“Ow, fuck, ow!” Taking Lorelai and Akiko’s offer proved to be the worst mistake in CC’s career, and she had a bunch of dumb ones; between listening to some stupid program telling her what to do and tangling with the hacker killer herself. Whatever. One moment they were on the ground, and the next, they were on an airship in the sky, the beast beneath them dispersing and leaving her to land on her ass. If the others hadn’t caught on she wasn’t Kanbaru earlier, they certainly would now as the hacker tore off her flimsy excuse of a disguise and began swearing up and down the ship’s top like a drunken sailor. Her rage settled eventually, but not by much.
“Gee fucking willy, I’m not Kanbaru, what a surprise. Also, I didn’t think you shit stains would actually try to fight this thing,” Corpse Collector mused as the demon above and all around them roared into the air. The whole world seemed on fire at this point, between everyone landing on this one ship and some new blonde making the demon lose all control and go berserk. She looked around, sensing her card holder was busy herself with fighting some clown so here she was, stuck to rein chaos as far as she saw fit. Wasn’t that part of Kanbaru’s deal anyway?
CC rolled her eyes when Akiko abandoned them for Rose, shrugging as she cast a glance at Lorelai. “Meh. It’s not like we stay dead as Serei. And you look like a fun meathead to gun up,” she said with glee and a dark smirk. Quick drawing her gun, she pointed it at the knight, only to shoot a large chunk of debris behind her, sending small splinters flying by the power of her bullets. “But we’re still in shit creek so I’ll have my fun with you later. In the meantime, make yourself useful and blow up some rocks with me,” CC sneered, already standing back to back with Lorelai and shooting off many of the hazards that flew at the ship.
And there were a lot of them. Between the demon trying to literally clap them out of the sky and Rose’s frantic daredevil driving, the airship was swinging about and around from the damaged but furious demonic structure. They all avoided annihilation for now, but how long that lasted depended on how angry the demon still was. CC clung to Lorelai’s waist without asking to keep from being flung off from Rose’s ship maneuvers. “Can’t we just fucking shoot the summoner and go home!?”
Back on the ground with a still steamed Kanbaru, there was a subtle brush on her shoulder, one that soon manifested into full on touching. It was probably a trick of the mind because it almost felt like two hands were massaging her shoulders, easing off tension. And yet, there was nobody there, no one except the still sprawled Caprice and approaching Ami. However, whatever it was, must have indeed been real enough, because before Ami could get too close to Kanbaru, a slash marked itself on the ground in front of her, borne from an unknown source. There was a distinct, distorted growling in the air, one only Kanbaru heard in her head.
Treacherous serei and rocky flights greeted Lorelai upon Akiko's departure, the knight's countenance stony as CC feigned interest in killing her before directing her bloodlust to the debris threatening to crush them. A task made all the harder by Rose's decision to go beneath the colossal summon that was pouring buildings from its skin like blood from a wound. As much as she burned with the repressed desire to crush her fellow Serei's skull, she tolerated her presence and hurled her spear with an explosive crack to reduce a falling dormitory into a rain of powdered concrete. Recalling and hurling the weapon set a brief rhythm matched by the report of gunshots that pierced rubble regardless of size or depth, till Rose's gambit saw them swinging upwards past the rain and clear of its threat.
This left her free to pry the Corpse Collector from her waste by a gauntlet to the throat, hauling her bodily over the airship's ledge before the gunman could get a chance to carry out her earlier threats. "I suggest you take your own advice and handle the summoner personally. Let it be the last blood you shed this day, and maybe you will reconsider any future hostility to my summoner. She is my Charge, and I will not fail to a worm like you. Now, fly."
CC would have no trouble recognizing the unrepentant joy dancing in the knight's eyes as she released her grip, sending CC plummeting straight down, conveniently falling above the an enraged beyond all rationale Head Mistress.
Kanbaru Otoko
Regret tugged at Kanbaru, her heart a leaden weight that thrummed weakly with each step taken. There was the echo of blood on the tip of her tongue, desires left unfulfilled draining her, hands curled with murderous impulses still aching to rend corpus from mortal shell. She twitched as a voice struck her, a shriek of metal dragging over stone coming from a heel dragged too heavily behind her. Ami was before her, so familiar yet starkly changed from their Magical Girl days in Miso.
Touka would be mad, but she'd be a hypocrite for criticizing Kanbaru if she just killed one Club-
The bluenette breathed, life flooding her to chase away the lethargy as the phantom sensation of hands rested upon her shoulders. Soft fingers rubbed into muscles tightly wound, slowly working out the knots and restoring some parody of humanity to her. The ground between herself and Ami gave way, a gouge carved through stone warning the former Magical Girl of impending doom.
Kanbaru's heart returned to a tranquil stillness, not a feather felt to fetter her, and she quirked her lips with feigned ease. There will always be next time.
With a bounce in her step that animated her chest quite distractingly, Kanbaru bounded forward to wrap her arms around Ami's neck like an old friend. Her cheek rubbed excitedly against Ami's while her hand ruffled through flaxen hair. "Amiiiiiiiiiii!"
"I don't know but I think that things aren't going as well as they could be, guys," Clair said as she tried to a hold of something to make sure she wasn't thrown out of the ship thanks to Rose's "maneuvers". "I'm not cut for this mariner business," she said as they finally got a little breathing room when they cut through the demon's assault momentarily.
"I'm sitting ducks in this ship," Clair said as she let go of whatever she had been clinging to, right as two of girls she could only assume were Spirits belonging to one of her party members, jumped from barely contained aggression, to throwing one another overboard.
