Lana had gotten almost to the end of her chase. Xinn had gotten out of her grasp once more and escaped through a large iron door that went to the Ruby. She sighed and laid against it, taking the time to catch her breath.
Lana: *Sigh.. Damn her.. She'll get to the Ruby first.. and this mission will be a complete failure! If she gets ahold of that thing.. I'll be a huge disappointment to the town.. and my family..
She got out her phone and looked through her pictures until she found an old family photo of them all grouped up when they were all little. She smiled as she got a sudden wave of nostalgia from looking back on the memories.
Lana: Lori was about to leave for college after this. One last picture all together and now we're back together.. as a.. team..
Lana wiped away a few tears of happiness and put away her phone, done with the trip down memory lane.
Lana: Maybe when I get home, I can tell the others I'm the famous mutant protecting the town! That would make for an interesting conversation that's for sure. Though.. There's also the fear thry might get freaked out over the whole mutant thing unless Lisa explains it cause she sure can explain a situation better than me, that's for sure.
Lana them stood up as she noticed another vent was up near the door. She looked like she could fit in it too!
Lana: What is it with these large convenient vents? And why the hell am I complaining about it?
Lana took her chance and climbed into the vent to get Xinn.
- Meanwhile -
Xinn was walking down a long corridor to the ruby. She would be running but she has exhausted herself from the constant running that she needed to slow down.
Xinn: Huff.. Damn that girl! She's been a pain in the neck ever since she stopped the crime at the Workshop. Now she's slowing me down from getting my prize! No matter, i'll kick her ass soon enough and rain havoc upon the entire world! Hahahaha!!!
As Xinn walked through the hallway, she saw a large window showing the large room holding the giant ruby. It looked magnificent! Like a gift from the heavens being confined from the rest of humanity!! It was hooked up to a large container with wires and such connected to it, most likely providing power to The Fortress.
Xinn: Hmm.. Taking this will be hard if I don't want to get electrocuted by it's power. Maybe I can make that frog girl use one of the blades on the container and break it open? Only hard part would be getting her to aim at me when I'm close which could get me killed if I'm not careful enough.. that and she could break the damn ruby.
Xinn went silent, thinking over her options on how to proceed. She could just take the long and less harmful route and find a way to shut it off or go along with the shorter but more dangerous way of letting the Royal Frog fight her and break the glass open with her arm blades.
Xinn: *sigh.. I have no choice but to go with option A. I'm already pressed for time as is. Besides, not even my powered form could possibly take the amount of energy the Ruby makes. It's just too risky.
Xinn continued her walk and took out her phone to call someone.
Xinn: Hey Omega. What's the status?
Omega: Uhhh.. Not doing too swell. That pink girl kinda drove me off to get more reinforcements.
Xinn: Good. Then the plan is doing swimmingly! Bring back the secret weapon we stole. Those two pests are going to be in for a treat when the reinforcements arrive.
Omega: Understood. I'll be back as soon as possible.
Xinn: You better. Don't keep me waiting.
Xinn hanged up and continued her run to the ruby.
Soon, she had reached the containment room and gazed upon the Ruby in awe. It looked gorgeous! It roughly the size of a bowling ball. A large red Pentagon shaped Ruby.
It glowed with each surge of power going through it like a magical ancient relic. Her eyes were glued to it's radiant beauty so much that... She needed to just.. touch it!
On instinct, Xinn started punching the tough glass to break it open. She was mesmerized by the god like beauty before her! She needed to touch it!!
Lana: Stop right there, Xinn!
Xinn: Huh?! Oh it's you. Bout time you showed up.
Lana: I have no time for chit-chat! Surrender now or get ready for one large butt kicking!
Xinn: Oh please, like i'm frightened by someone like you. I'm way stronger than you'll ever be! You're just a bump in my road to glory.
Lana: I'd like to see you try. But before we do fight, how about you show me your face for once. It'll really make me feel better when I punch your face.
Xinn: Hehe.. If you say so.
Xinn started unbuttoning the little hood over her head and took it off, revealing her full self.
Xinn was a short, tanned woman with an hourglass figure and jet black hair that went to the middle of her back with some red tinted goggles. She wore a big black leather trench coat with a red undershirt with normal black pants.
Lana: Much better. Now then, how bout that beefy firm you're able to change into? I bet that'll make things a lot more interesting.
Xinn: Hmm.. Not yet. I like a gal who loves a good challenge but now isn't a good time.
Lana rolled her eyes and started to form some poison blades in preparation. Xinn couldn't be trusted no matter what she told her. She was a dirty criminal who will do anything for power.
Xinn: What's the matter? I'm wide open. Just waiting to be attacked and knocked out.
Lana: ...
Xinn cursed under her breath. She wasn't buying it! Gotta think of something quick before Omega arrives..
Xinn moved a little bit closer in front of the ruby to subtlety give Lana a better aim at the ruby. She noticed Lana fidget out of fear, giving the criminal a smile. Sooner or later, she would make her move but Xinn didn't much time, nor was she a patient person in general.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her gun and aimed at Lana. Xinn purposely aimed with the intent to miss but that didn't connect with Lana as the frog girl leaped into the air and sent out her arm blades at Xinn. She fired the gun at Lana, hitting her in the left thighs and making her hit the wall.
Before the flying blades could hit their target, Xinn jumped out of the way, making the blades hit the glass and completely, even going through the ruby and shattering it!
Xinn and Lana: NO!!!!!
It shattered into pieces with a few staying in chunks and sticking together. The sudden breakage seemed to cause it to go haywire and start shooting energy in what seemed like red lightning strikes.
Xinn: Shit! Get down!
Xinn ran out of the room, leaving the wounded Lana to slowly get up and try to get out. But the bullet in her leg was just causing too much pain that she couldn't even walk, only a slow limp.
Lana: Almost.. There...
Before Lana could get to the door, a the clump of Ruby shooting off energy blasted Lana with a high concentrated energy strike. She absorbed the the energy but it was too much for her to handle, causing the frog loud to collapse next to a pile of ruby shards.
Lana: Damn.. You.. Xinn...
Lana passed out from complete exhaustion. When she blacked out, the shards around Lana started to be drawn towards her body and got into her skin like they were drawn to the energy she absorbed in her body..
(A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back with another chapter. Sorry it's a bit shorter than my usual 2000 word goal but I didn't want to keep you all waiting for another chapter since it's been like a month since the last chapter.)
(When we come back, Lana must take a pursuit after Xinn steals what's left of The Charged Ruby when back-up soon arrives. Will she be victories or will she be croaked? And is this Charged Ruby just a power source or something even more? Find out out next time in the next chapter of Lana the Werefrog!)
Big thanks to the amazing omegacrow for the drawing of Xinn in this chapter!