---

After speaking with Regina, Soth had moved his final pieces into the now-sealed crypt. Specifically, onto the single, great lower level that had been dug into it when it was originally built. A great and spacious room, its floors and very walls were covered in sigils and symbols of strange and alien make, defiling what had once been a resting place for the dead with nothing short of a Greater Horror's influence. Dark forms, some walking on fours, some moving about on long yet slender tendrils, and others moving about in cloak and hood as they skittered about in anxious anticipation of what was to come.

In the center of it all lied a stone-carved altar, carved with immaculate and inhuman levels of skill. Designs of eyes and tendrils caressed the altar's curves protectively along the sides, almost seeming alive, as dark sigils glowed upon it with a black yet soft light. Edges of it were inlaid with gold, silver, and jewels originating from Earth and other alien worlds. It was indeed a sight to behold, and lying on top of it was the most important part. A large white sheet, under which the still form of a human corpse could be perceived. The body of a dead magical girl, prepared with implanted organs and fluids and magic beyond what mankind could hope to grasp...at least, not without going utterly mad in the process. Multiple beings were looking over it, making magical marks upon the sheet and speaking to each other in a hushed but alien tongue.

Further, the room was lit in an eerie glow, purple orbs around the area lighting it up well enough to easily make one's way about.

'Good, good! Now then, it is time to begin the ritual. Now.

Our guests are being entertained, and deployment from the school to targeted areas is going smoothly. The fodder is doing its job nicely as well.'

The Greater Horror's words rung against the walls, an eerie echo that bounced about the greater chamber like it was some kind of chasm.

A certain magical girl, who had been leaning against the far wall across from the stairs since her arrival, then stepped forward. White hair glowed softly in the light, and her red eyes were a striking fire amidst the fleeting shadows. An orb floated next to her, inky black like the abyss it had come from, and her attire stood out like some kind of cultist garb. However her face wore a mixed expression, filled with concern and worry, and tinged with hints of curiosity and frustration alike.

"Boss...you'e not saying everything. I've helped you all this time, and nothing's been bad i mean, but after getting here i've been getting a strange feeling more and more.

I want to know what is really going on here...what is this ritual supposed to do? Are you just making another magical girl?"

Annabelle's words caused the great horror to seemingly take a brief pause, and the air seemed to ripple about her as if something was...thinking. No, debating something? It was hard to read the mood of a Greater Horror all of the time, even when one had been mentally warped by him. Monster parts, people parts, tricking her, and now the body of a magical girl?

'Listen well, young ones.

For the longest time, i have destroyed worlds, removed civilizations. I have seen the stars be born in all their brilliance, only to watch their lights fizzle out into an empty abyss.

When i emerge in full, the erasure of what i touch is inevitable.

So I eventually came to a curious question...what would it be like to experience things myself? To see all of this through a mortal’s eyes, without any danger to myself?'

As he spoke, Soth produced several tentacles from a portal forming on the ceiling of the chamber, and several eyes came out alongside them. One tentacle gestured towards the sky somewhat, as if to help illustrate his point. His tone, as ever, seemed relaxed and cordial, though somewhat perplexed if not fascinated in a fashion as well.

’Thus i came here, this little planet so many seem to glance at with...opportunity. You may call them gods, or ‘lesser forces’, or ‘puuchu’, or ‘horrors’, but regardless their petty squabbles have been most amusing to watch. Such narrow perspective...so, mortal. So much like the sapient flesh-bound creatures dominating most of the planet, i sought out a mortal of my own.

Eventually, i found a mortal compatible with my power, fueled with the desperation and despair that made them a worthy candidate. So i extended myself to them, sought to make them a vessel, an avatar if you will....'

Soth’s eyes seemed to then look between the body on the altar, and then to Annabelle, before he continued once more.

’….but the first one failed miserably. Of course, that failure was what became you, “dear” Annabelle. Of course, it was but an experiment, nothing that which has seen the movement of all time would dare to fuss over.'

Annabelle’s face went as pale as a ghost at the words, and a tremble rocked through her body. She...she hadn't been intended to be a magical girl?! W-What had happened at the stadium made sense then....she was part of him, he was part of her. But then-!?

’Yet after that event I searched for this place, a nexus of magical energy and phenomenon, and brought my influence here.

I secured the essence of spirits, the parts of monsters, the furnished flesh of some humans….

I also acquired a black coin from a foolish member of the Ebon Mint as well, and finally now this body of a deceased magical girl to infuse it all with.

