Talk:Dalton "Hunter" Gallant/Archive 1

Confrontation with Dixie Kwill
Deep within the confines of a GUN base not too far away from Station Square, A purely white furred cat takes a step back from a complicated looking array of wires, looking mildly frusterated.

"C'mon..." The cat muttered under his breath, "It worked the last time I wired it like this..." As if on cue, the wires spark several times, then a dull humming is heard nearby. The engineer-cat punched the air in victory, then stopped the clock on the table behind him before looking at it. "Faster than last time too!" After a few more minutes of celebrating, the cat powered down the machine in frount of him and set to removing the wires from the board in frount of him, humming an aimless tune as he worked.

[Suddenly, a huge BANG resonates from upstairs, followed by a riotous cacophony of noise. A bit of smoke leaked through the cracks in the ceiling above him.]

The cat looked up and sighed. "Can't the demolitions unit find a new place to test thier new toys..?" Shaking his head in annoyance, he sets the last of the wires back in thier proper places for the next guy to practice with before heading to the nearest elevator to see what the Demo-Crew blew up this time.

[The scene that greets him is a little more chaotic than he thought; smoke fills the air and soldiers run around like headless chickens, some with spines sticking out of them from all angles. The cat can just spy a mysterious figure in a hood, skirt and boots racing away through the haze.]

The cat looks at the scene before him for a full minute, before comming-to when the elevator doors close in his face. After a few more seconds of bewilderment and asking himself "What do I do..?" he makes a decision and opens the elevator doors. Knowing full and well that this attacker is most likely interested in dispatching as many of his brothers-at-arms as they possibly could, he decides to draw thier attention in order to prevent further casualties.

"BRING IT ON TERRORIST B*ST*RD!!!" The engineer bellowed, releasing a silent spell that clears the mist, followed by two more that change his coveralls out for his normal street-clothes and activate an aura known as "Prayer," which marks the fur under his eyes a light, mildly glowing, blue, respectively.

[The figure stops at the loud declaration, spinning on her heel and looking at Dalton for a moment. She giggles and mimes blowing a kiss before taking off at top speed, daring him to chase her.]

Contrary to what the Hedgehog may have thought, this cat is no fool, and is under no illusions when it comes to his own limits. So, instead of chasing the intruder he could never hope to out-pace, he simply walks out into the center of the room, paws glowing and eyes closed.

[There is a pause, and the figure returns, head tilted questioningly.]

???: ...that's it?

There's a loud POP in answer as the cat suddenly blinks into existance in frount of his foe, thrusting both of his paws towards her torso at high speed, set to let loose a Focus Blast on contact!

[The hedgehog laughs as the attack plows into her stomach, shredding her hoodie and sending her careening down the hallway to smash into a wall with an audible crack.]

???: Ooh, that's a good one! C'mon, man, what else you got? [she pulls out two small crossbows]

"More than you're ready for, b*tch!" The cat yelled back, breaking into a full on run towards the Hedgehog with his paws glowing dangerously.

[She giggles, and shakes her head, pulling several of her spines free and loading them rapidly.]

???: Oh, come on, I didn't even kill ''anyone! ''I think you're overreacting a little bit, yeah?

"You call defending my home and my brothers over-reacting?!"

POP. Now he's on the ceiling, charging what seem to be a pair of Aura Spheres.

???: I call losing your sh!t over some brainwashed slaves of the system being roughed up a little overreacting. [She blows a raspberry at him as she fires several spines at him.]

"SLAVES?!"

What happens next the hedgehog doesn't get to see clearly simply because of how fast it transpires, but she sure as heck can hear it. There's a series of POPs so fast that it sounds almost like a string of firecrackers went off, after which the cat is almost directly in her face with a spine or two sticking out of his torso and arms, the hands of which slam their glowing orbs into her own torso.

[Laughing as she is sent spinning across the room again, the hedgehog giggles and climbs shakily to her feet]

???: Oh, that one felt good! Haven't hurt like that in a while!

"THEN THIS'LL FEEL GREAT!!" The still infuriated GUN agent bellows, hurling the glowing spheres of energy at the wounded hedgehog.

