______________________________________________________________________It was not easy for Freelancers and GEMINI agents to encounter each other in the wild. GEMINI HQ was well hidden, and the espers within seldom interacted with Freelancers. But GEMINI operatives did have a number of responsibilities, such as going on monster hunting patrols. It wasn’t exhilarating work. Few monsters wanted the attention of GEMINI, especially if they were acting alone. But ambushes were always possible, so a patrolling agent would always need to be on their toes.
Though Mika wasn’t too worried. If she failed to notice something, her magic would save her so long as she wasn’t being too reckless. The idea of walking around a cursed city by herself didn’t bother her at all. If anything, she was hoping something would try and stop her. But as the case was yesterday and the day before, the monsters seemed to be hiding. Though Mika could feel someone’s eyes on her. Someone was nearby…
Meanwhile, Himiko perched on the ledge of a windowsill of one of the many ruined buildings waiting patiently for the expected arrival of her furry little GEMINI agent. Letting the nice breeze blow through her long golden locks as she enjoyed her current peace and quiet. Himiko took the time to check her phone as she scrolled through a list of information she had taken down from her conversation with Finn. Which gave her a rough idea of where she should search if she was going to find Mika Fang. Though she appreciated the information Finn had given to her, she appreciated the cash that he paid her even more, having split his wallets contents with her 50-50.
Lost in a day dream about her recent additions to her stocks, with the comic book from Noble Spark that she still needed to collect on, and the cash from Finn. It had been an eventful but rewarding operation. It was only the sight of someone down below walking through the cursed city that snapped her out of her fantasy.
“Ahh that must be the little kitty cat that I’m after, unless that cute little button led me astray…” Knowing from her notes, that this individual seemed to be fitting the description that she was able to gather from Finn.
“Hey you!, up here!” Himiko called out to Mika as she leapt from her windowsill to the ground below to greet her, taking position in front of her current patrol route.
The cat girl’s eyes followed the masked esper as she descended to the ground.
"This isn’t an ambush, is it?" She folded her arms.
"You’re not supposed to be here. Who are you?" “Awwwww what's the matter little puddy cat, weren’t expecting company? I guess you could call this a bit of an ambush, though not so sneaky, nor is it to attack. You can call me Sovereign, I was sent to find you by a rather demanding pain in the ass, you know that saying it costs an arm and a leg, well it already cost me an arm, I’m just waiting for the leg” Laughing as her own golden eyes came up to meet Mika’s gaze upon landing.
"I’m not in the mood for jokes." Mika flexed her hands, and the black nails on her fingertips glistened.
"How about you start by telling me why you are here? I don’t plan on going anywhere with you."The glisten of the nails was all Himiko needed to see to know that Mika was agitated. It was typical behavior of a cat after all, though Himiko didn’t feel like finding out how much a scratch would sting.
“Oh, not even if I gave you some catnip? Don’t get all hostile now, I can see your fur sticking up like you jammed your tail in a light socket, I told you why I’m here, but if you want the specifics, I’m supposed to take you to St. Bianchi church, though I should have asked at the time why she wanted you at the church, butttttt we can figure that out together, what do ya say?” giving a shrug of her shoulders and spreading her hands out to either side.
Mika lifted an eyebrow.
"She? I don’t suppose you can tell me who hired you?"Letting out a long sigh Himiko relented as she gave a small shake of her head
“Well, I suppose you could say she is an acquaintance? family? Though she is quite mad, though you may have heard of her, at least that GEMINI agent that was as cute as a button that I assisted knew who she was, she styles herself under the title of Oros The Mad” Reaching her right hand up to scratch the back of her head knowing that this was likely to be the hardest part of convincing Mika.
"...What?" Mika’s face scrunched up, like someone held a smelly sock in front of her face.
"You mean the depraved esper Oros the Mad? And when you said it cost your arm-" Mika ran her hand over her face.
"So let me get this straight: You encountered a wanted esper. She cut your arm off and demanded that you take me to St. Bianchi church. And you expect me to just stop what I’m doing and follow you? Even though she could just kill me on the spot?" Rubbing her chin as she considered Mika’s response, she paused to give a thumbs up and a satisfied nod of her head.
