Sun Never Sets 2: Fires of Friendship

[Nocturna Cathedral, Main Hall]
[Friday, 4:45]

Starlight's blade met Daybreaker's, both weapons emitting a shower of sparks as they collided and attempted to wear away at the other. This close, one would notice the subtle vibration and pulse of Starlight's sword behaved in the exact same way as Daybreaker's, though Starlight's crackled with a noticeable teal tinge of power compared to Daybreaker's pure white. The revered, legendary knight was not in possession of the revered, legendary blade bearing her name- instead she wielded what was a relatively ordinary and low power nanosword. This fact would be strange to some, but Starlight knew the mythical devil sword was in the hands of another. Flash looked on in both shock and disbelief as Starlight held her own against a presumed demigod, unable to fully parse what he was seeing. Daybreaker was a heroic figure that sealed away the demon realm two thousand years ago, and yet here she stood in the wake of all this destruction. Here to smite the worshippers of the Sister of Darkness, perhaps?

No. Flash had personally witnessed the reunion of the two legendary sisters, saw them set their differences aside and embrace each other in the aftermath of an explosive conflict. They'd disappeared with the sunrise, but Flash got the impression they both intended to live quietly as mortals, as Daybreaker had for the thousand years prior to her sister's return from banishment. It very much seemed they wanted to mend their relationship and seek out peace for themselves, with the expressed desires for the balance of the world to no longer rest on their immortal shoulders. Even if Flash witnessed only part of it, it felt like a clear resolution.

Why was she here, then? What changed?

The questions were pointless in the moment as Flash watched Starlight valiantly duel the once-heroic figure, the cyborg inevitably showing weakness to a veteran swordsman without peer. Starlight cut off Daybreaker's sword as it swung for her relentlessly, holding it in a strong overhead block with her own blade, but this only invited Daybreaker to kick her in the stomach as her arms became occupied.

Daybreaker's dense metal boot sent Starlight rocketing back, spinning her onto her side to then slam against the floor of the hall's center aisle. She had limited interaction with Daybreaker the last time they crossed paths, but the way she fought seemed ever so slightly slanted from what Starlight remembered. There was a malevolent kind of grace in her attacks, and elegance formed through calculated efficiency. A disoriented Starlight rose warily, only hearing heavy footsteps echoing throughout the open space, each one focused and intent. All the while, as she had this entire time, Daybreaker held her sword in just one hand, keeping it low and pointed down from her side as her chest and chin stayed fully aligned with her target.

Gunshots popped off to Starlight's left side, Flash rose from his place in the pews to fire at the approaching Daybreaker with unflinching resolve. Daybreaker's gaze didn't break from Starlight as her sword lifted and slid between blocking positions within fractions of a second, rendering Flash's pistol completely useless with zero effort. Mother Evershade stood from the other side and fired her lever action shotgun alongside Flash's volley of pistol fire, but Daybreaker's deflection of the buckshot spread was just as total and thorough. Starlight sheathed her sword and instead drew out her revolver, her power cells glimmering momentarily as she lined her sights up on the approaching foe.

Time slowed down for her, her Bullet Reflex engaging and giving Starlight all the time she needed to ensure the perfect shot, but even as she focused in on Daybreaker's core there was unexpected resistance. She showed no signs of surprise, her right arm moved in total synchronicity with Starlight pulling her trigger. Starlight watched her bullets travel in slowed time, only for Daybreaker to swat them away with her sword with a perfectly smooth level of premeditation. Looking closer, she wasn't even deflecting them, the edge of her blade was perfectly meeting each bullet in flight and cutting it in half with its own momentum, then sending the two halves ricocheting behind her. It was unnerving, because Starlight sensed no magic coming from Daybreaker whatsoever. She was blocking bullets with what seemed to be raw reflexes. This had to be her.

The next moment, Starlight saw both Flash and Evershade jumping in to keep Daybreaker from reaching her. Another crack from Evershade's shotgun lead her into close quarters, attempting to drive her barrel straight past Daybreaker's sword so she couldn't possibly deflect her shots. The move failed though, as Daybreaker leaned to the side and twisted her body, letting the shotgun pellets hit nothing but the air behind her. Daybreaker countered with a fast jab of her sword to Evershade's side, and though Evershade was able to block the swing with the body of her weapon, Daybreaker's foot immediately caught her on the other side. There was a crunch as Evershade promptly was thrown to the front of the room, only stopping as she crashed against the steps up to the altar. She let out a pained groan and dropped her weapon, struggling to get herself back to her feet.

Flash was far more swift in his attack, leading with an elbow stroke and then snapping his knee up to take on Daybreaker with direct physical attacks. She allowed herself to take the elbow and knee straight on, and he found out the hard way that she was wearing some form of plated armor beneath her cloak. His strikes, though powerful, did very little, but he didn't let the fact that he'd just struck a metal wall slow his momentum. He brought his pistol up and fired twice, forcing Daybreaker to step back and deflect the shots, only for him to then drop to a knee and sweep across at her feet as she shuffled back.

His boot caught her ankle and she actually stumbled for a moment, only to immediately put her foot down and redirect into a sword slash at him. Flash quickly threw himself onto his back, holstering his pistol and bringing out his shotgun as he lay on the ground. The much longer weapon was brought to bear, the slug round erupting out of it another surprise for Daybreaker as she made to deflect it. But the solid, steel cored projectile would surely power right through her sword, and so with only a fraction of a second to adjust course Daybreaker ducked down and twirled herself out of the way with the first hint of panic streaking across her lips. Flash racked the handle of his shotgun and let another slug round her way as he jumped back to his feet. Again, she couldn't deflect the shot, so she was forced to dodge.

