2021 Recap & Extras
Recap & miscellaneous content created featuring the 2021 cast of characters!
- 2021 Tournament Recap
- Side Stories - Literature
- The Graveward vs Senko
- Maybe Call This An Ending... Part 1: Rebuild
- Halloween in the Crossroads
- Mistletoe Troubles in the Crossroads
- To those that Strive for Peace
- To those that Strive for Blood
- Round 3 Match Introductions
- Summer Leagues vs Chifu
- Oblivia
- Side Stories - Comics
- 2021 Audition List
2021 Tournament Recap
COMIC LEAGUE 1
Judged by: @Vashle (Vashle#0007), @Cassadiller (Cassadiller#1122), @miinted (monty#0666)
COMIC LEAGUE 2
Judged by: @Vashle (Vashle#0007), @Cassadiller (Cassadiller#1122), @DeaMON-Corp-Arstasia (Arstasia#4862)
WRITER LEAGUE 1
Judged by: @miinted (monty#0666), @DeaMON-Corp-Arstasia (Arstasia#4862), @Komourix (Brass Paima, That Arapaima#0518) + PieTryHrd#5308
Side Stories - Literature
The Graveward vs Senko
by Thief
Original Doc - The Graveward vs Senko.pdf
Work was done here. Atleast for today Senko thought. Now all there was left to do was to sit at home, in the warmth of her loneliness and relax. Being cursed was tough work after all. Her shoes left footprints in the mountain range as the weather began to clear. Senko was sure she’d make it home before the snow disappeared. But today wouldn’t be that simple, as a green glow emanated behind her.
Senko’s foot was grasped in the clutch of some kind of creature, but when she went to slash it, it did not break. She tried wriggling herself free on the ground as a figure slowly walked towards her.
“Shall we make this quick? We both understand the importance of what you have.”
“I-I do not understand. What do you want?”
“The artifact. Your curse, I need it.”
“You must b-be joking.”
“Perhaps this shall not be as quick as I thought”
The weather began to clear as foretold. She could now see her assailant clearly. A figure with a dangerous aura. However, Senko knew the interaction would be quick. Like any other monster, she simply had to wait for him to blink.
“Do not attempt the trick.”
“Warrior of the snow, you do not understand.”
The rising moon so barely visible glinted on hundreds of medallions on the figures chest.
“You are being watched.”
Senko began to sweat. The figure jumped backwards, now out of view. In his place three more green figures crawled out of the snow. Senko thumbled and tried to grab Kaku. Of course, it was only an attempt. For Kaku was held within the lifeless hands of another jade statue. She slid out of the hand grabbing her ankle and leapt toward Kaku.
She grunted as another statue grabbed at her leg as she jamp, causing her to fall flat on the delicate snow. Tears began to form as the weather once again became worse.
The Graveward’s hubris grew.
As Senko lay in the snow one of the statues released Kaku, instead pinning her on the ground.
“Surrender, and face a noble death, or struggle and die as a failure” the glowing statue spoke.
Four statues now, all facing towards Senko, that was Gravewards plan all along. Immobalize her with fear. He leapt down from his vantage point to claim his reward. As the fog grew ever thicker.
“Now! Watch as I return my master to his mortal flesh!”
Graveward sprang towards Senko’s back, ready to rip out the horrid contraption keeping her alive.
“It's.. very cold..” Senko managed to say
The Graveward realised he was no longer able to see Senko due to the weather. He rapidly began cycling through his husks, attempting to locate her through each and every one. But none could see her ; their eyes had been frozen shut.
He breathed inwards. He gulped. He blinked.
One by one the statues shattered, exploding in a spectacular fashion. Senko had managed to defeat his flawless plan. Leaving him in the ruins of his attempt. Slowly, the snow cleared. A valiant warrior, and a meticulous craftsman.
“You’re a monster. You’re no better than the things you kill. You do know that right? You’re alive because of something not of this world. You’re walking dead.”
“As are you” Senko spoke, trying to hide the tears forming.
“I couldn’t hurt you. My words have hurt you enough.”
And with that, The Graveward gave his ultimate ability form. He ran away.
More traumatised than wounded, Senko returned home after the ordeal. On her way, a small fox followed her, stroking her leg and begging her for food, having nothing on her, she brought the poor animal home. When she turned back at the front door to look at it, it was frozen. Not with coldness, but it was stiff. Now that she thought about it..
Foxes weren’t supposed to be green now were they?
The statue exploded, cutting deep shards within Senko’s skin and releasing a handful of insects. The Graveward had found her. From nowhere a statue froze to block the entrance to her house. Two others attacked her, managing to once again separate her from Kaku in their frozen hands.
“I learnt from the last hour.”
More insects began to ambush her, exploding over and over, slowly scarring her. She could hear other sounds, the buzzing of… wasps. Small jade insects entered Senko’s skin, cutting deep and tearing her wounds larger. Unable to fight without Kaku, she had no idea what to do. Kaku began to shake and managed to burst the hands of the statue holding him. Now brandishing her sword, she began slicing at the statues, slowly lowering their numbers. But she could feel light headed. When she looked at her hands, she saw locusts of jade with wings like razors cutting her deeper, draining her of blood. Senko let out a scream, dropping Kaku once again. She could see the world around her fade as blood squirt into the air. She wouldn’t die like this. From these pests. She saw the same figure as she lay. He knelt down towards her. A sinister look on his face. He had premeditated it all. The bees, the locusts, the carefully placed statues. Where had he learnt this information? Who was he? How could he have this power? Or rather, was this the only thing he had. This power. Nothing else. And that’s when Kaku began shaking. Managing to unseathe itself, it pierced the Graveward, staining the snow a crimson red as he clutched the wound. He pulled the blade out, gravely wounded. He coughed rose blood on top of an almost unconscious Senko.
“We are not so different are we, Senko”
“You are.. Respectable warrior of snow. Allow yourself time to grow. I have a sense that greater peril will come for you.”
He finally said her name. Senko was weak and drifted into a long sleep. When she woke. The figure was nowhere. The blood trailed far into the distance. But nothing was taken of her. How fruitless of a mission the Graveward had gone on.
Maybe Call This An Ending... Part 1: Rebuild
by JadedStrayHyena
Original Doc - Maybe Call This An Ending… Part 1_ Rebuild.pdf
"They don't feel the same…" Angelique muttered after a long silence.
"You told Nephro they were perfect," said Vivi.
"Both statements are true," the blonde replied bitterly.
Angelique went back to not speaking for a while and her dark skinned demon companion didn't blame her. Angelique had accepted an invitation to the Crossroads tourney against earlier apprehension and anxiety only for it all to be proven correct in the very first round. And while her magic control had come a very long way, it wasn't enough to defeat her opponent in the end.
Piano, a Devil Blooded, was a superior physical specimen that Angelique couldn't match kick for kick. And not only was Angelique's storm of sorcery weathered, her precious prosthetic arms were corroded and kicked into scrap, making a bad memory overlay with reality in the process. The field had been changed into something Angelique could more easily exploit and the red-skinned Piano couldn't even use magic - both variables meant little to the end result.
And that tore Angelique up inside. In fact, she would say it shattered her all over again to have such advantages - something she worked so hard to be good at - even matter.
Nephro, a tech expert with a shop in town, managed to make Angelique new arms. Whether the cost got covered by the Madame Chief or Piano was the least of Angelique’s concerns. She was amazed at how quickly this was done - though Nephro wasn’t working from scratch like when Angelique first had them installed. She wished she could have chatted him up more as she grew to be interested in that kind of work, but even if Nephro was a more chatty type, Angelique’s anger was clouding any tech-based curiosity. Though she did make sure to thank him - and likely would again before she left Crossroads when she was more...well, stable. And of course, the fact Piano was there watching the construction of her limbs was not helping.
The walk back to the Kit Inn had plenty of stares - Angelique knew it would be coming no matter what. Of course, part of it was the explosive match and all the danger within. Another was being flanked by the taller Vivi, who appeared to be a threat in her own right. But she knew the biggest part was her new mechanical arms were on display since the sleeves of her hoodie were gone - corroded away with the original arms. With her hood on, most couldn’t tell what mood the fair-skinned shadow user was in - which only added to the hushed nature. But Angelique didn’t turn to look at any of them - she didn’t want to hear the comments that she was sure would only make her feel worse.
Angelique was shaken suddenly by Vivi holding onto her shoulder; a couple of women - one some kind of rabbit-based species and the other some kind of aquatic race - were walking quickly out of a side street and would have bowled Angelique over if Vivi hadn't stopped her charge short. The aquarian was first to be upset by this.
"Hey, watch where you-- O-oh goddess…"
There was sudden fear in the duo when they realized it was Angelique they nearly ran into. As much as Piano knocked her around, it was the common consensus that Angelique was a bit of a savage herself given how much damage she dealt out to Piano and the arena at large. So to risk angering her didn't seem like the best idea, especially after a loss like that.
The more prominent reason they slightly feared for their safety was due to them being dressed like her opponent, Piano - from the coat with bells attached down to the fishnets and heels. The aquarian had even gotten herself fake horns.
Angelique just stared blankly at the two while the two were frozen like deer in headlights in her blue gaze, expecting their shadows to be violently used against them.
"Can you please move?" she asked, practically in a monotone.
"Yes of course!" said the rabbit girl hurriedly. "Sorry for the trouble!"
"Yeah, really sorry!" added the aquarian. "Great match - really!"
Angelique continued on without a word with Vivi catching up.
=================
Halfway up the steps to their rooms in the Kit Inn, Angelique suddenly stopped. Vivi was sure that the damage had simply caught up to her despite Angelique's denials regarding a medic.
“...I can never win, can I?”
“...Angie, you’re really strong. This came really close--”
“CLOSE!? It didn’t feel close at all! She just...spun into another gear like she was taking it easy on me the whole time!”
“Or you pushed her to that next gear and you would have won otherwise,” reasoned Vivi.
"That last flurry didn't feel like it," Angelique said as she fell to her knees. "Felt like she could have taken me out at any time."
Vivi couldn't quite figure out what Piano did in the final stretch either. Well, she could figure out most of the "what", but it was the "how" that eluded her. For someone getting blasted and gravity kicked all over the place, Piano certainly moved with new life to get that win. The way Piano’s black blood sprayed was a bit unreal and she certainly wasn't moving that fast when briefly sparring with Vivi. Angelique was right about it looking like a much wider margin of defeat from that angle...
"It wouldn't have lasted," said Vivi, the demon speaking in gentle tones. "Hard for you to notice when blocking like that, but the way her body was tensing up - the veins bulging and everything else - if she had to go on too much longer, she would have lost. Don’t take for granted that you pushed her to that extent.”
Angelique didn’t answer.
“You don’t believe that?”
“Maybe...I don’t know,” grumbled Angelique. “But something else bothers me even more than that.”
“Not something to hold a grudge over, I hope,” Vivi said as she tried to help Angelique up. “She did apologize. Maybe even overdid it to calm you down.”
Angelique grumbled more remembering that Piano actually went to her hands and knees as she asked for some forgiveness, her face nearly touching the floor of Nephro's shop. As much as she wanted to hold a grudge, she couldn’t bring herself to do so quite yet after that - not when no one else had ever done that for her and Piano did it not for her favor, but just not to treat her as an enemy. Angelique didn't know where to stand with her yet.
“...it was something she said near the end of the match…before she carried me out of there…”
I can’t tell you how to make yourself confident to do what you want. That strength is for you to find. And I don’t think you could’ve ever found it here.
“That...why does it feel like she’s right...when she shouldn’t be!? I was always fighting for them - in battle was the last time I felt sure of myself. Losses and setbacks didn't make me feel so...crushed. Without a ticking clock over my head, I thought I would do better, but it feels like I did even worse. I just...I want some sense of...normalcy. To feel that me surviving all I did wasn't a waste…"
Vivi immediately felt a pain in her chest as she held Angelique close.
"Don't you dare… You are not a waste. Plenty of people owe a lot to you--"
"It doesn't stop me from feeling that way. I've spent years fighting and risking everything without a second thought - odds be damned. It's one of those things that still makes sense to me! If being lost in the fight isn't where I'd find myself again...then where the fuck do I look now!? ...because I don’t know, Viola. I really don’t..."
Then she started to sob. If Vivi hadn't been holding onto her, Angelique would have hit the ground as she slumped in her sorrow. The demon scooped up her blonde friend and carried her to her room.
Angelique...most humans...hell, most beings in existence never encounter the struggles you had so early in life. Nor do they pay such a high cost they couldn't have predicted and still continue to fight. You are a beautiful little marvel. And the only reason it isn't more obvious to others is because it's not fully obvious to you.
=================================================
Angelique took a long nap and by the time she woke up, it was fairly deep into the afternoon. She drowsily looked around to find herself alone and it didn’t sound like Vivi was nearby.
Well...it’s set in now. But now what?
Angelique dug out her change of clothes - her hoodie from the battle was more or less trashed and a bit of Piano’s blood got on the rest of her outfit, lightly damaging everything else. She was thankful she packed another black hoodie - this one a zip-up with purple stripes on the sleeves. She almost forgot what else she had packed as a backup outfit - her “round 2” outfit as she briefly and bitterly remembered it as. A white t-shirt, gray skorts, black-and-gray hi-top sneakers, and black-and-white striped thigh-high stockings. Angelique got dressed slowly as she kept looking at her new arms; they moved just fine, but it still weirded her out to have new ones after years of having and maintaining her old ones. She mindlessly tugged on her hoodie’s sleeves - slightly more of her hands were visible in this one and she hadn’t realized it when packing. Not like it mattered - it wasn't a secret anymore.
She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but for some reason, staying in the room didn’t appeal to her - despite her claiming she’d do only that while still an entrant. Despite planning tomorrow would be the day to explore with Vivi while everyone would be too busy watching the tournament to bother her, she already felt annoyed with her own thoughts and wanted to crowd them out.
She was prepared for annoying comments for when she left the Kit Inn - and prepared for pity as well. What she wasn’t prepared for was a familiar face suddenly appearing the instant she opened it.
“Hellloooooooo, my sad little kitten!”
Angelique fell backward and instinctively tried to flick away the intruder, but her shadows went through the figure as well. It took another second to realize it was Miss X, the tournament announcer. She only seemed mildly disturbed and annoyed by an attack going through her, but she was back to her amused self right after.
“W-what the hell are you doing here!?” Angelique spat as she got back to her feet.
“I wanted to visit you and cheer you up!” said Miss X with a wide grin.
“So heart attacks are part of cheering up,” replied Angelique with narrowed eyes. “Uncle had it wrong all these years then.”
"Aw, don't be like that," said X as she floated all the way into the room, still dressed in the same outfit she was in for the rounds. "That was such a purr-fectly brutal mirror match! And I just had to talk to you!"
Angelique mentally grumbled. It only looked like a mirror match for the first half. And now she couldn't get rid of the overly cute and cat-pun filled MC - at least not physically. Yet she wasn’t in the mood to try to hurt X’s feelings either.
Be careful what I wish for, I guess. I wanted to not be alone with my thoughts and this is what I get...
"I don't know about perfect…" Angelique sighed as she sat back on the ground.
“Are you kidding!? The crowd was on the edge of their seats!” X exclaimed, manifesting a chair slightly behind her to illustrate her feelings. “You two were so awesome! I’m surprised both of you were awake by the end! Not that you were trying for that…”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Weren’t you trying to melt her with the acid cloud? It scared the first two rows backwards!”
Angelique flinched. Her magic was definitely surging and her thinking was admittedly a bit cloudy with darker impulses - especially after being battered early on. She was surprised there wasn’t still a hand shaped bruise on her chest after a particular palm strike.
Angelique muttered with a mild case of regret “Maybe not kill exactly--”
“You totally have a bloodthirsty side! It’s fine though - it made your fight all the more interesting!”
“I’m not sure if I should be worried about you,” said Angelique.
Miss X only giggled - which didn’t help Angelique’s thoughts.
“But when I heard you were looking really sad, I had to come see you!”
“Well, thanks...I guess.”
“I’m sure your fans are used to you frowning, but not this gloomy! I had to help!”
Angelique couldn’t help sputtering. “Fans? What fans?”
“The crowd loved you both! You’re almost as popular as me!”
“...don’t be silly. Maybe they liked the match, but they mostly liked Piano and that outfit.” Angelique’s sneering was slightly less biting this time around, but seeing others dressed just like her Devil Blooded opponent only stoked her envious fire.
"I'm sure some were drooling and they weren't just looking at Piano." The hearts in Miss X's eyes were fluttering.
"That sounds like some doctor's problem," said Angelique flatly.
Miss X wasn't put off by Angelique dour replies; if anything, it only made the magical hologram more curious.
"Why are compliments so hard for you to take?" X asked as she hovered over Angelique's head. "Are your dark feelings the source of your powers?"
"No."
"If you show too much happiness, you explode?"
"No."
"Then wh--"
"Because I know it's either fake or with some asterisk on it and I hate it!" Angelique sighed, not meaning to suddenly raise her voice. "Sorry. But ever since my disability happened, most 'compliments' are either pity, backhanded nonsense or something with a hidden meaning that makes it less. ...they never mean it."
“Maybe the past ones did, but it doesn’t mean the future will!” exclaimed Miss X. “People love me just the way I am! And they do for you too - I’m sure of it!”
Angelique felt slightly guilty about complaining about comparably lesser issues when realizing Miss X was born unable to touch anything or anyone - including who or what created her.
“Why do a lot of things people say make some sense but just not to me?” she muttered with a mildly amused shake of the head.
“It shouldn’t be so surprising you have fans! You had to have been cheered before in the other tournaments, right?”
“You know, I never asked how you even knew about that…”
“Mommy told me. You know - the Madame Chief.”
Figures… “...I was different then. If I went back to those places, I wouldn’t be recognized as I am.”
“Because you’re so much cuter now, right?”
A snort. Angelique surprised herself with it and quickly covered her mouth with her hands.
Better...like this? Not as–
“That snort was so cute! Do you laugh like that all the time?” Miss X was just a bundle of curiosity in a tutu.
“...no. It’s been a while.”
Miss X proceeded to start telling a bunch of jokes to get it to happen again. Angelique managed to suppress it, allowing herself to snicker but being careful not to snort...right up until Miss X’s pouty face over not managing to prompt the action. It was so overdone that Angelique couldn’t take it.
“Okay, I need some air,” Angelique finally said as she got to her feet once more.
"Are hoodies all you wear?" Miss X questioned.
"I just like them and they're comfy," Angelique answered bluntly. "Besides, I don't...don't believe I look good in showy crap." Anymore...
"You should try it! It makes you feel good!" Miss X suddenly had light bulbs in her eyes instead of irises. "Wait, are you scared to try fancy clothes? Are you really shy? Or really really really modest?"
"I just believe such clothes on me would be a waste," Angelique replied, again swiftly dealing with the inquiry.
Angelique peeked outside her room to make sure no one was out there before strolling out. Miss X followed her out before she locked the door.
“You won’t even give it a try?” Miss X kept floating right behind Angelique. “I’m sure there’s copies of my outfit in the shops! Oh - or maybe you can wear something like Piano does and join the fun?”
“No offense, but it’ll be a cold day in Crossroads before I wear what you or Piano wear,” replied Angelique sharply.
Angelique strolled her way out of the Kit Inn with no clue of where she really wanted to go. But with Miss X right behind her, going unnoticed went from tricky to next to impossible. Miss X was a big neon sign made of cuteness; everyone saw her and had something to say. But in between that, there were words in Angelique's direction as well. Compliments...for her...about her appearance and what she dealt out and endured in combat. She’d be more in disbelief over the fact if Miss X hadn’t been wearing her usual cynicism down. She didn’t overly react to this, but she also didn’t go out of her way to frown, snarl, or otherwise be dismissive of it all.
“Going to have a drink?” asked Miss X. “Mommy says a lot of people are relaxed after they do.”
“...I’ve never had alcoholic stuff before.”
“Well, you should do ALL the things!” replied Miss X. “There’s no reason not to!”
“No reason, huh?” Angelique cocked her head in thought.
The duo eventually strolled their way to the bar and not only found Vivi there chatting with a witchy-looking stranger, but of course the kitsune Chifu was at her usual spot at the end of the bar.
“Angie? I thought you weren’t coming out for the rest of the day.” Vivi immediately walked over, gesturing to the green-haired, fair-skinned young woman to follow.
“I just had to wander,” said Angelique with a sigh. Miss X was behind her, waving. “Who’s this?”
“Oh, this is Wendy,” said Vivi, pulling said guest to be front and center. “She wanted to meet you after your match, but...yeah.”
Wendy definitely looked older than Angelique, but the blonde had a couple of inches on her. She was wearing a dress with a belt around her waist, puffy shoulders that hid the straps, thigh-high boots, and a large witch-like hat. It was all blue with hints of beige and white. She had wide glasses which made her green eyes seem huge. Her green hair was tied into two large braids.
“And before you say it, Wendy here isn’t a witch,” added Vivi.
Angelique blinked a bit. “But that is clearly--”
“I’ll save you both some back and forth,” said Vivi. “It looks like it’s just a coincidence.”
Angelique shrugged and let it go. “You wanted to meet me?”
“Yes, I was just worried given how much your magic was flaring and the damage you took!” Wendy was talking a mile a minute. “Are you alright!? Is your soul in pain? How did you handle so much energy at once?”
Wendy was asking a million questions at once and the fact Angelique didn’t seem to even lean into getting mad was a sign of her lowered self-esteem. Eventually she had to try to answer some of them before she was fully overloaded.
“I’m sore, but I’m fine. The swamp helped with the mana burn. And why would my soul be in pain?”
Wendy looked up in surprise. “You were using dark magic. Does it not threaten your soul? You were getting angrier every second. You tried to melt her!”
“Told you that was a big deal,” said Miss X.
“Okay, I was mad about her kicking my ass!” Angelique finally exclaimed. “Not even sure you can melt a Xenomorph!”
There was snickering from Chifu down at her end of the bar.
“But no, I didn’t enter some dark bargain for power,” Angelique finally continued. “...though I’m not sure that would have helped anyway.”
Vivi had warned Wendy that Angelique’s mood would be different than anything she might have heard about pre-round one, but this was drastic. It’s like Piano literally knocked the confidence and attitude out of her. Wendy was expecting talking to Angelique would be a scary prospect.
“Well, I was worried about your magic flaring so much,” said Wendy with a little sigh, “since it usually means a spellcaster has lost control! But you kept fighting! And casting spells despite the hits you were taking! I’m not sure how I would have managed that! Could I ask you more questions about your magic?”
“Um...I guess? If I can ask you magic questions too?”
“Sure!”
So Angelique and Wendy sat at a table and began talking about magic. Almost every kind of magic - ones they’ve wielded themselves and some they’ve merely seen or read about. Angelique’s mood did seem mildly better than earlier; she had an interest in the supernatural from quite a young age so this was quite fascinating to her. Though if questioned, if she had a choice of what magic she could have learned back then, it wouldn't be what she ended up with.
Vivi sat at a stool at the bar next to Saki, the oni bartender, while the young women talked fairly vividly about the arcane arts.
“She all patched up?” asked Saki.
“Only her arms,” sighed Vivi.
“Seriously? She got battered from what I heard. Quite a tough girl…or just stubborn.” Saki shook her head. “But there’s a risk she’s injured internally.”
"Not more than she is emotionally," Vivi replied. "And seeing so many people dressed like who kicked her ass is probably not going to help."
"They're gotten faster since the last tournament," remarked Saki. "It's usually about now they'd start on merch. Guess it helps that she and Piano were a cute girl match."
“I don’t think hearing that will make Angelique feel any better.” Vivi sighed, sipping on a drink Saki slid over. “You’re really familiar with these tournaments, huh?”
“I should be,” Saki said dismissively. “I won one of them.”
“A very late congrats, I guess,” said Vivi.
“I’ll brew the girl up something for her troubles,” said Saki casually. “But what happened to that girl? Former chosen one? Grew up in an evil regime? Terrible childhood?”
“Not sure she had much of a childhood,” answered Vivi. “I try to clear it with her before telling the story, especially with Forte around.”
Forte was a lot of things depending on who one talked to, but as far as Angelique was concerned, Forte was just Piano’s obnoxious brother that got under her skin in an attempt to learn more about her and only just got saved from a beating most thought he had coming. She wouldn’t let him learn one iota more about her.
“Yeah, he’s worse than the town gossip nosing around,” admitted Saki. “Can I at least get a hint? Helps making the drinks if I know what bothers them.”
Vivi looked around the bar a bit before answering quietly in Saki’s ear. Saki didn’t look surprised - like she had heard it all before - but it was sad to hear.
“Hasn’t really relaxed since, has she?”
“Not for a second. There’s always something else at her door.”
Later on, Vivi eventually walked her way over to the table and Angelique and Wendy’s conversation.
“You girls getting along?”
Angelique jolted a bit as if she was just remembering there was an outside world to deal with. She and Wendy had been talking for more than half an hour without stopping. “Yeah...I guess, yeah.”
“Hey, drink this,” Vivi said, placing the odd drink in front of Angelique. It had taken quite some time to brew by Saki and the demon had no want to interrupt Angelique enjoying herself until it was done. “It’ll help with your soreness.”
Angelique looked and sniffed at the drink with suspicion. “Vivi, are you sure?”
“It’s this or go to the medic like I said to hours ago,” said Vivi.
Noticing the mild bit of pressure, Angelique sighed and basically knocked it all back in one shot. She was surprised at her soreness drifting away, but she also felt...light.
“Uh...I’m feeling a bit weird. This a side effect?” Angelique looked amused but also worried about this feeling.
“It’s meant to relax you as well,” said Saki from the bar. “Maybe relaxing is a foreign concept for you. Maybe moderation too. ”
“Hey, I relax…” Angelique replied with much less of her normal zap.
“You study your magic almost all the time with little rest,” Vivi pointed out.
“And what’s wrong with that?” Wendy was quick to defend her - though it only damned her slightly at the same time.
Through all the mild bickering with a slightly sedated Angelique, they didn’t hear Chifu stroll up.
“I know something that would be relaxing~” she trilled.
“You know something besides drinking?” snickered Vivi.
“Well, that can be later,” said Chifu. “I was thinking more about new clothes! Since a few of your things got a bit...melted, you can go shop for some more!”
“I didn’t come with a ton of spending money…” Angelique admitted.
“Oh, I’ll cover it! Your match was so good, I don’t mind at all!”
Angelique was skeptical, but she was also too relaxed to especially scrutinize Chifu at that exact moment. She glanced at Vivi to gauge her opinion. She naturally liked the idea, but she in turn looked to Saki.
“She rarely makes these kinds of offers,” said Saki. “I’d say take it.”
“...alright, I guess. Just nothing crazy.” Angelique resigned herself to trying it. It literally couldn’t be more stressful or painful than the match hours ago. “But you think Wendy could get something too?”
“M-me?” Wendy sputtered.
“You’ve been...really nice. Talking to you might have really been what I needed.”
“I-if that’s fine, sure!”
“It’s fine! It’s so nice you want to help your new friend!”
With that decided, Angelique, Wendy, Vivi, and Chifu went down to a shop called The Stylish Ribbon. From what the girls noticed, Chifu was on good terms with the owner named Matilla, who appeared to be some kind of catgirl. Though like every other non-human race Angelique she’s ever met, it’s hard to tell how old they actually could be.
“Well well well, I don’t usually get tournament competitors in my shop!” The catgirl had a strange accent none of the three visitors could recognize. “See anything you like, darlings?”
Angelique looked around with uncertainty that just barely pierced the relaxed mood the oni-brewed concoction caused. Not much in the boutique was the...casual style Angelique had settled into. She didn’t fear dressing in nice clothes, but being...cute…
“Uh...I don’t know yet. Hey Wendy, you can go first.”
Surprised, Wendy nodded and looked through a few items while Chifu giggled and made her way next to Angelique.
“I really thought you’d go first,” said Chifu. “You really are a good friend to someone you just met.”
“Wendy is nice and I’m just not in a rush,” replied Angelique.
“Just as I thought,” giggled Chifu. “Though one may mistake it as the dark magic warrior scared of wearing a little bit of finery.”
“A-absolutely not!” sputtered Angelique.
Chifu continued to slightly needle Angelique about her fashion until a slight clearing of the throat from Wendy. In that time, she had gotten a couple of items and had gotten her way to the dressing room.
She emerged in a white sleeveless evening gown with many black and gold frills. The bodice part was a halter top that looped around her neck and it showed a bit more cleavage than her default outfit. It was certainly glamorous looking and the catgirl owner was applauding how she looked.
“Lose the glasses and a little hair done, you’d be a star, darling!” Matilla said.
Angelique did look quite fascinated by how Wendy looked in her dress, but something nibbled at her insides. For one, Angelique always had an issue with royal-looking attires. And the other issue was a separate sense of envy regarding looks. She was slightly aware of how buxom Wendy was in her regular outfit, but now it was more obvious now along with how effortless she made the dress look. Her insecurity started to batter the relaxed feeling she was trying to revel in.
Chifu, Piano, Wendy too? Ugh, how can I not feel so much less around all of them - and not just in THAT sense...
“Do you not think it looks good?” asked Wendy.
“N-no, you look gorgeous! Really!” sputtered Angelique. “Just--”
“I think Miss Dark Magic is actually a little envious,” giggled Chifu.
“What no maybe I guess I’m such an ugly duckling here,” grumbled Angelique, annoyed with herself about admitting it so easily.
“Well, you all know a taste of Angelique’s body issues now,” said Vivi with a pat of Angelique’s head.
“I’m sure you’ll find something you’ll look just as great in!” said Wendy.
“Darling, you just need something to suit your style better,” said Matilla. “And maybe believe in yourself a bit more!”
If I even knew what I even am anymore…
“...when Wendy’s done, I wouldn’t mind some suggestions, I guess.”
Wendy disappeared back behind the curtain to try on the next outfit - a crisp white blouse with a black suspender skirt with matching stockings.
“Quite a throwback, darling!” exclaimed Matilla.
Wendy reappeared once more in something more exotic - it was a sort of strapless crop top and a short pink skirt that were shaped like joined flower petals. It certainly gave the impression she was one with nature or fairykind.
“Just one more,” said Wendy.
“Take your time,” insisted Angelique with a genuine smile, trying to quiet the gremlin in her brain that made her hate being in any clothing store.
The last outfit did throw her for a loop though. It seems that it wasn’t just the other competitors’ outfits for sale - but versions of the God Eater’s strapless dress with a slit up the side, long sleeved shawl-jacket and tights with the ornate yellow and red design were available as well. Well, to call them "tights'' wasn't exactly right since one could still see skin if one moved a certain way. The dress and jacket Wendy had on was a similar shade of blue to her regular dress. Angelique and Vivi quickly clocked that this was Chifu’s suggestion to try on since she was wearing said ensemble themed in black.
“Oh, it looks perfect on you!” cooed the kitsune lush.
“She’s not wrong,” muttered Angelique.
“Oh, why don’t you try it too?” asked Chifu, but it sounded less like asking and more like an obligatory one to try out from the one holding the pursestrings for this little event.
Angelique groaned. “I doubt I’m buying it, but fine.”
That outfit - hers an amethyst with gold accents - was piled on along with other outfits everyone else suggested for her since her kind of standby wasn’t around. Mildly overwhelmed with how fast it was piled on, she walked into the dressing room and pulled the curtain across.
“Fashion is like combat!” called Matilla from the other side. “Accent your positives!”
This did get a repressed snicker and snort from Angelique as she imagined those runway shows actually being mixed with combat and actually being more interesting as a result.
She tried on the God Eater dress and legwear first just to get it over with. The sandals were found as well since Wendy was too uncoordinated to manage wearing those particular ones and Chifu just had to see them on someone else. Angelique still had lingering resentment about dressing like the one who invited her to this disaster; she still didn’t know why she was picked and her mind was filling in the blanks as cynically as possible.
But the God Eater annoyance could be set aside for her own personal anxiety. She hadn’t dressed fashionably in years - she even skipped all the dances to take place in high school, so she naturally wouldn’t expect to be wearing a backless dress in this style. She questioned if this was just to embarrass her - or simply to enjoy her overwhelmed panic like a kitsune would. If it wasn’t for X, she wouldn’t have felt the latter as even a possibility.
Unable to delay it further, she pulled the curtain across with her eyes clenched shut, unable to bear looking at the others this second.
“Wow, you look great!” Naturally Vivi was the first to react, the supportive friend that she was. “Really classy!”
“Your kicks are one of your highlights - naturally, your legs should be highlighted!” trilled Matilla.
I doubt I'll be able to fight in something like this, thought Angelique as her eyelids finally raised to see the delighted faces. Not unless I had to. Hard enough to even get used to wearing it. Not that it’s...exactly bad on me. I guess--
"Wow, look at us!" squealed Chifu, getting a closer look at Angelique in the dress. "We could be twins!"
After a brief moment looking at herself and Chifu, Angelique replied "Only if one twin was favored by genetics." But the others noticed it was much less of a sneer with that.
Back went the curtain and Angelique changed into the next outfit, psyching herself up with every step. Eventually, she finished and pulled the curtain across. While certainly a bit more modest than the last one, it was still a big step in the opposite direction. It was a black and purple layered dress in the gothic lolita style. Together with pantyhose, it definitely was less emphasis on Angelique’s form and covered her, but even in her younger days, she hadn’t worn anything with so many ruffles and frills.
Even that dress wasn’t this overdone.
“It’s certainly your color,” admitted Vivi, adding a thumbs-up of approval. “It’s so frilly too. But it’s certainly not something you can fight in.”
“A magic user can fight in anything,” quipped Matilla, sounding like she was defending one of her selections.
“You need one of those little umbrellas with that,” added Chifu.
“Maybe not that far,” replied Angelique.
More returns to the dressing room for more and more outfits. The compliments being thrown at her was either helping her mood or just burying the worst of her feelings. Either she was thankful for. Even Vivi noted quite the difference with each one she modeled. In the end, she only kept half the stuff she tried on, not wanting to abuse Chifu’s random act of kindness. But the true test of Angelique's upraised mood would come with Chifu’s latest suggestion - to wear one of her new outfits outdoors.
When given free choice to choose, Angelique immediately rejected the God Eater dress - while she did choose to “buy” it, she didn’t feel comfortable wearing it next to Chifu, feeling that would torpedo her fragile state. Chifu seemed amused, but otherwise didn’t argue with her. In the end, she chose a black halter top dress with a lace trim that ended at about her knees. She also had a pair of sandals with an one-inch heel to go with the stockings she had already come in with.
She noticed Vivi was still looking shocked.
“I didn’t think I could shock you twice with the same clothes,” said Angelique.
“Nah, not that,” replied Vivi, scratching her head. “It’s...I’ve never seen you with anything sleeveless.”
“Eh, most of the place knows my arms are fake now,” said Angelique, trying to downplay her decision. “For tonight, I’m fine with it.”
“You look great!” added Wendy.
“How about that drink now, Angelique?” asked Chifu.
“You’ve been waiting this whole time to say that, haven’t you?” Vivi could only chuckle.
“Well, maybe~ But I do find it easier to talk over drinks. And there is something I want to talk to you about.”
Angelique paused mid-stride. Something about Chifu’s tone that time just felt...different. No one else seemed to notice anything different, so Angelique briefly thought she was just hearing things. Then she turned her head to look at the kitsune. Chifu just giggled like usual, but Angelique felt like she noticed a glimmer in her eye.
“...I guess I can have time for a drink. They talk up the alcohol in this place - I might as well try it.”
Halloween in the Crossroads
by zacknapattack
Original Doc - Halloween in the Crossroads.pdf
“Come on Mom, let’s go! It’s already dark out, we should go walking around before everyone starts going to sleep!”
“Ok, ok~ I’m coming~”
“Yes, we’re coming. It took a while to get into this thing. Where did you even find this?”
“That’s my little secret~”
Exiting the Fox’s Den were three individuals usually familiar to the regulars of the bar, but in outfits mostly different from their usual attire. Miss X was a simple white dress with large holes for the arms, as well as a blue bow on the front and a blue bandanna in her hair. Saki wore a pair of loose pants, waraji that went up to her knees, and a metal belt around her waist. A large shoulder pauldron was connected to the rest of her outfit with a chain on both sides, and bandages that covered her chest. She wore an eyepatch over her left eye, and carried a large sword easily with one hand.
By comparison, Chifu seemed to barely change in terms of appearance. Instead of a black and gold dress, she wore a mostly white one with black sleeves, and a pair of red tobi pants with a stitched split along the other sides. She had straightened her hair for this outfit to more resemble the character, though still kept the two ear-like strands so people could recognize her.
Miss X led the procession excitedly, with the two older women following after her. It was a tradition of theirs to walk around the Crossroads during Halloween and see how everyone is celebrating the holiday. And with the fighters from the summer’s tournament still around, it would certainly prove to be an interesting trip compared to previous years.
The first few houses were the usual business they came to expect from previous years: the people inside in various costumes, loudly greeting the trio and giving them candy. With Miss X, she pretended to reach in and “pull out” a piece of candy (really just her creating a hologram of candy and adding it to her basket), while Saki tried to make sure Chifu didn’t take advantage of her position as the goddess of the town to get all of the candy at every house.
As they got to the edge of the Business District, they reached the first of the houses where the fighters were staying. Outside was a statue of a woman in traditional Chinese garb, her arms outstretched and a tag hiding her face. Bits of red skin could be seen underneath, and the long black hair spilled out from underneath the hat on her head as the statue stood upon the porch. A basket of candy hung on the arms, with a sign saying “Take one” taped onto it.
The traveling trio walked up and took the candy, admiring the statue’s quality up close. “Wow, they put a lot of effort into making this statue! It looks so life-like!”
“I think that’s because it is~” Chifu teased, brushing up next to the “statue.” As she did, the face beneath the tag began to flush dark as Piano grew embarrassed at the attention, her tail uncoiling to nervously flick behind her as she got out of her pose, revealing herself to be alive.
Chifu and Miss X gave a round of applause at Piano’s reveal, while Saki seemed to nod like she was impressed. “That was a cool trick. Is that why they made you stand outside with the candy?”
“Sort of.” Piano admitted in a timid voice, her tag billowing as she talked. She glanced towards the front door. “Halloween is a time to scare people, so having a statue that could leap out towards trick-or-treaters was considered ideal. Though that’s not the only reason I was picked to do this…”
“Oh?~” Chifu leaned in, interested. “And why else would they leave a poor girl like you out here all alone on Halloween?~ Did you hope that your true love will finally come find you in costume?~”
Piano flushed again, looking away from them. “N-nothing like that!” she protested quickly, pointing towards an open window. “You can see for yourself over there.”
The trio looked intrigued, walking over to the window to look inside. Arranged around a fireplace, several figures sat in various chairs, while one stood in front of the fire gesturing as they seemed to be talking.
The sitting figures proved to be quite the motley crew as they were illuminated by the flickering flames of the fire behind the speaker. At one end sat Piano’s brother Forte, dressed in an elegant Victorian-style suit with a puffy white undershirt and black and red motifs, a pair of fake fangs sticking out of his mouth. Next to the vampire was a figure in a blue suit with large blue spikes acting as hair. Gold rings wrapped around his arms that ended in white gloves, tapping his red shoes as Quan sat waiting for something in his Sonic outfit.
Next to him sat Wendy, dressed like an angel with a halo and feathery white wings, her dress decorated with fluffy white cotton on the hems of it. Next to her sat Ronin in a mad scientist outfit, with crazy white hair sticking out everywhere, a disheveled lab coat, and a few beakers of fluids around his seat. To his side sat Jackie, dressed like she was imitating Wendy’s usual outfit with a large brimmed black hat, a black dress with a wide skirt and a pink broom propped up behind her.
At the end of the line, slightly away from the others, was Muhamorha wearing a light blue leotard, fishnet stockings, and blue heels, her mushroom hat now appearing to be the bell head of a jellyfish with tentacles descending down from the brim to cover her.
Across from the all, clearly invested in the story she was telling, was Delivery Girl. She was dressed like a US Postman, with bloodstains covering the outfit in various parts and a bloodstained messenger bag slung around her shoulders. She leaned in close at this point, getting to the climax of her story.
“And then, when the post woman went to look for the package, she found that it wasn’t where she placed it. With sudden horror, she realized that she had…” There was a dramatic pause, as everyone else leaned in. “...that she had lost the customer’s package in the shipping warehouse!”
“Forsooth, what a troubling dilemma.”
“Maybe someone stole it! Mail fraud’s a huge problem!”
“How awful!”
“That’s terrible!”
“Why did she trust the mail to deliver it? Should’ve just given it to them herself.”
“How unfortunate.”
The reactions of the listeners got a huge grin out of Delivery Girl,who looked proud of herself as the trio outside turned back to Piano. Piano looked at them sheepishly.
“I’m not much of a storyteller, so I volunteered to give out candy instead.” she explained, holding the basket. “I’m also making some food to take over to Aude and her little party, but since I’m out here, Wendy and my brother are doing everything I ask them to, so hopefully it turns out ok... But in exchange, they told me to jump out at people, but if I just don't move when people walk up, nobody knows I’m a person and they don’t give me attention. So it’s not so bad.”
“I see~” Chifu hummed, leaning forward and putting a hand on Piano’s shoulder. The latter shuddered, but didn’t try to throw off the goddess’ hand. “And who’s told stories so far?~”
“Just Muhamora and Jackie. Muha told one about a man that slowly turned into a mushroom for being mean to everyone, and Jackie told one about a cop going into an abandoned business looking for criminals and running into a serial killer. But she seemed to enjoy talking about how the cop died…”
“Sounds like fun~” Chifu glanced back in, seeing everyone laughing as Delivery Girl rubbed the back of her head asking for critiques. “And what about Forte and Quan?~ I know they can tell some really long stories, as excellent as they both are as storytellers~”
“They agreed to go last and second to last, respectively. My brother has promised that he’ll finish by midnight, right when the witching hour begins.”
“Is he planning on summoning actual witches at the end of his story?” Miss X asked, Chifu nodding her head in agreement.
“He hasn’t said he will. But he hasn’t told me he isn’t either.” Piano looked unsure and nervous at the thought.
“Well, I might have to come by again before he finishes and see for myself~ After I get a few drinks in me first, of course~ But we have other houses to visit, so I’ll stop by later~”
“Oh, ok…” Piano gave an awkward wave as the three women began to depart. “Bye, I guess…” As the trio nearly got away, she called out, “And tell Aude I’ll be over in a couple hours to bring the food for the rest of the party tonight!”
As the three women walked away waving to Piano, Miss X looked back towards the house. “Telling scary stories on Halloween night! What a fun time! Maybe once I’ve outgrown going trick-or-treating, I’ll broadcast myself reading scary stories for all of the Crossroads!”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea, my daughter~” Chifu purred, stroking the air near Miss X’s head as a rough approximation of a head pat. “I look forward to hearing it when you’re ready~”
“Thanks Mom!” Miss X cheered, as Saki guided the two along towards the next group of fighters’ house. As they got closer, they could hear the sound of a tv playing, some cheers, and the simmering energy of a fight ready to break out. Saki looked at the other two, but they were too busy discussing their idea to notice the tension in the air around the next house.
Sighing, Saki reached the door first and knocked, stepping back to wait for a response as Chifu and Miss X slowly caught on to the fact they had arrived. There seemed to be a hushed discussion on the other side, which they could only catch brief phrases from.
“I can’t, it’s too…”
“You’ll be fine, just…”
“But they’re going to…”
“Just don’t worry about it…”
After some back and forth, the door slowly opened up with a creek, as Chifu and Miss X looked on with anticipation. On the other side of the door, Senko greeted them in what looked like a bloody shrine maiden outfit, which luckily covered most of her body as she stood shyly in the doorway. To the side, Michaellis’ voice encouraged her as she held out a bowl of candy. “H-h-h-happy Halloween…” Her voice was quiet and timid, barely above a whisper.
“Happy Halloween~” Chifu and Miss X cheered at nearly a hundred times the volume, reaching forward to take their candy. Saki took a second to reach forward and get hers as she began to hear an argument building up from deeper in the house.
As everyone looked towards where it was coming from, two figures began to charge down the hall, making their way towards a cowering Senko. The taller of the two had a large, open green vest with fur around the collar, bandages covering her chest, and green pants along her legs with a red sash at the waist. Her hands had large brown paws and she had a large brown tail attached behind her. The smaller of the two floated at about the other’s height, wearing a black and white suit-like outfit with an open back and sleek black pants. Her hair was slicked back into her ponytail, and the “back” that was exposed had a large dragon like motif. The two women were looking at each other angrily, the latter having raised a pair of black sunglasses to glare directly at the former.
