"So, that's the place huh?"
Slick sat on a rock and looked up at the tower, a devious smirk on his face. Beside him was Arty, along with a few other members of the Queensguard. Puff stood with his arms crossed, looking stoic as always. A few feet away from him was Corona, who was drinking from a cup of tea. Morel and Sirius were laying up against a tree, the former taking a nap, while the ladder skimmed through a book.
When they had heard about a group of rogue Malchemist setting up a base, the Commission had been hesitant to act. They didn't want mewni to think that there was yet another threat to lose sleep over. They wanted them to be presented as a minor threat. One that would be dealt with quickly and easily.
But this kind of action just couldn't be ignored. They needed to snuff this out, and do so thoroughly. They wanted a message sent to both the malchemist movement and the rest of mewni. That they were no real threat.
And so a small group of their most elite knights were assembled. They didn't know what type of enemies they would be dealing with, so it was better safe than sorry. "Let me go inside and get to work already. I'm so bored," Slick complained.
Flink, who had been hovering nearby, sighed. "No Slick. We have to wait for them to get back. We're going to be stealthy about this, remember?" she asked.
"Being stealthy sucks. I could have wiped these guys out by now…"
Arty frowned and scribbled something down.
"Bloom says to try non violent approaches, remember?"
Slick yawned and reached over, patting his squire's head. "You just always gotta try and kill my fun, don't you?" he asked, ruffling his hair. Arty pouted towards him. "Relax, I'll give everyone in there a fair shake… provided we get the hell in there. What's taking them so damn long?"
"Sorry, it wasn't exactly easy."
Slick looked over as Oswald appeared before them. He then glanced down as he saw a small rodent come running from the grass. Lilli pulled Gulliver to stop and looked up towards the others. "He's right. Security was really tight," she said. "We barely managed to slip in at all."
Corona stood up and made her way over towards the brownie, picking up both her and Gulliver. She patted the rodent on the head, and Lilli walked on her hand and made her way up to her shoulder. "Well, we do appreciate the effort. Especially on your part. We're sorry to have to ask you to help us."
Lilli still wasn't an official part of the guard, so she felt a little guilty calling her in for assistance. But she insisted that she was happy to help wherever she could. "It's not a problem! Really!" she said.
"But it could be," Oswald said looking over his shoulder. "There's some really powerful magic surrounding the place. Not many people inside. A little over half a dozen from what I gather. But they all have notable amounts of magic. It looks like they've been using some spell to… link their powers. To protect and keep this place hidden."
Corona hummed and put a hand on her chin. "Based on what we knew about malchemy, that wouldn't be too much of a stretch," she reasoned. "So, what should our next move be? Should we proceed as planned, or…?"
Slick smiled and began standing up. "Hell yeah. Just let me head in and-"
Flink was about to tell him that it wasn't his call to make, but suddenly Puff began to walk forward towards the tower. "How many?" he asked as he reached back and grabbed his axe from his back.
Oswald looked at him surprised. "Oh, uh… I count about seven I think?"
"That's fine. One for each of us." They looked back and saw Morel had apparently decided to wake from his nap, and was dusting himself off. "I'm guessing that they want us to try and take these guys in alive. They probably have some valuable information on them or something."
Corona pushed her glasses up. "Should we split up, or take them down one by one? I don't sense anyone inside that poses too major of a threat but…?"
"Splitting up would be more efficient. Taking them one by one would only give them more opportunities to escape," Sirius pointed out. "I will keep us linked in the event any one of us needs any assistance."
Slick smiled as he cracked his neck. "Hell yeah, let's go!"
Puff walked through the halls of the towers, his axe gripped tightly in his hand. Unlike most of the others, he couldn't sense magic. He had simply chosen a separate direction from the others and started walking. He was pretty sure at some point one of their enemies would show up in front of him before long.
He didn't know what was so special about the power surrounding this tower. And he honestly didn't care. He would do what he usually did. Strike down whatever stood in his and his companions way.
"My, aren't you a big one…"
Puff came to a stop as he heard a voice come from a door nearby. He slowly turned his head towards it, and it opened up for him.
"Yes, I'm talking to you, big guy. Come on in."
Puff didn't need to be told twice, and walked through the doors and into the large room, where he saw a single figure there. It was a mewman, who looked about twenty or so and had fair skin and long blonde hair. Puff noticed the odd looking sword at his hip. He vaguely remembered Corona saying something about their weapons.
"Malchemist?" Puff asked.
