Volume II: Unforgiving Kingdom
Chapter XVII: Hunted (Part II)
Location: Old Clock Tower, 10th Floor, Goldenia
After their recent fight against the assassin Predator, the woman's last ditch effort was to try and take Ragna down by tackling him out of the clock tower. However the moment she did, Ragna managed to come back via the ability of flight, which left the man utterly surprised. As of now, Ragna stared at his wings in the reflective surface, understanding that he now has the ability to fly.
"I-I don't understand. Since when can I fly?!" He asked himself in shock. "Is this another one of those elemental things? Is this something that the Azure can do now too-?!"
Ragna held his arm out in front of him, and was immediately surprised. The shell of the Azure Grimoire was closed shut. No power whatsoever was currently coming from Ragna's Azure. This just left the man with even more questions.
"It's not the Azure?!" He exclaimed, floating back in surprise. "No way... Then... what is this?" Ragna flew back up to the reflective surface, looking at his back to see the wings were indeed coming from him. "These are my wings. This is a power that I possess now. But if the Azure isn't helping out with something like this then what could've given me this power?"
Ragna suddenly looked closer at the reflection and noticed that the wings were starting to disappear. He soon realized that his wings were indeed disappearing. Quickly, Ragna latched onto the wall he was in front of and hung there, stopping himself from entering another free fall like earlier.
"Well, I know one thing for sure..." Ragna sighed. "They aren't permanent."
"Yo! Ragna!"
Ragna looked up as someone called out to him. There he saw Monika, Feena, Grena, and Chat Noir looking out the opening made in the clock tower and downward to try and find the man.
"Hey!" Ragna called back. "I'm over here!"
The group managed to hear Ragna's voice.
"There!" Feena exclaimed. "I see him!"
"Point me in the direction." Grena said. "I'll see if I can pull him up."
Feena pointed in the direction that Ragna was hanging. From there, everyone managed to lock their eyes on his position. Immediately Grena threw out her chains in his directions, the reach being long enough that Ragna was able to grab hold of them very easily. He then let go of the wall as Grena and the other all began to try and pull him upwards.
Meanwhile Predator was currently still lodged inside of the roof of the clock tower. The assassin groaned loudly as she did not currently have the strength to move at all.
Location: 10th Floor, Goldenia
"Over here! The commotion came from this way!"
On the ground of the tenth floor, at least a dozen of people had gathered around the clock tower. The reason being that numerous bright flashes had been seen emitting from the clock tower which concerned civilians. When the people gathered however, they became even more concerned when Ragna and Predator were thrown through the face of the clock tower, leaving a giant hole. As of now, several soldiers had rushed over after receiving a call from the people. Among these soldiers was Juri, who after recovering, had gone back on patrol in hopes of catching his targets.
"Are you sure that the source came from the top of the clock tower?" Juri asked one of the soldiers.
"Yes sir!" One of the soldiers responded.
"That's got to be them." Juri said to himself. "It can only be Monika Weisswind and the others up there." Juri turned his attention to all of the soldiers. "Are we able to get into the clock tower?"
"No progress yet sir!" A female soldier said.
Juri's attention was directed to several soldiers attempting to ram open the clock tower's bottom door, to no success. This was because that earlier in the night before Predator's attack, the group had not only boarded it down once again, but also pushed the stove they found earlier in front of the door to make it harder to barge open. Several soldiers attempted to use their swords to try and cut down the door as well, but were stopped when colliding with the stove.
"Whatever's in front of that door is making it harder for us to push through." The female soldier continued. "And out swords are having trouble cutting through!"
"Dammit! This is the easier way for us to make out way inside the clock tower. What about the other entrances?"
"We'll try them immediately sir!"
Juri looked back and forth between the hole in the face of the clock tower and the groups of soldiers attempting to break down the doors to the clock tower. He then groaned.
"I can't wait for this!" Juri exclaimed. "Jick! Harper! Follow me!"
The two soldiers named Jick and Harper both looked over and followed Juri as he ran off towards directly under the area where the face of the clock tower is.
"What're you planning Juri?" Harper asked, shouldering his rifle.
"We've got to get up there ourselves." Juri answered. "If we leave the soldiers down here then they'll be able to catch anyone that tries to exit out from the bottom. We have to get up there and make sure they don't try to jump out from the top. You with me?"
"Always." Jick said, readying his halberd.
"Right!"
Soon a piece of earth shot up with the three soldiers on it, heading upward.
Location: Old Clock Tower, 10th Floor, Goldenia
"Up we go."
