The lead hooligan barely had time to turn his head before a metal spike pierced his leg. Pain blossomed briefly, eliciting a panicked yelp from the man only for that pain to then fade away entirely. It was not only the pain that left him, however, but all sensation in that leg. He fell to the ground a split-second later while crying out in surprise.

That laugh, the terrible essence of discordant chaos made manifest through sound, pierced the air once more. It was only then that the hooligans noticed that all the fires had died out somehow while they were not watching. What was going on?

Several more of the mohawked degenerates fell to the ground. They clutched at the spikes which now protruded from their legs. A rush of wind swept past them and a shadowy figure appeared. Their prized fox girl was lifted up then taken away with great speed, only to end up being carried onto the roof of the store in the arms of that shadow.

“Who the hell are you!” snarled the leader.

The figure moved to the front side of the store roof then struck a pose. The moon rising behind her granted her a perfect silhouette. Dressed in red from head to toe, hers was the very image of feminine power and grace.

“In the dark of the night when all good people seek their rest… there are those who hunt the innocent,” she called out grandly.

“Eh?” asked the leader while he tried to stand up on one leg.

“Lawless degenerates in possession of unfortunate fashion sense, let it be known that I have arrived!” she exulted wildly.

“Yeah… but who are you?” he asked again, obviously confused by how long she was taking to give him a name.

“I am the lovely crimson shadow that stalks the night!” she continued.

Several of the hooligans blinked in unison. What was even going on right now?

“Friend of justice! Enemy of people who hurt cute fox girls!” she continued. Though, she did take a moment to put her hands on her head and shake her hips side to side in imitation of a dancing fox.

“Someone kill her…,” said the leader with a sigh. He then quirked his eyebrow upward and amended his statement. “A lot.”

“Rude,” she said. “Don’t you know that you shouldn’t interrupt a friendly neighborhood ninja girl when she is monologuing for justice?”

The red clad friend of justice leapt from the roof top and performed a flawless somersault before she landed on the concrete walkway below. While Ashton had taken down more than a few of their numbers, and this strange new arrival had taken down several more, the hooligans were still had nearly half their fighting force intact. Many of them rushed toward her now.

Her lips quirked to the side in a cheerful smile. However, she was more alert than she seemed. There were at least twenty hooligans still active enough to be a problem. Given their level ranges, she needed to be efficient and careful.

Most of her poisoned throwing spikes were used up in the initial assault, but she held a few in reserve. For now, she moved swiftly to meet the enemy in melee combat. She leapt toward the closest of the hooligans, her katanas slipping free from their sheathes in mid-air. A flash of light glinted from her steel as she passed by the monster then paused for effect.

Armed with a length of chain, he quickly turned and tried to whip her, but found himself unable to do so. His arm, neatly severed before he was even aware of it happening, fell to the ground with a thump and the rattle of his chains.

Blood erupted from the stump of his arm and he screamed in shock. He fell to the side and rolled around on the ground while Shara continued forward onto the next opponent. Limbs and heads flew as she executed her severing slash technique several times in quick succession.

Almost as quickly as she began her assault, she suddenly leapt to the side and landed atop the rood of a nearby car. She struck a pose and spoke in a commanding tone to mask the heaviness of her breathing. The skill that she used was meant to be a finisher, or at the very least it should be used to turn the tide of a battle. It was quite draining on her life force, even if it proved incredibly useful in lowering the numbers of the enemy left in the battle.

“Oh! I’m the Crimson Sharde, by the way!” she announced cheerfully.

Up on the roof, Ashton’s cell phone suddenly began to ring. She was barely conscious and had no idea who the mystery caller could be, but the sound of her ringtone jolted her further awake. She tried to check her phone, but her limbs barely moved. She gave up on it after the ringtone died.

Ashton did manage to roll over after a moment of feeble wriggling but collapsed once more when she tried to crawl toward the edge of the roof in order to see what was going on. What ever was happening on the ground, she would not know the truth until it was over.

