The Topklaw Brothers

The Topklaw Brothers is the sixth chapter of Ray Fox. It focuses on Ray and his team riding the Big Al. As they wait for the train to arrive, they are attacked by a pair of assassins.

## Plot

### Act 1

The chapter starts with a commerecial showing two waitresses explaining how the Big Al is a train full of commodities for the megafaun passengers. As the passengers board the train, the Big Al departs from the North Central Station at the Meva Province to the Gala Station at Ursa.

Inside the train, Eric explains that the mission is to find Maureen Digger since she has vital information about the recent attacks. As such, the team has to find her within 24 hours of arrival. His speech is interrupted by Rose constantly chiming in to show the information that she gathered. As the two keep explaining the mission, Ray notices that nobody but him and Summer are paying attention to the mission. Ultimately, Eric gives Ros an infraction for interrupting him a lot, much to Rose's horror.

Ray asks a question regarding Maureen's connection to the Monroe Syndicate, which gets Asuka to be interested. However, Eric dodges the question, telling Asuka to focus on retrieving Maureen. He then scolds Ray for asking him a question, telling him that he's not an officer and to get out of his way if he doesn't want to get into prison. Feeling frustrated with the team, Eric decides to continue the meeting at a conference hall the next day.

Meanwhile, at the megafauna hall on the first floor, the two crocodile assassins from the previous chapter are sparring as they discuss their mission. The older brother, Gomek Topklaw, informs his younger brother , Cassius Topklaw, that they must defeat Asuka, as she is a former assassin of Himitsushima. Cassius is not impressed with Asuka's reputation, but he shows some interest in the mission when Gomek mentions about Ray and Summer.

Cassius is interested in fighting Ray and Summer since they were the ones who defeated Roulette and Brigade. The two brothers spar with more vigor as Gomek reminds Cassius that they are trying to increase their rank. Cassius ultimately wins the spar, believing that he is catching up to Gomek in strength. He asks Gomek when are they going to do their mission. Gomek tells him that they will wait until their first stop to make their move because he doesn't want to arouse suspicion.

Gomek continues by explaining that they have to defeat their targets within an hour to meet Jio, which surprises Cassius. Gomek informs Cassius that their peers have run into a problem with a rabbit, so they must take their mission seriously. Having nothing better to do, the duo then starts sparring again.

While Asuka's team remains in their room, Summer is weight lifting at the gym. To her surprise, she is interrupted by Ray, who proposes to be her spotter. As the two converse, Summer expresses her sympathy for Maureen as she has no parents and no friends, as she experienced the same thing that Maureen did at her age. Seeing Summer weight lifting, Ray asks her what is the limit of her super strength. Summer scoffs at Ray's guess, pointing out that she has no super strength.

As Ray asks Summer to talk about her powers, she drops her weight on her back, pinning her to the floor. Ray then lifts the weight off Summer's back, but is left exhausted at how heavy it is. Summer is annoyed at Ray draining himself by helping her, but Ray asks her why she helped him fight 100 inmates or took him home after he passed out. Summer, realizing that Ray is trying to bond with her, decides to show her how her powers work.

She asks a hippo to punch her in the face, offering payment if he complies. To Ray's surprise, Summer doesn't move from the spot and she then easily lifts the hippo by his hand. As Ray asists Summer with her training, Ray theorizes that Summer can absorb attacks and turn them into strength. Summer simplifies this by pointing out that she takes hits and send them back, but she decides to call Dexter to explain how her power works.

Summer calls Dexter, who explains that Summer's powers work through receptors in her body. According to Dexter's theory, her receptors act like extra nerves in her muscles that absorb kinetic energy. The energy is then coverted into power and stored so that Summer can release it at will. Dexter then hangs up on Summer, leaving her and Ray to talk over a lunch break. Ray tries to ask Summer about the previous instances where she used her powers, but Summer tells him that they are still not close like that. Despite her lack of answer, Ray still considers their conversation as a proof of progress.

The following morning, the Big Al reaches the Roche Province. As Asuka's team wake up, the group realizes that Asuka is not present. Ray opens the door and is met by Cassius, who calls himself Jeff and claims that he is going to escort the team. Cassius leads the team to a rainforest room, which causes an annoyed Summer to remove her shirt because it's too hot for her. While Ray and Summer are talking, Cassius calls Gomez and asks him about Asuka. Gomek then reveals that he's been tailing Asuka. Gomek declares that he will go after Asuka while Cassius will fight against Ray and Summer. As Cassius is speaking, a masked rabbit is eavesdropping in the conversation.

Meanwhile, Asuka is walking alongside Rose as they tail Eric. While Rose believe that what Asuka is doing will get them barred from the BMA, Asuka states that she only want to snag Eric's briefcase and find out what he's hiding. She the asks why Rose is walking alongside, causing the pink otter to state that she's the only one in Eric's list and she intends to change that. Rose tries to tell Asuka about something that she learned last night, but they are confronted by Gomek, which makes them panic at the thought of being discovered.

