Her dark hair fell over her face when her body impacted the ground.  Arms shook at the feeling of her body struggling to stand up again.  Even her mask was half peeled from her face thanks to the most recent beating this wolfess has taken.  The black and yellow outfit torn in some of the worst places.  A person doesn’t dress up to get in a fight and expect to come out unscaved, but she didn’t think that she would be so easily outmatched.  It wasn’t bad enough that her power made her a magnet for demons, but when they started coming after her being this strong, it became a real problem.  It took every bit of her remaining strength just to get her hands under her so that she could start lifting herself up with her elbows.  That right hand moving over her face to help clear her hair and place her mask back down against her grey fur.  A gasp touched her lips when she felt his long fingered hand wrap around the back of her head.  The force pushing her face back into the ground once again before lifting her entirely by her head alone.  The superhero could no longer feel her feet on the ground, and didn’t have the strength to fight back.  In the back of her mind she knew what was coming next.

“The great Strikira,” The demon spoke out to her with an obvious smirk over his lips, “How sad.”

The smug word rang in her ears, but even in this position she couldn’t gather the strength to fight him off anymore.  With his hand wrapped around the back of her head she couldn’t even see the movements that he was making behind her, but knew that he was drawing back for her final blow.  A deep breath could be heard sucking air into her lungs in anticipation for that last final attack.  Her breath was cut short suddenly by the sounds of bells ringing in the distance.  Loud thunderous tones chimed through the area and instantly drew the attention of her attacker.

In rhythm they banged out.  One calling down to the area only after the previous one had time to fade out.  Strikira felt him lower her, growing distracted by the loud bells.  It was safe to assume that neither of them had realized just how close to a church they had gotten.  Demons had a tendency of fleeing if they can even spot a church ground, but here they were within bell range.  It was obvious that he was getting nervous.

Those boots planted on the ground where his hand lowered her.  She knew that if she was going to get away this was her only chance.  It wasn’t going to be enough to run.  Strikira needed to take him down here and now.  Her fist balled easily while she channeled her energy downward.  That hand starting to glow brightly while she held it out of view.  She could still feel that hand just barely gripping the back of her head, but now was her chance to gain control over this situation.  A fast turn drew attention back to her, but by the time the demon was even able to respond she had already gripped his forearm and planted that Ki infused first squarely between his eyes.  The force of the impact threw the demon down into the ground until his head bounced from the concrete.

With this punch sinking into the flesh of his skull he could feel the energy flood through him.  The life concentrated ki burning away his face until his entire head was consumed by his own banishing flames.  The flames spreading and in less than a second all that was left was a scorched mark on the concrete ground and the superheroine standing there panting.  Leaned forward in the same position that her powerful attack had left her after landing this wolf stared at the burned mark on the stone ground as if it were going to come back to life any second.  Her body only relaxing and allowing her to drop her guard when no further attack came.

It had been a hard fought match, but this was to be expected when demons were involved.  Even the idea that she’d almost died this time touched her mind, but was tossed to the side.  Death was always something possible in the line of work that she’d entered, and in a way this canine was used to it.  Maybe it wasn’t even death that brought this to mind, just the idea of some netherworld creature draining her essence would be worst kind for her.  Regardless, this is going to be another mark for her to take down, another demon vanquished and another day won.  If anything it was a good day for her.

“This isn’t right,” came the voice from behind her as she was heading away from this alley.

The superhero immediately turned to face down the direction of the voice.  Her yellow eyes landing firmly on the blue feathers of the avian that now crouched over the burnt stain on the concrete.  As a tribal wolf she should have been able to hear him coming.  Even with her aura powers she should have, in the least been able to sense him.  That fact that we was there, wasn’t even nearly as interest as how he didn’t even seem to have approached the scene.  In one way she was used to people just appearing out of nowhere, it was part of the job, but this one was completely different.  This avian hadn’t even providing a presence with his arrival.  For her attuned abilities, not sensing someone was something she’d notice instantly.

The white chest, the raised crest, said more about him than just his blue outer feather color.  This wasn’t some standard blue bird, this was a blue jay.  What said the most about him weren’t the bright colors, but the golden hued eyes that he now turned towards the female wolf.  Given his words from before she quickly took a defensive stand.  Her palms open to work in a means of defensive throwing.  She wasn’t sure what to expect from him, but what she could tell was a rather slimly muscular build hidden by his feathered body.  Around his waist draped a long cloth.  It looked to be some kind of shirt or maybe the upper part of a robe, but with it being fastened around his waist by a belt it now hung down around his knees to cover his pants.  The outfit itself was white in color, even if somewhat old looking.

