Fight la Fight

rpg what happens when the king of the universe (he looks like supreme kai from dragenbell) he says "hey guys fight and whoever is the best fighter will get 1 wish and i will grent it. then everyone's like "ayup a second cut me up a slice of that action i wanna have a wish yeah i want a wish" so they fight and a fuckoff ton of people they just die.

Xevan clutched his sword tightly as the beast rounded the corner, its body smoking from the heat of its sudden creation. It had a humanoid form, standing nearly fourteen feet high, with large, digitigrade legs. It had a narrow waist and wide shoulders, with a lithe, masculine torso and a pair of elongated arms, which reached down past its knees in the slumped posture it had adopted. The creature's head was completely devoid of any features, save for a mouth fixed in a sinister grin, revealing a set of razor-sharp teeth, which occasionally parted as a snake-like tongue shot forth. The creature was hairless and had a pale, human skin tone, and a light step which belied its seemingly gargantuan mass.

"Well, I haven't seen one of those before!" announced Xevan. The beast roared, and pushed towards him, its arms pulling the pillars of the ancient temple out of the way as it charged. Xevan sidestepped and thrust his glowing sword into the beast's thigh. It roared and swung wildly at Xevan; he jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding a claw the length of his foot.

"That's my very favorite sword! I'll be taking that back soon!"

The beast turned towards Xevan as he kicked off from the ground and hovered above it, firing bolts of blue energy from each hand. The staccato blasts burned into the creature's skin, tearing chunks of flesh away from it, but were not enough to stop it. It jumped, raking the ceiling with its claws, and narrowly missing Xevan to crash through one of the walls of the temple. Xevan turned to face it as it regained its footing.

"I'm going to finish this now!"

Xevan descended to the floor, and began to charge a ball of energy. The beast rose from the pile of rubble, and began to charge him along the length of the temple. The energy began to spray out from within Xevan's fingers, vibrating with power.

"Hiiiiigh-pooiiiiint eneeeeergyyyy---! Maaaaaximuuuuuum fooooorce---! AAAATT-"

Xevan stopped, the ball of energy dissipating. The beast stood before him, completely still, a man-sized, bloody gash in the center of its chest. Only after the lifeless body fell to the ground did Xevan realize what had happened, and turned around.

"You were inside that thing?"

A girl stood behind him, carrying the blood-stained nodachi which had cut through him a single slice in both hands. She wore a black pleated skirt, a pair of black thigh-highs, and a pair of white high-tops, with a white dress shirt under a dark red sweater vest. She also wore a black letterman with red stripes, and a thick red scarf. She had blood red hair, golden eyes, and a pissed-off expression.

"Yes."

"Ah."

Lucy drew the hilt of the Nodachi rapidly towards Xevan, and tapped him on the forehead. His top half fell backwards, followed by his legs, and then both halves exploded. The temple fell down around Lucy, and she calmy raised one arm infront of her eyes to shield them from the dust.

"Impressive." said Artyom, carrying a revolver in each hand. He wore a navy blue trenchcoat with a collar that came up to his ears, and a pair of blue-tinted, circular glasses which he adjusted with his little finger as he stepped through what would've been the doorway. His shoulder-length blonde hair fluttered in the subsiding wind caused by the explosion of the temple.

"I thought you weren't going to use your EVA technique?"

"I had a change of heart." replied Lucy, placing the sword to her back as if to sheath it. As she did, it faded away with a crimson glow.

"Oh. Well, that's every fighter on this world beaten. We should head to the core territories for the next stages of the tournament."

Lucy turned to face him, and nodded curtly. Artyom opened up his coat and holstered his two revolvers alongside the armory hidden away within.

"No celebration, then? No expression of any emotion that isn't mild, undirected anger?"

Lucy made a forced smile, and thereupon resembled the daemonic body she had previously inhabited.

“TRI-BEAM: HIGH KI ASSAULT--!” The sky darkened as Rizomé charged her energy, a green glow suffusing her slender arms, clutched into a fist outstretched in front of her. Debris drifted upwards, trembling with the power coursing through the air. Handoko settled into stance, weight on his back leg. A bead of sweat trickled down his brow.

“Shit.”

The beam cut through the smoke and soot, cleaving a metre-deep gouge on the earth under it. In the instant that it flashed forward from Rizomé’s arms, Handoko leapt skywards.

“FIFTEENTH PROMISE: CELESTIAL ARROW!” A bow materialised in front of Handoko, never contacting his gloved hands. He drew the string in one fluid motion, and loosed the energy he had been saving until this point. The blast was twice the size of Rizomé’s own attack; she crossed her arms as the beam slashed toward her. The arrow impacted, and there was a moment of silence. The explosion that followed expanded as a white flash, perfectly spherical. Purple lightning coursed across its surface, pulsing as veins on some ghastly eye. Handoko himself was throw away, ragdoll like, from the force of the blast. He climbed from the wreckage of a car a few moments later, smoke curling from his naked chest.

A gust of wind blew across the street, clearing the smog momentarily. The devastation that their fight had caused became apparent; blast craters pockmarked the surface of the tarmac. Crumpled cars steamed and leaked oil, and flames guttered in engine bays. As the tendrils of smoke snaked backward across the street, Handoko adjusted the strap on his glove. He wore a simple pair of baggy black silk trousers topped with a white sash. Across his chest he wore a belt, and in it were strapped a collection of curious curved knives: Karambit of varying sizes and shape. His sharp face was framed by a shaggy mop of unruly black hair, tied into some semblance of a topknot.
“Hoo-ya! Eat that, bitc-“

Handoko was lifted from his feet, his jaw cracking, eye exploding under Rizomé’s renewed attack. In an instant she had crossed the distance between them, and had, in a single punch, shattered Handoko’s face. She followed through with a knee to his back- they were flying down the street at breakneck pace- Rizomé’s leg firmly planted in his spine. Handoko tried a kick to the back of her head, but he couldn’t shake-

And then Handoko was lying amidst the rubble of a shop, or a house or-

And Rizomé was above him, her hair whipping about her shoulders, green light coursing up her arms, lifting rubble from around him, dust trickling upward in streams-

“QUAD BEAM: HIGH—KI—ASSAAAAAAAAAAAULT!”

Lucy felt a tap on her shoulder, and went flying. She shot through the length of the cargo hold and the masses of refugees gathered within, and slammed at breakneck speed into one the bulkheads holding the ship together, leaving a Lucy-shaped imprint in the metal. Artyom followed shortly after. He slumped down to the ground, sighed, and adjusted his glasses with his little finger. Their assailant rushed up after them, toting a rifle larger than a rifle should be.

"You!" she shouted. "You're the demon in a human's body, right? Lucifer, of the planet Arrok!"

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "It's Lucy Farr, scrub."

"Just who the hell do you think you're calling a scrub?!" shouted the woman, aiming her rifle at Lucy's head, and switching the fire select from "Full Auto" to "2x Full Auto".

"Some kind of psuedo-intelligent ape, clearly."

"I'm pointing a fucking gun at your head! Don't back-chat me!"

Lucy sighed, and examined the woman closer. She had dark purple eyes, light brown skin and dark brown hair, which was long and fell to the middle of her back. She was perhaps half a head taller than Lucy, and half as attractive, which, in all fairness, was still a feat. She wore a dark blue hoodie, the zipper half open to reveal a light blue tank top, and a pair of dark brown cargos. She also wore an armored skirt and a pair of boots which shared a design lineage as the rifle she carried; all three items featured the same white-and-orange color scheme and bulky, angular shaping.

"Okay, I'll bite. What do you want with me?"

"I want to challenge you! I'm a tournament fighter too!"

Lucy climbed to her feet, and dusted herself off.

"Tell me your name."

"Zoe."

Lucy's fist impacted Zoe's neck, and she flew backwards. Her boots sparked against the floor, setting nearby people alight, as she slid to a halt. She raised her rifle, and fired. Lucy kicked off from the ground, materializing her Nodachi, and swung down towards Zoe. Zoe stepped out of the way in time to avoid the attack, which tore through the floor of the cargo hold into the deck below. Zoe threw her rifle over her back and drew out two anti-tank pistols, which she aimed into the hole in the floor. Before she could fire, she found the barrels of Artyom's dual revolvers obstructing her muzzles. Artyom raised his weapons to fire at her chest, and she deflected them with her pistols, trying to get a clear shot at his chest. He responded in kind, and the two dueled until Lucy rose from the gash in the floor, her Nodachi surrounded by a red aura. She shot towards Zoe as Artyom stepped backwards, holstering his revolvers. Lucy unleashed a wide, horizontal swing which Zoe spun over, drawing her pistols up to Lucy's head. Lucy ducked down, drawing the hilt of her nodachi into Zoe's abdomen. She shot backwards as if fired out of a cannon, impacting the bulkhead at the other end of the cargo hold.

Zoe dropped her weapons, and smiled. She pulled back the right arm of her hoodie, revealing a wristband of a similar design to the armored skirt and boots she wore, and slammed her fist into it. Suddenly, armor began to materialize her body, cascading across it like a loading image file. A full-enclosing helmet with a thin, orange visor and a V-shaped crest was the last part to appear.

"Mobile Siege Regalia... DAI-YOROI!"

With the utterance of the final word, the transformation completed itself. Two huge intake valves appeared either side of Zoe's neck, feeding into a massive jetpack unit mounted on  her back. Two coffin-shaped shoulder pauldrons formed, the fronts of which opened to reveal dozens of hydra rockets within. From the right shoulder pauldon, a huge anti-tank rifle hung, with a barrel that reached down to Zoe's knee, and a muzzle break which reached her ankle. From the left pauldon hung a coffin-shapped tower shield of similar length. She stretched out her arms, and in each hand a blade materalized, of the same style as the rest of the armor, with a crossguard that seemed to extend a quarter of the way up the energy blade.

Lucy grinned, drawing a tanto of the same design as her nodachi from within her jacket. She drove it through the palm of her hand, her eyes watering with pain as she ground her teeth.

