Cici was amused how effectively cowards like this man listened to the instructions of someone who could end them at any moment. They were quick to use others, and take away their bodily autonomy when it came to someone weaker than them, but became crying and sniveling messes when they were challenged, and subsequently overpowered. The man had did exactly what she asked of him, and he didn't even dare or attempt to get away, no doubt the death of his comrade still fresh in his mind.
Their passage through the small town went uninterrupted as they dodged and weaved through several people while following the hand gestures and signals from the man in his grasp. How she effortly pushed him through the streets was surprising to Helen, but after some of the things she had already heard and seen, she decided not to question it right now. If what this man said was true, then there were a bunch of innocent girl that needed help, and despite not knowing her long, she had faith in Cici. She was... something else.
Cici had riffled through the man's belongings, and found a what Helen called a a cell phone, as well as his wallet which contained these green bills that Helen procured, but Cici didn't care about any of those. Still, she thought they might be useful to Helen. Helen looked at the phone, and thought about calling the police, but she decided not to. Their codes and procedures could actually prevent them from acting in a timely fashion, or at all, where as Cici was bound and determined to do something herself as quick as she could. Plus, she couldn't ignore the possibility that more of the force was corrupt and paid to ignore these things like Marcus had been. That had destroyed her confidence in the law.
They walked in silence following the instructions of the man for roughly 20 minutes before they arrived in front of an establishment. Helen actually couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was... a bar. A place where people go to have fun, have drinks, and meet people. It was right under people's noses. There was currently a closed sign on the door, and there was also nobody in sight besides a few of the people walking around on the side walk.
"What will I find inside?" Cici asked the man, causing him to shiver.
"There's around 10 of us... including the boss. If you go inside... go behind the bar, and through the kitchen... inside of the back storage room, there's a trapdoor... it will open to a set of stairs... there's where we keep the merchandise." The man said, and Cici promptly smacked him across the mouth, knocking several teeth to the ground.
A few of the people startled at the noise, looked around, and didn't see anything. That probably creeped them out, as they all quickly walked down the street and around the corner. Cici glared at the man.
"They are people... not your damn possessions..." She hissed in his face, her canines protruding, and frightening the man even more.
"This is... sickening. I didn't know stuff like this was happening in a small town like this." Helen said with barely suppressed anger.
"There are awful people everywhere. Doesn't matter where you are." Cici said, her own world a stark example of this.
She walked up to the front door, and tried to open it, but it was locked. She thought about breaking it down, but decided not to. She was a stealth class after all, and she figured keeping her infiltration quiet as long as possible would be the smarter option.
"How do I get in?" Cici asked the man.
"T-t-there should be someone upstairs... we have a secret code..." The man said, shaking as Cici glared at him, "Let me knock... I'll get you inside."
Cici was not sure that was a good idea, but then again, just breaking down the door was her only other option. She could handle whatever happened, she was sure of it. She pushed him forward to the door, and he raised his hand, and began to knock.
*one knock* *two rapid knocks* *one knock* *three knocks with half a second in between*
She did not dare drop Invisibility, so she just waited patiently while this man trembled in her grip. She looked over at Helen.
"Can you maybe hide somewhere? I don't want you to get hurt... and this might get ugly." Cici told her, and Helen looked down at the ground before nodding.
Helen looked around a minute, and then pointed at an establishment across the street.
"I'll go to that café over there and get something to eat with the money this guy had. Just... come and get me when it's over?" Helen asked, and Cici smiled.
"Of course." She replied, and Helen gave her a strained smile before walking off. Cici dropped her power on Helen while no one was looking so she could walk over as if nothing was wrong.
She looked back as she did so, now unable to see either of them, but the look in her eyes was clear. She cared about Cici, and wanted her to be careful. It was touching, and Cici just hoped that she would never have to do anything like this ever again. Still, this anger and rage inside of her at the treatment she knew these women were experiencing was her driving factor, causing her to act in a way she never truly had before. She wanted to be stronger, and she wanted to be the one to help others this time.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and three men came outside, pistols raised and pointing around. She had seen those on that thing Eli called a TV, and while she assumed they wouldn't hurt her, it was better safe than sorry. It didn't matter currently, as they couldn't see her.
