Marcel and Musubi looked at each other. "Nice to meet you, I am Musubi Everheart," Musubi said. "I will be fighting you," she said.
"Fight?" Marcel questioned. "I am here to kill you," Marcel said as he drew a jagged blade across the palm of his hand. His teeth clenched as the steel bit deep, and an explosive surge of golden electricity erupted from the wound. There was a blinding and thunderous flash that shook the very foundation of the street. A localized pillar of white-hot steam blasted outward.
Within the fog, Marcel's human form was consumed. His skeleton grew bigger. His spine curved aggressively, his vertebrae thickening to support massive shoulder muscles. His arms elongated rapidly and the bones hardened into thick, heavy pillars. His fingers sharpened into curved claws. His legs remained shorter but packed with explosive, coiled power. His tendons snapped tight like steel cables. His head began to solidify. The skull expanded and his jawbone grew massive and heavy. Hardened, bone-white armor fused over his face and formed a terrifying mask. His teeth sharpened into serrated daggers, and his powerful jaw muscles bulged. The Jaw Titan stood at 5 metres.
"That is amazing," Musubi said. "You can change just like James," she remarked.
Marcel did not respond. He leapt forward. His massive body vanished. It was like a blur in the air. He moved his hardened claws through the air toward Musubi's head.
"Too slow," Musubi said as she dropped into a deep crouch. The talons whistled inches above her hair. Before Marcel could touch the ground, she pivoted on her heel and delivered a devastating roundhouse kick. Her boot connected squarely with Marcel's armored jaw. The impact sent a shockwave through the street.
Marcel felt the impact however he did not flinch. He used the momentum of her kick to spin his body and raised his other fist and punched Musubi in the rib.
Musubi got hit. She spat her spit and was hurled backward. She flipped mid-air and pressed her palms against a fallen skyscraper pillar to propel herself back into the fray. "I won't let you reach James," she shouted.
Marcel jumped forward. "I will win," he said. They met in the center of the street once again. Their fist clashed and a small shock wave was released. It kicked the dust into the air.
Musubi flipped over and unleashed a rapid-fire succession of punches. Her fists moved faster than the human eye could track. Each strike landed against Marcel's chest and shoulders with the sound of a sledgehammer hitting stone. She was rapidly punching him.
Marcel roared. He moved his head forward. His massive jaw snapping shut just inches from her arm. He threw a heavy, overhead swipe with his right claw. Musubi leaned back and the wind of the strike ruffled her bangs. She countered with a rising knee to his throat.
Marcel staggered. He snarled and lunged forward. He tackled Musubi and slammed her through a brick wall. They tumbled into the ruins of a department store and shattered mannequins and glass displays.
In the cramped space, Marcel had the advantage. He pinned Musubi against a structural beam and raised his hardened fist.
"You are a strong one," Musubi said as she smiled. She kicked the beam with her foot and broke it. Musubi escaped from Marcel. She leaped onto a hanging light fixture and swung herself forward, her feet connecting with Marcel's face in a double-dropkick.
Marcel smashed through the storefront window and back onto the street.
Musubi jumped forward and saw the store collapsed behind her. She was in the streets. "What are you?" Musubi asked. "You are like that one from before but different," she said.
Marcel got up. He then leapt into the air. His claws dug into the walls of the surrounding buildings as he climbed and jumped.
"Where are you going?" Musubi asked.
Marcel leaped from a third-story balcony. His jaws wide open. He came down to crush her entire upper body.
Musubi waited until the last possible microsecond. She stepped to the side and grabbed the side of his massive head, and used his own downward momentum to slam his face into the pavement.
The asphalt shattered into a crater and there was a massive shockwave. The nearby building shook and water pipes burst out.
Marcel swept his powerful arm across the ground and caught Musubi's ankles. She tripped and fell. Marcel lunged forward. His serrated teeth went toward her body once again.
Musubi brought her hands up and caught his upper and lower jaws. "I am not going to be food," Musubi said as her muscles surged. She held the Jaw Titan's mouth open. Marcel's jaw muscles bulged, the bone-white armor on his face creaking under the strain of her grip.
Musubi thought he was strong. She kicked upward into Marcel's stomach while simultaneously shoving his head back. The dual force sent the Jaw Titan flying upward.
Marcel flipped in the air and landed on all fours on top of a bus. His chest was heaving.
Musubi stood below him. Her knuckles were bleeding and her breathing heavy, but her stance was still perfect.
They stared at each other, both covered in dust and scrapes.
"Again," Musubi challenged as she smiled.
Marcel let out a shriek of rage and leaped once more. He closed the distance. He swung his claws rapidly. He swiped left and right at Musubi.
Musubi performed a series of rapid backflips, the tips of Marcel's talons missing her nose by fractions of an inch. Each time her feet touched the ground, she sprang away again. Marcel kept swiping left and right. However she kept dodging it.
Marcel then slammed both massive, hardened fists into the ground. The localised shockwave buckled the street. He caught Musubi mid-leap. She lost her footing as the earth rose up to meet her. "My foot," Musubi causally said.
Marcel lunged forward and delivered a brutal, heavy-handed punch to her midsection. The blow connected with the sound of a cannon blast and sent Musubi flying backward like a ragdoll. She spat blood as she flew through the air.
