Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt Season Two: The Legend of Judgment: Episode 3: Brief's First Test, Scanty's Full Power
Brief heard these words and immediately stopped. He was getting a real work out these last few days and he could feel the new muscles beginning to grow. He was also out of breath and the sudden stop in his training made his fatigue more relevant to him.
"What's the next test?" Brief asked as he panted slightly. He hoped it might be something like a break from this. It was nearing the midafternoon and it was starting to get hot, close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
"Your next test will be to try and hit us. You've gone over all of the basics and now it's time to see if any of that stuck with you" Scanty said.
"W... what? Hit you? You think I can?" he asked.
"Not with that attitude" Scanty said. "If you want to progress in this training, you have to learn to be decisive. No second guessing allowed. Out there…" she pointed in the direction of Oten City, "there will be no time for hesitation."
"But I don't think this is a fair fight! I mean, don't you think I should learn some sort of super move, or something?!" He stammered back.
"BRIEF!" Scanty yelled. The intensity of the scream shocked Brief out of his little fit and got his attention back.
Normally Scanty's elegance with her words was enough to get people to listen. This very forced and to the point approach seemed almost out of character for her. Never the less, it got the job done.
"Do you really expect a fair fight?" Scanty scoffed. "Stocking will do whatever it takes to win, there are no rules!"
As much as Brief didn't want to admit it, Scanty was right. Stocking would probably use any and every trick in the book to secure victory. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
"Alright" he said.
"Good! It seems that we have an understanding. Now I'll say it one more time" Scanty started as she got into fighting stance. "Try and hit me! Use what I taught you about your fighting stances and strike techniques!"
Brief nodded as his feet spread out to shoulder length and his grip on the staff tightened. He stared down Scanty down, yet he was unmoving, as if he was completely frozen in fear.
"You can start anytime now" Scanty said with a half-smile. She then folded her arms and closed her eyes.
At that Brief narrowed his eyes and shifted his weight to push off and rush Scanty at a full sprint. He closed the gap quickly, though it seemed that Scanty was making no effort to dodge, let alone move. She still stood in the same position.
"HAAAAA" he yelled as he came into striking distance.
Raising Judgement above his head, he screamed again as he swung down towards Scanty's head. Closer and closer the Bo-Staff came to her, yet she still didn't move.
"Is she really not going to move?" He thought as the Bo-Staff swung rapidly closer to her face.
He closed his eyes as he prepared for the impact of pole on skull. He heard the impact and was afraid to look. However, he slowly opened one of his eyes before what he saw made them both shoot wide open. Indeed, Brief had contacted Scanty, though not in a way that warrant a pass on the lesson. Scanty simply stood in the exact same spot, however, her index finger on her right hand was raised, preventing Judgment from moving any further. Scanty had blocked his strike with a single finger, and no matter how hard he pushed, it wouldn't go any further.
"What?! You blocked my attack with a single finger?!" Brief asked stunned as they continued to hold the same position.
"Hahaha! Brief, at least make this a challenge!" Scanty laughed before effortlessly moving her finger and pushing Judgment and Brief off to the side no matter how hard he fought back.
Once Scanty got him into a place she was comfortable, she used the same finger to knock him off balance.
"Whoa!" yelled as he stumbled backwards a few steps as he tried to regain his footing.
Scanty tool the opportunity to rush in and sweep his legs. And as if time had slowed down for everyone other than Scanty, she rushed in and elbowed him in the side before he even hit the ground. This attack though, did send him into the ground, with more force than he otherwise would have with just the fall.
The dust from the impact settled and Scanty landed on her feet gracefully. A stark contrast to Brief who was still lying face down in the dirt.
"GET UP!" Scanty yelled at him.
A few seconds later, he slowly pushed himself off the ground. Coughing a bit as he tried to regain his breath, he shakily stood back up on his feet.
"Yes, that's it." Scanty said with a smile.
Brief gripped Judgment again and brought it up to fighting stance once again. Before he could even react, however, Scanty zoomed in, faster than light, and punched Brief hard in the stomach. As he doubled over in pain, Scanty took her elbow and struck it hard on the back of his head, sending him face first into the ground once more.
"WATCH YOUR OPPONENT BRIEF! READ THEIR MOVEMENTS!" Scanty screamed as Brief once again struggled to his feet.
He panted heavily, but he managed to nod at what Scanty told him. He brought Judgment up again and rushed in full speed.
"HAAA!" He yelled as he swung.
Scanty tilted her head and avoided the attack. She then countered Brief's attack but kicking him hard in the left arm, nearly knocking Judgment out of his hands.
"AAAARGH" he yelled as he held his arm in pain.
"PUSH THROUGHT THE PAIN BRIEF! DON'T GIVE YOUR OPPONENT AN OPENING!" Scanty yelled again as she folded her arms. She was beginning to lose patience with him. He has the basic techniques! Use them!
He once again got into a fighting stance and stared Scanty down as best he could, which wasn't very well.
