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It was time to meet again. This time, Mariette had specifically requested their meeting to take place at a secure location, indoors. So, within a ballroom in a particularly large abandoned room, Mariette had suggested their meeting take place. The chandeliers were off, but plenty of light still shone through various windows blocked by forgotten draperies, the colourful but abandoned floor being plenty dusty and supporting the abandoned look.

Here, on the exact time they had decided, Mariette strode out of her portal at the other end of the entrance, because that felt fitting enough. Behind her was a set of stairs that led up to a higher floor; it was where Cindy’s waiting had ended.

[color=077ae6]‘Greetings, Cindy. I trust you’ve been well?’[/color] Mariette started, clutching bunny as she said, after having turned around and looked up at the lighting-monster-girl, who always was so quick to take higher ground.

“Well met, Sage of the Mirrored World,” Cindy greeted back, her arms crossed with a courteous smile. “We are pleased to see that our arrangement has so far borne fruit. Soon, we shall cast the invaders out of our lands.” She began walking down the steps, each lift of her leg manifesting a tiny spark. “So, what desire hast thou for us? Mayhaps you wish to swear fealty after all, hm?”

[color=077ae6]‘I am afraid I cannot do the latter, for as I said, I am somewhat of a princess of another dimension. To swear fealty to another royalty would be unsuitable, as I already have a liege,’[/color] Mariette said, shaking her head, that liege being Asengav. [color=077ae6]‘However, I am prepared to assist your rule, for I believe your guiding hand would be of great benefit for this town. Therefore, I’ve prepared something for your use. but before that…’[/color] Mariette took a bit of a breath.

[color=077ae6]‘I’ve heard that you have at your disposal a number of Red Coins. My first suggestion is an exchange. You give me Red Coins, and I provide you with a number of my monsters for your use. How does that sound?’[/color] Mariette asked, first.

Cindy lifted an inquisitive eyebrow of crackling electricity. “Pray tell, what dost thou seek with the Blood-tinted Pieces? We are not wont to hand them out like sweets to mere children.”

Mariette had to pause for a moment.

[color=077ae6]‘They have properties that interest me. The ability to completely change the way an individual’s magic is expressed could be of great use to my liege, if the magic behind them is understood. I wish to conduct research on them, see if they can be duplicated, and also see if the scope of their use can be expanded upon. Yet, so far, the Red Coins have evaded my grasp. It has been quite infuriating,’[/color] Mariette said. She wanted to do that, too, so not really a lie.

Cindy placed her hands on her hips, creating a miniature electric circuit. “At least you comprehend their true worth. That also means you comprehend they are worth a queen’s ransom. Now, tell me of these monsters you bid.”

[color=077ae6]‘As you wish,’[/color] Mariette told, as she turned towards the great emptiness that was the abandoned ballroom. As they watched, dark portals opened, into the vast emptiness. Numerous of the portals were just a bit larger than human sized, but far behind them were two dramatically larger ones. Out from one of the smaller ones in the front skipped Eli, the tiny slime harpy. She curtsied before Cindy and Mariette, substituting a skirt using her wings, before she turned back towards the line of portals.

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[color=57a345]‘Forward, march!’[/color] she yelled back, like a parody of a legion commander.

And then forth they tread. It started with the clunking sounds of heavy metal armour wandering forward, their boots hitting the floor with resounding clangs. Honestly loud enough that Mariette became a bit worried they’d be found from someone following the sounds, but regardless. Forth strode warriors in bronze armour, head-to-toe cloaked in metal, automatons in motion. The insides, glowing from between the lines of armour, were the black smoke of the dark energies powering the beings. Two dozen of the smaller ones, that were still towering over a regular Magical Girl, lined up. 

[color=57a345]‘Halt!’[/color] Eli told, and the automatons stopped short, staring ahead into nothing in particular. She threw a look at Mariette, who nodded to her, and then turned to Cindy.

[color=077ae6]‘Allow me to introduce you to [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVTA-E3G8bQ]Talos[/url],’[/color] Mariette said, looking to Cindy again. [color=077ae6]‘Once a gigantic bronze statue supposedly created by Hephaestus to defend the island of Crete, it was destroyed by Jason and the Argonauts… after which its corpse was taken by my liege, who copied the designs and recreated it powered by his dark energies to become his foot soldiers in whatever wars he reigns across the multiverse,’[/color] Mariette told, her expression looking a bit strained.

Eli, who had practiced this speech with Mariette earlier by supplying the unschooled girl with all the knowledge she needed, looked on proudly.

