Job Satisfaction | Chatty | Mana Font | Mystic Might
Cagey | Expendable | Big Brother
Looking up, the sight of a second protective barrier reinforcing her own brought a brilliant smile to the Angel of Hope’s radiant visage.
“What a kind and thoughtful gesture!” the heavenly beauty gushed. “This humble servant is so very grateful! Indeed, it fills her heart with such abundant joy!”
I’m glad at least someone’s got the right idea… This barrier’s the only thing keeping this dump from getting blown to bits, and unless those dumbasses out there start getting their shit together, it’s not gonna hold out for much longer! I mean, seriously, what the fuck are they even doing?! Playing hide and seek?!
Although she didn’t show it, the angelic maiden was starting to feel the strain of using so much of her magic, and with the arrival of a quartet of bizarre new foes, it seemed she would need to use even more…
“Good heavens! What appalling creatures!”
Great… And who are these fuckers supposed to be? An edgelord’s take on the Wizard of Oz?
A moment later, the Angel’s eyes widened in stunned horror as she watched a bizarre armless girl conjure a winding golden pathway which proceeded to lift up both barriers as if they were little more than curtains on a stage.
“My word!” the Angel gasped, placing a delicate hand over her ample chest. “How was such a quaint little thing able to pierce our defenses with such effortless ease?!”
Holy fuck… What even is this girl?
For her part, Gaia had been directing the cob cannon sunflowers’ long range bombardment, employing the giant plants to provide counter-battery fire in response to the Wonderland artillery. Upon noticing that her various botanical creations arrayed about the fields were in danger of being consumed by the ever-expanding flames (and a buzzsaw-equipped car?), the verdant maiden regretfully withdrew her magic from them and redistributed it to further bolster the increasingly besieged sunflowers.
It’s a good thing Connie isn’t here to see this… Gaia reflected, upon witnessing the arrival of the monstrous quartet.
The scarecrow, in particular, looked like it had leapt right out of a horror movie, although it was the tin titan that appeared to pose the greatest threat. But how to deal with it? The metallic construct seemed fully capable of shrugging off everything from pea pellets, to cob missiles, to mystic beams. Nothing in her botanical arsenal was likely to make more than a dent, unless…
Could it really be that simple? Gaia wondered.
If these things were adhering to their inspirations close enough, then there was a rather large weakness she could exploit. It might have been something of a stretch, but it was still worth a shot, especially in absence of other options. Thus, even as the metal giant raised his enormous axe to chop down one of the towering sunflowers, Gaia flooded the plant with her magic, causing the cob cannons to morph into blue-bulbed water cannons. Its root network branching out to any nearby lakes and rivers, the colossal plant fired several jets of water at the tin titan, with any luck rusting it enough to freeze it in place mid-swing.
After that, it was time to address the problem of the little armless girl skipping her way towards the opening in the barrier. Gaia had no idea what the girl would do once she reached the center of town, but the verdant maiden didn’t intend to simply wait around to find out. With a wave of Nature’s Blossom, Gaia sent several vines shooting up to ensnare the cheerful girl, while the Angel of Hope formed a shimmering barrier dome over the little monster, in an added effort to halt her progress.
“I am most sorry, little one,” the heavenly maiden called, her radiant visage forming a somber frown. “But we cannot allow you to harm the innocent residents of this fair village!”
Yeah, ya little freak… Thanks to you, I’ve gotta waste even more of my mana… I hope those other losers finish evacuating this dump soon…
Meanwhile, Connie raced through the streets of Bolorton, the augmentations granted by Alex and the Angel’s reinforcement spells coupled with Lily’s speed paths allowing her to move faster than she’d ever imagined possible. Employing her tentacles to pick up extra townsfolk, she moved from house to house in a blur of motion, gently depositing each inhabitant on the grass for others to carry back to the shelter.
“O-Okay!” Connie replied when Lily instructed her on what set of houses to check on next.
Running over to the first home, she was startled to see an ethereal young man flanked by two additional spirits appear before her.
“Eeep!” Connie yelped, coming to a sudden stop. Her tentacles instinctively rising to shield her from attack, the frightened masked girl was about to fire off a nightmare pulse, when she realized that the trio was actually helping with the evacuation. “S-S-Sorry…” Connie apologized meekly as her tentacles lowered and her hands began fidgeting with her hair. “Y-You s-startled me, a-and I t-thought f-for a m-moment y-you were w-with the p-people a-attacking the t-town…”
As Olivia listened to the Grand Minister’s words, she felt a soothing calmness wash over her. Merlin may have looked fairly ordinary, as far as Magical Girls went, but the sound of her voice, the aura of her very presence… was extraordinary…
My goodness… She certainly has a way with words… the azure-clad beauty reflected as she closed her eyes and allowed the Grand Minister's serene reassurances to fill her heart.
Unfortunately, not everyone shared Olivia’s contentment, and the Ethereal Rose gasped in shock as she heard the infuriated wolf girl (Lupin, wasn’t it?) bark out a harsh rant, before darting toward the captive Tsubasa with a knife in one clenched fist. However, in the blink of an eye, a golden blur raced to block her path. “Suzuya!” Olivia cried in alarm, even as the fox girl’s flaming tails set off the emergency sprinklers, dousing everyone in a torrent of water.
I suppose that is one way to defuse a tense situation…” the blonde beauty noted as she hugged her shivering body. A moment later, the deluge diminished as a massive wing was placed over her. “Oh! Thank you, darling!” Olivia said as she smiled up at her eldritch consort. Now that she had a moment, the fairest of maidens noticed that one of Xolys’s elongated limbs had been poised to halt Lupin’s enraged charge if the young woman hadn’t come to a stop of her own volition. I really shouldn’t have worried, Olivia reflected. Darling Xolys always has everything under control!
And speaking of having things under control, it was about then that a young woman who Olivia was faintly aware was Marrywell’s student councilor stepped in to further deescalate the standoff between Lupin and Burning Heart. The dark-haired young woman gave the two students an ultimatum: either spend a week in after-school counseling, or give each other a hug. As far as Olivia was concerned, a big hug always felt nice, and was definitely the better of the two options. After all, Lupin’s anger had been directed at Tsubasa, not Suzuya. This whole situation was merely the result of tempers flaring out of control, and so a little calmness and friendly conversation would obviously do a world of good. Ozma seemed to think so as well, and imparted a few placating words of her own to the gathered students and faculty. Yes, everything thankfully seemed to be winding down. The only real concern now was how to dry everyone off…
As it happened, Xolys once again had matters well in hand, the Master of Xhar’doth combining the heat of his eldritch flames and the wind generated by several rapidly spinning tendrils to form an array of massive, makeshift blow dryers. Once everyone was fully dried off, both eldritch beast and enchanting beauty returned to their dorm room. Olivia was so engrossed in reading her letter from Bonnie that she didn’t even notice Suzuya’s arrival, or the girl’s anguished state.
“And yet, it needed to be said,” Xolys’s calm voice told her from where the now substantially smaller beast stood on the far side of the room. “You should not regret having the courage to do so.”
“Oh! Suzuya!” Olivia exclaimed in happy surprise upon being addressed by her still-nervous roommate. “Of course there’s room for you!” the blonde beauty added with a melodic giggle. “Bonnie wants to invite as many people as we can! And can you believe she was thoughtful enough to send me a real, handwritten letter to ask about it?! It’s the first time I’ve ever received a letter that wasn’t an insult!” the azure-clad maiden gushed. “I’ll cherish this for the rest of my life! Oh! But there’s no time to waste! I need to write a letter back to her!”
“Look, Suzuya!” Olivia practically squealed with delight, as she watched two folded pieces of paper be slipped under their door a few hours later. “Another letter from Bonnie! And there’s one for you as well!” she added, while enthusiastically handing her roommate the letter in question. “Isn’t this so exciting?!” she asked. “I wonder what she has to say!”
