Chapter 47

The thermite worked perfectly. Using nothing but a roll of gauze and some rubbing alcohol, Akane was able to ignite her science project and melt straight through the floor. This was after taking out another pair of Hunters who got in their way.

Once they'd fallen through the floor and into the sewers, Akane immediately got her bearings and began planning an exit strategy.

"You realize this is mostly fecal matter we're wading in right now, right?"

Akane groaned at him. "Don't you eat people?"

"Well yeah, but not the shit parts!" he insisted indignantly.

"It could be a lot worse, trust me," she assured, her gun at the ready as they made their way deeper into the narrow tunnel.

"We could be under gunfire right now," he admitted.

"Actually I was referring to fatbergs," she explained.

"So, where do we go from here?"

"This tunnel is one of hundreds more that lead to the Ariake Water Reclamation Center. There's a larger tunnel just up ahead that we can follow to a run-off drain. And from there, we'll be back to the surface."

A massive blast shook the walls of the tunnel around them. They both stopped and turned back towards the direction from whence they came.

"Sounds like they've caught up to us," Caleb observed.

"We need to move."

They took off down the narrow tunnel, eventually reaching a much larger run-off point that would lead them outside.

"This way!"

Caleb followed her around a corner, where they immediately came to a dead stop. Akane took aim at the two figures in front of her.

"Woah, Woah, Woah! Stop! Stop!" the sewer worker in a red jumpsuit threw up his hands, as did his buddy. "Don't shoot!"

Akane slowly lowered her gun. "Sewer technicians?"

Caleb nodded. "Must be." He smirked at them both. "Bad day to go to work, my friends."

"We...we want no trouble," the other sewer worker assured timidly, his hands shaking. "There was a noise. A blast, it sounded like. The two of us were just coming to inspect it."

"Whatever is going on, we want no part of it."

Akane did a once over of the men in question. Something didn't add up here. For one, the technicians she'd seen in the past wore orange, not red. What's more, since when did sewer technicians inspect large explosions? These men should have been fleeing right now. Not heading towards the source of the danger.

Then she caught a glimpse of what one of them had tucked away in his back pocket.

"Well, my friends, I'm afraid you are a part of this," she insisted with a smirk. "Tell me...what kind of sewer worker carries a gat?"

The Hunters went to draw their weapons and were blasted away by Akane's rifle. Four UV flashlights shined in their faces as four more Hunters popped out from behind the stone pillars they'd been hiding behind. She spent the remainder of her clip downing them, only to hear the sound of boots splashing through water directly behind them. She drew her Glock 19 and turned around, firing on the Hunters who'd been pursuing them while booking it alongside Caleb towards the outside.

Upon seeing more Hunters directly in front of them, they ran into a side passage, narrowly avoiding the gunfire whizzing around them. Akane could hear Haruki shouting commands to follow them as she fired blindly behind her in the narrow tunnel. Once they breached the other side, they each took a wall for cover while Akane reloaded her Glock and rifle.

"They must have brought every Hunter in Tokyo with them!" Caleb insisted angrily over the sound of gunfire.

"There's another way out!" she shouted back while taking shots with her AR-15 down the narrow corridor. "Stick close, and we'll lose them in the tunnels!"

What ensued was a deadly game of cat and mouse, as the two being hunted got themselves well and truly lost in the labyrinthian maze of tunnels winding beneath Tokyo, eventually reaching one of the underground discharge channels where they took cover behind large sixty-foot high stone pillars. Their pursuers were relentless, attacking from all directions and eventually pinning them into a closed-off boiler room.

Akane knew they were in trouble. Despite their best efforts, there were just too many of them. She was down to her last mag with the AR-15, and once she ran out, they'd close the distance and overwhelm them.

"How many are left?!" Caleb shouted over the hail of gunfire.

"Too many!" Akane insisted, having taken up a position at the entrance to their only way out, firing shots from her last remaining mag.

Caleb's eyes darted around the large thirty-by-thirty-foot space. Aside from a series of tanks, the only thing in the room was a large junction box connected to the lights overhead.

An idea started to form. He bit down on his palm and charged a current of crimson energy into his hands before zapping the box. Sparks flew from the wiring as every light in the room, as well as the ones in the adjacent corridor, popped off, enveloping them in complete darkness.

His eyes began to glow.

"Move up!" Haruki shouted angrily. "They've got nowhere left to run!"

Haruki moved up with a contingent of thirteen Hunters, all armed with rifles and UV flashlights. They began scanning the room, fanning out through the maze of winding pipes around the boiler room's six large tanks.

It began so suddenly. A Hunter yelped in surprise as his feet were taken out from under him, and he was dragged under one of the tanks. The sounds of his pained screams echoed in the boiler room as he was violently ripped to shreds.

The other Hunters zeroed in on his position and fired, only to be blasted in the back with a Benelli M4. They returned fire, whereupon another was grabbed, another soul consigned to the void amidst a cacophony of hysterical wailing.

One after another, their ranks were widdled down by two deadly predators. From thirteen to eleven, then to nine, seven...five...three...

...one.

Haruki was alone, alone in near complete darkness. All the same, she did not falter, did not hesitate as her rifle snapped from one corner of the room to the next. She could hear movement all around her, the sound of two young lovebirds giggling and laughing, having the time of their lives.

