An: REVIEW... random destruction... and Stormy gets a new toy and Stella... well you just have to read on...
"I thought you guys were stars. Where's the power that bested Godsend? The teamwork that defeated the Lord of the Night?" Anatsu asked as he approached the bound up females. "Well, I guess I'll have to make due with…"
A plant blade sliced up through Anatsu's net and ripped the binding apart, as Ivy and Dani were lifted back to their feet by more strands, glaring at Anatsu.
"Would you settle for the lash that staggered Asphyxiation?" Dani said, and smashed Anatsu with her shadows, sending him flying off.
"Hmmmpphhh! Guys! Get us out of here!" the triplets said, still struggling to free themselves from their bonds.
"In a moment." Ivy and Dani said as they ran after Anatsu.
"HEY! GET BACK HERE! RIGHT NOW! OH YOU LOUSY…!"
"Now if you're still insistent on fighting the big guys, the kick that bowled over the strongest mage would like to have a word with you!" Ivy said, as she leapt and snapped out her leg. But Anatsu recovered quicker the she expected and grabbed the limb, swinging Ivy around. Too long, as Ivy slammed out her other leg and kicked herself free, flipping over and landing. She struck a combat pose.
"Oh well, I needed to test my new Maim bots anyway." Anatsu said, as he reached down and unclasped his belt, on which happened to rest several small metal packets, and tossed it to the ground. There was a puff of black smoke, and then eight small robots came out of the smoke. They rather reminded Dani of the Mouser robots from the TMNT series, or maybe something from Ratchet and Clank…except these were real and they wanted to chew on him, as they leapt and ran, razor sharp metal teeth shining.
"Oh yeah! I, Hyo, have da angry skillz!" Hyo said, still celebrating.
"THAT'S MAD SKILLZ, YOU IDIOT!" Koby roared
Koby flew out of the smoke, a little sooty but otherwise alright: he had beefed up his armour to help deal with the Trix after all. Having activated the jets on his back, he flew up and slammed his fists into Hyo's chest, his strength so great he staggered the giant demons. Hyo growled and swung at him, but Koby flew away and zipped around Hyo's head, slamming his feet into the back of the skull and sending the giant demon tumbling down to the ground with a giant crash.
"Now, if I may dust off an oldie but a goodie: BOOYAH!" Koby said, as he landed, armed his sword, and turned…
And then long metal cords were attacking him, having sprung from Hyo's arms, dozens of them, and Koby yelled and tried to retreat, but they were everywhere, coming faster then he could cut them, as Hyo laughed and stood up.
"Thank you for getting so close! Now I, Hyo, can finally jack into and override your nervous system to make you my slave!" Hyo said. "I could use a personal assistant: he can clean all the awkward to reach cracks!"
"Oh no, that better not be, I'll…ARRGGGHHHHH!" Koby roared as he tried to fight off the tendrils…but there were too many…and they had already attached to him.
"Stupid dipstick, hear my song! You won't be listening to it long!" Curran sang, as she continued sending her cutting lines at Stella… Tecna was down for the count, who was bleeding in a few more places and starting to tire from the dodging. "Ready to admit my genius now?"
"If you are a genius, then why are wearing that bad hair day fashion disaster and serving another fashion disaster ready to happen?" Stella said, pointing to Jones, hoping she could buy a few seconds.
"Jones… well she's going to the realms cause she's the chosen one…" Curran said.
A brief pause.
"Oh, the Chosen one! Should I care?" Stella asked.
"Actually, you'll be past caring in a bit." Curran said, as she once again adjusted her guitar (did I mention she'd brought a new tricked out guitar?). "I changed my mind! You ARE worthy of being in my mosh pit! So have fun, dipstick!" Curran said.
She thrashed a guitar cord.
And four huge energy spectres appeared around Stella, and before she could do little more then let out a meep of surprise, they all zoomed forward, crushing her between their masses.
"OW! OWTCH! DON'T BITE THERE! OR THERE EITHER!" Ivy yelled as she tried to fight and pull all the Maimbots off her. As mentioned, her clothing was concealed and highly refined armor, but these things had sharp teeth and claws, and a tight grip.
"Hmmmm, too much power in the actual physicality, I must adapt it more so they'll be ready to zap the faerie child with the magic-disharmic wave motion devices if she tries to go intangible…" Anatsu said, checking the computer in his gauntlet to see how his Maimbots were doing.
"ARRRGGGHHHHHH!"
Anatsu looked up just in time to see Dani leap up and turn into a whirling dervish of razor Shadow strands that ripped the Maimbots off them and tore them into pieces. Dani touched down again amidst a rain of scrap metal.
Anatsu looked very unhappy.
"Those things take a long time to build!" He cursed.
"Yeah, home job? It shows." Dani said, and then she formed a dark blade and dashed at Anatsu.
"You mock me? You do not know who you are dealing with fool! But I will be glad to beat my name onto your arrogant carcass!" Anatsu said, as he reached down and pulled a metal stick from his boot. The stick extended into a bo staff, and then twin bursts of spectral fire ignited on either end, revealing a flaming weapon Jade would be proud of.
"En garde! Ho! Hi-yah! Who-hah! Heee-yiiiii! Muh-sha-tohhhhhh!" Anatsu yelled and whooped as he twirled, spun, whipped, and generally showed off with his flame staff, putting on a performance to show he was a master of the weapon.
He stopped and brandished his stick at Dani.
