Yayaka

I just about managed to deactivate my visor, a split second before my face crashed into the floor of the next world. I'm not sure if the impact could have broken it, but I'd be a little happier knowing it was still in one piece, instead of being a bunch of glass shards in another world. I pushed myself up, noting that some of the smoke from my rocket in the last world had followed us through, weaving around me and Yuyu, but it faded soon enough. Thankfully, the smoke was the only thing that had come with us through the world. There wasn't a giant insect to be seen. Good.

The smoke made me worry a little though. Toto seemed to have breathing problems because of being in Pure Illusion for so long... Is Yuyu okay with all the smoke? Even though she was wearing the amorphous necklace, I couldn't help worrying.

She was lying on the floor next to me, eyes wide open, which sent another spike of anxiety through me. She's not dead, is she? Her body hasn't given out from the stress has it? I knelt down next to her, and shook her shoulder.

"Yuyu?"


Yuyu

Was lying, flat on front. Felt something touch my shoulder. Nudge. Nudge nudge. "Hey, Yuyu?" Yayaka's voice.

Could see, but unable to make out shapes. Saw green blur. Saw black. Bugs were black. Heart thumping in chest. Beating wildly. Need to breathe. Inhaled. Exhaled. Felt hurried. Panicked. Inhaled and exhaled. Felt dizzy, couldn't see properly. Was lying down, but body shaking. No control.

"Hey, Yuyu, you're okay! There's no more bugs here, you're safe!" Could hear Yayaka talking again. Could hear words. But wasn't understanding them. Felt pressure on shoulder. A squeeze. Sat up quickly.

Too quickly. Brain felt fuzzy again. Could barely see, could barely think...

Felt something push gently against shoulder.

"Yuyu, it's just me. It's Yayaka." Heard her voice again. Turned to face her. Hair was a blur of gold. Eyes like gems. Amethyst.

Yayaka is here. Yayaka is calm. No danger.

"Take deep breaths, Yuyu, you're safe." Rough voice. Little harsh. But gentle words. Yayaka is calm. Is okay to be calm.

Deep breaths.

Followed Yayaka's instructions. Inhaled and exhaled slowly. Vision slowly became clearer. Wild thumping in chest began to slow.

"You're doing good," she said, attempting smile. Her smile was uncertain… But was nice to see. Encouraging. Continued breathing slowly. Calming down. Eventually seemed to settle.

"Well done," Yayaka said, patting my shoulder. She looked away, taking in surroundings, suddenly alert.


Yayaka

It looked like we were standing in some sort of forest that looked like it came straight out of a fairy tale. I vaguely remembered the descriptions of magical forests from the story books Cocona gave me, and from her own stories... Forest trees that stood like an army of giants over us, their branches covered in vibrant green leaves. The grass (normally hardly seen in Pure Illusion, so I found it a little odd to see some here) was long, tangled, and just as vivid as the leaves above. A few stray toadstools dotted the land, bright red with white spots, poking up through the strands of grass, like a curious cat peeking over a fence... Actually, looking at the toadstools, they also made me think of wizard hats... Maybe they weren't toadstools at all, but instead, little gnomes, like from some of Cocona's stories.

I clicked my visor on to see if that was indeed the case, and was a little disappointed when it turned out to just be regular plant life. Maybe one day I'll run into a world like the one's she's invented...

My visor showed no other immediate danger here. I quickly made a note of this world's coordinates, so I could show Cocona a fairy tale forest one day, and I clicked it off. Thinking about fairy tales, I became curious and wondered if Yuyu knew any, and turned to ask her. My mouth was open, ready to ask her about the subject, but a completely different question came out of it, when I actually spoke:

"Are you okay, Yuyu?"

The silver-haired girl was staring down at her metal arm. I'd noticed it was still coated in amber sap from the insect world before, but I didn't realise just how bad the situation was, until I saw it now.

The layer surrounding it was at least an inch thick, and gleamed in the world's sunlight, making it look like an odd gemstone. There were a couple of beads of raised sap that I felt should have been following gravity and dripping towards the ground, but were instead frozen in place, having solidified.

"Can't move arm..." Yuyu said. Her left shoulder shook as she tried to command it to move, but nothing happened beyond the gummed-up limb vibrating slightly, stuck at its 90-degree angle. I looked over at her metal hand, wondering if that could respond at all, when I saw that her sword was still grasped tightly in a reverse grip, blade extended. She probably would have retracted that by now if she could have... I knelt down to have a closer look at the sword's handle. The dried sap around it resembled a heavily used candle, with trails and ridges of drips around the wrist, heading towards the elbow.

"Sap around hand is weakest," Yuyu said, with an edge to her voice. "Weakest... but still can't..." Her shoulder began to vibrate even more as she tried even harder to get some sort of reaction out of it. The only thing that happened was that Yuyu's arm shook a little more, causing the sword's blade to come dangerously close to her leg. Hell, at the rate she was going, it'd only be a matter of time before she'd slice her own foot off.

