Gripping the steering wheel, Kris' arms shook a bit as she struggled to keep up with the truck ahead of her. Flashing her teeth, her eyes widened as she watched Elise slam into the side of the truck in her left side mirror. "Elise!" She shouted as she watched her friend hang on. She went to stick her head only only to feel herself swerving a bit. Quickly jerking back inside, she tightly adjusted her grasp on the wheel. Hearing the back door open up, she glanced back for a moment then let out a sigh of relief. "Elise..."
"I'm okay, I'm okay." She panted while out of breath as she stumbled towards the front seats. Draping her arms over them, she went to her knees while leaning her head downward. "I'm alive... I'm alive. It's okay..." She took a deep breath before heavily exhaling.
"Right..." Cheyenne reached up to rub her face. "Let's try to be-" She stopped herself, her eyes widening as the front of the truck shot upwards. Inhaling sharply, she reached back. Grabbing the farm girl by her collar, she flipped her over onto the seats with one hand while using her other hand to buckle her in. Feeling her center of gravity change, she closed her own eyes while grabbing her own seatbelt and strapping herself in.
"Holy shit!" The small redhead let out a scream. Her hands let go of the steering wheel as she brought them up to cover and protect her face. Closing her eyes, she braced herself as the side of the truck suddenly slammed into the ground. The windows all shattered while the pieces fell. The light glimmering through them and making them appear as falling snow as the vehicle slowly skidded to a stop. Breathing unevenly, she slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the Centinel that made them wreck rising above them, her eyes went wide as her shoulders dropped. Reaching to her side, her fingers shook as she tried to unbuckle herself. "No... no, no, no..."
The creature of darkness let out a dark and demonic sound at the three girls. Moving forward, it went to attack only to stumble as two black blades stuck out of its torso. Letting out a fierce cry behind it, Kagami moved her arms to the side as fast and with as much force as she could. With the Grimm being sliced in half, it soon began to dissolve. Eyeing Kris, she flashed a smile while twirling the dual copies of her sword. "I thought you said you could drive?"
She rolled her eyes, glaring back before finally getting her seatbelt off. Grunting a bit as she fell to the ground, she slowly pushed herself up. "Oh shut up, you-" She stopped herself. Getting to her feet, her eyes widened as she watched her leader being suddenly scooped up by a young Teryx. "Kagami!" She shouted while stumbling forward.
Grimacing as her aura fizzled against the talons trying to pierce her body, the jadette's hair fluttered in the wind as she was carried off. She stared up with wide eyes at the large creature. The side of her mouth rose up just a bit as she let out a very quiet and weak sound. Dropping the copied sword in her left hand into a reverse grip, she brought the blade up. As the Grimm went to bite down on her, she drove it into the top of its mouth. As it jerked, she brought the second blade around and stabbed it in the neck. While it began to thrash and cry out in pain, she braced her feet against it. Grunting, she pushed herself away from the Teryx just as it closed its jaw with a heavy snap. Both the copied weapons shattering.
Clenching her jaw as she fell through the air, she stared up at the Grimm above her. Watching it closely, she narrowed eyes at it just as it glared in her direction. And then dove straight down at her. She tensed up, her shoulders squaring as she flashed her teeth. She thought to herself as she tried to figure out a plan of defense as it came closer. Her eyebrows then rose, watching as it was shot with several blasts of fire that sent it off course. Hearing her name being called out, she glanced to the side and down at the ground.
With her left arm outstretched, Elise held onto her leader's sword like a spear in her right. Behind her, Cheyenne was firing several shots into the air as Kris slashed at Centiels crawling out of the ground. "Catch!" She shouted at her before throwing her arm forward with a soft grunt.
Seeing the sunlight flicker off the metal, Kagami flashed a smile while holding out her hand. Grabbing the handle as it flew by her, she was pulled back along with it. The blade stabbing into a building and stopping her fall. Still holding onto the handle, she swung herself around it. Her boots landed on the flat side of the blade as she crouched down and took a second to rest on it.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes. The sounds of the warning sirens echoing inside her head along with the deadly cries of Grimm and screaming people below. Slowly exhaling, she slid a foot back, bracing it against the side of the building. Looking up, she narrowed her eyes at the Teryx. Gripping her sword tight, she pushed herself off and launched herself towards it. "Elise! Hit my shoes! Gravity Dust!"
"What?" Kris raised an eyebrow while stabbing a Centinel. Firing a shot with both weapons, she jerked the blades out. Taking a few steps back, she ducked under the toxic green spit of another before lunging forward with both her weapons in an upward slash. "What does that mean?!"
"I... think I know." The farm girl began to smile. Popping out the darts in her rifle, she quickly reloaded it with gravity Dust darts. "How's freezing its wings going?" She called out while taking aim. Her eyes narrowed at Kagami.
"Definitely not working..." Cheyenne took a deep breath while changing the setting of her rifle back to power Dust. Sliding it onto her back, she grabbed her war club with her right hand. Swinging it wide, she struck the torso of a centipede like Grimm charging at her. "It's too used to the cold weather of Solitas for it to bother it! It just shakes it off!"
"Hmm... maybe it's fine." She weakly chuckled before squeezing her trigger.
Feeling a soft thunk against the sole of her boot, Kagami grinned as her upward movement was increased. Letting out a warrior's cry, she brought her sword down with both arms and across the flying Grimm's side. As it thrashed in pain, she began to fall. A dart striking both of her feet as she was pushed up again. Using only her right hand, she bared her teeth while slashing upward. Hitting the wound she had already given the creature on its neck, her blade sliced straight through it like a hot knife through butter.
