@Pie Flavor,
@EnkryptionOphelia's plan worked as intended, the possessed Mitsugi batting the shield away as if it were child's play for her. A shield without someone behind it was nothing more than a piece of paper to a Berserker. What she didn't anticipate was Ophelia getting behind her, the girl quickly looking back after hearing the extinguisher case being smashed open and the contents taken, just in time to get a face full of extinguisher foam that blinded her briefly. Servant powers or no, without Clairvoyance or another Skill that let one see without eyes, she was effectively stopped from seeing while she attempted to clear her face off the white foam, presenting enough time for Ophelia to either fight or take flight. Fleeing now would let her get a better field to fight on, but there was no guarantee of Mitsugi following or not.
In the mind of a normal human, the response to follow successfully distracting a villain was to flee. Flee, and find aid in that of a stronger force – forces, if one could be so lucky. Ophelia was neither normal, nor prone to flights, unless those of fancy. As such, she squared herself in for the long-haul; eyeing her shield as it bounced forward and away, no closer to her than went she had thrown it. It wouldn’t matter. She was going to retrieve it, now that she had something of an upper hand.
And, a weapon. That helped.
~
You risk much for little gain, Empress.~ Lucius offered, a small council. “Nothing is little, when you gain,” Ophelia says, as her actions opened a window, not only for further attack, but the dousing of rampant flames of spurned affection and misguided temper. In short, the students had time to escape, before the hall became a warzone. ~
Ever thoughtful, Empress. Carry this way, and some may mistake you for a charade of cruelty, as you ascend.~ Lucius says, bemused, and impressed, by the result.
Ophelia smirked, and hefted the fire extinguisher. “Never think I’m going soft,” she says, lunging straight at Mitsugi, intend to cave her face clean in. “My ascension is to be divine with you, my Primipilus,” she grinned, “and all that follow under you.”
Having wiped the foam away from her body, Mitsugi glowered at Ophelia, grabbing the extinguisher and trying to push Ophelia away.
”Such a small thing...can’t put out my fire.” She declared, before suddenly Ophelia was smacked in the gut with something hard and cold, knocking her back. When she looked back at Mitsugi, she would see that her legs had completely vanished, instead having been replaced by the lower half of a monstrous snake, a white tail curling around the fire extinguisher, crushing it entirely.
With her fan igniting once more, Mitsugi launched another barrage at Ophelia. People weren’t really questioning what the hell was going on, more just trying to get out of the building as small embers fizzled out on the floor.
“Someone’s cranky,” Ophelia teased, rubbing her armored stomach. “Now, how does one grapple a snake,” she wondered, seeing her shield had come to rest a ways away. ~
Regain your shield, that’s the first step.~ Lucius says. “That’s in the works,” Ophelia says, “It’s a ways out, though.” ~
Not if you doff your armor, and don it anew, Empress. Sometimes, we must weaken ourselves to empower ourselves.~ Lucius says, in his cryptic way.
Ophelia smiled, and set her weight back, and shoved forward. At the same time, she “doffed” her armor; Lucius’s worn armor vanishing, as his Class Card materialized in her hand, and her schoolgirl attired billowed by the sudden lack of encumberment. Mitsugi, or rather, her Servant, would have been able to adjust for the armored speed of Ophelia’s charge, however, unarmored, she put an unaccounted for fraction of speed on, and that adjustment off.
“Eyes up!” Ophelia grinned, before leaping up, and crushing her Class Card. Instantly, her armored reforged, and her body became heavier as a result; all that weight crashing forward, and down, with her shield to soak the recoil.
Mitsugi flew back from the slam jam inflicted upon her, the girl’s body, despite being monstrously heavy, was still her own, and she felt herself collide against the hard ground, shivering as she was showered from the fountains.
“...A-Anchin...it hurts…” she said, her head spinning before all at once she let out a piercing roar that seemed to shake the air around her, madness overtaking the air once more as the air itself seemed to hiss around her, steam coming off her body as droplets collided with it, white scales starting to creep along her form, her arms now completely covered as she slammed her tail into Ophelia’s shield, before suddenly wrapping it around Ophelia and her shield, throwing her into the ceiling to break the sprinklers.
Ophelia grunted with the impact, both that of the ceiling, and that of the floor, before trying to rationalize her next move. Mitsugi was a lost cause, nothing worth the time or effort of recovering, however, the Servant was well worth the effort to capture and contain – any fool would be able to tell that much. Unfortunately, she was not a capture and contain kinda Servant, herself, as Lucius was highly immobile and meant to tank for... well, ever.
Of course, she wasn’t duty-bound to the rules of her Class... at least, she figured as such, since she could throw her shield around and use bludgeoning objects. As such, she, probably wasn’t duty-bound to adhering to Lucius’s policies and all. So, hopping off the ground, and doffing her armor, she sprinted for the stairs... hoping that her orders had been carried out, as she ran down...
Mitsugi slithered along the floor after Ophelia, baring her teeth as she slammed into walls, literally so infuriated that she was having a hard time moving. That and, she wasn’t accustomed to the new snakelike movement her body possessed. Regardless, she wasn’t all that much faster than Ophelia, but she was gaining on her.
“If you help me make a cake for Anchin, I promise I won’t burn you beyond 2nd degree…” she called, clearly a bit out of her fucking mind.
