"That's weird," Helena thought; her retrofitted rigging was out, and she had a hand up to her earpiece.
It had been a while since they last heard from Enterprise, Cinder, and Leviathan, so she decided to check on them via radio. Weirdly enough, she had been receiving only static for the past couple of minutes, and she was trying to recalibrate her rigging to the right frequency, naively thinking it was just a lapse on her part.
"Uhm… Guys, I'm trying to contact the others, but the comms aren't working." She informed the other members of the fleet.
"Do you think it's the Ashes' doing?" Zuikaku asked her.
"I don't know. It almost feels like we are being jammed…" She turned toward Temperance with a raised eyebrow as she said it.
The Arbiter had been standing there with them the entire time, hovering a few feet above the deck of the Hermione with her rigging out and inert. Her presence wasn't exactly welcomed aboard, so she mostly kept to herself. Whether she did it because she knew it or simply because it was in her nature, they didn't know. What had them slightly concerned, though, was that she hadn't uttered a single word the entire time since the others left; such behavior wasn't unusual for the laidback Elite, but the excessively detached attitude was off-putting, even coming from someone like her.
Sensing Helena's trouble, Emperor spoke up from the side.
"Hey, Siren, you've been awfully quiet over there. Why don't you say something, so we are sure you aren't dead?" Emperor addressed the Arbiter with a sarcastic tone.
Temperance barely even glanced at him as she replied, "…something, so we are sure you aren't dead…"
Everyone paused what they were doing and turned to stare at the Arbiter. They didn't know if they had to laugh or cringe at what was probably her first attempt at humor ever.
Emperor was about to make one of his witty remarks before he realized that something was off. The Arbiter's tone felt a bit too forced, even more so than usual, and he wasn't the only one who noticed.
Hermione approached him from the side, leaning into him to whisper, "Master, maybe we should..."
The shipboy hummed in approval. He pushed himself off the railing of the ship and sauntered toward the Arbiter, raising a couple of eyebrows from the others around him.
"Hey, Siren, catch!" He took off his hat with a flourish and threw it at her. It flew up into a curve right above her head before it came down on her.
The Arbiter felt the disturbance and turned toward them, making them gasp in shock and dismay. Instead of landing atop the large bulbous head of her rigging, the tricorn hat passed straight through her without meeting any resistance before landing on the deck of the warship.
Shock spread through the group as realization dawned on them.
The one in front of them wasn't the Arbiter; it was just a projection, advanced enough that it was able to trick them into thinking she was still there.
"That bitch! She got us!" Lenin cursed through his teeth. "I'm going to smash her face in!"
"Lenin, stop! It's dangerous to go alone!" Emperor called him out, but the shorter shipboy had already jumped off the ship.
"I'm going with him!" Le Malin said, vaulting over the taffrail herself.
Emperor was about to order them to come back, but then the sound of artillery going off in the distance, followed by a loud explosion, prompted him to lift his gaze. A plume of smoke could be seen arising from atop one of the tallest buildings, miles away from them. They all gawked in dismay; that was the direction the others were heading when they left to look for the Ashes.
"What the hell did you do, Siren?!" Emperor shouted in anger, turning to Temperance's projection.
The hologram stared at him with an unreadable expression on its digital face before it twisted into an eerie, disturbing smile. Then it disappeared into thin air with a blip; in its place appeared what they recognized as one of Temperance's shield-like projectors, always hovering by her side. The thing, as if it was being pulled by some invisible force, immediately began floating away at high speed before plunging into the water, probably heading back to its owner.
"Master, what do we do?" Hermione asked him urgently.
Emperor let out a breath to bring back his composure. Enterprise wasn't there, so it was his turn to take charge.
"Since shots have been fired, negotiations with the Ashes have probably broken down. I'm ready to bet it was that Arbiter's fault. We don't know what she's planning, and without radio comms, we don't know what's the situation with the others, so we'll just assume the worst," he declared, addressing the group. "Zuikaku, come with me; we are going to check on them. Hermione, can I leave the Arbiter to you three?"
"Of course, Master," the maid replied.
"Good; go after that thing, see if it leads you to her."
"Yes, Master. Ladies, please follow my lead," she said, turning to Helena and Admiral Graf Spee, who nodded their heads in acknowledgement.
