[Center] [img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/200312/bd228c426d0da7459764cb788d45b1cd.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/z6cC6JC.png[/img] [Sub].:⋮Seraph Vs Titan⋮:.[/Sub] [/center] The stage was set. The battle ready. The sky was alight with reds and purples, the crackling, alien atmosphere one could only find in the Overcity. A plain stretched out, rolling hills, bushes, and flat ground to be found radiating with otherworldly energy. There were no people around, no buildings. It was hard to tell if this place veen corresponded to Earth, or if it was further afield. At one end of the plain stood Alicia Hayden. She was transformed, a light wind shifting the fabric of her outfit. Her grip around Requiem’s Dawn was tight, a string of light reaching from one end of the bow to the other. A look of determination went along with it, deep breaths as she calmed her nerves for the fight ahead. There was no doubt that it would be a difficult one. But she could not, would not back down. Those who were counting on her deserved nothing less than her best. [color=aba000]”Are you ready to start,”[/color] she asked, calling out to her opponent. A hundred feet away, a distance that was both comfortably far and frighteningly short, stood a figure of uncompromised strength. They stood with natural ease as they rolled their neck once and her claw tipped appendages unfurled from their hiding places and her fists closed ready to strike. The air around them hummed with electricity and unseen force. The question that had been posed to them was unnecessary. They were always ready for combat. Still It was a place Penny had alway feared she would be one day, on the opposite side of Alicia in a fight. Yet now that it was happening she could only say she was looking forward to it. With a smile she would call back [color=9e0039][u][b]“Ready and waiting”[/b][/u][/color] Alicia supposed that had been a dumb question, since it wasn’t as if Penny would have come out all this way only to get cold feet. She nodded as Penny confirmed it, and her feet shifted as she settled into a fighting stance. There was no point in wasting time. With practiced motions she drew back her drawstring, forming arrows upon it before firing. Clusters of light magic arrows flew across the distance between them to pelt her friend with projectiles. She did not let up, well aware of her chances in melee combat. So she’d try to wear her foe down before it came to that. The moment the first arrow lanced past by millimeters, Penny was off. No thrusters, just raw physical propulsion. The ground underneath her cracking with each step throwing up more and dust and debris. It was a slower option, relatively speaking, but an intentional one nevertheless, as she drew the results around her, like a shawl, with her Gravity. Obscuring her from Alicia’s pinpoint shots. Alone that would never be enough to defend from the barrage of gleaming devastation raining down upon her. So she held her arms forward as she raced towards her opponent, a small hexagonal forcefield projecting in front of them to deal with any shots she can’t simply dodge with her cover of dust. With so much focused towards defense that wasn’t a lot Penny could do to return fire beyond simply throwing the occasion rock at her friend. Which she did, but it was more in hopes of distracting Alicia then it was expecting any damage to come from the infrequent attacks. As expected, Penny was relentless in her advance. Rocks could be dodged easily enough, but that did not change the reality of the forcefield that blocked her shots whenever they might hit. Alicia’s eyes glowed, Third Eye activating to cut through the cloud of dust to see Penny and the forcefield she was using. Which in turn let her shoot at the edges of it to try and sneak shots past. At the same time she moved, darting to the side to account for Penny’s movement towards her. She still had no intention of letting her get in close after all. [color=aba000]”I’m a bit surprised,”[/color] she called out. [color=aba000]”What happened to the railguns and stuff?”[/color] [color=9e0039][u][b]“That would be a waste”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would call out in reply as she curled up to draw more of herself behind her shield. There were a couple score marks across her arms now due to a few arrows that had slipped around it after all. [color=9e0039][u][b]“This distance with you having a Third eye, you’d see it coming with plenty of time to dodge each and every time.”