. . .Boop!
Ruby POV
"Really?" Dante asked breathlessly. I nodded slowly, still unable to believe what I was seeing. Her nose was still finishing straightening itself, albeit slowly. She opened and closed her fist with a bemused smile. She rolled her shoulders and bounced lightly on the balls of her feet.
"I feel like I could run up a freaking mountain! I could go all night! I-I-I could. . ." She squealed and did a strange dance. "Me likey." She said, smirking at me.
The guy standing a few feet away seemed to be in a near comatose state, staring at Yang with his mouth open. He suddenly snapped back to himself and coughed into his fist, his face reddening a bit.
"So, uh, Dante? Who are your. . .friends?" Dante stretched, wiggling her fingers and laughing.
"The one with the tig ol' bitties is Yang, the less endowed sweet one is Ruby, and I have no idea who the fuck that guy is." I blinked in surprise and turned, finding the tall guy from before standing just behind Yang. He tilted his head to one side slightly.
"My name is Date Kirimaru." Dante stepped forward and grasping his hand, pumping it up and down enthusiastically.
"Really? Cool! It's so great to meet another Dante, especially a guy Dante!" She turned and wiggled her eyebrows at me. "And a hot guy at that. This is awesome! We could be like a super team! Dante and Dante. Dante Squared. Ooh, ooh, or. . .Double Dante." Date frowned.
"No. It's Dah-tay. There's a small difference." Dante grinned a shit-eating grin.
"I know that, Mr. Serious, I was fucking with you." He snorted.
"Fair enough. Who's he?" Dante glanced over her shoulder at the other guy, who'd begun to stare at Yang again.
"Who, Spencer? Don't worry, we're just friends. You and me. . ." She nodded slowly, grinning wide. "I ship that." Date let go of her hand and took a large step back.
"That's. . .nice?" Dante rolled her eyes and moved to stand behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist.
"I was joking again, dude, Ruby is the only one for me." Yang laughed.
"What about Elaina?" Dante ignored her.
"Ever since Ruby and I made love for the first time. . ." She shook her head. "Magic." I flushed and shook my head.
"She's joking! We didn't really. . .make. . .love." Dante patted my head and stretched again.
"All jokes aside, I've got some explaining to do, and I want to get it over with ASAP. . .Rocky." Then she skipped out of the alley, blowing me a kiss and whistling something that sounded suspiciously like the Star Trek theme song. Date, Yang, and I stared after her for a while.
"That was. . .different." Date said, clearly struggling to find the appropriate word to describe Dante. Yang nodded.
"Don't think too hard about it. It makes more sense that way." He nodded.
"Got it." Spencer sighed.
"Damn, there goes my tour guide." Yang looked over, noticing him for the first time.
"Eh? Oh, we know this place pretty well I guess. Where are you going?" He grinned.
"Beacon Academy." I smiled.
"You're a hunter?" He nodded and made a so-so gesture with his hand.
"Working on it, anyway." Date raised a finger.
"Same. Directions would be seriously appreciated." Yang raised her eyebrows.
"You too?" He nodded and gestured at Spencer.
"We came in on the same ship. There was another one, but I haven't seen her since we left the ship. She's probably as lost as we are. I just need directions so I can go get my stuff from the ship and head over there." Yang slapped him hard on the back, making him stumble a bit.
"No need, fellas, we're heading that way ourselves!" Spencer brightened considerably.
"Really? You're huntresses?"
"That we are." Yang said with a bow. Date turned to me.
"Ruby, right?" I nodded.
"That's me." He nodded back.
"You wouldn't mind our tagging along, would you?" I shrugged.
"No, not really, you're welcome to come with us." Yang clapped her hands.
"Then what are we standing around here for? Onward to BACON ACADEMY!"
Dante POV
I all but skipped down the sidewalk, happy beyond reason. My body felt lighter than normal, like I could fly if I wanted to. But I can't. Not here. I glanced around at the crowded streets.
My gaze ran across a semi-full parking lot, where I saw three tall guys, wearing black suits and carrying swords and guns, facing down a red headed girl, who was shielding an older lady with her body. I darted across the street and slipped behind a car, listening in on what was being said.
"-ou jerks think it's cool to harass old ladies?" One of the men sneered at her.
"The lady didn't settle her debt with our boss Junior, so he sent us to collect. Now get out of the way, little girl." The girl snorted, planting her fists on her hips.
"Well, this Junior guy sounds like a real dickhead. Tell him I said he can stuff his debts where the sun don't shine." She sounded bored, despite the weapons on clear display. Girl's got balls. I thought, deciding to see how it played out.
