[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/G0SgDBk.png[/img][/center]
[hider=Beauty comes in all shapes and sizes]The Nacho Lake Keijo Arena was packed. The bleachers were loaded to the brim with all manner of spectators. Magical girls,  lizard men, a perverted dolphin patron, the works. In the center was a giant quesadilla that floated on top of a lake of nacho cheese. Hundreds of feet above everyone was a jumbotron that flipped between showing close ups of the fight, the crowd’s reactions, and then the sport commentators. 

Mika had been spending a lot of time in the beach dimension. Discovering what was and wasn’t available to her. It hadn’t taken her long to realize she had everything necessary to start hosting Keijo tournaments. Most of the spectators were from other planets, minus the magical girls who came from Penrose. Naturally Dan was pleased with Mika’s idea, and did most of the building with his own magic.

Atop the quesadilla were two swimsuit clad panda people. Ken was a slender woman in a blue and white polka dot bikini, and Po was an obese panda man in swimming trunks that practically conformed to his body. Ken had been the crowd favorite due to her spunky personality and appealing shape. But as Po was about to prove with his hip shift, Keijo was a sport that rewarded the mightier competitor. That was all it took to throw Ken over the edge of the quesadilla. She skipped across the cheese like a stone before finally sinking.

[color=tomato]”And just like that, Ken is thrown into the cheese. It looks like we have a winner!”[/color] 

Mika delivered the line with as much vigor as she could, but truth be told she was a little sick of this panda boy. He was kind of cute, but he did Keijo a gross disservice with his presence. Keijo was about celebrating the female form and its grace, but this guy was fat and, well, a guy! He couldn’t keep winning. Fortunately, Mika had planned for this outcome.

[color=tomato]”B-but hold your applause!”[/color] Mika rubbed the back of her head. [color=tomato]”Po did well to be the first guy to win a Keijo tournament, but I think we need to pit him against a real champion. Who wants to see him face off against our Penrose Queen of Keijo: Amy-Ray-Less!?”[/color]

The crowd went ape, probably because there were a few of those in attendance. Mika cast her hands towards the arena, and a shimmering portal opened up.

A crash, and then a roar of lightning!

The shimmering portal shattered like glass as a cobalt blur burst out from it, red petals scattered in her wake. Sliding atop the quesadilla, the Beachside Feline once again graced the tropical dimension, silvered ivies blooming around her as she swept off her cloak, sending it to the crowd! Few had the privilege of bearing witness to her style of Keijo live, but the highlight clips of her previous tournament had circulated around the Overnet, wracking up an excess of two million views now.

And, upon this cheesy battlefield, her sculpted form warmed in the brilliance of the sun, the miracle fighter of the Penrose Queens of the Wave Tournament emerged once more! Golden were the waters they fought on, the brilliance of sunlight distilled into waves. Silver was her complexion, as pale as the moonlight of the summer night!

[color=778899]“The glory of the sun, the fragrance of the flora.”[/color]

Her hips cracked outwards, snapping with the ferocity of a bull whip.

[color=778899]“Above the resplendence of the waves, I embrace them all and declare myself.”[/color]

Her chest jutted out, striking with the swiftness of a drawn blade.

[color=778899]“Amaryllis Evenings, the Midsummer Bloom!”[/color]

Her back flexed, so perfectly developed that artists weeped, incapable of capturing such fleeting splendor.

[color=778899]“May the beauty of your soul falter in the wake of my skill.”[/color]

Her eyes sparkled amethyst, and in that moment, even the sun did not shine as brightly as her.

The roaring applause from the crowd didn’t die down. But on that giant quesadilla, nothing was louder than the squeal of excitement Po made. [b]”Could it be?”[/b] Po tiptoed closer to Amaryllis. Pandas usually didn’t get too big. If one were to stand on its hind legs, it would only be a few inches taller than an adult human. Even the largest pandas only weighed about 250 lbs. Po was a slight exception to this rule, if his gut was anything to go by. [b]”It’s really you! Amaryllis, one of the Penrose Queens!”[/b] He fell backwards onto his butt and clapped his hands. [b]”It is such an honor to be in the ring with you!”[/b] When Po leaned backwards onto his palms, the quesadilla trembled. That didn’t stop him from wiggling his feet like a kid. [b]” Both of those matches were amazing! Like your first match where Tetrad was blitzed and you finished the fight as a 1 v 2, and then the second fight you sacrificed your dignity to beat Abigail and to give your partner a shot at winning it all. It looked like it was all going to be for nothing but then-”[/b]

Po was cut off when Mika flew between the two on her nimbus. [color=tomato]”That’s great fanboy, now go to your side of the ring.”[/color]

[b]”With pleasure!”[/b] Po gave Mika a salute before rolling some distance away.

Mika hopped off of the nimbus and approached Amaryllis.  [color=tomato]”I’m sure you are still aware of the rules of Keijo. You can only attack with your chest and backside, and you cannot attack your opponent with magic. Though you can use it to augment your body. And victory is through ring out or knock out.”[/color] She waved her finger in Amaryllis’s face. [color=tomato]”However! This tourney uses ‘Absolute Territory’ rules. The MMA crowd felt that there wasn’t enough grappling and that legs were being under appreciated.”[/color] Mika pointed at Amaryllis’s thighs. [color=tomato]”So you can use your inner thighs to lock onto your opponent.”[/color] Mika hopped back onto the nimbus and floated beside Amaryllis. [color=tomato]”And another thing.”[/color] Mika was whispering now. [color=tomato]”I don’t like to lose.”[/color] She flew off, only to turn around so that she could slap Amaryllis’s ass on a fly by before returning to her post above the crowds. 

But the firmness that Mika felt in that moment of contact wasn’t that of flesh, but of steel. Throughout the adulations of the crowd and her opponent, throughout her showboating and glorystanding, Amaryllis was already prepared. Her eyes slid towards her fellow magical girl, and she gave a small, daring smile.

Mika shook out her hand, but was otherwise grinning like it was her victory. [color=tomato]”Alright you know the drill. Say something to your opponent before we start.”[/color] 

[b]”I’m just really happy to be in the ring with you!”[/b] Po was in stance, with his hands up by his face and the majority of his weight over his front leg. [b]”Your figurine doesn’t capture your majesty though. Just having this match feels like taking home first place!”[/b]

[color=778899]“You’re a gentle soul, Po,”[/color] the Midsummer Bloom replied, her own stance low, like a sprinter ready to dash off. [color=778899]“Let’s give them a show.”[/color]

[b]”Will do!”[/b] Po did some fancy stance changes before landing in ‘panda stance. [b]”Shouldn’t be hard considering how there’s so much awesome in one place.”[/b]

Mika had returned to the press box above the stadium. She approached a console facing the game and adjusted a microphone. Once everything was the way she liked it, she looked to Dolly and nodded. [color=tomato]”So is everybody ready?”[/color] When the crowd cheered in unison. Mika giggled. [color=tomato]”Alright, three-two-one, let’s rock!”[/color]

Po had a good start on his sprint. It was evident that he possessed speed that was seldom gifted to creatures with his aerodynamics. Much to Po’s dismay, Mika’s haste to start the next match resulted in a less than clean quesadilla. Po slipped on some cheese that had splashed up from Ken’s departure and fell into a tumble. His massive bear butt went end over end as he barreled towards Amaryllis.

[b]”Here we go agaiiiiiiin!”[/b]

Amaryllis stepped forwards as well. An opening was an opening, after all, and against such a massive target, she wasn’t even certain if her own physical strength was enough to lift him. Po may not have enough fat upon his body to nullify shock, but he certainly had enough to absorb a big portion of it. As the panda man rolled towards her with the force of a boulder trap in a dungeon, the Midsummer Bloom sprung upwards, somersaulting over her opponent. Still in mid-air, she swung her hips down while tucking her legs in, her buttocks colliding with Po’s back in an effort to propel him fast enough that he’d just fall off the other side.