She hurtled through the air, but her Sekirei reflexes kicked in. She reached out. Her fingers caught a bent steel lamp post. She gripped the cold metal and used her incredible momentum to swing herself in a violent 360-degree arc. She used the lamp post as a pivot, she launched herself forward like a living missile. Her leg extended and she flew forward. Her boot connected flush with the Jaw Titan's armored face. The impact was so great that Marcel was sent skidding backward. His heavy frame plowed a line of abandoned cars until he smashed into a concrete barrier.
Marcel didn't stay down. He used his claws to dig into the ground and halt his slide. He immediately pounced back with animalistic ferocity. He swiped horizontally and his claws whistled through the air.
"You are fast," Musubi remarked as she ducked. She felt the heat of his skin pass over her, and countered with a sharp kick to his chin. She snapped his head back.
However as his head went back, his long, powerful arm whipped around. The hardened tips of his fingers caught Musubi across the ribs. The claws tore through her red ropes. Musubi was thrown to the side and hit the ground hard before rolling back to her feet. She skidded to a halt, her chest heaving as she panted for breath. The damage to her clothing was significant. Her robes were shredded and left the bottom of her breasts exposed to the cold, smoky air.
"My clothes," Musubi said as she ripped a side of her sleeves and covered it up. There was still a glimpse of her breast on display. She then pressed a hand to the shallow cuts on her side.
"You are strong," Musubi remarked. "You are stronger than any human I've ever fought," she said.
Marcel crouched low. His steam vented from his jaws in thick, angry clouds. He saw her blood on his claws and let out a low, guttural growl. His predatory eyes locked onto her.
"I'm not done yet," Musubi yelled.
Marcel lunged with a guttural roar. He opened his massive arms wide towards her.
Musubi tried to dart to the side, but she was too slow. Marcel caught her in his massive hands. With a burst of predatory speed, he slammed her back-first into the brick wall of a standing office building.
Musubi spat blood. "Ehhh," she said. The brickwork shattered behind her, a spiderweb of cracks raced up the wall. Marcel leaned his entire five-meter weight into her. He pressed his hand and tried to crush the life out of her.
Musubi gasped. The air left her lungs as the pressure mounted. "I won't lose," she hissed through clenched teeth.
She couldn't move her arms, but her legs were free. She coiled her knees up against his armored stomach and unleashed a desperate, double-barreled kick against his wrist joints. The focused strike hit him.
Marcel's grip involuntarily loosened from the strike.
Musubi wriggled upward. She escaped his grasp and sprinted up the vertical surface of the building.
She reached the ledge and turned. She looked down at the Titan below. With a powerful sweep of her arm, she kicked a massive chunk of rubble. A jagged piece of concrete went towards Marcel's head. "Take this," she said.
The debris hit Marcel square in the face. The concrete shattered against his jaw mask and obscured his vision with a cloud of grey dust.
Musubi dove off the ledge and hit the ground running. She closed the distance and dropped into a slide and then exploded upward. Using both feet, she delivered a thunderous double-leg uppercut directly under Marcel's chin.
The force was astronomical. The Jaw Titan's head snapped back and his entire five-meter body was lifted off the ground by the sheer kinetic energy. He soared a few feet into the air before crashing down onto the street of an overturned transit bus.
Marcel lay there. There was steam venting wildly from his open mouth.
Musubi landed softly on her feet. Her chest was heaving. She wiped a thick layer of soot and drywall dust from her forehead. Her eyes never left the Titan.
Marcel then got up again. He looked at Musubi and roared.
Musubi thought of James. She felt the bond between them. He was her Ashikabi, the center of her world, and the reason her heart beat with such primal force. "I am his Sekirei," she whispered. "And I will be his greatest weapon," she added.
She planted her feet as she drew every ounce of her internal energy into her right arm. The air around her began to vibrate with a purple, translucent pressure. High above her, the faint, shimmering image of a Great Bear roared into existence. "Bear Fist," Musubi said as she surged forward. She closed the distance and her fist connected with the center of Marcel's bone-white facial mask with the force of a falling meteor.
The hardened armor shattered like glass. Shards of Titan-bone flew into the air as the blow caved in the side of his skull and sent a spray of hot steam and blood across the bus. Marcel's head snapped back.
Musubi coiled her muscles and launched herself high into the air. She pulled her right leg back and her energy spiraled around her foot until it glowed with a blinding, purple light. "Bear Kick," she said as she descended like a falling star. Her leg extended into a devastating thrusting kick. Her boot slammed directly into the Jaw Titan's underbelly. A massive explosion of purple energy erupted at the point of impact. The force traveled straight through Marcel's body and shattered his reinforced spine. It snapped the heavy vertebrae like dry twigs.
The Jaw Titan slammed on his back. He let out a weak, wet wheeze. His limbs twitched uselessly. With his spine severed and his skull fracture, the titan struggled to move. His claws scraped feebly against the ground. Steam hissed piteously from his wounds.
Musubi landed a few feet away. Her knees nearly buckled from the effort.
At that moment, black smoke enveloped the massive Jaw Titan. It slithered from on his feet and curled around him. The vortex thickened until his body vanished within.
"That again," Musubi said as she looked to see the smoke go away. She looked at her clothes. "I should be more modest," she said as she saw a nearby jacket and put it on.