The sun was starting to set on the low income side of the city. Hendrix looked around in a panic, an unconscious Molly thrown over his shoulder.
The Officer had disappeared, sinking into a shadow with a malevolent grin on his face. This was especially frightening as Hendrix thought of the power the night must give someone who thrives off darkness.
The slums seemed to be empty of people, though Hendrix knew it was probably full of those who were too scared to leave their homes. That's probably what the Officer meant when he said there was no holding back here.
Hendrix took a step back, his head on a swivel.
He felt a hand grasp his ankle from below. Hendrix shot his strings toward the roof trimming of a nearby building.
Crack.
The trimming broke apart between the steel coils.
"Shit!" Hendrix exclaimed. Molly rolled off of his shoulder, hitting the cold concrete, still unconscious.
Hendrix was now one foot into the Officer's pool of shadow and one foot out. He could feel the pull of 9274's hand becoming stronger the deeper his foot went into the darkness.
The pink-haired boy gritted his teeth, his fingers gripping the edge of the sidewalk so hard they began to bleed.
He shot all six of his strings out of his back. They dispersed, trying to find anything to hold onto.
Crack. Rumble. Pop.
Everything the strings grasped crumbled in their metal grip. None of the buildings in this area of town were strong enough to hold onto.
"Shit. Is this how I die? I didn't even get to apologize to Vida, to anyone." Hendrix thought. His fingers began to slip, grinding on the concrete as skin peeled away.
Molly awoke, lifting herself from the concrete. She held the side of her head, looking around in confusion.
She laid her eyes on the predicament Hendrix was in just in time.
"Hendrix!" Molly jumped for Hendrix's hand, grabbing it right as it slipped off the sidewalk's edge.
She dug her heels into the concrete, pulling with all her might.
Finally, the Officer let go of Hendrix's ankle. The two teens tumbled into the middle of the street, away from any shadows.
They looked up at the sky, trying to catch their breaths.
"Are you okay?" Molly turned her head towards Hendrix, who was laying next to her on the asphalt.
Hendrix didn't respond. Instead, he sat up. He looked around, keeping an eye out for the Officer.
The boy stood up, holding a hand out to Molly while keeping his head on a swivel.
She grabbed his hand, standing up with his assistance.
"Are you okay?" Hendrix asked, unknowingly ironically.
"Yeah." Molly started to look around as she observed Hendrix.
"Can you use Spirit? What's your Mode?" Hendrix questioned with urgency, trying to fit them in before 9274's next attack.
"I…" Molly didn't know how to answer. She hung her head low as she thought to herself.
"Officer Nine, are you alright?" A voice came from their left. It sounded like it was emitting from some kind of device.
"Officer… Nine? So that's what they call him. His watch must have sold him out." Hendrix grew confident for a moment before realizing 'Officer Nine' could move between shadows, not just stay in one. But after the confidence faded, an idea grew in its place.
"If he is in one place, then that means he doesn't just disappear. So then…" Hendrix decided to find a way to hatch a plan.
The darkness was growing longer as the sunset started to fade. Hendrix's nerves grew less patient with the coming night.
"Come out, coward!" Hendrix exclaimed.
"You dare call me the coward when you hide behind that mask?" Nine said from within a shadow to their right.
Hendrix turned, quickly shooting a guitar string from his forearm.
The string shot straight towards where the voice came from. The steel tentacle struck a shadow, but instead of hearing a clank against the surface of the brick wall, the string passed through the void.
After diving into the shadow, the string was met with resistance.
"You fucking rebel!" The Officer exclaimed in pain from inside his domain.
Hendrix reacted instantly, coiling his string around whatever it had struck. He dug his heels into the ground as he began to pull.
"Damn you!" Nine screamed. The string started to recede towards Hendrix, even if just a little. But then, his black boots gave way. They grinded against the asphalt as Hendrix grew nearer to the shadow.
"No!" Molly wrapped her arms around Hendrix, digging her heels into the asphalt just as he did.
"Thanks, Molly." Hendrix panted between heavy breaths. The tug of war had returned to a stand still.
