Crimson and Thorn both gaped at the ashen remains of what was once the Dusk Manor. Inspectors arrived shortly after the event, digging evidence under burnt log and crumbled cements. If there was anyone present during the explosion, no one could ever find a trace of such existence with the severity of the wreckage itself.

There was one body retrieved with a severed head. For research purposes, Crimson asked in advance for the examination report, before he let the forensics proceed with their work.

"This is a new kind of aggression." Crimson said, his face wrinkled in a forlorn visage.

"This is the work of a madman." Star added. "Look at it in a certain way, you might even think that this could be a terrorist act. Minus, of course, the publicity."

"Or maybe, they're just waiting for the right moment to expose themselves. They definitely know what they're doing."

Without announcing himself, Star stepped away from the infamous pair's space and proceeded to join his crew as they were leaving the scene.

"Where are you going?" Crimson asked.

Star merely glanced over his shoulder. "Heading back to the station. If these cases are going to pile up rapidly, then it's time to start up a massive investigation, as you dearly requested."

As mildly annoyed Crimson was at the Chief of Police's smartass retort, he certainly had a point. With a dismissive nod, he allowed to let the other man go with the entire crew, leaving him and the little girl. Nothing but the dust from the mansion's disintegrated ruins hovering the space in a tragic display, joining the two in their solemn advertence.

"Should we continue with tonight's task?" Thorn asked, her voice loud and sharp enough to cut through the built up tension within Crimson's stormy mind.

Crimson pondered for a moment, leaving Thorn's question hanging in expectancy, which made her irritated.

Thorn rolled her eyes to herself, kicking the log at her feet as she blew an impatient scoff. When she noticed that the older man wasn't coming out of his impenetrable bubble anytime soon, she decided to roam around the scene for awhile in attempt to kill the time.

During her little exploration, Thorn found a strange object poking out the pile of rubble and burnt wood. She tilted her head, wondering if she should entertain her curiosity. But, as the simply spirited child she was, she didn't ask for permission from the older man. She stooped down and picked up the strange object for her to inspect.

It was a broken cylinder. Fascinating how it was almost still intact when everything else was burnt to a crisp.

Thorn blew the dust off the surface and gave it a little rub. She squinted at the markings, small but comprehensible enough for her to read.

"Well, I think we now know where the stolen items went." Thorn spoke out, shaking Crimson out of his deep thoughts.

"What did you find?"

Thorn raised the object to Crimson's view. He took it from her grasp for a closer look, and there his eyes grew wide with both shock and limpidity.

"A gas bomb." Crimson gasped.

"What kind?" Thorn asked as she got back to her feet.

"The bad kind." Crimson said through his clenched teeth.. "What the hell did they do with these things?"

"Robbery. A heist perhaps. We don't clearly know their motives but we they are very specific with their targets." Thorn shrugged as she casually brought up the subject. "That makes them sort of predictable."

"If that is so, then it would be best if we go back to the house."

"I guess we cancel the mission, then." Thorn sighed, kicking a few pebbles.

"Things have changed." Crimson reminded. "There is a wildfire out there, and we have to ensure we put it out before it consumes more than it already has. Before it consumes us."

The night's activities have progressed nicely at the house of Quasar Entertainment, with the Lady's supervision and the performers' masterful delivery to satisfy its guests, leaving the crowd asking for more of the house's provisions of wonder.

As planned, Titania assigned another batch of performers in the backstage, coming to quench the guests' thirst for entertainment. She checked her watch, while the crew began to set up the stage.

Ten minutes and the stage was still empty. It was unacceptable especially with the Lady's strict standards.

But before she could make an outraged call, someone had already occupied her stage unannounced. Titania paused in confusion as she observed the newcomer with peeled eyes.

Somehow, the curtains opened to reveal an empty stage. No instruments, no performers, but only one figure standing still with a microphone in hand.

An oddly calm atmosphere covered the music hall, followed shortly with the lights flicked on, shining on the mysterious figure. A tall redhead, wearing a bizarre mask and a large black trench coat. Her already towering height elevated by a pair of intimidatingly high heeled boots.

