Elemental Furies 2.0 Chapter 4: Reapers Daughter vs. Apiphone

After the shadows had completely restrained Pyra, Mercy slowly walked up to her in a manner similar that a wolf might stalk its wounded prey. It was blatantly obvious to Pyra that Mercy was toying with her and wanted to instill as much fear in her as possible. As Mercy finally got close to her she stopped just inches from her face.

Mercy looked Pyra up and down, a smirk that was a mixture of sadistic satisfaction and almost one of pleasure "So…it looks like this is where our sweet, but short-lived, friendship will end. It really is a pity. You were the one person I had hoped to not have to kill." Pyra struggled to escape the iron grip of the shadowy chains that held her in place "You know…bondage IS one of my turn on's… but unfortunately…being killed isn't!" Mercy laughed "You really are an adorable one. I like your sense of humour. No matter your circumstances you defiantly stand up to your opponents. However…" Mercy reached down to the small bag she had been carrying moments before she had been knocked to the ground by Pyra. She pulled out a can of hair spray in one hand and a box of matches in the other "…let's see how defiant you are with this. You said you had fear issues when it came to fire if I remember correctly, didn't you? I'd meant to save this for someone else, but you've become too much of a risk to me to keep letting you live."

Upon seeing the items in Mercy's hands Pyra immediately began to shake uncontrollably as a look of instant terror took to her face. She knew exactly what Mercy planned to do with them. Mercy began to spray Pyra down with the hairspray and as she continued her sadistic mental torture "Ahhh. Now there's the face I wanted to see. Do you know what it is that makes hairspray so flammable? It's the ethanol and butanol. Due to their chemical make-up, it makes it not only flammable, but also explosive."

Pyra struggled desperately to get away, tears welling up in her eyes "Stop! Please! Don't do this! I won't tell anyone! Just please stop!" as Pyra spoke those words suddenly Mercy stopped. The crazed grin fled from her face, the sadistic words came to a halt, and her spraying of Pyra down came to a halt. Mercy's face actually took on expression of almost sadness and longing "'Stop. Don't do this. Just please stop.'" She looked back up at Pyra with a soft smile, one of almost understanding "I said those words too once. I begged, I pleaded, I shouted, I cried. Every day I would say the same thing. 'Don't do this! Please stop! I'll do anything! Just please, stop!'"

It was then that Pyra got one of the biggest shocks of her life when Mercy, in broad daylight, completely stripped down in front of her and her look of understanding quickly turned to one of anger as she grabbed Pyra by the throat "But what did it get me?! Nothing! All it got me were these scars! I begged for all my pain, all my suffering, all the torture, all the cruelty to end every fucking day! And all it got me was more! Fuck you and your pleas for pity! If I had to suffer through it for years, what do you have to bitch about? You lived a nice comfy life, while a nice life for me was not having to resort to fucking cannibalism; which, for the record, I had to occasionally!"

Pyra couldn't believe what she was seeing; Mercy's entire body from her neck down to her toes were covered in brutal scars of every shape and size. Her thoughts were racing over what could have caused the scars, over what it was that Mercy was talking about, and, most importantly, how she was going to avoid being burnt alive. It was then that Apiphone spoke to Pyra in a soothing voice "Don't worry. I told you I would protect you did I not? Everything will be fine. Just calm yourself." Pyra had no idea what Apiphone was talking about and, in all honesty, she didn't really care. Right now all she could think about is being trapped and about to be burnt alive. The terror in her was enormous and she knew she had no means of escape.

Mercy got dressed again, caring little of anyone who may have seen her, and opened the match box "I'm sorry Pyra…but this is where our friendship ends. I don't say this often but…I truly did cherish that small amount of time spent together. But as they say, all good things must come to an end." Pyras terror had now gotten the best of her and she was now crying uncontrollably as Mercy lit the match "Please…I don't want to die! I don't…want to die…like my family did!"

Mercy was silent for a moment as the match slowly burned. A few seconds later however, a look of pure psychotic rage took to Mercy's face and a look of pure horror came to Pyras as Mercy cried out "AT LEAST YOU HAD A FUCKING FAMILY!" she then tossed the match at Pyra and it instantly ignited the incredibly flammable chemicals of the hairspray, completely covering Pyra in flames.

