Muhammad's bloody face and ripped attire tumbled forward. After weakly slashing a Fated sword conjured from aura at an attacker's head, their face was cut apart and burst into blood. Panting, ragged, beaten, and tired, Muhammad repeatedly cut the air, dissuading the remaining mobsters from approaching him.
Fielding around their target with different weapon conjurations, they all put a hand to their ears before slowly starting to retreat from him. Puzzled, Muhammad's eyebrow raised, watching them all flee without a clue in the world.
His eyes widened. Snapping his head and looking down the road while the pawns ran into the darkness at the end, emerging from the darkness was none other than her: A tan-skinned woman with a headband over her long blonde hair, a dark grey button-up, glasses, and a spiky stitch etched across her neck exited the shadows with bright green eyes devoid of light.
For some reason, Muhammad recognized her face, but couldn't place the name it belonged to. In addition to that, it was unbelievable someone with her freckled appearance was with the Three Gate Families. And a Boss no less. It would be an understatement to say it hurt his soul.
"Hey!" He called out. "You shouldn't move any further from there unless you wanna explode! Just saying!"
Jenna stopped in her tracks after he finished yelling. The smile she displayed was unusually kind.
"Thanks for the warning! Hey, by the way! What's your name!"
Muhammad quirked a brow. He briefly considered the possibility of her being a random civilian. Lowering the palm aimed at her head, he focused Fate on his eyes. Then, she vanished, leaving nothing but smoke in her wake.
Releasing the aura focused on his pupils and stepping back, Muhammad raised his arm again.
'What am I? An idiot? She's one of the Bosses! Don't hesitate just because she looks pretty and has a nice voice!'
Five beams flew from his fingertips—each composed of refined Fate. Grinning, Jenna amped her speed, letting the surroundings fly past as she twirled into a flip to land on her feet and dodge the first beam. Crouching to slide with one leg forward under another incoming, she leaped from the street and flipped, landing flat on her soles as the other two beams flew into the sky.
The second she landed, a shockwave burst from her feet and she already finished soaring down the road. Muhammad leaned back the instant Jenna's knuckles entered his view, barely dodging with a scrape on his nose as she flew over him. Rolling around after planting on his back on the street, the villain's blonde eyes gazed down the block at the blonde licking blood from her fist and grinning right at him.
"A little more into it and I could've ignited the air with my fist. Could you have dodged that?" She tittered.
His labored breaths gradually calmed as he continually bled from the cut on his nose. Muhammad spawned four doppelgängers from his back and made them vanish after appearing, puzzling the Boss at the end of the road.
Jenna's green eyes scanned the vicinity of the road, but before she could react, the Boss was bombarded by a barrage of blows. Thrown from one punch into another roundhouse kick, she felt the blood fly from her lip and stain the street upon falling to her knees.
'We didn't have information on his pawns, so we couldn't account for the scenario that they'd be here instead of Atlas. Save for Apollo and the Disastrous, that is. This blondie must be the right hand to the Head of Apex Predator. The one with the cloning technique. I don't know the specifics, but usual cloning can't be achieved without sacrifice and some sort of restriction. There has to be some sort of catch.'
Muhammad's leg flew through the air and sunk into Jenna, launching the Boss from the road to smash through an overlooking building's upper floor. Landing flat on both soles, he wiped the blood leaking from the scrape slit across his nose, looking up at the hole Jenna made from the strike.
Uninjured, the Boss emerged from the crater above him. She didn't say anything. Instead, the smug look on her face that replaced the previous kindness spoke for her. Muhammad stepped back and cocking back his fist, instinctively raveling it in golden Fate.
But the moment his knuckles struck the air, Jenna finished materializing before him and uppercut Muhammad after grabbing his arm. Lifting her soles from the ground, the Boss twisted her waist and with it, threw her leg across the air. The following motion smashed her foot into Muhammad's face hard enough his entire jaw dislocated and spit unintentionally flew from the corner of his mouth. Falling to his back on the street they were on, the villain crawled away, covering his mouth with one hand.
'I'm dead! There's no way I can fight against strength like that! Not alone...'
Muhammad sat up. The man's golden Fate blazing all around him, his palm aimed at Jenna, whose eyes shot to the blond man below her. Despite the injuries she inflicted on him, there was something about her smile and face even as she approached that enchanted his inner heart. That infatuation Muhammad couldn't explain was enough for his guard to lower, allowing one arm to lock around the throat.
"H-hu--?"
Muhammad's head and face were about-faced as the perpetrator behind him twisted his skull. Leaking blood from his nostrils with wide-open eyes reflecting the sun, the light ricocheting off the stars illuminated his face one last time before his inevitable demise. The last thought Muhammad could muster was the simple image of his dear sister's face.
As his life drifted into the beyond below the tranquility of Heaven, on the other side of the City, Luna fell asleep. Apollo's appearance and the healing wounds gave her hope. Unfortunately, from above, the Displacement witnessed the truth. There was no hope. First Enma, another life he'd taken, and then Muhammad. Because of how slow he moved, he couldn't save Luna's brother. Despite the guilt he felt and the single tear leaking from his eye, Moloch chuckled, wiping it away.
'So this is how the Unconquerable feels. No wonder he's such a downer.'
Revealing a napkin from her pocket, Jenna wiped her bloody knuckles clean. "Was killing him necessary?"
"Of course," responded her comrade. "If I didn't help, you'd be dead."
"Yes, but he was cute. Em would've liked him."
"Em?" She chuckled. "Don't try and speak for her! You know you wanted him all to yourself."
Jenna's eyes rolled. "Well, it doesn't matter. He's dead now. Anyway, speaking of Em, where is she? I thought she was dealing with the Head of Apex Predator. Shouldn't she be done by now?"
