[JOHNY BOMB!]

Hexagon City

The city’s known for their tall structures, great walls, steep slopes, congested buildings and elongated street ways, making it a ideal place for free-running (Parkour). By day the city is calm, but by night it’s rowdy with it’s bright neon lights and constant night clubbing.

Location: 861 miles/ 1385 kilometers northeast of Abel City.
Population: 752,493
Weather: Mildly cool with frequent rains, and very breezy winds by night.
Economic resource: Tourists attractions, night clubs, minor reploid manufacturers.

-----

[Vash from Ezekiel’s Warehouse]

An old model ride-chaser skids sharply along the dirt road as dust blew from the heavy black wheels of the speed bike. A silver armored foot stomps the ground, tilting the vehicle to park. That leg belonging to a combat reploid twists off the ignition from the ride-chaser handle bar, then rubs his neck, tired; the journey was longer than expected. The reploid flips his dark visor open connected from his helmet like a shutter, and observes a tall dark mauve colored city from afar, it is nightfall, it is Hexagon City.

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“Should of used the newer models Vash, you would of gotten there a lot faster” mention Ezekiel.

“I know, but these ‘wheels’ of this ride-chaser. The modern ones that hover doesn’t compare to old fashion” Vash argues.

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“I hear ya” Ezekiel agrees. “So how’s that comm. link I gave ya? The Mosquito?”

“Perfect. The reception is great, and just over 700 miles (1126kilometers) away from base, it sounds like your right next to me.”

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“Good. Say why not takes a stroll around the city’s skyscrapers there? I want to test out the Mosquito’s communication strength from a high point, at the same time we can test your new found abilities . . . well your physical abilities anyways.”

“Roger.” Vash then zips through the outskirts with his ride-chaser and into Hexagon City. The structures were luscious and bright of neon mauve, every angle, alley, step and street way appeared twisted, sharp and mesmerizing. They design this as if one step in this area could leave you at lost for millennia.

The combat reploid pokes his way around the condensed city, finding away to hid his ride while avoiding the oncoming pedestrians and other motor vehicles along the way. After several minutes he ends up in the darkest alleyway among the city, it was so dark you could not even see your own hand if it was place right in front of you. “This seems like the perfect spot” says Vash while parking it near a brick wall. He then grabs a couple of thrown away cardboard sheets from the rainy wet floor and tosses it over the ride chaser, making it appear like another heap of garbage that citizen of this city would likely ignore.

He dusts off his hands together and hits the comm. link, “Which highest point where talking about here?” he asked specifically.

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“Anywhere Vash” answered Ezekiel, “Just have fun . . .”

Vash then stares up into the dark night sky; the wind was hollowing gently across his face yet not a cloud in sight, indicating that the weather is in good terms for now. He unsheathes Rudra and Rajin swords and stabs it deep into the brick walls. He tugs it a bit to get a good grip and leverage. Then scale his way up to the building to get a better glimpse of the entire city, “I usually have a hard time doing this” he thought, feeling like we wasn’t using his mechanical muscles at all.

[JOHNY BOMB!]

Vash finally reaches to the top, hops over the platform and sheathes his blades away. Then turning his shoulder over to get a view, he quickly embraces the beautiful sight of the massive dark metropolis. The lights, streets and structures appear to look like a spiraled galaxy from afar. “Wow this is breath taking” he thought with his hand just above his forehead, scoping out the significant details of the city. He quickly stretches his limbs apart, preventing the gear joints from being coiled ‘n cramp within his body. Vash prepares to take “it” to the next step.

He kneels down with one leg in front and the other layed far back, in a track runner’s position. Feeling the excessive energies running through his circuits, his hydraulic leg muscles were increasingly pumping more Xenothium energy than ever before. Usually the power source was only left for emergencies, but now with some upgrades that allow greater capacity he sprints off from the platform. "See how far I can leap from here .. ."

The combat reploid hurls himself off the building like a madman, while flailing his arms in a windmill motion as if he were to grab onto something in front of him. In his eyes, he see’s another building several meters away with a water tower on top of it. His great leap stretched more than a dozen yards away from the previous structure; before his upgrade, his older jumps were minuscule in comparison. in the air, his armored body was slowing his aerial momentum down. A more vertical trajectory was kicking in. “Got make use of these gifts” he calmly whispers in haste.

Flashback, just moments ago at Ezekiel’s warehouse:

Hexagon City may look like a playground for adults, but it’s no joke if you got nothing to hang onto” said Ezekiel while giving Vash a grappling gun and a climbing pick.

