Jayson runs down the hallway of Samantha's Spa. Thunder shakes the structure and rattling gunfire echoes all around. As Jayson runs, two thugs come out with their assault rifles raised. They spray the hallway with bullets, and Jayson dives through an open door, into an empty massage room. He rolls to his feet and readies himself.
Glass shatters twice, and with it, two thuds. Jayson peeks out and sees the two thugs dead, their blood splattered on the wall and bullet holes in the hallway windows.
Jayson hesitates, and then resumes running while flashing a thumbs up at the broken window, confident that Derrick saw the gesture.
Jayson runs down the hallway and jumps over the corpses. He reaches a door and finds four more thugs on the other side, running towards him from the hallway.
Without thinking, Jayson rushes them, his cosmic wood sword emitting its light blue aura. The thugs are put in its time distortion bubble, he beats down all of them to a bloody pulp as they move slowly in the aura.
****
In the main office, Rolland, Dacre, Cyrus, and Shae stare at the door, their bodies tight and their hands sweaty as they hold their weapons. They can hear the commotion, from the gunshots to breaking glass and vibrations shaking the structure.
“We need to go. Grab the sister and let's get out of here!” says Rolland.
Dacre and Shae grab Dixie's arms, drag her out of the room and into the pouring rain. The storm batters them and their van is partially hidden in the gray curtain of heavy rain.
Cyrus is leading the group with the van keys in hand, but a gunshot rings out and Cyrus is knocked off his feet with half of his head missing.
“Back inside!” yells Rolland.
The group rushes back inside the office, and Dacre and Shae throw Dixie to the floor.
“Damn it, they killed him!” yells Dacre.
“How about we kill her?” says Shae.
He aims his pistol at Dixie, and her screams are muffled as she wiggles her bound body against the wall shaking her head with tears in her eyes.
“An eye for an eye, right?” says Shae.
“Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm sure Claribel wouldn't mind at this point,” says Rolland.
He joins Shae and aims his shotgun at Dixie, and Dacre follows soon after.
Dixie squeezes her eyes shut, and she sobs and pushes herself harder against the wall. But before they can pull their triggers, the office door breaks open, and everyone looks at the doorway. When they see who is staring at them, their eyes widen.
Jayson is standing in the doorway, eyes wide, blood falling from his cosmic wood sword, and the colors on his weapon pulsing. The aura around him is also darker and his eyes have a dark blue glow.
*****
In the wrecked lobby, Claribel and Lexia try yet again to stab each other. They grab each other's wrists and step in circles as their arms flex and quiver in their attempt to overpower each other. Lexia growls and Claribel hisses and rattles her tail.
In a burst of adrenaline, Claribel lunges, pushing Lexia off balance, and Claribel uses the momentum to slam Lexia into the receptionist desk. The damaged furniture breaks on impact, taking both of them down to the floor.
When they land, Lexia headbutts Claribel, kicks her off, and rolls on top of her to pummel her senseless.
Claribel manages to kick Lexia away and roll onto her hands and knees, her face dripping blood from the cuts on her scales. Then she sees her pistol. So does Lexia.
Claribel and Lexia dive for it and wrestle over it. When it looks like Lexia is about to get the upper hand, Claribel ejects the magazine and forces the pistol to the side and squeezes the trigger. Their ears ring and Claribel kicks Lexia away from her.
****
In the office doorway, Jayson stares at Rolland's group. His eyes are wide, dark blue and pulsing, his jaw and muscles are tight. Blood drips off his face and weapon.
Rolland, Dacre, and Shae step back, their normal sneers and confidence dead and buried underneath their fear.
The room is dark, except for Rolland, Dacre and Shae. Lexanne slips through the darkness and swirls behind them, her white void eyes and teeth glowing, and her giggles floating in the dark.
"Get them,” says Lexanne.
Jayson’s aura snaps out, and he charges the group. Rolland, Dacre, and Shae attempt to shoot him, but their speeds are considerably slowed down. Jayson dodges the shots and strikes Rolland, knocking him into the wall, snapping the drywall upon impact.