Flash checked his surroundings as Daybreaker recovered from her sudden evasive movement. Starlight was behind him, and she was bringing her sword out to step in on Daybreaker. Mother Evershade was still grounded at the front of the room, clearly too injured to continue fighting. Raven was...

Where had Raven gone? Flash hadn't seen her leave. She still had to be in the room, she was just hiding somewhere. She was his priority, he needed to ensure she didn't escape, but...

A straight edged blade came for Flash, preceding the flowing, white cloaked body of Daybreaker making her move. He only had time to take a single step back, but Starlight's sword intercepted Daybreaker's, bracing against her with another rigid bind.

For a moment, Daybreaker seemed to pause, as if in awe there was someone fast enough to cut her off. She and Starlight met eyes as they stepped into each other's push, but Flash still couldn't make out Daybreaker's face beneath her hood from his place behind Starlight. He couldn't see what Starlight saw, but he partially understood why Daybreaker then paused when he heard her stern voice in the faintest of whispers.

"You... Where have I seen you before?"

"Forgot about me already?" Starlight seemed just as confused as Flash, but kept her mind occupied with holding against the clash with Daybreaker. She moved her feet to the side and tilted her body, allowing Flash the opportunity to shoot over her shoulder.

His shotgun came up, and Daybreaker leaned back just in time for his muzzle to flash and a chunk of lead to shoot downrange and smash through the altar behind her. In that same lean she jabbed at Starlight, forcing her to back away with a block and by proxy shifting Flash as well. Starlight only let one more attack come in, deflecting Daybreaker's sword at the tip before jumping back and letting Flash pace in front of her, his shotgun shouldered and ready to fire again.

This slug barely glanced off of her shoulder this time, again confirming some kind of armor beneath her cloak, but the fabric itself did not tear. With Flash at the front, Daybreaker moved forward again, but he and Starlight just switched positions and she intercepted any incoming sword strikes.

"Starlight, we need to get Evershade out of here."

"We need to kill Daybreaker first!"

Daybreaker seemed to relax as Flash and Starlight squared up their stances. She looked over them, still thoroughly unamused with their resistance.

"I don't think you can accomplish both of those things right now." Daybreaker said.

Starlight and Flash gave each other quick glances, but didn't give any ground to Daybreaker.

"This conflict doesn't involve you two children." Daybreaker spoke roughly, her head lowering and her stance staying overall composed. "If you care about the future of this world, you'll go back to whoever sent you and tell them you've failed your missions."

"Not until you hand over the sword fragments," Starlight said.

"Hand them over? To you?" Daybreaker spoke with a very calm derision. "You have no idea what kind of danger we're in, do you?"

"What are you talking about?" Starlight didn't let her guard falter to curiosity.

There wouldn't be time for her question to be answered though, as the fully armored body of Commander Hurricane would suddenly burst through the main hall's doors with the force of a tank cannon, slamming the walls and causing Flash and Starlight to throw themselves to the floor. The undead warrior tumbled through the air and landed on his back, still undead but with his armor scorched as he stared up at his master in a daze.

"You're certainly taking a lot of beatings today, Hurricane." Daybreaker said.

"It's them. The imposter..." He rasped. "They're here!"

Hurricane rolled himself to his knees and stood with as much urgency as he spoke. There would be no room to wonder what had just kicked him through the door, as a persistently dark aura and feeling of certain death would follow him slowly through the threshold of this holy place. Even as a living corpse, Hurricane's life and afterlife seemed to flash before his eyes before he steeled himself with indestructible bravery to face this new opponent.

Flash and Starlight both understood the looming sense of dread. A tall, looming figure in full midnight dark plate armor stepped into the room, a jagged, broken spike on the forehead of their domed helmet and with a slitted visor masking their face. Their shoulder pauldrons came to wicked points, and their chestplate looked as if it'd been beaten in with a pollax, yet it still bore the iconic crescent moon across the front on full display. Over their shoulder they carried a massive zweihander sword, with a crooked hook shaped crossguard in just one hand. A cape of pure, pitch black shadow trailed them as they approached, each heavy footstep rivaling the severity of Daybreaker's own.

The Shadow Angel stood beneath the overhanging balcony and stared down Daybreaker as Hurricane righted himself. This was the same demon Starlight encountered near the river, and the one that captured Flash at the farmhouse. This demon appeared as the ringleader of the darkest forces at play here, and their intimidation factor was beyond comparison.

"You..." Daybreaker finally raised her head to address the Shadow Angel. Flash saw the exact same eyes he saw the night of the Canterlot City Incident, and strands of the same faded, rosy pink hair he expected her to have. Her face matched his memory as well, though she looked less youthful than he remembered, likely an effect of her relinquishing the last of her magic. As far as Flash could tell, this really was her.

"Tread carefully, demon," Daybreaker warned. "Your master's days are numbered."

The Shadow Angel didn't seem to even register Starlight or Flash as they slowly inched themselves away from the building tension. Daybreaker and Hurricane were their primary targets, and nothing would break their focus away from them.

Hurricane looked back to the still prone Evershade at the front of the room.

"Have you discovered the location of the final fragment?" Hurricane asked.

"Yes." Daybreaker replied. "We are free to leave."

"Good, because I've already ordered my men to retreat, and the dragon has been bested."

As if on cue, a group of black cloaked figures with a purple aura emanating from their eyes dropped in from the second floor seating rows, carrying wooden-framed revolvers and curved sabers. Nocturna Witches, but ones that were clearly overtaken by demonic forces. They all pointed their weapons in towards Hurricane and Daybreaker, not hesitating or fearing either of the legendary figures. Six of them moved in from either side, and six more waited with their guns drawn. Hurricane's sword came out, and Daybreaker's eyes rose to count the opponents surrounding her.

