Setting: Marble Valley

Getting caught off guard was more embarrassing than anything. Silver couldn't believe he didn't notice Alexandrite sneaking up behind him. Then again, he wasn't expecting to see her at all. With news of Brenton regaining control of Corona, he figured she was killed. He never expected this, yet here she was, standing with Ebony and her group.

"Oh, come on," he complained under his breath. He changed Fenrir back to twin guns to ready for a more up-close fight. Regaining his composure, he observed the other side of the battlefield. It was real and it was happening. They were going to end Ebony once and for all.

No time was wasted. No formalities or words shared. Both sides knew this battle was the one to end it all. The first to move was Remus and the rest of VRSZ followed. He teleported in front of Alexandrite and she responded by driving her halberd through his spine, but he evaded with ease, stepping to the right and dashing around the other Champions. He had his sword out and landed several strikes on each of them, but his attack wasn't effective. Ebony, Brenton, and Zinnia were able to somewhat parry his blows with their weapons. He did very little to their aura but he was able to blow through their ranks as he stood to their backs.

Zinnia turned and extended her blade to strike. It flashed out quickly and made its way to Remus and he used Checkpoint to avoid it. He teleported away and formed a thick blue fog that surrounded all the Champions. Remus returned to the others, teleporting in when they ran to the enemy. He stayed back, feeling the sensation of a blade on his back. Zinnia's sword grazed him before he jumped. He realized she was incredibly fast. It made him pause a little but he joined his allies in their assault.

The next to strike was Violet and Silver. The latter stopped running and aimed his guns while the former continued pressing on. Zelts stayed behind everyone to gauge the enemy. Violet could see the four silhouettes in the fog and threw an Enigma at each of them. One ice knife for each of them and they all hit their mark. She could hear the ice growing over their bodies. Silver had a view of their shadows as well and fired four shots. All the silhouettes were hit, but they broke apart completely. Violet stopped her advance and looked around. Piercing through the fog was a spearhead that was coming toward Violet who narrowly blocked it using a throwing knife to parry. The sudden hit pushed her back a few steps but she could see Ebony step out of the smoke with Trois Reines in spear form and lunged forward to follow through with her strike.

Their eyes met and Violet could see a grin on the Charming Vantablack's face. Beside them, a large torrent of flames blasted through the fog and dispersed it with ease. Silver was in its path and he jumped out of the way, leaping high in the air with Gravity and scanning the fight from above. When the smoke cleared, he could see the figures he and Violet attacked were just human-sized crystal pillars. Effective decoys. They grabbed his attention, but now he could see where every Champion was. He fired on Alexandrite who stood a few feet behind Brenton.

Zinnia charged in beside Ebony and thrust her blade at Violet while she was too occupied blocking Ebony's spear. She aimed for Violet's chest. The Scarred Flower didn't feel a blade on her chest, but a hand on her backside. At one moment, she was being pressured by Ebony and Zinnia, then the next she was further away from them with Remus kneeling behind her and Zelts in front of them.

Alexandrite blocked every shot with her arm covered in green crystal, but she felt it get heavier. Her arm fell and hung low and she was forced to kneel. The increased Gravity from Gravity Bullet made it impossible for Alexandrite to lift or move her arm. Showing more intelligence than she ever did before, Alexandrite simply cast her armor off her arm and was able to move it. The armor was affected by the gravity, not her arm. Scoffing in irritation, Silver used Gravity to stay airborne.

Everyone finished attacking and moved out of the way. Zelts spun twice and swung his wingblades, creating a windstorm that transformed into a green tornado. It made its way to Ebony's group. Zinnia and Ebony backed away while Brenton ran in front of them. With Oathburner, he slashed the ground then unleashed a massive wall of fire. He performed a second strike with his greatsword wreathed in flames against the wall and sent the tower fire at the tornado. The colliding elements clashed with the wind picking up the fire and overwhelming it. Flames spilled around the area heating the ground and air then the flaming storm vanished. Ebony and Zinnia continued to back away when the fire disappeared and so did Brenton expecting a follow-up attack. Alexandrite stayed in place unflinching in the face of such tremendous might.