"…………..RO-SHAM-BO! SLUNG FLUNG DUNG! LAUNCH ALL ZIG!" Dani yelled, doing a whole series of ridiculous poses.
Then she kicked Anatsu in the balls.
"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"Anatsu shrieked.
"Now you've got the tone down perfectly, Ivy." Dani said, and spun and smashed the heel of her foot into Anatsu's chest, sending him flying again. His flaming stick fell to the ground and Ivy stomped on it.
"Now…I think I shall finish with the nerve blow that…" Ivy began as she walked toward Anatsu.
Who leaned up as a new cannon extended from his gauntlet and took Ivy full force in the chest, sending her flying backwards and smashing back first into a tree.
"Sorry fat lady, you're not on the stage yet." Anatsu said, as he re-charged his arm cannon to deliver a killing blow. He'd settle for skinning this teen.
And then she was aware of the sound of a net being ripped apart.
"FINALLY!" the triplets yelled as she flew up. "Your are NOW ON OUR LIST! AND AS FOR YOU, DIE!" The triplets yelled, as they yanked a light post with there telekenisisfrom the nearby street and hurled it at Anatsu.
Who, having seen it coming a mile away, dodged it.
"All that time tied up, and that's all you can muster? No wonder your sister has to do all the fighting." Anatsu said.
"You have no idea." Dani replied. Anatsu arched an eyebrow, and then decided it might be prudent to turn around.
As it was, he had been prudent but not quick, as Ivy had pulled herself up, and as the light post had gone around Anatsu, she had leapt out and grabbed it with the plants she controlled, spinning around several time to build momentum, and then as Anatsu turned around, she launched herself at the faerie hunter.
Ivy yelled, as her foot smashed into Anatsu's face and sent him flying backwards, bouncing violently along the ground and finally coming to a stop. He didn't get up this time.
"Ha ha ha! You are mine, little man! Maybe you should have seen me for the hip dawg that I, Hyo, am, you lamestain!" Hyo said as he linked up his systems and invaded Koby's body.
"No! NO! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Koby shrieked.
"HA HA HA HA HA!"
"Nooooooooo….Master, I see you for what you are now…forgive me…" Koby said, as he knelt.
"That's better. But you still get a toothbrush for the first two weeks." Koby replied.
"I will thrive on it master…I will do all you say…"
"Good! Now tell me every weakness of your teammates so I can beat them and gain favour with Jones!"
"Oh master…I will say this…they know that…I've been hacked by a diminutive immature punk with an IQ off the charts more times then I can count, and after all those times, I'm afraid YOUR hacking leaves a lot to be desired!" Koby said as he stood back up, and Hyo's eyes widened as he realized that Koby had never been hacked.
"Time to die," Koby grinned as he plunged his sword deep into the demons chest.
"Ohhh, what a performance! What to play for an encore?" Curran said as she watched her guitar phantoms smash the faerie to bits. "I could almost…"
Golden energy erupted from the figures, and then they disintegrated as Stella blew them away, her hands and eyes glowing as she looked at Curran, who looked annoyed, but hey, she still had a lot of tunes.
And then Stella suddenly turned off the rage like it was a switch, her face spreading in a big grin, and Curran goggled at the sudden change.
"Your singing is inspirational!" Stella said. "It reminded me of how I used to sing with my friends on Solaria. I so rarely get to do it in Magix, my friends do not care for it much…but you have swelled my musical soul with your performance, so how can I refuse?" Stella said, and inhaled.
Now, you must understand. Some thin people who speak in high tones can sing surprisingly deeply. And some large men with thick chests can hit amazingly high notes. And sometimes a being can speak in English, sing in English, speak in Solarian, and even sing in Solarian, and nothing will happen…and sometimes if you sing a certain way…
Let's just say, in Simon Cowell's worst nightmares, he never even comprehended the sound that starting coming out of Stella's mouth. Thankfully, she was far enough off the ground to spare her friends…but Curran got no such mercy.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Curran screamed, clamping her hands over her ears. "MAKE IT STOP! AHHHHHHH! IT'S WORSE THEN WILLAIM HUNG! IT'S WORSE THEN CREED! GOD, IT'S WORSE THEN ASHLEY SIMPSON, AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN SING!"
And then Curran was aware that she was being relieved of her guitar, as her eyes had clamped shut when she had tried to block out the noise, and as she was aware of said terrible noise fading, she opened her eyes and looked up to see Stella swinging up the instrument.
"Curran has left the building!"
And she smashed the guitar over Curran's head. And Curran's choice of a high quality guitar worked against her, as it didn't break. Curran hit the ground near her two companions, groaning.
"Quite an axe, indeed." Stella said, tossing the guitar down.
"Thank you, thank you very much." Ellie said, as Stella flew down to join the group.
"Did we win?" she asked.
"Not until we finish off their leaders, and believe me, after this nonsense, they are going to get one hell…"
And then a gigantic dark energy blast came flying down among the group, exploding and throwing them away like rag dolls, and then they suddenly stopped, as orbs of dark spirit energy encircled them, as Jones floated down.
"Talk to the hand." Jones said, and waved. The orbs flew off into the distance and then exploded, and Jones could see their bodies falling to the ground, but she didn't much care, as she turned and looked at her subordinates, groaning on the ground.
"Good help is so hard to find these days." She said.
And then she heard the gigantic explosion, and she decided now was the prime opportunity, as she flew up and off to finish what she had started.