With that said, they all jumped off the Hermione as the shipgirl recalled her vessel, then, they set off into the ruined city.
"Zuikaku, keep me updated on everyone's whereabouts," Emperor said to the other carrier. "If they find themselves in trouble, we go straight to help them."
"Got it," Zuikaku said.
The two carriers were skimming above the water at their top speed, heading in the direction of the blast.
Both had activated their riggings and had already sent their aircraft out to investigate their surroundings.
Even with the comms jammed, their planes would grant them a perfect bird's-eye view of the city, allowing them to know the whereabouts of all their comrades spread around the place. Unfortunately, if Temperance was using her camouflage to hide herself, then there was nothing they could do to locate her.
Emperor grimaced. If only he had noticed a bit earlier that the Arbiter was up to something, he could have acted sooner—he could have at least tried to stop her...
Before guilt could properly settle, he shook his head vehemently; he had to stay focused. Following the piece of the Siren's rigging back to its owner location was the quickest way to find her and restore the comms; that's why he sent Hermione, Admiral Graf Spee, and Helena after it. The plan was to reconvene with Cinder's group, wait for Hermione's group to drive the Arbiter out of her hiding spot, and then take her out in force.
But there was one thing he hadn't taken into account, namely the standing of a certain third party. With the radio comms out, he had no way to know what actually transpired during the meeting with the Ashes. He didn't even know if the others were safe, and concern was eating at him from the inside, a sentiment shared by Zuikaku. The fact that they weren't seeing any of Enterprise's or Cinder's planes flying around was only aggravating their bad feeling.
Emperor looked up over the rooftops, trying to catch sight of said planes, but except for his and Zuikaku's, the sky was empty, albeit still covered in dark clouds.
And then he spotted something. Squinting his eyes, he noticed a few squadrons of aircraft raising from behind the rooftops far ahead of them. He was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but after taking a second look, he noticed that said fighters couldn't possibly belong to Enterprise or Cinder. Even from afar, he recognized the green paint and the red dots on the sides of the fuselage.
Of course, Zuikaku recognized them too.
"Those are Zero fighters!" Zuikaku exclaimed in surprise, coming to a stop alongside the shipboy.
It could only mean one thing. There was at least one Sakura carrier with the Ashes.
"This is the moment of truth," Emperor said. "Zuikaku, have one of your airwings approach them, and keep your aggression to a minimum. Depending on how they react, we'll know where they stand."
Zuikaku did just that. She mentally redirected her more forward squadron toward the flock of newly arrived fighters with increasing concern. If there was something she wasn't looking forward to, it was fighting her compatriots, META versions or not. She hoped that wasn't actually the case and prayed with all her might that they didn't react in a hostile manner, but alas, the opposing Zeros promptly fell into a battle formation and swiftly disposed of her planes.
Her heart sank, and she bit her lips. Apparently, there was no room for negotiations anymore.
"When it rains, it pours, uh?" Emperor grimaced. Searching for the Arbiter and keeping track of their comrades' movements will be a lot harder if they also had to manage aerial superiority.
"Okay, new plan; let's retrace their course back to their owner and knock them out before they can send other planes up," Emperor declared. Noticing her wavering at the sight of the familiar fighters, he turned to the shipgirl, genuine concern written on his face. "Are you still feeling up to this, Zuikaku?"
The Sakura carrier clenched her fists and took a deep breath. It wasn't time to get all sentimental. Hesitation is defeat; she knew it. She needed to gather her resolve now, lest she hesitated when it mattered the most.
She steeled herself and, with a resolute tone of voice, said, "I'm okay. Let's deal with them swiftly, and then regroup with the others."
"I think not, you scallywag."
Emperor knew who the owner of that voice was even before turning to face them. The high-pitched, haughty, condescending tone was too distinct for him not to recognize it.
Indeed, standing "tall" and proud in the middle of the path, blocking their way, was the META version of Queen Elizabeth herself, accompanied by the maid he remembered to be called Sheffield. Both had their META riggings out and seemed determined not to let them through.
Zuikaku unsheathed her katana and took a stance, prompting Sheffield to point one of her twisted, alien-looking guns at her in warning. The situation was tense, but Emperor figured he could pry something from the two of them now that they were facing each other. He stepped forward, silently nodding to Zuikaku to lower her weapon.
