"I got her! I got her!" Lily said. "Get ready. Don't fire until after phase 2 kicks in. Elena start the song. Ritchie. Any second buddy. Do your best...and remember we love you" Keith said on the walkie. Aspen cried softly as she held her daughter for the first time. The eclipse was at its peak and like clockwork, the roof was torn off. Lawan gazed up and saw her vision had come to fruition. A giant manicured hand came down palm up and open. "As per our contract. Hand her over" Ebonheart said. Lily took Hope from her mother placing the rice grain sized infant in her hand. Ebonheart's eyes locked right on Claire as she stood back up. A rhythm filled the air getting louder.
(Authors note: the song Elena is singing is Gabi Sklar Stay True)
"I'm gonna count to three and the clock is tickin' quicker and when the day is done you know I’ll be the winner. So don't fight this war you got too much to lose. Me I got nothin' to prove"
Backup singers "Oh oh ooooh..."
"Make way as I'm comin' through"
Backup singers "Oh oh ooooh..."
(Rapidly, borrowers standing at attention with their hands on their guns begin to flash briefly as fortifying spells embedded in Elena's song took effect)
"What the hell?" a Mogwai asked. "Steady. Just a simple defense spell. You were briefed" one said. "That look they're giving us. No fear whatsoever. They look eager to fight us" one said.
"I'm a fire in the night. One two three I can't make it any clearer. When you see these eyes you'll breathe a little thinner. So don't fight this war you got too much to lose! ME I GOT NOTHIN' TO PROVE! Cause I'm breakin'...the rules! There's nothing to hold me to the ground because I want to be up instead of down. So watch out. I'm brand new. And what I want is not you! So gotta stay true! OH OH OOOh gotta gotta stay true..."
Claire fired up and Ebonheart narrowed her eyes. "Now" Claire hissed. Crouching behind her was her little brother who shot off like lightning. With her eyes still locked on Claire, Ebonheart couldn't react fast enough as Ritchie snagged his niece and tore through the air. "HIM?!" she screamed turning to follow. Ritchie zoomed away at full speed and with precision created 12 illusions of himself flying off in different directions. "Fucking pest!" Ebonheart howled. Claire flew right up to her face. "Forgot about me already?" she asked. "Your friends... are going to die" the giantess hissed. " Think not. I'll give you four seconds to look behind me before I break your fuckin nose...starting now" she said seriously. Ebonheart glanced behind her very quickly keeping the fiery girl in her peripheral view. Her light mages dropped out of the sky almost in unison.
12 seconds earlier...
The borrower girl steadied her aim as the spell took hold of her body. Her muscles tightened. The slight groan of her uniform barely heard over her thumping heartbeat. She was a seamstress with her mother. Very good with her hands and eyes which made her perfect for her assignment...sniper detail. Her weapon? The Ares Platinum. The first foray of enchanted weapons not having an point or blade. Created for one simple purpose. Kill homunculi at long range. With such a threat rather small, it was rarely even brought into the field. Lily enchanted them with a lightning affinity for it to work. Actually, to call it a sniper rifle would be a misnomer. It was in truth a sniper railgun. The weapon was the length of a toothpick and it fired a iron round the size of a pinhead. Because of its size, normal chemical rounds (i.e. gunpowder) wouldn’t work. Air drag would cause the round to tumble off within just 5 feet. However, using a magnetic pulse created by discharging electricity through the very conductive platinum, propelled the round at over 5 times the speed of sound. The hypersonic speed would cancel out the drag and it gave the round a side effect. It melted. Friction heated the round up past melting point and when it came into contact with the target, it splattered and bored and burned though it like an anti-armor round.
She didn't pull the trigger, she squeezed it. She didn't aim for his head. Even with borrower eyes jacked up by fortifying magic, pulling off a shot like that was very slim. No, aim for upper center mass. Aim small miss small. The rifle made a weird thump as it fired. The vibration went through her body, rattled her right down to her tiny toes and into the rooftop top in which she lie prone. She watched it for a split-second tear through the air orange hot and strike her target. The Mogwai man was pointing his finger right at his own target, Aspen. His sick grin thinking of murdering her as she lay helpless and half naked on the bed. All that ended when a searing pain tore through his chest and then oblivion. The round did its job by scorching through his back. Being iron, it naturally cut through his magic defenses as if they weren't even there and it tore through flesh, his brain stem, his lungs and trachea, and exiting through the front. The thumb sized man was dead before he hit the ground and his friends followed suit.