Jade may have been fighting better then she could have ever recalled in her life, but even that didn't help the fact that she was fighting a lost cause on one front: she was sane, and in some ways that limited her, as Jones would just not back down, quit, or cease in any form, throwing herself at her again and again in her insane fury, her shattered mind refusing to even comprehend the concept of surrender, yielding, or holding back, and while she felt she could REALLY cut loose that would seriously hurt Jones… her ex best friend…
You can't blame Jade for dropping her guard: she's only human.
But this time, it cost her.
Oh, did it EVER cost her.
As Jones zapped back at an angle and then slashed down at Jade, her foot catching on fire, a foot she rammed right into her chest. But this time she didn't detonate the flame, oh no: this time she kept going, and Jade yelled as she drove her back down to the ground, the fiery foot searing her chest, and then she was hitting the road and ripping it apart, concrete and stone flying everywhere as Jones rode her like a skateboard even as she used her to carve a trench across the entire street and she was being cut and scratched and burned and battered and it was too much too much…
And then they stopped.
Jones smirked.
"Kaboom."
And then dark her fireball exploded, a whole twenty square feet of road, sidewalk, and front yards going up in flames as Jones detonated her gathered power. A twirling figure whirled backwards out of the inferno, as Jones uncoiled herself and looked at the ruin that had once been part of Alfea, and hopefully Jade Halva.
But after Aly had escaped the glass, she wasn't taking any chances, as she raised her hands and a new fireball exploded into being above her. THIS blast would blow whatever was left of Jade Halva straight through the realm, and probably all the way to Shira.
If Jones had gotten the chance to fire it.
Which she didn't.
"I'm going to feel THAT in the morning…" Koby muttered as he got to his knees, massaging his stiff muscles. Then he heard the whirling blades, and he looked up as the helicopter passed overhead. "Ok, has the National Guard been called in, because I don't see any other way a military helicopter could be here…"
"NO! YOU'RE DEAD!" Stormy said.
"Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Aly said with a small smile and glanced around to see Jade phasing through Jones and kicking her in the face.
Stormy's scream of intense rage caught her attention, and Aly looked over to see she was forming another ball of lightning.
"Ho boy…" Aly said, as she saw the black lightning forming…
And then konking out, as Stormy gasped and grabbed her chest. Aly arched an eyebrow.
"Mental note: forming a glass prison and then playing with Black lightning…really drains the host…" Stormy gasped, and then she looked back up at Aly, murder in her eyes. She didn't care if her body was drained though, she was going to kill this bastard girl, and NEXT time, she was going to die SCREAMING.
Shrieking, she launched herself at Aly.
And occupied them so much that neither was aware of the sound of an approaching helicopter.
"I see something!" Riven said as the helicopter closed in on the mid-air fight between Aly and Stormy, a fight that was starting to creep closer to the actual city part of Magix.
"I'm reading two signatures." Timmy said, looking at his radar. "Let's stand by for visual confirmation."
The helicopter flew in closer, as Aly and Stormy punched, kicked, and blasted each other, not even noticing the approaching vehicle…until it was twenty feet away, as another explosion drove them apart.
"You think Aly needs our help?"
"I don't…OWTCH!" Brandon yelled as Stormy zipped forward and slammed into Aly, trying to strangle her as she tried to break her grip. "Let me get a reading!" Brandon said, as he pointed the new Power Three-In-One at Aly and Stormy's grasping forms.
The beeping was so loud it even got Riven's attention.
"HOLY CRAP" Riven yelled. "There power level is off the scale! I can barely…"
Sparks flew from the Power 3-in-1, as the device fried trying to register the data.
"I'd say she needs our help! And this thing needs a new power pack!" Brandon said, as he opened the device and began removing the slagged power pack even as he tried to pull out a replacement from his pocket at the same time.
Aly groaned as she saw the guys copter, and then she managed to get enough leverage with her foot to shove Stormy away. "And since when do they have a military helicopter?"
"Ah ha!" Brandon said, as he slammed a new power pack in, and then Aly flew up to the side of the helicopter, looking at her Friends. "AHHH!"
"It's ok! Guys, you must leave! It's too dangerous here!" Aly said.
"Oh don't worry kid, we're professionals! Why don't you take a…" Sky began
"YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Stormy screamed, and then a gigantic blast of lightning was flying at the helicopter.
"NO! I WON'T LET YOU!" Aly screamed, as she flew in front of the helicopter and formed a massive air shield. The bolt struck the shield and exploded, throwing Aly to the ground.
"DIE GIRL!" Stormy screamed, as she threw her arms back.
Aly flew up again before Stormy could fire, the need to protect her friends overriding her starting to grow exhaustion, as she slammed her fist across Stormy's face and then flipped over her and kicked her in the back a nifty trick Jade had taught her. Stormy spun through the air.
"All right! Give 'em the old one-two! Oh yeah!" Brandon said.
Stormy glanced at the guys copter an idea forming in her head… flying up to the copter she blasted the boys out… and got in and strapped herself in…
"Welcome, to the Stormy School of Flight. I'm afraid this will be quite a crash course." Stormy said as she finished adjusting the lock so all the weapons were trained on Aly. "LADIES, START YOUR SCREAMING!"
Stormy watched Musa fly at her and then dip under her field of vision as she flew under the helicopter and grabbed one of the landing struts near the back. From there, She planned to pierce into the underbelly and pull herself to the weapons, which she could yank off and hence remove the helicopter as an effective offensive weapon. Then they just had to give Stormy the run around until one of the BOBS or Winx could run back to what was left of the school, fetch the special gun, and…
The metal was denying her efforts to pierce it. She frowned and tried again, but her powers of wind simply would not go through the armour.
