"Last chance."
Maia spread her arms out in a surrendering gesture. She waited for a response as the pack lined up in a defensive position.
"Give me Roan and I'll leave."
"You'll kill him."
"True," she shrugged, "But at least he deserves it."
Scott stepped up, "You'll have to get through us first."
A smirk instantly appeared on her face. She even relaxed at the challenge.
"Fair enough."
Scott wasted no time in attacking. His claws flicked out and he bared his sharp teeth. His eyes glowed red in aggressiveness.
But Maia barely changed. She didn't even need to shift to be able to beat him. Once he was close enough, she threw him to the side.
Lia growled and rushed in to help his alpha. His bravery was short lived as she caught him by the throat. She tossed him to the opposite side, watching as his head hit the concrete.
Kira and Malia tensed, the former drawing her sword. Argent loaded his crossbow and held it up in her direction.
Derek turned to the remaining pair, "Get Roan out of here."
Stiles and Lydia nodded and ran down to the cells, leaving the rest of them to fight her.
Malia courageously ran forward, slashing down at the girl's face. But Maia ducked and grabbed her arm, holding it in place before kicking Malia away. She landed beside Kira's feet.
Derek reluctantly took his turn. He tried to get around her to throw her off, but she moved with his every step. She adjusted to his fighting patterns. The nogitsune used Maia's knowledge of Derek to beat him at his own game.
He eventually got his claws to scrape against her side. But that was all he did. It wasn't long before he felt guilty enough to distract himself. She used his emotions against him and tossed his body next to Scott's.
The kitsune looked down in worry before hefting her sword. She jumped towards Maia, raising the weapon to strike.
She slashed Maia's shoulder, resulting in a growl of pain. The alpha's eyes flickered between red and black. The change was enough to make Kira falter in fear.
Maia took that time to grab the hilt of the sword from her and break it away from her grasp. Kira gasped as her weapon was stolen from her hands.
She stumbled back in shock. Maia reveled in the expression, feeling her ego grow.
She drew the weapon down across the girl's torso, slashing her skin. Kira cried out in pain as she fell beside Malia.
She expertly twirled the sword, stepping closer to the kitsune. The dark spirit inside of her wanted the fox gone, even if Maia had to be the one to kill her.
But as she moved closer, an arrow was shot at her. Acting on reflex, she brought the sword up to deflect the blow, cutting the arrow in half before it could hit her.
She turned her glare to Argent. He was hurriedly trying to reload his weapon, watching with wide eyes as she walked to him.
He shot another arrow as he backed away. She deflected it again with a simple wave of the sword. He muttered in frustration as the crossbow became too much work.
He tossed it to the side and pulled out a handgun from behind his back. He rapidly shot at her, each bullet deflecting off the metal of her blade.
She moved with instinctual speed. The real Maia had never handled a sword in her life. But the nogitsune that was controlling her knew exactly how to use one. It blocked every offensive action that Argent threw at her.
The click of an empty gun finally calmed the chaos. She smirked as he tried to reload quickly but he was too slow. She used the handle of the sword to knock it against his head.
He grunted as he hit the floor, blood trickling down his forehead. She smirked in triumph and turned back around to face the rest of the pack.
She pulled out a vial from her back pocket. She uncapped it and poured it into her hand, letting the small speckles sprinkle in her palm.
She took a deep breath before blowing the powder out. She rotated as she spread the powder, making sure it hit all of them.
Every supernatural creature that was around her began to cough. Their throats felt as if they were closing up and their vision looked spotty.
"Wolfsbane and mountain ash," she stated, "Sucks, doesn't it?"
She dropped the empty vial and moved towards Kira. She squatted down to the girl's level and brandished her sword, inspecting it critically.
"Kitsunes and their swords," she sighed, clicking her tongue, "You're all so dependent on material objects. But the real weapon is the mind."
She tapped her head to gesture for her words. She stood up and held it up to her eye level.
"But I'll admit that it's pretty cool."
She faked a dramatic gasp, "I wonder what I should do with it: kill all of you or destroy it?"
She began to walk away, following the direction that Stiles and Lydia had run off to. She heard the coughs and raspy breathing of the supernaturals left behind.
"Or maybe I'll use it to cut out Lydia's throat."
She shrugged casually and rested the sword on her shoulder like she would with a baseball bat. She walked down the stairs towards the cells that were down there.
The lights were suspiciously dim and it was too quiet. Maia's eyes twinkled in amusement, feeling like it was a game of hide and seek.
"Stiles," she sang playfully, "Lydia...come out, come out, wherever you are."
She placed the tip of the sword against the cement wall. With every step she took, it screeched against the stone and left a large scratch mark.
"Don't make me come find you," she taunted.
She walked down to the cell, seeing that it was empty. As she peered through the bars, a large crash came from behind her. She turned around and dodged just in time before Roan's claws came down on her.
She grabbed him by the shoulder and flung him into the bars. He was quick to get back up only to be kicked down again.
She clicked her tongue, "Oh, Roan...just the person I wanted to kill."
He attempted to pull himself to his feet but she prevented it. She stomped down on his knee, crushing the bone within. He screamed in agony and clutched the wounded leg.
She smiled at his pain and kneeled next to him, placing one knee on top of his chest to keep him down. His breathing became quick and strained as she added pressure.
She ran a sharp claw down the side of his face gently. It seemed like a warning touch, but that quickly changed. She dropped her smile and quickly sunk her claws into his face.
His screams were almost enough to make the rest of the pack feel guilty, since they all heard it.
The claws shredded through his skin and hit the muscle below. She had avoided any necessary parts, instead focusing on the lower area of his face. The long marks stretched from his ear to his chin.
Stiles and Lydia, who had been watching from the protection of a distant corner, grimaced at the scene. Stiles turned his back to it and made sure Lydia couldn't see.
He took her face in his hands and kept her focus, "You need to scream."
Her eyes widened in fear, "What?"
"Banshees can take down supernatural creatures so maybe it'll take Maia down too," he explained.
"I could hurt her!" she argued.
"She's going to hurt us!"
Lydia shook her head as tears came to her eyes.
Stiles sighed, "I don't want to do this to her either but if we want to help, we need to stay alive first. Okay?"
She reluctantly nodded and took a deep breath. She stood up and faced Maia with Stiles standing behind her in support.
The alpha was still hovering over Roan, debating how to kill him. Before she could do any damage, Lydia opened her mouth.
Stiles covered his ears as her scream tore through the building. Maia instantly fell back in shock, covering her ears as well.
She looked up and spotted the banshee. Her eyes narrowed but then screwed shut in pain. She could feel herself become disoriented and weak. But she had enough strength to pull herself up and stumbled back towards the stairs.
Lydia finally ran out of breath and her scream faded. She hunched over and breathed heavily, Stiles holding her up from behind.
Maia groaned and pulled her hands away from her ears. A small trickle of blood cascaded from her ears, smudging on her hands.
She chuckled in amusement and turned to the girl, "Clever move."
She winked before running up the stairs. Stiles and Lydia let her go, partially because she was their friend and because they had no strength to fight her alone.
As she ran up the stairs and came back to the main floor, she saw the pack struggling to pick themselves back up. Argent was kneeling next to Scott and Derek, attempting to help them.
They all caught her figure as she tried to sneak out the back. Derek's eyes in particular met hers, flashing in pain.
She winked,
"See you soon, Hale."
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