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[b]"You can’t solve everything with magic, Ciri!"[/b]

[color=888888]— Amanda[/color][/center]

[color=75c159]"Heeeeey!"[/color] Luna thought back. [color=75c159]"See if I eat pizza with-"[/color] But she was cut off, perhaps by the developing situation. Which was just as well. Now wasn’t the time for a heart to heart.

[b][color=ffffff]"Got it!"[/color][/b] Despite being nearly melted by magic, it sounded like Amanda was still doing good. A ball of sand flew out of the hallway and smacked into the side of one weretiger’s head, putting him out instantly. The other one turned and fired down the hallway. It was hard to see what was happening, but Amanda cried out again. Normally guns weren’t very effective tools on monsters, but in the hands of another monster, their chaotic energies often affected their firearms. This was one of the reasons monsters didn’t employ such weapons against espers. But against other monsters? Guns were a viable option again. Given that Maverick had many monsters in its ranks, it made sense to retaliate with armed monsters. 

Amanda’s safety aside, Cirilla got her opening and finished her corny one liner just in time to fire on. Between now and the previous fight to acquire Boteg, she had learned a bit about her opponent. Dealing damage was about quantity, not quality, she told herself. It was so simple in retrospect that she wondered how it had escaped her for so long. So she decided to make her next attack really count and go for a quick transplace that would line up Viper for a single, solid blow from a powerful advisory. But only if her armor didn’t eat the spell like it had been doing all of her others. 

Just one problem.

While a shadowtouch is a great tactic for instantly [i]inflicting[/i] a target with a melody, it does nothing to make transplace melodies activate faster. Viper had about a second and a half to switch places with Ciri, and Ciri had a fraction of that before Regina’s claws batted her from behind. It was fortunate that espers had legendary resistances to monsters, but that didn’t stop Ciri from flying over head. Viper had entirely missed Ciri’s acrobatic performance when she turned to look at her leg, and kicked at the arm that had reached out and grabbed her. 

Ciri was about to plant her face on a light fixture when she suddenly swapped places with Viper. Ciri tumbled into a kneeling position, and Viper fell into one. 

[b][color=ffffff]"Oh? I thought you’d have appreciated the privacy. Very well."[/color][/b] Viper stood up and aimed her shotgun at Ciri. [b][color=ffffff]"Two versus two."[/color][/b]

Ciri had just enough time to roll down the hallway and avoid getting shot in the face. It might have been a bit of a happy accident, but she did manage to move Viper further away from amanda while placing herself closer. It only cost her some dignity and a pretty big bruise. But Regina was moving into frame again, and between Ciri and Amanda was a lone weretiger with a machine gun. Upon noticing her arrival, he turned around and started shoving her back into the hallway. The dragon’s jaw swung open and flames swirled inside its mouth.

[color=75c159]"Good news, Ciri!"[/color] Luna spoke up in Ciri's mind. [color=75c159]"The enemy is retreating back upstairs, so if you lay low, we’ll swing by and pick you up!"[/color] 

The faint laughter of the nuns were already reaching Ciri’s ears.