After being pulled up almost to the top, Monika and Feena grabbed onto Ragna's hands and pulled the man back inside the clock tower. Finally the group was able to take a sigh in relief.
"Damn, that was close one" Grena said. "You were almost a goner."
"What happened?" Monika asked. "We saw you fall. How did you suddenly get back up here?"
"I don't know actually." Ragna responded. "I was falling and then all of sudden, I grew wings out of nowhere and flew straight up towards Predator."
The group looked at Ragna surprised.
"You just suddenly grew wings out of nowhere?!" Monika asked. "H-How?!"
"I don't know! It's still surprising to me! Hell, what's worse is that they just disappeared on me before you guys spotted me, and now I don't know how to make them appear again."
"We can worry about Ragna's newest ability later." Chat Noir chimed in. "Right now we have more pressing matters that deserve our attention." Everyone turned to Chat Noir as a shadow cat hopped onto his shoulders. "The Imperial Army's right outside, and they plan on making their way inside. Looks like Predator's little showstopper managed to draw in everybody's attention."
"Hang on. Are you telling me she threw me out of the tower on purpose?" Ragna asked surprised.
"That is precisely what I'm saying. Predator seemed to be confident in that attack. She knew that you would either die from the collision when you hit the ground, or that you would live with major injuries. She also knew that by showing herself and you to the entire floor from such a height, people were bound to see you, especially when you crash. From there she was expecting for the Imperial Army to apprehend you, in which she'll collect the reward for your capture. But now that you've learned the power of flight, her plans have been messed up, and the Imperial Army is here to see what the issue is."
"So you're telling me that at this very moment, we're all surrounded?!" Grena exclaimed. "Shit! How the hell are we supposed to get out of this now?!"
"Now, now." Chat Noir held out a hand. "Let's not panic. We still have one option left."
"And that is?" Monika asked.
Chat Noir answered her question by pointing to the large hole in the face of the clock tower.
"Ragna and Predator made a prefect escape route for us when they crashed through there." He answered. "if we can get out of here and onto the roof of another building without being seen, then we should be able to reach the tunnel system once again."
"There's still a problem." Ragna said. "We'll have to fly in order to get out safely. I don't know how exactly to make these wings come back and that's not gonna be good for when we jump out there."
"Feena and I could use Wind." Monika butted in. "We might be able to use a wind current and bring everyone along."
"Too slow." Feena responded. "We'd never be able to blow all of us across so quickly."
"Worry about that later!" Grena exclaimed. "Look above you!"
"What?!"
As the group looked up they heard the sounds of someone or something crashing through the face of the clock tower. There, they saw Predator pouncing down on them once again, having pulled herself out of the roof of the clock tower and came back down in order to finish her mission. Quickly, Grena whistled and tossed over Ragna's sword that he lost when Predator knocked him through the clock tower. As Predator readied herself, she swung her claws at Ragna, who swung his sword in response. The result was that Predator's claws missed her target, while Ragna's sword struck Predator's mask, cutting it in half. The assassin could be heard groaning as she skid across the ground. Predator growled as she looked up at the group, her face plain for everyone to see.
"Predator is it?" Monika asked. "You're outnumbered here. Don't try anything, and just get out of here."
"The Imperial Army is directly outside this tower." Predator responded, standing straight up. "Even if I don't attack you, you'll still be apprehended either way. However if I don't turn you in myself, then all of my efforts are in vain."
"You don't stand a chance." Grena smirked. "It's five against one here!"
Chat Noir cleared his throat, silently trying to remind the group that he's not one for fighting head on.
"I'll stay over here and think of a plan." Chat Noir said, stepping back from the group.
"...Well... four against one then." Grena corrected. "Regardless, you're still outnumbered!"
"Let's even the odds then!"
The group looked back at the opening as all of a sudden, a large chunk of earth shot upward towards the opening in the face of the clock tower. On top of it stood Juri, Jick, and Harper, who'd all return in order to defeat the group themselves.
"Juri?!" Monika said in shock. "You're back up already?"
"I cannot allow myself to be defeated after one attempt." Juri stated. "I'm here to settle things and take all of you in."
"I'm on your side in this." Predator said. "I am Predator, an assassin that's taken the task of apprehending these five as said by Her Highness. If you'll cooperate with me, this will be easier."
"You're doing us a huge favor here miss." Jick chuckled. "Alright. Let's show these guys what's-"
"Oh go bite yourself!"
Before anyone knew it, Grena's chains suddenly latched onto Jick's arm. The soldier was quickly yanked towards the chained mercenary, who's head lit aflame. Grena headbutted the man, causing a small explosion blasting him back a few inches as Jick fell to the ground.