The man chuckled and grabbed his stylus. "Correct. And you, my large friend, are one of the knights of mewni. The captain of the sixth division, Puff," he said. "Master Crow will be quite pleased when I present your head to him as a gift." Puff just grunted in response, raising his weapon into the air. "Whoa there. So eager to get to the show. Don't you at least want to know who I am?" he asked.
Puff let out an annoyed grunt. "My name is Raffle. I am a member of the Seven Stars. We are a group of people who have decided to dedicate our lives to the glory of the malchemist movement. To help spread the name of Thea and assist our lord Crow in tearing down the corrupt kingdoms that-"
He stopped and then jumped back as Puff's axe came swinging down, nearly cutting him right in two. He backed away and glared up at him. "I wasn't finished…"
"I don't give a shit who you are," Puff growled. "Just go down."
Raffle sighed and shook his head. "I shouldn't have expected any better from a savage dog on the leash of the Butterfly family. I had hoped that based on the rumors of your background, I could perhaps reason with you. But I see-" Puff charged and swung at him again, but he moved back and grabbed his stylus. "You really are beyond reason…"
He raised his weapon up towards him. When he landed, Puff noticed the ground beneath his feet were glowing. "Lucky for me, I already came prepared." A large blast fired from his stylus, blasting Puff and sending a cloud of dust kicking up into the air. Raffle smirked. "Goliaths are weak to magic. Incredibly so. And while you and yours may regard ours as 'fake', it's magic all the same," he said. "You would have been brought down by any member among us, but with my explosive magic I'm able to deal more damage than… what?"
When the dust cleared, he could see Puff was still standing. There wasn't a single scratch on him. Puff grunted and began rushing at him again. Raffle scowled and moved out of the way, blasting at him again. Once again, the attacker headed on, but it didn't seem to do anything to him. "How?"
He was sure he was a goliath, and they were known for being insultingly weak to offensive magic. So why didn't it work? Could he have been wrong? Was he truly just a large mewman? No, that wasn't possible. He was sure that…
He fired another blast, this one smaller and with less intensity. And as he watched it fly towards him, he noticed something. Right as it was about to strike him, it looked like it was being pushed back slightly. Like some force was… rejecting the magic. He narrowed his eyes. "I see, it's your armor," he mumbled.
Though he didn't know what it was made of, it was clear it was rejecting the magical damage that should have been bringing the goliath to his knees. It would have to go. He leapt towards Puff, his stylus raised and ready to strike. Puff swung at him, but he just barely managed to avoid it before swinging at his face.
CLANG!
The sound of metal clashing rang through the air, and Raffle landed with a smirk. He was sure he had managed to pierce his helmet, and maybe even poke an eye out. And now that there was an opening on his head, he could finish him. He turned around and raised the stylus to aim once more, and then-
SNAP!
Raffle's eyes widened as a hand came down and broke his weapon as if it were a twig. He was shocked the Puff had somehow managed to close the distance between them so quickly. He tried to jump back, but another hand grabbed his head and smashed his whole body into the ground. He groaned in pain and then looked up at Puff, then felt a chill run up his spine.
He had indeed managed to chip off part of his helmet. Only the smallest of pieces. All that was visible was one very angry looking eye. "You broke my helmet…" he said dangerously. "Nobody, break my helmet…"
Raffle was about to say something back, but then Puff tightened his grip on his head, and he grunted in pain. Morel said to bring some back alive to interrogation. But this one might have seen his face. So it looked like there was going to be one less…
He kept tightening his grip.
Lilli, who was not grown up to normal mewman sized, looked around nervously as she reached the end of one of the halls. This tower was… really creepy. She honestly would have preferred going with one of the others, but she didn't want to seem whiny or anything.
She stopped in front of the door, and then let out a breath. She could feel a strange magical presence from behind it. One of the ones from when she snuck in earlier, so she knew this would be a fight. She stepped forward and pushed both doors open, and then saw a cloaked figure sitting down in the middle of the room.
The future stood up and pulled their hood down, revealing themselves as a young boy with tan skin. He had off circular marks on his cheeks. Lilli gulped and then reached for her weapon. "I'm Lilli Littlefoot. I'm working with the Queensguards, and I'm guessing that you're one of the malchemist," she said.
The figure nodded. "You are correct little one," he said, reaching for his own weapon. "I am Mak, of the Seven Stars"
Lilli raised her needle and pointed it at him. "I don't want to hurt you. So please come along with me without a fight," she said. She knew there wasn't much of a chance of ending this peacefully, but she still had to try.
"Ah, a warning. How polite of you," the young man said amused. "But sorry to disappoint you. I have no intention of simply coming along with you quietly. Might I make an offer of my own however. Surrender to me, and you will escape with not only your life, but a new and more reliable band of allies."
