'Thor class melee Titan, Javelin ranged support at the back. Talwar class guardian titan filling the gaps with kinetic and energy shields,' Mei assessed the situation. 'And me with barely enough energy in the tank to run ten metres. Even with my Herrscher Core my body won't last long under such pressure. Maybe a minute, two if I'm being overly optimistic. Then I start to fall apart. Permanently.'

Mei gave Kiana a side-long glance. Her temporary ally was fortunately in much better condition than she was. That didn't necessarily err in Mei's favour.

"I've seen the combat videos," Mei warned her 'friend', "If you summon a void portal to escape, I'll surround it with plasma. I'd like to see whether your regeneration would fare well against ten thousand degrees Kelvin."

Kiana didn't show any signs of guilt. Her face cool and collected. The side-long glance and teasing smirk Mei gave her however left the woman wincing.

"Ready?" Kiana asked

0:01

Mei gave the barest nod. The power bubbled within her, nestled close to her frantically beating heart. Even in this moment where the slightest mistake would lead to a lethal end she was revelling in it all. Her heart only pounded faster as Mei opened herself up. Honkai energy suffused her body, pulsing through nerves, keying senses up to a new level. Mei now understood why Dr Tesla had been grizzling. Reality moved far too slowly.

0:03

Lightning crackled throughout the room. Fused with Honkai energy, it coiled throughout every piece of fallen debris, gripping the iron rebar that was woven throughout. With a simple gesture, the rubble was hurled into the air, concrete dust and refuse providing an impenetrable screen.

0:07

Mei jumped between hunks of concrete scrap, adjusting her electromagnetic field to pull between the floating islands. Just as predicted missiles began pulverising the physical screen. Mei was fine to work with this. Right now she needed all the attention drawn to her. The floating debris field was no impediment to her vision. In this moment she could sense everything physical object within a fifty-metre radius.

A Thor Titan leapt onto the large segment of pillar Mei was elevating. Sprinting forward, Mei dropped into a slide just as the Titan made to strike. Going under the wide swing, Mei kicked off against the ground, leaping high up and slashing through the shoulder joint with her lightning wakizashi. The metal joint was severed like wet paper. Mei spun in mid-air and kicked the arm backward, the limb punching through the body of the Titan and shattering it.

Now with further combat cues, the networked Titans began their full assault. Numerous Javelin Titan's targeted the position of the fallen mech and began to unload their payloads. The previously dark atrium was lit in shades of fiery orange. Mei shifted adroitly between hovering islands, using their form to obscure and take the impact of any missile impacts.

0:15

Heavy bore rounds materialised within the shields of the Talwar Titans. Bullets punched through their fragile frames. In seconds the hovering guardian mechs were obliterated. Defensive kinetic and energy shields failed. Into this surprise maelstrom Kianna appeared, dual ARC Serratus flaring as she continued to fire at the Javelin Titans.

Two Thor mechs came in for a pincer attack. Dodging the strike, Kiana summoned an Enerstrom drawing a Thor and Javelin into the roiling gravity well. Depositing her pistols in Void Space, Kiana summoned a lance and waded into melee, wide swings shattering the mechs paltry exoskeletal armour.

0:26

Mei arrived at the centre of the Arc City defence for that had been deployed. Even with all the damage she and Kiana had inflicted, there were still more than enough Titan's to pose a serious threat. Glancing upwards, Mei wondered just how crazy her plan would have sounded if she had explained it to Kiana. Instead she just trusted her friend to do the right thing. Even after all this time and with their diverging lives they still worked in perfect sync.

Mechs converged on Mei's position. Winding am arm against her shoulder, Mei flung the lightning wakizashi forward, crackling blade punching through several Titan and compromising their internal mechanics. Electricity crackled across the floor, drawn like a thunderous carpet toward Mei before congealing within her left hand, another lightning blade coalescing. This one continued to draw arcs of electricity from its surroundings. Thor Titan's mobbed the Herrscher's position. Normally the Mechs worked in synchronicity, combat manoeuvres coordinated via wireless network. Now the air crackled with impenetrable static. All means of communication were blocked. In that flailing dervish Mei was a force unto herself. Each swipe, punch, thrust and clobber was dodged or redirected, Mei flipping between limbs like an acrobat, pushing and kicking off each strike. For each wasted attack Mei severed limb from torso, cleaved in head or bisected body. The Divine Key in Mei's hand was strong enough to cut through the toughest of plasma steel. And trailing almost lazily behind the glassy wakizashi was a tail of lightning. Whatever the tendril touched was sundered, metal white hot as sections fell apart like a burning knife upon cardboard. Gathering her power inward, Mei concentrated the Honkai energy into her Divine Key as a catalyst before leaping into the air and sending it pulsing outwards. A roiling cage of lightning cut through everything nearby.

0:40

Mei landed on the crumbling tile floor on light feet. More Titans fell from the skylight. Glancing upward, Mei saw some form of transport floating above the building, more Mech's leaping from its storage bays. Once again Mei was surrounded by Mechs, weaponry turning inward. Numerous laser targetters and electromagnetic scanners focused on the bloodied and battered woman. Dropping into a crouch, Mei let go of the suspended concrete and focused her attention on the ground beneath her feet. Concrete rubble crashed back down, several Titans crushed in the process. Through the loud booming Mei's focus was on gathering as much power as her faltering body could handle.

