A lone figure strolled through the forest. So far this day had been rather boring, if A2 had to admit, most days were, it was all a look for machines, kill them and then back again until she found the next target.
Hide, sometimes rest, and repair herself.
It had been this way for years by now, and for how much she longed for a way to just put everything to an end, she couldn't just lay down and die, not until all machines were dead, and she absolutely did not want to prove the Commander right.
She would not give her the satisfaction of sacrificing her just like she did with everyone else, and she wouldn't allow any of White's hounds to take her head either.
So A2 lived on, fought, and survived, day after day, month after month, and year after year.
She walked through the thick of the bushes, hiding away from prying eyes, until sensitive hearing picked up the sound of screaming machines.
With a grin she rushed over to that place, ready to make more victims.
She came to a clearing just on the edge of the pit that the biggest waterfall created, that's where she found them, a group of angry and at the moment unaware machines flailing their spears in the air at something.
And A2 could swear she saw the flash of something black with the corner of her eye.
Regardless, drawing her Type 40 Sword she charged into the fray, catching one small biped and slicing it in two before it could react. It was then that the machines finally noticed she was even there.
In the meantime, Robin observed perched on the tree she barely managed to hide into before she arrived. She did not expect that A2 would react so quickly, perhaps she'd been closer to this place than expected.
She watched as the white haired android tore through her opponents with almost effortless ease, not that a group of bipeds would be much of a challenge, aggressive or not.
A2 took her sword back from the last machine she killed, the cut she made still sparking with electricity, before placing the weapon against her shoulder and turning back to the tree close to one of the arches and looking up with a glare.
"Are you coming down or do I have to get you down here myself?" she snarled.
So A2 did notice her presence then, she was smarter than YoRHa gave her credit for. With a shrug Robin jumped down from the tree to the arch, and then down to the ground, under the watchful eyes of A2.
The white haired android stared at the other YoRHa she assumed to be yet another Executioner, perhaps a new model, she'd never seen this one before, and she'd seen many of them these years.
Including what had been done with her own data and looks.
She took note of the black haired android, she'd never seen one as tall as her, and if A2 had to admit, she was feeling a bit intimidated. The red glow that came from the sword the woman held on her back made her look even more menacing than what she already was.
Tightening the hold on her Type 40 Sword she watched and waited.
"YoRHa Unit Attacker Number 2, I assume?" the woman finally spoke to her. A2 looked at her face, cursing at those damned visors for forbidding her to see her opponent's expression.
From what little she could see she was entirely neutral and serious, and it pissed her off how easily some units were good at hiding emotions and remaining calm, even in front of her.
"As if you wouldn't know." A2 scowled at her. "You're just another of White's dogs."
Robin frowned from behind the visor, but did not address the attempt of aggressiveness of the other android, people do become aggressive and angry when someone or something has been hunting them for a long time.
She didn't like how this whole thing kept reminding her of her old life she wanted buried deep into the ocean of her home, only with the roles reversed, she was now doing the job of a Government or Marine lackey.
"I like to confirm that my targets are correct." she simply replied, offering a hand. "We don't have to fight, come wi-"
Robin did not manage to finish the offer of peace, barely managing to draw Scarlet Despair in front of her face to block the hit incoming from A2's Type 40 Sword, as the woman rushed at her head on, the force of the impact sending her skidding backwards.
A2 did not give her time to recover, as in a flash of red she was upon the other android again. This time Robin had been more prepared to receive the hit, defending herself once more, but she did not move from the spot she was, grounding herself until her feet made a hole in the ground.
The white haired android pushed against the other until her face was inches from the other, only divided from the two blades between them, sparks of red and blue flying between them.
"Is this enough of an answer to you?"
Robin did not expect the woman to be so bold, judging from what she'd seen from the personality of the number two line from 2B, but people changed when there were people hunting them down, and changed a lot, so she was not all that surprised.
"You've been very clear." she replied, resorting to all her strength to push away the other woman from her face, thankfully she was lighter than most opponents she faced in the past.
But she was indeed very strong, for such a small thing, and fast, and she wasn't sure whatever that brief flash of red coming from her eyes was when she dashed towards her the second time, she didn't think it was anything positive, for her.
One thing for sure, she would have to be more than careful with this one, because A2 had all intentions to take her out, and she appeared very confident in her ability to do just that.
Again there was that red flash as A2 disappeared from her sight, leaving behind her only an after image, she had some sort of invisible cloaking system for whenever she did that. Something newer YoRHa did not have.
Robin managed to shift to the side as the blade of A2's sword just barely missed her, she could feel the electricity from it close to her chest. Using the moment of imbalance A2 had she slashed back at her, the other android moved away, but the tip of Scarlet Despair still nicked the carbon plating of her left arm.
