& Layla’s Ghostly Trio
Amy Nakamura
& the 8th Street
“... Oh, they let
you back into Sycamore?!” Greta snorted, followed by a mocking laugh. “Oh, Auri must be
desperate.”
“Oooooh, cool!” Phoebe laughed as she turned the lid off the potion and downed it. There was a speck of shimmering blue potion at the corner of her lip that she just casually wiped away. “You brought us some doggos to play with. Cool. Very cool.”
“Can Cynthia eat?!” She asked, hopping up and down in some grim excitement.
“Yes, come here!” Greta gestured towards Cynthia. She cocked the glowing grey potion back before chucking it at the entrance Luna made. It exploded into a thick grey smoke when it hit the ground.
“Malik! Lee! Brianna!” Greta pointed at the smoke cloud. “Open fire!”
Malik stuck his hands out and unleashed a barrage from his Starsailor spell, while Lee created the Blazing Arrow and fired a few arrows that would explode into a cloud of fire. Brianna raised a hand in the air, creating a volley of razor-sharp, triangle-shaped, light constructs and launching them into the smoke cloud.
There was the scraping sound of Amy’s iron club against the ground as she walked up next to Greta. “... Was that who I
think it was?” She raised an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Greta grinned as she reached into her crate and pulled out a glowing-cyan potion. “Yes, it was.”
When the smoke cleared, they’d see a curious sight. Hellhounds had moved in a wave, piling over one another to buffer the worst of the barrage. Smoke seeped from the pups’ wounds, and five despawned a second later.
Luna looked at their losses, clicked her tongue, and launched herself over the remaining hellhounds, focusing on the one who shot the stars. She came in at an angle, spinning with her white construct blades, the first one swiping at his chest. Spinning, stepping forward, the second blade slashing at his head. Her own head was on a swivel, looking for any attacks from those around her.
Bahlok watched for a moment, before she whistled, and the remaining five hellhounds went straight for the girl holding the iron club, maws eager and searching to rip her hand holding the club, and her arms and thighs.
Bahlok’s red grin widened, and she raised a hand. Another hand materialized as Bahlok pulled Bahlaas out from Smoke’s Crossing, and threw her in the direction of Greta.
“I said I didn’t want to!” Bahlaas whined, landing a ways off from Greta, hands glowing with fire. She reached out, shooting off fireballs to Greta’s shoulder, chest, and legs, trying to set her clothes on fire. Trying to burn her.
“Shut up and fight!” Bahlok snapped back, readying her own stance. Bahlok launched herself at the one who shot the flaming arrows, appendage shooting forward. She moved with the aim to smash and smother him into the ice wall, constrict his arms so he couldn’t fire off any more of those arrows. Maybe she’d constrict him enough that he’d pass out… Maybe she’d constrict him enough so he stopped moving…
Greta screamed as the fire hit her… However, Cynthia’s jaw clamped down on her leg and threw her out of the way. She turned towards Bahlaas and said, “Spirits provide Cynthia with no sustenance.” she backpedaled towards Greta, attuning herself to Bahlaas’ abstraction.
Before Luna could reach Malik, a thick wall of ice appeared and blocked the attack. Phoebe laughed, diamond dust coming off her body as she transformed into ice.
“... You need to chill out, girl,” She raised a hand, and a blast of freezing energy came out. “We could have been partying with the doggos. Now? We’re fightin’.”
The first dog that approached Amy was hit with the Iron Club, instantly dematerializing it. However, the other four latched on, and Amy exploded into fire like a torch. She held on tight as she could before she used her strength to fling them.
Bahlok’s hand launched Lee into the ice wall…
“Lee!” Brianna screamed. She raised her hands at the Apparition and fired off a kinetic beam of light.
Meanwhile, Nadine sighed, flicking her hand at the chaos. The undead minions she had already summoned shambled towards their intruders.
Luna saw the freezing energy coming straight for her. Her swords morphed into a small shield, deflecting most of the energy as she rolled to the side.
