@PlatinumSkink@Ariamis Su did not relax when she got deeper inside the building. Just because she had passed that one girl didn't mean there wouldn't be more. She also had to make good time if she wanted to find the frozen monster before it could hurt anyone. But what Su found was not what she expected.
Amber did not discriminate between magical girls, dark magical girls, and monster girls. All had valuable booty that they would often relinquish on capture. Monsters on the other hand were just that, monsters. Amber killed them because their presence upset Boteg, but they really didn't offer Amber anything beyond making her patron happy. Su was expecting to find a giant colossus of a creature frozen in a solid block of ice. Something hidden in the depths of the building that was waiting to unleash havoc on Penrose. But this monster girl said that she had been trapped by ice, which indicated to Su that her search had ended. If Su had known what the threat actually was, she wouldn't have been so eager to get past the metal girl. She wouldn't have entered the building at all. Su felt very stupid for not remaining with the skeleton horde. It took Helga's shout to bring Su out of her thoughts.
”Uh.” Su cautiously looked over her shoulder in the direction of the sound.
”Coming!” She turned her attention back to the girl in front of her. If she played her cards right, she was sure she could get out of this without starting another fight.
”Oh, do you want to put out the fires?” Su made the suggestion hoping to dodge any of the monster girl's other questions.
”Let's try this.” Su opened her hands, and a bubble appeared between them. It was actually a vacuum, which was only visible because of the dust particles swarming around the outside of it. Because there was no air inside of the bubble, the vacuum starved the fires it touched and put them out instantly. It just took Su a few seconds to extinguish all the fires and banish the bubble.
”I'm glad I was able to help out, but I appear to have taken a wrong turn.” She gave a small bow before turning around to leave. Su bit her lower lip as she walked back the way she came. She wasn't sure if that monster girl was going to follow her, or if she was going to become hostile. But she started to focus her mana just in case.
Mika's attention was fully on the wolf woman and her pack of other selves. It was a bit distracting, and the masked girl went entirely ignored by the spectacle. It was hard for the two skeletons she destroyed to garner as much attention as the wolf pack that was cleaving it's way through the horde of monsters.
When the wolf girl spoke, she was snapped out of her trance.
”P-pack!?” Mika wasn't entirely sure what to make of this comment. A pack of wolves was a family of wolves. Joining someone's pack was to become part of their family. This was fairly simple for wolves to do. But for humans, you became part of someone else's family through marriage. There was also adoption, but she was sixteen, so that didn't seem very relevant. While coming to Mika's aid was a huge plus in her book, she wouldn't actually marry someone over it. Especially with that other girl who fed her still out there somewhere. But perhaps the wolf woman wasn't being quite so literal with the usage of the word pack. Anyone who could summon this many clones of themselves probably wasn't lonely enough to damsel hunt for a bride. And if she was, Mika felt confident she could explain the misunderstanding away later, or find some kind of middle ground.
”Pack? I've got your back!” Mika's necklace started to glow a light blue color and her wounds started to close. She'd stick by this new girl like glue until she healed up a bit.
”You can call me Mika. Thanks for the rescue!”
@FamishedPants @Card Captor @Crusader Lord @Erode @Rune_Alchemist @Vocab After Shona's swing missed, she raised the massive blade and rested it on her shoulder. Her armor shined brilliantly where the transparent edges came together. She briefly acknowledged Sally speaking to her by looking at her fellow beacon, but then looked back at Amaryllis.
”You do not know what you speak of. Perhaps she serves a horror, but even so I can tell she does not do so willingly.” Shona's reached for the sky, and her helmet appeared in her outstretched hand. It, too, was covered in the same transparent material as her armor and sword.
”Darkness can't be cut with a knife, it needs to be illuminated. Such is the duty of all beacon girls.” Shona lowered her helmet over her head, and the seam between her helmet and the rest of her armor sealed itself with a flash. The sparks danced across her crystalline outer layer.
”I am Shona Moffett, knight of Beacon, Champion of the Pure. I dream of the day this sword is liberated from my hands, but it will not be today!” Again, Shona took the offensive. This time there was less space between them. With a single hand, she heaved her sword off of her shoulder and swung it overhead. The blade was already curving towards Amaryllis, and would surely cut her in two if she stayed in the way.
