Author's Note: Once again, my thanks to my reviewers. To rydia3791, thanks for the cup of tea, your shared love for the Tales of series (you HAVE to play Xillia ASAP) and extensive review; I love hearing your thoughts about the different parts of the chapter. To Xen Kenshin, glad my fic caught your attention, and I hope you enjoy it; I have no idea what Royal Ice Armors and Imperial Crowns are, but I'll take your advice and hope they don't squish me like a bug when I do encounter them. To soldier against the numbers, thanks for your consideration, and I'm glad you like my fic (a lot)!
'There is no rest for the wicked' is the thought that crosses Alisa's mind as she reads the summons that pops up on her terminal's screen during her routine morning check. Lindow has apparently lined up another mission at noon with her as part of the team, giving her enough time to grab breakfast, return and get ready before she has to show up in front of the mission counter. It is apparent that a specific someone else is also following a similar schedule as she runs into none other than Yuu on her way to the lift in the Rookie's section.
"Morning, Alisa," he greets her cheerfully, "I take it we'll be working together again, if you heading this way at this time means Lindow's summoned you too for the mission."
"Good morning to you too," she replies neutrally, idly noticing how they have both matched their strides to each other's, "and while you are right, you shouldn't make assumptions based on something as unfounded as what time I happen to be walking down the hall." There is a slight pause in the conversation once they reach the lift and he beats her to the pressing of the button. "Coincidences happen. For all you know, I could've been making my way to the cafeteria to get a late breakfast."
Yuu's laugh is half-drowned out by the sounds of the elevator arriving and its doors opening. "Yeah, they do," he concedes as they step in and the doors close behind them, "but I know for a fact that you sent Maintenance a request for your God Arc to be prepared this morning because Licca told me so when I went to do it in person, and the timing was... well, too much of a coincidence."
"You guessed." Her response is flat, as is the look she throws him.
Yuu gives her his trademark grin. "I prefer to call it an educated intuitive leap."
"That doesn't even make sense!" she shoots back, following him out of the lift and into the God Arc Maintenance Unit's workplace. "Of course it does!" he counters readily as they make their way over to Licca's station where their God Arcs are waiting to be picked up. Alisa wonders for a moment if it's a contrived coincidence that her God Arc is also under the female engineer's supervision but decides to ignore it in favour of continuing this ridiculous conversation... although for what reason she can't say. They continue to bicker even throughout the retrieval of their God Arcs - much to Licca's silent amusement, which Alisa pointedly ignores - as well as the journey back to the lift and the lift ride itself.
A sense of foreboding, however, falls upon her once they reach the mission counter, as Lindow is nowhere to be seen and Hibari's first reaction upon noticing their arrival is an apologetic smile. "Morning Yuu, Alisa," she greets them and they respond in kind even as Alisa mentally braces herself for what is clearly going to be bad news of some sort. The news does not directly come from Hibari though; instead, the female operator hands them a piece of paper. "Lindow dropped this off a while ago and told me to pass it to you when you arrived," she tells them. "I... well, before I tell you anything else, you should probably read it."
That is enough to cause the sense of foreboding to turn into full-on dread as she and Yuu smooth out the slightly crinkled message and read Lindow's scrawled message. Said message, unfortunately, causes whatever good mood she had - and isn't it strange that pointlessly bickering with Yuu didn't infuriate her as much as it should have? - to immediately evaporate.
Hey guys,
I know I set up a mission for noon but a hot date of mine called up out of the blue and... well, I'll spare you innocent kids the details - you'll figure it out when you're older. Anyway, that doesn't mean you're going to slack off today; I've heard that Tatsumi needs a few volunteers so I've passed the three of you off to him. Good luck, and remember: Don't die!
...She's going to throw her God Arc case right in his face the next time she sees him, and he'll be lucky if that's all the harm she does to him. To her right, Yuu has apparently finished reading the message as well, if the sounds he's making - some weird combination of an exasperated sigh and muffled sniggering - are any indication. She looks up to meet Hibari's sympathetic gaze and the older girl offers her a helpless shrug. "Tatsumi already knows about the change of plans and is already waiting at the helicopter pad. You're to meet him there once everyone's been made aware of the new arrangement."
