"The Great Escape"


It wasn't that long into the fight that Sol was beginning to regret starting it in the first place.

The machine version of Ky was representing him in peak form. The thrust he made was perfectly executed; the kind of move Sol knew he couldn't deflect simply without moving the blade right into his side or leg. He had to bring his other hand around and swipe down with a counter strike to knock it aside. Yet just like the real Ky, the machine aborted the thrust as soon as he made contact so that only the tip of the blade got smacked away. Advancing a step, the machine, hissing and spitting like an old steam engine, brought the blade up and down in a wide, double-handed swipe, catching Sol's still deflected blade and knocking it down. Immediately afterward, it lunged and swept the sword upward, trying to slice through Sol's chest.

The bounty hunter had no choice but to retreat, which wasn't easy considering where they had landed. Moving through water was never good for one's footing. He still felt just the edge of the blade lash out across his chest. The cut itself it made was shallow, barely more than a scratch, but he still winced from the electricity within it. And the jolting pain made it harder to focus when "Robo Ky" brought his sword back and lunged forward, this time leveling his shoulder as well as bracing his blade for another strike. Clearly a power move meant to overwhelm, just like he expected from the genuine article. When Sol planted his feet to intercept, he managed to catch the blade, but he felt his arms wrenching as his body was pushed back by his opponent's superior mass.

Extremely bad timing for this…

Leaving his headband loose for a time had helped him regenerate a little, but Sol was still in agony just standing his ground and fighting. No chance of trying to overwhelm his opponent in this posture. Instead, he struggled to wrench his arms to one side and get him off balance. That was useless. Just like you would expect from something made of iron, it stood too tall and formidable. It was useless to try and slide under the water either. Besides, the machine had the same posture as Ky did as well. Only one other move…

Taking a risk, Sol brought up a foot and hooked it under the robot's knee, hoping that it mimicked a real individual enough to lose its footing and falter. It did, but the bounty hunter again neglected to take into account that this thing was like Ky. It quickly compensated just as he would, and rather than going off balance with how Sol had his blade twisted, he brought it back, slicing across his knuckles. Any counter Sol might have made was cut off as he had to pull back lest his fingers get lopped off.

The robot immediately sprung on him, moving fast. It must have had enough intelligence to perceive that Sol was weakened, because it was going for wider, double-handed, overhead swings. Large and powerful and normally leaving openings, but not for someone in Sol's condition. Instead, he was stuck being battered overhead by repeated blows, meant to strain his wrists to the breaking point or ruin his balance so that a follow-up grapple would disarm him. Sol was all too familiar with it from Ky's own repertoire. The machine even somehow pumped out electricity into the moves to send out cascading sparks, and between him being slowed down by his aquatic surroundings and the electricity sent into it, Sol was struggling after only a few hits to keep moving back, trying to get to shore.

Yet right before he could possibly leap out, Sol reacted. This machine seemed to have Ky's set of moves down, which meant that it left itself open the same way he did. He knew that if he was fighting Ky, he'd go for one last strike before attempting to grapple with him, meaning he'd overextend himself. Sol used that moment to drive his weapon forward in a slashing blow for the elbow. Just as he had seen the former Sacred Order leader do when he tried the same move during a practice, the machine aborted its attack and brought the blade down to parry.

Unfortunately, it managed to catch the strike. Sol let out an audible mutter to himself. He had meant to actually cut in, but he was too battered and weak to do so. Now the machine had him braced, but didn't have the right leverage so that he couldn't wrench him out of the way. Another stalemate. Deciding to make the most out of it, Sol forced himself onto the weapon and pushed off, getting his legs up and out of the water. Unfortunately, doing so drove his insides into further pain. He almost felt he popped a disk in a vertebrae.

The "Robo Ky", on the other hand, was fresh as a daisy and sprung on him in an instant. The water did slow it down a bit, as did the step up, but Sol could barely pull himself away to avoid being sprung on; let alone strike before it advanced. And now that it was on land, it moved faster than ever, thrusting outward with the blade in numerous jabs that kept Sol well at a distance. It was all the man could do to keep pulling back from the thrusts, not able to risk taking another stab. Just like in his last encounter with Ky, the machine was using its superior blade length to keep him at a distance along with its inherit speed. Sol's own short thrusts and slashes couldn't hope to get in unless he could get his locomotion into it, but that wasn't going to be the case with him in this battered state.

Then the machine threw one better. After driving Sol back about twenty feet from the pool, it suddenly swung the blade down rather than made another lunge. The light around the blade concentrated momentarily, before a blast of electric energy erupted from the end and shot at the bounty hunter like a missile.

The man was honestly stunned. He was sure it didn't have near the power of Ky's own attack, but he wasn't willing to let it hit him either. He was forced to wrench himself to one side as fast as he could, only to overexten-leaving him open as the robot again darted forward with a follow-up stab. He had to twist an already-injured leg to the point of almost limping, but he pivoted to get out of it. It wasn't enough. He still felt a pained jolt go through his middle as the tip of the blade grazed him. He was fortunate it was there. The numbness that resulted deadened his pain a bit.

If it had hit a limb, he might have been crippled.

This wasn't good. This machine didn't just look like Ky. It imitated him in all combat respects. Not just in terms of moves and techniques, but in ways of thinking. Under better circumstances, Sol's curiosity would have gotten the better of him. Yet right now was one of those rare times he would not want to be fighting the actual Ky, and this robot wasn't much better. In some ways, it was worse. It was moving as fast as Ky but clearly had more momentum behind it due to its metallic mass, and in his weakened state Sol couldn't grapple with it. While the joints were fluid, obviously the end result of trying to make it as motile as the real thing, the rest of it was too solid to damage with physical blows. That left using his sword. Yet Sol was already in terrible shape to think about fighting, no matter the opponent. He couldn't put his own speed or agility to use unless he knew it would strike a hit. That wasn't a guarantee against someone with Ky's speed and reaction time.

All that remained was the weapon in the machine's hands.

As the robot lunged forward again, Sol suddenly took the initiative. Painful as it was, he pushed himself forward in a short lunge, twisted the Fireseal into an underhanded grip, and performed a vertical slice. The two blades connected, and the thrusting blade ended up being the one parried away. Not good enough to disarm or take off guard, but enough to put Sol on the offensive. Quickly tightening his grip and channeling his own power, his sword belched smoke from the vents before igniting in fresh heat. He immediately advanced forward in a whirling slash, raking out for the machine. It wasn't enough to make it retreat, but it still couldn't renew its own assault. It had to pause to cross its own blade to defend.

On coming out of the slash, Sol swung his blade upward, pivoting it in his grasp and holding it hilt out. Forcing himself to advance, he placed both hands on the grip and executed three rapid cross slashes while still filling his blade with power. He wasn't used to doing this with two hands, but he didn't have the power to put into the blows with one. Each strike that came down vented flames over the robot's sword. It wasn't enough to spread to the machine proper, and even if it had been it wouldn't have been enough to damage the metal chassis, but it did the work of bathing the opposing sword in flame. With that in mind he kept up his attack.

None of the slashes got through although they cast off molten sparks and bits of heat with each strike. These moves wouldn't have worked against the real Ky, and this robot was close enough to approximate it. Sol was beginning to notice it was a bit rough on reaction time and stilted in faster moves, but that wouldn't help right now, and it wasn't his intention to overpower it. His assault had the desired effect; the robot backed up one step to try and brace itself to counter. When that happened, Sol went ahead and pushed even more power into himself to perform one of his leaping lunges. He brought the Fireseal overhead and slashed it out in a massive chop as he came down.

He regretted exerting himself almost instantly. Not only did the robot only get forced back another step, but his own sides went into agony. He felt he had dislodged an already broken rib and his spine sent pain throughout his entire back. He was nearly immobilized on landing. He did the best he could with what he had done, however, forcing more fire into his blade and washing as much as he could over both the robot and his weapon. This time, the flames licked for his synthetic hair and garments, actually singing both a bit, but in the end the robot forced him off with one mighty shove, making him lose his balance and backpedal himself, before rapidly coming forward with another stab.

Sol barely managed to get his footing and started to parry the blows, deflecting not only the first thrust but two more after it. He had to keep making contact with his enemy's sword, even if he didn't have the strength for it. He had the beginnings of a plan in mind but it depended on him continuously using fire magic. He could only hope he held out long enough for it to pay off.


May's mind was a blaze. She didn't know what to focus on more: the crazy guy currently operating on Dizzy in what looked like an insane attempt to save her life to begin with, the fact that Ky had jumped in to try and fend off a psychotic one-armed lady…not to mention the fact he didn't look like he was doing that well against her…or the fact that her clock said 40 seconds before the bombs were supposed to go off. All while she was left somewhat helpless on the roof. Even the fact Testament was still there and crawling toward them was a rather low priority compared to everything else happening.

"Uh, Mr. Paper Bag Guy, I don't want to interrupt," She finally interjected, her tone growing sharper as the battle nearby began to inch toward them. "But can you move her yet? We have half a minute before this place blows!"

"And you still need to find me a blood donor, my dear." He calmly responded, although his tone was a bit tight as he kept working. "I'm already pushing my technique to the limit…"

May grit her teeth in frustration. "What's that going to matter if we don't get moving?! We need to get off the building!"

"You were planning to jump into a passing truck, were you not?"

"But…we can't take her with us! Won't it tear her up?"

"Likely, but staying here will definitely be worse."

The young woman flustered, but could say little in response.

"May!"

The pirate looked up in a flash at that. That was a voice she'd recognize anywhere; she was simply surprised to suddenly hear it coming from behind her. Instantly, she whirled around, back to the same entrance that the lanky man had appeared earlier.

While he looked rather beaten, bruised, and bleeding from a few spots, one of which he was applying pressure to, Johnny staggered in through the entryway and, in a half-stumble, began to rush out to them. May couldn't see his eyes although she figured he cast a glance at Testament, for his head went that way and he seemed to form an uneasy look, but then he focused on her again.