"You wanna fight?!" Grena exclaimed. "Let's go you bitches! I can take you on!"
Grena attempted to rush the others, but was quickly tripped up as Jick's polearm struck her legs. The soldier got and quickly went on the offensive, followed by Grena turning around and attack by wrapping her chains around her fist and punching against his halberd. As Juri and Harper rushed to back him up, they were cut off by gunshots and arrows from Monika and Feena respectively. Harper quickly aimed his rifle and fired on Feena, who jumped out of the way. Meanwhile Monika and Juri drew their swords and clashed with each other. While this went on, Ragna and Predator clashed with each other once again.
"I think I'll leave the roughhousers to have their fun." Chat Noir thought to himself as he looked out at the opening in the face of the clock tower. "I'd better use this time to plan out an escape route for us." Chat Noir stood in front of the opening and examined the area outside, adjusting his monocle as he looked around. "Let's see here... Our initial plan is to advance from the rooftops without being seen. But, thanks to all the commotion, a straight jump might not be such a good idea."
Chat Noir held out his hand towards the opening. The shadow cat on his shoulders hopped off and ran straight outward, jumping out towards the nearby roof. However the cat didn't seem to make it too far as it could be seen falling down, even past the pillar of earth made by Juri. Chat Noir rubbed his chin as he thought, the cat later reappearing by his side.
"That jump might be a little too hard for us all to make." Chat Noir continued. "However, that is where our individual powers can come in. My abilities to move through shadows should allow me to phase into the shadows of buildings with ease. Grena has her chains so she'll find something to latch onto and will be fine. Monika and Feena are both wind users, so with that element they can make it." Chat Noir sighed as he put his hands on his hips. "The only problem is Ragna. While his new wings would work, there's too many risks for us to take."
Chat Noir quickly jumped out of the way as Juri was sent backwards in his direction during his clash with Monika. As the soldier recovered, Monika quickly went back on the offensive, swords clashing against each other. Meanwhile Chat Noir landed on top of the hour hand of the clock tower, which its hands were still ticking.
"The first risk;" the phantom thief continued. "He's not too sure about how to control it, meaning he's not sure about how to turn them on or off. The second being it clearly has a time limit, as it timed out on him while he was flying. If it were to do that while we were on the way to the underground tunnels, he could fall somewhere where we can't get him, or worse. If only I knew how long the wings would last, then that wouldn't be such an issue." Chat Noir thought silently for a moment as he looked out at the rest of the group fighting Predator and the Imperial Soldiers. Finally he sighed. "Winging these types of things usually aren't my style." He then pulled out two more of his cat bombs. "But, it looks like it may come to that."
Chat Noir whistled loudly, getting everybody's attention.
"Let's get going guys!" He called out.
The group nodded. Grena wrapped her chains around Jick and flung the soldier around, slamming him into Harper, Juri, and Predator before retracting her chains. Immediately the group ran over towards Chat Noir.
"Got something?" Monika asked.
"We'll have to wing it first." Chat Noir answered. "Follow my lead."
"Think you can get those wings of yours working again?" Feena asked Ragna.
"I can try." Ragna nodded and said.
"No time to waste then." Grena stated. "Let's move!"
Chat Noir nodded, looking behind the group as Predator and the soldiers got up. He smirked and quickly armed and threw one of his cat bombs in their direction. Predator was able to recognize what was about to happen and quickly shielded her eyes. The group of five then quickly ran towards the opening, Chat Noir leading them.
"How the hell are we gonna wing our way out of this one?" Ragna thought to himself. "I haven't even figured out how to use my own wings. What caused them to pop out last time? All I know is that I wanted to make that bitch pay for trying to drop me from the top of the clock tower and suddenly I started flying... Maybe if I try that again it'll work...?"
Quickly the group all reached the edge of the clock tower, jumping out. Chat Noir preparing to phase in to any nearby shadow in order to escape, throwing a second cat bomb below him, blinding the people from looking upward. Feena and Monika both sailed across the open skies via wind, while Grena latched her chains onto anything nearby and swung in that direction. The last one to jump out was Ragna.
"Come on wings work with me here!" Ragna said to himself. "Last time I wanted to get back at Predator for that cheap trick and you showed up! Now I want you to help us get the hell out of here, as quickly as you possibly can!"
Ragna closed his eyes as he jumped out, not expecting to make the wide gap. Suddenly he opened his eyes, and saw himself being carried through the skies. Looking behind him, he saw his black wings extending out from his back, allowing the man to soar through the skies alongside the others.
