The neon lights of Arc City formed bars of colour where they squeezed between the buildings and into the dim alleys. Three women ran down the forgotten byways and backdoors of the city. Amarant was in the lead, eyeing each intersection they came across, eyes flicking down to the digital display on her wrist before gesturing what direction they should take next. The trio were making good time. The AM-ANI building was only a few blocks away. Their guide had done her best to keep them away from any major intersections or population centres. They needed to draw as little attention as possible. They also wanted to avoid any collateral civilian injuries if things did get serious.

"How far off?" Mei huffed.

"Maybe five minutes," Amarant called back.

The sound of scraping concrete thundered down from above. All three looked up to see a pair of women with halberds pressed into the concrete walls of a building dropping rapidly. The pair landed just in front of Amarant. The blue haired woman let out a squeak and dove to one side. Both women wore tight fitting black breastplate, their arms and legs protected by black gauntlets and greaves. Masks obscured their faces and gave a measure of protection. The two dove into combat without hesitation. Kiana drew dual pistols from the Void, Mei reaching for the 12th Divine Key hanging from her belt. One of the women was upon Kiana, heavy polearm swinging about, the haft trying to trip her up and axe head trying to catching in shoulder or chest.

"Who the hell are they?!" Amarant asked.

"Immortal Blades," Mei said with a hungry look.

The smell of ozone permeated the alley. With inhuman speed Mei was inside the guard of her Valkyrja opponent. The woman tried to withdraw. Showing not a drop of mercy, Mei grabbed the polearm and wrenched it out the Valkyrja's hands. She spun around and tripped the woman over before jamming the spike of the axe into her chest. The fallen warrior gave a strangled cry before disappearing in a flicker of fractal dust.

Kiana meanwhile shifted between kata. Finally finding an opening she managed to get two non-lethal shots into her opponent. The Immortal Blade staggered back. A moment later a halberd clobbered the side of her head. Mei went in for the kill, only to lose her prey to another fractal blur. Kiana shot Mei a furious glance.

"You could have killed them."

"What like they were trying to us? Don't expect mercy. Don't show any in reply. Besides they've got an EEB."

"Huh?"

"Emergency Egress Beacon. If their battlesuit reaches a certain damage threshold it automatically links up with a teleportation grid and shifts them to the location before fatal injury. You really should have paid more attention in class."

Mei tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"What is interesting is that EEB only work if a nearby battleship has a powerful enough reactor to maintain the transportation system. Also if the air is saturated with Honkai energy it interferes with the beacons. So that would mean…"

Mei didn't finish her train of thought. Instead she grabbed Amarant by the arm and roughly hauled her up.

"They've found us. We need to get to the rooftop. Now."

Amarant bobbed her head. The trio moved much faster than before. Amarant's policy of non-detection was cast off in favour of pure speed. Kiana pressed Mei with further questions as they ran.

"The Immortal Blades. They're the top Valkyrja of Schicksal, right?"

"Durandal's personal elite. So if they're here then Captain must be too."

"I never met Durandal," Kiana said with a certain amount of awe

"You have met the Vice-Captain of the Immortal Blades. Rita Rossweisse oversaw one of our training sessions a while back."

"Oh yeah, I remember her. She was incredibly polite. But there was something about her that seemed really dangerous."

"Agreed. They'll only slow us down."

Kiana's face was dark.

"I cannot control the Herrscher, Mei. If we come up against those two… I don't think I'd win."

"Then leave it to me."

"Have you really changed that much?"

"Only one way to find out."

Amarant skidded to a halt at another intersection. She kept glancing about.

"What's the hold up?" Mei asked.

"I just need to get my bearings."

Mei rolled her eyes. They didn't have time for a lost guide. Her boot felt sticky. Lifting it up she spied gum on the underside. Tsking, she crouched and ran an electrified finger over the substance, charring it away to nothing.

"LOOK OUT."

Amarant crashed into where Mei crouched. Where Amarant now stood, where Mei's head had been a second ago, a bolt of crackling light passed through. The streak of light punched perforated Amarant's stomach.

"Fuck!" Kiana swore in accented English.

Mei was quicker to act. She caught Amarant as she fell, scrambled off the ground and down the side-alley. Kiana was just behind with pistols drawn.

"What the hell was that?" Kiana continued to curse.

Mei pushed the distraction to the back of her mind.

'This feels. Hmmm. This feels so familiar it is uncomfortable.'

