The girl stood in the darkness. She looked down, and she could feel something for the first time in ages. She raised her hands, staring at her palms, rotating her hands.
"AHHHHHHH why's it so dark?! Is this hell?! Am I going to die again?! Please don't hurt me!" A scream sounded from nearby.
The girl whipped her head around towards the other source, and her jaw dropped.
“E-Ella?!” The girl said, running over to her, and wrapping her arms around her midsection. “I heard you d-died! I knew it wasn't true!”
"Lisa?!" Ella froze at first before hugging Lisa back - squeezing her tightly. "I thought I had! I remember it… what… I guess I didn't!"
"You did." Another, much flatter voice spoke up. "I saw your body."
"Huhhhh?"
“I wasn't there! I’m sorry!” Lisa said, hugging Ella back. It was a dream come true… Then her head turned towards another person.
“Saskia!” Lisa shouted, running over to the slightly taller person. “It's great to say you’re okay too!”
"SASKIAAA!" Ella followed Lisa and practically launched herself at Saskia, who let out a quiet 'oof' at being tackled by her larger friend.
"Hey, Lisa, Ella, glad you're both safe too…" Saskia frowned, awkwardly patting Ella's back while trying to get out of her arms. "But… Any idea where we are? This place is weird."
Lisa slowly craned her head around and saw nothing. Nothing as far as the eye could see.
“... You t-think?!” Lisa stammered, almost laughing.
Lisa heard footsteps behind her. Massive. Monstrous. She perked up as her eyes shot open and glanced over her shoulder. Then, fully rotated, she saw red eyes piercing through the smoky black darkness. The shadows cleared as they took shape.
“... You’re in my realm,” A deep, booming voice spoke as a paw made of shadows pounded down. Revealing a massive black wolf with red eyes that towered over the trio. “Some may refer to it as an afterlife of sorts.”
The being let his words hang in the air.
“... I refer to it as home,”
Ella screamed. She hugged Saskia even tighter, practically stopping them from breathing… before reaching out and pulling Lisa (Who was also screaming) into the hug as well. "Who are you?!"
"Ella, calm down, you’re strangling me." Saskia leaned back to breathe better, and hit the massive black wolf with an expressionless look… Though that didn’t mean they were calm at all. "The afterlife? So we did die after all?"
“... Correct,” The being said, sliding its body closer to them. Lisa could hardly breathe as her chest fluttered. The Hound began walking a circle around the three of them like an animal would stalk its prey. Talking, “I am the Hound, the watcher of watchers. The being responsible for maintaining the balance of life and death… Emotion and apathy.”
Lisa remembered Britney mentioning the Hound a few times… Maybe Lisa saw the Hound a few times - not something she’d want to commit to memory. The Hound paused, “I rarely do this, but I owe someone a favor, and they requested this. Thus, I am giving you three a second chance at life.”
“Wait?! Really?!” Lisa shouted, on pure reflex… Then, she was silent. It didn't seem right. None of this made any sense.
Ella stopped screaming and just stared at the hound in stunned silence, releasing her grip on Saskia enough that they could actually breathe.
"Why did ‘they’ request this?" Saskia asked. "We don’t know anyone who could owe you a favour… That’s ridiculous-"
"Wait!" Ella interrupted, looking at Saskia, and then looking at Lisa. In a deathly serious voice, she asked. "Did either of you get hit by a truck when you died?"
"... this isn’t a fucking anime, Ella."
The mere thought of her death made Lisa shudder.
“‘They choose to keep their identity a secret…” The Hound began. “However, I am not reviving you all unless you complete some… Tasks, for me.”
Lisa gulped. She figured as much, as a being like the Hound wouldn’t do this for free. She didn't like this, but Lisa had no choice. She stammered,
“... A-And what do you want us to do?” Lisa said.
“Your two tasks will be to defeat the Apparition known as Morningstar and recover an artifact for me. Once you complete these tasks, you will be free from service and resurrected.”
The Hound let his offer hang in the air.
“Do you accept?”
"Not the Morningstar?!" Ella gasped, slamming her hands against her cheeks. "Wait, who's that?"
"We’ll find out, I’m sure," Saskia rolled her eyes. She paused for a moment, expression completely blank. Then, finally, she said, "I accept."
"If Saskia accepts, then I accept too!”
They had no option other than to accept… Lisa didn't want to go back to the black. She didn't want to be dead. Lisa turned her head to the Hound, “I… I a-accept!”
“Hmph…” The corners of the Hound’s mouth... almost into a smile? Lisa didn’t like the look of this. A mass of shadows appeared before the Hound, weaving itself into the shape of a man. When it formed, it took the image of a blonde-haired man with spiky hair…
“The Morningstar is an Apparition born from the fear of a Satanic figure… A dangerous and cunning Apparition that has destroyed countless worlds and killed billions, all in the pursuit of shaping the All-Verse in his image...” The Hound explained.
“He is currently concocting a plan that I find… Problematic. So, as your first task, I am having you defeat and seal him.”
"Whoa, he does look like a villain," Ella narrowed her eyes at the image, seeming to inspect it very thoroughly. "Anime style hair too-"
"Really?” Saskia sighed, shaking their head. They glanced at the shadow shape, then back at the hound. "How will just the three of us be able to defeat someone who’s destroyed worlds.”
"Oh, did we get extra super magic when we got brought back to life?"
Saskia had a point… The three of them got killed by the Stygian Snake, how were they supposed to hold a candle to this guy?
“That's up to you to figure out,” The Hound said, “I was asked to give you three a chance, so here it is.”
"Seriously?” Saskia’s expression barely changed, but the look in their eyes was slightly harder. "You might as well have left us dead.”
"C’mon, Saskia, I’m sure it’ll be fine! The three of us together are unstoppable!” Ella hit her fist against her chest. "We’re the magical girls, after all! Well, most of them. We can do anything together! Right, Lisa?”
Lisa had no faith or confidence in this entire idea. Or the Hound.
She had no choice, now did she.
Lisa forced a wide smile as she raised a fist in the air. “Yeah! We can do-”
“You will not be… ‘Magical girls,’” The Hound shot them down. “You will be my… Agents of Death.”
"Oh, I like that name much better.” Saskia nodded. "But surely you’d at least equip your agents?”
"Agents of Death? No way!" Ella, on the other hand, shook her head agitatedly. "We’re too cute to be called that! It’s so… dark."
“... Is it as important as coming back to life?” The Hound asked, giving her the siide eye.
Ella paused, clearly thinking about it. She went through a series of expressions - a frown, confusion, then a look of enlightenment. "No, I guess it isn’t."
"Of course it isn’t, you idiot,” Saskia also side eyed Ella. "I think we’re in agreement that we’ll do it, whatever the name, right?”
It was great that everyone saw the bigger picture here (unlike a certain Coven). It made Lisa crack a smile, even though the Hound was throwing them into the fire with no information or equipment. Lisa knew that despite it all, she would find a way.
“I hope you all understand that I cannot interfere more in human affairs than I currently am,” The Hound explained.
“I can tell you where Morningstar is, but I cannot equip you or guide you to defeat him… That is up to you.”
Saskia's lips pulled into a thin line, and they nodded. "It's better than being dead. We've all died before, anyway; what's another time or two?"
"... Saskia…" Ella's eyes widened, and her bottom lip started to tremble. "None of us are going to die again!"
"It was a joke."
"Oh." Just like that, Ella stopped looking like she was going to cry, and grinned. She looked at Lisa, then Saskia, then back at Lisa. "Yeah, we've got this! We'll beat and seal Morningstar, then go back to everyone else! Cause we're the magica- Agents of Darkness, shining a light in the…. Darkness!"
“The Morningstar is in Mirage Springs, Nevada,” The Hound began, “I can teleport you there, but from here on; you three are on your own.”
“Mirage Springs…?” Lisa heard of the city but never stepped foot there. According to Britney, it was another Paranormal hotspot.
The Hound slid closer to them, “If you attempt to flee… I will know. Seal Morningstar, and then I will give you your next task. Do you understand?”
“Not really, but I think we can figure it out,” Lisa forced another smile. “Right girls?!”
“Yeah, we got this!” Ella threw a fist in the air and grinned. “We’ll show Morningstar the true meaning of teamwork- teleport us to Mirage Springs, and we’ll get started.”
“Sure,” Saskia sighed. “I understand, mostly. Let’s get this over with.”
“Very well…” The Hound said as darkness wrapped around them, swirling around them. “Make haste because Morningstar is plotting something that can change the very fabric of the All-verse. I’m sure you all can defeat him…”
The darkness overtook them…
“... I am sure you were picked for a reason.”
Then they were gone.
Back to Shimmer.
The darkness faded… The first thing Lisa saw was more darkness, illuminated by road lights. She could feel the sand underneath her feet… She turned her head to the right and saw the road. At the end of the road, in the distance, she could see its skyline…
It was something else, of course. Yet, Lisa was unable to marvel at the city’s beauty because of the fact the Hound just dropped them there and told them to “figure it out”. Hooray.
Lisa turned to the group, “So, uh, how are we going to han-” Then a sudden thought appeared in her head, “... Wait! Do we have any clothes!? Any money?!”
"Uhhhh…" Ella started patting down her outfit - her Sycamore Tree robes, with a pair of pastel pink shorts and a white t-shirt underneath. Except the robes were visibly smaller on her. In fact, she was now even taller than Lisa and Saskia. All she came back with after a check was a handful of bracelets that’d been in her pockets. "Nope! Also, do I look different to you guys? My shorts are feeling awfully tight… Did I gain weight when I died?!"
Lisa immediately looked at Ella’s rear… and blushed. Good thing it was too dark for them to see!
“They look tighter!” Lisa laughed.
"I’ve got five dollars,” Saskia said, pulling a single bill out from under their robes before squinting up at Ella. Then looking at Lisa. "Does Ella look taller to you? Wait… You look different too.”
”Wait, do I?” Lisa raised an eyebrow, she felt her chest a bit, then felt her face. ”I don’t feel any different at all! Does anyone have a mirror…? No? Okay…”
Lisa then looked Ella up and down before realizing she was, in fact, taller. That, or Lisa got shorter. Lisa looked down at herself and realized she was wearing black robes, which was the extent of her clothes.
“... We should probably get some clothes first and foremost!” Lisa said, raising a finger in the air.
"Definitely. Robes aren’t appropriate for any city.” Saskia agreed, the slightest hint of discomfort visible in her frown. "Ella especially. Your ankles are showing, very inappropriate.”
"Since when?!" Ella looked down at her ankles. "But how are we going to get clothes, we have five dollars between us?"
"Easy. We steal them.” Saskia turned to look at Lisa. "Your spiders could do that, right?”
“Right!” Lisa said, then looked to the left and right. Of course, the Hound drops them in the middle of nowhere. Her hand traced her neck until she realized she still had her necklace. She grasped the chord, pulling it from underneath her robe to see a spider in resin. “Allow me to make our ride, ladies,” Lisa said with a grin.
She focused on the ground before her and summoned a spider. A minuscule jumping spider emerged from the ground. Probably not even noticed by the two… However, it was quickly covered in a web of ethereal cocoons. One that quickly grew to the size of a sedan! Eventually, it burst open, and the tiny grey jumping spider was large enough to fit all of them on board. With dragonfly wings, just like that one incident,
Lisa smiled, bowed, aimed her hands at their mount, and said, “Ladies.. all aboard!”
"Thanks, Lisa,” Saskia’s lips twitched up into the slightest smile, and they climbed on the jumping spider. ”We’d be walking till we dropped dead without you.”
"Yeah, you’re the best!" Ella grinned before… hesitantly getting on the spider behind Saskia. She was almost a head taller than them now. "Y’know, I’ve never left St Portwell before! So this is exciting!"
Unfortunately, Lisa didn't have the mounts she used in the Old Coven. So, she had to climb up one of its legs and make its way on top of the spider. She briefly wondered if it would be worth visiting St. Portwell and seeing if she could get another saddle from Greyson. However, it may take them days to get to St. Portwell. And she wasn’t sure if the Hound would mind them taking a detour for a quality-of-life adjustment.
On top of the spider, she looked back and grinned. She thrust a fist forward and shouted, “Up, up, and awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!”
The flying spider took off towards Mirage Springs!
Lisa’s flying spider soared through the stars, and the neon lights shined against the underbelly. However, the creature's wings were loud, making it difficult to communicate. Lisa pointed her finger at something, and the flying mount drifted in that direction. As they got closer, Lisa directed them toward a store called The Supernatural Rummage Boutiques. Lisa safely landed the spider; its wings stopped fluttering and awkwardly laughed.
“... I forgot how loud that was, sorry,” Lisa stammered. She then climbed off the spider and put her hands on her hips with a wide smile on her face, “I’m going to do what I used to do to get Greta her ingredients!” She raised a finger in the air, face looking seriously.
“As in! I will send my spiders in and grab some clothes for us! So what… are… your… sizes…” Lisa’s eyes landed on Ella, jaw-dropping, face blushing again.
“... Out of all of us, why did you have to grow?!” Lisa said, laughing.
"It’s because I’m the center of our magical girl formation, of course!" Ella grinned… though she honestly had no idea why she’d grown more. Probably her magical girl spirit. "It makes it like an arrow… or something. I was size 8… but that doesn’t fit anymore. Uh, try 10 or 12!"
"I’m size four,” Saskia said, very boringly.
Lisa paused for a moment.
“... I’ll just have them grab random clothes, and we’ll see what fits, okay?” Lisa said, then she raised her hands in the air. The concrete they stood on rumbled, and out came tarantulas spouting out like a macabre fountain. After a moment, it ceased, and all the spiders lined up in a neat row-by-row formation. With a wave of her hand, they were surrounded by a glowing magical cocoon. After a few moments, they popped, and then they had ant-mandibles.
After a moment, they were commanded to enter the building in a neat row and crawled out of sight. Lisa shook her head and leaned up against an air conditioning unit. She put her hands together and said,
“So, um, where do we go from here? I have no clue where to even start!” Lisa awkwardly laughed, then sighed.
"Maybe we can find his address in a phonebook,” Saskia suggested drily.
Ella furrowed her brow, starting to pace back and forth as the thought. Obviously, Saskia was joking… but maybe there was some kind of paranormal network? Or- "Maybe if we make a really big scene somewhere and yell that we’re looking for Morningstar he’ll come? Ooo, or you send spiders around with little notes to Morningstar?"
Lisa stepped off the AC, “... You know, the second idea isn’t that bad!”
"Right?" Ella grinned, stopping her pacing. "Once we get clothes, we should write the notes… Wait, should we wait till tomorrow? I’m not tired, but maybe Morningstar’s asleep right now. Or he’s enacting his evil plans at night… We should start writing the notes now, while we wait! Either of you have a pen and paper?"
Lisa pulled out the pockets of her robe.
"Of course not,” Saskia said. "We’ll need to steal that too.”
"Oh- alright we can steal some stationary after the clothes then."
“At this rate, we’re going to be looting the whole city!” Lisa put her hands together and laughed. Then she glanced over the edge, that smile came off her face. “... They should have been back by now.” She mused out loud.
Then eight long-black spider legs burst out of Lisa’s back - and out the robe. “I’m going to go check on them! Be right back!”
Lisa climbed off the side of the building, towards the entrance, and out of sight.
“Stay safe!” Ella yelled after Lisa, having just about stopped herself from recoiling at the whole spider leg growth thing… she just still wasn’t used to it! She then turned to Saskia. “You think they just got lost or something?”
Saskia shrugged. “How am I supposed to know? They probably got eaten by a bird.”
“Saskia! You’ll upset Lisa!”
“Lisa’s not within earshot- I’m sure it’s fine.”
Saskia’s tone wasn’t very convincing - but then again, Ella knew that Saskia rarely used a convincing tone. So it was probably fine! The spider’s had just gotten lost or something. Not seeing the point in continuing to talk about something they couldn’t control, she changed the subject. “Soooo, if you died after me… did you watch the latest episode of-”
“No way, are you seriously asking if I watched anime after you died?” Saskia interrupted. “Of course not. We were fighting apparitions every night, there wasn’t time… And I just couldn’t.”
“So we’ll never know how it ended…” Ella sighed. They’d only had one more episode to go. Now she’d never see the conclusion! How terrible.
“We can literally watch it. It's not like we’ve been sent to a different world.”
“Oh yeah! Do you think the hound will give us an anime-watching break once we finish this, before the next task?”
“I doubt it.”
“Awwww… well maybe we can find time to watch it while here, then! Not like it’ll take long. Just need a computer and the internet. Oh, but if we’re going to watch with Lisa we’d need to start from the beginning. Ah, that’ll take six hours!”
“We can think about that later. But,” Saskia frowned - an actual frown, as opposed to a minute change in expression. “Isn’t she taking quite a while too?”
“Yeahhh,” Ella looked around. She was worried now, too, hand slipping into her robes to find her channeler - just in case! “She should be back by now… Should we go after her?”
“... Hi there,”
A voice appeared behind them, and when they turned around… they saw two people standing on top of the AC unit that Lisa had previously been leaning against. One was an average-height caucasian girl with a head of brown hair and glasses. What stood out about her was that she had a utility belt with several magical artifacts hanging from it… several magical orbs, a magical cube, the hilt of a sword, and even a revolver? She held a weird camera in her hands as she wore blue Rodeo jeans tucked into black combat boots and a tank top. She had a sly half-smile on her face that implied that she had full control of the situation.
The second person was a slightly shorter than the average black girl with her hair in a bun. Unlike her companion, she didn’t have any artifacts on her, but two swirling masses of coral-pink energy glowed with magic in her hands. She didn’t look as approachable as her friend, and she had a scowl. She wore a black hoodie and some blue jeans, not tucked into her combat boots.
The white girl with the camera stepped forward and said, “Soooo…of all the places you all choose to rob with magic, you chose a thrift store?” The girl laughed.
“That’s crazy,” The other girl with the magic laughed. She had a very gruff, deep voice for her size and appearance.
“So, we have your friend,” The girl with the camera said.
“And her pets,” The other girl noted.
“... Yeah, and her pets!” The girl with the camera laughed, “So, calmly get on the ground, and let’s settle this peacefully, alright?”
“What… What did you do with Lisa?!” Ella pulled out her channeler - a very unthreatening looking Sailor Moon wand. “And her spiders?! Did you hurt them?!”
“Hey, Ella, let’s calm down a minute,” Saskia sighed, even as she pulled a small knife out from under her robes. Good. They were one magical girl down, Ella needed her backup!
“But they hurt Lisa!” Ella shook her head, instantly jumping to conclusions… But how couldn’t she?! There was no proof Lisa was okay… Not when they clearly had magic. What if they were like all those other magical people who wanted to hurt Lisa? All those bullies? Ella wouldn’t stand for it. “I won’t let them get away with it! Light Prism Power Transform!”
An incandescent, rainbow light bathed Ella as she dramatically posed with one hand on her hip, and her channeller raised high in the air. Her pastel pink braids lengthened, turning into a brighter pink that turned to vivid purple at the tips. She pulled up one leg and spun around on the other as her undersized robes glowed. They shimmered and changed, shortening into a purple miniskirt over a white leotard. The brightly colored jewelry adorning her wrists, neck, ears, and hair remained. After a full, shakily done spin she had two feet back on the ground, one hand swiping across her forehead as a tiara appeared as if out of magic (it was out of magic). The shining purple gem in the center glinted. Ella threw out one arm and held her channeler against her chest.
“Give us back our friend!” Ella yelled, holding out the wand towards the two girls. “Or I’ll be forced to fight my way through you!”
The two girls looked at each other for a moment.
“... Nice little transformation you got there,” The black girl with the magic said, laughing.
“This is like out of some weird anime, I know!” The girl with the camera said, barely holding in her laughter. Before turning back to Ella, “She’s fine, relax… Jordan.”
The other girl - Jordan - raised her hand, and a glowing coral-colored orb of magic appeared. However, inside of the orb was Lisa Turner, floating helplessly while she was bound with ropes that covered her torso, mouth, and legs. Lisa thrashed.
“Let’s all take a step back here… Get on the ground. And maybe we can just… talk this out, okay?” The girl with the camera said.
“Alright.” Saskia put her knife back in her robes and got down on her knees.
In that moment, Ella felt a betrayal. A betrayal towards backing up, and towards the most sacred thing… Anime! The camera girl had called it weird. How could Saskia not be upset? And Lisa didn’t exactly seem fine! She was cruelly tied up in a magical bubble!
“Let Lisa go first, then we can talk.” Ella pointed to Lisa, staying on her feet. No way was she surrendering. At the same time, she started to absorb the colour from one of her bright pink rings. “You did attack first.”
“You were robbing a store, you know,” The girl with the camera smiled cattily.
With a snap of Jordan’s fingers, Lisa had disappeared.
“Last warning, power down, then get down,” The girl with the camera said.
“Lisa!” Ella shouted as her friend disappeared. At the same time, the ring she’d been absorbing from became a dull grey. It wasn’t much of a boost, but it was better than nothing. “I won’t let you get away with this! Magical girl power: Prismatic Sun Beam!”
Ella’s held-out channeler lit up, shooting out a constant beam of damaging light, aimed at the girl with the camera’s hand. The girl with the camera dodged, stepping out of the way as the beam shot past her. However, she was singed as her skin turned red, and her tank top was burnt. She fell onto her back and flipped back onto her feet as she faced the girls. She nodded her head at Jordan, then Jordan turned towards the girls.
“Alright, have it your way!” Jordan shouted as she stuck her hands out and fired two balls of coral-pink energy at each of them to launch the two backward.
“I surrendered,” Saskia said with absolutely no emotion in their voice as the ball of energy hit them, knocking them backward. As they were launched they pulled back out their knife, sliced across the palm of their hand, and had their blood coat their back before they slammed back down onto the ground. She then picked herself up, manipulating her blood to form a blade from her hand.
“Super Prism Kick!” Ella yelled out very weebily, iridescent light coating her right leg. She lifted it up and straight up kicked the ball of energy out of the way. Her attention shifted from the camera girl to Jordan - she was the immediate threat. “Drawing on the bright colours shining through the darkness, I’ll defeat you - Vivid Sphere!”
The bright pink and purple of her bracelets faded to grey and a sphere double the size of a tennis ball appeared in her hands. She launched it towards Jordan - if it hit, it would feel like being hit by a brick. Jordan raised her hands as she shouted,
“TIME STANDS STILL!” A dome of coral-pink magic formed around herself, Kimberly, and the two girls, stopping all time within it. The four could still move freely, but the magic sphere that Ella launched was frozen. The girl with the camera nodded as Jordan raised her hands again, floating off the AC unit onto the ground. At the same time, the girl with the camera reached down to her utility belt and pulled out two magical orbs and hopped off the AC Unit towards Saskia. She threw the orbs, they traveled a distance, and then they came to a standstill. The girl landed on her knee while Jordan pointed a hand at the ground, ripped a chunk of the rooftop out of the ground, and aimed it at Ella.
The dome Jordan created disappeared, and the two magical orbs launched themselves at Saskia; they struck with explosive force and then teleported back into the girl with the camera’s hands. At the same time, the chunk of rooftop went flying towards Ella.
“Superprismkick!” Ella just about shouted out, using her right leg again to kick through the rooftop and stop it from smacking her entire body. Pain shot through it from the impact, and it buckled underneath her as soon as it landed back on the floor. Saskia managed to coat her body in a thin layer of solid blood, which shattered as soon as the orbs hit her and sent her flying. She landed with a thud, wrist cracking painfully underneath her.
Appearing unbothered, Saskia stood up and held up her hand, more blood leaking from her palm and forming a blood bullet that shot towards Kimberley incredibly quickly. Which penetrated Kimberly through the leg.
Ella looked at Saskia, then back at their two attackers. She was down on one knee, ironically where they’d told her to be earlier, but she could still fight! She held up her hands in front of her and closed her eyes. “Aurora Flash!”
Her hands lit up with a blinding, colourful light that shone across the whole area. She could hear Saskia let out an annoyed groan as they were hit by it too.
“Stop calling your attacks, dumbass!” Jordan shouted through the flash.
When it faded, Jordan surrounded herself in a coral-pink veil and it seemed that she moved faster relative to everyone else. She quickly closed the distance between herself and Ella and reached for that stupid wand.
While Kimberly jumped in the air, still bleeding out of her leg, and pulled out that revolver. She seemed to float down as she pulled the trigger. the cylinder turned and a fireball came out the barrel directly at Saskia.ia.
“I have to call my attacks! Super prism kick!” Ella’s left, undamaged leg glowed and she awkwardly kicked it up towards the hand aiming for her channeler, putting all her weight on her very painful right leg. It hurt like hell and she was incredibly unstable, but she wasn’t letting some normie touch her Sailor Moon wand! Absolutely not! Jordan’s hand broke on contact, and she winced in pain.
“Who the hell are you!?” Jordan seethed.
“It is dumb,” Saskia groaned, rapidly forming her blood into a large tendril at her back. She threw it in front of her to block the fireball, blood boiling and dripping to the ground. With a loud wince, Saskia also fell towards the ground, one hand on it to steady herself. She held the other one up. “Ella, please, surrender.”
“But she’s trying to take my wand!”
“Just so we can stop this!” Jordan grabbed her broken hand… it was surrounded by a coral-pink sphere and it reverted back in time until it was good as new. She flicked her hand and walked backwards. “Kim! They are clearly not apart of The Society! Let’s chill.”
The girl with the camera holstered the revolver and raised her hands in the air. She said, “Yeah, let’s just stop and talk this out!”
“What’s the Society?” Ella tilted her head, lowering the arm holding her channeller now that it was safe. She moved to a sitting position to take the weight off her hurt leg, clearly deciding not to fight anymore. “Are they a thrift store theft group?”
Jordan facepalmed.
“Doubtful,” Saskia groaned. Her face was paling than normal, sweat forming on her forehead and lips twisting down in pain as she started to heal her broken wrist. “We’re not from around here. We’re here to… help someone.”
“Yeah, and we just needed clothes!” Ella nodded furiously. Then she pointed at Jordan. “Wait, bring Lisa back!”
Jordan snapped her fingers and Lisa appeared in a coral-pink orb. Still bound and gagged. With a wave of Jordan’s hands, the threads that bind Lisa were undone and she quickly climbed to her feet. She went over to Ella and Saskia and said,
“Are you two alright?” Lisa asked.
“Look there are better ways to get clothes than steal them!” The girl with the camera snorted, laughing afterwards. “Who are you here to help… wait, who are you all?”
"Lisa!" Ella immediately hugged Lisa, completely ignoring her hurt leg to launch herself at her friend. "Are you alright? Do you need any healing?!"
“I’m alright! I’m alright!” Lisa chuckled.
"Hey, if anyone needs it, it's me," Saskia protested weakly. They then looked over at their two would be captors. "We don't have any money. How else do we get clothes?"
"Yeah!" Ella twisted her head, refusing to let Lisa go in case she disappeared. "And we're the magical girls! I'm magical girl aurora- or Ella!"
"Actually, we're Agents of Death now," Saskia rolled their eyes. "I'm Saskia."
“Y-yeah, I’m Lisa…” Lisa ran a hand through her hair.
“… Agents of Death?” Jordan tilted her head. “What kind of corny ass… okay, okay! My name is Jordan Nichols.”
“I am Kimberly Walton! Paranormal investigator and internet sensation!” She introduced herself, extending a hand. “I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot! We just caught you all robbing a place..” She shrugged and rolled her eyes.
"That's fair, honestly…" Saskia shrugged.
"Are you famous, then?" Ella tilted her head. She then looked at the hand, then back at Kimberley. And then at the hand. Eventually she reached out and shook it. "I've never heard of an online paranormal investigator, that's cool! Sorry I attacked you, I was just worried about my friend. And you called anime weird."
Jordan looked at Kimberly - who smiled - then shook her head.
“I’m something of a celebrity,” Kimberly laughed. “But, ummm… what are you three doing here? Why are you three wearing robes?”
“… And why are you calling yourselves crazy shit like magical girls and… Agents of death?” Jordan raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. “Like the fuck?”
"Uhmmmmm…" Ella trailed off, looking at Lisa, then Saskia. How did they explain it? The hound hadn't told them whether they could tell others or not! How did they even explain it without looking crazy?!
"We died," Saskia began, as if they were just talking about what they had for breakfast. "These are the clothes we died in. We then got brought back to life, and have to do something for what did that. Thus Agents of Death."
"Yeah! And we're magical girls because… we're magical girls! Obviously!" Ella gestured to the three of them… even though it really wasn't obvious. "We were the magical girl group when fighting the Stygian Snake!"
Jordan tilted her head back, the corner of her mouth tilting upwards. “I, uh, what? Um, like—what the f—” However, Kimberly ran over and put a finger to Jordan’s lips.
“Ssssssssh! Come mere!” Kimberly leaned into Jordan’s ear and whispered a few things. Then she stopped, looking over at the girls. "None of you have super hearing, right?”
Lisa looked between them all, then answered, “Not yet!”
“Okay, good!” Kimberly said to them before she whispered more things into Jordan’s ear… who rolled her eyes and said,
“... Fine.”
Then Kimberly faced them with a wide, discerning smile! As she said, “Alright, we’re going to buy you all a room for the night, then when morning hits, we’re going to a store to buy you clothes. On us. How’s that sound?”
"Seriously?" Ella grinned and jumped to her feet… let out a yelp of pain when she put too much weight on the leg she'd hurt. Still, better than getting hit by a ceiling in the head! "That sounds great! Will the room come with anything to sleep in, cause I'm pretty sure I've grown like two sizes overnight and my clothes are really tight."
"Wait," Saskia shook their head. "What's the catch? Why would you do that for us?"
“The catch is that you two stay out of trouble!” Jordan laughed.
“Look, you three clearly need some help… and that’s what we do, we help people,” Kimberly put a hand on her chest. “... And all you are going to do when we leave is try and rob a different store.” She snorted.
“We don’t got time to follow you around Mirage Springs all day,” Jordan shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"You’d rob a store too if you had only robes and no money," Saskia replied drily, shrugging. "But-"
"Not buts, we’ll take your help! Thank you very much!" Ella interrupted with a wide grin. They hadn’t even had a chance to consider where they’d stay, so they shouldn’t turn down this offer. Plus, Saskia looked like she was about to pass out. She really needed a bed. "Let’s go, let’s go, I need to get outta these too small clothes."
“I like them…” Lisa mused out loud.
Kimberly turned her head towards the sedan sized spider. “… Could one of you get rid of that first?”
“Oh! Lemme take care of that!” Lisa stuck her hand out, and the jumping spider shrunk back to normal after cracking and popping. Then, after dispelled it, it hurried off.
Saskia watched the spider disappear, then fixed Kimberley with a deadpan stare.
"... Now how do we get down?"
The nearest Walmart wasn’t too far away, fortunately. Unfortunately, walking into a Walmart wearing robes, even at nine at night, drew a lot of idle eyes. Kimberly and Jordan walked in front of the three, then the former turned on her heel and put her hands together. She smiled as she said,
“Buy as much as you need!” Kimberly began, “My bank account can survive a shopping spree or two.”
“… Whatever will stop you three from robbing places,” Jordan put a hand on her hip, then rolled her eyes. “Then we can book ya’ll into the hotel we’re staying in.”
“In the morning, we can get breakfast and try to figure this all out!” Kimberly chipperly said. “Okay!?”
Lisa nodded her head, “Okay!” Then she looked at the others…
"Okay!" Ella repeated, glancing around the store. Walmart wasn't really her choice for clothes, but they couldn't really be fussy when it wasn't their money. And at this time of night. Maybe they could go on another, more specialised shopping trip tomorrow. With that in mind Ella grinned, looking over at her friends. "Let's go!"
Before either could say anything, Ella grabbed Lisa and Saskia's hand and practically dragged them over to the clothing section.
"Hey," Saskia weakly protested, but they offered no resistance.
Ella let go of their hands when they reached the women's section and immediately started perusing the clothing. It wasn't the best selection, but there were some things she could wear! She first picked out a bunch of skirts in various sizes, ranging from white to florals, and then some jeans. Then she grabbed pretty much every pink or purple shirt she could see.
"How are you planning to carry all that?" Saskia commented, eyeing the teetering pile. They'd only picked out a few baggy, dark coloured jeans and long sleeved tops. Not a single colour in sight.
"I've grown, I don't know what will fit!" Ella then craned her neck, looking around. "Is there anywhere I can change here?"
Lisa looked at Ella.
Then at the big sign that said CHANGING ROOM.
Then she looked at Ella again.
Then back to the sign.
Then at Saskia.
Then back to Ella.
Then the sign again.
Then at Kimberly who looked confused.
Then back to the sign.
Then at Ella.
“... I don't know,”
"How are we supposed to do anything if you can't notice an obvious sign?" Saskia raised a hand to her forehead.
”Hey! Don’t be so rough on her! We all probably lost a few brain cells in the whole process!” Lisa laughed.
"Ohhhhh," Ella spotted the sign after Lisa looked at it multiple times. She really was exceptionally bad at finding things! "I'm gonna go get changed!"
She scurried off, arms laden with clothing.
Lisa waved and cupped her hands together to shouted at her, ”Okay! Scream if you’re getting eaten by a monster or something!”
Saskia sighed, holding up the stuff they'd picked. "I'm good, this'll fit me. I'll grab some stuff from the men's section as well… Do you need to try stuff on too, Lisa? Ella will take a while."
The two went shopping as Lisa picked out some clothes… She only picked out a few cheap t-shirts, pants, some jeans, and hung them in one of her arms as she leisurely marched through the store. Naturally, Lisa started talking.
”... Ah, these clothes are so not my style! Maybe we should see if we could get Kimberly to take us by a mall later or something! Because, I think all my stuff is still at the mansion! Unless they threw it away, because that would really suck, y’know! Wait, did they beat the Stygian...”
Lisa glanced at a mirror as she walked past it… then stopped in her tracks, took a few steps back. Then stared at the mirror for a few seconds, before she placed a hand against her face.
”... I do look different.” Lisa said, ”I just thought you two were messing with me...”
"Yeah, why would we joke about that? You both look different, even without growing- huh." Saskia appeared in the mirror beside Lisa, staring at themself. They also looked different. They reached up to feel their hair, then their jaw. It wasn’t as jarring a change but they looked… more mature. A sharper jawline, more filled out body. Strange. "Dying cut a few inches off my hair. I wonder if it was some kind of price?"
”Just…” Lisa trailed off as she looked at Saskia. ”... Just how long have we been gone?”
"I don’t know," Saskia shook their head and frowned. It was hard to estimate based on just their appearances. A few years, maybe? They definitely both looked like adults rather than teenagers. "Maybe if we find something with the year on it… Ah. We could just ask."
Saskia turned around and waved to Jordan and Kimberley - they were sitting on a bench nearby - though it was quite an understated, limp wave. Actually… what year had they died during? Saskia’s memory of that was fuzzy too. "Have either of you heard of St Portwell… Or any disaster that happened there?"
Kimberly hopped up to her feet, and walked over to them, giving them both a warm smile. “... Which one? The ‘natural disaster’-” Kimberly finger quoted, “-or the supernatural shitshow that took after?” Kimberly laughed.
"... The ‘natural disaster’," Saskia answered, somewhat confidently. Though her expression hadn’t exactly changed. There hadn’t been a supernatural shitshow beyond the snake when they were alive, had there? Not that they were aware of.
“We heard of that… the Stygian Snake your friend mentioned earlier, right?” Kimberly asked.
Jordan put a hand on her hip. “Yeah, we’re well aware of St. Portwell. It’s our next stop after we get out of here.”
“The Stygian Snake rampaged through St. Portwell… then disappeared in thin air! It hasn’t even terrorized other dimensions like it typically does,” Kimberly answered.
"They must’ve succeeded," Saskia said softly, letting out a sigh of relief, corners of her lips twitching up. They looked at Lisa with the closest to a cheerful expression they could really show. If the Stygian Snake wasn’t rampaging through any of the dimensions, it must be defeated. Why else would it stop? It made them feel a little better about their own death. Just a little. "Yeah, the Stygian Snake. How long ago did it disappear then? A couple of years?"
Kimberly was briefly silent, then said….
“... Ten years ago!”
"What?" Saskia froze, lips parting and eyes widening. It was the most expressive she’d been in a long time… Ten years?! Ten years… Everything would have changed in ten years. Everyone would have moved on. Not that Saskia had many people caring for her, but Lisa and Ella were a different story. They turned to Lisa. "It’s been ten years. We’re twenty six. Ten years since…"
Saskia trailed off. For once, they weren’t sure what to say.
Lisa’s jaw dropped before she awkwardly laughed. She waved them off as she said,
“It can’t have been ten years! It doesn't even feel like a day!” Lisa laughed some more, then grabbed her face with both hands. She smiled like a fool as she rotated her head back and forth. Then she turned to Saskia and said, “... Why now then? Or even… Why not later?!”
"I don’t know…" Saskia shook their head.
Both Kimberly and Jordan shared confused looks with each other.
“... Well, we don't know your situation,” Jordan crossed her arms.
“Well, we kinda know… Maybe one of you can explain things a little better, yeah?” Kimberly smiled.
"I’ll try," Saskia said. It was still a difficult thing to explain, but she probably had the best chance at doing it. Much as they loved Ella, she was useless at explanations, and Lisa… Well, Saskia was sure the news had shocked her. It meant ten years away from Adora. "It’s a bit hard to explain, since it was very sudden for us. All of three of us died fighting the Stygian Snake… ten years ago. Then today we got brought back to life by something called the Hound. He gave us a task we need to complete to stay alive, and dumped us here. That’s why we were robbing the store."
Saskia sighed, rubbing the back of their neck. "So, we just found out we’ve been dead for ten years, but also aged ten years."
“That's…” Kimberly trailed off, glancing at Jordan, “... Odd.”
“Yeah, the Hound typically doesn't do that,” Jordan said.
“... What's the task?” Kimberly asked.
"He owed someone a favour," Saskia shrugged. The fact the two of them knew about the hound was… good. Perhaps they could get information from them. "He asked us to defeat an Apparition called Morningstar."
Kimberly and Jordan stared at each other.
“... Do you have any idea of what he threw you two into?” Jordan asked, “Do you know who Morningstar is?”
“Or better yet, the power he has over the city…?” Kimberly asked.
"No, he refused to explain," Saskia said. It didn’t surprise them that Morningstar was strong. Any task to regain life would be difficult. "But we were dead. It’s a better chance than before… and with our experience, dying again won’t be so bad."
Lisa robotically turned her head towards Saskia.
“... We are not dying again.”
"I was joking."
“Sounds like the Hound,” Jordan said, “To make it short and sweet… Morningstar rules the city.”
"Well, that’ll make him easy to find," Saskia said. That had been the first issue they had to solve. "How strong is he, compared to the Stygian Snake?"
“I’m not sure about his personal power, but he has destroyed universes…” Kimberly began. “The issue isn’t him, but he is a very intelligent and cunning Apparition. And not just that…”
“His ‘Society’ is also a problem,” Jordan added.
Universe destroying sounded… Bad. They were just three adepts. How were they supposed to beat that? "What’s his society? Other apparitions?"
“Well, not just Apparitions…” Kimberly said, awkwardly laughing. “... About a hundred different Paranormals.”
"Well shit." Saskia frowned. So they had to defeat a universe destroying apparition and a hundred paranormals. If they tried to pick them off one by one that would take months. It just didn’t seem feasible. "Well, we might as well give up."
"Give up what?!" Ella suddenly burst in, carrying a much smaller pile of clothes. "Why are we giving up?!"
"Fighting a world destroying apparition and his hundred followers."
