[IC] Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

[BrokenPromise]

"I’m glad I’m here all by myself and- OH HEY TSUBOMI! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

— Suki Oyama

While it wasn’t possible to see Oros’s face from behind, Acid Drop didn’t need to. She could tell her partner was seething. It wasn’t an emotion that she displayed often. Suki? Maybe, but not Oros. The last time she was this pissed was after she “defeated” Earthshaker for the right to make everyone dinner. But Earthshaker was absent from this scene, and Misoka didn’t look like she wanted to go to eat anywhere. She was perfectly content flying her kites in the middle of the empty field.

The wind shifted directions. She turned her body to orientate herself behind the kites. The expression on her face said she was focusing, but Acid Drop could sense otherwise. She was in anticipation, like a child waiting for dessert to arrive. The wind picked up, and Misoka let the kite fly even higher into the air. She still looked stern, but Tsubomi could feel the joy welling up in her chest. If it was difficult to feel, it was only because of Oros’s growing contempt for what was happening in front of her.

Oros brought up her hand and chopped through the air in front of her. A tendril of blood reached forth and thinned its tip down until it looked like a blade. Then, with a swift swing, sliced through all the kite strings. Misoka gasped when she saw her kites fly away from her. The dragons tumbled through the air, getting further away from Misoka despite her attempts to catch up. But the kites were not stable. They could only stay in the air for so long before diving straight into the ground. Even with the wind, it was possible to hear the carbon fiber frames break as they smashed into the earth.

At last, Oros turned to look at Tsubomi. She wore her brightest smile, not that it could mask her feelings from Acid Drop. "You were saying?” When Acid Drop repeated herself, Oros grinned. "So she is real!” She folded her arms over her chest. "I guess they confused her with Misoka when I was rumor hunting. Heh! Weird how that works. I guess Bedshaker and Violet are talking to her right now.” She looked into Acid Drop’s eyes and hesitated. "So uh, Rainbow, do you miss not having emotions?”

---

"You need to be careful how you phrase your demands.”

— ?????????

While it was true that magical girls were invisible to normal humans, that was only true if they didn’t use their magic. The frequent “spirit sightings” in Hibusa Town were instances where magical girls got a bit carried away in a public space. Anyone who didn’t believe in spirits was quick to dismiss such a phenomenon through various means. Nyxia’s laser was a trick of the setting sun on raindrops. The fire hydrant’s redirected water was the result of an odd viewing angle. The old lady staggered backwards. It wasn’t clear what the flower shop owner thought, only that she couldn’t understand it.

The dragon girl raised an eyebrow at her two adversaries. One had decided to shoot a fire hydrant, and the other was redirecting the water at the building. "I’m over here though.” It wasn’t long after that Nyxia commanded her to get off the roof, and Earthshaker wanted her to apologize. The corner of her mouth curled into a vicious smirk as the laser drew closer. "If you insist…”

She hopped into the air. The dragons on her shoulders raised their heads skyward. They roared with brimstone, belching giant flames into the sky. The flames left the dragon’s mouths with such speed it created thrust, and plunged the magical girl inside the flower shop.

Every open hole in the building erupted with fire. The bright white flames would cause anyone to wince if they tried to stare at it, but it was followed by rolling black smoke. The tiny building couldn’t take it anymore, and slowly caved in on itself. Even the walls showed signs of being shifted off of their foundation. Even where the walls still stood, the mortar had been broken off between some of the bricks. The fire had been so hot that it boiled the moisture out of the stone, causing many of the bricks to explode.

The metal door fell aside as the red haired girl stepped out of the smoke. She had soot on her cheeks, but seemed otherwise unharmed by the ordeal. "I got off the roof! And I apologize for burning the flower shop, I razed it to compensate. Speaking of etiquette…” She placed a hand on her chest. "I’m Ash Bringer. No need to tell me your names. I’m not interested in light girls.” She winked at the duo.

[Ponn]

THIS IS NOT FUCKING FINE!!!
-Nyxia Torrentia, Neon Tempest of the Ultraviolet Rainbow

If Nyxia had been furious before, her rage exploded with all the cataclysmic force of a hypernova upon witnessing the dragon girl’s malicious destruction of the flower shop she and Earthshaker were attempting to save. As the dragon girl walked out of the conflagration, she began talking, but Nyxia wasn’t listening to a single word. Instead, the Neon Tempest was violently grinding her teeth together, her breathing, short, sharp, and ragged. When she finally spoke, her words seemed to drip with vitriol…

“You…” the Neon Tempest hissed. “I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU FOR THAT, YOU

FUCKING BIIIIIIITCH!!!”