He had noticed the stance of the wolfess, but didn’t show any actual concern towards it, “I think we both know that your techniques won’t work.”

“Says you!” Strikira blurted out quickly.  Her lips pulled back in a bit of a snarl where she’d watch the avian closely.  In a way the wolf knew that he was right, but that didn’t mean she had to be nice about it.

“So that explains it.  It was your willfulness that kept you alive,” Those goldened hued eyes turned up towards the sky only for a second as if looking or something before turning back to her, “Too late now.  See you around kid.”

She yelled to him that he wasn’t making any sense, but in only a blink he was gone.  Quickly the wolf turned her head to see if he might have run off somewhere, but this avian was nowhere to be found.  She couldn’t even track him.  The very spot he was standing on just a second before didn’t even have evidence of this blue jay ever having been there.  This man was a mystery, and one that she planned to solve before heading out from this back alley.

The fates didn’t seem to agree when Strikira heard the radio on her bike blurt out about something.  She’d left her black and yellow motorcycle just off the street so that it wouldn’t be damaged in the fight, and like always it was no drawing her attention to come find out what other kind of trouble was going on in this city.  Heavy booted footsteps took her out towards the street.  The busy bustle seemed like just the opposite of that alley where people leisurely wandered about unknowing to the battle that had just taken place.  This is what her and other heroes fight towards, and for a second a smile touched on her lips.  That is, until she heard her bike blurting out to repeat the message.

The sound of static jumbled the message a bit, but most of it was still understandable.  Her hands gripped the helmet that sat at the side of the bike and quickly placed it on her head.  The radio was in her helm and with it on she could hear everything that she needed to.  Another demon attack, close to this one, but this time involving people.  It was upsetting, but drove the question why there was another one so soon.  Usually demons cause a problem once a week at the most, but this was twice in the same day.  Given that most demons actually despise one another, and are very hard to control, it only brought up more of a question as to why the attack as so frequent.

Reasoning wasn’t going to solve the situation at hand.  There was no time to dwell on this.  The hero had to go in and stop this monster before it could seriously hurt anyone, or worse.  Black and yellow patterned leg easily kicks over the seat the bike to straddle it while her hands fastened down the helmet to her head.  With a fast kick she’d start the engine and release the throttle.  The jerking feeling left her leaning forward when she compensated to the sudden movement.  This superhero raced down the streets keeping herself aware of anything.  A fast swerve happened when the wall to her side suddenly exploded towards her.  The demon had already sensed her and was no moving in towards the girl.

Eyes narrowed at the demon where snarled at this wolfess.  His crimson gaze already showing just what his intent provided.  The very look, the very aura around his body displayed himself with that killing intent.  Even where the dust from the wall was settling around his feet, this beast didn’t even bother to clean himself off before charging quickly towards the hero.  His hooves impacting the ground, horns glistening in the light of the day, but this heroine wasn’t about to allow herself to get hit so easily.  With her hands planting on the hot tank of her bike she’d send her body twisting, swinging that leg across her motorcycle and land a hard strike square in this creature’s chest.  An easy reach up towards her back and Strikira gripped the handles to her tonfa, pulling them from their sheaths and readied herself for the fight.

“What do you think you’re doing?”  Came that voice once again from behind her, “I really don’t have time for you.”

Those yellow eyes turned fast to look behind her.  It wasn’t like the hero to take her eyes off of her opponent, but once again she hadn’t sensed him at all.  Strikira considered herself to be somewhat of an expert in the fields of reading energies, but this being didn’t seem to have one at all, or it was incredibly well masked.  The words that were spoken cut her like a knife.  She had never seen someone speak so blatantly and downright rudely to her.  If she could turn these tonfa on this man right now, she would.  What she didn’t expect was to hear the sickening chuckle from the demon.

“That’s funny considering,” the voice came across as raspy, “but I’m not going to go down here.  Not when I have this.”