"Huhhh? We can totally do that!”
“Yeah!” Lisa smiled, “Don’t be like that! They beat the Stygian Snake, right?!”
That smile got bigger.
“We can do anything!”
Kimberly shrugged, “I mean, we made some headway against the Society.”
“And given your situation, I can not in good conscience tell you all to stay out of this…” Jordan trailed off, then looked at Kimberly.
“Me neither,” Kimberly shrugged again, “So how about we all work together?”
"Sure! The more the merrier!” Ella grinned. "Like Lisa said, we can do anything, especially with more people!"
"Yes, we’ll need all the help we can get." Saskia glanced between their two friends. Sometimes their positivity could be exhausting, but it was good in this situation. They had to defeat Morningstar. There was no other choice, as impossible as it seemed. "We were dropped here without any information, this saves us running around knowing nothing."
“Great!” Kimberly said. “With all five of us, anything is possible!”
“But let’s check out and get to the hotel already,” Jordan suggested.
"Yeah, trying on all those clothes was exhausting!" Ella nodded, beginning to make her way towards the checkout. "I can't wait to just sleep… I can't remember when we last had a full night's sleep!"
"Before the snake," Saskia said. As they passed the men's section they nipped in and grabbed a few plain t-shirts and tank tops. None of the clothes were what she'd normally wear, but thankfully it was easy to get greyscale clothing anywhere. "But we should figure out what to do next first. We might have a time limit."
"But we might not!" Ella looked over at Kimberley and Jordan, completely swapping topics. "Oh, can we get some food too?"
“I bet you three are with the whole being…” Kimberly stumbled and caught herself. She trailed off as Jordan facepalmed, Lisa’s jaw dropped, and Saskia’s eyes widened slightly. “... Where would you three like to go?”
"The whole being what?" Ella was confused.
"It doesn’t matter," Saskia shook their head, glad of Ella’s obliviousness for once. "Let’s get something filling, like-"
"Dairy Queen!"
“I was thinking we could get some actual food… like is there any Spanish restaurants around here?” Lisa asked.
“I could go for a milkshake…“ Kimberly shrugged.
"I vote for Spanish food, or literally anything that’s not Dairy Queen," Saskia said.
"Awww… maybe we can get proper food then Dairy Queen!"
Lisa loudly yawned, raising her arms in the air.
“Let’s get some food, then go to the hotel… I’m tirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrred!”
Jordan slapped a hand on her hip and shifted her weight to it. She chuckled as she said, “C’mon now, there are way better ice cream places around here than that dump!”
"Alright, fine," Ella pouted. "I guess we’ve had a long day… years… I don’t know!"
"We can get ice cream in the morning," Saskia suggested, because if she didn’t Ella would complain for the next ten minutes or so… then forget about it. They then looked at Jordan and Kimberley. "We don’t know this area so… you choose a place."
“I know just the place,” Kimberly said before she raised a fist and bent a leg by the knee. “Let’s go!”
“Please change into some normal clothes first,” Jordan added.
After specifically not going to Dairy Queen, the group had a nice dinner and went to Kimberly’s hotel… A Holiday Inn. Kimberly opened the door with a key and opened the door. She stepped in, and did a twirl as she said,
“Come in, come in! Make yourselves at home!” She chipperly said as Jordan sat down and crossed her arms.
Lisa awkwardly stepped in, now wearing camo pants, a black tank top, and the boots she always wore. “... I thought you were a celebrity? A Holiday Inn is the best you could get…?”
“This is more lowkey,” Jordan answered.
“Yeah! What she said!” Kimberly added. “Sit down, get comfortable! We have much to talk about!”
Lisa shrugged as she did just that.
"It’s pretty cozy!" Ella commented with a grin, taking a seat beside Lisa. She’d changed into a pastel pink t-shirt tucked into a white skirt.
Saskia, wearing dark jeans with a grey tank top layered over a black long sleeved shirt, observed the room first before taking a seat. They didn’t feel particularly comfortable in the room, with its small size and large amount of people squeezed in. Eventually they sat down near Ella and turned to Kimberly and Jordan. They decided to get straight to the point. "Tell us about the Society."
“Straight to business, I see!” Kimberly laughed as she walked across the room and grabbed a bottle of Irish Whiskey. She poured it into a glass and sat down.
“Giiiiiiirl, you’re not gonna offer our friends some?” Jordan grinned.
Kimberly’s eyes shot open.
“... Them getting drunk is the last thing we need,” she said, followed by an awkward chuckle.
"We don’t drink anyway," Ella laughed.
Saskia hit her with a deadpan look. "Speak for yourself."
“So, The Society? Well, ain’t tryna be that guy but technically they’re called ‘Morningstar’s Society’,” Jordan finger quoted. “But, that’s just pointless-ass semantics. So, lemme start from the top; Mirage Springs used to have different factions… including his Society.”
“Yeah, but then Morningstar crept his way into the different organizations, then added everyone into his Society… and those that didn’t join the fold, well…” Kimberly shrugged, her eyes turned to the side as she just flapped the hand that wasn’t holding a drink in the air.
“Just call a spade a spade, Kim,” Jordan began before she looked at the girls. “Whoever didn’t join Morningstar was killed. Or forced out of Mirage Springs...”
“Truth is… we don’t have much information on Morningstar,” Kimberly began. We got here a few weeks ago, but we know they practically rule the supernatural scene here in Mirage Springs. So, we’ve been laying low, trying to gather information.”
“There are a lot of them, that we know,” Jordan explained, “Like, the society is structured like a weird-ass pyramid.”
“Yup, three tiers,” Kimberly raised a finger, “At the bottom is the ‘Lower Caste,’ which consists of footsoldiers, grunts, and other workers. The Lower Caste comprises a majority of the Society.”
Kimberly raised another finger, “Then there’s the ‘Upper League,’ which is more of the supervisors for the Lower Caste. They’re more powerful than the Lower Caste, but there are way less of them.”
Then she raised her third finger, “Then above them are Morningstar’s generals… the Endless Seven. We don’t have much information on them… but they’re Morningstar’s strongest.” She lowered her hand, then shrugged.
“Then, of course, at the very top is Morningstar himself,” Jordan said. “Egomaniacal ass… hehehe…”
"So we’re all in danger just by being in the city?" Saskia frowned. It was a lot of information to take in, and made their prospect sound very bleak. Thankfully they’d met Kimberley and Jordan, even if the initial meeting hadn’t been too friendly. Otherwise they’d be going around blind and probably walk write into a Society meeting, and die again. "Every paranormal against him’s been killed or driven out… How do we even start going against that?"
"Can’t we just go against his Endless Seven? Skip all the lower tiers?" Ella suggested.
"No way will it be that easy," Saskia shook her head, looking at Kimberley and Jordan. "Right?"
“I mean…” Kimberly snorted. "It's not like it's a video game where we have to work our way up to the final boss.” To emphasize her point, Kimberly gestured as if she were playing video games in the air.
“We just don't know who, or where, the Endless Seven are,” Jordan said with a shrug.
“I mean, there has to be a way to beat them, right?” Lisa asked.
"Well we just have to find them, then!" Ella nodded. Saskia shot a withering glare. As if it would be that easy.
"No shit," Saskia rolled their eyes. She continued with a completely serious expression. "Will the ‘Upper League’ know where they are? Maybe we can capture one of them and torture it out of them."
Both Kimberly and Jordan’s jaws dropped.
“Yeah, I know just how to get som—” Lisa cheered before Kimberly interrupted her.
“... We are not torturing anybody,” Kimberly flatly answered.
"I suppose there are other ways to get information…" Saskia shrugged. They’d been half joking, but they didn’t really see an easier way to get information. Perhaps a little bit of intimidation would do? Her and Lisa could be quite scary with their abstractions. "Can we help with that? Information finding is really mine and Ella’s strong point but… Lisa’s spiders can be pretty useful."
Kimberly sipped her whiskey and then smiled, “Of course you can!”
“... Well, if you tell us what exactly you three can do,” Jordan added.
"I’m a magical girl!" Ella grinned, going to jump up. She was stopped by Saskia grabbing her arm and dragging her back down to a sitting position. "You already saw that, but I transform into my magical girl form and then I can use light and colour based attacks! I have to get the colour from somewhere… Oh, I can also boost emotional fields. And myself with colour! I’m pretty versatile!"
She threw up a peace sign.
“... Maybe it would help to stop calling your attacks,” Jordan sneered.
"I can use my blood for various attacks, and create bone spears," Saskia began, tapping her left wrist that she’d broken earlier. "I heal broken bones quickly and recover from blood loss faster. Technically, I should be passed out by now. I can also break any of my bones. Do you want to see?"
“... No, thank you,” Kimberly said.
“Yeah, I’m good,” Jordan shrugged, then turned her head towards Lisa, “… And you?”
Lisa perked up.
“Well, I can make spiders - but you already saw that!” Lisa said, “But I can do stuff with ‘im like make them explode with acid! Splice them with insects! Grow really big!”
Then she put a finger to her cheek as she added, “I also made this spell to get payback for this bitch that grabbed my titty one time! Basically, all I have to do is touch them - or be in a place - and I can summon spiders at their location! I just can’t control them since they’re out of my range, but I bet you’re not expecting it; it’s really scary…”
“… Wonderful,” Jordan added.
"Hey, Liv said it was an accident!" Ella exclaimed.
“I don’t care!” Lisa shouted.
"Please tell me you haven’t used it on her since we’ve gotten back?" Ella asked.
“Unfortunately it has a time limit of a day…” Lisa answered. “But when we get back…”
Both Jordan and Kimberly gave each other some very concerned looks.
"An accidental titty grab is still a titty grab," Saskia said ominously. She shrugged. A few spiders wouldn’t hurt anyone, it wasn’t like Lisa was summoning black widows on her or anything… probably. "Well, that just about sums it up. Ella and I tended to fight on the frontlines, and Lisa did a lot of scouting."
“I was a scout, ambulance, and occasional fighter,” Lisa smiled. Then she turned to Kimberly and Jordan, “What can you two do?”
“Well…” Kimberly reached down to her utility belt, “I’m technically not Paranormal but I use a bunch of different artifacts like the ones you saw.”
“I’m a Chronomancer,” Jordan explained. “I can stop time, and manipulate the flow of it in a localized area. I can also teleport and use telekinesis.”
"Whoa, that’s so cool! That’s like purple lux right… Can you teleport to other realms?" Ella looked at Jordan excitedly.
“I can, in fact, do that,” Jordan answered.
"Why would we need to do that?" Saskia muttered, before shaking her head. But it was good, because they both filled in a lot of gaps they had… Primarily her and Ella, who were rather restricted. She glanced at Kimberley’s utility belt. "What can your artifacts do, outside of the ones we already saw?"
“Weeeeeeeeell…” Kimberly said, “I got a lot of them. We’ll be here all day - well, night - if I explained them all.”
She raised a finger with two particular rings. She pointed at one, then the other, as she explained,
“This ring gives me super agility! And this one gives me an Emotional-Field,” Kimberly began, before reaching for a magical cube, “This turns into a barrier… Oh yeah!”
Kimberly grabbed the camera she was first seen holding, “This lets me teleport through photos, trap apparitions, and spy on locations.” She spoke all giddy.
“… Cool, right?”
"Yeah, very cool." Saskia didn’t sound like she thought it was cool, but she actually did. A camera that could do that much… That was very useful. And it was only one of many artifacts Kimberley had. "Can you use it on an apparition like Morningstar, then?"
“Totally!” Kimberly answered, “We just need to weaken him first!”
"Oh that’s totally manageable!" Ella chimed in with a grin. "We’re experts at weakening apparitions. It’s all we did against the Stygian Snake!"
"It’ll certainly make things easier," Saskia said. Otherwise they’d have to kill him, which would be a pain. "Once we find him."
"Yeah we find him, we beat him up, and then Kimberley traps him in the camera!" Ella made a punching motion. "Easy!"
"Yeah, easy," Saskia echoed, before yawning. The blood loss from earlier and subsequent blood regeneration they’d been casting was beginning to catch up on them.
“Too easy!” Lisa shouted.
Both Kimberly and Jordan faced each other.
“… Let’s cross that bridge when we get there,” Jordan added. “How about we check you all into your rooms, and we make a plan in the morning?”
"Sounds good to me, I think we all could do with some rest." Ella gave Jordan a thumbs up, though she didn’t seem tired at all.
"Yes please," Saskia yawned again. "I need to recover from blood loss."
“Wait, ya’ll don’t got IDs, do ya’ll?” Jordan asked.
Lisa shook her head. “We don’t have anything! Sorry!”
“Good grief,” Jordan said as she got up, “I’ll take care of this, Kim. I’ll just put it in my name.”
She gestured for them to come along.
“Let’s go girls.”
There was a beep, and Jordan opened the door for the three. The room was similar to the other one, but this time, there were two beds, a desk, and a laptop.
“Me and Kim will come wake you up in the morning, alright?” Jordan said.
“… But there’s only two beds,” Lisa added.
“Figure it out,” Jordan began, “Don’t wreck the place.”
Then Jordan closed the door.
There was an awkward silence.
"Well, I’m happy to share a bed with either of you!" Ella eventually broke the silence.
“We could cuddle!” Lisa shouted. “I can be the little spoon!”
"Sure!" Ella grinned. "You want to join, Saskia?!"
"... No." Saskia said, because they’d rather not deal with that. They pointed to the laptop to distract from the awkward bed situation that had turned into an awkward cuddle situation. "Why don’t we do some research first? Maybe a quick google will help."
Saskia went over to the desk, taking the seat before either of them could snatch it. They sluggishly opened the laptop. After it turned on they went straight to google… and just straight up typed in Morningstar.
It probably wouldn’t work but… worth a try.
"Oh shit." Saskia blinked at the results. "That actually worked."
First result: Morningstar Banking.
“Lemme see!” Lisa rushed over and looked at the computer screen. “Hmmmm… I mean it could mean anything. Could just be a name… lemme take the wheel for a second…”
She awkwardly reached over, grabbed the mouse, typed in Morningstar Banking CEO, and then pressed enter.
The results came up…
“… Oooooh!” Lisa exclaimed.
It was pictures of their target. Professional pictures, him at events, and so on. His name was Carlisle Reynard Morgenstern…
"Well, that really was easy." Saskia actually smiled as she looked at all the pictures of Morningstar. "I bet if we go to the bank and demand to see the manager we’ll get to him eventually…"
"Oh wow!" Ella popped up behind them, easily looking over their shoulders at the laptop. "We didn’t even have to look very hard! Even I’m not stupid enough to name a bank after myself, he must be veryyy confident no one can hurt him."
“… Which isn’t a good thing - for him, for him I mean!,” Lisa tugged her collar as she looked between the three. “Maybe we don’t even need to ask for the manager, we can just use my spiders to climb the building… if he’s there, that is.”
Lisa clapped her hands together, “Then we can seal him, then find the thing the Hound wants, and we can call it a day!”
"Oh yeah, that’ll be easier, then we’ll catch him by surprise! Then we’ll beat him like boom, pow! Sealed!" Ella punched out two fists to demonstrate. "We could even do it tonight and get it over with!"
"You guys are doing that without me," Saskia yawned again. Bed was really calling them… specifically a bed to themselves since the other two seemed to want to spoon. "I don’t have enough blood for another fight."
Lisa wrapped her arms around Saskia and shouted, “Come onnnnnnnnnnn! You gotta be there!” She squeezed her cheek against Saskia’s, and nudged it from left to right. ”We’re the magical girls! One fight!”
"Do you want me to die?" Saskia groaned, even though she made absolutely no move to dislodge Lisa. Her blood levels weren’t actually that low anymore… ugh. This would be so much work.
"C’monnnnn Saskia!" Ella joined in from behind, hugging both of them tightly. She squished Lisa and Saskia even closer together with her hug. "One fight, one fight!"
"Fine. Finnneee… I’ll come."
”Yay!” Lisa shouted, releasing Saskia to raise a hand in the air… then she yawned. ”Alright, I’m tired. Let’s call it a day girls…” She out-stretched her hands up in the air.
”I don’t want to think about what kind of grime is on us… So, should we decide a shower order real quick?” Lisa asked.
"Ella’s going last," Saskia said instantly. "She takes ages."
"Aw, I don’t take that long… I’ll be quick," Ella whined, stepping back and sitting on the bed just behind her. "Last time I only took half an hour!"
"Only?" Saskia hit Ella with her deadest stare. She really didn’t know that that was long, did she? Of course she didn’t, this was Ella. Though they supposed her hair was higher maintenance at least… Still going last. "Why don’t you go first, Lisa, then me, then Ella?"
”Okay! I’ll be right back!” Lisa quickly grabbed her clothes and ran into the shower. After a few minutes, the shower cut on...
… Unfortunately for the two, Lisa likes to sing in the shower.
”♪ ... I met a girl on the holiday! When she smiiiiiiiiiiled she took my breath away! ♪”
Saskia groaned and threw herself on the bed, covering her ears with a pillow. It was going to be a long shower time… since Ella would sing too.
For Lisa, sleep reminded her of the big sleep, so she was not super excited to fall back asleep, but thankfully, exhaustion took her. Unfortunately, Ella just had to catch up on her favorite anime before she fell asleep… and didn’t buy any headphones during their (awkward) Walmart visit. Fortunately, even exhaustion comes for Ella as she falls asleep with the others, and, as they discussed earlier, she comes to cuddle with Lisa (She was the little spoon!), which manages to put her soul at ease enough to fall asleep.
The little spoon was peacefully asleep…
"... AHHHHH GET OFF ME, PROTECT ME SAILOR MOON!"
Lisa’s eyes shot wide open. Her time fighting the Stygian Snake had made her just a little bit paranoid. She rolled out of bed and hit the floor with a thud, feeling the pain surge through her body only to be temporarily dulled by the rush of adrenaline. This wasn’t a time to ask questions. Lisa was acting off relex and raised both of her hands in the air.
A wave of spiders came out of the unseen crevices of the rooms—from under the bed, from the bathroom, from under the radiator, and so forth—and flooded the room, covering the floor until it looked like there was a chitinous carpet…
Many of these spiders began crawling up Lisa’s leg and she didn’t flinch.
"Don't summon more!" Ella screamed from the bed. She'd sat up, and there was a large spider on her forehead. She was trembling. "Get it off me!"
"Ella?!" Saskia also rolled off the bed, hitting the spider-filled floor. There was no other reaction as spiders also crawled on her. A long bone spear shot out of her hand and pointed towards Ella.
"It's… it's the spider! I woke up with it on my face!"
”Just hold still!”
Lisa shouted as she slowly approached Ella to avoid startling her further and hurting the spider. Her hands were outstretched as the tide of spiders that had previously filled the room disappeared into the same crevices they were summoned, except for the one on Ella’s forehead. Lisa put her hands out and commanded the spider to enter her hands… She stepped back and gently petted the spider with one finger before it crawled up her arm and walked over to her head. Resting on the top of her head.
”There! All good!” Lisa said. ”... It’s harmless anyway.”
"Thank you… I don't care if it's harmless; I just don't want it on me," Ella shook her head, not moving from where she was pressed up against the wall. "I don't mind the spiders, Lisa. It's just when things crawl on me! Especially when I'm sleeping!"
"C'mon, it wasn't that bad," Saskia rolled their eyes, standing up and retracting the bone spear with a wince. She yawned and looked around. "I guess we're all awake now? I'm not getting back to sleep after that… maybe we can get an early start to raising Morningstar's bank."
Lisa glanced at the clock on the nightstand, and it said 8:12 PM. Lisa figured that maybe Kimberly and Jordan were going to wake them up later on. But they already found Morningstar! They could just go to his evil lair, beat him up, and be back to St. Portwell before the end of the day!
Lisa put her hands on her hips and faced the group - that spider on her head.
”Get dressed girls!” Lisa shouted before raising a fist up into the air. ”We got an Apparition to catch!”
The trip to Morningstar Banking was a few hour one because they literally had to walk there because they had no money to pay for a Taxi or Uber - or even a bus! So, they had to walk to downtown Mirage Springs. Lisa’s legs were on fire, but she kept moving… and eventually, it came into sight: Morningstar Banking. It looked exactly as it did in the google search! Lisa let out a heaved breath… even though it was like September, the city was still hot. The sun’s rays bared down on her as she walked down the sidewalk. She weakly raised a hand up into the air, pointing at Morningstar Banking, and said, ”We… we… we found it girls…” Lisa heaved again. She was wearing black leggings, a black tank-top, and her combat boots (unfortunately the only piece of footwear she had). ”I… need… some water… maybe some AC…”
"Let’s… never do this… again…" Ella doubled over beside Lisa, panting heavily. She was dressed in a bright pink t-shirt tucked into some light blue, wide legged jeans, and pink sneakers. Most jarringly, her arms were absolutely covered in bright coloured bracelets, she had on multiple necklaces, and there were at least five cute hair clips in her braided hair (which was tied up in twin buns). "We really… need some… money…"
"You know, I still had my five dollars," Saskia said, looking less out of breath than the other two. They held a hand over their eyes to block the sun and looked up at the building. They were wearing a baggy black tank top, grey cargo pants and black boots. "Sooo… can your spiders scale something like this, Lisa? It looks pretty smooth."
”Maybe… not as smooth as Ella’s… brain,” Lisa added, gradually catching her breath, “But I can still… climb it nonetheless… Spiders… climb… because of hairs on… their legs…” Lisa heaved.
"Heh, good one," Saskia chuckled.
”How… about… we just go in… and ask for him? Get in AC… for just a miiiiiiinute…”
"Yeah… I vote for that one…" Ella panted, beginning to make her way towards the entrance. She looked like she was drunk, taking the least linear path ever. Saskia moved forward to stop her from falling over.
"It was only an hour walk," Saskia rolled her eyes, guiding her into the building. Once inside, they turned back to the others. "Do we just walk up and ask for the manager or something?"
”Let’s just… just go in!” Lisa shouted, after having enough of this damn Mirage Springs sunlight that was barraging her. They just calmly walked into the main lobby of the bank… and it was a very busy sight as the lobby was full of people as there was a giant line to go see a team of different tellers. Lisa didn’t notice, or care, she was finally in some AC… and to her immediate right was a sofa. She flopped down on it, and let out a pant as she sat down.
She raised a hand…then Lisa keeled over, and fell on the sofa. ”Ella… I’m dyyyyyyyyyying…” She said, ”Hold me… your touch will give me… liiiiiiiiiife!”
"LISAAAAA don't dieeee!" Ella immediately stumbled over to Lisa, kneeling beside the sofa and pulling Lisa into her arms. Just like that fucking tears started streaming down her face. "Liiiiisaaa I've got you! Stay strong!"
"Oh. My. God." Saskia face palmed. "Can you two please be normal for a minute...?"
”... You’re asking… the girl who vomit spiders to be… normaaaaaaaaaaal!” Lisa dramatically answered.
"Well." Saskia shook her head. "I guess I should expect that much."
"Saskia, be nice!" Ella said, tears gone as quickly as they'd appeared. She was still bugging Lisa, pressing her own cheek right against Lisa's. "She was dying!"
"... Fine. If you're done dying, let's go there." Saskia pointed to the massive line.
Suddenly, Lisa snapped back to normal.
”You want to wait in there?!” Lisa laughed. ”We’re going to be here all day! What if…” She rubbed her chin, before she shrugged.
”... Yeah, I got nothing.”
"Let's just skip the queue." Ella let go of Lisa and stood back up. "Look, I learned this from an anime I watched. If you act demanding and like you're in charge everyone will listen! Just storm up there and say something's wrong. Just follow my lead."
"... This can't end well," Saskia muttered.
"Come on!" Ella was all pumped up now, it seemed. "You just have to back me up!"
She straightened her back, and marched right past the queue - to the agitation of everyone who was patiently waiting in line. It went on for ages so she was marching for a while before she reached the desk. She slammed a hand on it, yelling, "I demand to see the manager right now! If you don't, I'm going to cause a massive scene!"
Lisa was quick to follow behind Ella. The lady behind the desk looked at Ella in shock.
“... Right away, ma’am,“ She said as she got up and disappeared into the back. Lisa smiled, giving Ella a thumbs up.
A few minutes later, the lady returned, but with a tall, older, obese man in a suit who was, worst of all, bald. He walked over, smiled, and put his hands together, asking…
“Hello, how are you ladies doing!?” He began. “What can I help you all with?”
"You're not the manager!" Ella put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"He probably is," Saskia said in a hushed whisper. "We have to go higher."
"I'm not happy with this kind of low-level management!" Ella yelled before he could even try to 'help.' "I want to see someone higher up!"
“Come now, what’s the problem?!” He asked. “Maybe I can help you?”
"The problem is… that my entire bank account was emptied overnight! By a Mr Morgenstein! I can't believe you're running a scam bank and stealing all your loyal customers money?!" Ella dramatically slapped her hands against her cheeks. "I demand you return all of my money! And take me to your CEO!"
“Alright, come here, Mr. Morgenstern is busy handling business! Just give me your first and last name, and we can just look into what happened!” The manager said.
"Absolutely not. I refuse to get help from someone without hair."
Lisa began laughing, holding her mouth with one hand and her stomach without the other.
The manager narrowed his eyes, “Little lady…” He huffed, “... Please give me your first and last name so we can resolve this!”
"Kimberley Walton," Ella said, completely straight faced. "But I still want another manager. I have no confidence in how you've handled this so far! Truly, your customer service is abysmal!"
“Maybe if you gave me a… nevermind!” The manager ran over to the computer and typed the name in. Then raised an eyebrow. He looked up at them, as he said, “... Kimberly Walton doesn’t have an account with us.”
Lisa’s eyes shot open.
"Oh shit-" Ella froze. "Plan B!"
"What's Plan B?!" Saskia asked exasperatedly.
Ella reached into her pocket and pulled out… her Sailor Moon wand replica. "This is a-"
"Noooo," Saskia grabbed Ella and slammed a hand over her mouth. "Let's not."
Oh no, this was not going well! Lisa grabbed onto Saskia’s wrist, and then wrapped her other hand around Ella’s! ”Friends! We must fleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
Lisa shouted as she took off out of the lobby. Leaving everyone awestruck.
Mostly the Hound who was watching from his realm.
”... Alright, hold on tight!”
After that disaster, it was time for Lisa’s plan… which she didn’t want to do because it reexposed her to the sun's rays. Her plan? Scale the building on a giant spider… which, to Saskia’s amazement can climb glass! However, Lisa had to tie Ella and Saskia to the back of the spider with webs. While she rested at the front of the spider.
”Someone like him would be on the top floor, right?” She asked.
"Oh yeah, I bet he loves being high up and looking down on everyone else," Saskia said.
"Uh, not sure I like this idea… I think we could've pretended to be robbing the bank…" Ella shifted nervously. "Saskiaaa… can I hold your hand while we go up?"
"Fine," Saskia held out their hand for Ella to take. "Let's go! Top floor to beat his ass!"
”Let’s go! To Morningstar!” Lisa shouted, raising a fist forward as the spider picked up speed. Eventually, they made it to the top floor… when Lisa poked her head over the window and saw what could only be Morningstar’s office. It was a massive, circular room, and she could see a large black desk…
… Behind it was Morningstar, on the phone.
Lisa lowered her head, facing the group. ”Alright, the evil bastard’s right there! Let’s just catch him by surprise, girls!”
"Alright, I've got this." Ella grabbed her channeler. "Light in the darkness, transform!"
Ella's transformation sequence was shorter thanks to her more restricted movement, and soon she was in her magical girl outfit.
"PRISMMMMM KICKKKK!"
Her leg lit up with rainbow light and she swung herself on the web, like Tarzan, screaming. Her foot hit the glass and it shattered as she went through.
"Morningstar, your days of tyranny are over!"
“... What in the goddamn!?” Morningstar shouted, dropping his phone. Lisa’s giant spider climbed in, and she hopped off. Immediately, she summoned a horde of spiders as she raised her hands… and like a tide of chitin, they literally poured out of the vents and from underneath the door until they covered the floor.
“Who the hell are you three?!” Morningstar asked, as he stood up.
”We’re the magical girls!” Lisa shouted, throwing her hands in the air and did a twirl. ”We’ve come to defeat you, Morningstar!”
“Hmph…” Morningstar did not so much as flinch at the sight of them. “... Better women have tried. Mala’Boolaan.” The second he said this, the building began to shake.
Glowing orange cracks formed in the floor, before something burst out of the ground in an explosion of fire and lava! It lept up into the air, and landed next to Morningstar. Hunched over… he slowly rose and revealed himself as a monstros brute with four eyes, a goat’s head, horns, and nothing but terrifying muscle. He had to be standing over ten feet tall… He exhaled, and a burst of fire came out of his mouth. Lisa’s jaw dropped at the sight of him.
“Mala’Boolaan,” Morningstar said again as he adjusted his suit and took a few steps towards the window.… a massive portal of spinning fire appeared in front of him. Before he stepped into it, he looked over his shoulder and gave the command. “... Eliminate these three.”
And then he walked into it. The portal closed, and he was gone.
Mala’Boolaan took a few steps forward, taking in deep breaths with each step and he was hunched over. He spoke,
“Me… Mala’Boolaan. You make mistake by coming here,” He said, “Me strongest of Endless Seven. Me will grind your bones to dust…”
Lisa’s eyes shot open… her heart started racing, as she almost fell backward. However, she caught herself as she muttered the chant, ”... Lisa, you’re brave. You’re loved.” She took in a deep breath and looked up at Mala’Boolaan. Whom slammed a foot on the ground as he shouted,
“... Me promise that!”
Mala’Boolaan put his shoulder out and charged at the group at supernatural speeds. That wasn’t the only paranormal use, as he was wrapped in a wreath of fire. He flew at the trio, giving them only seconds to respond.
"Oh shit!" Saskia rolled out of the way, skidding to a halt against the table.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Ella yelled, jumping out of the way just in time.
“... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Lisa screamed as she hopped out of the way and landed on the ground. Mala’Boolaan tore through the spider and burned it to a crisp as he stopped.
”... MY BABY!” Lisa shouted. ”That’s it!”
Lisa slammed her hands on the ground and commanded the wave of spiders to crawl up Mala’Boolaan’s body. They came like a macabre wave and eventually covered Mala’Boolaan’s lower body. They bit as much as they could. He waved around, attempting to get them off. Lisa looked over her shoulder as she shouted,
”Ella, Saskia!” Lisa shouted, ”Hit him with everything you got! He’s not grinding NOBODY”
"On it!" Saskia pulled out a knife, slicing her palm. Blood spilled from the wound and rushed towards her back, and she shouted, "Formation C, Ella!"
"... What's formation C?!" Ella looked at Saskia incredulously.
"Oh my god, it's only been a day- whatever, just get him!" Saskia gritted their teeth. A long tendril had formed at her back made out of blood. It shot out, that stabbed through Mala'Boolan's shoulder.
"PRISMATIC—" Ella cut herself off as she remembered what Jordan had said: Stop calling out her attacks. She had to do better to win this battle. At the same time as Saskia's attack, she raised her channeler and shot a beam of burning light right at one of Mala'Boolaan's eyes. It ended up hitting two of his eyes, and he let out a groan of pain.
Lisa looked down at the spiders that were covering his legs….
”... His skin is too tough for my spid-” Lisa tried to inform them. However, Mala'Boolaan swung both of his arms upwards and ignited like a raging torch. Lisa’s spiders were vaporized almost immediately… and he took a few steps forward.
He pounded both hands into the ground, leaving a trail of raging fire. When his fists hit the ground, orange cracks formed throughout the floor… before it collapsed underneath their feet, sending all of them onto the floor underneath, an office lined with cubicles.
”AYYYYYYYYYYE!” Lisa shouted as she fell. Out of reflex, she activated her Spider-Limb spell, and eight macabre spider legs burst out of her back (and the tank top she was wearing). She tried to grab onto the ceiling before falling, but her legs couldn’t hold onto something, and she fell onto her back. She groaned.
"SHIT!" Saskia twisted as they fell, managing to grab the ceiling with her blood tendril - at least enough to break their fall and drop to their feet.
"AHHH- A MAGICAL GIRL DOESN’T FEARRRR!" Ella yelled as she landed on her side, rolling over and ignoring the pain. She looked over at Lisa. "Lisa, are you okay?!"
Mala'Boolaan lept down, grabbed a cubicle wall, yanked it off the ground as if it were nothing, and threw it across the room at the girls.
"Fuckkkk," Saskia was the only one on her feet. She jumped right in front of the cubicle, arms up and two bone spears jutting out of them. They speared the cubicle and stopped its momentum, completely snapping off. Saskia let out a loud grunt of pain.
"Girls, he’s too strong!" Ella shouted, pushing back to her feet. "Can you cover me for five minutes?!"
"... We haven’t even tried fighting him y-” Lisa tried to protest before she raised her hands in the air, shouting, "Fine!”
The ground began to rumble as steam of spiders burst out the ground between Mala’Boolaan’s legs… however, Lisa applied the acid-burst spell on them. Then they exploded, spraying high-concentrated acid in between Mala’Boolaan’s legs. He let out a yell of pain as he grabbed his crotch...
Saskia ran towards Mala’Boolan, blood tendril shooting out and aiming to pierce through his abdomen. At the same time they used its contact to propel themselves upwards, using the tendril to support them, and aiming a foot at his head. A bone spear shot out from their heel. "Guess we gotta trust Ella on this!"
Ella backed away, hiding behind another locker. She gritted her teeth, concentrating on beginning to absorb the bright pink colour from her t-shirt, while watching the fight from her more protected location.
Mala’Boolaan roared as the blood tendril went directly through his head… however, his eyes shined brighter as he grabbed Saskia by the heel. He screamed as he chucked her at Lisa.
“Saskia!” Lisa shouted, using the spider legs to rise a few feet, and used herself as a cushion to catch Saskia and felt the impact hit her… knocking her over. “… You… okay?” Lisa asked.
"Fine," Saskia muttered, pushing herself back to her feet. She quickly pulled the blood tentacle back into her body.
“… Not for long!” Mala’Boolaan shouted as he leaped into the air with his fist cocked back.
"Shit," Saskia narrowed her eyes, blood spilling out of her hand and coating her forearms. She stepped in front of Lisa and raised her arms to block his fist, blood armor negating the blow mostly even as it pushed her back. At the same time, two bone spears shot out from her elbows. Cold sweat dripped down her forehead, pain from constant bones shoving through her flesh, tightening her jaw. "Fuck. Off!"
Mala’Boolaan fell to the ground. However, he squatted down, stuck his shoulder out, and charged Saskia like an enraged bull. His body was covered in a fire that left a trail.
“Give me a minute!” Lisa shouted as she summoned a black widow spider, which was engulfed in glowing webs and grew bigger and bigger.
"Please be quick!" Saskia gritted her teeth. She retracted both the blood and the bone spears back into her body. She jumped out of the way when Mala’Boolaan got close enough not to change his direction, launching herself so her hands hit the ground, and she flipped back up onto her feet… as if she weighed nothing at all. She winced, backing away and keeping a close eye on him as he charged by and directly through a wall after launching cubicles, desks, and computers like it was nothing.
However, out of the hole came a wooden desk that flew directly at Saskia. Saskia dodged to the side, but not fast enough - the desk caught her right shoulder with a loud crunch echoing around the room. It knocked her to the ground, but she quickly returned to her feet. Her right arm hung limply at her side, her expression laced with pain.
Saskia raised her good hand, blood forming a bullet in her palm, and shot it through the hole where the desk had come from. Which pierced Mala’Boolaan directly in the chest… he huffed and let out a blast of fire.
He took a step forward.
“Me stop at nothing.”
He raised both his hands in the air.
“You not strong enough to defeat me...”
He pounded his hands on the ground, causing glowing cracks around Saskia. However, these cracks began spewing fire.
“... You will have nothing for anyone to mourn!”
“I’m almost done!” Lisa shouted; the cocoon was, at this point, massive.
"You better be!" Saskia groaned, trying to dodge around the cracks. An outstretched leg got caught in the fire, the bottom of her pants immediately incinerating and her skin blistering nastily. She got it out of the way before it could start to burn away, expression twisted in pain and jaw clenched tightly shut as she tried to limp away from the rest of the cracks. Mala’Boolaan walked over menacingly…
“Saskia!” Lisa shouted, with a hand outstretched. “Screw it!” The Cocoon disappeared and it was revealed that the Black Widow was the size and girth of a pickup truck! However, it’s frontmost legs were transformed into massive raptorial limbs like a praying mantis.
On command, it ran over to Mala’Boolaan and wrapped around him. Biting him over and over..
“Me crush!” He shouted as he raised a flaming fist in the air…
Lisa ran over to Saskia and grabbed her, returning her to Mala’Boolaan. With a simple command, massive, pulsating acid sacks grew on the spider. When Mala’Boolaan’s fist hit the creature… it exploded in an enormous explosion of acidic juices and razor-sharp chitin shrapnel.
He let out a scream as he was the one in the heart of the blast. A splash of acid hit Lisa in the back and dissolved the skin on her back, revealing organs and severing her spinal cord. Then it dripped forward and dissolved the flesh, muscle, and bone on her right calf - reducing it to a useless stump easily. She screamed as she fell forward, falling onto Saskia. Hoping it was over and done with. Saskia's leg buckled beneath her as Lisa caught her, splatters of acid catching her shoulders and forehead and eating through her skin.
“… Me not finished,” Mala’Boolaan groaned. Taking heavy steps as his half-dissolved intestines hung from his stomach. Half his face melted away, dissolved flesh dripping to the floor with each step. One of his eyes was hanging from its socket, still attached to the nerve. His left arm and torso were utterly gone, revealing his beating heart and still functional organs.
He reached into his chest and grabbed one of his exposed ribs.
“Me never show you peace…” Mala’Boolaan said as he ripped one of his ribs out of the cage. “… Long as me live.”
He began marching forward, his organs dragging behind him.
“Holy shit…” Lisa groaned as she tumbled over, falling on her back. “I’m gonna have to cocoon, sorry…” She said to Saskia.
"I'll watch you," Saskia winced, forcing herself back to her feet and limping before Lisa. More blood spilled from her hand, coating her entire body in a thin layer of armour. "Don't worry."
When Mala’Boolaan was in range, he raised his rib over his head, preparing to bring it down on their heads.
"... Shining Light in the darkness, don't fear, Magical Girl Aurora is here!"
Ella launched herself from where she'd been hiding, iridescent leg aiming directly for Mala'Boolan's head. It was a powerful kick, both her abstraction and own strength enhanced. Dislocating his jaw as he dropped the rib he was using as a weapon. She landed in front of him, in front of her injured friends.
"Don't take another step!"
Mala’Boolaan grabbed his dislocated jaw and, with a very sickening crack, forced it back into place.
“Me… never relent,” Mala’Boolaan said. “... Me kill Magical Girl!”
As this happened, Lisa was surrounded by webs… regular spider webs. Soon enough, the webs formed an orb, as the regenerative properties of that spell had healed her.
Mala’Boolaan reached down, grabbing his intestines that were hanging out of his body. With an unsettling squish, they were back in his torso. He stuck his shoulder out and charged Ella like a meteorite crashing from the heavens! Each of his heavy steps left a burning footprint behind, leaving a trail of fire in his wake.
“.... DIE!”
"No, a shining light never burns out!" Ella yelled, using her glowing leg to launch herself out of the way of his charge, rolling across the floor and landing on one knee. She spun around and held up her channeller, shooting a beam of burning light at him, burning his exposed organs - yet it did not stop his charge. He slammed his hand on the ground, turning on his heel as he changed directions back towards Ella. However, when he was a reasonable distance away, he slammed into the ground, creating glowing orange fire cracks. He thrust his hand upwards, sending burning rubble all in front of him.