Jayson ducks underneath Dacre's shots and whacks upward, breaking him through the ceiling tile. He falls on top of the desk with debris, shattering it upon landing.
Jayson pivots and hits Shae into the wall hard enough to leave him stuck in it, and Rolland yells and rushes Jayson, wielding his gun like a club. Jayson blocks his strike and counters with a whack that send out a shock wave, destroying the furniture and cracking the walls and floor, leaving a Rolland shaped hole in the floor.
After a few breaths, the aura disappears, and after making sure the thugs aren’t getting up, Jayson looks at Dixie, who is cowering in the corner, bound and gagged, and staring at Jayson with wide eyes.
She flinches when Jayson staggers towards her, his breathing ragged and chest heavy. Dixie’s breathing is also chaotic, and she squirms and lets out a stream of muffled, fear laced words as he unbinds her and removes the gag. When he is finished freeing Dixie, he puts his hand on her shoulder.
“Are you alright?” asks Jayson.
Dixie stares at him, wide eyed and ears dropped, pushing herself against the wall.
“It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm helping Lexia rescue you,” says Jayson.
Dixie swallows nervously. “Are you Lexia’s friend?”
“… Sure… Let’s get you out of here,” says Jayson, gently guiding Dixie to her feet.
Jayson feels Dixie's trembles vibrating through his body as he tries taking her to the exit door, but she digs her feet into the floor and tugs back, prompting him to stop and look at her with a mix of confusion and annoyance.
“What’s wrong?” asks Jayson.
“Where's Lexia?” asks Dixie.
“She's handling the snake that kidnapped you.”
"Take me to her.”
"No. I have to get you to safety.”
"Not without Lexia! What if she needs my help?”
"Lexia can take care of herself.”
Jayson tries pulling her again, but Dixie pulls off her flip flop and smacks him in the eye with it. Jayson recoils, loosening his grip and cursing as he holds his eye, and Dixie runs into the hallway, kicking off her remaining flip flop while he rubs his face.
"Wait! ... Damn it,” says Jayson.
Jayson runs after Dixie, surprised at how fast the scrawny rabbit can rune. But he quickly catches up to her at the lobby. Dixie has already stopped at that point, and Jayson skids next to her. He is about to scold her, but he sees her ears are drooped, and her eyes are wide with dread.
Jayson looks at the source of her attention, and watches Lexia engage Claribel. Both of them are bloodied and bruised, but Lexia has Claribel in a chokehold. Claribel’s feet scrape against the floor, and she claws at Lexia’s arm as her tail rattles, and she gasps for air.
“You’re not going anywhere, snake,” growls Lexia. “You tried to kill my mom! Now I’m going to use your skin as a purse!”
Claribel’s thrashing becomes more intense, and her tail coils around Lexia’s leg. Then she opens her mouth wide and sinks her curved fangs Lexia's arm.
Lexia’s eyes bulge. Dixie recoils, gasping in shock. And Jayson’s eyes widen, all air gone from him.
Time slows to a crawl as Lexia's mouth opens, but no scream comes out.
Lexia’s hands go limp, and Claribel elbows her off, rolls to her feet, and draws her pistol. She aims, but before she can shoot, she is whacked away with an explosive force that shatters the glass, shakes the building, and leaves cracks all over the floor, walls and ceiling. The impact sends Claribel crashing through the lobby wall, and water spreads as she flies across the street and hits the building on the other side, launching dust and rubble into the river running through Bliss Town. She hits the sidewalk, limp and bloodied.
Inside Samantha’s Spa’s lobby, Jayson stands by the hole in the lobby wall, seething, shaking and breathing heavily, and his heart sporadically beating. The cosmic wood sword is bright with its blue aura, and Jayson's eyes are dark with murderous rage. Everything in his aura bubble slows down as the world dims around him.
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Nearby, Lexia is on her hands and knees, vomiting and wheezing for. Her bitten arm swells, and Dixie hugs Lexia against her.
