NOVPUBUnder Lister's orders the entire megacity of Hollywood was on the move against the Dungeon raiders which included Allegro, the city's holy rank hunter. This forced him to end the concert short, leaving both Emma and Amy trapped inside the huge stadium where the concert was taking place along with an unsatisfied crowd that could easily turn into a rioting mob at any moment.
Because of this, Lister had no choice but to delay his attack on the airport and dispatched a small portion of his forces to the stadium. Getting a zeppelin was a priority, but keeping order was also an important duty.
While this was taking place downtown, inside the Pegasus things were also starting to get heated after Uriel and Ciara failed to reach an agreement on her payment.
"I said this already, but you can date Emma any day you liked. I only got angry because it was your weird brother the one who wanted to date her." Uriel shrugged.
"Just like I've repeated myself a hundred times. I'm not interested in her, I wanted to date you. It's just that I didn't know what you looked like and only knew your name." Ciara rebuked.
"This is going nowhere." Nika sighed.
"Just like me, I'm not going anywhere with her!" Uriel scoffed.
"This is a debt you must pay, whether you like it or not." Ciara said.
"I agree." Luna nodded.
"This is all your fault for making promises that involve other people!" Uriel directed a murderous glare at Luna.
"Yes." She nodded again, managing to annoy even Ciara despite being on the same side.
"Why do you even want to date me anyway?" Uriel asked, but the dryad replied with another question.
"Why don't you want to date me?"
"I don't know you, you're a hybrid, you're not my type, I'm not looking to have a relationship and you're now the criminal underworld boss." Uriel listed just some of the reasons why he didn't want to date her in a rapid fire.
"I am a hybrid... uhm... too." Luna stuttered.
"I wouldn't date you either, not because you're a hybrid but because you're a jerk who gets me involved in these kind of issues!" Uriel snarled and more bickering ensued.
The fact that another woman wanted to date Uriel didn't even bother Medusa anymore and the only thing that bothered her was not having pop corn to enjoy the scene. That, and also being able to actually see it. On the other hand, Nika completely lost her interest as soon as she confirmed they didn't owe Ciara any money.
Managing the company's finances was a tough job and since it involved Uriel's personal account she couldn't ask for any help.
"I wish every day was like this." Nika thought of her current problems. Spending a sleepless night on the safety of the Pegasus was nothing compared with fighting tooth and nail for survival in the shadowlands. Even the sound of her friends bickering felt reassuring and she couldn't have enough of it.
"If you go out with me, I can offer Miss Luna all the knowledge I have about the acorn she inherited from my father." Ciara let out her final offer.
"Deal." Luna jumped from her seat and extended her arm, receiving a slap on the hand from Uriel instead of a handshake from Ciara.
"You can't make any decisions for me, I'm my own person!"
"I'll give you guys some time to think about this. I'll come pay you guys a visit in a couple days." Ciara said as she stood up, prompting Miss Dragonfang to usher her to the exit.
The former Lieutenant had spent all night on watch duty and she was nearing the end of a three day shift due to their lack of crew. She was tired and so distracted she didn't even notice when the sniper's bullet pierced through her ascended skin nor did she hear the booming sound that echoed in the open space.
The only thing she noticed was her point of view shifting from standing upright to looking at the ship's ceiling.
Thanks to her trait Nika was the first to show up and she got Miss Dragonfang behind cover by picking her up and placing her against the wall.
"What the hell was that!?" Nika asked a dumbfounded Ciara who didn't react.
"It's an assassination attempt. See? This is why I didn't want to get involved with the mafia!" Uriel growled as she showed up, being careful enough not to step close to the open door.
Medusa and Luna too showed up, though the former had no means to know the door was still open and she placed herself directly in the line of fire. Another booming sound echoed, this time accompanied by the tall huntress falling on her knees while rubbing her shoulder.
"I'm okay. It hurt less than sparing with Longlegs." She chuckled, unaware that Miss Dragonfang laid on the ground with a pale face and watery eyes. 𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑝𝑢𝘣.𝘤𝑜𝘮
"Tell my father... tell him that I forgive him." She muttered.
"We don't know who your father is." Uriel replied.
"Then tell Phlox to tell him!" Miss Dragonfang grumbled, then dropped limp on Nika's lap. "I want you guys to know that even if you don't consider me as your close friend, I always saw you like that. I just wish we had more time to share good memories and... are you guys even paying attention to me?" She asked once she noticed that no one listened to her last words.
Nika watched outside the window, Medusa listened to the sounds that came from the outside, Luna sniffed the air and Uriel focused on his mystical sense until they all arrived at the same conclusion.
"This isn't an assassination attempt, we're under siege." Uriel declared after confirming with his mystical sense the presence of more enemies than he could count with ranks that varied from evolved to heavenly.
"How can you tell?" Ciara asked in confusion.
"We are completely surrounded, but they only opened fire when the door opened. They don't want to cause unnecessary damage to the ship." Medusa explained her reasoning. Judging by the sound of the enemy steps it became obvious they were geared with heavy weapons yet they used a sniper rifle, then it was Luna's turn.
"They didn't shoot to kill, so they might want to arrest us."
"Wait, I'm not dying!?" Miss Dragonfang suddenly felt a lot better and stood upright as though nothing happened.
"Yes, it's just a flesh wound." Luna moved in to treat her wound that was nothing more than a graze.
"I think they found out about our nightly activities." Nika shrugged believing their nocturnal cryptid hunting to be the reason of the attack.
"Maybe, it's also the time we are at our weakest since most of our members are either hunting outside or spending the night elsewhere." Uriel then fell silent as he inwardly complained about his bad luck. Of all the possible nights they had to choose precisely the one he decided to spend his flux energy by sending the jaguar spirit to accompany Emma.
Uriel cancelled the summon without sparing it a second thought as there was no need to waste any more flux unnecessarily and it would also allow him to summon it if needed. Then he turned to Ciara. "You said you wanted to have a date with me, right? Go find a heavenly rank hunter that should go by the name of 'Sharp' and tell her we need help.
You'll spot her immediately because she wears an eye patch and should have a cute girl by her side. Do that and I'll have a date with you."
"And how am I supposed to get out of here?" Ciara asked, unsure of whether or not she would like the answer.
"Leave that to us." Was all Uriel replied. His friends already knew about the Wild girl he met near Louisiana and they also knew she was a holy rank hunter so Uriel had no need to explain anything. Unfortunately, he knew that even if Ciara managed to get out safely and find Sharp, it didn't mean she would be willing to help them.
"I'll tell everyone to go to their posts." Medusa declared.
"I'll prepare the medbay." Luna announced.
"I'll grab something to eat." Miss Dragonfang said in a shameless attempt to escape, only to be grabbed by Uriel.
"Not so fast. There's something I need you to do." He said with a grin that sent shivers down the former Lieutenant's spine.
Outside the Pegasus the detectives were prepared for anything the Dungeon Raiders could do.
They had placed engineers with heavy shield in the front to cover them from enemy fire, doctors ready to use their a combination of drugs and poison to disable any hunter below the heavenly rank, combatants prepared to give their lives if that meant taking an enemy down with them and expert snipers at the distance.
Fate was sealed as soon as the first shot was fired, though no one could have anticipated the domino effect that would ensue when Uriel stepped outside the door with both hands lifted in the air.
