BrokenPromise

Symphony of Espers

Upon hearing news of Breacher's death, the smile ran from Veronica's face. ”I knew this was going to be a rough one.” When asked about why she arrived so late and where all the other espers were, she pursed her lips. ”Yes...” She put her hands on her hips. ”While we expected retaliation, we did not realize how well organized they would be. It's like every monster faction in the city banded together for the occasion. I was expecting them to lay a trap for the freelancers and the Mavericks, but we were more discrete with our planning. I think Justin was here as a last resort, to hold the line against any stragglers. It was inevitable that they would notice the convoy Binky and I were protecting. all of Gemini's agents are here right now. The top brass hasn't seen fit to send us more espers yet. Regardless, I can't imagine the enemy will continue fighting us now that the Diver is gone.” When Finn suggested they try to catch the brainwashed espers, Veronica's smile returned. "Agent? Can you even conjure a melody in your current state? As admirable as your enthusiasm is, it is unnecessary. With Justin dead their dark blessing should be far weaker now. Curing it should within the realm of possibility. But if you'd like, I can-”

”What happened to mom?!"

It seemed Mika hadn't been unconscious after all. She had become fully alert after Finn and Jacqueline mentioned Su was dead.

"Oh! You're Mika?” Veronica let out a nervous chuckle. "I had no idea you were an esper! Did you get a hold of Breacher's grimoire or is that something you've always had?”

But Mika was not in the mood to talk. She shook her head while stepping backwards. ”She can't be!"

"I'm inclined to believe her squad mates. I doubt they have any reason to lie.”

Mika brought her hand up to her mouth, but that didn't stop the tears from rolling over her cheeks. She took off across the cat bridge back to the police station.

”Mom! Mom!"

The precinct roof looked like a war zone. Everything was soaked in blood. That said nothing of the frog entrails, like corpses, flies, a scorch mark caused by a lightning bolt, puss that had leaked out of various boils, locust corpses, and that said nothing of the looming darkness. But despite all that, she did find a pile of wrecked cars. And among them...

She sunk to her knees. ”Not again..."

Veronica held her chin. "When she calms down, she could make for a good agent.” But veronica's attention was stolen away when Jacqueline asked about the stranger and harp. "They got pulled out of the Diver, didn't they?” She furrowed her brow. "It's not uncommon for behemoths to have some mundane object as a power source. But I'm not sure why there was a person in there.”

”Yea about that." Oros, half dragging herself, inched closer to the group of espers. ”I'm sure you guys could tell, but Holy Diver wasn't exactly your average run-of-the-mill behemoth." Her sword scraped against the asphalt roof. ”To avoid a history lesson, that harp right there is a grimoire. The idea was to make it invincible to attack, but like any good organ, they tend to stop working once they're removed from the body."

Veronica half chuckled when she turned to Oros. "I suppose you're here to make sure we don't capture them?”

”Negatory. I'm just here to pick my date up." Oros winked at Marrie. ”Assuming that you don't wanna just duke it out. But last time you bastards did that it didn't work out great. So I'm all for postponing our epic battle for a later time."

"I see.” The vermillion esper looked at Stacy, then Marrie. "So what's your roll in this?”

”I may be the meta character, but you're gunna have to clarify."

"You've arrived just after I did. I don't believe for a second that you're just here for a date. Though it's clear you know something about this mad house escapee and at least one other esper here. It doesn't seem like you were behind this attack.”

”That's right." Oros puffed out her chest. ”Look, uh, I know it's only mid day, but the city's been, like, totally ravaged and stuff. You probably wanna figure out where everyone else is, assess things, you know? Government stuff?" With a huff, she extended her hand towards Ashley. ”You wanted to date me too, right? Or was it a 'totally just wanted to look after my little sister' kinda thing? Whatever, you're still invited, and it's the least painful way to interrogate me." Provided she didn't run off, that is.

”I'll come too!” Stacy struck a flamboyant pose. She made a "v" in front of her eye with her fingers. ”I know a cool place where we can play some board games!”

Veronica's gaze shifted towards Agent Orion. "You've encountered her before?” Provided she didn't run off, that is.

Symphony of Espers

They did what they could in the face of despair.