"Two... can... play at that game!"

Lucy lifted up into the air as if pulled by an invisible harness, as the daemonic body began to materialize around her, its skin glowing white with heat. This form was slightly shorter than the daemonic body she had previously inhabited, its digitigrade legs ending in clawed, raptor-like feet. It had a female body shape, with large forearms and fists, and a lizard-like tail made unnerving by its fleshy apperance. Its only facial features were two hateful eyes set beneath an oversized brow, and recessed cheeks giving it a vampiric apperance. It also possessed "hair" - tendrils of flesh, like dreadlocks, which fell to shoulder height, and shadowed its face like a hood.

"Daemon Form: Raptor Siren." said a disembodied voice, which was identifiably Lucy's.

Beneath the facemask of her helmet, Zoe grinned, and initiated her thrusters.

“QUAD BEAM: HIGH—KI—ASSAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUULT!”

Rizumé was gone in a flash of light, and Handoko blinked. He was still alive. But that meant-

Rizumé laughed as she flipped away from the silver blade that whistled past her neck. Her assailant swung his naginata about himself in lazy windmill motions, every now and again stepping forward and whipping out the curved blade with lightning speed. Rizumé jumped away from the gleaming edge, and, pushing her arms to her sides, slid her own blades from their housings in her gauntlets. The chains were thin, extending and spooling onto the tarmac at her feet. Each link had a serrated edge, hundreds of tiny teeth coated in a deadly neurotoxin. She began moving her arms in circular motions, at her sides, above her head, behind her back. Faster and faster, whirling, spinning, and then she ran at him. His blade dropped toward her, but Rizumé jumped, pirouetting over his straw-hat clad head. Her chains surrounded him, a tornado of teeth slicing the air at breakneck pace. She looked down lazily, surveying-

Fuck, he was gone.

Rizumé shot downward, but it was too late. He was there, from the side. She twisted, but that only served to ram his wooden sandal further into her belly. They shot sideways through the street.

“Who in hell are you?” Rizumé gasped.

“I’m Jonbiro, but you can call me- your last opponent!”

“Like fuck I can.”

Rizumé kneed upward, forcing them higher. They whipped upwards, through clouds, until they hung, motionless momentarily, and Rizumé grinned.

“FULL SHAFT BEAM: HIGH KI BARRAGE!”

There was a flash, and a beam of energy lanced toward the two fighters from on high. Jonbiro frowned, and then the beam hit. Rizumé lost consciousness, and it was only a few feet from the ground that she awoke. Her impact left a crater the size of a house. Blood trickled from a cut under her straight fringe, and matted her bangs to her cheek. Her full lips were parted as she panted from the exertion of that last one. Jesus, but that was a good way to exhaust yourself. She clambered from the crater, and looked around. There was Jonbiro’s crater. She doubted she’d finished him; he was powerful, stronger than that little punk she had been-

She screamed dropping to one knee. Handoko, Karambit in hand, stepped around her.

“Sorry, bitch, that was a mean move.” He booted her in the face, and she flew back, cratering the side of a lorry with her impact. Blood dribbled from the back of her knee, dripping from the buckled metal and pooling on the tarmac. Handoko turned away from Rizumé, and found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

“Woah, just hold on-“

Jonbiro fired, a gout of energy shearing outwards from the rifled stave of his naginata. Handoko’s headless corpse was flung away by the force of the blast, and smashed into a building some way down the street.

“So damn rude. Kids these days have no respect.” Jonbiro tilted back his Straw hat, and grinned at Rizumé.

Zoe drew her twin blades, and spun them, readying herself. Lucy came at her with her right arm, and Zoe slid under it, slicing her blades across it as she did. Lucy drove her elbow towards Zoe's face, narrowly missing it as she jetted backwards with her thrusters, drawing her anti-tank pistols and firing. Lucy's forearm exploded in a spray of flesh and bone as Zoe slid to a halt. The two opponents stood facing eachother in the dimly lit cargo hold, smoking with heat.

"You're not as good as you talk yourself up to be, are you?" asked Zoe. She recieved no reply, only a hateful stare. She sheathed both blades and retrieved her rifle from its shoulder mount, aiming it as Lucy's remaning arm. A daemonic mouth appeared on Lucy's face, opening to reveal a ball of red light. As Zoe pulled the trigger, a beam of red energy shot forth from Lucy's mouth, hitting Zoe and tearing straight through the hull of the ship into the vacuum outside. Alarms sounded throughout the ship as Lucy charged through, jumping out of the ship after Zoe, who was being pulled into the atmosphere of the planet below, her armor starting to glow white with heat. As Lucy closed in, rifle rounds narrowly missed her, exploding against the hull of the ship behind them.

"I'm rated for re-entry!" screamed Zoe. "But I don't know about you!"

As Lucy closed in, Zoe released her rifle, and drew her blades. Lucy seemed to be disgintegrating from the heat of re-entry, but still shot towards Zoe, screaming with rage. She loosed a kick towards Zoe, who spun her blades around Zoe's foot and removed it; she repeated with the other foot, and Zoe settled for removing her entire lower leg. She spun around behind Lucy and kicked off from her back, drawing her rifle and firing. Lucy's head exploded as her real body shot forth from the torso, brandishing her Nodachi which was already glowing red with power.

"HEAAAAAAAAAAAVENLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY PIEEEEEEEEEEEEEERCIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING-!!!!!!!!! DEEEEEEEEEEEEEESTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY-!!!!!! BRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAKKKAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She swung the blade, and a wave of red energy shot forwards. It hit Zoe, and took her with it as it carried on, tearing into the ship far above them, and slicing in two. Both halves then exploded, casting a disk of energy over the atmosphere.

"Impressive. But you're not the only one with an EVA techni-"

Lucy  turned, and drove the base of the hilt into Zoe's smug face. She shot away in a massive explosion of red energy, impacting the ground, and tearing a hundred-kilometre long gash in the planet's surface before she came to rest on a completely different continent to the one she initially impacted.

"I should... probably get a name for that attack... too."

Lucy sighed, exhausted, and placed the nodachi on her back where it dematerialized. She felt Artyom's arms wrap around her chest, and the rapid deceleration that followed. The two landed in a field, with a comparatively minute explosion. Artyom rolled off of Lucy, and sighed.

"How'd you do that?" asked Lucy, her voice tired. Artyom pointed to his hair.

"It has... powers." he said, his voice weak, as if recalling some traumatic childhood experience.

"Nice."

"So... do you think you got her?"

"Not a chance in hell." replied Lucy, climbing to her feet. She sighed. "Let's go finish her off."

Artyom smiled, and stood up using just his ankle muscles to lift him. He dusted his coat off, and drew a pair of anti-tank submachineguns from underneath.

Rizumé pulled herself from the crater in the side of the truck. Her back clicked as she did so, and she grimaced. Looking up, she saw the monk, naginata over one shoulder. He was wearing white robes and a brown leather jacket over the top.  A necklace of wooden beads hung about his neck. He stood around seven feet tall, elevated by his foot tall wooden sandals. A battered straw hat was fixed to his head by a string under his chin. Rizumé could see a glint of an eye through a crack in the brim. The monk was grinning, his teeth showing beneath the brim of his hat. Rizumé clenched her fist, the metal of her gauntlet creaking.

Jonbiro spun his naginata, and Rizumé caught sight of a peculiar mechanism on the shaft: a pistol grip and trigger, and a boxy firing mechanism that surrounded the wooden haft. So that was his weapon. She knew he was powerful, and ridiculously fast. She hadn’t seen him use any energy yet- but she was sure his would be particularly potent. This was going to be tough.

“You know, I like to keep fights fair. You didn’t let me finish off that prick, and now you’re stronger for it. You absorbed his powers.”

“I am a monk- you’re suggesting I cheated you? If you’d been faster, you’d have got him yourself.” The monk smiled smugly, but the brim of his hat still obscured his eyes.

“Tch. Let’s see who’s fast.”

Rizumé darted toward him, bounding in a zigzag pattern from the sides of houses and cars. Jonbiro stepped back, and caught Rizumé’s outstretched fist with a firmly clasped grip. He jumped, dragging her upwards into the smoke hanging above the street, and, naginata still on his shoulder, flung her away. Rizumé slashed through the air, barely regaining control of her flight before slamming through the fifteenth floor of an office block. She shot clean through the building to the other side, smashing through a huge glass window into open air.  I need to get higher… I need to use the Full Shaft Beam. He’s too fast! Rizumé tore upwards, higher and higher, and then she was above the clouds.

“FULL---SHAFT---BEAM: HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH---KIIIIIIIIIII—“

“Not so hasty, not so hasty!”

Rizumé turned, and found herself staring down the barrel of Jonbiro’s gun.

“H-HOW!”

“Your own attacks- I can absorb their energy, converting it, transferring it into myself, compounding it on the vast reserve of energy I myself have accumulated through years of meditation!”

Rizumé’s eyes widened, and then she threw back her head and laughed.

“Good thing this next attack won’t use any energy! BLADE WHIP: SWORD STYLE--!”

The chains in Rizumé’s gloves uncoiled, whipping into the air, and then began folding themselves, retracting back, until twin blades extended from the plates of her gauntlets. She slashed them in a crossways motion, slicing Jonbiro’s gun in three. The monk flipped away, but Rizumé sped after her, following him up with a flurry of jabs that made the air itself ring.

Jonbiro dodged, one, two, twenty punches- his body couldn’t keep up- he could feel the energy inside him tearing his body apart as it struggled free of its mortal shackles. With a scream, Jonbiro forced his palms outward, and Rizumé was thrown backwards.  A ring of white energy expanded outwards from the monk’s palms, and his eyes were aglow with fearsome energies. Jonbiro’s robes began to dissolve, falling away from his torso, revealing bandages wrapped tightly around a strange bulk across his belly. The bandages too caught alight, and another pair of arms unfurled themselves, originating from a point just behind his ribs. Veins stood out in high relief across his shoulders, and his muscles visibly grew, bulking slightly.

