Outside rain drizzled across the cracked skyline, gentle drops sizzling against molten streets from the earlier clashes.
In the center of the narrow street, Haru stood still. His katana shimmered with water essence, reflecting light from the swirling portal above.
Across from him: Aqua, calm, poised—her movements like a dancer's, her eyes calculating.
No words.
Just silence.
Then—movement.
Haru dashed forward, slicing a horizontal arc: Aqua Slash.
A water blade tore through the air.
Aqua moved her head just slightly—it missed.
But a shimmering after-image of the blade followed the same path, delayed—Abyssal Rift.
Aqua raised her hand, fingers slicing through the after-image.
*It dispersed like mist.*
"Predictable," she said softly.
Haru's eyes narrowed. He ducked left, vanished into a sidestep dash, reappearing behind her.
Another slash.
She twisted, caught his arm mid-strike, and flipped him over her shoulder.
Haru landed on his feet, spun, slashed upward.
The blade missed again—no, *passed through*. A watery clone dispersed.
From above—
Aqua dropped, heel-first.
Haru raised his katana to block.
CRACK.
The shock drove him to one knee.
He forced himself up, pushed back, then leapt forward with a wide, flowing strike, using the full force of his body—Abyssal Rift triggered again. Slashes trailed behind him like echoes.
Aqua bent backwards in a controlled arc, dodging every strike.
One after-image finally nicked her cheek.
She stopped.
"Finally," Haru muttered, panting.
Aqua touched the already healing cut. Blood.
She exhaled, eyes growing colder as the cut sizzled off to nothing.
Then she moved.
Her body glided across the water-coated ground like a phantom.
She struck—open palm to chest.
Haru flew back, crashing through a vending machine.
Before he could recover, Aqua was already there. She landed beside him, stomped down—Haru rolled, barely dodging.
He jumped to his feet, slashed blindly.
Water clone.
She reappeared to his side, slapping his blade away and elbowing him in the ribs.
Haru coughed, stumbled, and swung his fists.
This time—hit.
Aqua staggered.
Abyssal Rift activated. A second delayed swing appeared.
"Heh... Who said it had to be a sla-.", Haru said with a smirk but was cut off.
Aqua ducked.
Then countered with a spinning kick to his jaw.
Haru hit the ground.
She stood above him, wind lifting her hair.
"You're strong," Aqua said. "But you're too emotional. Too readable."
Haru tried to rise, legs shaking.
She stepped back, waiting.
"Come again."
Another round begins.
The city blurred into nothing but streaks of color as the two blitzed through blocks, running side by side. The wind howled past their ears. Their feet cracked pavement, sparked against steel, and launched chunks of the earth with every step.
Ahead, from a street to the left, a grotesque shadow flickered—emerging fully formed, a revenant of the Shadow Kaiju.
Neither slowed.
Ren, from the right. Raijin, from the left. Simultaneous, synced. Their left and right arms extended.
"Rising Spiral!" Ren roared.
"Thunder Spiral." Raijin's voice rumbled back.
Their attacks spiraled, elemental and perfect, into the Shadow Revenant's chest. The fusion of their spirals twisted into a vortex of raw energy, blasting through the entity's chest. The kaiju screeched as it vanished in a detonation of smoke and broken glass.
They didn't even stop.
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[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: ]
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[| SYNCHRO HIT CONFIRMED. BOND LEVEL: 82% |]
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They kept moving.
Raijin abruptly veered left and curved upward, springing off the edge of a half-fallen bridge. Ren followed, their paths swirling upward in a spiral, dust and debris trailing in their wake.
Midair, Raijin spun around—his hands flipping.
He now held two blades—perfect replicas of Ren's twin daggers. Same balance. Same deadly cut. But forged from stormsteel, laced with arcs of lightning that danced across the edges like caged serpents. Both locked in reverse grip, his form twisting midair.
Then—a third blade shimmered into existence.
Jagged. Dark. Alive. It didn't hum—it vibrated violently, warping the space around it. Its pulse wasn't sound, it was pressure—like the breath of a sealed thunder god, trapped in the steel, trying to break free.
Raijin's gaze shifted.
With a snap of his wrist, he threw the left-hand blade, letting it spin into the void below—screeching as it tore against the air before vanishing in a burst of sparks mid-fall.
In one fluid motion, he seized the new dagger.
A perfect replacement. A new threat. A blade born to kill storms.
Lightning pulsed outward from him like a heartbeat as gravity started to catch up—but Raijin didn't fall.
He descended.