Pyra screamed in a mixture of terror and agony as the flames ignited and began to consume her; inch bye agonizing inch. Amidst this though, she could still hear the comforting voice of Apiphone "Pyra, be still. This is a blessing. Not a curse. This foolish girl has played right into our hands. Instead of handing you your death sentence, she has instead, unknowingly, given herself her own." Pyra couldn't answer her however due to being completely consumed by sheer terror and pain

Mercy just watched with sadistic satisfaction as Pyra screamed in agony. She smirked to herself "How does it feel? Painful isn't it? Now imagine that every single day, for years on end. Never stopping. Just be glad you only have to go through it once. The shadows then let Pyra down and Mercy began to walk away, convinced that her work was done and had silenced yet another pesky witness.

She stopped however when, after walking a few feet, she heard Pyras voice behind her. However, it sounded more cool, mature, and cold. Mercy turned to inspect the source of the voice and was shocked when she saw Pyra, still completely engulfed in flames, standing before her. Mercy could tell that it was Pyra who was speaking to her, but at the same time, she also felt like it was a completely different person who was speaking to her. "You won't leave this place alive this day. The wrongs you've committed are an atrocity; and your acts of blood can only be repaid with your own." Mercy couldn't make sense of the situation and could only think out loud to herself "What the hell…?!"

The next instant the scar that looked like a dull mark on Pyras chest began to glow a reddish colour and the flames began to swirl around her. As the flames came together, the heat began igniting other nearby areas which also began be drawn to, and swirl around, Pyra until she was surrounded by a literal tornado of fire.

Mercy covered her eyes as the flames also began to hurt her eyes due to how bright they were becoming. The heat they were giving off was also beginning to burn her skin and she wasn't even touching them. After a few more seconds of watching the raging "Hellnado" it suddenly collapsed in on itself in a large explosion; directly on Pyras location. Standing in Pyras place was a girl with whip-like wings made of flames, covered in a red suit of armour that had certain areas cloaked in flames, long red hair, burning red eyes, and a Halberd with three blades, also each cloaked in blue and red hell-flames.

As Mercy continued to stare at the rather intimidating sight she couldn't speak for several moments. It didn't matter however since "Pyra" broke the silence for her "What's the matter? Why don't you speak? Where's that cocky tone and arrogant demeanor you had just a moment ago gone to? Weren't you going to kill me?" Mercy clenched her fists in anger "Don't mock me you bitch! Who the fuck are you?! WHAT the fuck are you?!" "Pyra" simply looked at Mercy with boredom in her blazing red eyes "My name is Apiphone. Aside from that, who or what I am is of no concern to you." Apiphone then pointed her blazing halberd in Mercy's direction "What does concern you, is you giving me a reason to not turn you to ash right here and now. You have not only killed dozens of people but, most importantly, you have also lain a hand on Pyra. I cannot and will not stand for this. If you do not come up with a good reason to justify your actions, you'll find that my flames are much more powerful, and much more painful, than yours."

Mercy found herself trembling. This new girl calling herself Apiphone, was definitely Pyra, mostly, in terms of looks, but she had a flaming aura, a different voice, and she was much more intimidating, almost terrifying. Again she spoke "Well, I'm waiting for your reply. What justification do you have for your actions?" Mercy this time found enough courage to reply to the commanding voice of Apiphone "My justification? You want to know my justification?" Apiphone nodded "Correct." Mercy replied coldly "I merely brought onto them what you're threatening to bring onto me. Justice. You want justice for yourself and what I did to you. I want justice for myself and for everyone who died because of 'them'."

Apiphone lowered her weapon "Them? Just what do you mean by 'them'?" Mercy replied stoically, but also with a hint of sadness and regret as well "Have you ever heard of the phrase 'sometimes, if you want to do good, you have to be the bad guy'?" Apiphone nodded slightly "I have yes. However, what does that got to do with anything?" Mercy again replied in her stoic yet slightly sad voice "If you were tortured every day for years on end, with no escape, no freedom. Forced to do horrible things for the enjoyment of others while you watched your friends be mutilated or killed all around you all for the purpose of "Science". Forced to become monsters that can't think for themselves or worse. Wouldn't you be slightly vengeful?"