[color=077ae6]‘They’re tough, strong, follow every command without fail and have been enchanted to be at least somewhat resistant to Metal-specialization trying to affect their armour. In addition…’[/color] Mariette continued, until a loud slam came from a massive boot hitting the floor behind the other gathered automatons. [color=077ae6]‘… They come in very varying sizes,’[/color] Mariette explained as [url=https://i.imgur.com/yJTtCOg.png]two giant Talos[/url] now stood behind the rest. 

[color=077ae6]‘… I will note the average gathering of Magical Girls can with all likelihood handle them. They should be supplements to your main force of firepower, not the core of it. However, when it comes to durable minions to support in a large-scale war, I believe you’ll find there is none more reliable,’[/color] Mariette finished, now feeling a bit exhausted having to recount all that she learned to say for this encounter. She breathed out in relief, for not having stumbled on her words. Eli looked so proud over there. With that, Mariette refocused on Cindy.

[color=077ae6]‘I believe they would serve well, as sentinels for your kingdom,’[/color] she finally finished.

Cindy looked on with great interest as the automatons assembled, nodding to herself as she saw them respond to the vocal commands. “Excellent. We would make fine use of these weapons in the coming war against the Ascendancy.” She offered a hand to Mariette. “Very well, I shall agree to your offer of trading Red Coins for Talos soldiers. We will discuss the exact amount later, once I have made a proper check of their capabilities.”

[color=077ae6]‘Absolutely. You can have the first batch for testing purposes. I will drop off a single investigator to keep track of the progress,’[/color] Mariette nodded, turning around to the portals. [color=077ae6]‘Freya.’[/color]

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[color=C5DBE7]‘I’m here,’[/color] a cold voice said, as a furred snake slithered out of a portal, her hands claws and her eyes a stinging predatory yellow.

[color=077ae6]‘She’ll stay to keep watch of them and answer any questions you may have. She’s not obligated to follow your commands, on account she’s one of my elite commanders. For now, that will do,’[/color] Mariette said, nodding. [color=077ae6]‘Anything else you wish to discuss?’[/color]

Cindy examined the naga-like girl who had arrived, and nodded. “The preliminary testing will only take a couple of days. However, in order to honor our deal, I shall prepare living accommodations for Freya.” She approached her, sliding a tingling blue hand down her shoulder. “Still...She does not seem disheveled or in poor health.” She turned to Mariette. “Well then, this matter is settled. Anything else that is on your mind? I won’t be available for further meetings until the day of the rave has passed.”

Freya raised an eyebrow as Cindy approached and touched her over. Still, she was proud of who she was. [color=C5DBE7]‘I appreciate it, Lady Ford. I am one of Asengav’s primary monster commanders, as well as his strongest physical combatant. I can answer any question on what these guys can and can’t take,’[/color] she simply said.

[color=077ae6]‘… The rave, huh,’[/color] Mariette commented. [color=077ae6]‘I would actually like to ask. Is something going to happen during the party? I will not be present myself, because I am far too wary of it either being a trap or being attacked by the Ascendancy, but I intend to send at least one of my agents. What can they expect?’[/color]

Cindy's brow, or an electrical approximation of one, furrowed, and she turned away.

"War," she simply stated, and, having given a final nod to Freya, walked away from the ballroom and disappeared.

[color=077ae6]‘…’[/color] Mariette stood silent, as Cindy’s intention were laid unavoidably bare. It would appear there was no avoiding it.

[color=077ae6]‘War it is.’[/color]

[hr]

There were three individuals in the room standing around a fourth, tied to a chair in the middle. The person in question was blinded and bound by spider webs. 

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[color=ffd230]‘My, my. What do we have here?’[/color] Suzette asked, smirking at the little fainted Nightwing, inspecting her body.

[color=fcedae]‘A bug caught in the net! Eli brought her! Needs her mind read!’[/color] Josefin called excitedly, hands placed firmly on the girl’s shoulders from behind.

[color=fa898b]‘No use delaying the inevitable, then,’[/color] Ronja, resident spider-girl, said with a sly little smirk as a couple smaller spiders crawled on the girl’s body. It was her Reinforcement web that tied down Nightwing, and the spiders did the rest. Both Suzette and Josefin were here as a precaution, in case Nightwing woke up and tried something. In absence of that, Ronja gently retracted her hand, and charged… an enormous amount of magic power. Both the other girls looked away, as-!

[color=fa898b]‘[i]OVERWRITE!![/i]’[/color] Ronja’s hand slammed into the head of the poor captive with an enormous Psychic blow! … After which she slowly pulled her hand back, webs leaving her hand. However, it wasn’t just any webs. The webs were being pulled out of Nightwing’s head, not out of Ronja’s hand.