Still, hanging upside down to a whirling moving craft wasn't the most comforting thing, as Musa tried to get her bearings and pull herself over to the weapons. More electricity zapped through the framework, but none of it got to Musa.
"Fuck! Fucking shit! Fucking shit-eating bastard!" Stormy snarled, as her constant pressing of the ship's structural tazer refused to disgorge the bogey on her underside. "YOU ARE WORTHLESS!"
"Would you like to activate second perimeter defense?" The computer asked.
"Will it work?"
"There is a…"
"Yes, fine, whatever!"
"Acknowledged."
"All right, just another…" Musa was saying, when it happened.
Six ports opened up on the underside of the helicopter.
And out came what looked like mechanical ants. Armed with miniature saw blades, flamethrowers, and tazers. She's eyes widened. "HOLY SHIT!"
The tiny droids attacked, and She found herself deluged: they were fragile and easy to smash, and their weapons were so small they could hardly hurt her…but there was roughly twenty billion of them, or so it seemed, and they were everywhere, as She thrashed, yelled, and used every type of wind trick to keep them off her and away from sensitive body parts that wouldn't do well to be sliced, zapped, or flambéed. Stormy heard the yelling and chuckled merrily.
"I swear, when this is done, I am going to rip off…" Dani was saying, as Stella tried to ascertain a way to free her from the glob of glue that had stuck her to the ground.
"Um…ok…let's try…" Stella said, as she grabbed around Dani's feet. All she did was get her hands stuck again, and she had to pull them free, her palms starting to get raw.
"Can I help?" Came a voice, and Stella looked up to see Aly, who had apparently decided to check how they were as the helicopter was, at the time, tied up with trying to zap Musa.
"Yes! Go see through and…" Dani began.
"I can't." Aly replied. "Stormy zapped me with some kind of power blocker. I can't access my flight." Aly said, holding up her hands and looking sorrowful. Dani's eyes showed murder once again, though not directed towards Aly.
"Then I guess I have no choice." Stella said, as she again shoved her hands into the glue. "I did not want to try this unless I had to, as the degree of fine control is rather severe, but Dani…I am sorry if I burn your hideous clothes off."
"WHAT?" Dani yelled, but it was too late as Stella fired off a Sun bolt and sent a great wash of heat rippling through the glue, drying it out so quickly that it instantly became as brittle as a potato chip, the powerful adhesive shattering and spraying the three with bits of itself. Coughing, Dani floated up, her clothes singed by still intact.
"Sorry." Stella said, smiling a slight, sheepish smile.
"I'm going to kill her." Dani just replied, referring to Stormy. "I don't know how , but I am going to…"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHRGGGHHHHHHHH!" Musa shouted as her efforts to ward off the mecha-ants finally made her lose her grip on the copter and she fell. Dani looked at the noise and waved her hand, and a black claw of energy emerged from the ground and caught the teen…for a second, just enough so that her fall went from "surely doomed" to "painful", and then the hand disappeared, causing Musa to thunk to the ground.
"Ow." She said, and then she resumed her previous task of making sure there wasn't a single micro-droid on her. Dani, meanwhile, flew up with Tecna and Stella, as Stormy finally returned her attention to them.
"Oh, back for more, huh?" Stormy said, and fired off three whirling bolos. The flyers dodged them.
Dani chanted, as she thrust out her hands, eyes a glowing ebony, as dark power began to envelop the helicopter as Dani tried to seize control of it and force it to the ground.
It didn't work, as the dark power abruptly blew off and Dani was sent backwards like she had been struck, a loud grunting yell escaping from her.
"That damn shielding. It's not just blocking your abilities Aly, it's blocking anything supernatural at…" And that was as far as Dani got as the bolo suddenly whirled around her. "NOT AGAIN!"
Dani didn't get any shock: apparently that was a feature that only applied to some bolos, but being wrapped up as tight as a mummy made her briefly lose her concentration and she fell, stopping herself twenty feet down and seizing the tough bolo ropes to try and yank them off of her. Stella and Tecna, meanwhile, attacked, blasting the helicopter with their respective talents in the hopes they could make a dent in the thing and hence damage the shield and eventually disable it. If they were getting anywhere, they didn't know, as the small anti-personal cannons flipped open and opened fire on them. Tecna, not used to aerial ballet fanciness, took a blast in the shoulder and was sent whirling away, while Stella proved to be luckier: she managed to blow up two of the small weapons. Stormy was losing her temper again, as she fiddled with switch after switch and was informed that she had already exhausted that supply of weapon.
"Damn it! I need…" A car hit the helicopter
"Damn it! What the hell is that thing made of, adamantium?" Dani cursed.
"Wrong universe." Aly said as she joined her side. "You think we're doing any damage to the shield?"
"I don't know, let's find out." Dani said, as her eyes glowed again. "SHADOW LANCE!" she yelled, and fired off a blast of black power.
"GRYPHON'S CLAW" Aly yelled, and fired her own invisible blast of power.
The twin shots deflected off the barrier. Yep, it was still there and still holding tough…though Aly and Dani were too far away to get the "back times three" effect, and its occupant couldn't really appreciated the great deal of protection it was offering.
"What is ON this piece of SHIT that will DESTROY THOSE GODDAMN FAERIES AND THAT FUCKING GIRL!" Stormy snarled.
