[ARC 21: ROYALTY]
[April 1st]
Matoi had recovered from Rin's departure for her announcement in the amphitheatre.
"Only thirty days remain until the rankings close - to be Urasaria's next student body president."
The audience gave her an ovation for the payraise, and she laughed as the leaderboard lit to life.
"I've already removed the fourth-years - and this year…"
CARVE (158)
SWARM (157)
BOAR (150)
PLASMA (122)
"…I have my biases for who should win." said Matoi.
"An April like none other." murmured Mia, sat near the exit, Kirihara in the aisle beside. The two glared at each other, and in the next instant -
- sixty tablets vibrated; the two shot up -
" - Ca-"
" - Worldwide!"
- and a single scarab froze the ground and every step in the area, Mia rushing out the doors, single fire scarab left behind to melt the icy prison once she went out of range.
◆◆◆
[April 3rd]
Mia had been called in to a local witch in a cabin in the woods.
'Worldwide.' she thought, flanking against the door. Sword & scarabs readied, a flash of blue flames burnt the door down, and in to the room she swept -
- and saw her black-haired foe on the other end, fifty feet separating her from her, entire outfit made of -
' - is that her fucking hair?' winced Mia, woman catching sight of her and laughing - ' - are her heels made of guns?'
["You May Call Me Father" - Bayonetta Extended.]
"Telocvovim!" shouted the woman, bending backwards as her hair touched the floor and started to burrow.
"Isn't this just Split?" murmured Mia, and in the next instant -
- she felt a presence behind; with the speed of light she disintegrated the ground -
- and fell in to the sudden burrow just in time to miss something enormous shooting at her from above; with no time to waste, wanting space first, she turned & started her traditional burrowing, eyes glancing back for when it'd appear again.
'It looked like - a giant centipede? Does she summon something -'
- she swept with the speed of light back -
- just in time to avoid the enormous centipede burrowing down, from ahead & above -
- and its body burrowed down with it; she tapped her foot as if expecting something, and in the next instant -
- it was still burrowing down, body blocking her path but moving quick. With a sigh and a grunt, she burnt a path diagonal & forward, rushing past it and avoiding it completely. She knew she was close to the ground, ice on her roof & fire spraying ahead. Once she had another fifty feet burrowed, she turned her eyes back -
- and saw the enormous centipede shooting towards her, black & orange hair for a body, maw opening to greet her -
" - Worldwide!" she shouted, and a geyser of water launched her up & out of the underground -
- and she left one giant icicle below that went all the way through its mouth & its entire body, slide of ice bringing her to ground level in the midst of the forest, glancing around to ensure she hadn't lost sight of the cabin -
- and she sighed as she saw it destroyed, black-haired witch still standing there and clapping for her, hundreds of feet away. The ground rumbled underneath Mia again, but she swept to the side to avoid the centipede bursting out of the ground, entire body following it for the ride as it unburrowed, as was often the case -
" - are you fucking kidding me?" groaned Mia, beast still unburrowing, head up in the clouds by now, miles & miles of body to go before she'd fight - " - what the fuck is this?"
- and after another minute, it finally stood at its whole height. The centipede was the size of three skyscrapers, head&maw barely visible that high up. Coils of its enormous body were draping on the ground ahead of Mia, three times her height -
- and it was on her like a snake in grass; before she could react, another thousand feet of its body slithered behind her, coils acting like walls around her as it unfurled. Thousand of feet of its body sought to wrap around her, body constricting and seeking to crush her alive -
- but the next scene was instant. Mia jumped; an enormous globe of ice formed around her -
- and around the titanic orb constricted the beast, Mia wincing & grunting as her ice scarabs kept reinforcing it, hundreds of cracks forming but repaired before they could shatter, beast constricting & tightening its grip; she felt its maw bite in to the frozen globe, teeth digging and trying to tear through it, supply of ice scarabs rapidly dwindling -
- her globe shattered -
- just in time for a globe of electricity to replace it as she landed feetfirst on the ground again, beast still trying to break through it but lightning keeping it too staggered to enter; above, she saw the beast's head pull back -
- and shoot with the speed of a million at her -
" - SOLAR BLAST!" she shouted; a blast of blue filled her electrical prison, and the walls went down -
- and disintegrated every last mile of the beast in seconds as it constricted its body right in to the flaming trap, head too slow to dodge as it threw itself right in -
- and disintegrated without a single ash left, only tufts of black hair left in the forest, prodigal destroyed cabin still on the horizon. Scarabs replenished, she started rushing towards it.