The theatrical look was taken by the crowd as another character, and it did fit the setting. A unique sort of clown. But more or less the kind that no one would even laugh at.

In a strikingly dramatic voice, she announced, "Good evening, guests of all shapes and colors. I know that I've presented my presence here a bit unannounced."

The crowd was unsure but still welcomed the odd introduction with their intrigued murmurs and ever shifting gaze.

"You may not remember me, but I did once perform on this stage. You have been my very favorite crowd. So supportive. So deeply invested." She continued, her bright cyan eyes shining like two stars in a dramatically lit room.

The eyes that Titania once saw before. She stood still in her position, too curious, too dazed to react, despite her strict schedule already being violated by the stranger now occupying her stage.

And she watched. She watched closely.

"And I am deeply aware that all of you here came for an escape, to avert yourselves from the bleak world we live in. Isn't that, right?" As she finished her sentence with a tone so intimately delivered, the music room immediately erupted with soft murmurs of the crowd's collective reaction.

Satisfied, she continued while slowly pacing the stage, deeply immersed in a well thought out monologue imprinted in her mind.

"I believe you all share such a sentiment. You think this place is an escape from truths that are too bright and blinding."

The girl stopped from her pacing, and she looked at the crowd with a ruminant gaze that wandered through space. It was a look that the crowd couldn't follow, so it irked them as it carried an awkward pause too much for them to bear.

Then, for a moment of relief, her eyes returned to their usual wonderment. "There is something I would like to share with you. My own sentiments. But first..."

She hopped off the stage and roamed around the tables, with the spotlight's following her moves, while searching for a volunteer in the rich crowd. At one table, she stopped and faced an elderly man in a fancy suit.

"For you, sir, what is real power?" She asked then gave the mike to the old man, who took pride in the opportunity.

"For me, real power is the will to bring significant change to the world." The man answered through the mike before shifting in his seat with a gallant grin.

The girl seemed to acknowledge his response, shown by how her cyan eyes lit up at his words.

"Yes. And it is one of the many truths that help shape history. The power to bring true change." She turned back to the crowd, before continuing, "For me, real power is having control over other's will. Like unconditional loyalty. A quality a dog would exhibit. Doesn't matter if you have a saint's moral compass or that of a complete douchebag, a dog is a dog and it will follow you until the end of time."

The crowd seemed to agree with her statement, nodding and murmuring their debates in response.

"A dog will do anything for you. Even die for you. They don't question it, they just do. It's a quality you cannot buy. A quality you should fear."

As if on cue, a large german shepherd dog appeared in the light and stood beside her. The crowd reacted in a pleasant manner, voicing out words of admiration.

"Of course, loyalty among humans is a bit difficult to obtain. We are complicated intellectual beings. Some hardly ever swayed, while others are easily corruptable. And unless we somehow fix that, we can never be able to attain real power."

She took off her mask slowly, revealing her scarred face to the crowd, smiling only when the music hall was suddenly filled gasps of a mixture horror and amazement.

Titania dropped her glass of champagne to the floor. She was so shocked that she didn't even hear herself mutter her own words.

"What the Devil…?"

Sunset relished in their reactions. Some were repulsed, others were filled with surprise and delight as they recognize her from her first performance on the stage behind her.

She brought her attention back to the old man from earlier. His expression clearly told her that he was not so delighted to see her terrible scars.

With an unnervingly blissful gaze, Sunset asked the old man once more, "I tell my dog to bite you in the face until there'd be nothing left but your skull, what do you do?"

The crowd fell into an eerie silence, while the old man froze in his seat, staring into the eyes of an obviously mentally crazed girl, who stared at him expectantly and unblinkingly for at least ten long seconds before she broke away from the gaze and faced the crowd again.

"All of you, the rich and powerful, what would you do if a pack of hungry wolves are here to hunt you?"

No one answered such a specifically odd question delivered in an unnervingly casual tone.

Sunset whistled and the dog launched itself to the old man's table, posed as if it were ready to maul him. The crowd were at the edge of their seats, frightened yet still morbidly curious to find out what happens next.

