Knights of the Demon Chapter 1: End

	Thunder seemed to roar from the pitch black skies which hung overhead, sounding as if two majestic beasts of the jungle were duking it out in the heavens with no fraction of a thought for the millions who lived below to be caught in the crossfire. Rain drowned the surface of the earth hitting and punching the surface of Gaia with no sense of remorse nor a hint of ever stopping. Lightning, purple lightning at that, ripped across the blackened skies, tearing it apart like cracks in the earth, dividing the darkness with bright lines of mystical purple light. Where lightning struck, the earth seemed to shake violently, rupturing at the epicenter of the impact from the magic lightning. It wasn’t long until the roar of the beasts of the dark skies would follow, their cries shaking anything to the bone. Hurricane winds violently tore through the earth with ease, howling like animals through the twisted surface of the planet, pushing any who dare to stand in its way. If one didn’t know any better, they say that hell was upon the earth itself, and was beginning its reign of terror without any pity on those who inhabited the planet.

	There was a city once, under the chaos of the weather above. But now what stood of the once beautiful city of Ironwater was nothing more but ruin. Tall buildings which once scrapped the skies above were now crumbled over into large piles of stone and metal. Roads and streets were crumbled and torn asunder. Any sort of life that could be seen of the peaceful and happy city was now lost, gone with the winds that blew through the smoke and ruin of a city of dreams. The looming feeling of death hung in the air over the chaotic and destroyed city. Millions of lives have been lost, some in the middle of the devastating cataclysm event which seemed to have transpired in the city, and others from those who tries to stop it. Where life once thrived there was only now death. Where those who wanted their dreams to come true now were together in the heavens or down below in Hell. But with the chaotic weather which ripped and tore the landscape, it was hard to tell which was which.

	But in the center of the city, or what had been the center of the city, stood two figures that seemed to stare at each other with such a feeling of hatred that one could even connect that cold feeling with the weather. The first seemed to be wrought with many cuts and slashes across her body. Through the rain it was hard to tell if she was bleeding, or if it was the wet metal armour that was reflecting the light of the lightning. Thick metallic boots covered what seemed to be her feet up to her knees, silver dividing the scratched crimson red metal with its trim. On her left thigh there was no armor, instead a black metallic chainmail which seemed to hug the underside of the armour over her body. A large gash tore the chainmail on the thigh, the wound as clear as day. The other thigh had scalloped red and silver armour that would’ve been on the left if it weren't obviously torn off. A strap which seemed to be connected from the front and back linked the armour to a large metal belt which was around her waist. The other that would be connected to the one on her left seemed torn. There was a symbol on the center of the metal belt/codpiece, but it seemed damaged and unreadable. Metal plated abs covered her midsection, abruptly stopping right under her breasts which were covered in the same pitch black chainmail. Judging by how it seemed to be bent, it was once previously connected to a large piece of armour that covered her chest, but it seemed to be ripped straight off, probably tossed somewhere with the debris of the city. Most of the chainmail on her chest was ripped and torn, revealing some skin but also the very large cuts and gashes across her chest. Twin metal shoulder pads were on her shoulders, jutting outwards. One seemed to have been sliced while the other had a large dent. A white cape seemed draped from the back, but it was covered in dirt and torn from to the waist to even be called one. The bicep and forearm armour was bent and scalloped, almost looking like large dragon scales like the thighs, except chipped and damaged. Small pieces of metal were on her fingers, but some seemed to be missing.

	Where a helmet should have covered the identity of the armour-clad woman was, instead, the face of a Jinko, whose green eyes tore through the wet brown hair that stuck to the sides of her face. It was hard to tell in the rain, but half of her face was covered in blood.

	The other figure seemed to have a permanent shroud of darkness around it. Two purple eyes pierced through the darkness which engulfed the phantom, radiating the same shade as the lighting which shredded the skies above. She seemed to be shorter than the Jinko clad in armour, but the aura of malice and pure evil made making fun of her height an attempt of suicide. The face of the dark beast of a woman seemed to part as a grin formed a toothy grin which displayed her sharp and jagged teeth. Lightning struck behind her, the flash creating enough light to show some sort of little girl with horns holding a scythe. But as which as it appeared, it disappeared, returning back to the mysterious and sickly darkness with two piercing purple eyes and grin to match.

