Huraira sat on the edge of the stairs, fiddling with her sword.
"Come in Teams Two and Three," the Executioner said for the eleventh time. Or maybe it was the twelfth... "Report your status." Only static crackled in response. Huraira sighed. They'd been at this for the better part of ten minutes.
"Give it up, Octavius," a woman with a long braid - the Viper - said. "There's no signal. The building's old."
The Executioner clenched his jaw. "Fine. Let's get moving." Finally. "Everyone-"
The shrill shriek of talons dragging against a wall echoed up the stairwell cutting the Executioner off.
Huraira jumped up and ignited her sword as from the shadows, a Smile emerged. Her crimson curls were tied back in a high ponytail and her eyes glowed scarlet. Around her neck, she wore her black choker with a golden triangle in the center. The strangest thing about her, though, was that she was wearing a torn Stingray uniform.
"What a fun night this is turning out to be," Red Riding Hood said, a wide grin stretching across her face before she Morphed and her grin was filled with fangs.
Red lunged forward, tearing through the Agent closest to her, in an instant. Gunshots echoed through the room as the Executioner opened fire, but none of his shots did anything.
Huraira's fingers curled around her blade and charged. She needed to be in close to get a hit. Her glowing blade struck Red's skin, drawing the Smile's attention. She hissed at Huraira, lashing out with her talons, but Huraira managed to jump back just before she got shredded.
However, Red's back was now turned to the Executioner and the Viper. The Executioner kept firing and the Viper ignited two of her knives. Huraira smirked as she struck again with her blade, but this time, Red grabbed it, her eyes glowing with frustration as she snapped the sword in half as easily as if it were a toothpick.
Red let out a low snarl as she stepped closer to Huraira who was left with nothing to defend herself with. Red's eyes filled with recognition and her lip curled in disgust. She knew Huraira - knew what Huraira was - and seemed ready to rid the world of a Chimera.
Red reached out, but before she could touch Huraira the Viper threw a knife. It bounced off of Red, harmlessly, but the Viper wasn't done. She rammed her body into the Smile's, knocking Red to the ground. Which... certainly pissed Red off as she pushed herself up and lashed at the Viper. The woman stumbled back, stuck down by Red's long, black talons.
Red's grin widened as she approached the Viper and Huraira looked for something, anything that could stop Red. The Viper's knife. That would have to do. Picking up the still-ignited blade, Huraira attempted another stupid attack.
Jabbing the knife at Red's neck, Huraira didn't expect anything to happen. She knew Red didn't have a weak point on the back of her neck. None of the Big Five did. However, when Red's hair parted, Huraira saw the black leather of her choker. But it was no regular leather. It was the same material the Cinderella suit was made of.
Dead Smile skin, covering a weak point.
Just as Huraira came to this realization, Red spun on her, claws digging through her flesh as she knocked Huraira to the ground. Pain splintered across Huraira's face as her thoughts blurred together. Gunshots and screams, the stench of blood and the taste of anger polluting the air. Beneath it all, there were footsteps.
Huraira's eyes snapped open as three more rushed into the fray: Lilja, Parthēna, and Tamīka, their faces hidden by masks and fangs peeking from the corners of their mouths.
"Shit," the Executioner said.
Red's bloodstained grin widened as she clasped her hands together undoing her Morph to say, "Now here's someone worth my time! Here to settle the score, Tooth?"
Forcing herself up, Huraira's face felt sticky with blood as Lilja, Parthēna, and Tamīka stepped around her and the Executioner. Lilja snared, drawing Red's focus as Tamīka and Parthēna circled around. They moved like a pack of wild dogs, long and graceful limbs carrying them silently across the floor as they cornered their prey.
Lilja lunged.
There were teeth and claws as the Smiles attempted to devour one another. Huraira stumbled to her feet, eyes skimming the room for damage. The two Agents whose names she didn't know were dead and the Viper was unconscious and bleeding badly. Only the Executioner seemed unharmed and even now, he was continuing to fire at the Smiles.
Huraira approached him with caution. "What do we do, sir?" she asked, hoping for the orders to retreat. Huraira was no doctor, but even she could tell that the Viper was in dire need of medical attention.
"We kill the damn Smiles, that's what we do!"
"But sir-"
"It's our job to risk our lives and kill the bastards!" the Executioner snapped. "So we're going to do just that!"
That was idiotic, bordering on suicidal, but Huraira was in no place to argue. He had to know that there was no way they could take on four Smiles at once, right? Four members of the Big Five against only the two of them? Not to mention Huraira only had a knife and if they stayed up here too much longer the Viper was going to bleed out.
The sound of shattering glass snapped Huraira from her thoughts as Red threw Tamīka out a window. Huraira knew she was fine, but Red was clearly winning the struggle against the remaining two Smiles, slamming Lilja into a wall and grabbing hold of Parthēna.
"You risked your pathetic mongrel life for filthy humans," Red said, extending Parthēna's arms and revealing her vulnerable palms. "Look at how they repay ya."
The Executioner did not hesitate before firing his gun. Huraira let out a cry for him to stop, but he didn't hear as his shot pierced his fiancee's flesh. Parthēna screamed as Lilja pushed herself up and tackled both Red and Parthēna, sending all three of them tumbling out the window that Tamīka had been thrown from.
Falling to her knees, Huraira couldn't stop trembling. The Executioner walked over to the window before clicking his tongue and shoving his gun back into its holster. "Looks like they got away," he said. "But I'm sure Sleeping Beauty will remember me."
Huraira merely nodded, thankful he hadn't seen the ring on Sleeping Beauty's finger.
[author's note]
happy thanksgiving to all those who celebrate!
please don't shoot your fiancee!