All of this to make...a more useful one ultimately, one even more compatible with containing some of my essence to act as an avatar.'

"Then why am i here?! Why keep me a-around if i am some...some failure! Why want me here at the ritual site if you have all you need-!"

Before Annabelle could finish her outburst, tears nearly coming out of her eyes as the anger and frustrations finally peaked within her, the voice of the Greater Horror cut of her off in a heartbeat.

'Because, young one, you have been of great use to me...and the greatest purpose you can serve is here and now.

The body cannot be made my avatar if it remains...deceased. And your life force is most fitting for this task of reviving this deceased form. After all, you survived the failed possession of your body, though your past was quite lost in the process. I had to rebuild that personality and such things, even.

Then as agreed, once i am within my avatar your body will be released from my service and handed to that 'Regina Bates' as she calls herself.’

As the horror finished, Annabelle acted instinctively and attempted to lash out at the altar itself with magic from her left hand. It was an action that came from the basest desire of humans, that primal urge that had led their species to take over this planet...life. The will to live, to continue onward, to avoid the penalty of death, as it were. Equally as fast, the tentacles of the greater horror appeared from the orb next to her in a heartbeat, grasping her left arm. Then another tentacle shot out and grasped her right arm, then another to wrap around her mid-torso, and then two more respectively to grab each of her legs.

The tendrils held on with a tight grip, gentle enough to not break her body, but hard enough to stop her movements physically. The inky black orb moved around behind her, holding her up in the air by the tentacles themselves. It was like she had been chained to a wall, but in this case it was the tendrils of her own patron tying her down and keeping her still. Like a parent, scolding a foolish child.

"You...you bastard!!! You lied to Regina...you lied to all of us dammit!" Annabelle shouted, teeth gritted in a look of pure rage as she attempted to struggle against her bonds, albeit fruitlessly in this case, "You knew what your were saying, you knew it all along!"

'I lied not in my promise to her, though i fear the human tongue has failed to convey the true nature of her agreement with myself. One cannot truly say i lied, for i told nothing but truth to all of you. The fault lies with this 'language', though the concept has its useful points.

But it is truly nothing to worry about. In fact, i must thank you all, if i am to properly practice and learn about mortal standards for after my incarnation.

With this, i shall grasp many a good millennium of amusement from examining the mortal condition. To see that which will only return to my domain in due time, but through another lens i have not yet been able to see through. Albeit, it will be fascinating to see if this world can handle my arrival, haha!

Though even if it does not end up so, i have anchored this place here in space-time just in case. It is but one world among the sea of stars, but this mere token of my power guarantees my vessel remains intact at least. You mortals would call it a 'precautionary measure', as it were.'

Annabelle merely glared back daggers at the Greater Horror as he spoke, before a small but swiftly growing laugh rung out from Soth himself.

It was an almost guttural and primal sound, inexperienced, something unlike any other she'd heard from him or others before. It reverberated through the earthen walls, through even the walls of the crypt itself. Those close enough to the crypt could perhaps even hear it as well, almost like an earthquake as it shook the land. The calm and ever-existent cordiality never seemed to fade with this Horror, but this was different. It felt like more than that...like a child learning to laugh for the first time after seeing a goofy cartoon.

It was the most terrifying thing she had ever witnessed in her life.

---

Charlotte arrived on scene quickly, but motioned to the policeman who had driven her there to wait for a few minutes using her most polite mannerisms. However, it seemed the place was abuzz already with emergency services having arrived on scene. Charlotte warily eyed the scene as she walked swiftly into the hotel lobby, where a staff member looked to her with a surprised expression on his face. The man hastily jotted over to her, after leaning over to speak to a few other staff who were running about the place, before approaching her with a slight tremble despite his polite appearance.

"Ah, Mademoiselle Normadie! We are most glad you are safe at this hour! Are your hurt, have any suspicious individual approached you?"

"Monseiur, what happened? Why are there police and emergency vehicles outside here?"

"It is most dreadful! Someone seems to have set off a bomb in your suite. Other guests on the floor below heard such a loud racket...we were glad when we looked at security footage to find you had left a time ago"

"Mon dieu...but my room?! Is there anything left i may retrieve of my belongings?!?!"

"I wish i had better news, mademoiselle...but it has been ruined. Utterly, totally ruined, and the police have cordoned off the area and begun an investigation.

