Chapter 25: Duel
A pair of water whips compressed to the point they could strike just as hard as metal swung at Karasuba as Alesandro charged, the Sekiei smoothly unsheathing her blade in a wide sweep that impacted the streams of liquid-
-and their cohesion fell apart as she continued her swing towards Alesandro's neck, smirking with unfettered glee as he leapt backwards, putting distance between them as he dissipated the blades that had formed around his arms.
"That sword of hers...it disrupted my control over the streams of water."
The pair began to circle the other, minding their footing on the uneven and broken ground as the Sekirei raised her sword so that the tip was pointed in her opponent's direction, confident smile never once leaving her lips.
"If she can dissipate my abilities I've got two options. Either overwhelm her from every direction so that her sword's effectiveness is lost or ensure she can't cut apart the killing blow...and she's no novice, she knows her craft. Although..."
A confident smirk of his own crossed Alesandro's features, plan formulating within his brain as he thought of a way to turn the Sekirei's weapon against her.
Solid walls of water manifested around the dueling pair, Karasuba carefully eyeing them as they rippled and spread outwards...before floating above their heads, creating a ceiling of roiling liquid that began to heavily rain, enough so that it hampered their visibility and slowed their movements as the water was recycled back into the reservoir above.
"Trying to drown me, Rastus? Just an fyi, I know how to swim."
"Then go ahead and show me your fins, Karasuba."
A snort of amusement left the woman-
-and then she leapt, sharp and predatory senses guiding her swing straight towards her prey's throat...and steel-grey eyes blinked in surprise as a blurry shadow danced out of range, only an instinctive repositioning of her nodachi across her body halting a retaliatory strike that she knew would have impacted against her skull, likely ending the fight right then and there given his levels of strength, the shadow slinking away from its abandoned charge.
"Interesting. His senses are just as sharp as mine. Makes sense, since he opted for this kind of environment."
Adrenaline pulsating throughout her body at the excitement of the battle the Sekirei slowly backed away, carefully lifting and planting her feet as the barely visible form of Rastus answered in kind, the splashes of their movement almost indecipherable among the rush of water and roar of liquid, the Sekirei biding her time as she led the taller man across the impromptu battlefield-
-and found what she was looking for with the back of her foot.
Applying a bit more force than was necessary her boot crushed a bit of desk that had ended up amidst the wreckage, the ensemble groaning and collapsing with a loud and concealing splash that masked her swift sheathing of her sword, instead substituting it for a dagger that, through the sheets of rain and at this angle would make it look like her favored weapon.
All according to plan.
She allowed the game to continue for a few more seconds, of their slow and almost romantic—at least she considered a probable duel to the death romantic, she knew her norms were a bit off the baseline—waltz to continue onwards...and then she struck.
A blindingly quick slice of her knife that caused it to blur as she charged provoked a response from the male, a short hop away taking him out of range of her 'sword' as he prepared to counterattack-
-and Karasuba's grin became positively ecstatic as her remaining arm freed the actual blade from its sheath, swinging it in a wide and lethal arc that would cut the man in two.
He'd mistakenly judged the knife to be the longer nodachi, put the appropriate distance between them...and was now going to pay the price.
There was a flash of steel, spray of droplets as the metal tore towards Rastus-
CLINK!
-and Karasuba's eyes flew wide, a rare expression of shock coursing through her body as her sword was stopped dead, trapped between the man's palms despite the odd angle, a text book example of the ludicrous art of sword catching.
"How did he time it so perfectly in these conditions-"
Karasuba snapped herself out of that train of thought as she realized she was still very much in range of her opponent, attempting to leap backwards...and her brief second of hesitation was all that her opponent needed.
Taking a single powerful step forward Alesandro pushed her blade out of position-
-and a fist buried itself in the Sekirei's gut with enough force that every last bit of air was expelled from her lungs along with a healthy spray of saliva, the rain inundating her clothes bursting outwards in a wild arc.
Except even that wasn't enough, a professional twist and yank on her wrist as she went flying backwards caused the joint to issue a wet crack noise, nodachi falling from her limp grasp and clattering to the water below.
A final hammerblow with his elbow caught the Sekirei on the back of her skull, sending waves of darkness through her brain as she was only distantly aware of being forced to her hands and knees, a foot pushing her onto her back as water coursed across her face and permeating her clothing.
It took a few blinks before Karasuba could get herself to properly focus, lungs heaving for breath as she looked up into the face of Alesandro, holding her knife to her throat as he straddled her waist and kept her pinned.
The moment between them stretched, his powers fading and once more exposing the blue sky of Shinto Teito, warming the Sekirei's chilled skin.
"...How'd you pull that kind of bullshit?"
Offering her a smug smirk the male explained, "Your sword disrupts my control over my powers. That domain of rainfall was created by my powers. It was pretty easy to get a perfect and accurate read of your blade's movements that way."
