[center][color=red][h1]Silhouette[/h1][/color]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/I15iaon.jpg[/img]

[color=red]"Black, no sugar."[/color]
[/center]

The Dark Magical Girl had been watching the results from the top of the roof she had wound up on after disembarking, turning away as its descent was nearly complete. It was very clear that the ship was not going to be sailing anytime soon, and that meant so long as Amber hadn't died, that the mission was a complete success. Silhouette was still unsure how to feel about Prime doing the sinking for her, but a job was a job. She turned and faced her companion, assuming he was still nearby, and expressed her thanks. 

[color=red]"I appreciate the assistance, but I am required elsewhere."[/color] she informed him, her tone monotonous until she added a sharp. [color=red]"And I would like to be alone."[/color] before she turned and parted ways with the magical soldier. 

Silhouette had then made her way down the side of the building with the help of parkour, utilizing ledges and small hops until she reached ground level. From there, she stuck to the shadows, not wishing to draw any attention from nearby magical girls, and left towards the location that she and her employer had agreed upon prior to the start of the mission. She was rather cautious as she approached the area, keeping her Third Eye out for anything or anybody who had decided to tail her. While she wasn’t able to do anything about it on the ship, she had indeed noticed there was an observer, and that observer would be dealt with if she attempted to snoop on this meeting. 

….

….

….

[color=red] “...How can one enjoy the coffee here when it tastes like motor oil?”[/color] the assassin asked her employer, now standing in front of the woman known as “Vermillion Veronica” in disguise, now out of her magical girl form herself. She was now at a diner known as the Pitstop, which was tied aesthetically to racing. Sil wasn’t exactly a fan of such entertainment herself, but she wasn’t the one who decided where they met. .

	Veronica was actually very difficult to spot out of costume.  She had no discernible magical aura, even one that third eye eye could pick up. Her face was often forgotten, even by people who knew her. But Sil knew she would often take the form of a waitress, and there weren't many girls working with long, blond hair.

	[color=#AE78C3]“I didn't realize you were one to joke.”[/color] Veronica stated plainly. She wasn't smiling, and seldom did. Sil already knew that Veronica wasn't one to discuss things in such a public setting, and instinctively stood up to follow her employer. 

[color=red] "I am not."[/color] the red-eyed girl answered sincerely, her eyes opened just a bit wider after she realized what she'd done. [color=red]"Ignore the wordplay, it was not intentional." [/color]
Aside from killing people, Sil did pride herself and having a good taste in coffee, but this diner was sorely lacking in that department. In fact, it was almost insulting how poor the blend was. Like no effort was put into ensuring that it was just right. There should be no half-assing coffee, at least in Silhouette's honest opinion. They were probably lazy and didn't care what they served their customers, which was probably why they wouldn't even tell Sil where they got their beans from. 


Veronica was muttering something under her breath as they walked towards the back. [color=#AE78C3]“I'll feel it all, dulled by pain.”[/color] It was no mystery to Sil what Veronica was doing. [color=#AE78C3]“I'll hear it all, muted by screams.”[/color] The two had stepped into a back room, or at least that was what most would have perceived. But Sil's eye noticed the magical gateway they had walked through. Only a very powerful Magi who knew where to look could hope to discover them here. Despite that, the room looked exactly like any other back room for a dinner, save for the fact that there wasn't anything actually stored inside. It was just an empty room with Sil and Veronica inside. The ceiling was also opened up to a foreign sky, further alluding to the fact that they were not in Penrose anymore. The sky was overcast, but it was still easy to make out the features of the room. [color=#AE78C3]“I'll see it all, devoured by darkness!”[/color] Veronica's body was consumed by a dark shadow, and magical girl Vermillion Veronica emerged from it.  She let her arms fall to her sides, and large swords jetted out of her gauntlets. [color=#AE78C3]“So.”[/color] Veronica's shadow stood up behind her and fractured. It looked like a dead tree. [color=#AE78C3]“Was the mission a success?”[/color] One of the branches stretched towards Sil. While most shadow magic wasn’t capable of harming magical girls directly, Sil knew it was a bad idea to get hit by one of Veronica’s shadows.

Silhouette slowly closed her eyes and did not move to avoid the attack, almost as if she had resigned herself to death. She mentally recalled phrase that now started each and every mission she had undertaken while a Magical Girl. [color=red][i]I am a blade. A blade knows no fear. A blade knows no doubt. When faced with my enemy, I hesitate not.[/i][/color] the shadow had closed enough distance by now that it simply wasn't viable for the untransformed girl to avoid it. She was not very much more than human right now, after all. 

However, as the shadow strike drew critically close, something would then appear "off" about the young girl -- she wasn't moving at all. Not even the slightest movement, unnaturally so. Even the very miniscule movements caused by something as simple as drawing breath were nowhere to be found. It was almost like--

--she had frozen herself in time. 