As Raku and Inari closed in, Michaellis came out of his hiding spot, looking like a creepy figure with a black cloak over a black leather outfit. He wore large gloves that went up most of his forearms and a black mask with a long beak in the front and round glass lens for eyes, which he had to the side as he moved towards his sister with raised hands.
“Now now, what did I tell you two about fighting tonight?” He tried to calm them down with his words, reaching out to touch their shoulders, only for both of them to brush him off.
“Yeah, yeah, we heard you earlier.” Inari brushed off Michaellis. “But you heard what that Quan guy said: if you go for a test of courage with someone into the Sacred Forest on Halloween, then you’ll become even closer with them. And I’m going to be the one taking Senko into the forest!”
“Don’t talk to my brother like that!” Raku shouted at Inari, getting in her face. “And I told you that I would be the one to escort Senko through the Sacred Forest! There are ghosts in there, and I wouldn’t think you’d be willing to hurt someone similar to you if it comes to it.”
“Oh, so you think you can just go around hurting ghosts, do you?” Inari snarled back, her hair whipping like flames as Green and Red began to float behind her and her arms glowed a faint blue. “Well, maybe I should show you what a ghost can really do.”
“Yeah, I can if I need to.” Raku shot back, the wind beginning to whip around her as her brother tried to pull her away. Senko was also beginning to look nervously between them, waving her arms and the bowl of candy. “Maybe I’ll start with the one in front of me.”
They then both turned towards Senko, their eyes burning with passion. “So, which one of us are you going to pick?” they both asked in unison, before turning to the other. “Not you, of course!” Their growls of anger rose as they pressed against each other, as everyone else looked on awkwardly.
“I-I-I-I’m not sure…” Senko stuttered, unable to provide them an answer in time as the tension between the two women rose to a higher pitch.
As the two were pressing their foreheads together in anger, sparks flying between them, another figure rounded the corner. She was wearing a black leotard that showed ample cleavage with a white trim on the sides connecting to translucent sleeves, a pair of purple tights with bat designs, and bat wings coming from her back and hair. Her red hair ran down her back as Vilivian looked to the four at the entryway with an almost bored look, seemingly not bothered by her provocative outfit.
“Aude told me to get you all to shut up for a few minutes.” Vilivian informed them, crossing her arms. “The game’s about to reach the sixth inning and the Ryu Claws are leading the Kame Defenders and she says the seventh inning should be good.”
“Oh?~ Are you guys catching up on some baseball games?~” Chifu asked, leaning forward with some interest. “They’re not as interesting as the Cross Tournaments, but all the different mayors each own a team in each sport here in the Crossroads, so it’s very interesting to see each sponsored team really going at it for the pride of their section of the Crossroads~”
“Aude’s trying to teach me about it.” Vilivian explained. “She thinks I would make a great player, but I don’t see how this sport is useful for combat. I can understand wrestling as a sport to refine physical techniques, but this is just a bunch of males running in a circle after swinging a stick.”
Aude’s voice preceded her appearance. “I told you, just listen to me and you’ll see the appeal of baseball. You and me, we’d make a real superstar team together.” Stepping around the corner, Aude mostly looked the same, wearing her usual outfit. But overtop of it, she wore a regal looking purple cloak with white fur trim, and her crown was looking more ornate than usual. She carried a small scepter in her hand, using it to point at the two arguing.
“And you two, knock it off! It’s hard to hear the tv over you two fighting for the last hour and a half!” The two looked at her, but the fox girl’s glare was enough to at least calm them slightly, as she outangered the both of them combined. “No one cares that you want to go on your little date with Senko so bad! Just shut up so the rest of us can enjoy the game until Piano, Wendy, and Ronin gets here with all the food and we can really live up the rest of the night!”
“Speaking of, she said she should be by in an hour or so with all that food for you guys~” Chifu piped, getting everyone’s attention at this point. “By the way Aude, I noticed that Armel isn’t with you~ What’s with that?~”
“Oh, him?” Aude asked, shifting her weight as she turned to the goddess in disguise and her entourage. “Well, Ad came running by about an hour ago, saying he had something important to talk to him about. He hasn’t been back since. But he’s a grown ghost, so he should be fine, especially on Halloween.”
“Is that so?~ Well then, we’ll have to go over to Teekee’s place and see what’s going on~ Well, enjoy your game everyone, and I might stop by later when Piano gets here to get a taste of all her food~ Ta-ta for now~”
Chifu gave a wave, only to be outdone by Miss X’s as the party inside gave their farewells, most of them having calmed down once Vilivian grabbed a hold of the two troublemakers to drag them back into the other room. The last thing the trio outside saw before the door was Michaellis giving Senko a pat on the shoulder as if to congratulate her for greeting at the door, only for his hand to pull away with bits of frost as Senko’s arms waved in panicked apology.
“That was pretty weird!” Miss X announced, looking back at the house.
“I’ll say~” Chifu chimed in with a delighted giggle. “Although a test of courage sounds a lot of fun~ Maybe I should go back and ask if either of them will take me on one?~ Inari probably wouldn’t so she would get a free shot at Senko if Raku accepts my offer~ I really am a problem solver~”
“Speaking of tests of courage, Vilivian’s outfit seemed rather… interesting.” Saki piped in, seeming to instantly silence Chifu. “I didn’t give it to her, and I doubt anybody in that house did either. You wouldn’t happen to know where she got it, do you Chifu?”
Chifu attempted to whistle, which only served to attract the oni’s attention towards the fox woman more. “Hahaha~ What in the Crossroads could you possibly mean?~ Oh, by the way Miss X, what did you get from Aude’s place?~”
“Well, next up is Teekee’s place.” Saki said a sigh, guiding the other two as they excitedly looked at all the candy they’ve gotten so far. “I get the feeling I know where my nephew went to go ‘trick-or-treating’ tonight…”
They got up to the door and went to open it, when there was a sudden loud shout from the inside from a young, very familiar voice.
“HOOGALABOOSHKA!”
“ARBASHKARDOOLA!”
The women outside stood bewildered at the call and response from the inside as the door began to open. Inside was the large figure of Teekee, wearing a tattered brown vest over a white shirt, with a large screw floating in the orange goo that made up Teekee near his head. He gave the three women a wave, holding out a bowl of candy. “Happy Halloween!”
“Happy… Halloween…” the three said in unison, their focus on the scene behind Teekee.
In the middle of the room, all furniture cleared to the sides, was a large circle drawn on the ground with chalk. On closer inspection, it appeared to be a sumo ring, and where the fighters were to start sat two figures. On one side was Ad, who was currently shirtless, his hands covered with paw-like gloves and wolf ears on his head. The rest of his werewolf costume was flung behind him on the ground as he sat on his knees chanting weird battle cries.
Across from him sat Volley, who was likewise shirtless, his oni warrior costume likewise cast to the side, a tengu mask on the side of his head as he beat his chest in response to Ad’s challenge. This caused the other men around the circle to give a cry of their own.
From left to right, sitting at the edge of the circle, was Armius, Gensai, Taketor, and Rum. The former was wearing wrestling pants, with a large wrestling belt across his stomach as he seemed excited about the coming matches. Gensai was wearing an orange gi, the top wrapped around his waist as he likewise prepared himself for the match. Taketor didn’t seem to be wearing a costume, although the trash can lid nearby likely indicated what he wore to this “Halloween party.” Rum was dressed like a stereotypical Grim Reaper, with a large black cloak with a tattered hood that would serve to obscure his face if he had it up.
With a couple of dull thuds, the chanting died down. Looking to the back of the room, two more figures were in the room. Standing still was Beston, the scarred turtle man wearing a very stereotypical cowboy outfit with a red vest, brown chaps and boots with large spurs on them, with a bandana across his face to conceal his expression. To his left, sat on a throne made of PVC pipes and red fabric scrounged from who knows where, sat Armel in a regal purple cloak with white fur trim, a large ornate crown, and a golden scepter that he had just used to silence the group.
As Armel looked over the boys arrayed before him and gave them an approving nod, Teekee turned from the ceremony back to the girls, who all had various expressions of mixed confusion and amusement. “You’re just in time before the matches begin for the Ghost Challenging Challenge.”
“Ghost Challenging Challenge?” Miss X asked, looking offended. “Couldn’t you guys come up with a better name for it? Something like the Spooktacular Ghost Tournament or something?”
Teekee looked surprised as Chifu giggled behind Miss X. “Ad didn’t think of that. He was more excited to get the matches started so the winner could get ready to go out into the Sacred Forest around midnight.”
“Oh really?~ And what’s supposed to happen then?~” Chifu leaned against the door, taking her piece of candy from the bowl.
“Well, Quan said that the ghosts become more powerful during the witching hour, so Ad wanted to challenge the ghosts.” Teekee explained. “But then Quan said that the ghosts will only face the strongest warriors that step out there. So Ad threw all this together to prove who’s strong enough to face the ghosts.”
“Huh~ That actually makes some sense~” Chifu teased, as Miss X and Saki grabbed theirs. “I wonder if they’ll still be scared of Piano once they’re stronger?~” She then pointed to Armel. “And what about him?~ What’s his job here?~”
Teekee shrugged. “He’s supposed to ensure that the results are official. But he didn’t know anything about sumo, and Gensai is playing too, so Beston is acting as the referee. Whoever wins, the two of them will take the winner to the Sacred Forest and witness a legend be born!... according to Ad. He’s really excited about it. Taleus was too, but Michiko dragged him away for something. He seemed upset about that.”
“As he should be. Contests like this are ways for men to prove themselves to each other.” Saki said, before addressing her nephew. “HEY, VOLLEY!” The boy jumped and looked at his aunt. She slammed her fist into her palm. “IF YOU DON’T WIN, I’M PUTTING YOU THROUGH SOME EXTRA HELL FOR TRAINING! I’M NOT SENDING YOUR MOTHER BACK A WEAKLING!”
Volley shivered in fear, imagining how much harder her training could possibly get from what she was already doing to him. He gave her a salute as he responded in a shrill voice. “Yes Aunt!” There was a sudden intense aura that surrounded him, his eyes glowing with intense focus as the next round of chants began.
“BOOKALADOOGA!”
“FORCADORNA!”
“BOOKA!”
“WHAMM!”
“BOOKA!”
“WHAMM!”
More chest beatings and chantings rose from the boys, as Armel pounded the ground with his scepter to keep the pace. The three girls slowly began to back up as Teekee looked on with a smile on his face. By the time they started heading towards the bridge leading to the Tiger Fields, there was a loud cheer as the first match started.
“That was pretty weird, not going to lie.” Miss X commented, scratching her face as they walked across the large wooden bridge.
“Boys are going to be boys~” Chifu said with a shrug. “But I wonder what Taleus got called away to?~”
“Well whatever it is, I’m sure it can’t be weirder than that…” Saki said, though she didn’t sound like she believed it.
“YOU DAMN WITCHES! UNHAND ME AT ONCE!”
“It’s weird.”
“Without a doubt~”
“You only invite weirdos to this town…”
“Well, let’s see what my weirdos are up to then~” Chifu giggled, walking towards the sounds of a screaming Contractor. “Hopefully they didn’t break too much~”
As they approached one of the larger, empty fields, they saw a scene of mass destruction. There were weapons strewn across the field, blood spattered on most of them and across the other parts of the field. Flames were just starting to burn out, shadow arrows were beginning to fade, and smoke was beginning to dissipate from several craters scattered across the entire field. And sitting near a pair of weapons was the slightly rotted arm of Valentine.
“Oh my~ I can’t believe we missed such an amazing fight~” Chifu commented, picking up Valentine’s arm and putting it in her basket.
“I know! It would’ve been so fun to commentate!” Miss X complained, her microphone suddenly in hand as she clutched it tightly in anguish. “Let’s go see what the aftermath is!”
She quickly took off to where the shouting Yamarashi was coming from, Chifu and Saki following after. As they found where the commotion was coming from, they saw a small group surrounding a fallen Yamarashi, who thrashed from the ground. Two of the figures were holding down the struggling Contractor, two more putting a large flannel shirt with straw sticking out of the sleeves onto him. There were holes in it for where his weapons would go, and they placed a straw hat on his head as he cursed them in every way he knew how as a fifth person stomped on his face angrily, swearing at him in turn.
One of the figures holding down Yamarashi was his opponent in the tournament, Taleus, who wore an all black outfit, consisting of a black coat, shorts, gloves, boots, and a blindfold that would cover his eyes, but his extra pair allowed him to peek out from around it. The other binder was Viola, who was dressed in a sharp pinstripe suit and suit pants, along with a nice pair of dark shoes and a pair of shades over her face.
The two putting on the outfit were both female themselves. One was Michiko, who like Taleus was also dressed in all black. Her dress had ornate designs over it, a half skirt covering her left leg while her right was exposed. She wore black thigh high boots, and a white sleeve emerged from the feather like opening of the dress, meeting with a pair of black gloves. Like Taleus, she also wore a blackblindfold, though she did not have the extra eyes he did. Nevertheless, she had little issues seeing what she was doing as she buttoned up Yamarashi’s shirt.
The other proved to be Valentine, though she was dressed more feminine than usual. She wore a light purple dress, with an ornate design similar to what a princess might wear, with matching heels on her feet and a simple silver tiara on her head. One of her arms was missing, making her effort to fit every weapon through their respective holes rather difficult. But she was trying her level best, walking across Yama’s back to do her task.
The last figure, cursing out the Contractor on the ground, turned out to be Angelique, who like Viola was dressed much like an Italian mobster. But unlike Viola’s, hers was much nicer looking, with a nice white shirt under a pure black suit, with a black bowtie around her neck and a red rose in her breast pocket. She had a pair of white gloves on to cover her metallic arms, and her body was emitting a shadowy aura from having cast a lot of magic in the struggle before.
“So what was the big idea, you washed up, old geezer?” she shouted down at the prone man. “My friend and I are on a walk and you think you can just attack us because you think I’m helping them?”
“Of course!” Yamarashi shot back, not phased by the foot in his face. “All you witches like to work together, so when that brat and undead witch started attacking me, I knew you couldn’t resist the destructive part of your nature and join the attack!”
“Destructive nature? What kind of old-fashioned nonsense are you trying to put on me now?”
“A witch’s instincts to destroy are strong, especially on the Night of Witches! And the more fools they bewitch into celebrating the fool holiday, the stronger it is! Which is why I refuse to allow you to don that bewitched garb upon me! Now unhand me at once!”
“I think you’ll look better as a scarecrow than whatever you’re supposed to be, you big porcupine!” Angelique stepped away, before noticing Chifu and company approach. “Oh great. Just when I thought it wasn’t crowded enough. Now the fox and her buddies have to walk around like they own the place. Oh wait, I guess you do.”
“Oh, don’t make a big deal about that~” Chifu waved away the hostile words directed towards her. “I’m just a friendly girl, same as you~ So, can anybody tell me why we’re bullying the elderly today?~ I’m sure he’d appreciate being able to stand up~”
“Just a minute, Chifu dear~” Michiko purred, putting on the last of the outfit onto Yamarashi. “Aaannnnddddd perfect! I agree, he looks so much nicer as a scarecrow than as that mountain of a man he normally is.”
“Does that mean we can get off of him?” Taleus asked, his eyes blinking one after another as he looked at his supporter. “That the mission is complete?”
“Oh yeah, get off of him.” Michiko said carelessly, waving her hand as the assassin and demon girl both got up. Yamarashi immediately sprung to his feet, flexing his arms and cracking his neck in his new outfit. Then with a yell, the weapons strewn across the battlefield began to shake and rattle. Within a few moments, they all began to hurtle back towards him, lodging themselves in his back as before, with each fitting perfectly into the holes allotted for them in the costume.
He then looked to the sky, a terse scoff coming from him. “And tell your magical golem that it can stop pointing its infernal weapons at me. I can’t believe this brat’s beat me twice now…” Yamarashi looked to Taleus, who didn’t seem to care as everybody looked up.
Above in the sky, flying with his jets, was Pembrooke in his ATG as he raised the weapons away from Yamarashi. The mecha was decorated with various hanging fabrics that were tattered near the bottom, giving it an almost ghostly figure from high up. As the mech landed, the cockpit hatch opened, revealing its pilot. He was dressed in a very similar outfit to his usual, but there were more medals on it, and where his heart would be, there was a very realistic looking bloody hole as if his heart had been removed. Fake blood spattered his face, as he gave a wave before addressing Yamarashi. “It’s a machine, not magic. As I said many times while you threw weapon after weapon at it.”
“Because you wouldn’t come down and fight like a man!” Yamarashi shot back, crossing his arms defiantly.
“Why fight on the ground when I can bring all my firepower to bear from the sky. That said, it was hard to avoid hitting the rest of you in the crossfire. Especially you Taleus.” He turned to the blood assassin, who shrugged. “You were always too close to him when I went to fire, it was a miracle that I didn’t hit you.”
“It’s not up to a tool to get out of danger.” Taleus countered. “It’s up to those that use it to make sure it doesn’t get damaged.”
“This again?” Valentine piped in. She shook her head, putting her remaining hand on Taleus’ shoulder. “You’re not just a tool. You’re a person too. You should treat your body better.”
Taleus looked at her, then her missing arm, then at her arm in Chifu’s basket. “Right…” He then turned back to Michiko. “So is this a complete mission?”
“I’d like to think so.” Michiko responded, looking at a piece of paper. “The mission Quan gave us was to get Yamarashi in a costume before midnight and try to keep it on him for at least ten minutes. So unless the infamous, twice-lost Contractor would like to tussle with us another round, I say we’re good.”
“Quan told you to do this?” Miss X asked curiously as Valentine and Pembrooke cheered, while Viola and Angelique did a more quiet celebration nearby. “And what was the reward supposed to be for it?”
“That’s what we’d like to know~” Michiko replied, leaning into Chifu’s space. “Quan said you’d give us our reward once we did it. So, what’s it going to be?~”
“Huh?~” Chifu seemed confused before regaining her composure. “Oh, right~ Just give me a second~”
Chifu’s tails suddenly appeared, covering her body for a few moments as there was a flash of light. When she reappeared, she was in her God Eater persona, though that too was also dressed for Halloween. Her hair was done up in an ornate braid with a flower in her hair, her mismatched eyes framed by bangs as she smiled at the others. Her outfit was now a rather skimpy dress which barely covered most of her body, with black lace and bows to enhance, a white bottom tied behind her underneath her tails, bandages around her left leg and arm, and a pair of black heels.
“Now, dear travelers, shall I grant you all a small boon for your efforts?~” There was a ringing of bells, a smile on her face. “And you too Yamarashi, for putting up with my little game~”
“Alright, I got a small boon to ask for.” Angelique spoke up, stepping forward. “How about some peace and quiet, where maniacs won’t attack me?”
“Easy enough~” Madame chief tapped her heel and the ringing of bells created a doorway. Angelique and Viola stepped through, disappearing with the doorway.
Yamarashi spoke up next, pulling at his outfit. “You’ve had your amusement, witch. Now leave me be and let me have my peace.”
“Done~” Another door was heralded by the ringing of bells, and the walking mountain vanished as well.
“I just want my arm back on.” Valentine piped up, reaching her still attached hand out to grab her severed one out of Madame Chief’s basket.
“And I’ll take somewhere fun to go for the rest of the night.” Pembrooke added, leaning up against his ATX as he spoke.
“Hmmm~ Now that should be easy to solve for the both of you~” Madame Chief giggled, before conjuring another door. “Aude’s throwing a house party tonight, and Piano’s bringing food there~ Michaellis is already there, so between him and Piano, I’m sure someone will fix you up~ And I’m sure it’ll be tons of fun~”
“Thank you.” both said at the same time, walking through the door. As they did, there was a loud shriek, followed by billowing winds and the cocking of a spectral gun as whatever was happening there was disrupted by the arrival of two new guests. Madame Chief snickered as the door closed with another ring, leaving the two assassins with the goddess and her escorts.
Michiko began to walk forward sultry, raising her blindfold to look at Madame Chief directly as she got closer. “So, about my reward~”
Madame Chief looked at her… then walked right past Michiko to Taleus. “I’m sure you want to go back to Ad and the others~ They only just started, so I’m sure you can still join~”
Taleus blinked at Madame Chief, clearly confused, before nodding. With the ringing of bells, another doorway opened up and Taleus stepped through. As he did, there was a loud shout from inside before the door disappeared. “GORSHKANOOGLA!”
“Those boys are so silly~” Madame Chief commented, as Michiko perked up. She then turned to the mech. “So how are we going to get this somewhere safe?~ Think I could fly it to the garage?~”
“I think that would be a bad idea…” Saki said.
“I think that’s a great idea!” Miss X cheered.
“What about me?” Michiko complained.
“Oh right, your boon~” Madame Chief said, as if she had forgotten her. “Hmmm, let me think~” Michiko nodded, encouraging her. “How about Saki makes you a special drink tonight?~ I’ll be coming by later to drink up~”
“Eh, I suppose that’s good enough.” Michiko said with a shrug. “I’ll be waiting for you, Chifu~”
Madame Chief opened up another portal, and Michiko disappeared with a flirty wave. Once she was gone, she transformed back to her Chifu form and giggled as she looked at the other two. “Tonight has been so amusing~ I’m glad I invited all these people to the Crossroads~ They’re lots of fun~”
“They are!” Miss X agreed. “I hope they stick around longer!”
“They’ve certainly livened the place up a little more than usual.” Saki also agreed, resting a fist on her hip.
“Now, let’s put this thing away, then go back to Aude’s for that party~” Chifu said excitedly, climbing up the mech as Miss X did similarly on the other side. Saki sighed, shaking her head as she expected this to turn into a disaster.
As the sounds of jets sounded across the plains, the forest seemed to glow with an ethereal light. The ghosts of the Sacred Forest looked over the town as Halloween continued to be celebrated across the Crossroads, the cheers and celebrations sounding almost like the howls of the dead, intermingled with the chiming of bells.
Mistletoe Troubles in the Crossroads
by zacknapattack
Original Doc - Mistletoe Troubles in the Crossroads.pdf
Twas the night before Christmas, and snow was abound. The Crossroads were bustling, the streets all filled with sound. People played and they sang, and ran round with arms full of boxes. And as they all did so, they had to avoid tripping on foxes.
The source of those foxes, the God Eater herself, was currently getting dressed to celebrate the holidays in her favorite place, the Fox Den beneath her. Saki was dressed with a simple elf hat on top of her usual uniform, to avoid getting in the way of her work. The regulars had already filled the night with festive cheer, faces red from more than just the cold as two figures sat at the bottom of the stairs to the VIP lounge, waiting for the local goddess to descend.
One was a gentleman, dressed in his usual attire, but with his normal hat replaced with a Santa cap, and a sprig of holly in his breast pocket. The other was a woman dressed up very festively, with a very low cut red dress with fluff trim on the top and bottom edges. She also wore some thigh high socks and red heels that elevated her to be the taller of the pair as she looked down at him smugly. His own expression was rather smug as well, both competing with each other silently as they waited.
Above the pair's head was a sprig of mistletoe hanging on high as the two waited patiently. Saki walked over, cleaning a glass as she addressed them. “So, what are you two doing taking up random floor space in my bar?”
“Well, Spiritsmaster, I am currently taking occupancy of this space in anticipation for the arrival of the God Eater upon our mortal presences. There are a few certain subjects I wish to discuss with her, but she only seems to partake in my company if it will amuse her, so I thought this particular festive tradition should prove to be a satisfactory implementation to achieve such a condition.” Forte explained in his usual manner, gesturing to the mistletoe.
“I’m waiting for Chifu to get her foxy ass down here so I can kiss her.” Michiko explained more simply, also gesturing at the mistletoe.
Saki looked between the two of them, then looked at the mistletoe, then back at them. “If you two are following the tradition, shouldn’t you give each other a kiss first before she gets here?”
“And to whom do you presume me to grant an embarrasser upon? There is none besides me to bestow it upon.”
“What are you talking about? I’m the only one under this thing.”
“Forget I ask.” Saki said, exasperated. She then leaned forward and gave them pecks on the cheek. “I don’t do kisses on the lips. That costs extra. You two have fun I guess, whatever that means to the both of you.”
Saki went to walk away, when the sound of uneven footsteps began to approach the top of the stairs. Soon, the stumbling Chifu revealed herself in all of her Christmas glory. She wore a short yellow dress under a black corset vest with loose straps on the front, the whole piece appearing as if she was going to spill out of it at any moment. She also wore a pair of thigh high socks, puffy sleeves, and a pair of decorative reindeer antlers on top of her head.
As she got to the top of the stairs, her face flushed with alcohol, she gave a cheery, “Happy New Year everyone!~” She took a step on the first step, before going off balance and stumbling down the stairs at a rapid pace. Forte managed to move forward first, catching her in his arms. As Michiko pouted at his heroic rescue, Chifu wrapped her arms around Forte’s neck and smashed her lips against his.
Forte certainly seemed surprised as the sensations from her flooded his senses, the sloppy kiss of a drunk filling his mouth with the taste of eggnog and alcohol as she pressed against him. After a few moments of the kiss, she eventually pulled away from the writer, whose glasses were now skewed. Chifu then stumbled into Michiko, giving her a similar drunken kiss for just as long.
Once the two travelers had received their kisses, she then turned her drunken attention towards Saki, pushing Michiko away to head towards the oni. “Happy Hanukkah, Saki!~” She tried to kiss Saki on the lips like the other two, but the bartender managed to turn her head away to receive a kiss on the cheek instead, sending Chifu into a giggle fit.
“Alright Chifu, you promised to go see Miss X’s concert in front of the Cross Colosseum, so you better get going.” Saki carried the drunken goddess towards the door, before nearly shoving her out of the bar. “And be careful of ice!”
“Thanks Saki~” Chifu cheered, running off on steady legs as if her previous drunken state didn’t exist. Forte just watched her leave with an exasperated expression at the goddess antics, while Michiko began to protest and chase after the goddess. Her progress was impeded by a crowd of people pushing into the bar led by Armius and Pembrooke for holiday drinks with a loud cheer. The assassin gave a roar of anger that was drowned out by the holiday songs as her quarry escaped once more.
But those two weren’t the only ones that were having trouble with mistletoes and their intended targets for kissing under it. Across the Crossroads, past the now bustling concert in front of the Colosseum as Miss X did a pop idol rendition of “All I Want for Christmas is You,” Senko was looking rather panicky.
After all, she now found herself under a sprig of mistletoe on the streets of the Crossroads in a big puffy coat with fur on the hood, with two pairs of gleaming eyes staring at her. One was Raku, who had been walking with Aanir as both were wearing matching coats, and the other was Inari, who had been walking with Taleus in both of their usual attire besides Santa hats on their heads, both having frozen mid stride/float as they noticed this little scenario. She wished she could just Blink away and make her escape, but their gazes held her in place as they processed what it meant.
Then, in a burst of motion and flying snow, both women came charging towards Senko as fast as possible. They started shoving each other as they closed in on the poor girl who just shook in her place.
“Back off dragon face! I saw her first!”
“Doesn’t matter if I get there first!”
“In your dreams!”
“About to be your reality!”
Nearby, Aude and Armel looked over after having their own quick kiss after Gensai had pointed out to them they were under it, the fox girl and ghost shaking their heads at their rambunctious friends charging towards the poor wallflower who quivered like a deer in the headlights.
Eventually, the two girls had reached Senko at the same time, each one planting a kiss on either cheek of the mummy girl, looking smugly at the other at their perceived victory. But before they could open their mouths to brag and eventually argue over who got the kiss first, they noticed that their lips had frozen to the swordswoman’s skin as her freezing touch kicked in. As Senko realized this, she panicked further, causing the freezing touch to spread even faster as Raku and Inari’s cheeks were beginning to cover in ice next. Combined with the already cold and snowy day, both the dragon and the ghost were already set to shivering as they immediately began to hurtle towards hypothermia.
Aude, Armel, and Aanir all immediately launched into a panicked rescue mode, while Taleus just stared at everything in open confusion. Aude quickly came up with an idea after rushing forward and holding her head in panic, running down one street shouting “Find Wendy! Find Wendy!”
The four quickly spread out to begin looking for the mage, who was currently enjoying sledding on the hills to the north with Taketor, Jackie, and Valentine. As the search party spread out from the streets below, on the rooftops above were a pair of figures that were getting up to their own trouble.
Dressed in costumes were Ad and Teekee. Ad was dressed in a reindeer outfit, complete with horns as he was “holding” up Teekee (who in reality, was just walking in a way Ad wouldn’t notice to let Ad think he was carrying him), who was dressed in a simple Santa outfit complete with a thick white beard hanging from his lava-like goop.
“So remind me again of what we’re doing?” Teekee asked, fixing up his costume as he questioned his ward for what might’ve been the third time in the last hour and a half.
“Well, you know how normally people don’t let you climb down their chimney?” Ad asked, looking back at Teekee. “Well, apparently every year on this day, some big guy with a red outfit and a white beard goes around and goes down people’s chimneys to give them presents. So, if we dress up like that guy, then people should let us finally climb down their chimneys and see what’s in them.” He stepped on something weird, looking down at it. “Oh, sorry Piano! Coming though!”
Piano squeaked as Ad jumped past her still in her usual outfit, the girl hiding from people going around trying to kiss her under the mistletoe. Ad finally reached a house with a chimney, “setting down” Teekee as he dusted off his hands. “And there we are! Your reindeer has delivered you to a house! So, let’s go down!”
“I’m not sure this is a good idea, Ad…” Teekee said with some concern. “What if somebody lights a fire in their chimney while you're climbing down? What will we do then?”
“It’ll be fine.” Ad said dismissively. “People would already have their fires lit if they were going to do it, so we have nothing to worry about. Now, let’s get going!”
With little preamble, Ad suddenly climbed up onto the chimney and stuck himself into the exit hole headfirst, his legs kicking out as he began to scrabble down as Teekee held out his hand in worry. But Ad seemed fine for the moment, already making his way a couple feet down after a bit of effort.
Seeing Ad’s success, Teekee decided that things were fine and wanted to try it out for himself. Looking over at the next house with a chimney, quickly making his way over to it with a few bounding, stretching steps. Reaching it, he took advantage of his goopy body to begin to squeeze himself down that chimney much faster than Ad’s solid body could climb down.
After a few seconds of oozing his way down, Teekee reached the bottom of the chimney and into the fireplace… where Beston looked at him with some confusion and annoyance, his Santa hat flopping to one side as the gunslinger worked his jaw.
The two stared at each other for a few moments, the tortoise man holding a box of matches as he had prepared to light his fireplace to warm himself up. The stack of logs that were carefully arranged were now a scattered mess thanks to Teekee’s descent, lying on the carpeted floor around Beston as the gunman clicked his tongue. He then casually set the box down, setting his arm on his knee as he looked down at Teekee. “So boy, care to explain what you’re doing here in my fireplace?”
“Well, I’m Santa!” Teekee tried to lamely explain, pointing at his beard. “And I’m here to go down your chimney!”
“Are you now, pardner?” Beston asked, sounding amused at first. “Then I take it you got a load of presents to deliver to a good guy like me, don’tcha?”
“Oh, right… that…'' Teekee looked sheepish. “No, I don’t really have anything like that.”
“Is that so? What a shame.” Beston shook his head. “If that’s the case, I’m going need you to leave my fireplace… now.”
Several guns materialized behind Beston, all of them pointed directly at Teekee’s face as the gunslinger drew his physical gun. “I’ll give you to the count of ten. After that, I make no promises as to your safety.”
“Wait, Beston, we can talk about-”
“Ten. Nine. Eight…”
Teekee immediately began to scrabble back up the chimney, though not quickly enough for Beston’s tastes as the sounds of gunshots rang out up the chimney after Teekee. Teekee just managed to escape as bullets whizzed into the air. More bullets snaked out of the chimney after the golem as Teekee tried to escape into the snow.
Back in the chimney Ad climbed down, Piano looked down from the entrance as she looked at the boy. Ad was now stuck halfway down, his arms pinned to his side as he tried to wriggle his way out. “Hey, Piano! I’m stuck! Can you get Teekee to get me out of here?”
“Um… well, it looks like Teekee’s getting run off by bullets from the other building. I don’t think he’ll be able to help you…” Piano sounded rather apologetic, glancing at the fleeing golem before looking back to his ward.
“What! Ah man, that sucks!” Ad complained. “How am I going to get out now? Am I going to be stuck here forever?”
“Well, I could go look for the Madame Chief. Her spatial magic should be able to get you out…” Piano suggested, glancing towards the concert at the center of the Crossroads.
“That’s a great idea! Hurry up and get her before I-” Ad suddenly began to cough down below, causing Piano to panic slightly. “Ah man, I just swallowed some black powder! What is this stuff?”
“That’s soot! Don’t eat that, it’s bad for you!”
“Well I can’t do anything about that! Hurry up and get Chifu!”
Piano quickly took off, opening up her senses to find Chifu as she parkoured above the streets of the Crossroads. But it would take her a while to actually find Chifu, because she hadn’t gone towards the concert.
Instead, she had gone towards the outskirts of town, where Muhamora was sat by herself, her mushroom “hat” protecting the rest of her body from the snow as she sat on an overlook of the city with a wistful look on her face as she almost seemed to watch everyone going about their business with a forlorn expression on her face.
“You’re looking pretty down, Muha~” Chifu’s chipper voice came out of seemingly nowhere, as she sat down next to Muhamora. “Maybe I can help you out~”
“Oh, hey Chifu.” Muha said, trying to muster up a happy look for the goddess but only half succeeding as she managed a glum smile. “Just enjoying the Christmas air.”
“From all the way out here?~ Seems pretty lonely to me~” Chifu teased, tilting her head at Muhamora.
“You know I can’t be down there with everyone else because of my… condition.” Muhamora looked down at her hands, as if imagining what they could do to people if they touched anyone in the Crossroads.
“Right, I suppose that is a problem~ You can’t exactly touch anyone with your condition, even with Raku’s gloves to help~ Nor can you kiss under the mistletoe~ Like~ This~” Chifu held up a mistletoe, before kissing Muhamora on the lips.
The mushroom woman immediately went into a panic, worried about Chifu’s health as the drunkard pulled away from the kiss after a bit. “What are you, crazy? Just because you’re a goddess doesn’t mean that isn’t dangerous!”
“You’re right, it would be~” Chifu teased. “If I didn’t grant you a tiny little wish~”
“What?” Muhamora sat back for a second.
“Don’t tell anyone about this~ If people found out I gave out this little wish, everyone will be bugging me about wishes for the rest of my immortal existence and I don’t want that~”
“But what did you do? I don’t feel any different.” Muhamora looked down at her body, looking for any difference.
“Well, I made it that for today only, nobody you kiss under the mistletoe will be affected by your poison~ And with this~” Chifu reached up and attached the sprig onto Muha’s hat. “And with how tall you are, just be sure not to try and kiss Saki and Yama and we’ll be fine~”
“I-I-I” Muhamora seemed lost for words, looking at Chifu with some reverence.
“Well, what are you waiting for?~” Chifu teased, holding her legs close to her body. “Raku should still be near the center of town still~ I’m sure she’d be happy to be your second official kiss of your life~ And then you can make your way around making up for a lifetime of missing out on such a treat, shouldn’t you?~”
Muhamora looked at Chifu for a bit longer, before taking off in a sprint, lifting up her red Christmas dress to better run as she made her way back into the throng of people. As Chifu watched the poison provisioner disappear into the Crossroads, she shifted into her God Eater persona as she watched over her town.
All throughout the town, people were meeting up and exchanging gifts and kisses under the mistletoe as a jolly mood infects the townsfolk. Quan sneaks around tying mistletoe onto the horns of Senko and Piano, causing them to panic. Angelique is dragged towards a set of sleds by Viola and Volley. And Delivery Girl was going around, handing out presents to the various contestants.
As Miss X’s concert comes to a close, a firework show goes off as the last notes of her pop version of “Silent Night” echoed over the whole of the Crossroads. Madame Chief smiled at all the sights and sounds, smoke coming out of her pipe as she felt content at the domain she had dominion over as it celebrated Christmas in the best ways possible.
“My, what a lovely Christmas we’re having this year~ I hope that the next year will be just as exciting for me and for everyone else~ Have a Merry Christmas, dear travellers, and I hope you’ll all be entertaining wherever you go~”
To those that Strive for Peace
by zacknapattack
Original Doc - To those that Strive for Peace.pdf
For Power (Taleus, Inari, Piano):
The sound of three exhausted people panting for air filled the air of the Shifting Meadows as three of the finalists tried to catch their breath. Taleus and Piano laid in a crater next to each other, the former’s wrists still bleeding from where he had been drawing weapons and the latter’s sword stuck deep in the ground next to her. Inari floated nearby, Red and Green floating near her sending her silent concerns as she tried to recover her energy.
The meadow around them was full of craters, some caused by the might of Inari’s blows, but most and especially the bigger ones were the result of the monstrous strength that Saki possessed, having just finished training the three on her own. While Saki had claimed they had passed the exercise, the fact that she could walk back to her bar seemingly unaffected and the three were still sucking wind on the ground certainly didn’t make any of them feel like they won.
“What was that potion she drank before the fight?” Taleus asked, having finally recovered enough to talk. “Was it something to make her more powerful than usual?”
“I don’t think so.” Piano replied, any of her nervous timbre gone from sheer exhaustion despite her otherwise remarkable stamina. “Given the color and the scent of the potion when she uncorked it and the hardening of her skin, I’d say she drank a Rockskin potion. While the slight weight increase and toughness of her skin could’ve made her blows slightly stronger, I still think most of that was nat-”
“Now she learns how to talk.” Inari cut in, trying to joke but her breathlessness made it difficult to parse. “She didn’t talk a single word the whole time we roped her into this, but get her talking about whatever that drink was and she talks a mile a minute.”
“I’m sorry…” Piano quickly apologized, her face would’ve flushed if it wasn’t already from exertion.
“I didn’t mean… nevermind.” Inari shook her head, the flame-like hair looking dim. “Though I guess I wonder why she had to drink it if she’s that strong already.”
“Worried I’ll stab her in the back, I guess.” Taleus assumed, closing all of his eyes as he did. “If she didn’t have that, the fight would’ve ended much earlier.”
“Between Taleus and I specializing in sneak attacks and Inari being good at direct combat, that would be a concern even for her…” Piano commented, finally sitting up. “The fact that she fought us unarmed was a problem enough for her, but one touch of mine or Taleus’ blade to her vitals would be dangerous even for her…”
“And what was I, just decoration?” Inari floated upright, frowning towards Piano.
“No no no! I didn’t mean something like that!” Piano said with a panic, waving her arms flustered. “I just mean that oni are more well suited for fighting strong people, so it’s no surprise she took you on directly. But because she would need to focus on you, she took the potion so Taleus and I couldn’t get a lucky shot. If you weren’t there, she would quickly crush Taleus and I because she could just try to beat us quickly…”
“So you’re saying we’re not strong enough to take her?” Taleus asked, still lying on the ground. Piano bit her lip, clearly getting upset at how the other two were reacting to her words. “That even though I could beat a Contractor, I can’t beat her?”
“That’s… different…” Piano sounded meek, not looking at him. “He was immortal, and didn’t expect to be able to lose from some unknown warrior. So he didn’t take the precautions he probably should’ve… Saki’s still mortal, and she knows who you are. So she had to do whatever possible to make sure you couldn’t easily beat her…”
“I mean, we all made it to the end of our tournaments each.” Inari added. “If she didn’t take us somewhat seriously, we’d probably beat her easily.”
Taleus sat listlessly on the ground for a bit as Piano stood up, before she bent down to retrieve her sword. But with how deeply it was lodged, she was struggling to remove the weapon from its dirt prison. Inari floated next to her, joining Piano in her effort to draw the blade. Both gripped tightly and pulled with all of their might, slowly tugging inch by inch from the earth.
“But an assassin always gets his mark. An assassin that can’t is just a tool that can be thrown away.” His blood flowed into his hands, forming a scythe with a wicked crimson blade. “But that’s why I came here. To ensure that I will have the power to always kill my targets.”
Piano looked kind of nervous at that, still pulling on her sword. “I suppose that’s true… If you can’t achieve your purpose in life, then it makes it feel more empty.”
“Are you guys ok?” Inari asked incredulously. “Like seriously, you guys could just make your own way in life? Is that so hard? And if you really need help, you two can join my crew.”
“What do you mean?” Taleus asked, tilting his head as his eyes blinked one at a time at Inari. “I’m already doing what I want to do. My place is with the Perpetuals.”
“And I’ve got everything I could want doing what I’m currently doing…” Piano’s tail nervously wrapped around her wrist, focusing her eyes on her stuck sword. “Not that I have too much I could want anyways if I wasn’t on my present course…”
“And what are you doing?” Taleus asked, looking curious.
“Uh… nothing too special. Don’t worry about it…” Piano looked embarrassed, not making eye contact still.
“Does it have anything to do with your brother constantly trying to talk to Chifu? Michiko keeps complaining about him getting in her way.”
“Oh, does she? I’m sorry. I’ll talk to my brother about it and try to make things easier on both of them…” Piano’s voice grew quiet.
“If he was really a problem, Michiko would get rid of him. I doubt he’d stand a chance.”
“Really?” Inari jumped in. “Is she that strong?”
“She’s rank 2 of the Perpetuals for a reason.” Taleus shrugged. “She’s never failed to take out a target she was going for. Unlike me. I barely beat the Contractor, and I couldn’t beat Saki just now. I need more strength if I ever want to measure up to her.”
“Is that so?” Inari asked with some strain in her voice, looking up as she kept pulling on the sword. “That’s what you’re going to wish for? Bulging muscles or something?
Taleus shook his head, his hair bouncing with the motion. “I’m already strong enough physically. What I need more is to unlock my Awakening.”
“Awakening? What, are you having trouble getting up where you’re from?” Inari cocked her head, her hair flickering like movement as she did.
“Not quite…” Piano chimed in. “Perpetuals all have an ability called Awakening, which can be said to be the ultimate conception of their powers. Some are said to even alter reality itself within the scope of their influence…”
“Oh? You certainly know a lot.” Taleus looked at her, his six eyes making Piano flush and look away. “Who told you about all of that?”
“My brother…” Piano confessed, finally pulling out her sword as Inari nearly fell over from the sudden jolt of movement. “Once he heard what you were, he did some asking around. Combine that with his studies back home before we started traveling the multiverse, and he was able to tell me the basic gist of it.”
Taleus gave her a long look, before shrugging his shoulders. “I see. Your brother seems to know how to get into other people’s business. Hopefully he doesn’t end up one of my targets after I’ve gotten my Awakening. Whatever it is, I doubt he’d be able to survive it.”
“I would have to stop you then…” Piano said it quietly, almost imperceptibly, though the way Taleus looked at her indicated he heard her loud and clear. “Even if you are a Perpetual, I’d have to take you on to protect my brother. No hard feelings, of course…”
Her sword laid in her hands, one hand on the hilt and the other running along the blade to check it for dirt or other bits of grime. Taleus’ blood scythe twirled in his hands, four of his eyes narrowing at Piano as if judging her for weak points. Inari floated between the two, looking between them with some nervousness.
“Not that you would get assigned to him.” Inari reasoned. “After all, he’s just a writer…”
“That’s true…” Piano didn’t sound so sure of that, but her flushed expression of embarrassment was also marred with a look of some confidence.
“...So you think you could take me in a fight?” Taleus asked, a curious tone in his voice.
“Um… I would certainly have to take you on…” Piano didn’t meet his gaze, looking at the ground instead.
“Well, let’s settle it now.” Taleus got into a combat ready stance, looking at Piano with a predator’s gaze. “That way, we don’t have to figure it out later.”
Piano looked startled, nearly dropping her sword. “Right now?” she asked in a panic. “But we just fought Saki, so maybe we should rest and-”
“Better to take him on now than wait till he’s fully rested.” Inari chimed in, causing Taleus to smirk and Piano to fluster. “Or waiting for him to attack you at night or something while you’re sleeping.”
“Ah… I-I suppose that’s true.” Piano admitted.
“And you already look like you recovered from our fight with Saki. You’ll make a great opponent for seeing if I can kill a target while exhausted.” Taleus raised his arm, biting into it and drawing some blood to form a set of floating blades alongside him.
Inari looked over at Piano with some surprise. She had indeed regained control of her breathing, and she was no longer sweating from exhaustion either. She was already beginning to shift her weight back and forth, getting ready for more activity.
“You’re ready to fight so quickly after that?” Inari complained, looking at Piano. “Didn’t you get beaten down by Saki a bunch earlier?”
“Oh, well, I managed to take those blows pretty well. Blunt attacks aren’t that great for me, but I can at least toughen my body to avoid instantly being crushed by someone like Saki…”
“And you aren’t much better!” Inari wheeled towards Taleus. “I’m pretty sure I watched Saki smash you into a crater!”
“I can’t let something like that slow me down.” Taleus shook off the question, gathering his breath. “The other Perpetuals have hit me way harder than she did. I can take this girl.”