"What in the hell are you doing hanging around for?! Why aren't you getting out? The truck's almost here!"

Then, however, his eyes went up and spotted both the tall doctor as well as Dizzy, and a huge amount of blood soaking the snow around her, in addition to Ky fighting the one armed woman behind.

"…I leave you alone for fifteen minutes and what the hell have you all gotten into?!"

"It wasn't my fault, Johnny!" May shouted back as she started to get up. "And there's no time to explain! We just…need the paper bag guy to finish operating on her!"

"Operating? May…take a good look at her…she's-"

"Just let him try! What have we got to lose?" The young woman cut off, already getting ready to move as Johnny finally stopped next to her. "Besides, we got to get away from that crazy lady too!" She turned back to the doctor. "You ready or what?"

His hands were still moving non-stop over the Gear, but they were no longer making cuts or work. They seemed to rapidly be tying and covering off things as best as possible while packing up most of his equipment. "I can carry her, but you haven't forgotten about the blood donor, have you?"

"Oh, right…" She groaned, before spinning back to her captain. "Johnny, we got someone in the crew driving the truck that's universal, right?"

"Oh, use your head, girl." The doctor answered, causing her to look back to him. "This is a Gear, not a woman having a baby. Her blood seems to have a violet shimmer to it even in this dim light. You honestly think that human blood is going to work with her?"

"Well what else do we have?! It's not like I can stop by the local blood bank and ask for…I don't know…Gear Positive or something!"

Through the midst of the whirling snow and the sound of crashing blades behind them, as well as the sounds of other noises beginning to drift in on the wind, including one that sounded like a hover vehicle of some sort, a truck horn blared.

"That's our cue, May!" Johnny shouted, still not knowing what was going on but moving over to Dizzy to help pick her up if need be. Being a pirate captain like him, it paid more often than not to just do things and ask question as to why they were so later. "They'll pull by in twenty seconds!"

"Take me!"

The cry was strained, clearly coming from someone who shouldn't have been wasting their energy shouting. Both May and Johnny looked to Testament as soon as he said it, and saw him struggling to push himself up and forward.

"You?!" May shot back.

"I have Gear blood in my veins. A type humans only record as 'unknown'…" He grunted out as loudly as he could. "Take me… Use me as a donor…"

"In your dreams!" The first mate retorted. "You want to kill us all! Besides, how do we know if you even match?"

"You don't…but I'm the only Gear you have…and as much as I hate you I want to save her… This is the only way I can…"

"Not a chance in hell! After everything you've done to me over the past year I'm never…Johnny!"

The young woman found herself cut off as the man in black dashed forward as fast as he could, reached Testament's side, and began to help him up. The Gear was just as shocked as she was considering how long ago the two had even each other a beating. Yet he merely formed a tight grin as he got him up and started walking him to the edge.

"Don't have time to be choosy, May! Hear that sound?"

The girl hesitated. In the distance through the thick snowfall, she just began to hear the sputtering of an engine. But in addition to that, she heard another more familiar sound. The hoverjets of some sort of flying vehicle were growing rather loud at this point, and getting more clear all the time. When she looked in the direction it was coming from, sure enough, a pale light was beginning to shine in the snow-filled sky.

"They either have their systems back up or they're sending in the cavalry to bomb the area just to be sure! No time left! Just chew me out later!"

The young woman hesitated a fraction of a second, but then ruefully groaned and began to hobble after him. At just the same moment, the spindly doctor finished closing up his bag, slung it over one wrist, then reached out and scooped up the Gear. He took off for the edge as well and managed to reach it even sooner than Johnny and Testament did.

May actually brought up the rear, only uneasily getting next to the paper-bag man. She thought of almost asking him if he really was who she thought, but she ruled it out. Right below, almost as soon as she arrived, she saw the headlights of the incoming truck passing through the snow. She knew the bomb would go off not long after they made their landing, and she quickly checked her time to confirm it.

She cast a glance behind her for Ky and the woman. Both were still fighting, and all while the incoming aircraft was getting so close she could start making out the spotlight. Yet there was no time to go back for either of them. They had to get themselves and Dizzy out.

Nevertheless, she found herself yelling a warning at least.

"Ky! We're leaving over here!"


The woman pushed against Ky only for a moment, before both of her getas dug into the snow and her muscles tightened. Her face never changed at all as her arm suddenly wrenched to one side, and to the man's shock deflected his blade one way. Instantly, she leapt off of the ground afterward and lunged at him, forcing him to retreat. He was too slow, however, and she lashed out with one side kick that smashed him in the neck. To Ky's stunned surprise, not only was that blow to a vulnerable spot, but it was solid and focused. He could take punches to the neck from most normal men, but this one caught him so much he couldn't breathe. He staggered, leaving him wide open for another blow as the woman finished twirling around, driving her other wooden geta solidly into his face.

The kick landed with such power that Ky was nearly knocked off of his feet then and there. She was striking with wooden, hard footwear and he was on a slick roof. Not to mention he was choking from the first hit. It took all of his focus to keep steady, but it was almost too little as, the second she landed, she snapped her sleeve up to him. Ky didn't even have the presence of mind to remember her tricks in her ring before a giant jade dragon's maw poked out from it right at him. He realized almost a moment too late it was a form of fire projector; right before a column of flame belched out for him. Stunned and still trying to breathe, he barely staggered to one side before the flames whipped over his coat. It was only due to his heavy fabric that he didn't get singed.

Instantly, the bounty hunter lunged out for him again. Ky only managed a weak rasp and didn't even have time to extinguish the flames on one of his sleeves. This woman wasn't giving him a moment to breathe. Quickly, he snapped the Thunderseal around and fired off a bolt of electricity at her, hoping to at least stun her. No such luck. Her sleeve waved in front of her legs as she barreled forward, kicking out, of all things, a tatami mat. Without missing a beat, she kept charging forward and used one of her steps to kick the mat up in her way. The bolt impacted and dissipated. After all, the straw was a perfect insulator and he hadn't put enough power into the shot to blast with force. She kept right on coming afterward; her arm reaching for her sword hilt. Ky struggled to recover enough to counter, but he was too dazed. All he could do was try to shoot back to avoid it…

Almost too slow again. The blade flashed out and sliced across his chest, opening a rather deep gash. Pain flooded Ky's senses. Only Sol or Gears had managed to get in for a closer cut, and yet he realized even now as his blood stained the snow that the strike had been aimed for his neck. If he hadn't moved, he'd already be dead. He tried to get his blade up to counter a future hit, but he was too slow again. The woman swung her head forward and smashed it into his face perfectly where the first kick had landed. Further pain flooded his senses, his time knocking him for a loop and causing the world to swirl black momentarily. He struggled to keep backpedaling, trying to get some distance, only to find another blow suddenly landing under his chin from the woman's foot. This wasn't even the geta portion, but the force was so strong his head snapped up like a ball on a string. This time, he did lose his balance; falling flat on his back.

Through his attempts to breathe, the fresh bloody injury on his chest, and his beaten head still throbbing with pain, the man was aghast.

She's just a human…and she can do all this? What in Heaven's name is she?!

His magic-enhanced nerves saved him a moment later when the woman swung her blade around and dove for him, attempting to impale him through the heart. With a near spring, he rolled back, feeling his coat sliced but ultimately nothing being hit that was flesh. As soon as he rolled back onto his legs, he sprung back as he sliced outward with his longer blade. She was too fast for that, however. She had already sprung back as well, and aimed her empty sleeve at him. A moment later, a second spear like the one that had impaled Dizzy erupted from it for his right eyeball. Quickly he snapped his head to one side, just feeling the tip of it slice through the skin over his cheekbone…

Only for the woman to rush at him again. The move had been intentional; designed to have him turn his less dominant side away from her so he could only protect with his unfavored arm. As he neared in range, he had no choice but to slice outward one-handed with the Thunderseal, just catching her incoming blade and able to deflect it just enough to miss its mark. Yet not missing a beat, the woman used the force of the clash as a lever as she sprung at him, flipped over in mid-air, and brought both of her feet one after another into his head in a bicycle-kick like motion. He felt pain knock him nearly senseless with the first blow, and the second produced a slight crunching sound in his face as it knocked him back, dazzled and off guard…

Gritting his teeth, he channeled his lightning magic within his body to force his dazzled limbs to straighten, planting his legs out and locking them in. He forced his head back down and crossed his blade in front of him, meaning to weather whatever assault she gave next. Yet even as he gained his senses a moment to recover he found himself unprepared. She was still charging at him, whirling her blade around one-handed in wide slices. The arcs weren't erratic, however. They were meant to cut deep if they landed; using deep wounds to weaken him further. He couldn't afford to take them. Soon, he was backpedaling again on the slick snow, guarding as best as he could even as he struggled to stop seeing three of her floating in front of him.

Yet right as he was able to try and push back and deflect her blade, halting her assault, the woman sprang back and away from him just as rapidly, aiming her sleeve at him yet again. He braced himself for any manner of weapons or devilry, struggling hard to focus in the darkness, but in the end even his quick-acting mind only barely had time to spot the head of a firework rocket aiming at him before it fired off like a tiny missile. Not willing to see if it was simply a pyrotechnic or something more serious, he swept his blade out in front of him and discharged a blade of electricity, meaning to repel it or intercept as a shield.

But the rocket arched down at the last moment and struck the ground in front of him instead. He had a moment to notice that it really was a potent munition before the sheer force ruptured the roof of the garage and launched him skyward. Burning debris and shock force slammed into him, rattling him further.

Thanks to his abilities, however, he was still able to keep his mind working even now.

This is ridiculous. This woman is beyond strong, but so am I. I've had an easier time against Gears before… Why does she have me so outclassed?

He pondered only a moment before the answer came to him.

Because she's a woman. The same thing happened back at the Cathedral. That's why that outlaw gave me such a hard time. Ever since that encounter with Justice I've been hesitant to go all out…because of her. Because I'm still wondering if I would have hated her and fought as strongly if I knew the truth. Because I wondered if I was really as noble or chivalrous as I thought.

