“Kill… me…?” Min said faintly, and took a shaky step backward. With a glance, Jepp realized that her face had turned deathly white. She was terrified. The guy, L, never took his eyes off of her, nor did his sword waver from her face. There was nothing but murder in his eyes; it was a look that Jepp was all too accustomed to.

“Min, get down!” he cried out, raising his weapon, but L disappeared in a blink. Behind him, Min screamed like a wounded animal, but he was falling to the ground as he felt gashes opening all over his skin, his blood spurting forward from the wounds. He collapsed heavily, choking as he lifted a hand to wipe away the blood that covered his eyes and blinded him. The bastard had been so fast that he hadn’t even been able to spot him. It was a delayed reaction, and a few seconds later his whole body erupted in pain.

“L, STOP!” Min was screaming, and through his blurred vision he could make out the shadowy figure that approached her, the gleaming blade stained with blood, his blood. He tried to yell out, to tell her to run and leave him, but all he could manage was a little pathetic squeak that even a mouse wouldn’t have been able to understand. He growled, shoving a shaky fist into the ground and forcing himself up, eyes screwing up as his body protested by erupting in pain. Min was backing away from L. Her scythe lay to the side, back in its sealed form. Jepp grunted, lifting his right arm with great effort as he propped himself up on his left. Fresh blood was running into his eyes from the exertion, he was shaking hard, and the cannon aimed at L was way off aim. If he shot he might hit Min without even knowing.

Something in his chest flared up, a great flaming beast that consumed his insides and filled him with rage. No, no, not now… The beast reared its head, grinning as his eyes widened and his pupils dilated.

There was a swooshing sound overhead, and an arrow landed right at next to his hand. The beast vanished, and he collapsed again, directing his gaze to the roof of the building beside him where a dark figure was sitting. He clenched his fist and dropped his head, closing his eyes. Min would be safe for now.

-

“Hey!” somebody called from above, and Min’s head snapped upwards. L did likewise, immediately raising his katana and cutting down the arrow that flew at him without warning. There was raucous laughter from the assailant. “I see you haven’t changed one bit, L-sama!” The figure jumped from the roof, landing softly on all fours like a cat. When he raised his head Min recognized the cat ears protruding from the top of his head. “Zico,” she whispered.

L regarded the newcomer with a disinterested glare, although his eyes widened slightly.

“Whoever knew I’d be seeing you here again,” Zico grinned widely, displaying sharp canine teeth as he drew another arrow from the quiver on his back. “You might want to leave this little lady alone. And that young man over there,” he indicated with his chin at Jepp, and Min realized with a jolt that he was unconscious. The ground around him was stained dark red.

“It would not be a problem for me to kill you here too, Zico,” said L warningly, coldly, and Min flinched slightly.

“Oh, no worries, it wouldn’t be a problem for me to kill you either,” Zico smiled cockily. “Now, are you going to leave or will I have to test my new arrows on you? They’re an enhanced version of my old ones, if you still remember them.” He drew the string of his bow, giving L a pointed look.

A shadow passed over L’s face. Zico took the opportunity to shoot the arrow at the ground near his feet, where it promptly erupted into a contained explosion of smoke around him. Min leapt forward, snatching her weapon up and stowing it away before rushing over to Jepp. “Help me!” she called out to Zico, who obligingly lifted Jepp’s other arm around his shoulders. Between them they dragged Jepp’s unresponsive body into an abandoned house, setting him down. Zico hurried to the window and peered out.

“The ash is falling,” he muttered to himself. “He’s gone.” He turned back to Min. “We need to get him back to the church. It’s safe now.”

“Thank you Zico,” Min replied, meaning it even if her tone didn’t. He simply smirked and waved a hand at her.

“Don’t thank me. I have a score to settle with that guy.”

-

The first thing CL realized when she and Amber returned was that a new church window was broken, glass strewn around the ground. The second thing she realized was that the figure lying amid the broken glass had colourful hair and looked too beaten up to have had an easy opponent.

“Key!” Amber cried out, breaking into a sprint towards the fallen figure. CL dropped the groceries – she had too much of a reputation of hunting down and beating up people for anyone to steal her things – and threw off her trench coat, unsheathing one of the larger knives from the belt slung around her hips. “Get somewhere safe,” she ordered Amber as she ran past, gathering her knees together and launching forward to land on the window sill, kicking the remaining broken glass out of the way.

“Where are you…” she muttered, a sudden movement in her peripheral vision having her leaping forward as a projectile lodged itself into the wall where her head had been only seconds before. She tumbled on the ground under the pews (several of which were damaged), lying flat and deathly silent.