“These things? I can safely air dash my way out if I fall . . .” Vash argues.

“The emergency acceleration system beneath our feet ain’t going to help you in a long run. I’m talking about cliffhanger platforms and jaw dropping falls” Ezekiel warns, insisting on his friend to use the tools.

“Guess he’s right . . . again” Vash said in a regretful tone. He whips out the grappling gun from the side of his hip and pulls the trigger. A black cord flashes out the barrel as compressed air hisses out the gun. At the end of the cord, lies a curved prong-shaped blade slamming and piercing the targeted building walls Vash aim for as he was falling. The tip of the sharp blade of the grappling gun now tightly jammed and secured into the concrete wall, Vash swings around the building while using his emergency acceleration dash system to his change his course of direction and hopefully into a safer place to land, or at least soften his fall. “This is gonna hurt . . . a lot” he says with pessimism as he see’s rushing himself to a wall full of glass windows.

[JOHNY BOMB!]

His body, tossed like a rag doll into the wall of glass, simply shattering the windows by his armored weight. Vash tumbles across the 31st floor of the building like a stolen corpse as the glass shards poked and stubbed every nook and cranny of his limbs. His body then was halted by a nearby desk; cracking the table halfway through by his momentum but the area now tarnished, seem to suffer more than he did. “Never going to do that again” he regretfully thought as he pushes himself off the ground.

Vash then wipes the scattered glass shards away off his body and observes the inner structures of this new building. A standard white-collar office where the human employees work from 9 to 5 daily; clean and tidy he observes, but not anymore ever since his arrival. It was dead, dark and no alarm has rung by the crash. He carefully gazes upon area, taking precaution to see if the alarm system could have been delayed or it could be triggered elsewhere. “It’s a little too quiet” he thought.

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“Ugh! . . .What the hell was that!?” Ezekiel shouted.

“Oh sorry, Ezekiel, that was me” Vash respond.

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“What happen back there?” Ezekiel demand.

Vash a bit shaky from the fall, “I, I sort of slammed onto a window and ended in another building but I’m fine now. Thanks to the ‘modifications’ my auto-repair system is rapidly healing my injuries” he replied.

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“Vash, double-back to base. You’ve already made a scene here, let’s go” he ordered.

He looks at his surroundings, barely noticing on what he has done, “Alright but . . .” he takes another gander on the environment, and the only exit was through the window again. Taking an elevator would be foolish; security cameras can still be operational even in his presence. “I’ll swing back to the lower levels to avoid from where I came from.”

[JOHNY BOMB!]

All of a sudden, a flash of red light swarm the room as a uncontrolled rings shot loudly within the office halls. "Oh great, now it comes on?" Vash complains.

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"Vash get the hell out of there now!" Ezekiel shouted.

"Don't need to tell me twice!" he quickly answered.

Vash running his way through the alarming halls, seeing the elevator doors are shutting itself off any intruders. He quickly steps back and hits the comm. link. "Ezekiel, I'm trapped, think you map this building and find me another exit.." Vash asked calmly, remaining cool to avoid the annoying alarm systems noise.

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"Negative, all exits are locked down. Cant you like, rocket yourself from where you came from?" Ezekiel suggested.

"Through the window? I could grapple my way down, or up the roof with the tools you given me....." Soon a few cop cars rushed through the scene, appearing on the 1st floor of the building near the door entrance. "Well never mind that now." Referring to the grappling tools, thinking there's no way to escape now that time isn't on his side anymore.

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"Damn...Looks like you got no choice then, you have to enter Hyper Mode to glide out of there."

"As much as I hate it, you got a point." he replied. He pumps his chest into the air and shouts, "Hyper Mode!" a soft chimed screeched through his armor but no aura or a flash appeared. "What on earth?"

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"Vash, what happened?"

"Not sure but let me try this again--Hyper Mode!" Suddenly a cool breeze from the broken windows entered the room, a dead silence arose. Vash looking into the palm of his hands stare in disbelief. Doubting the situation, he check his body status on his wrist, projecting details for any malfunctions.

Scanning through a list of contents, everything appeared to be in order: weapon systems, energy reserves, optical functions, processors...the works. "This doesn't make sense..." he whispered. Then typing in further for investigation, searching through folders and files for several seconds. Finally coming across a file marked with a graffiti-like X marked red.

Vash taps the projecting hologram buttons to access the folder, continuing reading, "Hyper Mode Program Deleted." Vash stepped back in shock, "Deleted h-how?" he stuttered.