Sunset kept her eyes locked towards the old man. Him staring at her as if she was everything his nightmares were made of.

"I think all you sycophantic snobs should know by now that none of you can stop a bomb..."

Both repulsed and utterly frozen by fear, the old man was currently at the mercy of a dog snarling into his face with an awful breath.

"If you don't have the detonator."

Sunset looked up and looked Titania straight in the eyes, smiling dementedly, while her expression changed from eccentric to just pure madness.

Titania immediately called for the security, and seconds later a group of armed security guards dressed in stylish suits appeared in the music hall, aiming their guns at the true threat.

Sunset's demented smile grew wider. "What a fucking surprise." She exclaimed with open arms.

"You have exactly 60 seconds to leave these premises before these men will shoot you." Titania ordered.

"Oh, Titania Savage. You forgot to check on your next act. I heard they're starting to stink back there."

The implication within that sentence made everyone's stomach churn, yet, as horrifying as it was, Titania remained her domineering presence.

"You have no power inside this house."

"You're in charge?" Sunset mocked. "Okay. But first, let me demonstrate my point." Her smile dropped almost instantly and blew a short whistle that alerted the dog.

"Eat this old fuck's face."

The crowd burst into loud gasps of terror when the dog began brutally mauling the old man's, shredding his face to fleshy bits with its teeth. While Sunset watched with pleasure, laughing until she was struggling to breathe.

Before Titania could scream her protests, the old man's face was no more and he limply fell to the floor dead.

"Guards, kill her!"

Sunset held up a finger. "Ah ah! Now, let me demonstrate my second point!"

She clapped twice, and all guns changed direction and proceeded their aim at the crowd.

Titania furiously slammed the railings. "I order you to kill her, damn it! What the hell are you doing?!"

"They're dying, Titania." Sunset countered. "Their loyalty is nothing if you can't give them what they need; their lives."

Sunset clapped twice again, and the music hall boomed into sounds of rapid gun fires coating the people's desperate wails. Bullets flew and blood spilled in chaotic splatters until the cries died out with no one left breathing.

Titania stood petrified at the carnage beneath her, one she failed to prevent. No other guards responded to her calls through the telecom device.

They were offline. All of them.

"What did you do?!" Titania let out a stressed out shriek.

"So, you're in charge, huh?" Sunset chuckled, clearly taunting the other woman. "Who's in charge no–?"

Sunset was cut off when Titania shot her in the chest. She fell back on her rear, and began coughing up blood. For a moment, she looked like she was dying. For a moment, Titania felt a sense of safety and accomplishment. But as the moment ended, Sunset's sick smile made a return, laughing off her badly bleeding wound.

"You chose the wrong place." Titania growled quietly before disappearing.

The lights went out, leaving all of them shrouded in darkness. Sunset's group of assassins shuffled within the area, afraid that they have challenged the authority of their true master.

While anticipating for something to happen, Sunset took her time to dig out the bullet stuck in her chest. When she finally got the pellet out, she put her mask back on as the swelling excitement ascended.

Suddenly, pink lights that outlined the music hall came to life, almost stunning everyone with its piercing color that irritated their vision.

It took them all a moment to know what was about to happen, and dread washed down on them like an inevitable storm.

"She's here." Just as one of them whispered the words, a scream shattered the air, alerting everyone present.

Coming out from the shadows like a grim reaper as quick as the wind was Thorn Rosekill, wielding her infamous blade. She came out with that icy cold stare in her dull blue eyes that was enough to make her deadly presence bring fright upon them.

They began raining her with their bullets, both determined and fearful as they did so. They tracked her quick movements in the dim lighting but it was all for naught when her blade briefly met with one pair arms after another, incapacitating their hold onto the guns.

Thorn jumped in a swift gymnast's spryness from one table to table, dodging the bullets sent to her way and blocking most with strong and wide strokes of her blade. All of it was almost a seamless choreography to her, making the danger all dreadful. She locked her legs around an unlucky victim and plunged her blade right into their skull.

"And the plot thickens."

Thorn took a second to turn her head and meet those crazy cyan eyes standing a few feet away like a careless spectator.

