Finnovare and May locked eyes, each displaying a stark contrast of emotions—one filled with disbelief, the other a calm resolve. The tension between them thickened, and the air seemed to crackle with anticipation.
"I'm afraid this is where our partnership ends," May said, her voice steady yet cold. "It's time I walk my own path, even if it means taking risks. Living on the edge, always ready to fall. And now that he's returned... seeing his growth, his evolution... it pushes me forward even more."
As she spoke, her energy began to surge. A tail made of blue flame erupted from her back, the fire flickering wildly, engulfing her in a radiant blaze. The blue flames swirled around her, creating a fiery aura that intensified by the second. Her eyes transformed into a piercing, ice-cold blue, glowing with an ethereal, otherworldly light, as if they had frozen the very air around them.
Finnovare's expression shifted from surprise to cautious calculation. He knew what this meant—this was no longer a fight he could walk away from easily. "Not good..." he muttered, his voice tightening with realization.
His gaze flicked downward, where the bounty was written—a staggering number. "May... Wanted dead... 800,000,000 bolts," he stated grimly, his voice filled with a mixture of awe and trepidation. "The only known user of the beast-type ability... Kitsune. I never thought I'd be facing her... not like this."
The bounty on her head reflected her deadly capabilities, the power to transform into something beyond human, a terrifying force of nature. The Kitsune ability was rare, an ancient and dangerous gift that granted the user incredible strength, speed, and an almost predatory nature. As Finnovare stood there, he realized that May was no longer the woman he had worked with—she was something far more dangerous, and he was about to feel the full force of it.
May's Kitsune abilities allowed her to move at speeds that blurred the lines between the physical world and the ethereal. With a sudden burst of energy, she dashed forward, her form a mere blur in the alley as she quickly closed the distance between her and Finnovare. The ground beneath her feet cracked with the force of her sprint, and she spun mid-air, using her acrobatics to gain more distance, her fiery tail flicking with deadly intent.
Finnovare's eyes tracked her movements, and just as she seemed about to strike, he phased partially out of sync with the world, disappearing from her immediate line of sight. But May, with her heightened senses, anticipated his movements. She twisted mid-spin, her blue eyes scanning the alleyway for any trace of Finnovare's elusive form.
Suddenly, from all directions, smaller bursts of blue fire shot towards him—an odd, unpredictable pattern of flames. Unlike ordinary fire, these flames danced erratically, shifting and curving in ways that defied natural motion. They seemed to possess a mind of their own, unpredictable and confusing, making it nearly impossible for Finnovare to track or phase through them.
Finnovare's reflexes were sharp, but he wasn't prepared for such a rapid barrage. He phased slightly to the left, narrowly dodging one blast, but another came at him from a completely different angle. The blue fire grazed his shoulder, causing a sharp hiss as the flames burned through the fabric of his suit. The heat seared his skin, but he didn't flinch.
May took advantage of the confusion, dashing again with blinding speed, her movements erratic and hard to follow. She twisted and spun like a whirlwind, unleashing a flurry of rapid-fire blasts of blue flames, each one targeting Finnovare from an unexpected angle. With every movement, her fiery tail trailed behind her, leaving a trail of intense heat in its wake.
Finnovare, despite his ability to phase, found it increasingly difficult to keep up with May's relentless assault. He phased through the alley walls and tried to regain some ground, but May's unpredictable dashes kept him on the defensive. The flames were unlike anything he had faced before, their erratic behavior forcing him to adapt his phasing strategy.
As Finnovare darted into the shadows, May followed, her eyes glowing brighter with every movement. She dashed once more, her claws extended, ready to strike. This time, however, she combined her incredible speed with a devastating blast of blue fire aimed directly at Finnovare's position, forcing him to choose between dodging or facing the full brunt of her attack.
Finnovare, realizing the danger, phased just in time to avoid the firestorm, but the force of the blast sent a wave of heat across the alley. He reappeared several feet away, his body flickering with aftereffects from his phased movements. His eyes narrowed, calculating his next move, knowing that this fight was far from over, and that he was dealing with a formidable opponent—one who was not only fast but also dangerously unpredictable.
May's form blurred once again as she surged forward with relentless speed, her body twisting and spinning with each movement. Her tail flicked wildly, sending off unpredictable arcs of blue fire that danced like serpents in the air, weaving around her with chaotic elegance. With every dash, she manipulated the flames to follow her movement, bending their course and sending them spiraling in unusual patterns, confusing and overwhelming Finnovare's senses.
The first wave of fire she sent was a series of narrow, twisting spirals that seemed to chase after him like a pack of hungry wolves. Each fire tail curved and twisted in mid-air, creating a maze of unpredictable paths that made it nearly impossible for Finnovare to find a way to dodge them all. His body flickered in and out of sync with reality as he phased through the fire, but just as he reappeared, another set of flames shot directly at him from an unexpected angle, forcing him to phase again.
The second pattern May unleashed was a barrage of flickering fireballs that burst forth from her hands like projectiles, each one leaving a trail of blue light in its wake. The fireballs were erratic, their speed and trajectory constantly shifting, as if they had a mind of their own. Finnovare, still struggling to keep up with the constant barrage, phased through a few, but several exploded near him, leaving scorch marks on the ground and singeing his clothes.
But May wasn't finished yet.
