Rojo was the first to strike. Goman thrust his trident at Rojo, who was directly in front of him. Rojo jumped over the trident tip, flipping twice over Goman and his weapon while grabbing onto the wooden staff to propel himself the second time. Rojo landed on his feet behind Goman with his back turned. The two began to turn to face each other once more, but Rojo was quicker.
By the time Goman turned to meet his adversary, Rojo thrust his flaming sword into his chest, sending him flying into the street and landing on his back. His dulled blade did not mortally wound Goman, but Rojo's Semblance provided enough damage to make him a worthy, if not superior adversary for Goman.
While all this was going on, Velvet was doing her damnedest to harm Tosaku in the smallest possible way. Tosaku swung his hatchets wildly at Velvet, forcing her to take two leaps back to avoid them. While Tosaku primed to deliver another set of attacks, Velvet took her opportunity and executed her premeditated attack.
Velvet pointed the Hard-Light copy of the Scythe down and swung up in the direction of Tosaku's chest and abdomen. The attack connected to it's destination with enough force to knock one of Tosaku's Hatchets out of his hand and into a pile of garbage. Tosaku did a 360 spin in the air and landed on his stomach, sliding across the cold concrete.
Velvet could see that Tosaku had become enraged at his initial defeat, and frantically looked for his second hatchet. Unable to spot it under the mound of waste, Tosaku charged at Velvet once more. Velvet's Scythe disappeared, prompting her to summon a Hard-Light copy of Pyrrah's Javelin and shield.
In an attempt to impede Tosaku's advance, Velvet thrust the javelin in his direction. Tosaku ducked down and slid on his knees to avoid being struck by the weapon. Tosaku jumped up and swung his single hatchet at Velvet once more. Velvet put Pyrrah's shield between herself and the hatchet to protect from the blows. Tosaku struck the shield 4 times before it finally disappeared. Tosaku swung another time, nearly catching Velvet by surprise. The tip of the hatchet blade struck Velvet's forearm as she backed away, cutting her sleeve and creating a large gash.
Rojo watched Goman begin to rise once more and charge with his trident. Velvet saw Rojo turn and lay his eyes on her forearm with a look of concern.
"Are you ok?" Rojo asked.
"Yes. My aura will take care of it."
As if on cue, Velvet began to glow as her gash closed and any trace of the wound disappeared.
Velvet saw that this posed as a source of further rage that Tosaku used against her. He charged with his hatchet once more. Velvet produced a Hard-Light copy of Yang's gauntlets that wrapped around her wrists and forearms. She fired one round from each gauntlet, hitting Tosaku in the chest twice, sending him flying back once more.
Velvet deduced that Rojo had engaged in combat once more, evidenced by her auditory senses picking up the sounds of metal clashing against metal and wood and loud grunts. She briefly turned to ensure that Rojo was alright, and was satisfied to observe that he appeared to be on the winning side of his battle. Rojo looked back at her, and smiled.
"Not gonna let me upstage you, are you?" He jokingly asked, placing his attention on Goman once more.
Velvet laughed and turned back to Tosaku, who swung his hatchet at her face. She bent backwards, watching the world around her move in slow motion. She observed all the details in Tosaku's face, and the way that a small section of her hair end had been cut off by the hatchet. Velvet felt annoyed by this and performed a backflip as soon as Tosaku's attack had concluded and the most recent danger was over.
The hatchet blade had become lodged in the nearest wall during Tosaku's follow-through. He gripped the handle with both hands and desperately tried to free it from its brick prison. His muscles flexed as he performed the ultimately futile task. Tosaku had completely taken his mind off of the battle and focused all of the energy he had left on freeing his hatchet.
This is my chance. Velvet thought to herself.
Velvet dashed forward, not attracting Tosaku's attention until it was too late for him to evade her attack. Despite this, she waited until he was able to fight back so that she would not perform the cowardly action of delivering a strike while her adversary was in no position to defend himself.
She waited a millisecond after he saw her coming, then she struck. Despite giving him the chance to form a counterstrike, Velvet still took Tosaku off-guard and delivered a fast series of blows to his abdomen and chest that would be nearly invisible to the naked eye. Punch after Punch, kick after kick, Tosaku was too stunned to even react. It was then that Velvet was overcome with the heat of battle.
She stopped her assault to view her opponent. Despite his stunned demeanor, he still raised his fists. Velvet took two backflips and took a deep breath. She dashed towards Tosaku and lifted herself up in the air to perform a special attack that she had not used in years, and would not have used it at all, had her mind not been clouded by adrenaline: The Dropkick of a Thousand Suns.
Velvet's legs pointed in the direction of Tosaku and primed for the attack.
Like riding a bike. She thought as she recalled how to correctly execute the move.
Velvet closed her eyes and focused all of her Semblance on her feet and calves. They began to glow and did not stop until a Hard-Light copy of a lance morphed around them. She flexed her leg muscles and waited until she could feel her Semblance at full power. It was then that she extended them, forcing the full power of her lance into Tosaku's chest. Velvet did not know the full gravity of what had happened until she landed on her feet and the palm of her hand and simultaneously opened her eyes.
Velvet opened her eyes and was mortified by what she had done. Tosaku's body was impressed into the wall at the end of the alley, and a trickle of blood began to trail off the corner of his mouth. Velvet could see that he was still alive, shown by the labored breathing that pushed his chest in and out. His eyes were closed and his face was fixed in an expression of pain.
The concrete of the alleyway met Velvet's leggings as she fell to her knees in languish. Velvet looked down and began to cry, her tears staining the alley with small, dark splotches.
"I've done it again. I promised myself I wouldn't." She said.
Velvet became detached from reality, only to be brought back by an electrically charged shock to the back from Goman's trident. Velvet convulsed and fell to the ground, hearing Rojo call out her name. She struggled to turn onto her back and see that Rojo had disarmed Goman. Rojo sheathed his blade and punched Goman. Rojo cornered him between the wall and a pile of garbage and was mercilessly beating him.
Still shaking, Velvet struggled to crawl to Rojo's position and grip his ankle. He quickly turned to see Velvet, then bent down and cradled her in his arms.
"He's--n-not--worth--i-it." Velvet struggled to whisper.
Rojo nodded.
"We need to get out of here before the police arrive." Rojo advised.
"N-No. They...need to know...what happened." Velvet said, slowly regaining her strength.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. We need to say." Velvet had totally recovered by this point, with only the twinge of pain where the trident had struck her.
"Why do you let people do that to you? Why don't you stand up for yourself?" Rojo inquired.
"It's a long story."
"Well, the police response time sucks in Vale, so we have nothing but time." Rojo said, the glow from his eyes fading.
"Perhaps you could find us a bench first. This whole 'Damsel in Distress' bit is not fitting for me at all."
Rojo laughed, then walked into the street and sat Velvet in a bench near the alley. Rojo sat alongside her, positioning himself so that he could see Goman and Tosaku if they tried to exit the alley.
"So...The story? Unless you're not comfortable with telling it."
"No. I've kept this to myself for too long. It's time someone else knew."
And with that, Velvet began to relay the darkest chapter of her young life up to that point.