“That sounds about right, though the way you say it sounds so much worse when it's spoken out loud, but you have the gist of things, if you are worried about her wanting to kill you, I doubt she would go through the effort of having me come find you, she would come find you herself, as for my arm, she decided to be a real bitch and took it after I already agreed to find you, but hey what can you do, she is the Mad for a reason, so how about it, don’t tell me you are just a scaredy cat, embrace that inner dog that is within all of us, let loose the catdog, I’m sure it will all be fine” taking it all very nonchalant, as if a invitation to meet with someone like Oros the Mad was just a ordinary every day event. Her sole focus remained on what she could potentially gain if she succeeded in convincing Mika to do as Oros had requested.
Mika tried to speak, but the only thing that came out was a sharp gasp. She spent the better part of ten seconds just staring at the woman before shaking the surprise off her face.
"I’m not going anywhere with you. Leave,Now!"Himiko recoiled at the blunt refusal as she tried to think of something quickly on the spot.
“Oh come on, don’t be such a pussy cat, I’m sure she just wants to meet with you for something important or to talk about something, I already saw earlier that if she wants to locate you and chop you up into little bits she would have already done it, what if I offer you something to come with me? Like a ball of yarn? Maybe a fresh fish? Some catnip perhaps? Maybe I can put in a good word for you with the ole depraved one in advance, I really can’t leave without bringing you along, I don’t think she will be all that happy with either of us” Himiko tried to reason, putting her hands on her hips as she changed her posturing. She wasn’t about to let Mika slip right off the hook, even if she didn’t want to do things the nice and easy way.
"Well I really can’t leave, period." Mika fished an intercom out of her waistband and held it to the side of her head.
"Cerberus reporting. Possible dark web esper sighted. Requesting backup at the west end of Country Boulevard." She didn’t take her eyes off of Himiko as she lowered her intercom. It disappeared into the same space that held the rest of her non-esper items.
"It won’t take them long to get here." She raised her nails and assumed a fighting stance.
"If you want me, you’re going to have to drag me away!" Himiko stared at Mika for a moment as she got ready to fight, bringing the palm of her right hand to her forehead as she started to shake her head.
“Oh come on, we don’t have to get all hostile and worked up over this do we? Besides I’m not from any dark web, I’m just a run of the mill freelancer, here to convince you to come along with me….do you have to make this harder than it has to be?” searching one of the inner pockets of her long flowing white coat. Finding what she was after as she pulled out a plastic spray bottle filled with water.
“I didn’t want to have to use this, but you have left me no choice, bad cat…” pulling the trigger of the spray bottle to squirt a jet of water right into Mika’s face.
“If you come with me now, I won’t shoot again and I’ll put it away….” Himiko’s tone shifted, becoming more stern and serious by the minute, even if her actions did not.
"Hngh!" Mika winced as her face was blasted with some mysterious fluid. She swung her hand in retaliation, and her claw cut through the spray bottle. Its contents hadn’t hit the ground before she swung again, and again. Mika roared louder and louder as face glowed red like a dull ember.
In a blink of an eye, Mika had countered before Himiko had a chance to pull the bottle back. Glancing down at the remains of her now worthless squirt bottle Himiko let out a groan
“Oh come on, I just bought that earlier today, it was still brand new and cost me like a dollar and you went and ruined it right away!” Complaining about the waste of her new purchase. But with Mika temporarily blinded by the water for the first few swings, Himiko was able to sidestep her onrushing claw meat grinder. Letting the enraged beast pass on by as Himiko jumped off to the side.
“Hey now, watch where you are swinging those things, you might hurt someone with those things!” Himiko admonished her as she gave a reluctant shake of her head.
“I don’t want to hurt you, but you're not giving me much of a choice, can’t we just talk about this reasonably?” Yanking free one of her golden revolvers from its holster beneath her coat and pulling back the hammer with her thumb, turning it towards Mika hoping it would keep her at bay for a moment. Though it didn’t seem like Mika was the type to solve things with diplomacy. If Mika wanted to handle it in a physical display of force and combat, Himiko would oblige, the sting of the loss of her squirt bottle still in the back of her greed filled mind.
Mika’s vision returned, but not the
relative calm she was displaying before. If anything, having a gun aimed at her just made the feline girl that much more determined to fight back. Himiko Didn’t want to kill Mika, but she needed to be subdued, and most people slow down a little bit after they’ve been shot. So that was exactly what she did. Though if Himiko was more aware of Mika’s abilities, she might have known what was going to happen next.
