Chapter 40

The Wall Crumbles

Kyoko struggled to right herself, as she was sent flying. She failed, and smashed through the window of a shop, knocking over a set of racks and ending up entangled in a pile of clothes. As she managed to clear her sight, she saw several Shadow Elves enter the shop, weapons drawn. Kyoko flinched, but then heart the welcome sound of gunshots. The Elves jerked and then collapsed, dispersing into dark wisps.

Mami and Sayaka entered the shop, and pulled Kyoko free of the mess and helped her to her feet, with Sayaka supporting her as she healed her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. But what do we do about Astos?" Kyoko asked. "Nothin' we've tried works, everything just bounces off!"

There was the sound of laughter, and then the sound of a rocket propulsion. The girls immediately rushed out the back door of the store as a missile streaked inside, blowing up the entire building. Sayaka raised her cloak and it flowed over the trio, turning rigid to shield them from the falling rubble.

"Yeah, it's still the same with the Fortress Crab!" Sayaka said. "That same red barrier appears… red like…"

"That thing floating on top!" Mami finished.

"What, ya' mean that gold skeleton in the red cloak?" Kyoko asked. "It hasn't done anything. It's just floatin' there."

"In the middle of a pitched battle?" Mami said. "It might be the source of that aura that keeps protecting him."

"Red aura, red cloak?" Kyoko asked. "That's the best ya' have to go on?"

"Well, do you have any other suggestions?" Sayaka countered.

"Fine. But I doubt he's goin' to let us just go after that thing."

"Leave that to me." Sayaka said with a grin. "I'm the healer, but I'm also the party tank too."

"You idiot, I'm the one who makes the game references." Kyoko shot back with another grin. "But yeah, ya' can be pretty damn annoyin'. Makes it hard to pay attention to anything else."

Sayaka only smiled as she flourished her cape and drew a sword.

"Alright then girls, let's go!" Mami said, forming a musket.

Astos watched as the storefront crumbled under the barrage of missiles. He wondered if that had killed them or not. True, playing with them was fun, but they were ultimately irrelevant. If the Goddess' fragment wasn't here, then she must be in the palace, trying to protect the Aether.

Well, there wasn't much use in sticking around here any more. He called a Wyvern towards him, preparing to fly towards the palace to aid Malekith, only for a sword to suddenly embed itself in the Heartless' head. It shrieked and fell to the ground, temporarily releasing it's captive Heart.

"Hey, where do you think your going!" A voice rang out.

Astos turned to see the blue one leaping towards him, sword held high. He sidestepped, and then cast Quara with a gesture that caused the ground beneath her to explode as she landed, sending her flying away.

"Really? I'd think you'd have learned your lesson by now."

The blue one picked herself up, and he could see her wounds glowing blue, the flesh knitting back together. He sighed inwardly, regenerators were so frustrating to fight.

"I've always kinda been a slow learner, they say." The blue one grinned as she leaped towards Astos. He shrugged as he lazily lifted his arm to intercept the blow. His barrier absorbed the impact, turning it into nothing more than a nick.

Try as she might, there was nothing she could do to threaten him. He was protected by Zona Seeker, Esper of Barriers and Attrition.

"You're wasting your time. You don't stand a chance." He taunted, before blasting her away with an Aero spell. He waited to laugh at her frustrated expression like the red one's, only to be disappointed when she grinned again.

"I wouldn't be too sure." The blue one said. She held out her blade to the side, and to Astos' surprise, it was engulfed in blue-white flames. She dashed forwards, only for her attack to again be repelled. He countered with a Thunder spell, blasting her into a wall.

So this one could channel light magic. That was the Holy Sword art. Combine that with her defensive abilities and her affinity for white magic, and it was clear that this girl had the makings of a Paladin in her. Such obnoxious enemies to fight though it was always hilarious to make them fall. Maybe he could have some fun with this one...

He looked at the blue one as she rose again, blade still alight with that holy flame. Astos smirked, lazily raising his arm. She clearly didn't know when to give up. Paladins never did. But try as she might, Zona Seekers's Magic Wall would-

It turned out Mami's suggestion was right. Whatever this thing was, the barrier was definitely caused by it. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be much of a fighter. When Kyoko leaped towards it, the skeleton promptly fled, backing away from her attacks. A strange glowing energy disk formed in it's hand as it did so, and it hurled the projectile at Kyoko.

Fortunately, it was easily deflected by her spear, which she then extended, streaking forwards to strike the creature on the side. It made no sound as it was injured. As Kyoko pulled her spear back to ready for another strike, Mami leaped over her, forming an array of muskets that opened fire.

The skeleton held out it's hand and a red hexagon barrier formed, intercepting the shots. As it blocked, it floated further down the side of the Fortress Crab. It launched the shield at them and then ducked behind one of the turrets as the helmeted Heartless manning it abandoned their stations to attack.

"Mami?" Kyoko said.

"Fireshot!" There was a streak of red and then a fiery explosion engulfed them. However, when the smoke cleared, the Heartless were still standing, a red aura now around them.

"Of course." Kyoko groaned. "Gotta go after the buffer."

The Heartless charged at her, swinging their fists. Kyoko formed a shield of chains, deflecting the blows.

"I'll hold them off, you get the skeleton!" Mami said as she conjured a set of ribbons, binding several of the Heartless that approached her, and then bashing away the rest with her muskets as they approached her.

Kyoko nodded and then leaped over the Heartless. She dashed around to the other side of the turret where the skeleton was casting it's force field thingy and thrust her spear. The skeleton backed away attempting to form a barrier to deflect her attack but it was too late, the spear struck true.

