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Einherjar 906
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Lunamaria Hawke
Villamvihar
Sep
Divorarel
hanzo
TheWendil
Kero
Ivar
”It’s getting deep in here.”
— Nuncio
@DarkwolfX37@Shifter_Master@twave@Flamelord
The mafioso cautiously watched the fight play out. There wasn’t much he could do with Penny fighting out there by the liquid waste. Asking his tiger to fight in that would likely not be well received by his companions. Besides, he had just brushed her up. Can’t ruin her coat now.
“Pugnabimus ad infinitum, pro bono.”
— Oros
It had been a long time since Oros had fought Penny. At one time it seemed like they fought every other weekend. She had probably been killed by Penny more than any other magical girl, and for good reason: she was powerful. Penny was fast, strong, and durable. Penny wasn’t a spell singer, but she had every utility power you could ever want. Many times, Oros had heard people call Penny one of the most powerful magical girls. But to Oros, she was just a worthy opponent, a challenge. However, Oros was presently on a winning streak and didn’t plan on letting it end yet.
Penny just wasn't as difficult to beat once you understood her. Regardless of what iteration she had, she was always an aggressive, close proximity fighter. She’d just throw herself at you and assume she would come out on top because of how strong she was. And there was no denying it; her strength was fearsome. But it was also that arrogant pride that made her so weak. Had this been Oros’s first fight against Penny, The shape shifter would likely be dead already. But over the countless years she had devised a method for dealing with all of Penrose’s magical girls. Penny might be one of the strongest girls, but she was also the most predictable. Not that it was really fair to blame Penny for that. If she had died to Oros time and time again, she’d probably smarten up too. But while Oros had fought Penny numerous times, this was Penny’s first time fighting Oros.
In the end, winning fights isn’t about the number of abilities you have or how strong you are, it’s entirely the situation. And right now Oros held all the cards.
Attacking the tentacles that gripped the sword was a sound strategy, but this was a feint. Oros could use the power of gravity to take hold of the sword again and continue fighting. In fact, without the tentacles holding onto the sword, it could be swung with impunity without having to worry about hitting its own arm or if it could even be held at a certain angle. The blade spun like a tomahawk, refusing to be poached by Penny’s destructive hands.
The tentacles that gripped Penny’s feet were merely there to cause her to tumble forward into Oros. There was no reason to maintain them once Penny had destroyed them.
Oros’s nail-like arm would break with Penny’s swing, but that was just denying the inevitable. Pain was nothing the the numb time traveler. She did not even flinch as her forearm was shattered on the spot. The spike now had a jagged edge that was still growing longer, and with Oros’s ability to alter her body shape, the forward flying Penny would not be able to avoid in time. Her torso stretched like a snake, determined to impale Penny on the spot.
And Oros wasn’t even out of tricks yet. Her black katana was unaccounted for. It was actually hiding in the pool she was laying in, ready to jet out at a moment’s notice. Altering gravity like this was usually taxing enough for Oros that she only did it occasionally, but her form seemed to be absorbing the magical waste into herself. She couldn’t burn the mana fast enough. She’d split Penny down the middle.
Could Penny fire back with anything? Probably. She was preparing another Gauss round or some variant of it, but it was all too easy to counter. Maybe she thought she could heal away the damage, but Oros's venom would counter act that. It was just a matter of time before she transformed into the “Engine of Destruction,” but anime transformations were old news. She considered her “Warpgasm” a perfect counter to it, and had several kills against other Pennies to back up her confidence.
If there was one move that Oros didn’t expect, it was Penny calling her by "that" name. As small as it was, as insignificant as saying anything to a creature who’s only interests are rampant lust and combat. It made her pause.
“The true name!”
The burning sword floated overhead, Any of Penny’s severed limbs would get pulled into Oros’s hammerspace by various tentacles, the dark sword would remain hidden in the depths, and Oros would pull back her jagged arm after minimal penetration (if any at all). All magic had been diverted to a second shift, and this one was going to take Penny, and only Penny, with Oros somewhere more secluded.
“Ahhhhh…”
Oros had used some of the extra mana she had to speed up her shift. She rolled backwards and sprung to her feet, still with the body of a crystal creature. Her hands had turned back, and were holding her new and old swords.