The men were clearly upset by her disrespect of their boss, and showed it by pointing their various weapons at her. She laughed and waved the old lady back, getting into and standard boxing stance. She made a little 'come on' gesture with one hand.
"You wanna dance? Let's dance." The first of the three, wielding a red katana, charged.
"How can you dance if you can't stand?" He spat, swinging at her legs. She slipped backward out of reach and pulled something out of a pocket on her hoodie, tilting it to catch the sunlight and blind him.
He growled and brought his free hand up to block the light, leaving his midsection wide open. The girl drilled her fist deep into his gut, eliciting a loud gasp from him and sending him soaring backward at least ten feet, whereupon he rolled across the blacktop.
She straightened and spread her arms.
"Next?" Another man, this one with a gun, took aim and fired a second too late. She dipped out of range and slipped in close, rolling between his legs and yanking his pants down to his ankles. She stood back and took a moment to chuckle mockingly.
"My my, you're all exposed." Then she kicked him viciously in the balls, causing him to double over and cry out in pain. Then she grabbed the back of his jacket and slammed him down onto the ground, causing cracks to spiderweb out from under him.
The last man spun, but was greeted by the barrel of the gun she'd pulled from her hoodie. She sneered at him.
"Alright, asshole, reach for the sky."
Skye POV
I faced down the last remaining guy and sneered at him, my pulse pounding and my adrenaline high.
"Alright, asshole, reach for the sky." I snarled. He regarded me soberly, his eyes obscured by red shades, and bent down to pick up his comrade's fallen katana.
He unsheathed his own with his free hand and held them loosely by his sides. This guy's really starting to piss me off. I thought angrily. "Hey, I said reach for the-" His left sword came up in a red blur and knocked Annex (A/N: Her gun) out of my hand, diverting my first shot and knocking it wide.
He slashed quickly with the other blade, trying to behead me, but this time I was ready. I ducked and twisted, fitting my shoulder into his stomach and standing suddenly with a mighty heave, sending him tumbling to the pavement.
I sprinted straight for Annex, hoping to get there before he recovered himself. Shots rang out and bullets strafed the ground around my feet. I faltered slightly, but quickly regained my stride, continuing my mad dash for my gun.
I lurched to the side to avoid and bullet and cursed as it clipped my gun and sent it skittering under a car. I leapt forward, planting my foot on the door and pushed off, diving between the hail of bullets and rolling to my feet, continuing my sprint in the opposite direction.
The man paused for a second, and that's where he made his mistake. He dropped the gun and brought his swords to bear. I slipped my trusty combat knife, Athame, out of my pocket and flipped it around so that I held it in reverse grip, all without breaking stride. I ducked under his first two slashes, swiping Athame across his side as I blew past. He growled with pain and turned to follow me with his eyes. I slipped between two cars and began making a wide loop around him, slipping between the cars silently.
"Where are you, you little bitch?!" I sprinted at his exposed back quietly, rearing back with Athame in my left hand. I whipped my arm forward, throwing Athame with all of my might. It embedded itself into the back of his knee with a meaty thock! He cried out and went down on one knee, dropping his swords to clutch his knee. I ran full tilt at his hunched form and planted my foot on his shoulder, using it as a springboard to flip over him, twisting around as I did so. I grabbed his head with both hands and brought it crashing down onto the blacktop, knocking him out cold. I laid on my stomach for a moment, my hands shaking with unspent adrenaline and excitement.
I took four deep breaths then stood and brushed myself off before retrieving Athame from his leg and wiping his blood off onto his jacket. I hurried over to Annex and lifted her off the ground, turning her back and forth, searching for damage. None. I slid the clip out, checking the special dust filled bullets for ruptures. All good there too. I breathed a sigh of relief, then stiffened and whipped around as the sound of slow clapping reached me.
There, lying on top of a red car, was a blond girl. She wasn't really all that cute, in my opinion, and there was something about her that just screamed danger. It was as if she radiated lethal grace from her very pores.
"You got a problem, blondie?" I cringed internally at the dumb words, but gave her a glare outwardly, trying to gauge her reaction and posture. She seemed loose yet confident, languid but deadly. I'd have to be careful around her. She sat up and hopped down off the car, casually scooping up one of the swords and twirling it expertly in her hand.
"That, my friend, was top-notch fighting." I watched her closely, discreetly chambering a round in Annex and tightening my fingers around Athame's hilt. "I'm not kidding either. I mean, that big finish? Beautiful." She smirked and rested the dull edge of the blade on her shoulder. "I'm gonna guess you're a huntress in training. Headed for Beacon Academy I presume?" By this time, she'd begun flipping the sword up in the air and catching it again by the hilt.