His fingers sunk into his pouch that he carried on his back and from it the demon pulled a bit of paper.  It was hard to tell exactly what was drawn on it, but from what the hero could see it was some kind of circular graph.  With a fast movement of his arm the goat tossed it into the air and allowed it to hang there for only a second before snarled down.  That hand of his glowing until it burst into a flame and impacted the parchment.  This superhero was expecting some kind of attack, some kind of beam or fire blast, or anything.  Instead the area lit up in a wide circle with flames erupting from six other points.

In only a second the flames widened into gates and each one was replaced by another goat much like the first one.  His family perhaps, or maybe even some kind of tribe.  It didn’t matter at this point.  They were all here and ready to team up against this hero.  She still had no idea who’s side the blue jay was on, but in a way she felt like this was entirely his fault.  Fighting numbers wasn’t something that she was unused to.  In a way, it was a specialty of hers.  All she needed to do was figure out who was going to be attacking her first.  Eyes turned around slowly to get a feel of the demons that were now hear.  Just as she turned her head and eyes to take in the scene this wolf’s gaze turned from one of determination to one of confusion.  The demons that had just come out of the gates were already collapsed on the ground.  Who could have?

Her thought was stopped instantly when she turned her view back to the first demon seeing him held in the air by the blue jay she’d met not even that long ago.  The golden hues of his eyes seemed to glisten as he spoke out to the demon in an almost serious tone.

“I said I don’t have time to deal with you.  You should leave now.”  This avian spoke out rather harshly to the demon.  In only a second the demon ignited itself and vanished from this realm.  This allowed the bird to lower his arm where he was no longer holding anything up which was soon accompanied by a slow shake of his head when he turned to return to the wolfess.

“Who are you?”  She said softly, amazed at how quickly this blue avian was able to deal with the demons.

“That isn’t as important as you currently believe.  What is important is an uprising happening among the demons.  You being alive has changed everything.  The heroes won’t unite now against the arcaneans.  This means it’s up to you to fix things.”  The avian tried to explain himself, but was shut down pretty quickly with a lifted hand from the masked wolfess.

“Look, I don’t believe in that fate crap.  If more demons come I’ll deal with it, but it’s got to come through the radio.  I’m not going to be sent all over town by some teleporter with foresight.”  Strikira spoke out and moved to return to her bike.

“Fate indicates a pre-destiny. Unfortunately, that’s now how things work.”  The avian started, his hand pulling out a book from seemingly nowhere and easily writing something before closing it. “You’ll be looking for me soon enough.  Continue what you’re doing.”

With this spoken the blue jay turned to leave her.  Strikira was going to speak out to him again, but was stopped when he seemingly vanished once more.  It made her almost want to grit her teeth to think that she was being played by this guy somehow, working under his rules and doing what he said.  No, that wasn’t going to be the case.  This wolf was a master of her own choices and only she was going to decide if she was supposed to be dead or not.  If nothing else she needed to go to her headquarters and report the two attacks.  Part of her actively wanted to put that off just to screw over the blue avian who told her to simply continue what she was doing.

This superhero was no stranger to reverse-psychology and wasn’t about to fall for such an easy trick.  Even she could tell that there was much to this that the avian wasn’t telling her, something that she was going to need to figure out on her own.  She was going to need to collect her thoughts, figure out this mystery and take care of it before people got hurt.  A hero’s first priority should always be the safety of the people, this case was no different.  There were parts of this puzzle, aspects of the mystery, that didn’t line up.  Somewhere along this line the blue avian was connected, even if he was actively trying to stop it.

It came as a quick realization that the longer she spent trying to think about this the more likely that another attack would happen.  If she kept spending her time fighting off the demons then she’ll end up with no time at all in figuring out who’s behind all of this.  It came down to one specific choice.  She could either give in and just get the answers from that blue avian, or she could bounce back and forth from her headquarters to fighting off demon attacks.  One would give her answers now and the other would slowly drain her until she ended up clumsy and lost her fight.  When it came to demons there was no doubt what the outcome of losing a fight would be, especially in Strikira’s case.

With her hands moving to either side of the helmet, still around her head, she’d straighten it a bit and made a move back to her bike.  The yellow and black design nicely matching her outfit while she lifted her leg to rest herself down onto her vehicle.  It took no effort to get this bike moving forward once more.  Her mind circling back to the words that the avian had said to her.  “Continue what you’re doing.”  There was no instruction for her being able to locate him if she wanted to talk.  It was designated that he was going to find her, but that didn’t do anything for her now.