"Times up" Claire said punching Ebonheart in the nose so fast her fist made thunder. Ebonheart flew off her feet crashing into a row of houses. Luckily, borrower forces had been told to stay back from the house just in case. With some breathing room, Lawan, Hikari and Keith flew out of the rooftop to engage the enemy. "Fire at will! FIRE AT WILL!" Lily screamed. And with that, the battle for the future of humanity and all species of tiny had begun.
At first, the Mogwai thought being in the air would prove advantageous but found that idea lacking very quickly as Borrower sight made their shots very accurate. Lightning spells assaulted them. Ice spells slamming into their defenses. Fire spells obscuring their vision. Even as they counterattacked, they found the borrowers not relenting or breaking ranks. A Borrower would be killed instantly, and the soldier nearby would take their gun and use it. Bravery wouldn't win this fight though. For every Mogwai killed, four borrowers would die trying. This was anticipated though as it was pointed out that to crush the enemy, one would have to strike down their commanders. Crush the brain and brawn which Hikari had set out to do. Her target...Xaimei.
The ground cracked at her feet as she put down pressure. Xaimei was pissed. Their plan to wipe them out immediately had failed spectacularly and her forces found themselves fighting a force not even close to being considered weak. She surveyed the colony from her human height to see her kind had taken to ground to give the borrowers a more difficult and cramped area of attack. She glanced at the stage where Elena was and then back to the mansion. "I want a contingent of lightning mages to attack the house. Humans sized commanders are to attack the stage" she ordered through magic communications. "But that will divide our forces" someone said. "Yes, but it will force the enemy to divide theirs to defend the civilians. Now go!" she yelled.
A borrower man concentrated his attack on a Mogwai as it staggered from multiple attacks until a icicle pierced her chest. Her friends took flight and raced away. The borrowers cheered as their attackers fled from the burned-out bloody streets. That is until they saw they were not retreating but retasking. They flew right over Keith’s head in a V formation. "That ain't good. Lily! A shitload of them just peeled off heading for the house! They’re trying to distract us!" he yelled as he cut down an enemy. "Can you stop them?!" Lily yelled. "No, I can't! Got my hands full here! Lawan?!" he yelled. "Up to my own ass!" she responded. "Hikari?!" he yelled. "Sorry but I'm about to meet this Xaimei" she replied. "Shit!" Keith hissed as he deflected a lightning bolt. He charged the attacker with uncanny speed taking his head off his shoulders. "I do not have time for you fucking small fry!" he yelled as they surrounded him.
Hikari wanted to defend the house. She knew it was a ploy to divide them, but her path was clearer than it was before. The Mogwai giantess before her had given the order and if not stopped would give more damnable ones. "It is customary to give one's name before attacking but we both know who each other is. Shall we get to it?" Hikari asked hovering in the air. Xaimei turned around facing her. "You should've taken your shot when I was distracted...or at least stayed in Japan tending your hot springs girl" Xaimei said taking a stance. "Haughty talk for someone who calls a mushroom infested dank cave a homeland. I'm curious. Does it take a lot of scrubbing to get the smell of mold and worm shit out of your clothes?" Hikari asked as the air grew dry around them. A ball of fire formed in Xaimei's hand. "You'll live long enough to watch me suck the marrow from your tiny leg bones" she hissed. Xaimei hurled the fireball at her which struck a shield of water the formed in a second. "You can try child. You can try" the small woman said.
Hikari three shards of ice at her and the giantess easily deflected them. Xaimei counter attacked with streams of flame which were extinguished. Each one taking the measure of the other. Xaimei tore off the lower part of her skirt tossing it away draping a destroyed neighborhood. "Seems as if we are comparable in strength" Hikari said as hot wind blew her kimono open exposing her body. "No. We are not" Xaimei said wriggling the toes on her right foot. Xaimei still had in her possession a lower quality Philosophers stone given to her by her friend, lover, and partner from Ebony's first visit to her land. Wriggling her toes as a way to invoke its power as she turned it into a toe ring. Why do this? If she wore it on her finger, none would take her own natural ability seriously. But kept out of sight, even though people knew she had it, they would foolishly take her innate ability as genuine and not consider the jewel. Out of sight, out of mind. Xaimei formed another fireball but this one shrank in size glowing brighter. She tossed it at her enemy.
Hikari went to block it and it turned her shields to steam instantly. Luckily, the steam explosion forced Hikari away as the fireball stayed intact exploding a city block 100 ft. away. Hikari knew she was in big trouble. She had sucked the water vapor dry. Pulling water from underground was a lengthy thing and Xaimei's attacks were clearly nothing to trifle with. Then she saw salvation. A way to stop the Mogwai leader but it meant staying alive for at least 5 minutes. She was forced to take to ground as it was far easier to steal water from the underground pipes that way. There was a flash of light nearby and Claire and Ebonheart had disappeared. A bolt of fire came down on her and she barely had enough water to save herself.