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"Couldn't help but to over hear but what got DELETED!?" he demanded.

"My Hyper Mode it's gone..." he replied.

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"Impossible, no way a reploid's hyper mode can be missing unless someone----"Vash is there anything else in that folder?" he asks.

"Yeah, just a video file..." Vash's plays it. A dark shady hooded figure with a groggy, scratchy voice appeared on screen. Chuckling at the sight of Vash, as if someone had played a terrible prank on him.

"Ello Vash, good to see ya again mate..."

"The Merchant? What the?" said a confused Vash.

"Your probably wonderin what happen to ye little Hyper Mode lad. Well to make story short. Our deal earlier about your 'body modifications' in exchange for a couple of military goods wasn't enough. Ye see, in order to make the price right, I did a little downloading on your Hyper Mode while I was doing the 'operation' on ya's " said the video message of the Merchant.

"That son of a---"

"Oh and your friend too" said the video. "Don't botha lookin for some back up files mate, had to delete them too in case you go all berserk on me like you always do hehe. But don't you two worry doe, I'll take good care of these H.M. programs and sell 'em to the highest bidder hehe....Bye bye for now" said the message, then fades into black.

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"I knew it, I knew it I knew it I KNEW IT! Never can trust that bastard" Ezekiel cursing about the Merchant.

Vash slams his fist on a nearby table, again he been double cross. "Ooooo one day Merchant, one day..." with the though of revenge but deciding to make haste, he dashes his way through the window, readies to exit

[JOHNY BOMB!]

Rumbling footsteps heard trampling beneath the present of Vash, the authorities closing in on the intruder. The knight reploid gave unwanted attention to their upcoming raid, guns drawn, Vash takes himself near the broken windows.

He spread his arms like a bird, then leaps dive into the air, slowly hanging onto the sky for a brief moment then drops slantingly like a thrown pebble into a murky pond that was Hexagon city. He lock both ankles between while pointing them horizontally and air dashes sharply, awkwardly causing a halt from his momentum. Appearing to be a feather floating aloft until he transforms into a heavy brick by earth's unforgiving gravity.

He immediately crashes onto a buildings roof top about half the size of the previous structure he was in. Luckily using that air dash reduce the impact, just enough to prevent his armor from being completely shattered. Now, getting up, battered 'n dented from the fall, his will was still intact. He shrugged off the pain and stare into the broken window he just escaped. "Ouch" he groaned. "Don't know if I can do that again...." believing he shouldn't be so careless the next time.

Seeing the authorities with their weapons and laser sights set on Vash, the knight quickly shimmy down his way through the pipes of the building, gradually fading into the shadows.

[Magnus Blade]

[Enter Dark Magnus and Xeyon - within the outskirts of the city]

Appearing from within the IT portal, the two calmly approached the city, though they haven't seen any Exodus lately.

While being within a public space, both villains raise their hoods over their heads to conceal their identities. They would wait for the Exodus to simply appear, but standing in front of the city in broad daylight playing the waiting game will look completely suspicious to any of the authorities here.

"...So this is Hexagon City, eh? If we weren't in such a bind right now, I would have enjoyed a good time testing my skills on a place like this. Though a little chaos before our little 'friends' show up wouldn't hurt, now would it?" Xeyon comments, staring at the stature of the city as they both walk.

"We aren't here for one of your little games. Get your priorities straight before you end up dead." says Dark Magnus, keeping a calm approach on the city. "...It's faint, but I feel another core vibrating somewhere. If we find it before those vermin show up, we can snatch the other one from the leader that has it in him."

Dark Magnus hated the fact that he can't track the Exodus without being within Shadow Castle, but it figures that if they start to attack the city, he shouldn't worry too much of the critters sneaking up on them. Not caring for citizens' safety works in his favor...as long as he achieve his own goal here.

[JOHNY BOMB!]

Vash hops from the ladder and plants his feet on the ground, safely escaping the authorities for now.Then tapping into his comm. link to seek guidance from his mammoth size friend, "Ezekiel, Ezekiel I just lost them..." letting go of the button, only soft static respond back to his calling. He taps the comm. link once more, "Ezekiel do you read? Ezekiel?" Vash briefly sighs in disappointment, their new communication system, Mosquito, must be on the fritz he thinks.

He then takes a quick glance at the roof, a hydra of laser sights leering from above; the police must be getting closer or jamming his signal some how. Vash sprint towards the dark alley, a labyrinth of stagnant fumes and moisture within the city, he dare not pay attention to his surroundings for such distraction may cost him to get arrested. Something he tried to avoid from the Maverick Hunters from time to time.