She had been right to be cautious, though. This asshole had probably used a series of knocks that alerted those upstairs rather than asking for entry.
"Bad idea." Cici hissed at the man, who shreiked, causing the men to whirl around aimlessly.
With a huge spike of anger coursing through her mind, she snapped the man's neck like a twig, before hurling him inside of the building, crashing into one of the men who was standing in the doorway.
"What the???" A man yelled, turning around in a full circle, but not seeing anything.
"What is going o... what the hell??" One of the men said as he peered inside of the building, and seeing the crumpled heep of the dead man, and the other man who was groaning on the floor underneath the body. She had thrown him pretty damn hard.
That man rushed inside, while the other man continued to look around. Cici took the opportunity to activate abyssal cloak, and shrouded that man with her. He stumbled from the use of mana on him, and then gasped as Cici sank her claws into his back, and using super sensitive hearing to pinpoint his heartbeat, and putting several holes through that beating organ. The man sagged, and went limp in his grip. Then, she tossed him inside of the building, walked inside, and closed the door. There were two men left, and they just stared in horror as their friend was thrown inside of the building (no longer invisible), and the door seemingly shut all by itself.
"What the fuck is going on??" The man not groaning on the ground asked, his voice shaken.
"Jerry... I think my ribs are broken... help me man."
Cici stalked around the men as they frantically looked around, but could find nothing. Their eyes were filled with a panic and fear that actually sent a strange thrill down Cici's spine. Making these horrible men afraid was cathartic if nothing else, and while she didn't revel in doing this... she didn't want Eli being the only one that did what was necessary. She wanted to shoulder his burdens with him, because she loved him with all of her heart.
As the man standing kept scanning the area, Cici walked up to the downed man, and sank her claws into his neck, causing a wet gurgle to come out of his lips. As the other man was spinning around, she dashed towards him, grabbed him by his face, and slammed him into the ground, and his head head pulped lime a rotten fruit. She looked at her right hand, which was now covered in blood up to the forearm, and grimaced. This might actually effect her later on, but for now... she had do this. She walked behind the counter like the man said, and through a door that led into the back. There was another door in the back of the kitchen, and she assumed that one was the storage room. It was the only other room back here.
These buildings in this world were set up similarly to ones back on Nagalise, even more advanced and with many different materials making up the building and the structures. She always had been good at adapting, and had grown used to many things while staying here with Eli for as long as she did.
She walked inside, and began searching the floor for the trapdoor that was mentioned. There was a lot of boxes and bins on the floor, as well as shelves full of various bottles of alcohol. As she was searching for the door, her ears bristled as she caught faint sounds coming through the floor below her. She focused all of her perception on listening...
"STOP!!"
"NO! NO! NO!"
"SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
"YEAH, YOU LIKE THAT, WHORE??"
"BE A GOOD LITTLE GIRL AND SHUT UP!"
Various other noises filled her ears, such violent sounds of sex, slapping noises, and a lot of crying. Cici froze for only a second, memories assaulting her mind of her treatment, and the treatment she had seen, before the rage became too much to keep in.
She hissed a snarl as Abyssal Feline Shift activated unconsciously, and her fingernails once more grew to the length of small daggers as black energy coated them. Her shoes ripped as her toenails grew into sharp points as well. Her ears and tail grew back in an instant. Fur covered her arms and legs as they expanded with more mass, and added more bulk to her small frame. She grew by a few inches, and the air around her distorted as the power of her form had a subtle effect on reality. Her teeth became longer, especially her canines. Her face went through a suble shift, mainly the white fur that grew in, as well as thin whiskers that made it easier for her to map out her surroundings, as they used mana to see her surroundings.
With an effortless movement, she sunk her claws into the trapdoor, gripped it, and ripped it off its hinges. She only had two things on her mind at the moment. Save these women, and kill these evil men. It's what Eli would do with hesitation, and it's what she would do now. She felt the bond she had with Eli pulsing inside of her, and she didn't even seem to notice that her left eye sclera had turned as black as the void. She ran down the stairs.