Chapter 88

"On my way."

Crow was already up, hanging up and turned to look at her. The fact that the place was on heavy security, with the top technology and magic to prevent things like from happening and it STILL happened…in the winter. McBurn was a logical, reasonable guess. "I'll let you know what's going on when I get there. Rean says there's an odd smell." Which was what she had said about McBurn, his nose wrinkled. "Unless you're coming?"

He never thought that maybe Melyssa needed to stay put, where she was both safe and not a distraction for them, or that this was a way of drawing her out from behind the wards. She wasn't a damn damsel in distress and could hold her own! She didn't need anyone protecting her or telling her to stay put! Melyssa wanted to fight just like the rest of them and already had her Cutlass and Crossbow in hand, shoes on.

"Damn right, I am. I know who this is." McBurn – neither of them needed to say the name. "We need to end this once and for all, Crow. I'm sick of being in hiding and constantly living in fear of him." Crow nodded in agreement, knowing she was right. This was no way to live and she was DONE hiding. She had no idea what Ouroboros had in store for Crossbell City, but one thing was certain: McBurn had plans of his own and this was his way of drawing her out. "He'll be gunning for me." There wasn't a doubt in her voice or mind.

"Yeah, I know. We're idiots bringing you into the thick of it." Crow said cheerfully, slipping across to his own apartment to change and equip his own weapons. Anyone with a lick of common sense would have made the target stay safe, but not them. Between him and Melyssa, common sense was a rarity and he could already HEAR Rean sniping and fretting at them for her coming along, his grin grew wider. "Let's nail that sucker, he needs to GO." He was practically giddy.

In fact, Rean had just sent a text telling Crow not to bring her. Somehow, he doubted Crow cared because Crow sent back a thumb's up and a smiley face. He hated his best friend sometimes.


"Do NOT make me burn Crossbell City to the ground, Melyssa Brackett!"

Those were the first words they heard upon arrival and there he was, in the flesh, bathed in a fiery, red and black glow. It was a powerful aura surrounding him and she swallowed hard, unsheathing her Cutlass. McBurn wasn't alone either.

He brought backup, a little…INSURANCE policy to make sure Melyssa didn't try to run from him. "Melyssa, we need to have a conversation and I'm not leaving until we do! Someone's here who wants to say hello to his daughter, after all!"

"Dad." Melyssa muttered, feeling something cold and hard forming in her stomach while she stared up at him from a distance. Even this far, she could see McBurn with her captive father, his hands bound behind his back and his face…she had to steel herself, no matter how much it hurt her to see him in this predicament.

"Melyssa, don't act irrationally this time." Rean warned, watching her nod and he nodded in return, his Tachi unsheathed. "He wants to talk to her. We should at least hear what he has to say and then we can engage him."

"Why must you jump in the heat of the moment, Rean?" Machias pinched the bridge of his nose while Ash simply shrugged, shaking his head.

"Rean's right. And besides, I want to hear what the Almighty Conflagration has to say. My father is a dick, but I still love him and I don't want to see him die by that asshole's hands." Not after what happened to her grandfather.

"You are far kinder than you should be." Crow informed her, glancing down at her with a curved lip. "The last time we did the talking thing, it ended badly." Which was about as close to 'don't be stupid again' as he was getting. Bleeding hearts…he rolled his fiery eyes and stepped away, shaking his head when Melyssa just gave him a look. "You and Rean are more than welcome to parlay with the pair of them, and I'll just gracefully bow out here because I'm not watching this again." His duty was to Crossbell, not her and if she was going to put stupid first…He wasn't spending another 2 years in mourning. "This is exactly like Jurai, Lyssa."

"Crow…" Melyssa frowned, wishing he didn't see it like that, but she knew she couldn't change his mind either. "Okay, City Hall is at risk, along with my father and the civilians of Crossbell City. I don't want this to be like Jurai again…and it WON'T be because I'm not bowing down to him like before." She was stronger, an Enforcer of Ouroboros, as much as she detested that title, and another Enforcer was encroaching on her territory, calling her out. "If you have any other ideas, I'm all ears." Her eyes conveyed the truth to him and she wanted to reach for his hand, but now wasn't the time to show affection towards each other. "What do you think we should do about this?"