'I should have killed her earlier.'
"Izazas, piadph!" shouted the witch, hair burrowing as she bent over backwards again; Mia sighed as she saw a red&black portal form behind the woman, and in the next instant -
- a spider the size of two skyscrapers burst out of it, enormous jaw opening & limbs filled with orange flames. Out of its maw, a hundred fireballs shot towards her -
- and she laughed for the next instant scene. Worldwide's ice scarabs flew around her -
- and a swift swarm of bubbles doused every last flame, Mia pleased to find her elements were still queen even with the difference in size. Unbeknownst to her, Ryumi had done the same to many fire Revenants over her years with Worldwide. Hundreds of feet separating them, she saw the witch hitch a ride on its back, and as it started to step towards Mia -
- it veered right -
- but one hairfist appeared above it & one hairpunch set it back on track.
'What?' thought Mia, stepping back as it stepped forward. 'Does she not control it?'
As she stepped back in to the middle of a crowd of trees, she nodded as she saw the hairfist punch the beast again, trying to set it straight; it lurched forward -
- and landed just ahead of Mia, trampling trees in its wake as it rushed towards her, maw sweeping down and trying to bite her -
- but the next scene was instant. A frozen globe formed over her again -
- and in to the frozen orb went the beast's teeth, gnashing & gnawing with trampled trees still underneath it -
" - Bolt!" laughed Mia, and in the next instant -
- a bolt of lightning hit the trees; and in to a thousand shards blasted the bark -
- whose keen ends tore & pierced a thousand & one ways through the beast; a demonic shriek erupted from it as it staggered back. Mia melted her orb and saw it thrashing, throwing the witch off its back as it bled; a pane of ice formed midair & ahead -
- just in time to block the first volley of bullets that'd come from the witch's heels. Angered with no rest, the beast's flaming maw shot for Mia again -
" - Frozen Ray!" she laughed, sweeping one hand forward; a frozen beam erupted from her palm -
- and shot right through the bottom of the beast's maw & out its back, immense chill dulling the fire that raged within it, shrieking as it staggered back again but limbs starting to turn frozen solid -
- but Mia turned with the speed of light with her sword just in time to block the witch's kick from behind, her foe's hair outfit having hardened like steel; the two grunted as they clashed.
"Do - do you want to touch me?" grunted the witch, eyelashes waving - " - I know you student types are all lesbians!"
- but the lesbian grunted as she pulled her sword back, and in one sweep seeking her foe's neck -
- that caught only air as she somersaulted with the speed of time back; she disappeared, and in the next instant -
- her kick on Mia's spine launched her with the strength of a thousand forward; Mia winced and groaned as she flew, one tree up ahead in her path -
- but her body burned blue & disintegrated it, ground catching her as she rolled, and grunting as she stood and turned. She saw her foe rushing at normal speed towards her fifty feet away, and that the spider had disappeared.
'Extreme speed. Something like Rider.'
She knew a few counters for her girlfriend's Revenant, trying not to smile as she mentally corrected it to fiance; ahead, the woman drew within range, long legs going for one titanic kick -
- that Mia's sword blocked again; she realized too late the woman had shotguns for heels now, and in the next instant -
- two blasts shot for her face -
- but her eyes&cheeks burned with blue intensity that disintegrated the projectiles without a single ash left; Mia swept back, sword trying for the witch's neck -
- that caught only air as she somersaulted back; in the next instant -
- a frozen prison formed over Mia, and she nodded as she felt the woman's kick for her spine catch only ice. She waited a few instants, and in the next -
- she burst out of her prison & swept left, just in time to dodge an enormous hairheel that'd try to stomp her from above, disappearing once it failed its one purpose in life. She'd sliced her skin on the escape and turned to see her foe ten feet away, and the two started circling.
Stolen novel; please report.
"I should have been a pole dancer." yawned the woman, sucking at one red lollipop.
"If only." muttered Mia, relevantly, raising her sword as they kept circling.
"You look better with a few scars in you." yawned the woman. "Your's is a face only a mother could love, and one I -"
" - Worldwide!" shouted Mia -
- and the next scene was instant. A dozen icicles burst out of her blade & shot towards the woman -
- who swept to the right to dodge it; she disappeared in the next instant -
- but Mia laughed as she heard the woman screams fade in to the distance behind her, swift geyser of water that'd blasted out of her spine, and blasted her foe back, disappearing; she turned her eyes just in time to see the witch smash through one tree -
- and another -
- and another -
- and another, witch grunting as she landed & her heels caught dirt, standing again with fifty feet separating the two. A watery streak had been left between them -
" - Worldwide!" shouted Mia, raising her sword high; a jet of water burst out of the tip -
- and a sigh like none other escaped her as she saw it splash on the ground just ahead of the witch, who somersaulted through the excess droplets and disappeared, and in the next instant -
- was thirty feet to Mia's right; she turned with the speed of light to her foe, two standing still this time, water still dripping off her sword's tip.
