Villamvihar

Kurai Majokko

Shatterscape's throat squeezed ever tighter as she rampaged through the city. Caring not about pedestrians, cars, buildings or anything else that came between her and her partner, she turned them aside with her massive gauntlets, ripping through the obstacles as one might rip apart a piece of paper. Screams rung through the night, hushed whispers talking about an evil spirit with baleful, red eyes that wanted naught but to wreck havoc upon the living until daylight eventually banished with; idle talk that most other towns would dismiss. However, in this cursed town of Hibusa, they gained very real substance.

Then Shatterscape came within reach of her body, giving rise to a new urban legend where a young woman hurried through the night to find her lover, only to collapse as she could no longer take the strain. But the dark magical girl discarded that too. She gave no spare glance to the medics who tried to stabilise her body; in fact, the glare she gave them would have shredded their wills had they not been controlled by Kiyo. She all but ripped herself out of her restraints, the IV, the bandages in process of being put on her, opening up her wounds. They bled red pain that pounded through her whole being, serrated knives digging into her flesh. And yet, this body - it could be replaced in twelve days. But Evil Eye could never be.

Hotaru emerged from Shatterscape, embracing her partner.

"You are all right..." Moments before, her gauntlets endangered countless lives. Now, they held between them someone precious and dear, squeezing Kiyo while her body worked on fixing itself. Now that her magic was actually housed directly in it, wounds became lesser by the moment and the medics could cease their work to return tending to the townsfolk. Not that Hotaru cared. For now, she relished the feeling of a warm body in her arms, the presence of her trusted partner, mixed with the ashen feeling of failure on her lips. She had not protected Kiyo well enough.

"You are all right." The gauntlets squeezed tighter. They were probably a little painful for Evil Eye now, but Hotaru had to hug her - she had to remind herself that she was still there. The light girls have not taken away Kiyo from her.

@Emeth

Kurai Majokko

Shatterscape saw Mercurial throw her hat from the corner of her eye, aiming at catching Kaeru in a three-pronged attack that not even the frog girl could escape. Indeed, Shatterscape could handle the large frog by herself while the other two barraged her opponent at a distance, slowly wearing away at her before boxing her in - or at least such was the plan until Willow appeared out of nowhere near her opponent. Both a distraction and an unwelcome change of events, Shatterscape had only a split second to alter her angle of approach, which then resulted in disaster.

For not only did the shield deflect the majority of her blow, Kaeru proved quite resourceful in making use of unexpected opportunities. The light girl took the opportunity to perform a series of acrobatics that would not be out of place in a circus, right before the large frog took the opportunity to deal a shielded blow to Shatterscape. The blunt force all but reverberated through her, causing her to slide back, her heels digging into the pavement below. Unpleasant crackling filled the air, but more importantly, this allowed Kaeru exactly enough space to loosen the sure vice she had intended to close around the light girl.

"What are you doing, Willow?" Shatterscape spoke in an even, but heavy tone as she lunged forward. Her left hand remained by her body while her right reached towards the frog in an obvious attack. And then the damn thing croaked lough enough to crack windows... along with Shatterscape's eardrums. Unfortunately for it, if there was one thing that Shatterscape had learned, if there was one thing that all but carved itself into her body, nay her very existence, then it was pushing through pain.

It hurt. It hurt like hell. Her head felt as though there were thousands upon thousands of soldiers marching inside, all pounding on the inside of her ears. It was as though her brain had been set on fire, then molten right before being poured out from her ear canals. Through these metaphorical, infernal flames, a strangely clear thought observed she could not hear anymore, but it did not matter as her gauntlets tore into the frog. It did not prevent their escape, especially as the world seemed to shrink before Shatterscape for a moment due to the agony she endured, yet it was enough for her.

In fact, it was maybe a little too much. As she staggered, she barely noticed Mogall, screeching and waving at her like it was going insane and it took her several seconds to come to terms with what it meant: Evil Eye was in danger.

She reached out for her network of bodies and found it wanting.

The body she left behind on Evil Eye's motorcycle was no longer close enough for her to chain to, nor was there a convenient one to jump to nearby. As such, still reeling from the blow dealt by Kaeru, she stumbled around for a moment before shooting a downright unpleasant look at Willow, followed by abandoning this body as though it were a puppet. It needed healing and fixing anyways.

So would Evil Eye, if she did not hurry. As such, even though her mind could barely think, she pushed herself to the limit, leaving behind city block after city block in what seemed like a blur to her, but was likely painfully slow when compared to the danger her partner was in. In her state, she could barely follow the guidance of Mogalls in the air, but she pushed on regardless hoping that by the time she got there, most of the pain would be gone. And Evil Eye would still be in one piece.

Kurai Majokko

@ERode So if I understand this correctly, Nonsuch is holding Evil Eye afloat three hundred metres in the air? Because if so, that is going to be one hell of a situation.

@FroggRFlowR I am waiting on your post to see how badly Shatterscape screwed up and if she can disengage at all.

Kurai Majokko

Shatterscape is going to be... shattered after that. She screwed up her priorities something bad.

Kurai Majokko

Well then, operation box in and boil the frog is on!

Kurai Majokko

What use were words in the face of light magical girls? Apparently none as Kaeru went on about the city being her home along with the city decaying under the rule of Shatterscape's comrades. Or rather, her friends. Those who welcomed her with open arms when there were none, those who hugged her without intending to hurt her in the first time of her life, those, who despite being "twisted" were more human than the servants of light ever could be. And yet, she had still tried to talk with them, to have them open their eyes to the truth. Even if it always ended up in misunderstanding. Even if it always ended up with one of her sisters interfering.

The beam of darkness bit into where Kaeru used to be, digging a malicious chasm into the rooftop. It all but radiated the darkness of Miseria and with it, the cease-fire shattered into a thousand pieces.

Kaeru went for Himea. Nonsuch went for Acid Drop. Shatterscape hesitated for a moment before she braced her legs, then jumped with a crack of metal against concrete. Trusting in the ability of her friends to protect themselves and wishing to be rid of these intruders so they may leave them alone as they very well should, she fell towards the frog girl as there were simply more of them there. Boxing her in would be the order of the day.

Landing a second or two after Kaeru, Shatterscape swept her massive gauntlets from the side, intent on coralling the light girl away from Himea so the latter would have more space for her chess plays. Then Shatterscape's metallic hands would clash against whatever defence Kaeru put up, the savage force of heavy steel smashing into her opponent with almost unstoppable momentum.

@LuckyBlackCat@KoL@FroggRFlowR

Kurai Majokko

Apologies for the delay in postage; I will try to pull a Shatterscape today.

Kurai Majokko

@CamiCat <snip>

@BrokenPromise

I both fear and anticipate the post that is going to come from this question.

Kurai Majokko

I will go for a post tomorrow. @Emeth I am assuming that our characters have some sort of agreed-upon signal if Evil Eye needs the help of Shatterscape - it makes sense for Shatterscape to go after Kaeru instead and box her in under a pile of dark magical girls.

No, she does not mind paying for the dinner. Efficiency is more important.

Kurai Majokko

Alas, poor Homura. She only wanted to make friends.

If only said prospective friends weren't nuts...