Warning: Some racist Slag is used in this chapter, again, as I said before in my recent fics, if you witness such behaviour, stand against it, or if you're a victim of Racism, please talk to someone you can trust.
Chapter Twenty-Four
First Hunt
After a long walk through the dark tunnels, Pandora soon made it to the sewers then found some rungs that would lead her to the surface.
Seeing the Chicago Sewers made her think of New York and how much she missed it, as much as she loved Chicago, New York was her home and home was always where the heart was.
Climbing the rungs, Pandora pushed the lid off the top and found herself in a dark alleyway.
She recognised the alley as one she often came out of when on patrol with her family and the Knights.
She could hear noises of traffic and people talking and she could see the sky was growing dark.
"Perfect!" she thought "I should be able to move around in the shadows or on the rooftops without anyone seeing me!"
She climbed out and placed the lid back over the hole, and she looked at her watch.
"I'll have a run in the fresh air, then I'll go back, and if I time it right, I'll get back to the sanctuary without anyone knowing I was gone!"
Stepping close to one of the walls, the hybrid scanned her surroundings then she saw a fire escape on the opposite buildings.
The hybrid leapt onto the ladder then climbed onto the roof before starting to run across the rooftops.
No sooner did Pandora start running than she felt a sense of freedom.
The wind rushed through her hair as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, adrenaline rushing through her body and a small smile graced her lips.
For the past couple of weeks, she had felt suffocated in the Sanctuary, and she wanted to get outside.
After recovering from her injuries, Pandora felt a deeper need to do more than just train in the dojo to unleash her anger, and now she had the chance to go topside to feel the freedom of outside, she felt some of the tension within fade.
After a few minutes of running, Pandora suddenly heard a familiar sound, she stood still and closed her eyes, remembering her ninja training and all she had learnt.
She prided herself on having the ability to shut out all other sounds to focus on what she wanted to hear, and she soon heard it more clearly as she concentrated.
"Police sirens!" she thought "Sounds like trouble!"
She looked around then she managed to pinpoint where the noises were coming from, and she took off running.
Pandora leapt over the rooftops, and she soon came to an area east of the city where she saw many police cars as well as members of the public gathered outside a small supermarket.
Crouching at the edge of one building, she observed what was happening.
The Shop was surrounded by armed police officers and swat teams, and there was a man with a megaphone shouting towards the door.
"Armed Police! We got the whole place surrounded!"
Pandora blinked.
"What the shell?"
She wished she had some binoculars with her so she could see more clearly, but that wasn't an option, so she decided to use her skills in stealth to get closer to find out what was going on.
Tucking her tail into her hoodie, she leapt off the roof and snuck down into an alleyway, keeping to the shadows, hoping to hear a conversation, and she didn't have to wait long as she heard a group of people from members of the public speaking about the situation.
"Do you think he'll give up?"
"I don't know!"
"He's got at least five people in there trapped!"
"Trapped?" Pandora thought as she listened.
"No way! A Hostage situation!"
She instantly thought of her own family when they were held prisoner by the Foot and almost executed and how she felt so helpless when she was unable to help them, very much like Freya said the previous night.
"What's his motive?"
"I don't know!"
"They better stop him! All those innocent lives! That selfish bastard!"
"Those poor people!"
Pandora frowned then stepped back into the shadows.
"So…" she thought "It's a hostage situation!"
She went round the back of the building and wondered what to do, she looked at her hands and flexed her claws.
"Some bastard thinks he can hold innocent people in a place where he can control them, and not give a fuck about their lives or the people that love them?" she snarled "Well, he's gonna get a big wake-up call!"
She walked around to the other side of the building where she saw the shop was cornered off by many police cars and armed officers, all wearing bullet proof vests and guns poised and ready.
She could also see some members of the public trying to talk to officers who were trying to keep them away for their safety.
"Please! Help them!"
"My daughter's in there!"
"Can't you do something?!"
"Stay back!" the officers kept telling them "You have to let us handle this!"
Pandora glared again.
"A daughter? A loved one!" she thought again about her family, and about Kemeko, and she thought about how devastated Leonardo was.
"No!" she mused "This can't be happening! A girl is being held hostage in that place by some selfish cunt, and a father is so scared and worried!"
She looked at the shop, then at the many police surrounding the place.
Narrowing her eyes, she wondered what the best way would be to get past them without being seen as well as sneaking into the shop without alerting the perpetrator or putting the victims in danger.
Before long, Pandora was able to see an opening when she saw the back of the shop and an open window.
The Police were around that area, but she thought with the right distractions she could get past them and into the building.
It wasn't going to be easy as there were lights everywhere and unless she was able to keep the officers distracted, she knew she could be seen easily.