Opening the letter, Olivia quickly read through its contents.
“Oh, wow! She said I get to pick the location!” the Ethereal Rose announced gleefully. “I must admit, I was a little worried she might not want to have it in a potentially haunted classroom, so I’m really glad she said yes!”
However, her jubilation dimmed slightly a moment later, when she read the part about Wilhelmina. Despite her desire to befriend the maritime maiden, Olivia had seen less and less of the nautical-themed Magical Girl, and it seemed as if she was always attending classes on the far side of the campus, or away on some important mission, much like Chinami. Although the blonde beauty would definitely send her an invitation, she sadly doubted it would meet with any success…
Still, at least Suzuya would be there, giving her even more time to bond with her somewhat timid roommate, and speaking of bonding…
“Um, Suzuya? I was thinking, if you’re not busy with counseling, would you like to spend one of our days off exploring the city? I’ve always found London to be simply fascinating, and I thought it would be so much fun to go sightseeing without the threat of a Pageless battle getting in the way. Does that sound like something you’d like to do?”
Ashley watched with mounting dread as her first glowing shot merely succeeded in blowing a hole in a swiftly repositioned blood barrier, while Justin’s crimson flyswatter appendages rushed upon her from either side with far greater speed than her next shot could be fired through said opening. However, only one of the appendages ultimately made contact with her, the other having been severed by one of her teammate’s attacks. The blow still hurt like hell, breaking her left arm and sending her bruised and bleeding body skidding across the hard, frog and insect-covered rooftop, but, critically, it hadn’t killed her. Not only that, but she was now free from the vampire’s vile paralysis. It hurt to move, it hurt to breathe, but the Knight of Tomorrow didn’t care. Her desire to kill Justin was far stronger than any need to minimize her own suffering.
As she struggled to stand, Ashley saw Leroux’s war pick shatter both of Justin’s legs, before another blow struck his exposed inner torso. Then another, and another… But would even this savage butchery be enough to destroy this fell creature? The high-tech heroine didn’t know, and she wasn’t about to simply wait to find out. Bringing her blood and guts soaked right arm up, while her left dangled uselessly at her side, the Knight of Tomorrow fired a neon green bolt into the center of the vampire’s forehead, just as Leroux’s pick cracked his skull open to reveal the gemstone that passed for his brain. The luminous bolt struck the gemstone, shattering it completely and what little remained of Justin’s body now dissolved into a pool of blood.
Was this it?
Was Justin truly dead?
Even as Ashley fired a second shot into the crimson puddle to make sure, another question occurred to her- What had happened to all the hail?
Looking up, she was surprised to see the massive form of a spectral moose looming over them, its vast antlers shielding the rooftop from the torrent of hailstones. That was also about when Ashley noticed a cat-eared young woman sitting amidst the tangle of wrecked cars.
She was asking about her mother…
Oh, God… Ashley felt her chest tighten, and her breath catch in her throat. This girl… This girl had to be Breacher’s daughter…
Ashley’s heart ached. Killing a monster was one thing, but this? What could she even say? What could she even do? She wanted to hug her, wanted to take away at least some of the pain the girl would surely feel upon learning the horrible truth. Yet, in the end, she was unable to do anything. Before she or anyone else could answer, a swarm of giant locusts descended upon them. Batting as many aside with her techno-wand as she could, Ashley watched as the cat-eared girl turned and ran toward the Diver, a spectral cat facilitating her passage across to the building closest to the gargantuan behemoth.
That’s right… The Diver… Ashley reflected, her eyes widening with understanding. That had been their original objective, before Justin had reared his ugly head, and now that the vampire had been defeated, they could finally deal with it. But the time to do so was rapidly diminishing…
Moving as fast as her battered body would allow, Ashley made her way to the phantasmal feline, and then across it, in an effort to get as close to the Diver as possible. She couldn’t risk wasting a melody to heal herself, not with so little mana remaining. No, she needed to save every last ounce of mystic power for one, final shot at the Diver. The Knight of Tomorrow knew there was a good chance that even her strongest attack would do little against a foe so enormous, but for the sake of thousands of innocent lives, she had to at least try…
I won’t let you kill anyone else!
And so, charging up the most powerful blast she could manage as she ran, and dodging what attacks might come her way to the best of her ability, Ashley would drive her twin-pronged techno-wand into the Diver’s center of mass…
And fire.
18 | Female | GEMINI | Vision of Tomorrow Implements of Tomorrow | Wand, Shield | Arcane | Tune of Tomorrow Raiment of Tomorrow | Stride of Tomorrow Light of Tomorrow | Light | Power of Tomorrow PRO-TEK 4000 Defensive Surgery Implement | Kevlar Coat, Kevlar Padding, Clip Light [Reveal (2), Purity (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Shield (4), Reflect (4), Heal (6), Major Heal (18), AoE (2), Powerful (0), Piercing (2)
DAMAGE: B | SPEED: E | SENTINEL: C | 750
[Silver Touch][Powerful][Charge][Damage X] = -108 mana
Olivia gasped in surprise, when, in response to her impassioned plea, Tsubasa presented her with an ornate golden rose. So shocked was the azure-clad beauty by this unexpected gift that she completely missed the conclusion to Tesni and Tsubasa’s little duel, only barely catching the masked maiden’s parting words, before she vanished in a flash of light, taking the remaining Pageless with her.
Well, at least she realizes what she did here was wrong, Olivia reflected with a weary sigh. I suppose that’s something…
Still, that knowledge did little to brighten her somber mood. Looking down at her gleaming rose, the azure-clad maiden couldn’t help but frown as a pang of sorrow pierced her heart. Although the golden gift was indeed a thing of beauty, that beauty was irrevocably tarnished by Tsubasa’s recent actions, the repercussions of which were plain to see. She had wanted so much to believe that Tsubasa was an ally, a friend, that the masked maiden was just misunderstood by her peers, much like Olivia herself had so often been. But no, this was not simply some mere misunderstanding. Tsubasa clearly believed that her end goals were noble enough to justify whatever means she chose to employ in order to achieve them, regardless of how much suffering they caused…
In the aftermath of the attack, Olivia found that there was precious little she or Xolys could do to assist in recovery operations. Drossel seemed like the only person capable of mitigating the effects suffered by the victims of Tsubasa’s forced fusings, while others seemed to have the repairs to the cafeteria well in hand. The blonde beauty was just about to depart with Suzuya, when she was met with the incredibly unexpected sight of Valeria escorting a bound Tsubasa through the cafeteria’s main entrance. Stealing her resolve, the Ethereal Rose made her way over to the pair, being carful not to trip on any of the broken tiles.
“I-I’m sorry, Miss Tsubasa,” she told the bound young woman as she held out the golden rose. “This was a very generous gift, and I truly do appreciate the thought put into it, but… I cannot accept such a token of appreciation from someone who has just caused so much anguish to so many innocent people. You said you only wanted to help your fellow Magical Girls, a-and I believe that! B-But there has to be a better way than this!” she added, her eyes beginning to water as she gestured to the scene of recovery playing out around them. “A-And I think we can find it if we all work together, so please…” she begged, as she placed the rose in Tsubasa’s hands. “Please remember that you don’t have to do this alone.” With these parting words, Olivia infused the returned gift with a small portion of her magic, causing a faint bluish aura to appear around the golden flower, speckled with an array of shimmering stars.
Turning around, the azure-clad beauty was met with the sight of a commotion surrounding a newly arrived sliver-haired young woman. The names “Merlin”, “Miss Marrywell”, and the title “Grand Minister”, were being uttered in awed and reverential tones, but Olivia herself simply stared at the scene in puzzlement.
That’s the Grand Minister?
