[Straywolf]

Makoto nodded and showed a small smile at Jayden. "You can leave. I just want to talk to the Skull."

The smile quickly disappeared as the Skull stood up from behind the counter. She focused her sights on the Skull, and aimed at his chest.

" You finally decided to come out of hiding? Well then, is there someone else behind that counter? I'd hate to accidentally repaint the walls with their blood if he suddenly popped out of there. I suggest you get that person to move away from you, and towards that wall over there. Unarmed." Makoto pointed at the wall closer to the door leading to the back room. "Get your hands out of your pocket, kid."

[Dawn]

Jayden's expression doesn't change, "I'm not leaving," he says quietly, leaning against the door frame, "Have your little pow wow, but I'm going to do my job rather you agree to it or not."

His eyes travel to Hayate when he stands up from behind the counter, but doesn't make any movements. Damn idiot, he thinks to himself, You could of used that time to get the hell out of here.

Jayden pulls a cig out of his pocket and lights it, not caring if the shop is a no smoke zone or not. Hayate wasn't his concern, he should tell the kid could defend for himself and only interest that Jayden had with Hayate if the kid survived, was what were his intentions for the spray paint that now littered the shop's floor..

[Espy]

HAYATE

He stooped a little and muttered to the old man, "...Sorry, gramps. I never mentioned it, did I? You might want to leave the store for now; I'll try to not let it get too...trashed." He pulled him to his feet and gave him a slight push towards the policeman's direction.

Well, at least he's out of the way. Hayate took a step towards where the Hunter had pointed, thought about it, and pointedly reached back and swatted the canister at her head. Not caring whether it hit, he sauntered over to the wall, although his face betrayed his anger.

[Straywolf]

Makoto caught the canister the Skull threw at her, and placed it on the shelf next to her. How cute. He's trying to fight back.

She looked at the Skull for a moment, and turned her attention to the shopkeeper as he walked towards Jayden. She aimed her MP7 at the shopkeeper's back, and fired several bullets into his back. "That's for getting in my way, and lying to me at that apartment." She turned her head, smiled, and laughed at the Skull.

[Espy]

HAYATE

Hayate froze, the color already drained from him face. A couple of seconds later, he was flying past the Hunter, not caring whether he stumbled on the canisters scattered across the ground. He wasn't a doctor; he knew that, even as he roughly shook the old man's shoulders in an attempt to revive him.

Hayate stood up slowly, numb, looping his mask strap around his head at the same time. "...What did he ever do to you?" he asked, his whisper distorted and made even less audible by the filter. "What makes you think...that you had any right, any right whatsoever, to kill my friends?" His voice rose, still shaky.

"I have no idea who you are, but your business is with me. Not with anyone else!" he screamed, almost hysterically, while diving for the nearest canister.

...Damn it. I'll kill her. I don't care anymore; she needs to die. This shop and my life are but a small sacrifice for bringing down this plague.

[Dawn]

"Jesus," Jayden muttered, not believing he had just witnessed murder right in front of his eyes. There was no point checking for a pulse, by the amount of blood pooling on the floor, the shop keeper was dead. And the skull's reaction, you could tell that he had cared deeply for the shop keeper.

Assuming he knew what Hayate's plan was, seeing him dive for the canister, Jayden reacts a tad bit quicker and grabs a hold of Hayate's shoulders, "Don't." he says just for Hayate to hear, "I am sorry for the loss of your friend but now isn't the time or place for you to lose your head. Let me handle it, that's why I'm here."

[Espy]

HAYATE

Hayate flung his arm hard back without even looking and twisted hard from the policeman's hold. A lighter in each hand, he grabbed the first two canisters he saw and barrel-rolled away from both the police and the Hunter. Lighting the flames and pulling the spraypaint triggers came easily to him, and he was already heating more nearby canisters on the ground to explosive temperatures before he recognized the risk that Makoto posed.

Not that he cared a single bit.

[Straywolf]

Makoto shielded her face from the makeshift flames with her right arm. You're finally fighting back? I'll get to you in a bit. I need to take care of Jayden first. She fired a few bullets at the Skull's direction, and mantled over the cashier's counter. She reached out and grabbed Jayden, almost tackling him through the front door and out into the small street, landing on top of him.

"I told you to get out of here." Makoto dismounted Jayden, and picked up her MP7. The fabric on her right arm smoked as she replaced the empty clip with a new one, and started to shoot at the enraged Skull, and at the paint cans near him.

[Dawn]

Jayden hadn't recovered from Hayate's punch before being tackled through the front door of the shop.

"If any other girl did anything like that, they better be planning to pop me the question." coughing, Jayden touches the area that the punch had landed, making sure nothing was broken, "And next time, bloody tell me your going after a Flame skull or that you plan to piss the skull off before hand."

[Espy]

HAYATE

"AAAUUUUUUUUGH--" Hayate threw his hands up to shield his face and mask from the flying shrapnel, dropping his makeshift flamethrowers as he leapt out of the way. The wooden shelves around him had gone up in flames, everything was burning...

