to the top floor. "But it is hard to not think about this... No, it couldn't have been the same. He doesn't have that Nox Nyctores with him."
Ragna was halfway up the stairs when he suddenly stopped, realizing what he just said.
"Wait... Nox Nyctores?" He questioned. "What the hell am I-"
Ragna stopped talking as he heard the sound of a floorboard creaking. He turned around and look down at the floor of the clock tower he was currently on, only to see nobody in sight.
"What the hell?" Ragna said concerned. He stepped a few times on the stairs to see if the sound came from him, but heard nothing. "That's weird. If it's not me then where did that sound come from?"
Ragna stopped heading up stairs and jumped back down to the floor below. As he did he could hear the floorboards under him creaking as he walked across, confirming that the sound came from this floor. Looking around he saw nobody on the floor, or on the next one as he walked down another flight of stairs. Getting very cautious, he place his hand on his large sword, ready to strike if anything or anyone came at him while he searched the clock tower.
"Hey! Who's there?" Ragna called out. "I heard you a moment ago! Feena? Grena? Monika? Chat Noir?"
Calling out the names of all four that were in the group besides him, he received no answer. Feena, Grena, Monika, and Chat Noir were all on the top floor of the clock tower asleep. Ragna started to grow less worried as he no longer heard anymore sounds other than himself walking and talking. He then sighed.
"I must've been hearing things..." He said to himself.
Ragna started to turn around and head back up. However as he did so, a shadowy figure suddenly shot across his eyes before vanishing into the darkness. Ragna instantly pulled out his sword, holding it in both hands.
"I'm definitely NOT seeing things though! Come on out!"
Ragna saw the shadowy figure head down the last flight of stairs towards the bottom floor of the clock tower. Quickly he ran after it, looking around cautiously as he descended downward. When he reached the bottom floor he looked around to see if he could see the shadowy figure that he saw run downward. However with the floor being barely visible at night, especially considering the lanterns that Grena attempted to light could barely hold onto the flames.
"Just because I can't see you doesn't mean I don't know that you're down here!" Ragna called out again. "Show yourself! You know I'll see if you make any move!"
Ragna suddenly heard the sounds of metal scrapping against wood coming from behind him. He quickly turned around, but by then the only thing he could see was claw marks on the wooden stairs behind him.
"Claws?"
The moment Ragna said that he suddenly went wide eyed as he sensed someone directly behind him. Before he could react, someone's arm wrapped around his neck, preventing him from breathing or calling out for help. A pair of claws was also pointed at his face, letting him know that this was the person he was looking for. Ragna struggled to break free from the person's grip, dropping his sword as he attempted to pry their hand off of his neck. However as he did so, the person's second hand came around striking him in the stomach with their claws. Ragna grunted as he could feel the claws puncturing him. He then growled and tilted his head back, headbutting the person behind them and forcing them to let go. He then rolled over and picked up his blade, rubbing his wound over his stomach as well.
"Who the hell are you?!" He called out to his attacker.
"..."
Ragna swung his sword in retaliation to the pair of claws lunging in his direction. However, he was then hit by a kick to the face coming from below, knocking him back. As the attacker lunged again, Ragna summoned his shield from his Azure, blocking the rapid attacks from their claws. He then lunged forward and broke open the attacker's guard.
"Hell's Fang!"
Ragna slammed his fist into the attacker's chest, knocking them across the room, until they caught their balance and regained themselves right under a dimly lit lantern.
"I'm not gonna ask again dammit!" Ragna exclaimed. "Who the hell are you!?"
"..."
The attacker stood up straight and walked under the dimly lit lantern. While dim, Ragna could make out the person's figure that was attacking him. The attacker was a woman. She had blonde hair with large bows tied to them, and a mask that covered her face. She wore an armored outfit that was light and revealed her cleavage and thighs. On her hands were large claws attached to gloves. The attacker looked at Ragna with a emotionless stare in her eyes hidden behind her mask.