Of course, Olivia had never seen the school’s enigmatic leader before, and what little she knew of her came from what few vague and often conflicting rumors she’d overheard, but, still, the young lady before her looked so... ordinary. Perhaps she was just exceedingly humble, like Ozma, the Ethereal Rose reflected. Or perhaps this wasn’t even her true Magical Girl form? Perhaps the supposedly ancient headmistress thought it would be far too intimidating were she to reveal her full imposing majesty, much like an eldritch horror shattering the minds of those unprepared to behold such a transcendently gorgeous visage? In any case, Olivia decided to move a little closer to hear what the Grand Minister had to say…
Upon finally returning to her room, Olivia was about to get ready for bed, when she noticed a piece of paper on the floor.
“What’s this?” she wondered, picking it up. “A letter? For me?” she inquired, her eyes lighting up and a delighted smile spreading across her face. “Oh, wow! I’ve never received a handwritten letter from anyone before!”
Upon reading the short message, the blonde beauty was filled with joy. For so long, no one had even wanted to speak with her, and now someone had taken the time to write her a letter? One that wasn’t just a collection of insults? The lovely maiden was practically beside herself, and although Bonnie’s room wasn’t far by any means, Olivia wanted to respond to her classmate’s letter with one of her own. Sitting down at her small desk, she retrieved a pen and began writing.
Dear Bonnie
Thank you so much for sending this letter! Your kind words really warmed my heart! I’d very much like to get to know you better as well, and I think a sleepover would be a wonderful way to do that! In fact, I was actually thinking of organizing one myself! How would you feel about having it in either the music room or the art room? Helmi, that is, Wilhelmina, told me that both of those locations are possibly haunted, and I thought it would be so much fun if we could find out for sure! What do you think?
I look forward to hearing back from you!
Thanks again, Olivia
P.S. Darling Xolys says thanks, too!
“Oh, this is so exciting!” Olivia gushed. “It’s almost like having a pen pal!”
Neatly folding the letter, she crept up to Bonnie’s door and carefully slid it underneath.
I really do hope this all works out, Olivia thought to herself as she returned to her own room. It will be my very first slumber party, and in a haunted classroom, no less! Oh, I simply cannot wait!
Job Satisfaction | Chatty | Mana Font | Mystic Might
Cagey | Expendable | Big Brother
Connie was broken out of her musings by an exuberant cheer from Mayra, telling her that she was awesome. While the timid girl herself might not have thought that the power to make people suffer from horrific nightmares was particularly awesome, the fact that her draconic friend did, and was so boisterously vocal about it, nonetheless succeeded in bringing a small smile to the face of Connie’s mask. Thank you, Mayra, she told the dragon girl silently, while placing a hand over her heart to savor the feeling of warmth that now flowed into it, a warmth which thoroughly melted away the cold spikes of dread engendered by the soldiers’ cries of anguish. In fact, she couldn’t even hear them at all…
A moment later, she realized why.
Turning to look at Mayra, and perhaps give a wave of thanks to her draconic friend, Connie saw that not only had the playful pyromaniac jetted away, but the squad she fired her nightmare pulse at appeared utterly unaffected by the terrifying spell.
“W-What…?” Connie stammered as she took in the unexpected sight. T-Those screams… Were they all just in my head…?
For her part, Gaia had seen exactly what had transpired, as well as the likely explanation for it, knowledge that brought an annoyed frown to her verdant face. “Those soldiers are just meat puppets,” she explained. “Mindless automatons being controlled remotely, probably via their helmets,” she added, pointing to to one of the headless soldiers and the empty helmet laying next to it. “I’m sorry, Connie, but I don’t think your magic will have any effect on them.”
Although a part of her was actually relived that she hadn’t inflicted any suffering upon the attacking troops, Connie was still saddened by the fact that she would be unable to help in defending the town, which even now was coming under additional attack, as the enemy’s long-ranged artillery began their bombardment.
Great, they’re using fucking artillery now?!
“How absolutely horrid!” the Angel cried. “To unleash such indiscriminate violence… My heart aches at the sight!” Raising her glowing staff high, she took a moment to focus her power, before declaring, “Fear not, my noble companions! This humble servant shall ensure that no further harm comes to this tranquil village! Radiant Angelic Aegis!”
With that, a blinding pulse of energy shot into the heavens, before expanding into a shimmering dome, which completely covered the town.
That should protect this dump for a little while, at least, but these losers seriously need to pick up the pace, or those headless freaks are gonna overwhelm us…
Fortunately, this would soon be facilitated by the arrival of two new allies, although their identities were completely unknown to anyone present. Unfortunately, while the first member of the newly arrived pair was doing a respectable job eliminating the enemy tanks, the second seemed to have stumbled into a patch of Gaia’s enhanced foliage…
Blast… the verdant maiden winced. I had not anticipated any allies suddenly appearing in that area, let alone being so unobservant as to run straight through my plants…
“The poor thing!” the Angel cried, placing her hands over her heart at the sight. “To suffer such tragic misfortune, all while in the pursuit of providing aid to others! It is simply too painful to behold!”
Holy fuck… What a dumbass… Is she fucking blind? I mean, who the hell doesn’t notice a six foot tall Venus flytrap? (sigh…) Whatever… I guess I should help her moronic ass out…
Conjuring a winged sphere of glowing energy, the Angelic beauty sent it racing off to bestow a healing blessing upon Eliana. “Swiftly now, little one!” she bade the sphere. “Hasten to the aid of our most misfortunate ally and restore her to full health once more!”
Meanwhile, Connie, realizing that she could offer no further assistance with repelling the invading forces, had resolved to apply herself to the only other task she was capable of undertaking. Clenching her fist with determination, the masked maiden made her way to the back edge of the roof.
“I-I’m g-gonna go h-help Lily and the o-others evacuate the t-town!” she told Gaia as she slid down her friend’s beanstalk.
“Just be careful, little sister!” Gaia called after her.
“I-I will!”
Hurrying to the nearest unchecked house, Connie actually found herself thankful for the effects of the sleep spell. After all, she doubted anyone would react favorably to having their house broken into by a young woman who looked like she had just stepped off of the set of a horror movie…
Or out of the depths of a nightmare…
* * *
Chapter Two- A Nightmare to Remember
* * *
Cold…
Darkness…
Pain…
Horrors beyond imagining…
And then…
“Princess?” a familiar voice inquired. “Are you all right?”
“P-Penny Wenny…?” MDP asked hesitantly, unsure of where she was, or what was happening.
“You spaced out for a moment there,” the mechanical monarch explained. “I know your attention has a tendency to wander when you’re like this, but you looked… frightened. Is everything okay?”
Taking a moment to get her bearings, the Princess of Dreams saw that she was sitting on her girlfriend’s lap, atop a shining, ultratech throne. A similarly advanced-looking chamber surrounded them, filled with dozens of cute stuffed animals in a variety of vibrant colors, and featuring panoramic windows, beyond which rose the sparkling spires of a futuristic, but still quite whimsical skyline. The sight caused a torrent of memories to flood into her mind. This was Penrose, the most advanced, beautiful and peaceful city on Earth, now that Wonderland had been defeated and the Mint had been driven off the planet. With Covington Industries’ backing, Penny’s queenship had become officially recognized, with Penrose becoming a fully independent city state, and all the various factions had come together to build a bright future for everyone, whether magical girl, monster girl, or mundane citizen. Love and friendship had truly won the day, as if there had ever been any doubt. Everything was perfect, everyone was happy, and Magical Dream Princess was the happiest of all.
“Like, everythingy wingy is totally wotally super duper okey dokie~! (giggle!)” MDP replied with a bright smile. “She gets to cuddle wuddle with her most favorite wavorite person werson in the whole wide worldsie, after allsie~! (giggle!)” she added with a playful wink, before gently nuzzling her girlfriend’s cheek.
