It was finally time; Lisa’s soul was set ablaze as she was finally closer to Adora than ever before! She could just smell her! There wasn’t any time for thought or internal monologue as she pointed forward, and the four other spiders she summoned charged forward. However, out of the portal Morningstar created came several fireballs that were the size of basketballs. A barrage. Dozens of fireballs came flying out towards the group as Kimberly calmly knelt and placed the Cube out of her utility belt onto the ground. The Cube created a barrier as Lisa’s spiders bobbed and weaved out of the way of the fireballs - taking a few hints but they kept forward.
Ella ran to the front of the group, pushing out her hands and yelling, "shimmering snow blast!"
A massive wave of snow came out from her hands, boosted by the Ice Scepter, hitting all the fireballs in its path. It was enough to clear the way for Saskia to jump over her using a blood tendril, shooting multiple blood bullets at Morningstar. Morningstar swiped his hand to create a portal in the path of the blood bullets, and they flew directly back into the group.
Lisa shouted as one hit her in the shoulder and another in the stomach, but the Spiders were still flying at him with the help of Ella clearing the path. She cast the Acid-Burst spell, and they exploded into an enormous display that sent modified digestive acid in all directions. Splashing on Morningstar and utterly dissolving his arm… revealing a blue, scaly arm. He didn’t flinch.
“Good job, mami!” Lupe shouted from behind the shield.
Morningstar snapped his fingers, and out of the portal behind him came a massive freakish beast that was the size of a small house. It roared before it charged at the shield. Meanwhile, the portal closed, and several smaller portals opened up around Morningstar and fired a volley of smaller fireballs that curved at the group.
Ella held up the Ice Scepter, using it to shoot wide beams of ice to try and catch as many fireballs as she could. Saskia spun around, one catching her shoulder. They winced, but ignored it, blood tendril shooting towards the beast’s shoulder, it attached - and the monster was surrounded by a coral-pink dome that slowed down time in its radius as the barrier provided by the cube dropped. Kimberly leveled Jacob’s gun at its head and pulled the trigger, letting loose a bullet enchanted by fire, earth, electricity, ice, wind, metal, and light… while Lupe shot both of her hands out and fired off a bright neon-pink blast of electricity that shocked the monster. A flood of spiders came out one of the vents behind Morningstar, as the flood was so much that it broke off and fell.
However, all of Morningstar's portals disappeared as he opened one the size of Saskia, and a giant, a monstrous hand shot out to grab them and yank them in… Succeeding in grabbing them, even as two bone spears stabbed into it.
"Oh fuck," Saskia muttered.
"SASKIA!" Ella yelled, other hand raising her Channeler to shoot a beam of burning light at the monstrous hand.
“Ay! I got this, mami!” Lupe shouted, activated her Neon Dash, and turned into a ball of light (leaving behind a trail of fire and electricity) with cascading colors. She collided with the hand, and there was a roar as the creature released Saskia, and the portal closed.
Morningstar raised his hand into the air, a dismissive look on his face, as Kimberly unloaded on him with Jacob’s gun, only stopping when she ran out of ammo for Jacob’s gun. He didn’t respond; however, a massive portal formed above him, and when he swiped down, an enormous fist came out of it and punched through the ground at their feet, including the monster.
Lisa screamed as she was about to fall to her feet - however, Jordan’s time dilation sphere slowed down time on the falling piece of ground. Lisa lifted the back of her dress, and spider legs came out of her dress. Then, she gracefully went from debris to debris until she was inches away from the monster Morningstar summoned. Lisa opened her mouth at the giant monster’s leg and spewed a barrage of spiders slowly floating towards it until they attached to it… in slow motion.
Ella also screamed, but quickly righted herself, crouching on a piece of debris. Her gaze quickly found Morningstar again, shooting a focused beam of ice at him. Saskia bounced between the debris pieces with the help of their blood tendril slowly, turning around and shooting a blood bullet right after Ella’s beam. The ice beam hit Morningstar and caused him to wince (the Blood Bullet bounced off). He bore teeth as he opened another portal in Ella's path and sent the ice beam into Saskia.