	“Good God, Winged Red. Can we just stop all this fighting?” The dark figure spoke, its young voice counteracting its devious tone. “I mean, look around you! All your friends are dead, your city is in ruin -don’t even ask me how many lives are lost- and yet you still keep fighting.” The figure tilted its head, its sadistic eyes and smile not leaving the Jinko. “Why?”

	“Because if I stop, then who will fight you?” The Jinko, apparently known as Winged Red yelled in protest. “I won’t let you take over this city, this country, this world, until I die!”

	“This city? By the Demon Lord, I wouldn’t want this excuse for a city even if it was 80% off in the bargain bin!” The figure laughed and then sighed. “But in all seriousness, you should really just give up ages ago. I mean, Winged Green is dead -somewhere under a building- and she was allegedly you ‘strongest warrior’. Well, for this world anyhow.” The figure chuckled under her breath to herself. Winged Red gritted her teeth.

	“You think this is over?” Winged Red yelled over the thundering roar of thunder in the distance. “You think just because you’ve killed my team, my friends, that this would all just end? You’ve killed too much to even be allowed to live.”

	The figure grinned, a sadistic toothy smile that seemed to glow in the darkness that shrouded its form. “Do you care to back that theory up, Winged Red?”

	Like a flash the dark figure lunged towards Winged Red with tremendous speed. Winged Red, the last remaining hero of Ironwater, quickly dodged to the side as fast as she could. But a hiss escaped her lips. Somehow, the figure managed to graze her to the blade of her scythe, slicing across her chest, blood spilling onto the rain covered ground. Her metal feet scrapped the ground as she slid across, her claws scratching the surface of what was once a busy road of the city of dreams. She didn’t even glance as what seemed to be something blue hanging out from a building, and instead reached for her chest. a bright flame erupted from the jewel on her chest –the last remaining piece of her chest armour. Out stuck out a long piece of metal, and her armour clad hands took hold, clutching the handle of what seemed to be a fiery sword. She held it to her side, the sizzling of the rain meeting the burning blaze of the orange fire not enough to drown out the roar of lightning from above. Her green eyes seemed to have metaphorical and literal fire in them when she glared at the dark figure in the distance. Of course it mocked her by beckoning her forward, but it didn’t irritate her more that she already was.

	A flash of lighting struck, and the two lunged at each other once more. Sword and scythe clashed, the sound of metal on metal screeching across the ruins of Ironwater. They pushed against each other’s might, Winged Red gritting her teeth while the horned child grinning at her. They leapt back, and clashed once again, except this time they passed each other. The light of the metal impacting each other in what would be a photo finish type attack gave no indication to who hit who, but it didn’t matter once Winged Red spun in the air, her feet impacting the side of a building. She bent her knees, and jumped off, the strength in the leap causing a shockwave to tear what remained of the building down. she shot towards the figure, sword pointed forward, ripping through the air and creating steam. But instead of dodging, there was what sounded like a wiz of air passing by. The figure was already behind her in mid-air, her grin never leaving her face. A massive kick stuck the Jinko’s side, the force of impact echoing in the destroyed ruins, creating a shockwave that sliced the air.

	Winged Red flew across the battlefield, crashing through buildings and stone walls. She eventually impacted the stone roads, rolling across the wet surface with many grunts and hisses before finally hitting a destroyed car. The charred remains of the vehicle strained at the force, sliding across the ground a few inches before finally stopping. The Jinko held her side in pain, trying her hardest to get back up. She was sure something was fractures, maybe a rib or her pelvis. Her brown hair covered her tightly closed eyes as she wined in pain. But her head shot up, her ears flicking and swirling around in their sockets at the sound. The sound of footsteps drawing near.

	“I think it’s time to punch in, Winged Red.” The dark figure chuckled at its own joke. Obviously since the Jinko was in no position to laugh. She looked at the red blade in her hand and sighed, admiring the wear and tear it seemed to have gone through.  “You know, I always admired the weapons of the Great winged Sentai. Blue’s gauntlets, Yellow’s polearm, Green’s- well actually, I can’t remember Green’s now. Maybe after this I’ll go dig up her corpse.”