“You’re gonna regret that…”Snapping to her feet, a hand moved to her thigh, pulling up the ruffles of her dress to grab a pistol. She pointed it at Phoebe, aimed for her left thigh, and fired point blank. The next second, she leapt over the ice barricade as her target changed, and she fired off a shot at Malik's left shoulder. Standing poised on the fine edge of the ice barricade, she could see the undead approaching, and she cursed under her breath. A sword formed in her free hand, and she dove into the fray, slicing undead here and there.
As Bahlaas watched on, fuming that the monster disturbed her attack, she noticed something. Right behind Cynthia, the telltale signs of Smoke’s Crossing could be seen. A black gloved hand shot out, a large needle in hand, the sharp tip aimed to jab Cynthia in the thigh. The smoke dispersed revealing none other than Kipnu, ten more hellhounds with him. If his poison needle was successful, Cynthia would soon find herself paralyzed.
Kipnu whistled as he retreated from Cynthia, sicking the dogs on all the undead Luna was trying to fend off.
Bahlaas pulled on Kipnu’s hand,
”Where’s the blood?”“She’s safely hidden. Now, let’s make good on our deal, hm?”Bahlaas nodded, staring down at Greta again, and sending a flurry of fireballs at her.
Bahlok saw the kinetic light a fraction of a second too late, focused as she was on Lee. She hissed as she was thrown back. From the ground, she saw Luna fighting off undead, and her own hellhounds thrown from a
flaming torch of a human. She whistled, and the remaining four hellhounds hobbled in her direction. She pointed at Lee, and the dogs aimed to bite down on his arms and legs.
Bahlok herself unfurled a long tongue, licking her teeth as she stared at Brianna. In a flash of a second, the Eldritch Appendage shot forward, aimed to wrap and constrict Brianna up tighter than a straitjacket.
The bullet hit Phoebe, and knocked a chunk of ice off her body… but she just laughed as she raised a hand. She sucked in all the water as the wound was quickly filled. “Bringing a gun to a magic fight…?” She tilted her head, as she watched Malik cry in pain and then fell to the ground. “Lame.” She laughed as she raised a hand and began quickly dropping the temperature around Luna. Some of the zombies became more sluggish, but it reached a point where the rain had
froze before it even hit the ground.
The needle hit Cynthia, and she quickly whipped around and attuned herself to Kipnu… which allowed her to fight off the poison for a bit longer than expected. “Cynthia… does not feel good…”
“Son of a bitch!” Greta hissed in anger as her crate was some distance away. “We need to bunch up!” However, the barrage of fireballs came for her… until Amy got in front of them. Club in both hands.
“...
This is the best you can do, Tsukino?” Amy said in Japanese, hissing her name like an insult.
“You. Your mafia. And your Apparitions are weak.” She rushed forward at Bahlaas, the Iron Club cocked and ready to go, and when she got close, she swung it with all of her inhuman strength. Enough to send the Apparition into the ice wall.
Greta managed to get to her crate and reached for two glowing green potions. She threw one to Phoebe, who caught it. Then walked over to Cynthia...
The eldritch hand caught Brianna, but Lee was free… he created a glowing grey dagger in his hand, and with a few swipes, he created powerful, rushing, winds that sent the dogs approaching him flying.
Nadine was constantly creating undead minions, sending them shambling back over towards Luna.
Luna gritted her teeth at Phoebe, falling to a knee as the freezing temperatures made themselves known. She fired off two rounds, one at Phoebe’s shoulder, the other at her opposing hip. The third round clicked, the gun malfunctioning from the freezing temperatures. Luna took a shaky breath, unable to feel her fingertips.
She glanced as Bahlaas struck the ice wall, falling to the ground. Turning her head slowly to Amy, then to the undead overcoming her vision.
Maybe this is where she would really falter…
Before the sound of fervent stabbing caught her gaze, and she saw Kipnu standing in front of her, pressing needles into the undead and making them drop to the ground.
“Whatever they’re saying, don’t let them get in your head.” he growled out, before he shouted towards Bahlaas.
“Get your ass moving, we need fire power here!”Bahlaas let out a moan, squinting as she lifted her head off the ground. She raised a hand, and smoldering sparks filled the air, drifting towards Phoebe before growing in size, raining hellfire on the ice girl.
