Queen Elizabeth eyed her opponent warily. She may look like Hood in every conceivable way, but she wasn't. She was a copy created by the enemy in an effort to play mind games on them.
If she were being honest with herself, the plan was working. As much as she wanted to fight, part of her was reluctant to as she did not want to hurt the clone, even though it was the enemy.
The one known as Cessair extended her skirt, graciously bowed to the two then rose up. After performing the necessary courtesy, she formed her rigging and fired at them both. Z23 and Queen Elizabeth immediately dodged the attack but that's what Cessair wanted. She quickly charged for Z23 while the latter tried firing at her.
Though Z23's torpedoes hitting the mark, Cessair's superiority as a battlecruiser mitigated much of the damage. She closed in on Z23 and attacked with a left swing for the head. Z23 narrowly dodged the attack and felt a chill run down her spine. In that moment, she genuinely believed that had she not dodged, her opponent would have taken her head off in one clean blow.
Cessair turned on her heel and was about to strike with another fist but Queen Elizabeth appeared and blocked it with her sceptre. The force made her step back a little, but she held firm.
"Just as… maybe even stronger than the original," commented Queen Elizabeth "this will be much harder than anticipated."
Queen Elizabeth's rigging pointed at Cessair and the latter did the same. The two fired point-blank barrages at each other and were sent flying back. Before Queen Elizabeth could hit the ground though, Z23 caught her. Meanwhile, Cessair recovered in the air and landed with minimal to no injuries.
"We're at a real disadvantage here," said Z23 "between my type disadvantage and your outdated rigging, this will be an uphill one."
"Regardless," said Queen Elizabeth, adjusting herself "we stayed back to face this enemy. We're the only ones who can defeat it."
Cessair meanwhile tapped the dust off her shoulders. It was a meaningless gesture as there was no dust on her. The Siren creation did so in an effort to play mind games on her opponents. She raised both arms up and pointed her guns at the two. Then, she fired at the two and charged.
This time it was Queen Elizabeth who faced Cessair first. She attacked the Queen with a flurry of jabs and forced her on the defensive. That she also used her rigging to keep Z23 at bay showed the control she had of the battlefield.
One jab zipped past Elizabeth's cheek but the force behind the attack landed a slight cut on the cheek. She paused then immediately ducked to avoid another jab aimed at the face. Queen Elizabeth swung her sceptre at Cassair's side but the latter caught it before it could hit.
With incredible force, Cessair yanked the sceptre from Queen Elizabeth's grasp and was ready to strike. Z23 came up behind her in an effort to catch her off guard but Cessair's rigging pointed at her and fired. The destroyer was sent crashing into the ground while Cessair rammed the sceptre into Queen Elizabeth's shoulder.
She could feel the bones breaking at the point of impact but bit back the pain. Before Cessair could follow up though, Queen Elizabeth pointed both her rigging at her and fired, blasting the battlecruiser back a little and releasing her grip on the sceptre.
As much as she wanted to check on Z23, now was not the time. Queen Elizabeth caught the sceptre and hit Cessair on the back of her legs, causing her opponent to buckle a little. She was about to hit Cessair on the shoulder when her own flashed in pain. This laps caused Queen Elizabeth to double back for a few seconds, but that was all the time needed.
Cessair suddenly shot up and hit Queen Elizabeth with a jab to the face. The attack was so fast that she blinked a couple of seconds and wondered if it actually hit her. Then came a second and Queen Elizabeth felt dazed. Finally a third attack came in the form of an arm bar which rammed into the back of the head and sent the monarch crashing into the ground.
Cessair turned around and saw Z23 rise then fixed her attention on her. She charged at Z23 like an animal while the Iron Blood destroyer fired at her. Several attacks landed but Cessair seemingly shrugged them off like they were flies or mosquitoes.
When she saw close, Cessair began the attack by firing a point-blank barrage. Z23 dashed to the side to avoid it then went down to perform a leg sweep. Before her attack could land, Cessair grabbed her foot and flung Z23 into the air. As she dangled helplessly up there, Cessair pointed her guns at Z23 and fired at her multiple times. When it was over, Z23 fell to the ground, her body covered in several injuries and had some of her clothing burnt up.
Cessair watched silently at the two combatants. Her gaze shifted from one to the other, carefully analysing them for any signs of movement. When she saw one of them rise up, rather than attack, she simply waited.
Queen Elizabeth coughed up some blood and used her sceptre to help her up. Z23 meanwhile put out the small fires on her clothes and struggled to rise to her feet. While Z23 was reeling from the attack, Queen Elizabeth began thinking of ways to stop the enemy.