[color=fa898b]‘Now, let’s see if the web that is your memory will reveal anything,’[/color] Ronja told gently, inspecting the webs as she held them, each giving her a mental picture of her catch’s memories as she looked them through. [color=fa898b]‘What am I looking for?’[/color]

[color=fcedae]‘Ebon Mint!’[/color] Josefin called out happily. [color=fcedae]‘Secret bases, who her dealer is, what tricks they have up their sleeve, basically whatever we might have use of!’[/color]

[color=ffd230]‘But specifically, we’re looking for the girl called Sammy, as part of our leader’s plan to be as do-goody as possible to gain friends…’[/color] Suzette told, putting her arms behind her head as she watched what was happening. [color=ffd230]‘Eh, can that really be so useful? Suppose we got a Mint agent for it, but…’[/color] 

[color=fa898b]‘So be silent, you two,’[/color] Ronja told them, as she maneuvered the web that was Nightwing’s literal memories. [color=fa898b]‘Now, let’s see…’[/color]

However, that’s when she had to hesitate.

[color=ffd230]‘Hm? What’s wrong?’[/color] Suzette asked. 

[color=fa898b]‘Encrypted memories? Really?’[/color] Ronja asked out loud, sounding a touch amused. [color=fa898b]‘Those Ebon Mint guys think of everything, huh,’[/color] the arachne commented, giggling a bit as Josefin looked quite worried and Suzette a touch annoyed.

[color=ffd230]‘So, that’s it? We’re not getting in?’[/color] Suzette asked, only to be met with Ronja’s clicking tongue.

[color=fa898b]‘I didn’t say that. Just… give me some time and effort, and I’ll make something out of this…’[/color] Ronja insisted, with frowning eyes, as the spider-girl sat back, and started knitting with the webs of the girl’s memories.

It took a while. Longer than Suzette had ever known one of Ronja’s operations to go. She had to take a break every now and then, apparently the contents of the memories were jarring. It went back and forth, Ronja looking deep in thought as they went on…

Finally, they were done, and Nightwing had started to wake up so Josefin dragged her off. Ronja held onto a small, knitted scarf of memories. In the midst of the dark room, Mariette strode forth to meet Ronja, a cat on her arm.

[color=077ae6]‘What did you find?’[/color] Mariette asked.

[color=fa898b]‘All that you wanted to know, lady Mariette,’[/color] Ronja told, proudly.

[right][sub][sub][sub][color=ffd230]‘Huh? Where did the cat come from?’[/color] 
[color=077ae6]‘None of your concern, Suzette.’[/color][/sub][/sub][/sub][/right]

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It was in the dead of night, when none would expect-

when everyone would expect a burglar to break into a top-secret weapon’s testing facility.

However, the reason why these three burglars broke into said testing facility was, perhaps… a little unorthodox.

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They had managed to practically [i]beg[/i] Mariette to drop them off inside the facility, after having heard what was in there. A dragon-scaled fiery girl with excitement alight in her eyes, a girl with metal limbs and a black bunny hood that looked much the same and a tiny purple-clad ice-witch with a sneaky smirk on her lips. All three were super into what they were about to do.

With excited little giggles, the two regular Magical Girls stole away towards the control center, while the scaled dragon girl rolled her shoulders and dashed over for the testing area, grinning widely. Over at the control center, the metal girl with an eyepatch grabbed a USB and plugged it into the computer, which caused the computer to activate with a start, and then the computer itself was no match for the software on that USB. Jelena grinned as she prepared to type away.

[color=9c87c9]‘Do you know what you’re doing?’[/color] an excited but still mildly concerned Victoria asked.

[color=a699ad]‘Don’t you worry! I’ve been given expert hacking coaching!’[/color] Jelena declared proudly, raising her metal fingers in pride before starting to press away.

Over in the field, Mayra slapped herself in the face with both hands twice, paced herself back and forth a bit, and then hunched down onto all fours, preparing for encounter.

[color=fc6828]‘Alright! I’m ready!’[/color]

And with that, Jelena hit the button, Victoria looking on in mischievous happiness.

A large door slowly opened on the opposite side of the vast testing chamber (which was filled with a sizable replica of downtown Penrose), revealing two squads of five humanoid machines each. Eight small spheres floated above them. Four of the machines in each squad were silver in color and carried triple barreled light rotary autocannons, while a larger, crimson machine seemed to serve as a “squad leader” of sorts. It was armed with what appeared to be an advanced heavy assault rifle, but the bluish glow on the side of the weapon gave some evidence that this was not a conventional firearm. 

[b]<<Target acquired>>[/b]the drones announced in unison. [b]<<Advancing>>[/b]

[color=fc6828]‘… Awwww,’[/color] Mayra made such an utterly humbled sound. [color=fc6828]‘You gathered all this… for me? I’m… so… honoured~!’[/color] Mayra clutched over her heart in her hunched over posture for a bit.