Apiphone was silent for a moment and for the first time seemed to put aside Mercy's actions towards Pyra and even her knowledge of Mercy's killing spree as she replied in a soft voice "I concur with you. The horrors of that would be unbearable to anyone. It truly would be hard not to unleash your anger on them." Her voice then turned cold again "However, that doesn't give you the excuse to murder innocent people. Let alone lay a hand on Pyra who had nothing to do with it at all."

Mercy found she could no longer maintain her cool any longer and lashed out at Apiphone using her shadows "THEY WEREN'T INNOCENT! THEY HAD TO DIE! ALL OF THEM! EVERYONE I KILLED WAS A PART OF IT! THEY DESERVED WHAT THEY GOT!" tears were now streaming from her contrasting eyes and she almost seemed to have an area of helplessness area her. Apiphone easily negated the shadows with a small wave of her hand, sending a wave of flames to douse them.

Despite the attack Apiphone instead walked up to Mercy and instead of attacking her back asked her in a tone that almost a loving mother would, she could clearly tell that there was much more to Mercy then met the eye "What were they a part of?" Mercy looked up at Apiphone with anger in her tear stained eyes "The Blood Moon Project. The thing that did this to me! The hell I went through for years was all because of them! I won't stop until I kill every one of those bastards."

Apiphone thought for a moment before inquiring Mercy further "Alright, then what justification do you have for the massacre of the police? They had nothing to do with it, yet you killed every one of them except for the receptionist who instead you left mentally broken." Mercy shook her head with a small laugh "You really are stupid aren't you? The police, the army, the government, ALL of them were in on it. The police were paid off so they wouldn't say or do anything about it and the other two were using the successful test subjects for their own ends. I told you, everyone I killed deserved it. That, and I needed to destroy that evidence too."

Mercy then got back up, the shadows beginning to swirl around her "But it doesn't matter now. I'm going to kill everyone who was in on it and I'm not going to let anyone stop me! Not even your flaming ass!" Apiphone again raised her weapon "Is that a threat?" Mercy replied quickly, the psychotic disposition returning "It's not a threat…it's a promise!" Apiphone closed her eyes and nodded in understanding, and a second later a torrent of flames exploded from her aura incinerating everything behind her "Very well then. Let us begin. I'll make your judgment swift and painless so as not to make you relive the pain and misery of your past again."

Mercy cried out in anger "I DON'T NEED YOUR FUCKING PITY!" the shadows then burst from all directions and made their way directly towards Apiphone intent on skewering her alive. As they drew close she merely looked up in boredom "You're a feisty one aren't you…?" with a quick spread of her arms she sent a tidal wave of flames both to the left and right of her and nullified the entire attack completely. She then unleashed her own attack by bringing the flames into the palm her hand and molded them into a highly condensed sphere. With a look of both boredom and confidence she uttered a single word: "Burn".

With incredible speed Apiphone let loose the flaming sphere directly at Mercy. Her face took on one of worried realization of knowing she wouldn't be able to evade in time. There was only one thing she could do, and that was attempt to defend it.

Seconds later the sphere hit its mark, causing an explosion easily the same size as one created by a C4 explosive. When the smoke cleared Apiphone smiled in respect "I'm impressed. That attack would have incinerated almost anyone, yet here you stand before me." Sure enough, Mercy stood in front of Pyra her clothes torn and burned to shreds, barely enough left to keep her covered anymore. Her body was covered in burns of all degrees. Despite this, she looked defiantly up at Apiphone "Well…that hurt a little bit…I'll admit." Apiphone laughed lightly and shook her head in amazement "Ha! You amaze me human. Most people would have given up just from seeing me. Yet you continue to defy me and fight on. I respect you Mercy, despite all the atrocities you've committed"

Mercy chuckled herself at Apiphones comment "heh, ain't I just the lucky one. It's hard to see the respect when you're trying to burn me alive." Apiphone quickly responded in a serious tone "Did you not try to do the same thing to Pyra?" Mercy had to give a defeated smirk as she looked down from Apiphone "True enough. I guess I lose in that argument." Mercy then looked back up "Now, enough chatting. You're not dead yet and that's pissing me off!"