"Assessing your request madam…would you like to begin preparing the Faerie Obliterator again?"
Stormy looked at the computer.
"Excuse me?"
"The Faerie Obliterator is the most powerful weapon on board. It will destroy virtually any spectral threat and can do serious harm to living things as well, regretfully."
Stormy was smiling again.
"Arm it."
"Yes."
Dani was regrouping near Aly when the guns that had fired the bolos, glob balloons, and special spirit destroying missiles split apart and began folding down and out, as something new began to emerge.
"Somehow I doubt that's good." Dani said as a new, very large cannon unfolded from underneath the copter.
"Then why don't we get bad?" Aly said, as spectral wind exploded on her hands. Dani nodded, and the two made a dash for the Faerie Obliterator. Dani gambled that the shielding was focused more around protecting the occupant and vital parts of the machine, and that the weapons relied more on the armour. If that was the case, they might not be able to destroy the gun, but they could damn sure mess it up…
As if someone else hadn't thought of this… he really was a smart guy. And so was Stormy, when she wasn't utterly consumed with insane rage, as she had finally began poking through the manual.
"Activate the DD's!" Stormy ordered, and a new panel opened that offered a few new buttons. Stormy pressed three.
Several panels opened on the copter as the two flew in, and the BOB and Winx member stopped dead as objects were ejected from the panels. Expecting an attack, the two immediately switched from offensive to defensive, as Aly threw up a shield and Dani cloaked herself in black power…
Wrong kind of defence, as Stormy closed her eyes.
The DD's were one of the things that, was a device created by someone else that had undergone very slight, if any, modifying. The DD's stood for Distraction Devices, non-lethal weaponry.
That, however, didn't help Aly at all, as they were designed to disable regardless.
And they did this by, in the course of detonation, generating 170 decibels of noise and 2.3 million candlepower of light.
Which, to those who need an equivalent metaphor…was like a space shuttle engine going off in Aly's face.
Aly screamed as she flew backwards, not even hearing her own cry of anguish as her vision was consumed in white. She clawed at her eyes, but all that remained was white, as Stormy, safe in her soundproofed cockpit and with her eyes tightly closed and turned away, opened them, smiling contently at the agonizing girl, as the Faerie Obliterator finished arming and began to charge, the crosshairs locking on the thrashing faerie child.
And then Dani was on the attack again, swooping out from her cloak of darkness, but Stormy had expected that, expected Dani's innate power to protect her better, and she was ready, as the creator had prepared well, as twin short arms extended from either side of the cockpit and opened up to reveal strange mirror-like devices. The energy shield that blocked Aly's powers, as well as Dani's and probably others, operated on the principle of absorbing the energy and reflecting it back in an amplified state. But it could do more then that, as Dani raised her arms, ready to hammer on the Obliterator with shadow blasts, and the panel of buttons Stormy had just been pressing opened again to reveal a much larger one.
Stormy smirked.
"Ladies and GERMS, this is your captain speaking, please buckle in, we will be experiencing, TURBULENCE." Stormy said, and pressed the new button, which was inexplicably labelled BONUS.
There was a brief flicker that showed an outline of power around the front of the helicopter, power that drained off into the mirrors and then fired them back out, as Dani gasped in surprise, and that was all she had time to do as the mirrors siphoned energy off the shield and fired it at Dani, striking her like a sledgehammer and sending her flying uncontrollably through the air…and smashing right into Aly, the still blinded and deafened girl screaming in surprise and some fear as Dani crashed into her and the two flew along the sky a bit more, all tangled up, as the Obliterator finished charging.
"Two girls. One scarred me, one has to die." Stormy said, as she flipped open the firing button. "C'est juste."
And a powerful glow erupted around the front of the gun, as Dani finally collected her bearings and turned around…
And a gigantic blast of whitish blue energy flew from the firearm, zapping across the sky, filling Dani's vision as her eyes widened, even as Aly stared uncomprehendingly as the shifty white blur she could see became a shifty BRIGHT white blur…
"NO!"
And then Stella flew in, shoving the two to safety…at terrible cost, as she replaced their targeted form with her own.
Dani could have sworn she could see the blast reflected in Stella's green eyes, side by side with the fear.
And then the explosion rang through the air, a huge surge of energy erupting and throwing Danny and Dani away again, even as Stella's scream was swallowed by the boom. Dani managed to stop herself and grabbed Aly with an energy talon, even as she saw a smoking form fly out of the explosion at high speed and go off into the horizon, the body falling limply off in the distance like a puppet with its strings cut.
"AH DAMMIT FUCK! FUUUCCCKKKK!" Stormy screamed. "Begin recharge!"
"The cannon must…"
"DO IT!"
"Yes Ma'am." The computer replied, and began recharging the strained weapon.
"Oh Stella…" Dani said. She knew Stella wasn't dead: she was still feeling the girl, inside her, due to her unique emotion abilities, and if Stella was dead, the void would have been sudden and profound…but the girl was in deep pain. She had guesstimated, correctly, that her staff would take the blast better then Aly and Dani's, and given herself up so that they would be spared serious, possible fatal wounds.
"What happened…" Aly said, shaking his head, his vision finally starting to return but far from perfect.
"Stella's down. Because she saved us." Dani said, and looked at Aly with a serious gaze, and to make sure he heard her despite his damaged ears, she spoke with her mind as well as her mouth. "Don't let what she endured be in vain."