"Yuyu, stop!" I said. I quickly stood up, and put my hands on her amber-covered arm, as if to try and hold it still. "You're gonna hurt yourself if you're not careful!"

I was scared for a moment that she hadn't heard me, or that she wasn't able to hear at all, when I slowly felt the vibrations under my hands slow, and the arm was still.

"Thought new arm would help..." Yuyu said, quietly. She sounded... upset. "Thought I could be useful..."

"...Yuyu?" I looked up at her face and saw her eyes were wet with tears. There was no emotion on her face otherwise, but... she was crying… I'd never seen either of the twins do that before... and it kinda killed my heart to see her like that. "Hey, Yuyu? Look at me."

She didn't respond or show any signs she'd heard. I thought I could hear her mumble 'defective' under her breath, which hurt to hear, even though it wasn't directed at me. How long has she been feeling like this? I wanted to help, but I wasn't really sure how. What would Papika do if I was upset?

"Okay, if you won't look at me, then at least listen to me." I couldn't really muster any gentleness for my voice, so I probably came across a lot grouchier than I felt, but I didn't want Yuyu to get caught in a spiral and feel worse so I felt the need to say something. "Your arm might have crapped up on you, but that doesn't stop you being useful. You still managed to get us both out of that bug world, with only one working arm... Hell, I'd probably be dead by now if you weren't here with me."

I waited, to see if Yuyu would say anything, or show signs of listening to me, but she only stood there, still looking down at her metal arm. Maybe words can't snap her out of it this time… But what else can I do? I thought about it, and reached a hand down to rummage through my weapon belt, when my hand hit something oddly warm. What the…? I looked down, and saw the dragon fang I'd taken from the game world when I was with Toto and Nyunyu. I'd completely forgotten I had it on me. Even though it seemed to give off heat naturally, I'd gotten so used to the damn thing being there, I'd stopped noticing. But maybe it can help. If it's constantly warm, maybe it can melt the sap…

I drew the long fang from my belt, and felt the spot it rested against grow cold. Holding it in my hand was a little difficult due to its temperature. When I stayed with Sayuri, one time she served food, and I dunno what happened, but it's like the plate absorbed the heat of the food, and I nearly dropped it because it was so damn hot. That's what it was like holding the fang in my hand, only rough to touch. But that's a good thing, right? If it's as hot as this…

I held Yuyu's encased metal hand in one of mine, so I could hold it steady, as I raised the fang to bottom of the sword's handle. The amber sap bubbled as the dragon fang came into contact with it. This could work! I pressed downwards with the fang, and wiggled it slightly, to try and loosen the sword from Yuyu's grip. It was kinda tough work, but I saw the blade drop a couple of inches as the sap melted. I kept a hold of the fang in my hand, as much as I wanted to drop it, and held the fang to Yuyu's wrist, as I used my other hand to try and free the sword. I'd managed to find the button that retracted the blade at least, and pressed it. The blade popped back in the handle, and I felt a wave of relief wash over me. Now I don't have to worry about hurting her by mistake…

I was focused on trying to pry the weapon from Yuyu's grip, so it made me jump when I saw a hand seemingly appear out of nowhere to help remove the weapon from the gummed-up hand. Yuyu was a lot better than I was at getting a hold of the sword (well, I guess it was made for her after all) and she managed to wrench the handle free and tuck it into her belt. I glanced up at her face, to see the tears had stopped falling at least, but her face was still blank… however she was looking at me now. I shot her a quick, but probably pained, smile (my hand was really starting to hurt now), before I reached for my weapon belt again, still holding the fang against Yuyu's sap-encased arm.

I found what I was looking for, and pulled out the jacket-copy Yuyu gave me back in the Pure Illusion world which was a replica of home. Her eyes betrayed a hint of surprise as she saw me take it out and unravel it. It'd gotten a bit screwed up and creased, but that didn't matter, this thing wasn't exactly going to look nice and neat any more when I was finished with it.

"Yuyu, it'll hurt for a bit, but can you hold the dragon fang against your arm for a moment?" I asked.

I waited for her hand to get a hold of the fang, before I took my own away. It was quite a contrast, having Yuyu's cool hand brush over mine, as I held the fang in place, until she could take it. (Man, it was so nice to not be touching that friggin' thing any more…) As much as I wanted to savour the feeling, I had to get to work, fast. Quickly, I wrapped the main body of the unfolded jacket around Yuyu's metal arm, twice.

"Now, take your good hand away," I said. "Wait, your arm is heat and fire-proof, right?" Yuyu nodded slightly in answer, and did as I ordered, before I pulled the arms of my jacket, tight around the limb. After I was done with that, I drew the sleeves of my jacket around the back of her neck, and tied a couple of knots, creating a makeshift sling. Yuyu looked at me, and tilted her head.

"I know you don't like it, but it's the only solution I have right now." It's a lucky thing I kept that fang… "It melted the sap on your hand enough to free your sword, so if we give it enough time, maybe it can melt the sap on your arm too."