Watching as the Teryx fell limp and began to disappear in a cloud of smoke, the jadette smiled to herself as she began to fall backwards. With her hair fluttering over her face, she reached back and sheathed her sword. Rolling over, she took a deep breath while looking at the fast approaching ground. Another pair of darts hit the bottom of her boots as her speed drastically decreased. Tucking and rolling as she landed, she quickly pushed herself back up to her feet with a small stumble. "Well," She half chuckled with a smile. "That was fun."
"Speak for yourself." Elise exhaled softly in relief. Her shoulders dropping ever so slightly as she popped her empty dart clip out of her rifle. "From Kris crashing and you falling..." She shook her head. "That was terrifying. I'm ready for bed. Dinner and bed."
"After we help stop the Grimm and clear them out of the city." Cheyenne pointed out as she swung her melee weapon down onto the head of a Centinel. A loud crack was heard before the creature began to disappear.
"Wait a minute now..." Kris held up one of her weapons and pointed. "I did NOT crash. Okay? This was not my fault. My driving was perfectly fine. Not my fault." She reassured.
"Mhmm, sure." The farm girl rolled her eyes. "It definitely wasn't your fault." She mocked with a smile. She then heard a fierce cry in the sky. Looking up, her eyes widened at the swarm of Teryx in the distance. "Oh no..."
Gritting her teeth, Kagami slid a foot back while drawing her sword. "Okay, if we-" She stopped herself. With her shoulders easing up, she smiled as several Atlas gunships shot through the air. Their spray of rockets taking out the incoming flying Grimm. Nodding, she turned around while narrowing her eyes at the Grimm burrowing up through the streets. "Alright then. We have some cleaning up to do. Let's get to work."
That evening, Azure and Joanna both sat alone at a table in their usual coffee shop. Slowly sipping her cup of coffee, the blonde lightly sighed while looking down at police reports. "We're lucky there were so little injuries."
"But there were still casualties." Her partner added. Her eyes narrowed at her copy of the reports. "Bloody hell." She uttered under her breath. Her jaw clenched as she lowered her head. "I knew we weren't going to be able to catch him... but... I thought... I calculated all the possibilities... those girls... they're different." She trailed off and groaned. "Bloody hell!"
"Hey, hey now, Azure." She slowly held out a hand to grab hers. "It'll be alright. They said they would help once they're done with their personal issues."
"They still shouldn't let their emotions get in the way of what needs to be done for the better of civilian life..." She mumbled quietly before jerking her hand away and grabbing her cup.
"And you shouldn't let emotions push your body until you're breaking down inside..." She trailed off. Her head lowered a bit as she pulled her hand away slowly. "You're no help to the world like that. And you're no help to me..."
She went to respond only to sigh in defeat. "I know. But the longer we take to capture and keep Regen in prison, the more people he will hurt. I'm not going to let thay weigh in on my conscience knowing I could have done something to help. I just... need to figure out how to-" She stopped herself mid sentence. Hearing the front bell ring as the door was open, she glanced back with a raised eyebrow.
Walking in, Kagami kept her hands in her pockets as her teammates followed behind. Swallowing a bit, she took a deep breath and stood beside the two detectives. "We... may have been too quick to act. As much as I'd like to confront my demons, Rey wont stop even if we do."
"And we promised to help." Elise softly sighed while averting her eyes. "We can't go back on that. A Spruce doesn't go back on a promise."
"What will you have us do?" The leader of team MACE crossed her arms while raising an eyebrow.
Blinking a few times, Azure glanced at Joanna before lightly smiling. "Well first," She leaned back while waving a hand towards the waiter. "Sit and I'll get us a fresh pot." She glanced at Kris. "Or two. And then we'll talk. We have a long night ahead."
"Starting with how the four of you are a crazy bunch of wankers." The blonde pointed towards the four of them while pulling out her scroll.
On the device, several short recordings from security cameras were played. The first of the videos showing team MACE quickly unloading the back of the bank truck. Elise and Kagami tossing lien out while Kris and Cheyenne caught it and set it on the ground. The next one changed to a different location. This one showing the four girls quickly speeding down the street in the stolen truck. Switching to another, it showed a recording of them doing what they did best. It showed them mowing down an incoming rush of Sabyr. Each of the dark beasts being struck down and disappearing into a black mist over and over.
Taking a deep breath, Captain Caesar paused the video she was watching. She was standing down in the streets of Mantle next to several AK-200s that were cleaning up the destruction caused earlier in the day. Exhaling, she slowly slid her scroll closed.
"So what are we going to do about them?" Jess asked quietly as she stepped up beside her. Both her hands resting on the hilt of her sword.
Sighing, she shook her head a bit while sliding her scroll into her pocket. "I'm not... entirely sure yet." She crossed her arms while staring off. "The general isn't in the best state of mind. We need to be very careful about this. He won't take kindly to unlicensed kids running around with weapons. Even... if they're trying to help." She lowered her head while reaching up to pinch her nose.
"So do we arrest them when we see them now?" Magno raised an eyebrow while going over information on his scroll. "They stole a bank truck and helped aid in the destruction of Mantle property."
"No, they... they're not..." She trailed off. Taking a deep breath, she heavily sighed while rubbing her face. "They technically didn't steal anything. All the lien was accounted for aside from the truck Ysus got away with. And he is the only one that caused any real damage."
"They are pretty good in a fight." Litios chuckled a bit while walking over. "Your sister isn't half bad, Eve."
Rolling her eyes, Jess eyed her captain with a soft sigh. "We're going to have to confront them sooner or later, ma'am."
"I know..." Julia sighed while brushing back strands of her orange hair. "I know."