"Hell no." Came a new voice, as Ivy floated up next to the two, a little worse for wear but apparently fixed.
"Is that Ivy? Where is she?" Aly said, looking around. Ivy gave Dani a wry, "what's with this?" glance: Dani just did a brief motion to indicate Aly's eyes were messed up: after fighting together for several years people could learn to understand each other with a minimal amount of effort.
"Understood." Dani said, as Aly looked in her general direction, her eyes now making out a black blur against a blueish blur, but before he could make any comment whatsoever Ivy had flown forward.
"Cannon will be recharged in ten seconds." The computer informed Stormy, even as she looked at Ivy with an air of interest.
"Ok, if this doesn't do something, nothing will." Ivy said, and then she magically produced a chest and snapped it open. She kept the more powerful missiles in there, and for this, she had pulled out something special. "Drillers, away!"
Six modified missiles fired out, aimed at parts of the helicopter, their ends whirling with special razor sharp drill tips. Stormy saw them coming, looked at them for a bit…and then smirked.
The missiles slammed into the copter. There was a brief, very brief sound, that sounded like a gigantic sewing machine getting jammed up, and then the missiles vanished in a brief puff of smoke and fire.
Ivy gaped: the missiles had hit the armour and been unable to pierce it, their forward momentum crushing them out of operation within a second of said failure.
"Those missiles were tipped with DIAMOND." Ivy said, in a true this ain't fair tone.
"I was right. It IS made out of adamantium." Dani said dryly.
"Or some kind of super alloy." Ivy said. In her cockpit, Stormy was chuckling to herself as she locked onto Aly and Dani again. Aly, whose eyesight was about45 back by now, gaped.
"We have to…" she began.
"No." Dani said, holding onto her. "We can't move."
"Why not?" Aly said. Dani pointed. Aly looked.
And realized just where they were. The battle hadn't been stuck in one place: the they and Stormy had been gradually moving along…and they were just about to hit the small developed cluster in Magix, the section in which rested several blocks of tall buildings, including a few skyscrapers. One of which was at the trio's back.
And Aly understood. If they moved, the blast would hit the building, and cause god knows what kind of damage. Hell, it might be the equivalent of crashing…Aly didn't want to think of that.
"Ahhh! Uh, quick, stop it up!" Aly yelled/suggested.
"Too late." Ivy said. "Anyone else got another plan?"
"If not we have about three seconds to think one up." Dani said as the glow around the cannon increased.
"Not enough time." Ivy said, and then she flew forward. Dani blinked.
"Ivy? What are you doing?"
"That thing's energy shield didn't block me. Maybe the same can be said about its big gun." Ivy said. "MOVE!"
"But…"
"I SAID…!"
"Well, the elf wants to die as well. Three times the charm!" Stormy said, as the computer informed her that the cannon was charged again. She flipped open the firing switch.
"Ivy…!" Dani said apprehensively.
"Too late!" Ivy said, as she held her hands out.
The Obliterator fired again, the blast locked onto Aly and Dani, and striking Ivy since she was in front of them. She growled in effort as the beam struck her and pushed her back, the energy spraying out around her as she tried to block it, but the beam wasn't fading and Ivy's growl began to verge on a scream as she tried to keep the blast away from Aly, Dani, and any innocents.
"Damn it!" Dani said as she flew forward. She'd be damned if Ivy was going to take the full brunt of the blow if she could help it.
"No…Dani….stay away…!" Ivy cursed as she flew in.
"Forget it! Shadow Kni…!"
And Dani learned the hard way why Ivy wanted her to keep her distance: the laser's energy stream nature caused Ivy's blocking of the beam to be similar to someone trying to stop a tap by holding your finger to it. Despite your efforts, water is going to come out, by going around the blockage. And the same was happening with the beam: it had split into several weaker streams that were being directed into the ground, into the air…and one offshoot right into Dani's form, a scream coming from her throat as she was slammed with another wrecking ball blow and thrown backwards, this time completely losing her concentration and plummeting to the ground. Aly, had her eyes been perfect, would have caught her…but his still recovering optical orbs were not yet up to the task of discerning certain objects against dark backgrounds, and so Aly lost sight of her and could only hear her yell before she hit the ground like a stone and the yelling cut off. Aly's heart sank, even as Ivy's voice built to an utter roar of pain, anger, and defiance: "You ain't MOVING ME BEE-YOTCH."
And Stormy didn't, as the beam suddenly cut off, as Stormy yelled in her cockpit as the controls erupted in sparks. Ivy lowered her arms, her front armour badly scorched but apparently undamaged, as she took deep breaths. But her face was a picture of savage contentment.
"Boo-yah! Your stupid faerie witch weapons can't harm me, you nutcase!" Ivy yelled.
Then her flight konked out again.
"Fuck." Ivy said, and found herself in freefall again. Had Stormy been in a better state she might have taken a shot at Ivy's falling form, but she was too busy trying to correct the spin her helicopter had suddenly started as the controls went haywire due to Stormy's utter lack of gentleness in her commands to the gear she was using. She cursed, spat, and tried to plumb her brain to figure out how to fix the problem before the girl fully recovered and went on the offence. She was going to kill her this time, oh yes, if she had to ram the actual helicopter down her throat…
Aly, again, would have helped Ivy…except her eyes were, as mentioned, messed up. So all she could do was look around frantically and hear Ivy yell…
Before fire lines sprang up and caught the Ivy, stopping her. Ivy came to a halt, and then yelped as Jade dumped her, not so gently, on the ground. At least it was in a small park and not on the street, as Fade rose up next to Aly on a fire ladder, the golden energy perfectly balanced as it propelled her up. She'd checked on Dani when she had fallen, and having noted she and Ivy, once her momentum was interrupted, would be ok, Jade quickly returned to the battle, as she slid up beside Aly. Not the nicest thing to do, but Jade had always thought strategically overall. The only reason she was helping out was because Jones had tactfully retreated to catch her breath.
