World at war.

Gale: Shit...

Gale knows he can't aim at Titus with him so close to Katy. He aims at Cullen instead, taking a shot and managing to hit Cullen in the shoulder plate.

---

Cullen: A sniper. Too bad he forgot the wind.

---

Katy powers through her pain and Titus feels a sharp stab in the foot, and by some miracle, the same spot that Tesla stabbed before. This causes Titus to back off, towards the city.

Katy: Gotcha.

Katy gets up and sprints for her gun and Cullen does the same. Despite the fact that she was in pain, she beat Cullen to it. Titus then gets a pair of slashes across his back as Kunoichi runs into the fight.

Cullen: It's time to even the odds.

A duplicate of Cullen walks out of his body.

Cullens: The numbers are even now. It is a fair match. Titus, take care of Tesla. She's the big threat.

Cullen took Gale as a non-factor. This cockiness could bite him but he didn't care. One Cullen has a standoff with Katy, giving her a chance to catch her breath, while the other walks towards Kunoichi.

Cullen B: You have been a thorn in Lee's side. You know too much.
Kunoichi: Just because I can see the truth to his ways doesn't mean I know too much.
Cullen B: The truth? The truth is that Victor will bring the end to the world. There will never be peace so it's better to eliminate the threats.
Kunoichi: No, that's not true! (translated from Japanese to English here) The one who will save the world is the one who controls what the world is mostly made of.
Cullen B: What was that?
Kunoichi: It's what a wise man told me before he died!

Kunoichi charges at Cullen B, taking a slash at him but Cullen B blocks it. Cullen B swings at Kunoichi, who dodges it.

---

Victor: Big mistake.

Victor sends a large wave of water at Troy and runs behind it. The wave absorbs Troy's attacks and by the time Troy can figure out what's going on, he has an X across his chest from Victor's cross swing with his axes.

Victor: I made a mistake the last time, I took it easy on you.

---

Dean: That was Gale. If Gale aimed for a headshot, then her brain is the weakness.

Dean follows Gale's idea and starts shooting at Jenny's head instead of her body, aiming for an instant kill by taking out her brain. Dean still kept the fight at a distance.

---

Hawkeye and Clinger meet Serena's group outside of the hospital. They all enter, heading to Sandra's room. Robin told Jean that she didn't know anything while they waited.

Serena: Hawkeye, Clinger, get Sandra in that wheelchair. We are getting out of here, it's not as safe as we hoped.

Serena was calm during this and Hawkeye and Clinger went to help Sandra into the wheelchair. Hawkeye started telling another story of when he was a surgeon in the army. Heat bursts into the room, panting and with a lot of backpacks.

Heat: I got your clothes, some food, and some water...here.

Heat starts tossing bags to everybody but Suzuna and Robin. However he hands Katarina her bag, noticing that she looked lost with all of the commotion.

Now able to go one on one Titus go's after Tesla. While Katy's stab hurt it hadn't seemed to slow him down to much. Tesla counter charges and the two collide, Titus strength overpowers Tesla quickly and he knocks her back before going invisible. Tesla was expecting this and know she could survive against Titus for a bit before her powers started failing. Wanting to get a sense of Titus fighting style, Tesla awaited Titus blow. As with Katy the attack came from the front as Tesla suddenly felt a force lift her and slam her to the ground. When grounded there was repeated strikes to her stomach area and Titus appeared repeatedly stomping away at her.

Tesla: He has a new power but don't know how to use it. He still attacks straight forward like a brawler and isn't tactical with it.

Tesla was quickly getting to know what to expect, now she just had to create separation before he broke through her defense.

---

Troy: Damnit, damnit, why don't you fuckers just fucking die!!

Troy was quickly losing his cool and gathered large amounts of fire, Victor could feel a lot of heat before Troy even attacked. Troy launched forward a large fiery attack so hot that when it collided with Victor's water, it started making boiling hot steam instead of going out instantly. Troy was steadily feeding the fire, he thought if he could dry up Victor's water, that he could finish this fight.

---

Jenny is able o avoid shots to the head until Dean is forced a reload. Jenny makes her move but Dean is barely faster on the reload then Jenny is able to close the distance and Dean makes a perfect shot to Jenny's head. She falls back, seemingly to be dead by appearance.

---

Sandra: Wait are we under attack? How? I thought they couldn't find us, or at least couldn't break the wall?

