There wasn't a breeze like she assumed there'd be. It's fine, that would only make this easier.

She took a deep breath, standing on the ledge.

And then-

Alya shot awake, sweat dripping from her brow. She let out a groan of frustration, grabbing one of her guns and putting on her gloves.

"Stupid...." She muttered, headed outside.

She grabbed a violet colored earpiece, reluctantly turning it on and letting out a sigh.

"Morning." A woman's voice said, greeting Alya through the com link.

"Hey, Nightrift." Alya greeted, letting out a yawn.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Nightrift asked, worried for the girl.

"I'm fine, you're not my mom."

"You need sleep. If you won't do that, at the very least make sure that all your gear is in check." Nightrift said in response, typing away at something.

"I said that I'm fine!" Alya snapped. "I don't need help! I'm fucking Lady Mania, world's greatest bounty hunter! I'm not some broken doll that people need to fix!" She ranted.

"You're not broken for having a bad night."

Alya let out a sigh, cooling off from her rant.

"Sorry.... I'm gonna go for a walk."

.

Lady Mania sat on the edge of a building, closing her eyes in thought.

"It's about your parents." The officer said, looking down.

"What happened?" Nora asked, Alya pushing past her.

Alya went inside, glaring at anything in her line of sight. She stormed up to her room, slamming the door behind her as angry tears flooded her vision. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She needs to have control. She ran into her bathroom, grabbing an old pair of scissors.

*SLASH*

Mania's eyes opened back up, taking out a sniper rifle as she looked around Paris. Her eyes locked on something, seeing her bird boy.

She closed the distance quickly, saying "Hey Furor!"

The peacock holder flinched, turning around with a look of annoyance. Alya genuinely liked him. Who couldn't? She inwardly flinched a little, scratching at her wrist.

"Mania, what do you want?"

The smile on her face dropped, Mania saying "Can I have a hug?"

Furor looked a bit shocked at that.

"My night has been terribly boring so far, and I need a little bit of comfort. So I'll ask again, can I have a hug?"

Furor nodded his head, saying "You better not try to stab me-"

He couldn't finish as she wrapped her arms around him, catching him off guard. As malicious as Mania is, she normally isn't so.... Affectionate. He slowly lowered his arms around her, pulling her into the embrace.

".... Are you okay?" He asked her, orange meeting red.

"Huh? Oh.... I had a not so great night. This helps, Furor. Thanks."

The two pull apart Mania disappearing off into the night again. She takes out a grappling hook, swinging off into the night. She swung towards the Eifle Tower, before the rope to her grappling hook was suddenly cut.

"FUCK!"

She rolled onto a rooftop, before seeing a red blade swing at her head. She leaned back, dodging the attack before she looked at her attacker. Here's the weird part.... They both wore damn near the same outfit.

"Well I'd it isn't Lady Mania! We finally get to meet!" The other girl said pointing her sword at her.

She wore almost the same outfit, except hers had a slight red tinge to everything, and a large red bowtie on her neck.

"Who the hell are you?!" Mania demanded, taking out her own swords.

"You can call me Lady Rogue. Also known, as your new replacement. Hawk Moth's paying me twice as much to bring you in, says you've been moving too slow!"

"Hawk Moth's a selfish prick!" Mania retorted.

"Don't be mad, Mania. After all, this was bound to happen eventually. I just have one thing to say...."

She tossed a throwing knife at her, the blade sinking into her shoulder.

"You will never, ever be more than a lowly hunter." Lady Rogue finally said, leaving her.

Mania stayed silent, pulling out the blade. She leaned up against a pole, thinking over what she said. She began to sob, lowering down to her knees as she cried.

*A few nights later*

Lady Mania swung across the city, her hood up, making her invisible.

"Kid, you up?" Nightrift questioned, Mania pausing for a moment.

"Yeah. Hey, I need some information on a new hunter, Lady Rogue."

"Is that why you're so pissy as of late?"

"I got my shit rocked, and she called herself my replacement, so how much for her fucking head Nightrift?"

".... Huh, she's fresh out of the oven, There's absolutely nothing. Be on guard though, I don't need you to hurt yourself." Nightrift said, expressing her concern.

Mania landed on a rooftop, saying "Gotcha, talk to ya later Nightrift."

Mania hung up, letting out a breath. She looked up, cursing as she ran towards the Eifle Tower.

'What the fuck am I doing, this is Furor's job!' She thought, absent mindedly thinking of another time.

Why was she worried? Well, who wouldn't be if you saw someone at the top of the tower, at 3 in the goddamn morning. The girl who was there took a deep breath, and then-

"Hey kid."

The girl faltered, turning her head around to see Lady Mania standing a few feet away.

"The hell do you want, hero?!"

"Farthest thing from it. What I really want is to shoot a bitch in the head for stabbing me in the shoulder a few days ago."

The two remained silent, before Lady Mania let out a sigh.

"Hey, I'm not gonna stop ya from jumping. In fact, I've been in your place before."

"Oh please, every hero says that!" The girl retorted.

".... Can you move a couple feet the left?" She asked.

"Why?"

"Just do it."

The girl did as she was told, Mania mentally prepping herself.

"Now, you're in my place."

The girl paused, turning her head to look at Mania.

".... Why would someone like you try to-"

"Kill myself? Heh, can you keep a secret?"

Lady Mania lifted her hands up, taking off her mask.

There wasn't a breeze like she assumed there'd be. It's fine, that would only make this easier.

Alya took a deep breath, standing on the ledge.

And then-

"Hey."

Alya steadied herself, the voice catching her off guard.

She let out a groan, saying "Can't a girl just off herself in peace?!"

"That'd sure make everything easier, huh. Hey, how old are you kid? Not stopping you, just wanna know." The voice said.

".... Eleven as of a couple weeks ago."

"And you climbed all the way up here? Congrats kiddo, most people don't have that kind of resolve."

"Well, I'll be dead soon, so that doesn't matter."

"I should introduce myself, call me Nightrift." The woman introduced, Alya not even needing to turn around to see her hand out. "Come on now, not even gonna shake my hand?"

Alya let out a reluctant sigh, saying "Fine."

She backed off the edge, turning around to face the woman who stopped her. She wore a black jacket with a hood, a pair of purple goggles covering her eyes. She had black jeans on, along with black high heel boots. She had dark caramel skin, hair not being visible due to the hood.

"I'm Alya." Alya said, shaking her hand.

"Nice name. You wanna tell me how you got to this point, Ms. Cesaire?" Nightrift said, taking a seat.

Alya hesitated, before taking a seat next to her.

".... A year ago, my parents were murdered. We were just walking, having fun, and I thought I saw something interesting that I wanted to buy. One moment, they were both smiling, the next...."

"Would you believe me if I said I've been here before? Right at that ledge, I almost jumped."

".... How did you.... How did you get past it?" Alya questioned.

"Do you want me to show you how?" Nightrift questioned back.

"And now I'm here." Alya finished. "Hey, how old are you? Not stopping you, just wanna know."

"fifteen. You're.... You're interesting, Lady Mania." The girl said, now sitting beside her.

"So I've been told.... Tell you what, try life one last time. If it doesn't work out, come right back here and this time I won't stop you, deal?" Mania said, putting back on the mask.

"Deal."

Mania nodded, jumping off the Tower and using her grappling hooks to swing away.