Lilli frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You're from the brownie tribe, yes?" Mak asked. "We've heard rumors about your plight. You know that our group intends to overthrow the royals and bring them down with the rest of us. I'm sure we could no doubt find a safe haven for-"
Lilli shook her head. "No way," she said sternly. "I know what you guys are trying to do. You want to hurt people. People who have tried to help me. There's no way I'm going to join people like that," she said.
Mak sighed. "You're too naive. Too blinded to see that you're being tricked and used," he said as he began walking towards her. "But I will clear you of these delusions, and show you the truth. Behold the power that has been bestowed on us throughout, through malchemy," he said aiming his stylus at her.
Lilli braced herself, and then remembered what Fum had told her about fighting in the field. "I think the best way to go about it, is to crush your opponents with everything that you have." She opened her eyes again and then began using her magical ability.
Mak was about to utter a spell, but then suddenly a large weight came down and pinned his whole body to the ground. He yelled out in pain and tried to push back, only to gasp when he realized Lilli's face was not looming over him. The girl had grown up to the size of a giant. "H-how did you…?"
There was no word of anybody with this kind of ability in the Queenguard… but she wasn't in the Queensguard, now was she. Lilli moved her pink finger, finding his weapon and then pressing down on it to snap it. "Please come along quietly," she said sternly.
Mak felt a shiver up her spine as she glared down at him. "I… I surrender…"
Flink zipped out of the way the lion-like beastkin fired at her with his stylus. He had introduced himself as Darrachio as the Seven something or others. She hadn't really been listening, and she certainly hadn't cared. All she was focused on right now was taking him down.
"That's right, flee you sneaky whelp!" he laughed. "Fire!" A steam of flames launched from his stylus, but Flink numbly moved around it. "Your puny abilities are no match for the powers that Thea had blessed us with! You are all nothing but worms before us!"
Flink sighed. "Why do I always end up dealing with loud mouths or weirdos…?" she mumbled as she began moving towards him. One strike of her whip could cut off his magical abilities, and then she could capture this clown.
He saw her moving in closer, and then raised his stylus and stabbed it down at the ground. A wave of flames shot out from around him, and Flink was forced to back away.
She scowled as he chuckled towards her. "It's useless. Fast as you may be, you will never be able to get near me. Thea has truly granted me eternal protection through her abilities!" he said haughtily.
Flink rolled her eyes. He kept going on and on about this Thea person. It was starting to get annoying. She wished Arty was here to help deal with him. Flames were practically useless against the kids. "This Thea person… she sounds like a tool."
The beastkin looked at her with fury in his eyes. "You would dare take Thea's name in vain?! Anyone who would stand against the ideals she stands for and those who fight for them, are nothing more than-" Flink's whip cracked near his head, and he just barely managed to step out of the way.
She rushed in at him again, and she growled and got ready to stab down at the ground again. Before the stylus could land however, the Flink flung her whip again and knocked it to the side. He managed to keep his grip on it and swing again, deflecting Flink's next attack. Both he and Flink kept swinging, the stylus and whip clashing over and over again.
The two stood deadlocked, and the malchemist smirked. "Is this all that a ranked officer of the Queensguard really has? How pathetic," he said chuckling.
Flink just kept on swinging, watching him closely. From what Oswald and the other members of the second division told them, most of the members in the malchemist were inexperienced. Monsters and common folk who had a bone to pick with a kingdom.
And right now it showed.
"You're slow…"
She began swinging the whip faster, and the malchemist looked a bit surprised as she tried to keep up. He stook a step back, trying to get a little breathing room, but then Flink began moving even faster. "Are you having trouble?" Flink asked. "I thought I was pathetic. That you were unimpressed with that I could do."
"Fool! Do you think I will yield to this?! I have the will of Thea on-!"
Flink pulled out a second whip, and he found himself stumbling back as he barely managed to parry to strikes. He only managed to knock away a few before he was suddenly barraged with blow after blow from her weapons. He growled. She was fast. Too fast for him to even try and parry anymore.
He tried to grit through it and pointed at her with his stylus, but… nothing. His magic wasn't working. "What is this?! My magic?!" he yelled.
"There's nobody watching over you," Flink said as she swung both whips, slashing him across the chest and sending him stumbling back against the wall. He panted and looked up towards her with a glare. "Not your twisted cult leader, not this Thea lady, nobody. The only person watching you right now, is me," she said.