???: Ah-ah-ah! [She giggles again, and dodges skillfully out of the way] Buy me a drink first, wouldja? [she turns on her heel and races down the hall, heading towards what Dalton knows is a dead end]

With a roar, Dalton gives chase, several aura-marks appearing on his arms at the same time.

[The hedgehog races down the corridor, Dalton right behind her, until she comes to the end of it: a large glass wall, and they're quite high up now. Nowhere to go but back past Dalton, it seems...]

Guessing the hedgehog's intentions, Gallant charges another pair of spheres.

[She looks around, casting her gaze over the whole room, planning.]

???: Hmm... Well, looks like I'm in a bit of a pinch, yeah?

Dalton doesn't bother with a refined response, instead electing to roar yet again while hurling the orbs at his fleeing quarry before POPing in front of her to slash at the hedgehog with those spines she shot at him not even a full minute ago!

[It's futile, however; she dodges skillfully around all his attacks, and her body begins to glow with a red energy.]

???: Well, I gotta go. I'll see you around, yeah? Later!

[She tauntingly blows him a kiss before throwing herself straight through the glass as it shatters into a milllion pieces and goes hurtling towards the ground.]

If Dalton were in his right mind, he would have let her go then, but then again, he doesn't regularly roar and mean it, does he? No, instead of doing the sane thing and using an elevator, or Blinking from floor to floor, he jumps out after her, paws burning brighter than ever!

???: [her eyes widen] Well, you're persistant- [hits the ground with force, leaving a small indent as she gasps]

Dalton impacts on top of her, sphere he was charging shattering and embedding painful shards of mana in both of their bodies as it is crushed between them.

???: [battered, broken and bruised, gives him a cheeky grin] Okay, okay, you win this round. Calm your farm.

Though she may have conceded defeat, it appears he in no better shape than her as he struggles to even lift himself off her. "N-note to s-self: d-don't do that again..." With a groan of combined effort and pain, he manages to roll himself off her just as some much more level headed agents rush out with their weapons, sending one back inside for some medics while the others stand gaurd once they realize it's already over.

???: [giggles a little, then her giggles erupt into full-blown laughter] Oh, that was fun! Can we do that again?!

Beside her, the cat just shakes is head in disbelief, the adrenaline wearing off. "You're... Insane..."

???: [rolls onto her side, grinning at him] Completely.

He just turns his head to loot at her, exhausted. "Also... I'm no slave..." Just as he says this the medics finally rush out, carting them off on separate litters.

???: Oi! Bugger off! I'll be fine in a minute! [she wriggles a little, glowing with red energy again, and tears right through the bottom of the stretcher]

A voice sounds just behind the medics.

"If that's the case..." Before the hedgehog can gather herself a pair of inhibitor-cuffs are slapped on her wrists, stopping the glow dead. "The we can take you straight to holding instead." And with that a pair of strong hands grab her by the shoulders and cart her off.

???: [looks a little startled] Well, you boys are certainly getting better at this. Last time you just stood around and looked out the window while I buggered off.

"That was a ground-forces base. Got rocks for brains, I swear..."

???: Oh, fair enough. Anyway. [puts on a mock melodramatic face] Put me away, boys; I've been a wicked girl and should never be allowed to see the light of day again. [quiet giggle]

The man just shakes his head before throwing her into a simple cell with a bed, a toilet, and a sink.

???: Nice lodgings. I could get comfy here.

"Good, because you're going to be here a while we assess just how much damage you caused."

???: [nods, and watches the man leave, looking around the cell to see if there are any cameras or anything]

While there are no visible cameras inside there's one outside the shatter-proof glass door pointed on the opposite wall monitoring her movements. Why glass? Because metal bars are better put to use holding the place up, don't you think?

???: Amateurish. [smiles at the camera, but unseen by it, she tenses her neck and imperceptibly shakes a spine loose]

Meanwhile, in the medical wing...

"Hold still! We need to get that stuff out of you!"

"D-don't... L-Lemme reaa-AAAAHHG-bsorb it..!"

"Just leave it in?! Are you mad? Think of the infection!"

"J-just bandage... me as is..."

"No, I refu-"

"Do what the kid says, Jacob."

"I a- what?"

"You heard me."

"B-but wh-"

"Because I ordered you to."

"Y-yes sir..."

