-Chapter 15, Counter-attack!
Within the cloud bank, Sam was blind. Flying above it wasn't much better. Flying below it and weaving between the buildings would take ages. Her only source of guidance were the energy flares being given off by the AST. Like the feed from a thermal camera, a splodge of white on a black background was all she had to guide herself. Kannazuke had joined her for a moment, explained to her that the ship's sensors could barely penetrate the clouds and the jamming and the dust, then disappeared behind static. At least that meant she was close. She hadn't time to ask about what she'd missed.
She turned slightly just as a huge flare blinded her like a flashbang. Her visor did too good a job of amplifying the energy signature and now she hovered in place, rubbing her eyes with her slick gloves. When she could finally open her eyes again, an imprint of the light remained hovering before her. She winced, then set off again, burning her jets hard.
It was Origami who took off first, of course. She took 'first in; last out' to an extreme. She gunned for Tohka with blade held high and soared across the tarmac.
Tohka met her in kind by yelling to the heavens and bringing her own blade down against Origami's, before overpowering her and sending her tumbling away.
Or, at least, that's what she thought would happen.
Instead, despite yelling as hard as she could, no sword nor armour nor flash of purple lightning came, and she was caught square in the sternum with the pommel of Origami's beam sword. Tohka wretched and doubled over. Without a moment to catch her breath, her hair was grabbed and her head was wrenched back. She could feel the twitching, erratic edge of the plasma blade sparking and spitting against her neck. She snarled at Origami. A guttural, ugly noise came flooding from her lips.
Moments behind Origami and from 180 degrees opposite, Shizuka bore into Hinata, keeping low and fast. Nat readied himself and drove an uppercut into her from as far down as he could. The punch shot up and up and up, all the while gaining inertia that would become harder and harder to stop. The punch crashed into Shizuka's territory. Nat felt the force bounce back up his arm in a split-second. He was showered in sparks and clenched his eyes shut.
A heartbeat later, he was knocked to the floor and pinned with Shizuka's knee on his chest. "You are under arrest for interfering with an on-going military exercise. Anything you say can and will be held against you."
That last part was unnecessary. Any words Hinata had were caught in his throat. All he could do was watch as the remaining AST members converged on Yoshino.
Yoshino stared up at the people all around her, each glowing and pointing with cold steel. Her eyes caught theirs everywhere she looked. She clutched herself, tightly. Her hands were wrapped around her shaking body. The rain lashed down as she begun to cry. Her tears pooled alongside all those raindrops. Her coat was soaked and now a deep, dark green.
Shido watched helplessly as Kusakabe stood in his path. He knew his plan would work, but he needed something to get it in motion. For now, though, it was all he could do to stare Kusakabe down. Something about that must have been amusing to the woman. She shook her head and let out another short laugh. "Looks like I'm finally going to get some answers after all," she said.
Shido remained silent.
Kusakabe turned and nodded at the squad members around her. "Good work, girls. I'll get on the horn."
With Kusakabe turned slightly, Shido could better see the scene that had unfurled: Tohka thrashed and writhed in Origami's grip. Hinata lay on the floor; his face splashed with despair. Yoshino cowered and lowered herself to the ground with nowhere to run. The world was still a haze of brown and dust. "There has to be something I can do! Anything!" Kusakabe turned back to him, but just as she opened her mouth, Shido screamed, "It's okay, Yoshino! It's all gonna be okay!" It was hard to project his voice over the whine of the jets, but he kept pushing. "You just have to trust us! Believe in me and Tohka and Nat and everyone else who's looking out for you! Believe in Yoshinon and Sam!" Shido closed his eyes. He pushed his voice as loud as it would go. "I promise, you'll be okay!"
His voice echoed several times. Sweat clung to him. His jaw ached. He breathed long, heavy, ragged breaths, forcing equal parts air and dust into his lungs. Shido hadn't been lying. He truly believed they'd make it out of this tight spot. Kusakabe stared at him with confusion and a fair amount of judgement, but now wasn't the time to feel shy or unsure. Tohka and Hinata heard his voice. Their struggles subsided. The words tore through them. They held their heads low.
