Harpuia scowled upon seeing Zero and Raven approaching them, his blades already out.
"Do not for one moment think that this changes ANY standings between us." Harpuia snarled as Zero and Raven got to them. "I still FULLY INTEND to bring you straight to Master X once we recover Daisy."
"Daisy huh?" Raven crossed her arms and scowled, her visor hiding the scorn in her eyes. "Another one of your rabid fangirls? I would expect you to take better CARE of what's yours, Pretty Boy."
Harpuia seethed and took a step up- only for Leviathan to grab him by the arm, glaring at Raven.
"For once in your miserable life, SHUT your mouth and assist us in rescuing the innocent." Phantom growled, taking a step up.
"That's what we plan to do." Zero replied, narrowing his eyes. "But first there's something you need to know. We think the one who's orchestrating this is-"
Zero's words were cut off as a BLAST of wind slammed into the group, knocking everyone back a few paces, before some of them managed to recover. One of the first to recover was Raven and Harpuia, while Zero and Leviathan were close to second.
….while poor Phantom was struggling to get Fefnir off of him.
"FEFNIR! Get your overgrown ass OFF of me you-"
BOOM!
The group looked up, seeing a large reploid land close to them. He opened his eyes and spread his large bird-like wings out threateningly.
"Storm Eagle?!" Leviathan looked spooked at the sight of the large reploid in front of them. "One of the generals of Sigma?!"
"What?! How is that possible?!" Phantom managed to KICK Fefnir off of himself and rose to his feet. "Storm Eagle has been dead for over 200 years! His spark should be floating in cyber space!"
"That's NOT Storm Eagle!" Zero quickly took out his saber. "He's a New G- GAH!"
Without warning 'Storm Eagle' rushed for Zero and SLAMMED into the reploid, reaching out and digging his claw-like fingers into the hunter's sides, causing him to cry out in pain.
Raven quickly turned and whipped out her Naginata, sneering towards the Guardians. "You guys KNOW this is a trap, right!?" she snarled. "If you're going to look for Pretty Boy's little flame, then pair UP!"
"What makes you think that we're going to trust you, you hyper little-" Fefnir started to say.
"Would you just DO IT, Bull for Brains?!" Raven griped, making Fefnir give her a weird look. "How the HECK do you know tha-"
"GAH!"
Raven paused and looked upwards as Zero got THROWN into the air and went SLAMMING into the skeleton of the nearby building. "OH for crying-" She quickly turned and rushed for the building, leaving the Guardians to start fighting the Storm Eagle wannabe.
'Storm Eagle' turned to attempt to stop Raven, but was TACKLED by Fefnir, who charged up his blaster and aimed it at the large reploid's face. Unluckily enough, 'Storm Eagle' CHUCKED Fefnir back towards the Guardians right as Fefnir fired.
The other three quickly jumped out of the way and landed around 'Storm Eagle'. Phantom gritted his teeth and quickly looked towards his siblings. "Harpuia! Make haste and join the Raven as well as Zero! You need to locate Daisy before she grows too weak to sustain herself."
Harpuia scowled but nodded. "Understood." he growled, turning and quickly rushing to follow the path that Raven had taken.
'Storm Eagle' attempted to stop Harpuia, however a beam of ice caused him to look back towards the remaining three Guardians.
Leviathan smirked, twirling her staff. "Oh I am ALL about this!" She purred, before shooting off another beam of ice.
***IB***
Zero managed to recover himself and was looking around the charred remains of the building, eyes narrowed. For a building that had once been standing not a month ago and had been consumed by flames, it was surprisingly sturdy.
Though nothing hid the charred walls that made the area dark. Even the sun in the sky shining in the holes and broken openings of what remained of the building were not enough to illuminate the area.
A noise caused Zero to glance behind him, bringing up his saber…but he was greeted by Raven rushing in.
"You ok?" Raven asked, quickly looking over her surroundings. The charred remains of what was left of the D-5 building…was remarkably similar to what was the remains of some of the tunnels of Neo Arcadia.
"...wow…Luna did a number on this place…" she muttered.
"Who?" Zero rose an eyeridge.
"ZERO!"
Both Zero and Raven turned, seeing Harpuia catching up with them, a scowl on his face. "Do not turn your backs on me while we confront a common enemy!"
"Why don't YOU focus on what's really important, playboy?" Raven scowled, turning and walking further into the building. "The clock's ticking, remember?"
Harpuia scowled and followed Raven, being followed closely by Zero. The further they got into the building, the more Raven could swear that she could feel something calling to her…
….or…someone…
Raven paused and put a hand to her chest as she walked.