None are allowed to the Penthouse floor, much less the suite itself, i am afraid...but the manager is preparing all necessary compensation for what has occurred. We shall contact you as soon as things are together, mademoiselle, but to preserve your privacy was ask you leave the grounds immediately to avoid the...'media attention'. Staff will ensure your identity remains discreetly concealed, as requested when you first arrived here."

"...My thanks, monsieur. I shall vacate the premises for now, but shall return later for the promised compensation after...getting some fresh air, i believe. I also request all information on what happened beforehand, including camera footage of suspicious or strange individuals.

Ah, i hope you can understand. My family has made a few enemies over the years...but to think such barbaric actions would happen here, in Paris of all places, it boggles the mind! Though i do hope no staff were harmed in this incident, it is a very lovely hotel."

"Ah! Yes, such information is the least we can provide to assist both the police and yourself during your stay here in Paris. We shall compile what we can, and upon your return deliver what has been requested and other compensation! May your trip be well, Mademoiselle Normandie."

With that, the member of hotel staff, perhaps a sub-manager based on his attire after she'd gotten a better look at it, scurried off. She could hear him begin to bark orders and others along the way, though by the time any of those words would have reached her ears she had stormed out of the hotel lobby at a hasty pace. She stepped back into the cool dusk air, stopping for a second to breathe before she walked back to her waiting ride, and then got back into the passenger's seat she had previously ridden in only a few minutes ago. She borrowed the policeman's phone after a glance at the man, who merely nodded in assent to her as she began to call.

She did not want to press her contacts too hard now, and her family had so many here in Paris it was seemingly insane.

But what was she doing, where would she go? That was in and of itself an answer she was striking out to answer.

It was tempting to immediately go up to investigate, magecraft offered her that much advantage as easily as breathing was an advantage for beasts.

Her workshop had been protected whilst she was away, that much she knew. Had any poor sod of a magus or otherwise merely walked in, they would be dead or sent to a hospital. A servant, well, that was far less likely to go down in a hurry if they were of a knight class.

Regardless, she would make a check at the

---

The pale-skinned magical girl felt the thrum of an Overcity Shift in the air, stretching into the air and enveloping her like a blanket. The girl's red eyes shot open wide with a look of sheer horror, but there was little time to respond before the shift would have moved her. There was little time for anything to be done about this, but maybe...damn it all. She could at least leave something to help with this, it was perhaps all she could do.

The darkness magical girl without thinking reached over towards her right shoulder with her left hand, casting a spell to form a blade-like protrusion...and shoved in what little magic she had left to force it to suddenly grow.

With a nasty crack and splatter sound, Annabelle's chain arm was cut off from the shoulder, the void-touched girl's face streaming with tears as the metal clanked to the ground. Yet Annabelle's body shuddered itself, no cry or scream, as crimson blood began to flow from the again-stump of a right arm she had. It seemed stupid, foolish...but the arm had its job.

She could feel her eyes wanting to shut, more than anything now, and even in her state she could feel the rage in the magic of that dragon from not too far away....it sent a pang of raw pain into her chest merely to feel it. She knew this magic, she'd felt its thrum alongside her own heartbeat, enough for it now to bring her sorrow rather than joy.

That magic was entirely Regina's to the core.

The girl she loved, the friend who had been closest to her of anyone. And she could feel her pain from here.

Annabelle's mouth could not utter any more words, and the lightness in her chest seemed to indicate a very grave thing she'd feared. But there was no time to pause. She could do one last thing, perhaps:

'Amaryllis, please listen...i don't think...i'll be coming back...from this Overcity Shift.

I've got my arm set to...help finish this...but you have to...take care of the rest...

...Save her, please. Regina...the dragon...ah...'

The Rose Knight would hear those weak words echo loudly within her skull, a message from the void-touched girl. Annabelle's form shimmered away as she was pulled into the Overcity, however, a weak and slightly sad smile lingering on her lips as she disappeared seemingly into the ether.



The magical girl's body eventually landed after what seemed like forever, even with a great thud. As her eyes softly opened in this new place, Annabelle gently turned her head a little to see a strange white ground beside her. But the impact had felt soft to her, almost like a pillow...or a dream. Though the pain seemed to be fading fast enough in general.

After a minute or two, though, the girl felt her smile widen slightly and shakily.



It was a field of flowers, and she herself upon the flower-crowned hill overlooking them.

Snow-white flowers, in fact, alien in shape...but softly glowing under what looked like a lovely moonlit sky.