[color=9c87c9]‘Hey! Those robots mean business! You sure you can dodge gunfire!?’[/color] Victoria asked over their communicators, that they totally brought, looking excited and worried from over there by a super-grinning Jelena.

[color=fc6828]‘Oh, don’t worry,’[/color] Mayra smirked, as she gathered magical fire in both of her palms. [color=fc6828]‘To shoot me… they’re gonna have to [i]see me[/i]!’[/color]

A sudden explosion was triggered, as Mayra directed the focused magical power along with her sheer arm-strength into the ground right in front of her, intending to completely blow open the asphalt and blow a large amount of dust and fire into the air as cover. Then, as quickly as she could, she’d dart to the side to run alongside the other side of the buildings, using slight Darkness-magic to just obtuse her exact position. As she ran, her head and body was held low, like a four-legged animal running with only the hind legs.

[b]<<Target employing evasive action>> <<Tracking>>[/b]

Realizing that their heat sensors would be somewhat ineffective with all the fires their target was setting, the drones switched to their motion sensors, which provided a clearer picture of where the monster girl was moving.

[b]<<Target attempting to outflank>> <<Employing negation procedures>>[/b]

With that, the eight spheroid gun drones ascended high above the surrounding buildings to position themselves for an aerial attack. Once the barrels of their light machine guns had pinpointed Mayra’s location, the gun drones unloaded a hail of bullets down upon the monster girl, hopefully catching her unawares.

Mayra was pretty quick to notice the drones flying into position to fire upon her, but was also sort of left blinking at them for a slight moment longer than recommended.

[color=fc6828]‘WOAH-!’[/color] Mayra shouted out, as she through sheer instinct punched one of her dragon-claws forward with a fireball blasting forth with considerable might, intended to swallow up the bullets while Mayra dug her fangs into the asphalt for a quick dive into the building to her left, in order to take cover from the incoming bullets.

[color=fc6828]‘Okay, take out those, first,’[/color] Mayra grinned, as she then JUMPED, for the roof inside was no obstacle to her. She broke through floor after floor, breaking her way upwards, intending to get closer to those flying drones…!

The spheroid drones would, of course, continue to track Mayra’s position as she took cover in the nearby structure, it’s walls serving as little impediment to their machine guns’ armor-piercing rounds. However, Mayra’s sheer speed prevented her from being hit as she swiftly made her way to the roof. Once she reached it, she would notice that the small drones were now arrayed in an encircling formation slightly above her. She had less than a second to act before they opened fire once more.

As Mayra broke through the roof… she came through holding multiple layers of debris she’d collected along the way, long walkable slabs of matter that she’d just held onto. There was a moment of stunned surprise as she saw the drones overhead… but that just meant she needed to act fast. She threw the debris overhead… and then blasted a powerful shock-wave of fire to simultaneously blast the pieces of debris up at the drones at remarkable speed while also blasting herself back down the building to escape their incoming fire!

The torrents of bullets unleashed by the gun drones’ machine guns sliced through the majority of the makeshift missiles, but the extra speed Mayra’s shockwave had imparted to them allowed several pieces to strike three of the drones. Normally, the drones’ armored shells would protect their fragile interiors from being damaged by what amounted to little more than pieces of rubble, but, once again, the speed at which the projectiles were traveling was a decisive factor. Like the hypersonic rounds of a railgun, the small clusters of debris shot clean through the three drones like knives through tissue paper, shredding the drones’ electronics in the process. With nearly half their number eliminated, the remaining five gun drones pulled back to rejoin the humanoid drones who had taken up position in the street in front of the now visibly damaged building.

[color=fc6828]‘Phuuu…’[/color] Mayra breathed out at the bottom of the building, having successfully taken the rather harsh landing and then hidden herself behind some walls. 

[color=a699ad]‘Nice! You got three of them! Two more times, and it’ll have wiped them out!’[/color] Jelena said, not entirely considering that the drones were pulling back.

[color=fc6828]‘Wha, no, they’ll expect it next time,’[/color] Mayra immediately declared, breathing out with a smirk.

[color=a699ad]‘Er, eh? … Listen here, Mayra, AI don’t typically [i]learn[/i],’[/color] the resident gamer insisted.

