Riki begins to slow, exhausted and becoming weaker by the minute. She stops to rest, breathing heavily, against a tree.

--

Rose pushes through the door. The room of thugs stare at her. "...."

One of the thugs stands up. "The hell is a kid doing here?!"

Gale stands and walks into the room. He sees Rose trying to escape again. "Why can't you be a good girl like Bianca?" He sends a blast of electricity through the bubble and walks up to it. He backhands Rose to try to knock her out. "Damned kids.."

Rose gasps in pain. She manages to stay concious, however.

"Escape...bad idea...but I have to stay awake."

--

In his room, Jit rolls over in his bed, unable to get comfortable. Still stinging from Fury's attack, he vainly tries to soothe the pain.

Gale stretches and starts to walk off. "Some one keep an eye on them. I am not going to look after two brats."

After noting that Element stills seems to be breathing, Tor puts his jacket over his shoulder to keep him warm.

Don't worry, I'll get help for y~

He realises that Element's probably not concious, so writes his message on a sticky yellow note, and sticks it to Element's arm.

Content with a job well done, he sneaks off down the street. A few minuites later, he spies someone else who appears to be injured, but standing. Not wanting to get on the guy's bad side, he tries staying in the shadows.

Fury slowly reaches around to his back and searches for the source of pain. He finds the handle of the knife still stuck in his back and wraps his hand around it, only to send another wave of pain through his gut--The blade was lodged under the back of his right rib cage. Stifling a groan, he slowly lets go of the knife, having lost the will to tamper with it any further, and takes a deep breath. Fury looks around, trying to find the others, or anyone for that matter.

Figuring the man probably won't attack him, Tor steps out of the shadows, a pistol hidden behind his back just in case

Um... Hi! What happened here? Are you okay?

...are they gone?

Rose, now alone, manages to pop the bubble against a sharp knife. Trying hard not to look at Bianca, she opens a window and climbs out. "I'll be back, don't worry!"

Gale walks into Dimitri's office and Dimitri looks at him. "You said Jit ran away?" Gale nods and takes a seat. Dimitri thinks to himself. "He was one of my best, but if he's running away from fights, maybe his usefullness is running short. You and Nyx are doing quite well on your own." Gale stretches. "So you want him dead?" Dimitri chuckles. "No. He actually has a bounty on him. I'm thinking of cashing it.." Gale takes out a ciggerate and lights it. "I don't give a shit either way. We have those kids and Ayn and Riki will be running to save them." Dimitri takes one of Gale's ciggerates and lights it. "You never did illustrate why you hate those two." Gale takes the ciggerate out of his mouth. "Riki pushed her luck to far when she showed her face after nearly being killed. A stupid move. Ayn.." Gale remains silent for a moment. "I could never fully describe why. But since when do you need a reason." Dimitri smiles. "Just curious. Regardless I lost quite a few men today. They're gonna be hunted as long as they're here."

Riki slows to a stop, again. "This is senseless. I have no idea where I am going. I need to rest...and use my instincts. I'm running blindly and not getting any stronger." For the second time that night, she leans against a tree. Closing her eyes, she concentrates on Rose. A little while later, she opens her eyes again, look to the southeast, a little to the right of the direction she had been travelling. Somewhat rested, she waves to Ayn and begins in that direction, trusting her instincts.

----

Rose runs hard from the building, fearing being recaptured. She heads back the way she came.

---

Jit mutters and wakes up, in pain. In a foul mood, he walks out to the room Bianca is in. Half awake, he doesn't notice that Rose is gone. He grabs her roughly by the arm and pulls her into his room.

Figuring the man probably won't attack him, Tor steps out of the shadows, a pistol hidden behind his back just in case

Um... Hi! What happened here? Are you okay?

...are they gone?

"Wha...?" Fury turns around, slightly hunched over and his left eye winced closed. "Yeah... No one here but us chickens."

***

The hammer to a weapon clicks into place in the back of Dimitri's office. "So..." Nyx is the source of the voice, leaning on the wall to the left of the door, a submachinegun in his right hand and a pair of sunglasses on his face. "Would you like that check cashed now, or later?"

Dimtri turns to Nyx. "We'll save it for tomorrow. You two have seemed to accomplish a great deal tonight."

"Fair enough." With a flick of his thumb, Nyx safeties the gun and hangs it on the rack above him.

Chicken? I could take offence...

So.. what happnened here? More of those thugs? And... you are aware you have a knife in your back, right?

Fury looks over his shoulder at the knife. "Uh... Yeah, actually..." He looks back at Toryu and squints. "Hey, wait, don't I know you?"

Maybe.. You look kinda familiar too... I dunno.
You visit many bars? Maybe you've seen me before in one?

"Like Tri-Link's?" He smiles a bit on recognizing someone he knows. "Hah, you're Toryu..."

o_0 That's a first... See if i can guess you... Knife in back, pained expression, looking like a fight victim...

Fury? What're you doing here?

