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[Takosher]

Monika

Saro managed to duck slightly to the side as she got up, resulting in the uppercut only grazing her. But compared to the slight girl, Monika's strength was boundless, and even that grazing hit to the side of her ribcage caused her to stumble. She tried to level the gun at Monika, but was unable to get her balance enough to actually fire it.

Kirari

Another layer formed in Kirari's mind, one between the physical reality and the mindscape she was used to. She'd been here once before of course, although back then she didn't know who she was. A dream, soon to be a nightmare. She was in her hospital room again, standing next to her own memory of a bedridden Kira. There was no Doc or Verna, not even a Trissy. Just Kira. It was remarkable how different she looked now, only months later.

Kira looked up at her with an innocent and fearful expression that Kirari had never had the luxury of replicating. "Are you ready for this?" she asked.

Mirka and Estela

"Um." the girl on the radio seemed more than a little uncertain, "I don't think I should tell you my name. Since if you do anything to get in the way, I'll hurt the radio lady? ...Hang on." The radio went dead for a few seconds, leaving Estela to wonder what was even happening. Things didn't get much clearer when the hijacker got back. "Leave Miss Lily alone or I'll have to hurt Miss Edith Wynno, okay?"

Estela recognized the name of the radio operator, which meant they could probably follow through on their threat.

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

Things just keep getting stranger and stranger. I didn't expect to be back here. She hadn't been expecting this, but somehow, the nightmare didn't feel that she'd been caught off guard. "No." The woman extended a hand toward the dreaming girl, offering to help her up from the temporary rest. "But we will get through regardless." Shattered, splintered reflection that she was, there was still more substance to her than the dead puppet before them. She'd simply have to pull herself together long enough to prove it.

[Takosher]

Kirari

As soon as Kira's hand met hers, Kirari heard a clanging from the window. Previously, it had been barred, but now there wasn't even a pane of glass between Kirari and the outside world. Kira was gone now and the walls around Kirari were starting to crack. It wouldn't be long before the entire room collapsed.

Through the now-unbound window, Kirari could see an Esteemed One's forge. She'd been to two in her memory, but this was neither of those. Where those had teemed with the personality of their proprietors, this one was devoid of individualism. Rather than the studio of an artist, it felt more like the lab of a scientist. Everything was so sterile and empty, the only indicators that anyone worked there at all being the examination bed, cabinet, and work table covered in tools and materials. A large appliance of some kind was embedded in the wall, its oversized door clearly indicating that the innards were both hot and dangerous, despite the foreign text.

The room's only occupant was a lone woman, eighteen or nineteen by Kirari's estimate. She had long black hair with uneven chunks cut out of it at seemingly random intervals, giving it an unkempt and jagged look. Her skin was pale pink and stiff looking, her cracked red lips revealing just how dehydrated she was. Given the lack of pigmentation in her face, it was easy enough to tell that she hadn't eaten in days, she might well have been on the verge of death. And yet her crystal blue eyes still shone with a radiant defiance, as though she thought she was destined to always be the most important person in the room. She didn't seem to be aware of Kirari watching her yet.

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

I'll take you with me too, then. Maybe she was just being self-centered, maybe speaking to yet another victim, maybe both. It didn't matter. She walked toward the window, watching the unkempt woman. So that's where we are.

Kirari calmly stepped up to the frame. "Are you a monster already?" It looked different, but the contents were ultimately the same. Or were they? Kirari had seen her own eyes. Hollow, empty things, filled with naught but shadow that had once hungrily consumed what they set upon. The girl's eyes held the opposite; a searing light that promised to stand against the world until its very end - yet their paths had led to this same point. "Or was this your beginning?"

[Takosher]

Mia

Mia shook off the disturbing reverie that had introduced her to the inside of her own mind and looked around. The intruder passing through the wall caught her attention second, right behind the familiar feeling of a parched throat. It had been a long time since she'd been in this room, even in her dreams, but she remembered what it felt like as if it was yesterday.

Kirari's question prompted an instinctive response, "I'm not a monster." Barely able to move her cracked lips, the words that sustained her were little more than an exhale.

The door behind Kirari opened, and four people shuffled in past her. Two guards, a man in a labcoat, and a woman wearing the uniform of the Republican army. Mia raised her arm in a weak salute.

"Congratulations, Mia." Colonel Linda said with a smile. It was condescending, Mia had always hated her. "Everyone else either dropped out or died, you're the only one who made it this far."

"Can I have it now then?" Mia demanded.

Theyd denied her over and over until only this mad science experiment remained. Starving her like this was a waste of time. They didn't need to test her, they didn't need to experiment. She was the one who was special, if they just gave her a weapon she would have become the strongest all on her own.

Or at least, that's what she bought back then.