Her thoughts were torn away suddenly when her ears twitched under the helmet.  The radio came online again, another emergency.  Her eyes widened as the words came through.  This attack wasn’t something unexpected, it was another demon attack, but the location drove her quickly to anger as the report continued.  The throttle on the bike was pushed hard, forcing the yellow and black vehicle to speed down the road.  With the recent attacks, the roads had cleared out rather quick which left it open for her to perform her latest action.

With a fast turn of the steering column this bike was launched to the side where the front tire was able to impact the medium separating the oncoming lanes from the outgoing lanes.  That wheel popping upward and allowing the rear wheel to do the same as the first and throw the bike over the medium all together.  A bit of an adjustment in the air and she’d land with her two wheels on the pavement.  The squeal of the tired sounded out just before the heroine turned herself to launch down the street at high speeds.

With the speed that she was going, there was almost no time at all before she turned off from her road towards the exit of her choice.  Wheels screeched where she made her fast turns, having practiced this style of high speed riding to its perfection.  It was better to make a little bit of noise than to lose control and crash.  A few buildings would pass as though they didn’t even exist before the builds peeled back to reveal exactly what she’d been looking for.  The name of the school lay shattered in the grass where it had already been destroyed.  The name of Rosa Parks Middle School scattered about the property and the sounds of the children screaming echoed in the air where they were doing their best to flee the beast.

This bull shaped demon roar out wildly while swiping at the kids.  He stood at least two stories high, and it was obvious who had the higher chance of winning here.  With a bound from her bike she’d throw her helmet to the side and race for the monster.  Her throwing needles already armed in her hand as she threw them ahead of her.  The three needles landed in the neck and the side of the face forcing the demon to wince in pain, but that didn’t last nearly as long as she’d liked.  It was important for her to draw him away from the kids, keep them safe.  In a fast motion she’d pull her tonfa out again, holding one in each hand while the superhero dived out of the way from a smash that left the palm of the monster’s hand impacting the ground.

A roll would bring the hero back to her feet just in time to dodge a swiping motion from the other hand by jumping straight up in the air.  What she couldn’t dodge was the first hand coming around again to punch her while in midair.  The first of the blow sending her sailing backwards until she had the fortune of feeling the hard wood of a tree impact the back of her body and stop her dead in her tracks.  A cough came when she finally landed on her hands and knees, but knew that she needed to keep in this fight in order to protect this school.  Narrowing her eyes the hero would dash for the demon once more.  The area around her seeming to slow down.  Children running in slow motion, even the demon moved like he was passing through pudding.  Strikira knew that this wasn’t adrenaline, this was something else.  Some kind of alternate ability affecting her, and only her.

In a rush she charged at the demon in a fast pace.  The creature hadn’t even noticed the superhero from the speed that she was moving.  An easy twist of her right tonfa placed the longer end of the shaft jutting well past her hand before she slammed it hard into the demon’s shin.  This wasn’t even the start of where her attack was going.  A flip from the left tonfa landed it in her hand like a baton where the handle was near the end of the shaft.  With an easy swing she’d hook the back side of his leg and lift herself easily onto the back of his calf where this demonic creature was already dropping down thanks to the first strike.  Hard kick moved to the back of the knee, just aiming to disable the creature when she jumped up with a twist in order to land with her back against his lower back.

The swing that came from the right arm would land the entire shaft against the back of the spine of the creature.  His hand already was moving back to her, but this boost in speed giving her the advantage where she could jump up and kicks off of his elbow to plant herself directly on his shoulders.  The two long tips of the tonfa pair impacted directly between his shoulders just as she jumped straight into the air to land let him rear back from the pain and place herself directly in front of his face.  With an easy spin the hero landed her final strike, a hard kick with her heal right in the jaw of the beast.  Each spot she hit had already started to dissolve this creature, feeding his defeat by forcing him to be consumed in his own flame until she landed on the ground and the beast never landed at all.

“Wow!  You’re so fast!”  One of the children said while the group started to rush up to her.

It showed where she was no longer under this speed influence, but she still had to wonder how she got under its effects to begin with.  Strikira decided to put that to the side for now, for the sake of speaking with the kids.  She’d ask them if they were ok, and while they were a little scared, they were fine.  A light pat on their heads and she’d turn to leave them all behind.  Something stopped her, something she had just missed.  It stopped her in her tracks, making her think as she stood there waiting for the answer to reveal itself.