	“DON’T INSULT HER!” Winged Red roared as she lunged at the figure, fire in her eyes and her paws clenched into fists, reared back for a devastating punch. The figure mealy sighed and stepped to the side, narrowly dodging the blow which would’ve hit her in the face. But before the Jinko could rebound, the figure kicked her in the side, the same side she was hit before. The blow wasn’t as hard to knock her halfway across the block, but enough to cause her to fall to the ground. There was definitely something broken now, and she didn’t even need to ask a doctor of their was as she coughed a splatter of blood onto the wet floor.

	“Look around you, Winged Red!” The figure outstretched its arms, addressing the destroyed city. “You’re fighting for nothing at this point. Everyone’s dead. You friends: dead. Family: Oh they’re long dead at this point. City: destroyed. Seriously, we’ve been at this for years now, fighting each other like eternal rivals.” Lightning tore through the dark skies, briefly showing the look of boredom on the dark figure’s face. “But I’m getting bored. You were fun, and so were your friends, but I think you’ve overstayed your welcome.”

	Winged Red clutched her side, her breath heavy and ridged. She coughed out some more blood on the floor, spattering across the wet tarmac. Her vision was hazy. Her memories were beginning to flash before her eyes.  The happy go lucky child who turned into one of the greatest heroes of her world. And now here she was, lying on the ground, cut and bruised and utterly defeated. Her enemy, the one who has killed more than she has conquered, stands over her, with a sickly grin on her face which would make her stomach churn. This was how she was going to go. This was how it was all going to end.

	No. This wasn’t how it was going to end. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. She made a promise. A promise she intended to keep. A promise in which she made years ago to her best friend and comrade in arms- a promise in which she would rather die than to break. She sighed, or was it a laugh? Her emerald eyes seemed to pierce through her brown hair as she looked up at her adversary. A small smile formed on her face, blood running down her face, mixing with the rain.

	She spoke. But nothing came out

	“A little louder there. You may have a collapse lung. I’m sorry for that, really.”

	“Multidimensional Rift.”

	A circle of fire erupted around her, causing the figure to leap backwards in defence. The flame seemed to be unaffected by the rain, and instead seemed to be hot enough to evaporate it before it even touched the orange flames. The figure held an arm over her eyes to block the light, her purple eyes watching as the Jinko who was on the ground began to get up, clutching onto her side in pain. Her form seemed to be slowly disintegrating, or was it the steam that was being created causing a shroud to form around the wounded hero?

	“This again?” The figure yelled over the rain. “Are you going to tell me the same spiel? Because it’s getting stale!” She clicked her tongue, but smiled. “Oh wait, why don’t I just end this now? No harm in attacking during a transformation. Not the first time!”

	She lunged forward, a blast of wet dirt creating a puff behind her. The red sword, Winged Red’s sword, was pointed at the Jinko, who looked at her in defiance. In a flash, the sword found its mark, imbedding itself into the Jinko’s heard. But instead of it protruding through her chest and out the back, soaked in blood of the hero who refused to die, it seemed to go into the red crystal which was on her chest, disappearing into a bright flame, only leaving the handle out. The two looked at each other, their faces inches apart, and the irritated and piercing eyes of the Jinko combating with the sadistic and joyful purple eyes of the figures.

	“I’d thought I’d return this before you go.” The figure said in a sultry tone, inching her face closer to the Jinko’s “I would want your would-be successor to be armless now~”

	She seemed to jump away at the right time before a cyclone of fire engulfed the Jinko, creating a haze of steam around it. She watched as the fire spun in rapid succession, before starting to slow and eventually fade, leaving a black circle on the ground. She snorted, resting her scythe on her shoulder.

	“See you in a few.”

	“Shiroe.”


---


	It was an average day in Steelwater . The bright glowing sun bathed the town in warmth and light, the summer season just beginning. Birds flew across the cool air, tweeting and chatting amongst one another. A cool breeze blew in the warm air, the scent of cut grass and happiness filling up anyone’s nostrils. Cars and city-folk drove and walked on their way to work, greeting each other without even a hesitation. There was a faint smell of rainfall in the air, an indication of the recent drizzle which left a few puddles on the ground.

	Steelwater High was a tall, two story building. Windows that faced the bright sun reflected the glare of the warm light, and letting in some heat into the building. Multiple windows were open to allow the cool breeze inside. The school was quiet, save for the children that were currently playing baseball in the large field behind the school next to the large track and field court. A young Holstaurus gazed out the window from her desk, watching a group of bird fly by. Her white and dark grey hair seemed to freely drift in the gentle wind. She was too busy dozing off to the weather to even realize her teacher was calling her name, the irritation in his voice hard to miss.