“If you say so…” Inari began to move back. “You guys are ridiculous…”
“This is just a sparring match, right?” Piano asked with uncertainty, looking nervous. “We’re not going to take this seriously, right?”
Taleus didn’t say anything, giving his scythe another twirl. Piano looked nervous, but likewise got into a battle ready stance.
“Are you guys ready to do this?” Inari called. “I’ll stop you guys if it starts going too far. At least I don’t have to hold back for you guys.”
“A tool is always ready to do its function.” Taleus responded.
“I’ll do what I must.” Piano nodded. She drew a few throwing knives to match Taleus’ projectiles, glancing over at Inari as she raised her two blue coated arms.
“Ok, if you guys say so. Ready? Set. FIGHT!”
For Family (Raku, Aude, Vilivian):
The sound of ceramic cups being set onto the traditional table punctuated the spoken words of the three women gathered together that day. They had managed to get a private table at the Mean Red Bean, a famous restaurant with a wide variety of bean foods and drinks and foodstuffs that goes with beans well. For now, the trio of women were enjoying small cups of sake, in a large traditional sake bottle with the kanji for “Dragon” printed on the front.
Sat at the head of the table was Raku, who looked like she was having fun, but when the other two were distracted, she held a contemplative expression to herself. To her right sat Aude, who lounged on the cushion almost luxuriously, her tail acting as another cushion for herself. Vilivian was swishing her own cup around, reclining on one arm as she looked at her two lunch partners.
All three were wearing yukatas, in preparation to go to the hot springs after their meals. They were waiting for their red bean buns to arrive and were just talking amongst themselves to pass the time. Suddenly, Vilivian turned towards Raku. “So what’s been on your mind? You’ve been looking sour this whole time.”
“What?” Raku jolted, startled. “What are you talking about?”
“Do you really think we’re that stupid?” Aude chimed in. “I noticed you thinking about things all day. We agreed to hang out and have fun before we go back to our final rounds. So tell us what’s in your head right now that’s making it rattle so we can relax in the hot springs in a bit.”
“Oh, you guys noticed huh…” Raku rubbed the back of her head. “It’s no big deal, I’ll just talk to my brother when we’re done.”
“Uh huh.” Aude said, clearly not buying her words.
Vilivian and Aude both stared intently at Raku, who seemed to shrink more and more under the shorter women’s gaze as they both sat up. Raku tried to sip her drink, only to find her cup empty. She looked at them embarrassed as they both leaned in further, upping the pressure on Raku.
“Ok, ok! I’ll tell you! Stop looking at me like that!” She covered her face as the two redheads looked at each other with some pride at breaking the draconic girl. Raku sat back up on the cushions as she looked at the two with some confidence.
“I was just thinking of my grandfather and how I’m supposed to take his place as the leader of our clan. And I was thinking about the wish I want to make if I win my tournament. I’m just not sure what to do.”
The two listened with intent expressions, nodding as the wind dragon spoke. When she finished, Aude leaned forward, rubbing the rim of her cup as she gave her reply. “I see. And what do you want out of all of this?”
“What?” Raku looked confused. “I mean, I want to live up to my grandfather’s expectations, you know?”
“That’s good to do.” Vilivian piped in. “The passing down of such responsibilities is one of the purposes of clans like yours and mine. I upheld my own responsibilities for several hundred years before I came here. I would hope you’d be able to do the same.”
“For several hundred years?” Raku looked concerned. “I don’t think my grandfather expected me to take his duties for that long. Though I guess I’ll have to wait till I have a descendant to pass it on to before my death…”
“But do you really have to?” Aude asked. “If you don’t want to do it, shouldn’t you just do what makes you happy?”
“But I appreciate everything my grandfather did.” Raku grabbed the bottle, looking at the kanji. “And I want to be able to hold my head up high, knowing my grandfather is looking down at me proudly.”
“And yet?” Aude primed, raising her eyebrow at her.
“And yet… I would rather just have my grandfather back.” she admitted, looking down with shame. “I was kind of hoping to use the wish from winning my tournament to bring him back.”
“Did you not consume his body to take on his power and subsume his soul into yours?” Vilivian asked plainly. “I’m surprised he was not devoured sooner, though I suppose he was waiting for a worthy heir to consume him.”
Raku and Aude both looked at her with different levels of horror. It took a couple minutes for either of them to recover enough to speak, while Vilivian just looked at them with some confusion.
“I-I could never eat my grandfather!” Raku protested, slamming the sake bottle down. “I love him very much! Why would I ever do something like that to him?”
“To ensure his strength could be used by someone more worthy of it.” Vilivian said plainly. “The females are the ones that continue the family lineage, while the males exist to help strengthen the chosen women of the line in order to truly rule. Such is the way of life.”
“Maybe where you’re from, but that doesn’t work in most other places.” Aude pointed out, popping some dango in her mouth. “And if you say I should eat Armel, I’m going to punch you in the face.”
“He controls your powers, doesn’t he?” Vilivian asked. “Then shouldn’t you take-”
“Ah ah ah. I’m not going to hear another word.” Aude insisted dangerously.
The other two women began to disagree across the table, neither side fully understanding the other’s point while Raku just stared at the table in thought. She thought back to all the times she spent with her grandfather, all the advice he gave her, all the training they did together. Her heart ached once more as she remembered the funeral they had for her grandfather, and she felt the weight of the responsibility his death placed on her shoulders as he had chosen her to take his place.
The desire to run away from that responsibility, of simply wishing him back and just having him once more crept back into Raku’s heart. The thought of how nice it would be just to hug him like she did when she was little and not have to worry anymore, that everything was safe and back to normal.
But then she remembered Aanir’s words before her second match. And Michaellis’ during the second match, when she lost herself in her anger and tried to tear Valentine apart. She thought about those in her clan that would be disappointed if her grandfather was brought back because of her.
But most of all, she thought about what her grandfather would say to her if he found out she had essentially abandoned the duties he had bestowed upon her by bringing him back. She tried to imagine what face of disappointment he would make upon hearing that, but it was literally too painful for her to bear. She closed her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath, causing the other two to look at her.
“You alright Raku?” Aude asked, her ears flicking as if to show her concern. “If you want to stop talking about it, we can move on. This is a girl’s day out. We are supposed to be having fun.”
“I’ll be fine.” Raku assured them. “Just with the final round around the corner, it’s hard not to think about that kind of thing.
“I know what you mean.” Aude agreed, her tail flipping behind her. “Armel and I have been trying to figure out this whole ‘curse’ thing before I have to fight that ghost girl and it’s been driving us nuts! Though I’ve heard she’s going through her own shit too.”
“Isn’t everyone in this tournament?” Vilivian asked, tilting her head. “I know my opponent seems to have her own doubts about a lot of things. That, and she’s constantly around her talkative brother, which I’m not sure is good for her.”
“He talks that much to you guys too?” Aude asked, surprised. “I thought he was just fucking with me by talking like that! Whoo, I’m glad I’m not the only one dealing with that crap. Raku, have you talked to Forte yet?”
Raku shook her head. “No. I’ve seen him around Chifu and Michiko alot, and I would rather avoid dealing with all of that. But he does occasionally try to reach out, but I’m usually busy with Senko.”
“Oh, I bet you are~” Aude teased, leaning in. “It was sooooo hard to convince you to walk away from her to hang out with Vili and I~”
Raku’s face turned a bright red, her dragonic tail flicking behind her nervously. “I-I wasn’t that bad, was I?”
“Your infatuation with the mummy girl is pretty obvious.” Vilivian pointed out, pointing the skewer her dango were on at Raku. “Having a romantic partner is pretty important.”
“Yes it is~” Aude said in a singsong tone, winking at Raku. “And I think we know who Raku’s thinking about for that~”
“Oh yeah?” Raku countered, sitting tall. “And what about you and Armel? Don’t tell me you two are spending all that time alone just ‘figuring out your curse.’” The gratuitous amount of air quotes being used was almost insulting.
Aude began to flush herself. “I-it’s not like that! He helps me control my powers! We’re working together to win the tournament and solve each other’s problems!”
“Uh huh. And he just happens to be your type too.” Raku teased, now on the attack as she leaned in. “Must be nice for you to have everything work out like that~”
“That does seem rather fortunate.” Vilivian piped in, leaning back in her cushions as she looked to the wall.
Both Aude and Raku’s eyes gleamed as they looked at Vilivian as the fox girl spoke. “Oh? And what about you Vili? I’ve seen you talking to your opponent a lot~”
“Piano?” Vilivian seemed unfazed. “I admit her blood is rather interesting to me. Her blood color is rather rare, so she is someone worth spending time with.”
“And is that all she is to you?~” Raku chimed in, her and Aude leaning in Vilivian’s direction as they tried to corner her.
“Looks like our food is here.” Vilivian explained, pointing to the sliding door. Sure enough, the chef walked in with their red bean buns. Aude clapped her hands together in excitement, while Raku sat up in preparation.
As the three began to dig into their little snack, Raku quietly thought to herself. Realizing suddenly what Aude and Vilivian had done by changing the subject, she put down her bean bun. Aude looked over at her, ears flickering in confusion.
“Thank you both. This has already been a lot of fun.”
“Hmm?” Aude looked confused, before nodding her head. “No problem. That’s why we did this.”
“Indeed. Having fun is what a ‘girl’s day out’ is all about, according to you two.” Vilivian added.
“I know. It’s nice to get away from all the heavy thoughts of this tournament. Now let’s finish these bean buns. There’s a hot spring waiting for us!” Raku picked up her bun and started eating again.
“Way ahead of you sister.” Aude said, cleaning her face with a napkin as she finished her bean bun.
“As am I.” Vilivian said, pulling on her yukata. “Now that that’s done, I can start taking this off to prepare for the hot springs?”
“NO!” Both of the other girls shouted, Raku nearly choking on her bean bun as Aude leaped over the table to stop Vilivian from stripping. It was clear that the three still had much fun to be had on this little day together. And at least for the moment, they could set aside all of their worries they had brought with them to this tournament.
For Vengeance (Inari, Taleus, Vilivian):
The Sacred Forest was not a place many often went to willingly. With all of the ghosts and other dangers it presented, it would be the last place most people would want to meet. Which made it the perfect meeting spot for those that didn’t want anybody to overhear whatever conversation they were about to have.
“So I’ve heard you Perpetuals are some of the best assassins there are.” Inari asked, leaning up high against a tree nearby.
Taleus’ six eyes looked up at the ghost girl, as if insulted by the question. “Of course we are. I take it you need somebody killed?”
“You could say that…” Inari said, looking away for a moment. “Though it’s more like I’m trying to track her down.”
“So you want to kill her yourself?” Taleus asked, tilting his head. “Then why come to an assassin?”
“Because I can’t find her on my own terms…” Inari admitted. “She always comes and goes as she pleases, never staying around long enough for me to catch her. That, and the way she manipulates people…”
Inari gave a shudder, remembering the Crossguards twisted into her image. She couldn’t imagine what Sana was doing right now, lurking within the shadows of the Crossroads, causing problems not only for herself, but the other contestants. She heard from Piano that Sana approached the martial artist, but the timid girl had run away out of nervousness before Sana could touch her. A lucky break for the shy girl, Inari had thought grimly.
Taleus didn’t seem to care all too much about whatever internal dialogue Inari had going on. He just put a hand on his hip and tapped his foot. “So, who’s the target? What’s her relationship with you? And why do you want her dead?”
Inari gave a deep sigh, still not prepared after all this time steeling her nerves to tell this mostly stranger about such a personal topic. “Her name is Sana Okagami. She’s a five tailed kitsune in her twenties…”
“Ah, so that’s the name of the other Trickster running around…”
Another voice suddenly joined the conversation. Taleus raised a hand to his mouth, preparing to bite down to produce a weapon. Inari held a hand out for Red, looking in the direction. After the rustle of brush and tree limbs, Vilivian showed herself to the duo, brushing off some leaves as she did.
Taleus seemed to relax, not bothered by the sudden arrival of Vilivian. But Inari was still on edge. “How did you find us? And what do you mean ‘other Trickster?’ Did you see Sana?”
Vilivian seemed to take the almost accusatory words flung at her with good stride. “I simply sensed the blood of the Assassin there.” She pointed to Taleus, who narrowed his six eyes at the Matriarch. “His blood has a strange flow within his veins and has a rather peculiar scent. And with no one but the dead floating around here, his scent stands out even further.”
“Are you saying my blood stinks?” Taleus’ face twisted in anger as he took a step forward, getting in Vilivian’s face as she looked up at him with an almost bored expression. “Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”
“No, Male.” Vilivian said coolly. “I was just coming out here to see what this scent was, not crush some male hyped up on his own power.”
Taleus’ eyes began to twitch, his wrist moving towards his mouth. Vilivian, for her part, began to gather blue magic into her arms as she sized up Taleus properly.
“Ok, ok, enough of that!” Inari interjected, pushing the two of them away. “I didn’t bring you out here so you can argue with the demon lady.” The floating ghost girl then turned to Vilivian. “Now, you were saying something about another Trickster?”
“Ah yes, the other fox running around, her tails moving like fire and her blood flowing like a sickening sludge. Her smiles and honeyed words promised pleasure, but her eyes only spoke of danger and deceit.”
“That sounds like her…” Inari muttered under her breath, before looking Vilivian in the eyes. “Where was she?”
“I saw her while I was walking along the Zo River. Volley and I were going fishing by the waters when we spied a lone girl staring into the water. Volley seemed worried that she might jump in so he ran forward, but I looked where she was looking. And for a second, I thought I saw another figure in the water with her reflection.”
“Another figure…” Inari didn’t like the sound of that. “Don’t tell me…”
“Now that I take a look at you, it did bear some resemblance to you.” Vilivian confirmed Inari’s worst fears despite her protest, causing the ghost girl to curse in anger.
“Of course it did. She’s never been able to let go of me even after all of this time! Even now, she’s still lurking around in the shadows, messing with every part of my life like it belongs to her! I joined this tournament so I could wish in some way to finally be rid of her! And so she comes skulking in one more time just to claim me for herself before it’s too late!”
Inari gave a scream of anger, clutching her head as her flaming hair flared to match her mood. Both of her conversation partners took a step back in surprise, not really sure how to react to this outburst.
“If she just left me alone, maybe I would be fine!” Inari continued to yell, the quiet forest absorbing her voice with its silence as both the living and the dead listened to the girl that stood with a foot in each. “I wouldn’t have had to join this stupid tournament! I wouldn’t have had to deal with that stupid fox woman that’s running this place! If only I had killed her when I had the chance…”
Her voice died down at the end, her voice somewhat hoarse after all of that shouting as she panted from anger. The other two just looked at each other, six eyes meeting two, as they tried to figure out which one should talk first.
“Soooo…” Taleus spoke up first, not sure what to say. “I can see why you want to find her now. So are you still going to hire me to kill her orrrrr…?”
“Hold on, hold on.” Inari shook her head, pointing at Vilivian. “Keep going. What did she do as you guys got close?”
Vilivian nodded as she continued her story. “The oni child was about to run up and touch the trickster, but I managed to hold him back before he did. She then turned to us and gave a greeting. Volley tried to be friends with her, but I kept trying to pull him away so we could go fishing.”
“That’s smart. You want nothing to do with her.” Inari grit her teeth, listening to the tale.
“She then asked me if I knew a girl named Inari.” That got the ghost girl to tense up, as Taleus shifted his stance nearby.
“I said that I knew of you, but I didn’t know where you were. She seemed pleased with that, and handed me this to give to you.” Vilivian reached into a pocket and pulled a small wooden token. “I told her I wouldn’t promise anything, but she insisted I take it. It’s almost as if she knew I would find you out here…”
Inari reached forward, her hand shaking with rage at the small, innocent looking token. The front had a simple design, but Inari knew the back would have the real message. Sure enough, a short little message had been carved into the back using a fox claw as the little love letter to Inari was revealed.
“You looked absolutely ravishing in that last match you had! I think one more and you’ll be perfect. I can’t wait to be together again, my sweet little Inari. I’ll have a special meeting spot waiting for you once you beat that other dirty fox girl.
You are mine forever,
Sana Okagami”
Inari stared at the sickening note, especially the little hearts that were engraved in it. Then with a roar of anger, the half-ghost threw the token with all of her might into the haunted forest as her two companions looked at her with neutral expressions.
“GOD DAMN IT!!!” She burned ever more furiously, forcing Vilivian and Taleus to take a step back to avoid being “burned” by Inari’s hair as it flared even more. “She thinks she can do whatever she wants! And I can’t do anything about it!”
“And that’s where I come in.” Taleus said confidently. “You said she was by the river? I can follow that trail and have her head delivered to you in no time.”
“That’s not going to work…” Inari said glumly.
“What’s that?” Taleus wheeled towards Inari, his teeth gritted in anger.
“She’s likely long gone. She might have even left a surprise for me if I were to go there.”
“Oh yeah? And what kind of surprise is that?”
“Crossguards made to look like me, if I had to guess.” Inari shivered. “To remind me that I’m supposed to be her toy.”
“Well, that’s certainly creepy. But wait, are they as strong as you?” Taleus seemed to get excited at that.
“I don’t think so. I got this strong through my own efforts, not this curse she put on me. But I’m sure they’re as strong as I was when I first got turned this way…” Inari looked at him, confused.
“Then if I can kill them easily, I should be able to win over you with some effort?” Taleus asked, grinning as he bit his wrist to create a blood scythe. “This should be fun trying to track her down.”
“Are you trying to track her or just polishing your fangs, Assassin?” Vilivian asked, stepping forward. “Because when it comes to finding her, I think I would be the more suited companion.”
“But she already came to me for help.” Taleus protested, putting his foot down. “So this is my job to do.”
“I’m just saying it would be faster if she used my senses, since I met her and know what she smells like.” Vilivian pointed out. “And I know how to control myself in front of my prey.”
“Alright, alright!” Inari shouted, getting in between the both of them. “I’ll just have both of you help me look! That way, I don’t have to listen to you two argue!”
“Fine.”
“That’s acceptable.”
“I’ll work on paying you two back after we find her, ok?” Inari asked, looking at the two of them.
“If I’m the one to find it, I’ll expect you to pay the Perpetual’s price.” Taleus agreed, spinning his scythe in his hands.
“And if I find her, then I’ll have you help me with a problem I’ve been having with some of the more vocal people of the Crossroads that are against me. Piano is trying to help, but the Blackblood is too sensitive. I doubt you’ll have the same problem she does.” Vilivian rolled her shoulders, preparing her muscles for the work she was about to do.
Inari gave a sigh, already regretting turning to these two. They both seemed rather eager to go on the hunt, almost more than she was. While Sana was dangerous for sure and she needed to be stopped, she almost feared her two new companions just as much.
This eerie feeling only grew when they went to the river and found about a dozen Inari’s waiting for them. Watching the two bloody fighters tear into multiples of her was certainly a disturbing sight as the two made short work of the twisted Crossguards. They both even seemed to enjoy tearing “her” apart over and over again, huge smiles on both of their faces.
While there were no clues as to where she was hiding there, the trio did not seem dissuaded. Turning their attention to the Crossroads as a whole, the three began to move forward into what would likely be a chaotic and violent search for where Sana Okagami was causing her mischief. But that is a story for another time…
For Fame (Aude, Piano, Raku):
Up in the Dragon’s Post, the sky was always sunny and clear, the air perfectly crisp and clean as those that walked around it quickly discovered. Which made it the perfect place for one to set up an impromptu baseball game as needed.
Out on one of the baseball fields attached to the resorts, three contestants were clearly taking advantage of it. Sitting in the batter’s box is Aude, wearing her usual attire as she tapped her bat to home base before getting into swinging position, eyes trained on the pitcher.
On the pitcher’s mound is Piano, now dressed in an outfit more fit for playing baseball. She wore a simple purple shirt with gold stripes, along with a pair of purple shorts and a purple baseball cap that had holes for her longer horn, the other short enough to fit under the hat. Her ponytail peeked through the gap in the back of the hat as she rubbed her fingers along the baseball as she thought about what kind of pitch she would send Aude’s way.
And out in the outfield, gathering wind to prepare for catching the ball no matter where it went was Raku. Her outfit consisted of mostly white, with hints of blue to brighten up the outfit. Her blue baseball cap helped keep her long mane out of her face as she kept her eyes out for the small ball that would likely be sent hurtling in her direction in just a moment.
Piano hid the ball behind her back as she adjusted her grip on the ball. She decided on a fastball at first, just to check the superstar’s reflexes with the bat. Getting in a ready stance, she readied herself on the mound before delivering a blistering fast pitch right towards the fox girl.
And with a satisfying crack of the bat, the ball was sent flying straight towards the outfield, which Raku easily flew up to catch. Aude gave a confident smile, resting her chin on her bat as she leaned forward onto it. “C’mon Piano! You know better than to throw the ball straight into the catcher’s mitt with me! Show me what you can really do to that ball!”
“You’re right, I’m sorry…” Piano apologized, adjusting her cap to cover her eyes. She held her mitt towards Raku, receiving the caught ball once more as she took a stance on the mound. This time, she adjusted her grip to go for a curve ball, aiming for the upper portion of the strike box to try and trip up Aude’s skills.
She wound her arm back, using a professional’s stance and throwing technique as she launched the next baseball at Aude. Sure enough, part way to the superstar, the ball began to move up and to the left from her perspective. But it only took a slight adjustment of her grip before Aude was knocking the next ball out of the park… or close enough, with a wind dragon flying around to catch them.
“That was better. But you’ve got to be more confident with how you pitch if you want to trip me up.” Aude gave a confident smirk, flipping the bat in her hand with a stylish flourish. “You told me you had some talent for baseball, so I want to start seeing it. And to do that, you’ve got to grow a spine!”
“Try not to push her too hard, Aude.” Raku warned, walking over to the pitcher’s mound to put a comforting hand on Piano’s shoulder as she handed over the ball. “There’s no need to stress yourself over this Piano. We agreed to help her practice, and that’s all you really have to do.”
“R-right. O-of course Raku.” Piano stammered out, trying not to look too embarrassed as Raku tried to maintain eye contact with her. “B-but I don’t want to disappoint Aude too much by not playing to her expectations. I’ll try to do better…”
“If you’re ok with it, then there’s no problem. But if you’re feeling overwhelmed, just give me a sign and I’ll put an end to this little practice for you.”
Raku gave Piano a confident smile, squeezing the shyer girl’s shoulder comfortingly. Piano gave a small smile back, looking small despite being the same height as the dragon girl.
“Ahem.” The two jumped as Aude loudly cleared her throat. “If you two lovebirds are done looking into each other’s eyes, we do have a game to continue.”
“L-l-l-l-lovebirds?!” Piano seemed panicked, her tail instantly winding tight around her wrist as her face turned a deep crimson.
“H-hey!” Raku seemed more combative, her face also red as she let go of Piano’s shoulder and shook a fist at Aude. “I don’t need to hear such things from you! I’m just trying to help her relax.”
“Yeah yeah.” Aude rolled her eyes, but she had a cocky smirk on her face as she popped herself back into batting position.``I’m already two oh on you, and I’m hoping to go for the triple.”
“O-ok.” Piano prepared herself to pitch once more as Raku quickly went back out into the outfield. She wound her arm back and sent the ball hurtling towards Aude. The fox girl was confident in herself and went to swing… only for the ball to sink under her swing and hit the metal fence behind her.
Aude looked at the ball as gravity dragged it to the ground, then looked to Piano with an incredulous look. “Ok. Not bad.”
Setting the bat to lean on the fence, she walked over to grab her glove and the ball as Piano swapped positions with her. Aude made her way to the pitcher’s mound, her tail swishing with mild annoyance while Piano tried to make herself look small heading towards the batter’s box, her tail curled in on itself as she passed by the golden superstar. Neither felt the need to wear a helmet, trusting the skills or talents of the other to avoid getting hit by the ball.
“Current score is two one. Let’s see if I can’t make it five one.” Aude gave a cocky smile, leaning forward as she examined Piano. She stood up straight and looked at Raku, giving the dragon girl a nod, before turning quickly and delivering a blistering fastball towards Piano.
It was only through the talents Piano had stolen from others that she was able to even hit the ball. While she was surprised at the speed, the muscle memory of the talent instantly took over to give a satisfying smack of wood on ball as it went hurtling almost straight back and slightly up from Aude.
While Piano had been surprised by the speed of the pitch, Aude seemed ready for the return, leaping up slightly to try and catch it. Her glove tipped the ball slightly, slowing its speed and sending it arcing more, making it easier for Raku to reach out and catch the ball. Piano’s mismatched eyes were wide, as Aude turned back with a grin.
“Ok, so I guess I can’t get the clean sweep. But a game like this is more to the audience’s liking.” Her grin had an almost manic nature to it, her ears twitching as Piano looked around nervously.
“Wait, are we being watched?” Piano sounded almost scared. “Did you tell Miss X what we’re doing? I thought you said this was just going to be practice?”
“And it would be practice if people were watching. Practice for you showing off those baseball skills in front of a crowd. You and I, we could really show these local guys what a real baseball game looks like.”
“B-but isn’t it enough that I’m in the Cross Tournament?” Piano asked nervously, her grip on her bat tightening.
“Nope.” Aude said simply, before throwing a curveball Piano’s way. The Devil Blood adjusted her swing, before managing to hit the ball off to left field. “You’ve got some real talent hidden in there. You’ve got to show it off, you’ve got to put on a show for everyone to see, to show that you’re one of the best. Then we both can compete to see which of us is the best and put on a show for the audience.”
“I-I’m not too sure about this… But I wouldn’t want to make you upset…” Piano looked conflicted, not sure what to do.
“That’s enough of that.” Raku was walking up with the ball, putting it in Aude’s glove with some force. Aude winced, pulling the ball from the glove and shaking the hand to shake away the pain. “Can’t you see you’re scaring the poor girl?”
“She gets into fist fights with demons and trolls and other scary looking monsters, but she can’t handle a small crowd?” Aude shook her head, looking annoyed. “I want to take her in front of the top teams in this town and replace their star players with her and I and show them what a ball game really looks like. Make their heads spin after we blow them away with our final rounds of the combat tournament.”
“Why are you so obsessed with putting on a show?” Raku asked, her eyebrow raised as her tail slammed into the ground behind her as if to emphasize her words. “Why do you insist on pushing people who clearly aren’t comfortable to go along with your game?”
“Because that’s how life works.” Aude shrugged, tossing the ball back into her glove a few times. “You want to make it anywhere, you’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to get noticed, and you’ve gotta shoot for the stars. And I’m not going to let anyone drag me down with their nervousness. She’s going to have to learn to step up out of her brother’s shadow and show the multiverse how much of a badass she really is. Otherwise, why did she even bother agreeing to this practice?”
“But you’re just pushing all the pressure you’re feeling onto her..” Raku pointed to Piano, who was looking down at home plate with a glum expression. “She’s just trying to do her best to help you out, and I wanted to help you both out, which is why I’m here. But if you’re just going to keep pushing her and bullying her beyond her breaking point, then I’m going to have to-”
“I still have one more pitch to receive,” The two women arguing on the pitcher’s mound nearly jumped as the small voice of Piano reached them. Looking at the Devil Blood, they could see she had a determined look on her face, the bat in her hand ready to swing the moment the pitch came out.
Aude gave a cocky smile, shooting it back towards Raku who frowned. “Well, you heard the girl. She’s ready for her last pitch, so you better get ready to catch it. Not that you’ll need to, cause she’s not hitting this one.”
“Ok. Just watch how you talk to her…” Raku warned, before turning to walk to the outfield again.
“...There’s not really anyone watching.” Aude admitted, not looking back at Raku, the dragon turning to look at the fox girl’s back. “I was just doing it to try and rile up her competitive streak. She’s certainly built up a backbone since she’s been here. I just need to make sure it isn’t going to break easily. That wouldn’t be any fun to beat.”
“...Ok…” Was all Raku could manage to say, making her way to her position as Aude’s foot came off the mound as she stepped forward to throw the ball, sending it snaking low to try and throw Piano off.
Piano’s talent tried to compensate for the pitch, but only barely managed to graze the ball, sending it spinning back behind her. Aude gave a grin and a wink, taking off her glove as she moved to switch with Piano.
“Three three. We’re all evened up now. Let’s see if one of us can pull ahead in this next round.” Aude gave a stylish flourish with the bat as she took hold of it once more, spinning it in the air before catching it again and giving a practice swing.
Piano nodded, making her way towards the pitcher’s mound. She stopped halfway there, turning back to Aude. “I-if you don’t mind answering, what are you hoping to wish for if you win? Is fame really something you can wish for?”
Aude gave a scoffing laugh, shaking her head. “Who’d ever wish for fame? That’s a waste of a wish when you can just earn it yourself? No, I’ve got another wish in mind. But I don’t think I’ll tell you yet. Maybe if you win this little practice, I’ll tell you.”
“Ok.” Piano nodded, stepping up to the mound and taking a long look at Aude. The two women stared at each other for a long time, as Raku slowly prepared herself to be ready to move quickly, sensing that this next pitch was likely going to be intense. The wind around Raku began to howl as she prepared to use it to get a burst of speed.
Piano got into her ready stance, keeping her eyes on Aude the whole time. Then with a step and a swing of her arm, the ball went hurtling towards the fox girl. Her verdant eyes narrowed, wondering why the Devil Blood sent another fastball. Just before she swung, however, she recognized the spin of the ball as a change-up, the ball beginning to slow as she realized this. Holding back her swing slightly more than she had been about to, her experience allowed the bat to slam into the ball and send it rocketing towards the back of the field.
Raku exploded into action as the ball went flying, hurling herself into the air after the small white projectile as it spun its way out of the field. But even with all of her speed, she still didn’t make it, the ball sailing just inches from her outstretched glove, flying off into the distance as Aude had successfully hit a homerun.
Aude gave a confident grin, tossing the bat casually to the side as she began to strut around the bases, proud of another victory and further proof of her superstardom. And the applause the other two gave her certainly helped stroke her ego further before they all went off to celebrate and relax together.
For Independence (Piano, Raku, Inari):
The crashing of waves below was always a comforting sound for Piano. She remembered the first time she heard the sound of surf crashing against rock, when she had traveled out of her home Cubby in Etch those years ago. It was the sound of peace, of serenity, of a lack of warfare that up until that point, she had never believed was even possible. Hearing it now, in this place, brought her back to that first moment that made her heart soar with joy at the prospect of freedom it gave her.
It didn’t help that people like Raku and Inari were around to ruin that illusion.
Of course, those two likely had their own, independent reasons for coming to the cliffs overlooking Ume Bay as well. Piano reasoned that she didn’t really have any way of asking for them to leave. If she could be there, there was no reason she could think of to make them go away.
But she certainly would prefer if she was left alone to meditate. Or at the very least, if they could stop arguing, it would be less bothering to her. Though she would still sense them nearby, which would still mess with her concentration, as they would make her nervous just being there.
“All I’m saying is that sunset is better than sunrise.” Raku said pointedly, looking over at Inari as the ghost girl floated at eye level to her. “Not that sunrise isn’t pretty in its own way. But if you want to show someone something, you’d show them the sunset.”
“Well here’s why I say sunrise is better.” Inari countered. “Sunrise tells you that you made it to another day. That demons and monsters and crazy stalker exes and other dangers didn’t get you in the night, and you can breathe easy knowing you’re safe.”
“But nobody is getting up on purpose early enough to see it.” Raku tilted her head towards the beginning of the sunset as the sun began to dip in the sky. “But people will always make time to see the sunset, especially in places with a good view of it.”
“But nobody’s going to go ‘Oh, thank goodness I got to see the sun go down again today. I’ll be safe through the night now!’” Inari mocked. “No one in their right mind anyways. And the rising sun makes for a good start to one’s day, no matter where you are.”
“Here, why don’t we have a third party settle this?” Raku stated plainly, looking to Piano. “Hey Piano! Mind settling something for us?”
Inari joined her gaze onto Piano, who almost seemed to shrink under the pair’s eyes as she glanced towards them nervously. “Yeah, you’ll be perfect for answering this. So which is better? Sunset, or sunrise?”
Piano’s face darkened as it flushed from the attention, her eyes not meeting either of theirs. She looked to the ground, as if afraid that she would disappoint them by looking at them as she spoke.
“W-well,” she began, stammering slightly. “I can definitely see the appeal of sunset. It’s very pretty and nice to look at and makes a good end of the day…”
“Ha! See?” Raku seemed proud, chest forward and fists on her hips as she looked at Inari with a smug smile.
“... Plus, it being night time soon means that those without the ability to see in the dark have a harder time spotting you. And if an aerial attack is incoming, then if you turn off all the lights, they won’t be able to spot the town and there’ll be a greater chance for more people to survive.
“Yeah… wait, what?” Raku now looked confused and mildly concerned, looking at Piano.
“But sunset also means that you made it through the night like Inari said…” Piano continued, too embarrassed by being addressed to hear Raku and Inari’s noises of confusion. “But in places with lots of water, mist tends to be prevalent in the morning, and with how sleepy most people are in the morning, an early surprise attack is also possible, so it’s not a sure sign of safety… And also-”
“Hold up, hold up, hold up!” Inari shouted loudly, waving her hands in front of Piano’s face as the Devil Blood jumped in fright from the noise. “Where the hell are you getting all these ideas from? I’m used to dealing with monsters and ghosts and other things that go bump in the night, but you’re talking about all this stuff makes it sound like you’ve been in a warzone.”
“W-well, y-yes, I have…” Piano admitted, making both of the other women react in shock once more. “The entire section of the world I’m from is in a large-scale war. Demons, angels, dragons, giants, monsters, gods, and everything in between. And caught in the middle are regular people, forced to hide in bunkers before each major attack in the hope that we won’t be found…”
“Oh wow…” Raku almost seemed at a loss for words, not sure what to say. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that…”
“Yeah… Getting chased around by exorcists and monsters was pretty rough, but at least there were places for me to go that were safe. It sounds like you had nowhere to go.” Inari looked concerned, reaching out to Piano who almost seemed to shrink at their sympathy.
“O-oh, it’s ok!” Piano tried to comfort them instead. “It wasn’t so bad, all things considered. My brother and I had to find other places to hide when it happened, but we were fine! We knew what we were doing!”
“Wait, I thought you said people hid in bunkers?” Raku pointed out. “Are you saying you didn’t?”
“N-no…” Piano admitted again, to their horror. “It was expensive to get access to a bunker… Not to mention the insurance costs to maintain it…”
“You have to pay for safety in your world?” Inari protested, looking appalled. “That’s so messed up! No wonder you’d join this tournament. A wish for some sort of peace, or at least provide somewhere safe for normal people, right?”
Piano shook her head, looking sad. “Unfortunately, I don’t think the Ruler of All would accept that. He made the Cubby specifically to create the wars to keep his enemies busy with each other. The God Eater might be strong, but I doubt she’d continually override his will in the world he controls without me coming back to win the tournament often. And with the tournament being once a year, I don’t think that would be enough…”
“This Ruler of All guy sounds like a major jerk.” Inari stated plainly, crossing his arms.
“That’s a bit of an understatement…” Piano said timidly. “He’s a god-tyrant in the worst ways possible, destroying our world and reshaping it to suit his needs and whims. Anything outside of the bounds he decides on is met with swift and unmerciless judgment. Everyone lives in fear of his power.”
“And there’s nobody left to stand up to him then?” Raku asked, looking as if she would be willing to do so. “Everybody just accepts life under him?”
“In terms of rising up and overthrowing him, yes, there is no one that even remotely has a chance.” She shook her head. “He managed to slay gods casually and sundered an entire world. Nobody could even imagine defeating him, let alone overthrowing him.”
But then she gave a small smile. “But there are ways people retaliate against him. The reason he broke up the world and separated the people was to strip them of individuality and connection, taking away what made people special. So some of us look for ways to assert independence without taking direct action against him.”
The two other girls looked confused, looking at each other with raised eyebrows before turning back to Piano. “What do you mean by that?” Inari decided to speak up first, floating up to the two taller girl’s eye levels.
“There are little things people do to show that their spirits were not fully crushed.” Piano explained, looking slightly more confident. Her tail flicked behind her somewhat and her smile grew slightly. “Like naming shops after locations in the world before the sundering, keeping traditions from the past, recording events in a way that doesn’t please the Ruler, stuff like that. Things they can hide amongst themselves, hidden in the shadows his agents don’t look. That’s where people in our world typically go to truly live as themselves.”
“I see.” Raku said calmly. “And I suppose you are one of those people, quietly fighting back?”
Piano’s face instantly drained in color, her happy tail movement instantly stopping as it curled around her wrist protectively. “W-w-w-what do you mean by that? H-how could you possibly think of that?”
“You said ‘some of us’ just a second ago.” Raku said simply, a proud smile crossing her face. Piano’s hands instantly went to her mouth as Inari also began to grin, floating next to Piano now as the young devil girl looked embarrassed. “That certainly sounds like you are one of those people that’s sticking it to this Ruler of All.”
“Wow, I didn’t know you had it in you, Piano.” Inari said slyly, nudging Piano’s ribs with her elbow. Piano buried her face in her hands even further, trying to hide every inch of her expression as she almost tried to curl into herself. “Here I was thinking you were all meek and shy, and yet in your world you’re practically standing up to a god! Guess you can’t judge a book by its cover… except your brother, of course. That’s a book whose cover I wished stayed closed.”
“I-i-i’m not that special…” Piano mumbled into her hands, though the other two clearly heard her over the crashing surf below. “A-a-all I really do is travel around with my brother and help him out…”
“And yet here you are, in another place entirely in the multiverse, fighting in a tournament to get a wish for yourself.” Inari pointed out, floating down to try and meet Piano’s covered eyes. “I bet he doesn’t like it when people leave his world.”
“A-a-a-any immigration, both in or out of the world, is m-m-met with harsh punishment…” Piano confirmed, sounding terror-stricken at the thought. “I-i-if the Ruler’s men ever found out about my brother and I leaving, they would s-s-surely come after us to kill us…”
“I’d like to see them try.” Raku said, cracking her knuckles as she did. “While I’m sure you’d probably have them eating dirt, I certainly wouldn’t mind teaching them a lesson or two for trying to mess with you.”
“You can count me in too.” Inari said, punching her fists together with some excitement. “I’m used to dealing with holier-than-thou types picking on people weaker than them. What’s a few more under my belt?”
“B-but aren’t you both helping out Senko too?” Piano asked, looking confused, but a little more confident as she removed her hands from over her face.
“If you don’t think I can’t protect you both, you’d be wrong.” Raku said with confidence, standing taller than Piano despite both girls being the same height.
“I’m sure Senko would insist on us helping you even if we didn’t want to.” Inari reasoned, the blue glow on her arms seemed brighter in the moment. “Besides, Saki can keep her safe for us for just a few moments while we send some guys packing. I’ve got two hands, and both of them are meant to protect others.”
Piano looked at the two with slightly watering eyes, still looking small but starting to stand up straight again. “You guys don’t have to do that…” When the two of them glared at her fiercely, she shrank slightly once more. “... but thank you both anyways.” She gave them a genuine smile.
“No problem.”
“Happy to help.”
Both women gave the Devil Blood a big smile. The three shared in the moment for a bit, before Raku’s gaze suddenly went past the two in front of her to the landscape behind them.
“By the way, Piano…” Raku said slowly, looking at her as she tilted her head. “You never really settled our debate. Which is better, sunset or sunrise?”
“Right, you didn’t finish that!” Inari said, wheeling back towards Piano. “Come on, you have to pick one!”
“I-i… B-but I…” Piano stammered, holding her hands up as the two approached her.
The next couple hours involved the two of them slowly needling Piano for an answer one way or another, as Piano tried her best to appease them both and curl into the smallest ball a person is capable of being, embarrassed to no end.
For Purpose (Vilivian, Taleus, Aude):
The rushing water of the Zo River would ordinarily present a huge challenge for the unprepared or for the weak. Vilivian, of course, was neither of those, so the river proved to be no challenge for her. Sat on one of the rocks jutting out from the center of the river, she stretched out her limber legs as if preparing to exercise, before returning to a relaxed position as the spray of rushing water danced across her skin. She could feel the clothes Saki gave to her begin to stick to her skin, and she would’ve sooner simply been rid of the thing and enjoy the comforts of the river in peace.
But the male and the fox girl sat on the shore across from her made that impossible.
The male’s blood ran with an almost twisting path, moving through his veins both impossibly quick and agonizingly slow as it moved. It smelled of a sort of richness that she had never smelled in any other mortal, a powerful, heady smell that nearly overwhelmed her senses. It didn’t quite have the quality of the Blackblood’s dark ichor, but it was certainly special in its own right. It felt untamed, yet under control. Powerful, yet subdued. It was a mixture of strange feelings, and all of them broiled in a way that matched its owner’s disposition perfectly.
In comparison, the fox girl’s blood had a rather normal feel about it. It luckily didn’t have the drunken stupor that the Trickster’s blood had whenever she was around the drunken goddess, nor did it seem to possess any special qualities compared to most people. It had a quickened motion about it, denoting her status as some sort of athlete or physical person, and the smell was pleasant, but otherwise unnoteworthy. A perfectly normal person’s blood, all things told.
The fox girl- Aude, her name was, Vilivian remembered- was calling out to her, waving her hand above her head as if to get her attention. “Hello? Crossroads to Vilivian? You ok out there? You look cold with all those wet clothes. Maybe you should come dry off before you get sick! You still have a match to fight, don’t you?”
“I do.” Vilivian confirmed with a nod of her head. “But this meditation shouldn’t cause me any harm. This is nothing compared to what I’m used to.”
“Are you sure?” Aude raised an eyebrow. “Your clothes are practically sticking to you from how wet you are. I didn’t even think clothes could get that wet without practically falling apart. And how would that look if you walked through town naked cause all the stitching fell out from getting wet.”
“Why should I care what others think of me in this town?” Vilivian asked, tilting her head. “Most of the town already sees me as a monster after my last round. I doubt their opinions of me will be changed from seeing me without clothes on.”
“Welcome to the club.” the male- Taleus, she thinks- intoned, sounding almost bored. “It’s like they’ve never seen an assassin at work before. What, do they think all of our jobs are pretty just because of what they see on TV? Sometimes a job gets nasty.”
Vilivian was also confused by the job of assassin. Humans already struggled to fend off monsters as it was, it was strange to imagine they would waste time and energy killing each other in such a way. But looking at this male, she could easily feel the bloodlust coming from him, his six crimson eyes looking at her as if trying to see how to take her down. But he also showed restraint despite that, keeping from lunging at her as they talked.
“And what did you do to earn the ire of the common people, Male?” Vilivian asked curiously, tilting her head at him.
“I’m not sure exactly.” Taleus admitted, shrugging his shoulders. “I think the thing that pissed them off the most was cutting off that one mummy girl’s arms. But how else did they want me to take her out, kill her? I’m sure they’d be mad at me for that too. Just can’t win with these people.”
“I see.” Vilivian looked thoughtful, stretching out one of her legs. “Would this happen to be the girl that the Spirit User and Dragon both squabble over?”
“That’s the one.” Aude chimed in, her tail swishing behind her as she shifted her stance as a spray of water made her lean back. “I took a bit of a hit in popularity for my first round, but I think the second round made up for it. What about you, Vilivian? What made you so hated?”
Vilivian tilted her head, stretching out her other leg as she reached for her toes to stretch her muscles out fully. “My first round was against the Child, the one related to Saki. He held his own rather well, so most people seemed ok with it even as my transformation scared them.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Aude commented, Taleus nodding fervently next to her with his eyes closed.
“But in my second match, I pushed my opponent to reach for his true heights. Many thought that I was tormenting my opponent needlessly, but I wanted him to feel the pride his position as a soldier warranted so that I would have a complete victory. I guess the audience misinterpreted my intentions and called me a monster after that.”
Taleus and Aude stood silently as they heard this, both of them looking down at the water with similar crossed arms as they thought. Surprisingly, it was Taleus who spoke first.
“Why did you do that?”
“Why did I do what exactly?” Vilivian asked, opening her eyes to look at him.
“Why did you push him like that?” Taleus thought for a second, trying to find the right words for it. “You’re fighting for a wish too, right? So why would you risk losing just for some pride? A victory is a victory, regardless of how prideful they feel. Getting the job done is the whole point.”
Vilivian looked even more confused, sitting back up to look directly at him. “Because that’s part of the reason I left my position to join this tournament; to look at the purposes others have for being here and testing mine against theirs.”
“And that’s worth putting a wish at risk?” Taleus seemed confused, a few of his eyes narrowing as he looked at her. “Just cut them down and get it done with. Prove that you’re strong enough to earn it.”