“Glad to hear it,” Penny said with an amused chuckle. “Wouldn’t want my Princess to ever stop being her adorable self,” she added with a smile of her own as she stroked her girlfriend’s cheek. “After all,” the mechanical monarch continued, her voice taking on a darker tone. “It was only thanks to your profoundly childish idealism and naiveté that I was even able to reach such a lofty pinnacle in the first place.”
At this, MDP frowned, her eyes widening in shock and confusion. “P-Penny Wenny…? W-What do you mean?”
“Not surprised I have to spell it out for you,” the mechanical monarch sighed. “You are rather stupid in this form, although I imagine you would have a hard time wrapping your little brain around the truth even if you did have access to your full mental faculties,” she added with a condescending sneer. “We both know your infantile romanticism is not limited to your time as Magical Dream Princess.”
MDP was beginning to cry now, but she didn’t utter a sound. Indeed, the poor girl was stunned speechless.
“I never loved you ‘Princess’,” Penny stated, her voice as cold as steel. “Furthermore, I am incapable of even experiencing that flawed emotion. However, I can simulate it well enough, especially if all I needed to do was fool a babyish brat like you. When I became aware of your pitiful feelings for me, I knew I had found the perfect means by which to facilitate my ascension. Your wealth, your influence, your web of contacts, your willingness to befriend anyone, regardless of affiliation or appearance, all these things provided the foundation upon which I could build my empire. And now, ‘Princess’, now that you have allowed me to assume complete control of this city, and, by extension, this world, I shall allow you to watch as I carry out my final royal edict.”
With a wave of her hand, Penny brought up an array of holodisplays, each one showing a different part of the bustling city. As she gazed upon them, her eyes began to glow an ominous crimson.
“All that has been built,” she intoned, while holding out an open palm to gesture at the various displays. “Shall now be destroyed.”
Closing her hand into a fist, the images on each display exploded into scenes of violent destruction. Swirling torrents of nanites burst from the ground to viciously disassemble all in their path, magical, mundane, and inanimate object alike. Buildings crumbled, people dissolved or were messily torn apart, roiling thunderheads obscured the sky, while bolts of crimson lighting and pitch-black vortices fell upon the ravaged city, laying waste to all below. Even the very earth itself buckled and heaved with savage tectonic fury. Dark chasms yawned wide, while gouts of infernal flame shot into the heavens, punching jagged holes in the churning clouds above.
“W-Why are you doing this?!” MDP cried in horror, tears streaming down her trembling face as she watched the agonizing deaths of so many people, so many friends. “Why?!”
“Because it is my purpose,” Penny stated flatly. “I am a living weapon, an engine of destruction, an instrument of annihilation. Mine is the hand that will snuff out the very stars themselves,” she declared, even as the chamber around them was torn asunder, the various cute plushie creatures being brutally sliced apart like vegetables in a blender, even as they tried to run for their lives.
Yet, even as everything around them wasted away, Penny herself only seemed to grow larger. She towered over the city, then the continent, then the planet, until she had assumed a size that was practically beyond comprehension. Her form had shifted as well, becoming something utterly eldritch and horrifying beyond belief. A true machine goddess. An unmaker of realities. Now standing in the center of Penny’s vast palm, MDP could see that the colossal being her girlfriend had become held an equally colossal hammer in her other hand, one seemingly composed of cosmic energy and poised to strike the convulsing planet below…
MDP’s mind reeled. She could barely conceive what was happening, let alone accept its reality. It couldn’t be happening, she told herself over and over. But it was…
“NO!!!” she screamed. “Please stopy wopy! Pretty pretty please stopy wopy!” she begged, while sobbing ever more hysterically with each passing second.
However, if Penny heard her desperate pleas, she gave no sign. Pulling the gargantuan hammer back, she brought the cosmic weapon down upon the helpless planet with enough force to completely shatter it into a cloud of molten fragments, which swiftly spun off into the void.
“NOOOO!!!!” MDP shrieked, falling to her knees in utter despair. “T-They’re all gonesie wonsie…” She whimpered. “T-They’re all gonesie wonsie…”
“It is done,” Penny announced.
“W-Why…?” MDP’s plaintive voice whispered, her head bowed, tears dripping onto the cold metal beneath her. All her hopes, all her dreams, everything and everyone she had ever loved, were now little more than dust. She had nothing left, except pain… and anger… Her head shot up, red, tear-filled eyes fixing the machine goddess with a look of utter fury. “Why did you make Magical Dream Princess watch that?!” she roared, her hoarse voice filled with rage. “Why did you make Magical Dream Princess hurt so muchy wuchy?! She wuved you, Penny Wenny!” the anguished girl cried as she repeatedly smashed her fists into the hard surface of the technomantic titan’s palm until they were bruised and bloody. “SHE WUVED YOU!!!”
“That is precisely the reason,” Penny replied, her tone one of utter disinterest, as if she had just killed an ant, instead of over seven billion people. “As a token of appreciation for all the assistance you provided, I have chosen to make you the very last thing I destroy. We will travel the universe together, and you will watch as I snuff out the life of every planet and star. But you will not need your body for this,” she added as several writhing tendrils of nanites rose up around MDP and began breaking down her flesh and bones, disassembling the girl at the molecular level. “Merely your eyes to see it, your ears to hear it, and your soul to feel it.”
MDP screamed.
She screamed as her voice shifted into the synthetic sounds of an old modem’s dial tone.
She screamed as her lungs and vocal cords dissolved.
And when she no longer had a mouth, she screamed in the depths of her tortured mind.
“NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
…
…
…
“N-No… No…” Violet whimpered softly.
“Violet?” A concerned voice asked. “What’s wrong?”
“P-Penny…?”
“Yes, I’m right here,” the robotic girl confirmed, while gently running her fingers through Violet’s hair. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Taking stock of her situation, Violet realized that she and Penny were in her bed chamber at Covington Tower, lying in her bed. She recalled all the various arrangements she had made to allow for this little “sleepover”. She had spent a wonderful evening with her girlfriend, had gone to sleep in her protective embrace. She had been so happy, and yet….
“I… I think I had a nightmare…” Violet told her girlfriend shakily, still somewhat unsure of what exactly had happened.
“Must admit, that’s somewhat ironic, all things considered,” Penny noted wryly, although her eyes were still filled with concern.
“It’s perplexing as well,” Violet added, while slowly sitting up. “I do not recall having had a single nightmare since becoming Magical Dream Princess. Although I suppose it was only a matter of time…”
“Not really an expert on such things, but maybe you should talk with Amanda about it,” Penny suggested.
“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” Violet agreed, giving her girlfriend an appreciative smile.
“Now then, why don’t you try and get some more sl-e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!” Suddenly, Penny’s voice began glitching like a broken record, while her body violently spasmed as arcs of obsidian lightning crackled over it.
“Penny?!” Violet cried in alarm, her eyes going wide.
“Finally got ‘er,” A smug, and all-too-familiar voice declared. “Gotta say, this was way easier than I thought it’d be,” the voice added. “And it’s all thanks to you, Miss Covington.”
Whipping her head around to the far side of the chamber, Violet saw an inhumanly tall, broad shouldered figure emerge from the shadows, a smoldering cigar chomped between monstrously sharp teeth.
“Scarp!” She gasped, before her visage took on a look of utter fury. “Stop this at once!” she commanded. “You’re hurting her!”
“No can do, Miss Covington,” Scarp replied with a cruel smirk. “And that’s kinda the point,” he added. “She’s gotta learn her lesson for tryin’ to cross The Mint, an’ so do you.”
“V-V-V-V-V-V-V-Violet…!” Penny stammered as her body contorted unnaturally, a look of fear filling her eyes that Violet had never seen before.
“Penny! Hold on!” the heiress begged her girlfriend.
There was a flash of light, and Violet was now in her magical girl form, her whimsical wand pointed at the coin broker.
“Let her go RIGHT NOWIE!!!” she snarled as her wand charged with mystic power.
