Still wearing the same confused expression, Tenshi fell to the ground as the now familiar cloaked figure behind her kicked her off their blade.
““Never turn your back on an enemy”, was it?” the figure remarked indifferently. “Decent advice.”
“TENSHI!” Isaac screamed, drawing his revolver, only to find the bullet belt was deactivated. Flicking the safety off in desperation, Isaac fumbled to lock the belt in place when the cloaked stranger was on him, slamming the hilt of their blade into his hand and disarming him.
Kicking the legs from under him, the figure planted a foot on Isaac’s chest and leveled their dripping katana at his neck. “Please, just die.” The figure sighed, preparing their thrust. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”
*STAB!*
Charles’ throwing dagger imbedded itself in the figure’s sword arm, forcing them to drop the blade. Leapfrogging off his back, Marie launched into a spinning kick, following up at the figure’s injured arm, a cry of rage tearing from her throat. Immediately, the figure kicked their foot up, catching the dropped sword and flipping it into their off hand, but before they could strike, Marie’s kick sent them flying back, knocking the hood back from their cloak.
Sheathing her sword, the odd figure got to her feet. Her solemn violet hair done up in lengthy ringlets hung down past her deadened eyes.
Further, as she swept back her cloak to reach her second sheath, she revealed two thick cylinders strapped to the backs of her calves, which led down to a sort of heel extension on her shoes, making them appear several sizes too large for her feet.
Casting a deadened eye on her wounded right arm, the figure sighed, drawing a crank from a small pouch on her lower back. Meanwhile, Charles had stumbled over to Isaac and was helping him up.
“Forget about me, get that bastard!” Isaac yelled, shoving his friend away. Turning to the Fortress who had just arrived on the scene, he called out directions to her. “Nor, get to the town as fast as you can and get a Doctor. Every town has a couple! They can fix any wound. Marie, you see to Tenshi, I’ll back up Charles!”
“Understood!” Marie yelled back, gritting her teeth as she ran towards their fallen teammate.
By now, Charles was facing off with the wounded figure, who was now unarmed except for the crank in her hand.
"Who are you?!" he growled through clenched teeth, his sword leveled in front of him with his good hand.
"The girl who just killed your friend, I guess," she replied deadpan. "That's enough for you, right?"
Charles grit his teeth. “Draw your sword," he commanded. "We may both be down an arm, but unlike you, I’ve got backup.”
“One arm is more than enough for the likes of you,” the figure asserted in a tired voice. “Heh. That was a good line.” Pulling back her neckline, she revealed a number of gears seemingly imbedded in her flesh. Inserting the crank into a large gear above her heart, the figure turned it slowly, all the other gears around her shoulder spinning in response as a music-box melody echoed around the field.
“Is that supposed to scare me?” Charles yelled, moving in for a strike.
“If you’re not scared, you truly are an idiot,” the figure replied, dropping her hand to her left sheath, gripping the hilt.
“Charles, I’m ready!” Isaac called out from across the field. His revolver properly loaded, he cocked the hammer back and aimed. Ignoring Isaac, Charles raised his sword to strike, just as a sharp ratcheting noise resounded from the figure, followed by a loud *SPROING!*
Isaac never knew what hit him.
As Charles looked on in disbelief, the girl vanished from under his blade. Scanning the battlefield in panic, he saw she was now 40 feet away, directly in front of Isaac! Drawing her katana in one smooth stroke, she carved her blade upwards, delivering an underhanded cut across his middle leading up into his left arm, sending him flying one way, his weapon another, blood scattering the turf.
“Hmm, a bit too shallow. You’re still alive, aren’t you?” The figure looked at Isaac's bleeding chest critically. Pressing a button on the grip of her katana, she was rewarded with a small metal pin popping out of the bottom of the hilt. Inserting it into the space above her heart, she began to twist her hilt, causing the large springs attached to her heel extensions to retract back into her calve cylinders, once more playing the haunting tune.
His senses returned to him, Charles swore to himself and broke into a charge, his sword leveled at the girl. Turning to face him, the figure flicked the blood off her blade, taking a stance. Retracting the metal pin into the grip, she prepared to meet his charge.
Suddenly, a gunshot split the battlefield, followed by the ringing of metal on metal.
With a dull thud, the figure’s blade fell to the ground, severed at the hilt by the offending bullet. The girl sighed deeply, casting a weathered eye up at the battlefield, which was now packed with armed players.
“I see,” was all the woman uttered. Turning to face Charles, she sheathed her broken katana and gestured to her injured arm. “When we next meet, we’ll both be fighting unhindered.”