Even as Nyxia unleashed this anguished screech, the Omega Obliterator disgorged a stupendous lance of utter annihilation, far larger than any Hibusa Town had seen before. This ruinous cylinder was soon joined by half a dozen more as, fueled by the Neon Tempest’s unrelenting fury, her enormous energy cannon sprouted several additional glowing barrels. Even a pair of hovering, octahedral drones in the shape of Nyxia’s hair decorations materialized to add their own beams to the terrifying torrent, the entire baleful barrage violently crackling with arcs of actinic lightning as it fell upon “Ashbringer” without a shred of mercy, or sign of ceasing any time soon…

“DIE, YOU FUCKING SHIT STAIN!!!” the Neon Tempest shrieked, her voice raw with hatred. “DIE!!! DIE!!! DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!”

It might have been “against the rules” to murder another human, mundane or magical, but Nyxia was well past the point of caring about such inane bullshit. This bitch needed to die screaming, for while the Neon Tempest had failed to save the flower shop, she was sure as fuck going to avenge it, and nothing was going to stop her…

[Lonewolf685]

---

Earthshaker wondered what cosmic entity she'd angered to have her lot in life be such a cavalcade of messes and headaches. They find one tiny spark of peace in Nyxia's life that doesn't involve her brother, and it immediately gets burned to the ground by another Dark Magical Girl. One who mockingly mistakes them for a pair of Light Magical Girls.

The combination of that disregard and the destruction of the flower shop had set Nyxia off. The tribal Magical Girl released a heavy sigh as lasers streaked past, leaving the fire hydrant behind as the storefront was ruined beyond salvaging. Small consolation that at least the owner had fled clear of the mess, as she'd be awfully traumatized seeing what was about to go down.

"Just because you're a Dark Magical Girl doesn't mean you can be a bitch without consequences." She said mostly to herself, not expecting the words to be heard over a hurricane of lasers. For a Magical Girl they'd never heard of she didn't look a push over, and it would be on Roche's head to keep Nyxia from either getting her ass handed to her or from killing the dragon girl.

The dead can't beg for forgiveness, after all, and maybe with a bit of humility she could join the club. Eye candy aside, it was always nice to have a new girl to bully into doing all their chores.

Earthshaker lunged towards Ashmaker, her shield interposed between herself and Nyxia as she ran into the path of the lasers. Blocking the beams that were already more intense then what had been thrown around when they first fought saw Earthshaker's body glow with sudden power, the lines across her skin blindingly bright. Energized with a savage intent she leaped upwards, breaking from Nyxia's barrage to plummet towards Ashmaker with her shield now before her, ready to plunge through flame and dragon to crush her foe.

[The World]

"As your legally appointed therapist, I think you may have an issue with that girl."



You're not qualified to be a therapist, Acid.

---

Acid Drop's ear twitched. Something had happened back with the other two girls. There was a powerful rage coming from there, worse than she'd felt in a long time. Plus, the sound! It was a little tough to figure out Oros' feelings as she felt them with how strong the anger was, but Acid Drop managed somehow. It could have been worrying, if she could be worried, that Oros got so angry herself. When her partner finally turned to address her...

"I don't think they're 'talking,' at this point." The last question caught her slightly off-guard.

"Mm..." It took her a little while to think about it. "I remember them being annoying, but I can't say I like how slow I am without magic now. I do miss some of them, I guess. But it's hard to miss them without them, you know?" To her, it was some sort of paradox. Could you be happy that you don't have emotions? What about sad? Sure she could pretend she did when she was Acid Drop, but that wasn't the same, was it?

She tried to think back to what it was like before, but it was muddy. Was she a happy girl before? An emo, a goth, a cheerleader type? Maybe she was the same as she is now... Though she doubted that. Maybe she was just a normal girl before. "I guess I don't know for sure. Why do you ask?"

[BrokenPromise]

"I less than three you, Tsubomi. But I less than three everyone.”

— Suki Oyama

Oros the Joyful nodded along to everything Acid Drop was saying. In truth, it wasn’t anything unexpected. It made sense, at least hypothetically, from the perspective of someone who had emotions. Oros remembered reading somewhere that all human desires were felt when the brain absorbed dopamine. Larger quantities increased the desire. They did an experiment with mice where they inhibited their brains ability to absorb dopamine. The mouse just stood in the center of its cage, completely unmoving. It wouldn’t even eat or drink unless the researchers held food up to its mouth. If that was the case for Tsubomi, then why did she choose to do anything? But she remembered them being annoying? Could anyone really be better off this way?

