Ikki

I acted out of instinct more than anything.

I immediately pivoted and aimed my arm cannons where the Beast of Liminality was, firing a volley of shots that ripped through the air. The shells traveled in slow motion, their explosions flickering through the air in a violent red and orange cavalcade. The Beast raised its arm nonchalantly, opening portals in the projectile's path as if they were annoying flies.

With each blink of my eyes, I saw the projectiles redirected at me, even as the crystal spears closed in around me. I yanked on my controls, weaving at an impossible angle to avoid the redirected projectiles.

One of the spears came dangerously close to my cockpit window, and I felt a brief spike of panic. Rai-chan immediately activated my shields, causing it to scrape by without damaging the mech. But the attack had distracted me enough, and a blue portal appeared inches before me, a single crystal spear emerging and shooting out to pierce my mech.

Screaming with desperation, I jerked the mech into a barrel roll, feeling the heat of my own shot against the mech's armor. A spear whizzed by me, scratching a large gash across my chest and nicking a few wires.

Following up on its failed attack, the Beast of Liminality fired multiple portals off around me. I amplified the boosters, charging in with my beam saber drawn.

Adrenaline flooded my system as the battle reached a fever pitch. I felt the electric hum of my beam saber crackle with energy as the terrain flashed by in a blur. My skull felt like it was going to split open as time and reality slowed around me.

"Modulating time perception. Warning: Operator's vitals are critical, must exercise caution." Rai-chan's robotic voice sounded in my head. "Amplifying neural link to improve coordination."

"What?" Rai-chan's more humanlike voice came through my head. "Hey, when did you two —"

A thunderous roar interrupted Rai-chan's words as I finally approached the Beast of Liminality. It twitched its shadowy mouth, raising its hands in an alien but elegant motion as a bolt of shadow and lightning snaked through the air. I swerved around it, barely avoiding it, as I closed the gap instantly.

My mech blurred forward, and I sliced my beam sword through the air, clumsily slicing at the Beast of Liminality's arms. Another portal opened as the sword traveled through the air in slow motion, inches from possibly bisecting my mech. I forcefully halted the motion, swinging the sword back and away from the portal.

I immediately pulled on the mech's thrusters, launching myself back just as a crystal spear shot out of the portal, narrowly missing me.

As I zoomed back, I caught a glimpse of a bright golden glow above punctuated with red, and I heard a piercing scream that echoed through the air.

"Unit memory archives analyzed. Conclusion: Magical Girl Celestial Sonata is in mortal danger. Suggestion: Activate the speaker system and divert energy for verbal communication," a more emotive but still robotic 'Rai-chan' chimed in.

"How... you shouldn't even be able to link with us here!" Rai-chan's annoyed voice answered.

"Ignoring previous suggestion." the first 'Rai-chan' voice deadpanned.

"Will you two stop playing around?! Like, be helpful?!" Rai-chan's exasperated human-like voice rang in my head.

"Affirmative. Activating speaker systems: Commencing broadcast of Rai-chan's elucidation."

Before I could question what Rai-chan was up to, the speaker system in the mech crackled to life, blasting a shout.

"Sonata!" Rai-chan screamed, projecting her voice loudly through the speakers. "Use your Signature! Full sweep! You're being attacked from below!"

Sonata?! I barely registered the Magical Girl's name as the Beast of Liminality extended its arms. I moved in to close the distance again, trying desperately to interrupt it however I could.

The Beast of Liminality swung its arms together like a conductor, and thousands of spears shot out like a field full of flak cannons. Dread filled my chest as I watched them crisscross and converge on the falling Magical Girl. There was nothing I could do — they would collapse in on her and skewer her in the blink of an eye. Despair filled my heart as the spears shot through the air, snuffing her life out in a heartbeat.

Or so I thought.

A loud, resounding snap echoed through the air, reverberating through the ground and up to us. Before our very eyes, Sonata's mana exploded like a sunburst, releasing a powerful aura of light that swirled around her. I numbly realized she was still falling rapidly, but a wave of relief washed over me.