After hundreds of unrelenting paces around the ally ways, he spots a heap of wet cardboard boxes piled up. Remember he had left his ride chaser here, a small smirk appeared on his face. He rushes over, removing the soggy boards away, then grips the handle of the motor vehicle as he tries to maneuver it to an open area. "No, too obvious" he whispers in doubt. Escaping out of the alley near a crime scene would have the authorities on his tail for sure.

Deciding to take it slow, he creeps along the passage ways to avoid the police. In moments, he see's a large populated crowd of humans, reploids and neon signs with constant chatter in every block. "I must be in down town section of Hexagon City...Perfect!" with that he could use the population to his advantage, using them as camouflage as a he sneaks along the dense crowd.

[Magnus Blade]

Traveling within the city itself, there wasn't anything unusual happening that caught Dark Magnus's attention. He felt as though the more he ventured into the city, the weaker the second Magma Core signal became. He continued to move along until he begins to reach a somewhat heavily populated area, whereas the signal continues to get weaker and weaker. He clenched his fist upon trying to speculate on what's going on. It was like something is interfering with his tracking ability.

Before he could continue on, he felt another Magma Core signal different from the one supposedly within the city...and it's getting stronger and stronger by the second...as well as the core one of the Exodus possess, as he could tell they are closing in on the city fast...but even more oddly situations present themselves, as he felt five more signals from within and outside the vicinity of the city.

He began believing that his built-in tracking ability must be malfunctioning, but even if it were...it would never lie about a single core's existence. It then hit him...Reploids can survive quite a while with a core equipped within them more longer than a cyborg or something else similar, like himself. Maybe there are a few that have had the cores forcefully placed within them and may go out of control soon that's near by, plus the signal from the Exodus must be fusing and making it seem like more cores are near. Dark Magnus could only speculate, of course. He also has no idea who or where these Reploids are getting these Magma Cores from, knowing how dangerous they are for personal usage.

The strongest feed on the energy was coming from the same crowded area, but several yards away. With the dark copy having his Phoenix Eyes activated permanently, he uses their power to see through the people...but the more citizens that were in the way, the harder it was to see through the blurriness of all he sees from beyond.

It was far too hard to make out, but he could have sworn that he just saw something moving very strangely behind one of the nearby buildings, which appeared to be a hotel or such. From what he can gather, the area around there isn't heavily populated like this one. Whatever it was that he saw moving, it has a core for sure.

"...Come. I've located the core." the dark copy ordered Xeyon, who wasn't even paying the slightest attention to their original mission and could only think about pointless destruction. But he snaps out of it eventually.

Upon approaching the building, only a number of people are around, as suspected by Dark Magnus. The signal was at it's strongest when he approaches the side of the building. He didn't like the looks of things when he used the power of his eyes again. Whatever is behind the building is now just standing there, as stiff as a board.

"...Damn. Who or whatever it is...knows I'm here." Dark Magnus says to himself, resting his hand on the handle of his sword, Caladbolg.

[JOHNY BOMB!]

As Vash hurdles through the populated crowd, his hover bike began to signal waves of energy within it's own HUD (Heads Up Display). Curious, he parks the bike on a nearby curb and monitors the waving signals. "Ezekiel, Ezekiel, do you read this?" referring to this strange phenomena on the vehicle. Vash kept hold of his comm. link for a brief moment but still no response. "Ugh, no way the Mosquito can be jammed at this rate..." then looking over his shoulder for assurance, "No cops, no Hunters. I know no one hasn't seen me getting out of that building, that was minutes ago....unless."

Unsure where this energy signal was being picked up from, he kept a watchful eye on it as he continue to push through the crowd.

[Magnus Blade]

When Dark Magnus and Xeyon made they're way around the building, a rather disturbing sight struck their eyes. A completely unresponsive reploid just standing there with his body falling apart. When Dark Magnus examined the reploid, it had a huge hole in it's chest, blatantly showing the red-hot Magma Core slowly sliding out his chest. When it did fall, the reploid did as well, but on his chest and lifeless.

"...So, that's the true end result of a reploid using the core's power. Complete destruction of body and mind..." said Dark Magnus to himself.

He quickly grabbed the core, which still had plenty of it's power, and tucked it in one of the pockets of his cloak. When he retrieved the core, he felt all those strange and sudden core vibrations disappear and only felt the other that one of the lead Exodus has...and it's gotten so much closer.