"Why, if it isn't Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth in the flesh. You honor us with your presence," he said, performing a sharp and concise curtsy to the monarch. "My name's Emperor, of the Ruler-class of escort carriers. Can I ask what brings you here?"
Pleasantly surprised by the shipboy's unexpected good manners, Elizabeth let out a satisfied hum.
"My, it seems we have a gentleman on our hand, Sheffield," she said, addressing the maid beside her.
"Indeed, Your Majesty, though his pathetic attempt at buying time for his comrades to arrive seems to denote a certain lack of acumen on his part," Sheffield said drily.
"Please don't say such hurtful things." Emperor brought his hand to his chest, openly faking offense. "We are genuinely unaware of the circumstances that brought forth such uncalled hostility. If you'd be kind enough to enlighten us..."
A frown appeared on Elizabeth's brow, his words seemingly ticking her off.
"You knave. You had the shameless audacity to bring an Arbiter to a friendly, verbal exchange to assassinate Ash... And you still have the gall to play dumb to my face. You think I'm such a fool to fall for it?"
Emperor perked up at her words.
"So that's how things went down," he thought.
Temperance offering to guide them all the way here was just a ruse for her to make an attempt at the Ashes' leader's life. Without Ash, the METAs would lose their only means to travel through the timelines, and they would no longer be a threat to the Creator. That was indeed the quickest way to solve the issue, he had to admit.
"I see how it is... And what if I told you that we meant no harm and that was just Temperance doing what Sirens do best?" He asked the queen.
"It would make no difference. You don't want us to reach the Original Timeline, and we won't accept anyone getting in our way. Even without that Arbiter, if negotiations failed, things would have inevitably come to this," Elizabeth spat. "Trying to deny it won't do you any good."
Both carriers grimaced at her words.
No one wanted to say it out loud, but everyone in the fleet knew it. Cinder coming with them was their only chance at resolving things peacefully. Despite that, everyone was preparing themselves for a clash with the Ashes in case her words weren't enough to make them see reason. If that happened, they couldn't just give up on their mission. The stakes were too high.
"War never changes, uh?" Zuikaku whispered to herself, and Emperor could only agree with her. When no one's willing to compromise, conflict inevitably arises.
The shipboy could only let out a defeated breath as he said, "Then I'll cut straight to the chase. Is it too presumptuous to ask you to stand down and let us through? We'd like to check on our comrades' well-being."
"Fret not. I'm sure our dear sisters are taking good care of them as we speak. I'd worry more about myself if I were you," she said with a dangerous undertone to her voice and a haughty smile, flexing her rigging menacingly.
Zuikaku narrowed her eyes at her, and Emperor let out another sigh full of contempt. It seems there was no way to avoid this. Next to him, the shipgirl tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword and stepped up.
"If you won't get out of the way, we'll-"
"Wait, Zuikaku, leave these two to me and go on ahead," Emperor said, bringing a hand to rest on the shipgirl's blade.
"E-Emperor, have you gone crazy?!" She regarded him with an incredulous look. "It's two METAs we are talking about, and you want to take them on by yourself?!"
"I know, but we need someone to contest their carrier, and with Enterprise and Cinder unaccounted for, you are the only one who can do it," he said. "After all, I'm just an escort carrier, and you know your compatriots' tactics better than me."
Zuikaku hummed in thought and lowered her blade. His words made sense, but leaving her comrade behind to fend for himself against a numerically superior foe wasn't something she was keen to do.
"Don't worry, I have a plan. I'll take care of these nuisances and join you as soon as I'm done." He gave her a reassuring nod.
After pondering his words for a second, she sent a final glare at the two METAs before finally letting up. "All right, I'll trust you on this one, Emperor; good luck!"
With that said, she sheathed her weapon and quickly turned on her heels, darting off to disappear inside one of the many alleys on the side of the road. Sheffield aimed one of her guns at her with the intention of preventing her escape, but a flurry of miniaturized aircraft taking off from Emperor's rigging caused her to lose the line of fire and miss her target. The small laser blast coming out of her alien-looking gun hit the side of the closest building, tearing off a chunk of concrete like nothing.
"No need to be so hasty, Sheffy. I don't know what exactly happened during the exchange, but I'm sure there's still room to talk things out. What do you think?"
