Chapter - 1; Act - 1: Enter Bragger

The flowers that resided in a small burgandy-colored pot on a windowsill gently swayed around in the near-end summer breeze. The pot held a variety of different exotic colored flowers, including a small bunch of blue daisies that were slightly hidden away by the more bigger and vibrant flowers. 

On the other side of the window where the pot of plants sat, a small and round lady would slowly make her way towards the window. The woman had an old, wrinkled face that gave off a sweet and kind feeling as she wore a soft and small smile on her face. A pair of round, old-timey glasses loosely sat on her nose that had a slight bounce with every wobbly step she took.

Finally making her way to the window, she gently leaned the cane she used against the wall, slowly kneeling down to grab a small watering can. Peaking back up with the watering can in hand, she tilted the nozzle over so that a small stream of water would shower the flowers below. The water was split up into small individual streams, sliding down the flower's petals as if they were slides. Once she was done pouring, the flowers seemed to glimmer in the sunlight, reflecting the sun’s light to give off a shiny new look.

After placing the watering can back down in its place, the old lady pulled up a nearby chair to sit in as she rested by the window, watching the busy street down below as regular people went along with their everyday life. Individual little shop stands littered the sidewalk as the people working in those stands sat idly behind them, doing small things to make the time go by like reading the papers or talking with the other stand owners. The street below was filled with the sounds of conversations between people, as well as the sounds of horses trotting as they dragged carriages along with them and the low rumble of car engines created a peaceful and tranquil city feeling.

This peace was soon interrupted by the distant sounds of sirens blaring. The old woman sat up to look out her window trying and find where the source of the sound was coming from, as well as many pedestrians outside as they quickly turned their heads back to find the source as well.

Squinting her eyes to see farther, she scanned the road up ahead to see if anything had happened. However, while looking ahead she noticed something rather odd. Instead of looking down the street, many people were instead looking and pointing at the rooftops of the buildings. Curious, she shifted her focus to the tops of the buildings trying to figure out why everyone was so fixated there. What she saw left her in confusion, as on top of one of the buildings in the distance, she could just barely see the blurry picture of what appeared to be four people running along the rooftops. Down below on the street, another group of three more people were chasing after them as well. The police cruiser that still had its sirens blaring soon came swerving around the corner of the street as it tried to catch up with the chase.

“Hurry up, grab him!” One of the figures on the roof yelled, one of them blowing a whistle loudly.

Three of the four men were dressed in denim blue trench coats that went down to their thighs. The coats had a belt that wrapped around the waist with various small pouches lining it, as well as having a holster for a small revolver six-shot revolver. They wore formal boots that ran slightly up the calf with shin padding that buckled to their boot and had an extra layer on top that seemed to be some type of metal or harder material. Also worn by them were service caps that had a shiny black bill with a deep blue as its main color; this was also the same uniform that the other three figures on the ground wore. On the right side of their chests was a badge with an insignia; a triquetra that overlapped a shield with the text “Province 6 Police'' on the top, and the bottom reading “Eloria Family Civil Protection”.

The figure that the officers were to be chasing was dressed in a brown leather jacket that was buttoned up just below the collar that had a fur lining to it. A black fur-lined hood covered his head, as a gray face wrap hid his identity with only an open gap revealing that he had brown eyes. Both of his hands were also wrapped up with some type of cloth, with only the ring and pinky fingers being exposed on each hand. Something rather unusual though was the fact that he was carrying a rather large sack on his back that appeared to be full of something.

“Christ, why is he so damn fast!” The officer in the back shouted

“Doesn’t matter, keep up the chase!” The officer just slightly in front of him shouted back.

However, just up ahead of them was a large and open gap between the buildings that led down to an alleyway. As they continued to run, cops began to appear on the other side as a group of officers started to pour out of a rooftop access door. Even if they were able to make it across the gap, they’d still get caught in the end as there were too many officers to fend off on the other side. With barely any time left as they grew closer and closer to the edge, the only way they could escape was by going down, and so with that new idea, the person in the brown jacket began to speed up. The officers started running faster as well to try and catch up with him, however, this proved to be futile as once the person got to the edge they jumped off of it and fell below into the alley.

“Ah shit, c’mon guys, hurry!” The officer in the front exclaimed, moving ahead faster than the other two.

“We’re trying ‘sarge!” One of the officers breathlessly shouted back, picking up their pace to catch up with the one in front.

