"Blemishine, drop the sword immediately!" The desperate plea echoed across the chamber.
The young Knight choked on her words, as if a third party was tying her vocal cords together in an attempt to silence her. Maria could only offer a beaten expression towards her comrades, her will slipping with each passing moment.
"I'm sorry, the sword….I can't let go!" Her words came out in a jumble, as if she were terrified of what was about to happen next.
"This is ridiculous, she's going to jeopardize the entire mission and the team. I'm taking the shot!" Platinum stepped up with her bow fully drawn.
"Calm yourselves, we can all walk away from this without drawing any blood!" Amiya begged the two parties. The tension in the air was still strong as all the Operators were on edge. "Maria, please, you don't have to do this!"
"I can't stop it Amiya, the voice; it calls to me, gives me peace and understands me!" The young Nearl sounded deluded, convincing herself this was the right path.
"AAAAAAAAA!" Maria screamed in agony as she writhed in pain. "Shut up, shut up the lot of you! The lies just don't stop coming, ever since I joined up with you lot all you've done is judge me!"
The energy in the air picked up, the scale of originium arts being drawn was beyond anything a normal person could achieve. By now, the entity had consumed Maria whole, the proud Kazimierian armour she brandished had been transformed into a mockery.
As if the prominent Knight had been replaced by a soulless killing machine from the dark ages, the armour had nothing about it that denoted it was Maria. The Laer blade had tightened its grip on the young woman and was now in possession.
"Oh dear…." Amiya fell silent as she began taking a step back.
Out of nowhere, a red blur zipped past the main group and lunged straight towards Blemishine. The sharp knife drawn with killing intent flickered for a brief moment in the light as it came down the on its target.
Recognizing who it was, Amiya attempted to stop the attacker, "Wait, Projekt Red, stop it's-"
Before Amiya could say another word, Blemishine swung the bastardized sword and unleashed a devastating wave of originium arts. The initial discharge blew apart the decorated auditorium and the main blow sent a blast wave knocking back everything in its path.
Sending all the Operators onto their feet and into debris, the building rocked violently, and the structure began caving in. The aftermath of the attack carved a hole into one side of the building and vaporized anything in its path.
Amiya climbed out from the rubble with a dazed expression, her eyes squinting around for signs of Projekt Red. Fearing for the worse, she immediately tapped into her comms to check on the Doctor's safety.
"Doctor, we have an emergency! Are you ok?"
There was only static feedback in her earpiece, the lack of response sent shivers down her back. "Doctor, do you copy, what is your status?!"
"Amiya, we need to get out of here, this place is not safe for us!" Gavial urged her as she carried an unconscious April on her back.
"If we don't bolt soon, we'll end up as red paste for mother nature to consume!" Broca growled as he tossed aside a slab.
"Understood, Platinum, Ambriel can you give us covering fire?" Amiya instructed the two snipers.
Ambriel's eyes went wide in disbelief, "You seriously think our attacks are going affect that monster?!" She gestured towards the Dark Knight that lingered quietly in the distance.
"Doesn't matter, they all look invincible, but they have a weakness, we just have to exploit it." Platinum coldly muttered as she knocked an arrow back and fired it.
The projectile whistled through the air straight towards Blemishine's face, but the flimsy arrow was knocked aside like a plaything. Garnering the full attention of the Dark Knight, she fixated her gaze on Platinum with killing intent.
"Well shit…." The assassin murmured.
"So much for weak points!" Ambriel scoffed before firing a round from her rifle.
Blemishine casually side stepped the bullet and the projectile hit the ground before ricocheting elsewhere. The ridiculous reaction speed threw Ambriel off guard and sent chills down her spine.
"You wanna get turned into swiss cheese? Then get a move on!" Platinum yelled at the Laterano before pulling on her collar.
The two snipers bolted for the nearest exit as the previous position was blasted into nothingness. Hot on their heels Blemishine leapt through the rubble with frightening speeds which caused the duo to pick up the pace even further.
