He knew the word that Emit used to place her under the hypnotic trance. That meant Emit was alive… or one of his followers told Melcro. Rynk was barely conscious at the moment and found herself immobile in what felt like a tight leather suits. It felt like a straight-jacket, but she could see that her arms were at her sides, before the eye-holes were blacked out that is.

“You won’t have to worry about that mean man’s trigger-word anymore,” Melcro informed in a faintly teasing voice. “It isn’t that I don’t approve of the idea, but I certainly don’t approve of other people branding my creations.”

Rynk only managed to produce a low hiss at him. She could feel random pressure in different areas of her body as if thing were being slapped against her… or onto her. Was she getting armored? She faintly made out the doctor’s face moving about up and down and all around. He was the one equipping her.

“You’re probably wondering what the point of this is,” He continued. “Well this is going to be a test-run. You haven’t mastered your new body completely of course, but this suit will take care of that issue. I needed a test-run to check on your progress since your departure. I’m glad to know your mind wasn’t completely damaged though there are definitely some issues. That is of course your own fault for breaking out of the process… or perhaps it would have done little to change things if you stayed. Who knows?”

She now felt herself being picked up, but her body was stiff as a pole. She was being carried but she could not see now. “You have an assassination to complete. Once your mission is over you can return to whatever it was you were doing before. I’ll come get you when I feel the time is right.”

She thought he was done talking but then he started up again after a short pause. It was as if he was upset she didn’t reply. She couldn’t reply though, which he understood, evidenced by the following “Oh ‘But why would you let me go instead of keeping me around so you could use me when needed’ you might ask. Let’s call it faith, shall we? It’ll be a test. You die and I get to see how amazing my skills at necromancy are, and if you run into deadly situations, like now, it’ll stand as proof of your skill. Now my little DarkShade- Oh you’re growing up so fast!” He cleared his throat. “Apologies, that was rather unprofessional. Have fun.”

She was glad Melcro finally stopped talking but who exactly would she be killing? What was this “DarkShade” business? Was that the name of the suit?

She was blind now, but the suit did not limit all of her feeling. Her stomach turned for a moment. She was falling. Rynk could feel a rhythmic push against her… water. This was water. Her arms were moving on their own, as well as her legs. She was paddling. Something hard hit the lynx’s leg but failed to harm her. This was land.

She was climbing now. The structure was pointy and jagged. She jumped and flung and dashed around and over strange dips and spirals. Whatever she was going up was not a building or a… no that pretty much summed it up.

A second push was felt on Rynk’s back, this time in ripples. She was in the air. Now she was rolling. It felt like an explosion. Up till now the lynx was biding her time while regaining her stamina, but she felt no stronger than prior, and her body seemed to be at the whim of this suit, exhausting her further. So because it would not relent, she began resisting… or trying to resist. She yanked her head, stiffened her arms, trying to turn away from her target, but of course this would not work.

The next thirty minutes were chaotic. There was so much movement, from jumps to kicks to punches to throwing. She was in battle. There were punches at her sides, a knee in her face, a kick at her chest. She could not tell who was winning.

Something weighted began to form in her hands now. It felt like a pole or a handle. Was it a sword maybe? Whatever it was, it became her new weapon. The fighting went on, but with a large swipe she had apparently knocked an opponent far away. Rynk felt the weapon disappearing now but then actual pain rain through her body.

The lynx felt as if she were burning. Her fur was on fire until it vanished and was replaced by something new. Something stabbed into her hands. Was this the suit’s doing or an enemy? The pain had stopped but now a strong spice sensation went on in her mouth and throat as ripples of her blood went from her shoulder through her arm. Was she excreting something outward now?

This new… sensation did not last very long. A strong blow to the head caught the suit’s attention. Rynk actually felt pain from the new strike. Either the suit was running low, or whoever hit her was really strong. A whole new fight was going on now; this one worse than the others.

Rynk found herself slammed into walls, thrusted into the air, and driven into the ground until she was in an arm-lock and some strange mist began eating away at the suit, slowly. The suit went into overtime yanking free of the arm-lock, but a barrage of the strange mist blew through her face. The mask was evaporating. She could almost make out what the figure looked like, but apparently the suit was still functional.

Her opponent seemed to be weakened by using the mist and Rynk was not brutally tearing at her face. Strangely with each swipe of her metallic claws a surge of pain went off in any area burned off from her suit. Rynk attempted once again to push against the suit, but it remained in control even now.

It was not until the ground began to rumble, and an explosion sounded, did the suit relent its attack. The explosion was between the two fighters, and the remains of the suit were being destroyed by its pressure. Rynk was in no state to stay conscious during this.

Upon opening her eyes again, the lynx found that her mask was almost completely gone, save a bit of the chin and forehead. She was laying on the ground with a sensation of butterflies going through her stomach. She looked to her side and realized that she was falling. Her arm was caught on some part of a… [I’m… I’m on an air-craft carrier!]

