Author's notes:
Thanks for still being with me, Cylon One! I hope the newest chapter won't leave you disappointed, because it is time for…
Showdown in Tinsel City, part 1One moment everything seemed calm. The next – the air between the two of them erupted with motion, as though a hurricane suddenly came into being in there.
Neither of the two has ever fought someone with abilities that matched their own, and while nearly perfect understanding of their abilities helped them in many ways, they were exploring a completely new field now, a field, where any mistake could lead to death.
For a moment, eight transparent arms intertwined in the air, locked in struggle, before the younger of the two girls was thrown backwards, flying some ten meters before she hit a steel girder. Despite the strength of the blow, however, Nana recovered from it in a second, and the next moment she used her Vectors to push off the concrete floor and jump high into air. And just in time, as it turned out to be, for as Nana cast a glance backwards, she saw the steel girder she was thrown against falling, cut down by a strike that was intended for her.
But her opponent wasn't through with her yet: almost too fast for an eye to follow her, Lucy mirrored Nana's maneuver, and the next moment she was in the air as well, with but a meter between her and her opponent. Nana only had enough time to register her opponent's sudden movement when a nearly-invisible fist slammed into her stomach. The blow was strong enough to throw her far from their improvised battlefield, if only two more Vectors didn't catch her the last moment, holding her in the air for a second before slamming her hard against concrete floor, leaving a visible dent in it.
Though she was too far from the floor to support herself in the air with her Vectors, Lucy simply used them to push herself off one of the steel girders she was passing, thus reversing her jump and landing on her feet some three meters away from Nana, a distance she deemed to be safe. She could have easily finished their battle once and for all when she caught Nana off-guard in the air, but saw little reason to do so: with her mission accomplished, she will have to return back to the laboratory, and she wasn't particularly eager to do that. So far, Nana somewhat disappointed her, as she turned out to be even weaker then Lucy expected, but even so, Lucy had her reasons for prolonging Nana's last minutes of life. Not to mention that even as weak as Nana appeared to be, she could still potentially present more of a challenge then all those slow and stupid BU-55C Combat Boomers Lucy was accustomed to fighting.
"Hm, perhaps I should try to… "Motivate" her a little?"
Seeing that Nana has already recovered from the blows she took and was beginning to get to her feet, Lucy made a couple of quick steps forward and swiftly placed her Vector upon the younger girl's throat before she fully recovered. Though doing so in turn exposed her to the younger girl's Vectors, Lucy quickly ensured her safety by placing two more Vectors against Nana's chest and stomach: the moment Nana will attempt to draw her own Vectors, Lucy will push her backwards out of her reach. Or perhaps she will just crush the younger girl's throat before her Vectors will be able to reach her; Lucy hasn't decided it yet.
"So, what now, Imouto?" Lucy asked teasingly, tightening her grip on Nana's throat a little: not enough to crush it or prevent her from talking, but enough to cause her some pain.
"Why… Why are you doing this?" Nana asked weakly, rising her pain-filled eyes to meet Lucy's.
But whatever reaction she was hoping to evoke, it certainly was a short bitter laugh that came out of Lucy's mouth.
"Why? You have some nerve to even ask that? You, who had everything I didn't have? You, who went as far as telling me how nice your "Papa" was to you more then once?"
Lucy was fully aware of the fact that they were both held in the same conditions: their abilities seemed to develop only according to the necessity, and because of it, both of them were constantly subjected to endless "tests" to "help" them in development of their abilities. Yet there was one major difference between the conditions they were held in: while Lucy was always treated as but an inanimate object, a weapon made by human hands, Nana always had that man to support her when the things were the hardest, that "Kurama". A minimal show of concern, a single kind word… It all seemed so little comparing to all the pain and suffering both of them were subjected to on a daily basis, yet it would mean a world to Lucy. But of course, she would never get even this minimal show of concern: the humans responsible for her "development" have always treated her as but a killing machine, which she was painfully aware she was. It has always been difficult for her to be painfully aware of many things she just wasn't made for, but when Nana came into being, she unintentionally made it a hundred times harder for the oldest V-type Boomer. And now, to top it all…
"And now, to top it all, you dared to escape in my stead! It was I who fought the guards, but you who gained freedom! I didn't need an order to hunt you down, all I need was an excuse!"