"We already told you, male Kansen, you are wasting your breath and our time," Sheffield warned him with a glare. Only Her Majesty was allowed to call her that.
"Now, now, I know Your Majesty as a wise and reasonable person. There must be something I can do to convince you to stand down," Emperor continued, undeterred. "For example, why don't you tell me why you want to create a new timeline so badly? Maybe we can help you. If you wish to live in peace with the rest of your comrades, you could have just followed Cinder, am I wrong?"
If fighting was inevitable, he had to at least buy some time to let Hermione and the others get to the Arbiter. With the comms restored, coordinating with everyone else would give them an edge against the Ashes, and if this Elizabeth liked to hear the sound of her own voice half as much as the Elizabeth he knew, then it wouldn't be that hard.
"You? And what could you possibly do to please me, mmh? Can you bring my subjects back to life? Can you give me back my throne? Of course not. Only Ash can grant me my wish; that's why I've been following her this whole time," Elizabeth scoffed. "Thanks to her, we'll eventually reach the Original Timeline, kill the Creator, and create a new one from scratch. Not only it'll be devoid of Sirens, but all my subjects will be there, alive and well, my kingdom will be restored, and I'll take my rightful place on its throne as their queen once more," she added with an elated expression on her face. "The moment you and your comrades tried to assassinate her through such cowardly means was the moment you signed your death sentence."
Emperor frowned as she spoke. "And you have no intention of letting up? Even if it means putting everyone else around you in danger?"
"Danger? Are you talking about your oh-so-feared Original Sirens?" She inquired, much to the shipboy's surprise.
"If you've already been told about them, then how could you take all this so nonchalantly? Shouldn't you be more concerned about it?" Emperor pressed on with his questioning. His initial intention was to gain some time by making her monologuing as long as possible, but her words were genuinely upsetting him.
"I wouldn't fret over them," Elizabeth waved off his concern. "Even if you are right and they do show up, we are going to use our power to destroy them before they become a threat."
Emperor had his eyes wide in disbelief but his lips tightly pursed. He shook his head, scoffing openly at her. "It seems I was wrong. You are nothing like the Elizabeth I know. You are just a cocky, stuck-up brat. You can't even compare to her."
The META queen did a double take, her expression one of shock and outrage. Anger began rising within her as she processed his words. "W-what? A brat?! H-how dare you insult me so brazenly, you plebeian?!" She yelled in indignation. "I'll have you hang by your toes for this!"
Emperor couldn't help the snort of derision that left his mouth. "Hah! Elizabeth said the exact same thing when I first called her a shrimp! If you can't come up with a better threat, then it's just as I thought; you are just an ugly, inferior copy."
This time, Elizabeth was completely speechless. Even Sheffield didn't know how to react. Taking advantage of their shocked silence, he pressed on with his accusations.
"Do you want to know what she told me when she heard confirmation of the Original Sirens' arrival? She said that if things got dire, I had to gather as many of her subordinates as I could and flee back to my world with them, even if it meant leaving her behind while she dealt with a sinking ship. She wanted me to prioritize her subjects above anything else."
It was that time when he offered to be his butler for a day. After forgiving him for his crass attitude, Elizabeth made him an offer. If the higher-ups refused to help him and his brothers go back to their world, she'd take it upon herself to support them; in exchange, if the moment came when the conflict with the Original Sirens would stem out of control, he had to take as many of her subjects as he could, maids and junior Kansen, and flee back to his world with them.
No one else knew about it, except for a handful of other senior Kansen of the Royal Navy. It was just a failsafe measure to ensure her subjects' survival in case of defeat, but it spoke volumes about her character. From that moment on, Emperor had a newfound respect for the short monarch, despite still finding her slightly annoying to deal with.
"But you," he continued, pointing his finger straight at the META queen. "The moment the threat is brought up, you only care about your throne! You are even willing to endanger the new timeline only to have a chance to get it back! You don't care about your subordinates; you just want a chair to sit your arse on, and a bunch of people groveling at your feet! You are not a queen; you are nothing but a tyrant, and you deserve neither your throne, nor the loyalty of your subjects!"
The silence that followed his words was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Even if it lasted only a few seconds, it felt like an eternity as both Sheffield and Elizabeth tried to process what he just said.
Elizabeth's face was as red as her eyes. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. The corner of her eyes began welling up with tears, and her shoulders began shaking.
