Foxtail moved as quickly as possible from above the warehouse platforms. The occasional yell could be heard from the side of the building, Itzhak keeping the Banshee busy and distracted. She was being cautious even now, taking those moments of yelling as indication to move just a bit further and faster, a sign of her paying attention to her melee and not Foxtail above.

She could see them now, the Meister squirming in his seat with unease, Maw unnaturally calm but brimming with anger, and her bruised and battered Peepers. Foxtail jumped through her echoes and emerged in front of the hostages.

“Who are you?” The Meister rasped in a hurried whisper, looking over Foxtails shoulder before looking back at her.

“I’m your savior. Your assistant, Jin, sent us to rescue you.” Foxtail replied. She moved behind the large dishevelled man and cut at his bindings with a small blade. He took a deep breath and removed his shirt, flinging the blood soaked rag on the floor. Foxtail could see the strips of skin removed from his body, flesh scabbed over with a murky yellow leakage coming out of some of the inflamed wounds.

“It feels good to let them breath. Give me a moment, lass.” The Meister closed his eyes and continued to take deep breaths.

“I see you’ve become a bit of a professional, saving the client before your friend…” Peepers whispered in a joking tone. He attempted to chuckle but winced at the attempt.

“Well since you’ve been gone, I’ve had to act as the brains of our operation. Not really suited for it, turns out.” Foxtail replied, giving him a comforting smirk. She turned to his bindings and sliced through them, making sure to wipe any tears welling up in her eyes, and waited for Peepers to stand on his own two feet.

“I don’t suppose you-” Peepers was interrupted by Foxtails hug, her arms clinging to his frail and bruised form as gingerly as possible. Whatever he was going to say, he stopped, at least for the moment.

“Hey,” the Meister cut in, “I’m glad to see this rescue situation brought you two together but we’ve got to leave before she notices we’re gone.” Foxtail looked into Peepers eyes and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“I’ll inform you on the situation in a moment. Give me a sec to take care of this one.” Foxtail pointed to Maw and walked towards him.

“Is she still here?” Maw asked in a cold and measured tone. Foxtail untied him and nodded.

“Yeah. One of my friends is currently keeping her busy but I’m gonna have to jump in and assist once we get the lot of you out of here.” Foxtail answered. Before she could turn around, her arm was gripped tight at the wrist by Maw.

“I am going to help take her down.” Before Foxtail could object to his statement, he let her go and ran off in the direction of combat.

“Let him suffer a fool’s death. Whatever your plan for escape is, do it now before she takes notice of us.” The Meister was standing up now and clearly impatient to get a move on. She turned to look back at Maw before shaking her head and committing to the rescue operation. She focused her attention on the echoes that had been bound outside.

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Are you ready Maribelle? Foxtail called out to the little black echo outside. The echoes near Foxtail converged into a small black puddle. The two of them took notice of the puddle and gave her confused glances.

“Just jump in the puddle. You’ll emerge out on the other side of this warehouse. The two of you need to run back to the workshop as quickly as possible. Jin should be waiting for you.” Foxtail could feel Maribelle’s strength waning, the little echo disappearing in the back of her mind.

“Good luck, Foxtail.” Peepers gave Foxtail a kiss on the cheek and jumped through the murky waters. She felt him come out the other side of the building unscathed. The Meister followed immediately afterward, leaving her alone to her thoughts.

Goodbye, friend… Foxtail felt Maribelle disappear from her band of echoes, the power she’d reserved to influence her own abilities spent with the little one.

“Goodbye, Maribelle.” She said audibly, turning around to focus on the action at the entrance. She could still hear the Banshee shout and the crackling of electricity but there were more pauses in between the action.

——————————————————————————————————————–

Itzhak was being given a run for his money. How novel of a combatant to be using sound as a weapon. He could barely contain himself with excitement, and it showed with every haymaker and straight thrown her way. She was nimble and graceful, moving around like a dancer on the battlefield, inching close to deliver a screech and discombobulate his senses until his mind was nothing but mush.

And her weapon was nothing to sneeze at either.

If Itzhak attempted to push an advance, a million strings would cut through the air to keep him from moving any further. Sure, an electric blast from his fist would cause the strings to overload and temporarily halt, but all she needed were moments to pull away and regain her advantage in combat.

“Meatheads like you cut up nicely!” She yelled through her voice modulator. The strings on her weapon tore through the ground and towards him. She was making an advance of her own.

“I don’t take kindly to being called a meathead. I did not live in the Undergrowth and the Blade Garden on muscle alone!” Itzhak replied, charging his fist with energy. He released his attack onto the ground, sending a shockwave across the area. The loose pieces of sheet metal either knocked down from their melee or had been there since the warehouse had fallen to disrepair radiated electricity, keeping her advance at bay. He swung with his fists, letting loose two small balls of energy her way. With more limited ground to walk on, she stumbled in her evasive maneuver.

There! He pounced at the window of opportunity, smashing his fist squarely onto her midsection. The Banshee was sent flying towards empty containers.

The celebration was short lived, however. His opponent had tricks of her own.

——————————————————————————————————————–

Foxtail came into the scene just as it felt their fight was drawing to a close. Itzhak had nicks and cuts on his body but he was otherwise able to continue. The Banshee didn’t show any signs of stopping. She watched as Itzhak restricted his opponent’s mobility and pounced with all of his strength for a heavy punch.

The Banshee was sent flying to a corner, empty crates bursting with force.

Foxtail turned to Itzhak and froze in horror. His arm was mangled beyond all recognition, compressed and flattened with an unsatisfying squish. If it hurt, Itzhak was too high on adrenaline to feel it.

“I went ahead and returned that to you. I hope you don’t mind.” The Banshee pulled out a few more gravitational traps from her sleeves. The one attack had done visible damage to her suit and likely damage to her person, but their main combatant at the moment was handicapped now.

Fuck.