[Kitsumi]

Despite Marceline's incredible strength, her enemy was tougher than she had thought. Her swords had cut, but not deep enough to cause a mortal wound. And with the monster now attempting a counter-attack, she was forced to go back on the defensive.

At least her actions had bought Dante a chance to react. Drawing his legs up, he kicked the creature as hard as he could. The beast was caught by surprise and launched away from the male, but it recovered quickly. Spinning midair, it managed to land on its feet, immediately turning so that it was facing Marceline and Dante. It growled, bearing its sharp teeth.

[31]

[Kitsumi]

Without taking her eyes off of her opponent, Marceline checked in on Dante. "Are you okay to keep fighting?"

"I'm good." Despite his reassuring words, his voice was strained. One hand was pressed against his torso as he staggered to his feet. Blood seeped from the wound, staining his torn clothing. For anyone else, the injury would have potentially been fatal. But with his healing abilities, the cambion could already feel the blood beginning to clot, the flesh slowly mending itself together.

Thankfully, the beast didn't seem to have the same abilities. It was moving more slowly now, weakened by blood loss.

[32]

[Kitsumi]

"I suggest we flank it," Dante spoke in a quiet voice. "It can't watch both of us at once if we're on either side of it. At least one of us will have a chance to attack."

Marceline gave a single nod. "Agreed," she said. "I'll go left, you go right?"

"Got it."

Slowly, the two began edging forward. They separated, moving in a wide semicircle towards their opponent. The creature could see what they were doing, and it growled, beginning to back away. It knew better than to turn its back on its enemies though. Its ears flattened as it realized that the tables had turned against it.

[33]

[Kitsumi]

Eventually, the beast decided that its best chance of making it out alive would be to escape. It turned and quickly began to sprint away.

"Dante!" Marceline shouted, knowing that she would be of no help at this point.

The cambion was already moving though, racing forward. His enemy was fast, but he was faster. Once he was close enough, he tackled the creature to the ground. Pinning it down, he tried to avoid the claws slashing towards him as he pressed down on the beast's throat, cutting off its supply of oxygen. It struggled, but Dante was strong, and managed to hold it down.

[34]

[Kitsumi]

By the time the beast ceased moving, Dante was panting and sweating. Once the light had faded from his enemy's eyes, he allowed himself to collapse. He rolled to the side to lay on his back, cushioned by grass. One arm was slung over his forehead, while the other hand applied pressure to the wound, which was still not quite fully healed.

Marceline finally caught up to him. Her swords were at the ready, half expecting the creature to suddenly stand and continue its attack. When it remained motionless however, she turned her attention to the male.

"Let me see the wound," she demanded.

[35]

[Kitsumi]

"I'm fine," Dante tried to wave away her concern. "It's already started to heal."

The woman crossed her arms over her chest, eyebrows knitting together as she frowned. "I wasn't asking," she said. "Take off the shirt, and let me tend to the wound."

"If you wanted me to strip, all you had to do was ask," the man joked, giving her a teasing wink. He winced when he sat up, an indication that his injury was causing him pain. The shirt was removed slowly, as he didn't want to aggravate the wound any more.

Meanwhile, Marceline knelt down in the grass next to him.

[36]

[Kitsumi]

Dante hissed quietly as the woman poked and prodded at his injury. She offered him a sheepish apology, but continued her assessment despite his pain. Her frown only deepened when she saw the full extent of the damage.

"It's still bleeding," she said. "And I think it's stopped healing." She pulled back to look him in the eye. "How long has it been since you've consumed blood?"

He groaned. "Too long, I guess," he admitted. "But it's fine. The crystal should be charged by now, right? Let's get out of here and get our payment. Once we get back to base, I'll grab a bloodbag and should be able to finish healing once I finish it."

[37]

[Kitsumi]

At his words, Marceline stiffened. "Shit," she whispered. "The crystal, I completely forgot about it! I left it back at the picnic spot."

