Feeling a sharp feeling of being watched, Foxin looked up from the street up the shining windows of the huge skyscraper.

   ON the roof of the building With a blue and purple sky behind him, a dark figure silhouetted against the bright bright sky there was standing.. He squinted, though he already knew who this was. Karoo!

  The kangaroo lapin stood proudly with his hind claws over the edge of the concrete and his arms crossed, he smirked and his tail waved back and forth.

  Down in the street Foxin summoned and equipped his weapon instinctively, in cannon mode, he grasped it with both paws and watched Karoo carefully. By now he estimated he had been tracking him for 8 hours, and that Karoo may only have 10hp left..not long until the situation became desperate. But if he was nervous he was making a great effort to not show it. Karoo stomped his paw up and down and laughed at foxin, who was standing cautiously and holding his cannon blaster down by his thigh.

  "I cant believe it.." Karoo said grinning way up on top of the building.

  "Haha.. youve found me.." He said with mock defeat.

  He dropped to all four paws and sneered at Foxin. "Come and get me, and take me back to your stupid magical world so I can serve for the rest of my life as your familiar."

  Foxin tried not to agitate him further, but /whispered the teleportation hex under his breath, readying his cannon blaster to stun, he may need it.. He vanished from the crowded street in a flash of light and hoped he had guessed the right coordinates. His vision went to black as he was transported through the void world, then bright flashes of colours as he was thrown back into the commercial world a few feet above the concrete flat roof of the high rise building. Teleportation hexes were rough but useful in a tight situation. He fell to his paws and regained his balance quickly, feeling straight away the tugging feeling in his heart was relieved! and looked sharply up to see Karoo bouncing from one hind paw to the other, equipping his red boxing gloves and the ankle supports. it was clear..He was going to fight him!

  His eyes were piercing to Foxins just like when they had fought in the magical world tournament. He stared with a weird kind of glee at him as his tail writhed and the spiky end cut through the air still shifting his weight from 1 leg to the other. "Please stop" said Foxin, lifting his cannon and stabilising it with a paw under the barrell of it, aiming it halfheartedly at Karoo.

  Karoo bark laughed, said "Try to stop me Foxin!" And leaped forward and ran straight at him, thundering over the concrete as though he would charge into him. Foxin braced himself, wary of how serious Karoo really was about this, but the white blur flashed by him at the last instant, and only the spiked end of his tail brushed past Foxins face. Foxin whirled around, too slowly, Karoos huge hind legs stomped the concrete roof and his claws made cracks, and Foxin heard windows shattering below them. His digitigrade leg muscled tensed like a spring then Karoo leaped directly over Foxins head with extreme strength and grace too, showing his expertise at physical fighting. Foxin could only follow with his eyes as he soared above him.

  Landing into a roll behind him, Karoo got smoothly to his paws and started to run, faster and faster, in a circle around foxin."Haha, can you really beat me without that stupid trick you used in the tournament?" Karoo said, his voice sounding blurred from the speed at which he circled Foxin. The stomping of his paws was like thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud and Foxin shut his eyes to keep his balance. He knew Karoo was trying to unsettle and confuse him. Where player killing was the ultimate bannable offense of course you had to show your prowess and skill non fatally, and use powers of intimidation.

  However he felt that Karoo was holding back. He could have easily non fatally taken him out had many opportunities to hit him so far, but he felt like Karoo was just toying with him.. Just then he felt clawz graze across his cheek in the same place as the first time they had fought in the tournament, just light scratches, but the shock made him open his eyes and a shiver go through him.

  Karoos clumsiness only applied to his day to day life, it was asthough he had a whole other nervous system for combative contact. Foxin bit his tongue, he should just end this even if it meant stunning him.. He felt that it could either get out of control very quickly if he let Karoo continue (Karoo slowed his racing in a circle, and pawstepped around him, watching with a smile and his wild eyes) or he would exhaust himself. He knew from studying Karoos character data that he was strong and especially when he was driven into a corner, finishing previous fights victorious with only 2-3 hp to spare.

  "I'll find a way to separate me from you Foxin." He said proudly. "Im almost there, you know that if i run now you wont catch me" His gloved paws were ready down by his sides as he limberly pawstepped and writhed his tail.

  *Yes but.. you will have fainted before you can find anyone to perform the sever* Foxin thought, but he couldn't say it. He just watched Karoo as he moved around him, hoping he didnt have a strike in mind after all this feints. Foxin steeled himself, then lifted his cannon. As soon as he began the motion, Karoo jumped and whirled around and his tail struck out like a heavy chain, and hit the cannon with so much strength he knocked it from Foxins shaky paws and onto the concrete behind him! "Haha," Karoo said dryly. It vanished de equipped into thin air, and Foxin whirled back to stare at Karoo. What now!?

  "I had my own life before i met you Foxin I have something I have to do, and I cant do it stuck to your side..so.." He walked to Foxins side, who was standing still and had no idea what to do. "Catch me or dont catch me" Karoo finished, turning his head to him to bare his teeth. Foxin heard him run behind him, his paws cracking the concrete as he raced to the edge of the building and then silence as he leaped down into the street on the other side. Foxin ran after him, and stopped at the concrete edge. "Karoo.." he said, watching the blur of white speed between cars and people away into the dark alleys. He couldnt jump this height even with a cheat or a hex, and he had been too distracted by Karoos wild hare dance fighting to put a tracking spell on him. Feelling dizzy, he sat down, with no idea what to do. The vertigo of being so high up was getting to him, so he sighed and made his way to the door opening onto the roof, and went down the inside of the building, apologising to the inhabitants about the smashed windows and fixing them with his magic.

********************

  He knew Karoo was angry frustrated and feeling trapped, he could tell that much. And he knew that fighting and proving his power made him feel better, but the unbridled rage he had at the tournament had completely gone. He would not be surprised if that was the first time Karoo had ever been beaten....This time karoo had the upper paw. Foxin walked down the long staircase and finally emerged onto the street. The cars were fewer here and the furs were starting to make him nervous. The shadows cast by the buildings ahead, where they were built closer together, and the occassional noise of sirens signalled he was in near the Alleys now, Karoos probable goal..

  Ddraig had told him about graduates from the magical guild who had come here after graduation to the commercial world and never came back to the guild. It was too tempting to use the knowlegde from magical study for illegal purposes... He walked through the street towards it warily, trying to seem relaxed and inconspicuous. He knew his outfit had the design elements of the magical guild, but so long as he walked with confidence, he would be fine. He hoped no one would ask him to perform illegal hexes even for a high price. He walked between the buildings, ready to re summon and equip his cannon blaster at any sign of trouble.

  Most of the alleyways he walked through were dark and empty. There were buildings as big as the ones at the centre near the warp point to the magical world, but made of concrete more than glass, with barred over windows and heavy metal doors. The further he went the darker it got, just like a deep forest, and he summoned his cannon and lit the end with a magical glow, charging it without intending to shoot it. He padded softly over the tiled floor...

  He felt instinctively for the key around his neck...Gone!? He paused and leaned agaisnt the wall of a big grey cold building as he thought. In their fight together just now on the rooftop.. Karoo must have.. FOxin clenched and unclenched his paw in thought. Why would he take the key? Karoo knew now what it was for because they had discussed it at his apartmant. Why would he want to access the player database..?? Maybe he didnt know that it was impossible to use without comprehensive magical guild training, even if he managed to find it.......He doubted that Karoo would steal it just to prevent Foxin from his mission.

  That tugging feeling in his chest came back...