Lucy tightened her grip on Nana's throat just a little, not enough to kill her just yet, she hoped.
"But I… I just wanted to live in peace… Why can't everyone let me do that? Is it so wrong for me to live in this world?"
"Oh, but of course it is! Did you think you would be allowed to live a "happy life" while others would have to endure pain and suffering? You did nothing to deserve the kind of life you want to live, you can't even fight to defend it. I guess it means that I will just kill you now."
Another bitter laugh escaped from Lucy's mouth; in a way, this little talk was amusing, but it was quickly starting to bore her, and Nana clearly didn't have a will to even try defending herself.
"I guess this is it," Lucy thought with just a hint of regret, as tightened her Vector to crush Nana's throat and kill the younger girl on spot.
Or at least she tired to do that, for as Lucy tired to tighten her grip, she was surprised to find that the "fingers" of her Vectors wouldn't move: it was almost as though the younger girl's throat suddenly became as strong as steel. Or, given the nature of her weapon, it rather became as strong as…
A realization of what Nana must have done suddenly struck Lucy: she must have let her Vector pass through her own body, thus intercepting Lucy's own Vector, too subtly for the older girl to even feel it until she tried to tighten her grip.
Lucy had no doubt that she could overpower the younger girl with a relative ease, but the momentary delay Nana's unexpected move has produced had its intended result: with nothing holding her, Nana quickly jumped backwards, putting a couple more meters between Lucy and herself.
But Lucy wasn't too concerned about it; by now she had no doubts in her ability to defeat the younger girl anytime she wanted. And when you looked at it this way, the fact that the younger girl was going to put a bit more of a fight wouldn't be such an unwelcome thing, after all.
"So, you are going to give me at least a minimal challenge?" Lucy asked, grinning broadly even as she calmly walked towards the younger girl, and then added sarcastically, "Wow, I'm impressed! I honestly didn't expect this much from you!"
"A challenge?" Lucy could help noticing that there was something wrong about Nana's voice as she spoke: it seemed to be all but completely lifeless.
"Has she already given up?" Lucy thought, but Nana's next words caught her completely by surprise.
"If I was fighting seriously, you would have already been a dozen times dead."
Lucy would have normally assumed that the younger girl was just bluffing, but there was something about her voice and posture she didn't like. Well, it was long pass time for her to finish the younger girl off for good: she kept this beating going for long enough.
Now once again within a striking range from Nana, Lucy didn't hesitate to let all her four Vectors out with intention of tearing her opponent apart; this way, Nana would suffer for several more minutes before she finally dies. But before Lucy's Vectors reached their target, a single Vector found its mark upon Lucy's throat, far quicker then Lucy expected, lifting her into air and taking her backwards. And the next moment, Lucy's own Vectors stopped just an inch short of Nana's face, clawing at the empty air for a few seconds even as Nana's own Vector held Lucy in the air before the realization suddenly struck Lucy.
"Your Vectors… Have longer reach then mine?"
The very thought that the Number 7 could be better then her in anything, would have normally been too alien for Lucy to even consider it, but now she was facing an undeniable proof of it.
"Don't worry, I will not kill you," no longer deprived of any emotions, Nana's voice now appeared to be calm, but with a hint of steel about it, "However, it looks like I will have to teach you a lesson…"
Without further warnings, Nana's Vector, which was well over three meters long, Lucy noted, suddenly smashed Lucy against concrete floor and pressed her to it. Though it was painful enough by itself, it was just a beginning, and the next moment three more Vectors appeared to join the first, increasing the pressure. Lucy had to bite her lips to avoid crying out in pain, as Nana's Vectors literally crushed the concrete floor with Lucy's body and then let her fall to the lower level of the building.
On her part, Nana was more then a little shaken by what has just happened: for a brief second, she could feel her control over her own actions almost slipping, giving in to the basic instincts she was programmed with. With Lucy's intentions to cause her as much pain as possible before killing her plain to see, the only thing that stopped Nana from killing or incapacitating her opponent on spot the moment her mental barriers against doing so collapsed was the realization that perhaps the older girl indeed had good reasons to hate her so.