	“Miss Bell!”

	“Y-Yes?” The Holstaurusjerked her head forward, facing the front of the board. Chuckles and sneers could be heard from the back of the class, causing ‘Miss Bell’ to blush. The teacher- -an elderly man who looked to be in his thirties- pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance and sighed.

	“Can you read where Miss Zeene left off?” The young Holstaurus looked down at her desk to see the large History book sitting idly on her desk, un-open. She hasn’t been paying attention for so long she didn’t even open it up. ‘Miss Bell’ sheepishly opened the heavy textbook, it’s weight reminding her as to why she dazed off in the first place. She began to flip through the pages, looking for something. And by something, she means the page her teacher was talking about.

	“Page 105.” A low whisper seemed to answer her distress. She glanced to her left to see a young Wererabbit giving her a thumb’s up. “Second paragraph”

	“Miss O’Ridley, please do not help Miss Bell.” The teacher sighed. ‘Miss O’Ridley gave him a raspberry.

	“U-Uhm… Page 105… One oh five…There we go!” The Holstaurus sighed and got to her feet, holding the heavy textbook in her hands. It wasn’t long before her legs started shaking in fear and she slowly hid her face with the book. “T-The Great Monster Liberation started in 1842, and was known as one of the biggest scaled-“

	“Stop.” The elderly man sighed. “Miss Sniipes, read where Miss Zeene left off.” ‘Miss Bell’ didn’t know if she should feel relieved to embarrassed that she didn’t need to read what seemed to almost be a half page paragraph, but took a seat. ‘Miss Sniips’, a Wight, stood up, the embodiment of smug painted onto her pale face, and was about to speak when the man held a hand up. “And Miss Bell?”

	“Y-Yes Mr. Anon?”

	“See me after class.”

---

	‘Miss O’ridley’ stood next to the classroom door in annoyance, her foot tapping onto the marble floor creating a soft thumping sound. She fixed her school uniform; a dark blue suit jacket with a white shirt underneath, to sate the boredom, but all it did was make her realize that she’s been standing outside the classroom for what felt like hours. Her green eyes glanced down at her puffy thighs and took out a pocket watch. A whole ten minutes has passed, she thought to herself. A whole ten minutes since the bell rang and she’s been waiting outside for her friend. She mumbled something under her breath and stuck a carrot in her mouth, chewing it in her mouth like a cigar.

	Felicia O’Ridley didn’t have any problem waiting for her friend, quite the opposite. The two have been friends since kindergarten, and the Wererabbit always looked out for her friend like a loyal Kobold or a Jinko. But it wasn’t the first time she was waiting for her friend for what felt like hours because she dozed off in class. To this day, the mystery of how Mary Bell made it this far into school remained unsolved. But if it meant the two were always in the same classes together, she liked it to stay unsolved.

	The door to the classroom opened with a strain, causing the Wererabbit to bolt off the wall in anticipation. Suppressed anticipation. She wasn’t anxious or anything, she assured herself. She brushed and patted her uniform and waited.

	“Now Miss Bell, I expect you not to gaze off in my class again, alright?” The Holstaurus blushed and nodded at the man who looked as if he’s said this enough that it was second nature.

	“S-Sorry about that, Mr. Anon.” Mary said with a shy expression. One that would melt the hearts of many if it weren’t for the fact that Mr. anon hasn’t seen it almost on a daily basis. Before he could add something new to his overused speech, Felicia took Mary’s hand, and bolted down the halls, a blushing and distressed Holstaurus waving at him as she was dragged away. He sighed.

	He was getting to old for this.

---

	“So what took you two so long? Were you discussing the joys in sleeping in a boring class? The soothing atmosphere, the feeling of comfort? The fact that it’s so easy to sleep in his class he should just name ‘History’ class to ‘Take a nap’ class?” The Holstaurus giggled at her friend’s remark as they walked through the front doors of the school. “Seriously, Mary, that took forever. I thought I had to break in there for a second.”

	“Mr. anon was just worried about my sleeping habits.” Mary said with a smile. “I’ve been falling asleep a lot in his class so he though I wasn’t getting much sleep at home.” The Wererabbit snorted.

	“Oh yeah, that’s totally what that old geezer was worried about. Not the fact that he wants to bone you then and there.”