"You know, that white hair of your's." said the witch. "You… remind me of somebody. But I can't remember who."
"Then they probably weren't important." said Mia. She knew her Solar Beam was ready, but she was enjoying it & didn't want to risk the witch dodging.
"You know, I tried to avoid doing this in my Sunday best." The witch tapped her face. "What's with the mask? The beak?"
"I… thought it would look intimidating." muttered Mia, wishing her first-year self had had better taste.
"It suits you. You can go another round, can't you?" said the witch -
- and the two started rushing towards each other. Thirty feet separated the two, Mia thinking as she rushed forward. Twenty feet separating the two, she readied her sword; Worldwide's scarab swarm forming five new curved prongs out of the hilt. Ten feet separated the two; the two lurched forward -
- but her foe's kick to her stomach hit first; two shotgun blasts entered her guts -
- but the next scene was instant. Worldwide's ice scarabs froze solid; one sweep sought the witch's left leg -
- and the five ice sickles tore the witch's leg clear off in a geyser of blood; a horrific shriek erupted from her, and in a second sweep on the return -
- that caught only air as she somersaulted with one leg back, no disappearance coming as she screamed & shrieked, gone limb left at Mia's boots; with a wince & a grunt, Mia rushed forward, torn stomach still crying blood with thirty feet separating the two -
" - A-AVAVAGO!" shouted the woman, hair burrowing underground again, and in the next instant -
- a gargantuan demonic maw appeared beneath the witch; and its teeth tore her in to a thousand chunks, roaring as it spit out a crimson rain and disappeared.
Mia winced at the grisly downpour, still-beating heart ahead.
"…w-was that a p-professional Revenant?"
[April 6th]
Mia went down to the beach, searching for a man who'd burst out of a boulder, ocean at her right as she walked down.
A bubble popped behind her, and in the next instant -
- she felt thirsty, and Worldwide filled her throat with water as she kept walking. Another bubble popped behind her, and in the next instant -
- she noticed her footsteps were suddenly silent; with the speed of light she turned -
- just in time to sweep back from her male & sailor for twenty feet away; a bubble appeared in front of her eyes -
- and her sight disappeared in the next; staggering blindly back, a wall of ice burst up ahead of her, scarab swarm flying out and forming rings on the sand she couldn't see around her, and in the next instant -
- she heard a scream to her right; her sight reappeared as she turned -
- just in time to see her burning blue foe staggering back, four bulges in his pants & a gap in his teeth with twenty feet separating the two. A flurry of bubbles appeared above his head, and out of the volley dropped a flood of water -
- and did absolutely nothing, Mia laughing on the other end - " - do you seriously think that -"
" - Soft & W-Wet!" he panted, skin starting to char as he stepped back & on to another scarab -
- and a spike of ice went all the way through his four bulges from below; an emasculated shriek erupted from him as a bubble popped over the ice -
- and another one popped over his head in the next, suddenly dousing the blue flames that'd consumed him before, two foes still with thirty feet separating them. Mia unsummoned her scarabs in case he had a trap for them, swarm appearing beside her as she stepped back. He started rushing towards her, and a bubble popped underneath his feet as Mia stepped back -
- and slipped on to her back in the next, friction suddenly lost from the sand underneath -
- but a pillar of blue flame claimed her foe again, ground disintegrating underneath his feet; in to the sudden burrow he fell -
- and Mia sighed as the sand started sucking her in with him in the next, ground starting to collapse -
" - Worldwide!" she shouted -
- and a disc of ice plugged up the sudden hole; she swept up & on it before she could fall in with him, stomping as she stood on her boots again -
- and an enormous pane of ice covered the entire beach. Below, she heard him shouting from his sandy tomb, and shoved her sword down -
- but shrieked as she felt one punch shatter its tip; with the speed of light she yanked it out & swept back, bracing herself for the damage reflection a second later -
- and she stifled her scream as she felt every bone in her left arm shatter; swift ice scarabs froze them under her skin before they could poke out, and in the next instant -
- she saw her foe bursting out of the ice thirty feet ahead. one yellow & enormous right arm replacing his own, purple star on the shoulder as he made it back to the surface. Another bubble appeared above the frozen ground & popped -
- and turned it in to water in the next; Mia laughed as a electrical swarm flew in to it, and as the trillion-volt current entered the liquid -
- another bubble popped & swallowed her electricity, leaving her sighing as she stepped back -
" - do you actually have anything but fucking counters?" she groaned, relevantly. Another bubble appeared before her eyes -
- but blue flames erupted out of her sight -
- which was still stolen away regardless, leaving her blind with her planned counter having failed; ahead, she heard him stepping in the water towards her -
- but going silent in the next; a line of scarabs laid down ahead of her as she stepped back, eyes unable to be sharp for where her foe would appear next. She felt sand underneath her boots, and in the next instant -
- she felt it shift; she shoved her burning blue blade with the speed of light down -
- and her sight returned as the fire disintegrated her foe without a single ash, bizarre man having tried to get her from below.