“Oh, hiding, are we?” Seulong’s voice rang out somewhere to her left. “Unfortunately you can’t hide from me.” CL dived out from her hiding place as the pew she was under collapsed from the weight of all the metal suddenly lodged in it. “There, that’s better, out in the open. A Hunter doesn’t hide, do they CL?” CL’s blood ran cold as Seulong flew down from where he had been perched near the ceiling, a mocking smile tugging at his lips. In his hand was a whip covered in small blades, and in the other were some of the projectiles that he had been attacking her with. A closer look revealed them to be kunai.

“What would you know about Hunters?” she asked, raising her own weapon as they circled one another. Seulong’s eyes never left her face.

“Don’t play stupid,” he simply said. “You don’t have to play the fool around me, because I know what you are and I know what Key is, and I know all about the people you have been living with. Have you forgotten already what we are capable of?”

CL gritted her teeth. “Of course I haven’t,” she growled. “So you’re here to kill me?” Seulong merely smiled, flying forward without warning and striking out with a kunai. CL backflipped to avoid him, but he still managed to cut off a small section of her hair. She had barely landed when he slammed a fist into her stomach, sending her flying backwards into a pew, losing the gum in and the knife in her hand in the process.

“I haven’t got all day,” Seulong stood over her as the sweet flavour slowly faded from her tongue. She knew that had been the last one. “So I’ll make this quick and easy for you and me.” He dropped to his knees and grabbed the front of her top, pulling her upwards towards him. “Any last words, traitor?”

“Yeah,” CL panted, tasting her own blood on her tongue. It was metallic and bitter and she absolutely hated it. She could feel her pulse racing and her fingers itched to do something, anything. She had lost her sugar source and she needed a replacement. And quick. “Got a sweet?”

“What?” For the first time, a quizzical look passed over Seulong’s face. “Those are your last words? What a pathetic life you must have led, Number 40.”

“So you don’t have one?” CL asked, a vein throbbing in her head. “That’s too bad.” Seulong caught the maniacal glint in her eye, but before he could react she had grabbed him and flipped him over, drawing a dagger and stabbing him in the shoulder, her breathing exaggerated and her pupils dilated with excitement as she pulled the weapon out, spraying blood everywhere as Seulong howled in pain and kicked her into the air away from him.

“Come on, the fun is just starting!” CL screeched from where she had landed on one of the upper window sills. “Don’t give up just yet!” She laughed hysterically and launched herself at him, deflecting the kunai that he threw at her and grabbing him by the collar, dragging him along the floor and leaping back into the air, throwing him into a pew. He got up almost straight away, wielding his whip and catching her around the ankle, sending her slamming into the ground so hard that the floor cracked slightly. He knew that he had at least broken most of her ribs, and possibly her neck.

As the dust settled, Seulong took a step forward, inspecting his shoulder, which had healed up. “You wouldn’t die so easily,” he kicked at her. “Get up, traitor.” He rolled her over. Blood streamed from her nose and he knew he had broken it. However, her lips were curved into a delighted smile.

“That hurt,” she said thickly. A bubble of blood burst from her lips. “You broke my neck.” In the next second she had caught his legs between hers, sending him crashing to the ground. “You’re boring. Which batch were you?” She sent a dagger through each of his hands, sending him screaming in pain.

“12,” Seulong hissed. “The batch that you all but completely destroyed.”

CL’s eyes lit up with recognition. “Oh yes, I remember that batch. They were all like you, impulsive and no battle strategy. Unfortunately for you, that means I know how to kill you. Now,” she tapped a blood stained finger to her chin, “would you prefer quick and painless or long drawn out torture?” She drew out another dagger and traced it almost lovingly against his neck. There was no mistaking the deranged look in her eyes.

“Neither,” Seulong spat out. “Because I’ll be the one killing you.”

CL threw her head back and laughed, the sound hysterical and eerie as it echoed around the silent building. “That would have more effect if I was in your position. You’re the last of your batch?” Seulong remained silent, glaring at her, though there was a flicker in his eyes. “I see. Rest assured that I won’t be going after that last one. Unless,” she grinned. “that last one comes after me.”

“You’ll never escape,” Seulong hissed through clenched teeth. “They’ll find you. They know where you are. And when they do, you’ll be nothing.”

“Are you done talking?” CL scratched her nose, looking bored. “Because you’re boring the out of me.” She got up and walked away.

“You’ll always be a puppet!” Seulong screamed, raising his head to look at her. There was a sickening crack and his head snapped back into the ground, a thin trickle of blood running down between his eyes where CL had lodged her dagger.

“That’s the second one this month,” she said to herself as she walked towards the doors. “They’re getting persistent.” Through her addled mind she felt a pinch of anxiety. But that could be the sugar withdrawal speaking.

“Damn,” she cursed, taking a last look at the church. “And I’d just managed to get all of the last one’s blood off the floor.”