“I kind of agree with her approach, actually.” Aude chimed in, as both of the others turned towards the baseball superstar. “If you beat them too quickly, then it’s not entertaining enough for the audience. You’ve got to let the crowd get riled up by the intensity of the fight, before you pull out the big move to earn the win!”
Vilivian now looked at Aude with some confusion, crossing her legs as she leaned in. “Why should the opinions of the non-warriors have any effect as to how two people risking life and limb in combat conduct themselves?”
“Because this whole tournament is meant to be a source of entertainment for the people here!” Aude replied simply, gesturing widely as if to reference the town behind her. “If we weren’t meant to entertain them, they wouldn’t go through all the effort of broadcasting it and having Miss X commentating and all of that!The show is the point! So we’ve got to put on just as much of a show as our desire to earn that wish!”
Taleus just shook his head, clicking his tongue. “If they want to be entertained in fighting, then why don’t they do it themselves? What’s the point in just watching? You don’t get anything out of it.”
“I must agree with the male.” Vilivian got an asconsced look from Taleus at that, though he didn’t seem sure why he should be offended exactly. “There’s nothing to be gained by simply spectating a match. One proves themselves by pushing themselves to the limit on the battlefield and going beyond. It’s why I keep pushing the Blackblood so that she can achieve her best.”
“That shy wallflower?” Aude asked incredulously, tilting her head to the point that it looked like her crown was going to fall off. “She’s got some flashy skills, but her personality is anything but. She might put up a bit of a fight, but I doubt she’ll push someone like you to your limit.”
Vilivian gave Aude a withering look, causing the fox girl’s ears to lower before she regained her courage to glare back at the Matriarch. “If that’s your assessment of the Blackblood, then there’s nothing I can do to change your mind. But I’ve felt her gain a purpose for herself in these few days she’s fought. If someone’s going to put up a fight worthy of witnessing, it’s someone in the same position as me.”
Taleus just gave a cocky smile at that, crossing his arms again as he took a defiant stance. “You didn’t know what purpose you serve? No wonder you have time to think about stupid things like that.”
Vilivian rounded her focus over to him, who didn’t even flinch as the demon woman’s gaze fell upon him with a look that would crush a lesser man. “I had another purpose once. But when I was given a chance to pursue another purpose I was given the idea for centuries ago, I decided to take it. But until I knew I was going to face the Blackblood, I was still unsure if my purpose for coming here was right. But feeling her solidify her own goals, I knew I couldn’t face her with a blunted blade.”
“Yeah, you gotta have some motivation to put on a good fight to make it all worth it.” Aude agreed, nodding. “The crowds like a fight where both sides are putting their all into it, putting their very dreams on the line! It’s too bad that my first opponent didn’t really have much motivation. My second did, and she put on a hell of a show. And looking at my final, I don’t doubt she’ll be able to put on a show too.”
Taleus still looked confused, turning to Aude while shaking his head. “But that doesn’t matter when this tournament is over? I certainly don’t care what the people I kill have to do for their purpose in life. Do you guys even care about the people you kill when you get back home.”
“I’m a superstar.” Aude said with a shrug. “I mostly just beat back jealous competitors and noisy paparazzi reporters for the most part. It’s only when I take the field that who I’m up against matters.”
Vilivian looked at the two with a thoughtful expression, leaning forward towards them. “For a long time, I didn’t particularly care for what the people I killed thought. Most of them were merely humans looking for eternal youth. Most I knew wouldn’t even survive past me, so I let them impale themselves upon the threats beyond me.”
“For a long time means your opinion has changed.” Aude pointed out, her tail flicking. She adjusted her crown, feeling it slip as her hair began to dampen from the spray of water from the rushing river they were talking over.
“Correct.” Vilivian confirmed with a nod. “I was met with another challenger who brought a blade of silver to defeat me, as the others had before him. But this one moved with a different air, and within what felt like an eternity, I was brought to the brink of death by this male. But even as I lay dying, he bent down and brought me back. From there, he taught me things about humans I had never even experienced before. I learned more about humans in those few days than I learned from fighting them for centuries.”
“And you learned to appreciate them from then on?” Aude asked, tilting her head.
“I learned that humans are much more complex than I had given them credit for while I was the Sentinel of Graal.” Vilivian shrugged. “Most have proven that to not be the case, calling me a monster. But then there are those that prove themselves to be more interesting. And with this opportunity to obtain a wish, it’s allowed me to see humanity in more facets than I did sitting in that hole in the ground. It’s been eye-opening, though it’s left me with more questions than answers.”
“If it’s messing with you so much, then you should stop asking questions.” Taleus pointed out, brushing a wet strand of hair from in front of his crimson eyes. “It sounds like things were simpler before you met that guy. And it’s not like getting to know normal people has made you happy. If anything, they hate you more now that they’ve gotten a good look at you.”
“That’s not exactly fair either…” Aude looked at him with a sharp look, trying to retort. “It’s not like everyone’s-”
“The male has a point, Athlete.” Vilivian cut in, standing up and leaping over to stand with them again, the three shorter finalists nearly eye to eye with each other. “I think for now, I’ll focus on the Blackblood and see what purpose arises from my clash with her.”
“If you say so…” Aude crossed her arms for a moment, before a shiver made her shake herself, especially her tail as she flung drops of water from it. “For now though, I’d like to focus on getting changed into dry clothes and getting something warm in my belly. I’ve heard Saki’s got some sort of fish soup she’s making today, and I want to see if it’s any good.”
“Right.” Vilivian nodded. “The Child and I caught some fish this morning, so I suppose the Bartender is having to go through all of it.”
“Food does sound good.” Taleus agreed, making his way towards the Crossroads. “A full stomach and a bloodied blade make for a fulfilling day.”
“But you both better change first before you try to eat!” Aude called as Vilivian followed the Perpetual. Both of them turned to her with a blank expression, causing the fox girl to groan in anguish as she chased after them, likely to force them back into dry clothes as another peaceful day took over the Crossroads.
To Those that Support (Michiko, Forte, Michaellis, Armel):
“Three cheers for the finalists!~”
There was a clinking of cups as the fox deity led the celebration, their cups of alcohol swishing as the five gathered joined in her cheer. At the head of the table was the Goddess of the Crossroads, in her usual Chifu persona. Her rosy cheeks indicated that she had already started the “celebrations” well before the others gathered to meet her.
To her immediate right is Michiko, the Perpetual lounging comfortably on the cushions the group were all sat upon. She swirled her cup in her hand, clearly enjoying the luxury of the drink as she kept her eyes on Chifu. Across from the assassin, the walking bibliography that is Forte was likewise leaned in to examine his fellow tablemates, wearing a more relaxed attire by only wearing his dress shirt and vest as he let his pen-like wand rest on the nearby table. He eyed the woman across from him with a raised eyebrow, the silent contest they had begun over Chifu continuing as they silently postured close to the goddess.
Across the table from all of the shenanigans around Chifu were two other males, one living and one not. Michaellis kept his eye on the duo sat to either of Chifu’s side, wondering how well this was going to go. He looked to his fellow member of team calm, Armel, who floated above his own cushion, taking sips of his drink as he gave Michaellis a shrug, who then took a sip of his own drink.
Chifu, seeming to either be unaware or ignoring the two trying to stake their claim on her, raised her glass in another cheer and a drunken smile on her face. “This tournament has been so much fun~ All of your fighters have proven to be such wonderful additions~ Good job on supporting them thus far~”
Michiko gave a grin, looking at Chifu from over her drink. “Taleus has certainly been doing a fantastic job in this tournament~ We partially put him up to the challenge as a way to prove himself and push him to get stronger, but he’s more than shown himself capable. He’s even brought in more jobs for us Perpetuals in just these few days. We’re going to be swimming in jobs and money over the next few months thanks to him.”
Forte gave a toast to Chifu’s words, faking another sip of his alcohol as he had a proud smirk on his face. “My blood-kin is certainly a most formidable force on the fields of melee and bloodshed. While I had been much afeared her demure demeanor would give rise to a pacifistic tendency that would detract from her overall martial capabilities, she has nevertheless resolved to far greater feats of physical prowess than she’s displayed in past engagements. I have found this little endeavor to have been an act most miraculous for her disposition when it comes to accomplishing tasks of a more visceral nature.”
Michaellis just nodded along with Forte’s words, understanding them all individually but nearly being overrun by them all at once. When the wordsmith was finished, the doctor spoke up. “Raku’s done very well for herself in this contest, as expected of the Fyujinn heir. Her behavior in the last match was a little concerning, so I hope she can keep a handle on herself for her final match. Especially with an opponent as intense as hers.” He gave a look to Michiko, who simply gave him a grin and a flirty wave. He shrugged at that response, before looking to Armel at his side.
The Young Emperor gave a tilt of his head, as if thinking about Aude’s performance again. “Well, she’s certainly put on a good showing so far, if I had to put it into words. We still have some things to work on, but she’s doing fine as far as the tournament goes.”
“‘Some things to work on’ you say?~ Do tell~” Chifu teased, leaning forward dangerously onto the table as if to listen to every word from Armel.
The ghost would’ve flushed if he could, before clearing his throat. “That’s not what I meant. Either way, I don’t really think that it’s something I should get into with a bunch of strangers. It is a bit of a private matter.”
“Forsooth. It would be terribly rude of us all to assay the young specter with further pryings into the dubious affairs of his personal qualms with the woman who’s headpiece he currently presides within as an abode. After all, I can scarce imagine the offense any one of your number would launch at such an invasive display of curiosity as to the matters of your personal matters outside the confines of this tourney’s completion.”
Armel looked at Forte confused, unsure of whether the writer was helping him or making fun of him. The smirk on the Devil Blood’s face made it hard to tell which emotion he was portraying, instead, he cleared his throat, looking away as violet and gold stared right back at him.
“Right. Thanks.” Armel then grasped for an alternate topic instead as Chifu leaned back, pouting before taking another sip of her drink as she shot a glare towards the writer. “No matter what’s going on with Aude, her opponent is going to be a pretty big problem. The way she practically tore apart her previous opponent was certainly scary.”
“Ah, the ghost girl.” Michiko piped up, leaning to one side casually as if she wasn’t trying to get closer to Chifu as she spoke. “She’s certainly quite the fighter. If Taleus didn’t already have the position, she might have been approached to become a member. After her last fight, I’d say she’s almost has the qualifications…”
“Huh?” Armel looked at Michiko confused. “What do you mean by that?”
“Oh nothing. Just thinking out loud…” Michiko leaned further, almost putting her head on Chifu’s lap. Unfortunately for her, Chifu leaned over closer to Forte’s side to grab at the booze on the table, causing the assassin to nearly fall over. The other three tried not to laugh too loudly as she sat up, shooting a glare at the writer who had clearly moved the alcohol there just for that moment.
“Speaking of scary opponents,” Michaellis spoke up after recovering, looking to Forte who raised an eyebrow his way, “your sister’s opponent is pretty intimidating too Forte. What was her name, Vilivian?”
“Ah yes, the beast in the guise of a human.” Forte almost seemed to wave away the apparent threat of the woman with a flick of his hand. “She certainly holds her own in terms of martial capabilities and magical might. Mayhaps most powerfully in both regards in all matters save for the likes of Armius and Yamarashi.”
“Aren’t you worried about your sister going up against her? I mean, from what I saw of her matches, she had to lose quite a bit of blood to beat her other two opponents.” Michaellis knew the dangers of that much blood loss, and thought that Forte’s lack of concern was troubling. “If she had to lose more blood to beat someone like Vilivian, she could go into shock and die before she wins. Maybe even after she wins.”
“My sister is well aware of the mortal limitations of her form.” Forte assured, turning fully to address the cat-man. “She has trained her body to non-magical perfection, honing techniques that masters of the martial arts have been cultivating for millenia. If anything, I would imagine my kin has as much ken in martial prowess as her opponent, if not greater. I’d ask that you pass some of your concern towards her opponent, as much as you pray for my sister.”
“Well, aren't you confident in her skills?” Michiko asked, putting her drink to the side as she leaned her head on a hand, a pipe now in her hand as she prepared to smoke. “I wonder how a match with Taleus would’ve gone? I’m sure killing her with a blade made of her own blood would be an appropriate finish for such a match.”
` “My sister has fought monsters of great size without use of that unique implement of hers to cut down the range disadvantage.” Forte gave a casual shrug, looking at Michiko with mild amusement. “And while her experience with monsters, magic crafters, and other such forces are rather well-trod paths for her martial career, her experience with assassins is lacking for certain. I’d pray that your Taleus would prove to me a most apt opponent for her, that he might enlighten her as to the tactics to prepare her defenses for future encounters.”
The two other boys leaned back in their cushions slightly, the clear tension between Forte and Michiko almost visible between them as they eyed each other with dagger sharp gazes. Their sickly sweet smiles they gave each other did nothing to hide the obvious venom they had for each other, though it did seem to fool an oblivious Chifu as she continued to happily drink as her face grew more and more red as she got sloshed.
“Oh really? You think your sister could take on a Perpetual just like that?” Michiko asked with mock surprise, putting a hand to her cheek to try and sell the act. “How impressive she must be. Maybe I should pay her a visit before her next match to wish her luck.”
“Forsooth?” Forte asked, a dangerously bemused tone in his voice. “What a strange twist of fate, for I had also imagined myself conducting an interview with the young Taleus. Get to know just what the mindset of the freshest Perpetual as he strives for his wish… wait, to what end has the bloodied assassin taken up the blade in this tourney again?”
Michiko took a drag of her pipe, to give her mouth something to do besides deliver the first threat that sat at the tip of her tongue. Once she cooled down slightly, she composed herself enough to respond. “He’s here because he wants to attain greater power to be useful to the Perpetuals.”
“And that matter has naught to do with your interest in accosting the God Eater for your own personal leisure?” Forte asked, a pleased smirk on his face as he leaned forward.
Michiko just shrugged uncaringly, a smirk returning to her face as she blew smoke in his direction. “Like you’re any better. I’m sure you roped your sister into joining this tournament just to get a chance to ‘interview’ her yourself.”
Forte raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his cushion as Chifu began to slur her words, her head slowly descending onto the table as she muttered drunkenly to herself. Michaellis and Armel looked to the fading Chifu, then to each other, before looking back to the dueling two. Compared to the fights they saw from the actual warriors, this felt much more dangerous. Partially because for the first time, they were in the range of the danger.
“Do you wish to imply that I would threaten the well-being of my own blood, merely in an attempt to catch an interview with a figure, important as she may be?” Forte’s wand was in his hand, spinning the pen-like device in his hand with all the weight of a loaded gun. “That I would risk the precious and only life of the one that’s been at my side for most of my days? To that person do you suggest I rendered towards harm's path in order to satiate my own occupational desires?”
“The very same.” Michiko said simply, the assassin too cool-blooded to be scared by the implicit threat in Forte’s voice. Clearly the author didn’t scare someone of her caliber very easily. “You seem like the type to do whatever you have to in order to get what you want. I respect that, of course. Though it must be so heartless of you to put your sister in danger just to talk to a little fox girl.”
“Are you calling me a liar?” Michiko’s voice dipped low, another cloud of smoke billowing from her mouth almost like a dragon’s breath.
“I would never deign to call out the bluffs of a woman. Such acts are part and parcel to the wiles of their character, which allows one to be endearing as one can be. To take that away would be as if to deprive a knight his armor, or a mage their staff. An irreconcilable aberration of the natural social order of things.”
“I didn’t take you for one to be considerate of what should be.” Michiko mocked him, leaning back. “I figured you are the type to take what you want and then leave without another word.”
“What a barbaric accusation you would levy against me.” Forte seemed vaguely offended, although his insufferable smirk still remained on his face. “First you accuse me of merely being here to flaunt about with a goddess, then you accuse me of being a blackguard of ill-repute. Mayhaps we should consult the source of our conflict to opine about her preferred behavior of conversation partner?”
The two turned to the spot where Chifu had been sitting, only to notice that she was gone. The pair looked confused, before turning to the other two. As they did, they noticed that Michaellis was sitting back down onto his cushion, going into a rather formal pose as he returned. Looking up as he got comfortable, he noticed the glare of the two verbal warriors were centered solely onto him.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” His twin tails flicked behind him, calming his nerves as he addressed the two. “Chifu looked like she had already worn herself out, and I didn’t want her to catch a cold sleeping out here. So I took her to Saki to return her to her room. Hopefully we can finish up the celebrations without her.”
The blue haired woman gave a slight pout, before taking a puff of her pipe to avoid speaking. Forte gave a sigh, shaking his head in slight disappointment as he set his wand back down onto the table.
“It is little to be remiss upon. We should allow our gracious host to enjoy the serene embrace of slumber’s hold. We shall conduct ourselves with great festivities in her stead.”
Forte took hold of his cup, giving it another raise into the air in toast, which the other three matched after a moment’s hesitation. They all took another sip, before all four set the cups down at the same time.
“So, now we’re going to have to find something to do before the final matches really begin.” Armel chimed in, speaking for the first time in a while now that hostilities seemed to have settled thanks to Michaellis’ intervention. “I know all of them are busy getting to relax before they all have to fight each other to one end or another. Luckily, we don’t have to worry about fighting each other, but I suppose we’d want to focus on helping the one we’re trying to support.”
“I think that’s a good idea, Armel.” Michaellis tried to encourage the ghost, rubbing his arm as best as he could. “I brought some tea with me that I was going to make for Rakurai, but I wouldn’t mind sharing with others. I’m sure you all would appreciate the taste of some of my brews.”
Forte looked intrigued at that idea, setting his cup to the side. “It has certainly been some time since I’ve enjoyed a potable concoction of the drainage of the fortune teller’s herbal trade. I pray that the Fuyujinn household is possessed of leaves and brewing techniques of impeccable quality.”
Michaellis had a look of some pride on his face, his back going straight and his tail moving behind him as a prideful smile graced his face. “Don’t worry a bit about that. Raku’s grandfather was able to gather a number of different plants from his journeys around the realm he protected and brought them home. They make the best quality teas, and I was trained on how to bring out their flavor in the best possible ways. I’ll have you asking for more by the time you’ve finished the first cup.”
“You seem rather proud of your skills.” Michiko commented, giving him a wink. “I’ll have to take some time from my otherwise busy schedule to have a cup or two. I was also thinking of exploring some other parts of the city while Taleus is goofing off. I was hoping one of you gentlemen could accompany me around town.”
“I suppose if Aude and I aren’t busy, I could take a look around myself.” Armel offered. “I didn’t get much time to look around before the matches, and the last time I did, I ran into Inari and had to deal with that weirdness. After that, I got caught up in trying to talk with Aude after the first match. Hopefully we can get a good look around.”
“Hopefully.” Michiko replied in a teasing tone. “I was also thinking of looking at the hot springs. Would you be able to take me there? Or are you too loyal to that fox girl of yours?”
Armel looked a little embarrassed, turning his head away to avoid looking at the illusionist. Michaellis stepped in, imposing his hand between them. “Now now, there’s no need to tease the boy like that, Michiko. I’m sure you can organize a hot springs day with the other girls. Maybe it might be a good idea for the guys to do the same.”
“It’s a shame that most of the guys lost their rounds so early.” Armel said, somewhat remorsefully. “While they’re still around, some of them are still dealing with the fact they lost. They might need a little more time to themselves.”
“That’s true. But even just the three of us and Taleus might be nice.” Michaellis looked at Michiko. “The boy could use some time interacting with other guys in a normal way for probably the first time in his life.”
“Knock yourselves out.” Michiko shrugged. “Luckly, none of you are really fighters, so he might be able to stay calm around you all. Too weak for him to bother trying to fight, unlike the girls.”
“Oh…” Armel suddenly seemed less enthused about the idea. “Well, that’s good I suppose…”
“We can also try to find other things to do as well.” Michaellis added, gesturing towards the rest of them. “After all, it’s not like we’ll be kicked out when the tournament ends. And maybe the others will be open to ideas too, once the sadness of losing their matches wears off.”
The other three began to nod, before one by one they added ideas and reinforcements to the plans of the others. The rest of the celebration mostly went well, although Forte and Michiko still continued to exchange snipes at each other. But other than vague, non-specific threats that the two gave each other, the rest of the night went pleasantly, with Michiko and Michaellis getting decently drunk while Forte and Armel stayed sober.
The latter two helped the former two when the night came to a close, future plans firmly put together as all went to sleep that night with smiles on their faces. Especially Chifu herself, who hugged her pillow close to herself with a huge smile on her face, this year’s tournament being a roaring success both in and out of the arena. She hoped that next year would be just as successful for her as this one was.
To those that Strive for Blood
by zacknapattack
Original Doc - To those that Strive for Blood.pdf
Start
“It was my turn to help Senko today, so what were you doing there?”
“What are you talking about? It was definitely my turn! You’re just trying to hog her for yourself!”
As was seeming usual in this brief moment of time that all of the disparate finalists of the Cross Tournament were gathered together in the same instance of the Crossroads, Raku and Inari were fighting over who would help the injured Senko in the Fox’s Den. The ghost girl was floating up to eye level of Raku with a glare in her expression, her hair blazing behind her. Raku’s hair was billowing in the gusts of wind of her own creation, her own fierce glare meeting the half ghost’s.
Nearby, Piano, Vilivian, and Aude were all sitting nearby, watching the argument with varying levels of concern or boredom. Piano looked the most concerned, trying to find a way to stop the argument but lacking the social skills to do so, while Vilivian only watched on with some interest to see if a fight would break out. Aude was looking bored for now, leaning on her bat as she watched the two as if expecting trouble.
“Oh, you make such a big deal about trying to uphold your responsibility to help those in need, but you’re just using it as an excuse to get closer to Senko!” Inari spat, her arms glowing blue as she crossed them.
“That’s rich, coming from you!” Raku shot back. “You let her join your gang so you would have an excuse to be around her all the time. ‘A boss looks after their underlings,’ bah! We all know you’re lying through your teeth!”
“You’re going to talk about me like that?” Inari flared with anger. “Oh, we’re going to have some problems if you keep this up!”
“Keep this up?” Raku almost laughed, her hand moving towards her spear. “There’s not much left for us to go! Which is why we’re going to end this now!”
“Just what I was hoping to hear!” Inari held her hand out, where Red swiftly landed and shifted into his sword form for her. “Let’s settle this once and for all!”
“W-w-wait a minute!” Piano cried out, moving forward with a wave of her arms as she sought to calm the two warrior women. “There’s no need for fighting, is there? Can’t this be resolved another way?”
“I think now is the perfect time.”
Most people jumped as Taleus revealed himself, with Piano and Vilivian being the exceptions as they sensed his ki and blood respectively when he approached. Even still, his sudden appearance didn’t bode well for Piano’s chances at peace.
“The perfect time for what?” Piano asked, somewhat concerned.
“The time to see which of us is the strongest.” He said simply, like it was the easiest thing in the world. “We’re the six strongest fighters for this cycle of tournaments, right?. So I want to see if I can take you all down, so why not do it all at once?”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea…” Piano began, but she was soon overpowered by the others.
“Well, that sure sounds fun.” Aude chimed in, rolling her shoulder and giving her bat a few practice swings. “It sure beats sitting here listening to the lovebirds argue for days on end! It might make for a good show!”
“If you’re tired of listening to us, you should’ve just gone somewhere else!” Inari shot back, running her fingers down her blade. “But I suppose if we’re going to settle the score all at once, then I’m game!”
“Yeah, it’s probably best to just get this out of the way now.” Raku spun her spear off her back and into her hand, wind gathering at her feet.
“Uh…” Piano looked around desperately, looking for signs of friendliness, but saw steel in the eyes of the others. “Vilivian! Maybe you can convince th-”
The sound of a sword slamming into earth as Vilivian slammed her sword into the ground. “Let’s see if you all are worthy of your place here today.”
“You guys…” Piano whined, seeming upset. “I don’t think we should-”
Her eyes widened as she was the first to notice Taleus bit his wrist and drew a scythe of blood from the wounds. Quickly kicking off her heels, she sent the two purple darts flying towards him as he charged towards Vilivian, who seemed ready to face him. He blocked the two with a quick swing, before barely raising the shaft of the crimson weapon in time to block the kick aimed at his chest. With a concussive force, the young assassin was flung away as the red skinned martial artist charged after him with another swing of her legs towards his head.
Inari watched the two take off to one end of the field, cracking her neck. “For someone who didn’t want to fight, she’s got some moves. Now, to settle…”
She turned to where Raku was, only to see she wasn’t there anymore. She only had a second to look up and dodge back before the swiftly descending form of Raku pierced the earth where she floated, cracks forming in the ground and a blast of wind creating a shockwave around the impact point. Raku flashed blue eyes to meet green as she pried her weapon out and spun it to ready it before thrusting towards the half-ghost.
A vs V
Aude and Vilivian watched the other four pair off, before looking at each other. Aude tapped her bat on the dirt, before pointing it at her current opponent. “Well, it looks like the game’s started without us. But I’m used to being the fourth batter! Let me show you what I’ve got!”
Vilivian just got into a combat stance, nodding. Aude gave a wink as a golden orb began to form in the air. “And next up, we’ve got a golden homerun fitting of our one true superstar!” Aude narrated, lifting her leg as she was winding up for her swing. Vilivian made no effort to move out of the way, before Aude swung her bat with all her might, sending the golden ball rocketing towards her chosen opponent. Vilivian planted her feet, before swinging her fist to match the ball, shattering it with devastating ferocity, before charging to meet her chosen opponent as the initial pairs were established.
Vilivian’s fists rained down towards Aude, who barely dodged out of the way as each blow shattered the ground where she had been standing before. One blow, though, Vilivian let her fist embed into the ground instead, using it as a leveraging point to kick towards the baseball star. The fox girl barely raised her weapon to block, getting sent hurtling through the air even after she lessened the impact.
But with a smile on her face, she pointed down towards Vilivian. A shadow appeared over the Matriarch, who looked up at the large golden sphere descending down towards her. Golden Star! She made a short noise before disappearing underneath the attack. But after a moment, the sphere likewise shattered, showing a mostly unhurt Vilivian underneath.
“Geez, you really are a monster!” Aude commented, though she was grinning as she shook her arms to regain the feeling in them. “But that just means I don’t have to hold back!”
She got into a ready stance, before charging forward with surprising speed. Vilivian raised her arm, her lips already moving. “Ward!”
A blue barrier appeared, blocking the swing. Aude just gave Vilivian a grin, taking another couple swings at the barrier. Vilivian held onto the flow of magic going into the barrier, keeping it calm under the assault and waiting for an opening. But to her shock, Aude’s own magic started working between swings, coating the wooden weapon with a golden sheath around it. Winding up for a big impact, Aude slammed one more time into the barrier, shattering the blue wall and sending Vilivian stumbling back.
The golden sheen was gone from the bat, but that didn’t stop another swing from Aude, which hit the Matriarch in the chest with a grunt of pain as she was sent flying back, only for another blow to strike her back as the fox girl quickly outran her. It wasn’t for a couple more blows before Vilivian finally blocked a strike properly, a fist hurtling towards her opponent to seek vengeance.
R vs I
Across the way, an aerial battle had begun between Inari and Raku. The dragon of wind was soaring through the sky with ease, dodging the green arrows that the half-ghost kept launching towards her. But the barrage of projectiles meant that Raku had a hard time approaching without risk of getting hit. She needed to close the distance.
Suddenly, Inari seemed to draw her bow back even further, lining up a shot carefully for the Fyujinn woman. Seeing an opening, Raku rushed forward, trying to close the gap as quickly as possible while the chance was there. Inari fired the arrow, Raku’s confidence not shaking. All she had to do was dodge this arrow and Inari was hers.
But even as she smoothly dived beneath it, Inari’s smirk told Raku that she had made a mistake. Burst Shot! The green projectile exploded into a dozen different darts that shot in all different directions right above Raku. She had no chance to dodge as three arrows hit her back, sending her plummeting back down to the earth.
“Not done yet!” Inari called out, aiming her bow down. Scatter Shot! A rain of green arrows chased down after Raku, causing a plume of smoke to rise from the ground due to the number of impacts. She then had Green revert to rest, gathering energy in her arms as a blue, iron-like coating covered her arms. Brawler Style: Falling Star!
Like a blue meteor falling to earth, Inari slammed into the ground with destructive force, creating a crater from the immense impact and sending the cloud of dust away with the shockwave. But to her surprise, there was no Raku underneath her fist, unconscious.
She looked up, just in time to see the tip of a spear hurtling towards her face. She raised her arms, the iron coverings protecting her as she was sent back. As she lowered her guard to see what was happening, Raku had already spun the spear around and slammed the haft of the weapon into the side of Inari’s head. Sent reeling back, she had barely enough time to recover as Raku leaped into the air, leaping back as the earth was once more split by Raku’s descent.
Another leap in the air from Raku sent Inari sliding back as jump-stab after jump-stab rained down from above. Inari quickly got used to the pace and leaped a little further back, planting her feet in the ground as she took a fighting stance. As Raku reached the apex of her jump, Inari shut her eyes. She listened for the sound of Raku rushing down to try and impale her. Waiting… waiting… waiting… waiting…
Brawler Style: Cyclone Strike! With a spinning motion, Inari slammed the back of her fist into the tip of Raku’s spear, sending it careening to the side and knocking its wielder off balance. Using the momentum, Inari leaped up. Shaolin Style: Whirling Descent! Her fist slammed into Raku’s stomach, sending her hurtling back.
But something caught the edge of her foot. Inari looked down in time to see the extended portion of Raku’s spear hooked to her leg before she was dragged along Raku’s flight. Being ground into the earth, she watched as the wind gathered around Raku to right her flight before the spear was sent in a wide circle to further slam the half-ghost into the earth. She was then flung quite a distance away, landing with a hard impact before rising with an uppercut to match the dashing thrust Raku chased her with, the two locking in place as they growled at each other.
P vs T
Piano, meanwhile, was having a rather troubling time against her first opponent. Taleus was clearly an agile opponent, and while his fighting style was obviously crude and mostly self-taught, she could see that each strike was aimed towards one of her vitals. Even one strike could prove to be fatal to her if she let him get her.
She barely had to glance over her shoulder to see the wicked blade of his scythe come descending down towards her neck, forcing her to lean back to dodge it. She went into a full back handspring, her foot curling around the haft of the weapon. With a quick pull, she disarmed the Perpetual of his weapon, his six eyes widening with some confusion.
But his state didn’t last long as he quickly pulled the weapon down with the force of his control over his own blood, forcing Piano to do a narrow dodge as the weapon plunged straight down into the earth where she just was. As she got back onto her feet, she quickly charged him before he could reach the scythe, slamming a fist into his chest to force him back.
As he stumbled back from the first blow, she quickly followed it up with another punch, then another in a combination to keep him away from his current weapon and take his focus away from controlling his blood. He seemed to have enough hand-to-hand experience to be able to block the first couple of punches. He quickly went to pull his scythe back towards himself, trying to impale her in the back in the process. But just as it was about to hit her, she suddenly crouched down low, kicking his legs out from under him. She then leaped into the air and kicked again, sending him crashing to the ground with a painful gasp.
But with his mouth wide open, he raised an arm up and bit down on his wrist once more, creating three more daggers of blood to float above him. Piano leaped back, before the three weapons were sent hurtling her way. Drawing a matching number of throwing knives herself, she flung two steel and one of her blood forged knives to cancel out his attack. While the two steel simply matched their blood counterparts, the blood forged blade made impact with the crimson dagger and sent it away. But instead of breaking apart as the taint of her blood made it unable to connect to Taleus like she expected, the weapon merely spun away for a bit before control was regained upon it.
Figuring there must be something special about his blood, Piano quickly drew more throwing knives in preparation for another assault, not caring for the composition of the blades as she flung them to meet the hurtling daggers once more. Once again, Taleus’ three were sent away, but the assassin’s charge was halted by a hidden fourth throwing knife heading for his chest. He parried the blade away with his scythe, only to feel a fist impact his stomach as Piano closed the gap between them, not wanting to keep the fight at a range. She lifted a leg in anticipation to ax kick him, only to feel a sharp pain on her supporting leg’s thigh as one of the crimson daggers sliced through it, ink-like blood pouring from the wound and sending her off balance.
With a twirl of the weapon around his body, Taleus slammed it into Piano’s side, sending her rolling onto the dirt as he chased after her with his weapon raised. She pushed off the ground and kept rolling, getting out of range of the first swing as he continued to give chase. Piano pushed off the ground, leaping high in the air over Taleus, who grabbed hold of his scythe and swung high, managing another glancing blow with the blade on her side.
But prepared for the attack this time, a spray of her corrupting blood rained down on Taleus, causing him to howl in pain as he backed away from her, his skin burning from the corrupting force coating his arms. She landed on the ground behind him, before delivering a spinning back kick to his spine, causing his weapon to go flying from his grip once more as he rolled onto the ground with pain.
Just as she got close enough to try and finish him off with a punch to the throat, however, he kicked out with a leg, the blow light enough for her to toughen her muscles to avoid feeling but slowing her attack as all four of his weapons came for her back. She barely leaped into the air above to avoid that attack, but soon noticed something out of the corner of her eye as the feeling of someone’s ki came hurtling towards her.
Like an orange and white projectile, Aude had been flung away by her opponent Vilivian, who stood with a couple bruises showing from her skirmish with the baseball star. As Piano registered what was going on, she twisted her body in the air and caught Aude with her arms, using the latter’s upward momentum from being thrown to send the two high in the air. Wrapping her arms around Aude, Piano angled the baseball star’s head towards the ground as they hurtled towards the earth in a dangerous suplex, trying to incapacitate the fox girl in this blow so she could focus on the others.
With a heavy impact and the rising of dust, the two women hit the ground, though Piano quickly leaped out unharmed from the maneuver. She looked at the impact point, waiting for the confirmation that Aude was down for the count.
But her hopes were quickly dashed as the dust settled and Aude began pulling herself up, a gold wedge sticking out of the ground where she landed as it had broken open the earth and cushioned her landing. “You almost got me with that one! I’ll be sure to pay you back for that!” Aude promised, rolling her shoulders as she stood up.
Taleus, meanwhile, was recovered from the blood shower he just got and turned to look for Piano, only to see Vilivian not too far away. Holding out his hand, his scythe landed back in it and he charged for the red head… only to feel an impact on his side as Inari crashed into him and the pair were sent flying a distance away. Both pushed off of each other and landed a distance apart from one another, getting into combat stances as they glared at each other. Then, with a quick movement, Taleus rushed Inari, who met his scythe with a blue fist and a shout of anger.
Vilivian simply stood tall despite her short stature, looking at the two new pairs before turning to Raku who walked towards her. Raku looked at the silver blade still embedded into the ground, only to receive a shake of the head from Vilivian. Nodding, Raku got into a combat stance, before rushing forward with a thrust that was parried aside by Vilivian’s hand and met with a punch that Raku barely juked out of the way as she got some distance once more.
T vs I
The clash of iron fist and steel-like blood rang across the battlefield as Inari and Taleus exchanged blows with one another, neither one gaining ground. While Inari certainly had the power and slight speed advantage, Taleus’ nimble movements and spinning fighting style always ensured the blade of his scythe was in her threat range every time she tried to close in. It was any wonder that Piano was able to even stay this close without iron fists, much less land a blow.
Deciding fighting from a distance might be best, Inari began to back off, only for Taleus to close any gap she made with his aggressive pursuit. Inari couldn’t create any distance to form Red or Green into weapons, her entire focus on making sure she wasn’t sliced in two by the manic assassin. His crazed smile almost scared Inari, as she slammed her fist into the ground to create a shockwave to force him back a little and give herself some room from him.
Before he could land and rush towards her, she managed to send away the remnants of Blue and call Red to her hand. The katana quickly took form in her hand, which soon had to meet the deadly scythe of Taleus, now able to hold him to some distance with the longer range of the sword.
With a bit of room to breathe now, Inari could finally press the attack, swinging her sword to try and nick the blood-wielder. But the assassin proved to be rather nimble, dodging her swings and sending the curved blade of his weapon careening towards her with reckless speed. Even with Red in hand, approaching the whirlwind of crimson that was Taleus was still proving to be difficult, as the cut across her arm now proved.
But then she saw an opening as he recovered from a leaping whirlwind slash, his landing off by her pushing him off of her. She quickly rushed forward, finally forcing him to lift his scythe to try and block her direct slash. With a smile, she caused the blade to be incorporeal, phasing through the bloody weapon before rematerializing to slash across the feminine man’s chest.
His six eyes widened with surprise at the pain he felt as the blade he thought he blocked got a good chunk of his chest. But as he watched his blood spill, he looked back up at Inari with a crazed smile once more on his face. He tossed the scythe in his hand at her like a reaping buzzsaw. Inari ducked under the scythe and met the rushing assassin with a piercing thrust.
Taleus ducked to the side, gathering the blood from his chest wound into another scythe, the opening near the end of the blade catching the point of her blade and twisting so that it was caught. Spinning around, Inari was now once more being flung around by the end of a polearm, slamming into the ground a number of times before Taleus leaped high in the air and made a spinning slam, smashing Inari between the earth and the flat of the scythe with a crushing impact.
Inari gave a cry of pain as pressure continued to be applied to her chest as she struggled to get out. As she pushed at the scythe with both hands, Taleus held out one of his hands to call back the thrown scythe. But as he raised the retrieved weapon down to finish off the yurei, he tilted his head. Where did her sword go?
Blade Garden!
He leapt backwards in that moment as several sword blades sprouted from the ground in an attempt to impale him. He scrambled around as more blades chased after him, forcing him to finally retreat as Inari regained her footing. Then, as he backflipped away from another pair of rising blades, he suddenly felt a presence behind him. He quickly whirled a scythe to cover his back as a slash from Inari sent him away, his weapon going another direction as now the ghost girl was pressing the attack.
A vs P
Across the perforated battlefield, Piano was ducking underneath the bat of Aude, the golden fox swinging her weapon of choice was a delighted laugh. While Piano was always good at being quick on her feet, Aude was always just behind her with her bat swinging, making it difficult to get into a proper stance to fight back. Piano could toughen her muscles and skin with ki to block the swings to fight back, but Aude’s strength meant that it would quickly wear down Piano’s stamina and quickly bring her down.
As Piano got an inch of distance after dodging a swing and moving away, she was finally able to plant her foot and kick backwards, catching Aude by surprise in the gut as she gave a gasp of pain. As Aude was pushed back by the force, Piano immediately drew three throwing knives, flinging them to further establish her own pace in the fight.
Aude planted her own feet and gave a mighty swing with her bat, deflecting the two blood-forged knives and shattering the steel one with ease. But she then found the red-skinned martial artists in her face, a fist slamming into her chest. This was soon followed up by another punch, before ducking into an uppercut to send the fox girl flying. Aude landed on her feet, swinging her bat wildly at the charging Piano, who leaned back to barely avoid the bat before her next barrage of blows.
But she only realized her mistake at the last moment, as a metallic thud as the gold extension Aude put on her weapon made impact with the side of Piano’s head. Her golden eye went wide as she was sent reeling back, barely stumbling into a roll to dodge the golden projectiles sent her way by a now cocky Aude.
Getting to her feet, Piano flung another set of throwing knives Aude’s way, only for the fox girl to knock them down with her own projectiles that easily batted the slim blades to the side, forcing Piano to dodge again. The sound of sliding feet made Piano jerk her head over, just in time to roll under the mighty swing of Aude before she was hit in the head again. Aude’s tail swished to the side, getting in Piano’s face and making her splutter with fur in her mouth, only to take another blow of gold to the stomach for her troubles.
Doubling over, Piano knew she was getting pushed onto her back foot. The golden magic Aude used more than made up for the difference in martial skills between them along with the range of the bat versus Piano’s fists. And while Piano couldn’t just develop a talent for magic right then, she could at least beat out the range problem.
As Aude rushed forward again, Piano moved to meet her, surprising the superstar. The bat came hurtling towards Piano, only for the red girl to raise the sheath of her sword, halting it with the sound of wood smacking wood. Putting her whole body weight to stopping the blow, Piano then grabbed the handle of the sword. As Aude cursed and tried to back up, it proved to be too late as the sound of steel unsheathing rang out and a devastating cut to the baseball player’s shoulder stained her white shirt red.
The rush of burning pain Aude felt as the corrupting influence of Piano’s blood burned her shoulder like a dose of acid directly in the wound. But the fox girl grit her teeth and focused her gold along her bat to meet Piano’s blade, crimson and gold clashing with a loud clang. The moment their weapons separated, the black corruption began to spread along the gold, forcing Aude to fling it at Piano as a makeshift projectile, the Devil Blood diving out of the way as she sheathed her blade and taking up an iaijutsu stance.
Creating three balls of gold, Aude sent them hurtling towards Piano with a swing and a confident smirk, only for the shy girl to dash forward, slashing all three in half and sending the six halves harmlessly to either side of her. Now in Aude’s face, she thrust the sheath forward to slam into the baseball star’s stomach, before giving her a backflip kick to knock her to the ground.
Aude landed on her back, then quickly raised her bat to stop the axe kick Piano tried to finish her off with, holding back the leg with all her strength. Just as Piano was flipping around her sword to stab down towards Aude, a golden pillar suddenly slammed into the standing woman’s stomach and sent her flying. Golden Splendor!
Aude gave a whooping cheer as Piano hit the ground a bit away, before gathering gold around her bat to fortify it against Piano’s blade. She spun the heavily weighted tool a couple of times as she waited for the martial artist to regain her feet.
“Well I’m glad you can keep up!” Aude taunted. “Let’s see if you can keep up the pace before the show’s over!” She and Piano both launched towards each other, Aude swinging her bat as Piano got close, forcing the taller girl to duck low and swing towards the shorter girl’s legs. Aude leaped over it and swung down as she leaped over, making Piano lay all the way on the ground and letting the baseball player get her footing first to continue the assault.
Piano’s blade met the golden bat with a quick parry, followed by an exchange of blows. The magic being used on the bat ensured the corruption couldn’t spread to the rest of the weapon, preserving its quality as the two met blow for blow. Piano’s skill with her sword and varying techniques were being matched by the enhanced power of the bat, making it hard for either to truly gain ground. A few times, Aude seemed to be setting up for a big swing, but Piano would approach at a tricky angle and a new style of fighting and that would force Aude back to reconsider.
But always for only a few moments, then she pressed the attack again. Piano was slowly backing away as she defended herself, finding it hard to land a proper blow on the fox girl due to the weight, speed, and range of the weapon keeping her back.
T vs I vs A vs P
But then Piano’s senses noticed another ki approaching her from behind. Her back bumping against his, she didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know that Taleus was now right behind her. She did have to glance back to see that his ghostly opponent was quickly closing in with blade in hand, matching the pace of the golden superstar approaching Piano’s front.
A violet eye met three crimson ones, before both spun around clockwise, with Piano’s sword meeting Inari’s Red and Taleus’ scythe attempting to take a chunk of fox with its swing. While the fox girl dodged the swing, she had to back up again as Taleus tried to bite a chunk out of her with his rows of teeth to prevent retaliation. Inari held back Piano’s blade, but Red suddenly began to complain about the weapon, the corrupting influence of her blade making the sword spirit nervous.
With a force of strength, Inari shoved Piano back, the martial artist hitting Taleus’ back again to stop his swing as Aude planted her feet. In a fluid motion, Piano rolled along the assassin’s back and jumped up as he ducked low, both on either side of the monstrous swing of Aude as Inari closed in. Piano’s foot slammed into the back of Aude’s head, as Taleus’ foot lifted up to vault the superstar by the stomach and send her tumbling into Inari. As the male began to stand though, the red skinned warrior’s foot slammed him into the trio, knocking them into a pile on the ground together.
Piano sheathed her blade, rushing forward for an iaijutsu slash, only for Taleus to be kicked forward by both Aude and Inari. Piano released her blade, grabbing the flying man and slamming him to the ground. He couldn’t slash her at this range, so he tried to trip her with the haft of the weapon, but she backed away quickly and forced him to block another kick from her. Inari managed to shove Aude off, attempting to slash her with Red, phasing through the upraised bat to cut the fox girl’s side.
Aude swung in retaliation, sending Inari back with a dodge. She used her momentum to wind up a downward swing and slam down, shattering the earth with the blow and blasting the ghost girl with debris and even sending the flashy martial artist scrambling for cover. Taleus was lucky and had the debris fly overhead, seeing Inari land nearby. Lunging forward, he managed to get a slash on her back as she cried out in pain.
Piano quickly dashed forward and kicked at Taleus, only to be blocked by him and have to push off before Aude slammed into her with the bat. Inari looked back at the three of them with anger in her eyes, her hair blazing behind her, winding her sword back in a battle stance. Five Meter Slash: Buried Godslayer! A wide red slash filled the area, slicing through the earth with ease. Piano and Taleus were able to dodge, but Aude tried to raise her bat to block. This didn’t prove effective, as the golden sheath her weapon was in was ripped in two and a large cut now appeared on her other shoulder and side.
