6: PURSUIT

She turned slightly, revealing a lock of silver hair.

"This doesn't concern you. Please, leave."

"You're killing her," Neon pointed out, "And if you want information, you can't get it from a dead person."

"Right, well maybe I don't want information anymore and maybe I want her dead."

He clicked his tongue. Trouble was something he actively avoided, but right now, he wasn't so sure it wanted to avoid him.

"Let her down, and tell me about the Entity you fought," he said.

She turned again, and with his heightened senses he could see the sharp outline of her cheekbones, her nose, her dark green eyes. He could also smell her rage, slow and controlled.

"You're with the Maegen, aren't you? A Warden." She said softly.

Above her, the woman's eyes were shutting close, as her breaths started slowing down.

Neon held out his index finger, aimed up at her hand and fired. A thin blue bolt shot out, hitting her on the wrist.

She released the woman with a slight hiss, dropping her to the concrete with a thud.

"Oh, Lords." She turned completely now, facing Neon. "Fuck is your problem, man?"

"You're killing her. I can't stand by and watch that."

She scoffed. "Right. But you can watch your organization kick out those who have dedicated their whole lives to them just because they got a bit weaker, right?"

He released a sigh. "Your grievance is with the organization, not me. Now, the Entity…"

"I don't have time for this." She held out her gloved hand above the woman, and it glowed a faint purple. "Step back, or I blast her to heavens come."

Neon forced back a smirk. She very clearly did not know his rank, neither had she heard of him.

"Alright."

He placed one foot backward, and then in a burst of wind, he was standing beside her. He gripped her wrists and the glow in her gloves died down.

Her eyes widened. "What the…?"

"I've shut down your tekhans for the time being. Now, tell me what I need to know."

She wrinkled her nose and pulled her wrists back out of his grip.

"You can go back to the kernel you came from. I don't have business with your people."

"You were once a Hunter, weren't you?" Neon asked.

"Like hell you care."

She stooped down and grabbed the woman by her coat lapels. She sat up with a groan, the stony look on her face had lessened a bit, and her eyes quivered with what seemed to be fear.

"Now tell me. If it wasn't you, then who put me on that thing's trail? Why did they do it? Who are they?!"

The woman on the ground was afraid, that much Neon could tell. It showed in her eyes as the Rogue grabbed her coat lapels, but it wasn't the person in front of her that she was afraid of. There was something else…

Neon started to stop her, but a quick movement behind him caught his ears.

"Move!"

He pushed the Rogue out of the way, just as the sharp whiz of a bullet split the air. The woman went limp against the wall, a trail of blood trickling thin from her head.

He snapped around, just in time to spot the shooter slipping behind a roof.

"Hikaru!" He barked into his tekhan. "We have a situation…"

"Ahead of you, brother." Hikaru streaked past the street in front of the alleyway, hotly pursuing the assassin. "Didn't think I'd miss out on the fun, eh?"

Neon clicked his tongue and turned back to the Rogue, but she ran past him in a breeze.

"Hells," he cursed, and pursued after her.

She was fast, running at a pace he had never seen on a Rogue Hunter before. But then, there was no one nearly as fast as he was.

He caught her cloak before she got to the highway, sending a paralyzing shock down her back at the same time. She hissed out a half curse, then dropped to the ground unconscious.

7.30 PM, UPTOWN, NODERYN CITY

Whoever the hooded killer was, they were highly skilled, thought Hikaru, as he gave chase. He took the street below, while his target jumped from roof to roof almost silently, but he kept up with their scent.

The assassin was turning right, taking an opening into the taller buildings of the city. Hikaru followed suit, leaping to the top of a hair salon in a flash.

"Okay, this is getting boring," he muttered after a while. Taking a deep breath, forcing it to every part of his muscles, he leapt forth in a burst, catching up to his target.

"Stop."

The assassin obeyed, apparently recognizing the click in his tekhan as he did so.

"Turn around, slowly."

They stood atop a high-rise apartment building, with the winds whipping his coat about and carrying the sounds of Noderyn nightlife. It would have been a beautiful sight and a beautiful night if he wasn't chasing a killer.

The assassin turned. Clad in a black jacket and a black hood over a mask with two black holes for eyes, there was nothing to give away an identity.

"Take off the mask."

She chuckled. The voice was thin and high and sinister, but there was no mistaking that it was a feminine one.

She held up her hand. "See you around, Hikaru."

She stepped back and fell off the ledge before he could move. When he hurried to the spot and looked over, she was gone.

8.47 PM, MAEGEN SAFE HOUSE, NODERYN CITY.

Akira blinked. The view in front of her blurred dangerously and her head wobbled a bit.

She blinked some more, raising her head with a soft groan. Bones in her neck cracked with relief, stretching from what must have been hours of immobility.

There were voices coming from the next room.

Room?

She looked down and saw that she was tied to a chair at her forearms, her waist and her calves, in the middle of the room with two beds, an adjoining door and nothing else. Not even a window.

She started to struggle, then she realized her gloves were gone. The voices had also stopped. Almost immediately, the door swung open and she jerked her head back.

Two men walked in; one with short dark hair and piercing black eyes, while the other had long golden hair and eyes that seemed to gleam with the light. One wore a black shirt and the other had a white shirt on.

It was like staring at the same person, but in separate bodies and an entirely separate fashion sense.

"Drink up," said the dark-haired one as he placed a glass of water in front of her lips. He held a chair in the other hand.

"Let me out of here," she responded quietly.

"No can do," he replied, handing the cup to his twin and sitting astride the chair in front of her, "Now I'm going to ask you for the third time about the creature you captured."