Sheriffs Dept. vs Sky Pirates Pt2

The wind whipped at Tanya's face, she dug her claws into the seems of the dragon's metal plating for a hand hold. Her clones were doing the same, but they wouldn't hold for much longer. Tanya had a better hold, and Steelwing was doing a variety of arial maneuvers in an attempt to shake her off. With each loop and dive, her fingers lost strength.

Steel dipped to the side, conducting a triple barrel roll, sending the two Tanya clones flying. Crashing into some random roof, the reverted back into leaves with a cloud of smoke. If Tanya let go, she could definitely catch herself, but with how fast Steelwing is flying, she'd never catch him without going back for her truck, there's no way he'd let her take that chance. Plus who knew how many weapons were concealed in the folds of these metal wings.

"Just plummet already!" Steelwing cried back at her. He leaned back, now pointed to the sky once again. With a boost from his jets, he rocketed towards the clouds.

Tanya could only feel gravity trying to pull her back down. In her attempt to keep her hold, she was surprised by the sudden feeling of weightlessness. Steelwing stalled himself at the peak of his ascent, leaving them in a free fall for but a moment. That one moment was all he needed as he shot downwards. The sudden fast-as-a-jet motion jerked Steelwing free of Tanya's grip.

Left wide-eyed, Tanya was plummeting back down to Pure Heart village. Her basic instincts had her fling her hands to either side, flailing around for some kind of purchase. Thankfully, she was high enough for long enough that a second was long enough for her to reorganize her thoughts. Pulling a leaf into both her hands, the poof of smoke concealed her, just before she fell through the artificial cloud. Extending her arms to either side, her new wings outstretched, she caught the wind on her pink and black feathers. Tanya turned her head about, searching for the metallic lizard.

"So you're capable of flight, huh?" The grating voice was right behind her, or rather above? Steelwing's massive body overshadowed her own. "You'll still fall either way!" On Steelwing's back, a sliding patch opened up, a gun with many cylinders forming a circle with a belt of ammunition raised out of it.

Tanya dropped her arms to her sides, going into a dove before the weapon could warm up. There's now way she could put run Steelwing, and in an open sky, she was easy pickings, her best chance was to use the buildings below her as cover and plan out her counter attack.

The repetitive sound of weapon broke her out of her thoughts. The bullets whizzed by her, coming uncomfortably close. Is she had her arms extended, she definitely would've been clipped in her bicep, or struck in her forearm.

She was nearing the roofline at an alarming rate, so it was now or never. Shooting her arms out to either side, Tanya's arms threatened to pull out of their sockets as the rest of her body kept the momentum she had from falling at such a velocity. Her body now inches from the cobblestones as she flew over them.

The sound of bullets hitting the cobblestones behind her put her on alert. Catching an alleyway on her right, she took a hard turn. Her momentum carried her into the alley, all the way to the far wall where she slammed face first into the plaster, putting a dent in the wall.

Her wings turned back into her arms, and she scrambled further down the alley. This bought her some cover, but it was only a matter of time before Steelwing looped around to be parallel to the alley. Tanya took a moment to weigh her skills against her enemies.

Steelwing won the air battle and know owns the skies of Pure Heart, and without her truck, there's no matching him. His firepower could also tear through most of her techniques if she wasn't smart with them. Maybe she could hide in an army of Tanya clones, and use the doubles as a diversion for an attack from the rear?

The sound of jets in the background became louder. Looking up, Tanya's eyes went wide at the sight of Steelwing, already parallel to the alley. How did he maneuver around that fast? At his speed, he should've had to do a full loop.

Steelwing's teeth were on full display as he smiled, unleashing a barrage of bullets on the startled Tanya. All she could do in response was to throw her hands up, trying helplessly to block her vitals.

Violet side stepped Beef Master's cleavers, each strike left scores in the ground about an inch deep. Violet wasn't sure if it was a testament to the bull's strength, or to how heavy those massive cleavers were. Either way, a direct hit from them would be the end of her.

Violet kept her distance, storing one of her blades away, replacing it with throwing knives, tossing one after the other. Each one proved ineffective as Beef Master responded by shielding his body with the flat sides of his cleavers, each of the knives bounced off, falling to the ground, clinking as metal hit stone.

"I've heard tales of the "golden cat" family," Beef Master said monotonously. "But if this is all you have to offer, then the stories must be severely exaggerated."

Violet clicked her tongue. Hearing this pirate before her belittle her family like this irked her. But with a deep breath, she put her anger in check. Giving in to this kind of antagonism would be exactly what he wants. No, she needs to do what she did best: think outside the box.