"No big deal," Dante shrugged, immediately regretting it as the simple motion tugged at the wound and sent a wave of pain throughout his body. "We just need to go back and grab it." He held a hand out towards her, a hopeful smile on his face. "Help me up?"

The woman rolled her eyes, but granted his request anyways. She took his hand, grunting at his weight as she pulled him to his feet. "Don't even think about asking me to carry you, because it's not happening."

[38]

[Kitsumi]

The two walked together, moving a bit more slowly than usual in order to accommodate for Dante's injury. Marceline was keeping a close eye on him, ready to step in and help should he lose his balance. She would never tell him, but she was actually quite worried for him. It was rare for her to see him with such a grievous injury, and it was even worse that the wound wasn't healing.

Noticing how tense his partner was, the cambion attempted to distract her. "So, what are we going to tell people about this?" he asked. "There are going to be a lot of questions."

[39]

[Kitsumi]

For a moment, the woman hesitated as she thought it over. "Well, it's not like there are any security cameras. And I doubt anyone took the time to try to film that creature," she mused. "I'll have to call someone to collect the body, but as long as they get here before the authorities do, it should be fine. They'll come up with some sort of story about a 'rabid dog' or something."

"And what if someone mentions the two of us?" Dante asked. "I mean, we weren't exactly subtle about going to fight that thing. Do you think we might have to answer some questions ourselves?"

[40]

[Kitsumi]

"I don't think anybody was bothering to look at us," Marceline said with a slight chuckle. "They were too busy running from that... that thing. Not that I blame them, of course. If I weren't trained in hunting and killing monsters, hell, I probably would have been running too." She frowned, thinking. "I wonder what that was, and why it was here?"

Dante shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Actually, your guess would probably be better than mine. I don't even know everything about my own race. I'm not the one to be asking questions about strange monsters. Sorry, beautiful, but I can't help."

[41]

[Kitsumi]

At the nickname, 'beautiful', the woman's face flushed pink. "S-stop that!" she stammered. "How can you still think of flirting after what just happened?"

The cambion simply grinned. "Marcy, baby, you're all I can think about, all the damn time." He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against his side. "I could have a whole pack of hellhounds at my heels, and I'd still be thinking about you."

Marcy rolled her eyes, trying to hide the fact that she was barely able to keep from smiling. "Hellhounds aren't even that big of a deal," she said with a huff. "They're easily distracted."

[42]

[Kitsumi]

They were starting to draw near to the picnic spot now. A quick glance showed everything as it had been before. Well, almost everything.

Dante's skin was already pale, but whatever color it had drained away leaving him as white as a fresh sheet of snow on the ground. "Uh, Marcie, I think we've got a problem." He pointed to an empty spot in front of them, hand shaking slightly.

Looking where he was pointing, Marceline frowned. "What do you mean? There's nothing there."

"Exactly," he answered. "Isn't that where we left the crystal?"

Her eyes widened as she realized. "Oh, shit."

[43]

[Kitsumi]

The two immediately ran to the spot where the crystal and the device had been. On hands and knees, they both crawled around, pawing at the grass. Even though it was pretty clear that the object was gone, they wanted to make absolutely sure that it wasn't around before leaving the area to look for it.

"I don't understand," Dante said in a slightly shaky voice. "Inanimate objects don't just get up and walk away. Unless it somehow teleported?"

But Marceline shook her head. "I don't think teleportation is what happened." She gestured to a spot of grass that had been flattened. "Someone came here and took our crystal."

[44]

[Kitsumi]

"Fuck," the cambion breathed the word, almost too quietly for his companion to hear. In a louder voice, he said, "Do you think that whoever took it had something to do with that strange monster we fought? What if it was meant to be a distraction. Is it possible that someone followed us here to steal it from us? Maybe someone who knows that you're a monster hunter and knew just how to get us away from the crystal?"

The woman frowned and shook her head. "I... I have no idea," she admitted. "All I know is that I refuse to leave without the crystal. We signed up to do a job, and I'm going to make sure that we see it through to the end, damnit."

[45]

[Crystal Synthesis Complete]