….ok then…show me to the patient…
The group continued to walk, every now and then coming to a fork…only for Raven to choose a path decisively.
"You act like you know where you're going." Harpuia growled, narrowing his eyes. "How do I know you're not IN on this ploy?"
"I'll answer your question with a question, Pretty Boy." Raven glanced over her shoulder, scowling. "Since you're so certain of which fire I hold, how do YOU know if I'm not using her power to help locate your little fangirl?"
"...'Her'?" Harpuia scowled. "Who's-"
The trio turned a corner, only to find Daisy laying on the ground, shivering and whimpering. The girl looked up very slightly.
"...n-...no…"
"DAISY!" Harpuia quickly started rushing for the girl.
"N-No!"
"HARPUIA GET DOWN!" Zero sped for the Guardian and TACKLED him to the ground…only for a large BLAST to go right over the area they had once been in.
Raven quickly ducked and shielded her head for a moment, before looking up, gritting her teeth. Standing on a ledge with his arms half crossed was 'Axl', looking somewhat impressed by the maneuver.
"Well done, Zero. I would expect nothing less of a legendary hero." 'Axl' smirked darkly. "How chivalrous for you to save your enemies." He reached his hand out and clenched his fist, an insane look in his eyes. "Though….you're not very good at saving your allies are you?"
Zero gritted his teeth and glared at 'Axl', before taking out his saber and charging for 'Axl', slashing at the imposter.
Harpuia quickly got up and started running for Daisy, dropping to his knees and placing his hands on the woman's face. "D-Daisy! Oh Primus, Daisy!"
The girl whimpered and reached up for Harpuia. "Sage…" she mumbled weakly. "S-...Sage you…you need…to leave."
"I'm NOT leaving without you, Daisy." Harpuia reached down to take her in his arms-only to get Zero SLAMMED into him, knocking both of the reploids back a few meters.
Both reploids managed to get up, while 'Axl' landed close to Daisy, reaching down and picking her up by the neck, a chuckle escaping him. Daisy hung limply in his grip, not having any strength to fight or struggle. If anything, she was tiredly looking at Harpuia, tears in her eyes.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!" Harpuia snarled, once again taking out his weapons. "RAVEN AND ZERO ARE HERE LIKE YOU DEMANDED!"
"He's right." Zero scowled darkly. "We've done what you've asked. Let the girl leave with Harpuia."
"Oh she'll leave…" 'Axl' chuckled darkly, his free hand reaching for the blade in her stomach. "...but her final destination is not Neo Arcadia"
Harpuia's pupils shrunk and pure, cold fear wrapped itself around him. "No! DONT!"
"HEY CAT EARS!"
'Axl' paused and quickly looked over- only to get PUNCHED across the face by a running Raven. Like lightning, Raven quickly took Daisy into her own arms and continued running, plain jumping out of the window and into the brightly lit outdoors.
'Axl' stumbled and turned to give chase-however, the motion allowed Zero to run at 'Axl' and SLASH at him. Taking the opportunity, Harpuia seethed and also started releasing a barrage of attacks on 'Axl'.
Outside, Raven landed on the unforgiving rocks, gritting her teeth as she felt the wires in her legs complaining about the impact. She managed to get the injured girl further away from the building, before laying her out in the sunlight so she could get a better look at her wound.
"...oh gosh…" Raven's eyes narrowed behind her visor. "...how are you alive?"
Daisy couldn't stop trembling. Her body felt so cold…like she was literally being held by death. She whimpered and looked up towards Raven, shivering.
Gritting her teeth, Raven gently put her hand on Daisy's. "...this is going to hurt…try to stay with me."
"...p…please…don't hurt Sage." Daisy mumbled weakly.
"Wow…he actually found a girl that cares about him instead of his image." Raven muttered more to herself than anyone else. Shaking her head, she squeezed Daisy's hand in an effort to comfort her.
"Listen to me…Daisy? Was that your name?"
"...y-...yeah."
"I need you to listen to me very carefully." Raven narrowed her eyes. "This…is REALLY going to hurt at first…but I need you to stay away from the woman in the sparkly navy dress and focus on Harpuia."
"...I'm going to die…aren't I?"
"Not if I have anything to say about it." Raven frowned, putting her hand over the blade. "Think about how much you love Harpuia and KEEP thinking about him."
"What are y-" Daisy suddenly gasped when Raven YANKED the blade out of her stomach.
Scowling, Raven put the blade in her pack, while her left hand quickly went over Daisy's open wound. She gritted her teeth tightly…and her eyes began glowing white. Her left hand began glowing brightly, encasing Daisy's wound in light.
Slowly…very slowly…the wound began the process of mending itself.