The pirate she faced was big and strong, so facing him in a full frontal assault would be pointless, he also isn't going to wait for Violet to set a trap with the variety of items in her hat, so if she wants to hit him with a big attack, it needs to be something that can be set quick and easy to trigger.

An idea did come to mind, but facing him in the open was the opposite of what she needed. She needed to coerce him into a closed space, but was there anywhere nearby with enough space for the massive bull? It would be tough just to get him into any of the houses.

Then, Violet remembered the sushi joint that Minori mentioned to her a while back. The joint has an open venue from the bar to the outdoor seating, and a sliding down gate for when the joint closes for the day. It's the perfect place for her plan.

With a flick of her wrist, Violet pulled a small pellet from her sleeve. Throwing it at the ground at her feet, smoke plumed outward in all directions. Taking advantage of her foe losing sight of her, she turned on her heel to begin running towards the sushi joint. She also needed the pirate to give chase to her, so to make sure he followed, she threw the occasional throwing knife back to where she was running from.

The clangs of the knives bouncing off of Beef Master's cleavers was just what she wanted to hear. Turning a corner, Violet dared glance back to see how close the pirate was on her heels, and he was much closer than she had originally thought. She needed to slow him down a little. Digging into her hat, Violet pulled out a bottle of oil. Using her claw, she popped the cork off, and began trailing the oil on the path behind her.

She heard a thud of the pirate slipping on the oil, and crashing against the stone. One more turn and she laid eyes on the joint, time to get to work. Running into the bar, Violet jumped onto the counter balancing on the slim counter to the far wall. Reaching into her hat, she retrieved a bag as well as a hammer and nail.

Holding the bag and nail to the wall, Violet quickly hammered the bag to the wall. Putting the hammer back in her hat, she turned back and looked out the door. Beef Master was slowly making his way across the street, the residual oil on his hooves slowing down his approach.

Violet quickly pulled out a small cooking stove used on camping trips, and placed it on the ground beneath the suspended bag. She then ran to each of the arches that separated the bar from the street, reaching up, she grabbed the bottom of the drop-down door and pulled it down, locking it into place.

Violet wasted no time to start shutting more of the drop-down doors, making sure to leave one open for the Beef Master to walk in. Once there was only one left, she fell back to the center of the room, rearming herself with one of her dulled katanas.

Beef Master, having regained his footing, entered the sushi joint, his massive cleavers extended to each side. "So this is your last ditch effort? A close quarters squall?" Violet said nothing in turn as she held her sword up to her opponent. "Very well." Beef Master rushed forward, swinging his cleavers.

Violet dodged the first with a side step, and ducked beneath the second, stepping past Beef Master and crept towards the entrance. Violet threw her sword at the pirate, the spinning rod of metal knocked aside by the massive cleavers. With a flick of her wrist, Violet pulled out one of the throwing knives she kept up her sleeves. Beef Master was unaware of the knife, as his attention was on the sword that lay at his feet.

"This sword," Beef Master said in contemplation. "It's dulled. You face an opponent with poor weapons?"

"I don't believe in taking lives," Violet answered. "So I hope you're as tough as you look." Violet threw the knife at the bag on the wall. As soon as the knife left her hand, she turned for the drop-down door, jumping up and pulling down, using her momentum to swing out to the street. As soon as the door was shut, the knife pierced the bag, causing its contents to spill out over the small cooking stove.

Violet rushed to the other side of the street, desperate to get as far as she could, before she could duck behind cover, the sushi joint behind erupted in fire, exploding into splinters and ash.

The contents of the bag were merely a finely ground flour, spilling into the cooking stove, the powder ignited to cause a dust explosion. Dust explosions are controlled explosions that need closed spaces to properly go off.

Violet pulled herself off the ground, rolling over to look at the burning building. A silhouette stood just behind the flames, stepping out, Beef Master emerging onto the street. His breathing was ragged, and his body covered in soot. It was apparent to Violet that it was taking great effort just for him to stay on his feet.

Putting herself back on her feet, Violet drew a pair of swords from her hat. With Beef Master barely able to stand, they now stood on more even ground.

Eyes shut tight, Tanya believed she was a goner. But nothing happened. She heard the bullets leaving the barrel, and them hitting… something. Cracking open one of her eyes, Tanya saw a wall of green energy between her and the pirate.

"You all are making so much noise," Ashaki said, stepping out from behind Tanya. "I could hear it all the way from the palace."

Steelwing was caught aback, hovering back to create some distance. This new individual had abilities he'd never seen before, what was that green barrier thing?

"Let me take care of this one," Ashaki dropped the barrier, stepping towards the pirate. "I'll be sure to make short work of him."