Hibari's statement, while seemingly normal, causes Alisa to frown in confusion. She and Yuu are already here and the message has already been delivered to them, so what- Realisation hits her then; the message had said three, so there's one more person who has not yet shown up. Who could it be though?
As if in response to her unspoken question, the distant sound of someone stampeding through the Den reaches Alisa's ears, and she is hit with a sudden moment of absolute clarity... accompanied by an equal amount of dread. She silently prays that she has guessed wrongly as the three of them look in the direction that the sound is coming from, but as the noise steadily grows louder she already knows that her fate is sealed.
Sure enough, who else but Kota comes running up to the counter, God Arc case in hand and swinging in such a way she's surprised no one's been greviously injured or killed by it yet. Panting heavily, the boy comes to a stop right in front of them, and Alisa only offers him a cross look as she deftly sidesteps his errant God Arc case which nearly smacks her right leg.
"Oh man, I'm so so so sorry!" he rambles in between gasping in lungfuls of air, his hands on his knees likely being the only things keeping his bowed head from hitting the ground. "I know I was supposed to show up on time and all, but I was watching Bugarally last night and totally got carried away. But it was such an exciting episode, you know, and I really couldn't turn it off so I kept watching and it was like past 2am before I knew it-" It's at this point that Kota finally looks up to realise the only ones before him are Hibari, Yuu and her. "Wait, where's Lindow?" he asks, befuddled.
It's rather unprofessional, but she's starting to wish she'd never gotten out of bed this morning.
-xXx-
The mission, as Tatsumi explains it, is simple: they are to escort and guard a small Research team tasked with retrieving the data that has been collected by several instruments they set up in one of the City of Mercy's abandoned buildings last week.
The mission, Alisa decides, is also incredibly boring. There is little sense in playing the passive role; the faint sounds of activity deeper in the city indicate there are Aragami prowling beyond their field of vision just as reported, yet here they are standing around just waiting for something to happen. It's enough to set her teeth on edge.
Like the rest, she has been posted on one side of the building in a rather loose sense of a formation, limiting communication between the team to strictly via their comm links. Just then, hers crackles to life, transmitting Tatsumi's voice and message clearly. "This might take a while guys. Research team's told me that the storm that hit this area a couple of days ago messed up one of their equipment. They're trying to salvage it but-"
The rest of the message - if there is any - is drowned out by a loud screeching sound coming from the building they are guarding that causes her to clap her free hand to one ear in a blind attempt to protect her hearing from the noise. "What the hell was that?!" she yells into her comm link once it lowers in pitch before ending in a soft whine. Tatsumi's response is a little pained; he was likely closer to the source of the sound when it went off. "I think that equipment malfunctioned-" Approaching footfalls from the city reach her ears, and likely all her teammates', at that moment. "-but that's the least of our worries right now. Head's up guys, we're about to have company."
Sure enough, three Ogretails that were most likely attracted by the sound turn the corner and snarl the moment they lay eyes on her. Yuu and Kota both report Aragami in their sights as well, and all hell breaks loose at that point. She's unable to spare another thought for their predicament as the three Ogretails in front of her charge, and reflex finds her shifting her God Arc into its gun form and pulling the trigger before she can consciously register the action. Raging Lore fires true, each bullet finding their mark in her enemies and stopping one short while mortally wounding the other two, making them easy prey once they come within melee range. A few calculated swings of Avenger finish them off, and when the third Ogretail finally arrives she makes short work of it as well.
"Kongou!" The edge in Yuu's voice is clear even through the comm link transmission, and Alisa lets out a few choice words in Russian as she breaks into a run to back him up. "Be there in a minute, bro! Hang in there!" Kota yells through the open link. Tatsumi's lack of response, she decides, means one of two things: he's either already there or is too caught up in his own battle.