The officers on the other building quickly scrambled to look below and see what happened to the figure, with the group that was chasing them eventually catching up to the edge as well to see what had happened. When the officers all looked to see what happened, instead of seeing someone fall to their potential death they instead saw the person they were chasing hanging on the side of the building, a bright gray orb with streaks of blue surrounding his hand. He began to swiftly slide down the side of the building to make a quick escape.

“Wait, what the hell? He can use abilities?” One of the officers said in shock.

“I thought this was just a runner, how the hell are we supposed to get em’ now?” Another one asked in disbelief.

“Aw screw this, I’m going for it!” Shouted one of the officers who were chasing them, preparing to jump off the building and tackle them to the ground below. However, just before he was able to completely push himself off the edge another one of the officers who looked to be much older was able to grab the back of their shirt before they could make the jump.

“No, that’s too risky. We can’t afford an officer down.” The officer said, letting go of his shirt as they watched him continue to slide down the building. “C’mon y’all, him using abilities just gives us another reason to catch em’ so let’s move!” He shouted, running towards the rooftop access door.

Hitting the ground, the masked figure took a brief moment to catch his breath. Adjusting the straps and exhaled before he started to run down the alleyway. The sounds of the sirens began to grow louder and louder as the police cruiser from before grew closer to their location.

At the opposite end of the alleyway was another opening that led to a seemingly large marketplace. Though he could only see a little bit of the other end, the density of people you could see from the other end hinted at it being a large-scale one. Now with a plan to hide within the crowd of traders and shoppers, he continued to the other side in hopes of getting there before more officers arrived and created a perimeter around the surrounding area.

However, as he ran down the alley, a thought in his head began to turn. Earlier, when he was on the rooftop there were six officers chasing him; three on top with him and another three on the ground. Those other three officers should’ve been the first ones there before him, but they weren’t even in sight. But before he could even finish that thought, an officer came charging down a side alley towards him. With almost no time to react, the figure tried using one of his abilities to make a quick getaway, even getting so far as to form a small orb around his hand again.

“Hell do you think you’re going?” The officer grunted, tackling the figure by the waist as both of them crashed into a wall. As they both tumbled to the ground, the strap that held the sack to the figure came undone, causing it to slip and fall a few feet away. Quickly recuperating, the officer sprung towards the figure to hold them down, but he quickly rolled out of the way. As the officer fell back down, the figure used this to try and get back onto his feet, getting ready to fight as he got into a fighting stance. Getting back on his feet, the officer quickly shifted his focus back to the figure as he got a stance of his own.

But as they both stared each other down, the cruiser from before finally showed back up as they blocked off where the figure just came from. Now with reinforcements, the officer confidently swung towards him, but the figure showed quick reflexes as he dodged his punch. Grabbing the officer by the wrist, he pushed him forward with his other hand as he got back into another stance. Though this caused the officer to stumble a bit, he quickly got back into the fight as he turned back around to land another strike, this time successfully landing it. Though this caused him to be disoriented for a moment, he quickly recovered as he dodged another swing from the officer; kneeing him in the stomach and shoving him back a few feet before connecting his own strike to the officer’s face. But as he went in for a second strike, the officer swiftly moved out of the way, delivering yet another punch to the face before giving him a kick of his own to his stomach. Bent over holding his gut, the officer used this opportunity to grab and throw him against the wall, making a loud “thud” noise as the figure slumped against the wall in defeat. Snickering, the officer began to slowly walk confidently towards the figure, making his intentions clear as he unattached his handcuffs from his belt.

“You know, I ain’t gonna lie to ya’. You gave me one hell of a fight just then,” The officer said in a cocky manner, breathing heavily at the same time. “But unfortunately for you, your little ‘publicity stunt’ is over.”

However, as the officer got closer, the figure let out a faint and weak whistle. Though this only confused him for a second, the officer continued his way toward him. Chuckling confidently, he was just a few inches from arresting the figure before a small, dark-coated fox with two small horns sprang from behind the piles of boxes that littered the alleyway’s sides. Digging its claws into the officer's back while also latching onto his neck with its teeth, the officer began to swing around crazily as he tried his best to get the fox off of his back. Small drops of blood would drip down from his neck and back as his aimless yanks would only cause the claws and teeth to dig deeper into his skin.

Now with the officer distracted, the figure would spring himself back up onto his feet, leaping toward the officer and landing a punch to his jaw, and then another one to his stomach. With a swift kick to his leg, the officer would be forced down onto one knee. The small fox would finally let go of its grip on the officer, jumping off his back and leaping a few feet in full fight mode as the hairs on its back shot up. Quickly dashing toward the officer, the figure would jump onto his leg to boost himself forward and strike the officer’s face with a knee, causing him to create a small gust of dust as he plummeted to the ground unconsciously.

