Belle Fox, the Hidden Flame
Jack dragged Hetty behind a stack of crates as the warehouse erupted with noise.
Lanterns flared outside.
Boots pounded the dirt.
Captain Gaines stepped back, smug as a king returning to his throne.
"Surround the building!" he barked.
"No one leaves alive!"
Hetty's hands trembled.
"Jack—we're trapped—"
"No," Jack whispered.
"Not yet."
But even he knew the truth:
There was no exit.
Only solid walls and the locked front door swarming with soldiers.
Gaines stood above them, watching with cold satisfaction.
"You should've stayed a surgeon, Dawkins," he drawled.
"Not a hero."
Then—
A distant boom shook the warehouse.
Followed by—
Fire.
Not in the warehouse.
Outside.
Voices started shouting.
"Fire at the east gate!"
"Someone lit the signal barrels!"
"Captain, we're losing visibility!"
Gaines snapped his head toward the noise.
"What—WHO caused that?!"
And then—
a shadow moved near the warehouse window.
Slim.
Quick.
Determined.
Belle Fox's silhouette.
She struck a strike-anywhere match and shoved it into a bundle of oil-soaked cloth.
FWOOOSH—
A wall of flame ignited along the fence line.
Soldiers panicked.
"The fire's spreading!"
"Get water!"
"Shit—the barrels are exploding!"
Gaines swore under his breath.
He knew exactly what was happening.
"She's here," he hissed.
"That damned woman—Where is Fox?!"
Hetty blinked in shock.
"B–Belle? She followed us?"
Jack narrowed his eyes.
"No… she tracked us."
And then Belle's voice echoed sharply, slicing through the chaos:
**"JACK!
HETTY!
GET OUT NOW!"**
Her hand smacked the warehouse window from outside.
She pointed upward.
Jack understood instantly.
"The rafters," he said.
"Hetty—climb."
Hetty scrambled up the crates as Jack followed behind her.
Gaines looked up, furious.
"STOP HIM!"
Three soldiers rushed inside.
Jack inhaled—
Sun Breathing, First Form:
Flame Dance.
He moved fast—no blade, no weapon—just precise, brutal strikes:
a nerve pinch to the throat
a heel kick to the knee
a spinning elbow to the jaw
Three soldiers fell before they understood what hit them.
Hetty almost slipped, but Jack caught her waist and pushed her upward.
Smoke seeped into the warehouse as Belle's fire grew brighter outside.
Jack cupped his hands and whispered:
"Belle… you reckless, brilliant idiot…"
He climbed after Hetty and pushed open the loose roof panel.
The night air hit them like a wave.
Belle stood below in the alley, hood up, scarf over her mouth, eyes blazing.
"Hurry!" she hissed.
Hetty dropped first.
Belle caught her with surprising strength.
Jack followed, landing in a roll.
Belle grabbed both their arms and yanked them down the alley.
"Move before Gaines sees you!"
Behind them, shouts rang out:
"Captain! They're escaping!"
"Through the roof!"
"Fans out!"
Belle shoved Jack around a corner.
"Don't thank me," she snapped breathlessly.
"You can do that after we survive!"
Jack smirked despite the danger.
"I wasn't going to thank you."
Belle glared.
Hetty laughed breathlessly.
Even in chaos, some things didn't change.
They ducked behind a butcher's shed as soldiers sprinted by.
Smoke drifted overhead—Belle's diversion still roaring.
She finally exhaled.
"That fire will only hold them for a few minutes. Captain Gaines is already sending patrols."
Jack looked at her, really looked.
Hair wild.
Face smudged with soot.
Eyes sharp, knowing, furious—and loyal.
"You saved us," Hetty whispered.
Belle shrugged.
"Someone has to. Neither of you know when to run."
Jack crossed his arms.
"How did you know where we were?"
Belle reached into her coat and pulled out—
A scrap of the ledger.
"I took a page while you were deciphering it," she said.
"Went to check the locations myself."
Jack shook his head slowly.
"You're dangerous."
Belle smirked.
"I learned from the best."
Their eyes met—sparks snapping between them—but Hetty tugged Jack's sleeve.
"We need to go. Now."
Jack nodded.
"Alright. Back to the clinic—quietly. We regroup. And then—"
Belle finished his sentence:
"—we bring down Captain Gaines."
Jack smiled faintly.
