VI IV
I charged at Sevika like a mad bull as she stood over a bloodied Jericho and by the time she realized I was here, my knee had already introduced itself to her face. Silco's right-hand woman went tumbling backward and as she got back up, she finally got a good look at her assailant. "Vi?" Without giving her even a moment to breathe, I grabbed the back of her head and slammed her face into the counter.
"You filthy traitor," I growled as I pinned her right arm against her back.
"Vander had his chance."
"Watch out!" shouted Caitlyn as something metallic elbowed me in the gut. I reeled back and Sevika used that opportunity to spin kick both of us to the ground.
Our handcuffs jingled noisily and she smirked as she saw the state we were in. "Still need someone to hold your hand?"
"Thought I'd give you a handicap to make it a fair fight," I taunted.
"Think again," she scoffed as her poncho flew off her shoulder, revealing a Shimmer-enhanced mechanical arm. Her strength was amplified as the purple drug coursed through her veins and we were immediately put on the defensive. If I had both my hands, I could have at least countered but Caitlyn and I were complete opposites. I wanted to box, she wanted to grapple and we were both getting our asses kicked.
"Work with me here, cupcake. You're catching punches that aren't even meant for you."
"Whose fault is that?!" 'Yours!' I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs but there were more pressing issues at the moment than bickering amongst ourselves. We needed to work together if we wanted to have a chance at beating Sevika.
"Alright, listen up, I have a plan…"
Our opponent closed the gap between us but this time, instead of fighting with four arms, we fought with three. I drew Sevika's attention first by trading a few blows and the moment she overextended one of her arms, Caitlyn jumped in. Once the enforcer got control of the wrist, the dark-skinned fighter was left with only one arm to defend against me. At the cost of leaving herself wide open, my partner gave me full reign over both my arms, and I turned Sevika into a human punching bag. Every time she even thought about shaking Caitlyn off, I made her pay in blood.
"Left!" A left straight connected with her face. "Left!" A left hook smashed into her temple. "Left!" A right uppercut sliced through her guard and Sevika went down for the count. We each pinned one of her arms down and wrapped the chain of our handcuffs around her throat. Her legs flayed as her windpipes were choked shut and I counted down the seconds to our victory. But Sevika didn't get to being Silco's number two by giving up easily. She gritted her teeth and another vial of Shimmer was injected into her. Imbued with the same power of a fully transformed Deckard, she lifted both of us off of her and threw us across the store.
I groaned in pain as I crawled to my feet but Caitlyn was much slower to recover. "Now's not the time to be taking a break, cupcake." When she didn't respond, I looked over and saw that a piece of wood was dug deep in her leg. "Shit." With Sevika fast approaching and Caitlyn incapacitated, I had no choice but to square up with only one arm. If I tried to dodge, she would just aim for Caitlyn instead.
I threw a right hook but it was easily blocked and locked away by the flexibility of her metal arm. "You haven't changed one bit," said Sevika as she headbutted me in the face and made me see stars, "you're still too soft." Her hand wrapped around my throat and held my body up against the wall. "Just like Vander was."
"Keep his name…out of your fucking mouth!" I said as I spat in her face and kneed her in the groin as hard as I could. She grunted in pain as her hold loosened and I quickly retaliated with a punch to her liver that left her stumbling backward. At that moment, I felt a tug on my wrist and saw that Caitlyn had gotten back up. Her leg was bloodied and she was leaning on me for support.
"Let me have a turn with the hand," she said through pained breaths.
"You can barely stand!"
"I guess you'll have to carry me again then." I stared at her like she was crazy but the look she gave back was filled with so much certainty that I couldn't deny her. Even in a situation like this, she was still somehow calm and collected.
"Where to?"
Sevika eventually shook off the pain and chased after us as she saw us limping away. "It's too late to run now!" she said as she vaulted over the counter but Caitlyn was one step ahead of her.
"Now!" A large fishing net was cast over the brunette scraper and like a fish tangled in the brail lines, she was rendered immobile. In the blink of an eye, Caitlyn pulled out her rifle and loaded a bullet in the chamber. By the time Sevika escaped the net, the gun was already trained on her. She tried to put up her bionic arm to block the bullet but with a surgical precision that I have only ever seen out of Powder, the Shimmer vial was shattered and the prosthetic limb was powered off. With her shield down, Sevika knew that the fight was lost but like a rabbit caught in a trap, there was no getting away from the hunter. "You're not going anywhere."