That, however, gave Clair the idea she needed...
"Ok, keep up the good work, guys! I got an idea that might be just what we need," the thief shouted to Rose and Akiko as she ran up to the ship's bow and jumped off. She used some of the flying debris as footholds as she reached for the demon, using her natural athletics and Aria's wind magic to cut a path for herself.
"Ok, this thing gotta have a weak spot or two, right? That's how bosses always work, I just have to find it and deliver a good ol' sneak attack to get this done," Clair said as she landed on the demon's shoulder with a somersault and began to look for any signs of a weak spot. Even though she had to fend for herself while trying to keep a hold of the giant, she still felt she was safer here than there.
She couldn't do much here. Gauging this demon the group was staring down, it did not bleed, meaning that Akiko's relic wasn't very useful in this situation. Regretful, since she wanted to get a little more practice with it, but probably for the best. Rose's flying wasn't exactly the greatest for concentration, much to Akiko's chagrin.
Though, getting pulled out back onto the main deck wasn't the worst thing that could happen, as the catgirl began to just... gravitate towards her summoned Serei in Lorelai. It might've just been with how Serei worked somehow affecting her soul, or it could just be that Lorelai's imposing presence assisted in keeping the Bard feeling safe, Akiko was not sure, but Lorelai dropping the Corpse Collector overboard was also very reassuring to the bard's state of mind, since CC did something that only a Jester had done before, and she vaguely got the impression that the Jester was some sort of bad news. Maybe not directly, maybe not at all, but something rubbed her the wrong way, and it wasn't Lorelai's hand along her tail.
"I'll come check in a minute, Rose. I'd rather make sure that demon is dead before we get to checking the haul." That was partially a lie, as she stepped right closer to Lorelai's side and shuffled up against her. She drew a card from nowhere, the Monkey Card, and she took a moment to consider things. "... yeah, Monkey, I'm gonna do the thing. Lorelai dear, mind making sure I'm not gonna fall overboard? I dunno if this'll be as easy as the first time."
With all said and done, Akiko began to absorb the willing card of Monkey into her soul.
Rose didn't even bother to turn towards CC as she began swearing and fighting with Lorelai, though she did present a good idea. Killing the summoner would be way easier than killing the actual demon itself, if there even was a summoner in the first place. Though the fact that CC had brought up the idea did line up nicely with that weird speck Rose had noticed falling from the demon's hand during their initial skirmish. Not the several other gray specks that kept falling from the Demon, those were just buildings. The weirdly colored one that actually looked kind of important.
"Random stranger, you bring up an amazing point! Go find the summoner and kill them and you'll be allowed to join the crew!" Rose shouted as she dragged Clair and Akiko off. And soon enough CC was off to do just that, though it definitely wasn't by choice as Lorelai forced her to walk the plank and threw her headfirst into the skies below. "And nonsense Clair! You just haven't gotten your sky legs yet! They're like sea legs, but for incredibly radical maneuvers through the wide blue sky!" Rose patted Clair on the back as she ran off to go do... something. Probably trying to find someway to contribute to killing this demon permanently, but Rose wasn't gonna bother with that nonsense. She knew what she was good for, so she wasn't gonna try and punch outside of her weight class.
And now Akiko was stepping away to "go find a way to kill the demon". Jeez, these guys weren't fit to be pirates at all! Fighting giant monsters and defying the odds was all well and good, but only if you actually had the strength to do so! Otherwise you were just needlessly martyring yourself so you could be the coolest corpse on the block! "Fine. Guess I'll get first pick of the haul. Gonna go find Kanbaru and we're all gonna be cool pirates without you." Rose mumbled as she ventured below deck to check out the stash of treasure this merchant vessel was surely carrying.
Ami raised an eyebrow at Kanbaru as three wide slashes appeared in the earth just before she took a step forwards, silently beckoning her to explain why some unknown force had just tried to tear her apart for approaching her childhood friend. The silence was rather deafening, only the distant sound of fires burning and buildings crumbling left to fill the aural void as Ami stared down Kanbaru. Ami was dumb to be sure, but she wasn't an idiot either. The empty look in Kanbaru's eye, the tinge of iron in the air, the way her fists absently clenched. It was a feeling Ami was all too familiar with after a major meltdown, that unsatisfied hunger after your prey slips through your grasp. Yet she showed no sign of defensiveness, managing to pretend she hadn't even noticed as Kanbaru relaxed and bounced up to her friend.
She hated when people looked at her like a monster, especially when they were people who were supposed to be her friends.
"Kan~ ba~ ru~ chan~!" Ami sung as she hugged Kanbaru back, squeezing her arms around her lower back and smiling as if nothing had just tried to kill her a moment prior. But... "It is soooo great to see you! But..." Ami's eyes opened with a red gleam as she separated faces with Kanbaru, her smile sickly sweet as her grip on Kanbaru tightened suddenly. "You ever pull that shit again and I'll pull out your spine." She giggled as she said this, her threat hovering between them for a moment that felt like it lasted much longer than it really did. But a blink later and her eyes were back to normal, perhaps a mere trick of the light? "So like, what have you been up to lately? You just wake up and get pulled into the weird floaty sky Tower too, or did you like, break in? I could totally see you doing something crazy like that."
Corpse Collector’s existence was a sad one, always being tossed around and used by others. No sooner was this still the case now, literally, as one moment she was imagining throwing rocks at Lorelai’s head. In the next moment, she was plucked by an armored hand around her throat like some feral cat before casually tossed off the side of the airship. The first few miles, CC wondered what even happened. The remainder of the trip down was spent screaming obscenities and curses of every kind at the knight, stray bullets firing but never reaching.
