Re:reaper

Traversing street after street, alleyway after alleyway, I finally found the familiar alleyway "Here it is" I muttered, stepping into the dim alley. My eyes darted around quickly, scanning for any signs of the dumb trio. The plastic bag in my hand swayed gently with each step as I moved closer to the steps.

"If my memory serves me right, they should already be here. But… I don't see the-" I muttered, recalling the interaction of Subaru's 4th loop. but I was cut short as

"What are you babbling about?"

The sudden voice from behind cut my thoughts short, making me whip around instinctively. a group of figures emerged from the shadows. A dwarf with a crooked grin, a slim and lanky guy with shifty eyes, and a burly man who looked like he bench-pressed cows for fun... no wait that makes them sound threatening. a midget, a slender man copycat, and a slightly big guy with very large lips.

Never mind, there they are, I thought dryly, my gaze locking onto the lanky one as he stalked towards me.

his hand reached up and grabbed my collar yanking me forward "If you don't wanna get hurt, cough up everything you've got!" he threatened but... despite his threat, my face was completely blank.

I mean look at him, he looks like the slightest wind could blow him away. but anyway. that's besides the point. i should be able to distract them then call for Rignheart and make a relationship with him. That will be quite helpful for Elsa.

"Ok, Ok" I put my hands out in surrender "I'll give you my stuff, please don't hurt me." I pleaded, making sure my voice was as girly as I could make it, even if part of my dignity left me. all the more reason to not hold back on beating them. 

The lanky guy's smirk widened at my apparent compliance, his grip on my collar loosening slightly. "Smart girl," he said, watching closely as I slowly lowered my hands, the bag still clutched tightly in my grip.

the lanky one is definitely the more dangerous one. since he has those blades. I thought as I was opening the bag. I'll give him the chips and as he is distracted I'll kick his dick

but As I reached into the bag, my fingers brushing against the chips, a voice suddenly cut through the tension, it was feminine, sharp, and commanding. albeit high-pitched.

wait, that's not supposed to happen? i thought as a petit, short-haired blonde girl with red eyes came dashing forward shouting "Out of the way" 

wait, felt? hold on, she was supposed to be... oh crap, this is the scene from loop 1. Does that mean I was too late for Reinhard? shit. that makes things difficult.

my plan crumpled into pieces at the information of most likely not making contact with Reinhart, meaning I couldn't have him come with me to the loot house. ideas quickly formed in my head, many ideas and routes I could take, one idea, discarded one modified, and after just a split second of thinking. my plan had changed.

hmm, ok, I think helping Emilia straight up will be the route, so, these guys are no longer needed. thankfully felt gave me a great distraction.

"Thanks for the assist, Blondie," I said with a smirk, i enjoyed the look of confusion on everyone's (mostly felts) faces as my words hit their ears.

"Huh? Wha—" Felt started, slowing down, but she was abruptly cut off a blood-curdling scream tore through the air. 

The lanky man dropped to his knees, his hands clutching at his pickle as tears streamed down his face. He let out a pitiful groan, barely able to form words through the pain. emotional and physical might I add.

"Not like you were going to use them anyway," I sarcastically quipped and without giving him a chance to recover, I brought both hands down in a hard double slam on his head, just to make sure he wouldn't bother me anytime soon. the impact sending him face-first into the ground, unmoving and probably unresponsive. 

Felt, who had been watching the commotion, snorted. "Oh, well, you're welcome, but I'm in a rush. live-strong! Good luck!" she called out, flashing me a cheeky thumbs-up, and then without missing a beat, she launched herself past us, bouncing off a wall, then another, before disappearing onto a rooftop and sprinting away.

My gaze lingered on her retreating form before snapping back to Lanky. "Sorry, but I'm gonna need to borrow these," I muttered, crouching down and rummaging through his unconscious body.

"You bitch!" the dwarf's shout cut through the alley as he drew a dagger, his face filled with rage. The burly guy also roared something, but I tuned his dumb beefcake shouts, out, focusing on my important and life-dependent search.

"there it is" I muttered softly as my hand found the short blades strapped to Lanky's back. I pulled them free from their scabbards, standing to my full height, swingingly them through the air to get a feel.

When I turned to face them, the dwarf and the burly guy were glaring daggers - literally, in Shorty's case. But the staring contest didn't last long. the dwarf rushed forward, his dagger slicing through the air in a short and untrained arc.

I sidestepped his attack with ease, redirecting his blade away from my body as I took a step back. what I need to do is stall. i thought as the burly man charged in, wielding a massive machete. His swing came down in a powerful arc, but i quickly diagonal-stepped the attack backward while also slamming both blades into it, directing it away from my knife-disliking body. like any normal body.

thank god, dodgeball was a thing. but, sadly dodging is all I can do at the moment. I mused as the machete came down with an arc that I hit to the side.