[color=tomato]”A solid hit from the mid-summer bloom!”[/color]

Po had far too much momentum and too little friction to stop. It looked like he was about to give Amaryllis an easy win when his body started to emit a golden light.

[color=tomato]”Of course!”[/color] Mika snapped her fingers. [color=tomato]”Pandas have a lot of chi. That gives Po some pretty strong control over the food he’s rolling over.”[/color]

[color=ccddee]“Indeed,”[/color] Dolly remarked, dressed in the same inappropriately gothic wear that she always had, [color=ccddee]“Cardio Heat Eversion Energy, otherwise abbreviated as ‘chi’, most certainly gives Panda Keijo fighters like Po an advantage on the battlefield as greasy as this. Not only can he expel energy to manipulate the environment like magical girls do, but he can also consume that same environment, recouping energy that magical girls are incapable of! Amaryllis may have technique and strength, but so long as she isn’t able to close out the fight immediately, her two advantages, alongside the platform itself, will slowly get worn down.”[/color]

Chi is a potent spiritual energy found in all living things. It’s frequently used by pandas to alter the state of living things, from healing to nerve blocking. Though right now Po used his Chi to manipulate the pepper plants stuffed in the quesadilla. Instead of rolling off the edge, Po rolled into a U shaped ramp that launched him back the way he came at breakneck speed. Gravity tried to bring him back to earth, but he sprung off his arms and led his dash through the air with his backside. Panda style was all about using your enemy’s strength against them, and Po was the master of that style.

But Amarylllis practiced the Split Rose Style, which, while utilizing a large amount of techniques that grappled others with the ‘split roses’, also had a proponent dedicated to counter blows. As Po rebounded back towards the Midsummer Bloom, the buxom fighter angled her own body to receive it. Creating a low-angled slant using her extended leg, Amaryllis [i]became[/i] another ramp, chains of ivy reinforcing her body as the massive panda slammed into, then bounced off her, the deflection once again assisted by a lightning quick jab of her ass.

Amaryllis’s body was hard like sterling silver. Po’s body was soft like uncooked dumplings. When they clashed cheek to cheek, Po’s butt enveloped Amaryllis’s ass like chocolate syrup being poured over a sundae. Just as Amaryllis was about to launch Po away, he closed his thighs around her hips, locking himself in place. Po may have been soft, but there were muscles lingering under his fur somewhere. The thrust of Amaryllis’s backside was enough to throw everything up. Her chains cracked, but held strong against the tremendous forces applied to Amaryllis’s hips. Po was in mid scream, his arms and chin flung upward. But with a [b]”Yah,”[/b] He flung his body downward, allowing the remaining kinetic energy to drive him and Amaryllis to the ground. 

What goes up must come down, but if Amaryllis had any say in it, she did [i]not[/i] want Po to come down on her. In the brief moment that the two fighters were airborne, Amaryllis’s free leg swung up, her thigh finding purchase in the folds of fat and fur that Po was composed of. An instant before impact, she twisted her body, using the leverage provided by her leg and the natural slipperiness of animal fur to pop herself free of Po. The two slammed into the quesadilla moments later and Amaryllis leapt up first.

Rebounding off the springiness of the tortilla, she somersaulted in the air and ass dropped Po’s head into the food again, an ass guillotine to follow up on her ass axe.

Po wasn’t the first to his feet, but he hit the ground rolling and just let himself roll out of the way of Amaryllis’s assassination attempt. With a sharp inhale. His gut smacked into the ground, which pushed the panda to his feet. Between all the bouncing and slamming he was a little dizzy, but swiftly recovered.  

[b]”Wow!”[/b] He shook his head. [b]”The floor’s a little slippery in spots. Watch out for that.”[/b] Po nearly slipped again because his feet were covered in cheese. [b]”That was pretty good. Hitting me while I was slipping was a little underhanded, but I was awesome enough to recover.”[/b] With a stomp, the cheese leaped off of his feet. [b]”You’re not the type of opponent I can go easy on. You’re stronger than everyone I’ve faced so far.”[/b]

[color=778899]"Hazards within the terrain are expected upon this nacho-glazed battlefield,"[/color] Amaryllis responded, springing to her feet. [color=778899]"If you were defeated by a single opportune strike, then that's as far as you go."[/color]

He pointed at her. [b]”You kind of sound like this hero I know. If you ever come to my world, I think you would really hit it off with-”[/b]

The Midsummer Bloom cracked her neck, then reached out behind her to tie her hair into a ponytail. [color=778899]"Let's continue."[/color]

A single step, and the buxom duelist closed the distance, her hips swinging out as she aimed at the side of Po's stomach. 

The panda man did have the common sense to get into stance before his opponent came for him. Po shifted one leg behind himself and raised his elbows above his shoulders, with his palms pointed at each other in front of his face. Rather than take the blow directly in the stomach, Po sucked in his gut just enough for Amaryllis’s ample posterior to pass him by. As she finished rotating, Po lunged forward. His arms flew over his head as his chest smashed into Amaryllis’s.

[b]”Huzza!”[/b]

It could be reasonably argued that Po had the softer body of the two fighters. His chest however was the one part of him that had virtually no fat. Below the fur, it was just muscle and bone. Compared to Amaryllis, who was so well endowed, poets struggled to find words that did her bosom justice.

As they flew through the air, Po began to glow again. The edges of the tortilla shell rose into the air, causing the cheese to pool in the center of the quesadilla.

[color=tomato]”That dirty panda’s going for a chip and dip combo!”[/color]

But while Po’s chest was his spear, Amaryllis’s chest was her shield, and, constantly in elegant motion as she was, the centrifugal force of her ass smash equated to the same force in her busty defense, and the panda struck the magical girl as she spun, the impact dispersed as Amaryllis turned into a veritable tornado of tits and ass. Maintaining rotational velocity as she landed once more, nacho cheese scattered like sakura petals as the Midsummer Bloom picked up the pace. Her feet slid against the melted cheese at times, but with uncanny acrobatic skill, Amaryllis simply slid upon it like a figure skater, a flurry of blows launched as she circled Po.

[color=ccddee]“And there it is. The vaunted Tiddy Tornado technique that Lily Lightning utilized in her clash with Amaryllis, made much more effective now that both assets are equally balanced in mass.”[/color] Dolly’s voice cut clearly through the cheering of the crowd, even as some hissed at her sacrilege towards [i]justice[/i].

Po and Amaryllis continued to spin together. Ass to ass, chest to chest. Both having enough fortitude to spin like this without getting nauseous. But as they spun, the tortilla’s shape only became more pronounced, going from a plate, to a bowl, to a goblet. The cheese sauce was up to Po’s knees, and still the two spun. Amaryllis twirling like an ice skater, and Po like a martial artist practicing their forms. He had caught a blob of cheese on top of his wrist, and through his movements he guided it from one arm to the other while he kept up his dance with his opponent. 

[b]”Inner peace… Inner peace…”[/b]

The reshaping of the arena compromised the quesadilla’s structure. Salsa, peppers, and ground beef floated away as the delicious Mexican meal sunk deeper and deeper into saturated fats. This was only immediately apparent to the spectators though.

[b]”Time to get back in black!”[/b] Po snapped out of his zen like trance with a spring of his legs, which sent him nearly to the top edge of the tortilla. At which point he gave himself one last spin to sprinkle the walls of the shell in cheese. Then he descended down the narrow opening. It was [i]barely[/i] large enough for his ass, and amaryllis could feel the air being pushed out of the space as he descended. 

[color=tomato]”He wasn’t dipping his chips! He was dipping his buns all along!!”[/color]

[color=ccddee]“Of course! Molding the terrain to ensure no escape! Even considering Amaryllis’s own physical ability, the impact of Po’s blow would break the Tortilla and send her straight into the dip!”[/color]

Above, Po’s meteoric ass descended, atmospheric impact causing the fur on his butt to burn up.