Mei pulled off the injured woman's jacket and made to staunch the wound. The wound was a gruesome sight. The energy beam had gone right through Amarant's stomach. But upon touching it a sensation like déjà vu drew her awareness away.

The Herrscher took a step forward, the Teacher retreating until his back was against the blackboard. With another step the Herrscher stood face-to-face with the man. She raised a hand and clamped it against the side of her Teacher's head. Much like the pencil case his body crackled and turned black before flaking into nothingness.

Instinctual understanding rose up from the Core within. Mei could feel the coruscating energy lining the wound. It was rapidly gathering force. In a second or two the energy would disintegrate Amarant.

'It's just because I owe her a favour now,' Mei rationalised.

Mei understood this power and was the perfect antithesis. Letting go of the barest fraction of her self-control, Mei threaded Honkai energy through the girl's gut. The destructive energy was nullified. In an act of brutal mercy Mei then channelled enough electricity to cauterise the wound. Amarant bit into the sleeve of her shirt and screamed with all her lungs could muster. To Mei's surprise the woman managed to stay conscious. Her face was deathly pale, streaked with sweat and tears, but still lucid.

'Credit where credit is due. This girl is tough.'

Mei gently eased the woman to her feet. She pressed the jacket against the back of the wound before lifting the woman up into her arms. The motion and way Amarant's stomach was compressed had her hissing and gasping.

"Just press the jacket against your gut you foolish deadweight. You shouldn't bleed much."

Mei hefted the deadweight and glanced toward Kiana. The other Valkyrja had been crouched near the pair. Her blue eyes scanned for any possibly surprise attack.

"We take her with us?" Kiana answered the unspoken question.

"She's been dragged into our mess."

"Better than falling into Schicksal or World Serpent's hands."

"Point made. Hey, Amarant, where to from here?"

Their guide swallowed her pain and gestured with a shaky hand.

"Next alley down. That'll take you to the back of the building. There aren't any external fire-escapes or other access to the roof. How are you getting up?"

Mei directed a look to Kiana.

"The gap is just ahead," Kiana confirmed.

Kiana held out a hand. Honkai energy radiated from her body. A hazy purple portal appeared. Mei and Amarant dashed through, Kiana close behind and quick to close the portal. The wind whipped through their hair from where they stood at the top of the AM-ANI building. The rooftop mostly bare. Only a few narrow mobile dish towers and the rooftop access doors.

"So much for subtle," Mei grizzled. "Would they have noticed that?"

Kiana shrugged.

"Maybe. It would depend on how skilled they are."

A streak descended from the sky and landed hard on the concrete roof. The impact sound shook everyone. Concrete dust rose up as the figure stretched up to their full height. The woman wore a prototype 4th Generation Godslayer battlesuit. The battlesuit fabric flowed in shades of blue and black, silver armour protecting the vulnerable areas, radiant light pouring gently from the back skirt of the battlesuit. The Valkyrja herself had long blonde hair, blue-grey eyes and a commanding aura. Held in the Valkyrja's hand was a long silver lance, a flower design flowing down the length of the weapon.

"Well this night just got better," Mei cursed.

The no #1 S-rank Valkyrja of Schicksal, Durandal, stood between the trio and freedom.

"Mei," Kiana hissed.

'Damn it. Not now. Not her. We've come so far. I'll not fall to her. I'll not fall to anyone. I will not be a steppingstone for someone else anymore. I REFUSE. Schicksal can throw everything they can at me and I will not yield. We will escape. We will meet up with Bonya, Tesla, Einstein, Principal Theresa and everyone else.'

Mei's blood began to boil. Her hold on the Honkai energy boiling within was starting to slip. She was long past exhausted. She was long past putting up with obstacles. She was long past struggling to protect idiots like Kiana. She was long past protecting idiots like Kiana from themselves. Mei's Herrscher Core reacted to her need.

The skies responded to the will of the Herrscher. Angry lightning turned night to day. The sound that followed was like a god slamming their car door, briefly deafening the inhabitants below. Lightning illuminated the neon hub of Arc City. Even after the Honkai Eruption it continued to grow and thrive. No matter the circumstances humanity would find ways to survive. No matter what nature, Honkai or their fellow human being threw at them.

Mei eased the deadweight off her shoulder. Kiana took most of the burden and slumped to the ground with the other woman.

"How long will it take you to open a portal across the city?" Mei whispered, eyeing their unwanted guest and readying herself.

"One portal moving just horizontally," Kiana replied, "would take a couple of minutes to ready the energy for three people and roughly 100 kilometres."