She grinned, her eyes glowing brighter as she focused her energy. With a sudden, sharp flick of her wrist, a massive gust of wind surrounded her, swirling around her body in a tornado of blue flames. The flames began to dance and shift, taking on a life of their own as they swirled around her, forming a glowing barrier that crackled with intense heat. The flames shaped into the form of a giant fox—a massive, ethereal kitsune that mirrored her own fiery tail, its claws snapping and eyes glowing with fierce energy.
The giant kitsune made of fire began to coil and writhe in the air, as if alive, its tail whipping through the air and its flames licking the walls of the alley. The fiery apparition roared, a sound that echoed through the alley, its power and heat overwhelming. The ground beneath their feet shook as the energy from the kitsune's form expanded, threatening to ignite everything around them.
Finnovare braced himself, recognizing the danger. His mind raced as he calculated his next move. The sheer intensity of the flames created by May's transformation was unlike anything he had faced before. He was already struggling to keep pace with her speed and flame patterns, and now this colossal burst of energy was too much to avoid.
Without warning, May released the giant kitsune, sending it forward like an unstoppable wave of destruction. The fire fox barreled toward Finnovare with terrifying speed, its flames surging forward like a beast unleashed. The ground exploded beneath the force of the attack, and Finnovare barely managed to phase through the explosion, but the heat wave was too powerful. It burned through his defenses, singeing the edges of his clothing and forcing him to retreat back into the shadows, gasping for air as the alley was engulfed in flames.
The kitsune's body expanded, pushing outwards, its fiery form consuming everything in its path. The explosion created a massive shockwave that shattered windows and sent debris flying through the air. The heat was so intense that the surrounding buildings began to catch fire, and the entire alleyway was soon cloaked in a blinding inferno.
May stood amidst the destruction, her chest rising and falling as she caught her breath, her body surrounded by the smoldering remains of her power. Her eyes glowed brightly, reflecting the flames that danced around her, and her fiery tail flicked in satisfaction as she watched the destruction unfold.
Finnovare, having narrowly avoided the worst of the blast, emerged from the shadows, his body singed and his movements slow as the aftereffects of the explosion lingered. He stared at May, his eyes narrowed, knowing that this fight was far from over—but one thing was certain: he was dealing with a force of nature unlike any he had ever encountered.
With the air thick with the remnants of May's fire, she moved with renewed grace. Her form flickered as her Kitsune power surged, her speed intensifying. Before Finnovare could react, she was already vanishing from his sight, leaving nothing but afterimages in her wake.
The alley seemed to warp as May flickered in and out of existence, each afterimage a mere echo of her true self. Finnovare's eyes darted around, his senses overloaded, struggling to lock onto her position. Then, in an instant, she was above him, her presence completely shifting into a different space.
From the air, May descended with the force of a vengeful storm. As she landed, her feet barely touched the ground before she was upon him—moving faster than Finnovare could track. With a swift, fluid motion, she placed her palm directly on his chest, the energy gathering at her fingertips as a second tail emerged from her rear, its fiery glow surging with power.
In that moment, she unleashed the blast— a massive surge of spiraling blue fire that erupted from her hand like a wild, furious vortex. The blast tore through the air with a deafening roar, sending waves of heat crashing outward. Finnovare had no time to phase or react, and the force of the blast sent him flying backward with immense power, crashing into the nearby wall. The explosion of fire left the alley ringing with a violent, explosive aftermath.
For a moment, everything fell silent, the sound of his body colliding with debris the only indication of the chaos. Smoke filled the air as May stood, watching his motionless form, her expression calm and determined. The glow from her tails shimmered as the second tail flicked with a surge of residual energy, her gaze cold as she surveyed the destruction she had wrought.
Without a second thought, May didn't linger to watch Finnovare recover. Her body shifted once again, and with two tails now flicking behind her, she dropped to all fours, a gleam of fire in her eyes as she darted forward, her movements swift and calculated like a fox hunting prey. Her body moved through the streets at an animalistic speed, each bound precise and purposeful as she raced through the alley, her two tails leaving trails of blue fire in her wake.
Finnovare lay there, his body battered and bruised from the force of May's devastating attack. His uniform was torn, and his movements were sluggish as he struggled to regain his bearings. His eyes, now obscured by the shadow of his hood, glimmered with a hint of resignation and weariness. The pain coursing through him was intense, but it did little to silence the thoughts that echoed in his mind.
"She was always meant to be controlled," he muttered quietly, his voice hoarse, almost lost in the heavy silence of the alley. "My job was to keep her contained... to hold her back from becoming what she was born to be. But now... now she's just a wild beast."
He inhaled sharply, the sting of his injuries mingling with the bitterness of his words. "Her family... they're too alike. That reckless power, that fire coursing through their veins—it runs too deep, too wild. And now, I see it. That same unpredictability, that same dangerous potential... just like her ancestors."
His eyes, though dim, stared blankly ahead as he gathered what little strength he had left. There was no denying it—May had unleashed something far more chaotic than he had anticipated. She wasn't the agent he had expected to remain controlled; she was a force unto herself, and the reality of that was a hard truth to swallow.
Finnovare's head sank slightly, exhaustion creeping in as his thoughts grew darker. "I failed… No matter what I did, this was inevitable. She'll never be the agent I wanted her to be. She'll be something far worse."
To be continued...