"Remember what I taught you, Brief, and use it" Scanty said, still with her arms folded.
Brief nodded his head and waited for a moment before charging in again.
"HAAAA!" Brief yelled as he swung Judgment yet again.
As before Scanty just stood there, motionless. Closer and closer the end of the pole came to Scanty's face but this time she remained still instead of making a move to dodge or block. Brief closed his eyes and prepared himself again for a gruesome hit. Instead hitting flesh and bone, he ended up faceplanted on the grass, sliding on his face a few feet. He laid there in shock for a moment before he could push himself up into a kneeling position.
"W…what?" he thought as he shook his head to get rid of the stars. He tried rubbing as much dirt off his face as he could before he turned around to see Scanty cut cleanly in half down the middle, yet she still seemed to standing straight up.
He was stunned for a moment before he noticed something strange. The cut wasn't clean like one would expect from a solid body. Instead it almost looked like he cut through a cloud of gas. Not to mention the fact that there was no blood or entrails lining the ground. Also, there was the issue of Judgment being a blunt weapon being unable to cut anything. It almost felt like he just passed through her like she wasn't even there.
"What the hell? Is this some sort of apparition?" he said in shock. Just what the hell was going on here?
His suspicions were confirmed as the body of Scanty slowly faded away, leaving nothing behind that even showed she was there at all, save for her foot prints she left in the grass. He looked around the yard, turning his head quickly back and forth, hoping to see Scanty before she could launch any kind of surprise attack.
Meanwhile, Kneesocks watched the training session from underneath the shade of a tree. She had removed her top due to the oppressive heat, leaving her in just a black lacy bra. She still had her skirt on however, as well as her knee socks. Even under the tree it was unbearably hot, and she was sweating profusely, evident by another wipe by her hand to her forehead. Even so, she was sitting down at its base with a smile on her face as she watched her sister train Brief.
"Looks like Scanty decided to finally break out that technique. She must have a lot faith in young Brief." She thought before her expression suddenly turned very serious.
"She must sense it too. We don't have a lot of time" she said to herself as her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed.
Meanwhile, Brief was still frantically looking back and forth and all around him for any sign of Scanty. But she had yet to turn up.
"Where the hell did she go?" he said, still looking around and keeping his guard up.
"I thought you'd never ask" Scanty said.
Brief whipped around and faced the direction the voice was coming from. He spotted her quickly and was stunned.
There was Scanty, hang upside down by her feet on the gutters of one of the Church's lower roof sections. Her bright green hair was being tugged downwards by gravity, yet somehow her dress and shirt remained in place. Which was a good thing for Brief. He didn't need any more distractions. Scanty laughed a bit into her hand.
"I was wondering when you would notice me! I was starting to think you'd just leave me 'hanging'" she laughed again at her own pun.
"What? H…how?!" Brief asked. He just couldn't comprehend how Scanty could what she did.
"A simple trick my dear" she replied as she relaxed her feet, letting her free fall for a split second before she spun herself right side up and landed softly on her feet.
"Think of it as a shadow or a mirage. It's hard to explain really." Scanty told him. "I call it After Image."
"Okay…that still doesn't answer the how" Brief replied as he drove one end of Judgement onto the ground, causing it to stand upright.
"Simple" Scanty replied as she unfolded her arms all the way, revealing her golden revolvers in each hand.
Brief just looked at her in confusion. How does a gun make you give off an After Image and move at ridiculous speeds?
"See, not only is a weapon used to kill ghosts, or power them up in our case, they are also a power source. Inside these are huge stores of Demonic energy, just waiting to be used. If you tap into it, you gain an incredible amount of power. It allows you to break through any normal limits that your physical body may have. You ascend to a new level power. Like this" Scanty stated as she pointed one of her revolvers at a grave stone.
The gun glowed bright gold as a lime green glow enveloped her body and illuminated her eyes. She smiled, her grin showing off her pearly whites, that seemed even brighter than normal, as she pulled back he pin of the hammer. Closing in eye, she fired her gun. Instead of a bullet coming out however, a large beam of black and gold energy fired out. Not only did it hit the grave stone, it vaporized it and the entire row behind all the way to the end before exploding in a shower of light. The glow faded away and revealed that a divot in the ground was formed and the grass was completely charred. Scanty lowered her gun as the glow faded away and turned back to Brief.
"And it's not just Demons, Angels can do the same thing. I'm sure you remember Panty and Stocking using it" She finished.
Brief took a moment to process what just happened. He thought back to the Corset fight. Panty and Stocking had combined their weapons to form this giant death cannon thing. Unfortunately, they pointed it the wrong way and fired it into the sky. However, it all worked out in the end. Thinking about this fight made him begin to understand the gap between his power and the power of the Demons and Angels.
"Well, I remember the giant laser, but not the whole glowing thing!" Brief said.
"Hmph, typical. Well, they're not the most studious of Angels, and that idiot Garterbelt probably never taught them how to properly access their true powers and ascend. Sad really. That's part of basic weapon train in Hell" Scanty replied as she examined her nails.