Apiphone sighed. She couldn't understand why Mercy was going so far as to try and stop her. Mercy was obviously overwhelmed. She had almost defeated Mercy in a single attack in which she had put very little effort into, yet she still wanted to fight her. Despite her misunderstandings she raised her halberd in Mercy's direction once again "Let us end this here Mercy." Mercy nodded back in agreement "For once I actually agree with you on something." The shadows then swirled around her "Let's see how well you fight against someone you can't see…"

Apiphone and clenched her teeth in annoyed frustration and cursed herself "Damn you…!" she had forgotten that Mercy had the ability to become invisible for a short time using her shadow abilities. She could hear Mercies mocking voice taunting her "Now then, why don't we see how well you attack something you can't see!" Apiphones face turned to one of defiance "You don't know who you're dealing with do you?" Mercy responded confidently from her now unknown location "Big words from someone who's now swinging blind!"

Apiphone raised her weapon then swung it down sending a wave of flames forward towards the location she had seen Mercy, completely incinerating everything in its path. Instead of hitting its target like she had hoped, the only thing she hit was an empty patch of ground that was now melted into a puddle of magma due to the intense heat. The next instant she felt a searing pain through her abdominal section as she was lifted into the air by a shadow blade as Mercy reappeared slowly back into view "It looks like you aren't as tough as you think you are. I'm a little disappointed really."

Apiphone winced in pain from the wound she received. Still her defiant grin didn't waver "Impressive human. Not many are able to take me by surprise. However, unlike your frail bodies, it will take much more than a simple piercing of the midsection to defeat me, though it is certainly a good start." Mercy was startled both by Apiphones confidence and by her dismissal of the wound that would normally would prove fatal to a regular person. She didn't get much time to dwell on it before Apiphone continued "Now then, how about I show you how to use your abilities to the fullest."

With a snap of her fingers a blazing pillar of fire exploded between herself and Mercy effectively nullifying the shadowy blade tht had run her through and pushing Mercy back, causing even more burns to appear on her. Apiphone was now completely cloaked in flames and now looked as though she was nothing but flames that had been simply molded to take the shape of a person. Everything around her was starting to spontaneously combust and the very air in the surrounding area was rising several degrees at a rapid rate.

She looked up at Mercy, her halberd at the ready "I shall end it here Mercy. I am impressed by your abilities. You not only have survived my attacks, but you even managed to wound me. It has been a very long time since I last experienced a thrilling fight like this. Out of respect, I shall now use my full power against you now." Despite her intimidating words, Apiphone also had an ulterior motive for why she was going to use her full power. As she spoke to Mercy she also was thinking to herself **I must end this quickly…Pyra is already wounded and is not yet used to the Possession process. This will be incredibly dangerous to her body if I keep this up for much longer and don't give control back to her soon.**

Apiphone got ready to attack "Prepare yourself Mercy!" Mercy had to close her eyes and step back due to the searing heat being put off from Apiphone. Before she could recover however she heard Apiphones voice in her ear "It would be wise to not to take your eyes off your opponent in the middle of battle." Mercy was barely able to look over before she was grabbed by the throat, severe burns instantly beginning to appear where she had been grabbed. During Apiphones rush down she twirled, doing a 360 degree mid-rush to gain additional momentum, before throwing Mercy with immense force. As Mercy hit the ground, the sheer velocity that she had been thrown, mixed with the simple understanding of physics, caused her to be skipped several times before finally coming to a stop.

Using her wings tendril like wings as snare, she wrapped them across one of her legs, searing it in the process and making Mercy call out in pain. She then lashed it back to her position and unleashed a blazing haymaker directly to Mercy's jaw, instantly shattering it, and again sending Mercy reeling. This time causing her to hit the ground head first, causing skull fracture.

Mercy was covered in blood, and burns at this point but this didn't stop Apiphones assault. Just as quick as before she was upon Mercy again this time with a merciless kick to the ribs, breaking several of them and, once again, sent her sprawling several feet before coming to a stop. Upon stopping a ring of flame surrounded Mercy. Apiphone held her arm out and with a snap of her fingers the ring of fire exploded into a pillar of flame, searing Mercy and making her scream in agony, despite the broken jaw she now had.