“KI RELEASE: NI TEN ICHI RYUUUUUUUUUUUU---!!!”

Ike looked up at the city, skyscrapers towering above him and smiled as the canvas of lights shone across his visor. He wore a uniform made of skin-tight silver fabric and adorned with a complex utility belt and elaborate shoulder pads, the left emblazoned with a golden Koi, tjr symbol of Syuro City. He stretched one hand out to the sky and clenched it into a fist. Turning, he scraped the katana he held against the floor as he faced his opponent. Towering over the buildings, the creature was covered in sickly green scales. Spines ran up its back and its head held two tremendous horns which rose out above the beady yellow eyes that stared down at Ike. Letting out a.tremendous roar, the beast smashed a clawed hand into an apartment building, sending chunks of concrete hurtling towards Ike. As each piece reached him he brought the katana up to meet it with fluid, steady motions, smashing each piece in turn. Unperturbed by the onslaught Ike charged forwards, closing the gap between him and the monster in a matter of seconds. Rolling under its attempt to stop him, Ike activated a switch on his belt, causing rockets to flare under his heels, sending him flying upwards to meet the beast. As he rose he dug his sword into its stomach, ripping a massive gash through the flesh. Eventually he leveled with its head and sheathed his katana.

"I am Sai, guardian of Syuro City. Prepare to feel the power of justice!" Ike yelled as he fired a blast of dazzling blue energy from his hands, enveloping the monsters head in light.

"That's a wrap! Good job people."

The set exploded into life as the crew moved in to clear away the equipment. Ike jumped down and landed beside the director, who was admiring the animatronics revealed by Ike's attacks.

"Ike! Great job today, Guardian of Syuro City VII is gonna be the best one yet.!"

Ike smiled and ran a hand through his messy brown hair. Tall and muscular, Ike every bit looked the part of a movie star, right down to the smug smile which gave him an air of absolute confidence. In one swift movement he grabbed the costume and ripped it off, revealing a dark purple suit in its place. Assistants swarmed him, taking the katana and the uniform and removing makeup. Ike stepped of the crowd just as the the set seemed to erupt with noise. Someone in the swarm of assistants handed him a zweihander, which he brought up to meet the hail of bullets.

"Finally, a new challenger! Prepare to feel the might of number one movie star in the western systems-"

He brought the sword down and plunged it into the ground, causing it to split, blue light glowing from each crack, enveloping him.

"Ike Harimata!"

Lucy jumped down from the rim of the crater, landing in a squat, her Nodachi held out behind her. Artyom floated down, his arms crossed, his hair glowing lightly.

"I can't help it." he complained. Lucy smiled. After he touched down, they ran to the center of the crater and found Zoe - and, regrettably, company.

The first newcomer was a woman was nearly as tall as Artyom, with a flat chest and a lanky build. the left side of her head was shaved, and on the right side her thick pink hair fell down to the base of her shoulder blade. She stood next to Zoe as she clambered out of the pit she had ended up in, holding out a pink hoodie for her to wear as replacement for her now non-exist ant outfit. The woman herself wore a tight fitting black crop top with a high neck and long sleeves, and a low-waisted pair of dark grey military-style cargo pants resplendent with pockets and pouches, with two braces hanging alonside them. She also wore a pair of buckled combat boots, fingerless gloves, and a pink sash threaded through her pants as a belt. her pink eyes were dull and laidback, and she seemed to have a permanent crooked grin on her face.

On the other side of Lucy stood a young, handsome man, with tanned skin and black hair, which fell to his shoulder. He had a muscular, lithe body, and was slightly shorter and thinner than Artyom. His upper body was bare save for his red sarashi; the bandages wrapped around his lower abdomen and forearms. He wore a pair of tight-fighting, black leather trousers and black, pointed boots. Two thick, cleaver-like swords were sheathed in an cross behind his waist. His brown eyes regarded Lucy and Artyom with concern as they approached.

A girl stood next to him, a head shorter than him, and about the same size as Lucy. She had shoulder-length hair, which was halfway between blue and purple. She wore a thick orange hoodie which was a few sizes too large for her, and stood with her hands in the front pockets. She also wore a pair of black leggings, and white white high-top sneakers. Her eyes were an appealing cobalt blue, and she had an annoyed expression on her face. A huge claymore, as long as she was tall, lay across her back.

In-front of them all stood the last of the new arrivals. He wore a white gakuran jacket and black gakuran pants, under a white, sleeveless, samurai-style longcoat with a collar that reached the base of his ear. He also wore a thin, white scarf, neatly tied, and a pair of white leather driving gloves. He had silver hair in a 90s-style skater cut, and an attractive if androgynous appearance, with a thin nose, sharp jawline, thin lips, and fine brow under which sat two careless purple eyes. He carried a sheathed Nodachi in one hand, holding it by the scabbard.

"Zoe, are you in any state to move?" he asked, in a soft voice, without any hint of genuine concern.

"Yes, Lordmillion."

Lordmillion turned to face Lucy. "So the woman I've been hearing so much about finally appears; I can't say that i'm terribly... impressed. Go on then; show me Kurimuzon. Let us see if the legend has meaning still."

Lucy stopped, and turned to Artyom.

"What's that?"

Artyom shrugged. Lordmillion chuckled, and held out his sword.

"Allow me to demonstrate. This is Shiroryu." he said, slowly drawing the nodachi from its sheath. Lucy looked on in horror; it was the exact same blade as her Nodachi, though the hilt wrap was white, not crimson. She reached behind her back and materialized her weapon, holding it in front of her in a firm, two-handed grip.

"Yes, yes, Kurimuzon has its power still. But such a weapon in the hands of an unskilled user... no, such a sight cannot be permitted to exist. There is no beauty in it. Hand the blade over."

"Fuck off, Scrub."

"Very well then." replied Lordmillion, the sheath dematerializing. "HEAVENLY PIERCING!!! LEEGAACY-!!! BREEEAA-"

Lordmillion's sword arm exploded, and he regenerated it without so much as an acknowledgement of the wound. Zoe flew overhead, firing her rifle down at him. He calmly sidestepped each shot, and neglected returning fire to telekinetically draw Shiroryu back to him with an outstretched hand. Zoe landed between Artyom and Lucy, wearing her Mobile Siege Regalia.

"I thought you were on his side!" shouted Artyom.

Zoe chuckled. "So did they. Wanna kick some ass?"

Lucy smiled, and sunk down, holding Kurimizon far behind her, as it began to accumulate power. "Fuck yeah."

"What, just like that? She just tried to kill us and now we're buddying up?" complained Artyom

"You do remember how we became friends, don't you? Mr. Daemon Hunter?"

"Oh, Yeah."

Lordmillion's followers formed up around him; Skye, the blue haired girl, Ezra, the pink haired woman, and Gaius, the black-haired swordsmaster.

"A traitor, hmm? Yes - I see now why you brought us here. Suffice to say however, one demon-possessed girl won't be enough to defeat me. Oh well, it will be a shame to have to take Kurimizon back from bloodied hands, but those who wou-"

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP AND FIGHT ME?!!" screamed Lucy.

A wicked smile form across Lordmillion's face. "Gladly."

Jonbiro threw back his head and uttered a booming laugh. His hat fluttered off into the sky, revealing a close cropped shock of sage green hair. His skin had taken on a golden tint, and his eyes shone a golden glow. A radiant aura of a similarly coloured light surrounded his entire body, swirling and whipping as though an inferno. He hovered, suspended in mid-air, with his lower arms crossed, and his upper arms still pushed to the sides, palms at ninety degrees.

“This- This is true power!” Jonbiro’s voice had dropped an octave, now a resonant basso profundo. “The Two Heavens as One technique allows me to utilise my stored ki in a body that will not break apart from the vast energies!”

“You’re all talk and no—“

Rizumé’s words were cut off as Jonbiro’s fist drove further into her gut. He opened his mouth, a harsh shout forming.

“KYYYYYYYYYYY---AAAAAAAA!”

Rizumé was thrown away by the force of the kiai, flipping heels-over-head, still paralysed from the catastrophic blow Jonbiro had dealt her. Just when she had regained some semblance of control over her flight, she doubled over backwards, Jonbiro’s open palm planted firmly in the small of her back. She gasped, the last air in her lungs driven out by the impact.

“I’m faster, stronger, more powerful in every way, girl.” He tossed Rizumé to the ground, where she skid and bounced for a good few metres. “I’m not going to kill you… No, your road continues… This is not your end. Train. When we fight again, I will be stronger than I am even now.”

“Not… done…”

“You push your body further, and you will die.”

“Not… by a long… shot...”

The ground around Rizumé began to split and crack, green light shining from each crevice. Dust trickled upwards, then small pebbles, hovering in the air around Rizumé. Her voice began as a whisper, rising to a screaming crescendo.

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUULL---KIIIIIIIIIIIIIII---ULITMATE----BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM---VOLLEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!”

Rizumé pushed upward from the ground, her body still at a parallel to the floor. Her eyes shone with green light, and her curled fingers clutched crackling spheres of energy. She delivered a flurry of beams, which rained down around Jonbiro, tearing up the ground around him. He moved his four arms to block the blasts with his palms; smoke curled from his skin, and he turned one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, outstretching his two right arms, and stomping with his right foot. There was a moment of silence, and then a wave of golden ki shot forth, ripping a great gash in the tarmac, upending cars and vans, sending debris hurtling through the street. Rizumé crossed her arms, a hemispherical shield of green energy forming before her. Jonbiro’s energy impacted it, white lightning crackling forth.

“KI RELEASE: SPIRIT WAVE!”

The golden light pulsed with new energy, a shiver coursing along the disk’s circumference. There was an almighty explosion, buildings halved by the force of the attack. Rizumé was lost within a cloud of dust and debris, which bounced against her shield with low, thrumming notes. She could just make out a faint golden aura, wavering in the smoke.

Artyom held down the triggers of his submachineguns, and empty shell casings spewed out of the ejection ports like papers off a printing press. Gaius circled him, his twin cleavers held out behind him, a excited, wild look on his face.

