Under the cold moonlight, a single man, clad in a red iron MS ran through the snow. Slung across his shoulder, was a woman.

Not this again...

Not this again...

CURSES!!!

Rumble screamed inside this head as he spun on his heels, and whipped out another cannon shot.
The shot barely grazed the side of the creature, but the shell went off nonetheless. As the monster's body splattered everywhere like green monster jam. And without sparing it a second glance, Rumble reversed his tracks and went back to running like no tomorrow, literally.

"Damn those freaking sons of hell..."
Rumble muttered under his breath. Slowing down so much as half a step would result in a brutal death, disfiguration at best.

"There is no need to run this fast..." before Lebi could finish her protest, Rumble cut her off again:

"How many more are behind us?" Rumble asked, breathing through his teeth.

"Uhm...5...6...7...there's too many of them! We won't be able to outrun them! Please just put me down!" Lebi said, her voice bordering panic and pleading at the same time.

"No. I am not leaving you behind." Rumble said firmly.

"No!" Lebi stopped short, as she barely kept her glasses from falling. "I mean...if you don't set me down, I can't cast my spells!"

"Forget about your magic what so ever! Getting you to a safe place is priority!"
Lebi paused for a moment as her long blue hair wavered in the air, each time Rumble took a stride.

"There!" Lebi suddenly yelled.

"Where?" Rumble looked around quizzed.

"Stop right here! PLEASE!" Lebi cried out in desperation, as Rumble hesitated and froze in mid step. Seizing the opportunity, Lebi broke free from Rumble's grasp and landed on the ground, where she began a chant immediately:

"Aqua ortum!" Lebi said. She raised her wooden staff, and slammed it against the ground.

Before Rumble could even get a single word out, a tremor came from the ground beneath him. Next thing he knew, a pillar of water erupted from the ground beneath them, launching the pair meters into the air, with water serving as their only platform.
Gasp mixed with rapid panting, Rumble looked over the edge, and found themselves somehow sitting on a constant pillar of water, staring down at the creatures who had just attempted to mutilate them just moments ago.

"Than-nks..." Rumble said between breathes.

"No, no. I should thank you for trusting me." Lebi smiled warmly at him.

Those long blue hair, soft blue eyes...Once I am done with this test, I am going to go home and propose to her...LIKE A MAN!

Rumble clenched his fist with determination at that thought.

"Is there something wrong?" Lebi cocked her head slightly.

"NO! Not at all! In fact, I feel like I am at 9000% power!" Rumble flexed one arm.

With a small teasing laugh, Lebi continued:

"My spell at most can only last for another 5 minutes...." Lebi smiled faded, leaving the rest of the unsaid dark possibility hanging between them.

"I am sorry I dragged you away without permission..." Rumble apologized, scratching the top of his head.

"No, no. It's fine. I am sure you had a good reason for it." Lebi said with a forgiving motherlike voice, and her eyes gently embracing him.

Rumble expression grimaced, as he subconsciously moved a hand towards his bright red robotic right arm; the only part of his body that was robotic.

"All of them...they're Nightclaws right?" Rumble asked with a stone face.

"Yes...but not quite. From what I heard from the rumours, these are genetically mutated Nightclaws, through a combination of several other monsters' genes. But the real genetic recipe is classified of course..."

"Who cares. I am going to take all of those damned bastards to hell with me." Rumble flashed a grin, as he sat up from the water platform, and miraculously not a single drop of water had got inside his armour.

"This ends here. No more running away." Rumble let out a heavy breath that he's been holding, since running from the pack. Then like a lightning on a clear day, I thought hit Rumble:

"Lebi, do you have any spells that is powerful enough to take out all of them?"

"Yes...But I would need enough water enough around me to channel it. We were lucky enough to have this unfrozen underground water running beneath us. And given the weather it will be really hard to find large quantity of unfrozen water..."

"Hmph. And I thought I was the dumb one of the pair." Rumble grinned reloading his cannon.

"Huh? What do you mean?..." The same daylight lightning seemed to have finally struck Lebi as well, as her eyes grew wide upon realization.

"So what'ca say? Wanna hop on my shoulder for a ride?" Rumble said, with a thumb pointing at himself.

Lebi hesitated for a moment, then with a exciting smile and red at her cheeks she replied:

"My pleasure!"

With help offered from Rumble, Lebi climbed and sat on one side of Rumble's broad shoulder. Then feeling like a combination of world's luckiest man and invincibility, Rumble jumped off from the water pillar and landed on a soft crunch on both feet. Then with a silent nod of confirmation from Lebi, Rumble carried her and ran. Running like it's boxing day to the mall, can't stop and won't stop. The Nightclaws don't play as well, as they too, were eager to get their hands on their Boxing Day prizes...Or snacks.

A couple minutes later, or after what felt like an eternal chase, the two made their way out of the forest and onto a frozen river. There, the Nightclaws still gave chase, as it followed them right onto the ice. But seeing the pair have stopped running, the Nightclaws, stopped and began to fan out, with their numbers counting over a dozen.
With a confident sneer, Rumble gently dropped Lebi to the ground, then with his own cannon, he poised and aimed it at their general mass.

"Alright, listen up you sons of bitches! Remember the boy you took an arm from 7 years ago? That's right! OG Rumble is back in the house! And that means sending you bastards to hell one more time..."

"AGRAHHHHHH!!!" A deafening roar ripped out from Rumble's cannon, that was to only rival his shout. Not a single Nightclaws was killed by the explosion, as they were all able to jump away at the last second with inhuman reaction speed. And where they stood a moment ago, was now no more then a large hole in ice, with the bare river beneath exposed.

"Custos..." Lebi chanted, as she drew a symbol on the ground. All the Nightclaws hissed and charged at her all at once, and with zero hesitation, Rumble put himself between the Nightclaws and her. All fighting that moment came down to primitive, bite and shove, as Rumble fought them off like an animal, to the point it was hard to distinguish him apart from the monsters. The primal fury surged in his veins, it felt good, it made him feel like one self, a beast; one that just wants to survive.

"Flumine!" Lebi smashes her staff against the ground. And almost immediately, the water from the hole began to stir, and soon grew its into tendrils of clear water. It began to lash out and grab on hold the nearby Nightclaws just like how the Kraken grabbed hold of the sailors in the movies, and plunged them back into the hole and into icy waters of below. There was several horrid shrieks and cries from the Nightclaws, but one by one, their voices were drowned out, and those that were fortunate enough to get away, wasted no time lingering as they immediately retreated to the safety of their dark covers.

"We did it!..." Rumble said, his armor a mirage of blood and green goo.

"Yes. We did..." Lebi's voice trailed off as a new figure stepped into the scene of moonlight.

Lebi with high caution and creased eye brows, raised her staff and pointed it all the new figure, who was all in white iron clad, just like the armor suit that Rumble wore.

"Sir?" Rumble said with a tattered voice.

"Wait," Lebi blinked in surprised, "you know him?"

"Her." Rumble corrected, and then noticed Isa's MS was scratched in several places, along with a massive dent at her side of her MS. "Sir, what happened to you? And where's you're partner sir?"

"He attacked me and ran away like a soft meat. Then I ran into a group of monsters." Isa said, her voice cold and her expression hidden behind her helmet.

Silence.

"So I turned them all into dead meats."

Q: Have you played dark souls before?