Ignacio vs. The Hallowed Titan

They charged at each other, but Ignacio was too fast. He ducked side to side, connecting blow after blow, the Hallowed Titan roared in fury as it stumbled backwards.

Ignacio thrust his arms back, magma javelins igniting in his hands. He began hacking and slashing away, leaving smoking black scars across the Titan’s body.

This, he thought, gritting his teeth as he roared. This is what happens when you take too much.

He raised his hands overhead and rammed the magma spines downward, leaving burning holes in the Hallowed Titans chest and neck. It gargled in pain, or defiance. Not that it mattered, it was-

Defiance?

He leapt backward as a giant white crystal fell, punching through the Hallowed Titan’s stomach. It lifted its shaking head, smoke curling from its wounds and maw. It stared at the gemstone impaling it, then at Ignacio. And its body began to shrink, the crystals in its hands losing their glow.

Ignacio let out a deep breath, looking up at the sky as a lone white portal closed.

Two down, he thought, turning to the Sentinel with a snarl.

Red and orange lights still danced across its back where Kiyomi and Dario fought, Daichi with them. He glanced at Koharu as she tried to trap the Manticore in a light-cage, Shun keeping from descending too low.

Four to go.

Kaito took a sip of coffee, placing the cup back on his plate with a clink. Malena placed her chin atop her interlocked fingers, staring at him with those sharp, thoughtful blue eyes.

“You wouldn’t be able to live with yourself if they died out there,” she said, the steam from her coffee curling in front of her nose.

Kaito raised his eyebrows. “Yes, I would.”

“Not when you knew there was something you could do to stop it,” she said.

“Helping those two was their choice,” Kaito said, poking a finger against the white and blue tablecloth. “I told them not to do it. They didn’t listen. If they die, that’s on them, not me.”

“You’re not listening, Kai,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee.

“What do you want me to do, Mal? Tell me in plain terms so I can hear you, then,” he said, scootching his chair forward.

A robot waiter rolled up to their table, a fresh pot of coffee in its clawed hand.

“More. Coffee?” it asked.

“No, thank you,” Malena said.

“How would you rate my-”

“Piss off,” Kaito spat.

The robot turned around, and wheeled away.

Malena sighed, a slight smile on her lips. “I want you to send a message to Lady Shidare. That’s all. Tell her what’s going on, and where. And ask her to send in Eclipse.”

“Ha! That’s a good one,” Kaito said.

She clenched her jaws. “This isn’t funny, Kaito.”

He reached for his coffee, and his cybernetic finger twitched. He sighed, balling it into a fist.

“You know what she would be doing with that request, Mal?”

She tucked her chin down. “She’d say, ‘anything for you, sweet Kaito. Please impregnate me.’ Like she does with most Cypher users of your stature.”

Kaito sighed. “She’d be sending Eclipse to their execution.”

Malena titled her head, batting her eyelashes. “You’re sending Shun and Dario to their execution by not giving your approval.”

Kaito shrugged. “Hey, at least we’d be rid of Dario at long last,” he said.

Malena chuckled, and he smiled. He smiled. And just as quickly as it formed it faded.

Will you live with yourself if you could’ve stopped Dario and Shun from dying?

He ran his fingers through his hair, pressing his palms into his eyes.

“You know where to go, Kai,” Malena said. “I’m just your wings, remember?”

He smiled, lowering his hands from his face to stare at her. “You know exactly what to say and when to say it, don’t you?”

She gestured to the empty cafe. “And where to take you to say it.”

He smirked, dropping his hands to the table. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll send a message to Lady Shidare. But you do know that she needs the House’s approval to deploy Eclipse, right?”

Malena gave a little nod, taking a sip of her coffee as she winked. “I know.”