Not enough of a cut to hurt, she didn't even hit the wiring under the plating, but enough to break the metal, and apparently to piss her opponent off even more, as she took the other weapon at her disposal, a massive Type 40 Blade, almost bigger than the woman herself.
A2 once again charged at her, this time holding the bigger blade which would be a pain to parry, so Robin decided against it, barely ducking under an horizontal slash. Being tall did not help in this case.
With swift hands A2 summoned back the smaller sword again, going for an overhead hit, Robin blocked it with her own blade from her crouched position, pushing back the woman again, this time with her entire body with the help of her legs, however as she could not dodge a kick straight to her face as A2 went flying in the air and above her from her own action.
Robin stumbled backward from the hit, holding her face in her free hand, she felt her nose being crooked on the side, her lip also bled from having been split from the heel of A2's shoes, coating her white gloves red.
She felt A2's eyes and mocking scowl from a few meters away as she readjusted her nose back in place.
"That was a dirty trick…" Robin commented.
What was she whining about though? Dirty moves? A former pirate like her did not have room to complain. Not when she too pulled off those tricks more often that she would admit.
"I learned from your colleagues, Executioner." A2 sneered, yet she still grinned.
Robin made the move first, charging at A2, if she wanted tricks, she would show her tricks.
Their blades met again, in reverse, as Robin was the one pushing A2 back now, relentlessly assaulting her with her sword, and forcing her to step backwards and parry the hits one by one, as she did, A2 didn't notice she was walking with her back turned towards the abyss of the waterfall.
A2 grit her teeth each time she met the blade of her opponent with her own, her arms straining under the pressure of the other woman's strength and physical power. It was beyond what she expected, or perhaps her body was falling apart more than she'd say out loud.
Suddenly as she was defending herself, she felt the terrain under her feet becoming more and more soft, as if ready to crumble under their combined weight, and with the corner of her eye she could see the massive hole behind her.
So that was what this damn android was doing! She was trying to make her fall into the pit! Or at the very least corner her like a trapped animal.
"You damn sly snake…" she growled, teeth bared, as she held in place in a similar position as they were in the beginning, face to face to the other. If only there weren't so many meters of an abyss just behind her…
"I could have done worse than this." Robin spoke. And she could have indeed, she could have called her Pod in for assistance, instead of having it hover close to her and only watch.
She did not like to use her Pod's assistance when fighting a battle against someone that did not have one, it felt too much like an unfair advantage, felt like calling in another person and turning the fight into a 2v1. She still wanted to be somewhat respectful of her opponents, assassin or not.
Thankfully it had been okay for him to never attempt to interrupt a fight, and she was not about to call Seven in this one either. She decided long ago to just call it with the last number forgetting the zero's, it was easier to remember.
"You can still give up, and I won't kill you."
She did not always have to kill people, to be fair, she always offered them the opportunity to give up the fight and go back to the Bunker with her, and sometimes it worked, even though a reset was just as the equivalent of killing, but it felt a bit more… merciful.
"Like hell I will." A2 snarled back, still struggling against her blade, one knee bent and almost touching the ground.
This damn Executioner woman was way too strong physically to face with her own strength, she should have expected it given how much bigger she was compared to herself, not to mention, much smarter than who she faced so far, Scanners aside.
Any other YoRHa fought with too much grace to ever fall out of scheme and improvise, or they would get too emotional and angry whenever things didn't go their way, and she used that anger as a leverage.
But this one was something else, she was calm, and intelligent, the worst kind of opponent that A2 did not find a weakness to use against, at least not yet.
And she might as well end up splattered at the end of the pit if she didn't find one soon, if the cracking terrain under her was of any indication on how much danger she was in.
Sparks of blue flew as her Type 40 Sword struggled to keep the black and red glowing blade away from her, when she remembered why she intended to keep this kind of weapons on her instead of others she could have easily picked off from dead YoRHas she killed in the past.
They were dangerous prototypes, much like her.
Flipping a switch on the hilt of the blade, the electric core in the weapon sparked to life, the weapon began glowing blue as a more intense charge flowed through it, through the weapon of her opponent, and then through her.
The black haired android forcefully lost her grip and stepped backwards with a yelp, as her hands and arms short circuited becoming useless for a moment and the black sword she held flickered away. It was the opening A2 needed.
She moved to strike the other woman with a sideway slash, forcing her to dash backwards and far away from her to not get hit, she still did, she managed to hit the woman's leg cutting through skin and plating, as the wires beneath sparked from the opening on her thigh.
Robin stumbled a little, as her leg throbbed from the hit she received, but having gotten back control over her arms she summoned Scarlet Despair once more.