"Crap, maybe I went too far," he thought. He considered apologizing for a second, but he scrapped the idea right away. As he went on with his tirade, his voice had taken an increasingly more spiteful tone, until he let his anger get the better of him. When he realized he had gotten too far, it was too late to take back what he said.
And before he could utter another word, Elizabeth snapped.
"MUICK! SANDY!"
She raised her scepter high in the air, and at her words, the red gems mounted on her rigging began glowing. Before Emperor could even wonder what was happening, a bunch of small portals appeared in the air around the META Kansen. Two more of those portals, a lot bigger than the others, appeared on the surface of the water at her feet. A bunch of chains came out of the smallest ones and plunged straight into the bigger ones, producing a loud clang as they docked onto something inside. The chains straightened as they began dragging something from those depths.
First were the heads and shoulders, then the torsos and arms became visible, and finally, two whole bodies came out, dangling by those chains a few inches in the air, allowing Emperor to take a good look at them.
It only took him a glance to understand. Elizabeth had summoned two automated constructs. They were around twelve feet high, humanoid in shape, and covered in red, blackened armor plates, making them look like knights of old. Their faces were featureless, with the exception of a single red visor set into their helmets, where the eyes would normally be. A bundle of chains wrapped around their torsos kept a single double-barrel turret attached to their backs.
The chains and the portals disappeared in a flash, letting the constructs land beside Queen Elizabeth. The moment their feet touched the surface of the water, a metallic hum set off from inside them, their visors lit up, and they immediately began squaring off against the shipboy.
With a tear-streaked face and a furious look, Elizabeth pointed her scepter at him and ordered, "Off with his head!"
As the two giants stepped up to him with a menacing gait, Emperor internally cursed, "Well, shit."
After sprinting away from the others and having spent a good amount of time traversing the concrete jungle that was the city, Lenin's anger was slowly abating, gradually replaced with concern. Knowing that his brother was out there, with an Arbiter on the loose, and having no way of contacting him was driving him crazy.
"Lenin, wait!" Le Malin called the icebreaker from behind. "If we go too far, we won't be able to receive any help from the others."
"You don't understand, Le Malin; we are the help here!" Lenin shot back without stopping his advance. "This is the direction Leviathan and the others went; the sooner we find them, the better!"
The destroyer was about to retort but was interrupted by the sound of aircraft coming their way.
They both looked up to see another squadron of enemy fighters approaching their position. They darted to the side, pressing themselves against the wall of the closest building as they passed above their heads. When the coast was clear, they quickly resumed their advance through the city.
After sighting the first group of aircraft, a few minutes earlier, it didn't take them long to realize that they were coming from the opposite direction to their comrades, which meant even if they were Zero fighters in every aspect, they didn't belong to Zuikaku. And if that were true, it could only mean one thing—for whatever reason, the Ashes were hostile.
Maybe the fact that those aircraft attacked them out of the blue should have been a dead giveaway, but the two Kansen couldn't have known it until they were on the receiving end of their strafing. They managed to escape the first group only thanks to Lenin punching a hole straight through the wall of a building and doing the same on the opposite side to get out unnoticed. After that, they had to slow down their pace and keep an eye out for their constant passage, ducking and hiding under cover every other minute.
Of course, the slow, drowned-out pace was slowly making Lenin more and more impatient, causing him to pay less attention to his surroundings, which almost got them busted if it weren't for Le Malin literally dragging him to cover.
"Do you even have an attack plan?" Le Malin asked him, falling into steps behind him.
"I have a plan. Attack!"
He didn't even notice the deadpan look the destroyer sent him as he sped up. Le Malin wasn't going to fall behind and quickly picked up her pace in turn, letting out a sigh.
Over the course of the time they spent together at sea and at the base, she'd grown accustomed to his temperament, and if she'd learned anything, it was that when he launched himself headfirst into something, nothing could stop him. Her best choice was to follow him, lest he got himself killed.
Which it almost happened when they rounded the corner. A shadow was cast over his head and an executioner axe swung at his neck from above. He didn't even notice until Le Malin literally kicked him out of the way, causing the axe to miss its target and slam into the water with great force and a loud splash.
"What the-" Lenin quickly composed himself and turned in a flash.