"You're gonna run out of ammo soon!" he shouted. Artyom smiled, and threw down his twin weapons. Gaius swooped in like a hawk, driving his cleaver towards Artyom's torso. It ended the folds of his jacket, and sounded with a metallic clank. Gaius looked down in suprise, as Artyom drew the rest of his rocket launcher out from his jacket.

"H-how'd you fit that inside there?"

"It has powers!" replied Artyom, confidently. Gaius jumped backwards, smiling.

"You get your power from your clothing, eh? I've met punks like you before. I suppose I'll just have to cut it off you!"
Red seams appeared just below Gaius's elbows and knees, steaming with heat. Below them, the prosthetic limbs fell away, revealing blood-stained sword blades. Artom looked on in horror as Gaius flexed his muscles, and two more blades emerged from his shoulders, pointing upwards at 45 degree angles.

"You... replaced your limbs with sword blades?"

"Believe it!" shouted Gaius, jumping away from the pile of discarded prosthetics and towards Artyom, spinning wildly with his arms outstretched. "Those of us who serve Master Lordmillion will sacrifice any thing to see his perfect world come to fruition!"

"Perfect world?" asked Artyom, firing his rocket launcher towards Gaius. It impacted the spinning man and cancelled out his momentum, sending him falling to the floor below. He landed on all fours, and jumped to his feet. "Why do I get the suspicion that Mr. SilverHair McFashionSense's perfect world involves anything he doesn't find beautiful being destroyed?
"
"It's because you've grown up on fairy tales! Lordmillion desires nothing more than a world of peace and unity! That is his ideal beauty!" replied Gaius, launching himself towards Artyom.

"He just attacked Lucy!" replied Artyom, thumbing a button on the side of the launcher. Every rocket inside ignited at once, and the launcher itself shot off his shoulder, impacting Gaius. Gaius emerged from the fireball in a rapid spin. "How can a man claim to seek peace when all he sows is violence? He's a hypocrite!" shouted Artyom, rolling out of the way of Gaius's attack and drawing a single-action, anti-asteroid revolver and firing. The explosion sent Gaius flying forwards, and Artyom backwards.

"You're a daemon hunter in love with a daemon, and yet you would speak of hypocrisy?" replied Gaius, climbing to his feet raising the tips of his sword-arms to his forehead. He summoned his energy, closing his eyes for a moment before they shot open, glowing red. A huge broadsword blade shot forth from his forehead, angled slightly upwards.

"This horn is the horn that will sound the arrival of Lordmillion's absolute perfect universe!
ABSOLUTE-! GEENEESIIS-! UUUNIIICOOORRRNNNNNN-!!!!!!!!!!"

The broadsword blade split in half, falling across Gaius's forehead as a V-shaped crest. A second, golden blade emerged from between the two halves at the same angle , half as long as Gaius was tall. The blades on his arms and legs increased in size half as much again, and also adopted the same golden color as his horn. Artyom, sighed, and slid his coat off his shoulders, holding it away from him in one arm.

"Goodbye, magic space coat."

Artyom dropped the coat to the floor, and the transformation began. He screamed, nearly doubling over, as his muscles surged, his size and bulk increasing tremendously. His golden hair shot upwards, styling itself like so many lightning bolts reaching towards a single point. Lightning crackled across his body, a golden aura surrounding him.

He stood up to face Gaius, and adjusted his glasses with his little finger. As he did, they transformed into a pair of kamina-style glasses, the ends taking the forms of huge lightning bolts, folding backwards to follow his hair upwards. The aura surrounding his body suddenly changed from a golden one, to the same blue as his glasses.

"THE UNLIMITED POWER OF A FALLEN GOD SURGES THROUGH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING! UNBOUND FROM THE SHACKLES WHICH RESTRICTED ITS FLOW! ENERGIZED BY A BURNING DESIRE FOR VICTORY! UNLIMITED POWER HYPER TRANSFORMATION: HEAVENLY-PIERCING NEO-PROMETHEUS! BELIEVE IT!!!"

Gaius climbed to his feet, his body smoking, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He smiled, lowering his head, and kicked off at light speed.

Light engulfed the set. For a moment everything was still, and then the light began to fade, leaving the two fighters facing each other. Ike looked his opponent up and down. He was shorter than Ike but more muscular, clearly beyond the level of any human. He wore a black tank top and camouflage cargo pants, his bald head adorned with various piercings. Each hand held an automatic pistol and the belt around his waist held various pouches, all filled to the brim. Ike brought the zweihander up in front of him, the blade rippling blue and purple under the glaring lights of the set.

"So you're the famous Ike Harimata? You'll excuse me if I'm not impressed. Name's James. Now, you ready to die?"

James fired his pistols, ripping through Ike's suit. He fell to his knees, blood seeping through the shirt and dripping onto the floor. James walked over and kicked him to the floor, knocking the sword out of his grip and across the set. James levelled one of the pistols between Ike's eyes and grinned.

"I'm going to be honest, I knew you'd be all talk, but I never expected it to be as easy as this. This is the part where the credits roll on your pathetic life."

James fired the pistol, a short burst of fire. Ike looked up at him and grinned.

"You think this is over? That's what we in the business-"

His eyes glowed and the bullets slowed to a halt before exploding, shards of metal ricocheting across the room. Standing to meet James' gaze Ike fired a blast of energy sending him through wall of the set and out into the street, smashing against the opposite building.

"-call acting! This is the power of an actor, to go beyond what is real and wield power you can only imagine!"

Ike removed the blazer and shirt, revealing several blood packs strapped to his muscular chest. Stepping forwards he threw them to the floor one by one. As he stepped out of the building paparazzi seemed to materialize out of thin air, covering Harimata in the flashing light of the cameras. James squinted, blinded momentarily. When his vision returned Ike was hovering in front of him, sword in hand.

These are the fundamentals every star must live by- Action!"

He brought the zweihander down, the flat of his blade smashing against his opponent's head.

"Suspense!"

This time the strike was to the side, the edge of the blade cutting a deep gash into James' side.

"and most important of all-"

The third hit launched James into the air, Ike propelling himself upwards to follow James as he rose above the skyline.

"Romance!"

Ike shoved the zweihander through the tank top until the hilt was pressed against it. James gasped for breath, his eyes wide.

"Another step closer to my winning. Soon the entire universe will know the name Ike Harimata."

He withdrew the sword, letting the corpse fall to the ground.

Gaius recoiled from Artyom's finger pistol attack, his sword-legs sliding into the ground. He jumped upwards, as his eyes began to glow with energy.

“GENESIS OVERRIDE: NI TEN ICHI RYUUU-!!" He screamed, as a second pair of sword-equipped arms shot forth from from a point just behind his ribs. He spun towards Artyom, cackling.

"What the heck?"

"It's an ancient technique I learned from a travelling master, and further developed myself!"

Artyom sighed, and raised both of his finger pistols to Gaius. He fired, and twin bolts of lightning shot forth, enveloping his opponent; he spun out of control, and landed again, his body crackling with energy.

"All those swords won't do you any good if you can't even get close to me!" replied Artyom, as Zoe shot past, her jetpack flaring. She turned to see Ezra chasing her still, her arms stretched out behind her back, and gaining on her. Zoe spun to face Ezra, and brought her rifle up, firing. Ezra jumped, spun, and landed next to Zoe; her index fingers shot forth, hitting the safety and the magazine release on the gun. Zoe turned to elbow her, and Ezra slid her arms around Zoe's, and fingered the emergency ejection buttons on Zoe's helmet, just below the ears. The faceplate shot off, and Zoe managed to catch Ezra's little finger with her armored hand, a millimetre away from her forehead.

"Don't think that I've forgotten about your bodysnatching technique just because i've switched sides, Ezra."

Ezra shrugged. "It was worth a try." She slid backwards out of Zoe's grip. Zoe drew both of her energy blades. Ezra circled around her.

"I suppose there's no point trying to convince-"

"No point." interrupted Ezra, charging towards Zoe. Zoe placed her energy blades parallel to eachother and they merged together, the handle rotating downwards to become a pistol grip. She lifted the buster rifle up in one hand towards Ezra, and fired.

High above, Lordmillion and Lucy dueled. Beads of sweat trickled down Lucy's forehead, and her cheeks were red from exertion. Her grip on Kurimuzon was weak, and faltering. Lordmillion held his blade like it were a paintbrush. Lucy swung towards his head; Lordmillion calmy raised his blade to block it, without turning his view from the battle raging below. Lordmillion twisted the blade, and the resulting shockwave sent Lucy flying backwards.

"How distasteful. You have no comprehension of how to wield that weapon."

"Maybe I don't!" replied Lucy, grinning. "But I know how to wield this one!" she said, sliding her tanto out of her jacket and driving it down to her palm. It sounded with a clang of metal.

"I was, of course, prepared for your transformation technique." replied Lordmillion, the tip of his sword between Lucy's tanto and her palm. Lucy looked up in horror. He had moved at nearly light speed, yet his expression and breathing were perfectly calm - He literally hadn't broken a sweat. He turned his head rapidly to face her, raising his free arm in the air, his index finger pointing upwards.

"I tire of this battle." he said, as a single point of black energy surrounded with red lightning materialized at his fingertip. He jumped backwards from Lucy, and whispered;

"Starfire beam."

Lucy raised her nodachi and tanto in a cross to shield herself from the beam of black energy, but to no avail. It impacted her, shattering the tanto, and sending her flying backwards. She shot out of the crater, landing in the wasteland outside, scraping across the ground for atleast a hundred meters before she came to a stop. Her clothes were heavily torn, and blood streamed across her battered body. Lordmillion, again, covered the distance between them in an instant, coming to stand over her, Shiroryu at the ready.

