Taking a very deep breath, Cheyenne picked up a wide cup filled with balché. Her first drink from Billy's bar. She took a small sip before setting it down. She exhaled aggressively as she reached up to rub her eyes.
It was the evening after their night with Malachi and she honestly didn't know what to think. Her sanity was teetering and madness was poking at the back of her neck.
With a groan, she faceplanted on the table next to her drink.
"They really killed each other?" Kaito slowly blinked while clinking mugs of lager with Elise. "That..." His brow knitted. "What?"
"Vacuo is a different kind of place but that's..." Pithaya pulled her drink away so Kris couldn't take some. The short redhead had already finished her margarita.
"Yeah..." Cheynne nodded slowly before lifting her head up. "Yeah."
"That's actually crazy." Jayde pointed while holding a bottle of soju. "Like," she shook her head. She then looked over at Kagami who was diligently reading through Pynap's book about the Two Brothers. "Find anything yet?"
"Nothing helpful." The jadette shook her head while turning the page. "Just that these people are absolutely insane. Even if the Gods were real, I don't think they would be anything like the way it's written in here."
"They're definitely not." Elise leaned forward over her drink and looked across the table. "There is no way the Brothers would ever make men like them godly kings. They don't deserve it. I don't think any of us even deserve it." She mumbled the last part.
"Well, you girls try to relax." Jayde stood and placed her mostly finished bottle in front of Kagami. "Try to relax." She gave her a nod. "Kasune should be done decrypting the scroll we got soon. I'll head home and see you guys tomorrow."
"Later." Kris smiled in her direction.
Jayde took the long way back home. With the blazing sun gone it was becoming cooler and cooler, which meant there were more and more people moving around and about. The crowds helped her relax, strangely enough. Her semblance, hyper awareness, also helped with that.
She felt more at ease when knowing everything compared to taking back streets and avoiding everyone.
She felt every breath, heard every step. She knew what muscles relaxed and when they flexed. She heard the arthritis in the bones years before it showed. She heard the whispers that traveled through the winds and could count someone's lien from within their bags. She could tell the age of shoes just by looking at how much sand was on them.
Nothing got past her.
No one could walk closer than fifty feet behind her without her noticing.
So when a hand came out of nowhere and went over her mouth, her eyes widened in a mix of surprise and terror.
A second later, she felt the presence of another aura. She felt eyes locked on her. She heard him exhale.
Reaching up, she quickly grabbed onto her attackers arms with both hands. She wanted to throw him but it was too late. She was pulled off her feet.
Jayde expected to hit the ground. She was ready to get back onto her feet and break the neck of the man who managed to sneak up on her.
But she never hit the ground.
She couldn't tell what was up or what was down.
Everywhere was darkness.
Was she standing or was she laying down?
It wasn't cold and it wasn't hot.
Her hair was spiraling like she was under water.
But she wasn't wet.
And she wasn't breathing.
The air was free of resistance.
She was in a vacuum.
She didn't need to breathe.
Was she dead?
No, her heart was beating.
It would have been humiliating if she died like that.
So where was she?
Her heart began to pound like a drum inside her head. Her chest trembled deep within her. She closed her eyes. Her hands began to shake. She screamed at the top of her lungs.
Not a single sound came out.
Jayde stared off into the endless darkness with wide eyes and placed both hands over her mouth. She needed to get a hold of herself. Panic was always followed by mistakes.
But she couldn't help it.
She had no idea where the hell she was.
A hand suddenly grabbed the back of her collar. She flinched. She was pulled back and thrown onto the ground. Her body bounced a few times before her back struck a wall. She groaned but quickly exhaled in relief once she felt gravity pushing against her again. There were five others.
Then four.
Her eyes narrowed and she snapped her attention to the room she was in. One door. The hinges hadn't moved. No windows. All concrete. All that was inside was a single light, four men and the shadows being casted off their bodies.
She couldn't figure out what happened to the aura of the man who attacked her. It didn't make any sense. Who the hell was he?
"Honestly, I thought you'd be harder to get." A man with curious indigo colored eyes smiled. He kept his hands behind his back and crouched down beside her. "I honestly expected more from someone with your reputation. You're honestly disappointing." He reached out, his finger pulling her mask down.
Feeling his finger graze her lips, Jayde didn't hesitate to chomp down on it with all her might.
Feeling his finger being crushed between her teeth, he let out a shout. He stood up while trying to pull himself free only to shout again as she bit down harder.
With a low growl, the emerald Huntress braced her hands against the floor and pushed herself up. She reached up and grabbed his shoulder while reaching behind her and grabbing her collapsed staff. She pulled him down and moved her staff underneath his chin.
His eyes widened as the staff extended. It struck his chin with a purple glow that sent him into the ceiling. He grunted and fell back down with a harsh thud.
But Jayde wasn't done just yet. With a quick twirl of her weapon, she brought it around and slammed it against the side of his head. He was sent flying to the side, his back hitting the wall. "Honestly," she sharply exhaled and bared her teeth, "you're a fool." She blinked. Where had that come from?
She heard feet shift and slid her own foot back. A man clad in turquoise and black had locked his eyes on her. With a low growl, she swung her staff around in his direction.
He flashed a pair of sharp teeth and let his side be struck. He grunted. His feet skidded back slightly. He then quickly wrapped his fingers around the weapon and narrowed his eyes.