"...Predator." She spoke.
The attacker who addressed herself as Predator did not say another word after that. She slashed at the lantern with her claws, breaking it and dousing the flame. She then rushed at Ragna under the cover of darkness, her claws colliding with his blade. Predator used this opportunity to sneak behind him and slash him across the side with her claws. Ragna turned around to try and strike her, but was met with another slash across the chest, forcing him back. He held out his shield as Predator's claws collided with it. Suddenly, she went low and sweep kicked him, knocking him down. She then hopped into the air and attempted to dive down on him with her claws.
"Inferno Divider!"
Ragna grabbed his sword and pushed himself upward, smacking Predator in the chest with his sword, sending her through the roof of the first floor and onto the second floor. As Predator landed on the second floor Ragna hopped through the hole in the floor, holding his sword overhead. He brought his sword downward attempting to take down Predator quickly, in which the assassin rolled out from under Ragna's attack just in time. Spinning around as she got back up, Ragna quickly put Predator on the defensive by rushing straight at her before she could react. Predator however still managed to block Ragna's attacks, and then jump into the air above him as he swung his blade horizontally. She spun around and kicked him the face twice, then slashed at him multiple times with her claws. Ragna grunted, and grabbed onto the woman's hands to hold her in place.
Predator struggled to break free of Ragna's grip, flailing around with no effect. She then jumped and pressed her feet onto Ragna's abdomen, and pushed with her legs, pushing Ragna back and forcing him to loosen his grip, which allowed for Predator to escape. She fell to the floor and rolled onto the ground before lunging at Ragna once again. As Ragna caught his balance, his blade collided against Predator's claws, parrying her away as he kicked her in the stomach, causing her to grunt as she was knocked back. Her claws skid against the floor, scratch it as she stopped herself from being blown backwards. Ragna rushed at Predator and swung his blade horizontally, in which she caught his blade in between her claw and the floor. She then ran up to Ragna by walking on his sword and nearly slashed him across the face with her claws if he hadn't moved back.
As Predator landed on the ground once again, the two clashed repeatedly, swinging their weapons back and forth. Predator ducked as Ragna went for a high kick to her face, followed by the former blocking with his sword as she swept down below at his legs. Ragna kicked his sword forward, sending it flying at Predator who dodged it, but was still surprised by the attack. While she wasn't paying attention, Ragna's right hand turned into a dark, monstrous claw and grabbed onto Predator, pinning her to the ground. Predator growled as she managed to break one of her arms free and impaled Ragna in the arms with her claw. The man groaned as he tossed Predator across the room, the assassin landing on her feet as she came to a stop. Ragna grabbed his sword and rushed at Predator once again, spinning around and swinging his sword horizontally. Predator jumped into the air and dodged the attack, latching onto the wall with her claws as Ragna's sword collided with the floor. Ragna held his sword downward and looked up at the assassin.
"I'll admit..." He said to himself. "For an assassin, she's much better at fighting out in the open than I expected. I was hoping I could've ran her off by now at least. She's gonna wear me down at this rate.
Predator swung herself backwards and propped her feet against the wall. She then removed her claws from the wall and pushed forward, sending herself towards Ragna from above. The assassin went in for an overhead attack, but was met by Ragna blocking her claws with his shield. However this was merely used as a trick. When her claws collided with his shield, she slid downward and sliced him from below at his legs before he could react. Nearly knocking him down, she rushed and shoved him over to finish her attack. The moment she was in range, Ragna grabbed hold of her with one hand, and jabbed her in the face with the hilt of his sword in the other. He then proceeded to kick Predator off of him and stood back up, the assassin also getting back up as she landed.
Ragna readied himself as Predator began rushing at him for another attack. The assassin came in with her hands held out to the side of her as she ran at Ragna, ready to strike at any moment. However, the moment she came into range, Ragna looked up as he suddenly looked up. Just as Predator was about to attack, she also heard the sound and directed her attention at it. Falling in their direction was a black ball with tiny ears poking out of it. Before the two could react, the ball suddenly exploded, emitting a bright flash all through the floor.
