Marvelous! Simply marvelous!
Explosions, gunfire and the sounds of metal clashing echoed throughout the building. They rumbled and shook the house with a melodious tune. It was so beautiful, Tsubasa could weep. In fact, Tsubasa had to a wipe a tear as she flipped backwards, dodging the blade as it came for her head.
"Come on, is that all you got?" Tsubasa laughed loudly as she dodged Honoka's attacks.
Honoka didn't respond, but smiled in return as she thrust her sword forward.
Tsubasa spotted a broken wooden pillar and kicked it into the air and towards Honoka, effectively getting it stuck on the blade.
That'll hold her for a few seconds.
"Tsubasa, you done playing yet? We're already in the living room."
Tsubasa sighed. Leave it to her teammates to get things done as quickly as possible. All work and no play. "Yeah, I'll be right there."
Tsubasa turned to the ginger haired girl who was currently trying to pull her sword out of the wood, "I'm terribly sorry to cut our dance short, but I really have to meet up with my teammates now or else Erena will kill me before you will." Just as she took one step out the door, her neck prickled with anticipation and she turned around to see the wooden plank coming down at her like a hammer. Tsubasa rolled forward missing it as it crashed into the floor.
Impressed, she watched as Honoka cleanly sliced the pillar in two, freeing her sword from the wood. Tsubasa whistled, "That's a nice sword you got there to be able to do that. That wood is practically as hard as steel."
Honoka beamed with pride, "I know, right? My dad made it for me."
They stared at each other, watching each other before deciding their next move. Tsubasa scanned the room and looked at the wooden pillar Honoka had smashed into the floor. She turned her attention back to the girl, "Hey, Kousaka-san right?"
"Yup, that's me!"
"How about a little free fall?"
Honoka tilted her head in confusion, "Fu-ree..fa-ru?"
Tsubasa smirked, "Anju. Erena. I'll be down in ten seconds. Just be sure to cover your heads."
"What crazy idea have you got in your head now!?"
Tsubasa laughed, "You'll see."
For the first time since the battle began, Tsubasa unsheathed her katana and moved into an offensive stance. She stared Honoka down and smiled in amusement that Honoka still did not switch into a defensive one. Honoka broke the standstill first, lunging towards Tsubasa and aimed her blade at Tsubasa's legs. Tsubasa leaped forward, dodging the attack and kicked off of Honoka's back. Flipping in the air, she spotted her target. Gripping her sword tightly, she raised it above her head...and tapped the hilt against the pillar. Tsubasa then sheathed her blade and stood on top of the wood.
All was quiet for a second until the whole room began to tremble. With a loud crack, the entire floor crumbled and the two girls fell, one laughing maniacally with her arms on her hips the entire 20 stories down.
With a wide smile on her face, Tsubasa jumped from the pile of rubble and brushed the dust off her shoulders. Man that felt good.
"I'm here~! Ouch!" Rubbing her forehead, Tsubasa pouted at the person who threw the rock. "What was that for?"
"For almost getting us killed."
"If a crashing building is enough to kill you guys, I might need to find new teammates."
Erena rolled her eyes, while Anju just looked at her squabbling teammates with an amused smile.
The joyous (?) reunion was cut short when a bullet flew by their faces. The three girls dashed for cover in the study room and locked the steel door.
Tsubasa looked at her teammates, a serious expression on her face. "Okay so what's been going on down here?"
"From what we've seen so far, two long range fighters. One uses a variety of arrows, another seems to use ammunition."
Tsubasa nodded. With the technological advancement of shields and bulletproof vests, guns were fair game and allowed among the more traditional weapons. "How about you Anju?"
"Well, they counted up to nine for their team right? So far we know of three. We haven't encountered any of them besides your fight upstairs. But I have a feeling that will change soon...I'd say three minutes."
As soon as Anju finished her sentence, something slammed against the door, shaking the room. The ceiling cracked and small pieces of debris fell to the floor.
Tsubasa grinned. Her body trembled as the adrenaline coursed through her body. Anju's instincts never let her down before. She stood and faced the door."Let's show them what A-RISE is all about."
The room shook again. Another slam against the door.
Erena cringed. "Please don't start singing the anthem you made for us. It's terrible."
Tsubasa pouted. "What!? I spent a long time coming up with the lyrics for it."
"It sounds like a Power Rangers opening theme song. Come on, back me up here Anju. I know you feel the same way."
Anju sheepishly rubbed the back of her head "It is a little embarrassing."
Tsubasa looked at Anju, deeply hurt. "How could you guys?"
More debris rained on them as the room quaked. The steel door began to cave in. One more hit and it would be knocked down.
The other two members stood up, their hands on their katanas.
"Okay no song, but how about a toast?" Tsubasa held her sword by the sheath, pointing the hilt towards her teammates.
The two looked at their leader with amused smiles. "Don't people usually touch the blades together for these things?"
Tsubasa shrugged. "We're not people. We're A-RISE."
Anju and Erena chuckled and held out their own swords. They stood proudly, facing their leader.
"To victory!"
"To victory!"
They bumped hilts and the door crashed down.
A petite, pigtailed girl with glimmering ruby eyes appeared from behind the dust, dragging a chained mace as large as her body behind her. She smirked.
"NICO NICO NII, BITCHES."
A/N: I hope you guys enjoy dorky, yet competent Tsubasa because we will be seeing a lot more of her haha. I had intended to reveal all of μ's in this chapter, but I liked how it ended here. NICO! It's okay, they'll all show up in the next chapter. I promise :)
'Til next time!