While her blade was temporarily stuck in one of the victim's heads, and the rest advancing to their assault, Thorn took cover behind the massive statue centerpiece. The rest of the assassins rained their bullets, secretly praying for their lives would be spared from her wrath.

They kept shooting and shooting, that until a small grenade popped out from behind the statue and stunned them with an explosion that blew them off their feet, emitting enough fire that burned the furnitures and corpses within its range.

Once the assassins were temporarily incapacitated, Thorn came out from her hiding and retrieved her blade from the poor victim's head. This time, her eyes were locked onto the thief whom she craved to run her blade through for a long time.

Sunset stood there, and found herself laughing at the fact that she was most certainly going to lose an appendage or two.

Thorn charged like an angry bull with tremendous speed, then launched herself up from a table with the blade raised above her head

Wide eyed, Sunset sputtered before dodging to the left, "Oh, shit!"

She quickly got up and faced the little girl, who didn't spare even a split second to give her a chance to prepare herself from her attacks. Sunset dodged her blade but barely, cutting through parts of her skin and her clothing. Though, she'd be lying if she wasn't taking any delight of the thrill it brought, just as Thorn was passionate in ending her.

It was like a game of tag. Sunset would dance around, risking her arms while Thorn threw her attacks with strict precision. It was not long before their little battle took place on Titania's stage, bringing a sense of spectacle into their fight.

Thorn hardly ever gets impressed, but she had to admit it was almost admirable that Sunset stood her ground against her quick attacks with her sloppy game of dodging. But Thorn decided that playtime was over, and she runs her blade straight through Sunset's upper abdomen, and she did without Sunset expecting it.

But the look on Sunset's eyes completely took Thorn off guard. She lusted more of it even though she could see she was badly hurting.

"Nice one." Sunset grunted through her mask. Thorn could tell she was also smiling.

Their eyes locked like two bloodlust predators. Thorn dug herself way too deep that she failed to notice Sunset wrapping her hands around the blade.

To Thorn's utter surprise, she found herself in the game of tug of war, not with a rope, but with her own blade. And she could see Sunset was strongly trying as her palms were violently bleeding like waterfall.

It was another game, which Thorn found profoundly confusing and stupid. And she wasn't in it to play again. With one foot on Sunset's struggling knee, Thorn propelled herself upwards and backflipped, freeing the blade from Sunset's hold.

Thorn landed perfectly on her feet. While Sunset was lying miserably in a pool of her own blood, laughing like it didn't matter.

"Man, six months later, and this is how you act around Thorn Rosekill. I have to say, it's pretty embarrassing." Flamepuff nagged after popping into existence, floating above Sunset's face.

"Don't shit on me, you little bastard. I was just getting started." Sunset growled.

Flamepuff faded into smoke, and replacing him was Thorn, whose shoe heavily pressed against Sunset's chest with her blade aimed between her crazy cyan eyes.

"Goodnight, thief."

"It's too early for bedtime!" Sunset blabbered in a happy tone, then stabbed Thorn's leg with a taser baton that she's been keeping in her enormous trench coat. The shock of the electric current brought pain to the little girl and she screamed in agony, all while automatically losing her grip around her blade that fell inches away from Sunset's head.

"That was satisfying to watch." Sunset breathed through her mask, secretly smiling a goofy smile. She pulled the taser baton from Thorn's leg, releasing her from the electric torment and sending her to a limp fall.

Meanwhile, the assassins had to face Crimson Blitz while the ground glew with the flames. With their guns now emptied to the brim from their previous task to raid the house, they clashed brawns with the man. But as they moved their bodies grew weaker by the second, as their organs began deteriorating, turning the fight into the most painful torment.

One assassin was caught within Crimson's arms, who was surprised to recognize him as a member of Canyon's group. He desribed the assassin's expression as deeply mortified, his eyes bloodshot red whose clinging onto a thin string of hope.

"Forgive us, sir. But we can't let you."

It was the gas. Crimson realized that he was facing a group of zombies destined to die but unwilling to accept their fate. He realized the horrendous crime that was being done on them.

"What's going on?!"