Below, Amaryllis spun still, gathering more and more rotational speed.

Was it a clash? Was it a final blow? Were they fated to exchange their ultimate techniques?

Nay, this was her [i]escape[/i]!

[color=778899]“Secret Technique: Double Alpha Mono Drive!”[/color]

Wheeling around in the bottom of the cheese pit, Amaryllis slammed her hips into the tortilla, the impact shattering the shell as nacho cheese splurted inwards. But before the entire flour-goblet could be capsized, her cheeks impacted each other next, a shockwave blasting a hole in the platform with a thunderous roar, the nacho sea itself splitting at the force of her convergence. Inertia pulled her body forward, and Amaryllis allowed it to, dive-rolling out of the hole as her feet precisely stepped upon the silver buds that formed her footholds.

One powerful leap, and she cleared the surface, an instant before the nacho cheese crashed back into place with tidal vengeance.

And then, a flash of yellow light, and both combatants vanished in the golden afterglow. 

[color=tomato]”Huh?”[/color] Mika looked to Dolly. [color=tomato]”What just happened?”[/color] Mika looked at all of her monitors. [color=tomato]”It seems like their spirit energy is still located around here, but I can’t see them.”[/color] Mika inhaled sharply, then jumped onto Dolly. [color=tomato]”Where the heck are they!”[/color]

[color=ccddee]“Social distancing,”[/color] Dolly replied, and with one smooth move, she flipped Mika off into the nacho-sea.

[hr]

Amaryllis and Po were sitting on a small island with their backs to a single Sakura tree. Gone were the masses of crowds, gone were the chattering voices of the sport commentators. They were surrounded by a seemingly endless body of water, lit up in hues of gold. They had arrived in the spirit realm.

[b]”I guess you won.”[/b] Po chuckled. [b]”That was a pretty awesome attack to end the bout with.”[/b] He shrugged his shoulders. [b]”I lose most of my fights, to be honest with you. I survive them though, and I tend to win when it counts.”[/b] He scratched the back of his neck. [b]”Your movements are perfect. Well, they are to me anyway. Though it seems like people who can move and fight like that always have rough lives. They’ve lost things, people, family.”[/b] Po looked around the side of the tree. [b]”Have you lost anything?”[/b]

Amaryllis rested her head against the knotted trunk of the tree. Reaching out with a finger, she watched as a sakura petal landed upon it, before a quiet wind blew it away again. It scattered into the golden sky, and she watched it go, her hand closing into a fist.

[color=778899]“Perfection remains out of my grasp still,”[/color] the woman replied, closing her eyes. [color=778899]“Even amongst gods, greater skill can be obtained, beyond the ken of divinity. It is valuable enough, to survive your defeats and grasp victory when it matters, Po. More so than winning meaningless fights after sustaining unchanging losses.”[/color]

The slaughter of the spirits, after Aurora was already injured.

The slaughter in the stadium, after so many were already injured.

The slaughter of Soth, after Annabelle already died.

[color=778899]“There’s not a magical girl out there that hasn’t lost something. For most, it would be blessing enough that the loss of one’s former life would be all that they’d need to lose.”[/color] Amaryllis stood up, cracking her neck. [color=778899]“But we’re all fated to live on, no matter the cost. So I continue to sharpen myself, in order to achieve a perfect victory where everyone can go home happy.”[/color]

[b]”Wow.”[/b] Po stood up. [b]”That was, uh, yea. That was probably deeper than the ocean we’re surrounded in. [/b] He sighed. [b]” And I don’t think there is a bottom to this thing.”[/b]

Her feet touched the cool waters, and the grace of the moon adorned her, moonlit threads weaving into the costume she always wore during the winter nights of Penrose, as she hunted monstrosities in solitude.

[color=778899]“You have a [i]named[/i] technique, don’t you, Po? I denied you a head-on clash back at the pool, but here, let’s see it.”[/color]

No Silverlight rested in her callused hands, but Amaryllis slipped into the stance of a Swordwielder regardless.

[color=778899]“With your strongest, meet mine, and witness the paths that you can still ascend.”[/color]

Po flashed a wicked smile before dipping his toes in the water as well. He looked like a hero now, dawning a straw hat and a cape. His body was clad in the robe of a Chinese hero. [b]”Sure, I won’t say no to one last shot at my favorite Kaijo player.”[/b] 

Chi flowed in from all directions, and Po’s body was lifted into the air. His white parts glowed with the radiance of the sun, and his black parts sparked with the majesty of the stars. He was the cosmoes, axis mundi, bridge between heaven and earth. 

And then he surpassed it.

He drew in Chi from outside the spirit world as well as within. His ancestors, his parents, his friends and his fans. Their chi flowed into him like a mighty waterfall. He was becoming more than a panda. The neon glow of a serpentine dragon took shape around him, he did it. He surpassed all mortal limits and became one with the divine, he had completed his transformation into a dragon warrior. Though even through all this, he still maintained his original sense of self; his tether to the realm of mortals. 

Dragon and panda smiled together. Po flew up into the air in a giant loop before cracking his tail at Amaryllis. She was about to get smacked across the face by the ass of a divine being, and he called this attack:

[b]”Skadoosh!”[/b]

[color=778899]“Witness, ancients languishing upon ye ruined thrones. My brilliance shall eclipse all that have come before me!”[/color]

As the heavens drew themselves around Po, the ocean stilled around Amaryllis. An instance of clarity, the present crystallized for eternity. Her magic released itself in a single ripple of ocean water, bounding to the far edges of the world, and the Knight of Rose, in that moment, was privy to all the secrets that laid beneath and beyond the grasp of the Heavens.

The enlightenment of a warrior, earned upon an exchange that pitted one’s honor and spirit in a singular strike.

She smiled too, a smile as fleeting as the petals, as enduring as the steel.

[color=778899]“Ecliptic Bloom.”[/color]

Light suffused all.

Was it the death of a star?

Was it the birth of a star?

Or, maybe it was just an [i]existing[/i] star?

[hr]

When Amaryllis’s eyes opened up. She was laying on Mika’s nimbus, body slathered in cheese. The grand stands were totally quiet, and also cheese coated. To her left was Po, who appeared to be sleeping and also covered in cheese, and to her right was Mika, who had her arms wrapped around Amaryllis’s chest. She, too, was covered head to toe in the stuff. The healing artifact around her neck was glowing, but its light soon faded.

[color=tomato]”She’s fine!”[/color]

The crowd roared with applause, startling Po awake. The jumbotron had a picture of Amaryllis on every screen with “WINNER” scrolling along the bottom of her image. Then it showed a slow motion replay of Po dropping into the tortilla shell while Amaryllis pushed her way past him. After which, the resulting cannonball happened alongside the volcano’s eruption, causing both combatants to be scattered by the cheeseruption. 

[b]”Don’t worry, your memory is fine.”[/b] Po said while sitting up. [b]”A blow that awesome was bound to briefly re-write causality. Good match!”[/b] The panda dove into the cheese before doing the backstroke. 

[color=tomato]”You did good, Amy-real-us! The Keijo champ is a girl again.”[/color] Mika pulled her close. [color=tomato]”I’m going to give you mouth to mouth one more time just to make sure your airways are open. I think you swallowed some cheese.”[/color] The cat girl closed her eyes as she leaned closer...only for her lips to press against an open palm.

[color=778899]“Save that for Rina,”[/color] Amaryllis replied with a grin. Wouldn’t do to have [i]this[/i] recorded and propagated across the Overnet, after all.

Standing up once more, the Knight of Rose raised a hand, before bowing to the crowd. Rusted roses bloomed and scattered across the stands, souvenirs of this particular match, and as they did, a wind carrying the aroma of flowers and fruit wafted through. She righted herself once more, and waved at the backstroking panda.