Ella stopped the beam of light, and her other leg also lit up with a shining, iridescent light. She kicked away the first piece of rubble, ignoring the burning of her flesh - she could power through! - before using the extra strength in her legs to launch herself right over the burning rubble. She flipped mid air, shooting towards Mala’Boolaan, shining foot going for direct impact against his head. However, he opened his jaw, and attempted to bite down on her leg. Ella screamed as his teeth sunk into her leg but fought through the pain, swinging down her other leg onto his head. Breaking what teeth he had left, and giving Ella an escape.
However, Mala’Boolaan raised his fist in the air and slammed it down over Ella., who held up suddenly bright pink and purples above her head to block his fist. She’d drained all of the colour from her bracelets, giving her enough strength in combination with her boosting to block his fist and physically push it back, which made him stumble backward and then reach for one of his exposed ribs on his rib cage. He physically snapped a piece off, creating a razor-sharp dagger, then threw it at Ella. It spun at her at lightning speeds.
Ella swiftly kicked up one leg, hitting the middle of the piece, causing it to shatter. Shards embedded themselves in her abdomen, blood slowly dripping out, but it didn’t hit anywhere important. She leapt at him again, kicking at his rib cage, and immediately following up with a colorful fist to the face. Breaking bones and sending him back a few steps… however, the raw impact caused his intestines to fall out again.
He bent forward to pick them up and jam them back inside quickly. As he leaned forward, Ella jerked up her knee right into his face. Breaking bones in a sickening crack, however, Mala’Boolaan swung his arm full force at her in a wild attack. Ella dropped her brightly coloured arms to protect her abdomen, his fist slamming right into her arms and knocking her back. Panting, she closed her eyes and held her hands up. They lit up like spotlights, completely blinding, and she swung her foot forward blindly as hard as she could.
Mala’Boolaan screamed as he covered his eyes with his hand. However, the kick hit him directly in the knee, causing the bone to shoot out the back of his knee. He fell to his working knee; his intestines plopped out yet again… then began growling. His body ignited in flames; the whole room started to heat up.
He grabbed his intestines again, except this time he swung his boiling hot organ at her like a whip. As they traveled, they left behind a trail of fire.
"Oh prism power protect me," Ella muttered, dodging to the side and gagging at the sight of his intestines. They skimmed across her arm, ugly boils forming where it touched as her flesh burned. Intense pain seared through her, bringing tears to her eyes, but she continued to power through. She had to! Her friends' lives depended on her! She darted backwards, trying to get out of range while brandishing her channeler. A beam of light shot towards the intestinal whip, which burnt through it cleanly.
“Me survive Pit… Me survive…” He growled again as he limped over to Ella, raising his fist, and throwing his weight behind her. Unfortunately falling forward as well.
Ella just sidestepped the punch, because it really wasn't that fast, and let him fall over. She then slammed her foot into his side and, rather brutally, leaned into it so she was pressing her entire weight into him. "Well you won't survive the magical girls!"
Mala’Boolaan barely had the strength to fight back. He grabbed the ground and pulled himself away as well as he could with those injuries.
Lisa’s hand burst out of the cocoon; another hand pried open the cocoon. She shoved herself through, good as new. She looked at Ella, then shouted,
“Finish him off so we can get out of here!”
"Yeah, finish him!" Saskia groaned.
"Got it!" Ella nodded, staring down at him. Of the three, she was the least… brutal. But she'd also fought on the front lines against the stygian snake, killed plenty to apparitions and, most importantly, he'd hurt her friends. "You picked on the wrong girls, Mala'Boolan! I will vanquish you in the name of all that is good, ridding the world of your darkness!"
She stepped over Mala'Boolan, ramming her dazzling, rainbow foot right into his neck. Killing him.
Lisa sighed before she faced the hole in the wall that Mala’Boolaan made. She pointed at it, then shouted, ”Let’s go! Go! Go!” She darted out the hole in the wall, and kept running until they made it to a massive hallway lined with windows. There were doors on one side, windows on the other, and eventually, it would turn the corner probably to more damn windows and doors. She raised her hand, and a Grey Huntsman Spider came out of the vent… and was wrapped in a glowing cocoon that grew more and more.
Then Lisa turned over her shoulder, ”Ella, kick out the window or something! We gotta go!”
“... Oh, leaving so soon?” a voice—Morningstar—spoke from down the hall. Lisa’s head darted down the hallway, and a massive flaming portal opened up before them. The first one to step out was Morningstar himself, wearing a suit and his hands behind his back with each step. However, he was not alone.
"Shit," Saskia muttered under her breath, narrowing her eyes at Morningstar. They were in no state to fight one of them, nevermind this many. Both Ella and her were injured without time to properly heal… shit. This was bad.
Morningstar raised a hand, aiming at the hole in the wall left by the fight with Mala’Boolaan. He stared at the three as he said, “You bested Mala’Boolaan… that’s surprising…” He began, shaking his head. “Though, I may have gravely underestimated you three… perhaps we can come to a sort of mutual understanding.”
He placed his hand over the other on the cane and said, “You three are obviously strong. Possibly resourceful. Enough to best my strongest fighter.”
“... But not your smartest!” The dragon said.
“Now, now, Ignatius,” Morningstar said, raising a hand at the dragon, “Mala’Boolaan was a valued asset nonetheless, however….”
He faced the three, narrowing his eyes.
“... You three could have a place in my Society,”
He let the words hang in the air as he continued, “I know you came here to try and stop me, but why? Perhaps we can form an agreement so that all of us can come out of this on top.”
He grinned.
“How does that sound?”
"No way-" Ella started, before being cut off by Saskia shaking their head.
"We can discuss it," Saskia said evenly, wincing. They then gestured to the various burns and wounds about their body. "Can we heal first? It's not exactly the most comfortable way to… discuss a possible agreement."
Morningstar was silent.
“You may.”
Saskia let out a sigh of relief, turning to the other two. ”Ella, you mind healing me with your light. And then Lisa can heal you with her spiders?”
Ella grimaced, but didn’t argue. She had bone shards in her abdomen, burns in various places, and her fists look scraped all over now that she wasn’t using her abstraction. "Alright…"
She flourished her channeler, a ray of rainbow light bathing Saskia. It began to rapidly heal all of their wounds, burns and cuts disappearing until they looked as good as new.
“This maaaaaay freak you out…” Lisa said before she grabbed her forearms, and hundreds of black spiders forced their way out of Lisa’s pores. They went from Lisa’s arm to Ella’s, then began to bite her, injecting her with healing fluids.
“Don’t freak out, I’m strong, I’m a magical girl,” Ella whispered, closing her eyes, expression twisting up. Saskia chuckled softly beside her, easily watching the spiders healing Ella. While they did, she tried to figure out how to get them out of this. The window wasn’t far… Talk a bit, perhaps, then get away on Lisa’s spider?
“Now… You all realize what you’ve done?” Morningstar asked.
Lisa awkwardly laughed with a shrug, “No clue…”
“You killed a member of my Endless Seven,” Morningstar asked. “Maybe you can give me an explanation of why you did that, who you are, and who you are with…”
He narrowed, “We have all day…”
“… Lisa,” She said, glancing at the arachnid monstrosity she had created.
“I’m Ella,” Ella said, nodding. “And we’re the magical girls.”
Saskia face palmed. At least Ella didn’t just blurt everything out… Well, of course she wouldn’t. “As she said, we’re the magical girls. We’re not actually with anyone. We just can’t suffer to see injustice, and decided to… rid the world of your evil.”
Saskia said all of this with a completely deadpan expression. Talking like Ella was difficult, but it was better than telling him the real reason.
“Yeah!” Ella followed along easily, pointing a finger at Morningstar. “I gave you our reason when we burst through your window! We’re here to end your reign of terror!”
Morningstar twisted his face up, before looking between his equally bewildered minions.
“… Okay who are you really with? You don’t look like the PRA.”
“Who are the PRA?” Ella asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Saskia also had no idea who the PRA were, but that wasn’t a surprise considering they’d been sort of dead for ten years. She didn’t bother asking, because Ella already had. “I told you, we’re not with anyone. What, do you not think three young people like us can’t decide to take down a Tyrant by ourselves? Is it because we’re female presenting? That’s quite discriminating of you.”
Morningstar facepalmed.
“… I’m no tyrant, and I don’t see humans as anything other than… human,” he answered, taking his hand off his face and putting it behind his back like the other one. "You all are clearly stalling…”
He stood tall and proud as he said,
“… Join me or die, the choice is yours.”
“I literally just answered your questions,” Saskia pointed out. They put one hand behind their back, and pointed to the window. It was closer to them than Morningstar and his minions. ”That’s a difficult decision. Death is quite appealing. Some say it is merely a window you go through and that so many close their eyes to it’s light.”
Thankfully, Ella got exactly what she meant - hopefully Lisa would as well. Her leg lit up with a soft rainbow light and her hands began to glow brighter and brighter. Saskia squeezed her eyes shut and blindly pulled out her knife, slicing it across her palm and sending her blood all across her body in a hard armor. Ella spun around and kicked out the window, sending glass shattering everywhere, her hands blinding lights that would reach all the way to the end of the corridor.
“JUMP!”
“Wait, it’s not-“ Lisa tried to protest but she had to release the Spider half-cooked. She jumped behind them, the far larger spider with wings almost made it out. However a spear of fire and brimstone came through and split the spider in two.
“… Shit!” Lisa shouted as they were now free falling.
"Ahhhhhhh!" Ella screamed as she fell through the air.
"Fuck!" Saskia cursed. She totally should've seen that coming- thinking quickly she formed all of the blood across her body into a tentacle, reaching out to wrap around Lisa. She grabbed Ella with one hand, and shot out her free arm and one leg. Short, thick bone spears shot out of her elbow and knee and jammed into the glass building. Intense pain wracked her body as it started to slow their fall, screeching horribly as the bones ground through glass. This was ok, at least they wouldn't fall as quickly-
The bones snapped under the weight of three people, and sent them hurtling towards the ground again.
“Let me-“ Lisa shouted as she tried to grab the wall… however a coral-pink sphere wrapped around them that rapidly spun. Glowing brighter and brighter…
… Until they all disappeared in a flash.
The trio appeared in an alleyway, on the ground in the same position they were falling in. Lisa was still screaming, until she stopped and looked around… Seeing Kimberly and Jordan standing over them. Jordan had her arms crossed with a scowl and Kimberly was holding her camera.
“… Thank God we took those pictures,” Kimberly said.
“Yeah, thank God,” Jordan shook her head.
“Soooo…” Kimberly trailed off.
“What the hell was that?” Jordan facepalmed. “Like seriously, what the hell.”
"Haha," Ella laughed awkwardly, looking like a kid who'd been caught doing something incredibly stupid.
"We may have jumped the gun," Saskia winced, rubbing their elbow as they retracted the splintered bone spear. It left behind a gaping wound which they quickly clotted, but it still hurt like a bitch. "A little bit."
Lisa awkwardly laughed as she stood up. She kept that dumb smile as she pinched her fingers together. “… Just a little.”
"We were looking him up yesterday and then we found his bank and we figured since we knew where he was we could go and beat him easy so that it was over with so we burst in through his window but he was a coward that ran away but we did beat his strongest!" Ella said all of this in one breath.
“… And now he’s going to be looking for you three,” Jordan noted, putting a hand on the side of her face while the other was wrapped around her torso.
“Yeah, you put yourselves on his radar, big time,” Kimberly said, shaking her head.
“Look… look…” Jordan stuck her hand out towards them. “… I get it, you all want your second chance. But you three need to chill.”
She shook her head, “Nothing good comes from rushing in and hoping for the best…”
Ella was silent, looking down and scuffing her toe against the ground.
Saskia sighed and held up their hands. "You're right. We rushed into it, and fucked up. We did exactly what…" she winced. "Got me killed in the first place."
Though that hadn't been her rushing into battle, but Drake Blackmore instead. Still, she should've known better. "We'll be more careful."
“You need to,” Kimberly shook her head.
“Look, I’m going to be real with cha’ here,” Jordan crossed her arms as she stared down Saskia. “We didn’t even want you three getting involved to begin with. I was right to think that this is not for ya’ll.”
“No, we didn’t want you getting involved, but I knew it was the best option for everyone,” Kimberly shrugged and held it there. I knew if we told you to stay out of it for your own safety, you weren’t going to listen. And from there, what could we do? Lock you up. Turn you into the PRA? Kill you? I’m sorry, that’s not how we roll.”
Kimberly sighed.
“We knew you were going to throw yourselves at Morningstar whether we wanted you to or not,” Kimberly began. “So, I figured we'd work with you instead of working against you all.”
"If you killed us we’d probably just come back, anyway," Saskia said drily. They didn’t actually know if that would be the case, though, and didn’t want to risk it. "But point taken. We should actually work with you rather than going off by ourselves."
"But don’t underestimate our strength!" Ella held her arm out in front of her, finger pointed upwards. "We’re experts in apparition destruction."
"I think that’s the point," Saskia snorted. "Not just brute forcing it. But… we did get a look at his Endless Seven. Well, I guess it’s six now. Maybe it should be called the Ending Six…"
“We can discuss it later,” Kimberly said. “We have to get back to the hotel, Jordan?”
Jordan nodded her head. Then a coral-pink dome of energy formed above them, before it rapidly spun Then in a flash…
It was a few days since the climatic battle at Morningstar Banking; Kim wanted them to lay low… which meant staying their ass in the hotel room, which was so boring!. Thankfully, Kimberly went to the store and got them some things to entertain themselves with, primarily a fancy gaming laptop to share between the three of them! However, Lisa was on the bed, lying on her back, playing with a web that she had weaved between her hands. She had a black widow spider that was going back and forth. She glanced at Ella, watching anime on their fancy gaming laptop.
”Ellllllllllllllllllllllla!” Lisa shouted, ”You’ve been watching anime for the last three days now! It’s my turn! I want to watch po- play videogames!”
"Nooooooo, there’s only ten minutes left, then you can use it!" Ella waved a hand, intensely watching one of the latest magical girl anime (pretty cure delicious party). Saskia sat on the bed behind it, half watching it and half doodling on a scrap of paper. "I promise!"
"C’mon Ella, let Lisa have a turn," Saskia didn’t even bother to look up. "As long as it isn’t porn."
The black widow left the web and disappeared under the bed. Lisa shook her hands to get rid of the web, then she shot a finger into the air,
“If I was watching porn, it’d be on mute.”
"But we’d still have to see it," Saskia made a face. "Unless you take the laptop into the bathroom…"
“But you know, I’m not watching porn!” Lisa protested. “And if I did in fact take the laptop into the bathroom, I would not, in fact, do that. Because, as you know, I do not watch porn. Never.”
"Nooooo, I don’t want to know!" Ella shouted, shaking her head. "Oh my god, look, that’s so cool, maybe I should try it!"
She pointed to the pink magic girl on screen who had just destroyed an enemy with one, glowing pink punch. Lisa’s head drifted to see what was going on.
“Coooooool… but I was thinking…” She rubbed her chin. “We’re Magical Girls but I never see them using blood or spiders…” She trailed off, before she shrugged.
“Eh, they must be lame.” She grinned like a fool.
"What?!" Ella jumped up off the bed, pointing a finger at Lisa. "What do you mean lame?! There are darker Magical Girl anime! And it just means your magic is unique- just like theirs!"
"But yours isn’t?" Saskia snorted.
"I was inspired! But they’re not lame, Lisa! They’re not!"
Lisa hopped off the bed, raising a finger in the air…
“… They are lame! And that’s the appeal of it!” Lisa began. “They call their attacks and sparkle and are all cutesy… As Adora would say ‘corny’!” She then laughed, then stuck her tongue out.
However, while Lisa spoke, a wave of Tarantulas crawled from underneath the bed. They were quickly wrapped in a magical cocoon and went they burst out they had ant mandibles. They lifted the laptop up and carried it over to Lisa’s (and Ella’s) bed.
"But that’s not lame! It’s cool to call out your attacks and sparkle… I do that! And I’m super cool!" Ella threw her hands on her hips and puffed up her chest. "Wait… you think I’m lame Lisa? Really- wait a minute!"
Ella gasped, finally noticing that the laptop had been stolen from right beneath her nose. "I hadn’t finished the episode!"
“… Hahaha! It’s mine!” Lisa giggled like a goblin as she snatched the laptop off the bed.
"Noooo, give it back!" Ella jumped onto the bed and towards Lisa, reaching out for the laptop.
Spider legs burst out of Lisa’s back and she climbed on the ceiling, her legs were splayed out so they stretched to far corners of the room. “… Coooome and get it!”
There was a knock on the door as this tomfoolery went on.
“… We’re about to come in,” Jordan said. “Please stop doing anything weird before we come in!
"... Please come in and end my misery," said Saskia.
There was a beep on the other side and Jordan opened the door, Kimberly was behind her…
"Give it baccckk," Ella was standing on the bed, jumping up and trying to grab Lisa’s leg. "Or you’re the big spoon tonight! Or, even worse, I won’t spoon you at all!"
“… NOOOOOOO!” Lisa screamed, then grabbed the sides of her face.
"I’m so sorry," Saskia said, staring right at Jordan and Kimberley and looking like they wanted to die.
“I…” Kimberly jaw dropped.
“Okay! Let’s just move on!” Jordan shouted, “You two! Settle down!”
Lisa climbed down, holding the laptop. Ella pouted and sat back down on the bed, legs crossed and hands in her lap.
“Okay…” Kimberly sat down on the sofa, before she clapped her hands together with a smile, “Let talk business!”
“The Society has been looking for you all, so I hope ya’ll been chilling,” Jordan said with a shake of her head.
“I’ve been trying to, but Ella won’t let me watch po- I mean Netflix!” Lisa complained, she crossed her arms, pouting.
"Aside from Ella hogging the laptop, we have been," Saskia said. She then held up the scrap of paper. "Look, I’ve drawn what I plan to do to Morningstar when we finally get him."
It was a surprisingly detailed pen drawing on a scrap bit of paper, depicting Morningstar with his head torn off, multiple bones jammed into his body and all of his limbs horribly twisted.
"Great, right?"
"Saskia, that’s terrifying!" Ella gasped, looking away from it. "You said you were watching the anime with me!"
Lisa jammed her head in, and looked on with wonder. “Oooooh…. Cooool!” She should, shaking with excitement.
But both Kimberly and Jordan looked on with wide-eyed horror
“What the fuck!? What the fuck is wrong with you three?!” Jordan shouted.
“Nothing,” Lisa shrugged. “We’re perfectly sane individuals!”
"There’s nothing wrong with us?" Saskia tilted their head. They folded up the piece of paper and put it in their trouser pocket. "Ah, are you just surprised about my artistic talent?"
"No, I agree!" Ella shook her head. "You drew Morningstar's death but not us beating him?! You should’ve concentrated on drawing us!"
Yeah, maybe you could draw me like a ‘French Girl’ later?! Lisa purred.
"Sure, I’ll do that," Saskia replied nonchalantly, before addressing Kimberley and Jordan. "So, what was the business you wanted to talk about? Are we allowed to go outside?"
“Yes, you may…” Kimberly said, before she raised a finger in the air. “... Under our supervision, of course.” She then laughed.
”... Of course,” Lisa rolled her eyes.
“Now, business,” Jordan stated, “While you three were on lockdown, we were gathering information on the Society and its operations, which includes peddling artifacts, weapons, sealed Apparitions, and whatnot to other organizations outside Mirage Springs. That was our start, but while we were spying on them, we found out about something…”
Jordan explained, taking a breath before she asked. “I take it you three don’t know about the PRA?”
"Nope, no idea!" Ella shook her head. "Unless it’s in an anime, I don’t know about it."
"Apart from Morningstar mentioning them when he asked who we were with…" Saskia shrugged. "He said we probably weren’t with them, so are they some kind of-"
"Boring, lame magical group!" Ella cut her off.
”I think someone might have mentioned them in the Coven…” Lisa mused, rubbing her chin. ”But, I got nothing.” She shrugged.
“The Paranormal Response Authority,” Kimberly began. “A federal agency with the intention of keeping magic a secret, and keeping the mundane safe from magic.”
“However, what actually happened is that the organization ended up being short-staffed, rife with corruption, and trigger-happy dumbasses,” Jordan rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. “Part of the reason we do what we do is because they can’t be trusted to do what they’re supposed to.”
“Awww, don’t be so hard on them,” Kimberly smiled. “They’re all not that bad.”
“Well, you’re an asshole in my book if you’re willing to look past your coworkers being shitty,” Jordan replied.
"The Government’s often the bad guy in anime…" Ella said thoughtfully.
"And in real life, it seems," Saskia nodded, narrowing their eyes. "So, they’re corrupt, magical federal agents? Are they… working with Morningstar?"
“Well, one of them is,” Kimberly noted.
“Don’t know if the rest are,” Jordan said, “But we should assume they are.”
“He’s Jacob Stauber,” Kimberly explained. “A ‘Special Agent’ in the PRA. He’s been working with Morningstar - basically selling The Society anything the PRA gets, and siccing the PRA on any of The Society’s targets.”
“... Which will probably include us,” Jordan said with a shake of her head.
Lisa recoiled… What could they do against the PRA? ”... What can we do, then?”
“Avoid ‘em,” Jordan flatly answered. “Fighting the PRA just puts more of them on you. And you can do whatever you want to The Society…”
“... But no one messes with the government,” Kimberly laughed.
"How do we tell it’s the PRA? Do they have a uniform?" Saskia frowned.
"We’re not very good at avoiding things," Ella sighed. "But we’ll try."
"Speak for yourself - you’re bad at it," Saskia rolled her eyes. "If they’re easy to spot, we’ll avoid them."
Lisa smiled.
”I’m probably the sneakiest out of the three of us!” Lisa began, then laughed. ”You'd never know if I was there if I felt like it! You could learn a thing or two!”
"You could,” Saskia narrowed their eyes at Ella.
“Well, if you can’t spot a fed from a mile away…” Jordan laughed.
“You won’t have to… hopefully,” Kimberly shrugged. “But the point is that Agent Jacob Stauber knows something about The Society… or at least knows someone who knows someone.”
She began, before she continued, “So… We’re going to look into him as our next action.”
"So you want us to look into him?" Ella nodded as if she understood entirely.
"Of course," Saskia nodded too. "I understand. You need us to find him, and then get the information out of him because you can’t do it yourself. I understand. Torture isn’t for everyone."
Jordan facepalmed, shaking her head. She, begrudgingly, raised a finger as she said,
“... One, we already know where he typically hangs out,” Then raised another finger. “... And we’re not torturing anyone.”
"Awww," Saskia said, not looking all that upset by it.
Kimberly grimaced as she glanced to the side.
“As far as the ‘place he typically hangs out‘ is…” Kimberly trailed off.
“Lord, imagine these three there,” Jordan laughed.
”... What is it?” Lisa raised an eyebrow.
“Well, it’s a gentlema-”
“It’s a strip club; just say it’s a strip club, Kim,” Jordan grinned at Kimberly. “Shadynasty's.”
"A stripclub?!" Ella looked absolutely horrified. "There’s no way we’ll get into a stripclub! We’re women- mostly."
"I could definitely pass if I cut my hair," Saskia mused. "But I’m fairly certain they don’t only allow men in. Paying customers are paying customers."
"Oh, so they let lesbians in too! Makes sense,” Ella let out a sigh of relief.
"Right. I don’t think they discriminate about that either- Well, whatever," Saskia frowned, clearly not happy about it. "How are we meant to get him alone in there?"
“Lord, I just know you three lived under a rock until today!” Jordan laughed, “Okay, okay, I wasn’t tryna’ be mean, but you do know girls go to a strip club to get turnt up, right?”
”Heeeeeey!” Lisa said, ”I did not, in fact, live under a rock.” She knew that was a complete and utter lie—until she met Adora and the Sycamore Tree Coven.
“Well, I really don’t want to put you three in that situation,” Kimberly began, “But, from what we could observe, the guy is a raging pervert, so that should be easy.”
“Just… flirt with him or something and lure him into an alleyway,” Jordan said. “Then we’ll step in and swoop him up.”
“We would do it but…” Kimberly looked at her feet. “We’re famous. He’d spot us from a mile away.”
"No way!” Ella immediately protested. Her whole face screwed up with disgust, and she dug her fingers into her thighs. ”I’m a lesbian! Men are- ew, gross, no way am I flirting with someone like that! Well maybe if he’d been an attractive woman- ah, no, but he’s real… Ahhhh.”
"I’ll do it," Saskia announced, like they were offering themselves up as the ultimate sacrifice. "I have some experience. I’m sure it’ll be easy. I wouldn’t want you to do that Ella… and Lisa. Both of you. I’ll do it."
”But Saskia!” Lisa whined. ”You got zero game!”
"And you do?" Saskia replied immediately, raising an eyebrow.
”Yes,” Lisa flatly responded with a smile.
"I don’t believe you-"
"Who?!” Ella interrupted, suddenly jumping forward and getting very close to Lisa. "WHO?!”
”... And who was cuddling every night so far?!” Lisa shouted, looking around… her eyes landing on the bewildered Kimberly and Jordan.
"That hardly counts, you didn’t even flirt with Ella," Saskia rolled her eyes. "You just said you wanted to cuddle and Ella jumped on it."
"Hey! Lisa totally wooed me!” Ella jumped to Lisa’s defence. "And she’s right, Saskia, you’ve been sleeping alone all night- that’s no game behaviour!”
”You need to join the cuddle circle!”
"... but where would I fit? Is there even room?" Saskia tilted her head.
”Yes, you’ll cuddle me, then Ella will cuddle you,” Lisa explained.
"Oh, that’s perfect! My arms are long enough to get around you both!” Ella grinned.
"So I’m in the middle…" Saskia’s cheeks turned slightly pink. "Won’t that mean I’ll have the most game? Since I’m between you both."
”No, no, no,” Lisa began, ”You’re in the middle becau-”
“... Yo, I am losing brain cells listening to this,” Jordan massaged her temples. “Could you three just focus? How are ya’ll going to defeat Morningstar?” She rolled her eyes.
"We concentrate when it’s important!” Ella said. "When in a fight we always focus.”
”Yeah, you should have seen us when we fought the Stygian Snake!” Lisa shot her arms in the arm. ”I was riding around on my spider throwing exploding spiders like a superhero!”
"Yeah, it was awesome!” Ella jumped up on the bed, demonstrating a punch. "I was beating up all the apparitions like bamn, kapow, huaH! I fought like five myself once!”
"... that did happen," Saskia corroborated.
“... That’s nice,” Kimberly said. “But… we really got off topic here.”
“Agreed.” Jordan rolled her eyes.
“We are going to need your word that you all can relax and not rush ahead again and cause trouble again,” Kimberly sighed. “Be responsible, because this could go south.”
”You know I can!” Lisa shouted, ”Dunno about these two, though!”
"I’ve been relaxed this whole time," Saskia said monotonically. Their expression hadn’t changed all that much the whole time - but it rarely did.
“... I bet you were reeeeeeeeeal relaxed drawing last night,” Jordan rolled her eyes.
"I’ll relax as long as no ugly men try to touch me!” Ella declared, sitting back down with a huff. "Or any men, actually.”
”Don’t worry!” Lisa began. ”If anyone touches you, I’ll have a brown recluse bite them in the penis. It’ll fall clean off!”
Lisa moaned, leaning against the rooftop’s edge as they watched the club from the rooftops: Shadynasty's. They could hear the music playing as various faces were gathered outside the strip club, and none looked adorable. Lisa was leaning up against the parapet, on her hands and knees, but her elbows were up on the parapet. She was petting a black widow spider with one finger and her other arm on the parapet, looking bored to tears.
“No, we have to wait for this asshole to show up…” Jordan said with a roll of her eyes; she was standing with one foot on the parapet, looking through some binoculars.
“Look for a black Dodge Charger with tinted windows,” Kimberly said, leaning against an AC unit.
“Because, of course, he drives a Dodge Charger,” Jordan rolled her eyes again.
”Buuuutttt shouldn’t we be in there already? To prepare?” Ella asked, just straight up lying on the roof, looking just as bored as Lisa. But she also didn’t want to be near her black widow spider- so she’d lain down, legs and arms spread out in a starfish shape. Her arms were once again covered in colourful bracelets which definitely wouldn’t look out of place in a strip club. ”Otherwise it’ll looook like we’re folllooowwing him.”
“Oh no,” Jordan laughed. “The second we see him, ya’ll getting teleported inside.”
“None of ya’ll seem very thrilled to be inside anyway,” Kimberly shrugged. “So, we figured we’d stay out here until we spot him.”
”Speak for yourself!” Lisa laughed.
Saskia rolled their eyes at them both. They knelt beside Lisa, alternating between looking over the parapet and watching the black widow spider. ”What if he doesn’t come tonight?”
“Then we’ll just scope the place out another night,” Jordan shrugged. “Did the Hound give you a time limit?” She briefly turned towards Ella and asked her.
”He didn’t,” Ella sighed, rolling over and propping herself up on one arm. As far as she was aware, they didn’t. ”Buttttt it’s so boring being stuck in the hostel! And we can’t leave this city till we’re done!”
”I meeeeeeeeeeeeean…” Lisa trailed off. ”He never said we couldn’t leave the city; he just said he would ‘know if we ran’.” She finger-quoted, then shook her head.
”Which can mean a lot of things - oh! Does anyone want to try gambling when we’re done?!” Lisa asked.
”Oh, yeah, that sounds like great fun! Kinda like the gacha machines you get in Japan, where you get a random piece of merch, I’ve always wanted to try that-” Ella started rambling. ”But with money!”
”It’s nothing like that.” Saskia rolled their eyes. ”But I’m in.”
“I mean, I would say you three are the last mothafuckas’ that should be gambling but…” Jordan said while looking down the binoculars. “... You three desperately need to go outside. Experience some real world. Hell, I’ll front ya’ll some gambling money...”
”Really?!” Lisa asked.
“Yeah, really… oh wait,” Jordan realized. “Ya’ll don’t have IDs….”
”Nope!” Ella said cheerfully. ”We died at sixteen, why would we have IDs- wait, we can legally drink!”
“I mean, I think you can get a driver’s license at 16 in most states,” Kimberly shrugged.
”Well we didn’t,” Lisa shrugged.
”You don’t need it to watch anime,” Ella added.
“Well, without an ID you actually can’t legally drink,” Jordan noted. “And again, I don’t think ya’ll should be drinking willy nilly… sounds like a recipe for disaster.”
”Hey! We fought a Demon-Snake-God-Thing,” Lisa shouted, looking over her shoulder.
“I meeeeeeeean,” Kimberly said. “Maybe some time, when we got time, we can buy some drinks. Mix just a little bit with some soda or juice, and then they can try some. How’s that sound?” She asked them.
”Ohhh that does sound better than drinking around a loada men!” Ella grinned.
”You know, Adora never wanted me to drink…” Lisa mused. ”... For some reason.”
“Probably for a reason, yo!” Jordan laughed.
”Well, I mean I tried it but it tasted funny,” Lisa began. ”I don’t get why the other kids drunk so much - especially out the Chalice - like does that thing disinfect itself? Or did we all just pass around herpes or something?” She scratched her head.
“You mean like THE Chalice?” Kimberly raised an eyebrow.
"Well yeah, is there another Chalice?" Ella tilted her head in confusion.
"I always assumed Sully named it himself," Saskia said. "If the chalice is one that can create any liquid, then yes."
“Yes, I’m talking about that Chalice,” Kimberly confirmed. “I’m astonished that the Chalice fell into your hands. Just how many artifacts did ya’ll have?”
”Well…” Lisa trailed off, putting a finger on her chin. ”We got a ton! First that comes to mind is my best friend Adora! She’s like the greatest person in the world! But, her grandfather gave her the Trinity Rings when he died and she gave it to her friend!”
“... The goddamn Trinity Rings?” Kimberly tilted her head. “Okay, that’s two valuable artifacts you all just stumbled upon. What else?”
”We had plenty! I know off the top of my head is Amy and her kanabō, I think she said she had three Onis sealed inside of it. I’m not sure if it was legendary or anything,” Lisa rubbed her chin before a sinister grin crept across her face. ”I remember Ella nerding over it all the time! Amy would always cringe every time she saw Ella!”
"It was super cool I couldn't help it!" Ella whined. "It was like right outta an anime!"
”She walked out every time you came in the room!” Lisa shouted.
Ella pouted. She did, but it wasn’t Ella’s fault that she was interested and just couldn’t stop asking questions… Amy never told her it bothered her; she just started ignoring her!
“Okay, well, I think she had one of the Oni-Clubs or Demon Kanabōs, and unlike the Trinity Rings and the Chalice, there were several of them, so they were sort of mass-produced,” Kimberly explained. “Typically, they don’t leave Japan, but I guess it’s possible a few ended up in America.” She shrugged.
“What else?”
”Oh! Then there was my good friend Gretchen! Though, she hated when I called her Gretchen, she was always like-” Lisa pinced her nose and made her best impression of Greta’s famously high-pitched and nasally voice. ”-’Don’t call me that! It makes me sound like an old lady!’ But now that I think about it, Gretchen always kind of acted like an ol-”
“... What. Did. Gretchen. Have?” Jordan pinched the bridge of her nose.
”Oh! She had the coolest artifact! The Alchemist Ring! It was like the most valuable artifact we had! She could make potions; she gave out a bunch of healing potions that saved so many people. I helped her out a lot by using my spiders to gather her stuff and help her make potions. She was always shy and never talked, but she was sooooooo cute, and lovely and… I hope she made it.” Lisa awkwardly laughed as she twiddled her thumbs.
“... Three legendary artifacts. Anything else that comes to mind?”
Ella really hoped nothing else came to mind, because she was bored to death listening to Lisa list every single artifact that had been in the coven. Big deal! She could fight half of them with her fists. She groaned and lay back down on the ground.
”Oh, there was Reza! He had this cooooool sword called the Noble Vow, I don’t know much about him but he was really cool and nice,” Lisa explained. ”Far as I know, he always had the sword, but he cleaved the Stygian’s Snake’s minions apart like they were nothing. And I am looking forward to seeing him again when we get back.” She smiled like a fool.
“... Four,” Kimberly logged. “Go on.”
”Well, they also got this thing called the Bull’s Ring that our friend Kari found - oh yeah, and they got this sword called the Apparition Killer! I’m not sure what the App-Killer does, but when Daisy - one of the leaders of the Coven she was kind of an asshole though - put on the ring she almost fried the Stygian Snake!” Lisa excitedly said, before her tone changed. Her face dropped, and her smile turned into a frown. She shook her head.
“Everything good?” Kimberly asked.
”Y-yeah… I’m good…” Lisa shook her head.
“Well, that’s six,” Kimberly trailed off, then faced Jordan. “We really need to pay St. Portwell - and this Coven - a visit when this blows over.”
“Agreed,”
“But go on,” Kimberly said.
”There was the third-in-command of the Coven, Auri Auclair, she had this thing called the Butterfly Staff,” Lisa began, her demeanor reverted to usual, all smiles and laughter. ”It was so beautiful to see all the butterflies fly everywhere.”
“For once,” Kimberly shrugged. “I never heard of that. So, I guess we’re still at six legendary artifacts. Go on.”
”There was Auri’s sister, Paige,” Lisa rubbed the back of her neck. ”She was weird if you asked me.”
“The pot calling the kettle black,” Jordan laughed.
”She had this shield called the Shield of Vitality… it was this huuuuuuge shield-” Lisa stuck her hands out to accentuate how large of an object it was. ”That tanked attacks from the Stygian Snake and healed people… but again, she was kind of weird. Never liked her, hehe...”
“Fair,” Kimberly shrugged. “I wouldn’t say that’s legendary but I heard about the shield of vitality.”
”Oh! Oh! Oh! How could I forget my friend Sloane!” Lisa laughed as ”I mean, nobody liked her, but I always thought that she was soooo misunderstood. But she had a cool thing: she could make her versions of artifacts. She made a copy of everything we had! I think…”
"They were like, evil copies," Saskia pointed out. "Like one that stopped you from lying."
”I mean, I wouldn’t call them evil but…” Lisa scratched the side of her head, ”What would happen if one of the bad guys got their hands on it? Like someone like Morningstar?”
Ella’s head shot up, eyes wide. "It wouldn’t be good if that evil bastard got them!"
”Well, it's a good thing Sloane is probably keeping them all safe in her vault or something!” Lisa shouted. ”Where nobody bad is doing anything to them.”
Both Kimberly and Jordan exchanged glances.
“Oh, we definitely gotta’ pay her a visit,” Jordan laughed.
“Well, are there any other all-powerful artifacts literal children just fell into?”
”Well…” “... Hey wait!” Jordan interrupted as she turned towards the rest of the group. “He’s here!”
Lisa raised her head and saw a Dodge Charger pull into the parking lot… quickly, a an average heighted man lit a cigarette and walked into Shadynasty’s after adjusting his leather coat. Lisa pointed at him from the roof, looking back at the group, ”Oooooh! Is that him?!” She asked.
”Oh, is it?” Ella properly sat up, shuffling over to next to Lisa and looking down at the street.
“Yes, that’s him,” Jordan affirmed with a nod. “You three, gather ‘round, and remember the plan.”
”... What is the plan?” Lisa asked.
”Seduce him, take him out the back and slit-” Saskia cut herself off. ”Get information out of him.”
”That’s not much of a plan…” Ella frowned, still not feeling happy about it. She didn’t want to be around men grossly looking at attractive women. Not at all! ”How do we do that?”
Jordan facepalmed.
“Girl, I hate to be blunt,” Jordan began, “But you have a coochie. Men aren’t that complex. Just be nice to him. It’s literally that simple.”
”Look, she’s never liked someone that’s real,” Saskia explained, shrugging.
”Yeah, she never held a hand before!” Lisa laughed.
”Yeah! Why would I, when anime girls are right there!” Ella declared. ”But if it’s just being nice… that's easy.”
”Very easy…” Saskia said with a dangerous glint in their eyes.
”Too easy…” Lisa said with a grin.
“Alright, bunch up,” Jordan said as a Coral-pink sphere wrapped around them.
“Wait!” Kimberly shouted, “Don’t forget!”
She ran over and shoved a walkie talkie into Ella’s hands, then stuck a finger up, “Use it sparingly. We’re going to be keeping watch from out here.”
Lisa nodded her head.
“We’re counting on ya’ll,” Jordan said. “Don’t do anything crazy…”
Then she and Kimberly looked at each other before Jordan said,
“... Okay, nothing too crazy.”
“Byeeeeee!” Kimberly waved them goodbye before they disappeared in a flash of Coral-Pink magic.
They appeared in the least conspicuous spot for three people to pop out of thin air.
The bathroom.
It was the handicapped stall, which had a sink and a toilet. The stall door was left slightly ajar, so Lisa quickly ran over and pushed it closed. They could hear the music much more now.
”... I hope this isn’t the men’s bathroom,” Lisa mused out loud.
"If it is, you should use your spider summoning on Jordan," Saskia said ominously, but with a hint of discomfort in her eyes.
”Sure thing!” Lisa said with a toothy smile.
"I'm sure it isn't!" Ella stuffed the walkie talkie in the pocket of her bright pink trousers. She moved over to the door and tried to listen out through it… but it was hard to hear anything with the music. She turned back around to Lisa and Saskia, hands on her hips. "Alright, what's the plan? We can't just burst in there-"
"I already said go in, seduce him, lure him outside, torture him," Saskia intoned. "Why are you trying to plan, Ella? You're just stalling, aren't you?"