With intent.
"Let's see how you handle your own style, Ren."
The blades clashed.
Ren flipped, twisting his body sideways in mid-air, kicking off Raijin's chest. He darted downward, but Raijin spun, slashing. Sparks burst.
Ren skid across the ground on his feet, leaned back so low his spine nearly scraped concrete, then launched forward like a bullet.
Ren flips over a crushed train car, kicks off it, then barrels straight into Raijin.
Their forms blur as they zigzag through fallen structures.
Raijin slams Ren sideways into a steel beam, only for Ren to rebound and counter with a double spiral slash.
They collided again on top of a crumbling tower, trading twenty-three blows in under three seconds.
Raijin dodged a left dagger thrust, spun inward, and parried with his reverse-grip thunder blade. The parry launched a concussive pulse that cracked the rooftop.
Ren growled, stabbed forward—Raijin ducked—then leapt backward, letting Ren's momentum carry him.
But Raijin was already there.
He teleported mid-blink behind Ren and slammed his elbow into his back.
Ren smashed through the roof. Crashed into the lower floor. Bounced.
Raijin dropped like lightning, both blades aiming down. Ren rolled just in time. The blades stabbed inches from his chest.
"Still too slow."
"Still cocky."
Ren's leg swung around. Raijin jumped.
In mid-air, Ren teleported.
The next clash happened in a heartbeat: Ren behind Raijin. Cross-slash. Blocked. Counter. Lightning blade to Ren's cheek—cut.
Ren grinned, blood dripping.
"Now it's getting good."
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[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: ]
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[| STAMINA LEVEL – 67% | SPEED BOOST – ACTIVE |]
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They blurred again.
The camera spirals from street level to rooftop, then dives into alleyways as they zoom past, crashing into one another, bouncing off walls, ricocheting from debris, kicking off collapsing balconies. It's a battle that has no stage.
The city is their arena. The storm is their tempo.
And Ren… is still rising.
Zephyr floated mid-air, arms folded lazily, a devilish smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.
Wind coiled around her body like ribbons.
Kaede stood below, one foot forward, body tilted like a sprinter at the edge of a race.
The ruins of the city behind them hummed with tension.
Zephyr tilted her head, hair drifting in the high breeze.
"Mawwwnnn," she said in that cocky, sing-song tone, twirling a lock of wind around her finger. "I know we said not to hold back, but..."
She sighed dramatically. "Fine then. Let's get to it."
Instantly, she vanished.
The camera spins behind Kaede.
A gust hits the street—Kaede is already gone.
They reappear mid-air, colliding in a burst of turbulence. Fists meet elbows, knees slam into shockwaves.
Mini sonic booms erupt with every movement.
Kaede dashes behind Zephyr.
Zephyr spins like a ballerina, throwing a kick that leaves a cutting wind arc.
Kaede ducks, then zips sideways with Tempest Waltz, dragging a burst of air that collapses nearby scaffolding.
She appears on Zephyr's right—throws a punch.
Zephyr tilts back mid-air, matrix-style. Wind spirals deflect Kaede's arm.
Kaede flickers again.
Camera tight on Zephyr's eyes—they track everything.
Kaede dashes in rapid bursts—left, right, up, down—bam, bam, BAM—
Each step is a sonic quake.
But Zephyr's smile grows wider.
"You're fast."
WHAM!
Zephyr counters with a roundhouse kick that Kaede just blocks—she's thrown like a leaf in a storm.
She recovers mid-air, skidding backward in the air.
"Fine," Kaede mutters. Her shoes drag sparks against a floating chunk of concrete.
She dashes again—
—but Zephyr's already there.
A palm strike to Kaede's gut.
Boom.
Kaede is blasted through a truck, flipping end over end.
She vanishes before hitting the ground—reappears behind Zephyr—
Kick to the ribs.
Zephyr blocks. Their limbs blur.
*The camera spins around them like a tornado, their bodies a blur of strikes and shockwaves.*
Kaede chains three Breeze Steps, teleporting in a triangle pattern.
Each move creates a directional windquake.
Zephyr suddenly twists, wind lashing out like tendrils—Kaede is caught mid-step—
—and slammed into the ground like a comet.
Crater.
She coughs, struggles to stand.
Zephyr lands gently, arms out.
"I could do this all day~" she hums.
Kaede wipes blood from her lip.
"Then get ready to lose track of me."
She dashes—
—and the screen blurs from how fast she moves.
The broken cityscape crackled with tension.
