Witch Hunter Robin Fan Fiction ❯ Witch Hunter Robin � Resolution of a Half-ling ❯ Discussion ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 3 - Discussion

“James `Slick' Stone and Cheryl `Rexas' Hamasaki,” Administrator Kosaka began his briefing. “Through our sources, these two punks are part of a troublemaking coven. Until now, their crimes are non-threatening to humans. Sources indicated that they have a new leader.” Michael tapped onto the keyboard, displaying a fairly young ruffian on the screen. “Rashib `Carr' Hartmann. Like all egomaniac, he wants to take the coven to the next level. This morning, these two damaged traffic lights at a busy junction. Luckily, no one was injured seriously. Our job is to take these nitwits down. Use any force if necessary.”

“Right,” Sakaki stood up. “We can finish this faster since Amon and Robin are here to…” He paused stupidly. “Sorry.”

“For what?” Doijima continued. “We are dealing with dangerous witches. With their powers, we can close the case.”

“Too risky,” Karasuma demurred. “Firstly, we don't know what kind of powers these witches have. Secondly, if they help, they could expose themselves. Thirdly, Amon's powers are unstable.”

“We'll take extra caution like we did before,” Doijima suggested. “Didn't we, Robin?”

“True,” Robin nodded, glancing at Amon.

“It's settled,” Amon concluded. “We all go.”

“Including you?” Michael adjusted his glasses. “Don't get me wrong. You are a time bomb.”

“Better to do something than sitting around here waiting for nothing.”

“Good point!” Doijima chirped in. “In this kind of scenario, it's advised to do something.”

“But not jeopardizing the mission!” Michael argued.

“It's against my better judgment,” Karasuma raised her voice. “However, the sooner we lock up these witches, the sooner we can find a solution for Amon.” From her coat, she took out an Orbo gun, put it on the table and slide it across to Amon. “You know what to do should it comes down to It.”

“Yeah,” He replied, checking the gun.

“All right, then. What are you all waiting for?” Administrator Kosaka adopted a commander's tone. “Get moving!”

Within minutes, everyone headed for the car park. Robin took a quick look at Amon. He appeared to be normal. She didn't like it at all. She felt someone touching her shoulder. It was Karasuma.

“Robin, if you don't mind, I would like to talk to Amon alone.”

“Sure,” She answered causally even though her brows were arching questioningly.

“Relax,” Karasuma teased. “I'm not going to steal him.” She moved faster. “Sakaki! You, Doijima and Robin take the car. Amon and I will be using the other one.”

“The car? My bike is my mode of transportation!”

“Then I drive.” Doijima opened the door. “Come on!” She shoved him inside. “You too, Robin.”

“Not you,” Sakaki groaned.

“Quiet! My skills are not that bad.” Seeing the other two driving off, she got in and started the engine. “Why is Karasuma with Amon?”

“She wants to talk to him,” Robin answered.

“Probably doing some catching up,” Sakaki cut in. “They are earliest members of STN-J. Almost like siblings, so don't let your mind wander.”

“Who is saying anything?” Doijima stepped on the accelerator. “Here we go.”

“Poor Sakaki,” Karasuma mused, eyeing a black car from the side-view mirror. “He doesn't like Doijima's driving.” She shifted the gear. “I hope mine doesn't bother you.”

“Not at all,” Amon replied politely. “You have innate talent in that area.”

“Funny. You hardly give compliments since usually you often drive solo.” She looked ahead. “How are things been with you and Robin?”

“Peaceful. It is like taking a vacation.”

“Are you two…” Her voice hinted something.

“No. We just pretended being a couple.”

“Robin loves you,” she said, like a knife through butter.

“I know,” He responded after a long while.

“Yet you are hiding things from her. You are only going to hurt her more than protecting.” She turned the steering wheel to the left. “From the first day we saw her, I knew you are never going to let your eyes off her. You never did that towards any witches, not even your mother. It's not my place to interfere but the longer you delay, you are going to make the same mistake as your mother did.”

“I wonder what are these two talking about,” Doijima tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, waiting for the traffic light to turn green. “Hey, Michael. Can you tap into their communicator?”

“Respecting people's privacy is one of my virtues, my dear.” The hacker retorted through the phone. “Listen, Robin. I just pulled out a report on Amon's mother, Rin. Transferring the details now.”

“Receiving,” Sakaki reported. “Is this Amon's mother?” He whistled at the picture of woman with long flowing tresses down her elfish face. “In some way, he resembles her.”

“According to the report, Rin was living as a Seed till she demonstrated her powers to Amon when he was ten. Odd. No explanations were given for her irrational actions. Following protocol, they took her away and packed Amon off to the Solomon Hunter Academy.”

“Why did she do it?” Doijima resumed driving. “Did she care about the consequences?”

“Maybe,” Sakaki suggested. “She wanted Amon to know that he's a half-witch.”