She was still alive.

With a resounding blast, the wave of golden light swept through the thousands of spears mid-flight. They dissolved into dust, flickering into the sky as a sea of golden particles. The wave continued until it reached the ground below, sending a shockwave that shattered the field and wiped out the remaining portals.

Then, the golden Magical Girl went slack, plummeting towards the ground in another flash of gold, slamming into a grove of trees beside a nearby forest with a resounding thud.

The red Magical Girl hovered in the air, arms crossed on top of the draconic Beast of Desolation. She tilted her head toward me, then at Coyote over by Falcon's wreckage. I could feel a sense of haughty condescension even from this distance. It was like she found it an affront to acknowledge me.

The draconic beast turned in the air, and its rider shot one last look at the grove of trees before zipping off. It was fast — unbelievably so, and I watched in vain as it turned into a flash of red light, disappearing from sight.

"What the hell is up with that?" I muttered, before quickly returning to attend to the situation.

The Beast of Liminality was still here, seemingly dazed from some sort of feedback. It seems whatever the fallen Magical Girl had done to dispel the portals had stunned it. I seized my opportunity, boosting my mech toward the distant trees.

"Be careful," Rai-chan stated, her voice laced with a hint of concern. "I know you want to help her, but those perception edits are more taxing than you'd think. You're running on twenty four points remaining. If you pass out before we can get this data home, it'll all be for nothing."

"I can do this..." I whispered.

I brought my mech up to its top speed, zipping toward the fallen Magical Girl's position as fast as possible. Rai-chan pulled up a view of the fox monster on my screen, its features in blurry red as I jetted away from it.

This was my chance. The magical girl's mysterious cancellation of the Beast's ability had been a surprise, but I needed to take full advantage of it. The Beast of Liminality reoriented itself after a few tense seconds, glaring at me with a ferocity that sent shivers down my spine.

But it was too late.

I dove down into the grove of trees, scrambling to the Magical Girl.

Her dress was tattered and torn, and she lay facedown in a heap of intricate, flowing blue, white, and pink fabric and pink hair. She was motionless, cloaked in the red lightning I'd seen from afar.

Rai-chan spoke up. "Heads up! We've got company."

I braced myself as the Beast appeared, floating through a portal in the air. It stared at us with a sinister glow, radiating an ethereal purple energy. It extended one hand, summoning a crystal spear in its hand.

Its posture was arrogant, almost dismissive. As if it was just a game.

"Rai-chan. One... more!" I shouted through the pain.

Her voice was laced with worry. "Sparky! Bad idea!"

"I can do this..." I whispered.

I brought my mech up to its top speed and surged toward the Magical Girl lying on the ground. The Beast of Liminality leered down at her, its shadowy maw laced with malice and contempt as it prepared to strike.

I ignored the growing fatigue in my body and the haze starting to creep up on the edges of my vision. The buzzing sensation had returned, and I could feel a searing pain in my skull as I raced ahead.

"One... more," I wheezed.

The mech rocketed forward, and I gripped the controls with trembling hands as the Beast of Liminality moved in slow motion.

As the crystal spear flew through the air in a time that seemed to slow to a crawl, I moved in with reckless abandon. I let out a primal scream as the spear sliced through the air, stabbing through the cockpit.

As I slammed into the Beast, a burst of electrical energy flared between us, lighting up the grove and causing the Beast to recoil in pain.

"Got....cha!" I breathed, driving the mech's body into the spear and forcing it back.

The Beast writhed and struggled, lashing out and unleashing a wave of purple energy and shadow. I cried out in alarm, but I refused to let go. I kept squeezing the Beast tight in my mech's mechanical arms, grunting as I trapped its arms against its side with dear life.

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This wasn't good. I was outmatched, and I knew it. Even with my time perception allowed to god knows what degree, I knew I didn't have much time to make something happen.

"Rai-chan, can I tap the Chaos Core in the mech for anything else?" I quickly reached out.

"Uh," Rai-chan paused momentarily, her avatar flashing slowly on my screen. "In... In theory, you could, but... to do anything meaningful with it would take the mech out of commission."