"That you Jade?" Aly asked.
"Yeah, how'd you guess?" Jade said sarcastically.
"Well, a big white blur on a blue background…not hard." Aly said. Jade looked at Aly oddly. "What's going on?"
"Kinda obvious. Or are you blind?" Jade said, her question serious rather then snarkily rhetorical.
"Stormy detonated some light bombs, my eyes…"
"Gotcha. Hold still." Jade said. Aly didn't get a chance to ask why for, as she suddenly felt an intense pressure in her ear and then her vision suddenly cleared up like her eyes was a camera being focused. The sudden return to normalcy was actually quite disorienting, as Aly yelped and then blinked several times.
"There. That better?" Jade asked.
"What did you do?"
"Hacked into your neural network and sped up the rewiring of your brain. This thing as a lot of uses." Jade said, commenting on the fire tendrils that had, in the past twenty seconds, served as a medical device, a cushion, a brace, a lifter, and another medical quick fix. Aly would have complained about Jade's rather insensitive actions when it came to her body…except Jade was no longer paying attention to her, but the helicopter, which appeared to finally be coming under control. Then Jade turned and saw Jones
"You have to stop this now, before it gets into the city." Jade said, reaching under her coat. "Here Aly." She continued as she pulled something out and tossed it at Aly and once again rushed Jones.
Aly barely managed to catch it. She looked at it: the Mini Witch Catcher her teacher had rigged up.
'Here's the plan. I think that shield and that big gun draw power from the same places. Considering how messed up the helicopter just was, I think the shield is lessened. I'm going to throw Jones over there and hit the front as hard as I can, which will hopefully break through the shield AND the cockpit. When I do that, you fly in and start zapping. Once we get Stormy out, I'll run back to the school and get the Incapacitator, you'll be on your own then. Possibly until I get back. If you have a better plan, you have five seconds to say it, because Stormy's righted herself and looks to be charging up that gun again.' Jade sent telepathically to Aly.
"Ms. Trix, power reserves are dangerously low. Any attempt to fire the Cannon…" The computer was saying.
"Shut the FUCK up." Stormy growled, and the computer listened. Well, if she only had one more shot at this, she was going to make it count.
"That's not good." Aly moaned as she saw the cannon light up again.
'Actually it may very well be. On my mark Aly.' Jade sent, but Aly didn't even get a chance to prepare as Jade immediately yelled "NOW!" and grabbed Jones with a Fire line, using the fire to propel her forward as she threw back her arms, the fire forming into a vaguely defined but still immensely powerful bludgeon. Stormys eyes widened as the teen flew in and slashed her weapons down with Jones at the centre of it.
And found her plan had been right everywhere except the first assumption: the shield and gun DIDN'T draw on the same power supply. The creator was, as mentioned, smarter then that, and Jade's plan bit the hand that created it as the fire and Jones hit the shield and all the power Jade had put behind the blow was reflected back at her threefold the only good news was Jones felt the same thing.
"AHHHHHHHHHH FUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!" Jade screamed, as she and Jones were thrown off into the horizon, even as Aly recovered and watched as the last standing group disappeared off into the distance. It was ironic that the plan Jade had had included heading back to Alfea to look for the Incapacitator: the energy backlash had somehow tossed her in that direction.
"Sorry asshole. But bigger doesn't always mean better." Stormy said, and contently locked onto Aly for the third and final time. Now she had no more shields to block or protect her, and she couldn't turn intangible just like Jade to avoid it. And if she just moved, well, that was why the elf had taken the blast when she and her fellows could have just moved then: they didn't want to get anyone hurt. Stormy had no such qualms: all faeries had to die anyway, and if a few witches went with them, well, you couldn't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.
Aly watched as the cannon's glow increased, and in her own way, she knew what Stormy was thinking. She pondered all her options, and the one that kept being presented to her was to run away. The cannon was designed to destroy faeries and witches, it had barely affected Ivy, skyscrapers were mostly metal, they'd be ok…
Except she knew that was an excuse. Maybe the blast wouldn't destroy the building, but who knew what it would do to the people. No, she couldn't run. And since she didn't want to die, that left one option.
Stand.
"All right then…" Aly said, her voice cold and serious as her eyes glowed white. She stuck the Mini Witch Catcher into her boot, and then her hands erupted with power. "Come on you gruesome hag, you want to kill me so bad, I'm not going anywhere."
"Cannon charged. Warning, overheating, all systems…" The computer said.
Stormy pressed the button.
The third Obliterator shot fired out.
And Aly screamed as she let loose with her own air blast, the two energy eruptions flying out and meeting. Aly felt the backlash through her entire being, but she refused to yield, refused to give, refused to stop in any form as she poured everything she had into the blast and Stormy did likewise, Aly's intense look of determination matched only by her insane one…
The blast exploded between the two of them, as neither side was able to gain an advantage and hence chose to die together, as Aly was sent flying backwards like a comet and a feedback of power sent the copter into another crazy spasm, Stormy screaming and turning the air blue as she failed again, even as Aly hit the glass of the skyscraper with such force she nearly went through the extremely tough material, a huge spider web of cracks spraying out as her form was driven three inches into the substance.
