Wild Tiger Chase - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

— Rob —
He had seen this before. The way Léon's power escaped from him like fog; the ethereal tendrils dancing around him and wrapping his wounded shoulder to keep him up; and the freezing presence standing somewhere in the room, watching the scene with the cold detachment of a tired audience in a late-night play.
"What the fuck, Toni!" Rafa roared—and the sound was so loud and imposing, even Léon, wounded and quiet like a rabbit, shivered in Rob's protective arms.
But Toni ignored her.
"This old crossbow is way weaker than my real companions, so the shot might take a while to take effect," he said in a deadpan voice. "Tell me if you notice any changes, Jackal." He reached for another bolt. This time, what crystallized between his fingers was a purple shaft, thicker, but shorter.
"Noted," Jackal answered.
"Toni!" Rafa sniffed and swept a tear with the back of her hand. "Are you even listening to me? Why are you doing this? This is not who you are."
"No, Sis. This is who he has always been," Rob said.
This time, Toni looked at them—and the pain in his features was hard to ignore.
In the silence that followed, Rob was very aware of the way his breathing grated its way inside. He was exhausted, but he wasn't sure why. His temples throbbed, his back ached, and the muscles in his entire body felt like an almost-broken rope, holding on by a single thread. Still, there were only two things worrying him at that moment. One, the black veins spreading from the place where Rio had injected Léon's arm; two, the increasing purple smoke that escaped the wound in Léon's shoulder.
He brought Léon closer until his heated forehead met Rob's neck.
"They were always like this," Rob repeated in a stronger voice. "If they were any different, would they be doing this?" He set his eyes hard on the nurse standing a few good meters from them.
Rio looked small, folding his arms around himself as if trying to stop the visible shaking in his body.
"He'll be okay, Roberto. As long as we keep Léon and Phillip inside Toni's undimension, they'll both be okay. It's like what happened inside that place you were before, right?"
"It's not," Rafa said. "Look at him!" she shouted and pointed at the black veins in Léon's arm. "In Caidara's pocket dimension, the sickness didn't spread."
Rio sunk his trembling fingers into his hair and combed it away from his face. "Modraniht said Phillip was fine. And Léon will be fine too."
"If not, this will be nothing more than another reason to cooperate," Jackal said and looked at Rob. "Let's make a deal. I'll send you the creds I promised once we're finished, so it'll be as if you had signed the damned contract in the first place—which you should have. What do you say?"
"This is unbelievable. I won't let you pricks continue with this," Rafa growled. "Stand down!"
Toni smiled.
"Always the warrior of Justice, my little Birdie." He chuckled. "When you say it with so much confidence, I almost believe you can actually do anything." With a clack, Toni reloaded the crossbow. He raised his chin and looked at Rafa to say, "The bolts are my own Cosmic Trace, so you shouldn't be in my way, Birdie. It's dangerous." Toni snapped his fingers. Part of the group of silent, smiling onlookers stepped forward to hold Rafa's arms, neck, and shoulders. Toni looked at them and said, "Make sure you keep her out of the fight, okay? Don't hurt her."
Toni closed one of his eyes and aimed again while five, then six of the onlookers crowded around Rafaela to drag her towards the other patrons. She kicked and growled and screamed, and before Rob could do or say anything, several pairs of hands clutched his arms too.
"Let me go!" Rob roared. His limbs trembled as he flexed them, trying to stay by Léon's side.
"I know how this looks, Robbie, but this is really not meant to hurt him any more than necessary," Toni said—in a serious voice this time. "You might not trust me, but I'm trying to help."
"This makes no sense, Toni. This... this is nothing but... gratuitous... violence. It's—it makes no sense!" he shouted. Rob freed one of his arms and swung it back. His elbow connected to one of his captors' face, but they didn't even flinch. Merciless hands held Rob tighter, hard fingers digging into his flesh with so much strength, he was sure he'd be covered in bruises pretty soon. "Let me go!" he yelled. His sneakers screeched as he was dragged backward.
"Don't you get it? All we need is to stabilize our serum and we will be gone," Rio said in a hard voice. "Once this job is finished, we'll all go home. Everything we're doing is necessary."
"Well, guess what, mate? I don't bloody care what you need! You cannot do whatever you want." A hand tried to cover her lips but Rafa bit it hard and continued, teeth smeared with blood, "Look at what he's doing! Toni bloody shot him. You injected him with the same shit that has been killing Phillip. Tell me that was necessary, mate. I bloody dare you!"
Jackal's shoulders tensed. The way she looked at Rafa, licking her lips and raising her chin, spread shivers on Rob's aching arms.
"Continue," Jackal said, glancing at Toni. And looking at Rafa, she added, "I always thought that heroes should be willing to make sacrifices for the greater good. But I guess you just don't have any idea of how urgent this situation is."
"You don't know the first thing about being a hero," Rafa said.
Toni prepared another bolt.