"I think the mech's seconds from being done anyway, and we need to do something about those portals though," I replied firmly, looking up at multiple glowing blue portals still opening around us in slow motion. Spears were already emerging from some of them, and I knew if I wasn't quick enough, we'd definitely have a mess on our hands.

Rai-chan growled in frustration. "I know... I have an idea. I'm not a hundred percent certain it would work, but we could potentially disrupt the stability and creation of the portals themselves by overloading the core. The principle would be similar to the spell jammers used by the people who robbed the Mana Exchange."

"If it works like the spell jammers do, it isn't a permanent solution, is it? They just slow down but don't stop mana manipulation?"

She sighed. "No, it's not. But it might buy us some time. Which is what we need right now. We may be able to snap her out of it."

I knew this was a risk. If it worked, I would have a few precious moments. But to do what?

Still, I knew I—

"Ikki, it's our only chance!" Rai-chan shouted. "Just do it! Hit the big red button!"

"Rai-chan, grab that thing and get it as far away as you can!" I shouted as I formed my drone's hand into a hammer fist, bringing it down on a big red button. "Do it now!"

The next few moments passed in a blur of color and sound.

The cockpit hatch flung open, disconnecting the wires and launching the seat in a hiss.

The mech's thrusters flared to a maximum as Rai-chan seized remote control. The remaining thrusters shot the pair out of the tree line in a violent explosion of wood and foliage, rocketing through the Beast of Liminality.

Spears of crystal and purple lightning shot at us, but they missed landing with lethal precision where the mech had been a fraction of a second before. A second later, my parachute deployed, and I grabbed onto the seat's edges, steering toward the golden Magical Girl. The seat skidded into a tumble, and I clutched the handholds for dear life as I somehow managed to slam into the ground right next to the Magical Girl, causing a brief dust cloud to erupt from the impact.

I was glad I was in a body that couldn't feel vertigo or fear, or else I'm sure I would've had a terrible time.

I clambered out of the pilot's seat, the wind whipping around me as my feet planted firmly on the ground. The buzzing sensation came back full force, and I stumbled forward, before getting my bearings and rushing towards the Magical Girl. She was surrounded by a faint golden light, and her form was still draped in that sickening red electricity.

My heart skipped a beat as I approached her. She had an agonized expression on her face, her features twisted in pain and exhaustion. Her dress flowed like a blue and pink nebula, and her long pink hair fluttered around her as if it were alive.

She was... beautiful. Not as a Magical Girl was typically beautiful, with their perfect form and demeanor, but in a unique and raw way that seemed almost otherworldly. It was like she was born from the stars, her aura churning with a radiance and intensity that I'd never seen before in person. I recognized her, of course. How could I not? I saw her almost every day on my commute.

She was the hero, the savior, the song of humanity, and she had been one of Terra's brightest rising stars for the past six years. Someone who had stood tall as a symbol of hope. Someone who had faced hopeless odds and saved the world time and time again.

"Miss Sonata!" I cried, shrugging off my panic and rushing forward to her side.

Her face was scrunched in pain, her form curled into a fetal position. Despite her brilliant gold aura, she looked cold and clammy, as if she were on the verge of death.

What should I do? Could I still help her?

The scene flashed around me as time quickly returned to normal, the deafening thunderclaps of lightning crashing and crackling around us. My gaze darted to where the mech had carried off the Beast of Liminality.

"Please don't leave... " Celestial Sonata muttered softly. "Don't leave me alone... not again."

I didn't know what to say. This wasn't a situation I could just talk my way out of. And I didn't have the kind of tools, magical knowledge, or technology on me to help her.

"Jeanne... help me. Don't go," she wheezed, her voice filled with agony and grief.

I felt something twist in my chest. I couldn't just leave her like this.

What should I do? What could I do? We were running out of time, and we didn't have anyone else here to help us.

"Ikki," Rai-chan called out, her tone frantic with urgency. "You need to listen to me very carefully. We won't have much time for this."