"Huh.” Was Oros’s response. At least until she was prompted as to why she had asked. "Oh! Um, you know?” Her smile got just a bit bigger. "Emotions are very important to me! I’ve just been a bit- Wait, wait, what do you mean ‘they aren’t talking’ anymore?” Oros didn’t really need her to say. The crackling energy of Nyxia’s laser beams could be made out at this distance, as could the freaking explosion that seemed to rock the earth. "Uh, let’s table this for now!” Oros took off again, this time heading towards the conflict.

---

"Never put all your eggs in one basket. Never use all of your vocabulary in a single sentence. Never put all of your power into a single attack. Never post on the same day of the week”

— Ash Bringer

No two magical girls were alike, but no matter how much variety light or dark magical girls had, there were certain cues that made them easy to tell apart. One of which was how they reacted to taking something that was precious to someone else and destroying it. Few, if any light girls would be proud of destroying something dear to someone else. It didn’t matter if they were an enemy or not. Ash Bringer, however, seemed to relish in Nyxia’s hatred. Every sharp breath, every crease on her face, it served to stretch her lips and show off her perfectly white teeth. If this kept up, the corners of her lips might reach her ears. In contrast, her eyes got smaller. They were wide open, but her pupils dilated. "Come on...” She whispered. And then it happened. Nyxia let her anger out in a torrent of bad words and lasers. It was an overwhelming, perhaps grotesque display of power. Ash Bringer inhaled sharply. It was physically impossible for her smile to be any bigger.

…Or maybe she was reacting to the incoming torrent of lasers.

Ash Bringer was not a stationary target. She had already demonstrated how her flames could be used as thrusters, and she did so again with the murderous tubes of crackling death energy closed in on her. While Nyxia’s main laser beam took a fairly straight forward path, the side lasers twisted and curled around to intercept the dragon. There were many close calls, with the lasers burning through her bangs here and there, but she hadn’t scored a direct hit. Meanwhile, Ash Bringer closed in on Nyxia’s location as the web of death beams swarmed behind her.

This only lasted for a moment before the rule keeper threw herself in front of the incoming lasers. She hadn’t been fast enough to get in front of the laser beams, but she was able to slide into the side of them with her shield up. The beams of death energy slammed into her shield, and everything that had passed her faded away.. The cluster of deadly beams that were so close to Ash Bringer dissipated into the air. Next, Earth Shaker had to disengage from all of Nyxia’s beams and come down on Ash Bringer without getting cooked by the torrent of incoming lasers. Something she masterfully did with a mighty bound.

Most magical girls had fairly simple powers. Nyxia could fire lasers, Oros could control her blood, and Acid Drop wasn’t most magical girls. But neither was Earthshaker. Up until this point, Ash Bringer hadn’t really seen why Earth Shaker’s body was glowing the way it was. There was certainly no way she could anticipate that up until now, she had been storing power to use for this next attack. Ash Bringer should have been able to pass right under Earthshaker to continue moving towards Nyxia, but the energy she stored up would be perfect for giving her a boost of acceleration and powering through anything she might fight back with.

It was like a flyswatter hitting a fly.

Earthshaker’s shield came down on top of Ash Bringer and smashed her into the ground. The pavement beveled, and black smoke rose up all around Earthshaker. She couldn’t feel any movement on the other side of her shield. When she moved her shield out of the way to see if Ash Bringer was still conscious, Nyxia’s lasers came in to finish off what was surely a vulnerable target. Torrentia hadn’t heard Ash Bringer scream yet, and she wasn’t going to stop on account of anyone wishing otherwise.

Though with the smoke, lasers, and Nyxia’s emotional state, it was difficult to see the pavement getting pushed up. It was like a giant mole had dug its way out from under Earthshaker and was racing towards Nyxia. The moving pavement mound started to smolder, and then Ash Bringer, wreathed in flame, burst out of the ground and drove her fist into Nyxia’s stomach. Powerful enough on its own, but it was followed by another heated explosion, which set Nyxia ablaze and sent her careening into the rubble of the flower shop. With a hiss, Ash Bringer turned to look at Earthshaker. Aside from a black smudge on her cheek, it didn’t look like her last attack had caused any noticeable damage to her. Ash Bringer wasn’t grinning anymore, she was pissed.