Had the shadow struck her during this time, nothing would have come of it. And in the next instant, almost like there was some pane of glass between Sil and the rest of the world, that frozen visage shattered, revealing a transformed Silhouette clad in dark, readying her trust time-slicing blade in defense. Her eyes betrayed the willingness to eliminate the threat before her, something that an untrained, inexperienced foe might not even be able to face directly without faltering. 

[color=red][i] Magical Girl Transformation![/i][/color]

But Vermillion Veronica was none of those. She wouldn't be intimidated. Yet neither would Sil. Were there an onlooker at this moment, the two probably appeared more like two great enemies preparing for a final, deadly showdown rather than an employer and employee. Dialogue, however, would contradict this. 

[color=red]"...The vessel is no longer capable of flight."[/color] the crimson-eyed assassin informed, paying more attention to her surroundings than normal. [color=red]"...The VIP is not confirmed to be dead." [/color]

	[color=#AE78C3]“I can't confirm you'll get paid.”[/color] The wall to Sil's right started to get darker. [color=#AE78C3]“Regardless of the condition of the ship, the VIP was part of the mission.”[/color] Veronica took a swing at the wall, and her blade seemed to enter it. However, it surfaced closer to Sil, threatening to cut off her legs. [color=#AE78C3]“This is unusually sloppy work. Did you need backup?”[/color]

[color=red]"Tch." [/color]

Silhouette clicked her tongue in annoyance. If she was not going to be paid for destroying that ship, then that entire fiasco had been pointless, and she'd owe Prime a favor for no reason. This was possibly the worst-case scenario.

Imaginary spectators of this fight... conversation... this, well, whatever it was might have tried yelling out to Silhouette, who seemed oblivious to where the attack was going to come from in a vain attempt to warn her of the threat. However, such an action would prove unnecessary, for Sil would never once let her guard down against Veronica. It would be both disrespectful, and likely the end of her own life.  

A last-minute jump and twist had Sil just barely evading the shadow-based dismemberment attempt. That was her cue to switch to a closer-range, lest Veronica begin getting more serious with her attacks. At a range, Silhouette had no means of attack herself, so keeping her distance would lead to only negative situations for her. 

[color=red]"There were complications involving a mechanical magical girl, as well as the VIP, who had shown up before I could disable the vessel."[/color] she told her boss, staring the cold woman down. [color=red]"There was also unrequested assistance from the Chosen of Novum."[/color] she added, finishing her explanation. 

Immediately afterwards, the assassin's existence briefly shimmered before disappearing entirely. She'd merely darted directly towards Veronica with such swiftness that she'd left an afterimage. The very moment it vanished, the black-haired girl would appear right before Veronica, letting loose a trio of slashes. This, of course, assuming Veronica hadn't laid any traps beforehand. 

The wall of shadow started to bubble like tar before spitting out a wooden table and an assortment of chairs behind Sil. In front of her, Veronica wrenched her sword out of the wall at an angle, pulling the shadow along like it was wallpaper. Sil was faster than Veronica in terms of how fast she could move her body, and was able to land all three slashes on Veronica's abdomen. This would have been fatal to most humans, and even some magical girls. But her boss was not a pushover. Veronica wasn't called the immortal ebon Vampire for nothing. She was durable, and had the strong magical capacity to accelerate her ability to heal. This was likely why she chose to take the blows without defending and instead chose to exchange with a blow of her own. The shadow attached to her sword was bubbling like tar, and had the blades of several military style K-bars sticking out of it. Veronica's weapon was no longer a sword, but a large shadow club with knives sticking out of it. As she swung her new weapon at Sil, the knives spun around the club as if it were a chainsaw. 

[color=#AE78C3]“Then you were spotted.”[/color] Veronica said before making a second swing. [color=#AE78C3]“How did the other magical girls fair, were any of them eliminated?”[/color] Using her second sword, she slashed through her club and held her arms out to the sides. This caused the shadow and it's many knives to form a round shield that was as big enough to cover Veronica herself and held all of those knives pointed in Sil's direction. When Veronica charged forward, the shield moved with her.

[color=red]"I believe that was beyond my control."[/color] Sil countered, between each swing she avoided.[color=red] "Foes were encountered only after my boarding of the ship, so it would seem there was some form of system to alert them that I could not exactly avoid at that point." [/color]

Silhouette was not a fan of the unpredictability she was facing. She would typically attempt some form of counter strike after a parry, but the closest object she could compare the eccentric weapon to was a chainsaw. It did not look like something she wanted to be on the business end of, and so she opted to avoid the attack in its entirety, as the spinning blades would make it impractical to attempt a parry. This made it relatively easy for Veronica to set up her charge, and given the environment, the assassin had nowhere else to go but backwards or forwards. Partially due to her not having a way to reach anything vital and also partially due to Silhouette feeling Veronica would at least entertain the idea she might try something like that and respond properly, Sil did not attempt a similar give-and-take move like she did earlier, against Penny. 