"Noooo… fine! Let's just go out there!"
”Hold on!” Lisa raised the back of her shirt, and spider legs came out. She put them against the walls (of the bathroom itself and the stall). She raised herself off the ground and looked over the stall. She then whispered, ”There’s like three people in here! All women! So no spiders in Jordan’s draws!”
She paused for a moment as she lowered herself back to the ground. ”Well, not unless she wants them.”
Ella let out a sigh of relief. She wouldn’t need to deal with any creepy men, yet! She did a quick check to make sure she had her channeller in her pocket, just in case - yup! The walkie talkie was accessible too. She steeled herself for what was to come. But the three of them could handle it!
"Alright, let’s go get whatshisface, and get outta here!" Ella shouted, a little too loud, and threw a fist in the air. Without waiting she barrelled right through the stall door and into the bathroom itself… grabbing both Saskia and Lisa’s hands on the way to drag them out with her.
"Slow down," Saskia complained as Ella started to drag them towards the bathroom exit.
”... Isn’t this what they were talking about?!” Lisa’s eyes met with the bewildered strippers who watched them get pulled out of a bathroom stall. One that was empty just minutes ago. They were pulled into the main room, and were probably assaulted by red. There was already a white girl dancing on stage, already naked.
”... There he is!” Lisa whispered (more loudly than she probably intended), and pointed at Jacob Stauber. Who was sitting at the bar, watching the girl shake ass with a beer in his hand. ”Okay, um… let’s come up with a plan… because I don’t think ‘Come outside so we can kidnap you’ would work.”
Ella was full on, openly staring at the girl on stage, eyes wide. It was hard not to! She was naked and attractive and Ella had only ever seen naked fictional- Not the time! "Alright, I have an idea. You see in this anime-"
"No way," Saskia cut her off, eyes narrowing. "The last time you came up with a plan from an anime we ended up chased out of a bank. I think…"
They trailed off, grimacing. "We probably need to pretend to be strippers. Or at least interested in him."
Ella shuddered. "But won’t it be weird if it’s all three of us? But none of us should go alone- Ahhh, what do you think, Lisa?"
Lisa stuck her arms out and looked down at the plain T-shirt, some black jeans, and some New Balance sneakers (because, thank God, Kimberly bought her something to wear other than those boots).
”... Do we look like strippers?”
Then she tensed up for a moment as her eyes shot open.
”... We also don’t have any money!”
"You’re right." Saskia looked down at their own outfit - an oversized grey sweater tucked into black cargo pants. "We can’t even pay off any strippers to help- Do people even ‘hook up’ in stripclubs with people who aren’t strippers?"
They then looked at Ella. "I hate to say it but… you’re probably the best dressed for it. But honestly, I think we’re screwed."
"Whhaattt?" Ella shook her head. Sure, she looked super duper cute in the bright pink jeans and strawberry themed crop top she was wearing, with a little bit of her waist showing, but! It wasn’t for seduction! Well, it wasn’t as boring as the other two… "You want me to go over there, Saskia? Me?"
”I mean…” Lisa trailed off. ”I won’t be too far away - and neither will my spiders!”
She gave Ella a toothy grin.
”So, just say hi, and give him the flirty eye, then I don’t know…” Lisa shrugged. ”Rub on his leg or something. We just need him outside.”
Ella looked at Lisa, then at Saskia who just shrugged, and then back at Lisa. It seemed she didn’t have a choice. Which was fine! She’d sacrifice herself so that her friends didn’t have to. "Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll get him outside.”
Before she went over, Ella held her hands to her chest and closed her eyes, before murmuring, "Sailor Soldiers please protect me."
She then steeled herself, and made her way towards the bar. She had no idea how to ‘give him the flirty eye’ like Lisa suggested, she didn’t even know what that was. Just start with speaking to him, but how did she do that without it looking weird? Did that even matter-
"Ahhh-" Ella was so in her own head that she tripped over her own feet as she got near the bar. But fate was kind! It sent her falling right towards Jacob Stauber, and she caught herself with a hand on his shoulder and her chest lightly pressing against his back. "Oh, I’m so sorry."
She inadvertently batted her eyelashes at him while panickedly blinking.
He caught her with his free hand, and said, “It’s all good, relax, relax, I’m not going to bite your head off for a simple mistake.” He helped her to her feet.
"Thank you," Ella laughed nervously, resisting the urge to run the instant his hand came anywhere near her- even though he was actually just helping her up! Alright think, Ella, think… How did anime girls get the male love interests in all the shows she’d watched? Well, normally it took episodes and they would accidentally touch and then look away and blush and- No! That wouldn’t work! Quick, think!
"Maybe it wasn’t a mistake but… fate," she smiled, finally managing to get out a cringy as fuck line. She leaned in past him as if going to the bar - but she couldn’t actually get anything to drink - so that she was also close to him. Her skin crawled, but she ignored it. For the mission! She tried to make her smile and gaze more flirty (but she really had no idea what she was doing). "Falling into someone so… handsome."
Jacob grinned as he said, “Heh, I don’t believe in fate, but… this?” He laughed. “It’s a happy accident.”
He turned around to face the bar as he said, “Can I buy you a drink?”
"Of course," Ella said, though she didn’t plan to touch any drink in here and also didn’t have ID- but they probably wouldn’t check it if he bought it right? That would kind of ruin the plan and she seemed to be getting somewhere. Get a drink, pretend to drink it, ask him to go outside- perfect. "I’ll have… whatever you’re having."
He held his bud light in the air, raised an eyebrow and incredulously laughed. “You? Drinking this?” He shook the bottle of beer. “Foooor real? I see you drinking those fruity drinks?”
"Well…" Ella laughed, cheeks heating up from the sheer embarrassment of trying to fumble her way through a normie conversation and failing at the simplest of hurdles! A fruity drink definitely seemed more up her alley but she had absolutely no idea about alcohol so that would only drag things out. Just fake it till you make it, Ella! "Don’t judge a book by its cover… I enjoy drinking both. You’d be surprised by all the things I do that don’t match how I look."
She winked, because it seemed appropriate, even though she was really talking about all the apparitions she killed- but he’d probably take it some other way!
“Alright then!” Jacob laughed as he turned around to the bartender and shouted, “Can I get another bud light!”
“You got it, sweetie!” the bartender responded. After popping the top, he quickly handed him another bottle and grinned as he held it out for Ella to take.
“... So, you gonna take it?”
Was that a trick question? No, no, don’t try to understand them, Ella… "Why wouldn’t I?"
Going with what seemed like a safe answer, Ella reached out for the bottle. She forced herself to let her fingers brush against his, rather than completely avoiding any touch, as she took it from him. It wasn’t quite the leg rub Lisa had suggested, but just that had her feeling a little sick! She took a tiny sip of it, just about managing not to grimace at the disgusting taste that didn’t help with her nausea. Okay, what to say, what to do…
"Thanks, hopefully, my company is good enough for the drink." Oh sailor moon did that make her sound so boring.
“Don’t worry,” Jacob said with a smile. “So… what brings you here? You don’t look like the type that hits up spots like this?”
"Oh, how could you tell?" Ella laughed, trying not to freak out. Was it that obvious?! Of course it was obvious! She couldn’t exactly tell him that she was here to lure him outside so her and her magical girl friends could torture him for information! Just keep faking it, she could do that, she’d learned from the best - anime about normal people. "I was just looking for some fun after being stuck inside for a few days. Forcing myself out of my comfort zone for a good night!"
“Yeah I was about to say the arcade is down the street!” Jacob laughed. “So, I guess your comfort zone doesn’t involve watching girls shake ass to pay their way through college?” He then laughed obnoxiously.
"Not normally," Ella smiled, glad that she was a naturally smiley person because she really didn't feel like smiling at him. She'd actually much rather just be watching 'girls shake ass' than talking to him. She twirled one finger in a pink braid, half a distraction for herself and half an attempted flirting tactic. "But I'm glad I came, otherwise I wouldn't have fallen into and met you."
“Hehe, me too-”
“... Sapphire is coming off the stage, now Neon is taking the stage!”
She walked over to the pole with a smile on her face, as she swayed her hips from left to right.
Jacob grinned before he dug into his pocket as he said, “Thank you for the company, but I got business to attend to… ”He pulled out a twenty… he handed it to Ella as he said, “Buy yourself a drink and get the fuck out of here. Trust me. It’s about to get ugly.”
He then stormed off towards the stage.
Shit! Ella couldn't let this all be for nothing, the inane normie conversation she'd had to suffer through- when would they get another chance?! No way was she letting him go. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Maybe she was also saving a strippers life with this?
Thinking fast, Ella followed after Jacob (pocketing the twenty first) before literally launching herself at him. At the same time she absorbed the bright pink of one of her rings, ignoring the burning in her chest at doing it without touching her channeler, increasing her physical strength. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself against his back, trying her hardest not to throw up. She had to do this! Seduce him or physically drag him out, she didn't care which! "Surely your business can wait?"
Jacob froze, before he craned his head over his shoulder at Ella.
“Wish it could,” Jacob said. “But, I got business to settle here....”
He attempted to pull himself free and continue towards the stage.
Lisa had ran to the corner of Ella’s peripheral, and waved her hands back and forth in some attempt to get her attention. Once she got Ella’s attention, she put her hands together as spiders came from underneath her t-shirt. They quickly formed web in between Lisa’s hands, that spelled out the letters…
NEED HELP?!
"Don't be like that…" Ella said. Unfortunately for Jacob, she was fairly strong without magic and with the strength enhancement it wasn't so easy for him to get out of her grip. She absorbed the colour from an earring, wincing at the burn and gaining more strength. It was more difficult fighting down the urge to let go, skin crawling this close- maybe if she imagined him as someone else! She couldn't imagine him as a woman, so she superimposed Tuxedo Mask's face over his so she felt slightly less disgusted while catching Lisa's message behind him.
She nodded fervently, while saying, "I promise it'll be much more worth your while…"
“Hey, what the hell? Let go of me!” Jacob tried to fight himself free… while Lisa ran over to Jacob, briefly raising the back of her shirt as spider legs erupted from her back, launching her forward towards Jacob before they shrunk back into her back. She got into the pose as if performing a flying kick and let out a quiet little.
“... Hiyah!”
That was drowned out by the strip club as her leg connected with the side of Jacob’s head… and then she fell and hit the floor, leaving a tiny foot-shaped print on the side of his head.
“ARGH! What the hell?!” Jacob shouted, as that didn’t have the effect he wanted, he kept thrashing back and forth.
"Oh my gosh, who is that crazy chick, let's get you somewhere safe before she tries again!" Ella gasped, regretting asking for Lisa's help. She could've knocked him out much more easily herself! But now the element of surprise was gone! She absorbed the colour of another earring, painful burns creeping out from underneath her crop top which she ignored. She then started trying to forcefully drag Jacob towards what she hoped was a way out.
Out of the corner of the eye she spotted Saskia face palming where Lisa had come from, before beginning to make their way over to help her up.
“No, let go of me right now!” Jacob shouted. “I’m starting to think you’re with her people.”
Lisa crawled to her feet, looked at Ella and Jacob, and shrugged. Out of the hidden crevices of her T-shirt, a wave of spiders was summoned, quickly traveling from herself to Jack. Then, the spiders quickly weaved a web that covered his mouth… before going into his clothes and disappearing. Lisa ran over to Ella and tapped her on the thigh and said, ”To your left! An exit! Let’s go!”
"Got it!" With an unnatural strength, Ella half lifted Jacob and dragged him towards the exit. It wasn't easy carrying a grown man, but thankfully she'd boosted her strength a little bit! "Sorry about this, but you made this all harder on yourself!"
Saskia chuckled as she ran past them. She opened the exit door first for Ella, who didn't have any hands free, to yank him outside. They managed to drag him out to the alleyway behind Shadynasty’s, and Lisa commanded more spiders to bind him up. Ella finally let go of him and stepped away, shuddering.
Saskia slipped one hand in their pocket, fingers curling around their knife, while holding the other one up. "Is that what this looks like? We just wanted to ask him a few questions before letting him go."
"Yeah! We tried to be nice about it!" Ella said, rubbing her arms like there was something nasty on them.
Saskia nodded while considering their options. They could probably take both of them, but Kimberley and Jordan had said to run if they bumped into the PRA… which they presumably were. But Kimberley and Jordan weren't there, they wouldn't know if they slit their throats in a back alley, would they? But for now, she'd stall. "There's no kidnapping, so next question."
“If there’s no kidnapping…” The redheaded one said. “Then please release Agent Stauber.”
“And pleeeeeease take a big step back,” The other Agent said, narrowing his eyes.
“Then, we can talk about these questions you have,” The redheaded Agent said. “We’re all apart of the same organization here. But, I’m senior to Agent Stauber, so whatever you want to ask him… you can ask me.”
"Righhhht," Saskia glanced at Lisa and Ella, then back at the agent. Jordan had said that attacking one PRA agent would get loads more on them… and they already had the whole Society looking for them. They'd just been allowed outside. "Lisa, release him?"
At the same time Saskia stepped back, and grabbed Ella's wrist to pull her back too. She kept her other hand in her pocket for just now.
With a nod of her head, spiders erupted from all the unseen corners of the alleyway, briefly surrounded by a glowing cocoon. When they burst out, they had ant mandibles, quickly tearing apart the webbing around his arms and legs. Then he got up, ripping the web off his face.
"Saskiaaaaa you're making all of my flirting be for nothing," Ella whined, shuddering. "Do you know how difficult it was?!"
"There, there, I understand," Saskia comfortingly patted Ella's upper arm, though the deadpan tone they said it in made it sound incredibly patronising. She then looked at the two agents, deciding to test the waters first. "First question… do you know about the incident that happened at Morningstar Bank a few days ago?"
“... I should have known you were up to something, bitch!” Jacob spat at Ella. “So, let’s cut the bullshit! Get on your knees hands-”
“Agent Stauber,” the red-haired Agent calmly said while raising his hand. “Relax, we got this.”
“You got this?! These bitches tried to kidnap me!” Jacob said.
“I said, relax…” The redheaded Agent said, pushing his sunglasses up his nose before turning to Saskia. “We are not aware.”
“But, I’m certain you can enlighten us,” The other Agent said.
Well, assuming they weren't lying, that told Saskia that they weren't with Morningstar… probably. May. "Well, we heard-"
"Hey! You should feel lucky that even came near you!" Ella pointed at Jacob, seeming to come out of her despair. "We wouldn't have had to if you'd come when I was trying to be nice!"
Saskia sighed, before realising something. They looked at the two other agents. "Who even are you?"
“FBI.” The redheaded agent said.
"Do you think I'm stupid?" Saskia rolled their eyes. "Your names."
“Ah,” the Red-haired Agent said. “I am Senior Agent Dexter Chertok. But, you may call me Rush.”
“And I’m Special Agent Reiquel Gomez.”
Rush nodded, saying, “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Though I wish we could have met under different circumstances.”
“Now,” Agent Gomez, “We were attempting to track a lead on a case we had before you three interrupted… So, would you kindly tell me what you three were thinking?”
"Well we were tracking our own lead when you-"
"Elllaaaa," Saskia interrupted, shaking their head. Hopefully she'd get the message and let Saskia do the talking… because she was the only one with half a chance of getting them out of this! "You see, we… heard that he," they pointed to Jacob, "might be able to help us find the crazy people who broke into Morningstar Bank. We're really desperate to find them, for our, uh, boss. But it seems you don't know about it…"
Agent Rush tilted his head downwards as he stared at Saskia.
“I don’t know, crazy bitch,” Jacob said, before he grinned. “But… I heard who broke into Morningstar Banking were three girls…”
Lisa loudly gulped.
“... A tall girl dressed in bright colors…”
However, on the walls of the alleyway, spiders covered the walls behind the three FBI Agents… but in full view of Saskia and Ella. If one of them were to look up, they could see one of Lisa’s cocoons glowing and growing.
“... A short blonde-haired gal…”
They quickly formed the words: GET READY TO RUN. STALL FOR A MINUTE. Then the Spiders dispersed before the agents could see.
“... And a short black female…”
Rush continued staring at them, before he asked, “So, who are the three people you say broke into Morningstar Banking?” He raised an eyebrow.
A minute? Jacob, the fucking asshole, had already outed them as being the ones who'd broke in. Saskia grimaced as she gripped the blade of her knife, letting it cut through the palm of her hand. Just in case.
"Hey, I thought you said you didn't know about it!" Ella jumped in, very aggressively pointing at Jacob. "I think you're just describing our appearances to pin the blame on us!"
"Oh, that's true," Saskia played along, narrowing their eyes at Jacob. "Why would you know when your superiors don't? We heard it was three massive, muscular men who destroyed windows and walls. Do we look like we could do that?"
“Hey now,” Jacob said, raising his hands with a grin. “I don’t discriminate!”
"You clearly don't," Saskia said dryly.
However, that walkie-talkie that Ella had in her pants pocket began buzzing, before they could hear Kimberly’s voice,
“... E-Ella?” Kimberly began. “Is everything okay in there? We haven’t heard from you in a minute.”
Ella laughed nervously, putting a hand in the pocket where the walkie-talkie was. She fumbled around, unable to hide her panic.
“What was that?” Agent Rush asked.
"Oh no, I must've butt dialed my friend again, it always happens!" Ella laughed… even though the walkie talkie was in her front pocket. "Sorry, can I take this?"
“No you may not,” Rush said.
Agent Gomez rolled his eyes, “I’m getting reeeeeeal tired of this.”
"No one's keeping you here," Saskia shrugged. "You two can leave and let us have a nice chat with Agent Stauber."
“I’ve had enough of this,” Rush said, pushing his sunglasses up his nose. “We’re going to talk about this at our field of-”
The cocoon growing above them burst open, and an enormous tarantula emerged (the size of a pickup truck), landing directly in front of the Agents.
”... RUUUUUN!” Lisa shouted as she turned on her heel and hauled ass into the busy street.
"Fuckkkk," Saskia spun around and sprinted after Lisa as fast as they could. At the same time they pulled their hand out of their pocket, blood dripping down and coating her back with a thin shield layer.
"Good riddance!" Ella yelled, following last. She turned around and looked directly at Jacob, hands raising as they turned into blinding lights. "By the way, I'm a lesbiannnnnnnn!"
“... You’re not getting away that easy,” Agent Gomez shouted… as a massive blue hand that seemed to be made out of an aura appeared in front of the trio. It was balled into a fist as Agent Gomez flew out of the alleyway, with a similar wavy blue aura surrounding him as he floated over to the three. “Get on the ground, now!”
"No way!" Ella yelled. She pulled out her sailor moon wand, brandishing it as she went through her magical girl transformation, and her legs were coated in rainbow light. "You won't take me alive!"
”... You can take me alive, though,” Lisa weakly noted. ”I like living.”
"Let's not be that dramatic," Saskia said. She moved the blood on her back into a long tentacle. At the same time she said quietly to Lisa. "Can you give the spider wings?"
”The spider that’s still in the alley-”
As Saskia asked, Ella jumped forward, aiming a glowing foot at Agent Gomez with a high kick. The giant hand blocking them disappeared as he put his hands in an X, creating two glowing arms blocking the kick. “... I guess we’re doing this the hard way.” He swung his leg out for a key, and a glowing leg appeared that shadowed the motion - flying directly at Ella as he blocked.
"Ahhhh," Ella shouted, colour spilling from her bracelets and coating her arms in bright pinks, purples and blues. She blocked the kick with them, getting pushed back.
"Ella!" Saskia shouted, running forward. "Throw the Walkie Talkie to Lisa!"
Saskia pushed themselves in front of Ella to try and cover her, blood tendril shooting forward towards Agent Gomez's shoulder. However, he flew to the left, dodging the attack, as he shot his palm out at Saskia. A glowing hand appeared, flying directly at Saskia’s midsection to knock the wind out of her. Saskia grunted as the hand connected, doubling over. The tendril pulled back and pressed into the ground to stop her falling onto her knees.
”We gotta get out of here!” Lisa shouted as a wave of spiders came out of the unseen crevices of the environment. ”That Spider is - probably - not going to hold them off forever!”
"Call Kimberley, see if they can get us out!" Ella shouted back, pulling out the walkie talkie and throwing it to Lisa. "Otherwise we're trapped! We can hold him off till then!"
”Like hell we are!” Lisa shouted as she tried ti catch the walkie talkie… only for it to smack her in the face and then it fell into her hands.
Ella jumped back to Saskia's side, spinning around with another kick from the left towards Agent Gomez's stomach. At the same time Saskia, panting heavily, steadied herself and swept her blood tendril round to his right to try catch him if he dodged. Agent Gomez caught the leg using his abstraction, however the tendril launched him off and he hit a car.
”Kimberly, come in K-Kimberly!” Lisa shouted into the Walkie-talkie, hunching down under a car.
“What’s going on?! Where are you?!”
”We’re-”
She felt a pistol pressed against the back of her head.
“… Under arrest,” Jacob said.
Rush walked out, cupping his hands together as he shouted, “Stand down! Deactivate your abstractions immediately!”
"Shit!" Saskia swore. Until there was a gun involved, they could probably get out of the situation… but not now. She wasn't going to let Lisa get shot. "Alright, we surrender."
They held up their hands, blood tentacle pulling back across their body and into the open wound on their palm, which then clotted. Ella's legs and arms went back to normal and she also put her hands up in the air, though she still had her channeler in one. And was still dressed like a magical girl.
“You all made the right choice,” Rush said.
"Get your gun away from her!" she yelled at Jacob. "If you're going to hold it up to anyone's head it should be mine!"
“Agent Stauber,” Rush said, turning to him.
“Yeah, yeah…” Jacob took the gun from Lisa’s head and holstered it. However, he pulled some handcuffs out and restrained Lisa.
Agent Gomez walked over to Saskia and cuffed her while Rush cuffed Ella.
“Agent Gomez, grab the car,” Rush said. “We’re going to have a long night.”
The three girls were herded in the questioning room… a white room with a mirror. The window was behind them, a door was to the right. but they were all sat down at a table.
The door opened, and Rush strolled in with a clipboard. “Hello, hello,” He greeted as he sat down. “Need a glass of water?”
"Ohhhh, you're starting with a glass of water," Saskia nodded, face completely expressionless. "Water torture? Or will you put it just outside of our reach?"
"What's with your obsession with torture, Saskia?!" Ella shouted, eyes wide with horror. "I'll take a glass of water as long as there's no torture involved!"
"I was just joking. I'm sure they'll use more sophisticated torture methods."
Rush just stared at them. Expression was completely neutral. He wrote something down in the clipboard.
“… Nobody is getting tortured.”
"Aww…" Saskia sighed.
Lisa sighed in relief while wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead. ”That’s a relief! But I could use some water.”
Rush walked over to the door, knocked on it and said, “Three glasses of water.”
Then sat back down, and asked,
“While we wait for that… Mind telling me what happened?”
Lisa leaned back, putting her hands together on the table, and had a flat expression as she explained her… side of the story. ”Me and my - What did Adora use to say, oh yeah! - homegirls, yeah homegirls wanted a fun night out where we get to touch some tiddies. Because we knew a gal that touched tiddies without permission, and we wanted to be better than that. So we went to a strip club, where you pay to touch tiddies. So, me and my homegirls were… ‘laxin. Then he, Agent Asshole, comes over here came and grabbed mah tiddy, and I was like ‘nooooooo’. So we dragged him outside, then beat his ass.”
"Well you see!" Ella started. "I was visiting the stripclub for the first time, because I rarely get to go outside! I wanted to see what it was all about! I was just enjoying myself, drinking some bud light, when that- what was his name, Josh? - came over to me and started flirting with me! I get that I'm attractive but I'm not interested! I think he thought I was a stripper cause he gave me twenty bucks and all! Then he tripped me up so it would look like I fell into his arms! I was trying to go outside to escape but he followed me, thankfully I was saved by this lovely lady and her spiders! I've definitely never met her before tonight! But she's my new best friend! Also, he touched me without my consent!"
"Nothing important happened," Saskia said, completely deadpan. "I was told there was going to be a four-way orgy including spider web bondage, and I followed them out for that. I guess he changed his mind when he saw us all."
Rush’s jaw dropped.
“I…” He took his glasses off, pinching his nose. “… I don’t get paid enough for this shit.” He mumbled.
He sighed, as he wrote on the clipboard.
“That doesn’t line up with what you three said in the alleyway.”
"Well I wasn't just going to talk about a bondage four-way on a public street, was I?" Saskia looked at him like he was stupid. Obviously she knew it didn't line up, but hopefully if they lied enough they'd just be kicked out. Or jailed and rescued later. She definitely wasn't telling the truth, who knew if this guy also worked for Morningstar? "I also thought it would be embarrassing for your coworker. Don't judge him too much."
"What did I even say in the alleyway?" Ella asked, tilting her head and acting dumb.
“All three of your stories contradict each other…” Rush groaned, as he wrote on the clipboard. The door opened and Agent Gomez had three glasses of water and he slid them on the table in front of the girls. Afterwards he glanced at the clipboard and laughed.
“Classic Rush,” Agent Gomez said. “… You forgot to ask their names.” He laughed as he leaned up against the wall.
“Oh!” Rush said, “Is it my first day on the job?”
“Seems like it,” Agent Gomez shrugged.
“Names please,”
"Ella Brooks!" Ella said cheerfully, grabbing one of the glasses of water and chugging it.
"... Saskia Otten." Saskia said eventually, after weighing up whether they should lie. There probably wouldn't be much information on them anyway. "Spelt S-A-S-K-I-A O-T-T-E-N. Just in case you weren't sure."
”Lisa Celeste Turner!” Lisa said cheerfully as Ella.
Rush wrote down in his pad, before he sighed, “So, Ms. Otten, you mentioned Morningstar Banking earlier, and we found this on you…” He unclipped the, well, clipboard before he pulled a peculiar piece of paper and slid it across the table.
The drawing Saskia showed Kimberly and Jordan.
“… Mind explaining this?”
"Isn't it obvious?" Saskia asked, reaching out for the picture and holding it up. They couldn't use this as evidence against her, could they? It wasn't like she'd killed anyone. Well… not that they could pin on her with this. "It's a drawing of my boss dying a horrible death. Doesn't everyone do that to get out their work-related frustrations? You don't? You should try it sometime, it's quite relaxing. Don't you think it's quite good?"
”Yeah, it’s stress relief! Like our threeway with Agent Stauber!” Lisa shouted with a toothy smile.
”Failed threeway,” Saskia pointed out.
Rush pushed his glasses up his nose.
“… I have more healthy ways to vent my work-related frustrations. Though I guess you’re not hurting anybody.”
He leaned forward, putting his hands together. “All three of you are looking at jail for a long time-“
The door shot open.
Two tall, African-American women in suits stepped through. Both of them looked identical, like clones. One of them tapped Rush on the shoulder and said, “We’ll take it from here.”
“But-“
“Take the rest of the night off,” She said. Rush and Agent Gomez nodded before they left. The two women sat across from the three, and stared at them,
“… What did you three say your names were?”
"WHOA, are you guys twins?!" Ella yelled, standing up in shock. Then immediately sitting back down again when Saskia hit her thigh lightly. "Whoaaa… "
”Sorry about her,” Saskia rolled their eyes while putting their drawing back in their pocket. She then pointed to herself and her friends in turn. ”Saskia Otten, Ella Brookes, Lisa Turner. Did my drawing traumatise them so much they needed a night off? Maybe they should look for another job…”
The woman was silent and stony-faced.
“… What are your names? I do not believe you.”
”Saskia Otten, Ella Brookes and Lisa Turner.” Saskia repeated… before realising something. ”Ah. Is it because we're dead?”
"WHATTTT?!" Ella shouted. "Oh wait, yeah. That's right."
“No, those girls are dead,” The Agent jammed a finger on the table. “On paper, they are missing, but I know the truth.”
”That we all died fighting the Stygian Snake ten years ago?” Saskia said, not bothering to hide it. If they would even believe it. ”Those girls are us. Dying is really shit.”
"Yeah, there's no other amazing magical girl called Ella Brooks in the world!" Ella declared.
The Agent pointed at Saskia,
“… You bled to death…”
She pointed at Ella,
“… You got mobbed by Apparitions…”
Then she pointed at Lisa,
“… And you… you…”
She massaged her temples,
“… Got ripped apart in front of us.”
”... Huh?” Saskia tilted her head, squinting her eyes to try and recognise them. But it had been ten years. Ten years changed people a lot, them included. ”That's all correct.”
"Yeah," Ella shuddered, holding her arms. "Feels like it was only yesterday."
”... In a way, it was yesterday,” Lisa awkwardly chuckled as she tugged her collar.
”It practically was,” Saskia frowned, looking away. As much as she faked nonchalance, she didn't like being reminded of her death… or Ella's. She absentmindedly touched the clotted wound on her hand from earlier, scratching it until it started slowly leaking blood. ”Who are you?”
“We are…”
The Agent cleared her throat before she looked at her twin.
“… Vanessa and Clementine Washington,”
Lisa’s jaw dropped. Ella slammed her hands on the table and shot to her feet. Saskia's eyes widened.
She didn’t recognize them initially, and what was wrong with her?! They were, like, the two other most incredible people in the world next to Adora. When Emily, George, or one of the other assholes were bullying her, Vanessa and Clem were always right by Adora’s side when she put them in their place. That dropped jaw quickly turned into a smile as she sat up,
”Nessa! Clem!” Lisa shouted with that dumb smile on her face. ”It’s been so long, it’s so great to see you two!”
Then she raised her handcuffs in the air.
”... Mind getting these off? Just me though,” She smiled widely, tilting her head. ”... These two are crazy.” She laughed her ass off afterward.
"You know, I can get out of these myself," Saskia mumbled.
“Hold up,” Clementine said with a raised hand. “First… before we do anything, we need you three to prove that you really are who you say you are….”
“I mean, given the reports that Stauber, Chertok, and Gomez put in…” Vanessa said, with her arms crossed. “... The abstractions line up completely.”
“Hold on,” Clementine said, getting up and walking over to Lisa. She reached into her shirt.
“... Hey, that’s my tid-”
“Shut up,” Clementine commanded before she found it… the Spider in Amber, and her jaw dropped. She used her other hand to lift it above Lisa’s head. “But… it makes no sense…”
“Ella’s Channeler, that Sailor Moon Wand you called stupid all those years ago…” Vanessa laughed. “... Is in the evidence locker.”
"It's not stupid," Ella whined.
Then she walked over to Saskia and grabbed their wrist, getting a good look at the Death Note bracelet.
”Oh, so you just grab her wrist and not her tiddy...” Lisa pouted. ”I see how it be.”
"Wow, is my tiddy not good enough to grab?" Saskia intoned.
“... If it’s a shapeshifter,” Vanessa began. “It’s a damn good one.”
“It makes no sense!” Clementine said. “How are you three back?! Now of all times, too?!”
"We'd love to know the answer to that too," Saskia shrugged.
"I can tell you how we came back!" Ella said, grinning. "We got brought back by the hound! We were in this super creepy dark place and he said someone made a deal to bring us back! But we gotta do some things for him first… which is why we're here!"
Clementine raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, we're his… Agents of Death."
"Which is a stupidly edgy name! We're the magical girls!"
Clementine tilted her head.
"I like it. Oh," Saskia looked from Ella back to Clementine and Vanessa. "Did you see my drawing? It's what the hound asked us to do to regain our lives."
“You mean this…?” Clementine reached over the table, grabbed it, and held it with both hands as she stared at it, stunned. Vanessa walked over, peeked over her shoulder, and said,
"I'm glad someone recognises my talent," Saskia nodded expressionlessly.
“But, does this have something to do with the murders…?” Clementine asked.
“You think these three goofballs have been killing people?” Vanessa asked, followed by an awkward.
”What murders?” Lisa said with a tilt of her head.
Clementine sighed.
“I only have a hunch about it, but someone has been killing members of the Old Coven, and leaving a wolf idol at their body,” Clementine sighed. “So far, they’ve gotten Elsa, Ripley, Jade, Kari-”
”Wait?! Kari?!” Lisa shouted, standing up to her feet. It couldn’t be true.
“She was the most recent in the string of murders,” Clementine flatly answered.
"Kari's dead…" Saskia trailed off, looking away for a moment.
”I… I…” Tears started going down Lisa’s face, as she reached up to wipe them off herself.
"All four of them… Kari… we didn't even get to say goodbye!" Ella's lower lip started trembling and her eyes filled with tears, instantly streaming down her cheeks. She sniffed and reached up with cuffed hands to try wipe them away, but they were an unstoppable waterfall down her face.
“Recently, Kura went down, too,” Vanessa shrugged.
"We've only been alive again for... About four days, I think." Saskia tilted her head, awkwardly patting Ella's leg with both hands (because handcuffs) at the same time. "It's difficult keeping track when we spent most of the time inside. But we have no idea about these murders. We didn't even know it had been ten years…"
“Well,” Clementine shrugged, “We’ve been hoping to do something about it, but most of the murders were in St. Portwell. And we’re stuck here.”
”Like what?” Lisa asked with a tilt of her head.
“Something, anything,” Clementine said. “Better than sitting on our ass and waiting for him to come after us next.”
Amidst this talk about all the murders, a question popped up in Lisa’s head.
”… Is Adora okay?” Lisa asked.
“… From a certain point of view, yes,” Clementine answered. “She’s alive.”
That sounded weird. Lisa thought to herself, before she asked. ”Why ‘from a certain point of view’?” Lisa tilted her head.
“Look… seeing what happened to you fucked her head up,” Clementine shook her head.
“… She had a front-row seat to it,” Vanessa added. “Hell, all three of us did.”
“But what does this,.. picture have to do with the three of ya’ll coming back?” Asked Clementine.
"It’s… it’s…" Ella tried to explain before Saskia, but she was full on sobbing now, ugly tears streaming down her face. She turned to the side and pulled Lisa into a hug, wailing, "Lisssaaaaaaa."
”You-you are suffocating meeeeeeeeeee!” Lisa said though it was hard to make out what she was saying because her voice was muffled.
"It’s the person we need to kill to come back to life," Saskia said, rolling their eyes at Ella. "This is what I plan to do with him when we get to him."
"He’s… he’s… not a human," Ella sniffed.
"Oh, yeah, he’s an evil bastard," Saskia nodded. "Morningstar. The hound says we have to kill him."
“One, never say this to another Agent,” Clementine began. “I’m not turning any of you in, but the other Agents can and will use everything against you.”
"I’m only saying it because it's you two," Saskia shrugged.
Vanessa nodded as she said, “We heard everything you said from behind that-“ she pointed at the mirror, “-and there’s more than enough to book all three of ya’ll.”
Lisa flailed her arms around.
“And two, what did Agent Stauber have to do with it and why did you try nabbing him?” She asked.
"Oh, that bastard? He’s selling information to the society," Saskia openly said. "We were going to tor- talk to him and get information about Morningstar. Wait. There aren’t people behind that mirror now?"
"Sassskiiiaaa stop it with the torture!" Ella sobbed. "Though he’d deserve it."
“… Yes, that would be wise,” Clementine rolled her eyes. “There is nobody behind the mirror. Stauber has been sent home for the night. So have Agent Chertok, and Agent Gomez.”
“But we always had our suspicions about Stauber…” Clementine mused.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Clem,” Vanessa spoke to her twin. “How do you three know about this? Stauber is a bastard, but we need proof.”
"We’d have proof if we weren’t interrupted earlier!" Ella finally stopped crying. "After all the work I put in… All for nothing… I touched his hand! It was gross!"
”… He took her hand-holding-virginity!” Lisa momentarily pulled herself away from Ella, before getting snatched back in. She managed to speak again, except muffled, ”... Not her cuddling virginity!”
"We were told by… friends," Saskia said hesitantly. "I don’t know how they found out. They’ve been helping us since we came back. Supposedly he sends agents after the Society’s targets… which will be us after we get out of here. He’ll definitely put them on our ass."
"I don’t want him on my ass!"
Saskia shrugged. "You could use it to catch him."
”Like a moth to a flame!” Lisa shouted, muffled again
“Look, nobody is going to be on your ass,” Clementine said. “Look, I’m the Regional Commander-“
“Acting Regional Commander,”
“Right,” Clementine said, “Point is, we can make this go away.”
“Within reason,” Vanessa added.
“Yes, within reason,” Clementine answered, “But we need your word you three won’t do anything crazy like this again. I got ties to the very top, but there are things that not even the Director can let slide.”
"Crazy as in attacking the PRA, or just anyone?" Saskia asked. "Because we need to kill Morningstar. And maybe his Endless Seven. Well, six."
"Yeah, otherwise we’ll stay dead!" Ella nodded. "But we won’t attack your agents again!"
“Please don’t,” Vanessa said. “Also, officially you never told me you were killing anyone.”
“Now, let’s get these handcuffs off, and Ella back her channeler-“
“… Am I interrupting something?”
A tear in reality formed behind Clementine as she hopped to her feet. She whipped the pistol out of the holster, aiming it at the massive white creature that came out of the tear. He grinned as he said,
“Hello… I’m here to kill those three,” He pointed a clawed hand at the three behind the two agents. “Stay out of my way, please.”
He laughed.
“Death to all who oppose the Society, after all.”
"Oh shit," Saskia said, handcuffs clattering to the ground and her fingers dangling limply from where she’d broken them all to get out. "We’re screwed."
Like hell we are. Lisa internally seethed as Ella released her and she stared at the freak that was across from them.
”We killed Mala’Boolaan,” Lisa's devious grin formed ear to ear as she stared down a creature that would normally have anyone else running in fear.
Clementine said, aiming down the sights of the weapon.
“Yeah, yeah… closer,” The monster laughed as he walked closer anyway. “How am I supposed to kill them from this far away? You’re asking for a lot here lady…”
Clementine pulled the trigger, and a boom filled the room, putting a hole in the monster. Not just any hole, a hole into a black, void-like expanse. “Ah… annoying,”
The holes closed as it got closer and closer.
“Okay, time to try something else!” Vanessa shouted as she put her fists up, and two silver gauntlets appeared on her hands in a flash of silver light. She yelled as she rushed the creature and gave him a punch across the face, then a shot to the stomach that sent him stumbling backward before she dashed at what had to be supernatural speeds and punched him, sending him flying through a wall.
“You three, c’mere!” Clementine shouted as she ran over to the three. She raised her hand in the air, surrounded by a wavy blue aura. “Hate to waste good cuffs, but stick your hands out!”
"Pleassseee get them off me," Ella ran over to Clementine and stuck her hands out. She slammed her hand down and cleaved right through it as if it was nothing.
"I'm good," Saskia winced, holding up her cuffless arms, fingers beginning to snap back into place with horrible sounding cracks. They still moved over to the others, dropping their voice. "Ella, you need you channeler."
"We don't have time for that!" Ella shook her head. Maybe they could run while Vanessa fought whatever this was - but it would just follow them! And they couldn't abandon newly refound friends! "I'll just have to fight without it- PRISMATIC TRANSFORMATION!"
She launched right into her transformation spell, spinning shakily as harsh burns spiralled out across her stomach and down her thighs. Her clothes were replaced with the normal magical girl affair - in duller colours than normal - and her hair remained the same, normal bright pink braids tied in buns. She winced, eyes darting over to the creature, ready for him to get back up.
"Shit," Saskia swore, looking at Lisa. "Can your spiders get her channeler?!"
”They can,” Lisa shouted, sticking her hands out as Clementine broke them with her abstraction. ”But, you’re gonna have to give me a minute to get them read-”
“... Hello,”
The monster opened another rift through reality and stepped through it, ending up in the interrogation room. “Would you please hurry up and die? I’m late for dinner.”