By chance, their thoughts were tangled as one. Not literally, but the same ideas and feelings tumbled and tripped over one another inside their minds.
"I can't let them down now."
"I won't let it end like this."
"I know I've got more in me."
Shido's words melded them, forged them, bonded them. Thoughts became actions and feelings became desires.
Yoshino's cries rung out. Shido's pleas fell silent.
"It's down to us."
Nat's gaze met Tohka's. It was impossible to know for how long. It may have been seconds or less. Then again, it felt like it could have been years. The moment hung and the air became heavy. Origami furrowed her brow. Shizuka cocked her head. Kusakabe turned once more. Shido fell to his knees. Yoshino stared, stunned. The AST squad lowered their weapons.
Ba-dump, ba-dump
Everyone fell silent.
Ba-dump, ba-dump
All eyes were on Tohka and Nat.
Ba-dump, ba-dump
Their hearts were in their ears.
Silence. All was still. None dared move.
"Rrragh!"
Nat let out a blood-curdling scream and exploded with energy and bolts of yellow electricity. He slammed the backs of his arms down against the ground and flung himself onto his feet, before cocking his fist back like a pitcher about to break the sound barrier. The catcher, Shizuka, had stumbled from the outburst and looked with horror as Nat's fist snapped forward. The haymaker tore Shizuka off her feet and catapulted her into the nearest building, taking out one, two, three walls before finally coming to rest in a heap of rubble. Steam rose from the crooked, fractured knuckles of Nat's right hand. His pre-emptive strike hadn't been cost-free, but the surge of chemicals inside his body, as well as the surge of magic outside it, stopped the pain reaching his nerve centres. Suddenly, his stare whipped to Tobiichi. Her eyes grew wide and the blade slipped a fraction from her hand.
Enough for Tohka.
Flicking her head back as hard as she could, Tohka's skull slammed into Origami's nose. The energy sword faltered and fizzled out as Origami dropped it. Tohka took the opportunity to leap into the air and fire a kick into her, forcing her arm into her body at a weird angle and almost breaking it, were it not for the territory's protection slowing Tohka's kick. She landed with a small spin to adjust her balance, then pressed her back to Nat's. By now, Yoshino had been completely forgotten, as had Shido. The remaining AST members were scattered and broken up and loosely formed a semicircle around Tohka and Nat. Their weapons were in various states of readiness.
"Tohka!" Nat called out the corner of his mouth.
"Right here!" she replied.
"It's down to us now!"
"I know!"
Nat nodded. "Summon Sandalphon. I'll buy us some time."
"On it!"
Nat bolted away from Tohka just as she became engulfed in her trademark purple storm. The triumphant words "Adonai Merek!" following closely behind as he rushed the nearest AST member down.
BRRRTTT
She opened up with a roar of gunfire. Individual shots gave way to an unbroken orchestra of fire and brimstone. A red roar that shattered the ground and tore the air. Nat tucked his body close and rolled one way, then the other, weaving between bullets whipping by. At the last second, the stream caught his left shoulder and tore it back. Stumbling and off-balance, Nat clenched his fist and put everything he had in a desperate right uppercut.
The punch caught the girl square in the jaw.
CRACK
A lash of lightning erupted from his knuckles as the punch made impact. The girl's head snapped back under the force. A tongue of electricity stretched into the air. Nat balled his left hand.
CRACK
Another boom of thunder. The girl clutched at her stomach and slumped to the ground. Nat's arm was still bent from the body shot. In fact, his whole body had froze. He stared down at her and heaved breaths. So many questions, sensations, feelings, emotions, all coursing through him like adrenaline. He turned to the girl on his right. The gun trembled and clattered in her grasp. His gaze turned again. Now, it fell on Tohka, standing high with her chest out and Sandalphon drawn down low; dressed in a patchwork-quilt of purple steel, yellow ribbon, and pastel cotton.
He clenched his fists and lightning crackled and popped around his body. It streaked through his hair and scoured the ground. It leapt out and charred all the dust and rubble and soot in the air.