Mei read between the lines and chuckled.

"I'll buy you plenty. Don't waste it."

The smell of copper was heavy in the air. Mei looked down at the deadweight and tsked.

"Dead yet?"

"Full of sympathy, aren't we?" they rasped back.

Their unwanted companion was as perky as ever. Her shirt and jacket, front and back, was soaked in blood. It was a surprise that she were even conscious.

"Just remember, you brought this on yourself, not us," Mei pointed out.

"Starting to regret that."

The deadweight gestured with her head toward the obstacle that blocked their path. They had been polite enough to wait for Mei to put down her burden.

"Sure you want this?" the blood soaked woman asked.

Mei cracked her knuckles. She was in complete control. The next moment lightning crawled across her skin and licked the concrete roof she stood upon. Her face was illuminated in shades of white, azure blue and lilac. Mei rolled her shoulders and took several steps forward. She had placed herself firmly between trouble and her companions. Well, to be more precise, between her friend turned frustration and the deadweight she firmly regretted. And not in the sympathetic sense.

"You know I've been looking forward to this for quite a while now. The last time we met you completely and utterly humiliated me. I wanted to thank you. It was quite the eye-opening experience. So now I'm here to return the favour. I hope you won't bore me."

"Please do not make this harder on your self than it already is, Ms Raiden," Durandal asked. "I need you and Kiana to surrender."

Mei quirked an eyebrow

"And if we don't?"

"Then I will use force."

"Same as last time."

"It will end the same as last time."

"Perhaps."

"I'm offering one final warning. Please remove your weapons and come with me."

Mei closed her eyes, took a deep breath, centred herself and breathed out. She opened her eyes and met Durandal's level gaze. She reached for the 12th Divine where it hung from her belt. Mei predicted that Durandal would no0t react impulsively. The S-rank Valkyrja would assume that her reaction speed was better than Mei. It was a fair assumption to make. In the past Mei had been unable to do anything when she had crossed Durandal whilst searching for Kiana. They had briefly duelled in Arc City. Mei had only escaped due to the timely arrival of World Serpent, also on the search for the errant 2nd Herrscher. Mei remembered that intense humiliation more than anything else. It stung. Durandal's cold and incisive words. Her calm and soulless rebuttal to Mei's desperate assertions that she would find and protect Kiana.

'Things have changed.'

Mei took the katana from her belt and tossed it to one side.

"You don't seem surprised," Mei noted.

"Pardon?"

"I was radiating lightning earlier. I would have thought that warranted a little caution."

"Your status as the former 3rd Herrscher is not a secret to me. Even after the extraction of the Core it would be reasonable to assume you retain some lingering power."

The Herrscher knew she was presently outclassed. More figurative than literal. She had little more than attitude and an unreliable Divine Key. Though it was still a super-weapon of the Previous Era, this one had plenty of… shortcomings. Her foe stood in stark opposition. It was this gulf that Mei would cross. Lightning crawled over her flesh and haloed her body as Mei changed the rules of the game.

A nearby humongous analogue clock capped the top of a multi-storey glass office building. The large arm ticked onto the number 6 digit. Thirty seconds.

Mei looked inward. She felt the power that hummed within. The overwhelming desire and the sacrifices she was willing to pay for it. She had lost something of herself to attain this power and gained something new of herself in turn. An honesty that was previously absent. The power of each Herrscher was fixed upon an idea, a core concept, a locus of understanding and near obsession. That power could be made manifest through their will. It could also be coalesced into physical existence. The concept of a Herrscher as a singular expression of their destructive impulses.

Crackling arcs of lightning snapped about Mei's right hand. Concept met will and expressed as reality. A flash accompanied the overwhelming scent of ozone that blanketed the building rooftop. Gripped tightly in Mei's right hand was the Key of Lightning. A weapon existing as an expression of the Core of Lightning that lay within her. The katana's hilt was black metal shaped like a long, angry thundercloud with smaller dark streamers of actual vapour falling from it. The blade itself was again dark black, veins of glowing purple electricity and crackling arcs etched into it. The katana blade would have been a rough, jagged curve if not for the living lightning, in shades of white, azure blue and lilac, that formed a perfectly curved monomolecular edge.

The large arm of the analogue click ticked a single interval past 6. Thirty-one seconds.

Spinning on the ball of her left foot, Mei turned to face Kiana where she knelt and thrust her left hand toward her companion's chest.

"If you aren't going to use it then I certainly will."