Those eyes turn back towards the walls of the school until they come to the corner.  The image of the blue jay she’d seen so much recently shocked her with a sudden gasp.  A few steps dragged her closer, but steps quickened and before she knew what was happening the wolfess was running towards the edge of the edge of the building.  Strikira didn’t want to lose sight of the avian, as far as she knew he might very well be part of this.  Questions needed to be answered.  Facts needed to be learned.  Things were happening here that she wasn’t yet able to understand and with a few hints the superhero would be able to tie the points together.  This bird had the answers she needed, he had the evidence that she wanted to prove her theories, and most of all she wanted to know at least who he was that tied him to all of this.  Her eyes locked on him, never leaving him for a second.  She could see the smirk come around his face, that knowing smile that only drove her to want to get to him now instead of the few seconds it would take to be in front of him.

This wolfess wasn’t going to be able to keep her view of the blue avian forever, especially when he moved away from his corner of the wall and sunk down behind it around the edge of the building.  Strikira gasped she she lost sight of him, but moved to speed herself up only to stop just at the corner.  If he was behind this in any way, the girl knew that she was going to need to fight him.  If anything he might be leading her to strike first.  Her best option was to attack him instead and get the information with a fast pin.  The superhero started in a low position.  Her hand feeling the bumpy brick wall that soon left her grip as she came around.  She’d move with her elbow leading, wanting to pin his neck between her arm and the wall itself to keep the avian from getting away.  Her eyes once again locking on the bird even while he stood there waiting for her, but even as she moved she watched as he vanished from her range of attack to just beside that range and her elbow impacted the wall.  This hero needed to think on this.  She missed him, but it wasn’t like he dodged.  She had him in her sight and was closing in with her strike, but he moved without moving to be just outside of that range.  Was he always at that position?  No, she was pretty sure that he didn’t have time to dodge her strike either.

A fast bound backwards away from the avian would put the wolfess back on guard and ready for his own attack.  He never attacked though, nor did he say anything at all.  Instead the blue jay simply pointed up towards the distance behind the school.  No, not just behind the school but further along.  In the far distance the superhero was able to spot what she hadn’t before.  Having been in the city just recently she wasn’t able to see through the long rows of buildings to notice this, but there was an old factory far off in the distance and around it, there was a swirling of black clouds.  The clouds making it look almost like a cliché evil castle, but the large towers were obviously smoke stacks, and the building some kind of manufacturing plant.  Even at this distance she could feel the evil energies flowing outward to envelope the city.  A darkness that she wasn’t able to feel having been surrounded by so many arcane beasts today.  It did explain a lot, but this was no time for speculation.

“You understand now,” The avian spoke to her, turning himself to smirk softly at the canine. “It is important that you finish this soon.  Quilla will soon be too powerful to stop.”

The name confused her.  In all of her time as a hero she’d never heard that name even once.  Perhaps it was someone better associated with this avian.  The question was obvious, “Who’s Quilla”, but the blue jay was once again already gone.  A sigh came to her lips where she found herself standing alone once more and looking out over that factory.  The road to get there would be easy, and the smoke stacks were absolutely not creating the black clouds, those were swirling inward towards the building rather than pluming away from it.  Strikira had no idea what could be happening there, maybe a hell portal, maybe anything.  Regardless, it didn’t stop her from needing to stop whatever it was.  With a focused walk the hero turned from the site to once again return to her bike, making sure to pick up her helmet from the school yard.  All that was left of her seconds later was the decreasing sound of her motorcycle engine racing away from the site of the latest attack.

The blare of the motor echoing through the streets while she passed one after another, each one taking less time to reach than the last.  Her high speed movements on the cycle closing in on its limits even while her training kept the bike steady.  Eye’s remained open for any obstacles that might be getting in her way knowing that if she did see one she wouldn’t have a lot of time to react to it.  The racing bike carrying the wolf under a long distance towards the dark swirling clouded structure.  All that was missing from this sight was the flash of lightning to hit one of the smoke stacks.  She already knew that this wasn’t that kind of storm.  It was something far worse.

Her bike came to a stop.  She looked up at the tall walls of the factory she now sat outside of.  The gate had long since been worn away by time and that left her sitting directly in front of the two double doors that towered with the rest of the building.  She’d only wait for a second, removing her helmet and placing it on the cycle carefully while thinking of her plan of attack.  There was going to be a lot of ways that this could happen, but in the end she only got one chance to deal with it.  She would never shy away from a fight though, she was a hero, one of the best at that.  Strikira’s hand easily gripped the handle to her trusted tonfa, but kept it sheathed like walking up towards the door.  With a lick of her lips she’d move her hand up towards the knob.  In a few seconds she was going to be fighting again, and shortly after that she was going to be learning if her training was enough to keep her alive.

