"Zale!" a high pitched voice called out.
The woman snapped out of her mind, blinking a couple of times before she stared right at her friend's soul.
"Judie?" Zale replied softly, feeling a tight grasp on her wrist before being tugged and dragged off.
Well that woke her up. Before Zale fell into whatever sleep that was, her and Judie had snatched an artifact that was worth a couple thousands. But who cared about how low priced it was? If it gave money, it was worth it.
"Daydreaming again? You'll get yourself caught!" Judie scolded, dragging her puzzled friend across the streets as dozens of red and blue lights flared into the dark sky.
"Sorry, it won't happen again." Zale replied, building her guard back up instantly as she ran alongside with Judie.
The two soon took as many turns, entering pathways and alleyways to avoid a sudden crowd even at the moon's showtime. They needed to avoid getting caught at all costs.
As Zale and Judie were about to make another turn of the alleyway, Zale could slightly see a bright red tag flash in the moonlight. Quick on her feet, Zale grabbed Judie by the collar, pulling her back as they pulled onto a stop. Judie's eyes widened in surprised, as if a small breath was taken away from herself.
Zale! You bastar—
Judie's eyes slowly looked up as a man covered in black armor had suddenly approached up. But the armor wasn't the only thing that had stopped them into their tracks. The man's red visor and his tag. ROSS.
"This is Reverie's Omniversal Space Security. Surrender now." he demanded.
The two slowly backed up, yet the armored guard continued to approach. His glare and his menace pierced through their souls. But before they knew, the red and blue sirens had quickly caught up to the alleyway as multiple security guards and officers had pulled up.
Zale looked around in shock, but before she could think of another plan to slip away from this crowd, she could see within her inner vision of Judie quickly being tackled down by two of the officers.
"Judie!" Zale calls out, reaching her hand out towards her.
However, in the corner of her eye, Zale could see another officer pulling their attempts to tackle her. Without hesitation, Zale quickly caught the officer's arm before using her arm strength to toss the officer to the ground. The officer groaned in pain, his back hitting the cement as his distress informed the others.
More officers ran in, approaching Zale like she was a massive threat as they proceeded to tackle and out number her strength. But as Zale was once trained under her guardian, Zale quickly shoved multiple of the officers back to back. Her desperation to survive and escape flamed brighter than even those wanting to stop her. Zale slammed her fist left and right, holding back her strength just a little bit so it wouldn't cause an awful lot of harm to the guards as it was enough to stun them for just a little bit.
Zale panted, her muscles began to strain as she took a few steps back. Yet this was just the beginning. The armored guard quickly ran up to Zale, knocking her back with such force.
"GUAGH-!!" Zale groaned, holding her side as she was knocked back. But within seconds, the armored guard grabbed her by the arm, slipping behind her before knocking her down to her knees as he used his strength to knock her to the ground.
Zale muffled in pain, breathing heavily as she attempted to use the rest of her strength to try and overpower the guard. But that barely did anything. The armored guard held her still.
"Oh thank the heavens, Orion!" an officer shouted in relief.
Orion, the identity inside the armor stared right at Zale, who was still attempting to slip out. But as Zale tilted her head up to glance at Judie, Zale could see her fearful expression. Begging to be freed as she had suffered so much already.
… Judie!
Zale's eyes suddenly widened. Not in shock, but in anger.
. . .
Back when Zale was in her high school years, she could see the true darkness within humanity. Though assuming that she was always an artificial human like most, even being 'artificial' was enough for humanity to hate. Zale was always afraid of going school, constantly seeing humanity and the artificials go against each other every single day. Even though the Reverie was peaceful, change was something many didn't like.
Though Zale wanted to defend and fight back to survive, her guardian reassured. Patting her on the head with a soft smile.
"Violence isn't the way to fix things. You'll learn to find a different way of bringing peace. But until you can, you must stay neutral."
. . .
Zale's eyes suddenly sharpened as the officers around noticed the sudden change of the atmosphere. It felt rather abnormal and chilling. Yet focused on the change of the atmosphere, they never noticed Zale's body slowly shifting upwards as her feet stood straight on the ground. The moment Orion could sense her movements, Zale quickly grabbed his arm and knocked him back with a blow.
Orion slid back a bit, his helmet staring straight at Zale while behind the armor he was left in confusion. Officers surrounding the area ran towards Zale, but she didn't back down at all.
Standing her guard, Zale stood into stance as a small white glow formed in her eyes. Once the officers quickly attempted to outnumber her once more, Zale quickly threw fist after fist. Releasing blows that became more devastating, as if her strength was rather recharging every hit she threw.
"What the hell?!" an officer cried out.
"Grab her by the limbs!" another shouted.
Even though the officers changed their plans and positions, Zale was suddenly way too quick. Slipping her arms and legs out of their grasp and acting as if every team were nothing but a bunch of bugs.
Is that all ROSS got. . . Zale thought, wiping a bit of blood that wasn't hers onto her face. Painting her cheek like if it was a symbol.
Bring it on… I know you can do more!