Although the pillar of flame lasted only a few moments, Mercy was beyond the point of mere defeat. There wasn't a single part on here that hadn't been burnt. In all accounts she should have long since been dead even before that last attack. This made Apiphone curious as to why it didn't. Any normal human would have been ash by now but Mercy was not only still in one piece, she was also still alive.

Mercy looked up, barely conscious as Apiphone approached her. She then asked Mercy in a serious tone as she picked up Mercy up by the neck, being careful not to do anymore damage "Why are you not dead? No human should be alive after the damage you just took. You have to be something more than human yourself."

Despite the question, it was more along the lines of being rhetorical than an actual question due to Apiphone knowing, due to her broken jaw, Mercy couldn't answer. Suddenly, all of the flames that had been lit in the area due to the intense heat she had been giving off were immediately drawn to her location and began to condense into a massive sphere above her. Despite the obvious intent that she had for Mercy, a small look of sympathy was on her face "I am sorry Mercy. But this is how it must end. I wish there could be another way. It doesn't matter what you are, this attack will be sure to finish you quickly, and painlessly. Just as I promised you. Perhaps in another time, things could be, will be, different. But in this time, you must accept your place…within the fire." She then unleashed the massive sphere upon Mercy, this one sure to kill her regardless of what she did.

As the sphere hit its mark the explosion it made was enough to level an entire building with ease. A massive cloud of black smoke emanated from the crater that the fireball had made and nothing could be seen due to how dense it was. Apiphone bowed her head in a mixture of sympathy, respect, a touch of regret "Your actions were unforgivable, but so were the actions that were done unto you. If there had been any other way, I would certainly have considered it, but…"

As Apiphone was lamenting over what she had to do it was cut off when she heard a voice. It sounded like Mercy's but it was tinged with a slightly cybernetic tone "Attention: Blood Moon Slayer Assault Unit: 'Reapers Daughter' activated. Warning: System Functionality at less than optimal levels. Suggest retreat until repairs can be made." Apiphone was stunned when she noticed that it was, in fact, Mercy. However, she was no longer the Mercy that she had been previously fighting. She had taken on a form much like her own, except hers was much more cybernetic in appearance. She also seemed to have recovered from most of injuries she had previously just sustained. She had scorpion like appendages on her shoulders, two sword like weapons at her hips and two shadow like claws on her waist. Her hair had also turned blonde and she wore a visor over her eyes while now donning a black armour with red highlights.

After taking in what she was seeing Apiphone clenched her fists in anger "So this is what you meant by the torture you endured, wanting the pain to stop, the urge to bring justice upon them. You were made into this monstrosity. They did something at the Asylum to turn you into this and now you want vengeance. It all makes sense now." Mercy looked up to Apiphone and spoke stoically "Attention: Area is not secured. This unit is in range of potential hostiles. Scanning…Warning: Hostiles detected. Flame user, Codename: Apiphone, Identified. Termination of target is authorized."

Apiphones heart sank at the sad sight she was seeing. She now understood. She had seen this before in the past. Innocent people who had turned into heartless killers due to sadness and anger because of horrible things that they didn't deserve had happened to them. She didn't have time to think about it however as she thought to herself **This doesn't bode well…Pyra's almost at her limit. If I keep the possession up any longer then I already have, irreparable damage will occur…I have to finish this now. If only I had known about this earlier…**

Before she could ready herself however, Mercy was upon her. Much to Apiphones surprise the shadows were now attacking on their own without Mercy's command as they came at her from all sides making it hard for her to defend Mercy's assaults. It seemed as though she had found renewed vigor as she delivered lightning fast kicks, punches, and shadow strikes from every direction.

With the speed Mercy now showed, and the shadows now seemingly having a mind of their own, it felt like as though Apiphone was fighting an army by herself. Every time she blocked an attack by Mercy, she would be hit with an attack by the shadows; but every time she evaded or parried an attack by the shadows she would be hit by an attack that came from Mercy. Time, nor the odds of winning this battle, were on her side; and she knew it.