Hayate, hair also ablaze, clawed off his vests and wrapped them clumsily around his arms, letting the cloth catch fire as more and more paint canisters caught fire and exploded from the heat, then ran full throttle at the Hunter.

[Straywolf]

*Click* The magazine was empty. Makoto unloaded the MP7 and reached for a new clip. Before she had the chance to reload the gun, Hayate leaped out of the burning crafts store, arms set ablaze. He charged at her, and shoved her to a wall. Her weapon and ammo clip dropped onto the ground.

Hayate's flaming arms made it hard for Makoto to fight back. Her vest began to smoke, and breathing started to become a problem. "Oh, you want to kill me? You have to do better than that." She rammed her left forearm into his throat, trying to push him off of her while clawing at his face in attempt to temporarily blind him and tear off his face mask.

[Dawn]

Jayden had barely made it to his feet when Hayate came bursting out of the now blazing building, his arms and hair both blazing. In less than a minute, the kid had Makoto shoved up againt the wall, his hands around her throat. Bloody hell.. what did the flame skulls freaking eat in the morning.. sure wasn't wheaties..

Jayden knew calling for back up wasn't a plan, plus the only officer who could offer back up was on suspended duty.. And probably wouldn't of been best call to action, Roland and Makoto had bad blood between them already..

Picking up his revolver from where it had fallen, Jayden takes a moment to size the situation up, Makoto was going to need help.. this kid was serious..

Pulling off his jacket, he didn't want third degree burns.. he probably already had a broken nose which was enough, he uses the jacket to grab ahold of one of Hayate's flaming arms and attempts to pry his hands from Makoto's throat..

[Espy]

HAYATE

With a snap, the mask came free from Hayate's face, and Hayate, breathing hard, inhaled a lungful of the smoke that was billowing from the burning cloth. His incessant coughing, and the policeman's grip on his arms, forced him to let go of the Hunter.

But...I need to KILL HER.

He fell backwards onto the unfortunate policeman, trying to breathe in between coughs and see properly through stinging eyes.

[Straywolf]

The Skull released his grip on her throat. Makoto stumbled onto her knees, trying to breathe in fresh air. The coughing didn't make her feel any better after having her throat and part of her chest burned by Hayate.

She looked up, and saw Jayden under the Skull. I...I need to get that fire out. I can't have Jayden dead, and I can't do anything else with those blazing arms. She lightly gripped her throat. Her face and chest were better off than her neck.

Makoto used the wall to support herself, still gasping for air. She burst into the store, ignoring the horrified expressions the shopkeeper and several customers had as they watched a badly burnt Hunter rip a fire extinguisher off the wall.

She stepped out of the store and pulled the pin on the extinguisher. She aimed the nozzle at Hayate and Jayden, and squeezed the trigger, covering the two of them in foam.

[Dawn]

The combination of the smoke from the burning cloth stinging Jayden's eyes and making him cough as well as Hayate's weight when the skull fell back on him after releasing Makoto, sent both of them crashing to the ground. With his eyes closed, Jayden tries to catch his breath, not caring at the moment about the still burning cloth just inches away from him.

Suddenly, something cold and wet is sprayed over him and Hayate and opening his eyes, he sees both of them covered in.. foam.. Oh great, I look like Frosty the Snowman now.

With a groan, he pulls the hand cuffs off his now foamy belt and yanks both of Hayate's hands behind his back, handcuffing them before Hayate could get a second wind and try to attack Makoto again. Shoving Hayate off of him and standing up, Jayden notices Makoto standing there, the nozzle of the fire extinguisher still pointed at them and dripping white foam but also noticed the state of her neck.

Grimacing, Jayden pulls the sunglasses, now white with foam off his face, "I guess a thanks is in order, through you could of easily left us both to burn you know." his expression turns serious, "How's your neck? Might want to get to the hospital to get that checked out."

[Straywolf]

Makoto tossed the extinguisher aside and coughed a few more times. "I won't leave someone who helps me. I should be thanking you for saving me. She brushed the burns on her throat with her fingertips. The adrenaline was fading away, and she grit her teeth as she retracted her hand from her neck. Her face and chest were only slightly burned, but they still hurt nonetheless.

Makoto looked at the Flame Skull, who was squirming around, trying to get up. She slowly approached him, grabbed him from whatever amount of hair that was left on his head, and pulled him close to her. She spoke loud enough so Hayate was the only one who could hear her voice."It looks like you've trashed his store." She looked up and smiled in the direction of the burning shop, laughing sadistically at the remains of the store. She returned her gaze to Hayate, still smiling. "You're a fool for thinking you could kill me while you set yourself on fire. You might've burned me, but look, I'm still breathing." She released him from her grip, stood up, and walked away from Hayate.

Makoto approached Jayden, and put her hand on his shoulder. I'll be fine. I have some first aid in my car. I can do something about that face of yours. You can come with me if you want." She dropped her hand from his shoulder, and walked away from the burning crafts store.