Apparently the suit had enough power to hold her in place, but Rynk yanked herself free quickly. This thing was going to crash and explode… wasn’t it? She looked for the nearest dropping point, and while scanning the area she could see the very conscious opponent, before they crashed into Rynk in an assault.

It was a female feline with white fur and black hair. Her eyes were large glowing yellow circles and she looked mad. Rynk probably could have explained at least a small amount of what was happening, but she was not going to. Her concern was getting out. The cat woman was still weak from the battle, making it easy for Rynk to slip her foot to chest-level, and kick her back down. “Sorry- it’s not m-…” She sighed. “Forget it.” And with that, Rynk leapt off of the Aircraft Carrier.

A large black spike caught her, which she stayed atop until she saw the explosion. The lynx did not want to take any chances. She became worried if the white cat was dead but she seemed capable enough to get out of the way in time. Whatever had happened here was now over. Rynk wanted to leave.

Rynk looked down for a ledge of slip towards. She noticed one but it was just as black as her own current standing-point. Was this a mountain? She turned to the wall of this landmark. “Wait a second…”

In all of Mobocan there was always one specific location that remained a constant mystery. No one knew how to break it open, and many who ventured to it did not return. It was a gigantic continent-wide-and-tall mountain of a pillar with scribbles covering its black shiny walls. The Gei Si Heirens called it “The Great Blackness”. Supretans referred to it as “Cresha Fundani” which translates into “Death Foundation”.

Supretans called it this because it was the base for where Gei Si Heir made itself hundreds of years ago. They would make stories about it was filled with the sins of the Geisers. Rynk never believed this of course. She considered Supretans to be just as bad. Up till this recent adventure she didn’t give Nekai people much thought, and while she sometimes thought fondly of Ytaris, it wasn’t really an option at the time. She knew there was another country called… Rictiss. She wasn’t sure where they were.

Right now she just wanted to get off of this rock before something else happened. It did not take long to get to the bottom, which to Rynk’s surprise actually had a docking station with sand. It looked almost normal. A boat was in the distance and no one was in sight. She could have taken it… if she had any idea how to drive it.

While searching for the owner, Rynk heard a small clink from the back of her suit. She reached back and felt a rectangular container. Was this the control box? She pulled it out with some strain and found inside a set of glowing red vials. “Huh… these might be useful”. Rynk decided to keep the strange energy with her and go on with her search.

She ended up fruitless across the white-sanded beach, but upon returning towards the transportation, Rynk caught a glimpse of a figure stepping into it. They were going to take off most-likely, and that meant her only way off.

The lynx dashed across the sand loudly, which thankfully was not given mind to as the motor of the boat started up. She made it in to the back just in time to fall backward from the jerk of the machine moving forward, causing many rippling thuds to follow.

The driver took notice of this, and Rynk knew they would. Just as the boat began slowing to its pause, the lynx scaled the top of the outer wall and sat upon the roof, crouching and crawling to different sides when the driver looked in her direction.

At one point it seemed as though the boatman, who was a very surprisingly pale human, thought they boat had hit something on the shore, and thus he briefly examined the lower regions of his ride. Once things seemed to be in order the boat started up again, and Rynk had decided to keep to the roof.

The hybrid did not mind the movement much, not as though she had a choice to begin with. She did start to think however “What’s next?” She still had quite a bit of funds from her hidden Purmi stash. That would of course mean she would have to go back to Supreta to get it, but strangely enough, after spending some months in Nekai, Emit’s Domain specifically, Rynk found the idea of Supreta to be less repulsive.

Rynk decided to think past how she’d get her money again. [Where would I go?] She thought. [… Rictiss maybe. I should probably find out how things are over there first. Then again, Nekai is always an option. I don’t think I’d need money for that. I could get this guy to drive there… but then there’s the desert surround it. I guess we’ll see.]

A day had passed now, and Rynk managed to keep herself awake by the lunar energy of the moonlight. She solemn looked down at the ship she sat upon, but one time she decided to glance down, she saw that the boat was no longer there. She could feel it, but… [Cloaking… Why is it cloaked?]

She kept her eyes ahead now. The driver still hadn’t seen her. It was probably not cloaked on the inside. The thin faded shield of yellow energy made known to Rynk where they going. It was the energy shield surrounding Supreta. A small tunnel shot up from the ground, welcoming the boat. This boat… this driver, was part of the government? It must have been part of the attack… to confirm it went well maybe.

Rynk was not interested in more fighting-her-way-through-everything at the moment. As soon as the boat was far enough through the tunnel, the lynx leapt up to the ceiling of this tunnel, and rammed a fist through it. She was injured, but it was nothing she wouldn’t heal from. The worst part was digging through the concrete above. The occasional “scree” was incredibly irritating and with minimal elbow room, scrapes were inevitable.

Fortunately however, as Rynk dug upward, she discovered a tingling sensation in her fingers. She was frozen with surprise at first, but realized after some testing that it was not her hands that felt the scraping, but her claws. She could feel the vibrations through her bones. She wondered why it only happened now. Perhaps it was because of the intensity of pressure she had to apply that made it… feel.