She’d remember that, oh yes, she would remember putting a bullet between Lorelai’s eyes slowly. Before she was so unceremoniously dropped off the ship, she could have sworn she heard one of the summoners verbally follow the steps of her exact plans and sentiments. So, the cursing hacker saw fit to may as well end the fun for everyone, twisting around in the air and twirling her guns. A few motions and swimming in the air aligned her with her target, pointed like a living cannon shell aimed right for the cause of all their problems. Somehow.
Guns pointed, firing manically, a sneering grin was all the Head Mistress saw before their bodies made impact. “Fuck you-” The sound of something crashing was followed by the mighty demon that had terrorized the skies to give pause before its body reacted in kind soon. Its flesh dissipated like a ghost, solids turning indivisible and spectral. Buildings and debris once picked up were now falling freely in the air like dropping without intent like large, concrete rain.
Because of this, Clair’s foothold would give out almost instantly as the demon was dispersed and defeated, the summoner having been taken care of. Whatever plan she had in mind for a safe landing was up to her; and whether the Head Mistress was even alive or simply knocked out from the rough landing was an unknown point of contention. But CC most definitely wasn’t. A brief light zipped and trailed back into Kanbaru’s pocket as the hacker was returned to her Serei Card and summoner. The mysterious Student Council President and his dark angel were also nowhere to be found as the world seemed bent on ending.
Well. Not entirely. As per the rules of the Floor, the demon’s body, where once it was fading, began to soon morph and change. Where once there was shadow, now items of shiny, glinting coins rained down as the great demon’s body transitioned into golden coins and riches that were now falling upon the world. A reward no doubt, and one that had to be collected soon for all the summoners and their Serei started to glow in the tell-tall sign they were to be leaving the Floor soon.
Caprice strolled out of the shadows cast by flickering neon and dying embers in the wake of the city's destruction to look upon the situation. She looked none the worse for wear. "Hmm, the monster has been slain and now gold rains from the heaven. My my, not very out of place in a game." Caprice smiles, creating in her hand a candy cane frame of an open umbrella, taffy stretched between its ribs. Gold coins bounced off of it, seemingly holding no allure to Caprice.
"Was that President the one who made the rules? Or was he simply another piece? The Headmistress seemed to hold no potential, simply a boss monster to be defeated for prizes. Poor thing couldn't even manage to fight the one she hated so." Her eyes scanned back and forth fruitlessly to find the Student Council President, who had already vanished.
"Well, perhaps the game's next level will hold some clues." Caprice shrugged as the glow encompassed her, and she left this floor of the tower.
"Right in time to—Woah!" The demon crumbled to pieces before Clair could finish whatever is it she was saying. "I guess that it gave up as soon as my hero aura touched it, huh? I can't blame the big guy for that, but... I guess I'll need your power again, Aria!" Clair yelled as she ran down the falling buildings, only to lose her foothold completely as they turned into a sea of gold and treasures halfway down.
"And I guess I'll take this with me while we are at it!" Clair said as she swiped a few token prizes off the air before pulling Aria's card again. A flash of light and rainy winds enveloped her again as Clair practically skipped steps in the air. "Ok, since I'm all the way down here, I guess that I'll get going first instead of waiting for someone to pick me up. This wasn't that bad for the first time with this group," she said to herself as the very world began to grow hazy and ethereal before her eyes, a sign that their time in this floor was about to end.
However, just before Clair took her leave, something caught her attention. A distinct glint in one of the dark alleys nearby. "Oh!? Bonus treasure? Don't mind if I do," the blonde thief said to herself as she picked the mysterious-looking star-shaped charm right as the world disappeared before her eyes.
While a knightly Serei was enjoying her moment of peace beside her summoner, an arm curled around Akiko's shoulders while she merged herself with yet another card, Lorelai was more exuberantly embracing an old friend. They giggled and laughed, trading witty remarks and threats of bodily harm. "Aww, you think that's scary. Don't go changing on me, Ami!"
Kanbaru laughed aside any such concerns and broke the hug as it began to rain down gold coins and treasure chests, replying with a shrug and, "Oh, you know how it always is. Fall asleep one night and wake up in a fantastical new situation. If not for the whole Magical Girl stuff I'd have thought it strange, but really by now, this is more normal for me then life without magic. Ugh, having to pay for chinese food was such a pain. And hey, I even got a motorcycle here thanks to my latest Serei, though the bike kinda drives herself from time to time, so it gets real wild to ride. Maybe you....you could....Huh, that's new."
The bluenette trailed off, pointing behind Ami to see a wave of shambling bodies rising from the devastated city streets and looting the coins on behalf of a cackling lolita carried on a palanquin. She couldn't fault the obvious Serei for her efficiency, but that mob looked liable to sweep the grounds of every last treasure quick. "You should get a move on if you want to steal any loot, Ami. I need to go tally my own so I don't lose track."
The Ice user shooed Ami off with a smile and a promise to chat more later even as she leaned back into the feeling of phantom hands, curiously pondering how to further interact with her phantom guardian.
Rose wasn't worried as the floating debris and buildings suddenly began to fall, nor was she particularly worried as the giant demon stopped in midair, staring into space and exploding into various treasures and riches. She knew that Akiko's Serei would pull through, or whoever the hell that Serei belonged to anyways. What she was concerned with however, was the mass riches pouring down on her vessel, hers for the taking now that the demon had been defeated! Rose crossed her arms and smiled in a rather smug manner as the treasure piled up on her ship, not needing to scurry around with bags and crates like everyone else surely was. Her entire ship was her container, so everything that landed on it was hers! She had the biggest container of them all!