“Lexia! Lexia! You’re going to be okay; I promise!” sobs Dixie.
Lexia collapses to the floor, her body convulsing, and Dixie grabs her hand.
“It's okay, Lexia! I'm here! I have you!” says Dixie, her voice fading in Jayson’s ears.
Lexia's hands twists and stiffen, her legs kick uselessly, and she tries reaching out to Jayson with her other hand as tears stream down her dirty face.
“Jayson... Jayson... I can't... I can't, I can't, I can't breathe... Mom... Mom... Please don't let me go...” wheezes Lexia, her voice faint in Jayson’s ears as he approaches the hole in the spa lobby.
Jayson’s heart beats hard and erratic as he steps through the opening. Outside Samantha’s Spa, Bliss Town is engulfed in near total darkness and his blue aura. Faint colored silhouettes of rain slow down and the splashing water around him trudges through the aura. All Jayson sees in the dark world is Claribel laying limp on the sidewalk, her hat laying near her. Blood mixes with the thick stream of water and rain beats against her.
"Go get her, Jayson,” says Lexanne, her voice slithering through the void.
Lexanne's specter appears from the void and stands above Claribel. The rain falls through her as she points at the wounded snake.
"Kill her. One less soldier for Mama Bear. One step closer to defeating her. One step closer to seeing with me,” says Lexanne.
Jayson stands above Claribel and tightens his grip on his weapon.
Claribel's eyes crack open, and she looks up, her mouth shut, and cheeks puffed as blood seeps past her lips.
She drags her hat to her chest, and Jayson raises his cosmic wood sword. Before he can bring it down, Mortimer rams him and his sharp teeth sink into his arm. The pair crash in the water, and Jayson drops his cosmic wood sword, and everything returns to normal.
The car that drove Mortimer speeds away, kicking up more water, and the heavy rain beats against the three bodies as Mortimer and Jayson thrash in the filthy water while Claribel remains limp, nearly drowning in the downpour.
Mortimer goes berserk in slashing Jayson and tearing his arm with his teeth, but after a few good hits, Jayson kicks Mortimer off.
Blood flows from Jayson's face and limp arm, but he feels no pain. Only rage. He doesn't care that his limp arm is bleeding profusely.
Mortimer rolls to his feet and charges Jayson again, and Jayson runs towards him, both screaming.
They collide with ferocious force, raining down a barrage of brutal punches and kicks. Their movements are swift and precise, fueled by their burning rage and unyielding determination to defeat each other. Each block and deflect is executed with expert skill, the sound of flesh and bone hitting flesh and bone masked by the torrential downpour weighing them down.
As they beat each other bloody, an armored van speeds around the corner and Ramsey jumps out with the bands on his neck and wrists glowing. In a blink of an eye, he grabs Jayson by his head and slams him into the brick wall, breaking it, and leaving Jayson dangling in the air. His blood trickles down the brick, and Ramsey snaps to a pair of armored coyotes in the van.
“Get her in the van!" orders Ramsey
The armored coyotes hop out, swiftly and expertly sweeping the area while a pair grab Claribel. A pair of gunshots ring out, dropping one of the coyotes with a gaping hole in their chest and striking Ramsey. But while that thug instantly dies, Ramsey stumbles and glares at the direction. His eyes pulse and his muscles twitch. Claribel and Mortimer are quickly put in the van and another shot rings out, making Ramsey stumble backwards. He growls and takes a few steps towards the source of the shots, but his rage melts to fear when he looks down the road.
Trafford Augustine is standing down the street, smiling at him. Trafford makes a finger gun, aims at Ramsey, and pretends to shoot him.
Another shot rings out, and Ramsey stumbles again. This time he jumps in the van. The van door slams shut, and the vehicle speeds down the road. Another gunshot rings out, blowing a hole in the van, but it keeps going and swerves around the corner, disappearing from sight.
With the van gone, Trafford walks down the road, his feet splashing in the water. He stops by Jayson and looks at the circular blood pattern on the broken brick wall. His eyes trail the streaks of blood moving through the mortar and imperfections of the bricks, down to Jayson.