She finds her first guess is the correct one upon her arrival; their team's senior member is attempting to hold off the Kongou while Yuu is preoccupied with three Zygotes that are intent on taking his head off. It's starting to feel like they've attracted every last Aragami living in the City of Mercy, she thinks grimly as she switches Avenger out for Raging Lore and fires a few shots off at the Kongou before switching back and diving in to help Yuu clear out the Zygotes. An errant shot might wound him, and in such a delicate situation they cannot risk a single one of them being taken out of action even for a moment.
"I got your back, Tatsumi!" Kota announces his fashionably late arrival with several shots from his gun directed at the Kongou. Systematically dodging and slicing at the Zygotes she and Yuu are faced with make her unable to witness the battle with the larger Aragami, although foreknowledge of each person's God Arcs keeps her informed sound-wise what is going on. As his Old-Type God Arc lacks a gun form, any sound of direct contact with the Kongou's flesh must be an attack from Tatsumi, while being limited to a gun form means every shot being fired must be Kota's doing.
One Zygote falls for good to Yuu's blade just as the sound of a stun grenade exploding reaches their ears, along with an overly enthusiastic "Aw yeah, it's devouring time!" Alisa has to resist the urge to roll her eyes as that would compromise her ability to fight, but Kota's carefree attitude is really starting to irk her. The unnecessary announcement is followed by the sound of two people going into Burst Mode; Tatsumi has likely also taken advantage of the Kongou's disorientated state as well. Kota's shots are more noticeably more powerful now, she notes, although the rate at which he is firing is as reckless as she expects it to be. Still, if it helps their target get taken down faster she'll hold her tongue for the moment. All in all, she thinks, the battle seems to be going well.
Of course, it's just as she has that thought that everything has to go south in the worst way possible. Absorbed as they are in their respective battles, none of them notice the Chi-You's arrival until it is too late. They are down to their last Zygote but the Kongou has not been felled, and Alisa marks this as the second time today she's really wished she'd just stayed in bed and called in sick. With its below average hearing, the Chi-You's presence here means that it must have spotted the battle, and that's a real testament to their luck that one just had to notice them.
"Tatsumi!" Yuu's panicked shout jolts her out of her thoughts, and she turns in time to see a distracted Tatsumi get smacked into the building's wall by a swipe from the enraged Kongou. His body slams into the structure with a wince-inducing thud before sliding to the ground motionless. "I've got him!" Kota yells as he tosses a stun grenade at the Kongou before rushing to the 2nd unit leader's side. "Kota, wait!" Yuu tries to stop him as he takes another aerial swipe at the last Zygote, knocking it out down to the ground for her to devour. She doesn't understand until she finishes the grounded Zygote off and turns her full attention back to the two of them only to see Kota perform a Link-Aid, go pale and pass out next to the unconscious Tatsumi.
"What the hell?!" she screams at Yuu, unable to find the words to articulate just how... how ridiculous the situation is. Now they're down two members and facing off against two large Aragami and she's so going to kill Lindow when she gets back to the Den, she swears it.
"Alisa!" Yuu has obviously elected to ignore her rhetorical question in favour of trying to regain control of the situation. "The Chi-You has a weakness to Blaze, so I'm counting on you to use your Avenger to its full potential and at least keep it occupied, okay? I'm going to make sure the Kongou doesn't get to the two of them while they recover." He doesn't wait for her to respond, instead dashing straight off to engage the Kongou. It's not like they have much of a choice, she thinks darkly as she fires off a few Blaze shots to gain the Chi-You's attention. The faint sound of Tatsumi stirring that reaches her ears does little to improve her disposition; by her estimates he will not be able to return to battle within the next few minutes, and in this dire situation every second is a decisive one.
It is during the second instance of having to dodge to the side to avoid the Chi-You's gliding attack that what amounts to a desperation-fueled insane idea hits her. "Yuu, I need your help!" she yells over the roar of her gun firing off another volley at the Chi-You. "A little busy here!" he hollers back a little breathlessly; under normal circumstances, he likely would have been able to defeat the Kongou by now, but as it stands his attention is divided between keeping himself alive and ensuring the Kongou does not either target Tatsumi and Kota.