"What the hell?!" Ragna exclaimed in shock while covering his eyes.
"That was cheap!" Predator exclaimed while trying shield her eyes without losing sight of Ragna.
As the two were blinded, they were completely unaware to anything that happened around them. Suddenly Ragna could feel something pushing him away from Predator. He could soon feel himself being pushed up another set of stairs against his will.
"H-Hey!" He called out. "What the-?!"
"Shh! Don't let her hear you!"
Ragna soon found himself on the next floor of the clock tower, which wasn't under the affects of that blinding light. As he started to regain his vision, Ragna looked around to see Chat Noir now standing in front of him.
"Chat Noir?" Ragna asked. "Was that your doing?"
The phantom thief pulled another black ball out of his pocket, similar to the one that was thrown earlier.
"I like to use these as a last resort." Chat Noir answered. "In case things get hectic. So what happened?"
"The moment I started coming upstairs I heard that woman stalking us. She got in somehow. Called herself Predator. She another mercenary like Feena?"
"I'd prefer to think of her as an assassin. She's a real good one too." Chat Noir managed to get a good look at Ragna, and examine the man's numerous injures. "Are you alright? You've taken quite a few hits."
"This? This is nothing." Ragna replied. "I've been hurt worse that this. I'd still appreciate it if you could help me out."
"Right. Of course." Chat Noir said. "I'll hold her off when that trick wears off. You go wake up the girls."
"Alright."
Ragna ran upstairs even further in order to wake up Monika, Feena, and Grena for their help. Just as he did Predator also zoomed up to the floor he and Chat Noir were just on, and was greeted to the sight of just the Phantom Thief. She stopped for a moment and just stood there facing him. Chat Noir spun his cane around and eventually just shrugged.
"Well then, how's this gonna go?" He said with a grin.
-X-
Upstairs on the top floor of the clock tower the three girls were currently fast asleep. Monika was laying on her side, her hat sitting in front of her as she slept, softly snoring. Feena had her hat covering her face and her hands behind her head, laying on the ground as she slept. Grena was propped up against the wall sleeping, her chains strolled out all over the place. At that point a loud whistle was heard that startled the sleeping girls, waking them up.
"Dammit..." Feena groaned. "What the hell?"
"Wha...?" Monika said in a dazed voice, putting her hat back on. "What's going on...?"
"Ugh... I'm up! I'm up!" Grena sighed.
The girls all started to get back up as Ragna had reached the top of the stairs.
"Ragna?" Monika asked. "What's wrong?"
"We've got a little problem." Ragna answered.
That was enough that the girls were able to spring up awake, all straightening themselves up.
"What kind of little problem?" Grena asked the man with her arms folded.
-X-
"This is why I don't fight head on."
Meanwhile on the lower floor, Chat Noir and Predator clash with each other back and forth. Despite the short time that has passed, Predator has been violently on the offensive against Chat Noir, despite the phantom thief's tricks. The boy continued to keep her away using his staff to out-range her. Predator attempted to hide in the cover of darkness and strike at the kid from behind, only to be blocked as a wall of shadows appeared in front of her, blocking her attack. By the time the wall disappeared, Chat Noir was out of sight. Suddenly from below her a cat made of shadows sprang out and lunged at her, only to be cut in half by Predator's claws. She then looked to the right and lunged, able to see perfectly in the darkness she was able to spot out where Chat Noir was hiding. The phantom thief quickly jumped up and dodged Predator's attack. The assassin quickly then leaped into the air after him.