Ophelia grinned, as she saw her normal “servants,” so to speak, where marching a bound youth from one zone of torture to another. “Oh, Dai...” she cooed, crushing Lucius’s Card, “Let’s take a trip.” before he could fathom it, the object of Mitsugi’s wrapped dreams was tackled by the armored train of human carelessness that was Ophelia, and plummeting out the second story window.
Straight to the ground.
Mitsugi’s eyes went wide as she zoomed over the edge and plummeted after Ophelia and Daikichi, the latter of which was screaming, not only from falling, but also from Mitsugi looking like a goddamn snake monster that wanted to eat him. Which...wasn’t inaccurate, one could suppose. Wrapping her tail around the twosome, Mitsugi coiled them tightly, and landed, taking the brunt of the force of the landing before worriedly rising up.
“ANCHIN!? ARE YOU OKAY!?” she shouted, holding the unconscious Daikichi in her tail, having almost all but forgotten Ophelia.
Ophelia was glad to have the moment, as she hefted her shield, and kneed it upwards; banging the weapon, loosely termed, into Mitsugi’s chin. All she needed was to loosen her up, and keep Daikichi right where he was. Now, she didn’t have to fight Mitsugi, or stall into her attrition-based combat...
Not now.
Daikichi was here. Helpless. Targetable. A stepping stone. Uninstalling and Reinstalling, Ophelia kept banging the shield up into Mitsugi’s face, until her grip would free her all the way.
Mitsugi’s grip would loosen, her thoughts only being of her beloved...no, that wasn’t especially right. After all...he was a useless jerk that was just using her from the start. With her jaw just about broken...and her heart COMPLETELY broken, Mitsugi’s hands let go, while her Class Card emerged from her back and fluttered to the ground. With her body back to normal, the girl slumped onto her side, one hand curled around Daikichi’s neck.
Meanwhile, various onlookers were wondering what the hell was going on.
Ophelia popped to her feet, and step her shield on his neck; letting it rest, as she scooped up the Card. “Berserker...” she says, looking at the symbol. She didn’t know that, without Lucius have told her, but, the symbol worked.
“Hey, lover girl,” she says, kicking Mitsugi onto her back, and stepping onto her belly, before kneeling down, taking her face in hand, and slapping her back into reality. “Look at me, and listen...” she didn’t have any reason to say these words, “I’m going to do you a solid, and, in return, you will do me a solid – one of two,” she offers. “I’m going to get you help. Good help. Money help. You’ll be gone, awhile, but, in the end, you’ll function. In return, you work for me, in one of two ways: this way,” she flashed the Class Card, “or this way,” she poked Mitsugi’s forehead, “Either way, I’ll see you better than shit stain over there. Hell, I’ll even break a few of his bones in your honor.”
~
Empress, she is suffering multiple traumas, and can’t probably hardly conceive you, much less consent.~ Lucius pointed out. “I know, I’m on a roll, and feeling good,” Ophelia says, exasperatedly. “I’ll call emergency, under the Sander’s card, and I’ll see this through...” she says, “After all, an Empress shouldn’t leave her citizen to suffer... long.”
Mitsugi’s head...kiiiinda nodded. She was a bit delirious, and a bit unused to...thinking after being crazy for a day. But hey, that was probably consent enough.
Ophelia put in the call... several, really. Hush-hush phone calls were numerous and tedious, but, with the money of a globally seeded dessert company and the power of the Sander Family Thaumaturgical Bakery, she could fix everything right as rain. That included, but was not limited to: funding Mitsugi's medical treatments, rehabilitation, and make her less of a side character in everyone lives, pay for Daikichi's broken... well, she's spin a wheel on that... no, she'd have him spin it... and, of course, mend the damage to her schoolground.
Of course, she knew one thing in the back of her mind... the powers-that-be were going to be unhappy...
~
Eventually, they will send someone...~ Lucius says.
Eventually, Ophelia would find herself sitting in the back of Seamus’ car, while he drove like a fucking madman.
”You are in a lot of trouble, young lady.” he said.
“Who taught you how to drive,” Ophelia asks. “I have an ancient centurion, and a homicidal princess in my pocket,” she says, adding flatly, “literally,” before continuing, “and, I feel they could drive respectably in comparison...”
~
He handles this machine like a child handles a new dog. Poorly.~ Lucius says.
~
I wish to return my old Master. This one is cold at heart towards, and unfeeling for, the flesh of men.~ Kiyohime griped.
Ophelia rolled her eyes, “Anyways, back to the question at hand,” she resumed, as if her captor had even heard that. “Also, PERSON.”
”I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Seamus said, having literally just glided past hitting someone J-Walking.
“And, I doubt it. Neither are riders I’m assuming, judging from the lack of hoofprints around your school, which not only got torn up on the third floor, it also now has a news article being written about a giant snake woman. So, put simply, the question at hand is whether the Mage’s Association is going to have to do some deep brain scrubbing on an entire population.” “Up to you,” Ophelia says, reaching into her pocket, while opening the car door, and draw Kiyohime’s Class Card, “I’ll be taking the snake express on outta here,” she says, while crushing the card, and setting to roll out the car, while moving. If Mitsugi could survive a two-story dead drop, she reckoned this would be... similar. “Later.”
Seamus slammed on the breaks after seeing that, looking incredibly pissed off. Removing his phone from his pocket, he put in a call. It seemed Target Charlie was now present…
Case Closed. Time: 2:32 PM, July 19th
Not a Sayan
Lunamaria Hawke
Neziul