Sandra immediately assumed the humans found them when Serena said they had to leave and Heat ran in with supplies.

Victor: Just what I wanted.

Victor takes one of his axes and appears to throw towards Troy. He misses Troy completely, causing Troy to laugh at his aim.

Victor: What's so funny?

Troy can hear creaking behind him as a large water tower falls right on top of him. Troy was so focused on getting to Victor that he completely forgot to check his surroundings. Victor however kept his cool, using the surroundings to his advantage.

---

Dean notices the wound on Jenny's head is starting to heal but doesn't heal completely. He stands over Jenny's body and takes another shot to her head, causing the healing to stop. Jenny's brain was a mess at this point with the bullets and falling to the ground tearing it up.

Dean: You should have known your own weakness and protected it.

Dean then takes out a lighter and lighter fluid and lights Jenny's body on fire, intending to burn it down to just the bones to avoid any other chances of regeneration.

---

Cullen: So 2 of those idiots are down and out.

Cullen watches his surroundings more carefully now. He doesn't make a move and neither does Katy.

Cullen: The big man hit you hard, are you sure you won't surrender?
Katy: Why are you giving me more chances?
Cullen: I can save your life. Lee had plans for you but the serum went wrong. If I bring you back alive and willing to work for him again, he might be willing to forget what you did.
Katy: Never...

Katy was just buying time to inject a painkiller via her leg. She gets up despite having some broken ribs and fires at Cullen point blank. This causes the Cullen, who turns out to be the duplicate, to merge back with him.

---

Heat: Calm the fuck down, you are safe as long as you are with me. I'm gonna kick Lee's ass and I'll need help, I don't intend to let you die.

Sandra calmed down out of fear of Heat if anything. The group moves out, following Serena's map. They head out the back of the hospital and into an air vent, this one being very large to let a good breeze in.

---

Kunoichi, now having time bought via Katy, rushes to Tesla's aid, doing a hit and run strategy and slashing Titus across his knee at the good leg. She used the blood on the rock to indicate where he is. Kunoichi proved to be a far more effective partner than Troy in an instant.

---

Cullen B (real Cullen): Retreat!

Cullen starts to retreat from the fight, getting blocked by Dean and Katy. Katy is standing at Dean's back, firing out the entrance to keep the soldiers at bay.

Dean: Where do you think you are going?

Being distracted now keeping Cullen at bay, Dean never did light Jenny on fire. While she was still out, we could see her wounds was still healing despite the shots to the head, but they was healing slower then other wounds she's sustained.

---

Tesla took note of where Kunoichi struck and could see Titus blood dripping as well. Getting back to her feet she dropped the diamond forum and closed the distance quickly on Titus in her regular state. She gave a quick slash of her knife across Titus stomach and backed off, due to the specialty of the blade it dropped Titus to one knee as he actually showed sighs of pain after losing his invisibility. Tesla takes a quick look at the blade somewhat in disbelieve.

Tesla: I can't believe it, this really works.

Dean had explained the importance of this blade and shown Tesla the book, but it took proof with her own eyes of the blade in action for her to really believe it. Tesla quickly refused, and attacked Titus from the side, planning to stab him i the side of the head. Just as she was about to do so however Titus jumped up from his knelled position hitting Tesla with a clothline type attack. The attack hit Tesla hard enough for her body to basically backflip before hitting the ground. Titus dropped to his knee again after knocking Tesla out. He was in quite a lot of pain from that slash, more then he should be feeling. But taking advantage of said pain allowed him to sucker Tesla in by making him look vulnerable.

Dean tosses his lighter behind him with it lit and it lands in the pool of lighter fluid next to Jenny's body, catching her on fire.

---

Kunoichi ran in again and gave Titus another quick slash to the back as she jumped over him, catching his attention. He couldn't move well but she did enough to buy Tesla time to get up. Zeik slowly walks up to Tesla.

Zeik: I got this, you 2 go help Katy and Dean.

Zeik transforms into a large american black bear (about 6'6, 298 lbs). He gets up on his hind legs and lifts Titus up with one front leg, then slashes across Titus' chest with the other, leaving him with a large gash that bleeds considerably. When Titus tries to make a move, Zeik makes it a deadlock, using pure muscle to hold Titus in place. While Zeik was smaller, he was much stronger than Titus. Tesla can see how lucky Titus was that Zeik wasn't part of Bloomingdale's defense since Zeik was handling Titus much better than she could, beating power with power.

