Morning light broke through the thin windows near the roof of the not-library. Mr. Chuck quietly rose from the large robot foot and stretched. He shuffled to the weapons rack and crammed a magazine into the automatic pistol, glancing back at his sleeping team. The little elf was the only one still at the feet of the machine. The pilot boy had slept inside the huge thing, the samurai had gone back to leaning against the wall once his shift was over, and the girl with the bow had tied herself to a crook in the Mobile Suit's arm and slept up there. Holly was right- not all was well in that girl's head. The man placed two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. While Katniss woke with a start and began shouting about someone named Rue, the others woke peacefully enough and began to complain about how bad of an idea it was to sleep on a robot.

"Rise and shine, Team Mockingjay."

Amuro rubbed his eyes and gently moved his controls down, lowering the arms of the Gundam and allowing Katniss to scurry into a corner and have a panic attack.

"Morning, Mr. Chuck. What's the plan?"

"I figure we head on out. We were lucky the other teams didn't find us last night."

"He's right," confirmed Katniss, evidently returning to reality. "A moving target is more difficult to hit."

"When you put it that way, I feel really confident about our strategy," grunted Holly sarcastically.

Katniss brushed off the retort and crammed the rope she tied herself down with into her pack. There were a few arrows left on the rack, and they found their place in her quiver soon after. She walked over to the door where the rest of the team was assembling and took a position just to the entry's right. Chuck stood with his back to the door and his pistol at the ready. He gave a nod to Katniss and one to Holly and Date, who stood on the opposite side.

"On three- One…two…three!"

Holly pulled the handle and Chuck swung out the door with the gun ahead of him. For a moment, silence caught the breath of the team.

"All clear," Mr. Chuck called as he pulled the door open for the others. When they had all gathered outside the door, a thought occurred to Date.

"What about Amuro?"

The team's collective facepalm was interrupted by the walls of the not-library sliding into the ground, leaving in place of the building a bare slab of concrete and a Mobile Suit. Amuro pulled up on the controls and made the Gundam stand to its full height, dwarfing the team and a few of the shorter buildings.

"All systems are running smoothly," chimed Amuro through the loudspeaker. "Where to now?"

Holly gave a glance toward the region of the city dominated by high-rises. Fire crowned many of the skyscrapers, and smoke formed a great black sheet over the smaller buildings of the area.

"I'd say that would be our best bet."

Team Mockingjay began a slow journey down the major road of the empty city, drawing ever closer to the urban inferno ahead. Amuro stomped the Mobile Suit down the street behind them, keeping close tabs on his displays to check for any of the other teams. He spotted some movement in the smoke that swirled around the skyscrapers high ahead. Little bursts of light flickered within the shroud.

"Are you guys seeing that?"

Katniss squinted at the strange display of light.

"Yes. What do you think it is?"

"I'd say they were some form of booster or engine firing off. There's some sort of Mobile weapon being used by another team- that's my guess."

Holly frowned.

"Okay, Amuro- here's the plan. If you stick with us, we'll be as obvious as a swear toad bite. You're an expert on Mobile suits, so why don't you head in and check it out? If you get overwhelmed, fall back with us and we'll back you up as best we can."

The Mobile Suit mimicked Amuro's nod. "Sounds like a plan." The giant machine took off running down the street, towards the burning buildings. Holly was pretty sure this was a strategic decision, until a voice from a nearby rooftop told her otherwise.

"How foolish- send away the strong, and let the weak fend for themselves?"

Katniss identified the speaker and strung an arrow. Holly held up her hand and mouthed NO. The source of the tactical criticism was a suit of blue armor on top of a specialty shop. The helm had a nasty looking horn protruding from it, and long red hair escaped out of the headgear's back. A truly massive sword was slung over its shoulder.

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"And who exactly are you?" Katniss still trained her bow on the blue knight.

"I am sometimes called the Azure Knight, or He that Wields Soul Edge," the creature boasted. "But to you, I am your worst Nightmare." In the blink of an eye, the being had landed on the ground, shattering the pavement.

"NOW PROCEED INTO DARKNESS!" It wailed, swinging its sword in wide arcs above its head. Katniss let the arrow take flight, only for it to ricochet off the creature's thick armor and clatter onto the street. A pulse of red energy knocked the whole of Team Mockingjay off of their feet.

Holly looked up at the gray sky. She attempted to regain her footing, but the blast had removed all feeling from her legs and arms. The creature that called itself Nightmare stomped over to where she lay.

"Foolish little fairy," it hissed, swinging the oversized blade. Holly managed to twist her torso and dodge the sharpened wall of metal. For a second, as it was lodged in the street next to her, she got a decent glimpse at it. The metal was old and tarnished, but more prominently seemed to have a web of pulsing flesh covering parts of it. I'm making a point to be impaled by something other than that. She at least wanted to die by the hand of something clean.

As the demon was readying for another chop, his sword has held still. He turned to see Date Masamune's katana pressed against Soul Edge.

"Not… so… fast!" grunted the samurai.

Nightmare used his oversized sword arm to knock Date to the ground. He held the fleshy bit of his sword over the black-clad warrior's face. A lump in the flesh split open to reveal an awful eye.

"GAZE INTO TRUE MADNESS!" screamed the Azure Knight, and he lifted the samurai into the air. Nightmare was beginning to pull his sword arm back to strike, when he was interrupted by gunshots. Holly and Chuck had gotten up and drawn their firearms. Though Chuck's human pistol rounds merely bounced off the cursed armor, the Neutrino's stunning shots seemed to have an effect.

"Wh-What are you doing?!" cried the demon, who dropped Date and turned to face his new attackers. Holly turned the intensity setting on the Neutrino to level five and fired again. The cursed knight fell to his knees.

"Stop! S-Stop! Your souls are mine! I swear it!" Chuck didn't pay heed to Nightmare's empty threats and used his foot to force him to the ground.

"Now, let's get some answers," he grunted. "Who else is on your team?"

"The Predator and his unearthly hound. There was a great armored giant by the name of Nineball," whimpered the knight.

"That's only three. Two more names," said Chuck, leveling his handgun on the blue helmet.

"The lizard! He called himself Megatron! And myself!" The demon looked around anxiously. "Now let me go!"

"Do you think we're stupid?" Chuck shifted his other foot to the knight's inhuman sword arm. He turned and nodded at Katniss.

Chuck looked back at the once- terrifying creature. "Where's your team's token?"

"My sword, Soul Edge," gasped the knight.

Katniss stood over the sword.

"Thanks," she said, and fired an arrow directly into the blade's eye.

With a horrible shriek, the knight stopped struggling. The numbing red energies shot out of the sword in a blinding flash, revealing a sword with no eye or flesh- only an arrow lodged in the center. Katniss plucked out the arrow and slid it into her quiver. Date picked up the sword and slid it into a strap on his back.

"That's two out of five on that team incapacitated. Plus we have their token," Holly noted. "We ought to keep on heading toward the fires. After all, what was that Katniss said about getting hit?"

Holly smirked at the human girl, who didn't seem nearly as amused. Team Mockingjay continued down the road. The Dovahkiin didn't underestimate their combat prowess, Ezio thought from his far-more stealthy rooftop perch. He had watched the entire battle unfold. He stood and took off along the dull, black roofs. He had interesting news to report to Signore Gandalf.