Shattered cars glowed faintly from residual heat. Glass shimmered in the air like embers.
Mika stood barefoot on molten concrete, steam curling off her arms. She rolled her neck, her body bruised, burnt, and glowing red from residual energy.
Infernia stood on a building above her, arms crossed, a wicked grin etched across her flame-scorched face.
The temperature spiked.
"I've been holding back all this time," she said, fire swirling around her like solar flares. "But you… you're still trying to fight me with your bare fists?"
Mika didn't answer. She exhaled—a burst of heat left her lips.
Her body shimmered with heatwaves. Her Infernal Crash mode kicked in again.
Each breath she took shook the air. The veins in her arms pulsed, glowing orange like molten rock.
Infernia's grin widened.
"Alright then—LET'S TURN THIS CITY INTO HELL."
Explosion.
Infernia dived like a meteor, fist-first.
Mika met her head-on—fist against fist.
Boom.
A shockwave tore through the intersection—shattering street signs and flipping over cars.
Infernia spun mid-air, elbowed Mika in the collarbone—Mika flipped back—landed in a crouch—then launched herself upward like a rocket.
She punched Infernia mid-air.
Explosion.
Every hit detonated on impact—wide-radius fire shockwaves scattering debris across rooftops.
Infernia laughed through it all, weaving through the attacks.
"Nice!" she shouted. "But you're leaving yourself WIDE OPEN!"
Boom!
Infernia slammed both palms together, igniting a fiery ring that trapped Mika mid-air.
Mika gritted her teeth.
Infernia rocketed in, feet first—
Dropkick to the chest.
Mika slammed through a bus.
She rolled, body smoking—stood again, fists clenched.
Flames licked off her back.
Her eyes burned with fury.
She launched again, spinning—a blazing roundhouse kick.
Infernia ducked—countered with a flaming uppercut—
Impact.
Both were thrown back in opposite directions, leaving burning skid trails along the concrete.
They charged again—
Camera tracks between them, spinning—punches and kicks connecting mid-motion like twin firestorms.
Every strike lit up the battlefield.
Infernia finally caught Mika's arm—
Spun her—
And slammed her into the side of a parking tower.
The wall burst open. Mika gasped.
Still no weapon.
Her eyes flared. One step forward.
"Not done yet."
Infernia grinned.
"Then BURN HARDER!"
They rush again—flames turning the city into a battlefield of chaos and heat.
Just then Ren and Raijin nearby made a massive shockwave that shook the entire district.
The sky bled complete purple as the portal overshadowed sun behind it, casting jagged shadows across the war-torn plaza. Cracked tiles and shattered stone littered the battlefield—silent echoes of the clash that had torn through just hours before.
Haru landed hard at the edge of the plaza, katana already drawn. His eyes swept the open ground with a scowl.
"Tch," he muttered. "Too open. No cover. No angles. I'm not dying on a damn chessboard."
In a blur of motion, he launched upward. Wind and debris scattered beneath him as his feet hit the rooftop of the plaza. He crouched low, one hand bracing the ground, surveying the maze of streets below.
A whirl of water spiraled up behind him, rising like a serpent. Aqua rode the current with practiced grace, arms folded as she stepped off the wave and landed a few paces behind him, barely making a sound.
"A rooftop?" she said, smirking. "Seriously? You think that's safer? I could drown this whole block from here."
Water surged around her like a serpent—a living current, always shifting. She stood calmly on the plaza's rooftop with an expression that barely moved. Tactical. Calculating. Unshakable.
Then she took a step forward.
The rooftop flooded instantly. Water spiraled up her arms.
Haru shot her a glance, his voice dry. "Yeah? Good luck hitting a shadow."
He vanished again, weightless, darting over the edge and dropping into the alleys below. The rooftops were no good—not with Aqua in play. He needed tight corners, narrow streets, somewhere her wide-range water attacks would choke themselves off.
"She's all flash," he muttered to himself, weaving through the narrow path. "I just need space to breathe—", soaked and shivering, he tightened his grip on the hilt of his katana. His blue aura pulsed, matching his rapid heartbeat whilst he was moving away from the plaza.
A sudden shockwave slammed through the alley.
A blur of white hair and crackling lightning tore past, grazing Haru by inches.
"WOAH—!"
He ducked instinctively, boots skidding across the cracked pavement as the blur crashed into the wall ahead with a thunderous boom. Sparks and energy licked the air, lighting up the shadows.
"Ren?!" Haru shouted. "Watch it, you static freak!!"
