With footsteps as silent as a mouse, Madison followed behind the shaky gang member, who had begun walking slower and curiously looking around at the city. She could clearly see his left arm cradling his right, all in a desperate attempt to sooth the pain of his fractured wrist, but to no avail.
He stopped after a few more moments, looking down an alleyway nearby before glancing around to make sure that no one was following him. Of course, Madison hid behind a wall as he turned to look, before following effortlessly behind him as he slipped down into the alleyway. Naturally, she watched from the bright end of the dark gap between the two buildings, staring at the cautious man as he pushed his hand onto a small section of the wall, before effortlessly sliding a door sized section inwards and off to the side. Moments later, the bricks returned to their original place, leaving no trace of the man's presence.
"Awesome," Madison mumbled, excited by the secret doors which the gang had put in place. Instantly, she followed after him, waiting a few moments before copying his actions to the precise movement and gently pushing open the hidden entrance.
Just past the brick wall, a group of members were gathered around a large table which was overflowing with stolen money, and the man that Madison was following quickly approached them in a frantic manner.
"What's got you so spooked?" Another man asked, looking up to their friend and noticing his scared and hesitant attitude.
"The Nightshade Pirate Captain," he began, holding up his bruised and swollen arm. "She protected a shop from their monthly payments."
"Shall we ask Haven to deal with her?" Another asked, tipping the money atop the table into small one hundred coin bags.
"Yes, where is he?" The man asked, as others came to his assistance and wrapped up his useless arm.
"Back room," another replied, pointing off towards a door nearby. Before anyone could make a move towards the door though, a large rush of lightning struck the room and coursed through the entire group. After only a moment of exposure to the harsh electricity, they fell down and convulsed atop the ground, completely blacked out and drooling with the occasional twitch here and there.
"Thanks for the info," Madison smiled, stepping out into the room and staring at the coins nearby. She shrugged and left the money alone, before stepping up towards the door and happily kicking it down. "Oh Haven!" She grinned, her arms sparking with electricity as she spoke. "I'm here to kill yo-" She was cut off as a bullet scraped past her cheek and slammed into the wall just behind her.
"I suggest you change your tone," Haven growled, looking back at her from deeper within the room. Madison's smile dropped at the mere sight of him, and her features cringed at the overwhelming smell of the room that she had entered. All around her, there were carcasses and bodies hanging from the ceiling, some with missing parts and others with barely any noticeable features left. It was a gruesome kill room, with an unholy splattering of blood covering most of Haven's body from his most recent attack on an animal that was lying nearby.
"I'm going to kill you!" She growled, her eyes filled with rage and distaste for the things she had seen. "You and your gang will live here no longer!" She yelled, as Haven drew his gun once more and fired a bullet directly at her head. As soon as Madison saw him raise his gun though, she let out a massive burst of electrical energy, forcing the bullet to slow down in her artificial magnetic field and fire back in Haven's direction. Incidentally, the bullet slammed right into Haven's shoulder. But despite it, the massive man showed no signs of pain, as he lowered his gun and began charging towards her. Unfortunately, Madison had already decided his fate.
"Tempest Thunderstrike!!" She yelled, her whole body glowing and expanding as she transformed into her dragon form and let out an earth-shattering roar. The sound alone shook the entire building, causing Haven to stumble off balance while the walls and ceiling cracked from instability. Above the building though, thunderous clouds gathered in the sky, causing the entire city to fall into darkness as the only light available became the snapping lightning that struck the building in which their battle commenced.
"T-they had it all wrong," Haven stuttered, backing up while still laying flat out on the ground. "Your crew does not own a Dragon, y-you're the Dragon." He said, bursting into a fit of laughter and tears as he felt his whole world collapsing around him. Literally and figuratively.
"Damn right I am, now prepare to face the fate you so deserve." She growled, only increasing his surprise when she spoke in her Dragon form. His eyes only held their wonder for a few moments though, since soon after she spoke a massive flurry of lightning was emitted from her body, reducing Haven to nothing more than a heap of ash. A similar attack was produced from the sky as well, striking the building with sharp bolts of powerful lightning and crumbling the warehouse into nothing but rubble.
"Guys, I think I found her." Elez mumbled from across the city, watching as the clouds cleared out and returned the sky to its natural blue, leaving only the smoky remains of the building floating in the air.
"Let's go," Zenith said, rushing towards the pile of rubble without a second thought.
As soon as the trio arrived at the scene, Zenith and Elez began frantically throwing pieces aside as they searched for their captain, leaving Kaylo to carefully scout the surroundings and avoid hurting himself with the heavy lifting.
"Hey guys," Madison said, sitting comfortably atop the rubble nearby. "What are you digging for?" She asked, hopping down towards them with a large bag of coins slung over her shoulder. Elez and Zenith made no attempt to reply though, as they stepped towards her quickly and pulled her into their embrace.
"You're such an idiot." Elez said, holding her tight and not at all caring that he was hugging Zenith as well. The feeling was mutual though as the swordsman happily held them both in his arms.
"We thought you were in trouble," Zenith continued, earning a happy laugh from Madison in response.
"Trouble?" She giggled. "I was just buying some food." She explained, allowing Zenith and Elez to step away and stare once more at the pile of rubble.
"So… You didn't like their food or something?" Zenith joked, believing that she had destroyed the building because of their food.
"Huh? Oh no, I still need to go and pick up the food. This was that Haven dude's base." She replied, adjusting the bag over her shoulder before she caught the eye of Kaylo standing nearby. "Hey! Guess what, I kept my promise!" She smiled, walking over to him with a happy grin. "You're actually free this time. Completely free." She said, watching as Kaylo held back his tears and pulled her into a hug.
"Thank you. Thank you so much." He said, slowly breaking down into fits of tears as his body shook from exhaustion and pain of old wounds.
"No problem at all." Madison smiled, patting his back and ruffling his hair. "But hey, I have food waiting and I want to drop all this gold off so they can give it back to the people in need." She explained, slowly pushing him away from the hug as Kaylo swayed and was clearly on the verge of blacking out.
"I got him," Elez said, stepping forwards and catching Kaylo as he fell, lifting the boy up into his arms as Madison nodded and smiled once more.
"Let's get going," she said, walking off as quickly as possible, unaware that a shadowy figure was watching from an ally nearby. Then, after leaving a message in a transponder stone, they disappeared into the darkness of the city.