That did make sense. They didn't seem like the kind of people that would sit down and pay attention to anything they weren't interested in. Especially Panty. He sighed sadly as he thought her name. He then turned to look at Judgement and a lightbulb seemed to go off in his head. What if…
"Hey Scanty?" Brief asked as he pulled Judgment out of the ground.
"Hmm?" she replied as she looked up from her nails and raised an eyebrow at Brief's question as a sign for him to continue.
"If Angels and Demons can access their weapons power, then what about me? Could I do the same with Judgment?" he asked.
Scanty paused her nail examination and looked at Brief.
"Ding ding ding we have a winner" Scanty replied. "Judgment allows the anyone who wields it access to its powers, be it Angel, Demon, or even you, Brief. You'll need to tap into that power if we want to have any sort of a chance against Stocking and Corset."
"Then teach me how to do it!" he said loudly. "Tell me how to tap into this power! If you think I can beat Corset and Stocking, tell me how to bring it out!"
Scanty sighed. "Brief, there are a great many things I can teach you. But this is not one of them." Scanty said shaking her head. "This is something you need to figure out on your own. I will give you guidance, but I won't tell you how to reach the goal."
"WHAT?! You're just going to tell me about this great power and then do nothing?!" he yelled at Scanty.
"I said I'd give guidance, Brief. I'll give you suggestions, not guarantees. The reason isn't that I won't help you, it's that I can't! You must find your own way to reach the goal. The power you want comes in response to a need, not a desire. You must create that need. No one else can do it for you! It needs be tangible, real emotions! You can't fake your way or go in with any preconceived notions. Use that anger for ascending, not yelling at your teacher" Scanty said before exhaling.
At this Kneesocks, who had been listening in on the conversation from her spot under the shaded tree, grabbed her top and walked over to Scanty's side.
"Now then, I say you passed the first test." Scanty smiled.
Brief's face flashed a surprised look.
"What? But I haven't hit you yet!" Brief said, slightly confused. He hadn't even done anything yet.
Scanty simply laughed into her hand. "You miss the point, Briefers. The objective I set was to hit me yes, but the true goal in all of this was to demonstrate that no matter how much technique we taught you, that there would always be an insurmountable gap of raw power that no human would be able to overcome without using your weapon to its full potential. I think you've been able to gather that much, right?" Scanty asked.
Brief simply nodded his head.
"Good, now let's get some rest and think about what I told you. We're getting up bright and early in the morning to begin the lesson" Scanty said.
She and Kneesocks proceeded to walk into the church, while Brief struggled to walk. The training session had taken everything out of him and now that the adrenaline was gone, he was really starting to feel it. He shuffled along as best he could as he groaned slightly and gripped his left arm where Scanty had kicked him. It hurt, a lot. It wasn't broken, but probably bruised. As he shuffled up the steps and opened the door, he saw the elevator door close. He made his way over to the elevator and pressed the button. He waited for just a few moments before the golden doors opened again. He walked in and pressed the up button. As the elevator ascended he slumped against the wall. Why? Why did everything have to be so hard?
"Panty..." he mumbled as his vision blurred slightly.
The doors opened and he stumbled out. Walking to the other side of the hallway, he opened the door to the roof walkway. He heard the door to the bell tower close as he traversed the flight of stairs to get to the actual walkway itself. He could see the door on the other side. With his lack of energy even standing was a struggle and it made what was normally something that didn't require much effort into something that was incredibly difficult. It kind of felt just like how life was going for him right now. The seemingly simple task of putting Panty back together had turned into the most arduous task he had ever done in his life. It was starting to feel very overwhelming. He shook the thoughts out of his mind as best he could as he finally made his way into Panty's bedroom and collapsed on the bed, out cold.
Meanwhile, in the bell tower room, Scanty and Kneesocks were getting their sleeping bags ready.
"Maybe you shouldn't be so hard on young Brief, Scanty. He is only a human after all, and he is trying his best. You could go a little easier on him" Kneesocks said as she laid her sleeping bag out on the floor.
Scanty looked over to her sister as she took her uniform top off.
"Listen, you know as well as I do that we don't have time for being nice and going easy. You know the battle he's getting himself into better than he does. We need show him that there will be no mercy taken out there. We have to get him ready trained up as fast as we can because if we don't and we fail then…." Scanty trailed off as she took her skirt off.
She turned to Kneesocks with narrowed eyes. "Then, this world has no future"
The two of the stood wordless for a few moments before Scanty broke the silence.
"Look it was a long day" she started as she rolled out her sleeping bag and lied on top of it. "Let's just get some rest."
Kneesocks nodded her head slowly before slowly lying down herself.
"Goodnight, Scanty" Kneesocks said.
"Goodnight, Kneesocks" Scanty replied.
With that the two fell asleep, resting up for whatever the world had in store for them tomorrow.
End of Episode 3.