"Quasar will fall tonight."

More of them came from the shadows, driven to desperation like hungry mutts. Crimson had no choice but to end them all one by one.

Back at the stage, Sunset struggled to get herself up while her severe wounds were currently on the progress of healing.

"That was very sloppy of you." Once more, Flamepuff emerged from nothingness and revealed himself to Sunset with his degrading stare.

"Really?" Sunset flashed the demon an irritated look.

"Heads up, bacon strip!"

Sunset turned around, suddenly surprised by an angry Thorn already on her feet. She swiftly threw something that Sunset managed to catch with her hand. Looking down, she found a throwing star stuck halfway through her palm. She stared at it with awe, then let out a loud and eager cackle.

Thorn angrily charged towards Sunset, armed with several knives in her hands. With her light feet and her small size, Thorn was able to circle around Sunset as she whirled on her knees, striking her legs, her back, and her abdomen in a matter of short seconds. Confidently certain her attacks would incapacitate her for good, but her refusal to fall to her knees made the efforts all the more aggravating.

Somehow, Sunset caught up with the girl's speed and smacked her across the face with the taser baton, knocking her to the ground in a temporary daze. But before she knew it, Thorn threw herself up again with an impressive flip as if it was nothing.

It was then that Sunset decided to advance, taking the dagger hidden in her coat and wielded it around throwing several swings towards the little girl's direction. Their blades clashed like two thunderbolts, swing after swing, lunge after lunge, it was becoming more of a violent dance, both of them determined to outmatch the other.

But there was no denying that the little girl was far more skilled in combat. After flicking off Sunset's knife with a large swing and roundhouse kicked her taser baton to the air, Thorn launched herself off the floor and clung onto Sunset's upper body. Her little legs wrapped tightly around the older woman's rib cage. And there, in close proximity, they formed a strong converging force of undeniable hatred building between their eyes.

Two monsters in a violent clash. While the music hall was slowly becoming into hell.

Thorn showered Sunset with persistent and fast punches with one hand holding the back of her head and pulling her in.

Sunset's ears were ringing, and her vision turned into a blurred up mess, but she was still standing on her feet. Trying to regain her composure through Thorn's assaults, Sunset let out an angry grunt as she snatched the little girl's knuckles just inches away from her face.

Thorn managed to slip away from the grip and like a monkey, travelled her way in acrobatic grace towards Sunset's back where she couldn't be reached.

Sunset gagged in agony when Thorn again wrapped her legs around her neck in a chokehold, while she was being brutally stabbed in her shoulders again and again, blood splattering everywhere like a mess.

In furious attempts to stop the agonizing and irritating torment from Thorn, Sunset ran in a wobbling stagger straight into the nearby walls and smashed her back against them with force.

Like a desperate dog trying to get rid off a tick.

Sunset thrashed around, screaming through her mask for air, maddened by relentless stabbing and the nearly unbearable pain it brought her. She tried once more and literally threw her back against the wall, stunning Thorn enough for her to loosen her grip and stop her assaults.

Sunset immediately gasped in the air that she's been deprived of. After seconds of recovery, Sunset slammed her body to the floor and crushed the little girl under her weight.

Thorn went limp, finally letting go of Sunset entirely.

Sunset gasped and coughed through her mask as she hunched over quivering from the pain that ravaged her throat and her shoulders.

"Fuck, I badly need some painkillers right now." Sunset muttered, rolling over. Astounding how she almost forgot about the throwing star that got stuck on her palm. She took it out and spitefully tossed it across the floor.

Beyond the stage, chaos blossomed. Sunset couldn't help but smile underneath that mask. There were corpses lying around, broken furniture, and a distraught pimp trying to fend off a dozen dying assassins with his bare hands. The sight was priceless, accented perfectly with the fire and the dim pink lighting.

It was like watching a piece of moving painting.

"Oh, what a view."

Thorn's struggling groans caught her attention, and she whirled her head back to where she was lying at. Even though Sunset was still in utter pain, she walked over to the little girl with a sense of pride and fascination.