[color=778899]“Po! In six, no, three months, let’s do this again!”[/color]

[b]”Of course!”[/b] Po pointed at Amaryllis with two gun fingers. [b]”Lookin’ forward to it!”[/b] 
[/hider]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/uqgNgOa.png[/img][/center]
[hider=Never has magic been so much better than might]Penrose was not a very hospitable place for normal people. The local corrupt magical girls and monsters could do other things than try to kill them. They could ruin their houses, demolish their roads, and so much more. But not all were interested in senseless destruction. Some aimed to plunder the homes of men. 

Why an army of metal dolls even needed food was anyone’s guess. The civilians seemed to think they were orphaned children at first. But as the attacks happened more frequently, their fingers turned from an outside threat and towards each other. Suddenly their neighbors had become the thieves. A few fights had broken out, and it would only continue as the theft became more rampant.

The latest theft happened just a few seconds ago. Several hooded strangers no taller than children ran into the forest with whatever their backpacks could carry. An older man ran after them. He wore fine clothes, but didn’t seem to care what the dirty snow would do to his outfit. He stumbled when he got to the the bridge leading into the forest, practically falling onto his face.

[b]”Grah!”[/b] 

He grabbed a stone as he stood up, and flung it at the retreating children. The shade of the trees made it hard to discern if he hit or not, but if he did, the blow was not strong enough. 

[b]”You [i]cunts[/i]! I can’t believe the lot of you bastards! You should bring a wheel barrel to [i]carry your fucking balls in! Next time you show up I’ll cave your heads into your necks graaaahhhhh!!![/i]”[/b] The man flicked the snow off of his hands before turning back towards Penrose. [b]”I had cameras up this time. I bet I caught the faces of one of those little shits.”[/b]

It was as he turned that the man caught a glimpse of her. A woman in blue and black, wielding a sword that shone like a moonbeam. Beauty ethereal, proportions to put goddesses to shame. For an instant, her eyes locked with his, before then, she looked [i]beyond[/i] him.

To the creatures dashing deeper into the winter woods.

Snow continued to fall; when he blinked, that woman was gone, a flurry of snowflakes the only reminder of her existence.

The man shook his head and kept walking. [b]”She better not have been one of those kids, or I swear...”[/b]

[hr]

The wind sheared into her body, and once again, Amaryllis was glad that she was blessed with such an active body. Her blood ran hot enough to dissuade the chill, while her natural agility and sense of balance prevented her from slipping on the ice that had settled beneath the snow. The sky was dark, but the snow reflected radiance all the same, casting a ghostly glow over everything. She had caught the scent of these ‘thieves’ two days past, but only now had Amaryllis caught them in the act too. Magical creations, but judging by the disinterest of her Sword, not alive either.

Good. She wouldn’t have to fight her weapon to take them alive.

Picking up the pace, the Knight of Rose continued her chase, launching off the edge of a building as rusted petals disintegrated around her, her speed too fast to allow them to fully form.

There weren’t many things faster than Amaryllis. And while the mechanical dolls could easily outrun a human, they were clearly outmatched by her blinding speed. But just because they weren’t the fastest didn’t mean they would surrender. As amaryllis got near, the group split in half and ran in two different directions. It split in half again down a different intersection, and then a third time, leaving Amaryllis on the trail of three puppets. 

One looked over its shoulder at her. Neon red eyes lit up the puppet’s porcelain face. Its features were too perfect and stiff to be a human. It was holding a box with one arm, and the other was pulling its hoody over its head. The group would split a fourth time if Amaryllis wasn’t careful. With so many trees around, they were easy to lose track of.

Splitting was no problem for Amaryllis though. She picked one at random and continued her pursuit, sensitive both to the changes in terrain, as well as the psychic warnings that popped up all over her body. She ducked under branches, hopped over fallen logs, kicked off the sides of tree trunks and slammed into the first of the inorganic creatures, her muscular thighs squeezing either side of its head before sending them face first into the ground. If it wasn’t going to resist, then her chains could keep it bound and she could continue after the next one.

The doll was thrown forward. The crate of food it was carrying spilled over, rolling a loaf of bread, can of peas, and a gallon of milk into the snow. A soda bottle broke from the violent impact and bled into the snow. The doll did not move from the ground once Amaryllis bounded away. 

The remaining two dolls dropped their cargo into the snow. But the boxes of food slipped through the snow as if dropped down a trap door. Now that they weren’t carrying anything, they turned to the approaching magical girl. The dolls simultaneously threw off their cloaks, revealing their doll-like anatomy. Their torsos were too thin to be human, if the doll joints at the end of every movable limb didn’t give it away. Yet the attention to detail was exquisite. Every bevel that would appear on an athletically fit human was present on these dolls. 

Then they armed themselves.

One doll charged Amaryllis, and her hands fell off to reveal two long stiletto blades. The one standing behind it opened its mouth to reveal a chain gun, whirring up to firing speed.

Amaryllis marked the location of those dropped boxes of food in her mind, and leapt into action. Her Sword cut through the air, and continued to fly, hurled past the stiletto-doll before piercing into the doll behind it. The chain gun whirled and tore itself to bits against the immortal edge of the Knight’s Silverlight. The other doll then, would have to contend with the physical excellence of the Two Time Reigning Keijo Queen, now unbound by the restrictions of her sport. Ducking down, the buxom fighter evaded the first two swings, before planting her arms against the snowy ground and twisting out with her legs in a combination of helicopter kicks.

She could lift up an average sedan with one arm; her legs contained even more strength than that.

The single doll was no match for Amaryllis’s legs, and was kicked into a tree before shattering like stone. Before Amaryllis could even jump to her feet, a voice boomed over the entire forest.

[b]”Eiswand!”[/b]

Initially, Amaryllis thought that nothing had happened. But as she attempted to walk towards the spot where the food was deposited, she bumped into a frigged wall. It was cold and slick. Ice so clear you could see through it. Amaryllis could see it fog up under her breath, and even her sword couldn’t penetrate it. Then the sound of a violin reached her ears, and she looked up.

Something walking towards her from the other side of the wall. At a distance, it looked like a man in a fine suit, but as he got closer, his head appeared to be a red ball of clay with black wavy hair flowing out of it. In his arms he held a violin, and he did not stop playing as he drew closer. Every few seconds his head would mold itself into a scull, then a human face. 

[b]”Ahhh!”[/b] The entity sounded like a live theater actor. [b]”A young girl prowls after my dolls. She hunts them like a cat would a mouse!”[/b] He lifted the neck of his violin high into the air, but his bow continued to zip across the strings. If anything, he could play better this way. [b]”My name is Sebastian. What is your name, little girl? Did you come here to play with my dolls?”[/b]

Not human. That was good. No hard feelings then.

Amaryllis retrieved her sword, a silvered ivy snapping the weapon back into her hand as that comforting, painful presence seeped into her mind once more. The sword’s point rasped against the clear ice wall, yet left no mark, and her amethyst eyes narrowed further. Creatures have existed before that had such might as to shrug off the kiss of her Silverlight’s edge, but even then, she had left a mark. This time though?

Hrm.