A few moments passed, Hendrix and Molly struggling to pull the Officer out the shadows as he tried to keep himself inside his domain.
Hendrix gritted his teeth, shooting an extra five strings from his forearms towards the darkness.
They grappled onto Officer Nine, straightening out as they pulled at him.
They also pulled at the two teens, their shoes grinding as they slid an inch forward.
"Damn it!" Officer Nine exclaimed.
Hendrix saw something appear from a shadow out of the corner of his eye. He tried to react as it grew closer, but Molly happened to be holding him in place, unaware of the object.
The boy felt a sting on the side of his head. The pain shot across his temple as his strings returned with nothing in their grasp, receding entirely.
Hendrix held the side of his head. He felt blood drip down his palm, tightening his grip to stop the bleeding.
His vision went blurry. He tried to look around in an effort to see what hit him.
Molly let out a blood curdling scream. She covered her mouth in terror.
"Molly?!" Hendrix's vision recovered. He turned to Molly to see her eyes trained on something below them.
The boy looked at the place Molly was staring at. His eyes widened.
A human skull laid on the asphalt, cracked and bloody from the impact with Hendrix's head.
Molly continued to hyperventilate, her eyes trained on the skull.
Officer Nine let out a little chuckle from his domain.
"My shadows suck the Spirit out of anyone who enters them. That's why your friend there went unconscious. If she stayed in there for long enough, well, she would've ended up like that guy." Nine spoke calmly. Hendrix could pick up on an amused undertone in his speech, making the boy grit his teeth in anger.
Molly's sobbing picked up again. The thought that she was so close to a horrific death rotted at her sanity.
"Molly! He's just trying to scare us!" Hendrix turned to the girl, still holding his head.
"Did you call me a liar? Then how about this one!" Officer Nine exclaimed.
Another human skull shot out from a shadow near the two teens. It headed straight for Molly's head. She turned, wide eyed with the same amount of terror as the moment the first skull hit the ground.
This time, Hendrix was ready. He shot a guitar string out of his forearm, swiping the skull down to the ground.
Molly screamed through her hands.
"Molly!" Hendrix shook the girl's shoulders, "Can you use your Mode?! What is it?!"
Hendrix knew he would need help to overcome the Officer. The way this fight was going, the pitch black of night would spell certain death for the two of them.
"I… I just…" Molly hesitated to answer, just like the first time Hendrix asked.
Hendrix began to grow impatient.
"This could be life or death, and she's being shy?! What is going on in this girl's head?!" Hendrix thought. His brows furrowed as he opened his mouth.
"What?! What is it-" Hendrix felt a sting in his side. He flew across the pavement, tumbling over the asphalt.
He looked back to see a shattered ribcage lying where he once stood. Molly began to sob again, this time even more hysterical.
"Am I the liar you thought I was?" Officer Nine asked from the shadows.
Hendrix stood up, balling his fists as he turned towards the direction the voice had come from.
He shot his string towards the source.
Clank.
The string bounced off the brick wall.
"Not this time." Officer Nine's voice was coming from behind Hendrix.
The pink-haired boy turned just in time to see a femur bone zipping through the air.
He used the already manifested string to block the bone, sending it hurling towards a wall.
Officer Nine grabbed Molly's leg from a shadow that had stretched near her foot during the sunset.
She tripped onto the floor, clawing at the asphalt.
"Molly!" Hendrix ran to her aid, grabbing her hand. The boy shot all six strings out. They zoomed straight towards the hand.
In an instant, the hand let go, just in time for Hendrix's strings to bounce off the asphalt.
The two teens once again tumbled away from the shadow, now landing on top of each other.
Molly's face was now covered in tears. Her hand trembled into a fist on top of Hendrix's chest.
"I can't…" Molly muttered.
"What?" Hendrix grew confused, looking up at Molly.
"I can't use Spirit… Not after… That…" Molly shook her head. Hendrix's eyes widened as she finished her sentence.
"We're going to die here." Hendrix thought.