A number of people had been outside the hotel when James escaped its confines via the third-floor window. Now that the initial shock had passed, they were running away from the Dire Forest Wolf even as it took off down the streets.

"Attack!" The biker yelled, pointing at James and his giant wolf. The Bushido Frog turned and began to dash in their direction even as the biker turned around to point his motorcycle in their direction. The armored bipedal frog was less, assuming that the giant wolf, despite its strong hop, couldn't make up the required ground to do more than shave a few hairs from the tip of the wolf's tail.

Fighting had turned out to be a rather terrible idea, James reflected as he grasped tightly to the back of the wolf. The pain in his leg was causing his vision to blur, but he shook his head even as the monster loped along.

He wasn't sure why or how he had managed to ride it without it attacking him like the other monsters. He honestly didn't know how most of the commands worked.

Sure, commands like "Attack" and "Defend" made sense, but there seemed to be a wide variety of things a monster understood. It probably varied depending on the monster. After all, he couldn't see a Wandering Pixie offering to be ridden.

These details seemed rather important now that James thought about them, and knowing such information would have been immediately helpful as he tried to persuade his mount to go around a corner.

"Left! Go left!" James said as the wolf ignored his command and continued past the side street, even as the sound of the motorcycle revved behind him. Cars swerved and skidded to a stop, even as the wolf dodged and wove around the traffic.

Shouts and panicked drivers called out, car horns blared, and even a few phones came out to record James' frenzied escape.

James risked a glance back only to almost release his grip in shock. The biker, the man from the alley, whatever his name was, wasn't deterred by any obstacles and found holes in the traffic to keep up with James. In fact, he was catching up rather quickly.

The street near the hotel wasn't the busiest part of the city and offered a largely open road for his pursuit. James turned back and glanced at a road that would lead deeper into the city. He released a hand to point towards it. "Go that way!"

This time, the monster obeyed without hesitation and dashed around the corner, almost throwing James off its back again. James grabbed at the fur and tried to hold on.

His leg was still in agony, but his heart was beating rapidly in his chest, and his head was slowly clearing despite his injuries.

The traffic was picking up, and his wolf was causing chaos around him. The motorcyclist had fallen a few car lengths behind. But just as James began to hope for an easy escape, a Bushido Frog landed on the road ahead of him, its webbed hand on the hilt of its sheathed blade.

"Jump!" James yelled without thinking. The Dire Forest Wolf obeyed quickly, launching James and itself high above the traffic, even as the faux samurai amphibian swung its blade out in a broad arc.

A blade of energy extended from the blade, and a deep horizontal furrow was carved into the ground where James and his wolf had just been.

The creature was left behind as the wolf, with James holding on tightly, landed behind it. James wasn't sure his heart could beat much faster and felt a little lightheaded from the countless events that had happened to him. He wasn't even sure where the monster had come from or how it had gotten ahead of him.

But it had gone well for James regardless as he entered a road with deadlocked traffic. "Finally," he sighed as his Dire Forest Wolf leaped up onto the top of the cars and ran across the roofs of the vehicles, leaving dents and cracking Glass with each step.

He felt almost smug as he glanced back at the rider and flipped the man the bird. He had gotten hung up on a group of cars that had closed off his path in a panicked fender bender.

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For some reason, the man seemed to take offense at James' action as he revved the engine, and his motorcycle did a wheelie and came down on the back of a smaller vehicle before he gunned the engine.

"No..." James said as he watched the motorcycle climb up the car and land on the roof of a pair of vehicles. Glass shattered and roofs bent inward as the bike started driving over several shorter vehicles, rapidly closing the distance. "How!"

What was he? James cursed to himself. Some kind of fucking action hero? The motorcycle launched from a particularly slanted back end. It landed back on the pavement between two columns of vehicles, with a clear path to James.

The situation was rather dire. While the heavy traffic had stopped his adversary for a moment, it had also slowed his progress.