"Wait. I'm seeing something," Jackal said. There was awe in her voice. "The molecular agitation increased near the wound when Léon was hit by Antônio's cosmic trace. Léon's bonds are getting thicker; I think he's... drawing power from them. I'm seeing a huge increase of cosmic trace pooling around him."
"Maybe what you're seeing is his undimension trying to swallow him inside to protect him," Toni said in a pensive voice. He lowered his weapon and frowned. "Léon's connection to it must be especially strong. Rio?"
He opened and closed his lips. Rio's voice was ragged and weak when he said, "The sickness must be trying to purge his power trace, but his undimension is trying to keep it in place, along with his Life Force. I don't know what might happen if this continues."
Jackal hummed. "That's not ideal. We need to find a way to neutralize the purge, not to balance it."
"Then let's continue." Toni gestured towards the purple bolt. "I'll use Léon's cosmic trace next."
Rob growled. Gathering every ounce of force he had left, he tugged at his captors all at once and took two of the three steps that separated him from Léon.
"Oh, no, you won't," Toni said. He turned around and shot. "It's high time that bastard paid for everything he did—and not even you will stop me, Robbie."
"Hum. It seems the cosmic force bolts can hurt non-wielders pretty badly," Jackal said.
Rob roared and doubled over to nurse the foot Toni had just pinned to the floor. When Rob tried to tug at the bolt, the blood in his fingers made the crystal surface even more slippery. A small pool of blood formed around his boot.
Bloody hell, that hurt!
The hair pomade wasn't holding Rob's brown hair in place anymore, so when he looked up, he met Rio's scared expression from behind his thick locks. With all his might, Rob wished the glare he was wearing could convey his words. Was that necessary too?
Rio lowered the hands covering his lips and hardened his expression. He stepped forward and put himself beside Toni as he adjusted the crossbow's sight.
"Wait. You promised me you wouldn't seek revenge." Rio touched his arm. "Don't forget why we're here."
"I know. Out of my way, Gregorio," Toni growled.
"You said you wanted in to help us find a cure. I... I did what you asked!" He gestured towards Léon. "I-I injected him with the sickness, and now...!" Rio steeled his voice. "You promised me."
Crossbow in his hands, Toni took a sharp step forward and shouldered past Rio, but the nurse clutched on Toni's suit for support. Rio furrowed his brows, bringing Toni close enough to lock their eyes. None of them said a word—it didn't seem like they needed to. Still, legs almost tangled, their stare showdown ended when Léon scoffed.
"Thank you for the present. But here; take it back."
As if answering to something in Léon's voice, Toni looked up and widened his eyes. His crossbow slid from his fingers while he tugged at Rio's waist. Toni pivoted him around to place himself in front of Rio in time to hold the pearlescent bolt someone had hurled at them. There was so much force in that throw that, when Toni held the projectile, a mass of air gathered around them and pushed them backward, tumbling to recover their balance. Shreds of purple power were still glued to the shaft, dancing between Toni's fingers.
A trail of blood slid down Toni's wrist. He blinked and schooled the surprise in his expression.
"Well, someone's angry," he said in a soft voice. Toni rotated the bolt between his fingers and chuckled as it dissolved, showing the multiple lacerations his hands had suffered from the attack. "But not angry enough to hurt me for real, I suppose." He took Rio's hands and nudged them off of him. "And this is why I wanted to end this as quickly as possible," he told Rio in a lower voice, eyes still glued on Léon.
Once Rob looked to his left, he understood why. Léon's shoulder was still bleeding power trace, and while the bolt wasn't stuck in there anymore, Léon's eyes were darker, his nails sharper, and his scythe bigger.
Shite.
"Léon, wait!" Rob said. He tried to get up, but the bolt pinning his feet kept him curled down, a scream of pain locked in his throat.
"You'll pay for hurting him." Léon straightened his posture. "And you'll pay for all of this!" he shouted.
Without a word, Toni pushed Rio further away and, not moving his gaze from Léon, he snatched his crossbow from the floor.
"I'd love to see you tr—"
Toni didn't have time to finish his sentence. Léon charged with his scythe in hand, dodging Toni's shots one by one. They weren't far from each other, so it might've been easy for Toni to read Léon's movements, but Léon's attack was so violent and precise, it sent Toni reeling back until his back hit one of the columns inside the restaurant.
As the dust from the attack settled, the crossbow in Toni's hands cracked. He growled.
"What, Toni? Isn't this what you wanted? Forcing me to fight you?" Léon cleaned a smear of blood from his scythe. "Then let's go. Let's see how strong you really are."
Toni let out a high-pitched sneer that bordered on hysterical. "I was hoping for that, yes—but I don't think you're ready to fight me yet." He raised the crossbow again. "Still a Kitten, not a Tiger."
Before Toni could even materialize another bolt, Léon was already rushing into the attack. Toni dodged the first of Léon's blows and blocked the second with the cracked crossbow. With widened eyes, Toni watched as the cracks spread; part of his crossbow crumbled.
"Give up and let us go," Léon roared.
