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Verity was two seconds away from turning Maive into the next Sofia, before something truly, utterly, hilariously strange happened: the day darkened, the bookish woman started muttering to herself, and with the invocation of 'PERSONA', a cocoon of storm gave birth to massive hand that squeezed the bus-sized toad with such force that its mouth was forced open.

Presumably, there was some correlation here, so of course, while Verity was still hanging off of Maive's back, she tried it as well.

[b]"Persona."[/b]

The only response to [i]that[/i] attempt was the inflation of the toad's mouth though, and before it could belch out its tongue a second time, Verity sprung off of Maive, kicking off the woman's head like a swimmer from a diving block. An instant later, a shockwave of force barely grazed the soles of her feet, before she was rolling in the detritus of shrubbery and ruin once more. Not a tongue, which was good, because that meant Maive wasn't eaten. But an air cannon was also pretty bad, and while Maive's ghost friend could squeeze the toad, the toad's breath was enough to send her ragdolling into a tree before smashing her skull against the trunk.

It was a miracle that her head wasn't lolling about at some odd angle. That her brains weren't painting her lips.

And really, it just sorta proved that one ghost friend wasn't enough when you were a human being up against a bus-sized frog with a taste for human flesh.

...

[b]"Ha..."[/b]

Verity picked herself up. Funneled her thoughts down in one direction. What did she know about toads. What did she know about [i]this[/i] toad? It had no useful front limbs, but cannot walk. It possesses the ability to leap great distances. It shoots out with its tongue, and can shout in the same method. It hasn't shown much ability to turn around; it probably couldn't. Its tongue was sticky, but Sofia hadn't been crushed to death yet, so that was fine. Alright.

Running over to Maive, the pale-skinned girl returned the favor, delivering a hearty slap to her face before pulling her behind the tree. Tongue would have to go through a tree first. Roar wasn't strong enough to uproot it as well. All that mattered would be whether or not the toad went for another big jump, but they had a bit of time anyhow.

[b]"Listen up."[/b] Her hands grabbed the sides of the bespectacled bitch's face, fingers pressed against her temples. If Maive didn't, then she was just bait. [b]"It's a toad. Can't walk on land with how it is. Get your ghost to carry you. Fly close and fly around it. Bully it that way. If it leaps up for a stomp, throw yourself away and get the ghost to go for the belly. Think like a rat. No, a roach. You're a roach with that thick head of yours. A magic roach. Scurry around and fuck it up. That's how you get Top 15 Science Track out."[/b]

Her eyes flickered back and forth, checking to see if the toad was happy to eat or hungry for more.

[b]"Now, tell me. What are you?"[/b]