At once, the six possessed witches all moved in to attack, but both Hurricane and Daybreaker moved in perfect step with each other. Hurricane stopped three of the incoming swords with a single swing, and then switched weapons to his meteor flail, taking the solid, blunt end of his chained weapon and smashing it against the closest of the witches to him. There was a surge of lightning and a thunderclap as the witch's body was launched in the other direction, and then another startling crack as Hurricane pulled the chain of his weapon tight and whipped it into the second stunned witch. The third witch saw the rebound and jumped over the chain, but Hurricane angled the swing up and over his head, passing it over his ally and forcing it to fall right in front of his shoulder. With his off hand, he punched the bladed metal weight that his chain commanded and knocked it right into the last witch in front of him, taking her off her feet despite her attempt to hold up a block.

Daybreaker nimbly ducked under Hurricane's chain, driving her sword past her first defender's guard and stabbing the witch with no trouble whatsoever. The trouble arose as the Shadow Angel's blade came crashing down at her, the massive weapon cutting off her next move and forcing her focus off of the two other witches engaging her. Daybreaker leaned and ducked out of the Shadow Angel's quick, precise swipes, not daring to clash swords with the overwhelmingly massive weapon they wielded.

Behind her back, Daybreaker deflected one of the witch's swords, slashed through the partner standing next to her as she made for a followup strike, and then pierced the initial offender through the heart as she recoiled. As she prepared to strike at the Angel, Hurricane's meteor flail swung around and wrapped the Angel's blade before they could fully swing it. Hurricane pulled the chain tight and the Angel reeled back, but they still managed an unexpected kick in Daybreaker's direction as she went for the throat. The Angel successfully kicked Daybreaker's weapon from her hand, and in the process caught their balance to reel Hurricane back their way.

Hurricane took his sword in his off hand and stabbed at the Angel, but the Angel was able to expertly catch and hold his sword still by its blade in an ironclad grip. The two armored warriors each had the other's blade locked, but Hurricane's meteor flail gave him far more leverage and he twisted the Angel to the ground. Unfortunately, more possessed witches would arrive to support the Angel, firing pistols that put serious dents in the back of his armor. Hurricane was forced to turn and face them, putting away his flail and putting both hands on his sword to charge it with a pulse of arcane lightning.

Daybreaker and the Angel were both weaponless now, but the Angel was far closer to their weapon. Rather than run for hers, Daybreaker just jumped for the demon knight, her foot leading the way for a kick of her own on them. The Angel reeled back and brought up their arm to block, but then immediately threw a hammer fist into Daybreaker's side. It would've hit her, but she cartwheeled up and over onto the adjacent pews, landing perfectly on the back ridge of the seat and balancing into a spin kick level with the Angel's head. Rather than block, the Angel spread their stance and ducked, returning with a high overhead kick targeting Daybreaker's center. She jumped away, but the Angel's kicked shattered the wooden seating completely, sending long chunks of wood into the air and forcing Daybreaker yet another few steps back.

The Angel recovered their sword, but Daybreaker was now holding a particularly large shard of broken wood in her right hand and wielding it as its own weapon. As the Angel took a proper fighting stance, Daybreaker circled them at an angle, bringing the wooden shard past the Angel's predictable swing and preemptively thrusting it forward. The Angel kept their blade held in a high guard, slightly angled back and ready to strike, but Daybreaker was consistently in a fool's guard, threatening to poke with a totally inferior weapon from any angle. There was a moment of recognition, the Angel pretending to commit to an attack. but the moment their feet shifted and suddenly canceled their strike, Daybreaker's momentum did the same, except she kept herself committed to her adjusted attack angle. The Angel properly stepped back to counter, but as if expecting such a response Daybreaker twirled her body and pulled her makeshift weapon in, ultimately breaking the shard of wood over the Angel's head as the Angel totally misplaced their guard.

The Angel stumbled back, but before Daybreaker could follow up with another attack more witches came after her, and so she threw the shortened stump of wood towards the furthest witch and shifted her left shoulder upwards. The jagged wooden stump flew with enough force to pierce its target through the stomach and took the witch to the floor. In the same moment, Daybreaker's cloak finally fluttered upwards, allowing all to see a glimpse of the stony grey body armor covering her entire form beneath the white garment, and furthermore allowing access to the secondary weapon she'd kept hidden all this time.

In her left hand Daybreaker held a quite modern looking firearm, a black, boxy gun only the length of her forearm and fitting snugly in her palm at its grip. It was all black, made of some military-grade polymer, and had a short barrel protruding from its front, which was strangely right over the trigger guard. Unlike most conventional firearms, the trigger mechanism was far to the front of the weapon, and the magazine lay vertically along the top of its frame, loading ammunition towards the back end of the weapon. Right above that was a railed sighting system that helped form a little groove for the magazine to slide under.

Daybreaker let the weapon twirl around her thumb, the back end of the weapon having a thumbhole for an easy grip, and then once in came into forward position she pulled the trigger and let loose an terrifyingly fast rain of bullets at her given targets. The weapon's rate of fire was immense, but she controlled the recoil readily and turned what would've been a wild spray into a focused stream. All three of the witches doubled over before they even got close to Daybreaker, a dozen bullet wounds perforating each of them from across the room.

The Angel's sword came around again for her, but as expected she avoided the attack and brought her machine gun to bear on the demon. Unbothered, the Angel kept their sword propped over their shoulder and reached beneath their cape, producing a smooth, short barreled, black and red lever-action shotgun from their back. With their left arm they guided their gun to meet Daybreaker's, cutting her potential shot off and being the third being to threaten her with a shotgun over the span of this encounter.