Fable was not deterred when the giant didn’t bleed. If his weapon could cut its flesh, then he could decapitate it. He pressed his sword into the Diver's neck and surged forward. Each time he circled its neck the blade would cut deeper.

Mika did as she was instructed, and her second fist sunk inside the Diver’s flesh., though it was not easy to punch through. ”It’s like mo-lass-sees!" But while Mika struggled, Ashley drew closer with her glowing wand.

The more experienced espers weren’t holding back. Sam made sure the area was locust free, allowing Jacqueline to fire a stream of stones.

Mika drew back her fist as the melody landed. It made a crater, and the ensuing blast from Ashley’s wand made it bigger still. Surely Mika would be able to destroy the harp now. She plowed her fist into the creature’s flesh. Her fist struck the harp.

But it was too slow to do any damage.

The harp remained in one piece, but Mika didn’t give into disappointment. ”I think I feel something!" While too hard to punch through, Mika could maneuver her fingers inside the creature’s flesh. She forced her hand open and was able to get her fingers around the harp. ”I got it! I got it!" But pulling the harp free would prove to be a challenge. She had planted her feet on the behemoth’s chest, but she was sinking into it faster than the harp was being removed. Ashley and Sam took hold of Mika’s waist to help pull her out. It had to help, but now all three of them were sinking into the Diver.

Finn was tired, but he made good progress. He needed to slow down a bit to balance on the Diver’s collar bones in total darkness. But racing around its shoulders and back were a simple matter. He just needed to lean towards the neck to ensure his footing. But as he maneuvered around the behemoth, he spotted a white shape in the darkness. A giant skull. That of some long dead animal.

"Yee of little faith! Why doth thou try so hard?" Chernabog, or maybe Baphomet, floated behind Finn. "If thou can not save thy sister, why not get thee gone? Why risk thy life in a plot thou can not change?" The skull pressed into the side of Finn’s face. "Are thou…mad?" By this point, Finn had cut as deep as he could. The hilt of his blade was pressed up against the Diver’s neck. When Finn blinked a few times, the skull disappeared. He really was tired.

Something tore out of the Diver’s back. A pair of butterfly wings with a fluorescent glow. Unlike the Diver themselves, the wings had every color one could think of. A rainbow of shades from tip to tip. The Diver was starting to float higher in the air. It was clear what was about to happen.

The Diver was leaving, and it was taking the firstborns with him.

"About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again."

— Exodus 11:4–6

But off in the distance, Finn could make out a green-skinned person standing on a railing with a young woman. Or at least, he could hear them. It was still pretty dark.

”I thought you had a plan!” The zombie chuckled. ”But that’s fine. I play a lot of board games so you know I have a strategic mind. Backup is probably going to arrive late so it’ll just be you and me.” Stacy turned to the Diver. ”Here’s an idea, let's hit it as hard as we possibly can!”

Most espers had olympic level fitness, but many monsters possessed strength in another league entirely. When Stacy leaped off the balcony, most espers would assume she was a monster by her athletic ability alone. The metal handrail bent as Stacy propelled the duo through the air. They soared through the downpour of blood towards their target. Stacy pointed her feet towards the behemoth and landed square on the back of its head.

CRACK

The diver’s head would normally be too strong to kick off, even with a monster delivering the blow. But Finn had cut deep into its flesh, and necks were hollow by their nature. The partially severed spine was the only thing that held it in place, and it gave out when Stacy landed her blow. The head rolled off of its shoulders.

Below, Ashley and Sam were still pulling on Mika. The snapping of the Diver’s spine caused their eyes to look upwards. The Diver’s bioluminescent wings offered just enough light to make out the head. But it wasn’t possible to tell if the Diver had been killed or not. Its wings were still moving, it still floated higher into the air. The weak point had yet to be destroyed.

Agent Leroux wasn’t quite done yet either. With all the other agents tugging on Mika, she had finally scaled the giraffe to help them. But when the head came tumbling down, there was an opportunity. She held onto Mika with one hand, and swung her war pick at the Diver’s falling noggin. The intent was not to destroy it, but to imbed her weapon in its flesh. If the three of them couldn’t pull Mika free, maybe the weight of the Diver’s own head would be enough.