"Holy shit, since when was she that fast?" Platinum exclaimed as she watched a shadowy blur duck and weave through the falling debris.
"I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't want to be on the receiving end of that THING!"
Scrambling towards the stream of light pouring into the caving in structure, Ambriel loaded an explosive tip round and fired it at the already crumbling weak point. Sending a chain reaction through the wall, it came crashing down on the exit.
Sliding through with barely any room to spare, the duo made out by a hair's breadth before everything came crashing down. Churning up plumes of smoke, the group let out an exhausted sigh as the events seemingly came to a close.
"What the hell was that?!" Broca demanded answers.
"I-I don't know…" Amiya stammered; shell shocked by the sudden turn of events.
Before another word could be said, the rubble burst open revealing the Dark Knight unscathed. Standing atop the wreck, she brandished her sword and conjured forth another burst of her destructive arts.
The sky turned changed to a hue of blackish purple, as if a calamity had engulfed the world and God was about to unleash his wrath upon the mortal plane. The wind howled menacingly as the sword drew whatever it could from its surroundings.
"Team 1 scatter!" Amiya yelled out and began running in a random direction as fast as her legs could take her.
Scurrying away like ants, Blemishine held her attack and abruptly stopped to pick a target to vaporize. Focusing her sights on the Armorless Assassin, she channelled her anger into her blade and swung it.
But her arts weren't given the chance to discard, instead the Dark Knight had to adopt a defensive stance as a figure appeared right in front of her with a Tomahawk drawn for the kill. Immediately switching her stance, the sword came down to cut her attacker down.
But just like that, the figure disappeared in an explosive manner only to reappear behind her. Reacting to the surprise attack she twirled around with her sword ready to intercept the blade.
Instead of meeting a blade, her eyes were drawn towards a double barrel shotgun pointed flat at her torso. No matter what she did, she wouldn't be able to block and dodge in time. Bracing herself for the worst, the gun discharged and sent her flying back from her vantage point.
Crashing and recovering on the ground below, she let out a furious growl. Feeling insulted by the attack, she commemorated her attacker but was hell bent on sending them to the grave. Going on the offensive, she launched herself from her position and closed the gap between them.
*CLANG!*
*CLANG!*
*CLANG!*
The two furiously exchanged blows but no matter how hard Maria tried, she couldn't land a single blow on the enemy. It also didn't help that they were warping all over the place, throwing her senses off guard and making every second unpredictable.
She tried to discern her opponent, but the decorated visor raised more questions than answers. Feeling the ground give way, the minor distraction served as an opening for her attacker who then unleashed a wave of lightning from their hand.
Sending her flying back into the dirt below, Maria was for the first time was fazed by such a move. Enraged that she'd be humiliated this way, she decided to end things here and now and unleashed her destructive arts.
Pouring whatever energy she had into her sword, she swung the blade at the elevated rubble in a bid to vaporize her enemy. Instead, her rival teleported right in front of her and began to lock blades with her.
Refusing to back down, the pulsating energy from the sword was enough to blow a vehicle away on its own. Yet despite this, the two duelled it out as the environment around them was being reshaped into a desolate field.
*KABOOM!*
Every swing Maria took, a beam dark light would be discharged and sent in a random direction. It wasn't until her opponent broke off that she began firing her arts indiscriminately. With one horizontal sweep, the large tree line in the distance was vaporized.
The hills in the area were carved a new shape or outright obliterated. The absurd amount of heat being released was melting the very ground that Blemishine stood on. But the Dark Knight paid no heed, her only objective was to destroy her allusive enemy.
After leveling the lush grass field into a barren wasteland, the fallen Knight glanced around for signs of her foe. There was a brief moment of calmness, the smoke and ash lifting and clearing in the aftermath.
Hearing the familiar sound of someone teleporting, she saw blue streaks above her and shifted her gaze upwards. Preparing her sword to release another devastating blast, the image of an empty tomahawk screeching towards her made her realize it was a distraction.