Mercy unsheathed the sword-like weapons from her hips and ran at Apiphone head on, leaving Apiphone no time to react but to block with her own weapon. As she did so one of the shadow like claws around Mercy's waist took a vicious swipe at her and knocked her to the ground. The other then lifted her back up and the scorpion like appendages on her shoulders then lunged forward, having one go through her midsection and one brutally through her throat.

After a short time of holding Apiphone in the air by the scorpion blades, she threw her to the ground. This time, she opened several gates and each one launched a shadow blade directly at Apiphone, impaling her in various places. Due to her cut vocal cords, the only way to notice her pain was the widening and tight closing of her eyes as each blade met their mark.

Blood was now flowing from both Apiphones mouth and the all other areas of her body due to the harsh wounds she'd just received. Mercy then spoke up in her emotionless voice "Update: Target has been subdued. No further action is required." Apiphone cursed to herself **Now I want to kill whoever did this to her…but Pyra really is at her limit now. I can't continue this. I must end it right here. Right now. These wounds I've just received have only made it worse for her.**

Out of desperation she used the remaining flames surrounding her to condense them into a large sphere in her hand. Due to the blade only being made of shadow, they disappeared after a short time after striking so, using what little strength she had left, she grabbed Mercy by the leg and pulled off her feet directly toward her until she had her hand almost directly on her chest. Mercy spoke up as Pyra did this "Danger: Uncalculated conditions have arisen. Escape is not possible. Requesting permission to release Death Sentence Protocol. Error: Project Leader Vaughn Shiro or Project Supervisor Ailear not present. Access to Killing Frenzy and Death Sentence Protocols are denied."

Although Apiphone couldn't speak, tears began to fall from her face **I am very sorry Mercy. If there truly was any other way, I would have done it without hesitation. I understand now your anger, your need for vengeance…your sadness. Please, do not think of this as a punishment any longer. Just as is your name, this is a mercy.** A few moments after Apiphone said her final farewells to her, Mercy replied to her surprise. Even more to Apiphones surprise was that not only had Mercy begun to show emotion as she was now starting to cry, it was also by what she said, after what seemed to be almost a struggle of trying to figure out what to say "Input Received: I'm…sorry. This unit…is…grateful for this."

Apiphone realized by Mercy's way of speaking, and also by the new signs of true emotion, that she was struggling to fight against her cybernetic self and what she had become. Because of this, tears began to fall heavily and she shook her head sadly **Why do I have to be the one to do this? Please, forgive me Mercy…**

Just as Apiphone was about to deliver the killing blow, Mercy interjected with a warning "Caution: Arrival of potential hostiles has now increased. Awaiting identification." This new piece of information caused Apiphone to hold off her attack. As she turned in the direction she noticed four girls arriving to their location. Three were older, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one while the fourth was a young girl. While Apiphone was curious to know their intentions, this matter wouldn't be one she could handle regardless anyway since she could no longer keep the possession process active without doing severe harm to Pyra. With this in mind, she instead used the last remaining power she had collected to kill Mercy to heal all the damage she had taken. She then gave control back to Pyra, who then fell unconscious to the ground. Upon seeing Pyra fall to the ground, Mercy got back up and looked down at her "Update: Flame User Apiphone eliminated. Switching tracking systems to unidentified targets."

With that being said, Mercy turned her attention to the arrivals. There were four in total. One had an odd reddish skin color, like that of a sunburn, and shoulder length crimson, almost blood red, hair. What was unnerving is that she wore a tattered sleeveless shirt that looked like it had blood stains and black skin tight pants. She also wore a chain necklace with a skull ornament and a belt that hung loosely at her side for some odd reason. Probably the most striking feature about her though was her eyes. Unlike most people, hers were black in the very literal sense. Like Mercy's red eyes, black eyes were seen in less than 5% of the people in the entire world. She also had a rare weapon used by people known as a whip-sword, easily identified by its flexible and coiled up blade, which could link together as a single sword or break apart to fight at range attached to her hip

The girl standing beside her was one of absolute beauty. Her hair was a deep but shining blue that extended to her knees, snow white skin, a dress style very similar to the Japanese Mieko in terms of having a white short-sleeve shirt accompanied by a flowing red skirt. Like the girl beside her, the most striking about her feature was her eyes in the fact that they were snow white, another incredibly rare feature that ranked in less than 5% of people. Like her accomplice, she had a sword attached to her hip, but this one, instead, was a very long katana. When you looked at the two, it would almost remind someone of the symbol known as Yin and Yang.