Missile tubes flicked open, lethal projectiles launching as one. Mei pushed hard against the ground, pushed hard against the electromagnetic field of the Earth. The motion threw her into the air. Some missiles struck where she had been crouched moments ago, detonating and throwing up yet more debris and dust. Some were able to re calibrate mid-flight, turning upward and pursuing their target. Mei had no chance to respond effectively. All her attention was focused on what was needed next. Mei just trusted the results.

Bullets materialised within the missiles. A lively display of fire illuminated the atrium. Kiana dodged and shifted between several Thor Titans. In one hand she held her Void Lance, knocking aside any threat, in the other was her Arc Serratus, accurately taking down the train of missiles that hounded Mei.

"Get out of the building!" Mei shouted.

0:45

Mei made it past the glass ceiling of the atrium. Hovering above the gaping hole was a Siren class support transport. Hovering above the building, Mei admired the beauty of the Arc City skyline. The night helped pick out the shimmering neon buildings in the distance, mundane advertisements glowing in protest against the world that of late felt insane.

'It's worth it. Protecting this. Protecting them. No wonder the Honkai is so afraid of us. One day we'll surpass them'

Mei switched her electromagnetic orientation, drawing herself onto the hull of the transport. Feet connecting with the hull she sheathed her katana and ran up the side of the vessel. Reaching the top of the craft, Mei wondered if there were any Human pilots within the vehicle.

'Oh well. Too late now.'

The sky rumbled, violet lightning crackling through the cloudless air. There was no need for the somatic gesture, but it still felt right to Mei, felt appropriate to help visualise just what she wanted to do. She dropped to one knee and pressed her left hand against the metal hull. The night sky lit up with lightning, responding to Mei's urging. Mei was haloed in the raw elemental power. Reality obeyed the will of Herrscher and the Herrscher held the transport within her electromagnetic grasp. With such power Mei focused the Siren transport and launched it toward the ground like a railgun munition. Though Mei lacked the power to accelerate the transport to supersonic speeds, it was still propelled with enough force to hit the atrium floor and obliterate every Titan within.

0:57

Vibrant pain rushed through Mei's limbs. The only way she could describe it was being akin to electrocuted.

'Well fuck. I hit my limit faster than expected'

Honkai power flickering and failing, Mei was again the pawn of gravity. Air rushed by as she fell toward earth. Though it was foolish, Mei couldn't help but smile, small tears of joy escaping the corners of her eyes. Though she had lost she had also won. For Mei that was enough. She'd made a choice and seen it through.

A purple void portal appeared beneath the Herrscher and drew her inward.

Mei's stomach rushed past the rest of her. Eyes going wide, the Herrscher realised that she was cradled in someone's arms. Kiana held the woman tightly where they stood atop a nearby building. Looking up, Mei's vision was twinned. Here she sat in her Crimson Impulse battlesuit, held by the golden eyed Herrscher of the Void. Here she sat in her much-battered Shadow Dash battlesuit, held by Kiana with an eye of gold and one of brilliant blue.

Kiana eased Mei to her feet. Taking a few steps forward, Mei dropped to her knees and coughed up more red spittle. The shocking sensation in her limbs was starting to fade.

'I'll need at least a week's rest after all of this.'

"I'm leaving, Mei-senpai."

"Still running?"

"You can't threaten me now."

Mei fell onto her backside, leaning back and watching Kiana with a curious expression.

"Why do you want to run?"

Kiana's sad expression said everything.

"I'm a danger to everyone I care about. If I stay near you then you're in danger."

"But it's perfectly okay to hide amidst nameless and blameless civilians and put them at constant risk? I mean after all they all have numerous years of experience fighting the Honkai along with Otto, Jormungandr and whatever other monsters lurking in the shadows."

Mei spat a bloody lump of phlegm toward the feet of Kiana. She switched to English.

"Stop bullshitting yourself you stubborn child. You've a guilt complex as wide as the Sea of Quanta. Yes, people died because of you. People died because of me too. I let it weigh me down for far too long. And you know what happened? More people died because of me. Rather than doing a me and spending years wallowing in self-pity why don't you act, Kiana?"

Mei flopped onto her back and stared up through the shattered roof of the building. High above the stars twinkled and shone.

"Nobody is asking you to come skipping back. What we've seen, what we've done, things are just different now. Not like our days at St Freya. But that's okay. You're the one feeling guilty because you're operating under the naïve assumption that the rest of us want to go back to that past life and therefore you won't fit. We've all done some harsh growing up lately. What we want is our friends by our side. What we want is to fight beside them to make a future we can all be proud of."

Chuckling, Mei tapped her chest to emphasise the point.

"Besides, just how far do you really think you can get from me? Right now you have the Domination of Thunder within you. And I've my own Gem of Lightning. The two call out to each other constantly. I think I could probably locate you anywhere on this planet right now."

Kiana's shoulders drooped a little. She clearly did not like the offer Mei was making. The sad puppy look had Mei smiling even brighter. A certain sadistic streak was being kindled inside of her.

"Look at it this way, Kiana, you can either be leashed to Otto when he eventually finds you. Because it is when, not if. Or I can hold your chain. Guess which one is the better owner."

Kiana's eyes went wide with shock. The implication had her blushing to her roots. Mei snickered.

"I am going to have SO MUCH fun playing with you. All those years of you glomping me. Imagine my revenge."

The mood changed, a sombre tone settling in. Pushing up off the floor, Mei's unwavering gaze drew Kiana in.

"You need to make a choice, Kiana. I made mine and I accept the consequences. What will yours be?"

おわり