---

Katy and Dean have to take cover when the soldiers get a chance to fire. However, they don't let Cullen just walk out.

---

Victor checks Troy's pulse. Troy is alive but clearly unconscious and very cold. However, Troy wakes up just after Victor checked his pulse since he just blacked out.

Victor: Give me a reason why I should let you live. You get one chance to convince me.

Victor wanted to be civil with Troy and give him a shot at living.

---

The group gets to the end of the vent and Heat kicks it open. Heat looks out, checking both ways, then steps out and fires a rpg to the south. Said RPG blows up in a group of scouts, taking them all out.

Heat: Come on and hurry. Kai, you know the most about this area, take us to a remote town.
Kai: Right. Heat north-west. There is a small fishing village that way.
Heat: You heard her, we are going north-west.

Heat gets the group out fast. The group moves with Heat going first, Serena is in the middle, pushing Kai, and Robin is in the back. The 3 of them are the lookouts, watching for any soldiers.

---

Bobby is running around, finding stuff to eat when he meets up with the archers, vikings, Jim, and the basketball team.

Bobby: Alright, I got stuff to eat, let's go help them.
Jim: Right.
Rebecca: We have to be a defensive line. If the humans of the white lands get into the city, somebody has to stop them.
Bobby: Last defense, I like that.

With Zeik fighting Titus, Kunoichi and Tesla are able to somewhat flake the soldiers that arrived. When the soldiers are fully aware of the two arrival they start splitting into groups with some going after Kunoichi, some going after Tesla, and now a smaller group left with Dean and Katy.

---

Troy: I could em... be a inside man on Lee's operations??

At this point Troy just wanted to get out of here. This fight obviously wasn't going in the favor of Lee's men.

---

During his struggles with Zeik, Titus catches a glimpse of smoke. However this wasn't Troy, this was over near Dean where a body was burning. Titus figures it must be Jenny which enrages him. In a rage filled, adrenaline pumping fury Titus forgets about any pain he was in. He uses all his strength to wrestle out of the deadlock and gives Zeik a strong punch to the face that knocks Zeik back on his back. Titus doesn't capitalize and turns away from Zeik rushing to Jenny's aid. He plows though anyone in his way even if it was soldiers, just pushing them all aside. When Titus reaches her he starts patting out the fire as well as using scoops of dirt. As his encounters with Troy showed, fire might eventually hurt him, but it takes a lot of fire consistently. He gets her out fast but see's Zeik was already back up. Titus had enough of this, he stood throwing Jenny's body over his shoulder holding her with one arm.

Titus: Enough of this. We're leaving.

Titus didn't know if Jenny could die, but he wasn't risking it in this battle that obviously wasn't favoring their odds. His focus was getting out.

---

Mia: Then lets get into position. The archers will find high vantage points to give cover fire. That means vikings and evo's cover the ground.

Even with his adrenaline, Titus wasn't able to outrun Zeik, who tackles him from behind after running on all 4 legs. Zeik then takes a bite out of Titus' shoulder as Jenny goes flying, miraculously back into the fire.

---

Victor: Wrong choice, I can't trust you to not go crawling back to Lee.

Victor takes his other ax in one hand and goes for a kill shot of chopping Troy's head off, using his foot to pin Troy down via his chest. Troy was cold and wet, he had no way of using his power.

---

Cullen manages to escape through cover fire. The men abandon everybody left inside the town and go into a full retreat.

Soldier: What about everybody else, General O'Brien?
Cullen: Consider them dead, they are playing under the mutants' terms now.

---

Kunoichi runs through the group of vikings, archers, and basketball players, setting the soldiers up to get killed. She stops on the other side of it.

Bobby: Well that also works. Ready to kick some butt?

The group Kunoichi had was small, only 5 soldiers. They are surrounded now and drop their weapons, hoping to be taken prisoner.

James: Big mistake. You guys broke our entrance and tried to attack.

Each original member of the basketball team shoots a soldier in the head, killing him. They leave the last to Jim, who picks up a gun and shoots him. Jim avoided using his power around his teammates.

Kunoichi: Thanks guys.

---

Dean gets ready to follow Cullen but Katy stops him. Katy takes her headphones off and puts them back around her neck after stopping the musing with her part of the fighting over.