"Why are you all so weak?” One of her dragons turned and fired a jet of flame at Oros, who was mid-flight in an attempt to ambush the dragon woman. She was turned into a ball of fire that bounced down the street. Ash Bringer hadn’t taken her eyes off of Earthshaker. "You’re dark magical girls, aren’t you? You’re aware you need to hunt miseria to become stronger? Your virtues aren’t your strength anymore, you can’t just sit back and let the light girls kill them all!” Her other dragon was charging a fireball and launched it down the street where Tsubomi was likely returning from.

Roche’s skill set made her ideal for one on one fights, but this was no ordinary foe. Ash Bringer was far stronger than any of the local light girls, and may have even rivaled Shrade. But before what was sure to be a tough battle kicked off, the air was filled with the whooshing sound of magical girls leaping from the rooftops. The rest of the Detention Club would be arriving soon.

"There’s more of you?!” While this seemed to annoy Ash Bringer initially, she chuckled soon afterwards. "You know what? Hibusa Town has proven to be pretty amusing. Tell you what? I’m going to give you guys a year to train and get stronger. Then I’m going to come back with my own team and we’ll have a proper fight. But don’t shed any tears. I’ll still drop by from time to time to see how everyone’s doing.”

With one last burst of flames, Ash Bringer flew into the red sky. Shortly afterwards, the sun retreated over the horizon and painted the sky black. The only trace that remained of her was the battlefield that the flower shop had turned into.

[Ponn]

*Wordless Screaming*
-Nyxia Torrentia, Neon Tempest of the Ultraviolet Rainbow

Nyxia’s eyes narrowed and her teeth ground against one another as Ashbringer nimbly avoided the brunt of her initial barrage and actually began racing towards her. “Die, damn you,” the Neon Tempest snarled. “Just. Fucking. DIE!!!” However, despite her best efforts to get a clean shot, the draconic cyborg continued to evade the storm of ravening beams, drawing ever nearer, that fucking smile remaining plastered across her face. However, Nyxia’s eyes widened a moment later, as Earthshaker made her appearance, leaping in front of the Neon Tempest’s cataclysmic barrage and blocking it with her shield. “What the fuck?! GET OUTTA THA FUCKIN’…!” the Neon Tempest’s enraged voice trailed off as she began to understand the purpose behind her partner’s actions. The tribal girl wasn’t just blocking Nyxia’s fire, she was absorbing it, using it as fuel for her own impending assault on their common foe.

The next instant, that assault came in the form of a hyper-charged greatshield being slammed down upon Ashbringer with truly titanic force. Predictably, Nyxia didn’t wait to see if the dragon girl would rise after receiving this mighty blow, instead opting to to send yet another torrent of neon-tinted devastation crashing down upon the crater Earthshaker’s strike had made mere moments after the tribal girl had stepped out of the way. Indeed, the Neon Tempest wouldn’t be content until the draconic cyborg was a smear on the pavement or a cloud of her namesake ash on the wind. So focused on achieving this objective was Nyxia, that she failed to notice the mole-like trail of bulging pavement making its way towards her with considerable speed. At least, not before Ashbringer erupted from the pavement and punched her in the stomach with the all the force of an atomic shaped charge.

The Neon Tempest barely had time to widen her eyes in shock, before she found herself combusting into flames and hurtling across the street to crash into a pile of smoldering rubble. As if that wasn’t humiliating enough, Ashbringer then proceeded to make a little “speech” that made Nyxia’s blood boil far more than the flames still crackling over her charred skin ever could. They were weak? They needed to hunt Miseria to become stronger? Perhaps the Detention Club’s other members didn’t place a high enough priority on such things, perhaps they were more concerned with playing queen, performing magic tricks, being a voyeur, getting fucked, acting mysterious and cool, being an anal-retentive control freak, or just being totally apathetic about everything, but Nyxia had only one goal- to kill as many Miseria as she possibly could, until she was strong enough to save her beloved brother. To mock all that effort, to just throw it all so contemptuously back in her fucking face…

“I’ll kill you, you fucking cunt….” Nyxia snarled as she slowly rose from the rubble on trembling legs, her charred body propped up by the Omega Obliterator’s oversized barrel. “I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!!!” she screamed, pointing her giant death ray at Ashbringer just as the draconic cyborg concluded her monologue and blasted into the sky. The Omega Obliterator’s ruinous cylinder of annihilation swept across the heavens after her, but the writhing tube of destructive energy never found its target. “GET BACK HERE, YOU FUCKING SHIT-SUCKING PUSSY!!!” the Neon Tempest roared, even as her weapon’s mighty beam shot into the zenith, vaporizing clouds and filling the evening sky with its baleful glow, before fizzling out as Nyxia’s exhausted body slumped to its knees.

