"God...what the hell...was that?", Lass leaned onto Anya.

"I dunno big guy...gah...", Anya leaned onto Lass.

"I feel so light...", Yuno plopped on Terna's head.

"Just don't go towards the light, Yuno...", Terna laid back.

Everyone exhaled deeply at the back of the car's seat, while Tiki and Ikarisa stayed at the front, Ikarisa taking the wheel...

"What is up with everyone anyway? Did they not sleep well?"

"You tell me, shorty.", Tiki folded her arms, putting her legs up.

"I should've cooked...god...damn...", Lass lamented.

"What do you mean, meat bag?! Not my fault you're all weak!"

"I saw you putting the entire bottle of salt inside that thing...bottle included.", Yuno complained.

"It's called 'foreign cuisine', mind you.", Tiki angrily said.

"To be fair...it was quite ok. I enjoyed it!", Ikarisa happily said.

"How even the hell is she still standing?", Anya whispered.

"Betting on healing powers and pure luck...", Dante whispered.

"Risa...can you not use your healing yet?", Yuno said.

"Uh...I'll need some time to recover after it all. I probably won't be able to heal all of you.", Ikarisa replied.

Yuno plucked himself further into Terna's hair, both his hands pushing against his stomach.

"Risa...please, can we go to a pharmacy...", Terna said.

"Uh...I dunno. Is there one around here?"

"What, you can't use Obsulyte, so resort to chemicals?", Tiki mocked her.

"Not all medicine are 'chemicals'. Just...stop at a gas station or something."

Ikarisa slightly raised her body upwards, "Oh, there's one right there! It's quite...big?"

"An intermission point. Probably Viva stands between your 'Reingard' and 'Gardard'.", Tiki said, "God knows Corosta never got one of those between its roads to other kingdoms...bunch o' [REDACTED].", she scoffed.

"Just...stop there. Please.", Dante grabbed his head.

"Alrighty...I'll get you all there fast!", Ikarisa stepped on the pedal.

In mere minutes, Ikarisa managed to drive the car to the intermission point without any delays, her friends heavily suffering in the process, struggling with their arrival...

Yuno gaged, "I think I'm gonna vomit...god..."

"We're here!", Ikarisa happily said.

"Nice driving actually...fast and efficient.", Tiki said, "Wait a minute, what are we gonna do? Shoplift?", she turned around, "You have money with you, right?"

Anya leaned backwards, trying to take hold of her 'breakfast'. She pulled a card out of her pocket and slammed it right into Tiki's face.

"Unlimited, so is the cash behind it. Get it over with..."

Tiki harshly grabbed the card out of Anya's hand, "Alright. Let's go then."

Both Tiki and Ikarisa made their way inside the complex and started looking around. Stores of every kind and an eerie silence combined with the lack of presence from other patrons made the sight almost anxious to look at. They then both noticed the receptionist lady at the front desk, waving at them.

"Hello, running a bit early today?", the receptionist said.

"Yeah...we were actually looking for a pharmacy if you guys got any around here?", Ikarisa said.

"Um, yeah, we do. But Miss Yuko who operates it hasn't arrived yet. It's an intermission point so, pharmacies aren't open on a twenty-four-seven basis. You could look around the morning shops and grab something from the bakery though, and wait for the pharmacy to open!", she waved her hand at the stores.

Tiki exhaled. "Screw it. We can't do much else anyway, since everyone else apparently is ready to go towards the light, apparently."

"Alright then...but let me text Anya first since you know...it's her credit card."

After a very brief text to Anya, Ikarisa had already received her answer.

"'Idc'", is what she wrote back. Um...", Ikarisa thought for a moment.

"Well then, she doesn't care, neither do I, let's get something a little extra for breakfast!", Tiki moved forward, "Would be a waste since she's buying too, right?"

Ikarisa nodded, "Sure, why not?"

The two of them sat down at the bakery and ordered their drink of choice, Ikarisa's obviously larger than Tiki's, as they looked around all the closed stores.

"According to the sign behind you, most of all stores open and 10:00a.m and it's 9:45 so...we've got a good few minutes. Pharmacy opens at 11:00a.m as well, so I guess after this it's browsing time, shorty!", Tiki dug in.

"I guess we could...browse some clothing shops, maybe?", Ikarisa suggested.

"Hmm...maybe? I gotta get rid of these rugs anyway. I've been wearing this for a couple of decades. Washing it has surely made its condition a bit more...scratchy, as well."

"Cecilia actually taught me how to properly wash clothing like this. Are you sure you used the proper washing equipment?"

