RAIJI'S PATH (LEFT - 2nd FLOOR)
Raiji turned a corner into a wide, hangar-like bay. "This might be fun." He unhooked both blades from his back, feeling their familiar weight: Baneblade in his right hand, and the heavy, stolen Element Slayer in his left.
Two hulking war-machines stood between him and the exit on the far side. Each stood eight feet tall, with heavily armored torsos and massive piston-driven arms.
Before they could fully activate, Raiji took the initiative. He swung Baneblade in a sharp, diagonal arc. A scything blade of compressed wind shot across the room toward the first robot.
The robot didn't dodge. Its left arm shot out, the massive hand clapping shut around the wind slice. For a moment, the air crackled with contained force before the machine crushed it, dissipating the attack with a puff of displaced air.
The second robot raised its right arm. What looked like a flamethrower attachment glowed with a cold, blue light and unleashed not fire, but a torrent of super-cooled liquid nitrogen, aiming to flash-freeze Raiji where he stood.
Raiji crossed his blades in an 'X' before him. The Element Slayer flared as it absorbed the elemental ice attack, its runes glowing blue for a moment. The air around Raiji frosted over, but he stood unharmed.
At that moment, the fifty soldiers Captain Roderick had called for flooded into the bay from a side door, rifles raised.
Raiji didn't give them a chance to fire. With a twist of his wrist, he redirected the stolen energy stored in the Element Slayer. He slashed horizontally, not with wind, but with a wave of piercing cold.
A shimmering arc of blue-white energy sliced through the front rank of soldiers. Instantly, twenty-five men were frozen in place, encased in a thick layer of ice up to their chests, their weapons locked and useless.
The remaining soldiers skidded to a horrified halt.
Raiji stood between the two reactivating robots and a frozen platoon, a faint plume of cold steam rising from the Element Slayer. "Who's next?"
Then, the stronger robot launched itself at Raiji, its fist like a battering ram. Raiji crossed Baneblade in front of him, bracing. The impact CLANGED through the bay, skidding him back a foot. He swung the Element Slayer in a backhand, but the frost-gun robot intercepted, its armored hand catching the blade's flat.
In that moment of distraction, both robots moved in perfect, programmed sync. The strong robot threw a heavy left hook. Raiji ducked, but the frost robot jabbed with its free arm, driving a piston-powered punch into his ribs.
WHUMP.
The force lifted Raiji off his feet and sent him crashing into the metal wall. He slid down, coughing, a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
RAIJI: (Pushing himself up, assessing) "These two... I can't cut them directly. And they're a pair."
He looked up, his eyes sharpening. He saw it a thin, glistening line on the frost-gun robot's torso where his earlier wind slash had connected. It wasn't a deep cut, but it was there. Moisture. Condensation from its own ice weapon.
RAIJI: "Nice. That will work."
Instead of re-engaging the robots, he blurred. He dashed past them, straight toward the remaining twenty-five unfrozen soldiers. In a whirlwind of motion, he was among them. Wind slashes and the flat of his blade moved in non-lethal arcs. In seconds, the last of the soldiers were disarmed and knocked unconscious.
He turned back to the two advancing robots. "Now. You two. Iron-for-brains."
He dashed to the right. The frost-gun robot tracked him, firing another freezing torrent. Raiji raised the Element Slayer, absorbing the blast, the sword glowing brighter blue. He used the momentum to slide sideways, putting the charging "strong" robot directly in his line of fire.
The strong robot was mid-charge, fist pulled back for a devastating blow.
RAIJI: Now.
He didn't just slash. He focused every ounce of his strength and the stolen cold energy into a single, vertical overhead strike. It wasn't a wind slash. It was a "Frozen Wind Dragon Slash."
A roaring column of concentrated, super-cooled air and razor-sharp wind slammed down onto the robot, engulfing it. The extreme cold met the heated metal joints and internal systems. A terrible SCREECH of contracting metal echoed, followed by a series of sharp CRACKS. The robot shuddered, slowed to a halt, and its blue optical sensors flickered out.
The frost-gun robot pivoted, charging its weapon for a third, point-blank shot.
Raiji was already moving. A quick side-step, a horizontal swing of the Element Slayer. Another "Frozen Wind Slash", narrower but just as deadly, sliced across the second robot's midsection.
The same effect. The cold bit deep, brittling the armor and shorting critical systems. Its blue eyes dimmed and went offline.
The bay fell silent, save for the hiss of escaping coolant from the two frozen, motionless war machines.
RAIJI: (Sheathing his blades, examining his work) "That was... surprisingly easy. Robots with water-based cooling systems. The cold weakens their armor. Nice."
3rd FLOOR - CENTRAL COMMAND PATH
KIRO: (Catching his breath, circling the Brigadier General) "How did you dodge that so fast? Okay, that rumor about you being unhittable might be real. Time to be the first to punch you."
BRIGADIER GENERAL: (A cold, arrogant smirk) "Someone like you? Punch me? Never."
Kiro blurred forward, faster than before a speed meant to overwhelm. He threw a straight punch that should have connected. The General shifted his head an inch, letting it whistle past his ear. Kiro used the momentum, pushed off the wall, and came in with a spinning heel kick.
The General didn't dodge this one. He caught Kiro's ankle mid-air with a grip like industrial steel. "Predictable."
He yanked Kiro down, drove a crushing fist into his face, then slammed his body into the floor. Without pause, he hurled Kiro across the room into the reinforced wall.
CRASH.
KIRO: (Pushing himself up, dust and plaster falling from his shoulders) "Ouch. That did not work. What about..."