[color=fc6828]‘They don’t? Eh,’[/color] Mayra shrugged. [color=fc6828]‘These don’t feel particularly typical-!’[/color] she said as she spun around to fire a single speedy super-heated fireball out the entrance at one of the silver humanoid drones to see how it’d react!
Although the drone in question had about the same reaction time as a trained human soldier, along with the ability to detect the massive spike in heat before Mayra’s fireball was launched, the monster girl’s swiftness was far in excess of the machine’s reflexes. Thus, while the drone registered the threat, it could not take evasive action before the incandescent orb struck it with considerable force. The magic missile left a red-hot gash in the silver drone’s chest. Smoke still streaming from the “wound” in its torso, the machine raised its autocannon and sent a spray of rounds towards the position the attack had originated from. An instant later, it’s barrage was joined by the fire of its robotic comrades, creating a torrent of armor-piercing rounds, which seriously threatened the building’s structural integrity.

Mayra grinned as she saw the damage she’d done with her fireball attack. [color=fc6828]‘Yeah, that’s some good dama-’[/color]

Then she had to very immediately duck, as a barrage of fire came upon her position, and then she thrust her legs down with a slight blast of fire to assist the speed to just launch her out of the exposed position, breaking through several floors once again. … Oh, was the building almost falling? … … … 

Mayra blasted herself down on the other side of the building, trusting in her speed and instincts to avoid the gunfire, until she landed on one side of the building, inside. Then… let’s see, what would be the load-bearing pillars… eh, she just needed to [i]destroy them all![/i]

As a speedy, black flash of a dragon-girl, Mayra hunted through the building to utterly tear through any and all pillars that came even close to her range as she went from one side of the building to the other…!

… The first way the building collapsed on, however, was straight down. The parts that no longer were supported just crashed straight down, while the rest of the building stood. Not one to be discouraged, Mayra just moved on to decapitating the next row of load-bearing pillars on the way back! … They, too, just collapsed straight downwards, leaving a very thin building which support was utterly demolished. … This was when a slightly more desperate Mayra dashed out on the opposite side of the building, took her stance, and-

[color=fc6828]‘HYYYAAAH-!’[/color] jumped up and KICKED the wall at a place between the floors from the other side…! … The result was, firstly, her foot going straight through the wall! … The second result was that, finally, the building was starting to tip over in the direction she wanted it to! Mayra was so proud!

While all this was going on, the drones had kept up their barrage, their sensors taking note of their target’s rapid movement inside the structure as they did so. When the building finally began to collapse towards them, the machines had already repositioned themselves just beyond the area of potential danger. Now that the obstruction was out of the way, they had a much better line of sight to their target. Possessed of this advantage, they redoubled their efforts to bring the monster girl down. Assailed by a blizzard of autocannon rounds, bullets, and energy bolts, Mayra would certainly have to think fast if she wanted to survive.   

Mayra had already thought of the next step of her plan.

Instead of, who knows, running around from the falling building that might descend on the robots… Mayra followed along with the falling building. The moment it became clear the building wasn’t going to hit them, she launched herself from the top of the falling building, her grin wide and full of battle-lust as she descended upon the ground with one fierce speed, to slam down to the left of the leftmost drone. If there was no other cover, she’d just have to use [i]them[/i] as cover. This, of course, meant-

Mayra blasted a quick and violent fist of fire at the sentinel’s autocannon, after which she focused firepower into her feet and [i]blasted[/i], shooting both herself and the Silver Sentinel directly into the next unit. Of course, this probably meant they all turned to face her, but she had a secret trick. Firstly, for as long as she could she kicked and punched out a few fireballs at whatever guns were coming to be aimed at her first, using her awareness to select the prime targets, but soon enough there would be more guns than she could handle. That’s when she grinned, jumped, and a shadowy effect encompassed her body as she curled up and turned briefly intangible as she leapt through towards the nearest piece of infrastructure. She really couldn’t do that a lot, but this was the first time today.

Three of the Sentinels’ autocannons were rendered inoperative by Mayra’s attack, the heat of the fireballs melting their barrels into curving trunks of dripping sludge. Unable to track her after she employed her mystical means of concealment, the remaining drones assumed a circular formation, alert to every avenue of possible attack, while they waited for Mayra to make her next move. 

[color=fc6828]‘Huff, huff,’[/color] Mayra momentarily hid, breathing a bit heavily as she listened for the movements of the drones. Still for now, huh.

[color=a699ad]‘Woah. Humans can build this sort of stuff? I’m impressed,’[/color] Jelena reported from over there.

[color=9c87c9]‘Probably not without help,’[/color] Victoria questioned from over there. [color=9c87c9]‘… I hope.’[/color]

[color=fc6828]‘When you told me of armoured behemoths, I imagined a lot more “punch, punch” than “shoot, shoot”, hah,’[/color] Mayra reported with a grin.

[color=a699ad]‘You’re not giving up, are ya?’[/color] Jelena asked, amused. 