[color=778899]“Amaryllis Evenings,”[/color] the midnight-haired girl spoke, rusted roses falling like snow around her. [color=778899]“Knight of Rose. The flower of your heart reflects murkily within my mirrored blade and begs retaliation. Your creations plunder the homes of those who already have so little, in a time when all need much. For what purpose do you pursue such unkind acts, Violinist of the White Forest?”[/color]

[b]”A beautiful name and a beautiful tongue paired together.”[/b] Sebastian did not cease his playing. [b]”It must be difficult for a hunter of dark things to keep everything straight. I am a demon. Thus I am not driven by the barbaric act of killing others. But even I cannot deny there is something sickly sweet about hearts in despair.”[/b] The devil twirled on one foot and stepped away from the wall. [b]”And it’s in despair that man shows what he’s made of. Fathers kill for their families, children disposing of their siblings, and rarely, strangers sacrificing themselves for the greater good. It is even despair that has brought about our chance encounter.”[/b] Amaryllis noticed that the demon’s head appeared to shift in rhythm with her own heartbeat. [b]”You came here to hunt me down Amaryllis. Let us make it an interesting hunt. I need some time to tweak the girls for our encounter. During which you are free to build your defenses on the square mile of forest I have provided for you. After three days time, the barrier will melt, and I will see what kind of despair lingers beneath your closed pedals.”[/b]

Sebastian turned around and walked back into the thick of the forest. While he was no longer visible, his violin playing persisted beyond the trees.

Alone in the winter forest, Amaryllis let out a breath. Three days wasn’t ideal, not when she wanted to spend as much time as possible inside Penrose to continuously fuelling the repairs upon that barrier of her’s, but...fine.

A demon was something she had yet to fight, a different sort of foe than what she was accustomed to, and definitely the sort of foe that would prove troublesome, even in her preferred combat settings. Ice barriers powerful enough that she’d have some legitimate trouble breaking them, with no guarantee that those barriers would not just be reformed afterwards. The Knight will have to play along then. Which meant…

[i]Whumpf.[/i]

A distortion of space, and Amaryllis’s Big Backpack poofed into existence before her. Popping it open, she confirmed what meals she had stocked up. Everything seemed to be in order then. That was food taken care of. As for shelter and warmth…

Not all souls were equal. Her Sword certainly grumbled quiet a lot as it carved through the trees in the vicinity, processing fresh-frozen wood into a usable array of planks and logs. Staking them into the ground and calling upon her own magical reserves, Amaryllis weaved her silvered ivies through them, forming the basis for walls and a roof. Doubtlessly, there were more efficient ways to make a shelter, but it didn’t matter too much for her. All she needed was a place to reflect her body heat back onto herself. She cleared the snow underneath her shelter, packed snow over the outside of her shelter, ate some nutritious food, then pulled out her laptop to get tips on building fires.

Thankfully, as she rummaged through her pack, she realized she didn’t need to. Her Big Backpack, as it were, came with both two extra sets of clothing that Amaryllis could snuggle into, as well as survival tools, among which was a striker to produce sparks with. And if she had sparks?

She had a fire.

After Amaryllis did some Googling, she sat herself down cross legged. These were neither chains nor improvements upon existing material, but over the months, she had become a decent mage in her own right, and as she focused, her magic began to coalesce before her, more solid and more precise than ever. Seconds passed into minutes, beads of sweat dripping down, only to freeze in the cold weather, but when she opened her eyes once more, she had it.

A rod of magnesium.

Her Sword complained some more as she scraped its side against the rod, creating shavings, but it’d have to put up with it; Amaryllis’s body was beginning to numb in the cold night. She hadn’t been dressed at all for the occasion, and once again, Skimpy outfits were cancer. With her shavings, and the driest wood she could find, the girl gathered them all up into a loose bundle, and struck for sparks.

Hopefully something lit up. If not, she’d have to take more drastic measures.

Initially it did not look like the sparks were doing anything. But after the tenth strike, Amaryllis noticed a bright spot. Magnesium was not the sort of thing that violently exploded. It glowed white with heat before erupting into a puff of white smoke. Once it settled, Amaryllis had a fire. The heat from the metal alone was enough to get the wood burning, which soon became a campfire.

As the warmth began to spread into her shelter, Amaryllis let out a comfortable sigh, reclining against the back of the log-wall. The last time she had been camping, she encountered her Sword. It felt like it happened centuries ago, but it probably was just a year, huh? Brushing some of the hot coals out from underneath the fire, she pulled a mug out from her backpack, packed it tight with snow, and set it on the coals to melt.

This was nice. Food was great, but more than that, it was comforting, knowing that she only had one monster to worry about, that she didn’t have to run off somewhere else immediately. Three days and three nights, was it? Amaryllis breathed, enjoying the silence of the frozen woodlands. It wouldn’t be funny at all if another three months passed within three days, but for now…

It was pleasant. She could worry about traps and fortifications tomorrow.

[color=778899]“Wonder if Amazon delivers here…”[/color]

[hr]

Day one, Amazon didn’t deliver.

Fortunately, Amaryllis wouldn’t have much difficulty surviving. She had water, she had a shelter, and she had warm clothes. Her food situation was a little sketchy. Her backpack generated two meals a day, which wasn’t much when you needed to cut wood and build traps in a frozen forest. The wood wasn’t like normal campfire wood that had a few days to dry. Some of Amaryllis’s logs billowed out white smoke as the water was boiled out of them. It was a simple matter to let some of the logs dry by the fire, but it was still work.

But it just took a few hours to complete. Amaryllis could use her computer when she was trying to hibernate. Fortunately it wasn’t hard to download blue stacks. 

The violin never stopped playing, even into the night.

[hr]

Day two, Amaryllis had a dream about a warm shower. 

The day concluded without much of a fuss. She had quite the stock of dry firewood and could probably take it easy tomorrow. Had it not started to rain, at least.

And it rained hard.

It was dark out, but the magnesium fire would not be put out by mere rain. Amaryllis was able to remain dry thanks to her shelter. 

But she was not alone. Three of the upgraded dolls had come for her. They remained outside the shelter, hiding their footsteps under the sound of the rain. Their red eyes would give them away, but they stood at the back of the shelter where that would be less of a problem.

Two of them stood back, but the third one prepared a giant lance. With a sprint, the puppet ran towards the shack, prepared to run Amaryllis through.

Ten feet away from the shelter, the puppet [i]tripped[/i] and the momentum of its charge sent it tumbling, crashing into the back wall of the shelter. A shelter made of wood logs and woven chains, yes, but also fortified by ice, from snow that had melted from the heat of the campfire only to freeze up completely at the darkest portions of night. The rain came down hard, but the wall remained frozen, hard.

Not hard enough for the Sword to pierce though. A quick, efficient thrust, and the rapier drove through the wood and the ice, into the doll’s chest.

that might have been enough to destroy one of Sebastian’s earlier models, but not this one. Those dolls were fitted to deal with humans, to quickly snatch up supplies and run into the forest. These puppets were tailored specifically for Amaryllis. She could cut and she could crush, and so the dolls were made to resist these attacks. They could continue working if they were stabbed thanks to multiple sub systems working together. Its eyes flickered, but the doll still had the strength to push itself away. 

Its sisters jumped into the trees, ready to fire on Amaryllis as soon as she made an appearance. Meanwhile, the more direct of the three folded its lance in half, revealing a shotgun barrel. It then walked around the shack to greet Amaryllis.

A conundrum. This was the second day, so it was likely that Sebastian was observing her attempts against these creatures, in order to glean further information in regards to her own capabilities. But at the same time, there was a good chance that she’d just end up with a destroyed house if she slacked off…

No. She was a swordswoman first and a mage second. If her skill wouldn’t see her through against just three of them, then she shouldn’t have come here to begin with. No techs, no tricks, no gimmicks. Just physical ability and technique.

Through the few cracks in her shelter, Amaryllis tracked the doll’s movements until it reached all the way to the entrance of her home. As that shotgun gleamed in sight, the Knight of Rose launched into action, reaching out and pulling the doll inside. It stumbled, aimed, but before it could pull the trigger, her heel slammed into the barrel, driving it into the dirt. Shotgun pellets spat into the ground to little effect, as she twisted to land a roundhouse kick right on the doll’s chin.

Porcelain cracked as the head spun 1280 degrees, and the knight breathed, dropping into a low stance before unleashing a flurry of stabs at such speed that it was akin to a shotgun burst. The lance-doll was sent flying out of the shelter, holes riddling its body.