It seemed that A2 did not want to leave her time to recover, resuming her assault once more, throwing the Type 40 Sword at her at high speed, while charging at her with the larger blade in hand.
Robin swatted away the smaller sword, sending it back to its owner, rolling away A2's incoming attack that had all intention to take her head, the bigger sword making a large dent in the terrain as it collided with it where she was previously standing.
Eye glowing red, A2 rushed once more in her direction, having recovered the smaller weapon, and attempting to strike at her already wounded leg, but once more Robin managed to block the hit. So she wanted to weaken her by getting at her wounds now, that was not going to happen.
Steadying her stance, Robin used her by now stated superior strength to put distance between them, at least A2 was somewhat easy to launch away for how small she was.
Her speed was the bigger problem, and not only because her left leg was not in perfect condition, so it made it harder to move the way she wanted, she was built to be faster than regular battler units, but A2 was faster still. Less regulated, less restrained, because she was a prototype.
Her instability and irregularity made her a harder opponent than any other, not to mention her evident expertise in this kind of fights. She was used at fighting to protect her life at any cost, something Robin couldn't say she was used to anymore instead.
Unused didn't mean unfamiliar with the feeling though. She got softer with the fact that even if she did die she'd be rebuilt, she never lost but that was beside the point, the safety of just being repaired instead of being gone forever was still there.
This battle with A2 reminded her of the humanity she slowly buried away during these years.
What it felt to be hunted, what it felt to be scared for your life and to be afraid to die, and to fight back against the world to keep alive.
She remembered all those feelings of anger, sadness, fear and terror each time their swords clashed against one another. It was no longer a matter of who was stronger, on what duty she may have had, it was a matter of which survivor would get to prove was the best.
This was a matter of pride and personal experiences, Robin knew very well what her own had been, and A2 remembered each and every one as clear as day too.
So they clashed, hunter and hunted, black and white, a human that became an android and an android that carried human emotions. Their battle dragged on for long, for what could have been hours, uninterrupted from anything else, no wild animals, no machines and no other androids.
Neither of the two wanting, nor managing to gain the upper hand over the other, their bodies strained and overheated under the pain of the wounds they inflicted upon one another, a lot of cuts, torn clothes, skin, metal and wires, but nothing even close to being compromising or fatal.
Robin stared at her opponent, crouched and holding onto her sword for support, panting and wheezing as the fight took its toll, much like her.
A2 was the one to get up first on more than unstable legs, but she forced herself not to show weakness. She did not expect YoRHa to ever be able to create someone able to go head to head with her this way, if she wanted to live, she had to finish this quickly, and she knew exactly how to do so.
"You're strong but… I had enough of you." she spoke with a tone laced with anger, of someone that wanted to end this once and for all.
As Robin rose up she couldn't help but think that those words spoke of nothing but danger, and she was correct as A2's body began to shake and glow with red sparks of electricity as the woman screamed with feral rage.
She could feel the heat radiating off A2's body from where she was standing, and when the woman laid her now red eyes on her, she couldn't help but tremble at the sight of her purely ferocious fury.
And not only could she see it, but she could feel it deep in her artificial skeleton as soon as A2 assaulted her, now so much stronger, so much faster than what she'd been this whole time.
Any attempt of protecting herself ended up in vain, as each and every time she was sent flying from A2's pure brute force of each and every single attack, it was a miracle none of them actually hit her as A2 danced around her in a flash of red, angry and menacing.
Robin got thrown back once more, this time into the bark of the massive tree she had been hiding out at the beginning of this all, making a sizable dent in it, her body screamed in pain at the impact, she expected A2 to finish her off right there while she was vulnerable, yet nothing ever came.
Cracking an eye open from behind the visor, it was a wonder how it managed to stay in place, she could see A2 straining to keep this augment of power, she could see how her body trembled at the pressure she's imposed on it, realizing that probably, whatever this thing was, it was hurting A2 as well.
A double-edged weapon.
Silently Robin summoned on her wrist her secondary weapon she had yet to show and use to her opponent, a pair of red and black gauntlets, from which long and extendible bladed chains could come out from.
Their name was Scarlet Wrath, even if in this moment the name fit more A2 than her.
Removing herself from the tree, sword in hand, she waited for A2's next move, she knew it would eventually come, she didn't know how long her body could keep this augment up, but from the looks of it, it wouldn't hold out much longer.
She only had to be patient, and land one good hit.
With a growl, A2 dashed at her, Type 40 Blade in her hands, and Robin braced herself for the impact, hoping her opponent hadn't noticed the gauntlets.
It would be the only occasion she had, so, gripping Scarlet Despair tightly she charged back.
It was now or never.