As both of their guns went off in separate directions, they kept up their fast and frantic close quarters fight, this time with just their guns in hand. Flash watched with concern, but he and Starlight had successfully gotten Mother Evershade up and moving away from Daybreaker and Hurricane's back to back battle. Flash's eyes snapped forward, a stray possessed witch had made to cut them off as they moved along the farthest end of the hall. Starlight was occupied, currently supporting Evershade with an arm around her and helping her keep a walking pace. Starlight only was able to draw her revolver and fire once at the possessed witch, and her target would dance around her bullet easily with sword extended.

Flash however was far quicker to react. As the witch dodged, he slammed his shoulder into her and readied his shotgun at point blank range, firing straight through her and delivering a solid hit to her forehead with the back end of his shotgun when she refused to go down. The witch tried again with her sword, but Flash guarded against the attack with the body of his shotgun and again kicked her back against the wall. She was stunned, an easy target to shoot, but when Flash racked his shotgun and pulled the trigger, he heard the inevitable hollow clack of an empty magazine. As the witch regained her focus, she felt Flash promptly pressing her against the wall by her neck, the barrel of his shotgun pinning her by the throat and inhibiting her movement as he fished through the pouches on his belt for something. Keeping the pressure as concentrated as he could, Flash pulled back his shotgun handle, dropped a single shell directly into the chamber through the gate on the side, and then snapped the shotgun back shut. Ready to fire, he backed off of the pinned enemy and did just that, blasting the possessed witch again as she blindly lunged forward at him. The slug struck through her head this time, properly dropping her against the wall for good this time.

Flash kept pressing forward, leading the way for Starlight to carry Evershade to an actual place of safety, opting for the pillar closest to the entrance. It was out of direct sight of the proper battle in the center of the room, but they could duck behind enough things for the time being.

"Stop..." Evershade said, a pained croak in her throat just barely making its way out of her. "We can't leave, not yet..."

She pushed away from Starlight and immediately collapsed again, her left leg clearly incapable of supporting her.

"Listen, lady," Starlight said, "Your people need you alive."

"No," came her grim reply, "My people need Daybreaker dead."

Flash shook his head and knelt to her level. "You're not going to kill her in your state."

"It doesn't matter, she knows the location of all of the devil sword fragments." Evershade shifted to a sitting position, leaning back against a column supporting the upper seating platform. "She needs to be stopped before..."

"I'll do it," Starlight said. "Part of my mission is to kill her anyway. But first..."
Starlight drew her blade and pointed it towards Evershade, eliciting a surprised jump from Flash, who immediately pointed his weapon at the cyborg.

"Starlight, what the hell are you-"

"Tell me where your captive is," Starlight said. Her tone was collected, but was deadly serious. Evershade only scowled in return, but did not try to openly defend herself.

"Our captive was the woman Sentry was after," Evershade growled, as if offended by the threat. "And it appeared that we were right to capture her, she was in league with Daybreaker."

Starlight shook her head.

"No. Your other captive. A girl you took here six months ago. A short, cute girl with violet eyes and periwinkle hair that curls a little bit at the ends. Likes to talk about herself."

Starlight's eyes seemed to pierce through Evershade as she recounted the description, as if she couldn't see the old woman through whatever vivid imagery she was conjuring in her mind. Flash lowered his weapon, he understood what Starlight was asking about now, he remembered that there was a good reason for her to be hostile with the Nocturna Convent.

"Your people took her from me and you are going to tell me where she is."

Evershade's eyes lit with recognition as well. She smirked, dark hair falling in front of her darkening eyes as she looked towards the floor.

"I don't think so. I'd rather you just kill me, if you're going to."

"What?" Starlight's eyes streaked with anger, but then she felt the emotion fizzle out again as she refocused on the convent's elder resigning to her fate without elaborating further.

"I know what the Order wants with the girl. And I know what you'll do should you get her, and I'll-"

Evershade was abruptly silenced by Starlight's metal hand yanking her to her feet by the cuff of her blouse, then slamming her hard against the pillar she was just leaning against.

"What are you talking about?" Starlight glared again, but again felt her anger being not so subtly soothed. For all of her attempts as raw expressions of anger, there was something in play keeping that from occurring. "Why did you kidnap Trixie?"

Evershade showed a faint smile as she was pinned against the column. "Your Order didn't tell you? You don't know? What is the girl to you?"

Starlight wasn't fully sure how to respond. She was hesitant to offer up information to Evershade, but also, she was aware that her Order superiors were monitoring her actions. This wasn't a question she wanted to give a straightforward answer to for both of those reasons, but it didn't feel like she'd get anywhere with physical intimidation.

Starlight let her sword relax slightly, accompanying the tonal shift with a sigh.

"She's my best friend."

"Best... Friend?"

There was a weight in Starlight's chest as she gauged Evershade's response. She seemed to loosen up, her smile changing from one of superiority to one of amusement. She seemed to find Starlight pitiable now...

"A friend? Sent by the Order?" Evershade treated it like it was a joke. "And they told you nothing? Or... Perhaps the Order doesn't know anything either. Wouldn't be out of character for them."

Starlight's arm tightened up against Evershade's collarbone. She struggled for breath, but didn't offer up any more of an answer for Starlight.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I... Can't tell you..."

"Why?"

"Daybreaker... Can't know either..." Evershade coughed. "Asked... the same question..."

Starlight started to ease up as she processed that information. What would Daybreaker want with Trixie? Evershade's tone was no longer hostile, it now felt like she was trying to hide something. But what?

"If Daybreaker dies," Evershade finally said, recovering her breath as Starlight let go of her. "...I will tell you."