"Your jacket…"

"Doesn't matter," I said. "I never wear the damn thing any more, and if my plan works, I doubt I'd be able to wear it again. Try not to move that arm too much, I don't know how well my knots will hold up, and if they come loose—"

"Thank you."

Her words silenced me, and I suddenly felt embarrassed. A light blush creeped along my face, caught off guard by the unexpected thanks.

"N-no problem," I mumbled, as I looked down at my hand that was holding the fang before. The skin on it had turned pink, from being in contact with the object for so long… But there were a couple of patches of red too. Blood? I'd forgotten that I cut my hand back in the insect world. I guess at least the wound was cauterised now at least, so the bleeding would have stopped, but still, no wonder it hurt so damn much…

It was at that point that Yuyu's entire body flinched, as she was suddenly alert, her eyes staring into a place deep in the woods. Before I could react, she tackled me, forcing the two of us to the grassy ground, and I watched as a thick arrow sailed through the air, in the exact spot me and Yuyu were just standing in.

My body now on high-alert, I was about to grab Yuyu and run away with her, when a heavy foot crushed the grass barely an inch my head. Something in me said it'd be a bad idea to move now. I got the feeling that the only reason I still had a face, was because its owner's leg wasn't quite long enough to reach me and stomp it flat.

So instead, they compensated by aiming a large crossbow at my chest.

"Get up!" The owner of the crossbow said, their voice gruff.

Yuyu stood up quickly, obeying the order. I rolled onto my stomach and pushed myself up too, and faced our opponent.

The first thing I noticed, was that it had four arms. Both sets of them were holding crossbows in its two hands, one aimed at me, and the other at Yuyu. The second thing I noticed was that this guy looked kinda like how Cocona described a goblin to me: Green-skinned, pointed ears and nose… Its body was quite compact and round, along with its legs, but its arms were lanky and long. Kinda mismatched proportions on something that was easily six feet tall. Its mouth seemed to be pushing outwards constantly, like a monkey's, and it couldn't seem to close all the way. I thought that was pretty weird at first, but I watched as the large goblin smiled, and the lips slowly pulled away from its mouth, revealing pointed yellow teeth which looked far too large to fit in there naturally.

Its clothing, without a doubt, gave off the impression of a very experienced hunter. Belts of various knives and weapons were strapped all over its body, arms and legs. Most of them ran under its other pieces of clothing, which looked like they could have been made of scaly dragon hide, which was a similar shade of green to the grass below… or at least what I could see of it, that wasn't splattered in mud, in an attempt at camouflage. Dark brown stripes were smeared messily across its face, which was probably another measure taken to blend in, but a combination of that and those huge teeth, made it appear more like warpaint to me.

"What have we here…" Its voice rumbled and growled, like a lion, as it looked between the two of us. "A couple of princes, out to play?"

"Princes?" I questioned. Well, that confirmed the whole fairy tale world vibe I was getting from this place. I wondered why it'd called us that, but now I thought about it, I guess a weird marching band/riot police combination of clothing and our hair looking like it did, I could understand it mistaking us for guys.

The goblin ignored my question, and instead seemed to take a heavy interest in the dragon-egg amorphous hanging around Yuyu's neck.

"Only princes have such riches…" It sneered, using the crossbow aimed at Yuyu to gently lift the glimmering orange stone to get a better look. "How about you give it to me, and I'll let you both live?"

"Screw you!" was my first thought, and I'd ended up speaking before I had the chance to think.

I heard the wood creak under the goblins fingers as the crossbow aimed at me twitched. One pointed ear twitched, before its entire head turned to face me. "What did you say?"

It leaned towards me, until its rancid breath was hot on my face, and I was trying not to gag. I was also trying not to let my mouth get ahead of my brain this time. Instinct was telling me not to trust it, and not just because it showed an interest in amorphous. After all, it only said it'd let us live, it didn't say it wouldn't capture us and try sell us as slaves, or gladiators.

In the end, I didn't say anything at all and opted for keeping my mouth shut. Probably a smart move. Yuyu didn't speak either. The goblin stared between the two of us for a while, like it didn't know what to do.

Or that's what I originally thought. It wasn't long before the goblin's lips pulled over its teeth again in a wicked smile.

"Actually… I have a better idea…" It sneered.


"Move it, lad!" The goblin roared, as I nearly stumbled and tripped over another damn toadstool.

So, what was this goblin's plan? Well, he was a hunter, and this time, he was going for the biggest game yet. A creature that people in this world dubbed 'The Ray'. It was supposed to be a monster so huge; it could blot out the sun, just by standing. Hell, it wasn't unheard of for it to eclipse the whole world, for however long it decided to stand.