Gomek claims that he works for Eric, telling them that he is supposed to take them to the meeting. With nothing else to do, Asuka and Rose follow Gomek as he takes them to a room. Meanwhile, Cassius is worried about the amount of passengers following him since Ray is with him. Summer orders the passengers to leave, causing them to depart. The only one who stays is the mysterious rabbit, who sneaks past Summer.

With nobody present, Cassius prepares to ambush Ray and Summer. Meanwhile, Gomek brings Asuka and Rose to a cargo car. As they ponder what's going on, Gomek attempts to crush Asuka under his hand.

### Act 2

Asuka manages to dodge Gomek's attack and tries to attack him from above, only to get blocked. Gomek congratulates Asuka for dodging his attack, calling her the Tengu of Himitsushima. Asuka claims credit for predicting Gomek's attack, only to admit that it was Rose who figured out his identity when the otter complains about Asuka taking the credit. Gomek is shocked when Rose fearfully admits taht she supsected about him because he looked suspicious, making him realize that they went to the bathroom to form a contingency plan.

Gomek brags about being the deadliest crocodile in Sila while pointing out that Asuka was only the strongest raccoon in her homeland, which makes Asuka attack him for not identifying her as a tanuki. Asuka attacks Gomek with her swords, but Gomek reveals taht he can make some sort of explosion from the palms of his hands. Asuka believes that he is throwing bombs at her, but she realizes that he is doing something else as he keeps attacking her with blasts from his palms.

As the battle progresses, Asuka's swords are broken by Gomek's explosions and she is sent flying against some crates by a powerful tail strike. Rose attempts to call reinforcements when Gomek focuses his sights on her. However, Asuka shows that she is only mildly damaged from Gomek's attack. Asuka picks up a pipe and ultimately defeats Gomek by redirecting his hand so that he blasts himself in the face with an explosion, knocking him out.

As Asuka restrains Gomek, Rose revels on the victory since she figured out Gomek's past as an assassin when he mentioined Sila. She brings up a news article about a Vara Theater Incident that took place when she was a cub. Asuka and Rose then discuss how Gomek can be part of the Monroe Syndicate and wonders where is the second crocodile.

The scene shifts to Cassius pretending to be horrified when his targets find several staff members beat up. While they are distracted, Cassius attempts to assassinate Ray and Summer. He is stopped by the masked bunny from earlier, who shoots him with her giant slingshot, alerting Ray and Summer that something's going on.

### Act 3

While Cassius is reeling from the attack, the masked bunny informs Ray and Summer that the crocodile that they knew as Jeff was working for the Monroe Syndicate, tasking the neo-mutants with helping the train staff. As the bunny approaches Cassius, she states that they have to let her join now. Cassius attacks the bunny, who just jumps out of the way of his strike to shoot her. However, Cassius anticipated her dodging skills and is about to swat the bunny when Ray protects her by taking the blow instead.

Cassius attacks Ray and Summer by using some sort of breathing technique to throw an explosion at them. Summer jumps over the explosion and tries to kick Cassius, who blocks the kick and blasts her with his palm. While the rest of the team runs away with the rabbit, Ray joins the fray by using a fire blast to Cassius' face. He swats Ray with his tail, but Summer kicks him in the heel, causing him a lot of pain.

Enraged, Cassius attacks Summer with a flurry of swipes and tries to eat her alive. Ray throws fire balls at Cassius to stop him for killing Summer. The fight causes collateral damage that makes the room flood with water. Cassius attempts to kill Summer with a hammerblow that releases a huge explosion. He attempts to take out Ray, but the fox learns how to use explosions from his fire powers to doge Cassius' attacks and counterattack with powerful fire blows.

Realizing that Cassius' skin is too tough, Ray comes up with a plan. As he and Summer attack Cassius from the front and back, Summer uses a full body blow to break Cassius' hand while Ray slids between his legs and shoots a fire blast to his groin. The pain is ultimately too much for Cassius, who faints from the shock.

With Cassius being defeated, the train staff focused on security and medical treatment arrive at the scene of the crime to treat the wounded and capture Cassius. Meanwhile, Rose is treating the rabbit, asking her about her connection wiht Cassius. The rabbit insults Rose defensively, trying to avoid giving information. This annoys Rose so much that she steals the rabbit's phone to figure out her identity. To Rose's surprise, she realizes that the mystery rabbit is actually Maureen Diggers when she checks her phone.

Seeing that her identity is discovered, Maureen removes her mask, revealing that she is a young girl. Upon seeing Maureen, Ray remembers when he started his career as Blaze back when he was her age.

Meanwhile, in an unknown location, a hippo is talking to Jio about Maureen's reappearance, calling it good news for the Monroe Syndicate. The hippo points out to Jio that his indolence is the reason for his troubles, stating that he could have made Gomek yield if it weren't for his tendency to fight anyone that doesn't interest him. The hippo brings up Asuka, asking Jio if he is excited to fight her. Jio ponders delivering Asuka to the Monroe Syndicate, but ultimately gets lost in his train of thought, lamenting that he is not finishing his fruit salad at home.

## Trivia

* This is the first chapter on which Asuka uses her full powers.
* Shortly after the end of this chapter, Ray Fox Reignited was announced.