Rune, Runebelle, and Mrs. Pearls faced off against the imposing figures from Shadowcroft. Bossman and his followers had their eyes locked onto their targets.

  Without warning, Bossman made the first move. He lunged forward with incredible speed, aiming to grab Runebelle and subdue her. But Runebelle, armed with her wooden sword, was quicker thaicipated. She swung the sword with surprising strength, f Bossman to step back to avoid the blow.

  Rune darted forward, engaging one of the Shadowcroft enforcers in a fierce hand-to-hand bat. She moved quickly with skills that she trained up in secrecy.

  Meanwhile, Mrs. Pearls, though not a physical batant, used her quick thinking and legal expertise to her advantage. She shouted legal words and objes at the Shadowcroft enforcers, creating fusion aation among them.

  The living room had turned into a battlefield, with furniture toppled over. Bossman found himself in a heated exge with Runebelle. She wielded her wooden sword with surprising skill and agility, blog his attacks and tering with a speed that caught him off guard.

  "You hahat sword quite well," Bossman remarked, parrying one of Runebelle's strikes with his bare hands. "How much training have you had in swordsmanship?"

  Runebelle met his gaze with her face flushed with exertion. "None...I have no training in swordsmanship at all!”

  "Natural talent?" Bossman mused. "That's something we value at Shadowcroft. We could use someone like you."

  Runebelle retorted fiercely, "I'll never join you! I won't let you take us!"

  "We have ways of making people see things differently, Runebelle. Regardless, you only stand a slight ce of beating us here. I’d say 10%."

  In an ued move, Bossman cshed his hand with Runebelle's wooden sword. The sheer force of his strike overwhelmed her and the on’s durability. She watched in shock as her wooden sword shattered into pieces.

  Bossman shook his head in disbelief at himself. "I must have been crazy," he muttered, "thinking you could beat us. You're all far too weak and I’ve just been pying around."

  Runebelle, disarmed and stunned, could only watch as Bossman's imposing figure loomed over her. With one powerful blow he had knocked her unscious.

  Meanwhile, Ruruggled to fend off the relentless assault of five of Bossman's followers, she felt her strength wah each blow. The odds were overwhelmingly against her. She was in pain from their wrath. Blood trickled from her wounds and staihe grouh her. She fell to her knees as the followers circled around her.

  But in the midst of her own dire situation, Rune's eyes locked onto Runebelle, who was in immi danger.

  “RUNEBELLE!!!!” She shouted and then pushed herself up from the ground.

  Summoning her resolve, Rune unleashed a flurry of powerful strikes, knog out the five of Bossman's followers who had been attag her.

  Rune’s rage ignited like a wildfire. Her vision blurred and tinted crimson with fury.

  The followers exged uneasy gnces ohey saw the shift in Rune's demeanor. She almost seemed like a different person. One of them sneered. "It's one of her and twenty of us. Get her!"

  They surged forward, but Rune moved with the force of a tempest. Her fists struck with the power of a hammer, each blow sending a follower crumpling to the ground.

  One follower, more desperate than brave, swung a chair at her. Rune caught it mid-swing, splintering it into pieces with a single, furious twist. She hurled the remnants back at him, sending him crashing into the wall.

  "Dao HQ? We got a problem!" one of the men frantically called out on his unicator. "She's a monster! We need backup, now!"

  A woman's could be heard oher end "Dante, you have Bossman there. There's no way you need backup."

  "But she's—" Dante began, his eyes wide as he watched Ruake down another follower.

  "Do you uand?" the woman interrupted his thoughts. "No backup is ing. Ha."

  "What do you mean they aren't sending backup!?" Daone climbed in pitch, "We're getting sughtered here!"

  Rune's gaze so him. She lunged forward, delivering a bone-crushing blow that sent Dante sprawling to the floor, his unicator cttering from his grasp.

  Bossman, now stood face to face with Ruer his men was dealt with. He gave her a stern look.

  "You have one ce, Rune," he said. "Give up now, and maybe we'll be le. But if you tio resist, you'll leave us with no choice."

  Rune's eyes were still bzing with defiance.

  "No.” Rune decred firmly, "Not as long as my daughter is in danger!”

  Ruook a deep breath and her fists ched so tightly that they began to bleed.

  "You think you just waltz in here and disrupt our lives? You've ruined everything! You've taken away our peace, our happiness, and for what? Your twisted tracts? I won't let you get away with this!"

  Rune’s shouted louder. "You uimate a mother's love for her child. I won't let you take Runebelle away from me, not now, not ever! You'll have beat me first and trust me, that won't be happening tonight!"

  Rune squared off with Bossman. She traded blows with him, each strike met with equal force. Despite the vast differen their physical strength, Rune fought with all her might. Runebelle unched her fists at Bossman trying to add in a kick, but Bossman smirked and grabbed her leg. He then proceeded to thossed her to the ground and got on top of her. He proceeded to punch her with each blow nding like sledgehammers. Her breaths came in ragged gasps after the assault.

  Bossman got up off of Rune who was barely scious after the attacks and said,

  "You two are troublesome, I'll give you that, but nothing I 't handle."

  Runebelle who had just regained sciousried to crawl towards her mother, but Bossman pced a foot on her back, pinning her down effortlessly.

  "Now that this is over, let’s get on with what I came here for." He reached down, grabbing Rune by the throat and lifted her slightly. "Like I told you, your body is mine. You should have knower than to resist. But I must admit, you put up quite a fight. Admirable, really."

  He tossed her back down and looked around the destroyed living room. He clicked his tongue in mock disappoi. "Such a mess," he mused. "I'll have to get you a new door, up all this debris. And of course, deal with any nosy neighbors who might have heard the otion. It’s always the up that’s the worst part of these little es."