It's an ancient being, has been around for as long as anyone in this world could remember (although in Pure Illusion that could mean anything. A generation could be only a week old, or fifty years. As for how long this world itself existed? Frag knows. Asclepius never bothered trying to document anything to do with worlds unless they contained amorphous.) Since time in this world began, many people of many tribes and races have sought to hunt the Ray as its eclipses could last long enough to kill most of the crops that could be produced, and eventually brought some of the weaker beings to extinction. Causing eclipses weren't the only thing it was known for, either. Apparently, some have claimed it to erupt fire from random spots on its body, and others say it can flatten a town, just by landing on it... Or that's how the stories went at least.

As the goblin practically kicked Yuyu and I along, crossbows at our backs, it kept boasting about how it was finally going to be the one to take it down.

"I've been killing monsters since I was born!" It boasted loudly, as we trailed through the woods. "Took out my first tiger when I'd learnt to walk! Ripped a tooth right out of its head, and cut its throat open!"

The fact it referred to an animal commonly found as Earth made me wonder if 'the Ray' could have been related to a manta ray or a stingray… But then it began rambling about something called a 'squig'*, which from what I could gather, was basically a ball with feet and teeth, and was like nothing that could be found on Earth.

Actually, this guy seemed to have an obsession with teeth. Whenever he (gonna refer to the goblin as male from now on, he gives me that impression) talked about his kills, he often made a big deal of mentioning the size of its teeth, or how blunt, sharp, or holey they were. I turned to look behind me, watching his great huge jaw move as he spoke, and I wondered how many of those teeth were actually his, and weren't just taken from others and hammered into his own mouth. "And I'm going to be the hero of this world, for killing the Ray!" He roared.

As we were marching forward, me and Yuyu against our will, the forest began to thin out, instead being replaced with desolate, chalky-brown earth. There were still trees of sorts around, but instead of being bark and leaves, they were bulbous chunks of coral. Some of them were smashed and hollow, like how there would have been tree stumps in the forest behind us.

How much further have we got to walk? I clicked my visor on to see what data I could gather, and flinched. "Crapping hell…" I mumbled out loud. The whole horizon of my screen was a thick yellow line. That's… The Ray… I swallowed, trying to get rid of a growing lump in my throat. From the goblin's description, I knew it must have been pretty damn big, but actually seeing it on my visor, and the fact it was wide enough to take up all that space…

But there was something else about it, which was strange. It wasn't quite enough to knock me out of my fear, but it was certainly a distraction for a moment: Amongst the great block of yellow, was that damn red dot.

So, we were still on target at least… But we're going to have to fight something that big…

I quickly checked for messages from Toto while my visor was up, just in case he'd come back to me by now to say the red dot was nothing at all and that we could ditch the goblin and go to another world, but no such luck. It's probably barely been half an hour since we've gone… I was about to click my visor off again, just as something caught my eye. I did have a message on there, but it was labelled as being from Hidaka. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. What does he have to say? Knowing him, it might have just been a dumb test message, trying to get Flip Flap's technology compatible with Asclepius' from back when he experimented on my visor.

I opened it and saw I was completely wrong.

'Running low on rockets? Try the grappling wire's explosive mode! Be careful, you only get one shot with each! - Hidaka'

That… was a surprise. And going by the fact I hadn't set it off accidentally, meant there was probably a very complicated way to activate it, so I didn't end up blowing myself up by mistake. I just hope I'd be able to figure it out before it comes to fighting the Ray… But even then 'you only get one shot with each'… Would that mean I'd permanently lose a grappling wire? I'd have to be very damn certain I wanted to risk using it if that was the case…

I clicked the visor off, just as the world began to quake. Ahead of us, the horizon began to fatten and bloat, as the Ray split itself from the rest of the world, revealing its true shape. Like I'd guessed from the goblin mentioning tigers, the Ray did indeed resemble some sort of gigantic manta ray. Huge clods of earth tumbled down as the monster rose, causing a cascade that could have buried a village. A thick, heavy tail, whipped out behind it, shattering some of the giant coral-trees, as it turned towards us.

The sheer size of it alone was enough to fill me with dread...

But then I saw the tusks.

They thrust forward like battering rams from, what I'd assume, was the thing's face, only they were as thick as a redwood tree. I got the feeling too, that if you somehow managed to slice one in half, you'd probably be able to count the rings and get an idea how old it was. Where the base of the tusks met the face, there was a shock of fur, spiky and encrusted with dried blood of the many people that've tried to defeat it over the years and failed…

And the goblin wants to kill this thing?!

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I yelled, looking over my shoulder to glare at him.

"Nothing's wrong with me, prince. Something will be wrong with you in a second though. After all," His lips slid over his oversized teeth as it grinned. "You can't hunt a beast like that without some bait."


Yuyu

Felt hunter's crossbow slam into back, knocking me forwards. Saw Yayaka stumble as same happened to her. The Ray's eyes opened. Blazing yellow. World fell into shadow as the Ray rose into the sky.

And it dived.

The Ray's sides flapped, like wings. Stones and dirt became a hail. Yayaka dived. Flattened herself to ground to minimise chance of being struck. Hunter ducked behind coral tree; double crossbows aimed at the Ray. They were safe from attack regardless.