"...Hey, boss! Where are those little creeps?" Xeyon asked impatiently.

"They're already here..." Dark Magnus feels the core's power stronger than ever, most likely in front of the city where they entered. "Let's go."

--

Near the entrance of the city, hundreds of Exodus charged forth like a herd of sheep. The citizens could see them all from the distance they all approached, eventually starting to panic and scatter like confused people usually do when afraid of a crisis.

Though the thing that scared them the most was the rather huge Exodus three times the size of the scouts crawling in the back of the herd. With it's slow speed, it would take the big one a while to actually enter the city. All the little ones would probably do most of the work here. And considering how there are more on the way from the Hellish Mountains, it would be like all war just unleashed

[JOHNY BOMB!]

The people of the city cry in terror in sight of those hideous insectoid like creatures that approached from out of nowhere. Men dashing in panic, women and children screaming in horror, various shops darkening their lights for their own safety. The authorities lost 'n confused during the riot as if they forgot their standard procedure. The creatures drew near as more screams arose from the metropolis.

Vash, hurled 'n bump through the shoulders of the terrified crowd became lost in the chaos as well, unsure where all the stress or danger was coming from. As he passes through the panicking citizens with his vehicle, he grabbed a random man among the running herd. "Hey what's going on here?" Vash calmly demand.

The human, pale in fear shouted, "Giant roach monsters...RUN!!" then breaks through Vash's hold and escapes the madness.

"Monsters?" Vash whispers to himself. Though a mercenary on the job scouting his way through the Hexagon Ciy; it should be none of his concern. But he is a reploid after all built for combat; believing to have more than a singular purpose. Vash decides that is best to protect humans and reploids-alike.

He then hops back on his hover bike and takes a short cut through the alley way while unsheathing weapons, Agni the flame sword. He races to the scene, following the opposite direction the crowd was running from.

[Magnus Blade]

Upon arriving at the front area of the city, the two villains had already witnessed the flee of the citizens...as well as the authorities surprisingly. As such, it really did seem like they'd be fighting a two-on-army sized battle, much to their disadvantage. However, both of them had no intentions on expecting help from civilian humans and even reploids, despite their dire situation.

"All right...time to raise some hell." Xeyon said boldly as the Exodus approached and began to attack buildings and civilians near them both.

Dark Magnus remained silent and slowly slid Caladbolg, the true form of Shadow Levanter, out of it's titanium scabbard. When he took his eyes off the main crowd for a second, he noticed two little girls and a woman cornered by an Exodus, who was about to munch on them from the looks of it. Dark Magnus at first ignored the events unfolding, but something happened within his dark, cold heart. It confused him to the point where his body seemed to move on it's own and approached the Exodus he laid his eyes on trying to kill the small family.

When the Exodus rose it's claw, the children and mother screamed loudly. But in a sudden flash, it was split in half by the Caladbolg and became permanently incapacitated, since the power core was in the center of it's body. When the family looked up, they saw the cloaked Dark Magnus. Their eyes still showed fear, but also relief and gratitude through the mother...though the fear made it unable to be expressed with words.

Dark Magnus looked down on them, but frowned under his hood of darkness and clenched his forehead. A small sense of justice corrupted his mind and actions for the brief moment. He had no idea what caused it, but he had to bare with it for now, as he has other things in top priority.

"...Hmph. Go...get the hell out of here." is all he said to the family before jetting off to the main force of the fray.

Xeyon leaped in the air and smashed his Burning Blade down with his fall, not even giving warning to the nearby citizens who were being attacked by his targets, though they all managed to spread and run away before the brute collided with the ground and the fiery blaze emitting from his blade incinerated about three Exodus.

By now, Dark Magnus met back beside Xeyon and cleared out the remaining Exodus that began the assault together. But since there were only a small number of them in the beginning, they see the rest of the creatures arriving in front of them in their large crowd. Their jumbled up formation made it that much more difficult for the duo to kill them all without taking any damage themselves.

[JOHNY BOMB!]

A small squadron of roach-like monsters crawl frantically with their razor sharp limbs, trampling every motor vehicle in their path; crushing them like mere soda cans. As the human citizens escaped tirelessly from the stampede of insectoids, both human cops and reploids stayed in the fray

The authorities with their energy blaster rifles quickly drawn and firing their shots at will, hopefully putting a stop to these atrocious creatures. However, the attacks only smeared the surface of the creatures armor, a successful defense against energy based weapons.

"Crap, it's not working!" one of the officers shouted.