"Then I'll kill her," Starlight said. "I have orders to stop her, anyway."

Flash out his hand on Starlight's shoulder. "Starlight, let's get her out of here."

"No..." Evershade whispered, then repeated herself a little louder. "No, I'm not going to make it any further with all of these demons outside..."

In the center of the auditorium, all of the possessed witches had been defeated, and both Daybreaker and Hurricane were successfully throwing down with the Shadow Angel, keeping the demon knight at bay and pushing them back, having moved back to sword on sword combat. As Flash and Starlight looked to see how the battle was progressing, there was another disturbance as a large hole was blasted through the ceiling and sent a chandelier falling to the ground right where Daybreaker stood.

Daybreaker's response was immediate, as soon as her head adjusted to view the threat she was snapping her sword in an arc above her and cutting the metallic obstruction into pieces, the lit candles extinguished with each precise swipe of her weapon. Bits of the ceiling came down with it, and they too were reduced to harmless rubble that did no more than grey her perfect white cloak.

"Starlight and I can clear the way for you, we can't stay here," Flash said.

"No," Starlight shook her head. "I'm going to stay and fight."

"You sure?"

"I'm not running away this time," Starlight said.

Before the dust could settle there was a new intrusion diving through the fresh wound in the ceiling, a sleek silvery beast of a machine with short, spread wings and a rounded helmet, a highly advanced suit of armor being piloted by a creature whose body knew no light. The Talon Suit was back, and it was set to target Daybreaker the first opportunity it had.

The Talon Suit twirled once into its screwdriver dive, brandishing a nanosword in one hand and firing a pistol forward with the other. Rather than deflect the bullets, Daybreaker backed off, allowing the suit's trajectory to let it crash right in between herself and the Shadow Angel. The Angel deflected a blow from Hurricane and briskly repositioned themself as well, forming up with the Talon Suit in a clear gesture of support. The demon within the suit rose, silent in all ways but the soft mechanical whirring of the powered exoskeleton surrounding it, and kept its focus squarely on Daybreaker.

"The Tantibus." Daybreaker addressed the demon with a mixture of respect and dismissal. "Come to save the shattered remains of your master, but fight a losing battle."

Flash and Starlight both froze when they heard the name, dots connecting in their head as they looked again at the creature beneath the suit. The Tanitbus was one of the demons at the core of the Canterlot City Incident, a monster that fed off of guilt and inflicted nightmarish transformations on the people around it, and it was assumed to be defeated!

Daybreaker kept her posture straight and faced the demon directly without even so much as blinking.

"You'll only die here, demon." Daybreaker's head tilted down, and her guard held almost completely open as if to invite an attack. Commander Hurricane kept in formation with her, holding his own sword in a far more aggressive and forward stance. He seemed to have second thoughts about the decision to stand their ground.

"Are you sure that we should fight here?" He asked. "We have what we need, we can force these demons to fight us in a more advantageous position."

Daybreaker shook her head. "We should eliminate our enemy's pieces now rather than later."

"Then let us end this with haste!"

Hurricane leapt forward and targeted the Shadow Angel with diving thrust. As his blade cut through the air, lightning charged through his body and split the cold space between him and the Angel with dangerous live sparks. The Angel was quick to deflect the attack but had no room to advance, as Hurricane's offense was swift and decisive. The Talon Suit made only one move to defend them, it fired its pistol in Hurricane's direction, only to have the weapon's slide cut into by Daybreaker's blade, immediately causing a failure to cycle as the pistol's action was interrupted. The Talon Suit directed it's blade to Daybreaker's, both nanoswords clashing for a brief moment before pulling and twisting back and forth in further attempts to strike the arm of their opponent. The Talon Suit had an interesting form of swordplay, it was always pushing into Daybreaker's guard and rolling around her, doing its best to avoid a head on exchange. It had some level of understanding to how and where Daybreaker would target it, but with just a sword it could only keep from getting hit. Before long, the air snap-froze around the suit's offhand, a sheet of ice suddenly materializing at its palm and forcing a stop to one of Daybreaker's counter swings. The ice cracked and was sheared apart, but the sudden obstruction slowed Daybreaker's attack and caused her sword to get stuck just long enough for the suit to get a quite accurate stab in towards Daybreaker's stomach. Rather than back away, Daybreaker opted to let go of her sword and block the sword strike with her forearm, the material beneath her cloak hard enough to simply deflect the sword when met head on. The Talon Suit did not pull away, rather it kept its pressure and raised its sword for Daybreaker's exposed head.

Daybreaker dropped her knees and ducked, readily expecting the return, and then thrusted her balled fist directly into the suit's chestplate, shifting all of her weight forward and putting a notable dent in the metal of the suit with just her fist. The suit stumbled back, and Daybreaker stepped into another swiping movement right after catching her falling sword. The suit brought its hand up again and caught the tip of her sword in another cast of ice, this time holding onto the weapon and trying to force it in any direction other than right at its core. Its own sword swung for Daybreaker's leg, but it was intercepted by her boot kicking it back to the ground. She pulled her sword from the ice bind, aimed a swing for the suit's wrist, and the immediately kicked it in the chest as it tried to block the blade.

As the Talon Suit tripped over itself and crashed into a row of pews, Hurricane and the Angel found themselves locked into a sword bind. The Angel had a weapon with far greater reach and cutting power, their zweihander easily forcing Hurricane's smaller sword away. Hurricane let his blade get shoved to the side but grabbed the Angel's arm as their weapon passed by him. From there, the swordfight turned to a grapple, both of the heavily armored fighters bracing arms and hands against the other and trying to push the other one over. Rather than the ringing of swords colliding, their combat became scored by the flat clattering of armor plates. It was quick, the Angel immediately overcame Hurricane's strength and threatened to throw him to the ground, but would receive a blow to the side of their helmet from Daybreaker's blade. They forced Hurricane away and held their forearms up to guard against the next strike, but the Daybreaker's powered blade did considerable damage through the demonic plate steel.