His eyes lit up with a blazing fury. Where he was gripping, the weapon turned red hot. Parts of the staff melted between his fingers before it fell apart in three separate pieces.
Jayde blinked and quickly stepped back. She pulled what remained of her weapon close to her chest. She felt the wind brush across the hairs on her arms. She slipped back and ducked down to avoid a punch from an armored metal fist.
With a shout, a man with spiky red hair stepped closer and threw a hook with his other hand. The metal gauntlet he wore hissed as Dust flowed through it and it lit up with flames.
She parried against the attack with her broken staff. She gave a shout of her own before kicking her legs up and twisting her body around. She sent her foot into the side of his face so hard she felt the impact of it through her bones. He stumbled back while she landed on her feet with grace.
She heard the wind whistle and quickly looked over her shoulder. A hook attached to a wire was flying straight towards her. She narrowly avoided it and quickly had to move out of the way again as it whipped in her direction.
On the other end of the wire, a heavily toned man held onto a fishing pole. His amber hair was slicked back and freckles were scattered across his face. His clothes clung so tightly to his body it looked like they had been drenched. He smiled.
Jayde struggled to avoid his attacks as he swung his weapon around her. She didn't want to get caught. But when she heard footsteps behind her followed by the rumble of a chainsaw, she knew she had to make a choice.
The Huntress in green tossed her broken staff into her left hand and held up her right arm. She winced as the wire wrapped around her forearm and hissed as the hook lodged itself into her flesh. She closed one eye and held up her left arm to block a sword with a chainsaw as the blade.
Holding said weapon was the man in turquoise. He kept the pressure on his sword and moved two of his fingers against his chainsaw. It began to glow red before turning a bright white.
It sliced through Jayde's staff like butter.
The Huntress' breath hitched. She dropped her weapon and pulled back quickly. If she was one second slower she would have lost her arm. Gritting her teeth, she braced and shifted her right arm. She quickly wrapped the wire more around her wrist before jerking on it with a sharp battle cry.
The man with freckles widened his eyes. He cursed under his breath as he was pulled and thrown into his ally with a sword. As they collided, the man with hefty gloves jumped over them with his fists raised above his head.
Raising both her arms up in an x, she bared her teeth and grunted as he came down onto her. His gloves lit up with purple and she winced as pain shot through her arms. Her knees buckled and the concrete under her feet cracked.
"Honestly..." She shakily exhaled while keeping her defenses up. "...you'll need to be stronger than that."
He smirked down at her. "I am stronger." He chuckled while pushing down harder.
Jayde growled and closed one eye. Her attention then snapped behind her. She heard the blade unsheathing. With the large oaf above her one wrong move on her end from pinning her, she wasn't going to be able to move. She cursed under her breath and bared her teeth. She felt the tip of the blade graze the hairs on her neck before it poked at her skin just barely.
"Honestly, this was what I was expecting." The man with indigo hair snickered. He had a firm grip on the cinquedea that was against her neck. "Honestly Pula, don't crush her just yet."
"Got it." The brute nodded and pulled back. He lowered his arms before sending an uppercut into Jayde's stomach. His gauntlet hissing with a purple glow.
She let out a forced breath. Her eyes shot wide and she fell to her hands and knees coughing. She nearly collapsed. With a groan and closed eyes. She shakily went to push herself back up.
Pula let out an amused laugh. "Oh, she's a tough one, Ambra." He crossed his arms.
Dusting himself off, the man with freckles, who was also Paula's brother, smiled back. "It's always fun when ladies are like that." He picked his fishing pole back up. The hook was still lodged into Jayde's arm and he wasted no time in wrapping the wire tightly around her.
The wire burned and dug deep into her skin. She hissed and snarled as she was pulled back onto her knees. She was tired and restrained. There wasn't going to be any kind of escape anytime soon.
Feeling the hook in her arm being jerked around, she let out a pained shout before quickly silencing herself to a pain groan.
"Heh." The man with a chainsaw sword chuckled as he pulled the hook up her arm. "Ooh, that looks like that hurts."
"Honestly, Torqas!"
He flinched. With a sigh, he let go of the hook and stepped away. "Whatever."
Walking around her, the man with a cinquedea twirled his blade around. "Now, honestly," he pointed the weapon at her, "I'm tired and don't feel like doing this so how about you tell me who the kids are?"
"Honestly, they're-" Jayde found herself about to speak before she managed to cut herself off. Her brow furrowed and she blinked. What was she thinking? She was about to tell this group of idiots all about team MACE. Why would she even consider that?
"She's catching on, Bendhimmel." Ambra slid his hands into his pockets.
"Honestly, just shut up." He shot him a glare.
Honestly, honestly, honestly.
Jayde blinked a little before softly scoffing and looking up. "Honestly, honesty is a dumb and useless semblance."
Bendhimmel flashed his teeth and sharply exhaled. His indigo eyes flickered and dulled in color slightly. "Dammit. I had better things to do!" Reaching out, he grabbed the hook in her arm and jerked it out.
She closed both her eyes and screamed. She then let out a heavy grunt and grimaced as she was kicked in the back and sent face first onto the floor.
"Okay. I guess we're doing this the hard way." He placed a foot on her back and knelt down over her.
Jayde kept her breathing as steady as she could. She tried to turn her head to see what he was going to do to no avail. Though it didn't matter. Feeling the edge of his cinquedea press up against her pinky on her right hand, her breath hitched. Her eyes widened. "Shit..."