Her eyes closed for only a second while she reached out for the door, what her hand felt though, wasn’t the smooth factory door, but something with figure, something with lines, something with design etched into it.  Those eyes shot open quickly and in her view rather than the look of the factory she’d see it had been changed into a more demonic looking building.  It proved to her that this wasn’t a group simply taking control of a building in the mortal world, but they were altering the area as well.  This wasn’t a simply controlled occurrence, it was an invasion and their intent was to turn this land into their own demon playground.  The wolf’s eyes narrowed to this, her teeth gritted and she prepared herself to head straight inside.

The lift of her booted foot would land it firmly against the center of the door.  The impact from her kick sending the doors to fly open before it landed back on the ground.  Hands pulling the tonfa free of their holsters and readied them where the longer shafts rested firmly against the lines of the arms past the elbows.  Already Strikira could see lesser demons running at her to intercept her.  This wasn’t something she was unprepared for though, and with a quick lift of her weapon she’d make a quick duct to avoid an on coming strike only to lift again with her own.  The smaller end of the shaft landing directly at the bottom of the jaw.  The fast bounce of her hand sent the right tonfa upward and opened up the weapon to be gripped at the end of the long shaft.  Using the handle she’d swing it around to grip the back of the head of the next closest demon.  A fast pull would be met with a lift of her knee in order to impact the creature directly in the face.  With this one rearing back she’d pull her tonfa free from it’s grip around the demon and then swing it again to impact the same creature again this time in the side of the head with the bulb end of the handle.  Another demon had closed in and was already in mid attack.  Her hand came up though, using the shaft that she still had against her arm to block the creature at it’s wrist.  A fast duct and a turn to place her back against him was soon met with a hard impact when she slammed that longer shaft end against his stomach from where it reached past her elbow.  A quick turn would land her boot against the side of his head and slam the demon’s head straight into the ground.  The final demon that charged her came in fast, but with a repositioning of her tonfa to their traditional “against the arm” positions this superhero would slam the smaller shaft into stomach.  A swing of the arms brought the longer shafts around to impact both sides of the face at once and finished with a hard kick to his chest that sent him back away from the wolfess.

A quick glance took in her surroundings.  The note was that a factory should have metal walls and paneling, but everything here was stone.  There was no scent to this place, no brimstone, or sulfur.  The only thing existing was a feeling of darkness, a feeling that she openly tried to avoid, but encompassed this entire building.  She felt like a single flame in the center of a dark room.  Blackness all around her, no escape.  All she could do from this point was continue on with her mission.  With any luck, or faith, she might be able to come out of this and drive back the blackness that even now licked at her flame.

Inward focus lead to a deep breath that drove back her doubts.  Eye’s opened again to shine with determination where she watched for the next group that might come her way.  This place was simply crawling with minions and lesser demons, but there was no way of telling when they would strike or how many of them would come at her.  More of the creatures climbed down the walls, traveling down pillars and alone doorways.  The first wave was vastly small compared to this number.  Each demon roaring out to her and readied itself for their group assault.  This wolf prepared herself, ready to fight them back if they all charged at once, despite the overwhelming odds of fighting them.

None of them would attack just yet, though.  Not with the larger demon’s hand raised in the air.  It was obvious that they feared this one, but he wasn’t Quilla.  No, to command this many demons, the one that she’s been told about must be something far more impressive than this creature.  This wolf knew that when she saw Quilla, she would know it immediately.  Instead her attention needed to be spent on this demon in front of her.  At no point did she see this as a waste of her time though.  No matter how much of a hurry she was in, no matter how close she was to the end, this demon chose to stand in her way.

“Let’s go.”  She said easily before moving into her common Mauy Thai stance.

The demon charged quickly, running in towards the hero.  Claws sharp, eyes firey from his intent to tear her apart.  In mid step the demon would launch himself into the air towards her, preforming a flying leap that was aimed straight for her.  Her own foot was ready, ready to send herself straight up in order to twist around and land a clear kick to the side of his face.  Unfortunately, such a fight would never come into fruition as the demon’s eyes widened before dulling down.  The creature simply passed out, but still hung in the air, held there by the blue avian that had been with this superhero all along.