The sound of two complete maniacs who must never be unleashed upon the world.

A foot splashing through a puddle caught her ear. The Hunter's instincts were razor-sharp, her resolve certain. Haruki spun around, catching the Blood Sorcerer in her UV light.

She had him.

With a burst of rounds from her rifle, Caleb howled in pain, his grip on the wall failing as he was sent plummeting to the ground, slamming against a boiler tank before crashing with an ugly thud onto the concrete below. Haruki zeroed in, rifle at the ready as she rounded the corner to put him down for good.

She was stopped by a Benelli M4 blasting off into the pipes next to her. The Hunter snapped around and fired, her target shifting as she pursued the psychotic high schooler with the shotgun. With her rifle, she kept the enemy at a distance, who led her away from her primary target, taking shots with her M4. Upon hearing her rifle run dry, Haruki cursed loudly before tossing it to the side and drawing her sidearm.

"Who the hell are you?!" she demanded.

Haruki was answered with gunfire. Only it wasn't the M4. She was out! Instead, the two began exchanging handgun rounds with one another as she continued to pursue the girl through the boiler room, ducking behind a wall of pipes as she counted out each shot.

They ran out of pipes, and she was taken off guard as the psychotically strong girl suddenly tackled her to the ground. Haruki and Akane began to tussle, both having dropped their weapons. Haruki managed to knock her off before going for her weapon, only to have it knocked from her hands again.

They both made it to their feet and drew knives, circling one another, both opponents looking for any sign of weakness in the other. There was none.

Akane struck first, to which Haruki retaliated. She struck again, slicing into Haruki's cheek, who managed to graze the girl's arm. Back and forth, the fight refused to end. They were exhausted, running on fumes, covered in blood, filth, and sweat, yet the psychotic girl simply would not go down.

Until, at last, she had her.

Haruki managed a feint before disarming Akane and taking her to the ground. She plunged the knife down towards her neck but was blocked by a set of impossibly strong forearms. Yet still, she did not relent. Haruki put all her weight down into the blade, all her strength, as the girl beneath her grunted and strained to stay alive.

The blade was inches from her throat. She could do this! She could end them!

Gunfire resounded from down the hall as the Hunters she'd left manning the entrance to the boiler room were shot down. A Tokyo Special Assault Squad came bursting into the room, and Haruki was stunned by four bright lights, losing her grip in the process.

"Drop the knife!" the lead SWAT officer barked. "Drop it!"

Haruki had her hands in the air. She looked at the knife and then down at the girl beside her, who had scooted away and was now curled up into the fetal position, trembling violently.

"Please!" the high schooler cried in terror, her clothes dirty and matted, no weapons to be found on her person. "Please, don't hurt me!"

A surge of unholy rage passed through the Hunter at that moment, the knife in her hand trembling. She was so close, so damn close! Just one move, and she could end this.

The SWAT officer moved up. "Last chance! Drop the knife and place your hands behind your head."

The high schooler continued to tremble and sob, cowering like a terrified, innocent child. Haruki weighed her options, considered every possible way she might get out of this...

...before finally relenting. She dropped the knife and placed her hands behind her head. Almost immediately, she was taken to the ground and placed into handcuffs.

"Suspect secure. See to the hostage."

Two officers moved in, flashlights trained on the frightened girl who had tucked herself up into a corner. She was bloodied, her school uniform torn to shreds, and terrified.

"It's alright." One of the officers knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're safe."

"My boyfriend!" she shouted hysterically. "Where's my boyfriend?! He was here with me too!"

"I'm here!" a male voice called out.

Haruki's eyes bulged in disbelief. Meanwhile, all lights trained on a spot near one of the back boilers as another student came out with his hands up. Blood coated his uniform, yet he seemed to be alive. Enough so to stand on his own power.

"Please, don't shoot!" he begged, his voice cracking in fear. "I'm unarmed. I swear to you...."

For just a brief moment, his eyes began to glow.

"...my girlfriend and I are innocent. We're both completely innocent." He then pointed to the Hunter they had in handcuffs. "She's the one you want."

One by one, they lowered their rifles.

"Right! These two are innocent!" the lead SWAT officer declared. "Everyone, stand down!"

"Caleb!" the girl shouted in relief before running to him.

"Akane!" he shouted back.

The two lovers ran into each other's arms, relief washing over them like a tide. One of the officers cued up his radio.

"Fireteam Bravo to command. We need EMTs and reinforcements at our position. Two hostages located alongside the primary suspect. They appear to be students from the school."

"Thank you," Akane spoke gratefully, her whole body still trembling violently in her lover's arms. "They took us so suddenly. I thought...I thought for sure we were about to be...."

She broke down sobbing, burying her face in Caleb's chest while the shaken boy held her tight. "It's okay... it's all gonna be okay now."

"Come with us," the officer spoke softly to both of them. "We'll get you both back to your families."

As they followed the SWAT officers out of the boiler room, both teens turned back towards the Hunter, glaring at them from the ground murderously. For just the briefest moment, sinister grins flashed across their faces before they strolled out, a bit banged up but, for the most part, completely unscathed.

Two monsters in love, once more set free upon an unsuspecting world.