Sweet Felony

The Hostage

Back with Aru's force...

Now, the battle was down to four on each side. Aru's team had their three most experienced members still standing, plus Aru herself. On the Alu side, the four kids who had flipped the lights were the only ones left.

Fine, Aru thought, that's pretty much even.

Aru jumped backward as the tall girl with the mace swung wildly in a circle, trying to hit Aru. Thankfully, she found some high ground on a table, and dodged the mace's blow by an inch. The girl swung once again, this time, aiming for Aru's feet. Aru jumped again, rocking the table she was standing on. She managed a crouched landing on the floor. The girl lifted her mace up while Aru was still on the floor, trying to go in for a knockout, but there, she saw her chance.

Almost in slow motion, Aru moved forward as the mace swung down. She sprung up from her position on the floor, grabbed the mace's handle from the other girl's grip, and sent the mace flying into a wall.

"Pick on someone your own size," Aru hissed coldly, before shoving the tall girl in the same direction as her mace.

Mace Girl was knocked out. One down, three to go.

Aru moved ahead. She had lost the rifle and her regular firearms, but that was no matter. With mace girl's defeat, she had proved she could fight even without a weapon.

I still have my knife, Aru said to herself.

Suddenly, she felt the touch of a cold wooden staff on her shoulder.

"What were you saying about picking on people your own size?"

Aru whirled around, trying to see who made the remark.

It was that short girl, the one with the staff. One end of the staff was in her hands, the other on Aru's shoulder. Scary.

Oh, the audacity, Aru quipped in her head. She nearly snorted.

"So, you gonna abide by your own rules?"

Aru smirked under her mask. "I'm a gangster. I break rules for fun."

The other girl's face was stoic. Aru rolled her eyes, even though the girl couldn't see it.

"I take it you're not one for banter, then."

The other girl's eyes narrowed. "I'll get to the point. Why are you and your gang even here?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Aru tutted. "That's classified."

Truth be told, not even Aru knew the reason behind the raid. On the surface, it seemed to be another shallow attack to spite the Alu gang. But if you knew the Sleeper like Aru did, you'd know that there certainly was a reason for every move, detonation, and sabotage. You just didn't know what that reason was. But it was better to keep that information to herself. The Alu gang didn't need to know.

The shorter girl retracted her staff. For a second, it seemed the girl was willing to let Aru go off, but Aru knew better than that. She instinctively prepared for the staff's blow. Wham. The impact had a surprising amount of force, sending Aru tumbling to the ground. Using her shoulder as a brace, Aru skidded to a stop near a shelf filled with... smoke bombs.

Thank God we tried to infiltrate the weapons chamber, of all places, Aru thought.

The girl with the staff approached her, and Aru knew she had to act fast. There was no way she could get to the smoke bombs fast enough by getting up. She would have to bring the bombs down somehow.

Frantic, she looked around. All she could see were crumpled Ghataka and Alu members. And the shelf leg. If she could unsteady it somehow...

The girl with the staff was even closer, and considering the time Aru had left, she had to hurry, before the girl unmasked her.