He feinted a jab, then went for a liver shot. The General didn't even flinch. Kiro dashed to the side, trying a surprise kick to the back of the knee. It was like kicking a building. The General backhanded him across the face, driving him into the ground again, harder. Kiro rose, wiping a trickle of blood from his temple.
KIRO: (A feral grin spreading through the blood) "Come on! Let me punch you! Time to go all out. First, just gotta get warmed up."
BRIGADIER GENERAL: (His smirk fading into something more appraising) "You're still not warmed up? And you're still standing. Okay. You've got a tough body. Might be a Cube."
KIRO: "You tell me about your Cube first."
BRIGADIER GENERAL: "Information is a good resource in a fight. We both know this." He tapped a metallic implant at the base of his neck. "Time to take this to Level 2. All I'll say is, you'll figure it out. I have a strength-enhancement chip. It has two levels... and an overdrive."
He pressed the implant. A sharp HISS of released pressure, and his eyes glowed a violent, mechanical red. His muscles seemed to vibrate with restrained power, and the air around him grew heavy.
BRIGADIER GENERAL: (Voice now a deeper, synthetic growl) "Now. Time to crush you."
Kiro pushed himself up, shaking off the disorientation. He started throwing wild, testing punches into the air. "Let's go with a real fight!"
He dashed at the General again, a straight right aimed for the chin. The General didn't block; he pushed the punch aside with contemptuous ease, then countered with a jab of his own. Kiro parried, they traded two more blows, and then the General's hand shot out, not to punch, but to grab Kiro's wrist.
A brutal twist. Kiro's whole body contorted with the torque. The General used the momentum to hurl him, but as Kiro flew past, he snatched Kiro's ankle and whipped him downward, slamming his face into the floor. Kiro managed to get his arms up to protect his chest, but the impact still rattled his bones.
The General didn't let go. He crushed the ankle in his grip before flinging Kiro sideways like a discarded tool.
KIRO: (Skidding to a stop, clutching his leg) "Ouch. That actually hurt." He looked at his mangled arm, then gritted his teeth and flexed, the bones audibly snapping back into place. He grabbed his own foot with both hands and wrenched it back into alignment with a sickening pop.
The General was already on him, a fist aimed to pulverize his skull. Kiro threw himself back, the punch missing but the shockwave alone sending him tumbling.
Kiro launched himself into the air, channeling all his pain into a flying kick. The General simply stepped into it and met the kick with a devastating uppercut to Kiro's shin.
CRACK.
The leg broke again. Kiro was launched across the room, crashing through a reinforced door and into the hallway beyond.
Raiji rounded the corner, having followed the sound of destruction.
RAIJI: (Taking in the scene: Kiro broken on the floor, the General standing untouched) "I smell a good fight. Wow. Who beat you up, Kiro?"
KIRO: (Spitting out blood, gesturing weakly) "This guy. He actually can't be punched." He grabbed his broken leg and snapped it back into place with a grunt. "Both legs, man. That's gonna take time to heal."
RAIJI: (Drawing Baneblade, his eyes never leaving the General) "You're going to need backup. Allow me."
KIRO: (Staggering to his feet, pride warring with pain) "Yeah, right. Never." He looked at his twisted arm and battered legs, then at the implacable General. He settled into a battered boxing stance.
He dashed forward again one, two, a quick combination and danced back.
It was a feint. The General saw through it, surging forward to grab Kiro by the face. But in that moment, Raiji moved.
A silent, lightning-fast dash, Baneblade aimed for the General's undefended side. For the first time, surprise flickered in the General's glowing red eyes. He released Kiro, shoving him aside to deal with the new threat.
Kiro went flying again. Raiji's slash met only air as the General twisted away, lashing out with a kick that forced Raiji into a defensive leap backward.
KIRO: (Picking himself up, scowling) "I told you, I don't need help!"
RAIJI: (Eyes cold, stance ready) "Really? He took both of us on and still almost beat us. Drop your pride."
Kiro looked from Raiji's serious face to the unmoving General, then down at his own trembling, healing limbs. The fight had gone beyond a personal challenge. He let out a long, frustrated breath.
KIRO: "...Fine. Okay. You can help."
Meanwhile - 2nd FLOOR, RIGHT PATH
CAPTAIN RODERICK: (Cracking his neck, a smug, knowing grin) "This will be easy. A quick save, then I collect the reward. Beating the 'brains.' Your armor is the only problem."
He moved with unnatural speed. A swift punch. Veyra dodged. A second blow; she weaved aside, already analyzing.
She spun away, drawing a revolver. CRACK! A flame bullet splattered against his chest, igniting.
CAPTAIN RODERICK: (Looking down at the fire without concern) "Cheap tricks." He raised his hands, and the air warped. From nothing, two long blades of pure, roaring orange flame materialized in his grip. "Let's raise the temperature."
He lunged, swinging both blades to create a wall of fire, then thrust them forward like spears through the flames.
Veyra slid beneath the inferno, came up inside his guard, and drove a powered punch into his gut. OOF! He doubled over. She followed with a kick to his chin, sending him crashing down.
But as he fell, the flame blades vanished into motes of light. He hit the floor and the burns on his chest from her bullet faded, his uniform mending itself as if the last few seconds were being undone.
VEYRA: (Eyes widening behind her visor) "What...?"
CAPTAIN RODERICK: (Getting up, unharmed, his smile chilling) "I told you. A quick save." He clenched his fists, and the air grew frigid. "Now, let's try a different loadout. Ice first."
He punched the air. A wave of freezing energy erupted, flash-freezing the moisture into a cloud of jagged ice crystals.
Veyra barely dodged, a crystal grazing her arm, leaving a line of frostbite.
He snapped his fingers. The ice cloud vanished. "Then the hammer." New flames, hotter and darker, began to coil around his arms.