Jayson’s broken body is slumped on the ground. He is soaked in rain and blood, and bruises dot his body as broken brick surround him. His fingers twitch, and he groans and pushes himself up, leaving blood on the broken bricks and tile. He stumbles outside and grabs his cosmic wood sword while Trafford approaches him. Both are soaked in the rain, but streams of blood trail Jayson’s body, staining his shredded blue attire and white fur in red.
A few seconds later, Derrick lands next to Jayson and glares at Trafford.
"You were supposed to watch Mortimer!” yells Derrick.
Trafford shrugs. "What can I say? He killed me and got away.”
"Where's Lexia?”
Jayson wordlessly stumbles past the two, using the cosmic wood sword as a crutch. His breathing and heartbeat become heavier as the cosmic wood sword pulses, creating a massive aura bubble that slows time down to a crawl.
Jayson keeps limping towards Samantha's Spa. Every step a struggle, and a trail of bloody dots and streaks in his wake from the wounds on his bitten arm and the slashes on his body. Once he goes through the hole in the wall, he sees Lexia and Dixie nearly completely frozen in time, with Dixie trying to comfort Lexia, whose brown eyes are dim and her mouth open.
Jayson’s heart feels like it is cracking as he drops to his knees in front of Lexia. His chest is tight and aching, crushing him with suffocation. He puts his hand on her shoulder, looking into her terrified eyes as tears wipe the blood off his face.
Despite his best efforts, time still has not completely stopped. He can see the tiniest bit of movement from both rabbits, completely unaware of the bubble they are in. All they know is that Lexia is dying, and no one can save her.
Jayson's hand squeezes Lexia's shoulder. He closes his eyes and rests his head against hers, fighting to keep the tears inside.
Then the clip-clops of footsteps echo in the bubble, and Jayson’s eyes snap open and he leaps to his feet, facing the direction of the noise with his weapon at the ready. Pain, grief, and anger have twisted his face. But all that changes to confusion and fear as Mariana walks through the frozen time aura without any hindrance. Every step is paced normally, and her eyes are locked on Jayson, her head slightly tilted so her smaller frame can see his eyes.
Mariana’s yellow raincoat and umbrella stand starkly against the dim walls, and she reaches into her inner pocket and pulls out a vial and syringe. She fills the syringe with the vial contents and holds it out to Jayson.
“Take, it,” says Mariana.
Jayson takes it. “What is it?”
"This is anti-venom I stole some time ago, specifically for this purpose. Lexia will still need time to recover, but without that medicine, she'll die. Take it and give it to her when I turn off your aura.”
“What?” says Jayson, hesitantly taking the anti-venom.
“I'm going to break this pocket of frozen time. The moment I do, you must inject Lexia with it immediately or she will die.”
Before Jayson can ask any more questions, Mariana blinks, and the time dilation aura dissolves, putting everything back to normal. Jayson quickly moves Lexia’s neck fluff out of the way and injects her neck with the syringe.
Lexia instantly wheezed and collapses on the ground, coughing and hacking. She rolls onto her hands and knees, back arching, and eyes unfocused as she gags and gasps for air.
As Lexia struggles to breath, the life returns to her brown eyes, and Dixie laughs tearfully as she rubs Lexia's back, smiling gratefully at Jayson.
“Thank you!” says Dixie.
“Don't thank me. Thank her,” says Jayson, nodding to Mariana as he uses his weapon to help him stand.
Dixie looks at Mariana, holding her smile. “Thank you.”
“You're welcome. But now I need to go. My shift at the Crystal Plate starts in ten minutes,” says Mariana.
Mariana takes a couple of steps but stops when Jayson grabs her arm.
“Hold on. How did you know we were here? And how come you have anti-venom?” asks Jayson.
Mariana glances at Jayson out of the corner of her eye. Just the sideways glance is enough to send a shiver up his spine, so he releases her, and she turns fully to face him, gripping her closed umbrella with both hands.
"I've done this a few times,” says Mariana.