[/b][/u][/color] With a hard step Penny would shift her trajectory, the dust cloud she had gathered falling away from her as she released her gravitational hold on it. Instead she used that energy to make herself lighter on push off helping her keep up with Alicia’s perpendicular movement. [color=9e0039][u][b]“With your mobility this will work better”[/b][/u][/color] She would go on to say as a small laser turret would emerge from each of her shoulders and a moment later they would begin returning fire. Still at a slower rate then Alicia, a good second between volleys, but one was aimed at the Seraph herself while one was aimed at the most likely way she would dodge hemming her in somewhat. That was a fair point, Alicia quietly conceded. Certainly she knew the effectiveness of a laser given what her specialization was. Penny speeding up was unfortunate, and the laser turret moreso. Her Enhanced Outfit protected her from the initial shot, giving her time to adjust and evade the incoming attacks. Alicia then turned, springing backwards rather than to the side. At the apex of her jump she fired upwards, the bolt of light separating into a cluster of arrows that arced over Penny’s shield from above. [color=aba000]”Lots of stuff happening,”[/color] she noted aloud. [color=aba000]”It’s almost time for the big day.”[/color] And she could not wait. [color=9e0039][u][b]“True”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would say as she was forced to come to a stop dispersed her Shield as she did. The reason for her stop was so that she could wrench a sizable chunk of the earth out of the ground from below her using all six of her available limbs and hold it aloft above her. It would easily soak up the raining bolts of light [color=9e0039][u][b]“I’m just worried who it’s going to be a big day from at the end. Lots of people have plans in the works after all. Of them Justine who I don’t trust at all.”[/b][/u][/color] Any remaining stone was hurled at Alicia as Penny raced after, her thrusters igniting as she went lending more speed to her advance. In this wide open field Alica had the advantage as there was no cover to make approaching easier. So Penny had only closed the gap by about twenty feet over all, that just meant she had sixty five more to go before Alicia was in range of Penny’s preferred fighting style. [color=aba000]“Does anyone legitimately trust Justine?”[/color] Alicia asked with a lofted eyebrow, more at the comment than at the boulder trick. [color=aba000]”I know I don’t. We’re just doing this because it would be impossible to reach Mariette under normal circumstances otherwise. Those portals are nonsense.”[/color] Once more she dodged, wings propelling her forward until she was out of its path. She landed in a roll before resuming her run, at the same time returning to a more straightforward attack with her arrows. Penny was drawing closer but she didn’t want to dig too deeply into her bag of tricks just yet. Otherwise she would get overwhelmed. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Fair, I’m just worried because we’ve been in this position before between Justine and Mariette and it didn’t end well for us and that was without the Mint being as active as they are now.”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would explain as she slalomed between the arrows and fired her way as best she could, gaining more burn marks across her arms and legs but with her resilience the wounds were still only superficial at best. [color=9e0039][u][b]“The whole situation is ripe for others to exploit it. Especially with someone as slippery as Mariette.”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would reach out and grab one of the arrows that went a bit too wide, before flinging it right back at Alicia [color=9e0039][u][b]“I get the enemy of my enemy thing, but I just feel this is taking it a step far. Plus Rachel agreed to this idea as well which has me on edge.”[/b][/u][/color] [color=aba000]”She only went along with it because Justine agreed to be purified, and even she doesn’t trust that. And at the end of the day I think the vendetta will ensure at least one of them isn’t going to walk out of this,”[/color] Alicia replied with a solemn certainty. Alicia would pick up her own wounds now, places where her outfit did not cover suffering at the hands of the laser turret. The arrow thrown back at her was less of a problem, as she shot it out of the air with pinpoint accuracy. She would have sighed if she weren’t busy with this physically engaging activity. [color=aba000]”You know how I feel. If we sit back and let them both do their thing then who knows what sort of damage they can do, how many more could die.”[/color] She….she would not let that happen. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I get that, trust me I do”[/b][/u][/color] It was a stark difference between who she was just last week to now that Penny understood the need to do something proactive to help protect people. Whereas before she always tended to be reactionary. The cold numbers of the Sanctuary were to blame for that. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I just can’t shake the feeling that Justine is playing us against Mariette in the same way. Using that lure of a soft target to lure us away from her real target, and blasphemous as it might be, I don’t trust Rachel.”