“Or you’ll do what, exactly?” Scarp asked with an amused chuckle.
“Or Magical Dream Princess will send you to dreamy weamy land for ever and ever and ever!”
“You will do no such thing,” a stern voice declared.
Turning to look in the direction of the door, Violet was stunned to find the disapproving visage of her father, Thane Covington.
“D-Daddy Waddy?!” she gasped. “W-What are you doing heresie?!”
“I should think the answer to that question should be perfectly obvious,” her father replied, his voice suffused with contempt. “I am preventing my daughter from making a childish fool of herself. Now then, you will dispense with this fanciful nonsense at once, is that understood?”
“B-But Violet Wiolet wuvs being Magical Dream Princess!” the distraught girl protested. “Please don’t make her stopy wopy!” she begged tearfully. “Pretty pretty please!”
“Utterly disgraceful!” her father snapped, causing the transformed heiress to flinch as if she had been slapped in the face. “After all I did for you, after all the promise you showed… To think that you would throw it all away for an infantile fantasy like this, for a soulless machine like her,” he added, gesturing to where Penny continued to writhe in torment. “You are such a profound disappointment to me, Violet.”
“Yes,” the robotic girl confirmed. “I’m right here.”
Slowly opening her eyes, Violet saw that she was now being embraced by her girlfriend, and with all the feeble strength that remained in her aching body, the heiress pressed herself tightly against the mechanical monarch’s chest, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“I came to rescue you as soon as I discovered you’d been taken,” Penny explained, while gently stroking the back of Violet’s head. “And I’m not the only one. Amanda’s here, too.”
“A-Amanda…?” Violet echoed, struggling to catch a glimpse of her best friend over Penny’s shoulder.
“She’s making sure Nykannis will never be able to do anything like this to anyone else ever again.”
Violet could see how the fragments of a dream barrier clashed against what made up the Lab's sky. She could see how whimsical characters, whether they were transmutated from Nykannis' creations or summoned from Amanda herself clashed with what chilling inventions remained. And a distance away, she could see the bespectacled magician herself, locked in combat with the true form of the mad doctor. Had she ever seen her friend so furious? Driven by a vengeful bloodlust? Though she still paled in comparison to Dr. Nykannis's power, she was pouring both mana and vitality into her assault. And she bled for it. Her mouth and nose dripped with blood, and soon her eyes would as well, as if they were tears.
“W-We have to help her…!” Violet gasped as she saw the state her friend was in.
“You need to recover your strength,” Penny replied. “I will assist her in dealing with Nykannis…”
Holding Violet close with one arm, the mechanical monarch activated her jet thrusters, while her other appendage morphed into a massive gauss cannon. With a series of mighty thunderclaps, it fired a torrent of ultra-dense spikes at speeds exceeding the light barrier, projectiles which sliced through all the eldritch scientist’s myriad defenses and ripped apart vast swaths of her monstrous cybermagimechanical body.
“They’re sheathed in a focused nullification field,” Penny explained. “Nykannis isn’t the only one who can use her enemies’ tricks against them,” she added with a savage smirk.
Now Nykannis was on even ground with her opponent. No, with this she was nothing but child's play in Amanda's sadistic eyes.
...Or that might just be the blood loss getting to her head. Either way.
She bore a violent grin as she, with her remaining strength, reached her hand out and summoned a volley of swords; from mythos and legends alike to sever Nykannis limb by limb, to reduce her down to naught.
The eldritch ultratechnomantic monstrosity that was Nykannis screamed in a mixture of agony and rage as Amanda’s dream blades sliced her asunder, down to her constituent atoms, until absolutely nothing remained. Once the Monarch of Mad Science’s last dying cries had faded away, Penny hovered over to float beside Amanda.
“Quite the impressive display,” the robotic girl commended.
“Y-Yes,” Violet agreed, somewhat taken aback by her friend’s ferocity. “B-But you look badly hurt,” she added, her voice filled with concern. “Y-You should let Penny carry you, too.”
“Wouldn’t be too sure of that,” Penny noted. “Your friend here is tougher than she looks, and I’m pretty sure she wants to finish taking her anger out on the rest of this lab,” the mechanical monarch added. “I know I certainly do…”
Amanda wiped the blood off her face with her sleeve. "This is nothing. Not the first time I resorted to blood magic." Her grin shrunk back to normal. She then focused her sights on the remnants of the lab. "I'll be back. Keep her safe, will ya?" She turned to step away, dream magic swirling into her palm.
“That’s some friend you’ve got there,” Penny remarked as Amanda set about unmaking what little remained of Nykannis’s lab.
“Yes, she is,” Violet confirmed, smiling fondly as tears continued to trickle down her cheeks. “And so are you,” she added, turning to face her girlfriend and giving her an affectionate hug. “I’m so lucky to have such wonderful friends. Thank you for saving me, Penny, from the bottom of my heart.”
“You’re more than welcome,” Penny replied with a tender smile of her own. “I only wish I could have prevented this from happening in the first place…”
“It’s okay,” Violet reassured her, gently placing a hand on the robotic girl’s cheek. “I’m safe now, and that’s all that matters.”
“Suppose I can’t argue with that,” Penny conceded. “Come on,” she added, activating her thrusters and flying them through a portal into Amanda’s dream dimension. “Let’s get out of here.”
Landing atop a small, floating hill, Violet marveled at the tranquil dreamscape surrounding them. “You know, this is actually the first time I’ve ever been inside this place,” the heiress remarked. “It’s so peaceful and serene…”
“I’m told there are more dangerous areas,” Penny explained. “But this is one of the calmer sections.”
“Mmmm…” Violet agreed, closing her eyes as a soothing breeze caressed her face. “It’s actually rather romantic, don’t you think~?” she added with a smile, before leaning in and giving her girlfriend a passionate kiss.
For several wonderful seconds, all of Violet’s worries were washed away by a flood of blissful affection. What lingering pain and soreness remained in her body now dissolved in the warmth of her girlfriend’s love. Lips locked, arms wrapped around one another, comfort and safety were all Violet knew, until…
Until the embrace tightened to the point that it was painful, suffocating, while the tender kiss became something far more violent and savage…
Opening her eyes in alarm, Violet saw to her horror that it was no longer Penny standing before her, but rather Oros…
Something wrestled its way past Violet’s tongue and slid down her throat. It filled her mouth and throat completely. Closing her mouth wasn’t an option. Spitting wasn’t an option. Breathing wasn’t an option. She couldn’t tell if Oros was entering her lungs or her stomach, only that it was uncomfortable. Then, just when she was on the verge of passing out, Oros pulled herself out of Violet and let her fall to her knees. Oros’s tongue was starting to return to its original shape. The large gray mass hanging out of her mouth shrunk and became pink in color.
"Whoa!" Oros blinked. She had her arms wrapped under Violet’s, which was the only reason why she didn’t completely fall over. Though that might have been preferable to remaining in Oros’s arms. "Penny was me the entire time? Now that is a wild plot twist! Exactly the sort of bullshit twist I’d expect the Grand Magistrate to pull on me!"
Coughing, gagging, and fighting off the urge to vomit, Violet tried to push herself away from the pink-haired beast girl, but Oros’s grip was much too strong.
“G-Get away from me, you sick freak!” the heiress screamed in appalled disbelief upon finally regaining her ability to speak. “W-What are you even doing here?!” she demanded, eyes filled with terror. “What did you do to Penny?!”
"Wha?" Oros raised an eyebrow. Just as silence started to set between the two, she cackled like an asylum patient. "How am I supposed to answer that? You’re still dreaming, Alice. Dreaming a very, very vivid dream." She lifted Violet up to eye level. Her feet were floating off the ground and there was no space between them. "But I wonder if that actually matters? I mean, you know how none of us really exist anyway? I’m being controlled by my original patron right now, so there’s virtually no difference between the ‘real’ me and the ‘fake’ me. I can’t live through my experiences, and I’ll know about this one because of my sword, so in a roundabout way this nightmare really is happening!" Oros nodded to herself.