Katy: There is no point in going, he'll leave these guys behind to save himself.
Dean: So we missed taking out one of their generals.

During this whole time the gunshots to Jenny's head has been healing up and she awakens before the fire could consume her. Her clothing at this point was fully burned off and she had to feel around the flame and hot cinders to find her blade. Nude and her her full body burned Jenny stood up throwing the blade that sticks into one of Zeik's legs.

Titus tries to fight back and manages to Zeik off his back. He go's to kick after that same leg Jenny hurt causing Zeik some pain. Titus backs away from Zeik and gets back to his feet, where Jenny join him. It hurt her just to walk, but one could see the damage repairing over time. Neither of them gave a shit about Troy and was watching their surroundings as they try again for the exit.

---

Tesla was able to handle the soldiers she took on with relative ease, but the shot from Titus had clearly rung her bell so to say. She was a little off her game, not making kills as cleanly as usually, and seemed a little dazed at times. She showed signs of maybe having a mild concussion, but she got her task done.

---

Troy: Wait I'll tell you everything I know about Lee.

In reality Troy knew little, Lee never let him see much outside of a rough layout of his base. But Troy was just attempting to think of anything to say just to survive.

Zeik had some pain but he pulled the knife out and threw it away before running after Titus again. Despite the fact that he had a bad leg, he still outran Titus and took him down, taking a bite out of his other shoulder. This was proving to be the death blow, Titus was bleeding way too much to survive at this point from the combination of Kunoichi, Tesla, and Zeik. Jenny was in shock to see Titus taken down when she feels the pain of a slash across her back. When Jenny looks at the entrance, Kunoichi is blocking it.

Kunoichi: You're not getting out of here that easily.

Kunoichi wasn't the fastest person in the world but she used her size and athleticism to her advantage, being able to run faster than the average person.

---

Victor: Lee wouldn't tell scum like you anything.

Victor takes his death blow at Troy, chopping at his neck.

---

Tesla hears a gunshot come from one of the roofs and a grunt behind her. A soldier tried to get the jump on her but he fell down dead with a shot to the head. Gale jumps off of the building and walks over to Tesla.

Gale: He was waiting to ambush you.

Tesla: Nice save then, thank you.

Tesla has a moment now to look over the battle field seeing Titus down, Jenny cornered, and Troy about to die.

Tesla: So they actually got that big fucker. I don't see Cullen, he must have escaped.

---

Jenny couldn't believe Titus was gone and seemed actually heartbroken to see him die. As the cut across her back closed, she realized even if she was to escape now, she would be be entirely along. She couldn't handle that as she fell to her knees, even shredding some tears as she whispered a few words to Titus before speaking out loud to the rest.

Jenny: Do it, end it. Find a way to end my life... chop my damn head off or something.

The thought of eternal life was quickly turning into a curse rather then a pleasure, and she wanted a way out.

---

Troy was about to die when a stray soldier went shooting after Victor. Mia had found one of the highest vantage points in town and could see almost everywhere, she took aim at the solder and put a arrow right though his back. Troy used the distraction to punch Victor in the face and run, stumbling along the way. Running along the wall he approached Kunoichi from the side, out of her line of sight. He bumped into her, knocking her back on her butt as he ran though the gate. This did provide a opening Jenny could of taken, but she never moved from Titus side.

Troy is quickly shot down from behind before he can exit. Dean is seen holding Katy's gun as he fired at Troy, making perfect contact and getting him in the back multiple times. When Troy gets up again, he finds Kunoichi waiting on the other side of the gate.

Kunoichi: That wasn't very nice.

---

Victor walks over to Jenny, seeing her crying. He hands her his blue cloak and she quickly put it on to be clothed.

Victor: We could end your life now, or we could help you get revenge on the man who brought Titus' end. Lee used you guys to try to take us out, and he gave you the curse of eternal life. We can take Lee out using the power he gave you against him, then Katy there has a friend who can reverse the effects of it. I'd be willing to forgive you for attacking Bloomingdale, and even let you be free, if you would be willing to help us.

Victor pointed to Katy when he mentioned her. He then looked at Jenny again and saw that she wanted revenge, Lee appeared to be helping them but he was just using them.

Victor: You wouldn't be the first person that Lee used as a pawn to try to get farther. Kai and Heat jumped sides for the same reason.

Zeik transformed back into human form when Titus died and Jenny started crying.