He continued to fly back momentarily, before his eyes cracked open. Giving a mild grunt, his body suddenly seemed to defy gravity; flipping around in midair before touching down on the snow again. The samurai woman, who seemed to have been ready to press on until now, actually hesitated at this move.

This woman is a savage and mad. I can't let her hurt anyone else. It doesn't matter if she's man, woman, young, old, or whatever… She's wanting to take innocent life and I can't allow that.

She made the next move, snapping her sleeve forward. What looked like a three-hooked claw on a chain lashed out like some sort of whip for his sword; meaning to either disarm him or yank him off center and leave him open. Yet he was ready this time. Forcing himself to apply a bit more magic, he extended his blade to make contact with it. A moment later, a bolt of electricity snaked down the metal claw and chain to the woman. Amazingly enough she didn't cry out, but he saw her face visibly contort in pain as she released the chain immediately from contact, letting it slide back into her sleeve. Again, he forced himself not to let up as he lunged at her, flinging another blast of electricity at her body. She had no time for a mat from this distance. She quickly sidestepped instead. It wasn't enough to get her off guard, but it did make her pause long enough for Ky to get in range, and quickly he swiped out his own blade in a horizontal slash. Quickly she drew her own sword to guard, crossing it vertically and intercepting the slice. Applying more of his speed and power, he kept charging, slicing outward with the blade again. This time it made contact further up his sword and further down her own blade, increasing the force her wrist had to experience to protect. Her face visibly tightened at this. She began to counter, but soon aborted as Ky kept charging. This time, she had to backpedal in order to withstand him as he sliced a third time, even higher on his blade and nearly on the tip of hers. With only one arm to protect herself, he was trying to wrench her shoulder muscle. Make it impossible for her to put any more power into that blade.

Yet his last slice had underestimated her power. By striking so low, her blade barely connected with his, and she was able to leap off from her feet and backstep; pulling the sword free in the process. She instantly snapped back forward, slicing out for Ky's neck with the blade tip and forcing the man to pull back. Yet before she could press a new advantage, he countered just as strongly; simultaneously snapping his body back while slicing up with his own longer blade for her own neck. He mentally notched a small victory in his belt as he saw her pull back. Now that he was putting more power into his slices, she wasn't willing to guard against his strikes if she could avoid it. If he could just keep hammering her…

He quickly reared back to try and slice at him again in another leap, but he didn't give her the shot. Bringing his blade over into his dominant hand, he quickly snapped the sword back around in another cross slice, hoping to either force her to block again or at least to cut her off. Her underhanded grip meant she couldn't thrust, after all. Unfortunately, he realized too late that it was a feint. She quickly ducked and let the blade sail under her head, then rapidly advanced on him, now unprotected, and sliced upward. Ky's eyes widened before he struggled to backpedal, but this time it was no luck. He felt the tip of her blade first slice through his coat, then slice through the edge of his chest. It was only a light cut, but it reminded him her deadliness hadn't diminished just because he was attacking more strongly.

Now that she had him stunned, she attacked even more fiercely than before. She put her sword aside and instead swung around and thrust her getas at him. Not willing to get hit by those again either, especially now that he could feel them getting stronger, Ky rapidly crossed his sword in front of him to block the strikes. Charging with electricity wouldn't help now, though. Not with them being made of wood. As soon as she was done, she took a step back, but only to aim herself before quickly advancing and slicing out for an unprotected part of his body. He quickly shifted his grip to both hands and countered, swinging back and striking the blow away. He noticed her sleeve moved, going to try and take advantage of his deflection, but this time he was the one who reacted faster as he followed through with his slice and struck the ground, causing an eruption of lightning in a ring around him. The gesture worked. The woman only had one eye, so she couldn't shift her gaze if something came up this close to blind her. She was forced to shut it and pull her sleeve back, leaving Ky an opening. Quickly, he thrust her sword out at her, forcing her to abort her attack again and swing her blade to one side to deflect the tip.

That was the opening he had been looking for. Immediately he changed his momentum and advanced, using his enhanced speed and magic to swipe out two electrically-charged slices right for her neck. Just as he hoped, the first time she raised up to block it she had to do so with her one arm in an awkward manner, allowing him to catch her with the power and wrench her limb one way. When he brought up a second slice, she managed to block it better but he could feel the weakness in the limb from taking that jolting hit. And even though she managed to block it, she had to put most of her power into stopping it, draining her a bit and stunning her from countering. Quickly, Ky kept advancing, keeping his blade charged and doing a wide overhead chop next, forcing her to leap back rather than try and block such a hit with one weak arm. Crossing his other hand onto the grip, he swung upward next, aborting a chance for her to counter with his increased speed.

It was the crudest tactic imaginable to Ky, and yet he realized it was effective against this opponent. With only one arm and one eye, she could only afford to go for killing strokes. She lacked the power to put behind major slashes. With her own shorter and easier blade to move, his own longsword put him at a disadvantage in traditional moves. They would always be slower. Yet with only one arm and one eye, that also meant she couldn't guard that well from heavier chops and couldn't judge the distance of the blade when it was infused with electricity. She had to play it safe to stay back.

Not willing to give her a chance to adapt, Ky shifted the sword back to one hand and moved to a one-handed grasp, slicing outward with a figure-eight cutting motion on his next advance. As he hoped, the shift in posture caused her to risk moving in again when she saw a smaller opening, suddenly making her dive forward with her sword for his side. He had expected that, however, and quickly twisted the blade around and grasped it with both hands. With two arms and greater physical strength, he collided with the blade and intercepted it easily. The two locked, and he quickly pushed in as hard as he could, hoping to permanently wrench that arm.

Yet she was thinking ahead too. As soon as he applied more force, she used it to push her blade off, swirl around, and soon aim her blade right for the top of his head. To his shock, she was nearly aimed to take it off. Quickly, he jerked his blade up and swept it to the side, narrowly connecting with it just as the blade's edge made contact with the skin over his skull, and then wrenched the other way, forcing her weapon down to the ground. Still moving fast, she yanked it free, snapped around, swung the blade to her opposite side, and tried driving it in a stabbing position for his neck. Gritting his teeth, he swept back across forcefully with both arms and collided with the sword, not only stopping it but quickly pushing in a curving motion to wrench it down slightly. He saw the woman's face tighten, a sure sign of pain…

Afterward, the lightning around his blade flared, and he stepped back and snapped the sword down, sending out another bolt for her. For a moment, he caught the woman smirk as she backpedaled, but then simply sidestepped to let the blinding bolt sail past. She answered by flinging up her sleeve. A three-clawed hook attached to a metal chain came flying outward for him, trying to snag his sword…

Just as he hoped.

The woman had failed to note that his sword was still sparking, and now he let the claw grab it and pumped his full energy into it.

A white hot trail of electricity snaked through the metal claw, along the chain, and right into the sleeve of its caster. The woman scarcely had time to show surprise before her body went rigid and snapped back a good ten feet. That blast that Ky had just given her was meant to incapacitate most targets who were twice her size. Even if she had greater physical power concealed beneath her, there was no way the jolt hadn't just taken a chunk of her strength and stamina out.

Remarkably enough, she only staggered once the claw was free and recoiled to her body. While a few wisps of smoke arose from her and the ends of her hair seemed to be lightly charred, she grit her teeth, forced her legs down, and again went into a solid ready position. If she had been weakened by that, she was doing a smashing job of not showing it. She readied her blade and glared at Ky far more dangerously…

That had to have taken something out of her. If I focus, I can still end this without-

"Ky! We are leaving over here!"

The man was too experienced to let the sudden voice behind him break his focus against this warrior. He knew if he looked away for an instant it would cost him. Yet he didn't need to. Hearing that voice caused him to break his warrior's mentality and suddenly realize the situation.

He had been so busy fighting with her that he had missed the sound of approaching hoverjets over his own electricity. Now that he could hear again, he noticed that the billowing snow was breaking, and emerging from it was a German hovercraft; likely a military-derived issue they were either co-opting for the opera or was licensed to the police. Its floodlights burst on both him and his opponent, actually causing her to glance up as well. As it spotted both clearly it began to slow.

"Polizei! Jeder auf dem Boden!" A loudspeaker blared.

Ky's memory immediately clicked. The bombs…

As for the woman, her façade broke. Ky didn't dare look away, but behind him, in full view of the woman, those who were with him jumped off of the building. The roar of a passing diesel engine thundered far below. For the first time, he saw her face grow emotional…enraged.

"NO!"

Suddenly ignoring Ky all together, she snapped her head around to the hovering vehicle. This would have been the perfect time for Ky to strike, but the sudden surge of emotion from the woman, the expression of genuine pain and passion that streaked her face, unfortunately made him hesitate. On spotting the craft, he did something he never expected she would try. She lashed out with her sleeve, causing the same claw and chain to snake out from it and hook to one of the two side turbines. It recoiled with a sharp winding noise a moment later, reeling her to the craft.

Ky realized he too had only a second to move. The car had passed, so he had only a moment. He couldn't run after the others and this woman was so desperate she wasn't giving up…

Only one option left.

Bringing what power and speed he could to bear, he ran right at the hovering craft, which hadn't even fully realized it had picked up one passenger. Summoning all of his strength to his limbs and channeling his magic, he leapt at the opposite wing as it descended. This was insane. Even if he could make the jump, the craft might be low enough to still get destroyed. And if not, what then?

There was no time for debate. It was this or nothing. Gritting his teeth, he swung the Thunderseal around into a stabbing motion as best as he could and thrust for the other turbine, simultaneously praying to God that he hit his target, that he anchored, that he wasn't still too low to get blown up, and, most of all, that he didn't skewer the engine and cause it to crash anyway.

It was the last thing he could do before the parking garage below him thundered into a cloud of smoke and flame.


