Chapter 66: Where is Sonic

She looked down at the five of them, and then she smiled, a bright smile that normally would not be on the face of someone who had just done what she had done.

She leaped over the railing and landed, and they all got on guard.

"Stand back," the leader said. He raised his hands, and his fists lit on fire. "I don’t know who the fuck you are or what the fuck you want from us, but if you take one more step towards us, I’ll show you one difference between a human and a hunter." His warning was clear as day. He hoped that she would be smart enough to back away so they would not have to fight.

She stepped forward. He saw it, his face twisted in a frown, and he punched one hand forward. A fireball shot out and headed towards her, only for her to lean to the side and dodge it cleanly. It slammed into the wall behind her.

Seeing that his attack had not landed on her, his face twisted with even more rage. He punched with the second hand, eager to end her with it, only for her to dodge by leaning to the side and evading the attack again. Then she dodged the next, and then the next, and then proceeded to leap into the air, spin, and swing down with her staff to slam the last attack into the ground.

She looked up, and her eyes said it all. She did not even consider him worth her time.

"I am going to roast you, stupid bitch." He lunged at her, his hands covered in flames. She did not flinch. She swung down at the right moment, and her staff slammed into his right arm. The pain shot up fast, his hand jerked back, and his face twisted in agony.

She moved, her staff already swinging through the air as it slammed into the side of his head so hard that he flipped and slammed into the ground.

She looked up. The four were staring at her. They wanted to run, but they could not. They had to stay here and defend this warehouse because if they did not, even their families would suffer for it.

"Arghhhh!" The youngest charged in, pulling a knife from his waist. Lightning coated the blade, and he hurled it at her. She dodged easily and charged at him. He froze, and one of the men rushed in and dove, tackling him to the ground fast before she could get to him.

She looked at the two of them in disappointment, but she could not focus on that for too long because, at that moment, the other two rushed in. One grabbed a chair and swung at her. She leaned back and barely evaded it. Her eyes stayed fixed on the one coming from the side, and she stuck out her staff. It slammed into his chest and sent him flying while coughing up blood.

"You guys are really shit. Tch, lucky for you, you are not the ones I want."

The five of them got back on their feet.

The fire user held his burned arm against his chest and glared at her. The one she had hit with the staff wiped blood from his mouth and cracked his neck. Even the lightning user, whose knife she had dodged, pulled himself free of the man who had tackled him and stood up. They had all been humiliated, and they knew it.

"Together," the leader hissed. "Kill her."

They came at her all at once.

The fire user lunged first, with flames roaring from both fists. The strength enhancer hit the ground running, the veins on his arms swelling as he pushed his body past its limit. The lightning user flung a second blade, and a spark crackled along its edge as it flew. The other two charged from the sides.

It was fast and vicious, a wave of fists and fire and steel.

She did not step back.

She moved.

Her staff whipped around in a short, tight arc and knocked the lightning blade out of the air. It spun away and sank into a crate. She slid forward, ducked under the fire user’s swing, and felt the heat rush over her hair. The strength enhancer’s fist came down like a hammer. She stepped aside, and it broke the floor.

CRACK!

Her staff came around and cracked against his ribs, and he doubled over. She spun the shaft overhead, and the end struck the side of his head and dropped him on his face.

The fire user threw a punch. She leaned back, then forward, and the staff jabbed into his stomach. His breath burst out of him, and he folded. She turned the staff and brought it down across his back, and he hit the ground hard.

The lightning user came from the right with another knife. She pivoted, caught his wrist on the shaft of the staff, twisted, and the blade flew out of his hand. A sweep took his legs out from under him. He landed on his back, gasping.

Two left.

One of them swung a chair at her head. She raised the staff, and the chair shattered into splinters. She stepped in and drove the butt of the staff into his chest, and he flew backward over a table.

The last man hesitated for a heartbeat.

It was all she needed. She swung low, and the staff cracked against his knee. He screamed and dropped, and she struck the back of his neck, and he stopped moving.

It had taken less than a minute.

She stood in the middle of the warehouse with her staff in one hand. Five men lay on the floor around her, groaning and clutching their wounds. Nobody was getting up. Her movements had been graceful, fluid, and fast, and she was not even out of breath.

She walked over to the nearest one, the fire user, and grabbed him by the collar. She hauled him across the floor and slammed him against a wooden table.

"Do you know where Sonic is?" she asked.

He coughed. Blood ran from his nose.

"I don’t know who the fuck you’re talking about."

She lifted his head and slammed it down on the table.

CRUNCH!

His teeth shattered against the wood. He cried out, spitting blood and white fragments. He groaned and curled up on the table, shaking.

She let go of his collar and straightened.

She looked down at the four others on the floor, at the men who had been so ready to kill her a minute ago. None of them met her eyes.

"Who’s next?"