"What a view indeed." Sunset picked up the taser baton from the floor and sighed. Thorn's gazes, as weak as they were, held no fear nor a need for deliverance. There was only that destructive anger raging within.

"I'm not one for child abusing but…" Sunset picked up Thorn by the collar and pinned her against the wall. "You're not even really a child to begin with."

Thorn threw an unsuspecting punch at Sunset's face, cutting her brow in the process. Sunset shook her head to herself, the last ounce of patience rudely stripped away.

"Feisty little bitch." Sunset pulled Thorn away from the wall and slammed her back down to the floor. Thorn cried. One that was desperate and enraged, and it echoed like a nightmarish melody throughout the music hall.

Sunset struck Thorn with the taser baton. Beat her and electrocuted her. And nothing in that momant could have been more gratifying than to see a monster of a killing machine revert back into a helpless child.

But her cries were never unheard. Just as Sunset was about to deliver her final and devastating blow, she was struck in the back with such powerful force she was literally thrown forward and landed hard on her face.

Rolling over, Sunset was met again with another strike. She tried re battling with the taser baton, but Crimson snatched it right out of her grip and used it to smack the mask off her face.

As soon as their eyes met, Crimson dropped the taser baton out of shock and utter confusion.

"You're still alive?!" Crimson uttered with an intense frown, both astonished and annoyed.

Sunset merely smiled a bloody smile as a response. Ravaged with so many questions and speculations, Crimson grabbed Sunset by the collar and brought her face close to his, confronting her with his vicious sneer. A beaten down man driven to desperation, much like the poor assassins he just faced.

"Who sent you?" Crimson growled into her face before punching her nose, but the response she only gave was a lightheaded giggle.

"Who sent you?!" Crimson asked louder, it was becoming a hopeless roar. "Did you steal Nimbus' items?! Did you kill Chrome Dusk and several others?! Who sent you?!"

As Crimson was getting louder and louder, Sunset's giggle started to become an insulting cackle, that earned her five punches to the face.

"You wouldn't come back here without any ulterior motive. Tell me, who sent you, bitch?!"

The more Crimson asked, the more he beat Sunset with his fists. Her already scarred face worsened with cuts and bruises, her nose smeared with so much blood she could already taste it through her lips.

The pain was almost like a friend that she hated, but she couldn't help but welcome anyway. From the stabs, cuts, to the visceral punches, it was a blanket made of thorns. A comforting reminder nothing Crimson did could bend her.

She just could not help but laugh at the thought of it all.

"What the hell do you want?!" Crimson was already putting her in a chokehold.

Sunset could feel with great awareness that her windpipe would not last long in such a tight grip, but she could never get rid of that smile. It was a maddening sight that blatantly crawled its way into Crimson's collapsing composure.

"... too fucking easy..."

The labored response brought great uneasiness to the man, and it made him loosen his grip.

"You're the wolves of this city. I confronted you with something greater; Wildfire. Nature's greatest agent of reminding everyone that even the most powerful are nothing against forces they can't control."

Crimson looked around the house, the one that the Trinity was supposed to protect, became nothing but a ruin, a burning monument left with carnage, its floors stained by the blood of the guests they swore to unharm and the allies they once trusted. Its once confidently built foundation and security, blatantly destroyed. Even the Sentinel, his little girl, beaten nearly to death by the crazed thief who should have been dead a long time ago.

"You're out of bullets. I'm still breathing."

Crimson, whose secured authority has been purposely shat on by the living zombie who refused to die, turned his gaze away from the painful scene. Gulping in the shame of his failures, and let the anger rise up his throat. He felt it swell and escape his mouth in a form of a vengeful cry.

"I'll make you pay for this!!!"

"Your loss." Sunset smirked before blowing a loud whistle.

The dog came back and pinned Crimson to the ground, snarling in his face to let him know his place.

"You've come to take the safe, haven't you?! You're after the money?!"

Sunset gave a nonchalant shrug, while she got back to her feet again and looked down on him with an empty, disrespectful stare.

"For the record, I'm not after the money. And also, I never really stole it in the first place. It was just a big misunderstanding. You people went through a lot of trouble for a misunderstanding, hm? Money. It's… basic."