The Angel ducked and reached directly for their dropped weapon, and Daybreaker pressed her opening for just a little bit too long, finding another nanosword flying towards her throat the moment she felt she had a solid advantage.

Starlight had pressed her way back into the battle, her first move a direct attack on her primary target. Daybreaker leaned all the way back and slipped beneath Starlight's blade, holding herself upright with a hand and flipping herself into a backwards kick in the cyborg's direction. Suddenly pressed to evade the counterattack, Starlight ducked her head down and punched her cybernetic limb forward. The air crackled as her steel horse leg fired off its horseshoe, the projectile prompting another spinning dodge from Daybreaker but allowing her entry to punch her own fist into Starlight's chest.

Stumbling back against the wooden seating, Starlight switched to her revolver and fired a shot off over Daybreaker's shoulder. There was no intent to directly hit her, as Daybreaker dodged again the bullet struck the magnetically suspended horseshoe and ricocheted off in a controlled manner. Starlight's magical grip on the horseshoe let her flick the bullet back towards the white-cloaked swordsman she initially missed, a surprising way to attack her from behind, but Daybreaker was just too fast for that to work.

The legendary warrior spun in place, her sword swiping once to bat the bullet away, and then twice to knock the horseshoe out of position. It became a bullet in its own right, rocketing off in the direction of the Shadow Angel as they made a move to attack Daybreaker further. They too stumbled back, and Starlight fired her revolver again, and yet still Daybreaker was unmoved. The Talon Suit shifted in the crowd of seats, bursting from the floor and throwing one of the pews at Daybreaker, but she easily sliced it in half and drove her boot into the possessed armor.

Starlight's sword was batted away, her dragon claw easily dodged, and her tether hand stunted as Daybreaker slashed at its projection. Watching the Talon Suit and the Shadow Angel faring no better, Starlight took a step away from the battle and steadied herself. She took a deep breath and stared her opponent down, sheathing her sword but keeping it ready to draw. She summoned up her energy in preparation for an attack, but did not press in until she had Daybreaker's complete attention.

The older woman looked intrigued, her head tilting but her stance remaining relaxed, and with her sword at her side. She waited, gave Starlight just as intense of a glare, and invited her to do whatever she thought she was going to do.

A light grew behind Starlight's eyes and in a split second she'd drawn her sword out into a single cut, a release of teal energy following a crisp X shape being cut into the air right where Daybreaker was standing.

... where Daybreaker was standing.

A hard metal boot shot straight into the back of Starlight's head the moment she committed to her quickdraw attack, and then she was slashed down into the floor as a vertical cross was sheared into her back.

Daybreaker scowled, her glare posed over her shoulder as she stood opposite to the crumpled cyborg. In that moment her sword wasn't drawn, rather, she stood with sword sheathed, facing away, to conclude the same attack Starlight just attempted. Only hers hit her target dead on. To Starlight, it was a humiliating blow, and her first thoughts after processing the pain was of that foolish realization.

"Who do you think you are?" Daybreaker's voice was a growl through her teeth. Starlight picked up on something else here, a faint sign of vulnerability in Daybreaker's tone. But then, as she turned and readied her sword and looked down at a Starlight rising to a kneel ready to continue the fight, she hesitated. For a split second, there was recognition in her eyes, the lightest trace of reservation across her lips, and a surprised intake of air passing through them.

Then, there she pivoted into immediate resolution and followed through with a downward sword thrust.

Starlight rolled to the side as the blade came down, now finding herself in the vicinity of the Shadow Angel and the Talon Suit moving back to attack Daybreaker, completely ignoring her as they were fully focused on nothing else. Rather than directly engage them, Daybreaker brought her wrist up and spoke directly into a device on her gauntlet.

"Go for the Cathedral window. Dead center. Three targets."

Before Starlight could register anything else, the great stained glass framing the entire room burst inwards as a flurry of gunfire erupted through it, a loud and distinct whine of an aircraft engine suddenly blaring into earshot. The tiled floor was shattered and blasted upwards as a line of lead carved its way up the main aisle and straight through the Shadow Angel, who raised their blade in a shoddy attempt to shield themself. The fire tore around them, but their demonic armor resisted puncture, the Angel forced onto their back by the sheer force of the repeated hits.

With the dark and rainy sky now exposed to the Cathedral's insides, Starlight could see the shape of the oncoming aircraft growing ever closer. It was built like an oversized fighter jet, two engines mounted on both sides of its core, with two broad bladed wings to support them. A cockpit in front had room for a pilot and co-pilot, with a cannon barrel mounted in the craft's nose- the weapon responsible for its dynamic entrance. Brown and steel gray paint covered the machine, but surprisingly Starlight found the details getting clearer, as it was slowing down as it approached, first racing but now dropping to a dangerously slow crawl as it aimed for the space left by the gap in the window frame.

Its engines pulsed and roared, shifting direction as the jet swooped in, fully stopping its momentum and hovering in place. Surprising, as most jets needed to keep their momentum to stay airborne...

"Starlight!" Flash's voice buzzed over her comms as she scrambled back as quickly as she could. Looking around, Starlight couldn't see where he was, but assumed he too was getting the hell out of the way. "That's a Manticore VTOL gunship! It's equipped to make short work of ground targets. You need to retreat, you can't fight that thing mono e mono."