"I have a plan, but you need to keep the Chi-You occupied near the building for it to work!" His immediate response is to throw her an incredulous look, but he must see something in her gaze because his incredulity shifts into resolution and he gives her a nod before turning back towards his opponent. "Alright, I'm counting on you," he answers before calling out to Tatsumi. "Hey Tatsumi, you back with us yet?"
"Something close to it," the 2nd unit leader groggily answers. "Don't get back up yet," Yuu orders him, "I need you to see to Kota - discreetly; the last thing we need is the Kongou bearing down on the two of you before you're ready to fight back. Alisa, on my signal." She doesn't respond directly, choosing instead to tense her body in preparation for her arguably insane strategy.
"NOW!" With that one word, she sprints straight for the building the Research team is holed up in, putting every last ounce of energy she has into her legs. The Chi-You turns to follow her but is interrupted by a volley of shots fired by Yuu and chooses to switch its attention to him instead as she planned for it to. She tunes everything out - the roar of the Kongou, the sound of the Chi-You's wings slicing through the air, the unique sound of a God Arc repeatedly switching forms - nothing matters except her destination.
The Research team members huddled inside the building are understandably surprised by her bursting through the entryway, but she pays little heed to them. "Stay in here!" she barks as she dashes for the staircase leading to the next floor. Outside, the sounds of combat intensify - Tatsumi and Kota have most likely returned to the fray and are backing Yuu up - just as she slams the door to the roof open with her Brimstone shield absorbing the impact. A quick scan of the battlefield confirms her suspicions - Tatsumi and Kota are keeping the weakened Kongou distracted while Yuu is single-handedly wrangling the Chi-You. He has his back towards the building, though, and as such fails to see her.
"I need it closer!" she yells down at him, and that gets his attention. At any other time, the look of confusion on his face would be humourous, but the situation is too dire for bemusement to set in. "Closer!" she repeats, snapping him out of his trance, and it is then that they both see the Chi-You prepare to glide straight at him. Instead of moving out of the way, however, he deploys his shield and waits. Alisa finds herself unable to do anything but watch, part shock and part horror freezing her as the Aragami swoops in and all but slams Yuu into the building's wall. It is as the Chi-You pulls out of its dive to avoid crashing into the building as well that she realises it is close enough for her plan. This is what he was aiming for, and she's not about to waste the opportunity.
There is time enough to gasp in one lungful of air. Then she leaps.
With its eyes cast towards the ground, the Chi-You fails to see her bear down on it from above, Avenger in hand and aimed downwards. It does, of course, notice when her Long Blade pierces deep into its head and lets out such a deafening screech she momentarily passes out from the noise. She doesn't let it stop her though, and maintains her vice-like grip of her God Arc as it thrashes around in an attempt to throw her off, scrambling for a proper foothold on the smooth surface of the Aragami's skin and kicking wildly at its fists when they come a little too close to her.
Distantly, she hears the Kongou roar and run off, followed by Tatsumi and Kota announcing their arrival to help finish off the Chi-You by simultaneously attacking it. Their assault helps to keep the Aragami's hands away from her long enough for her to finally steady herself and twist the blade of her God Arc. She ignores the spray of Aragami blood that hits her as a result, choosing instead to focus on her prey's last dying screech as it finally falls and moves no more.
"A risky but effective maneuver," a voice says, and Alisa looks up from extracting her blade out of the dead Chi-You's skull to see Tatsumi give her an appraising smile which causes her anger at this entire situation to resurface and override everything else.
"This wouldn't have happened if we'd cleared the area before the Research team started their operation," she snaps, and her comment causes Tatsumi's smile to fall and be replaced by a grim frown. "I know things didn't go as planned," he replies, "but our job was-"
"Screw that!" she cuts him off angrily. "We wouldn't have had so much trouble if in the first place we'd just KILLED THEM-"
The pain that explodes in her skull comes suddenly, and for a moment the world tilts dangerously to the side. She catches herself in time, driving Avenger into the ground and leaning heavily on it to prevent herself from falling over. The only sound she hears is her own laboured breathing, and the silence stretches for a while before Yuu breaks it.