The other agents caught on. Ashley and Sam held onto Jacqueline and Mika. They locked their arms and limbs around each other however they could. The problem with using such a massive object is that there was the chance they could be pulled off of Mika without pulling her free. And of course, none of this would matter if Mika’s hand slipped off the harp. But there would be no time to think of all the possibilities. Once the head fell and pulled everyone taught, it was over. The Diver’s chest detonated like a bomb. The espers could feel the strain on their bodies as their limbs were stretched as far as they could. But there was some relief when something gave inside the Diver’s bosom. And there, soaring through the air, held sternly in Mika’s paw, was the harp. Even with the blood and tar flying through the air, it shined in the dull neon glow of the Diver’s wings.

But Mika wasn’t the only one holding onto it.

On the other side of the hand was a young woman, bald and wearing a straitjacket. She had a white knuckle grip on the harp and didn’t seem like she was going to let go. Mika’s pupils dilated when she realized how close they were to each other. She could understand the whole esper thing. Her mother had told her about it from time to time. But she was at a loss as to what to do here. They were all falling, and she had no idea if she could trust this new person or not. But did she even have a power that would work here? As intuitive as being an esper was, she drew a blank. The ground was coming at them faster and faster.

Then out of the darkness came a massive inflatable stunt bag, the kind that stunt men use when falling off of buildings. The more advanced ones are able to accommodate multiple stuntmen, and could reset themselves between individual impacts so that nobody “bounced” once they landed on them. It was softer than landing on the asphalt roof of the building, but the espers had the wind knocked out of them on impact.

Meanwhile up above, Finn, Marie, and Stacy stood on the Diver’s shoulder. ”Looks like I killed it! Why didn’t you guys try hitting it in the head?” The trio lost their footing as soon as the Diver’s headless body crashed into the roof. Before it could do any real damage, the behemoth’s molasses-like body lost its shape and seeped off either side of the building. Even the wings were melting. The remaining espers (and monster?) fell onto the stunt bag along with the other Gemini espers.

Samuel, Jacqueline, Ashley, Finn, Marie, Stacy, Mika, and the woman in the straitjacket were all present. The latter of the bunch had fallen unconscious, but even in sleep retained their grip on the harp. Even with the Diver dead, the harp was in one piece.

A ninth person slipped out of the darkness and landed before the group. Veronica stood before them with a tea cup in one hand and a platter in the other, but her smile was not present.

”Kept you waiting, huh?” She folded her arms. ”Seems our enemy was able to predict the Diver’s arrival. But you were able to complete the objective regardless.” Veronica looked over everyone present. ”Where’s Breacher?”

Feature Request Thread

Mmmm, yea, but this would be more for specific posts. Notifications tend to disappear regardless of how many posts on a page you've read.

Feature Request Thread

I wouldn't mind a bookmark function. I realize we sort of have a rudimentary one. Each post has a link to it, so you just need to save that link if you ever want to pick up where you left off. But RPs can be complex things where posts don't always happen in order. It would be nifty to be able to flag posts so that you can come back to certain ones later. Maybe to read something that doesn't pertain to what you're character's doing at the moment.

I'd also like some control over notification settings. Stuff like getting notified for just IC posts or when certain users post in a thread.

Grimoiric Heart

<Snipped quote by Majoras End>

More like I react to basically every single post as a bookmarking method.
Very effective, especially for Advanced-size RP post chains. XD

@Lewascan2

A bookmark function would be pretty useful.

Regardless, you're catching up quickly.

Grimoiric Heart

Oh hey there @Lewascan2.

Grimoiric Heart

_{@Lonewolf685@Majoras End}

"Thank you, Suzy." Mika did not seem bothered that Suzuya was walking away from her, and would soon be out of earshot. "That couldn't have been easy, and I appreciate you giving Cell a chance, even if she didn't take it."

Lupin didn't have to chase Mika very far. She hadn't moved a single step since their confrontation. "I see listening is not your strong suit. I would have expected otherwise given the size of your ears." Mika pinched the bridge of her nose. When she lowered her hand, she was wearing a pained smile. "Tell you what? No one is thinking straight right now. Go apologize to Suzy before the day is over. Then we can put this event behind us." It was unusual that Lupin came around so quickly, but Mika wouldn't complain.

