While Viper planned to stall Guernica's pursuit, the others hurried to the location of the second piece of the statement. It was out in the open, which was great. "There's the second piece...!" Violet pointed out.
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that one is going to be guarded too." Luca warned. Right on that cue, an enemy that was similar to the Mad Slammer rose from the ground, only the coloration of this brute was white compared to orange. "There it is!"
"Another guardian, is it?" Fox had his blade ready. "I suspect we will have to take this one out in the same manner as the last. That art must be precious if there is so much effort put into defending it."
"As we learned, the direct approach is far from the most effective one." Dragon said, also glancing behind them worriedly. "We should also finish this as quickly as possible. I do not know how Viper intends to hold Guernica back."
"Then we shouldn't waste any time." Joker told the others. They were lingering around the corner, waiting for the opportunity to strike. "We're getting better at fighting these big guys. So I think we can make this a quick one if we work fast enough."
"Let's erase this enemy before we bring any more attention to ourselves." Crow was ready to fight and kill. They knew how to fight these types of enemies by now, so it was only a matter of time until their victory.
.
.
Viper wasn't just sitting around waiting for Guernica to show up. No, she made sure to put her time to good use, having to gather a few barrels of paint and place them in various locations. "Ugh, I'm working up such a sweat. And there's so much paint sticking to my body. This sucks. This better be worth it." She groaned to herself, finishing setting things up. She knew Guernica was going to fight on sight, so she had to be ready for it.
A few moments later, the woman in question rounded the corner, a grin on her face. "Caught up to ya! You didn't really make an effort in running, did you? Works for me! Any last words?"
"A few." Viper said while looking at her nails. "What took you so long. I was waiting for you to show up."
"And is it just you? Or are your friends looking to ambush me? It ain't gonna work!" Guernica's gun was pointed at Viper, a grin on her face. "You guys are slippery, but I know The Streets like the back of my hand. So I think I know exactly where you're going. You think you can stop me?"
"Oh, absolutely not." Viper flipped her hair and scoff. "You're a freak, I have no intention of fighting you by myself. But I can't stand to see such a well renown artist like like some genocidal monster. It kinda pisses me off, actually."
"Oh yeah? What are you, some kinda moral police?" Guernica questioned with a raised brow.
"Far from it." Viper shook her head, knocking down one of the barrels near her, placing her heel on it. She kicked at it, causing it to roll forward. Just before it could get to Guernica, she shot at it, causing an explosion of green paint in all directions. Guernica started to open fire at the signs of hostility, but when the paint splatter was gone, Viper was nowhere in sight.
"They're really annoying with that..!" Guernica grunted, but there was a mad grin on her lips as well. As irritating as it was that the Phantom Thieves were so elusive, the thrill of the hunt was worth it! She could feel her inspiration rising each time she encountered the Phantom Thieves! This was way better than killing those mice than just ran away in terror, they actually put up a fight!
Viper dropped down on top of Guernica. Due to their size difference, Viper wasn't actually able to tackle her down. But she was pretty much on top of her, slashing at her with her claws. Guernica was just barely able to block them with her gun. "What's an artist like you doing in a place like this anyway, huh? I've seen your art! I can feel the rage within each and every work of yours...but there's something else in there too, isn't it!?"
"What's it matter to you, snake!?" Guernica grunted, tossing Viper off of her and towards a nearby wall.
"Ack!" Viper hit that wall harder than she would've liked. She shook it off, but as she did, she could see Guernica tossing a barrel into the air and shooting at it. Pink paint then began to rain down on her, and she had to scurry out of the way to avoid being stunned. "Bitch." She grunted before spinning around, her mark burning away in blue flames as Nuwa appeared beside her. "Because I can also sense something else in those works as well!" Nuwa fired off a bolt of lightning towards Guernica.
Guernica grit her teeth, arms crossed as she had no choice but to take the bolt of lightning head on. It singed her arms and she slid back sliding, feeling the pain of the lightning. "You don't know a damn thing about me, Phantom Thief! Just hold still and let me kill you!" She took aim again, but Viper was gone. Instead, she was on one of the nearby buildings, kicking down a barrel she placed on the rooftop. It fell in front of Guernica, the paint exploding out and covering her in it, keeping her from moving for a time. "Tch!"
"Every piece of art has the ego of the artist in it." Viper said while landing in front of the temporarily pinned down Guernica. "You have a huge ego. So why are you letting that bird boss you around? It makes me sick. You're a better person than this."
"You don't know the first damn thing about me!" With her rage fueling her, Guernica was going to crawl her way out of the paint if she had to. She had the tenacity to do it, which Viper noted. "Who do you think you are...!? You think you know my art!?"