Inari reeled back her arm to do the Ten Meter Slash version, only to have her blade caught by Piano’s before a blow from the red skinned woman’s fist knocked her to the ground. Before Piano could follow up though, her path was blocked from having to keep Taleus’ scythe from slicing her in two. As she kept him at bay, Aude managed to get behind her and whack her across the back with the wooden bat.
If Piano’s ki senses hadn’t warned her in time to toughen her back muscles, she likely would have a shattered spine. As it was, her mouth opened into a silent scream as Taleus whirled her high in the air. As he spun his scythe around to slash at her again, he was interrupted as Aude and Inari both rushed him. He gave a look to both, before sending his crimson daggers from earlier to fend off Inari as he then did a full body spin to match Aude’s powerful swing, knocking both back a couple of steps.
As both women recovered to attack again, he managed to call the second scythe to his hand, spinning both with his muscles and blood control, before becoming a whirlwind of crimson blades as he engaged both in combat. Even working together, neither Aude or Inari could find an opening, any apparent ones that opened up would quickly have a deadly strike swinging down to force them back before they were instantly cut down.
But Aude was merely keeping his and Inari’s attention on him. After a few attempted exchanges of blows, she quickly leaped to the side. Before the other two could understand why she did that, they both felt sharp pain as throwing knives peppered their sides. A moment later, a golden baseball slammed into Taleus from the other side, Aude taking advantage of the opening Piano’s long-range assault gave her.
Pulling out a knife with an angry huff, Inari began to rush Piano. Aude quickly followed, though whether she was going after the ghost or devil girl was hard to tell. Taleus quickly rolled onto his feet as well, his crazed smile unwavering as he charged to the trio of women with his scythes in hand.
R vs V
Across the way, a blue barrier was erected just a spear tip slammed into the space it appeared, a shockwave of force and wind radiating out as Vilivian’s magic blocked Raku’s dragoon dive. Raku tried to pull back immediately after the impact, which came just in time as Vilivian quickly dropped the barrier and attempted to grab the dragon’s leg and slam her into the ground.
Taking to the air again, Raku took advantage of her aerial abilities to weave above Vilivian and prepare her next attack. If she pushed her abilities to the max, she should be able to dive down faster than the barrier could come up and get a good hit on Vilivian.
Soaring even higher in the air, Raku spun her spear above her head, gathering the winds around her form in preparation to dive. Below, Vilivian simply began to regather her magic to counter the coming attack once more, with the intention of getting her hands on Raku this time.
With a burst of speed that sent a shockwave at her descent, Raku hurtled down to run Vilivian through. The Matriarch’s eyes went wide as she tried to leap back, her warding spell not being quick enough to avoid damage here. Her left shoulder was slashed before she could get out of the way, her form getting blasted back as the destructive force of the dive radiated outwards in response to Raku meteoring into the ground.
Violet leaked from the redhead as Raku spun her spear around again, before thrusting forward nearly as quickly. Vilivian managed to pull aside this time, throwing a punch that was pushed to the side by Raku’s tail. The spear swung sideways to throw Vilivian to the side, but a hand on the shaft of the spear stopped that full force. Raku gathered wind in her lungs and launched a blast of air to push Vilivian away and make her lose her grip before she could take advantage of it before taking off into the air once more.
Her last dive worked, and Vilivian didn’t seem to have a response, so she saw no reason to repeat it. This time should finish her for sure. As she gathered the wind energy, Vilivian below came up with a different strategy to deal with this dive.
Just as Raku began to dive, Vilivian held her hand out… towards the ground. “Sink.” With the incantation complete, the ground turned to a semi-liquid as Raku realized too late the danger. As Vilivian backed away from the attack, Raku plunged halfway into the earth, the normally towering woman now only half the height of even the shorter Vilivian.
As Raku used her control of the wind to pull herself up, Vilivian stepped forward and delivered a devastating haymaker directly to Raku’s face. The young dragon was sent hurtling across the sinkhole, slamming into a tree and breaking in half from the impact. As she tried to recover all the air knocked out of her lungs, Vilivian had crossed the distance and slammed her fist into Raku’s stomach, causing her to gasp in horrid pain as stars filled her eyes.
As Vilivian reared her fist back to finish off Raku, she noticed the dragon woman gathering wind near her hand and back. Feeling a sinking feeling in her gut, she instead leapt backwards. “Ward!”
The blue barrier appeared at the perfect moment. Just as the wall erected itself between the two, Raku launched herself forward, swinging her arm as she reached the wall as a blade of wind emanaged from her fingers. The blue barrier was sliced in two, the force of the blow whipping both women’s hair back as Raku growled at Vilivian in anger as she adjusted the naginata in her hand.
With a quick motion with her hand, she slashed the naginata towards Vilivian, who dodged back easily. But the point of the weapon stopped right where Vilivian was moving and with her other hand, Raku slammed the naginata forward in a rough thrust to catch the dodging demon off-guard.
But the Matriarch simply fell backwards, landing on her back as the metal tip sailed above her prone form. But Raku leaped up quickly and moved to slam the spear down on the lowered woman, forcing Vilivian to desperately roll away as the spear smacked the ground with a metallic thud and gouged the earth slightly from the weight of the blow.
Twisting the blade, Raku then began to turn, digging through dirt and rock as she chased Vilivian with the blade as she rolled away. Vilivian quickly gathered more magic, conjuring another barrier to stop the blade inches from her face. But she barely had time to breathe in relief as the tip moved to be completely vertical as she sensed Raku’s blood moving above her.
Before she could look up, there was a rush of wind and two boots slammed into her chest, the earth cracking beneath Vilivian as Raku put all of her weight into her feet to crush Vilivian beneath her. And while the demon was certainly in pain, the dragon was clearly still underestimating her as the redhead’s hands gripped the brunette’s ankles. Pushing up with surprising force, Vilivian lifted up the dragon woman and slammed her back down to the earth, leaving cracks with the blow before spinning around and sending Raku flying.
As Raku reverted to being on her feet as she continued to slide, she suddenly felt a body pressed to her back as Aude gave an “Eep!” at being slammed into by the tall dragon woman. The two slid a distance, before Aude was able to spin her bat around and slam Raku away from her. Aude gathered gold into a ball, before slamming it towards Raku, who sliced in half using gathered wind from her naginata. The two then rushed each other, weapons clashing as they closed in on each other’s face.
Taleus looked confused, having just been clashing with Aude. He then grinned and turned around to go after the other two girls. Piano turned to face him, blade at the ready as he rushed forward. But his progress was halted as the ground beneath his feet exploded, forcing him back as Vilivian charged towards him fists swinging. The assassin was forced to block and dodge, starting to get pushed back.
I vs P
As Piano tried to figure out what to do next, she suddenly felt an iron fist drive into her back and slam her into the ground as she gave a silent gasp of pain, her sword getting flung away as she lost her grip on it. Given Inari’s unique status in life, her ki was harder for Piano to sense, which the half-ghost took advantage of for the surprise strike as the ground cracked under the impact of the blow. It was only by reflex did Piano’s muscles toughened to the point of not being crushed into defeat. She was only just able to kick away Inari to allow herself to get back up, but being unarmed as the half-ghost charged forward was not ideal, but she’d have to manage.
Piano ducked and dived under all the iron-hard punches from Inari, her reflexes sharper now that she was looking at the ghost girl. But every time she tried to slyly maneuver towards her dropped sword, Inari began to swing widely and force Piano far back, the Devil Blood biting her lip as she tried to figure out how to counter Inari.
Her fighting style was really refined, honed from years of fighting both living and dead, and her experience meant that there were few holes for Piano to exploit. And the iron-like coverings over her hands added a large amount of power and durability that meant that armlocks and joint control was impossible, and blocking simply wasn’t an option. Most of the fighting styles Piano knew for fighting people were practically useless against someone like Inari.
But maybe one of her monster fighting ones might prove useful…
Getting into a fighting stance, Piano waited for Inari to approach. Brawler Style: Blue Cannon! The blue fists soon came hurtling towards her as expected… only to be repelled to the side by a forceful blow from Piano. But that barely threw off Inari, another blow twisting around to try and recover. But another flowing strike sent the blow aside, spinning Inari around even more.
Rushing Waters style was a technique Piano learned by “stealing” the talents of a monk from a mountain infested with monsters. It was an adaptation of the Flowing Waters martial arts style, with an emphasis on powerful blows to deflect even the mightiest of creatures' claws to the side.
It also possessed counter-attacks to take advantage of those openings, but Piano was too afraid of critically hurting Inari to do that. She attempted to switch into Flowing Waters style instead for the counterattacks, but Inari recovered too quickly for the switch to work and Piano kept getting forced back until she could switch back to Rushing Waters.
This gap proved to be a problem, as Inari managed to get another blow onto Piano’s shoulder, sending the Devil Blood spinning away for a moment. But as that distance was created, Piano finally had an opportunity to draw her throwing knives. As Inari approached, Piano flung about four towards the ghost girl, who blocked it by raising her hardened fists over her vitals and sending the projectiles off to the side.
“Did you really think I’d fall for something like that?” Inari asked, her fist now hurtling down towards Piano’s face… only to see a blade still in her hand and now resting on her arm. With a quick, shallow cut, a burst of black blood came shooting out of the wound towards Inari.
Her first instinct was to raise her arms to block again, but with what Red had said about the blood-forged sword from earlier, she didn’t know if the remnants of Blue would survive contact with the corrupting force. So instead she turned her back to take the liquid, a scream of pain as she felt the ichor begin to eat away at all it touched. It certainly didn’t help when a spinning back kick then sent her flying away from the martial artist.
With Inari distracted by pain, Piano was finally able to run over and retrieve her sword, allowing her the distance advantage once more and the ability to handle the iron-like strikes of Inari. But as Piano turned to face her opponent, the amount of green she saw made her heart sink.
Bow now drawn back and an arrow pointed towards Piano, Inari let her first attack fly as Piano quickly attempted to parry it with her newly recovered sword. The arrow was surprisingly heavy, it taking quite a bit of force to repel even one directly. And just as she did so, another projectile was flying towards her. Piano put all her might into repelling that one, and the one after it, trying to slowly approach as she deflected arrows with each step forward.
Inari eventually drew an arrow back, aiming upwards this time as Piano’s eyes went wide. Arrow Rain! The arrow went into the air, before a verdant rain began to descend down towards the red skinned girl, the sound of blade clashing with arrows echoing as she began to desperately swing to repel arrow after arrow, but being overwhelmed by the current speed as she disappeared in a cloud of green.
Inari looked confident that this fight was over as the dust was beginning to settle from her attack, but had an arrow nocked and aimed towards where Piano should be, waiting to be sure. As the dust slowly cleared from sight, she sure enough saw Piano still standing. Her left arm and right shoulder had an arrow in them, black blood flowing freely as she gave a couple of heavy breaths, her skin darkened from the increased blood flow she had to give herself to get the strength and speed to survive the attack.
With another deep breath to return her breathing to normal, she rushed forward with the last bit of increased speed before her blood flow returned to normal to avoid straining her muscles. Inari’s arrow went flying over her shoulder as she swung towards the ghost girl, who had to unfortunately block with Green as she cursed, before switching him to gun form and taking aim as their fight raged once more.
A vs R
“Hold still!” Raku yelled out, swinging her naginata at air as Aude managed to slip away yet again. The pair had been fighting for some time, but neither could get a hit, as they were both fairly quick and kept dashing out of range. Aude was also attempting to create projectiles to fire to make up the range issue, but Raku’s naginata quickly closed in thanks to her speed, forcing the fox girl to use her base running skills to make her getaway.
But just as Aude got enough distance and could create her first golden orb, she looked over just in time to see Raku’s mouth open wide, wind gathering in the space. With a slight tilt of her head, she sent a blast of wind flying towards the golden batter, who dodged out of the way as her golden baseball was torn apart in the blast. As Aude got back to her feet, she looked at the missing chunk of earth with a look of surprise, before quickly rolling out of the way as she heard another blast heading her way.
Raku continued to gather and fire balls of wind towards Aude, pockmarking the earth with holes with each blast as she did so. It was quickly becoming difficult for the baseball star to run far, constantly having to avoid falling into holes while she dodged. The fox girl began gritting her teeth, before spinning around to face the dragon girl.
“Fine! Tired of me running! I’m right here!” She got into a batting stance, another golden sphere materializing as Raku gathered wind once more. As the blast of wind was about to be fired, Aude swung her bat forward, slamming the wood into gold and sending it hurtling like a golden rocket. At the same time, the blast of air was launched at frightening speeds. Both projectiles looked as if they were going to collide, before passing by each other harmlessly.
Aude barely raised her bat in time, getting blasted back as she slammed into the ground a few times in pain. But Raku got the worse end of the exchange, the golden orb slamming into her mouth and nose, sending her head reeling back as she felt her nose break from the impact as she stumbled back several steps from the force of it.. Red blood began to flow freely as she slowly stumbled back into a fighting pose, just as Aude leaped up onto her feet with a grin.
“Well I can see you’re all fired up! Let’s see how you do in this next inning!”
Before Raku could reply back, Aude quickly closed the distance, finally getting a swing in with her bat. Raku blocked with the haft of her spear, spinning it around to slash with the blade. But the fox girl was nimble this close, doding out of the way and clipping Raku’s hip with the wooden club in her hand. Raku grit her teeth, hitting Aude with the blunt end of her spear to back her up, before stabbing forward.
Aude blocked and backed up, a wide grin on her face as the two began to exchange blows, parrying the other’s weapon each time. Unlike with Piano, Aude was not nearly on par strength-wise with her opponent. Raku was a dragon, even if her shy demeanor at times obscured that fact. The power she threw around was not something to underestimate. Aude had to put her full weight into every deflection to avoid being overpowered, while Raku looked like she was swinging her naginata around like it was an overly-sized chopstick.
But since Raku’s blade wasn’t cursed like Piano’s was, it meant she didn’t need to use her magic to block the corrupting force. Which meant she could spend it on something more valuable. While Aude was slowly being pushed back, suffering light cuts on her arms and side while she focused her energy elsewhere. Raku herself was gathering wind around her blade, pushing the baseball star back even further with each blow as she seemed pleased with herself.
Only to immediately regret everything as she felt a pillar of gold slam into her back. Golden Splendor! As Raku came rocketing forward, Aude set up her swing, before slamming Raku quite the distance with impressive force, making the dragon girl skip twice on the earth before recovering. Both women glared at each other over the newly created distance as the golden pillar began to fade away.
“Huh. You’re not bad.”
“I’m surprised you could keep up.”
“Well, I was just getting started!” Aude promised, an even larger sphere prepared as she slammed her bat into it as Raku thrust forward to close the distance once more, both women giving a cry as the air between them exploded with the force of their attacks.
V vs T
Taleus made a noise of shock as he was slammed into the ground, lifted up by the very weapon he was holding and brought down to earth with a pained grunt. Vilivian was unlike the other five in terms of strength, confidence, and experience. Every opening he thought she had, she closed in a second with punishing results. Any place her physical defenses couldn’t cover, her magical ones were manifested to cover. And every attack of hers had a follow-up as devastating as the initial blow.
It was so exhilarating facing her.
“What a horrid face you bear at me, Male.” Vilivian commented, before gathering flames in her hand. “Burn.”
Taleus’ eyes all went wide and he rolled out of the way, before he became a blackened crisp like the dirt he was on had turned into a circle of scorched ash. With a raise of the red head’s arm, the fire trailing the arc as Taleus rolled to safety, all thoughts of attack far from his mind as he was solely focused on survival.
But as she was reaching towards some nearby rocks to prepare to send his way, he finally gathered his wits to fight back. As the stone projectiles came hurtling his way, Taleus almost gave an excited laugh as he charged forward. He barely moved to dodge as he made a straight line for her, scythe drawn back in preparation to swing.
She couldn’t gather her magic to block it, so she’d have to use her arms to deflect it. She moved to hit the haft to keep his blade from reaching her as she thought she was successful as his swing was stopped.
But then he rushed forward, the center of his scythe morphing into sickles that he managed to slash her torso. Violet came rushing out to meet him, as she gave a look of surprise. But her shock quickly passed, a fist slamming into his chest to drive him back. He barely slowed down his assault, swinging his sickles to draw more blood from her.
Vilivian was surprised that this male could push her back like this. The Blackblood would’ve been expected. The Dragon girl too. Even the Fox Girl and the Ghost girl could prove troubling to her. But this male shouldn’t have given her any trouble at all. His magic was too rudimentary, his fighting style flawed. He wasn’t anywhere near as strong as her in any measurable way.
And yet she was being forced back, taking step after step backwards. She wasn’t going to lose to a male like this. “Ward!”
The blue barrier sprung to life to block his attack. If she only had a second or two to recover, she could begin her counterattack and put him in his place. But as the first sickle made impact, he released it and let it fly as he reached for the ground. To Vilivian’s horror, she saw a black stain on the ground, the soil being eaten through by the corrupting blood of Piano. ‘He can’t…’
Vilivian watched as Taleus turned Piano’s blood into a dagger, which he then thrust upwards against the barrier between them with a roar. As the blade struck true, the black blood quickly spread itself across all of the ward as it was fully under his control, weakening the guard quickly as his sickle returned to his hand as he struck again.
The blue wall shattered from the force, the sickle digging into her side once more. As violet blood flowed from a new wound, she grabbed his collar, lifting him up with inhuman strength. Before he could fully recover from the shock of her ignoring her wounds, she delivered a devastating uppercut, his teeth nearly breaking from the force of them slamming against each other as he was launched in the air.
As he twisted in the air a few times, he reached his hands out to summon up his blood weapons, twisting them together back into blood scythe form as he righted himself to look down at her. She looked up at him, steadying herself into a fighting stance as she watched him spiral in the air down towards her, the sharp blade of the scythe heading for her shoulder.
V vs T vs R vs A
But before they could clash once more, a blast of air slammed into her spine, the blindsided Matriarch rolling forward as Taleus’ scythe embedded itself into the dirt. As the assassin looked up at where the attack that drove away his prey came from, he saw Raku and Aude fighting not too far off, both exchanging blows as Aude backed up towards him.
Tugging the blade from the ground, he gripped the weapon with both hands as he came charging silently towards Aude’s exposed back like a grim reaper. Raku’s eyes widened as she saw the crimson assassin draw near, swinging her naginata in a wide arc as she channeled the wind through it. With a large gust of air, Aude was sent flying high above Taleus as he covered his face from the force of the wind.
He then only barely had time to raise his weapon as a thrust came hurtling towards him, the large spear sending him back as he recovered in two leaping steps. He then swung his scythe to his left, catching Aude’s bat before she could make contact. As Raku rushed forward to pierce him, she suddenly was diverted to the side as Vilivian pulled the weapon towards her and slammed her fist into the dragon’s belly.
Raku grit her teeth as she was knocked back, firing a blast of wind towards Vilivian as she raised a hand to put up another wall of magic to protect herself. But the sudden arrival of Aude behind her made the Matriarch spin around and catch the bat, holding it in place as the dragon stabbed towards the barrier behind her. Each blow from the blue scaled woman was beginning to create cracks in the magic, but Aude’s assault meant Vilivian was trapped.
But with a quick swipe of his scythe, Taleus managed to clip Raku’s shoulder, forcing her away as she swung her spear to bat him away as he grinned towards her. With one threat occupied, Vilivian let the magic fade as she picked up Aude with both hands, the fox girl kicking and complaining as her bat bounced almost uselessly off the demon’s skin. With a quick throw, the orange blur slammed into Raku once more, knocking both to the ground in a heap as Taleus gave a wicked grin at the situation.
Swinging his scythe wildly as he ran towards the two prone women, he saw green and blue go wide as his crimson eyes narrowed in anticipation of the kill. But a voice behind him put that thought to an end.
“Shatter.” The ground below the trio began to break apart and fling in all directions as Vilivian’s magic shattered the earth. Aude managed to put a golden shield beneath her, protecting her and Raku by accident, while Taleus was flung back by the full force and knocked to the ground.
Vilivian loomed over him at that moment, fist raised to pulverize his skull and put an end to him, only to see a flash of gold as Aude hit one golden ball her way. Vilivian knocked it to the side with a backhand, only to have to catch the scythe that almost pierced her side. She looked up to find that Raku was high in the air, naginata pointed down towards her chest as she began to descend.
Taleus felt a foot on the back of his head, shoving his face down towards the earth as Aude jumped off of it. Her one foot kicked out, knocking Vilivian’s head to the side as the golden star swung a homerun swing right towards Raku’s chest, knocking her off course as she slammed into the ground with a huge plume of dirt as she cratered the ground.
Raku shook her head, clearing the daze from Aude’s blow as she blew away the dust around her. Her spear then quickly shot up to catch Taleus’ scythe before it sliced her in two, using some wind to add enough force to push him back. Aude leaped over his back again, swinging her bat to strike at the opening Raku left, only to be punched with a running blow by Vilivian. The red head spun around and kicked towards Raku, who blocked with her own leg as the two fought with some martial arts.
Taleus leaped forward once more to slash at Vilivian’s back, only to be repelled when Raku delivered a punch to the red head’s face before leaping off her shoulder to kick Taleus in the chest with both feet. But the assassin managed to latch his scythe between the blades of her naginata, swinging himself around before turning his scythe into a pair of bloody sickles once more. With a spinning slash, he managed another glancing blow onto Raku’s side.
With a swing of her naginata in a wide arc, she caught him with the haft of her spear in retaliation as she swung him in a circle. A golden pillar suddenly rose up in the middle of the arc, causing Raku to slam the assassin against the resplendent wall with a pained gasp. The metal behind him cracked from the force, Aude sweating nearby from having used so much of her soul energy on creating as much gold as she has so far. The crimson assassin looked up from the spear pinning him down and saw the Matriarch rushing towards him with her fist drawn back.
Thinking quickly, he swung himself around the spear so her fist slammed into the gold behind him, breaking it apart and sending shards of gold showering into Aude as she tried to cover herself. With no more resistance, Raku’s swing continued, now catching Taleus’ neck as she sent him flying towards Aude. She couldn’t swing at him with her bat, so she awkwardly caught him and flung him to the ground. As she raised her bat to attack, he swung his sickles, forcing her to dodge as they fought once more.
Raku went to recover from her swing, only to find Vilivian holding onto it. With a pull of monstrous strength, Raku was flung from her feet towards the demon, but with the spreading of her wings she was able to take flight before Vilivian could follow up properly.
Glancing up at Raku high above, Vilivian shook her head, deciding better than to use up her strength trying to shoot down the dragon. Turning to the weaker prey still on the ground, Vilivian gathered strength in her fist and rushed forward to slam Aude’s spine with a shattering blow.
Only for a green arrow to come sailing from across the battlefield and nearly impale her. It was only with good awareness and remarkable reflexes that Vilivian avoided the arrow as she looked in the direction it came from.
The Blackblood had just dodged the arrow, flinging a knife back in response at the Ghost as the two exchanged long range attacks. Deciding to strike at the Blackblood while she wasn’t paying attention, running forward to strike at her exposed back. But Piano easily sensed the approach, backflipping over the Matriarch and kicking her towards Inari.
The ghost girl fired an arrow to try and capitalize on the moment, but the arrow itself was batted away by a backhanded strike from Vilivian, who’s emerald eyes met the bright green ones of Inari as she took a combat stance once more. Seeing that arrows wouldn’t be as effective, Inari decided to change tact.
Arquebus Form. The green bow quickly morphed into an old-styled rifle as Green sensed Inari’s needs, the ghost girl holding the weapon with one hand as she took aim at her new opponent. Vilivian seemed rather confused at the device, unsure of what to make of it as the two continued their standoff mere yards apart.
P vs R
Piano glanced around at the battlefield now that her opponent was distracted by a new one. She noted the pair she just walked away from, before looking over at how the golden star was handling herself. She was currently keeping Taleus at bay, his sickles hooked around her bat as she shoved him back with all her might. Piano wanted to jump in to help, but she figured either one might take advantage of her helping one to take her down. So she decided calming down Raku might be the best bet.
She tried to find Raku, but she didn’t sense Raku’s ki on the ground. Her mismatched eyes going wide, Piano jerked her head up just in time to see Raku plunge down towards her spear first, forcing Piano to back handspring away as the earth shattered under the dragons might as Raku came to face the Devil Blood.
Piano’s blade was held in a rather defensive posture, square in front of her as she faced Raku. Raku recognized the style, having been trained in a similar style in the past. It was a sword style meant for fighting spears and other long weapons, to try and counter the range difference between the two weapons.
Grinning as memories of that training returned to her, Raku gathered more wind along her Windbreaker Naginata, before sending a swirling gust towards Piano to knock her off her feet. But Piano’s movements were surprisingly quick even despite her injuries, maneuvering around the wide attack with ease and closing the distance. The dragon warrior feinted a stab, trying to bait Piano into a block she knew she could counter.
But the talent thief easily recognized the trick, throwing a pair of throwing knives instead as she stepped into Raku’s reach. Forced to repel them with her spear, the blue-scaled fighter couldn’t put her weapon between the pair of them as Piano closed in, her crimson blade swinging in deadly arcs towards her. It was only using all of the martial arts training her grandfather instilled in her could she dodge Piano’s swings, though she was caught off guard as a kick knocked her to the ground.
Gathering wind at the tip of her blade, Raku swung out before Piano drew close enough to strike, forcing the Devil Blood to block. The wind repelled the actual blade, ensuring no corruption touched her naginata. She had seen enough of what that black blood and the weapons forged with it could do to know not to let an ounce of it touch her or her weapons.
Kicking Piano in the stomach, she forced the young martial artist away as she spread her wings to alight back onto her feet. With both back in fighting position and igniting their fighting spirits once more, the two began exchanging blows.
Neither could gain any substantial advantages over the other. For Piano, the difficulties came from the long reach of Raku’s spear, and the wind magic that augmented all of her abilities and attacks, driving her back slowly but surely. The draconic strength of the tall woman also meant that Piano couldn’t just meet her blows exactly, deflecting each blow slightly instead.
For Raku, Piano’s sword was the most troublesome part. It was basically a one hit for massive damage, so she couldn’t take a single hit. And her martial arts was constantly shifting and changing, switching between Iaijutsu to two handed styles to using her sword and sheath as separate weapons with a level of fluidity that was impossible to keep up with. She needed an almost perfect fight, and Piano wasn’t giving it up easily.
Even going into the sky was risky, as blood forged throwing knives were immediately thrown to force her back down to the ground. But Raku was slowly gathering wind in her mouth, so slow that even Piano’s keen senses didn’t notice. Then with a sudden shout, she blasted the thin girl back, sending her flying halfway across the battlefield as Raku took flight as well. By the time Piano hit the ground, Raku dove down with her spear and managed to pierce into Piano’s side.
But as Piano gave a scream of pain, Raku gave her own as Piano’s blade had likewise pierced her side. What’s more, Piano’s wound gave a spray of black blood up towards Raku’s arms, beginning to corrupt them painfully as she pulled back. The blue dragon began to breathe heavily, her pupils dilating as her fangs began to grow.
I vs V
The sound of an explosion kicked off their fight, Vilivian’s shoulder exploding in violet as the green bullet hit her faster than she had expected. The Matriarch reached a hand up, feeling the wound with a look of surprise. “Weapons sure have changed greatly.” the red head commented lightly, before rushing forward.
Inari gave a grunt, firing another shot. But this time, Vilivian was wary of the attack and was able to sidestep the projectile with ease. Inari floated back as she created a few more green guns as the barrage continued. Arquebus Form: Line Formation Mass Shot! All of the weapons fired at once, creating a wall of bullets that not even Vilivian could dodge.
Not that she needed to. “Ward!” A blue barrier once more shielded Vilivian, the bullets bouncing off as each line of ghostly green gun floated up to be replaced with another to fire an additional volley. While her headlong rush had been slowed, Vilivian was still approaching Inari with purposeful steps as the distance between them shrank. The ghost girl gave a noise of annoyance as she continued her assault, but her opponent’s magic was proving too powerful to that approach.
Instead, she raised one line of guns towards the air, firing a volley on high. Curving Shot! The bullets quickly curved in the air, heading towards Vilivian’s back as the next line of arquebuses fired directly at Vilivian.
But with a swing of her arm, the blue shield deflected the direct bullets with ease, before swinging it around to block the ones coming from behind her. As Inari’s eyes went wide, the redhead launched herself forward, her fist slamming into Inari’s stomach with great force.
Inari’s eyes went wide, spittle flying from her mouth as she was sent hurtling into the ground, a trough being dug from her body dragging along the ground. Green reverted to his spiritual form as he floated over the prone Inari with concern.
“Don’t worry Green, I’m not down yet.” she assured him, beginning to float up. “Get some rest buddy. Red and I have got this.”
She reached out, Red shifting into sword form as Inari got into a fighting stance. She glared over at Vilivian, who cracked her neck in anticipation. “I’m glad you haven’t gone down so quickly. I’ve never fought one like you, and I’d like to see how far we can go.”
Vilivian stomped a foot down, cracking the ground around her as she prepared herself. Then, with a burst of speed, she crossed the distance between them with her fists raised. The first swing of Red was quickly ducked under by Vilivian, a counterattack quickly shooting back towards the ghost girl. More prepared, Inari dodged, the two now beginning a furious exchange of blows as the two barely dodged or deflected the powerful blows of the other.
While Inari could phase her weapon through Vilivian’s limbs to strike her directly, doing so would mean that Vilivian’s powerful punches would turn her insides into soup with too many direct punches to the torso. But if she could just find an opening…
But Vilivian was slowly figuring out Inari’s fighting style, each punch getting closer and closer to hitting Inari overwhelmingly. The next opening would have to be the one. The moment Vilivian pulled back her fists, Inari drew her blade back for her next attack. Blade Dance: Three Steps!
Red almost seemed to grow in the ghost’s hand, as she gave a wide swipe. Viliivan dodged under the swing, only to have to nearly dive to the side from the vertical slice that nearly bisected her. But the third blow was incoming and she could no longer dodge, so she was forced to erect a barrier to stop it. But the blade easily passed through magic and flesh alike, striking true to her core as more violet spilled forth from her sliced belly as she barely avoided being disemboweled by leaning back slightly.
Vilivian looked down at her new wounds with surprise, before a look of confidence took over. Her shoulders rolled slightly as her mass began to shift slowly…
T vs A
Aude and Taleus had their respective weapons locked together, bat and scythe pushing against each other as both fighters grinned wickedly in each other’s faces with excitement at the battle. They both pushed off each other simultaneously, each spinning with their weapon ready as they delivered a devastating swinging blow towards the other.
The two attacks collided, sending both fighters skidding back as the force of the meeting blows pushed against one another, the two fighters now a bit of distance between them. Taleus bit his wrist, conjuring another weapon from his blood as Aude began to form another ball of gold.
“Too slow!” Aude called out, slamming her bat for a home run hit, sending it cascading towards Taleus. He sent his blood weapon forward, but the weapon was easily hit aside by the splendorous baseball. He couldn’t raise his scythe in time to block the orb as it slammed into his shoulder, sending him sprawling to the ground.
He attempted to roll onto his feet, but Aude was already on top of him as she swung her back, knocking him around some more. Every time he tried to stand up, she knocked him down again, each blow sending him reeling with pain as she laughed at his plight.
But her overconfidence got the best of her, as she didn’t notice his scythe’s position the latest time she moved in to strike. With a sweeping blow, Aude’s leg was caught by Taleus’ scythe and now she was the one on the ground as Taleus raised his weapon with six gleaming evil eyes. With the swing of the reaper, he attempted to lop off her head, but she managed to keep her bat between the blade and her slender neck. The blow was still enough to send her flying, blood oozing as her cheek was slashed with a glancing cut.
“Not bad!” Aude wiped the blood from her cheek, glancing at him as he was getting ready to charge. “But you gotta do more than that to keep up with this!”
With a shout, Taleus was suddenly knocked off balance by a short pillar of gold rising up under one of his feet. She charged forward to take advantage of the opening, only to have to stop short as the reaping red blade swung where she was about to be. He quickly spun around, another follow-up attack driving her back as he used his longer reach to try and cleave her in two. But with the enhanced strength Armel had tried to give her, she was able to keep the assassin from striking a vital point so easily.
But his near lifetime of experience and training towards being an assassin was proving to make things difficult for her. Even when compared to the other five, his blade seemed especially deadly. It could be that the others weren’t as interested in killing her as Taleus was, even despite the time the six had spent together before their final rounds. But like him, she wasn’t one to let sentimentality get the better of her.
Creating a wedge of gold to shield her, she rushed forward to meet him. He went to swing his scythe at her, but she thrust the wedge forward right where the haft of the weapon was. With only a little bit of force, the weapon was rent in two by her own magic, sending him stumbling back.
She discarded the wedge to grab both hands onto the bat, only to see that Taleus had hardly slowed down. Two sickles were now in his hands, and she could barely dodge out of the way before one of them grabbed onto her bat and pulled her to the ground. As he raised the other one to impale her, she coiled herself up in a ball and kicked up, knocking him away with a pair of cleats to the jaw.
As she was back on her feet and about to strike back, a pair of roars suddenly pulled the two fighter’s attention to the other fights.
To one side, Piano had been slammed into a tree by the Windcutter Naginata, her hands trying to push it off her as Raku almost loomed above her. Her scales had grown to coat her arms with blue armor and black claws. Her face was now accented with blue scales, her eyes more draconic with black sclera as she shattered the tree the Devil Blood was on with the martial artist’s own body.
The spear was flung towards the lithe girl, who barely rolled out of the way as she tried to recover from the force as quickly as possible. With her claws outstretched, Raku chased after Piano, each swing of her arms leaving gouges in the trees Piano ducked behind that began to bleed sap from how deeply they were struck. The red skinned woman could not even begin to imagine matching the half-dragon form of Raku blow for blow, as she would be easily overpowered by the skilled and powerful warrior.
On the other side, Vilivian’s monstrous transformation continued, as her clothes were torn asunder by the growing mass of gray skin and sinewy muscles that overtook the Matriarch’s body. Her skull became prominent and cow-like as a beak grew where her mouth once was. Razor sharp claws and a segmented, bony tail ending in a piercing arrow-point began to emerge from the demon as she assumed her full and most dangerously demonic form.
YOUR FATE HAS BEEN SEALED! The echoing mental voice of Vilivian flooded Inari’s mind, making her grasp her head for a moment. This almost proved to be a mistake, as at that moment the foot long claws of the Matriarch nearly took her head clean off. It was only by ducking out of the way just in time did she avoid a terrible fate, but was soon forced back as she blocked the tail that stabbed forward to pierce her in that moment.
Aude and Taleus looked at each other, seeing the potential for a spotlight fight and the desire to slay a powerful opponent respectively in the other. Nodding once, they both took off in separate directions, with Aude heading over to assist Piano against Raku, and Taleus running off to take down Vilivian with or without the aid of Inari.
V vs I and T
Inari was already getting pushed back by the transformed Vilivian, her longer reach and more aggressive demeanor pressing down upon her as an overwhelming force beyond what her human form had managed so far. Red was starting to get worn down from all the fighting too, and likely only had a few more attacks in him before he needed a break. And Green was nearly shot as well, leaving her with only the remnants of Blue. This was not looking good.
But just as Inari was pushed back once more and a three-clawed foot was about to slam her into the ground, a mass of hair and blood suddenly shot in as Vilivian turned to face Taleus, who swung his sickles towards the Matriarch with a savage glee. One sickle merely scraped off the tough hide of her exterior without leaving so much as a scratch, much to his disappointment.
The other somehow entered the beak-like maw that was her mouth, the vampiric woman biting down with enough force that he had to pull his fingers back to avoid losing any. With a sickening slurping sound, the sickle slowly got absorbed into the sunken pit of Vilivian’s hollowed stomach with a dark chuckle resounding in their minds.
YOUR BLOOD MAKES FOR AN EXCELLENT FEAST. The wounds that they had managed to tag her with in her human form quickly healed under the influence of the consumed blood, making her look perfectly healthy once more as she loomed over the pair. PERHAPS I SHOULD INDULGE IN SECONDS?
“Sure! Next time I’ll shove it straight down your throat for you so you don’t have to even suck it down!” Taleus taunted back, drawing blood from one of his many wounds to create an even more wicked looking scythe that he held with both hands.
THEN LET US SEE IF YOU CAN LIVE UP TO YOUR BOASTS, MALE. The Matriarch leaned forward, getting ready to pounce as her tail curled above her head.
“Could you try not pissing off the large demon we’re currently fighting?” Inari asked exasperatedly, throwing her hands in the air.
But even that momentary outburst of anger proved to be too big of an opening, as Vilivian lunged forward, her tail striking down towards the ghost girl. But Taleus was just as eager to attack, his scythe swinging up to hit the joints between her segments. The blade struck bone, deflecting away the sharp appendage before it could rupture the belly of the floating girl, who looked slightly relieved at avoiding certain death.
The red blade in her hand angled towards the once damaged shoulder of the behemoth before her, hoping the flesh would still be weakened at having just been healed. But her thrust proved fruitless, as the thick hide still proved sturdy even at apparent weak points. Inari gave a grunt of annoyance, than dodged back before a set of razor claws tore her into quarters as she readied herself once more.
The two smaller warriors then had to work together to deflect the onslaught of claws that rained down on them, each one having to pull all of their might to deflect one attack, leaving them exposed to the other if their partner didn’t take care of it. It was already proving tough, and Vilivian hadn’t used magic yet in this form. If she didn’t do something, Inari knew they would be crushed beneath this imposing threat with ease.
Floating back as far as she could, she held her blade with one hand and rested it against the palm of the other, closing her eyes as she did so. Vilivian could instantly tell that this was going to be a bigger attack and went to go after her, but a crimson blade on her neck managed to drag her back a step, her back arching back as Taleus pulled with all his might.
“You’re not going anywhere!” His confidence was soon sundered, however, as the tail pierced through his side. As he fell to the ground, apparently defeated, Vilivian focused her attention back on Inari only to find…
Godslaying Strike: Twofold! With a quick spin around, Inari’s blade lashed out at a much further range than usual as it impacted the Matriarch just as she began her charge. With twice the force she was dealing out before, Inari was easily able to slice open the seemingly impenetrable hide of Vilivian.
A violet wound seared across Vilivian’s chest, a mental howl of anger erupting from her as Red vanished from Inari’s grasp. As the blue on the latter’s arms began to glow as she channeled her brawling capabilities, the former focused on a spell to get even. SHATTER.
The ground beneath Inari cracked and shattered, sending shards of pointed rock up at Inari. She covered her face and chest with iron like arms, keeping them safe as her legs and torso were torn from the flying projectiles. As Inari’s green eyes peaked between glowing blue arms, Vilivian charged with a furious swipe aimed to overpower the weaker fighter once again.
But her blood senses suddenly went into overdrive, as she sensed Taleus’ blood swarming around her. Several blood weapons circled around her, obscuring her senses to find where their source was running around.
A slash to her back told her behind and she swung, only to feel nothing but air as a stronger slash impacted her shoulder, drawing a bit of violet as the blood scythe dug into flesh. She lunged for him again, but another weapon deflected her attack and drew her attention as she was assaulted by a barrage of attacks from every direction.
The assassin was proving himself well even as blood poured from various open wounds, which only served to add more weapons to his arsenal. Even against an opponent whose physiology he has never encountered before, he was already picking at weak spots, aiming for the joints and other softer bits of what made up her otherwise sturdy form.
ENOUGH! The shout echoed in their minds, before her claws began to lash out in all directions. Each of the blood weapons formed were knocked aside in the flurry of attacks in all directions she delivered. Even her tail was swinging around, the bludgeoning appendage knocking aside sickles with ease and even managed to clip Taleus, sending him sprawling as blood slowly from his head as he tried to recover.
Just as she freed herself from the temporary torment of Taleus’ assault, she suddenly sensed Inari right next to her. Taking advantage of the opening the flurry attack caused afterwards, Inari was able to get within Vilivian’s immense reach.
“Gotcha. Brawler Style: Cerulean Comet!” With a blue trail denoting the power of her incoming strikes, Inari began a combo on Vilivian’s chest, each one creating reverberations throughout the entirety of the Matriarch’s body as she was pushed back with every successive blow. She couldn’t even raise her arms to counterattack, and her tail was unable to close in as she would get knocked back before she could even think of stabbing it into the ghost girl.
Instead, she found herself coughing up violet blood through her beak as her insides were being pummeled under the withering assault of Inari. Never had an opponent pushed her back this far like this, without a silver weapon. Even as she was being damaged, she could help but feel her excitement rising at the thought of such a worthy opponent.
There was a sudden gap in Inari’s rush, as her injuries from earlier began to act up, making her grit her teeth as she slowed for just a moment. But that was just enough time for Vilivian to rush forward, shoulder checking the ghost with her massive frame and knocking the floating woman to the ground.
YOU DID WELL. BUT IT’S OVER NOW. She raised her claw high, preparing to strike down and finish off this opponent before moving on to the next one.
Only for Taleus’ scythe to catch her neck once more, twisting his body to slam her to the ground as the blade bit into the hardened flesh to leave a purple line. Spinning the weapon around, he tried to impale her, but the tail lashing out forced him back, as all three fighters got into fighting poses equally distanced apart, clear excitement in all of their expressions.
R vs A and P
Raku’s claws slashed across Piano’s back, ripping up her coat as she barely dodged out of the way of the crushing blow. While Piano was a skilled fighter, Raku’s own martial arts had been honed to near perfection. While the attacks Raku were making would normally be rather light in her normal form, when enhanced in this half-dragon state, each one could shatter rocks.
As such, Piano had to avoid every attack, for even toughening her muscles wouldn’t protect her from those blows. And the dragon girl had managed to tear away Piano’s sword from her grip right as she transformed, meaning Piano just had her fists and throwing knives to use.
Getting some distance, the red skinned girl drew three knives, tossing them from a blindspot of Raku’s to try and catch her off guard. But with the wind that was whirling around the blue scaled warrior, such a light attack was easily knocked to the side without her having to even act. As such, she was able to rush forward, nearly crushing Piano’s chest with an open palm strike as the girl barely deflected it to the side.
Piano tried to fight back against Raku’s assault, but quickly became overwhelmed as more and more stikes came hammering in, each deflection leaving bruise on the deflecting limb of the Devil Blood as the dragon’s claws proved stronger than Inari’s fists had been as Piano felt her limbs going numb trying to protect herself. If this kept up, she knew she'd be easily defeated. If only she had her sword…
In that moment, an orange and white blur suddenly rushed towards the pair, a wooden bat swinging out towards Raku. She easily caught the bat, as Aude stood there grinning at her new opponent as she struggled for a moment. But feeling that she would be easily overpowered if this kept up, she swung out with her other hand, forcing Raku to leap back as Piano’s sword nearly clipped her.
Dual-wielding both bat and sword, Aude rushed forward once more to take on Raku, who was now on her backfoot at the double weapon assault from the golden superstar. Each blow with the bat backed quite a punch, while the corrupting influence of Piano’s blade made each scratch with it especially dangerous. Combine that with Aude’s incredible speed and complete lack of fear as she grinned through her assault, even a powered-up Raku had to be careful.
The pair of fighters wove between the trees they were fighting in, Raku using her wind to float backwards as Aude was an orange blur following after her with wide swings. But eventually the half-dragon had an idea to gain distance, slashing a few tree trunks with her razor sharp claws. With the weakened state of the trees from the deep gouges, the trees began to fall over, forcing Aude to dodge out of the way in order to avoid being crushed.
Just as she was getting up, the fox girl felt a foot slam her up onto her feet. She looked over just in time for Raku’s open palm to slam into the bridge of her nose, sending her flying away with a pained gasp. The superstar recovered quickly back onto her feet, but Raku’s speed meant that the fox was now on the defensive as sharp claws rained down in heavy blows.
“Well, you certainly know how to put on a show.” Aude complimented, wiping blood from her nose as she kept deadly blows from landing on her. “But luckily for me, my partner knows a thing or two about showing off herself.”
Raku looked confused for a moment, before her eyes went wide and she spun around, blocking with two scaled arms as a blade slammed into her. Getting knocked away, it took a moment to get her bearings to see what happened.
Piano had now rearmed herself, but not with her blade. Instead, she was now wielding the Windcutter Naginata that Raku had tossed aside, the lithe girl spinning the weapon in her arms as she prepared to face Raku once more.
Raku gave a snarl before rushing forward, where she was met by her two opponents. Piano used the long reach of the spear to strike from a distance, while Aude pressed in close to try and keep Raku’s claws busy so the martial artist behind her could land a few blows. Between the flurry of limbs that was Aude and the whirling dancing assault of Piano, even the half-dragon was struggling to keep the two at bay from the surprising coordination between the two.