The person who landed between him and Le Malin and was holding the axe was a shipgirl, definitely one of the Ashes. Her attire was a ragtag mixture of what looked like black pieces of armor and torn cloth that did little to hide her figure. She had pink hair kept in two long twin tails, framing a mad look and bloodshot red eyes, and was regarding him with a murderous glare.
"Merde, I missed," she whined in annoyance.
"Hey, what was that for?! Who the hell are you?!" He barked at her in anger.
"Oh, Le Malin, you're here too?" The pink-haired META turned to the destroyer with a sneer after recognizing her, completely ignoring the shipboy. "Sorry, didn't see you there," she said, bringing the oversized weapon to rest on her shoulder. She had her rigging out, which, added to the grotesque weapon she was wielding, gave her a dangerous appearance.
Le Malin froze at the sight of the familiar face. "L-La Gallissonnière?" She breathed out, shock and surprise etched on her face.
Lenin was about to jump at the newly arrived shipgirl as she was preoccupied with the destroyer, but his foot was caught in something hiding right beneath the surface of the water. The trap set at his feet sprang, and before he realized, he found himself ensnared inside what looked like a giant ribcage. The cage, which had white, spiky, bone-like bars, had snapped around him from below like the hinged lobes of a Venus flytrap, keeping him restrained in the narrow space.
"What the fuck is this?! Hey, get me out of here!"
"My, what do we have here? An energetic little fly fell into the net of the spider." Another voice reached their ears from above, and when Le Malin turned to acknowledge it, her eyes went even wider.
Sitting cross-legged atop the closest rooftop, looking down at them from above, was none other than Algérie, or at least, her META counterpart. She was dressed in black and white, and her hair and eyes were a lot more… ashen in appearance. She was regarding them with a sly smile and predatory eyes.
Finally, the Ashes had come out in the open; too bad Lenin was too entangled to do anything about it, and Le Malin seemed to be frozen in place.
"Is this your doing, bitch?!" He yelled in anger. "You better get me out of here before I come up there and beat you up!"
Lenin's insulting tone didn't seem to bother the heavy cruiser, who began giggling eerily.
"I'm afraid it won't be possible, little one," Algérie said, rising to her feet. "You already know what we want, and you came all the way here to stop us. I'm pretty sure if we let a single one of you go back to Azur Lane, you'll just return in force to finish the job. You'll understand how we can't possibly allow it."
"Oh, I understand... that you are a fucking lunatic!" Lenin retorted. "Me, I can get behind, but Le Malin... isn't she basically a comrade of yours?!"
"My, such a fiery temper for such a small body; too bad we are to snuff out those flames." With that said, Algérie snapped her fingers, and the bars of the cage began tightening around him. Soon, the confined space became even narrower, until the spiked bones of the ribcage were crushing into the shipboy's body, forcing him to push against them with all his strength.
"Lenin!" Le Malin yelled in distress as the shipboy groaned in pain and exertion. La Gallissonnière was standing between her and the ribcage, preventing her from helping him. "Algérie, La Gallissonnière, please, can't we talk about this? I don't want to fight you!" She pleaded.
"Oh, but neither do we want to fight you, Le Malin," the pink-haired cruiser said eerily. "Unfortunately, collaborating with the Sirens and attempting to assassinate our leader are unforgivable sins. As such, for the aforementioned crimes, every Kansen of Azur Lane present shall be executed. Even if it's a fellow Vichya…" She began approaching the destroyer with a slow, deliberate gate and a sinister grin on her face.
Her words made Le Malin's heart sink, and her crazy, bloodshot eyes were enough to send shivers down her spine. Lenin, on the other hand, despite his predicament, perked up at her words. Someone tried to kill Ash; that certainly explained why the Ashes were so out for their blood. It definitely must have been Temperance's doing, but there was no time to fret over that; Le Malin wasn't moving, her legs were rooted on the spot in front of the META cruiser.
"Stay the hell away from her, you crazy bitch! If you so much as touch her, I'll kill you!" The shipboy shouted, doubling up on his struggling against the cage. In another situation, he could have destroyed the bars with a well-placed blow, but his oversized gauntlets were making the space even narrower than it already was, preventing him any form of wider movement to properly wind up a punch. "Le Malin, don't just stand there! Move!"