"I know art." Viper said while holding her ground, refusing to budge or back down, even as Guernica showed her own grit. "I'm not an expert at it, I quit a long time ago. But I know enough to see the effort someone put into it. Are you so fragile that you're clinging to the first thing that's telling you want to do? My ego would never allow that. I'd rather die than take orders from someone else. So, where's the real Guernica? A puppet to that bird? Where's your heart? Or is it so seeped in darkness that I have to reach out there and steal it from you!?"
"You..." Guernica grit her teeth. For a brief moment, there was a flash in her head. Something buried deep inside her memory violently attempted to claw its way to the surface, but it failed. Something was blocking it, "Agh, my head...not again..."
"Huh...?" Viper blinked. That was not a reaction she was expecting. Because this briefly took her by surprise, she didn't notice Guernica's gun charging up. It was pointed at the ground, so it just released a massive explosion of pink paint. "GAH!" She cried out in pain as she was thrown back, groaning while trying to shake off the paint on her body. "I HATE THIS PLACE!"
As for Guernica, she was able to shake off that head splitting pain. She was freed from the paint and she looked very irritated. "I'm gonna get you for that."
"Time to go." Viper could see this was the extent of the time she could buy. She turned around and immediately started her retreat. She could only hope that under the guidance of Dragon, the others would get their act together and have that second statement piece by the time she got back.
"Running away AGAIN!? I'll catch you!" Guernica said, giving chase to Viper. It was going to feel so GOOD when she finally pinned a Phantom Thief down and blew their brains out!
.
.
While Viper was dealing with Guernica, the others were dealing with the Sick Slammer. Unlike the Mad Slammer, this opponent was tricky due to the fact it left a trail of paint wherever it walked. Much more irritating to deal with than the way they could slip around the Mad Slammer's movements. But they were able to come up with a plan to defeat it. Dragon was blocking a punch from the Sick Slammer with Bella's shield, using the upward momentum of it to help launch her into the sky. "It worked!"
"Incoming!" Joker jumped into the air, using his grappling hook to latch onto a barrel of paint. He flung it into the air towards Dragon, who spun her staff around before knocking it towards the Sick Slammer. It was a direct hit; the barrel soared towards the Sick Slammer and exploded against it, causing the Shadow to stagger around as it was covered in paint. "It's open!"
"Let's kill it!" Crow said as Hereward appeared by his side, firing off a number of explosive curse arrows onto it. Violet joined this with Ella, firing off beams of light in the process tom bombard the enemy. The Sick Slammer had no defense for this and was blown back from the sheer power of it, tumbling across the ground with a trail of pink paint following it. Once the Sick Slammer regained its bearings, it leapt into the air, predictably, much like its counterparts before it. It tried to dive down on Crow and Violet, but they both saw it coming and leapt to the side.
"Gorokichi!" Right as the Sick Slammer hit the ground, Fox's Persona covered the ground in ice, freezing the foe to the ground and keeping it in place. Now that they were getting a good handle on these enemies, dealing with them was becoming a simple task.
"Raoul!" Joker spun around while in the air with Raoul right beside of him. The two flipped over, aiming a fierce axe kick on the Sick Slammer, resulting in a wide burst of curse magic that spread out in all directions. The Sick Slammer staggered around from the impact before collapsing, defeated. "Whew. That one took a while to get going, but we got it."
"We are getting better at handling these foes." Dragon said with a smile. "Still, these new enemies are quite tough. Even the smaller ones that attack from a distance are more formidable than I would've anticipated..."
"We are indeed exerting a little more effort than I would've expected. But as long as we continue our coordination, we should be capable of victory." Fox said. "We have that advantage over them."
"Good work, guys!" Luca just about had everything ready as well. Once Viper came back, she was ready to hit the escape button and they could get out of there! "Now we can probably..."
At that moment, Viper ran over, panting a bit from the sprinting she did. "Whew...haven't had a run like that in a while...man, she's clingy..."
"Viper-san?" Violet blinked. Viper returned a little sooner than expected, but it was a good thing they just wrapped up on their end. "Did everything go alright?"
"Did you know she has a tail!? Also, that depends. She's right behind, so..." Viper gestured behind her, and there was Guernica, rounding the corner on that cue.
"Ah, finally caught up to you! Awfully rude for you to leave without saying goodbye!" Guernica smiled, happy to have found the rest of these Phantom Thieves once again. "If you're gonna stress in my Streets, then entertain me some more at the very least!"
"I'm guessing you ran out of time." Crow looked to Viper, who shrugged.