[The female hedgehog works the spine into the cuffs, successfully unlocking them; although she gives nothing away to the camera.]

The camera blinks.

???: [stands up and stretches] Well, boys, it's been fun, but I'm hungry. I know a little cafe... [shows off her clearly uncuffed wrists] Same time next month, yeah? [she claps her hands, sending a huge shockwave of red energy that vaporises the camera, the door, and the wall, leaving a giant hole to the outside] Later! [she winks, tossing a little card into the cell before making her escape]

The blast is clearly heard throughout the base, and several agents rush to the scene. One of them picks up the card after recovering from the shock of the discovery.

[It appears to be a calling card, with "to soldier-boy" written on it, and the back is signed "Dixie Kwill" with a black kiss mark on it.]

The agent looks down at the card, then back at the carnage before them. "Good god..."

Eventually the card is handed down to Dalton after going through countless scans to make sure it doesn't contain any trace of Dixie's destructive energy, whom now has a large bounty on her head and name. The cat, still not fully recovered from their prior encounter, simply stares down at it, wondering what his next move will be.

[About a week later, Dalton is at the Station Square Bazaar, browsing through the stalls...]

He sighs to himself. "Where the heck are the good venders? I've been looking for a decent ring hours!" He growls a little in frustration before sighing again and moving on to a new section of the market, hoping for better luck.

[Someone brushes past, him, muttering "Sorry" as they do. It's only after they've moved out of sight that Dalton realises the voice is very familiar...]

Dalton stops in his tracks and blinks a few times before shaking his head. "No way... Not possible, she'd 've left the area with all the agents swarming around the place looking for her..." Despite saying this, he still had to convince himself she did, so he decided to check to make sure.

[Turning the corner, he spies a very familiar shock of pink hair bobbing about behind a rack of clothes in an alternative fashion store.]

Dixie: Ooh! This is nice!

"Holy h*ll..." He breathes, surprised but at the same time unsurprised by this. The question wasn't if he were surprised, however, it's what he was going to do next. He truly had no idea weather he should call in GUN right now or if he should confront her himself.

[He watches her pick out a few more items, then pay for them, withdrawing a few extra Rings]

He sighs, deciding to take a third option, rest like he was instructed to by his CO. Based on what he knew of her, which was all supplied by GUN's files for the most part, she only attacked GUN targets, and only once every so often. Sure, the damage she caused was great, but she wasn't likely to do anything again soon. Besides, he still was sore from jumping out that window, and she apparently did that often. With this in mind, he turns around and heads for the nearest burger joint, having just realized he hasn't had a prober burger in months.

[Still not having noticed him, she flips her extra cash to a homeless guy on the side of the street, flashing him a smile just as there is a huge explosion, and not from her!]

Looks like I ain't getting that burger today..." He sighs to himself before running off in the direction of the blast, all thoughts of rest fleeing his mind as he prepares for a fight.

[An army of Eggman robots are assaulting the bazaar! Just as Dalton prepares to attack one, it is hit by a huge bolt of red energy coming from over his shoulder and explodes in a massive fireball.]

"What the heck?!" He spins around, preparing to hiurl the orb in his paw at the bolt's source before recognizing who just blew up his target. "You?"

[Dixie stands there, and if looks could kill the apocalypse rumours might have some truth to them. She is crouched into a fighting pose.]

Dixie: Oh, hi, soldier-boy. I'd duck if I was you. [she unleashes a massive beam of Destruction energy that takes out over half the robots, and leaps snarling into battle with the rest of them, crossbows drawn]

"Holy crap..." He shakes his head to keep from thinking about just how bad she could have messed him up last week before drawing forth a glowing blade of cyan energy, sprinting in after her slicing up as many as he possibly can in a futile effort to not be outdone.

[One of the robots grabs her by the hood, pulling it away from her neck and jerking her back.]

Dixie: OFF ME!

[She releases a huge shockwave, destroying all the robots around her, leaving only one left, the larger and more intricate leader. She pulls a spine free from her head, and flings it straight through the robot's face as it explodes]

Meanwhile, Dalton is leaping from robot to robot, running each through with his blade before hurling himself onto the next. Not only does this make it near impossible for the robots to get a lock on him, it also seems to draw their attention away from the market as more an more attempt to get the cat off their buddies.