"Why’s it always me?" Saskia complained, blood forming a strong shield at the front of her body. The ice beam hit it, freezing her blood and shattered it off… but not freezing her. She winced, bouncing backwards and towards Lisa.
Ella used the slowed time to start towards Morningstar, her legs glowing a bright rainbow, helping her launch herself towards him with an attempted kick. He caught it in mid-air and winced - however, more portals opened around Ella and barraged her with fireballs. At this rate, everyone had fallen to the second floor, with Lupe, Jordan, and Kimberly fighting the monster…, at which point Lisa dissolved its leg with acid. However, she ran over to Saskia with the help of her spider legs and hopped in mid-air, landing next to Saskia as she said,
”... Death Blow?” Lisa suggested. ”Except we shoot it up his ass!”
"That’s exactly what his ass needs," Saskia nodded. "While Ella’s got him distracted… let’s go."
Ella had shot out a burst of snow around her, fireballs hitting one of her legs and arms. But she didn’t seem to let it effect her as she turned into a bright, rainbow ball and barrelled at Morningstar, bolts of lightning flying off her towards him. He stepped through a portal and appeared back on the top floor, overlooking the few.
Lisa stuck her hands out… and a massive black spider crawled out of the ground. She then nodded at Saskia to create the spear so she can load it. Saskia’s face screwed up in an expression of intense concentration as they started to make a large bone spear bit by bit, hovering above the spider as it fully formed. Lisa nodded her head when it was complete.
”... Put it in.”
Saskia just nodded, brow furrowing as they carefully loaded the spear into the spider's vagina. Lisa commanded the Spider aimed at Morningstar, hoping that this would be, as the name implied, the death blow. On command, the spear launched, cut through the air, and stabbed Morningstar in the back. She was disappointed that it wasn’t his asshole… however, it “detonated” and exploded into Morningstar. His physical form was shredded to bits by the bone fragments even before they began spraying acid in all directions. Lisa smiled as that bastard was finally over…
… Only to reveal his true form.
Morningstar floated in the air, all in his unholy glory… the ground began to shake. Every window shattered as the concrete crumbled and the steel bent… the building started to sink.
"... Well, this sucks," Saskia commented. Her expression contorted in pain as flesh wings started to push out of her back, painfully and slowly snapping into place. Glass shattered nearby and embedded in her side, adding to the continuous flow of blood which she moved into a thick blood armour.
"I'm too cute to get buried alive!" Ella yelled, turning into a bright orb of light again and hopping from concrete piece to concrete piece to reach Lisa and Saskia, transforming back to her normal self before she hurt them. "What do we do? Should we… pull out the mech?!"
"That’ll just make us less mobile."
Lisa looked at Morningstar… and then remembered that she strategically left a flying spider behind the barrier (and didn’t forget). She commanded it to come over to them, and Lisa hopped on using her spider legs. She then shouted.
”Hop on!”
"Lisa, you’re the best!" Ella grinned, jumping onto the back of the spider. Saskia got on in front of her so that they could all see. "Let’s go keep beating him up!"
“... Ay, mami!” Lupe shouted, waving her hands as they began glowing with a pink light. “Don’t leave us!”
“... Did you forget about us, my dude?” Kimberly laughed; her face was oddly flat due to their circumstances. Jordan walked up, and raised a fist in the air, and a spinning coral-pink sphere appeared around them… before they disappeared.
With that out of the way, Lisa flew out the nearest window, where dusk had settled. She could see the night sky as she soared near the building. With her eyes drifting down, she saw the Morgenstern Banking sinking into a portal. To where? Lisa didn’t know or care! She just wanted to get some distance away to view… and once the building was gone, all that remained was Morningstar floating in the air.