A thin barrier of boiling water was left after her attack. Her makeup ran down her face as the air was scorching humid inside. Koonago, by nature, were resilient when it came to humidity, and very hot water. Par for the course for creatures that could control hot springs and earth but even they have limits. Another attack by Xaimei boiled away her shield. It became hard for the girl to breathe. The air around her a dizzying 140 degrees. Fortunately, Hikari had a plan to at least slow the giantess down. Lily had made these borrower homes to be strong, sturdy, and realistic. No plastics or ceramics used. Limestone. Limestone carved into houses and painted by hand. Limestone Hikari with her earth controlling powers could use. She clapped her hands hard and buildings around them exploded violently. Crisscrossing her hands, she sent the shrapnel digging into Xaimei's exposed shins and feet.
She screamed in pain and fell backwards sending tremors through the ground. "You fucking insect! I'll burn you to ash for that!" she yelled. Hikari took that time to gather as much water from the underground pipes as she could. Pieces of stone slipped out of her wounds. "Not yet!" Hikari yelled waving her hands once more. The toes of the giantess wriggled for a split second before a series of snaps were heard. Xaimei howled in rage as the koonago Princess used her mastery of water and earth to manipulate the blood and calcium in her body to break her toes. Her toe ring flared up and her wounds were healing faster than before. Hikari tried her trick again only to see it fail. "You think me a fool that I'd let you do that again?!" Xaimei yelled. Hikari looked at the sky. "A few more minutes" she thought. Hikari fell back using water to hasten her movement. Xaimei stood back up. "Everyone retreat from this area now!" Hikari yelled. Within a minute, only Hikari, Xaimei, and the bodies of the dead were in the eastern block.
She was desperate. One last trick she had to buy time and she was loathe to use it. "Tsukiyoimi" Hikari said slowly raising her fist and as she did the intact bodies of the dead in the street began to rise. "Necromancy" Xaimei whispered. "No child. Something else" Hikari said directed the dead to walk towards the giantess. The small amount of blood left in their bodies was enough for the koonago to "puppet" them around. Blood is mostly water and iron after all. Xaimei was aghast at the sight of zombie like things marching on her. Worse yet, some were of her own kind. Xaimei began stomping them like roaches as the got close. The already mangled bodies of the dead squashed flat under her sandaled heels, but it was not enough. No, the carnage in this area of the city had left plenty for Hikari to work with.
They crawled up her legs as she brushed one by one off. The giantess began to panic stomping her feet so hard she broke her straps on her shoes. They crawled past her waist, past her breasts and now clawed their way up the sides of her neck. "OFF ME! OFF MEEEEE!" she screamed and as she did, they climbed right into her mouth. Some burnt by lightning tasted extremely foul. Those skewered reeked of blood. And her gurgling signaled they reached her throat. Hikari was going for the soft kill if possible. Choking her to death from the inside. Then a burst of power turned those on her body to dust and she gripped her throat. Those clogging it were shrunk to the size of ants which she swallowed easily. Xaimei gasped for air and stared with wrath at the girl at her feet. "I...have...had...enough of you!" Xaimei screamed.
Xaimei raised her hand high in the air as she sucked out the last of the power from the stone. A mass of flames took form as the air grew hot. Everyone fighting that day took pause to see it. "You dishonor me and then dishonor my fallen?! I will scorch you till NOTHING is left! Behold! My family guardian spirit! Only those worthy could EVER invoke its power! Come forth! FENG HUANG!" she screamed. The mass of fire took the form of a giant bird not just any bird. A brilliant phoenix. It did not burn as it was flame itself. Its wings spanned 100 ft. in each direction. It's tail 25 ft. long wagged slowly and as it did cast of heat hot enough to blister stone below. It let out a shriek so hot the air shimmered. "Koonago. Your puny water magic is nothing in its glory" Xaimei said chuckling with a wide-eyed grin. Hikari looked at the sky above them and grinned. She felt what she was waiting for on her skin. "Foolish child. Do you truly think you are the only being in this world with an elemental guardian you can summon? You have fallen so deep into my trap you haven't felt or even heard its approach" Hikari said calmly. Xaimei frowned as she paused. "You think bluffing..."
