[center] [h1][color=F65772]H[/color] [i]i l a r i a[/i][/h1] [img]https://i.imgur.com/PiwtRDV.png[/img] [color=F65772]"Strike like a ram~!"[/color] [color=888888]— Hilaria[/color] [/center] [color=F65772]"Hmm~?"[/color] Hilaria had successfully managed to strike down one of the vehicles, but was confused at the other's actions, at least until the last moment. As the vehicle merged with whatever Billy had become, her expression darkened. This Lich was capable of assimilating things to grow in both size and power? That did not bode particularly well. Finding out exactly how powerful this thing could become was not amongst her priorities, so she would do what she could to prevent this. And it seemed as though someone else had the same idea. [color=F65772]"Ah, okay~!"[/color] she replied to the voice, but her attention was focused elsewhere. Given the fact this new amalgamation of fleshy maws was aiming to devour Billy (and probably her as well), she would have to act -- and fast. Naturally, Hilaria's first objective was to avoid getting assimilated along with what had become of Billy. The slug did not betray traits one would commonly associate with patience, and as such it moved faster than one might expect a fleshy mass to. Therefore, with what little time she had, Hilaria had decided to forcefully move Billy out of its path, but that plan had a minor hitch --- [color=F65772]"Ah, Armadillo~! He needs to move~!"[/color] she nonchalantly warned the magical girl attempting to restrain Billy. Regrettably, keeping him still in this instance only made it easier for the fleshy masses to achieve their presumed goal of assimilation of each part. And given that thing's rapid approach, the 'artillery' Armadillo was hoping on would not reach Billy before he was devoured. There was indeed a size disparity of sorts between the armored magical girl and the lich, but that did not make enough of a difference. This was especially so given that he'd recently lost a bit of mass after being cut from his prior skirmish. This meant that Hilaria's goal of knocking Billy out of the way should be sound, even if it may annoy or otherwise irritate her strange-named ally. With a strong kick off the concrete, Hilaria rushed straight for the Lich, scutum braced before her. [center][h1][color=red]S[/color] [i]i l h o u e t t e[/i][/h1] [img]https://i.imgur.com/I15iaon.jpg[/img] [quote=Silhouette][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7aotMarYQU][color=red]"I could be fighting Ninha right now."[/color][/url][/quote][/center] [color=red]"..."[/color] From rooftop to rooftop at blinding speeds, Silhouette pressed on. Her current objective was obviously reach her fellow Cradle agent and provide assistance in dealing with the lich. But despite her swiftness, the trip felt as though it was taking ages. Samantha couldn't get the other girl, Ninha, out of her head. It was a momentary engagement lasting all of a minute. An exchanging of blows between two powerful beings, yet without decisiveness. One that was, in the grand scheme of things, fatuous. But also so very enjoyable. Samantha didn't want to admit it. A senseless fight like that should have evoked feelings of disgust, of irritation. Yet all she could feel, at the moment, was disappointment. A longing to ignore her orders and return to the other girl to finish what they had started. To feel the thrill of battle, in short. It went against what Silhouette believed to a core trait of an assassin. What separated them from common murderers. Her pride would normally not allow this. How could she be no different than some violent thug, some cruel beast? She had class! ...right? [color=red][i]That's... not right.[/i][/color] At last, an admission. Not from The Voice, but from Samantha herself. She'd... understood that she had only ever been denying herself, all this time. The Voice was nothing more than a part of her nature, crying out. Coming to terms with this... there would absolutely be significant changes to come... But for now, Silhouette had a job to accomplish. Her arrival at the location of the battlefield was timely; she managed to show up a with enough time to make sense of the situation. Her crimson orbs observed the bizarre sights from above, glancing over the dinosaurs and whatnot. She might have shown surprise were it not for the fact Penrose seemed to attract these sorts of things almost on the daily. Eventually, her eyes settled upon her fellow Cradle agent, Tetrad. Thanks to their connection via Veronica, locating another agent was almost as easy as it was to breathe. At the time