The ultimate hunt. Target #1 confirmed

The lid that he threw at the woman was caught, and with a pirouette was thrown back at him. Michael had little time to react within the midst of his firing off the shot and dealing with the thing thrown at him. With little time to really react, Michael brought up his right arm as the trash can lid slammed jarringly against it, eliciting light curse from the masked man. With the enchantment still running through it, he could tell that there would be some bruising from where he was struck, and perhaps simply to add an extra layer of protection between him and anything else, the male let a little of his energy run through the black coat covering his combat gear. It served as an impromptu body armor now, not that anything of serious energy would be stopped much by it.

The woman was down by the bullet that he fired, blood seeming to have oozed from the wound that was formed along her mid-section. Something within him took note that she was not bleeding as much as he anticipated, which meant that she was healing somehow. Drowsily the woman would throw a pipe at him, missing his head by only a few inches, though what he did not expect was the burst of energy that struck him on the back. It tore through the jacket well enough, and sent Michael onto his knees with a pained curse as he felt the warm sensation running along his back, He was bleeding, and probably a nice first degree burn was there, if not a second or third.

Still, it was the jacket that prevented any major damage, for example the blast tearing through his body. “Ouch.” Michael grumbled annoyed, still feeling the damage from the attack. He removed the coat, revealing the full extent of his protection, all of which seemed worthless against the woman’s power, even with his ability backing it up. ”I think we’re done now.” Without even a warning of what he planned, his hand was in motion and releasing two empowered rounds towards each of her knee caps.

Bleeding out was painful. Sarah winced again and again in pain as her body sought to recover from the bullet wound in her abdomen. If only she had another second and the bullet might have been dodged. Perhaps the pirouette was not the best course of action. What should she have done differently. Just grab the lid and use it as a shield? That might have worked better. She was struggling to get back to her feet as the pain seared through her. Sarah held her hand around the wound and applied pressure to it to try and stop the bloodflow. While doing so, she found the bullet. It had lodged itself into the sinews of her skin. She looked up and saw that her last few actions were of some success. The thing was. This guy was wearing armor underneath his fancy jacket. Still, that armor didn't look like it would hold up against much. She could probably still freely attack without worry of them failing completely.

She crawled backwards to generate some distance from him, and grabbed hold of the same trashcan lid from earlier. He may have been hurt but was still approaching. The pistol was pointed at her once again and two shots rang from it. Sarah deflected the shots away with an energy burst that sent them ricocheting about. Casting thoughts of the pain coursing through her away, she then blasted at the pistol and simultaneously jumped to her and grabbed at his other arm and tried to hit him right in his eyes with the bullet that was now charged with her own energy.

It appeared that the struggle was over now, minimal damage having done but more than he wanted in the first place. His back was burning, and blood was still slowly running down it from the injury, which meant he would have to end this as quickly as possible and as cleanly as possible. This woman was slowly crawling backwards, fighting against her injuries to escape him and that meant that he indeed had to cut off her mobility. So that was what the two shots fired were for, and they would have done well if she did not do something with that strange energy of hers. Now the shots were richocheting around, infused with the energy that the woman was using. Within a matter of seconds his gun found itself shot from his hand and clattering along the ground, leaving the male with no weapon other than his fists.

However he even had less time to respond to what happened next, as the woman grabbed onto his other arm and threw him off balance. Within that second there was a sharp amount of pain along the side of his face, bullet barely missing his jaw and damaging the cheek. Michael cursed lightly as cracks ran along the front of the mask, and some of it cracked away onto the ground, leaving blood within its wake. In the distance he heard what sounded like a siren, which meant that this whole thing was getting dicey. With the woman still holding onto him, Michael took the only option available to him, and aimed to slam his free elbow down at the back of her head. If this did not knock her out, then he would be in trouble.

Sarah kept her hold tight on his arm. Her fingers and nails trying to dig into the skin to cause him pain. She may have been in pain, but she was going to make him hurt more. From here she could see the wound that had formed in the side of the face through the mask he wore over it. That bullet had done its job well enough. A two for one deal on tearing holes through people. Sarah looked at the gash in the side of his face and grabbed at it and tried to tear through it some more.

She was about to fire a blast right through the wound when she saw his other arm swing towards her. Ducking underneath only proved somewhat successful. His elbow glanced off the top of her head and bludgeonded her a bit. She almost collapsed as she kneeled down, and the energy blast instead fired at his shoulder of the arm she was already grasping. Dazed a bit, she could hear sirens blaring in the distance. Was that real, or was she just imagining it. Hopefully it was real. That would actually be a relief. Getting back to being steady, she struck at his face and throat. Energy swirling around her hand as she did so. This time she was aiming to possibly end it.

Nails dug into his skin, minor sensations of pain registering across his skin as he tried to ignore them. It hurt for sure, but nothing that couldn’t be ignored, just small amounts of blood being drawn from underneath the skin. Even within such a grip she was tenacious, slashing at his faced with powerful nails that tore at the damage done to his face, a guttural roar of pain loosening through his lips. The elbow should be able to finish her off though, it should have been able to knock her down, if she did not move out of the way of a finishing blow. Yet it was more than enough to cause stumbling, more than enough to make distance as he took stock of what damage that she had done.

Then something tore through his shoulder, an immense amount of pain radiating from that area as his left arm fell uselessly at his side, blood beginning to soak his armor. He was taking more damage than initially thought and that would not go well, he would likely pass out soon if the blood loss continued. This woman’s efforts seemed to redouble as she struck out with an energy coated hand, aiming to kill him with whatever it was that she was using, Michael barely managing to dance out of her way, lazily striking at her with his right arm. A dance that he was failing within, but one that he would fight to the end.