”Ella, shoot at him!” Lisa shouted, pointing at Morningstar, as she was a little bit out of her element in aerial combat.
"Got it!" Ella shouted. She leaned around Lisa and Saskia, using the ice scepter to shoot a beam of ice at him. At the same time, Saskia leaned from the other side, shooting a blood bullet at him. Both of them hit Morningstar, but didn’t seem to do any damage…
He floated in mid-air before he curled up into a fetal position in mid-air. A flaming portal opened before him before it unleashed another volley of explosive fireballs. Lisa instinctively knew what was coming and hid behind another building. However, the portal fired out a beam of pure heat similar to what Ignatius used in his second form. It cut through the buildings like a hot knife though butter, and Lisa panicked as the building they used as cover fell apart right in front of them.
Lisa commanded the spider to fly away at high speeds as the beam was behind them. However, she had an idea.
”... I’m going to drop you two off at different locations!” Lisa shouted. ”I don’t know where Kim, Lupe, and the others ar-”
A massive beam of pink light came out of nowhere and hit Morningstar, followed by a UPS truck thrown at him. Both of these attacks knocked him aside and knocked the beam off course. Lisa didn’t notice as she flew down on the ground before she pointed at Morningstar.
”Saskia!” Lisa shouted. ”... Blood rain.”
"Oh I’ve waited so long to use this one again." Saskia rubbed her hands together. "Make the spiders, I’ll make them explode."
Lisa put her hands in the air and focused on the area above Morningstar… and dozens of spiders that had pulsating sacks of blood growing from their body in a grotesque form appeared. They began falling… Saskia then held out their hands. The sacks of blood grew exponentially before exploding outwards in a disturbing shower of blood rain that fell down towards Morningstar. Landing on him, he loudly hissed as the sound of acid sizzling filled the air, even from their distance. Lisa fist-pumped as it solidified and bound him.
She could see Lupe barraging him with electricity and beams of solid light from a distance. However, Morningstar was unable to move… for now. Lisa turned towards the other two, as she said,
”... I think we need to hit him with something big,” Lisa began. ”Like now!”
"What about person big?" Saskia said, looking at Ella, who’s eyes widened.
"Won’t you get stuck?" she asked.
"That's a risk I’m willing to take. Let’s go."
"Alright…" Ella took Saskia’s hands, and she was quickly surrounded by a radiant light, shimmering with all sorts of colours. At the same time two large bone spears pushed out of Saskia’s fists, blood trickling down their arm. They then put their arms up above their head.
"Throw me."
"Alright- Super Prism Spear Gun, let’s go!" Ella nodded, picking up Saskia by the waist and crouching. They got into a position like someone throwing a javelin… except the javelin was a person. With incredibly magical strength they launched Saskia into the air towards Morningstar, sending her shooting at supernatural speeds towards him, spears from her hands going directly for his face. It crashed into him with an explosive boom and sent Morningstar careening toward the ground… he slammed into the ground with a massive boom and lay there for a few moments.
”Oh, wait, um,” Lisa said, as she commanded the spider to take flight. ”We gotta go get them!”
The spider took off towards them… as Morningstar rose awake and tried to grab Saskia with one of his arms… who blocked it with their blood tendril, face visibly paling the more blood they pumped into it. More hands came to crush Saskia, but a blast of fire, light, and electricity appeared next to Saskia as Lupe appeared with a broad smile on her face. She wrapped her arms around Saskia in a bear hug, and then both disappeared. Another explosion of Lupe’s neon colors appeared on top of the spider as she sat on the edge.
“Thank me later, mami!” Lupe shouted as she hopped off and teleported again. Morningstar floated back into the air and raised all four of his hands. Dozens of portals appeared around the group and their friends, unleashing fireballs at them. Lisa, naturally, commanded the spider to dodge.