[/b][/u][/color] Barreling ever closer Penny’s spidery limbs would switch from tossing the odd rock or deflecting the occasional arrow to making use of their extended reach to deteriorate the gap even faster. [color=9e0039][u][b]“She’s a zealot from what I have seen, yet with only a token promise that she doesn’t even believe, she’s going to go along with Justine. I just get the feeling she’s hoping this will take us out as well.”[/b][/u][/color] [color=9e0039][u][b]“To make matters worse, Dan’s gotten involved from what I hear. Teamed up with Mariette in fact. No idea how that one came about.”[/b][/u][/color] With one great surge of strength Penny would launch herself towards Alicia erasing the majority of the gap in one swift movement. At the apex of her jump, and a mere thirty feet away from her target, there would be a high pitched keening, the only warning before a thunderous boom erupted from Penny as she unleashed the first round of Gauss fire. [color=9e0039][u][b]“This all just sounds like it is shaping up to be one big trap for us. It’s why I’m not planning on going along for the raid”[/b][/u][/color] She would go on to say, her voice cutting through the aftermath of her attack as it piped up from the comms that Alicia wore. She was almost sure that her attack would miss, but at this distance the dodge wouldn’t allow for much retaliation as the explosive impact would still need to be contented with as well. [color=9e0039][u][b]“We are going to need people here”[/b][/u][/color] Alicia did not comment on Penny’s suspicions, not willing to comment on whatever Rachel’s motives might be. As she darted back though the following comment caught her by surprise. [color=aba000]“Dan? Does he even have any magical girls working for him?”[/color] Sure, Summer had stayed in the beach dimension but as far as she was aware the girl had not renounced Beacon. Having had experience fighting Penny before Alicia would recognize the high pitched noise for what it was, throwing herself away to escape the impact zone. It still took her a few moments to answer anything, and as Penny predicted there would be little retaliation. Coming out of that, her wings spread as she launched herself into the air. The energy of the Overcity let her fly, or at least reach higher than she could otherwise. Looping past Penny, she would continue her barrage from above. [color=aba000]”I’m sorry to hear that, but alright. Fortunately I’ve got a couple tricks this time around that should help give us an edge.”[/color] [color=9e0039][u][b]“Dan’s got at least one,”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would reply as she tracked Alica darting through the air. [color=9e0039][u][b]“A cat girl by the name of Dina, I know this because she showed up at the Sanctuary looking for Cindy a few days back and stuck around to help out with the Sanctuary.”[/b][/u][/color] The lasers would fold back into Penny’s shoulders as she plunged all of her arms into the ground in front of her more or less ignoring the arrows raining down on her. While they still were not doing much, the sheer amount of attacks that had landed were starting to amount to something. A few moments of Regen running would fix it but that wasn’t the best use of Mana at the moment. Instead she once again tore a sizable chunk out of the ground, forcing it to compact with an application of gravity, before hurling the entirety of it at Alicia. [color=9e0039][u][b]”On Marette, she contacted me. Apparently she and Cindy had a deal where Cindy traded unneeded monsters or artifacts in exchange for information and other assistance. Mariette wanted to continue the deal with me”[/b][/u][/color] In the shadow of her hurled bolder Penny contract like a spring before launching herself after it. The ambient magic in the area lent itself to Penny in much the same way it had to Alica. Just the robotic girl was using a mix of Gravity and her hover thrusters to achieve her flight, if it could be called that, it lacked the grace of true flight, but it was linear movement in three dimensions. [color=9e0039][u][b]“So she might bail to the Sanctuary if things start going particularly bad for her on that end.”[/b][/u][/color] Well, Alicia supposed that the information about Dina was worth knowing. She wasn’t sure what sort of difference it made when it came down to it, but it was worth knowing nonetheless. The information about Cindy was more interesting, earning a lofted eyebrow. [color=aba000]”I see. Can’t say I’m surprised. What did you tell her?”[/color] With her wings she was able to avoid the boulder, though this did not stop Penny from taking flight after her. They were certainly making this spar complicated for themselves, weren’t they. Darting back, she no longer fired arrows but instead maintained a thin, continuous laser that would sweep along Penny’s form to further damage her. [color=aba000]“Her going to the Sanctuary won’t end well,”[/color] she noted, though no doubt her friend already knew that. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I told her that I’m willing to give her one shot”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would reply as she noted that so far the spar was little more than a game of cat and mouse. Which to be fair, was perhaps the best way to fight Penny, but it was starting to get a bit ridiculous. Nevertheless her force field from earlier would make a reappearance to counter the focused laser. [color=9e0039][u][b]“She told me that she intended to release the girls from Justine’s castle and that the only reason she didn’t was because her Patron forced her hand by assuming that they were for its use.”[/b][/u][/color] Speaking of hands Penny would raise her left one towards Alicia lining up a shot, before firing off her left arm at her sparring partner, a long length of chain trailing after it. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I trust that statement, about as much as I trust the Mint, but this way I can keep something like an eye on her for your sake.”[/b][/u][/color] Dodging the hand would prove to be much more difficult then one would expect as due to a mix of Gravity and Metal magics Penny was still able to guide it mid flight. It was not hard to discern that Alicia was skeptical of the claim Penny relayed on Mariette’s behalf. [color=aba000]“How convenient that she made no effort to mention this to anyone before that point where she needed to earn your trust,”[/color] the Seraph noted. At least Penny was smart enough to not really believe it either. Shifting, Alicia would find it harder than normal as the chain shifted as well to follow her. Quickly bringing an end to the laser, she instead broke her bow apart into twin swords before swatting at the end of the chain as it approached. Should one get entangled, the other blade would ensure her weapon was not yanked away as their fighting grew more intimate. [color=aba000]”I guess that’s fine. Just be careful; her Patron may take a shine to you too.”[/color] [color=9e0039][u][b]“Yeah, not happening”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would growl out. Out of all of the Patron types it was Horror’s that she loathed the most. Her mind would remain hers and no one else's, of that Penny would never concede. As expected Alicia’s blade would become stuck to the chain, but not because the chain wrapped around it, instead it was because the blade had become magnetized. But that wasn’t the only thing that happened, and due to her Third eye Alicia would also see herself become the focal point for Penny’s gravitational perspective. Which caused Penny to accelerate towards the angelic girl as for all intents and purposes she was ‘down’ and now rather than flying the mechanical monster was falling. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I figured out why broken mirrors are one of her Bane’s though, as I might have made a point that she can’t run from me if she tries to betray me, by stealing her Portal magic for a moment”[/b][/u][/color] While pleased that Penny was so vehemently opposed, Alicia couldn’t help but think that the other girls Mariette had taken had not had much of a choice in the matter, At least she could be confident that Penny would resist any attempted forceful conversion. Less pleasing was seeing Penny’s gravity field move as she fell, but she could at least multitask. [color=aba000]“Oh, what’s that?”[/color] Seeing her blade become magnetized, she was able to save the second one from becoming stuck. She then turned, accepting their bond and flying ‘up’ towards Penny as fast as she could. But when impact neared she would dart to the side for a sword strike, slashing at whatever came in reach. One had to take what openings came when in these kinds of situations. [color=9e0039][u][b]“They act as an additional focus, and broken ones screw with that. Wouldn't be surprised if it was akin to having ground glass rattle around in her head being near one.”[/b][/u][/color] Penny hid her grimace at seeing Alicia come rushing up to meet her head on. The gravitational bond wasn’t a strong thing over all, and a near miss might pull enough G’s to snap it. Plus it made pulling her punches so as to not truly harm her friend a lot harder. Nevertheless she continued her dive, her eyes flashing red for a moment as she chose to Copy Alicia’s Third eye. At the moment when Alicia darted to the side Penny’s spidery limbs would lash out seeking to grab hold of her, while simultaneously there would be enough high pitched whine followed by a thunderous roar. Rather than firing off her normal cannon round instead she divulged her Gauss as a splintered shotgun blast of elements. Talk momentarily fell by the wayside as the two girls rushed to meet each other. Alicia turned into the gauss cannon shot with a wing wrapped around as some semblance of a protective shield as she went to force her way through it, blades flashing in sharp strikes to catch and slice through the limbs seeking to grab her. She couldn’t entirely remember what all the materials