Silence lingered in the air. A grim atmosphere befell the Black Rabbit, who clutched the steel pipe calmly and stared at the fresh corpse before him, contemplating the course of his actions.
Should I have killed them so suddenly? I could have pressed for information. Oh well, I still have the other two.
However, Pariah could barely finish his train of thought when two knives pierced the skulls of the men. Blood trickled down the contours of the blade. Pariah stared blankly then looked up to the roof of the dead-end by the house to see a man in a long red coat with a fox mask. The two locked eyes in the silence. The Black Rabbit glanced at the ajar door to the house, and the Red Fox did the same. A deafening tension spiked, and the two sprinted for the house in sync. Pariah threw himself through the door, closing it behind him. He rushed through the dark, not worried about the latent dangers. Running his hands along the corridor walls, he felt the railing and threw himself over, vaulting onto the stairs. Upon reaching the top, he was met by a boot to the chest, sending him to the bottom; the lower stairs networking a sharp pain through his back, knocking the wind out of him. With a soft groan, the gothic Victorian dressed man rolled over to his feet and slowly stood, seeing the silhouette of the Red Fox at the top looming over him.
I can't see. I'm dressed in black, so he must have some way to see in the dark.
Psyching himself up, Pariah ran up the stairs, anticipating another kick, and so it came. Moving to the left, he grabbed their ankle and yanked him. Red Fox jumped in that instance and introduced his knee to Pariah's face, knocking him halfway down the stairs before he caught himself on the wall with a hand. Continuing with a right hook and a kick at his head, Pariah tanked the punch, caught the foot with one hand and grabbed the thigh with the other whilst pushing off the wall with his foot, sending the enemy through the railing. However, the Red Fox wrapped his hands around the Black Rabbit's neck, pulling them down.
Flipping uncontrollably, Pariah landed on his back with a grunt. The fox beside him reached out and grabbed one of the broken railings on the floor and rolled over, smashing Pariah's head. The enemy who tried to roll away from the fox was met by an overhead swing followed by an uppercut with the wooden post knocking him back into the brick wall. Pariah caught the subsequent swing and snapped the post with the strike of his forearm.
Bang, bang!
Pariah suffered a left and right hook. He tried to swing, but it failed to connect when a blow to his sternum keeled him over into a knee to the face, followed by a kick to the jaw sending him to the floor. He groaned and tried to crawl away, but the Red Fox pulled him in by his ankles, getting down on top of him, his knees pressed into the top of Pariah's biceps, pinning him. Punch after punch, the fox hooked the rabbit back and forth, blow after blow, the man's intensity continued to increase, and the rabbit's will waned; his consciousness closer to fading with each passing attack. With no light, it was impossible to beat a skilled opponent.
Just like that? Before it even begins, it's over? What a cruel fate.
However, when all hope seemed lost, the clouds slowly passed by in counter to the moon via winds, and the pallid moonlight shone through the entrance windows, illuminating the house enough to make the corridor dark but clear. Pariah felt relief and adrenaline flood his body as the Red Fox became visible. Meeting an oncoming fist with a headbutt, the Red Fox shook his hand in pain. Reaching around with his left arm, he grabbed a loose railing and yanked on it, enduring punches from the fox until it broke and hit the fox's head. Lifting the left arm, the Remission seemed to offer a slight increase in power, making it possible to pull out from under the knee and left hook the fox to the floor. The two crawled along the floor, the rabbit used the railing whilst the fox used the wall as crutches to stand. Both eyed one another, taking staggered breaths.
Tick tock.
The sound of an in-house turret clock filled the tense silence. The sound of striking midnight rang out, and the two mutually initiated—left, right, duck, weave, jab, uppercut. The sequence of Pariah's attacks and dodges were all successful. The fox, stepping in, grabbed the rabbit's wrist, pulled the arm, placed his other hand on the shoulder, and tried to bend it back, but the rabbit spun, placed his hand over the fox's and flipped him followed by a stomp to the jaw when he landed on his back. "Where is he?" The Black Rabbit called out in a cold haorse voice. The fox refused to answer, pushing to his feet swinging. Pariah raised his left forearm to the bend of the fox's arm, blocking, and punched his throat, followed by a backhand that knocked him to his knees, where a second kick to the jaw connected. "Where is he?"
The fox groaned in pain, not looking the jagged-eyed and torn-eared rabbit in the eyes. "Tied up in the bathroom." His young yet mature voice squeaked out.
Pariah's cold gaze from behind the mask lingered before he stepped over him and walked up the stairs. The moon lit his path, and the rabbit checked each room before finally opening the bathroom door, revealing Leon Morgan tied to the bathroom by rope. The young man approached, turning on the water. He grabbed a cup filled with toothbrushes, dumping them onto the floor and filling it with water. He crouched in front of Leo and lifted the bottom of his mask far enough to splash the water up from underneath to keep Leo's identity concealed.
"Agh!" His eyes flew open as he tried to swing, but the ropes kept his hands bound together. Taking quick breaths, he regained composure seeing Pariah. "What are you doing here? You need to be careful; the Red Fox is lurking. You don't want to come across him unprepared."
Pariah answered succinctly, "I took care of it."
"What?" Leo asked abruptly.
"Red Fox is lying on the floor downstairs." He pulled the knife from his utility belt, cutting the rope binding his hands.
"You defeated him? How?" Leo stood up, watching Pariah tuck the knife away.
She did prepare him. Was she prepared for what happened?
Pariah turned away, walking out of the room. "It was a tearse fight." Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering echoed from downstairs.
"You didn't kill him?" Leo asked in a whisper.
Pariah nodded negatively. "My priority was ensuring your safety. Besides, it may not be the Red Fox. I had an altercation with three perfected outside the building. I killed one of them."
Leo did not give a response but instead slowly walked down the stairs first, and Pariah followed behind him. Reaching the bottom, the moonlit corridor was vacant of the sinner. The two exchanged looks when a crash rang out from the kitchen. "Stay behind me," Leo said in a low tone, creeping down the hall towards the kitchen. The young man watched from the bottom step for a few seconds before taking a step forward when a thud sounded, and the Red Fox crawled into the corridor, groaning in pain with two kitchen knives in his back.
No small number of perfected in this area should be able to bring down the Red Fox. Pariah did more damage than I thought. What a dangerous kid.
Nearing the doorway to the kitchen, with a shudder, Leo froze. A chill ran down his spine, and his neck hairs stood on end. Standing in the doorway before the slow crawling fox was a man in a black slightly puffed yet sleek combat suit in a grained modernized armor padding. Donning a non-ventilated pull-over mask, a red crosshair was spray painted on: four red straight lines in the shape of a cross crossed through a large circle, then again through a smaller inner circle, and a disconnected cross in the middle. The word 'Sinner' was spray painted across the chest in red. Leo glancing down at the man's hand he saw three knives and cursed under his breath.
Of all the missions to bring Pariah on, he shows up.
"Run, kid. It's a professional killer, Reticle."