Questions, questions, there were too many questions. And yet, there was no need to ask them. Crimson was completely exhausted, both mentally and physically. The smoke brought by the flames currently burning his lungs was no help either.

"What did they call you again? Scourge?" Crimson could see Sunset was pouting beneath that mask. "How ironic. I see fire. And you hate it."

Even in the sound of the flames cracking against wood, the sound of Thorn's soft cries were more disruptive. Sunset found a sick comfort about seeing the weakened little girl trying her best to reach Crimson's hand.

Sunset stepped back, making room for the two miserable, once powerful people desperately holding on, while the dog and the Devil who emerged from the orange flames joined her as they all watched.

"Where's the old bitch?" Sunset asked Flamepuff in a low voice, still staring at the two.

"She took care of the other guests." Flamepuff answered in a casual nod. "No one's left in the building but us now, bacon strip.

"Good."

Sunset grabbed a fallen blade from the floor and stabbed Crimson right in the eye.

"It was nice screwing with you guys."

Sunset didn't give them a proper farewell even after she departed the scene. She left Thorn with Crimson, who was screaming at the top of his lungs like a wounded animal. It was all Sunset could hear until she finally left the hall and headed for the labyrinthian corridors.

A place of secret absence of the Sentinel's guard.

Sunset ventured within the forbidden labyrinthian halls, walking through the burning floors with no fear of getting burnt. She welcomed the heat because she felt it before, and also because the Devil guiding her made sure the flames never harmed her.

"You know, I like the dog. It's got a thing for theatricality. Can we keep him for real?" Flamepuff's tail wagged like a feverish whip, a gesture so casual even though they were literally walking through a burning hall.

"As long as you don't eat him." Sunset said, eyes pinned straight ahead as if the stinging smoke didn't hurt her eyes.

"Hah! Why do I even wanna eat him?" Flamepuff's false innocence was painfully obvious, but Sunset played along.

"I don't know. 'Cause you're an asshole?"

Flamepuff blinked. "That doesn't prove anything."

"No. But I like the dog's company." Sunset was clearly smiling under her mask.

"His breath stinks!"

"Your entire mouth tastes like a bottle of bad rum mixed with city sewage."

"Well, I could have just made my mouth smell like old people's body lotion. Does that make it better?"

Sunset frowned at the oddly specific idea. "I'd still pick the dog than putting my face near that hellhole you call a mouth."

Flamepuff cringed. "Ew. I mean, no judgement. I know what you were, of course. But that's just gross, bacon strip."

"And now, you're just full of shit."

The two went too deep into their nonsensical exchange that by the time they were done, they came upon a large metal door geared with a sophisticated security system, untouched by the flames currently eating the entire building.

Gathered by the door were five of the assassins, as they so tried their very best to unlock such a protected safe. When Sunset made her presence known, they immediately rushed in panic, feverishly running their fingers on the keys in a desperate endeavor to unlock it quick.

"How much longer?" Sunset asked almost casually, laced with a childish impatience.

"Two minutes." One of them answered, blood smearing the bottom of his nose.

They didn't have much time.

But fortunately for them, they passed through security, with a simple beep signifying their completion of the task. Deep breaths of relief filled the air, and Sunset walked past the assassins in such arrogant swagger.

"Very nice."

The safe was open and its secrets laid bare. There was an overwhelming amount of gold bars and money stacked like mountains, and Sunset couldn't wait to hurt them.

"Now that's a lot of money." She remarked. "And you people just went through so much trouble getting back an amount so minuscule compared to what you really have."

Sunset swivelled around, facing the remaining assassins struggling to get on their feet.

"Don't you find that a bit pathetic?"

"... please…" One of them slurred through the blood flooding out of his mouth.

"Please what?"

"You promised us…"

Sunset squinted her eyes for awhile, then widened them in a pretentious clarity. "Oh, right. Yeah. Sure."

She tossed them a small unlabeled bottle, then watched in amusement when they all scurried like thirsty rats being granted the first droplet of water.

The bodies dropped to the floor, followed by a deep sadistically contented laughter from Sunset, who just stood there without a care in the world.

