Omniscient POV
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"In our hearts lies faithful loyalty and servitude, a duty to protect those we keep dear, held until our final breaths."
Alarms and red lights blared throughout the elevated train running through an autumn forest.
In the security car, a guard rushed to the monitors relaying camera footage of two intruders, a masked man in red and a bow headed woman in black, making quick work of the Atlesian androids protecting the SDC cargo.
Lips drawn taut, he grabbed his weapons and sprinted to work.
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After they broke in and defeated several dozen armed mech, Adam and Blake found their target of Dust shipments.
"Perfect," Adam said and opened a cache. He glanced at his partner through the slits of the elaborate, ivory mask concealing the upper half of his face. "Move up to the next car, I'll set the charges."
Blake's eyes widened. "What about the crew members?"
His head tilted. "What about them?"
She flinched and turned away.
Mechanical movement stirred at the other end of the car. Hidden in the darkness of the ceiling, a towering, red, four legged spider-like arthropod attached to an upright abdomen unfurled to the ground and rooted itself in front of the exit.
It brandished four cannons aimed directly at them.
Blake gripped the handle of the cleaver-like blade, Gambol Shroud, resting on her back. "Adam!"
Adam rushed ahead and rolled away from the Spider Droid's volley of plasma rounds.
Weapon ready, Blake hopped between each blast and leapt at its mechanical skull. The robot lurched and headbutted her out of the air. A flurry of slashes from Adam's sleek red sword, Wilt, barely scratched its armour. It kicked him into a stack of metal crates, and he scrambled before another wave of plasma fire could pelt him.
A spire tipped leg hovered above Blake's dazed body. In a red blur, Adam scooped her to safety before it impaled her to the floor.
Blake steadied herself and faced the massive door behind them. "We need to get out of here!"
The Spider Droid connected its cannons together, amassed energy, and answered their plea in the form of a single combined beam. Adam took the brunt with Wilt, but they were blasted through the door and onto a long flatcar, regardless. Hardly scathed, they regrouped while the robot separated its cannons and squeezed out of the hole.
"Buy me some time!" Adam said over the roar of the wind.
Blake scrunched her brow. "Are you sure?!"
"Do it!"
A katana, hidden within the cleaver, slipped free and transformed into a bladed handgun at Blake's touch. She bolted, weaving past a multitude of plasma rounds to stab its chest and swing herself high. The stretchy black ribbon tied to her wrist and the weapon's trigger made sure she didn't go too far.
Blake yanked the gun loose, swung it at the robot's hull on the way down, and changed Gambol Shroud back into a sword while dual wielding it with its bladed sheath. Hit and run attacks, combined with her ability to produce evasive shadow clones, left the Spider Droid flailing in a confused mess. She lunged up from below, stuck the blade into its jaw, and spammed the trigger until the entire magazine emptied into its throat.
At the end of her assault, she returned to Adam in a succession of back handsprings.
The Spider Droid locked its cannons together.
"Move!" Adam pulled Wilt halfway out its scabbard, Blush.
The beam collided with the blade. Unlike last time, though, Adam held his ground to the end as every bit of energy in the projectile absorbed in him upon contact. Sword clamped to scabbard, the red in his hair, clothes, and the designs of his mask began to glow.
A dark chuckle resonated from deep within his throat.
The Spider Droid launched to the skies. Its shadow loomed overhead, and Adam returned every shred of energy in a single slash. The robot, crates, and whatever else caught in the general vicinity split apart and withered into nothing.
Adam scoffed and caught up to his partner at the end of the car.
Beneath his mask, Adam's brow furrowed at Blake standing still at the edge, and once he looked past her, his feet came to a dead stop at the new threat waiting for them on the adjacent flatcar.
Deep teal eyes followed every twitch of their muscles, sharp as the yellow short spear and red long spear firm in his hands. Black bracers and greaves covered his forearms and shins, and a reinforced vest with numerous pouches glimmered silver in the afternoon light.
The letters FG over a snowflake on his chest earned Adam and Blake's utmost attention.
"First Guard." Blake motioned to her weapon. "We weren't informed of this."
Adam smirked and jumped the gap. "Move or die, human."
Blake gasped.
Mirth danced along the First Guard's lips. He pointed the long spear at Adam's mask and the twin horns on his head.
"It appears you're operatives of the White Fang. Then I," he placed a fist over his chest, "Stiofan Ua Binn, apprentice of the SDC First Guard, challenge you to a duel. State your name, Faunus of Red."
Adam blurred closer. His slash was intercepted by the black shaft of the red spear. The short spear jerked towards his mask. At the last moment, he twisted, changed Blush into a rifle, and fired. Stiofan sidestepped and raised the long spear in a swinging motion. Knees bent in preparation to duck, Adam's breath caught when Stiofan changed his attack at the last moment and thrusted the yellow spear again.
The tip grazed his left arm as he leaned aside. Aura protected him so he paid no heed, but when the First Guard pulled back and grazed the same arm again, it locked in place, forcing him to retreat.
"What's wrong, Faunus of Red?" Stiofan smirked. "Shouldn't I be dead right now?"
Adam growled under his breath.
A black and white blur rocketed overhead, and Stiofan lurched a nose away from Gambol Shroud's edge.
Blake bounced next to her partner and checked on him. "Are you alright?"
Adam shook her off. "Just get him already."
"Two against one?" Stiofan sighed. "That's hardly fair."
Blake dual wielded the blade and sheath and used fast attacks aided by shadow clones. He kept pace no matter how quickly she moved or how many clones she conjured.
Nothing passed nor fooled his defenses.
The katana locked against the tip of the red spear and scraped down along its length.
Stiofan angled himself, deflecting it off his bracer. Adam rushed in as the short spear reared and seized Stiofan's wrist with his good arm. Blake rolled around and planted a sharp kick behind the First Guard's head.
As he crumbled to the ground, Adam chuckled and drew Wilt.
Blake tackled him. "Stop!"
Adam grabbed a fistful of her shirt and slammed her into a crate. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"I—" Her breath hitched. "Look out!"
Electricity crackled from the blade of the yellow spear, and a lightning bolt erupted at Stiofan's will. Adam raised his guard, but the impact launched him back to the previous flatcar.
Blake unloaded her weapon, each round swatted by a twirl of Stiofan's short spear. She lowered her aim. The bullets ricocheted off the floor and buckled his legs. He stumbled closer to the edge, and she planted both feet into his chest.
Stiofan fell into the autumn forest below the elevated train. He stabbed a deep scar down the side of a thick tree to a stop and eased his way to the ground. Scroll in hand, a photo captured by the security cameras revealed a crystal clear view of Adam and Blake fighting several androids, and his grip threatened to crush the device.
Back on the train, Blake muttered a prayer for Stiofan's safety until the bow on her head twitched at Adam's pained moan. She bit her lip, took a deep breath, and went to the edge of the flatcar where the wide gap separated them.
On wobbly feet, Adam watched his partner lower her gaze and draw Gambol Shroud.
"Goodbye," she said.
He reached out. It was useless. In a single swoop, the train coupling was severed.
Blake was gone.