Fugitives: One.

Claimants: Nil, negative 7000.




Nica body was strewn awkwardly against the wall-door, head lolling and tears running freely down her cheeks. One hand grasping her right horn in a vain attempt to stop the waves of burnt flesh that permeated through her body and those of her insect companions.  Many of them barely clinging to life and screaming at her to help them. 




The rest of the background wasn’t much comfort either. 




The bait had worked, the group had managed to lure the two fugitives out from whence they came, but Nica supposed that was what the two had wanted; this was never supposed to be an easy fight. 




Across the way, pitched half through and hanging from her feet was the rude albeit slightly less injured Verin Dimea, whose left  arm had been grotesquely twisted into a near pretzel. 




Both she and Nica were unable to continue assisting the rest of the group. Not like this at least. It also hadn’t helped that the rest of the group of mix-matched claimants had veto’d taking Thyra up on her offer. Nica tried in vain to adjust herself to be a little more comfortable. At least the boys were keeping their targets engaged, as to not lead to the premature demise of Verin and she. 




“The hell was he thinking. Sending bloody cold fire at the raving lunatic hot head.” 




Verin grimaced, kicking aimlessly in the air. Her physical frame could be so detrimental in circumstances where she’d be thrown into a position where she was unable to free herself. 




The Dimea female wanted to pinch her nose and screw her eyes shut at the pungent scent of phosphorous and Sulphur. Both mingled in the air like impassioned beasts, or like a man holding a gun, being chased by a lion. 




When not trying to spare themselves the indignity of breathing in fumes, the two females listened for the tell tale signs that their team mates had fallen, though all that they currently perceived was the gnashing of teeth, another torrent of flame, one bright, the other dark. Metal being forged and dented repeatedly. 




“I do not think they will be brought back alive.”




“There’s no penalty. Let the two die for all I care.”




“We should have taken the Aikekunai up on her offer for assistance.”




“You’re asking a fire claimant to sit still and be nice to a water Aikekunai?! You’re out of your mind. Ditto that moon-eyed kid.”




“It would be better then being incapacitated as we are.”




“I’m not incapacitated! I just need to set my arms to rights and be freed from this two dollar chinese finger trap of a wall.”




A soft scratch, this time coming from a new source entirely had both females turn their attention to the Coyote that had just emerged. The Coyote seemed to be there purposefully, padding towards both of them and assessing Nica then Verin with a furrow of brows. 




“Whose that belong to?”




“Probably Eviax? Life… they have Coyotes right?”




“I dunno. Never asked.” 




A heavy thunk and a loud yelp of a canine had the newly arrived Coyote, turn tail and return whence it came. Leaving both Nica and Verin to continue their obsolete observance of hearing their teammates fight. 

It was rather fortunate therefore for the Coyote belonging to one Evans Origui, that the other two teams were having a much easier go at hunting down the Koi. 




Though, some of the smaller beasts were clearly more skilful in avoiding all manner of net, fang, claw, teeth, weapon, cannon, elemental traps etc. It was the one that outsized their allies’ koi that caught the group by surprise. For unlike its slightly smaller all the same brute headed bus-sized koi (who were all nearly taken care of, in that like crabs they seemed to be equally self sabotaging their chances of survival and so aiding the claimants out to dispatch them) this piece de resistance was fast approaching with a typhoon of ice, snow and hail. 




Mouth gaping open and turning whatever liquid into more fuel for its nasty frozen abomination. Even if Vivian, Nuvat, Loic, Haden and Najya were as precise as neurosurgeons, this koi was determined to free its lesser companions and take out this team of claimants out for good; that or to make them into dinner, whichever came first. 




“What the fuck! The scales on that thing are brutally thick! Nothing is working and the damned thing is speeding up! Some ideas as to how to beat it would be nice!” 




Vivian guffawed at Haden, as the air was now far too solid frozen for her signature ability as an air claimant, she was forced to soar ever higher and consciously rubbed at her limbs, keenly aware she might end up with a bout of elemental frostbite. 




Some distance away, watching this whole scene unfold. Jillian reloaded her most recent magazine with more of the ammunition Stasia had been given to give to Haden and the sharpshooter for this event. With frost quickly causing her rifle to jam and for her scopes to crack. Jillian sat up and with hands on her hips, directed an annoyed glare at the Coyote who’d deigned to watch all of this from her vantage point. 




“Please go tell Evans what is happening here. Whilst I will be fine. This social experiment of his. Mightn’t be. Not if that koi has anything to do with the outcome of this battle.”

Strewn across both sides of the river, otherwise normally untouched canal ships of both business and pleasure were run aground, decimated much like the H.M.S Titanic struck the iceberg in the middle of the Northern Pacific. Though the alarms to those vessels, and the tiny coupe European budget cars had been quickly silenced. The scene was none the less a perfect example of why claimants and missions did not mix in well situated and modern surroundings where more than just some man’s heritage rose bushes or unripe french grape vines were at stake. 




In consolation however was the seriously delicious state of solid, fatty translucent glacier koi. All of it remained cold to the touch and no matter how it was prepared, the group of exhausted bounty hunters were eagerly chowing down. 




All except Vivian who looked at the flesh in distaste. 




“I know we kinda all agreed not to cook this lot. But who else is gonna eat it? Shame to let the meat go to waste.”




As of yet they’d only encountered one female koi whose belly was full of large snowglobe sized roe - which tasted somewhat similar to the finest sturgeon roe on mortal markets mixed with the finest silken tofu one could muster. Even the otherwise abrasive Haden, with the aid of home brew sake-vodka mix was happily making headway with the fish. 




“Hello.”




All heads snapped in the direction of Eviax. Who hand on hips looked at the group. They’d still yet to defeat the largest koi, who having obliterated one multi-storey residential building had turned tail and gone straight back to whatever icy depths it’d been dwelling in. Though based off the way its large fins had vibrated ferociously, Haden estimated the fish would be back with more support to make their lives just a little harder. 




“If you do not mind finishing your business here. Your compatriots in Turkmenistan could sorely use your help. Things have not gone quite so easy as this endeavour here.”