	“Felicia!”

	“Hey, I’m just saying. You’re as vulnerable as a Dormouse.” Felicia gave Mary a wink and a thumb’s up, causing the Holstaurus to blush. “Seriously, Mary. Buuut! If it weren’t for me, you trusty friend who’d beat the ever living crap out of anyone who’d try to touch you, you’d be almost related to Dormice.” She placed a hand on her chin in thought. “Although, if the Holstaurus family were to be put in the same category as the Dormice family, it’d really cause the guy who wrote the Encyclopedia way back when to roll in his grave.” The two chuckled and laughed together. But their fun was interrupted when a tall student bumped into the Holstaurus, causing her to lose her footing and almost fall. Felicia quickly caught her friend, but not without shooting a glare at the tall, black jacket wearing student.

	“Hey ass-wipe,” Felicia spat, causing the student to stop in its tracks. “Unless you’re blind, maybe you can use those eyes to look where you’re going.”

	The tall student wore a pair of charred black pants. Its maroon coloured claws scraped the wooden floor, leaving scratch marks everywhere it went. Not anything unusual in a school of Mamono. A short dark blue jacket was wrapped around its neck, hanging off like a cape. Its forearms were wrapped in white fabric, its knuckled freshly dirtied as it she was just coming from a brawl. It held a large metal bat in its right arm, leaning it on her shoulder. Her fiery tail slowly wagged around letting the fire dance. The Salamander glanced over her shoulder, her golden eyes piercing Felicia’s. Her short hair was flared out and her mouth was covered by a facemask. There was no doubt about it –she was a delinquent.

	“Why don’t you stay the hell out of my way, Cadbury?” Her voice was raspy, but almost charming. But the irritation and annoyance was there. One in which Felicia replicated.

	“I never knew without Ash Charmander would be blinder than a Werebat.” There was a hint of a lure in Felicia’s voice, one in which she always placed when she wanted to pick a fight. One in which the delinquent took like the fish she was.

	“So the Easter bunny wants to die.” She turned to face the two, her eyes set only on the Wererabbit. “Never liked you anyhow. Your chocolate always tasted like shit.”

	“Now Spyro, I don’t think that was chocolate.” Felicia grinned. The Salamander’s right eye twitched. Her grip on the bat seemed to tighten, making an audible noise which the crowd which was slowly forming around them heard.

	“Don’t fuck with me, Hops!”

	“You’re all smoke, but no fire you cocksucking ass licking napalm breathing-“

	“Ahhhh, sorry about that, Ms. delinquent!” Mary gripped her friend by the hand, bowing at the scary and extremely ticked off salamander before running off through the crowed, Felicia in tow. She watched the Wererabbit get dragged away, before narrowing her eyes in annoyance.

	“Bitch.”

---

	“What the hell was that for!?” Mary and Felicia walked down the crowded side-walks of Steelwater. Tall buildings seemed to drape large shadows over the city, covering them in shade and away from the blindingly bright and hot sun overhead. Felicia looked Mary with irritation, but a hint of worry. Mary, on the other hand, was clutching her chest and breathing heavily. “Mary, you know you’re not that great in the, well, everything that we do in gym class.”

	“Felicia…” Mary puffed. “You… of all people… know that… I don’t do violence.” Felicia sighed and rolled her eyes. She stopped and patted her friend on her back and waited for her to catch her breath.

	“You could’ve closed your eyes and cover your ears while I broke some bones like old times, y’know.” Mary punched her friend in the shoulder, causing Felicia to chuckle. “Hey, you want to stop by at the arcade? Maybe we could beat Saturday’s high score and get her to challenge us tomorrow!”

	“We have homework.” Mary stated. She took a deep breath, her breathing finally normal and her heart no longer trying to tear through her chest. “You’re really not a good role model, you know that?” She chuckled. Felicia shrugged with a grin.

	“Guilty as charged. So, are you game or what?” Mary waved her hand in disagreement, causing her to frown.

	“Unlike you, I’m going to do my homework-- Something in which you should start doing.”

	“I’ll get to it eventually.” Felicia scoffed. She brushed some of her blonde hair out of her face and glanced at Mary’s serious face, causing her to sigh. “Fine… I guess I’ll go tomorrow.” Mary smiled, causing the Felicia to blush. “I-I’m not doing it because of homework or anything, a-alright?” Mary giggled. Since they were kids, Mary somehow had the ability to persuade Felicia to do things she otherwise wouldn’t. Her mother told her it ‘runs in the family’.