The last sputtering of flames died out and walking through them was Remus with Delta in hand. He ran for all three of them again, but Zinnia didn't plan on falling for the same trick twice. She wasn't as fast as him, but her anticipation of his movements helped her clash with her sword against his. They were in a stalemate and her ability to halt Remus gave the others the chance to counterattack. Ebony and Brenton moved past the two combatants to face the others.

Remus held his sword in his right hand then separated it with the other, putting the short sword half in his free hand. He swung to attack the Paragon at close-range, but she already had the barrel of her wrist weapon on her other arm aimed at him. She fired and Remus barely moved out of the way by backing away, but Zinnia fired a second shot that struck his front with a bolt of lightning dust. He landed on his feet with his aura taking the hit and recovered instantly. Zinnia fired several more electric bolts and Remus dodged each one with ease. Seeing her efforts fail, Zinnia extended her whip-sword and swung at the area where Remus was in a sweeping motion. He jumped over the segmented blade, but Zinnia kicked her blade up with her foot and the whole blade followed as it lifted up and harmlessly touched Remus's stomach. She twirls the hilt in a circle and the blade follows the pattern, spiraling along its whole length, including Remus. She performed this all in a single, elegant motion and then she pulled back while retracting her blade a bit. Remus was wrapped up in Zinnia's whip-sword and he fell to the ground while bound. He teleported out of his binds and appeared behind the red-haired Underland to land two blows with his swords. Metal clashed and Remus could see his surprise attack failed. Zinnia was too swift to react and blocked both his swords with the blade of her wrist weapon.

Their eyes met and both could see the same determination. It surprised Remus. Her eyes were like his and he knew there was more meaning to that than she could possibly know. She was keeping up with him and reacting correctly. Was she like him? Was Zinnia close to breaking through her own limits? He was more intrigued by her than he thought.

"Alex!" Ebony called out as she and Brenton advanced to their enemy.

Though she wasn't fond of that nickname, she responded by moving to their location. She had her halberd in her hands and Ebony jumped onto the shaft. Alexandrite swung her weapon upward with great strength and she sent Ebony soaring above the battlefield.

Violet glanced up at Ebony then returned her focus to Brenton and Alexandrite. They were coming her way but she didn't face them alone. Stood got in front of her and unleashed a wave of wind that covered the whole area. Instead of using his usual counter, Brenton stabbed his blade into the ground then firmly gripped Oathburnter's trigger, releasing a torrent of flame at the ground that propelled him into the air. Alexandrite created a wall around herself to guard against the wind that came her way. She felt the force hit the wall and waited for it to end. It did but she wasn't expecting what came next. Leaping onto her crystal wall and jumping over it again, Violet was in the air above Alexandrite with many Enigmas in her hands. She threw them all at Alexandrite and they either pierced or scratched her crystal armor. Any knives embedded in the crystal or on the ground began to ignite with fire. In an instant, an explosion consumed Alexandrite and blew crystal shards everywhere. Violet landed on the ground and took a few steps backward.

In the air, Ebony was flying thanks to Alexandrite and she was making Silver her target. The gunman saw her coming and unleashed a barrage of bullets, but she deflected them all by spinning her spear in the line of fire. She protected herself from every one of them until she reached him. Silver changed Fenrir to escrima sticks to counter but Ebony attacked him before he could properly respond. A jab in the gut from the shaft then Ebony slammed it against Silver's head, knocking him down. He fell down but he recovered and stayed afloat, returning his weapons back to guns. Ebony was no longer soaring through the air. She was beginning to fall and Silver saw his chance. He fired a Gravity Bullet at her and she deflected it but felt the weight of Trois Reines increase. She was forced to let go of her spear as it plummeted to the ground, leaving her defenseless as she fell with it. Silver positioned himself below her so he could take full advantage. Then he saw it.