He tried to push himself up, but she swung the whip and knocked his leg from under him. "Your magic isn't going to work anymore, and I think it's pretty clear that you're no match for me. So you have two options. You can hope this Thea lady shows up out of nowhere and bails you out, or you can surrender… I guess you could also try fighting and die, but hey," she said simply.
He growled angrily. "Damn you… Thea will-"
"Not do a damn thing. Now shut up."
"Did you wander in here by accident little one?"
Sirius pushed his glasses up as he looked at the malchemist warrior before him. He shook his head. "No, I very much intended to be here," the captain said. "My name is Sirius. I am the captain of the third division. My companions and I have entered this tower so apprehend your and yours. I formally request that you come along with me quietly and without resistance."
The rather elderly Malchemist looked at him surprised. This was Sirius? This was the 'Nightmare' of the Queensguard? He was just a child. "I see… well, it is my misfortune to tell you that I will not be going with you today." He looked like he was about to reach for his stylus, but then sighed. "Young one… though I have fully committed to our cause, I would rather not have to harm a child. If you were to walk away now…"
Sirius hummed. "You don't wish to hurt me because of my youthful appearance," he said curiously. "I see. But I'm afraid I really can't leave here without you. The information that you have on your cult may prove to be invaluable to us."
The man lowered his head. "So, we're a cult are we? I suppose from your point of view that is understandable. But I can't waver now. You would not understand, but I have lost far too much to the-" He felt a hand on his shoulder, and quickly looked over to see Sirius leaping past him.
He turned around to face the boy, who now had his hand on his forehead. "I'm sorry, I needed to get a quick look at your memories, to see if you were sincere. But now, Raork, I understand why you're doing this. I'm sorry about what the Commission did to your son," he said.
The old man looked at him stunned. "How… how did you…?"
"Taking in a half-breed, raising him as your own. You have quite a kind heart. And it's understandable why you would want to take up arms now that you've been given a way to fight back," Sirius said. "But you do understand that a path like this is fruitless. Mina's mistake and everything he has built will eventually fall."
Before Roark could answer him, he heard footsteps coming from nearby. "Father?"
He whipped his head around at the familiar voice, and then saw a young boy walking towards him. He was clearly a half-breed, looking rather mewman for the most part. But he had a pair of cat-like ears and a tail. "Nao," Roark said looking shocked. "Nao, how… how are you here? How are you…?" He teared up, walking over to greet his long lost son. He hadn't looked like he had aged a single day. He couldn't believe it.
Sirius on the other hand simply watched as the man walked towards… nothing. There was no one there. Not a soul.
Once he had learned about it son, it had been simply to cast an illusion in his mind to make him see what he wanted. While this might have been considered a bit cruel, it was the easiest method to apprehend him. At his age, had he ran into any of the others besides Corona, he very much doubted he would have survived the encounter.
The elderly man didn't seem to be an evil person, so he would have liked to avoid physically harming him if it was at all possible. Though he assumed a few mental scars may remind after this.
"Enjoy the happy memory…" Sirius said as he moved his hand, making the man move towards the door. "I'm afraid it's likely to be the last one you have for some time."
"Ah, a Butterfly. What a disgusting site…"
Corona stood before the septarian, who looked down at her with nothing but pure hatred in his eyes. "I'm not sure whether to be disappointed at having to be near you, or grateful to Thea for being allowed to end you myself," he said walking towards. "Not that you deserve to know, but I am Bile, of the Seven Stars."
Corona smiled and nodded back towards him. "It's nice to meet you. I assume you already know, but I am Corona Butterfly, captain of the Fourth Division," she said politely. "We're been sent to here-"
"I know why you're here, girl," he said, pulling out his stylus. It was a large, jagged looking sword that looked more like it was for ripping through flesh than it was for casting spells. "And I also know you aren't leaving alive. The entire goal of our movement is to tear down the corrupt system you and your family have built. And by taking you head, we will be so much closer to it."
Corona sighed. "I'm sorry you feel that way. But this kind of action won't help anyone. I think we could get more done if we were to talk things out and-"
"Our words have fallen on death ears for too long," Bile said pointing his sword at her. "It is time for you and yours to answer for what you've done."
He swung down at her, but Corona moved her finger, and suddenly a force field appeared around her. His weapons bounced right off of it, and he stumbled back before glaring at her. "I've never harmed a septarian…" Corona said.
"You've never helped them either."
"I've tried. And maybe I can do more, but I also can't stand aside and let-"
"Enough!" Bile shouted. "I won't sit here and hear your excuses! Your life ends here, now," he said, aiming his stylus. "Poison!" His weapons shot out a wave of dark purple gas, which… was spread apart the moment it hit the force field around her.