had been included in those limbs, but she was confident that she could slice through them and get behind Penny for a quick blast of magic into her back. Before the Red coin brought Penny more in line with herself, before she reforged herself into a more idealized aspect Alicia’s blade would have carved through her steel limbs like butter. Now however it would not be so simple a task. She would be able to fend off the limbs however, as those on the far side of Penny lacked the range of motion to fluidly attack, and those on close up found themself contorting at odd angles to try and gain effective lines of attack limiting their speed. Even with her human arm Penny wouldn’t find much traction in trying to grab Alicia as the other girl slipped into her blindspot. The price for it wasn’t cheap however as the mix of metal flachet, untamed lightning and chaotic gravity would tear the wing that was used to block to shreds. There was also the issue of once Alica was at Penny’s back the limitations that hindered the four arachnid limbs from working intandem vanished, leading to all of them once again making a focused effort to grab hold of the Light wielder. A grunt escaped as the gauss cannon impacted, shredding her wing and applying a significant amount of kick to her own flight in the process. Wings could be fixed, but for now she was able to sweep past as planned. Reforming her bow, she launched a sweeping barrage that would target the arms coming to grab her as well as several points on Penny’s back at the same time. [color=aba000]“Makes sense,”[/color] she succinctly noted as she let natural gravity pull her downwards and out of range of the grabbing arms. Magic went to reforming her wing, so there would be less ‘crash’ in her landing. [color=aba000]“Buying that time shift arrow was the right idea.”[/color] Penny was impressed, and annoyed, Alicia was proving to be able to easily slip in and out of range and currently the mechanical girl had little to show for her efforts other than a lot of burn marks and that was before the cascade of arrows were fired into her back. Time to shift up a gear. [color=9e0039][u][b]“That sounds like it has fun implications. You get the arrow that hunts down the target as well?”[/b][/u][/color] She would ask as she turned off her thrusters and removed the gravity effects from her causing her to linger in the air for a moment as her momentum canceled out. Then she amplified the natural pull of gravity upon herself, cursing it to wrench her towards the ground at speed, blitzing past Alicia, as she righted herself. She hit the ground with a crash but the damage was minimal and growing less as she let her regeneration turn on and start undoing all of the accumulated damage. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Ready for round 2?”[/b][/u][/color] she would ask as the light in the center of her chest would start to glow brighter, the lasers would re-emerge from her shoulders and a holographic forcefield would snap into place around her. Assault mode was online. Penny all but slamming into the ground ahead of her was unexpected, but Alicia adjusted quickly. Her wings flared out to catch her downward motion, instead transferring it to a more horizontal direction to land some distance away from the now serious Penny. [color=aba000]”As a matter of fact, yes. It seemed too important to leave it in the hands of someone who couldn’t use it responsibly,”[/color] she confirmed as she returned to a standing position, She nodded at the question. [color=aba000]“It would defeat the point if I quit now when you were finally going tough on me.”[/color] Then she fired, constant beams lancing across the space between to strike at Penny’s forcefield at separate points. She needed to determine if simply battering the shield down with damage, or focused fire at a few key points would be enough to get around it. Otherwise this would be over before it even started. The restart of the match was akin to the start, with Penny rushing straight towards Alicia, but no longer was it a simple run. Thruster reignited alongside actively pushing off against the ground meant Penny was coming in much faster. All of her limbs were poised defensively and were actively slapping arrows out of the way meant less attacks were landing and what one’s did slip past either were dispersed by the forcefield. Except for the areas under scrutiny of focused fire which attacks would splash against the reinforced defenses of her chassis once they pierced through the field in the moments before the field regenerated in that area. The resulting difference was that Penny closed the gap in a much shorter time. All the while her lasers would be slinging back return fire, with their accuracy improved due to the copied Third Eye. As soon as the distance was closed the spidery limbs would drop defense and begin striking out at Alicia with concise stabs aimed at major joints, and if she got close enough hooks and jabs would be thrown