NY Tattoos

An Ambush

"Now listen, little girly; I'm not here to harm you. I just want—" Lana swiftly delivered a kick from behind, catching the person off guard. They were stunned long enough for Lana to kick them away and quickly get back on her feet.

"Oh crap, now you've done it." The man struggled to get up. Lana took a quick look and realized it was a man, slightly shorter than Dearen. He wore a long brown coat with a black fedora and a card attached to it.

Why aren't the alarms going off? Lana wondered while running away. Unless... Lana stopped in her tracks, realizing that the man had stopped chasing her. There are more of them, and one of them is a hacker. A snake blitzed at her from the top of a tree; Lana managed to dodge it just in time. One of them uses snakes as an attack. Is this a castor's ability? Lana thought.

Lana grabbed a stick and used it as a makeshift sword. "Come on, bring it." Two more snakes descended from the ceiling covered in trees, ready to strike with their fangs. Lana swatted the first one away, but the second one managed to bite her left knee. Pain and nausea shot through her body like a knife. With more force than necessary, she flicked the snake off, noticing a tattoo on its head. The snake slithered away, leaving Lana feeling disoriented and leaning on the stick for support. She hit the ground hard.

"Let's start from the beginning, shall we?" Lana snapped back to reality when she heard the man's raspy voice again. She tried to stand upright, but the floor seemed to be moving like waves. The man grabbed hold of her once more. This time, Lana was too disoriented to launch an attack. "Alright, we've got our target," the man said with a smirk in his eyes, twirling his handlebar mustache with one hand while holding onto Lana with the other.

"Not even close," a monotone voice echoes beside the tree shadows, unapologetic and unwavering. Lana turns, trying to locate the source of the voice, and catches a glimpse of a massive man, easily twice the size of Dearen. He has a triangular build and is wearing short jeans held up by suspenders that drape from his broad shoulders. His white collar shirt contrasting against his imposing figure.

Perched on his left shoulder is a small girl, around Lana's age, engrossed in typing on a keyboard with headphones securely attached to her ears. Without diverting her attention from the laptop, the tech-savvy girl remarks, "The target was Kemuri Brown, not this little bug."

"Little? You're shorter than me, you nerd!" Lana retorts, unable to hold back her frustration.

The tech nerd shoots her a piercing glare with her visible eye, as her other eye remains concealed beneath her unkempt black hair. "Look at me properly without looking like you just had an accident."

"Enough," the big man interrupts. "Ariek, you promised I would have my revenge,".

"Calm down, Dreng. We're still a hundred years too early to even pose a challenge to Lady Amara," Ariek reminds Dreng, attempting to convince him. "This is the safest option. We now have leverage. We won't have to fight her and risk our lives today."

A heavy silence descends upon them.

"Speaking of which," the girl interjects after coughing, "My drones have spotted her approaching with three weapons strapped to her back."

Ariek swallows nervously.

"Let's go then, mush mush," he urges.

Ariek swiftly binds Lana's hands, covering her eyes and mouth. He then commands the snake that bit Lana to lead them to the "escape hole." Suddenly, Ariek dashes off before Lana can even react, then halts and looks back to see Dreng and the kid still lingering behind.

"Why must you both dilly-dally at a time like this?" Ariek shouts from a distance with exsperation "The freakin Red Butcher is on the way!"

"The blood of my fallen comrade will forever be on her hands unless I bring her to justice." In a single stride, Dreng closes the gap between him and Ariek. He gently places the kid on Ariek's shoulders. "Take care of Ruby for me," he says, tousling Ruby's hair a bit more. For a moment, her expression brightens, then she averts her gaze, returning to her usual vacant look. "Don't die, alright?" Before she can could continue, Ariek has already sped off through the forest until Dreng can no longer see them.

"Reveal yourself; I know you're close by." Amara emerges from a tree and comes into view. Dreng sizes her up and licks his lips. Amara simply meets Dreng's gaze and notices a familiar fire in his eyes. Amara yawns at the predictable turn of events for this avenger. Little does she know, this encounter will change her life forever.