Corona looked confused. "Uh… was the gas supposed to leak through my barrier?" she asked curiously. She knew that different practitioners of malchemist had different effects and abilities, but there didn't seem much thought behind that attacks.
He chuckled as he approached her, his weapon still leaking out poison. "That gas may not be able to penetrate your shield, but it's trapped you here," he said as he smashed his weapons against the barrier again. "I wonder how long your barrier will be able to hold out under my attacks! For you sake I hope it's quite some time, because the moment it does the poison will-"
Corona let the barrier down, and she stepped to the side to avoid the blow. Bile stumbled forward, but then quickly turned towards her. Corona reached up and placed a hand on her chest. "Cure." A light flashed in her palm. "Well, that takes care of that."
Bile glared at her. "What are you talking about…?"
"There's a bit of a problem with your strategy. The first being that I specialize in healing magic. This includes both the purging and immunity granting ones to more than a fair amount of poisons," she explained. "The other would be that, while hardly comparable to Queen Star or my cousin Nia, I have a fairly large quantity of magic."
Compared to most, her magic was rather large. Comparable to Astro's even. "I'm afraid any tactic involving poison won't really work on me." Bile shouted and swung at her again, but she raised her hand and made a small barrier to block the sword. "And I don't think you're going to be able to shatter my barrier either."
Bile growled. "Arrogant little wench," he said as he prepared to swing at her again. "You won't be able to avoid me forever! I'll cut you down just like we did that foolish woman Comet those years go!" he shouted.
Corona's eyes suddenly narrowed. She moved her hand again, and just before he was about to swing down, something stopped him. He looked over his shoulder and saw there was now a force field around his hand, holding it in place. "I see, you were one of the septerian's responsible for that incident," she said. "That changes things."
He grunted. "Does it now?"
With another wave of her hands, a cloud of blade shaped blue energy appeared around her. "It does. I have to bring you in for an entirely different reason," she said. "I'm sorry about this. I don't usually like taking offensive stances with my magic, but I'd like to make sure you have no way of slipping through our fingers…"
A septarian related to that incident had to be brought in to answer for their crimes.
Bile let out another growled and tried to bite at her, but the blade all moved at one, and in an instant he was shredded to pieces. He looked stunned as his head rolled against the ground. "How… how in the hell…?" She was the captain of their healing division. Nobody had ever mentioned her being too skilled offensively. So how…?
Yet another force field appeared, this time around his head. It floated off the ground, and Corona walked over towards him. "I'm curious. I know there are a number of other septarians not only working against the kingdom, but against Amber's claim to her people's throne. I'm sure you could tell me more about them, yes?"
Oswald didn't think he was as magically inclined or skilled in combat as many of the other captains. He was skilled with a sword, but nowhere near Astro's level. And his magic was okay, but obviously not as vast as Corona, or even Morel's. But he did have one thing on his side.
Stealth.
The cloaked figure stood in the middle of the room, unaware of his presence. And Oswald was going to take advantage of that. He could take him down before he even knew what hit him. He carefully circled around until he was behind him, and then knelt and got into a leaping position. In one swift move, he could knock him out and end it.
He sprung forward, bringing his hand back and getting ready to strike him in the neck. But right before he could, the figure turned around and swung his stylus at him. Oswald just barely managed to avoid the blow before and rolled past him, turning around and jumping back to get some distance.
"What a shame, I meant to take your head off in one swipe…"
Oswald narrowed his eyes as the figure pulled down their hood. It was a bat-like beastskin, with piercing all over his face. Well, that explained how he managed to see him. There were certain types of beastskin who were known for being able to use sonar, and bats were the most notable of them all.
He dropped his camouflage, knowing it would be pointless here. "Ah, I know you," the beastskin said chuckling. "You're the greenhorn of the Queensguard Captains. Oswald, correct?" he asked.
Oswald nodded. "Yeah, that's me… any chance I could talk you into something quietly?"
He scoffed. "Isn't that just like one of the Queen's dogs. To try and sue for peace after your first strike failed," he said shaking his head.
"I was only going to knock you out. I don't want to hurt anybody. Not if I don't have to," Oswald said. "Seriously, if you give up now and cooperate, you can probably walk away from this in one piece."
The malchemist smirked. "The time for talking has long since passed, traitor. Now is the time for battle. Prepare yourself, for now you stand before Marrow, of the Seven…" He stopped when he reached for his stylus, and felt nothing.
"Looking for something?"
Marrow looked up and saw that Oswald was holding his stylus, a smirk on his face. He glared and stepped towards him. "How the-?! When did you-?!"