When Aude started striking low, Piano’s attacks would go high, forcing Raku to duck and weave to avoid damage. And when Piano suddenly switched to sweeping low and Aude spun into the air to become a whirling top of deadly armaments, Raku was forced to get knocked away by the latter to avoid the former cutting open her legs. Either way, Raku was slowly accumulating cuts and bruises from the two, all while knowing both girls were holding back some of their strength to try and recover from the earlier fights. If Piano put some ki into pumping herself up or Aude started using magic, she would be taken down in no time.
Breathing in deeply, the half-dragon fired a powerful blast at her own spear, knocking Piano off balance for a moment. Taking advantage of the moment, Raku’s wings began to flap hard, creating a whirlwind around Aude that began to spin her around. As she began to protest the attack, she was suddenly flung back, landing on top of Piano in a heap as the latter’s sword went skittering off into the woods once more.
As the two girls tried to get up once more, Raku quickly picked them up by their heads and slammed them into each other powerfully, sending both of her opponent’s heads ringing as they stumbled away from each other. She then slammed her palm into both of their chests, driving them further apart as she regained control of the situation.
Chasing after Piano to get her spear back, Raku was forced back as the point of the spear came lashing out at her. Having toughened her muscles at the last moment to let her recover, Piano began to push herself harder than before. Her skin began to darkened as she started increasing the blood flow to dope herself up, allowing her to match her opponent in speed and power to an extent.
With another whirling assault of the naginata, Piano pressed the attack more aggressively than she had before as black blood began to spurt from her wounds from the increased flow to shorten the time she had to fight. Raku kept up her own aggression, knowing she could win out in a battle of attrition as claws met blade over and over. Piano kept switching between several Eastern styled fighting styles, which Raku easily recognized and countered each time with a large grin, before sweeping her tail around to slam into the girl.
As Piano was pushed back, she adjusted the grip on the spear and tossed it towards the half-dragon with all her might. Raising both hands, Raku had to use all of her strength to keep her own spear from impaling her as she slid back. When she eventually came to a stop, she tossed the spear aside to find her opponent again, only for Aude to come swinging in.
Raku’s fist knocked Aude aside, only to feel something brush her tail and feel a small fist rest near her side. She glanced over to see that Piano had gotten into an intense looking stance as she took a deep breath. Then with a violent push forward, the martial artist delivered a devastating one-inch punch into Raku, knocking all the air from her lungs and sending her flying.
Not giving the dragon any time to recover, Piano ran forward and grabbed her fallen sword, swinging with all of her skill and strength at the half-dragon. But Raku was still undaunted even after all this, her pride as a dragon allowing her to match and slowly overpower even a doped up Piano’s attacks. The latter slowly had to wind herself down, already feeling the strain on her body as she waited desperately for the ki behind her to change in the way she needed it to.
As Raku grinned and twisted aside Piano’s corrupting blade to give herself an opening, she lifted a claw in order to rend the Devil Blood’s side open. Only for a golden shimmer to catch her eyes as she looked up just in time to see a gold coated bat hurtling towards her.
Solar Homerun!
End
Raku was slammed back into the open by the powerful blow of Aude, scales flying off as she landed back onto the field with her two opponents chasing her.
Across the way, Vilivian finally managed to shove away her two opponents a distance away as she took deep breaths, trying to recover from the endless assault of the two.
With the six now gathered together, they all began to assess each other, seeing the weaknesses in the faces of all the others and gathering the last bits of their own strength in order to finish this fight once and for all.
Raku began to grow even more scales, starting to grow in size as she started to shift. Taleus’ blood began to coalesce into large tendrils of crimson, each one tipped with horrid mouths made for devouring human flesh. Inari’s face began to darken as blue hands began to appear behind her ready to rip and tear. Aude’s golden magic began to gather further into her bat, growing it larger and more powerful. Piano’s blood got pumping once more, ready to dope herself up to finish off the others quickly. And Vilivian began gathering pink energy in her mouth to eradicate everyone in one fell swoop.
But then a dark shadow came careening down from above, drawing all of their eyes upwards as they stopped their preparations. Seeing the red skin of Saki, they only had a second to marvel at the strangeness before her fist made contact with the ground with a powerful smash.
The earth shattered upon impact, six different segments breaking themselves off from each other under each fighter’s feet. With another push, Saki pushed the segments like a see-saw, sending all six fighters into the air to slam into each other above her head. Before any of them could comprehend what happened, she gave a rising uppercut, punching all six with more strength than any had experienced before, sending them all spiraling away with eyes rolled in the back of their heads. By the time they all landed and the dust cleared, all six were clearly knocked out as they returned back to their normal forms once more.
“There, that takes care of that.” Saki grunted, wiping off her hands. “Can’t have them wasting all of their best attacks on some side fight that doesn’t mean anything.”
Miss X and Chifu strode out from the nearby woods, the latter carrying a blanket that she draped over the now nude Vilivian to cover her form for now. Miss X looked around at the destruction, her heart eyes nearly shooting out of her head like a cartoon character.
“I’ll say! Look at all the fun they had! Think how much all of my favorite kittens would’ve loved to see a brawl like this! Maybe we should host a more official one with all of these guys! And we can set them up with a cool arena and a crazy objective to achieve! Ooh, and we can bring the other fighters in as well for some variety as well!”
“Now doesn’t that just sound entertaining~” Chifu commented, as Saki began picking up each fighter one after another. “I might set up a game or two for them to play~ But we don’t want to step on Echo and Mimic’s own little game?~ But they’re still setting things up, so I suppose they can’t complain yet~”
Chifu gave an amused chuckle as she shifted into her God Eater persona, as all of the fighters were finally collected. With the ringing of bells, a pair of doors opened in front of her, leading back to the Crossroads so the fighters could recover in their beds.
“As long as they entertain me, maybe I’ll reward all of my dear little travelers~”
Round 3 Match Introductions
by zacknapattack
Original Doc - Round 3 Match Introductions.pdf
Comic League 1:
“Welcome back kittens to the moment we’ve all been waiting for! The battle of a lifetime, the final match of our Cross Tournament! When we started this off, we had eight mighty warriors that all fought their hearts out to try and get that wish! Our final two fighters have certainly been through the ringer to make it to this final match! But with a wish on the line, who will do what it takes to see themselves in front of the God Eater herself and ask for their desire to be granted?”
“On one side, we have the Assassin of Blood, Taleus Veron! This Perpetual has truly proven himself worthy of ranking among their numbers as The Charnel God! In his first ever bout in front of us all, he took on the impossible task of bringing down a Contractor, a man that normally requires an army to even think of taking on, Yamarashi! But with deadly intention, versatile use of his blood control, and an incredible power, he proved that the impossible is possible! His second match put him against the sweet, but deadly samurai, Senko! While her speed and cold touch certainly proved troublesome, what really allowed Taleus the win was his cold ruthlessness allowed him to take her down in a flash! With two opponents behind him, he’ll now be faced with an opponent that will not easily be battered down! Can this crimson assassin’s blades find their mark, or will he be left whirling in the wind?”
“And on the other side, like a billowing hurricane of passion, we have Raku Fyuujin! With the passing of her grandfather, she’s been tasked with the responsibility of being the head of the Fyuujin household, a title she is so far more than meeting the expectations for! Her first match in this tournament had her facing a deadly and untouchable purveyor of poisons, Muhamora! Using her wind and spear, she was able to keep the deadly touch of her opponent at a distance until she was able to come up with a scheme that allowed her to reach out and touch her opponent’s heart with a cost! But the danger wasn’t done there, as up next she faced a valiant undead knight in Valentine! The swords and sorcery the zombie woman brought was certainly fearsome, but nothing compared to the wrath of a dragon, and with a whirlwind of action, Valentine was likewise defeated! But can anger truly give Raku the edge over a deadly assassin with no regard for his own safety, or will she need a cooler head to take on this deadly foe and live?”
“These two certainly stand on opposite ends of the spectrum! One, a deadly assassin lurking in the shadows between dimensions, seeking out targets and bringing them down with bloody strikes! And the other, a noble dragon tasked as a guardian to protect those beneath her! But for one fateful day, these two will clash directly, but only one can prove victorious! Who will come out on top, and who will be brought down by the blade of the other? There’s only one way to find out, so hold on tight, get your loudest cheers ready, and let’s watch the fight of the multiverse unfold before our eyes!”
Comic League 2:
“Ladies and gentlemen, cats, kittens, and foxes, welcome all to our final day of the Cross Tournament! Eight fighters lined themselves up along two sides of a bracket, all vying for the top position! Today, only two remain, and they now face each other in the Cross Colosseum for one purpose: to prove they are worthy of being the one to have a wish granted by the God Eater! Let’s look at our fighter’s feats before we watch this match that will likely be heart-pounding!”
“Our first warrior is a ghostly figure with fists of steel and an arsenal to back them up, Inari Sato! Coming here in search of a figure from her past, she’s proven herself a rather spectacular fighter as she’s taken on every foe thrown in front of her! Her first bout took on the well-armed deliverer of pain and packages, Delivery Girl! While they seem to get along off the battlefield, once they were on it they set their friendship aside for quite the spectacular battle, which Inari managed to pull ahead on! Her second opponent was much more formidable, however, facing Gensai Rex, the soul wielding martial artist with a flair for power and skill! Going wild, Inari faced her opponent and won with bombastic style, but one of her floating companions seems to have moved on, fusing its power to her! Now, with two opponents down, she’s got a real superstar in her way, so let’s see if her new combined might is enough to overcome this golden opponent arrayed before her, or if she’ll just fade away!”
“Her opponent is none other than Aude, the Golden Superstar that hits nothing but home runs all day long! While normally baseball is her sport of choice, these last few days she’s proven that she can be a fourth batter for combat as well! She first showed that off against the rabbit scientist Ronin! His quick speed and lighting device surely made him a strong opponent, but that proved to not be enough against such a powerful foe like Aude! But her next opponent was someone with the firepower to keep up with the superstar! And the thunderpower and icepower too! Wendy Williams certainly stood her own, pulling out some surprising moves against the fox girl at the center of our story! But with a motivating speech from her ghostly companion Armel, she was able to gather the strength she needed to overcome Wendy’s magical might and pulled into the finals! Now she’s faced off against an opponent most could never reach! But with a ghost by her side, maybe she’ll have what it takes to bring down her opponent and her two companions!”
“These two women have faced some of the best warriors in the multiverse and proven themselves to be superior! One, floating on the edge of life and death with her colored companions, defeating those that need a good thrashing! The other, a superstar that seeks to prove herself to greater and greater heights of fame and power! These two will meet in the arena with the knowledge that only one of them will come out on top! I’m sure it’ll be exciting to see who that proves to be, so let’s stop delaying and let’s get this match roaring!”
Writer’s League:
“What a beautiful day it is today, my lovely fans, is it not? Just a perfect day for bloodshed and spectacle, and I have just that kind of content for you for this concert! The God Eater brought eight unique fighters from across the multiverse to our humble Crossroads to compete for one wish from our local resident goddess! Two remain after two intense days of battle, and now they face each other on this final day, both having hardened their hearts to be willing to take down the other and prove themselves worthy of having their wish granted more!”
“Our first contestant is the sneaky Devil Blood who’s martial skills and deadly blood has made her quite the formidable opponent, Piano! While her delicate looks make her appear to be a gentle flower, she has quickly proven to have more dangerous thorns than her enemies expected! This was quickly shown with her first opponent, the user of dark magic Angelique Tarrow! This veteran of fighting tournaments like ours thought her opponent would be easy to overpower with magic, but Piano’s physical abilities and quick thinking proved to be the better, and with a startling finish, the black blooded martial artist moved to the next round! Quan Huynh, on the other hand, had the physical abilities and the spunk to prove a threat to Piano! But no amount of speed or courage could ever really beat out pure skill, and Piano’s regeneration stopping blade put down the speedster in quick action! Now with those two out of the way, she faces one of the most powerful threats in this final match, a mixture of both magical and physical prowess! Can Piano find some way to leverage what advantages she does have, or will she be pounded in the dirt at rapid speed?”
“And her opponent is a most dangerous opponent indeed, a centuries old Matriarch with the capabilities to back it up, we have Vilivian of Lilith! With physical strength, magical might, and even a terrifying secondary form to ravage her enemies six ways to Sunday! Her first opponent certainly was a match for her physically, and a fan favorite as the nephew of the Fox Den’s bartender and previous Cross Tournament winner, Volley! Unfortunately, honor got in the way of strength, and our fiery demon managed to claim a victory! But where might fails, machinery could hopefully make up, or so Pembrooke thought! But even with all the firepower his ATX could muster, he still couldn’t find the killshot on this tough skinned demoness, and destruction rained down upon him! But Vilivian’s next opponent won’t be relying on pure power to overcome her, so we’ll have to see if she can adapt to such a change in strategy, or if the silver bullet that will bring her down has finally been found!”
“These two women are masters of their bodies and minds, right down to the strange colored blood they both have! I’m sure the fight that’s coming up will stain the battlefield in all sorts of colors, I can hardly wait to see it! While I’m sure they’re not super eager to hurt each other, they both have one dream, one wish to earn the right to see become real, so they’re going to have to put aside what little friendliness they have with each other and put it all on the line for victory! Get ready folks! The show is about to begin!”
Summer Leagues vs Chifu
by zacknapattack
Original Doc - Summer Leagues vs Chifu.pdf
“A-are we really doing this?”
Piano looked a little uncomfortable standing with some of the other contestants of the various Cross Tourneys outside of the Fox Den. All of them had serious expressions on their faces- those whose faces could be seen, of course. Most of them had their weapons ready, and seemed battle-ready.
To her immediate right was Raku and Inari, the two normal rivals standing side by side as they cracked their necks ready for combat as they got spear and iron-like fists ready respectively. Next to them stood Pembrooke, checking his pistol to make sure it was loaded for combat as Jackie stood next to him, giving a couple practice swings of her bat in preparation. Aude likewise swung her bat, flipping her hair as she gave an excited grin at the prospect of what they were about to do. Quan was bouncing on his feet to her right, his nearly boundless energy on display as Senko held Kaku to her chest almost as a comforting mechanism for what she was planning to do.
To Piano’s left stood Vilivian, who held Exaclibur at the ready to plunge into the ground as a symbol of her beginning to fight as well. Taleus stood next to her, the slightly taller male looking bloodthirsty as he licked his lips on his wrist as if to prepare to bite down at any moment. Wendy and Valentine stood next to each other, discussing plans to combine their magics together as the zombie’s sword rested its tip in the cobblestone ground next to her. Teekee also stood at the ready, listening intently as Ad was beginning to pump him up for the coming conflict with loud cheers. Angelique was busy flexing all of her metallic fingers as if checking they all were in working order before the big battle truly kicked off.
And standing in the front, like two large guardian beasts preparing to spring forward on their prey, Yamarashi and Viola both stood imposingly, waiting for the word behind them. Viola already had Recombo out, the soul weapon radiating with power as she stood ready to attack. Yamarashi hadn’t drawn a weapon to his hand yet, but every weapon sticking out of him almost seemed to rattle with a thirst for combat as the immortal warrior stood silently at the ready.
As if to further spur them on, Angelique responded to Piano’s nervous question. “Of course we’re going to do this. You’ve heard from that blabbermouth of a brother you have that all of the Crossguards have the ability to get a wish granted for them from the God Eater. And we all agreed it wasn’t right that they get that for free when we fought hard for only three of us to even have a chance. So we’re just going to go up to that drunken fox and convince her to give us the same treatment.”
“I-I get that… but fighting a goddess doesn’t seem like a good id-” Piano tried to argue but she was quickly cut off by Aude.
“The point our blonde friend is making is that all of us have important things we were willing to risk our lives for, and a bunch of guys in blindfolds get to ask for whatever they want everyday. We’re just going to even things out, that’s all.”
“O-oh… ok…” Piano finally agreed, getting nods of approval from the other fighters, as well as looks of self-reassurance as if the Devil Blood approving gave them the encouragement they needed to actually go through with this as well. All sixteen individuals turned to the door preparing to fight once more. Then, as if on a silent signal, Yamarashi walked forward first, his large frame approaching the equally large accommodating doors leading into the bar as the small crowd that gathered around them outside began to back up.
With a sound almost like a shotgun blast, the immortal’s chest and back exploded with blood as the Crossguard on the other side of the door thrust forward with his spear seven times in the span of an instant. If anybody else had walked through the door first, they would likely have been instantly taken down by the furious assault of the male Crossguard standing before them.
But Yamarashi was certainly no ordinary fighter. Even as his wounds began to heal, the masked man gave a scoff. “Foolish boy. You look upon me with weapons piercing my back from men who changed history by stepping onto the battlefield and you think your thin spear would be enough to take down the likes of me? Let me show you what a true weapon looks like.”
Reaching up to his back and drawing a greatsword from near his spine, he held the weapon in both hands for a moment as the Crossguard in front of him adjusted the grip of his spear. For a moment, both men didn’t move.
Then with a flash, the spear lunged forward to pierce Yamarashi once more. But with a flexing of his muscles, he trapped the metal point in his abs as he readied his own weapon. The Crossguard pathetically struggled to pull out his spear as, with a twist of his torso, the Contractor swung the grand weapon and slammed the side of the Crossguard full impact. There was a faint shimmer along his side that instantly shattered as he was sent flying, slamming into the wooden wall and falling to the ground unconscious as Yamarashi cracked his neck, before pulling the now cursed spear from his chest and adding it to his collection on his back.
To his left, a female Crossguard with several spines coming off her arms and back and thick metal gauntlets covering up to her elbows sparking with electricity came flying towards him, attempting to stun him with a powerful electric punch. But before she could make it all the way, Vivi jumped off Yamarashi’s shoulder, Recumbo hefted on her shoulder before swinging down with powerful force. The Crossguard managed to block it, but was sent hurtling to the ground, wooden planks shattering on impact as the Crossguard barely held her composure.
She looked to find Vivi, having expected her to be stunned from the blow, only to not see the demon woman near the immortal. The Crossguard then noticed she couldn’t feel her arms and glanced down at them. Both of the golden gauntleted hands were shaking uncontrollably, the impact from the demon woman more powerful than she had expected. Before she could understand what was happening, a foot slipped between her arms and slammed into her chin, sending the spined woman to the ceiling with a sturdy impact. Before she could recover, Recumbo was slammed into her stomach, causing her to spit up blood as she fell into unconsciousness like her companion, falling bodily to the ground to land next to a bored looking Vivi.
“Really? Is this the best a goddess can muster up for protection?” Vivi asked, cleaning off the blood from Recumbo as she glanced around. There were no more Crossguards in the main bar area, though there were a fair few patrons who looked somewhere between ecstatic at the fight and fearful of the people fighting.
Across the way, setting down a glass she was just cleaning on the counter, Saki looked at the pair that entered the bar with an intense glare, which she also shot past them towards the fourteen warriors behind them. “Normally I would tell you all off for picking a fight in my bar. But a little fox has told me you are all up to something even dumber than that. So…”
She reached under her counter and pulled out a glass bottle full of boiling red fluids, swirling it in her hands once. Popping off the cork, she took a deep swig of the concoction, draining it in a few gulps. As she was finishing it up, Piano’s eyes grew wide as she felt the oni’s already powerful ki surge with energy as her horns began to grow on her head. Her hair grew wilder, her muscles bulged to even greater mass, her teeth grew longer and more fang-like, and her nails became dangerous looking claws that looked like they could rend steel. A billow of steam exhaled from her mouth as she took a deep breath, placing a massive foot upon her counter.
“... I hope you all are ready to face the consequences for your actions.”
“Get down!” Piano grabbed Raku and Vilivian, bringing them to the ground as everyone else recoiled back slightly from the normally shy girl’s sudden outburst. At almost the same moment, there was an explosion of motion from Saki as she charged towards Yamarashi, who barely raised his sword in time to block the fist that slammed towards him. The giant of a man, caught off-balance, was sent flying, his large frame slamming into the neon-fronted shop across the street as his blade went flying several streets down as the demonic looking Saki stepped out to chase her opponent.
“Volley! You’re up as well! Help your Aunt protect what’s important!” Saki called as she raised her clawed hand to block the spear that Yamarashi tossed her way, before she leaped forward to meet him in melee combat once again. Each titanic blow that they exchanged sent shockwaves rippling out that shattered glass as they slammed their way up the quickly clearing streets of the Business District as people ran in a panic.
“You got it!” a cheery young voice called, the door behind the bar being kicked open as the younger oni burst into the room. He glanced around, then saw Viola at the ready in the center of the room. Grinning wildly, he grabbed a couple potion bottles from underneath the counter and rushed forward to meet her.
Vivi readied her weapon for a moment as he approached, then gave a swing, sending vibrations through the air to disorient the young oni. But instead of red skin, a blue glass bottle instead met her weapon, shattering the glass and sending the blue fluid cascading towards her. Everywhere the liquid touch instantly froze, locking her arms and weapon in place as Volley grinned, cocking his fist to slam into her face for a quick knock-out.
But flames suddenly surged from beneath the sheet of ice, the ice shattering as she swung once more towards Volley. He managed to catch the spiked club with both hands, barely stopping it with his own strength. But with a grin, he used her own strength against her as he lifted himself up on her club and kicked her powerfully in the face, sending her head rocketing back as he landed and slammed a fist into her stomach.
“Oof!” She stumbled back for a second, clutching her stomach before looking up at her new opponent with a grin. “Now that’s more like it! Someone I can beat up on for a bit while Angie and them take care of business!” She rushed forward, her fist meeting Volley’s as both strong fighters slammed their heads close, matching grins as they pushed against each other with all of their strength as the wood beneath their feet quivered and cracked from the force of the exchange.
Piano glanced back towards Yamarashi and Saki, watching as the former was set on fire by a potion flung by the latter before he swung his spear out to force the oni woman back. She then looked at the people around her. Before she could speak, Angelique instead spoke up. “Alright people, they’re keeping the two most troublesome people busy! Let’s get going!”
Everyone gave a noise of affirmation, before charging into the Fox Den and running around the brawl in the center of the room, making their way up the stairs towards the VIP lounge that had the elevator that led up to Chifu’s room. Pembrooke made it to the top of the stairs first, his eyes going wide at the welcoming party waiting at the top. As Quan got to the top next, the soldier grabbed the boy and dove behind cover.
At the same instant, the wood on the wall behind their heads exploded as a sniper shot rang out, piercing through all material with ease. It was quickly followed by a barrage of gunfire which tore into the surroundings, focusing fire on the cover Pembrooke and Quan were hiding behind.
Vilivian ran up hearing all this, before producing a blue barrier so everyone else could come up and assess the situation as Pembrooke began to blindfire over his cover towards the small group of Crossguards waiting for them.
There were five in total. The one closest to them, hidden behind a black barricade of her own, had a pair of submachine guns in hand that she fired in sweeping arcs anytime someone stepped from behind cover. Her skin was rocky in composition, showing her to be tougher to take down than her otherwise dainty form might imply. The one next to her was a larger male, with large gazelle-like horns holding a shotgun the size of Yamarashi’s arm, which bored holes the size of bowling balls into anything the slugs hit.
In the center, grasping at his head in concentration as he maintained the barriers, a silver skinned man maintained the defense of the group. Just behind him was the man holding the sniper rifle, a lanky male with dark skin and a thin, rat-like tail swishing behind him as he waited for the next opportunity to take a shot without destroying the barrier around him with his all-piercing shots. And lastly, a small, rabbit-like woman fired shots from her revolver, but the medical supplies on her indicated her true role in this composition.
“Damn, they really were prepared for us, huh?” Pembrooke cursed, firing off more shots as Inari brought out Green to fire back with guns of her own. The shieldmaster switched around the configurations of the barriers, protecting the front two from attacks while allowing the sniper to fire again. Vilivian barely moved out of the way as the shot easily punched through the barrier, but the enemy’s defenses were forced to shift again as Aude sent a golden baseball flying towards the sniper, which was barely deflected by the magical shield.
Both sides continued exchanging ranged attacks, both side’s barriers holding up thanks to the clever manipulations by their creators as Pembrooke and Inari slowly moved forward between booths to get better angles. Angelique took Pembrooke’s old spot, finally getting a view of the situation herself. Seeing that the female gun-wielder was pretty close to the shadows, the magic-user got an idea. Focusing her energy carefully, she soon created a shadowy tendril that suddenly lashed out, pulling a submachine gun from the rock woman’s grip and sending her stumbling out of cover.
Seeing an opening, Inari quickly created three floating guns. “Triple Shot!” Sending three spinning projectiles outwards, the ghost girl planning to take her out as quickly as possible. The shieldmaster Crossguard quickly reacted, shifting some of his defenses to guard her whole body. But he had to take away from the larger man’s defenses, a fact Pembrooke took advantage of to get a couple of shots on the man’s arm and forcing him to drop the powerful shotgun that had been tearing through the soldier’s cover.
As the large man howled in pain, the medic rushed forward, firing shots to force Pembrooke and Inari back behind cover before reaching her ally. A green glow emanated from her palm as she placed her hand on the man, the wounds beginning to seal shut from her aid. As they both grinned at each other though, a single crimson throwing knife slammed into the barrier shielding them.
The trio looked down at it as it fell to the ground, looking confused as to why it was sent. But then the shieldmaster noticed that the barrier it had touched was corroding away and he began to panic. Doubly so when Pembrooke tossed a grenade their way, slipping into the gap in the shield. Focusing his energy quickly, he covered the grenade with a double layer of barrier, containing the explosion with a quick sigh.
But with the majority of the barrier down, the speedier members of the assaulting party were able to rush forward to attack. The sniper attempted to shoot down Raku as she charged forward, only for Quan to easily push aside the barrel and send the round through a wall and out beyond to the Crossroads. With a flurry of fast punches, he was able to knock out the sniper with ease.
Piano quickly grabbed hold of the submachine gun girl, twisting her arm and sending the gun to the ground. The sturdy woman swung a fist to try and knock Piano back, but with a quick Judo throw, the lithe fighter got her opponent to the ground and locked her legs around the Crossguard’s throat. Within seconds of squeezing, the sturdy woman quickly began to get light-headed and she passed out, Piano looking guilty the whole while.
The larger man spun around, swinging his newly healed arm to try and take out Raku. But the dragon woman easily ducked under the blow, before delivering a withering series of martial arts blows of her own, knocking him out within seconds. The medic was quickly knocked out herself by a baseball bat to the head courtesy of Aude’s golden swing.
As the rabbit girl hit the ground, only the shieldmaster remained. As the four speedy fighters turned their attention to him, the silver skinned man instantly focused most of his barriers around himself, sending some of it to block the one elevator that led up to Chifu’s domain.
“Ugh, how lame.” Aude complained, poking the barrier with her bat. The barrier forced the wooden tool back, to which the fox girl stuck her tongue out. “What a cowardly tactic. Piano, can’t you just get rid of this barrier?”
“I could, but he’ll keep putting it up. It might be better to focus on that.” Piano pointed towards the elevator, pulling out one of her blood-forged throwing knives. Most of the rest of the crew gathered around as well, examining the barrier together as Piano raised her dagger to stab. The shieldmaster Crossguard looked around nervously, seeing the revolver near his feet. He lowered his personal barrier around him so he could grab a hold of the revolver…
… only for Jackie to pop out from behind one of the booths and slam the side of his head with her bat. The man instantly went down, the barrier over the elevator also disappearing as the group turned to Jackie with a smile. “Good job girl! You got them good!” Aude complimented, patting the robot on the back.
“Thanks.” Jackie showed a cheerful face as the elevator doors opened up for them. All of them stepped inside, the elevator more than spacious enough for all of them, even the likes of Teekee. As Senko nervously reached forward and pushed the button, there was a soft chiming of bells as the doors closed. Everyone looked around nervously, but the feeling of the elevator rising seemed to reassure them. The ride took an almost uncomfortable amount of time, everyone staring at the door with determined purpose as they waited to reach what would be the fight of their lives.
As the doors opened, all of their jaws dropped almost simultaneously. Instead of the luxurious bedroom that was the God Eater’s abode, instead an almost mind-boggling labyrinth of paper doorways, wooden halls, and dizzying large spaces stretched out before them. There seemed to be no end in sight for the twisting corridors, the jutting platforms, and the terrifying fall below that seemed to extend beyond the point where the Fox Den should be. The walls themselves seemed to exist almost deeper than existence should allow, making the idea of busting through the walls unthinkable.
“Well well, my rebellious travelers~” The God Eater’s voice echoed out from all directions, making it impossible for them to tell where it was coming from. “I hope you enjoy my very special welcoming party for you~ I had to keep you all busy until I could get this place cleaned up for you~ I hope you all enjoy yourselves during your visit~”
“Quit screwing around, Chifu!” Angelique called out, looking up into the vertical abyss. “I’m sure you already know what we want, so just give it to us you drunk or we’re going to knock you sober!”
“Oh my~ A very dangerous threat from someone who lost her first round~” Angelique’s face flushed with embarrassment as Chifu’s laughter rang out in surround sound. “Well, it will certainly be fun seeing if you guys can find me and beat me~ Maybe I’ll let anyone who can touch me get a wish if that will make you happy~”
Her voice trailed off, leaving the group in silence for a few moments, looking around for some sign of where to go. Then Quan stepped forward, looking confident. “Well, this all reminds me of the time I got lost in a fairy maze for several days. But this place seems smaller, so I’ll run through all the rooms and find her for us. Be right back!”
Before anyone could even protest, Quan took off at spectacular speed, rushing through several doorways and clearing entire hallways in mere seconds. He was running up the twisting corridors, seeming to run straight upwards as gravity seemed to shift in certain locations to facilitate the visual changes that seemed to be rife throughout this strange dimension they found themselves in.
But everything changed with the ringing of bells. Suddenly, where the doors led shifted and everyone’s positions shifted as well, though they could still see the open abyss in the center. The door Quan just ran through suddenly led to a solid wall, with the fey male slamming into it at full speed and being stunned. Another chime of bells shifted the gravity where he was as the door beneath him now led into the vertical abyss at the center.
“Quan!” Raku called out, flying out as her wings expanded behind her with a burst of wind. Flying up, she managed to catch him before he fell too far as he clutched his head. “You gotta be careful here! We’re dealing with a goddess after all.”
“My bad. Just thought I’d get a good run in.” He gave a woozy grin, giving her a thumbs up as he looked around. “But I suppose finding her won’t be so easy, huh?”
“Not at all.” Raku said, shaking her head. Suddenly, the bells rang again and the scenery around them shifted. They suddenly found themselves on a platform, the others nowhere in sight now. “Dammit. Guess we’re on our own now.”
“Guess so.” Quan looked around, before getting out of Raku’s arms and hopping into a window to head inside to start exploring as the dragon grabbed hold of her Windcutter Naginata once more as she followed closely after him.
The rest of the group found themselves at a three way intersection between passageways, with all of them looking nearly identical to the lost group gathered at the center of it.
“Well now what do we do?” Aude spoke up first, looking down each path hoping for an answer to appear.
“Well, there’s twelve of us now.” Inari pointed out, gesturing at all of them. “And there’s three paths. We’ll split into groups of four and go down each way. Whichever group finds her should just start taking her on and hope for the best.”
“Works for me.” Taleus chimed in. “I’ll go to the right.” He began walking that way. Wendy, Senko, and Inari joined him in that direction.
“I think our two heavy hitters should be on different teams.” Pembrooke pointed out, gesturing towards Vilivian and Teekee. “How about you and I go left, Vil, and the big guy can go straight?”
“That’s fine.” Vilivian said, gesturing towards Piano. “Blackblood, you’re with me.”
“O-ok.” Piano quietly agreed, going that way along with Jackie. That left Aude, Valentine, and Angelique to join the golem on the straight path, but they didn’t seem to have a problem traveling with such a large figure to hide behind in case of traps.
With the groups all decided, they gave each other confirming nods before they each set off on their paths towards the irreverent God Eater once more.
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The right path group began to follow their way, which seemed to descend downwards towards some unknown pocket of rooms. Senko and Wendy walked nervously in the middle, while Taleus led the charge from the front and Inari covered their rear, knowing things could change at any minute.
As they crossed another threshold, the group suddenly found themselves in an old Asian-styled garden, complete with cherry blossom petals descending down into a small pond. Sensing danger, Taleus bit his wrist to draw out a scythe of blood while Inari called upon Red to create a sword for safety.
As they reached the center of the “room,” Chifu’s plans were revealed as several of her fox familiars began to appear like white flames erupting from the ground. For a moment, they simply looked at the group as they all cocked their heads. Then, with a collective growl from them all, their limbs began to elongate as their bodies grew to the size of wolves, their muzzles snarling as they bared their fangs and revealed the blue glow of their internal fox fires and the piercing red eyes hidden behind their once cute squints before they all lunged forward to attack.
Taleus gave a wild laugh as he launched forward before the others could protest. He quickly closed the distance with the first fox, slashing it in two with an almost casual ease as he went to spin beneath it to attack the next one. But the others watched in horror as its bisected body began to bloat before exploding in blue fire, sending Taleus sprawling to the ground wreathed in flames as the others began to charge forward.
Stabbing Red into the ground, Inari reacted with a quick “Blade Garden!” Red blades began to sprout from the ground, slaying a number of foxes to clear the area around the fallen assassin as Senko and Wendy rushed forward to help cover him.
As Senko used a slashing backstep to cut down the foxes while avoiding the resulting explosion, Wendy helped Taleus to his feet while using some ice magic to put out the fire on his body. As he got back to his feet, a wild grin was still on his face as he sent his bloody scythe flying, the weapon spinning like a buzzsaw as it slashed through foxes to cause them to explode a safe distance away.
With them working together, they were able to keep the foxes at a distance for now. But there seemed to be an almost endless wave of them, rushing at the small group with almost suicidal tendencies, threatening to overwhelm them with pure numbers and firepower.
“Wendy, box them in a bit!” Inari shouted, slashing through a few foxes herself, making sure to fly away before they exploded. Wendy nodded and began to draw a blue magic circle in the air with her finger as quickly as she could. With the spell finished, she unleashed it, creating a set of ice walls that cut off the flow of foxes for a moment.
But quickly, the sound of scratching on ice soon overwhelmed the air as dozens of foxes all attempted to dig their way through the wall to continue their suicide bombing attempts. Inari gave Senko a pat on her shoulder, making her jump slightly before the ghost’s comforting voice reassured her. “Hold for now. Wait for them to gather up more. The rest of us are looking away. Wait for it… wait for it… NOW!”
Senko glanced around to see that everyone was looking away, and the foxes couldn’t see her either. Breathing a sigh of relief, she got into striking position as Inari told her to wait. The moment one fox’s claw broke through and Inari gave the command, there was the sound of her bell. In an instant, she broke through the ice wall and dashed in about every inch of the closed off garden, stopping at a door on the other side of the garden. With the sound of a massive explosion, the shockwave from Blink shattered the ice wall as all of the foxes exploded simultaneously.
Senko sheathed Kaku, looking back as Wendy and Inari cheered while Taleus looked upset that all of his prey was cut down so quickly. Inari was beginning to float forward to congratulate her for killing all of the foxes… when the paper door slammed shut between them with a ringing of a bell.
“NO, NO! DAMMIT!” Inari shouted in anger, pounding her fist on the paper door as it slammed shut. She quickly dug her fingers into the crack and shoved the doors open, only to be met with a nasty surprise.
A larger fox, nearly double the size of the previous ones, lunged forward and tackled Inari to the ground with snapping jaws going for her throat. She only just barely got Red into its mouth to keep it from chomping down, but fire began to billow in its mouth towards her as Taleus and Wendy rushed forward to help.
Senko, meanwhile, was now all alone in a seemingly empty room. Tatami mat flooring cushioned the ground beneath her feet as there was a large paper screen door that took up most of the wall in front of her, and mirrors set up in various places on the walls to either side and behind her.
Well, she was mostly alone. The God Eater soon revealed her presence, appearing in a swirl of white tails as she stood in front of the speedy swordswoman, grinning as she smoked her pipe. “Well well~ I certainly didn’t expect such meek fighter like yourself to make it to me first~ Consider me impressed~”
“B-but you made it so I was the first one here!” Senko complained, drawing her sword. But instead of rushing forward to swing her sword, she instead sent some of her bandages to try and constrict the goddess.
Unfortunately, a flick of her wrist and some blue flames were enough to burn away the attacks as she gave a tutting noise. “Now don’t be so quick to attack me so~ Though I guess you can’t while I’m looking at you like this, can you?~”
Senko rushed forward at a normal speed, attempting to cut into Chifu with Kaku in a vertical slash. But a wave of her hand brought one of the mirrors over to defend the God Eater, sending the blade to appear out of a mirror on the far wall as the attack ineffectually missed. The same was said for the next few slashes, each one sent away by Chifu’s space-altering abilities.
“You know, I really expected better from you~ Oh well, guess I’ll just move on to the next person~” The God Eater turned away after shoving the mirror towards Senko to drive her back, making her way towards the large screen doors as they opened.
Senko sheathed her blade and looked towards Chifu, intent on taking her down with Blink. But just as she activated it and rushed forward, the God Eater’s tails flicked up and the eye-like designs on them looked directly at Senko. She came screeching to a halt a couple feet from the goddess as she crossed the threshold, the blade falling well short of its target.
Senko shook her head. Those weren’t real eyes looking at her. They were just a design made to look like eyes to trick her. Chifu wasn’t looking at her, so she should take her out now! Now! Now…
As Senko opened her eyes and looked up, a monstrosity of a fox was waiting for her next to Chifu’s feet. From the top of the muzzle up the head and towards the ears, eyes covered the top half of its head, looking around in all directions but especially looking at her. All of the eyes blinked at different intervals, ensuring that there was never a moment where Senko wasn’t being looked at. It had four tails that all flicked behind it, with several eyes looking upon her from there. It’s mouth was mostly full of teeth, though its tongue also had a few eyes that blinked at Senko from the slobbering maw as Chifu giggled at the shy warrior.
“Oh, and I hope you like my little pet here~ I thought him up just for you~ Good luck facing him~” As she finished speaking, the beast gave a loud roar, before two of the eyes on the tail blinked and sent out blue beams in Senko’s direction. The mummy girl barely dodged the beams as everywhere they touched burst into flames. As she stood back on her feet ready to fight, she could see that the God Eater had already disappeared, leaving only her and the monstrous fox.
Readying herself for combat, Senko tried to move forward, but three more beams fired towards her, forcing her to roll out of the way. But even as she recovered and tried to move forward, an intense pain struck her back and she was knocked to the ground as her shoulder caught fire. Looking back, she can see the trail of two of the beams that set fire to the ground. She then saw the third trail that led from the front of the room to the back wall… and right towards a mirror.
Realizing that these beams could be reflected in the mirrors, Senko shook her shoulder as her freezing body slowly put out the flames even as a good portion of her bandages burned away. She could no longer use Grappler as effectively anymore, and Blink was useless against this thing. With its multiple tails for firing lasers, it would be difficult to close the gap, and that’s not even considering if it can fire beams from the eyes on its head. Chifu really had designed an enemy that could counter her pretty well.
But if she was going to have any hope of getting a wish now, she would have to somehow overcome this trial and get back to Chifu. She charged forward again, quickly sidestepping this time as the two beams fired once more. Glancing back, she saw one beam hit a mirror. She tried to quickly judge where it would ultimately come at her from, but it moved too quickly to tell. She tried jumping away, still barely getting clipped by a beam to the leg as it passed where her chest would’ve been.
She fell to the ground with a scream of pain, quickly batting away at the fire before rolling out of the way of the next trio of beams. This time she was ready and was already moving forward before the two beams that would hit her could finish being reflected. But just as she was about to close in on the fox, its fourth tail fired a beam that made her jump backwards as it swept the ground in front of it, creating a wall of fire explosions.
‘It even knows to keep one tail ready to fend off my attacks? She’s really thought of everything!’ Senko thought, trying to figure out a plan of attack. Another two beams shot out, one of which managed to clip her side as she was slowly getting battered down by the beams grazing her and setting her on fire. If this kept up, she was sure to be killed by this thing.
Seeing her right arm on fire suddenly gave her an idea. She stood in the center of the room, waiting for the next barrage of beams. It did not disappoint, quickly sending a trio of beams her way. Quickly shrugging off her jacket, she flung it forward, letting all three beams hit it and set it fully ablaze. The amount of fire between her and the fox shielded her from its sight for just a moment, and none of the mirrors could reflect her image with all the fire and smoke. The sound of bells filled the room in that instant…
…and the fox was sliced in two as Senko stood on the other side of it. The shockwave behind her erupted all at once, shattering all the mirrors, putting out all the fires, and fully tearing apart the fox’s body entirely. It soon dissipated in white flames as Senko began walking forward.
“Have… to go find… Chifu… have to go find… Inari… have… to… go… find…” She only managed to take a few steps before she suddenly collapsed, the damage her body took too much for her to handle. She reached forward to try and drag herself forward just a bit more, before her vision began to swim and she fully collapsed, passing out on the floor.
----------------------------------
Back with Inari and the rest of their group, the larger fox was still active against them, breathing a cone of fire that set the cherry blossom tree ablaze. Fiery petals rained down on the group, serving as a distraction for the fighters as the fox charged forward to try and take a bite out of Wendy.
Inari slashed its side, knocking it away, but the fox quickly recovered as its wounds regenerated quickly. The same held true as Taleus gathered blood from a chest wound he had sustained in the fight and sent bloody daggers its way, impaling it multiple times. The daggers were soon dislodged, the gaping wounds where they had pierced quickly sealing as a burst of blue flame shot towards the assassin.
It was all the two melee fighters could do to keep it from ravaging Wendy, using all of their strength and speed to knock it aside with each attempt at the mage, at the cost of them receiving bites and scratches in response. And Wendy could not cast a spell herself due to the speed of the fox and the frequency of its attacks, her circles constantly being interrupted by jets of flame shot her way.
Inari glared over at Taleus, who was still wildly slashing on his own. But seeing that it was backing up for now from his assault, she could at least prepare her own attack. “Falling Godslayer!” She leaped in the air and gave a wide slash, gouging out portions of the stone and dirt below as the fox was nearly sliced in two and launched back. But it quickly began stitching itself together once more, though it was standing in place the whole time.
Wendy took her cue, channeling another ice spell as clearly destructive methods of attack wouldn’t work. Instead, as she finished casting the spell, a pillar of ice rose up around the large fox, encasing it entirely as it was now frozen in place unable to move. The trio waited to see if it could escape. Eventually, it became clear that it couldn’t even finish regenerating, much less move.
So with that problem cleared up, they quickly ran through the door that Senko had disappeared through, hoping to find which way the mummy warrior had gone. But they didn’t even make it halfway down the hall before the section of it Wendy and Taleus were on separated off from the rest of the hall, sending them elsewhere.
Inari cursed as she spun around to chase after them, only for a new section of hallway to arrive. It was a three-way intersection piece, with a hallway leading to a large room. Inside said room stood Chifu, along with three more of the wolf-sized foxes.
“Chifu!” Inari shouted, rushing forward down the hall. Two of the fox leaped forward to attack, but Inari cut them down with ease and sent them flying away to explode. But in the brief moment she couldn’t see the goddess, the God Eater had crossed the distance as well and grabbed hold of Red from Inari’s hands.
Instantly, the ghost returned to spirit form, before being pocketed away by Chifu as Inari looked confused. This gave the third fox a chance to leap onto the ghost girl’s back and bite into her shoulder, which she had to shake off.
“Oh no~ You lost one of your friends~” Chifu taunted, checking her nails. “Whatever shall you do now?~”
Inari said nothing, grabbing hold of Green as he made himself ready, firing an arrow towards the last fox. The lithe creature dodged the shot, rushing for her once more. Inari dodged and tried to get distance to fire another arrow, but the fox maintained a chasing pursuit on her, making it difficult for her to do anything.
Realizing it’s pointless to do a direct shot against the fox, she instead aimed up, loosing an arrow straight above her as she backed up. As the fox closed in to where the arrow was fired, Inari’s trap sprung. “Arrow Rain!” The green arrow split into many, piercing the fox multiple times before it could dodge and caused it to explode a safe distance from Inari.
Inari then turned her bow at the goddess, who giggled at the threat. “Oh my~ You tore apart my poor foxes~ How awfully cruel of you~ But they’re no match for you, so I’ll just take care of you myself~”
Inari loosed the arrow, aiming directly for the goddess’ heart to try and get the victory. But with a flash of Red, Chifu deflected the arrow with a very familiar blade. The ghost girl snarled in anger seeing her friend get used against her, loosing several more arrows in response that Chifu easily deflected. As Inari fired a splitting arrow to try and catch Chifu unaware, the goddess caused the blade to float and deflect one arrow, while the other was burned by kitsune fire.