"I already told you how long I was gonna stall. I got about as much time as I needed." Viper replied. "Good thing since you needed it. She is fast..." She was all about staying in shape for her modeling career, but that was more of a workout than she bargained for.
"Guernica! Snap out of it! How long are you going to-!" Luca started, but Violet was the one to interrupt her.
"I'm sorry, but I don't think that's going to work. We'll keep her busy, just get the slab!" Violet said.
Luca let out a begrudging sigh. "All right..."
Meanwhile, Guernica was just growing annoyed at the silent whispers in front of her. "Ugh, more of this whispering...what's that you're hiding there?" Guernica turned her eyes to the statement piece.
"You don't recognize it?" Fox asked. "After all, it is..."
"Pfft? Why would I recognize this?" Guernica scoffed at Fox's words. "This is some sorry excuse for a...GYAAAAAAAAAAAH!?" She suddenly screamed, gripping her head as agony filled it once again. A powerful white noise echoed in her mind and she nearly collapsed to her knees on the spot. "M-My head...it burns...!"
"Guernica!" Luca rushed over to Guernica in worry.
"Don't get close!" Fox shouted.
"Stay away from her!" Violet warned.
That painful noise was ringing in Guernica's head and it wouldn't go away. This was a thousand times worse than that mild headache she got when dealing with Viper. "Ahhh, my head...it's...it's killing me...!" She was panting and groaning, she felt like her head was going to split open at any second.
"What's going on..." Joker asked.
"I dunno...this happened earlier too..." Viper narrowed her eyes.
"Dammit, this is killing me..." Luca shook her head, unable to bear seeing Guernica in pain like this much longer. "Do you recognize me yet?! Take my hand...! Big Sis is here with you!"
Everyone's eyes went wide at this information. "D-Did she just say...-!?" Violet gasped.
"Sisters?! They're related...!?" Fox gasped.
"But..." Dragon was at a loss for words.
"I'm so TIRED of this RAT hiding things from us!" Viper exclaimed. It was one thing after another with Luca, and it was testing the limits of her patience! "Lying is only okay when you're trying to inconvenience someone!"
"Morality aside, what!?" Joker shouted.
"Si...Sis...?" Guernica said weakly, looking towards Luca. It was that feeling once again. Something within her head was trying to claw its way out. She could see a vague, blurry image in her memory. But something was obscuring it. A force beyond her understanding blocked it. That's what was causing the pain. The unbearable pain that made her want to drop dead on the spot.
"Right! Do you remember me now!?" Luca said, hopefully. This was a moment she was so desperately waiting for - a moment where Guernica could finally see her for who she really was. For her to remember...!
A sister? Did she have a Sister? No, she would've remembered that! So then why? Why was this girl causing her so much agony!? "You...you can't be! Don't lie to me, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" In her fit of rage, she backhanded Luca across the face, sending her straight to the ground. Violet moved to quickly grab her.
"L-Looks...like you were right..." Luca looked up at Violet with an exhausted, pained smile. After that strike, there was a noticeable bruise on her cheek. That was the closest she'd ever been to getting Guernica back, and even then, she felt so, so far away...
"These two are sisters...? What in the world..." Crow grit his teeth. He also didn't appreciate Luca hiding such vital information from them, but it did go to explain her presence here, and why she was so determined to help Guernica. "You have a lot of questions to answer."
"I...I know..." Luca frowned. She felt bad, leaving the Phantom Thieves in the dark like this. She thought it would be simple, but her emotions just got the best of her. She couldn't help but reach out for her sister when she so clearly needed her help.
"Dammit...what's with this brat...driving me up the wall like this?" Guernica was losing the will to fight. She couldn't fight or even function like this. "I'm goin' home...but the next time I see you...you're dead..." With that, she turned around and started to trudge off...
"Guernica! Wait! Don't go!" Luca desperately pleaded, however...
"Sorry...she's lost it again. You have to let her go for now." Violet said solemnly. If they were really sisters, she knew how hard it was to watch Guernica go for Luca. But someone had to hold Luca back as well, and it needed to be her. That was the feeling she felt deep inside.
"...It would be prudent to depart before she returns." Dragon said quietly. "This is our victory. We shouldn't squander it."
"Yeah...you're right..." Luca's voice was a little shaky after that. But she opened the manhole and with it, took the second piece of Guernica's statement into their temporary hideout. They now had two and this just left one remaining. "Don't worry...I'll...I'll tell you everything."
"Good." Crow and Viper said at the same time. They were extending their aid to Luca for this, but she had the audacity to hide information until the last second. With that said, the Phantom Thieves retreated once more, leaving only one statement piece left, and a confused Guernica wandering The Streets in agony...