Chat Noir spun his cane around, covering the area in front of Predator with darkness. However he suddenly turned around and went wide eyed as Predator was behind him. Before he could move, Predator dashed in and slashed at the boy with her claws. However as she turned around she saw Chat Noir smirk as he disappeared as if he was a shadow. Landing on the ground she realized that she had fallen for one of Chat Noir's trick. By the time she did, the phantom thief landed on the ground a good deal of feet away from the assassin. He pointed his staff towards Predator and fired a beam of water at the woman, blasting her into a wall. As the attack stop, Predator growled before dashing at Chat Noir once again, the phantom thief forming a staircase made out of shadows and ran up, the stairs vanishing before Predator could reach them. Suddenly, a rope made of shadows appeared from the ground below her, binding her hands and feet to keep her in one place.
"That should keep her down for a few minutes." Chat Noir said, resting on one of the support beams on the roof. "Hopefully the others will be down here soon."
However Chat Noir was certainly surprised at what happened next. Predator growled as she started struggling around, eventually starting to walk forward as she pulled the chains along with her. She managed to rush forward and snap the shadow chains that were around her. She rushed up and jumped at Chat Noir once again. The phantom thief swung his cane at her, colliding with her claws as she reached him. Predator attempted to move above him for another attack but was blocked by Chat Noir's staff once again, followed by the boy jumping off of the support beam and floating in the air by spinning his staff around above him. As he landed on the ground the assassin rushed at him once again, in which the phantom thief jumped back out of the way. Soon the two clashed back and forth repeatedly, Chat Noir's cane against Predator's claws. Suddenly another cat made of shadows shot up and grabbed onto Predator's face, blinding the woman as Chat Noir used the opportunity to fade off into the shadows. As she threw the cat off of her, she looked around and saw that Chat Noir was nowhere in sight.
"Where are you...?" She said to herself as she looked around.
Predator walked around the floor, looking around back and forth. Suddenly as she was walking, Chat Noir's cane suddenly came flying out of nowhere towards here. Quickly she moved back and avoided it, followed by her slicing it in two with her claws. As the staff disappeared, Chat Noir suddenly sprang out in front of her with a bomb similar to the one from earlier in hand. Predator quickly realized what was going on as he prepared to throw it to her. However before he could, the phantom thief was tackled to the ground by the assassin, knocking the ball behind them and setting it off. Neither of them were affected by the blast because of this. As she had Chat Noir pinned down, she held her claw in the air and brought it downward. Before she could strike him, Chat Noir phased out of her grip, replacing himself with a shadow copy. As he pulled himself back up to his feet he held out his hand, summoning his staff once again as Predator stood back up.
Immediately the assassin lunged at the phantom thief once again, her claws clashing against his cane in a deadlock. She was easily overpowering Chat Noir as the boy was being pushed back easily by Predator's strength. The shadow cat from earlier attempted to strike at Predator from the sides to help the phantom thief, but soon Predator broke the deadlock and kicked the cat into the air. She then shoved it straight at Chat Noir, causing it to fade back into shadows before contact. As the phantom thief regained himself after the deadlock, Predator rushed up to him and kneed him in the stomach, sending him back a couple of feet. Thankfully Chat Noir caught himself before he could fall flat on his face. He dusted himself off and readjusted his monocle as he started to stand back up after that attack.
"A thief's place shouldn't be fighting against somebody head on like this." He groaned. "Where are they?"
"Chat Noir!"
Chat Noir and Predator looked up to the stairwell that led upstairs. There, they saw Ragna, Monika, Feena, and Grena standing there, having finally made their way down to their
"Phew. I was wondering where you were." Chat Noir sighed in relief. "Where's-"
Before Chat Noir could finish, Predator rushed the boy again, grabbing one of his cat-eared bombs from off of him as she jumped back. Monika pulled out her peacemaker and aimed at Predator, in which the assassin responded by throwing the bomb in the four's direction, and quickly looking away. Ragna quickly shielded his eyes as the bomb went all almost immediately, blinding the other three as they nearly stumbled backwards due to being blinded.
"Yeah, right!" Monika exclaimed while covering her eyes. "That's not gonna stop me!"