If Penny cared to open her eyes, she would see that she was in some ruined city. The sky was dark and clouded over, and large beasts flew over head. The stomping of creatures far larger than either of them could be heard in the distance. Everything was ruble and debris. Nothing lived here, not even the grass. If Penny could feel the cold, she’d feel a chill.
“I’d love to keep fighting Penny, and maybe I will. But perhaps we can talk first. It just didn’t feel right to drop several paragraphs of dialog inside a fight scene.” Oros sheathed her sword. She attempted to put away her new one, but the burning blade didn’t look like it would fit in her dress anywhere. Not without burning her up. With a sigh, she thrust it into the ground and leaned on it.
“You called me Mika. While that’s correct, it’s also not the entire truth.” She extended her arm. “So let me explain everything in a simple, concise paragraph so that you don’t have to read some shitty flashback to understand what’s going on.”
Unfortunately, Oros doesn’t write her posts. I do.
“Shit!”
“Pug-nah-brim…us? and in-fanny-um, pro-bone-o?”
— Mika Sarraf
@AtomicNut
“Hey Dina, wanna go to the movies later? I think there’s a magical girl movie I really wanna see.”
"I would be delighted to be accompanied by you, dorogaya."
“Yay!”
Mika had really fallen head over heels for Dina, and their feelings appeared to be mutual. Things weren’t always this way. At first Dina was far too high strung to bother with the rambunctious cat girl. But over time, Dina became more playful, and Mika became more mature. There were still times when they didn’t get along, but that was anybody.
“Thanks Dina! I really enjoyed that movie! If you ever want to do anything, just let me know!” Much to Mika’s surprise, the reserved woman gently took Mika’s chin in her hand and pointed it at her face.
"Even a lady has certain wants, and you can be certain of what I want now."
“I-I see!” Mika’s tail was spinning in circles. As Dina’s face came closer to hers, she found herself closing her eyes.
Nobody knew what happened, but the world was ablaze. Fires tall enough to scorch the heavens, and a pulsing eye loomed over all. The Mint and Beacon had finally pulled out all the stops, and everyone in between was collateral.
“Dina!” Mika held her lover’s shoulders. While Mika had survived Armageddon, it did not look like Dina would. She had used all of her mana, and Mika’s healing artifact was powerless to save the woman. “There has to be someone still alive. A-Alex couldn’t have been killed by that thing. A-And-”
Dina’s reassuring hand stroked the side of Mika’s face. "The past is gone, the future is uncertain... allow me to savor the present with you."
Mika closed her eyes, but she couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.
Mika used a red coin to help put an end to the fighting. She blended in with the remaining Beacon forces and slew as many as she could, but only after they mopped up the rest of Mint. The damage had already been done by that point. Her world had been lost, and it remained a hell for anyone unfortunate enough to be a magical girl. An infinite cycle of rebirth in a world without warmth or light. Being dead for twenty years was starting to look more like a reprieve from the constant agony of existence. But even that was being taken away from them. It seemed like with the world in its present state, even the patrons saw keeping their champions alive here was a lost cause, and their circle of resurrection was broken. Not that Dina's ability to reincarnate had been whole to begin with.
Mika was cursed to walk the earth alone, until her final days.
But a creature who had yet to taste life took interest in this world. A quiet voice offered Mika an escape from this hell, and who was she to refuse? She was given a dark sword that overloaded her mana reserves, instantly turning her into a monster girl.
Mika never cried again. She would go to other worlds and set things right.
What was happening?
She couldn’t change anything!
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get her happy ending with Dina! Dina seemed to outright hate her now. Why was that? Why wouldn’t Dina be happy that Mika was stronger now?
This had been her fifth failure. She couldn’t stop the world from ending either. Maybe she should just set aside her love for Dina and focus on having a future.
Twenty failures, and nothing. Not even a little bit of change.
By this point, failure was becoming expected. It was less traumatizing that way. No matter how many times Dina died, she’d be right there again.