Bahlok saw the tables shifting on the battlefield, and hissed under her breath. With cold, calculated force, she stared directly at Brianna as she applied enough force to dislocate both her shoulders with an audible
snap. Who created a dome of light around herself.
She could see the hellhounds struggling to find purchase on Lee, and dropped Brianna, eyes on her appendage spinning madly as she tried to catch Lee again.
Kipnu saw Greta about to undo his work, and he whistled. The hellhounds gathered at once, and the fifteen or so ganged up on Greta, jumping on her, jaws snapping to grab her arms and legs, trying to pull her to the ground.
Lee swapped out the dagger for a shield, and when Bahlok’s limb hit, it got reflected back at her.
“Keep shooting me,” Phoebe laughed as her wounds were fixed in an instant as she pulled from the rain storm. She walked over to Malik, “No really, keep at it. You got enough bullets.”
“Phoebe!” Malik shouted, pointing upwards. She flipped around and saw the fire raining around her. She quickly erected some ice spikes to take most of the blast. However, most of them hit her and melted her body - and forced her to transform back into her human form lest she melt to death. She was covered in severe burns… But the healing potion was still in her hand, and she created a dome of ice around herself and Malik.
“... DON’T THINK I’M DONE WITH YOU!” Amy screamed as she charged Bahlaas, club overhead. She used inhuman speeds to approach the Apparition, knocking away undead and hellhound alike. She came in with a brutal swing of her club that packed enough power to crack the thick ice wall. Then she would keep pounding at the Apparition until it was too weak to fight.
The Hellhounds mauled Greta as she screamed but Cynthia lunged forward and bit one of them in half. Her moments were sluggish but she swiped at them with her claws.
“… The potion!” Greta shouted, “D-drink- the potion!”
“As.. you.. wish,” Cynthia grabbed the glowing jar with both claws and shattered it above her. The glass carved up her claws, but the healing potion poured into her mouth. The effects of the needle were undone as Cynthia slashed at the hell hounds, dematerializing them. She bit down on one of their head’s and flung its separated body into the distance.
Meanwhile Nadine was flooding the ice fortress with undead minions, creating them far faster than they were destroyed.
Luna cursed as she watched the dome ice over, before she heard screaming. Her head whipped to the side, catching Bahlaas struggling badly under Amy’s club.
“Shit.”To make things worse, the undead were getting too much. Luna used her constructed sword to slice through them, but it was like cutting through sand. They just kept coming, getting in the way of her coming to Bahlaas’ rescue.
With a grunt, Luna unfurled white wings, and shot over the undead, towards Amy.
“Kisama! Mō owaridesu! (You bastard, you’re finished!)” Luna yelled as she came in at an angle, aiming her sword to strike across Amy’s arm and chest.
Kipnu casually walked over to Greta, pinned as she was on the ground by the hellhounds. His mask hid a smile as he raised a needle, and attempted to jab it into her neck. Another paralyzing poison.
His eyes glanced over at Cynthia, and he whistled. The remaining hellhounds began climbing up Cynthia’s back, trying to dig their teeth into her neck, into her back, trying to weaken her. Some hellhounds surrounded Kipnu, keeping the undead at bay, snapping their jaws at Cynthia.
Bahlok heard the cry of her little sister, and near forgot about Lee, reflected as her attack was. Instead, she veered off, slashing through undead in an attempt to reach Luna and Bahlaas.
The blade slashed Amy, and she went stiff for a moment… Then she grinned as she looked over her shoulder, exploding into a cloud of fire.
“... Why did Kura have to die, while assholes like you get to walk the earth?!” Amy screamed at her in Japanese.
“You should’ve ran while you had the chance!”Using all of her monstrous strength, she swung the iron club at Luna with enough force to
launch her.
Cynthia grinned… she quickly flicked all of the hellhounds off of her and lunged for Kipnu’s leg. She latched on and began using her inhuman strength to swing him around as if he were a club. Literally using him to beat the Hellhounds.
“... Hehehe,” Phoebe grinned as she transformed back into ice. “
Suckers.”
She skipped over to Malik, opened the jar, and poured the contents on his crumpled body. Soon, the bullet was pushed out of his body, and the wound closed as Phoebe gave him a little kick. “C’mon, big boy,” She said. “Pick a target and let’s goooooo!”
