Ch.X-3 ¤ The Nightmare Returns (C)

Finally some good progress was being made. I could feel I was growing closer to the goal, but at the same time a certain ominous sensation crawled over me, as if things were just about to or already had turned to shit. I didn't like this. I didn't like it at all. I was tempted to take another dose of Satrophine, but I knew it was too early. I had to wait a little more otherwise the consequences would be... unsightly.

No, I had to reach my goal on my own power. It was no good to get there early if I let myself become a crazed husk in the process. Accidently killing someone I wanted to protect because of a miscalculation was about the last thing I wanted right now. To be honest I wasn't sure if I could handle either at the moment, with how frantic my mind was. I felt vulnerable.

The environment around me suddenly morphed and changed, as if crossing biomes in one of those video games. No longer a tall jungle it was, but rather a broken wastelands of crystal. It looked like ice, but it was a sickly green tint and was not slippery, with rock-like formations rising erratically and randomly everywhere, some even taking intricate or impossible shapes. Under less stressful circumstances, I would have taken some time to observe and study the strange material, but my curiosity had to be postponed as I raced between towering pillars and giant flowers of crystal alike...

Only to be greeted with the second last thing I wanted right now... Great...

Too late did I realize; the crystals were scrambling my sense of smell with a strange, indescribable scent. Otherwise I would have felt the new enemy dead ahead much earlier.

Out of all the beings in this realm, they were the ones I despised the most. The witches I could find useful. The familiars might as well be prey. The twisted half-mutated abominations I could at least pity. But these? They didn't belong in here. Their presence was an eyesore. Could I really say I belonged any more than they did? perhaps I shouldn't, but against my better judgment, I still felt like I did.

There were seven of them, all clad in their iconic armor from head to toe except a lone blueberry with long twintails who forsook her helmet; probably the squad leader. A whole squad of these 2nd Officio bitches, and judging from their armors, it was a veteran one too. Religious fanatics, the whole lot of them,  I hated them so much. I hated them even more than the Witch bitch who pretends to be Future Me. I've had previous run-ins with them before and they've always attacked me on sight. I tried to talk to them, get through those thick, indoctrinated skulls of theirs, but it's always proven useless before.

"One of them sneaked on us, be vigilant sisters." one of the helmeted dildos spoke up, pointing her sword in my general direction as I came to a stop.

"I don't have time for your shit! Get out of my fucking way or I'll MAKE you move." I snarled with poorly contained contempt.

"It speaks. Be on your guard, it has achieved sentience." It? Seriously? -IT-? I am so going to fuck you up Twintails. I WILL FUCK YOU UP.

The pleasant scent of blood and sulfur rose up, shooing away that of the strange crystals' and bringing a modest smile to my face. The feeling of baleful energies running through your veins was always exciting, no matter if it was the first time, or the thousandth time, and in my current state of irritation it was a very soothing balm.

I leaped, covering the distance in a blink as they were barely moving into combat formation. Once more I longed to be able to saw them apart like I used to, but simply feeling fresh blood run through my bare fingers would be satisfactory. If I couldn't see their faces, I could hear small gasps of surprise behind those helmets as my claws, fingers joined into single cutting tools, bit metal. The so-called 'Knights' closest to me managed to parry with their swords, but their blades were shaking heavily under strain, my claws pressuring both weapons as my smile grew lightly.

I would have pressed on to establish dominance, but the rest of the squad didn't stay stunned, instead reacting swiftly. I was forced to jump to avoid shots from the rear-most squad two members, armed with a gunlance and a heavy halberd with a grenade launcher attachment respectively. I landed on top of one of the many crystal formations, denying the remaining  3 'knights' who had tried to flank and surround me. A war maul, a chainsword, and Twintails was a dual-wielding bitch with a long Arming sword and a short rapier.

I took the precious seconds as they regrouped to gather this information and prepare something else, but  War maul Bitch didn't seem to want to give me time since she bashed her weapon into the crystal I was balancing myself atop of. I had to jump to another perch as it crumbled down under my feet and Gunlance bitch started taking potshots at me. I turned to the side to expose my profile, using the dense metal of my forward hand to block bullets while gathering energy with my back hand.

They stuck together closely. This would generally be a good idea, but not so much against me. One might think they'd learn by now, but no. I don't know what they teach those girls back at the 2nd, but I suppose the -actual- Witches take priority. Well, their loss. Enjoy fire.

I unleashed a barrage of bolts of Warpfire  straight in the center of the formation, forcing them to split up as iridescent flames rose and raged, licking away at their armors. One of the generic Sword bitches, probably a younger one recently transferred to the squad, hesitated and failed to move in time. Her screams pleased me greatly as she dropped her weapon and frantically tried to take off the armor on her left arm and hand, ablaze.

"Evans, cover her! the others with me, we'll punish that Heretic with death!" Twintails Bitch roared and the other rookieslut helped her comrade into hiding behind one of the larger crystals.

Gunlance Bitch and Halberd Bitch kept trying to pin me down  from a distance while the other 3 split up. They were learning, but it wouldn't save them. Actually, nevermind that, I don't even -have- to kill them all, I can just ignore them if I use the terrain right.