Holbach flipped the bipod of his rifle down, and it fixed in place with a clack. He rested one arm on the white marble balcony in front of him, and flipped up a scope as long as the body of the rifle itself. The gun whirred as power systems clunked into place; a small LED display showed full charge. Pulling back his poncho over one shoulder, Holbach sighted toward the battleground below. Two fighters stood opposite each other; their unleashed ki billowing in swirling pastel colours around them. They were both women; one was Holbach’s strike team partner. He could just about make out the black crop of her hair, and the silver gauntlets inset with blue lights she wore. Holbach’s right arm was unadorned; his left was clad in a gauntlet of the same design as Gethanie’s. The gauntlet was plugged via a metal pipe into his rifle, a goliath of a weapon, with a massive cubic muzzle-break and straight pull lever.

“Ground, this is Sniper One, reporting in position, over.”

“Ground, this is Sniper Three, Reporting in position, over.”

“Sniper team, this is Ground. Wait for the signal. I want a nice clean shot.” Gethanie’s voice was crackling, transmitted through the bubble of energy swirling around her and her opponent.

“Sure thing, baby.” Holbach dropped the crumpled cigarette he had been holding between his thin lips. He flipped the visor of his headset down: a curved plate of titanium, with rotating green lenses over his left eye, and a fixed monocular lens over his right.

“Jesus Bach, control yourself,” Alec’s voice boomed over the comms.”This is a high priority mission.”

“Get ready, Sniper team.”

Through the lens of his visor, Holbach could see Gethanie sprint toward her opponent, who dropped back onto one leg, the other reaching upwards to meet Gethanie’s rush. Gethanie swept her gauntleted fists sideways, and her opponent spun, bringing her other leg around to connect with the back of Gethanie’s head. Gethanie ducked, and her opponent over shot the kick, becoming unbalanced. Gethanie outstretched her arms, and a bolt of blue ki shot forth, sending her opponent sprawling onto her back.
There was a concussive thud, and the woman’s head exploded in a shower of blood and dust, the round ripping straight through to come to rest in the dusty earth.

“Nice shot, Thr-“

Gethanie was cut short. The rolling sound of another shot echoed toward Alec. He stood from under his ghillie, and looked down at Gethanie, who was clutching her stomach, blood gushing from between her fingers. Looking up to Holbach’s position, he could see smoke curling from the barrel of one’s gun.
“Alec, sit down.” Holbach’s voice was cold.

“YOU- YOU SICK FUCK! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU, FUCKING ANIMAL!!”

Holbach trained his rifle on Three. He could see the huge man even without his monocular, his black skin shining with sweat, veins pulsing across his broad shoulders.
“You put this mission in jeopardy, Alec. HQ won’t have that.” Holbach squeezed the trigger, but Alec was gone. The wall that he had stood in front of moments before exploded in a shower of rubble and dust.

Holbach swivelled on his heel, bringing the butt of his rifle round to meet Alec’s punch. The titanium alloy rung with the force of the blow, but it gave Holbach enough time to decouple the rifle from his gauntlet. He threw the heavy gun in Alec’s face, who stumbled forward, colliding with the balcony wall as Holbach sidestepped. One brought his knee up into Three’s groin, and the bigger man groaned, but with a scream of anger turned, whipping his heavy, gauntleted fist backhand into Holbach’s jaw. One was sent flying, pirouetting through the air, before slamming into a marble wall, splintering the façade and revealing the concrete beneath.

“You loved her, Alec?” Holbach leered.

“FUCKING CUNT” Alec spat, rushing once more toward Holbach. The massive man slid to a halt, his eyes wide. A gargling emitted from his throat, a soft and wet sound. Blood trickled from the corner of his parted lips. Holbach withdrew the massive knife, and the corpse collapsed with a thud to the dusty floor.

One flipped down his poncho, then his visor. He picked up his rifle, resting it on one shoulder, and jumped from the balcony to the ground below.

Lucy's fingers clawed through the dirt as she tried to regain her footing. Lordmillion drove the base of Shiroryu into the back of her neck, and a spray of blood shot out of her mouth as she fell back down again.

"Your determination is admirable; your resilience, remarkable. But it shall gain you nothing; hand over the blade, and let this ugly affair end."

"There's nothing ugly about it." replied Lucy, smiling. "There's nothing ugly about it at all." A line of blood ran from her hairline to her right eyebrow, which she wiped with her wrist, exposed by her torn-away jacket sleeve. "You're just not capable of seeing the beauty in the situation."

Lordmillion raised an eyebrow. "Beauty? Do continue."

Lucy climbed her feet, and Lordmillion made no attempt to stop her, but held his blade at the ready. "Yeah! What you're seeing is a girl who's refusing to bow to destiny, even against all the odds. Even you've got to see the beauty in that situation."

"I don't." replied Lordmillion, bluntly.

"I suppose it's the kind of beauty that scrubs can't appreciate, then." replied Lucy, readying her blade. Lordmillion sighed, returning a strand of silver hair back to its original position.

"If you don't hand over the blade immediately, I will kill you."

"Try and give me a beautiful death, then."

Lucy swung towards Lordmillion. He raised his sword, holding it between his thumb and middle finger, as if dangling it, and blocked the attack. Lucy drew back, and came in from another angle; Lordmillion span the handle of the blade between his fingers like toying with a pencil, and blocked it again. Lucy circled around him, searching uselessly for a hole in his defense.

And then, everything clicked into place. Her eyes widened, and a smile formed on her face. She shot backwards from Lordmillion, and held her blade out infront of her, horizontally.

"You know more about my transformation technique than I do, don't you?"

Lordmillion turned to face her. His eye twitched.

"MM-LLLLEEEGAAAACY BREEAAAKEER!!"

The wave of energy resulting from Lordmillion's attack impacted Lucy, exploding around her in a nova of black and red energy. When it subsided, she stood there, her form transformed. Her naked body appeared to be made of energy; she was jet black, save for her glowing golden eyes and her red hair, which had grown to the base of her shoulder blade. an up-sized version of Kurimuzon rested in her right hand.

"The tanto wasn't the key to the transformation - it was the blood, wasn't it? That's why you refused to strike me. Any blade could've done it. Even Kurimuzon!" she said, charging towards Lordmillion. She drew Kurimuzon towards him, shattering his guard and sending him flying back. He quickly collected himself, and charged at her. Their swords clashed, each impact sending off waves of energy which tore up the surrounding landscape. Lucy darted around him, leaving afterimages indistinguishable from the real thing, red sparks spraying from the impacts of their blades.

[part 1/2]

Henry walked down the street, admiring the neon glare from all around him. The market district wasn't the most reputable part of the city, but to him it had always been the most beautiful. He had been wandering for almost an hour, and he was about to give up before he something in the distance caught his eye. Smiling he dashed forwards, shoving and ducking through the crowds. Eventually he caught up with the last person in some sort of queue, stretching down beyond the horizon. Henry laughed and walked alongside them, following the line of people around corners and along alleys for almost half an hour before he reached the head, which disappeared into an entirely unremarkable restaurant. Stepping inside he ordered “something with a lot of alcohol in it” and walked over to a table, setting down the glass, which was half full of a bright pink fluid.

“Hey Ike. How's the filming going?”

Ike looked up from the autograph he was signing and beamed at his friend. No sooner had the person left than another from the queue took his place and Ike signed the photograph he held outstretched without even turning to see what he was doing.

“We're ahead of schedule at the moment. We might even make a summer release if we don't get any more interruptions.”

Henry downed the drink and then immediately regretted it as the red hot liquid scalded the inside of his throat. For a moment everything was on fire, and then the heat faded and was replaced with the rather pleasant sensation of being mildly hammered.

“That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I heard about your fight today. Why the hell would you get involved with that tournament? You'll get yourself killed.”

Ike laughed, and (still signing autographs) ordered another drink.

“You're never going to make the most of your life unless you find your passions. Bringing yourself to your limits. Becoming a star. Meeting beautiful women.”

Ike looked up smiled at the waitress, who promptly rolled her eyes and placed the drink on the table.

“Well this joyride of yours is bringing the universe down around it. Hell, half the people in our office got laid off because the planet we sell a majority of our stock to isn't there any more. A whole planet just gone because some asshole can't aim his energy blasts properly. We need someone competent to run things, someone who can actually change something in this damn galaxy.”

Ike stood up, leaving a handful of bills. He walked towards the door and looked back.

“It sounds like you have something worth fighting for already.”

“And do you?”

Ike stopped, his hand at the door.

“I do. And I'm never going to stop.”

[part 2/2]

"Enough!" shouted Lordmillion, releasing a wave of sound powerful enough to vaporize the afterimages, and send Lucy tumbling backwards. His cool was broken. "I said I was going to give you a beautiful death, and I intend to keep my word!"

A blue glow surrounded Shiroryu. Lucy held Kurimuzon out, and a corresponding glow appeared on the blade. Lordmillion adjusted his hair with his free hand.

"Zoe! Artyom! Give me every last thing you've got!"

Artyom looked up, and smiled. He thrust his arms behind his back, and then towards Lucy. Power surged through him in the form of lightning. His glasses shattered as a bolt coursed towards Lucy. Zoe fired her buster rifle, and the fire select began to spin rapidly, from "Full Auto", to "2x Full Auto", to "4x Full Auto", eventually exploding, flying off the gun like a spent shell. She fired her jetpack at full thrust to counterract the recoil of the rifle. Lucy screamed as the power entered her, and Kurimuzon doubled in size. She turned to face Lordmillion, grinning.

"HEAVENLY PIERCING HYPER TRANSFORMATION: DESTINY'S A SLAVE TO THE SOUL'S DESIRE!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE A SOUL!"

"THEN I'LL TEAR THROUGH THE UNIVERSE'S AMBITIONS AND FORGE ONE FOR MYSELF WITH THIS ATTACK!! REEAALIITYY SHAATTEERRIING-!! HEEAAVEENLYY PIIEERCIINGG-!!"

"HEEEAAAA~VUNNNNLYY PIEERCIINGG-!!"

"DEEESTIIINYYY-!!"

"LEEGAAACYYY-!!"

"BREEEEAAAAAAAAA-"

A gout of blood shot out of Lucy's mouth, and Kurimuzon fell from her hand.