"There's too many fireballs! Why's it always fire!" Ella yelled as she blasted massive sprays of snow at all angles that she could, protecting her, Lisa and the spider while trying to catch as many as possible.
”... I mean, he is the devil!” Lisa shouted.
Saskia grimaced as she started running back towards the other two, using their tendril to propel themselves around the fireballs… but it didn't work so well when it got caught, blood melting and her face paling further.
”Saskia!” Lisa shouted, before she turned to Ella, ”... I have an ide-”
A fireball incinerated the spider's wing, sending it careening off course and into the ground, skidding into a car. It ultimately launched Lisa off the spider, and she was sent rolling over it.
”... There goes that idea!” Lisa groaned, as she crawled underneath the pick up truck for cover.
“... Oh lawd!” Jordan shouted as she launched several cars from a distance at Morningstar. “Ya’ll wanted to fight him so badly?! What happened to all that spunk ya’ll had a little while ago?!”
Kimberly took Jordan’s side, placed down the Cube, and watched the barrier deploy. She took some potshots at Morningstar with Jacob’s Revolver. The portals around the three disappeared as they appeared around Kimberly and Jordan, as they took his full attention. Lupe appeared next to the car, where Lisa crashed the spider into an explosion of different elements.
“Ay, mamis! Are ya’ll okay?!” Lupe asked.
"I'm fine!" Ella shouted, transforming from the ball of light she'd fallen as, crashing into a car and making a massive dent in it.
"Lost too much blood," Saskia dragged herself over to Lupe, holding out an arm. "Can you heal me?"
“Of course, mami!” Lupe put her hands on Saskia and wrapped them in various pink and purple colors. Their wounds were healed.
Then, they looked back at both Ella and Lisa, frowning. "I think I gotta use the stone."
”... Are you crazy?! We need you to draw the symbol thing!” Lisa added, before triumphantly raising a finger in the air, continuing, ”What we need is a plan!”
“... It’s a little late for that, mami,” Lupe flatly noted.
"... Oh, you're right," Saskia intoned, frowning. They carefully pulled out the stone, holding it by the chain. "Maybe I can use it and then carve it out of me before I got mad?"
"Well, decide quickly!" Ella shouted, looking agitated. She'd already taken a few steps towards where Jordan and Kimberley were being barraged.
”... How about we take turns?!” Lisa suggested. ”You use it a bit, then pass it off to me?”
"Let's do that," Saskia nodded. "You can't tell when it's getting to you- I just really… need to be able to fly."
They grabbed the orange stone with their other hand, grimacing as it fused into their palm. They then bent over as massive wings made out of muscle and bone pushed through their back, expanding metres out to the side. They were like bat wings with bones spreading out, muscle connecting them - and at the end of each was a long, dangerous looking bone spike. From in between the wings, their blood pooled together to form four blood tendrils, while they were also coated in a thick armour.
”Shoot me with ice if I look like I'm losing it," Saskia said to Ella. They spread their wings and with a mighty flap, flew up and towards Morningstar.
"L- Lisa, make some spiders, in case she doesn't get it out in time?" Ella suggested.
Saskia hurtled towards Morningstar, multiple tendrils shooting out to pierce him in various places. He hissed in pain before turning his attention from Kimberly and Jordan to Saskia. Portals opened around the tendrils, and fireballs shot into them to break them. Then, fireballs shot at Saskia.
”... We should help them,” Lisa said as she summoned some spiders; she applied the Hybridization and Enlarge spells to them so they were wrapped in a glowing cocoon. ”... Crack Spiders to distract him?”
"Yes, get out the crack spiders!" Ella clapped her hands together. ”Do you… do you want it on the big ones?!"
”No, I want it on the tinies- OF COURSE, I WANT IT ON THE BIG ONES!” Lisa was astonished at Ella’s smooth brain, but she had an idea.