"She should be. But..."
"But what?" Jenna's fingers dug into Anna's arms. "Is my sister okay?"
Apollo fell from the skies. Smashing the road below one foot, the Displacement crossed his arms and leaned back his head, letting Fate engulf and superheat his skin. As Jenna and Anna realized what happened, in the next second, the street spontaneously exploded.
Neither of them had the chance to register what was happening. The only thing on their minds was exiting the smoke cloud formed by his descent. Jenna made her way out by simply jumping back, but the Displacement followed and grabbed the Boss by the face, smashing the back of her head into the road. By the time he finished and raised her bloody head, the smoke cleared, revealing Anna on the other side with her fingers aimed at him.
Apollo glanced back at her, still holding Jenna's bloody face. His eyes flashed green. Like the Fate surrounding him.
'Predestined Power: Twin Flame.'
Apollo's palm aimed at Anna's face. Bursting fire from his hand engulfed the entire street. The Boss pounced from within the blaze, cutting at the Displacement's head. Dodging the cleave by easily ducking under it, Moloch turned to smoke and drifted behind her, rematerializing to lock his arms around her neck.
But Anna was no ordinary person. The Boss was a Fate user and besides basic aura manipulation, she and Jenna had techniques they were able to invoke. Of course, Apollo didn't forget that. So when the signature deep within Anna and Jenna began wavering, Moloch didn't hesitate to back away.
Jenna's Predestined Power: "My Emerald Nature." The Fated aura surrounding her is colored green and can be reshaped to mimic that of vines. She can use the vines as extensions of herself, make her hands into vines, and even make vine weapons. Because this setting is a metropolis, not a forest, she was already at a mighty disadvantage.
Anna's Predestined Power: "A Blessed Curse." By attacking the target multiple times, the initials appear on each of her knuckles. When the name is finally completed after striking them enough, she can curse them and prevent the opponent from using their technique for 30 minutes. The required amount of hits depends on how long the target's name is.
If the Bosses wished to defeat Apollo Moloch, they would need a miracle. Glancing at each other after summoning their techniques, Jenna and Anna's backs slammed together, scanning the premises of the wide street.
"That was Apollo Moloch. Yes?" Anna asked.
Jenna nodded. "He killed Enma. And took her technique..." Clenching her teeth with sweat dripping down her face, the Boss's head shook. "I have to avenge her!"
Anna's azure eyes darted back at Jenna's head bound to her own. The way she unnaturally growled with every sound she made was akin to her sister's personality. And even so, there was something about the shift that meant more than simple mimicry.
"Right." She nodded. "Use Refinement on your eyes. He's faster than both of us combined!"
The Bosses focused Fate in their eyes. Gasping, Anna vanished, dashing down the block to meet Apollo sprinting at her. She was strong enough to ignore every human limit prohibiting her maximum speed and close the distance; her fist hovering a mere centimeter before Moloch's iris.
Apollo unraveled an emerald tendril from his cheek that slithered around Anna's knuckles. Catching her attack and briefly stunning her, Moloch struck her throat with his fingers before reeling back, kicking the Boss across the face to make her cheek resound.
Jenna's following advance was accompanied by green lightning as she fell through the air with her fist held back. Upon finally thrusting it forth, the Displacement leaned back--feeling the blow and shock burst past his features to burn the air above him.
Anna quickly recovered following the kick to repeatedly punch his face, but Moloch continuously saw through the flow of her attack and blocked it with the back of his hands. Smirking, he swept at her feet, but she quickly hopped into the air. Rising her leg through the air, Apollo fell back after she kicked his chin, bleeding from the lip, and stifling a chuckle.
Widening his eyes, he looked at Anna's knuckles. An 'A' initial was imprinted on her left knuckle. The crimson stream pouring from his cut mouth slipped through the crack on the upper lip to stain his pearly white teeth with a scarlet hue.
Now standing beside each other on the road down from the Displacement Apollo, the Bosses aimed their fists and readied their techniques. Moloch would move in less than a second, so they had to be ready for anything!
Then, he burst forth, leaving nothing but green streaks of lightning in his wake after speeding down the street. Anna was the first to be tackled down the road. Rolling and bouncing on the grey-hard concrete, the Boss started steadying in mid-air and was about to land on the steady street. Before Apollo's weight slammed into her again.
This time, however, he didn't push her down the block. Locking his arms around her waist after charging into her, Apollo flew into the sky and lifted her with him above the clouds. Unfortunately, he grabbed her in such a way her arms weren't restrained, so she could easily squirm free and slam her fists into his back.
Just before her attack could hit, the back of both fists faded through his skin as if he were transparent.
'W-what?' She asked herself.
Without anyone carrying her, there was nothing to keep her afloat. The Boss could do nothing but take that realization into account before she met her inevitable doom. Until Apollo's foot smashed into her head. Powerless, she flew through the sky, letting blood leak from the hole in her skull while Moloch's fist intercepted the Boss to sink into her cheek.
Releasing her bloodied build from his knuckles, he watched her soar right back where he kicked her and cracked a smirk as he appeared above her. Blood staining his nasty grin, Apollo crashed his foot into her spine, sending her from being bounced across the heavens to smashing into the City—crumbling the building she fell in.
The Displacement didn't even bother touching the ground. He hovered over Anna's open-eyed corpse and glared with crossed arms after Jenna materialized, kneeling beside her comrade.
"It's over. If you surrender now and give me your technique, I'll do my best to spare your life."
She scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous." Jenna glared up at the murderous Displacement. "I'll kill you and avenge them both!"