"Keep firing and back up!" another commanding officer ordered.

The squad of insectoids creep ferociously as they were being fired upon by the cops, immediately approaching their attackers while raising their razor blade limbs, ready to swipe down their prey. "Oh no!" an officer yelp for help as he falls on his back.

A hover bike swiftly dashes out the alley way, leaping towards the attacking monster then passing it in an instant like a blinking shadow. The hover bike drift roughly along the asphalt as it crash lands. A combat reploid occupying the bike with his flaming sword laid just above his lap leers at the creature. He then slashes the air, a streaming blaze of fire lashed out in fury; taunting the monster. The combat reploid smiled, "Too slow." he said.

The attacking insectoid turn it's attention to the combat reploid but before it can make its move, it suddenly fell apart into several burning pieces of cut up scrap metal, ending this roach monster from eating it's prey for good. Soon the combat reploid set his sights on the helpless police officer, then lend a helping hand to get up, "You alright...." he politely asked.

"Y-yes" the officer said nervously, still traumatize from the attack earlier. "Wh, who are you? Are you one of the Maverick Hunters?"

"The name's Vash, and a Hunter? Um . . . sort of?" he answered.

[Magnus Blade]

Before both villains could strike again, they noticed that small groups of Exodus started to appear from other areas of the town, placing them both in an even further disadvantage. In order to ensure none of these creatures come back to haunt them like they are now, they'd have to eradicate every single one of them. Though it seems like some commotion was undergoing several yards away from them.

Dark Magnus felt the core getting closer...meaning that over-sized Exodus must be on it's way towards the city, though the giant wasn't important right now. With the authorities finally fighting back, it was time to take this fight to where everyone could pitch in. Dark Magnus didn't even care anymore. All he wanted was for the creatures to be destroyed as quickly as possible before that big one arrives. Responding in kind, the duo taunted the main group into tailing them both.

When they arrived in the area near the other commotion was, Dark Magnus sliced waves of his power at the horde and individual targets with the Black Katana, attempting to irritate and break up their formation, which worked to some extent. The Exodus began to scatter one by one to avoid the attacks. Using this to their advantage, the two confronted the lone ones. Dark Magnus's Caladbolg was set on fire with the black flames upon being unsheathed again after putting away the other blade.

He sprinted to one of the Exodus and flawlessly struck it down. With scouts' power coming from team work due to being the infant stage of the Exodus, one alone was practically easy for anyone to take down in one or a few more hits. He was then confronted with five of them. He sliced through one of them with a quick stepping slash, then giving another one a fiery punch to it's head. The blow was strong enough to make it flip on it's back...and just like a roach, it was struggling hard to get back up. He still had the others to deal with, but it would be risky to try to aim for one at a time. As such, he channeled energy in his fist to do the low-leveled Magma Smash, blowing them all away, but not strong enough to kill them completely.

With Xeyon, he grabbed one of the unsuspecting Exodus by it's head while clenching it with his hand tightly. Upon crushing it's head with his huge hand, he then tossed it at two more, then quickly dashed through them all with the Burning Blade while he had the chance. But then a few more surrounded him and began jumping on him. One clamped on his back while the others scratched at him.

"Gah! Get off!!" He changed his arm to his buster, blasting the ones around him first. He then leaped upwards and slammed himself down on his back, crushing the Exodus that clung to him nearly to scrap with his heavy weight.

The Exodus began to get back into their mob again to strengthen their combined power again. With Dark Magnus and Xeyon being near more people who are fighting back, the Exodus laid their glowing red eyes on every single one of them, splitting into several different groups in attempts to wiping everyone out with their overwhelming numbers.

[JOHNY BOMB!]

Vash whipped his head back, sensing the danger within these creatures are growing greatly in numbers. He turns to the officer, "Get to higher ground and the citizens to safety" Vash ordered. The police officer nod and picked up his weapon, then wave to his comrades as they needed to retreat and plan their attack again.

"Team Delta and Gamma, head downtown and secure the crowd" he command his troops.

Soon they left the area, leaving the situation to Vash. Though the authorities believing him to be one of those Maverick Hunters, Vash decides to play along with the idea. Don't want to get caught between this mess again; monsters, mercenaries and government/ city officials don't mix well with him.

He quickly hops back onto his hover bike, shifts to first gear and sped off, burning the asphalt. He zips pass the empty streets a few blocks, but could hear the scratching hisses of the insectoids lurking miles away. Vash with his Agni sword ready to hack down any creature that might take him by surprise while cautiously examine his surroundings . . . So far moments on the road he notice a trail leading yards away of those monsters were hacked to bits. He shift down the gear to slow his pace and takes a peek of the insectoids injuries.