The second shot nailed her right in the leg and she hit the ground hard, clutching at her new injury. Caitlyn tried to rush forward to finish the arrest but her leg wasn't looking much better. "Whoa, slow down. She's not going anywhere," I said as I supported and smiled at her. "You're a pretty decent shot, cupcake."
"I'm an excellent shot," she corrected me. "Also, stop calling me that, my name's Caitlyn. Officer Caitlyn if we're being formal."
"You're really into this whole officer-prisoner kink, huh?"
Her face flushed. "I knew that was what you said! You're clearing up that misunderstanding as soon as Jericho is back up."
We rolled Sevika back into the fishing net and walked through the now-destroyed fish stall to where Jericho was lying down. "Hey big guy, are you alright?" He had a black eye, bloody nose, and a few missing teeth but his smile was still a ten out of ten. "Sorry about the mess. Once all this is over, we're gonna make sure you're square."
"Khe mis tor nudertog. (It was time for a renovation anyway)."
"So, what do we do about her?" asked Caitlyn as she turned back to Sevika. A part of me wanted to step on her bullet wound until she passed out from the pain but while that would sate my thirst for revenge, it wouldn't bring us any closer to Powder.
"Where's my sister, Sevika?" She refused to meet my gaze and after a long moment of silence, I sighed. "I once looked up to you too, you know?"
As we began to walk away, she finally spoke up, "Old town." I looked back and that's when her tone changed. The aggression had left her eyes and she called out my name, "Vi." I stopped in my tracks and listened to what she had to say. "Vander is –"
OWOOOOO!
A wolf's howl echoed through the streets of the undercity and the sound sent a shiver down my spine. "What was that?" asked Caitlyn as her eyes scanned the maze of streets that ran above and below us.
"Kulknej ve der! (We need to go!)" I wanted Sevika to finish her sentence but Jericho was adamant about leaving right away. The fear in his voice was unmistakable and I was beginning to feel it deep within my gut as well.
"Alright, old town isn't far, let's hurry." Our steps were filled with palpable dread as the howl behind us got louder. I glanced back, trying to see what was chasing us, but I saw only shadows and a green glow passing between buildings. The thing was everywhere at once – stalking us from above, trailing us from below – but always watching. I could hear its heavy breaths almost as if it was right behind me.
"Shapit! (Faster!)"
"Get on my back!" My heart hammered in my chest as we burst into a sprint. I thought I would be able to lose it in the labyrinth of the undercity but no matter which path I took, it always managed to track us down. The streets that were once my ally turned against me as our escape routes rapidly dwindled. We were being hunted and the noose was tightening around our necks. My legs were tiring and breathing was becoming harder as the air around us became denser. Almost as if sensing our weakness, the beast approached closer. The sound of its claws on the ground got louder by the second and the green glow was now right around the corner.
"There!" shouted Caitlyn as she pointed at the graffiti on the wall across the street. Hourglass. The Firelights. We just needed to make it there and we would be in their territory but right at that moment, our predator rounded the corner.
It was a monster the likes of which I had never seen before. A chimera resembling a wolfman with bat ears and a fox tail. Eyes red with feral rage. Saliva dripping from its dangerous maw. The Chemtech chamber on its back turned yellow as the scent of Caitlyn's blood filled its nostrils, pumping it with an alchemical solution that turned its chest and claws bright red. It let out a mechanized roar as it dragged its long talons across the ground, cutting through the stone like butter, before making a mad dash toward us. I ran as I had never run before but with each step I took, I could feel it getting closer. We weren't going to make it.
Clink.
The beast leaped into the air and right as it was about to skewer us with its claws, a grenade rolled between our legs. There was an explosion of light but instead of fire and shrapnel, we were engulfed in some kind of force field where the world moved in slow-motion. The monster was suspended in the air with its claw extended at us. I tried to move but my limbs felt like they were frozen in ice and my body felt like it was glued to the space it was in. I pushed toward the edge of the force field at a snail's pace while the metal claw inched closer to my back and right as my foot crossed the line, time sped back up.
My momentum catapulted me forward into the ground and as I looked back, the wolf was not far behind. Suddenly, a masked figure jumped into the force field behind me and a shockwave erupted from within. I reopened my eyes as the bright energy subsided and it was as if someone had hit the pause button on the creature. Geralt had often described feats of magic that the Ionians performed but it had never felt real to me until now. The gears of his clockhand spun with kinetic energy as the masked figure winded it back before slamming it into the beast's body, sending it tumbling across the street.