The robotic Ky thrust its sword at Sol, forcing him to not only step back but step to one side, for it sent off a bolt of electricity after it was done. Quickly advancing, it swiped its blade in two wide slashes, cutting large swaths that kept him from getting any nearer. Each one backed him up further, and finally the machine gave a hydraulic hiss before leaping at him, rearing back the blade and swiping at his head. Rapidly, Sol ducked and advanced, hoping to get under it. Sure enough, the slice went wide over his head as the machine sailed by, but when he tried to slash it from behind he was beaten to it. The robotic Ky planted its feet and swiveled around, using the wide reach of its blade to intercept the slash. Not only that, but Sol found his arm wrenched as it twisted his limb away before beginning to advance on him again.

Gritting his teeth, Sol realized he had to risk making a more dangerous move. As much as he disliked it, he let the machine continue to advance on him momentarily before it made a thrust. Quickly, he darted inward. This construct had all of Ky's moves and techniques. There was no way he could make it without getting grazed by the tip of the sword, and now was no exception. Luckily, in spite of the electric charge he got from being cut, as well as the fact he couldn't afford to take many more injuries, the blow didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have, and the machine was caught off guard. Sol actually smirked. The designers had made it so well that they included the fact Sol would never make this move against the real Ky. Getting stabbed by the true Thunderseal was far too much of a handicap.

Now that he was in close range, he quickly brought his own blade up in a swing, meaning to try and knock the machine's arms off balance. To counter, it quickly put both hands on its sword and locked in, intercepting the strike. Not stopping there, Sol quickly hammered away on top of the blade for all he was worth. The robotic Ky attempted to back up, but he kept advancing on it, staying in close quarters. With his larger blade, he couldn't get the leverage to mount an effective counterattack. Now he was betting on his superior sword breaking the machine's imitation first.

His bet was wrong. The machine didn't experience muscle fatigue while Sol was already drained. As he brought his blade down again, the machine made electricity flare from his own weapon. The connection with the Fireseal sent sparks flying everywhere, including sending one into Sol's eyes. The bounty hunter was stunned and forced to rapidly backpedal, knowing the robotic Ky would respond with a counter attack immediately. Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough. Still charged with electricity, the machine sliced a wide swath out at him. Only the tip of the blade managed to graze one of his pectoral muscles, but it sent a potent jolt into him. He gave a spasm as he pulled back further, but the damage had been done. The electricity seeping into him had partially numbed his muscles. As a result, one of his arms was weak. He couldn't block the next slice, and the robotic Ky immediately advanced while bringing his sword back to capitalize…

Quickly, Sol did all he could do to try and buy time. He swung his own shorter blade out, not for the robot but for the ground below him. The vents belched smoke, and a wave of flame erupted from the sword hot enough to actually cause the tilework to blaze momentarily. It didn't stun the machine long, however. Charging right through it, not minding the flames that not only singed its clothes but caused the lower train to smolder, the machine was on him and slashing out wide and powerful for his weak side. It hammered him two more times before it tried to stab him directly. At this point, he knew he couldn't afford to get shocked again.

Sol realized he was getting nowhere. The machine wouldn't tire and he was already at his limit. If he didn't think of something more effective very soon, he could be in real trouble. He began to try and focus on his technique. Normally he held himself back from making certain moves against the real Ky, lest he permanently injure or cripple him. Simply getting outright more brutal wouldn't help here, though. He had to think of things he would never try on him. Perhaps things that a machine itself would blunder into without thinking. The slight weaknesses there had to be that the machine retained that the real Ky did not.

Then it struck him. He knew what to do.

As the robotic Ky reared back for another stab, Sol swung his blade out again. Not once, but multiple times in a fluid figure-8 motion. He didn't aim for the machine, but rather for the ground before him. Fire again poured off of the sword and came on the ground. A sizeable blaze appeared on the floor, but he kept pushing more of his fire magic into it to make it burn hotter and brighter.

It only stunned the robotic Ky a moment. The temperature still wasn't enough to be a threat to it, so it charged right into the blaze, setting its clothing and hair fully on fire now, and stabbed for Sol. Quickly the man sidestepped, and as it tried to follow up with a cross slash he quickly swung his blade around, tapped the end, and deflected it. The machine surged forward, trying to charge into him after the block, but he kept sidestepping rather than gained distance. And as soon as he was clear, he aimed at the floor again and swept his blade up again, kicking up the fire that had begun to dim once more and burning away at it.

The robotic Ky snapped around and swung its fake Thunderseal, kicking off a spark of electrity at the man. Quickly, he dodged inward, forced to jump through his own blaze. Even with his power and mastery of fire magic, he felt himself get a little burned from the sheer force of the fire. Yet as soon as he was clear, he swung his blade at it again. He only got two off before the robotic Ky slashed out, through the fire, for his head. Rather than back up or block, he ducked so he could swing at the ground again. Moments later, the robotic Ky took off and sliced out for his head. To dodge, he was forced to dive forward in a somersault, again going through the blaze. This time, he definitely felt pain from the fire singing and burning him. Yet he grit his teeth through it as his own pants began to smolder and arrived at the other side. Biting back the pain, he snapped around in an instant and continued to pump fire against the ground.

It took even less time for the robotic Ky to go about and attack again, but Sol kept it up. Rather than fight head on, he kept dodging and evading him, all so he could stay in the same general area and put more fire magic against the ground. He began to pant and heave from both the magic and the strain. With his longer reach, the robotic Ky was never far from striking him, but he kept going. The fires raged and burned in the midst of them. The heat was so strong the tiles broke and splintered into ash. The floor below heated up until it gleamed, and continued to gleam more brightly as he kept working.

Finally, as he lashed out to try and get a bit more fire magic in the midst, the robotic Ky sliced out. This time, he was too slow from his fatigue. His other arm got struck, and the blade was still charged with electricity. A pained jolt went through him, followed by a numbness. His other arm was still recovering. He no longer had the power to block a direct overhead chop and he knew it. He only had enough for one more good strike. Realizing that was the case, he stepped to one side, so that his back was now to the fountain pool he had crashed in on arrival. Grasping his sword with both hands, he pushed all his remaining fire magic into it, causing his own sword to begin to ignite the air about it as smoke poured forth. Yet more than that, he stepped back, away from the flaming area he had generated. Finally, he kept his blade down, purposely leaving an opening.

Just as he hoped, the robotic Ky took off straight at him, peeling its sword back and ready to slice for his neck. It got one step onto the flaming area, not minding that all but its metal exoskeleton was roasted…

And immediately sank down to one ankle into the middle of it, faltering and looking about in surprise the same way the real Ky would.

One move Sol would never had made fighting Ky was making a pit trap. With his mastery over fire magic, it was nothing to heat a patch of ground until it was practically magma. If Ky was to step in such a trap, he would easily lose a leg to burns and maybe his life to infection. Yet a metal machine was another matter as his leg anchored into the molten ground. His swing went wide and awkward…

And Sol seized on it. He put the bulk of his remaining strength to bear as he darted forward, swung out, and hit the tip of the fake Thunderseal as hard as he could. Just as he hoped, the hit landed where he had stressed the blade earlier, and it was too much for it. The tip of the sword snapped off. Whatever power generator it was using caused electricity to snake out of the end of it like a thrashing worm.

The machine realized it had its blade damaged, but quickly reacted. Surging in power, it suddenly ripped its foot back out of the molten floor and pushed itself forward at the same time. In an instant, it was surging at Sol and smashing its own metal head into his forehead. At his current power, it was more than enough to knock the man back and almost off of his feet. Worse yet, it came dangerously close to denting in his headband; something he dared not lose now. Nevertheless, between his fatigue, his soreness, his injuries, and his overuse of magic, he barely managed to stay on his feet as he staggered back to the pool.

The blade of the machine continued to spark dangerously and one of its legs was slightly weighed down, but that was the only inconvenience it had suffered. The sparks flared more from the end of its broken weapon as it charged it with electricity again. Seeing Sol stunned, it took a moment to assess what would be the best move for it to make to end the battle. Finally settling on his heart, the machine braced its blade against its chest and shoulders and shot forward in a single lunge.

Sol remained seemingly helpless as the machine neared-only to react moments before impact. He swung out not his blade but his arm, tightening up and twisting his body at the same time so his arm struck the sword. In spite of the painful jolt, he hit the flat of the blade and quickly spun around and off of it as the robotic Ky continued to surge forward. As he came out of the spin, he raised his arm bearing the Fireseal and solidly struck the machine in the back of the head with the pommel. It wasn't his strongest hit in the world, but it was more than enough to knock the charging machine off balance so that it kept shooting forward; ending up flying over the lip of the pool and driving itself and its sword tip-first into the water.

Moments later, and Sol was staggering away as monstrous bolts of electricity erupted from the fountain, snaking throughout the pool and up the waterfall fountain. He suppressed a weak grin as he moved away from it. Just as he had expected. If that fake sword was trying to approximate the power of Ky with the Thunderseal, it had to have a generator powerful enough to power part of a major metropolitan area. Now that electricity was fully being discharged about the machine, conducted into and around it. And just as he hoped, the source of the power was the machine itself. Only it was large enough to fit the necessary reactor. The robotic Ky soon began to violently spasm as electricity passed into and through it. It shook wildly, jittering like it was having a seizure. Beeping and whining sounds began to come from within it, and soon smoke poured from its ears.

Sol didn't bother standing his ground. Weak as he was, he staggered and stumbled away as far as he could. He didn't know what had made that machine, but he was smart enough to know that it had been sent here for some sort of assassination or combat role against the Gear. He knew that meant there was no way it was intended to just "break down" if it met its match.

As he managed to find an exit sign and made his way there as fast as he could, the robotic Ky grew more violent. Heat began to melt through its joint sealant. One of its eyes flickered out as robotic garble bubbled from inside. A louder beeping began to sound from within it, sounding like a building siren rather than simply malfunctioning. As it grew in intensity, he smashed his way into the door at the end of the pathway and stumbled into a stairwell.

He already knew that Ky had to know nothing about this. He would have mentioned it if he had. That meant whoever built this was someone not affiliated with the International Police Force. And while this one had only been a "Brand X" version of Ky, it had been far from a minor threat. Against a lesser opponent it likely would have won.