They seemed to expand into the distance like a great ocean as far as she could see from where her head lied. And as a gentle breeze came in, they began shifting and rustling very lightly under the silvery light.

Their inky black stalks were so slender, fragile-seeming nature, as if any mere movements might snap them in twain.

Their flowers too seemed to expand into a delicate array of five petals, stretching up as if to reach up to the sky to embrace it.

"Re...gi...na..."

She'd had no idea the Overcity had such a place. It was beautiful. Radiant, even.

Even as the flesh of her body turned black, shifting into some kind of lifeless magical-drained mass that began to flake into the wind, she continued to smile as some of the few happy memories began to come back...bit by bit.

Maybe it had been good she wasn't able to remember her life before being a magical girl. Because...because she'd been able to meet so many new people!

She'd helped some strange girl find a place in the city.

She'd been able to eat out with friends.

She'd been able to find "that" special someone, and see her beautiful smile.

She was able to fight to try to help save the world, even, from her evil boss!

She'd even been able to start with that fresh slate so many people might only dream of.

It hadn't been the best new life, not even the longest one, but it had been great. The bad times had hurt, sure, but... Heh, better to have had a beautiful, fleeting dream to be had than a cruel eternity, right?

"...Hah...ah....we...we did it!" Annabelle said to Summer, her voice croaking with ecstatic excitement as she finished.

Snap. Without the altar, this plan of her boss' was already strained barring he...manifest a lot more of himself. But with this strain on the connection, even her own to the body, her original plan was more viable! She hadn't planned this all to happen, given...but it had worked out splendidly! This girl's actions had just saved the planet, perhaps.

Slowly, but surely, the corpse and chains began to flicker more and more slowly. Noticing this, the darkness magical girl reached over towards her right shoulder with her left hand, casting a spell to form a blade-like protrusion...and shoved in what little magic she had left to force it to suddenly grow.

With a nasty crack and splatter sound, Annabelle's chain arm was cut off from the shoulder, the void-touched girl's face streaming with tears as the metal clanked to the ground. Yet Annabelle's body shuddered itself, no cry or scream, as crimson blood began to flow from the again-stump of a right arm she had. It seemed stupid, foolish...but the arm had its job.

And she had done hers.



As the platform descended from the sky steadily, Annabelle's chain arm and the body slowed down their flickering as well...until it finally stopped. The flickering, that was, leaving only a now bloodily-removed chain arm and the corpse it held lying atop the platform

---

The college student worked her way over debris as she tried to find a route to another vantage point to attack Behemoth. She'd fallen behind virtually everyone heading around this particular side of Behemoth, at least it seemed so to her, and most of her efforts felt focused on getting past debris or having to detour slightly to get around. Even now, as she walked down a debris and dust littered back road to get around a collapsed building, Allison's casual clothing was dirtied and in places already cut or torn...like she had come out of a warzone.

This was ultimately fitting, perhaps, based on what had already been happening to her this far since drinking that strange vial.

Even attempting to vent her thoughts about other things under her breath, at least to try to get her mind off the imminent threat of her own potential demise via Behemoth, had in the end only served to incite all of her frustrations more somewhat. It had also forced her to remember the details of "that day" over once more as well, and further recall what the bitchy MB had done at her college not so long ago at all. Two events that, combined with this, had made her introduction into parahuman life a miniature hell of some sort.

Her professor might have commented about it being a "learning experience" with a touch of empathy for her plight, if she had said what she was thinking now. Of course MB had to make crap up, however, to try to get into her head back there as well. Professor wanted to bang her? Dean had taken in bribes to keep her there? Puh-lease. She had worked her ass off to get as far as she was so far, even with her profuse enjoyment of the party life on the side.

But where did she go from here, really? In fact, where could she even go? College got shot up and such, MB and co getting off scot free for now due to an Endbringer, had pissed off the Community via Mantis' stupid plan, her identity was blown, and now she was helping in fighting an Endbringer with the usual high fatalities in play. She could see the towering form of a cathedral in the distance, at least, so maybe just become a nun then? Hah.

---

....It was at this point, however, the frustrated girl caught sight of movement. And then another. Allison picked up her pace to see who or what they were, only to notice they were just a bunch off people headed in the cathedral's direction. But hadn't everyone been evacuated? Frowning, the blade-shooting parahuman jogged her way over to one of the people, a large grown man with a tank top on and a gun holstered on his left hip, tapping them on the shoulder to stop them.