"Your grip loosened the moment that you realized you missed me, and right as you were turning around I moved my tongue to your blind spot," Oswald said casually. "Even so, I kind of expected you to react. Maybe that sonar was so focused on me that you didn't notice. Or maybe it's just not honed enough. You don't come off as the warrior type."
Marrow growled at him angrily, but Oswald held his hand up. "Hold on now, let's not do anything hasty," he said. "Like I said, I don't want to hurt you. So why don't you surrender and just-" Marrow rushed at him, and he sighed. "Okay then…"
The bat beastkin pulled out two daggers, and Oswald nimbly avoided his attack before grabbing something from his pocket and throwing it at him. Marrow easily dodged it, chuckling. "It's going to take a lot more than that to-!"
He was cut off when he suddenly heard a loud screeching noise. He winced, looking over her shoulder and seeing what was making that godforsaken noise, and then spotted the item that he'd thrown earlier. It was an orb, that was glowing and pulsing. "It's a sound stone. I got one from the third division. They specialize in magic and special items like this," Oswald explained.
Oswald suddenly vanished, and Marrow's eyes widened. He looked around, trying to use his sonar to track him down. But the noise was too loud for him to hear. "You know, it's actually not that loud. But the frequency is made to mess with monsters with super sensitive hearing," he said.
Marrow turned and threw one of his daggers where he thought he heard his voice, but it sunk into the wall, hitting nothing. "It's not powerful enough to do any real damage, but at least I can use camouflage now without you seeing me," he said. "Which means I can take you in without hurting you too badly."
Marrow felt something knock his blade from his hand from behind, and then turned around and swung. He felt nothing on his fist, but soon felt something hit him in the back of the neck. Oswald had stretched his tongue around, knocking the knife from his hand, and then sneaking up on him when he turned.
He watched as he dropped to the ground, now unconscious. Oswald sighed. He was glad he carried a few stones like that on him. He may not have been the strongest of the captain, but he knew his own weaknesses, and how to cover for them. "Now… I gotta carry this guy back…"
"My, didn't I get lucky. Getting the playboy of the Queensgaurd."
Morel stared at the woman before him with a blank expression. She had long blonde hair, and was fairly tall. He would have described her as pretty he supposed. "I'm guessing you're one of the malchemist then?" he asked casually.
She nodded. "That I am. My name is Riol of the Seven Stars. And you get to have the honor of being crushed by me on behalf of lord Crow," she said.
Morel raised an eyebrow. "This Crow guy… is he here?"
Riol hummed. "Here? Of course not. He's far too busy spreading the glorious words of malchemy to be bothered with this task. The seven of us didn't even bother telling him about this. We thought it would be a pleasant surprise to give him with the heads of his enemies," she explained. "It's cute you thought you were worth his time though."
Morel yawned. "Well, sorry for asking. It's just… I'm sensing weak ass magic all over the place, so I couldn't tell if we were really dealing with some big fish, or a bunch of cocky lackeys," he said, putting his hand in his pockets. "But if you guys are supposed to be a big deal, maybe we really were blowing this whole malchemy threat up."
She narrowed her eyes. "You've got quite a cocky attitude for someone who isn't even a captain. You're going to regret that attitude when this is over," she said raising his stylus. "But, maybe if you bow down and beg for forgiveness, I can convince lord Crow to let me keep you as a pet."
Morel reached down and pulled out two of his daggers. "Yeah, sorry. That's not gonna happen…" he said bluntly. Riol moved her stylus, drawing a symbol in the air, and then suddenly her entire body seemed to bulk up with muscle. Morel looked slightly surprised. "That's… new."
Riol smiled at him. "My magical ability channels the magic in the area into my body as pure muscle!" she said haughtily. "It's honestly pretty bad luck for you to have come across me. Your division lacks when it comes to hand to hand, doesn't it?"
Before he could answer, she rushed at him, stylus raised and ready to strike. Morel flicked one of his daggers at her, but she leapt right over it and landed behind him. She turned around and kicked, sending him sliding back into the wall nearby. "Ha! You see. Crow has finally given all of us regular mewmans the power to fight back. Power way stronger than the Queen and her hounds can offer."
She turned and rushed at him again, fist raised and ready to strike. "Star won't be the one leading us mewmans anymore! If you've got any brains then you'll wise up and join the winning-" Morel raised his hand as she swung, stopping her fist dead in her tracks. Her eyes went wide. "What the-?!"
"This isn't all that strong," Morel said as he pried himself out of the wall, easily pushing her back. "You wouldn't even be able to outpower Puff, let alone Astro or the others. I think this power that this Crow guy gave you is bullshit."
