The werewolf bot roars at them and its eyes glow a sky blue. Tanji snarls and all three follow by running at the blue-bot Vanessa rushes forward and proves that she’s the fastest out of the group. Tanji kicks the bot in its chest and leaps into the air to dodge a lightning fast slash. Vanessa leaped over the robot to give Tanji a hit so she lands on the wall behind and kicks it in its open back. Brandon then slams the robot back. Tanji shouts “Regroup!” All three of them return to a line and the bot just darts forward wildly. “What should we do?” Tanji asks himself. 

Lightning trickles up his fist and he punches the robot in its head. He leaves himself open for a punch and a kick to his body however. He is hurled back and Brandon quickly gets into the battle. He catches his fists and pushes as hard as he can. The robot slowly falls back and Brandon smiles because he thinks he’s won. However, his feet lift off the floor. He looks down hastily, only to be forcefully slammed into the floor beneath him. The bot yanks its arm back then drops it down, intending to finish him off with a slash. Vanessa kicks the arm away then swivels mid air and heel kicks the bot right in its face. She lands then throws two strong punches to its head. She throws an uppercut but leaves her open to be kicked right over Brandon. 

She rolls away but Tanji comes in and launches his condensed beam of lightning. The bot starts steaming from the area of impact and a few sparks come off but other than that, it seems fine. Tanji lands in front of his two cellmates and shakes around his arms. He begins forming a blade with his other hand and sees that it crackles away, back into his hand. “My lightning capacity has dropped too low. I can’t form a blade with no foundation. I need a sharp object!” He runs back and says “Vanessa! Brandon! I’ll be ten seconds just hold on!” Brandon, now on his feet, turns and says “What?!” He turns back and just about dips out of the way of a punch. He kicks the robot in its chest then its side, under the punching arm. He flips back and Vanessa lands a double drop kick. Brandon says “Now!”

Vanessa’s eyes open once he says this. Vanessa says in excitement “The combo!”

• 8 YEARS EARLIER

Brandon and Vanessa, at the ages of 7, spar each other. At this time, Brandon didn’t have the toned figure that he has now and Vanessa was a much harder opponent for him. 

Brandon runs forward and punches Vanessa and he goes for a hook. Vanessa blocks the hook then kicks him back. Brandon holds his waist in pain and his eyes glow red. His young fangs take shape and he runs towards Vanessa again. He throws a wild kick but she swerves out of the way and lands a good heel kick after moving out of the way. Brandon falls back then Vanessa slams him to the floor with ease. Vanessa says “I win!” Brandon grits his teeth and pushes her off. “How do you always win?!” Vanessa crouches down and says “You never use any technique!” 

Brandon gets up off of the floor and says “Whatever! I won’t need to use technique to beat you once I get big like dad!” Vanessa shakes her head and says “Believe what you want to believe.” Brandon says “I wanna make a cool combo like all the City Troopers on TV!” Vanessa says “Oh yeah! It’ll be so cool! Finally, some technique!” Brandon says “Whatever.” 

Brandon throws a Kenpo double punch. He says “I do that then you step on my back and kick down!” Vanessa says “Cool!! Let’s do it!” Brandon performs the double combo again then Vanessa blurs and leaps onto his back. She jumps off with all of her might then strikes down with a kick. Her leg gets jammed in the grass floor below but she rips it out with ease and shakes the dry mud off. Vanessa says “Yeah! When we’re city troopers, we’ll do that and beat all the bad guys!” Brandon says “Yeah, it’ll be so cool!” 

Brandon blurs forward and lands the double punch with his new strength. The bot falls back slightly then Vanessa leaps off of his back and strikes it in it’s head with a solid kick to the head. She breaks the top of it’s head and caves it in slightly. She leaps off of the robot and Brandon slams it away to make sure she has a safe landing. The bot rushes back in anger and gut punches Brandon. He grasps his gut in agony then is punched to the ground. He hits the floor with his head and some of his blood seeps into the sandy floor below. He coughs up some blood from sand getting in his mouth and he slowly gets up. Vanessa stares at the robot in masses of fear. “What are we gonna do?!” 

The robot roars at them vehemently and shakes the floor below. It gets hit with a fireball but it does little to nothing. The robot shakes its head and just continues the battle. The hellhound in the stands watches in fear as this happens. Some hellhounds drop into the battle and fight, as well as some ghouls but the weak ones mainly stay out and attack from a secure range.

The robot beams towards Vanessa. Even her vamp speed can’t save her now. The metal claws, glistening under the sun, reach out to her with unfathomable speed. They are basically a blur, with a shining trail. She stands firm and puts her arms up to try and block the attack. However, she’s pulled out of the way by someone. She rolls across the ground and the blue-bot seems to be quite agitated. Tanji says “You good?”