But Ren didn't stop. His eyes were glowing, body wreathed in streaks of lightning. He didn't hear a damn thing.
Raijin rocketed through the street behind him, rocketing through the sky with a cocky grin etched across his face.
"No brakes on this ride!!" he yelled, landing far else with a burst of energy that shattered nearby windows.
Haru stood frozen for a beat, chest rising and falling, then glanced behind him as Aqua arrived with a splash, stepping off another wave.
She raised an eyebrow. "Still think rooftops were a bad idea?"
Haru stared at her. Then back at the streak of lightning arcing through the sky.
"…I take it back." he said while running into a narrow street.
"Your slashes echo," she said quietly. "Your follow-ups are predictable, she said as she followed Haru, water spiraling along.
Haru gritted his teeth, then dashed—drawing his blade in one clean strike.
"Abyssal Rift!"
A phantom slash carved through the air—a delayed water-image shimmered and followed behind it.
Aqua didn't move.
The first slash hit—a direct cut to the side.
The second phantom slash came milliseconds later—but Aqua leaned back casually, evading it by a breath.
Then—her foot twisted.
A whirlpool exploded beneath Haru.
He flipped backward, landing in a crouch.
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[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
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KAIVOR CONSUMPTION:
> 23%
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He narrowed his eyes. "Tch... she's reading me like a book."
He burst forward again.
Blade slashed low—then high.
Aqua blocked both barehanded. Water coiled around her palms, deflecting the steel like it was made of smoke.
Her eyes shimmered.
She stepped forward—one palm open, one behind her.
Palm strike to his chest—
A water blast sent him skidding across the narrow street.
____________________________________________
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
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KAIVOR CONSUMPTION:
> 36%
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Haru spun to his feet, breathing hard.
He slashed again—Abyssal Rift chaining multiple echoes.
They hit.
But Aqua's stance didn't break. She absorbed the impact, sliding only slightly.
"Not bad," she said. "But your rhythm is screaming at me."
She moved.
Blinding speed.
Three precise jabs.
Haru's body convulsed as small jets of pressurized water struck his pressure points.
He collapsed to one knee.
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[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: ]
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[| KAIVOR CONSUMPTION: 51% |]
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He gritted his teeth. "Still not enough?"
Aqua raised one hand—a massive water dragon formed behind her.
"I warned you. Precision over power."
The dragon surged.
Everything went blue.
Water swallowed the narrow street.
The battle across the city reached a boiling point.
Kaede blurred across rooftops, a blur of green wind streaks trailing behind her. Her breath was sharp, her eyes sharper.
From the distance, a sudden inferno lit the skyline—a whole street block detonated like a volcano had sneezed.
Kaede's head whipped in that direction.
"Mika..."
Across the district, Mika skidded to a halt, panting. Her body glowed with residual heat from Infernia's relentless strikes.
Then—a massive gust of wind blew from the opposite side, toppling wreckage and kicking up a storm of debris.
Mika's eyes narrowed.
"Kaede..."
Both girls grinned.
Without a word, they pivoted in their respective battles—bolting through the ruins of the city.
Zephyr blinked. "Huh? Where do you think you're going, sprinter girl?"
Infernia growled, "Oi! Don't run away just 'cause it's hot in here."
Neither Host responded. They ran. Streets blurred past. Flames licked the broken windows. The wind roared louder.
Then—they saw each other through the smoke-choked avenue.
They both jumped.
Slap!
Palms connected midair.
Then it began.
Zephyr blinked, confused. "Wait, huh?"
Infernia stopped mid-step. "The hell are you two doing?"
Kaede twisted around, still running—slicing a wide crescent of compressed wind behind her.
Zephyr's eyes widened as a fireball burst just inches from her face.
Mika had flung it on the run, her grin feral.
"Tag Team, girl," she shouted.
Infernia scoffed. "You little traitors—since when did you two start syncing up?"
WHIP-WHOOSH!
Narrow, needle-thin wind slashes cut through the smoke. Kaede skated across air currents now, firing gusts like sniper bullets.
Mika added heat—flames weaving into the wind, turning it into a narrow flaming beam.
It sliced through the air with surgical precision, causing buildings to ignite where it passed.
Kaede and Mika zipped between ruins like co-op players on a killstreak.
Zephyr deflected one gust, flustered. "Okay… okay, that's actually kinda cool."
Infernia glared. "You gonna let them one-up us?"
They both cracked their necks.
Zephyr and Infernia (in unison):
"We can play that game too."
The heat spiked. The wind howled.