Before Charles could respond, a pair of small cylinders dropped from underneath her cloak, exploding into a cloud of smoke as they hit the ground. The players on the battlements shouted in alarm as the cloud enveloped friend and foe alike, blanketing everything. As Charles stumbled through the blinding haze in the direction of Isaac, a deadened voice whispered in his ear: “And when we do, I’ll finish the job.” Before he could turn around, a familiar sound of springs rang out, and the figure’s presence was gone.
*******
By the time Charles reached the bleeding Isaac, a player on the battlefield had succeeded in casting a wind spell, blowing away the blinding smoke. However, the sight revealed was not one Charles nor Isaac wanted to see. Out towards the center of the field, Marie was kneeling down over the still form of Tenshi, tears leaking from her eyes in spite of herself.
Ignoring their wounds, the two men limped over to her side, but even from a distance the damage was evident. Marie was holding the formerly white handkerchief Charles had given Tenshi to the hole in her chest to staunch the blood, but it was saturated completely. All the while, more of their companion’s lifeblood continued to seep through, dying her uniform crimson.
“Doesn’t look to bad to me,” Isaac lied as he faced Tenshi, unable to look directly at the wound. “This is BRYZ, the Doctor class can fix anything, you’ll see. Nor will be back with one any second now.”
“Naturally,” Tenshi intoned, softer than usual. “I do not see why you bother, though. I will be just fine.”
Rolling her eyes slowly towards Marie, Tenshi reached out and gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “Marie, I would request that you promise me something,” she demanded.
“What, now you start calling me by my name?” Marie smiled through tears. “What is it, sunshine?”
“Promise…you will look after...those two idiots for me,” she whispered, her grip growing looser. “They are in…desperate need of…someone with common sense.”
“I promise!” Marie's eyes misted, as she applied more pressure to the wound. “But you’ll be right there with us, okay?”
“Naturally,” Tenshi replied, sighing softly. “Honestly, you all worry too much. I will…be… just…fine…”
Tenshi’s arm fell softly to the grass.
*******
A sound of screeching tires split the stillness as Nor rocketed through the gates towards the party, a wide-eyed player in black robes trapped under her arm.
“Hey, the town’s Doctor logged out as soon as the monsters started attacking, but this Bard guy knows some healing skills!” Nor presented the nervous player forwards, before stopping in her tracks and looking around. “Hey, where’d Tenshi go?”
“She’s gone,” Isaac replied, balling his fists.
“Huh? Gone where?” Nor replied, scanning their surroundings.
It was the wrong thing to say.
“Damnit Nor, Tenshi died, okay?” Isaac yelled, throwing his revolver to the ground. “A Bard? That’s the best you could bring? We were counting on you, Nor!”
“Hey now, I did what I could…” Nor brought up her hands reflexively.
“Stop it,” Marie grit her teeth, drying her eyes. “It’s not Nor’s fault.”
“She’s right,” Charles growled, advancing on the rest of them. “It’s your damn fault, Isaac!” he drove an armoured fist into Isaac’s face, knocking him to the ground.
“The hell are you on about?!?” Isaac shot back, blinking blood from his eye and slamming into Charles, knocking him head over armoured boots. “You’re the protector here, Charles! Where were you when we needed a shield? Chasing tail?”
An armoured boot to his midriff prevented any further tirade from Isaac, as Charles stumbled to his feet. “You can yell all you like, but don’t forget, you programmed this whole damn world!” he accused, advancing on the gasping Isaac. “The hell were you thinking, adding something like perma-death, you sadistic bastard?!”
“But…I…didn’t…” Isaac wheezed, staggering upright.
“Tenshi’s blood is on your hands!” Charles yelled, swinging a fist at his head.
*Clang!*
Charles’ hand was completely enveloped in Nor’s massive gauntlet as she gently but purposefully twisted his arm down, away from Isaac’s head.
“Grow up, Charles,” she growled, pushing him back with a massive palm. “And you too, Isaac,” she continued, flicking him back onto the ground. “Blaming this on any one person isn’t going to fix a thing.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” Charles ground out between his teeth. “I know, okay! I just…” he slumped to the ground. “Damnit anyway,” he croaked out, slammed a fist into the dirt. “I wasn’t strong enough again!”
“Everything will be just fine, Charles.”
“How the hell are things gonna be just fine?” Charles yelled, tears forcing their way out of his eyes. “We failed Tenshi! We were a team; we were supposed to have each other’s backs! Now look!”
“Charles, look at me.”
Charles raised his head to look at the speaker, his tear-blurred eyes focusing to see Tenshi standing there in front of him, an arm on his shoulder, completely unharmed.
“Tenshi?!?” he gasped, his cry causing the others to raise their heads.
“Bu…wha…I saw you die!” Isaac stammered, wiping his eyes in disbelief.
“Tenshi, you idiot!” Marie laughed, tears streaming as she leaped over Charles and slammed her into a hug.