Their bodies, clean cut at the weak points caused them to be easily mangled and broken in mere seconds. Then Vash looks further and see others flatten by something of enormous weight. "Someone of incredible accuracy and strength must be fighting these things too" he theorized. Vash then shifts back up to his highest gear; making haste as he follows the trail of these dead insectoids.

"Whoever they are, they're doing a pretty good job at it...." Vash thought. As he continues to follow the trail, a clash of metal wrestling against each other rang blocks away in the city, as if combat was already taken place hours ago. Pressing into his visor, an audio tracker activates and homes in on the signal; constantly vibrating, Vash draws closer to the sound of battle.

[Magnus Blade]

The creatures closed in on the two and assembled into a formation that trapped the duo in all corners. Thankfully, others began to spread out to other areas to ensure the two don't escape.

"...Looks like they've set most to all eyes on us. But that means more fun for you and I, correct?" Xeyon said with a cocky smile.

"There are still more of them in other sections of the city. But..." Dark Magnus felt the core's reading getting closer and closer to the city. "...If we can kill the big one before they try to do anything else destructive, they'll either flee or try to avenge it. Make it top priority for the kill once he arrives. It seems to be a rather slow one, taking it's sweet time to get here..."

With a hasty nod, Xeyon darted off without hesitation. He grabbed two of them and bashed them together. He then hurled them towards another one. With their bodies being like weapons themselves, the collision of metal damaged them greatly, flipping them over on their backs in the process. They were once again helpless at getting back on their feet, much like the incect it's designed after.

Doing a quick charge of his buster, Xeyon fired and destroyed one of the beasts, as it's explosion hit a domino effect and detonated the other two.

Dark Magnus hacked up about three of them with the quick and powerful slices of his Caladbolg, hitting their weak points exactly. With his new weapon's advantage of lightweighted-ness, he could move quick and strike accurately as fast as the wind. He noticed two more trying to sneak up on him from behind, so he performed a blinding turn, then performed the "Flame Imbue" technique shared by both him and Magnus, focusing flaming Magnatanium within the blade and releasing it around the blade to have his attacks deal pure fire damage.

He does a short jump with a fast drop down, having a flaming strike from Caladbolg cleave one Exodus in half, while unsheathing the Black Katana and performing a fast sideways movement with another fiery slash, splitting the second Exodus in half from the side. The attacks were slightly more powerful than usual because of his faster strikes gathering natural and forceful wind around the weapons, though not visible.

With having his Phoenix Eyes permanently active, he noticed a hover bike from a distance through one of the buildings, though it was merely assumptions due to the blurriness of looking through solid buildings such as the one he gazed through.

"Looks like someone else is coming over here...what are they doing coming to the main danger?" the dark assassin wondered in his mind.

[JOHNY BOMB!]

As Vash drew closer to the battlefield, his visor pick up tremendous vibration waves from the scale; crackling shards and screeching metal. He flicks off his audio tracker and switches to the zoom feature on the fight, his target now located nearly hundred yards away. "That color scheme, could it be?" he whispers optimistically over the engine of his hover bike.

Nearly recognizing an old faithful alley, he shifts to the 6th gear, achieving top speed a hi-tech hover bike can handle. "I'm coming Magnus!" thought. Soon a couple of the insectoids leap from behind a few parked cars with their razor arms ready to slash down their target. But with a flick of a wrist, Vash aerial swoop with the Agni blade, halting his attackers in mid-air. The creatures quickly fell like pieces of a puzzle by Vash's swift hand movement while not paying a second attention at the end result of them.

Moving forward, Vash continued to hack his way as he drives pass all these monsters with ease. Finally, clearly seeing his objective in plain view several yards away, he drifts his hover bike, skidding along the pavement as small dust clouds form beneath the vehicle. Then flipping his visor over to get a clear look at his real targets. "Dark Magnus!? Xeyon! What are you doing here? Are you the cause of all this?" in a authoritative tone, with one foot planted down deeply onto the ground causing the road to rupture with cracks.

[Magnus Blade]

Dark Magnus turned his attention to Vash, who just entered the fray after he mowed down an Exodus with one fatal strike from Caladbolg.

"...You again." was all the tyrant said in response before turning his back. Then he had realized that he and Xeyon's hoods were down from all the fighting.