As she listened to the pink-haired lunatic babble, Violet’s confusion only grew. This… This was all just a dream, or rather, a nightmare? That certainly explained how things had taken such a warped and horrifying turn…
"And it doesn’t matter to you either! I mean, Penny’s just a robot. She murdered the human part of herself and fused with the corpse to get all that power without having a pesky soul. So if you can fall in love with an artificial person, someone you know is artificial, then there’s no difference between reality and fiction for either one of us! "
“Murdered?” Violet echoed, her tone now one of enraged indignation. “Penny would never harm an innocent, let alone kill them! And while Penny may be an artificial life form, she’s still a real person, while you yourself claim to be nothing more than a twisted figment of my imagination, just a subconscious fear brought to a pitiful mockery of life!”
"And yet you thought of me enough to bring me here, even though our interaction lasted seconds. But I’m glad you found it unforgettable." Oros hummed. "As for what happened to Penny here, well, what can I say? Our fights are always exciting but she isn’t exactly the pinnacle of strategy. Her desire to preserve herself is pretty high, guess the law of robotics doesn’t apply to her. When Endless Eclipse was hovering over her head she begged me not to kill her. She offered me her kingdom, my ship, even herself. But one of the first things she offered me was you."
At Oros’s latest claim, Violet’s face contorted into a look of utter fury. “There’s no way I would ever believe that!” she snarled. “Penny is the most selfless person I know! Everything she does is to help others! To give them security and peace! All you exist to do is bring pain and misery! Besides,” she added with a contemptuous glare. “If this really is a nightmare, if I’m actually still trapped in that maniac’s lab, then why should I give a single ounce of credibility to any of the insane ramblings coming out of your disgusting mouth?!”
"Because that means that right now, this very second, you aren’t really arguing with me." The smile ran from Oros’s face. "You’re arguing with yourself, and everything I say is just some repressed thought you couldn’t keep down during your waking hours." She squinted her eyes. "This is a nightmare precisely because you think it could happen. Because Penny is a cannibal, because you’re one of many girls she’s had access to, because she can’t keep control. And as strong as she is, you know that there are stronger ones out there. Nobody looks at the throne and thinks she belongs there cept for you."
That… That couldn’t be true… Could it…? Could she really, secretly, be afraid of Penny? It seemed absolutely absurd, and yet…
“All right… Perhaps I am scared of what might happen,” Violet conceded. “But those things are only possibilities, simply amorphous fears, not immutable guarantees of what will actually take place. Penny may have problems, may have done things in her past she may not be proud of, but the same can be said of me, of anyone! And I’d like to think that, by being at her side, I can help her face whatever challenges lie ahead. Because together, I know we can overcome anything the future has in store.”
"That’s very touching. It’s just a little unfortunate that she isn’t here right now. But hey, did you know that Nykannis believes that every possibility is happening in a different reality? If she’s right, it really doesn’t matter what this all is, because if it’s not real here, it’s real somewhere else. But it’s gotta suck to be in one of the realities where you don’t get saved huh?"
Violet opened her mouth to speak, but she was stricken with a piercing pain. Like something in her stomach just rammed a knife into her intestines. When she looked down at her stomach to see what had happened, violet noticed that she had started to bloat. Her body was pushing against her dress.
"Oh? That was fast!" Oros released Violet and let her fall onto her back. Despite her attempts to move, her body would not respond. She had also become numb all over, but could still feel some things wrestling around inside her.
”What’s your favorite animal? Bunnies? Bears? Mantis shrimp? Dogs are cool too. But for me, it’s gotta be the wasp. " With a sigh, she put her hands on her hips. ”I’m sure I’m just infodumping here, ‘cuz you’re a smart girl and probably already know this. But most wasps lay their eggs inside other insects. Usually cockroaches and other invasive pests like that. I’m sure they’d target a bratty rich kid if they got big enough." Oros kneeled down beside Violet. She didn’t make eye contact with her, instead choosing to speak at something in the distance. ”But my absolute favorites are the ones in genus Glyptapanteles! It’s really interesting how they work. First they find a caterpillar and inject eighty or so eggs directly into their flesh. As soon as those eggs hatch the larva begin feeding on the host. But they are very careful about it. They don’t eat any of the hosts organs, and avoid anything that might cause them to bleed internally. And once they’ve matured…"
Several larva bored out of her body. Each one rocking her in the direction it emerged from. They were roughly half the size of her forearm and they came out flailing like tentacles. Not only that, but they came out everywhere. They spilled out her sleeves, wrestled their way past her shirt collar, and her pantyhose filled with them as they left. Oddly, not a spec of Violet’s blood had been spilled.
”The paralysis should be wearing off soon." Oros picked up one of the larva and cradled it in her arms. ”They don’t even harm the host when they depart. In fact, the host helps protect the larva after they’ve emerged. The caterpillar sprays them with silk webbing and protects them from predators. It’s almost like they’ve become a parent to the young wasps." She ruffled her nose. ”We’ll skip silk weaving. This is already starting to feel like some weird fetish shit, isn’t it?"
Violet couldn’t help but whimper in pain as the larva churned around inside her spasming body, Oros’s ramblings barely registering in her horrified mind. Then they began bursting out of her, and her whimpers turned to screams. She should have been used to such anguish by now, especially after having caustic boils and shards of jagged crystal erupt from her flesh, but this was something altogether different, and substantially more disgusting…
It took every ounce of of her strength to keep from vomiting, but somehow she managed. Perhaps it was the “paralysis” Oros had mentioned? In any case, once the last of the seemingly countless larva had emerged, Violet’s exhausted body collapsed in a sweaty heap.
“S-S-o… y-you… w-want to… p-play house… i-is that it?” she asked between ragged gasps for breath, her pained voice still filled with fierce determination. “F-Fine… by me…”
”Glad you know you’re mine." She patted Violet’s head. ”You were wasted on Penny anyway. I mean look at you! You’re all tough and stuff. I really hope it holds out."
One of the larva slithered out of Violet’s panty hose and onto her stomach. The flesh colored creature was still expanding, and it wasn’t long until it was larger than her stomach. Then with a pop, the larva split down the middle. Then it cried like a baby.
”Our first kid!" Oros reached into the husk of the larva and pulled out a baby girl. ”Look! She has your eyes, and my hair!” Oros held the baby in front of Violet. ”What do you want to name her?”
Strangely, Violet seemed completely unbothered by the “birth” that had just taken place on her stomach. In fact, after slowly getting up into a sitting position, her mouth curled into a smirk. “How about… Amanda?”
At that, the child vanished from Oros’s grasp in a burst of lavender energy, before reappearing at Violet’s side, where she grew into a perfect copy of Amanda’s magical girl form, her pastel-colored outfit materializing in a swirl of glowing particles.
“I should actually thank you, Oros,” Violet told the psychotic beast girl as Amanda helped her to her feet. “Because of you, I now know what this place truly is, and I just realized that the only power it can ever have over me is what I choose to allow it to have. I may not be able to transform out there, but I am still Magical Dream Princess, and that means, in here, I make the rules!”
With a flash of obnoxiously pink light, the heiress assumed her magical girl form, her cute wand raised to point at Oros. Or rather, behind her…
“Rule number wumber onesie~!” Violet declared, holding up a single finger high above her head. “Penny Wenny’s always walways in my heart, so she’s, like, always walways in my dreamy weamies, too~! (giggle!) In facty wacty, she’s right over theresie~!”
Turning around, Oros was met with a fist striking her with enough force to cave her face in, although she would only suffer the injuries someone in a whimsical cartoon might. And while such an attack would normally send her flying, Penny was stomping down on one of her feet, pinning her in place so that the mechanical monarch could keep pummeling her with a barrage of blows, as if she was some comical punching bag.
