At Holly's signal, all three concentrated their fire on their target. Poppy simply smiled as she halted Neutrino blasts, magic pulses, and arrows alike, the energy attacks melting away into nothing, the arrows being tossed aside by an invisible force.

"We can't get through!" barked Katniss, her eyes tracing possible routes she could take to retrieve her lost arrows.

"She's too strong," moaned Twilight. "How are we supposed to beat her?"

"She's strong, but not invincible. She can't be," said Holly. "She's got to have some sort of weakness."

Poppy shook her head. "Tell me, Holly Short. Does the night have a weakness? Can you strike the darkness? Is entropy a thing that can be beaten? No. I am as eternal, as intangible as these; weakness is not a trait that can apply to a being such as myself."

"Anyone as full of themselves as you are has to be hiding something. We'll figure it out, we promise," replied the elf.

"You mean you will figure it out. Your friends will not be so helpful."

Poppy raised her hands towards the warriors that flanked Holly, clawing her fingers at the air. The bodies of Twilight and Katniss tensed up, then slumped forward slightly.

"Katniss? Twi? Are you guys all right?"

"Physically, yes," mused Poppy.

Twilight batted her eyes, as if dust was stuck in them. When she turned towards Holly, those eyes widened, then narrowed.

"A Changeling," she gasped, lowering her horn towards the elf. "Impersonating Holly this whole time!"

"She's been enthralled," Holly whispered. "And Katniss-"

The girl finished tying her jacket around her waist, and stomped her feet into a wide stance. Red ki began to swirl around her body.

"Are you worthy?" she growled.

"D'Arvit," cursed Holly, zipping upwards on her mechanical wings to avoid a spinning kick and blast of magic. In the distance, a gold ribbon danced around a pink one, their meetings marked by faint explosions. The moon was still out, as it had been before, but seemed significantly larger now. Holly didn't have time to worry about such astronomical events. Now she was not only fighting Poppy, but her friends. How could she win? She didn't have time to worry about that, either. She needed to act. Holly darted downward, landing in time to duck under one of Katniss' fireballs. She put her back to what was arguably the more dangerous opponent, and fired three shots into Twilight, whose half-charged magical beam fizzled out as she tumbled to the ground. Holly jetted away from a fiery uppercut and spun to face the girl she had sworn to protect. Katniss' eyes burned with a hatred that was not too different from the one Holly knew was lodged deep into her heart.

"We're back where we started, aren't we?"

Katniss probably could not recall what the elf was referring to, as evidenced by the animalistic roar she replied with, before slamming her palm into the ground to create a shockwave of dark energy. Holly leapt over the attack and rushed in, pressing the barrel of the Neutrino into Katniss' stomach before firing. The girl did not fall, and instead locked her fingers over Holly's skull and threw her aside.

Poppy sat back down, pleased with herself. That will teach them about the frailty of mortal alliances, she thought. Though… it certainly feels odd to see them fighting each other, after so long. I would not like to see the same thing happen to my team.

Holly dodged a jab, and futilely threw her small foot into the girl's chin. "Come on, Katniss. You can break free, I know it!"

Katniss did not break free, and instead grabbed Holly's foot to toss her aside. She twisted her hands around a fireball and threw it toward her former friend, who was still recovering when it hit. Holly was thrown further backwards by the explosive ki, her magic already beginning to heal the burns.

Burns… like what Mikasa had… wait, that's it!

The elf sprung off of the ground, laughing far more than anyone in her situation had any right to.

"What's so funny?" asked Poppy.

"I know exactly how to beat you," the elf said proudly.

"SUZAKU HADOKEN!" screamed Katniss, preparing another explosive attack to hurl toward her friend. Her aim was disrupted at the last second by a boot to her shoulder, forcing the Hadoken to instead fly into the barbershop, turning it into a smoking ruin. Katniss whirled in place with her right hand poised to shatter the clavicle of whoever thought they could interrupt her attack. It instead met with a wall of worn, grey metal that could generously call itself a sword, carried by a much healthier-looking Mikasa.

"That's enough," growled the scout, swinging one of her powerful legs into the girl's midsection. Katniss staggered backward, Mikasa's strike evidently producing some effect.

"Feeling better?" asked Holly with a grateful smile.

"Yes," Mikasa answered.

Poppy bit her lip. How had she not seen the girl get up? She was sitting right next to her! Poppy assured herself that she had simply been paying more attention to her enthralled warriors, instead.

"How interesting," she said. "I will allow this intervention."

"Mikasa, I've got a plan. But we'll need to make sure Twilight and Katniss can't interfere. Without killing them!"

"I'll try," muttered the scout, rotating the Buster sword so that the flat edge faced her opponent.

"Your time is almost up, Poppy," snarled Holly.

"Good. I'll be waiting."


"I wonder how the rest of the team is doing," said Kamina, squinting into the buildings not far ahead.

"I think they're doing fine," replied Simon. "But I'm worried about the moon. It's getting bigger, like… like it might hit us."

"The moon hitting the planet? Now, that's just crazy," laughed Kamina. "As crazy as you getting married."

"It's true, both of them, bro!"

"Pshhh, I'm just messin' with you, Simon. But I really can't believe that you'd end up with a chick who had clouds for hair, now that just sounds stupid."

"PLEASE STAND A LITTLE CLOSER TOGETHER!"

"Was that… Ruby?" Kamina asked. Simon threw himself next to the other boy, and they were wrenched backwards as something small and blue bounced off of them.

"Oh, man," it whimpered, rubbing its spiky head. A sandstorm was rising in the distance behind him, rapidly approaching. The pilots recognized two familiar silhouettes inside; one small, and one bulky. Almost instantly, the sandy shapes split apart and stopped, Ruby twenty meters away, and Adam directly in front of them. The artificial man grabbed the mouse-like creature and wadded him into a ball.

"Ready when you are, Ruby!"

"All right!" she giggled, expanding her weapon into its full scythe form. "Batter up!"

Adam wound up and hurled the blue ball towards the huntress, who unleashed a bullet-assisted swing that knocked the creature far into the sky, until the blue of his quills was not visible against the blue between the clouds.

"And he's outta here!" shouted the girl triumphantly. "Thanks for all your help, guys!"

"Don't mention it," sighed Simon weakly.