Rose's chest heaved as she tilted her head back and roared with laughter, she was the biggest winner of them all on this floor! Not only did she have Suparna out all this time to rob the city blind with her army of bodies, but now she had a fine vessel, and all the riches she needed to customize it to her heart's content! A wonderful beginning for any aspiring pirate, ignoring the capture and lewd antics she had gone through her first floor! Because of course she would ignore it, who else was gonna talk about it? Definitely not Kanbaru. She was a good 2nd Mate, she would never do such a silly thing. She raised her left arm into the air triumphantly, swiftly catching a falling blade in her outstretched hand and twirling it in circles to show off her prizes. A golden sword, encrusted with a great many jewels along it's pommel, some type of scimitar maybe? Whatever it was, it was worth tons of cash, and it was a nice status symbol if she decided to keep it! Yeah, Rose was the best.
Ami nodded in a sagelike manner, it really was like that sometimes. One sec you're in bed, exhausted after a long day of training and killing, the next you're in a mysterious video game tower with guys in black cloaks spouting meaningless bullshit at you as they threw blank cards arounds. It really was like that sometimes. Ami had of course thrown away that card immediately, she didn't need some lame cards to get strong in the Tower. She operated off of pure muscles! And fire magic.
Ah, Kanbaru always understood just what Ami was thinking. She patted Kanbaru on the back as she disengaged the hug, pulling off her jacket to use as a makeshift bag. "Alright then, you have fun with all that lame counting stuff! I'm just gonna dump it at the counter to make them count it all. It's in the name after all." Ami said cheerfully as she jumped into the air and took off like a jet to collect coins and jewels with her jacket, using it like a basket to catch whatever fell out of the sky.
Ugh, that feeling did not get any better the second time.
Regardless, she felt like she had changed yet again. She definitely didn't feel as catty as she did when she had absorbed Smitten, but she did feel more different. More... powerful, almost. Maybe not physically, but the second cat tail definitely sparked some notice. Whether that was some sort of inherent idealized form of Akiko now that she had more control over her form, or if it was just her powers flexing their muscle, she didn't care. It was definitely neat though, and she'd have to give it a fair bit more experimentation. Good thing she had a solid area to test things on now that Rose stole this airship. She wondered for a moment if she could have both human and cat ears, before realizing that having two sets of ears wasn't very... beneficial in the long run.
Speaking of Rose... wasn't there loot to grab? Oh, good heavens! Akiko had almost forgot, being caught up in the now-blank card in her in hands. She tucked the card away in some kind of dimension before she looked up at Lorelai with a smile. "Lorelai, dear, may I borrow that relic for just a moment?" Akiko asked her knight, knowing that the answer would be yes in the end. She stepped over to the bow of the ship, Purple Relic in hand, before she held her other arm out and began to channel whatever power the Purple Relic gave her.
Though it startled her at first, the gusts of wind that picked up due to Akiko's influence began to quickly suck in whatever clouds of gold, treasure, and no doubt the same currency that Akiko had laid claim to just before. As each speck of yellow coinage flowed close to Akiko, she could feel her wealth accumulating fast, approaching 44,240 Bees before Akiko began to grow a little bit dizzy with power, the vacuum shutting off and Akiko stumbling a few steps backward into Lorelai's arms.
"Haah... for a first time, I hope that wasn't too embarrassing to watch," she chuckled. "Please, don't think of me as too weak, Lorelai. This is power that I'm still trying to get used to, after all."
“Aww yeah, I’m the best~” Away from all the scramble and chaos of the major players was Itsuko, walking the streets with two hefty bags of…something in her hands. One jingled and jangled like the cluttered coin of stolen riches, and another seeped out sticky glaze and other icings. Were they a bag of doughnuts? “Heheh, I can’t wait to show all my riches to that smug foxy girl. Wait till she sees the look on my face when I boast how many points I got in the-woah, huh!?” Itsuko paused in her alley walkway and looked up at the sky.
Apart from the glitterings of coins littering the air, pinpoints of light darted towards the heavens like spectral points of stars. Indeed, each of the foreign travelers began to depart from the Floor one by one and left behind most traces of their existence. Somehow, Itsuko knew there went all chances to brag to Clair. “Ughhhh, that two-timing fox sneaking away from a challenge! Coward!” It didn’t mean she had to take it laying down, the burning tiger raising a burning fist to the skies as the Floor was completed in all its entirety.
One by one, each person and their accompanying riches and Serei appeared back in the Dangeki. Cait was naturally napping off in some corner, a factor heard by the cat’s rampant and loud snores. Emilia, however, was as awake as a clockwork doll and wouldn’t hesitate to barter, trade, or buy off the treasures and riches each person collected. Speaking of such things, Rose found herself in quite a predicament at the moment. As it turned out, the great airship had been sucked back to the Tower’s hub along with her. Unfortunate though, was the fact she had no spare cards to contain said ship.
The Dangeki was strange and wondrous, acting as an extension of the Tower. It was no surprise then that the bar extended outwards as well, stretching-albeit barely-to contain the full girth and length of the airship without breaking something. All the same, Emilia gave the pirate a knowing smirk. She could already imagine the blank card deals to give for Rose to store her monster of an airship in some place that wasn’t actively acting to poke someone’s eye or limb out.