He drew his hands in front of his face. The girl opposite drew her gun. There were sounds of shuffling around him. Nat exhaled and the world fell away. All he could see was the girl standing in front of him, barely more than a lunge away. His breath echoed in his mind. He could feel his knuckles against his cheeks. His arms were tense. He bent his legs. He took a deep breath.
"Come on!"
Nat's arms pumped as he sprinted into the girl in front of him, barrelling into her with his shoulder and knocking her clear onto her back. The next moment, sparks and flashes started bouncing off him as the rest of the squad let rip with their automatic cannons. He spun on his foot and charged into the near wall, scaled it with one, two, three steps, then leapt into one of the AST, firing a right haymaker into her cheek. Nat tore the gun from her hands and brought the underside down on her nose, knocking her out, cold. By now, the rest of the squad had got airborne.
Nat opened up in kind, letting the gun spin and spit lead at the mosquitoes buzzing above his head. The AST and him exchanged fire. Each hit exploded with light and colour and miniature explosions that obliterated the street.
He couldn't fly, but Tohka could.
Tohka sliced diagonally down, aiming for a squad member's gun, but she barely missed as the girl wrenched her gun back. She snarled and quickly thrust her elbow into the girl instead, then jabbed the tip into another girl who had stumbled close. Sandalphon pierced her shield before glancing off the armour around her chest. Tohka twisted the blade, aiming for the girl's neck, but was forced back from the other member's supporting fire. She took off into an aerial chase – a constant cat-and-mouse of closing the gap, getting a few hits in, then being forced back by suppressing fire.
While Kusakabe was distracted giving orders, Shido rushed over to Yoshino and wrapped his arms around her. He held her close against the concrete, shielding her body with his. "See, I told you we'd be just fine!" he yelled.
Yoshino, with nowhere else for her eyes to go, looked straight up into him. She could barely manage a slight nod of the head.
Shido said softly, "Come on, let's get you out of here," before picking her up onto his shoulders. With the AST focused on Tohka and Nat, it looked like they might just get aw-
He was on the ground before he knew what happened. When Shido could open his eyes, he saw Yoshino dangling by the scruff of her neck in Origami's fist. "Let her go!" he shouted.
Origami's thousand yard stare snapped to Shido, but she did let Yoshino go. The Spirit collapsed on top of him with a meek cry of pain. He made to get up, but another figure drew alongside Origami and brandished her sword. "You go. I'll watch them," the second figure stated.
Origami blasted off at the word 'go'.
The battle in the sky was improving. With each swing, Tohka whittled down the AST's ranks. Between those swings, Nat laid down as much fire as he could muster with the stolen gun. Two members of the AST had been knocked out, now, and a third was critically damaged with a failing territory. Kusakabe herself was about to join the brawl when Origami's transponder suddenly started moving across her heads-up display. "Tobiichi, come in!" she barked.
There was silence for a moment, then the sound of an impact, then some words not meant for her.
"Tobiichi!"
Origami skidded to a halt beside the captain. "Orders?"
Kusakabe chewed the inside of her cheek. "Okay, first, secure the Spirit-"
"Already done. Next?"
"Jesus!" She checked the squad's feed and, sure enough, Hermit and Shido had been locked down by Shizuka. "Alright Kusakabe, what is next?" she thought. Her eyes darted around the battle unfolding before her. "Origami could plant some pressure on Princess which would ease things up for the rest of the troops." She glanced sidelong at Origami. She was eager to get out there. "No, Princess would tear her up in hand-to-hand, which means…" Kusakabe's gaze drifted to the middle of the dust storm. A lone silhouette stood out from the swirling browns and twisting greys. "Him."
Origami needed no further instructions.
Nat held that trigger until the ammo ran dry and the barrels spun red. He threw the gun to the ground when his head was suddenly jerked back by some sixth sense. Time slowed as the tip of a sword, bright and burning blue, sailed just past the bridge of his nose. His eyes widened. His heartbeat quickened. Origami blew past him, before coming around for another attempt at his head. Nat ducked low while jabbing his leg out and tripping Origami. She stumbled away, then turned to him.