---

Gale: Are you injured?

Gale noticed Tesla looked off.

Tesla: I'm not quite sure. I took a hard shot from Titus, it's a wonder he never took my head off. I do have a headache and seem to be slightly off coordination.

---

Jenny was surprised by Victor's offer. She had been with Titus for years robbing villagers, she'd had attacked Bloomingdale, tried to kill members of the village, joined Lee. She didn't in all rights deserve no second chance. Seeing though as the opportunity has presented itself, She was quick to jump at it.

Jenny: I'll join. I will see that bastards blood will be spilled on my blade before I accept whatever fate is to become of me.

Titus and Jenny thought they could use Lee to seize control, but in turn got used themselves. Jenny by no means planned to turn hero, she'd spilled to much blood and knew hell was her final destination. However she could make sure to drag Lee with her into damnation.

---

Troy: Next time don't stand in the fucking way. Maybe you won't get knocked over.

Troy knew he was trapped. Only way out was through the air but he needed to dry off some to use his flame.

Troy Well fuck... a full town versus me. Haven't I already been in this situation once before.

Kunoichi (translated from Japanese to English): You bastard! You blindsided me!

Whenever Kunoichi started to get angry, she would speak more and more in Japanese. It was a habit she had and Troy just stood there, confused by what she said. He didn't speak Japanese, hell it would be surprised if he spoke more than just English. Taking advantage of Troy's confusion, Kunoichi runs past him, appearing to do nothing but in reality Kunoichi was fast and close enough to slice his neck with one of her blades. Kunoichi makes another run, slicing his back this time and she stops back in front of him.

Kunoichi: You are useless as a fighter when you can't use your power, how sad.

---

Victor: You were corrupted by Titus, I can see the truth in your eyes. While you respected him, you feared to make your own decisions because of his pure power. Behind that hard shell, you are a kind and compassionate lady.

Victor read Jenny like a book, she knew he was intelligent but she didn't know he was that intelligent.

---

Gale: The symptoms of a concussion. You need rest.

---

By going at Heat's pace, the group made it to the fishing village in record time, only taking a few hours instead of the normal 5+ hours.

Kai: I know the mayor here, I saved her village and her life from bandits before. She'll do everything she can to keep us secret and protected from Lee's army.
Heat: Good to know. We'll take the rest of our recovery time here.
Kai: It tends to rain every night in this region of the red lands, the tracks will wash away.
Serena: Kai, let's go see the mayor. Heat, you can take the others out for a meal so they don't have to cook.

Serena hands Heat a couple of gold coins.

Serena: That should be enough to pay for it.
Kai: Yes, gold is even rarer here than in the rest of the red lands. That is enough, possibly more than enough.
Heat: Right.

Serena and Kai split off, heading for the mayor's house. This village was small so the mayor's office was in her house.

Heat: Any preferences?
Suzuna: Somewhere that has vegetarian options, I don't eat meat.
Heat: Anything else?

Jean: Not really. I like pasta's but could go with anything.
Sandra: Same here.

That was actually the first few words Sandra had spoken since Heat shouted at her back in the other town.

---

Tesla: I see. Well looks like things are in control. I'll take it easy from here.

---

Jenny knew Victor was right, but never acknowledged Victor as being so. She knew Titus probably wasn't fully honest and used her some, but he always did protect her best he could.

---

Troy knew he was in trouble, he didn't even have a weapon on him and this women was clearly skilled with hers.

Troy: Why don't you drop the blades and try that.

Even Troy himself was wondering how many lives he had. Kunoichi could of killed him with that first shot if she cut deep, but she didn't.

Kunoichi: Because I'm not a reckless idiot.

A soldier quietly walks behind Kunoichi, intending to knock her out to help get Troy out but she spins her blades around and stabs behind her with both, getting the soldier in the stomach. While the soldier was quiet, he wasn't quiet enough. Kunoichi noticed Troy attempt to take advantage of the situation but she pulled her blades out quickly and ducked under Troy's arms, then slashed across his stomach before rolling between his legs and slashing his legs. Coming out of the roll, Kunoichi ends crouched on one knee with her arms straight out behind her.

Kunoichi: Paying attention to your surroundings is the first step in fighting successfully.

Kunoichi stands up and turns around, facing a badly wounded Troy.

---

Heat: So the only real preference is a vegetarian option, we can work with that.