Instead, the Dark Magical Girl began to back up, towards the table and chairs. As quickly as she could, Sil grabbed the table by one end and flipped it towards Veronica, with the red-eyed girl following close behind. However, mid-air, the table merely stopped and stayed floating with its legs pointing towards the shield Veronica had employed. Quite obviously, this was to cease the charge, or at the very least, Sil could play around the table, which was now frozen in place and quite immovable. 

[color=red]"I opted to conserve my mana in the event that more Magical Girls showed up, and so I was not able to execute the one I did clash with."[/color] she informed, keeping the table between her and Veronica. [color=red]"I did learn she seems to own a regeneration similar to mine." [/color]

	When the wall of shadow and knives clashed with the table's legs, it started to “melt.” Veronica's shield oozed like tar, with the knives floating around in the mass. Her wounds were already closing up, and even her outfit was starting to knit itself back together. But Sil's boss didn't pursue her around the table. For a second or so, she was in thought. Veronica typically didn't pause during these fights, so it could have only been in reaction to what Sil had told her. Veronica stretched out her hands, and a ball of tar started to form in the hands of each one.

	[color=#AE78C3]“A sensory trap is unlikely given your third eye, but possible. The magic of lesser patrons and their magical girls can be very subtle.”[/color]  She threw the tar at either wall, which splattered like black paint. The tar started to bubble and fired knives at Sil from both directions. It was a fairly erratic spray pattern, but the knives came out fast. [color=#AE78C3]“You were wise not to press your attack on her. I believe I know the target. She is not one I want to deal with too soon.”[/color] Veronica hadn’t remained idle. She was doing something else with her magic. Sil could feel it. The room appeared to be getting... darker.

[color=red]“Then it would be ideal that we do not meet again until she is to be dealt with.”[/color] Sil commented, recalling the intense fight she had a short while ago. [color=red]“I could not promise our next encounter ending in another draw.” [/color]

Silhouette had back off the table a few steps once the wall had “melted” through her makeshift barricade, as it appeared she wouldn’t be able to use the table how she originally intended. She had readied her blade for the upcoming attack, only to find that Veronica had paused a moment to reflect on her words. Were it another opponent, this would have been an opening for Sil to attack, but Veronica would never expose herself like that, and the possibility that it was bait to lure Sil in had deterred her from making a move in this time. 

When Veronica resumed, she did so by tossing the shadowy goo at the walls on each side of Sil, which then exploded with blades. Sil then concentrated on empowering herself, and focusing on defense. Her ability to identify the blades coming at her and her reaction to them was incredible, allowing her to deflect a blade with her own in one hand, and grab one of the blades in the air and throw them at another as she twisted to avoid another, all in the span of less than a second. To most she would appear like a blur in this time. She managed to survive the attack, but she did not escape without being struck a few times in the legs, arms, and one in her shoulder. 

This wounds, of course, weren’t fatal nor were they going to impeded her given her regeneration. They were simply the wounds she allowed to happen instead of a deadlier alternative, given she hadn’t been able to avoid all of the blades at once. At least, not yet. But she was ever-improving, and spotlessly avoiding something like this could be thought of as a short-term goal for the assassin on her road to perfection.

Silhouette’s eyes had returned to Veronica, though the room’s sudden shift in brightness hadn’t gone unnoticed. Her blade held firmly in one hand, with the other shaking off the blood that her injuries had drawn, Veronica might have noticed that ChronoRend was giving off a faint glow. 

	Silhouette could see the tar-like shadow seep over the top of the table. The room continued to get darker as Veronica started to come out on the other side of the table. But this happened just moments before the entire room was shrouded in darkness. Sil's third eye was picking up magic in all directions. All she could discern was that reality was being altered.

	[color=#AE78C3]“If that's how you feel, than perhaps it would be best if I assessed the mission myself. You will be paid once I have confirmed that the VIP is still alive.”[/color] Veronica's voice seemed to come from everywhere. [color=#AE78C3]“You are to remain on standby for the time being. Continue to collect information on your patron, especially on your fellow magical boy. I wish to know their goals.”[/color] Sil could feel a pair of hands rest on her shoulders. This caused her to relax. It was another part of their fighting ritual that silhouette had become familiar with. [color=#AE78C3]“Your skills continue to improve Silhouette. You had a nice aggressive start, and I liked that. But don't feel the need to retreat when your opponent leaves no openings. A lack of offensive pressure is an easy way to lose ground in a fight.”[/color] Veronica's hands slid Silhouette's arms and gently pressed them to her sides. [color=#AE78C3]“The chairs would have been less taxing on your mana and stopped my charge just as well. At the very least, they could have been used to protect you from the knives. But I suppose you felt such small scrapes were negligible?”[/color] Silhouette would notice that not all of her wounds had healed up. Some of the cuts she received had some of Veronica's tar-like shadows bubbling in them. It could be easily removed by brushing one's hand over it. But still... [color=#AE78C3]“I will need you again in the near future, so make sure you are available.”[/color] The shadow seemed to swirl into itself, leaving Silhouette alone in the back room. Her knife was glowing only slightly brighter than the overhead fluorescent lights.