Machias, Rean and even Ash turned their attention from Melyssa to Crow, wanting to hear what he had to say.

"Well for starters, Roger is a scumbag." Crow stated flatly. "The last time you went to talk to him, you wound up underground for 2 years and he REFUSED to tell us anything. Rean said he refused to tell YOU anything, so why are you even considering doing this all over again? This is McBurn using a daughter's love to get you close to him. I say Roger is collateral damage and our target is taking out McBurn. If we can bring Roger in alive, great, if not…oh well." He knew it was cold, but she wanted to know what he thought and this was about putting everyone, HER, over Roger's stupid ass…again.

Wow, that was cold of him and Melyssa realized, at that moment, just how much of 'C' was bred into him. The leader of a terrorist group, who nearly destroyed Erebonia…all for revenge. This was her father and, no matter what he'd done in the past, he loved her and he was great to her and her mother. They never knew his secret being connected to Ouroboros and he never wanted them to find out. He also took care of Crow when he was a little boy…so for Crow not to feel ANYTHING towards him…it hurt her on the inside.

"Crow, with all due respect, that is her family and…you're being very harsh when speaking about her father. My own has done things I am not comfortable or happy with, surely, but I would never sacrifice him to the likes of McBurn." Machias spoke up, seeing the heartbroken expression cross Melyssa's face briefly before it was gone again. "We do not want this to turn into another Jurai incident, you are right about that, so we should come up with a solid plan before moving forward."

Just because your family abandoned you and left you with your grandfather doesn't mean I'll abandon my family, Crow. Melyssa was glad she hadn't said that out loud and squared her shoulders, refusing to let the emotions dictate her actions this time around. "We take Robert Brackett alive, if possible. I have a lot of questions and he has the answers. I know he does. Including what Ouroboros' ultimate game plan is with the city. We find a way to save him from McBurn and get out of there." Because there was no way they could take McBurn down, not with just the four of them. Not even all of Class VII united would be enough, she feared.

That was just how powerful this man was.

"You figure it out." Crow shrugged one shoulder carelessly, swinging a pistol on his forefinger before holstering. "Just tell me where to aim."

This was going to be exactly like Jurai with her telling them what they were doing and everyone falling in line. She had questions back then and that had played out so well, unless Rean was lying about Roger refusing to answer anything during their 'meeting'. He knew for a fact Roger didn't answer anything AFTER the fact.

"Fine, I will. Just follow my lead."

This would NOT be like Jurai. For one, they had more backup and two, she wasn't a scared little girl anymore. She was a trained Ouroboros Enforcer, skilled and deadly, much like McBurn. The only difference was she didn't have powers like he did. She didn't come from whatever dimension or hellhole he did either. Holding her Cutlass in one hand and her Crossbow in the other, the five of them made their way toward the front of City Hall. Crow was on her right, Rean was on her left with Machias and Ash in the back, their weapons also unsheathed. Melyssa congratulated herself for not jumping back or flinching when McBurn appeared before them, at the top of the steps, holding Robert by his hair roughly.

"I see you haven't learned your lesson from the past, precious." McBurn crooned, tightening his grip on Robert. "Here to try to save dear ol' Daddy this time?"

"We both know that won't happen, so let's cut to the chase. You summoned ME here and here I am, so what do you want, McBurn? What is ALL of this about? You wanted my attention, I just hope you're prepared for the consequences of getting what you ask for." Not a hint of fear was in her eyes, her voice, her tone or her body language, her eyes not leaving McBurn either. She was poised and ready to strike at a moment's notice, Crow and Rean having their weapons ready as well.

"Mmm…feisty today, are we?"

"No, just sick and tired of your bullshit." Ash yawned out, being smarmy as ever.

"What he said."

"If you're trying to get back into her panties, Carbide, I'm afraid Mr. Armbrust has already fulfilled that position."