Raven's eyes narrowed, the white glow only getting brighter. "...stay strong, little lover…you're in the care of Sol…" an entirely different voice muttered soothingly.
***OS***
"TAKE THIS!" Fefnir snarled, firing his cannons at 'Storm Eagle', causing the large reploid to take to the air. The bird-reploid held out his arm and once again a rush of air went SLAMMING for The Guardians.
At this point, Phantom had begun to learn the pattern of this guy's fighting style. For some reason he would always pause for a few seconds and have to completely outstretch his arm in order to attack.
…for that matter…
Every time this whirlwind was activated...his wings were spread…while if he was throwing a blast of wind at them…his wings were folded.
Phantoms eyes narrowed dangerously as he grabbed his shuriken.
Fefnir snarled as he ran towards 'Storm Eagle', blaster blazing with each shot he took. On the other side, Leviathan was aiming ice attacks towards the ground in an effort to make the large reploid slip and fall.
However, when she DID freeze the ground, Storm Eagle took to the air and started flapping his wings in order to stir up another whirlwind.
"Leviathan!" Phantom quickly looked over.
"LISTEN! I was TRYING to get him DOWN!" Leviathan quickly defended, pointing upwards.
"Aim at his WINGS, Fish Breath!" Phantom shot back, quickly rushing for the larger reploid, readying his shuriken.
Leviathan turned and also started rushing for the large reploid, twirling her staff and sending a beam of ice towards the reploid's back. The attack managed to hit his wings and the Reploid found himself unable to attack.
Looking behind himself, 'Storm Eagle' tried rectifying his new problem- only for Phantom's shuriken to SLASH against his wings, locking them into a neutral position. 'Storm Eagle' lurched forward and attempted to move his wings…but thanks to Phantom's strike, they were completely locked in place.
"TAKE THIS, YOU OVERGROWN CHICKEN!"
'Storm Eagle' managed to look over, only to get greeted by Fefnir's blast of fire sending him for the building and SLAMMING into the unstable walls.
"HA! Feel the BURN!" Fefnir hollered.
"Don't celebrate!" Phantom snarled. "We need to ensure he's down!" Without another word, the ninja rushed for the pile of rubble, followed closely by Leviathan, with Fefnir lagging behind.
Above, 'Axl' felt the building shake from the impact and glanced to the side, gritting his teeth.
"That brainless…" he growled lowly. Hearing a yell of anger, he glanced over seeing Harpuia charging for him. Jumping into the air, 'Axl' spun and SLAMMED his feet into Harpuia's back, sending him SAILING out of the building…
…and CRASHING into Raven who was still leaning over Daisy.
"GAH!"
"MPH!"
Raven groaned and SHOVED Harpuia off of her, quickly scrambling up and looking around frantically. "N-NO!"
She managed to locate Daisy and winced sharply. Her wound hadn't finished healing!
"CRAP!" Raven tried to get to Daisy- only for 'Storm Eagle' to land nearby, looking up slowly. As he turned, he was interrupted by Fefnir TACKLING him to the ground.
Harpuia scrambled up, glaring at Raven and quickly looking around, getting his teeth upon seeing Daisy's condition.
Not far off, Phantom returned to the picture, chucking his Shiruken towards the large reploid. As the rest of the Guardians appeared, Zero quickly looked out from the upper floors of the burnt building.
"Raven! Get the girl OUT of here!" He snarled.
"What do you expect ME to do!?" Raven flailed her arms. "I was in the process of-HOLY CHEESE DIP!" she gasped sharply as Fefnir was chucked in her direction.
Harpuia took a sharp intake and quickly DOVE to the side, snatching up Daisy…aaaannd leaving Raven to get SLAMMED by Fefnir, the two going tumbling a few meters away.
"GAH!" Raven now found FEFNIR on top of her and growled, trying to push him off of her. "Wow! He hits harder than YOU!" she strained, gritting her teeth in pain.
"WHAT?!" Fefnir looked down at Raven, an insulted look on his face. "NO he doesn't! I'm the hardest hitter of Neo Arcadia!" The Guardian quickly scrambled up and SHOVED Raven down, rushing back into the fight.
Raven groooaaaned and started to get up- only to have Phantom SLAMMED into her, causing her to land SMACK on her face. "GET. OFF. ME!" came the muffled complaint of Raven.
Phantom pushed himself up and scowled upon seeing Raven beneath him.
"Believe me. It's NOT intentional, Skyfire holder."
"Oh ho-HO." Raven managed to roll around and glared at the ninja. "Whaaat? Would you enjoy it more if it was your little Lieutenant?"
Phantom gave Raven a weird look, a slow sneer coming to his face.