Caprice set herself down at the counter, calmly lifting a leg out of the way and crossing it to avoid a sudden pirate ship. She leaned forward, resting her head in her hand with an elbow on the counter. "It seems our most gracious of hosts has the impressive talent of sleeping anywhere. How tempting, I'm sure someone could hook me up with that power." Caprice smiles at the sight of the napping Cait, before her eyes glanced over to Emilia.
"Well, no reason to bother her." With a wave of the hand snacks and drinks set themselves out for everyone, so that no one would need to wake Cait for one. For herself, she summoned a little coconut and mango drink, with actual fruit chunks floating about.
Emilia was resting calmly—reading under the light of a flickering lamp—when the Travelers arrived back at the tavern. It seemed that, for better or worse, the Dangeki was a mostly quiet place in the absence of them. So much so that the owner herself found a corner to huddle up and nap as carefree as any common house cat.
"Welcome back, Travelers. I hope that your journey was fulfilling," Emilia said as she set her book aside and took a place at her desk. "I'm eager to hear your tales, but I suppose you have more pressing matters to attend to. Is that right?" she said, addressing the obvious elephant in the room.
"I fact, I believe this would be of interest to our lovely thief over there. She'll find it very relatable to her 'special prize'," Emilia said as she placed an envelope and a card on the desk while looking at Clair. "For the right price, of course," she added, laying a doll-like hand over the items.
※ ※ ※
"Oh really, I barely got back here and I'm already being extorted?" Clair said, walking to Emilia's counter and placing a pouch on it. "Ok, lemme see watcha got there, Dollie~" she said as she got the card and letter from Emilia.
"Hey, I guess this isn't that bad. I hadn't finished with that tiger girl yet. I guess I'm gonna have all the time in the world now! But I guess I'll leave the letter for later," Clair said as she pocketed the items.
Returning to the inn was a relief for all of five seconds, where Kanbaru noticed the space was dominated by the sheer bulk of a grounded airship. It took even less time to connect the dots and figure out who was responsible for it and that said person would foist off any obligation to clean up for herself onto their second in command. Holding true to the ageless maxim that discretion was the better part of valor, the bluenette slipped away to the inn's rooms, quietly shutting the door of the farthest room behind her and propping a chair against it, just to err on the side of caution. Only then could she deflate, releasing a heavy exhalation of breath before falling face first into the nearest bed.
Dark was the room Kanbaru entered into, no attempt to switch the lights on as exhaustion no doubt creeped into her mind. Or maybe that was the presence of the other in the room, standing at attention in a posture of serenity. Walking out the darkness, the shadows washing off her form, the nun that followed her from the previous Floor leered closer and closer to the other girl. Despite their steps, the nun made no noise as if living air itself occupied Kanbaru's room. But there was presence all the same, if only one only Kanbaru could see as the bed indented with the nun sitting beside her prone form, silent and watching.
"So, are you just going to stare silently or are you going to finish that massage you were giving me earlier?" The bluenette pondered aloud, sluggishly turning her head from the pillows to take in the nun before her once more. Given that this figure wasn't trying to menace her and that infuriating Caprice wasn't around, she didn't find her presence worthy of getting worked up over. Especially when the inn had a feeling of neutral ground to it. "I can think of a few places I would love for you to put your hands on~"
As casual as always. Such demeanor renounced had the nun's expression dipping into a smile. Yes, this was the one. Without further heistation, and with gentle hands, the nun gripped around Kanbaru's sides, slowly turning her around completely until she was resting on her back and staring up from her pillow. Nothing but the nun took in her features and sight as the holy lady had since straddled atop the other girl, sitting on her stomach. Two hands cupped Kanbaru's face, cold as ice, fingers softly, slowly rubbing into her cheeks. The nun said nothing as she worked, only smiling and nodding with one hand loosening just enough for her thumb to rub beneath Kanbaru's right eye. Silence. Slowly, she applied pressure, in and out, testing, as if wanting to squeeze Kanbaru's eye out of its socket for some pleasure of her own.
Her holy hanger-on was silent as ever, and equally as direct, with Kanbaru going along for the ride with an expression that radiated perverse intrigue. There were more then a few people who would claim to hold rampant fantasies of such a position with a nun, though their delusions likely didn't have the eyeball fixation of Kanbaru's reality. Rather then slap the offending hand away, she crept a hand beneath the habit, curling upon a cold, rigid neck, and pulling sharply downwards to bring them jarringly close. "If you just wanted to stare, at least do it properly."
Even if she wasn't getting much of a massage out of this, there was no reason the nun didn't get a rub down herself, with the bluenette working the tips of her fingers sharply betweens the corded muscles of her stalker's neck. If her nails happened to dig a bit deep, well, that was just a happy accident.
The Nun furrowed her lips into an upturned smirk, one that revealed glinted teeth that pointed downwards on Kanbaru like knives. Her expression was one of delight, undeterred by the bottom girl's own grip on her neck. Her fingers halted, hand moving away from Kanbaru's cheek, only to now rest her palm over the right side of her face, covering her eye. Silence, and more silence; either the Nun could not speak or it didn't feel like doing so. But there was meaning behind her actions. Kanbaru's fingers brushed once against her neck before sliding through as if the Nun's image was disparant. In fact, the holy lady flickered, a piercing noise filling the air once, body glitching as she looked upon Kanbaru with a familiar hunger. She clenched the hand over Kanbaru's eye, gently feed in more pressure as if a flick of her wrist could rip it out. The Nun's other hand dipped lower, tracing between the valley of Kanbaru's breasts with nails that could cut through wire, flickering more with that unholy crackle of noise.