Back when both of them were in the laboratory, Nana was happy to have someone with whom she could share her happy moments, at least to a degree their empathic link allowed her to do it, but on her part, she also tried to cheer the old girl up as much as their very limited empathic link allowed her to, as she knew that things were even harder for Lucy then they were for her: after all, she had Papa to help her cope with pain and other hardships, while Lucy had no one. And it was only now Nana realized that all her attempts to cheer Lucy up had a completely opposite effect, and that she unintentionally only made things harder for the older girl. And now Nana could help feeling guilty about it, ironically even as she had to fight the older girl.
Though for the time being she forced her opponent away, Nana realized that running away was not an option: she had to show that she was Lucy's superior in every way if she was to convince the older girl not to attempt to seek her out ever again. But should she fail to convince her of that… Nana honestly wasn't sure what to do: she didn't want to kill or even seriously injure the older girl she couldn't help but view as her older sister, and in fact, she wasn't sure she really had a will to do that now, when her outburst has passed. She could only hope that Lucy wouldn't realize that…
But speaking of Lucy, Nana suddenly realized that he opponent was surely taking her time returning back to combat zone. Nana realized that what she did to her must have hurt, more then anything Lucy has done to her so far, in fact, but considering that their physical qualities were similar, it should have cause but a slight injury to Lucy.
Somewhat concerned over her opponent, and not sure what to think, Nana started walking towards the hole in the concrete floor she made with Lucy's body, but suddenly stopped: she was getting a very strong feeling of deja vu. And the next moment the floor beneath Nana seemed to explode.
Even though Nana half-expected something like that since the moment she recalled her last night's battle against BU-55C, it was still almost a miracle that Nana managed to push herself off the quickly collapsing floor, narrowly avoiding two transparent arms that were reaching for her through it. And even so, Nana was rather confused by the turn the situation suddenly took, which would likely prove to be her undoing if only Lucy didn't find it equally difficult to orientate in the chaos the reigned around them for a few seconds: the past time Nana and then Lucy were forcedly crushed against the concrete floor weakened the floor of the half-built building's upper level, which wasn't all that stable to begin with, and Lucy's newest blow against it turned out to be the last straw. The floor of the half-built building's upper level was now for the most part collapsing, and both Nana and particularly Lucy, who has been holding to it with her Vectors from bellow, were now forced to seek a different foothold.
They both found it in surprisingly similar way, the steel girders that were rising somewhat higher then the floor of the half-built building's upper level were still for the most part intact, except for the one Lucy cut down with her Vector earlier, and both girls found that the most logical thing to do was to support themselves in the air by holding to these steel girders with their Vectors.
For the next half a minute or so, the two of them were just looking at each other, both hesitant to make the next move. Although Nana knew that she had a clear advantage over the older girl, pressing this advantage by attacking first somehow didn't seem right to her. No, she would rather let her opponent make the first move; she didn't like the idea of responding to violence with violence in the least, but it was nevertheless better then striking at the weaker opponent first.
Lucy's situation, on the other hand, was completely opposite to Nana's: while she wished nothing more to finish her opponent off for good, she realized that any direct attack against her would be useless, particularly in this situation. Nana's Vectors had a reach about twice as long as hers, and if Lucy was to attack her directly, this would force her to pass some two meters within reach of Nana's Vectors, almost fully at her mercy and without ability to attack her back. And as if this was not enough, in the current situation Nana's longer reach gave her far greater maneuverability, essentially dropping Lucy's chances of defeating her to zero. No, if she was to emerge victorious from this fight, she would have to force Nana back to the solid ground first, and Lucy thought she found a possible way to do that.
Nana, on her part, couldn't think of what she would do in Lucy's situation, as thus she was somewhat surprised when she saw the upper halves of the nearest to Lucy steel girders separating themselves from the rest of the steel girders and positioning themselves horizontally like gigantic makeshift spears. The realization of what Lucy was going to do came to Nana too late, only by the time when two steel girders suddenly shot themselves at Nana with blinding speed, leaving her with only one way to avoid the painful impact: to instantly release the hold on the steel girder she was holding to and quickly drop to the second storey of the building. Which, unbeknown to Nana, was exactly what Lucy expected her to do…
"Got you!"