Heat takes the group to the center of town and finds a restaurant that overlooks the sea. He asks the host if there are any meals without meat and the he says there are. Heat comes out and speaks up.

Heat: We'll eat here. Bring your bags in with you, we don't need them getting stolen.

Heat brings the group in and they get seated inside at a picture window where they can see the sea. Suzuna sits facing the sea and Katarina instantly sits next to her, knowing that Suzuna will speak up for her. She could just tell based on the way Suzuna acts. During the trip, Katarina let Suzuna know about her hearing difficulties but she was the only one who Katarina told and was asked to keep it as secret as possible. Heat, Hawkeye, and Clinger are waiting for the rest of the women to sit and Reina chooses to face away from the ocean.

---

Dean walks over to Victor and Jenny.

Dean: What are we doing with her?
Victor: Jenny comes with us, she's willing to help in order to take down Lee.
Dean: Fair enough, if this backfires it's all on you.
Victor: She knows the truth behind Lee, it won't backfire.

Tesla, Gale, and Katy are the next to head over. Katy has Tesla sit down and starts to examine her.

Katy: Yes, a concussion is certain. Take these, it will help take away any pain.

Katy gives Tesla a couple of pills and a bottle of water. She didn't want to risk injury to Tesla's brain with an injection.

---

Kai and Serena make it to the mayor's house. The mayor instantly recognizes Serena.

Mayor: Serena, how have you been?
Serena: Other than constantly being on the run, fine...wait, Amber?
Mayor: Yes, I'm Amber from your group before the earthquakes. Mayor Amber Stone now.
Kai: Hello, Mayor Stone.
Amber: Hello Kai, did you need something?
Kai: Yes, General Lee's army is after us. We need a spot to hide out for about a week and this is the first place I could think of.
Amber: That is fine, it's the least I can do for a couple of friends. I'll make sure your residency is well protected. How large of a group is it?
Serena: About 11 for now, there will probably be more coming tomorrow. Expect it to be tripled or so.
Amber: Then we can consider the inn fully booked for the week. There are more than enough rooms, fishermen usually use it so I'll arrange for that to be the booking group. If trouble comes, I'll let you know and you can borrow my boat to hide out for a day or 2. There is a radio on it connected to my office.
Serena: Sounds good. Thank you very much.

Jean chooses to not surprising sit beside Sandra. They take seats where they can at least look to see the ocean. Robin sits near the two as well, close enough she could speak and give Sandra some tips on healthier choices to pick.

---

Tesla takes the pills.

Tesla: Thank you. Well hopefully this doesn't turn out to serious.

---

Troy: Oh come on, are you trying to kill me or lecture me on the "fine arts of combat".

Even injured Troy still had his sarky attitude. It probably wasn't doing him any favors though in his current situation. He just felt this women was bullshitting around with him rather then just ending it.

Kunoichi was using tactics. She knew she couldn't beat Troy in a brawl, even while having weapons, so she was chipping away at him. She makes another run at Troy, slicing into his side and ending up behind him before making a run back and slicing into his other side.

Kunoichi: You see fighting as one way, going for the instant kill. That will not work for me in this case.

Troy was expecting Kunoichi to stop and let him respond but she goes in for another run, slicing at his neck again. While Troy expected this, Kunoichi expected him to expect it so she ducked under his counter and sliced his knees instead.

---

Sandra didn't have much of a choice, taking the end seat on the skinny part of the table. Hawkeye sits between Jean and Suzuna, then Clinger and Heat are between Robin and Reina. The waitress comes up not long after and asks for their drinks. Suzuna orders for Katarina, asking for milk for her at her request. Sandra ends up being the curious one, wondering why Suzuna ordered for Katarina.

---

Katy: We should...agh...head to the hospital and get patched up.

Katy started to feel the pain from Titus' attack as her painkiller wore off.

Tesla: If you need help to walk, I can manage to get you there.

Tesla stands up, she should be more or less fine, just be careful not to bump her head and rest up some. Katy though may be more serious.

---

Sandra remembered back in the hospital. When she asked about Katarina, Dean more or less told Sandra it wasn't her business. However the nurse did mention her having hearing difficulties. Sandra didn't really understand though how being hard of hearing would stop her from ordering a meal.