Mika’s form dissipated as soon as Himiko’s bullet tore through it. Before she knew what was happening, the cat girl shoulder tackled her. Himiko fell forward, and Mika grappled one of her arms. Spirit animals flowed out of Mika’s wrists, and Himiko’s arm was pinned to her back by a small gathering of mice. The feline esper reached for Himiko’s other arm.
“Shit, you're agile like a cat, guess those ears and all of that isn’t just for looks! But working with mice? Don’t you know you're supposed to be mortal enemies, haven’t you ever watched Tom and Jerry?!?!” Himiko complained.
"Shut up already!" Mika’s cat-like agility and her unique ability had taken her by surprise. She should have likely asked Finn more about Mika’s actual capabilities when she had the chance. But in her rush to locate her, she hadn’t paused or stopped to consider it, only the potential reward consuming her thoughts. This situation became far more hairy than she had hoped.
It would be game over if Mika was able to get a hold of her other arm, spreading it as far out to her side as she could manage. She extended an index finger, pointing towards the roof of a nearby abandoned car. Blinking herself out from underneath the feline, and positioning herself on the roof of the car. Quickly realizing the rodents had come with her as she let out an annoyed grunt. Taking her free arm and reaching inside of her jacket to pull free her second revolver. Pointing it at Mika and firing off a couple more rounds aimed for Mika’s legs.
“I’m damn lucky that I have two of these things, or else you might’ve had me with these mice! Come on, just come with me before one of us ends up going overboard! But if it's a game of peek-a-boo you want, let's play!” The rounds from her revolver ripped through the air precisely at Mika’s knees. Regardless of how fast Mika was, she couldn’t outrun a bullet. Again, her bullets scattered the feline girl’s ethereal form. This time, Himiko had learned her lesson after her first shot had torn through her dissipated form earlier. Holding a few rounds in reserve, fully expecting Mika to attempt the same trick a second time as she preemptively fired another round off in anticipation of where she thought Mika might end up. Expecting her to reappear closer to Himiko like the first time and aiming the round at a spot just a few feet in front of her hoping to catch the Feline esper as she appeared from her dissipation.
Though as it turned out, Mika hadn’t appeared behind Himiko again. It seemed she was shrewd enough to understand the same trick wouldn’t work more than once. But then where had she gone? There were a number of side streets, other cars, some sparsely populated trees, windows, all good places to hide. That was assuming Mika hadn’t decided to up and run. Regardless, time wasn’t on Himiko’s side. If Mika wasn’t bluffing, there were reinforcements headed this way.
Bewildered when Mika didn’t reappear anywhere within her line of sight. Himiko spun around on her heels, golden eyes quickly scanning the area all around her for any sign of the fluffy feline.
“From peek-a-boo to hide-n-seek? Come onnnnnnnn we don’t have time for this, I know you couldn’t have gone too far, here kitttttyyyy kittttyyyyyyy!” When Mika still didn’t reappear Himiko’s golden eyes narrowed as she had scanned the surrounding area multiple times. Either Mika had run away to escape, or she was hiding somewhere that Himiko wasn’t able to see right now. Her suspicions and weariness grew with each passing second of valuable time that ticked away. There was one final ploy she could try, but it was a desperate one and the chances of it working seemed minimal. She had nothing to lose, but everything to gain by giving it a go
“Fine then, don’t come out and play, guess I’ll just have to leave and give up on trying to get you to come with me, Oh well…you did have a chance to capture Oros The Mads little sister, but I have no more time to waste so I’ll be blinking out of here, see you around little puddy!” Making her voice nice and loud as she stomped her feet into the roof of the car to make it sound like she was leaving. When in reality she remained in place atop of the car, waiting to see if her claims or the sound of her earlier stomps had drawn Mika out of her hiding spot.
Stomping around on the roof of a car might have fooled a far off opponent, but the place Mika decided to hide was inside the very vehicle Himiko was standing on. The headliner had rotted out a long time ago, and the metal roof was never designed to hold a person. It was possible to see what direction Himiko was facing based on her shoe’s imprint in the roof. Her lie about Oros’s little sister was equally easy to pick apart. There isn’t a lot known about Oros personal life, but she is something of a traveling nomad. If she had a sister that meant anything to her, they weren’t traveling together. Moreover, Oros was
mad. Only the newest espers wouldn’t spot such an obvious lie.. But Mika…
She leaned out of the window and pointed her finger at Himiko. Glowing spirits swirled around her form as she held back her melody.