Saskia's wings wrapped in front of them to tank the fireballs, muscles instantly, painfully repairing. They flew forward, kicking Morningstar and sharp bones spears shooting from their feet on impact, one wing spinning around to try stab him with the sharp ends too. Morningstar stuck one of his hands out to block the hit, only to go through his hand entirely. However, he used two of his hands to clap Saskia. Saskia took the hit, hands slamming into her blood armour and threatening to shatter it. They shot bone spears out of their body - from as many spots as they could, all into his hands.
”Well… how long will it take?!" Ella pointed to the cocoons, getting ansty.
”... As much time as it needs!” Lisa facepalmed. However, her spiders finally burst out of their glowing cocoons. Giant huntsmen spiders with raptorial limbs like praying mantises immediately charged towards Morningstar… Lisa turned to Ella and shouted, ”Now!”
”Let the light protect our friennnddd!" Ella shouted as she imbued the large spiders with pulsating rainbow lights, like massive, flying party lights - blinding and strong. They darted through the battlefield, leaving behind a trail of different lights, up until they made it to Morningstar. They jumped on Morningstar and began hitting him with a barrage of attacks with their claws and mandibles as his hands went from Saskia to getting them off of him… and Jordan began launching a volley of cars that hit him in the head, with Lupe shooting him with electricity from another angle. Saskia went back in on the full offensive - long blades of blood forming on their arms that swiped towards his neck (or at least underneath his head), sharp wing aiming to gouge out as much flesh as possible. Ella raised the ice scepter again to blast him with a focused beam of ice.
The beam hit him in the face, as the spiders were still beating on him with their claws… He was getting ripped to shreds by all of their combined efforts. A massive portal opened underneath Morningstar as he floated downwards.
”Is he trying to escape?!" Ella yelled, waving an arm towards Saskia. ”Saskia- SASKIA, STOP HIM!"
”Fuck- BE READY TO SWAP!" Saskia shouted back. They pulled in their massive wings to dive down underneath Morningstar, blood tendrils reforming to try and physically push him upwards while penetrating (
myes:) his feet.An 18-wheeler was chucked at him, hitting him in the head and knocking him off course and onto the ground. Jordan collapsed moments afterwards.
Saskia pulled back their blood tendrils, before viciously stabbing them into his chest, as if trying to worm their way inside.
”They’re- oh no, it’s happening!" Ella shouted, shooting a beam of ice at Morningstar, managing to catch Saskia’s foot in it.
They paused their stabbing, realisation dawning across their expression. They shattered the ice with a tendril and flew away from Morningstar, towards Lisa and Ella. A bone spear came from their elbow and was snapped off, used to try to gouge out the orange stone. It wasn’t budging. Without time to think or try, Saskia grew a blood sword from the back of their other hand.
Then they cut off their hand.
”Catch!" They threw their hand, orange stone and all, at Lisa. The wound clotted, their face pale as they landed on the ground nearby, large wings still out and wrapping stabilising them against a car.
Lisa did not so much as flinch as she caught Saskia’s hand. She tried to pull it off but she just held it… The Orange Stone pressed against her palm, she summoned tetrablemmid spiders and applied Hybridization and Enlarge to them all. With the help of the Orange Stone, she could create far more enlarged spiders and faster. They burst out of their coccoons in seconds, with the horns and wings of a Hercules Beetle. Lisa turned over her shoulder back to Ella,
”... Crack Spiders! One more time!”
Ella was screaming, head snapping between the severed hand and where it had been. But even through the screaming, she held out her hands towards the spiders, imbuing every single one with prismatic, strength enhancing lights.
”It’s not that bad," Saskia groaned, holding her still attached hand up to her ear.
All the spiders launched at Morningstar, horn first, penetrating his body at lightning speeds. After they dug in, they exploded in a powerful explosion of acid, light, and chitin. Decimating his body as he desperately tried to create another portal, only for them to collapse before he could get through. Lisa grinned as she kept hitting him with more and more spiders…
… it was amazing, but she didn’t want to stop at Morning-
Lisa stuck her arms out, spiders crawled up her arm before they exploded in acid. Her arm hit the ground as acid splashed against her face and dissolved the skin on her cheek and her eyeball. Then she hit the ground, panting. Morningstar was shredded to pieces.