“Y’know, you’re always obliged to help out any time.” The figure exhaled tiredly, cracking his neck at the same time. The fox would give him an innocent grin as a small yap would escape its mouth.

This moment of rest would be abruptly interrupted as another two officers would blow their whistles from the other end of the same alley the officer he had just fought came down from.

“Guess it's time to leave. Come on, let’s go!” The figure exclaimed, running down the alleyway once more as he grabbed the sack on his way. The small fox would follow suit, jumping on top of objects like crates, broken-down stands, and window stools.

As they ran further down the alley, the two other officers would eventually turn the corner, blowing loudly into their whistles as the reinforcements from the cruisers joined in the chase as well. To slow them down, the figure began knocking down nearby objects like large stacks of boxes in order to create some sort of barricade to slow them down. They did prove to be somewhat useful, as a few careless officers that started to catch up would trip over a few boxes.

“Come on Tadashi. We’re almost outta here!” He said in a hurrying tone. Tadashi, the small fox from before, would give out another yap as it would jump from a window and onto the sack, almost making the figure trip due to the sudden weight imbalance. However, he was able to quickly adjust to the new weight change as Tadashi would dig its claws into the sack itself to get a better grip.

Suddenly, the sound of a crackling pop would consume all of the surrounding sounds. The only sound the figure could hear now was the loud hum of his ear ringing with a distant sign forming a large cloud of dust. Turning his head around to see what it was, the figure saw one of the officers who was ahead of everyone, arm extended out with his revolver in his hand. Were they really willing to go that far to capture him? Are they getting so desperate to get him that they decided to go for the kill instead? These thoughts kept circling his mind as he kept running, the same pops of gunshots going off behind him as one bullet even managed to graze his hood, barely missing the side of his head.

“What the hell are you doing?!” The older-looking officer demanded.

“Do you want him to get away?” The officer with the gun snapped back, firing off another two more rounds that again missed by mere inches.

With no other options in such a tight enclosure, the figure stopped running and turned around to face the officers. Though it looked like he was going to fight them for a moment, he instead kicked one of two wooden planks that were holding up an abandoned stand that was large enough to block off the alleyway’s path for a short amount of time. Now with something to slow them down for a while, he quickly turned back around and began running once more, getting so close to the other end that the sounds of the sirens from before were so faint he could barely hear them. This was also thanks to the gunshots that also rang his ears, but even so, he was still just a few feet from getting away now.

“Quickly, c’mon!” One of the officers urgently commanded. The blockade the figure made was large enough that the officers struggled with getting over. It seemed that every time one of them got a good footing, it would break under the pressure of their weight.

“C’mon, c’mon hurry! He’s getting away, just get over it!” The older officer yelled frustrated. “Kennedy, get over here.” He demanded. The officer that had fired his gun at the figure quickly ran up.

“Yes sir?” He asked.

“Listen to me and listen closely. We’re gonna give you a boost over this thing, once you get over I need you to run as fast as you can and catch that son’ bitch.” He said in a low and commanding tone.

“Yes sir.”

“But whatever you do, do not shoot to kill ya’ understand me?”

“Yes sir, understood.” Kennedy replied, hesitantly putting his revolver back into his holster.

“C’mere, Kenny.” One of the officers said, already in a squatted position to lift him over. As Kennedy made his way to him, the officer extended his arm out and cupped his hands, making a small platform for him to place his foot on. Placing his hands on the officer’s shoulders, Kennedy lifted and stepped onto his hands.

“Alright, on three.” Said Kennedy.

“Gotcha’.” the officer replied

“One…two…three!” The both of them exclaimed as Kennedy pushed down on his shoulders and the officer pushed him up by the foot. Launching considerably high into the air, Kennedy managed to land on top of the rubble. He quickly jumped to the other side as he became unbalanced on top from all the debris moving unstably beneath him. Quickly regaining his balance on the ground, he began to run after the figure once more, barely able to see him as he grew closer to escaping out the other end.

Surprisingly though, he started to catch up to him. He seemed almost unnatural with how fast he was going, seeming to go faster each time his feet hit the ground and pushed forward. But could he actually catch up with him? After all, he was already so close to reaching the other end, but even with his speed, he was still so far behind that it seemed so obviously impossible. That thought would continue to swirl in his head as he ran, looking down and grinding his teeth in frustration as a way to try and push that thought into the back of his head.