"Why are you all still here? Behemoth hasn't been driven off yet-"

The man turned around to face her quickly, giving her a highly annoyed glare before speaking curtly and rudely to her.

"Mind your tongue. Father will save us all, but first we must punish the fools who have dared raise their hand against him once more. These are the same as who slew our dear sister Francine with blades of metal. Join us in our quest, or get out of the way."

It was as if she'd asked the dumbest question in the world to the man, who seemed to regail this "Father" with the highest regard despite his tone. Some others seemed to stop as well as he spoke, walking over to seemingly support his words with nods of affirmation. However, Allison's gut seemed to wrench with a sort of familiarity as the man noted how a "dear sister" had tied. One could even say his and the others' behavior was like that of a tightly-knit commu-...oh hell.

"...Did you sister go by another name? Who were the people who slew her?" Allison asked, acting as if she was becoming curious and sympathetic about the matter.

The man didn't soften up, though a glimmer of hatred seemed to come into his eyes at the mention. Even so, he gave a nod to her before speaking with a certain level of solemn gravity. As if this loss has hurt him due to caring so much about it. It wasn't exaggerated, however, but felt more like someone who had lost a loved one in cold blood.

Yet the answer he gave sent a chill directly down the college student's spine.

"The great name she also took was 'Limbo', a name which in our Community did great work in Father's name. And those who slew her were a ragtag bunch of miscreants, horrid criminals by the name of 'Lethal Force'."

Oh no.

These people were members of The Community, and from the sounds of it they were going to help Patriarch himself...against the very group Allison had generally kept away from since "that day". Lethal Force.

Mantis, the 'leader' who had sacrificed his team's lives for petty revenge and taunted her own rage at the end. Farce, the only one of the group the college student felt amicable with and had attempted to contact once or twice. She didn't know if anyone else tied to those people was still alive, much less present at this point in time. In fact, she'd been the one to slay Limbo herself in her rage at the time, much to her chagrin at that point.

The man noticed her body tense up as she held her hands in front of her own chest nervously without thinking, his eyes squinting in a curious but cautious fashion as he looked her in the eyes. It didn't take long for an unspoken understanding to seemingly pass between them, the ideas clicking and turning in both of their heads. It wasn't like her unthinking reaction to the information wouldn't have rung alarm bells for a decently-clever individual. The man then quickly reached for his left hip, trying to get the jump on her.

But it was too late for that, perhaps, as Allison popped down her right wrist down and fired as the man was withdrawing his sidearm. A blade punctured deep into his chest cavity, before erupting out of the back of his spine and grazing another man behind him's shoulder. The withdrawn sidearm then fell to the ground, a revolver of sorts, as after a moment the man's body collapsed onto the ground in a bleeding heap in front of her.

As the body hit the ground, time seemed to almost slow before her very eyes. The few who had come over to the man began to shout, crying things like "One of the criminals is here!" and "Kill the bitch!". Allison felt herself reflexively popping down her other wrist, letting out a small spray of blades towards the general area her enemies were in. Those still close began to draw out weapons like guns or bats or knives, and some seemed to run back at the cries for help or vengeance with weapons already out.

The girl felt a bullet graze her right forearm as she tried to bolt for cover, one of her feet catching on the pistol and almost tripping her as the gun was kicked over to a nearby wall. Allison too scrambled over to the wall, nearly leaping the last foot or two to get behind the worn brick for cover. Her adrenaline was kicking in once more, and flashbacks of the cave battle rang inside of her head. In fact, save for the lack of tight spaces and a cave collapse this was literally the cave all over again....albeit she was alone this time.

But how could she even the odds?

Looking to her side as she sat on the dirt-covered and broken pavement behind the wall, she noticed the now dusty and slightly blood-covered revolver on the ground and grabbed it up without a second thought. She jammed jammed the firearm in her right pants pocket in her haste, eyes quickly looking up at the corner off the wall for attackers.

A very non-parahuman response to grab a gun, perhaps, for one who could shoot blades out of her wrists. Though to Allison's adrenaline-addled brain, it was better as a backup idea if anything happened to her arms. Maybe. Or perhaps it was watching too many movies and playing too many video games at parties, all where grabbing the extra gun from an enemy was potentially helpful for the protagonist.

Either way she had little time to actually think about things, as two men came running around the corner with a knife and a bat respectively. The knife-man even had a blade cut on his side, perhaps from her sudden spray she'd made before. The girl unleashed a spray of blades once more with her left wrist, as her right hand was still somewhat stuck in her pocket with the bulky revolver, swinging her wrist about in front of the men as she did so.

