Lower Sector 6 had a lot of stuff; legit markets and a residential area further out, probably plenty more stuff than that - it was, after all, a whole sector, even if Benji hadn't actually scoped the whole thing out. But really, when people who weren't from Sector 6 talked about it, what they really meant was Wall Market.

An entertainment district that never slept, Wall Market was easily one of the most famous (arguably infamous) places in the Slums, and one of the most notorious if you were to ask about above the Plate. It was one whole sector in Midgar where ShinRa had completely lost control, which held a great deal of appeal to many people, even if it was pinned under Don Corneo's heavy hand instead. You wouldn't normally find any troopers or SOLDIERs on patrol, though many could be found poking around when they were off duty. Instead, all security matters were handled through the Don's lackeys, some more competent than others.

None of them were equipped to deal with Rosso the Crimson; she was a SOLDIER-grade threat for sheer strength and even worse for a lack of self-imposed limits. There were generally lines a SOLDIER was unlikely to cross, especially around civilians. Lines Rosso, cut loose by the Restrictors, did not have.

To be honest, Benji had fully expected to walk in on a bloodbath. That she'd have already gotten started wrecking merry havoc. But no. It was… well, it wasn't quiet, it was Wall Market, buzzing with business. But there was no sign of her, despite Veld's assertion that she was in the area.

Unease churned in his gut, and Benji touched his earpiece. "Do you still have eyes on Rosso?"

There was a long pause, but he rode it out. They'd either heard him or they hadn't, and either way he needed to find her himself. The real question was where would be to her best advantage. She liked aerial attacks, and he had gotten a sort of 'blitzer' vibe just from her description. So, in-and-out fast. That meant she needed places that she could get high, places she could bounce off of and rush him from all sorts of angles…

"We do not currently have eyes on Rosso," Veld reported. "Can you still sense her in the area?"

"Yeah, somewhere up ahead," Benji said, weaving through the crowd and trying not to think of what a deadly stampede it would become when Rosso showed herself. He hated fighting around civilians; they got panicky and stupid and in the way - until they were dead, and that was a whole other problem. "I don't suppose there's anyone else out here that might be decent for evacuating the area?"

"We'll work on it. Right now, troops are busy with the Upper Plate and the SOLDIERs still in Midgar have largely been deployed to protect the Plate supports and reactors with a fraction of elite Seconds attempting to suss out how to stop the invasion," Veld reported. "My Turks are divided up between that and largely handling intel."

Benji sighed, frustrated but having to admit that that was probably the best way to go. "Fine, whatever. Tell anyone coming this way this is gonna get ugly. There's way too much potential for collateral here, and if I'm going to take her down that's just the price we have to pay."

"Do what you have to, Richards. No one said this would be easy," Veld said. Out of them all, he probably understood the best.

Benji started to comment to that effect, then froze, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand up. There was a distinct feeling of eyes when someone dangerous was stalking you, and he had it now. Rosso had found him.

He had just enough time to think, "well shit" before the ground in front of him exploded in a shower of packed gravel. And just like he'd known there would be, there was instant chaos. People screamed and went running without a clue of where they needed to go to get to safety. There was no time to even try to redirect them, either, even if he'd had a clue of where to send them.

Benji squinted at the mark in the ground, assessing the angle of impact, and followed it to the roof of a nearby building. A lean redhead stood proudly in quite possibly the least protective armor he'd seen since Sephiroth had waded into the thick of the Wutai War with a bare chest.

Rosso.

She offered him a positively feral smile and gave a mocking bow before straightening and saluting him with this bizarre double bladed… thing that must have been her custom weapon of choice. It reminded him of a bow, almost, except of course it was bladed and -

The rapid report of a machine gun's fire had him instinctively getting the hell away from where he'd been. It was only when her delighted laughter rang through the air that it sunk in.

Apparently the bladed not-a-bow could fire bullets. Great. Absofuckinglutely superb.

"Come out and play, SOLDIER!" she called. "We'll have such fun."

Benji snorted, absently checking his gear. Fun. Yeah. Sure.

He braced himself, the magic of a restrained Thundaga enough to tickle his palm even through his thunder-protected glove, and spun back into the walkway. He had a split second to register her leaping at him before he loosed the magic spell he'd been holding with a deafening CRACK!