[color=fc6828]‘Never.’[/color] 

With that, Mayra took a couple of steps into the center of the room, and breathed deeply… … … huh, she was bleeding. She took a look, and it appeared something had burrowed into her arm, which scales were way tougher than a normal human’s skin, which probably would just have been drilled through. Mayra’s blood, though, that was basically magma. With a smirk, and ignoring the pain, she took some of that magma and started gently coating her fangs. Oh, yeah. Mayra grinned as her body was rapidly increasing in temperature. It was showtime.

A wall blasted open as a super-heated Mayra flew straight through it towards the closest Silver Sentinel. This time, her body heated as she slammed her claws into it, was entirely focused to tear through the drone’s powerful armour. And with that attack delivered, hopefully before their guns already tracked her down, she kicked to launch herself from the Sentinel she’d just attacked at the next Sentinel, intent on taking out the ones still with guns first. 

Once again, Mayra’s speed was such that the drones scarcely had time to loose a few initial shots, before the draconic monster girl was upon them. In moments, one of the Sentinels had collapsed in a ruined heap of smoke and sparks, while another was in the process of being torn to shreds by the monster girl’s molten talons. The other drones spun to face their monstrous assailant, but Mayra was moving so fast that their shots couldn’t seem to find their mark. Seeking to increase the distance between themselves and the rampaging monster girl, the gun drones floated higher into the air, while the remaining Sentinels and pair of Knights slowly fell back, continuing to pour fire into Mayra’s general position as they did so. In some cases, this fire ended up striking some of their fellow drones who were too close to the dragoness to disengage, and one of the Sentinels convulsed violently as it was perforated by dozens of autocannon rounds. 

Mayra now had a sense for how long she could be at every specific location before she had to leave in a hurry, and that gave her a pace to fight this battle. She launched herself off the next Sentinel and hit into a wall, from where she quickly launched a fireball at one of the Crimson Knight’s energy rifles before she launched herself at the next Sentinel. Honestly, these brutes were way too bulky to keep up with her, what she more had a problem with was-

On the next Sentinel, she hit herself into its chest, gripped its arm and turned its autocannon upwards at the flying gun drones overhead. [color=fc6828]‘DOWN!’[/color] she cried excitedly as she really wanted that autocannon to fire at them, before her less-than-a-second was over and she kicked the Sentinel into a wall to escape the incoming fire and launch herself at the next one!

The co-opted autocannon blazed away in a deadly arc, its friendly fire blasting two of the gun drones out of the air. The remaining trio of silver orbs continued to spray machine gun fire into the blur of motion that was Mayra, but even if they managed to score a hit on her, the monster girl’s thick scales and unique internal anatomy would protect her from most of the damage the bullets would usually cause creatures of flesh and blood.

In a rather surprising turn of events, the Crimson Knight with the damaged energy rifle dropped its weapon and proceeded to advance on Mayra’s position, with the seeming objective of engaging the monster girl in close combat.

Mayra smiled at the Crimson Knight approaching. She wanted that, too. But first, the distractions had to go.

Which is why the next step was to launch herself straight up into the air. Mayra bent her knees, charged her feet and blasted herself way up after the surviving trio. As she flew up after them, she charged fire in her hands, and intended nothing short of a one-two-three rapid thrusts of her hands to throw quick fireballs to attempt to intercept them at as close of a range as possible. After that, she caused another minor explosion to blast herself back to the ground, before any surviving guns tracked her flight. 

With Mayra in their midst, and dishing out fireballs at so close a range, the gun drones were unable to take evasive action fast enough, and so were swiftly dispatched, the shattered spheroids falling to the ground like metallic hailstones. While the Crimson Knight still bearing a rifle attempted to blast the monster girl out of the sky, its energy bolts failed to find their target, having been aimed at the place Mayra occupied mere seconds too late.
The machine’s “brother”, conversely, took up a defensive stance as twin chainsaw-like blades emerged from its lower arms.

[b]<<Close assault mode initiated>>[/b]

[color=fc6828]‘OH, NOW YOU’RE TALKING MY LANGUAGE!’[/color] Mayra happily shouted out, positively beaming as she landed before the two brothers. Those chainsaw-blade-arms were positively [i]awesome[/i]. Mayra had to look at her own arms and contemplate if it was possible to have surgery… before she had to sidestep the next energy bolt, grinning excitedly as, finally, it was time for the kind of challenge that Mayra enjoyed the most. And so… she dashed straight up to the chainsaw-wielding Crimson Knight.