of Silhouette's arrival, she had just begun flinging many a card at various targets, one of which included Mika, whom Sil couldn't help but notice her gaze drag on, before then assaulting the bulky lich with a few different sorts of cards. Most importantly, however, was that she'd noticed the intense magical presence within the orbs on the shoulder of the lich. If there was anything housing its soul, those had to be it. Deciding it best to help finish this quickly, she became intent on joining up with the Cradle agent, and Silhouette descended from the building she had been perched on with a thud, reaching ground level. However, as she did so, an explosion erupted as a result of Tetrad's actions, covering the three figures of interest in a thick, black cloud. Silhouette retrieved her blade and approached the cloud, but did not immediately dive into it. Waiting for it to disperse or for the people inside to act was, in her opinion, a better decision. [center] [h1][color=turquoise]E[/color] [i]m i l y[/i][/h1] [img]https://i.imgur.com/g7NL7MY.png[/img] [color=turquoise]"I didn't mean to cause any trouble"[/color] [color=888888]— Emily[/color] [/center] Emily let out a high-pitched yelp as fangs found themselves dug into her flesh, a loud crack signaling that the attack had also managed to break the bone in her arm. The pain she experienced was great enough to make her weak at the knees, and that was without bringing into consideration the claws of hers that tore at her midsection, drawing blood. She very much wanted to cry. But now was not the time. The injured girl threw strength into her arm and tried to pry herself away from the maw of what had been her ally just moments prior, but this feat was difficult. She summoned flames in her hand that would hopefully cause Lupa to back off. Emily wasn't entirely sure what had happened to Lupa, but she understood that it probably not intentional. Was this a result of the Lich's music? She knew that it couldn't be entirely this, but that it might have been the trigger. Worrying about this now, however, was pointless. With her arms and her side injured, she couldn't imagine any close-range engagements leading to anything but her assured death. With this blatant disadvantage factored in, Emily immediately attempted to take off after separating from Lupa, but found the pain to be too great. She was sure she could eventually adjust to it and push it to the back of her mind, but that would take some time; time she did not currently have. At least not until she received some help. The girl she had saved moments ago confronted Lupa and managed to blow her away. She had not defeated Lupa, but there had been some desperately-needed space between them and her. It was nothing short of a godsend, but Emily couldn't find it in her to be happy when she saw Lupa get hurt. Still, it would probably be best to focus on the clones she had summoned before worryi--- [color=turquoise]"E-eh!?"[/color] gasped in surprise, suddenly experiencing the feeling of being hoisted over a shoulder and then carried. Helga apparently had formed some sort of plan that involved carrying Emily away. Being in the state she was, the fire girl couldn't exactly prevent Helga from doing this, even when the pain from her sides was threatening to overwhelm her. Emily was sure that this girl had good intentions, however. Eventually, the two gained enough distance from the concert and the girl removed her sound magic from Emily, allowing the girl to hear again. With that, Emily was feeling well enough to ask the girl to set her down. Assuming she did, Emily would answer, [color=turquoise]"Oh, my name Emily...!"[/color] she gave a quick bow, clenching her teeth at the pain that assailed her when she did so. But she still wanted to give the girl a proper introduction, and so allowed her to give her name in return before continuing. [color=turquoise]"T-thank you for helping me!"[/color] she was cradling herself with her one good arm, and her bad one fell to her side. It was likely a better idea to get her wounds treated, but she didn't seem like the thought had crossed her mind as she immediately brought up other things. [color=turquoise]"Oh, I hope Lupa is okay... I'm not sure why she did all of that, but it's my fault for bringing her here, I'm sure. I need to help her snap out of it, so I should return..."[/color] she gave a weak smile. [color=turquoise]"Um, thanks again..."[/color] Saying this, Emily would begin stumbling her way back towards the concert, trying her best to ignore both the pain and the stenches she was suffering.