Late afternoon in Z-City.
Caspian patted his jumpsuit. Where's my phone? He discovered quickly a near-invisible tear in the lining. Did I drop it back at Sonic's?
No time to backtrack now. As his knuckles already rapped against the Blizzard Group HQ's heavy steel door.
Rover sat by his side, brushing up against his leg.
Caspian glanced up at the camera above, waiting for a hopeful signal.
On a promising note, he didn't wait long before hearing multiple locks click open.
The door swung inward, revealing Fubuki. She wore her favorite dark royal-green dress, the one that clung to her frame like a shadow given form. Minus her white pearl necklaces or the long fur coat she liked to drape over it.
"Hey…"
"Hi." She gave him a flawless smile, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then stepped forward and knelt. "You really brought him here for me."
"Of course. He'll make an eminent member of your Blizzard Group. And you already know what type of food he prefers."
She stretched out her hand and said, "Premium beef..."
Rover sniffed once, twice, then rewarded her with two quick, loving licks before darting past her into the HQ.
"That answers that," Caspian said. "While he gets settled in, do you want to grab dinner?"
Fubuki rose, scrutinizing him with her mint-green eyes. "Your reasoning is laughable." She paused, then said in a softened tone, "But yes, I would… though only if I get to choose where."
"Sure thing. Mind if we make a quick stop somewhere first?"
¤ ¤ ¤
Sonic zoomed past Genos in a silver streak, his blade severing the cyborg's arm clean at the shoulder. When he gave a quick glance back, his pupils dilated — the severed arm's fist was already rocketing toward his face. He twisted aside, but the glancing blow sent him smashing through a concrete building.
"'Incinerate!'"
Dammit!
He flickered clear of the attack's range and landed on the opposing roadway.
Sonic's irritation flared. Every time he lined up a killing strike, Genos somehow dodged. The cyborg's natural reflexes couldn't avoid all of his attacks, no way.
"'Accelerate.'"
Even worse…
"How careless, 'Speed-o'-Sound Sonic.'" Genos' voice rang out behind him. "'Machine Gun Blows!'"
…this fucker thought himself faster!
"'Ten Shadows Burial!'"
Ten wraithlike afterimages burst from Sonic, swarming Genos in every direction. The incoming flurry of punches could only hit air.
"Hah! So pitiful. How's it feel to miss that hard with so much confidence?" While showing off his unmatched speed, one of his afterimages spotted something in the distance: a female ninja, watching. Further behind her stood the forest's edge.
Did she come with him? An inculpable grin curled his lips.
"Alright hero, let's see you save that woman!" Sonic launched skyward in a blur. "'Exploding Shuriken Ferocious Barrage!'"
¤ ¤ ¤
The world slowed for Genos. Though that woman may've gotten under his skin, he wouldn't watch her — or anyone else — die. Letting the tragedy of his past or the events with Gravitic Maiden repeat in his presence was something he wouldn't allow.
Also, the thought of preventing her from dying, especially after asking to die, pleased him. With the hope being it would serve as payback and get under her skin.
Calculations zapped through his mind. He could reach her before the shurikens did. But that was all.
"'Accelerate!'" Genos deactivated his Multidirectional Evasive Boosters. Without doing so, they would prevent him from doing what he wished.
No time to ponder why she'd followed him here. In a heartbeat, he was before her, arms locking around her frame as the world erupted from behind. Hurtling them toward the forest's edge in a storm of fire and shrapnel.
The damage was severe; he knew that, but Genos still twisted midair, shielding her and slamming into the pavement. Sparks scattered before everything stopped, his head cracking hard against a tree.
"Why…?" He caught her dazed voice through the ringing in his ears, but there wasn't a second to spare. No chance for respite.
"'Hail of Carnage!'"
Move! Genos' grand willpower surged, raw and absolute. Power coursed through him as he forced his battered body upright, the female ninja still cradled tight in his arms. Without pause, he bolted into the dense foliage of the woodland.
"You think you can escape me?!"
¤ ¤ ¤
A soft cry escaped Fubuki's lips as the pavement dissolved beneath her feet. The sudden 'Hyperspace Gate' swallowed them whole before spitting her out onto the cracked concrete of some desolate district.
"Honestly…" She brushed the wrinkles from her dress with sharp swipes. "Can't you create a gate that we don't have to fall through?"
"You have to admit, this way's better."
Her hands instinctively shot to her hips. "Why would I have to admit…" Her words trailed off mid-sentence when the acrid scent of scorched rubble assailed her nose.
"There it is." Caspian stepped forward and bent down, plucking what was presumably his cellphone off the ground. "What happened here? Actually, better question… why's everything but the spot around my phone scorched, sliced, and shattered?"
Fubuki's eyes swept the surroundings. Collapsed buildings, craters, melted concrete. Destruction stretched far, yet as he said, a perfect ring around the phone remained untouched.
"Those three… 'Gravity Tether.'"
Something gentle looped around her waist. Then gravity vanished. Fubuki gasped as she drifted upward like a balloon. "C-Caspian!"
Above her, a ripple of motion — another gate.
They reappeared above a forest canopy. She barely had time to register the new location before realizing they weren't alone; three others floated nearby.
"Sorry about the gate incident and this."
His apology and smile settled the stirring in her chest. "It's fine. Th—"
"Master!"
"My fated rival!"
"You are Blast?"
Fubuki giggled. "Genos and 'Speed-o'-Sound Sonic.' These two really are just like you showed us."
"Ha. No doubt about it. I suspect even more so than originally." Caspian pulled the trio closer. I'm Blast? As for you two… my disciples shouldn't be trying to kill each other."
"I'm never joining your group!"
"Master, say it ain't so… I-I will accept your decision to become a ninja, but how could you expect me to accept him?!"