[center][h2]Kitsune[/h2][/center]

The attacker charged her again, screaming an incoherent roar of pain and rage as he tried to put his over-sized fist through her skull. She dodged the first swing, barely, then the second and the third, each one by less than a hair. By the fourth swing the attacks had slowed down to something more reasonable and she was able to knock the arm aside and back away entirely.

No fifth attack came as her assailant seemed to run out of steam; literally out of steam, as small vents opened along the man’s biceps and shoulders to vent clouds of the stuff, the cool night air shimmering with heat and the skin around the vents audibly sizzling even over the sound of more screaming.

Just pain this time.

Kitsune hadn’t made it very far from the parking lot and her run in with Bouncer before getting caught up in something else, something as equally out of her league as a mass human trafficking ring was, on her way home. Three men with oversized torsos and arms, all wearing equally non-descript clothing and all shouting at the top of their lungs as they threw themselves randomly at passers-by and tore into nearby cars and buildings; their hands punched through metal and brick and pavement with ease and they were faster than the average thug she usually dealt with, though not by much. They could tear through a human to, as some unfortunate people had found out before she had a chance to get their attentions.

Two of those men now lay motionless on the street behind her, not due to anything she had done but instead simply collapsing after venting steam a couple of times while she ran rings around them; their faces were a reddish purple and the skin around their upper arms where the hidden vents were looked bruised and possibly even necrotic. Whatever it was that gave them their strength, it came with a cost.

The third was now done screaming and was charging her again, gritting his teeth and reaching out for her with a desperate look in his eye. Kitsune stepped to the side and ducked under the grasping arms, moving behind the juggernaut and stamping foot into the back of his knee to drive him into a crouch. He swung at her, arm like a tree trunk flying over her head as she ducked under it and moved out of his range. They stood again, slowly, clumsily and had to catch themselves on a nearby car and crushing the hood in the process. One step towards her was as far as they got before the vents opened again and the screaming started again and their legs gave out. It was happening more and more frequently as the fight dragged on.

Kitsune approached, cautiously, and stopped just aside of their reach. Even from here she could feel the heat emanating from their body, which meant they must have been giving off enough heat for it to be near unbearable for a normal person; almost as much heat as she felt standing outside the burning building earlier. The man was panting for breath, face as red as those who had already collapsed and presumably died and was probably about to meet the same fate.

“Why do this?” Whether she meant the attack or the modifications she didn’t know. The man didn’t answer right away, all of his energy being put towards taking laboured breaths as he lay there.

“They said… they’d let us go… if we… killed… ma-nngh.” Their words cut off as the vents opened again, more steam pouring out without him even needing to exert himself first now. Kitsune didn’t move out of the way, just letting the scaling blast wash over her to no effect.

“Who?”

No answer through the steam. No screams either.

“Who sent you? Who did this?”

The steam cleared and she could see that the man was gone. Leaving just another red and brutalised body behind.