Ray had targeted me.

Was separated from them.

Copied Yayaka and ducked, close to ground. Felt rush of wind overhead as the Ray flew above. Looked up to try and detect weak points, as combat seemed imminent. Could only see blue of creature's belly.

Blue… Like vast ocean… Like surface of a lake…

Began to shake. Felt trapped.

"Yuyu!" Heard Yayaka call for me. Distant. Looked. Saw her running towards me. The Ray's tail barely passed my head, before it turned in a great arc, turning towards Yayaka and hunter.

Felt terrified… Was shaking… But tried to focus on monster. Detect weak points. Thought it would be easy to see on something so big. In a way, it was. Many weak points… miniscule. Ring around base of tail. Place where tusks met face. Mouth. Eyes. But would need to attack all to defeat it.

Ray lunged at Yayaka; tusks aimed at her.

"Yayaka!"


Yayaka

Yuyu shouted my name, like she was trying to warn me about the great fragging monster in front of me. Yeah, I can see that, Yuyu! Is what I would have yelled out if I wasn't panting from running so hard to try and get to her. She doesn't have any ranged weapons at all, she has no chance of fighting that thing!

Hell, none of us do, if we don't know where the crap to hit it!

Although the goblin was prepared in having probably at least fifty weapons on his person, none of them looked like they'd be too effective. Did he even friggin' PLAN before coming here? I clicked my visor on in a hurry and sent a quick message to Flip Flap. 'Big trouble, need help!' I doubted there'd be anything anyone there could actually do, but if I could get in contact with Toto, maybe he could help us figure something out.

Until then, we're just gotta work with what we have.

An unholy shriek pierced the air, as the Ray swept down, close to me. I just about hit the floor as I felt it pass over me, inches from my body. Dust billowed up, blowing all around. It would have gotten in my face if it wasn't for my visor, and I considered it a lucky move to call for help when I did...

Or at least until the screen cracked when a rock slammed into it.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I was happy it didn't go straight through my skull, but the screen... At school a couple of times, I've seen people with cracked phone screens, and a whole section of the screen would just be colourful lines of light, and didn't respond to anything. Basically: my visor was like that now, but all over.

"Damn it..." I felt the words, more than heard them as I cursed and turned my visor off. Probably deafened by the Ray...

Wait a second... Deafened...

"Yayaka!" Yuyu could have shouted as loudly as she could as she ran towards me, but it sounded muffled, like her voice was trying to reach me through a wall of honey. As she ran closer to me, I caught a glint of bronze just below her makeshift sling.

Deafened... Noise grenades...

But could the Ray be affected by sound at all? There was nothing in the goblin's legends about that. Maybe not... I made a mental note of it, just in case though.

Being touched by Yuyu's cold hand made me feel suddenly alert. I pulled myself out of my thoughts of possible weaponry and-

"Yuyu, your hand..." I couldn't hear my voice at all, only feel the vibrations in my throat, but that didn't matter. I'd noticed the other time that Yuyu's fingernails had an edge of red to them, but it looked like now the entire nails were red as if something had gotten lodged under them and caused her to bleed.

Yuyu withdrew her hand quickly, and looked up at the Ray. "Can see weak points," she said, barely audible. "Lots of them."

That filled me with hope a little, as I turned to face the monster myself... and then that hope began to fizzle out again when the overwhelming sheer size of it made me think how it'd be nearly impossible to take out.

"Over here, Ray!" The goblin yelled, taking careful aim with his two crossbows. Once again, I questioned the goblin's sanity, as it sent a couple thick bolts at the Ray's underbelly. As they shot through the air, the bolts extended, until they looked more like spears, and what looked like thorns, popped out of every available space on the shaft.

They made contact with the Ray, and pierced its flesh. Strange golden blood began to gush from the wounds, like waterfalls. The Ray flipped upwards, heading into the sky, as it let out a pained cry. The goblin whooped at its one successful shot...

Before being promptly smacked aside by the Ray's tail. His body sailed through the air as if he'd been hit by a hundred-ton freight train.

As the Ray flew up, it eclipsed the sun, its golden blood going from shimmering brightly, to being darkened. Its yellow eyes glowed, glaring down at my and Yuyu intently. I wondered why, as I barely caught sight of a gold-edged drop of blood the size of a boulder, splashed to the ground and shining flames bloomed from it, like a burning flower.

"TAKE COVER!" I shouted to Yuyu, even though she was right next to me, although that was probably a panic reaction because its blood could be set on fire... Although I was scared as hell right now, running was really hard, and I stumbled as I tried to duck behind a coral tree. Yuyu noticed and tucked her good arm under my shoulders, to try and support me so we could get away.

Like a rain of bombs, so many more patches of fire fell and burst, looking like waves of golden grass, before fading back into blackened earth. No wonder there's so many legends of it causing extinction of so many species...