Anyone could have seen that Suzuya did nothing wrong. The issue more had to do with how schools operate. Teachers and student counselors are not police officers. Nor are they judges, juries, or executioners. Their jobs are hard enough when everyone behaves, and many do not have the ability or desire to properly deal with infighting among students. This becomes even more difficult when you involve the parents who will often be unhappy regardless of what you do. This is why most schools have a zero-tolerance policy regarding "bullying." All aggressive behavior is punished equally. In an idealistic world, this would encourage everyone to be their best self.

Suzuya may not have directly interfered with Lupin, but her confrontational language and choice to start a fire would warrant intervention from anyone. This was ultimately a matter for the faculty to handle, and a student involving themselves just complicated things. If anything, both students should be relieved Mika was going so easy on them. This would have been a detention at any other school.

As for why Mika was so easy on Tesni, that was anyone's guess. How Tesni conducted herself during an emergency was more an issue for the grand minister or her teacher.

_@TheWendil

The student counselor nearly jumped out of her skin when Ozma boomed her voice through the room. She pretended to clean her ear with her pinky while the non-faculty told everyone what was going to happen. "Excuse me? we haven't even looked at the hexes in question. Moreover, where do you get off-" Her eyes drifted onto Merlin before she clinched her teeth. "Never mind, as you were." She waved her hand dismissively.

_@KoL

She walked over to Eins and wrapped a hand around her shoulders. "It's a bit crowded here. How about we go to my office and hammer out some ideas. Sound good to you, Strudel?"

Mika chose to ignore the eldrich blow-dryer. That wasn't to say the gesture wasn't appreciated. Fresh air was nice, as was having dry hair. But they were departing, so Mika would have to thank them later.

---

_{@The 42nd Gecko}

Bonnie set out to slip the letters under everyone's doors. As soon as she entered the hallway, she spotted Mika. She stood there with a smile on her face.

"Oh! Is there one there for me?" She wiggled her fingers before slipping her letter out of the stack. It wasn't clear how she had noticed since it was buried. "You know, you did well earlier." She peeled open the envelope and scanned the letter before chuckling. "You have very nice handwriting. I would love to help out with this." She walked back towards her office without looking away from the letter. "Very nice handwriting. Almost like calligraphy."

---

_{@The 42nd Gecko}

Silvia was a little surprised to see Bonnie skootching under the table with her. Part of this was because she appeared shell shocked seconds ago. Now she had her composure back. Equally surprising was Bonnie choosing to walk through several sprinklers just to get to her. That couldn't have been comfortable, and Silvia wasn't feeling too hot either. There was something about being wet, shivering, and squatting under a table that made her feel undignified. She felt a bit like a clown gazing out of a sewer drain at a kid who lost his paper boat. But the "Kid" had joined her under the table. Bad move, Georgie.

"...You sure you're okay?" Her tone was filled with concern. Though it wasn't clear which of the two girls the concern was intended for. "I'm Silvia. But if it's easier to call me Stripes, that's cool." Bonnie had asked Silvia about going to a sleepover in the same breath she asked her name, but she chose not to answer.

Anyone who knew the introverted misanthropist wouldn't bother to even invite her. It wasn't really her thing. She hated crowds as a rule, and had an idea the more social students would be all over this. That and the idea of of her classmates parading around in their pajamas didn't rub her the right way. It felt juvenile.

But she couldn't say no either. Silvia wasn't able to remember the last time she had been invited to anything. She knew Bonnie was being polite because Silvia had asked how she was doing. But even knowing that, this was still a rare occurrence. She wasn't going to force Bonnie's hand however. It seemed silly to sign herself up for something that was just a formality and-

_{@Majoras End}

A jacket flew under the table and landed on Silvia's shoulders.