Strike after strike, counter after counter, I found myself steadily being pushed back. Each step brought me closer to the wall, and before I knew it, there was barely a meter left between me and the hard stone wall.

shit, might spill blood if she's late. I need to make a move, hopefully, the surprise of changing stats should give me an opening. The larger guy was visibly frustrated now, his frown deepening with each missed swing. "Stop dodging!" he bellowed, bringing his machete down in another heavy, reckless arc.

thankfully he hasn't thought to predict my movements I thought as I sidestepped at the last moment.

His blade slammed into the wall behind me with a resounding clang, the sudden impact disoriented him making him falter.

Seizing the opportunity, I slashed at his hand, aiming to disarm him. The blade cut through the air and connected. but due to my inexperience in slicing people (because no one in the modern age would), I was off by just a bit and grazed his wrist.

Still, it was enough. He let out a grunt of pain and instinctively recoiled, clutching his injured hand. now that I had space, I should be able to get rid of the midget.

Noticing my attention briefly flicker to the larger man, the dwarf saw his chance. His tiny blade darted forward, aiming for my side. but sadly for him, my eyes never left his figure as any shooter has taught me, the second you move from an angle (cough cough siege), shit hits the fan. So his strike from behind was a blessing in disguise.

As his blade lunged toward me, I quickly whipped around, using the momentum from my turn to intercept his attack. My blade slammed into his short one with a loud clang, the force of the strike completely knocking the dagger out of his hands. not that there was a need for much force but, it's better for it to fly 20 feet than 5. less chance for him to use it on me.

the weapon clattered to the ground, and the dwarf's eyes widened in shock. "What the—?!" he stammered, stumbling back slightly. 

i watched as the midget fell but I heard a grunt from behind, the slight tell of a blade flying through the air caught my ear as I whipped around and put my blades in a cross to block the heavy strike, my stance was slightly off so I fell backward and onto the floor, the man grinned "I'm going to kill you for that." he said, wrath seeping into his voice as his large machete pushed against my blades. Oh shit, not good I thought as the blade struggle began.

me on the floor, and him pushing down, slowly gaining on me as he had the added bonus of fa-weight/gravity giving him even more help that he very much did not need. oh fuckity fuckity fuck fuck. I swore as I felt him gain on me, please for the love of god. I started to panic as the seconds ticked by, my arms slowly losing strength, and just before I completely lost the battle. 

"Stop villains!" oh thank god, Emilia was finally here. I thought as I turned my head to the direction of the voice and saw the beautiful elf. "please help, I'm going to lose strength in a few minutes, I really need help." I pleaded, slight desperation in my voice as one on the verge of being chopped up would. but... 

She hesitated, most likely thinking about her insignia, but she weighed her options, and after a moment's pause, she shook her head, clearing away any doubts.

With a graceful motion, she extended her arm, a soft blue hue forming at her palm. The air around her seemed to chill as crystals materialized in front of her, and just a moment after being formed they launched forward, slamming into the man on top of me. Each crystal struck his side with a heavy impact that sent him ricocheting off the wall twice before falling limp onto the ground, unconscious. (not dead)

then, before anyone could react, another ice shard flew through the air, striking the dwarf right in the chest. He let out a grunt of surprise before slamming into the wall, knocked the fuck out. holy shit, she just took them out no problem. damn.

I let my arms drop and pushed myself up, blades still in hand. "Phew," I exhaled, brushing the dirt off my clothes. Turning to Emilia, I opened my mouth to thank her. "Thanks fo-"

"Can you please return what you've stolen?"

HUH? wait, what? That doesn't make sense I thought confused, because well. I was getting my ass beat, how in the hell could I have stolen it.

"huh? What do you mean? wait, I think you've got this all wrong. I didn't take anything from you." felt and I don't even look the same, she's a tiny ass girl. i thought confused at how on earth she thought I stole the insignia. 

"Your lies won't trick me! I know what I saw and I-" (not much really)

"She is telling the truth, Lia." a calm voice interjected cutting her off

Suddenly, a grey cat with emerald green eyes popped into existence beside Emilia. "It seems as though she wasn't in fact connected with the robbery we suffered. How unlucky."

"Eh? EH?" Emilia's face turned bright red as the realization hit her. "B-but… you… the girl… and those men…" She stammered, flustered beyond belief, before bringing her hands to her face and crouching slightly as if trying to make herself smaller. "Oh no, I'm such a dunderhead!"

holy shit that was cute, but also very anime-like. does that mean the stuff that doesn't make sense will happen now? hmm, that does raise quite a few questions such a-

"Lia, we can't dawdle about it, we have to catch the thief before it is too late." the cat chastised, reminding her about the limited time she had.