The hybrid lowered herself onto her hands and knees and started to crawl towards where she wanted to be, and she soon saw the opening she needed if she timed it right.
There was the open window, and the officers were poised at the door next to it just in case the perpetrator tried to escape out the back.
Pandora frowned as she thought hard then she picked up an empty can with her tail which she had uncoiled from under her hoodie then she threw it behind the officers making them loose focus for a moment.
It was then Pandora saw her chance and she leapt up over their heads as they looked behind them and ran for the open window before leaping through it.
The action didn't take more than five seconds and Pandora smirked to herself.
"Did it!" she grinned then she stood up slowly to find herself in the storeroom and she could see the inside of the shop through a door in front of her.
Inside, Pandora could hear a few sobs and whimpers, the sounds of people afraid and fearing for their lives.
Licking her lips, Pandora steeled herself to go in and face the danger, she was ready to take on this thug and stop him ruining the lives of those he held hostage and their families.
She got on all fours and started to crawl into the shop.
Her stomach was churning, and her heart was beating so hard it hurt, yet she was unsure whether it was excitement or fear.
As she crawled into the shop area, she saw a couple of people sitting on the floor looking terrified.
As she locked eyes with them, they stared back at her! Pandora then brought a finger to her lips.
"What are you doing!?" one of them, a young man in his thirties mouthed to her "He's a psycho!"
Pandora said nothing but shook her head and kept crawling forward, keeping her head down to keep her reptilian features hidden under her hoodie.
"Leave this to me!" she said, "I'll put a stop to this!"
"What!?" the man mouthed yet Pandora didn't hear him and kept on going towards the front of the shop, the two men watching her in shocked silence.
She soon made it to the front of the shop where a man in his twenties was standing at the counter with a gun up and pointing it at an Indian man and a young Caucasian woman with a swollen belly and Pandora could see she was pregnant.
"That low life bastard!" she thought as she crawled closer then began to move behind one of the shelves to get behind the gunman.
As Pandora approached, she could see how the gunman was intimidating the clerk as well as the frightened girl.
"Please!" the girl sobbed "My baby! Don't hurt my baby!"
"Shut up!" the gunman barked "Just do as I say!"
"Please! Think about what you're doing!" the clerk said, "This is wrong!"
"Shut up Paki!" the gunman shouted "You don't make the decisions! I do!"
Pandora snarled.
"A selfish gunman and a racist hmm?" she thought then flexed her clawed fingers.
She looked up at the gunman then took a breath.
"Only one shot at this…" she decided "It's now, or never!"
She looked at the gunman then at the clerk and the pregnant girl, then she saw the distance between her hiding place then the gunman.
"I must do this!" she thought "I won't let one's life be ruined because of this bastard!"
She moved forward then lifted her clawed hand before slicing the back of the gunman's leg and his tendons!
As she did that the gunman screamed and fell backwards dropping his gun!
Pandora then grabbed him by the hair pulling him back towards her.
The clerk and girl were surprised as well as shocked by what happened!
"What the!?" the clerk cried.
"Go!" Pandora shouted "Get out of here! Save the others!"
The clerk again was stunned but he agreed and grabbed the pregnant girl as well as yelled at the other hostages to come with him.
No sooner did he do so than the others followed him out the door and Pandora pulled the gunman further into the back of the store.
"Selfish bastard!" she snarled as she held up her clawed hands "Think you can get your own way by bullying people with death?!"
The gunman was too shocked to speak as he looked at Pandora.
"What the fuck…?" he asked but Pandora headbutted him making him feel dazed.
"You bastard!" she spat "You think you can bully others into your bidding? You're one low life loser!"
She lifted her clawed hand to bring down on him, yet as she did, she heard shouts.
"Armed police! Put your hands in the air!"
Pandora glared then looked down at the gunman.
"Looks like you're in deep shit!" she snarled "You're gonna pay the price for your dumb actions!"
She headbutted the gunman knocking him out then she jumped up and led to the back of the store as the police ran inside.
As the police ran in, they soon saw the gunman lying unconscious on the floor.
"Perpetrator is down!" one of them cried "He's down! All hostages are safe!"
As the armed police ran inside, another officer wasn't far behind, and that was Hugh Beauregard.
"Jesus!" he cried "What happened here?"
He watched as the officers handcuffed the gunman and brought him to his feet before reading his rights, yet the gunman had difficulty as he limped along.
Hugh watched the gunman then looked at the wounds then at the blood on the ground.
"What happened here?" he thought.
At the same time, Pandora had made it out of the shop and she felt pleased she had stopped a serious situation, as well as saved a few lives, yet she knew she couldn't linger to find out, so she quickly left the scene and headed back to Mutopia as fast as she could.
So Pandora has been able to stop a hostage situation! And she was able to keep herself hidden from the humans as she did so!