"My hands worked.", Tiki shrugged.

"It's a good alternative...what about the soap? That's important too!", Ikarisa took a sip of her drink.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"The blood of my enemies and Shadowers worked just fine actually.", Tiki wagged her big tail, thinking of the battles fought.

"That does explain her morbid smell of death and blood whenever someone is around her...", Ikarisa thought, "Look, since Anya gave the thumbs up, how about we hit some clothing stores first, and then a perfume store?", she told Tiki.

"What? Is that supposed to mean something?

"No! No...just that...you know. After 20 years of the exact same, you'd be willing to embrace change?", Ikarisa anxiously smiled.

A long pause came over Tiki, as she gulped down the pastries.

"Yeah, sure. This rug has been getting so loose I'm getting worried for my tail showing up during battle...but to be fair, whoever makes a comment, receives death after.", Tiki shrugged.

"Why are you so...fixated, on your tail?", Ikarisa asked.

Tiki blushed. "[REDACTED]. But...the question was inevitable. Non-comedic manner. I can answer without killing her...perhaps?", she whispered. "Fine...thing is, my tail is way larger than any other demon of my class. Like...way larger. And well...there's a lot of things that say for a succubus..."

"Should I...ask about that too?"

"Let's just say that I'm capable of doing way more than the average demon...call it more...", Tiki blushed, "Endurance or...vitality."

"Isn't that good then?", Ikarisa wondered.

Tiki became whole red. "She's as oblivious as they can [REDACTED] get. Good god.", she whispered. "Yes...in a way. Anyway, shall we hit the stores?", she told Ikarisa.

"Hmm? Oh-It's their opening time! Yeah let's go!", she got up and lead the way.

The two of them ran across several stores, some closed and others freshly opened.

Tiki looked around, "Huh...too preppy. I wear one of those and my ass won't be able to move an inch!"

"We will definitely be able to find something...let's keep looking."

They both happen to pass outside a very particular shop. The essence and elegance of a dozen white dresses filled the display screen, as their fluffy frills captured the eyes of passerby patrons.

Tiki chuckled, "Any funny thoughts, shorty?"

Ikarisa smiled, "Yeah...although...despite being able to see myself in one, I cannot imagine being in the situation it's meant for. That is... whether I'll get the chance to do it, or make it there in the first place.", she snapped out of it, "I-I uh, never-mind! Let's keep going to find something you fancy!"

They kept moving until they finally reached the end of the hallway. Looking to the left, however, they finally found a freshly opened store that Tiki quickly got her eyes fixated on.

"'Swift n' Simple'? Sounds...", Ikarisa looked at the store.

"Absolute perfection. Let's check it!"

They both went inside the store. Nothing too out of the ordinary, it was filled with all sorts of clothing, casual and even armor, catering to all outings needs, official business and even battle. Tiki quickly grabbed a couple of clothes and immediately headed into the changing rooms...

"Alright, let's go.", Tiki presented herself to Ikarisa.

"Um...didn't you jump the trigger a bit too fast? I mean, there are just so many things here and you just grabbed a few and-", Ikarisa was stopped by Tiki.

"Nah! Shorty, when you think you like something, try it. That's the way. It's a clothing store after all, it's meant for people to try things on before buying things. Now stop second-guessing and tell me, how's this?!", Tiki posed.

"A bit too...random? The colors are all over the place."

"Got it, number two then."

Tiki swiftly changed again.

"How's this?", Tiki took another pose.

"Too...revealing?", Ikarisa blushed.

"Back at the drawing board then!"

Tiki took on several different outfits for a long amount of time, each arguably worse than the last, with Ikarisa progressively lifting her facepalm from the end of her mouth to the top of her forehead...

Tiki threw the clothes on the ground, "Aah! [REDACTED] This! Can't do shit for fashion and this shit is pissing me off!"

"Maybe...I'm the one mistaking it? I'm not that big of a fashion person myself but...based on instinct and aesthetics...well...", Ikarisa rubbed the back of her head.

The shopkeeper steadily approached them both from behind, chuckling in the process.

"Nah, that ain't it girly. You're right to call it out, most of every outfit she chose sucks complete ass.", the shopkeeper folded her arms.

"Excuse me? Who the hell do you think I am?!", Tiki looked at her menacingly.

"Wild guess? Tiki Dremona, the high-ranking officer of Corosta's army. That much clear?"

"What the hell?! But how-"

"Uh, let me see, your suit, your horrible stench of blood, the fact I sold what you wear and a tail bigger than your head which is known far and wide in Riza since of your conquests...there's really no shortage of info to go by, really."