“I cut not darkness, but the heart of evil, for bright light will always cast great shadows, and only the silver blade can cease the beating of malice and iniquity.” But their ideals could not align, for their blades reflected different scenes, and their values burned in different lights. Lashing out at the same time Shona had, Amaryllis remained three beats faster as the tip of her rapier thrust not at the Champion’s thick armor but at the pommel of the greatsword instead. Stopping it before it could fully accelerate, the rapier flexed but did not break, and, with a ‘pang’, bounced Shona’s sword back the way it came.
This forced her momentum back, causing her sword to swing backwards. Shona had the discipline to properly position her feet to prevent herself from stumbling. But this small window was all Amaryllis needed to get in a few quick thrusts at her side. Her thrusts did not have great penetrating power, but they were still coming from an exquisite sword arm. The first blow sent spider cracks across the surface of the armor. The second caused the cracks to fork and travel across her chest plate, the third shattered the crystal exterior of the armor, and still had enough power to plunge through her steel plate and draw blood. This was the second time Shona had been stabbed during this battle. It was difficult to gauge Shona's reaction with her helmet on, as only her eyes could be seen through two very small slits. But Shona was not standing still. Her arm followed the momentum of the sword behind her head.
”Take a good look at the blood on your sword.” Her broadsword made a complete rotation, cutting through the earth like it was nothing but air. When the sword popped out of the ground, it was followed by an explosion of debris. Likely not a threat to a magical girl, but it could cause momentary blindness.
”There is no malice in that blood. Only a desire to protect and serve pumps through this virtuous heart.” Shona's feet left the ground as she jumped into the air, causing her sword to soar even higher upwards.
Amaryllis cared not to continue their discourse amidst the bloodrush of combat, a flick of her wrist sending those droplets of Shona’s blood unto the ravaged stadium sand. Zealous and stalwart, the champion’s might was undoubtedly blessed by human prayer, but speed remained the Rose Knight’s forte, and a singular backstep propelled her five meters back, where both the eruption of earth and its blinding effect was simply mitigated by distance. Silver chains leaped out as the armored warrior ascended, mortal ivy anchoring around her ankles before she could complete her meteoric blow, and, wrapping the chains around her wrist twice, Amaryllis pulled harshly, swinging Shona in a wide circle around her.
Skin may be of steel, and flesh may be made of stuff even tougher than that, but blood flowed all the same, and a mind bereft of the crimson ichor fell into the blackness of nightmares and dreams easily enough.
It was clear to anyone watching that Amaryllis was faster than Shona. But that hardly meant the crystalline knight was done for. Shona was not spinning for long before she drove her sword int the earth below her. It was no longer a matter of strength of speed, but leverage. Shona was a heavy projectile, and she wasn't going to budge an inch with her sword stopping her momentum. The crystal edge of her sword cracked and flexed, but she managed to stop herself. If one was close enough, they might have heard Shona groan in agony. But she didn't stop moving. With the chain wrapped tightly around Amaryllis's wrist, she wasn't able to free herself before Shona's next trick. With her hand still on her sword, she curled up her legs and pulled her body away from Amaryllis, causing her to be pulled forward. With her opponent stumbling, Shona planted her feet on the ground and took off running towards her opponent, tugging her sword out of the ground. the champion gripped her blade with both hands and attempted to run her opponent through.
Her chain had begun to rust almost immediately, but even then, the uncommon fortitude of the Champion exceeded her expectations. Yanked forward by might she had no means of overcoming, Amaryllis stumbled for a fatal instance, and in that instant, exposed her navel to a killing blow.
But where the wielder erred, the weapon corrected.
Phantasmal pain bloomed in warning before blood could truly be shed, and as that agonizing foreknowledge shook her frame, the Rose Knight responded admirably, contorting her body sideways while arching her back, the pose maintainable only through acrobatic training and superhuman core strength. At the same time, her sword arm swung back, before an eloquent rapier thrust manifested from behind her, with the same technical prowess and daredevil confidence of professional pool players alike.