“There's no reason to that,” said Michael. “The Craft only works for the females in her family.”

“There could be more,” Robin finally spoke. “Maybe, she sensed the Craft in Amon.”

“An omen?” Michael proposed. “Would the Solomon Headquarters know about this?”

“Possibly. Otherwise, they wouldn't send Amon to the Academy.”

“Right, let me dig further into this. Michael out.”

“Now that I think of it,” said Doijima. “Why only the females?”

“Another Amon mystery,” Sakaki concluded. “Despite her reasons, it must had been a traumatized memory for him.”

“He hasn't come to terms with it,” Robin added. “Too many things, in fact.”

“Well, there is still time.” Doijima saw a warehouse ahead of her.

Parking a few distances away, the team soundlessly made their way to the warehouse. As planned, Sakaki, Doijima and Robin would enter from the front while Amon and Narasuma stationed themselves at the back of the building. Peering through a cracked window, Sakaki saw the witches sitting at a table, playing cards. James `Slick' Stone was a dark skinned lad with green spiky hair, wearing jeans and street jacket. His accomplice, Cheryl `Rexas' Hamasaki, was lanky girl wearing a black tube and mini skirt. There was another person with them, a man in a regular shirt and pants with several earrings at his left ear.

“The targets are inside,” Sakaki reported through his communicator. “There's a third person with them.”

“Proceed with caution,” Karasuma replied. “They are coming in.” She said to Amon. “Get ready if any one of them escapes from the back.” Amon nodded. “This is strange.”

“What?”

“That last line was originally yours.”

“You are in charge now and doing fine.”

“Naturally, I learnt from the best.”

“Okay,” Sakaki turned to the two ladies, checking his Orbo gun for the last time. “This is the part when the director says, `Action!'” From his belt, he took out a tube-like object and pulled out its metal plug.

“What's that?” asked Robin, watching him tossing it inside.

“You'll see,” said Doijima, covering her ears.

In a spilt second, an ear-splitting explosion was heard. Hot smoke gushed out from the cracks. The trio heard shouting. Sakaki pointed his finger at the wall.

“Robin, if you please?”

Summoning her powers, she unleashed fire and blasted a hole into the wall. Subsequently, waves of smoke gushed out, engulfing them. There was a stench in the air that made Robin nauseous. Covering her face, she followed Sakaki and Doijima inside. Suddenly, Doijima grabbed her wrists and pulled her aside.

“Watch where you're going!” she warned. A microsecond later, lightening rays swept past them, charring the area where Robin had been. “Darn, the Orbo bomb did not affect them.”

“Orbo bomb?” Robin created a barrier around them. “When did…”

“Fight first, talk later!” Doijima hissed, firing rounds. “Oh god! Look at the colour that Cheryl witch chose. It's absolutely repulsive!”

From the corner of her eyes, Robin saw the pink haired witch releasing lightening rays at their direction. Ducking, she dug into her pockets and pulled out a pair of spectacles. Fingering fondly for a few seconds, she put them upon the arch of her nose and came out of her hiding place. With one firm look at Cheryl, she trapped her within her scorching flames. Screaming, Cheryl tried to defend herself fruitlessly. Finding her cue, Doijima fired at the witch, not stopping till she saw her collapsing limply on the ground.

“Lesson one. Don't mess with the sisters!” Doijima blew the smoke from her Orbo gun. “Glad that you have not gone rusty.”

“The Orbo bullets. It's different.” Robin observed bluish liquid flowing out from Cheryl's wounds.

“After discovering the true source of Orbo, the Solomon headquarters invented their own version of Orbo. It's a mixture of holy water and other ingredients to ward off ill-intended powers. We still use the old name because we are too used to it. The problem with it is that its degree of effectiveness is higher when in close physical contact with witches. STN-J is the only facility granted permission to utilize our old Orbo pendants.”

“You gave Amon the so-called improved Orbo pendant that you took from the Factory.” She moved to where she last seen Sakaki. “The one that was made from the blood of witches. You shouldn't have done that.”

Rolling to one side, Sakaki fired bullets at the male-witch, James who dodged incredibly nimbly for his size. Sakaki pressed the trigger and heard an empty click. His skin went cold. A bright light flashed in front of him. Raising his hands in defense, he almost swore that he was going to hit when he saw orange flames shooting out from the ground a few centimeters from him. His ears caught a high-pitched scream, fading into another dimension. The last thing he saw was thin frame of something human disintegrating to ashes. Stiffly, he turned and saw Robin walking past him, stepping over the seared spot. He caught her saying:

“Two down, one more.”

“Two down?” Sakaki mumbled. Realizing what she meant, he switched on the communicator. “Targets down. One got away, probably heading your direction.”

“Copy that,” Karasuma acknowledged, turning to Amon. “Be careful. Nowadays, the Orbo pendants aren't much of a protection.”