She wanted to meet that chainsaw. She knew how stupid it was… but she just [i]had[/i] to try it out! So, in her next movement, she blasted fire behind her foot as she delivered a horrific kick directly towards the chainsaw-like blade that came for her first. She likely wouldn’t get out of that exchange without bleeding a bit, but it’d be her magma-hot blood that’d come out of it.

Striking the scaled foot of the monster girl, the chainsaw blade dug deep into the appendage. But it was not red blood that sprayed over the imposing war machine, but molten magma. The molten droplets only signed the thick armor plating of the Crimson Knight, but the magama’s effect on its weapon was more pronounced, the blade’s “teeth” swiftly becoming dulled and melted by the staggeringly high temperature. This also had the unforeseen effect of partially fusing the melted metal to Mayra’s foot, causing her to become a bit stuck. Perceiving the opportunity this provided, the Crimson Knight pulled back it’s other arm to take a mighty swing at the monster girl’s neck, aiming to separate her head from her body.

[color=fc6828]‘YYEEEAAA…!’[/color] Despite the pain to her foot, it was an awesome thrill that went through Mayra from this competition of strength and power… the proud realization that her leg was causing the blade to malfunction… and then the realization she was stuck to it. [color=fc6828]‘… Uh-oh.’[/color]

Mayra quickly ducked, crouching herself underneath the sudden other arm. Of course, being in no place to dodge further, she instead opted to lift her arms and grab the other arm, doing her best to avoid the sawblades. Despite the fine mess she’d gotten herself into, Mayra could but grin, it was so thrilling. … She lifted her other leg and brought it down with all her might and fire-blasting magic down in the arm her foot was stuck to!

The armor coating that arm was formidable indeed, an advanced alloy several times stronger than steel, but under the force of Mayra’s magicly amplified blow, even it could not hold. The arm buckled and then gave way, snapping in half amid a shower of sparks and molten metal. The hulking drone attempted to free its other arm from Mayra’s grasp, but the monster girl’s grip was too tight. The magma on her talons was also beginning to fuse with the arm’s metallic surface, aiding her efforts to keep it in place. However, there was a second threat to worry about, and it now made its presence known. Taking up position to the side of the interlocked pair of combatants, the second Crimson Knight raised its energy rifle and fired several quick shots at the monster girl, who now seemed unable to avoid them.

Mayra was briefly elated that the arm of the Crimson Knight was cleaved in half. Now, all she had to do was get loose, and- and she’d managed to bind with the other arm. She gave the other Crimson Knight an awkward little smile, before being overtaken by a shadowy mist that let her fall straight through the grip of the current Crimson Knight as she made herself intangible again to avoid the energy rifle shots. A slight bit miffed that she had to use this again, and was actually sort of running towards the end of her magic reserves by now, Mayra landed on her feet and blasted herself up to kick that energy rifle and then continue on to unleash a barrage of kicks and punches against the second Crimson Knight, to knock the arms away and to just slam her talons into its face and chest over and over-!

The second Crimson Knight reeled under Mayra’s furious assault. It had been designed for use in heavy combat, but nothing on earth possessed the capabilities of this girl when it came to close combat. Chucks of armor were torn away as the monster girl attacked with reckless abandon. Bereft of its rifle, the metallic juggernaut attempted to bring its close combat weapons to bear, but Mayra was too close, essentially clinging to the mighty robot’s chest as she worked her way up to its head, where its optic sensors were shattered in a flurry of slashes. Meanwhile the first Crimson Knight, having now been freed from its union with Mayra, moved to assist its besieged comrade. Lunging at the embattled pair, it attempted to pin the monster girl against the other robot. At this point  Mayra would hear an artificial voice intone:
[b]<<Self-destruct procedure initiated>>[/b]

[color=fc6828]‘Ahahaha! This is… the [i]best![/i]’[/color] Mayra cried out happily as she just whaled on the robot, knocking aside its attempts to fight her off… before the other robot arrived. Now, Mayra had awareness, but she decided in that moment that she was going to measure her power against both of them at the same time. She turned, and found herself exactly where she wanted to be, pushed between the two of them, and she grinned as she strained her muscles to hold them off… when she heard that voice. Oh. [i]Oh, that’s not good.[/i]

[color=a699ad]‘Mayra! Do the shadowy thing!’[/color] Jelena shouted to her, now in alarm from way over there.

[color=fc6828]‘N-no way! I’ve already done that twice this fight…!’[/color] Mayra objected, instead thinking of what else she could possibly do…!?

Now, she could do that.

No, that’s risky. She didn’t know what she’d do.

… 

But isn’t that just part of the fun?

Mayra grinned so happily, all while shaken at her impending doom.

A spark of magic went off… and then the creature the two robots were trying to restrain grew.

Grew longer, grew wings, grew additional horns, grew a longer tail. 