It was then that he noticed something, a dark figure jump behind the female and with a triumphant crack she fell, black leathery wings flapping within the darkness. This fight was over, but that did not mean that the trouble was over, not by a long shot. ”Getting a little clumsy aren't we Michael?” She teased the warming fire seeming to bloom from her hands, bathing the alleyway, covering entrance and anyway to enter it. It gave off heat, but something about it was…rejuvenating in a way. ”Well lets get going, Elena doesn’t like to wait.” She said hefting the unconscious woman upon he shoulder, and within an instant they were both gone, an uttered word within a guttural language was all that needed to be spoken.

They arrived within the Palace soon after.

By this point in time, Sarah felt, no knew, knew she was winning this fight. Knew she was going to win. This man, whomever he was that dared to come after her and try and take her somewhere she did not want to go. Well, he would really regret it. Even if that regret would only last a few seconds. The last few seconds he might soon have left to live.

Sarah kept her wrenching grasp strong on his arm. She would continue to make sure the pain tore through him for as long as she needed to. It was working well and allowing her to proceed with attacking. Her first strike, only temporarily foiled by a glancing blow to the top of her head, but she persevered on. Despite the clubbing blow to her head she managed to hit him in his free arm and it looks like it has been disabled because of the damage done. With his right arm still caught in her grasp and his left arm broken and unusable, he was wide open for attack. Everything she could have hoped for came to pass. Sarah struck at his throat with a slashing like movement. He managed to avoid it, but was still vulnerable to another attack, and she was ready to unleash another one. Sarah aimed her hand and the subsequent blast right at him with the intent to do as much harm as possible. The energy flared in her hand as she prepared to fire.

Just as the blast was beginning to leave her hand, something struck her from behind. Her energy fired out, but only became a wisp. She let out a cry of agony as she fell to the ground. A dazed and hurt Sarah looked up to see somebody or something standing behind her. Something more like it. This thing had wings and was definitely not human even though it had some humanoid features. Features she just could not properly make out as her vision became blurry. Then, she unfortunately lost consciousness. Whomever this other entity was, it had not only saved the man's life, but had helped him in actually accomplishing the task to completing his damn mission. Sarah could only curse in anger before she passed out. Hopefully when she woke up, she would have another chance.

The two appeared within the transportation room and already one of the homunculi were waiting to receive the prisoner. A young looking woman in a white robe and soft looking brown hair that fell down to her jawline, spritely in appearance all save for the cold look within her eyes. Placing the woman over her shoulder, the two would be allowed to meet with the celestial queen, the woman was now in a place where there was now hope of escape. Even the teleporter was closed to those that knew not how it worked, so all was lost to the woman. Michael however needed medical attention, his body quickly losing a large amount of blood. Golden fire washed over him, filling Michael with a sense of wonder and relief as the pain within his wounds seemed to disappear and they closed altogether. His body would find itself replacing the blood that was lost and overall he was feeling much better.

”So, it looks like you found her.” The voice of Marie spoke out within the long narrow halls that composed the great Palace of The Dragon. The woman they had captured would find herself within a strange room, one that was clear except for a large gem that composed the floor. It was clear and beneath it seemed to be only a cavernous seeming darkness that could swallow even light. Stepping through the door that lead into the room as the woman known as Elena Marie, red hair falling upon her shoulders as she looked coldly to the female that was bound tightly. However like a fire lit within the Antarctic some warmth leapt upon her expression, as the woman seemed to stir from her sleep. Michael and another woman stood beside her, a strange rapier upon her hip.

”Looks like you’re awake, good.” Marie noted simply with arms crossed over her chest. She did not fear the female that was bound. The stone floor was made of a special type of crystal, one that would absorb any kind of energy produced within the presence of such a large quantity.

Sarah was totally out cold for the sudden trip back. They were thinking with portals when it came to figuring out how to get back to this super secret base of theirs. Damn portals and their making trips easier. It would have been nice if she were actually conscious while being brought in so she could see this here palace. It was a pretty nice place. It shouldn't exist, but it was pretty nice. Exept for the damn prison where she was to be kept for the time being. After all of that they were just going to keep her locked up until their plans came to pass. Who knows how long that would take? A day? A week? A week and a day? Only time, and whatever events actually occur will tell.

She knew not for how long she was unconscious. All she knew is that when she woke up, is what not what she could have hoped for. Sarah thought maybe, it was just a really bad dream or something. Unfortunately, that was not the case. It was all too real, and now she was a prisoner. She stared groggily at the weirdly designed floor she laid upon as her senses restored themselves. She shook off the weariness when she heard a voice. Sarah looked up to see three people outside this cage. One was the very little piece of shit that had attacked her in the first place. The other two were both women. One of which definitely seemed to be the leader of this bunch.

"Good?" she pondered. "You're not going to think it's good for very long." Sarah said as she unleashed a blast of energy right through the cage door and at them. The thing was, something happened that she did not expect. Instead of aiming towards them that energy dropped to the ground and was seeped into the floor. "What the hell?" she wondered. It was kind of obvious though. Of course if they knew who they were after, they would have a means to actually deal with them. That includes detaining them. Sarah cursed under her breath with this realization. She would have to figure out another way to escape. Somehow. Maybe sometime in the future. With them just standing there her chances were pretty much nonexistent.