"Getting stabbed in the back, making pained expressions, and doing my best to look like a fight victim." He kicks a nearby body to make sure it's dead. "Well, I think I made off better than some of these guys..."

Bianca's eyes shimmer with tears at the thought of being left alone, and she struggles with the ropes tying her hands together.. When she is unable to do so, she simply stares down at the floor, a lone tear sliding down her nose and hitting the floor with a soft patter. She looks up suddenly as she's grabbed and moved out of the room, and cries harder.

Gale turns to Nyx and motions for him to follow. When Gale steps out of the office he sees the crying Bianca being dragged into Jit's room. When he sees that Rose is gone as well, he thinks nothing off it. He waits for Nyx to close the door. "We have a few options. After we cash the bounty and bring it to Dimitri, we could kill the kids and leave. We also could stick around. What are your thoughts?"

((and...she's back! Not really! For a post, anyway! Hi!))

Rose and Riki collide unexpectedly, knocking each other to the ground. Rose rubs her sore head and looks at her mother. Rikali embraces Rose, estatic to have her daughter back.

"Mom, cut it out, you're suffocating me..."

"Oh, sorry. Are you okay? Where's Bianca? Where did they take you? Gale will pay for this."

"I'm fine. Bianca is still with them, at some sort of building back there somewhere. There's a lot of gang people there, and Gale and Nyx."

"Gale and Nyx? Won't this be a big old happy reunion."

Riki slashes trees with Bliss as the two run towards the headquarters, leaving a trail for Ayn to follow. As the small building comes into view, Riki slows down.

"Rose, sta-"
"No, mom. I'm coming to. They have Bianca in there!"

Riki stares at her daughter before nodding once. She takes off her protective cloak and gives it to Rose. "Wear this. I'll go first. Count to one hundred then follow. Keep low and don't let yourself be seen. Where are they keeping Bianca?"

"In the back of the building, I think."

"Then you go there. I'll go around to the front and distract them long enough for you to rescue her and get out."

Riki moves out silently as Rose begins to count.

(What'd you get grounded for?)

"Look, Toryu, we need to, ugh, find Ayn and Riki. Now." Squinting, Fury takes a deep breath, reaches around to his back, and yanks the knife out.

***

Nyx snorts in the direction of Jit's room. "Sick son of a bitch." He reaches in a pocket and leans against the wall next to the doorway. "Personally," A cigarette meets Nyx's mouth and he lights it with a silver lighter, shielding the flame with his other hand. "I'd like to stick around. Although if we stick around I'm going to want to deal with some of this trash. I only have one question: After we leave, is Dimitri still valuable to us at all?"

((going online after my parents go to bed. I'm apparently not allowed to do that...*isn't supposed to be on anyway*))

Element's feeble form quivers pitifully, the ragged human body stained with blood and bandages that could use some care. He doesn't look ready to die of bloodloss, but perhaps infection may take its toll. All in all, the haggared dragon looks glumly at the hallway and the now-crimson rugs, which seem to dance impishly about his eyes before he passes out again.

Gale looks at Jit's room breifly and turns to Nyx. "So, the great Assasin, Nyx, has some compassion." Gale laughs quietly. "Very well. We shall stay. As far as Dimitri, iff he survives the soon coming wrath of the girls' friends, then he is useful. He's about the only one of use in this wretched city. If he doesn't survive, no lose."

"Some things are worse than death, my friend." The end of the cigarette glows orange as Nyx draws in a breath. "Speaking of compassion, I believe you passed up a perfect chance to deal with Fury for good."

***

Back in the middle of the town's deserted main road, Fury walks back towards the bar, where his assault rifle still lay after all the madness. He picks it up and checks the magazine, and jams it back in after asserting it still holds ammo. "Time for a little payback..." With a pull of the bolt he ensures the weapon is ready to fire and assumes a two-handed grip on it.

"Riki! Ayn! Are you guys out here?"

"I have nothing against Fury. Despite my reputation, I never kill anyone who hasn't pissed me off or gets in my way. Fury has never really caused me that much trouble and at the moment he was already half dead. He held no threat to me." Gale takes the ciggerate out of his mouth and steps on it. "Besides I was already doing Jit's work for him. The wretched little coward. The day I'll go off and kill Fury at your request is the day you kill Ayn at mine. Which reminds me.." Gale lights another ciggerate "Aren't you still working for Rand?"

"Between you and me," He pauses, considering his words. "No. Rand is too ambitious for his own good. He doesn't know yet, but eventually we'll wind up comfronting each other and it'll be to the death. I know it."

"I didn't think so. I never liked the guy, but he has assisted me in some way." Gale chuckled. "He sent that idiot Yolanda after me. She was just as foolish as her daughters."

"It would seem that way." Nyx lets out one more puff of smoke from his cigarette and spits it on the floor. Using his right foot, he grinds the remaining embers out.

***

"Dammit all... Where'd they go?" Fury approaches the bar door. The two panes in the door are both shattered, leaving jagged pieces of glass at the edges. Splintered wood and bent metal are all that remain of the doorknob. With a kick, Fury knocks the door open and walks in the bar. Several bodies lay all around the flipped tables and pieces of broken glass. One of them is breathing, and he double checks by kicking him in the ribs. "Wake up, jackass!"