“What are you talking about? Are you a secret agent? Do you work for Trafford?” asks Jayson.
“I have no employment positions with Trafford or any government agency. And if Lexia died, then you would have gone off the deep end and I would've had to kill you again. Which you’re annoying to kill,” says Mariana.
Jayson’s heart spikes at her words, and he presses his weapon harder against the floor to keep him standing as his knees grow weak. Meanwhile, Dixie stares at Mariana with wide eyes while Lexia crumbles to the floor, breathing heavily. Soon after, Trafford and Derrick rush in.
“Who are you really?” says Jayson heavily, his heart erratic.
Mariana stares at Jayson, her expression steadfast in boredom. “You already know who I am. You see me everywhere.”
Mariana then walks past the group and gives Trafford a long, critical stare as she passes him, which is met with a curious one from him. Once at the gaping hole in the lobby, she holds out her umbrella as she looks at Jayson again.
“Give Lexia a few days to recover. I'll see you again sometime in your future.” Mariana turns her focus to Dixie. “And Dixie, don't feed Lexia blueberry pie for three days. She'll choke and die on it if you do. No matter what.”
Dixie pales and hugs Lexia tighter, and Mariana opens her umbrella.
“I'm going to work now,” says Mariana.
She proceeds to walk into the storm, comfortably protected by her umbrella. Jayson, Derrick, and Trafford go to the hole and watch Mariana casually walk deeper into the storm. The rain gets heavier as time ticks by, and soon Mariana disappears from sight. Trafford is the first to return to Lexia, followed by Derrick. However, Jayson stays by the hole, straining his eyes for any signs of Mariana, but she is nowhere to be seen in the gray downpour consuming the dying city.
“Jayson... Mom...” calls Lexia weakly.
The group looks at Lexia, and Dixie rubs her back while Jayson hurries to her, clutching his chest. He kneels next to Lexia, puts his hand on her shoulder, and tilts his head so he can have a better look at her eyes, which are being concealed by her messy bangs hanging down.
“Lexia are you okay?” asks Jayson, squeezing his hand into a fist over his heart.
Jayson's heart is beating erratically, with every pump leaving a pulsing pressure in his chest. And while Jayson and Dixie run Lexia's shoulders, the harlequin-hare trembles. Tears drip down her cheeks as she stares wide-eyed at the floor, and her bitten arm bends, bringing her to clench her teeth.
“For the briefest... For a moment... I saw him... I saw my dad...” says Lexia, short of breath.
“Artemis?” gasps Dixie.
“He had a hole in his head and holes all over his body. And he was dirty, like when they found him in the ditch,” says Lexia.
Derrick takes a stiff step back, Trafford rubs his chin thoughtfully, and Jayson rubs his sore heart. A couple seconds later, Lexia grabs her head with one hand while her bitten arm struggles to keep her up.
“Come with me, Lexia. Take my hand, Lexia. Come with me, Lexia!” she says frantically.
Her injured arm gives out, and she slams her head on the floor, whimpering and trembling.
“I can't go to him! Not yet! It's too early to go to him! They have to pay for what they did to him!” sobs Lexia. She then slams her head on the floor. “Mama Bear!”
She bangs her head on the floor again.
“Her Syndicate!”
Lexia bangs her head harder. She tears at her hair.
“Every!”
Lexia squeezes her eyes shut and rams her head against the floor, breaking her skin.
“Last!”
Another slam of her head on the floor. Blood coats her brown and white fur and sticks to her thick hair.
"ONE!”
"Lexia, stop!” begs Dixie, tugging on her shoulder.
Jayson can only watch, too stunned to speak, and Derrick steps back, watching with wide eyes as Lexia slams her head on the floor one last time. She remains there, tears mixing with blood, and she grits her teeth and digs her fingers into her head as she trembles and whimpers.
“It's okay, Lexia,” coos Dixie softly, rubbing her hand on her shoulder.
“No, it's not!” cries Lexia. “They almost killed you. They almost took you from me like they took my dad from me. They must die. All of them. Must. DIE!"