The Taken figure twitched and heaved in a very unnatural manner, making the twins rather ill in their stomachs. Mash and Ari stared down the burning ebony figure weapons ready. The air started to feel thick as the figure slithered its own body, about to lung at the two with its burning scythe, as if it was the reaper. The seconds passed and no one made a move yet, waiting then the Taken lept toward them.
Mash stepped in front of Ari, blocking the oncoming attack. As the black fiery polearm made contact with the shield, sparks flew out like fireflies. Ari stepped to the side of Mash, swinging her blue almost digital glaive toward the Taken.
The Taken turned its head abruptly and unnaturally, noticing the Ari slicing through the air toward it. It took its scythe and swung it to meet the glaive midswing. Ari staggered back upon the force of the swing, and the Taken prepared to capitalize on the opportunity.
Mash taking advantage of her now-distracted foe, swung her shield. It collided with what would be the Taken's jaw, sending it flying back a couple of meters toward the burning city. The purple orbs slithering around its body shot out toward the pink hair shield user.
Ari lept in front of Mash, shooting out a translucent shield. The orbs exploded in violent purple energy upon contact, pushing Ari back a bit and causing her to grit her teeth.
The Taken slowly stood back up like a puppet on a string. It glared at the two servants as three more orbs shot from the back of her hair and slithered around her body yet again.
Ari reoriented herself, summing her knight-like helmet onto her head. "It seems I underestimated this one a bit," Ari noted to herself. A voice entered her head, the voice of Ghost.
"I'm glad you figured that out, but I recommend you focus on the battle," Ghost stated.
"Ari!" a new voice called to her, the voice of her young Master Ritsuka.
Ari froze for a second out of confusion, her attention no longer on her opponent. The figure charged at them rearing her scythe back to attack. Mash stepped forward and parried the attack, causing the Taken to stagger, though only for a split second. Before Mash could capitalize on the opening, the Taken began to send a barrage of attacks upon the Demi-servant. Mash gritted her teeth, and her knees buckled under the force of each attack.
Ari broke out of her brief trance before leaping above Mash. Ari aimed her glaive at the Taken, and as if in slow motion Ari shot it with a small blast of purple energy. The Taken seemingly screeched in pain as Ari landed behind it. The Warlock quickly turned slicing the Taken's waist at the same time. The Taken stopped its assault on Mash as it reared back in pain.
Ari and Mash charged at the Taken, alternating attack like a well-oiled machine. The Taken managed to block a few attacks, as it slowly got more and more overwhelmed by their onslaught. Ari kicked the Taken in the gut as Mash slammed her shield down onto its head. The Taken fell onto the floor from the impact.
Ari readied a killing blow when the purple orbs shot at her, hitting her in the gut, and sending her flying to the group. Something snapped in Ari's body as she stopped, now limp. Mash looked at her fallen ally when the Taken slashed upward at her using the moment to get back on its feet.
Ritsuka and Gudako's eyes widened as they looked at Ari who was seemingly dead. They ran toward her body when Olga grabbed them by their shoulder.
"No, you two need to stay here it is far too dangerous," Olga warned. She then noticed a Ghost appear above Ari in a mysterious blue mist. "What the..."
"Ghost where have you been?" Gudako asked.
"I have been with the Guardian. Can you excuse me for a second," Ghost said as its shell shot out around its body, before suddenly snapping together.
Ari shot up in a gasp, and Ritsuka felt something run down his nose. He smelt something metallic, then he pressed his hand above his lip. The young Master was bleeding. Olga didn't notice as her eye twitched a bit, she was about the snap it seemed like but was holding it in quite terribly.
"Hello," Ari chirped as the three looked at her with various versions of confusion.
Olga was about to open her mouth when Ari stood up, her posture stern and elegant. Ghost soon disappeared as Ari, with no clear hint of emotion with her helmet one, marched toward the Taken Lancer. Gudako looked at her and then at Ritsuka's bleeding nose.
"You're bleeding," Gudako noted as Ritsuka held his head.