Chifu then suddenly vanished in a swirl of her tails, disappearing from sight. Inari looked around for the goddess, but didn’t see her anywhere. Suddenly, the kitsune trickster grabbed hold of Green as well, siphoning him from Inari’s soul tether as she moved away once more. She then revolved Green and Red around her head, taunting the ghostly warrior with a smile.
“Now you’re down two friends and are all alone~ Whatever are you going to do now?~” Chifu’s tails flicked with amusement as she assessed the flaming haired girl. The cursed spirit curled her fists, the blue glow on them becoming accentuated as she charged forward, a blue trail following like a comet trail as she intended to smash in the smug goddess’ face.
So much so, that she didn’t notice the large hole in the floor beneath where she floated. A large mass suddenly slammed into her back, sending her plummeting down as another large fox attempted to bite down on Inari as the pair fell to a space far below. As she kept one arm in the familiar’s mouth to keep it from biting something important, she reached her other hand out towards Chifu. The goddess merely smirked and blew a kiss, walking away as Inari plummeted into the darkness below.
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The group that had gone down the straight path had also begun to encounter the exploding familiars, though they had the advantage of having Teekee, who with his long, stretching arms and resistance to fire damage was able to keep them all at bay. The occasional one that got past him was batted away by Aude, while Valentine and Angelique served as the last line of defense in case any got too close.
Unlike the right path team, Teekee’s team was more than capable of advancing progressively through the infinite fortress maze while saving Angelique and Valentine’s magical reserves for when they found Chifu. Opening up another door and charging in as a group to ensure nobody gets separated by the shifting layout of the God Eater’s whims as they entered a large room that descended down, with several platforms beneath them to go down. At the bottom was the next doorway for them to go through.
“Well, looks like it’s time for us to go down.” Valentine commented, taking a few steps back and taking a deep breath before running out and leaping towards the next lowest platform. Landing with a hard impact, she was glad she couldn’t feel any pain as she stood up fully, looking up to the others and waving for them to follow.
Angelique looked down with disgust, clearly not keen on the God Eater’s choice of interior design, before leaping off with shadows coating her feet as she descended down a level below Valentine. Just before she hit the ground, the shadow stretched down and connected with the wooden floor, slowing her fall as she landed. Teekee, meanwhile, stretched himself out all the way down to Valentine’s platform, shifting his wooden plates to allow Aude to descend down safely.
Aude dusted off her hands like she accomplished much as she watched Teekee pull himself over. She then looked down to where Angelique was… and her eyes went wide. “Behind you!”
Angelique reacted instantly, kicking out behind her as she caught the jaw of a fox familiar and knocked it away. A strand of shadow still on her foot attached itself to the fox and slammed its head into the wall, smashing it in completely as it began to fade. The blonde claimer glared at the fading fox, before glancing down below.
Several more of the foxes were arranged on the platforms below, yipping in anticipation of taking on the fighters. Looking at them distantly now, she could see that they had three tails each that all coiled together above the foxes. One of them looked up at her and aimed the mass of tails at her, a blue glow emanating from inside the furred coil. She managed to pull her head back as a barrage of three blue darts shot up at her, each one exploding into blue flame as they made impact.
“Great. Of course they’re all snipers now…” Angelique grumbled, gathering more shadows to fight back. She leaped out once more, a large ball of shadows gathered behind her. As all the foxes below fired upon her, the shadow ball shot out more tendrils, blocking the projectiles and redirecting the explosions away from her. She dropped a few levels and landed on top of one of the foxes, using the last bits of shadows to cushion her fall and apply gravity to the fox to crush it beneath her with immense pressure.
Teekee gave a cry of his own, hopping down without a second thought to help Angelique. Most of the foxes turned their gazes up to him, firing more shots. His wooden armor adjusted itself to block the barrage, as his arms stretched out to grab the next highest two, pulling them down with him. With two powerful throws, two more foxes were crushed by their thrown compatriots. Two more were grabbed before he reached the ground, which the golem slammed into the ground with monstrous power to utterly destroy them.
Up above, Valentine and Aude started raining down what projectiles they had, firebolts for the former and golden baseballs for the latter. When some of the remaining foxes took their aim up at them, Valentine created a magical shield to protect the two of them from the fiery explosions. The two returned fire again, taking out a handful with their ranged attacks while Teekee and Angelique took care of things up close.
“You know, I never realized how many familiars Chifu could make until they were all trying to kill us.” Valentine commented lightly, raising another shield to protect her and her fox companion.
“Yeah, well, you’re not going to kill them any faster by complimenting their numbers. So less talking, more firebolts!” Aude shouted back, bringing her bat back as one fox managed to climb up to their platform and attempted to swipe a claw at them.
As that fox fell, Valentine grabbed hold of Aude, holding her under her arm against her torso. “It’ll be easier for us to hit them when we get closer!”
“Wait closer? What do you mea- wait, no no no NO NO!” Aude tried to protest, but Valentine quickly leaped off the edge, hurtling down several stories to the platform Angelique was fighting from.
The blonde woman looked up at the falling two, before gathering more shadows to help lower them safely to her platform as she shook her head. “I would ask if you have some sort of suicidal hero complex, but then I remembered something like this wouldn’t effect you.”
“Sorry. I just figured you and Teekee needed help.” Valentine said as Aude stood panting next to her, mustering up the air to swear the zombie girl enough to override her curse with the superstar’s own.
“Well, I certainly like the backup, but I doubt lava boy down there needs any of our help.” She gestured down at Teekee, whose arms were stretching out to slam into and grab hold of various foxes and throw them to their deaths. “Honestly at this point, we’re merely backup for him in case he gets too in over his head.”
As if on cue, a large, white hand with several red eye designs suddenly burst through the door at the bottom level and grabbed hold of Teekee. The lava golem looked up at his allies with surprise as they all looked down at him with horror, before he was suddenly pulled into the passage beyond.
Before the three could go down to help him, a handful more foxes ran out of the door before it shut behind them. These ones had long hind legs that extended up above their bodies before heading back down to the ground to rest like coiled springs. Their front claws were also much longer, their purpose clear as half of them immediately sprang upwards, clearing half the height of the towering room in a single bound and latching onto the walls above them as the ones below began to aim towards the trio of girls.
“Dammit!” Angelique cursed, shaking her head. “Maybe if she put an ounce of the creativity she used to make all these monsters into her name and disguise, maybe it wouldn’t be so obvious to everyone that looks at her in disguise that she’s the same goddess running this show!”
She kicked her leg out as one of the foxes lunged up at her, slamming her heel into its face and knocking it back down before it could swing. But it did manage to drag her down with him, making her roar in annoyance as she gathered more magic to slam it hard into the ground as she readied to face the others, while her companions above prepared to take on the higher stationed foxes with their sword and bat.
Teekee was dragged down several corridors, going through various twists and turns at a dizzying rate that made it hard for him to tell which way he was going and which way he came from. When he was finally released, it was done by having him slammed into the far wall, which his jelly-like body easily absorbed.
As he landed on the ground and looked around, he realized he was thrown on the only bit of solid ground in this room. The rest of the room consisted of floating pontoons that bobbed on top of a large tank of water. And standing on a pontoon on the other side of the room as the enlarged tails that threw him went back down to normal size to be her swishing tails once more, Chifu stood with casually crossed arms, flanked by two large suits of armor.
“Why hello there, Teekee~ I see you’ve been doing quite a wonderful job rampaging through my little maze~ I just knew I had to pluck you away to make sure you didn’t keep all the fun to yourself~”
Teekee looked at the mocking goddess with a look of concern. “I don’t want to have to hurt you, Chifu. I just want my friends and I all to all be happy and get a wish. Is that too much to ask for? I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
“Oh?~ Are you going to make demands of me now too?~” Chifu giggled, putting her hands behind her back. “Sorry, but you guys started this fight~ And I’m not going to make things easy~ But you’re going to have to work hard to make sure nobody else gets hurt~”
Chifu pulled her hands back out, revealing Senko’s mask, slightly burned in her hands. Teekee’s face instantly shifted to anger. “That’s Senko’s… what did you do to her?”
“Hmm?~” Chifu played dumb, putting away the mask. “Well maybe you should come over here and beat me so you can get that wish to find out~”
As she said that, the two suits of armor next to her began to move. In the gaps between the armor, white fur began to appear as a set of five tails began to sprout from an opening in the back of each of them. Red eyes seemed to gleam from the slits in the armor as they both came to life, possessed by large fox familiars.
Teekee gave a cry of anger as he charged forward, heedless of danger as he stepped onto the first pontoon after her. The two golems also moved forward at Chifu’s commands, both sides sending waves through the water with each step. Teekee and one of the golems met on a pontoon near the middle, their fists clashing together as they pushed against each other.
It was only when a cloud of steam began to billow up from beneath them did Teekee reexamine what was going on. With the weight of both of them on the pontoon, the wooden raft sank a few inches in the water, dousing Teekee’s lava body with water as he could feel himself weakened. With a shove, the fox golem overpowered the lava one and sent him flying back a few pontoons.
Getting back up quickly as the other approached, Teekee stretched his arm to punch it, sending its head careening back from the force as it stopped its approach. He then gave it a hammer blow to the top, the golem blocking the blow but completely plunging into the water as the pontoon broke.
As the sunken one tried to swim back to the top, Teekee turned to the other, only to see that it had picked up another raft and was swinging it towards him. Teeke managed to raise both arms and shift as much of his wood armor as possible to block the blow, but he was sent skidding off his current pontoon and took a slight dip in the water. He jumped to another pontoon to get out of the water, only to see the first golem had re-emerged and was leaping in the air to crush him.
Teekee leaped out of the way, only to feel it had grabbed onto his arm. Before he could react, the other golem had caught up and punched Teekee in the face. With the pull of the first still on his arm along with the power of the strike, his arm was torn off as he was sent flying Chifu’s way. Teekee grimaced, looking back at the pair of golems to see that the one holding his arm had glowing red on his armor from the heat before it tossed the limb into the water in a plume of steam.
Getting an idea, Teekee reached over and grabbed a raft, before charging forward. The golem with heated arms reached forward, pushing back against the raft as it caught fire from the combined heat of both people holding it. Teekee then stretched one leg out, letting it grow slightly before slamming it onto the pontoon the golem was on.
Its partner managed to jump off, but the one with heated limbs fell directly into the water as it was launched into the air. The moment the arms hit the water, there was an explosion of steam and its arms were burnt off entirely. It could do nothing more as it pointlessly sank to the bottom of the water, where it eventually lost the light in its furious eyes.
Turning to the other one, Teekee began fist fighting it, though his lack of an arm made things difficult. Its armor was pretty durable, making each blow weaker in effect than he would like. He had to shift his own armor often to try and avoid taking too much damage himself, as well as to make sure he didn’t get pushed back into the water. And all the while, the golem kept leaping after him, trying to get on the same pontoon to sink the island-born golem.
But with his better intelligence and ability to stretch his limbs, he was slowly battering away at the fox’s armor. It was soon rather dented along the chest, creating an opening near the top of it. Grabbing hold of it, Teekee pulled with all of his strength until the front breastplate was flung behind him to sink into the water. With a mighty roar, he extended his arm back as far as he could and punched forward, slamming into the large fox’s chest with massive strength.
The fox’s body exploded from the blow, unable to handle Teekee’s strength without the armor as the remaining pieces scattered along the wooden raft. As Teekee began to pant from the exertion, he heard a clapping sound coming from behind him as he turned around.
“Wow~ You’re certainly impressive~” Chifu stepped onto the pontoons herself now, her tails swaying behind her with each step. “I set everything against you in here and you still prevailed~ I guess I’ll have to take care of you myself~”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Ms. Chifu.” Teekee tried to reason, but he still readied himself to fight.
Chifu gave a small laugh, putting her hands together in a clawed stance. “That’s cute that you’re worried~ But you’ll need to prove that you can actually keep up with me~”
With that, Teeke rushed forward, shifting his armor to protect his core from her attack as he landed in front of her. Meanwhile, she merely put her foot back to get ready to push off. “Fox Claw…”
With a burst of speed, the God Eater was on the other side of Teekee in a flash of white and red, the golem now missing a good chunk of his torso along the left side. His core now gone, his body slowly fell apart as Chifu stood up straight.
“...Prison~” Behind her floated a blue ball with Teekee’s core, some of his lava, and some wood floating in there. “There we go~ Now you just stay here like a good boy while I take care of all your friends~ Hoo, this is pretty tiring, dealing with you all like this~”
She gave another gloating laugh, walking away as Teekee could do nothing but float in place, waiting for his friends to rescue him.
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Raku and Quan made their own way through a winding, twisting corridor as they explored on their own. Raku tried to fly them around to different areas, but after flying a certain distance, some invisible force would start dragging them away from the direction they were going. With that plan scrapped, they instead decided to go on foot, with Quan carefully scouting forward with his impressive speed.
So far, they hadn’t encountered any threats. Raku was worried that it was because the others were currently under attack, but she would have to find them in order to make sure they were ok.
But what was most worrying was that Chifu hadn’t messed with them since they got separated. She had gone through the effort of putting Quan and Raku somewhere else, so the least she had expected was for the goddess to taunt them in some way. The quiet was almost worse for Raku’s nerves, her grip white on her naginata.
But her worried thoughts were interrupted by the sound of falling water. Looking to Quan, the two nodded to each other before making their way forward together. Entering the room in question, they were greeted by a large waterfall descending down to a stone floor, the water steadily moving through the room. Several rounded rocks protruded from the streaming river, as well as rows of tall reeds near a large section of land.
Behind the reeds, two fox-like figures stood waiting for them. One was a lean, long bodied beast with a muzzle that extended almost a foot out from its face. Its five tails lashed behind it like whips, the air stirring from the motion as they moved so quickly. The other was bulkier, its muscles bulging out obscenely as it stood with legs out akimbo in front of it. Its claws were razor blades nearly a foot and a half in length, digging into the stone beneath it like it was nothing and its five tails smashed into the ground with cracking force.
“Guess we shouldn’t have expected things to stay quiet forever.” Quan quipped, rubbing the handle of his knife with a finger as he looked at Raku. “But they don’t look too bad, honestly. We’ll just beat them up a little and get back to finding Chifu.”
He turned his head back, but the lean fox had disappeared from sight. Raku’s eyes went wide at the same moment, her mind a little slower to process it despite the fact she had been looking in its direction when it disappeared. Quan, with his faster thinking, looked around at high speed to find it.
On the wall above the door they had walked through, the fox had positioned itself above them, its mouth opened wide as blue flames gathered. With a burst of strength from his speed, he shoved Raku far away before moving out of the way himself. But the speed of the projectile that rocketed out of its mouth meant that even his speed wasn’t enough to get out of the way as the ball of flames exploded near him, sending him flying. At that same moment, all of the parts of the water the fox had run through splashed up as time caught up to the speed the fox and Quan had been moving at.
As Raku stumbled from the sudden shove, she felt something large approach her from the side. She brought her spear up to block it, managing to avoid being turned into dragon sashimi thanks to the metal blocking claws. But the immense power behind the blow couldn’t be ignored, and she was sent flying across the room, slamming into the stone wall with enough power to imbed herself half an inch into the solid stone. The dragon woman gave a gasp of pain and surprise, pulling herself out of the stone as the behemoth fox roared in anger before charging towards her once more.
The muscular beast lunged forward, only for its claws to sink into the stone as Raku leaped high in the air above it. She quickly burst back down with a gust of wind, stabbing down into its back with a powerful dive. Her spear hit her foe straight in the back… and stuck between the muscles of the beast after only half an inch of piercing the flesh of the familiar even as the ground beneath it nearly shattered from the force of the dive moving through its body.
It roared, swinging to try and throw her off and claw her to death. But she managed to pry the Windcutter Naginata free and fly upwards before it could catch her. She kept a steady height above it, avoiding its claws as it jumped to try and get her. She gathered wind at the tip of her spear and swung it towards the behemoth, the wind slashing only the surface of the skin.
It gave a cry of pain, before grabbing a chunk of smooth stone from the water and tossing it up at her. She did a rolling dive to move out of the way, getting close enough to stab it once more despite knowing she couldn’t strike deep. But this time, its tail swung out just as she made impact, slamming heavily into her chest as she was knocked back. She slid along the water, leaping up in the air before landing behind the waterfall. With a roar, Raku sent a blast of air from her mouth that parted the falling water, slamming almost ineffectually against its front as it charged after her.
Meanwhile, a high speed battle was taking place all around the room at a speed too high for the two bruisers battling currently to even comprehend. Quan was moving as fast as he could, dodging consecutive blasts from the lean fox’s mouth as the room exploded with fire at various spots. While Quan mostly had to stay along the ground to run, his opponent could use its claws to climb up the walls and even cling to the ceiling, meaning it could attack from any direction.
It didn’t help that it was clearly faster than him, a fact proven when it fired a blast that he dodged, only for it to close the distance and slash him with its claws just as he finished recovering. His skin only stayed open for a few moments, however, before his regeneration kicked in to put him back to good health. He tried to stab it back in retaliation, but it easily moved out of the way, sliding a bit away from him to fire another blast while he pulled back his missed swing.
Quan looked back over to Raku, seeing her struggle to do damage to her opponent as well. But unlike him, she couldn’t just regenerate from the wounds she was taking. She was already bleeding from the head from the earlier impact, as well as several scrapes and scratches she accumulated from the ferocious beast. They needed to start working together or the pair of foxes would eviscerate them.
But he realized his mistake as he turned back to where his opponent was, only to feel claws across his back as it rushed behind him. But the roar of pain in response meant his plan had worked, as he had stabbed back at the same time, managing to catch its side. And unlike him, this thing couldn’t heal. When it tried to move away, its side began to hurt from the wound, so it couldn’t move as quickly right away. Even as Quan’s wounds were healing, he launched forward, stabbing into the lean fox’s shoulder as it gave another cry of pain.
As Raku held back another strike with all her might, this time holding her ground as she got used to her opponent’s strength, she heard the cries of anguish behind her. She jumped back to gain distance from her opponent, looking back to see Quan doing well. Grinning now that they had a chance, she turned back to the behemoth, only for it to immediately leap over her head towards its companion. Quan turned just in time to dive out of the way just as the behemoth landed where he had been.
The lean fox began to climb up gingerly onto the muscular one, curling onto its back for apparent safety. But then the white fur of the foxes began to twist and change, as the lines between them seemed to slowly fade. Soon, the lean fox’s legs and sides were merged onto the back of the larger one, only its head and tails really standing out as anything more than just a lump on the bigger one’s back.
“Well, that’s something new.” Quan quipped, moving over to Raku.
“I’ll say. Well, at least now we can focus on one.” The dragon spun around her spear, pointing at the one on the back. “And since that thing’s slowed down, I can finally stab at it.”
But almost as if they heard her, the larger one roared, while the one on its back began firing explosive darts. But now, their explosion was much larger, forcing the pair to dive with all of their speed or strength to just barely get out of the way.
The main body of the pair rushed forward towards Quan. To his surprise, the lumbering beast was now moving at a much faster pace, making it much more difficult for him to dodge the wide sweeps it threw his way. But even his impressive speed would prove to slow, as its sharp claws managed to graze his chest. Just as he was backing up from that blow, a blast of fire sent him flying through the air, his body singed slightly as he landed bodily clear on the other side of the room.
Raku didn’t fare much better when it turned its attention towards her, crossing the distance as she dodged a pair of blasts flying her way. While she could better defend against its strength than Quan, each one required a lot of power on her end, and with its newfound speed, keeping up the defense directly was really difficult.
But even with those new problems, Raku was still able to find an opening. Thrusting her spear into a wound on its shoulder, she was surprised to find how much deeper the weapon managed to pierce. She realized that it must have shifted some of its mass merging with the other, weakening its defenses. Now she could better attack it.
Her joy didn’t last long, as a muscular arm slammed into her side with a disconcerting popping noise coming from her torso. She was sent rolling along the floor, struggling to get up as she came to a stop. The sound of a dart being fired wasn’t enough to motivate her to move fast enough, as she got caught in the blast and sent flying once more as she screamed in pain.
Quan suddenly reappeared on the beasts back, stabbing at the lean fox with his dagger as he gave a roar of anger. The two creatures roared in anger back, the larger one shaking its massive frame, sending fur flying as it tried to shake the young fae off of it as it lost more and more flesh from the stabbing dagger. The fox responded by standing on its hind legs, before slamming its back onto the stone wall in an attempt to crush him.
Quan gave a pained groan, but held strong as he waited for the beast to pull away from the wall to stab again even as he felt the skin beneath his fingers twist as the larger kept giving more of its body to the leaner fox to repair the damage it was taking. But with each slam into the wall, he was losing strength himself. His regeneration was taking too much of his strength, and he couldn’t take it much longer.
With a bigger running start, the large beast slammed into the wall one last time, and Quan was finally knocked off the creature, falling in a heap onto the floor. Both beasts roared, the top one gathering energy for another blast of fire towards him as he looked up at them. He gave a laugh, shaking his head.
“Took you long enough…”
Up above the monster, Raku flew on high, her scales covering her arms as her muscle mass was much larger in her transformed strength. The seven foot tall dragon woman aimed her spear towards the weakened beast just as the leaner one looked up to see her. With an almost panicked scream, it began firing darts up at her. Raku seemed unphased as the first one exploded next to her, taking the shockwave like it was nothing before she began her dive as she had finished gathering as much wind into the tip of her spear as she could.
The beast fired a few more blasts in the short time it had, knowing its larger body couldn’t avoid the attack. Each one slammed into the wall of wind that pressed itself in front of the diving Raku, keeping her from being blown apart instantly even as the heat and the shockwaves damaged her further.
With a burst of speed, Raku roared a dragon’s roar as she plunged her naginata straight through both foxes, the screams cut off as their bodies were blown apart by the pure force of the diving attack. Raku stood in a crater of her own making as the water that had been flowing there was blown in all directions, her body shaking from all the pain she was in. She looked over at Quan, who gave her a shaky thumbs up, which she gave in response.
Then, with a rolling of both of their eyes, both contestants promptly passed out from their wounds, no longer able to gather energy for themselves as the sounds of falling water filled the room once more.
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The trio of girls Teekee left behind quickly took care of the foxes that had been sent to stall them thanks to Angelique’s powerful magic and Aude and Valentine’s physical strength. But they didn’t spend a second celebrating, as they had to go rescue their friend before Chifu could beat him. With Aude in the lead, the trio charged forward, confident they could handle anything that came next.
The golden superstar in particular seemed impatient to get the show on the road. But it didn’t entirely stem from a desire to rescue Teekee. “We’ve already had to deal with so many sideshows. When can we start getting onto the real show?”
“Is now really the time to be thinking about your next chance to be on camera?” Angelique shook her head, checking her prosthetic limbs to make sure they hadn’t been damaged destroying all those foxes. “In case you forgot, we’re fighting a goddess that apparently decided that today was the day to be sober.”
“And that’s why we should be fighting her now!” Aude countered, walking backwards to face Angelique as they argued. “When are you going to get a chance to face an actual goddess that’s out to beat you?”
“Knowing my luck, I’ll be getting the invitation when we’re done here…” Angelique certainly didn’t sound thrilled at that prospect, looking at the shadows for more weapons to use if another fight broke out.
“Well if you get one, make sure you invite me al-”
Aude was suddenly cut off as she disappeared from view. Angelique and Valentine were stunned for a moment, looking around for the golden superstar. The zombie knight stepped forward to call her name, when she felt her foot slip. It was only thanks to Angelique’s quick reaction that she was caught and pulled back to safety as the hologram on the floor disappeared. A pit that took up most of the central part of the hallway stretched before them for about eight feet, neither of them able to see their friend as she descended below.
“We have to go after her!” Valentine called, preparing to jump down herself.
“What are you, crazy?” Angelique stopped her with a grip on the zombie’s shoulder. “Even for you, such a fall will kill you if you land wrong! Aude knows what she’s doing, I’m sure she’ll make it out ok.”
Valentine bit her lip, looking down at the pit again before calling down, “You better not die like that Aude! It’s not like you otherwise!”
Her voice carried down quite a ways as the remaining two girls continued forward to look for Teekee and a way down to Aude.
The orange fox, meanwhile, had fallen a good way before she fully comprehended the fluttering sensation in her stomach and her speeding surroundings as her falling. Her eyes went wide as she spun around in the air to look down at where she was falling. As she started formulating a plan to land safely, Valentine’s voice echoed out from above.
“You don’t need to tell me, zombie girl. I’m just fine on my own!” As she saw the ground get closer, she generated a pillar of gold beneath her, creating a slide at the top of it that led most of the way down to save on energy when she could. She slid down the makeshift ramp, rolling on the ground as she hit the soft dirt before leaping onto her feet with her bat at the ready.
What she saw certainly was a sight to behold. A long corridor of dirt flooring and steel walls stretched out before her, with the end of it being a large stage with various cat motifs all over it. Fireworks shot up into the air as Aude finally arrived, and soon music began to play from speakers all over the stage, as a monitor at the top showed heart animations playing as the voice of Miss X sang a few notes of one of her best songs. When she finished singing a few bars, Miss X appeared at the center of the stage, her pink hair bouncing as she got into pose.
“Hello again my wonderful kittens! How’s everyone doing today? I nyaow you’re all surprised that I’m putting on a surprise concert from a place you’ve never seen before! But have no fear, my darling fans, you’re not missing one of your precious shows! I would never deprive my fans of the chance to see my meow-velous shows in person! No, this time your cat-tastic idol is instead stepping onto the battlefield herself!”
She gave another idol pose as fireworks went off behind her, the sound of an audience cheering seeming to come from nowhere as Aude’s ears went flat against her head. “What the hell…”
“Now, I know what you’re all thinking: ‘But Miss X, aren’t you incapable of actually touching people? I know you couldn’t shake our hands during the fan meet-ups. So how can you fight?’”
Miss X had a fake teardrop come from her eye as an animation of a sad cat face appeared on the monitor. The singer gave a dramatic sniff, wiping away the tears before she instantly cheered up.
“But luckily, my mom was kind enough to create a room in her Infinite Fox Den all for me! One where I can connect and control every aspect of the room myself! All full of deadly traps and dangerous implements with which to bludgeon my fellow performer! And don’t worry! My mom isn’t going to send any of her familiars to help me, nor did she come up with any of the traps you’re about to see! Every bit of this will be all me!”
“Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up there, kitty cat!” Aude called out, resting her bat on her shoulder as she pointed at the cat-based idol. “You just said it yourself that nobody can touch you. How am I supposed to fight back against you if I can’t even hit you? I don’t mind having you as an opponent, but I at least want to make sure it’s fair so there’s some excitement for the crowd.”
“Are you saying I would put on a poor show for my loyal kittens?” Miss X looked offended, the heart pupils in her eyes breaking for a moment. “Well don’t you worry! Cause when I said that I control everything in here, I might have made a slight omission! There is one thing I don’t control that’s important for me to be here!”
With a presentation of her hands, the center of the stage opened up and a large device in the shape of a cat’s paw rose onto the stage. The claws were clearly some sort of makeshift antenna, and the paw pads were the monitors showing various readings.
“This right here is a receiver made especially to allow me to project myself into this special dimensional space! Otherwise, this place is so far outside of my normal projection range that I’d instantly have to go back to the Crossroads for my safety! So Aude, this is your goal! Smash this thing up and you win and get to go back to trying to beat up my mom! But…”
Miss X’s face darkened, her normally cheery demeanor gone as she glared down towards Aude with a look of confidence and a desire to win. She clutched her microphone tightly as the orange fox adjusted the grip on her bat, clearly excited at the look Miss X was giving her. Despite only being a presenter so far, it was clear that the idol was not going to be a pushover.
“...I’m not going to make that easy.” As she finished her statement, she put back on her cheery mask, jumping up in the air excitedly. “Now, let’s get started! Ready? Set! GO!”
At the exact moment “go” was said, Aude started moving forward, only for the ground beneath her feet to move and put her off-balance. The dirt beneath her soon made way to reveal a large conveyor belt that was moving her backwards. And just as she sat up and looked back, she saw that the back wall was now covered in absurdly large spikes, each point gleaming with malicious intent.
“Wow, we’re really starting off strong, huh?” Aude commented, rolling onto her feet and taking off. Luckily, the belt couldn’t move faster than she could, meaning she was gaining ground towards Miss X, if only a tad slower than she would normally accomplish. “But that’s ok! Two can play at that game!”
Aude created an orb of gold, catching it in her hand before tossing it up. With a small grunt, she hit a homerun shot towards the stage where Miss X was dancing as she was putting on a concert as she fought. But before it got halfway, Miss X gave a swinging motion from the stage as a large club emerged from the wall and slammed into the orb, sending it back towards Aude at twice the speed. Thinking quickly, Aude gave another swing, using as much of her strength as possible to hit it back once more, trying to avoid the club. But another simply sprung up to knock it back with as much force as the first.
The golden superstar was eager to knock it back once more, only for her to feel an impact on her side as she was shoved by a section of wall emerging at high speeds as Miss X gave a push-like dance on the stage. The wall took the impact of the golden baseball, denting heavily even as it inexorably pushed Aude towards becoming a foxy pancake against the wall.
Aude was prepared, quickly creating a small golden pillar that launched her upwards to avoid that fate, grinning down at Miss X as she was now freed from the constant motion of the conveyor belt.
Miss X grinned back, having easily seen this move coming. After all, she was able to not only know of the various alternate dimensions the God Eater created, but she was able to process many different ones simultaneously and gather information from them all at once. In this very moment, she was reviewing the actions of Audes in multiple dimensions and analyzing her every move and tactic, and planning out her own moves to counter each one.
Like this one. As Aude was still hanging in the air, a set of arrow launchers emerged from the wall aiming up at the superstar. With a series of explosions, the projectiles raced towards the baseball player faster than any pitch she’s ever thrown. The first couple of arrows were knocked aside by her bat, but the overwhelming barrage meant that a fair few managed to graze her as she grit her teeth. With a twist of her torso, she began to spin all the way around, swinging her bat out in a flurry as she dove back towards the ground to try and deflect as many projectiles as possible even if it was impossible to keep all of them from hitting her.
Landing back on the conveyor belt, she quickly launched into a sprint while the arrow launchers were reloading, trying to cover as much ground as possible before the next barrage. As the launchers turned to fire again, Aude created a wall of gold to protect herself, the shield working to deflect the arrows so she could press on.
“Oh my!” Miss X called, looking out towards the ever approaching fox woman. “It looks like Aude’s really stepping up her game! Guess I’ll have to turn up the heat too!”
Miss X gave a spinning dance before a holographic set of weapons appeared in her hand. A backpack shaped like a cat head on her back connected by a hose to the nozzle of a flamethrower, with a white fox paw holding up a blue flame to ignite the propellant. With a sweeping motion, she released blue flames as the stage went alight with fireworks and pyrotechnics.
At the same time, Aude was suddenly hit with a wave of heat from the direction of her golden wall. She watched in horror as the wall quickly melted away as a flaming wall burned through her defense and washed towards her. She barely rolled out of the way, though she felt her legs and tail get singed by the fire as she shot a glare towards the singer on the stage.
“Ha, how cute. Just try and make your jokes when I’ve smashed that little device of yours.”
“I’m liking your spirit!” Miss X shot back. “Too bad you don’t have the skills to back it up! I thought you were all about putting on a good show too? Guess you’re only big talk when you’re beating up people weaker than you!”
“Oh, you’re dead, lightshow!” Aude grit her teeth, diving underneath another steam of fire before making another gold ball to slam into the mechanics of the flamethrower to finally disable it.
Miss X frowned, shaking her head. “You get mad and break someone else’s toy in response? How childish!” She then turned around for her next dance move as the conveyor belt quickly switched which directions towards the stage as Aude looked confused. Her confusion was replaced with concern as Miss X clapped her hands and two walls sprung out full of spikes.
Aude had to come up with a solution as fast as possible. With no time to really think, she used another golden pillar to try and leap over it despite knowing it would make her vulnerable.
Sure enough, a metal whip sprang out of one of the walls near the stage, grabbing around Aude’s ankle and swinging her around for a few moments before slamming her into the backside of the spike walls that had been just about to impale her. As she had all the air driven out of her, the whipping motion picked up again, slamming her into various walls and the floor multiple times while she tried to recover.
“Looks like someone’s running out of that fighting spirit she’s known for real quick! Guess she’s mostly bark with very little bite!” Miss X taunted, knowing that would push Aude to try a little harder to prove the idol wrong.
A flash of emerald eyes towards the stage proved her deductions right, as a wedge of gold materialized right near the next impact point, slashing through the metal cable as Aude took a moment to rest and recover as her head bumped against the wall thanks to the conveyor belt. Her body was battered and bruised, and it was taking all her focus to remain conscious from the assault she undertook. Eventually, she pushed herself onto her feet as the walls opened behind her, and she had to move before they closed in on her moving back towards them.
With a last burst of speed, she managed to get her hands on the edge of the stage, pulling herself up with great effort as bruised ribs screamed in pain. As she rolled onto the stage, Miss X’s music began to get louder in intensity as if it knew the fight was reaching its climax. Aude stood to her feet and glared at the holographic idol, who gave a big smile back.
“Now that was certainly a harrowing approach! I didn’t think you were going to make it at several points there! But you did it! Congratulations! Now all you have to do is take a few more steps and you’ll become a shining star!” Miss X gestured grandly towards the receiver, knowing she was unable to physically stop the fox girl from smashing it.
“Become?” Aude questioned, raising an eyebrow as she began to cover her bat in a golden sheath for her Solar Homerun attack. “I’m already one. But I want to make sure you broadcast for everyone just how shining I am!” She took a step forward…
…and a hatch opened in front of her as a firework shot up. The rocket’s fin caught a hold of Aude’s shirt before she even realized what was happening, carrying her up on the flare’s trajectory. As the golden superstar’s battered mind finally realized what had hit her, she gave a roar of anger that was soon drowned out by the sound of an explosion as orange and pink pyrotechnics went off below.
The image of Miss X’s face appeared in the firework’s explosion as the burned and knocked out Aude fell below, hitting the top of the stage before falling back onto the main platform with a heavy thud. Miss X walked over with a wicked grin, bending down to “poke” at her defeated opponent.
“Oh, don’t you worry Aude! I made sure everyone could see just how much of a shining star you truly are!~”
--------------------------------
Bang! Bang! Bang bang bang!
The sounds of gunfire rang out as Pembrooke thinned one side of the approaching horde of fox familiars. Just as the five he shot at exploded, the slide of his gun stayed exposed, making him curse as he realized he had fired off the last shot in the mag without realizing it. He must’ve lost count with all the shooting he had to do as he quickly reloaded while the others covered for him.
The left team had been encountering just as many of the suicide bombing foxes as the other paths, though like the center path they had an easier time dealing with them thanks to having the powerhouse that was Vilivian here to throw them back with immense force of physical might and walls of magic to keep the worst of the blasts from effecting the party.
Jackie was also helping on the front lines, using her bat to knock them back with her near limitless stamina to let the other two fighters of the group maintain their strength. Piano was assisting from the middle of the group with her throwing knives to kill them from a distance without wasting too much energy.
Between the four of them, they proved to be an effective team, driving back the familiars after just a bit of combat, leaving the group unharmed. When a group of the large, regenerating foxes came to attack them, Piano and Vilivian leaped into action. Vilivian rushed forward and grabbed the muzzle of the fox, holding it shut before lifting the beast up and slamming it to the ground behind her. As its tails lashed angrily, Piano’s blade flashed like a crimson blur and cut its head off, preventing its regeneration as its body faded with death.
The Devil Blood then spun around to face the next one, just as two gunshots rang out to blow out its left knee. Jackie made a slide in from the other side, smacking the back of its right leg with her bat to send it face planting into the ground. Piano flipped into the air, stabbing down into its head to finish it off. At that moment, Vilivian threw the other one into the air with her immense power, so Piano had to leap up to slice off its head in midair with a clean slice.
As both parts landed heavily on the ground a distance away, Jackie and Pembrooke gave each other high fives at their success so far. Vilivian stood tall, glaring at the fading monsters with a look of disappointment. But then she looked around as the fog that was kicked up prior to the fighting began to dissipate. Slowly, the realization of what she was truly seeing dawned on her and she reached towards Piano. “Blackblood, move quick!”
Piano looked surprised, but was too slow to react as two sliding walls slammed shut in front of her. In that very moment, Vilivian could no longer sense the Blackblood. The Trickster’s magic had already spirited her away elsewhere as the wall reopened to reveal more of the large foxes.
Now deprived of their regeneration halting companion, the trio faced the monstrous beasts with grim expressions. “So, think we stand a chance?” Pembrooke asked, aiming his weapon between the first fox’s eyes.
“We must. We are preparing to defeat a goddess next.” Vilivian said simply, before summoning her magic to shatter the earth.
Meanwhile, in a distant room, Piano looked around with wide eyes at a forest of trees, tall pines that stretched up as far as her eyes could see. The dark woods were further obscured by the faint mist that permeated the environment. The faint ki of life flowed slowly through the trees, confirming to Piano that everything here was alive despite how deep inside this place must be, which further proved Chifu’s powers to the Devil Blood.
“Welcome, Piano, to my little forest~ It’s a lovely place to take a walk, but I’d have preferred to bring your brother here with me~”
Chifu’s voice echoed from everywhere at once, making it impossible for Piano to track her even with her eyes closed. And the goddess was not nearby, given her ki wasn’t within Piano’s range. The red skinned woman bit her lip. “I’m sure my brother would be interested in exploring this place. Maybe I can go and get him…”
“Now now~ As fun as that would be, I have to entertain you since you’re here~” Her giggle echoed through the woods. “Hmmm~ I know, let’s play some hide-and-seek~ It’s been a while since X and I have played, so I might be out of practice~”
Piano moved forward silently, trying to see if she could narrow down Chifu’s position before the “game” began. After a few steps, she started to feel another lifeforce in the room about fifty feet ahead of her. Stalking closer with silent steps, she crossed from tree to tree getting within striking range of the goddess.
When she was about ten feet from the source, she saw the swish of a tail quickly move behind a tree. Piano got ready into a sprinting pose, then gave a burst of speed to cross the last bit of distance. Rounding the corner, she struck at the source of life with a solid punch to where the goddess’ solar plexus would be, going for a knockout blow.
But instead of the red and gold dress of the God Eater, she was instead greeted by a humanoid shaped white and red fox familiar in a similar shape to the goddess. As the martial artist’s fist made contact, the fox glowed blue as its lifeforce- which perfectly matched the goddess’- before it exploded into a mass of kitsune flames that blasted Piano back and slammed her into a nearby tree with a painful gasp, too surprised to toughen her muscles for defense.
“Oh?~ Did you not think I would have a punishment for you if you guessed the wrong hiding spot?~” Another laugh rang out from the mist as Piano realized that there were now multiple sources of ki that matched Chifu’s as her familiars stalked the forest. “Each wrong one you guess will explode in your face, so you better be careful~ But find me quick, or you’ll be trapped in here forever~”
Piano began to sweat, her head swiveling around as she tried to see if there were any differences in any of the ki sources that she was sensing. But most of them felt exactly the same, with the only different ones being less than the average, which she doubted a goddess would be.
Clambering up a tree to get a better vantage point, she thought she had an angle on what looked like the right number of tails for Chifu. But rather than approaching this time, she drew a throwing knife and flung it into the hiding spot, the sound of metal hitting flesh hitting her ears even from the distance she was at.
At that same moment, a white fox with a knife in its chest suddenly appeared next to her and exploded, sending her careening back towards the earth with a heavy thud as Chifu giggled once more. “Oh, sorry~ Did you think you could use range to avoid being blown up?~ My bad~ These guys will always get right up next to you before they go kaboom, so there’s no avoiding the punishment for a wrong guess~”
Piano groaned, having just toughened her muscles at the last minute to avoid major back damage again. Standing up slowly, she re-evaluated her strategy. She couldn’t sense a difference in ki, and just random guesses will just keep blowing her up. This was a bad match-up for her, as she should have expected from the goddess that selected her to be here.
And the environment they were in would normally be advantageous to her. All the trees, with thick trunks and the slight hint of moisture on them from the heavy mist, made it a perfect playground for her stealth talents to hide her away from prying eyes. If the trees were all gone… wait, that was it! All she had to do was cut down the trees and she’ll create a better opportunity to find Chifu.
Smiling to herself at the clever plan, she drew her crimson sword and began slashing through the trees, the corrupting influence of her blood allowing her to eat away at any of the toughness the thick pines presented her as she felled trees one by one with a series of cacophonous crashes behind her, creating an auditory trail one could follow if they wished to find the normally gentle wallflower.
But as she went to slice through another tree, the space in front of her suddenly shifted violently. The space in front of her suddenly contracted massively, several yards of trees and earth shrinking down to but a few inches just as her sword made contact with the tree. Looking in horror, she saw that there was a humanoid fox just on the other side of the new tree that had suddenly come within striking range, but she had already committed to the swing at this point to stop it.
With a clean slash, she cut through wood and flesh alike, as two foxes teleported in position to explode. Piano had stepped forward as she swung, the top half of her body going through this strange, contracted space. She had the sudden, vertigo-inducing feeling of suddenly shooting forward the contracted distance, meaning she had no time to dodge as the foxes exploded, forcing her to toughen her muscles. But as she flew back, the space once more expanded back to its normal proportions as not one, not two, but eight trees that had been once bound to the same space were separated once more, her slash having gone through them all within that boundless space. Several more had large gouges as they hadn’t been perfectly lined up with her cleaving blow. The air seemed to explode from having a powerful blow swiftly cleave through the air faster than normally possible. A wide swath of forest was instantly cleared due to Chifu’s trick.
Likewise, when Piano slammed into the tree behind her, her lower half experienced the force at the level she had expected, her toughened muscles somehow withstanding the impact. But her upper body and head received a level of damage far beyond what she could’ve expected, much less guard for. As if her upper half had been flung at the expanded distance, the impact shattered the bark of the tree as stars danced in Piano’s eyes, her vision blurring from the immense damage to the back of her skull. Her sword went flying from her limp grasp as she nearly passed out from that blow alone, no longer able to see where the sword was.
No longer able to see properly, she had to rely on her ki senses to guide her towards her opponent. Using the trees’ ki as markers, she moved forward, ignoring the weaker sensations as she suddenly felt an almost overpowering one up ahead. When she felt like she had a clear line between her and what she had to assume was Chifu, she flung a dagger forward. There was the sound of an impact, followed by the creature teleporting in front of her and exploding as she was sent tumbling with more burns across her body.
She was heavily bruised and burned, her head bleeding heavily from the impact to the back of her skull, and her vision was going. Piano knew she was going to pass out soon as she heard the giggling voice of Chifu nearby. “My my, you poor dear~ That was certainly a fun game, but I have to go though~ It’s a shame, really~ The distance between you and I…”
As the goddess began to walk away, Piano’s vision cleared for just a moment. Seeing her target, her tails swishing with a pleased arrogance in front of her, Piano grabbed one more throwing knife and flung it desperately to hit the goddess even once.
But the space between them suddenly expanded as the God Eater came to a stop. The throwing knife seemed to almost slow down in Piano’s eyes, as its speed slowed down as it was crossing the same distance, but stretched out visually somehow. Chifu merely ducked down and crossed the expanded space in an instant, putting a hand on Piano’s head, careful to avoid her caustic blood.
“... is infinite~” The God Eater finished taunting, before turning back and walking away in an instant as Piano passed out from the pain.
---------------------------
Vilivian and Jackie pinned down the last of the regenerating foxes, with the Matriarch grabbing hold of the muzzle to pry it open as Pembrooke came running over. Pulling out one of his rapidly dwindling supply of grenades, he yanked the pin out and let the spool fly, before shoving the rounded metal container of death into the maw of the beast. The trio backed up as the creature attempted to spit out the bomb. But a second later, with a loud explosion, the head and a good portion of the upper body was torn apart by fire, shrapnel, and shockwave as the grenade exploded.
“Whew, that was the last of them.” Pembrooke congratulated them, wiping his brow of sweat. “She’s sure got a lot of these things. Hopefully we get this done sooner before I start running out of ammo and grenades.”
“The Blackblood has likely fallen at this point by herself.” Vilivian said pointedly, wiping away Pembrooke and Jackie’s growing smiles. “As strong as she is, not even she could likely face the full might of the Trickster on her own. We better hurry if we want to rescue her from certain doom.”
“That’s pretty harsh.” Jackie commented, but began moving forward. “I thought she was some mythical figure your people pass stories down about or something?”
“She certainly has qualities I would expect of the Blackblood.” Vilivian responded simply. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve built up the woman we talk to any more than necessary. She is still a mortal woman, and she is not infallible. Against the God Eater by herself, she stands little chance. Most of us don’t. That is why even the strongest among us banded together to defeat her.”