The creature swung its claw, creating a massive rift into a dark void. Lisa screamed as she fell backward before a wave of spiders crawled out from underneath the door, from the vent, and the hole in the wall Vanessa made fighting the creature. They quickly crawled up the creature’s leg, until they covered his lower body and began biting...
”... Damn it!” Lisa shouted. ”His skin’s too tough!”
“Ah, that itches,” The creature laughed.
”... But, not too tough for this!” Lisa grinned as she activated the Acid Burst spell… and then he disappeared. Leaving behind all the spiders as they fell to the ground and exploded. Sending acid in all directions… and one splash hit Lisa on the cheek and dissolved flesh until it exposed her teeth. ”AH! Take cover!”
"AHHHH!" Ella screamed as she rolled to the side, grabbing a chair to protect herself. Acid splashed her arms, eating through her flesh. Magical burns ran further down her legs as she lit them up with a flickering, rainbow light. She was in agony from casting without a channeller and getting hit by the acid - but she couldn't fight without her magic!
"SHIT!" Saskia jumped behind the table, acid onto their left leg and burning through to the bone. They cursed as they quickly clotted the wound, slamming their hand against the sharp edge of the table to reopen the one there. Blood flooded out, coating their body in a thin protective layer. "Go through the hole- we need more space."
"And my channeler," Ella groaned. At least she should be able to hold the spell on her legs for ten minutes, giving her a way to attack without more damage- but it was risky!
”Give me a minute!” Lisa shouted as she summoned massive tarantulas from the hidden corners of the room.
“We need to get outside!” Clementine noted, before she looked through the hall. “‘Nessa! Nessa!?”
“... We may have a problem!” Vanessa shouted.
“Oh, God, what now?!” Clementine shouted.
“... There’s more of them!” Vanessa shouted before she was launched back into the room and slid across the floor on her back.
"Vanessa!" Ella shouted.
Footsteps approached.
“You three are the ones that caused that mess in Morningstar’s office…?” A feminine voice spoke, and then they saw her grin. Then, her sunken eyes shined as she stepped in wearing a heavenly white robe. “And killed Mala’Boolaan? He was clearly unworthy of his position.” She laughed.
"Rude!" Ella yelled, pushing herself back to her feet. This was still fine, they could take on two people. Apparitions. Whatever they were. "Don't disrespect the dead! He put up a good fight!"
“And he was felled by three idiots!” She laughed.
"That's not the point, Ella," Saskia hissed, shifting from behind the table and next to Ella. Two bone spears grew out of the back of their hands.
"Alright- I won't let you hurt me or my friends!" Ella pointed her finger at the woman. If Lisa's spiders were going to get her channeller and she needed a minute, they needed to keep both of the creatures off of her.
She leaped forward, swinging a shining leg at the woman, and the creature floated backward while raising a hand. A chunk of the ground flipped up and tanked the hit meant for her. At the same time, Saskia shifted into a protective stance in front of Lisa, and Clementine went over to help her sister up to her feet. Lisa activated the hybridization spell, wrapping them in a glowing cocoon, which burst a few moments later—equipping the tarantulas with Ant mandibles. Then, utilizing the command spell, she sent them into the halls of the PRA office.
”Where is the channeler?” Lisa shouted.
“It’s…” Clementine attempted to reply.
“... Please tell,” The mysterious lady-thing said, raising her hand, and chunks of the wall broke off and flew at Ella. “I’m going to kill your friend with it!” She said in a sing-song.
"You're not killing anyone!" Ella winced, jumping to the side with her strengthened legs and rolling out of the way of the chunks of wall. Her legs ached as she did, the spell cast on them unstable, but she fought through it. Pushing back to her feet she launched herself up, spinning mid air and flying towards the lady-thing, and launched her backwards. However, she caught herself with her telekinetic abilities, and floated back.
Another massive rift into darkness opened up, and the white creature poked his head in momentarily. “Hey…” he began. “I brought some friends.…”
A massive, clawed foot stuck through the portal before the rest of the hellish beast came through. Hulking, waving around a threateningly large sword, several arms, and a severed head. He growled as he gave his blade a swift flourish… Before holding it in both hands.
After he came through, a monstrous claw came through, before the rest of the hellish creature followed. It was even taller than the other one, with its head bursting through the ceiling.
“Let me see if I can find some more,” the white creature slowly slid back into the rift. “Play nice now.”
Before he disappeared, and the rift closed.
“Ooookay!” Clementine took a few steps back, until she was against the wall. “We NEED to get the fuck out of here. NOW!”
"No shit," Saskia hissed. "Go, I'll cover your backs. Ella, you too-"
"No way!" Channeler or not, Ella wasn't going to abandon her friend.
"I'll take the one with the sword," Saskia said, blood running across their skin and forming two blades on her hands. They didn't engage, holding their blood blades in front of them while watching the creature with the sword.
Ella, on the other hand, jumped forward and swung their shining leg up towards the other creature, and he used his hulking arm to block.
”I’ll take the girl!” Lisa shouted as the spiders covered the telekinetic in spiders. ”I can’t keep summoning like this!”
“You can’t!” The lady laughed as she raised a hand, and the table they took cover behind began floating. “Because you’ll be dead!”
The table flew towards Lisa, but Vanessa punched it in half.
“I said we gotta go! There’s too many big motherfuckers in here to fight like this!” Vanessa shouted as she raised a gauntlet-ed fist into the air. “Get ready!”
Vanessa slammed the fist down and punched the ground, creating a massive gaping hole in the ground that led to the main lobby of the PRA office building. They could see the front desk right underneath them.
“I’m not sure if you have some way to take the fall,” Clementine said as she aimed her pistol at the brute with the extra-large arm and fired off a few shots, which penetrated his flesh but didn’t seem to stop him. “But figure out something! We are at a disadvantage fighting in here!”
"I can’t!" Ella wailed. She could maybe take a fall if she’d absorbed enough colour… but not like this!
The creature with the massive arm cocked it back, then swung it in a wide arc - only for Vanessa to hop in it’s way and block it with her arms up. Skidding backwards as she grunted, “Well, you better have a fucking healer, then!”
Long black spider legs burst out of Lisa’s back as she hopped into the hole—only for the legs to spread out and attach themselves to the ceiling as Lisa climbed down the walls to the floor. Clementine just jumped and landed on the ground with no harm done.
"I’ve got this," Saskia’s blood once again moved, coating her back in a thin, strong layer. More pooled out of her wound and formed a long tendril, as she visibly paled. She grabbed hold of Ella from behind. Before Ella could protest, Saskia yanked her through the hole, thanks to catching Ella by surprise.
The blood tentacle shot past Ella’s face and hooked onto the edge, slowing their fall so they dangled for just a moment… before it let go too and dropped them the rest of the way. Midfall it retracted and they landed on the floor with a loud thump, Ella right on top of Saskia - and more protected from the fall. Nothing was broken but everything hurt like hell!
"Fuckkkk," Saskia grunted, audible cracks echoing in Ella’s ears. She rolled off her immediately and helped Saskia sit up. Her back, neck and head had been protected by the blood armour, but her legs and arms were visibly broken. They were twisting horribly as they started to repair themselves and the blood that hadn’t splattered across the floor pulled back into Saskia’s wound.
"Saskiiiaaa," Ella cried, stopping herself from going full on upset about it - she had to keep fighting now that they were down!
”... I got you!” Lisa shouted as spider preemptively forced their way out of her pores, and she lept over to Saskia. She placed her hands on Saskia’s shoulders, and the spiders crawled down her arms and onto Saskia. They bit her, injecting her with their healing concoction, which would heal her wounds….
“Well…” The Pale-Lady raised a hand in the air, and technically lifted a chunk out of the ground - making the hole evn larger - before launching it at Vanessa. It hit her and launched her into the hole in the ground and she hit the ground with a loud tud next to Ella and Saskia. The lady stuck her face through the hole as she stared down, then looked at the two. “Don’t leave your friends behind, you two!”
"Vanesssaaaa!" Ella shouted, swapping from kneeling beside Saskia to kneeling beside her.
The first one down was the Demon with the sword, who landed some distance away from the trio (and Vanessa and Clementine). He gave his sword another flourish as he walked over to them… menacingly. The next one down was the demon with the freakishly long arm. He slammed his hand on the ground as he walked alongside the other freak… while the pale lady watched from above.
”... We need to get your Channeler,” Lisa muttered to Ella. ”This is why you need a Channeler like ours. You can’t fight like this long term!”
“Do you think your spiders can find it?” Clementine asked as she raised a pistol at the two creatures.
”They can…” Lisa said, then shrugged, ”... Eventually.”
“I can lead you there!” Clementine asked, before she turned to Ella and Saskia. “Can you two stay here and hold them off?”
“You mean three?” Vanessa said with a wry grin.
“Yeah, whatever!” Clementine said, “Just buy us some time.”
"Easy," Saskia grunted, sitting up as Lisa’s healing spiders worked their magic. The terrifying whiteness disappeared from their already pale skin and their broken bones were fixed.
"Yeah, don’t worry, we got this!” Ella declared, pushing herself to her feet. Even through the hot pain searing through her legs, burnt skin visible through the glowing light coating them, she could- would- keep going. This was nothing compared to dying! "I can keep this up for… another eight minutes.”
"I can keep this up until I bleed out," Saskia said, reaching out to scrape their healed hand across a piece of rubble and draw blood again. They then stood, blood coating their hands. "Go."
Ella held out a hand to help Vanessa up, gulping as she looked at the two creatures. For all her bravado… she really was limited when she shouldn’t use anymore spells. "Saskia…”
"Yeah, got it. Go defensive." Saskia stepped forward. Ella moved to her side, one leg slightly bent and ready to move - but neither attacked first. They had to hold them off, and maybe hurt them, until Ella got her channeler. Then they could properly fight. Because right now, Ella really was running on next to nothing!
“Well,” Vanessa said as she got up. She punched her gauntlets together as she said, “We can take them.”
Clementine nodded as she grabbed Lisa’s hand and carried her off into the halls of the PRA building.
The creature with the freakishly large arm slammed it on the ground, and used it as a pole-vault to launch itself high up into the air. It had it cocked back for a devastating punch. While the beast with the sword came charging from the side. Ella and Saskia dodged to opposite sides to avoid the punch. Ella spun around, leg kicking up towards the creature with the freakishly large arm’s abdomen, causing it to hit the ground with a thud. Saskia’s blood formed a single blade from her right hand, and she swung it towards the beast with the sword. Clashing blade against blade…
The other creature pushed itself to its feet by its arm, before raising it into the air and bringing it down on Ella, who blocked it with a strengthened leg. She winced, draining the colours from several bracelets to coat her right fist. The bright pinks flickered before settling, red hot wounds cutting across her arm away from it. The pain was intense, her vision blurring as she punched at the creature with the pink fist. The punch caused it to stumble…
… Then Vanessa charged in and walloped the thing and sent it flying. It went through the wall.
“… The Chairman Board is going to kill us,” Vanessa shook her head before facing the two. “You two! Double-team him! I got the other one!”
The brute came out charging and grabbed Vanessa, raising her up into the air and slamming her onto the ground. Before it kicked her through a wall and kept charging after her, it ran lopsided due to its proportions.
"... She doesn’t seem like she can handle that?” Ella looked at the new hole in the wall in panic.
"She’s trained, she’ll be fine!" Saskia said, still engaged in sword to sword combat with the other creature. It was a deadlock, but Saskia was being pushed back.
Ella ran towards it, sending a high kick towards its side. The impact caused it to hunch over, but it quickly swung the severed head it was carrying like a bat at Ella. Ella raised her arms to block it, wincing when it hit the one she hadn’t infused with colour. She pushed through it, bringing her knee up to ram into it. At the same time, Saskia shot a long bone spear out of their elbow as their blood blade clashed with its blade, aiming for its sword holding arm. Impaling it through the arm as it let out a roar, keeping the sword in its iron grasp as it grabbed the spear and squeezed it in an attempt to break it. The spear snapped with a sickening crunch, half still lodged in its arm and the broken half pulling back into Saskia's skin as she grunted in pain.
One of the free arms swung at Ella, hitting her in the shoulder and sending her flying. She landed on her ass , wincing and immediately getting back to her feet. Everything ached, the casting without her channeler beginning to get to her, but they just had to hold on. Ella jumped back in, swinging one leg towards its side then aiming her strengthened fist forward at the same time. Shattering several ribs in a loud crack.
However, he lunged forward to grab Ella. She tried to dodge back, but her forward momentum was too much, and she couldn’t avoid it. Ella punched the arm, holding her with a grimace, which he ignored as he came in with a full-force punch. She pulled up a leg in time to block the punch from hitting her stomach, muscles tearing as it slammed through the prismatic light. She cried out as pain seared through her leg.
"Shit, Ella!" Saskia twisted around, unable to disengage and help.
Ella let out a hiss, hands pulling together and draining all of the colour she wore. A large, multi colored sphere appeared in her hand. It wobbled, shape fragile, and painful blisters formed across her skin as the burning got worse. She launched the sphere right in the creatures face - it would be like a brick was hitting it. But at the same time it exploded on contact, shards of colour erratically shooting off and hitting both Ella and Saskia.
It grabbed its face - stumbling backward. Before putting all its weight on its backfoot and rushing forward, swinging its sword wildly. Ella was right in the path of its sword, leg injured and wounds all over her from the prismatic prisms’ backlash. Saskia jumped forward and pushed her out of the way, awkwardly blocking the sword with one blood-covered hand and their blood blade. The erratic swings sliced through Saskia’s blade, blood splattering on the floor, and she narrowly avoided getting her arm chopped off. Her blood coated both hands in a hard shell and she grabbed the sword, more blood thinly coating her feet to stop her from being pushed back.
Ella raised a hand, a beam of light shooting directly from her finger and towards the creature's sword arm. As it did, her entire finger lit up as if it were an ember, burning pain spreading out from it and down her entire arm. The creature yelped in pain, finally letting go of the sword and holding her hand as it thrashed around.
“… Hey,” The White Creature stuck its head through the gaping hole in the ceiling. “Ignatius said that if you three can’t handle this, you have no place in the Society. So no more friends!”
“But we brought you something!” The Pale Lady stuck her head through the hole. Then, two more identical swords flew into the monster’s hands through the hole.
“Oh dear,” The white creature said. “You dropped one, pal.”
“Best get it back!” The Pale Lady shouted.
She retreated out of sight.
"Shit, you can’t go on much longer," Saskia muttered, looking at Ella. She was covered in burns and the light coating her legs was flickering rapidly. Ella shook her head, grimacing. They had to get rid of this one faster now to help Lisa and Clementine before they were killed!
"I’m fine.” She recast her super prism kick, rainbow light on her legs stabilising as pain seared through her midsection. Even if she had to sacrifice herself, she’d make sure her friends were safe. Adrenaline pumped through her veins enabling her to continue, light supporting her damaged leg.
Ella jumped forward, leg kicking out towards one of the arms holding a sword. Saskia reformed their own blood blades simultaneously, two of them, and sliced them towards it and were parried by the creature’s blades. However, the kick sent it stumbling over, and it quickly used one of the blades to brace itself.
It loudly yelled as it raised its blades, and wildly slashed at Saskia while charging. Saskia gritted her teeth as she blocked the slashes, forced to step back with each strike. There was no opening for an attack, only defence, as the blades got scarily close to her face. Ella backed away as it attacked Saskia, raising a hand to shoot a rainbow laser at it. She tried to aim for a sword-holding hand, but the spell was unstable and pointed toward its shoulder. With great effort, hands feeling like they were on fire, Ella kept up the continuous beam of light, directing it down its arm. It screamed as it continued the barrage of blades towards Saskia.
”... ELLA!” Lisa shouted, barging into the room, holding Ella’s Channeler high into the air. Clementine was behind her, holding her pistol with both hands… Then Lisa’s spiders came after her, crawling up the walls like a strange macabre carpet.
"LISAAAA!" Ella yelled back, cutting off the beam of light. She was incredibly relieved to see her - both alive and with her Channeler! She was at her limit of casting without it. Ella started running towards Lisa, burned hands outstretched for her Channeler.
"Hurry up and help me," Saskia hissed, being beaten back further and further as all they could do was block. She was panting heavily but still keeping up with the continuous barrage. "Actually, heal Ella first!"
”Okay!” Lisa shouted as tiny black spiders forced their way out of Lisa’s pores. They traveled up her arm and covered the Sailor Moon Wand. ”Come here!”
Ella took one look at the spiders coming out of Lisa’s pores, covering her precious wand, and felt sick. She’d been healed by them once before and it had been horrible! Times weren’t so desperate right now. She stopped running towards Lisa, instead beginning to back away. "No, I’m alright! Just give me my Channeler, please!"
”Let. Me. Heal. You.” Lisa shouted as she began to sprint after Ella.
"NOOOOO! Stay away!" Ella screamed, turning around and running away as fast as she could.
”Get back here!” Lisa shouted.
"... are you fucking with me," Saskia muttered, still fighting.
“Look out!” Clementine shouted as she shot both of her hands forward. A blue wave of energy came out of her hands. It hit the creature, launching it back. She ran over to Saskia’s side. “We can take him!”
It got up to its feet… before grabbing its dropped weapons. It gave them a flourish with all three before it roared.
With all three blades in hand, the creature with the blades lept through the air, bringing them all down, blade first on Saskia and Clementine. However, the latter raised her hand and created a transparent glowing blue dome around them. The creature was stopped in its tracks, falling to the ground, as Clementine briefly dropped the shield and shouted.
“... Here’s your opening, kid!” She aimed her pistol at it.
"... Not a kid," Saskia muttered, moving forward and raising a leg. They stomped it down at the fallen creature, a short, sharp bone spear shooting out from their foot to impale it. Piercing through its stomach, it quickly sat up and used the momentum to stab at Saskia with all of its blades. However, another glowing barrier appeared, blocking all the attacks as it rose to its feet.
“I’m going to drop it again! Get out of the way!” Clementine said.
"Shit." Saskia gritted her teeth, snapping the bone spear where it met her foot with another spell and jumping back. The blood blades on her arms unformed, flowing towards her back to form a tendril she used to push her further out of the way. The barrier disappeared, and the blades curled inwards… leaving it open for a moment. Saskia’s tendril shot forward, right towards its chest., piercing through it, causing it to drop its swords as it gripped the tendril. It charged forward, using its strength to close the distance and raised a sword in the air and brought it down towards Saskia. Unable to retract the tendril fast enough, she forced a short, thick bone spear out of the palm of her hand to block the sword. It began to chip, but was just able to hold up.
A blast from Clementine’s hand came out and sent the creature stumbling backward, causing the tendril to pop out… revealing its beating heart. However, its lungs were destroyed in the process… and it gasped for air as it grabbed its chest. Before it fell to the ground, holding its gaping wound in its hand.
Before it finally expired.
“... See?” The white creature said from above, poking his head through the hole. “No place in The Society.”
Clementine whipped around, aimed her pistol at the White Creature, and let off a round. It missed entirely and hit the ceiling.
“That was rude,” he laughed. “I can see how you felled Mala’Boolaan… but I have to kill you, or else my position in the Society might get questioned.”
"That would be a shame," Saskia said sarcastically, panting lighty. They cautiously angled their blood tendril to be in front of them, glancing around for Lisa and Ella… who were still running around the room. "Come on down then, we don’t have all day."
“Mind telling me where his friend’s at, then?” The White Creature said. "Or have you seen the Pale Lady?”
"Why would I know?" Saskia narrowed their eyes up at it. Dead, she hoped. She pointed to the hole in the wall Vanessa had been kicked through. "Probably down there if you’re needing a little mid-fight chat."
“Well, just stand there for me!” The White Creature shouted, then laughed.
“... I’m riiiiiiiiiiiiight here!” The Pale-Lady laughed as she brought everyone’s attention to one of the doors. She had that eerie smile on her face… well, what was left of it. Half of it was missing, revealing skull and bone and what little flesh she had left hanging off the side of her face. She still smiled, though.
Behind her was the creature with the massive arm… missing his other arm, and several dents in his chest. There were massive bruises across its chest and arm, and its knee was crooked… however, in its enormous arm, it held Vanessa by her torso as she was limp.
“‘Nessa!” Clementine shouted before raising her pistol.
Lisa had stopped chasing Ella and turned on her heel as her eyes shot wide open. Ella also ground to a halt, taking steps back to be next to Lisa, looking horrified.
"Shit," Saskia hissed under her breath.
“Ah, ah, ah!” The Pale Lady wagged her finger. “One muscle flex, and she’s dead!”
The Pale Lady asked. “If you want your sister to come out of this alive, turn your pistol on those three so we can finally get this over with!”
"I would never!" Clementine said.
The Pale Lady laughed as she put her hands together.
“Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…” She rambled on and on.
Saskia slowly turned their head to look at Clementine, otherwise perfectly still, blood tendril hanging in stasis in front of their chest. They wouldn’t blame her if she shot them. They wouldn’t let her hurt Ella or Lisa, but… they wouldn’t blame her. But there had to be another way. They looked back over at the pale lady.
"Isn’t that a bit cowardly? You were told to kill us," Saskia said evenly, almost sounding bored. "Don’t think you can, so you need her to do your dirty work?"
”Yeah!” Ella yelled. That’s very cowardly!
“Who cares if it’s cowardly?” The Pale Lady laughed. “Morningstar wants you three dead. And as long as you’re dead, who cares?! I hope your people will remember you because the Society won’t!”
"Good, I wouldn’t want remembered by the Society," Saskia said, narrowing their eyes at the Pale Lady. Technically, to most people they were already dead and remembered… But that didn’t mean she wanted to die again.
”People will remember us- I bet no one will remember you!” Ella added.
“Everyone will remember Morningstar’s Society!” The Pale Lady laughed. “When we locate the All-Blade we’re going to change the world! All of them! Make the Society a society!” She laughed like a mad woman.
“You three are just a roadblock. A stepping stone!” She rambled.
”Shut up… shut up…” Lisa hissed under her breath as she tilted her head downwards, staring at the Pale Lady.
While this went on… Spiders… thousands, if not millions, appeared underneath the door and silently crawled up the walls behind The Pale Lady and The Long-Armed brute. They scrambled together and formed words, GET THE WHITE ONE.. Before they dispersed, only the keenest eye would notice a Hobo Spider crawling up the creature’s body… traveling up its nose, forcing its way in. It attempted to blow the spider out through its nose, but there was a pop before it started violently coughing, dropping Clementine as it fell to its knees. Coughing more and more… as eventually, a toxic and unhealthy mixture of acid and dissolved flesh came out of its nose. Its nostrils loudly sizzled as the acid did its job…. While it was distracted, more spiders began climbing its body and forcing themselves into his orifices.
”Now!” Lisa shouted.
Ella reached over and snatched her Channeler out of Lisa’s hand, raising it high as a beam of damaging rainbow light shot out of it and right toward one of the pale lady’s (sort of) eyes. At the same time, Saskia’s blood tendril shot forward towards the pale lady’s chest. However, she raised her hand and flipped a chunk of ground telekinetically. She laughed as both attacks were blocked… however, she looked at her cohort at the side. More spiders were being forced down its nose and its throat and exploding into acid bombs. It choked and thrashed on the ground as it coughed up more acid and dissolved insides.
“... Son of a bitch!” The Pale Lady shouted.
”Good job, Lisa!” Ella grinned, jumping forward. She cast Super Prism Kick, food kicking clean through the chunk of ground in front of the pale lady. Saskia followed close behind with a blood tendril shooting through.
That smile was erased from the Pale Lady’s face as Saskia impaled her through the stomach and fell backward. She had both hands on the tendril. However, she quickly shot them both up and sent a spray of rubble at the two. It wasn’t anything significant, but it went at high speeds. Saskia swore, forcefully cutting off the tip of the tendril so it turned into liquid blood in the Pale Lady's hand and retracting it. But she wouldn't be able to retract it fast enough to cover herself-
"Saskia!” Ella shouted, throwing herself in front of her friend and taking the full blow of the rubble spray. She winced, visibly barely standing.
"Ella, you-" Saskia grimaced, stepping around her quickly and shooting the now shorter tendril at the pale lady again, trying to impale her chest. She had to end this quickly.
At this point, the acid had dissolved the brutish creature’s throat… making its head fall over, barely attached by the little flesh that wasn’t dissolved. It hit the ground with a loud thud, which caused The Pale Lady’s head to dart in that direction, leaving her open to the combined attack of the two. The tendril shot through her chest, and she gasped as her blood spilled all over the floor. She fell backward, blood dripping down the corner of her mouth… before she went limp.
”... I don’t think anyone’s going to be remembering you now,” Lisa chuckled, as she raised a hand. ”High five!”
“Heal ‘Nessa!” Clementine ran over to her sister, sitting her up. She pressed two fingers into Vanessa’s artery on her neck.
Ella was mid run towards Lisa, hand raised to high five her, and paused. ”On it!”
She raised her channeller, a beam of healing rainbow washed over Vanessa, stabilising her near immediately and beginning to heal her wounds. Ella grimaced, growing visibly weaker as she did.
Saskia came up behind Ella quickly and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Lisa, the healing spiders, now!"
”... You thought you could get away now could you!” Lisa laughed like a maniac as she ran over to Ella and wrapped her little arms around her torso. The spiders quickly emerged from her pores, crawled down her arms, and promptly traveled to Ella. They quickly burrowed their way into Ella’s skin; moments later, she began regenerating as all the wounds she sustained during her fight with the creature with the blades were healed.
"Noooooo!" Ella screamed the whole time, squirming. Saskia chuckled behind her, keeping a tight grip on her shoulder so she couldn't escape.
“... Ah, it was exactly as Ignatius said,” The White Creature poked his head through the hole in the ceiling. “Unworthy of being in The Society. Thanks for getting rid of them for me, I guess.” He shrugged.
”And you’re next!” Lisa pointed a finger at him. ”You said you were going to kill us! What happened to that?!”
“Well…” The White Creature shrugged. “... I guess I’ll just accept my punishment from Ignatius. Goodbye… I’ll be back.”
The creature retreated into a hole and hopped into a rift that closed behind it.
“Okay…” Clementine sighed. “... That went better than I’d thought. But, they’ll be back.”
"And we'll just beat them again!" Ella said, once again full of energy. "We already beat their strongest, they were nothing."
”You got really badly hurt,” Saskia pointed out, rolling her eyes. She properly pulled back in the blood tendril, trying to ignore the wave of dizziness that came over her. She was still holding onto Ella's shoulders, thankfully, which stopped her from falling over.
"Because I was fighting without my wand," Ella whined. "Most of it was burns from that… right, Lisa?! You healed me so you saw, right?!"
”I-” Lisa raised a finger.
“Okay, it doesn’t matter right now,” Clementine cut in. “We need to get out of here. Now.”
”Do you think Staub-”
“We’ll worry about that later!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaah,” Vanessa moaned as she was roused awake. She grabbed her head and asked, “What… happened? My head…”
“Help her up,” Clementine said, “You two are staying at our house for the night.”
"Hell yeah, slumber party at Nessa and Clem's- can we watch Sailor Moon?!" Ella yelled excitedly.
”Not important, Ella,” Saskia sighed. She let go of Ella's shoulders and took a step towards Vanessa before wincing, head swimming slightly. ”You two are going to have to do that, I lost too much blood.”
"Don't worry, I've got her!" Ella bounced into action, jogging over and helping Vanessa up, supporting her relatively easily.
“Let’s go!” Clementine said, gesturing for them to follow. They followed, carrying Vanessa to their car and they left the PRA.
Lisa sang along with the radio loudly, having a ball of her own as she sat in the back seat with Vanessa (who was sitting up) and Ella. She rocked her head back and forth as she sung.
Clementine wiped her face.
“... She was literally fighting for her life like ten minutes ago,” Clementine griped. “How does she still have the energy to be a goofball?”
”Because I’m fab-ulous!” Lisa laughed.
"Eventually, you gain the ability to zone it out," Saskia said tiredly.
“... When?!” Clementine laughed.
"Heyyy, can we change the channel? Maybe there's one with a song I know, then we can both sing!" Ella shouted, leaning forward.
"... Please no," Saskia muttered.
”You only know some weeb-ass anime music!” Lisa shouted back.
"I don't! I know some normal music!"
"... Can you please stop shouting," Saskia groaned. Then, to Clementine, they said, "This is what I’ve had to deal with the past few days."
”See! Even you think anime music is weird!” Lisa shouted back.
Clementine turned towards Saskia and stared at a thick tree they were coming up on.
“You know that tree is looking real nice right now…”
"It’s not abnormal, it’s special!" Ella yelled, volume somehow getting louder. "Normal music is boring."
"I agree about the tree…" Saskia said, staring at it.
”No it’s not!” Lisa replied. ”You just haven’t heard real music! Nor have you taken a shower, much like real anime fans!”
"What?! I took a shower last night! You heard me!" Ella pointed a finger at Lisa. "It’s cleaner than sleeping with spiders on me!"
”Spiders are clean animals!” Lisa retorted, ”Did you know they groom themselves?! Their webs too?! They clean themselves immediately after touching a person! And I know my spiders do the same after they touch you.”
"... they do?" Ella paused, eyes widening. "I didn’t know that! That’s kind of cool! I’m sorry spiders- but the point is, I also shower! I really want to clean myself now after that nasty man touched me!"
”Like that was the first time that happened, Ella!”
"It was the first time! The only other man who’s ever touched me is my Tuxedo Mask body pillow!"
”... Are you forgetting about your uncle?” Lisa teased, sticking her tongue out.
Ella tilted her head. "I don’t have a- OH! He wasn’t technically my uncle, he was-"
The car suddenly stopped as Clementine’s head whipped to the back seat.
”... WILL YOU TWO CUT IT THE FUCK OUT!”
She screamed at the top of her lungs and then panted over and over again. She put her hand to her face as she said, “There really ain’t no question about who you two are because you’re stiill as annoying as ever…” She shook her head.
”S-sorry,” Lisa stammered out.
"Heyyy, we’re not that annoying, you just don’t understand our friendship," Ella pouted.
"You absolutely are-" Saskia jerked her head towards the front. "Watch the road."
“... We’re not driving,” Clementine said. “I need a second, or else I’ll drive us all off a cliff!”
"Oh yeah." Saskia turned back to look at Ella. "Be quieter."
"Yesss boss," Ella agreed, eventually, looking at Clementine sheepishly. "Sorry."
“Thank you…” Clementine hit the gas pedal before she added, “We’re almost there anyway.”
The rest of the car ride was quiet and smooth, and Lisa had to hold the urge to chatter anyway because it seemed a little bit awkward. Finally, it stopped, and Lisa’s head whipped around to the side. She eyed a modest, one-story home. Clementine shut the car off and grumbled something under her breath before she threw a hand up in that direction.
“... Welcome to our humble abode,” Clementine said as she opened the door. “Can you three help Vanessa in?”
”I can try!” Lisa snorted, ”You gotta remember she’s over six feet tall, and I’m tiny!”
Clementine rolled her eyes.
“... Noted,”
"Don't worry, I've got this!" Ella said, hooking her arm around Vanessa and awkwardly trying to drag her out. The height difference wasn't as bad but it still wasn't really working.
"Why don't we take her legs," Saskia suggested, looking at Lisa.
”... I’m not trying that!” Lisa awkwardly laughed, then waved her arms in front of her. ”You see these noodle arms?!” Then laughed again.
“... I can stand just fine,” Vanessa rolled her eyes as she raised a hand to her head. She stood up to her feet, stumbling over before she braced herself on Ella. “Just help me walk, and make sure I don’t bash my brains in on the front stairs…”
”Lemme get the gate!” Lisa hurried to the front entrance and opened it for Saskia and Ella.
"Alright, I got you!" Ella properly wrapped her arm around Vanessa to support her. Saskia walked in front of them, half twisted around as if ready to catch her if she fell.
Clementine led the group to the front door and quickly dug into her pockets until she pulled out her keys. She stuck them in, opened them, and stepped inside—pivoting on her heel as she turned around to face the group. She held the door open and gave everyone a great view of their living room. She then pointed at the sofa and ordered,
“Lay her down on the sofa.”
"Alright!" Ella supported Vanessa over to the sofa, helping her down onto it, before looking around the room with wide eyes. "Whoa, this is massive!"
"Being a fed pays, huh," Saskia said, sitting down on the sofa themself. They were still a bit paler than normal, raising a hand to massage their forehead. "This is way better than the motel room… bet there's more than two beds."
"But why would we need more than one bed?!” Ella exclaimed.
“Hehe…” Clementine rubbed the back of her neck. “There’s only two beds in here. We don’t get a lot of guests.”
"Oh that’s okay, we’ll share!” Ella said cheerfully. "Me and Lisa like sharing and Saskia promised to be the middle spoon tonight anyway.”
"Less promised, more bullied into it so you can’t say I ‘have no game’," Saskia rolled their eyes.
”Hey now!” Lisa shouted, ”Who says we all can’t cuddle?!” she robotically turned her head towards Clementine.
“.,, I’ll sleep on the couch tonight,” Clementine replied.
"Awwww you could’ve been the biggest spoon, Clem,” Ella pouted. "Now I’ll never know what it’s like to be a littler spoon…”
“I have enough towels and toiletries here for everyone,” Clementine said. “Just uhhh… no clothes that’d fit you three.”
"I’m sure we can make do with at least a change of shirt, even if it’s too big," Saskia shrugged.
"Oh yeah, I’m comfy to just wear that, as long as it covers my ass!” Ella nodded.
”I mean I wouldn’t mind if it didn’t…” Lisa mused.
Saskia face palmed. "I meant keeping on your own pants, idiot."
“I mean I don’t think you three want to walk around in dirty clothes all night!” Clementine laughed.
"It’s not that bad…" Saskia trailed off, looking down at their own clothes. They were stained with blood and covered in dust. "You’re right. Anything else is fine, as long as Ella’s ass is covered."
”Oh, stop acting like you wouldn’t like it as much as I[ would,” Lisa laughed.
"Shhhh," Saskia hissed, glaring at Lisa as if she’d just spilled the biggest totally not obvious secret. "Don’t out me like this."
"Huh?” Ella tilted her head, clearly not getting it. She then turned to Clementine. "Well, since that’s decided, we should all take showers and get changed, right, girls? Then we can discuss what happened!”
”Yeah!” Lisa shouted, thrusting a fist into the air.
After a good amount of time, the three finally took showers. Thankfully, the Washingtons had two different showers, so they wouldn’t have to wait forever just to shower. Afterward, Clementine provided the three girls random tee shirts… which looked comically large on Lisa and Saskia. Lisa herself hopped on the sofa with the other two, and Clementine walked out and sat down some distance away from them.
“I…” Clementine said, “Okay, okay. You three are still as annoying as I remembered, but… it feels surreal having you back after so long. I kind of missed it, not gonna lie…”
"Aww, we missed you too!” Ella grinned. "Though for us it… hasn’t really been that long.”
"It’s nice to be back," Saskia sighed. They sat with their legs tucked under them, completely covered by the t-shirt, which only made it look more comical. "”... wait, how have I been annoying?"
“By association,” Clementine then sighed. “But it’s been ten years, Ella. Ten long years. I’m not going to sit here and act like we were tight, but Jesus...”
”... Did you beat the Stygian Skake?” Lisa asked. ”Is the Coven still around?”
“Yes, we did… and no its not,” Clementine shook her head and looked at the ground; she then shrugged. “There is a reason why I called it the old Coven… Well, I mean, here’s what practically happened…”
She put her hands together and explained, “No one in the Coven really liked each other. Sure, there were always cliques like… you three and Kari, the smart kids, et cetera. But at the end of the day, most of the Old Coven were fighting for one united cause and only looked past each other’s… quirks for the greater good.”
She shrugged, putting her hands back into her lap, “Once the Stygian Snake was gone, and St. Portwell turned into a shit show… well, a band of teenaged brats with magic acted like… a band of teenaged brats with magic.”
She looked at Lisa and said, “There was bickering like crazy, and lots of fucked up shit that people were doing in the dark came to light. It was chaotic, and Ashley, Daisy, and Auri barely did anything except play favorites. People were getting voted out left and right; if they weren’t kicked out, they left. ‘Nessa and I tried to pull through, but the Coven got too toxic for us in the end, and we left.”
She shook her head one last time, “Sometimes I wonder if you three were there, things would have been different…”
"Ella and Lisa always had a way of bringing people together, somehow," Saskia said softly, glancing at them both. There was a hint of… sorrow in her expression, minute but just visible. "Everything has to end."
"What kind of ‘fucked up shit’ came to light?” Ella asked, surprisingly honing in on that where Saskia didn’t. "Was it Greyson? I always found him a bit weird.”
“Well, at the end of the day, Greyson just... stole shit and was an asshole,” Clementine shrugged. “One of the two big things that happened was that Britney… she was cursing people and adjoining them to Apparitions to rope them into the Old Coven.”
”Wait! Really?!” Lisa tilted her head at the revelation. ”Like how? Why? She was always so nice…”
“Beats me,” Clementine shrugged before she leaned back in her chair. “It was sooooooooo fucked up though… I couldn’t see Britney the same.”
"No way, I liked Britney!" Ella gasped, shaking her head.
Saskia frowned. "There were… a lot of people she saved that ended up adjoined. Like Luca. Remember him? Lisa dangled him from a spider once."
“... And how could I forget that?” Clementine laughed. “Nessa and I joked about how fuckin’ nuts that was. Like… ‘Oh no, Scott Reese is after us, let me just dangle this m-f from a flying spider’... Okay, I’m getting off subject here,” She laughed before that smile turned utterly straight.
“... Britney adjoined him,” Clementine answered. “And to my knowledge, he still has it, but I don’t know. It’s been ten years, maybe he got it fixed.”
"Seriously? That thing was ruining his life," Saskia grimaced.
”I mean… she was such a nice person…” Lisa was at a loss for words.
“That’s how people like Britney be,” Clementine began, “They act nice to hide how they really are. To make you think ‘Naw, she would never do something like that’.” She shook her head.
“Fuckin’ monster,” She hissed, “It’s part of the reason why me and ‘Nessa do this: to stop people like Britney and to help victims like Luca.”
"Do this as in… the magical feds?" Saskia asked, raising an eyebrow. "Clearly there's people like Britney in your ranks."
"Yeah! That Stauber guys a real piece of work!" Ella shouted.
“Look, we know,” Clementine said, “But there’s a process here. Like I said before, we’d need proof to do anything about it. But, if it were up to me, he would…” She then finger-quoted, “...‘fall out of a window’ and it’d be over and done with, but sadly it don’t work like that.”
"We can push him out a window for you!" Ella said cheerfully.
Saskia nodded before asking ominously, "Do you have any paper and a pen?"
“Yes…” Clementine said as she reached into a nearby drawer and handed Saskia a tiny notepad with a pen. “... Please tell me you’re not going to draw anything crazy.”
"Of course not," Saskia said, beginning to sketch a vague human shape.
"I hope you're drawing us this time!" Ella said, leaning over to watch for a moment. "She'll be a while… What was the other big thing?"
Clementine sighed.
“.... Remember Alizée? I mean, you probably do…” She shrugged.
”It’s only been like a week since we’ve seen them from our perspective,” Lisa shrugged. ”She was that creepy gal with the creepy Apparition, right?”
“Right,“ Clementine flatly answered with a shrug. “Well, he was making her go around and bleed innocents dry,”
”Like a… like a Vampire?” Lisa said.
“Well, he apparent- yeah, like a vampire,” Clementine began. “Except without blood.”