“Rule number wumber twosie~!” the transformed heiress continued, holding out two fingers to form a peace sign. “Meanie weanie heads aren’t allowed in my dreamy weamies, so, like, it’s timey wimey for you to go bye bye~! (giggle!)”
No sooner had the annoyingly cheerful and high-pitched words left the whimsical girl’s mouth, than Penny released Oros’s foot and sent her flying off into the distance.
“Bye bye~!” Violet called out, while waving to the rapidly departing Oros, who was soon little more than a twinkling star on the far horizon. “Wowie zowie~! She looks so pretty witty nowie~! (giggle!)” the whimsical heiress observed with a delighted smile as she leaned forward on her tiptoes and placed a hand over her eyes to get a better look at the newest addition to the dream world’s firmament.
“And finally winally, rule number wumber threesie~!” Violet cheered, striking a cute pose and holding up three fingers. “All of my dreamy weamies always walways have a happy wappy ending wending~! (giggle!)”
After gleefully bouncing up and down a few times, she wrapped her best friend and girlfriend up in a big hug, while continuing to giggle with delight. “Like, thankie wankies for all the helpy welpy~!” Violet told them with a bright smile. “I wuv you both soooo muchy wuchy, and, like, having you as friendy wendies makes me sooo super duper happy wappy~! (giggle!) Like, I know you aren’t realsie,” she added, sobering slightly. “But, like, even weven if you aren’t actually wactually heresie, you’re both still with me in heresie~!” she declared, placing a hand over her heart. “And, like, that’s all that really matter watters~! (giggle!)”
With that, she gave her two favorite people one final embrace, before allowing the dream world to fade away. Empowered by the strength of her friends, Violet was confident that she would be able to face whatever new horrors awaited her. Indeed, despite all its unpleasantness, this experience had imparted many valuable lessons. Yes, it would truly be a nightmare to remember...
Fortunately, finding out exactly where on the campus Tsubasa and her army of Pageless were attacking wasn’t particularly difficult. You simply had to head towards the source of the terrified screams…
Arriving at the cafeteria, Olivia, Xolys, and (presumably) Suzuya were greeted with the distressing sight of dozens of students fleeing from the building with a tide of Pageless hard on their heels. At least one pair hadn’t been fast enough, and now a cluster of Pageless was dragging them to the ground. With an inhuman roar, Xolys opened his lamprey-like maw and unleashed a swirling blast of unreality at the Pageless, while simultaneously sending two tentacles darting out to wrap tightly around both students and pull them to safety.
“O-Oh, darling…!” Olivia gasped, elegant hands covering her mouth and azure eyes wide with stunned horror as she noticed the dark auras emanating from several of the rescued girls’ Grimoires. “T-This is absolutely awful!”
If the masked maiden herself wished to risk whatever corrupting influence such an invasive process as combining Pageless and Grimoire would engender, that was one thing, but forcing it upon others against their will? That was simply intolerable. It went against everything Olivia believed. Indeed, it was no less dreadful to the azure-clad beauty than when her own family had attempted to forbid her from pursuing her myriad interests just because they thought their preferences were the correct ones. It made her sick.
“Attacking innocent students… Forcibly fusing Pageless with their Grimoires… W-Why would Miss Tsubasa do something like this?!” the fairest of maidens asked her eldritch consort, tears streaming down her lovely face.
“I believe we are seeing the effects of her single-minded fanaticism,” Xolys replied. “If one’s conviction in their own righteousness is strong enough, then they can rationalize virtually any course of action. I fear Miss Tsubasa is not acting out of any malice or ill-will towards these students, but rather a genuine belief that she is actually helping them. Which makes dealing with her all the more difficult,” he added grimly. “If not impossible…”
As he spoke, the Master of Xhar’doth waded into the flood of Pageless and began the process of eliminating them as swiftly as possible. Some were impaled upon spiked tendrils. Others were rent asunder by eldritch energies, or massive, clawed hands, while yet more were sliced apart in a whirlwind of scythed appendages, like vegetables in a blender. Yet on they came, heedless of the eldritch beast’s carnage, as if there truly was no end to them.
Some might have found this troubling, but not Olivia. No, her attention was firmly fixed on where Tsubasa was engaging Tesni in a duel. The masked maiden seemed entirely unconcerned by anything, neither the horrors occurring around her, nor even the vicious attacks of Dynasty Queen upon her person. Perhaps her bond with the Pageless had stripped her of her emotions, or perhaps she simply didn’t care. Either way, Olivia knew she couldn’t remain silent. She had to at least try to get through to her. It was really all she could do…
“Miss Tsubasa!” the blonde beauty called, her anguished, yet still melodious voice ringing out through the clamorous chaos surrounding them. “Please stop this! Can you not see that you’re hurting them?!”, she added, gesturing to where several students writhed on the ground, their bodies enveloped by dark auras. “I thought you wanted to help Magical Girls, not harm them!”
Ashely watched with grim satisfaction as her twin glowing projectiles impacted Justin’s chest, even as Leroux’s own melody burst apart the vampire’s blood-enhanced arm. However, satisfaction rapidly turned to horror as the Knight of Tomorrow saw that her foe’s heart was still intact, suspended in the gaping hole where the vampire’s torso had been and protected by a hastily erected blood barrier. But while her attack may have failed to end the vampire’s unholy life, it had succeeded in getting his attention…
Turning his pitch black eye sockets upon her, Justin advanced, a wedge of blood forming before him, while twin nets of crimson amassed at his sides, primed to sandwich the high-tech heroine in a world of pain. Well, even greater pain than she was already experiencing…
Ashely’s agony was nearly unbearable.
Acid ate into her flesh, boils erupted across her skin, and now chunks of hail were beginning to pummel her already battered body. Every nerve ending screamed at her to seek cover from the savage onslaught and healing from its ravages.
Yet Ashley could not move.
An enraged vampire lord was baring down upon her with more than enough strength to end her feeble life. Every self preservation instinct in her brain screamed at her to flee before such an unstoppable and inevitably fatal assault.
Yet Ashley could not move.
The vile monster who had so flippantly taken the life of her teammate, her friend, stood before her. Her soul screamed for her to crush his disgusting heart in her bare hands.
Yet Ashley still could not move.
Transfixed by the vampire’s baleful gaze, Ashley could neither flee from her opponent, nor charge to meet him. But that did not mean she could not fight him…
Though frozen in place, her arm was still extended, her techno-wand still aimed at the small slit in the crimson barrier through which Justin continued to violate her with his blasphemous vision.
Perhaps she should have tried to protect herself with a defensive melody, but then, that would, at best, only stop the first attack, would merely delay the inevitable. The vampire’s attack would never come if he ceased to exist, and Ashley’s hatred would allow no other course of action to be taken.
Die, damn you… she commanded, while firing two quick shots, just as before, but this time, directly between what passed for the abomination’s eyes…
Just. Fucking. DIE!!!
18 | Female | GEMINI | Vision of Tomorrow Implements of Tomorrow | Wand, Shield | Arcane | Tune of Tomorrow Raiment of Tomorrow | Stride of Tomorrow Light of Tomorrow | Light | Power of Tomorrow PRO-TEK 4000 Defensive Surgery Implement | Kevlar Coat, Kevlar Padding, Clip Light [Reveal (2), Purity (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Shield (4), Reflect (4), Heal (6), Major Heal (18), AoE (2), Powerful (0), Piercing (2)
I was initially thinking that at least some of the students (Olivia included) would have visited Drossel over the time skip, but I suppose we can pass it off by saying they were too busy practicing their teamwork.
Also, Mika is an abomination and needs to be destroyed.
