Soleil shouldered the door to the roof open. He and Kiana came barreling out into the middle of a harsh rainstorm, thunder cracking around them as they slowly moved across the roof. The darkened field of view from the rain made the glows from their weapons all the more prominent.
"She has to be up here," Kiana said, cautiously aiming around, Soleil's hand at his chest as he scanned the area himself. Not like there were many places Mei could be at the time anyway. And with a flash of lightning and crack of thunder, again the two were faced with Mei. The Herrscher seemed in control again, no wavering, and her wing was solid once more. "About time! You know how hard it was to fight through all those zombies?"
"Honestly, I should be thankful. This weak girl's fear of getting close to people made it all too easy to take control. Though you're certainly an issue, Flame Bearer," Mei said, her tone cold as electricity crackled around her. Then a grimace showed. "What are you even doing fighting alongside that maggot?! Ones such as us have a greater calling, and you'd choose to fight with humanity?"
"I think you're misunderstanding what's going on here," Soleil scoffed, shaking off his left hand as he removed it from his chest. "I ain't like you. Just because I've got the potential to be like you doesn't mean I will. But even this much power is fine by me… besides, I'd rather use it to fight for humanity anyway! And right now, I'll use it to save Mei from you! So, ready for round three?!"
"You're still going on about that?! Fine, let's see you prove it!"
Mei gathered lightning at her hands and let it loose, though rather than separate, Soleil blocked the blast and, with energy coursing across his bat, deflecting it to the side. Kiana dashed down the center, spinning as she leapt through the air, her kick landing clean and sending Mei back. Soleil let flames charge along his bat as he readied a swing, the flames firing out like a roaring wave.
Mei drew an arm out with lightning arcing across it like a blade, swatting aside the beam of flames, and then clashing the lightning sword with Soleil's bat as he threw it right at her, Kiana coming in and kicking the haft to drive it forward more, her foot sticking as the bat lurched up as Mei tried to redirect it, allowing Kiana to flip off and come down as she fired what was left in her magazine, the bullets flashing with energy as they collided with Mei's wing.
"Now!"
Kiana shouted as she landed, rushing forward with her own back, Mei's wing blocking the swing. Mei looked away as she saw why this had gone the way it had, as Soleil was rushing forward with flames gathered at his right hand. He tried to ram the hand at Mei, who pushed up with her arm and dodged, slashing at Soleil with her lightning blade, nailing the boy dead on and sending him flying to the side, though something seemed to move from him as she did, then driving the sword up and shattering Kiana's bat with a single swing.
"Not enough!" Mei turned and kicked Kiana away as the girl fell, knocking her right into Soleil. "If you think getting a touch on me will be that easy then you-AGGHH!"
Mei suddenly reeled as flames licked at her wing, the Herrscher's eyes wide, glaring as she looked and saw Soleil chuckling as he and Kiana stood up, also revealing he'd retrieved his bat even though he'd been sent flying.
"I think you missed it," Soleil said, rolling his left arm. "Getting hit by that lightning sword hurt like hell, but, at the same time I was able to brush that wing of yours!"
"As annoying as expected," Mei grumbled, adjusting her arm as her lightning sword brightened. "But I still have more endurance than either of you."
"You sure about that?" Kiana said, "Sure, we don't have your fancy Herrscher powers, but I'm far from tired! Losing that bat won't be a problem for me!"
"And I've still got a few good swings left in me," Soleil chuckled as he spun the bat, Mei scoffing at them both.
"We'll see how long all your bluster lasts!" Mei's swing of the lightning blade caused a wave of energy to fly out at the two, Soleil leaping over while Kiana wheeled around, a smirk on her face as her hand then tapped a white device on the side of her belt. A pulse shot out, and the space around them all suddenly became tinted in a dark violet tinge. Kiana moved forward normally, yet Soleil and Mei had slowed down to a near crawl.
"Only a few seconds! But it's all I need!" Kiana reloaded her gun as she got into range, a flick of its switch causing a purple glow to run across its barrel. Mei's tried to turn to her, however, all too slowly in the slowed timespace. "And go!"
Just as the bubble pulled back in, Kiana unloaded every shot she had into Mei's wing, the shots boring holes through the structure. As Mei went reeling back, Kiana spun around her attempt to retaliate, landing a round house kick and sending the Herrscher crashing down into the floor as she spun her whole body into the kick.
"What was that?!" Soleil yelped as he landed, Kiana chuckling as she reloaded, down to her last magazine.
"A new piece of kit for us Valkyries! A Time Fracture Device. It only lasts a few seconds, but it slows down time when it's used. Getting my hands on one was quite the rough time," Kiana said, spinning out of the way of another blast from Mei. "I'll tell you more later Rei-senpai, we gotta keep fighting!"
"No shit!" Soleil spun his bat up, blocking when Mei swung at him, their weapons locking together, Mei glaring into him as the weapons dragged against each other. "You definitely seem annoyed."
"I should've had you two finished long ago, yet I haven't. Of course I would be!" Mei growled, raking her sword up and breaking the lock. The exchange of blows that followed showed a disparity between the two, Mei's strikes the measured methods of Eastern swordplay while Soleil's told of Western styles with his own flair mixed in even if it was through the swings of a bat.
And elementally, the clash of flames and lightning sent waves through the air, Kiana unable to approach amid the whirl. Soleil's eyes were starting to gleam red during the flurry, and Mei looked almost excited to see it.
"Still not enough! You won't beat me as long as you hold those flames back, Herrscher!"
As Soleil broke free of the melee and moved to retreat and make distance, the edge of Mei's conjured weapon suddenly grew brighter, the energy blade becoming far more solidified. When the two weapons collided, rather than clash, instead, the barrel of Soleil's weapon was cut right into, the Herrscher's weapon following through and cutting it clean in two. Soleil stumbled from the sudden change in weight, the bat sparking with whatever remnants of power were leaving it as the top half clattered to the ground.
"Crap!" Soleil dodged as Mei swiped at him with her sword again, only for her wing to be what struck him next.
Soleil screamed as it came with a jolt of electricity through his body, being sent flying across the rooftop and slamming right into the entrance, slamming into the door so hard it blew right off the hinges and sent him crashing into the wall of the stairwell, through that and rolling to a stop across the other side of the rooftop.
"Rei-senpai!" Kiana rolled back as Mei then turned her attention to her, having to focus on herself. At least Soleil was out of the way. "Tch, this is getting annoying! Will you just snap out of it already?!"
"Oh, so you and I think the same?!" Mei's slash was dodged, and Kiana managed to get a kick in, the girl then slamming her gun across Mei's head, aiming for Mei's wing and plugging it with what few shots she could spare now. Mei roared as the wing was broken from the bullets, holes appearing in the construct. With a growl, Mei swung again and knocked Kiana away, though from the state of things, both girls looked exhausted now.
The duel went on amid the storm, yet as for the boy who'd been knocked away from it…