---

Troy could feel his skin starting to dry. His clothing was still soggy but that's not what's necessarily important in the grand scheme of things. If he could get just a bit more time, he may actually have a shot of getting out of this situation. Hopefully Kunoichi doesn't kill him before then.

Kunoichi knew Troy was drying. She just stands confident. Troy was bleeding considerably in multiple spots. Troy was considering laughing at what he thought was Kunoichi's stupidity but she was a genius with her plan, taking a route that avoided injury to herself.

Kunoichi: Multiple small wounds can have the same effect as one large wound. You will be passing out in 3...2...1.

When Kunoichi counts down, Troy's blood loss starts to get to him. The bullets Dean fired and Victor's cross chop didn't help him any.

---

Sandra didn't think that Katarina couldn't hear the waitress so she didn't know when to order her food. Katarina told Suzuna what she wanted, pointing it out on the menu so Suzuna knew for sure.

---

Katy: I can get there...agh...pain killer just wore off. Don't want to use another one.

Katy stands up, holding her chest. Titus' blow did a number on her and fighting through the pain didn't help her any but she could make it to the hospital, it would just hurt a lot.

Victor: Has anybody seen Kunoichi?
Gale: Negative.
Dean: Nope.
Victor: Strange, it's like she disappeared to take care of unfinished business.
Gale: Troy is also missing.
Victor: I wonder what Kunoichi can be doing. Maybe she is taking out Troy. I don't see his body anywhere.

---

Amber has Serena and Kai stay for tea and dessert. It was rare when she saw her old friends.

Tesla: I'll join you in a second then.

Tesla went up to Dean just to update on on where they'll be. Tesla was quickly back with Katy, seeing she was in pain she stayed close to Katy to catch her if she couldn't make it. The two girls leave the group and head into town.

---

Sandra's curious nature was really starting to get to her. She knew Katarina had hearing trouble, but no idea to what extent. All the signs point to it being pretty serious, but she didn't seem fully deaf. She really did want to get Jean to poke around in Katarina's thoughts, but she didn't ask because she didn't want to get herself or her sister in trouble with Dean. The only other way was if she got a chance to somehow speak to Katarina herself.

---

Troy couldn't believe she was able to time it this perfectly. Troy was getting dry enough where he could spark up a flame, but he was fading and his vision was starting to blur, as times he could be seeing double of Kunoichi. Troy waited till his vision somewhat focused and shot a rather small fire blast Kunoichi way. He couldn't really run at this point anyway, so he was going for broke.

Gale joined Tesla and Katy, not wanting either of them to get hurt even worse. Katy's gun and bullets are in her backpack.

Katy: That man Titus was strong. I'm surprised Zeik was able to handle him, even if he was already hurt.

---

The meals are ordered and being cooked by now. Suzuna was taking care of Katarina like Dean would, she knew how hard it was to pretty much lose a sense after being whipped by Kai so Suzuna had a kind of sympathy for Katarina.

---

All Kunoichi had to do was take 5 steps back and watch the fire blast go over her head. She then walks up to Troy after he falls to the ground and takes the kill slash at his neck. As she walks away...

Kunoichi: Idiot wasted the last of his energy...

Kunoichi smells smoke and instantly rolls then spins around at the end to see Troy. She barely made a large fire blast miss over her head and sees a needle in his hand.

Kunoichi: Lee...the bastard gave him some kind of a healing serum.

Kunoichi saw revenge in Troy's eyes and she knew he wasn't just gonna leave at this point, she tried to take the kill shot and now he wanted her life. Kunoichi is crouched on all 4's while facing Troy. She had to give him a smaller target to hit until she got closer and she knew it.

---

Troy's fire blast heads for Victor, Dean, Zeik, and Jenny. Victor puts it out with water from the water tower.

Victor: That's not possible, Troy was soaking wet and about to die.

Jenny knew what was going on. Since Troy already had a power, Lee gave him a healing serum for if the situation got desperate. Troy just forgot about it until Kunoichi went for the kill.

Tesla: I know. Give him long enough that man could of even broke diamond, I've experienced that in out first fight. I guess even the strongest man on earth would be able to bleed to death however.

---

Jenny: Your friend might have trouble. Troy had a healing serum. I thought the idiot forgot about it, seems he must have used it.

---

Troy smirked as he cracked his knuckles feeling much better.

Troy: I guess I must thank the good general.

Troy threw the empty needle aside as he stared down his opponent.

