*As Sanada and Wato were sword battling each other, Raika and Pennie were having an intense close-quarters handgun battle with each other. Both ladies were attempting to shoot the other but they would either block each other’s attacks, deflect the guns away, or dodge the bullets. The two were constantly moving around Sanada and Wato who were completely unphased by their presence and concentrating on each other*
(Raika): *Inner Thoughts* Her footwork is very impressive. It’s almost like she’s dancing.
(Pennie): *Inner Thoughts* Wow! I can’t believe I’m matching shots with the legend herself. The precision, the concentration. It’s amazing. She’s so cool and beautiful.
*As Pennie backstepped away from Raika so too did Wato away from Sanada. Sanada and Raika both saw that Wato and Pennie would run into and felt that this would be their chance to attack them. Both of them charged at their two admirers where just like they predicted Wato and Pennie ran into each other back first. However, what happened next surprised Sanada and Raika. As soon as Wato and Pennie’s backs touched each other, they spun around to the opposite sides of each other. Wato was now facing Raika and Pennie was facing Sanada*
(Wato): Hurricane Stance: Eye of the Storm!
*Wato swirled his sword around and around to create a vortex of wind which caught Raika and slammed her to the ground. Pennie took her two handguns and combined them to form an SMG. She opens fire on Sanada who couldn’t get his sword up in time to block the first three shots and was hit in the arm, leg, and cheek. Sanada was slightly cut open on the cheek but he ignored it to focus on defending himself. After a few more shots, Wato and Pennie spun around again to face their original opponents. Wato charged at Sanada where the two resumed clashing swords with each other. Pennie on the other hand opened fire on Raika who rolled out of the line of fire and jumped behind a tree for cover. Pennie held her position and pointed her gun at the tree waiting for Raika to move*
(Raika): So, you wanna tag battle, eh?
*Raika soon ran out to the right firing at Pennie who returned fire. Both ladies dodged the bullets of each other. Raika managed to serpentine her way to Pennie who jumped into the air to avoid getting shot. As Pennie was aiming her gun down to shoot, she was struck from behind by a lighting bullet. Paralyzed from the attack and defenseless, Raika took advantage of this and jumped into the air to lock Pennie into a headscissors with her legs. Raika pointed her handguns at Pennie’s head and fired to send her plummeting to the ground. Raika landed soon after Pennie safely*
(Raika): Thanks for the assist, Sanada.
*Raika turned to Sanada where she saw Wato on the ground with blood slightly dripping from his mouth*
(Sanada): My pleasure.
*When Raika was making her way to Pennie she fired off multiple shots that she dodged. However, Raika’s shots weren’t meant for Pennie. She was aiming at Wato. Sanada brought Wato into a deadlock and positioned him into the line of sight behind Pennie. Raika’s bullets went past Pennie and hit Wato in the back. Once Wato was shot, Sanada followed up with a rising knee attack to hit him on the jaw which sent him to the ground. Sanada then used his sword to catch one of the lightning bullets and deflect it back to Pennie in the air. Despite the heavy hits, Pennie and Wato managed to rise back up to continue the fight. They would quickly regroup to prepare their next move*
(Pennie): That was flawless teamwork.
(Wato): Indeed. I knew this would be a tough dragon to slay.
(Pennie): And the mountain I am trying to climb is even tougher than I imagined.
(Wato): Then allow me to offer you a push.
*Wato and Pennie turn their attention to Raika. Pennie shoots from afar while Wato moves in close to attack. Raika manages to stop Wato in his tracks by firing at him. Wato deflects the bullets and manages to fire one back at Raika who dodges the attack with a sidestep. As soon as she sidesteps, Wato uses his speed to reach Raika*
(Wato): Wind Stance: Spiral Tap!
*Wato thrusts his sword into the chest of Raika which sends her flying backwards. Sanada came from behind Pennie only for her to detach her guns and shoot at Sanada hoping to stop him. Sanada didn’t stop and continued to make his way to Pennie who blocked his slash attack with her guns. This allowed Wato to come in from the side for an attack*
(Sanada): Vortex Stance: Sparrow Ascends!