"I do not bluff. Stop, look, and listen" she said. Xaimei did and the first thing she noticed was the feeling of raindrops on her exposed skin. She looked above hearing thunder and seeing flashes of lightning. "Oh...no..." she muttered. "BEHOLD MY GUARDIAN! YAMATA NO OROCHI NO MIZU!" she yelled. A cascade of rain that was falling through the air suddenly stopped. Lighting increased as clouds were compressed and shrunk for every drop of water in them. If anyone was watching the weather radar then, it would seem to them the storm cell going over Yorkshire was shrinking. A chorus of growls came from the clouds as one by one, the heads of dragons popped out from underneath. Xaimei looked stupefied as the watery beast emerged. Eight heads with eight tails, The Orochi was the size of her phoenix but far more terrifying. "I am more than just a koonago child. I am human also. The blood of emperors flows through me. I am literally a princess of both species and you are not even one" Hikari said coldly as the orochi took looks of the bird.
Hikari was the daughter of emperor Meji. That much was known to them but wasn't widely known was the legacy passed down due to that. Meji was the son of emperors. Emperors that had bloodlines going back thousands of years back before even the Koonago existed. His name lost to time, an ancestor of Meji slew the original orochi. To call the beast a yokai was like calling a dragon a lizard. A monstrous thing that devoured Japanese girls as it terrorized the countryside. It was said one family lost 8 of its 9 daughters to the thing. Snatching one girl a day into its jaws, crunching on her flesh and bones, and swallowing with a sinister gleam in its 16 amber colored eyes. That was until this one young man came along to do battle with it. It slew the beast with a enchanted sword (some say he was imbued with otherworldly magics and therefore that era's Etherion user) and brought peace to the land. However, killing such a creature and removing it from the world are two separate things. Simply put, its soul remained. And creatures of its magnitude had the tendency to resurrect if the soul was untended.
The soul of the orochi was sealed away to prevent this until Hikari was born. A being of magic, Hikari could bend the creature to her will, give it a temporary form, she it as a weapon and that is what she did this day.
"Defeating your opponent is more than overpowering them. Guile, cunning, patience, and luck wins the day. Someone your age has trouble grasping while I have had over a century to master that lesson. Orochi, show this fool why water rules this world and not flame!" Hikari yelled extending her hand. The beast charged right into the phoenix and an explosion of steam shot from the epicenter so violently people were thrown off their feet. The bird began to shrink as the orochi fueled by the rainstorm above kept its size. The screeching of the two would be remembered for years to come. Those watched in astonishment as the bird became so small the beast coiled its 8 necks around it strangling it into oblivion. "No...can't be...can't be!" Xaimei cried seeing her majestic phoenix snuffed out. "Can and was. This fight is done. Orochi, she is not Japanese, but she is a young woman. Do what you will" Hikari said with no emotion. Xaimei screamed throwing her hands up as one of the necks bent down with its head. Its jaws clamped on her waist yanking her into the air right out of her expensive sandals.
She screamed, and her mouth filled with rainwater as it chomped her in. Then an almighty pressure squeezed her. A thousand psi of water pressure killed her quick as the beast chewed and chewed turning his water made head crimson. It arched its neck and the collection of bloodied water traveled down into its center mass where it's belly would be. Xaimei was no more. She turned its attention to those below. Mogwai watching saw their leader die a horrific death realized defeat was most certainly possible and they questioned if they could win such a battle even with combining their power. "Surrender..." Hikari was saying until Ebonheart and Claire popped back into reality. Claire worse for wear and Ebonheart holding a flowing, sparking, sword. "LIMIT STRIKE!" Ebonheart shouted firing off a wave of pure magical might with a swing of Joyeuse. Claire barely turned her body enough to get a glancing blow with the brunt of it racing towards Hikari. On instinct, she had the Orochi block for her and with a thunderous boom blew it to smithereens. Claire landed with a heavy thud on the ground. Hikari was blown clear of the area.
9 minutes earlier...
Ebonheart picked herself up as her nose healed. She wiped the blood from it grinning. "You'll have to do better than that" she said. "Oh, I intend to" Claire said as her hands flared with power. She glanced around the nearby area and then her own hands. "Worried about collateral damage? I can help with that" Ebonheart said pulling a small marble out of thin air. Suddenly there was a flash and when her vision cleared nothing looked the same. Similar but different. The city was still around them but oddly grayed out. Points of light scattered through it, it was as if the colony was a ghost. Even the sky took on a grayish hue. "Amazing this old bauble still has power. Long ago the fae crafted this reality marble and named it Avalon. Its realm sits parallel to the one you know with some exceptions. Here you don't have to worry about killing anyone" Ebonheart said grinning. Claire flew right at her only to impact a powerful shield. "Oh, young one. So much to learn" Ebonheart said swatting Claire hard to the ground.