The eerie sensation of her handhold vanishing beneath her grasp had Kanbaru lurching back against the sheets with a soft gasp, arms splayed to either side as the nun flickered between reality and delusion. Her form was transient, barely held together yet the pressure against her eye never abated and the feel of nails shredding fabric as it arced between her buxom sent thrills of delightful fear running through her. Beyond that was a familiar yet hauntingly wrong buzzing, a sound she recalled from another world yet could never fully picture tilll now. "What, are you waiting for verbal consent? I think it's obvious you've got it, Oh Holy Ghost."
She made another attempt to grasp the Nun, hand flying upwards to grasp her odd habbit and pull it loose. Granted it would look awfully silly to pass right through, but she felt the attempt was worth the possible failure.
Consent. Funny. The Nun gave no confirmation nor denial of what it sought, not when it had what it wanted laying right before her. Kanbaru’s hands passed right through the other girl, who snatched them as she finally let go of the blunette’s face. Despite flickering between Kanbaru’s edge of sight and her mind, the grip on her wrists was very real. Slowly, cornering prey, the Nun forced Kanbaru’s arms back down until they were laying beside her head, parallel from each other, held down by the Nun’s grip on her wrists. She smiled, lips moving. But no words came out. No versible syllables were formed as white noise filled Kanbaru’s head and jarred her ears. The world was changed, the Nun leaning forward atop Kanbaru as something thick and hard nudged her inner thigh. The Nun gave Kanbaru a knowing look before releasing one hand, stroking her own stomach, and trailing to where her thighs met. A wave of her hand, more of the jarring noise, and something formed between her legs out of nothing.
"Oh come on, do you expect me to just lay here- Oh. Oh!" The bluenette paused in her griping, as even though her eyes betrayed her enjoyment of the intimate position, she had to make a token effort to play a role or this nun would walk all over her. That was, till she felt a distinct mass pressing against her, one that had the nun's flowing garb tented with pent up desires and digging keenly into Kanbaru's thigh. Suddenly the knive like nails cleaving her garments took on an entirely different connontation and she purred her approval. Kanbaru winced, finding the buzzing reached a higher pitch as the mass took sharp turn towards Kanbaru. "Well, if that isn't a fancy sword you got for me. You did strike me as the stab-happy sort. Come in, Sharky, no need to keep those clothes between us then."
The Nun smirked wider, hungrier, digging her nails into Kanbaru's body before swiping away. Rips and cuts formed over her skintight outfit, for there would no longer be need of those any time soon, no. The Nun's buzzing finally dipped and lapsed into silence, and its percieved girth didn't hesitate into sliding between Kanbaru's legs in ownership. Much like her body, its newly formed cock phased through without obstruction, lighting up Kanbaru's core deeply with harsh and intense buzzing, as if individual stubs ridged over the phallic maker irritated and pronounced itself against Kanbaru's inner walls. The Nun's voice almost become somewhat recognizable now, a melodious humming that almost sounded human chirping from her lips as she mimicked some nursery rhyme she once heard long ago when the entire world was hers to manipulate and control through data.
Kanbaru wasn't kept waiting and the nun entered her without a moment wasted, a cock that was rough and spiny tearing through her relentlessly. She cried out sharply, face contorted with a wince of pain as the sudden entrance overwhelmed her. She bucked against the nun's hold, hands curled inwards to hold onto the razor toothed figure filling her. Eyes slammed shut immersed her in darkness enough to lose sight of eyes that gleamed unnaturally in the already lightless room, but it could do nothing about the drone that was ever so steadily shifting, the buzz turning to a hum that was so jarringly dissonant with the rough crashing of hips pressing her into the mattress. "Gah! At least...let me grab you, damn it!"
But the Nun wasn’t listening. No, she was testing, probing, experimenting. Some thrusts were gentle, soft. Others were rough enough to shake and creak the bed as she got used to Kanbaru’s body, filling her up. Yes…Yes. They were indeed compatible and that made the Nun smile her toothy grin, teeth gleaming in the low light. More alien words coarsely grinded themselves against Kanbaru’s ear, another rod manifesting between the Nun’s legs before she wordlessly laid down on Kanbaru. Her chest atop the other girl’s, laying atop like a blanket, she smirked right into the blunette’s face as the second rod was smashed into her, filling up and screwing shut her second hole, buzzing her ass.
Paradoxically being ignored and intensely scrutinzed left Kanbaru with no distraction and no handhold to cling to for some assurance she'd even survive the nun's intercourse. Brief lulls that brought to the forefront the softness of her stalker's breasts had the bluenette thinking she'd finally settled down, only to be proven very wrong when a second obstruction rose between her legs. For a frightful moment she thought the nun would split her in two by plunging into the same hole as the first, but the spearing of her ass put that thought to rest alongside any hope that Kanbaru wouldn't be shouting her throat ragged beneath the nun. Fisting her hands into the bedsheets she cried out, uncaring if anyone outside dared to hear them.
The Nun licked her lips, fueled and sprurned on by the funny noises Kanbaru made. Much like before, she was unfettered by the display, pumping her hips forward, strong enough to make the bed completely creak and the floor to rock. The chair barring the door would prove to be Kanbaru's downfall with no one to hear her now. A sharp, but warm sensation cut through the pleasure, only to numb it nearly completely, a sensation that was sourced from between the Nun's legs. She narrowed her eyes, pumping harder as more and more of the corruption flowed into Kanbaru from her ravaged holes, feeding and festering, but more importantly, possessing. Yes, even back then, from the moment it laid eyes on her in a world of iradescent 1s and 0s, it knew the girl was compatible in body and shape. The Nun leaned down, wrapping her arms around Kanbaru's torso until the blunette's limbs were pinned to her side. A possessive mouth snatched her lips, hungrily drinking in and making out, feeding its essence into Kanbaru without mercy, only cold and objective symbiotic relation.