Deciding to try to simply shake them off, I stopped my current plan of separating them in two groups by falling back in a calculated manner and instead suddenly reversed gears. I rushed straight ahead from pillar to pillar, narrowly avoiding falling whenever Maul bitch went fatty smash or when Halberd Bitch used her grenade launcher, either resulting in shattered pillars. Already I was putting some good distance between them and myself, so with some luck--

The pain caught me by total surprise as some sort of energy beam hit me in the left thigh and somehow managed to cleave my left leg right off, causing me to plummet down onto the sickly green floor and swear profusely enough to make Daemons blush. I didn't have much time; I could hear their armors clanking in the distance as they kept giving chase.

I glanced around urgently and spotted my severed leg. Without wasting a second I jumped towards it with my remaining good leg and landed with an uncomfortable roll, ended prematurely by one of the pillars hitting my side. I reached out with my left hand and grabbed it, putting it back roughly in the proper place while my right hand gathered more baleful energy.

I won't lie, I'm usually pretty proud of my regeneration, but this was too much for it. There was a whole chunk missing so it wouldn't be able to take care of it; I had to do something more drastic. Once I applied the sorcerous spell, it was my turn to muffle screams through my bared teeth. I hated having to use this spell because it hurt as much as being next to a naked Culexus, but I didn't exactly have a choice at that point.

The bone reformed first, baleful energies  converging and shaping themselves into marrows and osseous tissues to bridge the gap. That was the easy part, though. The pain grew even worse as came the turn for cartilage and muscle tissues to grow around it, which took more time as well due to the bulk and complexity. I was finally able to take a breath as the  skin finished, but it didn't last as I immediately had to roll out of the way due to Twintails Bitch's arming sword chopping down the ground where I was a second ago. She backed off when she saw I was fine, though, and motioned for the others to halt.

-"Baxter! You said you shot her leg off!" she inquired with a glance back as I got back to my feet.

"I did! I swear I saw it!" another voice  came from further back, trying to catch up. Gunlance Bitch maybe?

- "Well her leg looks quite thoroughly unshot! we'll have a talk about exaggerating your achievements later."  She then motioned to her buddies and  Maul Bitch and Chainsword Bitch moved in to my sides. It looked like I wouldn't be able to shake them off so easily, but at this point, I wasn't really thinking much anymore. The pain, the hatred, the time running out, the tempting scent, this maddening realm...

The hunger...

"ENOUGH."

My irises shrunk to the point where they were barely noticeable among the black tar. My mind snapped as I reached the limits of my self-control and patience, becoming little more than a beast of instinct and murder. I raised both arms towards the 'knights flanking me and wide arcs of purple lightning fired from the tips of my claws, knocking them both back several meters and leaving the squad leader alone for me to close in onto.

She steadied her footing and readied herself for me. Commendable, in the situation, but I put a ruthless pressure immediately. Even with both  weapons and her obvious years of experience, she was struggling to keep up with the sheer ferocity of my claws, swiping and stabbing with fury.

"Sisters! to me!" Shut up. I'll make you shut up. I'll make you shut up forever if you don't fucking stop.

Despite her best efforts my claws slipped through her defenses a few times and drew blood, ignoring her armor as if it was mere wet tissue and grasping into the flesh. I was only stopped in my fury by the intervention of Gunlance Bitch and one of the rookieslut; the former managing to sneak a shot into my  left shoulder while the later jumped down from a crystal formation and tried to strike me from overhead in a fairly well-coordinated attack.

My new wound was already smoking with baleful energies from my regeneration as I grabbed the sword approaching me in my left claw and pulled to the side, making her violently crash down to my side while Twintails Bitch was still recoiling from her own wounds. Another  shot from Gunlance Bitch found its way into my back as I turned to take care of the downed Rookieslut, but it utterly failed to even slow me down. My right claw fell down on her neck, cutting through the steel  and severing it. It was so quick it was probably painless, but the scent and feeling of blood stirred me on, made me rejoice. I knew I shouldn't indulge. I knew I had more important things to do. But I could hardly control myself anymore.

"What in the Blessed lady's name is this thing?" A recovered Maul Bitch managed to inquire to Chainsword bitch, the two approaching me cautiously and defensively. I stared back, blood dripping from my claws.

"I thought it was a Familiar at first." step  "But it's too powerful to be one" step "so it has to be a Witch, right?" step.

"Probably." step "Think it's an Alpha?" another step.

"Pull it together you two!" Twintails Bitch's nagging voice rose up as she did, wincing visibly from the wounds I inflicted on her earlier. "I.. think I heard of her. If that's the Tarrasque, then we -have- to take her on all at once." Yes, please do. "Harlow, call for reinforcements, we'll do what we can." Oh great, more religious maggots. "Keep steady and cover for each others, girls!"

"E-evans? EVANS!! BLESSED LADY NO!" Halberd Bitch stared down at the headless body of the rookieslut with shifty eyes as she made it on the scene.