That left a question: in a world without Gears, why would one need a way to produce drone soldiers of that much power? What threat would they possibly be trying to combat?

Sol didn't have an answer, and for now he didn't bother thinking of one. He had bigger problems to worry about.

Such as when half of the building he was currently in was abruptly annihilated; the end result of the robotic Ky's self-destruct detonating.


By the time the fiery eruption of the parking garage began to die down, there wasn't a person left in the city of Berlin who wasn't crying out in panic. Blocks away, the crowds left at the theater and everywhere else around turned and began to run as fast as they could, nearly stampeding each other and the law authorities trying to go the opposite way. More screams followed as buildings were pierced by debris and people in the road found pieces landing in their midst. The aircraft in the area pulled back; everyone terrified that the Gear had unleashed her power again and this time in a major urban scale. Curses in German went off on radios and the few people overseeing the civic authorities began to fear an attack was being made on the Reactor, not knowing that ship had already come and went.

And in the blocks now surrounding the ruins of the smoking, burning parking garage, piles of debris continued to rain down on top of one another as ash mingled with the falling snow. In spite of the sounds of crashing and colliding, the fading of aircraft engines, and the slow diminishing echo of the eruption, the area was now deserted. Whatever people had been left anywhere around the area had risen and run for their lives when the blast went off. And with the ones responsible for the blast also racing down the road for the airport, there was nothing left here but a ruin.

Yet in the midst of the falling rubble, tucked away in a thin alley that, between the old, solid, concrete foundations on both sides, almost provided a bomb shelter, some of the debris began to shift. Soon after, a few bits of wood and metal sheeting were pushed aside, revealing a gleaming metallic luster coming from two fully-unfurled fans draped over what was beneath. Slowly, they began to collapse and the man holding them began to emerge.

Things had gone rather horribly wrong for Anji Mito, and he knew it as his head slowly and stiffly raised from inside the trench. The shattered remains of his glasses fell off, both crushed and mottled with blood. The rest of him felt like an open sore, and looked like it too for the most part. He had managed to find and reclaim the Zessen just in time. The power of his fans kept him from being smashed when he unfurled them just as the blast went off, but they were only able to cover his torso and head. One of his arms and his feet were lacerated and bruised in multiple spots, and felt broken in at least four places between them. And that said nothing about the injuries he sustained in his fight and during the fall. He was dizzy and sick simply from the sheer trauma. By all accounts, the force of that explosion should have finished him. As it was, he was fortunate not to be buried alive.

Stiffly, he raised his good arm and pressed it on the edge of the foundations, slowly and stiffly pulling his body out. All he could manage was yanking it onto the concrete foundation, and then limply rolled himself off like a dying animal. Yet the pain was nothing compared to his failure in every other regard. The Gear had been that close, and he had come up short. By now she was either dead or far beyond his reach yet again. And as for him? He had been so beaten it would be fortunate if he wasn't found and returned to his colony like a lost puppy after all this. Of course, he'd get far worse than that if they found out half the things he had been doing...

Anji weakly looked up and forward, trying to find his way. But in between the smoke, the dust, the trauma to his head, and the fact his glasses had been smashed, all he could make out was darkness and a few vague shadows. He sighed as he lowered his head again. He couldn't even see where he was going now. And even if he could, where would he go? He'd be lucky to drag himself out of this far enough to find his way to an EMT worker, and that would hardly be a help in his current situation. He grit his teeth and struggled to pull himself forward, dragging his body across the still-falling debris and rubble by one arm; driving his body into more pain with each pull.

I honestly don't know what to be more upset about...the pain, or the loss. That close. I was one of the closest people in the world to her. And now? Now what? I was out too long to even find where she could have gone, and that explosion took care of any trail I would have found. Maybe it would be better to return to the colony until I'm back on my feet. I didn't leave any evidence behind anywhere else I went. And it would help to use my status as a valuable rarity for a change to...

"You want to know the truth about the Gears, do you?"

The man stopped pulling. Momentarily, he went rigid. A voice had spoken right in front of him. His head raised, but it was a wasted gesture. His eyes were so bad that he could see nothing except the vague shadows from before.

...Or could he?

He hadn't really focused on the blurry vision before, but there seemed to be more shadows before him now.

"Who...?" He was almost amazed at the croak of his own voice.

"Do you truly wish to know the truth, Anji Mito?"

The man was rendered mute by that answer. He blinked once. His vision didn't clear much, but now he was sure of it. There were at least three new shadows in front of him now. All of them were man-sized. In his swimming vision and senses, he could vaguely tell that the one in the middle had been the one who had spoken.

He struggled to focus on this one. Vaguely, he thought he could make out an odd hooded garment on this one with strips of cloth having finger-like extensions. Like he was dangling multiple hands.

His appearance was soon ignored. Anji cared more about the fact he not only knew his name, but knew his motives. Had his senses been sharper, he might have noticed more than that. The air about him had changed. The ash had stopped falling. The wind had stopped blowing. All he grown as still as if he was in another world.

"How did...?"

"How badly do you wish to know the truth?" The voice continued. It didn't seem so much as to echo through the air as it was the air. "What would you give to know about it?"

Anji hesitated. This was sudden and unexpected. He had no idea who was talking or where he and his allies had come from. And yet, the way that phrase was spoken, the way the figure spoke with such certainty, he realized this wasn't a joke or a hallucination. He was telling the truth. He not only knew what Anji wanted, but he knew how to get it. He was genuinely offering it to him. And when that happened, the man forgot about both his pain as well as the mystery of his appearance. All he remembered was what sent him on this self-appointed mission in the first place: his curiosity.

The riddle of the Gears. The meaning behind them. The secret behind what had changed Earth forever. The greatest of all mysteries that he had come so close to beginning to unlock only to have it taken from him...

He forced his head up more.

"...Anything."

"'Anything'?" The voice echoed back. "I'll hold you to that."


Landing on the flatbed of a moving vehicle from several stories up would normally kill or injure people even with padding and reinforcement, and that was on a normal jump. Thanks to catching part of the blast from the parking garage on the way down, May had been wrenched painfully and landed wrong on one leg before collapsing and banging her shoulder as well. She let out a cry of pain and misery as she collapsed. Over the sounds of the boom behind her as well as the howling wind from the progress of the truck, she couldn't hear how anyone else had managed. Yet she was a tough girl and she had been through things like this before, and she forced her body to flop on its back and look up.

A towering inferno of smoke and fire burned through the snowy night and met her vision. Yet she also caught Johnny slamming down rather hard nearby and collapsing even more easily than her; in far worse shape. He nearly dumped Testament like a sack of potatoes, causing the Gear to cry out in even more pain; although May's sympathy for him was far lesser. That left Dizzy and the doctor…

She blinked. She could have sworn, for a moment, she saw him not only gracefully gliding in with Dizzy under one arm, but actually using an umbrella like a parachute as he came in…

She blinked again, and it was gone. Somehow the spindly doctor had landed normally, and was setting Dizzy down and already going for his bag again. It defied belief. Between the roaring of the explosion, the howling wind, the shockwave, the freezing snow, and the chaos of what they had all been through, he looked like nothing had changed. In no time at all his bag was down and open, and he seized out a large needle and some medical tubes.

"Quickly, quickly!" He called over the roaring of the truck. "We need to get her heart restarted very soon!"

At that moment, the huge truck made a sharp turn. In addition to squealing rubber, May, Johnny, and Testament suddenly found themselves violently flung to one side. As this was a dump truck, all gave a wince as they were nearly slid right out of the flatbed, and all had to find strength they didn't know they had to stop themselves. As for the doctor, he managed to plant his feet and put one down on Dizzy's body to keep her from going too far, but when the car straightened out everyone was shaken up.

"No more of that would also help her case immensely!" The doctor shouted.

"That can't be helped…" Johnny grunted as he struggled to peel himself up, grabbing Testament with him and dragging him over to the doctor. "We're still trying to escape, you know!"

"Well, I suppose I was getting too 'bored' with my practice lately, but keep in mind, contrary to how I appear, I am only mortal and there some things magic can't do!" He said as he leaned over to stick Dizzy. "This isn't a rush engineering job! This is a living creature! Thank goodness her flesh is nice and weak…how about yours, friend?"

Testament growled as he was adjusted near Dizzy. The moment he got there, he managed to raise one of his arms and traced a pattern in a circle. An instant later, blood seemed to paint the air and then solidify, forming a small crescent blade. Taking that in one hand, he stiffened himself a moment before spinning it over and driving it against one of his own veins, piercing his durable skin and drawing blood.

"Just…shove it…in there…" He said through clenched teeth.

"You'd make a wonderful cadaver, son!" The doctor answered as he began to lean over.

Right before he could stick him, the truck gave a violent jump from hitting a bump. It was enough to launch everyone into the air a whole foot before slamming them down again; the doctor included. He, however, somehow stayed on his feet.

A sigh from beneath the paper bag mask before he simultaneously stuck Testament and shouted. "Mind the bumps, would you? I've patched this girl's heart back together like a ramshackle quilt but don't think I'm such a miracle worker I can make it hold together with will alone! Another jolt bigger than that and she won't make it!"

With the two connected, the doctor wasted little time. When May finally leaned up and focused enough over the wind and rush to see what was happening, he had already put together his hand-operated transfusion kit, and was already pumping. She watched as blood ran out of Testament's body, into a sieve and glass jar construct, and then began to go up the other end. While he continued to operate this with one hand, he reached into his bag with the other, starting to get out a new device. This one was battery powered.

"You're going to defibrillate her now?" Johnny asked as he himself leaned up. "While she's only got a few milliliters in her?"

"Can't be helped! If the heart doesn't start up again soon it may never start! I've never operated on a Gear before and I need to see how much will get the nodes kicking and how much will depolarize her ventricles…assuming she even has nodes and ventricles to begin with, which I'm hoping she does!"

May took a deep breath to try and shout back, when she hesitated. Why was she still shouting at this point? They were a couple blocks away from the parking garage, but there was still a roar on the air…

She looked up skyward, and gasped.