"I know, Puck, but…" Emilia turned to me, her face still flushed, her expression now filled with remorse. "I'm so sorry for accusing you like that."

I waved my hand dismissively, giving her a reassuring smile. "No, no, it's fine. no need to apologize. It sounds like you've had a shi-crappy day. You said something was stolen. What was it? Maybe I can help you find it." 

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise, but then she nodded, gratitude now replacing her previous shame and embarrassment. "Oh, really? Thank you so much!" She hesitated for a moment before holding her hands out to illustrate the object's size.

"It's an emblem about this big," she explained, panic slightly edging her voice. "it's in the shape of a shield and it has a red jewel in the center... i think that's all. Have you seen it?" 

i put a finger to my chin and made a thinking expression, while visualising the insignia in felts hand, remembering clearly the scene from episode 1. Now, i can't just refute that i haven't seen it or else puck will instantly find out, so i must twist the truth. but puck really is going to be a headache to work around.

i opened my eyes again staring directly at Emila's worried face. "hmm, yes, I saw it on a little girl with blond hair." i responded

Emilia's eyes lit up with joy as she stepped closer and grabbed my shoulders. "Really!?" she exclaimed, shaking me excitedly. Her grip was absurdly strong, like a mechanical vice. ow ow, that fucking hurts, is she a robot. how is her grip so strong? I mentally complained, my face twisting into a grimace.

"You're going to break her shoulders at this rate" Puck commented, floating to the side of us, with slight amusement slipping through. Emilia stopped, as she gazed upon my pain-stricken face and immediately let go, starting to move her arms frantically in various directions.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's just that...!" Emilia's face goes right back to a crimson hue, her ears now also slowly turning red from embarrassment. yep, cute. but still, way too much movement. hmm, wonder if those cliches might happen to me.

I muttered under my breath, "Oh, well, now I feel bad." Raising my hands to calm her down, I forced a small smile. "Um, it's fine. No problem. It's just a shoulder, heh." I chuckled awkwardly.

"Where did you see it?" Puck asked, floating closer with a neutral expression.

I pointed toward the alleyway and the rooftops beyond. "I saw her run past us earlier. She jumped off the walls- " I gestured to a few spots- "and then onto the roof. It was quite a while ago, though. so she's probably a long way's away."

 Emilia's hopeful expression dimmed as she lowered her head. "oh..."

"Well, like I was going to say before, thank you so much for saving me from them, i would have been toast if not for you. In fact, let me thank you for saving me. I'd say I'm a pretty good detective so i can help you out. finding your, insignia thingy. that is." 

Emilia looked at me, seemingly considering it. She hesitated for several seconds indecision written plainly on her face.

she opened her mouth to speak, probably to refuse, but Puck spoke first. "Three heads are better than one," he said, floating closer to me and perching lightly on my shoulder. "I don't sense any ill intentions from her. And if something does go wrong, you can always use her as a shield." He smiled innocently. "I'm sure she wouldn't bite the hand that saved her life."

Did... did Puck just tell her to use me as a meat shield? you piece of shi- no, be calm. it's fine, he is on my side, even if his words hurt.

After a moment, Emilia sighed, seemingly resigned to Puck's reasoning. "I guess you're right. She does seem a bit shrewd, so she might be able to help. So, let me thank you." really? i look shrewd? really? me? huh, neat.

Emilia extended her hand towards me, her violet eyes meeting mine... though I'm not sure what she's thinking, but it must be something to do with my reaction or lack of reaction to her looks. that of the witch of envy. but, it seems my persuasion worked.

"Well, I feel the same. thank you as well. for saving me that is." I shook her hand delicately. it was nice... weird... why do I feel attraction? is this a crush? but... hmm, I'll put that on the back burner. but these feelings are weird.

after retracting my hand, I quickly bent down to pick up the short blades I'd taken earlier. then I walked over to the lanky guy's prone form and grabbed the sheaths off his back, placing them on my sides.

"What are you doing?" Emilia asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

"Just realized I should probably have something to defend myself, you know, just in case," I replied, tightening the straps.

She gave me a curious look, probably thinking I was a bit strange, but didn't press further. Instead, she turned around, gesturing for me to follow. to which I quickly followed suit.

First part of the plan is going great, hopefully, the next ones go well too... I really hope I don't get fucked over. oh well, let's get going. if I don't have return by death, this will be a very dumb idea. but, it's worth the risk...

A/N hmm, ama tired. i'll fix it up later.