Out of the corner of her eyes, a burst of blue streaks popped up prompting her to divert her attention. Switching her stance, she swatted the tomahawk aside and brought her full might to bear.
The night sky lit up a bright orange hue as a large fireball came hurling towards her. Blocking her vision completely, she had no choice but to waste her arts and destroy the projectile. Realizing her error, her rival appeared on her left instead and closed in for the kill.
A slur of thoughts came racing into her head at that moment, with the most prominent being her cursing herself for such a rookie mistake. Using the flat side of the sword to block the second tomahawk, the two clashed furiously with sparks lightining up the area.
What Maria failed to take into account was a third Tomahawk, but by the time she realised it was already too late. As the blade fell from the sky, her foe warped towards the weapon and plunged it deep into her right shoulder.
"AAAAAAGH!"
Screaming out in pain, she cursed like a Victorian prisoner on death row and immediately sought to remove the object. Before she had to chance to do so, her opponent pulled the hatchet out in brutal fashion adding further insult to injury.
"FUCK! YOU FUCKWIT!" She clutched her damaged shoulder, her arm limping on the side.
The mysterious figure watched the injured knight struggle to keep her composure. "I'm sorry Maria, but this was the only way to make you talk." They spoke, regret lingered in their voice.
Maria froze, her expression cycling through various emotions before landing on disbelief. She'd recognize that voice anywhere, but to hear it now after everything that has happened was all the more shocking.
The figure stowed their weapons away nonchalantly and pulled back their hood. Lifting the decorated visor, the figure exposed their face to the shocked Knight. A sad look adorned their face.
"D-Doctor…?"
Maria stumbled with her words, she refused to believe the man standing before her was her commander, trainer, boss and close friend.
"B-But how?..." She stammered, still dumbfounded by the revelation.
"That's not important not Maria, what's important is that we get you home. Don't you think this is enough for today? Come on, let's get you home and patched up." He reached out his hand, gesturing for her to take the offer.
For a moment Maria had forgotten about everything else and was ready to leap over and take the Doctor's hand. But a seductive voice called out to her, rearing her back on the path she chose. It spoke in a slow bewitching manner, using its lies to snake into Maria's heart.
Maria's face turned into complete anger; she gunned the Doctor down with hatred boiling in her eyes. "You've been toying with me this whole time, haven't you?! You made a fool of me back then, and now you're making an even bigger fool of me."
The Doctor was genuinely confused, "What? No, Maria are you listening to yourself? This isn't the Maria I know; the real Maria wouldn't say such self-depreciating things to herself."
"Shut up! You act as if you know everything about me! I know what Rhodes Island has been doing, I've seen the way you look at me ever since I joined. And every time I have tried to improve myself, all I get is the silent treatment." Maria's voice cracked, the pain in her tone resonated through the Doctor's body. "Don't give me your sympathy Doc, I thought you'd be different, but no you were just like the rest of them."
"Maria, I genuinely don't know-"
"Enough!"
Maria switched to her left hand and planted the Laer blade into the ground. Channelling her arts into through the weapon, cracks formed across the land and beams of purple light spawned through it. As the ground erupted, black tentacles sprang forth in a bid to grab the Doctor.
Surprised by this move, the Doctor warped away to a safe distance and reoriented himself. Expecting Maria to haphazardly attack him, he waited but saw no sign of her. Seeing a pool of black mud oozing around his last location, Maria was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing that the fight was well and truly over, he brandished his weapon and let out a sigh. The next minute he was on his knees clutching his chest in pain as he began coughing up blood.
"Shit, looks like I pushed it too much tonight." He murmured as his vision became hazy.
"Doctor!" Muffled voices called out to him as he collapsed to the ground.
Well, I'm kinda back? I present another story which I plan to somewhat keep it short. Anyways, I did chuck in quite a few references so good on ya if you managed to pick them up. Anyways, let's see how long I can ride this one out.