With no recourse but to endure the blinding pace the nun had set, Kanbaru found the pain of intrusion melt with time and sudden, impercptible changes to her own senses. When the nun had fully embraced her, it came with the pleasure from two cocks sliding with ease into the bluenette, spraying a creamy warmth the pervaded her every fiber and left her feeling enflamed with desire for more. A feeling she had no issue following when lips pressed to hers, and the once transperant figure was as solid as could be atop her. Intense heat overwrote the cold and she inhaled the stalker's lips and tongue, covetously nipping the latter to spite her for playing her earlier games. Eyes flashing a crimson gleam, reflecting the fathomless depths of the nun's own, now twinkled as though to say, 'took you long enough.'
There it was. The prey snatched, the host secured. The parameters were set, and the subject even had a restorative personality, if her little nips were anything to go by. The Nun stared one final time before her kiss engulfed Kanbaru's lips completey. Literally. The Nun's body slowly poured itself over Kanbaru's form, flesh melting into her dark garbs, and garbs melting over Kanbaru. Like thick, sticky tar, the substance pooled over and around the Nun's prey, such was the purpose of affixxing itself to Kanbaru so needily. More of the same dark tar poured from the Nun's lips into Kanbaru's, festering and exploring her insides, corroding and bending all to its touch. The only thing that pervailed among the Nun's newfound, wet mess of a form were its red-rimmed eyes. And even those soon melted away, swarming over Kanbaru, meshing with breasts, legs, everything. It invaded all corners of her outfit and flesh, keeping itself latched on and close like a parasite that almost seemed to feed and throb on her chest.
Then, it hardened, ensuring its new host by choice or chance would be going nowhere until the process was complete. From head to toe, there remained only a black shape, smoothened and outlined in Kanbaru's figure while two meaty rods continued to pump at her holes. It wasn't long then before the buzzing picked up once more, this time coming from everywhere, as if the source was burrowed in the depths of the blunette's mind.
Kanbaru took it as a small victory that she won the war of tongues and the nun was pulled forward at her mercy...till everything else followed in its wake. The intrusion went beyond the physical, further past mental and spiritual. She breathed through tar and thought amidst molasses, the weight of an entity entering her amidst the height of her release was like the tide carrying back some great mass of driftwood. It crushed her in its embrace, closing her in a tight cocoon of an almost latex feel while the twin penii still worked inside her, churning nun and bluenette together into something more then either separate part.
Amidst the endless buzzing and darkness without depth, Kanbaru's fracturing mind was struck with a sudden and terrible idea. The idea that she knew who this nun was, knew what she was, and had known it all along. With the erasure of her composure, suddenly, Kanbaru remembered everything.
Realization of the truth would do nothing to stop it, and the Nun continued to infect the body before it like a virus, one that permeated Kanbaru's flesh and bone. It sunk in, grafting itself to her like a permanent fixture, taking the liberties of changing its new host into a more suitable role. Whatever clothing Kanbaru had left was gone, torn away, stockings ripped, greaved boots shattered and bust released into the dark void that gripped her. Slowly, tenderly, the black goo lowered itself off Kanbaru's head first, but only the crown of it, still keeping her face hidden under its layer. As the goo receded, a hunter's hat was left in its place. Soon the goo continued more vigorously, changing, sticking to Kanbaru's frame and forming into new clothes, solidifying the host into a new identity. It snaked down her legs, clinging tightly and becoming a new pair of leggings, boots forming at her feet and new tufts formed against her chest. The process was almost complete, bleached hair the next to be revealed from the dark mass.
A gloved hand sped the process along to its end, reaching under the goop marring her face and wrenching it away, the mass sinking into the hand like water through pores. Kanbaru blinked, adjusting to the dark and the sheer violation of her entire being with her typical aplumb. She raised both pointer fingers to her face, pushing first upwards at the corners of her lips, then downwards. Pantomiming each expression to see if they all still felt as stiff as usual. Seeing nothing different she trailed her hand upwards, finding with no small measure of approval a very impressive hat snugly secured to her head. "Well at least you have some fashion sense. It was bad enough using Grandma's birthright to violate me, but if you did it tastelessly I'd have had to end this partnership early, Program."
"But hey, that's all water under the bridge. Sit back and enjoy while I put on a show for my favorite, backstabbing parasite....Heh, you did actually stab my backdoor this time around. Cheeky bastard."
The so forth Program couldn't much respond in traditional manner, but it knew. It knew Kanbaru knew, and thus they were two. And even in the silence of the their joint union, Kanbaru knew. The JSTR was grinning.
"Bar again, bar again." Akiko desummoned Lorelai and put away her Red Relic for a little while as she hopped down onto the bar floor, landing ever-so-gracefully on the floor due to her new enhancements from the Monkey Card, as well as her previous ones from Smitten. This might not have been the life she initially imagined for herself, but she definitely was not complaining. She just wondered that if this was the beginning, how far could she go from there.
Alas, just as last time, Akiko had another blank card to redeem and a pretty hefty amount of money in her pocket. Assuming this tower operated on JRPG rules, this was the Rest Floor and she could upgrade her equipment and gear here as always. Emilia was the shopkeeper for the Dangeki Bunko, so it was only befitting of Akiko to go and ask her for assistance first. Maybe something would pique her interest aside from the blank cards.
