Bring The Heat

36. Bullet Bullet (GOJS ARC 7)

Mint laid still on the weak wooden floorboards. She listened to them creak as she breathed heavily. Damn... no matter how much she kept in shape, it seemed like she would always struggle with catching her breath.

She rolled onto her side, and rubbed her hand over the coarse old wood. Something about the sensory stimulation numbed the pain in her chest, like her brain was getting distracted. Or maybe it was the moonlight she lay in that calmed her, blasting through the window. It tricked her into feeling warm in contrast to the cold, dark shadows of the room.

All of these were habits that she had picked up from her time on Jewel Street; the nights were the scariest. Mint liked being in control and in the know, and she could have neither of these when sleeping.

There was a creak in the corner of the room.

Mint's whole body spun quickly, and her gun was im her hand before even she knew it. Nothing... she sighed. Her eyes were just now adjusting to the all-encompassing darkness around her, and she could see that the room was empty. Sometimes her paranoia worked against her...

Mint had holed up in an old, empty warehouse. Typically it was territory of the Lasher's gang, but being the second largest gang of Jewel Street, they were suck-ups to Twig and would volunteer for edge duty, and thus Mint knew she would have the whole place to herself until morning. She was on a small loft that oversaw the whole dusty building, and had managed to break the lock on one of the old chests and found an uzi with a couple big handfuls of ammo. Guns with a high rate of fire worked best for Mint's ability, as it meant she could make more ghost bullets.

Mint shifted and groaned as she bathed in the embrace of the moonlight.

The corner creaked once more. Lazily, Mint turned her head so that she could dissuade her fears again.

The knight emerged abruptly from the shadows.

It stomped towards Mint swiftly, and was just a little too fast. Mint sprang up and readied her gun but her hand was smacked down by the flat of the knight's blade, spraying gunfire into the already weak floor of the loft. Mint stepped back to dodge a followup jab, but it caught her in the collar, stabbing deep into her skin.

Mint winced in pain and delivered a heavy kick to the knight's chest, but her strength hadn't had the chance to build up yet. The knight barely moved, and the recoil of the kick sent her flying backwards, and plunging over the edge of the loft.

Slamming down hard onto a bulky piece of machinery, Mint rolled off of it and fell to the floor. Groaning in pain, she examined her situation... her back hurt to shit, and her leg got fucked up from that kick. She must've pulled something...

The knight took a second to look down at her cockily. Big mistake! Mint fired off her ghost bullets, spraying once more into the floorboards of the loft, which, now weakened, and under the immense weight of the knight, collapsed. As the knight came crashing through the floor, Mint smirked slightly through the pain of her injuries.

She pulled herself up, unable to put any weight onto her right kicking leg. The knight also rose, debris clattering off of it's armour as it did. Mint had managed to remove it's momentum... but it still had the advantage.

As the knight stormed towards her persistently, Mint hopped away, limping, and fired off a spray of gunfire towards it. In the blink of an eye, the knight sunk into the floor, and appeared behind Mint, kicking her brutishly in the back. Mint fell to the ground again, struggling to pick herself back up as the knight patiently waited.

The kick had stung with the heat of humiliation, and it was obvious the knight had more anger than sense after falling from it's high horse. It was still desperate to see Mint as a lesser opponent instead of a worthy challenger...

As Mint was rising to her feet, the knight suddenly burst forward, flashing right in front of her and shoving her back down. In the adrenaline, Mint could only hear the muffled pain and fear that was screeching in her mind and groggily rolled her head on the floor. Her blinking felt heavy... she wasn't sure how many more times she could get back up.

Seeing that it's time bullying Mint was ending, the knight punched the wall repeatedly in rage deprived of any other outlet, like a child having a tantrum. The weak concrete walls of the warehouse crumbled and cracked, shooting weak beams of moonlight through the walls. Mint looked over at them numbly.

The thing about Jewel Street was that without the streetlights, its geographical location made it almost pitch black at night. This inky darkness could only be beaten out by a particularly bright moon, like the one currently illuminating Mint's tired face. Most nights like these, however, stayed dark for most of it, as heavy smog from nearby factories or even just clouds were all it took to make Jewel Street disappear once more.

The rare lunar shine washed softly over Mint, and she felt an aura of peace through her grogginess. Such an elusive illumination choosing to dance across her face... it was a blessing. A tranquility encompassed her as the adrenaline flowed away, and the pain in her body dulled. 'So this is how it feels to die...' Mint thought. She didn't want to die, but... she'd had her time. She'd lived a while, for someone in Jewel Street. But then...

Euphoria. Mint felt a sensation that can only be described as the glittery glint of gold, or the feeling of caramel in your mouth. It shot through her body, and Mint rose in an instant, fully recovered from her injuries. Her body moved with full automation, her soul being dragged along with it as her arm raised and she fired a spray of bullets at the knight. Unprepared, it staggered forwards into the wall as the spray clattered into it's back. But as well as trails of smoke, a bright purple fire sparkled out, fizzling like a lit flare.

Almost instinctively, Mint activated her ability. A single ghost bullet shot forward... followed, one by one, by a whole volley of ghost bullets, hammering relentlessly into the knight's back! It's armour dented and distorted, and Mint just stood there, watching in confusion and shock, and moving her now uninjured leg... what the hell had happened to her!?