Chapter 41 - The Scarlet Stained Law

Unwritten
There was a sudden whistling sound through the air. Shepard jumped off the shuttle, quickly followed by Miranda and Jacob, just before a large shining rod pierced through the shuttle from above, pinning it to the ground. As the three attempted to recover to their feet, Remilia and Flandre landed in front of Rokiahi, Chamber and Void.

"We need to hurry," persuaded Remilia, taking Rokiahi and Rulia by the waist. As she flew off the ground, Flandre took Void by the arm and flew after her sister. Chamber followed, mumbling something about gender. But Flandre and Void were wrapped in a blue biotic barrier and were pulled towards the ground with a jolt.

Remilia growled as she saw this but continued flying towards the east. Flandre and Void hit the tarmac hard but were still being dragged along the ground towards Shepard's crew, all three capable of biotic powers. As Flandre struggled to stand up whilst being dragged, she was hit in the face with an explosive round, fired by Shepard. She cried out, more in anger than pain, not yet drawing blood. But before she could retaliate, she was lifted off the ground by another biotic field and then slammed into the ground with a crunch, breaking her jaw. Flandre stood up, a little disorientated, before being encased in ice by a relentless Shepard who performed a strong and fast biotic charge, hitting Flandre with full body force. As Flandre stumbled back, Shepard shot a full shotgun slug at point blank range into her chest. But Flandre did not buckle, grabbing onto Shepard's neck, pulling his face towards hers with a thunderous roar.

"Are we just going to leave them?" asked Rokiahi, attempting to loosen Rulia's unconscious arm lock round her neck.

"You are the target," reminded Remilia, holding Rokiahi under her left arm, Rulia under her right, "We are protecting you." Out of the blue, a sizeable dark projectile shot directly into Remilia's torso. Remilia could only glare at her attacker as she recoiled in midair, Alex Mercer with his full right arm through her chest. His arm, protruding out her back, ended with a spike, covered in red liquid.

As they began to fall, Remilia let go of Rulia to free up her right arm. Rokiahi took hold of Rulia round the chest to prevent herself choking from Rulia's weight round her neck. Remilia took a swipe at Alex's face with her sharp nails but he elongated his arm, increasing the distance between himself and Remilia. She instead dug her nails into his disfigured arm, quickly glowing red with her influence. Alex, shaping his left arm into a blade, cut his right one off, separating himself from his limb, a normal right arm rapidly growing back. He landed on his feet on the road below. The remains of his right arm in Remilia turned into black ash and blew away with the breeze, leaving a hole through her chest.

Remilia cursed loudly, "We don't have the time." She turned away from Alex and flew away, keeping below the height of the nearby buildings. But as she took a turn down another road, the passage down was completely blocked by a blue barrier, the number 4 positioned in the middle. Mr Fantastic's head could seen on top of the barrier watching Remilia approach. Remilia glowered, fully aware of Mr Fantastic's elastic powers, making him almost impervious to damage. She clicked her fingers, a flame lighting at the end of her finger tip. She threw the small flame towards Mr Fantastic which just hissed out on contact. Remilia's suspicious were correct, Invisible Woman was around, protecting Mr Fantastic with a transparent barrier protecting him from his weakness to fire and ice.

"We can't turn around," growled Remilia, "Not now." After a brief look up, Remilia flew above the houses. It was at this point Rokiahi realised why they had been told to stay low. The Gensokyo fleet had arrived over the city, in combat with Yamaha and North High allies on the ground. Fighters, spacecraft, those with the ability to fly, shooting all sorts of projectiles at their opponents, loud and low booms occurring throughout the area, buildings consistently lowering out the skyline.