A near hour later and Rynk had hit moist, soft, soil. She squeezed it and rubbed it against herself in relief for something not concrete before bursting out of the ground and into a small patch of grass underneath one of the Supretan docks. This entire area was guarded by military.

The lynx poked her head out of the side and saw that the dirt and grass stretched all the way into the city. She decided to take advantage of this, and burrowed a tunnel through until surfacing once again out of sight of the enforcers.

Her mouth was full and covered in dirt which Rynk promptly spat out, gagging occasionally as she searched stealthily for some kind of rinse. No fountains were in sight, which did not surprise her considering her location looked very much like Semretches, so she took it upon herself to silently cut out a window of a nearby house, and clean off in their shower.

After confiscating some nutrition, and a set of clean clothing, Rynk set out to get her stash. She noticed on her ankle that her makeshift anklet-brace remained… the sweater. Why Melcro let her keep it, she did not know, but she did know that this was his main headquarters, and that she wanted out.

The hybrid stopped by at Idolza’s hideout once out of Semretches, looking for more of the serum to hide her Banshee traits. They would not last long as she recalled, but they would help, and if Idolza was there by any chance, taking him out would be an added bonus.

As she went through the safehouse’s things, a growing feeling of sorrow overtook her for a brief moment concerning Idolza’s deceased college. Rynk was partially grateful that it was not her fault someone died that time, but he was far more understanding ant tolerable than Idozla himself and could have had a better future had things gone differently. If by some means the lynx located the murdered man she may have paid her respects, but the body was no-doubt moves months ago.

Rynk did manage to find a few of the medicines as well as a good hundred-plus Purmi that would be useful for the road. After taking out her aggression from all recent events on the establishment, Rynk departed and a few days later arrived back where she had placed her stash.

Thousands of Purmi still remained. Rynk placed the vials where the money was and took the container, a large briefcase, with her to… wherever she felt like going. She was thinking over her next move when fireworks started up. She cringe at the popping sound’s painful zapping to hear eardrums, though she did enjoy the sound of popping regardless. It was the New Year for Mobocan… a new year… maybe that should mean something.

Rynk continues onward, and found herself walking by a casino back-door. She did not recognize it at first, but the conversation inside piqued her curiosity. It was some kind of criminal organization by the sound of it. Someone was crying, being tortured for information and money. Perhaps this would be her New Year’s resolution…

The metal door was knocked off its hinges when she kicked it open, and before a shot could be fired, Rynk was already tearing off a limb of one of the enforcers. They were mostly mobian, but some humans surrounded as well. Cutting off the man’s arm was energizing… but… she did not want to rip people up right now, or ever. Rynk had too much of that lately.

One of the members seemed to recognize the large-eared feline. “You’re that Hellborn from the news!”

Rynk stared at the man with shock and confusion. “You remember that far back? Huh…”

“Demon Steel right?” The most well-dressed of the men addressed. “Here to kil-“

Rynk slid across the floor, swatting the man into the wall with a popping kick. “My name is RYNK, Well-Dress, and I’m here for my own reasons.”

Gunfire and screaming; the sounds that followed Rynk everywhere. This was her normal it seemed. The men were dispatched with, the only fatality being the now armless man who had lost too much blood. Rynk had finished carving small crescent moons into their foreheads and walked over to the whimpering tied-up hostage.

She cut off his bonds and asked “Gonna tell me what you were gonna tell them?”

“I- y-“ The man was going to be stammering for a good long while. Rynk hissed a long irritated sigh. “Just tell me who they are, okay?”

“M-m- Merc-cy…”

“… If I wasn’t going to show mercy I wouldn’t have saved you, wou-“

“N-no!” He interrupted. “That’s them.”

“… ‘Mercy’? … the Mercy Gang?” Rynk was not impressed. “I guess it’s better than ‘Heavy Metal’. At least it sounds original. It’s best you get out now.”

The man half-nodded before getting up, tripping, getting back up again, and then dashing out the door. Rynk walked over to the man who died of the blood-loss. “… You can’t understand me now, so I guess apologizing’s pointless… Sorry anyway.”

The lynx left the Casino room feeling satisfied. A door began to open from inside the Casino—the security probably—so she made herself scarce. After recovering her belongings, Rynk decided that perhaps she could use some well-deserved pampering… a new look maybe. After injecting herself with an appearance-changing concoction, the lynx strolled into a large Supretan Mall. A two-piece purple dress caught her eyes. It would need some changes but she wouldn’t mind indulging a little bit.

For now, she was going to just go wherever, do whatever, and on the way maybe save some people. Emit was dead. Melcro had nothing to do with her at the moment. If anyone was after her, she was going to be ready from now on; a lone hybrid on the streets of Supreta.



THE END














P.S.
There will be one last mini-story in a while I’ll be posting. Just a little something to introduce how Rynk found out about Mobius Academy. Hope you enjoyed this story.