	A horrific cry dampened the once bubbly and happy mood the two shared. The duo glanced at where the sound came from, just to turn a slight pale. Of course the scream would come from a dark alley where the sun seemed to never touch. Fear griped Mary’s heart as she looked down the alley. Felicia ears seemed to swivel for any sound. Another cry made her jog down into the alley, an action in which caused Mary to almost call to her not to, but feared that whoever or whatever was in the alley might hear her. She held her chest in fear; her eyes watching her friend seem to run down the dark alley with no sense of fear. Apparently fear was too busy with Mary to even care about the brash Wererabbit that was running at its friend Death. Reluctantly, Marry followed. An action which her mind never stopped telling her was beyond a bad idea.

	Like most dark alleys that were homes to ‘scary’ and ‘foreboding’, it seemed to stretch forever. Dark brick walls made the fact that ‘sinister’ seemed to also live here well known. A cat jumped out of a tin trash can, almost causing Mary to scream in the purest form of terror. Its two tails moved in unison as the Nekomata watched the duo go deeper into the dark alley. She tried to sound quiet and meek, mostly out of fear of the entity which caused whatever to scream to be unable to hear her, but her hooves sounded almost louder than usual. Mary was about to suggest turning back, when Felicia stopped. She motioned for the girl to be quiet, putting a finger to her mouth.

	A group of men held what seemed to be a broken and bruised young Kitsune. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she was held by her wrists. Her school uniform was ripped and torn, exposing her bra and panties. They seemed expensive, by the looks of them. She tried desperately to struggle free, but was merely tossed onto the hood of a car. The sound it made when she impacted the metal vehicle sounded painful. The three men all grinned in unison, causing the Kitsune to whine in fear. Felicia gripped the corner of the alley which led to the parking lot, fury boiling over. Mary placed a hand on her shoulder. She could feel the heat of the rage off of her through her shirt.

	“Felicia, maybe we should go-“

	“Oi, what do you think you Alps are doing?” Mary’s reaction time wasn’t fast enough to stop Felicia from walking around the corner, her voice sounding as if she was restraining the urge to look into the dictionary of insults that was in her mind.

	“Hey hey, you talkin’ to us, Cadbury?” One of the men said with a smug expression. Felicia’s eye twitched. This was the second time she was called this in one day. That was going to stop. She was going to make it stop. You’d better believe she’d enforce it to stop.

	“Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you, limp dick.” Malice was as pure as it could become in Felicia’s voice. One of the hoodlums clenched his teeth together in annoyance. “Who else would fit the description of a limp dick cock sucker like you?”

	“Yeah, why don’t you come on over here with your little friend ‘ere and say that to my face, Bugs Bunny.” Mary didn’t know how they even saw her. She made an effort not to be seen. An effort whish seemed to be tossed away by this group of crooks. Felicia clenched her hands into fists. But she sighed. She reached into her puffy legs, seemingly finding a carrot in the mass of fluff that was her thighs, and chewed on the tip. Mary didn’t know if she was humoring them or making some sort of action which would make them associate the carrot with their dicks.

	“Why don’t you come over here and show a girl a good time.” Felicia grinned, the smuggest grin she could muster with a carrot in her mouth. They seemed stunned. Mary was stunned! The agitator, the one who thought calling Felicia Cadbury a good idea, looked at his compatriots. With a grin, he walked over to her, keeping an eye on Mary. A look that spelled ‘sexual activities which didn’t matter if there was any consent’. Felicia wasn’t exactly tall, but the man seemed to tower over her. The ego of size difference hit him hard enough to double the size of his grin.

	“I would say for you to get on your knees.” The thug began. “But, well, you almost line up perfectly.”

	“How about a kiss first?” Felicia stomped her foot onto his as hard as she could. The move seemed to hit hard enough that it wasn’t hard to hear the crack of the bones in his foot being snapped in half. Pain was an understatement, and he was about to scream it when Felicia leapt into the air, a feat not unknown to a Wererabbit.  Her right knee connected with his jaw as she went up, and another crack was heard. Blood spilled out of his nose and mouth, the blow having enough punch to launch him slightly upwards in the sky along with the high knee Felicia before he fell onto his back. Felicia landed back onto her feet like a graceful swan, sliding her left leg on the ground while her right faced forwards. She got into a combat stance; her determined eyes locked onto the two others, and beckoned them towards her.  They looked at the down and beyond knocked out compatriot, then back at her. She glanced at Mary and gave her a thumb’s up. Mary knew she could handle herself –she was a black belt in a lot of things and her father did run the local dojo. But fighting strangers in compared to fighting students of all varieties always worried her.