"Oops."

Lucy looked down, and saw the bloodstained blade emerging from between her breasts. Skye twisted the blade, and Lucy cried out, a second gout spraying from her mouth. Skye grabbed Lucy by the shoulder and drew her deeper onto the blade, until the crossguard was against her back. Lucy gasped, her eyes bloodshot and wide open. Skye drew Lucy's hair away from her neck, and began to kiss it, starting at her collarbone and travelling up to the underside of her jaw. She inhaled deeply, smiling, and whispered into Lucy's ear;

"Oh no. What a horrible way for you to have died."

Lordmillion looked on in momentary horror, then collected himself. He frowned, materialized Shiroryu's sheath around the blade, and placed it on his back, turning away from the sight.

"Don't draw this out too long, Skye."

Skye sighed, dissapointedly. "Very well." she said, tipping her blade forwards. Lucy slid off it, crumbling to the floor below, her fingers spasming. Skye began walking towards Lordmillion.

"N-no..."

"What's that, Bitch?" screamed Skye, her face contorted in outrage. She hurried back to lucy, flipped her onto her back, nd began to viciously stamp out her throat. "Dead! People! Do! Not! SPEAK! SHUT! THE! FUCK! UP! CUNT!!"

"SKYE!" shouted Lordmillion, his hand on the hilt of his blade. Skye collected herself, drawing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"She was rude to me, Vincent."

Artyom jumped up above Skye, tears streaming across his cheeks, Lucy's nodachi in his hands. He raised Kurimuzon above his head, and stopped in midair, Skye's claymore in his chest. He gasped, clawing uselessly at the blade, and then shot backwards, landing a few meters away. Zoe ran up to his body, crouching down in a defensive gesture, her buster rifle resting over her forearm and trained on Skye.  

"I'll blast your fucking head off!" she screamed.

"Oh, you want some too, Bitch?"

"Leave her, Skye." commanded Lordmillion. "We'll have no more to do with this bloody mess."

Lordmillion reached out, and drew Kurimuzon to him teleknetically. He turned to leave, Gaius and Ezra flanking him. Skye stood, inspecting her work, a grin on her face. Then, she too, turned and left. Zoe looked down it horror at Artyom, her mouth agape, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Jonbiro pulled the brim of his sugegasa lower, disturbing the smoke that curled from his pipe with one gnarled hand. The man that had caught his eye moved past, and Jonbiro’s muscles relaxed slightly. He recognised him as a fighter, although there was no legitimate form of identification. Jonbiro had lived long enough now to know that some were fighters and some were lovers just by the cast of their faces. That one had looked a mean bastard. Not that Jonbiro thought he couldn’t handle him. No, quite the opposite; he didn’t want to cause a stir. The fight on T-63 had destroyed an entire town, and he’d heard stories of an entire planet, blown to pieces, all because some asshole couldn’t aim his energy blasts properly. At the very least, he felt he owed his hosts the little peace he could provide them.

Jonbiro had left the girl comatose in the middle of the broken street they had battled in. The monk’s vast reserve of ki had far outlasted the younger fighter's, and he had managed to incapacitate her and leave the planet. He knew she’d come after him, if she survived that world, that was. There were some powerful fighters on the outer rim planets, recluses like himself that had gone into hermitage to train, devoting years of their lives to their martial art. Or, she’d be killed by some reckless mercenary with a wild trigger finger. Either way, he wouldn’t have to worry about her for some time.

The monk shrugged his straw raincoat looser. The heat of the day was finally touching the people in the streets. Jonbiro knew his way around the city instinctively, moving through the crowds with a ponderous deliberateness that belied his urgent message.


Holbach ducked into the doorway just as a train whipped past, illuminating the tunnel ahead of him with the bright interior lights of its carriages. He moved with the grace of a tiger stalking its prey. The tunnel ended, and Holbach found himself facing a slim, low slung machine. Two huge intake scoops flanked the low seat; the nose of the bike was all angles, the rear tapering, curving lines. The glass of the windshield was tinted a dark green; the bike itself was charcoal grey. Holbach clipped his rifle to the inside of the right intake scoop, and clambered onto the bike, igniting the engine with a push of a button on the vertical grips of the handlebars. There was a roar from the engine as 16 cylinders burst into life. The engine purred as Holbach flipped his visor over his eyes, and then growled as he throttled up, shooting off into the tunnels dark depths.

The solitary beam of the bike cut through the gloom with a neon phosphorescence, until its own light merged with that of the tunnel opening. Holbach shot from the tunnels mouth into a depressed railway, his poncho flapping behind him.  The sniper became aware of two other engines screaming alongside him. Looking over his left shoulder, the boxy form of a Wu-Sai interceptor bike shot from another tunnel mouth, gaining on him. Over his left, the mosquito-like form of a Wu-Sai helicopter shadowed him.

Holbach, grinning, gunned the engine, and the bike leapt forwards.

Six Months Later

Lucy awoke suddenly, gasping for breath. Her hand shot up, searching for her scarf, and wrapped its fingers around the piece of Artyom's coat which she wore around her neck. Her breathing calmed when she found it, but no smile formed on her face. She reached under the scarf, and ran her fingers along the scars on her neck. So, she thought, I was just having naive dreams again. She reached down, and ran a hand through Zoe's hair as she slept next to her, her arm spread across Lucy's belly. A faint smile formed on Lucy's face as she toyed with her fringe.

Peacemillion hung in space like a bullet, starlight reflecting off her sleek, silver hull. She resembled an up-sized B2 bomber, with the wings tapering upwards at the tips to hold two cylindrical warp nacelles. The two-deck high freighter had been retrofitted into a combat yacht; its cargo holds, which filled up the entirety of the wings of the ship, had been replaced with through-deck hangar bays for rapid launches. Her hull had been reinforced with tritanium alloys, and phaser strips had been added throughout the hull for perfect coverage. Two fixed position torpedo launchers had been installed either side of the cockpit, with a chamber system allowing them to load up to four torpedoes each for rapid firing; the same launchers had also been installed on the rear of the ship, for ending pursuits. Finally, a mass accelerator cannon had been installed, shooting out from beneath the cockpit and running through the length of the lower deck.

Lucy strolled barefooted through the corridor leading from her quarters to the cockpit. Her hands searched for pockets to hide in, but she wore nothing but a loose-fitting dark grey vest and her scarf, so they instead settled for folding across her chest. The bridge door slid open, and she tip-toed in. The cockpit resembled that of a passenger plane, only slightly larger, with room in the center to accommodate a captain's chair. She climbed up into it, drawing her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. The starlight filtering in through the forward window illuminated her face. Lucy's appearance had changed somewhat since Artyom's death; her hair was longer now, falling to the base of her shoulder blades, and, having being tutored in its application by Zoe, she had started making a habit of wearing makeup - of course, she wasn't wearing any now.

"Bad dreams, eh?"

Lucy turned, and saw Alistair standing in the doorway. The slender youth was outfitted in a a dark brown, high-collared leather jacket which reached the bottom of his ribcage, a black, tight-fitting shirt, dark brown jeans and black boots. He had lightly tanned skin, droopy, dark brown eyes, and a crooked grin on his handsome face, with a sharp jawline coated in the faintest hint of stubble. He had messy, neck-length black hair and held a cigarette in one hand, whilst the other hand was in his pocket.

"No. I... just don't like sleeping."

"Sleeping, eh? No, I've never been much of a fan of it myself. Except during the day, of course!" he said, raising his cigarette to his mouth.

"I know." said Lucy. "You've almost gotten us killed before with your "combat naps", you tub-scrub."

"Only almost." replied Alistair, with a smile.  "It's my style, you see. Lull the enemy into a false sense of security by sleeping so softly, and then when they think they've got the drop on me, wazzam! Alistair Style!" he said, lowering his cigarette. "Only, Sometimes I just forget to do the 'Alistair Style' bit, that's all."

Lucy smiled. Alistair Kai had an enthusiasm about him which could lift the souls of even a daemon, who by all rights shouldn't have a soul.

The console embedded into the arm rest of the captain's chair flickered into life, a communication notification appearing on the touch-screen interface. Lucy looked at it with concern, opening it with a press of her little finger; It was a text transmission, one-hundred and seventeen characters in length, and in English. She scanned the message, her brow furrowing. By the time she finished, Alistair's soul-lifting had been negated.

"Do you know how to fly this ship?" she asked.

Pulling the curtain over his head, Jonbiro ducked into the dimly lit room. In one corner there was a yellowed wall light, casting a warm glow through the smoke-thick air. Against the far wall was a desk and chair, and against the left wall, a bed.  A man lay upon thick quilts, a newspaper open across his chest. His eyes were closed in sleep behind a pair of wire rimmed glasses that perched on his long nose. His thin face was framed by a curly mop of brown hair. He looked to be about 35, but Jonbiro knew that he was older by twenty years or so. Anti-aging treatments. Perks of the job.

Jonbiro tapped his pipe against the doorframe, and the man stirred, before tipping himself frantically from the bed. He stood, smoothing his shirt and adjusting his glasses.

“Ah, oh, er-sorry I was. You see, I haven’t. Right. Hello.” The man stammered nervously over his words before swallowing the last greeting.

“Hello. You are Mr. Geroad, I presume?”

“That’d be me. You- you must be Mataki-san. Please, have a seat.” He pulled the chair from under the desk, swivelling it to face the bed, where he then perched himself.

“That won’t be necessary. I have but one thing to tell you. The girl is well. She is stronger than you could ever have imagined. You need never contact her.”

“I-I-Thank you. Thank you.” Geroad sighed. “I Suppose I don’t deserve any more than that.”

“You’re right. You don’t.”

Jonbiro turned to leave, but he felt Geroad’s slender fingers grip his forearm.

“I can’t thank you enough. I care- honest to god, I care so much.”

“You should have cared back then. You didn’t. All you cared about was making some twisted corruption of life.”

Jonbiro ducked back through the curtain into the corridor outside, placed the pipe back in his mouth, and tipped the brim of his hat lower over his eyes.