The ice dome shattered, and Malik turned towards Bahlok. He stuck his hands out as he fired a barrage of stars at the Apparition. Meanwhile, Lee had switched back to the Blazing Arrow and cut loose as many flaming arrows at the Apparition as possible as the two double teamed her.
Stars splashed across Luna’s vision as the club hit her straight on. Weightlessness, before her world crumpled as she collided with the wall. Sliding to the ground, a moan escaped gritted teeth. Through squinted eyes, she could see Bahlaas struggling to lift herself off the ground near her. A growl as Luna glared at Amy, pulling up to a knee.
“Moshi anata ga watashitachi o misuteta koto o shittara, Kura wa haka no naka ni korogarikonde itadeshou. Anata no hontō no kazoku.... Anata ni wa meiyo ga arimasen. (Kura would be rolling in her grave if she knew you abandoned us. Your real family... You have no honour.)” She spat out between huffs, trying to get air back into her lungs.
She surveyed the battlefield. Kipnu was in dire straits, Bahlok was about to take a direct hit. Bahlaas was struggling to move.
Luna cursed under her breath, and shouted,
“Lights out!”Bahlaas’ eyes widened, and immediately, she reached out, struggling to reach Luna, to touch her…
Kipnu heard the cry, dazed as he was from the battering and extreme g-force he was under. While the world literally spun, he conjured a large vial in his hands, and threw it directly at Cynthia’s head, intending for the brittle glass to shatter, and for the contents of the poison to make contact with her skin. This one was corrosive, and would begin to eat her skin and layers of flesh after a few seconds.
He had to reach Luna at all costs…
The hellhounds were disappearing one by one…
Bahlok heard Luna’s command while she hid under her abominable arm, barraged as she was by fire and burning light. She didn’t have traditional flesh to feel the extent of the burns, but when the smoke cleared, she instead found herself collapsed on her knees, unable to move for a few seconds. She ignored her attackers, instead turning her attention to Luna. Her appendage slowly snaked through undead, reaching out to the girl across the fortress’ floor, to whisk her away…
The vial hit Cynthia and dissolved flesh… But she attuned to her abstraction to Kipnu. She then flung Kipnu at one of the Hellhounds before she began rolling around in the grass, trying to use the water to wash the acid off.
“Lee, Malik! We gotta help Greta!” Phoebe said, pointing at Greta. Suddenly, a wave of ice cold air appeared and created a pathway made out of ice straight to Greta. She created ice skates and skated over to Greta, and with a fancy twirl she kicked at one of the dogs on top of Greta.
Lee charged over with two glowing blades - slicing through undead minions - then hopped in the air landing at Greta. He kicked one, then started stabbing.
“...
I didn't see a single member of “my family” at Kura’s funeral!” Amy screamed in Japanese as she knelt down and drew a
special symbol into the ground by literally burning it into the ground using her flaming hand. When she stood up, she kicked the dismembered femur bone of one of Nadine’s minions into the middle of it. She quickly ran around to Bahlaas using inhuman speeds and swung her club around to launch her into the Kanji symbol.
Malik flew over to Greta’s crate and dug through it for healing potions. He grabbed one, flew over to Cynthia popped it open, and splashed it on her.
The remaining hellhounds howled, more disappearing in puffs of smoke. Now there were only a handful, barring their teeth. They focused their efforts entirely on trying to find purchase on Phoebe, teeth hoping to crack the ice.
Kipnu grunted as he crashed into one of his hellhounds, the pup whining on impact.
“Sorry, boy.” He muttered, pulling himself up, before staggering towards Luna, dropping undead in his wake. Bahlok watched an undead nearly catch Kipnu’s weary form off guard, and changed her trajectory to smash the undead across the face.
“Focus, brother!” she yelled, until she saw Bahlaas in a terrible state.
There was no avoiding it. Bahlaas shrieked, falling into the kanji symbol.
Luna watched with wide eyes, before glowering at Amy. She knew what this was.
“Kono kuso yarou! (You bastard!)”She stood shakily to her feet, bringing the pistol up in both hands. She had one bullet left, and by God she would make it hurt.