"Yep. You fell for it."

"Hah! Totally fell for it!" Flamepuff added with a matching giggle. "Now, where were we?"

Sunset flashed him a smug look before bending over to one of the dead assassin's bags on the floor. She picked out a small sticky bomb which she placed at the thick metal door.

"Now, that's a total of twenty sticky bombs." Sunset happily confirmed to herself, leaning back with pride over her work.

"Is it time to blow?" Flamepuff's tale wagged violently in feverish excitement, drooling like a mad dog.

Sunset gave the little demon the same excitement he had within his large crimson eyes. "It's time to burn."

Now that her little operation was completed, Sunset walked away, with the proud Devil on her shoulder and the dog walking beside her. Through the flame, the pool of blood and the sight of dead bodies lying on the floor, she basked in it all, knowing she satisfied herself with one hell of a show.

The flames violently ignited, burning the house of Quasar Entertainment to its shameful descend, and engulfed its structure in the hell she created. The bystanders and the distraught guests were too paralyzed through fear that they did not notice Sunset passing by them, eventually blending into the growing crowd.

"Shall we call the fire department?" Flamepuff asked, watching the great fire show while Sunset walks away without even bothering to look back.

"Nah, let our pack of morons handle that."

About thirty minutes later, fire trucks came, but the damage was already done. To top it all off, Sunset managed to take someone's keys, now rewarding herself with a sweet set of wheels.

A classic motorcycle built in sleek and compact frame with a nice black paint job, accented with red pinstripes that gave the thing a bit more character.

"Oh, it's been a long time since I've ridden one of these babies." Sunset almost sounded aroused, hopping onto the vehicle as if it were her own. Her hands relished at the touch and feel of the vehicle's build with so much awe and longing.

"Well, come on then. Start her up before you drown yourself." Flamepuff teased.

Sunset happily left, with the dog seated behind her and the Devil running in his monstrous form by her side, howling into the night as a celebration of the havoc they've accomplished.

The hilltops have been her favorite place. After a night filled with chaos and blood, Sunset had the chance to breathe in some air and to recover from the exhausting pain she had endured. The dog slept by the bike, comforted the warmth of the fire cracking against the wood.

It wasn't the most pleasant thing to do, but she took the courage to remove her mask, letting the cold air of the evening kiss her aching damaged face. Something about the pain was always reassuring. Though, she was never a masochist, but knowing even pain could do nothing to destroy her resolve was enough to inflate her ego to the rooftops.

"So, you really did it." Azure's voice made its way through the walls of Sunset's revery.

"You've come to watch the show?" Even though the girl couldn't see her face, Sunset most definitely wore a smug expression to express her morbid victory.

Azure rolled her eyes as always. It was all she could do.

"I can definitely see it all from here." And she was right. The fire could be seen, and its ashen smoke extended to the gloomy heavens.

"You couldn't resist." Sunset turned her head and faced Azure, smiling.

However, her smug attitude wasn't encouraged further and was shortly dismissed with another eye roll. Azure, although clearly fearful of Sunset's new visage, still walked to stand beside her, claiming the marvelous view of the cityscape as her own.

"It's like you're back from the dead."

"Quite literally." Sunset muttered under her breath, though she was certain Azure wouldn't bother to acknowledge it.

"I could leave, you know. But that wouldn't leave me anywhere to go." Azure had a sense of despair she was trying to subdue with an ironic smile.

"It'd be great for you to stay and watch through it all." Sunset shrugged casually, eyes remained darted towards the cityscape.

Azure knew it was a dangerous game she was playing. Her impulse of still coming back to Sunset like a thrill deprived youth, knowing that the older girl was clearly a bloodcrazed yet smart psychopath, while also taking no fixed sides in this hellish mess. If all else failed her, Sunset wouldn't even bother with her corpse and her father's disappointment would probably outweigh his grief.

"You know that at any given moment, I will warn them and they will hunt you." Azure simultaneously kept her tone cautious yet determined.

"I'd truly be glad if you will, girlfriend."

Author's Notes:

And we're back to some action.

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