She snarled as she let more of her power take hold. She formed a blade of pure flame and flew up to strike her. With ease, Ebonheart parried the tiny attack with her own blade Joyeuse. The flame sword was swallowed up by it in seconds. Claire tried again and again and shockingly Ebonheart parried with her giant blade absorbing Claire’s magic. "You wish to cut me? Fool. I've been using blades since before borrowers existed. I'm the most experienced sword master on earth!" Ebonheart said swinging her sword. A fiery blast came forth hitting Claire. She crashed down on the ground once more. Ebonheart fired a series of ice shards at her which she deflected but caused her to lose balance. The giantess dropped her sandaled foot down on top of her and Claire pushed back with her hands square on the sole. Powered up, she could smell old leather, rubber, foot sweat...and human blood. Dozens of scents of human blood. The thought that she had crushed the life out of so many shrunken humans under those sandals enraged her that she shrugged off her giant foot making Ebonheart stumble back. Claire used that moment to grow.
"About time you wised up! Let me guess? Keith spouted some scientific bullshit about mosquitos being the most dangerous creature on earth even though it's small. Attack her from a mosquito's point of view? Well you saw how that turned out. Anger in those eyes. So much but behind it is fear. Fear of losing loved ones? That infant? No... how you're staring at my mouth. Oh yes. You remember the last time we met. How I savored and swallowed that delicious fat, pregnant little morsel you were. Does it give you nightmares child? Alone in the darkness as your skin burns and peels. Your body slowly breaking down to become just nutrients?" she asked.
"Shut up!" Claire yelled trying to punch her. Ebonheart grabbed her wrist and broke it. Claire grimaced and pulled back. Aspen made that deal to save you and your son. A deal that will bring humanity to ruin. 7 billion lives for a puny...little...thing. A thieving rodent who's only purpose is to be playthings. No, I'm being too critical. You're not even that anymore. A weak little creature not borrower, not human. A bastard of nature. And for what? Power you can't even control right. Everyone you love I'm going to make sure they suffer. When I find Ritchie, I'm going to eat his scrawny ass. Your mother I'll squash her like a water bug. Lily I'll execute her for the human sympathizer she is. Rose I'll crush in my hand as her mother watches. Keith, Keith I'll rape him to death. Horny fuck might actually get off on it before he succumbs to my pussy. And as for your precious Aspen, she will be the first infected with my magical plague. Her own daughter will end her. As for you Claire, you get to see it all as my power makes you my slave. You'll be screaming on the inside but a drooling moron outside" Ebonheart said with a sadistic chuckle. "You...won't...touch...them!" Claire growled like an animal.
Power surged through the girl so intensely, her clothes burned away. Her eyes glowed like embers. Her hair like living flame. Her muscles tightened, and her feet sank into the ground. Lightning began to spark around her body. Ebonheart raised an eyebrow surprised she could charge up this much. "And what will you do you fake ass fairy? A creature with delusions she's a fae with power not even her own!" Ebonheart yelled. A orb of pure energy formed between Claire's hands. Ebonheart winced at the brightness. It's power so tremendous, the sky literally cracked. "I AM A FAE AND YOU CAN BURN IN HELL!" Claire screamed as a beam of fiery plasma erupted from the orb. Ebonheart had her sword raised just as the beam came into contact. Claire looked wide-eyed as she poured power, more power than she ever dreamed into the attack. Ebonheart began to push back on the beam causing a massive detonation. The blast utterly shattered the reality marble Avalon tossing them back into the real world.
Claire breathed heavily. The attack exhausted her. "No...can't....can't be..." she muttered seeing the woman unharmed holding a sword speaking with the totality of energy Claire had used. "Rope a dope...LIMIT STRIKE!" Ebonheart said unleashing the charge held in Joyeuse right as Claire. Claire barely has the stamina to invoke her fiery wings. The strike hit her wings acting as a shield causing her to fly to the right and crash hard to the street below. Her body had obliterated everything on the right side of the street in that district. "Oh god..." she muttered as she was not scared of Ebonheart but where she landed was within a step or two from where Ritchie was supposed to be hiding. "Don't know what that water snake thing was but it's vapor now. Now I saw something interesting when we were in Avalon. A powerful magic right around here..." she said grinning.
12 minutes ago....again...
Susan felt the tremors as she sat on Rose's bed. It had begun and then some. She held Rose's hand feeling the magic of Elena's song flow through her. Minutes passed and Rose squeezed her hand. "Rosie? Sweetie?" Susan asked before a huge tremor shook the house. She glanced out the window. "Son of a bitch!" she said seeing they had broken through their barrier. Her sword in one hand, gun in the other, Susan waited as she took off her shoes. Her bare feet could feel every tremor on the first floor. Her tiny toes could read their steps. Borrowers moved light stepped by nature, Mogwai didn't. There was a division stationed on the first floor which had engaged the enemy. Their screams she could hear. Their blood she could smell. She cocked her head as a few human sized footsteps seemed to get fainter and deeper. "One's heading to the cellar!" she thought. She paused looking at Rose. Her charge was to defend her. There was a small contingent down there to guard them from the enemy (and possibly Danica) but judging from the sound. The division was on its last leg. Two minutes passed and then a series of footsteps approached. Susan stood on top of a dresser ready.