Crow cocked an eyebrow and then shrugged when he was given a few curious looks. He didn't say a word, however, McBurn was talking enough for all of them. As far as he was concerned, he was here for the dirty work and if things went south, he was aiming for Roger first. Crow had been a terrorist before and now he was willing to do some shady shit for Melyssa, whether she liked it or not. He'd just not say it out loud.

"Believe me, I had my fill of her, something YOU will never achieve, asshole." Ash shot back with a smirk and he could tell that did NOT make McBurn happy in the slightest. Good. He hoped that fiery asshole crawled back in the hole he came out of.

"And not that it's any of YOUR business who's in my panties, it's NEVER going to be you, McBurn. I want NOTHING to do with you and, if that's the only reason you summoned me here and lured me out with this little 'show' of yours, you wasted your time." She smiled coldly at him, deciding pissing him off was the way to go because then he'd get emotional and make a mistake. One mistake was all they needed to make a move. "And why is Robert here anyway? Did you really think using my father as leverage was going to work in your favor?"

"You little bitch!" McBurn hissed out, looking down at Robert, who had a plea in his eyes that were directed towards his daughter. "You have NO idea what this man has done to you, do you? Why don't you go ahead and tell her, Robbie? Tell her the deal you made with me ALL those years ago."

"What are you talking about?" Just what in Gehenna did her father do now? "Dad?"

"N-No! Y-You can't…have her…s-she doesn't…s-she's not…" Robert was having a hard time talking and grunted when McBurn threw him on the ground at his feet, his hands still tied behind his back.

"I could always break you the hard way, in front of her, if you don't loosen that tongue of yours, Robbie. TELL. HER."

Well now that was curious and obviously McBurn was trying to get into her panties. The only thing Crow could compare him to was that schoolyard bully, who didn't know how to properly vocalize his feelings, so he tugged the girl's pigtails and taunted her relentlessly. However, given the way Melyssa was staring at them, Crow felt her words about using 'my father as leverage' was indeed going to work because for all her words, she had a kind heart, it was going to be her downfall. Kind of like Rean. His best friend and his eventual woman…he had a type.

Not this time. "I don't care what it is." Her bleeding heart grew colder over those past 2 years and she backed away, still holding her weapons. "Let's just skip the formalities and the explanations and get down to brass tactics, shall we? You're either going to kill him or torture him and we both know how much you LOVE torturing people, McBurn. Whatever 'deal' you two made together, I'm not part of it and it doesn't involve me."

"But it does…more than you realize, pet." He pressed his boot against the man's neck and they heard a slight crack. It was sickening. "There was one bone. I can break them all and end him here and now, slowly and agonizingly, unless you do ONE SIMPLE THING and that's LISTEN and SHUT YOUR MOUTH."

Melyssa was resigned and looked at her father, waiting for him to talk through the pain he was in. "Get it over with and tell me, so we can move on with this."

Robert heard the resignation in his daughter's voice and grunted, knowing his neck would be screwed unless he came clean. "Promised him…you. In exchange for leaving the rest of the family alone. Y-You were supposed to be his…when you turned 18…promised your…hand…in…"

"Marriage." McBurn finished for him with a wicked cackle.

Melyssa looked back and forth between them and started laughing – outright LAUGHING – wondering if they were serious. They were! "Well THAT'S not happening!"

It was Ash who recovered first after Melyssa was done with her laughing jag and silence reigned. Rean and Machias both looked disgusted and shocked. Crow was standing there as if he was totally bored, though Ash did NOT miss the dark amusement in those near blood red eyes, that didn't bode well.

"So, all of this bullshit is because you can't get laid like a normal guy?"

Machias brought a hand up over his mouth.

"Seriously, what kind of sick pedophile accepts a LITTLE GIRL as a future bride? You really are a million shades of messed up, aren't you?"

"Did you NOT hear the old man say when she's 18, piss ant?!" McBurn couldn't BELIEVE the audacity of these people! They were laughing at him! The aura around him flared up and his eyes narrowed to slits at Melyssa, who was laughing all over again at Ash Carbide's crack. "Laugh it up, but you belong to ME, Melyssa, and nobody can change it! We did a blood oath on it, so if you don't become mine, your father DIES!"