[Once he finishes destroying the dozen or so swarming him, he looks around; every other robot is either vaporised or lying in pieces, and Dixie's lying down in the middle of the carnage.]

Conflicted about where his loyalties lie when it comes to this mysterious girl though he may be, he quickly runs over to check if she's unhurt. However, when he sees the runic scar when he checks her pulse, then all questions about loyalty go out the window: GUN didn't know anything runes other than what Dalton himself told them, and he wasn't about to give them a test subject to find out more. "Cmon," He says as he scoops her up. "Lets get you some rest."

There's a deafening POP, and the scenery's shifted to that of a hotel room, the bed of which he lies her down on.

[she's not unconscious, and struggles admirably against his grip, although she appears to have drained most of her energy.]

Dixie: Let me go, Soldier-boy! I ain't gonna be one of your government pets!

"Shadup, I ain't handing you over to GUN." He walks over to the only chair in the room and sits down, looking out the window beside him all thoughtful-like.

[Dixie relaxes visibly, looking him over.]

Dixie: Bit of rebel spirit in you, hey? Heehee, I like that... You're not just one of their pets, are you?

He looks over at her, smiling slightly. "Like I said, I'm no slave."

Dixie: Then why do you work for them?

"Because of what I'm trying to do," He looks back outside. "Do you know how hard it is, bringing magic, chaos and electricity into one system? Accounting for all the variables, finding that one way to make everything click? It seems to be impossible, I don't know how many early systems collapsed on me before I went to them." He looks back at her. "What I'm trying to build will change the face of technology itself, but I can't make it work yet. I just don't know enough. That's where GUN came in, providing me the training, the resources and the discipline, to get it done." He sits back in his chair. "And in exchange for providing me with all this, I give them a clean energy source unlike everything before it, one that sustains itself. All they have to do is tap into the system and draw off what they need while it continually, perpetually, runs on." He shakes his head. "I probably sound like a madman, rambling like this..."

Dixie: Nah. Just a nerd. [She giggles] Heh... G.U.N. use people all the time, but I've never heard of someone using G.U.N... [she laughs again] You're sticking it to the man by working for the man! That's... that's just brilliant! I don't reckon it's a good idea to give something like that to monsters like them... Free energy, clean energy, that should be for the people. By the people for the people.

He chuckles, shaking his head. "If I were to give this tech to the public, someone else would find a way to commercialize it, gaining a monopoly over the energy industry and eventually becoming a economical tyrant of a corporation. GUN is a self-contained sector of the government itself, thus cannot tyrannize the people without breaking away and collapsing into complete chaos. And so long as the Chaos Emeralds are around, there will always be a threat for GUN to combat, thus keeping it chained to the government it tries to protect." A full on grin breaks across his face. "And there's the beauty in my plan: GUN will rely on the Emeralds being a threat for their existence, but not rely on them enough to actively pursue them, meaning the wars over the emeralds no longer exist but on the small scale, eventually stabilizing the global scene, especially when we start feeding energy to smaller, developing countries rather than taking it from them! Think of the possibilities!"

Dixie: That actually doesn't sound so bad... It's different from how I'd go about neutralising them, but it could work... I hope you realise this doesn't mean I'm going to stop blowing up G.U.N. bases. Bastards deserve it, and it's kinda what I do. [gestures towards her outfit] Anarchy, yeah?

"Does it mean you'll check to make sure you're not blowing up bases that I'm on?"

[She winks at him.]

Dixie: Maybe not, but I'll try to blow up the other end of it. [laughs] Anyway. You want to continue with the Twenty Questions? Anything you wanna ask, shoot.

"Two words. 'Why anarchy?'" You know why I went GUN, I'd like to hear the other side of the street's ideals for a change."

Dixie: Thought that one'd come up. I'm a street kid, always have been, always will be. You get to see things nobody else sees from that perspective, and it takes a toll on you. The government around here isn't as perfect as people think it is, and I didn't like it. And after... [rubs her scar again] after a while, I started to act on it. Try and make everything better for the little people, yeah?

He nods. "Noble cause for a respectable girl. Two and two does equal four after all. I don't see how blowing up taxpayer dollars factors into that though."