"Keep your gun pointed away from me and you won’t find out what this does!" Mika squinted her eyes.
"Tell me everything about this little sister." Lowering her revolver with a small sigh, Himiko turned her golden eyes upon Mika. A wordless stare followed for a brief moment as Himiko’s eyes didn’t move from Mika, nor did she try to move any other part of her body.
“If you wish to find out, then you must make a deal with me, if you come with me willingly to St. Bianchi I’ll tell you everything you wish to know, my goal wasn’t to fight you or try to harm you in any way, but we both can gain something valuable from this arrangement” her tone and posture shifting to a more serious one as she holstered her revolver, keeping the palm of her hand on its handle.
If she could avoid further hostilities she would in a heartbeat. Shifting the ball into Mika’s court, seeing that her words had taken a hold of her curiosity. It was only natural for a cat to have a strong curiosity that was innate within them. Mika appeared to be no different, she just needed the right kind of bait before she would bite. Apply leverage in the right spot and even the most stubborn boulder would budge.
But it had to be the right spot.
Mika’s pupils dilated.
"You sprayed me in the face! And when I retaliated, you shot me!" Her voice was straining.
There was no time to respond. A squad of police cars came racing through the boulevard. They swerved around the street to form a barrier before piling out of their cars. A close look at their division badges would reveal that they weren’t regular police. They had an insignia that depicted two eagles, one upside up and the other upside down. They had their talons locked together and wings spread. Their shape was eerily similar to the symbol for the GEMINI horoscope, which was an intentional design choice. They leveled their rifles at Himiko, and one of them pointed a megaphone at her.
”Get down on the ground! Get down on the ground now!”Himiko’s eyes did not leave Mika, not even when backup arrived, guns drawn, all zeroed in on her. As if they did not even exist at this moment, even with the threat they posed. The loud megaphone didn’t rattle her, or even get her to turn her head or acknowledge them. Her sole concern and focus was on Mika and Mika alone. Removing the palm of her hand from her revolver as she wanted to make it as clear as day that she had no intention of using it again.
“It was only water, more of a prank, one that you took way too seriously, you didn’t have to unsheath those claws of yours and try to shred me to bits, those things are a deadly weapon so it was only right I responded with appropriate force, if you had not escalated it then perhaps things would have went a lot more smooth, now call off your guard dogs so we can settle this properly, or things might get unnecessary complicated” Golden eyes still glued to Mika as Himiko remained calm and collected even with the threat of getting shot or arrested.
"You forgot the part where I told you to back off and you ignored me!" Mika hissed.
"Why would I go with you anywhere?"Her gaze finally breaking away from Mika as she looked up into the sky as she gave a shrug of her shoulders followed by a little laugh.
“Well, as I said before if you want to learn about Oros little sister, and more information than anyone has ever likely gotten about Oros past, I will only share that if you cooperate, as I said before I’m not your enemy and if Oros the Mad wished to kill you she would just come do it herself as she has proven before in the past, no….I suspect she has something else in mind, and despite her madness, she can be reasonable if approached the right way….” The seconds ticked by as Mika kept her finger pointed at Himiko. With a sharp inhale, she stepped backwards.
"Then you won’t mind talking with my boss first." She lowered her hand and walked towards the police officers.
”Drop your weapon and get on the ground!” The police officers were becoming more agitated. With Mika distancing herself from the “darkweb esper,” some of them drew shotguns and aimed them down the street.
Disappointment in her eyes and even through her masked face. Shaking her head slowly as she searched the sky for a moment longer. Lowering her head slowly and deliberate towards the feline GEMINI agent. Mulling over her choices, the police officers' weapons and presence doing little to make her rush things. Her eyes returned to Mika, tuning out the other noise and acting as if no one existed in this moment but Himiko and the cat.
“Stubborn, but I s’pose that isn’t too surprising, it keeps cats alive in the wild, it is part of your natural instincts, though if you wish for me to meet with your boss, I’ll only do so under the condition that once the meeting has been finished, you are willing to come with me to St.Bianchi, I’m not going to fight you, I only want one thing and one thing only” Keeping herself atop the roof of the car as she kept her hand away from her weapon in its holster. Showing Mika she had no intentions of shooting at her again, rather than complying with the officers demands.
Mika stopped and looked over her shoulder, barely making eye contact with the freelancer.
"Oh I’m Definitely going to St.Bianchi. The only unsettled manner is if you ‘re going to come with me or not." 
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