Cessair however, did not afford her the time to think of a strategy and attacked. She ran towards Queen Elizabeth but was caught off guard by Z23 who delivered a flying kick to the side of the head and sent her cartwheeling to the side.
"Its like we're facing off against a tank with sticks," said Z23 to Queen Elizabeth "how… how do we stop her?"
Queen Elizabeth's head was slightly dizzy after the shot but heard enough of the question. Her response was pointing her rigging at Cessair and saying
"The same way we solve all our problems. By shooting it until there's nothing left."
It was certainly not the answer Z23 was looking for but it was better than getting nothing at all. Cessair recovered and resumed her attack on them. Queen Elizabeth charged forward while Z23 came around to Cessair's right side.
Cessair met Queen Elizabeth with a flurry of punches which the latter blocked using her sceptre. Then, Queen Elizabeth came forward and crashed her head into Cessair's knocking her back a little. The monarch was not done as she bent down and grabbed Cessair's leg then turned around and flung her into the ground. She proceeded to lift her up and ram her into the ground a couple more times before letting go.
Z23 capitalized on this moment by leaping high into the air and hitting Cessair with her own arm bar. The move sent the Siren acolyte crashing into the ground, but they both knew the fight was not done.
Just was Cessair was rising to her feet, Queen Elizabeth was a few meters away from her. Her left arm arched back as she was about to hit Cessair with the sceptre. She swung forward and Cessair's guns blasted the sceptre out of the Queen's hand. Undeterred by this, the Queen then clenched her fist and brought it straight into Cessair's face.
This attack was followed by Z23 coming in and landing a kick right in Cessair's mid-section, forcing her back further. Z23 then took a step back and alongside Queen Elizabeth, fired a concentrated barrage at the target.
The two kept firing till Cessair was covered in a large cloud of smoke. Then, the pair stopped when they thought that was enough. This lull allowed a pair of hands to shoot out from the smoke and grab the two by their heads. Before either could react, they were rammed into the ground with incredible and overwhelming force. If they were human, there'd be nothing left of their heads right now.
Cessair emerged from the cloud now looking visibly wounded in several places but still very much alive. She pointed her rigging at her opponent's chest all the while still holding onto their heads. Just as she was ready to fire Z23 used the jaws on her rigging to grab onto one of the cannons, turn it and point the barrel at Cessair. Queen Elizabeth meanwhile used what energy she could to kick Cessair on the back of her leg, causing her to falter.
The pair felt her release on them slacken and quickly leapt back. They pointed their rigging at Cessair and fired. The Siren warrior raised her hands to block the initial barrage then ran to the side. She quickly closed the distance with Z23 and punched her in the chest. The Iron Blood had the wind forcibly knocked out of her body but Cessair was not done. She grabbed Z23 by the hair and raised her up. In response, Z23 continued firing, but Cessair was not letting go. It was only when Queen Elizabeth rammed her sceptre in the back of Cessair's head did she finally release her.
"Keep up the pressure," called Queen Elizabeth as Cessair turned around and fired a near point-blank barrage at her.
Z23 meanwhile let out a wild yell as she started firing everything she had at Cessair. The latter turned and was about to attack when Queen Elizabeth hit her in the right leg, causing the bone to break. Cessair winced in pain and spun around to attack only to have Queen Elizabeth move back and fire. Z23 then came in close, grabbed Cessair's left hand and bent it to the point a bone started sticking out of the elbow.
Cessair used her one foot to swing wildly at Z23 but she dodged the punch. Cessair then fired a barrage at her and the destroyer took it head on. She charged through the attack despite the new injuries and landed a punch on Cessair's face, knowing her back and tilting her body at an awkward angle.
In that moment, Queen Elizabeth appeared next to Cessair. She gripped her sceptre as tightly as possible and let out a fierce cry before swinging it down with all her might. The force of the impact on Cessair's exposed chest meant the sceptre hit with significant force. It collapsed the ribs and crushed any organs inside.
The two watched as Cessair's body tilted back further and further before falling to a heap. Neither of them moved and simply pointed their rigging at her just in case she was playing them. The two looked carefully and saw no movement or breathing. It was only after confirming the latter did they finally relax their guard.
The pair fell to the ground unable to move thanks to the numerous injuries across their bodies.
"Z2… Z…. Nimi, are you alive?" asked Queen Elizabeth, too tired to turn around and confirm it.
"Yes, despite their best efforts," said Z23, wiping off some blood from her body.
"Let's just hope the others fared better than we did."
(AN: The real MVP of this fight was that sceptre. I may have accidentally made it too OP in this chapter)