[She shrugs]

Dixie: It's a political statement. Besides, I have the power to blow things to bits; I use it for a good cause. No problems with that. Anything else?

"Lets see... Favorite food?"

[She laughs, clocking him on the arm]

Dixie: Now you're just screwing around. It's cherry cola suckers, if you must know.

He chuckles. "Well, mine's potatoes, especially when buttered and mashed."

Dixie: Look at us. Who'd've ever thought, the G.U.N. agent and the wanted fugitive, chumming around. So what now?

"Now it starts raining flying lamb-chops," He laughs before standing up. "Naw, I guess now we part ways and head home. I kinda didn't rent this room before I Blinked us here."

[Dixie laughs, then looks out the window]

Dixie: Don't really have a home. Told you, I'm a street kid. But I better lay low for a while, and I have a few little hidey-holes they don't know about... where to go so they won't find me...?

He furrows his brow a moment in thought, then a slow grin spreads across his face. "How bout under their noses?"

Dixie: [looks at him] Are you suggesting what I think you are?

"You think they're actually going to look in the would-be spec-ops kid? Seriously, lota the guys back on base are wondering why I didn't go out for that shite."

Dixie: [laughs] That's genius! Y'know, if you weren't G.U.N. we'd be a brilliant team. Lead the way then!

"Righty then, hope you can keep up!" And with that, he Blinks outside, tearing off back to his place of residence, which turns out to be a scruffy looking apartment complex.

[She arrives soon after him, panting a little]

Dixie: Whew... [looks around] It ain't gonna win any awards, but it's the Taj Mahal compared to where I've slept...

"Believe me, I've slept worse places too: The racks back at Basic still give me cramps every now and again!" He replies, still jogging in place, apparently not winded. "Cmon, my appartment's up on the top floor!" And he's off again, taking the stairs two at a time.

[She follows him up, matching his speed.]

The room he leads her into is just like the rest of the place, scruffy, not quite clean, and dull in color. The main difference is the fact there's a few odd bits of furniture here and there and a flat-screen TV on the wall. "Here we are, back home!"

Dixie: Nice place, I like it. Minimalist. [laughs]

He shrugs. "I don't need much to get by, honestly." He claps his paws together. "So, want the bed, the couch or the beanbag? Take your pick!"

Dixie: I guess I'll take the couch.

With a cheerful "mkay den" he divebombs onto the beanbag. Apparently he's gotten tired of the bed, or rather it got tired of him. Turns out it's full of bedbugs at the moment, and while they don't bite him due to his mana-charged blood, they still bug the heck out of him.

Dixie: I'm exhausted; it's been a huge day. I'm gonna hit the hay. [jumps onto the couch and falls asleep rapidly]

Dalton, being the guy that he is, falls asleep soon afterwards.

...

There are two things Dixie notices when she first wakes in the morning: One, the air smells of bacon. Two, somebody seems to be playing some classical music in the kitchen.

Dixie: [sniffs] ...Bacon!! [she is immediately fully awake and drifting towards the bacon]

Dalton's currently in the process of frying the first batch of the stuff up, humming along with some music that should've died back in the 18th century.

Dixie: What is that awful noise, Nerdboy?

He turns to look at her, surprised she's awake. "Hm? Oh, you mean that." The cat thumbs over to a pair of speakers on the counter. "I was playing something gentle to try and keep from waking you." He chuckles. "Doesn't look like it worked though."

Dixie: It's all floaty and annoying. If you have to put on classical, put on the LOUD stuff. [switches it off]

"Meh, the loud stuff isn't as good as the soft stuff in my opinion. Though it all gets old real fast, to be honest."

Dixie: I'm not arguing there. [slumps into a chair] I smell bacooooooon.

Dalton chuckled at this. "Yeah, I just put it and some eggs on a couple minutes ago. I assume you'll be wanting some, yes?"

Dixie: Meeeeeeeat.

"Yup, that's a yes." So, when the food's done, he prepares two plates, handing one off to Dixie before digging into the other himself.

[Dixie just scrapes the whole plate into her mouth, devouring it vigorously]

"Eh..." Dalton starts, unsure what to make of this.

Dixie: [around a mouthful of bacon] Schorry. You don't exshactly grow up with brilliant table mannersch ash a schtreet kid. [swallows]

"I guess not..."