Maybe Mika was going about this wrong. She can’t save the world precisely because she’s repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Loving Dina is a mistake. Yes! She’d just have to pursue other girls. And since she can always move over to a new world, nothing will really be lost.
Yes! She would fall in love with everyone! And then she would understand everything! She would know the secrets of everyone she ever met. She would feel their warmth, their hatred, it would all be hers. And then maybe she would be able to save everyone!
W-what happened to Justine?
Mika had just confessed her feelings to her and she ran screaming through the mansion. Then when they kissed, she, she…
And now Sonia’s drawing her knife.
Mika had never seen Sonia more upset in all her life.
Penny’s body was cold, but you really couldn’t beat a tight hug at the end of the day. Mika was getting ready to walk home when Penny’s lair burst into flames.
Mika looked around to see what had happened. It was Thalia, tears streaming down her face.
When Mika looked back at the lair, she could see Penny was laying in it, her head turned into a molten ball of scrap.
Thalia took her own life shortly afterwards.
Mika didn’t stop punching the floor. A few minutes ago Mariette’s head was there. And while what was left of her face slipped between the floor boards, Mika continued to punch away.
But regardless of how much she punched.
Even if she erased every trace of her.
It wasn’t going to bring Deni back.
Mika had been putting off Su for a while. She didn’t really find her mother very attractive, or at least the idea of pursuing her was. Now she wondered why she hadn’t gotten to her sooner. She was needy and passionate, but Mika didn’t mind having Chinese takeout every night.
All she had to do was make sure Helga’s life gem was crushed during the crew’s first fight with her. But hey, at least Amber survived her encounter with Janet this time. Something to keep in mind for the next reset.
Mika pinned Alexander up against a wall and began kissing him all over his face. Was Mika bisexual? Bi-curious? Mika didn’t really think about her own sexuality much. By this point she had simply come to understand herself well enough that she didn’t need a name for what she was. She was lonely, and she enjoyed affection. It was as important to her as breathing air or eating food.
A shame she had to kill Lily before they ever met to make this work. He just didn’t take interest in her otherwise. That was fine though, she’d make it up to Lily next time when she Killed Alexander instead.
Just for fun, Mika decided to try pursuing herself. Way too easy. She knew herself too well. It was also very unrewarding. While Su was needy for one person, Mika was willing to share herself with everyone.
That was a lot of people to kill to make this work.
Mika was strolling by sanctuary when Viva winked at her and said something sexy. Mika just gave her a sideways glance and kept walking.
Not everyone was worth pursuing.
Mika lost count of how many times she had seen the world end. A hundred? A thousand? Regardless, she knew there was nothing she could do to change things now. But it also didn’t matter because there would always be worlds that hadn’t been doomed. At this point, it was all just a game. As long as she was enjoying herself, that was all that mattered.
It was getting harder to find worlds where Penrose even existed. Which was a shame, because there were a few people she had yet to get. In the long run, it didn’t really matter.
But for some reason, it did to Mika.
“…And then my patron guided me here! Now you know why Mika and I have the same color code for our text despite us being different characters! Hell, half of my abilities are the same.” She folded her arms. “Anyway, that’s just a primer for what I’m going to ask you. So you see, I’m actually not really with the Mint or Beacon at all. They are both pieces of shit that will eventually doom this world with their power struggle. While I normally wouldn’t try to oppose them directly, I found a babe who’s patron is all about kicking Beacon and Mint ass. So naturally, I need to make an effort to be their friend. If they trust me, I can strike. I'm too weak otherwise.” She pounded her fist into her hand. ”I’ve tricked Beacon into turning my nose into a weapon to destroy the Mint, and now I’m going to ask Mint to basically do the reverse for me. After that, they will hopefully collapse. It might save the world, but it will certainly get me some sugar. And in the end, isn't that what we all want?” She traced a circle with her burning sword which left a lingering afterglow. ”But this only works if they trust me. Killing you will put me on their radar. I’ll be someone they can deal with. But what I’d like to offer you right now is a chance to work along with me. The grand magistrate are throwing off serious ‘this needs to end now’ vibes, so I don’t think we have time for a popper fight anyway.” She cut through the afterglows with her black katana.
”So Penny, wanna fake your death?”