”I mean… I always thought she was weird,” Lisa awkwardly laughed.
“I would say the pot calling the kettle black,” Clementine said, “But, she was a whole different kind of fucked up. That Apparition… Despite the Coven shitting on her, they never did anything to help her or stop her. So, she’s probably still out there hurting people. As. We. Speak.”
"Seriously? Nobody actually stopped her?" Ella shook her head, grabbing her Channeler and holding it against her chest. "Maybe when we're done here we can go sort her out!"
”Yeah!” Lisa shouted, throwing a fist in the air.
“That’s to my knowledge,” Clementine answered. “I haven’t been to St. Portwell in a long time, nor have I really kept in contact with the Old Coven. So maybe someone with sense took care of her. Maybe she’s still out there. Who knows.” She shrugged.
"Well we'll be going to St Portwell when everything's done! We can make sure everything's good. Right?" Ella looked at Saskia and Lisa.
"Right," Saskia nodded. "We can't leave just now, but when we can…"
”Where else would we go!?” Lisa laughed. ”We clearly need to get back there. They’re obviously lost without us….”
“That’s what I been meaning to ask about…” Clementine trailed off, “... You said the Hound brought you three back for a mission or two?” She tilted her head.
”Yes, two missions, but our first mission is defeating a fella’ named Morningstar,” Lisa answered.
“I have no clue who that is,” Clementine said. “But, that’s… weird…”
”What’s weird about it?” Lisa answered. ”You don’t want us to come back?!”
“No, I’m not saying that…” Clementine began, before she narrowed her eyes, “I’m just saying the timing of it all. You three return ten years later when shit’s brewing. There has to be something else going on here.”
"Well the hound said someone asked for a favour, so maybe that person knew we were needed?" Ella tilted her head. "Clearly things haven't been going well without us around… I bet if everyone gets together to solve these, uh, murders, they'll just fight again!"
“Again, it’s just a weird ass hunch,” Clementine shrugged, “But, I doubt the Coven’s ever going to reform. You weren’t there to see how badly shit was going after the Snake was defeated. We must have really hated each other, but we lost the one thing that was letting us push it aside.”
She shook her head, “If it reforms, I’ll eat my shoe.”
”It was that bad?” Lisa asked.
“It was that bad.”
"Doesn't surprise me," Saskia said, without looking up from their drawing.
"But you were always negative!" Ella rolled her eyes. "Just you wait well get back, reform the coven and then you'll have to eat your shoe!"
“You can try,” Clementine said, “But, you have to understand the Coven fell apart for a reason.”
"... Well, I'm sure we can find something else to unite everyone again," Ella said.
"Like murder," Saskia intoned.
"Yes like murder- wait no! That makes it sound like we're going to start murdering!"
”I mean, that wouldn’t be a bad thing now would it?” Lisa said.
"It wouldn't," Saskia nodded.
Clementine facepalmed.
"Oh!" Ella suddenly jerked forward, as if she just remembered something. "Why were you going after that stripper? What was her name… some gem… oh, Sapphire! What did she do?"
”... Neon,” Lisa corrected. ”Sapphire was the other ass-shaker.”
“Neon…? You mean Guadalupe Sanchez?” Clementine asked, raising an eyebrow. “We suspect that she’s a member of The Society - in addition to being a drug peddler - so we figured we’d bring her in for questioning.”
”By who? I mean, who confirmed her as a member?” Lisa asked.
“Agent Stauber…” Clementine trailed off. “We got proof and everything.”
”I mean, Stauber is clearly a dirty agent - you said so yourself! How do we know he’s telling the truth?” Lisa asked, tilting her head. ”He actually works for The Society. He uses PRA resources to take out their targets.”
“I mean, we have a warrant out for her arrest,” Clementine noted, “What do you suggest we do?”
"Undo the warrant!" Ella exclaimed. "Or I dunno, give her witness protection! Whatever you police do!"
"Your information is clearly shit," Saskia pointed out, not holding back. "You don’t even know who Morningstar is. He’s the Society overlord. Stauber would definitely know who he is.“
"He would- oh, maybe we can find her and protect her!" Ella suggested.
”All you have to do is put that big butt in the way and she’s untouchable!” Lisa shouted, raising a fist in the air.
“I mean I can’t just undo a warrant with what we actually have on her,” Clementine shook her head. “But, look, I’ll make an offer: if you three can prove her innocence, we’ll gladly drop the warrants.”
”... How do we do that?” Lisa shrugged.
“I’m sure you can find a way,” Clementine said.
"Why does everyone throw us into situations with no help!" Ella wailed.
”Because we are the help!” Lisa bubbly said, ”Everyone we meet knows how capable we are… We killed Mala’Boolaan after all.”
"Don’t worry," Saskia chuckled, a soft, evil sound. "It’ll be easy. I know a way."
”Does it involve spiders? Can it involve spiders?” Lisa asked.
Clementine facepalmed. “How about we talk about it in the morning? You three clearly need some sleep. A lot of it.”
”... I mean we were asleep for ten years!” Lisa laughed.
”Yeah, we’ve slept too long!" Ella punched the air.
Clementine sighed.
“... It’s so good to have you back.”
"If anything I feel invigorated." Saskia nodded, looking at Lisa. "Now, my plan. Don’t worry, it involves spiders. So…"
Saskia held up the drawing she’d been working on. It was rough, depicting a man… bound in a chair, seemingly. It would be difficult to tell who it was if she hadn’t drawn an arrow pointing to him with ‘STAUBER’ written in block capitals. Beside him were three girls… Again, rough sketches, but other things pointed to who they were. Lisa was vomiting spiders on him, Saskia was torturing him with a blood tentacle and Ella was watching with a thumbs up. Saskia had made sure to draw bones sticking into his torso, acid wounds and spiders all over him.
"We capture Stauber and torture him for information."
Clementine’s jaw dropped.
”Yeah, she’s an amazing artist, isn’t she?!” Lisa shouted, putting both of her thumbs up.
“Okay, bed. Right now. All three of you!” Clementine got up and grabbed Lisa by the shoulders and pushed her towards her bedroom. “Don’t do anything weird in my bed please. Also no spiders!”
”... Awww.” Lisa groaned.
Saskia and Ella begrudgingly followed. But, Saskia made sure to say, as she placed the picture on the coffee table, "You can have it, Clementine. A gift."
“I’m goo- okay sure!” Clementine smiled as she pushed them into her bed room. A regular bedroom with plenty of candles that were not lit yet. Lisa shrugged as she looked at Saskia and Ella.
”Remember the cuddle order gals,” Lisa began, then pointed at Saskia. ”You spoon me - No tiddy grabbing tho’.”
Then she pointed at Ella, ”Then you spoon her. Deal?”
"Fine," Saskia sighed. "But make sure I can breath."
”Got it!" Ella grinned. ”I’m gonna sleep so well tonight, I just know it!"
”Me too!” Lisa then loudly yawned. ”Let’s hit the hay, girls… I’m beat.”
She climbed on the bed, laying on her side. Saskia stared at the bed for the moment, only getting on when Ella shoved her. She slotted in behind Lisa, wriggling up so she could breathe, before loosely hugging her. Ella cheerfully jumped on behind them both - arms long enough she could pretty much hug them both!
”... Night girls!” Lisa shouted.
"... night."
”Sweet dreams!" Ella shouted back. ”... and no morning spiders!"
”... You couldn’t have bought us some new clothes?” Lisa asked as she tugged at the hems of her dress.
“Hey now, we got that federal paycheck,” Clementine smiled. “But we got bills, too!”
The next night, they all stood in Shadynasty’s parking lot, wearing the same clothes as before. Thankfully, Clementine put their clothes in the wash while they were cuddling. Clementine and Vanessa, both with their arms crossed, leaned up against their car. They were wearing jean shorts, sneakers, and white shirts, looking like clones of each other. Lisa sat in front of the two on the ground, her dress slightly wrinkled from the previous day. Saskia was leaning against the car, eyes closed. Ella squatted beside Lisa, bright pink clothes looking very out of place and greyscale bracelets looking just straight up odd.
”... So how do we get in? We have no IDs, remember?” Lisa asked before the thought popped in her head. ”Hey! Since we’re no longer missing, can you fix that so we can get IDs and drink and go into strip clubs on our own time?”
Vanessa shrugged
“I don’t see why not,” she began. “Later on, we can all sit down and sort this out… it’s a lot of paperwork.”
”Figures…” Lisa shrugged. ”So how do we get in?!”
“How did you get in last time?” Clementine asked.
”Jo- a friend teleported us in,” lisa answered.
“Well, call that friend to teleport ya’ll in again!” Vanessa laughed.
”How!? We don’t have phones!”
“Smoke signals.”
"We had a walkie talkie but you guys confiscated it," Ella muttered, glaring at Shadynasty like it had personally wronged her. It felt like it had. "Even if we get in there- what if Stauber's in there?! Doesn't he love these places?!"
"Can't we just sneak in the back," Saskia muttered, massaging her forehead. "Nobody saw us kidnapping a full grown man yesterday."
"Orrrrr," Ella had a brilliant idea. An idea to find Kimberley and Jordan again who would buy them new clothes along with teleporting them in. "We rob a thrift store again to find our friends?!"
“... Wait, what you did y-” Lisa cut off Clementine.
”... Nothing, nothing, we did nothing!” She awkwardly laughed. ”And who cares if Stauber is here. It's not like we can’t take care of him.”
"That's right, he's no match for us!" Ella flexed her arms. Considering he couldn't even get away from her when she boosted her strength a tiny amount… Pathetic, really.
"We can go round two of the spider web orgy," Saskia intoned, surveying the building. "I wonder if there's some way we can get in a staff entrance. It'll be easier to find and talk to Guadalupe then."
”We didn’t even get round one, Saskia!” Lisa pouted, crossing her arms. ”And did you forget we have a human spider on the team?! I can just go in there, find Guadalupe up, tie her up and we can clear her name!”
Vanessa and Clementine facepalmed.
”... What does she look like, by the way?” Lisa tilted her head.
“Spanish lady, well, Mexican,” Clementine said. “Curly black hair. Average height. Has a little bit of a gut. Fat, you know…“ She gestured around her own rear.
”You know…” Lisa climbed up off the ground, then tapped her chin. ”... That sounds a little familiar? Don’t it?”
"It does?" Ella peered up at Lisa, confused. Did they know someone like that?
"Because she was the one Stauber was after," Saskia said tiredly. "If you think you can human spider in there, Lisa, please do. I can nap in the car."
"No way!" Ella protested. She straightened up, shaking out her legs. "What if something happens to Lisa? Lisa can use her spidey powers to get us in, but we're all going in!"
”Well, if Saskia’s not up for it…” Lisa put a finger to her cheek as she said, ”I’m confident the two of us have enough rizz to pull this off, right Ella?!”
"Right!" Ella shouted, slamming her fists on her hips. "We've got plenty of rizz- let's go, Lisa! We'll show you what we can do!"
"Sure," Saskia yawned, eyes half closed. "I'll come save you when you need it."
Ella completely ignored what Saskia said, grabbing Lisa's hand and dragging her towards the building. Only, when they got there she realised they hadn't actually decided how to get in. The front door was off limits, so Ella circled towards the back. "Any idea where the back entrance is? Or that one we came out of- ooo, maybe we can go in through a window?"
”Alright, let me…” Lisa knelt forward, and grabbed the back of her dress, and lifted it a bit before she shook her head. ”... I’m wearing a dress today, silly….” She shook her head.
”I’ll find a way in!” Lisa said before she ran up to the side of the wall and scaled towards the back alleyway where they were. She quickly disappeared out of sight… however, minutes later she appeared on the rooftop and gestured for Ella to come over.
Ella immediately jogged over, craning her head up to grin at Lisa. "Be careful. I’ll keep watch!"
When Ella approached the back door, Lisa fell from the rooftop and hissed in pain as she shouted, ”... MY KNEES!”
"LISA!" Ella yelled, immediately running over to Lisa. She knelt down beside her, looking over at her knees immediately to make sure there were no bones sticking out. Phew! Looked alright.
And no one had come out after they both shouted.
”... Wow, thanks homegirl!” Lisa climbed to her feet, then walked over to the door and threw it door open with one. ”They’re not a very secure establishment, that’s for sure!” She smiled at Ella., before she walked in.
"Well, we already knew that when we kidnapped a guy!" Ella grinned back, laughing. Sure did make it easier for them. She followed closely behind Lisa, easily peering over her head. "Sure makes our life easier. Alright, you think we should just wait for her to come on stage, or try get in the back? Oh, if we’re lucky Stauber will be here and we can beat him up!"
”I can vomit spiders on him!” Lisa laughed, sticking a finger up into the air as she led the way. ”But let’s wait for her to come on stage.”
Eventually the main stage came in view, as Lisa turned on her heel and put a fist in her palm as she spoke, ”Because that way, we can be inconspicuous. If she doesn’t come back then…”
Lisa turned back around and her eyes came to a blonde haired vixen dancing on stage. Her jaw dropped as she stammered, ”… Then… then… Oh, my…”
”Then what?” Ella had been looking at Lisa, slowly turning to follow her gaze- and froze. Her eyes widened and her jaw also dropped. She couldn’t… she’d never seen anything like it. Her mind just stopped working. ”That’s… oh wow… I see why people come here… let’s watch.”
Ella couldn’t tear her eyes away from the attractive woman on stage. Stauber could walk past right now and she wouldn’t even blink. She didn’t want to blink at all! Then she wouldn’t be able to see everything! "We gotta wait anyway."
Lisa grabbed onto Ella’s shoulders - she had to get on her tippy toes to do this - and shouted, ”We gotta focus! Resist the booty! Resist! The! Booty!”
"No but Lisa, look," Ella gestured towards the booty. "It’s so perfect- you wouldn’t understand, because you get to see mine everyday… but I don’t! I need my fill!"
Lisa gasped, ”… Are you saying I’m flat?!”
Ella tore her eyes away from the dancer to glance down at Lisa. Then back to the dancer. "Well… compared to me and her. But you've got way more than Saskia!"
”So you’re saying I’m flat!” Lisa shouted.
"Yeah, I guess I am," Ella said, unphased as she stared at the non flat booty on stage. "I just didn't realise till now… don't worry! Ass isn't everything- you're perfect to cuddle!"
”Awwwwwwww!” Lisa said as she got closer to Ella, a warming smile on her face. She got on her tippy-toes to try to look Ella in the eye with those stupid puppy eyes, grabbing onto two handfuls of chest. ”You’re so sweet.”
Ella's brain stopped working. She was just loading for a moment, gaze slowly dragged away and towards Lisa. It somehow didn't upset her anywhere near as much as brushing hands with Stauber had. They'd been spooning every night - if Lisa wanted to touch Ella's pretty decent tiddies, she was welcome to! "Awwww, I am? You could've just said if you were jealous."
Probably unexpectedly, Ella grinned and patted Lisa on the head. She then looked around the establishment - it'd successfully drawn her attention away from the stripper at least. Lisa smiled and nuzzled.
”... XAAAAAAAAANAX IS COMING OFF THE STAGE!”
The DJ announced, and Lisa let go of Ella and pivoted around.
”NOOOOOOOOOW ITS TIME FOR NEON!”
The girl from last came on stage… this time wearing a black sparkly bra and panties. She walked to the pole with a wide smile as Lisa turned to Ella and said, ”It’s her!” She began. ”Wait! Um! Focus! Let’s…”
Lisa glanced in her direction and was hypnotized by “Neon” taking her top off. A bead of drool came from the corner of her mouth.
Ella was still looking at Lisa, and was hit by a wave of jealousy. She’d just been touching her tiddies now she was looking at another woman. Surely she wasn’t- oh. All was forgotten as she was completely enraptured by “Neon”.
"We should get closer," Ella said quietly, grabbing Lisa’s hand and dragging her right towards the front of the stage. At the same time she fumbled in her pocket, pulling out a crumpled twenty dollar bill that was just about still holding together after going through the wash. "How does this work? Can we get anything for this?"
Lisa shrugged.
”... Wait, I got an idea!” From the hidden corners and crevices of the room, several massive Huntsman spiders came out… and were promptly entrapped in a glowing cocoon of webs. When they burst out, they had ant-like mandibles. She grinned as they quickly grabbed the dollars they were being thrown at Neon and brought them over to her. She knelt as she held them in her hand, grinning like a fool.
”Maybe this could help us!”
"Great thinking," Ella grinned back, looking at the stack of cash Lisa had managed to grab so easily. She reached over and added her twenty to the pile. "Maybe we can buy a private dance or something- Oh, just wave the money up and see if that works. It’s a lot!"
Lisa shrugged, and the spiders that she summoned vanished into the same place they came from.
”Maybe showing it to her would be enough to start a conversation!”
"Oh I bet that'll work! Let's try," Ella physically shoved a man out of the way that was between them in the stage, shielding Lisa with her body so she could get right to the front… not that it was so busy she needed to, but just in case. "Wave the cash around!"
As commanded, Lisa just waved the money around over her head. Unfortunately, she wasn’t tall, so initially, Neon didn’t notice. However, she glanced in their direction, then turned her whole body on the pole. Neon grinned as she undid her bikini, but held it against her chest in one hand as she shouted.
“Make it rain, mami!” She laughed.
Lisa tilted her head as she put on a confused expression and faced Ella, ”... HOW DO I DO THAT!? DO I USE SPIDERS?!” She had to shout over the music.
"NO IDEA!" Ella shouted back, thinking about it. Spiders would make most sense, surely it had to come from above. Oh! "I’VE GOT IT!"
Ella moved her feet to be a hip width apart and bent her knees. She wrapped her arms around Lisa’s hips and then lifted her up high into the air. "THROW THEM OVER HER! IT’LL BE LESS SUSPICIOUS!"
Lisa shrugged.
She just chucked the money at Neon as hard as she could, and the wad of money hit her in the cheek. She recoiled, “AYE, MAMI!” Neon shouted. “Take it easy! Is it your first time here?!” She shouted again, laughing.
”S-sorry!”
"It is!" Ella shouted from behind Lisa, since she was still holding her up, half peering around her. "Is that not enough?!"
Neon was silent.
“... FOR WHAT?!” She asked, politely and with her inside voice.
"UH- YOUR ATTENTION AND A PRIVATE DANCE?" Ella shouted back, hiding her face behind Lisa because it was difficult to talk to an attractive half naked woman.
“Hahahahahahahaha!” Neon playfully laughed. “... You already got the first part, baby!”
She sauntered over to the stage, lying down on her stomach, coming face to face with Lisa as she gave her a flirtatious smile.
”... Hi,” Lisa said, waving her hand.
“... Come see me after my performance! Dances are eighty for fifteen minutes!”
"See you where?!" Ella asked, peering back around Lisa. Her mouth fell open again and she was fairly certain she was about to have a nosebleed. At least, if she was in an anime she would. "Wherever it is we’ll be there!"
“I’ll find you!” Neon laughed. “Now, I gotta make some money!”
”... Hey, put me down before someone looks up my dress!” Lisa said.
"I’d kick their ass before they looked,” Ella declared, but she did what Lisa asked and put her back down on the ground. "Now what? Should we find somewhere to sit… Can your spiders steal us eighty for that dance?"
”Maybe,” Lisa shrugged. ”She might get suspicious if we keep taking the money off the ground.”
She tapped her chin… before her eyes landed on an ATM. ”... Come here!” She grabbed Ella’s hand and dragged her toward the ATM. A wave of tiny spiders came out, quickly wrapped in a glowing cocoon, and they burst out with large ant mandibles. She commanded them to head inside, and after some grinding and banging… they came out with money. Lots of it. Twenty after twenty, they had to have emptied the entire ATM. Lisa grabbed it, and said,
”... Money, money, money!” Lisa raised the money to her face and shuffled it. ”She won’t be able to resist us now!”
"Lisa, you’re a genius!" Ella grinned. They were rich now! They could buy a change of clothes after this… No, stay focused on the mission. "We can buy hours with this. Oh, maybe we should get a dance first before… we talk to her. Our secret." ”Come on now! We have a mission to complete!” Lisa laughed, ”It’s not like anyone we get a dance with will have sex with us in there or something weird!”
She glanced at the stage, and Neon was completely naked. Shaking her behind as Lisa couldn’t help but drool. She shook her head, as she noted, ”We threw a good amount of money at her, so we definitely got her attention!”
”ALRIGHT! NEON IS LEAVING THE STAGE, NOW ITS TIME FOR PUSSY GALORE!”
Lisa watched as Neon gathered her clothes and went into the back. When she came out, she went straight to the two. She smiled warmly invitingly as she shifted her weight to one hip and said, “Hi, sweetie.” She laughed in a thick Mexican accent, “Helluvathrow ya’ got there.”
”Oh!” Lisa said, before she tapped her fingertips together. ”Sorry!”
“No need to be sorry!” Neon said, “Just aim for my butt next time.”
She laughed, shaking her head, saying, “So, you two were drooling staring at me… this your first time here? First time leaving the house?!” She laughed.
"How did you know?!" Ella joked with a gasp. She looked at Lisa, then back at Neon. "I can't help it when I'm surrounded by flat asses- Anyway…"
She nudged Lisa. "How about that private dance?"
”Oh yeah! I got the money!” Lisa shouted, carefully shifting through it until she had enough.
“… You got enough for two- know what? It’s on me! C’mere!” Neon said as she counted the cash, before she gestured them to follow her all the way to the private rooms. “Have a seat, you two!”
Lisa plopped down, and Ella sat next to her.
Neon undid her bikini, “By the way, that was a nice trick you two pulled there…”
"What trick?" Ella tilted her head in confusion, eyes widening and jaw dropping slightly. Was it getting a little hot in here? Phew.
“Snatching all the money using your lil’ spiders and then acting like you were giving it to me,” Neon gave them a sultry smile as she said, “... You think you two are the only magic users in Mirage Springs?”
"Ohhhh you saw those," Ella nodded, incredibly relaxed by it. After all, when it was coming from such an attractive woman… well, anyway, it meant they didn't have to beat around the bush about magic. "Well, that makes things easier! We're not actually here to get a strip dance- nice as that would be! We're here to prove your innocence! Unless your not innocent, shit-"
Ella leaned over to Lisa, whispering, "What do we do if she really is a member if the society? Kill her?"
Lisa smiled, then whispered back, ”... We kidnap her for information!”
“... Okay, you two are acting fucking weird,” Neon tilted her head at them. “Do I need to call security on you?”
"No need!" Ella waved her hands in front of her, turning back towards Neon. Might as well jump right into it. "Like we said, we're here to prove your innocence- we just have a few questions for you! We'll pay you for your time! First, you know Morningstar?"
Neon ran over and put a finger to Ella’s lip.
“... Sssssssh, Mami!” Neon looked over her shoulder before she spoke in a hushed tone, “... Don’t fuckin’ say that name! Don’t you know he’s ‘He who shall not be named’?”
"Does he appear if you say his name?" Ella looked around - though it wasn't in fear but excitement. "That'd make things easier- but! If you can't even say his name you must not being in the S- uh, his evil group. Won't say the name just in case! Y'see, yesterday we saved you from getting arrested and now we're tryna clear your name! So if you give us proof you're not part of that we can get going and get that sorted!"
“Hoooooney, that bastard has eyes and ears in every corner of the city,” Neon began, “If someone so much as says his name out loud, they’re getting followed home at bare minimum. ”
She shook her head before she asked, narrowing her eyes, “... And who was trying to arrest me?”
"Oh, yeah, we know," Ella shrugged. They'd been painfully confined because of that… and Morningstar was already after them and knew exactly what they looked like, so they were already in danger. Didn't really matter if they said his name. "Uh… PRA. Cause of this corrupt agent called Stauber! Fucking bastard works for the society and said you worked for them! Wait, shit, if you really do I shouldn't have said that- if you do we will have to kill or kidnap you, and you really don't want to meet our friend waiting outside!"
“... Bitch, is that a threat?!” Neon shouted as she took a few steps back towards the exit.
”Wait, no! We were jus-” Lisa hopped up, trying to plead.
Neon raised a hand, igniting a hot pink fire like a torch. She then aimed it at them and said, “No, fuck that, mami!” Before she cut loose, unleashing an inferno of pink fire directly at the two.
"Lisa!" Ella shouted, grabbed her Channeler and in a panic casting a glowing light over her legs without transforming into her magical girl form. She used her enhanced legs to jump, arms wrapping around Lisa and pushing them both to the floor underneath the inferno. She then let go of Lisa and rolled over, swinging out a leg to try and hit Neon's ankle.
”... AHHHHHHHHH!” Lisa shouted as she was knocked to the ground.
The kick knocked Neon over, and her shoulder hit the ground. She hissed in pain, as she began glowing, transforming into a ball of pink electricity, light, and fire. She launched herself through the curtains, setting them aflame, and appeared on the opposite side… She slid across the ground on her knee, facing the two. She then aimed both hands at the two as a veil of electricity surrounded her hands. Two streams of pink electricity came directly at them.
"Ahhhh, light in the darkness, protect meeeee," Ella yelled as she rolled over again and pushed herself to a crouching position. The lightning hit her arm, burns searing down it. She gritted her teeth through the pain and pulled the colour from the seat they’d just been on. It formed a round, red ball that she shot towards Neon - it would be like being hit by a super fast basketball.
Lisa also convulsed out of pain from being electrocuted; however, she remained on the ground for a moment. Long and black Spider legs burst from her back and through the dress, and they raised her to her feet. Burns were on her chest and arms.
Neon was on the ground, knocked down by the ball. She screamed out of rage as she sat up and raised a hand at Ella… Creating a massive pink fireball that would explode on contact. Ella’s eyes widened, enhanced legs pushing her to the side to roll out of the way, her body slamming into the wall with a grunt of pain.
Lisa dove to the side as the fireball whirled past her… Before it hit the wall and created a massive explosion of fire.
Saskia was having an amazing nap in Clementine’s car. She’d barely slept the night before thanks to being crammed between Ella and Lisa, hair up her nose from one side and a bone crushing hug from the other. She was dreaming pleasantly - she was a bringer of justice, hunting down Stauber like it was a game. Causing him fear, ah, sweet fear... Sleeping Saskia smiled, mumbling something and curling into herself.
So many ways to hurt him when she caught him. Maybe she should start with a bone shard to the shoulder… No, no, burning. Ah, the sweet smell of burning flesh-
BANG.
Saskia jolted awake, burning smell actually wafting around her nostrils - because someone had thrown a massive fucking fireball through the wall. Oh shit. Saskia scrambled to get out of the car, barely awake and nearly falling over.
"What the fuck happened?" Saskia shouted to Vanessa and Clementine. Desperate worry, the most emotion she’d shown in a long time, was sketched across her face. She didn’t even wait for an answer before running towards the hole in the wall. "Ella! Lisa!"
However, Saskia’s forearm got yanked by Clementine, who had her pistol drawn as she said, “Hold on! Let’s take it slow!” Vanessa was at her side with a gun similarly drawn. “We have no clue what’s going on in there! You could be running facefirst into something that has nothing to do with you.”
"There's no way it's not them," Saskia hissed, stopping running towards the building and just glaring at it. Ella and Lisa could handle themselves, but they were also often incredibly oblivious. Of course they'd get into a magical fight. She should've gone in with them. "What should we do then? Just stand here?"
“We assess the situation,” Clementine rolled her eyes as she quickly ran to the wall adjacent to the hole and slammed her back to it, facing it. She quickly looked at Saskia, then slapped the wall behind her and nodded as Vanessa got on the other side of the hole. Once all three of them were in position, they steadily moved forward before…
… Lisa climbed out of the hole in the wall using her spider legs. She quickly climbed above… and a burst of pink fire came out afterwards.
“Jesus!” Clementine said, covering her face with her arm.
"Fuck- Lisa! Where's Ella?" Saskia was relieved to find one of their friends, but unhappy that she'd been right. She shoved a hand into her pocket to grab her knife… only to realise that it'd been taken when they were arrested. Shit. She couldn't run in there when unable to use half her spells. "Either of you have a knife- before I do something drastic."
”... She’s still inside!” Lisa shouted,
Clementine dug into her pocket and pulled out a folding knife and practically threw it to Saskia before she looked up and shouted, “What the hell happened in there?!”
”We b-botched it!” Lisa stammered as she remained in place on the wall.
"No shit," Saskia said, catching the knife and pulling out the blade. She swiftly pulled it across the palm of her hand. Only a few drops of blood escaped before she was controlling it, running up her arm to coat her body in a protective layer. She shoved the knife in her pocket. "Ella! Shit, we should-"
"Saskiaaaaa," a wail came back, followed by Ella's head popping out the hole. She rolled out at the same side as Vanessa, probably flashing her thanks to the short magical girl skirt, and pulling up to a crouched position. "We messed up big time! It was going so welllll then she started shooting fireballs!"
”I should have did the talking!” Lisa shouted from above.
“Look, let’s ju-“
Another burst of pink fire came out of the hole as Neon stepped out… baring chest to the world as both hands burned with an intense pink fire. Both Clementine and Vanessa pointed their pistols at her as Clementine shouted,
“Get on your knees! Put the fire away! And gently place your channeler in front of you!”
“Fuck!” Neon said, “I should have known you bitches were working with the feds!”
“Get on your knees!” Clementine repeated, “Don’t make me repeat it again!”
“What?! Trying to make me imitate your mother last night!?” Neon laughed as she slowly got down, the fire fading. She put her hand on the ground, looked up at Vanessa, and grinned. Before she exploded into an orb of pink fire, light, and electricity, then darted down the street at incredibly high speeds.
"I swear we're not with the feds, it's complicated!" Ella shouted. She scrambled to chase after Neon - but even with slightly stronger legs she wasn't a runner. "We want to help you!"
"How much did you fuck up?!" Saskia rolled her eyes, giving chase after Neon. She lightened her bones as she ran, speeding up enough to not immediately lose her… but she was still just running, lightened bones or not.
”... A lot!” Lisa shouted as she hopped off the walls, onto ground level. Then hopped again onto an adjacent wall, she looked over her shoulder. ”I should have ma- I’ll catch her!” Lisa shouted, as she hopped to the rooftops, using her spider legs.
“Saskia!” Clementine shouted as she ran back to her car, then stuck a foot in, “You’re not catching her on foot! Get in!”
"... shit, yeah." Saskia had forgotten they had a car, quickly changing her direction to run to the car. She ignored the sharp pain in her ankles at the sudden change. She yanked open the door, jumping in the back.
Thankfully Ella managed to reach the car too, getting in the other side.
"Let's go, in case Lisa ends up catching her first."
Vanessa hopped in the passenger seat, and Clementine slammed the door shut. Without a word, Clementine floored on the gas and sped off after the speeding fireball. Neon bobbed and weaved her way through the cars as they hardly reacted to her. Lisa was still pursuing from the rooftops, hopping from building to building. While Clementine was swerving through traffic like a maniac.
“We should have grabbed an undercover cruiser!” Vanessa shouted.
“We should have!” Clementine shouted, “Should of. Could of. Would of!”
However, Neon quickly transformed into her human form at an intersection and narrowed her eyes at her pursuers. She swung both hands upwards, and with them came two waves of pink fire directly approaching the car.
“Oh shit!” Clementine quickly swerved to the right, skidding out of control.
Ella screamed, and Saskia’s hand shot out to grab Ella’s even though she was silent. At the same time she swiftly formed a blood tentacle on her back, smashing out a window and grabbing a traffic like pole with it in an attempt to slow the car down before they crashed and died. However, Clementine got control of the vehicle and came to a gentle stop. She sighed out of relief.
However, Neon turned to leave…
”... AAAAAAAAAH!” Lisa screamed like a maniac as she flung herself from the rooftop at Neon. Her spider legs retracted into her body. Before she could react, Lisa made an impact, knocking Neon to the ground.
Saskia kicked open the car door, using the blood tendril to pull herself out. She half swung around the pole, landing a short distance away from Lisa and Neon. She rolled, shooting back out the tendril to try and wrap around Neon’s waist. Lisa had wrapped herself around Neon’s chest, biting on her shoulder like a psychopath.
However, Neon sent out electricity, which caused Lisa to convulse as her hair stood up. It hit the blood tendril, electrocuting Saskia directly through it. It was fucking painful but she held on, pulling herself in closer to straddle Neon's legs. At first, she hadn't wanted to hurt her, but she was pissed that Lisa had been hurt. Two bone spears shot out of Saskia's legs where they met Neon's, shooting directly into her flesh.
“Ayyyyyyyyye!” Neon shouted as the spears shot into her thigh. She quickly raised a hand at Saskia and fired out a hot-pink beam of kinetic force. Saskia twisted so it hit her shoulder rather than her face, bone dislocating with a horrid snap. She didn't retract the bone spears, keeping her on top of Neon, and started to squeeze with the tendril.
"Saskia! Lisa!" Ella came running over, late, flourishing her magic wand and hitting Saskia with a beam of healing light, which quickly began to heal her. Clementine and Vanessa ran up, aiming their guns at Neon as Clementine shouted,
“Everyone relax!” She said, “Let’s put the magic away! Sit down! And talk about this!”
“Will you put your fuckin’ guns away?!” Neon shouted, aiming a glowing hand at Ella, and another at Saskia. Lisa finally shook her head as she took a few steps away.
“Saskia…” Clementine said, “Put it away.”
"... fine," Saskia frowned, retracting the bone spears and letting go of Neon with the tendril. It was sucked into the wound at her hand and she rolled off Neon. She then looked up at Ella. "I'm fine, Lisa was electrocuted."
"Oh," Ella said, swapping her healing beam to Lisa. She looked down at Neon with an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry! We really just wanted to talk! Do you want healed?"
As agreed, Clementine and Vanessa holstered their weapons.
“Now you wanna talk!?” Neon shouted, shaking her head. “You bitches threatened me!”
"I always wanted to talk, you attacked us!" Ella said.
”You just took it the wrong way! I’m sorry for my smoothbrained friend!” Lisa said, shaking her hands as she awkwardly laughed. ”Let’s talk about this! Just give us another chance! We’re trying to help you!”
“Give me one good reason why I should!?” Neon shouted, as she threw an arm across her exposed chest.
"Here, a peace offering." Saskia pulled off her oversized sweater, revealing the baggy black t-shirt below, and held it out to Neon. "Look, I don't know what that idiot over there said, but we're not threatening you. We want to help you. A shady, society bought agent has given proof that you're with the society, so there's a warrant out for you. We know that bastard is with them, which means you're not… well. Not on their side."
"We'll know soon, anyway!" Ella declared, looking around vigilantly. "If that white bastard comes outta a portal again."
Neon hesitated, but she didn’t flinch before grabbing the sweater and putting it on. It was a little snug on her because she was just a little bit taller than Saskia, but Neon didn’t flinch. She shook her head, “Thanks, chica.” She stood up to her feet and shook her head. “Not surprised Stauber sold me out… bastard’s probably mad that I wouldn’t have sex with him.”
She briefly pulled the sweater down, only for it to snap back into place, and she rolled her eyes, “Now, just so you know, I’m with the Society… just not with the Society. You know what I’m saying, right girls?”
”Totally!” Lisa smiled widely.
"Like a double agent," Saskia nodded. That made sense… and made things easier for them. The corner of their lips tugged up into an almost smile. "That means you have information on the Society, right? Like how to get to Mo-"
"Don't say his name!" Ella interrupted, looking around again. "He might just appear!"
"That'd make our life easier," Saskia shrugged. "So, you worked with Stauber- even though that bastard was sicking feds on Society enemies?" “Look, mami,” Neon tugged at the bottoms of the sweater again, before she shook her head and said, “I didn’t know about that. He tried making it sound like he would help me. If I knew how much of a piece of shit Stauber was, I wouldn’t have even bothered with him in the first place!” She could only awkwardly laugh.
“... Would have saved me a lot of irritation because all he wanted to do was shove his lil’ pecker in me!” She laughed, except for real this time, before she turned to Ella, “And I didn’t say he would appear, just that his little followers are everywhere and will do something if they hear you. Would you do good to keep your mouth shut.”
"His followers are after us anyway," Saskia shrugged. "We’ll just kill them."
Clementine and Vanessa crossed their arms as they listened.
“Why though? Why do ya’ll give a damn about me? What do you want with those bastards? ”
"Well you see, we’re-" Ella started, before Saskia cut her off by shoving their blood tendril over her mouth.
"No way are you talking again, Ella, you already fucked up once," Saskia rolled her eyes, retracting the blood again when she was sure Ella wouldn’t talk. "Namely, Stauber was our lead, no he’s disappeared. We figured you could help us since he outed you. As for those bastards, we want to kill the one we can’t name. I had a wonderful drawing to show exactly what I was going to do with him… but the PRA took it… and it was lost…"
Saskia trailed off, muttering under her breath. Ella cheerfully said, "Yeah we’re trying to get rid of the Society!"
Neon furrowed her brows, “... I told you, they’re watching, mami.” Then shook her head. “But, why, though? I mean the Society are assholes, but I want to know why you want the Society out?”
"Less the society, more their boss,” Saskia shrugged. She didn’t really care if they were watching. They already had targets on their heads. "Our… boss wants him dead, I guess."
"He isn’t our boss!" Ella argued. "He’s more like… dunno. But we need to kill him to stay alive."
"Yes, his life for ours. Also, he’s a bastard.”
"A very evil bastard…"
”The evilest!” Lisa shouted.
“Well, he calls himself the ‘Father of Lies’,” Neon laughed. “An ‘evil bastard’ doesn't begin to cut it, Mami.”
She grabbed her hair and began twirling it, “So, somebody is basically holding you three hostage unless you do a job for him…?”
Lisa looked between the three, ”... From a certain point of view, yes.”
“I would advise if you three want to pull this off to work on your people skills…” Neon laughed.
"Our people skills are perfectly fine?” Saskia tilted her head, looking slightly confused. "Well, mine are. Ella’s… not so much.”
"Hey, I don’t draw torture scenes!" Ella shouted, before looking at Neon. "You’re probably right. We don’t get much practice with that cause we di- don’t get out much. But do we really need them? That doesn’t help with killing."
"It would help us turn his own people against him, so we can dismantle his empire and destroy everything he loves…”
“... And maybe negotiate so I don't think ya’ll are threatening me?” Neon facepalmed.
"I wouldn’t have seemed like that if I was there,” Saskia intoned.
"It would’ve! You can’t stop talking about torture! I bet you were dreaming about it again," Ella huffed.
”Torture, or meeeeeeeee!” Lisa laughed.
Saskia didn’t deny it, waving Ella off. "We’re getting off topic. Basically, we hope you’ll be able to help us with information on the Society. In return, we’ll get them to remove the warrant they have on you.”
“I’ll see what I can do, but I already trusted the Feds one time,” Neon shook her head, glaring at Clementine and Vanessa another time. “I’ll help you three, but I’m not helping them.”
Vanessa shrugged.
“... Fair.”
“Look, we’ll keep Stauber off your back,” Clementine said, “Matter fact, we’ll stay out of your hair.”
She looked between the four, and said, “... Deal?”
”Sounds good to me!” Lisa said.
"Perfect, we work best without oversight,” Saskia nodded.
"Just make sure that sleazeball Stauber doesn’t come near us!" Ella declared. "I will kill him."
“You’d be doing us all a favor,” Clementine laughed. “It’s ‘bout time he falls out of a window anyway.”
”I’d vomit spiders on his dick anyway!” Lisa said, ”I’m glad we could work everything out! Even though I prefer you without the sweater, I can’t live in a world where people are mad at me over nothing!”