“Please do be careful, I am currently down to 1 hit point,” Tenshi warned, trying to escape her friend’s embrace.
“Um… I don’t really know what’s going on, but I can heal you if that’s okay,” the nervous adventurer Nor kidnaped ventured, raising his hand.
“That’d be great, thanks,” Nor sniffed, followed by the sound of a blown nose echoing from inside the suit.
*******
“How’d you escape?” Isaac asked, as the player aggressively played healing skills on his violin over Tenshi.
“I do think you forgot how the game works,” Tenshi explained. “Each player has two unique abilities that assist them, and differentiate them from any other player of a like class. For me, that includes my Sub-Ability “THOUGH SEPARATE PARTS, EACH IS WHOLE”, which allows me to create duplicates outside of combat, each with a single hit point. I can then transfer my control and my current hit points between them at any time.”
She turned to look at Nor. “I placed one in an alleyway just before you and the rest went off to the arcade,” she explained. “However, it took me some time to make my way over from the center of town, that is why I was late.”
“So that’s how you escaped?” Marie inquired. “You just swapped over to a clone?”
“Not quite,” Tenshi explained. “I did not wish for you to be worried, so I stayed in my main body until it perished, to try and explain to you. Whenever the body I am in dies, I immediately swap to the nearest clone, becoming a new “original”, with the clone’s 1 base HP becoming my current HP. However, you were all too preoccupied for me to successfully convey my message.” She inclined her head slightly. “I apologize for any distress incurred due to my negligence.”
“Well, at least we know it’s the real Tenshi,” Isaac laughed, drying his eyes. “Only she could be so nonchalant about just dying.”
“But I told you I did not die…” Tenshi tried to explain.
“Damnit, now I feel really uncool.” Charles sniffed, rising to his feet and turning his back on the party. “You got me all worried for nothing, Tenshi.” He hiccupped, removing a gauntlet and wiping a hand over his eyes.
*smooch*
Before he could react, Tenshi skipped over to Charle’s side and planted a little kiss on his cheek. “Thank you, Charles.”
“Wha…huh…wuh?” Charles spluttered.
“I owed you a kiss, if you recall,” Tenshi replied, the corners of her mouth curving ever so slightly. “You told me I could return it any time I wished, but I seem to have soiled your handkerchief. I hope this will do.” She gave a little bow.
Charles turned a brilliant crimson.
“Ho-ho-ho, what’s this?” Marie laughed smugly, elbowing Charles in the ribs. “Some playboy you are, is this your first time getting kissed by a girl?”
“Clam it, Alex!” Charles mumbled, slamming his visor down. “It’s like, you know, a Hero must always be pure of heart and soul!”
Nor chuckled silently to herself, watching the two banter with each other, while Tenshi observed from the sidelines, a satisfied look on her face.
“Well, I guess I’ll leave the rest to you, Isaac,” she interjected at last, collaring the Bard. “Me and this guy…um…”
“Cataliszt,” the player ventured.
“Right, Cataliszt!” Nor continued. “Anyways, we’re gonna head on back to the town. See you ‘round!”
“Thanks again, Nor.” Isaac smiled, holding out his fist.
“Anytime you need me, give me a holler,” Nor replied, dodging the offered fist and giving him a good-natured punch to the chest, knocking him down. Turning away, she picked up the smaller player once again, tucking him under her arm as she trudged back to the city. “Oh, by the way,” she started, turning to look at Cataliszt, “are you interested in joining the up-and-coming strongest guild in BRYZ, Peppermint Eyeglass?”
Isaac smiled, then turned back to the group. Charles was walking out in front, his visor still down, while behind him Tenshi and Marie were engaged in a mainly one-sided conversation on Marie’s part.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Tenshi cut in, stopping and facing Marie.
“Hmmm, what’s up?” Marie asked.
“You do intend to honour your promise, correct?” Tenshi inquired.
“Huh? I made a promise?” Marie cocked an eyebrow. “When?”
“Remember, you said you would join our party,” Tenshi continued. “You promised, and said that I would be part of the team too, correct?”
Marie paused for a moment, then a light of recognition dawned on her. “You tricked me!” she accused. “Girl, I thought you were dying for real!”
“I do not know what you are talking about,” Tenshi defended, her voice dropping to a monotone. “I even explicitly stated that I was in no danger whatsoever. I deny all accusations.”
Marie tried to maintain a stern expression, but broke up laughing. “Oh, okay, you win Tenshi. I’ll join, I’ll join! Happy?”
“Very,”
Marie sighed, then turned to face Isaac. “Well, I guess I’m part of the team now. Thanks for having me, “Leader”!”
“Don’t I have any say in this?” Charles interjected glumly.
“Welcome aboard, Marie!” Isaac grinned.
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