Their getaway hadn't been clean. The military-issue hovercraft that had begun to close in on their position before they leapt for it was now behind them. And as they roared along in their own truck, she further noticed that it wasn't losing ground on them. It had to be in pursuit. The thought made her pale. If it was in pursuit, then it could already be identifying them. Already be charting their path. Already setting more officers to stop them long before they got to the airfield…

Yet on top of all that, she soon saw something that made her far more anxious than any of the above.

As the hovercraft pitched, the searchlight angled down. And when it did, she was able to barely see the wings of the aircraft through the billowing snow; and saw someone was riding one of the wings.

Someone who seemed to have long hair and a kimono.

"Oh…sh't."


Ky had survived the Crusades, and he still couldn't believe he was doing this.

In spite of his already-beaten body getting ravaged by the explosion of the parking garage and the fact he was now rolling, pitching, and yawing with the slightest movement from the hovercraft, he was still alive. Dangling from the Thunderseal as the streets of Berlin flew by below and the swirling snows blew around him. His miraculous stab had worked. He was anchored into the hovercraft and now, not really sure he had made the right decision, he found himself dangling along as the aircraft rushed away from the wreckage of the garage.

Now what?

It was a legitimate question to ask himself. His body was sore, strained, and exhausted. It was all he could do at the moment just to hang on as the force of the flight threatened to wrench him off. All the aircraft had to do was pitch forward a bit more and his blade would slide right out and take him with it. And strong as he was, he estimated he was a good fifteen to twenty stories in the air right now. The result would not look pretty. He was so aghast at his circumstance as well as strained and agonized that he needed a moment just to try and think of where to go from here.

Finally, he forced his body to tighten and his arms to contort. Giving a pained grunt lost over the deafening roar of the turbines, he began to pull himself upward on the sword. He barely closed the distance before the aircraft suddenly gave a violent tilt to one side, causing him to slip and nearly losing his grip. It soon went back to the other way afterward, and for a moment one of his hands slipped-leaving him dangling in the air by one limb. Crying out, the desire to live pushed him onward to quickly seize the hilt again, but now one arm was strained to the breaking point.

Are they trying to knock me off?

No…not me…

Realizing it had to be the other individual, Ky redoubled his efforts. Crying out even louder, this time chanting a French prayer, he pulled himself up again. Slowly and surely, he yanked his body enough to where he could risk putting his boot out on the turbine. It was a slick, sleek surface with no purchase, but his stretched wits and faculties somehow forced his body to use his magic. Small bolts of electricity snaked from his boot soon after and his foot stuck to the turbine like glue. Not the best foothold in the world, but with light enough magic it could anchor there. He looked up afterward, and through the blinding snow and wind he just made out the wing handle. Praying again and taking in two deep breaths, he forced himself up and stretched out an arm, putting it over the top.

The wing was as sheer as the turbine, and lined with moisture from the flight. The only good side? It was so cold that his hand began to freeze to the wing, giving him some traction. He began to pull up…

A whistling sound so sharp it went over the turbine noise rang out, before Ky saw a spear tip imbed right where his hand was. Due to motion of the hovercraft it didn't lop off his fingers, but as it was two of them were sliced deep, spilling blood instantly. Even if the pain hadn't been there, the warm blood washed over his fingers and immediately melted his grip. A moment later, he slid back down in a mixture of shock and pain and was dangling by his sword again, this time falling so hard he felt it slide out slightly. Gaping, he looked up to where it came from.

The one-eyed woman had obviously noticed his presence. And in spite of the fact that she looked like she could barely balance on her getas, she had turned her full attention to him. Her severed sleeve was aimed at his dangling body: the source of the first spear. Now she was aiming for him again, and he only had one hand on a grip…

Ky watched her tensely over the blinding snow and wind for a moment, waiting for the fateful moment. An instant later, the spear fired. Cursing himself and his stupidity and praying yet again, he made his counter move with his lightning-enhanced reflexes. With a move that was a stretch even for him he hoisted up on the Thunderseal with enough power to make him surge upward again, before letting go of the handle all together. For a moment, his body was suspended above nothing as his magnetized foot loosened, and another spear shot out and pierced where his hand had been. Fortunately, on hitting the handle of the Thunderseal instead, it instantly blunted and shattered, but Ky wasn't going for that. Rather, his bleeding hand shot out and, with a Herculean effort that strained his arm to near the spraining point, he lashed out and seized the handle of the spear embedded in the wing. In spite of the agony, he held tight.

The one-eyed woman grit her teeth, forcing herself through the storm. It took her a moment to realize Ky was stuck. That last move had taken too much out of him, and he was stunned and left suspended with his sword below and one injured hand clutching a spear shaft. Still not anywhere on top of the wing. Now, he watched as a large dragon head emerged from her sleeve, its open mouth belching a fiery pilot light. He tensed; realizing she wasn't going to let him dodge the next one. She'd belch a flame shower to where he couldn't dodge. Even if he survived the blast, the pain would make him release and fall to his doom. As she took aim, he realized he had only one shot. One far crazier and pushing him harder than the last. His wrist began to work against the spear handle, trying to pry it off using his weight.

This is insanity... He told himself as it didn't give right away, prompting him to fight harder. For a moment, he didn't think he'd get it out as she aimed at him. Yet finally, just as he was sure he would be incinerated, it came loose. Gravity immediately yanked at him and began to pull him down, out of the way…

Yet as he fell, he pushed every ounce of magically-enhanced focus he could muster into his senses and muscles, cocked back the arm holding the spear, and then flung it right back at her. She reacted in alarm, but the spear wasn't aimed for any vitals. It was aimed for the edge of her arm. As he continued to fall down, extending his other hand to seize the Thunderseal hilt, he watched as the spear tip slashed the side of her severed limb. The sound of metal cutting metal rang out, and she peeled back…just as a broken ring clattered off of her stump and to the ground. Along with it, to the sound of a sharp sizzling noise, went half of the dragon flamethrower, which immediately went dead.

He had just cut her gateway projector. No more "trick shots" from that arm.

He still wasn't done. As he came down on the handle, he did so at an angle. Wondering both if he would survive this insane stunt and if he was mad for trying it, he let the gravity pull on him, actually swinging him down along the sword handle like it was one of a set of parallel bars, his body arched around once beneath and swung back upward, allowing him to suspend both legs up and over the turbine to find purchase. He hung there now, stretched between his sword insertion point and his legs, straddled in an odd position and unable to lift anymore. As he did, the one-eyed woman forgot her arm and instead drew her katana; moving in to slice him and knock him off regardless.

Having only one chance now, Ky fumbled around his middle with his one free limb, feeling his sword arm sliding more. It would pop out any minute. Yet as the woman came in to try and slice his legs clean off, which would result in the rest of him falling back to Earth, he managed to get his own Sacred Order standard loose. As she whipped her sword back, he lashed out with it like a ramshackle whip, and, through the greatest of providence, he managed to snag her "power" leg. She froze on realizing this, and he grit his teeth as he did a rather unorthodox move; he yanked back to try and pull her off of the wing.

While if he had been successful it likely would have not only killed her but him too when her falling body would have yanked him off, it had the desired counter-effect; it caused her to break out of her slash, slam her body against the wing, and struggle to pull back. As a result, she suddenly yanked him up and off of his position with her. Realizing the standard wouldn't hold long, he took the moment to yank the Thunderseal free and the split second afterward to charge it with even more electricity than he had charged his feet. As it lit to life, thundered, and sparked, it formed an electromagnet that instantly anchored itself to the top of the wing, becoming solid and rigid as a bar.

By now, the one-eyed assassin had loosed the strap, but he let it go, shifting both hands to the handle of the Thunderseal. With that, he launched his legs back and pushed himself off, swinging along the handle back the way he came. The gesture was just to build momentum for a move that he hoped would be his last insane maneuver this evening. As the woman staggered back up onto all fours and came forward with her katana, he swung himself forward with all of his might and enhancement he could muster. It worked successfully, and he managed to catch the draft of the flying wind and snow just right. His body swung up and over the wing by the sword just as he intended, and he greeted the approaching woman with a solid boot to the face. Her head was snapped to one side as she was knocked back, and Ky's own body went flying over the wing a moment before slamming down on top of it.

His relief at no longer dangling was short lived. Instantly, his body slid and slipped on the surface of the wing, for it was slightly rolled to one side and he soon found himself flailing as much as his opponent as he slid along it. It straightened out soon enough, but he still had to quickly spread out his palms and plant himself against it. His heart was racing and his eyes were wide now. This was not a good place to be. This wasn't some airship or deck; this was a hovercraft wing. One might as well have been fighting on the wings of a World War II fighter. The wind, snow, and ice made this entire location lethal and even if there was no opponent he realized he'd be lucky to survive it.

Yet his opponent was already bracing herself with her sword and getting her getas underneath her. There was no time for hesitation. By the time he even leaned up and tried to reach back for the Thunderseal, she was already on her feet again. Ignoring her situation, eyes filled with passion, she surged at him with sword drawn as best as she could.