Aly gasped, twitched, and then went limp from exhaustion, the small indent she had made somehow holding her body up against the window as she slumped down.
"Fucking girl! Fucking girl! FUCKING GIRL!" Stormy screamed as she wrestled with the controls. "Charge again!"
"Obliterator has overloaded madam. It cannot be fired again."
"Fuck! Arm whatever's left!"
"That would be nothing madam. You have exhausted all projectile weaponry and drained all energy from other weapons. There are no more anti-supernatural weapons available."
Stormy looked down, in the way some people do just before they blew a gasket, which was what Stormy was going to do: she was going to scream and then she was going to leave this helicopter with the thanks it deserved: an explosive exit that would destroy it, but she didn't care, there were plenty of fish in the sea and she was going to kill that…
"Would you like to eject weapons and arm original weapons?" The computer enquired.
Stormy looked up.
"What?"
"In order for the Ultimate Mobile Ballistics Logistics Equalizer to function at optimum level, the original weapons of the AH-64D Longbow Apache were modified so the Red fountain boys weapons could be built over them. Would you like to remove weapons and arm original weapons?"
"What kind of original weapons?" Stormy asked, and to her great surprise a green holographic screen appeared on the cockpit before her, on which appeared several schematics of the helicopter she was flying, which quickly zoomed in on the weapons.
"Weaponry of original Longbow Apache…M230 33mm automatic chain gun armed with 1200 rounds of depleted uranium shells…16 AGM-114 Hellfire missiles…4 AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles…one reload barrel of chain gun ammo, 1200 rounds. 84 reload Hellfire and Sidewinder missiles also on board in special holding compartments. This aircraft was specially modified to reload in mid-air. Would you like to re-arm original weapons?"
There was that horrible smile again.
"Yes. Oh hell, yes."
"Acknowledged."
Groaning, Aly came groggily back to life, her vision finally clearing, though there was still a ringing in her ears. Her whole body ached, pain shooting through every fibre of her being, as she managed to pull herself off the window, shards of glass pulling small strips from her costume as she tried to form a coherent thought. But that was highly difficult as her body kept telling her that she had just about had it. Whatever had blessed her with what she had demonstrated today was great, but after yesterday's intense training, on top of everything she had done today, she wouldn't be able to stay in her winx form much longer…
And then Aly saw something that made her forget all about her exhaustion.
With a loud snapping noise, several of the parts that had clearly been modified by the boys fell off the helicopter. For a moment Aly panicked and though Stormy had pushed the custom-designed vehicle too far and now it was going to fall apart…and when it didn't, she was filled with a new worry as he knew something bad was going to happen.
She didn't know if not knowing or knowing made it worse.
"Wha…"
Inside the cockpit, several of the custom panels that had come out so Stormy could use the anti-faerie weaponry were being tucked away, even as the stick she had used to fly the copter and fire its weapons was reprogramming itself for its old weapons…weapons that began to emerge.
Aly's eyes widened.
"Oh no."
Apache wings are usually rather thin: the creator had severely bulked them up in order to hold their new weapons. Now a good chunk of that bulk was gone, as four sets of new, larger struts emerged, folding themselves out. A few seconds later, several sets of small mechanical arms folded out from the wings, reached up, and came down holding a missile which they inserted into the strut, quickly arming sixteen of the deadly projectiles in the four four-way rails. Two more bits of the copter broke off the end of the wings, revealing four more missiles, two on each wing, on smaller launchers, even as the space that had been occupied by the Obliterator got a new occupant: the chain gun, designed to fire 625 rounds a minute, rounds designed to go through 100 mm of modern tank armour. Normally, the Apache would need another co-pilot to act as gunner to fire that gun…except creator had modified that need away if it was necessary.
A few more superfluous parts broke off, revealing the new copter: no longer a weapon specialized to hunt faeries, but instead a weapon of mass destruction with its sights locked onto a faerie.
Who, may I remind you, had had her fly power turned off. But don't worry, that was due to wear off…in about 18 minutes.
Aly, at the moment, probably didn't have 18 seconds, as she made a small noise of fear in her throat as she realized that Stormy was still coming at her…deadlier then ever, because unlike the previous sets of weapons, these ones would tear through ANYTHING in their way.
"Lock on target." Stormy said: the transformation had kept the shield and computer, and that was all Stormy needed.
"Madam, the Hellfire missiles were designed as anti-tank weapons. I am not sure…"
"Is it possible to lock onto target with fair degree of accuracy?" Stormy replied, highly aggravated at all this nonsense. If she didn't need it, she'd have fried the computer a while ago.
"…Well yes, the AGM-114D Longbow Hellfire missile possesses a millimeter wave seeker, which has given the projectiles the nickname of "fire and forget" weapons…"
"Good. Then FIRE the weapon and FORGET about bugging me any more!" Stormy snapped.
"Yes Madam. Finalizing lock."
"Help?" Aly said, looking around for any of her friends.
She found no one.
She was on her own.
And she doubted she could block what was coming with an air shield.
"Now girl…" Stormy said, as she thrust her thumb up. "Let me reiterate. START YOUR SCREAMING!"
And eight of the missiles ignited and fired off their launchers, heading straight for Aly Paladin.
Whose name might soon have to be changed to Aly GO KABLOOM.