"No way!" Feena exclaimed. "You're really flying!"
"Alright!" Ragna exclaimed. "Let's get the hell out of here!"
Ragna started to speed up past the others, and soon he noticed that he was really getting away from them.
"Shit, that's too fast." He said. "How do I slow these things down-!"
Ragna tried to make himself slow down, but instead he found himself flying backwards towards the group. Monika and Feena quickly drifted to the right out of the man's way as he came towards them quickly.
"H-Hey!" Monika exclaimed. "Stop messing around Ragna!"
"You think I'm doing this on purpose?!" Ragna questioned. "Dammit, go back the other way! How the hell do I control these-"
Ragna tried to turn himself back the other way. However instead the man found himself spinning around repeatedly as he flew off to the left, away from everyone else.
"Can he not control those wings?!" Monika asked, she and Feena stopping midair.
"New powers are always hard at first." Chat Noir responded, appearing next to them on a building that Grena soon swung onto as well. "Most likely, he'll require some practice before he's able to truly manipulate those wings. They're like a prosthetic limb in a way. You're not just gonna get used to something that new right away. He'll need some time and practice." Chat Noir gestures a hand towards the man flying off. "And right now, this is good practice for him."
"This is just complicating this you know." Grena chimed in. "If he keeps flying around like that, he's bound to crash into something and get caught. Then we'll have to go and rescue him." The chained mercenary sighed, folding her arms. "We've been on this floor long enough don't you think?"
"The Imperial Dungeon's on a different floor! You won't stay here much longer!"
The four quickly snapped their heads upward towards the clock tower. There they saw that Predator had also recovered and made the jump, clinging onto the building with her claws. Pulling herself up, she dashed towards the group of four once again.
"I'll deal with your out of control friend later." She said as she ran. "Right now, you four are priority!"
"Damn, we don't have time for this!" Feena groaned.
"You three can deal with getting away from Predator." Chat Noir said, disappearing into the shadows. "I'll keep an eye on Ragna."
The three girls looked at each other and quickly ran off, taking to the air once again as Predator followed them by leaping from building to building.
Meanwhile with Ragna, the man found himself panicking and spiraling around out of control. Eventually after several seconds of spinning around while flying, the man managed to straighten himself out, but hadn't been able to stop himself from moving.
"Dammit, what the hell is this crap?!" He exclaimed. "These pieces of shit are just causing me more problems! Why the hell are they so hard to control?!"
Ragna looked ahead and saw himself slowly descending as he went forward.
"I'm gonna end up crashing into the street if this keeps up!" He groans.
As Ragna soared just below the streets of the tenth floor, people were quickly running for cover, covering their heads as Ragna flew over them. Looking ahead of him Ragna could see a rather tall building in his way. He grunted, seeing that his wings had no current intention of pulling up.
"Damn you pieces of shit!" He exclaimed. "PULL UP DAMMIT!"
Ragna used all of his strength and will to try and move upward. Just as he was about to crash into the building, he suddenly changed trajectory and went straight up along the building. He sighed in relief as he managed to miraculously avoid crashing.
"This is gonna be one hell of an escape huh?" He said quietly to himself as he looked down at the frightened crowd. He then looked back towards the direction he came from. "Now how hard is it gonna be to turn around and head back? Well, only one way to find out."
Ragna kicked his feet against the building while flying, and moved backwards off of the building. With enough force, his wings went with his movements and the man found himself flying back in the direction he came from. The only problem was he was upside down, and constantly trying to flip himself around. Meanwhile in the distance, Chat Noir was watching Ragna fly upside down back towards the rest of the group. The phantom thief sighed and put a hand on his head as he started to go and follow off Ragna.
Meanwhile with the girls, Monika, Feena, and Grena still found themselves running around the rooftops of the city while being pursued continuously by a determined Predator. No matter which way the girls decided to go in, they could not get Predator off of their tail.
"Dammit this is getting us nowhere!" Feena exclaimed. "At this rate we'll reach the tunnels and put ourselves and Goblin Mage in even more danger than now!"
"We can't keep heading for the tunnels like this!" Grena stated. "No matter what we can't seem to get her off our tail!"
"And if we split up she'll just start picking each of us off one by one." Monika commented. "Even with all of us skillfully working together, she was still able to keep up with us for a while. If we split up, then we'll be at a bigger disadvantage."
"What? You want us to turn around and fight her then? We're in the middle of town! We don't need those soldiers catching up to us!"
"And we also need to put a stop to Predator following us, as soon as possible!"
"Ugh, this is all too hard!" Feena groaned. "Keep going! I'll stall her!"