Looking back up, however, not only did he finally reach the other end of the alleyway, but the figure was no longer in sight. He stood at the alley’s entrance still, panic slowly creeping up his body and his blood went cold, he desperately began scanning the surrounding area of market stands and common folk. It was like he had just disappeared out of plain sight, but even in such a large crowd like this he still had quite a unique look compared to everyday dressed people.

Curling his hand into a tight fist, he instinctively began running around in pursuit of him. Running through groups of people, he would try and locate the figure but to no avail. However, something caught his eye during the search. A small fox with 2 horns and fangs, a nice dark coat that was primarily brown. Though it took Kennedy a second, he recognized the small creature as being the same one the figure was running away with, and possibly the reason why the officer from before had two small holes in his neck. The fox was slowly creeping in the background of the stands, seemingly trying to sneak its way out of the crowded area without being seen.

Not wasting any more time, Kennedy began running towards the fox. Managing to remain undetected until getting close enough to it. Once he got close enough to the fox, he quickly pounced on top of it, grabbing the creature by the scruff before walking away. His plan was to bring it back to the others so that they could come up with a plan on luring the figure out. The little fox tried to squirm its way out of his grip, but most of its body would be completely motionless, as him holding it by the scruff caused it to be immobile.

“Would ya’ stop squirming around so damn much?” He asked the small fox in an annoyed tone. “It’s not like you’re getting outta’ here anyways, might as well enjoy the view for a bit.”

Walking past the many spectators that watched him carry the fox away, two police officers were seen running up to him. One of them was a female was short, blonde hair with a bit of brown underneath. The other officer appeared to be in his early thirties and had a long scar that went up the left side of his jaw and next to his left ear. Both of them had the same patch on the left side of their chest that read off their names: Murdock and Ritta.

“Did you see where he went?” Murdock asked.

“No, sadly. But I did manage to pick up his little pet here.” Kennedy responded, lifting in front of them.

“So, what do we do with it?” Ritta asked, leaning slightly down to make eye contact with it before standing straight up again.

“Not sure. I was thinking maybe if we set up a trap, not only do we get him but we also get the fox as well.” Kennedy responded, looking down at the fox with an odd soft but stern look.

“Well, it's settled then. Let's go take it up with the chief.” The officer with the scar said, being the first one in their group to start walking away.

“Alright. C’mon Kenny, let’s meet up with the others.” Ritta said hurrying to catch up with Murdock, with Kennedy following behind.

As they walked through the crowded marketplace, Kennedy couldn’t get the feeling of being watched out of his head. It was a weird sensation as if he knew something was going to happen. He couldn’t tell if he was just a bit jumpy from the chase and all the people looking at them made him nervous, or the fact that he still didn’t know where the figure went after getting out of sight. But suddenly, it was like Kennedy’s body took control of itself, ducking down as a chill ran up the right side of his neck. Confused at first, that confusion soon turned into gratitude as he was just a few inches from receiving a nasty kick to the head.

Landing into a crouched position, the figure quickly stood straight up to face the three officers. Getting into the same fighting stance as before, readying himself to possibly take on all three of them at once.

However, the only ones to make a move on him were Ritta and Murdock as the both of them rushed at him. Murdock being ahead of Ritta tried finishing the altercation quickly by tackling him. However, the figure quickly countered this by moving out of the way and hitting him with a kick to the back, causing him to crash into one of the stands with most of its valuables falling on top of him. Ritta attempted a kick of her own by aiming at the figure’s head. But he was able to quickly duck in time, swiping her at the foot with his leg, stomping on her stomach as he forced her down to the ground so hard it knocked the wind out of her completely.

Kennedy was in awe and shock at what he saw. This person was able to take out two officers with such ease and precision that it seemed almost unnatural. But as he looked at his two partners who laid on the ground, he quickly lunged out of anger toward him with the fox still in his grasp. He extended his arm out to clothesline him, but almost in a flash, the figure took complete control of their fight as one swift knee to the stomach stopped him right in his tracks. Though it took a moment, his legs soon trembled so much that they gave away and forced him to the ground, letting go of the fox in the same process as he held his gut in defeat.

“Come on, let’s go!” The figure commanded the fox as they both quickly fled the scene.

More officers soon arrived on the scene, attending to the three of them as Ritta and Murdock were just barely conscious enough to speak about the fight that just occurred, and as two other officers helped him back up onto his feet, all he could do was stare blankly in the way the figure fled, uttering the word “Damnit” as he squinted his eyes in pain.