*Sanada points his sword down and spins around to create a whirlwind which pushes back Pennie and sends Wato upward. As Pennie gets pushed backwards she feels two guns in her back. She glances behind her to see Raika. Before Raika could fire off her guns, Pennie pointed her guns to the ground and shot them off. This allowed Pennie to shoot up into the air and she performs a backflip to land on the ground feet first and behind Raika. Not fazed by this, Raika counters with a backflip and hits Pennie on top of the head with a Pele kick. Pennie began to stagger backwards as Sanada ran to finish her off, but he was cut off by Wato who returned to the ground safely*
(Sanada and Wato): Tornado Stance: Rapid Tempest!
*Sanada and Wato began to swing their swords rapidly at other. Their swords clashing with each swing until Sanada did a perfect parry to leave Wato open and struck him in the chest with the hilt of his sword. Wato coughed gasping for air before he was hit by a dropkick courtesy of Raika. Wato managed to stay on his feet and got his sword up just in time to deflect Raika’s gun from close range. Raika fired a few more times but Wato managed to block the shots before Sanada delivered a slash across his back horizontally. Just when it seemed like Sanada and Raika have everything under control, Pennie recovers from the kick and fires at both of them. Sanada and Raika are forced to step to avoid getting shot. Pennie pursued Raika and the two once again engaged in a close-quarter gunfight. As Sanada was about to help Raika, he was cut off once again by Wato who had recovered from the previous attack. The two were now once again engaged in a swordfight with each other as their swords clashed with one another. The sound of steel clashing and gunfire echoed throughout the forest as the four knights clashed with one another. Whenever one would gain the advantage it would be short-lived as their opponent’s partner would attack them from behind and bring them back to the status quo. In one sequence, both Raika and Pennie had a standoff with their guns pointed at other prepared to fire. Only to duck and roll out of the way to avoid a sword slash from Sanada and Wato respectively and fire at both of them before returning their attention to each other. When they fired at each other and managed to nail each other in the head with a wind and lightning bullet. Both Raika and Pennie fell backwards barely conscious. Pennie was the first to pull herself up along with Wato who had recovered from the gunshot and saw how vulnerable Sanada was. Lifting up his sword and sheathing it, he prepared to finish off Sanada*
(Wato): Get ready for the storm, Sanada! Hurricane Stance: Storm Cannon!
*As Wato was unsheathing his sword, he failed to notice Raika throw an item to Sanada who caught it right before Wato launched his attack at Sanada. Wato unsheathed his sword fully and unleashed a powerful air cannon attack on Sanada which caused a dust cloud to cover the area around Sanada. As Wato stood there thinking he won, he heard the buzzing sound of electricity and saw the silhouette of Sanada appearing in the dust cloud. When the dust cloud faded away, Sanada appeared carrying his sword and Raika’s energy saber. The rubber band holding his hair together came undone allowing his hair to fall and he rose back to his feet*
(Sanada): You forget yourself, Wato. I am the storm.
(Raika): And I am the lightning that accompanies the storm. Let’s wrap this up.
*Raika stood to her feet and put her gun back in her holster. Pennie was quick to realize what Raika wanted to do: a quick draw. She accepted the challenge. Wato sheathed his sword once again to prepare for his final strike and Sanada prepared to charge at him. All four knights stood still for what seemed like an eternity until Sanada and Wato charged at each other followed by Raika and Pennie drawing their guns and firing at each other. The sound of guns being fired and swords clashing filled the air for a split second and all four knights were still standing. After five and a half seconds passed, two of the knights fell to the ground. One fell face first while the other fell to their knees and bent backwards*
(PA System): Wato Musashi and Pennie Hermione have been eliminated.
*Sanada and Raika both took a sigh of relief as they stood victorious. Sanada turned off the energy saber and sheathed his sword as he walked over to Raika. He gave the energy saber back to Raika and the two fist bumped to celebrate their victory*
(Sanada): Are you okay?
(Raika): Never better. You?
(Sanada): I need a vacation.
(Raika): And a haircut. Seriously, your hair is more feminine than mine.
*Sanada and Raika laugh*
(Sanada): Thanks for having my back out there.
(Raika): I’ve always got your back.
(Sanada): As do I.
(PA System): Jin Hephaestus and Brodie Nagata have been eliminated.
(Sanada and Raika): What!?
Author’s Notes: Wooooh~, what a battle. This is the first time I ever done a tag team battle but I wanted to try new things this volume and test it out. The odd person here was definitely Raika because of her lightning magic, lol. Next battle will different as it’ll be a two-on-one affair between the young boys and the veteran. Two promising knights of the future will test their mantle against the present. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.