"Feena? What are planning to do?"
Feena just smirk at Monika's comment. The ranged mercenary stopped and gliding slowly in midair. She turned around and faced Predator, crossbow in hand and loaded. The assassin blinked and began to skid to a stop for a moment as she saw what Feena was doing. Immediately, the girl fired several arrows Predator, who responded by slashing each of them with her left claw, and then running at Feena. She then swept her right claw in front of her again, cutting down several more arrows. Feena then loaded one last arrow and began drifting backwards. She fired it and quickly turned around and flew off into the wind. Predator slashed the arrow vertically downward. However once her claws came in contact with the arrow, black ink suddenly came squirting out of it, hitting the assassin right in the eyes. Predator then tripped and fell down on top of the roofs of one of the buildings. Lying directly next to the edge as she attempted to wipe the ink out of her eyes.
Starting to regain her vision just a little bit, she manage to catch a glimpse of Feena before she could get out of sight. Having a general idea of which way her targets were heading, she continued to wipe her eyes clean. Suddenly, she could hear something heading in her direction from below. As her vision was becoming clear in her right eye she looked down to see Juri, Jick and Harper running through the streets right next to the building, also on the lookout for the group.
"I could've sworn they came out this way!" Juri said to the others. "How far could they have gone?"
"They can't be too far ahead!" Harper responded.
"We've gotta keep pressing forward." Jick stated. "We'll take them down sooner or later."
"Take a right at about eight more houses down and then keep straight." Predator called out, getting their attention as she continued to wipe ink off of her face. "That's where I last saw them heading."
"Oh! Predator!" Juri said. "Thank you again. Come on! Let's go!"
Jick and Harper nodded as they followed Juri off into the directions that Predator gave them. The assassin sighed as she continued to finish wiping ink out of her eyes. Suddenly she heard something coming from behind her. Turn around she saw Ragna fly just past her, heading to the right in the same direction she told Juri and the soldiers to head into. She then grunted and went into a crouching position as if she were a cat. The assassin then jumped forward onto another building and began running after Ragna. Chat Noir soon landed on the building Predator was standing on, and saw that she and Ragna were getting away. The kid then phased into the shadows and quickly ran after them.
"I didn't think they'd get that far so quickly." Ragna said to himself. "Where could they have gone?"
Having managed to straighten himself out while flying, Ragna was able to successfully look around. Even though he was still having problems in controlling his wings to turn when he wants, he figured that he could fly straight until he needed to move again. Ragna looked around left to right, back and forward, trying to locate Monika, Feena, and Grena. Suddenly when he looked over to his left, he noticed in the distance what looked like somebody surfing across the wind.
"That's gotta be Feena." Ragna said. "Alright wings, now I gotta make you turn if I wanna-Huh?!"
Ragna suddenly looked back at his wings and noticed that they started to fade away.
"Crap! Not now!" He exclaimed. "Dammit, I was so close!"
Ragna suddenly found himself falling from flying, crashing onto the roof of a building and rolling onto the ground below. Chat Noir had reappeared on a nearby roof and winced.
"That's gonna leave a mark." He said.
Predator landed on the same roof and stood directly above Ragna. The woman just continued to wear a serious look on her face as she stared down at the man who crash landed. As Ragna groaned while standing up, the assassin jumped down and attempted to pounce on him from above.
"I think that was about a minute and a half, maybe?" Ragna asked himself, trying to figure out how long did his wings last before giving out. "Was that how long they lasted last time? It feels longer..."
Ragna suddenly looked up and saw Predator about to strike him. He quickly jumped backwards just in time to avoid behind hit by Predator's claws. The assassin rolled forward and immediately went in on Ragna, swiping left and right as the man blocked her claws with his large sword. Ragna hopped over leg as she attempted to sweep at him low. Ragna then spun around and brought his sword down on Predator vertically, to which the assassin somersaulted backwards, landing with a flip. However as she touched the ground, she went wide eyed as all of a sudden she found herself moving without her consent or action. Under her feet, a shadow=like platform had appeared, suddenly springing upward as if it were a spring trap, and sent Predator flying diagonally to her right, causing her slam into the wall of a building. Ragna placed his sword back on his waste and ran off, using this as an opportunity to get away from Predator and back to the others. Predator groaned and pulled herself out of the wall, rubbing her head as she wondered what the hell happened to her. She then shook her head and quickly dashed off after Ragna, trying to catch him. Chat Noir then landed on the ground and saw Predator and Ragna running off. He then proceeded to run after then, but soon came to a stop as he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.