Holbach thumbed a switch on his controls, and the bike dropped lower into the suspension. He swung around a slinging corner, leaning at a hair-raising angle, and then thumbed the same control. The suspension  raised again, and Holbach felt the torque return, feeling every bump in the tarmac under him. The biker chasing him drew alongside him. Looking across, he could make out a glass faceplate and black carapace armour similar to his own. The slightest hint of a breast showed In the fit of the carbon plating.

Holbach grinned and nodded at the masked rider. The rider raised a pistol with a barrel diameter the size of his eye. She fired three times- the first round missed entirely, and there was a distant explosion. The second round clipped the rear wheel of Holbach’s bike, but it merely scraped the rubber away before exploding in the concrete under them. The third hit Holbach’s right arm, and the resulting blast threw his arm away from the controls. The bike veered left, hard, the metal of the intake scoop sparking from the tarmac. Holbach gritted his teeth and surveyed the damage. The blast had mangled the right-front of his bike, buckling the metal and peeling the paint back to reveal the carbon fibre beneath.

Holbach cut the engines, and the intake scoops slid back into their inactive positions. Banking left, he kicked against the other biker hard, and she wobbled as she tried to regain her balance. Holbach drew his leg back for another kick, but a hail of rounds tore up the ground in the space between the bikers. Banking right, Holbach looked up to see the helicopter hovering over them, the muzzle of its chin gun glowing cherry red. Holbach gunned the engines of his bike again, and the intake scoops slid forward just in time to catch a hail of lead from the other biker’s submachine gun. The spent rounds rattled as they fell into the debris catchers in the scoops. He had to find a way of dealing with one of the two; looking to his right, he saw a service tunnel, and banked hard toward it, twin turbo chattering as he shifted down gears.

"These are a special kind of assault rifle designed specifically for fighting in nightclubs." said Zoe, holding the bullpup infront of her. "They fire fin-stabilized flechette rounds, which aren't affected by sound waves as they travel through the air, and the rounds are made of a special alloy which reacts with bass to produce an EMP charge, allowing them to deactivate sound equipment."

"Where'd you find them?" asked Alistair.

"A joke shop."

The trio entered the club. It was a huge, red station, which loomed above the planet it orbited like an asteroid poised to drop. Inside, the noise, which was produced by two robots sitting behind a vast array of DJing equipment, was nearly unbearable. Lucy, who wore her old outfit, minus the sweater vest and with her old scarf replaced by her new one, gestured to the roof.

"He'll be on the top floor."

"How do you know?" asked Zoe.

"When are guys like him ever not?"

Sure enough, he was. Sitting in a circular booth, with his slender legs resting upon the glass table before him, Marcus was the the height of sleaze. He wore a tie-less black suit, with his shirt hanging shirt open, and had a smarmy look on his brown face, which was coated in a light amount of greasy stubble. His dark brown hair was styled into thin, neck-length dreadlocks. In one hand he held a small glass of whiskey, and in the other he held a cigarette.

"And who might this be?" asked Alistair. Marcus grinned.

"I'm-"

"A conman, a smooth-talker, and a reviler in all things corrupt and wrong, who's never done an honest act or said an honest word. Entirely undeserving of any amount of trust or faith, and a certified scrub." interjected Lucy, frowning.

"Hey, Dad." said Zoe, grinning. Marcus Keeper looked up, and smiled. Lucy looked to Zoe in shock, then back at Marcus, then back to Zoe, and finally back to Marcus. She sighed, and defeatedly sat down in the booth, solemnly pouring herself a glass from the bottle of whiskey sat in the center of the table. She placed her feet up onto the table, tossed her head back, and downed the glass.

"Hey, kiddo. Is your mom here?"

"Nope."

"Oh, good." he replied, breathing a sigh of relief. He looked up at Alistair. "But to answer your question, I'm Marcus Keeper - the famed independent, interplanetary businessman. Anything you need - I can get it for you, at the best price. Plus a little commission, of course." he said, winking sleazily. He finished his drink, and held the glass out to Lucy. "Be a good girl and pour me another drink, would you?"

Lucy sat, pouting, with her arms folded. Her eyes regarded Marcus coldly through her messy fringe.  "Did you just ask a physical manifestation of all the evil and chaos in the universe to pour you a drink?"

"I married one; I'm used to making such requests."

Lucy raised her fist menacingly, and Zoe grabbed it, gently forcing it back down to her chest. Zoe lifted up the bottle and poured it into Marcus's glass, and he withdrew it.

"Thanks, Kiddo. Now, on to business. It's the same story as usual; you owe me, you do a favor for me, you no longer owe me."

"And what sort of favor might you have in mind?" asked Lucy, scowling. Marcus sat upwards, placing his drink on the table, and dabbing his cigarette on the ashtray.

"There's a man in the eastern quadrant of the galaxy - a competitor, like you - and he's been making life hell for me and my business partners. He's already destroyed one planet, and torn half a dozen orbital solar rings to shit. My partners have lost trillions in damage caused by his reckless attacks. Everyone who's had the courage to fight him has been annihilated."

"And you want us to fight him?" asked Alistair. "If so - you're really not going the right way about selling this job to us as a wise idea. I also seriously doubt Lucy's in enough debt to you to make this a fair trade."

"Oh, it's a fair trade alright. You see, eyewitness accounts - what few of them there are - describe him as approximately six foot tall, wearing a silver mask. He fights using a black-bladed, two-handed sword... and has the ability to assume a daemonic form in combat." he said, with a grin. He looked over to Lucy. "Sounds like someone you'd be interested in having a chat with, don't you think?"

"Citizens. If you are not participating in the tournament, you have three hours to evacuate. Anyone left will be eliminated."

The message was everywhere. No-one knew how but it just kept playing over and over, every phone, every billboard, every television screen. There were nearly twenty million people in the sprawling city and once it would have taken days to evacuate them all, but living through the tournament meant preparing. If you wanted to survive the chaos, you learned to fight incredibly well, or run incredibly quickly. It took barely two hours for twenty million people to choose the latter. There were still thousands remaining however. Some felt no need to fight on someone else's terms and fortified themselves. Some saw the opportunity and attacked, minor battles springing out all over the city. Most simply waited, trying to ready themselves to fight for the lives.

In what seemed like a matter of minutes, three hours were up.

Parker watched the entrance. He'd been one of the first to arrive at the town hall, it being the most secure building in the city. There were nearly a hundred of them in here now, all rushing to secure the various points of entry. He knew he couldn't trust any of them, but whoever just called out the entire city for a brawl was either damn powerful or monumentally stupid. He hoped the latter, but he knew that wasn't in the case. There was something hanging in the air, filling up his lungs. He looked out of the window at the rain, pouring down on the concrete steps. It wasn't the worst day to die.

Cursing the silence he turned, only to freeze. Something was moving along the corridor. He raised his bow, his retinal implant already plotting the flight path.

"Put that damn thing down! It's me."

Vaguely recognising the idiot Parker lowered the bow, keeping it drawn.

"The hell are you doing here? This is my patrol, I thought you were stationed near the back"

The figure stopped and grinned. He was pretty tall and muscular, but for tournament standards he'd probably be considered scrawny. He barely seemed able to lift the massive gun he dragged along behind him. From this distance Parker couldn't make out much about it apart from the fact that it appeared to be covered with lights and readouts. Under the present conditions, knowing he had a large gun on his side was about as reassuring as anything was going to get.

"Do I look like the kind of guy that follows orders?"

To be fair, he didn't. Damn near covered in tattoos and piercings, he looked like the sort of guy who spent half his life telling society to fuck off, then spent a small fortune mutilating himself just in case it didn't get the message.

"You fucking idiot. If you're not at your post then he could get in and we wouldn't even know!"

"How do you know it's a he? Maybe we're all waiting on a lovely little lady, that sounded like voice editing to me."

Despite the distance, the stranger could see Parker was in no mood for joking around.

"I found a couple of turrets, set 'em up around the perimeter. Now would you relax? It's just some grandstanding idiot. We're completely-"

Something crashed into his side, sending them both flying down a side passage. For half a second there was complete and utter silence, and then a sickening crunch. Parker ran forwards and flattened against the wall next to the passage. Breathing in he looked down it, but the lights were dimming rapidly, and he barely caught a silhouette slumped at the other end of the corridor before they shut down completely. It took a few seconds, but eventually a strip of light appeared on the ceiling, signalling that the emergency generators were working. Parker realised that he had been holding his breath and allowed himself to relax, if only for a moment. Stepping forwards again he realised that there was something at the end of the corner, sat against the wall, the lights too dim to make out what exactly. He raised the bow and moved forwards, only to have his fears confirmed. It was the corpse of the other fighter, his spine snapped by the impact, blood dyeing the wall red. Whoever had hit him had to be fast, it would have only had a few metres to build up the speed needed to cause so much damage. There was so little light that Parker knelt down to inspect the body closer, only to hear a footstep behind him.

He raised the bow, swivelling, but his opponent was ready to meet him, grabbing the weapon and smashing it against the wall, the force damaging it beyond repair. Parker struck out at the silhouette, his fist completely missing its target, something smashing into his side hard enough to crack his armour and wind him. He cursed and fell backwards, kicking his legs out but his opponent caught them and wrenched them from their sockets. Parker screamed, his suit injecting him with a multitude of painkillers. The figure stood over him and bent down, pressing a hand against Parker's chest. Slowly applying more and more pressure. The plating of the high-tech armour cracked, as did his ribcage. Parker tried to yell for help but one of the ribs had pierced his lung. His hand found the dead man's gun and he felt along for the trigger, desperately fighting the consuming urge to black out. He found it, wrapping his finger round it, hoping that whatever this gun was, it was powerful enough to end them both. He tried to squeeze but the figure place a foot on his arm, crushing it. As he drifted out of conciousness Parker though he heard his opponent say something before it ruptured his chest cavity, finally killing him.