A part of me (okay, a lot of me) was hoping, that somehow, after the goblin was taken out, that the Ray would leave us alone and go back to sleep.

That part of me was stupid.

Hell, so was the rest of me, as my eyes fell on the dragon-egg necklace Yuyu was wearing, and for some reason it only occurred to me then, that I've had another weapon at my disposal all this damn time. I mean, I've literally been walking next to two pieces of amorphous, which would have let me transform, and probably have saved us a lot of trouble these past two worlds.

Well, okay I might have been able to handle the bugs back there with no problem, but there's no telling how I'll do against the Ray…

But there's only one way to find out.

"Yuyu, I need to borrow your power for a little," I said, putting my hand on the silver-haired girl's shoulder. I'm on a mission to protect Papika and Cocona, and everyone else at Flip Flap… And I'm here to protect Yuyu, too. They're all important to me, and I can't let them down!

"Flip… FLAPPING!"

I was scared for a second, that the amorphous' power wouldn't respond, but there was no need for that. I could feel the strength flooding through my body, and saw a light green aura around my body as I managed a full transformation. I took my hand away from Yuyu's shoulder, and lightly swept my head from side to side, feeling the green wave of hair tumble down my back. I doubted I'd ever grow my hair long like this, it feels a little… cumbersome. But hey, if it came with all this power, I won't complain.

The golden blood had stopped falling, and the Ray had turned its attention directly on me.

"Yuyu, stay down!" I said, before I stepped hard on the ground, and rocketed high up into the air. The Ray's pupil-less eyes followed, and it twisted its head around, as it suddenly lunged forward, aiming its tusks right at me…


Yuyu

Watched as Yayaka's hand left my shoulder. Her gold hair becoming green. Purple eyes blazing orange.

Yayaka wasn't around for long. Turned her back to me, shook her hair, and leapt. Uncertain if jump or flight, but was roughly same height as the Ray. The monster wasted no time, and charged for Yayaka. Watched as Yayaka landed on a tusk, jumped off it, and landed a series of kicks along the Ray's back, leaving punctures. Drips of gold blood spurted from them.

Wasn't hitting weak points, but couldn't deny, attack seemed effective. Yayaka was useful.

And I am not… Tried to focus on Yayaka fighting monster. Green light darting as giant beast twisted and writhed trying to attack her. Was difficult to follow. Wanted to come with Yayaka to help her… Haven't. Hole device lead to bug world. Unable to act. Yayaka had to come back for me. Helped me. Should have been other way around… Yayaka's light looked like a meteor. Dancing through the air, fighting the Ray. Hadn't noticed, but Ray's body wasn't entirely skin. Had noticed the fur running along the spine, but saw parts of it lash out. Tentacles. Agile Yayaka dodged them. Little trouble. Was a spectacle to watch. But haven't been able to help… Gave Yayaka power to transform, but could have been achieved if Yayaka solo and had necklace.

Wanted to help… Couldn't. Got too scared to act. Could follow orders, but was made to do that… Wanted to be useful… Metal arm became useless…

Moved real hand over sling made of Yayaka's jacket. Felt warm spot under hand. Wet. Sap was melting.

But even if arm was available, can't help… If hunter's crossbows taken for use, doubt I could fire or aim effectively. Can detect weak points, but ranged capabilities… limited. Needed Toto. Sword could be used as weapon, but not in this situation. Even if Ray was grounded, doubt sword would help.

Yayaka needs Toto, not me… Useless…

Useless Yuyu...

"Yuyu-onee-sama!"

Twitched head, confused. Heard a voice, but… couldn't have. If came from arm, should be muffled due to being covered with fabric and sap, but was clear and loud.

And incoming.

Turned to source of sound. Saw Nyunyu riding on a yellow box… Incorrect. Not a yellow box… TT-392.

Nyunyu landed next to me, but looked up at Yayaka as she fought the Ray.

"Yayaka requested… assistance…"

Blinked. Toto's voice? Looked down at TT-392. Questioned identity.

"Am Toto… Hello Yuyu…" His voice contained hint of smile. Odd. In fact, presence of TT-392 and Nyunyu was strange, even if Yayaka called for help… Not what would have expected… But remembered Cocona's request for safe world coordinates, to allow Papika to acclimatise to Pure Illusion again. This is definitely not a safe world. Would only scare Papika more. Flip Flap sent reinforcements, only ones available…

"Why are you here, Toto?" Asked him. Didn't understand. Was unable to fight in that form. Doubted TT-392's cameras would allow for good viewing of Pure Illusion. Technology in Pure Illusion unreliable at best.

"Can't go to… Pure Illusion… alone…" he replied, looking up at Yayaka. Controlling TT-392. Only came to enable Nyunyu entry to Pure Illusion.