  While he spoke, Rune began to stir. Her eyes fluttered open. Through the sheer force of will, she began to rise. She felt the surge of adrenaline c through her veins and in that moment, her muscles bulked up.

  "And then there's the paperwork, the endless reports to file, the expnations to the higher-ups. They never uand the intricacies of these field operations."

  Suddenly, a low growl interrupted Bossman’s speech. He turned, just in time to see Rune's fist hurtling towards him, but he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

  The first blow nded squarely on his jaw. His head went back with such force that he staggered. Rune didn't give him a moment to recover. She unched a barrage of strikes, eae fueled by the desperate o protect her daughter. Her fists were like iron, smming into Bossman. Another punch ected with his ribs, and she followed up with a ko his stomach, doubling him over.

  Bossman tried to retaliate, but Rune was relentless. She delivered a powerful uppercut that sent him sprawling to the floor a him gasping for breath. She stood over him with her chest heaving.

  "That was for my daughter," Rune decred.

  But in that moment, Ru her strength waver. She had pushed herself too hard. Her vision blurred and her legs buckled beh her. She colpsed to the floor and lost sciousness.

  Bossman, at the same time, struggled to his feet. He clutched onto his side in pain. He looked down at Rune and spoke with strain. "That unnatural power... it was hidden within you all this time. I knew you were one of them."

  His remaining followers, wide-eyed and shaken, rushed to his side. "Yo Bossman, you good?" one of them asked.

  Bossman snapped. "Do your jobs instead of w about me. Secure Rune and Runebelle. Now!"

  Runebelle mustered her st ounce of strength for a desperate charge, one of Bossman's followers swiftly intervened, nding a powerful blow that sent her colpsing to the ground. She fought to stay scious, but the darkness closed in, and she lost sciousness.

  The follower who had dealt the blow turo Bossman with curiousity, "What about Mrs. Pearls, Boss? She's been causing quite the otiohere with her objes."

  Bossman regarded Mrs. Pearls with a cold, calg gaze. "Leave her be for now. She 't stop what's already in motion. Secure Rune and Runebelle, a's get out of here. That woman won’t stop us."

  With Rune and Runebelle incapacitated, Bossman's followers moved swiftly to carry out his orders, restraining the mother and daughter as they prepared to transport them to Shadowcroft's ominous facility, where their fates remained uain.

  Runebelle was taken bato the realm of her mind, where memories flowed like fragments of dreams, Runebelle found herself once more. The world around her was a swirling sea of colors aions, a pce where time had no meaning.

  Her cheerful panion, the system now took the form of a maion of her own sciousness, greeted her with her own familiar appearah a warm smile. "Wele back, Project Ru seems you've experienced another memory fragment. How did it go?"

  Runebelle's thoughts were hazy as she tried to recall the events that had unfolded in the memory. "It was... intense," she murmured. "I saw my mother, Rune, fighting to protect me from some menag figures. And there was someone named Bossman... It's all so jumbled."

  Her cheerful system nodded uandingly. "That's okay, Project Rune. Memories be like puzzle pieces, and sometimes it takes time to put them together. "

  Runebelle let out a sigh, her mind starting to piece together the fragments of her memories. "You know," she began slowly, "I used to think my mother, Rune, abandoned me. But now I see that she was always there for me, even if I didn't remember it. She fought to protect me."

  Her cheerful panion smiled warmly. "That's a wonderful revetion, Project Ru's clear that your mother cared deeply for you, even if the memories were hidden from you. And what about Dr. Lorraine?"

  Runebelle responded, "I thought Dr. Lorraine was a good person, but now I'm not so sure. She's ected to some shady anization called Shadowcroft. I o find out more about what's going on."

  The system nodded in agreement. "It's important to uhe truth, Project Rune. We'll tio explore your memories and gather more information with each Memory Fragment that we find."

  Runebelle had begun to realize the significe of her past memories, but then she had a thought.

  "Is knowing about my past and these memory fragments going to help us in the present?" Runebelle inquired. "I mean, it's all happening in the past, right? How does it affect our current situation?"

  Her cheerful panion nodded in response. "You're correct that these memories are from the past, but they hold valuable information. Uanding your past provide insights into your present. It help you make decisions you may not normally sider. Remember, Project Rune, knowledge is a powerful tool, and your memories hold the key to uanding the mysteries surrounding Shadowcroft and your mother, Rune."

  Runebelle's cheerful panion sidered her question before responding, "That's an iing point, Project Rune. While the memories from the past provide valuable insights, sharing this information with those in the present be a plex decision. It depends on the specific circumstances and the impact it might have on them."

  The panion tinued, "Sometimes, revealing the past help individuals uand the present and make informed decisions. Other times, it might be best to approach it cautiously. Ultimately, it's up to you to determine when and how to share the knowledge you gain from these memories with those in the present."

  Runebelle houghtfully, realizing the importance of discretion in handling the informatiohered from her memories.

  The System cheered enthusiastically, "Hooray! Project Rua colle increased to 60%! You're making excellent progress in unc your memories!"

  It then posed a thoughtful question, "Now, Project Rune, do you feel more alive than you did before? Did this memory, despite its sadness, bring you some happiness or crity?"

  Runebelle sidered the question for a moment, refleg on the emotions she had experienced during the memory fragment.

  "Yes it did. I feel more ected to my past and the people who were a part of it. It's bittersweet, but, you know? I think it’s also a step towards uanding who I really am."

  The System responded with a cheerful tohat's wonderful to hear, Project Rune! Keep up the good work, and together, we'll tio piece together your memories and uhe truth about your past! Now, I’m going to send you back to the present! It’s time for you to finally wake up!”