Common sense wrestled and overpowered any daring impulse she might've had, and Starlight opted to turn and bolt for the hall's main entrance just as the gunship opened fire again. Rapid impact blasts and explosions followed her as she ran at top speed, vaulting over pews and pushing herself as quickly as she could towards the entrance, but the gunship's pilot was quick to respond. The craft's guns targeted the pillars holding up the balcony row overhead and shredded them to pieces, sending huge chunks of rubble crashing down on the ground floor entrance and blocking off Starlight's escape.

With the exit blocked off, daring impulses were starting to muscle their way back into her mind.

Several loud clicks sounded off from the gunship, and Starlight turned just in time to see a set of missiles firing off from pods mounted beneath its wings. Four flashes, four explosive blasts rang out, and Starlight immediately switched to her revolver and steadied her aim. Time slowed, but rather than gun the oncoming missiles down herself Starlight watched as the Talon Suit jumped into her view, halfway down the center aisle, and gunned the missiles down with its own pistol. For a moment, Starlight mistook it for attempting to protect her, which caused her great confusion, but she then saw it crouching over the Shadow Angel in a mournful stance, one demon urging another to rise and continue the fight.

With Daybreaker apathetically approaching the downed Shadow Angel, and the Manticore jet hovering menacingly behind, Starlight couldn't help but feel a hint of pity for the two creatures.

No. She shook her head. She wasn't about to sympathize with a demon that was trying to corrupt the town. But they weren't enemies at this moment. The Angel was here to take care of Daybreaker, and currently, so was Starlight. They were the enemy of an enemy, so she might as well capitalize on that.

Daybreaker approached calmly, her white cloak flowing in the gusts of wind pouring from the open window as the jump jet held its place just beyond it. The Shadow Angel was still flat on their back, head active and focused but body still struggling to recover. The Tantibus had no luck stirring them, and with its hardened Talon Suit it made for Daybreaker with a sword lunge, only to have its right arm severed through and the rest of it kicked to the ground. It was a minor setback for Daybreaker, a parry and a slash with perfect timing, and she continued her stride to the fallen Shadow Angel.

"Servant of Discord," Daybreaker's dry tone almost sounded like it would warrant a derisive laugh. "I'll make this clear, you won't defeat me. Tell your master that he stands no chance either."

Daybreakers gaze turned to the Angel's sword, the massive zweihander had fallen to the floor some ways away from its owner and was open to be taken. Upon inspection, Daybreaker seemed amused with the weapon.

"I see now..." She smiled slightly, mockingly. "You've used your devil sword fragment to make a new one. Resourceful, but you've only made an inferior weapon. Though I suppose it's a fitting one for a creature of brute force."

The Angel seemed to stir at that remark, recognising Daybreaker's intent as they watched her reach down to collect their dropped weapon. Before they could move, Starlight Glimmer passed over them with a wild overhead sword swing that forced Daybreaker away.

"Hey, jackass!" Starlight shouted, twirling her blade back into a ready position as she eyed up Daybreaker for another round. She let a teasing smirk shine through her stressed composition. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to touch things that don't belong to you?"

Just like that, the Shadow Angel was back in the game, jumping to their feet and scooping up their weapon with a renewed energy and rushing in to take a swing at Daybreaker for themself. This was it, they had her on her back foot. Looking around, she found that Hurricane already had taken his leave, and her resistance wouldn't last long either. Daybreaker blocked off both Starlight and the Angel's attacks before turning and leaping up to the edge of the window frame, just beneath the jump jet's hovering zone. Before leaving for herself, she turned and issued an order to the gunship overhead.

"This means nothing. Raze this place to the ground!"

Both Starlight and the Shadow Angel braced themselves as the Manticore gunship readied its weapons to fire once again.

[Nocturna Cathedral, Main Hall]
[Friday, 5:15]

Flash picked up Mother Evershade over his shoulder as the Manticore tore the room apart with its 20mm nose cannon. He made a quick dash for the exit, sloppily tossing Mother Evershade through the threshold right as the explosive rounds rocked the walls and floor to bring brick rubble down around him. With a moment to spare he slid through the main hall doorway right as it got blocked off, rolling to a stop in the hallway leading to the front of the Cathedral.

"Evershade!" Flash coughed, brushing himself off as he shifted his attention to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live." She remarked cooly, but then winced in tightness for a moment. "For now..."

"Come on, we need to keep moving."

Flash went to lift her again, but she only shook her head in reservation. "Your friend isn't going to finish the job."

She still was fixated on killing Daybreaker. She was resisting his attempts to help her up. This was starting to get frustrating...

"At this rate, we're not going to finish the job either!" Flash said. "Will you please just work with me? All hell is breaking loose, we need to fall back and regroup. Your people are counting on you to get them through this."

"I'm not going to survive this, boy." She gritted her teeth and glared up at him. "I was never going to survive this. Leave me and go, will you?"

Flash didn't understand. First Raven had been revealed to be working with the enemy, and now this? He'd come all this way to rescue her, and now she was telling him to leave her behind?

"My role was to hold Daybreaker off long enough for our champion to get away," Evershade explained. "To buy time."

"Your champion? What?"

"The Nocturna's champion possesses the last fragment of the Dark Devil Sword," she continued. "Daybreaker needs the sword completely reforged to follow through with her plans. If you want to defeat her, you can't let Daybreaker find our champion... She's been sent on a mission to the castle ruins in the mountains, to defeat the Lord of Chaos, but..."

Evershade's breathing seized for a moment, and she let out a cough before continuing.

"She'll see the Cathedral under attack. She'll see us burning and want to come back for us... Daybreaker will be waiting for her."

