Fran's chain hit something solid, but it wasn't the Valkyrie. No, it was some sort of machina mook. Gritting her teeth Fran pulled herself towards the soldier, her axe ready to smash her.
"Get out of my way!"Shizuka struggled against the demon's chain; she couldn't cut through it and she couldn't pull her shield off. She'd have to choice but to let the shield go so she could dodge the demon's axe, rolling off to the side while taking out her pulsar pistol. However she couldn't shoot at the demon, as she was too close to Gwynn. A stray shot could end up killing the holy warrior, and Shizuka wasn't going to make that mistake a second time.
"Tch!" Shizuka had to stay moving, as the battle was too chaotic for her to stand still. She could be attacked at anytime, so she needed to stay mobile. And the only path right now was towards the demon. At least as Shizuka ran closer, the chances of accidentally hitting Gwynn lessen, so she fired her pistol at the shemale demon before lunging with her sword.
Fran raised her massive axe to shield her from the soldier's bullets. While she could have tanked a few shots, she didn't want to get perforated by the hail of bullets. While Fran was defending herself, she also smashed her vial of poison onto the smaller blade. Now all she needed was a cut, and the Valkyrie was hers. She'd save that poison for her, leaving the bigger business end for mooks.
"So you want to play? Then let's have some fun!" The soldier tried to stab Fran in the heart, but her armor was able to deflect it off at an angle. Fran than hooked her axe to the soldier's sword, swinging it harshly to disarm her.
Somehow, despite wearing a glorified bra, Shizuka's blade bounced off the demon's armor.
"No - It didn't even touch her armor. It must be a force field!" The demon then tried to disarm Shizuka, her blade trapped within the axe's crook. There was a forceful yank which nearly disarmed her, but Shizuka wasn't going to give up that easily. She struggled a bit at first, before she raised her gun at Fran and fired at her from pointblank.
When Fran saw the soldier raise her gun she had to disengage. Instead of trying to take the sword out, Fran simply made sure it wasn't in the way when she rolled off towards the side, throwing a wild swing of her axe to cleave the soldier's arm. Or smash her gun, whichever happened.
Shizuka's bullets ended up hitting nothing but air when the demon rolled away from her. Though she didn't see, Shizuka instinctively knew that the demon was going to try to cut her from the side. So she activated her Force Shield in her left arm, the one holding her pistol, as she turned and faced the demoness. Unlike Gwynn's shield her force shield was much larger, capable of covering Shizuka from head-to-toe, as well as anyone else standing beside her. With her guard up Shizuka charged, raising her shield just a few inches so she could smash it into the demon's foot, knock her to the ground, and stab her.
Fran's axe smashed into some sort of tangible force field the soldier had.
"Two shields? Are you such a coward that you need two shields and armor to fight!?" Flourishing her axe, Fran did not back down. If she couldn't go forward, she would come from behind. Using the Bond of Matrimony she hooked into the ceiling, rising up so she could get the drop on the soldier. She raised her axe high above her head and slammed down with as much force as she could muster, which would certainly be enough to cut through the floor, if not shatter into the level below.
Seeing the demon rise into the air gave Shizuka enough time to switch the weapons in her hands, allowing her to hold her pistol in her right and the sword in her left. When the demon came down, Shizuka tilted her shield at an angle so the demon's axe would just slide down her barrier while Shizuka started shooting at the demon. And because she was falling, the demon wouldn't have anywhere else to go but into the path of her bullets.
A few bullets managed to cut into Fran's face and exposed body, but nothing that would have stopped her. Her axe struck the barrier, with Fran using all her force to wedge it directly against the shield. Her feet were planted against the shield before Fran slide down the force field, her axe digging into the floor underneath. But it was all part of her plan. When the axe was buried deep enough, Fran wrenched it right out, right from underneath Shizuka's shield to get past her guard. Following the momentum of her axe Fran slashed upwards towards the soldier's back, hoping to bury her blade deep into the soldier's body so she could slam it into the ground.
Shizuka turned her gun towards Fran intending to shoot her. But when she did, she only heard a click.
"Shit! Not now!" To make matter's worse, the demon somehow thought up of a way to get past Shizuka's shield, finding it's edge and jerking it out of the way. A tactic of a brute, but it worked. Shizuka, for the moment, had her back turned towards Fran. She tried to turn back to strike her with the sword, but Shizuka moved a moment too late. The axe connected to Shizuka's helmet, shattering it and knocking the girl against the wall. Blood splattered on Fran's face as Shizuka tried to open her eyes. Her helmet managed to make the blow non-lethal, but her helmet was destroyed now. Shizuka's bright blue hair flowed down her shoulders as she tried to stand up and regain her footing.
Fran had the upper hand now. She didn't let the soldier go when she smashed into the wall. If anything, it made Fran want her even more; she would take the girl as a prisoner, assuming she didn't accidentally kill her first. Maybe she could indulge herself a little in the midst of all this chaos, before going back for her prize. Still, she had to deal with this one first. So Fran dashed towards the soldier, raising her axe high above her head and dropping it right towards the girl's face.
Shizuka raised her shield arm up, but she could tell that her barrier was just about done. Her back was literally against the wall, and Shizuka couldn't take out her rifle before the demon could just cut her down. She had to fight her using the sword, but against someone as fast and relentless as her, Shizuka needed help. Hibiki could have shot this demon a thousand times over, but little did Shizuka know Hibiki was preoccupied with her own battle. Things were going from bad to worse for Shizuka. Then her shield broke.