Riol glared. How was he this strong? He was supposed to be all about magic, wasn't he? They never said anything about his physical strength? Was it a fluke? Some sort of trick? Either way, it wasn't about to happen again. "How dare you!" she shouted, raising her other fist and swinging at him.
Morel raised his hand and caught the other just as easily. She tried pulling her fist up, but his grip was like iron. "You said that you were a bad matchup for me, right? I think it's the other way around. I mean using an ability that boosts strength against someone who saps it… well, that's just bad luck," he said.
She looked at him confused, but then realized something. Her magic… it was being drained. And drained quickly! She began struggling to pry herself free, pulling her arms back and kicking at him, but he didn't budge. "Relax. I'm only gonna drain enough to make sure you're not a threat. Until then, how about answering a few questions about this Crow guy?" he asked, pulling her forward so they were face to face.
Riol scoffed. "I'm not telling you a single… a… not telling…" She looked into his eyes, and it seemed like she was starting to go into a daze.
"Right, let's have a chat…"
CLASH!
Arty stumbled back, but quickly regained his footing and leapt out of the way of the stone spike that rose from the ground. He rushed back at the enemy, spinning his halberd around as he prepared to strike.
The large minotaur charged back at him, a battle in one hand, and his stylus in the other. He seemed to have some ability to manipulate the earth. Every time he made movement with that other weapon of his, the ground around or right beneath Arty would shift and raise, trying to strike him.
He had been able to avoid them fairly easily, but the real problem was bringing down the minotaur himself. He was called Charge of seven something or another. Arty didn't really get a lot of time to remember before he started charging at him and Slick, who had removed himself from the fight and told Arty to handle it.
Bringing him down was easier said than done, but that was probably the point. Arty was used to dealing with more or less normal sized opponents. Slick wanted him to gain experience against someone heavier and bulkier. Learn how to take them down. Now if he could just figure out how…
"Pay attention little one!" Charge yelled, swinging at him with his axe. Arty jumped out of the way, only to see an earth spike coming at him from behind. He twisted his body, using the moment to spin his halbert and smash it to bits, then landed on the ground and slid. "Hmm, not bad. You're an evasive little thing. But if all you can do is run, then you're little more than a fangless rat."
Arty ignored the insult, focusing on just how he was going to knock him off his feet. He looked over towards Slick, who had made himself comfortable sitting against the wall nearby, his hands behind his head. He smirked towards the boy. "Having a little trouble kid?" he asked. "Just think. What would I do… you know, besides kill him in one hit."
Charge frowned and looked over towards him. "Be cocky while you can, prince. Once I'm finished with the child, I'm coming for you. And you'll have no one else left to hide behind," he said. For him to have one of the royal heirs themselves come to him, he was fortunate. Crow would be ecstatic to have such a valuable hostage.
Slick waved him off. "You're trying to go way above your weight class there man. You're nothing but a test for my squire. An extra," he said chuckling.
Charge growled at him, and Arty took the chance to charge in at him. He had thought about what Slick told him, and remembered some of his spars against Puff. He had an idea. Charge spotted him coming, and quickly swung at him again with his axe. Artys spun around the hit, and then with all his might, swung his halberd at his leg.
The blow knocked his foot from under him, and Arty threw his whole body into him, managing to knock him off the ground. Arty spun around again, knocking his axe away from him, but before he could do the same to his stylus, charge managed to draw another symbol.
The ground underneath him shifted, and another Earth spike shot at him. This one was much larger than before, but he managed to dodge by kicking off the side of it with his foot. He looked over towards the axe, expecting to see Charge going after his weapon, but instead he heard a crashing sound, and looked forward to see the minotaur breaking through the Earth spike right towards him.
The tiefling tightened his grip on his halberd and got ready to swing back. He was going to take a hit, but if he timed it right he could take him down with the next strike. Before the two could clash however, Slick jumped in between them, holding his hand up and stopping Charge dead in his tracks.
"Not bad kid," Slick said looking over his shoulder at Arty. "Only advice would be never take your eyes off the enemy. Even if it's trying to guess what they're up to. But otherwise, lesson fucking learned."
Arty looked up at him, while Charge glared. He lifted his stylus and took aim at him. What happened next looked like a blur to both him and Arty. Slick pushed Charge back and then grabbed his spear, and in once fluid motion, he sliced him across the chest. Charge's eyes widened, and he yelled as he fell back and grabbed his now bleeding chest.