"Summers! Wait!" The squad leader's  warning was useless as Halberd Bitch charged at me immediately, wrath no doubt burning in her eyes . She was probably close to the girl I just beheaded.

She opened by  firing a frag grenade from that weapon attachment of hers but I simply jumped clear of the explosion. She raised her halberd to try to impale me as I was coming back down, but I deflected the blade by sending out another, smaller and quicker burst of Warp Lightning onto her arm, earning me a pleasant sound of pain escaping her lips, quickly followed by another as I landed right up to her face and  swiped my left claw up her chestplate, raking it across from waist to shoulderplate.

From the corner of my eye I could spot Gunlance bitch having jumped onto a Crystal pillar as well and preparing her light beam shit again, so I pushed Halberd bitch into the way of her line of sight, practically daring her to shoot through her friend if she could. I'd be in a pinch if she did, but fuck her either way.

The others had managed to surround me again, but this time I didn't back out. I was too lost in my bloodlust to relocate. The four of them began to slash and smash at me while Gunlance Bitch I could only assume waited for an opportunity. I was doing much the same as I whirled around, deflecting blows with both claws while waiting for a lull in the strikes, occasionally kicking one of them away when their strikes were coordinated too well.

And coordinate they did. Even though I did not have trouble keeping  up with their attacks, they were all precise, meaningful strikes made by Magical Girls who knew well what they were doing without wasting any motions. Their teamwork was good as well, they had no doubt been working together for a long time and the Halberd-wielding one was particularly vindictive for her friend. That was good. You could only meet brutality with brutality. Ultimately though, it proved her undoing as she over-extended a strike and lost her balance.

In a blink, I knocked away Twintails Bitch and Chainsword Bitch with a healthy application of baleful lightning and lunged onto her neck with an upwards strike more quickly than she could recover. Another head rolled down and Maul Bitch was too slow to stop it. Not too slow to hit me in the back and send me to the ground, though, preventing me from enjoying the warm sensation of flowing blood in the process. What an asshole.

I rolled onto my back and narrowly avoided a crushing downwards blow, but not the sniper shot from Gunlance Bitch who fucked my leg up with her light beam bullshit, AGAIN.I grabbed the maul by the handle before her wielder could pull it back up, resulting in a small gasp from the 'knight', whom I tugged towards me with enough strength to make her fall onto me. In any other circumstances, I would have taken the occasion to have some healthy "fun" with her and leave her safe but confused, but I had neither the composure or the leisure at the moment, so I just took her skull.

I had to roll some more to avoid more shots from the team Vindicare, who went for my head this time, but I had grown sooo sick of her by now. It only took a few seconds before a barrage of Warpfire took her by surprise and hit her squarely in the chest, setting her armor ablaze and making her fall down from her perch.

"Summers... Willow... Lyon..." Twintails Bitch was back on her feet, still jolting a little from the lightning as she looked frantically between my handiwork. Her body shook lightly as she fell to her knees, in shock and her own wounds not tended to. "Everyone... what.. what can I do...I have to stop her... There's got to be a way.. but how..."

That was good, because I needed time to fix my other leg. Unfortunately, I wasn't in such luck because Chainsword Bitch managed to stomach the death of her teammates more easily and crashed down her weapon on me. I had to use both of my hands to catch it since I wasn't really in much of a state to be dodging. The chain screeched onto the black steel of my claws, sparks flying wildly but the weapon not managing to dig through the tainted fleshmetal.

I held onto her weapon, locking it into a stalemate where she tried to force her way through, but I didn't give any ground. Even though I couldn't see her face, I could tell from the sounds she was making that she was driven by hatred right now. I would have wanted to say this was the same mistake as her comrade earlier, but really, who was I to talk about -that-? No one. I had no right.

I smashed into the side of her armor with my good leg, which caused her to fall down to the side and roll with a curse. I followed  even though she tried to slash at me once more in her fall and ultimately ended up on her despite my reduced mobility. In a last, panicked gesture, her chainsword started to bite into my torso, but it was too late.

The beheading carnival continued, and Twintails was too broken to say a word about it. I flopped back onto the ground with a heavy breath as I let my regeneration take care of  the injury to my chest for a handful of long seconds. With that taken care of, I sat up and reached for my severed leg for the second time in a far too short time, seating myself against a crystal tree and starting the same atrociously painful process all over again.

Doing so pulled me back from my frenzied state and into a more collected, if still fragile one. As I  stood up, I noticed the squad leader's breakdown was getting worse. She held her head with both hands, eyes frantically cycling through the headless bodies of the girls in her care, the girls who had put their trust in her. I sighed heavily and made my way towards her, which caused her to gasp and her eyes to narrow. Damn I despised those religious fucks. I grabbed her by the throat and lifted her to my eyes' level, giving her one backhanded, if genuine, piece of advice.

"You want to do something about it? Calm the fuck down. Don't Witch Out, survive. I didn't crush their Soul Gems, so they'll be fine if you recover them." I spat out coldly before dropping her back down and turning around, resuming my own journey.