"Ella, grab the stone- but don't touch it!" Saskia said, making their way over to Lisa.
Ella couldn't stop screaming as she ran over, letting the acid eat away at the skin of her feet to bend over and pick up the orange stone with her skirt. She managed to awkwardly get it in a pocket before it touched her.
"Do you think I draw the the symbol… in blood," Saskia gritted out, using their good hand to pull out a sheet of paper. They then looked at Lisa, then themselves. "How are we going to hold hands and sing the song? We only have four hands between us."
”… We gotta use feet!” Lisa shouted from the ground, before raising a foot in the air. ”Start singing!”
"Fighting evil by moonlight!" Ella started, deciding to go for English, running over to Lisa and… holding up her foot to press it against hers like some weird foot hand holding. Except Ella had lost all the skin on her feet. "Winning love by daylight!"
Meanwhile, Saskia started to frantically draw Morningstar getting tortured with a finger and their own blood.
"Never running from a-"
The song was interrupted by the dramatic click and flash of a camera. The flash overtook the entire area, and when it faded, Morningstar was gone. Kimberly was holding the Artistic Integrity, a photo came out. She walked over to them, photo in one hand and her magic camera in the other. Kimberly gave them a warm smile.
She held out the photo.
It contained Morningstar.
“… Here you go.”
Saskia looked up from their nearly finished drawing, depicting Morningstar in his true form with millions of bone spears in him, and just stared at Kimberley. And stared.
Even Ella was at a loss for words. She let go of Lisa's foot and shuffled over, grunting the whole way, to take the photo. "... Thanks."
"Trade," Saskia said, approaching Kimberley too and shoving her drawing towards her.
Kimberly awkwardly laughed.
“… you can keep both,” Kimberly shoved the drawing into Saskia’s hands. She reached into her utility belt and pulled out The Vial. She grabbed Saskia’s arm, and poured the glowing green liquid onto the stub. Quickly it began to heal. “I gave you a hand, though!”
”WHAT ABOUT ME!?” Lisa shouted.
"Hah hah," Saskia intoned.
"I've got you, Lisa!" Ella shouted, casting a beam of healing light on her… though the healing process was sluggish after Ella had used so much energy. The beam healed her eye and arm somewhat, but she could climb back to her feet.
”So like do we have to find Houndy or-”
Before the conversation could proceed further, the three were overtaken by darkness… nothing but that familiar dark void they were introduced to when they were resurrected. And before them was the Hound.
“… Hmph,” The Hound began. “I’m starting to see why you were chosen.”
"Of course we were chosen!" Ella grinned, slamming her hands on her hips.
Saskia rolled their eyes. They reached out and snatched the photo with Morningstar sealed in it, subtly slipping their drawing under it before holding it out to the Hound. "Here. Could you not have given us at least a moment to celebrate?"
”… Or maybe a minute to put my arm back on?” Lisa waved her stub in the air.
The Hound didn’t respond as the photograph floated in the air, surrounded by a wispy black darkness. It floated towards him before the darkness engulfed it and it was gone.
“… You three will have plenty of time to celebrate unless you’re ready to go into your next task,” The Hound said, his mouth not moving.
Though, Lisa remembered something about getting an artifact, but what artifact? And from where? Lisa gently rubbed her arm (or what remained of it),
”What is our next task?” Lisa nervously asked.
Darkness formed in the space between them until it appeared like a sword.
“This is the All-Blade,” The Hound explained, “You three need to get it for me and then you’re free.”
Lisa remained silent, trying to hide her excitement, which faded as she wondered about the catch.
Also.
”… Where is it?”
The Hound was silent for a moment.
“… The Pit.”
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