A Mogwai man opened the door looking. "Hey, got one just lying in bed" he said. "Then eat her and keep moving. We wasted too many lives and too much time already" a female voice said behind him. Susan waited as the giant entered the room. His back turned to her. Susan gripped her iron sword and leaped from the dresser. "Never scream or yell as to broadcast your attack. Be as a falcon. A falcon swoops down with speed and silence focusing on a singular prey in a flock or school" she remembered her teacher once said. Susan landed holding his black hair as she jabbed her sword right into his neck cutting his brain stem. The giant fell dead to the floor. She had no time to celebrate as a manicured hand reached for her. Susan jumped away throwing a fishing line with a hook on it. It snagged the giantess' shirt and Susan used her momentum to swing up. "Vermin!" the woman yelled swing her body hard right causing Susan to lose her grip and slam into the wall. She tumbled down and luckily landed in Rose's left sneaker. The insole cushion was far better than hardwood floor.
Borrower have 4 times the sense of smell that humans and Susan had 4 times the sense of smell than borrowers make her nose 8 times more powerful than you or I. With her body fortified, her sense of smell was jacked even higher. She coughed and gagged on the stale foot sweat smell that permeated Rose' sneaker. So strong it burned her nose threatening to knock her out with sensory overload. A shadow crept overhead, and Susan saw at the last second the Asian giantess slamming her foot down. Susan scrambled to the toe of her shoe causing her to gag even more. She heard the giantess' muscles tighten and she scrambled back just in time as the toe section was stomped. Then the shoe was picked up and turned upside down. Susan fell out and clung to the shoelace. "Fucking pest!" the woman howled. Susan looked down and dropped right onto her arm. In a split second, she slashed her exposed wrist causing a fountain of blood to shoot out. Instinctively, she dropped the shoe to tend to her wound.
Susan felt a cascade of footsteps pass the doorway. "We have other rooms" a small voice said. "I know that! Fuck this I'll burn the whole goddamned room!" the woman yelled. Susan was right near the windowsill. The tremor had knocked the glass out. She could escape but not with Rose. Grabbing her, hoisting them up, and jumping out would take too long and the giantess could kill them easily. Save herself or stand her ground with possible reinforcements just outside. "Well, I guess I know now which future is coming to pass" she thought holding her sword tight. She lept as hard as she could causing the hardwood floor to creak under her barely 2-ounce weight. She dug her sword into the woman's leg using it as a spring board. She yanked it out and stabbed her thigh. The Mogwai woman staggered back and when she did, Susan missed her stab into her chest. She fell right into the giantess' palm which closed.
Her fist tightened hard enough that she dropped her sword. "Give me a scream" The giantess said coldly as her grip tightened. He air was pushed out her lungs. Her legs couldn’t kick. Her bare feet poking out from below her fingers twitched as her ribcage was compressed. One pop, two pops, then three. Three ribs broken, and Susan stifled a scream. She wouldn't give the giantess the pleasure. "Just...let the girl live. Non...combatant...you...have honor right?" Susan asked. The giantess looked at the bed. "Your friend wisely ran" she said. Susan looked behind her to see the bed really was without Rose. "At least she has a chance..." Susan thought. Just as death seemed ready to take her, a very weak click was heard by her. Susan watched in astonishment as a large shard of ice skewered the giantess right in the eye. Deep enough piercing her brain, she fell to the floor with a thud. Susan pulled herself free of her grip and saw the Asian woman very much dead. She turned to where she heard the sound.
Rose stood there in her pajamas holding Susan's gun. Susan walked over to her and gently took it from her. "Sweetie? Can you hear me?" she asked. Rose nodded. Susan hugged her tightly weeping. "Welcome back" she said. "I heard singing. In the darkness I heard singing. I followed it out" Rose muttered. "Fortification magic. Must've gave you enough mental strength to come back. Just in time too" Susan said kissing her forehead. Suddenly, there was a chorus of screams, shouting, and claps of thunder. "Fuck. Forgot about them. Hide under the bed" Susan said trying to use arcane to fix her ribs. Susan limped to the doorway. She could smell blood and smoke. She didn't want to see the grisly sight of innocents dead but what she saw was not that.