"O-oh." Her eyes darted between Celina and Bonnie. She didn't like groups but kindness like this was nice. Nice, but it made her feel self conscious. "I don't think I look that bad, do I?" She avoided looking at either girl and played with the end of her hair. Were they just concerned for her? "I'm fine guys, r-really. Bonnie was fighting Roma directly. She deserves your concern more than I do." A warm, eldritch wind blew through the ruined cafeteria and warmed everyone up. This caused Silvia's head to snap over, though she noticed Xolys was doing this for everyone and not just herself. The attention of three different people would have been way too much. "Xolys has the right idea. He's helping everyone." Silvia stood up, bumped her head on the table, but still managed to stumble out into the open. "Weren't you going to beat someone up or something? I'm glad you calmed down." She rubbed her head while looking at Celina. "Do I still look bad? I pride myself on my appearance." Silvia ran a hand through her hair. "I'll go look in the mirror in my room."

---

That night...

Silvia was a pretty light sleeper. Something slid under her door.

There was just enough moonlight to see an envelope. She crawled over the sheets and reached for it. It didn't seem like recovering the letter from her bed was possible, so she transformed. Then she used her staff to trap the envelope and slide it closer to her bed. With a sigh, she picked up the letter. She turned it over in her hand, unsure of why something would have been given to her. Though after opening it and seeing the hand written letter in side, Silvia didn't even have to read to know who sent it.

"Guess I'm going."

March of the White Rabbit: A Roll-Your-Own Magical Girl Roleplay

*Tries to be annoying.*

*Gets flirted on.*

— Tonya “Mac” Murphy IRON MOUSE

Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity
Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration, Third Eye | Cradle
Coercion, Soul Jar, Martial Training, True Sight, Parasite, Gifted, Awareness, Overcity Shift, Mystic Artifact

Magical Overload, Cradle Supply, Connected, Gifted Item (Aigorost) | Monstrous Form, Exposed, Mercy, Distrust
Redirected Magic, Second Specialization | Non-Standard Limbs, Destroyer

STR: 05 | AGI: 04 | VIT: 05 | MAG: 03 | LCK: 03
+46
STR: 20 | AGI: 20 | VIT: 20 | MAG: 20 | LCK: 20

Earnings this post: Zilch

Remaining: 8 Gold, 30 Silver, 39 Bronze
Total: 12 Gold, 162 Silver, 183 Bronze

Mac never knew how her alternate identities would be received. She did tailor them to her goals, often choosing traits that she hoped would make a certain impression. Knight of Tonight was made on the spot and probably wouldn’t fool anyone other than MDP. Iron Mouse was intended to be somewhat obnoxious as to make her less interesting to others. Nobody liked a showoff, so she figured people would not want to stick around her. The irony of Iron mouse was that her boasts were accepted at face value, and her self-centered nature was seen as endearing by their “mark.” Mac was a little surprised by Nefer’s open flirting, but she couldn’t let it show on Mouse’s face.

”Yea, you aren’t the only one.” Iron Mouse winked. ”If you keep up the good behavior, maybe you’ll get a cheek pinched though..” Mac grimaced as Iron Mouse uttered the words. She was quiet for the rest of the trip.

…

…

…

”Oh wow.”

Mac might have broken character, but there was so much stuff going on. Even a magical girl with A_W_A_R_E_N_E_S_S would have a hard time keeping up with it all. Evacuations, a giant scarecrow, it was nuts. But she had her orders.

”Sure thing, Fable!” As soon as Iron Mouse hopped out of the car, she brandished a machine gun. ”Oh!” She turned to Nefer and pinched her cheek. ”I’ll show you to Penrose as soon as I’m done here. Shouldn’t take long!” Iron Mouse gave the Egyptian woman a salute before catching up with Finn.

It wasn’t long before Finn started cutting into the enemy ranks. Shortly after calling some barn animals to his aid, he shot Iron Mouse a message, more a suggestion really. He believed that she should ignore the giant metal man for now and focus on something else. Mac could tell the tin man was strong. But that was exactly why she felt like she should be the one to deal with it. She had spent a decade silently operating in the shadows. Now that she was stronger, exposed, she didn’t have to operate on the sidelines anymore. It was also beneficial to attack something that everyone would likely be fighting. If several magical girls were beating on the tin man, who could really say which one was doing the most damage to it?

More importantly, attacking the tin man was just a very iron mouse thing to do.

”You wanted to see how strong I am?” Iron Mouse ran towards the tin man. ”Bet tin can here goes down before lion king does!”

