Tentalash and Phantom Beast vs Doc Fortune and Compass part5

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Compass took a moment to wipe the sweat from her brow. And currently was eyeing her tote bag. It was stuckin the goo, and that /bothered/. Sure when she had dropped it she was running for her life and desperate for anything to get her farther from Phantom Beast, but now that seemed like a terrible idea. For one, stuck in the honey trap. And two, it was covered in goo.

Phantom Beast for her part had passed out into the honey, still murmuring to herself, though now seemed to struggle in little ways. The beast projects were starting to coalesce again-misty ports that were all of mixed colors now instead of just one. A rainbow shimmer wrapping about her a bit like a shawl.

"Hey hey, don't worry. Doc Fortune will let you out super quick she has some trick to getting rid of the goo." Compass assured, only to watch as the writhing grow faster, stronger, the girls body staying still as the body continued to buck and move. Two the side of her hips a pair of thick legs appeared, lifting high and then ending in big flippers. Big webbed feet that smacked into the honey, red and orange jeweled legs instantly getting stuck. Frog legs, Compass realized with a giggle, before moving closer, trying to talk her opponent down. She clearly must be nervous.

"Hey! You got officially caught already, its fine, Doc Fortune will-"

Reinforcement fortunately came over the speaker. "Phantom Beast, you are officially captured. Its okay, you are going to get freed soon."

"There, see?" Compass turned back, only for the thrashing to become more frantic. A thick, furred torso started to appear, blending in with those frog legs. Somehow the flippers pulled free of the honey, smacking and hitting again, trying to lift up, joined by a set of hooves that grew from the front legs. Everything continued to change color, like a light through a prism, long spines starting to poke through the furred hide, each of them flashing with bright yellow, and finally a rams head appeared above Phantom Beasts, the beast giving a bizarre howl. All while Phantom Beast seemed curled at the center of its belly, like she was cocooned in the chimera's belly. Compass stepped back, mouth working soundlessly until "Okay, thats impressive, but you really shouldn't-"

Words stopped, and suddenly everything seemed to be still. Her eyes dropped down, following the emerald horns and where they blended seamlessly with deep blue face and jaw. The beasts mouth was parted, and from hits lips a violet tongue, elongated like a frogs emerged, lashing out at her. No, not at-wrapped around her arm and shoulder. Along the tongue though were shards-wicked terrible looking barbs of bright yellow, stained red. Some part of Compass's mind didn't like that. It was the wrong shade of red, prisms didn't make it look that shade, its too dark...

It took another few moments to realize that the red had come from her.

Just as quickly as time stopped it began, and she felt herself yanked forward, closer to the beast, a desperate howl tearing from her lips as she was yanked forward and those jaws opened impossibly wide to welcome her, mandibles unfolding from the too wide mouth, seeing her embrace...

A second grip appeared around her waist, and she felt her body go rigid. It was agony, but the kind of agony that bit so deep words, screams couldn't manage to fully encompass the feeling-just spine going rigid as tears fell down her cheeks. The grip around her waist only moved to reinforce itself-more wrapping around her shoulders and torso, and the sound of rolling skates was increasingly obvious.

The grip at her shoulder seemed to get tighter, barbs digging in more cruelly, before there was a sudden release of tension, the tongue severed, and Tentalash skated off, her tentacles still wrapping around the much smaller girl as she cradled her to her chest. "Compass! Eyes on me! Look at me!"

Compass heard the words but... for some reason her body just wasn't responding. All she could do was stare at the ripped part of the tongue still around her shoulder, watching as first the purple tongue itself and then the bright yellow shards vanished, until just the red stain of her blood remained.

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"Keep her feet elevated. She's in shock." Doc Fortunes hands were now stained that same red, fingers gently moving over the open gash. As she worked more of honey she was so adept at creating spread, helping fill the obvious injuries, before her thumbs pulled back and added a heavy red and yellow scab over the puncture marks.

"She's lot a lot of blood, and the tearing is pretty substantial." Doc Fortunes eyes fluttered, though already she shook her head as she started to redesign the honey she wanted to emit once more. She'd already packed the wound, and now had it covered. She moved back to antiseptic and antibacterial, washing her hands clean as she dried them off quickly, and bent down to re-examine.

"You are certain that the tongue and barbs vanished on their own? You didn't unravel or toss it aside after the tongue snapped?" She knew she'd asked this question twice, but Tentalash remained firm, nodding as she helped brace Compass's feet resting atop of the girls messenger bag.

"Thats good. The spines you described are sounded like they're meant to be poisonous, but if they faded then if they had any agent it hopefully will fade as well." Not that she'd know what kind of anti-toxin to even use if she /did/ confirm it was necessary, and if she did she wasn't sure she could manage another change without passing out. She'd already taxed herself leaving the traps everywhere, and fatigue buzzed at the back of her eyes, insistent, crowding out other conscious thoughts.

Neither girl had asked why Phantom Beast had suddenly attacked them like this. Instead Doc Fortune had done emergency care to Compass while Tentalash stood guard, listening and providing the occasional hand. And then...

"She's free from  your honey trap." What mirth at the challenge had faded from the alien looking girl, who now moved with a tenseness that seemed aberrant-like the girls body wasn't used to having to stand ramrod straight or tighten with nerves. "I can hear her moving- coming this way."

Of course she was. Doc Fortune sighed, and stood up. "I'm already nearly passed out. We can't move Compass too much, her arm is already-"

The sound of the Phantom Beast smashing into a corridor had both girls stiffen, sharing a look before Tentalash slowly rollerskating between Compass and Doc Fortune and the origin of the sound. "Teacher had to have seen that and is on their way. We don't need to wait for her long."

"Right. Just got to slow down Phantom Beast." The alien looking girl closed her eyes, taking another breath, before starting to skate off-cutting through Doc Fortune's protest. "If I have to fight here, it'll be where it can attack you and Compass. I can't be everywhere at once you know."

Whatever protest Doc Fortune had then died on her lips.

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Tentalash wanted to do her pregame stretches again. A kata, three, something to get herself back into the mindset. The girls blood was still on her costume, but she tried to put it out of her mind. C'mon, she reminded herself. You /wanted/ to have a fight with her one on one. She's intense and terrifying and she's going to be a fantastic opponent. She lowered her hips, one hand reaching in front of her.

It was shaking. The movement drew her eye first of all blinking as she felt the trembling grow more real. Her heart was doing the same-just a rapid, eager beat. When was the last time she had actually shaken like this? Not the tryouts. Not even her first day at the roller derby. This was...

The first time she played chess at nationals. Her first opponent had been Steven Hederoy Worthington. The III. He'd sneered at her and she'd just trembled. Her first time playing on that stage. First time playing against boys at that level.  Most girls never got to compete at this level. She'd been coached, told that it was normal to feel awkward, but that she shouldn't worry about that. Just play chess anyway.

She'd lost the tournament. But she'd also managed to checkmate Worthington.

Her hand stopped shaking. And her lips pulled wider in a grin. She hadn't been worried about winning. She'd just been hoping to have fun. As the bellow of challenge echoed down the hall, she felt her heart answering in kind. Why be nervous? It was still the same game. Just one with higher stakes.
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