As preoccupied as Shizuka and Fran must have been, they likely didn't consider the effect their duel had on other's present. Regia had been charging her weapon in an attempt to cut down the oncoming Demons, but the destruction of the floor sent her careening after the brawling pair shortly after they disappeared to the lower decks. The charging process had rendered her incapable of flight for a brief time, certainly more than it would take to harmlessly reach the floor below, and her rifle had fallen from her grasp at some point.
"Acquiring new target."Regia saw that Fran had her fellow Machina cornered and reacted with the only weapon she had that could reach. She swung her ice sword downwards, watching it extend as she fell till it was long enough to spear Fran through the back if she failed to notice.
Fran raised her axe once more to slam it down onto the soldier's shield, but when she did she noticed a shadow looming over her. She turned to swing, her blade connecting to a large blade of ice. A new opponent arrived.
"Oh? You look cool~ Ice to meet you!" Fran jumped against the soldier's shield, pushing herself off to slam the girl into the wall while she propelled herself towards the new opponent, her axe poised to ram into her enemy.
The swing of Fran's axe shattered the overextended blade in half, leaving it a longsword with a jagged end that dripped liquid nitrogen readily. Regia landed in tense crouch without the opportunity or interest in responding to the ice based pun presented by Fran. With only a sword and solitary injector on her person, it wasn't the best odds for the Machina, but she had dealt with worse. Rather then take the ax head on, Regia launched herself to the side with a parting slash that sprayed Fran's face with a gout of the sub zero fluids as she fled the axes' reach.
Shielding herself from Regia's attack, Fran wasn't expecting to be attacked with water. The ice coated Fran's axe and made it heavy, turning her blades into clubs. She snarled at her opponent, raising her axe up to smash the ice off her weapon, but failing to do so.
"Dammit, dammit! Love Tap doesn't like a cold shoulder!" The ice made it hard for Fran to lift her axe, but now she had a heavier bludgeon. Dragging it across the ground Fran resumed her attack, this time she started swinging before she reached her cyborg opponent, spinning around. The extra weight gave Fran the momentum she needed to become a vicious whirlwind of swings, and near by enemies both Machina and Demon alike were smashed out of the way.
It was disappointing to find she had only dulled the axe and failed in blinding Fran herself, but the Machina settled for what she could get. She was forced to stay in motion to evade the maelstrom of blows that drew closer with every frenzied swing sent her way, and Regia knew that she would scrapped if she were caught in it. Lacking a direct means to stop Fran, Regia swung her sword downwards before her to freeze the floor along Fran's path in the hopes that her momentum could be used against the Demon.
Fran continued to spin faster and faster towards the icy robot, but when she hit the icy floor she was starting to lose her footing. She had to lower her body to prevent herself from toppling over, but she was starting to slow down as her axe dragged across the ice. It wasn't going to be long before she'd loose momentum and with it, her power. So Fran did the only thing she could do. Timing herself just right, she tossed her frozen axe right towards Regia, using the speed from her swings to make the axe fly fast from her hands and towards the cyborg.
Shooting wasn't really Shizuka's forte. It was always Hibiki who was the better sniper between the two. But since Shizuka knew attacking the demon directly was foolish, she needed a new approach. And that approach was putting as many bullets into the monsters' back as she could. Taking aim through her sights, Shizuka fired a burst of bullets into Fran's back, right as she tossed her axe towards Regia. Now without that massive lump of steel, the demon couldn't shield herself.
The sheer force behind the axe throw was a truly impressive thing, and if it hadn't just cleaved Regia's sword arm off she may have. It was a small blessing that Machina could ignore minor inconveniences like that in order to snatch her arm out of the air. Regia dashed forward with her sword arm bared as her injector tube shot forth in advance to coil around the succubus; 'sword' and pierce it with the needle of liquid nitrogen.
"Freeze, or I freeze it off for you."Fran missed.
Fran missed She couldn't believe her luck. A few bullets hit her back and Fran was forced onto her knees. When she tried to get up the cyborg was right on her, a frosty tendril wrapped around Fran's most precious weapon. A needle peirced the flesh and already Fran's body went cold. Through gritted teeth she smiled at the cyborg.
"Heh heh heh... Chill. I won't do anything." Fran raised her hands up in surrender. She had served her purpose, seeing that Victoire was now gone.
It was clear that, while the Elicitor was still in their control and tunneling away on the now corrected course to Machina territory, their prize and the infiltrator Diana had been stolen away in the chaos. Gwynn had perished sometime in the fighting, overrun by the many corrupted Machina that were now all eradicated with their leader's departure. Regia had no more words for Fran, raising her sword arm high before driving the pommel down into the Demon's temple to rob her of consciousness.
"Unit Shizuka, apprehend this Demon with extreme prejudice, Our efforts can not be without some tiny merit, and presently she is all we have to show.""Roger." Shizuka bound the demon's hands together, dragging her body across the ground and back towards the sticky traps Hibiki had set up. This way the demon couldn't escape on her own. Soon Hibiki arrived, her stalker cloak deactivating. The two sisters knew that the demon's retreating didn't mean victory. It meant they had what they wanted. They looked solemnly towards the cargo container, knowing that despite their best efforts, it was all for naught.
"Sis... What's going to happen now?"Hibiki looked at her sister's face. She had a large scar oozing blood on her chin, and her sister reached out to wipe the blood away.
"We're going to get her back. Next time, we'll be on the attack."@Ryonara@Lonewolf685