Allegra and Phantasmagoria
Allegra inwardly yelled at herself. She couldn't fight, could barely even move or breathe, for the mound of vile creatures covering her.
One moment she'd been holding out against Nightmares unlike any she'd seen in her short time as a magical girl, pouring as much power as she could into her plectrum bullets. The next, she'd found herself on her rear end, unprepared for quite that level of recoil. The mutant Nightmares had wasted no time, and one now unfurled its petal-like jaws, so close she could see shreds of human flesh between its many, many teeth.
Allegra closed her eyes, a scream coming out as a strangled sob, as she braced herself for the fight's conclusion... which, it turned out, wasn't set to happen just yet. A flash of red whizzed past. The hand gripping her neck loosened, the creature's body toppling to the ground, its head landing a short distance away.
"Wha...?" the musician coughed out, picking up on two more presences. Magical ones, she instinctively knew, but there was something off about them. Something dark and twisted. She heard a chuckle, along with a voice.
"Well, look what we've got here," one of the strange girls said, her tone much too laidback.
"Seems the wolf pack found a rabbit."Panic threatened to seize the new recruit once more. Who were these two? Was it truly out of altruism that they'd acted? Nonetheless, as some Nightmares broke away, Allegra took the opportunity she'd been given. Gripping her guitar, she strummed a single, magically amplified Power Chord.
"Aaargh!" Phantasmagoria had only just sensed the light girl through the dwindling mass of Nightmares. Now, the goody-goody made her presence all too clear, kicking up a racket that juddered through Ayumu like an electric shock. As she writhed, so did the cluster of creatures, a scarlet-haired, guitar-wielding bundle of zeal bursting from its centre.
Flatpick-shaped projectiles blasted like gunfire from the musical instrument.
"Oh! You wanted peace and quiet?" the redhead shouted at the disintegrating sludge monsters.
"Well so did everyone out here!"Although her ears still rang from the musical assault, Phantasmagoria stood tall.
"Uh-uh, don't you go stealing our spotlight," she said, flinging cards at a Nightmare and absorbing it before the little wannabe had a chance to cleanse it. She
could teach the punkass a lesson she wouldn't forget, if she wanted - which Kiru would gladly go along with - but that would risk letting their feast go to waste.
"I'd be more concerned with that one than any of these." She pointed out a hulking form behind the girl. A thirty foot tall abomination that looked as if several mutated beings had merged together, its many heads and limbs poised for attack.
Whirling around, Allegra stared up in horror. She launched a volley of bullets upwards, staggering back, nearly toppling again - and blinked as it vanished. No trace remained, no sludge or shadow. Like it wasn't even real.
"Huh?" She turned and gasped. Not at the ringblade-wielder who seemed to enjoy this fight a little more than was healthy, but at the macabre magician, who stalked a cluster of creatures like a fox, waiting for the right moment as they targeted their own quarry. Human formed sprawled in the snow, sporting gruesome wounds, shrieking as claws and fangs sank into their flesh...
Another sonic blast sent the Nightmares and the dark girls reeling.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Allegra screamed, sending pick bullets ripping through as many monsters as possible.
"We're meant to protect people, not use them as bait!"The brunette regained her balance, sighing as she waved her hand. The mound of mangled bodies disappeared.
"Don't tell me you're so slow on the uptake," she said, slicing up another shadowy form,
"that you hadn't figured out I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." Right before Allegra's eyes, the dark girl drew more streams of that vile essence into her outstretched hand. Why was she doing that?
"Then again, they were pretty convincing decoys."An illusionist. Of course. Mentally scolding herself for falling for the uber-Nightmare prank, Allegra ignored the magician's taunting and focused on taking down the stragglers. It wasn't long until morning sun rays began to illuminate streets free of Nightmares...
... And strewn with broken bodies, which this time were no illusion. Police and ambulance sirens wailed, paramedics hauling bloody forms onto stretchers, people crouching over motionless figures and begging them to respond.
"We've got to search for survivors!" Allegra yelled, rushing forward, only for her legs to give out as the horrific scene lurched all around. Dizziness, nausea and battle fatigue held her down like lead weights.
Through the haze, she heard a muffled rhythm. Footsteps.
"So you've learned," came a voice, a familiar one but more hollow-sounding,
"that you can't save everyone."Shuddering, Allegra turned her head towards the speaker and opened her mouth to reply. Instead of words, out came the contents of her stomach.
"Eugh!" The magician drew back just in time.
"I saved you, and you repay me by nearly ruining my shoes? Tsk, you should be more grateful." As Allegra spluttered an apology, the dark girl did something unexpected. She helped her up, albeit somewhat roughly. It was then that Allegra noticed something about her.
That air of snarky confidence was gone, replaced with one of vulnerability. The illusionist stood with her shoulders hunched, fists clenched by her sides, skin sickly pale. Blood seeped from a cut on her arm, as did curls of black mist like the wisps trailing from her clothing. Whereas the shadowy miasma had given her twisted theatrics yet another unnerving edge, she now looked as if the slightest gust of wind would evaporate her. Her gaze flicked from side to side, then down at the snow, away from the aftermath.
Allegra's glare softened. A moment ago, she hadn't known whether to thank the girl or slap her. Now, she went with a different instinct. She rested a trembling hand on her rescuer's back. The girl tensed, but didn't shrug away.
"You're hurt," the light girl whispered.
Her words earned a snicker.
"Yeah, I'd figured out that much. Ehh, it's nothing though, you're the one who needs the most patching up."With the adrenaline wearing off, jolts of pain sharpened with every movement. Gritting her teeth, Allegra looked down at the claw marks running across the left side of her torso, the crimson stain spreading from the wound. It didn't seem deep, but in any case, her own physical state wasn't her main concern.
"It doesn't matter... I don't need help, they do..." One look reminded her that many of these people were beyond help.
"Th-This... This isn't how things are supposed to be..."As the newcomer staggered onwards, Phantasmagoria accompanied her, with none of the usual spring to her step. Normally, she'd only follow a light girl while joining Kiru in a chase. Watching someone's worldview get shattered beyond repair, though... There was just something about that she couldn't ignore.
"Can't argue with ya there," she muttered.
"But it is what it is."
✦✧✦ Tama Miyara ✧ Angelite ✦✧✦
Just as suddenly as the attacker's battle-rage had come on, it stopped. As the shield faded, Angelite kept her wings curled around her body, keeping on her guard and primed to regrow her crystal shell if she had to. This could be some kind of trick, after all. Instead of resuming the fight, though, the girl muttered a threat before slipping into the shadows.
Angelite stared blankly in the direction the crazed girl had vanished.
"I'm not even going to try to make sense of that," she muttered, before turning to Soma.
"Are you alright?"The chaos had died down, not just in front of them but all around them. Remnants of the last few Nightmares floated and faded like smoke from doused flames. It should have felt like a victory, but with all the carnage spread throughout the city, could it really be said to have been such?
As if denying the situation could change it, Angelite shook her head, only looking up when a glimpse of green and white flitted into view.
"Gaia... Oh thank goodness you're ok," the crystal user breathed, pushing through the aches in her limbs and running to her.
"Have you seen Alara?"
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