Pushing herself off the girder she was holding to with all her strength, Lucy dived at Nana with her Vectors extended to their full length to tear the younger girl apart the moment she is within their range. Still somewhat off-guard, Nana merely raised her head to look at her swiftly approaching opponent.
For a long moment their gazes remained locked, before the older girl was violently thrown backwards and painfully landed some distance away from Nana.
"Damn it, not fast enough!"
Wiping off a trinket of blood running from the side of her mouth, Lucy slowly got back to her feet, and hatefully looked at Nana who approached to stand a little over three meters away from her.
"This is not over yet!"
"No, it is," Nana's voice was calm as she said it, and before she further elaborated on the subject, Lucy suddenly felt as though her left leg got struck in a grip vice.
Looking down confirmed Lucy's worst suspicions: her left leg was now firmly griped in one of Nana's Vector, which she sent just over the ground, thus making sure that Lucy wouldn't notice what she was doing until it would be too late for her.
"You can't make even a step from here without my say-so," though Lucy was fully ware of the implications of what Nana had done, Nana nevertheless decided to elaborate on the subject to make sure Lucy understood the situation she was in, "If you try to… Your leg will remain behind. I am sorry to do this, but you left me no other choice."
"You bitch!" Though she continued to look at Nana hateful, Lucy couldn't help realizing that this insult was as much as she could do at the moment; she was completely at her opponent's mercy right now.
"I am going to make you an offer: if you promise to leave me be, I will let you go. But if you make this promise and then break it… I hope you realize that you are no match for me. And the next time I won't be that gentle with you."
Lucy didn't reply at first, instead she just clenched her teeth as she was thinking about what Nana has just said. The younger girl really put her in no-win situation, after all, she couldn't just forget about her instructions and let the younger girl go… Or could she? Where did the blind following her instructions ended and her personal vendetta began? Now when she thought of it, Lucy was not so certain…
But as she was thinking of it, a sudden roar of jet thrusters brought Lucy out of her thoughts, and as she returned to reality, she immediately noticed Nana casting a glance sidewards. And the moment Lucy's leg was out of Nana's view, her Vector retracted: guided with a thought, Vectors couldn't affect the things their owners didn't perceive.
"That is my chance!"
There was still a little over three meters between Lucy and her opponent, but now with Nana distracted, Lucy had some hope that she will be able to get into the striking range from Nana before the younger girl will realize that she turned her head away from the greater danger. But the next moment two things happened at once: Nana jumped sidewards, narrowly dodging two laser shots that hit the spot she occupied a moment ago, and Lucy felt a sudden pain at the back of her head as another laser shot grazed the back of her skull. Luckily, because she moved in the last moment it was but at surface wound, otherwise…
"Aw, Blue Saber, another inch and you would have left me without any work today!"
Turning to face the new enemies, Lucy saw two humanoid figures: apparently, human women dressed in skin-tight powered armor. The first one, whose powered armor was painted in green, was standing a little closer to Lucy, in a stance some would recognize as that of a martial artist, though this particular stance didn't belong to any known martial arts style. The second one, whose powered armor was painted in blue, stood to the side and a couple of steps behind her companion, with her right arm with a powered gauntlet upon it pointed at Lucy.
"She is the one who shot me," Lucy realized, even as she heard another voice.
"This is a serious mission, Green Saber, and I would appreciate it if you approach it as such."
By now mostly recovered from her initial surprise, Nana was now looking at the speaker: like the first two, this woman was dressed in skin-tight powered armor, this one was light grey, almost white in color. She calmly kept her arms, each with powered gauntlet upon it, at her side, but Nana already witnessed the woman's reflexes and knew that more laser shots could be fired upon her at any moment.
To the side and a little behind the grey-armored woman stood the one who appeared to be the youngest of the four, or at the very least she was noticeably smaller then the other three. Her powered armor was the only one with two major colors: the top was painted blue, and the legs – pink. She was trying to imitate green-armored woman's combat stance, but didn't look too convincing at doing that.
For a few seconds both sides were studying each other, with no more shots fired at Nana and Lucy, until the grey-armored woman finally spoke again, "Knight Sabers, to battle!"