[April 9th]
Friday morning, the third-years had class. Kirihara was the closest to the door, legs on her desk to avoid Worldwide's frozen floor.
'All of these fucking cunts are rooting for me to lose. Whatever. Whatever, right? Won't matter if I win.' She sat back, thinking of their expressions.
She thought of what she'd enact when she was president. She didn't need the mansion, and Armstrong was a prick. Matoi had gotten travel expenses to two-stars paid, but didn't have it for everyone. There needed to be harsher rules on expulsion, too; attacking a student should've kicked Serena out. Mia shouldn't even have been allowed at the gate after she reported it to Hirogane, but she supposed legal immunity did that. She wasn't blind, obviously she could see Mia was a good fighter, even if you stripped away the advantage - no, massive advantage.
Dr. Raydao was speaking, but she had her tablet out, Mia with her's on the other end. Ten tablets vibrated, and in the next instant -
- Kirihara shot out of her seat -
" - Worldwide!" shouted Mia; a wall of ice blocked the door as she rushed towards it -
" - Carve!" shouted Kirihara, sawblade chipping straight through the frozen barrier and clearing her path; she leaped up & on it, and as she rode through, she heard Mia in pursuit behind -
- and Kirihara laughed as Mia stumbled back right before she hit a wall of spikes bursting up from the ground, quick carpet laid behind as she got out to the hall. "Not the only one who can do that, you know!"
◆◆◆
["Persona 5 - Willpower Extended." It's back, baby.]
She'd beaten Mia to the Air Force base that day. She knew as she stepped on the runway, line of hangars at her left & a hundred feet away -
" - here we fucking go." she muttered, seeing one bomber swooping in the sky and over her. A steel bunker formed over her, and she braced herself for the incoming volley -
- and she felt dozens & dozens of projectiles hit Carve's exterior, hundreds & hundreds of explosions erupting outward & outside; her eyes clenched shut as two steel earplugs closed her ears, bunker starting to dent but new material repairing it; Carve's extra saws formed on the exterior, spinning blades chewing through more bombs before they could explode -
- and the spectacle ended after a minute in her bunker of steel; with no time to waste, a pinhole peeled back above her head -
- and she nodded as she saw no bomber coming; her bunker disappeared -
- and a demolished scene met her thousand-yard stare, runway having been chunked to messes of rubble, row of hangers still standing at her left & stretching down -
- and hundreds of lines of plastic sandbags ahead, plastic army-men manning their plastic stations with plastic weapons. Hundreds of aims rose towards her, and she heard someone shouting "Bad Company!" as a hundred shots flew towards her -
- but the next scene was instant. A wall of spikes burst up ahead; she swept for cover behind -
- and in to the metal went the hundreds of bullets, wall already starting to dent & chip. She felt something land beside her, and in the next instant -
- an explosion staggered her left; another grenade landed at her side -
- but a swift case of Carve formed over it, trapping it before it could release more yellow vapors. She picked it up and hurled it over the barrier, nodding as she heard one platoon fall victim to the war crime, coughing then falling dead. With no time to waste, she started rushing left again, Carve's wall detaching and following by her side; more shots entered it as it tried to spin, projectiles clogging it even as it kept her safe, but a second saw formed on Kirihara's side, revving up with no worry of being slowed.