“I never thought I’d see you in a hurry.”  The female voice called out from the distance.  Her sweet tone echoed from walls and hallways as if coming from all directions at once.  Until finally they were consolidated into one point.  Directly in front of the two stepped the image of a lovely lupan female.  The rabbit looking almost impossibly beautiful for something drenched in evil.  The stern face she held soon disappearing into a soft grin.  “I must be making quite a problem out there.”

“That’s right.  And I’m here to stop you.”  The hero spoke back, narrowing her gaze and ready to fight back.

The lesser demons scattered at this, knowing what was happening and not wanting to get caught in this cross fire.  In only seconds they were gone, the demons almost vanishing to get away from their dark mistress.  The image of the bunny almost snarling at the hero was more than enough to drive fear into anyone, arcane or otherwise.  The unnatural purple fur easily shown from the crimson color of her hair that just happened to match her eyes, everything about this rabbit proved itself more and more that she was a sight to behold.  A common enough species to have an alluring reputation, and still rare enough in color to seem exotic.  What didn’t help was that the body she had didn’t have much, if anything to cover it.  Even from this distance it was hard to tell if she was actually wearing anything or if it perfectly matched her fur color.  There was no time to focus on this.  Her only option here was to strike first.

“How dare you even believe that I was speaking to you, mortal.  Even having the gull to drag your filth into my lair.  I can understand leaving this dirt ball of a plain, but coming after me doesn’t guarantee a swift or easy death, creature.”  The rabbit’s words ran in the heroes ears like acid driving rage into the tribal wolf.

“You count the mortals too lowly, Quilla.”  The blue jay finally spoke up turning his golden gaze at the wolf for only a second before looking back, and in that second Strikira was able to see a confident smile.

“And you count too much on the mortals, Tyme.  But then again, as part of the Trifecta, you can’t directly interfere with them.  I, on the other hand, am ranked among the highest of demons.  This… canine can’t stop me.”

The gritted teeth of the canine finally had enough.  In a snarling rage she’d tighten the grip on her two tonfa.  With only a loud shout she’d buckle down to charge in.  This charge very short lifted where the superhero was stopped by a blue feathered arm blocking her path.  Her eyes quickly turned from her target to look at the avian face.  It was obvious that he wasn’t going to turn his back on Quilla, but he looked at Strikira when he spoke to her over his shoulder.

“Your weapon in this fight is your focus.  If you charge in with anger you will fall.  If you wish to survive don’t allow this demon of destruction to dissipate your greatest weapon.”  His arm dropped easily, no longer blocking her path.  Those golden eyes returning to the purple bunny that stood waiting patiently, “Now go kick her ass.”

Strikira prepared herself for this fight.  Looking over Quilla to try and figure what kind of fighting style she used.  The fact that the demon seemed completely undamaged in the body proved all its own that she wasn’t a close in fighter.  No, the way she held herself, the fact that she had so many minions, it proved that this bunny was some kind of controller, or a conjurer of some type.  Strikira had fought spell casters before, it came with being a superhero.  If she could get in close then she stood much more of a chance than if she stayed back and waited for Quilla to make the first strike.

The fast charge came, but not with rage or anger.  This time it came with focus, waiting for an attack to come while she closed on her target.  Quilla only lifted a brow at the charge and soon lifted a hand.  In just a wave of her will bricks that made up the floor of this place started to crumble as if she were rolling bread.  Crumbs falling into the basement of this place in mere seconds only to then themselves fall into dust.  In any case when one brick falls it only to proves that others would follow suit.  In a case like this she’d take to the air, jumping from one to the other, but these bricks weren’t falling away in random order like a crumbling ruin, these were fading into dust as if someone had dumped acid directly onto the floor and let it spread.  Such a thing blocked her path, and forced the hero to change tactics.

In a quick hand she’d swing her arm out.  The aim of the movement sent two needles directly at the perfect frame of a body for this rabbit.  Her own hand easily moving with what seemed like a bored sigh.  When she brought her hand back up to examine what she’d caught she could see the needles between two different fingers.  Already they were starting to rust just before falling apart.  They’d never even hit the ground, though, as they fell into dust before ever reaching the floor.  Those red eyes turned from the decay back towards the wolf, but widened when she saw the girl holding a gun pointed directly at her.