Raven glared right back at him, only to KICK him off of her. "Don't worry, Dark Prince! You're not my type!"
The ninja managed to land in a stable position and glared at her darkly. "Disgusting. I'm promised to someone else, anyways." He sneered, turning and running back for the battle.
Raven scoffed and started dusting herself off…only to reflect on his words. "...wait- WHAT?!"
She was answered by Zero SLAMMING into her, causing her to land on the ground for the 4th time in a row.
"Uuuuuggggghhhh…" Raven grumbled.
Zero frowned and got off of her, putting his hands on her in an attempt to help her up.
"Harpuia!" Leviathan rushed past the fight, finding Harpuia cradling Daisy in his arms, seething at the fight. "PLEASE tell me she's alive."
"She is." Harpuia panted, looking upwards and seeing 'Axl' standing in the opening of the destroyed building, gazing down at the fight. Harpuia sneered angrily and quickly looked towards Leviathan.
"Get Daisy to a hospital! We're going to destroy these monsters."
Leviathan nodded seriously and carefully took Daisy from Harpuia's grip. The girl was absolutely shivering.
"...dun hurt him….dun….hurt him…" Daisy muttered weakly over and over.
"Hold on, Daisy." Leviathan gritted her teeth. "Stay with me…"
Leviathan disappeared in a flash of light, Daisy still in her arms. Once Harpuia was certain that the teleportation had been successful, he turned back towards the fight, murder in his eyes. He was going to make sure these two reploids paid with their-
"HARPUIA!"
The Guardian leader only had time to hear Phantom's voice; but was SLAMMED to the ground by a blast from above. In an attempt to recover, Harpuia managed to push himself up, but was grabbed by the back by 'Storm Eagle'.
The large reploid narrowed his eyes and grabbed Harpuia's legs, beginning to pull Harpuia's limbs in separate directions.
The scream that emitted from the lead Guardian's mouth was ungodly. Harpuia felt his innermost being absolutely overloading from the pressure.
"LET HIM GO!" Phantom snarled, rushing for 'Storm Eagle'. He managed to SLASH his Shiruken against the reploid's neck, causing the reploid to stumble forward.
His form changed…and reverted back to Storm Eagle…The reploid tossed Harpuia away, causing the Guardian leader to slam Zero to the ground. Phantom narrowed his eyes and quickly started chucking multiple kunai towards the large reploid.
"That's it Phantom, keep him busy!" Fefnir started charging right for 'Storm Eagle', charging up a large Fire Blast. The large reploid narrowed his eyes…and quickly turned his back on Fefnir, exposing his frozen wings.
Phantom's eyes widened and he quickly reached out. "FEFNIR YOU FOOL!"
Too late. Fefnir's fire blast SLAMMED into Storm Eagle's wings, ultimately breaking the ice, and releasing his wings. Now with them freed, the large reploid quickly spread them and sent a whirlwind for Phantom and Fefnir.
'Axl' watched the two Guardians go flying from the rush of wind, and quickly spotted Zero trying to stand, with Harpuia still on the ground, trying to push himself up. They were both losing strength.
Narrowing his eyes, 'Axl' leapt from his perch and landed close to the duo, charging up a blast in his hand that was glowing with several different colors.
"HARPUIA!"
Both Zero and Harpuia looked up as 'Axl' smirked at them. "I will be taking possession of the Sun now! Neo Arcadia will finally see the New World as I envisioned it so LONG ago!"
He set off the blast towards the two injured reploids, laughing wickedly…only for a quick figure to quickly get in front of Zero and Harpuia.
A horrible blast of light emitted, engulfing the entire group, before it exploded into a large plume of smoke.
"HARPUIA!" Both Phantom and Fefnir called out, looking at the scene in horror. From the ground, Raven pushed herself to sit on her knees, her heart sinking in fear. "N-..NO! ZERO!"
She managed to stand, feeling the sting of tears threatening to come to her eyes.
"ZERO!"
A long, tense moment passed…and the smoke slowly started clearing…revealing a large barrier engulfing Zero and Harpuia.
'Axl' paused and gawked. "What?!"
In front of the two reploids was Foxfire, keeping her shield up, a scowl on her face as she kept the barrier up for a few more moments…before ultimately deactivating it. She panted and gritted her teeth, glaring at 'Axl'.
"FOXFIRE?!" Phantom quickly stood.
"FOXFIRE!" Harpuia yelled, trying to push himself up, but finding himself unable to stand. "I ORDERED YOU TO STAY IN NEO ARCADIA!"
Foxfire glanced behind herself, but looked back towards 'Axl'...and quickly looked around. Fefnir, Phantom, Harpuia, Zero….And Raven….WITH STORM EAGLE STANDING OVER HER.