"Hello there what have we here?" He asked aloud.
The phantom thief walked over to a nearby wall where there was a piece of paper attached to it. Ripping off the piece of paper he examined it. He then saw that it was a wanted poster of Predator. The picture having her face partially shown, as it appeared that she was either taking off or putting on her mask. Skimming over the information written across the wanted poster, Chat Noir then saw the reward for if Predator were to be handed over to the specific person, who's information for being contacted was on the poster as well, excluding their name. He then smirked.
"Well, well, well." He said. "Looks like somebody's put a hit out on our little assassin here. I could hand this over to those soldiers... But I think the Mercenary's Guild could use the money more than the Imperial Army." Chat Noir then rolled up the wanted poster and stuck it into his pocket. "I'll keep this for later."
The boy then proceeded to take off after Ragna and Predator.
With the girls, after Feena had caught up to them they looked all around to try and see if Predator was anywhere around. Looking around, it seemed as if they successfully escaped from Predator. At that point the girls soon stopped their flight and landed on the ground one by one.
"That did it, I think." Feena said while smiling.
"The tunnels shouldn't be too far ahead." Monika commented. "I just hope Chat Noir and Ragna can catch up to us too."
"You sure you don't wanna turn around and try and find them?" Grena asked,
"We risk getting caught if we turn back-"
BANG
BANG
Monika and the others quickly ducked and turned around upon hearing two gunshots soar above their heads. Behind them, they saw Juri and Jick running towards them, while Harper stood in the back, firing his rifle towards them.
"We won't let you get away this time!" Juri yelled out.
"Damn, they caught up to us too?!" Feena groaned.
"We don't have time to keep fighting like this!" Monika exclaimed, pulling out her peacemaker. "Feena! Grena! Down in front!"
Feena and Grena ducked as Monika fires six shots in the direction of the soldiers. Harper felt three of them strike his armor, while two grazed against the side of Jick's helmet. The last building struck Juri's armor in the shoulder area.
"Hot damn." Grena said impressed. "You're one hell of a shot!"
"No choice left! Scatter!" Feena shouted.
Monika and Feena both took off in separate directions while Grena swung her chains above her and latched onto a nearby post, pulling herself upward. Juri and Jick both ran after Monika and Feena respectively. Harper stepped up and started firing towards Grena who was swinging away. As the chained mercenary started getting away, the man shouldered his rifle and took off running on the ground after her, not letting her out of his sight.
Back with Ragna, the man continued to run through the streets as he looks up and all around to try and spot Monika, Feena and Grena once again, all while at the same time trying to restart his wings.
"Come on, I know I same them head this way." The man said to himself as he ran. "I can't keep running from this woman forever. Not with how fast she-"
Ragna suddenly looked up to his right and saw Predator dashing on the wall beside him at alarming speeds. The assassin then jumped off the wall and spin kicked Ragna in the chest, knocking him down and back. The man groaned as Predator then landed on the ground in front of him. She then bent over and picked him up, slamming him against a wall and holding him there. However the moment she tried to go in and finish him, Ragna headbutted Predator, knocking her backwards. He then tackled Predator down to the ground, pressing his knees against her abdomen to keep her pinned down. Predator growled as she tried to get up, only to have her hands pinned down to the ground also.
Ragna quickly stood back up and kicked Predator to the wall once again, drawing his large sword as he was ready to put up another fight. Predator quickly hopped up to her feet and dashed at Ragna once again, her claws clashing with Ragna's sword over and over. As Ragna brought his sword down, Predator avoided the attack with a back flip, then kneed Ragna in the stomach, causing him to stumble back. She then swept low with her claws, then tackled Ragna through the window of another building. Hoping out of the building, Predator landed on all fours in a crouching position as she was prepared for Ragna to come back out. However, she suddenly went wide eyed as Ragna came out at a much faster rate. Ragna's wings had spawned out while he was inside the building. Predator was taken away as Ragna slammed into her while flying. Predator attempted to strike Ragna while flying, swiping left and right but failing. Ragna then suddenly moved back and placed his hand on Predator's face. The two slammed against a wall, Predator face first while Ragna kicked his feet against the wall to avoid crashing. As he let go of the assassin, she could be seen sliding onto the ground, her head cocked to the side as she laid up against the wall unconscious. Ragna then began flying backwards as he looked at the unconscious assassin.
"That should've taken care of her." He said to himself, looking backwards. "Alright, come on wings. Pull up!"
Ragna attempted to force himself upward once again. He noticed that slowly but steadily he was moving upwards as he could start seeing above the roofs.