Making a decision, he directed the wolf to turn down a side road with less traffic, once again slowing his pursuer. But it would also give him more room to maneuver once he got past the vehicles blocking his way.

James' focus wandered for a moment before he shook his head. His injuries weren't getting any better. He steeled himself and looked around for anything he could do to lose the bastard.

But there was nothing except for...

"FUCK!" James said as the Bushido Frog landed ahead of him and sunk its blade into the back of the wolf. A coppery taste filled his mouth as the blade struck only inches from James' face, splattering blood over his face. The wolf roared in pain as it bucked and twisted. The damn thing had come out of nowhere once again.

Not really thinking, he punched the monster in the face. The creature felt soft and a bit wet, but the sudden punch caught it off guard for some reason. It didn't appear particularly harmed as it fell to the ground. But that didn't last long, as the wolf turned swiftly and crunched down on its head a moment later.

"Run!" James ordered as he wiped the blood from his stinging eyes and pulled the sword from the wolf's back, causing more blood to spurt from the wound. The wolf had stopped entirely from the ambush, and James had larger issues to worry about. The wolf dropped the battered frog and took off again, but now with a slight limp on its left side.

But a roaring engine was already sounding from the entry to the side street. James pushed his wolf onwards before finally arriving at a steel fence to a construction site. It was what he had seen earlier before the ambush. After being directed to do so, the wolf jumped and scrambled over it with some difficulty. The fence was badly bent while doing so, but he could do nothing about it.

The site's ground was covered with dirt and gravel. Large, heavy machinery covered the area, and a partially constructed building stood bare to the slowly darkening sky overhead.

James had reached the other side of the lot before he slid off the back of the Dire Forest Wolf. Using the frog's sword as a crutch, he walked a few feet and propped himself up against some trailer. Shaking his head to clear it, he looked at his leg. His entire leg and foot were drenched, the pantleg sticking to him. The pain was starting to really get to him, causing him to shudder. He knew he couldn't keep this up.

But just as he began to pull out his cards, a crashing sound resounded from the far end of the lot. Parts of the fence crumbled to the ground as it was cut into several pieces. Two Bushido Frogs stood beside the rider, one a bit worse for wear. The man turned in his direction and pointed. A proverbial obstacle course lay between James and him, and it wasn't the friendliest locale for riding a motorcycle, or so he hoped.

Still, James didn't hesitate as he placed his chosen cards on the slate, and two more Dire Forest Wolves appeared before him. He pointed at the man and frogs, which had begun to advance toward him, the motorcycle spraying gravel and sand as it did. "Attack!"

The three wolves loped towards him, and James dropped the slate as he limped behind the trailer.

James quickly unslung his backpack and tossed it to the ground before attacking it. He had escaped pursuit once before, and he could do it again.

He tried to calm himself even as his wolves whimpering and yelping sounded behind him. He pulled out the '???' and Puppeteer cards and placed them on the slate.

The world changed once more in moments, and James looked down at... her hands. The powerful sensations that attacked her enhanced senses were familiar now. She was no longer injured, and the pain from her damaged leg was entirely absent. She noted that she wore the same cheap clothing she had purchased before. She shook her head, took no more time to take stock, and snatched up her backpack from the ground.

James focused even as she ran towards the gate, her large ears turning back towards the familiar sound of an engine dying. She wasn't here, she didn't exist, and no one could see her. She tried to focus, but the sounds of her wolves were gone, replaced with three different footfalls.

She didn't bother to look back as she jumped and slid over the retaining wall that held the gate. As she went over, she saw the man looking almost in her direction. His helmet was off, and his motorcycle was parked.

Moments later, she hopped down and booked it for a nearby alleyway. But even as she did so, the gate was sliced to pieces, and the two Bushido Frogs emerged. They didn't seem to be able to see her, but both still turned in her direction.

That was the last she saw of them as she turned the corner into the alleyway.