"Doctor?" the Colonel nodded to the man.

"I've finished attuning the materials." the Esteemed One told her, "All that remains is to bring in your sacrifices."

Mia looked past them towards Kirari. "You might want to look away. Even you might not be able to stomach this." she said, smiling smugly.

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

The Dame didn't dignify the comment with a response. Marionette's work was gruesome and horrifying, even by her standards, but she wasn't about to let herself be fazed by what her holy weapon could do. Instead, she simply rested a hand on her weapon, face impassive. "If you're not a monster, then that must make me a saint." It might've been a joke, but the words were flat and hollow. Kirari stared at one of the only people in this world she loathed more than herself, and there was no space left for joviality in her mind.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

Monika

At long last, Monika managed to get a glancing hit in, and the Major wasn't intending on letting the momentum slip from her grasp this time. In the time it took for Saro to level her gun at her, Monika had already stepped closer, her arm pulled back and snapping out to grab the arm Saro had leveled at her. In the heat of the moment, Monika's primary goal was still to remove Saro's firearm. That didn't stop her from simply throwing her bullets, but it would lower Saro's effectiveness greatly. Now, she had her chance.

Thus, after making sure to yanking Saro's arm forward to give her the clearest shot, Monika brought her other fist down, aiming to shatter Saro's gun arm in one fell swoop.

[Takosher]

Mia

Mia ignored Kirari's sarcastic jab, they were empty words of a nobody. A nobody who thought any he death either of them had wrought held any meaning had no grounds to criticize her.

The colonel and the doctor set several jars of living metal on the found in front of her. One by one, they brought in young men and sat them before the jars. They were all in handcuffs and gagged. Mosd looked afraid, only one looked her in the eye. She didn't pity any of them, whatever they had done to find themselves here, they didn't matter.

"Get on with it." she said impatiently.

The doctor instructed to sacrifices in what to do, not that shoving their hands into jars was difficult. They all knew what was coming anyways, and their hesitation was apparent. Even the one that held her eye was slow to start.

After starving for days, Mia was done waiting. Using what little strength she had, she marched over to the defiant man and shoved his face into the jar.

All at once, the othee jars erupted out, latching onto their respective sacrifices and ripping them apart. The colonel and doctor weren't spared either. And worst of all, neither was she.

She was used to the pain by now, but the memory of what it had felt like the first time still haunted her. The metal burned and ripped and shredded, killing them all over and over. The others were torn apart and recombined and torn apart again, eventually turning into nothing more than piles of guts and limbs. Mia wasn't so lucky, instead having her entire body ripped apart and replaced by bits of the others. It took what felt like hours, and by the time it was over, she couldn't even remember which parts of her body originally belonged to her.

She couldn't help but wretch violently, it was an important part of the memory. That was the moment she had realized she didn't matter after all. Of course, she knew now that she'd been wrong. Back then, she'd thought of the physical replacement as a spiritual change as well, it was only later that she realized how foolish that way of thinking was.

She stood, the needles that now defined her floating alongside her mangled, patchwork body. Her eyes, now brown and green, turned to Kirari, their radiance ripped away by the violent act. She didn't say anything, simply opting to take a step forward. This intrusion into Mia's mind would be Kirari's undoing. Her needles flasjed forward, attempting to do to Kirari precisely what they had done to Mia's sacrifices.

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

She watched the gruesome spectacle in silence. A part of her had thought she'd enjoy the show, and a part of her tried to, but. . . It's too much. There was a limit to the horrors that even she could stomach, and this passed them. She might have fought with her own stomach if it wasn't for the heat of anger welling up again. This monster had tried to do the same thing to her, and more importantly, the same thing to Monika and Verna. Staying equally silent, face twisted with anger and determination, her rapier flicked up, aiming to knock Mia's attack off course and follow up with her own riposte. This battlefield belongs to me, not you.

[Takosher]

Eilyth

The rocks shifted and churned. Waves of shale and gravel smashed against the coastline, slowly whittling bits of it off and expanding the ocean. It was a sight to behold, and even the dragon made of shifting stone found it unnatural.

There were dozens of theories about the Stone Ocean. Perhaps it represented a strange tectonic intersection that forced the rocks to shift endlessly. Maybe a vampire had spilled the blood of her human sister and cursed the land that birthed them. It could just be that Allia got bored one day.

Of course, Eilyth could just ask Allia if it were the last theory.

Despite the many rumors and theories about it, no one really had any idea what it was. The best anyone could do was make an educated guess. It was a mystery, perhaps the greatest mystery in the entire world. Certainly the most dangerous. Even a small wave threatened to lacerate skin and break bones.

"We really have to go in there?" Patty asked nervously.

"Not yet." Allia answered, "But yes, we're going in there. With any Luck, Kallisto's replacement won't be far behind."