"Oh no," he said.
"We bring down everyone involved.
Gaines, the smugglers, the corrupt officers… all of them."
Belle inhaled sharply.
Hetty swallowed.
Fires roared in the distance.
The war had begun.
The Hunt Begins
Smoke still curled above the rooftops when Jack, Belle, and Hetty slipped through the back alleys toward the hidden clinic.
Night coated the streets in cold silence—but Jack felt the danger tightening like a rope around his throat.
Belle was the first to notice the figure running toward them.
"Jack, someone's coming."
Jack reached for his hidden blade—
Hetty stepped behind him—
Belle shifted her stance like she was preparing to strike—
Then the figure came into the lamplight.
Fagin.
Out of breath. Pale. Terrified.
He grabbed Jack's coat with shaking hands.
"Boy—we need to run. Now."
Jack narrowed his eyes.
"What happened?"
Fagin swallowed hard.
"Captain Gaines… the bastard… he's ordered your arrest. He told the garrison you're guilty of theft, treason, and assault. Soldiers are already marching."
Hetty paled.
Belle cursed under her breath.
Jack's jaw clenched.
"How long do we have?" he asked.
Fagin shook his head violently.
"No time. They're searching your room at the hospital right now. The captain wants you hanged by sunrise."
Belle stepped closer, voice sharp.
"We can hide—"
"We can't hide," Jack said. "Not anymore."
Hetty's voice trembled.
"What do you mean 'not anymore'—?"
Jack looked at the three of them.
Fagin, who had raised him from the streets.
Hetty, the only one he trusted with a scalpel at his side.
Belle, whose fire was already burning for this cause.
He spoke slowly, each word heavy with decision:
"The only way to survive now… is to kill the Captain."
Hetty gasped.
Fagin looked horrified.
Belle didn't even blink.
"You're right," she said quietly.
Fagin choked. "Girl—don't encourage him—"
But Belle interrupted, voice sharp as a blade.
"No. He is right. Gaines will never stop hunting him. Or us. He wants us dead because we know the truth."
Fagin's eyes darted left and right.
"And what truth is that?"
Jack pulled the stolen ledger from his coat.
"The opium shipments. The weapon smuggling. The stolen treasury money. All of it."
Fagin whistled low.
"Christ… that's enough to hang half the colony."
"Exactly," Belle said.
"And the mayor?" Hetty asked softly. "Is he involved?"
Jack shook his head.
"No."
He turned to Belle.
"Your mother confirmed it, didn't she?"
Belle nodded.
"We confronted her. She recognized the handwriting in some of the forged letters. It wasn't the mayor's. It was his assistant."
Belle's voice hardened with disgust.
"His assistant has been altering orders, forging manifests, and redirecting shipments for months. The mayor is completely unaware. He thought he was approving supply deliveries to rural farmers. Instead… it was opium routes."
Hetty whispered:
"So the mayor… he's innocent."
Belle nodded once.
"And my mother plans to tell him everything by morning."
Jack exhaled.
"So the mayor will know the truth."
Fagin raised a hand.
"But the soldiers won't. They're still coming to arrest you."
Belle stepped closer.
"Jack. You must reveal the secrets before the Captain executes you. If the public learns of his crimes first, he won't be able to silence anyone."
Hetty bit her lip.
"But to reveal anything… we need proof."
Jack lifted the ledger and tapped it.
"We have it."
"But you also said," Hetty whispered, "the only way to truly stop this… is to kill Gaines."
Jack met her eyes.
"Hetty… if he survives, he kills all of us. He kills the thieves. He kills the patients. He kills everyone who knows even a whisper."
Hetty's breath trembled, but she nodded.
Belle stepped forward until she was face-to-face with Jack.
"And you won't be doing this alone."
Jack stared at her.
Belle stared back.
For the first time, Jack could see it clearly:
She wasn't just curious.
She wasn't just reckless.
She wasn't just intrigued.
Belle Fox was ready to go to war.
"With me?" Jack asked.
Belle nodded.
"With you."
Fagin sighed.
"Looks like the gang's in deeper than we planned."
Hetty forced a small smile.
"We always end up helping you, Jack. Might as well do it properly."
Jack took a breath.
Then he spoke the words none of them would ever forget:
"Tonight… we become the hunters."
He turned toward the burning horizon.
"And Captain Gaines… becomes the hunted."