"Who the fuck did this?!" she asked seeing dozens of Mogwai dead, burnt, skewered, and seemingly crushed into the floor. She made her way to the nearest room with civilians. "Did you see what happened?!" she yelled. A lone woman stepped forward from the terrified beyond belief mob. "A young woman. She grew to human sized and slaughtered them! She didn't even use those guns! She just waved her hands and they died by the drove!" she yelled. "She used unassisted magic?! Who is she?!" Susan yelled. "We don't know. She's unique with that skin color. She...she took the baby called Kannika from us" she stammered. A chill ran down Susan's spine. "Someone that powerful was among us and we don't know?! Why would she take Keith and Lawan's daughter?!" Susan thought.
6 minutes earlier...
Danica felt the boom from above. Dust and cobwebs fell from the ceiling. Wine bottles in racks rattled. The cries and whimpers of children around her began to upset her. A small team of borrowers stood out front of the cellar door to protect them. Another team inside as last resort. Heavy footsteps above then a series of screams and peels of thunder. A whoosh sound followed by shrieks and a heavy thud. The smell of smoke and burnt flesh filled their nostrils. The door creaked open revealing a young Asian giant. His clothes shredded and wounds closing on his arms and face. Borrowers at his feet immediately opened fire on him. With one hand he shielded himself. The other formed thin plates of ice in the air. Once done, a beam of light shot from his finger onto a plate. They acted as both mirrors and lenses killing at 12 borrowers in an instant. It was clear he was no ordinary Mogwai. A tattoo of a flower on his right bicep. "Lotus guard" she muttered.
Weeks ago, when Xaimei had come to visit them, Danica asked if there were any really powerful magic users among her kind. "Absolutely, the strongest of us belong to a group called Final Heaven. Those in training to join are in a group called The Order of Lotus" she replied. "So, they're like young?" Danica asked licking her ice cream ignoring the screams of her human sprinkles. "Some as young as 9. The Lotus Guard as well call them are the next generation of elites. Their spells are unique" Xaimei replied. "Unique how?" Danica asked. "They have the talent to combine and balance elements to create fearsome attacks" she replied. And now...Danica was looking right at the boy who had bested a contingent of borrowers as easily as one would burn an ant under a magnifying glass.
Oddly, he hadn't noticed her yet, but his cruel grin told enough that he was determined to have some fun with the thousand plus little people in the cellar. They began to flee to the far back of the cellar until they found they couldn't move. Their own shadows gripping their ankles. His raised his foot over a few before squashing them flat. Their crunching of their bones and the wet pops of their bodies caused many to shriek or flat out faint. He bent down and grabbed a girl that fancied him. He laughed at her cried to spare her and with a flick of his wrist blew her clothes clean off. He licked his lips and the girl passed out between his fingers. Danica watched in horror as he simply dropped her into his mouth and let her body slide down his throat. He patted his belly and then those still trapped, had their shadows creep up their bodies until they were engulfed. "Eternal Night" he muttered clenching his fist. A high-pitched shriek and then nothing but crackling bones and wet pops. The giant, no older than, 14, had murdered over a hundred borrowers with their own shadows.
"This is taking too long" he muttered casting his own shadow in front of him. Borrowers still running were mired in it. "Danica...help..." a voice said 5 ft. in front of her. "Victor" she said recognizing him. The shadow began to creep up his tiny body. "STOP!" she yelled. The giant was startled. He squinted his eyes indicating his eyesight was very poor. He stepped closer. "A human among them?" he asked. "Not just any human. The daughter of Ebonheart" she replied. "Your name" he said. "Danica" she replied. "That is her name" he mused as his shadow touched her feet. Poor Victor was entombed now. "Spare them and take me as a trophy!" she yelled. "Or I could just kill them and take you anyway" he mused. "Harm another and I'll bite off my tongue and bled to death. You want me as a trophy. At least to use as a bargaining chip to be promoted to Final Heaven" she said. The boy was shocked she knew of their ranks.
His shadow receded freeing them. Victor gasped for air. With a snap of his fingers, he shrank Danica where she sat. "Come forward" he said. Danica did passing those staring in shock of who she really was or what she had just done. Victor ran to her. "He'll kill you! You can't....can't trust him!" The boy sobbed. He hugged her tightly. "Go" she said pushing him away. Once close enough, he grabbed her up. Like the poor girl from earlier, he used wind magic to strip her clothing off. The boy chuckled at her. Danica wisely opened her legs revealing her tiny pussy to him. "This is what you wanted to see right?" she spat. "I don't think mistress Xaimei will mind if I have fun with you" he snickered as his shorts fell to his ankles. Those below saw the enormous (for them) erection. Victor could only cry knowing someone he loved was about to be cruelly raped to save their lives. Well, that's what would've happened until someone began to come down the steps.