Sensing a presence, she moved behind the bushes, just enough to shoot the witch once he burst out of the door. Instead, a hand merged out of the metal door, then, a full body of a man. Recovering quickly from that unexpected scene, she fired. The bullets penetrated through his body. Cursing, she gave chase. Amon was already ahead of her.

Trying to keep up with the fleeing witch, Amon fired once more. Again, the bullets proved useless. Damn witches, he cursed. Sprinting forward, Amon jumped on top of him, pulling down. Fortunately, he was able to pin him down without his hands going through the witch's body. Fighting fiercely, the witch exclaimed a sentence.

“You are a witch!”

Amon flinched, loosening his hold on him. Taking a desperate risk, the witch's hand caught hold of Amon's Orbo pendant and plunged it deep inside his chest. To Amon, the pain was equivalent as being shot by a shotgun. Tossing Amon aside like a rag doll, the witch scrambled to his feet and continued fleeing. Karasuma fired more rounds, ignoring the fact that she was just wasting ammo.

“Amon!” She knelt beside him. Foam was erupting from his mouth as his body shook violently. “Amon!” She gripped his hands that were pulling at the string of the pendant. Of all the freakish things she failed to anticipate. She pulled out a dagger from her boot, its tip barely scratching his skin. She heard a voice calling out to her.

“Karasuma!” Robin ran to her side. Sakaki and Doijima were behind her.

“Quick! We have to operate on Amon. The Orbo pendant is inside him. Somehow, the witch got it inside him!” Karasuma's hands trembled. “Heavens! I don't know how deep it went in.”

“Amon!” Robin saw his eyes turning white. “He's going into shock!”

“No!” Sakaki saw an eerie greenish aura glowing from Amon's chest. “The Orbo pendant is reacting to the witch gene inside his body.” He grabbed the dagger from Karasuma. “Quick, Robin! Focus your flame on the dagger while I remove the pendant. You two hold him down tightly!”

“Are you crazy?” Doijima protested. “You'll kill him!”

“You have a better alternative?” He yelled back, turning to Robin. “It's now or never!”

“Do it!” Robin responded, covering the blade of the dagger in flames.

Sakaki thrust the dagger inside. At that moment, an invisible force stormed out, swallowing up everyone in its white radiance. In the midst of the confusion, Robin heard Amon's heart pounding louder and louder. His blood cells streaming in distorted directions. There was a ball of vile substance burning crazily inside, stripping him naked of all reasons and logics. She saw a fiery blade piercing into the ball. It ripped opened, absorbing the blood cells in its fumes. Strangely, some turned purplish and flowed away from it.

Suddenly, a screen of white covered her eyes. It then vanished, revealing the surrounding where they were. The trees and bushes exploded into splinters, bark and pulp, the leaves ripped apart, the roots uprooted themselves and the soil thrown up into dust clouds. The splinters launched themselves onto the walls of the warehouse at different areas. Within seconds, the walls cracked and burst into smithereens. Fragments shattered wildly. She saw one moving straight for her.

She then found herself standing in front of a field filled with flowers. There was a woman with long flowing tresses holding a young boy in her arms. She was the same woman from the picture that Michael sent earlier. She was saying something to him. Tears were welling in her eyes. She lifted her hands. Robin saw it, the innocent beauty of a gift that was despised forever. There was awe in the boy's eyes. He too understood its splendor. It ended when men in black suits showed up out of nowhere. They surrounded the woman, separating her from the boy. Crying, she screamed a name as if it was her sole lifeline. Strangely, her eyes turned towards where Robin was. Beneath the tears, Robin saw peace in them and unexplainably, a spark of hope. Impelled by an unknown force, she raised her hand as if she wanted to touch something.

“Robin?” Doijima held Robin's shoulders. “Snap out of it!” Robin's eyes moved stiffly, then, towards her. “Don't scare me like that!” She hugged her tightly. “If you didn't raise your barrier, we would all be blown to pieces!”

“Barrier?” Her voice wavered at the scene of destruction. She had no recollection of doing it. A name came to her mind. “Amon?”

“He's alive,” answered Sakaki, pressing a bloody cloth on Amon's chest. “The pendant is out but the wound is deep.”

“Medical assistance is coming soon,” continued Karasuma. “We were very lucky. Sakaki got it out before the entire Orbo content got into the bloodstream.”

“I caught a glimpse of Amon's memories. It was on the day he was taken away from his mother.” Robin stared at the broken pendant lying harmlessly on the ground. “I think she saw me, like she knew I was there. As if I have a purpose to be there.” She gently touched Amon's clammy cheek. “She saw me, Amon. She saw me.”

“You're losing me.” Sakaki stared, puzzled.

“What she is saying,” Karasuma explained. “There's a possibility that Amon's mother had some premonition about the future and you are part of that future, Robin. Whatever it is, it seems that you and Amon are fated to meet.

“But is it for better or for worse?”

To be continued