Lightning arced between Mei's hand and Kiana's chest. Gripping an invisible hilt, Mei spun back around and drew a blade from the air. The blade was a smaller wakizashi. This made sense. A smaller blade from a smaller Core of Lightning. A smaller Key of Lightning from the owner's smaller will. The wakizashi had a similar thundercloud hilt as the katana. But the blade looked like lightning had been trapped within a pane of glass that curved as a wakizashi would.

Mei took note of the look from the wounded deadweight where she lay. The woman appeared genuinely shocked. It wasn't every day you travelled with two Herrscher. But something else tinged her eyes. A hint of caution that had Mei evaluating what further questions she would ask of the woman once this fight was over. Still, she had more pressing matters and an unexpected arrival to deal with.

"Raiden niten ichi," Mei whispered.

The sky boomed in thunderous symphony with Mei's will. The Herrscher of Lightning bathed in that elemental fury. On calm feet she walked toward her enemy, strikes of lightning preceding each step, distant booms of thunder flanking her steady pace.

"Do you still believe your original assessment?"

Durandal held her lance firmly. Mei looked it up and down.

'Nothing is particularly in my favour. Not only is she in the best battlesuit Schicksal can create. She also is carrying the 6th Divine Key.'

Durandal didn't shift. The S-rank Valkyrja wasn't even surprised by Mei's sudden summoning of two weapons from Imaginary Space nor the thunderstorm. It occurred to her that Durandal might not even be aware of a Herrscher's weapons. That notion was quickly dismissed. This was Durandal. She would have access to knowledge and resources that no other Valkyrja in Schicksal did. The S-rank Valkyrja knew what Mei had done. She could likely extrapolate that Mei might possibly be a Herrscher. Yet still her body language was confident and her expression unperturbed. It was infuriating.

Mei stopped halfway between her apparent friends and Durandal. She eyed the woman up and down. So much the same. So much different. Her approach would change.

'I think it's time to turn the world upside down.'

With that decision, Mei stepped to one side and let go of the blades. They were drawn close to her sides through electromagnetic force. She made a walking motion.

"After you," Mei announced.

Durandal frowned.

"Cheap tricks will not work."

"No tricks. I swear on my family name, my intention nor action is not to stab you in the back this time. In fact I thought I'd do you a favour."

"Mei," Kiana growled, disappointment thick.

"This is what you want, isn't it, Durandal? That's your mission. Go reacquire that single biggest, apparent, threat to Humanity and deliver it back to the Overseer. That's what Schicksal does. Protects humanity from the Honkai. That's what you do. Don't ask about the particulars. Don't question the morality. Just orders."

The no #1 S-rank Valkyrja of Schicksal eyed Mei off before calmly walking toward her target. As she passed by Mei spoke up.

"Are you truly okay with everything Schicksal does? Yes. In many ways it has protected the world. And in many ways, it has damned the world. The Honkai Eruption for example. Are the lives of millions worth it?"

"It is not my place to judge. I do everything I can to protect every human I come across. Nothing is ever black and white. Without Schicksal this world would be defenceless"

"Oh, I agree utterly with you. It's all a matter of choice. How many lives for the greater good?"

Mei put her back to Durandal and stared toward a very particular point on the horizon.

"Funny thing. We came across two Immortal Blades earlier. Before we could inflict a lethal wound they were teleported away. Emergency Egress Beacon. It's still an experimental technology. Requires a battleship grade Honkai reactor to power it. There must be one circling around the edges of the city right now."

Mei glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes were no longer human. They were lilac purple, the pupil a diamond surrounded by dark X. Those eyes bored into Durandal's pale blue-grey.

"I know you are an incredibly strong Valkyrja. You have more than enough strength to stop even me. You would likely be the only one in the city with the strength to fight a Herrscher. But you need to complete your mission. Kiana would put up a very good fight if she called upon her Herrscher powers. She can also regenerate from lethal wounds in seconds. I think it would take you several minutes to safely subdue her."

Durandal stopped. Mei turned back to stare at exactly where the battleship was currently located.

"I wonder, no #1 Valkyrja of Schicksal, what is more important? Do you reacquire the Herrscher of the Void and save humanity from a global threat? Or are you full of shit?"

Mei was gone. The leap between buildings was fast enough that the Human eye could barely keep up. The implications need not be said. The threat was clear. Make a choice and live with the consequences. The old Mei would never have contemplated such a thing. The new Mei. The new Mei could see through the lies of people with great clarity. Hypocrisy annoyed her. Her puppet would dance as she wanted. Not the other way around.