Dixie: [shrugs] Gotta eat whatever you get whenever you can get it. I don't think I've eaten properly in a month before this.

"Good god! A month?!" He stands up, grabbing her hand and starting to drag her out the door. "That's it, we're going on a junkfood binge. Now!"

Dixie: [pulls her hood over her head] Alright, alright! Coming!

And so they set off on a quest to find the best fast food out there, hitting up burger joint after taco stand after breakfast bar. Dalton paid for it all, of course, and by the end of the day he surely would have regretted it if he weren't to be paid tomorrow.

Dixie: Uuurgh... I'm not used to this much food! I'm STUFFED!

Dalton burped in agreement, dreading the stairs back up to his home as they neared the complex. Dixie trailed along behind him, a hand over her definitely larger stomach.

Suddenly he stopped, looking worried. "Oh great..."

Dixie: That doesn't sound great at all. What's the problem...?

"That's the problem." He points to the GUN van parked outside the building.

Dixie: ...you... YOU SOLD ME OUT! [with a wild-eyed yell, she has her crossbows drawn and launches a volley at him in a blink]

"Shut it!" There's a series of POPs before Dalton tackles her to the ground, covering her mouth with his hand. "Are you TRYING to get them to come out here?!" He hissed at her, not bothering to get her crossbows' business ends off him.

Dixie: [bites down on his hand] You'd like that, wouldn't you?! [kicks him hard in the gut with both her boots, freeing herself, and her hands begin to glow dark red]

"No!" He yelled, picking himself back up just as the soldiers walk back out of the building.

"There she is!" One of the well meaning GUN agent's yelled out, stating the obvious while drawing his gun, causing Dalton to yell an obscenity before he does something nobody present expected: He hurls a Nova-Sphere at the GUN agents! They all hit the deck, and it hits their van, causing it to explode when the delicate mana-orb crahses into it.

"Now run, godsdamnit!" He bellowed at Dixie. "RUN!"

Dixie: [freezes for a moment, then takes off, blowing a hole in the wall of a nearby building and vanishing into it]

Behind her she can hear the agents get back to their feet and attempt to run after her, only to be cut off by Dalton himself, who keeps them busy long enough for her to get far enough away to be, well, safe. Panting, she makes her way to one of her little pseudo-homes located nearby.

Several weeks go by after this incident, several weeks since Dalton attacked GUN operatives in order to secure the freedom of a wanted criminal. Somehow he escaped punishment, but now he's under constant scrutiny of his superiors. So naturally when Eggman surfaces again toting a new weapon of mass destruction, he set out to put a stop to it without GUN spending millions of taxpayer dollars. Gotta get the Cheifs out of his hair somehow. Sure enough, another huge Eggman mech is stomping around the city, blasting away merrily with a huge laser wrecking everything it comes into contact with.

"Lovely..." Dalton commented from his perch above the destruction, looking down from the side of a skyscraper. "Still... I'd rather fight that thing than go to Captains Mast..." With that thought in mind, he jumped straight off the glass he was standing on, forming a huge sphere of energy on his way down to hurl at the mech just before impact.

Eggman: Bwahaha! The Egg Empire shall reign supre- *BANG* What the hell was that...? [swivels to look at Dalton] You again!

"Yup. Me again." There's a POP, then he's on the glass shielding Eggman from the outside world, looking in. "That gun of yours is costing GUN a ton of taxpayer dollars, you know. I suggest you turn it off before I decide to do it for you."

Eggman: Never! [swivels around and begins firing away at Dalton]

Because of Dalton's current perch on the mech, Eggman inadvertently damages his robot beyond repair by vaporizing a few holes into it, somehow Dalton with every shot.

"Wow... That was bad, even for you, Eggy." He forms a great glowing claymore. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take that lazer of yours back to GUN. Have fun flying away." With that, he leaps into the air, coming down and slicing the mech's gun arm clean off.

Eggman: Curses! You haven't heard the last of me!! [ejects from the cockpit and zooms away as the mech comes crumbling down]

"Toodles!" The GUN agent replies cheerfully, Blinking out of the way of the rubble before Blinking back to the thing's weapon to take a better look. "Now lets see what we can learn here..."

