Neo shoved a monster away from the group before killing two others. She panted heavily as she watched the horde of monsters converging on their position. She didn't expect that the mission would become a trap. Neo blocked an attack before returning the favor and striking it down. She blocked another barrage of attacks before feeling one ripping through her clothing and leaving a wound on her side.
"Neo, fall back! We need to find some cover!" Rose shouted as she saw Neo get injured. She needed everyone to stay alive. Rose jumping back and covered the others. She felt a lot of pressure bearing down on her. Scarlet and Ivy were both out of commission. Since both of them were out, they didn't have a chance to deal with a large-scale attack.
York carried both girls before following behind Eden. They were all in a bit of panic; however, they tried their best to hide it before more monsters became attracted to the scent. Neo emitted a Mana pulse-wave to knock away the coming monsters before running away. Soon, all of them were running past the destroyed helicopter and into the city.
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While returning to the helicopter, Scarlet investigated the now burning aircraft and sighed heavily. There was no way a bunch of kids could salvage the craft. She looked over her shoulder to see Neo holding onto Ivy while York and Eden were watching the surrounding. Rose stood beside her while trying to figure out who could have done it.
Rose heard a faint sound before noticing Scarlet's body suddenly falling on top of her. She caught the professor and looked around. There wasn't a single pair of eyes, nor was there any object sticking out in Scarlet's body.
"Neo keep eyes. York, watch our flank. Eden, lay out Ivy and the professor!" Rose quickly ordered. She dropped Scarlet on the ground softly as she checked her pulse, everything was fine.
"Rose, we have a problem," Neo said as she drew out a sword and took a stance. Rose came over before freezing in place. She pulled out her scythe before taking a looked around.
There was still no one in the area. This conflicted Rose as someone must have knocked Scarlet out and left without making a sound. She called out to York to protect the girls while Eden went ahead and find a place for cover.
"We hold here until Eden comes back. Fall back if necessary, but let's not lose our ground," Rose said as she took a knee and started to fire at the monsters upfront. She was careful to not waste a bullet and make sure to prioritize certain monsters.
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Blake stared at the holographic area of the abandoned city. He could see four green lights hiding inside a building while one light was yellow and the other red. He silently nodded to himself while hearing the door behind open.
Lux entered the battle room. He gave a firm salute at Blake before stating, "Blake, we're ready to deploy. Wrath seems to be on edge for once. Do you think something wrong?"
Blake turned off the map and pulled off his heavy sword from the wall. He held it behind his back before feeling it magnetically attached. Lux stared at his leader before heading onto the aircraft. Blake followed behind before taking a glance at everyone. He could feel Wrath's edged before saying to everyone, "There seems to be a threat in the abandoned city up North from here. It was supposed to be a simple investigation mission about the people, but it seems the group got a bit caught up. From the information we gather, the team consists of Rose Summer, York and Eden Fall, Neo, and Ivy, along with Professor Scarlet. There are four green, one yellow, and one red."
Shiro felt her brows twitched before insulting, "Why are we going then? If that girl is there, then they don't have a problem. Unless she's a lot weaker than she tries to let on."
Blake sighed. He didn't understand Shiro's problem against Ivy. However, it did seem weird that they were being called in if Ivy was apart of the team. Blake banged against the metal wall to signal the pilot to lift off.
"Wait up!" Ruby shouted as she jumped on and tried to catch her breath. She panted a bit before standing tall and stood between the Guardians. "I'm coming."
"Miss Crimson, why are you coming exactly? We can deal with--" Blake held out his arm in front of Lux. He became silent as he backed away.
"Wrath, you can't hide it forever," Blake said. He stared at Wrath as she had a conflicted expression.
Wrath looked away before whispering in a tone that Shiro could hear. Shiro flinched back before saying, "Ivy isn't responding to Wrath's calls. She's unconscious. But the odd thing is that she could feel Ivy's signal feeling a bit strange."
"Strange? What does that mean?" Ruby asked before feeling Shiro's gaze on her. She was unfazed and waited for an answer.
Wrath looked away and didn't say anything else. Blake nodded before envisioning the map again. Assuming that Ivy's light is red, that means that someone else must have been knocked out or injured to a certain degree. He opened his eyes and sat down while planning out the next phase of events.
"I got eyes on a destroyed helicopter. There is a horde of monsters roaming around. LZ may have to change," the pilot said as he spoke before getting a signal warning. He moved the copter out of the sudden missile attack.
"Everyone out now! Pilot, get to safety!" Blake shouted as he jumped out at a high altitude. Everyone else followed behind as the pilot drove the helicopter out of the effective range of the missile attack.
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Neo sat in a corner while looked after Scarlet and Ivy. She was racking through her brain about the sudden ambush on her team. Something felt wrong; however, Neo couldn't figure it out. She ruffled her hair before hearing one of the girls groaning.
Scarlet lifted her body before holding her head. She looked around before noticing Neo's blank expression. She was about to push her body up before feeling something soft and kinda bouncy. Scarlet looked down before jumping back, she looked at her hand before looking at Neo's sudden anger expression.
She touched Ivy's breasts.
"I-I can explain!" Scarlet panicked before noticing that Neo's expression ignored her and stood up. She walked out of the room, leaving Scarlet and Ivy alone.
Scarlet took a deep breath before looking at Ivy's still body. She saw there were some bandages and a bit of blood leaking through. Scarlet slowly unwrapped one and noticed a deep cut, almost revealing a bone. However, Scarlet was confused. Although the wound was wide, it wasn't bleeding at all. She wrapped the bandage back on before walking into the next room.
Rose was talking to York and Neo while Eden was taking watch. She paused and stared at Scarlet, giving a brief smile. She continued her conversation while Scarlet sat down and took in the surrounding.
"Since we don't have a ride back to Soar High, we could try the tunnels. There must have been a reason to crash a train in that wall," Rose said before hearing someone groaning. She went into the other room to see Ivy clutching her side and holding close to the wall.
Neo rushed in and held Ivy close. She was relieved to see Ivy moving a bit. She could feel Ivy's rigid breathing as she lowered Ivy back onto the ground. Neo carefully unwrapped the bandages before flinching a bit by the numerous cuts and how deep those cuts were.
Rose knelt down before asking Neo, "Do you think she can last a bit longer?" She had a quick talk to Eden, and he reported that the monsters seem to be getting closer.
"I'm not sure. These injuries should make any normal person die. If I had to guess, Ivy has a couple more hours before having to be ER'd," Neo said with a worried expression. She knew Ivy was resilient and seemed almost invincible. However, Neo knew Ivy the most and knew the girl was vulnerable at times.
Scarlet kneeled down before wrapped the bandages back on and picking her up. She stared at Neo; "We can use a Flare Gem and use it to signal any hunters nearby. But we also need to be ready for whoever is tracking us."
Rose looked at Neo before going into deep thought. She liked the idea; however, the Gem would attract too much attention, and it would be inevitable that they would be back into fighting. She felt something poke her shoulder before noticing Neo's nose sniffing around.
"Ruby's scent is here."