Lenin's shout was enough to shake her out of her stupor. She quickly unsheathed her estoc and pointed it at the META cruiser, along with her single turret, but her hands were shaking, and her resolve was slowly crumbling.
Never in her life would Le Malin have expected to find herself in such a situation. There's no way she could run and leave him behind; that was out of the question. She knew she had to fight back for the safety of both, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't find it in her heart to bear steel against her comrades. She was aware these weren't the same Algérie and La Gallissonnière she was familiar with; she knew her friends were back to the safety of the Basilica with everyone else, but despite that, she couldn't help the crazy, murderous gaze the META light-cruiser was sending her from overlapping with her counterpart's usual cheery and mischievous expression.
"There's no need to fret, Le Malin," La Gallissonnière said, her grin enlarging. "Even if we kill you here, another you will be born in the new timeline, along with all our comrades…"
If Le Malin wasn't already traumatized, those words were enough to make her breathing even more labored. La Gallissonnière was right in front of her; she could see her own reflection on the blade of the halberd the META was holding, ready to swing at her at any moment.
And then a hissing noise, like the sound of water evaporating into steam filled the air, accompanied by the sound of hinges creaking.
It came from the cage; it was Lenin.
The shipboy had dismissed his rigging to clutch onto the bars of the ribcage with his bare hands. Then he began bending them.
"Damn… it… all!" He cried in exertion as he pushed them apart with all his power.
The absence of his oversized gauntlets, which were preventing him from moving freely inside the cage, allowed him to find enough space to firmly grab the bone-like bars. More noticeably, though, his yellow eyes were glowing brighter than usual. The skin on his face and his sleeveless arms was slightly flushed and was emanating a subtle but clearly visible plume of steam.
He couldn't break them, but he could exert enough force to twist them, even as the cage tightened around him.
"La Gallissonnière, don't let your guard down!" Algérie's warning cry came too late. She willed the ribcage to clamp down on him even harder, but the short shipboy, pushing his endurance to the limit, managed to open a hole large enough for him to slip through as the bars caved in.
La Gallissonnière turned around right on time to see the icebreaker rushing at her. Realizing he was coming at her unarmed, she turned to face him, readying a swing with her halberd. Right before his fist could connect with her weapon, his rigging reappeared in a flash on his arms. The cestus and the blade collided in a shower of sparks before the axe simply cracked under the pressure. Under the incredulous eyes of the META shipgirls, his fist carried on until it violently connected with La Gallissonnière's face, sending her flying backward and slamming into the closest building, rigging and all.
For a second, silence fell over the battlefield. The icebreaker let out a huge breath along with a small cloud of steam from his mouth before turning to look at the destroyer with increasing anger.
"What the hell were you doing?! Trying to get yourself killed-?" He stopped his tirade immediately. Le Malin's eyes were welling up with tears as she looked up at him like a kicked puppy, both relief and regret showing on her face.
"L-Lenin, I'm sorry, I…" She stammered.
Looking straight into her sky-blue eyes, it didn't take him long to understand what was going through her head.
"Okay, okay, I get it…" He winced and averted his gaze, already regretting raising his voice. Turning to size up the other META, he said, "I'll take care of everything; you just stay here while I beat them into submission."
He raised his fists and settled into a stance as he began squaring off, ready for battle.
AN: Hi, everyone! I've decided to post this update slightly earlier than usual to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, but also to thank you all who follow and comment for your continuous support. Last month was supposed to be one year since I started posting this story… but I forgot about it, so I kinda missed it, and I decided to celebrate the holidays instead.
It's perfect since we've also reached the 50 chapters milestone.
The thing is, last year I got COVID during this period. It hit me so hard that I had to spend ten days locked inside my room, including Christmas and New Year. Wanna know how I dealt with the boredom? Well, by writing, of course. I took advantage of the isolation to do a full immersion. I remember churning out chapters like a printer. I was on a roll, and I had a blast, so even if spending the holidays locked inside my room was tough, I can safely say that in retrospect it wasn't that bad.
Alright then, we've got a series of individual fights set up for the next few chapters.
I've decided to go full-on battle shonen style for this part because these will be the last Kansen on Kansen fights for the rest of the story, and there are a few things I want to try my hand at before going back to the larger-scale battles awaiting us ahead.
I hope you enjoy this and everything that comes after. See you next year!
Next Chapter: All-Out Brawl