Iron Mouse opened fire. The illusionary bullets sparked as they “bounced” off of the tin man’s frame. ”Gunna need geo rounds for this one!” She dove into the ground. A mole mound raced straight for the tin man before exploding. Iron mouse lept out of the earth with a boulder in hand, fully intent on smashing it into the tin man’s heart.

Though what was actually happening was far more mundane. Mac was on the ground, guiding a cluster of tightly packed stones towards her target.

---

"Oh no, I’m feeling something other than hatred!”

— Sakura

Sakura

3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3
8 | 17 | 7 | 17 | 5
Lightning - Water - Air | Killing Blow
Awareness | Enhanced Outfit | Training (Wing Chun) | Sanctum | Bile | Reverence |Immortality
Free Agent | Mana Overload
Alone | Monstrous Form

Sakura had managed to free herself from her prison of flesh. It seemed that going to heaven and returning had renewed her strength, almost as if she had gotten a good night’s rest. But she had resisted the urge to use a killing blow or a powerful spell to free herself. Such things were overkill anyway. The other sleepy girls always fled before her attacks landed anyway. He remembered the big oppai cat maid, and was willing to see how far her advice would lead her.

But that didn’t stop her from assuming a combat stance. She flailed her arms around as her eyes scanned the area for foes to beat up.

---

"I lived bitch."

— Chloe Irving

Penrose was never in a state of rest. If things did seem normal, that was an indication that there was some other fuckery afoot. If the streets were quiet, it just meant that there was someone in the overcity scheming to destroy love. Or maybe a group of monster twins and their clueless date were trying to summon a horror. Maybe The Ascendancy were threatening to destroy a beach dimension, or maybe wonderland was waging war elsewhere to claim an outpost for their assault on Penrose. Or maybe Chloe Irving was waiting in the wings. Prepared to stage a spirit attack to drum up some chaos for some end.

Mmmmm, not today.

Chloe strut through Penrose like she was walking down a catwalk. Aurora and Divina flanked her sides, matching her step for step. One might have confused them for charlie's were it not for their appearances. Chloe’s magical girl outfit showed too much skin, Divina was a moth girl, and Aurora was a very petite boy. Chloe was closer to a demon than an angel anyway.

"My my, it looks like they’ve started to put Penrose back together." Chloe grinned as she walked through the business district. "Magical girls love to flaunt how resilient they are, but despite everything, normal people still love to live here."

”It is a sight to see.” Divina beamed. ”It just goes to show you that regardless of how bad things get, human resilience can triumph any hardship.”

Chloe grabbed Divina by the chin and pulled her closer. "Don’t forget where you are, Divina. This is the business district. There’s a reason why this place is more put together than the rest of Penrose." She grinned. "It’s an opportunity for these parasites. They come in pretending to give a damn about the local people, but they’re all here because property is cheap. They bought this rubble for pennies on the dollar." She released Divina’s head with a shove. "Not that I care one way or the other, just temper that attitude of yours."

"Like, it is nice to see the place packed again." Aurora groaned. "Though I can’t go out and buy dresses anymore."

"And what makes you say that?" Chloe wrapped an arm around Aurora’s waist. "I think you’d look stunning in just about anything. And that’s not something I tell many men."

Chloe’s comment made Aurora blush. "I really wish I had my boobs back!"

"Well, regardless, we should probably go undercover for now." Chloe stroked one of Divina’s feelers. "I enjoy having eyes on me, but I think Divina’s going to be a little distracting like that." And so the three magical girls returned to their normal forms. "I have a few errands to run, so if the two of you want to play around for a bit, I’ll meet with you later." Her lackies wished Chloe well as she walked deeper into the business district.

I wonder where that coin broker is in all of this.

Stumped by my own premise

I'm kind of reminded of the wizard of oz, where Dorothy's house is picked up and dropped near the yellow brick road by a tornado. On top of a witch no less, so maybe the hag can make her way into the story that way. Then one of the locals could ask if someone in the adventuring party "was a good hag or a bad hag."

It would be pretty easy to just copy the wizard of oz wholesale and just edit parts to make them feel more like a D&D campaign. Though there are a few stories that feature people getting spirited away for one reason or another.