"I think that's enough. It happened, we survived; end of discussion." Trust him to play peacemaker; Kota has uncharacteristically remained silent throughout the argument. "Tatsumi, what do you want to do about the Kongou?"
The guy in question lets out a resigned sigh before replying. "We'd better deal with it in case it comes back while the Research team's packing up. Kota and I will handle it; the two of you should rest up." With that, the two of them run off, leaving her and Yuu alone.
She's not sure whether it's because of the headache or something else, but she breaks the silence by angrily verbalising her other issues about the whole debacle to Yuu. "What's with that Kota guy? He gives up so much of his own health during a Link-Aid, and then passes out from that. It's just trouble for us. And he deals so many strong attacks, but only during a Burst. I mean, does he not know how to pace himself?" she rages. "And don't even get me started on our leader. He's always fooling around... If not for him, we wouldn't even be here."
"And you," she snarls as she turns her gaze to him, causing him to give her a startled look in response. "You must be a lunatic, using yourself as bait for the Chi-You like that." A small voice in the back of her head points out that he only did it because of her, but she ignores it for now.
All her comment does is make him grin. "That's rich, coming from the girl who leapt off a building to stab said Chi-You in the head," he counters. Infuriating idiot. "сумасшедший," she mutters under her breath, and they lapse into another quiet moment before she speaks up again. "You okay?" she finds herself asking, allowing herself to remember that he likely got hurt pulling off the stunt she's scolded him about.
He shrugs, but even through her headache she catches him wincing at the action. "I'll live," he answers. "Took a Restore Pill while you were stabbing it." A Kongou's dying roar reaches their ears at that moment. "Looks like Tatsumi and Kota are done. Let's head back to the Den and everyone can rest up. It's been a long day." She couldn't agree more, and before long the helicopter they are on is touching down at the Den.
Her headache, which had been abating on the quiet ride back, spikes again when she sees none other than Lindow waiting to greet them upon their return. "Hey guys," he calls out cheerfully, "heard you got into a bit of a scrap- whoa!" It is likely due to surprise that he gives way to her hitting his arm with her shoulder as she strides past him, ignoring his bewildered question of "Was it something I said?" in favour of going straight back to her room to rest.
Yes, all she needs is some rest. Then maybe the headaches will finally stop.
-xXx-
No amount of rest, Alisa decides, will ever be enough. As it is, she's being shipped off to another mission not a day later, and this time it will be just her and Lindow. Her headache, while milder, persists, and not even a visit to Dr Oguruma has fixed it.
"Well, hello there Alisa." Speak of the devil, she thinks as she looks up to meet the doctor's gaze. "Going on a mission?" At her answering nod, he smiles and steps closer to her. "I see, I see. Good luck. You know what your mission is, don't you?" he asks, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Yes," she responds automatically, even though the question doesn't seem to make sense. The man gives her no time to think it over, though, and merely pulls his hand back. "Good, good. Remember to do as you're told." With that last statement, he walks off, passing by Lindow whose smile upon seeing her is a lot warmer than the doctor's. "Hey Alisa," he greets her. "Looks like it's just the two of us today; the other four got sent off on their own mission just a short while ago. You know, it's rare for our unit to be given two missions at the same time, but I guess it's probably an emergency. Listen to me rambling; we should be heading off. You ready?" She offers him a nod before picking up her God Arc case and following him.
Maybe the headache will stop later, she hopes. If she's lucky, maybe it'll stop forever.
Words fail to describe how much I struggled with this chapter; I kept revising the fight scene over and over again to the point that I lost count of how many times I just wanted to throw it all away and go on to the next point in the story. Still, I swore I would use every bit of dialogue and email in my fic, so I soldiered on... and thus this chapter was finally completed. The next chapter, however, will be difficult to write for a different reason; you know what's coming up next, and I hope I won't disappoint.
PS: If you're curious about what that bit of Russian Alisa says in the fic means, it's "lunatic". Which I think is quite apt for describing both of them in that situation. :P