as well aimed all at the body. It quickly became apparent that Alicia’s strategy was not going to work, as Penny rocketed forwards. Which was fair. If there was one thing Penny was good at, it was adapting to the circumstances at hand. It seemed focused fire was effective, but that still left the reinforcements of her physical body to deal with. Grunting beneath the laser blasts, Alicia once more thanked her enhanced uniform for keeping this from being worse than it could have been. Nonetheless she did begin to accumulate burns and scratches, and unlike Penny she could not heal those as easily. As Penny entered melee range, her tactics shifted once more. A sword of pure light blossomed from one hand, while her bow was used as a blade in the other. She swept into motion, spinning and slashing amidst the multitude of mechanical limbs as they sought to beat her down. She might not have flexibility, but hopefully Penny would not be anticipating the unusual combat style either It was true that Penny wasn’t expecting Alicia to shift into a melee focus, and in most regards it would have caught her off guard, except this time Penny had a moment's notice that it was going to happen due to her Copied Eye. The Light sword proved to be much more effective against the spindly limbs then her bow blade was. By the time Penny had moved into punching range two of her extra limbs had been severely damaged due to the mix of steel and magic. She folded those two away and kept the top two limbs out still but reined back of having them attack. Instead she started launching a flurry of jabs that only started to pick up speed with each attack. Deep breaths rushed out as Alicia shifted on her feet and swung her blades. It seemed the move had earned some successes, damaging two of Penny’s arms so they could not be used. But it did not stop the attacks, and she was forced to react faster and faster to the increasing assault. Under such intensity, it was only a matter of time until she made a mistake. An attempted block was fumbled, and Penny was able to knock the bow out of Alicia’s hands.[color=aba000] “Gah, that thing’s heavy like that,”[/color] she grumbled to herself. But the Seraph reacted quickly, springing back and casting a sweeping two pointed beam of light that would rake across Penny’s legs. It was to stall her, as Alicia dove to retrieve her bow. Penny was unwilling to give any ground and gave chase after Alicia the moment she sprung away. In regards to the Light sweep, Penny's remaining spider limbs would go to bat away the offending laser with each tip glowing as they emitted a rough copy of Alicia’s Light sword from their tips. Assuming that the Light weapon would be able to deflect the Light attack Penny would simply throw a hard straight, directly down onto Alicia. As expected Penny was right on her, not giving Alicia much time at all to do anything. The seraph was able to grab her bow from where it had fallen, but was not entirely successful in dodging the blow that Penny launched next. [color=aba000]“Agh!”[/color] Metal hurt, as it turned out, especially with the sort of force Penny had. Alicia was thrown off balance, wincing as she tried to boost backwards with her wings to get the space she needed to recover. Alicia would boost backwards just as Penny would lunge forward. If she tried to go to the side Penny would also match her, and trying to go up would have Penny leaping up to pull her back to the ground, it quickly became apparent that something more than simple speed would be needed to escape Penny at this point. To make things more dire the real danger of fighting Penny was making itself known; she didn’t stop, ever, and she didn’t need to. Each strike was followed by another, be it a punch, a kick or a stab with her still operational extra limbs and the speed behind her attacks was ramping up the longer she went on. Alicia would need something to stall Penny as well as breaking away to regain some space, otherwise the relentless assault of her mechanical friend would end this fight in short order. Darting backwards, Alicia barely kept ahead of Penny and her rain of blows. It was not viable to do this for long, as she quickly recognized. But what could she do? Her usual mirage trick wouldn’t work while Penny was using her Third Eye She didn’t really have any other perks of powers to draw on either. Well, in that case she might as well get crazy. An extra boost, then a cluster of arrows would lance towards Penny. All to occupy her arms so she could manifest another light sword as a projectile, at this range a nigh point blank shot at Penny’s torso. Katarina would probably be proud, if she were still around. The off the wall tactic worked surprisingly well. A concerted effort on Penny’s part kept the cluster of arrows from making any effect while continuing her advance to keep Alicia in arms reach. It also worked at distracting her long enough to not realise the point blank Light sword arrow until it had already buried itself into her chest. Which brought her to a stop. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Huh”[/b][/u][/color] She looked down at the weapon that was protruding from her torso. It hadn’t punched all the way through her thankfully but that wasn’t to say it wasn’t a good hit. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Didn’t know you could do that one”[/b][/u][/color] She would say blinking at the sword for another moment before pulling it out. The wound left behind was spilling out a vibrant white light. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Pretty sure that would have been a lethal hit to most others.”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would say with an approving smile [color=9e0039][u][b]“But Second gear could have taken you on through attrition so handy trick to have up your sleeve. Third gear is next”[/b][/u][/color] She would say tossing the light sword aside as her eyes began to glow brighter and noticeable arcs of electricity began to dance across her limbs. Before Alicia’s eyes she would see the rest of the wounds on Penny seal over as the forcefield would shift and condense around just her torso. With a snapping hiss two electric blades would extend from Penny’s knuckles and along her legs. A voice would chime out [color=00aeef][u][i]“Primordial tempest: Online”[/i][/u][/color] [color=9e0039][u][b]“Ready or not”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would say before rushing Alicia down once again, but this time her speed had risen exponentially and each strike carried the danger of those laser swords. Alicia would back off a bit more just to be safe, even when Penny had stopped. Standing in arms reach of the resumed fighting did not seem wise. [color=aba000]”Necessity is the mother of invention. But the idea wasn’t entirely original,”[/color] she conceded. It was too bad that she didn’t really have tricks left at this point. Then the battle resumed, Penny kicking things up even more as she struck. There was no time to talk, barely time to think either. Just reaction, and even that was not enough. It was all she could do to force blows aside, deflect rather than straight blocks, and her wounds were adding up. There was no doubt that she would fall. But she could aim for the sort of noble sacrifice any Beacon member would aspire for. With a wave of her hand she cast her bow aside, tapping into her blood magic to form plates over her skin. Hardlight, of the sort she wished she could have used back in the Keijo match. It would not sustain her for long but it did not have to. Instead with her wings she reversed course, taking advantage of Penny’s speed and momentum to slam through her flurry of blows. One light sword stabbed forward, and a split second later a second followed in the direction she expected her friend to dodge in. She would go down either way, but at least it would be dramatic. The Hardlight worked wonderfully in protecting Alica, as did diving into Penny’s space as the Titan rushed her, and as expected the first blade was dodged, Penny was on the lookout for such a tactic. The second slipped in under the first shadow, just as Penny threw a left hook. But Penny’s punch never landed, because both of them knew the fight was over. She had stopped her punch a scant few millimeters from Alicia’s cheek. The laser blade having been dismissed. She waited a moment, giving Alicia a chance to catch her breath. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Ow”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would then say, chuckling as she voiced it. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Your lightsabers hurt, you know that?”[/b][/u][/color] Everything halted in a single moment, blow hanging just off the point of impact in a way that couldn’t help but draw her gaze to it. Then the tension broke, Alicia breathing deeply as she staggered back and sent away her various weapons and armor. [color=aba000]“You know what else hurts? Gauss cannons,”[/color] she challenged with a tired grin. [color=aba000]”Besides, I wouldn’t be that hard on you if I didn’t think you could take it.”[/color] [color=9e0039][u][b]“In my defense your wings are a massive pain to deal with.”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would say as she too sheathed her weapons and powered down her magics, all save for her Regeneration. [color=9e0039][u][b]“But, no worries I get it.”[/b][/u][/color] She would take a step back mainly to get out of her offensive stance. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Got to say, it was a good match. You’re damn hard to get a hold of when you want to be”[/b][/u][/color] [color=aba000]”Good fight,”[/color] Alicia agreed with a nod, turning to survey the battlefield and the damage they had caused in the course of their fight. [color=aba000]”Well, you’ve got a lot of weapons, It seemed smart to try and keep you from using the biggest ones. Though the wings wouldn’t work all that well if we were back on Earth.”