But as reinforcements… Robot with no combat capabilities, and inexperienced child. Became worried. Their usefulness as limited as mine. Would guess Toto was using TT-392, as he couldn't be a physical presence without risking further crystallisation… But he had no weapons in that form. Nyunyu—

"There's a dead guy here!" She said. Turned to her. Saw her pulling two crossbows as big as she was from hands of body. Was unable to lift them without struggling, but didn't want to discard one of them. Stubbornly held onto both, dragging them along the ground.

"Is that Yayaka?" She asked, large orange eyes fixed on sparking green dot above.

"Yes."

"She's different!"

"Transformed."

"Transformed?" Nyunyu seemed confused. Was about to explain, but no need. "…Amorphous power and to think of something important…" Mumbled to herself. Approached me, putting forehead against my arm, not letting go of crossbows. Flinched at unexpected contact. My head twitched at odd behaviour… Then eyes widened. Realised what she was doing.

"Flip flapping!"

Bright light! Closed eyes tightly. Is Nyunyu… transforming?

Light faded. Opened eyes.

Nyunyu's hair long. Platinum gold. Armour had changed too, difficult to see from this angle. Removed her forehead from my arm and she stepped away. Nyunyu's armour upon further investigation… unsettling. Sickly shine to plating… Serrated scythes on ends of arms… Helmet with bulging eyes… Mandibles... I took steps away from her. Insect design... Repulsive…

Nyunyu thought otherwise. Looked down at armour briefly, turning arms over. No expression on face, but showed interest and appeared to admire armour.

Was the opposite. Trying not to recoil. Trying not to think how it looked like a praying mantis swallowing her whole. Creepy... Ugly... Felt TT-392 bump against my leg. Possibly an attempt from Toto to reassure me, having noticed dislike of Nyunyu's armour.

Nyunyu raised her arms. Crossbows no longer cumbersome to raise and wield. She smiled, looked up at Yayaka and jumped into the air.


Yayaka

This thing just isn't going down! No matter how many damn kicks I landed, and how much flaming golden blood burst out, the Ray refused to weaken. If you told me it was a god in this part of Pure Illusion, I'd have no trouble believing you.

Apparently, I'd managed to piss it off enough for it to reveal another weapon in its arsenal. There was sound, a little like wet or sticky Velcro as a fair number of tentacles, which were previously pressed flat, pulled away from its body, and began to lash out at me. It made it a damn sight harder to land hits, and although I was full of amorphous power, I was starting to get pretty tired out. Although I preferred making physical contact if I could help it, I had to resort to kicking lightning soccer balls at it, as dodging the mass of tentacles was far too much for me to handle. It's weird, I would have thought it would have been slowing down by now, I mean its blood has basically been spurting and exploding all over, but it didn't seem to care in the slightest. If anything, setting itself alight just seemed to make it madder and more intent on killing me.

And at the rate things were going, it wouldn't be long until that happened...

"Yayaka!"

Hearing a voice that sounded oddly nearby, and definitely didn't belong to Yuyu, freaked me out so much I nearly fell out of the sky upon hearing it. What the... I turned in the direction it came from. There was... a small girl flying towards me, wearing shiny silver-gold armour and holding two crossbows, which were as tall as the wielder.

My first thought was that it was some kind of demented fairy from this world, as it flew towards me... Until it opened its mouth, "Toto said nyu needed help!" and I realised who it was.

"Wha- Nyunyu?!" I couldn't help but voice my disbelief, which was dumb, because now I got a better look, I saw that her clothing seemed a little insect-like and she was wielding the goblin's crossbows, probably because they were the closest gun-like objects she could find. Still, "what the crap are you doing here?"

"Toto said nyu needed help!" She repeated.

"But you're transformed! How the frag-"

"Nyu told me how!" She said. "Said nyu need to think of important things and say Flip Flapping and use amorphous! So, I did it, and it worked!"

I opened my mouth to speak, only to find myself closing it. I did say that to her... Way back when we almost got trapped in that dust world… Man, that conversation felt like it happened a year ago, rather than maybe a couple of weeks...

A piercing shriek came from the Ray, which was so powerful, it shook the very sky itself. I felt a little weak and wobbly already, but it took everything I had not to drop out of the sky right then. Nyunyu didn't seem bothered by it at all. The Ray was heading towards us, tusks ready to impale us. Whereas I was alert, and ready to get out of there, Nyunyu seemed transfixed by the impossibly big monster. Bad time to freeze up, kiddo! I grabbed her and shoved her roughly out of the way, putting myself in line to take a hit from the tusks.

SMACK!

Heard a tear in fabric... Pain… A glancing blow... But it felt like my whole body was... bruised... and my bones... a light breeze could... shatter... them...

Head fuzzy...

I can't...


Yuyu

"Yayaka-onee-sama!" Could hear Nyunyu's cry from high above. Wanted to call Yayaka's name too, but was frozen. Watched as the green light faded, and Yayaka fell to earth. Saw the Ray's tusk slam into her.

Impact may have been fatal.

Don't want to lose Yayaka... Fell to knees. Unable to act. Don't know why I went with Yayaka... Can't help... Useless... Defective...