[Pulling away the side panel, Dalton is greeted with a shocking sight; It's Dixie again, this time imprisoned inside the cannon, with needles, wires and electrodes all branching off her restrained form.]

"Gods damn!!" He curses, carefully starting to remove the wires and other things, a prosses which takes him a full fifteen minutes.

[All the while, she's completely conscious and shaking with rage, apparently paralyzed. Once he removes the final needle, she screams and tears her way out of the metal with her bare glowing hands]

Not knowing what to expect, he leaps back, charging another pair of glowing orbs. She screams again, blowing the cannon to pieces with a huge explosion, then stands back, panting, back to him.

"Well, so much for a trophy to mount on my wall..."

A low growl reaches his ears as Dixie's body begins to quiver.

"This... Can't be good." He reabsorbs the orbs, bracing himself for an explosion. But none comes; she just stands there, shaking and growling and glowing, making Dalton very worried...

"Dixie..?"

She screams, and whirls around, throwing a punch that narrowly misses his head and knocks a sizable hole in the debris behind it.

Dixie: I'm SICK OF HAVING TO BE RESCUED BY YOU!

"H-holy sh!t! What the h@ll!?" He Blinks to the top of the rubble pile, eyes wider than she's ever seen before. Her eyes are wide too, but with rage rather than shock as she rushes as him, throwing punch after wild punch. Knowing full and well that the rubble she just punched a hole in is much tougher than his flesh and bone, he has no choice but do dodge around her strikes, eventually finding an opening and slamming a Nova-Orb into her stomach in retaliation.

The attack knocks her back and causes her to cough up a little blood, but she shrugs it off and comes on all the harder, eventually connecting with a wild haymaker to the jaw. This strike knocks him clean off his feet, throwing him into the debris left behind by the mech. Now sporting a broken jaw, the GUN agent struggles back to his feet only for a brutal sucker punch to connect with his gut.

Dixie: I'm not some damsel in distress! I don't just wait around for you to rescue me from the Tower of Doom or whatever! I'm stronger than YOU, and I'm BETTER than you! I DON'T NEED HELP!

It seems she's struck a nerve with that outburst, as the cat's whole forme becomes coated with his characteristic green energy. There's a sickening crack as his jaw fixes itself followed by a huge explosion of green that pummels the rubble and debris to sand and melts it into glass. A Nova-Burst.

Dixie: Oh, come on then! Let's go! [she rails on him again with another rapid string of punches]

These punches are met head on with punches of his own, various multicolored markings denoting the use of Auras now adorning his body.

Dixie: Think you're tough, do you?! Think just because you save my @$$ every five minutes means I'm weaker than you?! [she doubles her assault, hurling quills everywhere between her punches]

"I THINK YOU NEED TO CALM YOUR @$$ DOwN!!"

Rather than a POP, like normal when he Blinks, there's a BANG followed by a boot connecting with her back with surprising force, followed by a barrage of Nova-Orbs

"Do you think I set out to save your @$$?! Do you think that I have a superiority complex, that I'm some egotistical b@$t@rd who's every motivation in life is to put you down?! NO GODS D@MN IT!! It just f*ck!ng happens! You can vaporize anything in your f*ck!ng path, yet SOMEHOW I'M the one who's stronger?!" He hurls one final sphere, larger than the others as he bellows, "LISTEN TO YOURSELF!!!"

Dixie: [growls as she's knocked around, and finally shatters the huge sphere with a single glowing punch causing a huge burst of light, completely blinding Dalton] NEVER COMPROMISE!

Although he can't see, he knows that he's in for a nasty surprise within the next few seconds and braces himself for the worst, his Auras starting to fail him.

Surprisingly, no attack comes. The blindness fades and Dixie is nowhere to be seen.

"Huh..?" He looks around, wondering if this was just another one of her strange brand of combat tactics. He hears a sharp scrape and looks around to see a manhole cover being dragged back into place and a flash of neon pink vanishing under it.

"Alright then..." Still suspicious of her sudden urge to leave him be, he decides to follow her down there, but not before breaking off a piece of the glass he created to take home as a souvenir. After travelling through a long series of tunnels, he sees a light around the corner. "What's this...?" He speeds up a little to find out.