[color=9c87c9]‘Oh. She’s doing that,’[/color] Victoria commented with a neutral expression as Jelena looked on in awe next to her.

Finally, what the two Crimson Knights were holding back was no longer a dragon girl… 

[url=https://i.imgur.com/erUQbNe.jpg]But an honest-to-god dragon.[/url]

Which, obviously, wasn’t very comfortable being pressed between two automatons.

Mayra roared, and then threw open her wings with full force, spreading herself with the full force of the muscles within that draconic chest, to throw the oppressors off her. 

The two Crimson Knights were flung in opposite directions by Mayra’s mighty exertion of power. Scant seconds later, and they were both consumed by a pair of brilliant detonations. The battle was over. Mayra stood victorious.

In the light that followed the two detonations, the dragon reared its head and roared out in triumph.

[color=a699ad]‘AAAWESOOOOOME…!!!’[/color] Jelena punched into the air due to the display of her companion. [color=a699ad]‘You go, girl! That’s our Mayra! Hahaha, that’s so cool! That’s so…’[/color] Jelena blinked as she looked over at Victoria who’d picked up a phone. [color=a699ad]‘Eh, who are you calling?’[/color]

[color=9c87c9]‘Mariette,’[/color] Victoria said bluntly.

[color=a699ad]‘What, why? I want a turn fighting, too!’[/color] Jelena complained, looking positively hurt by this betrayal.

[color=9c87c9]‘Oh, you will,’[/color] Victoria said with a shrug. Jelena looked at her in confusion… when a loud [i]CRASH[/i] resounded and another roar from Mayra caused the metal-girl to flinch. See, the dragon in the cityscape test-environment had suddenly struck down a building with a massive claw, then breathed out a massive spray of fire that toppled another building, her tail striking through a third like it was made of powder, and was in general on a rampage through the fake city.

[color=a699ad]‘… Oh,’[/color] Jelena said with a start. [color=a699ad]‘[i]Ooooooh[/i], you mean…’[/color] 

[color=9c87c9]‘Yes…’[/color] Victoria said with a sigh, watching their most destructive member having completely lost grasp of her reason as her phone beeped for Mariette.

[color=9c87c9]‘We’re gonna need the whole team for this.’[/color]

[hr]

The day after…

The workers that arrived would find the field to be completely and utterly decimated. The city that once stood there were nothing but ruins, giant burn-marks scorching materials and far walls. If there were any security cameras or logs that should have documented what had happened, they’d been wiped by someone rather thoroughly. In place, was a small letter with the handwriting of a child sitting in the control room. 

“Sorry”

The letter contained $5,000 in cash.

Thane Covington had half a mind to incinerate both the letter and the money with his pocket lighter. 

[i]What kind of a fool does he take me for?[/i]

The undetected infiltration of one of the most secure locations of Covington Industries’ world headquarters, along with the subsequent hacking of their computer systems and the utter destruction of their testing area and two full squads of drones could have been the work of only one person.

“Demiris…” Covington spat. “You shall pay dearly for this.”

The CEO of Demiris Defense Systems, a corporation, which for many years had stood as Covington Industries’ greatest rival in their bid to become the premier contractor for the most top-secret black-ops elements of the US military, Lodovico Demiris was Thane Covington’s most hated foe. Over the long years of their rivalry, much espionage and industrial sabotage had been conducted by both megacorps, but nothing like [i]this[/i] had ever been attempted. Nothing even close.

[i]And they shall soon learn why…[/i] Covington thought darkly.

“Father?” a refined female voice called out. “What has happened here?”

The elder Covington turned to see that his daughter had entered the control room, the maintenance techs giving the imperious heiress a wide berth.

“Our old enemy has just struck a particularly contemptible blow,” he explained, gesturing to the devastated testing chamber beyond the reinforced view pane. “One that we shall soon repay sevenfold.”

“But how could they have accomplished this, Father?” Violet asked, still somewhat taken aback by the sight before her. “Our security systems are impenetrable.”

“Clearly, that is no longer the case,” he replied with a mirthless smile. “It would appear Demiris has made significant advancements in those genetic augmentation programs of his. Well, we have made some recent advancements of our own, and I believe the time has come to put them to the test.”

Violet simply continued to stare at the smoldering piles of rubble in silence. She knew her father was obviously referring to the new VR link technology, but, if her suspicions were correct, even that would not stand a chance against what had caused this devastation. With the knowledge she had recently gained, she was certain that this was the work of no mere corporate strike team. No, this could have only been accomplished through mystical means, and that meant a response would need to employ assets far in excess of what Covington Industries had at its disposal. 

It would appear that it was time for another conversation with Al Scarpe...