And that seemed to be enough to get the puppet to collapse. It was still moving, but unable to fight. It rolled its shoulders and fell forward into the wet snow. 

The two remaining dolls stayed in the trees, firing down at Amaryllis. Their guns had a small caliber, but could pierce her shelter that much easier because of it. One kept firing at her shelter while the other lowered its gun and drew two sai. It jumped down into the snow it jumped to its companion’s tree and hung off one of the branches.

As small holes burst into her shelter, Amaryllis clicked her tongue and dashed out, gunshots trailing her as she rushed for the tree line. The intermittent flashes made it easy to pinpoint the location of the two remaining dolls, and as she neared, she stomped into the ground. Snow and dirt burst upwards, veiling her location, and when it settled, she was nowhere to be seen.

The dolls scanned the ground. Their sensors did not pick up any trace of heat or motion. After taking a moment to look around, the sai wielding doll looked up and was met with Amaryllis’s heel, breaking open its skull as she kicked off the sai-wielder to reach the gun-doll. A flickering of light, and its limbs fell off, before it was hurled down onto its head-smashed brethren, the two of them colliding and tumbling into the ground.

Amaryllis, landing on a tree branch, let out white breath, before jumping down to finish her job. Maybe if she were lucky, Sebastian had a sense of RPG-humor and stashed some loot in these dolls?

While the dolls could resist getting stabbed a multitude of times, hacking their limbs off or delivering enough force to them could break them. There was little to finish off when Amaryllis landed on the ground. As she pushed their fragments apart with her foot, it was clear that Sebastian had, to her dismay, not filled them with any kind of usable loot. They were just hollowed shells filled with metal gears and strange engines.

[b]”Amaryllis Evenings! Knight of Rose!”[/b] It seemed that Sebastian had been right there on the other side of the wall the whole time. His image was distorted in the melting ice, but it was him, playing his violin as always. Amaryllis’s campfire through just enough light out to make out his head. [b]”I thought for sure I had you! But it seems that my puppets were unable to spot the holes you dug under the snow. I also didn’t take you for a light sleeper.”[/b]

[color=778899]“And I was under the impression that you were a demon of your word,”[/color]the Knight of Rose replied, standing tall. [color=778899]“To send your puppeted scoundrels in weather as foul as this, to strike at me while I rest? Certainly, you are an unpleasant man. At this junction of our relationship, can I even expect that you will remove this barrier once three days have elapsed?”[/color]

Sebastian chuckled. [b]”A demon of my word? I am happy I give off that impression, but what promise have I broken? I told you that I needed some time to tweak the girls for our encounter. That you were free to build your defense, that the barrier will melt after three days, and that I will see what kind of despair lingers beneath your closed pedals.”[/b] The rain was saturating both of them, but neither one cared. [b]”I did not mean to insinuate that I would not test your defenses before then. I have remained on this side of the barrier the entire time, and will not pass that threshold until the time has arrived. That much I will say was agreed upon.”[/b] Sebastian stopped playing. [b]”And I feel it is probably worth mentioning that the intent of this ambush may seem like an attempt on your life, but it was not the goal.”[/b] He let his arms swing at his sides, his head still changing shape in tune with Amaryllis’s heart beat. [b]”I am not interested in killing you, Amaryllis, I only want your despair. That’s all I’ve ever wanted since you came here.”[/b] A yellow glow illuminated the demon violin player in his entirety. The knight’s shadow was cast on the distant trees as the light climbed higher into the sky. Amaryllis turned around. 

[b]”Knight of Rose, little girl...”[/b]

A puppet armed with a flamethrower was torching Amaryllis’s shelter. Flames leapt out of the bullet holes as ice soon turned to rain. 

[b]”…Where is your backpack?”[/b]

[color=778899]“In my hand.”[/color]

[i]Whumpf.[/i]

A flaming sack popped into existence in front of her, and without flinching, Amaryllis slammed the backpack into the ground. Snow hissed and plumed upwards as the flames were extinguished, and the Knight of Rose regarded the demon coolly.

[color=778899]“You have my thanks for the bonfire, Sebastian. Though you speak like a serpent of the law, I [i]was[/i] feeling a bit chilly tonight anyhow.”[/color]

From one of the puppet’s remains, Amaryllis kicked up two sais and with unerring accuracy sent them through the arms of the flamethrower puppet. [color=778899]“Have you more gifts, or is our exchange for this night concluded?”[/color]

Sebastian Looked at the backpack. It was burned, but held together. The top had been thrown open, revealing the contents inside. Almost everything had been burned or damaged by the heat, save the indestructible laptop. After giving the backpack a glance, he looked back to Amaryllis.

[b]”I’ve encountered a few magical girls in my time. I noticed that they have certain traits. Gimmicks that are share by some yet not all of them.”[/b] He gestured towards the backpack. [b]”How peculiar that a welder of a rapier, a duelist, can summon a giant backpack? And how odd that they almost always contain survival tools, an indestructible laptop IDS, money, clothes, and nutritious meals in brown paper bags. And it’s those meals I want to talk about.”[/b] He folded his arms behind his back. [b]”They are generated at the same time every day. Seems to be some time between twelve and two AM. Which is why this attack happened at three.”[/b]

[color=778899]“Fate, rather than choice, informs the manifestation of a magical girl,”[/color] Amaryllis replied, setting her backpack down once more. [color=778899]“These incongruities, though curious on the surface-level, ultimately have meaning, symbolic or otherwise. A duelist duels alone; why wouldn’t all-seeing Fate grant her the tools by which she may subsist alone as well? How...fleeting.”[/color]

The woman stifled a yawn. She really [i]was[/i] tired.

[color=778899]“Sebastian, little man…”[/color]

The smoke rose, bringing with it the stench of burnt wood, the softness of evaporated snow.

[color=778899]“...why am I awake at this time?”[/color]

Sebastian’s hand balled into a fist. 

[b]”I will taste your despair yet. Enjoy fasting for the next thirty hours.”[/b] As he walked away, he snapped, and his violin and bow flew after him into the darkness.

Amaryllis watched him go and then closed her eyes, honing her other senses as well as the bloodlust of her Sword, searching for any other sign of life, any other sign of danger.

Nothing. Sebastian had been thorough, if nothing else. There were no woodland critters around, nor any dolls remaining. Only worms and insects to eat; if it wasn’t for her Big Backpack, this would have sucked way more, wouldn’t it? But that’s why she was vigilant. With three days to survive, and a big fight at the end of her third day, the Knight of Rose had been setting aside portions of food from her meals, rolling them up in paper before burying them in the ground for preservation. The same had been done with that night’s portion too; she stayed up late, and stuck them with the rest of her ‘final fight feast’ cache.

Approaching the smouldering wreck of her shelter now, the Knight of Rose released a bit more of her magic, using what wood from it she could to remake her simple shelter. The fire was still burning underneath, but the heavy rain had quickly dampened the exterior at least. Silver chains gave her ‘home’ structure once more, and she pulled the flamethrower fuel tank off the doll that had torched her shetler too.

Less than half left in the tank, but it was better than nothing. Rain was leaking through the roof too, but she could just position herself around it. Two sais, a buncha broken doll parts, the guns, and the fuel.

Her stomach grumbled, and her mind swam.

Amaryllis stuck her Sword into her campfire, cuddled around the warmth of the flames, and tried to get what sleep she could.

The night carried on. The rain fell on.

[hr]

Day three, Amaryllis didn’t need a shower anymore.

The backpack was still in one piece, and could probably be repaired in time. Many of the items would have to be repaired or replaced once Amaryllis got out of here. Even with some of her food saved up, this was still going to be a hard day. Not all of it had survived last night’s ambush, but Amaryllis had placed them far enough apart that it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. She wouldn’t starve today. The biggest casualty was Amaryllis’s warm clothes, and a night of rest. By the time she had gotten herself dry it was already light out. 

But at least the rain had stopped. 