"I want you to use your feet to tickle me down there" he said. People grew quiet as a figure came from behind. The boy was too enamored with his prisoner to hear her steps behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, positioned her hands on his forehead and chin, and with shocking sopped and power, snapped his neck. Danica fell from his hands and was caught by borrowers fast enough to scramble into place. The Mogwai teen giant fell to the side dead. Towering above them was their savior. They were astonished as none had seen her before yet somehow, she was familiar. The giantess looked upon them with no emotion, her toes tapping slightly in her sandals as she gazed on the throng of people at her feet. "Thank you for saving us!" Danica yelled. The woman looked at her and only that. She waved her hand and a orb of light glowed into being in the back center of the crowd. "The baby! Yuusha!" a woman screamed as the infant was spirited away. Holding The protective orb in her hand, the giantess turned and walked away. "What just happened?! Who did this?!" Susan asked minutes later coming onto the scene. "A black girl came and took Hikari's baby after snapping this kid' neck" Danica said human sized now that the shrinking spell had worn off with the boy's death.
4 minutes earlier...
Lawan was getting tired. Her legs felt like jelly from running around so much. She held the line that protected Elena while she sang. Now into her third song, Elena herself was beginning to tire. Still, watching those before her fight so hard to keep her safe gave her strength to carry on. Lawan leaped over her attacker taking his head off his shoulders. Her glave was stained with blood as she slammed the pole to the ground sending off a shockwave sending Mogwai onto their asses. Her sandaled feet slipped in blood and a giant Mogwai woman ensnared her. With little ceremony, she was tossed into her mouth. Lawan held onto her tongue with all her might. Her battle sandals coming off her feet from the violent bucking of the tongue. Her grip slipped, and she was tumbling to the back of her throat. At the last second, her bare feet found enough traction to anchor her on a molar. With her free hand, she cast a spell sucking the air out of the giantess' lungs. Her hands gripped an incisor as she continued the spell even as the giant tooth cut her flesh both hand and foot. She felt her twice and convulse before falling. Lawan kept it going for a full minute until the spasms stopped. Tired, Lawan climbed out her mouth. The Mogwai looked aghast at the woman who killed their commander. A wind spell enveloped her blade and she spun a full circle cutting them all down.
Lawan fell to her knees clutching her glave. She held the line but just barely. She watched in awe as the orochi extinguished the phoenix and then Xaimei herself. "We might actually win this" she thought until Ebonheart and Claire popped back into view. She cringed as the magical blast annihilated the orochi and possibly two close friends. "Oh no" she muttered seeing two of their biggest guns falling in battle. Elena stammered. "Keep singing. For the love of Buddha keep singing!" Lawan yelled trying to take flight.
3 minutes earlier...
Ritchie had been hunkering down in the upstairs of a random home of his choosing. The second he invoked Claire’s power it burned. Every blood vessel and vein in his body felt as if it was being electrified and scorched. Nevertheless, it exhilarated him. Holding the newborn in his arms, he took flight and moved faster than even he thought possible. He heard Ebonheart yell out at the deception and made illusions of himself splitting off per the plan. He flew low to the ground kicking up dust to obscure his eventual landing. After kicking in a door, he rushed to the top floor and suppressed his power. He was warned not to exceed 10 seconds, it had been eight. His heart ached. His joints creaked. Even his toes hurt at the rough landing as his sandals had slipped off during flight. The baby not even 15 minutes old hadn't cried out since entering the world. Her eyes barely open, she gazed up at him. "Wow" he muttered seeing a faint glow in her irises.
Ritchie knew a good deal about magic being a scion of Pelé. The difference between his own feeble power and what sliver he had borrowed from Claire was as different as a cigarette lighter was to a flamethrower. And still he could sense the innate power in his surrogate niece. "I won't let her get you" he muttered bending down to kiss her forehead. He shivered as he could smell Hope. The scent of Aspen very much on her. Minutes passed at the ground shook, people fought outside screaming and dying. A cold determination came over him. He'd die before Ebonheart could touch her. He knew as much to his very bones. No fear or second thoughts about it. And if necessary, use the power again to make sure of it, exploding heart be damned. Ritchie understood the emotional burden Claire carried having this power now. Even though he was Menehune by now, he still carried some borrower blood and it spoke to him. "Protect...protect...PROTECT!" it screamed. Then a shout that hurt his ears and a mighty blast of reddish orange light. An earthshaking boom and Ritchie stood up and walked to the blown-out window. "Oh god..." he muttered.