Troy: Man I must have a way with women. A bad way, but a way none the less.

Troy wasn't about to attempt to fight Kunoichi at close range, not while she has those swords anyway. He ignites more flames and starts shooting fireballs Kunoichi way. These may not necessarily burn her to death, but they will catch her clothing. When Kunoichi is in a panic and on fire, then he planned to move in.

Kunoichi starts dodging fireballs as she moves backwards. The next move Troy makes is something she doesn't expect, 2 flamethrowers, one on each side of her. They start far away as Troy slowly tries to pin her. Kunoichi makes an unorthodox move, sprinting for the wall behind her. When she gets there, the flamethrowers are close and she can feel the heat. She doesn't stop, she takes a few steps up the wall and does a backflip off of it, landing on the other side of one of the flames. Kunoichi takes this chance to go on the offensive, dodging fire as she makes her way behind Troy. Troy catches a log on fire, thinking it's Kunoichi. Troy is too late to realize his mistake of laughing at it, when the log burns to ashes, Kunoichi is already right behind him and slices the front of his neck with both swords.

Kunoichi: The first rule of fighting, pay attention to your surroundings.

Kunoichi expected a counter that came so she slide between Troy's legs and created some distance again. She cut deeper than the last time but Troy was too big for her to be certain that she cut deep enough for a kill.

---

Gale: His arms were useless, he was finished anyway.
Katy: What do you mean?
Gale: When Zeik bit his first shoulder, that arm lost all use. Zeik took most of the muscle away. Even if Titus didn't bleed to death after the second bite, he was finished. He had no way to fight.

---

Victor: A healing serum...interesting.

Victor starts to walk for the gate, gathering the water that he can.

Tesla: Thankfully he wasn't as tough as he was strong. His muscles would of been like rock and no way would Zeik of bitten it off.

---

Troy had narrowly missed being killed by Kunoichi. He knew if she was bigger, he'd be dead.

Troy: God damn girl, how fast are you?

Troy put his palms together. As he started pulling them apart fire is seen forming between and around his hands.

Troy: Alright, dodge this one.

Troy shot his arms forward, but not straight, rather each arm off at a angle. What Troy did was produced a wide spread wave of flames. The further this wave travels the wider it gets. By doing this Troy hoped to leave Kunoichi nowhere to run.

In this fight, it wasn't about Kunoichi's speed, it was her quickness and agility. To Troy, she seemed to move at a superhuman pace but she was just changing directions on a dime to avoid getting burned.

Kunoichi: Dodging isn't necessary here.

While the fire was getting close to Kunoichi, it didn't move fast or else it would just go out. Kunoichi threw a few kunai at Troy, forcing him to protect himself and stop. The kunai were burning hot by the time they got through the fire but not hot enough to melt.

Kunoichi: Your offense dies out when you have to defend yourself.

Kunoichi pissed off Troy by this point, making his ranged attacks useless by just playing it smart. This made Troy see no other choice than charging in with a flaming fist but he didn't make a move yet.

Kunoichi (quietly to herself): What is he waiting for?

---

Dean: It would be wise if somebody joined Victor in assisting Kunoichi. I'm out, my power is useless against Troy and I'm not fast enough to outrun him. I'd only beat him if he's soaking wet and cold.
Zeik: Jenny, the choice is yours. Do you want to help Kunoichi or stay here? Either way, I'll have Kunoichi take you clothes shopping. You can't go around wearing just a cloak all the time.

Zeik had respect for the women, not wanting to go shopping with them, especially when they are almost nude. He also implied that he can help with the fight by giving Jenny a choice.

---

The waitress starts bringing food out, using a large oval-shaped serving tray and a stand for it. The tray carried all of the meals at once with ease. Katarina, Robin, Reina, Hawkeye, and Clinger all got smaller than average meals. Katarina had some fish with mashed potatoes and seasonable vegetables, Clinger and Hawkeye each got a roast beef club with fries. Robin and Reina each got chicken parm with pasta. Heat had the biggest meal of the group, a lamb leg with potatoes, vegetables, and a roll. The leg had gravy on it. Suzuna, being the vegetarian of the group, got a large salad.

---

Katy: Thankfully he didn't know how to use his power. Too bad I was the test subject.
Gale: It is challenging for most people to adjust to new forms of fighting.

Katy turns to Tesla, talking quietly.

Katy: Is he always this boring?