"Dammit," he cursed.

Flying in the background and heading their way was Monochrome. It was entering the battle. Prioritizing Ebony's life above all, Monochrome swooped in to save her. She landed on her machine's back and it flew her to the ground. He refused to waste this opportunity. Silver fired on Ebony and Monochrome while they descended. If he got in close, Monochrome would overwhelm him with raw power, so attacking from a distance made the most sense to him. Bullets flying their way, Monochrome took them head-on, making sure its front was facing the assault so Ebony was completely protected from behind. Three shots hit it square in the chest and Ebony mentally cursed herself for not catching on fast enough.

Gravity Bullet

They began to fall at an alarming rate as Monochrome was too heavy to fly itself. Ebony jumped off her metal companion and dove to the ground.

Brenton ceased his rising with his sword and dove down with Zelts as his landing spot. His massive sword still wreathed in flames, Brenton descended upon Zelts like a meteorite. Zelts spun his blades to conjure a small vortex of wind around his body he continued spinning to increase his movement speed and veered left, avoiding Brenton's blow. The flames imbuing Oathburner were unleashed onto the ground from the impact. The immediate area around them was burned as the rocky ground was scorched and the air continued to get hotter.

Dodging the fire was easy, but Zelts couldn't have expected a spear to land a foot away from his side. Trois Reines landed beside Zelts and it caught him off guard. It gave Brenton the chance to aim his sword and pull the trigger, sending a ball of fire Zelts's way. It hit him, blowing up in his face and tossing him aside into the ground.

Brenton fired another blast while Zelts was down. Gunfire resounded and earth erupted in front of the downed knight. A pillar stone acted rose and acted as a shield protecting Zelts from a second attack. "You okay?"

Getting back up, Zelts found Silver floating to the ground by his side. He answered, "Yeah, just a little shook up. Let's do this."

Silver immediately grabbed Zelts arm and activated his semblance, making the Golden Wind light as he spun him around to gain momentum then threw him at Brenton, enacting Starfall.

Clash! Clash! Clash!

Zinnia and Remus parried each other again with neither side giving an inch. They seemed evenly matched and it made Remus feel intimidated but mostly excited. He was in his own thoughts as they fought.

"She's… just like me! She could break her limit and be stronger if she could!"

She made it this far without guidance, unlike him and her progression seemed to be the opposite of his. His body met the physical requirements for Project: New World, but his mind wasn't at the state necessary to keep up with it at full strength. It was vice versa for Zinnia. Her mind was ready but her body had yet to surpass its physical peak. She could perceive movements despite how fast her opponents were but she was barely keeping up. Her body was incapable of moving as fast as she desired like her brain was three steps ahead of everything else.

Zinnia would be one of the greatest warriors in Remnant if she could master this. Remus knew he shouldn't think that, but the Cobalt in him wanted to see it. He enjoyed fighting from the bottom of his heart, but the situation demanded he bury those feelings. Unconsciously, a grin was forming on his face.

Remus pushed Zinnia away and backed up and brought his swords together. He didn't stop there as he transformed Delta into its blaster rifle form. He fired three shots at Zinnia. She ran toward him, stepping to the side several times to dodge them all and advance in a serpentine motion. Remus changed Delta back to its sword form, but Zinnia was already in front of him. She brought her whip-sword down on his shoulder, but it failed to connect. Her blade hit something as she and Remus heard the sound of metal clashing. Zinnia's sword arm was pushed back from the unexpected impact then she felt something hit her across her body. It felt like a blade.

She backed away from Remus, creating a lot of distance to see what hit her, but there was nothing. Zinnia knew what was happening.

It took Remus a second to understand what happened, but he was glad she came to assist. "Thanks, Vi."

Tulip petals danced around him as he felt a hand on his shoulder for a brief moment. Violet walked in front of him with one of her kukris drawn.

"Zinnia is too difficult for any of us to take alone," she recited. This was information she told Silver and Zelts while they were tailing Ebony's group. All of Ebony's people were strong with each confrontation ending in their defeat or no clear winner. The only option Team VRSZ had to challenge them and win was through teamwork.