Gritting her teeth, Foxfire quickly dashed away towards Raven as fast as she could.
Axl growled and turned, aiming his attack for the running Lieutenant. "You worthless little-GAH!" He found his armor SLASHED open by a Shuriken throw and took a couple of steps back, finding mech fluid escaping him at an alarming rate.
He cursed under his breath and glanced towards Zero. "Fine…HAVE your win, Zero. We are NOT finished." he snarled, before turning towards the other reploid. "DESTROY THEM AND BRING ME ZERO!" he snarled, ultimately teleporting away from the battlefield.
At the order, 'Storm Eagle' grabbed for Raven, managing to snatch her by both arms. Raven cried out and started struggling. This caused Storm Eagle's grip to tighten…and she could HEAR grinding coming from her right shoulder's armor.
Raven shrieked as the armor started giving her all sorts of warnings and alerts…
THIS GUY WAS GOING TO KILL HER!
"Raven!" Zero forced himself up and started running towards the larger reploid.
Foxfire, who had a head start, winced sharply as she continued to rush for 'Storm Eagle'. He was putting FAR too much pressure on those prosthetic limbs that Raven possessed. At this rate he was going to rip her apart!
A flash of Sandstorm being ripped in half came to her mind…
…NO! She was NOT going to allow that to happen to Raven! Not Noir!
NOT ROSE!
Foxfire's eyes started glowing a hot white and she twirled her sai, preparing for impact against the large reploid. "Sol!" she snarled…in a voice that…sounded nothing like her.
"FOXFIRE!" Harpuia screamed, managing to finally stand, terror in his eyes. "FOXFIRE DONT!"
Phantom growled and quickly looked towards Fefnir. "THROW ME!"
"What are you-" Fefnir looked baffled.
"THROW ME TOWARDS THEM, YOU IDIOT!" The ninja roared.
Foxfire jumped in the air and STABBED her sai into the reploid's back, close to his neck. The strike forced the reploid's hands to open, ultimately dropping Raven in the process, who landed on her back, all of her limbs outstretched.
"OOOOOWWWW…"
YANKING her sai out of the reploid's back, she quickly turned to check on-
"URCK!" Foxfire was SLAMMED to the ground by Storm Eagle's hand smashing into her, causing the Lieutenant to slide in the hot dirt, groaning lowly. She opened her eyes, the hot white glow no longer present.
"Lilly!" Raven forced herself up and rushed to Foxfire reaching down to help her-...wait. Raven winced and looked over towards her arm…that was stuck in an outstretched position. "OH. COME. ON!"
Foxfire managed to sit up, spitting out a mouthful of blood. She glanced towards Raven, and looked back towards Storm Eagle.
…his form flashed into a different reploid…before changing back to Storm Eagle.
….A New Gen reploid?
"...is that-" Foxfire paused and her pupils shrunk when he turned to face the two girls and started charging up a blast.
Raven gasped and started to cross her arms…but could only get one arm in position. "ARE YOU SERIOUS!?"
Foxfire looked towards Raven and gritted her teeth, forcing herself to scramble up. Rushing to Raven, Foxfire YANKED her arm down to cross her other arm, right as the blast hit them…and then got reflected right BACK to him.
Storm Eagle stumbled backwards and tried to recover…only to get SLASHED across the back by Zero. Not two seconds later the large reploid was KICKED in the face by Hidden Phantom who had been launched from the other side of the battlefield. Stumbling, the reploid started getting more than one warning in his systems…
….if he continued this fight, he was going to be destroyed.
The large reploid narrowed his eyes….and teleported away…
The battlefield was tense for a long time…before Raven sunk to her knees, groaning. Foxfire glanced at Raven and let off a slow shaky breath, spitting out a little more blood.
"Well…THAT was fun" Raven grumbled sarcastically.
"Yeah, as fun as trying to baptize a cat." Foxfire droned.
"ZERO!"
Raven and Foxfire looked over quickly as Fefnir started charging for the group, fully set on plowing into the hunter. "NOW you're coming with US!"
Phantom scowled and also started running for the group. This time, they were NOT getting away.
Cursing, Zero sheathed his saber and quickly rushed for Raven and Foxfire.
"Welp. Playdate's over." Raven quickly stood up- and landed SMACK on her face, causing Foxfire's eye to twitch in a mixture of embarrassment and humor.
Zero didn't miss a beat, he SNATCHED Raven from the ground and ran right past Foxfire. "Ciel!"
"Roger!" Came Ciel's voice, before teleporting Zero and Raven from the battlefield.