There was no time to be fancy or use any finesse. Ky simply swung his sword in front and over him in a cross as fast as he could to intercept the blade. The two collided, and he quickly pushed off to one side. Fortunately, her footing was so weak on the hovercraft wing that she had to roll with it to avoid being knocked off of her feet. Using that moment, Ky continued to push off with his own blade and roll up to his feet, standing as fast as he could. He spread his legs out just in time as the one-eyed woman recovered and surged at him, slicing out with her blade savagely in wide cuts. It was the best she could do with her current footing, but Ky's own footing wasn't that good to block. He ended up having to take two steps back as he cross the Thunderseal to block all three slashes…

Suddenly, both had to break off their attack. Whether due to their regular flight or due to trying to ursurp both stowaways off of the wing, the hovercraft suddenly pitched backward in a stall; causing the entire aircraft to rear up. The result inclined the wings, threatening to dump both individuals off to the earth far below. Both Ky and the woman had to stop and quickly lower and angle their bodies, barely managing to keep from sliding off from the gesture. They held for a few moments as the aircraft stayed stalling, before it had to level out again…

And immediately the one-eyed woman leapt at him, swinging her sword up and back to go for a slash at his neck or shoulder. Quickly, Ky retreated as she made the risky move, but not fully out of the way. As soon as she landed on the slippery wing, her footing was unsteady, and he used that moment to bring his broader sword forward, and collide with her slash; overextending it and forcing it to one side. The woman's one arm was wrenched downward, and she seemed exposed. He tried to seize the opportunity by thrusting forward in hopes of ending the duel. Unfortunately, the woman didn't go for it. Although she ended up getting a graze underneath where her arm used to be, she still managed to twist and crouch to avoid the stab, right before springing off with a rising slash aimed to cut Ky literally from stem to stern. Even in this hellish fighting environment, he barely managed to bring his blade back up to stop the cut in time, yet once there he quickly pushed back at her and ground into the cut. Without sure footing, he hoped to use his size as leverage over her to end this quickly.

But once more, such hopes were dashed. The hovercraft pitched again, this time forward. Both combatants broke off and struggled to lean in, but the hovercraft wasn't stopping there this time. It arched itself forward faster, increasing both the wind hitting the wings as well as the angle, and soon both Ky and the one-eyed woman began to feel themselves slipping. Having no other choice, both resorted to the same solution. As the wing turned vertical enough to knock them both off, both swung their respective blades around and drove them into the wing to use as anchors, then held onto the hilts for dear life.

Unfortunately for Ky, his blade was the far longer of the two, and as soon as it pierced in and supplied a touch of its electric power, he heard a sparking and hissing from the turbine underneath the wing, right before the entire hovercraft gave a violent spasm. Both were shaken harshly but managed to hold on, yet soon after a tendril of smoke rose from his own stab mark. He realized he had damaged something. Maybe not enough to disable to hovercraft (at least for now) but it made him mindful of something else. Neither of them could fight as errantly as they had on the ground. This wasn't just bad terrain; it was an environment that could be caused to crash.

By now his face was feeling a mixture of wind burn and numbness, but he looked up to the one-eyed woman. In spite of only having one arm, she somehow managed to hang on. She herself was having a hard time, but he saw that her one good eye was staring below, and spotted something. He looked after her, and through the storm he barely managed to make out a slightly-illuminated road beneath them. A dump truck of sorts was driving down it, with people in the back. At once he realized it had to be the others and the Gear. The hovercraft was in pursuit.

Looking back to the one-eyed woman, he watched as she clenched her teeth and looked back at him. In spite of her slipping getas, she struggled to move back up on the wing. She was trying to get leverage to let her arm go, seemingly to reach out and try and attack.

"Are you insane?!" He called out as loudly as he could. "Just stop! If we keep this up, we'll both die!"

"If I can't confront that man face-to-face…" She hissed back. "Then I don't have a reason to live!"

The woman pushed harder at this against the wing with one geta, lifting her body up enough to bring her sash level with the sword hilt. She immediately moved her body around to snag one leg over the embedded weapon, and a moment later her body straddled it, freeing up her one arm. Ky only had a moment to realize what she had done before she lunged out at him, suddenly seizing his head with her own arm and slamming it against the wing as hard as she could. In spite of their position, she generated considerable power, and soon his skull flooded with pain and his senses blackened from the blow. But she didn't stop then. She immediately smashed his head again against it, driving him into more pain and flooding his senses even further. And again after that, causing the rest of his senses to weaken and his grip to start to slip…

He let her get no further. He let one hand slip off of the sword grip, but only to reach out and seize her arm. With more senses and seemingly greater straight physical power, she immediately began to try and fight back to wrench her arm free while still holding onto his scalp, but he kept pushing as his hand moved to her pinkie finger. He wrapped his fingers around it as quickly as he could.

She just has one arm. Anything I can do to disable this one…

He forced himself to bite back his chivalrous desires, telling himself they would do no good it if killed them both up here, before he snapped his wrist. A loud popping and snapping went off soon afterward.

At last, the woman expressed true pain as she cried out in agony. Her hand faltered and slipped off of Ky, managing to disengage from his grip too late, and her own leg grip around her sword started to slip…

Yet at that moment, the wing leveled out again. Ky himself had scarcely begun to lay against the wing again when the one-eyed woman snapped off first. Whether it was pain or fury that drove her, she sprung back and away from him and used her injured hand to grab the hilt of her sword. As she pulled it free, he got level enough to push himself up into a squat, but that proved to be harder than he liked. The wing had iced over more from the impact of his sword, where more drag had been created from his stab. He realized there was a good chance the pilots were leveling out because the damage he had done had hampered the aircraft somehow. He barely managed to get up in time to pull his sword out and free…

Right before, crying out, the one-eyed woman leapt at him with a slice designed to split his head in two. He didn't even have time to counter with the speed she used. He had to spring back as the woman's slash missed him and sliced into the wing where he had been instead. This time, her own cut caused more sparks from its depth, and further smoke belched out from within. The turbine on the hovercraft gave another not-too-pleasant sounding noise, but the woman didn't care. She leapt at him again, if anything striking harder than before with a slice at his neck. He went wide-eyed as he crossed his sword up to intercept that slash, but his footing was just as icy as ever and the strike as jarring as ever. He felt his feet slip as he was knocked askew. Not letting up, as soon as she landed she performed another upward slash. He managed to block it from cutting into him, but it knocked his arms up and hit him off balance more than before, making him stagger back as his feet slipped beneath him. She slid a bit herself as she forced her body up, but that didn't stop her as she slashed out more powerfully for him again. The attacks were no longer focused, just powerful and wild as she slipped and slid everywhere on advancing.

Ky's face was tense. The woman had gotten desperate. With one finger broken, she no longer had the power to focus her strikes for precision stabs or slashes. If the wing tipped again, she wouldn't be able to anchor herself by one arm with four fingers. Merely holding her grip right now had to be driving her into agony. So she was now going wild, purposely pushing everything she had into her strikes regardless of the danger to her to hopefully knock him off or kill him before that happened.

Unfortunately, she was having success. Ky couldn't get his footing on the wing, and he was being pushed closer to the edge where the winds were growing sharper. He didn't risk looking behind him, but he knew that he couldn't hold much longer. Even slipping and falling in the middle of the hovercraft would have been fatal; but here he was running out of ground to stand on. Her furious assault wouldn't allow him to plant his feet and mount a counterattack. She kept knocking him back then leaping and slashing again and again. If he didn't counter soon, she'd either disarm him or knock him over the edge…or perhaps simply slice down with enough force to damage the wing enough to crash the aircraft.

As his feet slipped within two feet of the edge, the one-eyed woman reared back for another leaping slash. Ky, tense, tired, and running out of room, racked his brains for a counter. The Thunderseal's length and size wasn't availing himself against her. He couldn't bring its full power to bear without good footing. Even if he blocked her here, the force would still knock him back. However, with one finger broken, he realized she could only put power into her slices by letting her legs do the work and pushing her body into slashes.

A crazy idea came to mind.

Then I won't let her have that option.

Thinking this was a move worthy of Sol, Ky suddenly dashed forward a step and dropped himself down onto the wing. His timing was perfect, for the aircraft made a slight turn at that point, giving him a ramp to work with, and he praised God that it hadn't gone the opposite way or he likely would have sealed his fate. Instead, the one-eyed woman's attack aborted and her own look turned to surprise as she found him sliding right across the icy wing for her. Before she could react, his legs lashed out and connected with her, knocking her off of her feet and into him. Both collapsed onto a heap on the wing soon after and continued to slide along it.

Again pushing away his more noble sensibilities and reminding himself this opponent needed to be disabled, Ky grit his teeth and grunted as he forced himself to roll on top of the one-eyed woman, finally able to put her down against the wing with his own body. She struggled to extract herself and stab him with her blade, but he forced his body in close to hers; not even giving her the leverage for that. And true to his hope, she refused to let go of her sword. That effectively made that arm useless. As for him, he shifted the Thunderseal to his stronger hand and seized her by the kimono with his bad one, then quickly slammed her shoulders and head against the wing twice. The first didn't do much, but the second managed to catch her head with a loud bang. As the wing leveled off again, but now rattling a bit from previous damage, she went slightly flaccid, and he quickly reared his fist up and punched her in the face as hard as he could. Then again. And again. And again. And again…

The woman's face slammed into the wing repeatedly as it twisted from side to size. Blood flew from her nose, then her lips. Yet still she kept fighting. Ky forced himself to hit her harder, digging into her all he could with every hit, feeling her struggling only very slowly start to weaken.

Unfortunately for Ky, he was so intent on knocking her out that he didn't see her manage to get her arm out and drive her blade into the wing again. This time, she only used the wing as a sheath to free her arm long enough to punch him in close range in the throat. Suddenly, his airway was cut off and he gagged and reeled back. It wasn't enough to get him off of her, but that hadn't been her intention. Her hand went out, snatched up her blade again, and brought it across her face for her to bite down on the middle of the blade with her teeth. Using the one arm to push herself up, she swung her head around, slicing out for Ky's face.

Between being gagged and her sudden counterattack, all Ky could do was spring back as fast as he could. Even so, he felt the tip of the blade dig into his cheek and open it up. A split second later and he realized his mouth would have been enlarged considerably…or the top of his head lopped off. As it was, now bleeding fresh, he rolled off of the woman as fast as he could. He tried to roll back onto his legs to spring back up, but the mixture of pain, lack of air, and growing exhaustion only made him sprawl back out before, gagging and heaving, he struggled to rise again.

The one consolation is that the one-eyed woman did much the same. She was clearly dizzy and struggling to maintain balance as she herself squatted and rose, no longer springing up. Half of her face, the half with her good eye (which Ky had targeted specifically), was swollen and puffy. Blood continued to run from her lips and bruises. She glared at the captain as best as she could, but she realized what he had done. He damaged her one good eye. Now she couldn't see that well anymore. Ky was removing her ability to fight, trying to force a surrender. The wing continued to rattle around both harder than before, such that when both finally did rise they stayed squatted against it, not wanting to risk any turbulence mixing with the rattling to knock them off. Both weakly raised their weapons and stared at each other, waiting for the next move.