“Naze modotte konakatta nodesu ka? Ha!? Nande Kura mo fukumete zen'in no omoide o kuso ni suru no? (Why didn’t you come back? Huh!? Why are you shitting on everyone’s memory together, including Kura’s?)”Her hand squeezed on the trigger.
“Kon'na haisha to issho ni kusaru yori wa mashida! (Anything is better than rotting with these losers!)” The final shot rang out, aimed towards Amy’s upper rib cage, missing the heart and lungs, but still digging deep through bone and tissue. Amy gulped, but stood there. Stumbling forward a bit, bracing herself on her club. She laughed as she stood tall, holding the club in both hands. That fire around her raged, her teeth sharpening into razor-tip sharp tips. Her eyes turning black, she took a step and left behind a burning footprint.
“...
You talk like your stupidity more than likely didn't get us into this mess in the first place!” Amy said in Japanese, followed by a devious laugh. “
You know what? I’ll tell you why, I’ll tell you everything…”
Bahlok and Kipnu used Smoke’s Crossing to cut past the undead and yawning space, appearing behind Amy a second later. They would be disobeying Luna in this moment, but they had to try…
Bahlok’s appendage formed into a spear, intent on striking through the flames to Amy’s core, while Kipnu tried to press a paralyzing needle into her back.
“... Amy! Behind you!” Phoebe shouted, and Amy immediately turned around and countered both the attacks with her iron club. Both of her hands were pressed against the Iron club as her strength seemed to be overwhelming. She laughed again,
“You can have that useless ghost…” Amy said, before adding, “... Tsukino and I
gotta talk.”
She used all of her brutal strength to shove them away.
Malik grabbed another potion and flew over to Greta.
“... That's the last one in there,” Greta grunted as she pushed herself to her feet. Give it to Brianna. She needs it more. I can...
live.” Cynthia took her side.
“Cynthia wants to eat,” She said.
Greta braced herself on Cynthia and hissed in pain.
“You okay?!” Malik asked.
“Go.”
“But what abo-”
“Go!” Greta ordered, and Lee and Malik maneuvered over to Brianna while Cynthia and Phoebe stayed near Greta. The stench of rotting flesh filled the air as they acted as meat shields, as Malik bypassed them while Lee cleaved through them.
Bahlok and Kipnu pushed themselves slowly off the ground after being shoved away with inhumane strength. Glancing at the other 8th Street members regrouping and healing. Bahlok’s smile flattened into a straight line as she glanced at her brother.
“This is hopeless.”Kipnu pulled on his gloves, eyes wholly focused on Luna as he spoke in a low tone.
“We do this her way now. We just have to wait for an opportune moment.”Bahlok hissed with rage,
“What about Little Sister?! They have her!”Kipnu paused, before he said coldly,
“I’ll make you a new sister.”“WHA-?!”“Quiet.” Kipnu’s voice cut like a knife. His gaze returned to Luna.
“I have a plan, listen closely…” And his voice dropped to a whisper.
Luna stood stunned at Amy, nearly dropping her pistol. She took that bullet straight on, and didn't even grunt in pain. People immune to pain like that were mafia material, but Amy… Amy wasn’t into that. Right?
So what happened?
Luna checked her armour, cracked as it was. She probably had one more hit before it shattered completely. But Amy probably knew that. Knew she was in a sore position, pinned.
Air escaping through her teeth, Luna re-hoslered her gun on her thigh. Her eyes landed coldly on Amy. She just had to play along for a little while longer…
“Oroka-sa? Ittai nani no koto o itteru no…? (Stupidity? The hell are you talking about…?)”Amy took slow steps towards Luna… her club dragging on the ground. Each of her steps sounded like they belonged to a being that weighed a ton. Steam from the rain storm and fire emanated from her body.
“Oh, Luna, ten years and you’re still the same!” Amy spoke in Japanese, followed by a laugh, as she continued her unholy march.