"Hey Emilia," Akiko cooed as she walked up to the desk that sat Emilia. "I've got another blank card to exchange, and some actual... money..." Akiko's eyes trailed amidst the wares that Emilia sold at the desk, though one specific item really caught her attention. What appeared to be an arrowhead caught Akiko's gaze, almost... calling out to her to take it for herself. It was unlike anything she'd seen down on Earth, but then again, she'd never expect to be able to have multiple sets of ears and here she was with that ability. "Well hello..."
The catgirl reached down to grab the arrow, lifting it up for a moment and feeling some latent energy from within. This... this was something she could use. "I'll buy this arrow along with room for one additional card, if the latter is even possible." She gently placed two cards, her blank one and her money one, onto the table for Emilia to work with as Akiko herself kept her hand on the arrow.
"What... are you?" She asked, the oh-so-familiar flash appearing in her eye as she looked at this artifact. Would that even work, though?
Immediately, one of the things Akiko was trying to get had returned to her possession. the Blank Card was now replaced with a card labeled Bonesword. Hm, kind of a dumb name, but it was certainly neat. Happy Birthday to her, she guessed.
Rose landed on the bow of her ship with a triumphant look planted firmly on her face, coins and wealths spilling over the deck of the vessel as it took up literally the entire bar. "I return! With great wealth and an even greater ride!" She called out as she front flipped off the boat and into the bar proper, arms outstretched as she showed off her great new boat. She was in a great mood right now, great enough that she could even ignore Emilia's cocky look as she waltzed up to the shopkeeper and slammed her hands down on the counter next to Akiko.
"Alright so! I have approximately 124,240 pieces of gold to spend, plus whatever is on that boat right now that isn't cold hard cash! Akiko has the right idea here, so I'm gonna copy what she's doing for the most part! I want two new cards and the ability to carry four Serei! The fifth card is for the boat obviously, I don't think that should count as a Serei." Rose explained as she hunched over the table to get closer to Emilia. "Also, I'm willing to sell whatever is on that boat so I can trade it in for some real firepower. I'm talking laser cannons, missiles, jet boosters, the works! I wanna turn this into a real skyfaring vessel if you know what I mean." And now she was behind the counter, elbowing Emilia in the side and throwing an arm around her shoulder. "It's your lucky day shopkeep, I've got big bucks to spend and I'm a big spender!"
Clair took a look around the bar after leaving Emilia's shop. It seemed like everyone went their separate ways at least for this intermission. Not that it bothered her or anything like this. In fact, she decided to take this chance to kick back and relax as well.
There was no better way to do that than by pulling a phone from her pocket and taking some photos of Cait while she was curled up, sleeping like a kitten. "You should take care, KitKat, if you are this defenseless, someone might just snatch you away one of these days," she said, taking photos from various while tickling the blueish feline with a reed stalk.
※ ※ ※
"Your patronage is very much appreciated," Emilia said when Akiko and Rose made their deals. The Dollmaker wasn't so much into the sudden physical intimacy with the later but didn't make it evident yet.
"I'm sorry but I cannot help you. If you want any of this kind of equipment you'll have to look somewhere else," she pointed at the closed General Store right across them. "After all, I'm only a Magic Item dealer. I know nothing of such practical matters," Emilia added, flashing an all-too-innocent smile at Rose.
"Oh, but if I'm not wrong, you already missed the 'flag' once. If I were you, I would pay more attention to the upcoming worlds, just in case you get another chance~" She finished in a sing-song voice.
As the mighty travelers made their safe return to the Dangeki, only one of them had the good sense to speak the soundest advice; do not disturb the barkeep. Indeed, with everyone laundering at Emilia’s shop and Kanbaru having gone upstairs, Cait saw no real reason to get involved or wake up from her nap. People came and went as they pleased in the only true safe place in the Tower after all. Of course, there was always someone who didn’t listen, who broke rules.
It just had to be the thief. Cait’s features furrowed and frowned, unconsciously batting away at the reed stalk with her hands. Where Clair even got the thing was hard to say because she certainly didn’t buy it off Emilia. The blue cat’s tail flickered and swished to smack it away before at long last, Cait woke up with a loud sneeze. “Hooooo~!” Sniffling, the cat immediately sat up on her haunches, blearily looking around before catching Clair in the act.
“Oh, think you’re real funny eh?” Then she spotted the phone in Clair’s hands, further narrowing her eyes. She leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms with a huff. “Recording the bar keep is a serious violation of privacy. I think a fair trade is in order. How about, you give me the phone and I, I dunno, give you like, half discounts on a drink. Deal?” Her ear perked up as she heard Emilia call out from the other room to the pirate. “Pssssh, come on Emilia, lighten up and give a blank card for the poor pirate. I betcha you got there something in there for a vessel, I reckon.”
Caprice couldn't help but let a hint of jealousy slip onto her face as Claire began to take pictures of Cait. It seemed she wished she had thought of the idea first. But alas, that is not how it had transpired, and Caprice could only kick up her feet on another chair and gulp down another mouthful of her drink before turning her attention to the counter. She set a hand down. A small stack of cards appeared when she lifted her palm, only fingertips still touching. She slid the cards down, spreading them out to reveal three in total, before flicking the last one, sending them all spinning to face up.
There was each of her fellow adventurers currently in the room.
Rose lay amidst a sprawling harem of indistinct girls, gold raining down upon her, a smile upon her face. Rose had a tail with a heart shaped end wrapped around one of the girls, pulling her tight.
Clair appeared just as she was right then, holding a reed stalk and bothering Cait.