"Okay," I said, biting my lip. "What do you need me to do?"

"You are projecting your consciousness far away from your physical body here, so it'll be tricky. She needs an anchor - a living soul present. Channeling your mana through the drone will simulate a human presence... and it may be enough to help."

"You think we can do it?"

Rai-chan paused. "You have nine points of mana left. You're running on fumes at this point, but it may be enough for what we need. Breathe through your physical body and try to enter a meditative state."

"Are you kidding me? We have all this going on around us and you expect me to... what?"

Rai-chan growled in frustration. "You need to concentrate, you fool! Your drone has a direct link to your brain and cerebral cortex! Just... relax. Come on, you've seen TV shows and movies with this kind of stuff before. Right? Start with a cherished memory. Of peace and good times."

"Yeah, but I don't really have the kind of..." I paused, my eyebrows twitching. "Oh."

I closed my eyes, letting out a slow, steady breath. I could feel that strange buzzing in my head intensifying, a tingling sensation that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. The longer the battle had gone on, the worse it had gotten, like my body was trying to pull my consciousness right back into it.

"Focus, Ikki," Rai-chan pleaded. "You can do this."

An explosion rang out, engulfing the entire clearing in a massive flash of blue and purple. I was fairly certain that was my commandeered mech overloading under Rai-chan's control and manipulation, a chain of explosions erupting in its wake.

But I ignored it, finding my center.

With another deep breath, I somehow found a quiet space in my head, where all the commotion and noise faded into the background. A maple tree in a field flashed in my mind, and I could almost feel the autumn breeze rushing past me as the leaves rustled in the wind.

I could remember my father and my little sister sitting with me under the tree as we ate a picnic, watching the leaves fall from the sky.

The sight filled me with warmth, and I could feel something bright and radiant rising within me, chasing away the chill in my bones.

A strange warmth blossomed within me, like a sun rising up within my chest, washing everything in a warm, golden light.

"Okay," I breathed, feeling the warmth rising within me.

I could feel a soft, gentle pulse at the edge of my consciousness, and I reached out toward it. It was like grasping a loose thread, tugging, pulling, and winding the energy up from some unknown well deep inside me. It coalesced in my chest, growing stronger and brighter until it filled my entire form with a warm, comforting glow.

I smiled, letting the power flow and illuminate the space around me. As I focused, I felt the warmth and light intensifying, humming with a gentle pulse reverberating through the air.

Then, like a switch, it clicked.

I opened my eyes, the drone's vision filling my view.

"Cold... so cold... alone... don't leave me... " the Magical Girl muttered, her voice delirious and feverish. "I'm sorry. Please. Anything to take it back."

I let out a breath as I scooted closer, hands tremoring in anxiety.

The world seemed to melt away, and the chaos of the battle around us faded into nothingness as I focused on her, moving to help and comfort her. As quickly as I could, I gently placed one hand on an elbow, and reached her shoulder with my other hand to shake her.

But as soon as I touched her shoulder, time seemed to stop.

It wasn't like a snap, or a click.

No.

Time actually stopped.

I was left frozen as a monochrome world of gray and white slowly took over my view. My body was frozen, and I couldn't even move a pinky, but I could hear a roar of frustration resound through the distance.

I could only look on in horror as a blue portal appeared, and the Beast of Liminality wrenched out of it directly over us.

Now that I was close enough to peer underneath its widow's 'veil', I could safely say that it was an image that would haunt my dreams for a long time to come.

The monster was about fifteen feet tall, its eyes glowing with a strange white-hot blue light, and its face a twisted and deformed mass of skin and shadow in a mockery of a woman's face. The flickering lightning around it didn't help at all, as its shadowy aura merged with the surrounding darkness, making it hard to discern its features.

It raised one of its claws towards me, summoning a crystal spear, and I felt a wave of terror wash over me.

It leered at me in contempt, and then, like a switch flipped, it leaped into the air. It let out a shriek as it rushed at us spear first, aiming straight for Celestial Sonata's heart.

I could do nothing but watch, helpless and frozen in time.