The demon only smirked at the sight of this.  It was so cute for the wolf to think that she stood even the least bit of a chance against her, especially with such crude weapons.  A pull of the trigger, but the bullet would never leave the chamber.  Instead this firearm would explode in her hand.  The damage to the gun massive, but the wolf being able to just protect herself with her own aura.  There was no way to block out all of that damage, and it left the hero guarding her hand.  This was going to take a completely different level of tactic, but any other tactics that she could come up with was going to need for her to get in close.  It wasn’t even a wise tactic here where the demon had proved that she could rot steel, and even stone, with less than a glance.

“I’ve grown bored of this, Tyme.  Your champion has failed, and it is time to end this.”  The demon bunny said turning her crimson gaze fully on Strikira now.

The avian smirked to this though and turned his eyes towards the wolf.  “Sorry, Quilla, but you’ve already lost this battle.”  With a nod to hero, this avian would step back, giving them both well needed space.

This wolfess had no idea what Tyme was planning, but knew that she had to fight, she had to live through this and keep pressing on.  This wasn’t the place she was going to die in.  No, she would find that opening, that tactic, that plan, that would get her on top of this fight.  She had to.  If Strikira couldn’t, then who could?  It was her job, her duty to protect these people, and she wasn’t about to have fought through so many demons just to fall to this one.

Quilla had already declared this fight over.  The avian’s words only drove a roll of her own eyes where she lifted her hand to end this once and for all.  Just as she did the canine would as well, throwing again at the bunny, who again caught the projectile.  This wasn’t a needle like the others were, but this time it was one of her custom stun rounds.  This only brought a confused look to the creature’s face where she looked over the bullet for the best way to destroy it.  She never had time to where something else was thrown.  This time it was another needle, but the aim wasn’t at the demon, it was at the tail end of the bullet itself.  The needle impacted easily, and in an instant the round would burst.  Being a stun round it had nothing to send forward, but preformed a bright flash the drove a cry from the demon where she would grip her eyes and take a step back.

This was all the time she needed to get around the hole in the floor.  Her tonfa ready in her hands and the hero was able to look directly into the recovering eyes of the demon just before she would slam the short end of the shaft directly into Quilla’s face.  A flip of the other would put the free tonfa with the long end of the shaft outstretched.  An easy swing brought it into this bunny’s stomach.  Her hands gripping around the back of Quilla’s head before pulling it into her raising knee.

The demon did not fall from this though, her hand lifted quickly to snarl out at the canine, “Enough,” was all she could say to her.  The bunny storming up towards this hero, this creature, this mortal.  Strikira already charging back in to continue her assult despite the burning feeling at her torso. She had to ignore it and keep the pressure on.  It was the only way she could come out of this.  The hero’s boot came up easily to impact the outreached hand of the demon.  With a leap she’d twist herself to land the other boot to hit the demon’s chest forcing her back.  Quilla held her chest cradled in her arms from the force of the strike.  Still working to gain some distance.

Finally she’d shake her head at this.  The hero already coming back to plant a hard punch, one that might just finish this fight.  Her hand glowing brightly where she infused it with her aura, but the strike never made contact.  Quilla’s own wrist blocked the attack coming in from the hero where the other hand come up to grip around the face of the mortal.  In a huff she’d turn away from their fight, leaving it all behind.

“I’m leaving,” was the statement, and just like that the fight ended.  Quilla vanished instantly from the duel and her presence left just as instantly.  Not even the lesser demons were left behind at this point. 

Strikira looked around quickly. The stone floors were replaced by the steel floors that were expected in a factory such as this one.  A smile touched her lips when she realized that she actually had won.  It was hard to figure just where the match ended, maybe it was that last attack, if it had hit the hero was sure that she’d fully defeated the demon.  It didn’t matter where the match ended, what mattered was that she had come out on top and now everything was back to normal.  No, they could return.  This wasn’t over until she could find a way to keep these beasts from continuously ending her world.

“Tyme, was it?  How do we…?”  Her sentence was stopped right there.  The avian was gone as well.  She still knew nothing about him, but the fact that he vanished with the demons was proof of more than she had been asking for.  For now it was time to head back to base and submit her reports.  If nothing else, she might be able to relax a little bit before getting put back on call.  Still a victory was a victory.  Maybe she could find a few friends at the headquarters and catch a few drinks.