"Open your eyes, moron. Does it look like we're causing this?!" said Xeyon without turning around, having the irritating creatures trying to jump on his huge body again, but quickly taking them out with a single omni-directional strike of the Burning Blade.

"Focus on the enemy, Xeyon! Don't get thrown off guard or else they'll gang up and kill you an instant..." the assassin scolded.

The Magnus clone continued to strike all of his foes that tried to jump and clamp themselves onto him or other methods of doing him harm with blazing hot attacks. They just kept coming, and it was only a matter of time before they gain the advantage by surrounding them while still in big mobs. It was then that Dark Magnus frowned upon an idea he had. He didn't like it at all...not one bit. But if it was the first thing that came to mind while formulating a strategy, it has to work some way or another.

"Hey...Vash, was it? We may actually need your...assistance." The dark tyrant said to the mercenary, still feeling pained at the plan in the first place.

"...What?! Have you lost your damn mind? He's our enemy!" Xeyon argued as he forcefully pulled Dark Magnus to the side. "I'd say we toast this kid along with these little punks!"

"Fool! Didn't I say our main priority was to eradicate them from both the city and our facilities?" Dark Magnus responded quickly, releasing himself from Xeyon's grip. "It matters not how we kill them...they just need to die so they can get out my hair! The very thought of the idea is a pain in the ass, but we don't have much time to begin with."

Xeyon only grumbled to himself, but he allowed himself to let it go this time as we walked away. He turned his attention to the next wave of Exodus while leaving the talk with Vash to his boss.

With that out of the way, Dark Magnus kept his attention on the Exodus, but lent his ear to Vash as he walked back near him...though still not looking at him directly.

"Think what you want about us, reploid...I honestly don't care. But these little creeps and I are definitely not affiliated. If you want to save this pathetic town, then fine. But I have my own issues with them...so we both can have what we want in the end if we are in agreement." He explained, waiting on a response. "So...what's it going to be?"

[JOHNY BOMB!]

A minion Exodus leaps at Vash with surprisingly agility. The combat reploid swings effortlessly with his Agni Blade, splitting the creature in it's pathetic attempt to ambush. He hesitantly paces over to the duo but kept the tip of his sword near his shoulder, positioning as a defensive guard at them. Vash carefully leers at Dark Magnus and Xeyon with uncertainty, "Looks like I don't have a choice" Vash answered.

Vash standing near his temporary ally, slowly turns his back at Dark Magnus and Xeyon while placing the Agni sword far out in front of the creatures; forming a circular phalanx position while standing strong and firm. He hopes to create a all around front guard with the duo thus creating a strong center for them to protect each other in case the Exodus attack from the sides the three individuals cannot see, a classic military strategy. "I'm sure you guys are familiar with this tactic, no?" he asked rhetorically.

A random insectiod lashes at Vash, but a quick swipe while breathing lightly, the monster simply perish in one stoke. "Any ideas where or why they're coming here out of all places?" Vash questioned while keep his guard steady, focus intensely on the battle at hand.

[Magnus Blade]

They were familiar with the tactic, due to their own experience with fighting large groups during their past. As long as they kept the formation going during the large grouped attacks, they figured that possible damage would be minimized.

"These things...'Exodus' are programmed exclusively for pointless slaughter and violent attacks...as well as learning from them." Dark Magnus says to answer Vash's other question while killing one of the critters with an upwards vertical slice from Caladbolg. "I'm not going into anymore detail...but this city must have just been on their to-do list. I don't know."

"Hey! Are we just going to stand here chatting and get eaten alive or what?" Xeyon said impatiently.

Dark Magnus didn't say anything else. He examined the Exodus's actions, which was strange. They were coming at them all one by one now. He couldn't figure out why they aren't attacking in group combined attacks like their usual routine. Then something came to mind at the last second...they do things like this while gaining more intelligence to actually think on par with their enemies. As such, he used his Phoenix Eyes to look closely around the area.

It then hit him when an Exodus he saw was inside a broken building window that was directly above Vash. It was trying to sneak attack him like they've been trying to do to everyone so far. He figured Vash would catch on by himself, but that strange feeling in his artificial heart corrupted his actions again like when he saved that woman and children earlier. His body seemed to move on his own, shoving Vash completely out of the range of the falling Exodus from the window to get him away of the monster's intentions, who had it's claws ready to latch onto it's desired prey.

The assassin then took an offensive stance and did a rising attack with 'Flame Imbue" still around his sword, severing it both in half and burning it to ashes.

"...Damn it! Why?! Why do I keep doing this?!" Dark Magnus argued to himself.