"Who's asking?" She twirled the sword once more and stabbed it into the ground, leaving it standing there like a mini flagpole. She dusted off her palm and held it out to me.
"Dante Stryker, also a huntress in training." I put Athame away and switched Annex to my left, freeing up my right hand for a handshake. As we shook hands, I looked into her eyes and noticed that her pupils were extremely dilated, to the point that they had almost completely crowded out the blue of her irises. Is she on drugs? I thought warily. She raised her eyebrows.
"What?" I asked. She rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh.
"You know, generally when someone shakes your hand and tells you their name, it's expected that you reciprocate." I felt embarrassed heat rise to my face. I really didn't like this girl.
"Skye Delacour." She stared at me for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"That whole 'reach for the sky' thing seems so much wittier now." Then she swung her arm without warning, aiming for my jaw. I quickly pressed Annex to her chest and pulled the trigger.
Click.
Her fist stopped right before contact with my jaw and she doubled over laughing as I stared dumbfounded at Annex. She tossed something to me and I snatched it out of the air. It was my clip. My clip full of bullets. My eyes widened. But, it was just-
"It was just in there, wasn't it?" I slammed the clip in and pointed Annex at her. She brushed my hand to the side and shook her head. "Not a good idea. I really don't think we should fight, especially not here. Think about it, how would reflect on Beacon?" As annoyingly matter-of-fact she was, I couldn't deny that she was right.
She smiled gratefully as I put Annex away.
"Thanks, I've been shot enough for one day." I raised an eyebrow and she shook her head.
"That's a story for another day." Her eyes narrowed and she turned to look over her shoulder, back towards the street. She grabbed my hand and dragged me away. "Here, come with me for a minute, I have an errand to run and then I'll take you to Beacon." I sighed, but grudgingly accepted.
"Fine. But only because I don't know where Beacon is." She beamed happily at me.
"Great! Let's go!"
Unknown
In a dark office far, far away, a phone rang shrilly.
". . ." A beautifully manicured feminine hand reached out and picked up the receiver delicately. "Yes?" The owner of the hand's crisp, lightly accented voice inquired. There was excited breathing on the other end.
"I got it." The woman sat bolt upright in her chair.
"You have the weapon?" An exasperated sigh on the other line.
"Noooo." Came the sarcastic reply. "I meant AIDS. Of course the weapon!" The woman's hand tightened on the receiver angrily.
"Do not test me, Spectra, I will-"
"Yeah, yeah destroy me. Haven't heard that one before. You need me and you know it, so cut the bullshit." The woman paused to compose herself.
"Does he know?" She asked coolly. Spectra scoffed.
"The old man? Hell no." The woman frowned, her eyes narrowing.
"You sound different, Spectra, what have you done?" Spectra chuckled mysteriously.
"I've embarked on the path of my destiny." The woman stood abruptly, sending her chair toppling backwards.
"Don't you dare betray me, Spectra. Not in this." Her voice was low and dangerous, but Spectra laughed.
"Whatever will you do if I decided to do just that?" The woman's voice trembled with suppressed rage.
"I will hunt you down and-"
"And you'll die like the rest." Spectra finished, the sneer obvious in her voice. The woman was silent. She knew this was one argument she could never win.
"I loathe you, Spectra Valentine." Spectra laughed nastily.
"Ditto, sweet cheeks. Ciao~!" Then she hung up. The woman righted her chair and went to stand at the study's large frosted picture window. A few minutes later, a knock on the door interrupted her brooding.
"Enter." She snapped.
A man wearing a silver mask that covered all of his face but his mouth walked in.
"U-um, m-ma'am? We're have trouble with the p-p-prisoner." She gave an aggravated sigh.
"What is the problem?" The man fidgeted like a naughty schoolboy faced by the angry principal.
"Er, w-we can't really see anything through these eye slits and he's f-fighting back a lot." Another sigh.
"Threaten him with his wife and sedate him." The man nodded and fled the room, leaving her to turn back to the window. "Feh, first Junior is taken out by a child, now this." She stared out the window and shook her head.
"Move quickly, Spectra, I do so hate the cold."
Phew, that one was in serious danger of becoming random. I think I'll stick with mostly 1,500-ish word chapters, thanks. Ooooh, things are picking up now! No time to chat, gotta finish my other Blake chapter. Ja ne and all that good stuff.