THUNK

CHUNK

THUNK

The first man with a bat went down with several blades in his chest and raised arms. Knife-man had an audible chunk torn from his side, before another blade caught his chin and went straight up into his head. Both fell to the ground just as dead, however, as the first man had.

As she freed her right hand from her pistol-laden pocket, Allison scrambled in the grime and blood and dust to get back on her feet with her back pressed against the wall for leverage. Sweat was pouring down her bandanna-shielded forehead, her heart nearly beating into her ears like a loudspeaker as she did her best to take some kind of 'ready' stance. She could hear the voices of her attackers as they called out to "move in" on "that frightened criminal", while maybe about two or three voices cried out that they would "go help father" in the meantime or "were injured by that #$%&".

She was sure it wasn't going to be pretty for herself, either way, if she stayed behind this wall. This wasn't a cave with a wall to her back, at least, but it also meant she could be surrounded.

While the panic wanted to set in harder at the thought of being surrounded and gunned down, the metal-shooting parahuman instead began to try to control her breathing. Bit by bit, bit by bit...and then she moved.

Darting around the corner, Allison kept her eyes forward as she let loose another spray-and-pray of blades. This time her target location was another wall, this one more destroyed and partially-standing in nature. In the process she did her best to aim at her assailants, though with a few bullets pinging around her it didn't feel like the best aim she could manage. She felt another bullet lightly graze the outer part of her left thigh now, but was able to see at least one or guy go down...and one of the others' guns get impaled by a blade at that.

Allison dove behind the new wall and took a knee behind the admittedly shorter and smaller amount of cover, not hesitating as she heard a bullet ping off of the asphalt close to where she had been a second ago. Though the college student had enough stamina to make this possible, she also didn't want to drag this out...in part because she heard the remaining goons moving into cover themselves. She had to finish this, before things got even worse on her end and on the other end.

As much as part of her hated Mantis, Farce could be where the goons were headed as well. At least, based on what that one man had said before she impaled his heart on a metal stick. Frankly, there was part of her that wanted to run for it and leave the Lethal Force people to their fate for following Mantis...but damn it. She didn't want to leave anyone to die by the contrivances of the "Mad Mantis". Likewise The Community has pissed on her college, and nearly murdered her on top of probably having killed some innocents. So just in general she had had it up to "here" with all of the "absolute bullshit", as it were.

Gritting her teeth, the college student tried to listen in carefully as the remaining two goons' shoes or boots crunched on the ground. Or at least, one of the goon seemed to be making that noise. Broken concrete and asphalt, debris, enough little stuff here made noise when you walked on it at the moment. She'd been drudging around enough in this junk to figure out that much at the very least.

And then it happened. One goon sprung around in front of her, gun drawn on her, and the parahuman let loose another stream of fire from one of her wrists at the man reflexively. But....at the same time the other goon came out from behind her, firing quickly at her back as he tried to take advantage of the moment. The bullet, flying a bit odd from the hasty aim, dug into Allison's right side like a burning-hot spear before it erupted out of the front.

As the first goon dropped deader than a thanksgiving turkey, Allison was knocked down on her side by the shot. Her left wrist, which was still spraying some blades, flung around as she fell, inadvertently sending a blade into the face of the second goon and causing it to be stuck in his skull. The body of that goon seemed to stand for a moment, before collapsing in a heap on the ground as well.

"Dammit...shit....fucking pieces of...," Allison muttered out, reeling a bit from the pain of being shot before her adrenaline began to numb the sensation (at least temporarily) to where she could ignore it better, bite her lip, and force herself into a sitting position.

The college girl checked the wound for a second, watching the blood spill out very briefly before slamming her hands on it to put pressure. That much of first aid she knew about, and that she couldn't leave this uncovered either.

Though her right side felt somewhat heavier, and her body a bit shakier from the injury and sudden rush of battle, Allison forced herself to stand up and walk back over to the first man she'd killed. She tore off some of his tank top, and part of another dead man's shirt, before using the former to tie the latter onto her right side wound tightly. She then took the dead first man's belt, with the holster, and put it on herself to help keep the pressure on her wound.

She also withdrew the revolver in her right pocket, putting it back in its holster before she began to walk off in the direction any other goons had been. If she followed that route, then maybe (just maybe) she'd find Lethal Force there.

...The funny thing was, the sinking feeling that was now forming in her gut seemed to agree with her as well...