Karasuba stared up into the man's emerald eyes...and huffed out a sigh that turned into a cough, bruised ribs protesting the action.
"Dammit, what a lousy oversight to make."
"People like us all it takes in one such mistake."
The Sekirei matched her gaze with her opponent's, arching an eyebrow as he continued to stare.
"Well? You won. Get on with it, you were the one who said you were on a schedule here."
A small smirk played across the man's features.
"I suppose you're right."
Then Karasuba felt her head gently grasped by a powerful hand, carefully maneuvering around the bruise that was sure to be forming there in a moment...and a feeling completely indescribable to the woman suffused her every pore as his lips met her own, every nerve setting itself ablaze in an inferno of sensation as a moan she had no control over slipped past her unwilling lips, eyes closing in simple enjoyment as leonine contentment eased her normally rigid and jagged posture, wings of pure, feathery midnight sprouting from her back in a grand display.
She was almost disappointed when her Ashikabi pulled away from her, rising to his feet and announcing, "Get ready to leave, I'll be back in a moment."
There was a chorus of distant acknowledgements that she barely heard, letting her head plop against the damp floor as a tired sigh left her form, content to just laze about for a moment.
"...Yume would be having a fit right about now."
"Miss Karasuba, are you alright?"
Ayanami's face filtered into view from above, amber eyes carrying the slightest hints of concern that the Sekirei waved away.
"I'm fine. Sort of. You should probably ask him to be your Ashikabi, Little Ayanami."
A deprecating snort left the woman.
"It's pretty different than how I imagined it to be."
"Two ways this goes down, fellas. Either you clear out of that room and get to keep your precious body fluids where they belong or you do as your job dictates and get shot for your troubles."
Silence greeted Lander and the rest of the Custodes as they crouched outside of a final barricade that almost certainly lead to something important, four entrenched and heavily armed guards that weren't going to be too easy to displace, even with all of them at full power barring the way.
He glanced around at the rest of the group, none of them moving so much as a muscle-
"And how do we know you won't just waste us once we clear out of cover anyway?"
One of the Custodes instantly slipped off their helmet, quietly singing under his breath as Lander replied, "You don't—that's the nasty part about a Mexican standoff—but here's the facts. We want what's behind the gate, and you're dug in such a way that to get to it runs the risk of causing all sorts of damage. But we don't actually want to kill you and if you have even the slightest clue of what's going on upstairs then you know that your employer may not be in the best shape to pay you after this. Make the smart choice, fellas. You've got thirty."
Lander glanced towards his comrade just as he finished his song, the man offering a thumb-up before slipping his helmet back on.
It was only five seconds before a terse reply was heard.
"All right, but we keep our weapons and one of you stands in plain sight. Deal?"
"Deal. I'm coming out in three, don't fucking shoot me."
Smirking beneath his helmet the older man did as he said he would, confident that things would go according to plan.
A bit of hypnotism courtesy of Tadeo's powers and the four were all too eager to accept the deal, warily stepping out of cover with guns not quite pointed in Lander's direction as they quickly made their way past the gathered Custodes, uneasily glancing in every direction...and then they were gone.
Lander clapped his hands, announcing, "All right, boys and girls! Get the cases and let's grab our buried treasure, we've got a building to clear out of!"
The vault was unlocked courtesy of their mysterious hacker 'friend'—evidently she wasn't worried about security measures when there was no one around to work aforementioned security—and Lander grinned at what lay within.
Eight crystalline artifacts, pulsing gently as a single orb within illuminated them with a Supernatural glow, all numbered in clear lettering.
"Jackpot."
Alesandro smoothly stepped off the column of water that brought him to the top floors of MBI headquarters, this section of the building largely intact aside from worrying amounts of structural groaning and shaking.
But that's what happened when you eliminated a fair portion of the material meant to support it, after all.
Striding past the small collection of large rooms that were clearly meant for meetings and other similar things he approached the main complex, stopping short at a grand oak door that was no doubt inlaid with a great many other security features.
A tendril of water—alongside his increased strength—ripped it right off the hinges with a squeal of distressed composites.
He walked right in, meeting the wry gaze of none other than Minaka Hiroto.
"I'll certainly admit, you sure fooled-"
SPLAT!
With a dull and anti-climactic thump the genius inventor and CEO of MBI fell face-first onto his desk, brains and blood leaking out onto the immaculate surface, head perfectly perforated by a high velocity lance of water.
The Ashikabi took a moment to stare at the corpse of an admittedly brilliant man who had made the mistake of playing with forces that carried risks far beyond his comprehension...and shrugged, returning the way he came without a backward glance.
Life would go on, as it always did...and right now he had a flock that was no doubt eagerly awaiting his return.