The creature flinched as it's black and red robe was torn and the golden bone underneath cracked. Kyoko didn't give it any time to react, continuing the assault, deflecting each of it's attempts to counter attack and not giving it any time to prepare a defense.

When the moment presented itself, Kyoko formed illusionary duplicates of herself. The skeleton looked about confused and attempted to let lose a Barrier Surge against them, but it was too late. As it wasted it's time dealing with the illusions, the real Kyoko slipped behind it and thrust with her spear, piercing straight through the creatures chest.

It jerked, and then went limp. It's body glowed, before dispersing into a cloud of glowing red mist that coalesced into a strange red-black crystal.

Before she could examine it, she heard Astos scream in pain. She basked in the sound, clearly Sayaka had him.

When her blade when through the Elves arm, Sayaka steeled herself for the sight of blood. However it never came. His forearm flopped to the ground, where it broke apart, dispersing into wisps of darkness. The stump now glowed blue, and Sayaka was reminded of the wounds that the massive Heartless they fought back in Mitakihara sustained.

What the heck was Astos?

Screaming, at the moment.

The dark elf stumbled back, his staff falling from his grip as he screamed and stared at the stump where his arm used to be.

"H-how? Impossible!" He howled.

While she would have loved to make a one-liner at the moment, finishing off her enemy took priority. She dashed forwards, becoming little more than a blue streak.

Astos stepped to the side, and a blow which would have bisected him instead cut into his side. Again, he didn't bleed, instead another jagged glowing blue wound formed.

As Sayaka turned to strike again, Astos raised his remaining arm and shouted "Ruin!"

A glowing energy sphere emerged from his hand too late for Sayaka to change course, and it struck her head on, rocketing her back into a wall hard enough to crumble it. Thankful for her healing abilities, she pulled herself free of the rubble, and leaped again at Astos, only for him to give a panicked shout of "Magnet!"

As Sayaka raised her sword, she suddenly felt it jerk back. She tried to hold on, and was forced to awkwardly stumble backwards as some force tried to pull her weapon back. She turned and saw glowing red and blue orbs floating in the air behind her, dragging her sword to them. She let go of the blade and formed another, only for it to be pulled as well.

As the wannabe Paladin struggled against the Magnet spell, Astos leaped away to a higher building, and there, leaned against a wall, clutching his wounds and cursing under his breath. Stupid brats, they were supposed to be a distraction. Something to pass the time with until Malekith seized the shard of the Goddess and the Reality Stone.

But he had gotten carried away, toying with the girls, and paid the price. Well, he was still standing. He looked at the blue one, still struggling against the spell that attempted to draw loose her weapons. She was a sitting duck. He held out his hand, and it heated up, prepared to obliterate her with flames.

Then, there was the sound of a gunshot and a burst of pain as the fireball he was about to shoot went wild.

The yellow one was now moving towards him, a bullet from her musket piercing right through his shoulder. Astos attempted to back away, only for a barrier of chains to block his path. He then saw a shadow above him and barely managed to dive to the side as the red one came streaking down towards him.

He attempted to blast her away again as she recovered only for something to hit him in the back of the head, sending him sprawling to the ground.

He looked up to see the blue one, now fighting barehanded, having discarded her weapons to the Magnet spell

"Not so tough without your cheap-ass shield, are ya'?" The red one taunted. Astos merely snarled in response before unleashing an Aero spell. The girls were blasted away, while Astos was at the same time. He landed on a nearby rooftop and ordered several of his Shadow Elves to engage them, buying him time, and with that quick break took stock of the situation.

He turned towards the Fortress Crab, preparing to order it to attack, only for a trio of Asgardian longships to converge on it and open fire. Without Zona Seeker's barrier protecting it, it could not withstand the barrage, and it began to crumble.

Elsewhere, the forces of darkness were failing. Though taken by surprise, the Aesir were warrior gods. They had gotten ahold of the situation and with the civilians now mostly evacuated, they could turn back towards the fight. Aesir soldiers had taken formation and were now smashing through the Heartless and Dark Elf invaders, while ships and turrets opened fire on the gigantic Heartless.

The battle outside was lost and he was in no shape to continue himself. He didn't like the prospect of having to make the report, that and leaving everything to a fanatic like Maleith. Regardless of what they insisted, in Astos' opinion, the Accursed was not suited to join their ranks. But for now, he would have to flee to the Dark Depths and recover.

Kyoko blocked the swing of the Shadow Elf, ducking beneath the blade of the creature and then headbutting it, knocking it back, to then impale it. She turned and extended her spear, swinging it wide to cleave through several more Heartless, while Sayaka and Mami cleared the rest of the mob.

With that done, she turned to where Astos had slinked off to. Only to see a Dark Corridor forming around him.

"Oh no you don't!" She shouted as she leaped towards him. She was too late, however, the darkness engulfed him and vanished, leaving nothing behind but a few wisps that quickly faded away.

"Dammit, fuckin' coward got away."

"We can worry about that later." Mami said, as Sayaka began healing the groups injuries. The feeling was welcome, helping her restore her stamina. She'd have to inquire about the broken tooth when they weren't busy fighting off an army.

"Yeah, we have bigger priorities." Sayaka said.

Kyoko nodded as she immediately understood what she was saying. Their priority was Madoka and Nagisa. Once Sayaka finished her healing spell, the trio turned to the castle. Their fight wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

AND WE ARE BACK BABY!

Thanks to The Name Of Love for beta-reading and idea sounding!

~Dragonexx