[/color] it was a bit of a location specific tactic. Closing the distance once more, Alicia’s grin did not fade. [color=aba000]”Still, at least I know I have a chance if I can beat you before you get going. That’s probably better than a lot of magical girls in town.”[/color] Not that she was bragging. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Definitely true”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would agree, she didn’t know everyone in Penrose, but she did try to keep track of those that were threats to her and Alicia now had a spot on that list. [color=9e0039][u][b]“And even if you can’t fly with them in the City I’m pretty sure that you can find other uses for the wings. Like coating them in that Hard light trick you pulled at the end, or layering in dozens of your lightsabers within the feathers.and using them as weapons in their own right.”[/b][/u][/color] She too stepped closer, in fact she moved close enough to sling an arm over Alicia’s shoulders. [color=9e0039][u][b]“And if you could figure out a way to get thrust with your Light then you can still be flying around.”[/b][/u][/color] This was the part of spars that Penny always knew she would enjoy, the discussion afterwards, she just wished she had more people to spar with. [color=aba000]”The sword thing is an idea. I might be able to use light to create an updraft based on heat, but I’m not sure how consistent that would be,”[/color] the Seraph mused to herself, tapping her cheek in thought. There were definitely some things she had to think about now that this fight was over. It did seem rude to focus solely on herself though. [color=aba000]”So, did you learn anything from this, aside from how frustrating I can be?”[/color] Penny had been pretty determined in that fight, so she was curious to hear what the answer would be. [color=9e0039][u][b]“Well I think my ‘flight’”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would say using air quotes with her free hand [color=9e0039][u][b]“Is something that I might be able to make use of back in the city. Though I think back there it will be more me able to change my elevation and run around in the air then what I was pulling here.”[/b][/u][/color] She would answer [color=9e0039][u][b]“And it was my first time messing around with my Gravity spec, so I learned a few things about it that I can expand upon. For example if I invert the grav perspective of someone else I should be able to make it so that they fall towards me which would be potent if I can get it right.”[/b][/u][/color] It wasn’t hard to see that there were more thoughts circling inside Penny’s head by the delighted look and glow of her eyes. Fighting was still her element after all. [color=aba000]”Useful, but something you would have to be careful with,”[/color] Alicia noted. After all, she’d adapted quickly enough to Penny’s gravity tricks, so someone else might be able to take that problem and turn it into an advantage too. [color=aba000]”Plus you’ve got to watch out for magic based weapons, like my light swords.”[/color] [color=9e0039][u][b]“True, hopefully if they can’t fly it will be harder to get around”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would concede, she was still a novice when it came to gravity after all but she didn’t intend to stay one for long. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I’ve got a plan for magical based weapons though, Cold Iron. It’s a metal that inherently dampens magic, if I can alter my composition to mimic that property should render Magical weapons no more effective than any other types.”[/b][/u][/color] There was no surprise to Penny already having a plan to deal with this issue that their fight had revealed. Of course it likely would not be entirely that easy, and Alicia pushed that point. [color=aba000]”Sounds interesting. Though it also sounds like it could hinder your own magic too. Especially the Reinforcement and Regeneration.”[/color] After a moment she looked towards the city in the distance. [color=aba000]”Anyway, why don’t we take this elsewhere. This is my first time getting to try food from another dimension, and my curiosity is killing me. We may even see alien magical girls.”[/color] A light nudge was delivered to her friends torso to encourage her to go along with the idea. [color=9e0039][u][b]“I never told you about my encounter with Sirkkeli, did I.”[/b][/u][/color] Penny would muse as she started leading the way towards the city in the distance. Easily willing to go along with Alicia into the Overcity, [color=9e0039][u][b]”I have no real proof, but I’d be willing to bet on her being one.”[/b][/u][/color] That earned Alicia’s curiosity quickly enough. [color=aba000]”No. But I guess you’re going to have to tell me now,”[/color] she agreed. There was plenty to look forward to now, as the duo walked along. They had done their hard work, now it was time to enjoy themselves. Before they ended up tossed into the fire once more.