He didn't get much time to think about his wound however, because Slick stepped over him and raised his spear. Charge felt his blood run cold. "See ya," Slick said. Right before he swung thought, Arty stepped forward and tugged on the back of his armor. He looked over her shoulder at the kid. "What? You serious?" Arty pulled out his notepad and scribbled something down, then showed it to him.
Corona said alive, remember? And what would Bloom want?
Slick sighed. "Uh, using Bloom on me? That's a pretty low blow kid. I must be rubbing off on you more than I thought," he said before looking down at Charge. "When you wake up, you should get down on your knees and thank the kid for your life," Slick said before kicking forward, hitting Charge in the chin and knocking him right out.
Arty gave an approving nod. It seemed like he was slowly and surely starting to get Slick to curb some of his more violent tendencies. "Alright kid. Let's lug this punk back outside and meet up with the others," he said. "They should all be wrapped up by now..."
"Why are there only six of them?" Sirius asked curiously. The knights had all met up back outside. After Corona made sure no one had any fatal injuries, they'd restrained their malchemist foes, and Flink sealed off their magic using her whip just to be safe.
Puff grunted. "He saw my face…" He had managed to patch his helmet up somewhat, using some scrap metal and the fire crystal he kept in his weapon.
Corona sighed. "You know, you could have just had Sirius wipe his memory." She knew how sensitive he was about his face, but she didn't exactly like how carefree he was about killing anyone who saw it.
"Ah who cares, just one less bad guy to lug back," Slick said lazily. "I need to get home and see if Fum or Breeze is up for a spar. These guys were way too weak."
"It's likely because they were little more than canon fodder," Sirius pointed out.
Everyone, including the seven Stars, looked up towards him. "What did you say to you little runt?!" Charge shouted. "We of the Seven Stars are one of the most elite-!"
"Your tactics, methods, and even some of your weapons differ too greatly from traditional malchemy. If I had to make a rough guess, I would say that you were only bringing out a third of your full capabilities," Sirius reasoned. "Not that it would have mattered. Sensing your magical power, even if you'd brought out a hundred percent of what you could do, it'd made little difference to us."
The Seven Stars glared at him, while Lilli raised her hand. "Um… so, what exactly are you trying to say here. That these guys aren't real Malchemist?" she asked.
Sirius rubbed his chin. "Hmm, not quite. Malchemy is still a very new and young form of magic. It would be more accurate to say that they were… guinea pigs. Likely posted here to see if their methods would be effective in the field," he said. Though that didn't seem like the type of tactics Mina's Mistake would use. Odd.
Riol grew wide eyed. "What? No, that's not possible. Those methods… they were supposed to make us stronger! That's not…" Had they been lied to? Tricked? Crow couldn't have known about this. That meant that the bastard had to have…
She wisely decided to keep her mouth shut, not wanting to let any more information leak than she already had. She was pretty sure she'd already told that Morel guy where a number of their other members were located.
"Well, we can sort the rest out when we get back to the castle," Morel said stretching his arms. "I'm hungry, and tired. I need a snack and a nap like yesterday."
Slick smirked. "Say, when you say a Snack and a nap do you mean-?"
Corona slapped Slick in the back of the head, and the others looked surprised as it burst apart into slime. She still had the same sweet smile on her face though. "Oh, I'm sorry. My hand slipped," she said casually. "We should get going now though."
Lilli looked at the other girl shocked. "Corona is actually pretty scary…" she muttered. The others nodded in agreement, and then the group began to move out.
Far off in the distance, much further than any of them could have sensed, a gigantic figure let out a sigh. "Well, that was a bust…" the figure said annoyed. He had hoped that mixing different tactics and weaponry with Malchemy would yield better results, but it seemed like he hadn't quite figured it out yet.
He would have to come up with a story to tell Crow about the Seven… what had he named them again? Bah, it really didn't matter.
A handful of nobodies wouldn't really be missed among their ranks. And there were plenty of other dumb villagers hungry for power to try out new methods with. And once he found one that worked, he'd be able to take everything he wanted.
And rightfully deserved...
A/N: WOO! This was a long one lol. I wanted to do a fic to showcase some of the other captains and lieutenants, and also sort of set up another character I'm planning on making. I was already halfway done before I thought "Wait, do I know enough about how malchemist magic work?" but by that time I was like "screw it, I'm doing it anyway" I tried to keep the magics simple enough so I hope I did a decent enough job on it.
Still hammering out some details on my new character, but it's gonna be something I don't think you guys will expect! Also decided to do a few more one-shots before I jump into the titanic ten arc. I'm super excited on doing it, but there's still some stuff I think I need to set up or go into more detail about so I don't have to force it into the story later.
Hope you guys enjoyed!