“Yes… it was just…” Neon waved her hand left and right. “... A big misunderstanding. Oh wait, before I forget…”
She reached for something, before she hissed, “... Shit, I left my phone in there.”
”We don’t have phones anyway,” Lisa said.
“No phones? Whaaaaaaaaaaat, mami?” Neon said, “What are you three? Teenagers? Well, I guess most teenagers these days got phones, but whaaaaaaaaaat?”
"Well we kind of are- We just couldn’t afford ‘em!" Ella laughed. "Our friends bought us one laptop between us but no phones! Only walkie talkies!"
"You could watch all the anime you wanted on a phone…” Saskia mused. "It’s a long story why we don’t have anything like that. Real long.”
"We should get some! Lisa do that thing-" Ella started shouting, before pausing and looking at Clementine and Vanessa. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Do the thing with your spiders again later."
Lisa menacingly grinned as she said, ”... Sure!”
Clementine narrowed her eyes, but was otherwise silent.
“Let’s get out of here, then, Mami,” Neon said. “My ass is getting cold anyway.”
“... Where are you three sleeping tonight?” Clementine asked, before she rolled her eyes. “Well, where do you want to go next is the better question?”
"We should probably go back to the motel,” Saskia said, looking at Lisa and then Ella. "Hopefully our friends are still there and there’s two beds.”
"Oh yeah, I bet they’re worried! Probably think we did something stupid again," Ella laughed. "Hopefully they won’t make us stay inside for days this time…"
“Maaaaaaaami!” Neon slapped a hand on her hip as she smiled. “You grown, don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do when you’re grown.”
”Y-yeah! Clementine’s bed is a little small,” Lisa shouted, thrusting a fist up into the air. Before she turned to Neon, ”Um, Neon, should we keep calling you Neon or…”
“No, no, no, mami, that’s my performer name,” Neon laughed. “Imagine somebody passes by and hears you call me that?”
”True, true,” Lisa then shrugged. ”What should we call you then?”
Neon smiled.
“... Lupe,” She began, “Technically my slave name is Guadalupe, but nobody can get that right.” She playfully laughed.
”It’s nice to meet you, Guadalupe!” Lisa said.
“I don’t think I ever got properly acquainted to you three, either,” Lupe said.
”I’m Lisa C. Turner!” Lisa introduced herself, throwing her hands in the air.
"Ella Rene Brooks!" Ella grinned, striking a pose with her hand on her hip.
Saskia rolled her eyes at them both as they just gave out their full names. Sure, they were technically dead… but really? "Saskia. The rest of my name will remain a mystery.”
“It’s so nice to meet you three!” Lupe said, smiling. “Sorry we got off on the wrong foot!” ”No, we’re sorry,” Lisa put both of her hands on her chest, warmly smiling at Lupe.
Clementine nodded her head.
“Alright, now that you’re done,” Clementine said as she walked back to her car, and opened the back door. “Everyone get in; we’re going to take you all back to the motel.”
“Oooooh, mami!” Lupe shouted, “Lemme give ya’ll my number.”
”We don’t got phon-” Lisa cut herself off as she put her hands together. She summoned spiders from the sleeves of her dress, and they crawled over to her hands. ”Give it to me… mami.” She grinned.
Lupe gave out her number, and as she spoke, Lisa parted her hands, and the spiders weaved a web… writing out the number in webs. When they were done, she had a massive and complex web between her hands. ”Okay! I gotta… gotta not fall, or else this will fall apart.”
Clementine rolled her eyes.
“... You know I got a pen and paper in my car, right?” She chuckled.
"Already ahead of you,” Saskia said, pulling pen and paper out of her trouser pocket. She scrawled down the number written on the spider webs. "I took it before my nap, in case I needed help sleeping.”
Lisa turned towards Saskia as she said, ”... You’re saying I did this cool trick for NOTHING?!”
“... Oh God, why?” Clementine put a hand on her forehead, shaking her head gently.
"It looked so cool I didn’t want to stop you,” Saskia shrugged, even though she’d actually just forgotten she’d taken the pen and paper before Clementine mentioned it.
"Yeah, it was super awesome, Lisa! Don’t be too upset!" Ella slapped a comforting hand on Lisa’s shoulder.
“Okay, let’s just go,” Clementine said, and as instructed, Lisa got into the car along with the others.
“Byyyyyyyyyyye, mami!” Lupe said, waving at them with a smile. “Keep in touch!”
Clementine and Vanessa dropped off the trio at their original home base at the Holiday Inn. Lisa, her heart pounding, dug into the pockets of her dress and pulled out the keycard! As Clementine and Vanessa’s car pulled off, a triumphant smile spread across her face. She looked at the three, her eyes gleaming with anticipation, as she said,
”... Hope they didn’t throw out all our stuff!” She said, gesturing for them to come along. ”Let’s go! We got a lot of catching up to do!”
Lisa led the three into the hotel room without further ado and eventually reached Kimberly and Jordan’s room. She raised her knuckle to the door—pausing to look over her shoulder—before she knocked on the door three times. After some chattering… the door was thrown open to reveal Kimberly—wearing a white tank top and gym shorts—and Jordan—wearing Adidas sweatpants and a black tank top.
“... Holy shit, guys!” Kimberly said as her eyes lit up, “We were worried sick! What happened?!”
“Yeah, we were looking everywhere for ya’ll!” Jordan said.
"Long story," Saskia chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of their neck. "Can we come in?"
"We got arrested!" Ella said a little too cheerfully, grinning at Kimberley and Jordan. "Then unarrested!"
”Yeah it was Ella!” Lisa laughed. ”She saw all those tiddies and couldn't control herself!”
“Come in, come in!” Kimberly said as she herded them in, she closed the door behind them. Lisa sat on the sofa, as Kimberly and Jordan grabbed chairs to sit across from them as they typically did.
“Okay so… Uh…" Kimberly shrugged. "... What happened?”"
“... And will we need alcohol?” Jordan raised an eyebrow.
"Definitely," Saskia intoned, sitting down on the sofa, with Ella sitting between them and Lisa. She then looked at Ella. "You start."
"Alright, so I was doing what you said! Seducing that bastard Stauber, but he went to try arrest a stripper- so we politely tied him up with spider webs and took him into an alley like you said. Butttt then two other PRA guys appeared and we tried to talk it out, but they wanted to arrest us, so then we tried to run, but they attacked us and that bastard put a gun to Lisa's head! So we had to go with them. Then this guy with a lame nickname was questioning us and all like 'oh you had this murderous drawing on you' and-"
"They didn't appreciate my art," Saskia interrupted with a sigh.
"Yeah… basically they were gonna lock us up for years, but then!" Ella paused dramatically. "We got saved by people from our old coven! Course they were convinced we were dead, but realised it was actually us."
"Thanks to the drawing."
"Then Stauber set all these white creatures on us, and we had to fight them before going back to our friends. Then-"
"Ella fucked up big time," Saskia snorted, glancing over at Lisa. "Right?"
”Yeah, Stauber is a real…” Lisa trailed off, getting ready to deliver one of the worst jokes of all times, ”... White supremacist. Eh? Eh?”
Jordan facepalmed.
Ella burst out laughing, slapping her thigh. Saskia rolled their eyes.
”But, um, it all buffed out, y’know!” Lisa began, awkwardly trying to summarize the end of what happened. ”We managed to talk things out, and get Neon on our side!”
“... Who the fuck is Neon?” Jordan asked with a raised eyebrow.
”Oh, I mean Guadalupe!” Lisa answered.
"A stripper!" Ella added helpfully. "She attacked us cause she thought I was threatening her, but we sorted it all out!"
"She’s with the Society but not with the Society, if you catch my drift," Saskia said.
Kimberly and Jordan looked at each other, before they turned toward the three, and Kimberly asked,
“... Can we trust her?”
This was a good question, but Lisa thought that Lupe was trustworthy. She was pretty. Very pretty. She also got to see her boobs. ”I mean it wouldn’t hurt…”
“It could hurt,” Kimberly laughed.
“Like hurt a lot,” Jordan added.
"I think we can," Saskia shrugged. "Stauber, that bastard, had sent the PRA after her."
"Yeah! She totally could’ve called that white monster on us if she was with ‘em!" Ella shouted.
“Wait, let’s take a step back here,” Jordan said. "How do we know for sure that he called them?”
“It could be a possibility that they are tailing ya’ll,” Kimberly said.
”... oh that’s true," Ella frowned.
"That’d be way too coincidental," Saskia held up her hand. "They came into the exact questioning room the PRA had us in. Why would they wait until we were with other agents that could fight them? Plus, Stauber knew about us breaking into Morningstar’s bank… but the senior agent didn’t. You’re right that it doesn’t mean we can trust her, I guess."
”But we don’t have any other leads!"
“Okay, I’m not saying we can’t trust her…” Jordan trailed off.
A question popped up into Lisa’s head as she shrugged, ”... If they are tailing us, then wouldn’t they show up here?”
“That's true,” Kimberly said. “I’m just saying we shouldn’t blindly trust her until we have more than just her word.”
"That’s fair," Saskia inclined their head. "All we have is her number just now, anyway."
Saying that, Saskia dug around in her pocket and pulled out the piece of paper. There was a little doodle in the corner that looked like someone getting hung from a spiderweb, along with the number in the center.
"We don’t have phones, so…" she held it out to Kimberley and Jordan.
Jordan grabbed the paper, looked at it - then briefly paused to roll her eyes - before she stuck it in her pocket. “We’ll see about getting in contact with her later.” Jordan said.
”I mean it's not like we can!” Lisa laughed.
“You three had a…” Kimberly twiddled her fingers as she said, “... Wild two nights without us.”
”Nah,” Lisa waved her hand, ”That's Saturday for us!”
"Yeah, that was nothing!" Ella laughed.
“For a little bit let’s…” Kimberly began, but Lisa hissed under her breath.
”Please don't say it, please don't say it, please don't say it…”
“... Lay low,”
”... Aw! Come on!” Lisa shouted.
"Noooooo!" Ella wailed dramatically, covering her face. "I can't take being locked inside again!"
"I'm not suffering another few days of them fighting over a laptop," Saskia groaned. "At least buy us another one. Or a phone."
“I feel your pain…” Jordan rolled her eyes. “But, we’ll work it out in the morning.”
“Look,” Kimberly said, “This is for your safety, I’m not trying to keep you locked up in here for nothing.” She scoffed, followed by awkward laughter.
“Do ya’ll have a key?” Jordan asked.
Lisa didn't give it much thought as she reached into her tattered dress pockets to pull out the keycard.
“Alright, let’s go. I’ll walk you there,” Jordan gestured for them to come along, then got up. She led them out the door and then straight to their room. She pulled the keycard out of her pocket, placed it against the scanner, and opened the door. “Tonight, just chill. Kim and I are going to talk about getting you some more entertainment.” Jordan rolled her eyes.
Lisa grumbled as she entered. Once all three of them were in, the door was closed behind them. She crossed her arms, and spider legs erupted from her back as she climbed up the wall and hung upside down from the ceiling. She kept her arms crossed the whole time.
”... This is bullshit,” Lisa began, ”It's like we’re in the Coven all over again! It's been ten years!”
"Yeahhh, it’s not like we did anything wrong!" Ella complained, flopping down on the bed and staring up at Lisa with an angry huff. "We followed their plan! We got a lead! Why does everyone think we’re so incapable?"
"I do still have Lupe’s number," Saskia said, pulling another piece of paper out of their pocket with the number written on it… around a really messy doodle of three girls stabbing some nondescript person. "I knew this would happen… not that we have a phone."
A devious lightbulb went off in Lisa’s head.
”... Yet,” She grinned.
"Oh," Saskia tilted her head, smiling slightly. "Right, yet."
Ella sat up, eyes lighting up. "Are you suggesting what I think you are? Yes! Let’s break out of confinement, steal a phone, and solve everything ourselves!"
”Not all that my fat bootied friend,” Lisa began. ”Let’s just… Do that trick I did in that club, buy some phones, then come back!”
She laughed, before her expression went flat, ”Oh wait… We don't have a phone plan.”
"Surely we can just buy some prepaid SIMs," Saskia shrugged. "Bet they sell them wherever they sell phones."
"Oh yeah, and then we don’t have to share the laptop! I can totally watch anime on a phone!" Ella grinned.
”And I can watch pornography- wait!” Lisa cut herself off as she had another realization. ”We can hit up Lupe instead!”
"Yeah, and that’ll be much better!" Ella nodded.
Lisa fell from the ceiling, and the legs retracted into her back. She walked over to the balcony doors and threw them open. From the corners of her dress, a minuscule jumping spider came out and stood in the middle. A glowing cocoon surrounded it and grew in size until it was car-sized. It burst out of the cocoon as Lisa looked over her shoulder and said,
”... Hop on,”
"Gladly," Saskia said, shoving the piece of paper back in their pocket and climbing onto the spider. "... Can I buy a new knife too?"
"Sure!" Ella grinned, getting on right at the back. "Phones and a knife, here we come!"
Lisa climbed in front, then awkwardly looked over her shoulder,
”... I know you don’t like this, Ella,” Lisa began, ”I gotta wrap you down with spiders so you don't faaaaaaall…”
More spiders appeared out of nowhere, and began wrapping Ella and Saskia down…
Ella immediately closed her eyes, face screwing up in a mixture of fear and disdain. Her whole body was tense but she didn’t struggle. Saskia was completely unbothered, watching the spiders as they did it.
"Hey, at least it keeps her quiet too," Saskia sniggered.
”And who doesn't like some spider bondage!” Lisa shouted, then looked forward, ”... Aaaaaaaaaand away we go!”
The Spider lept to the next rooftop, and they were off.
Hours later, they were back. The Jumping Spider climbed on the balcony, and the trio hopped off. The spider cracked and popped as it reverted to its usual size and disappeared. They all had bags of items, including new phones and a new dress and boots for Lisa. She smiled as she walked in and closed the balcony doors behind her.
”Make sure to get rid of all the evidence!” Lisa said, ”Boxes, bags, receipts, tags! All of it!”
"They’ll see the items, though," Saskia pointed out, checking the balance of their new knife. "We can hide the phones, but how will you hide your clothes?"
”In plain sight, of course!” Lisa grinned, pulling off the dress and throwing it in the corner. ”Long as we don't give them a reason to suspect anything, they won’t look!”
"I can burn all the receipts!" Ella said cheerfully, already setting up her new phone and munching some candy she’d bought. "It’ll be easy to get rid of!"
”Not necessary and will leave a smell,” Lisa began, ”I can just sneak out one night and toss it in a dumpster!”
Then something popped in her head, ”... Who wants to call Lupe?”
"Oh, let-"
"No way," Saskia cut Ella off near immediately. "After last time? No. If you don’t want to do it, Lisa, I will."
”... Of course I want to call her!” Lisa snorted, ”Why wouldn’t I!?”
"Cause you can’t see her through the call," Saskia muttered.
Without further ado, Lisa pulled out her phone and punched in the number Lupe provided from memory and hit call. It rung a few times before Lupe awkwardly answered, and Lisa immediately put it on speaker,
“... H-Hello?” Lupe
"Hi!" Ella shouted, leaning in close to the phone.
Saskia winced, leaning away from Ella. "No need to shout- It’s Lisa, Ella, and Saskia. The girls you met earlier. We’re calling to talk about… you know."
“Ooooooh, hiiii, Mami!” Lupe ecstatically said, “Didn't expect you three to hit me up so soon!”
”Yeah, um, we just wanted to touch bases!” Lisa said.
“... Didn't you say you didn't have a phone?” Lupe asked.
”We got some,” Lisa answered.
“We gotta link up, mami!” Lupe laughed.
”... We are supposed to be laying l-”
“Don’t worry about it! Ya’ll safe with me!” Lupe began, “What do you say!?”
Lisa looked up to the two for their answers.
Ella looked at Lisa, and then at Saskia. Saskia thought about it for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah! We're adults that can't be locked up anyway!" Ella shouted. "We'll leave a note so our friends don't worry."
Lisa grinned, before she quickly threw one another dress. Tags and everything.
”What did you have in mind, Guadalupe?” She asked.
“Y’know… maybe we can just chill, get to know each other, and tell each other stories…“ Lupe began. “There are a few questions I wanted to ask you all....”
”Like what?” Lisa asked.
“You know… imma drop my location, and ya’ll meet me there!” Lupe said.
Then Lisa remembered what Kimberly and Jordan said…
”... Can we trust you?” She asked.
“I meeeean…” Lupe shrugged. “In all fairness, we just met, Mami...”
Lupe paused.
“... But, it’s life, mami. The human experience is all about taking chances with people by letting them in. Risks. You can’t live your entire life being paranoid about getting betrayed because there was a point when you three were strangers. Every now and then, you gotta let people in and let your heart chance it, mami.”
"You're right, Lupe! We have to believe the best in everyone- and if we're betrayed we can handle it, right, girls?" Ella grinned. "When we first met you scared me with all the spider stuff, and Saskia looked like she wanted to kill me, but look at us now!"
"It's our second chance anyway, let's not waste it," Saskia murmured. "Let me write this note."
They grabbed the notepad they'd stolen from Clementine's car, quickly doodling. It was three stick figures climbing out a square - they roughly had the same hairstyle as the three of them. To make it more obvious Saskia drew a spider on Lisa's head, a knife in her hand, and a magic wand in Ella's. Then she drew another stick figure outside the window - with a massive chest. Underneath it they succinctly wrote the words: 'Went out to beat Morningstar.'.
"How's that?" she asked.
Lisa stared at it.
”... I love it!” Lisa shouted. She quickly ran over to the balcony doors, threw them open, and summoned a tiny jumping spider. Just like before, she wrapped it in a glowing cocoon, and it burst out once it was fully sized. She hopped on first and then said,
”Let’s go, girls: adventure - and Guadalupe’s fine ass - awaits!”
Thankfully, Lupe was gracious enough to share her location with the three as they went on their late-night excursion. Lisa’s jumping spider made its way through the urban landscape of Mirage Springs with uncanny precision and speed - it didn’t take them too long to get to Lupe’s location. However, they quickly traveled through a park as Lisa acted as the navigator and driver, hopping from tree to tree like it was nothing. Leaves, nests, and birds were disturbed, but the trio eventually saw Lupe sitting on a bench. Lisa hopped out of the tree they were in, landed on the ground down the pathway, and then shrunk and dispelled the spider as they walked over to Lupe.
Lupe stood up, smiling,
"Mamasitas!,” she exclaimed, bridging the gap with a warm embrace. Lupe's affectionate hug lingered for a moment before she released Lisa.
”What are you doing hanging out at a park at night by yourself!?” Lisa snorted.
“Ahhhhh, mami,” Lupe said, flickering her hand before she slapped it onto her hip, “Trust me, nothing bad is gonna happen to me.”
She looked at them, a mischievous glint in her eyes, before she quipped, “Did the helicopter parents finally let ya’ll go?”
"We ran away," Saskia intoned.
"Yeah, they were gonna lock us up another few days!" Ella said, shaking her head. Sure, she loved watching anime all day, but they had more pressing things to do! "It's not like we'd actually done anything stupid this time."
"We've learned our lesson from the last time…" Saskia agreed. "No more jumping out windows."
”I mean,” Lisa shrugged. ”We gotta lot of catching up to do, I guess.”
“Why do you say that?” Lupe asked. “Actually, do you mind if we play a thousand questions?”
She tapped her fingers together as she gave them a wide smile.
“Because I gotta thousand queeeeeeestions!” Lupe said.
”Oh! Someone curious about me!” Lisa answered, hopped up and down.
"Ohhhh a thousand questions! It's just like back when we were- you know when we used to hang out with all our old friends!" Ella cut herself off from mentioning the Stygian Snake by name. "Ask away!"
Saskia looked at her two friends, then sighed. "... Sure."
Lupe clapped her hands together.
“... Who are you three? And where did you come from? Wait, don’t answer that,” Lupe began before she shot them finger guns. “You three ain’t from this planet. Ya’ll are from Mars.”
"Oh, well, technically I'm inspired by Sailor Moon, but there's also a Sailor Mars who-"
"Not what she meant," Saskia cut off Ella with an eye roll. "Who are we is a bit of a vague question. We're Saskia, Ella and Lisa."
"We're magical girls!" Ella said, not much more helpfully. "Fighting darkness wherever it may be!"
“Okay, but, mami, I watch some anime,” Lupe began, “What fuckin’ magical girls grow spider legs out their back and which magical girls shoot blood tentacles like it’s a real weird ass hentai!”
"Us! Not any amazing fictional magical girls, but special real life magical girls!" Ella declared, hand on her heart as if she was making some sort of massive statement. "You just haven't watched enough anime! There's plenty of dark magical girl anime- don't make me name any -and look all three of us are super cute! This is magical girl discrimination."
“Ooooooh, I’m going to make you name some, mami!” Lupe quickly retorted.
"Uh, uh, I can't do it off the top of my head!" Ella shouted.
”Doesn't matter! We're the magical girls even if there aren't any like Lisa and Saskia in actual anime!" Ella huffed, nearly stomping her foot but just stopping herself from acting that childish. "Magical girls come in all shapes and forms! It's a state of mind!"
“Okay, sure, sure…” Lupe laughed, crossing her arms. “But, you know, that doesn’t answer my question. You told me what you are, but I still don’t know who you are. Or maybe I need to get specific because I see you three start drifting.”
"Yeah, I don't really get what you mean," Ella tilted her head in confusion. "That is who I am."
Lupe facepalmed, keeping that arm wrapped around her chest.
“Let me try another way,” Lupe shook her head, laughing. “What’s your stories? Where are you girls from? Is that better, mami?”
"Ohhhh… St Portwell! All three of us are from there," Ella replied, finally seeming to understand. She then awkwardly looked at Lisa and Saskia. Anything beyond that, their stories, was a bit harder to explain. But Kimberley and Jordan had eventually believed them… "Alright, you gotta promise to believe us, cause our story is pretty crazy."
”More like we're missing years of it," Saskia shrugged.
"So, we died ten years ago, and just got brought back to life a few days ago."
Lupe put a hand on her hip, tilting her head, “... I mean, magic leads to all sorts of weird shit.”
She shrugged, “But how? Someone brought you back I guess?”
"The Hound," Saskia said. "Someone called in a favour."
"Yeah, he wouldn't tell us who, though! Just that we had to do two things for him to properly come back," Ella shoved a hand in her pocket as she spoke, just to make sure her channeller was in there. Just in case. "First is to kill you know who- that's why we're so focused on it! I mean, he's a bastard anyway, but we gotta kill him to not die again!"
Lupe paused for a moment.
“... Maaaaami, do you actually trust that he will keep his word?” She asked, “He’s basically the Devil.”
"The Hound? Well, we don’t really have a choice." Ella shrugged.
"It’s do as he says or die," Saskia added. "Not really a matter of trust."
"Yeah! And what’s the worst that’ll happen? We’ve already died! If he doesn’t actually bring us back at least we got an adventure outta it!"
Lupe smiled,
“I dunno, get that bastard to sign a contract and take him to ghost court if he tries something.” Lupe shrugged.
"Oh, is that a thing? Would that really work?" Ella’s eyes lit up, and she rocked back and forward in excitement. "Let’s do it! How do we write a contract- oh but he’s not got hands, how would he sign? Let’s-"
"That is not a thing,” Saskia rolled their eyes, before glancing over at Lisa. "Hey, Lisa, you’ve been awfully quiet… Are you alright? Is there something on Lupe’s chest?"
Lisa jumped, she was previously twiddling her thumbs the whole time.
”... Oh, me!? Nothing! Nothing! I’m fine!” She then smiled widely.
Lupe looked down at her chest, asking out loud, “.., Is there something on my tatas, mami?”
Saskia looked at Lupe’s chest, then at Lisa, then back. An evil smile tugged the corners of their lips. "Ohhhh I see.”
"What do you see?!" Ella asked, looking between all of them, a little confused. Then it dawned on her. "Oh! I get it and agree, Lisa!"
She turned back to Lupe, hands on her hips. "We didn’t get our money’s worth with that private dance earlier!"
“Oh, sweetheart,” Lupe laughed, before she flicked her hand. “That ship has saaaaaaaailed.”
"Awwwww," Ella pouted.
"That’s not what we’re here for.” Saskia rolled their eyes before narrowing their eyes at Lupe. "We answered your question, now it’s your turn. Why are you in the Society, but not in the Society?”
Lupe’s smile turned flat as she shook her head, “Look… it’s a long story. I’m not sure how much you know, but you should know that they’re basically trying to force every Paranormal in Mirage Springs into the Society.”
She sighed, “Which included my two little brothers, Diego and Alejandro… who were in a street gang. When the Society took over, they came for them, and being the two hard-headed bastards they were; they fought back.”
She hung her head, shaking it for a moment before she said, “The Society… killed them… and when they came for me, I had no choice, mami. But, they were my brothers. I can’t let this shit slide.”
"That’s…" Ella’s bottom lip trembled, eyes watering up. "So sad… I’m so sorry! We’ll make sure to avenge them for you."
"Yeah, sorry to bring up bad memories,” Saskia said monotonously. "So you’re with them for survival, but you don’t want to be. Pretty easy choice between death and joining them.”
"Uh, we didn’t choose to join them?" Ella tilted her head. They’d been given that same choice, basically, when they broke into the bank.
"We’ve already died,” Saskia shrugged. "If you’re in the Society, you must know some stuff people out of it don’t, right?”
“Of course, mami-” Lupe paused momentarily and turned her head towards Lisa, who was twiddling her thumbs. She looked down the second Lupe turned her way, and Lupe shrugged. “... of course, mami. But, enough about the Society for tonight. Bad memories. Too many bad memories. How about we hang out?”
She laughed before she jabbed a thumb in Lisa’s direction, “I know your friend here would love it. She saw me naked one time, and now she’s madly in love.”
”... Me?!” Lisa shook her head, looking to the left and right. ”I-I’m not in l-love! I’m o-okay! A-okay! See?!” She awkwardly smiled.
"She’s just weird,” Saskia said.
”N-no, you!” Lisa stammered out.
"Oh, oh, if we’re hanging out, we should watch anime! I have ten years worth to catch up on! I bet we can find one we all like, it’ll be amazing, oh- maybe a darker one will fit… Or something happy to lighten the mood, ahhh, there’s so many!" Ella pulled out her new phone and started looking up anime. "What kind of stuff to you like, Lupe?"
Lupe walked over to Ella and gently pushed her hand down with the phone.
“No, mami,” Lupe began, “We’re going to live tonight! No anime! No nerd shit! No nothing! We’re gonna party!”
”Like the kind of party with alcohol and music? The kind all the cool kids used to have?" Ella asked. She wasn’t sure if that sounded fun… Anime was where she was comfortable!
Lupe laughed, “Yes, like the cool kids.”
"Sounds… fun, let’s try it,” Saskia said. "But we don’t have IDs.”
“Oh yeah…” Lupe shook her head, “... You three were dead… shit.”
She put a hand on her chin, “Well, ya’ll can just come to my apartment! I live by myself, and it’ll be safer for ya’ll anyway! Say, do ya’ll got any money so I can buy some booze for us?”
”Liiii-saaaaaa~" Ella sang, turning to Lisa with a wide grin. ”Do we have any left over from our shopping trip?"
"I’ve got ten dollars left from buying my life,” Saskia offered, pulling out a ten dollar note.
”Y-yes, w-we got tons - lots of money, loads of m-money!” Lisa stammered out as she pulled out a wad of twenties from her dress pocket. ”I-is this e-enough!?”
Lupe walked over, and grabbed it.
”Maaaaami,” Lupe smiled as she counted the money. ”Re-lax.”
”O-okay!” Lisa stammered again.
“You need some liquor in your system so you’d calm the fuck down,” Lupe laughed, as she took a few twenties off the top and handed it back to Lisa. “And word of advice: don’t just hand all your money away like that. Not everyone is like me.”
She laughed, counted the money, and gestured for them to come along.
“Let’s go, let’s get the fuck out of here before anyone starts getting suspicious!”
After a trip to the nearest liquor store (in which Lupe left the three in the car for obvious reasons), Lupe opened the door to her apartment, holding the door knob with one hand and a brown-bag of liquor in the other hand. She laughed as she looked over her shoulder and said,
“Come in, guuuuuuuuuuuuurls!” Lupe purred. “Hurry up before the Society gets ya’!”
”Wow…” Lisa said, looking around. ”This place looks nice.”
“Oh, you don’t gotta flatter me, mami,” Lupe began as she entered the kitchen and placed the bag down. “It’s a home. So, get comfortable! Just don’t get too comfortable because I don’t want you putting your naked asses on my furniture!” She then laughed.
"We've been stuck in a holiday Inn for days, so this is really nice," Saskia said, raising an eyebrow and looking at the sofa. She sat down on the floor in front of it, leaning her back against it. "Ass on the floor alright?"
"Ooo," Ella was excitedly looking around the whole place, stopping to stare at every single decoration. ”It's so cute! Totally not what I expected!"
“Now, gimme oooooooone second!” Lupe laughed from the other room, as they probably heard the sound of a bottle of soda (maybe the soda they also grabbed?). After a few moments, Lupe walked into the room, holding three glasses of Coke(?) and placing them on the table in front of them. “Okay, this is coke with a little bit-” Lupe pinched her finger “-of rum. Take a little sip and tell me what you think. Then, after you finish, give it a few minutes then tell me how you feel, okay?”
Lisa stared at it momentarily before she shrugged, ”It’s just a little bit of rum!” She laughed, grabbing the glass.
“It’s your first time drinking,” Lupe said. “Mami, take it easy. You’ll get fucked up faster than you think. You small, too!”
"Ooooo, let's try," Ella grabbed a glass and just looked at it at first. She took a big swig, nose screwing up at the slightly harsher hit from the alcohol. But after a while it was quite pleasant! "Oh, that's good! I can see why people drink!"
"It's alright," Saskia said, sipping it as if it tasted just like normal coke.
"Sooo… what do you normally do at parties?"
“... And that’s the problem right there, mami! You've never been to a party before, have you?” Lupe laughed as she disappeared into the halls of her apartment. There was a little bit of rummaging before she came back, carrying a party speaker with both hands. She placed it in the middle of the living room, turning it on as she flicked through her phone for a moment.
”... Our… o-old friends had lots of parties, but we n-never went,” Lisa stammered, drinking more of the coke. Before taking a deep breath and drinking some more, she paused momentarily and shuddered before downing the rest of it.
“Why not, mami?” Lupe asked, laughing. “Wait, hold up, before you three…”
She paused for a moment.
“… y’know, what have you done?” Lupe said, “Have you ever been to the prom? Ever held hands… ever, you knoooow…”
She stopped going through her phone as she scrunched her face; her expression changed as she rubbed her chin.
“... Swiped your card?”
"What does that mean?" Ella tilted her head, taking a big long drink. ”But I hold plenty of hands! Me and Lisa spoon every night! Last night Saskia joined in too, it was pretty awesome."
"Haven't swiped my card, don't want to swipe my card," Saskia muttered, holding up their glass. They'd silently finished it off. "Another, please."
”... My card?” Lisa tilted her head.
“Oh, my God,” Lupe held her mouth to contain the laughter. “You three haven’t lost your virginity yet. Isn’t that precious?” She said in a sultry tone before putting the hand with a phone on her hip.
“I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s sooooooooo adorable, Mami,” Lupe said.
"We were sixteen!" Ella blushed. "I- I've never even had a crush, why would I have sex?!"
"Ella's very behind," Saskia said. "She's too busy wanting to date anime women."
"That's not true! I don't want to date them! I just… I'd treat them better than the men they get with!"
”Then why don’t you come date me!” Lisa shouted.
"Well you never showed interest?" Ella tilted her head in confusion.
“It’s okay… everyone goes at their own pace, mami,” Lupe laughed. “But, date real women! Some of them are gorgeous, look at me!”
She then posed, playfully slapping her butt.
Ella couldn't help but stare at Lupe's ass, lips slightly parted. "You're- you're right, they are- you are, but- but- I don't even know where to start!"
“Here, mami,” Lupe purred. “Riiiiiight here!”
"What?!" Ella froze, visibly loading. She went through a few expressions before settling on an awkward smile. ”You're really nice and attractive, Lupe, but we just met each other, I don't think starting to date on the first meeting is for me!"
“And we don’t have to date,” Lupe said. “You need to interact with real people outside your little friend group. Outside your own little world, mami!”
”But how do I even meet people?" Ella asked, frowning. "What if I just meet people like that creep Stauber?!"
"It's kind of hard when we're being hunted in the city," Saskia noted.
"Hey, no society talk, that's a mood dampener!"
“... Well, you’ve met me,” Lupe shrugged.
"You attacked us, I don't want to survive magical fire to meet people!" Ella wailed.
“... Oh, dios mios,” Lupe facepalmed, shaking her head.
“No offense, but you three seem like a bunch of shut-ins. I’m sorry,” she said, flicking through her phone. You three need to lay off the internet. Lay off the videogames. And definitely lay off the anime. And let loose. Interact with real people, and live in the moment! This will do you some good because - ah! Found it!”
She smiled as she looked up at the three with a devious grin.
“Okay, I don’t mean to keep bringing it up, but you three have been dead for ten years! Three! That’s a long ass time…” Lupe began. “You know what that means, right, mami?”
”... W-what?” Lisa began.
“It means…” Lupe began, and at this moment, the music began.
“... You three have a lot of living to do.”
"... If this music is living, I don't think we missed out much!" Ella laughed, very blunt.
Saskia rolled their eyes. "It's not just about that… she's right.We've got a lot of catching up to do- to living."
They raised their glass.
“You’re missing the point, mami,” Lupe rolled her eyes as she stuck her phone in her pocket. “Here, lemme get you three some more to drink so you’ll get it….”
Sometime later, the party was still ongoing, as the four got more and more drinks… becoming more and more intoxicated.
””Mooooooore! Lisa laughed.
“Oh, now you turnt now, mami,” Lupe laughed, holding a drink of her own in her hand—which appeared to be coke. “I think ya’ll’s drinks are more rum than coke now—but be careful! Anyone feelin… feelin’ like they're gonna throw up? Because I’ll just open a window, you can vomit out there!” Lupe laughed.
”Fuuuuuuuuuuuck, no!” Lisa slurred, swinging her head around. ”I’m a big girl! I can handle my *hiccup* liquor!”
“... Mami, you barely had any,” Lupe matter-of-factly said.
"I feel fine!" Ella said cheerfully, with a big grin. It wasn't really a lie - she felt a light buzz, like her head was filled with soft clouds, and she was even more cheerful! But she wasn't like Lisa. She took a big drink, finishing off her glass again. "Awwww but Lisa, you're really not a big girl! You're like. The tiniest little girl. Very cute."
Saskia silently nodded in agreement, constantly sipping from her glass. She was still sitting in the same position in the floor, back against the couch, looking perfectly fine.
”H-heeeeeeeeeeey!” Lisa slurred, waving her body around back and forth. Before she stopped, and pouted. ”I’m not that small! Everyone just says I am! Treat me like a big girl!”
“Mami!” Lupe shouted, “Why the fuck were you staring at me earlier!?”
”... Ma-*hiccup*-mami!” Lisa repeated Lupe’s endearing name for them. ”I just think you’re so pretty, mami! And-*hiccup*-I just wanted another dance, mami! That’s it!”
“That’s it?!” Lupe laughed. “You could have just come out and said it, mami! I would have loved you to have been up front instead of staring at me like that! But I forgot!”
Lupe threw her hands up.
“You’re shy as fuuuuuuuck!” Lupe laughed, drinking some more. “Come out of your shell already, mami! Fortune favors the bold, you know! You want something, and you can’t get it with all that shy shit!”
”... I just lock up!” Lisa admitted.
“Naaaaaaaah!” Lupe stuck her hand out. “Don’t want to hear it!”
"Lupe's right!" Ella exclaimed. "You gotta be more confident, Lisaaaaa! You're super cute and bubbly and the spiders in the morning aren't great but otherwise you're like a! Nine outta ten! Anyone would do a strip dance for you if you just asked! Just say what you wanna sayyyyy!"
"Yeah," Saskia nodded, really adding to the conversation.
”Fiiiiiiiine,” Lisa turned towards Lupe, and said, ”... Get naked.”
“... What the fuck, mami!?” Lupe laughed, slapping her thigh. “Okay, you’re going too much in the wrong direction! You don’t just ask people to get naked.”
”... I didn’t ask.” Lisa added.
“Oooh, feisty!” Lupe purred.
"Aawwwwww you're so cuteeee when you're assertive!" Ella shouted. Out of nowhere she practically pounced on Lisa, wrapping her arms around her and shaking her back and forth. "It was kinda- like an oh whoa moment when the shy character in an anime turns out to be real badass! Yeah! I always love that! It was kinda hot, Lisaaaa, you could totally get anyone you want like that!"
"Yeah," Saskia said, once again adding nothing to the conversation.
Lisa’s eyes lit up, she clenched her fists and said,
”... Think I can get Adora?!”
"Yeah," said Saskia.
"You totally can!" Ella grinned, hugging Lisa even tighter. "I bet when we get back she'll be all like ‘oh Lisa, it's been ten years and all I've been thinking about is you, let's live happily together forever now that you're back, I love youuu!’ I bet all my money on it!"
”And then we can get married! And for our honeymoon, we can go beat up Olivia!” Lisa hopped up and down in her seat.
"Yeah! Show her that your tiddies are only for Adora!" Ella shouted.
”... And you,” Lisa blew her a kiss.
"And me?" Ella's eyes widened, and she blushed, not so subtly looking at Lisa's chest… and then immediately looking away.
Lupe broke out laughing as she got up, “Know what? You three need more to drink!” She threw back the rest of her drink, walked back into the kitchen, and made three more drinks. “That’s the last of the rum! But we still got vodka! At this point, ya’ll probably stomach anything right now, right?! Right? Right?!”
"So long as it's alcoholic I'll drink it!" Ella said. She was really enjoying this drinking thing! It was a lot of fun! "Make them really strong! I wanna get to wherever Lisa issss! That looks fun!"
“... Can you handle where Lisa is, mami?” Lupe asked. “No offense to mami! But she’s a lightweight! She only had two drinks and she is fucked up!”
”.... Hey!” Lisa shouted,
"I can handle it! I can handle anything! Anyway, it's not fair only Lisa's drunk. Look, me and Saskia," Ella gestured to Saskia then herself, "are barely affected! I'm like… 20% drunk! That's barely any! I need eight more strong ones!"
"Yeah," Saskia said, again.
“You know what!?” Lupe shouted as she got up, “... You’re fucking on, mami!”
After more drinks, the four are well passed their limit. Lisa was face down on the floor, with her body comically propped up against the sofa. Saskia hadn't moved the whole time. Ella was on her feet, practically bouncing between the walls as she ran between random decorations with excited gasps. However, Lupe was down to her bra and panties as she sat on the floor.
It's only been an hour.
“Maaaaaaaaaami! Get up!” Lupe shouted, “We gotta play spin the bottle! There is no tapping out now!”
"Yayyyyy spin the bottle!" Ella yelled, running over to Lupe and practically falling to her knees. "Wait, what's spin the bottle?!"
“Dios mios, mami! Dios mios!” Lupe laughed as she drank some tequiila straight from the bottle. She wiped her mouth, and said, “You spin the bottle and whoever it points you gotta fuckin’ kiss them or you’re a pussy!”
Lisa flipped forward, landing on her back with a thump,
”... I AM THE SPIDER QUUUUUEEN!” She screamed very randomly.
"AHHHHH!" Ella screamed, jumping away from Lisa. Once she got over that panic, she got back to what was important - making sure she was alright with kissing anyone in the room. She glanced between the other three… easy decision, of course she was!
