"It's the middle of the night! Why is there traffic?!" Amelia pounded the honk on her car, causing the nearby drivers to stare at her. "Screw it!" She slammed open the door and began running along the sidewalk.
Bright yellow street lamps fly past her as she runs at breakneck speeds, bumping into several people along the way.
"Why does the mansion have to be so damn far away?!" She yelled in frustration, causing an even greater number of people to look at her.
The mansion was set ablaze in a mix of orange and red with strong gusts of wind spurring it on. Odd explosions occurred rapidly from within the rubble as Amelia stood outside search for an entrance. "There!"
Amelia climbed over a window which the fire had not yet gotten to and dropped into the second floor of the library. As she avoided fire when she could, she approached the lobby and the explosions grew louder. 'Behind this door.' Amelia twisted the handle.
Sebastian leapt across the room and took a stance, his arms raised and feet slightly spread. "Something wrong old man? Are ya' feelin' tired already?" Sebastian consolidated his strength into his fists and legs. "Ya' shouldn't be exerting ya'self so much ya'know? It's gonna give ya' aches later." The wicked man laughed.
"Sebastian! Where's Sheridan?" Sebastian loosened his body for a moment, "Amelia? Sheridan is in the back fighting someone else, I'll be fine but go help him!" Amelia nodded in response, "as if you need to tell me." She said before running off. "At least show a little concern for this old man Amelia."
"You shouldn't forget about me you know." Sebastian got punched in the gut before he could react, the air in his lungs being forcibly expelled, 'he's fast!'
Sebastian dashed backwards and retook his stance again, "that weak of a punch won't affect me." He spat out blood, "all ya' lost was a tooth so far, I'm sure this'll last a bit longer. Don't let me down old man!" He jumped at Sebastian, preparing for another punch with Sebastian barely dodging at the last second.
"Else ya' gonna lose a lot more than just ya' life." Sebastian prepared for another punch, but the man retrieved a pistol from his pocket and began unloading it at Sebastian. "You bastard!" Sebastian exclaimed. "I may be flashy with my gun but I ain't completely flamboyant. That'd be my friend."
Wherever the bullets landed, an explosion of color occurred momentarily after. "Name's Harper, I don't got a spot on the zodiac list, but that don't mean I ain't strong. Unlike my friend as well." Sebastian paused for a moment when Harper had to reload, "ya' just an inferior then." Sebastian jumped off the wall behind him and flew at Harper, fist at the ready.
"Are ya' copying my style now? Can't say I'm a fan o'that." Harper redirected Sebastian's arm by gently pushing it off to the side, forcing Sebastian to pull away again. "You sly fox, that was Aikido, wasn't it." Harper grabbed his chin softly and fidgeted around, "I wonder if it is..."
Sebastian rushed towards Harper again, this time sending a flurry of blows. 'Can't block that many, shooting at him now could kill me too. I should just take the hits and look for an opening after.' Harper redirected as many of Sebastian's attacks as he could, but ended up bruised everywhere anyway.
'He's not letting up?!' Sebastian yelled in fury as he continued assaulting Harper in another barrage of blows. 'At this rate I'm go-' Sebastian aimed for Harper's eyes in the midst of his attacks, successfully puncturing his right eye but missing the left. "Get off me ya' old man!" Harper kicked Sebastian with all his strength but Sebastian did not move an inch.
Harper began losing feeling in his arms as he was nearly beginning to just be flailing his arms around. Sebastian kept punching Harper repeatedly, giving him no opening and no time to think. 'I got no choice!' Harper took his pistol and fired at the ground, causing an explosion.
"Is this guy crazy?!" Sebastian bolted away from Harper just before the explosion happened and watched as Harper was torn apart in the green explosion that turned red.
Sebastian looked down at his bloodied hands before dropping onto the floor, "the shockwaves caused by the explosions are giving me a headache." He groaned in pain, "my eardrums might've burst too." Sebastian fell unconscious on the floor, fire raging around him.
Meanwhile during Sebastian's fight. Another battle took place in the back of the mansion. "You aren't going to lay a finger on her." Sheridan faced a tall woman, her body muscular and she wore a white shirt and black tie. "I got hired for you, not her. I don't do work outside what I'm paid to do." Sebastian prepared himself to fight.
"But if it means I'll be able to finish the job faster... I might as well go for her too." Evelyn cowered behind Sheridan in fear. A cold gust of wind blew over the garden, a swarm of ants nested nearby and crickets chirped, but Sheridan and his opponent remained unfazed by anything around them.
A tense atmosphere befell the garden as the tall woman emanated a dominating presence. Her face obscured in the shadow of the dark hat she wore, brown oxfords coated black in the night and a long coat that stretched to her knees. Another gust swept over them. "Evelyn stay close to me and I'll try to get far from you."
The woman reached into her coat and pulled a long rectangular object out. She then pulled off her arm that was artificial and replaced it with the object. 'Is that her's!' Sheridan readied himself. Her new limb clicked into place. It resembled a Hwacha, having several holes that sank deep into it. She threw her coat towards Evelyn. "I'll at least let her wear my coat first. I'll take it back once we're done."
Evelyn shivered from the cold and from fear, agreeing to do whatever Sheridan asked of her. "You made quite an entrance lady, barging into my room, kicking me out the window just when I was having a moment and all." Evelyn hid her face in his shirt.
"I did? Well I can at least apologise for that much, but I'm impatient." She spoke condescendingly. "Who are you to get off with acting all high and mighty?" Sheridan asked. "Introductions are unnesscesarry, all you need to know is that I'm the pig."
'I don't recognize her, must be a new member, but she doesn't know me as well. Either way this isn't going to be easy.'
"The 12 zodiac are a group comprised of 12 members, each granted a title based on the animals of the Chinese zodiac. However, many of its founding members died a long time ago. So now most of the members are new." A man spoke to someone from across a table. "Then who's still alive from the founding members?" They asked.
"My informant told me he couldn't find any names, but their titles were the Ox, Snake, Horse and Dragon." The person whom the man was speaking to was pleased. "I don't need all the names, only the dragon's." The man stood up from the table, "should be doable."
"I have to get the dragon."
"Pig woman it is." Sheridan taunted, "don't you call me that." She launched herself at Sheridan. He grabbed Evelyn and shoved her away before turning back to face the pig woman. Sheridan was hit by a blow from her real arm that sent the wind flying, "not bad." She complimented him before kicking him with the back of of her shoe.
This'll get pretty serious." Sheridan slightly inhaled to enhance his senses. The pig woman sent punches after kicks repeatedly at speeds nearly invisible to the human eye, but Sheridan was more than capable of keeping up with it all.
"You're the dragon, aren't you?" Sheridan looked at the pig woman. "I'm not." The woman kept up her attacks whilst they talked, "then how are you able to keep up with me, and not only that but you're countering me as well." Sheridan blocked every blow with his arms alone and even managed to land hits back on her.
"I'm just skilled at fighting." Sheridan landed several intense palm strikes onto the woman's face in an instant, finishing with a heavy strike to her chest, then turning to his side and kicking her in the stomach with a tremendous force.
She began coughing profusely, barely avoiding Sheridan's follow up attacks. "I heard the dragon used Pa Kua as well. Were they your master or something?" Sheridan remained silent, only pushing them further away from Evelyn. "It's none of your business." Sheridan punched downwards at the pig woman's knee when it extended, pushing it backwards and breaking her leg.
"I must be right." She laughed maniacally.
"You're about to die so can you at least decide to die quietly?" The pig woman stopped laughing, "you should look behind you." Sheridan was horrified as he saw Evelyn being strangled by someone.
'I was too focused on the pig woman!'