A behind-the-back shot sailed over the greatsword in a counter-strike that aimed for the same fracture her strikes had created before.
And she hit. Her blade sunk into Shona's flesh again, going deeper than it ever had before. Amaryllis could feel a bit of resistance as the blade attempted to pierce the armor on Shona's back, but it eventually punctured both her armor and the crystal enchantment. The transparent layer around Shona completely crumbled away, and her sword fell from her hands. But she was still moving forward, roaring like an inhuman beast. Amaryllis had peerless speed, but Shona had peerless tenacity.
The champion's hands were moving as soon as they released her sword. Her left hand came up to trap Amaryllis's sword inside of her own flesh, and her right hand seemed to grip the air and swing upwards. The empty space in her right hand turned into a crystalline dagger, which would cut across the tendons in Amaryllis's wrist if she remained in the way.
“I acknowledge your tenacity.” It swung down, the final blow from her reflection and her opposite.
“But if you sought to protect the guiltless, you should have started with evacuation.” The Knight of Rose closed her eyes, and, embedded within the champion’s flesh, the Sword squirmed. Savored.
Screamed.
Screamed of the song eldritch, of the newborn that clawed out of its mother’s womb, of the monster that replaced the man amongst a field of broken roses.
Shona seemed to be nigh-impervious to the weapon shaking inside her intestines, But the sudden scream caused her to briefly loosen her grip. That was all it took for Amaryllis to slide her wrist out of the way. Shona's knife would still cut across her fingers, but the wound was not as bad as it could have been; the knight of rose could still hold her sword. The two stood a good distance apart. Shona's sword still laid on the ground, and her torso was filled with holes. Amaryllis's fingers were dripping with blood. But they were both able to stand in perfect form, despite their injuries.
Before either of them could make another move, the giant horror made its presence known. Both knights briefly glanced at the distraction, then at each other. Shona was first to speak.
”My queen and her vassals takes priority over all else, but perhaps there are better uses of our time than fighting each other.“ She scooted her foot under her sword and kicked it into her hands.
”I will withdraw from this fight, but I will not hesitate to fight you again in the future.“ After delivering her warning, Shona headed away from Amaryllis and the horror. It was impossible to tell if she planned on fully retreating, but it did seem like she was headed towards the remaining civilians.
“Throw down your gauntlet as many times as you wish, Champion,” Amaryllis turned, the amethyst glow of her rosary soon reducing that slight wound to nothing at all,
“I will be glad to dance with you whenever you desire.” A flick of the wrist scattered the blood of the warrior off her hungering blade, the rapier of a mirror polish once more, and the Knight of Rose turned. This stadium was too small for a duel between two greats, and the situation had escalated too far to indulge in extravagant verisimilitudes, for the creature that laid before her, pulsating its lesser brethren, was a true titan.
“Lesser Brethren of the Maiden’s Master, steel your resolve and speak what prayers you may. The moment you have trespassed upon the realm of man is the moment that your bell has began to toll.” She raised her sword, flourishing it as petals danced to an unfelt wind.
“What is reflected within my Silverlight is not the value of your soul, but the eradication of your being.” And each of her steps echoed with the gravitas of a chiming clock tower.
One by one by one.
Elroy slid to a stop as soon as the giant horror made an appearance.
”It's a bird, it's a plane, no! It's a Kaiju from another dimension!" Elroy had just enough time to finish talking before one of Penny's Gauss shots exploded, hurling the boy backwards.
”That was cheaper than instant ramen!" He cackled before crashing into a few seats. Only his legs were visible, as well as the smoke from his smoldering uniform.
"It looks like they were able to successfully evacuate Annabelle." one of Regina's dark mortars soared towards Elroy's possition and exploded, creating a dome of darkness. Several more followed it, each one blowing up a bit further back than the last. Once they had all detonated, they created several suspended domes of darkness that ran from the back of the stadium to the seats Elroy had landed in. When the darkness faded, Regina and Elroy would be gone.
OR WOULD THEY!!??!?! Tonya seemed to have joined her sisters in helping evacuate the remaining civilians. Alexander would soon be surrounded by wounded victims as the beacon buddies continued to assist with the evacuation.