Monika pulled the trigger on her pistol and fired two bullets. To the assassin's surprise, she felt both suddenly strike her in the right shoulder. Predator groaned as she held her shoulder, feeling the blood leave via the wounds left by Monika's gunshots. However that didn't stop her. The assassin rushed forward to the group, kicking Monika across the room, and attempted to do the same to Feena and Grena, but was met with her foot colliding with Ragna's sword. Ragna lunged forward, forcing the woman to back-flip onto the ground and take stance, ready to fight the entire group all at once.
Ragna and Predator both strike first, his sword clashing with her claws repeatedly. Predator also held up her claws in defense as Grena had recovered and assaulted her with her chains. However as she tried to block Grena's chains, the end result was that her claws were entangled in them. Grena yanked her chains and pulled Predator towards her. However she was met by a flying knee to the face from the assassin as a result. Grena was knocked back as Feena hopped over her head and fired several arrows at Predator, who knocked them away with several swipes of her claws. The assassin then spun around and blocked Ragna's blade from behind, following up by tripping him and shoving him into Monika and Chat Noir who attempted to rush at her from behind Ragna. Predator ducked as two more arrows flew over her head, courtesy of Feena. The assassin rushed at the archer, swinging her claws left and right to stop any arrows that came her way. Feena held out her crossbow to catch Predator's attack, doing so successfully. As the woman broke away from her deadlock, Feena moved forward and smacked Predator in the face with her crossbow, followed by the assassin spin kicking Feena in the face and knocking her down. As Feena was on the ground Predator attempted to pounce on her but was knocked out of the air by Ragna and Monika crashing into her mid attack.
As the two tried to pin her down, Predator retaliated by rapidly kicking Ragna in the stomach, nearly causing the man to let go. However it was enough that Monika couldn't hold her down on her own, allowing Predator to spin out and tackle Monika down. The girl attempted to shoot her at close with her peacemaker but was quickly taken down as Predator smacked her gun away and then slashed her across the face. Monika shrieked as Predator's claw scratched her face. Monika kicked her leg backwards and kneed Predator in the behind, knocking her off of her and allowing Monika to try and mount her. Predator caught her in midair and headbutted the girl, causing her to fall to the ground as she let go and allowed the assassin to get up. As she went in to try and dropkick Monika, Predator suddenly looked down in shock as her own shadow started moving. Her shadow sprang up behind her and caught her in a full nelson, preventing her from moving. Looking to her left she saw Chat Noir sitting on a chair of shadows, spinning his cane with a smirk look that let her know this was his doing.
However her focus was quickly changed off of Chat Noir as Ragna and Grena slammed their fists into Predator's now exposed abdomen, in which the assassin could be heard rasping through her mask as the two punches collided. This was then followed by Monika who had gotten up and Feena kneeing her in the stomach as well. Predator started groaning loudly in pain as her legs started shaking weakly. Her shadow then released her, causing her to drop down to her hands and knees, grunting and breathing heavily. Immediately, several chain-like shadows spawned from the ground and wrapped around Predator's legs, binding her to the ground. Grena then walked behind the woman and grabbed her hands, pulling them back and tying them behind her back using her chains. As of now, Predator was sitting up on the ground and tied down onto her knees, as the group stood in front of her.
"That hurt." She said as she looked away from the group.
"Can the crap, woman." Grena stated. "What the hell was this for? Who hired you?"
"..."
"Hey!" Monika exclaimed. "Keeping quiet isn't exactly an option for you here you know!"
"Ah don't waster your breath with this one." Chat Noir shrugged as he spoke. "Predator's known for keeping silent. She doesn't really speak to people when she's after their lives."
"We've got her tied up." Ragna stated. "Her own life is at stake here and she's just going to keep quiet? Just like that?"
"See for yourself."
Truth be told, Predator kept quiet completely. She didn't say a word, nor did she make any sound. She didn't do anything that would make the group seem like she was going to talk or answer any of their questions. Feena just sighed and groaned at this revelation.