He felt a great heat rise within him at seeing Origami again. "Was killing my girlfriend not enough for you?" he shouted.
Origami screwed up her face. "It's true that I regret what I did, but I've got orders to follow. One girl is nothing compared to the numbers these Spirits could take in an instant!"
Nat's shoulders bunched up high. "Well, you'll have to kill one more before laying another finger on a Spirit!"
With no more words to exchange, the two exchanged blows. Each clash brought forth yellow and blue sparks. Sometimes, there would be an explosion of green when Origami brunted an impact on her territory. Other times, there would be an explosion of red as Origami's sword connected with Nat's flesh. The wounds knit quickly from the heat, but the pain kept mounting up.
Tohka fared better against her opponents, but if six-on-one had been an inconvenience before, while she could bring her full strength to bear, fighting outnumbered at her half-tilt state was proving to be an issue. Each shot the AST landed might not have hurt individually, but bit-by-bit, they started to wear her down. Her position was tenable, at least, until one member suddenly, suspiciously, peeled off. Tohka was no fool in a fight, at least, so she surged to intercept this fleeing foe. Before she could make contact, however, a great blue sea washed over her as Shizuka's beam sword broke across her shoulder blades. By the time Tohka turned to face this new threat, the sword had already re-ignited, and her situation had gone from tenable to untenable just as quickly. Now, each time hand-to-hand was broken, Tohka was burned down by supporting fire until Shizuka could re-engage.
Simply put, Tohka had no room to breathe.
Nat heaved. He couldn't get enough air in his lungs. Every breath was half filled with dust. At least that meant his opponent would be out of breath, too.
But she wasn't.
As great as Nat's power was, it put an immense strain on his body and his body alone. A body that had sustained multiple slash wounds and a fractured knuckle. A body that, ten minutes prior, had only felt the kiss of this power, not its whole embrace. A body that buckled under such embrace.
Nat fell to the ground with one leg still valiantly planted – the other sunk to the asphalt.
"Looks like I don't need to kill you, after all," Origami said. She had already begun spooling up her jets to assist Shizuka.
Grinding his teeth, Nat yelled after her, but his cries fell upon deaf ears, and Origami was away. Nat pounded his fist into the ground. The ground split.
"Come on!" Tohka roared, half to hype herself up, but also because she was getting real fed-up of the other troopers staying just out of reach.
Aforementioned troopers responded by opening fire again. At least they'd start running out of ammo, soon.
Not that Tohka knew that, exactly.
Although, for the first time in a while, one of the girls' gaze affixed itself to something other than Tohka. Tohka took the short lull to follow her gaze, then readied Sandalphon very, very quickly, indeed. Origami clashed into Sandalphon, her teeth bared and body pushed forward until her nose pressed against Tohka's. Their cheeks were illuminated pink and blue.
"You again?" Tohka cried.
"There will be no girl to save you this time!"
"I could say the same to you!"
Tohka took the initiative and struck with another savage headbutt that blinded Origami and sent her recoiling. Before she could follow-up, however, Shizuka brought her blade down on Tohka from above, locking the Spirit in place. After Tohka finally wrenched the upper hand from Shizuka, Origami returned with a crazed look in her eye and the cycle continued until even the inexhaustible Tohka started to tire. Surely there were more on the way, too. Was this really it? Was this really the end? Tohka shook her head. No, it couldn't be! She just had to hold out as long as she could! Give twice as many hits as she took! Keep pushing just that little further-!
KABOOM
Sam stopped so suddenly, so abruptly, so completely, and wholly that a sonic boom exploded through every pair of eardrums in a two mile radius. It tore through Origami, Shizuka, Kusakabe, Tohka, Nat, Shido, Yoshino. She hovered in place, fists clenched tight, in the middle of it all. Right in the eye of the storm. She silenced all. She commanded all.
Then, she took a deep breath and sighed. Air rushed up her nostrils and down into her lungs and out through her dry mouth. It was shallow. The dust, again, and yet, it was also as sweet as anything she'd ever felt. And now all eyes were on her. And now her eyes were on all.
"Looks like I'm back from the dead."