Ella slapped her hand down on the ground, shouting, "let's do this! I'll show you all that I'm not a- a pussy!"
"I am," Saskia said, a single tear suddenly falling down her cheek. "I couldn't- hic- kiss her- hic- before she- hiccup- died."
“That's why we are making up for lost time, mami,” Lupe laughed. “Now get your ass over here! Or else I throw the bottle!”
Lisa got up, stumbled over and plopped down, as Lupe turned her head towards Ella. “... You first. Spin it, mami! Spin it!”
"Ok, let’s go!" Ella leaned over, giving the bottle a dramatic spin. It spun and spun until it pointed to… herself! Ella gawped at it for a moment, then looked at Saskia (who had shuffled forward and with tears still running down their otherwise cold face), then back at the bottle. "I spin again, right?"
She reached for it, and gave it another spin. This time it was a lot slower, meandering around until it pointed to Lupe. Ella gulped.
“... Pucker the fuck up, mami!” Lupe shouted as she did just that.
"Ah-ah- okay!" Ella stopped panicking about it and pursed her lips, going right in for… the most innocent fucking peck on the lips known to man. She immediately leaned back and grinned like she did something amazing. "Done!"
"Why couldn’t that be me," Saskia whispered, covering their eyes.
“Aaaaaaah, you call that a kiss, mami?” Lupe laughed. “I thought you said you weren’t going to be a pussy?!”
"That was a kiss! What else do you do?" Ella shouted, looking a bit confused, before waving at the bottle. "Next! Lisa, you spin!"
Lisa didn't say a word as she drooled, reached forward and spun the bottle. It did a few circles before landing on…
.., Ella.
Without even a second to think, she pounced on Ella giving her the complete opposite of what Ella gave Lupe. An aggressive and very sloppy kiss with tongue. Too much tongue.
Ella didn’t react at first, because she was too busy going through some extreme gay panic, but when she did it was like a lightbulb moment! That was what kissing was! So Ella gave back as good as she got from Lisa, aggressive with far too much tongue! Until she had to pull back to breath. And Lisa smiled.
"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy," Saskia hiccuped, tears now a torrent down her face. They dramatically fell onto their side, looking like a kicked over statue in the rain - expression perfectly blank in contrast to the constant crying. "Whyyyyy everyone but meeeeee… Life’s not fair. Life’s so cruel! Ah, the darkness, it’s too much! Why am I the only one- the only one- who doesn’t get to kiss her?! Oh whyyyy, cruel world!"
"Okayyy," Saskia sniffed. She didn't even bother getting up, just reaching over and grasping for the bottle, sending it spinning, to point at…
Lisa.
Saskia dragged herself up and towards Lisa, hands landing heavily on her shoulder. She leaned forward, basically leaning against Lisa, and kissed her. There was not much tongue but there were a lot of teeth, as if Saskia was trying to bite Lisa's lips off.
Lisa pulled back and looked to Lupe.
”... Is there supposed to be teeth?!” Lisa shouted.
“... No, mami,” Lupe shook her head, she flatly spoke.
"Oh," Saskia blinked very slowly. "I didn't know… want to try again? No teeth. Promise."
Lisa didn't even say a response before she pounced Saskia and forcefully connected their lips. Saskia was taken enough by surprise that she couldn't bite Lisa's lips, but she did kiss back with equal fervour.
Ella watched with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. It felt like this was unlocking something in her… what, she didn't know. "Uhhh… is it your turn, Lupe?"
“Ooooooh, you’re right, mami!” Lupe laughed as she spun the wheel. It did a few laps before landing on Saskia. Lupe smiled.
“... Before we do this, relax. Second, don’t lead with your tongue or teeth, but lips. Use more lips than anything. Got it?”
Saskia furrowed her brow, visibly thinking about it. They then nodded, shuffling over to Lupe and leaning in to kiss her. Just lips (and a little bit of teeth, but just a little).
“... Awwwww damn it I should have said no teeth at all!” Lupe shouted, “How do you use teeth to kiss?! How?!”
Saskia leaned back, pouting. ”I just like biting things."
"Yeah, you should see Saskia's childhood teddy bear, it's mailed to death!” Ella explained.
Saskia shrugged. "Vampires made biting kisses look hot."
“Whatever you say, mami!” Lupe said, “Hold on! Another fuckin’ round!?”
She got up, went into the kitchen and got more drinks. Except they were probably more liquor than anything. She sloppily held them under one arm and they sloshed liquids everywhere with each step. She gave each of the girls one, and thrust her own in the air in a weird toast.
“... To fuckin’ livin’ life to its fullest!” Lupe damn near screamed.
"Hell yeah! To life, and friendship!” Ella yelled, jumping up and holding up her glass… before downing it.
Saskia held up her glass and mumbled, "to more kissing."
”... To putting spiders in Olivia's underwear!” Lisa held out her glass and shouted.
And the night went on...
Light hit Ella’s eyes, rudely awakening her. She squinted against it, hand reaching out to try and pull her pillow over her face. Except she didn’t have a pillow… underneath her was something soft, but not a pillow. No. It wasn’t quite as soft.
Blearily blinking open her eyes, Ella found that she was lying on a still passed out Saskia’s chest. She shot up, immediately regretting it. Nausea roiled in her stomach and the light was still shining in her eyes. The start of the headache started pounding behind her eyes. She looked around the absolute carnage of the room.
Saskia was sleeping in the most weirdly contorted way - one arm flung over her face, the other twisted backwards, a leg pulled up towards her stomach and the other sticking out to the side.
Lisa was facedown in a puddle of her own vomit.
"Saskia, Lisa, are you alive?” Ella hissed, seriously worried about her friends’ states.
Lisa did not respond.
“... Well, rise and shine motherfuckas’,” Lupe came in… wearing grey sweat pants and a tank top (no bra). She had on sandals and a very wry grin on her face. “How do ya’ll feel? I should have known ya’ll were going to vomit all over my apartment.” She then laughed.
“It’s all good tho’; nothing a mop and some pinesol can’t fix!”
"I think Lisa’s dead!” Ella gasped. She shuffled over to Lisa on her knees as quickly as she could, arms going underneath her torso to hoist her up and into her arms. She very dramatically held Lisa in her lap, one arm supporting her back and the other touching her face. "Lisa! Lisa, come back to me!”
Lisa gagged… suddenly being aroused back to life as she clenched her mouth. Instead of a spew of vomit like the rest thought would come out, instead, she coughed up a bit of bile. She shook her head and said,
”... I am dyyyyyyyyyying!” She began, ”What did you do to meeeeeeeeeeeee!?”
“That’s called a hangover you lightweight,“ Lupe laughed. “It happens when you drink.”
”I never want to do that agaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain!”
“Oh, mami,” Lupe laughed, “You’re trying to fight the Society and you got defeated by some rum and vodka?”
She stared at Lisa for a few moments.
“Just drink some water and eat some crackers, you’ll be back to normal in no time!” Lupe laughed again.
"I thought you were gone for good!” Ella said, not wanting to let go of Lisa in case she keeled over… But she was also worried about Saskia. So she shifted around and kicked Saskia’s leg. When she didn’t rouse, she did it again.
"Huhhhhh?" Saskia’s eyes shot open, and she groaned. She didn’t even get up, just rolling onto her side and curling up into a ball. "I feel… awful… this sucks… bleeding out was way… more fun…"
“Ya’ll a bunch of lil’ bitches,” Lupe laughed. “So, if you’re able to talk, you’re able to walk. Grab a sponge. Let’s get cleanin’!
"Sure thing!” Ella carefully put Lisa back down on the floor, and stood up. She grimaced as she was hit by a sudden dizziness… But when it went away she didn’t feel so bad. Headache and nausea, but nothing awful. Maybe she was quite good at this drinking thing! "I don’t feel so bad- I can do the others’ share too! Where do you keep the sponges?”
"I can help from here…" Saskia groaned. She fiddled around in her pocket for a minute before pulling out her knife, and placing it against the palm of her hand. After a moment’s consideration she cut it, blood sluggishly pooling to her back to form a very shaky looking but long tendril. "See."
“Alright, ladies!” Lupe shouted, before she lowered her head and grinned. She asked, “... How was it, though?”
”... You poisoned meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
"I had a great time! I never knew there was so much to kissing! I always thought it looked kinda boring!” Ella laughed.
Saskia closed their eyes. "I want everyone to forget anything I did last night."
“Ssssh… That was our special thing, mami,” Lupe raised a hand. “They don’t happen at every party. But… I’m glad.”
"Thank god," Saskia mumbled. "Partying is hard."
"But fun! Thank you, Lupe! You really showed us a good time last night. Now I know… I know that there’s more to life than anime.” Ella held a hand to her chest, wiping away an imaginary tear. "I think when we get home… I can finally… Put away my Tuxedo Mask body pillow and find a real partner.”
“Now, let’s get this cleaned up, so ya’ll can get a move on. I bet your parents are worried sick!” Lupe laughed.
Since Lisa was… incapacitated, a spider was not a good idea to get back to home base. So, the trio just used the money that Lisa had left over to get a taxi. They returned to their room… where Kimberly and Jordan were already inside. The two turned towards them as Jordan crossed her arms and asked the question…
“... Where the fuck were you three?!” Jordan asked. “Wait…”
She loudly sniffed.
“... Ya’ll reek of alcohol,” Jordan raised an eyebrow.
“Did ya’ll go out and get plastered?!” Kimberly asked, laughing just a little bit.
“Kim,” Jordan shook her head, then jabbed Kimberly with an elbow. “Stop laughing.”
"This is us rebelling," Saskia said, walking right past Jordan and Kimberley and falling down onto their bed.
"Yeah, you can’t keep us locked up forever! How are we going to live our lives like that! We’ve missed so much!" Ella shouted. "Sure, we got drunk, but that’s living our life!"
"We did leave you a note this time."
While this was going on, Lisa flopped on her bed, spit up more bile, then passed out.
“Have you three forgotten that there is literally an army of murderous monsters looking for you…?” Kimberly asked, narrowing her eyes.
”We can take them," Saskia said dismissively.
“I get it, ya’ll have a lot of catching up to do,” Jordan said, “but you all pulled a huge stunt a few days ago, and they are hot on ya’ll ass.”
Jordan shook her head, “Where did ya’ll even go?”
"Oh we went to Lupe's place! It was pretty great!"
”Not a single society member came after us," Saskia said, closing their eyes. They really wanted to go back to sleep like Lisa, but they couldn't leave Ella to deal with this cause she'd fuck up. ”We've got someone on the inside. She'll definitely help us."
“Look,” Jordan shook her head,”We’re not trying to act like your parents, but we are working together he-”
Lisa loudly dry heaved more bile. Kimberly stepped over and rolled Lisa onto her side.
“We’re working together, and we need to be on the same page here in case something happens,” Jordan said.
”... We did a lot for you three, despite it all,” Kimberly added, looking over her shoulder. “Is it too much to ask you three to stay put when we ask?”
"Yeah, being trapped sucks," Ella said.
"It would be fine if you actually told us what you were doing," Saskia propped themselves up on their elbows to actually look at Jordan and Kimberley. ”You say we're working together, but you don't exactly keep us in the loop. You do just tell us what to do. It's not very equal."
“We’re doing the same thing ya’ll should be doing: staying put,” Jordan answered.
When Jordan finished speaking, Kimberly pulled out her magical camera and said,
“Occasionally we spy on the Society using this but it's difficult to do so sometimes.”
"... Well I guess it's fine then," Saskia held up their hands in a half surrender gesture.
"Ohhhhh," Ella jumped over to Kimberley, sticking her face right next to the camera. "How does it work for spying?"
“It's simple, all I need is a picture of that place and I can just focus on it to see what’s going on there!” Kimberly excitedly said.
"Whoa that's cool! So you can spy on anything you have a photo of… do you need to take the photo? Oh, can we see it working?" Ella asked excitedly.
Saskia, on the other hand, narrowed their eyes. "You haven't used on it to spy on our room at all, have you?"
“... And see what?” Kimberly snorted, “You all fighting over the laptop again?”’She slapped a hand on her hip.
"So you haven't been watching," Saskia nodded knowingly. "I guess we can lay low now, since you've explained… but we did make a good connection. We have someone in the society now."
“Just don’t get too comfy with her, tho’,” Jordan said, putting a hand on her hip. “You still don’t know her all too well.”
"... too late," Saskia said ominously.
“Alright, just let us know before you do something crazy,” Kimberly said. “Okay?”
"Alright, promise!" Ella nodded. "We’ll let you know next time- oh, and you can come along!"
"Yeah, you both need to have fun too," Saskia agreed.
“Don’t worry,” Kimberly said as she walked towards the door with Jordan in tow. “... We have plenty of fun on our own.”
She stepped out the door before poking her head through and saying, “Don’t have too much fun.”
She vanished out of sight, and the door closed behind them.
"All I want is a nap," Saskia muttered, lying back down. She was fucking tired.
"The laptop’s mine, then!" Ella grinned, going over to grab it.
Lisa’s phone began ringing….
It was stuffed into the pocket of her unconscious body.
Saskia rolled over, climbing off her bed and onto the other one. She had to move Lisa a bit to actually get to her pocket, pulling out the phone and answering it just before it automatically hung up.
“... Mami?” Lupe hesitantly asked.
"Hey," Saskia said. Ella jumped up onto the bed beside her, leaning in to hear. "Sorry, had to find the phone."
“Mami! How are you?!” Lupe asked. “Is the lightweight still spewing? Or do you want me to get straight to the point?”
"She’s passed out," Saskia snorted, patting Lisa’s leg as if Lupe could see her doing it. "Yeah, straight to the point."
“So… I got word that some out-of-towners are coming to make a deal with the Society! They're from your home city, too!” Lupe laughed.
Saskia tilted her head. ”Who?"
“... Dollhouse,” Lupe answered.
"... Who?" Saskia asked again. She’d literally never heard of them.
“Oh, right, right, I forgot again,” Lupe said. “I don’t know much about them myself. They’re like the boogeymen of Florida, mami!”
Lupe began her explanation, “They sell magical goods like a black market, mami! Potions, magic, weapons, artifacts, you name it, mami! However, there’s a reason why everyone was so scurred of them in Florida….”
”Why? Were they going round killing people mob style? Torturing people? Oh, did they kill people-"
"Stoooop!" Ella wailed.
"Fine. Why are people so scared of them?"
“Beats me, mami,” Lupe answered and Saskia could probably hear the shrug, “Point is, they went to St. Portwell - no! Point is that they are coming here to make some type of deal.” Lupe paused,
“... I know at least two members of the Endless Seven will be there.” Lupe added.
That had Saskia sitting up, looking at Ella, who grinned excitedly. "When and where?"
“... This Saturday, mami,” Lupe answered, “Dollhouse might be in the city already.”
Saturday… Saskia wasn't actually sure what day it was, but it must be soon. ”Alright. We'll be there… hopefully we can take out the endless seven members and stop the deal."
"We have to tell Kim!" Ella said in her ear.
"Oh yeah," Saskia intoned. ”We'll bring along our parents."
“Tell whoever, mami!” Lupe said, “Ya’ll got my number? Or… you can get it from Lisa’s phone! Whatever you think is best. I still need to finish cleaning up my apartment!”
”She doesn't have a password, so we can get it," Saskia replied. Even if she did… It would probably be Adora's birthday. ”I'll let you get back to cleaning… thanks for the info."
"Next time you should come round to our hotel room and party!" Ella shouted, leaning in close enough to be heard.
“Sure! When ya’ll vomit all over the place it's not on me to clean up!” Lupe laughed. “Catch you on the flipside, mami!”
"Don't worry… I'll have developed something to stop it by then," Saskia said, rather ominously. ”See you, try to stay alive."
Saskia hung up, putting Lisa's phone back down on the table. Call over, Ella immediately grabbed the laptop and jumped onto the other bed to watch anime. It looked like it'd be up to Saskia to go tell Kimberley and Jordan, but there wasn't a rush. First… she looked at Lisa's prone body.
"Hmm, maybe I can finally practice blood letting…"
A very spooky red (very red) casino nestled in the heart of Mirage Springs, it was stated to be the Society's previous headquarters prior to its takeover of the city, according to Kimberly and Jordan. Lupe said there was a big deal going on here… thus, the five were posted up on the rooftops of one of the adjacent buildings. Not any building, a store in which Lupe would say would give them a view of their “VIP entrance.” Or, well, a parking garage that only top Society members and their affiliates would enter. Jordan was, as per usual, on the edge of the building with binoculars.
Meanwhile, Lisa, her back pressed against the parapet, was once again in a reclined position with her hands on her stomach.
“... Your friend better not be lying to us,” Jordan mused out loud.
”We can trust her, I swear,” Lisa turned towards Jordan.
“... Then her ass should have been up here with us,” Jordan shook her head.
”... Then we’d be minus a spy!”
"Yeah! A spy that’s not spying ain’t a spy at all!" Ella said. She was sitting next to Lisa in a similar position, except her fingers were tapping on her legs. "What’s the worst that’ll happen if she lied? We can totally handle it!"
"We’ll just kill her," Saskia nodded, playing with their knife. They crouched next to Jordan, looking over the parapet.
”I mean…” Lisa shrugged as she rolled her eyes. ”If she worked for The Society, we were passed out in her apartment all night…”
"Oh yeah, she had plenty of opportunities to kill us!" Ella said cheerfully. "Though I stayed up till she went to bed too… but she woke up first."
"I wouldn't have minded dying that night," Saskia muttered.
”... I wanna do it again!” Lisa shouted as she hopped to her feet.
“... And pass out again?” Jordan whimsically said as she glanced over her shoulder.
Lisa pouted, crossing her arms. As Jordan laughed, looking into her binoculars.
“Wait! Hold up!” Jordan shouted as she leaned forward a bit.
“What is it?” Kimberly asked.
“A Black SUV, all tinted windows, just went into the secret entrance,” Jordan called out as her eyes didn't come off her face. “... I don't see any other cars.” she shrugged.
“A convoy going through the streets of Mirage Springs would ring a bell,” Kimberly snorted.
A few minutes passed.
“... A white sedan just went in,” Jordan added.
“Are you three ready to go in?” Kimberly asked. “Remember, we are not here to start a fight.”
”Yes!” Lisa said.
Lisa dug into the pockets of her cargo pants and pulled out a tiny metal device that she held high in the air—a tracking device. The plan was to bug the Endless Seven and Dollhouse delegates with Lisa’s spiders and then see what dastardly plans Morningstar was cooking up.
”... Could I still mark them with my infestation spell?” Lisa asked.
“... No,” Jordan answered.
”Aw,”
"I'm ready," Saskia stood up, looking very relaxed about the whole thing.
"Wait!" Ella hopped to her feet. "What do we do if we're spotted?"
"Kill the witnesses."
Kimberly smiled.
“... We run,” She simply answered before she turned to Jordan and nodded her head. “Jordan.” “Right,” Jordan raised both of her hands in the air and they were placed in a swirling coral-pink dome that grew bigger and brighter before they all just appeared on the rooftop. It disoriented Lisa, like teleportation always did. Suddenly they were on one roof, then now they’re on another way taller one! Her heart was spinning as she felt dizzy… she stumbled a few steps.
"Argh," Ella groaned, bending over and looking a bit sick. "I'll never get used to that."
Saskia rolled their eyes, seeming completely unphased. "Let's get to work. What do you need us to do, Lisa?"
Lisa shrugged, before she looked to Kimberly and Jordan for instructions.
“We’re going to stick together, and stay out of sight,” Kimberly said, grabbing the Artistic Integrity with both hands, as she glanced at the doors. “This is the VIP section of the casino. There shouldn’t be a whole lot of foot traffic - which works against us.” Kimberly shook her head.
“There is a large dining room that they do their meetings in,” Kimberly said. “We’re gonna plant the bugs on them there… you three are there in case we run into trouble.”
“But, you know I can just teleport us out,” Jordan crossed her arms, rolling her eyes.
“Yeah, I know,” Kimberly said, rolling her eyes as well. “Let’s just get a move on.”
She then pointed at the door to the roof, which definitely should not be unlocked. Jordan walked over to it, then put her hand on it… Lisa looked on as she heard a series of slides and clicks before she pushed the door open. She gestured towards it…
“... Ladies,” Jordan grinned.
“Why thank you?” Kimberly laughed as she walked in, and Lisa followed after them… Saskia and Ella were right behind them, and Jordan was in the back. As they were led through the halls like a bunch of ducks, Lisa briefly wondered how much recon the two got before they got here. Because they certainly didn’t tell them anything. Though, it didn’t matter, as it seemed Kimberly and Jordan had their best interests at heart. Maybe. This part of the Devil’s Fortune wasn’t a casino, but a hotel… and it was oddly barren. Lisa couldn’t even hear anyone, but she never really been in hotels so she wouldn’t know!
Eventually, Kimberly lead them to an incredible ornate dining room. It was something out of the movies! However, they were on the upper balconies, looking down, and the room was completely empty.
“Alright,” Kimberly looked between everyone present. “Are we clear on what we’re here for? We’re not going to jump the gun, right?”
"Yup! We’re the backup for if shit goes wrong, while you guys are planting bugs on em! I think!" Ella said cheerfully, brandishing her channeler. "Or wait… are Lisa’s spiders planting the bugs?"
"I’ll stop her doing anything stupid," Saskia said, surveying the room over the balcony’s banister. They crouched down, narrowing their eyes as they watched for anyone entering.
The door on one side opened… and two gigantic Werewolves in knight's armor came through. They had to be over ten feet tall and carried massive swords over their shoulders as they walked over to the corners of the dining room on one side, patiently taking guard. When they walked in, Lisa activated her eyes of the Arachnid Spell… a spell that made her grow extra eyes on her temple, forehead, and cheeks and gave her a full view of the room. Following behind them, four people walked in… the first to come through was a tall man (Like had to be around seven feet tall) in a suit, and he calmly walked over and sat at the head of the table.
”Weird…” Lisa whispered out loud. ”Are they the Endless Seven or somebody else?”
"Wouldn’t really be the Endless Seven if there were ten of them…" Saskia whispered back. "One must be Mala’Boolaan’s replacement."
"I bet it’s the really tall one!" Ella said in a hushed tone.
"... I think it’s the other woman."
“To my knowledge,” Kimberly whispered. “The Endless Seven have some way to assume human form. Either by abscision or some other form of magic… have you ever heard of Glamour?”
"Oh, like fair folk use?" Saskia tilted their head. "In folklore."
“Yes, sort of… It’s a popular form of magic that lets Abominable, Afflicted, and other Paranormals with inhuman features appear normal and blend in with humans,” Kimberly began. “There are many forms of it and many ways to apply it… and knowing the Society, getting Glamour would be easy.”
“Hey, the door’s opening!” Jordan silently pipped up.
The man with the bun and the woman with the gun took a seat while the mannequin doll remained standing. The older man and the strange woman stood in the corners of the room, much like the werewolf knights.
”... And they’re Dollhouse?” Lisa asked Kimberly and Jordan. ”The old guy is kinda hot!” She laughed.
"Lisa, your taste sucks," Ella scrunched up her nose.
“Stay focused,” Jordan whispered. “... And I think so,”
“That’s Luis, Natalie, and Heinrich,” Kimberly said, “I dealt with them before when I was in Miami…”
Both Kimberly and Jordan shuddered.
“... They are not to be messed with,” Kimberly said, “But, we’ll deal with them when we’re stronger.”
"So we just watch?" Saskia asked, eyes narrowed.
"How are we going to bug them?!" Ella tilted her head.
Kimberly turned her head towards Lisa and whispered to her, “Lisa, are you ready?”
Lisa nodded, as she summoned some tiny spiders from behind the five, and while they were wrapped in glowing cocoons, she dug into her pockets for tiny listening devices. The spiders burst out with ant mandibles, and she placed them in their tiny maws. They carried them down the walls…
“Worry about those four,” Kimberly pointed at the four that the group believed were the Endless Seven… “Place one on the table and try to slip one in the pockets.”
”Mhm…” Lisa trailed off, as she did as instructed and ordered the spiders to plant the bugs around the table. They used their webs to attach them to the table before sliding the listening devices into the shoes of the Endless Seven…
… The strange woman that was with Dollhouse turned her head to the five, and Lisa’s eyes widened.
”... I think we’ve been spotted!” Lisa said in a normal volume.
The woman pointed at them and shouted,
”... We got intruders!”
Everyone turned their heads towards their spot on the balcony, and Lisa hopped to her feet.
”... SHIT!”
“Jordan!” Kimberly shouted as she pulled out Jacob’s Revolver, “Time to go!”
The older man disappeared, leaving behind a burst of wind. He appeared down the balcony, and Lisa only had seconds to respond before he disappeared again. In the blink of an eye, Lisa was sent rolling down the hall, feeling Shayton’s hand slam against her chest. She could hardly breathe as she gasped for air. When she came to a stop, she looked up to see Shayton in between her and the girls.
"Lisa!" Ella yelled, brandishing her channeller and… starting to go through her magical girl transformation.
"Shit," Saskia scrambled to their feet, slicing their hand wide open. Blood spilled out, forming a bullet that they aimed and shot toward Shayton.
Shayton looked over his shoulder at them, before disappearing in a burst of speed again… and Lisa could feel herself get yanked as she was thrown in the trajectory of Saskia’s attack at blinding speeds. The bullet dug into Lisa’s shoulder and she screamed in pain. Saskia paled, eyes widening in panic.
“Jordan!” Kimberly aimed the revolver at Shayton.
“Working on-” Jordan was cut off as a bladed tendril made out of human flesh came out of the strange woman’s hand and wrapped around her ankle. It snatched her away as Jordan raised her hands and a coral-pink sphere appeared… and all time was slowed within it. Including the tendril coming out of the black woman’s hand.
"Back off!" Ella shouted, now in her magical girl form. She held up her wand, a burning beam of light shooting out of it and towards the tendril where it wasn’t in the coral-pink sphere. The beam burned through the tendril, and the woman’s expression didn’t change slightly.
At the same time, Saskia’s blood pooled towards her back and formed a long tendril. They ran forward, sending it out in an attempt to wrap around Lisa and pull her towards them. It grasped Lisa’s leg, and yanked her towards them as she flipped off Shayton with both hands, quicking waving them around wildly… though, it hurt.
Shayton disappeared in a burst of wind and appeared on the other side of Kimberly… with Jacob’s Revolver in hand. He examined it and said,
“Hmmmm… interesting design…” Shayton felt it getting telekinetically yanked from his hands as it flew right back into Kimberly’s hands.
“Thank you, Jordan!” Kimberly aimed Jacob’s Revolver back at Shayton. However, the two werewolf knights ran up and slammed their swords on the ground as they growled and barked at them. The mysterious lady had made another bladed tendril and attached it to the banister and propelled herself forward.
From between the two knights, walked the man in the suit with the blonde hair… he had a smile on his face as he clapped his hands together, “... I remember you three,” He began. “By some miracle and failure of all logic, you made it this far…”
He laughed.
“... But your luck, ends here.”
Ella turned around to look at him, head tilted in confusion. "Who are you?"
“Ignatius,” He introduced himself. “We met at the bank. Except I looked… different.”
"Ohhhhh!" Ella clapped her hands together (awkwardly because of the wand). "The one who sent those weaklings after us!"
“And thank you for getting rid of them,” Ignatius folded his hands behind his back as he looked at the two werewolf knights. “However, Morningstar has ordered your deaths…”
He pointed at them, and the rabid Werewolf knights lunged at the group.
“... So, just die fast, we have business to attend to, morons.” Ignatius adjusted his suit
"It'll take more than this to kill me!" Ella shouted, as her legs lit up with a shimmering, prismatic light. She jumped forward, swinging one leg up to intercept and kick one of the Knights. He raised his sword to block the attack and slid backward towards Ignatius.
Saskia rolled their eyes behind her, tendril letting go of Lisa as it shot towards the other knight, and pierced through its face, cleaving through it cleanly. He stopped, grabbing his face, and a sizzling steam came out as he regenerated.
Lisa flipped over, as spider legs burst from her back… she was still bleeding, but she was still going to fight. It was time to whip out a tool in her arsenal that the Old Coven found disgusting. She loudly wretched, as she opened her mouth like some kind of unholy maw, and a spray of spiders came out her mouth and went towards the knight that Saskia had injured. It covered its body, as Lisa willed them to force their way into its regenerating wounds… then they healed over, as Lisa activated Acid-Burst and the acid exploded out of the knight’s head as it fell to its knees.
It hit the ground with a thump, as Kimberly shouted, “EVERYONE! BUNCH UP!”
Lisa turned on her heel and ran over to Kimberly and Jordan. A coral-pink dome appeared around them, slowly beginning to spin, and then quickly accelerating. Saskia ran into the dome, blood tendril sucking back into the wound in her hand.
Ella was the furthest away. She was mid another kick towards the remaining Knight, forcefully stopping her momentum and spinning around on one foot. She started running over towards the dome….
However, in a burst of speed, Shayton grabbed her and threw her over the banister onto the table.
”... ELLA!” Lisa shouted, extending a hand out to her friend.
Ella screamed as she fell from the balcony, arm outstretched to try and reach Lisa before she disappeared. Her back crashed against the table, muscles spasming as intense pain spread across her back and into her shoulder. She groaned, eyes squeezing shut for a moment. But she didn’t have time to wallow in the pain. She was left alone in a room full of enemies.
With another groan, Ella quickly rolled to the side and off the table, clumsily landing on her feet and into a crouching position. She held her Sailor Moon Wand in a tight grip, completely defensively, while her eyes darted around.
“Ooooooh, Sheer’Khan!” The woman with the long black hair who stood with the Society laughed, turning her head towards the morbidly obese man. “Her friends abandoned her!”
“Contain yourself, Shala,” Sheer’Khan shook his head, and yawned. “Think you can kill her? Ah, I miss Mala’Boolaan already.” He shook his head with another yawn.
“I thought you had this place secure,” The tall man on the side of Dollhouse said.
“We do, Luis,” Sheer’Khan said with another yawn. “Shala, Dr. Cross, just kill her already so we can get this over with. It’s bad enough that Ignatius dragged us all out here.”
Shala laughed as she stood up and exploded into a cloud of pink mist, and when it faded, she was a massive wolf-like creature with wings. She laughed as she lunged forward with a claw cocked back, and slammed it over onto Ella.
Ella jumped to the side, wincing as the claw caught the side of her arm and raked down it. The bright colours of her bracelets (which she was rapidly running out of at the hostel) pooled down into her arms, making her fists a mishmash of bright pinks, purples and blues. She swung a fist, as hard as steel, towards Shala, impacting her chest and breaking a bone. Shala stumbled back for a moment, before roaring, and charging at her with both hands outstretched - briefly coughing up blood.
While this was going on, Dr. Cross pulled out the pike and held it with both hands, as she ran up.
Ella crossed her hands in front of her to block any claws that got near her. She used her prismatic enhanced legs to jump up onto the table - she was outnumbered but maybe being a bit higher could help! She swept out one leg, trying to catch and break the pike. However, upon contact with it… it did nothing. Not even so much as move Dr. Cross, and on impact, Ella felt her abstraction getting weaker.
“... I’ll eat you alive!” Shala shouted as she lunged at Ella, mouth agape, still with a trickle of blood dripping down the side of her lip.
"No thank you!" Ella pulled back her leg, trying not to panic at how noticeably weaker her abstraction was. Her hands and lower arms were duller, and the light on her legs was flickering. She rolled to the side, shoulder hitting the table and smashing a plate, and she flipped off the other side with a wince. She immediately picked up one of the chairs and threw it at Shala, bashing her in the face with it. Shala growled in anger, before she grabbed the table and lifted it up over her head.
“... GO TO HELL, WHORE!”
Shala screamed as she threw the giant table at Ella.
“... We were using that, Shala,” Ignatius sighed from the balcony above. He was leaning up against it, watching the fight. Not only that, Shayton and the mysterious woman were also leaning against it.
”I’m not a whore, I’m a magical girl!" Ella shouted. She quickly crouched, arms in front of her face and legs in front of her stomach - the table smacked right into her, her more vulnerable body parts covered by enhanced arms and legs… But it still hurt like hell! Fuck! Fight through it! She was knocked back and winded… But she had the table for a bit of cover. Ella popped her head over the table, brandishing her channeler to shoot a burning light right towards Shala’s eye… and seared it shut. She loudly screamed and thrashed around as she clutched her face, before she fell onto her back.
This left Ella and Dr. Cross, who simply strafed a circle around Ella, holding that pike, not breaking line of sight.
“Sheer’Khan! Do something!” Dr. Cross shouted, as she continued to walk circles around Ella.
Sheer’Khan yawned. “... I’m perfectly fine watching, thank you very much.”
“... You’re stronger than Mala’Boolaan!” Dr. Cross seethed. “Just flatten her real quick before the rest of those idiots come back!”
Sheer’Khan yawned.
“Who made you the boss?” he replied. “Last I checked, only Ignatius was above us. The rest of the Endless Seven stand on the same level.”
Ella was still peering over the table, from below her nose hidden behind it. She hadn’t expected Shala to go down so easily… maybe winning this was possible! If she ignored how much pain she was in!
”You know, you really shouldn’t boss people around if you’re not in charge! If he doesn’t want to fight, he doesn’t want to fight!" Ella shouted. She moved her hand just a bit above the table, shooting another burning light—this time towards one of Dr. Cross’s hands. It hit her hand, and she winced, keeping her hand on the pike. She fell to one knee and closed her eyes.
“... Shut up and fight!” Dr. Cross screamed as she rushed Ella, and swung at her with the pike. One that would weaken her abstraction.
Shala climbed back to her feet, and sniffed the air for a few moments…
”I don’t want to fight either!" Ella said, weaving and dodging the pike. She didn’t want it to hit her again, but her main attacks required kicking or punching! Instead she just used her still enhanced limbs to more easily dart from side to side.
“... Then you shouldn’t have come here!” Dr. Cross shouted as she took another swing with the pike.
”Well…" Ella didn’t really have anything to say in response to that. She leapt back to avoid the swing, before stepping in and sweeping out a leg in an attempt to kick Dr. Cross’ ankle, making her fall to the side… yet, Dr. Cross held onto the pike tightly. Ella quickly moved around to kick Dr. Cross in the back of the knee, hard. Which made her seethe as she rolled over a few times.
However, Shala charged at Ella like a berserk animal, kicking Dr. Cross away as she slashed her with a wild barrage. One of the slashes hit Ella’s shoulder, claws digging into her flesh and sending blood spilling down her leotard and staining the white with a bright red. She pulled back before they could hit again, punching away the other hand and constantly backing away.
”Hey, you shouldn’t kick your friend!" she shouted as she dodged.
“... DIE!” Shala continued the relentless assault, before throwing herself at Ella with her jaws outstretched, aiming for her neck.
”Not again!" Ella shouted. She threw up her arm to protect her neck, biting down on her lip as Shala’s jaws clamped down on it. Shala then thrashed Ella around like a wild dog, before she slipped from her grasp and went flying across the room. She then roared into the sky.
“... That was a great display,” Ignatius said with a flat expression on his face. “Now kill her.”
Ella slammed into a wall, falling to the floor with a crash. She clenched down her jaw to keep in pained screams, clutching her nearly destroyed arm to her chest and trying to get back onto her feet. Her legs absolutely refused to work. She was screwed. Grimacing, she closed her eyes and held up her hands, a blinding flash emitting from them - all she could do to buy herself time.
“... That won’t do anything to save you!” Shala screamed as she charged Ella.
… However, a glowing coral-pink orb appeared in the middle of the dining room… much larger than the one created before. It exploded in a flash of pink, and it revealed the group of Kimberly, Jordan, Saskia, and Lisa. Not only that, Lisa had created three giant black widow spiders (one of which she was mounted on), equipped with dragonfly wings, and. She had a legion of flying spiders with her.
Her eyes turned towards Shala.
”... GET AWAY FROM HER!” Lisa screamed as she commanded one of the flying black widows to fly towards Shala. She could only glance over her shoulder as the spider wrapped itself around Shala… before she applied the Acid-Burst spell to it. It exploded into a massive blast of acid and chitin shrapnel… which splashed on her. It hit her in the cheek, and completely dissolved it, revealing her teeth on one side of her face. She screamed as it dripped down onto her chest and arm… dissolving flesh in a painful display.
As for Shala? She was absolutely obliterated. Most of the flesh on her body was dissolved while she was still standing, and she hit the ground with a thud… what was left of her. The toxic mixture of dissolved flesh and acid sizzled against the ground as everyone looked on in horror.
“... Hmph,” Ignatius said, “She had no place in not only the Endless Seven, but the Society itself….”
”Lisa, Saskia!" Ella groaned, pushing herself onto her knees. Blood dripped down her arm from where it had been mauled, and she could barely move. ”I’m so… glad to see you…"
"Shit, Lisa, can you use some healing spiders on her?" Saskia asked. Her whole body was covered in a thin layer of blood, bone spear jutting out of her fist. She pulled it back in, running over to Ella to try and help her stand. "C’mon, we’ve got to go."
”... Don’t whine this time!” Lisa shouted, as she flicked some healing spiders onto Ella with both hands.
”You said that about Mala’Boolaan too!” Ella said woozily, pointing a finger up at Ignatius. At least, someone had shit talked Mala’Boolaan when he died. ”They both put up a good fight!"
“Thank you for the show!” Luis shouted as he held the door open to leave. Shayton, Shaquita, we’re out of here.”
With a stoic expression on their faces, the two Dollhouse goons left. Shayton vanished in a burst of speed, and Shaquita, the mysterious woman, hopped off the banister and landed without so much as flinching. She calmly followed behind Luis, Natalie, and Heinrich, as the door closed behind them.
Ignatius shook his head, as he narrowed. “You five are going to leave now before we can catch you, right?”
The spiders bunched up around Lisa, as a Coral-Pink sphere formed around them.
And Ignatius flicked his hand, “... Just go already.”
"Send someone stronger next time!" Ella shouted as she limped into the sphere, leaning heavily on Saskia.
Lisa flipped off Ignatius…
… Before they were all gone.
They appeared back in Kimberly and Jordan’s hotel room, and immediately Kimberly shook her head.
“Well…” She walked over to her bottle of scotch and poured herself a glass. “... That was a disaster.”
”Hey!” Lisa said, ”We took out a member of the Endless Seven!”
“... When the plan was to bug them,” Jordan shook her head as she sat down on the nearby computer chair. “It won’t matter how many of the Endless Seven we kill when they just get replaced.” She shrugged.
"We also ruined their meeting," Saskia pointed out.
”And any replacements will be weaker!” Ella flopped down on the couch, still feeling exhausted even though she’d been healed. She flexed her wrist and created a small ball of colour using a bit from the couch. She frowned as she compared the ball, clearly duller than the sofa’s colour (with a missing white patch). ”One of them can weaken abstractions… I dunno how long this’ll last.”
”I mean…” Lisa twiddled her thumbs, awkwardly looking up at Kimberly then to Jordan. ”We did bug them. Well, not in the annoy kind of way, but my spiders got bugs on each of the Endless Seven.”
“... Wait, you did?!” Jordan said.
“Sweet!” Kimberly threw a fist into the air. “That means we can figure out what Morningstar’s plan is so we can stop them!”
”... Do we have to lay low again?”
“Yes,” Kimberly laughed, “Yes, you do.”
”Aw.”
”More time to catch up on anime!” Ella cheered. Honestly, she was all right with a few days of laying low after that fight.
Saskia frowned, looking Kimberley dead in the eye. "Can I move into your room?"