"You kidding me?!" She exclaimed. "All of this for nothing?!"
"Least she won't be causing us trouble anymore." Grena replied. "All that's left is to try and figure out what are we gonna do with her."
While the group continued to talk Predator growled quietly, as she started wiggling her hands around, trying to strike the shadow chains around her legs. She growled lowly as she stared down the group, making sure that they didn't notice her. Suddenly her claws manage to slip under the chains. From there she slowly started to move her hands around, slowly sawing the chains off of her legs so that she could escape.
"Huh?"
Grena suddenly looked up as she felt the chains around her arm moving around. Looking to where the chains extended out towards Predator, she could see it was those chains that were moving. Looking closer, she could see Predator's claws slowly working their way to cutting her legs free of Chat Noir's trap.
"What the-?!" She exclaimed.
By the time everyone realized what was going on Predator's claws had managed to cut through the chains around her legs. Chat Noir quickly tried to chain her down once again, but the assassin flipped herself around and avoided the chains. Predator kicked herself forward towards Grena, headbutting the woman. She then spun around and kicked her backwards with both feet, sending them both in the opposite directions of each other. Because of this Grena's chains slipped off of Predator's hands, freeing the woman as she landed on the ground.
"You've gotta be shitting me!" Grena exclaimed as she caught her balance.
Grena readied herself as Predator lunged at them, only for Ragna to tackle the assassin back down to the floor. Attempting to hold her in place, Ragna and Predator struggled back and forth. Suddenly Predator managed to break her hands free and cut a hole in the floor under them. The floor underneath the two started to give in until Ragna and Predator fell downwards. The rest of the group started to jump down after them.
When the group all landed in the next floor they found that instead of a normal floor, they were in the mechanical area of the clock tower. Everything that was making the hands of the clock tower tick was in this room. Gears could be seen spinning slowly and rhythmically to the loud, echoing sounds of a second hand ticking repeatedly. The area was more massive than they would have assumed from the outside. Looking all around the group was sort of impressed by the sight before them.
"To think they built this tower so long ago." Chat Noir stated. "The amount of hard work and effort they put into this beauty and even today, it still works perfectly. Truly a sight to behold. The hands on the inside were a nice touch also for the workers. It really seemed to help them align things up with-"
"We can admire the fancy gears later." Grena said, wrapping up her chains as she did not want to get caught in a turning gear. "Now where the hell's-"
"Over there!"
Monika shouted out and got the group's attention. As they turned their attention to where she was pointing, they saw that Ragna and Predator were still fighting each other, the two standing on top of the ticking second hand, clashing back and forth with each other and trying to keep their balance whenever the hand moved.
"Speaking of hands on the inside..." Chat Noir said.
"What are those two doing?!" Feena asked aloud.
With the two fighters Ragna and Predator continued to go at it on top of the second hand. Ragna mainly trying to keep his balance on the constant ticking hand while Predator was having better luck keeping her balance as she swiped at Ragna more frequently than he could swing at her. Blocking one of her next attacks with his shield, Ragna jumped and backflipped onto the minute hand that was moving at a less frequent speed, making it easier for Ragna to move. As Predator stepped forward he swung his blade horizontally downward onto the assassin, who blocked with her claws. Suddenly Predator was forced to move back as the second hand approached the thirty second mark of the clock. Because of this, she dropped down and latched onto the hand using her claws. Ragna held his large sword downward and made a stabbing motion towards Predator's hand, the assassin responding by using her one free hand to swipe at his sword and feet as the second hand ticked.