Mash blocked another strike from the Taken, with sparks flying after each hit. The Taken slashed at Mash again, with the hook of the scythe reaching the other side of the shield. Mash attempted to get free, only to be thrown off her feet when the Taken pulled her harshly toward the burning city.
The Taken twitched as it marched toward the Demi-servant. The orbs slithered from her head yet again. It readied its scythe to kill Mash, like an executioner of sorts. It raises its polearm to meet with a shot from Ari's glaive. The Taken staggered back before being met by a sudden slash across the chest. Ari went to stab the Taken; however, the Taken twirled their scythe sending the attack away.
Ari quickly spins, sending another slash toward the fiery figure's neck. The figure leaned back dodging the strike to be meant by a kick from the Warlock. Ari walks forward, slamming the butt of her glaive into the face of the Taken. Her hands sparked with flames, like matches lighting up. The Taken Lancer swung her scythe down onto the Guardian, who blocked it with ease. Ari pushed the scythe out of the way before balls of flames shot from her hand and into the Taken's head.
The Taken Lancer recoiled as it felt like small stars burned into it. The Taken jumped away from Ari, firing the purple orbs yet again, only for Ari to block them with her glaive. Ari soon rushed the Taken with the speed of a car, slamming her glaive into its gut. The blade pierced it; the Taken Lancer dropped its scythe before the black flames slowly faded like a flickering candle.
Mash stood up, staring at Ari as the others looked at her. Their expressions varied from Ritsuka and Gudako's frightened expressions to Mash's confused ones, and Olga's angry ones.
Ari looked at them as her helmet disappeared, revealing her calm expression. Her Ghost appeared over her shoulder with what could be interpreted as a more nervous expression.
There was utter silence as the group began to question themselves. Ritsuka and Gudako didn't question Ari too much as they were new to this, Mash felt a bit nervous to ask, and Olga didn't want to make a major scene, though this was their last straw.
"What was that!?" Olga shouted.
"What was what?" Ari asked with a confused expression.
"What was that, what are you, what is any of this!?" Olga began to rant her expression and composer upcoming to anger and confusion. "I've run Chaldea for almost a year now, and never once have I seen a fucking alien servant, a phantasmal beast with the fighting skills of one, a servant that can come back to life, and small drone that revives them, allegedly went to fucking space, so explain to me what are you."
Olga panted as she finished, staring down the Warlock with a thousand-yard stare. Ari and Ghost looked at each other and then toward the group. Ritsuka didn't know what to think, he was just starting to accept the weirdness going on but now hearing his boss list it out it felt like a sci-fi film. Gudako didn't care until Ari skewered the Taken Lancer, and then she felt the reality of the situation. Mash for some reason wanted to defend Ari but chose against it for personal safety.
Up on a distant building, one of the few that remain, a man stood. It was the Celt, the man who fought Taniks before the abomination met the twins and Mash. He observed the group standing, waiting for an answer from a familiar face. Unfortunately, it was not the face we would've liked to see, though from what he saw the Lancer acted a bit differently from a certain saber he knew. Plus that Lancer and the strange... Demi-servant? Yes, Demi-servant impressed him.
"Call me impressed lass, though this is no time for arguing," he noted to himself as his eyes scanned across the city, falling upon the red armor of one dreadful berserker. "I guess I will have to help them."
A/N: I am trying out a slightly different writing style, so tell me if you prefer this one or the previous one. Also majority of comments 3 - 2 wanted 2k words every week, so I will be doing that with some exceptions which you will see later.
Non-Spoiler Answers:
Althyrios: The reason why Berserker Taniks is here with Ari, is because Berserker Taniks is the easiest destiny antagonist to introduce in this starting singularity. As for the lore reason, you'll find out soon.
Nic(Guest): The Witness and the Traveler won't be appearing any time soon.
Sneak Peak: "Some called it a god, a Great Machine, a friend, or a coward, but we called it the Traveler."
A small snip of what I have so far.