"Monika, Feena, and Grena have got to be somewhere around here. Where the hell are they? Dammit, now I need to go forward." Ragna looked back at his wings. "I don't understand these things. I know they're on my back, but for some reason... I can't feel them. It's like I don't have any control of them at all. What the hell is going on?"
Ragna felt himself suddenly slowly collide with something behind him. He saw a shadowy platform behind him, keeping him in place. Chat Noir then appeared on said platform from above.
"Your body hasn't gotten used to the new organs yet it seems." Chat Noir explained. "You need to keep practicing and flying around if you want to start feeling those wings of yours, yet alone flying around normally."
"They don't last forever you know. How the hell am I supposed to learn to fly so quickly?"
"It takes time. For instance, you should be practicing now." Chat Noir points over to another set of buildings. "I think the tunnels should be over in that direction. Try flying over there then."
"Right. Thanks."
Ragna kicked off of the shadowy wall and started flying off in the direction of the tunnels. Chat Noir then lowered himself onto the ground, looking off towards where Predator laid unconscious.
With the assassin, the woman groaned as she started to come to. Pulling herself up, she started to stand and looked around to see if Ragna was anywhere nearby. She then ran off into the streets, ducking into an alleyway looking around for the man.
"If you're looking for a man in a red coat, he's long gone."
Predator looked up as someone spake. From there, Chat Noir descended onto the ground below, stopping in front of her.
"You." Predator said.
"However if you'll wait a moment I would like to have a word with you regarding something... important." Chat Noir stated.
"...Important?"
Chat Noir then pulled out the wanted poster of Predator, surprising the woman for a second. "It seems that somebody has put out a hit on you. This is quite a personal request too Predator. Whoever the person isn't with the Imperial Army, now are they?"
"That's my fault. I slipped up on one of my targets. My face was exposed. But don't even bother with trying to hand me over. I've long since returned and killed the person who made this."
"That may be inconvenient... However... What if I were to tell you that I could pay off any mercenary the listed price here if they turned you into the Imperial Army as a criminal?"
"A child like you can pay off a mercenary two-hundred thousand gold for taking me into the Imperial Army? How?"
"Please, don't act coy. After all... I know you heard my name."
". . . . The Phantom Thief of Riverbrandt. Chat Noir. What do you want from me?"
"While I could easily set you up and make it so that even the Imperial Army makes you a wanted criminal, then hand you over to the Mercenary's Guild to allow them to make a profit off of your arrest, I'm willing to... overlook this. Depending on how you answer my next question."
". . . That is?"
"My identity. Now that you've seen the face of Chat Noir, I cannot simply allow you to roam the streets. You'll be a huge pain in my future heists if I allow that. Tell you what; If you can agree to forget that you ever saw my face, and me in general, then I'll forget about the whole wanted poster fiasco with you." Chat Noir stuck the wanted poster back in his pocket. "Do we have a deal?"
". . . No."
Predator reached into a small opening on the side of her outfit, and pulled out a wanted poster with a cat's face on it. Chat Noir knew immediately that this was a poster made about him.
"The bounty on your head is worse than what you can do to me. If I turn you in, along with the demon and the two traitors, there's no telling what can be done with such rewards. While not a member of the Mercenary's Guild, I am still a mercenary." The woman puts the poster away and points one of her claws at Chat Noir. "I am not here to cooperate with you, but I will arrest you as well."
Chat Noir sighed. "Well, I can't say I didn't expect this."
Chat Noir suddenly held out his cane as the top of it opened up. Within an instance, the sounds of a camera clicking could be heard from it. Predator clenched her fists and soon realized that Chat Noir had taken a picture of her, with her face fully exposed.
"Aw, I wish you had smiled. That was such a good picture."
"What good is another picture going to do?! How is that going to-"
"That person you said you went back and killed... That was a nobleman with ties to the royal guard itself." Predators eyes shot open as Chat Noir said that. "I dig some digging and managed to find that out as well. Now, if I were to combine this with the information you told me, and this picture of you. You won't have anywhere to hide. And before you try to say that I have no physical proof you said you killed him, I do. You think I haven't been recording this conversation?"
"You piece of shit!" Predator lunged at Chat Noir. "I won't let you-"
Chat Noir suddenly vanished from in front of her.
"What?!"
"Behind you~!"
Predator quickly turned around upon hearing Chat Noir's voice. But the moment she did, she was met with his cat cane smacking her across the head. Before she knew it, everything became dazed. She stumbled around as the last thing she saw in her blurry vision was none other than Chat Noir, who had a smug look on his face. With that, Predator fainted.