“I've actually never watched K-on, but I always wanted to. However, I have played in a band before.” Jessica walked a bit closer to Lily, her grin widened as the space between them shrank.
Vanessa also walked closer to Lily.
”We actually have our own band.” “Just the two of us” Jessica was getting closer still.
”We've played at live venues before.” Again, Vanessa mirrored Jessica and walked closer.
“I'm unstoppable on guitar.” ”I'm unbeatable on the drums.” “Vanessa has a nice singing voice.” “Jessica has the grace of a dancer.” Jessica took Lily's left hand.
“We could play in a band together.” “We could join a music club together.” Vanessa squeezed Lily's right hand.
Directly in front of them was the entrance way to the Gym. Instead of pushing through though, the two girls stopped. They simultaneously released Lily's hand and looked at her. Their expressions were grave. Jessica folded her arms.
“But before any of that can happen...” Vanessa placed her hands on her hips.
“What instrument are you going to play?”
Another news article from the Penrose Independent was avalable. The material was rather interesting. The eventual trial of Janet Howell was something that Veronica was personally waiting to see. However, the cloak and dagger nature of her organization made it impossible to get updates quickly. The coin broker had to wonder how Beacon felt about the loose lipped reporter that tipped off the Independent. If the time stamp was anything to go by, they hadn't even waited a full twenty-four hours to come forward with this footage. It was hard to say who was more careless in this particular scenario. Provided what she was seeing actually happened. After the last article, it was hard to take anything the independent delivered at face value. It would be interesting to see once she had confirmed with her own sources.
More interesting than the surprise direction of the trial was how the independent treated it. Veronica worked with spies by trade, and a lot could be learned from the type of information one chooses to display, as well as the information one requests. Counter-interrogations where a captured spy tries to learn all about what their captors know is a very real thing. Penrose Independent was always sharing reports with the public, and reading into these stories weaved a narrative about their underlying goals. It was impossible to tell for sure based on what little Veronica had read, but there was a pattern already forming between yesterdays story and this one. Yesterday's story was a smear story about how Beacon didn't do anything to help the people of Penrose during the spirit attack. The fact that it turned out to be a farce is irrelevant. Today's story was also about Beacon, but it was praising the new direction it took. At a glance, this might seem like the independent is simply trying to report the truth, and seems to favor stories about Beacon. But there is a motive here. Stories that villainize Beacon or give hope for their change are likely aimed at particular demographic. With this information, it was safe to assume that the Penrose Independent was likely made up of monster/DMG sympathizers, if thy weren't dark magical girls and monsters themselves. But this was all gathered at a glance. Further study would be necessary to learn anything about the information.
But this was all a game to keep her mind off of the current situation, which she was powerless to do much about. She was sitting in the very same office Binky had been in last night. After she left, several other subjects who were part of project scarlet escaped. Since Betty had destroyed all of Binky's clones, she didn't have the required manpower to deal with an escape attempt.
“Betty.” Veronica sighed.
“I understand you're done examining everything?” ”Um.” She swallowed.
”The remaining subjects are content to continue with the experiments. It seems like the six that wanted to escape were working alone.” She hugged herself.
”But you really didn't need to hear it from me, did you?” Veronica stood up from the desk.
“We have somewhere to be now.” She placed a police officer's hat on her head
“Seems they're calling all units to the stadium. You get to be my partner today.” Betty twiddled her thumbs.
”B-but Binky probably needs our help! The escapees were all really angry with him for some reason!” “Binky did a lot to forward the research of the red coin, and for that I am grateful.” Veronica put on a jacket.
“But what I am most concerned about at the moment is that I have lost contact with Sil. She must be recovered.” Veronica stepped past Betty.
“Eliza told me she was headed towards the cathedral. That's where Binky ran off to, so she should be there to protect her.” Betty hung her head and walked after Veronica.
”O-okay.” “And another thing.” Veronica continued to walk, but looked over her shoulder at Betty.
“Eliza was attacked by a dragon girl yesterday.” She looked straight ahead.
“If you spot something like that, you have my permission to eliminate it with extreme prejudice.” Betty only sighed in response, swiftly dawning her police officer guise.
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