Symphony of Espers

The first to strike the Behemoth was Jacqueline. It was hard to get a clear shot with the locusts buzzing around, but she wasn’t picky. A place where Havoc’s tip could find purchase was all she required. Jacqueline found her opening and appeared over the Diver’s knee. A single swing punched through the giant cloak. The first of many strikes to come. A low risk attack with a low reward. With the downpour of blood, she couldn’t be sure if her attacks were drawing blood, or even if they were making holes. It almost felt like she was swinging into tar. The Diver was still in one piece.

A shot in the right place may be more effective. Ashley prepared a melody for such a case. Her wand trembled as it surged with power. Its eerie neon glow was visible even through the downpour of blood. But how to deliver it? The Diver was hovering close enough to the ground. He could be climbed, but that was more difficult with a wand and shield in hand. At least the power in her wand wasn’t going away. It would only grow stronger over time. Samuel cut through the locust as Ashley decided her next move.

Finn arrived shortly after and ran up the Diver’s torso, with some help from Marrie’s melody. Unlike the others, Finn didn’t struggle to scale the behemoth. He sliced through the insects that blocked his path, and managed to get to the Diver’s shoulders as his melody ran out.

He scrambled to the Diver’s head. Once his feet were stable he thrust at the behemoth’s jaw. The blade penetrated as deep as Finn could thrust, but his blade came back clean. Clean until the crimson sky stained it red.

Mika was new to all this, but she had to do something. The cat girl was the only one with mana to spare. It was apparent they needed to work together if they were going to bring down this monster. Though what to do eluded her. At least until she realized Ashley and Samuel weren’t attacking the diver.

”Let’s get closer!"

Mika sprung into action. The head of a spectral giraffe emerged under their feet. The snout rose up under Sam, Ashley, and Mika, and they were all seated on it as it took to the sky. And it took to the sky fast. The giraffe raised to the height of the Diver’s hips. But the acceleration was so great that it threw them higher still. While initially surprised, the agents regained their composure.

Samuel spun like a top, eviscerating the incoming locusts.

Mika pulled back her fist and belted out a warcry.

Ashley thrust her wand into the Diver’s center mass.

The tip of Ashley’s wand buried itself in the Diver’s cloak. An explosion of neon burned a hole right over the Diver’s chest. Burnt fabric and ash were scattered to the wind. The Diver’s chest had been exposed, but it was a mystery how much damage had been dealt. There was no gore, no chunks of diver sloughing away.

While Samuel kept the locusts off everyone’s back, Mika maneuvered in for a debilitating punch. She soared towards the behemoth’s exposed chest and threw a punch directly where its heart should have been. Her fist sunk into her target. She had landed a hit.

But the Diver still stood.

Their outlook was getting darker.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days.

— Exodus 10:21–23

As the fight drew to a close, the clouds darkened even more. The clouds turned black without a single beam of sunlight breaking through. Lightning strikes had taken out the power long ago, leaving the espers to rely on their own effects to see by. But they had come too far to give up. Their remaining mana didn’t matter, nor did their wounds. Finn wanted to do something right. Samuel wanted to complete his objective. Ashley wanted there to be a tomorrow for all the firstborns. Jacqueline knew backup would show up. It just wasn’t here yet.

Not Gemini reinforcements at least.

”Armstrong!” A zombie woman ran up beside Marrie. How Stacy managed to find her in the darkness was unclear. But Stacy was able to do a lot of things without a head, so maybe it was best not to question it too much. Though if she could talk, she must have found one. ”I hope I didn’t make you worry, I could tell there were a lot of fresh heads nearby. I ran into the Mavericks and-” She turned. ”We can catch up later! Let’s move the queen to D9 and sink their battleship!” Stacy lifted Marrie over her head and bound towards the Diver’s location.

Ashley hung from the Diver. Her wand had sunken into its flesh with that last attack, and it was holding onto her instrument. It was the only thing keeping her from taking a very long drop. But it was here by the Diver’s chest that she could hear the sound of an instrument. Harp strings, plucked to the beat of the behemoth’s heart.

It was in this darkness that Ashley could more easily see things with a fainter luster. The diver’s flesh was not fully opaque. She could see the shape of a grand harp floating inside the creature’s chest, just inches away from Mika’s fist…