The third girl was another girl who was very attractive. She had long raven hair, and a black blouse with a frilled black and white skirt. However, if you looked close enough you could see the unfortunate fact that her eyes were completely faded, a tell-tale sign that she was blind. She also had the tattoo of the mystical bird, the Roc, on the side of her neck.

The fourth girl was one that would make your heart sink. She was very young, around the age of six or seven. She wore a small pink dress, had shoulder length chestnut hair held in a ponytail with a yellow ribbon, green eyes and wore a small bracelet with a small heart charm on her wrist. What was dis-heartening about her was that there was a deep scar across her throat. This was an obvious sign that it had been slashed and she was lucky to have survived it. Like Mercy and the other girl she stood beside she had a tattoo. This one was on her cheek and was of the guardian of the Underworld: the Cerberus. It was also easy to notice that one of her defining qualities was shyness as she meekly stood behind the blind girl and would only occasionally look out from behind her.

Mercy scanned them down one by one trying to calculate the priorities and odds of her situation. Trying to figure out who was friend who and who was foe; if she should fight or flee. After a few moments Mercy spoke up "Warning: Situation critical. Blood Moon Slayer Assault Units Genocide, Assassin and Blood Countess, Scarlet and Crimson Blade, Miyu Tastsu have entered the combat area. Suggest immediate retreat. Addendum: The capture of the Fire User Apiphone would be beneficial for later research. Suggestion for capture is highly recommended."

As Mercy made her intentions and calculations known, the one known as Scarlet spoke up "it's been a while hasn't it tin can?" Still as junky as ever I see. Don't think I've forgotten about what you did at the Asylum." Mercy responded in turn, her usual emotionless tone as strong as ever "Error: This unit is in need of repairs at this time, but is still fully functional. Your assumption of this unit being 'junky' is incorrect. Assertion: the consequences done onto you at the Asylum were justified. Had you not attacked this unit or it's allies you would not have been harmed." Scarlet growled under her breath "See? Damn things are junky all they do is spout off all this 'error' this and 'can't compute' that shit! I hate those things!" again Mercy replied "Error: This unit is fully versed in human speech patterns. The error 'can't compute' refers to the machine commonly referred to as a 'Computer'. This error occurs when the Computer cannot complete the required task that it has been requested to do. This unit is not such a device and as such has no such issues."

Scarlet clenched her fist in irritation "Jesus Christ! Will you shut up already you goddamn tin can!" again Mercy replied but although it was still stoically, it could now almost be considered mocking "Input Received: Jesus Christ: referred to as the son of the divine deity known as God, the Lord Almighty, or God the Father in the Christian religion. Often depicted hung on a cross with a crown of thorns due to having been betrayed by his follower Judas after the event known as "The Last Supper". Some of his most well-known feats are walking on water, turning water into wine, curing the blind, and rising from the dead three days after death. Error: This unit cannot be silenced in this manner due to the hindrance of not being a small metal device used for the storage of goods needed for long periods of time."

After this, almost mocking reply from Mercy, Scarlet lashed out at her. Unsheathing her whip-sword, she charged Mercy head on. Before she could even get close to her however, the shadows burst forth and impaled her straight through both arms and legs effectively disabling her immediately. Mercy made her way up to Scarlet and as she stood over her, Scarlets previously confident attitude turned to one of fear "W-what are you going to do?" Mercy was silent for a moment and noticed that Miyu had placed her own hand on her sword. Knowing that she had disabled one opponent but possibly had three more to deal with, and had also already had a hard fight with Apiphone, she replied to her question "Warning: Attacks on this unit will not be tolerated and will result in retaliatory action." She then threw Scarlet to the ground "Selection: You may now leave the battle field in peace and this unit will not pursue you as a target, or you may stay and attempt to fight further. Addendum: Further fighting may result in death." Scarlet looked at Mercy with hatred "Kind of hard to run when you've disabled my legs you bitch!" again Mercy replied to her in what could be considered a mocking way: "Input Received: Bitch: a term commonly used refer to a female canine such as a dog or a wolf. Addendum: this term is also occasionally used as a derogatory insult to describe someone who is not looked upon fondly by the individual expressing it."