"You know your stuff...", Tiki cut between the shopkeeper and Ikarisa, "Now who the [REDACTED] are you?"

"Niki Nikona! Better watch out for killer prizes because everything is gonna keep you alive when I'm around, call Niki when you're in doubt! Niki-Niki-Nii!"

"You say that again, I'm gonna break your niki-niki knees and force-feed them to you.", Tiki said with a straight face.

"Look, I ain't here to break a fight. I'm not only the shopkeeper here but the general manager of the Intermission point here. God knows how many people ask for the manager in these things. As such, I check the profits every single day before opening and it so happened that I saw my boss's credit card is swiped for a bunch of breakfast drinks and food."

"Wait, Anya is your boss?", Ikarisa asked.

"No, but her father is. Now, I could do one of two things. One, I bust you both in prison for fraudulent activity with a credit card obviously not registered in your name and instead Gado, also known as the richest man in existence."

"Like that's ever gonna work!", Tiki said.

"Well, considering that you are indeed using that credit card, with your status over the globe and the little goddess over here is unregistered in general in every kingdom, clan, city and country in the world she created, it'll be pretty easy. Oh, and before you say a thing, when mainstream media posts drone-captured footage of a seemingly harmless brunette girl beating the shit out of a massive monster hoard outside the capital, which even the well-trained army couldn't do, with the caption 'GODDESS APPEARS AGAIN' on Skyline, yes, I know. In fact, the whole world does!"

"Oh you smartass-sounding bitch are making me so incredibly pissed I swear to god-", Tiki menacingly approached Niki.

"Wait!", Niki stepped back with a smug, "But, because I dig the daughter way more than the father, I am more than willing to instead, wipe the transaction and hide it, as well as get you to the hidden compartment of the store where I keep unreleased stock for trial. Believe me, knowing fashion, I think what I've got will be more up to speed with what you're on.", Niki smugged.

"I'm starting to see where the likability comes from...", Tiki said, "Fine...not much of a choice anyway.", Tiki smiled menacingly back, "Unless we count hurrying you with the details."

"Transaction details will still be updated. And plus-", Niki got stopped by Ikarisa.

"Ok, enough with this meaningless back and forth between you two! We will take it...let's just get to it!"

Tiki walked forward, "Whatever!"

She angrily walked through the entire store, stomping all the way through.

"Jeez, why even do that?", Ikarisa looked at Niki.

"Texted from Anya. Said that some little shorty with brunette hair and a demon with the smell of a thousand torments would be coming, treat them with care. Also said to make sure all transactions are gone."

"So what does that have to do with anything you just did?", Ikarisa folded her arms.

"Nothing, just wanting to get it on with a comrade!"

"Wait, you're from Corosta too?!", Ikarisa said.

"Was. And yeah, that's how it usually goes up in there. Never could get enough of some good ol demon fighting. Knew her very well too, not like you could miss the 'Goddess of Anger'.", Niki chuckled.

"'Goddess Of Anger'?"

"A nickname she went by. Obvious reasons why she was given that. As for her status...that's debatable too since most conquests weren't done by her specifically...otherwise, Corosta could still be standing, so...yeah."

"Can't believe we'd run across someone from Corosta so soon...I thought most were goners!"

"Well...yeah. They were...are. But those who could get out did. I just got a job here because it was close by. I just had this sliver of hope that whatever went down there could be fixed by her but...guess I was wrong. A little while after, all I see is buildings in the distance collapsing."

Ikarisa frowned in shame. "I-I...I'm sorry."

"No worries shorty! I dealt with it for...long time now. Not like I blame you...or Tiki. Whatever went on down there...nobody knew where, when, why it happened, but most importantly, how to fix it. Had a long time to think about it over the past couple o decades. Miserable, yes, but nevertheless, we can't avoid the facts."

Ikarisa sighed. "But...but...are you going to fight too?"

Niki laughed. "Me? Haha! Shorty, I was meant to have killer prices, not killer instincts. Different breed. Leave the fighting to the fighters and the selling to the sellers. But, since I know you're already packing your own stuff, let's keep it simple. You need gears, and I've got it. So how 'bout I get miss easy trigger up to speed? Besides, that old rug ain't gonna last...let's get a makeover done!"

Ikarisa smiled and stroke a pose, "Ok!"

Ikarisa cheered Tiki on, as she tried out the new armament provided to her by Anya. The sheer flow of power excreting from her the moment she was done getting used to it was just enough to move mountains. But they weren't done yet...