As soon as Remilia appeared over the skyline, she was targeted. "Incoming Angel Frames," she sighed, her eyes on six approaching different coloured spacecraft from the side. She attempted to roll away from them but the fastest of Angel Frames, the red Kung Fu Fighter, launched a large metal claw, catching Remilia round the the torso. Thinking quickly, her right arm free due to the claw being unsuited for small objects, like people, Remilia swiped at and cut the cable connecting the claw to the craft. Then with a spread of her wings, she forced the powered down claw to release. As the claw fell towards the ground, it exploded forcefully enough to stagger Remilia's flight for a moment. Rokiahi was reminded of something.

"What happened to The Unwritten Law?" she called, over the whooshing of air passing by, "That explosion would have killed us. Well, I mean... us," implying the exclusion of Remilia.

"There is no Unwritten Law," answered Remilia, keeping an eye on the still fasting approaching Angel Frames, "Gensokyo means business. This is our last stand."

"What are the odds of winning?"

"Slim," judged Remilia, unlike her normally confident self. Her heart completely obliterated by Alex was regenerating. "We have brute strength but they have the numbers and resources by far."

"How long will we las-?"

"Hold that thought," interrupted Remilia, barrel-rolling towards the incoming Frames. The Kung Fu Fighter, now within shooting range, began heavy machine gun fire. Remilia, using her wings for extra control and movement, dodged every bullet, flying under the spacecraft, her attention on the second one.

The second fastest frame, the pink Lucky Star, was charging its laser cannon, firing just as Remilia had reached it. But Remilia dodged under and with great power behind her right hand forced the Lucky Star to aim higher, the laser cutting through the turning Kung Fu fighter ahead. The Fighter spun towards the ground, bellowing smoke. Remilia, summoning her weapon, Gungnir, once more, thrust it into the underside of the Lucky Star and swung towards the back engines. The loss of main power, took away the ship's ability to fly, causing it to fall past Remilia towards the Earth.

But unexpectedly, the sky was filled with yellow beams, expanding from the green Angel Frame. "The Harvester," groaned Remilia. As the yellow beams came in contact with the falling Lucky Star and the Kung Fu Fighter, repairing both of them immediately, both managing to regain control and bank upwards back into the sky, effectively negating Remilia's efforts to down them. Remilia turned to face the third fastest Angel Frame, the first two still in the act of recovering.

The light blue Trick Master had three floating diamond like objects surrounding it. At once, they each a small laser in Remilia's direction. Remilia swirled out the way, once again attempting to fly away to the east but was struck hard from behind. She rolled over on the surface of what hit her, holding onto Rokiahi tightly, who was still holding tightly onto Rulia. On her knees, Remilia looked up to see they were on the side wing of the Trick Master, somehow managed to have instantly jumped across the distance between them. But before she could stand up, a dagger stabbed the back of her right hand, pinning it to the wing. Another dagger was stabbed through her right ankle, pinning her foot to the wing as well, Remilia crying out in surprise. She immediately recognised the hilt of the dagger.

"You dog!" she shouted in fury, "Show yourself!" Without warning, she was thrust from the back through her still exposed heart, Remilia screaming out in pain, the organ raw from regeneration. Alex had managed to get back into the air, likely aided by the low flying Kung Fu Fighter, his right arm once more a spike through Remilia's back.

"Let go of me, Remilia!" ordered Rokiahi, urgently, "Free your left hand."

After a brief pause, Remilia released Rokiahi, who rolled onto one knee, drawing her assault rifle at Alex, Rulia comfortably on her back. But before she could pull the trigger, someone appeared, out of nowhere, directly in front of her on the wing. Izayoi Sakuya kicked Rokiahi's rifle upwards, took hold of Rokaiahi's jacket collar and with inhuman strength pushed Rokiahi backwards. Rookiahi stumbled back, unable to regain her footing on the still moving Frame, quickly going one step too far. As she toppled off the wing, Rokiahi could not help looking back at Sakuya's yellow eyes. It was the Sakuya that enabled the Trick Master, and her knives, to bend the rules of time.

"NO!" screamed Remilia in desperation as Rokiahi fell off the Frame. Rokiahi could only look down at the fast approaching ground below, holding tightly onto Rulia and her beret.

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