Six hooligans came at the Crimson Sharde all at once. Surrounded, she waited as they closed in on her. Three of the six men struck at her simultaneously with their bats and chains, but this was exactly what she wanted. Committed to their attacks they could not recover in time to defend themselves when the Crimson Sharde launched her counterattack.

She raised her swords over her head, crossed them. Flames ignited along the surface of her blades just before she shouted, “Flame burst!”

As though they moved in slow motion, the hooligans tried to back-peddle, but they were not fast enough to escape the range of her fiery area of effect attack. A wave of flame crashed down atop them. They screamed as they burned. Though they did not take a tremendous amount of damage individually two of them immediately ran off screaming as their mohawks caught fire.

Life force nearly exhausted, the Crimson Sharde was forced to withdraw a pace and change her tactics once more. Less than a dozen of the hooligans left intact enough to fight, she threw a poison smoke bomb to obscure the area further then immediately rushed through the parking lot.

Hooligans coughed and choked on the poisonous smoke. While the toxin was mild when compared to monsters of their level, it did greatly irritate their eyes and lungs.

“What’s wrong with you idiots?” roared the leader. “Why haven’t you killed that bitch, yet?”

“Boss, she’s too fast and it’s hard to see her in the dark!” shouted one of the lesser hooligans.

“Fuck that! If it’s hard to see, light this place up!” ordered the leader.

Hooligans began to chuck Molotovs all around the parking lot after that. There was no rhyme or reason to their attacks beyond simply trying to wash the area in a sea of flames.

One of those Molotovs flew lazily through the air then splashed down atop a car that was perhaps a little too ordinary and clean in appearance. A shrieked split the air as the car suddenly began to twist and writhe.

“What the hell?” shouted one of the hooligans.

The car screamed then pounced forward like a hunting cat. Its hood opened to reveal teeth the size of a grown man’s arm. “Vrrrooo!” roared the car.

A certain ninja girl took one look at the thing, saw its level, then shuddered involuntarily.

‘No!’ thought the Crimson Sharde quietly to herself. This was bad. Somehow a level thirty-six urban mimic had taken up residence in the area during the madness. Just like the hooligans it was a rebranded monster themed around modern Earth. Now that it was awake, the thing would attack everything it came across.

“Light it up!” screamed the hooligan boss.

Several Molotovs flew toward the car mimic and it made an angry sound reminiscent of a revving engine. Its tires spun furiously, rubber burning on asphalt. The shot forward at blistering speed. Most of the hooligans escaped before it arrived, but one unfortunate man in possession of a half-burnt mohawk was rammed. The momentum of the car mimic kept the hooligan plastered to its hood just long enough for its hood-mouth to open. Saliva pouring down its steel trap of a jaw, it bit down on the hooligan and instantly ripped him in half.

The hooligans stood aghast for a moment as the car beeped its horn happily. Disturbing sounds echoed through the silence as it devoured its hapless meal.

“Fuck this!” roared the boss. “Surround it and burn that fucker out!”

He smashed in the window of a nearby car then unlocked its door. His leg and dick were still paralyzed, but his hands worked well enough to throw a Molotov at the monster.

Flames washed along its steel exterior. The meat hidden underneath began to singe and crackle. The mimic roared like an enraged engine then immediately hopped in a manner impossible for a car. It spun around in mid-air and headed for the boss. Another Molotov smashed down, this time atop its windshield.

Fire and lightning were among the few elements that easily harmed a mimic. The abominable car monstrosity was much higher in level, so the Molotovs did little damage to it. However, it became furious due to its minor injuries.

Suddenly, its headlights flashed a wicked red light. It played a funeral dirge via its horn. Three of the closest hooligans immediately gasped and turned deathly white. Their eyes rolled back in their heads and they collapsed to the ground, dead.

The Crimson Sharde, seeing all of this, decided that a ninja’s best quality was stealth and silence. She could not beat that thing with her current skill set and level. Worse, if it discovered either her or Ashton, they would both be lost.

While the hooligans fought the beast, she slipped away to the tree line then slowly worked her way around to the back of the store. She leapt only the roof quietly and joined Ashton. If they were lucky, the monsters in the parking lot would kill each other.