"It's too late for that." Toni shook the crossbow, and the cracked pieces fell, leaving behind a simpler shape. Now with a shortbow, Toni's shots were even faster as he jumped back, trying to put distance between him and Léon. They moved in a violent dance; a push and pull that placed all control in Toni's hands.
"Since you and Rob are together now," Toni said, loud enough so they would all hear him, "shall I share his favorite positions with you?"
"Shut up," Léon said.
And every few steps, Toni increased the difference in power more and more, poking the Tiger with words filled with malice. Rob tried to intervene, of course, but the patrons trying to hold him down added to the bloody bolt piercing his left foot and made the task quite impossible. To make matters worse, the angrier Léon got and the more Rob and Rafa struggled to help, the worse Toni became, setting in motion a vicious cycle between them.
Finally, in a vicious attack, Léon swung his scythe. Toni dodged it with ease and smirked as the weapon bit into the brick wall, ripping the painting of a city wrapped in red fog. As Léon tried to tug his weapon free, Toni supported an arm on his shoulder and played with a lock of his hair. He whispered something against Léon's ears that tinted his cheeks with a dark shade of red.
"I said shut up!" Léon shouted.
With a chuckle, Toni stepped away. He glanced at Jackal, who was now taking turns watching the fight and taking notes on her phone. She nodded, so Toni faced Léon again.
"All right. Now the second out of three tests." Toni prepared another purple bolt.
Léon finally freed his weapon, bringing with it a small shower of crushed bricks and dust. With a growl, he pivoted around.
"Leo, you're too angry, you'll—shite." Rob curled his hands around the bolt in his feet and shut his eyes. Rob didn't have any hope of removing the bolt stuck to the floor, so with a growl, he broke the shaft in half and pulled his foot upward. His voice cracked when he yelled, "Léon, wait!"
"I can feel them, Bhalu." Léon snarled as his power trace crackled. "They are so close, I can almost touch them. I want them now!" He rotated his scythe and prepared an uppercut, his arms trembling as pure, purple energy gathered on the tip of his weapon.
Toni raised an eyebrow, and right after his shortbow, gathering the same purple energy as Léon. The two orbs of power grew together, swallowing more and more of the room.
Léon's eyes flicked red.
"Léon, stop!" Rob shouted.
It was too late. The purple tendrils billowing from Léon's wound grew red, and if his expression was filled with anger before, now it was blank. Currents of air built around him, bringing with them distant scents that Rob could recognize as the putrid stench of death.
"Bloody fuck, Beto. He's..." Rafa trailed off.
Toni raised his voice over the roar of the forming hurricane. "Jackal! Tell me what happens this time."
Léon growled. "You won't have time to listen to her. Goodbye."
Toni shot his arrow at the same time Léon's blade cut through the air, devouring the distance between them like a famished beast. Léon's attack swallowed the arrow and grew large enough to hide Toni's silhouette and the two cerulean-blue eyes lost in it.
There was no blinding light, no deafening boom, and the destruction Léon caused was so precise, that the only sound inside the restaurant came from Toni's pearlescent armor cracking like a walnut. As the shattered armor fell, a purple-red, diagonal cut burst open, connecting Toni's waist and his right shoulder.
Toni wailed in pain, and Léon smirked. Just like Toni had done before, Léon used his own cosmic trace to hurt him. To try to destroy him.
Unlike Léon, though, the power trace escaping through Toni's wound wasn't only pearlescent; it was sometimes orange, blue, or purple, and changed to other colors and intensities as well. Toni, his eyes still widened, fell on his knees. His shortbow lay destroyed at his feet, along with the glimmering remainings of his armor.
"Oh, that's very interesting," Jackal said. "Unlike Léon, it seems your bonds are being assimilated by your undimension." She narrowed her eyes. "It seems that part of your power is being consumed by it, Antônio..." She hummed. "Antônio?" She said in a disinterested voice. "Are you alive?"
When Rob finally managed to get up, he winced, grimaced, and limped towards Léon while Rio rushed in the opposite direction. It was a weird sort of mirroring, he thought. Until moments ago, Léon was the one lying limp on the floor while Rob tried to keep his head in place. Now, Toni and Rio played the part... at the same time that Rob called Léon's name in the softest manner his cracking voice allowed.
"Tiger, please," he said in a small voice.
Léon faced him. There was no recognition in his gaze, and the masses of air intensified around him, twisting and turning with the sharpness of a bladestorm. Rob furrowed his brows. Léon wouldn't hurt him, right? Rob cold stop him. He could help him.
"It's me, Tiger. Oi. My love? Can you hear me?" Rob placed a gentle hand on his arm.
Tilting his head, Léon zeroed in on Rob's hand, then raised his scythe. He mumbled something—an excuse, an apology, or a threat, Rob would never know—and swung it down with as much power as he had used in his fight with Toni.
Through his blurring sight, Rob saw the same Léon from eleven years before; the man without control who destroyed an entire village, and who was now ready to kill again. Rob let out a trembly sigh as old feelings and buried thoughts resurfaced.
With no other alternative, he sucked in a lungful of air. And then, he shut his eyes.