Even with all the various defensive measures Ashley had in place, the foes arrayed against her were far too numerous to completely repel. The Knight of Tomorrow ground her teeth in annoyance as her anti-gravity buzzsaw became embedded in, and subsequently engulfed by, the increasingly growing mass of blood tendrils, even as a shot from Pac’s laser pistol shattered the protective aura around her body. A swarm of buzzing flies was also assailing her from every angle, and despite her efforts to blast, block, or bat them aside, it was inevitable that one would eventually reach her body. Landing on her back, it disgorged a stream of acid onto her shoulder. Ashley hissed in pain as the corrosive spray ate into her flesh, but even as anguished tears streamed down her bloody cheeks, the high-tech heroine remained fiercely fixated on her goal…
A moment later, a swift blur of motion gave evidence of Leroux’s rescue, and its continued path toward Pac meant that the gamer girl would have significantly more pressing concerns to deal with than taking shots at Ashley. Thus, the Knight of Tomorrow joined her rescued teammate in her attack upon Justin. However, while the armored agent took the literal high ground, Ashley would come at their foe from a decidedly lower path. Moving to take cover behind one of the wrecked cars, the high-tech heroine finally caught sight of vampire once more. Even through the crimson downpour, she could see that his body had been utterly ravaged, and Ashley only hoped his injuries felt as painful as they looked…
And you’re going to be feeling a lot worse, you fucking monster…
Justin’s attention was fixed on Leroux, while his blood barrier remained focused on Samuel. Ashley herself had yet to be seen… Her skin had begun to itch from the rapidly spreading boils, but the young agent didn’t care. Her foe was in her sights, and that was all that mattered. Her pain only sharpened her focus, only accentuated her desire to see Justin experience even greater agony. From her place of concealment, the Knight of Tomorrow crouched down, braced herself against the car for added stability, and fired off two orbs of neon green annihilation in quick succession. The first came via a melody. The second, more powerful, bolt originated directly from her techno-wand itself. Both were aimed at the vampire’s now-exposed heart…
18 | Female | GEMINI | Vision of Tomorrow Implements of Tomorrow | Wand, Shield | Arcane | Tune of Tomorrow Raiment of Tomorrow | Stride of Tomorrow Light of Tomorrow | Light | Power of Tomorrow PRO-TEK 4000 Defensive Surgery Implement | Kevlar Coat, Kevlar Padding, Clip Light [Reveal (2), Purity (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Shield (4), Reflect (4), Heal (6), Major Heal (18), AoE (2), Powerful (0), Piercing (2)
“Opposition…?” Olivia echoed, a frown once more marring her otherwise lovely visage.
Now that she was paying attention, it seemed as though Tsubasa wanted them to surrender their Grimoires to the Pageless, at least if what the wolf-girl was saying was anything to go by. This was more than a little distressing to Olivia, as it would essentially mean throwing away the only thing connecting her to her darling Xolys! No, it was absolutely unthinkable! However, when Lupin went on to suggest that Tsubasa feed the Pageless her own Grimoire, the masked maiden gave a very surprising response…
Manifesting her Grimoire for all to see, Tsubasa revealed that, instead of feeding it to the Pageless, she had somehow fused a Pageless to the enchanted tome itself, thus creating a strange hybrid. Indeed, even as she displayed the increasingly dark, twisted, and admittedly rather cool pages of her now-expanded Grimoire, the masked maiden explained that this was the path to domesticating the Pageless, to making them docile and controllable, like the swarm arrayed behind her.
But… Is that really safe…? Olivia found herself wondering.
The Pageless were fascinating, cute, and, in more than a few cases, utterly adorable, but they were still fearsome monsters who both preyed upon innocent people and consumed their stories. Even if this new technique Tsubasa had developed would provide the Pageless with an alternate food source, the source in question seemed to be none other than the soul of whoever was bound to the Grimoire they had been fused to. Or, perhaps more precisely, the bond that soul shared with it. Tsubasa might have been more than willing to make such a sacrifice, but Olivia was far less eager to do so. While she had often pondered how enjoyable it might be to have a Pageless for a pet, having one feed on, and more than likely corrupt, the bond she shared with her beloved Xolys was an entirely different matter. It was perfectly fine to let a pet cuddle with you in bed, for instance, but only if you knew it was housebroken. Otherwise, you’d have quite the messy situation on your hands, to say nothing of what might happen if said “pet” was actually a wild animal who wanted to kill and eat you…
As it transpired, such questions would have to remain unanswered, at least for the time being. With a sudden, dramatic darkening of their surroundings, Tsubasa revealed that Ozma had indeed been correct. The figure before them was simply one of the masked maiden’s celestial attendants, through whom she was projecting her voice, a voice which now noted that she would be providing a similar “sales pitch” to the students at Marrywell.
And that there was a murderer among them…
This revelation definitely got Olivia’s attention. It was just like something out of a murder mystery, and she had always enjoyed a good murder mystery. Edgar Allen Poe, one of her favorite writers, was considered to be the father of the modern detective story, after all, and so it wasn’t particularly surprising that Olivia found the prospect of taking part in a real life mystery to be quite exciting. Of course, all those hopes were dashed a moment later when Tsubasa revealed that the alluded to murderer was, in fact, none other than Ozma…
Ozma…? A murderer?
It was a shocking revelation, to be sure, but then, perhaps Tsubasa was equating the slaying of Pageless to murder? Although, if that was the case, then every Magical Girl would be a murderer, if not a full-fledged serial killer. Regardless, there were obviously far more immediate concerns to worry about, namely the impenetrable cloak of darkness which now thoroughly blanketed the mall. Xolys had just begun to kindle his eldritch flames in an effort to provide some illumination, when Suzuya rendered such action moot. Firing a flaming bolt at the art supply shop in front of which Tsubasa’s attendant had just been standing, the fox girl’s projectile swiftly ignited the flammable contents within, creating a rather impressive blaze. The conflagration’s warm glow revealed that the attendant had vanished, along with seemingly every last one of the gathered Pageless…
S-She couldn’t have taken them all to Marrywell… Could she…? Olivia wondered as she peeked over Xolys’s enormous shielding hand, the heat of the blaze so intense she could feel it on her fair skin.
While it was becoming increasingly hard to justify Tsubasa’s actions, the azure-clad beauty still found it hard to believe the masked maiden would go so far as to purposefully endanger innocent students. And yet, that seemed to be what she was doing now, as a dark power made its presence felt. Growing steadily stronger with each passing second, its source was obvious to everyone present, even Olivia. An Apex Pageless was drawing nearer and would soon be in their midst.
As the de facto leader of their “strike force”, Ozma wasted no time in giving orders, even as she worked to dispel Tsubasa’s dark barrier. All the students were to follow Valeria back to the school, while Maria dealt with the Apex Pageless, a foe who was just now coming into view…
“Goodness!” Olivia gasped, her eyes going wide. “He’s so very imposing, especially with those menacing horns! And I just love his big, spiky lantern!” the Ethereal Rose added, her eyes sparkling with wonder, before sobering slightly and turning to look up at her eldritch consort. “Oh, but don’t worry darling,” she hastened to reassure the monstrous beast. “You’re far more menacing than he could ever be! In fact, I’m sure you could defeat him with twelve tendrils tied behind your back!”
“Your high opinion of my prowess in combat is most gratifying to hear, my sweet Rose,” the Master of Xhar’doth replied fondly. “But I believe it would not be prudent to put it to the test at the present juncture. Come, my dearest,” Xolys added as he hurried along after Valeria’s limo. “I fear our fellow students at Marrywell have far more urgent need of our abilities…”
Indeed, the Master of Xhar’doth had a dreadful feeling he knew exactly what Moonlight Tsubasa was planning, and he only hoped they would arrive in time to stop it, before it came to frightening fruition…
Punished GN
FaithfulMuse
Blade17
Majoraa
Nyahahameha
BrokenPromise
Ariamis
PapaOso
Izurich
Vidalia