As the hand came around to the forty second mark, Predator swung herself around onto the top of the hand and rushed at Ragna once again, forcing him back and making her way onto the minute hand as well. Predator swiped left and right at Ragna, the man blocking with his shield before spinning around and swiping with his sword at her feet. The assassin hopped over his attack and kneed him in the face, knocking him backwards to the edge of the minute hand. Ragna was struggling to catch himself as he could feel that he might fall off at any moment. Predator attempted to rush at him and speed things up. However when she reached him, Ragna kicked her upward, flipping himself around and hung onto the minute hand with his right arm. He quickly pulled himself up and jumped up into the air as Predator started to come down.
"Inferno Divider!"
Ragna slashed Predator across the chest. The assassin winced at the attack but held herself together. Seeing the second hand approaching, she latched onto it and spun around, kicking Ragna in the chest to knock him back. Ragna latched onto the hour hand as he fell backwards before he could reach the ground. Pulling himself up, he stood on top of the hour hand as Predator stood on top of the second. The two stared each other down until the second hand reached the fifteen second mark. From there, Predator rushed at Ragna once again, the man readying his sword in defense. Once again, their two weapons clashed as they enter a deadlock.
"Ragna!"
Ragna suddenly looked over to his right, and saw Monika and the others all rushing over to the two. Predator saw this as an advantage. She quickly broke free of the deadlock, and dropped down to the second hand heading to the thirty second mark.
"The hell?!" Ragna asked in confusion.
Before he knew it, Predator swung back up in front of Ragna and struck him the head with a hard knee, knocking him back to the face of the clock tower. As Ragna came off the back of the clock tower's face, Predator crouched on the hour hand, then lunged forward to him. Before everyone knew it, Predator tackled Ragna and herself through the clock's face, sending them free falling on the outside.
"RAGNA!" The group all called out.
With the two in free fall, Ragna tried to push Predator off of him.
"What the hell woman?!" Ragna exclaimed. "If you keep this up you'll take us both out!"
"No." Predator responded. "Just you."
Predator spun around midair and slammed her feet into Ragna's chest. This propelled her upwards and sent Ragna downwards even faster than before. Predator latched onto the side of the clock tower with her claws, stopping herself from falling at all after a few seconds. From there, she hung on the side of the clock tower as Ragna spiraled away.
"Dammit!" Ragna thought to himself, attempting to push himself forward to the clock tower. "That bitch really screwed me over! I can't let her get away with this and I can't afford to crash like this!"
Ragna tried to force him to move towards the clock tower, having little effect. He frantically reached out with his monstrous claw, having little to no effect.
"I won't... Let her... Get away with this like that...!"
Ragna grunted loudly as he continued to reach out, the ground quickly approaching.
"You're gonna pay for this you little bitch!" He exclaimed aloud.
Suddenly before Ragna knew it, his body moved not only forward but upward onto the clock tower. His monstrous claw was scrapping up against the walls out of the clock tower as he moved upward. Ragna let out a war cry as he went straight upward towards Predator, who hung there with a surprised look on her face.
"No way...!" Predator exclaimed quietly. "I wasn't aware he could-?!
Predator was taken off guard as Ragna slammed his fist straight into her, sending her upwards as she crashed onto the roof of the clock tower groaning in pain. Ragna in the meanwhile, had finally calm down from being angered by Predator's trick. He looked around and noticed that he was suspended in midair.
"What the...?" He said to himself. "Why haven't I fallen yet? What's going...?!"
Ragna turned around left and right, looking around to try and see what was keeping him in the air. Suddenly he saw that he was able to see his reflection from a reflective surface on the side of the clock tower. The reflective surface was a good distance away, but looking into it Ragna could see something slowly moving behind him.
"Something's... behind me?"
Ragna suddenly looked around as he found himself moving towards the reflective surface, allowing him to get a closer look. When he reached the reflective surface he stopped himself from coming close by placing his hands in front of him. Looking at his reflection... he saw a dark black pair of wings rhythmically flapping behind him. Spinning around to see them better, he could see that they were attached to his own back, leaving Ragna shocked.
"These are... my wings?!" He asked himself. "Then..."
Ragna slowly moved back.
"I-I'm flying!?"
To Be Continued...