She kept her rush going as it spun to full speed -
- and the two saws swapped position, projectile deflecting and still spinning at half the speed of sound as more bullets entered it, hundreds of bullets embedded in the steel -
" - Carve - Sonic Shock!" she shouted -
- and the next scene was instant. Carve spun with the literal speed of sound -
- and the shockwave blasted every last bullet back to sender, first wave ripping their plastic arms off their plastic bones -
- and the second wave slashed through another thirty; behind, the rest of the men took cover & started reloading, half of them dead but half of them living. Space created, Kirihara rushed up to the southern wall of one hangar, glancing back at the plastic army on the runway -
- and nodding as she saw one unplastic man at the back end. Carve's chainsaw forming in her hands, she ripped right through the hangar's wall; in to the building she swept -
- and sighed at the three plastic tanks inside, sight already trained on her with one jet driving out of the doors - " - god, are you fucking kidding -"
- three shells flew towards her, but the next scene was instant. A metal arm formed on the ground behind her back, and yanked her back & outside, throwing her up in to the air -
- and the tank shells caught only air below; Carve's saw formed underneath her and brought her to the roof, steel throne depositing her there as she hit the ground running. She left a trail of spikes as she ran across, steel starting to spin through the barrier. Below & right, more gunshots shot towards her as she reached the roof's end. Another hangar was ahead -
- and the next scene was instant. She leaped forward & off; a steel slide formed in midair -
- and down she slid & slid, hangar's wall up ahead; saws formed on her boots as she slid -
- and burst in clear through the wall, still sliding in midair -
- and landing straight on two plastic men's faces, green blood & guts hanging off their skulls as Carve tore them off; she spun to her feet, plastic mob surrounding her -
" - Carve!" she shouted; Carve's flail formed, and in a first sweep -
- that tore a dozen necks clear off their bodies; a second saw formed behind her -
- and cleaved a dozen heads off a dozen shoulders; she glanced at the hangar's entrance, seeing another fifty rushing in and towards her -
- but the next scene was instant. Carve's saw formed ahead, and she shouted for her Sonic Shock again -
- and the speed of sound shockwave blasted sixty top halves off of a hundred&twenty legs in the next. With no time to waste, she rushed up to the northern wall, then felt more tank shells hitting the south wall where she had entered. She glanced back, and saw one tank enter in through the hole she'd made -
- and she swept with the speed of light right -
- just in time to avoid its shell blasting the northern wall for her; sudden foundation lost, the wall started to crumble -
" - thanks, dick!" she shouted, rushing out of the wall -
- and direct in to ten gusts of flames hitting her face. She shrieked as her body was set alight, ten foes with flamethrowers right ahead of her, and in the next instant -
- Carve's saw flew underneath one -
- and the blender spun him in to a green & red smoothie in the next, spinning with the speed of sound as it fell in to the ground -
- and the vortex sucked her other nine foes in to the whirlpool of gore in the next, blood & concrete dust filling the air as she staggered forward, still on fire.
' - fucking hate this.' she groaned, stopping and dropping and rolling until the fire was cleared. She hated fire Revenants particularly. From the runway a hundred feet right, she heard more assault rifle fire, but it was still blind and couldn't hit her. Another hangar wall was ahead. Carefully, she stepped up and sliced it open, waiting a second before she swept inside -
- and heard more bombs blast the ceiling as she rushed across the room, nothing inside but actual jets that she still sliced to bits as she ran. Knowing she was nearly at the backline, she took the hangar's door for an exit, backline man from earlier still standing at the end as she rushed out, fifty feet separating them, and as his face turned towards her -
- a groan like none other escaped her as she saw him to be plastic too; the rest of men turned towards her -
" - fucking seriously?" she said, and a wall of spikes burst up ahead; she took it for cover. Now, the runway was at her left, vertical line of men diagonal-left & far ahead. She threw one knife of Carve out, but still felt frustrated as it slit through the backline man's throat, no disappearance coming & no knowledge of where the host was. She turned her eyes back down the runway -
- and saw a jet making towards her, thousands of feet away, one man she was sure wasn't plastic sitting in the cockpit; only one chance left, she rushed out of her cover, leaping up & on Carve's saw, riding it to rise to his level as he screamed towards her; a dozen missiles burst out and towards her -
- but the next scene was instant. She took her best leap forward; one missile screamed ahead of her - a pole of Carve formed on it -
- and she didn't look back as she grabbed & vaulted herself off it and to the next, and the next, and the next, and as the jet drew within range -
- she took one final leap, saws forming on her boots -
- and stomped right through the cockpit & clear through the bottom of the jet with her foe's mangled face riding her boots as she fell through it & to the air, plastic armymen fading below as she glanced back; Carve's saw caught her in midair -
- and she nodded as she saw a single beating heart fall out of the jet as it kept on its way behind, stomping once she reached the ground and scanning once she reached the Revenant.
CARVE (160)
SWARM (159)