Something crashed behind Zinnia and the unexpectedness of it surprised everyone, but Zinnia refused to let either of her opponents out of her sight. When the dust cleared, it was clear what fell was Monochrome. The droid laid in the stone looking unfazed as always, but it wasn't the only surprise to grace them. Landing gracefully beside Zinnia was her liege.

Ebony, Zinnia, and Monochrome together was not something Violet enjoyed to face, however, she noticed Ebony did not possess Trois Reines. Taking whatever chance she could find, Violet threw several knives at Ebony, but none of them reached her as she predicted. Zinnia deflected three while Monochrome quickly rose up and swatted away two more. Her protectors made getting to her a problem.

The smoke cleared where Alexandrite stood and she stood with her crystal armor damaged or broken through by Violet's explosion. She was hurt but her level of aura was still good. The warrior did a quick sweep of the battlefield and found Brenton facing off against Silver and Zelts while Ebony and Zinnia were squaring up with Violet and Remus. Alexandrite knew where she wanted to go.

A fiery blast jettisoned toward Zelts who was thrown by Silver. He brought his shield together and positioned it in front of himself. He felt the powerful heat against Heart of Gold as it collided, but it did not waver or give. He was still making his way toward Brenton so he split his shield into wingblades. Once he got close enough, Zelts brought his massive blades down with wind following behind them.

It was obvious an attack was coming, so Brenton activated Boost, but he didn't channel the energy into Oathburner but rather used it to increase his physical might. A powerful upward swing to counter Zelts's attack. The impact resounded around them and Brenton fought to keep his eyes open as the gust of wind blew past him, but he overcame it all and, with flame cloaking his sword, knocked Zelts into the air with sheer force, damaging his enemy's aura. The Golden Wind was tossed into the air, but Silver was already there, floating above them and to where Zelts was headed. Zetls flipped his body so his legs would reach Silver first and Silver placed his feet onto Zelts's feet and pushed him back into the fray like a springboard. Both men knew teamwork was needed to win.

This unexpected counterattack happened too quickly for the King of Flames to react and he felt the impact of two large wingblades falling onto his shoulders and running down his body. It didn't end there as the wind that came after blew him far away from where he once stood. He tumbled across the rocky floor before stopping. Brenton opened his eyes to see a pair of feet. Lifting his head, he could see Alexandrite. This could work out for him.

With the upcoming battle, Ebony briefed him and Zinnia about how to fight VRSZ. She acknowledged how skilled they were and how dangerous each of them was, and she came up with the one element to give them the advantage: teamwork. If they could isolate one of them and fight together, they could win indisputably. That was their aim.

With that tactic in mind, Brenton looked to the ally with him and doubted she would cooperate. Alexandrite may be on their side, but she was a wildcard at best. The most he hoped for was for her to cause enough chaos to distract them to give him a chance to finish the battle.

Violet and Remus moved to the side as Zinnia shot out her whip-sword at them. It was a simple attack that had no strategy or clever trick. Violet didn't know what her cousin was thinking. She knew Zinnia was better than this. She grabbed an Enigma and threw the knife at her cousin but the small projectile was blocked when Zinnia lifted her segmented blade into the knife's path. Zinnia pulled her blade back and it returned with something wrapped around the tip. Trois Reines. She gave the weapon back to its original owner and Ebony smiled at her friend.

Without warning, Monochrome began to rocket into the sky then it charged forward toward Violet and Remus. Zinnia and Ebony remained where they were, but Zinnia extended her sword and performed a sweeping motion to get their lower halves. Ebony watched with a grin as she changed Trois Reines from spear to sword and held the scabbard rifle.

A two-prong assault came their way but Violet and Remus didn't falter. The Scarred Flower raised her fist at the Blue Flicker. "Cloak & Dagger."

Remus said nothing and bumped fist with Violet, ready to continue the fight.