	“Felicia, watch out!” Mary’s voice shot Felicia out of her confident smirk and quickly glanced back at the men. They began to reach into their back pockets, time seemingly slowing down.The pissed off expressions on their faces bleached Felicia’s face, turning it almost white in fear as they aimed their weapons at her. She was brash, she was aware of that. And she knew that brashness was going to be the death of her. But for it to be so soon?

	Mary jumped out of cover, running over to her friend to tackle her down. She seemed to not care that there was a chance, a high one at that, that she’d be shot or heavily wounded, or even faint as her heart was going at 88mph. As long as her friend was safe, as long as Felicia was safe, it didn’t matter what happened to her. It was an injection of bravery that seemed to cause her to leap from the corner of the alley, one that combated against the fear which tickled her heart. She wasn’t always brave, far from it. But if her friend was in danger, in any sort of it, she would risk her life for her.

	That’s what friends are for.

	Bullets were shot, casings were clattering onto the ground, and the sound of something slicing through metal would’ve been the last thing Mary and Felicia would’ve heard. It would’ve been the last thing anyone would’ve heard from the dark alley if it weren’t for the 6ft tall Jinko who seemed to be wearing a heavily damaged red suit of armour that stood in front of the two.  Her stance, if you could even call it that, was off. Her left paw was draped over her waist, clutching her right side, while the other held a long metal sword which seemed to be set ablaze. The blade tip was pointed at the two armed thugs who stopped their shooting to gaze at the Jinko. Her body, the parts that weren’t torn or damaged, was covered in some sort of shimmering crimson red plate. Twin metal shoulder-plates sat on her shoulders, one clearly missing while the other having scratches and scorch marks. Where the thigh armour on her left leg would lie was instead a black chainmail/mesh which was sliced open, blood free flowing from the wound and drenching her leg in more crimson. Silver trimmed the metal plates which hugged her calves and covered her feet. There was no armour on her chest and back, evidence that it was torn off in how the metal plate that was over her midsection seemed to abruptly stop right below her black cloth and chainmail covered breasts. A white cape seemed to flow in an imaginary wind, covered in dirt, grime, and torn up to her waist. Her breath was ragged and heavy, the blood which seemed to cover half her face not helping the fact that she was clearly out of it.

	Needless to say, everyone was a bit surprised.

	“Okay…” She said with a heavy sigh. “Who’s first?”

	The hoodlums seemed to blink in unison. Mary and Felicia seemed to blink in unison. The heavy breathing of the armor clad stranger was the only thing heard in the uncomfortable silence. But it quickly changed once one of the criminals went to reload his gun. But before the clip met the cold confines of the metal weapon, a metal weapon met his face instead. The pommel of the blade in which the Jinko held hit him square in the nose. The hit seemed to have a bit too much power; not only did in clearly break his nose and everything near and related to it, but it shot him backwards, crashing into the car when an extremely frightened kitsune sat. One minute the Jinko was in front of Mary and Felicia, and now she was where the previous hoodlum was before it was sent to the car with a broken entire face. The speed was remarkable, especially for someone who looked as if she just came from a war.

	The piercing gaze the Jinko gave the other man spoke more words than could be said. Saying fear took hold of him was like calling the kettle black. And she knew, because the wink she gave him almost made him, a grown man, almost drench his pants in bodily fluid that wasn’t of the sexual variety. To say he ran off as fast as he could as if he was being chased by an unsealed Ushi Oni was not doing it justice. The grownup man quickly tossed his gun to the ground and bolted off, without even looking back in fear of the woman chasing after her. Unfortunately, the feeling of accomplishment was unable to make her wounds feel any better, and she fell to her knees in pain. At long last, her power was at its limit and she was on the brink of accepting the darkness which seemed to grow from the corners of her vision. Maybe if she just took a break, maybe catch up on some sleep. Maybe she’d be better in the morning.

	She just wanted to sleep.