Lucy strolled through the destroyed city, her longcoat and hair flapping around behind her. Ash, like snow, fluttered through burned-out streets, settling on what remained. The sky above was a dull, cloudy grey, and there was a stiffness in the air that suggested rain. Her eyes darted left and right, but there was no movement save for the ash gently shifting as the wind rushed over it.

"Lucifer. Light-bringer, in the old tongue. A misunderstood name for a misunderstood character."

Lucy turned, drawing her katana out of its sheath. The blade was made of folded tritanium in a Soshu Kitae style, though the cutting edge was forged from the shards of Lucy's shattered tanto. The handle contained a power module connected to a cell emitter in the cross-guard, which could sheath the blade in a field of plasma perfect for defeating energy shields, or the doors of trade federation warships. A strip of Artyom's coat was wrapped around Avenger's handle.

"How the hell do you know my name?" asked Lucy, clenching her teeth, and holding her blade up at the man.  He stood at the top of the central tower of the city, looming high above her, his features indistinguishable. Harsh sunlight filtered down past him, and onto Lucy.

"I don't. She does."

Lucy turned, as a woman stepped from a burned-out garage towards her. She wore black carapace armor, and her green hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. She had a blank, uncaring expression on her face, and an orange circle was seemingly burned into her forehead.

"She was a combat saleswoman for KoreTech, assigned to the mercenary regiment on the planet that I destroyed. Before that, she was present when you interrupted Marcus Keeper's business deal to complain that the notes he had given you were fake. That's where she heard your name for the first time."

"I don't get it."

"She knows, therefore I know. They know, therefore I know."

Lucy turned, as more people emerged from the ruins of the city. Their appearances varied; men, women, fighters and civilians, some carrying weapons and some wearing armor, various different races, all with the same orange circle on their foreheads. They were universally silent, with the same blank, emotionless expression, and they numbered in the thousands.

"...Who the hell are you?" asked Lucy, her voice quavering with fear.

"I am a gift to a universe not currently aware of the problem to which I am the solution..." he replied, jumping forwards from the building. His black robes whipped and flayed about as he descended, landing in front of Lucy with a shockwave that sent her sliding back. "...And you may call me Malak Al-Maut."

Malak stood up. He wore thick black robes interspersed with plates of silver armor, with two huge, triangular shoulder pauldrons, worn under his robes, which gave him the impression of having unrealistically wide shoulders. Under his hood sat his silver mask; it resembled a human face, with a simple, neutral expression, and had the same orange ring on its forehead as Malak's followers did. He towered over Lucy, the gargantuan appearance of his body amplified by his pauldrons.

Lucy readied her sword, and Malak punched it out of her hand, his other hand suddenly grasping her forehead. She struggled as he lifted her into the air, leveling her head with his.

"Do not try and fight this power. Accept it, and let it master your destiny - then, you shall finally find peace." he said, as Lucy's forehead began to smoke.

Holbach ripped his rifle from its cradle, thumbing the fire select and activating shot stabilisation. The other biker was gaining on him, fast. He geared down, pulling ahead by a few feet, and then geared up quickly, twice, and the bike shuddered as the twin turbo spun up. Holbach could make out the exit to the tunnel, an arch of white light.

There was a low hum, and then the silhouette of the helicopter blocked that white light, and there was a flash of the nose autocannon. Masonry exploded into the air in front of Holbach, and he ducked lower into the seat. He thumbed a switch on the bike’s handlebars; the intake scoops rotated up on their racks, turning so that the fluted fronts now face the rear. Another flick of a switch ignited the jet engines, and the bike shot forward, throwing a wave of hot gas back toward the other rider. The helicopter peeled away from the entrance, but it was too late; the bike shot from the lip of the tunnel into open air, where it hung momentarily. In that moment, Holbach squeezed the trigger. There was a rolling burst of fire, and the helicopter was ripped to shreds. Holbach landed with a screech of tires, the muzzle of his rifle glowing cherry red. The other biker shot from the tunnel mouth, skidding to halt metres away from him. She stepped off of the machine as its engine died away, and ripped her helmet off. Holbach recognized her as Malasari, a race of humanoids from a Sector-60B, which Holbach had visited for a short time whilst hunting down a rogue drug baron. She had near-black purple skin, which was interrupted by irregular lighter purple stripes, like that of a chameleon. Four glistening black eyes graced her upper face, and a set of startlingly human lips her lower face. Her scalp was bear but for a swirling neon green tattoo, which seemed to extend down her spine, or at least her neck, which disappeared into the black carapace armour she wore. On one curved hip sat her revolver, .77, and on the other hip sat a compact machine pistol. Her hands were gloved in neon green steel gauntlets.

She walked languidly over to Holbach, who had tucked a cigarette between his thin lips. She pinched the end with her thumb and fore-finger, and the cigarette burst into flame. Holbach took one long drag, exhaled through his nostrils, and then let the butt drop. The Malasari brought both of her fists up uder his chin, lifting him from the bike, two metres in the air, and then she jumped and kicked him, and he shot through the air to come to rest in a crater in the wall of the train-track.

Holbach stepped from the crater nonchalantly, placed another cigarette between his lips, and flipped his poncho up, over one shoulder.

“Wanna play, bitch? Go find someone that won’t eat you alive.”

The Malasari replied in a slightly hesitant tone. “I am Guri Arang, and I have been assigned with your destruction.”

“Wu-Sai send you?” Holbach lit the cigarette with a click of his gloved hand, which sprayed sparks onto the frayed end of the smoke.

“I thought it was obvious,” Arang replied, “given that we ran you down so quickly.”

“Baby- I wasn’t running.”

Holbach darted across the open space between them, launching himself into the air at the last moment. Arang dodged lazily to the left, and his booted foot whipped past her cheek. She brought her hands up again, swinging them hammer-like toward the back of Holbach’s head, but he ducked, grabbing her arms as they careened over his head. He shot one boot back into her knee, and she twisted, dropping her hip toward the floor. Holbach spun, pulling her arms, yanking her off balance. She flipped, using Holbach’s grip as an anchor, kicking him in the face with the soles of her heavy boots before springing away.

“Stand still so I can kill you.” Holbach reached for the bowie knife strapped to his leg, but a beam of energy lashed against his hand. The tattoo on Arang’s head glowed brightly as she brought her fists around her head, as though performing an exaggerated golf-swing, and a beam of energy lanced toward Holbach. He tried to dodge, but Arang whipped her fists left, and the beam collided with him. He spun as he fell, a smoking crater in his armour. Arang walked over to his body, holding her fists in a boxing stance, each hand glowing with neon green light. She rolled him over onto his back, and was thrown into the air, a beam of blue energy lancing through her chest. Black blood sprayed from the wound, evaporated instantly by the heat of Holbach’s blast. He lay on his back, his silver gauntlet glowing with heat as it poured energy toward the Malasari. The beam stopped, and Arang’s body hung for a second, motionless, before dropping heavily to the tarmac below.

Malak clenched his hand tighter around Lucy's head. She ground her teeth, and clawed at his hands, but they were fully protected behind massive silver gauntlets.

"Why do you fight? I can feel all your pain and all your anguish. Submit it to me, and accept peace instead!"

"I don't... quite know what the hell you're on about... but I like my pain!" she said, with a grin.

"You enjoy living with the guilt of Artyom's death?"

Lucy dragged her thumb along her canine, and exploded in a ball of fire, sending Malak sliding backwards, shielding his face with his gauntlets. Lucy stood in her Shadow Avatar form, surrounded by a red aura, and extremely pissed off.

"Don't ever speak his name, you gutter-cunt! YOU AREN'T WORTHY OF UTTERING IT!" she screamed, charging towards Malak. He reached under his shoulder pauldrons, and withdrew the nodachis tucked away underneath on either side, drawing them across his body. Lucy was hit by the attack, and went flying backwards, but regained her form mid-air. Malak held the bases of the nodachis together, with the blades facing opposite directions, and they connected, becoming one weapon. He spun it around himself, readying it. Lucy summoned Avenger towards her, grasping it.

"I'm impressed that you've manage to ascend beyond a mere physical transformation in so little time."

"I couldn't give less of a shit." replied Lucy, charging towards Malak. She drew her blade towards his gut; he lowered his blade to block it, and she flew up over his block, driving the point of her blade towards the back of his neck. He flung his blade behind his back, the tip of his weapon knocking Lucy's out of the way. She landed behind him, and swung horizontally; he deflected the attack with one half of his weapon, and then spun it, the other end narrowly missing her neck. She shot backwards, hovering in midair, and raised her arm upwards.

"STARFIRE BEAM!"

The beam shot forwards, obliterating the entire street, engulfing it in dark fire. Malak shot up from the flame, spinning, with his weapon split into its two original halves. Lucy unleashed a barrage of starfire beams, and he spun between them, closing on her. She rapidly drew up avenger in time to block his blades, which closed in on her from either side like those of a scissor. Malak kicked backwards from her, and raised his open palm to the sky above.

"FIINIISH RAAIISEER!!"

The cloud opened, and a single point of light shot down into Malak's palm. It expanded in diameter rapidly, becoming five times his size, before he threw it down at Lucy. She shot downwards into the base of the central building, which was levelled by the resulting explosion, along with the rest of the of the city. A few seconds later, Lucy shot up from the cloud of smoke and debris, Avenger held behind her, shining red with energy.

"BELIEVE IT, FUCKER! I COULD PERFORM THIS FUCKING ATTACK WITH MY BARE HANDS AT THIS POINT!! HEEEAAAVEEENLYYY PIIIEERCIIINGG-!! DEESTIINYYYY-!! BREEAAAKEEERRR-!!!"

Malak crossed his swords in attempt to block the attack. The red wave hit him, and he shot upwards, his blades flying out of his hands, his body glowing with heat as he exited the atmosphere. Lucy chased him upwards, a thunderous boom sounding throughout the sky as she shattered the speed of sound, a glowing vapor cone trailing behind her, lightning crackling across its surface. There was a wild, fiery glint in her eye, and her grin stretched a bit too wide for comfort.