TT-392 seemed conflicted. Could imagine Toto at Flip Flap uncertain what to do, but eventually saw helicopter blades appear and whirr. Flew for Yayaka, to catch her.

I should have done that... Didn't know if could have saved her from more potential damage if fell from that height and landed in my arms. Unknown if I would have been fast enough to reach her.

Can't be dead... Please don't be dead...

Legs and body felt heavy, but forced self to move. To run after TT-392. To see Yayaka.

Please don't be dead...

Was desperate for Yayaka to live. Chanting it like a prayer.

Please don't be dead...

Saw thin, rope-like arms emerge and extend from TT-392's body. Reached out to grab Yayaka. Both ended in blunt claws. One curled in circles a way below. Other grabbed Yayaka's wrist, and tried to shift Yayaka to falling on curled up arm, for softer landing. TT-392 slowly lowered Yayaka to the ground. Wanted to look up. Make sure the Ray wasn't attacking us. Didn't want to look up. Felt as if taking eyes off Yayaka would lessen survival chances. But if safe and then suddenly attacked...

Glanced up quickly. Saw Nyunyu shooting silver and gold bolts of energy at it. Ray was occupied.

Safe for now... Reached Yayaka. Knelt down by her side. Was no longer transformed. Armour had large rip in right side, but somehow still holding together.

Saw her chest rise and fall.

Breathing.

Alive.

Let out a breath didn't realise was holding. Relief...

"Will she be okay?" I asked Toto.

TT-392 gently took arms away from Yayaka, lowering her to ground. TT-392's head moved quickly, scanning Yayaka.

"Will be okay..." Toto said. "Heavy bruising... from impact... Will need to... take it easy..."

"She would refuse to do that."

"Yes." Could hear Toto smirking. He pointed TT-392's head up at Nyunyu fighting the Ray. Nyunyu's attacks, and Ray's spraying blood looked like fireworks, bursting above. "Nyunyu… transformed…" His voice was serious now.

"Yes…" I said. Was amazed she could do that.

"I have… transformed before…" Toto said. Didn't look at him, although revelation was interesting. Can transform like Yayaka, Cocona and Papika…

Heard explosion from above. Put arm around Yayaka, ready to move her if Ray's blood began to fall again. No need. Explosion was Nyunyu. Silver and gold clouds bloomed all over Ray's body. Gold scratches, like a grid, carved into large beast's body. Tentacles lashed at Nyunyu, but she dodged them, nimbly. Darting and buzzing like a bee. Ray ended up getting tangled. Screamed with rage... but cry was weak.

Nyunyu's... defeating it... Would have thought impossible. Inexperienced... Not many journeys in Pure Illusion... But was fighting the Ray alone...

And winning.

Couldn't help being amazed. Do transformations give that much power? Was hard to believe...

"Pure... Barrage!" Could hear Nyunyu's voice from far below. Louder than the Ray, but not deafening. Crossbows in her hands glowed, blinding. Bright. Appeared to be charging with energy. The Ray charged her; mouth open...

The energy was unleashed! A hundred lasers, shot from crossbows, piercing the Ray's skin. As beams touched the Ray, saw sparks and fire from within the monster. Flames licked out, covering the Ray. Appeared to be swallowed by gold fire. Sight was... unsettling. Looked down at Yayaka. Thought about how she said she watched kids burn to death... Doubted it was like the Ray exactly, but seeing something like that happen... Was unpleasant to watch. Can only imagine how it felt...

"I won't let you drown"... Yayaka said that to me in flooding temple. Kept her promise. Kept me safe. Didn't drown.

Made promise to self.

Won't let Yayaka burn.


Authors note: *A Squig is a creature in the Warhammer/Warhammer 40,000 universe. There seem to be a few varieties of them in the lore, but I described one like a squig you'd most commonly see/encounter in an Orcs and Goblins/Orruk/Ork army. Speaking of which, the idea for the Ray was inspired by a Warhammer Screamer of Tzeentch. I figured Squigs and Screamers looked alien enough to be found in Pure Illusion. This is the only time I'm planning to borrow from the Warhammer universe. DISCLAIMER: I own absolutely nothing from any Warhammer universe. I am just a fan, who has more miniatures than she can count, and have been stuck on my fic for frag knows how long now, and needed to use some things as inspiration to try and move on.

I apologise if this chapter seems… off or a little out of place. I've tried writing a different scene or a few in this one's place… Five times, maybe? Two of said scenes were variations of what I'm planning the next chapter to be, but it still felt too 'early' for events in it to happen yet, so I wanted to put SOMETHING else between them, and this was the only idea I could find myself sticking with. It's probably not great, but I needed a little extra something before the next chapter happens (although annoyingly I'll probably have to discard both 4k word scrap variations and start all over AGAIN to get things to work) so… yeah... But even then at the rate I'm going, I'll probably have to scrap the whole idea I had for the next chapter. Writing is fussy. Ah well.