She should have had until morning the next day, but that around noon, she could hear what sounded like ice cracking. When she looked to the ice walls, she could see that giant cracks were forming in them. The transparent ice had a white frosted look, and the cracking sounds were getting louder until fragments started to fall. They fell against the trees, and were weighty enough to knock some of those trees over. Snow was kicked up into the air with each fallen tree, each chunk of ice. It took a good minute or so before the forest was silent again. The forest was open to Amaryllis, she was free.

But she kept her word too...and she was on the sleepy side of things anyhow. To leave now, while her head continued to pound? No.

The Knight of Rose stuffed her backpack up as comfortably as she could instead, and fed her remaining logs to the flame. As the sun crested the horizon, blue sky and winter landscape both blindingly bright, Amaryllis closed her eyes and napped. Maybe when she woke up again, the walls would be restored. Maybe when she woke up again, the walls would be back.

Regardless, when she woke up again, she’d have proper rest. And then, with a clear mind, she can prepare for what was to come.

Amaryllis got a quick power nap in before she awoke to snow being crushed under rubber boots.

[b]”Impressive snow fort, kids!”[/b] Amaryllis hadn’t looked directly at him, but she thought that might have been the guy she ran past on her way here. Fine clothes, but this time he wore a red trench coat and had a bit of a stubble. [b]”Are you hiding the food here? You COCK SUCKERS!”[/b] Each step he took brought him closer to Amaryllis. With all of the fallen ice chunks, he couldn’t have had a clear view of her. [b]”Ah, there you are you little bastard!”[/b] He was looking at some spot over Amaryllis, perhaps further off. [b]”I don’t know why you’re dressed like that, but you’re a few months late for Halloween.”[/b] He pulled out a handgun. [b]”Now don’t try anything funny, and give us our god damn supplies back.”[/b]

But it did try something funny. A katana wielding doll dove over Amaryllis’s position and charged the man. He opened fire, but the bullets were bouncing right off.

Christ. This demon really was an unforgivable fuckwad.

Springing to her feet, the [s]Gorilla[/s] Knight of Rose tackled the charging doll from behind. Her arms wrapped around its impossibly slim waist, before she suplexed it three feet deep in dirt and snow. Flexibility, as it were, encompassed not only acrobatics, but also wrestling.

She made sure to do it right though. She drew her Sword, quartered its limbs, and then turned to the stubble-faced man.

[color=778899]“You should leave while you can,”[/color] Amaryllis spoke, her mind racing at a million miles per hour as she tried to figure this out. [color=778899]“This is no country for old men.”[/color]

[b]”Old man?!”[/b] His gun was out of ammo. Amaryllis wasn’t a gun expert, but she could hear the trigger clicking as he attempted to fire at the puppet. [b]”I won’t be forty for another two years!”[/b]

[color=778899]“That’s already more than double my own age,”[/color] Amaryllis replied drily. [color=778899]“As ex-”[/color]

But the puppet that Amaryllis had so expertly wedged into the snow had a surprise. As soon as its gears stopped turning, it exploded. Fortunately it had been buried deep enough to do no real damage. 

What other words she had for the man was cut off as an explosion behind her. Blown back from the force, Amaryllis tumbled onto the snow, before finding her balance and bouncing back onto her feet. Skidding against the ice and snow, the Knight of Rose surveyed her new opponents. Sebastian’s remaining five dolls were present, lined up and ready for their final skirmish. One had a minigun, and he was flanked by two spear wielders who were beside two rifle puppets. The minigun started to spin, the rifle men dropped to one knee, but the spear dolls kept their distance. 

Then there was the new ‘handicap’ in the area. Could what remained of her barrier protect this man from machine gun fire?

Unlikely. Unfortunate.

[color=778899]“Find something to hide behind, old man! Or run faster!”[/color]

The old man dropped his gun into the snow and tried to run, only to trip on a chunk of ice. [b]”Shit!”[/b]

Holding her ground, Amaryllis brandished her Sword. Two riflemen and a minigun. It’d be a test of her skill, for sure. But so long as she was their only target, she could do it. Letting out a deep breath, the Knight of Rose prepared to receive the hailstorm brewing in front of her.

[b]”Amaryllis! What an unfortunate disaster!”[/b] Sebastian walked up behind his dolls. He was playing the violin again, and was clearly visible due to his height over the diminutive dolls. [b]”I had hoped that we would be able to finish preparing for our hunt, but I had not counted on anyone coming here! They took a flatbed truck and used the back of it to knock the wall down! It would have never worked, but the wall had become quite weak with only a few hours left to melt. ”[/b] He stood behind the minigun puppet. [b]”I feel bad that you didn’t get more time to rest, but at this point it’s probably best if we just play everything where it stands, right?”[/b]

[color=778899]“I feel bad too, that your magic is such that you can never finish off strong,”[/color] Amaryllis replied, her gaze cold. [color=778899]“But I suppose that’s simply how it is, when a demon resorts to being nothing more than a thief in the night.”[/color]

And the bullets came. The minigun was inaccurate but the two rifle dolls made up for that. A wall of glowing pellets came at Amaryllis, and it came fast. 

One of the spear dolls leaped into the air , high above everyone’s heads. His target was not Amaryllis, but the poor sod stumbling away from the battle.

Sparking bullets shot through the white landscape, ricocheting off the polished flat of her sword as the Knight of Rose became a blur, a dancer moving to the staccato rage of the firearms. Her hair, free-flowing, parted as bullets shot through them, while her heels clicked against ice and snow, dodging bullets by a millisecond. Phantom pains sparked everywhere in her body, and she reflexively pulled away from them, the battle instincts of her Sword and herself acting in unison.

And then, Amaryllis took it a step further.

As the spear-doll leapt up, her blade did as well, flying in to sink deep. Tendrils of silvered steel seeped into the doll, and a chain connected the thrown sword to Amaryllis as well. She dove to the side, dodging the gunfire that shot for her while she was unprotected, before swinging the spear-doll as if it were a mace towards the others.

The doll didn’t stand a chance. The hot bullets ripped through the doll and detonated the explosive powder inside of it, raining hot metal down on top of the bystander. He’d be uncomfortable, but he’d live.

[b]”Pyrotechnics!?”[/b]

The minigun wielder ran out of bullets, and so they held their weapon like a giant club. Before they could charge forth though, Sebastion swat the doll with the bow of his violin.

[b]”Don’t be foolish, reload!”[/b]

The doll dropped their massive gun into the snow while Sebastian and the remaining spear doll charged forth. The rifle  dolls continued to pour on suppressing fire as the demon led the charge. He continued to play, and didn’t stop even when he jumped over head. He somersaulted through the air, swinging the bow of his violin down on Amaryllis, all while the spear puppet attempted to run her through. 

Amaryllis’s Sword continued to whistle through the air, only propelled by the explosion of the spear doll that it had impaled. Travelling downwards still, it smashed into the snow around the gunner dolls, plumes of white flakes turning into a smokescreen that bought her valuable time to reposition. Sebastian and the remaining spear doll was rushing in now, and she closed in as well, discarding the chain that connected her to her Sword.

She was a proper metal mage now; she didn’t even need this to keep in contact with her weapon!

Shifting to the side, the Knight of Rose bent low and struck the incoming spear with the flat of her hand, sending it upwards to clash against the demonic violinist’s bow. Doubtlessly, a musician was having an aneurysm about how the instrument was being treated, but it was also doubtless that Sebastian fed on this musical sacrilege as well. Sparks clashed, and Amaryllis reached out with her magic once more. With a grimace, she sent her Sword hurtling back to her, its ever-hungering point piercing through the winter air.

The doll might have had its spear pushed aside, but it still charged forwards with unwavering determination. Without a weapon to defend herself with, the doll wrapped its arms around her torso and hugged itself close. 