“You never stop and just think. You always let other people do the thinking for you as you just took everything at face value!”Once Amy was within a certain range, she stopped approaching… she walked a circle around Luna, as she continued to talk,
”You told some very bad people Coven secrets and put a target on all of us!” Her iron club ground on the soil as she continued to speak in Japanese,
“You talk to me like I’m the traitor, but… I’m not dishonoring anyone’s memory! The Sycamore Tree Coven is no more! All that’s left are a bunch of disorganized losers desperately holding onto what they think it was! But, have you ever stopped to consider why I’m with 8th St…?”Amy came to a stop, that grin widening.
”... Come on, take a guess. Prove me right.”Getting baited into answering, Luna hated it. She ignored the shiver creep down her spine as she watched Amy complete her circling approach. There was an annoying gap in her memory with Amy, a black hole where Amy was there, then she wasn't.
So Luna followed the breadcrumbs, just like Mother taught her. Amy was abandoned, or more accurately
felt abandoned.
It reminded her of her Mother. When Luna was kicked out of the Sycamore, pink eyes, soft words and comforting arms embraced her. Was it the same for Amy? Did Emily promise everything where Sycamore ultimately failed?
Luna's fists clenched, staring at that wide grin as Amy lorded over her.
Surely, Amy wasn't so complicated…
“Hoka no moto shikamoa zen'in ga koko ni iru no to onaji riyū. Emirī wa kazoku no yōna kimochi waru-sa o kanji sasemasu ne. Furui ie o yakiharau ma, tewotsunaide kureru to yakusoku shimasu ka? Sōdesu ka? (Same reason why everyone else ex-Sycamore is here. Emily gives you some sick sense of family, doesn't she? Promises you a hand to hold while you burn down your old home? Is that it?)” Luna bit out.
Amy laughed, pounding the club on the ground.
“...
See, I was right about you, Inoue,” Amy spat back in Japanese. “
You don’t know me. You never did, but I’ll tell you why I'm here, I’ll keep it short because I don't think your attention span is long enough…”
Amy slammed the club on the ground so hard it shook the earth. Before she spoke,
“...
I’m here to get a shot at the bastard that killed my friend. Nothing more, nothing less,” Amy answered in Japanese.
“...
So I dare you to tell me I’m disrespecting MY friend’s memory again, Tsukino.”
Luna bared her teeth behind her helmet.
“Anata mo Urufu shinpu o otte iru to itte iru no ni, itotekini shikamoa no tame ni hidoi arashi o makiokoshite iru nodesu ne! Sore ga shikamoa to Kura ga shōchō shite ita mono subete o bujoku shite iru wakede wa nai to shitara, anata wa jibun ni uso o tsuite iru koto ni narimasu. (You tell me you’re after Father Wolf too, yet you're purposefully stirring up a shitstorm for Sycamore! If that’s not insulting everything Sycamore and Kura stood for, you’re lying to yourself.)”Her eyes narrowed.
“Omoshiroi mono o mimashita. 8-Ban machi wa tan'ni ano renzoku satsujin-han o oikakete iru to iu shuchō no tame ni ōku no bōgai kōi o okonatte iru… naze emirī wa kari no tawagoto o ijitte ita ndarou? (I saw something funny. 8th Street does a lot of sabotaging for the claim of simply being after that serial killer… Why was Emily messing with Kari’s shit, huh?}”“I don’t know, I don’t care; I have a plan,” Amy answered in Japanese. “
I don't have to explain it—or myself—to you, Inoue.”
Amy did a flourish with the club, “... Let’s dance.”
Amy charged Luna, dragging the club behind her on the ground. She swung the club at Luna with all of her strength.
Luna reeled back, but alas, her movements were growing sluggish from the prolonged battle of the ice fortress. The club clipped her shoulder, shattering the armour along her arm. Luna cursed under her breath, drawing out white swords in her hands, spinning as she slashed outward, aiming for Amy’s arms, then the second spin to slash her chest. Both hits connected but Amy didn't flinch, her boiling blood being washed away in the rain.
Luna’s eyes went wide, before they narrowed.
“Bakemono… (Demon...)”Amy screamed as she swung the club again, hitting harder than the last time.