“I suppose that’s true…” Jackie looked away, not sure how to feel.
“But it’s a little worrying when it’s you saying things like that.” Pembrooke added, putting to words what Jackie was feeling. “If you’re worried about your chances, then all of us are in trouble. Hopefully we meet up with the others soon.”
“That would be best.” Vilivian agreed, opening the next door as she looked back to the other two. Their wide, terror struck eyes told her of the present danger she was in as she turned back.
An enormous fox, the size of a three story building, stood stooped low to look at her, blazing crimson eyes glaring at the Matriarch with unconcealed hatred. Raising a clawed paw, it swiped through the wall and door between them, shattering the wood to pieces as Vilivian erected a barrier. Unfortunately, the quick spell she cast proved insufficient, and she was sent flying through a nearby window.
The gargantuan fox pursued her, it’s serpentine neck twisting while revealing to the other two a pair of wings that unfurled from its back, flying after her as she made impact with the wall on the opposite side of the infinite pit that ascended and descended the spire of this Infinite Fox Den. Before they could think to help further, the sound of bells rang out and their environment changed, surrounding them with bamboo shoots and swift moving foxes darting towards them that they started to deal with using gunfire and bat swings.
In the center of the tower, Vilivian was hanging off one of the platforms that floated along the walls of the tower, looking at her now flying opponent as her shoulder and chest bled freely. This was clearly a dragon of some sort with fur instead of scales, an opponent that would always be dangerous even for a Matriarch. Even with the fox exterior, the wings and the brimming fire billowing from its throat in preparation for incinerating her were clearly that of a dragon. Which means that Vilivian did not need to hold back in the slightest to get a worthy fight.
The blue breath of flames shot like a column at the demon, engulfing the spot Vilivian hung from in a blaze of glory. For a moment, it almost seemed like Vilivian was destroyed right from the word go as the drake roared in victory. But then with the sound of an explosion as wood shattered from the force, the breath attack was slowly ballooning out as the Matriarch leaped forward, her ward blocking the damage as she rushed towards her quarry.
As the flames died down, the sight of the fully transformed Matriarch would’ve been enough to put fear in the hearts of any other opponent. But the fox dragon showed no fear as it swiped its powerful claws forward. The hard exterior of the demon woman proved tough enough to handle the one swipe, her vastly increased strength allowing her to push back and fully deflect the blow, allowing her to crash right into its serpentine neck. Grabbing hold with muscular arms, she squeezed with all of her might, trying to choke out the beast with her impressive strength.
But with a strangled roar, the beast launched itself downward, plummeting towards one of the buildings with great speed. The two beastial warriors slammed completely through one of the wooden buildings without slowing down in the slightest, shards of wood scattering as the Matriarch was sent hurtling towards one side of the pit.
But just as it looked like she was going to plummet lifelessly to her death below, her tail lashed out to stab into the wall, stopping her fall and stabilizing her so she could aim her magic towards the dragon flying close to the wall. SHATTER.
The entire wall next to it exploded into shards, blasting the fox behemoth in the side with the force of several cannons, which would’ve felled any lesser foes. Instead, this one simply lost a layer of fur that coated it, revealing several undercoats protecting its core like its scales and muscles would’ve done if it were a regular dragon. Its long claws reached out and gouged itself into the wall, slowing its descent as flames gathered inside of its mouth.
Pushing off the wall, the monstrous beast flew upwards as Vilivian looked up with some confusion. But as it got close to its apex, it released its fiery blue breath, the flames flowing down to coat its body in a swirling corkscrew of blue fire. With a twist of its body, it turned to descend down the pit after Vilivian, becoming a fiery projectile that set fire to the wooden tower as it came down like a meteor for the powerhouse of a woman.
FOOLISH BEAST. With a mental shout, she reached her hand out to one of the floating modular units on its path down, grabbing hold of it with a telekinetic grip and slammed it right into the path of the dragon. But she seemed to underestimate the weight and power of the powerful fox beast as it plowed straight through the building, barely slowing down or losing much of its flames from the impact. She quickly erected a powerful barrier, which the fox slammed into as waves of fire washed over the blue barrier trying to incinerate her once more.
The nearby walls were burnt to cinders in an instant, whatever was in them becoming engulfed in flames as Vilivian forcefully shunted it towards the center of the towering gap, before leaping after it to land on its back. Swiping claws and tail down, she tore through as much of its furry exterior as possible as it thrashed around in the air, slamming into a few walls to try and shake her off. By the time it had jostled her more than three times, though, she had already bit into its flesh with a mental roar. Plunging her beak in, she went to take a drink of its blood… only to find there was no blood to drink.
A BLOODLESS BEAST? I DID NOT THINK THE TRICKSTER CAPABLE OF EMPLOYING SUCH A FAMILIAR. HOW UNCANNILY CLEVER OF HER.
But her praise did not last long, as the beast finally scraped its back onto the wall for a several yards, pinning her in and crushing her against the wooden barriers as she gouged the whole length of any remaining planks. As it pulled away to dislodge the partially broken and battered Vilivian, the Matriarch could almost grin if her beak would let her.
PERISH. With an unnatural widening of her jaws, a pink energy formed at the back of her throat before being unleashed in a dazzling burst upwards, lighting up as far as the eye could see up the Infinite Fox Den, surely alerting others to the fight as the terrifyingly wide beam destroyed all in its path.
This included a good portion of the right flank of the fox dragon, tearing off all the fur on that side as well as half the flesh on its torso, along with its right wing. Roaring in pain, the dragon fell after her as the exhaustion from using such a powerful attack hit Vilivian. She cursed to herself, having intended to defeat the beast with the rest of her magic as its weighty form quickly began to overtake her. There was nothing she could do as the beast closed in enough to take a swipe at her with its claws, barely raising her arms in defense as she was knocked aside like an annoying bug.
As unconsciousness overtook her, she began to revert to her human form as she broke through a wall and collapsed onto the ground inside of what looked like a random bedroom, full of pillows and furniture that suited the God Eater’s taste. She didn’t move in the slightest as the fox roared in triumph, its claws digging into the wooden wall to stop its own infinite fall before it looked around for its next quarry.
--------------------------
“You saw that, right?” Valentine asked, looking out of the window that they just saw the pink beam from Vilivian shoot by from. “That was Vilivian, right? That means she must be in trouble if she used that.”
“Hopefully she managed to hit that drunken goddess with it at least.” Angelique quipped, though she didn’t sound too optimistic. “Come on, we shou-”
“Wait, I think I see Wendy and Taleus above us!” Angelique quickly ran over the window to join Valentine, who was pointing one of her decayed fingers up towards a large platform above them.
Sure enough, standing near the burnt off section of the platform they were on, Wendy was desperately trying to regain her balance before she fell into the abyss below. With a grunt, Taleus reached over and pulled her to safety, before swinging his blood scythe in order to drive away more foxes.
“Careful witch. Don’t need you falling to your death on my watch. The others will probably kill me if I let you die, even if I do beat Chifu.” Taleus gave a snarl, kicking away another wolf as he slashed its throat with a professional’s skill. As it exploded, another fox suddenly leaped through the smoke towards them, its fur and skin burned from the explosion.
At the same time, another rumble rocked the tower, knocking Wendy off balance again just as she finished conjuring a red glyph. As the fox exploded, her own fireball went flying crashing into the group of foxes and exploding with enough force to shake the platforms surrounding it as she was further flung over the abyss.
Taleus, acting quickly, attempted to reach his scythe out in order to save her, only for a large claw to knock him back as both of their eyes went wide. The large fox dragon pulled itself up to face Taleus, half of its face missing fur and skin to expose the muscle and skull underneath, a price it paid for fighting the Matriarch on its own. With a roar, it sweeped a fiery breath across the platform as Taleus rolled out of the way.
As Wendy fell to her apparent death, Valentine and Angelique gave a gasp. But before the latter could even think of a plan, Valentine’s body was already moving on its own as she backed up. With a running start and a cry of “Wait!” from Angelique, the zombie knight leapt out of the window and dove towards the falling witch, catching her in her arms as the two now fell into the near infinite abyss below.
But just as they fell about a hundred feet, Valentine noticed a room suddenly shift beneath them, an opening soon lining up just below them. Twisting in the air to shelter Wendy as best as possible, the armored woman made a severe impact with the wood, cracking it as the room they were in continued to move, taking them away from where they were.
“Damn it!” Angelique cursed, looking down at where her companions were being carried away, before glancing up at the dragon that Taleus was now forced to fight, only to see that it was also being carried up away from her. Now left without any allies, she swore again and swung a kick, kicking out a portion of the window frame and sending the wood spiraling down into the incomprehensible depth below.
So when she heard the sound of giggling behind her, she knew things were not going to get better for her…
Up above, on the ever lifting platform, Taleus was grinning madly as he dodged out of the way of a slashing claw, his scythe digging into its exposed flesh as it roared in anger. It slammed its claws down twice, pulling itself up further as it dragged its way towards Taleus to cut off his movement. But for the assassin, all that meant for him was that it provided him more weak points to exploit with his blades.
But he was surprised to see that no blood was coming from it, causing the assassin to be mildly concerned. Not from the lack of damage- he knew he would need to hit deeper to do real damage- but because his own body was beginning to shake from blood loss. He had used up quite a bit of blood fighting the foxes while protecting Wendy on his own, several times having his weapons stripped from him by foxes before they exploded and evaporated his blood.
As he dodged another swipe, one of the claws hooked around his weapon and yanked it from his hands, before a swinging tail knocked it down into the abyss and far out of his reach. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, going to bite his wrist to draw another weapon. But another slash from the dragon’s claws forced him into dodging mode, rolling out of the way as a breath of flame quickly followed it up, setting a good portion of the wooden platform on fire.
With his methods of movement limited by fire, he could only barely dodge another swipe. But with a whip-like motion of its neck, the fox managed to snag Taleus in its mouth, its fangs digging into him as blood began to flow.
As it gave a low growl as it went to chew on him again, it suddenly gave a yelp of pain as a sickle dug into the top of its mouth. With all of his blood flowing, he quickly created another sickle and slashed inside of its mouth, doing as much damage as possible as its jaws parted to scream in pain. Falling bodily out of its mouth, Taleus flung one of his sickles into its mouth, slashing more of its mouth area and even beginning to send the weapon down its throat before flames shot out to light the air above and evaporate the weapon.
But even as he slowly stood back on his feet, blood still spilled seemingly endlessly from his body, pooling on the ground around him. Snakes of blood began to rise from the buddle, each one as thick as a tree trunk with gaping maws fit for devouring. As the fox went to lunge forward again, the snake-like blood lashed out, tearing at chunks of fur and skin as the dragon breathed fire to destroy tendrils. More rose up from the ever-pooling blood as Taleus vacantly smiled at the carnage, ignorant of the terrible battle he was still engaged in, nor the fact that cracks were forming in the platform beneath his feet.
With a terrible crash, the platform fell apart beneath their feet, sending the dueling pair falling into the infinite abyss. As they plummeted, both sides still fought, with blood snakes biting into the fox behemoth and the draconic threat firing blasts of fire in retaliation. The walls of the infinite tower were catching on fire from errant blasts, lighting up the towering space as they fought fiercely.
With a terrible gnashing noise, the fox’s front limb was torn off, causing it to shriek in pain as it breathed fire towards him again. Taleus’ side was burned in the process, his vision quickly fading as he began to pass out. His Awakening, as if sensing this, lunged forward to the neck of the fox, three of the tendrils digging teeth into the weakened material. Streams of fire began to leak from its neck, until finally the head was torn free. With a pillar of fire, the body began twisting in the air, the tail of the creature still lashing in its dying frenzy slamming into Taleus and sending him flying into a nearby room.
The Awakening slowly began to fade as Taleus passed out in the room. The crimson Perpetual slowly began to stop bleeding on his own, laying in a pool of his own blood on his own as the fox’s body fell forever into the abyss below.
------------------------
“My my, Angelique~ If looks could kill, I think you’d be a serial killer~”
“And if being a drunken slob could kill, you’d be a genocider.”
Standing across from each other, Angelique and Chifu looked at each other with varying looks. The former was glaring daggers at the latter, who was standing with her arms crossed and a smug smile on her face, clearly in charge of the conversation. Behind the goddess, several blue flames were floating in the air, ready to transform into familiars at the God Eater’s command.
“You and your friends have hurt quite a few of my precious familiars~ And while I can always make more, it still hurts like losing a child for each one you all kill~ So I’m going to have to punish you all for what you’ve done to them~”
“Don’t blame us that you’re a bad mother.” Angelique crossed her arms, looking around for options. The way she had come from had closed off the moment she heard Chifu’s voice, likely the goddess’ handiwork. She had doubts she could open the door easily with the normally drunken goddess’ fury upon her. And the window just led to a bottomless pit below, with maybe a few rooms she could fall into if she was lucky. But it was more likely she would break something trying that method, and Chifu could probably still try something crazy to attack her with.
Which meant the only option the claimer had was to take on the goddess head-on. But with the number of flames behind her opponent and the fact that she was there in person, this certainly wasn’t going to be easy. But Angelique had a trick up her sleeve.
With a snap of her fingers, Chifu conjured over a dozen familiars. Most of them were the suicide bomber familiars, but there was a single large, regenerating fox in the back gnashing its teeth in anticipation to attack. The God Eater shifted the hallway she was in around, so that she was behind her familiars, who were now arrayed in front of her like a battalion preparing to attack.
“Alright little ones~ Time to teach her a lesson~” Chifu waved a hand forward, causing all the familiars to rush forward.
But the large one acted strange suddenly, ripping into a pair of exploding familiars and tossing them among their brothers, blowing up groups of them. Some turned back to fight their fellow, confused, but were quickly torn into and exploded, the regenerating fox easily healing the wounds it took as it crushed the last one before turning towards Chifu with glowing pink eyes.
“Ah, the power of claiming~ It’s certainly an honor that you used it on my poor pets~” Chifu teased, opening a doorway in front of her and sending the pouncing fox away to deal with later as she faced Angelique. “Well then, guess I’ll have to deal with you myself~”
Angelique had her arms crossed, several javelins of darkness arrayed behind her as she gave the goddess a smirk. “Oh, you can fight on your own? I would’ve thought you’d run back to find someone else to hide behind instead.”
“Well, you did invade my home~ I have nowhere else to go really~”
“Fair enough. Now, let’s see if I can’t make you regret inviting me to this stupid game of yours.” With a wave of her arms, the shadows lances shot forward, going directly for Chifu’s chest.
The goddess simply smiled as the area between them suddenly extended what almost seemed like miles, the wood stretching as if to somehow occupy such an impossible length as best as it could. The shadow javelins now move at almost a crawl, but Chifu’s giggle seemed to reach Angelique’s ears as fast as light.
“Well there’s no way you’re going to hit me with an attack that slow~” Chifu stepped forward, crossing the distance in an instance like it didn’t exist. Which, since she seems to have complete control over space, was likely true. “You should come here and hit me yourself~”
Chifu leaned forward, presenting her face for Angelique as the blonde grit her teeth. She knew this was a trap, but she also knew she didn’t have a choice, as the goddess would simply reduce all ranged attacks to being slow and useless. Gathering herself, she rushed forward, aiming a roundhouse kick towards the goddess’ face.
Or she would have, if suddenly the walls of the hallway she was in didn’t immediately close in, nearly crushing her between them. Her prosthetic arms were both braced against the wooden walls, straining to keep the walls from fully pressing her into a human jam as Chifu peeked in from the gap in the walls.
“Whoops~ Guess I should’ve let you get close~ Oh well~”
Angelique cursed the goddess silently, looking around for a solution as the walls pressed in with even greater force. There were plenty of shadows by her feet, so she began to gather them into bubbles. Almost immediately, there was a series of explosions as parts of both walls began getting blown apart from the powerful force of each shadow bubble, giving her slightly more room as one leg was freed. A few more bubbles, and the wall to her right shunted Angelique out of the hole in the left wall so she was now sent flying into the open space of the tower.
Flipping in the air once, the claimer took a look around at her surroundings for areas to land. There was a decent sized platform not too far down, with enough shadows that she could reduce her fall. But just as she started working out how to fall there, she felt a presence behind her.
“That was cute~ But I suppose it’s time to get serious~” The blonde flipped around, only for Chifu to grab a hold of her face. Watching the God Eater’s tails collect behind her, Angelique’s eyes went wide as blue flames burst from the tips of the tails, rocketing the two down several feet at high speeds.
“Foxfire Meteor!~” With a great slam and the crashing of splintering wood, she was tossed into a large room in a painful heap as Chifu floated down after her. The room had a number of blue flamed braziers, covering the room in an almost uniform light that flickers slightly at almost the same rate. There was not a spec of shadows, lighting up the large altar to the goddess of the Crossroads at the end of the room. Angelique gave a low groan, rolling onto her feet as she faced Chifu once again.
“Really? Are you so vain that you had a whole temple to yourself in your own home? And I didn’t think you could have a bigger head.” Angelique began to circle the goddess, waiting to see what trap came next.
“Oh, don’t be silly Angie~ I have several temples to myself here~ My wonderful worshipers simply insisted on it~” She seemed to wave it off like it was nothing. This also had the effect of channeling some of the flames from a brazier into a stream of blue fire that attempted to blaze her on the spot.
Angelique leaped forward, dodging the flames as she tried to close the gap. But seeing several balls of fire light themselves on Chifu’s tails, she was forced to roll out of the way as they were flung with casual flicks of the goddess’ tails. She managed to gather some shadows, deflecting a couple of fireballs with some shadowy kicks, sending them careening behind her as she was able to stay close to Chifu.
Angelique tried to rushdown Chifu, but the goddess simply closed the space between two braziers between them, blocking the blonde’s initial path and spewing fire in her direction, making her dodge out of the way as the jet of fire trailed after her. Another ball of fire was flung from the large tails swishing behind the goddess, knocking Angelique back.
As she tried to recover, the claimer noticed that there was a ring of fire now surrounding her. Realizing all the fire from before had still stuck around, she looked to Chifu as she was holding her arms out to either side of her. Realizing what was about to happen as the flames began to roar higher and some of the braziers just outside of the ring were also flickering more intently, she attempted to gather her still untested magic.
Chifu closed the space around the blonde warrior, causing all the fire to close in before bursting upwards in a pillar of fire. The braziers were also brought into a tight circle, before all of them unleashed a stream of fire, further building on the conflagration as blue flames rose up high through the hole in the ceiling, disappearing up into the infinite height above. Eventually, Chifu waved her hand to end the attack, the flames dying off as the space reverted back to normal.
As the smoke and flames cleared, Angelique could still be seen standing, the sleeves on her arms burned off from the flames. But around her feet, remnants of melted ice still stood, showcasing her defensive strategy. And since she was still relatively unhurt aside from a few burns, it seemed this strategy worked.
“Finally using those ice powers huh?~” Chifu taunted, leaning forward. “Imagine if you had used that during your match with Piano?~ Maybe you could’ve won~”
At that point, though, the goddess noticed that Angelique was chanting something. Realizing what was about to happen, she took to the air just as the incantation was finished. A dark swamp emerged from the wood, causing about half of the brazier to sink into a deep darkness, snuffing out their light as Angelique stared up at the goddess with a look of supreme annoyance.
“Don’t you bring that up to me right now!” Creating several bubbles of shadows, she sent them up at Chifu, who condensed space so that they all collided and burst in a large explosion. But Angelique had already leaped up, aiming a flying kick to the smug goddess’ face.
But with the ringing of bells, a doorway opened to Angelique’s right. Looking over, she had just enough time to see her shadow javelins from before picking up speed before they made impact with her, sending her hurtling towards the altar to the God Eater, pinning her against it. Before she could recover, Chifu had closed the gap by closing the space between them, kicking out herself with enough force to shatter the wood behind Angelique.
Her eyes rolling to the back of her head, Angelique passed out, falling to the ground below as Chifu floated down after her. She gave the girl a pat on the head. “My, I certainly wasn’t expecting to try today~ You really surprised me~ Guess I’ll have to be careful in the future~”
With the click of her heels and the ringing of her bells, Chifu walked away, ready to deal with the last few fighters arrayed against her.
------------------------
Wendy and Valentine recovered from their fall after a bit of time, the former checking on the latter as they heard the titanic battle between Taleus and the fox dragon above. The mage checked over the zombie, making sure there weren’t any new injuries from the fall before the two moved on before something fell down on them.
They soon found themselves traveling down a well manicured garden, trees and topiary displayed beautifully as small streams flowed beneath wooden bridges. As they walked, they almost admired the scenery, nearly forgetting why they were here. But when they came to the small courtyard with a kneeling suit of armor sat in the center of it.
A set of traditional samurai armor, Valentine could clearly see that there was a living being on the inside of it. Drawing her sword and holding it forward, she threw her other arm back to stop Wendy who looked surprised. But before they could do anything more, the ringing of bells signaled the arrival of the God Eater, who appeared behind a pair of opening sliding doors, drinking what looked like tea.
“Ah, another pair~ Well, it should be fun watching you too fight my bodyguard~ He’s a pretty powerful warrior, so I’d be careful if I were you two~ Wouldn’t want to hurt either of your pretty faces~”
With a snap of her fingers, the samurai began to rise, four tails sprouting from the back of his armor as red eyes flashed in the eye holes of the helmet. He drew his katana, both hands on the hilt as he held it out in front of him, the tip of the blade pointed towards Valentine’s heart. The zombie kept their own blade crossed over their chest, keeping such an easy strike from being possible as the two began to circle each other. Occasionally, their blades would touch, both exerting slight pressure to push aside the blade for an easy strike, but it was just as easily pulled apart before either could create such an opening.
As Wendy began to sweat at the tension between the two of them, gulping as she prepared herself to cast a spell to help. In that very instant, a flurry of blows were exchanged, four strikes and parries executed in the span of a breath. The expert exchange was done faster than Wendy could ever have expected, stepping back for a moment as the ring of steel echoed throughout the garden.
Valentine, meanwhile, was cursing her lack of strength in this moment. Her rotted body, her decayed muscles, everything about her zombie body made it feel like she was being held back. If she was alive, if she had a living body, she should’ve already beaten this samurai. As she deflected a strike and went to strike back, it quickly brought his blade to block the attack himself, showing how slow she was.
Her anger boiled over as her brain began to glow blue, channeling fire magic in her free hand as she held back the fox samurai’s sword with her blade. The fox, likewise, gathered blue flame in his free hand. With a thrust from each of their hands, two cones of fire were unleashed, the billowing flames impacting each other and spilling out to either side of the meeting point.
As the flames died down, Valentine’s eyes went wide as a flame-sheathed sword came slicing through the smoke, cutting across their chest. While the blow should’ve been shallow, there was a sudden loss of strength and blood as they stumbled back, confused.
“Oh, did you forget?~” Chifu chimed in, taking another sip of tea with a giggle. “I made this little guy and I supply his fire~ And I’m a goddess~ Which makes my magic…~”
“Holy.” Valentine finished, cursing her luck. The blue-flamed blade came thrusting towards her again, focing the zombie knight back as she now had to avoid the flames at all cost, as they could quickly put her down if she wasn’t careful. But this added constraint made fighting more difficult, each blow now containing the full weight of a goddess’ wrath. While she had fought monsters and powerful warriors in the past, none besides Raku pushed her as hard as Chifu was doing just by proxy.
With a powerful swing, the samurai knocked the knight to the ground, sending her rolling away in an arc of blue flames. As she started channeling her magic to protect herself as he approached again, there came a shout from the side. “Leave her alone!”
With a flash of blue light, a pillar of ice rose beneath the samurai’s feet, carrying him out of range of Valentine. The zombie knight looked over, seeing Wendy stand with a blue glyph in front of her as she controlled her magic to help. Working alongside that, Valentine aimed her arm up, creating her shield in the air above the pillar. The samurai slammed into it with a loud clang, the sound of grinding as the pillar struggled to rise higher, crushing the fox in the process. The two women looked at each other, giving each other a nod of positivity at their teamwork, only for their heads to turn sharply as cracking sounds began to resonate from the frosted pillar.
With an aura of blue flame around it, the fox samurai began to melt through the pillar, chunks of ice cracking and falling off as the central support was completely destroyed. The blue meteor of a samurai collided with the ground with a burst of smoke, obscuring the fox warrior from sight. Believing themself to be in danger, Valentine raised their sword to block, managing to stop a blazing slice that sprung out of the smoke in a flash of blue from cleaving their head from their body. But the force of the force and the wave of fire that emanated from it sent them tumbling away, armor clattering on stone and wood.
The samurai charged forward to slice down towards her, but Wendy wasn’t just going to stand around and let Valentine get cut down. She finished a yellow glyph, firing a stream of lighting to try and deflect away the samurai. But Chifu’s bells rang as she waved her hand, causing the space around the samurai to bend and send the lightning spinning around it before sending it back towards Wendy.
Wendy was knocked off her feet, her glasses sent flying as she hit the ground a distance away. Now alone, Valentine was forced to roll out of the way as a wave of fire washed over her. Sent flying away, she could feel her strength beginning to fade from the damage. She looked over at Wendy, who was struggling to find her glasses before putting them on. The green haired mage and the zombie knight made eye contact, nodding as they knew they had to work together in order to defeat this opponent.
As the samurai closed in, Valentine’s brain glowed as she gave a long swing, pushing aside the katana in its hand before unleashing a cone of fire at point blank range. The fire slammed into its chestplate, causing it to begin to glow with heat as the samurai was recovering seemingly unaffected.
Just as it was about to strike back, Valentine spun around the side of the samurai and slammed into it with her shoulder, sending it stumbling towards Wendy. The scholarly mage rushed forward, a blue glyph completed in front of her as she shoved her hands towards the samurai’s chest. A plume of ice sprouted in the heated spot, causing a large amount of steam to erupt.
With a horrific shattering sound, the ice and the armor break into pieces, sending both of them flying back from the explosive force of it. As the samurai spun around as it stumbled back, Valentine gave a roar as they stabbed forward, piercing the familiar through the chest. The familiar went limp for a second, before disappearing in blue flames and the ringing of bells, causing the armor to fall empty on the ground.
The two contestants gave a sigh of relief, the knight going over to pick up the mage with a grateful smile. “Well, that was certainly harder than I expected. I’m glad you were able to help me out there Wendy.”
“Oh, it’s really no trouble at all!” Wendy tried to wave away the gratitude with her hands, shaking her head. “I’m just helping do what we came here to do.”
“Fair enough. So in that regard, let’s finish this, shall we?” The zombie and mage turned to face where the God Eater sat… only to see she was no longer there. “Damn! Did she get away?”
The clanking of armor behind them made both contestants freeze for a moment. Being the more physical one, Valentine turned quickly with her weapon raised to fight another samurai despite her lack of strength. The figure that stood before them was of a similar size than the previous, but now had nine tails that swished behind it, giving the impression that all of the eye symbols on the tail were blinking at them. But the outfit underneath and the white hair that spilled out from the helmet told Valentine of the true danger presented in front of her.
Ring.
Wendy’s eyes went wide as the samurai had slashed Valentine in the blink of an eye, crossing the sizable distance between them before either contestant could realize it. The knight’s breastplate easily split from the slash as blood spilled forth, blue flames blooming from the wound. The decayed warrior looked to the green haired mage and uttered a single word before her eyes went blank and fell into unconsciousness.
“Run…”
As the heavy clang of metal that fully signaled Valentine’s fall rang out over the garden, Wendy finished a yellow glyph and fired it towards the samurai, forcing her to deflect the attack with blade and flame as Wendy took her fallen companion’s advice. Running full sprint, she aimed for the distant doorway across the garden, hoping that she could get some distance from the goddess and find any of the others. Teekee, Piano, Inari, Raku and Quan, Angelique, anybody that could help. She reached her hand out to open the door, smiling as she almost escaped.
Crack!
With a snapping noise, Wendy’s glasses shattered as the back of a katana slammed at her with great speed, combined with the speed of her sprint. Knocked off her feet, she slammed painfully on her back as her nose began to bleed freely, her vision blurred without her glasses. Above, she could see armor-clad Chifu leaning over her, her Cheshire smile clear even in the blur.
“Oh~ So close, yet so far~” The goddess gestured to Wendy’s left. Looking over, the mage saw that she was somehow laying next to Valentine’s form. Her head hurting too much to even muster any curiosity on how this could happen, the green-haired girl’s mind went black as she passed out, unable to fight anymore.
Chifu giggled to herself, before removing the looping spatial corridor she had used to defeat Wendy. Connecting two independent spaces together to create a looping, enclosed space was child’s play for the goddess, but it was still fun to use such an ability for pranks or in this case, to defeat a troublesome competitor.
“Now, for the last two~” With one last look to the fallen two, she disappeared elsewhere in her Infinite Fox’s Den, leaving behind the sword and armor next to Wendy.
---------------------
Pembrooke and Jackie could almost feel the isolation press against them as they moved through the wooden halls of Chifu’s infinite tower. Any distant sound of fighting coming from Vilivian and Taleus taking on the fox dragon had long faded, and there was no sign of any of the others. Only the slight rustling of silken curtains provided any sort of motion, which was quickly dealt with by a shot from the gun of Pembrooke.
“...You think the others are all beaten by now?” Jackie asked nervously, looking around with her bat in hand. Her animated expression flickered with her movements, careful to spot any sign of the trickster goddess.
“Probably.” Pembrooke confirmed, his gun held at the ready and a hand hovering over his last two grenades. Without the heavy hitters to keep most of the fox familiars back, he had been forced to burn through ammo and explosives to clear the path for them, really putting a strain on his fighting capabilities. If only he could’ve brought in his ATG to help with this, he could’ve provided cover for everyone.
As he was lamenting his equipment issues to himself, he suddenly felt a tackle to his side. He went to aim his gun as he was knocked to the ground, only to see it was Jackie pushing him down as a burst of fire ignited the space he had just been in. The two rolled onto their feet, with the soldier pointing his gun around.
Nearby, Chifu floated a couple inches off the ground, several balls of foxfire floating around her as she almost seemed to gloat at them with her arms outstretched with balls of fire emerging from them.
“Ah, you moved~ I was just going to make this quick~ Now you’re going to make this more painful for yourselves~” She gave them a smile, causing the foxfire to swirl around her form as she prepared to fight.
Pembrooke fired off an entire magazine from his pistol, only for the rounds to be burnt up by the floating foxfires before they could reach the goddess. Cursing, he began to reload as a pair of fireballs were hurled their way. Jackie leaped in front of the soldier, swinging her bat twice to deflect the flames before they could make impact.
Shaking his head to clear away any doubts, he took careful aim this time. Firing shots off one at a time at seemingly random points, trying to see how quickly the balls of fire came to shield her. Chifu’s ability over her fire seemed supreme, requiring her to make only the smallest adjustments in order to guard her form. There were very few holes in her defense, and even those seemed like planned openings for her to take advantage of them if they tried to exploit them.
So they needed another approach. “Jackie, homerun!” He pulled the pin on a grenade and tossed it over Jackie’s shoulder. She quickly got in position and swung with all of her might, sending the explosive flying forward at high speeds directly where the flaming shield was thickest. Trying to use the fire to their advantage to catch her off guard as the green sphere came closer and closer to the goddess.
Jackie realized the flaw in their plan at the last second, turning around and shielding Pembrooke with her body as the grenade suddenly appeared near them. The grenade exploded, the shockwave knocking the pair of them over as shrapnel and flames washed over Jackie’s body. The pair rolled a bit away, Jackie going further due to taking most of the blast herself as Pembrooke rolled back into combat position.
“Jackie! Are you ok?” he asked with great concern, firing shots at Chifu to keep her busy.
“I’m fine, just a scratch!” she called back, standing up. Most of her shirt was now burnt tatters, parts of her wiring now showing but otherwise her frame was still whole. She picked up her bat and turned to face the goddess, only to gasp in horror at what she saw.
Pembrooke spun around to see that Chifu was up close. She gave a wave of her tails, a trail of fire followed them as she slammed the fluffy appendages against him to knock him off his feet. He hit the ground hard, gasping for air as it felt like he got hit by a sledgehammer to the chest. Jackie ran over, swinging her bat to drive away the goddess as the latter floated away with a trail of blue flames.
With each swing of her bat, more blue flames were swatted away as the caution tape covering the metal implement was burnt away. Some of the flames washed over her mechanical arms, the heat barely bothering her as she worked to minimize the shield as much as possible as Chifu looked at her with some amusement.
But when Jackie wound her arm back for another homerun style hit, Chifu began to gather her last few flames to protect her. But the ringing of gunshots forced her foxfire to spin out to block the bullets, leaving her exposed to the bat. The goddess raised her tails in front of her, cushioning the blow with soft fur as she was sent floating back several feet before rising high in the air. She parted her tails, letting them see just how displeased she was with them.
“Oh.” Chifu sounded surprisingly cold, raising her hand as the deflected flames that were burning on the wood began to gather in her hand. “I just thought we could have some fun. But if you want this to be serious, then be my guest.”
A large ball of fire was now gathered in front of her, easily dwarfing either one of them in size. With a push, the ball of fire came crashing down towards Jackie, who took off at a full spring as Pembrooke did the same, taking potshots as he ran to try and make sure Chifu didn’t attack scott free.
The explosion was massive, sending waves of fire in all directions as Pembrooke and Jackie just managed to dive out of range. But as Jackie got back to her feet, flames washing over her feet, the goddess was suddenly in front of her, both hands gripping onto the glass dome that was her face.
With a burst of blue, flames began to erupt from Chifu’s hands as Jackie screamed in horror. The android attempted to swing her bat to beat back the goddess, but three tails raised themselves to ward off the blow as the sounds of cracking glass began to be heard over the whooshing of fire.
Pembrooke attempted to save Jackie, firing shot after shot towards the goddess’ exposed side to distract her, but a wall of fire rose up to block the bullets. Then with a wave of her tails, the God Eater sent pillars of fire shooting up towards the soldier, forcing him to make a tactical retreat. He turned back when the fire stopped to help, the sound of shattering glass echoed through the whole room.
All sources of fire died down as Chifu let go of Jackie, the latter’s face broken as pink lights flashed a couple of times before she collapsed to the ground. The white-haired kitsune then turned her gaze to Pembrooke, smiling once more as she walked forward.
“Well, that’s thirteen down~ Just one more to go~” A jet of flame emerged from her hand, which Pembrooke narrowly dodged and fired back. Fire shot out from the stream, burning the bullets as Chifu kept moving forward.
In frustration, he unloaded the empty magazine and tossed it at her as he reloaded his pistol. She caught the magazine with her hand, giving an amused chuckle as she tossed it to the side. As he raised the gun again and fired another couple of rounds, her foxfire embers melted them before she suddenly closed the distance, causing his eyes to go wide.
He attempted to pistol whip her, only to have the gun kicked out of his hand by the goddess, before her tails whipped into him, knocking him back. He fought back with some hand-to-hand he knew, throwing punches and kicks. But the goddess’ tails easily deflected his attacks as they knocked him around. Each blow felt like he was getting punched by the likes of Raku or Inari, like a hammer to his body.
He could feel his body getting sore with each hit, the goddess looking like she was barely trying at this point. It was clear that the gap between them was simply too great. He didn’t even know why he bothered coming with everyone else, when they were clearly strong enough to handle such a fight. He was just dead weight at this point without this ATX, only fit to pick off the weaker familiars so the stronger fighters could fight Chifu. But she had managed to beat them all, leaving him to struggle futilely until she decided to finish him off. He couldn’t even protect Jackie just now…
He suddenly noticed movement behind the goddess, along with a flash of pink light. Bat raised as she leaped to strike at the goddess’ back, Jackie tried to keep quiet for as long as possible as she swung. Three tails suddenly shot back, meeting the attack with equal force before grabbing the bat and throwing the android into the soldier who barely had time to catch her.
Her face plate was still broken, some of the components for the light display melted. But it was clear the flames hadn’t reached anything important for functioning, and she still managed to give Pembrooke a smile with what lights she could manage. “Don’t worry, I’m not out yet! Now, let’s beat her!”
Pembrooke gave a smile, nodding towards her. “Right!”
With a final look, the two leaped into action, Jackie rushing forward to face the God Eater once again as Pembrooke ran for his gun. Chifu simply used her tails to deflect the bat and kicks from Jackie, still smiling as she was able to drive back the android after a few exchanges.
“You know, I wouldn’t have hurt you any more if you had just stayed down after that~ I was being nice by avoiding burning you all the way through~ But if you want more~” Chifu suddenly planted her feet as her tails lashed out, grabbing Jackie’s limbs and exposing her torso. “Foxtail Bell!~”
With a strong kick, Jackie’s body was pulled by the tails as hard as possible to maximize the impact of the kick, to the point where the metal over her glowing heart dented as the lights from Jackie finally went out, signaling her defeat as she was released and sent flying.
Chifu looked over to Pembrooke, only to see a grenade heading her way. She looked smug for a moment, before seeing that he was aiming his gun right at the explosive. With a smirk of his own, he pulled the trigger.
With a burst of flame and shrapnel, Chifu disappeared from sight as Pembrooke gave a sigh of relief. He finally managed to hit her with something. Maybe now he could get everyone’s wishes for them.
Suddenly, he felt something slam into him from the side. His gun going flying again, he turned his head to see what had hit him. It was Jackie’s unconscious form, which he had seen flying in a different direction last he remembered. Before he could even finish processing that, he felt a sweep take out his legs, causing him to fling Jackie’s body a distance away where she landed heavily.
Spinning in the air, he could see that it was an unscathed Chifu that had swept him, who was now flipping in the air herself with a leg raised ready to kick him. He crossed his arms to try and block, but the flaming trail of the kick told him such an act was already pointless.
“Foxfire Wheel!~” With a full three-sixty spin in the air, she slammed her burning foot into his chest, causing him to gasp in pain as the ground beneath him cracked from the force. He pushed back for a moment or two, before his vision went dark and he passed out, being the final contestant to fall.
“Phew!~ That was certainly more work than I expected~ They almost got a hit in~ I would’ve had to give out free wishes there~ I guess I should go check to see if Saki’s still good to make me a drink after her fight~” With a last giggle, Chifu disappeared in a ringing of bells, heading back out to the real world once more.
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With a roar of anger, Saki knocked aside Yamarashi’s attack with her good arm, sending the sai he was using to strike at her flying before punching him in the chest, caving his armor in as he was sent sliding back. The two had fought their way through a good portion of the Crossroads, causing untold amounts of damage with their titanic strength as they smashed through buildings and turned cobblestone into gravel with the clash of strength their blows proved to be. They had managed to push each other into another dimension, allowing them to avoid causing more damage that she would have to clean up later. They were on the side of a mountain, their clash causing rocks to fall from the cliffside and nearly crush them.
His back was now mostly clear of weapons, since she had knocked most of them away as she drove him back further away from them before he could call them back. As his premier weapons were knocked away, he had to resort to drawing every weapon he had just to have something to use against her near unstoppable might. For her part, she had burned through nearly every potion she had brewed since she won her own Cross Tournament. Including all of her stock of Bone-Regrowth Potions, which she had to use all three of after Yamarashi had broken most of her bones several times throughout their fight.
She was seriously regretting using the first one too early as her left arm hung limply next to her, just about every bone in it shattered from blocking a club before sending it into a raging river. She sent another haymaker his way, knocking him back. But this time, he managed to grab her arm as he slid back, spinning around and slamming her into the mountain. The wall shattered from the impact, but she merely grunted from the impact.
But seeing all the falling rocks around her gave her an idea. If she couldn’t knock him out or kill him, then she’d just have to keep him away. As he drew a sword and closed in, she gave a roar of anger and charge forward. Yamarashi swung his sword, only for her to block it with her horns. With a shake of her head, the sword was sent flying away.
With a quick grab, she threw him back where she had just been, further shattering that part of the mountain. She grabbed one of the last of her potions, clutching it in her hands.
“You damn Contractors are too tough! Just lay down and STOP ALREADY!!” With one last roar she slammed her fist into the immortal, a large explosion erupting from the potion as she was sent flying back. He was driven into the center of the mountain from the blast as the rock above him began to tremble. With a series of cracks running up the mountain, the whole top half of it shattered and collapsed down, dust rising high as the rocks finally settled into place.
Saki slowly stood up some distance away, her arms both broken and the right side of her body burnt as she listened carefully. After a few moments, she heard the rumbling shouts of the Contractor buried deep in the rocks, having apparently recovered enough to begin shouting in anger at his situation.
“Good. Now stay there for a few months and let me recover. Now, I gotta go see if Volley’s kept the bar in good shape while I was gone.” As she slowly got to her feet, a small fox familiar jumped up the mountain next to her, looking up at her with a wagging tail.
“Well well, it’s certainly been a while since I’ve seen you beat up like this~” Chifu’s voice teased, the fox tilting its head.
“Yeah, well I don’t fight Contractors every day. You better make up for all the potions I used. Those were some rare ones I used up just to beat him.” Saki glared down at the fox, getting to her feet as the ringing of bells declared the appearance of a doorway back to the Fox’s Den.
“That’s true~” Chifu admitted. “Well, either way, you won, so good job~ Now, you should probably go rescue Volley~ Vivi’s certainly worked him over while you were gone~ And they’re smashing up all of my alcohol~” She had a whine to her voice at that, as if that was the part she was really worried about.
Saki gave a sigh as the doors opened up. Stepping in, she saw that most of the tables in the main area of her bar were completely shattered, the counter at the bar split in two. Most of the bottles lined up on the back wall were shattered, alcohol leaking down the wall as potion bottles on the ground still sparked with latent magic in the shattered glass. The walls had several holes punched into it, giving views of the outside while the floor of the tavern was mostly splintered wood at this point.
In the center of the room, a heavily bruised and injured Viola was standing on the chest of an unconscious Volley, blood trickling from his head from the blow to the head that knocked him out. A single whole potion rolled away from his hand, his last act failing as Vivi had managed to overpower and outspeed him in most regards. Vivi was breathing heavily from all the effort it had taken to beat the young oni, who had managed to hold his own despite such a powerful opponent.
“YOU LEAVE MY NEPHEW ALONE!” Saki screamed, rushing forwards as the demon woman leapt with surprise at the sudden return of the proprietor of the bar. Vivi readied Recumbo to drive off the powerful oni, only for Saki to kick the potion bottle at her face. The electric potion exploded in a shower of sparks, blinding Viola for a moment.
By the time her vision recovered, Saki’s foot was in her face, kicking her clear out of the Fox’s Den. Slamming into the same wall Yamarashi cratered earlier, Vivi gave a gasp of pain. Just as she landed on her feet again, Saki charged her again and slammed her head into the demon’s stomach, knocking her out as she was struck with immense force focused on the bartender’s two horns. She folded nearly in half from the impact, before slumping to the side with a groan as Saki stood up straight.
“Wow, you’re still as brutal as you’ve ever been Saki~” Chifu teased, now in her disguised form as she walked down the stairs. Miss X appeared next to her, giving the oni woman a cheer of celebration. “I should have you fight contestants more~”
“No thanks. I’d rather run my bar if you don’t mind.” Saki shook her head, walking into the Fox’s Den and sat down in the most solid thing still in one piece. “So, what are we going to do about these rowdy contestants?”
“Well~” Chifu said, walking over to grab one of the few whole bodies remaining and taking a drink directly from the bottle. “I think we should make sure none of them die and let them get all rested up~ Then, we’ll punish them by making them help repair all the damage you and Yama did in my town~ And then fight a few more fights to raise some money for all the repairs to my alcohol supply before the next Cross Tournament~”
“We get to have more fights? That sounds like a great idea, Mom!” Miss X cheered, jumping up in the air. “I’ll start writing my speeches for all these extra fights! So who are we going to have fight who first?”
“Now now X~ We’ve got plenty of time to get that figured out~ Let’s just let everyone settle down for a bit~” Chifu leaned back onto the wall, smiling to herself as she thought about all of the makeup fights she’ll have them do. And all of the fun she’ll get to have with them all sticking around for a bit longer. Things had turned out really well for her.
In the end, she was the only one that got what she wished for out of this whole ordeal.
Oblivia
by Velvet Room Attendants
Oblivia reference sheet - Oblivia Ref.pdf
Oblivia's Story - Oblivia thing.pdf
Side Stories - Comics
Fatum's Lilya
by Fatum#1636
2021 Audition List
AUDITIONING LIST
Everyone who has completed an entry (DONE) via roles on Discord!
*If a written entry character does not have a drawn reference, art
done in request stream(s) is used. Audition text refers to the hosting
site of the entry (DA for DeviantArt, Google Doc for Google Drive, etc.)
✚COMICS✚
2 Leagues TBA (No cuts -- 16 fighters!)
✚WRITTEN✚
1 League TBA (3 cuts)
✚SPECTATOR ENTRIES✚
Extra pieces done by competitors:
Trigger [Senko] : [07/05]