Sebastian landed behind Amaryllis and swiftly spun to face her back. He was prepared to run her through when an empty hand gun bounced off the side of his head. The demon violin player turned towards the man, who seemed to have either regained his courage or lost his mind.

[b]”Very well.”[/b]

Sebastion charged towards the man with his bow held over his head. All of the gun dolls stepped forward through the smoke wall and resumed firing on Amaryllis.

Unfortunately for the spear doll, Amaryllis’s body [i]was[/i] a weapon. As it pushed on, transitioning from its polearm to its two arms, the Knight of Rose met it head on, locking hands with it when it tried to grapple her torso. A bullet whizzed by her head, another popped the snow where her foot was a moment ago, while Sebastian ran for the old man.

Shit. She was going to have to get hurt after all.

Silver ivies spawned over her body, a rudimentary armor to protect her from further impacts, and moments later, her Sword pierced through the doll with such force that even the hilt made it through. She caught it, pushed the doll’s arms away, and braced for impact.

[i]Boom.[/i]

A fiery explosion evaporated the snow all around it, the shockwave causing the air to visibly ripple. The Knight of Rose, chain-link armor disintegrating off her body, flew through the air as well, vestiges of flame clinging onto her burned body. Real pain now, not just phantom.

But that was the price to pay, in order to reach Sebastian so soon!

Sebastian hardly had time to react before the knight’s foot flew into him. She clipped his hip, forcing him to spin ninety degrees before the knight tumbled through the snow. 

[b]”The hell?”[/b] The man pulled Amaryllis up, [b]”Are you going to be alright?”[/b]

Sebastion kept his distance from the sword fighter. His remaining three dolls had abandoned their guns and scrambled to pick up their fallen comrade’s weapons. Now Sebastian was joined by two spear dolls and one wielding a katana, all of which had spread out to surround the two humans.

[b]”So an old man was the way to your heart all along?”[/b] The demon scoffed. [b]”No wonder you don’t feel despair in isolation. Well, it hardly matters now.”[/b] The dolls brandished their weapons. [b]”You’re wounded, surrounded, and out numbered. Be honored that you’ll join my army of puppets!”[/b]

The katana puppet dove in for a swift decapitation on Amaryllis, followed shortly by the spear dolls going for her abdomen.

Was it worth it to expend some mana to heal her wounds? Amaryllis took a breath, feeling the extent of her injuries. Her legs were still alright. Left arm felt off, but she didn’t need to use it either. Blood blinded her right eye; her Sword would guide the way. She breathed in. She breathed out.

[color=778899]“I’m the Knight of Rose, demon. I’m at my strongest when the odds are against me!”[/color]

Turning sideways, she shoved the old man back with her left arm and extended her right arm outwards to the incoming barbarians. Moonlight energy flooded into her veins in anticipation and even her Sword tremored, excited at the prospect of finally dispatching these goons. The only blood it cared for was the demon’s, and it sang with rusted joy as the katana doll leapt in.

[i]Whumpf.[/i]

A Big Backpack, filled almost to bursting, appeared in front of Amaryllis’s hand. Silvered ivies burst out from the bag in the next moment, catching all three dolls and shredding apart what fabric remained. Underneath was the fuel tank of the flamethrower doll, metal frame contorted by magic to fit within the backpack, gleaming with silver where the ivies were ‘planted’.

She sighted her target, drew her foot back, and kicked that whole mass of explosive material right to Sebastian.

The canister flipped, end over end as it neared the demonic violin player. His reflexes were swifter than he had been letting on, and was able to pick up his foot and bat the canister off to the side. However, the fuse had already been lit. Sebastian was visible for a fraction of a second before the canister erupted in a ball of fire. Shrapnel wizzed through the air, and again the knight of rose took to the air. This time however, the old man would be following her. 

Whatever the silver vines hadn’t claimed the shrapnel did. Amaryllis hadn’t even hit the ground before the other three dolls exploded. The heat was immense, the old man’s screaming was muted by the ringing in her ears. The man landed in the snow and Amaryllis landed on top of him. The two coasted across the icy ground untill the man bumped into a tree.

Then all was silent. Amaryllis could see Sebastian’s head floating, without a body. The red orb that changed shape between the face of a man and a skull. It only persisted a moment longer before it finally popped, scattering blood in the snow. 

The ringing ceased, Amaryllis could hear the old man breathing once again. He looked into her eyes, their faces only inches apart. [b]”What…”[/b]

He cast Amaryllis off to the side. 

[b]”The [i]fuck[/i] is going on here!”[/b] He shot to his feet and walked past Amaryllis. The man looked at everything, but said nothing. Not long afterwards a large flat bed truck pulled through the clearing. A younger man was in the driver’s seat. He was thin and wore dirtier clothes. [b]”S-sir, are you alright?”[/b]

He simply rubbed the bridge of his nose. [b]”I’m fine.”[/b] He pointed ahead. [b]”There are foot steps leading further that way.”[/b] The younger man pulled his head inside the wrecker and drove off. The old man looked down at Amaryllis. [b]”Need a hand?”[/b]

[hr]

Not far ahead they would discover Sebastian’s workshop. All of the food had been piled inside, including that for the entire month this had been happening. Fortunately it had been cold enough out that most of the food had been preserved, though it didn’t look like the demon had any intention of eating any of it. That surprised most everyone, save the only one who knew the “children’s” true motives. Several more people had arrived to help load up the rest of the supplies. 

[b]”I still have no idea what’s going on.”[/b] The old man said before sitting on a crate. [b]”I’d ask you what you’re doing out here, but I don’t really care. Everything has been accounted for and that’s a good ending for everyone.”[/b] He pulled out his cell phone. [b]”Do you need to call your family?”[/b]

Amaryllis wiped the blood that leaked out of her left ear. All’s well that ends well,  wasn’t it? The demon was slain, and the stolen goods recovered. All in a good three days worth of work. She stared at the man when he offered the cell phone. Drew in a breath. Took it from him with a tense smile.

She dialed quickly, pressed it against her left ear, and listened to the ringback tone. Five seconds passed. Then ten. Someone picked up, spoke something. She closed her eyes, leaned her head against the phone.

[color=778899]“Ah,”[/color] Amaryllis replied, [color=778899]“Wrong number.”[/color]

She hung up, and handed it back to the old man.

[color=778899]“Best be off. Take care, alright?”[/color]

[b]”You’re pretty chipper for someone who’s been out here so long.”[/b] He put one of his hands in his pocket. [b]”Well, I found you out here, and you scared off those children. So we’re all settled for now. Not that I’m the sort to tell a damsel she owes me anything.”[/b] He looked away. [b]”Though if I could ask one thing, keep the fact that those kids punked me under wraps.”[/b] 

Amaryllis grinned lopsidedly, then turned to leave, raising a hand up as farewell. [color=778899]“No promises, but I’ll try.”[/color]

Everyone seemed to be in high spirits. Probably because the food had been discovered, but even so, people pushed to the brink of despair usually don’t come back. There had to be some hope left in these people for them to drive out here. No one could say if it was Sebastian’s weakening influence, or simply the will of the human spirit.

The man approached the crates. By this point most of them were picked through. At the bottom of one was a suitcase Small, black, save the stickers that decorated it. They were all bright neon colors, featuring everything from the anarchy symbol to green day’s logo. He popped it open and inspected the contents. It was difficult to see at a distance, but it seemed to be a few decks of unopened playing cards. [b]”You were a strange girl, Luna.”[/b] He picked up the suitcase and walked towards one of the trucks with it.

[hr]

Half-buried in freshly fallen snow, there laid a package. A cardboard box, sealed with beige duct tape thrice over. It sat, surrounded by dissolving walls of glacial ice, steadily becoming submerged in more ice, more frost, more snow, until only the symbol taped upon its top remained uncovered.

A shadow fell over the package and a bark of laughter followed.

Amazon always delivered.
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