It was a direct hit, effectively shattering Luna’s armour as she let out a grunt in pain. She reeled there, stunned momentarily before white wings unfurled, and Luna took to the air of the ice fortress, moving out of range of Amy’s club. Her hands dropped the swords, fizzling out of existence in favour of a glowing white pistol, gripped tight in both hands. Luna took aim mid-air and fired shot after shot, aimed for non-vitals. Three shots hit Amy, exploding open as it didn’t seen to affect Amy, however, she raised her club in the air as a shield as some of the other shots just bounced off. Her wounds were
oozing blood but that didn’t seem to stop her.
However, Amy lept through the air at Luna, and swung the club at her again.
“
... I’m going to tear your spine out through your throat, Tsukino!”
Lee and Malik managed to reach Brianna. Malik shoved the potion in her mouth, and she chugged it. Suddenly, her shoulders were fixed and mended, and Lee pointed back toward the main group, Brianna opened a portal there, and the group had formed up… wading her way through the undead was Nadine King, holding her soaked book in her hands. She shook her head as she joined the group.
“Should we help her?” Phoebe asked.
“... From the way she’s fighting, it’s personal,” Greta laughed, “I’m not trying to get in the middle of that.”
“What about those lame ghosts?” Phoebe asked. “Didn’t she seal one?”
“Eh, it doesn’t matter, Brianna. Get ready to open a portal at the ghost’s location,” Greta began. “Lee, Malik, Phoebe, when she opens it, open fire on whatever is on the other side.”
“Ooooh boy!” Phoebe laughed as she stuck her hands out in a direction. Malik did the same, as Lee created the blazing arrow. Brianna opened a glowing, spinning, portal, right in front of the Apparitions, and the three opened fire - Phoebe fired a freezing blast of ice, Malik unleashed a volley from Starsailor, and Lee let loose a few arrows that exploded on contact.
It was a direct hit. Bahlok let loose a bloodcurdling scream as stars and fire sank into her magical form. Kipnu grunted his teeth, falling to his knees. When the smoke cleared, both Apparitions were half-limp, struggling to rise from the ground.
Luna caught the attack in a brief flash before Amy filled her vision, and the club came for her. Luna’s pistol reformed into a small shield, and she hissed in pain as the club shattered it, some of the attack striking her chest. The pain and momentum was enough to down her, and Luna fell to the ground, wings fizzling out. Through squinted eyes, she waved a hand frantically at Kipnu and Baklok.
“The hell you still doing here? Get out!”“But you-”“Get out!”Kipnu seemed to stare behind his mask, before he nodded towards Bahlok, and they disappeared in a puff of darkness through Smoke’s Crossing. Gone from the battlefield.
Luna groaned, her teeth gritted as she spied the tunnel’s entrance to the ice fortress. A strange pink mist was seeping into the fortress little by little, but Luna ignored it. That was her ticket out, and she had to take her chance now.
Any delay or hesitation could mean death.
Without sparing Amy a glance, the wings materialized once more on Luna’s back as she limply flew to the entrance as fast as she could muster, hoping to make her escape.
“...
Get back here, coward!” Amy shouted as she gave chase… until she saw the flaming cross in the sky. Amy grit her teeth as the fire vanished, and she looked at her hip… her gas mask was utterly destroyed. Wasn’t even there anymore. Burnt to ashes somewhere in the confrontation. She slammed the club on the ground so hard that it shook the earth, then screamed at Luna, “
DON’T THINK THIS IS OVER!”
The pink mist overcame her and the ice fortress…
Lun looked over her shoulder - her mistake, as she bowled directly into Tayla, who had been heading towards the ice fortress. Luna tumbled, barely catching herself, before her eyes locked on Tayla, searching her.
What was she doing here? It was dangerous.
Luna latched onto Tayla’s hand, prepared to carry her out of there on wings of light.
“Come on, we gotta go-”Before she inhaled too much of the pink mist. The hand holding Tayla’s slowly slipped, as Luna became enrapt, blind, and in another world entirely.
She was staring at the most beautiful sight. The entire Sycamore Coven - Drake, Layla, Sully, Edict, Jack, Linqian - all her dear ones, dressed in only the best dark threads, dresses and suit ties. Their hands laden with semi-automatic rifles, about to go on the heist to end all heists…
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