The monster dug its claws into the ground to steady itself and let out another threatening roar. The masked man cracked his neck as he stepped forward and from the shadows, a swarm of Firelights flew out to join their leader. The beast growled and the two teams clashed in the middle. The Firelights used their aerial agility to stay out of the chimera's reach and chipped away at its natural armor with hit-and-run strategies. But no matter how many times they cut it, the monster's body continued to regenerate itself. Tired of fighting a losing battle on the ground, the beast scaled the walls with its claws.
A swipe forced one of the Firelights to abandon his hoverboard but the Owl was there to save him from falling to his death. The leader whistled and the Firelights dispersed as he threw another similar-looking grenade from earlier. It expanded into another time-distortion field but the wolf did not get caught in the same trap twice. Seeing the gap in the Firelights' defense, the wolf pounced on the leader, not paying attention to the grenade that was rewinding back to the Owl. The device hit the monster in the back of its neck and as it staggered from the impact, the masked man followed up with a kick to its jaw.
Another injection of alchemical rage was pumped into the beast's veins and this time, its howl was filled with more pain than anger. The compound was burning it from the inside and the only way to quell the fire was with blood. Its aggression reached a frenzied level as it discarded its safety and turned its attention toward us. Caitlyn immediately fired her rifle at the wolf's head and the bullet pierced through the chimera's mouth. But to our horror, the wound instantly healed and the monster spat the bullet out like it was nothing. The Firelights doubled their efforts but the wolf only had us in its sights.
Seeing how the gun didn't work, I became the last line of defense as I put myself between the wolf and Caitlyn. I may not have magic that can bend time but I still had my two fists. It may not matter in the end but if this wolf wanted us for dinner then I was going to try my damnedest to stop it. The beast charged at us and my life began flashing before my eyes.
"You've got a good heart. Don't ever lose it."
I tried my best not to.
"Why did you leave me?!"
I'm sorry.
"Vi. Vander is –"
What did she want to say?
"Vi!" shouted Caitlyn and suddenly, the wolf stopped in its tracks. We locked eyes with each other and for a split second, I thought I saw a look of recognition. But that moment was gone just as quickly as the wolf looked away, almost as if it was hiding its face from me. It brought its hands up and clutched at its head in agony. A deep growl escaped its maw and as I listened closer, I heard it as clear as day. It spoke.
"Let me forget."
The Owl didn't let this opportunity slip. He jumped on the beast's back and broke the valves that were feeding the chemicals into its body. The burning liquid spilled onto the ground and the monster was snapped out of whatever trance it was in. It tried to grab the masked figure but he was already back in the air. "Now!" At his order, the Firelights took out stereos and a horrible high-pitched noise was released. It was so loud that I felt it in my bones and could still hear it even after covering my ears. The wolf's senses were much sharper than ours and without the chemicals fueling its self-destructive bloodlust, it ran away back into the shadows.
The stereos were kept on for another few minutes until they were absolutely sure that the wolf was not coming back. Everyone let out a sigh of relief, except for us who were still surrounded by a bunch of freaks in masks. They circled us like vultures while their leader stared at us quietly. Tired of his charades, I called him out, "You shy or just ugly?" Caitlyn elbowed me in the ribs for my curtness and I turned to her. "What? He's just fucking staring at me."
"I think what you mean to say is 'thank you,' but I guess that just wouldn't be your style."
I furrowed my eyebrows at his familiarity, "Do I know you?"
He let out a small chuckle as his hand lifted his mask and my eyes widened.
"Ekko?"
"Sup Vi."
A/N: Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed this week's chapter. We're officially at the halfway point of the fanfic and next week we'll have the fateful reunion between the two sisters. We've been going 15 weeks strong and I couldn't have done it without all of your wonderful support so far so here's to the second half of the story!
PandoNee-chan: Thanks for the kind words as always and looking forward to seeing what you thought of this week's chapter!
Voraces Lector: The amount of support for Jericho is amazing and it makes me feel bad that he won't be getting much 'screentime' after this. I mainly wanted to illustrate that the old guards of the undercity such as Babette (the brothel-keeper) and Jericho still believed in loyalty and I'm glad people resonated with that.
Sm0keyPanda: Truer words have never been said. This chapter originally had a scene where Jericho saves Vi after Caitlyn goes down and tries to cut their bonds. But I opted to focus more on Vi in her fight against Sevika since she does a lot of spectating in the Warwick fight.
DashBoy47: One more chapter for the fateful reunion!
Warlocktoungue: Did you hack my computer for the drafts? You can't be calling out exactly what's going to happen like that, it be putting the pressure on me to come up with something new XD! Anyhow hope you enjoyed this week's chapter and look forward to the reunion of the two sisters next week.