His name on her lips. In her voice. It was so strikingly similar to the sound of Kire's, with one vital difference. Kire had never spoken to him with that amount of desperation. That much pleading. No, Kire was anger and determination. He knew, even with the false emotion, that this was the enemy, the woman who took everything and gave nothing back. Ruli growled and made to bite down more fiercely, but was blown back in the next second. 

The force of the wall as his body thrust against it first had his head spinning, then seconds later the ache in his bones. Delayed, due to the drugs. Ruli groaned. [i]Get up. Get up get up get up.[/i] Ruli obeyed it, shuffling to push himself upright, and then onto his feet. 
Akuma's words meant little to him. He knew it would wear off. He knew that his tolerance for catalysts like the one currently in his system would eat through the effects that much faster. Knew he would pay dearly for every punch, every slam, every strike against him. 
But he also knew that he had too much experience working through pain. A life Akuma never knew, that no one knew about, made him a fighter even when his body was broken. 

"I think," He said with a pant, already his muscles shuddering, urging him to move. He ignored the dolls, their clawing, tearing, clutching. "that you know I can. And you're afraid."
A flash of a smile, then he moved again.

[hr]

Ysaryn didn't hesitate when she heard Kire's order. Ysaryn tore her blade from the doll she'd carved open and bolted. She didn't need to ask where to go, the dolls led the way. Ysaryn swung, cutting, shoving, trampling the many dolls to reach the chamber ahead of them. Rulitus's predatory snarls sent a shiver down her spine as she flung herself forward. 

Throwing herself between Akuma and Rulitus at the moment was suicide, the elf knew. She focused on the dolls, leaving the few that had gotten in ahead of her for the moment to strike at those pouring in. Get them to pile up, she planned. They'll slow each other with their corpses. 
[i]But they didn't.[/i] 
Ysaryn cut and ripped, but they kept crawling over one another, pushing and pulling on the bodies to make room to crawl over. Five. Ten. Thirteen. They never stopped. Ysaryn felt herself let out a strangled cry of despair. 

This would be it, then. The chamber in which she died. If injuries didn't claim her, exhaustion would. But she wouldn't go down easily. Ysaryn filled her lungs with air and let out an enraged cry before raising her arms and pushing back against the swarm. 

[hr]

He was at a loss. Rab inhaled, looking uncertainly at the fight that unfolded. And then moved. The chamber emptied before him, his eyes wide and tracing. Wolf Smile ran into one chamber, Gavin into another. One after the Master Akuma and the disappearing man. One with the blonde who would free them. 
Where they went, he wasn't sure, but he'd heard her shouting for the grand master. 

Two choices.
Two against one. 
Or two against one.

Only one choice involved Wolf Smile. 
He pushed into the tunnel just as he heard her cry, the sound echoing through the mine. He felt, rather than heard, himself growl as he moved forward, pushing through the mass of bodies that clawed over one another like rats. He wasn't sure what to do. He was not a killer. Did not know how to kill things that he knew to be dead. So he only grabbed several in his arms and pushed downward, forcing them beneath his feet and those of the others. Then he grabbed more, crushing them down. Pinning them. They began to writhe and shriek in objection, which he took to be a good thing. 

Then he heard a laugh. He looked up, hopeful, and saw her fuchsia eyes leering at him in wicked delight. A few swings of her blades, and he could see her down to her shoulder. The elf thrust her arm out, offering the hilt of one of her blades. "Lop their heads off." She ordered. 
Rab hesitated. And it cost her. 
One of the dolls reached up and grabbed her, and with a sharp yank pulled her into the wall of her sisters. Wolf Smile hissed in pain as she struggled against them, the blade dropped from her hand. 

He didn't hesitate a second time. Rab bent and scooped it up, pulling it from the grasp of a doll, and he obeyed. He swung, his strength greater than he imagined, likely due to his size. He'd never held a weapon before. Never would have guessed he'd be dangerous. He looked up, hopeful once more, as the elf with the pretty eyes yanked herself free again. She looked pale, but angry. That wicked grin blossomed and she raised her blade, and even if, for a split second, he noticed her hand shaking, she thrust her arm downward with vengeance. 

[hr]

Ysaryn. Ruli ducked under Akuma's blade again, studying her movements just as she studied his. He was aware of Ysaryn and had to continue to be aware of her. Keep Akuma from her. The elf's back was turned toward them as she fought against the horde. Leaving herself vulnerable. She danced out of reach of the dolls, but he could smell the fatigue on her. 
Could feel it in himself. 
Knew the stimulant was wearing off. 

A few dolls had beaten the elf into the chamber, had rushed toward him and tackled him. He was relentless in his focus on Akuma, hadn't let up, while kicking and swiping at his weaker assailants. They tore, clawed, and pulled on him. His clothing tore, his skin bled, his muscles began to shake. He was prepared to fight through it, but Ysaryn...
When the wall of dolls yanked on her when she stepped to close to where she'd managed to bottle neck them, she cried out and struggled, and he had cast a glance at her. Akuma had won a strike against him in that second, and it winded him. He felt it resonate in his bones as he straightened again. 

"Out!" he barked at the elf as she, too, straightened and threw herself into her own battle. 
Her reply in elvish was so colourful he would have blushed if he hadn't been so focused on murder.