Mia

Mia's needles were easily deflected, and she only just managed to jump out of the way of the rapier's counterattack. She hadn't expected that. Kirari was faster than her, at least in here. She would have to fight with greater care.

One needle lanced back inwards, striking for Kirari's shoulder. The other three held back, defending Mia's own wretched body.

Monika

With Sally's enhancement, Monika was easily faster and stronger than Saro, who she already outmatched in hand to hand. But Saro wasn't about to just roll over and let her arm be taken out. Off- balance and grappled, she was still quick on her feet. Or rather, off them. She used the momentum of Monika pulling her forward to topple herself over, unseating both of them from their standing positions. Monika's fist still managed to cause a yelp of anguish and a nasty bruise, but the shift in direction prevented Saro from suffering the intended bone-shattering. As the two fell to the ground together, Saro did her best to wrench her arm free, but her best simply wasn't good enough to break free of Monika's superior grip.

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

She kept the needles at a distance for the moment, still testing what they could do. Kirari executed a quick backstep and parry, attempting to get a sense for how the needles moved and the limits to such before she pressed her offensive. The former Dame made another testing thrust at Marionette, attempting to keep her too busy to mount her own assault - or score the hit she needed to conquer her foe before the combat drew out.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Eilyth
The dragon stood with arms crossed as the ever shifting sea of stones expanded out before them. Her tentacles idly pulled her sidearm from it's hidden holster- the only elements of her uniform she'd kept -and for at least the third time that hour went through the routine of checking the gun. One tentacle pulled back the slide, another caught the bullet that ejected and a third popped the clip out and held it to eye level for Eilyth's inspection. The whole exercise was more for confirming control of her new limbs than anything else; by now she was able to go through the whole routine with barely any concentration. She knew a mere gun, even one heavily reinforced and chambered for .50 cal like hers, would do precious little against what they'd be facing. But it would serve as a decent distraction if the need arose, and she was going to use any tool she could get her hands on at this point. She'd be a fool not to. It was regretful she couldn't source a sawed-off and some dragon's breath ammunition on the way up here, but also not unexpected for such exotic options to be hard to find without arousing suspicion.

"Shit's probably gonna get dicey once the others arrive," She said, "Fighting Sun Bitch is naturally out of the question. Layla's also gonna be a hard no, too many variables this time. Don't even know anything about N this round either. Which means, our best bet is probably gonna be to turn the other two against Sunny B; keep them busy trying to kill each other while we secure the replacement and get the ritual underway."

Her tentacles finally popped the clip back in and returned the gun to it's holster as she looked up to the sky with disdain, as if expecting their common nemesis to descend at any moment.

"Whatever type of monster she ends up being... damn near anything's better than what we've got now."

[Takosher]

Yava

"I understand. Sometimes even the tiniest chance is worth chasing." Siren said seriously, "I don't know if I can help, but I'm going to take a nap right now. You might want to step outside, mom says it's uncomfortable to watch me dream."

Astarte

Teya let down her hood as she walked up to the pirate woman. She opened her mouth to speak, but the woman's cutlass beat her to the chase. It's point pressed against Teya's throat, threatening to slice it open if the information broker started peddling her trade.

"What are you doing here again, wench?" Cutlass-hand demanded.

Teya backed up a step and rubbed her throat before saying, "As direct as ever, Spackle. I'm here to see the captain."

"What part of, 'Get tha hell off me ship, or I'll have ye hauled across tha keel!' Did you not understand?" Spackle said, waving the cutlass threateningly.

Teya rolled her eyes as she replied, "Well, most of it, actually. But I get the idea, you don't want me here. Thing is, I have information you really can't afford to pass up."

"I don't care about your information. I've got my orders, so you'd best turn around and walk your pretty little head out of here before I'm forced to remove it from your body."

At this point, Teya nudged Astarte. "Your turn, partner."

Mia

With her attacks so easily deflected, Mia found herself on the back foot. She sidestepped Kirari's thrust with the help of two needles and used the opportunity to attempt a pincer attack with the other two. She wasn't desperate yet, but she didn't know how she was supposed to win this without her usual overwhelming speed.

[Chevaleresse]

Kirari

The duelist easily pulled back out of her strike - it was near a feint, and it had exactly the intended effect. Kirari pressed her assault, tendrils of shadow coiling themselves around her weapon as the tip rent the air over and over. She still stayed near her maximum reach - with the blade. All she had to do was catch Marionette with a tendril and it was the beginning of the end for the other monster.

[AzyWng]

Mirka

Mirka blanched. If the radio operator was being threatened by some unknown person, then what was going on back at the camp? Turning to Estela, she asked, "What should we do? Just wait for things to play out?"