The thug yelps and curses at Fury. "Go the fuck away." The thug tries to crawl away.

"Shut up." Throwing negotiation to the wind, Fury grinds the tread of his shoe into the side of the thug's head and sticks the business end of the assault rifle into his gut. "Where's your leader at? Where's your hideout?"

"Like hell if I'd tell you. There's nothing you can do that would be worse then what he'd do to me if he found out I talked!"

"Would you like me to put that to the test?" Using the rifle as a bat, Fury jabs the stock into the man's gut and is rewarded by a cracking sound. "I'm only going to ask one more time..." Fury shifts more weight to his left foot, pressing the thug's head against the floor harder and grinding pieces of glass into his face. "Talk, asswipe!"

Riki sprints towards the building, leaving cover behind. Her white shirt is visible in the darkness, more visible then she is comfortable with. Riki grips Bliss and runs harder.

Rose reaches 53.

The thug howls in pain. "Alright! Alright!! Dimitri runs the gang from the old city hall building. Him and most of the gang hang around there."

"Thank you." The pressure on the thug's head eases as Fury removes his foot from his skull. Without another word, he turns to the door and runs out.

***

"What the hell?" A thug sitting at a front window of the old City Hall jumps out of a half-slumber at the sight of someone charging the building.

Gale turns to the thug and then to Nyx. "You think it's them?"

Riki ducks behind the scarce cover of a burnt bush. She looks at the building, trying to find out the best way to enter it.

Rose reaches 78 and begins to move forward.

Another thug hears the first. He glances at him. "What?"

"No doubt." A sheathed sword rises into view in Nyx's right hand. "Do you want to get involved personally this time?"

***

The watchman grabs his AK-47, not bothering to shoulder the weathered nylon strap. He squints out the cloudy old window. "I dunno, man, someone's coming..." Several more men join the two, armed with assorted weapons. They ponder whether to charge out the door and open fire or wait to see if the intruder comes in.

"I think I'll allow you to try out your new sword. Besides, we're still under contract. I think Dimitri would like to know that our friends are coming." Gale walks by Jit's room and stops. He turns back to Nyx and motions to the door. He then speaks quietly. "If you see.." Gale nods his head in the direction of the door. "Proceed with what we discussed. We might not have as much time as we origionally thought." Gale continuous down the hall.

((On a rather unrelated side-note and though I am late on this.....NEW INUYASHA EPISODES!! *jumps up and down*))

Nyx nods and turns to the other side of the hallway. Using his left hand, he pulls the sheathe off the sword. It looks like an ordinary blade, about two inches wide and three feet long, but Nyx seems usually satisfied to have it in his possession. Slowly, he heads down the hallway towards the main hall and the front door.

((And the search for the pink rock candy continues... With blood violence and suggestive content, of course.))

((...^-^? Ahhh....))

Riki decides that the front door is the only way. She darts out of the bush cover, running as fast as she can. Rose reaches 100 and starts off towards the back of the building.

Jit exits the room, looking smug and leaving Bianca behind.

The second thug stares disbelivingly. "She's bloody insane!"

Gale walks into Dimitri's office and turns to the leader of the gang. "We have company." Dimitri looks up. "Hmph. My men will provide assistance but keep them out of the building." Gale nods and turns around.

((Naraku has a big ass piece of the rock candy. He needs to fight for once.))

The thug looks at the others. "What should we do?"

"Dunno, maybe we should--" One of the less-than brilliant men on the other side of the door opens the nearest window and shouts out. "Who the hell're you?!"

***

Fury rounds one of the town's monotonous stucco buildings and sees the old town hall dead in his path, and just in time to see a figure running towards it. Raising his rifle to eye level, he uses the scope mounted on the weapon to take a better look. Between adjusting the focus and zoom and aiming, he only catches a brief glipse of Riki. "Shiiit..." He lowers the gun and sprints towards the town hall, dropping behind the corner post to a porch across the street.

Riki ignores the thug, intent on her charge. She reaches the town hall and swings Bliss at the door. The axe cracks into the wood work, breaking any lock and swinging the door open wide.

The door swings around on its hinges and smashes the thug with his head out the window, shoving him through to his shoulders. Broken glass from the window severs an artery in his neck and a spray of red stains the sill.

Almost immediately, numerous weapons open fire and fill the room with the bark of automatic gunfire. Ragged holes appear in the door as it takes some of the fire and falls off it's hinges from the abuse.

***

Nyx continues down the hallway from Dimitri's office, down the stairs, and stops at the other end of the main hall. He watches Riki charge into the building, smirks, and tightens his grip on the sword in his right hand.

***

Several curses escape Fury's lips and he rises again, taking off towards the old building. Using his left hand he taps a button on the side of the scope of his rifle and the view turns into a high-contrast green on black. He raises the stock to his shoulder and aims through the window to the right of the now open doorway.