"No." Flash shook his head. "We're going to make it out of here, and we're going to find her first. Starlight is here to stall Daybreaker, so there's no reason we can't walk out of here together. I know you want to keep me away from your secrets, but I'm not here to put a spotlight on you. I'm here to help protect you, all of you."

Evershade's expression seemed to soften for a moment. Even as the sounds of explosions and gunshots enveloped them through the walls, she remained focused on his words and their effect on her. "Perhaps I'm getting tunnel vision. Very well, Agent Sentry..."

With some effort, she rose to her feet on her own, taking up her shotgun with a nod and carefully limping forward in a gesture for Flash to lead the way.

As he turned the corner, he found the Cathedral's front entryway in ruins in the immediate aftermath of a battle between the Nocturna cultists and the demonic invaders. The way out was clear, save for a single figure standing in the wake of two collapsed wooden doors, holding a wooden-stocked scoped rifle at full extension towards one of the prone bodies for a killshot. His head tilted back as he turned to see them approaching. Flash's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Gabriel!" He relaxed a little, the sight of the rugged Griffonian coat enough to relieve his stress of fighting with so few allies. Now that he was here, they could better get a plan together and figure out a way through this mess.

Except, Gabriel didn't look nearly as pleased to see him. As the silvery haired man turned, there was an almost disappointed look streaking across his face, and to Flash's horror he immediately raised his weapon in their direction.

BANG!

A single shot startled Flash, sending his thoughts into a scramble as he dropped to a kneel and leaned aside out of instinct. Did Gabriel not recognize them? Maybe he'd been fighting demons out here, and reflexively fired at them out of surprise. What did-

BANG!

The second shot made everything clear. The first shot wasn't intended to hit Flash, it instead hit Mother Evershade directly in the chest, sending her reeling back against the wall. It was a calculated and intentful shot, not aimed at the closest target, but the highest value target. Gabriel meant to shoot her, and he'd just cycled the bolt of his weapon and shot her again.

BANG!

The third rifle round piercing into her slumped Evershade down against the wall, where she fell back into a sitting position and let her head fall limply. Gabriel's weapon turned to Flash next, but he was already drawing his pistol and returning fire. The red beam from his laser sight traced its way onto Gabriel's body as he moved, but-

BANG!

BANG BANG!

Gabriel bolted to the side as he fired, putting his back to one of the few remaining support columns and taking cover as Flash lit up his end of the room. Pushing all confusions to the back of his mind, Flash moved in on the row of pillars, keeping his gun level and scanning each obstacle for movement. He was now in attack mode, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

He turned the corner Gabriel hid behind quickly, firing his pistol before even properly getting a shot lined up. Rather than back out, Gabriel kicked Flash's gun hand away and quickly drew out his own pistol in one hand as Flash approached, his off hand still gripping the barrel of his rifle. Redoubling his stance, Flash gripped his pistol with both hands and shoved Gabriel's one handed grip into the pillar beside them, pinning his hand there but also unable to properly fire his own weapon.

They locked eyes, Flash's gaze still carrying a subtle surprise, and Gabriel's a look of contempt.

A spin kick came Flash's way as Gabriel pulled his core back. Flash kept up with him, dropping to the floor and countering with a leg sweep- both dodging Gabriel's striking leg and knocking his supporting leg out from under him. Gabriel's fall was controlled though, he plummeted onto his back but brought his gun in towards his chest to fire inaccurately at Flash through his drop. Flash himself could only duck back behind the pillar to keep the stray rounds from hitting him, and Gabriel rolled himself back to his feet.

"You're working for Daybreaker, aren't you?" Flash called from his cover.

"Like I said, we're not friends," Gabriel replied.

Flash didn't have time to fully analyze the position he was in. He had to make a move before Gabriel made a move first, but the only thing he could do was pop out from his cover and try to shoot the other agent down. He could turn near the close side, the same way he'd turned into cover, but Gabriel would be right in front of him and would likely expect that angle of attack. Alternatively, he could circle around the pillar and shoot out from the opposite side. Longer move, but it might be safer...

Flash turned himself and lined up his sights to fire as he peeked around the far side of the pillar. Tense, but ready, he kept peeling off more and more of the sightline. He kept his guard up and anticipated where his opponent might stand, but after a painfully long minute he realized that Gabriel had fled.

The powerful blare of aircraft engines echoed throughout the Cathedral and the scathing hiss of missiles repeatedly firing off followed.

Explosions rocked the entire building. Deafening blasts surrounded Flash as the pillars and walls began to shake around him. Smoke and glowing heat filled the air, giving Flash the sudden and shocking revelation that the gunship was demolishing the Nocturna Cathedral with them still inside. Daybreaker had what she needed, and this once holy place had been turned into a deathtrap for all of her enemies.

All Flash could think to do was run to Mother Evershade, seeing that she still had the faintest trace of life in her. If he could get her out of here, he was-

"Find her..." Mother Evershade shoved him away, raspily coughing out her final request. "Find our champion. The last pure-blooded Nocturna Witch. She's the key to stopping this chaos."

More explosions came through. The wall behind her began to crumble. Flash needed to accept he couldn't save her, but the notion caused his stomach to twist. Evershade had a sizable pool of blood painting the floor beneath her, and her leg had already been injured. He couldn't save her.

He stoically pushed himself away from the Nocturna's elder, leaving her against the half-collapsed wall surrounded by fallen debris and faintly lit by the clouded moonlight streaming in from a new gap in the ceiling. By the time he turned to run, the gap in the ceiling grew, and a massive dust cloud suddenly kicked its way into Flash's lungs. It burned to breathe, and the ground shook his feet out from under him.

He felt something strike his back as he fell, and then a cold numbness as he was crushed against the floor.

Then, darkness.