A Missed Shot

Chapter Sixteen

then

Scarlet slips out into the night with an all black leather attire and a silk mask to cover her nose and mouth. She quickly and quietly passes through the alleyways, blending in with the shadows. She finally reaches her destination — the Victoria Mansion. She picks the lock and slips in, closing the door and pulls her mask down from her face, staying in a squatting position.

She turns on her comm and mutters into it, "Okay, the Red what?"

The Overseer responds, "The Red Queen. Remember this is a Devil's Arm, just like Rebellion and Yamato. If you can wield it, it'll be bound to you. And when a Devil's Arm is first bound to its master, it can get rough."

"Can." She continues looking around. She goes onto the second floor and turns on the camera on her comm. "Yo. Is that it?" She turns on the night vision.

"Yeah, that's it."

She cracks her neck and rolls up her sleeves. "Let's start the party." She plants her right hand on the handle of the blade. After a deep breath she pulls and it eventually comes out of the rock it was in. After a few seconds of holding the blade in her hand, she drops it and it clatters to the floor. Scarlet cripples down to one knee, screaming in excruciating pain. She opens hers eyes that are now purple and her veins visibly change to that colour as well. She grips her right arm which is slowly changing into a demonic form. Her palm and nails turned to a bright neon cyan colour. Her nails stretched out to an inhumane level. Her screams now seem to be merged with a demonic voice. She passes out with the Red Queen barely within reach of her left hand.

* * *

When she comes to, she's on a bullet train to Miami. Her right arm is wrapped up in bandages except for her fingers. The Red Queen was bound to her now. She can summon it at any time, similar to Destiny with Yamato and Ellie with Rebellion. She doesn't question anything that happened late last night. She passes it as a dream. However, that wouldn't explain the bandaging around her arm. She whispers into her comm, but doesn't get a response.

now

Scarlet watches from a large crowd and sees Destiny with a random woman. She mutters into her comm. "O-See, you there?"

He responds, "Copy. Go ahead."

"Who's the chickadee with Destiny?"

The camera on Scarlet's comm whirs as if it were zooming in. "That's Alisa."

"The bitch has got a mark on her neck."

"And on her back. She's our operative on the inside. She joined our affiliation first, so don't worry. She can be trusted."

"You realize every time you say that, it's about a person who should never have been trusted in the first place?"

"Huh. Good point."

Scarlet begins walking slowly as she watches the two get into a car. "Hey, they're on the move." She picks up the pace in her walk. "Black Mercedes Benz. 2002 model. 'S' series. Running the plate numbers." She points the police scanner she stole from Rick at the car. "Got it. Sending the information to you now. Keep a track on it."

Now in the car with Alisa, Destiny is uncomfortably shifting in her seat. Alisa seemed to have taken notice. "Don't worry. You're safe with me."

Destiny glares at Alisa. "Sorry darling, I have trust issues. You're lucky I haven't ganked you yet."

She snickers. "I know." Alisa begins to pull off onto the road ahead. She clicks on the radio and listens in. The music pumps through the bass amplified speakers, sending vibrations with every sound wave. About half an hour goes by as they ride in silence on an empty back road. The car completely shuts down and a voice chimes in on the radio as Alisa fiddles with the keys in the ignition to try and get the car back booted up.

"Alisa," Destiny begins, "the hell is wrong with your car?"

Alisa begins to reply but a voice comes through the radio. "Hello, Destiny." Whoever this woman was wasn't a good one given how Alisa gasped and shuddered at the sound of the voice.

"Who are you," Destiny replied in a cold tone.

Alisa is still trembling in fear and failing at her attempts to keep it under wraps. She whispers and glances at Destiny, "Ellie."

Ellie giggles in an evil matter. "That's right, doll." Destiny forms a scowl among her face, glowering at the radio as if she wanted to drive a blade through it. Now directing her attention towards Destiny, Ellie begins to speak once more.

"Here's how this thing is gonna go down, sweetheart. You will not kill me. I. Will kill. You. So I don't care what little fancy mind games and tricks you can play. I will win because bigger is better. Man, all these rulers, and you still come up short." The engine is visibly beginning to catch on fire. "Well, my time is u—"

Destiny cuts her off. "You can't kill me with this."

Ellie lets out a giggle before resuming. "No. But it'll hurt like hell. And as for your newly acquired pet? Well, she's gonna burn here and in Hell. Bye now." She makes a kissy noise before the roar and uprise of the flames become stronger.

Destiny's eyes begin to glow a bright blue as she groans in pain. The sound of wind whooshing in her ears seems to be growing louder and louder before everything goes black. But it's just for a second. She has no vision nor hearing. Then things kick back up into speed. Her senses return as her eyes return to their normal colour before she realizes that she's laying down on the road outside a few feet away from the car. She groans a final time as she stands up, not feeling any pain in surprise. She calls out for Alisa who is struggling to get out of the car. From the nearby woods, a phantom-like blue hand reaches out. The more it stretched out, the larger it seemed to appear. The hand rips off the car door and Alisa runs out towards Destiny while they both pant for air.

Alisa gives her a look of grace with a smile but it quickly fades as Destiny shakes her head. "That wasn't. . .me." They turn their glances towards the woods as a familiar redheaded woman appears from the trees and Destiny gasps in shock.