Unable to see what exactly was going on about her, the Midnight Soloist could only register in the back of her mind that something had been struck by her Land Demolisher whilst she was somersaulting, and that her ally, Rocket Lancer, had died. Her flight cut short by that impact, the strawberry blonde girl crashed into the ground as a dark miasma rose in the throne room of the Black King. It stung and burned, eating away at her HP as she rose up slowly, trying to figure out if she had hit her mark or not.

She hadn’t.

That mage was still fine, chatting away with her King as if nothing had happened at all, while Moon Rider herself offered an invitation to the Ebony Strykers for all those within the room.

Yuuki grit her teeth, baring them as she disregarded the message sent to her. As a rogue flew past, sent by whomever, a Heavy Arms swung downwards and flattened the rogue, before grinding their pixelated body into dust as it transformed while the stealthy bastard’s head was still in its grasp. Forming the remaining two Heavy Arms into Land Demolishers, she narrowed her eyes, brought her body down low, and smiled.

Her win condition still hasn’t been met, and with her HP decaying at such a fast rate…well, this was going to be the final one then.

Two hammers drove themselves into her feet, a violent shock passing through her body as she launched herself forwards again, trails of black smoke clinging to her stubbornly. At this point, her HP was too low to realistically expect a victory if she gets so much as punched by the mage, but…that’s what made it fun! Challenging! Entertaining! It was a proper deadline to have, turning Newt into lizard paste before she died!

Drawing back her real fist, Yuuki couldn’t help but roar out dramatically as she swung for Newt’s face.

Then, she froze in mid-air, pixels falling off her virtual flesh arm. It twitched sprodiacally as she stayed there, suspended, not moving as Yuuki wanted it to. But a moment later, red lights blared all about the Black King’s Castle, before the killing blow was delivered in the form a warning.

There was a glitch in the system, and that error cost the Midnight Soloist her what could have been a victory. As the world darkened around her immobilized form, as her arbitrarily decided goal vanished along with it, that smile became a frown.
~
Yuuki opened her eyes, back to the wilted gardens and the cold grass. Autumn was cold, and, upon touching her face, she realized just how cold it was. Slowly, she brought her hands over her face and breathed in and out slowly. Her breath warmed her hands, and her hands warmed her face, before she could staple on a small smile once more.

The brunette stood up, patted herself off, and then realized that she needed to breathe again. And again and again and again, until she could properly calm herself down. It was frustrating, how short it had been. It was upsetting, how it had ended. But, in the end, there was nothing she could do about it. Just smile and carrying on.

[b]“Come on,” [/b]Yuuki said, looking outwards to the afternoon sky, [b]“Smile.”[/b]

That mage’s name was Newt. She was part of the Ebony Strykers. The next time they met, Yuuki would have to make sure that she turned that Avatar into paste.

Actually, wait, why decide?

Her coin was brought out once more, and, with that same passive smile on, the plain-faced girl declared, [b]“Hatred or forgiveness?”[/b]
~
Some time later, her cellphone rang, and, flicking it out of her pockets, Yuuki smiled at the time, spun her phone in her hands, and answered in a chirpy tone.

[b]“Good afternoon, Erika~”[/b]


[@ReaptheMusic]