"You gotta love the diamond cat!" Chat Noir said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Ragna continued to soar through the skies, on the lookout for the girls. Looking left and right he wasn't finding anything. Suddenly, looking to the right, he was able to see the three in three different spaces. Monika was still clashing swords with Juri in an area close to where the underground tunnel is. Feena was still going hand to hand against Jick not too far off from Monika. Grena could be seen swinging around while avoiding gunshots from Harper.
"There!" Ragna said aloud. "Hey! Girls! Up here!
Ragna called out all around him, miraculously getting the girls' attention despite them being in different places. With Monika, she was currently in a deadlock between swords with Juri, when suddenly both looked up as they heard Ragna's voice.
"Ragna!" Monika exclaimed.
"Wait a minute." Juri said. "That's-"
Monika suddenly kicked Juri in the chest and broke the deadlock. As Juri stumbled back from the kick, he suddenly saw Monika disappear before his eyes, leaving him stunned.
Meanwhile with Feena, the girl had been ducking strikes from Jick's halberd when the two heard Ragna calling out to them. Feena looked up and smiled for a quick second while Jick didn't seem to be too distracted and rushed Feena once again. The ranged mercenary kicked up a gust of wind from below, taking off into the air and blowing Jick backwards.
"Damn elementalist!" Jick said.
With Grena, the woman had been swinging and dodging gunshots when she saw Ragna in the distance.
"Looks like it's time to get out of here." Grena said to herself.
Looking down, Grena formed a large ball of fire in her hand, stunning Harper as she threw it straight down towards him. As the soldier jumped out of the way, he looked back up to see he had lost sight of Grena.
"What?!" Harper exclaimed.
With Ragna, the man was soon flying nearby where Chat Noir pointed to.
"Alright, this should be the spot." He said quietly, looking back at his wings. "I've gotta force these things to do what I want then. I know they're there. I have to let my body acknowledge them."
Ragna soon found himself on a slow descent downward.
"Come on faster! That's not-"
Immediately, the man started going straight down at crashing speeds.
"Too fast!"
Ragna soon crashed into the ground, just as the girls arrived as well. The man groaned as Monika, Feena, and Grena started to help him up off of the ground.
"Thanks..." Ragna sighed.
"It's nothing." Monika said.
"Glad to see you're alright." Grena also said.
"Where's Chat Noir?" Feena asked.
"Right here."
The group looked up as Chat Noir dropped down in front of them.
"Sorry I'm late." The phantom thief apologized. "I had a few things I had to wrap up. But don't worry, I've gotten Predator off of your tail thankfully."
As they spoke, the group was unaware that behind the building Chat Noir jumped off of, Predator had been tied down and muffled to prevent her from calling for help.
"Chat Noir, thank you for all of your help." Monika said. "We really couldn't have made it this far without you."
"So what do you say?" Feena asked. "You wanna join up with us?"
"Hm. Tempting." Chat Noir said while spinning his cane. "As fun as this has been, I work better solo." The boy smiles. "I'd have to turn down travelling with you, but I won't say that I won't help out if need be." He then went to a serious expression. "On one condition."
"And that is?" Ragna asked.
"You people keep my identity a secret, and I'll be sure to provide aid every now and then."
The four looked at each other and nodded.
"I see no reasons as to why not." Monika answered.
"What good would ratting you out do us anyway?" Ragna asked jokingly. "We're as much as criminals as you are now. May as well watch each other's backs."
"I've kept your secret during my time in the guild." Grena responded. "I'll keep it now too."
"Don't worry." Feena smiled. "Chat Noir is safe with us."
That made the kid smile.
"We have a deal then." He said, hopping onto the roof. "Now then, I have a quick stop to make at the Mercenary's Guild. I'll be seeing you guys around!"
With that, Chat Noir jumped down the other side of the building, out of sight.
"Looks like that takes care of our business here." Grena stated.
"Yeah, we'd better get moving." Feena replied. "Those soldiers are probably still hunting us."
Feena blinked as everybody was staring at her.
"...What?"
"Feena?" Ragna asked. "Weren't you wearing a hat when you showed up?"
Feena blinked and felt her head. She suddenly looked shocked as she wasn't wearing a hat all of a sudden.
"My hat!" She exclaimed. "Where did-!?" Feena then growled and faced the building Chat Noir jumped off our and yelled. "You son of a bitch! You thief! Give me back my damn hat! What the hell are you robbing me for?! Huh?! Goddamn you, you damn thief!"
The rest of the group sweatdropped as they watched Feena curse out Chat Noir, who was probably long gone.