Rosso threw herself into a roll to the side, seeming effortlessly in control of her trajectory as she evaded the thick ropes of lightning. She was so perfectly in-tune with her motion, so comfortable in her own skin and confident in her abilities, that he couldn't help but spare a second to admire.

Then she was on him, and his sword flashed into play, a one-handed block whose impact shook all the way through to his shoulder. He could see in her eyes that she was grudgingly impressed by the casual show of strength. Which was kind've the point, even if he knew in his gut that there was not scaring her into backing down.

Genesis' words about desperation prickled the back of his mind as he met her eyes. Behind the glee at having a real challenge, it was there: she'd been given her first taste of freedom, was desperate to keep it.

No, this was not going to be fun.

He heard the tell-tale click of a gun readying to fire and wrenched his arm to the side, throwing her off him before she could shoot. She was quick to recover, though, and shifted her grip to lash out with one side of her blade, striking blindly at his side and forcing him to dance back out of the way even as he brought his own blade down in a sweeping arc to defend.

Rosso rolled out of the way and got to her feet in one smooth motion, flashing him that same feral smile before launching at him again. She practically flew as she closed the distance between them, breathtakingly fast and striking with bone-rattling force when they finally clashed.

However, as she had a gun that fired like a machine gun and no problem with the idea of shooting at point blank range, Benji wasn't about to give her the chance.

Lightning was pretty persuasive to get her to back off, presumably because she did actually possess some form of self preservation. But he couldn't keep it up forever - not just because Thundagas were energy-guzzlers, but because every hit that didn't hit her, hit something else.

People had cleared out, thankfully, but not before bodies had littered the ground, caught in the crossfire as they tried to flee. He couldn't stop to think about it; that would come later. All that mattered now was ending this battle, and coming out on top.

They were both getting desperate, and with desperation came a new level of brutality to Rosso's attacks. She hit harder, faster, hammering on him from the sharp angle of an aerial attack where gravity only lent her strength and spinning away with the grace of a dancer whenever he went to strike back.

Benji did not become more brutal with desperation, because he hadn't been holding back to begin with. This wasn't a game, his brothers in arms needed him, not just to finish this battle but to hurry and help them.

What he did become was more reckless.

It was calculated, to be sure, but as the stakes rose, so did the risks he was willing to take. Even SOLDIERs could only fight for so long at this level, and he didn't know that that was longer than a Tsviet. There was also no guarantee of backup that could do anything more than get in the way. He had to end this.

Rosso came at him again, and she got her best combination yet. A sweeping energy blast freakin' followed him, clipping a building and exploding on impact. The resulting spray of debris - chunks of superheated metal - tore through his reinforced shirt like high powered bullets, and he knew he'd be feeling that for a while. But there was no time to do more than register the pain in a dim sort of way through the haze of adrenaline, because she was on him the second he faltered.

She struck at him, blow after whirling blow, almost too fast to follow. Almost too fast to block. Definitely too fast to reclaim the offensive.

And like an absolute idiot rookie, he went down. Tripped, of all things, and landed on his ass.

Rosso was on him in a breath with a vicious, bloodthirsty grin as she pointed her weapon at his chest. "And now, SOLDIER, you die and I will live on. I will -"

Maybe Benji should have been more brutal, in his desperation. But instead he was reckless.

He grabbed her weapon with both hands, felt the bite of metal into his palms, and offered a positively wicked grin because he had nothing left to lose.

The force of the Thundaga that he released in her split second of baffled shock threw her like a rag doll and sent Benji crashing back into a building. Her weapon went flying off somewhere, but he didn't care because she didn't get back up.

Benji managed a wheezing laugh, licking blood off his lips and tasting copper as he coughed. He got to his feet with bullheaded stubbornness, and made his way over to her still body. After a moment, he rolled her over, and hummed as he saw her chest rise shallowly. Just unconscious, then. Nice.

"Gloating is a terrible habit," he muttered, keying his mic. "Rosso is down. I repeat, Rosso the Crimson is down."

A/N: So, while I am at the end of my buffer with this one and really struggling with the next one, I do have most of it done. It's up in the air when I'll get it (and more after it) done, but I'm hopeful it'll be sooner than later. A ton of stress on the home front right now, as we all have. But your comments keep me going. Rest assured, there will be more. 💜