The one-eyed woman made it. Gritting her teeth, she looked away from him and down to the wing instead. Suddenly, she tightened up on her sword and slashed down into it, cutting a massive gouge into the metal. More sparks flew as her weapon went through a cable, but she didn't stop there. She immediately sliced again.

Ky's face turned to horror. "What are you doing?!"

Her only answer was to slice out again. The wing rattled harder. Inside the aircraft, an alarm began to blare. Ky didn't know what had gotten into her, but he knew he couldn't let her keep doing it. She was going to crash them. He couldn't use his lightning on her, either. The hovercraft was too damaged to risk it. Instead, he made the only move he could. Stumbling along the icy wing, he charged at her as best as he could, readying her blade for a thrust to counter her and force her to defend.

Yet as he nearly reached her, he saw her make a fateful move. Her last slash went down, and a spray of green fluid came up after it. The hydraulics…

He was on her an instant later, but right as he neared, she suddenly sprang on him; repositioning her new slice to parry his slash to one side. She spun along the blade, but not to close the distance on him completely. Rather, she built up in power and swung around faster than he could react with his dimming enhancement, and struck the blade again. Off balance, off guard, and weakening himself, the blow hit him too hard and at the right spot. Before he could tighten his grip, he felt the Thunderseal fly out of his fingers. And given his position, he was soon helpless to do anything but watch the sword fly over the edge of the wing and fly to the ground below.

Being stunned by that, he was left fully open for what came next as the one-eyed woman spun inward with the slash she had just made. She probably intended to cut into him, but not willing to give him the moment to recover or pull back that it would take to reorientate her blade, she instead swung out with the pommel and caught him hard on the side of the head. Already off balance, he immediately slammed down on his back on the wing. The blow itself was strong and jarring, but not as bad as her others. A fortunate thing too, because she immediately leapt one more time, this time aiming her sword at his heart before coming down…

Ky's eyes widened. He quickly slapped his palms out and caught the blade three inches before it could pierce him. It wouldn't have mattered if his opponent was still at her best, but she didn't have the best balance and still had to deal with her broken finger. As it was, rather than being stabbed outright he simply slowed the blade to a crawl, only making it slowly begin to descend instead. The woman hunched over him, her teeth gnashed and her battered eyed still filled with a wild passion. He felt both her sweat as well as the freezing powder smack on his face as she struggled to push the sword in to finish him. His heart began to pound harder as he realized she would succeed. He couldn't stop the wet blade from descending, and he watched as it slid down one inch…two inches…three inches…and rest its tip on his clothes before starting to dig in. He felt it pierced all the way and touch his skin, then winced as he felt it go in. He struggled not to writhe in pain as he felt the tip meet resistance in the form of his breastbone…finally stopping it for the moment, but still helpless to get free or get her off of him. All the wing needed to do is give one more violent shudder and the sword would slide in the rest of the way…

As it turned out, a violent shudder didn't come. Rather, a sharp whine was heard, then a grind, and finally a blast as the damaged turbine exploded. The burst was enough to throw the one-eyed woman and her sword off of Ky, but he himself turned and looked into the fiery cloud that was now one of the turbines. The loss of the hydraulics had caused it to lock up, but the rotors couldn't handle it.

And now, as he watched, before his eyes the large rotor blade, still spinning, was blown clear out of the turbine and sent for a violent slice to one side: cutting right through the cockpit region. Assuming the highly unlikely scenario that the aircraft pilots weren't instantly sliced in half along with it, they would have died soon after as the cut severed the cockpit straight off of the hovercraft and sent it crashing back down to Earth. The rest of the hovercraft immediately started to pitch, no longer having a pilot, enough support from its remaining turbine, or even a helm. Crashing was now inevitable.

As the wing rapidly began to pitch downward and threaten to dump him off again, Ky forced himself through fresh pain to push up and held out his hand. He had never tried to summon the Thunderseal from this far away before, and he realized now that the wind was picking up, the wing was on fire, and he was headed for a violent crash any way one looked at it this might be moot, but he had to make an attempt to survive. Praying he had enough magical power left in him for it, he closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could, feeling out into the city below for the strongest source of lightning magic he could find. A few fateful moments ticked by that he knew he didn't have…

With a burst of electricity, his sword suddenly reformed in his hand. A tiny measure of relief flowed through him, but not much. He realized he had little to be happy about, but nevertheless clenched the hilt as hard as he could as his eyes opened up. His body was almost to the point of sliding off now, so he quickly pushed himself up while he still could get the leverage, aimed his body as far back on the wing as he could, and then leapt up and drove his sword into it as an anchor. He was near the trailing end and locked in now, as much good as it would do him. He looked up and behind him and saw the aircraft was already making its final descent ever. He couldn't see much of the city below but it looked like it would smash right into one of the burroughs that hadn't been reclaimed from the war, so the crash itself hopefully would claim no lives-save his own and the one-eyed woman's.

At that thought, he spared a moment to look to his side. Over the sounds of the burning engine and the rapid descent, he hadn't heard what she had done. Using her own sword much as he was, she had anchored herself into the tail end of the wing. She was actually in striking distance, but neither of them cared any more for their fight now. Both of them could look and see they were less than five seconds from crashing and had no hope of escape. This suicidal battle would end up being suicide after all…

Unless one thing on this hovercraft still works… Ky thought. It was a longshot, but it was better than going down with the ship.

A moment later, his faith and hope were rewarded. Suddenly, the wing in front of him snapped open automatically. Both he and the one-eyed woman snapped their heads to it as a pair of chutes were deployed. Ky couldn't believe the providence. Even with the cockpit gone, the automatic systems on the hovercraft detected it was descending too quickly and was deploying its drag chutes without pilot intervention. Both he and the one-eyed woman were nearly flung off from the sudden snap of deacceleration, but both gained five extra seconds of life as the chutes opened and went to work.

Hopefully more than that.

Grunting and straining, Ky forced his good hand off of the hilt, leaving his cut and bleeding one to hold the rest of his body by his sword hilt. His hand lashed out and seized the cords of the chute, quickly moving them about to try and seize multiple ones. This wouldn't work if he only grabbed a few lines, after all. Once he had them, he used the pull to yank himself up, and then pulled out his sword with his other hand. Quickly shifting his boots, he moved them into the newly-opened groove and locked them in; hoping he wasn't about to get himself torn in half doing this, and then lashed out and cut the lines.

His arm felt like it was nearly yanked out of his socket, but fortunately there were multiple chutes along the wing and, in spite of his battered state, he was still stronger than most people. Somehow, he held on, and braced himself to leap clear…

When he paused.

He looked back to his opponent. Her one battered eye was glaring at him but was helpless to do anything. Another chute dangled in front of her, but it might as well have been on the moon. She only had one arm. She couldn't do what he had done.

There was precious little time for any hesitation or second thoughts. Yet Ky wasted one more second staring at her before he made a move. Grunting and gritting his teeth over the strain, knowing one good draft could eject him whether he wished it or not, he took a moment to slide his sword back at his side, freeing up an arm. Yet he didn't grab the chute with it.

Instead, tightening his grip and going red-faced with strain, he started to push himself back and reach out to grab the woman.

Through the wind, snow, and smoke, he saw her eye widen. She realized what he was doing. Fighting the chute was more than hard work, and he barely managed to get his hand closer to her. There wasn't enough time to get it all the way, and so he shouted at her as loud and hard as he dared. His voice was totally lost on the wind, but he hoped she could read his lips.

Take it.

For a fateful moment, as the details of the skyline of Berlin grew clearer once again, he saw her stare back showing nothing. Yet as he finally got near to where he could take a risk and try and seize her, he saw her change. Her face tightened up again.

She shouted back to him, and the words were lost on the wind as well. He saw her lips, though.

And a moment later, she did pull her arm free, but only to take her sword with it. Before she flew off the wing, she used her instant to slash out and slice where Ky's feet were anchored. The metal was knocked loose, and Ky's body was snapped free of the hovercraft wing.

The force made his stomach turn into knots and send the blood in his head flying. In moments, Ky was surrounded by nothing but air and spinning with vertigo. Yet somehow his stunned face managed to look back at the hovercraft wing. To the very last, he looked right back at that woman's one eye as it glared at him, until it vanished into the snow and wind. It gleamed with a fire far stronger than that of the hovercraft wing. A fire born of an unquenchable, hellish hatred that no amount of time or mercy could ever smother. Sustained by a single-minded passion that had been so long all she had that it was now the only life she knew. It vanished into the darkness and became the shadow of the hovercraft, and he saw it as it collided with two buildings soon after and burst into flame. Ky was soon flung back even more violently from the force of the explosion, and only then did he close his eyes and pray that the blast wouldn't knock him and the chute clean over or he was done for…

Yet finally the blast died down, and, wavering like a pendulum, the captain of the IPF, sore, battered, tired, and yet alive, was left dangling from the chute as it slowly descended back into Berlin. His eyes slowly opened, and saw the thick snow only gently falling around him now. The frigid blast that had burned his body raw had died down. Now the air was gentle; the fire about his body still pumped and on edge from the intense fight he had gone through very slowly dimming.

And before him, about a block away now, the burning remains of the hovercraft slowly rose to the heavens.

Ky looked back at them and stared. His face was no longer hard. It now reflected his thoughts as he replayed what that woman had said to him before the end. He made it out clearly in spite of the destruction he narrowly avoided. Now he puzzled as to whether or not it was one final act of defiance, or if that bottomless hatred in her soul, whatever had gotten her alive through the loss of her eye and arm, would push her on from there as well. Or perhaps simply if at this point she thought it would as it had doubtless times before…

I won't die.

The man didn't know the answer. Yet he tried not to think of that now.

For better or for worse, it was all over.


To be continued...