Starry Eyed Fighters

Chapter 9: Aquila Mansion?

The room's atmosphere shifted, every eye fixed on Bad (GBU). Rindex, utterly shocked by what had just happened to Rex, collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, fainting from the sheer intensity of the situation. Rex, desperately trying to stop the bleeding, reached into his pocket for his glove. But before he could do anything, another bullet rang out, shooting the glove from his hand and pinning it to the nearby wall with some kind of web-like substance.

Belle, catching sight of the second bullet from the corner of her eye, thought, "Damn it, he's too fast! That bullet—looks like some kind of web shot, stickin' that glove to the wall." Acting on impulse, Belle tried to discreetly cast an Elven healing spell, "lámhaigh stitch (Stitch Shot)," from her pointer finger toward Rex behind her back. But before she could complete the spell, a bullet grazed her ear, halting her attempt.

"Feckin' hell, he's quicker than I thought!" Belle muttered under her breath, her heart pounding in frustration.

"Cut the bullshit knife ears (racist elf term); I like seeing the little nigger suffer, and if I were you, I would start thinking of myself right now," said Bad. "Knife ears," Belle thought, grinding her teeth, insulted. "How the feckin' hell does he know I'm an elf?" Belle whispered to herself. Touching her face with both hands, a shiver of fear nips down her spine and into her stomach, with her ultimately concluding her mask fell off. "Impossible, we were only in that maze for at least a few hours, but not nearly close enough to my time limit," Belle mouths out loud by accident.

"That scatterbrained librarian or that little fella didn't fill y'all in, huh?" Bad chuckles. Additionally, Bad says, "Judgin' by the look on yer face, y'all definitely know. "Time moves a bit different in that there maze. One hour in there's like ten hours outside. I'm mighty surprised that damn mask didn't fall off sooner."

"Screw the maze—how in the name of hell did ye catch up to us without a guide?" Rex spat out, struggling to speak while clutching his injury.

Bad glanced at his watch, which read 3 minutes left. "Alright, enough of the chit chat. I've got a job to do, and if you're so curious about how I caught up, you can check yer messy hair and those long ears o' yours," Bad said, his voice dripping with malice, throwing in a racist jab at Belle's Elven heritage. The eerie sound of his spider legs click-clacking against the floor echoed in the room as he crept closer to Belle.

Like the final touch on a cake, Bad reached out and gripped Belle's head with his long, slender fingers, knocking her beanie off in the process. His hand, cold and sharp, completely engulfed her head. Two other hands roamed over her body, groping her, feeling for her most vulnerable spots. Her duffle bag was tossed to the side, landing near the fainted Rindex. Bad's grip tightened as he eased the barrel of his gun against Belle's temple.

Belle, angry but resolute in maintaining her composure, remained still, letting him do as he pleased. But his earlier comment about her hair nagged at her. Gritting her teeth, she ran her fingers through her hair, carefully avoiding the cryptid's sharp touch. Her search revealed a tiny black device shaped like a spider nestled in her locks. "He literally bugged me," she thought with a scowl, holding the device in her hand.

"Well now, there it is. Good job, darlin'," Bad sneered. "Been trackin' ye since that old Astralpire Village." His voice took on a twisted tone of delight as he continued, "And now, finally, we can claim the reward we've been promised... yer tasty elf flesh." He licked his lips, his gaze dark and sadistic.

"Astralpire? Hold on... Elf flesh?!" Belle's mind spun, trying to process the disturbing words.

"No!" Rex shouted, his voice filled with despair. Bad, finger on the trigger, sneered, "Endin' ye now gives me plenty o' time to have me fun with ye, and those other two can get ready for the boss's arrival."