“F-Fucking… P-Pussy…” the Neon Tempest muttered between pained gasps for breath. She desperately wanted to give chase, to find Ashbringer, blow off each of the dragon girl’s limbs and then force feed her her intestines, but it was taking all her remaining strength just to stay conscious, let alone stand. What the fuck did that bitch do to me? Nyxia wondered. Indeed, she had never been struck by an attack of such force, one strong enough to make her superhuman magical girl body feel almost as feeble as her hated mundane self. “This isn’t over…” she hissed through gritted teeth. “I’ll show you just how strong I can be…”

[Lonewolf685]

---

Ashbringer's presence alone told Earthshaker she was no simple foe. Having none of the bluster of a fresh faced Light Girl out to purify the land, yet holding an easy confidence even Schrade would have found laudable.

The Rule Keeper took all this in as she struck the Magical Girl into the ground like the first of a vengeful god. Narrowed eyes peered into the explosion of flame, dust, and ruptured roadway that wasn't already awash in the fluorescent glare of neon lasers, and even as she flung herself clear she knew she'd failed to strike true. Experience told her well the feel of crushing both Miseria and Magical Girl beneath her might and there was an absence of that satisfying crunch to be had.

She had come clear of the impact zone yet could only grit her teeth and raise a hand before her, shielding herself from the barrage of lasers that had grown hellish in their intensity. Left to watch as a subtle bulge in the street gave way to Ashbringer's meteoric rise, smashing aside Nyxia before hurling blasts of flame as large as houses towards the approaching Detention Club girls.

And Earthshaker was the only one who found herself pinned solely by the hostile girl's now hateful glare, and she held little doubt she would have remained untouched if the approaching signatures of friendly Magical Girls didn't send Ashbringer to flight. Even if she only left after laying down an ominous challenge.

"Damn it. That bitch took that without flinching." The tribal magical girl cursed before racing after Nyxia. Oros and Tsubomi could handle a bit of fire but Nyxia had never taken a blow like that before. Chasing after her with a bound that burned up her remaining charge of power, Earthshaker found the hunt easy when Nyxia was burning her own with rampant lasers against the sky.

"Nyxia!" She barked, skidding to a halt before grasping Nyxia's trembling shoulders tight. Holding her up, and making an attempt to silence the firing of the Omega Obliterator. "She's gone. And she won't survive coming back."

[BrokenPromise]

...*COUGH*

— Suki Oyama

Suki was use to getting hurt. Her blood power necessitated getting hurt to grow stronger. Her pain threshold was high, and being a magical girl made a lot of stuff hurt a lot less than it should have. She had been smashed by magical war hammers, bombarded by frogs, and run across pink flames as cute as their caster. She had no shortage of experiences to draw upon, but couldn't tell you what the worst type of pain she had ever felt was.

Until today.

It was just a jet of fire, but it hit with some force. The shock wave reverberated in her chest like an echo in a cave. Before Suki could even scream, her body was set aflame ash she tumbled backwards through the air. Bouncing across the ground hurt, but it was difficult to pick a single thing to focus on. Her insides had been ruptured, and her outsides were on fire. With the flames all around her body she couldn't even see. Suki was usually at her strongest when she had been beaten this badly, but this was different. The flames cauterized her wounds while burning to the deeper layers of her flesh. She didn't have many options here.

She coughed up blood, lots of it. Suki's blood formed a large tendril that extended out of her mouth. It peeled open like a banana and enveloped her own body. Usually magical flames stopped burning as soon as you got off of them, but it seemed like Ash Bringer's flames could bypass magical defenses. From the outside, it looked like Suki was in a red cocoon. The tendrils released her moments later, and white smoke rose off of her body. It seemed that starving the flames of oxygen was enough to stop them from burning. She wasn't ready to fight anymore, but fortunately, it seemed like the dragon girl had flown off.

I can't believe none of the reports I heard mentioned her ahoge...

It was much longer before the rest of the Detention club arrived. There were a variety of different reactions, from whispers of how beat up everyone looked to surprise that a fucking building got leveled. Though their leader, Schrade, seemed disinterested in the scene. She looked at the magical girls, the wounded, the collateral on the town, and then at the sky. Her minions raced to help (or mock) the injured while she looked up at the sky where Ash Bringer was seconds ago. Then she grinned and said the most Schrade thing possible.

"Interesting."