Scarlet clenched her teeth in rage at Mercy's stoic, matt-of-fact way of speaking to act more like a dictionary rather than an incredibly dangerous living weapon, but she knew that if she said anything more she would just be continually responded to in this way, so she kept quiet. Mercy then continued "Input Received: A valid point has been made. Critical injury to the leg muscles has occurred to prevent usage. Applying first aid." The next instant the shadows that had been swirling around Mercy made their way over to where Scarlet lay. As they drew closer to her, her enraged face once again took to one of fear and she began to try and crawl away. She stopped however when Mercy spoke up "Request: Please do not move. Further severe injury can occur if the subject makes excessive movement during the healing process."

At Mercy's request Scarlet stopped struggling and let the shadows do their work. Wrapping themselves around her arms and legs they began to stitch up the wounds that had been made as well as repair the damaged muscles themselves. She winced at the pain of having the treatment done but at the same time was grateful for it, even if she hated Mercy's matter-of-fact attitude.

When the first aid was done they returned to Mercy's side and Scarlet returned to her feet "I guess I should be grateful shouldn't I? You could have easily killed me there couldn't you?" Mercy replied "Input Received: This unit's potential exceeds your own. Attacks are on this unit are discouraged." As Scarlet made her way back to Miyu she spoke to her self "God damn I hate those things!" like clockwork Mercy again replied "God: Also known as.." Scarlet cut her off in anger "I DON'T NEED A DEFINITION! I KNOW WHO FUCKING GOD IS!" Mercy then replied back "Acknowledged."

At Scarlets outburst, nobody in the vicinity, save Mercy's emotionless self, could help but snicker. It was as if it was an oxymoron in the fact that it seemed like Mercy was purposely taunting Scarlet without actually meaning too. She was just following her programming, but in doing so was enraging Scarlet. Once Scarlet got back to Miyu she spoke "Let's get out of here, even damaged she's obviously too much for us. We were here for her capture, not to be killed. We were obviously to slow in getting here, due to this bitch on the ground. She must have been really strong to make her go that far as to use her B.M.S form." Miyu nodded "Agreed. That individual must have had something special about them. Back to Reaper though, I may be good with a sword, but I won't win a fight against her like that." She then turned towards the other two strangers that had shown up "And now that Genocide and Assassin have shown up as well, which we didn't expect to arrive at all, let alone at the same time we did, we'd have no hope of winning." She then turned to Mercy and smiled "Take care Reaper. It was good to see you again. Though I wish it had been under more pleasant circumstances." She then turned to all of them "Until we meet again Reaper, Assassin, and Genocide."

With a small bow she turned and left with Scarlet. Leaving Mercy with only Genocide and Assassin to deal with "Warning: State the intentions of your arrival." Genocide simply smirked as Assassin looked up with uncertainty at her "Come on now Reapie, we haven't played in a long time. Don't you think we should play a little? For old time's sake?" with a snap of her fingers Mercy was suddenly pulled harshly to the ground, and was unable to get up. As Genocide approached Mercy spoke "Danger: Situation Critical. Imperative action required. Scanning for possible solutions"

As Mercy's situation turned cryptic Genocide slowly walked up to her. She looked down at the helpless situation that she was in and smirked in wicked satisfaction. With a wave of her hand she now sent Mercy hurdling back skipping several times off the ground. Despite Mercy's best attempts she seemed to be powerless to stop Genocide. As Genocide reached Mercy again her smirk turned cruel "Isn't this fun Reapie? It's just like old times isn't it? It's just like what we used to do." Her look then turned to anger "That is until you ran away. Ran away and left me behind. Well, now I'm going to make sure you pay for what you did during the riot three years ago!"